cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Platelet-derived growth factor-BB pretreatment attenuates excitotoxic death in cultured hippocampal neurons

Neuronal excitotoxic death results from excess stimulation by elevated levels of extracellular glutamate acting on N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors. While excitotoxicity is typically attenuated by using glutamate receptor antagonists, we report here that neuronal deaths induced directly by brief exposures to glutamate or NMDA were both attenuated by preincubation with platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB). The neuroprotection was concentration and time dependent; preincubation for at least 24 h with a minimum of 10 ng/mL of PDGF-BB was required for maximal neuroprotective effect. The NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801 also afforded partial protection, and when MK-801 was used with PDGF-BB, neuronal survival was comparable to that of untreated controls. When protection of inhibitory and excitatory neurons by PDGF treatment was compared, the excitatory neurons appeared to be selectively protected. The present results demonstrate that PDGF pretreatment can protect neurons from direct glutamate-induced excitotoxicity in vitro and suggests that PDGF might possibly function as a neuroprotective agent in potential therapeutic applications.
Human resources management within the process management in small and medium-sized enterprises

Sector of small and medium-sized enterprises is regarded as the backbone of the economy and a driving force of innovation, employment and social integration. Development of the sector of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Czech Republic has a substantial impact on economic and social development of the country and its various regions. This article deals with the human resources management in small and medium-sized enterprises, because it is more than obvious recently that the prosperity of the organization is depended on human resources and management of them can determine not only whether the organizations succeed, but whether it will be able to survive in turbulent conditions in the present world. The main aim of this paper is to analytical describe the monitoring the process of human resources management in selected categories of enterprises by business activity and number of employees including statistical analysis of causal effects. Further to analytical describe the evaluation the process of human resources management and indicators of this process, which are monitored by small and medium-sized enterprises. To achieve this aim were used selected primary data collected in the project GAJU 068/2010/S titled "Process management and its possible implementation in small and medium-sized enterprises".
A fixed-rate vector quantizer based on pyramid-bounded integer lattices for image compression

Proposes a low-complexity fixed-rate vector quantizer for DCT transformed images based on the packing of scalar quantized DCT coefficients into pyramid-bounded integer lattices. A closed form expression for the size of pyramid-bounded integer lattices is derived and a method of bit-rate allocation to the various coefficients is described. The proposed scheme is simple and has performed well for various bit rates. >
Poverty and Disequalization

We study the intergenerational transmission of inequality using a model in which parents can make both financial and occupational bequests to their children. An equal steady state with high per capita skill can co-exist with unequal steady states with low per capita skill. We investigate dynamics starting from arbitrary initial conditions. The main result is that even if a country starts with a perfectly equal wealth distribution, it converges to an unequal steady state if its initial per capita wealth falls below a threshold, and to the equal steady state otherwise. Hence initial poverty (even with perfect equality) can generate long-term inequality, and undermine economic development.
Celiac Disease Psychological, Developmental, and Family Counseling Issues

Celiac disease (CD) is a lifelong inherited autoimmune disease triggered by gluten, a component of many foods and household items, which affects 1% of the population. Despite numerous symptoms of C...
Evaluation of intervention strategies for idiopathic diarrhea in commercial turkey brooding houses.

SUMMARY In 3 separate commercial turkey brooder houses, we compared the effects of selected probiotic bacteria or antibiotics on performance of poults within a complex that was routinely experiencing mild idiopathic diarrhea and stunting. In all experiments, treatments of probiotic cultures or antibiotics were administered in the water. Poults were tagged and placed into individual pens (20 per pen, 4 replicate pens per treatment) within the brooding house, and performance was evaluated by body weight or body weight gain. In the first experiment, poults receiving 1 of 2 probiotic cultures weighed significantly more than nontreated or antibiotic-treated poults. In the second experiment, there were no significant differences among any of the groups. A third experiment was performed during a clinically significant Salmonella seftenburg infection. In this experiment, poults receiving antibiotics followed by a probiotic culture had significantly higher weight gain than nontreated or probiotic-treated poults.
Figure of Merit Training for Detection and Spotting

Spotting tasks require detection of target patterns from a background of richly varied non-target inputs. The performance measure of interest for these tasks, called the figure of merit (FOM), is the detection rate for target patterns when the false alarm rate is in an acceptable range. A new approach to training spotters is presented which computes the FOM gradient for each input pattern and then directly maximizes the FOM using backpropagation. This eliminates the need for thresholds during training. It also uses network resources to model Bayesian a posteriori probability functions accurately only for patterns which have a significant effect on the detection accuracy over the false alarm rate of interest. FOM training increased detection accuracy by 5 percentage points for a hybrid radial basis function (RBF) - hidden Markov model (HMM) wordspotter on the credit-card speech corpus.
Be Still, My Beating Heart Never!

This article is the introduction of a new thematic series on Mechanisms of Pacemaking in the Heart , which includes the following articles: Be Still, My Beating Heart—Never! Development of the Pacemaker Tissues of the Heart [2010;106:240–254] Mapping Cardiac Pacemaker Circuits: Methodological Puzzles of the Sinoatrial Node Optical Mapping [2010;106:255–271] The Role of the Funny Current in Pacemaker Activity Ca2+ Cycling in the Mechanism of Pacemaking Cardiac Pacemaking: Historical Overview and Future Directions Denis Noble Guest Editor and Brian O'Rourke Editor For me, it takes only a short bout of insomnia to trigger an acute awareness and reflection on the pacemaker mechanisms of the heart. In my quiet wakefulness, attempting to suppress vexing thoughts of grant deadlines, perplexing experimental results, or various other items, I often focus on counting heartbeats rather than sheep. How can the …
Evaluating and classifying pharmacists’ quality interventions in the emergency department

Purpose The results of an evaluation of the impact of pharmacists’ medication-related interventions on quality of care in the emergency department (ED) setting are reported. Methods Using data from a previously published observational study of medication errors intercepted by ED pharmacists at four academic medical centers, trained reviewers retrospectively analyzed 130 additional pharmacist interventions (those not categorized as medication errors in the primary study) over a specified four-month period to identify “quality interventions” (QIs), defined as those that (1) prevented misuse, underuse, or overuse of medications or (2) improved adherence to quality standards or evidence-based medicine (EBM) standards. The study included an evaluation of the medication classes associated with QIs and the acceptance of pharmacist-recommended QIs. Results The reviewers identified a total of 91 pharmacist QIs at the four sites during the study period (2.3 QIs per 100 patients or about 1 QI per 100 medication orders). About 45% of the identified QIs improved adherence with EBM or national quality standards; other QIs prevented medication underuse (34%), misuse (14%), or overuse (6%). Pharmacists’ QIs most often pertained to antiinfective agents (39%), cardiovascular agents (13%), and anticoagulants and thrombolytics (12%). The overall rate of acceptance of pharmacists’ QIs was 93.4%. Conclusion A secondary analysis of data from a previously published study at four medical centers indicated that ED pharmacists often recommend interventions that improve the quality of medication use and adherence to EBM and national quality standards.
Technical Adversarialism and Participatory Collaboration in the U.S. Chemical Weapons Disposal Program

There has been a great deal of theoretical discussion about the merits and faults of greater public involvement in technology policy decisions but comparatively less case-based empirical consideration. This article assesses the theoretical and practical implications of two decision styles—technical adversarialism and participatory collaboration—in decision making on the U.S. Chemical Weapons Disposal Program. This case is useful in that it allows for a longitudinal assessment of these two distinct decision approaches applied to the same policy issue and provides an opportunity to evaluate the differential outcomes produced by each. In addition, the high degree of technical complexity and risk involved offers insight into the role lay citizens can play in even the most complicated technical decisions. Comparing the practical consequences of both decision-making approaches suggests that increasing collaboration among citizens and experts can produce decisions that are both politically viable and technically...
Maternal effects of carotenoid supplementation in an ornamented cichlid fish

Summary Carotenoid-ornamented animals may transfer dietary carotenoid pigments to offspring as well as to their ornament and other competing physiological demands. If carotenoid supplementation increases offspring growth or survival, females should preferentially allocate supplemental carotenoids to offspring rather than ornamentation. We tested whether ornamented convict cichlid (Amatitlania siquia) mothers increase carotenoid allocation to eggs with access to dietary carotenoid supplementation, and whether beneficial maternal effects of carotenoid supplementation were transferred to offspring. Maternal effects of carotenoid supplementation were found; offspring from mothers that ate carotenoids benefited in terms of growth and survival parameters compared with offspring from non-supplemented mothers. Contrary to predictions, maternal coloration was not sacrificed for fecundity: mothers maintained their coloration and integument carotenoids even though increased carotenoids in the maternal diet benefited the offspring. Furthermore, carotenoid supplementation did not increase the carotenoids deposited in eggs. This work is the first to show that indirect maternal effects of carotenoid supplementation increased the survival and growth of offspring. Indirect benefits may reduce the cost of carotenoid allocation to offspring, but the mechanism for how carotenoids support offspring development is still unknown.
Economic forces and the stock market: An international perspective

At the heart of any asset pricing theory is the view that a few pervasive factors are the dominant source of covariation among asset returns. While the existence of such systematic state variables is implied by comovements of asset prices, the theoretical asset pricing models do not (and perhaps cannot) provide an identity of these exogeneous economic forces. In light of this, empirical studies of factorbased asset pricing models have followed two distinct strategies. Fist, they employ factor analysis (Roll and Ross [ 141) which implicitly measures unobservable common factors. The focus here is on systematic risk exposures of individual securities or factor loadings. Unfortunately, due to the rotation problem inherent in factor loadings, the nature of pricing factors cannot be identified with this approach. Second, they specify a priori common factors which are measured by macroeconomic or financial data. Chen-Roll-Ross (CRR) [5] posit that five economic and non-equity financial variables-industrial production, unanticipated inflation, changes in anticipated inflation, twist in the yield curve, and changes in the risk premium-are plausible sources of common variation among equity
The Pantothenic Acid Requirement of Poults for Early Growth

Abstract A HEATED diet which was satisfactory for pantothenic acid deficiency studies with chicks proved unsatisfactory for similar studies with poults, since even when it was supplemented with pantothenic acid, poor growth and high mortality results (Jukes 1938). Later results confirmed the inadequacy of the heated diet for poults, but experiments with an extracted type of ration indicated that the poult requirement of the vitamin for growth was definitely greater than that of chicks (Lepkovsky et al. 1945). A series of experiments with a modified heated ration was conducted to study deficiencies in the heated diet and to determine more accurately the level of pantothenic acid required for early growth of poults. EXPERIMENTAL In an attempt to formulate a basal ration which would produce a pantothenic acid deficiency in poults and would give satisfactory growth when supplemented with pantothenic acid, some exploratory experiments were conducted. In one trial the heated diet . . .
Eye Tracking on Visualizations: Progressive Extraction of Scanning Strategies

Eye tracking methods can be used to help understand what people think about as they search for or compare visual information, such as data displayed in graphs, charts, and other visualizations. This chapter, intended for the visualization researcher who is new to eye tracking, focuses on decision making during data analysis. It steps through the progressive data abstraction that is required during analysis, describing both resources needed and results found. Examples are taken from a study that presented two graph types (linear, radial) in three styles (bar, line, area) to 32 participants. Tasks comprised comparisons between two data series on each graph, across 1–8 categorical dimensions. Analysis proceeded from creating visualizations (Level 0), to statistical factor effects (Level 1), to adding Areas of Interest (Level 2), to comparing scanning sequences (Level 3). Objective, metric-based analysis is advocated throughout, but deeper analyses (Level 3) can be tedious and resource-demanding. Research and new product needs are highlighted.
Contribution of major bacterial groups to bacterial biomass production (thymidine and leucine incorporation) in the Delaware estuary

Assimilation of 3HH-thymidine and 3HH-leucine was examined at the single-cell level using a combination of microautoradiography and fluorescent in situ hybridization (Micro-FISH) to determine the contribution of various bacterial groups to bacterial production in aquatic systems. All of the major phylogenetic groups of bacteria examined along the salinity gradient of the Delaware estuary, including alpha-, beta-, and gamma-proteobacteria and Cytophaga-like bacteria, assimilated 3H-thymidine and 3H-leucine. However, groups differed substantially in their contribution to the assimilation of these compounds. Alpha-proteobacteria were the dominant substrate-active bacteria at salinities of .9 PSU, whereas beta-proteobacteria were more important in freshwater. At all salinities, Cytophaga-like bacteria comprised the second most important group, and gamma-proteobacteria were overall the least important. Bacterial abundance explained about half of the variation in 3H-thymidine and 3H-leucine assimilation by the major bacterial groups. The sizes of silver grains of active bacteria indicate no difference in singlecell activity for the bacterial groups, suggesting that the average growth rates of the groups we examined were similar. However, activity per cell was distributed differently in the phylogenetic groups. Our study suggests that estimates of bacterial production measured using 3H-thymidine and 3H-leucine include bacteria in all of the major phylogenetic groups found in aquatic systems and that growth rates within bacterial groups vary substantially.
LATE SEQUELAE OF MAJOR TRAUMA IN CHILDREN

Traumatic injuries represent the most important threat to the health of children in the United States, and are the leading cause of death after the first year of life (Table 1). 21 These injured children account for one half to two thirds of all pediatric ambulance calls nationwide, one fourth to one half of all pediatric emergency department visits, and one sixth of all pediatric intensive care unit admissions. 4 More than 20,000 children and young adults will die this year as a result of injury. For every child that dies, another 40 will require hospitalization, and 1000 more will be evaluated in emergency departments. The cost of both acute and chronic care of these patients is staggering, approaching nearly $16 billion annually. 15 Moreover, 50,000 children and adolescents will sustain some degree of permanent disability, the majority victims of brain injury. Advances in prehospital triage and transport, resuscitation, imaging, and critical care have improved survival of the most seriously injured, with the collateral result of an expanded cohort of children with long-term sequelae. This article focuses upon several important long-term implications for children and their families following major trauma.
A Multicomputer Software Interface for Parallel Dynamic System Simulation

As the number of processors is increased, message-passing multicomputing environments have many theoretical advantages over conventional shared-memory multiprocessors in that they are very scalable. Unfortunately the rate at which real-world applications have been efficiently implemented by computer practitioners on multicomputing architectures has been much less than one might expect. One reason for this stems from the fact that there is no unifying software environment from which to easily encode and thus directly apply new message-passing parallelization methodologies presented in the literature to real-world applications. This paper addresses this deficiency in the area of dynamic system simulation by describing the development of an intelligent software tool that supports the seamless amalgamation of the most current parallel methodologies with the generic description of the simulation model. The tool automatically translates a simulation represented in a generic form into a parallel representation based upon the selected parallel simulation methodology onto an arbitrary message-passing topology. Once each parallel methodology is encoded, it becomes part of the tool allowing many such methodologies to be applied to the simulation problem increasing the probability that a parallel realization of the simulation is obtained which has an acceptable level of performance. To illustrate the feasibility of such a tool for current and future message-passing architectures, this paper describes the prototype implementation of an Automated Partitioning and Mapping Engine (APME) and illustrates its effectiveness when applied to a large-scale simulation executed on multiple topological configurations of a multicomputer system based on the INMOS Transputer.
Comparison of Hand-Traced and Computer-Based Cephalometric Superimpositions

Abstract Objective: To determine the ability to produce comparable superimpositions using hand tracing and digital methods (Dolphin v10). In addition, if the two methods were comparable, we wanted to determine if a difference existed between the best-fit cranial base superimposition and S-N superimpositions using the digital method. Methods and Materials: Sixty-four initial (T1) and final (T2) cephalometric film radiographs were obtained. Cranial base and regional superimpositions were completed independently for each pair of radiographs by either hand tracing and digital methods. To quantitatively evaluate the differences between the two methods, the hand and digital superimpositions were digitized to obtain x-y coordinates of routine cephalometric landmarks at T2. Linear distance between multiple corresponding (hand and digital) T2 cephalometric landmark locations (e.g., A point) were measured and defined as the T2 landmark distance (T2 LD). Additionally, 61 patient records were used to compare the digi...
Flight test results for an improved line of sight guidance law for UAVs

This paper presents flight test results of a new line-of-sight guidance law used onboard the University of California Santa Cruz' UAV. The architecture, as implemented onboard the UAV's autopilot, is presented and its key advantages are discussed. To show the guidance law's versatility, the paper presents its usage in three common scenarios that arise when working with small UAVs: (1) Navigation of straight-line waypoint arrays, (2) circular orbiting above a given point of interest, and (3) return to base, either as a safety measure or as an end-of-mission order. Flight test results for these three scenarios are presented and discussed.
A proposed modification to the dynamic approach

In this paper a modification related to the scale-invariancy condition, based on a simple dissipation argument coupled with the hypothesis of Chen et al. (J. Fluids Eng. 2005; 127:840–850), is proposed for the dynamic model coefficient evaluation approach. The modification is applied to the Smagorinsky model and used in the calculations of low Reynolds number (Reτ = 180) channel flow, where the scale-invariancy assumption of the dynamic approach is expected to fail along the wall-normal direction. A detailed analysis of the results is performed for the mean velocity profile, dissipation characteristics, second and higher order statistics, and the energy spectra. The results are compared with the Smagorinsky, the dynamic Smagorinsky, no model, the modification proposed by Meneveau and Lund (Phys. Fluids 1996; 9(12):3932–3934), and the DNS data. The proposed modification yields a better model coefficient profile and shows definitive improvement of the results for all flow statistics considered. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Diffusion of Messages from an Electronic Cigarette Brand to Potential Users through Twitter.

Author(s): Chu, Kar-Hai; Unger, Jennifer B; Allem, Jon-Patrick; Pattarroyo, Monica; Soto, Daniel; Cruz, Tess Boley; Yang, Haodong; Jiang, Ling; Yang, Christopher C | Abstract: ObjectiveThis study explores the presence and actions of an electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) brand, Blu, on Twitter to observe how marketing messages are sent and diffused through the retweet (i.e., message forwarding) functionality. Retweet networks enable messages to reach additional Twitter users beyond the sender's local network. We follow messages from their origin through multiple retweets to identify which messages have more reach, and the different users who are exposed.MethodsWe collected three months of publicly available data from Twitter. A combination of techniques in social network analysis and content analysis were applied to determine the various networks of users who are exposed to e-cigarette messages and how the retweet network can affect which messages spread.ResultsThe Blu retweet network expanded during the study period. Analysis of user profiles combined with network cluster analysis showed that messages of certain topics were only circulated within a community of e-cigarette supporters, while other topics spread further, reaching more general Twitter users who may not support or use e-cigarettes.ConclusionsRetweet networks can serve as proxy filters for marketing messages, as Twitter users decide which messages they will continue to diffuse among their followers. As certain e-cigarette messages extend beyond their point of origin, the audience being exposed expands beyond the e-cigarette community. Potential implications for health education campaigns include utilizing Twitter and targeting important gatekeepers or hubs that would maximize message diffusion.
Toward a new parameterization of hydraulic conductivity in climate models: Simulation of rapid groundwater fluctuations in Northern California

Author(s): Vrettas, MD; Fung, IY | Abstract: Preferential flow through weathered bedrock leads to rapid rise of the water table after the first rainstorms and significant water storage (also known as "rock moisture") in the fractures. We present a new parameterization of hydraulic conductivity that captures the preferential flow and is easy to implement in global climate models. To mimic the naturally varying heterogeneity with depth in the subsurface, the model represents the hydraulic conductivity as a product of the effective saturation and a background hydraulic conductivity Kbkg, drawn from a lognormal distribution. The mean of the background Kbkg decreases monotonically with depth, while its variance reduces with the effective saturation. Model parameters are derived by assimilating into Richard's equation 6 years of 30 min observations of precipitation (mm) and water table depths (m), from seven wells along a steep hillslope in the Eel River watershed in Northern California. The results show that the observed rapid penetration of precipitation and the fast rise of the water table from the well locations, after the first winter rains, are well captured with the new stochastic approach in contrast to the standard van Genuchten model of hydraulic conductivity, which requires significantly higher levels of saturated soils to produce the same results. "Rock moisture," the moisture between the soil mantle and the water table, comprises 30% of the moisture because of the great depth of the weathered bedrock layer and could be a potential source of moisture to sustain trees through extended dry periods. Furthermore, storage of moisture in the soil mantle is smaller, implying less surface runoff and less evaporation, with the proposed new model.
Open repair of large abdominal wall hernias with and without components separation; an analysis from the ACS-NSQIP database.

Background Components separation technique emerged several years ago as a novel procedure to improve durability of repair for ventral abdominal hernias. Almost twenty-five years since its initial description, little comprehensive risk adjusted data exists on the morbidity of this procedure. This study is the largest analysis to date of short-term outcomes for these cases.
Optical Evidence of Reduction of Radiative Defects in Diamond Films Grown by Acetylene-Oxygen Flames

Raman scattering and photoluminescence spectroscopies have been used to characterize polycrystalline diamond films deposited on molybdenum substrates by laminar and turbulent premixed oxygen-acetylene flames in air. Samples deposited under laminar flame conditions are characterized by a high degree of incorporation of nitrogen-vacancy complexes. However, samples deposited with a turbulent flame show a significant decrease in the concentration of these defects and a reduction of the amorphous carbon film component.
Shock-induced boundary layer separation in C-D nozzles and its impact on jet noise

Shock location inside the divergent section of convergent-divergent nozzles is studied experimentally. Pressure sensitive paint technique is used with six nozzles of different design Mach numbers in the range, 1.4-2.8. The results are corroborated by limited static pressure measurements. As it is well known, one-dimensional nozzle flow theory is found to grossly overpredict the throat-toshock-location distance at a given nozzle pressure ratio. A correlation from the literature based on rocket nozzle database is also found to be inadequate for prediction of the shock location especially for nozzles of lower design Mach number typical of aircraft application. For the parametric range covered with the set of nozzles used, a simple correlation is observed. All data collapse in a cluster when plotted as a function of the ratio of ‘jet Mach number’ to design Mach number; a curve-fit equation representing the average trend is provided.
Charge Density Analysis of 2,6-Dinitrophenol

The charge density of 2,6-dinitrophenol has been carefully determined from low temperature (20 K) single crystal X-ray diffraction data and periodic ab initio theoretical calculations. The topological analysis performed on the refined densities within the framework of the Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules (QTAIM), allowed us to characterize, both qualitatively and quantitatively, the various intra- and intermolecular interactions existing in the crystal structure of this compound. Notably two strong intramolecular noncovalent interactions have been characterized (O···H, De > 60 kJ/mol; O···O, De ∼ 19 kJ/mol). In addition, a series of weaker intermolecular interactions (O···N, O···O, O···C, and C···C) with estimated dissociation energies of 1–9 kJ/mol have been identified.
Traffic flow on signalized streets

Abstract This paper considers a signalized street of uniform width and blocks of various lengths. Its signals are pretimed in an arbitrary pattern, and traffic on it behaves as per the kinematic-wave/variational theory with a triangular fundamental diagram. It is shown that the long run average flow on the street when the number of cars on the street (i.e. the street’s density) is held constant is given by the solution of a linear program (LP) with a finite number of variables and constraints. This defines a point on the street’s macroscopic fundamental diagram. For the homogeneous special case where the block lengths and signal timings are identical, all the LP constraints but one are redundant and the result has a closed form. In this case, the LP recipe matches and simplifies the so-called “method of cuts”. This establishes that the method of cuts is exact for homogeneous problems. However, in the more realistic inhomogeneous case the difference between the two methods can be arbitrarily large. The paper uses the LP method to obtain the macroscopic fundamental diagrams arising under four different traffic coordination schemes for streets with four different block length configurations. It is found that the best scheme depends on the prevailing density. Curiously, the popular scheme in which all the traffic green phases are started synchronously wins only in rare circumstances. Its performance is particularly underwhelming when the street’s blocks are long. The paper also presents density-aware numerical methods to optimize the signal offsets for 1-way and 2-way streets. For 1-way streets operated with a common cycle the method reduces to a simple graphical construction . In this case the resulting flow matches the flow that would arise if all of the street’s intersections except one with the shortest green phase had been eliminated.
[11C]LY2795050, an antagonist tracer for imaging the kappa opioid receptors

90 Objectives The kappa opioid receptors (KOR) are implicated in depression, drug abuse and alcoholism. To date, only one tracer, the selective KOR agonist [11C]GR103545, has been shown to be able to image KOR in non-human primates. We report here development of the selective KOR antagonist [11C]LY2795050 as a new PET imaging agent. Methods In vitro binding affinities were measured in radioligand competition assays. [11C]LY2795050 was produced by displacement of iodo by [C-11]cyanide on the iodophenyl precursor, followed by hydrolysis of the cyano intermediate to an amide. PET imaging studies in monkeys were carried out on the Focus-220 scanner. Data were analyzed with two-tissue (2T) compartment model and simplified reference tissue model (SRTM). Results LY2795050 is an opioid antagonist and shows high affinity and selectivity to KOR in vitro (Ki = 1.37, 87.3, and 475 nM for κ, μ, and δ receptors). [11C]LY2795050 was synthesized in an average yield of 12% (EOS, n =16). In rhesus monkeys, the metabolism rate of [11C]LY2795050 was moderate. In the brain, [11C]LY2795050 displayed fast kinetics (regional activity peak times globus pallidus (GP) > cingulate cortex (CIN) ~ putamen (PUT) > caudate (CAU) > frontal cortex (FNT) > thalamus > cerebellum. Mean regional binding potential (BPND) values from SRTM were 0.87, 0.66, 0.65, 0.56, and 0.29, respectively, for GP, PUT, CIN, CAU, and FNT (n = 7). Pretreatment with naloxone (1 mg/kg) resulted in a homogeneous distribution of activity with BPND values near 0. In addition, binding of [11C]LY2795050 was reduced by the selective KOR antagonist LY2456302 in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusions As the first selective KOR antagonist tracer, [11C]LY2795050 displays favorable kinetic properties and appropriate specific binding profile in vivo, and therefore is suitable for imaging the KOR in primates. This newly developed tracer has thus been advanced to humans
Spatial Visualization Ability Mediates the Male Advantage in Spatial and Visual Episodic Memory

Abstract. Individuals between the ages of 18 and 94 (N = 326) completed a battery of episodic memory tasks, as well as several measures of spatial visualization. A female advantage in verbal episodic memory and a male advantage in spatial and visual episodic memory were observed. Mediation analyses provided evidence that performance on spatial visualization tasks greatly influences the magnitude of the effect for sex differences among the different episodic memory constructs. In particular, the spatial visualization construct fully mediated the relationship between sex and episodic spatial memory performance. Further, when spatial visualization was included as a mediator in the model the relationship between sex and episodic verbal memory increased, and the relationship between sex and episodic visual memory reversed, such that women scored higher than men.
The Case of the Food and Drink Industries in Japan in Response to Technological Change and Employment Adjustment in the Late 1990s

In the 1990s, Japanese industry experienced a significant recession. Various types of restructuring were then conducted after the collapse of the bubble economy. Downsizing was inevitable. This situation was a challenge for the practice of long-term employment and the psychological contract which was used by employers. A nationwide survey showed that measures which included voluntary retirement schemes (VRS) were widely used at this time. Wage reforms and the introduction of part-time workers were also common (see Table 3.1).
Determinants of Strategic Behavior: Evidence from a Foreclosure Moratorium

We study mortgagors' attitudes toward strategic behavior following a foreclosure moratorium that mitigates repossession risk in Greece. We identify strategic delinquencies by exploiting the concurrent introduction of a debt-discharge process that provides generous debt relief for borrowers who prove their inability to pay, but entails high costs for those who can afford their mortgages. This setting creates distinct optimal strategies for delinquent borrowers based on their ability to pay; non-strategic mortgagors apply and get approved for debt relief, whereas strategic borrowers use the foreclosure moratorium to protect their homes. Our results indicate that factors beyond collateral enforcement---borrower sophistication, aversion to moral hazard, banking relationships, and liquidity preference---play an important role in strategic behavior.
Root Pruning and Planting Depth Impact Root Morphology in Containers

Increasingly, producers and consumers are realizing that roots play a major role in nursery tree quality. To remain competitive, producers need to find economically viable methods of increasing qua...
Evolution of Histoincompatibility

Earthworms have been known in modern times since Darwin, but in relation to improvement of soil [23]. Comparative immunologists interested in evolution of immunity have now rediscovered the earthworm [11,12,29,31,40,43,71] to search for origins of immune mechanisms [13,14], as did Metchnikoffs crucial work and that of other early comparative immunologists [46], since certain invertebrates, including earthworms, may possess cells from which higher immune systems evolved. The immune system of animals in the phylum, Annelida, 9e.g., the eartworm) is housed in the coelom, which contains coelomic fluid, and coelomocytes, the worms’s leukocytes. Coelomocytes, like leukocytes, are sensitive to infections and are active in defense reations ranging from phagocytesis to the more complex cellular responses that govern the mechanisms of tissue graft rejection and those that ensure the synthesis of humoral defenses substances. To reaction againts foreign material, coelomocytes surely possess cellular recognition units or receptors, whose nature is still unknown. The receptors for antigents in mammals are antibodies, but antibodies or immunoglobulins have not been found in any invertebrates. Such species must, therefore, have different and perhaps simpler, primordial receptor units for antigen which may prove to be members of the Ig superfamily. The fundamental problem in studies of invertebrates in general using the earthworm’s immune system as an example, is to explain the process of receptor-mediated recognition of antigen.
Ras Family G-Proteins in Saccharomyces Cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces Pombe

The Ras superfamily G proteins are signaling proteins that regulate a variety of physiological events within the cell. The superfamily consists of distinct subfamilies including the Ras, Rho, Rab, ARF, Ran, and Rheb branches. Much of what is known about these subfamilies has come from work done in the simple unicellular eukaryotes, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Using homologous proteins found in these yeasts, clues as to their physiological function in higher eukaryotic systems have been deduced. In addition, an understanding of how these proteins are regulated has also been obtained from yeast studies. This chapter will focus on the Ras superfamily G-proteins in yeast; more specifically on Ras and Rheb from both yeasts, as well as Rsr1/Bud1 of S. cerevisiae. Their physiological functions as well as modes of regulation with be addressed
Regulation of Intestinal Calcium and Phosphate Absorption

Abstract Efficient intestinal calcium (Ca) and phosphate (Pi) absorption is necessary for optimal bone mineralization during growth, the protection of bone in adults, and the prevention of osteoporosis. Ca and Pi absorption each occurs through regulated, saturable pathways that predominate when dietary intake is low and through diffusion pathways that predominate when dietary intake is high. Habitual low Ca or Pi intake upregulates their saturable transport pathway through increased renal 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D production, while low vitamin D status limits Ca and Pi absorption by reducing the saturable pathways. VDR or CYP27B1 gene deletion severely limits basal Ca and Pi absorption and the adaptation of mice to low Ca, but not low Pi, diets. Nonsaturable Ca absorption in the ileum may also be regulated by vitamin D status, but the mechanism is unclear. The vitamin D-regulated saturable pathways are transcellular, but significant gaps still exist in our understanding of these processes.
Radiogenomic analysis of hypoxia pathway is predictive of overall survival in Glioblastoma

Hypoxia, a characteristic trait of Glioblastoma (GBM), is known to cause resistance to chemo-radiation treatment and is linked with poor survival. There is hence an urgent need to non-invasively characterize tumor hypoxia to improve GBM management. We hypothesized that (a) radiomic texture descriptors can capture tumor heterogeneity manifested as a result of molecular variations in tumor hypoxia, on routine treatment naive MRI, and (b) these imaging based texture surrogate markers of hypoxia can discriminate GBM patients as short-term (STS), mid-term (MTS), and long-term survivors (LTS). 115 studies (33 STS, 41 MTS, 41 LTS) with gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted MRI (Gd-T1w) and T2-weighted (T2w) and FLAIR MRI protocols and the corresponding RNA sequences were obtained. After expert segmentation of necrotic, enhancing, and edematous/nonenhancing tumor regions for every study, 30 radiomic texture descriptors were extracted from every region across every MRI protocol. Using the expression profile of 21 hypoxia-associated genes, a hypoxia enrichment score (HES) was obtained for the training cohort of 85 cases. Mutual information score was used to identify a subset of radiomic features that were most informative of HES within 3-fold cross-validation to categorize studies as STS, MTS, and LTS. When validated on an additional cohort of 30 studies (11 STS, 9 MTS, 10 LTS), our results revealed that the most discriminative features of HES were also able to distinguish STS from LTS (p = 0.003).
Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Social Reconstruction After Trauma

We examine social reconstruction after human-caused trauma – with a focus on warfare, civil disquiet, or conflict. Specifically, we examine the roles of forgiveness and reconciliation in social reconstruction. Forgiveness promotes both trustworthy and trusting behavior, which can lead to reconciliation. Forgiveness and reconciliation help heal past memories, restore present trust, and thus pave the way for breaking future cycles of trauma. Forgiveness and reconciliation happen in the present but affect the future. They arise from the crucible of conflict and trauma in which people’s hopes can be squashed. Yet, forgiveness and reconciliation can also renew crushed spirits, which can lead not only to inner peace within an individual but to peace within a country torn apart by conflict. We suggest a model of aggression and related model of peacemaking and reconciliation. We also offer a series of societal and diplomacy recommendations that are meant to facilitate forgiveness and reconciliation following social traumas.
Abstract 3532: Bitter melon extract suppresses triple-negative breast cancer growth by inhibiting ACAT1

Breast cancer is the most common malignant cancer diagnosed in women worldwide each year. Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC), defined by the lack of expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), account for approximately 15% of breast cancers. Moreover, TNBC is usually more aggressive and metastatic with a worse prognosis. Bitter melon (Momordica charantia) is well known as a dietary supplement. Recently, we have shown an anti-cancer activity of bitter melon extract (BME) in breast cancer mouse models, although the mechanism is poorly understood. Furthermore, we became interested to understand the role of BME on cholesterol and lipid metabolism in TNBC. Our mass spectrometry data suggested that stored as a cholesteryl esters (CE) in Lipid droplets (LD) were much lower in BME treated TNBC cells. We found that not only CE but also LD was reduced in BME treated TNBC cells. The acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyl transferase-1 (ACAT-1) catalyzes the formation of CE from free cholesterols together with long-chain fatty acyl coenzyme A. Therefore, inhibition of ACAT-1 resulted in downregulation of CE, and upregulation free cholesterols. The attenuated CE is known to reduce cancer proliferation. Subsequent study demonstrated that BME treatment highly inhibited ACAT-1 in TNBC cells. The upregulated free cholesterol negatively regulates sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBPs), which regulates lipogenesis protein such as fatty acid synthase (FASN) associated with cancer cell proliferation. We also observed that SREBP-1 and -2 were barely detectable, and FASN and low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) were reduced in BME treated TNBC cells as compared to control cells. To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating that BME suppresses TNBC cell growth through ACAT-1 inhibition. BME supplement may potentially be an additional regimen in human breast cancer treatment. Citation Format: So Hee Shim, Robert Steele, Ratna Ray. Bitter melon extract suppresses triple-negative breast cancer growth by inhibiting ACAT1 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3532.
Germs on a Plane: The Transmission and Risks of Airplane-Borne Diseases

This research explored the role of air travel in the spread of infectious diseases, specifically severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), H1N1, Ebola, and pneumonic plague. Air travel provides the means for such diseases to spread internationally at extraordinary rates because infected passengers jump from coast to coast and continent to continent within hours. Outbreaks of diseases that spread from person to person test the effectiveness of current public health responses. This research used a mixed methods approach, including use of the Spatiotemporal Epidemiological Modeler, to model the spread of diseases, evaluate the impact of air travel on disease spread, and analyze the effectiveness of different public health strategies and travel policies. Modeling showed that the spread of Ebola and pneumonic plague is minimal and should not be a major air travel concern if an individual becomes infected. H1N1 and SARS have higher infection rates and air travel will facilitate the spread of disease nationally and internationally. To contain the spread of infectious diseases, aviation and public health authorities should establish tailored preventive measures at airports, capture contact information for ticketed passengers, expand the definition of "close contact," and conduct widespread educational programs. The measures will put in place a foundation for containing the spread of infectious diseases via air travel and minimize the panic and economic consequences that may occur during an outbreak.
The Effect of Long-Term Oxidation on the Total Hemispherical Emissivity of Type 316L Stainless Steel

The effect of long-term oxidation on the total hemispherical emissivity of Type 316L stainless steel (SS 316L) is of interest in nuclear plant safety and is reported on here. ASTM standard C835-06 ...