cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Maternal autism-associated IgG antibodies delay development and produce anxiety in a mouse gestational transfer model

A murine passive transfer model system was employed to ascertain the effects of gestational exposure to a single, intravenous dose of purified, brain-reactive IgG antibodies from individual mothers of children with autism (MAU) or mothers with typically developing children (MTD). Growth and behavioral outcomes in offspring were measured from postnatal days 8 to 65 in each group. Comparisons revealed alterations in early growth trajectories, significantly impaired motor and sensory development, and increased anxiety. This report demonstrates for the first time the effects of a single, low dose gestational exposure of IgG derived from individual MAU on their offspring's physical and social development.
The role of the endocannabinoid system in islet biology.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW The endogenous cannabinoids (endocannabinoids) are long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids synthesized on demand in situ by catabolism of phospholipid precursors in the cell membrane. Here we discuss the emerging role of the endocannabinoids in the function of the pancreatic islet of Langerhans in particular on the secretion of insulin from the islet beta cell. RECENT FINDINGS It is now established that there is a functional endocannabinoid system in the pancreatic islet of Langerhans and that endocannabinoids are released concurrently with glucose-induced insulin secretion. The majority of the published papers show evidence of negative effects of the endocannabinoids on insulin secretion with antagonism of the cannabinoid 1 receptor improving beta cell function. This indicates that there is a tonic inhibition of insulin secretion by endocannabinoids. Here we examine these reports and recent papers showing that endocannabinoids increase insulin secretion and discuss the discrepancies in these observations. SUMMARY Conclusions on the exact nature of the effects of endocannabinoids on insulin secretion require rigorous study examining both acute and long-term effects at physiologically relevant doses employing both whole animal and clinically relevant models such as human islets in vitro and explanted in vivo, in rodent models of diabetes.
Schwann cell differentiation

Recent studies of Schwann cell differentiation in vivo and in vitro have provided new insights into determinative signal transduction events both at the cell surface and in the nucleus. Several polypeptide growth factors and their receptors, most notably the neuregulins and receptors of the ErbB family, have been implicated in the specification of cell fate, the control of precursor cell proliferation, and the regulation of programmed cell death during both early and late Schwann cell differentiation. Our understanding of the transcriptional control of Schwann cell development, particularly by the POU protein SCIP and the zinc-finger protein Krox-20, has been advanced by transgenic, knockout, and expression studies.
Your Money or Your Self-Esteem: Threatened Egotism Promotes Costly Entrapment in Losing Endeavors

The present research explored egotism—maintaining favorable views of the self—as a motivation underlying entrapment in losing endeavors. Four studies suggested that threatened selfesteem would cause decision makers to invest and lose more money in a previously chosen course of action. Ego-threatened participants consistently lost more money than nonthreatened participants across diverse entrapping situations regardless of whether the outcome was ostensibly determined by luck (Experiments 1 and 4), ability (Experiment 2), or interpersonal competition (Experiment 3). Thus, pursuing favorable views of the self could be costly to decision makers' financial well-being and may produce self-defeating behaviors.
The effects of sex, book weight, and grip strength on book- carrying styles

The relationship between grip strength, book load, and observed book-carrying mode of male and female college students was studied in a natural setting utilizing 350 subjects. It was found that male and female book-carrying modes were significantly different, but that book weights carried by the two sexes did not differ significantly. Male and female grip strengths were significantly different. A chi square analysis further examined the relationships between the four variables. While the relationships that interact to determine the dimorphism observed in book-carrying styles are complex, this study suggests an approach account for the differences observed.
Approaching the continuum limit using chiral perturbation theory

Abstract We extend chiral perturbation theory to include linear dependence on the lattice spacing a for the Wilson action. The perturbation theory is written as a double expansion in the small quark mass m q and lattice spacing a . We present formulae for the mass and decay constant of a flavor- non-singlet meson in this scheme to order a and m q 2 . The extension to the partially quenched theory is also described.
ROK-induced cross-link formation stiffens passive muscle: reversible strain-induced stress softening in rabbit detrusor

Passive mechanical properties of strips of rabbit detrusor smooth muscle were examined and found by cyclic loading in a calcium-free solution to display viscoelastic softening and strain-induced st...
Development of a wire rope model for cable guardrail simulation

Cable guardrail systems have received increased attention due to their low installation cost and excellent safety performance. This has led to an increase in the use of non-linear finite element modelling for the design and analysis of such systems. However, wire rope models previously used were not validated with physical testing. Thus, an improved non-linear finite element analysis model of 19-mm diameter 3 × 7 wire rope commonly used in roadside cable guardrail installations was developed. Component tests were conducted on wire rope, and consisted of quasi-static tension and cantilever bending tests, high-speed jerk tests of wire rope constrained at one end and perpendicular impacts of wire rope constrained at both ends. Simulation of these tests indicated favourable comparison of bogie vehicle motion and wire rope tension with test results, and was significantly more accurate than previously developed models. Application of the new wire rope model to a full-scale impact on a cable guardrail system ind...
The dynamic celestial Native American calendar of Devil’s Den Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA

Gettysburg’s legacy is a well-chronicled highlight of American history. However, its significance as a revered battleground overshadows a forgotten Iroquoian group (Susquehannock) that occupied the region. The battlefield contains a diabase outcrop known as Devil’s Den that displays rounded blocks and weathered rectangular joints. Field reconnaissance identified a leaning rock slab that forms openings aligned to the summer and winter solstices. Moreover, the rock openings align with the rising and setting of Pleiades and Sirius, respectively, stellar objects tracked by northeastern Native Americans for agricultural and religious purposes. A petroglyph-bearing rock shadowed by the slab is the first known occurrence of petroglyphs in Adams County and only the 22nd documented case in Pennsylvania. Petroglyphs relating to select cardinal directions, Ursa major, and Manitou (Great Spirit manifestations) were situated for sunlight to interact with them during certain times of the year. The discovery of an Iroquoian calendar implies the region was utilised by a sedentary society.
Compensatory proteolytic responses to dietary proteinase inhibitors in the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

Increasing levels of inhibitors that target cysteine and/or serine proteinases were fed to Tribolium castaneum larvae, and the properties of digestive proteinases were compared in vitro. Cysteine proteinases were the major digestive proteinase class in control larvae, and serine proteinase activity was minor. Dietary serine proteinase inhibitors had minimal effects on either the developmental time or proteolytic activity of T. castaneum larvae. However, when larvae ingested cysteine proteinase inhibitors, there was a dramatic shift from primarily cysteine proteinases to serine proteinases in the proteinase profile of the midgut. Moreover, a combination of cysteine and serine proteinase inhibitors in the diet prevented this shift from cysteine proteinase-based digestion to serine proteinase-based digestion, and there was a corresponding substantial retardation in growth. These data suggest that the synergistic inhibitory effect of a combination of cysteine and serine proteinase inhibitors in the diet of T. castaneum larvae on midgut proteolytic activity and beetle developmental time is achieved through the prevention of the adaptive proteolytic response to overcome the activity of either type of inhibitor.
Potential for radioscintography with polycapillary optics

The potential use of polycapillary optics could provide extraordinarily high spatial resolution imaging of radioactive sources for a new generation of gamma cameras is being investigated. A series of images from 125 I brachytherapy seeds in Lucite phantoms display resolution better than 0.1 mm and signal to noise ratios in excess of a factor of 10. Such "cellular" level resolution might allow early stage location of prostate tumors, and be used to study their size, shape, and rate of growth. Even before being developed into the compact size needed for transrectal investigation of prostate cancer, imaging detectors using such high spatial resolution polycapillary angular filters may be valuable for small animal model studies and other research.
Intrauterine infusion of prostaglandin E2 and subsequent luteal function in cattle.

Abstract The objective was to evaluate the effect of intrauterine infusion of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) on luteal function in cattle. Heifers and cows were randomly assigned after two normal estrous cycles to either PGE2 or control treatment groups. Females in Treatment A were infused with 1 mg of PGE2 once daily into the uterine horn ipsilateral to the corpus luteum between days 7–10 of the estrous cycle with a 0.25 ml plastic semen straw and an artificial insemination pipette. Females in Treatment B were similarly infused with 1 mg of PGE2 once daily in 20 ml of a carrier vehicle via a catheter on days 10 and 11 of the estrous cycle. Control animals were infused with the carrier vehicle using either a semen straw (Treatment C) or via a catheter (Treatment D) on the same days of the estrous cycle. Blood samples were collected daily to monitor plasma progesterone concentrations during the treatment period. Females infused with PGE2 on days 7–10 of the estrous cycle returned to estrus in a mean of 23.5 days (range 22–25 days) and were similar (P > 0.05) to those infused on days 10 and 11 which returned to estrus in 23.5 days (range 22–25 days). Animals similarly infused with carrier vehicle on the same days of the estrous cycle returned to standing estrus in 20.2 days (range 17–23 days). Plasma progesterone concentrations indicated an extended period of elevated progesterone concentrations in PGE2-treated animals compared with control animals. These results indicate that short term administration of PGE2 early in the estrous cycle may result in extended luteal maintanance.
Influence of Scanning Rotation on Nanoscale Artificial Strain in Open-Loop Atomic Force Microscopy

For nanoscale metrology using atomic force microscopy (AFM), it is essential to know the baseline error induced by the AFM scanning process. A systematic study has been performed using digital image correlation (DIC) to quantify the influence of scanning rotation angle on the artificial strain (error) in an open loop AFM. It is found that significant artificial strain has been induced by the scanning rotation angle, demonstrating that highly accurate metrology can only be performed in an open loop AFM when the scan angle is held constant during imaging.
THE ROLE OF INTRACELLULAR NA+ AND MITOCHONDRIA IN BUFFERING OF KAINATE-INDUCED INTRACELLULAR FREE CA2+ CHANGES IN RAT FOREBRAIN NEURONES

1. We have examined the mechanisms by which cultured central neurones from embryonic rat brain buffer intracellular Ca2+ loads following kainate receptor activation using fluorescent indicators of [Ca2+]i and [Na+]i. 2. Stimulation of cultured forebrain neurones with 100 microM kainate produced a rapid increase in [Ca2+]i that displayed a variable rate of recovery. Kainate also increased [Na+]i with a response that was slightly slower in onset and markedly slower in recovery. 3. The recovery of [Ca2+]i to baseline was not very sensitive to the [Na+]i. The magnitude of the increase in [Na+]i in response to kainate did not correlate well with the [Ca2+]i recovery time, and experimental manipulations that altered [Na+]i did not have a large impact on the rate of recovery of [Ca2+]i. 4. The recovery of [Ca2+]i to baseline was accelerated by the mitochondrial Na+-Ca2+ exchange inhibitor CGP-37157, suggesting that the recovery rate is influenced by release of Ca2+ from a mitochondrial pool and also that variation in the recovery rate is related to the extent of mitochondrial Ca2+ loading. Kainate did not alter the mitochondrial membrane potential. 5. These studies reveal that mitochondria have a central role in buffering neuronal [Ca2+]i changes mediated by non-N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptors, and that the variation in recovery times following kainate receptor activation reflects a variable degree of mitochondrial Ca2+ loading. However, unlike NMDA receptor-mediated Ca2+ loads, kainate receptor activation has minimal effects on mitochondrial function.
Dynamic states of adhering cancer cells under shear flow in an antibody-functionalized microchannel

Dynamic states of cancer cells moving under shear flow in an antibody-functionalized microchannel are investigated experimentally and theoretically. A simplified physical model was adopted to analyze the cell motion; it features a rigid sphere, with receptors on its surface, moving above a solid surface with distributed ligands. The cell motion is described by the Langevin equation where the hydrodynamic interactions, gravitational drift force, receptor-ligand binding force, and thermal fluctuations are all taken into account. The receptor-ligand bonds are modeled as Hookean springs. In this study, three dynamic states of cell motion have been identified: (i) free motion, (ii) rolling adhesion, and (iii) firm adhesion depending on the flow shear rate. The numerical simulations allow exploring effects of numerous parameters such as cell-receptor and surface-ligand density.
The Characteristics of Chinese Women’s Victimization in Sex Offenses

The purpose of the present study is to conduct a preliminary assessment of the characteristics of Chinese women’s victimization in sex offenses using data collected from two surveys of criminal victimization in the cities of Beijing and Tianjin in 1992 and 2004, respectively. The assessment analyzes the demographic characteristics of female victims in such offenses and the characteristics of their victimization. The data from the Beijing and Tianjin surveys are compared in the analysis. The results show a shift in the demographic pattern between the two surveys, which may be related to the dramatic change in China’s transformation to a state-directed market economy during the time period. However, the data from both surveys indicate some similar characteristics of sex offenses against women in contemporary urban China. Some of these characteristics significantly differ from those discovered in the United States.
Fate of Sediments on the Descending Plate at Convergent Margins

The evolution of the continents and of continental crust is strongly dependent on the trajectory of the sedimentary cover on the descending oceanic lithosphere at arc systems. Although direct calculations of accretion are not reliable, indirect evidence strongly suggests that most of the sediment cover is either accreted or underplated (subcreted) to the upper plate. This evidence includes the increased thickening of accretionary prism beneath parts of the inner trench slope that cannot be explained by deformation within the prism and by protolith composition both in subophiolitic metamorphics and in blueschist terrains. That a small fraction of this sediment cover is transported to depths of at least 100 km is demonstrated in several ways. Flux calculations of mass and selected elements through arc systems require addition of a few tens of metres of sediment to the arc magmas. Global correlations of variations between arc magma characteristics and regional geological parameters show: (1) a strong correlation between silica content of average arc magmas and thickness or maturity of crust in the upper plate, attributed to upper plate contamination; (2) regional variations in $^{87}$Sr/$^{86}$Sr and Pb isotopic ratios of arc basalts that correlate spatially with isotopic ratios in the non-calcareous components of pelagic sediments. This correlation is argued to reflect the variation of terrigenous material in the basal pelagics that are involved in magma production. Subduction of continental crust to depths of 100 km, either as part of the descending plate or by tectonic erosion of the upper plate is not supported by these correlations. Recycling rates of continental crust by accretion and subcretion and of mantle by subduction of oceanic lithosphere in contemporary arcs are very large compared with the growth rate of continental crust, which appears similar to the magma production rates in arc systems. This present production rate of continental crust is very much smaller than that during early Earth history, and is compatible with Phanerozoic ocean freeboard changes. In addition, average SiO$\_{2}$ and K$\_{2}$O contents of contemporary arc magmas are much lower than those estimated for mean continental crust, leading to the conclusion that the magmas being produced at active arcs cannot be used as a model for the development of most of the Earth's continental areas.
Aerodynamic force generation, performance and control of body orientation during gliding in sugar gliders (Petaurus breviceps).

SUMMARY Gliding has often been discussed in the literature as a possible precursor to powered flight in vertebrates, but few studies exist on the mechanics of gliding in living animals. In this study I analyzed the 3D kinematics of sugar gliders ( Petaurus breviceps ) during short glides in an enclosed space. Short segments of the glide were captured on video, and the positions of marked anatomical landmarks were used to compute linear distances and angles, as well as whole body velocities and accelerations. From the whole body accelerations I estimated the aerodynamic forces generated by the animals. I computed the correlations between movements of the limbs and body rotations to examine the control of orientation during flight. Finally, I compared these results to those of my earlier study on the similarly sized and distantly related southern flying squirrel ( Glaucomys volans ). The sugar gliders in this study accelerated downward slightly (1.0±0.5 m s –2 ), and also accelerated forward (2.1±0.6 m s –2 ) in all but one trial, indicating that the body weight was not fully supported by aerodynamic forces and that some of the lift produced forward acceleration rather than just balancing body weight. The gliders used high angles of attack (44.15±3.12°), far higher than the angles at which airplane wings would stall, yet generated higher lift coefficients (1.48±0.18) than would be expected for a stalled wing. Movements of the limbs were strongly correlated with body rotations, suggesting that sugar gliders make extensive use of limb movements to control their orientation during gliding flight. In addition, among individuals, different limb movements were associated with a given body rotation, suggesting that individual variation exists in the control of body rotations. Under similar conditions, flying squirrels generated higher lift coefficients and lower drag coefficients than sugar gliders, yet had only marginally shallower glides. Flying squirrels have a number of morphological specializations not shared by sugar gliders that may help to explain their greater lift generating performance.
Trends in paediatric clinical pharmacology data in US pharmaceutical labelling

Background There is often a lack of safety and efficacy data in the paediatric population at the time of drug approval. Legislative efforts have promoted clinical pharmacology research in this underserved population. We sought to determine the quantity and quality of paediatric clinical pharmacology data in US drug labelling at the time of initial approval and to evaluate trends over time. Materials and methods The labelling data of 213 new molecular entities approved between 2003 and 2012 were systematically reviewed. The type of paediatric pharmacology data present at the time of approval was recorded and stratified by age group. Labelling revisions were analysed for updated paediatric data. The presence of paediatric-specific black-box warnings was noted. Results Of the 213 drugs evaluated, 48 had adult-specific indications. Of the remaining 165 medicines, only 47 (28%) had paediatric study data at the time of initial labelling. The number of approved drugs with paediatric data was the greatest in 2005 (8, 44%) and was at its lowest point in 2012 (3, 11%). Only five medicines had neonatal data, with none of the anti-infective agents presenting neonatal information. Seven medications had a paediatric-specific black-box warning. Additional 16 medicines presented paediatric data during general labelling updates. Conclusions Despite efforts to improve the quality of paediatric clinical pharmacology data, there was not a significant increase in drugs with paediatric data at the time of approval over this 10-year study period. Paediatric drug approvals and labelling revisions continue to lag behind their adult counterparts.
Telomerase-selective virotherapy with fluorescently labelled adenovirus for cervical cancer treatment

2991 Conditionally replicative adenovirus (CRAd) is useful as a cervical cancer gene therapy strategy which seeks to achieve selective viral replication in tumor cells. Oncolysis of infected cells creates a “bystander effect”, leading to infection of neighboring cancer cells with progeny virus. However, one of the obstacles in CRAd clinical trials is the lack of a non-invasive monitoring procedure of CRAd replication and/or spread, thus hampering the understanding of CRAd biology in both an in vitro and in vivo setting. Current detection strategies, including reporter gene expression and viral component detection have been applied to analyze adenoviral vectors; however, these methods are inadequate for assessing transductional targeting. The objective of this proposal was to establish an efficient method for monitoring CRAd replication/spread while retaining CRAd-based therapeutic efficacy for cervical cancer. We have developed a specific genetic labeling system whereby an adenoviral vector incorporates a fusion between capsid protein IX and enhanced red fluorescence protein (RFP). The human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) promoter, which is active in many cancers but mostly inactive in normal organs including the liver, maintains this useful profile in our CRAd construct for cervical cancer. We employed an hTERT promoter-based CRAd with a pIX-RFP mutation (AdhTERT E1-IX-RFP) to evaluate the hTERT-selective oncolysis in in vitro , which conventional hTERT-CRAd with wild type pIX can demonstrate. Then, we examined the correlation between red fluorescence and DNA replication and oncolysis, which are determined by viral E4 DNA copy number and MTS assay, respectively, in both hTERT-negative fibroblasts and WI-38 cells and hTERT-positive cervical cancer cell lines. RFP-labeled hTERT-CRAd showed effective oncolysis in cervical cancer cell lines but not in WI-38. Red fluorescence imaging paralleled both DNA replication and oncolysis in cervical cancer cells, whereas no fluorescence, DNA replication nor oncolysis was detected in WI-38 cells. Moreover, oncolysis and red fluorescence signal were observed in cervical cancer xenograft models. These results suggest that RFP-labeled hTERT-CRAd demonstrated selective and effective oncolysis, which can be monitored fluorescently. This fluorescently labeled hTERT-CRAd may thus contribute to the gene therapy of cervical cancer.
Parallel communication with handshake between two microcomputers

An implementation of the full asynchronous interface between two microcomputers is described. It details the design and test of a two-way, one line message display arrangement between two machines. The arrangement allows the user to send a message from the transmitting machine to the receiving machine. The message appears simultaneously at the screens of both the transmitting and the receiving machines. The two-way arrangement allows each of the two machines to send and to receive messages. Eight data lines are connected between the input and output ports of the two microcomputers. >
Racial disparities in Hodgkin's lymphoma: a comprehensive population-based analysis

ABSTRACT Background Racial disparity has been investigated in a number of cancers; however, there remains a comparative paucity of data in Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL). Patients and methods We examined time-, age-, and gender-specific incidence, disease characteristics, and survival across and within races for adolescent/adult HL (age 10–79 years) diagnosed during 1992–2007 in the SEER 13 registries. Results A total of 15 662 HL cases were identified [11 211 non-Hispanic whites, 2067 Hispanics, 1662 blacks, and 722 Asian/Pacific Islanders (A/PI)]. Similar to whites, A/PIs had bimodal age-specific incidence, while blacks and Hispanics did not. Further, HL was significantly more common in Hispanics versus whites age >65 years (7.0/1 × 106 versus 4.5/1 × 106, respectively, P 40 years. Interestingly, from 1992–1997 to 2003–2007, A/PI incidence rates increased >50% (P Conclusion Collectively, we identified multiple racial disparities, including survival, in adolescent/adult HL.
Multi-wavelength message routing in a non-blocking four-port bidirectional switch fabric for silicon photonic networks-on-chip

A non-blocking four-port bidirectional multi-wavelength message router for use in 2D mesh or torus photonic networks-on-chip is fully characterized with bit-error-rate measurements and eye diagrams using three parallel 10-Gb/s wavelength channels.
Errors in frequency-domain processing of images

Practical techniques for the determination of image spectra have been developed and become popular in the past few years. Both optical processing systems and digital computers can be used to perform linear filtering via the frequency domain. Optical processing systems use Fourier-transforming lenses and coherent light. Digital computer software uses the Cooley-Tukey algorithm to advantage, while computer hardware must be augmented by optical scanning devices that interface with images. Processing errors arise in both types of systems, but for different reasons. In this paper we present some results concerning errors in the spatial frequency domain.
Speckle imaging using photorefractive multiple quantum wells

Relation between speckle size and four-wave mixing signal is studied. Our results indicate that small speckle size which is not effective modulated by interference fringes will drop the diffraction efficiency.
The Pathophysiology of Cerebral Radiation Necrosis and the Role of Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy

tereotactic radiosurgery can effectively ablate brain tumors; however, it also has the potential to cause tissue S injury around the tumor site. The acute effects on the brain tissue are usually reversible; they occur <2 months after radiotherapy and result from endothelial cell apoptosis, which causes disruption of the blood-brain barrier and peritumoral edema (20, 22, 33). Acute radiation injury also incites inflammatory pathways, which are accelerated by chronic hypoxia secondary to endothelial remodeling, further setting the stage for “microenvironmental change” (33). If this process continues to evolve, the result is irreversible cerebral radiation necrosis (RN).
Two Preservice Teachers' Growth in Self-Efficacy While Teaching in an Inner-City School

Jillian and Mia, African-American preservice teachers, experienced culture shock when they student taught in an inner-city school. This was revealed by a qualitative analysis of 4 interviews, 12 written reflections, and 7 transcribed group discussions. Their self-efficacy grew stronger as they interacted with mentoring teachers and students and learned to cope with doubts about their abilities. As they worked through their conflicts, they changed the way they thought about teaching in the inner city and improved their personal and practical knowledge.
Heart rate as an index of speech anxiety

(1971). Heart rate as an index of speech anxiety. Speech Monographs: Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 65-69.
Reduction of nitric oxide synthase activity in human neutrophils by oxidized low-density lipoproteins: Reversal of the effect of oxidized low-density lipoproteins by high-density lipoproteins and l-arginine

Abstract Oxidized low-density lipoproteins (ox-LDL) inhibit vascular relaxation by decreasing the synthesis or rapid degradation of endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF), now identified to be nitric oxide (NO). We examined the regulation of NO synthase activity in human neutrophils, which also generate NO, by lipoproteins. Isolated human neutrophils were incubated with native-LDL, ox-LDL (10–50 μg protein/mL), high-density lipoproteins (HDL, 100 μg protein/mL) or HDL + ox-LDL, and NO synthase activity was measured as conversion of [ 3 H] l -arginine to [ 3 H] l -citrulline. Ox-LDL, but not native-LDL or HDL, significantly decreased NO synthase activity in human neutrophils. This effect of ox-LDL was incubation time and concentration dependent. The incubation of cells with HDL or l -arginine diminished the effects of ox-LDL on NO synthase activity. Thus, ox-LDL decreases the activity of NO synthase enzyme, and this effect of ox-LDL can be modified by HDL and l -arginine.
A Lightly Supervised Approach to Role Identification in Wikipedia Talk Page Discussions

In this paper we describe an application of a lightly supervised Role Identification Model (RIM) to the analysis of coordination in Wikipedia talk page discussions. Our goal is to understand the substance of important coordination roles that predict quality of the Wikipedia pages where the discussions take place. Using the model as a lens, we present an analysis of four important coordination roles identified using the model, including Workers, Critiquers, Encouragers, and Managers.
Critical Nodes, Cultural Networks: Re-mapping Guam’s Cable Infrastructure

Undersea communication cables are durable and cost effective infrastructures supporting the interconnection of America, Asia, and Australia. Many of these cables, which carry almost all transpacific Internet traffic, are routed through the island of Guam. Historically, more cables have landed on Guam than in either Hawai’i or California, two other major hubs for signal exchange. The cartographic representation of undersea cables, however, often abstracts them as mere lines of interconnection, rarely ascribing significance to the geographies they intersect. This representational strategy makes it difficult for viewers to connect cables on the ocean floor to the cultural landscape above them; it implies that information flows effortlessly, without political force or resistance, across the oceans. From this vantage point, the concentration of cables on Guam appears to be an anomaly, a site that should have been bypassed once cables began to extend directly across the Pacific. These images, like the narrative...
Morphology of Tribocontact Surface in Hydrocarbon Lube Oil Containing a New Anticorrosion Additive

The tribological properties of a new anticorrosion additive for hydrocarbon lube oils that consists of a composite of heteroatomic compounds, namely, ammonium dialkyldithiophosphates and tetraalkylthiuram disulfides, are studied. It is shown that the composite is tribologically active when the component mass ratios are equal.
High-tech protest against plutonium plant

The Energy Department thought it was doing Idaho a favor by giving it a newfangled plutonium separator. But some Idahoans thought otherwise, and found scientists and Hollywood stars to back them up.
The Articles of Confederation as the Background to the Federal Republic

The Articles of Confederation, usually neglected by those studying the American founding, formed an important part of the background to the 1787 Constitution. The Articles functioned as the first national constitution of the United States and, as such, reflected American political theory as it emerged during the Revolution. Equally important, a textual analysis reveals the extent to which the 1787 Constitution was a logical extension of the Articles of Confederation. Most of the Articles were incorporated in the U.S. Constitution, and several key changes found in the later document were present in embryo in the Articles of Confederation.
The evolution of genetics to genomics

Development of civilizations and the technology of Development improvement of crop and animals have been under human control for more than 10.000 years. Despite the term Genetics started being employed a few centuries ago, its practice is ancient and responsible for thriving of the human society to the point we see now. The recent advances in this fi eld started with the theories of evolution, mathematical models to predict traits, and studies at cellular level. The explosion of knowledge on the last few decades associated with the advancing of internet and computers led to advent of a new discipline in genetics: genomics. Here is discussed the transition from genetics to genomics and some of the main factors that were responsible for this progress. Nowadays genomics is part of most of life science studies and the outcomes are leading to outstanding discoveries on how the genome is precisely concerted; the fi ndings have been crucial to understand human illness and for development of personalized and more precise medical treatment.
Prolonged administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (filgrastim) to patients with Fanconi anemia: a pilot study.

This report examines the effect of filgrastim (granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, [G-CSF] in 12 patients with neutropenia [absolute neutrophil count [ANC] 1,500/mm3 on G-CSF given every-otherday. Four patients had an increase in their platelet count by week 8 without transfusion (maximum increase = 23,000 to 45,000/mm3); however, platelet counts fell toward baseline levels as the G-CSF dose was reduced. BM CFU-MK were increased at week 8 in three of four evaluable patients. Four patients who did not receive red blood cell transfusions had an increase in their hemoglobin level of at least 2.0 g/dL. A fifth patient had a red blood cell transfusion in week 2 and then had a similar increase in hemoglobin level without subsequent transfusion. Eight of 10 patients who completed 40 weeks of treatment showed increases in the percentage of BM CD34+ cells measured by flow cytometry. The same proportion showed increases in peripheral blood CD34+ cells. Increased BM cellularity and myeloid hyperplasia were constant findings and were associated with increased expression of the proliferating cell nuclear antigen. Adverse experiences were mild fever (1 patient) and a new BM cytogenetic abnormality at week 40 (1 patient). This study shows that prolonged administration of G-CSF exerts a stimulatory effect on the BM of FA patients and may be used to maintain a clinically adequate ANC in these patients. G-CSF has beneficial effects on multiple hematopoietic lineages in some patients and may be a good candidate for use in combination cytokine protocols for FA patients with progressive aplastic anemia. G-CSF use results in an increase in circulating CD34+ cells, a finding with important implications for future gene transfer protocols.
Role of Eosinophils in Resistance to Worm Infections

ABSTRACT Eosinophilia is a prominent feature of parasitic worm infections, particularly those that migrate through or reside in host tissues. In vivo and in vitro evidence show that accumulation of eosinophils at sites of parasite invasion is controlled by products of specifically sensitized T lymphocytes and mast cell degranulation. Eosinophils participate along with other components of host protective mechanisms in parasite destruction. Because of the enormous size of parasitic worms in comparison to host cells, killing occurs extracellular rather than intracellular. Products of eosinophil degranulation such as peroxidase, activated states of oxygen, and major basic and cationic proteins bring about the initial steps of parasite destruction.
Insect Trace Fossils in Substrates Other than Paleosols II. Bones, Caddisfly Cases, Trackways, Imprints and Aerial Nests

The universe of insect trace fossils also include those produced in bones, caddisfly cases, trackways, imprints and aerial nests. Larvae of Dermestidae, Tenebrionidae, other beetles, Diptera, termites, ants are usually mentioned as producers of traces in bones. The most common morphologies hollow or comminuted bone-filled cylindrical borings; shallow, hemispherical and star-shaped pits; rosettes or pits in construction; U-shaped borings and notches; ellipsoid chambers; grooves, trails, furrows and networks. Recognized ichnogenera are: Cubiculum, Osteocallis, and Asthenopodichnium, but the unnamed trace fossils, also reviewed in this chapter, are many. The first fossil caddisfly cases were described and named as Indusia in 1805. It is the first insect ichnotaxon named and nowadays there are more than 200 ichnospecies described belonging to different ichnogenera. These are based on the different materials that caddisfly larvae utilize to construct the cases. Folindusia, for cases constructed with leaf bites; Terrindusia for those constructed with clasts and sand grains; Indusia with mollusk shells; Pelindusia with fragments of bivalvian shells; Ostracindusia with ostracod shells, and Conchindusia with conchostrocan shells, among others. Insect trackways, imprints, trails and shallow burrows can be produced on unconsolidated substrates and become preserved. Ichnogenera of trackways attributed to insects are many, Stiaria, Lithographus, Permichnium, Stiallia, Tonganoxichnus among others. Trackway components and ichnotaxonomical treatment related to preservational variants are reviewed. Trails attributed to insects are grouped in Helminthoidichnites, Gordia, Helminthopsis, Cochlichnus, Treptichnus and Spongeliomorpha. Insect imprints, beside behavioral data, may yield detailed evidence of insect ventral morphology. Rotterodichnium, Avolatichnium and Orbiculichnus are some of the known ichnogenera. Insect aerial nests may be preserved as fossils when fallen to soil or by resin or carbonate engulfing. One of the most outstanding examples is Brownichnus favosites, a Cretaceous paper wasp nest. Blueprints illustrate traces in bones, caddisfly cases and trackway descriptive methodology, whereas color plates illustrate producers, traces and morphological details.
Improved carrier frequency offset estimator for common referenced sampling and RF oscillators in OFDM transceivers

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) has been proven to be very sensitive to carrier drifts due to fact that both carrier frequency offset (CFO) and sampling frequency offset (SFO) destroy the orthogonality cross multiple subcarriers. The sampling clock and the local oscillator, from which the carrier frequency is derived, sharing a common reference clock is becoming a configuration extensively used in wireless transceivers. In this paper, we propose a maximum likelihood (ML) estimation scheme with the common reference clock assumption. We further propose two CFO estimators with low computational complexity - a near ML estimator and a method of moments estimator. With the common reference clock assumption, the CFO estimation range is widened to many multiples of subcarrier spacing without any additional training symbols or constructing the training symbol by multiple identical parts. The performance of the proposed algorithms in comparison with existing estimators is studied through simulations. The proposed algorithms are validated on a real-time hardware testbed.
Exposure–response analyses of blood pressure and heart rate changes for methylphenidate in healthy adults

The aim of the study was to evaluate the exposure-response (E-R) relationships of blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) changes in healthy adults taking methylphenidate (MPH). Intensive time profiles of BP and HR from healthy adults in placebo and MPH treatment arms of seven clinical trials from the FDA internal database were utilized for this analysis. The analysis model contains a circadian component for placebo effect and an E-R component to describe drug effect. Internal validation was performed using goodness-of-fit plots and visual predictive check. A meta-database based on a systemic literature search was constructed and used for external validation of the developed models. We found that circadian models could quantify the time profiles of BP/HR in placebo arms. Linear models could describe the correlations between MPH concentrations, and BP/HR changes. The BP and HR changes were highly dependent on the shapes of MPH pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles without an apparent time delay. MPH has the greatest effect on HR, followed by systolic BP, and diastolic BP. Internal validation revealed that the developed models could adequately describe the circadian rhythms of HR and BP in placebo arms and the E-R relationships of MPH. External validation showed the models had good predictive capability of the literature data. In conclusion, the developed models adequately characterized the circadian rhythm and the MPH induced effects on BP and HR. The changes in BP and HR were highly correlated with MPH blood levels with no apparent delay. The time courses of BP and HR are similar to the MPH PK profiles. As a result, the immediate-release formulation may yield larger maximum BP and HR effect than the extended-release formulation under similar dose.
An algorithm for automatic parameter adjustment for brain extraction in BrainSuite

Brain Extraction (classification of brain and non-brain tissue) of MRI brain images is a crucial pre-processing step necessary for imaging-based anatomical studies of the human brain. Several automated methods and software tools are available for performing this task, but differences in MR image parameters (pulse sequence, resolution) and instrumentand subject-dependent noise and artefacts affect the performance of these automated methods. We describe and evaluate a method that automatically adapts the default parameters of the Brain Surface Extraction (BSE) algorithm to optimize a cost function chosen to reflect accurate brain extraction. BSE uses a combination of anisotropic filtering, Marr-Hildreth edge detection, and binary morphology for brain extraction. Our algorithm automatically adapts four parameters associated with these steps to maximize the brain surface area to volume ratio. We evaluate the method on a total of 109 brain volumes with ground truth brain masks generated by an expert user. A quantitative evaluation of the performance of the proposed algorithm showed an improvement in the mean (s.d.) Dice coefficient from 0.8969 (0.0376) for default parameters to 0.9509 (0.0504) for the optimized case. These results indicate that automatic parameter optimization can result in significant improvements in definition of the brain mask.
Market Reputation, Innovation or Synergistic Partnerships, and Syndication Activities within Venture Capital Markets

Absent superior performance with respect to 'Portfolio Innovation Focus' (unexpected innovation), this study finds 'less experienced' ('competing') VCs, which only coinvest with other less experienced VCs, become less reputable than alternate less experienced ('non-competing') VCs who coinvest with experienced VCs. The empirical evidence demonstrates innovation focus of non-competing VCs' syndicates are premised on demand for expertise of experienced VCs, and not influenced by syndicate size. Consistent with network size rationales for syndication, quid-pro-quo benefits of syndicate size enhance innovation focus within syndicates comprising of competing VCs. Applications of the single crossing property provide empirical evidence that differences between portfolios of non-competing and competing VCs are compatible with existence of Nash equilibriums, and heterogeneity in preferences. This study is first to empirically dichotomize and demonstrate coexistence of 'expertise' and 'quid-pro-quo' rationales for syndication in context of populations of cohort VCs operating within venture capital markets.
Spatial demographic models to inform conservation planning of golden eagles in renewable energy landscapes

Spatial demographic models can help guide monitoring and management activities targeting at-risk species, even in cases where baseline data are lacking. Here, we provide an example of how site-specific changes in land use and anthropogenic stressors can be incorporated into a spatial demographic model to investigate effects on population dynamics of Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos). Our study focused on a population of Golden Eagles exposed to risks associated with rapid increases in renewable energy development in southern California, U.S.A. We developed a spatially explicit, individual-based simulation model that integrated empirical data on demography of Golden Eagles with spatial data on the arrangement of nesting habitats, prey resources, and planned renewable energy development sites. Our model permitted simulated eagles of different stage-classes to disperse, establish home ranges, acquire prey resources, prospect for breeding sites, and reproduce. The distribution of nesting habitats, prey resources, and threats within each individual's home range influenced movement, reproduction, and survival. We used our model to explore potential effects of alternative disturbance scenarios, and proposed conservation strategies, on the future distribution and abundance of Golden Eagles in the study region. Results from our simulations suggest that probable increases in mortality associated with renewable energy infrastructure (e.g., collisions with wind turbines and vehicles, electrocution on power poles) could have negative consequences for population trajectories, but that site-specific conservation actions could reduce the magnitude of negative effects. Our study demonstrates the use of a flexible and expandable modeling framework to incorporate spatially dependent processes when determining relative effects of proposed management options to Golden Eagles and their habitats.
Use of Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Imaging Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-IMS) in the Development of Novel Small Molecule Drugs

Modern drug research and development includes the study of drug distribution and its metabolites within the biological organ and tissues. The high performance liquid chromatography coupled to a tandem mass spectrometer (HPLC-MS/MS) is currently widely employed in the study of drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic characterization of new drug molecules.