cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Phenotypic, Transcriptional, and Functional Analysis of Liver Mesenchymal Stromal Cells and Their Immunomodulatory Properties.

The liver is an immunologically active organ with a tolerogenic microenvironment at a quiescent state. The immunoregulatory properties of the liver appear to be retained after transplantation because liver allografts can reduce alloresponses against other organs that are simultaneously transplanted. Mechanisms of this phenomenon remain unknown. Given the known immunomodulatory properties of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), we hypothesized that liver mesenchymal stromal cells (L-MSCs) are superior immunomodulators and contribute to liver-mediated tolerance. L-MSCs, generated from human liver allograft biopsies, were compared with adipose mesenchymal stromal cells (A-MSCs) and bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (BM-MSCs). Trilineage differentiation of L-MSCs was confirmed by immunohistochemistry. Comparative phenotypic analyses were done by flow cytometry and transcriptome analyses by RNA sequencing in unaltered cell cultures. The in vitro functional analyses were performed using alloreactive T cell proliferation assays. The transcriptome analysis showed that the L-MSCs are different than the A-MSCs and BM-MSCs, with significant enrichment of genes and gene sets associated with immunoregulation. Compared with the others, L-MSCs were found to express higher cell surface levels of several select immunomodulatory molecules. L-MSCs (versus A-MSCs/BM-MSCs) inhibited alloreactive T cell proliferation (22.7% versus 56.4%/58.7%, respectively; P < 0.05) and reduced the frequency of interferon ɤ-producing T cells better than other MSCs (52.8% versus 94.4%/155.4%; P < 0.05). The antiproliferative impact of L-MSCs was not dependent on cell-to-cell contact, could be reversed incompletely by blocking programmed death ligand 1, and required a higher concentration of the competitive inhibitor of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase for complete reversal. In conclusion, L-MSCs appear to be uniquely well-equipped immunomodulatory cells, and they are more potent than A-MSCs and BM-MSCs in that capacity, which suggests that they may contribute to liver-induced systemic tolerance.
Cost Effectiveness of External Beam Radiation Therapy versus Percutaneous Image-Guided Cryoablation for Palliation of Uncomplicated Bone Metastases

Abstract Purpose To evaluate the cost effectiveness of incorporating cryoablation in the treatment regimens for uncomplicated bone metastases using radiation therapy (RT) in single-fraction RT (SFRT) or multiple-fraction RT (MFRT) regimens. Materials and Methods A Markov model was constructed using 1-month cycles over a lifetime horizon to compare the cost effectiveness of multiple strategies, including RT followed by RT (RT-RT) for recurrent pain, RT followed by cryoablation (RT-ablation), and cryoablation followed by RT (ablation-RT). RT-RT consisted of 8 Gy in 1 fraction/8 Gy in 1 fraction (SFRT-SFRT) and 30 Gy in 10 fractions/20 Gy in 5 fractions (MFRT-MFRT). Probabilities and utilities were extracted from a search of the medical literature. Costs were calculated from a payer perspective using 2017 Medicare reimbursement in an outpatient setting. Incremental cost effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were calculated using strategies evaluated for willingness-to-pay threshold of $100,000 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). To account for model uncertainty, one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed. Results In the base case analysis, SFRT-ablation was cost effective relative to SFRT-SFRT at $96,387/QALY. MFRT-ablation was cost effective relative to MFRT-MFRT at $85,576/QALY. Ablation-SFRT and ablation-MFRT were not cost effective with ICERs >$100,000/QALY. In one-way sensitivity analyses, results were highly sensitive to variation in multiple model parameters, including median survival (base: 9 months), with SFRT-SFRT favored at median survival ≤8.7 months. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis examining SFRT-based regimens showed that SFRT-ablation was preferred in 36.9% of simulations at WTP of $100,000/QALY. Conclusions Cryoablation is a potentially cost-effective alternative to reirradiation with RT for recurrent of pain following RT; however, no strategy incorporating initial cryoablation was cost effective.
The Design, Construction and Operation of the APT Facility at the University of Texas at Arlington

The University of Texas at Arlington has decided to own and operate an Accelerated Pavement Testing (APT) facility in 2012 to expand its research capabilities. The facility is located in the Dallas-Fort Worth urban area on university owned land. The loading machine is a mobile linear device capable of loading two pavements simultaneously at a rate of about 100,000 passes per week. The maximum axle load that can be applied is 162 kN (36 kip). Uni-directional and bi-directional loading can be accommodated. Controlled heating and cooling of the air above the tested pavement section is also possible. The facility and the loading machine were designed and built entirely with internal funds over an eighteen-month period. Two research projects have been conducted in close collaboration with the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) to study the optimization of asphalt mixes containing various percentages of Recycled Asphalt Pavement (RAP) and Recycled Asphalt Shingles (RAS). The paper presents the development of the APT facility and the main features of the loading machine and discusses the experience with the construction and the four-year long operation. The reasoning behind the design choices, the financial decision making, the challenges as well as the successes are highlighted.
What Can Possibly Go Wrong

A lot. [In this hard, unbiased and objective look at some past and continuing blunders in following Weinberg's suggestions to arrive at a comprehensive description of Nuclear Physics using Effective Field Theories, some names and citations are withheld to protect the innocent.]
The Global Burden of Drowning

Drowning ranks among the leading causes of childhood injury deaths in countries of all geographic and demographic compositions. Where, why, and how people drown varies widely between regions and cultures. Drowning is the second leading cause of childhood injury-related deaths in the United States, for example, and is the leading cause of injury death in children ages 1–15 years in China [1, 2].
The expression of tumour suppressors and proto-oncogenes in tissues susceptible to their hereditary cancers

Studies of familial cancers have found that only a small subset of tissues are affected by inherited mutations in a given tumour suppressor gene (TSG) or proto-oncogene (POG), even though the mutation is present in all tissues. Previous tests have shown that tissue specificity is not due to the presence vs absence of gene expression, as TSGs and POGs are expressed in nearly every type of normal human tissue. Using published microarray expression data we tested the related hypothesis that tissue-specific expression of a TSG or POG is highest in tissue where it is of oncogenic importance. We tested this hypothesis by examining whether individual TSGs and POGs had higher expression in the normal (noncancerous) tissues where they are implicated in familial cancers relative to those tissues where they are not. We examined data for 15 TSGs and 8 POGs implicated in familial cancer across 12 human tissue types. We found a significant difference between expression levels in susceptible vs nonsusceptible tissues. It was found that 9 (60%, P<0.001) of the TSGs and 5 (63%, P<0.001) of the POGs had their highest expression level in the tissue type susceptible to their oncogenic effect. This highly significant association supports the hypothesis that mutation of a specific TSG or POG is likely to be most oncogenic in the tissue where the gene has its highest level of expression. This suggests that high expression in normal tissues is a potential marker for linking cancer-related genes with their susceptible tissues.
MMDB: an ASN.1 specification for macromolecular structure.

We present an exchange specification for data describing the three-dimensional structure of biological macromolecules. The specification was designed for MMDB, a Molecular Modeling Database supported by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), based on information from the Protein Data Bank (PDB). In the MMDB specification, the chemical structures of molecules are described hierarchically as connectivity graphs, to directly support comparison by subgraph isomorphism or assignment algorithms. Three-dimensional coordinates are linked unambiguously to nodes in the chemical graph, so that homologyderived structures may be generated directly from alignment of chemically similar groups. In conversion to this form, data from PDB are extensively validated, so as to provide a description of chemical and spatial structure that is as accurate as possible. These changes in format and content of the known structure data are intended to support development of intelligent molecular modeling applications that make use of this invaluable information resource.
Data Mining of Software Development Databases

Software quality models can predict which modules will have high risk, enabling developers to target enhancement activities to the most problematic modules. However, many find collection of the underlying software product and process metrics a daunting task. Many software development organizations routinely use very large databases for project management, configuration management, and problem reporting which record data on events during development. These large databases can be an unintrusive source of data for software quality modeling. However, multiplied by many releases of a legacy system or a broad product line, the amount of data can overwhelm manual analysis. The field of data mining is developing ways to find valuable bits of information in very large databases. This aptly describes our software quality modeling situation. This paper presents a case study that applied data mining techniques to software quality modeling of a very large legacy telecommunications software system's configuration management and problem reporting databases. The case study illustrates how useful models can be built and applied without interfering with development.
Über den Äthylester der Triphosphorsäure

Umsetzungen des aus Silbertriphosphat und Athyljodid gewonnen Triphosphorsaureathylesters mit hydroxyl- und aminogruppenhaltigen Agenzien bestatigen die kettenformige Konstitution dieser Saure.
Hybrid hydrogels assembled from synthetic polymers and coiled-coil protein domains

Stimuli-sensitive polymer hydrogels, which swell or shrink in response to changes in the environmental conditions, have been extensively investigated and used as 'smart' biomaterials and drug-delivery systems. Most of these responsive hydrogels are prepared from a limited number of synthetic polymers and their derivatives, such as copolymers of (meth)acrylic acid, acrylamide and N-isopropyl acrylamide. Water-soluble synthetic polymers have also been crosslinked with molecules of biological origin, such as oligopeptides and oligodeoxyribonucleotides, or with intact native proteins. Very often there are several factors influencing the relationship between structure and properties in these systems, making it difficult to engineer hydrogels with specified responses to particular stimuli. Here we report a hybrid hydrogel system assembled from water-soluble synthetic polymers and a well-defined protein-folding motif, the coiled coil. These hydrogels undergo temperature-induced collapse owing to the cooperative conformational transition of the coiled-coil protein domain. This system shows that well-characterized water-soluble synthetic polymers can be combined with well-defined folding motifs of proteins in hydrogels with engineered volume-change properties.
Influence of milk components on the injury, repair of injury, and death of Salmonella anatum cells subjected to freezing and thawing.

Fast freezing and slow thawing Salmonella anatum cells in various milk components inactivated from 20 to 98% of the cells and damaged 40 to 90% of the cells surviving the treatments. Injured cells failed to form colonies on a selective medium (xylose-lysine-peptone agar with 0.2% sodium deoxycholate) but did form colonies on a nonselective plating medium (xylose-lysine-peptone agar). The major milk components—lactose, milk salts, casein, and whey proteins—influenced the extent of injury, repair of injury, and death. The percentages of cells injured and inactivated were decreased by the presence of any milk components except whey proteins. Also, repair of injury was promoted by the presence of each milk component except whey proteins, which in contrast inhibited repair. Phosphate was the most influential milk salts component that protected the cells and promoted repair of injury. These individual milk components may have decreased the extent of freezing-induced death and cellular damage by stabilizing the S. anatum cell envelope.
Interactive optimal channel router for critical nets

Presents a router which is an O(n) computational complexity deterministic implementation of recent theoretical results. Theory shows that a net can have more than one minimum wiring length routing. An obvious application of the rules is in critical net routing where main objectives are minimization of the wiring length, and the number of vias. Those objectives are usually met by prerouting critical nets before other signal nets, which then find prerouted wires as obstacles in the channel. Multiplicity of available optimal routings translates into flexibility of obstacles. Partitioning of a multi terminal net into flexible and non-flexible subnets provides a kind of computer vision for obstacle flexibility. Router is implemented in five modules, basic interactive module, net partitioning module, automatic and interactive initial routers, and the modification router. Examples of applications are included. >
Identification of a Canine Adenovirus (Infectious Canine Hepatitis Virus) Inhibitor in Dog Liver Extracts as Arginase

Extracts of canine liver inhibited growth of infectious canine hepatitis (ICH) virus, a canine adenovirus. Purified extracts from mammalian, but not avian, liver tissue contained the inhibitor, and evidence is presented that the inhibitory factor is the enzyme arginase (arginine ureohydrolase). This study further emphasized the need for arginine in adenovirus growth and may explain some of the difficulties in isolating small amounts of ICH virus from suspensions of liver.
Brownian Dynamics Simulations of Aldolase Binding Glyceraldehyde 3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase and the Possibility of Substrate Channeling

Brownian dynamics (BD) simulations test for channeling of the substrate, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (GAP), as it passes between the enzymes fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase (aldolase) and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). First, BD simulations determined the favorable complexes between aldolase and GAPDH; two adjacent subunits of GAPDH form salt bridges with two subunits of aldolase. These intermolecular contacts provide a strong electrostatic interaction between the enzymes. Second, BD simulates GAP moving out of the active site of the A or D aldolase subunit and entering any of the four active sites of GAPDH. The efficiency of transfer is determined as the relative number of BD trajectories that reached any active site of GAPDH. The distribution functions of the transfer time were calculated based on the duration of successful trajectories. BD simulations of the GAP binding from solution to aldolase/GAPDH complex were compared to the channeling simulations. The efficiency of transfer of GAP within an aldolase/GAPDH complex was 2 to 3% compared to 1.3% when GAP was binding to GAPDH from solution. There is a preference for GAP channeling between aldolase and GAPDH when compared to binding from solution. However, this preference is not large enough to be considered as a theoretical proof of channeling between these proteins.
Activation of several MAP kinases upon stimulation of rat alveolar macrophages: role of the NADPH oxidase.

Abstract Zymosan-activated serum (ZAS), a source of C5a, stimulates the rat alveolar macrophages (AM) to release superoxide anion. Here we show that treatment of rat AM with ZAS induced a time-dependent increase in the tyrosine phosphorylation of several proteins (116, 105–110, 82–78, 66–72, 62, 45, 42, and 38 kDa). This increase was sensitive to genistein, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor. ZAS stimulated the tyrosine phosphorylation and activation of three members of a family of serine/threonine kinases known as the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK), i.e., ERK1 and ERK2, as assessed by immunoblotting, immunoprecipitation, and phosphotransferase activity, and p38 MAPK, as determined by immunoblotting with phospho-specific antibodies. In addition, ZAS induced the tyrosine phosphorylation of the SHC proteins and their association with GRB2, suggesting a role for this complex in the activation of the ERK pathway. Addition of extracellular catalase during ZAS stimulation significantly reduced the tyrosine phosphorylation response and the activation of ERK1 and ERK2 and their activator MEK1/2 while it did not affect that of p38 MAPK and MKK3/MKK6. Superoxide dismutase marginally increased the response to ZAS, supporting a role for hydrogen peroxide. In contrast to the results with AM, stimulation of human neutrophils with ZAS in the presence of catalase minimally altered the activation of ERK1 and ERK2. These data show that, in ZAS-stimulated rat AM, activation of the respiratory burst and production of hydrogen peroxide via superoxide dismutation are largely responsible for the activation of the ERK pathway through an upstream target.
A Complete Solution for Thermal-Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication of Line Contacts Using Circular Non-Newtonian Fluid Model

A complete solution is obtained for elastohydrodynamically lubricated conjunctions in line contacts considering the effects of temperature and the non-Newtonian characteristics of lubricants with limiting shear strength. The complete fast approach is used to solve the thermal Reynolds equation by using the complete circular non-Newtonian fluid model and considering both velocity and stress boundary conditions. The reason and the occasion to incorporate stress boundary conditions for the circular model are discussed
Serotonin enhances CGRP release from female human trigeminal nociceptors

Migraine, a pain disorder mediated by the trigeminal system, is often treatment resistant and more prevalent in women. The neurotransmitter serotonin (5HT) has been implicated in many trigeminal pain states and therapeutics targeting the 5HTsystem are successful in treatingmigraine. Trigeminal pain is often evoked by the transient receptor potential V1 channel (TRPV1), which is expressed by nociceptive trigeminal neurons and induces release of proinflammatory calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). While 5HT attenuates central nociceptive processing, it is pronociceptive in the periphery. In our preclinical models, 5HT evokes thermal hyperalgesia and enhances CGRP release from trigeminal nociceptors. Whether this effect is similar in humans is unknown as no study has evaluated the pharmacology of 5HTon human nociceptors. As dental pulp is densely innervated by trigeminal nociceptors, routine tooth extractions offer a unique opportunity to examine whether 5HT enhances CGRP release from human nociceptors. Pulpal tissue was collected from extracted molar teeth from male and female patients between the ages of 14 and 35 visiting the UT Health Science Center. Following an in vitro superfusion protocol, tissue was washed in buffered saline and basal release samples were collected. Tissue was then treated with saline (n=35) or 100 mM 5HT (n=36) followed by the TRPV1 agonist capsaicin (1 mM) and CGRP release was measured by human CGRP enzyme immunoassay. Additional samples were collected to examine anatomical 5HT receptor expression. We report that 5HT induced a significant increase in CGRP release compared to vehicle controls. In addition,we found that 5HT-induced CGRP release was limited to female trigeminal nociceptors, while there was no significant effect of 5HT in males. These results indicate that 5HT enhances CGRP release from female but not male human trigeminal nociceptors and may provide a mechanistic basis for prevalence of trigeminal pain disorders, such as migraine, in women.
The role of rape tactics in risk for posttraumatic stress disorder and major depression: results from a national sample of college women

Background: College women are at high risk for substance-involved rape. However, most studies have focused on forcible rape and have not differentiated these tactics from tactics that involve drug or alcohol intoxication. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of lifetime exposure to forcible rape (FR), incapacitated rape (IR), and drug-alcohol facilitated rape (DAFR) tactics on risk for PTSD and depression. A secondary purpose was to examine the role of different incident characteristics, including relationship to the perpetrator, fear, injury, force, memory, and acknowledgement. Methods: A national sample of 2,000 college women completed structured telephone interviews assessing demographics, psychiatric diagnoses, and rape experiences. Results: Multivariate logistic regression analyses including demographic variables, multiple rape history, and rape tactics indicated that all three tactics were associated with increased risk for PTSD and depression. Correlational analyses revealed that rape tactics differed in relation to incident characteristics. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that only physical injury was positively associated with depression and no characteristics were related to PTSD. Conclusions: The strong association between IR/DAFR and psychiatric diagnoses suggests that the definition of rape experiences be expanded to include substance-involved tactics. Differing incident characteristics imply that IR/DAFR experiences are associated with different pathways to psychiatric symptoms in comparison to FR experiences. Language: en
Naltrexone pretreatment blocks microwave-induced changes in central cholinergic receptors

Repeated exposure of rats to pulsed, circularly polarized microwaves (2,450-MHz, 2-microseconds pulses at 500 pps, power density 1 mW/cm2, at an averaged, whole-body SAR of 0.6 W/kg) induced biphasic changes in the concentration of muscarinic cholinergic receptors in the central nervous system. An increase in receptor concentration occurred in the hippocampus of rats subjected to ten 45-min sessions of microwave exposure, whereas a decrease in concentration was observed in the frontal cortex and hippocampus of rats exposed to ten 20-min sessions. These findings, which confirm earlier work in the authors' laboratory, were extended to include pretreatment of rats with the narcotic antagonist naltrexone (1 mg/kg, IP) before each session of exposure. The drug treatment blocked the microwave-induced changes in cholinergic receptors in the brain. These data further support the authors' hypothesis that endogenous opioids play a role in the effects of microwaves on central cholinergic systems.
THE ATTENUATION OF “DRUG WAR” EFFORTS IN TEXAS: PUBLIC DEMAND VS. STATE POLICY

ABSTRACT Few social issues have so absorbed the American public as illegal drug use and drug-related crime. Government officials have responded to this emergency in various ways, the most common response being “zero tolerance” of any form of illegal Drug activity. Ironically, despite the time and money expended on the drug war,” little is known about actual results. This paper examines the policy dilemma as it relates to convicted Texas drug offenders receiving prison sentences during the 1980s. We pose two research questions for subsequent analysis: 1) how has the government responded to the public's demand for increased punitiveness for drug offenses, and 2) what has been the resulting level of service delivery? Our findings suggest that the overall success of the “war effort” in Texas (and perhaps nationally) seems to hinge not on law enforcement and adjudication, but on the ability or inability of the state to house imprisoned drug offenders. The demand for services results in increased enforcement an...
Fatality associated with inhalation of a pyrethrin shampoo

A fatality associated with the inhalational exposure to a pyrethrin insecticide is described. Death was attributed to sudden irreversible bronchospasm. While less severe allergic reactions have been reported, this is the first death associated with pyrethrin inhalation.
Graphic representation of Botts-Morales equation for enzyme-substrate-modifier system.

Abstract A rate equation for enzyme-substrate-modifier systems has been introduced by Botts & Morales (1953) on the basis of the steady state mechanism. A graphic representation of the equation is attempted in this paper. Haldane's relation, k +1 k −2 k +3 k −4 = k −1 k +2 k −3 k +4 (see Fig. 1), has been included in the course of rearrangements of the equation. The double-reciprocal form of the equation is quadratic, and can be represented by one of two kinds of hyperbola, substrate-accelerative and substrate-inhibitory, or by a straight line depending on the interrelation among the rate constants of each step of the reaction. When one of the rate constants for interconversion of the intermediate complexes, such as k +1 , k +2 , k −2 , k +3 , k −3 and k +4 , is zero, the double-reciprocal plot must be linear. Detailed discussions are attempted of three extreme cases regarding the final steps of the reaction, such as k +6 = 0, k +6 = 0, and k +5 = k +6 . The double-reciprocal curve is mostly substrate-inhibitory in the cases of k +6 = 0 and of k +5 = 0. The shape of the curve in the case of k +5 = k +6 , however, changes depending on the rate constants for binding of the substrate to the enzyme, such as k +1 , k −1 k +4 and k −4 . When k −1 is equal to k −4 the plot must be linear; when k +1 is equal to k +4 it is substrate-accelerative. When the modifier causes an appreciable change in the affinity of substrate for enzyme, the curve is substrate-accelerative. Exceptional cases are also discussed.
Efforts to reduce low birth weight and preterm births: A statewide analysis (Virginia)

Objective: The purpose of this study was to ascertain the influence of evolving obstetric and public health care on the occurrence of low birth weight and preterm birth in a large population. Study Design: Birth statistics of 2,049,970 live births (25.1 % nonwhite) and 156,009 low-birth-weight infants (39.8% nonwhite) were analyzed. Results: Between 1967 to 1971 and 1977 to 1981 the incidence of infants weighing ≤ 2500 gm declined from 85.5 to 74.4 per 1000 live births. The percentage of 500 to 1500 gm infants delivered at perinatal centers in Virginia increased from 41.8% in 1977 to 1981 to 64.9% in 1987 to 1991. In spite of regionalization, expanded maternity services, and increased use of tocolytic agents the incidence of low-birth-weight infants per 1000 live births in both white and nonwhite populations has remained comparatively stable since 1976, although the percentage of term infants weighing ≤ 2500 gm has decreased. The incidence per 1000 live births of infants weighing 500 to 1500 gm has not changed statistically in 25 years (Student t test). Conclusion: The data challenge the overall effectiveness of current programs, including the use of tocolytic agents, and indicate a need to restructure efforts to reduce low birth weight and preterm births.
Prolactin signaling to pim-1 expression: a role for phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase

Abstract Sublines of the lactogen-dependent, rat pre-T Nb2 lymphoma are useful as a model for the investigation of prolactin (PRL) signaling mechanisms, regulation of transcription of target genes, and the immunomodulatory and anti-apoptotic actions of the hormone in T lymphocytes. In the present study, coupling of various tyrosine, serine/threonine, and phospholipid kinase signaling mechanisms to PRL-stimulated Nb2-11 cell proliferation and expression of the protooncogene, pim -1, was investigated utilizing pharmacologic antagonists of a broad spectrum of tyrosine kinases (tyrphostin A25), and the specific enzymes, Jak2 (tyrphostin B42) and ZAP-70 (piceatannol), as well as mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK, PD98059), protein kinase C (PKC, calphostin C), and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-kinase, LY294002). Inhibition of each pathway attenuated PRL-stimulated Nb2-11 cell proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner. Blockade of MAPK was the least efficacious; it inhibited proliferation maximally by 60%. Northern blot analysis of pim -1 expression in antagonist-treated cells revealed that MAPK, Jak2 and PI3-kinase appeared to signal to initiation of pim -1 transcription; its expression was attenuated by each of the antagonists. In other experiments, PRL was shown to rapidly activate a downstream effector of PI3-kinase, Akt, and this effect was also blocked by LY294002. It is concluded that PRL-stimulated Nb2 cell proliferation requires participation of each of the signaling pathways investigated. Moreover, hormone-meduated expression of pim -1 appears to reflect signaling by MAPK, Jak2, and PI3-kinase.
Studies on plasma clearing factor. II. Substrates.

Abstract Clearing Factor activity of human post-heparin plasma showed a high dependence on the particle size or degree of emulsification of the substrate. Thus, higher lipolytic activity was observed when fat emulsions were sonicated for a longer period. The effect of sonication of substrates was insignificant on pancreatic lipase (EC 3.1.1.3) activity. This dependence on particle size clearly differentiates Clearing Factor from pancreatic lipase. As compared with pancreatic lipase, Clearing Factor hydrolyzed unsaturated fats at a slower rate and saturated fats were hydrolyzed at an equal or higher rate. Tripropionin and tripalmitin were poor substrates for both enzymes. Clearing Factor hydrolyzed activated coconut oil and corn oil at a higher rate than it hydrolyzed the unactivated oils. Activation of soya bean oil and tripalmitin, however, did not change the rates of hydrolysis. Pancreatic lipase, in contrast to Clearing Factor, was not affected at all by the activation of these oils.
Optoelectronic Methodology for Development of MEMS

Development of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) constitutes one of the most challenging tasks in today’s micromechanics. In addition to design, analysis, and fabrication capabilities, this task also requires advanced test methodologies for determination of functional characteristics of MEMS to enable refinement and optimization of their designs. Until recently, this characterization was hindered by lack of a readily available methodology. However, building on recent advances in photonics, electronics, and computer technology, we have developed an optoelectronic methodology particularly suitable for development of MEMS. In this paper, we describe the optoelectronic methodology and illustrate its use with representative examples. By quantitatively characterizing performance of MEMS, under different vibration, thermal, and other operating conditions, we can make specific suggestions for their improvements. Then, using the optoelectronic method, we can verify the effects of these improvements. In this way, we can develop better understanding of functional characteristics of MEMS, which will ensure that they are operated at optimum performance, are reliable, and are durable.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
PARITY-NONCONSERVING $delta$S = 0 NONLEPTONIC WEAK PROCESSES IN THE PRESENCE OF SECOND-CLASS CURRENTS.

The possibility that currents with irregular charge-conjugation properties are present in the standard $\mathrm{CP}$-invariant current \ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{} current nonleptonic weak Hamiltonian is considered. It is pointed out that the parity-violating $n\ensuremath{\rightarrow}p{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ amplitude is not determined then by the strangeness-changing amplitudes alone and may be considerably larger than in the conventional theory.
Regression and calibration with nonconstant error variance

Abstract Davidian, M. and Haaland, P., 1990. Regression and calibration with nonconstant error variance. Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems , 9: 231–248. Ordinary least squares regression analysis is generally inappropriate for calibration and regression problems when the usual assumption of constant variance across all observations does not hold. Estimators of regression parameters are of relatively poor quality and the resulting inference can be misleading. The use of standard data transformations is a common alternative but may not provide enough flexibility for some cases. The use of weighted regression with weights estimated from replicates is generally unreliable for reasonable sample sizes. However, when the error variance changes systematically with the mean response or other variables, generalized least squares (GLS) and variance function estimation (VFE) methods can be used. The GLS-VFE approach allows the experimenter to specify a model for the systematic change in variance, estimate unknown parameters, and to use this information to provide more efficient estimates of the regression parameters. In this tutorial, GLS-VFE methods are introduced and described in the context of regression and calibration. An example of calibration for a chemical assay is used to motivate discussion and illustrate the implementation of these methods using standard software packages.
Δ1-pyrroline-5-carboxyliic acid dehydrogenase in mitochondrial preparations from plant seedlings

Abstract Δ1-Pyrroline-5-carboxylic acid (P5C) dehydrogenase activity has been measured in mitochondrial preparations from root and shoot tissue of pea and corn, castor bean endosperm, and pumpkin cotyledon. The enzyme activity is recovered with mitochondrial marker enzymes (fumarase and cytochrome oxidase) when crude mitochondrial preparations are centrifuged on sucrose gradients. The product of the reaction is glutamic acid. The reaction has a pH optimum of 7.6. NAD+ is the preferred electron acceptor but NADP+ will serve yielding lower rates. The activity when NAD+ is the acceptor is not inhibited by NADP+. Δ1-pyrroline-2-carboxylate (P2C) will not serve as a substrate. None of 19 selected amino acids (mainly those present in proteins) inhibit the activity.
What to do when the end is near: ethical issues in home health care nursing

As managed care shortens the length of hospital stays, home settings for the practice of nursing will become increasingly important. In spite of community health nursing's long tradition of family-centered care delivered in the home, many discussions of the nurse/patient relationship in the medical ethics literature assume the hospital setting for the practice of nursing and seem to neglect the impact of family and significant others for the nurse/patient relationship. Through a case-based analysis, this article highlights the special ethical and legal issues encountered in caring for patients who are dying at home. This analysis demonstrates that traditional frameworks for the nurse/patient relationship are inadequate for capturing the richness of the relationship the home health care nurse has with both patient and family. By developing a new framework for the nurse/patient/family relationship that (a) recognizes the patient's decision-making authority and autonomy, (b) allows the exercise of the nurse's moral rights, and (c) recognizes the patient's relationships to significant others, the authors attempt to resolve some challenging legal and ethical questions concerning who should be allowed to decide what to do when the end is near. The discussion details the implications of this framework for nursing assessment in the home care setting.
Beer Taxes, the Legal Drinking Age, and Youth Motor Vehicle Fatalities

Based on a time series of state cross sections for the period from 1975 through 1981, we find that motor vehicle accident mortality rates of youths ages 15 through 17, 18 through 20, and 21 through 24 are negatively related to the real beer excise tax. We also find that the death rate of 18 through 20 year olds is inversely related to the minimum legal age for the purchase of beer. Simulations suggest that the lives of 1,022 youths between the ages of 18 and 20 would have been saved in a typical year during the sample period if the Federal excise tax rate on beer, which has been fixed in nominal terms since 1951, had been indexed to the rate of inflation since 1951. This represents a 15 percent decline in the number of lives lost in fatal crashes. The simulations also suggest that the lives of 555 youths per year would have been saved if the drinking age had been 21 in all states of the U.S. These figures indicate that, if reductions in youth motor vehicle accident deaths are desired, both a uniform drinking age of 21 and an increase in the Federal excise tax rate on beerare effective policies to accomplish this goal. They also indicate that the tax policy may be more potent than the drinking age policy.
Trackability filtering for underactuated systems

Underactuated systems are commonplace and present a challenge in designing tracking controllers. Foremost among these are vehicles, like passenger cars and aircraft. Such systems with more outputs than control inputs are not right invertible. As a result continuous control laws cannot, in general, be designed to track arbitrary reference signals. We present a trackable filter design which produces an augmented reference signal as close as possible to the original reference which the underactuated system can track with zero error. The resulting control law can be either discontinuous or continuous by the choice of the designer.
Generalization of Domination Structures and Nondominated Solutions in Multicriteria Decision Making

The concepts of domination structures and nondominated solutions are important in tackling multicriteria decision problems. We relax Yu's requirement that the domination structure at each point of the criteria space be a convex cone (Ref. 1) and give results concerning the set of nondominated solutions for the case where the domination structure at each point is a convex set. A practical necessity for such a generalization is discussed. We also present conditions under which a locally nondominated solution is also a globally nondominated solution.
Evidence for a cortical projection to the magnocellular basal nucleus in the rat: an electron microscopic axonal transport study

A potential reciprocal projection from the cerebral cortex to the nucleus basalis was studied in the rat using a new stabilization method to adapt tetramethylbenzidine-horseradish peroxidase histochemistry for electron microscopy. Following insular or cingulate cortical injections of wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase conjugate, anterogradely labeled axon terminals were seen making symmetric synaptic contacts with retrogradely labeled nucleus basalis neurons. Labeled axon terminals contained round vesicles. Most of such contacts were located on distal dendrites, although a small number of synapses on proximal dendrites and cell somata were seen as well. These findings suggest that there is a reciprocal, excitatory projection from the cerebral cortex to the nucleus basalis in the rat.
The Gray Peril Mentality and the Impact of Retirement Migration

I explore the idea that retirement migration has a negative impact on the receiving community and state, asserting that there is a cultural notion, a combination of xenophobia and ageism, that could be called the gray peril mentality. This mentality assumes a negative impact of retirement migration in the absence of scientific documentation. I review the research literature for such a negative impact, but find none. I use the counterstream migration between Florida and New York as a case study of assumed negative impact. I suggest research strategies that would verify migration's economic impact. Finally, there is an appeal either to document the gray peril or to change and eliminate the stigma it imposes on older migrants.
The mineral chemistry and origin of inclusion matrix and meteorite matrix in the Allende CV3 chondrite

The mineralogy and mineral chemistry of the inclusion and meteorite matrices in the Allende CV3 chondrite are described, and the physical and chemical parameters of the conventional equilibrium condensation model of the origin of chondrite meteorites are evaluated. An alternative model of the origin of the mafic constituent of Allende inclusions is presented, on the basis of a new model of chondrule petrogenesis and the physical evolution of the primitive solar nebula. The model shows that the mineral chemistry of the olivine matrix in Allende CV3 seems to preserve a good record of nebular and planetary processes, including: (1) vapor-to-solid condensation under relatively oxidizing nonequilibrium conditions; (2) Fe/Mg equilibration in the meteorite parent body; and (3) recrystallization and incipient melting in the solar nebula.
Four forms of youth civic engagement for diverse democracy

Abstract Which form or forms of civic engagement have the most potential to involve young people in a socially-just diverse democracy? At a time when civic engagement will benefit from conceptual clarification, this paper addresses this question and some of the issues it raises. It analyzes four forms of youth civic engagement for a socially-just diverse democracy. It examines each one according to analytic categories, compares their similarities and differences, and raises questions for future work. It draws upon research in psychology, sociology, and other academic disciplines; and on intergroup relations, multicultural education, social work, and other professional fields. The expectation is that systematic analysis of these phenomena as a subject of study will contribute to the quality of their practice, and move discussion of civic engagement to the next level.
Combining MODIS and Landsat imagery to estimate and map boreal forest cover loss

Estimation of forest cover change is important for boreal forests, one of the most extensive forested biomes, due to its unique role in global timber stock, carbon sequestration and deposition, and high vulnerability to the effects of global climate change. We used time-series data from the MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to produce annual forest cover loss hotspot maps. These maps were used to assign all blocks (18.5 by 18.5 km) partitioning the boreal biome into strata of high, medium and low likelihood of forest cover loss. A stratified random sample of 118 blocks was interpreted for forest cover and forest cover loss using high spatial resolution Landsat imagery from 2000 and 2005. Area of forest cover gross loss from 2000 to 2005 within the boreal biome is estimated to be 1.63% (standard error 0.10%) of the total biome area, and represents a 4.02% reduction in year 2000 forest cover. The proportion of identified forest cover loss relative to regional forest area is much higher in North America than in Eurasia (5.63% to 3.00%). Of the total forest cover loss identified, 58.9% is attributable to wildfires. The MODIS pan-boreal change hotspot estimates reveal significant increases in forest cover loss due to wildfires in 2002 and 2003, with 2003 being the peak year of loss within the 5-year study period. Overall, the precision of the aggregate forest cover loss estimates derived from the Landsat data and the value of the MODIS-derived map displaying the spatial and temporal patterns of forest loss demonstrate the efficacy of this protocol for operational, cost-effective, and timely biome-wide monitoring of gross forest cover loss.
Effect of Specimen Size in the Kolsky Bar

Abstract In the current investigation, the effect of specimen size in a Kolsky Bar experiment has been analyzed. By a series of experiments, it has been shown that while determining the dynamic stress-strain relationship of a material using a non-cylindrical specimen, a judicious choice of specimen dimensions helps overcome size effects and estimates the flow stress of the material with reasonable accuracy. Similarly a dependence of the strength of the joint on the overlap area has been observed while finding the dynamic strength of an adhesive-bonded single-lap joint.
Rethinking the Dawn of History: The Schedule, Signature, and Agency of European Goods in Protohistoric Illinois

AbstractInterpretations of the archaeological record of the seventeenth century Illinois Country have been temporally compressed, and the richly stratified archival, ethnographic, and material records from that era have not been applied to the archaeological information at hand. A muddied view of the remarkable changes that occurred within the cultural landscape of Illinois is the result. European goods first appear in the region between 1580 and 1630 and the pottery of the Illinois Indians—the Danner series—is present in each early Illinois sample that includes these imports. A reexamination of the Zimmerman, Palos, and Oak Forest sites suggests that temporal changes in trade good assemblages can be better understood in the context of historically documented trade schedules. Further, it is argued that the Illinois Indians actively positioned themselves in the political and economic landscape of the fur trade many decades prior to the arrival of the French in the Illinois Country, serving as the principal...
ECM microenvironment regulates collective migration and local dissemination in normal and malignant mammary epithelium

Breast cancer progression involves genetic changes and changes in the extracellular matrix (ECM). To test the importance of the ECM in tumor cell dissemination, we cultured epithelium from primary human breast carcinomas in different ECM gels. We used basement membrane gels to model the normal microenvironment and collagen I to model the stromal ECM. In basement membrane gels, malignant epithelium either was indolent or grew collectively, without protrusions. In collagen I, epithelium from the same tumor invaded with protrusions and disseminated cells. Importantly, collagen I induced a similar initial response of protrusions and dissemination in both normal and malignant mammary epithelium. However, dissemination of normal cells into collagen I was transient and ceased as laminin 111 localized to the basal surface, whereas dissemination of carcinoma cells was sustained throughout culture, and laminin 111 was not detected. Despite the large impact of ECM on migration strategy, transcriptome analysis of our 3D cultures revealed few ECM-dependent changes in RNA expression. However, we observed many differences between normal and malignant epithelium, including reduced expression of cell-adhesion genes in tumors. Therefore, we tested whether deletion of an adhesion gene could induce sustained dissemination of nontransformed cells into collagen I. We found that deletion of P-cadherin was sufficient for sustained dissemination, but exclusively into collagen I. Our data reveal that metastatic tumors preferentially disseminate in specific ECM microenvironments. Furthermore, these data suggest that breaks in the basement membrane could induce invasion and dissemination via the resulting direct contact between cancer cells and collagen I.