cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Possible Unifying Mechanism of Picornavirus Genome Replication

This chapter summarizes all the pertinent experimental evidence that is currently available and proposes a unified model for picornavirus RNA replication. These data are derived from three types of experiments. In the simplest type, purified enzymes are used to study biochemical reactions in vitro. The second in complexity are those studies that use crude replication complexes isolated either from infected cells or from coupled translation/replication reactions of viral RNA. Finally, the most difficult method involves studying reactions in the infected cell itself. The proteins of the P3 domain are those that are most directly involved in the process of RNA synthesis. During translation of poliovirus RNA the P3 precursor is generated from the polyprotein by a fast cleavage event at the amino terminus of the 3A-coding region. The RNA polymerases of poliovirus and human rhinoviruses (HRV)2 are dependent in vitro on an RNA template and on a primer, either RNA, DNA, or VPg. Properties and functions of proteins encoded by the P3 domain of the poliovirus polyprotein are discussed. Mutational analysis of the heteropolymeric sequences in the 3 ' nontranslated region (NTR) of entero- and rhinoviruses indicated that this region is important for RNA replication. Prior to the initiation of minus-strand RNA synthesis, the RNA polymerase has to recognize its own viral RNA in a pool of cellular mRNAs and then select it as the only template for transcription.
Resiliency in Emergency Nurses

Introduction The aim of this study is to explore the resiliency characteristics of certified emergency nurses. Emergency departments are highly acute patient care environments that are often unpredictable and stressful workplaces. Resiliency theory identifies individual characteristics that allow people to overcome stress. This study describes the resiliency characteristics and experiences of certified emergency nurses. Methods In this qualitative directed content analysis study, the resiliency characteristics of emergency nurses were explored. Sixteen certified emergency nurses were interviewed. Results Seven resiliency characteristics were described: presence d'esprit, decisive action, tenacity, interpersonal connectedness, honesty, self-control, and optimism. An additional finding of resetting was also relayed. Discussion Resiliency may be adapted and fostered in emergency nurses to guide future workplace stress reduction and adaptation techniques. Promoting resiliency programs for emergency nurses is a promising future intervention.
Anesthetic actions on calcium uptake and calcium-dependent adenosine triphosphatase activity of cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum.

Publisher Summary The studies in this chapter have been undertaken to better define which specific aspects of myocardial SR function are altered by anesthetics. The major result of the present study concerns the modest but distinct effects of the halogenated volatile anesthetics on Ca 2+ uptake and retention of isolated myocardial sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) function at clinically relevant concentrations. The differing functional changes appear to arise from agent-specific actions on the ATPase activity as well as the ability of vesicles to retain accumulated Ca 2+ . The present results more clearly define the huge propensity for halothane to depress Ca 2+ uptake to a greater extent than isoflurane. The depression in Ca 2+ uptake is associated with a compensatory rise in ATPase activity, similar to the effect of an increase from pH 7.0 to pH 7.4 attributable to enhanced efflux. Additional effects of halothane in promoting Ca 2+ loss from the SR may well include its activation of the Ca 2+ release channel (CaRC). In contrast, Ca 2+ uptake is only modestly decreased by isoflurane, a finding consistent with other studies in myocardial tissue that suggest isoflurane has less effect on Ca 2+ stores. However, none of the anesthetics depressed the ATPase activity. The most curious effect is the increase in ATPase activity and Ca 2+ uptake caused by enflurane. In addition to the aforementioned anesthetic actions, there are in junctional SR additional differential effects of the anesthetics on the CaRC of cardiac SR. In isolated myocardium, enflurane has depressant effects on contractily that frequently fall between those of halothane and isoflurane, but in the absence of a detailed model of myocyte Ca 2+ cycling it is unclear how the various effects on SR will combine with other anesthetic effects.
Observations on Soviet Imperial Disintegration

A prominent American specialist and observer of post-Soviet affairs examines the shifting balance between forces of disintegration and reintegration in the successor states of the former Soviet Union from the early 1990s to the present, with particular emphasis on actions taken by Russia. A concluding section focuses on observations relevant to an assessment of the extent to which recent trends toward reintegration may persist in the future. 8 references.
TRPC3 Facilitates Adaptation of Collecting Duct Cells to Changes in Osmolality

Mechanical stress induced by changes in tubular flow rate and osmotic gradients is viewed to be an important regulator of the water and electrolytes transport in the collecting duct (CD). Our recen...
Central bank independence, growth, investment, and real rates

Alex Cukierman has worked hard for the last few years examining the institutional characteristics of central banks and developing measures of central bank independence (or CBI). Now, with the publication of his book by MIT Press, and with the help of several coauthors, we are beginning to see the fruits of his labors. The present paper is an interesting and suggestive investigation of the effects of CBI on growth, investment, and interest rates across some 60 countries. There are many, many results reported in this paper. So, I will begin by summarizing what I take to be the main findings (and suggesting an alternative measure of CBI for developed countries). After the summary, I will discuss the robustness issue, the theoretical foundations needed for a more structural approach to empirical work in this area, and finally the broad way in which the results of this paper should be interpreted.
A Review of Research on the Literacy of Students with Visual Impairments and Additional Disabilities.

Research on the development of literacy in children with visual impairments and additional disabilities is minimal even though these children make up approximately 65% of the population of children...
Deletion and insertion mutations in the rpoH gene of Escherichia coli that produce functional sigma 32.

Escherichia coli K-12 strain 285c contains a short deletion mutation in rpoD, the gene encoding the sigma 70 subunit of RNA polymerase. The sigma 70 protein encoded by this allele (rpoD285) unstable, and this instability leads to temperature-sensitive growth. Pseudorevertants of 285c that can grow at high temperature contain mutations in the rpoH gene (encoding the heat shock sigma factor sigma 32), and their mutant sigma 70 proteins have increased stability. We characterized the alterations in three of these rpoH alleles. rpoH111 was a point mutation resulting in a single amino acid substitution. rpoH107 and rpoH113, which are known to be incompatible with rpoD+, altered the restriction map of rpoH. rpoH113 was deleted for 72 base pairs of the rpoH gene yet retained some sigma 32 activity. rpoH107 had two IS1 elements that flanked an unknown DNA segment of more than 6.4 kilobases inserted in the rpoH promoter region. The insertion decreased the amount of rpoH mRNA to less than 0.5% of the wild-type level at 30 degrees C. However, the mRNA from several heat shock promoters was decreased only twofold, suggesting that the strain has a significant amount of sigma 32. Images
The Children's Machines: Handheld and Wearable Computers Too

In this paper we describe the material of a construction kit designed to allow children to build their own handheld and wearable devices to meet their interests and passions. Children don't work with these machines, they learn, play and grow with them. Informed by the types of projects that children have done with this material in the context of educational research in science and engineering, we present a few scenarios for why children would build their own handheld or wearable computational devices. We believe that these application scenarios and their appeal to children are strong evidence for why we should rethink the design of computational devices, particularly for children.
Exact expressions for the Casimir interaction between semitransparent spheres and cylinders

A multiple scattering formulation is used to calculate the force, arising from fluctuating scalar fields, between distinct bodies described by {delta}-function potentials, so-called semitransparent bodies. (In the limit of strong coupling, a semitransparent boundary becomes a Dirichlet one.) We obtain expressions for the Casimir energies between disjoint parallel semitransparent cylinders and between disjoint semitransparent spheres. In the limit of weak coupling, we derive power series expansions for the energy, which can be exactly summed, so that explicit, very simple, closed-form expressions are obtained in both cases. The proximity force theorem holds when the objects are almost touching, but is subject to large corrections as the bodies are moved farther apart.
The significance of temporal-difference learning in self-play training TD-rummy versus EVO-rummy

Reinforcement learning has been used for training game playing agents. The value function for a complex game must be approximated with a continuous function because the number of states becomes too large to enumerate. Temporal-difference learning with self-play is one method successfully used to derive the value approximation function. Co-evolution of the value function is also claimed to yield good results. This paper reports on a direct comparison between an agent trained to play gin rummy using temporal difference learning, and the same agent trained with co-evolution. Co-evolution produced superior results.
Estimation of risk management effects on revenue and purchased feed costs on US dairy farms1

Variations in milk and feed prices directly affect dairy farm risk management decisions. This research used data from the 2010 US Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Resource Management Surveys phase III dairy survey to examine how risk management tools affected revenues and expenses across US dairy farms. The survey was sent to 26 states and collected information on costs and returns to individual dairy farms. This research used the information from milk sales, crops sales, feed expenses, and farm and operator characteristics, as well as the use of risk management tools. Matching methodology was used to evaluate the effect of 5 independent risk management tools on revenues and expenses: selling milk to a cooperative, using a commodity contract to sell grain, feeding homegrown forage at a basic and intensive level, and use of a nutritionist. Results showed that dairy farms located in the Midwest and East benefit from selling milk to a cooperative and using commodity contracts to sell grain. Across the United States, using a nutritionist increased total feed costs, whereas a feeding program that included more than 65% homegrown forages decreased total feed costs. Results point to benefits from educational programming on risk management tools that are region specific rather than a broad generalization to all US dairy farmers.
Beyond National Borders: The Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth Reaching out to Gifted Children from Throughout the World.

The Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY) is celebrating 25 years of working with gifted children both in the USA and from throughout the world. Beginning in 1979, its mission has been to identify students of exceptional academic promise and to offer them distinctive and challenging educational opportunities. More than one million young people have now been reached through CTY's talent search and program offerings. The programs and services offered to CTY students include: summer programs, distance education, civic leadership institutes, family academic conferences, awards ceremonies, diagnostic counseling and testing, research and publications. Through its offerings, CTY has reached beyond the USA and has become an international program, with students attending its summer program from almost 80 countries and enrolling in its distance education courses from 55 countries. In collaboration with colleagues from throughout the world CTY remains committed to nurturing these highly talented y...
Pediatrician Perspectives on Children’s Access to Mental Health Services: Consequences and Potential Solutions

This paper examines pediatricians' perspectives regarding access to children's mental health care. In response to a question about factors that help or hinder coordination of care 190 respondents voluminously wrote about mental health access barriers. Responses were qualitatively analyzed to understand pediatricians' perspectives. Four thematic areas emerged: Insurance issues; availability of mental health specialty providers; state mental health systems; and pediatricians' attempts to improve access to mental health services. Pediatricians' responses included educating themselves, using telemedicine, and hiring co-located mental health specialists. Recommendations are made to address pediatricians' treatment of children with mental illnesses and their access to treatment resources.
Collaboration systems for classroom instruction

In this paper we discuss how classroom instruction can benefit from state-of-the-art technologies in networks, worldwide web access through Internet, multimedia, databases, and computing. Functional requirements for establishing such a high-tech classroom are identified, followed by descriptions of our current experimental implementations. The focus of the paper is on the capabilities of distributed collaboration, which supports both synchronous multimedia information sharing as well as a shared work environment for distributed teamwork and group decision making. Our ultimate goal is to achieve the concept of 'living world in a classroom' such that live and dynamic up-to-date information and material from all over the world can be integrated into classroom instruction on a real-time basis. We describe how we incorporate application developments in a geography study tool, worldwide web information retrievals, databases, and programming environments into the collaborative system.© (1996) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Evidence-based medicine, pharmacogenetics, and antiplatelet therapy decision making for acute coronary syndrome.

In this issue, Kazi and colleagues analyze the cost-effectiveness of 5 dual antiplatelet therapy strategies for acute coronary syndrome after percutaneous coronary intervention. The editorialist di...
Constraint on the Mass Scale of a Left-Right Symmetric Electroweak Theory from the K(L) K(S) Mass Difference

The ${K}_{L}\ensuremath{-}{K}_{S}$ mass difference provides a stringent constraint on the mass (${M}_{R}$) of the charged right-handed gauge field occurring in a "manifest" left-right-symmetric electroweak theory, yielding ${M}_{R}\ensuremath{\gtrsim}1.6$ TeV. Taken in the context of a grand-unifying gauge theory, e.g., O(10), such a large bound on ${M}_{R}$, along with the measured value of ${{sin}^{2}\ensuremath{\theta}}_{W}$, implies that ${M}_{R}\ensuremath{\gtrsim}{10}^{9}$ GeV.
Improved Observation of SiC/SiO2 Oxide Charge Traps Using MOS C-V

We have used C-V techniques to study the bias instability of 4H-SiC MOS capacitors and FETs, and compared those results to those obtained using ID-VGS. The net “back-and-forth” instability from C-V was found to exceed that of ID-VGS and matched closely with values from fast ID-VGS and midgap extrapolation, suggesting that the C-V method is more effective at measuring a “true” instability effect than ID-VGS alone. Using C-V, capacitors and large-area MOSFETs showed similar instability behavior, implying that the presence of minority carriers are not necessary to observe bias instability. One-way bias-stress C-V measurements reveal that most of the bias instability occurs under negative bias stress, whereas the opposite is observed in one-way bias stress ID-VGS measurements. Finally, post-oxidation NO annealing reduced the ΔVT bias instability for positive bias stress but does not appear to have influenced any of the other conditions.
An environment of a graduate curriculum in computer graphics

Attention has been focused recently on programs in Computer Graphics within the general Computer Science Curriculum. A successful graduate program in the Department of Computer and Information Science at The Ohio State University is outlined. Facilities and laboratories, courses, and staffing are discussed. Particular attention is given to a software environment, called EDGE (Educational and Development Graphics Environment) which is central to the success of the courses in the curriculum.
Designing Networks with Low Structural Congestion via Game Theory and Linear Programming

We propose a network topology design approach that targets the reduction of structural congestion in a directed acyclic network. What we mean by structural congestion is that a node has much higher in-degree than out-degree in a directed network. We approach the issue using a network design game model. In this model we consider multiple sources and one destination. Each node is willing to connect to other nodes but it should pay the price of whole paths it uses to send traffic to the destination. The model yields a weight for each link. We show that if these weights are used to compute shortest paths, then a network topology is obtained with a low level of structural congestion. The proposed method has two phases. In Phase I, we solve a linear optimization problem in order to find the optimum link weights. In Phase II, each node optimizes its own individual objective function, which is based on the weights computed in Phase I. We show that there exists a Nash Equilibrium which is also the global optimum. In order to measure the penalty incurred by the selfish behavior of nodes, we use the concept called price of anarchy. Our results show that the price of anarchy is zero.
Approaches to extrapolating animal toxicity data on organic solvents to public health

Synthesizing information about the acute neurotoxicity of organic solvents into predictive relationships between exposure and effect in humans is difficult because (1) data are usually derived from experimental animals whose sensitivity to the chemical relative to humans is unknown; (2) the specific endpoints measured in laboratory animals seldom translate into effects of concern in humans; and (3) the mode of action of the chemical is rarely understood. We sought to develop approaches to estimate the hazard and cost of exposure to organic solvents, focusing on the acute behavioral effects of toluene in rats and humans. Available published data include studies of shock avoidance behavior in rats and choice reaction time in humans. A meta-analysis of these data suggested that a 10% change in rat avoidance behavior occurs at a blood concentration of toluene 25 times higher than the concentration at which a 10% change in human choice reaction time occurs. In contrast, our in vitro studies of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors indicated that human and rat receptors do not differ in sensitivity to toluene. Analysis of other dose-response relationships for visual and cognitive functions in rats suggests that the apparent difference between rats and humans may be driven by the specific endpoints measured in the two species rather than by inherent differences in sensitivity to toluene. We also explored the hypothesis that dose-equivalence relationships may be used to compare the societal costs of two chemicals. For example, ethanol-induced changes in choice reaction time, for which societal costs are estimatable, may be used as a benchmark effect for estimating the monetary benefits of controlling exposure to organic solvents. This dose-equivalence method is applicable for solvents because this set of data fulfills three important assumptions about equivalence relationships based on a single effect: (1) a common dose metric (concentration of the chemical in the brain); (2) a common effect to provide a linking variable (choice reaction time); and (3) a common mode of action (interference with neuronal ion channel function).
PACAP Induces Signaling and Stimulation of 5-Hydroxytryptamine Release and Growth in Neuroendocrine Tumor Cells

Neuroendocrine tumors, although rare, are currently diagnosed with increasing frequency, owing to improved imaging techniques and a greater clinical awareness of this condition. To date, BON is a very well established and characterized human pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor cell line used to study the signal transduction and genetic regulation of neuroendocrine tumors secretion and growth. The secretory activity of BON cells is known to release peptides, such as chromogranin A, neurotensin, and biogenic amines, as 5-HT, permitting an assessment of their biological activity. The neuropeptide pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP), released from the enteric neurons in the gastrointestinal tract by binding to its high affinity receptor PAC1, has been previously shown to regulate the secretory activity and growth of the neuroendocrine-derived enterochromaffin-like cells in the stomach. This led us to speculate that PACAP might also play an important role in regulating the growth of human neuroendocrine tumors. Accordingly, in the current study, we have shown that BON cells express PAC1 receptors, which are rapidly internalized upon PACAP activation. Furthermore, PAC1 receptor activation, in BON cells, couple to intracellular Ca2+ as well as cAMP responses and induce the release of intracellular 5-HT, activate mitogen activated protein kinases, and stimulate cellular growth. These data indicate that PACAP functionally can stimulate 5-HT release and promote the growth of the BON neuroendocrine tumor cell line. Therefore, PACAP and its receptors regulate neuroendocrine tumor secretory activity and growth in vivo, and this knowledge will permit the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic targets for managing neuroendocrine tumors in humans.
Contact activation of the plasma coagulation cascade. I. Procoagulant surface chemistry and energy

Contact activation of the intrinsic pathway of porcine blood plasma coagulation is shown to be a steep exponential-like function of procoagulant surface energy, with low activation observed for poorly water-wettable surfaces and very high activation for fully water-wettable surfaces. Test procoagulants studied were a system of oxidized polystyrene films with varying wettability (surface energy) and glass discs bearing close-packed self-assembled silane monolayers (SAMs) with well-defined chemistry consisting of 12 different terminating chemical functionalities. A monotonic trend of increasing coagulation activation with increasing water wettability was observed for the oxidized polystyrene system whereas results with SAM procoagulants suggested a level of chemical specificity over and above the surface energy trend. In particular, it was noted that coagulation activation by SAMs terminated with -CO 2 H was much higher than anticipated based on surface wettability whereas -NH 3 ? ?-terminated SAMs exhibited very low procoagulant activity. SAMs terminated in -(CH 2 ) 2 (CF 2 ) 7 CF 3 behaved as anticipated based on surface energy with very low procoagulant activity and did not exhibit special properties sometimes attributed to perfluorinated compounds. Quantitative ranking of the inherent coagulation activation properties of procoagulant surfaces was obtained by application of a straightforward phenomenological model expressed in a closed-form mathematical equation relating coagulation time to procoagulant surface area. Fit of the model with a single adjustable parameter to experimental measurements of porcine platelet-poor plasma coagulation time was very good, implying that assertions and simplifications of the model adequately simulated reality. Two important propositions of the model were that (1) the number of putative activating sites scaled linearly with procoagulant surface area, and (2) contact activation of the plasma coagulation cascade was catalytic in the sense that these activating sites were not consumed or poisoned by irreversible or slowly reversible protein adsorption during coagulation. An extension of the coagulation model proposed that procoagulant activation properties scale exponentially with the surface density of polar (acid-base) sites, which, in turn, was related to procoagulant wettability. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
System Decomposition, Partitioning, and Integration for Microelectronics

The process of determining what should be in an electronic package or on an LSI slice is considered a partitioning problem with a set of constraints. An approach to system decomposition and partitioning is established from the viewpoint of minimizing external signal lines by minimizing the number of pins per set of packages, which will improve reliability and performance and reduce cost. Applications of combinatorial analysis and signal graph theory to partition a group of circuits are illustrated. System partitioning levels are identified as complexity levels. A partitioning procedure is given for use at any complexity level, and equations are provided for counting the possible number of partitions. A combinatorial technique is developed to count the number of pins per package. System integration is considered here to be the process of converting interconnections of circuits and elements to intraconnections of function blocks. An integration factor concept, based on the number of signal lines and required pins per package, is introduced. The integration factor is used to ascertain tradeoffs and compromises of possible partitions and integration techniques. The rules given provide an analytic method for solving some of the problems of system design.
Serological Correlate of Protection against Norovirus-Induced Gastroenteritis

BACKGROUND Norovirus infection is the leading cause of acute nonbacterial gastroenteritis. Histoblood group antigens (HBGAs) are host susceptibility determinants for Norwalk virus (NV) infection. We hypothesized that antibodies that block NV-HBGA binding are associated with protection from clinical illness following NV exposure. METHODS We developed an HBGA blocking assay to examine the ability of human serum to block the interaction of NV viruslike particles with H type 1 and H type 3 glycans. Serum samples from persons who were experimentally challenged with NV were evaluated. RESULTS There was a high correlation between the H type 1 and H type 3 synthetic glycan assays (r = 0.977; P 25), compared with 2 of 12 subjects with gastroenteritis (P = .002). CONCLUSIONS Blocking antibodies correlate with protection against clinical NV gastroenteritis. This knowledge will help guide the evaluation of new vaccine strategies and the elucidation of the nature of immunity to the virus. Trial registration. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00138476.
A Preliminary Investigation of the Role of Strategic Withholding of Emotions in PTSD

Individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experience deficits in emotional responding, yet to date these deficits have been poorly understood. This study is an initial investigation of the role of strategic, intentional withholding of emotional responses among individuals with PTSD. In a sample of 61 combat veterans, veterans with PTSD reported significantly more frequent and intense withholding of their emotional responses than did combat veterans without PTSD. The tendency to withhold emotional responses was associated with PTSD, beyond measures of comorbid distress. The implications of these findings for future research and interventions aimed at deficits in emotional responding are discussed.
Does HER-2/neu antigen loss in metastatic breast tumors occur under immune pressure?

were studied. A fraction of patients with HER-2/neu positive primary lesions also had HER-2/neu negative metastatic lesions. These observations suggest that breast tumors are not stable in the expression of HER-2/neu in vivo. Therefore, it is important to understand the mechanisms by which tumors lose or gain HER-2/neu expression in vivo. Our preclinical results complement their findings by demonstrating that HER-2/neu antigen loss occurred under the immune pressure in vivo and in vitro. 3 Our studies underscored the role of HER-2/neu-specific
Age-related changes in the cerebellum: parallel fibers

Between the ages of 3 and 23 months, the cerebella of NIH Fischer 344 rats lose 30% of the thickness of the molecular layer, 60% of the length of parallel fibers, and 80% of the synaptic varicosities along parallel fibers. Nearly 60% of these synaptic varicosities disappear between 3 and 9 months. Thus, the loss of cerebellar synapses is unusual, may have begun early in life, and continue into old age, causing profound synaptic losses in older rats. In addition to serious implications to functional losses, we speculate that these synaptic losses may trigger other age-related cellular losses in the cerebellum.
Recovery of stishovite-structure at ambient conditions out of shock-generated amorphous silica

We show that bulk amorphous silica recovered from shock-wave experiments on quartz to 57 GPa is not a true glass but rather keeps a large degree of long-range structural information that can be recovered by static cold recompression to 13 GPa. At this pressure, shock-retrieved silica assumes the structure of crystalline stishovite. A minor amount of material recovers the structure of a recently discovered new silica polymorph.
Solutions to helmet-mounted display visual correction compatibility issues

To meet the goal of 24-hour, all-weather operation, U.S. Army aviation uses a number of imaging sensor systems on its aircraft. Imagery provided by these systems is presented on helmet-mounted displays (HMDs). Fielded systems include the Integrated Helmet Display Sighting System (IHADSS) used on the AH-64 Apache. Proposed future HMD systems such as the Helmet Integrated Display Sighting System (HIDSS) and the Microvision, Inc., Aircrew Integrated Helmet System (AIHS) scanning laser system are possible choices for the Army's RAH-66 Comanche helicopter. Ever present in current and future HMD systems is the incompatibility problem between the design-limited physical eye relief of the HMD and the need to provide for the integration of laser and nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) protection, as well as the need to address the changing optical and vision requirements of the aging aviator. This paper defines the compatibility issue, reviews past efforts to solve this problem (e.g., contact lenses, NBC masks, optical inserts, etc.), and identifies emerging techniques (e.g., refractive surgery, adaptive optics, etc.) that require investigation.
High-affinity binding sites for VIP in renal cortical membranes: Possible role of VIP in renal transport

High-affinity binding sites for VIP in renal cortical membranes: Possible role of VIP in renal transport. We studied binding and degradation of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) by highly purified brush border and basolateral membranes from rabbit kidney cortex. Brush border and basolateral membranes were capable of 73 and 49% degradation of VIP after 20 minutes, and the degradation was totally prevented by bacitracin. There was 66 and 87% specific binding of 125 I-VIP to brush border and basolateral membranes, respectively. 125 I-VIP binding to renal membrane was displaced in a dose dependent fashion by unlabeled VIP with half maximal displacement at 2 × 10 -7 M. Other related peptides failed to displace VIP. Scatchard analysis showed one single class of receptors for VIP in both membranes with similar Kd (0.5 × 10 -7 M) but higher number of binding sites (B max ) in the basolateral membranes than in the brush border membranes (22.0 vs. 4.4 pmol/mg protein), respectively. Forty-eight percent of VIP binding to brush border membranes could be explained by cross contamination of these membranes with basolateral membranes. We examined the effect of VIP on Na-H antiporter, Na-dependent glucose uptake and Na-dependent phosphate uptake by isolated proximal tubule suspension. In acid loaded proximal tubules VIP (10 -6 M) inhibited total and amiloride-sensitive 22 Na uptake by 35 and 75%, respectively, as compared to control. On the other hand VIP failed to inhibit Na-dependent methyl α -14 C-glucopyranoside and Na-dependent 32 phosphate uptake. VIP failed to stimulate cyclic AMP generation by proximal tubule suspension while PTH snowed the expected stimulation. Our results demonstrate the presence of specific binding for VIP in highly purified cortical membranes and suggest an effect of VIP to inhibit the Na-H antiporter by a mechanism independent of cyclic AMP.
Titelbild: Angew. Chem. 10/2002

Das Titelbild zeigt Portraits von Otto Diels (links oben) und Kurt Alder zusammen mit der Original-Diels-Alder-Reaktion von Cyclopentadien mit p-Chinon. Zusatzlich sind die Diels-Alder-Reaktionen abgebildet, die Schlusselschritte der Totalsynthesen der Prostaglandine und von Taxol waren, wie sie von Corey et al. bzw. Nicolaou et al. durchgefuhrt wurden. Entworfen wurde das Titelbild von Robbin Echon und Scott Snyder, beide am Scripps Research Institut in La Jolla, Kalifornien. Dieses Jahr jahrt sich Alders Geburtstag zum hundertsten Mal – und dieses Datum wird an Alders Wirkungsstatte, der Universitat Koln, mit einem Symposium am 27. Mai gefeiert –, letztes Jahr ware Diels 125 Jahre alt geworden, und ins nachste Jahr fallt das 75. Jubilaum der ersten Publikation von Diels und Alder uber die Reaktion von 1,3-Dienen mit Olefinen. Die Diels-Alder-Reaktion, wie sie bald genannt wurde, zahlt sicherlich zu den allerwichtigsten Reaktionen der organischen Synthese, und es ist deshalb ein Glucksfall, dass E. J. Corey und K. C. Nicolaou et al. passende Ubersichtsartikel schrieben, die sich auf den Seiten 1724–1741 bzw. 1742–1773 finden.
Strength and fracture toughness of LSFCO membranes exposed to reducing conditions

Abstract LSFCO membranes with possible applications in gas separation and conversion have been evaluated for structural and mechanical properties. Hardness, strength and fracture toughness of the membranes decrease upon exposure to increasing reducing conditions. Decomposition and structural transitions in the perovskite contribute to the changes in membrane properties and fracture behavior.
Lanthanum Hexaboride Nanoobelisks

Single-crystalline lanthanum hexaboride nanoobelisks with rectangular cross-sections were synthesized via a metal-catalyzed chemical vapor deposition. The shapes of these nanostructures obtained were found to be influenced by the temperature growth zones and the precursor flux.
EXPRESSION OF GROUP I METABOTROPIC GLUTAMATE RECEPTORS ON PHENOTYPICALLY DIFFERENT CELLS WITHIN THE NUCLEUS OF THE SOLITARY TRACT IN THE RAT

Group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) are G-coupled receptors that modulate synaptic activity. Previous studies have shown that Group I mGluRs are present in the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), in which many visceral afferents terminate. Microinjection of selective Group I mGluR agonists into the NTS results in a depressor response and decrease in sympathetic nerve activity. There is, however, little evidence detailing which phenotypes of neurons within the NTS express Group I mGluRs. In brainstem slices, we performed immunohistochemical localization of Group I mGluRs and either glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 kDa isoform (GAD67), neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) or tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). Fluoro-Gold (FG, 2%; 15 nl) was microinjected in the caudal ventrolateral medulla (CVLM) of the rat to retrogradely label NTS neurons that project to CVLM. Group I mGluRs were distributed throughout the rostral-caudal extent of the NTS and were found within most NTS subregions. The relative percentages of Group I mGluR expressing neurons colabeled with the different markers were FG (6.9+/-0.7) nNOS (5.6+/-0.9), TH (3.9+/-1.0), and GAD67 (3.1+/-1.4). The percentage of FG containing cells colabeled with Group I mGluR (13.6+/-2.0) was greater than the percent colabeled with GAD67 (3.1+/-0.5), nNOS (4.7+/-0.5), and TH (0.1+/-0.08). Cells triple labeled for FG, nNOS, and Group I mGluRs were identified in the NTS. Thus, these data provide an anatomical substrate by which Group I mGluRs could modulate activity of CVLM projecting neurons in the NTS.
Formation of alkali labile linkages in DNA by hedamycin and use of hedamycin as a probe of protein-DNA complexes

Abstract Hedamycin forms a stable complex with DNA and introduces alkali labile linkages in the DNA. These labile linkages are located at deoxyguanosine residues and are cleaved by the treatment used for breakage at bases alkylated by dimethyl sulfate. The reaction of hedamycin with all G residues in the chain is not uniform, and certain positions, particularily those in TG tracts, are especially reactive. The reaction of hedamycin with DNA can be inhibited by ethidium bromide, suggesting that intercalation is important in positioning the reactive group of hedamycin near to the base which is modified. The low amount of hedamycin needed to produce observable breakage, its specificity for reaction with DNA and its ability to react with DNA under mild conditions make it suitable for use as a probe of protein-DNA complexes. This was shown by the ability of lac repressor and RNA polymerase to block reaction of hedamycin with the DNA of the lac regulatory region.
Ivies, extracurriculars, and exclusion: Elite employers’ use of educational credentials

Abstract Although a robust literature has demonstrated a positive relationship between education and socio-economic attainment, the processes through which formal schooling yields enhanced economic and social rewards remain less clear. Employers play a crucial role in explaining the returns to formal schooling yet little is known about how employers, particularly elite employers, use and interpret educational credentials. In this article, I analyze how elite professional service employers use and interpret educational credentials in real-life hiring decisions. I find that educational credentials were the most common criteria employers used to solicit and screen resumes. However, it was not the content of education that elite employers valued but rather its prestige. Contrary to common sociological measures of institutional prestige, employers privileged candidates who possessed a super-elite (e.g., top four) rather than selective university affiliation. They restricted competition to students with elite affiliations and attributed superior abilities to candidates who had been admitted to super-elite institutions, regardless of their actual performance once there. However, a super-elite university affiliation was insufficient on its own. Importing the logic of university admissions, firms performed a strong secondary screen on candidates’ extracurricular accomplishments, favoring high status, resource-intensive activities that resonated with white, upper-middle class culture. I discuss these findings in terms of the changing nature of educational credentialism to suggest that (a) extracurricular activities have become credentials of social and moral character that have monetary conversion value in labor markets and (b) the way employers use and interpret educational credentials contributes to a social closure of elite jobs based on socio-economic status.
Does performance status influence the outcome of Nd:YAG laser therapy of proximal esophageal tumors?

Abstract The value of endoscopic palliative therapy for malignant obstruction in the proximal esophagus has been questioned. To assess the importance of pre-treatment performance status on treatment outcome, we reviewed the records of patients with tumors of the proximal esophagus undergoing endoscopic laser therapy between January 1986 and December 1988. As compared with 10 patients having a good performance status, eight patients with a poor performance status had a lower frequency of obtaining complete functional relief of dysphagia (14% versus 71%), an increased rate of complications (50% versus 0%), and a shorter median survival time (24 days versus 161 days). We conclude that performance status should be considered in determining the appropriateness of laser therapy in patients with proximal esophageal cancer. (Gastrointest Endosc 1994;40:451-4)
Simultaneous diagonalization of matrices parametrized by a projective algebraic curve

Abstract If K is an algebraic function field in one variable over an algebraically closed field k, then conditions are presented to insure that a matrix A ∈ Mn(K) is diagonalizable by means of a similarity transformation T ∈ GL(n, k). This result generalizes results of Friedland [1] and Motzkin-Taussky [4].
Energy metabolism in infants with growth failure due to maternal deprivation, undernutrition, or causes unknown

Infants with growth failure and malnutrition were found to have an increase in postprandial heat production during the recovery phase. The magnitude of the increase showed a high degree of correlation with the rate of weight gain.
Reversible switching of interfacial interactions

The key to assembling and manipulating materials ranging in size from molecules to microns involves controlling how the materials interact with each other or with patterned substrates. The focus of this review involves recent work in which researchers are learning how to use materials such as self-assembled monolayers (SAMS) to reversibly program interfacial interactions using external stimuli including heat, light, and electric fields. Using such stimuli, it has been shown that intermolecular and surface forces including electrical double layer interactions, hydration forces, π-stacking interactions, and hydrophobic/hydrophilic behavior can be switched back and forth between discrete states. Such switching allows surfaces to be programmed to grab or release generic classes of materials or specific objects based on programmed molecular recognition. This review highlights strategies for developing and characterizing responsive interfaces, shows how such surfaces have been exploited in microfluidic systems, and explores the promise of switchable materials for creating responsive and adaptable materials in three dimensions.
Characterization of anti-F(ab')2 antibodies in SLE patients. Evidence for cross-reacting auto-anti-idiotypic antibodies.

Abstract In this study we have characterized anti-F(ab′)2 antibodies from SLE patients' sera which inhibit binding of antigen (125I-ss-DNA) to anti-ss-DNA antibodies from autologous patient serum, other SLE patients, mice, and ss-DNA-immunized rabbit sera. The SLE anti-F(ab′)2 antibodies did not block other antigen-antibody reactions, i.e., hepatitis surface antigen (HBsAg) with anti-HBsAg and phospholipase A with its antibody. Anti-F(ab′)2 antibodies isolated from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) sera did not block 125I-ss-DNA binding with anti-ss-DNA antibodies. Anti-F(ab′)2 antibodies in SLE appeared to contain cross-reacting, auto-anti-idiotypic antibodies directed against anti-DNA antibodies.
Insight into the Capacitive Performance of Sulfur-Doped Nanoporous Carbons Modified by Addition of Graphene Phase

The composites of nanoporous carbon and graphene were prepared by carbonization of mixed sulfonate-based polymers and graphite oxide. Addition of the graphene phase modified the texture and chemistry of the final products. The materials show high electrochemical capacity in spite of the relatively low surface area. The good performance is linked to the presence of sulfur in the small pores, which brings a positive charge on carbon atoms and thus increases the attraction to anions, to the sulfones, sulfoxides and quinones in larger pores, which undergo Faradaic reactions, and to the balanced content of oxygen groups, which provides the wettability.
One Thing Leads to Another: Credential Based Privilege Escalation

A user's primary email account, in addition to being an easy point of contact in our online world, is increasingly being used as a single point of failure for all web security. Features like unlimited message storage, numerous weak password reset features and economically enticing spoils (in the form of financial accounts or personal photos) all add up to an environment where overthrowing someone's life via their primary email account is increasingly likely and damaging. We describe an attack we call credential based privilege escalation, and a methodology to evaluate this attack's potential for user harm at web scale. In a study of over 9,000 users we find that, unsurprisingly, access to a vast number of online accounts can be gained by breaking into a user's primary email account (even without knowing the email account's password), but even then the monetizable value in a typical account is relatively low. We also describe future directions in understanding both the technical and human aspects of credential based privilege escalation.
Light-scattering intensity fluctuations in microdroplets containing inclusions

A prominent characteristic of the light scattered from a microparticle containing inclusions is a fluctuation in the intensity that is due to the changing positions of the inclusions with respect to each other and the host droplet. We calculate the magnitude of these fluctuations for a host sphere containing a single eccentrically located spherical inclusion and experimentally measure the fluctuation amplitudes for host spheres containing multiple inclusions. We find that, for sufficiently small single inclusions, the amplitude of the scattering fluctuations increases approximately linearly with the area of the inclusion. For multiple inclusions, the fluctuation amplitude increases with concentration with an approximate power-law dependence.
Evolutionary Patterns in the Sequence and Structure of Transfer RNA: A Window into Early Translation and the Genetic Code

Transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules play vital roles during protein synthesis. Their acceptor arms are aminoacylated with specific amino acid residues while their anticodons delimit codon specificity. The history of these two functions has been generally linked in evolutionary studies of the genetic code. However, these functions could have been differentially recruited as evolutionary signatures were left embedded in tRNA molecules. Here we built phylogenies derived from the sequence and structure of tRNA, we forced taxa into monophyletic groups using constraint analyses, tested competing evolutionary hypotheses, and generated timelines of amino acid charging and codon discovery. Charging of Sec, Tyr, Ser and Leu appeared ancient, while specificities related to Asn, Met, and Arg were derived. The timelines also uncovered an early role of the second and then first codon bases, identified codons for Ala and Pro as the most ancient, and revealed important evolutionary take-overs related to the loss of the long variable arm in tRNA. The lack of correlation between ancestries of amino acid charging and encoding indicated that the separate discoveries of these functions reflected independent histories of recruitment. These histories were probably curbed by co-options and important take-overs during early diversification of the living world.