cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evidence for the existence of lactate dehydrogenase N in embryonic chick liver

Abstract Lactate dehydrogenase ( l -lactate:NAD oxidoreductase, EC 1.1.1.27) from embryonic chick liver had different kinetic and thermal stability properties from lactate dehydrogenase from adult chick liver, and lactate dehydrogenase prepared from different sources known to contain varying percentages of the lactate dehydrogenases 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 isozymes. The embryonic chick liver lactate dehydrogenase could not be separated from adult chick liver lactate dehydrogenases or lactate dehydrogenase 5 on the basis of its electrophoretic mobility on polyacrylamide disc gels. However, embryonic chick liver lactate dehydrogenase utilized α-ketoglutaric acid as a substrate, and 3-acetylpyridine NAD as a coenzyme more efficiently than any of the other lactate dehydrogenase isozymes. Also embryonic chick liver lactate dehydrogenase was more resistant to heating at 65°C than the other lactate dehydrogenase isozymes. Further experiments showed that the kinetic properties of embryonic chick liver lactate dehydrogenase were consistent with those demonstrated for lactate dehydrogenase X.
Volunteer ombudsmen in the nursing home: Obstacles to retention

Abstract This research investigated facets of the volunteer ombudsman's role as related to orientation, performance, and satisfaction. The status of the volunteer, whether active or inactive, and their perceptions of barriers to ongoing participation was examined. The majority of the volunteers identified their primary orientation as that of therapeutic supporter, a friendly visitor who provided emotional support to residents. This type of volunteer was more likely to remain in the program longer than the other orientations of advocate or mediator. Former volunteers reported more resistance from nursing home staff, had significantly less success in resolving issues, felt their needs as volunteers were overlooked, and received less continuing training. These former volunteers were far less likely to recommend volunteering in the ombudsman program to their friends or family. Since volunteer programs depend upon a positive or at least neutral experience from participants, recruiting and retaining participants remains problematic.
Highly Cooperative Homodimerization Is a Conserved Property of Neural POU Proteins

POU-domain proteins have been shown to play important roles in the development of the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. However, the distinctive DNA recognition properties of the six major POU subclasses have not been well defined. Here, we have used random oligonucleotide selection and competitive binding assays to determine the optimal DNA recognition elements for the POU-III and POU-VI protein classes, represented by Brn-2 and Brn-5, respectively. The optimal Brn-5 consensus binding sequence GCATAA(T/A)TTAT strongly resembles that previously determined for the POU-IV (Brn-3) class, whereas Brn-2 exhibits highest affinity for non-octamer sites of the form ATG(A/C)AT(A/T)0-2ATTNAT and for octamer sites that contain a full associated heptamer sequence. Brn-2, Brn-3.0, and their invertebrate homologues all exhibit highly cooperative homodimerization on the Brn-2 consensus sequence, demonstrating that cooperative dimerization is a general property of these neural POU proteins. However, modified sites to which Brn-2 binds only as a monomer mediate the transcriptional effects of Brn-2 better than the consensus sequence, demonstrating that dimerization on these sites diminishes the transactivation ability of the protein. Together with the findings of our prior studies these data greatly facilitate the identification of functional POU recognition elements in the regulatory regions of neural genes.
Differences in Attitudes Toward Outgroups in Religious and Nonreligious Contexts in a Multinational Sample: A Situational Context Priming Study

Researchers in the psychology of religion have begun utilizing priming methods to investigate the effects of the salience of religious concepts. These tightly controlled laboratory studies have demonstrated that priming religion may increase intergroup bias in both religious and nonreligious persons. The present study examined this possibility in a religiously and culturally diverse population using ecologically valid methods. Participants were recruited as they passed by either a religious or nonreligious structure in Western Europe. Participants in the religious context self-reported more negative attitudes toward non-Christian groups, more conservative political attitudes, and more personal religiousness and spirituality regardless of their personal belief in God. Results are discussed in terms of intergroup bias and salience of religious norms and stereotypes across cultures.
Nonignorable censoring in randomized clinical trials

Background In a clinical trial, survival may be censored by the end of the study, especially for subjects who enter later in the enrollment period. If there is a trend toward better survival over time then longer survivors experience shorter censoring times (heavier censoring). In such a case, the censoring and survival times are correlated, and thus the censoring is nonignorable in the sense that standard survival models that assume independent censoring could yield incorrect inferences. We will demonstrate a graphical method for analyzing sensitivity of estimates of survival model parameters to small departures from nonignorable censoring. Methods We assume a parametric model of survival together with a scaled beta model for the censoring process that incorporates the dependence of censoring time on survival time. We assess sensitivity using an index of local sensitivity to nonignorability (Troxel et al.). High sensitivity indicates a large impact of nonignorable censoring on the parameter of interest and a need for additional modeling. Results A simulation study shows that the approach is valid for practical use. We apply our method to a clinical trial evaluating the survival benefit of a surgically implanted left ventricular assist device in subjects with end-stage heart failure. Sensitivity is somewhat larger in estimates of the mean survival in the device arm, where survival is better and the fraction censored is therefore larger. The degree of nonignorability required to substantially affect estimates is larger than seems plausible, however. Conclusions Our results illustrate how one can apply sensitivity analysis to evaluate the reliability of survival parameter estimates in a clinical trial.
Models and Methods for Privacy-Preserving Data Analysis and Publishing

The digitization of our daily lives has led to an explosion in the collection of data by governments, corporations, and individuals. Protection of confidentiality of this data is of utmost importance. However, knowledge of statistical properties of this private data can have significant societal benefit, for example, in decisions about the allocation of public funds based on Census data, or in the analysis of medical data from different hospitals to understand the interaction of drugs. This tutorial will survey recent research that builds bridges between the two seemingly conflicting goals of sharing data while preserving data privacy and confidentiality. The tutorial will cover definitions of privacy and disclosure, and associated methods how to enforce them.
Recognizing Expressions of Commonsense Psychology in English Text

Many applications of natural language processing technologies involve analyzing texts that concern the psychological states and processes of people, including their beliefs, goals, predictions, explanations, and plans. In this paper, we describe our efforts to create a robust, large-scale lexical-semantic resource for the recognition and classification of expressions of commonsense psychology in English Text. We achieve high levels of precision and recall by hand-authoring sets of local grammars for commonsense psychology concepts, and show that this approach can achieve classification performance greater than that obtained by using machine learning techniques. We demonstrate the utility of this resource for large-scale corpus analysis by identifying references to adversarial and competitive goals in political speeches throughout U.S. history.
Observation of Core-Annular Transition in Converging Microchannel Flows

The transition from to core-annular flow arrangements has been experimentally observed in converging microchannel flows of miscible fluids having a non-unity viscosity ratio. The microfluidic system consists of square microchannels of diameters 127 µm and 250 µm that meet at a 90 junction. Core-annular transition has been obervaed for a range of Reynolds numbers relevant to microfluidic applications (1 < Re < 60). The unequal channel diameters appear significant for initiating the core-annular transition. Numerical simulations have shown good agreement with 3D experimental imaging of the flow configurations. To our knowledge, core-annular flow transition has not been reported in the literature and this study represents a first step towards understanding this phenomenon that has received much attention on the macroscale.
Suborbital Flight Test of a Prototype Terrain-Relative Navigation System

In April 2006, a terrain-relative navigation experiment successfully flew on a sounding rocket mission at White Sands Missile Range. The mission was designated by NASA/Wallops Flight Facility as 41.068 NT/Seybold (“41.068”) and was flown as part of the New Millennium Program ST9 Terrain-Relative Guidance System (TRGS) Project’s competitive Phase A effort. The TRN experiment had two objectives: 1) To demonstrate the viability of a navigation filter for precision landing that uses on-board IMU and descent image data to achieve position knowledge errors of less than 100m, validated with GPS data recorded during flight; and 2) To establish that commercial off-the-shelf cameras can be packaged sufficiently well to survive the sounding rocket launch environment. Both objectives were met. The 13 min flight provided a data set that was processed post-flight through the prototype algorithms to bring the ST9 TRGS Project to a technology readiness level of 4 in TRN. This paper describes the flight system development and operations of the TRN experiment on 41.068.
P2E-7 Sonoelastographic Shear Velocity Imaging: Experiments on Tissue Phantom and Prostate

In this paper, we introduce and evaluate a novel sonoelastographic technique for imaging shear velocity distributions from propagating shear wave interference patterns (termed crawling waves). A mathematical relationship between local crawling wave spatial phase derivates and shear velocity is presented with phase derivatives estimated using an autocorrelation-based technique. Results from homogeneous phantoms illustrate the ability of sonoelastographic shear velocity imaging to accurately quantify the true shear velocity distribution as verified using time-of-flight measurements. Results from a heterogeneous phantom reveal the ability of sonoelastographic shear velocity imaging to distinguish a stiff circular inclusion with shear velocity contrast comparable to that measured using mechanical testing techniques. High contrast visualization of focal carcinomas in an in-vitro prostrate specimen demonstrates the feasibility of this novel sonoelastographic imaging technique in tissue
Investigating New Imaging Modality: Magnetic Particle Imaging

Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) is a newly found imaging modality. It utilizes superparamagnetic materials as tracers in the blood stream to obtain very high resolutions. MPI promises to have high sensitivity, high spatial resolution and no radiation compared to other imaging modalities. Most commercially available MRI tracers (used for MPI for now) are all non-harmful when compared to Iodine (used for CT scan) and Gadolinium (used for MRI). MPI research is divided into three categories: MPI scanner development, superparamagnetic materials development, and image reconstruction techniques. In this project a small scale LabView-based system will be developed for use on small lab created phantoms, using 25 nm superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) particles. At first a relaxometer will be developed, the imager will come as the next step. Transmitting and receiving signals will be implemented using LabView and a National Instruments PXI-1033 Chassis. Lab-built coils will be used to send the excitation signal and receive the signal induced by those SPIO's. The objective of this project is to be introduced to a new imaging modality that can have various applications and at the same time considered safe. The system being built is considered inexpensive and shows most of the aspects of how magnetic particle imaging works, starting with the physical phenomena, superparamagnetic nanoparticle properties and relaxation, signal generation and acquisition, and an introduction to the hardware of MPI. The system can be used to introduce engineers and engineering students to the MPI physical phenomena.
Discharge rate during low-force isometric contractions influences motor unit coherence below 15 Hz but not motor unit synchronization

The purpose of the study was to determine whether pairs of motor units that discharge action potentials at different rates during isometric contractions exhibit different levels of motor unit synchronization or coherence. Twelve subjects (28.6 +/- 6.1 years) performed isometric contractions at target forces slightly above the recruitment threshold (1.02-20.9%) of an isolated motor unit. Based on audio feedback, subjects maintained a relatively constant discharge rate of the isolated unit for about 80 s. Intramuscular electrodes were used to record the discharge of 47 pairs of motor units at rates that ranged from 8.07 to 13.6 pps. Correlated discharge between pairs of motor units was quantified with the common input strength (CIS) index, k' index, and coherence spectrum. Greater discharge rates across pairs of motor units were predicted (R2 = 0.36, P < 0.001) by higher coherence from 8 to 13 Hz (r = -0.52) and lower coherence from 0 to 4 Hz (r = 0.37). Indexes of motor unit synchronization (CIS and k') were strongly associated with motor unit coherence from 16 to 32 Hz (CIS: R2 = 0.63; k': R2 = 0.4; P = 0.001). The CIS index of motor unit synchronization and the motor unit coherence from 16 to 32 Hz did not vary with discharge rate. In contrast, the k' index of motor unit synchronization declined with discharge rate (r2 = 0.20, P = 0.001). Furthermore, greater discharge rates across pairs of motor units were accompanied by higher motor unit coherence in the 8-13 Hz band and lower motor unit coherence in the 0-4 Hz band. These results demonstrate that differences in discharge rate between pairs of motor units in first dorsal interosseus during low-force, isometric contractions were associated with modulation of the correlation in the discharge times of the two motor units at frequencies less than 15 Hz.
Engineering new paths to water data

Considering the scope of water resources research, data can be available from many different sources that use different nomenclature, storage technologies, interfaces and even languages, which make its discovery a hard and time-consuming task. This paper addresses the development of an ontology-aided, clustered search mechanism that enables querying multiple hydrologic and environmental data repositories through a single interface regardless of the heterogeneity that exists between these sources.
Finding new medicines to fight CF: multiple steps of a success story.

Background Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a major life-limiting genetic disease leading to severe respiratory symptoms caused by mutations in CF trans membrane conductance regulator (CFTR), a chloride channel expressed at the apical membrane of epithelial cells. Absence of functional CFTR from the surface of respiratory cells reduces mucociliary clearance, promoting airways obstruction, chronic infection and ultimately lung failure [1]. Despite major clinical advances treating the symptoms, which pushed survival beyond the second decade (~25 years in Europe), CF is still a life-limiting condition [2]. However, to further increase CF patients life expectancy, CF needs to be treated beyond its symptoms, i.e., through treatments addressing the basic defect associated with CFTR gene mutations [3]. So far ~1,900 CFTR mutations were reported [4], but one single mutation, F508del remains the most common one, as it occurs in ~90% of CF patients in at least one allele [5] and is associated with a severe clinical phenotype. Despite that most of efforts are focused on correcting the F508del-CFTR which causes intracellular retention of the mutant channel at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), several additional strategies are emerging to rescue other (rarer mutants) which, in some populations, also have high prevalence. To this end, CFTR mutations are usually grouped into functional classes, towards a “mutation-specific” therapeutic approach by which mutations within the same functional class can be corrected by the same therapeutic strategy towards a “personalized medicine” approach [6]. Materials and methods/ results To apply such strategy CFTR mutations are thus classified into six main functional categories [7,8], namely: i) class I mutations (often mutations generating premature stop codons, e.g., R1162X) prevent protein production; ii) class II mutations (includes F508del) cause intracellular retention and premature degradation, thus preventing mutant CFTR from reaching the cell surface; iii) class III mutants (e.g., G551D) cause impairment in the channel gating (i.e., decreased open probability); iv) class IV mutants have substantially reduced flow of Cl ions through the CFTR channel (e.g., R334W); v) class V mutants include mostly alternative splicing mutants (e.g., 3272-26A>G) which allow synthesis of some normal CFTR mRNA (and protein), albeit at very low levels; and vi) class VI mutants (e.g., c.120del23 [9] or membrane-rescued F508del) impair the plasma membrane stability of CFTR.
Coating of SWNTs with Nickel by Electroless Plating Method

This study considers a method for producing SWNTs reinforced lightweight metal-matrix composites. In this research, fluorination has been applied to achieve considerable improvement in the dispersion of purified single-walled carbon nanotubes. It has been demonstrated that surface fluorination is a possible approach to entrap catalytic nucleation centers along the walls of SWNTs. The results show that nickel could be successfully plated onto the activated surfaces of fluorinated SWNTs (F-SWNTs) through electroless plating which is an effective way for producing nanotube/metal systems. It was observed that high surface coverage of Pd-Sn catalytic nuclei is needed to form high quality coatings. A two-step approach was used and the coating mechanism is described in this paper.
Mycobacterium avium complex pulmonary disease in patients with pre-existing lung disease

Patients with MAC-PD and pre-existing lung disease are a distinct group from the more common and recently recognized group of predominantly middle- to older-aged women without pre-existing lung disease. Those with pre-existing disease are expected to have more sputum positivity and slower conversion of sputum with treatment, and they may require combined medical treatment with surgical resection for optimal results. Attention to bronchial hygiene, avoidance of unnecessary use of macrolides, and treatment of underlying esophageal and lung disease can result in marked symptomatic improvement in many cases. Appropriate consideration must be given to mycobacterial antibiotic treatment, and awareness must be maintained for other processes such as bronchogenic cancer in select groups of high-risk patients.
Casualties and Constituencies : Democratic Accountability, Electoral Institutions, and Costly Conflicts

Electoral institutions influence legislators’ constituency size and makeup and, as a result, affect the lens that representatives look through to assess the costs of military conflict. Given the uneven distribution of casualties during a conflict, the costs of international violence vary between constituencies and thus affect representatives differently. The authors develop a constituency-based theory of legislator accountability and legislature behavior that predicts when democracies are willing to pay human costs in an interstate conflict and their likelihood of being involved in a dispute. The results suggest that the more diffuse political account-ability, the less likely a state is to get involved in a militarized dispute, but that once involved, the more likely a state will sustain casualties. The authors’theory suggests that choices over the mechanisms of political representation have far-reaching effects on political accountability and foreign policy.
Oxygen isotope values in bone carbonate and collagen are consistently offset for New World monkeys.

Stable oxygen isotopes are increasingly used in ecological research. Here, I present oxygen isotope (δ18O) values for bone carbonate and collagen from howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata), spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) and capuchins (Cebus capucinus) from three localities in Costa Rica. There are apparent differences in δ18Ocarbonate and δ18Ocollagen among species. Monkeys from moist forest have significantly lower isotope values than those from drier localities. Because patterns are similar for both substrates, discrimination (Δ) between δ18Ocarbonate and δ18Ocollagen is relatively consistent among species and localities (17.6 ± 0.9‰). Although this value is larger than that previously obtained for laboratory rats, consistency among species and localities suggests it can be used to compare δ18Ocarbonate and δ18Ocollagen for monkeys, and potentially other medium-bodied mammals. Establishing discrimination for oxygen between these substrates for wild monkeys provides a foundation for future environmental and ecological research on modern and ancient organisms.
A Multivariate Analysis of Excessive Alcohol Use Involving Labeling and Self-Constructs

Previous studies have focused on predicting whether or not a person is likely to become a problem drinker, but have not employed concepts explaining the process whereby excessive alcohol use emerges. It is proposed that labeling concepts, in combination with a multidimensional conceptualization of the general self-concept, provide the components of a model capable of explaining this process. Automatic Interaction Detector permitted an assessment of the contingent relationships among the labeling and self-variables. The findings indicated that the influence of the alcoholic labels of others on self-views and drinking behaviors hinged on self-esteem and self-complexity.
Raman Study of Glasses of Ba2TiSi2O8 and Ba2TiGe2O8

Raman spectra are reported for fresnoite (Ba 2 Ti(Si, Ge) 2 O 8 glasses, and comparison is made between the Raman spectra of the corresponding crystalline powders and glassess of Ba 2 TiSi 2 O 8 and Ba 2 TiGe 2 O 8 . The Ba 2 TiGe 2 O 8 glass spectra show correspondence with the Ba 2 TiGe 2 O 8 crystalline Raman spectra; the υ s (Ge-O-Gea mode occurs at 518 cm -1 in the glass and at 521 cm -1 in the crystalline material
Free-flap failures and complications in an American oral and maxillofacial surgery unit

Free tissue transfer is a reliable surgical technique that enables primary reconstruction following ablative surgery. Widely practised in many European units, acceptance into mainstream oral and maxillofacial surgery in the USA has been slow. The authors reviewed free flap practice patterns and outcomes in a US oral and maxillofacial surgery training program with specific emphasis on failures and complications to illustrate obstacles encountered during the initial phase of practice implementation. The demographic and clinical data of 71 consecutive patients who underwent microvascular reconstruction over 3 years (2002-2005) were reviewed. The study group included 48 males and 23 females who underwent 72 free tissue transfer procedures. Fourteen patients required operative exploration in the perioperative period. Six patients were explored for clinically compromised flaps. Thrombotic events occurred in 4 patients; 1 flap was successfully salvaged. There were 4 flap failures and 9 complications related to the donor site. Two perioperative deaths occurred from non-flap-related complications. Prolonged hospital stay and ICU utilization was observed in patients with surgical complications. Complications in this study did not affect the overall success rates of free-flaps. Salvage rates from thrombotic events were unaffected despite rigid flap monitoring protocols.
A conceptual design and thermal analysis of high heat load crotch absorber

A high heat load crotch absorber has been designed for the Advanced Photon Source (APS) storage ring curved chambers. The absorber, which uses a beryllium diffuser brazed to oxygen free high-conductivity copper (OFHC) plates, has been optimized to spread the beam power in order to reduce its temperature rise and thermal stresses. Circular copper tubes are brazed to the absorber for water cooling. The absorber design and analytical results from a three-dimensional finite element model are presented in this paper. >
Vulnerability and protection for distributed consensus-based spectrum sensing in cognitive radio networks

Cooperative spectrum sensing is key to the success of cognitive radio networks. Recently, fully distributed cooperative spectrum sensing has been proposed for its high performance benefits particularly in cognitive radio ad hoc networks. However, the cooperative and fully distributed natures of such protocol make it highly vulnerable to malicious attacks, and make the defense very difficult. In this paper, we analyze the vulnerabilities of distributed sensing architecture based on a representative distributed consensus-based spectrum sensing algorithm. We find that such distributed algorithm is particularly vulnerable to a novel form of attack called covert adaptive data injection attack. The vulnerabilities are even magnified under multiple colluding attackers. We further propose effective protection mechanisms, which include a robust distributed outlier detection scheme with adaptive local threshold to thwart the covert adaptive data injection attack, and a hash-based computation verification approach to cope with collusion attacks. Through simulation and analysis, we demonstrate the destructive power of the attacks, and validate the efficacy and efficiency of our proposed protection mechanisms.
Neuronal loss from the subthalamic nuclei in a patient with progressive chorea

We present a case of an 80-year-old man who developed a seizure disorder at age 66 and was treated with chronic phenytoin. In the last 3 years of his life, he developed multiple neurological deficits, including bilateral chorea, ataxic gait, sensory neuropathy, and progressive dementia. After death from pneumonia, autopsy examination of the patient's brain was most remarkable for a selective loss of neurons from both subthalamic nuclei and Purkinje cell loss in the cerebellum. This pattern of injury is consistent with a toxic process and does not fit previously characterized pathological syndromes known to be associated with movement disorders or dementia or both. Phenytoin has been shown to cause choreiform movements, peripheral neuropathy, and cognitive decline in some patients, but the pathological basis for these changes has not been elucidated. The patient's chorea was very likely the result of neuronal loss in the subthalamic nuclei, but causes for his dementia and neuropathy were not found. The pathological findings may represent either an unusual form of chronic phenytoin toxicity or a previously undescribed primary degenerative brain syndrome.
Balloon dilatation in infants and children with cardiac defects

The purpose of this review is to present the state of the art of balloon dilatation of stenotic lesions in infants, children, and adolescents; personal experience with balloon dilatation in approximately 180 infants and children, including our previous publications [9−18], and that reported in literature will be utilized as supportive material
Paytan Receives 2004 Ocean Sciences Early Career Award

Adina Paytan received the Ocean Sciences Early Career Award at the 2004 Fall Meeting last December, in recognition of significant contributions to and promise in the ocean sciences.
Small-Sample Estimation of a Structural Equation with Autocorrelated Errors

Abstract Many time series models have autocorrelated errors. A further problem may be that some of the right-hand variables are correlated with the error. Using Monte Carlo methods we investigated several estimators of such a model. We found that a transformation to correct the autocorrelation often improved matters, but that techniques to correct the other problems such as instrumental variables were usually ineffective. In many cases ordinary least squares had the smallest mean squared error.
Parent and child agreement on anxiety disorder symptoms using the DISC predictive scales.

Growing recognition of the negative impact of anxiety disorders in the lives of youth has made their identification an important clinical task. Multiple perspective assessment (e.g., parents, children) is generally considered a preferred method in the assessment of anxiety disorder symptoms, although it has been generally thought that disagreement between parent and youth ratings of the child’s emotions is common. This study examined parent and child reports of the child’s anxiety disorder symptoms using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children—Predictive Scales (DISC-PS) in a clinic-referred sample of substance using adolescents. Parents and adolescents (N = 480) who were referred for substance abuse treatment were screened for anxiety disorder symptoms using the DISC-PS at pretreatment. Results suggest similar (low) levels of agreement between the parent report and child report versions as found with other anxiety symptom and anxiety disorder measures. Findings provide data on multi-informant agre...
An optical neural interface: in vivo control of rodent motor cortex with integrated fiberoptic and optogenetic technology

Neural interface technology has made enormous strides in recent years but stimulating electrodes remain incapable of reliably targeting specific cell types (e.g. excitatory or inhibitory neurons) within neural tissue. This obstacle has major scientific and clinical implications. For example, there is intense debate among physicians, neuroengineers and neuroscientists regarding the relevant cell types recruited during deep brain stimulation (DBS); moreover, many debilitating side effects of DBS likely result from lack of cell-type specificity. We describe here a novel optical neural interface technology that will allow neuroengineers to optically address specific cell types in vivo with millisecond temporal precision. Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2), an algal light-activated ion channel we developed for use in mammals, can give rise to safe, light-driven stimulation of CNS neurons on a timescale of milliseconds. Because ChR2 is genetically targetable, specific populations of neurons even sparsely embedded within intact circuitry can be stimulated with high temporal precision. Here we report the first in vivo behavioral demonstration of a functional optical neural interface (ONI) in intact animals, involving integrated fiberoptic and optogenetic technology. We developed a solid-state laser diode system that can be pulsed with millisecond precision, outputs 20 mW of power at 473 nm, and is coupled to a lightweight, flexible multimode optical fiber, ∼200 µm in diameter. To capitalize on the unique advantages of this system, we specifically targeted ChR2 to excitatory cells in vivo with the CaMKIIα promoter. Under these conditions, the intensity of light exiting the fiber (∼380 mW mm −2 ) was sufficient to drive excitatory neurons in vivo and control motor cortex function with behavioral output in intact rodents. No exogenous chemical cofactor was needed at any point, a crucial finding for in vivo work in large mammals. Achieving modulation of behavior with optical control of neuronal subtypes may give rise to fundamental network-level insights complementary to what electrode methodologies have taught us, and the emerging optogenetic toolkit may find application across a broad range of neuroscience, neuroengineering and clinical questions.
Circulating angiogenic cell function is inhibited by cortisol in vitro and associated with psychological stress and cortisol in vivo

Psychological stress and glucocorticoids are associated with heightened cardiovascular disease risk. We investigated whether stress or cortisol would be associated with reduced circulating angiogenic cell (CAC) function, an index of impaired vascular repair. We hypothesized that minority-race individuals who experience threat in interracial interactions would exhibit reduced CAC function, and that this link might be explained by cortisol. To test this experimentally, we recruited 106 African American participants for a laboratory interracial interaction task, in which they received socially evaluative feedback from Caucasian confederates. On a separate day, a subset of 32 participants (mean age=26years, 47% female) enrolled in a separate biological substudy and provided blood samples for CAC isolation and salivary samples to quantify the morning peak in cortisol (the cortisol awakening response, CAR). CAC function was quantified using cell culture assays of migration to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and secretion of VEGF into the culture medium. Heightened threat in response to an interracial interaction and trait anxiety in vivo were both associated with poorer CAC migratory function in vitro. Further, threat and poorer sustained attention during the interracial interaction were associated with a higher CAR, which in turn, was related to lower CAC sensitivity to glucocorticoids. In vitro, higher doses of cortisol impaired CAC migratory function and VEGF protein secretion. The glucocorticoid receptor antagonist RU486 reversed this functional impairment. These data identify a novel, neuroendocrine pathway by which psychological stress may reduce CAC function, with potential implications for cardiovascular health.
Abstract 5523: A novel aptamer targeting agent for prostate cancer

Proceedings: AACR 106th Annual Meeting 2015; April 18-22, 2015; Philadelphia, PA Background: Prostate cancer is both the most common cancer diagnosis and the second most common cause of cancer-related death for men in the United States. An ideal new therapy would selectively deliver the drug to the tumor while also preventing toxicity in normal tissue. Methods and Results: Recent exciting clinical advances with antibody drug conjugates have resulted in FDA approval of such tumor-targeting therapies. However, antibodies are difficult to chemically modify, require humanization, and their large size hinders tumor penetration. Aptamers - small nucleic acid ligands - have many advantages over traditional antibody targeting agents, including ease of synthesis, amenability to chemical modification, and reversibility. Moreover, they exhibit antibody-like target affinities and specificities at a fraction of the size, allowing more efficient tumor penetration. We have identified an aptamer, termed E3, which selectively internalizes into prostate cancer cells, but does not target normal cells. Additionally, E3 targets and internalizes into a variety of other cancer types, including breast, ovarian, lung, colon, melanoma, glioblastoma, liver, and leukemia cancers. Linking the E3 aptamer to a deimmunized version of the Pseudomonas exotoxin (PE38) kills prostate cancer cells in vitro with an IC50 of 0.4-1.1 nM while displaying no measured toxicity towards normal cells, and linking E3 to the highly toxic auristatin drugs, MMAE or MMAF, kills prostate cancer cells in vitro with an IC50 of 5-12 nM. Significantly, E3 maintains its tumor-targeting abilities in vivo, targeting both prostate tumors and patient-derived colon cancer tumors in mice as evidenced by near-infrared in vivo imaging. Conclusions: Together, these studies show the potential therapeutic benefit of E3 drug targeting for the treatment of prostate cancer. Citation Format: Bethany Powell Gray, Linsley Kelly, Matthew Levy, Bruce A. Sullenger. A novel aptamer targeting agent for prostate cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 5523. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-5523
Effect of actidione on growth and respiration of Myrothecium verrucaria.

ConclusionsThe effect of actidione on the germination and the spore and mycelial respiration of Myrothecium verrucaria was measured by dosage-response curves and LD50 values and by change in per cent inhibition with time. Spore respiration was about 4 times as sensitive as germination and 10 times as sensitive as mycelial respiration. Only a small fraction of respiration seemed to be required for growth. Inhibition of spore and mycelial respiration decreased with time, in the spores because of decreasing sensitivity and possibly also because of detoxication.
The Sixth IAST Conference

The IAST is a self-recruiting club of international academics (72 in 23 countries at the time of the conference) that pride themselves in the research of excellence in the field of tourism studies. The membership reflects the manifold interests that the discipline has integrated over the last few years, and this accounts for the special features of the gatherings relative to other academic conferences on tourism.
Surface Interactions of Glycerol with Acidic and Basic Metal Oxides

The surface species formed by glycerol on γ-Al2O3, TiO2 anatase, ZrO2, MgO, and CeO2 both in the presence and in the absence of bulk water are investigated with infrared spectroscopy. The acid–base properties of the metal oxides are characterized by pyridine and CO2 adsorption/temperature-programmed desorption. The metal oxides studied provide a distribution of strengths of Lewis acid sites as well as strengths and types of basic sites which afford insight into the role of these various sites in polyol/metal oxide surface interactions. Even in the presence of bulk water, glycerol forms a bridging alkoxy bond through a primary alcohol group to two coordinatively unsaturated metal atoms and participates in a Lewis acid/base interaction between the oxygen atom of the other primary alcohol and a coordinatively unsaturated metal atom that is also involved in the alkoxy bond. These interactions only occur with metal oxides which contain strong Lewis acid sites. A quantitative correlation between the C–O stretch...
PHYSIOLOGICALLY-ASSESSED HOT FLASHES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH POORER ENDOTHELIAL FUNCTION AMONG EARLY MIDLIFE WOMEN

Hot flashes have been linked to endothelial dysfunction, yet emerging data suggest that relations depend on the age of the woman. We tested relations between physiologically-assessed hot flashes and brachial artery flow mediated dilation (FMD) by age. 175 peri- and postmenopausal women aged 40-60;
Reconstructing Sociology: The Critical Realist Approach

1. Seven myths of American sociology 2. Do realists run regressions? 3. What is truth? 4. Whatever happened to social structure? 5. Are we not men - or, rather, persons? 6. What and where is culture? 7. Do we need critical realism? 8. So what do we do with it?
Obstetric vulvar lacerations and postpartum dyspareunia.

OBJECTIVE To report the type and prevalence of obstetric lacerations in a primigravid patient population after term spontaneous vaginal delivery without episiotomy. We examined the characteristics of lacerations in patients with postpartum dyspareunia or vulvodynia. STUDY DESIGN This was a retrospective cohort of primiparous patients who spontaneously delivered in the residents' service at a large urban hospital under the supervision of Ob/Gyn faculty. Data was extracted from medical records using discharge diagnosis codes. Postpartum medical records and diagnostic codes of all patients with lacerations and postpartum dyspareunia were reviewed. The study was IRB approved. RESULTS A cohort of 1617 primiparous patients with spontaneous vaginal delivery met the inclusion criteria. No tears were recorded in 836 patients (51.7%), first-degree tears in 413 cases (25.5%), second-degree tears in 271 cases (16.8%), third-degree tears in 58 cases (3.6%), fourth-degree in 21 cases (1.3%), and 18 cases (1.1%) were not further classified. Only 51 patients (3.2%) with first- and second-degree lacerations had postpartum complications, and merely 6 (0.4%) had vulvar pain and 6 (0.4%) had dyspareunia. However, 4 of those patients (33.3%) required vulvoplasty for complete dyspareunia remission. CONCLUSION Almost half of patients with spontaneous vaginal delivery without episiotomy experienced some type of vaginal laceration. A first degree was documented in >25% of cases; however, <10% of those subsequently had complaints of vulvar pain or dyspareunia.
Interdependence of oxysterols with cholesterol profiles in multiple sclerosis

Purpose:To investigate levels of oxysterols in healthy control (HC) and multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and their interdependence with demographic, clinical characteristics, and cholesterol biomarkers.Methods:This study included 550 subjects (203 HC, 221 relapsing–remitting MS (RR-MS), 126 progressive MS (P-MS)). A complete lipid profile including total cholesterol (TC); high-density lipoprotein–cholesterol (HDL-C); low-density lipoprotein–cholesterol (LDL-C); apolipoproteins (Apo) A1, A2, B, and E; C-reactive protein (CRP); 24-hydroxycholesterol (HC); 25-HC; 27-HC; 7α-HC; and 7-ketocholesterol (KC) was obtained. Lipoprotein particle sizing by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (H1 NMR) was available for 432 subjects.Results:The levels of 24-HC, 27-HC, and 7α-HC (all p < 0.015) were lower in MS compared to HC, and 7-KC was higher in P-MS compared to RR-MS (p < 0.001). TC, LDL-C, and ApoB were associated with higher levels of all oxysterols (all p < 0.05) in HC. In MS, LDL-C was associated with higher leve...
Oxidative Stress and Free Radical Signal Transduction

Publisher Summary This chapter explains the oxidative stress and free radical signal transduction in the bacterias Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica ( typhimurium ). The system in E. coli and S. enterica works in two stages of transcriptional control. The first stage involves direct redox signal transduction and the activated SoxR in P. aeruginosa and P. putida seems to act directly on the promoters of several genes without the need for an intermediary transcription factor. SoxR protein is activated in cells exposed to oxidative stress or nitric oxide and the activated SoxR in E. coli and S. enterica then stimulates expression of just one gene, soxS . SoxR is activated by nitric oxide that directly modifies the (2Fe-2S) clusters to form dinitrosyl-iron-dicysteine complexes anchored to the protein. These nitrosylated complexes are quite stable in vitro , which allows NO-modified SoxR to be repurified for analysis. In E. coli , SoxR activation by NO may play a role in bacterial resistance to the cytotoxic attack of NO-generating macrophages. Like SoxR, OxyR is a positive regulator that exists in a resting state in non-stressed cells. Upon cellular exposure to H 2 O 2 or nitrosothiols, the protein is activated to stimulate transcription of the regulon genes. The positioning of the protein upstream of the RNA polymerase binding site stimulates transcription through protein–protein contacts with the C-terminal domain of the polymerase α subunit. The oxyR regulon includes antioxidant genes such as katG (HP-I catalase-hydroperoxidase), gor (GSH reductase), and the ahpFC operon (alkyl hydroperoxide reductase). The glutathione (GSH) and glutaredoxin-1 (a small, thioredoxin-like protein with a redox-active cysteine pair) play physiological roles in restoring reduced OxyR following oxidative stress
Wrongful Convictions: A Comparative Perspective

Wrongful conviction becomes a social problem when innocence consciousness arises, meaning that a significant number of people view miscarriages of justice as caused by correctible systemic factors, and not as inevitable failures of courts. The term “wrongful conviction” encompasses procedurally flawed court convictions and the convictions of factually innocent defendants (i.e., false convictions). There is no definitive way to measure the incidence of false convictions, but American experts estimate plausible rates of from 1 to 3 percent, which translates to tens of thousands falsely convicted each year. Three case studies — the United States, England, and China — demonstrate that innocence consciousness occurred at different times, subject to different social stimuli, leading to different citizen and governmental responses in each country. Wrongful convictions are now viewed as a social problem globally. Wrongful conviction research, conducted mostly by psychologists and lawyers, would benefit from studies by social scientists.
Virtual field trips with networked depth-camera-based teacher, heterogeneous displays, and example energy center application

This demo presents an approach to networked educational virtual reality for virtual field trips and guided exploration. It shows an asymmetric collaborative interface in which a remote teacher stands in front of a large display and depth camera (Kinect) while students are immersed with HMDs. The teacher's front-facing mesh is streamed into the environment to assist students and deliver instruction. Our project uses commodity virtual reality hardware and high-performance networks to allow students who are unable to visit a real facility with an alternative that provides similar educational benefits. Virtual facilities can further be augmented with educational content through interactables or small games. We discuss motivation, features, interface challenges, and ongoing testing.