cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Lactofen induces isoflavone accumulation and glyceollin elicitation competency in soybean

Lactofen, the active ingredient of the soybean disease resistance-inducing herbicide, Cobra, induces large accumulations of isoflavone conjugates and aglycones in soybean tissues. The predominant isoflavones induced in cotyledon tissues are daidzein (and its conjugates) and formononetin and glycitein aglycones. The latter two isoflavones are usually present only at very low levels in soybean seedling tissues. In leaves, the predominant lactofen-induced isoflavones are daidzein and formononetin aglycones and the malonyl-glucosyl conjugate of genistein. Isoflavone induction also occurs in cells distal to the point of treatment, but is only weakly systemic. Lactofen also induces elicitation competency, the capacity of soybean cells to accumulate the pterocarpan phytoalexin glyceollin in response to glucan elicitors from the cell wall of the pathogen Phytophthora sojae. Comparison of the activity of a series of diphenyl ether herbicides demonstrated that while all diphenyl ethers tested induced some degree of elicitation competency, only certain ones induced isoflavone accumulation in the absence of glucan elicitor. As a group the diphenyl ethers are thought to inhibit protoporhyrinogen oxidase, eventually leading to singlet oxygen generation. Another singlet oxygen generator, rose bengal, also induced elicitation competency, but little isoflavone accumulation. It is hypothesized that diphenyl ether-induced activated oxygen species mimic some aspects of hypersensitive cell death, which leads to elicitation competency in infected tissues.
Ego Development in Adolescence: Longitudinal Studies.

Adolescents from four schools (one inner-city, two suburban, and one private) were tested two or three times using the Washington University Sentence Completion Test of Ego Development. Testing intervals ranged from 1.5 to 6 years. About half (N=193) the original pool was retested at twelfth grade. Every sample showed a mean rise in ego level; for six of eight samples that rise was statistically significant. Every pair of testings showed a postive correlation between scores; 10 of 14 correlations were significantly different from zero. Thus both test-retest correlations (about 0.5) and change scores support the hypothesized sequence of ego development. Significant correlation between ego level and intelligence occurred in two schools (0.6 at elementary and junior high grades and 0.4 at twelfth grade), but correlation was about zero in the private school.
Graph theoretical characterization of the dendritic fields

The problem of a mathematical description of objects showing individual structural variations but belonging to an apparently homogeneous population is considered. As an illustration a characterization of neuronal dendritic fields is outlined. The scheme views a neuron as a graph and is concerned with the characterization of the branching mode of derived graphs. The basic graph invariants considered are distances between all end points, which are enumerated and combined in a sequence. Some properties of the codes are discussed and their use for a classification of objects is illustrated.
Angle-closure Glaucoma in a 10-year-old Girl

Purpose To report a case of angle-closure glaucoma in a 10-year-old girl with ocular albinism. METHODS: Case report. A 10-year-old girl with autosomal recessive ocular albinism was examined and treated for subacute angle-closure glaucoma of the right eye. Result The patient was successfully treated with Nd:YAG laser iridotomy of the right eye. Conclusions Angle-closure glaucoma may rarely occur in young or adolescent children. Gonioscopy of children with shallow anterior chambers is recommended.
A technique for noise measurements of SIS receivers

We present a simple new technique to determine the noise temperature of the RF input section of a superconducting quasiparticle heterodyne receiver. This quantity is difficult to measure by existing methods. The new technique uses standard hot/cold-load measurements, and the precision should be as good as the hot/cold-load determination of receiver noise temperature. For most receivers, correction terms will be much smaller than the quantum temperature /spl planck//spl omega//k. >
Regulation of mec1 kinase activity by the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex

ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes alter chromatin structure through interactions with chromatin substrates such as DNA, histones, and nucleosomes. However, whether chromatin remodeling complexes have the ability to regulate nonchromatin substrates remains unclear. Saccharomyces cerevisiae checkpoint kinase Mec1 (ATR in mammals) is an essential master regulator of genomic integrity. Here we found that the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex is capable of regulating Mec1 kinase activity. In vivo, Mec1 activity is reduced by the deletion of Snf2, the core ATPase subunit of the SWI/SNF complex. SWI/SNF interacts with Mec1, and cross-linking studies revealed that the Snf2 ATPase is the main interaction partner for Mec1. In vitro, SWI/SNF can activate Mec1 kinase activity in the absence of chromatin or known activators such as Dpb11. The subunit requirement of SWI/SNF-mediated Mec1 regulation differs from that of SWI/SNF-mediated chromatin remodeling. Functionally, SWI/SNF-mediated Mec1 regulation specifically occurs in S phase of the cell cycle. Together, these findings identify a novel regulator of Mec1 kinase activity and suggest that ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complexes can regulate nonchromatin substrates such as a checkpoint kinase.
Deactivation and regeneration of visible light active brookite titania in photocatalytic degradation of organic dye

This study was performed to investigate deactivation and regeneration of predominantly brookite titania powders. Visible light active (VLA) polymorphic titania particles were prepared by a water-based ambient condition sol (WACS) process followed by a solvent-based ambient condition sol (SACS) process with N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) as the solvent. Deactivation of all samples was evaluated by degradation of methyl orange (MO) dye under either UV or VL irradiation for four reaction cycle runs. The photocatalytic activity (PCA) under VL exposure of NMP samples calcined at 200 °C for 2 h in air (NMP-200) was approximately 3.3 times higher than that of a commercial VLA titania (Kronos VLP7000), despite the much lower surface area of the NMP-200. Nonetheless, PCA of all titania samples under VL gradually decreased with an increase in testing time and number of runs. The cause of the deactivation of the titania samples in this study was identified as the deposition of the decomposed MO on the titania nanoparticle surface. Among the possible regeneration or reactivation procedures for the used samples, methanol washing was shown to be the most effective up to ∼80% of the PCA recovery. The used NMP-200 samples could not completely be recovered, since a regeneration process would possibly remove some of nitrogen species responsible for the VLA.
Rehospitalization During the First Year of Life by Insurance Status

Objective. To assess the association of insurance status on infant rehospitalization in a population-based setting. Methods. In this longitudinal retrospective study, hospitalizations were tracked for 1 year after birth discharge for 203 031 infants born in hospitals during 2008 using data from the New York State Inpatient Database. Relative risk was estimated using multivariable negative binomial regression models. Results. Rehospitalization occurred in 9010 infants (4.4%). Medicaid coverage and being uninsured were strong predictors of rehospitalizations after adjustment for birth weight and other factors. Medicaid also bears a disproportionate share of the economic burden. Normal birth weight infants have the lowest risk, but comprise the majority of costs. Jaundice and acute bronchiolitis were the leading causes of rehospitalization within 30 days and 1 year, respectively. Discussion. Future research can explore the preventability of rehospitalizations, and evaluate novel strategies for discharge and ...
Pregnancy and Optimal Care of HIV-Infected Patients

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection during pregnancy is a condition that requires multidisciplinary care. Care must be rendered that is appropriate for both the mother and the fetus. Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV is of paramount concern. To prevent transmission, universal testing for HIV infection in pregnant women is ideal. In the United States and other developed countries, great strides have been made toward decreasing the risk of HIV transmission to infants to <2% with use of a combination of highly active antiretroviral therapy during the antepartum period and during labor and delivery, scheduled cesarean section when appropriate, avoidance of breast-feeding, and 6 weeks of zidovudine prophylaxis for infants. The continuation of antiretroviral therapy after delivery depends on the needs of the mother with regard to treatment of her own health. In resource-limited countries, where simplified and shortened courses of antiretroviral regimens have been used, reduction in mother-to-child transmission has also been shown, although not as effectively as that with highly active antiretroviral therapy. In these settings, exclusive breast-feeding for 6 months is recommended to reduce the risk of postnatal transmission.
E-file adoption: A study of U.S. taxpayers' intentions

The United States Congress has set ambitious goals for the diffusion of e-government initiatives. One of congress' goals for the 2007 tax year was for 80% of tax and informational returns to be filed electronically (IRS., 2004). In 2008, 90 million Americans choose to e-file (IRS., 2009); however, Congress' goal of 80% adoption has still fallen short. This paper integrates the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model, online trust, perceived risk, and optimism bias into a comprehensive model of e-file adoption. To empirically test the model a survey is administered to 260 United States taxpayers. Structural equation modeling is used to evaluate relationships between these concepts and intention to use. Results indicate performance expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, and optimism bias all have a significant impact on e-file intention. Trust in the internet and trust in the e-file provider were shown to significantly influence perceived risk. Implications for practice and research are discussed.
An Audit of Hysterectomies in Young Women at the Queen Victoria Hospital, 1984–1994

A retrospective audit of hysterectomies in young women (age 30 years and under) was conducted. Forty-one hysterectomies, representing 4% of all hysterectomies at the hospital, were performed in women of this age group. The main clinical indications were abnormal uterine bleeding (44%), pelvic pain (20%) and endometriosis (15%). None were performed for invasive malignant conditions. Most women had some prior therapy for their symptoms. Thirty-seven of the operations were total abdominal hysterectomies and 4 women had a unilateral oophorectomy. Complications were found in 17 women. Causal pathology, though not always what was predicted clinically or on the basis of operative findings, was identified. Further studies would be worthwhile to document the experience from other institutions and to provide long-term follow-up.
Marriage Migration, Patriarchal Bargains, and Wife Abuse: A Study of South Asian Women

This article contributes to the literature on wife abuse by using the patriarchal bargaining framework, which highlights the issue of agency as women strive to achieve their goals within the constraints of family and culture. Study participants were recent South Asian immigrants to the United States. Narrative analysis revealed that patriarchal constraints in natal families, culture, and expectations of benefits gained through marriage influenced many of the women to migrate for marriage. When husbands enforced extreme patriarchy with abuse, women's personal efforts to contain abuse were largely ineffective. However, advocacy agency interventions did help some women break out of extreme patriarchy.
PATTERNS OF CELL SIZE CHANGE IN A MARINE CENTRIC DIATOM: VARIABILITY EVOLVING FROM CLONAL ISOLATES1

Isolates of the centric diatom, Thalassiosira weissflogii Grun., were maintained in exponential growth under constant, favorable conditions for nearly 2 years. During this interval, each culture underwent periodic increases and decreases in mean cell size, a behavior predicted for diatom populations alternating between sexual and asexual reproduction, respectively. The overall patterns of cell size change displayed by each culture, however, were unique. The maximum size of newly enlarged cells varied among isolates and within a given isolate over time. Consequently, both the timing and rate of increase in mean cell size also varied despite the fact that the minimum average cell size obtained by the various cultures was relatively constant. The most consistent feature among the isolates was the rate of decrease in mean cell size, a value determined by the physical constraints of the diatom frustule during mitotic divisions. We hypothesize that the extent of the variability exhibited by these cultures results from the fact that an inherent feature of diatom populations is a constantly changing genetic composition.
Fifty Years of Change in Wisconsin Cedar Glades

ABSTRACT Although rare in Wisconsin, seven examples of the cedar glade community type were included John T. Curtis's study of the vegetation conducted in the 1950s. Comparison of the contemporary vegetation to historical records revealed major successional changes. Juniperus virginiana (L.) remains the dominant woody plant, though it has since formed closed canopies. Canopy closure led to the replacement of understory savanna and prairie plants by shade-tolerant species, and the stands have become more similar to one another in composition. Many of the taxa that dominated the 2004 understory were present in the 1950s, though at lower abundances. The number of exotic taxa and the abundance of exotic individuals increased, although species native to Wisconsin still accounted for ∼90% of plants present in the understory.
Community Information Needs: A Theory and Methodological Framework

In the mass media age, mass communication researchers interested in civic engagement and participation focused primarily on media and media use. However, given the upending of traditional media institutions and the rise of social media and other digital communication technologies that are giving rise to new sources of information, the contemporary media environment calls for a focus on information received from media (and non-media sources), and whether that information meets communities’ information needs. This article unifies different theoretical traditions into a definition of community information needs and a model of community information needs, information seeking and processing, and civic engagement, which can begin to guide theoretically grounded need assessments. The community information seeking and processing model proposed also requires a fresh look at methodological traditions; community-based participatory (CBPR) research is suggested as a possible framework to follow. The CBPR framework ca...
Unitized Wire Arrays for Z-Pinch Machines: A Feasibility Study

For electricity production in a 1000 MW(e) Z-Pinch Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) power plant, a wire array must be produced and shot every second. The slow and painstaking manual assembly and insertion process developed for the present Z-Pinch experimental machines will have to be replaced with mass production and rapid automatic handling. This could be facilitated by making one-piece, or unitized, wire arrays (UWA). This paper reviews potential UWA manufacturing processes; describes the results of etching, milling, laser-cutting, and lithography tests applied to an UWA design that could be shot on the Z-R machine for validation; assesses the feasibility of these processes for mass production; and proposes an alternate UWA design concept for easier manufacturing.
Knowledge Acquisition and Natural Language Processing

Knowledge acquisition and natural language processing are two fields of Artificial Intelligence that have much to offer each other. Natural language requires such large amounts of knowledge that it will probably be necessary to automate the acquisition process for this field to achieve its goals. Machine learning has focused on incremental improvements of performance; but the acquisition of knowledge is probably more of a key bottleneck for building intelligent systems. Huge volumes of knowledge are available now, in machine readable form, if only we could understand how to use it. Natural language processing technology holds the key to this storehouse.
Pdgfra and Pdgfrb genetically interact during craniofacial development.

BACKGROUND One of the most prevalent congenital birth defects is cleft palate. The palatal skeleton is derived from the cranial neural crest and platelet-derived growth factors (Pdgf) are critical in palatogenesis. Of the two Pdgf receptors, pdgfra is required for neural crest migration and palatogenesis. However, the role pdgfrb plays in the neural crest, or whether pdgfra and pdgfrb interact during palatogenesis is unclear. RESULTS We find that pdgfrb is dispensable for craniofacial development in zebrafish. However, the palatal defect in pdgfra;pdgfrb double mutants is significantly more severe than in pdgfra single mutants. Data in mouse suggest this interaction is conserved and that neural crest requires both genes. In zebrafish, pdgfra and pdgfrb are both expressed by neural crest within the pharyngeal arches, and pharmacological analyses demonstrate Pdgf signaling is required at these times. While neither proliferation nor cell death appears affected, time-lapsed confocal analysis of pdgfra;pdgfrb mutants shows a failure of proper neural crest condensation during palatogenesis. CONCLUSIONS We provide data showing that pdgfra and pdgfrb interact during palatogenesis in both zebrafish and mouse. In zebrafish, this interaction affects proper condensation of maxillary neural crest cells, revealing a previously unknown interaction between Pdgfra and Pdgfrb during palate formation. Developmental Dynamics 245:641-652, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Performance and tissue zinc and metallothionein accumulation in chicks fed a high dietary level of zinc

Four experiments were conducted to identify several factors that might improve the accuracy and reproducibility of Zn bioavailability assays for chicks. Response of tissue Zn and metallothionein (MT) concentrations to various elevated levels and soluble sources of dietary Zn were measured, as well as the effect of delaying high Zn administration until 7 d posthatching to alleviate the detrimental effect of Zn sulfate on feed intake to 3 wk of age. Bone Zn increased (P < 0.01) in all experiments in response to increasing dietary Zn concentrations. Liver and pancreas MT were affected (P < 0.01) by a source by age interaction and variability that made this criterion unsuitable for bioavailability assays. Lastly, 1-d-old chicks were used to study the effect of delaying feeding of a high-Zn diet up to 7 d of age. The basal diet was fed continuously for 21 d as a control. A diet containing 1,000 ppm Zn was either fed continuously from Day 1, or started on Day 3, 5, or 7. Chicks given high Zn on Day 3, 5, or 7 decreased (P < 0.01) feed intake within 24 h of feeding. Delayed feeding of high dietary Zn might help to alleviate decreased feed intake observed in previous studies. Delaying the onset of high Zn feeding by several days may help alleviate feed intake problems observed with Zn sulfate. Use of either Zn gluconate or Zn acetate as a standard in assays or use of MT synthesis as a bioavailability criterion will probably not be useful to improve accuracy of the estimates.
Temperature Reactions in Mice Infected with Pneumococci.

SummaryThe body temperature of mice is markedly influenced by the surrounding temperature. Pneumococcic infections in mice are associated with a marked drop in temperature. Infected mice held at incubator temperature succumb more rapidly than those at room temperature. Incubator temperature promotes the infective processes in mice more than the protective action of sulfanilamide.
Stabilization of Aqueous Carbon Nanotube Dispersions Using Surfactants: Insights from Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Techniques for separating bundles of carbon nanotubes into homogeneous dispersion are still under development, although a few methods have been successful at the laboratory scale. Understanding the effective interactions between carbon nanotubes in the presence of dispersing agents will provide the necessary information to develop better methods and also to refine the existing ones. We present here results from all-atom molecular dynamics simulations for aqueous flavin mononucleotide (FMN), which has been found experimentally to efficiently separate single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) based on diameter and chirality. We report results for the aggregate morphology of FMN on SWNTs of different diameters, as well as the potential of mean force between (6,6) SWNTs in the presence of aqueous FMN. The results are compared to the potential of mean force between SWNTs in aqueous sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Our detailed analysis is used to explain the role of FMN, water, and sodium ions in providing a strong repulsive barrier between approaching SWNTs.
Epidemiological Characteristics of Rabies in Renshou County From 1998 to 2007

Objective To analyze the incidence and epidemic regularity of rabies in Renshou county from 1998 to 2007 for exploring effective prevention strategy.Method Data on the epidemic situation of rabies in Ren-shou county from 1998 to 2007 was collected and analyzed by descriptive epidemiology.ResultA total of 42 rabies cases were reported, in which no case was reported from 1998 to 2003, 2 cases were reported in 2004, 11 cases in 2005, 18 cases in 2006 and 11 caes in 2007. Among the cases, the peasants accounted for 83.33% and 55-66 years old persons accounted for 50%. July and December revealed the peak of inci-dence in a year. All the rabies cases had not been heated the wound with standard process and they were never immunized with or with whole course immunization of rabies vaccine in time or injected with anti-rabies serafor prevention.Conclusion During the 4 years, incidence of rabies in creased obriously in Renshou county,and most cases are peasants and middle or aged persons. Preventive measures should be stressed in rural areas.
Developing Psychiatric Biomarkers: a Review Focusing on the Error-Related Negativity as a Biomarker for Anxiety

Efforts to identify psychiatric biomarkers that confer clinical utility have not yet been as successful as other areas of medicine. The current review evaluates one promising psychiatric biomarker (the error-related negativity (ERN)—a neural index of error processing) in an attempt to outline a roadmap for the development of future biological markers of risk for psychopathology. Integrating suggestions from the Biomarkers Definition Working Group into a framework of psychopathology, with an emphasis on a developmental perspective, we demonstrate that the ERN relates to diagnoses and dimensional anxiety symptoms concurrently—and can predict new onset disorders prospectively. The ERN appears related to a clinically relevant transdiagnostic phenotype (i.e., the tendency to engage in checking behaviors)—and also differentiates anxiety from highly comorbid conditions such as depression. We emphasize the importance of evaluating the psychometric properties of psychiatric biomarkers, in adults and children, pointing out that the ERN displays excellent internal and test-retest reliability across development. Furthermore, we discuss the diagnostic utility of the ERN as well as animal models of error processing that may pave the way for the development of pharmacological interventions. Finally, we raise the possibility that a psychiatric biomarker can serve as a target of treatment, thereby encouraging the development of novel intervention strategies. In the case of the ERN, we discuss the use of attentional training, parenting interventions, and neurostimulation as potential avenues of intervention to alleviate or prevent the onset of anxiety disorders.
Validation of the Children's Hospital Early Warning System for Critical Deterioration Recognition

Abstract Objective Early warning scores, such as the Children's Hospital Early Warning Score (CHEWS), are used by hospitals to identify patients at risk for critical deterioration and trigger clinicians to intervene and prevent further deterioration. This study's objectives were to validate the CHEWS and to compare the CHEWS to the previously validated Brighton Pediatric Early Warning Score (PEWS) for early detection of critical deterioration in hospitalized, non-cardiac patients at a pediatric hospital. Design and Methods A retrospective cohort study reviewed medical and surgical patients at a quaternary academic pediatric hospital. CHEWS scores and abstracted PEWS scores were obtained on cases (n = 360) and a randomly selected comparison sample (n = 776). Specificity, sensitivity, area under the receiver-operating characteristic curves (AUROC) and early warning times were calculated for both scoring tools. Results The AUROC for CHEWS was 0.902 compared to 0.798 for PEWS (p Conclusion The CHEWS system demonstrated higher discrimination, higher sensitivity and longer early warning time than the PEWS for identifying children at risk for critical deterioration.
Attention span during lectures: 8 seconds, 10 minutes, or more?

In the current climate of curriculum reform, the traditional lecture has come under fire for its perceived lack of effectiveness. Indeed, several institutions have reduced their lectures to 15 min ...
Ad ratings when a marketer runs two commercial messages in one television program episode

Advertisers sometimes run two messages in one television program episode. We examine the ad-ratings consequences in passively recorded data. Previous findings suggest that repetition can reduce ad ...
A portable defense of the Procreation Asymmetry

The Procreation Asymmetry holds that we have strong moral reasons not to create miserable people for their own sakes, but no moral reasons to create happy people for their own sakes. To defend this conjunction against an argument that it leads to inconsistency, I show how recognizing ‘creation’ as a temporally extended process allows us to revise the conjuncts in a way that preserves their intuitive force. This defense of the Procreation Asymmetry is preferable to others because it does not require us to take on controversial metaphysical or metaethical commitments – in other words, it has the theoretical virtue of portability.
Association of immune response- and obesity-related genes with prostate cancer in CLUE II

B79 Background: Chronic intra-prostatic inflammation and obesity are thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of prostate cancer. Thus, polymorphisms in genes related to the host innate or adaptive immune response or in energy regulation, including insulin secretion and sensitivity, could alter the risk of prostate cancer. Methods: 17 common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in RNASEL, TLR4, IL1B, IL6, IL8, IL10, TNF, CRP, ADIPOQ, LEP,PPARG and TCF7L2 were genotyped in 264 prostate cancer cases and 264 matched controls nested in the prospective CLUE II cohort of Washington County, MD. Single-locus association analyses were conducted by conditional logistic regression. TagSNPs were selected (exclusive of the candidate SNPs) in IL10 (n=7), CRP (n=4), and TLR4 (n=8) and haplotype analyses were conducted. Results: Carrying the variant allele of IL10 -1082G>A (rs1800896), a known lower producer of the inflammation-inhibitory cytokine IL-10, was associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer when compared with the homozygous wild type (AG: OR, 1.69; 95% CI 1.10-2.60, AA: OR, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.11-2.96, Ptrend=0.02). The direction of the association did not vary by stage or grade, although it was strongest among cases that were both organ-confined and low stage (AA/AG vs GG: OR, 2.67, 95% CI, 1.04-6.82). The IL10 -1082G>A (rs1800896) association with total prostate cancer was stronger among users of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (OR, 3.02; 95% CI, 1.34-6.78) than nonusers (OR, 1.40; 95% CI, 0.88-2.23) and stronger among men who were lean (OR, 2.35; 95% CI, 1.16-4.79) than men who were overweight (OR, 1.49; 95% CI, 0.92-2.40), although the interactions were not statistically significant. Several IL10 haplotypes were associated with total prostate cancer when compared with the most common haplotype. However, these associations were due to high linkage disequilibrium between two tagSNPs (rs1800890 and rs3024496) and IL10 -1082G>A. A candidate SNP (rs4986790; ≥ 1 variant allele vs. 0: OR, 0.60; 95% CI 0.33-1.08, Ptrend=0.09) and a tagSNP (rs10116253, OR, 3.05; 95% CI, 1.11-8.41) in TLR4 were weakly associated with prostate cancer risk. None of the other candidate SNPs, nor the TLR4 and CRP haplotypes, were statistically significantly associated with prostate cancer overall.Conclusions: Our prospective study suggests that genetic polymorphisms in IL10 and possibly TLR4 may be associated with risk of prostate cancer. Although none of the candidate SNPs in the genes related to obesity was statistically significantly associated with prostate cancer, this does not rule out the complex role of obesity and its metabolic perturbations in the etiology of prostate cancer.
Bilateral native nephrectomy reduces systemic oxalate level after combined liver‐kidney transplant: A case report

Primary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1) is a rare liver enzymatic defect that causes overproduction of plasma oxalate. Accumulation of oxalate in the kidney and subsequent renal failure are fatal to PH1 patients often in pediatric age. Combined liver and kidney transplantation is the therapy of choice for end-stage renal disease due to PH1. Levels of plasma oxalate remain elevated for several months after liver transplantation, as the residual body oxalate is slowly excreted. Patients with persistent hyperoxaluria after transplant often require hemodialysis, and accumulation of residual oxalate in the kidney can induce graft dysfunction. As the native kidneys are the main target of calcium oxalate accumulation, we postulated that removal of native kidneys could drastically decrease total body oxalate levels after transplantation. Here, we report a case of bilateral nephrectomy at the time of combined liver-kidney transplantation in a pediatric PH1 patient. Bilateral nephrectomy induced a rapid decrease in plasma oxalate to normal levels in less than 20 days, compared to the several months reported in the literature. Our results suggest that removal of native kidneys could be an effective strategy to decrease the need for hemodialysis and the risk of renal dysfunction after combined liver-kidney transplantation in patients with PH1.
The relationship between urban forests and race: A meta-analysis

There is ample evidence that urban trees benefit the physical, mental, and social health of urban residents. The environmental justice hypothesis posits that environmental amenities are inequitably low in poor and minority communities, and predicts these communities experience fewer urban environmental benefits. Some previous research has found that urban forest cover is inequitably distributed by race, though other studies have found no relationship or negative inequity. These conflicting results and the single-city nature of the current literature suggest a need for a research synthesis. Using a systematic literature search and meta-analytic techniques, we examined the relationship between urban forest cover and race. First, we estimated the average (unconditional) relationship between urban forest cover and race across studies (studies = 40; effect sizes = 388). We find evidence of significant race-based inequity in urban forest cover. Second, we included characteristics of the original studies and study sites in meta-regressions to illuminate drivers of variation of urban forest cover between studies. Our meta-regressions reveal that the relationship varies across racial groups and by study methodology. Models reveal significant inequity on public land and that environmental and social characteristics of cities help explain variation across studies. As tree planting and other urban forestry programs proliferate, urban forestry professionals are encouraged to consider the equity consequences of urban forestry activities, particularly on public land.
EF-Tu Stoichiometries in Code Translation

According to early observations the number of GTP’s hydrolyzed on EF-Tu per peptide bond is close to one [Gordon, 1969; Miller and Weissbach, 1977; Thompson and Stone, 1977]. These measurements were made in partial translation systems lacking EF-G, and it took more than a decade before the corresponding experiments could be made in a full translation system [Ruusala et al, 1982a]. In the latter system, which had been optimized for rate as well as accuracy [Jelenc and Kurland, 1979; Wagner et al, 1982; Ehrenberg et al, 1990ab], the quantitative evaluation of the experiments depended on external estimates of the concentration of active EF-Tu as well as of the dissociaton rate of GDP from the factor [Ruusala et al, 1982a; Ehrenberg and Kurland, 1988]. They found that one GTP is hydrolyzed per peptide bond in accord with previous observations. A more direct assay was designed by Kakniashvili et al [1986], and they also concluded that one molecule of GTP is dissipated in EF-Tu function per cognate peptide bond. These latter results were ambiguous, however, since the rate of exchange between labelled and unlabelled GTP in the ternary complex did not seem to be controlled properly, as explained by Rojas [1988] and Ehrenberg et al [1990a].
A Complier Average Causal Effect Analysis of the Stimulant Reduction Intervention using Dosed Exercise Study.

Objective Exercise is a promising treatment for substance use disorders, yet an intention-to-treat analysis of a large, multi-site study found no reduction in stimulant use for exercise versus health education. Exercise adherence was sub-optimal; therefore, secondary post-hoc complier average causal effects (CACE) analysis was conducted to determine the potential effectiveness of adequately dosed exercise. Method The STimulant use Reduction Intervention using Dosed Exercise study was a randomized controlled trial comparing a 12 kcal/kg/week (KKW) exercise dose versus a health education control conducted at nine residential substance use treatment settings across the U.S. that are affiliated with the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network. Participants were sedentary but medically approved for exercise, used stimulants within 30 days prior to study entry, and received a DSM-IV stimulant abuse or dependence diagnosis within the past year. A CACE analysis adjusted to include only participants with a minimum threshold of adherence (at least 8.3 KKW) and using a negative-binomial hurdle model focused on 218 participants who were 36.2% female, mean age 39.4 years (SD =11.1), and averaged 13.0 (SD=9.2) stimulant use days in the 30 days before residential treatment. The outcome was days of stimulant use as assessed by the self-reported TimeLine Follow Back and urine drug screen results. Results The CACE-adjusted analysis found a significantly lower probability of relapse to stimulant use in the exercise group versus the health education group (41.0% vs. 55.7%, p<.01) and significantly lower days of stimulant use among those who relapsed (5.0 days vs. 9.9 days, p<.01). Conclusions The CACE adjustment revealed significant, positive effects for exercise. Further research is warranted to develop strategies for exercise adherence that can ensure achievement of an exercise dose sufficient to produce a significant treatment effect.
SmartGrid: analytics for the electric grid of the future

The North American electric grid consists of billions of interconnected devices, and has been called "an engineering marvel, arguably the single largest and most complex machine in the world" [1]. Despite the fact that its reliability is coming increasing scrutiny, the criticality of electric grids for modern society cannot be understated. Power outages can lead to significant economic loss and even death. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimated that power interruptions cost the U. S. approximately $79 billion to $135 billion per year [2], and the massive blackout of 2003 plunged 55 million people in Canada and the U. S. into darkness. It is therefore essential for utilities and governments to plan for, and provide a sufficient degree of robustness to, growing networks of millions of interconnected generators and users. There are compelling reasons to model this complex, dynamically changing network in real time, to identify potential problems before they arise, and take action before catastrophic failure occurs.
Coordination Chemistry of Porphyrins

The current interest in the coordination chemistry of synthetic macrocyclic ligands stems directly from the fact that among the most important biological compounds that contain metal ions are those with naturally occurring macrocyclic ligands, e.g., the porphyrins, the chlorophylls, and the corrins. These ligands are generally bound to iron, magnesium, and cobalt, respectively, in the biological systems. Work on the biological compounds has been extensive and many reviews and monographs give the recent results.(1~6) Model compound studies of both the synthetic and naturally occurring macrocyclic ligand complexes have, for the most part, been useful in arriving at an enhanced understanding of the function of the metal in the biological system.(7–10) The recent literature on metalloporphyrins is vast and there are many excellent reviews on various aspects of the subject.(11–13) This review will only summarize the most important parts of the various topics and will reference pertinent reviews or exemplary articles. Details of experiment and interpretation, although of great interest, will generally not be given here.
Convergent evolution of coloration in experimental introductions of the guppy (Poecilia reticulata)

Despite the multitude of examples of evolution in action, relatively fewer studies have taken a replicated approach to understand the repeatability of evolution. Here, we examine the convergent evolution of adaptive coloration in experimental introductions of guppies from a high-predation (HP) environment into four low-predation (LP) environments. LP introductions were replicated across 2 years and in two different forest canopy cover types. We take a complementary approach by examining both phenotypes and genetics. For phenotypes, we categorize the whole color pattern on the tail fin of male guppies and analyze evolution using a correspondence analysis. We find that coloration in the introduction sites diverged from the founding Guanapo HP site. Sites group together based on canopy cover, indicating convergence in response to light environment. However, the axis that explains the most variation indicates a lack of convergence. Therefore, evolution may proceed along similar phenotypic trajectories, but still maintain unique variation within sites. For the genetics underlying the divergent phenotypes, we examine expression levels of color genes. We find no evidence for differential expression, indicating that the genetic basis for the color changes remains undetermined.
Charging Skip Optimization with Peer-to-Peer Wireless Energy Sharing in Mobile Networks

Increasing software capabilities and complicated applications running on smartphones have increased the quality of life for users. However, the battery lives of smartphones have stayed limited due to the respectively slower improvements in battery technology. Users are often required to find a charging port and connect the phone to the port through a cable. A lot of times, this process can be irritating or even infeasible. Through adoption of emerging wireless power transfer technology in these devices, charging process has transformed into a new dimension. Moreover, this has brought the opportunity for wireless energy exchange between mobile devices ubiquitously. In this paper, we investigate the potential of peer-to-peer energy sharing to reduce the burden of traditional cord- based charging process. The devices of users can make use of energy available from other users' devices based on their meeting patterns so that the battery level of their devices could be maintained within acceptable level without the need of charging it through a cable frequently. Our specific goal in this study is to find the maximum number of traditional way of charging times that could be skipped through utilization of available energy in other users in the vicinity with wireless energy sharing. To this end, we use dynamic programming approach to find the optimal skipping patterns for selfish and cooperative energy exchange cases and verify the results with brute force.
Complex Interbank Network Estimation: Sparsity-Clustering Threshold

In the “too-interconnected-to-fail” discussion network theory has emerged as an important tool to identify risk concentrations in interbank networks. Therefore, however, data on bilateral bank exposures, i.e. the edges in such a network, is not available but has to be estimated. In this work we report on the possibility of enhancing existing inference techniques with prior knowledge on network topology in order to preserve complex interbank network characteristics. A convenient feature of our technique is that a single parameter \(\alpha \) governs the characteristics of the resulting network. In an empirical study we reconstruct the network of about 2100 US commercial banks and show that complex network characteristics can indeed be preserved and, moreover, controlled by \(\alpha \). In an outlook we discuss the possibility of developing an \(\alpha \)-based measurement for the complexity characteristics of observed interbank networks.
Zoledronic acid inhibits the earliest stages of vasculogenesis: blockage of the transdifferentiation of monocytes into endothelial cells induced by pleiotrophin and mCSF

4651 We have discovered a novel mechanism leading to blood vessel formation that involves the transdifferentiation of monocytes into endothelial cells by tumor cell production of pleiotrophin (PTN), a protein highly produced by myeloma (Chen et al, Blood 2005; Yeh et al, Br J Haematol 2006) and breast cancer (Zhang et al, JBC 1997) cells. The nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate zoledronic acid has been shown to inhibit bone loss and recent studies also demonstrate profound anti-angiogenic effects of this drug. The inhibitory effects of zoledronic acid on blood vessel formations remain unknown. We purified human monocytes (CD14+) and cultured these cells on collagen I-coated dishes. mCSF was added to the cells after 1 hour of culture. PTN was added twice to the culture, once after 24 hoursand again after 5 days with or without zoledronic acid or bortezomib. FLK-1 expression (VEGFR-2) showed that the cells incubated on collagen I without drugs formed tube-like structures in the presence of PTN and mCSF. However, the tube-like structures disappeared after adding zoledronic acid at either 1.5 or 0.15 uM. In order to examine whether zoledronic acid also reduces the expression of endothelial genes and proteins when monocytes are induced to transdifferentiate in the presence of these cytokines, we used RT-PCR and Western blot analysis on the endothelial cell markers Flk-1 Tie-2 and von Willebrand factor (vWF). The results of both RT-PCR and Western blot analysis showed that the expression of endothelial markers was blocked at zoledronic acid concentrations of 15uM, 1.5uM and 0.15uM. We further examined the effects of zoledronic acid on early stage angiogenesis in vivo using the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay. Fertilized chick eggs were incubated horizontally at 38°C in a humidified incubator, windowed by day 3 of incubation and processed by day 8. The tested micro-sponge with zoledronic acid (1.5uM) or control reagents was implanted on the CAM. The eggs were sealed with adhesive tape and returned to the incubation for 48 hours. The assay scored positive when two independent observers reported a significant reduction of vessels in the treated area. The results of the CAM assay showed that compared to saline, zoledronic acid significantly reduced new macroscopic and microscopic vessel formation. These experiments define a previously unrecognized novel mechanism by which zoledronic acid may inhibit new blood vessel formation in cancer patients_preventing the transdifferentiation of monocytes into endothelial cells induced by PTN. They also suggest a specific new mechanism through which zoledronic acid has anti-angiogenic effects which provides further support for the potential anti-cancer effects of this agent.
Vaccines for Mosquito-Borne Human Viruses Affecting Texas

Abstract Two vaccines for human arbovirus infections endemic to the Western Hemisphere—yellow fever and dengue—have been approved. The YF-Vax yellow fever vaccine is manufactured in the United States (and also several developing countries) and could be used in an outbreak setting in Texas. The Dengvaxia dengue vaccine has been approved in Mexico and several other Latin American countries, but not for children under the age of 9 years. The regular occurrence of both dengue in South Texas and epidemics of dengue in Houston during the early 2000s may stimulate interest in pursuing US licensure. Several other candidate arbovirus vaccines are undergoing clinical and field trials for chikungunya, Zika virus infection, and West Nile virus (WNV) infection, as are alternative dengue vaccines. Currently, only WNV has a disease burden high enough in the state of Texas to warrant the introduction of a vaccine, especially for older and other susceptible populations. However, no vaccine has so far progressed past phase 2 clinical trials, and it is unclear whether there is a sufficient market to justify private investments in WNV vaccines. Modeling and cost-effectiveness studies that fully incorporate the chronic neurologic and renal sequelae of WNV due to persistent virus infection might help to stimulate further clinical development of these vaccines. Sadly the rise of an effective antivaccine lobby in Texas has resulted in widespread vaccine hesitancy in the state and could present a significant hurdle to introducing arbovirus vaccines should the need arise.