cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Plasmonic aptamer-gold nanoparticle sensors for small molecule fingerprint identification.

The utilization of the plasmonic response of aptamer–gold nanoparticle conjugates (Apt–AuNPs) to design cross-reactive arrays for fingerprint identification of small molecular targets was demonstrated for the first time. Four aptamers with different structural features previously selected to bind different targets were used in combination with AuNPs by adsorbing the DNA on the AuNPs surface. The optimized response of the Apt–AuNPs to the analytes showed that, depending on the specific aptamer used, target binding by the aptamer could result in an increase or decrease of Apt–AuNPs stability. These Apt–AuNPs showed the ability to recognize different analytes with different affinities, generating fingerprints that allowed unambiguous analyte identification with response times in less than fifteen minutes. Importantly, it was observed that it was not necessary to select an aptamer per analyte of interest to generate differentiable signatures, but a subset of aptamers could be used to identify a larger number of analytes. The data was analyzed using principal component analysis, showing efficient clustering of the different datasets for qualitative and quantitative identification. This work opens the door to using these Apt–AuNPs in point of care diagnostics applications where fast sensors with easy to read outputs are needed.
Polyunsaturated fatty acid and sterol requirements of the southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella

Abstract The southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella , was reared on a meridic diet and its lipid requirements were determined. A dietary supplement of wheat germ oil was found to contain factors which were essential for larval growth and normal wing development. An investigation into the nature of these factors showed that linoleate or linolenate promoted normal wing development whereas β-sitosterol enhanced the larval growth rate. A study of the species fatty acid requirements revealed that dietary supplements of methyl linoleate or linolenate, but not methyl oleate or stearic acid, permitted normal wing development. The dosage required was low and as little as 0·03% methyl linoleate resulted in a high incidence of normal wing development. Dietary fatty acids, however, only marginally improved the larval growth rate. A study of sterol requirements revealed that (1) a dietary sterol was essential for larval growth, (2) β-sitosterol (0·18%) permitted a significantly higher larval growth rate than either cholesterol, 7-dehydrocholesterol, or stigmasterol. A dietary supplement of ergosterol did not support larval growth. The present results are discussed in relation to known lipid requirements and metabolism in other plant-feeding insects.
Chung's law for additive functionals of positive recurrent Markov chains

A lim inf law of the iterated logarithm is obtained for additive functionals of positive recurrent Markov chains under some minimum conditions.
Site-Directed Mutagenesis and Structure/Function Studies of Casein Kinase II Correlate Stimulation of Activity by the β Subunit with Changes in Conformation and ATP/GTP Utilization

Casein kinase II exists in vivo as an active holoenzyme consisting of catalytic alpha and/or alpha' and regulatory beta subunits, which form a tetrameric structure of alpha 2 beta 2. Unlike most other protein kinases, casein kinase II uses both ATP and GTP effectively as phosphate donors. Two residues unique to the catalytic subunit of casein kinase II, Val66 and Trp176, were mutated to Ala66 and Phe176, respectively, the amino acids present in more than 95% of the identified protein kinase sequences. Using recombinant alpha subunit expressed in Escherichia coli, the mutations have been previously shown to reduce the utilization of GTP by changing Km values for ATP and GTP and to reduce the approximate fivefold stimulation observed upon addition of the regulatory subunit [Jakobi, R. & Traugh, J. A. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267, 23,894-23,902]. In this study, the mutations are shown to affect the catalytic activity of the reconstituted holoenzyme by changing both Km and Vmax values. The Vmax for ATP is reduced by the mutation of Trp176 to phenylalanine, but no change is observed with GTP. The Val66 to alanine and Val66/Trp176 to alanine/phenylalanine mutations reduce the Vmax values for ATP and GTP to levels comparable to those of the catalytic subunits alone, indicating that changes in the stimulation of activity by the beta subunit are due to changes in Vmax. Structural studies using ultraviolet CD spectroscopy show that changes in stimulation of Vmax by the beta subunit are correlated with changes in the secondary structure; the extent of these changes is reduced by both mutations. Correlation of changes in secondary structure and stimulation of activity by the beta subunit indicate that the formation of the wild-type holoenzyme causes conformational changes in the active site, leading to an increased rate of reaction. As shown by the mutations, Val66 and Trp176 are involved both in the conformational changes and in the selectivity of ATP and GTP.
Characterization of naı̈ve, memory and effector CD8+ T cells: effect of age

Aging is associated with progressive decline in T cell functions and increased frequency of infections, autoimmune phenomenon, and cancer. Memory T cells rapidly acquire effector functions to kill infected and malignant cells and/or inhibit their replication. Recently, memory T cells have been further classified into central and effector memory T cells (and early and intermediate T cells by some investigators). In aging, memory T cells are accumulated; however, these subpopulations of memory and effector T cells have not been fully characterized and changes in central memory and effector memory T cells in aged humans have not been described. In this article, we have further defined naive, central memory, effector memory, and effector CD8+ T cells in humans and their changes in aged humans.
Contingencies, Macrocontingencies, and Metacontingencies in Current Educational Practices: No Child Left Behind?

Using Glenn's framework (1985, 1986, 1988, 1991, 2004), this paper describes the public school system as an entity comprised of interrelated cultural units ranging from federal and state agencies to local school districts, schools and individual classrooms. At each of these levels the interlocking behavioral contingencies (IBCs) resulting from implementation of Public Law 107-110, No Child Left Behind, are described. This paper identifies potentially problematic educational practices (selected by social consequences) and the cumulative effects of these practices.
Acid-Suppressive Medications and Risk of Bone Loss and Fracture in Older Adults

Recent studies have suggested an increased fracture risk with acid-suppressive medication use. We studied two cohorts of men and women over age 65 who were enrolled in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study (MrOS) and the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF), respectively. We used dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and assessed baseline use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and/or H2 receptor antagonists (H2RAs) in 5,755 men and 5,339 women. Medication use and bone mineral density (BMD) were assessed, and hip and other nonspine fractures were documented. On multivariate analysis, men using either PPIs or H2RAs had lower cross-sectional bone mass. No significant BMD differences were observed among women. However, there was an increased risk of nonspine fracture among women using PPIs (relative hazard [RH] = 1.34, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.10-1.64). PPI use was also associated with an increased risk of nonspine fracture in men but only among those who were not taking calcium supplements (RH = 1.49, 95% CI 1.04-2.14). H2RA use was not associated with nonspine fractures, and neither H2RA use nor PPI use was associated with incident hip fractures in men or women. The use of PPIs in older women, and perhaps older men with low calcium intake, may be associated with a modestly increased risk of nonspine fracture.
APP+, a fluorescent analogue of the neurotoxin MPP+, is a marker of catecholamine neurons in brain tissue, but not a fluorescent false neurotransmitter.

We have previously introduced fluorescent false neurotransmitters (FFNs) as optical reporters that enable visualization of individual dopaminergic presynaptic terminals and their activity in the brain. In this context, we examined the fluorescent pyridinium dye 4-(4-dimethylamino)phenyl-1-methylpyridinium (APP+), a fluorescent analogue of the dopaminergic neurotoxin MPP+, in acute mouse brain tissue. APP+ is a substrate for the dopamine transporter (DAT), norepinephrine transporter (NET), and serotonin transporter (SERT), and as such represented a candidate for the development of new FFN probes. Here we report that APP+ labels cell bodies of catecholaminergic neurons in the midbrain in a DAT- and NET-dependent manner, as well as fine dopaminergic axonal processes in the dorsal striatum. APP+ destaining from presynaptic terminals in the dorsal striatum was also examined under the conditions inducing depolarization and exocytotic neurotransmitter release. Application of KCl led to a small but significant de...
Age structured populations with history dependent mortality and natality

We consider a modification of the Gurtin-MacCamy model of population dynamics, where the birth and death moduli depend on a time integral of the solution rather than on an age integral. This models the influence of past history in the time dependence of the death and birth rates. We propose a numerical algorithm to approximate the solution based on the finite difference method of characteristics and prove that it is optimally convergent. The algorithm is devised to minimize the storage requirement in the time variable.
Phosphatidylcholine-lysophosphatidylcholine cycle pathway enzymes in rabbit lung. II. Marked differences in the effect of gestational age on activity compared to the CDP-choline pathway.

Summary: Lysophosphatidylcholine (lysoPC), a breakdown product of phosphatidylcholine (PC), might be important in pulmonary PC synthesis through fatty acid exchange reactions. This study defines the levels of three of the enzymes of the PC-lysoPC cycle pathway (lysophospholipase (LPL) (EC. 3.1.1.5), lysophosphatidylcholine-lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase (LAT), and acyl-CoA lysophosphalidylcholine acyltransferase (acryl-CoA LAT) (EC. 2.3.1.23)) in developing fetal rabbit lung and compares them with the enzymes of the CDP-choline synthetic pathway (choline kinase (CK) (EC. 2.7.1.32), phosphorylcholine cytidyl transferase (CyT) (EC. 2.7.7.15), and phosphorylcholine glyceride transferase (PCGT) (EC. 2.7.8.2)). Lung homogenates of fetal rabbits of known gestation, newborn, and adult rabbits were used for the enzyme, protein, and phospholipid analyses. Total lung phospholipid, PC, and protein increased with gestational age. Thirty days' gestation, newborn, and maternal lung activities of CK, CyT, and PCGT had decreased to only 50% of their activities at 22–26 days' gestation. In contrast, LPL and LAT activities increased 4–5− fold from 22–26 days to 30 days' gestation, and increased further in the newborn lung, finally to a level matching maternal lung (about 8–10-fold higher than the 22–26 days' gestation activities). The microsomal acyl-CoA LAT also snowed a similar increasing activity with gestational age. In fetal rabbit lung, enzymic activities for the apparent major PC synthetic pathway decreased. In contrast, the marked increases in LPL, LAT, and acyl-CoA LAT activities with increasing gestational age and at birth suggests importance of the PC- lysoPC cycle pathway in regulating synthesis and turnover with maturation. Speculation: There are marked increases in lung lysoPC cycle pathway enzymes with gestational and postnatal ages. This finding suggests that this cycle pathway is very important in pulmonary maturation and in the formation of surface-active dipalmitoyl- PC.
Allografts of tumor nuclear transplantation embryos: differentiation competence.

Abstract The developmental potential of nuclei can be studied by nuclear transplantation. Although amphibian blastula nuclei and other early embryonic nuclei are totipotent, to our knowledge no nucleus from an adult cell has ever been shown to be totipotent by this procedure. Transfer of Lucke renal carcinoma nuclei into enucleated eggs results in prefeeding swimming tadpoles. Inasmuch as these tadpoles die, rescue of this pluripotential tissue was attempted by grafting fragments of triploid tumor nuclear transplant tadpoles to the tails of normal diploid Rana pipiens hosts. Grafts of tumor nuclear transplant tadpole tissue were histologically indistinguishable from grafts of normally fertilized embryos and developed normal-appearing structures such as complete eyes, well-differentiated neural tissues, kidney tubules, and gut epithelium. Moreover, histological differentiation in tumor nuclear transplant grafts was comparable to that observed in 50-day-old normal larvae. Grafting enhanced the survival of tumor nuclear transplant tissue from no more than 14 days as part of the donor tadpole to 40 days at which time the grafts were harvested as healthy tissue. Thus, both differentiation and survival of tumor nuclear transplant tissue were augmented with the grafting procedure. Cytophotometric analysis of ploidy was used to confirm the tumor origin of the donor tissue.
PROPERTIES OF THE CAUSATIVE AGENT OF A CHICKEN TUMOR : X. CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF CHICKEN TUMOR EXTRACTS.

A brief description is given of the main physical and chemical characteristics of active chicken tumor extracts. By special methods constituents have been removed from the active solution: (1) the major part of the tumor-proteins, which are adsorbed on alumina gel and discarded; (2) a carbohydrate, present in large amounts in the tumor extract, is eliminated by precipitation in combination with gelatin. In both cases the tumor principle is not directly affected and largely remains in active form in the solution.
Traumatic brain injury caregivers: A qualitative analysis of spouse and parent perspectives on quality of life

The objective of this qualitative study was to examine how family caregivers of individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) describe their quality of life in the context of their caregiving role. Fifty-two caregivers of adults with moderate or severe TBI (n = 31 parents, n = 21 partners/spouses; 77% female; mean age = 57.96 years, range = 34–78 years) were recruited from three data collection sites to participate in focus groups. Thematic content analysis was used to identify two main meta-themes: Caregiver Role Demands and Changes in Person with TBI. Prominent sub-themes indicated that caregivers are (1) overburdened with responsibilities, (2) lack personal time and time for self-care, (3) feel that their life is interrupted or lost, (4) grieve the loss of the person with TBI, and (5) endorse anger, guilt, anxiety, and sadness. Caregivers identified a number of service needs. A number of sub-themes were perceived differently by partner versus parent caregivers. The day-to-day responsibilities of being ...
Theory and applications of b-bit minwise hashing

Efficient (approximate) computation of set similarity in very large datasets is a common task with many applications in information retrieval and data management. One common approach for this task is minwise hashing. This paper describes b-bit minwise hashing, which can provide an order of magnitude improvements in storage requirements and computational overhead over the original scheme in practice. We give both theoretical characterizations of the performance of the new algorithm as well as a practical evaluation on large real-life datasets and show that these match very closely. Moreover, we provide a detailed comparison to other important alternative techniques proposed for estimating set similarities. Our technique yields a very simple algorithm and can be realized with only minor modifications to the original minwise hashing scheme.
Handset antennas and humans at Ka-band: the importance of directional antennas

To accommodate multimedia, wide-band operations at Ka-band (e.g., 30 GHz) are attracting much attention in both wireless terrestrial and satellite communication systems. With handset antennas operating at these frequencies, significantly high-peak specific absorption rate (SAR) may occur in the skin region of the human head. It has been found that the popular numerical techniques have severe computational limitations in dealing with thin layers and high frequencies. In order to critically assess human-antenna interactions at Ka-band, an efficient hybridization of the eigenfunction expansion method (EEM) and the method of moments (MoM) has been utilized. At this frequency band, most power absorption of the antenna-radiated power occurs within the thin layer of skin. With a half-wave dipole antenna separated at 2 cm from the head, it is found that the unaveraged peak SAR can become extremely high in the skin tissue (/spl sim/450 W/kg) with 1 W of the delivered power, while the l-g averaged peak SAR is /spl sim/10 W/kg. However, the use of a directional two-element end-fire antenna can significantly reduce the unaveraged peak SAR (/spl sim/3 W/kg), 1-g averaged peak SAR (/spl sim/0.1 W/kg), and power absorption in the head.
Nonclassical light generation via a four-level inverted-Y system

We have theoretically analyzed nonclassical paired photons generated spontaneously from a four-level inverted-Y atomic system. We discuss the feasibility of biphoton generation due to different pumping arrangements. Two types of correlated photon pair emissions have been carefully examined: dressed cascade and dressed double- emissions. In the dressed cascade two-photon emission, the coincidence counting rate may exhibit a damped Rabi oscillation, in contrast with a simple exponential decay feature in the literatures. In the dressed double- configuration, we show that not only is the temporal correlation of entangled Stokes‐antiStokes photons in agreement with discussions presented by Wen et al. Phys. Rev. A 76, 013825 2007, but also the oscillation period may be manipulated by altering either the control Rabi frequency or the dressing Rabi frequency or both. All the observed damped Rabi oscillations in the two-photon coincidences result from the destructive interference among the possible four-wave mixing processes occurring in the atom-field interaction system. This feature of the two-photon amplitude is governed by the convolution between the phase matching and third-order nonlinear susceptibility. The methodology adopted here can be applied to other atomic-level configurations and provides a useful tool to study the spectroscopy of the system. The generated narrow-band photon pairs may have potential applications in long-distance quantum communication and quantum information processing.
Movement of nuclear poly(A) RNA throughout the interchromatin space in living cells

Abstract Background: Messenger RNA (mRNA) is transcribed and processed in the nucleus of eucaryotic cells and then exported to the cytoplasm through nuclear pores. It is not known whether the movement of mRNA from its site of synthesis to the nuclear pore is directed or random. Directed movement would suggest that there is an energy-requiring step in addition to the step required for active transport through the pore, whereas random movement would indicate that mRNAs can make their way to the nuclear envelope by diffusion. Results: We devised a method to visualize movement of endogenous polymerase II transcripts in the nuclei of living cells. Oligo(dT) labeled with chemically masked (caged) fluorescein was allowed to penetrate cells and hybridize to nuclear poly(A) RNA. Laser spot photolysis then uncaged the oligo(dT) at a given intranuclear site and the resultant fluorescent, hybridized oligo(dT) was tracked using high-speed imaging microscopy. Poly(A) RNA moved away from the uncaging spot in all directions with a mean square displacement that varied linearly with time, and the same apparent diffusion coefficient was measured for the movement at both 37°C and 23°C. These properties are characteristic of a random diffusive process. High resolution three-dimensional imaging of live cells containing both Hoechst-labeled chromosomes and uncaged oligo(dT) showed that, excluding nucleoli, the poly(A) RNA could access most, if not all, of the non-chromosomal space in the nucleus. Conclusions: Poly(A) RNA can move freely throughout the interchromatin space of the nucleus with properties characteristic of diffusion.
Technology enabled curriculum for a first-year engineering program

For the past three years, all first year engineering students at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology have enrolled in a common introduction to engineering course. The course features a common curriculum contained on a course CD, utilization of technology tools, an engineering design project, and introduction to technical writing. All sections of the course are taught in a single classroom that is set up with tables and equipped with wireless notebook PCs. Technology tools are focused on collection, manipulation, and presentation of data using electronic portfolios, a permanent digital archive, spreadsheet tools, and data loggers. The use of spreadsheets for solving engineering problems is illustrated through example problems and several tutorial exercises that are both contained on the curricular CD. Portable data loggers are utilized in lab projects for collecting data that is then manipulated and analyzed on a spreadsheet. The design project requires students teams to function within specified design parameters, construct a simple device that is then used to collect data, analyze the data, and present the results both in an oral presentation and a formal technical document. In this paper, examples of technology uses in the curricular materials, engineering problems, and design projects used will be illustrated and discussed.
Edge Effects and the Population Structure of Humboldt Bay, California, Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.)

The physical structure of a habitat (e.g., fragmentation) may affect the distribution of genetic diversity within a population, and genetic diversity may alter ecological function. This study investigates the population genetics of Humboldt Bay, California, eelgrass in light of the habitat’s fragmented physical structure. Historical and ongoing dredging operations in the bay maintain channels between fragmented tidal mudflats that are inhabited by eelgrass. A sample of 469 individuals, from 11 discrete fragments, was genotyped using microsatellite analysis. Ramets were collected at multiple points located at the edge and in the interior of each fragment. The sampling scheme was designed to detect evidence of population structure within and between fragments, as well as between edge and interior bed positions. Genetic diversity is not shown to differ among fragments and is not consistent with widespread clonality. Heterozygosity levels indicate that Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium predominates across loci in most instances. Comparisons of edge and interior bed positions also reveal similarities between positions for the metrics described above. Results suggest efficient gene flow between fragments and between bed positions. Such findings, which indicate the unstructured nature of the population, can guide resource managers in making evolutionarily informed conservation decisions by discouraging assumptions of low genetic diversity and insignificant sexual reproduction.
Mapping cardiac currents using Ultrasound Current Source Density Imaging

We describe the first mapping of biological current in a live heart using ultrasound current source density imaging (UCSDI). Ablation procedures that treat severe heart arrhythmias require detailed maps of the cardiac activation wave. UCSDI can potentially improve on existing mapping procedures which are time-consuming and limited by its poor spatial resolution (5-10 mm). UCSDI is based on a pressure-induced change in resistivity known as the acousto-electric (AE) effect, which is spatially confined to the ultrasound focus. Data from two experiments are presented. A 540 kHz ultrasonic transducer (f/#=1, focal length=90 mm, pulse repetition frequency=1600 Hz) was scanned over an isolated rabbit heart, perfused with excitation-contraction decoupler to significantly reduce motion while retaining electric function. Tungsten electrodes inserted in the left ventricles recorded simultaneously the AE signal and the low frequency electrocardiogram (ECG). UCSDI displayed spatial and temporal patterns consistent with the spreading activation wave. The propagation velocity estimated from UCSDI was 0.25plusmn0.05 mm/ms, comparable to the values obtained with the ECG signals. The maximum AE signal-to-noise ratio after filtering was 18 dB, with an equivalent detection threshold of 0.1 mA/cm2. This study demonstrates that UCSDI is a potentially powerful technique for mapping current flow and biopotentials in the heart.
FERM Domain Phosphoinositide Binding Targets Merlin to the Membrane and Is Essential for Its Growth-Suppressive Function

The neurofibromatosis type 2 tumor suppressor protein, merlin, is related to the ERM (ezrin, radixin, and moesin) family of plasma membrane-actin cytoskeleton linkers. For ezrin, phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) binding to the amino-terminal FERM domain is required for its conformational activation, proper subcellular localization, and function, but less is known about the role of phosphoinositide binding for merlin. Current evidence indicates that association with the membrane is important for merlin to function as a growth regulator; however, the mechanisms by which merlin localizes to the membrane are less clear. Here, we report that merlin binds phosphoinositides, including PIP2, via a conserved binding motif in its FERM domain. Abolition of FERM domain-mediated phosphoinositide binding of merlin displaces merlin from the membrane and releases it into the cytosol without altering the folding of merlin. Importantly, a merlin protein whose FERM domain cannot bind phosphoinositide is defective in growth suppression. Retargeting the mutant merlin into the membrane using a dual-acylated amino-terminal decapeptide from Fyn is sufficient to restore the growth-suppressive properties to the mutant merlin. Thus, FERM domain-mediated phosphoinositide binding and membrane association are critical for the growth-regulatory function of merlin.
GENETIC CHANGES IN RADIATION-ASSOCIATED MENINGIOMA

BACKGROUND: Meningiomas represent the most frequently diagnosed primary brain tumor in the United States accounting for approximately one third of such tumors in adults. To date the sole consistently identified risk factor remains exposure to ionizing radiation with risks from 6-10 fold reported. Persons diagnosed with meningioma after exposure to therapeutic ionizing radiation likely represent a genetically-sensitive subpopulation of patients. Currently, radiation-associated meningiomas (RAM) are the most common form of radiation-induced neoplasm yet no sequencing data exist for this class of tumor. METHODS: Our group has identified 22 persons with confirmed high-dose therapeutic radiation treatments to the head, face or neck and subsequent pathologic confirmation of intra-cranial meningioma. To identify genetic changes and the mean number of protein altering somatic mutations associated with the development of RAM we perform whole genome sequencing on matched paraffin-embedded tumor and constitutive DNA for this group of patients. We compare these results with those obtained from the recent genetic analyses of two series of non-RAM meningiomas to determine how mutation profiles differ between RAM and non-RAM meningiomas. RESULTS: Treatment is problematic as many RAMs are in anatomic locations that are difficult to surgically access, most patients are not candidates for additional radiation therapy given their previous exposure and no beneficial chemotherapeutic agent exists. (Sequencing in process) CONCLUSIONS: RAMs represent a difficult clinical issue in neurosurgery. Our study is a focused effort to define genetic variants associated with meningioma development using cases with a unique gene*environment exposure. In addition, these data may identify mutational profiles that predict drug response for this hard to treat lesion. SECONDARY CATEGORY: Tumor Biology.
The Sister Chromatid Cohesion Pathway Suppresses Multiple Chromosome Gain and Chromosome Amplification

Gain or loss of chromosomes resulting in aneuploidy can be important factors in cancer and adaptive evolution. Although chromosome gain is a frequent event in eukaryotes, there is limited information on its genetic control. Here we measured the rates of chromosome gain in wild-type yeast and sister chromatid cohesion (SCC) compromised strains. SCC tethers the newly replicated chromatids until anaphase via the cohesin complex. Chromosome gain was measured by selecting and characterizing copper-resistant colonies that emerged due to increased copies of the metallothionein gene CUP1. Although all defective SCC diploid strains exhibited increased rates of chromosome gain, there were 15-fold differences between them. Of all mutants examined, a hypomorphic mutation at the cohesin complex caused the highest rate of chromosome gain while disruption of WPL1, an important regulator of SCC and chromosome condensation, resulted in the smallest increase in chromosome gain. In addition to defects in SCC, yeast cell type contributed significantly to chromosome gain, with the greatest rates observed for homozygous mating-type diploids, followed by heterozygous mating type, and smallest in haploids. In fact, wpl1-deficient haploids did not show any difference in chromosome gain rates compared to wild-type haploids. Genomic analysis of copper-resistant colonies revealed that the “driver” chromosome for which selection was applied could be amplified to over five copies per diploid cell. In addition, an increase in the expected driver chromosome was often accompanied by a gain of a small number of other chromosomes. We suggest that while chromosome gain due to SCC malfunction can have negative effects through gene imbalance, it could also facilitate opportunities for adaptive changes. In multicellular organisms, both factors could lead to somatic diseases including cancer.
Shall We Play a Game

Over the course of the last decade, many games have shifted from single player to shared social experiences. Yet, most research examining antisocial behavior has focused on coded content and ignored the influence of other players. This paper examines the influence of the behavior of another player on strategy selection, and the formation of expectations, enjoyment, frustration, and state aggression. It reports an experiment examining antisocial griefing behavior in the multiplayer game Neverwinter Nights, where observational learning, revenge seeking, and expectation formation are tested. The results show that (a) the first encounter that a player has in a game shapes both behavior and expectations; (b) environments that facilitate expectation of cooperation will lead to retaliation against players who grief, whereas environments that facilitate expectations of griefing will increase the frequency of griefing, but not the frequency of retaliation against players who grief; and (c) griefing decreases enjoy...
Psychosocial Concerns and Interventions for Cancer Survivors

In light of the increasing population living with a history of cancer in the United States, it is important to attend to quality of life and health in this group, and to develop effective interventions to address psychosocial and physical concerns across the course of the cancer trajectory. The goals of this article are to document the need for attention to psychosocial domains; offer a brief overview of the current status of the empirical literature on effects of psychosocial interventions with cancer survivors, relying on systematic reviews and meta-analyses conducted in the last decade; highlight recent examples of randomized, controlled psychosocial intervention trials directed toward cancer survivors after the completion of primary medical treatments (ie, the re-entry phase and beyond); and identify directions for application and research.
The Prevalence of Dental Fluorosis in a School-based Program of Fluoride Mouthrinsing, Fluoride Tablets, and Both Procedures Combined

Objectives: The objective of the study was to describe and compare the prevalence and severity of dental fluorosis in children who participated in an eight-year clinical trial of the effectiveness of school-based fluoride procedures according to three treatment regimens and age of regimen initiation. Methods: At baseline in 1981, 1,640 kindergarten and first grade children residing in a fluoride-deficient community (Springfield, OH) were assigned randomly to a group that (1) rinsed once a week with a 0.2 percent neutral NaF solution; (2) chewed, rinsed, and swallowed daily a neutral 2.2 mg NaF tablet; or (3) carried out both procedures. DMFS examinations were conducted at baseline and after two, five, and eightyears of treatment. As a follow-up in 1992, fluorosis examinations using Dean’s index were conducted on 448 remaining subjects. Results: Overall, the prevalence of fluorosis was 4.4 percent with 20 children classifiedas having some definitive level of the condition. No statistically significant differences existed in the prevalence or severity of fluorosis: (1) among the preventive regimens; (2) among children who began the regimens at ages 5, 6, or 7; or (3) by eruptive status of teeth. Conclusion: These results reiterate the safety of school-based fluoride mouthrinse, fluoride tablet, or combined regimens in communities with fluoride-deficient water supplies. [J Public Health Dent 1995;55(3): 165-701
Safe-commit analysis to facilitate team software development

Software development teams exchange source code in shared repositories. These repositories are kept consistent by having developers follow a commit policy, such as “Program edits can be committed only if all available tests succeed.” Such policies may result in long intervals between commits, increasing the likelihood of duplicative development and merge conflicts. Furthermore, commit policies are generally not automatically enforceable. We present a program analysis to identify committable changes that can be released early, without causing failures of existing tests, even in the presence of failing tests in a developer's local workspace. The algorithm can support relaxed commit policies that allow early release of changes, reducing the potential for merge conflicts. In experiments using several versions of a non-trivial software system with failing tests, 3 newly enabled commit policies were shown to allow a significant percentage of changes to be committed.
Antibiotic Utilization and Opportunities for Stewardship Among Hospitalized Patients With Influenza Respiratory Tract Infection

OBJECTIVE Hospitalized influenza patients are often treated with antibiotics empirically while awaiting final diagnosis. The goal of this study was to describe the inappropriate continuation of antibiotics for influenza respiratory tract infections (RTIs). DESIGN We retrospectively studied adults admitted to our institution over 2 respiratory flu seasons with positive influenza RTIs. Inappropriate antibiotic duration (IAD) was defined as antibiotic use for >24 hours after a positive influenza test in patients presenting with <72 hours of RTI symptoms and with no other indications of bacterial infection. RESULTS During the study period, 322 patients included in this study were admitted for influenza RTI. Respiratory cultures were ordered for 50 of these patients (15.5%) and 71 patients (22%) had a positive chest x-ray, but antibiotics were prescribed to 211 patients (65.5%) on admission. Antibiotics were inappropriately continued in 73 patients (34.5%). Patients receiving IAD had a longer length of stay (LOS) (median, 6 days; range, 4–9 days) compared with those whose antibiotics were discontinued appropriately (median, 5 days; range, 3–8 days) and those who were not treated with antibiotics (median, 4 days; range, 3–6 days; P<.001). However, mortality was similar among these 3 groups: 3 patients (4.1%) from the IAD cohort died; 6 patients (4.3%) from the group with an appropriate antibiotic duration died; and 2 patients [1.8%] from the group given no antibiotics died (P=.510). The 30-day readmission rates were similar as well: 9 patients (12.3%) from the IAD group were readmitted within 30 days; 21 patients (15.2%) from the group with appropriate antibiotic duration were readmitted; and 11 patients (9.9%) from the group given no antibiotics were readmitted (P=.455). Total hospital costs were greater in patients treated with IAD (2,076 per IAD patient compared with a patient for which antibiotic duration was appropriate. CONCLUSION The majority of patients with influenza RTI received antibiotics on admission, and 34.5% were inappropriately continued on antibiotics without evidence of bacterial infection, which led to increased LOS, loss of net revenue, and no improvement in outcome. Thus, stewardship initiatives aimed at this population are warranted. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2016;37:583–589
Compassion for climate change victims and support for mitigation policy

Abstract The lack of broad public support for climate change mitigation policy hampers efforts to adopt timely approaches to the climate crisis. Echoing prior calls for examining the role of emotions in climate change communication, this study explores effects of compassion on support for government actions to address climate change. A diverse sample of U.S. participants (N = 400) was randomly assigned to different message treatments as part of a 2 (compassion: high or low) × 2 (climate change cue: present or absent) between-subjects factorial design. Results showed that the high-compassion condition elicited greater self-reported compassion and stronger belief that a climate-related humanitarian crisis was caused by human activities, both of which, in turn, mediated increased policy support—particularly among political conservatives and moderates (compared to liberals). Overall, these findings add to the nascent literature examining emotions in climate change public opinion and help inform compassion appeals in climate change communication.
Ovary-containing hernia in a premature infant: sonographic diagnosis.

In both male and female fetuses, inguinal canal development entails a complex sequence of anatomic events involving the gubernaculum and processus vaginalis. In the normally developing female fetus, the processus vaginalis is usually obliterated by 8 months of gestation. 1 In premature infants, because this structure is often patent, an inguinal hernia commonly develops. In female infants, it has been reported to contain the ovary with or without portions of the fallopian tube 15% to 20% of the time. 2 Although some hernias regress spontaneously, 3 this is less likely to occur if it contains the ovary, and, in comparison to a bowel-containing hernia, the risk of incarceration is greatly increased. 2,4,5 The pediatric and surgical literature have described ovary-containing inguinal hernias in neonates and infants, 1-6 but reports in the ultrasound and radiology literature are lacking. We describe such a case to alert sonographers to its appearance and presentation and to emphasize the pathophysiologic characteristics of this condition in the premature infant.
USE OF BARRIER ANALYSIS TO IDENTIFY AND TREAT HUMAN FACTORS SAFETY THREATS

A hazard analysis of the system is not complete if human interaction with the system is not considered. Many methods available tailor themselves for just this sort of analysis. Root Cause Analysis methods have come into pop ular use. While there are several methods under this title, one in specific lends itself well for analyzing human interaction with a system and that is Barrier Analysis. An undesired event, incident, accident, or problem may be considered as the result o f a number of different elements coming together in a combination of events or certain fashion. Considered separately or together in some other combination, in slightly differing degree or displacement in time, these same elements might otherwise produce little to no noticeable adverse outcome. When these elements are known (or suspected) to have the potential to cause an unwanted event or problem, safeguards or barriers may be installed to prevent the event from occurrence. Barrier analysis looks at the potential source of problems or hazards as well as how the harm or damage occurred. It also examines any root cause of the problem or unwanted event by assessing the adequacy of any installed barriers or safeguards that should have prevented, or at least mitigated, its occurrence. A barrier analysis was performed for human factors influencing the high -pressure oxygen HPGT operations. This system is located at Kennedy Space Center. After threats to safety are identified, potential specific barriers are identified, analyzed and tracked via sampling through the use of videotaped testing operations at the HPGT operations. Results using trend analysis techniques on the human factors safety threats identified by the barrier analysis will be presented. INTRO DUCTION The presence of hazards in the work environment may cause accidents, which may lead to personal injuries and/or operational and system failures. Moreover, occupational hazards of the work tasks may lead to occupational disorders and degrade the system from an operational perspective. In particular, musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) represent a category of work -related injuries that are common in the work place and can pose significant consequences on the quality and productivity of the system’s out put
The Manuscript of “Leo Africanus”

Although several critics have commented on the first appearance of the spirit of Leo Africanus to Yeats and a few have examined the unpublished manuscript of Yeats’s dialogue with him,1 no one has pointed out either the extent of Yeats’s preoccupation or the significance of his changing conception of Leo. Yeats first referred to Leo, so far as we can determine, in some “Notes of a very poor sitting with Mr Feilding, on May 3rd 1909,” which contain a “plainly fanciful account of my ‘guides’.” Everard Feilding, an Honorary Secretary of the Society for Psychical Research, remained a friend for many years and was probably responsible for Yeats’s membership in the Society (from 1913 to 1928). Alluding first to a young girl who was “not a guide,” Yeats then records that “a Julia comes — a guide.” This is probably a reference to Julia A. Ames, the dead American woman whose Letters from Julia to William T. Stead were widely known throughout Europe.2 Since Julia’s Circle had been established at Cambridge House, Stead’s home in Wimbledon, on 24 April 1909, Yeats may be recording the first of many seances he attended there. After Julia came Agrippa, “a key” who “wants to do something through me.” But “all this while,” Yeats noted parenthetically, “I am trying to call Leo I want Leo to control medium.”
Sub- and Super-optimality Principles and Construction of Almost Optimal Strategies for Differential Games in Hilbert Spaces

We prove sub- and superoptimality principles of dynamic programming and show how to use the theory of viscosity solutions to construct almost optimal strategies for two-player, zero-sum differential games driven by abstract evolution equations in Hilbert spaces.
Topological Features Based Entity Disambiguation

This work proposes an unsupervised topological features based entity disambiguation solution. Most existing studies leverage semantic information to resolve ambiguous references. However, the semantic information is not always accessible because of privacy or is too expensive to access. We consider the problem in a setting that only relationships between references are available. A structure similarity algorithm via random walk with restarts is proposed to measure the similarity of references. The disambiguation is regarded as a clustering problem and a family of graph walk based clustering algorithms are brought to group ambiguous references. We evaluate our solution extensively on two real datasets and show its advantage over two state-of-the-art approaches in accuracy.
Germinal Center B Cell Dynamics

Germinal centers (GCs) are the site of antibody diversification and affinity maturation and as such are vitally important for humoral immunity. The study of GC biology has undergone a renaissance in the past 10 years, with a succession of findings that have transformed our understanding of the cellular dynamics of affinity maturation. In this review, we discuss recent developments in the field, with special emphasis on how GC cellular and clonal dynamics shape antibody affinity and diversity during the immune response.
The Relationship of Supervision Variables to Counseling Self-Efficacy and Outcome Expectations Among Practicing Psychologists

OF GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH Dissertation Andrews University School of Education Title: THE RELATIONSHIP OF SUPERVISION VARIABLES TO COUNSELING SELF-EFFICACY AND OUTCOME EXPECTATIONS AMONG PRACTICING PSYCHOLOGISTS Name of researcher: Gunther L. Schwartz Name and degree of faculty chair: Ronald Coffen, Ph.D. Date completed: June 2016 Purpose of the Study The primary purpose of this study was to examine whether Psychologists who receive supervision have greater Counseling Self-efficacy and greater Counseling Outcome Expectancy than Psychologists who do not receive supervision. The secondary purpose was to assess the demographic and personal variables that are associated with Counseling Self-efficacy and Counseling Outcome Expectancy, as well as the supervisor factors associated with Counseling Self-efficacy and Counseling Outcome Expectancy. Method The Counselor Self-Estimate Inventory (COSE), Counseling Outcome Expectancies Scale (COES) and the Supervision Descriptive Questionnaire (SDQ) were administered to 341 Michigan psychologists who either received supervision (n = 254) or who did not receive supervision (n = 87). Data were analyzed using ANOVA, multiple linear regression, and factor analysis. Differences and relationships were considered to be statistically significant at the p < .05 threshold. Results Psychologists who received supervision were significantly different from psychologists who did not receive supervision in their levels of Counseling Self-efficacy but not in levels of Counseling Outcome Expectancy. Counseling Outcome Expectancy varied significantly based on years with supervisor, with the highest Counseling Outcome Expectancy associated with 4-10 years with supervisor. Age, gender, highest degree, license type, work setting, primary theoretical orientation, professional roles, and mandatory supervision were not significantly associated with Counseling Self-efficacy or Counseling Outcome Expectancy. Hours spent providing individual counseling was positively associated with Counseling Outcome Expectancy and approached significance with Counseling Self-efficacy, while ethnicity and hours spent providing couples/family counseling was associated with higher Counseling Self-efficacy but not Counseling Outcome Expectancy. Factor analysis revealed a 4-factor solution for the Supervision Factors Scale: Encouraging and Facilitative Behaviors, Content and Structural Focus, Focus on Personal/Professional Growth, and Administrative Procedures, with only Content and Structural Focus significantly predictive of Counseling Self-efficacy and Counseling Outcome Expectancy.