cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The ion chemistry and thermochemistry of several trimethylsilyl compounds

Abstract The proton affinities of trimethylsilyl alcohol and several trimethylsilyl alkyl ethers have been determined by the bracketing technique in gas chromatography/chemical ionization mass spectrometry. Improvements have been made in this technique which increase the accuracy of the proton affinity measurements. Values of proton affinities obtained by the bracketing technique are in very good agreement with literature values. The protonated species of interest may be synthesized in the mass spectrometer; hence, proton affinities can be measured without having the compounds in question. The proton affinities of the Si-containing compounds are 0.5 kcal mol−1 larger than their carbon analogues. The proton affinity of (CH3)3SiOH is 194.2±0.4 kcal mol−1, in agreement with a recent estimate from an equilibrium measurement on triethylsilanol. From the proton affinities of the alkyl trimethylsilyl ethers and the previously reported dissociation energies for the protonated ethers, one can obtain an estimate of 141 kcal mol−1 for ΔH⦵f[(CH3)3Si+]. One can also estimate the heats of formation of the gaseous neutral trimethylsilyl alkyl ethers.
The annotation graph toolkit: software components for building linguistic annotation tools

Annotation graphs provide an efficient and expressive data model for linguistic annotations of time-series data. This paper reports progress on a complete software infrastructure supporting the rapid development of tools for transcribing and annotating time-series data. This general-purpose infrastructure uses annotation graphs as the underlying model, and allows developers to quickly create special-purpose annotation tools using common components. An application programming interface, an I/O library, and graphical user interfaces are described. Our experience has shown us that it is a straightforward task to create new special-purpose annotation tools based on this general-purpose infrastructure.
A longitudinal study of tobacco use among American Indian and Alaska Native tribal college students

American Indians (AI) have the highest smoking rates of any ethnic group in the US (40.8%), followed most closely by African Americans (24.3%) and European Americans (23.6%). AI smokers also have more difficulty quitting smoking compared to other ethnic groups, evidenced by their significantly lower quit ratios, and are among the least successful in maintaining long term abstinence. While health disparities like these have existed for years among AI, the epidemiology of smoking and nicotine dependence has not been optimally described among this underserved population. Our overarching hypothesis is that the susceptibility of AI to cigarette smoking and nicotine dependence and its consequences has both an underlying nicotine metabolism component as well as psychosocial, cultural, and environment causes. We are well-positioned to explore this issue for the first time in this population. Our objective is to establish a cohort of AI tribal college/university students to determine the predictors of smoking initiation (non-use to experimentation), progression (experimentation to established use), and cessation (established use to cessation). Much of what is known about the process of smoking initiation and progression comes from quantitative studies with non-Native populations. Information related to smoking use among AI tribal college/university (TCU) students is entirely unknown and critically needs further investigation. This study will be the first of its kind among AI college students who are at the highest risk among all ethnic groups for tobacco dependence. First year students at Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas will be recruited over four consecutive years and will be surveyed annually and repeatedly through year 5 of the study. We will use both longitudinal quantitative surveys and qualitative focus group methods to examine key measures and determinants of initiation and use among this high risk group.
Pharmacokinetics of intrapericardial administration of 5-fluorouracil

A 30-year-old patient with metastatic breast adenocarcinoma was diagnosed as having a malignant pericardial effusion. Methods: The patient was treated with two courses of 200 mg 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) followed by 20 mg cisplatin 5 h later directly infused into the pericardial space through a catheter. The drug levels of the 5-FU were monitored during the second treatment. The half-life of 5-FU in the pericardial space was 168.6 min with a concentration of 0.113 mg/ml still detected at 5 h. The area under the curve (AUC) was estimated to be 4.739 mg h/ml. The plasma concentrations of 5-FU ranged from 0.022 to 0.04 mg/ml throughout the infusion. Results: There was no significant change in the patient's blood counts or chemistry profile. She did not experience any side effects during the treatment. A pericardial window was performed 2 days later when balloon pericardiectomy was unsuccessful. The patient eventually succumbed to her disease 4 months later, but without evidence of pericardial effusion. Conclusions: We conclude that pericardial infusion of 5-FU allowed a high concentration of 5-FU to be achieved within the pericardial sac with a greatly increased half-life over that of systemic 5-FU treatment (168 min vs 6–20 min), and with little systemic toxicity.
Lymph protein patterns in the development of Locusta migratoria migratoroides

Abstract 1. 1. The ontogenesis of proteins in Locusta migratoria migratoroides from the egg to the mature adult has been studied by starch-gel electrophoresis. 2. 2. Approximately seventeen different protein fractions were detected. The egg pattern differs significantly from the nymphal stages which are all comparatively similar. This provide a striking contrast to holometabolous insects where the larval, pupal and imaginal stages display characteristic protein patterns. 3. 3. The fourth, fifth and sixth female instars appear to have a higher protein concentration than their male counterparts.
Epigenetics and environmental exposures

It is becoming increasingly apparent that genetic factors are inadequate to fully explain many processes that shape development and disease. For example, monozygotic twin pairs, despite sharing identical DNA sequences, are often discordant for many traits and diseases, indicating that the same genotype can give rise to distinct phenotypes. This points towards the involvement of additional factors that cannot be explained solely by the sequence of the genome. Epigenetic modifications, defined as heritable changes that do not alter the nucleotide sequence, emerge as key factors that regulate chromatin structure and gene expression and, together with genetic factors, provide the mechanistic basis to understand the biological effects of various classes of environmental exposures. Epigenetic mechanisms explain the ability of certain chemical compounds to initiate biological perturbations that can lead to malignancy, despite being weak mutagens or lacking mutagenic activity altogether-a view that challenges old beliefs and opens new avenues in public health. The field of epigenetics also explains the causal link between certain infectious diseases and cancer, a relationship that was first observed over a century ago and was initially discounted, then fell into oblivion and more recently re-emerged as an important concept in biology. A key feature that distinguishes epigenetic modifications from genetic changes is their reversible nature. This provides exciting prophylactic and therapeutic perspectives, some of which already materialised with the approval of the first drugs that modulate the epigenetic machinery, reinforcing the idea that our genes are not our destiny.
Aggregation-based detection of M. smegmatis using D-arabinose-functionalized fluorescent silica nanoparticles

Fluorescein-doped silica nanoparticles (FSNPs) functionalized with D-arabinose (Ara) showed strong interactions with Mycobacterium smegmatis (M. smegmatis) and caused the bacteria to aggregate. This aggregate formation was used as a means to detect M. smegmatis at the concentration of 104 CFU per mL.
Data structures and algorithms for disjoint set union problems

This paper surveys algorithmic techniques and data structures that have been proposed tosolve thesetunion problem and its variants, Thediscovery of these data structures required anew set ofalgorithmic tools that have proved useful in other areas. Special attention is devoted to recent extensions of the original set union problem, and an attempt is made to provide a unifying theoretical framework for this growing body of algorithms.
Low voltage-activated calcium channels in vascular smooth muscle: T-type channels and AVP-stimulated calcium spiking

An important path of extracellular calcium influx in vascular smooth muscle (VSM) cells is through voltage-activated Ca2+ channels of the plasma membrane. Both high (HVA)- and low (LVA)-voltage-act...
Fundamental Studies of Butane Oxidation over Model-Supported Vanadium Oxide Catalysts: Molecular Structure-Reactivity Relationships☆

Abstract The oxidation of n -butane to maleic anhydride wasinvestigated over a series of model-supported vanadia catalystswhere the vanadia phase was present as a two-dimensional metal oxideoverlayer on the different oxide supports (TiO 2 ,ZrO 2 , CeO 2 , Nb 2 O 5 ,Al 2 O 3 , and SiO 2 ). No correlationwas found between the properties of the terminal V=O bond and thebutane oxidation turnover frequency (TOF) during in situ Raman spectroscopy study.Furthermore, neither the n -butane oxidation TOF nor maleicanhydride selectivity was related to the extent of reduction of thesurface vanadia species. The n -butane oxidation TOF wasessentially independent of the surface vanadia coverage, suggestingthat the n -butane activation requires only one surfacevanadia site. The maleic anhydride TOF, however, increased by afactor of 2–3 as the surface vanadia coverage was increasedto monolayer coverage. The higher maleic anhydride TOF at nearmonolayer coverages suggests that a pair of adjacent vanadia sites mayefficiently oxidize n -butane to maleic anhydride, butother factors may also play a contributing role (increase in surfaceBronsted acidity and decrease in the number of exposed supportcation sites). Varying the specific oxide support changed the n -butane oxidation TOF by ca. 50(Ti > Ce > Zr ∼ Nb > Al > Si) as well as the maleic anhydrideselectivity. The maleic anhydride selectivity closely followed theLewis acid strength of the oxide support cations,Al > Nb > Ti > Si > Zr > Ce.The addition of acidic surfacemetal oxides (W, Nb, and P) to the surface vanadia layer was foundto have a beneficial effect on the n -butane oxidation TOF andthe maleic anhydride selectivity. The creation of bridgingV–O–P bonds had an especially positive effect on themaleic anhydride selectivity.
SQuad: Compact Representation for Triangle Meshes

The SQuad data structure represents the connectivity of a triangle mesh by its \S table" of about 2 rpt (integer references per triangle). Yet it allows for a simple implementation of expected constant-time, random-access operators for traversing the mesh, including in-order traversal of the triangles incident upon a vertex. SQuad is more compact than the Corner Table (CT), which stores 6 rpt, and than the recently proposed SOT, which stores 3 rpt. However, in-core access is generally faster in CT than in SQuad, and SQuad requires rebuilding the S table if the connectivity is altered. The storage reduction and memory coherence opportunities it oers may help to reduce the frequency of page faults and cache misses when accessing elements of a mesh that does not t in memory. We provide the details of a simple algorithm that builds the S table and of an optimized implementation of the SQuad operators.
Building, modifying and using component generators

The tools used to generate implementations from component descriptions are called component generators. The protocol considered supports call processing by controlling the set-up and take-down of connections carrying telephone calls. The exercises discussed investigate the use of component generators in the construction of the protocol handler and related components. The component descriptions and generic architectures developed in these exercises are built by composing reusable components and applying generative tools. The component generators use information obtained from the component descriptions to instantiate the generic architecture. In addition to providing a perspective on the approach to component generation, related work in knowledge-based software engineering is presented. These exercises are generalized, outlining a process for developing software which takes advantage of component generator technology and supports several forms of component composition. >
Bilateral Oophorectomy and the Risk of Incident Diabetes in Postmenopausal Women

OBJECTIVE Ovarian hormones regulate glucose uptake and insulin sensitivity. Despite the high frequency of surgical menopause, its relationship with diabetes has not been extensively investigated. We assessed the association between hysterectomy with or without bilateral oophorectomy (BSO) status, menopausal age, and reproductive life span with incident diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Data were from a cohort of 2,597 postmenopausal women enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I Epidemiologic Follow-up Study without diabetes mellitus at baseline. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to calculate adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs. RESULTS After a median follow-up time of 9.2 years, the incidence of diabetes (in cases per 1,000 person-years) was 7.4 for women with no hysterectomy or BSO, 8.2 for hysterectomy alone, and 8.5 for hysterectomy with BSO. Hysterectomy status was associated positively with diabetes (HR 1.66, 95% CI 1.23–2.23). However, the elevated risk was restricted to women with both hysterectomy and BSO after adjustment for relevant confounders (HR 1.57, 95% CI 1.03–2.41). An earlier age at menopause and a shorter reproductive life span also exhibited a linear relationship with the development of diabetes irrespective of type of menopause ( P for trend = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Women with hysterectomy concomitant with BSO may represent a unique population with elevated risk for diabetes and other chronic diseases. Therefore, the decision to remove the ovaries at the time of hysterectomy for benign conditions during the premenopausal years should be balanced with the risk of diabetes and its potential complications. Furthermore, the mechanism linking BSO to diabetes mellitus needs to be clarified.
Two-dimensional program design

One-dimensional design methods focus on one way of looking at data and control relationships in a design. Structured design concentrates on top-down, or vertical relationships. Data flow diagrams concentrate on horizontal relationships, in which the output from one computation flows to the next computation to be done. Two-dimensional design allows the simultaneous consideration of both the functional abstraction of vertical designs and the complex data sharing of horizontal designs through the use of functional and environmental models. The basic defects of one-dimensional approaches are described, followed by a description of a two-dimensional method. The method includes guidelines for transforming a one-dimensional design to a two-dimensional design.
AIDA-based real-time fault-tolerant broadcast disks

The proliferation of mobile computers and wireless networks requires the design of future distributed real-time applications to recognize and deal with the significant asymmetry between downstream and upstream communication capacities, and the significant disparity between server and client storage capacities. Zdonik et al. (1994) have proposed the use of broadcast disks as a scalable mechanism to deal with this problem. In this paper, we propose a new broadcast disks protocol, based on our Adaptive Information Dispersal Algorithm (AIDA). Our protocol is different from previous ones in that it improves both timeliness and fault tolerance, while allowing for a finer control of multiplexing of prioritized data. We start with a general introduction to broadcast disks. Next, we propose broadcast disk organizations that are suitable for real-time applications. Next, we present AIDA and show its fault-tolerance properties. We conclude with the description and analysis of AIDA-based broadcast disk organizations that achieve both timeliness and fault-tolerance, while preserving downstream communication capacity.
Women and the blogosphere: Exploring feminist approaches to sport

The notion of sports fandom is generally built on the ways men understand and relate to sport. In this research, we explore how women, who come together in an online place, define and understand sport with the goal of better understanding female fandom. Using Coakley’s ((2004) Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies. New York: McGraw-Hill) framework for conceptualizing sport and Lenskyj’s ((1994) Women, Sport, and Physical Activity: Selected Research Themes. Gloucester, ON, Canada: Sport Information Resource Centre for Sport Canada) feminist approaches to competition, we analyzed the profiles of women bloggers who write about sports in two online communities, BlogHer and Women Talk Sports, to examine their relationship to sport from a feminist perspective. The analysis suggests that women’s interest is predominantly reflected, not through consumption, but through participation. In addition, women in these networks complicated dominant ideologies about the role of sport as many of them considered parti...
Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase-derived NADPH fuels superoxide production in the failing heart.

In the failing heart, NADPH oxidase and uncoupled NO synthase utilize cytosolic NADPH to form superoxide. NADPH is supplied principally by the pentose phosphate pathway, whose rate-limiting enzyme is glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD). Therefore, we hypothesized that cardiac G6PD activation drives part of the excessive superoxide production implicated in the pathogenesis of heart failure. Pacing-induced heart failure was performed in eight chronically instrumented dogs. Seven normal dogs served as control. End-stage failure occurred after 28 ± 1 days of pacing, when left ventricular end-diastolic pressure reached 25 mm Hg. In left ventricular tissue homogenates, spontaneous superoxide generation measured by lucigenin (5 μM) chemiluminescence was markedly increased in heart failure (1338 ± 419 vs. 419 ± 102 AU/mg protein, P < 0.05), as were NADPH levels (15.4 ± 1.5 vs. 7.5 ± 1.5 μmol/gww, P < 0.05). Superoxide production was further stimulated by the addition of NADPH. The NADPH oxidase inhibitor gp91ds-tat (50 μM) and the NO synthase inhibitor l-NAME (1 mM) both significantly lowered superoxide generation in failing heart homogenates by 80% and 76%, respectively. G6PD was upregulated and its activity higher in heart failure compared to control (0.61 ± 0.10 vs. 0.24 ± 0.03 nmol/min/mg protein, P < 0.05), while superoxide production decreased to normal levels in the presence of the G6PD inhibitor 6-aminonicotinamide. We conclude that the activation of myocardial G6PD is a novel mechanism that enhances NADPH availability and fuels superoxide-generating enzymes in heart failure.
Fiber Optics Sensing of Stressing and Fracture in Cylindrical Structures

The SCARC (Simulated Carbon Ash Retention Cylinder) model is being developed to model rock stressing, and fracture development, when underground ground voids are backfilled with mine wastes. SCARC specimens are hollow tubes, cast with cementitious materials, and are filled with different blends of mine wastes, such as tailing and post-processed slurry. To monitor the strain history of the concrete cylinder, fiber optical sensors are wrapped around the tube exteriors. This distributed fiber optic layout consists of eight FBG strain gages in a single loop, permanently affixed to the SCARC cylinder. The fiber optic sensors monitor the material expansion characteristics of the initial filling stage of the waste material, and perpetually monitor the induced strain over a 24 h period. The initial experiment, of SCARC specimens, indicates that fiber optic sensors can successfully monitor, and accurately report, the strain history of the cylinder, as well as detect the fracture location within the cylinder, by the distributed sensor array. The results indicate the potential of fiber optics as embedded sensors for monitoring the backfilling of waste into abandoned mines, which is suggested as a mine stabilization technology.
Failure of MBNL1-dependent post-natal splicing transitions in myotonic dystrophy

In myotonic dystrophy (DM), expression of RNA containing expanded CUG or CCUG repeats leads to misregulated alternative splicing of pre-mRNA. The repeat-bearing transcripts accumulate in nuclear foci, together with proteins in the muscleblind family, MBNL1 and MBNL2. In transgenic mice that express expanded CUG repeats, we show that the splicing defect selectively targets a group of exons that share a common temporal pattern of developmental regulation. These exons undergo a synchronized splicing switch between post-natal day 2 and 20 in wild-type mice. During this post-natal interval, MBNL1 protein translocates from a predominantly cytoplasmic to nuclear distribution. In the absence of MBNL1, these physiological splicing transitions do not occur. The splicing defect induced by expanded CUG repeats in mature muscle fibers is closely reproduced by deficiency of MBNL1 but not by deficiency of MBNL2. A parallel situation exists in human DM type 1 and type 2. MBNL1 is depleted from the muscle nucleoplasm because of sequestration in nuclear foci, and the associated splicing defects are remarkably similar to those observed in MBNL1 knockout mice. These results indicate that MBNL1 participates in the post-natal remodeling of skeletal muscle by controlling a key set of developmentally regulated splicing switches. Sequestration of MBNL1, and failure to maintain these splicing transitions, has a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of muscle disease in DM.
Labeling of Drug and Biologic Products for Pediatric Use

Drugs and biological therapeutics are commonly prescribed to pediatric patients in the absence of adequate dosage and administration information in the product label. This paper describes issues surrounding labeling of drugs and biologics for pediatric use. It includes a discussion of why drugs and biologics should be labeled with pediatric use information, an update on the status of regulatory guidance for pediatric labeling, and a summary of recent steps taken by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to increase the number of therapeutic products that contain appropriate labeling for pediatric use.
Individual differences in faking integrity tests.

The present study assessed whether success at faking a commercially available integrity test relates to individual differences among the test takers. We administered the Reid Report, an overt integrity test, twice to a sample of college students with instructions to answer honestly on one administration and "fake good" on the other. These participants also completed a measure of general cognitive ability, the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices. Integrity test scores were 1.3 standard deviations higher in the faking condition (p .05: t=2.06, p<.05) for the difference between correlations. These results suggest that general cognitive ability is indeed an individual difference relevant to success at faking an overt integrity test.
SELECTIVE INFLUENCE OF VOLATILES PURGED FROM CONIFEROUS FOREST AND NURSERY SOILS ON MICROBES OF A NURSERY SOIL

Abstract Numerous genera of ectomycorrhizal fungi and other soil microbes produce volatile compounds in vitro . The consequence of in vivo volatile production by soil microorganisms is unknown largely due to difficulties in separating volatile effects from other microbially mediated effects. An apparatus which slowly purges volatiles from a “donor” test soil into a “receiver” soil was used to determine differential effects of volatiles from “donor” forest or nursery soils on Fusarium and other microbial populations of a “receiver” nursery soil. “Donor” soils were either treated or not with methyl bromide and aerated-steam, and were planted or not with Douglas-fir seedlings. “Donor” soil origin and tree presence significantly altered populations of several taxonomic and functional microbial groups in “receiver” nursery soils, demonstrating for the first time that soil volatiles selectively influence soil microbe populations in vivo . Though functional microbial group populations were differentially altered by volatiles from forest and nursery soils, the importance of this phenomenon in relation to Fusarium exclusion from coniferous forest soils is not readily determinable.
Muscle sympathetic nerve activity responses to dynamic passive muscle stretch in humans

It is suggested that mechanoreceptors in muscle play an important role in the exercise pressor reflex. However, it has not been verified whether isolated stimulation of the mechanoreceptors can induce responses in muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) in young healthy individuals. We tested the hypothesis that passive stretch of muscle can evoke an increase in MSNA in healthy individuals. In 12 young subjects, leg calf muscles were passively stretched, or actively contracted for 5 s followed by a 15–25 s (random length) relaxation period. Stretch and contraction were each repeated 25 times. MSNA, heart rate and blood pressure were analysed, and averaged according to the onset of the force on a beat-by-beat basis. At the 1st to the 3rd heart beat from the onset of stretch, MSNA (199 ± 30%, P < 0.05) as well as heart rate (102.5 ± 0.7%, P < 0.05) increased transiently but significantly from the prior stretch baseline (100%), followed (from 3rd to 7th beat from the onset of stretch) by a transient increase in mean blood pressure (101.9 ± 0.3%, P < 0.05) from the baseline. Similar response patterns were observed during active muscle contractions. The present data show that MSNA responses to isolated stimulation of mechanoreceptors are measurable. Because of baroreflex engagement, the magnitude of the response is small and transient, and the haemodynamic consequences using this protocol may be limited.
Uncovering Student Ownership in Science Learning: The Making of a Student Created Mini‐Documentary

An important challenge in urban science education is finding ways to engage all students in the learning of science. However, research in this area has consistenly shown that around middle school student engagement in science wanes. Using critical ethnographic methods this study reveals how students cultivate a sense of ownership in an informal science video project. Student ownership of what they they learn plays an important role in how they engage in the learning environment. In this study ownership is characterized by five themes, and the notion of student ownership science is challenged as an outcome. Ownership is defined as a complex, multifaceted process that captures the relationships that students build between themselves, as youth and as learners, with science as the subject they aspire to participate in and with the context in which that participation takes place.
RANKL induces heterogeneous DC-STAMPlo and DC-STAMPhi osteoclast precursors of which the DC-STAMPlo precursors are the master fusogens

Osteoclasts (OC) are multinucleated bone resorbing cells that form via RANKL-induced fusion of heterogeneous mononuclear OC precursors (OCP). Currently, there are no unique surface markers to distinguish these OCP populations, which are diagnostic for erosive and metabolic bone diseases using culture assays. Thus, we investigated expression of DC-STAMP, a surface receptor required for OCP fusion, during osteoclastogenesis in vitro using a novel monoclonal antibody (1A2). Immunoprecipitation-Western blot analysis of OCP membrane proteins detected 106 kDa dimeric and 53 kDa monomeric DC-STAMP in non-denaturing and denaturing conditions, respectively, with greater sensitivity versus rabbit anti-sera (KR104). 1A2 also detected 99.9% of undifferentiated monocytes as a single population by flow cytometry with a MFI 100-fold over background, while KR104 was not useful in this assay. Functionally, 1A2 inhibited OCP fusion in vitro. RANKL stimulation of OCP induced DC-STAMP(lo) and DC-STAMP(hi) cells, which mature into OC and mononuclear cells respectively as determined by fluorescent microscopy and TRAP assays. Addition of DC-STAMP(hi) cells to purified DC-STAMP(lo) cultures produced larger, more nucleated OC vs. pure DC-STAMP(lo) cultures. RT-qPCR analysis of these two populations showed that OC markers (Trap and Oc-stamp) and fusogenic gene expression (Cd9 and Cd47), were significantly increased in DC-STAMP(lo) vs. DC-STAMP(hi) cells. Collectively, these results demonstrate that DC-STAMP is expressed on OCP as a dimer, which is efficiently detected by 1A2 via flow cytometry. RANKL induces osteoclastogenesis by stimulating DC-STAMP internalization in some OCP, and these DC-STAMP(lo) cells display the "master fusogen" phenotype. In contrast, DC-STAMP(hi) OCP can only act as mononuclear donors.
Ecological polarities of mid-Cenozoic fossil plants and animals from central Oregon

Abstract Ecological polarities are theoretical roles of organisms, reflected in evolved behaviors and characters. Ecological polarity includes what has been called life history strategies, functional types, habitat templates, and r and K selection. Three common ecological polarities emphasize reproduction, agonistic behavior, and withstanding harsh conditions. Such organisms can be called breeders, competitors, and tolerators, respectively. Polarities of ecospace can be envisaged graphically as apices of a triangular diagram within which each species occupies a particular region. Quantitative studies of ecological polarities rely on proxy measurements of specific morphological features, such as the proportional functional area of canines (for competitors), molars (for tolerators), and incisors (for breeders) among mammals. Such proxy measures of morphospace or chemospace are traditionally judged successful by the degree to which they reveal adaptive differences between species. This approach to approximat...
GP kernels for cross-spectrum analysis

Multi-output Gaussian processes provide a convenient framework for multi-task problems. An illustrative and motivating example of a multi-task problem is multi-region electrophysiological time-series data, where experimentalists are interested in both power and phase coherence between channels. Recently, Wilson and Adams (2013) proposed the spectral mixture (SM) kernel to model the spectral density of a single task in a Gaussian process framework. In this paper, we develop a novel covariance kernel for multiple outputs, called the cross-spectral mixture (CSM) kernel. This new, flexible kernel represents both the power and phase relationship between multiple observation channels. We demonstrate the expressive capabilities of the CSM kernel through implementation of a Bayesian hidden Markov model, where the emission distribution is a multi-output Gaussian process with a CSM covariance kernel. Results are presented for measured multi-region electrophysiological data.
Human neutral endopeptidase 24.11 (NEP, enkephalinase); function, distribution and release.

Neutral endopeptidase 24.11 (NEP), although discovered in 1974 (1), received much attention recently because of its very wide distribution and many potential functions in the body (2). NEP is also known as enkephalinase (3). This name wrongfully indicates that it only cleaves enkephalins, whereas it actually hydrolyzes a variety of vaso- and CNS-active peptides (2-7). NEP, a metalloendopeptidase, was first detected in the brush border of animal kidney by Kerr and Kenny (1), who used the B-chain of insulin as substrate. The name “enkephalinase” was given later to an enzyme present in brain which cleaved enkephalins at the same bond as the angiotensin I converting enzyme (kininase II or ACE) (8). Schwartz et al (3) suggested that this “enkephalinase” was a second peptidyl dipeptidase present in the striatum of mouse brain. Because the Km of enkephalins with the latter enzyme was lower than with ACE, the second peptidyl dipeptidase was named the true “enkephalinase”. Both enzymes are membranebound and contain zinc as a cofactor, but human NEP is not a second peptidyl dipeptidase. It differs from ACE in its substrate specificity; for example, it releases a tetrapeptide from angiotensin II and inactivates angiotensin I by cleaving the C-terminal tripieptide instead of activating it as ACE does by releasing His-Leu (4,7). It does not crossreact with antiserum to human ACE (9), and is inhibited by phosphoramidon and thiorphan (2,5) but not by captopril or enalapril. Human NEP can be classified as a thermolysin-type metalloendopeptidase (2,10,11).
Abstract 3591: The role of T-cell protein tyrosine phosphatase (TC-PTP) in UVB-induced epidermal cell proliferation and survival.

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is the primary cause of human skin cancer. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) is one of the key regulators of epidermal cell survival and proliferation during the development of UV-induced skin cancer. We have previously shown that T-cell protein tyrosine phosphatase (TC-PTP) contributes to the rapid dephosphorylation /deactivation of Stat3 in response to UVB irradiation in keratinocytes. In the current work, we investigated the functional role of TC-PTP in keratinocyte survival and proliferation following UVB exposure. Knockdown of TC-PTP in mouse keratinocytes using siRNA significantly reduced apoptosis following UVB irradiation in comparison with control keratinocytes as evidenced by the decreased levels of activated caspase-3 and PARP cleavage. This reduction corresponded with an increased level of phososphorylated Stat3 in TC-PTP-deficient keratinocytes. Knockdown of TC-PTP in keratinocytes also significantly increased cell proliferation following UVB irradiation compared with control keratinocytes. Similar with these results, overexpression of TC-PTP in keratinocytes significantly increased apoptosis and decreased cell proliferation in response to UVB irradiation compared with control keratinocytes, which corresponded with a decreased level of phosphorylated Stat3. Further studies using TC-PTP-deficient keratinocyte cell lines showed that cell viability was increased in TC-PTP-deficient cells following UVB irradiation. Treatment of TC-PTP-deficient keratinocytes with specific Stat3 inhibitor, STA21 significantly reduced cell viability, upon UVB exposure in comparison with untreated TC-PTP-deficient keratinocytes, which suggests that the effect of TC-PTP on cell viability is mediated by Stat3 dephosphorylation. Combined, our results indicated that TC-PTP plays an important role in the regulation of keratinocyte proliferation and survival after UVB exposure via modulation of Stat3 signaling. Furthermore, these results suggest that TC-PTP may be a novel potential target for the prevention of UVB-induced skin cancer. Citation Format: Young S. Lee, Jun W. Shin, Liza D. Morales, Thomas J. Slaga, Dae J. Kim. The role of T-cell protein tyrosine phosphatase (TC-PTP) in UVB-induced epidermal cell proliferation and survival. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3591. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-3591
Structure-function relationships of gonadotropins.

Publisher Summary The gonadotropins, luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) of pituitary origin, and chorionic gonadotropin (hCG, eCG) of placental origin, along with thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) constitute a family of glycoprotein hormones. The α-subunit is common to all of the hormones and shows considerable homology from one species to another. The β-subunits are unique for LH, FSH, and TSH. The s-subunits of hLH and hCG are highly homologous (85%) through the first 114 residues, but hCG β differs in that it has a C-terminus extension rich in serine and proline. This offers a chemical basis for their common biological activities. Baboon chorionic gonadotropin, and eLH and chorionic gonadotropin s-subunits also have C-terminal extensions. The glycoprotein hormone s-subunits also show regions of homology between themselves and among different species. A wide range of chemical and enzymatic modifications have been employed in efforts to define residues and sequences in the s-subunits that may be essential for receptor binding. In general, chemical modifications of reactive amino acids appear to be more tolerated in the s- than in the α-subunits.
Ultrasonic assessment of fetal response to second-trimester amniocentesis

Twenty-three patients undergoing second-trimester amniocentesis were ultrasonically monitored for 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after the amniocentesis. Fetal movements were recorded as movements of limbs, trunk, or combined limb-trunk movements. Fetal heart rates were determined at ten-minute intervals before and after the amniocentesis. No significant increase in total fetal movements, limb movements, trunk movements, or heart rate were found. A significant increase in combined fetal movements was observed. The authors conclude that amniocentesis in the second trimester elicits a change in fetal movement pattern.
Tailoring A Decomposition Method To A Large Forest Management Scheduling Problem In Northern Ontario.

AbstractA forest planning problem with multiple market locations and multiple products is formulated for a 3,166,000 ha forested region in northern Ontario. The resulting linear programming model is extremely large, with millions of decision variables and tens of thousands of constraints. A modelling method proposed by Hoganson and Rose (1984) was extended and applied successfully for eight model formulations. Optimal, near-feasible solutions were consistently produced in 200 to 300 iterations. Results showed definite, interpretable, patterns in the values of key dual variables that correspond to harvest level constraints in the primal LP and that tie the forest planning problem together.
Ocular herpesvirus infections.

BACKGROUND More than 50 herpesviruses have been discovered and, of these, humans are the only natural hosts for seven. Human herpesvirus infections are widespread and are a common cause of ocular pathology involving the anterior and/or posterior segment of the eye. Eye infection can occur during the primary infection or may be due to reactivation of the virus from a latent state and may be relatively mild or may be severe and threaten the health of the globe. CONCLUSIONS Given the prevalence and importance of herpesvirus infection, this paper reviews the biological aspects as well as the systemic and ocular manifestations of these infections.
Bronchoscopy and Bronchoalveolar Lavage in Pediatric Patients

Abstract Bronchoscopy is a powerful (and often underutilized) tool for the diagnosis and management of airway and pulmonary problems in infants and children. Both rigid and flexible instruments are available for diagnostic and/or therapeutic bronchoscopic procedures; each has special advantages and limitations, and in many patients, the use of both modalities may enable more effective and accurate assessment/treatment. This chapter reviews the instrumentation, indications, and techniques for bronchoscopy and for bronchoalveolar lavage, as well as anesthetic and airway management considerations. Special techniques for diagnostic and therapeutic interventions are reviewed. Bronchoscopy in children is not considered to be a high risk procedure, but it must be done carefully and thoughtfully, as the most serious complication, other than death of the patient, is cognitive—to have done the procedure and obtained the wrong answer.
Exploiting tradeoffs for exact recovery in heterogeneous stochastic block models

The Stochastic Block Model (SBM) is a widely used random graph model for networks with communities. Despite the recent burst of interest in community detection under the SBM from statistical and computational points of view, there are still gaps in understanding the fundamental limits of recovery. In this paper, we consider the SBM in its full generality, where there is no restriction on the number and sizes of communities or how they grow with the number of nodes, as well as on the connectivity probabilities inside or across communities. For such stochastic block models, we provide guarantees for exact recovery via a semidefinite program as well as upper and lower bounds on SBM parameters for exact recoverability. Our results exploit the tradeoffs among the various parameters of heterogenous SBM and provide recovery guarantees for many new interesting SBM configurations.
Longitudinal evaluation of language impairment in youth with perinatally acquired human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and youth with perinatal HIV Exposure

BACKGROUND Language impairment (LI) risk is increased for perinatally acquired human immunodeficiency virus-infected (PHIV) and perinatally exposed to HIV but uninfected (PHEU) youth. This study evaluates the persistence of LI in these groups. METHODS The Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals was repeated on participants of the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study Adolescent Master Protocol 18 months postbaseline. Regression models identified factors associated with change in standardized score (SC) and the resolution or development of LI. RESULTS Of 319 participants, 112 had LI at baseline. Upon re-evaluation, SCs were highly stable and changes were similar in PHIV (n = 212) and PHEU (n = 107) participants. Those with family history of language delays had a 2.39 point lower mean increase in SCs than those without, after controlling for demographic and socioeconomic factors and baseline LI status. Among PHIV participants, CD4 count <350 cells/mm3 was associated with lower mean SC change (4.32 points), and exposure to combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) or protease inhibitors (PIs) was associated with a higher mean SC change (5.93 and 4.19 points, respectively). Initial LI was persistent in most cases (78%); 20 new cases occurred (10%). Female sex was associated with higher odds of LI resolution. Among PHIV, duration and baseline cART and history of PI use were associated with LI resolution; higher percentage of detectable viral loads before baseline was associated with lower odds of resolution. CONCLUSIONS The PHIV and PHEU youth are at risk for persistent LI, and family history of language delays was a risk factor for persistence of problems. Measures of successful HIV treatment predicted more favorable outcomes among PHIV youth.
Moisture effect on fluidization behavior of loblolly pine Wood grinds

The impact of moisture content (MC of 8 to 27 % wet basis) on physical properties (particle size distribution, average size using Feret, chord, Martins, surface-volume, and area diameter measurement schemes, bulk density, and particle density), fluidization behavior, and minimum fluidization velocities (U mf) of loblolly pine wood grinds were studied. A new correlation for predicting the U mf of loblolly pine wood grinds at different moisture contents was also developed. Results showed that bulk density, particle density, and porosity of grinds were significantly affected by increase in MC (p < 0.05). Diameter of the grinds measured using Feret measurement scheme was consistently the highest while those measured by surface-volume scheme were consistently the lowest with the measured Feret-based diameter about three times the surface-volume based diameters. Particle size data showed that variations in sizes of particle within a sample reduced with increase in MC (coefficient of variation value was 90 at 8.45 % MC and 40 at 27.02 % MC). Generally, as MC increased, the minimum fluidization velocity values increased. The minimum fluidization velocity (Umf) was found to be 0.2 m/s for 8 % MC, 0.24 m/s at 14.86 % MC, 0.28 m/s at 19.86 % MC, and 0.32 m/s for 27.02 % MC. The correlation developed predicted the experimental data with mean relative deviation that was less than 10 %.
College and the Working Class

In 2007, Peter Sacks published Tearing Down the Gates: Confronting the Class Divide in American Education. The book tells the story of “several young people born into different sides of America’s class divide and how their educational opportunities are being shaped by their class status more than ever.” More than ever? How can this be? Every year we are bombarded with statistics about the increasing number of young people entering college.
EBV-negative aggressive NK-cell leukemia/lymphoma: a clinical and pathological study from a single institution

Aggressive natural killer (NK)-cell leukemia/lymphoma is a systemic NK-cell neoplasm that preferentially affects Asians with a fulminant clinical course and is almost always associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). The data on EBV-negative aggressive NK-cell leukemia/lymphoma are limited. Here we report a series of three patients (two Caucasians, one African-American) with EBV-negative aggressive NK-cell leukemia/lymphoma from a single institution, including a case diagnosed on post-mortem examination. Similar to EBV-positive aggressive NK-cell leukemia/lymphoma, our patients presented with constitutional symptoms and hepatosplenomegaly, and followed a highly aggressive clinical course. The disease involved peripheral blood, bone marrow, liver, spleen, and lymph node, and the neoplastic cells were pleomorphic with prominent azurophilic granules and demonstrated an atypical NK-cell phenotype. Lack of blood lymphocytosis (3 of 3), bone marrow interstitial infiltration (2 of 3), EBER negativity (3 of 3), and atypical phenotype including CD3 negativity by immunohistochemistry make an early recognition of the disease difficult. Ancillary studies revealed a complex karyotype (1 of 2), overexpression (3 of 3), and amplification (1 of 1) of c-MYC. The polycomb repressive complex 2 pathway-associated proteins EZH2 and H3K27me3 and immune checkpoint protein PD-L1 were overexpressed in three of three and two of three cases, respectively. Our findings indicate that the EBV-negative aggressive NK-cell leukemia/lymphoma shares similar clinicopathological features to the EBV-positive counterpart except for the high prevalence of Asian seen in EBV-positive cases. Overexpression of polycomb repressive complex 2 pathway-associated proteins and PD-L1 suggest potential therapeutic targets for this aggressive disease. Next-generation sequencing on two of three cases identified multiple genetic alterations but were negative for JAK-STAT pathway-associated gene mutations previously reported in EBV-positive NK/T-cell lymphoma, suggesting alternative molecular pathogenic mechanisms for EBV-negative aggressive NK-cell leukemia/lymphoma.
Pros and Cons of Ectopic IPP Reservoir Placement

The study’s purpose was to assess recent findings for the pros and cons of ectopic reservoir placement in the field of penile prostheses. Recent studies have demonstrated that ectopic reservoir placement is safe and durable when compared to traditional space of Retzius placement. It has also shown marked acceptance among polled implanters. The risk of deep pelvic complications after both placement and removal of ectopic reservoirs appears to be negligible when performed by experienced implanters, even in men who have had major pelvic surgery. The theoretical concerns relating to reservoir palpability and herniation have not been demonstrated in ongoing studies. Ectopic placement of penile prosthesis reservoirs is emerging as the main stream technique of contemporary prosthetic urology practices.