cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Disruption of Host Location of Western Corn Rootworm Larvae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) with Carbon Dioxide

Elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) prevented neonate larvae of the western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, from locating the roots of growing corn in behavioral bioassays conducted in soil tubs. When CO2 was pumped into one end of a soil tub, significantly more larvae were recovered from soil at the treated end than from soil around a growing corn plant at the opposite end of the tub. In controls with ambient air pumped into one end of a soil tub, significantly more larvae were recovered from the soil around the corn plant than from soil on the treated side. Larvae were unable to locate the roots of corn seedlings when CO2-generating materials were mixed into the soil. CO2 concentrations in soil were measured by mass spectrometry with selected ion monitoring at m/z 44. Granules composed of baker’s yeast, yeast nutrients, and an organic substrate were prepared as a CO2 source and were tested in larger soil tub bioassays. Significantly fewer larvae were recovered from corn roots in the soil tubs with yeast granules than from corn roots in control soil tubs. The CO2-generating granules produced soil CO2 concentrations between 15.8 and 18.5 mmol/mol (compared with 1.7–2.6 mmol/mol in control tubs), and this was sufficient to prevent larvae from locating corn roots. In field trials, organic and inorganic CO2-generating treatments resulted in root ratings that were significantly lower than for the control plants.
Methods for Molecular Identification of Biosynthetic Enzymes in Plants

This chapter highlights the major strategies used to identify the genes of plant ­natural product biosynthetic pathways. One or two key examples that illustrate these strategies are provided. A wide range of enzyme classes have been identified using the approaches described in this review including P450 enzymes, terpene systhases, and glycosyltransferases. The advantages and disadvantages of each approach is discussed.
Contractile depression and expression of proinflammatory cytokines and iNOS in viral myocarditis

We assessed two strains of mice [CD-1 and C3H.HeJ (C3H)] with different responses to coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) infection at 7, 14, and 21 days after inoculation with 105 pfu of CVB3. CD-1 mice devel...
A molecular beacon biosensor based on the nanostructured aluminum oxide surface

A new class of molecular beacon biosensors based on the nanostructured aluminum oxide or anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) surface is reported. In this type of sensor, the AAO surface is used to enhance the fluorescent signals of the fluorophore-labeled hairpin DNA. When a target DNA with a complementary sequence to that of the hairpin DNA is applied on the sensor, the fluorophores are forced to move away from the AAO surface due to the hybridization between the hairpin DNA and the target DNA, resulting in the significant decrease of the fluorescent signals. The observed signal reduction is sufficient to achieve a demonstrated detection limit of 10nM, which could be further improved by optimizing the AAO surface. The control experiments have also demonstrated that the bioassay used in the experiments has excellent specificity and selectivity, indicating the great promise of this type of sensor for diagnostic applications. Since the arrayed AAO micropatterns can be fabricated on a single chip in a cost-effective manner, the arrayed sensors could provide an ideal technical platform for studying fundamental biological process and monitoring disease biomarkers.
Introduction: The Science of Restoration Ecology and the Practice of Ecological Restoration

I could see the charred remains of the ghost forest from the highway. One mile below me, the dead trees rose from the lava like giant skeletons. There were many reasons not to walk down there: the steep slope, the intense heat, the dark and foreboding lava, the dense swath of neck-high African fountain grass I would have to fight my way through to reach the 200-year-old lava flow that ran down to the ruined trees. More than all of this, I didn’t want to go because I’d been in Hawai‘i long enough to visualize the ecological devastation I would see when I got there. But something I could no longer ignore compelled me to go.
Lack of increased cardiac output during hemoglobin hemodilution can be reversed with sodium nitroprusside.

To investigate a possible connection between EDRF or nitric oxide (NO) and the unchanged cardiac output (CO) during hemoglobin-hemodilution we infused nitroprusside (NP) in eight Hb-diluted dogs (Hct % 20%). Normal hypotensive doses of NP were not effective and supranormal doses (133.0 μg/kg/min) were needed to induce even a modest decrease in mean AoP (* 25 mmHg). With these NP doses, cardiac output increased 177%, diastolic AoP (afterload) decreased 30%, while systolic AoP and Lvedp (preload) were unchanged. Heart rate, LV contractility (pressure-volume function) and blood volume were not changed throughout the study. Normally, NP alone decreases both preload and afterload resulting in unchanged CO. In the Hb+NP dogs, CO increased because only afterload decreased suggesting a selective effect of Hb on venous and arterial smooth muscle relaxation. In hemodilution with nonhemoglobin colloids, CO increases primarily because the diluted Mood offers less viscous resistance to ventricular ejection. It appears...
Queer Masculinities in Education: An Introduction

This chapter serves as the introduction to our edited volume Queer Masculinities: A Critical Reader in Education. We organize our discussion of the contributor essays across three spheres of education: the K–12 level, the collegiate level, and within popular culture as “cultural pedagogy.” Thus, we frame the volume as contributing—methodologically, theoretically, and politically—to the fields of critical masculinity studies, educational studies, and queer studies by specifically engaging in knowledge production about the meanings and practices of queer masculinities in education.
New Approaches in Organizing for Land and Water Use

RM /rANY DECISIONS about major commitments to particular land and water uses are basically "irreversible," to use Wantrup'sl term, and self-destructive as defined by Shackle.2 Once made, the participants cannot return to their former position; subdivisions are not easily made into open space nor does one dam site readily replace another after the installation is in place. The decisions are not repeated in large numbers. The elements making action possible are destroyed in the act. The bases for these decisions are expectations, not with certainty, but with uncertainty about the turn of future events. The act of decision is creative of a new situation; it is man stepping into the unknown of the next moment of time. These are not situations in a determined system or even a game, although institutions exist in a dynamic sense, and their structuring effect is itself the subject of decision. To the uncertainties faced by an individual in making a landor water-use decision must be added those inherent in public group action-action which is public policy and which, more often than not, decides the ends simultaneously with the means. My own attention in this paper centers upon the public sphere but necessarily includes the interaction of both. The processes by which the public decisions are made have been analyzed by Lindblom3 as being incremental mutual adjustments, and some observers of this process have been called due-process realists by Schubert.4 All this implies the dynamic-pluralistic frame of reference of midtwentieth century western democracy. It is within this context that land and water planning must be organized and function, whether at the local, state, or national level. The planners face the question of what to do-to zone, to buy a park site, to construct a road, to cut timber, to build a dam, to reserve land from food production, or one of many other types of decisions. These are not empty decisions; they are real, albeit bound by a dynamic situational context with stochastic elements. Does planning make sense from this standpoint? Do we share the point of view recently expressed by a water planner in California, "What I'm
Appraisal and Coping as Mediators of the Effects of Cumulative Risk on Preadolescent Adjustment

This study examined the concurrent and longitudinal relations among cumulative risk, appraisal, coping, and adjustment. Longitudinal path models were tested in a community sample of 316 children in preadolescence to examine hypotheses that threat appraisal and avoidant coping mediate the effects of cumulative risk on child adjustment, whereas positive appraisal and active coping were hypothesized to predict better adjustment independently. Children and their mothers were assessed during in-home interviews at three time points at one-year intervals. Children reported on appraisal and coping strategies. Mothers and children reported on child adjustment problems and positive adjustment. Rank-order changes in appraisal and coping predicted rank-order changes in adjustment. Cumulative risk was concurrently related to higher threat appraisal and avoidant coping at each time point. Threat appraisal and avoidant coping mediated the relations of cumulative risk to rank-order changes in adjustment. There is specificity in the relations of cumulative risk to threat appraisal and avoidant coping, whereas positive appraisal and active coping are independent of risk and operate as individual resource factors.
The Implications of the Breaking the Logjam Project for Smart Growth and Urban Land Use

This article describes in detail the many strategies that have been and are being used to contain urban sprawl and foster smart growth and explains the relevance of the principles of the Breaking the Logjam project to urban land use planning. The authors note that most of the strategies discussed are locally based and emphasize the generally limited role of the federal government in land use planning. They conclude by noting that there may remain a modest role for federal legislation in affecting urban land use planning and recommend that the implicit spatial impacts of federal laws such as the Endangered Species Act be taken into account if these laws are revised.
Isoniazid-Induced Pure Red Cell Aplasia

The clinical courses of four individuals with pure red cell aplasia associated with isoniazid use are described. Erythroblastopenia in these individuals resolved following cessation of this antituberculous therapy. A clonal assay system that quantitates erythroid precursor cells was used to investigate the pathogenesis of the red cell aplasia in three of the patients. Using this technique, however, we were unsuccessful in demonstrating an inhibitory effect of acute phase serum, isoniazid or a combination of the two on erythroid colony formation. We conclude that isoniazid usage alone appears to be associated with a readily reversible form of acquired pure red cell aplasia. In addition, the results of our in vitro studies emphasize the limitations of bone marrow culture systems when used to implicate offending drugs in the production of drug related cytopenias.
Zero Dark Thirty and the Critical Challenges Posed by Populist Postfeminism During the Global War on Terrorism

This essay provides readers with a feminist critique of the movie Zero Dark Thirty. The film’s producers, Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal, have marketed this visual artifact as a liberating cinematic...
A circuit partitioning algorithm for parallel circuit simulation

In this paper,we present a partitioning algorithm for parallel circuit simulation based on the recursive multilevel bipartitioning method and the iterative improvement method.In the first phase,a recursive multilevel bipartitioning method is designed to obtain an excellent initial solution.Then,in the second phase,an iterative improvement algorithm is proposed to further optimize the load balance and network communication.Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can yields results better than those of the k way partitioning tool hMETIS-Kway.
Long-term engraftment of normal and post-5-fluorouracil murine marrow into normal nonmyeloablated mice.

We report the successful long-term engraftment of normal male donor bone marrow (BM) transfused into noncytoablated female mice, challenging the assumption that “niches” need to be created for marrow to engraft. We have used chromosomal banding and Southern blot analysis to identify transplanted male marrow cells, and shown the long-term stability of the chimeric marrows. Balb/C, BDF1, or CBA-J female hosts (no irradiation) received for 5 consecutive days 40 x 10(6) male cells (per day) of the same strain, and repopulation patterns were observed. Parallel studies were performed using tibia/femur equivalents of normal marrow or marrow from Balb/C mice pretreated 6 days previously with 150 mg/kg 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). Chromosome banding techniques showed that 5% to 46% of marrow cells were male 3 to 9 months posttransplant with normal donor marrow. Southern blot analysis, using the pY2 probe, showed continued engraftment at 21 to 25 months posttransplant, ranging from 15% to 42% male engrafted cells in marrow. Normal donor male marrow engrafted significantly better than 5-FU-pretreated male marrow as shown 1 to 12 months posttransplant in non-cytoablated female recipients. Percentages of male engrafted cells in BM ranged from 23% to 78% for recipients of normal donor marrow and from 0.1% to 39% for recipients of 5-FU marrow. Mean engraftment for 6 mice receiving normal marrow was 38%, whereas that for 6 mice receiving post-5-FU marrow was 8%, as assayed 1 to 3 months posttransplant. At 10 to 12 months, mean engraftment for the normal donor group was 46%, compared with 16% for the 5-FU group. The patterns of engraftment with normal and 5-FU marrow were similar for spleen and thymus. These results show that long-term chimerism can be established after transplantation of normal donor marrow to normal nonirradiated host mice and indicate that marrow spaces do not have to be created for successful engraftment. They suggest that transplanted marrow competes equally with host marrow for marrow space. Finally, these data show that post-5-FU Balb/C male marrow is markedly inferior in the repopulation of Balb/C female host marrow, spleen, and thymus, and suggest that this population of cells may not be the ideal population for gene transfer studies.
Neutral Plane Concept

During the pile-driving process, the soil around the pile is stressed. Due to the high stress generated in surrounding soil during pile driving, water is dissipated from the soil. After pile driving is completed, water starts to come back to the previously stressed soil region around the pile. Above the neutral plane, both soil and the pile move downward. But the soil moves slightly more in downward direction than the pile. Below the neutral plane, both soil and the pile move downward, however, the pile moves slightly more in a downward direction relative to the soil. Hence, relative to the pile, soil moves upward.
Change Leader Behavior Inventory Development and Validation of an Assessment Instrument

While the pace and complexity of change is increasing, the rate of failed change attempts continues to be unacceptably high. Leaders at every level play a central role in change, yet few receive fo...
A simplified approach for predicting temperatures in insulated RC members exposed to standard fire

Fire resistance of concrete structural members can be enhanced through the application of external fire insulation on the surfaces of concrete member. For evaluating fire resistance of such insulated RC members, temperatures in concrete and steel reinforcement are to be known. This paper develops a simplified approach for predicting cross-sectional temperatures in an insulated RC structural member exposed to standard fire. The approach is derived by replacing the insulation layer into an equivalent concrete thickness layer and then undertaking statistical regression analysis on temperature data of modified concrete section. The effect of critical parameters, including geometry of concrete member and insulation, thermal properties of concrete and fire insulation, and duration of fire exposure is accounted for in temperature equations. The validity of the approach is established by comparing predictions from the proposed equation with data generated from fire tests and finite element analysis. These comparisons show the proposed equation gives reasonable prediction of temperatures, within a range of ±10%, in insulated concrete members. The applicability of the proposed approach in design situations is illustrated though a numerical example. The simplicity of the proposed method makes it attractive for use in design situations and for incorporation in design manuals.
The Clinical Use of a Fixed-Dose Combination of Insulin Degludec and Liraglutide (Xultophy 100/3.6) for the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes.

Objective: To review the pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and safety of the fixed-dose combination of insulin degludec and the glucagon-like peptide-I receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA), liraglutide (IDegLira) in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Data Sources: A PubMed and MEDLINE search (1966 to July 2017) of the keywords insulin degludec, liraglutide, and type 2 diabetes mellitus was conducted. References were reviewed to identify additional citations. Study Selection and Data Extraction: Articles written in English were included if they evaluated the pharmacokinetics, pharmacology, clinical efficacy, or safety of IDegLira in humans. Data Synthesis: IDegLira displayed pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties similar to that of the individual components. IDegLira has shown significant hemoglobin A1C (A1C) reductions of 1.3% to 1.9% and fasting plasma glucose reductions of 45 to 65 mg/dL when used in patients with T2DM previously receiving oral antihyperglycemic agents (AHAs), GLP-...
Collisionless coupling of a high- β expansion to an ambient, magnetized plasma. II. Experimental fields and measured momentum coupling

The momentum coupled to a magnetized, ambient argon plasma from a high- β, laser-produced carbon plasma is examined in a collisionless, weakly coupled limit. The total electric field was measured by separately examining the induced component associated with the rapidly changing magnetic field of the high- β (kinetic β∼106), expanding plasma and the electrostatic component due to polarization of the expansion. Their temporal and spatial structures are discussed and their effect on the ambient argon plasma (thermal β∼10−2) is confirmed with a laser-induced fluorescence diagnostic, which directly probed the argon ion velocity distribution function. For the given experimental conditions, the electrostatic field is shown to dominate the interaction between the high- β expansion and the ambient plasma. Specifically, the expanding plasma couples energy and momentum into the ambient plasma by pulling ions inward against the flow direction.
Oral Cavity: Malignancies and Precursors

This chapter discusses the range of oral cavity precursor lesions, the many histologic variants of oral squamous carcinoma, the Risk Model, resection margin assessment, and summarizes the new staging criteria (8th AJCC). Kaposi’s sarcoma is also discussed here, as the oral cavity is the most common extra-cutaneous site for this tumor.
Using individualized feedback and guided instruction via a virtual human agent in an introductory computer programming course

Students taking introductory courses in higher learning often hold misconceptions of how well they understand the material they will be tested on. One common phrase from students is, "I know the material, but I just do poorly on the tests." We propose an automated system to keep the students informed of their progress in how well they understand the knowledge components of a course in a timely manner along with providing customized help via a virtual human agent to increase their performance on tests.
Sorption and Transport of Physically and Chemically Interacting Penetrants in Kapton® Polyimide

Gravimetric sorption and desorption data are reported for water and anhydrous ammonia in Kapton® at 30°C. The data for water at low activity are described well by Fick’s Law with a concentration dependent diffusion coefficient. At high vapor activity, evidence of small extents of chemical reaction of the water with imide groups was discovered. Even after exposure to a relative humidity of 81.4% for two weeks, however, only 0.31% of the imide structures were affected. Anhydrous ammonia, on the other hand, at rather low relative saturations (0.012 to 0.032) interacted strongly with some of the imide structures of Kapton®. Infrared and gravimetric sorption/desorption measurements were used to characterize the locus and extent of reaction. It was found that after exposure of a 0.5 mil sample to an ammonia relative saturation of 0.0316 for 16 days, roughly 17% of the imide structures were disturbed. Analysis of the coupled diffusion and chemical reaction suggests that only a fraction of the total number of imide groups (~20%) appear to become “activated” or “labilized” during the solid state curing step in which stresses may arise. Stress relief by the limited ammonolysis reaction presumably deactivates the remaining imide groups. The possiblity of using Kapton® as a combined protective barrier and scavenger coating or film is explored briefly.
A new assay for quantifying human reticulocytes.

The authors describe a new method for quantitative reticulocyte analysis. The assay uses a conventional clinical blood cell analyzer to size a patient’s red blood cell neocyte population, which relates to the reticulocyte fraction in a linear fashion. Blood is layered atop S tract an® (arabino-galactan polysaccharide) and centrifuged for 30 minutes at 1,500 × g. This density medium fractionation process enriches the Stractan layer with neocytes by up to 20-fold as determined by G6PD enzyme analysis. The mean corpuscular volume (MCV) of the red blood cells partitioning in the Stractan layer and the starting whole blood is then measured. The ratio of the two MCV measurements is then related to the reticulocyte percentage by a standard curve. In 93 patients, the derived MCV ratio was linearly correlated with manual reticulocyte counts (r = 0.96/slope = 0.99). Agreement of results obtained for single samples was within 0.2%. The assay’s within-run and between-run precision is excellent (coefficient of variation <1%). The assay provides data on the percentage of reticulocytes in whole blood with an accuracy and precision that is at least 20 times greater than conventional microscopic technics.
DNA Extraction Methods

DNA extraction involves separating the nucleic acids in a cell away from proteins and other cellular materials. Different methodologies widely used by forensic DNA scientists include organic, Chelex, or solid-phase extraction. Post-extraction filtration is sometimes used to concentrate low amounts of recovered DNA sample. A differential extraction that exploits chemical differences in sperm cell coatings can be used with sexual assault evidence to separate sperm from epithelial cells. Laser-capture microdissection technologies now enable physical separation of cells through selective recovery of individual sperm or other cells. It is important with any DNA extraction technique to remove as many substances as possible that could interfere with downstream testing and cause the extracted DNA molecules to break down over time. Although the addition of buffer components that can overcome inhibition, direct PCR now permits by-passing the DNA extraction and quantitation steps.
Maximum Entropy Multi-Resolution EM Tomography by Adaptive Subdivision

Audio band electromagnetic (EM) waves have a great potential for success in bore hole to bore hole or surface to bore hole tomography for geophysical exploration or environmental tests. Low resolution is generally the major limitation in the EM tomography. If a high resolution is sought, many artifacts with random patterns will show in the resultant image of the reconstruction if a least square error criterion is applied. The maximum entropy constraint can certainly reduce the artifacts. However, the conflict of high resolution and fewer artifacts still exists. This paper proposes an adaptive procedure which produces a tomography image with different resolution in different subdivisions according to the details the subdivision may possess. This procedure can reduce unnecessary resolution in those areas where no more interesting details are shown while showing high resolution in other areas where interesting details may occur. Thus, the artifacts can be reduced to a minimum. Computer simulations on the proposed method compared with least square error method and a conventional maximum entropy method show that the proposed method can produce higher resolution images with significantly reduced artifacts. All experimental results are encouraging and show great potential in practical applications.
Civil Engineering Workforce and Education: Twenty Years of Change

AbstractTwo decades of change in technologies and business practices are assessed for their effects on civil engineering work, organizations, and education. The number of civil engineering jobs con...
Sex estimation from cranial morphological traits: Use of the methods across American Indians, modern North Americans, and ancient Egyptians

This paper focuses on estimating sex by visual assessment of human cranial morphology. Practitioners in the field report variation in sexual dimorphism across populations. This study evaluates again the general hypothesis that populations vary in their pattern of sexual dimorphism. Specifically, the study tests the degree of expression of four cranial morphological traits (glabella, supraorbital margins, nuchal crest, and mastoid process) across three samples from different time periods and which vary in sociocultural transitions: 1) modern Americans of rural and urban areas spanning the last 186 years; 2) Dynastic Egyptians; and 3) Averbuch American Indians, spanning approximately 1255 CE to 1425 CE, from the southeastern United States. These three populations were specifically chosen for sampling as they represent distinct temporal and groups of varied ancestral composition. Crania from these samples were scored 1-5, with 1 being consistent with expected female morphology. The estimated sex was compared to either documented sex (when available) or discriminant functions derived from craniometrics. Freeman-Fisher-Halton tests examined sample differences, within sexes, affecting the visual assessment method. Post hoc tests were applied to pinpoint where the differences lie between the samples. The findings of this study support the hypothesis that the method does not estimate the sex of crania from all populations in the same manner, indicating that populations display differing patterns of sexual dimorphism. However, understanding these patterns and adjusting for how the method is applied will lead to reliable assessments. A relative frequency table and graphs of distributions are provided for practitioners who can use the information to make successful assessments of sex.
A Globalist Judge, at Home and Abroad

Focusing on Tanaka’s role as a judge, the chapter opens with his appointment as the Chief Justice of the Japanese Supreme Court in 1950 and ending with his 1970 retirement from the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The Tanaka Court heard some of the most important cases in modern Japanese history, but Tanaka’s importance extended beyond the decisions of the court to his critical role in establishing the independence of the court from outside influence. Both in Tokyo and at The Hague, Tanaka put into practice the principles of World Law, thus bringing to fruition the promise inherent in his life-long globalist jurisprudence. The culmination of his implementation of World Law is his famous dissenting opinion in the South West Africa Case that is still held up today as an example of the relevance of Natural Law to the defense of human rights and the struggle against racism.
Expression of trpv channels during Xenopus laevis embryogenesis.

Abstract Transient receptor potential (TRP) cation channel genes code for an extensive family of conserved proteins responsible for a variety of physiological processes, including sensory perception, ion homeostasis, and chemical signal transduction. The TRP superfamily consists of seven subgroups, one of which is the transient receptor potential vanilloid (trpv) channel family. While trpv channels are relatively well studied in adult vertebrate organisms given their role in functions such as nociception, thermoregulation, and osmotic regulation in mature tissues and organ systems, relatively little is known regarding their function during embryonic development. Although there are some reports of the expression of specific trpv channels at particular stages in various organisms, there is currently no comprehensive analysis of trpv channels during embryogenesis. Here, performing in situ hybridization, we examined the spatiotemporal expression of trpv channel mRNA during early Xenopus laevis embryogenesis. Trpv channels exhibited unique patterns of embryonic expression at distinct locations including the trigeminal ganglia, spinal cord, cement gland, otic vesicle, optic vesicle, nasal placode, notochord, tailbud, proctodeum, branchial arches, epithelium, somite and the animal pole during early development. We have also observed the colocalization of trpv channels at the animal pole (trpv 2/4), trigeminal ganglia (trpv 1/2), and epithelium (trpv 5/6). These localization patterns suggest that trpv channels may play diverse roles during early embryonic development.
Identification of gene signatures from RNA-seq data using Pareto-optimal cluster algorithm

Gene signatures are important to represent the molecular changes in the disease genomes or the cells in specific conditions, and have been often used to separate samples into different groups for better research or clinical treatment. While many methods and applications have been available in literature, there still lack powerful ones that can take account of the complex data and detect the most informative signatures. In this article, we present a new framework for identifying gene signatures using Pareto-optimal cluster size identification for RNA-seq data. We first performed pre-filtering steps and normalization, then utilized the empirical Bayes test in Limma package to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Next, we used a multi-objective optimization technique, “Multi-objective optimization for collecting cluster alternatives” (MOCCA in R package) on these DEGs to find Pareto-optimal cluster size, and then applied k-means clustering to the RNA-seq data based on the optimal cluster size. The best cluster was obtained through computing the average Spearman’s Correlation Score among all the genes in pair-wise manner belonging to the module. The best cluster is treated as the signature for the respective disease or cellular condition. We applied our framework to a cervical cancer RNA-seq dataset, which included 253 squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) samples and 22 adenocarcinoma (ADENO) samples. We identified a total of 582 DEGs by Limma analysis of SCC versus ADENO samples. Among them, 260 are up-regulated genes and 322 are down-regulated genes. Using MOCCA, we obtained seven Pareto-optimal clusters. The best cluster has a total of 35 DEGs consisting of all-upregulated genes. For validation, we ran PAMR (prediction analysis for microarrays) classifier on the selected best cluster, and assessed the classification performance. Our evaluation, measured by sensitivity, specificity, precision, and accuracy, showed high confidence. Our framework identified a multi-objective based cluster that is treated as a signature that can classify the disease and control group of samples with higher classification performance (accuracy 0.935) for the corresponding disease. Our method is useful to find signature for any RNA-seq or microarray data.
Attenuated psychosis syndrome: benefits of explicit recognition

Given the unique characteristics of people who meet criteria for attenuated psychosis syndrome (APS) and the growing literature on the clinical benefits of providing services to individuals who meet these criteria, the APS diagnosis serves an important, and previously missing, role in psychiatry. The promotion of the APS diagnosis should help reduce the over-diagnosis and over-treatment of individuals with prodromal psychotic conditions and it should also encourage expanded training about attenuated psychosis among clinicians who primarily provide services to youth (a primary group who are diagnosed with APS). Only some of the individuals with APS subsequently develop psychosis, but all have existing clinical needs - regardless of subsequent conversion. The formal recognition of APS in DSM-5 will facilitate the research needed to identify and meet those needs.
Transmission of Classical Information Over Noisy Quantum Channels–A Spectrum Approach

Based upon the Fluctuation-Dissipation Theorem of Nyquist-Callen-Welton and the spectrum balancing relationship of Kubo-Martin-Schwinger for operator-valued stochastic noise processes, a two-parameter Quantum Noise-Energy Spectral Density (QN-ESD) is constructed and Fourier-Laplace transformed to obtain its associated Quantum Noise-Autocorrelation Function (QN-ACF). By means of a Taylor series expansion, the quantum thermal noise correlations are linked to Number Theory’s Reimann-Zeta function. From this perspective, a panoply of spectral components and their QN correlations are characterized for three disjoint regions located across the Electromagnetic Spectrum (EMS). The second-moment characterizations and frequency boundaries for each region are specified as a function of two frequency dependent design parameters, viz., a normalized temperature dependent frequency and a quantum receiver cutoff frequency. These boundaries define where the quadrature noise correlation projections of the QN-ESD become noticeably asymmetric-in-frequency. For the operator-valued white quantum noise region, various communication system performance metrics are characterized and their limits are presented and compared via interconnecting parameter relations to their classical communications (CC) counterparts. These metrics include Shannon’s non-additive, but regularized, zero-error capacity in bits/photon-pair, bits/photon, bits/channel-use and bits/sec, the spectral efficiency in bits/sec/Hz and the error-correcting code rate. For long coded messages, Shannon’s capacity quadrature approaches $2 \pi \sqrt {5} / \ln (2) \approx 20$ bits/photon-pair or (10 bits/photon) while for single-photon per channel use transmission it approaches 3 bits/photon-pair. Results are graphically illustrated for the quantum noise spectral density, quantum noise correlations, Shannon’s $\widehat {I}$ - $\widetilde {Q}$ capacities and spectral efficiency.
Heme oxygenase promotes B-Raf-dependent melanosphere formation

Biosynthesis and degradation of heme, an iron-bound protoporphyrin molecule utilized by a wide variety of metabolic processes, are tightly regulated. Two closely related enzymes, heme oxygenase 1 (HMOX1) and heme oxygenase 2 (HMOX2), degrade free heme to produce carbon monoxide, Fe2+ , and biliverdin. HMOX1 expression is controlled via the transcriptional activator, NFE2L2, and the transcriptional repressor, Bach1. Transcription of HMOX1 and other NFE2L2-dependent genes is increased in response to electrophilic and reactive oxygen species. Many tumor-derived cell lines have elevated levels of NFE2L2. Elevated expression of NFE2L2-dependent genes contributes to tumor growth and acquired resistance to therapies. Here, we report a novel role for heme oxygenase activity in melanosphere formation by human melanoma-derived cell lines. Transcriptional induction of HMOX1 through derepression of Bach1 or transcriptional activation of HMOX2 by oncogenic B-RafV600E results in increased melanosphere formation. Genetic ablation of HMOX1 diminishes melanosphere formation. Further, inhibition of heme oxygenase activity with tin protoporphyrin markedly reduces melanosphere formation driven by either Bach1 derepression or B-RafV600E expression. Global transcriptome analyses implicate genes involved in focal adhesion and extracellular matrix interactions in melanosphere formation.
Child Naming Patterns as an Indication of Assimilation: A Case Study in Eastern Washington’s Selbu Community:

In 1901, a small group of Norwegian immigrants relocated from Minnesota to Eastern Washington. The community grew quickly, with other immigrants coming directly from Norway. The group maintained a ...
Understanding Complex Magnetic Spin Textures with Simulation-Assisted Lorentz Transmission Electron Microscopy

Lorentz transmission electron microscopy (LTEM) is frequently used to image magnetic induction maps of topological magnetic spin structures. These induction maps are visually intuitive, but can be misinterpreted for materials in which the magnetization differs greatly from the integrated induction, leading to ambiguous determination of spin structures. The authors present PyLorentz, their open-source software for simulating LTEM images from three-dimensional micromagnetic simulations. By applying the technique to N\'eel skyrmions, they demonstrate that combining simulated and experimental LTEM images gives a more complete picture of complex spin structures.
N-acetyl cysteine administration affects cerebral blood flow as measured by arterial spin labeling MRI in patients with multiple sclerosis

Background The purpose of this study was to explore if administration of N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) resulted in altered cerebral blood flow (CBF) based on Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods Twenty-three patients with mild to moderate MS, (17 relapsing remitting and 6 primary progressive) were randomized to either NAC plus standard of care (N = 11), or standard of care only (N = 12). The experimental group received NAC intravenously (50 mg/kg) once per week and orally (500mg 2x/day) the other six days. Patients in both groups were evaluated initially and after 2 months (of receiving the NAC or waitlist control) with ASL MRI to measure CBF. Clinical symptom questionnaires were also completed at both time points. Results The CBF data showed significant differences in several brain regions including the pons, midbrain, left temporal and frontal lobe, left thalamus, right middle frontal lobe and right temporal/hippocampus (p < 0.001) in the MS group after treatment with NAC, when compared to the control group. Self-reported scores related to cognition and attention were also significantly improved in the NAC group as compared to the control group. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that NAC administration alters resting CBF in MS patients, and this is associated with qualitative improvements in cognition and attention. Given these findings, large scale efficacy studies will be of value to determine the potential clinical impact of NAC over the course of illness in patients with MS, as well as the most effective dosages and differential effects across subpopulations.
Happiness Singled Out: Bidirectional Associations Between Singlehood and Life Satisfaction:

Despite constituting a large portion of society, single people—and their satisfaction with singlehood and life—are rarely examined in their own right. How happy are single people and does their hap...
Examining the Progression of Disability Benefits Among Employees in the United States

EXAMINING THE PROGRESSION OF DISABILITY BENEFITS AMONG EMPLOYEES IN THE UNITED STATES By: Carolyn E. Danczyk Hawley A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University, 2006 Major Director: Christine Reid, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Rehabilitation Counseling The following project is a compilation of three separate articles all utilizing a database extracted from the UNUWrovident Life Insurance Company, including all consecutive short-term disability (STD) claims filed with UNUM from January 1, 1994 to December 3 1, 1996 from claimants who were also insured for long-term disability (LTD) by UNUM. The resulting sample includes 77,297 claims. The results of these studies are part of a larger investigation that documented the Progression of Disability Benefits (PODB) phenomenon. PODB refers to the migration of workers with work-limiting disabilities through a system of economic benefits resulting in their placement onto Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). Claimant and employer demographics were found to influence the PODB. The following articles study three unique ways in which the PODB measure can be informative. The first of the articles tracts the experience of 400 individuals with neurological impairments through the PODB, and compares them with a general disability population on key demographic characteristics. In general, it is found that persons with neurological conditions have greater progression on to advanced disability levels than other types of disabilities. Individual claimants are also younger and male. The second article explores the relationship of integrated disability management (IDM) practices with PODB. It proposes that while the efficacy of IDM programs has been measured by the bottom line, that PODB can be used as an additional tool to assess effectiveness of DM programs. It finds that employers with higher levels of IDM activity will experience a reduced PODB rating. The third and final article examines one industry, Healthcare. It studies how demographics can be used to predict claimant industry as well as PODB performance. Findings reveal that men were more likely to move on to advanced disability benefits while workers in the Healthcare industry were less likely to move on to advanced statuses than employees in other industries. Furthermore, disability type is the greatest predictor of PODB, followed by age for all but one category in which employment sector was the next predictor of PODB. This finding leads to questions regarding how the workplace may contribute to disability and the PODB.
National differences in population health and development

Evaluating Social Resilience: Population Health and Development Outcomes As Evans and Sewell argued in Chapter 1, the period from around 1980 forward can be described as a “neoliberal era” during which a set of economic and political forces, underpinned by a relatively clear ideological perspective, revamped the post–World War II consensus that had coalesced around modest levels of state intervention. Although there are other aspects of a more general trend toward globalization before and during this neoliberal turn, it is fair to note that the impact on social organization and action of neoliberalism was profound. Evans and Sewell identify central features linked to this shift, including a turn toward economic and social policies that focused more on private and market-driven rather than collective or state-driven solutions to social challenges, on deregulation of market forces, and on individual responsibility rather than shared risk and public protection against negative economic events. In some countries, these policies were aligned with an explicit ideological movement that strongly affected the social imaginary – Margaret Thatcher's claim that “there is no such thing as society” comes immediately to mind – but in others the shifts were a pragmatic response to real or perceived mandates from external powerful actors, often characterized as global market forces. A key question animating this volume is how effectively different societies responded to this set of challenges. The core construct is the notion of resilience, which draws attention to differences across societies in the quality and effectiveness of how they dealt with the neoliberal challenge. This chapter looks at important outcomes in population health and development and then examines whether such differences in population outcomes can be systematically linked to identifiable aspects of different societal responses.
Recent nursing home data: a multivariate analysis of two-repeated cross-sectional surveys of the institutionalized aged

141 Longitudinal changes in the characteristics of the nursing home population as represented in the most recent National Nursing Home Surveys (NNHS) were analyzed (1977 and 1985). This period is characterized by major changes in the delivery and financing of long term care services. These surveys of nursing home residents, staff, and facilities were used to examine aged nursing home resident's characteristics using the Grade of Membership (GoM) model. GoM searches for regularities both in profiles of the variables and in the grouping of cases [12]. Seven profiles explained individual variation in the health and functioning of the elderly (65+) nursing home population over time. Age heterogeneity in nursing home residents, and age-related clustering of medical conditions and functional status, were found. In the 1985 NNHS, a younger sick group and a young male group emerge for the first time as identifiable nursing home patient groups.
The thyroid hormone receptor binds to multiple domains of the rat growth hormone 5'-flanking sequence.

Gel shift assays have been employed to examine the association of the thyroid hormone receptor with specific DNA sequences in the 5′-flanking DNA of the rat growth hormone (rGH) gene. This DNA is known to have structure(s) that mediate thyroid hormone effects on the rGH promoter. The receptors used were obtained from preparations purified 300-500-fold from rat liver nuclear extracts and contained about 1% pure receptors. Thyroid hormone receptor binding to DNA was assessed by monitoring protein-bound 32P-labeled restriction endonuclease fragments in parallel with L-tri[125I]iodothyronine-labeled protein-DNA complexes. The receptors were found to bind specifically to four different regions of the rGH 5′-flanking DNA (nucleotides -1730 to -1230, -530 to -230, -181 to -149, and -149 to +12) numbered with respect to the transcriptional start site. The specificity of the binding was documented by the finding that the receptor did not bind to other rGH 5′-flanking DNA sequences or to several other DNAs and by the fact that only the DNAs exhibiting specific binding could block the binding of radiolabeled DNA. The binding was also detected in NaCl concentrations up to 140 mM, reduced by Mg2+ concentrations up to 5 mM, and inhibited by 1 mM zinc. The DNA sequence-specific binding of the receptor was found to require occupancy of the receptor by the hormone (L-triiodothyronine) and could also be observed when the receptor was occupied by the thyroid hormone antagonist amiodarone. These results indicate that thyroid hormone receptors interact specifically with several sites on the 5′-flanking DNA of the rGH gene and that hormone occupancy is not required for the binding. Thus, thyroid hormone may act by stimulating a transcriptional activation function of the receptor rather than by stimulating DNA binding per se.