cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Regulation of longevity by depolarization-induced activation of PLC-β-IP3R signaling in neurons.

Mitochondrial ATP production is a well-known regulator of neuronal excitability. The reciprocal influence of plasma-membrane potential on ATP production, however, remains poorly understood. Here, we describe a mechanism by which depolarized neurons elevate the somatic ATP/ADP ratio in Drosophila glutamatergic neurons. We show that depolarization increased phospholipase-Cβ (PLC-β) activity by promoting the association of the enzyme with its phosphoinositide substrate. Augmented PLC-β activity led to greater release of endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ via the inositol trisphosphate receptor (IP3R), increased mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake, and promoted ATP synthesis. Perturbations that decoupled membrane potential from this mode of ATP synthesis led to untrammeled PLC-β–IP3R activation and a dramatic shortening of Drosophila lifespan. Upon investigating the underlying mechanisms, we found that increased sequestration of Ca2+ into endolysosomes was an intermediary in the regulation of lifespan by IP3Rs. Manipulations that either lowered PLC-β/IP3R abundance or attenuated endolysosomal Ca2+ overload restored animal longevity. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that depolarization-dependent regulation of PLC-β–IP3R signaling is required for modulation of the ATP/ADP ratio in healthy glutamatergic neurons, whereas hyperactivation of this axis in chronically depolarized glutamatergic neurons shortens animal lifespan by promoting endolysosomal Ca2+ overload.
Cohort and age trends in age 35-45 prevalence of alcohol use disorder symptomology, by severity, sex, race, and education.

Abstract Aims To present national trends by age and cohort among middle-aged adults in the prevalence of AUD symptomology, by severity, sex, race, and education. Design National, multi-cohort longitudinal probability samples of US adults, with data collected at ages 35, 40, and 45 among 14 cohorts who reached age 45 between 2003 and 2016. Setting Data were collected via self-administered questionnaires to adults in the United States. Participants The sample consisted of 20,634 individuals. Measurements 5-year prevalence of symptoms consistent with a DSM-5 AUD. Findings Between ages 35–45 prevalence of any AUD symptoms decreased 19 %; decreases were most evident between ages 35–40. From 2003 to 2016, AUD symptoms were steady across cohort. However, because the pace of decrease across ages 35–45 slowed across cohort, cohort differences emerged at specific ages: age 35 prevalence decreased 18 % across cohort, but age 45 prevalence was equivalent across cohort. Age and cohort effects, and their interaction, did not vary by AUD severity level. Declines in AUD symptoms across age were 17 % slower for women, and declines in AUD symptoms across age and cohort were 11 % and 29 % slower, respectively, for those with a college degree. The protection afforded by a college degree was reversed among mild AUD and most pronounced for severe AUD. Conclusions AUDs may be more plastic and responsive to intervention during early mid-life than later. Despite progress in reducing the burden of AUD in the US population among younger middle-aged adults, an increased focus remains necessary as they continue to age.
The effects of climate and demographic history in shaping genomic variation across populations of the Desert Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma platyrhinos)

Species often experience spatial environmental heterogeneity across their range, and populations may exhibit signatures of adaptation to local environmental characteristics. Other population genetic processes, such as migration and genetic drift, can impede the effects of local adaptation. Genetic drift in particular can have a pronounced effect on population genetic structure during large-scale geographic expansions, where a series of founder effects leads to decreases in genetic variation in the direction of the expansion. Here, we explore the genetic diversity of a desert lizard that occupies a wide range of environmental conditions and that has experienced post-glacial expansion northwards along two colonization routes. Based on our analyses of a large SNP data set, we find evidence that both climate and demographic history have shaped the genetic structure of populations. Pronounced genetic differentiation was evident between populations occupying cold versus hot deserts, and we detected numerous loci with significant associations with climate. The genetic signal of founder effects, however, is still present in the genomes of the recently expanded populations, which comprise subsets of genetic variation found in the southern populations.
The effectiveness of zoom touchscreen gestures for authentication and identification and its changes over time

Abstract This paper focuses on how zoom touchscreen gestures can be used to continuously authenticate and identify smartphone users. The zoom gesture is critically under-researched as a behavioral biometric despite richness of data found in this gesture. Furthermore, analysing how the zoom gesture performs over time is a novel line of inquiry. Zoom samples from three different data collection sessions were sourced. In these sessions, each participant zoomed in and out on three images. Eighty-five features were extracted from each gesture. The classification models used were Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest (RF), and K-nearest Neighbor (KNN). The best authentication performance of AUC 0.937 and EER 10.6% were achieved using the SVM classifier. The best identification performance of 65.5% accuracy, 69.6% precision, and 67.9% recall were achieved using the RF classifier. In terms of stability over time, SVM proved to be the most stable classifier, with an AUC degradation of only 0.007 after two weeks had elapsed. This analysis proves that zoom gestures demonstrate promise for use in continuous smartphone authentication and identification applications.
Uptake and Binding of Ponasterone A in the Brain of Fifth Stadium Manduca Sexta Larvae

The neuroendocrine-endocrine systems that regulate insect post-embryonic development and reproduction are controlled by complex interendocrine regulatory mechanisms. For the juvenile hormone (JH) and ecdysteroid endocrine systems of the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta, these mechanisms function at various levels to modulate the synthesis/secretion of the JHs and ecdysteroids (Bollenbacher, 1988). One example is the brain-mediated control by 20-hydroxyecdysone (20-HE) of JH synthesis during larval-pupal development: the pupal commitment peak in the hemolymph ecdysteroid titer stimulates the post-commitment increase in JH acid synthesis by the CA (Watson et al., 1986), while the large pre-molt peak in the titer a few days later apparently inhibits synthesis (Granger et al., 1987).
Process Development of Protein Therapeutics

The application of recombinant DNA technology to the production of protein therapeutics has undergone considerable progress since first introduced 30 years ago. Considerable scientific effort has been devoted to developing robust processes that produce large amounts of complex proteins with the desired product quality attributes. An overview of the contributions from the four major disciplines working in concert to deliver these processes and methods will be covered. This chapter will discuss some of the tools, methods, and approaches used to produce, purify, formulate, and analyze the drugs of modern biotechnology. Future trends in each of the disciplines will also be presented. Keywords: cell culture; expression systems; gene amplification; transfection; vectors
Synthesis of Branched-Chain Aminoacyl-Transfer Ribonucleic Acid Synthetases in a Salmonella typhimurium Mutant with an Altered Biosynthetic l-Threonine Deaminase

Abstract The differential rates of synthesis of the three branched-chain aminoacyl-transfer ribonucleic acid synthetases were measured in Salmonella typhimurium LT-2 and a mutant, ilvA504. The mutant produced an l-threonine deaminase with a decreased affinity for its cofactor, pyridoxal-5′-monophosphate. The addition of pyridoxal-5′-monophosphate to cultures of strain ilvA504 growing in excess isoleucine, valine, and leucine resulted in an increased rate of growth and repression of the synthesis of the isoleucine and valine biosynthetic enzymes. No differences in the rate of synthesis of the branched-chain aminoacyl-transfer ribonucleic acid synthetases were observed in cultures of ilvA504 growing with or without added pyridoxal-5′-monophosphate. The differential rates of synthesis of all three enzymes were similar to the rates measured in strain LT-2. These experiments suggest that different forms of the ilvA gene product are involved in the regulation of the branched-chain amino acid biosynthetic enzymes and the branched-chain aminoacyl-transfer ribonucleic acid synthetases.
Breast fibroblasts modulate epithelial cell proliferation in three-dimensional in vitro co-culture

Stromal fibroblasts associated with in situ and invasive breast carcinoma differ phenotypically from fibroblasts associated with normal breast epithelium, and these alterations in carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAF) may promote breast carcinogenesis and cancer progression. A better understanding of the changes that occur in fibroblasts during carcinogenesis and their influence on epithelial cell growth and behavior could lead to novel strategies for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer. To this end, the effect of CAF and normal breast-associated fibroblasts (NAF) on the growth of epithelial cells representative of pre-neoplastic breast disease was assessed. NAF and CAF were grown with the nontumorigenic MCF10A epithelial cells and their more transformed, tumorigenic derivative, MCF10AT cells, in direct three-dimensional co-cultures on basement membrane material. The proliferation and apoptosis of MCF10A cells and MCF10AT cells were assessed by 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine labeling and TUNEL assay, respectively. Additionally, NAF and CAF were compared for expression of insulin-like growth factor II as a potential mediator of their effects on epithelial cell growth, by ELISA and by quantitative, real-time PCR. In relatively low numbers, both NAF and CAF suppressed proliferation of MCF10A cells. However, only NAF and not CAF significantly inhibited proliferation of the more transformed MCF10AT cells. The degree of growth inhibition varied among NAF or CAF from different individuals. In greater numbers, NAF and CAF have less inhibitory effect on epithelial cell growth. The rate of epithelial cell apoptosis was not affected by NAF or CAF. Mean insulin-like growth factor II levels were not significantly different in NAF versus CAF and did not correlate with the fibroblast effect on epithelial cell proliferation. Both NAF and CAF have the ability to inhibit the growth of pre-cancerous breast epithelial cells. NAF have greater inhibitory capacity than CAF, suggesting that the ability of fibroblasts to inhibit epithelial cell proliferation is lost during breast carcinogenesis. Furthermore, as the degree of transformation of the epithelial cells increased they became resistant to the growth-inhibitory effects of CAF. Insulin-like growth factor II could not be implicated as a contributor to this differential effect of NAF and CAF on epithelial cell growth.
Construction and characterization of Bordetella pertussis toxin mutants.

Abstract Pertussis toxin is one of the major virulence determinants produced by Bordetella pertussis. The DNA encoding the structural genes for pertussis toxin was cloned in Escherichia coli, and pertussis toxin subunit S4 was expressed under the control of the tac promoter. Mutations were introduced into the cloned toxin genes, and a conjugative shuttle vector system was devised for delivering the mutations from E. coli back into B. pertussis. The mutations were introduced by allelic exchange into the chromosome of B. pertussis resulting in a series of B. pertussis strains which were isogenic except at the loci encoding the structural genes for pertussis toxin. These B. pertussis strains were utilized to study the biogenesis of pertussis toxin. Polar mutations in the S1 gene led to a lack of detectable S2 or S4 subunits in whole-cell lysates, suggesting a polycistronic arrangement for these genes. Mutations in the S5 subunit gene resulted in a truncated S1 subunit, while mutations in the S4 gene resulted in a lack of detectable S2 subunit, suggesting that physical relationships among the toxin subunits are directly reflected in the stable biogenesis of the subunits.
Heat pump water heaters for restaurant applications

SYNOPSIS Heat pump water heaters (HPWH) are ideally suited for water heating in restaurant applications, since restaurant kitchens have both a high demand for hot water and a nearly year round space cooling load. The heat pump can be used to heat the water while cooling the kitchen air. To account for the performance of the heat pump as both a water heater and an air conditioner, a fundamental model of a heat pump was developed which accounts for changes in performance caused by changes in the condenser and evaporator environments. This model was used in conjunction with a restaurant model to determine the space conditioning savings and the cost of water heating compared to conventional gas and electric water heaters.
Deciphering the Corelease of Glutamate from Dopaminergic Terminals Derived from the Ventral Tegmental Area

The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is located close to the midline on the floor of the midbrain. VTA neurons project densely and largely ipsilaterally to the ventromedial striatum, primarily the nucleus accumbens (NAc) core and shell. The neuronal circuit between VTA and NAc is involved in the
Ebola: lessons learned from HIV and tuberculosis epidemics

Amidst concerns of Ebola virus disease (EVD) becoming a pandemic, the global medical community has mounted a critical response. As the U.S. CDC director said, “We have to work now so this is not the world's next AIDS.”1 While different from HIV/AIDS, we might apply lessons learned from HIV and tuberculosis epidemics to address the Ebola crisis. This experience suggests four near-term objectives. First, as with HIV, a rapid, point-of-care test is imperative to quickly identify Ebola-infected people to reduce transmission. While first-generation lab-based HIV tests were essential to confirmed disease, rapid HIV tests allowed widespread screening of asymptomatic people in resource-limited settings.2 As with first-generation HIV tests, current diagnostic Ebola tests are too expensive, time consuming, and equipment dependent. Two companies, Senova and Corgenix, are developing rapid finger-prick whole blood tests, and their efforts should receive strong international support.3 Second, the stigma and fear of Ebola must be addressed. HIV taught us that stigma and fear drive people away from testing and/or medical attention, thereby perpetuating transmission. An accessible test does not automatically translate into people tested; 54% of HIV-infected people are still unaware of their status.4 If perceived fears outweigh perceived benefits, erecting treatment centers may not facilitate care seeking. For HIV, stigma/fear have been addressed through information campaigns, peer education, and access to therapy; the same will likely be necessary for Ebola. Third, all exposed persons should be screened for EVD. Successful tuberculosis control programs have included contact tracing of infected people and testing of exposed persons. While 87% of West Africans with EVD had a fever,5 missing 13% in a screening algorithm is not acceptable. Persons exposed to Ebola-infected patients, including health workers, should be tested for infection, regardless of symptoms. Availability of a rapid Ebola test will aid these efforts, and could be used to screen international travelers. Fourth, protection of health care workers must be paramount. Infection control practices, including personal protective equipment (PPE) and isolation practices, were developed largely in tuberculosis control programs. Poor infection control practices lead to increased transmission to health workers and patients. As with successful tuberculosis control programs in developed countries, those treating Ebola-infected patients need full training and access to use PPE, before encountering patients, and capacity to isolate infected patients. Confronting the HIV and tuberculosis epidemics has required a massive, coordinated response–the same will be required for Ebola. However, our collective experience with HIV and tuberculosis has demonstrated that such a response is possible.
Analysis of Growth Curves in Children After Adenotonsillectomy

Importance Several studies have documented that children gain more weight than expected after adenotonsillectomy. Objectives To examine patterns of change in weight and stature percentiles in children after adenotonsillectomy and to analyze clinical and demographic correlates of shifts in the growth curve. Design, Setting, and Participants In this retrospective medical record review, we studied patients 18 years and younger who underwent adenotonsillectomy at an academic pediatric tertiary medical center and had at least one height and weight measurement recorded at each of the following time points: within 3 months before surgery, within 3 to 9 months after surgery, and within 12 to 27 months after surgery. Data were procured from all children from January 1, 2007, through October 31, 2012, and initially included 2893 surgical patients and 161 458 height and weight measurements. The final database consisted of 815 patients with adequate growth data and multiple time points. Logistic regression analysis was performed to examine patient age at surgery, preoperative weight, sex, and ethnic background for correlations with changes in weight, height, and body mass index percentiles. Main Outcomes and Measures Change in weight, height, and body mass index percentile before and after surgery. Results At 18 months after surgery, weight percentiles in the study group increased by a mean of 6.3 percentile points ( P P P P P = .15). Conclusions and Relevance Weight gain after adenotonsillectomy occurs primarily in patients who are smaller and younger at the time of surgery and does not correlate with increased rates of obesity.
A fatherly view of asymmetrical floating point array processors

I doubt if anyone in the audience is not familiar with the class of machines termed array processors. After all, they have been an integral part of digital seismic processing for more than a decade.
Esophageal achalasia syndromes.

ABSTRACT Esophageal achalasia, characterized by failure of the lower esophageal sphincter to relax normally with swallowing and esophageal aperistalsis, may be primary or secondary to another disorder (in the United States most often cancer). Primary achalasia is of unclear etiology but almost certainly is a disorder of the innervation of the smooth muscle portion of the esophagus. This article reviews the Classification and clinical features of achalasia Syndromes, as well as current concepts of pathogenesis, diagnosis, complications, and therapy of this group of disorders.
Interpretation of "24 Hour Lung Retention" in Studies of Mucociliary Clearance

ABSTRACT To determine if clearance from ciliated airways is complete in 24 hrs, we measured whole lung and regional clearance of radiolabeled aerosols over 24 hrs in a large number of normal and diseased individuals. Using a gamma camera and computer analysis, we found small but significant amounts of aerosol in the central airways of normal subjects, and greater central retention in some patients with obstructive lung disease. In patients, a significant factor related to the central retention of aerosol was the presence of chronic flow limitation during tidal breathing. Whole lung retention in normal lungs correlated with the initial pattern of aerosol deposition, but not in disease. We conclude that the 24 hr image often contains a significant amount of deposited aerosol in central airways and not just alveoli. In addition, the presence of flow limiting segments in central airways is associated with prolonged retention of aerosol in patients with obstructive lung disease.
Atypical idiopathic scoliosis in childhood

Scollosis, common in preadolescent females is a finding which warrants investigation in any other age group or if the clinical or neuroimaging features are atypical even in the preadolescent female. The causes of scoliosis are numerous but include several important conditions some of which are treatable and some of which are genetic. A rational approach to sequencing the neuroimaging studies to be used is based on what the clinical suspicions are and the results of the initial studies.
The Anterior Pituitary Gland— Its Cells and Hormones

The pituitary gland or hypophysis is present throughout the vertebrates; except for the brain, it is the most highly protected organ in the body. Suspended by a stalk from the hypothalamus and positioned on the bony floor of the cranial vault, it is a vital connection between the brain and the other glands that make up the endocrine system. The pituitary gland has two major divisions: the neurohypophysis, which develops as an outgrowth of the brain wall, and the adenohypophysis, which is derived embryologically from Rathke's pouch, an ectodermal evagination of the roof of the oral cavity. This article will deal only with the anterior pituitary gland-the major portion
Role of TGFβ signaling in skin carcinogenesis

The TGFbeta signaling pathway is one of the most important mechanisms in the maintenance of epithelial homeostasis. Alterations leading to either the repression or enhancement of this pathway have been shown to affect cancer development. Although TGFbeta inhibits growth of normal epithelial cells, it is paradoxically overexpressed in many epithelial cancers. It has been postulated that TGFbeta acts as a tumor suppressor at the early stages of carcinogenesis, but overexpression of TGFbeta at late stages of carcinogenesis may be a critical factor for tumor invasion and metastasis. The detailed mechanisms regulating this functional switch of TGFbeta remain to be elucidated. The relevance of the TGFbeta signaling pathway to the development of primary epithelial tumors in man has been further substantiated by the discovery of mutations in TGFbeta receptors and in the downstream signaling mediators, the Smads. The epidermis is one of the major targeting tissues for TGFbeta signaling. Chemical carcinogenesis studies have revealed a paradoxical effect of TGFbeta on skin carcinogenesis: inhibition of papilloma formation but promotion of malignant conversion. In addition, deletion of the TGFbeta type II receptor accelerates skin carcinogenesis. This review focuses on our current understanding of the role of TGFbeta signaling in skin carcinogenesis.
Effect of perceived choice, expected outcome, and observed outcome of an action on the causal attributions of actors

Abstract An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that actors' causal attributions for success and failure would be affected by the degree of perceived choice they had in taking an action. Actors either were assigned, or selected one of four therapeutic outlines which were expected to have either a positive or a negative effect, and which actually had either a positive or negative outcome on a purportedly phobic person. For negative outcomes, it was predicted that perceived choice would induce a sense of personal responsibility when a positive outcome was expected, and lead actors to attribute more responsibility to themselves as a result. Results supported this prediction. For positive outcomes, however, actors attributed responsibility to themselves regardless of expectancy or choice. Actors were also found to attribute generally more responsibility to themselves for positive than negative outcomes. Results were discussed in terms of self-esteem motivation and the information available to the actor.
PERMEABILITY CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURED MOUSE KERATINOCYTES COMPARED TO HAIRLESS MOUSE SKIN

Abstract The feasibility of using cultured mouse keratinocytes as an in vitro model for hairless mouse skin for permeability studies was explored in this study. Basal keratinocytes from neonatal mice were cultured onto microporous membranes using an air-liquid interface which has been reported to induce formation of stratum corneum. The permeability characteristics of the cultured keratinocytes were compared to hairless mouse skin using a series of n-alkanols. Because of the difficulty in inducing the keratinocytes to form a complete stratum corneum, the use of cultured keratinocytes as a model for studying solute transport is problematic.
The relationship of pragmatic dimensions of mothers' speech to the referential-expressive distinction*

A 50-utterance corpus for each of sixteen mothers during caretaking situations (diapering, dressing, bathing) was extracted from in-home tape recordings obtained over a three-day period. The children ranged from 1; 3.15 to 1; 7 and were classified according to Nelson's referential-expressive distinction. A coding scheme consisting of three categories – communicative intent, focus of attention and evaluation – was employed to characterize the mothers' speech. Mothers of referential children produced a greater number of utterances per caretaking incident, more description and less prescriptives than did mothers of expressive children. The findings suggest that Nelson's referential-expressive distinction in child's speech is related to differences in mothers' pragmatic speech characteristics.
A model for diffraction-limited high-power multimode fiber amplifiers using seeded stimulated Brillouin scattering phase conjugation

Diffraction-limited polarized stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) Stokes output from a multimode fiber is possible when the Stokes beam is the phase conjugate of diffraction-limited polarized pump light from a narrow-band master oscillator. Net amplification can be obtained by interposing a gain medium, such as a fiber amplifier between the master oscillator and the region of SBS generation. This paper proposes and studies numerically a model which describes the space-time dynamics of SBS generation, including phase conjugation, attenuation, phonon decay, thermal noise, inhomogeneous broadening, and amplifier gain. Noise reduction and phase locking are obtained by seeding the low-power end of the fiber at the Stokes frequency. Simulations are described for the case of 1.064 /spl mu/m light amplification in a dual-clad Yb-doped multimode fiber amplifier.
Damage Resistance Of CO2 Fusion Laser Optics

We review the magnitudes of the damage thresholds of practical optical materials, surfaces, and coatings found useful in short-pulse CO2 fusion lasers and discuss the materials properties and laser parameters that affect the thresholds. The optics used in the eight-beam, 10-kilojoule, 20-terawatt, Helios system at Los Alamos are used as specific examples. Among the optical components that characterize the Helios system are NaCl windows up to 41 cm in diameter, diamond-turned copper mirrors of similar size, CdTe Pockels cell crystals, germanium saturable absorbers and polarizer plates and multilayer-coated ZnSe partial reflectors.
Preparation of a photoaffinity probe for the vitamin D-dependent intestinal calcium binding protein: Evidence for a calcium dependent, specific interaction with intestinal alkaline phosphatase

Abstract A photoaffinity probe for the vitamin D-dependent chick intestinal calcium binding protein (CaBP) has been prepared by conjugation of methyl-4-azidobenzoimidate (MABI) to lactoperoxidase-125I-iodinated CaBP to yield 125I-CaBP-MABI: [3 moles MABI per mole CaBP]. After incubation in vitro of 125I-CaBP-MABI (28,000 daltons) in model systems with bovine intestinal alkaline phosphatase (AP) (67,000 daltons), a UV light-dependent crosslinking occurred to yield a conjugate with a molecular weight of 95,000 (by SDS-gel electrophoresis); no crosslinking occurred with E. coli alkaline phosphatase. The formation of the 125I-CaBP-MABI-AP was found to occur only in the presence of calcium.
Racemization of amino acids in marine sediments determined by gas chromatography

Abstract Ratios of d - to l -amino acids in acid hydrolysates from foraminifera of two deep-sea cores from the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean increase with depth and consequently with age over a span from 40,000 to 2,000,000 yr. The changing ratios do not seem to follow first-order reversible rate laws. Valine, leucine and glutamic acid apparently racemize (isoleucine epimerizes) at slower rates than do phenylalanine, alanine, aspartic acid and proline. The general relative order for rates of racemization of total (free and bound) amino acids may depend on the electron-withdrawing capacity of the R substituents of the amino acids and on the rates with which the amino acids are naturally hydrolyzed. In contrast to the total amino acids, the free amino acids in these samples are more extensively racemized, probably as a result of various catalytic and hydrolytic reactions. Previous related work based on ion-exchange chromatography has considered only ratios of alloisoleucine to isoleucine. With the gas chromatographic method used here, d / l ratios of all common asymmetric amino acids can be estimated. Measurement of the extent of racemization of amino acids in marine sediments seems to provide the basis for a geochronological tool covering the last few million years.
Using Pictures as a Vehicle to Personalize the Collaborative Learning Environment

Business organizations are increasingly adopting collaboration tools to increase communication within the firm. CAMS is a home-grown online collaborative environment which makes heavy use of participant's pictures. Participants, both faculty and students, were asked questions about the benefits and usefulness of pictures in the CAMS collaborative environment. Overall, the responses were extremely favorable as to the use of the pictures in their collaborative setting, increasing the sense of community and personalization of the environment.
Elliptical Vortex Coronagraph

An optical vortex coronagraph that uses an elliptical sub-aperture and a variant of a vortex lens is presented. Conventional circular sub-apertures can be replaced with elliptical sub-apertures to significantly increase the light gathering power.
The observed choice problem in estimating the cost of policies

Abstract A policy will be used more heavily when its marginal cost is lower. In a regression setting, this can mean that the equation to be estimated is actually y i = β i x ( β i ). The analyst who treats times and places as identical will underestimate the policy's average cost. OLS is biased towards small coefficients, and instrumental variables should be used.
Vascular endothelial growth factor upregulation in transient global ischemia induced by cardiac arrest and resuscitation in rat brain.

Abstract This study examined vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in rat brain after reversible global cerebral ischemia produced by cardiac arrest and resuscitation. Three alternative splicing forms, VEGF188, VEGF164 and VEGF120, were observed in cortex, hippocampus and brainstem by RT–PCR analysis. After 24 h of recovery from cardiac arrest, mRNA levels corresponding to VEGF188 and VEGF164 were significantly increased by about double in all the regions analyzed. These mRNA levels remained elevated at 24 and 48 h of recovery but returned to basal expression after 7 days of recovery. Changes in VEGF120 expression after cardiac arrest did not reach statistical significance. VEGF protein expression measured by Western blot was also increased by about double at 24 and 48 h of recovery but returned to control levels after 7 days of recovery. VEGF immunohistochemistry localized this increased expression mostly associated with astrocytes. Considering its biological activity, VEGF induction after cardiac arrest and resuscitation may be responsible for the increased vascular permeability and the resultant vasogenic edema, found 24–48 h after reversible global ischemia.
Migration, local adaptation and the evolution of plasticity

Abstract Evolutionary biologists have long been interested in the conditions favoring phenotypic plasticity, in which a single genotype produces alternative phenotypes in response to different environmental conditions. Yet, little attention has been paid to the role of population differentiation and migration in the evolution of plasticity. A new theoretical analysis by Sultan and Spencer extends the current theory by examining the consequences of migration between subpopulations of a species living in a spatially variable environment. Their results suggest that modest migration between spatially varying subpopulations can greatly expand the conditions in which plasticity is favored.
Molecular Anchors for Self-Assembled Monolayers on ZnO: A Direct Comparison of the Thiol and Phosphonic Acid Moieties

Two of the most promising schemes for attaching organic molecules to metal oxides are based on the chemistry of the thiol and phosphonic acid moieties. We have made a direct comparison of the efficacy of these two molecular anchors on zinc oxide by comparing the chemical and physical properties of n-hexane derivatives of both. The surface properties of polycrystalline ZnO thin films and ZnO(0001)-O crystals modified with 1-hexanethiol and 1-hexanephosphonic acid were examined with a novel quartz crystal microbalance (QCM)-based flow cell reactor, angle-resolved and temperature-dependent photoelectron spectroscopy, and contact angle measurements. A means of using ammonium chloride as a probe of molecule-ZnO interactions is introduced and used to ascertain the relative quality of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) based on thiols and phosphonic acids. QCM data shows that a phosphonic acid-anchored alkyl chain only six carbons long can provide significant corrosion protection for ZnO against Bronsted acids, r...
Velocity tuned filters for motion estimation and segmentation in digital image sequences

This paper addresses the problem of motion estimation, selective reconstruction, and motion-based segmentation of objects undergoing rotational and translational motion and expansion, contraction, or shear type deformation. The goal for motion estimation and selective reconstruction is to identify the motion parameters of different moving objects in the scene and derive the location of the object with a specific motion parameter at each time instance. The information so obtained can be used in various autonomous tasks that have to be completed visually, for example, visual navigation of a mobile robot or tracking a moving part on a conveyor belt. An important objective of motion based segmentation is to simultaneously estimate the motion parameters of edges, on an image, together with their corresponding locations. Based upon position and velocity information of moving edges on the image, motion based clustering and segmentation can be readily performed. The algorithms that we have developed are based on 2D + T filters that are tuned to a specific angular velocity and translational velocity. Additionally, we propose that the problem of estimating various deformational parameters can be reduced to that of computing the parameters of a translational motion by logsampling the image. Thus, one computes the deformational parameters and the magnitude and location of an edge undergoing deformation using translational velocity tuned filters. Additionally, the algorithm we propose can be applied equally well to both spinning and orbiting motion, unifying the treatment. A specific advantage of applying tuned filters in motion parameter estimation is that various different estimation problems can be decoupled, viz. rotational motion and translational motion parameters can be computed separately. The other important advantage is that they are not based on point correspondence between one image and the next. The algorithms we propose have been tested on both real image sequences and synthesized image sequences corrupted by noise, and are shown to be accurate and robust against noise and occlusion.
Salvage abdominoperineal resection following combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy for epidermoid carcinoma of the anus.

Background: Up to one-third of patients with anal epidermoid cancer will fail initial chemoradiotherapy (CT-RT) or have local recurrence after treatment. This study evaluates the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) experience with salvage abdominoperineal resection (APR) in these patients.
Rapidly learning musical beats in the presence of environmental and robot ego noise

Humans can often learn high-level features of a piece of music, such as beats, from only a few seconds of audio. If robots could obtain this information just as rapidly, they would be more capable of musical interaction without needing long lead times to learn the music. The presence of robot ego noise, however, makes accurately analyzing music more difficult. In this paper, we focus on the task of learning musical beats, which are often identifiable to humans even in noisy environments such as bars. Learning beats would not only help robots to synchronize their responses to music, but could lead to learning other aspects of musical audio, such as other repeated events, timbrel aspects, and more. We introduce a novel algorithm utilizing stacked spectrograms, in which each column contains frequency bins from multiple instances in time, as well as Probabilistic Latent Component Analysis (PLCA) to learn beats in noisy audio. The stacked spectrograms are exploited to find time-varying spectral characteristics of acoustic components, and PLCA is used to learn and separate the components and find those containing beats. We demonstrate that this system can learn musical beats even when only provided with a few seconds of noisy audio.
Human secretory signal peptide description by hidden Markov model and generation of a strong artificial signal peptide for secreted protein expression.

A hidden Markov model (HMM) has been used to describe, predict, identify, and generate secretory signal peptide sequences. The relative strengths of artificial secretory signals emitted from the human signal peptide HMM (SP-HMM) correlate with their HMM bit scores as determined by their effectiveness to direct alkaline phosphatase secretion. The nature of the signal strength is in effect the closeness to the consensus. The HMM bit score of 8 is experimentally determined to be the threshold for discriminating signal sequences from non-secretory ones. An artificial SP-HMM generated signal sequence of the maximum model bit score (HMM + 38) was selected as an ideal human signal sequence. This signal peptide (secrecon) directs strong protein secretion and expression. We further ranked the signal strengths of the signal peptides of the known human secretory proteins by SP-HMM bit scores. The applications of high-bit scoring HMM signals in recombinant protein production and protein engineering are discussed.
Uncoupling of Potential Energy in Nonlinear Seismic Analysis of Framed Structures

A computational analysis method is presented to investigate the potential energy of fully nonlinear framed structures and other energy characteristics due to earthquake ground motions. The overall potential energy is directly related to the stiffness of the structure, and it consists of three components in a fully nonlinear system: (1) strain energy representing the storing energy that is associated with the linear elastic portion of the structural response; (2) higher-order energy representing the energy associated with the geometric nonlinear effect of the overall structural response, which is derived from finite element method; and (3) plastic energy representing the energy dissipated by material inelasticity of the structure, and it is being derived analytically. The merit of proposed analysis method lies in the uncoupling of geometric nonlinearity and material inelasticity effects before solving for the equation of motion, and this leads directly to the analytical representations of each energy form. Both plastic energy and higher-order energy based on single-degree-of-freedom system are studied in detail to demonstrate the beauty of the proposed analysis method. In addition, a method of generating energy density spectra is also proposed, which is useful to enhance the understanding energy characteristics in seismic analysis. Finally, a five-story frame is used as a numerical example to illustrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method.
Using technology assessment as the picture archiving and communication system spreads outside radiology to the enterprise.

Picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) are being implemented within radiology departments, and many facilities are entering the next stage of PACS use by deploying PACS to departments outside of radiology and to other facilities located at a distance. Many PACS vendors and department administrators have based cost-justification analyses on the anticipated savings from expanding PACS to these areas. However, many of these cost-savings analyses can be highly suspect in their assumptions and findings. Technology assessment (TA) at the hospital/health system level is an organized, systematic approach to examining the efficacy of a technology in relation to the health system’s mission and clinical needs. It can be an organized and unifying approach to aid in the distribution of limited capital resources. As extraradiology PACS deployment is a costly endeavor, TA may be used to plan for PACS implementation throughout the enterprise. In many organizations, PACS is thought of as a radiology domain as its first uses were centered on this image-producing service. Now, as PACS technology spreads to other service areas, such as cardiology, dermatology, pathology, orthopedics, obstetrics, etc, the need to incorporate other view-points in a system-based PACS is necessary to avoid having independent PACS that may duplicate archives and may not communicate with each other. How to meet the diverse PACS needs of clinical services can be a challenging task; a TA program has been demonstrated to effectively handle the clinical needs, demands, and timeframes of PACS planning and support throughout hospitals and health systems. A hospitalbased TA program can assist health care organizations to present PACS as a system-wide need and program rather than a radiology-based program gobbling up the capital budget. Submitting PACS to the TA review process can identify essential elements in planning and help avoid many of the pitfalls of PACS implementation and operations. Thorough cost and/or return on investment analyses, phasing decisions, workflow re-engineering, and outcomes assessment programs are a few of the issues that a TA program can address to help in the transition to a complete electronic image environment. The TA process includes clinician selection, evaluation criteria and their selection for technologies under review, a policy for review/authorization/denial, and measurement of expected outcomes.
Functional Connectivity in Frequency-Tagged Cortical Networks During Active Harm Avoidance

Many behavioral and cognitive processes are grounded in widespread and dynamic communication between brain regions. Thus, the quantification of functional connectivity with high temporal resolution is highly desirable for capturing in vivo brain function. However, many of the commonly used measures of functional connectivity capture only linear signal dependence and are based entirely on relatively simple quantitative measures such as mean and variance. In this study, the authors used a recently developed algorithm, the generalized measure of association (GMA), to quantify dynamic changes in cortical connectivity using steady-state visual evoked potentials (ssVEPs) measured in the context of a conditioned behavioral avoidance task. GMA uses a nonparametric estimator of statistical dependence based on ranks that are efficient and capable of providing temporal precision roughly corresponding to the timing of cognitive acts (∼ 100-200 msec). Participants viewed simple gratings predicting the presence/absence of an aversive loud noise, co-occurring with peripheral cues indicating whether the loud noise could be avoided by means of a key press (active) or not (passive). For active compared with passive trials, heightened connectivity between visual and central areas was observed in time segments preceding and surrounding the avoidance cue. Viewing of the threat stimuli also led to greater initial connectivity between occipital and central regions, followed by heightened local coupling among visual regions surrounding the motor response. Local neural coupling within extended visual regions was sustained throughout major parts of the viewing epoch. These findings are discussed in a framework of flexible synchronization between cortical networks as a function of experience and active sensorimotor coupling.
Nuclear changes during keratinization of normal human epidermis

Previous workers have shown step-by-step changes in the cytoplasm of the granular cells during differentiation (keratinization) of human epidermis, including enlargement of the keratohyalin granules and the appearance and migration to the distal plasma membrane of the membrane coating granules. Our study of the granular cell nucleus shows changes correlated with the cytoplasmic differentiation: With accumulation of cytoplasmic keratohyalin, the nucleus becomes flattened and the nuclear membrane becomes indented. Nuclear bodies are infrequently seen as concentrically arranged fibrils. The nucleolus loses its initial netlike (nucleolonemal) pattern and becomes dense. At the same time round, homogeneous dense inclusions appear in the nucleus with special concentration around the nucleolus. These dense nuclear inclusions have been observed in epithelia of other species and may reflect the process of keratinization.
Concomitant weekly cisplatin and altered fractionation radiotherapy in locally advanced head and neck cancer.

BACKGROUND: Both concomitant chemotherapy and altered fractionation radiotherapy (RT) have been shown to improve outcomes for patients with locoregionally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. However, both strategies also increase acute toxicity, and it is questionable whether the 2 can be safely combined. Traditional concomitant chemotherapy regimens include high-dose cisplatin given at 100 mg/m2 every 3 weeks. The authors' purpose was to report efficacy and toxicity after weekly cisplatin (30 mg/m2/wk) concurrent with altered fractionation RT. METHODS: One hundred twenty-one patients with American Joint Committee on Cancer stages II (3%), III (13%), or IV (84%) squamous cell carcinomas of the oropharynx (70%), hypopharynx (20%), or larynx (10%) were treated between 2000 and 2006 at the University of Florida with hyperfractionated RT (55 patients) or concomitant boost RT (66 patients) and concomitant cisplatin (30 mg/m2/wk). RESULTS: Median follow-up was 2.9 years; median follow-up on survivors was 3.6 years. Seventy-nine percent of patients completed ≥6 cycles of chemotherapy; 94% received ≥7200 centigrays. Seven (6%) patients changed from cisplatin to carboplatin because of bone marrow toxicity. Gastrostomy tube feeding was required in 54% of patients either before (16%) or during RT (38%). Two (1.6%) patients died from therapy-related complications. The 5-year outcomes were: local control, 83%; locoregional control, 79%; distant metastasis-free survival, 88%; cause-specific survival, 76%; and overall survival, 59%. Seven (6%) patients had severe late complications. Three (3%) patients required a permanent gastrostomy tube. CONCLUSIONS: Concomitant weekly cisplatin with altered fractionation RT is a safe and effective treatment regimen. Cancer 2010. © 2010 American Cancer Society.