cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Identification of polar transformation products and high molecular weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in contaminated soil following bioremediation

Bioremediation is a technique commonly used to reduce the toxicity associated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in contaminated soils. However, the efficacy of bioremedial applications is evaluated based on the removal of a subset of parent (or unsubstituted) PAHs and does not incorporate toxic polar transformation products or the more mutagenic high molecular weight PAHs (MW≥302amu or MW302-PAHs). Previously, an effects-directed analysis approach was used to assess the effect of bioremediation on the toxicity of a coal tar-contaminated soil. Increased genotoxicity and developmental toxicity was measured postbioremedation in the more polar soil extract fractions, as compared to the less polar fractions where the targeted PAHs eluted, and could not be attributed to the 88 target PAHs analyzed for (including selected oxygen-containing PAHs). In this study, comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight and liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry were used to characterize transformation products in the soil extract fractions identified as toxic, previously. Additionally, the degradation of 12MW302-PAHs, picene (MW=278) and coronene (MW=300) were evaluated following bioremediation. Non-targeted analysis resulted in the tentative identification of 10 peaks with increased intensity postbioremediation (based on mass spectral library matching and fragmentation patterns from >5000 candidate peaks in the soil extracts). Several of these compounds contained oxygen, suggesting they would be relatively polar. MW302-PAHs were not significantly degraded during bioremediation, suggesting that the carcinogenic potential associated with these PAHs might remain unchanged. The results of this study suggest that polar transformation products, and MW302-PAHs, should be considered for realistic risk assessment of bioremediated soils.
Posttranslational modifications of neuroligins regulate neuronal and glial signaling.

This review covers the dynamic regulation of neuroligin isoforms, focusing on posttranslational events including phosphorylation, glycosylation and activity-dependent cleavage. There is a growing literature on how phosphorylation confers an isoform-specific level of modulation affecting a variety of protein interactions. In addition, recent studies describe activity-dependent proteolytic cleavage of neuroligins, revealing a broader role for neuroligins than just synaptic ‘glue’. Interesting new research implicates the cleaved extracellular fragments of neuroligins in promoting glioma. These reports on cell signaling mediated by the cleavage products of neuroligins suggest novel and important roles for neuroligins in neuro-glial signaling.
Networks and Innovation in the Production of Communication: Explaining Innovations in U.S. Electoral Campaigning From 2004 to 2012

We outline a network analytic framework for analyzing the production of communication. In our framework, individuals—in part the products of the history of their social and professional ties—merge from various fields and a medley of prior production experiences within organizations to produce communicative innovations. Organizations with individuals who have diverse backgrounds and significant overlap in work experiences will be more innovative. We demonstrate this through a network analysis of the professional biographies of 629 staffers on U.S. presidential campaigns from 2004 to 2012. Democratic staffers came from more diverse organizations and shared significant overlap in prior experiences than their Republican counterparts. Through interview data, we argue that this in part explains Democratic innovativeness in technology during this period.
Numerical Study of Turbulent Jet Ignition in a Lean Premixed Configuration

Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of a hot combustion product jet interacting with a lean premixed hydrogen-air coflow are conducted to fundamentally investigate turbulent jet ignition (TJI) in a three-dimensional configuration. TJI is an efficient method for initiating and controlling combustion in ultra-lean combustion systems. Fully compressible gas dynamics and species equations are solved with high order finite difference methods. The hydrogen-air reaction is simulated with a reliable detailed chemical kinetics mechanism. The physical processes involved in the TJI-assisted combustion are investigated by considering the flame heat release, temperature, species concentrations, vorticity, and Baroclinc torque. The complex turbulent flame and flow structures are delineated in three main: i) hot product jet, ii) burned-mixed, and iii) flame zones. In the TJI-assisted combustion, the flow structures and the flame features such as flame speed, temperature, and species distribution are found to be quite different than those in “standard” turbulent premixed combustion due to the existence of a high energy turbulent hot product jet. The flow structures and statistics are also found to be different than those normally seen in non-isothermal non-reacting jets.
Enhancing the solar energy conversion efficiency of solution-deposited Bi2S3 thin films by annealing in sulfur vapor at elevated temperature

Bi2S3 is a non-toxic n-type semiconductor, which has been commonly synthesized in the form of quantum dots or nanocrystalline films by solution deposition methods. Despite a favorable optical band gap of ∼1.3 eV, such films have not achieved high solar energy conversion efficiencies to date. We hypothesize that this is in part due to the presence of sulfur vacancies that, according to our density functional theory calculations, form a deep trap state in the band gap of Bi2S3, which can act as a strong recombination channel for photoexcited charges. Here, we report a microcrystalline Bi2S3 thin-film synthesized by annealing solution-deposited nanocrystalline Bi2S3 in a sulfur vapor environment at 445 °C, which simultaneously increases the grain size and phase purity of Bi2S3, fills in sulfur vacancies, and improves optical absorption. Time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy (TRTS) reveals that sulfur annealing increases the photoexcited carrier lifetime from sub-picosecond to ∼30 picoseconds, while the internal quantum efficiency of a photoelectrochemical solar cell device is increased 4-fold from ∼10% to ∼40%. In addition, TRTS reveals that the intra-grain carrier mobility in the sulfur-annealed films is ∼165 cm2 V−1 s−1 and the long-range mobility is ∼111 cm2 V−1 s−1 at short times, indicating that carriers are able to hop across grain boundaries. These results indicate that annealing in sulfur vapor can produce simultaneously high light absorption and charge separation efficiencies by achieving carrier diffusion length that is comparable to the light absorption depth, leading to high solar energy conversion efficiencies in Bi2S3.
Roles of kallikrein-2 biomarkers (free-hK2 and pro-hK2) for predicting prostate cancer progression-free survival

Free human kallikrein 2 (free-hK2) and hK2 pro-form (pro-hK2) have been found to be increased in tumor tissues and serum from patients with prostate cancer. We established semiautomatic assays for free-hK2 and pro-hK2 using a research version of the Beckman Coulter ACCESS2 system. Serum samples from a cohort of 189 men undergoing radical prostatectomy for known high-risk disease were assayed for Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA), free-PSA, free-hK2, and pro-hK2. Univariate Cox regression and multivariate models were used to predict both Gleason scores and progression-free survival (PFS). Free-hk2 levels ≥80 ng/L were predictive of both Gleason scores ≥7 (p = 0.04) and PFS (p = 0.03). PSA ≥8.0 µg/L also was predictive of PFS (p = 0.02). However, neither % free-PSA nor pro-hK2, when treated as continuous or cutoff variables were associated with Gleason score or PFS. Multivariable models showed that clinical stage T1c versus T2/T3, Gleason score ≥7, and PSA ≥8.0 µg/L or clinical stage T1c versus T2/T3, Gleason scores ≥7, and free-hK2 ≥80 ng/L were among the best models predicting PFS. Both free-hK2 and PSA in conjunction with clinical stage and Gleason score are good predictors of PFS in prostate cancer.
Aerosol Properties and Their Impacts on Surface CCN at the ARM Southern Great Plains Site during the 2011 Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment

Aerosol particles are of particular importance because of their impacts on cloud development and precipitation processes over land and ocean. Aerosol properties as well as meteorological observations from the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) platform situated in the Southern Great Plains (SGP) are utilized in this study to illustrate the dependence of continental cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) number concentration (NCCN) on aerosol type and transport pathways. ARM-SGP observations from the 2011 Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment field campaign are presented in this study and compared with our previous work during the 2009–10 Clouds, Aerosol, and Precipitation in the Marine Boundary Layer field campaign over the current ARM Eastern North Atlantic site. Northerly winds over the SGP reflect clean, continental conditions with aerosol scattering coefficient (σsp) values less than 20 Mm−1 and NCCN values less than 100 cm−3. However, southerly winds over the SGP are responsible for the observed moderate to high correlation (R) among aerosol loading (σsp < 60 Mm−1) and NCCN, carbonaceous chemical species (biomass burning smoke), and precipitable water vapor. This suggests a common transport mechanism for smoke aerosols and moisture via the Gulf of Mexico, indicating a strong dependence on air mass type. NASA MERRA-2 reanalysis aerosol and chemical data are moderately to highly correlated with surface ARM-SGP data, suggesting that this facility can represent surface aerosol conditions in the SGP, especially during strong aerosol loading events that transport via the Gulf of Mexico. Future long-term investigations will help to understand the seasonal influences of air masses on aerosol, CCN, and cloud properties over land in comparison to over ocean.
Fundamentals and General Applications of Hardmetals

The focus of this article is on introduction to the fundamentals of hardmetals with the emphasis set on straight WC-Co alloys. The influence of various metallurgical parameters on the properties of the hardmetal is dealt with in the first section and some examples for hardmetal applications such as machining, mining, and wear parts are elaborated in the second section.
Deposition and Oxidation of Lipoproteins in Bruch’s Membrane and Choriocapillaris Are “Age-Related” Risk Factors with Implications in Age-Related Macular Degeneration

This chapter reviews the deposition and oxidation of LDL in Bruch’s membrane (BrM), the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), and the choriocapillaris (CH) and the potential consequences of this deposition in relation to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Lipid deposition and oxidation are age-related effects that when considered systemically play an important role in most if not all age-related diseases. Oxidized lipid deposits are found throughout the vascular system where they can initiate chronic inflammatory responses that cause cellular stress and loss of function. Aging is a complex multifactorial process that sets the stage for genetic and environmental factors that initiate the pathogenesis of AMD and other age-related diseases.
The Role of Derivational History in Phonology

From the phonetic point of view, the natural order of application of a pair of rules is the order that minimizes opacity. There is a universal convention specifying that rules are to be applied in an order that minimizes opacity. Global conditions on rules are powerful. The rules that are nonautomatic and neutralizing are limited to derived environments, and no other type of rule can be so limited. Nonautomatic, nonneutralization rules do not merge a phonological opposition and do not apply exceptionlessly. Three types of rules—automatic nonneutralization rules, automatic neutralization rules, and nonautomatic, non-neutralization rules—cannot be restricted to derived contexts. Transformational rules are well motivated as devices for describing a process like metathesis or vowel contraction and other cases of fusion of separate phonological elements. Transformational rules provide an alternative to this global condition by allowing a single rule to be written, which would simultaneously mutate certain stem-final consonants before the perfective suffix and shorten the vowel of the perfective suffix.
Implementation of a Smartphone as a Wearable and Wireless Gyroscope Platform for Machine Learning Classification of Hemiplegic Gait Through a Multilayer Perceptron Neural Network

The smartphone represents a wearable and wireless system with the potential to have transformative influence on the biomedical and healthcare industry. An intrinsic feature of the smartphone is a gyroscope sensor, for which with a software application the smartphone functions as a wearable and wireless gyroscope platform. The resultant gyroscope data recording presents a clinical recognizable signal, which has been successful demonstrated to quantify aspects of human movement characteristics, such as the patellar tendon reflex. Gait another associated feature of human movement can be readily quantified by a smartphone functioning as a wearable and wireless gyroscope platform. The research objective is to distinguish between an affected leg and unaffected leg during hemiplegic gait based on a smartphone functioning as a wearable and wireless gyroscope platform though machine learning classification. A single smartphone is applied to quantify hemiplegic gait. The smartphone is first mounted to the affected leg and then the unaffected leg with velocity constrained to a constant velocity by a treadmill. Through wireless connectivity to the Internet the gyroscope signal data is conveyed as an email attachment for post-processing at a remote location. Software automation consolidates the gyroscope signal data of hemiplegic gait to a feature set for machine learning classification. With the application of a multilayer perceptron neural network considerable classification accuracy is attained for distinguishing between the affected leg and unaffected leg of hemiplegic gait. Future implications of the successful implementation of a smartphone as a wearable and wireless gyroscope for machine learning classification of hemiplegic gait through a multilayer perceptron neural network elucidate pathways to highly optimized therapy through machine learning with the potential for patients to reside remote from their therapist.
The Abdominal Hernia-Q: Development, Psychometric Evaluation, and Prospective Testing.

Objective Our study completes the development and estimates the psychometric properties of a novel, ventral hernia-specific patient reported outcomes (PRO) tool-the Abdominal Hernia-Q (AHQ). Summary background data A standardized method for measuring hernia-related PRO has not been identified. There remains a need for a broadly applicable, hernia-specific tool that incorporates patient viewpoints and offers pre- and postoperative forms. Methods Concept elicitation interviews, focus groups, and cognitive debriefing interviews were completed to define content. The preoperative AHQ was administered to patients scheduled to have a ventral hernia repair (VHR). The postoperative AHQ was administered to patients within 24 months post-VHR. The SF-12 and HerQLes were concurrently administered. Psychometric evaluation was performed. Subsequently, the AHQ (pre: 8 items; post: 16 items) underwent prospective testing. Results Cross-sectional evaluations of patient responses to the AHQ (pre n = 104; post n = 261) demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach α pre = 0.86; post = 0.90) and moderate disattenuated correlations with the HerQLes (pre r = -0.71 and post r = -0.70) and the SF-12 domains (pre and post r ≥ 0.5 for 7 of 8 domains). Principal components analyses produced 2 factors preoperatively and 3 factors postoperatively. In prospective testing (n = 67), the AHQ scores replicated the cross-sectional psychometric results and suggested sensitivity to clinical outcomes. Conclusions Through patient involvement and rigorous, iterative psychometric evaluation, we have produced substantial data to suggest the validity and reliability of AHQ scores in measuring hernia-specific PRO. The AHQ advances the clinical management and treatment of patients with abdominal hernias by providing a more complete understanding of patient-defined outcomes.
Practical text analytics: maximizing the value of text data

Mostly, statisticians and allied researchers resort to quantitative studies in which numerical data are involved. Lately, with the computer oriented professional life of the twenty-first century, r...
Theologie und Literatur. (Zwischen-)Bilanz der „Tübinger Schule“

Warum interessieren sich Theolog*innen fur Literatur? Wofur ‚braucht‘ die akademische Theologie Poesie und fiktionale Narration? Welche Entwicklungen lassen sich fur das interdisziplinare Feld aufzeigen, das man heute als ‚Dialog von Theologie und Literatur(wissenschaft)‘ bezeichnet? Der vorliegende Beitrag skizziert Antworten auf diese Fragen aus der Perspektive der Theologie und konzentriert sich dabei auf den deutschsparchigen Diskurs.
The most important life goals of people with and without social anxiety disorder: Focusing on emotional interference and uncovering meaning in life.

People with social anxiety disorder (SAD) display maladaptive attitudes towards emotions. In this experience-sampling study, we explored the extent to which people with SAD viewed anxiety and pain ...
National Library of Medicine. URL: www.nlm.nih.gov.

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) Web site provides access to the world’s largest body of information in the biomedical sciences. The NLM supports the mission of the National Institutes of Health by fulfilling its library functions of collecting, cataloging, and archiving books, journals, and documents in the fields of medicine, healthcare, and biological sciences, as well as providing free access to this information to investigators, trainees, students, and the public. This Web site provides electronically accessible entry into the major biomedical and life science databases of the world through its links to the principal European and Japanese databases. It also functions as an electronic distribution service for external online journals, both domestic and international in scope. The NLM home page is clear and uncluttered. The two key features displayed are the “Site Index” and a listing of the major services and programs of the NLM. The Site Index, clearly visible in the header, presents all of the categories and subtopics linked to the NLM Web site in an organized format. The NLM “Services and Programs” categories and major subtopics that are displayed in the home page are: Each of these major categories orients …
Hardware Implementation of Discrete Hirschman Transform Convolution Using Distributed Arithmetic

A fast linear convolution algorithm based on the Discrete Hirschman Transform (DHT) has been developed recently. It performs better than the traditional convolution based on the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) in terms of computational complexity. We propose a linear convolution filter implementation using the Distributed Arithmetic (DA) technique for this DHT convolution algorithm. We have realized it in FPGAs to determine its hardware performance. Compared to the traditional DFT convolution filter using the same DA technique, simulation results indicate that our proposed DHT convolution filter has better accuracy. It can also yield more savings in real computations, accesses to memory and latency by more than 23%, 23% and around 25%, respectively.
Exoplanets as Sub-GeV Dark Matter Detectors

We present exoplanets as new targets to discover Dark Matter (DM). Throughout the Milky Way, DM can scatter, become captured, deposit annihilation energy, and increase the heat flow within exoplanets. We estimate upcoming infrared telescope sensitivity to this scenario, finding actionable discovery or exclusion searches. We find that DM with masses above about an MeV can be probed with exoplanets, with DM-proton and DM-electron scattering cross sections down to about $10^{-37}$cm$^2$, stronger than existing limits by up to six orders of magnitude. Supporting evidence of a DM origin can be identified through DM-induced exoplanet heating correlated with Galactic position, and hence DM density. This provides new motivation to measure the temperature of the billions of brown dwarfs, rogue planets, and gas giants peppered throughout our Galaxy.
Trends in Runoff From Dryland, Cropped Fields on the Texas High Plains, and Implications for Their Management

Capturing precipitation as soil moisture is essential for successful dryland crop production, especially in semi-arid regions. Runoff is a loss of precipitation that does not result in increased soil moisture. Therefore, understanding the factors affecting runoff from cropped fields is important to successful dryland farming. Runoff frequency and volume were assessed using data from 1990-2009 from a long-term wheat-sorghum-fallow rotation near Bushland, Texas (USA), an area with an annual precipitation of approximately 500 mm and pan evaporation rate of over 2,000 mm. The likelihood that a rainfall event generated runoff increased with increasing rainfall volume such that all storms in excess of 50 mm yielded runoff. Runoff volume also increased with storm intensity. Rainfall in the preceding week was positively related to runoff volume. Runoff tended to be greater in no-till plots as compared to stubble mulched plots. During El Nino and La Nina phases of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation the number of precipitations during the months of December through February and November through January, respectively, tended to be higher and lower, respectively. There also was a tendency for rainfall events during the El Nino phase to be of greater volume. However, the data did not support the hypothesis that greater winter rainfall with the El Nino event was associated with greater runoff. Therefore, greater rainfall during the El Nino phases should have been available for crop production. These results are discussed with regarding crop management practices for the Texas High Plains.
Beyond Tolerance: Policies, Practices, and Ideologies of Queer-Friendly Workplaces

In the United States, workplace protections for queer and trans workers have expanded; however, previous research has indicated that policy change alone is not sufficient to create supportive workplace cultures. The inequality regimes theoretical framework suggests examining policies, practices, and ideologies to understand inequality in work organizations. Drawing upon 75 qualitative interviews with queer and trans workers in the Portland, OR metro area conducted in 2013, we assessed the policies, practices, and ideologies that shaped how queer and trans workers experienced their workplaces. We found participants’ narratives about queer-friendly workplaces focused on: organizational policies and practices; disclosure, visibility, and recognition of queer and trans identities; and protection from discrimination based on sexuality, gender, and other intersecting marginalized identities. We found that trans workers experienced more challenges than cisgender workers in all these areas. In addition to articulating the impact of cisnormativity and heteronormativity, some participants experienced homonormativity, which emphasizes tolerance through assimilation and minimized the relevance of queer identities at work. We found that not all queer and trans people were equally able or willing to access this assimilation. Ultimately, while laws and workplace policies provide critical protections for queer and trans workers, practices and ideologies that encourage queer disclosure, visibility, and recognition and provide protection from discrimination are also central to achieving acceptance, a central goal for queer-friendly workplaces. This research indicates that legal and organizational changes are needed to support queer-friendly workplaces. These changes include: policies (e.g. legal protections from discrimination, organizational anti-discrimination policies, policies to support transitioning workers), practices (e.g. recognition of queer and trans identities, queer and trans employee groups, gender neutral bathrooms), and ideologies (e.g. rejection of cisnormativity, heteronormativity, and homonormativity).
Profiling susceptibility of NIAID Category A and B priority and emerging pathogens to define strain panels for drug discovery and active drug classes

Drug susceptibility profiles of NIAID Category A and B priority and emerging pathogens to standard of care drugs were assessed to determine susceptibility against clinical strains in addition to reference laboratory strains to establish a comparison resource for the performance of drug candidates, to define non-redundant minimal strain panels for individual species and the group of species for use in drug screening programs, and provide pharmacophore classification. Profiling of standard of care drugs against strains of each species revealed a broad spectrum of susceptibility among strains in each species with important differences between standard laboratory reference strains and strains of clinical origin. Unbiased hierarchical clustering analyses of strain susceptibilities within each species group and strains from all the species identified subsets of non-redundant strains that are able to classify the susceptibility range for each species and able to classify all the species. This analysis established a reduced targeted set of Category A and B priority pathogen strains for testing the potency of drug candidates against each species and pan-species. This approach also discriminated pharmacophore classification for each species. This information can be applied to directed screening efforts to guide the selection of drug classes for derivatization and repurposing, and advance drug candidates with the greatest potential for efficacy against NIAID Category A and B priority and emerging pathogens.
Generating indicator species for bird monitoring within the humid forests of northeast Central America

The use of indicator species can simplify bird monitoring by reducing the level of specialized skills needed, which increases the potential pool of participants and reduces training costs and complexity. To facilitate monitoring in the humid forests of northeast Central America, we conducted point count surveys for birds across gradients of disturbance in the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, Belize, and analyzed the association of bird species with remotely sensed metrics of forest condition and anthropogenic disturbance using indicator species analysis. Twenty species exhibited significant associations with one or more of these metrics. We propose six species as indicators for anthropogenic disturbance based on our criteria of being associated with anthropogenically disturbed sites, or anthropogenically disturbed and riparian sites with no explicit mention in the literature of an obligate association with riparian habitats, or association of remotely sensed metrics that appeared to reflect disturbance: yellow-olive flycatcher, red-legged honeycreeper, dusky antbird, blue ground dove, buff-throated saltator, and brown jay. We propose the keel-billed motmot as an indicator of undisturbed forest based on its association with forested sites in our analyses. Green shrike vireo, collard trogon, rufous-tailed jacamar, and rufous piha were associated with a specific elevational range but not associated with disturbance, so upward shifts in elevation that might indicate response to climate change would not be confounded with habitat disturbance or degradation. This exercise yielded a much-reduced list of monitoring targets, which will greatly reduce the cost and complexity of forest bird monitoring in the region, as well as reducing barriers to participation.
Implications of complete watershed soil moisture measurements to hydrologic modeling

A series of six microwave data collection flights for measuring soil moisture were made over a small 7.8 square kilometer watershed in southwestern Minnesota. These flights were made to provide 100 percent coverage of the basin at a 400 m resolution. In addition, three flight lines were flown at preselected areas to provide a sample of data at a higher resolution of 60 m. The low level flights provide considerably more information on soil moisture variability. The results are discussed in terms of reproducibility, spatial variability and temporal variability, and their implications for hydrologic modeling.
Field computations for DIII-D RWM stabilization coil systems

Stabilization of the resistive wall mode (RWM) is seen by fusion researchers as central to the ability to operate modern experimental devices in advanced tokamak (AT) regimes. On DIII-D first the external "C-" and now the internal "I-coil" arrays have been used in both static and dynamic RWM stabilization experiments. A suite of analysis routines was developed to analyze the magnetic fields produced by these two coil systems in realistic three-dimensional (3D) geometries. With these routines we are able to look at possible operating scenarios of the coil arrays, individually or in combination, and compare the fields produced by the coils to mode patterns from theoretical ideal-MHD calculations. These types of analyses can be an extremely valuable tool during the coil system commissioning and experiment startup process where there are uncertainties regarding installation details and connection of the various hardware components that comprise the complete system.
The role of prudent love in the practice of clinical medicine.

Rationale Virtues are an important component in the practice of clinical medicine. Prudence or wisdom and charity or love are often viewed as crucial for virtuous practice. Generally, the two virtues are discussed separately, with no connection between them; however, a synergy exists between the two virtues as a compound virtue of prudent love in which the properties of the compound virtue transcend those of the individual virtues. Aims and objectives To examine the nature of prudent love and to discuss its role in the practice of clinical medicine. Methods Philosophical and conceptual analyses. Results Prudent love exhibits properties, which are the result of a synergistic interaction between the two individual virtues. Succinctly, prudent love synergism is an outcome of a particular structural relationship between the two virtues in which motivational love prompts the prudent clinician to acquire and utilize clinical competence, which then allows the loving clinician to take care of an individual patient's health care needs. In turn, the virtuous clinician's ability to meet those needs successfully feedbacks onto the motivation to satisfy them initially, thereby encouraging and enhancing the clinician to fulfil them even more prudently and lovingly, not only for the individual patient but also for other patients. Conclusions The compound virtue of prudent love provides a comprehensive approach to practising medicine that meets not only the needs of patients but also fulfils the physician's sense as healer. Although challenges face teaching virtues in the medical curriculum, strategies are available for incorporating training in virtues into the curriculum.
The Resurgence of Italian Unions

ing political power, membership loss, and significant interand intraunion con flicts, Italy's three major union confeder ations the Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro (CGIL), the Confed erazione Italiana dei Sindacati Lavora tori (CISL), and the Unione Italiana dei Lavoratori (UIL), have reemerged as key actors in Italy's political economy. How did this turnaround occur and how sta ble is the new position of Italian labor? We argue that changes in Italy's political environment, specifically the demise of the old party system and various strate gic changes by the Italian unions them selves brought about this reversal of fortune; it promises to be much more stable than previous efforts at recasting Italian labor relations.
Unusual open chain quinolinyl peroxol and its alcohol counterpart obtained through a modified Skraup–Doebner–Von Miller quinoline synthesis: theoretical studies and complete 1H- and 13C-NMR assignments

Because of their extreme instability, it is generally difficult to synthesize and fully characterize open chain peroxides, also known as peroxols. In our attempt to investigate the mechanism of the Skraup–Doebner–Von Miller quinoline synthesis, we were able to obtain an unusual open chain peroxy-quinoline, namely, 4-(8-ethoxy-2,3-dihydro-1H-cyclopenta[c]quinolin-4-yl)butane-1-peroxol (1), and its alcohol counterpart, namely 4-(8-ethoxy-2,3-dihydro-1H-cyclopenta[c]quinolin-4-yl)butan-1-ol (2) obtained as a side product during the same reaction. Although structurally similar, these two compounds appeared to display some very distinct physical and spectroscopic characteristics. This work reports detailed NMR studies and full 1H and 13 C NMR assignments for these two compounds. These assignments are based upon the analysis of the NMR spectra of these compounds including 1H, 13 C, COSY, gHSQC and gHMBC. The effect of the peroxide functional group on the chemical shift of neighboring carbons and protons was also investigated by comparing the NMR data of these two compounds. Furthermore, the effects of potential hydrogen bondings in 1, 2, and possible 1–1 dimer, 2–2 dimer and in prototypical model systems, as well as the stability of these compounds, were investigated computationally. The computed dissociation energies and NMR data support the interpretation of the experimental data. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The open cluster M67 as a fundamental standard of reference for stellar properties.

With the possible exception of the Hyades, M67 is the best-studied star cluster. Accurate photoelectric photometry exists well down onto the main sequence and proper motion studies have isolated cluster stars from the field. From photometry and spectroscopy, its composition is determined to be almost exactly the same as the Sun, with an age about one-half billion years less. This similarity to the gun permits an accurate determination of distance to M67 independently of other distance measurements. Using the Sun as a reference, the distance modulus of M67 is found to be 9.48 mag. An extensive analysis of possible sources of error leads to an uncertainty (standard error) of ± 0.15 mag., with the chief sources of error being the color index of the Stan, the composition of the cluster, and its age. The M67 distance uncertainty compares favorably with Hanson’s (1975) Hyades modulus of 3.29 ± 0.08.
The Binding of Deoxyribonucleic Acid and Histone in Native Nucleohistone

Abstract The dissociation of histones from DNA by salt has been reinvestigated. Previous methods were examined and found to be unsatisfactory for two reasons. (a) An endogenous proteolytic enzyme is highly active during the separation procedures and the resultant histones are severely degraded. (b) Dissociated histones aggregate at elevated salt concentrations and histone can subsequently cosediment with DNA, thus decreasing the apparent level of dissociation. We describe conditions in solutions of sodium phosphate-urea at pH 5.5 which not only alleviate the above problems, but also permit a highly selective extraction of either histone F1 or of histones F1, F2b, and F2a2 from the other histone fractions. Evidence is presented arguing that histones interact with DNA through two kinds of binding. On the one hand there is a substantial involvement of electrostatic ionic bonds and on the other there is a variable contribution from an interaction which has many of the features of the hydrophobic bond. This latter interaction is characterized by (a) a decrease in strength in solutions of urea, (b) a decrease in strength in hydrophobic solvents such as in the presence of 1-propanol or propylurea, and (c) an increase in binding at higher temperatures. The contribution of this additional interaction is most marked for the arginine-rich histones F3 and F2a1 and least so for the lysine-rich histone F1. We have also observed that F3 and F2a1 bind denatured DNA so strongly that they cannot be dissociated at all in high salt or at low pH unless high urea concentrations are also present.
On resonant hamiltonians with two degrees of freedom near an equilibrium point

This paper discusses the flow of a classical Hamiltonian with two degrees of freedom near an equilibrium point under the assumption that its quadratic part assumes the form $$L_ \pm = \tfrac{1}{2}(x_1^2 + y_1^2 ) \pm \tfrac{1}{2}(x_2^2 + y_2^2 ) .$$
Clinical Implications of a Sandwich Enzyme Immunoassay for Big Endothelin-1

Endothelin (ET) is an endothelial-derived peptide that exerts potent vasoconstrictive activity in vivo and in vitro. An increasing body of evidence suggests that ET may have a significant role in the pathophysiological processes leading to cardiovascular disease states. Although it is not certain at this point whether ET is primarily responsible for initiating these events, sufficient evidence exists to conclude that ET is involved as a mediator or cofactor in these disease states. ET was first described by Yanagisawa et al. in 1988 (1). The pre-propeptide is cleaved to form big ET (39 amino acids) and then is further cleaved by an endothelin-converting enzyme (ECE) to form the 21-amino acid active peptide. Three pharmacologically distinct isopeptides (ET-1, ET-2, and ET-3) exist, derived from three different pre-propeptides that are encoded by separate genes (2). The ET-1 isopeptide is primarily responsible for the observed vasomotor effects. Two distinct ET receptors exist: ET-A and ET-B, the latter being associated with both vasoconstrictive and vasodilatory effects (3). In addition to its vasoactive effects, ET has been shown to affect cellular proliferation. Endothelial cells form a single-cell-thick layer that lines the entire vasculature. The continuous production and release of endothelin from the endothelial cells underscores the significant role of this peptide in the regulation of vascular tone and growth in both physiological and pathophysiological states. ET-1 has been implicated in the pathogenesis of numerous disease processes, particularly cardiovascular diseases. Significant ongoing research …
Take a walk, grow a tree

A simple randomized algorithm is presented for maintaining dynamically evolving binary trees on hypercube networks. The algorithm guarantees that: (1) nodes adjacent in the tree are within distance O(log log N) in an N-processor hypercube, and (2) with overwhelming probability, no hypercube processor is assigned more than O(1+M/N) tree nodes, where M is the number of nodes in the tree. The algorithm is distributed and does not require any global information. This is the first load-balancing algorithm with provably good performance. The algorithm can be used to parallelize efficiently any tree-based computation. It can also be used to maintain efficiently dynamic data structures such as quadtrees. A technique called tree surgery is introduced to deal with dependencies inherent in trees. Together with tree surgery, the study of random walks is used to analyze the algorithm. >
Odorant receptor-mediated sperm activation in disease vector mosquitoes

Insects, such as the malaria vector mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, depend upon chemoreceptors to respond to volatiles emitted from a range of environmental sources, most notably blood meal hosts and oviposition sites. A subset of peripheral signaling pathways involved in these insect chemosensory-dependent behaviors requires the activity of heteromeric odorant receptor (OR) ion channel complexes and ligands for numerous A. gambiae ORs (AgOrs) have been identified. Although AgOrs are expressed in nonhead appendages, studies characterizing potential AgOr function in nonolfactory tissues have not been conducted. In the present study, we explore the possibility that AgOrs mediate responses of spermatozoa to endogenous signaling molecules in A. gambiae. In addition to finding AgOr transcript expression in testes, we show that the OR coreceptor, AgOrco, is localized to the flagella of A. gambiae spermatozoa where Orco-specific agonists, antagonists, and other odorant ligands robustly activate flagella beating in an Orco-dependent process. We also demonstrate Orco expression and Orco-mediated activation of spermatozoa in the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti. Moreover, we find Orco localization in testes across distinct insect taxa and posit that OR-mediated responses in spermatozoa may represent a general characteristic of insect reproduction and an example of convergent evolution.
Initial entry of IRAP into the insulin-responsive storage compartment occurs prior to basal or insulin-stimulated plasma membrane recycling.

To examine the acquisition of insulin sensitivity after the initial biosynthesis of the insulin-responsive aminopeptidase (IRAP), 3T3-L1 adipocytes were transfected with an enhanced green fluoresce...
Stability and infrequency of radiologic technologist malpractice payments: an analysis of the National Practitioner Data Bank.

Purpose The aim of this study was to describe characteristics and trends of radiologic technologist (RT) malpractice payments. Methods National Practitioner Data Bank data files were analyzed for details of RT malpractice payments from 1991 through 2008. Payment amounts, sources, and allegations were all identified and summarized, along with geographic and demographic data. Results Between 1991 and 2008, a total of 155 RT malpractice payments were reported nationally, ranging from $750 to $11.5 million (median, $57,500; mean, $293,655 ± $1,305,091), with 153 (99%) Conclusion Malpractice payments on behalf of RTs are very infrequent (on average,
Phenotypic dissections of the Blastocladiella emersonii zoospore's developmental choice

Abstract Blastocladiella emersonii zoospores can either remain actively motile cells that lack a cell wall and do not grow, or they can encyst, thereby losing cellular motility and gaining a cell wall, in preparation for entering the growth phase. Exclusively post-translational controls appear to mediate the zoospore's choice, in response to environmental cues. Encystment can be elicited by any one of a variety of compounds, but their encystment eliciting effects can be blocked by “zoospore maintenance factor” (ZMF). The minimal concentrations of elicitors just yielding maximal percentage encystment (in the absence of ZMF) vary over 10 orders of magnitude. Cyclic GMP is uniquely effective only in the picomolar range, about 8 orders of magnitude below the effective range for cAMP. ZMF, released into the medium by the organism during zoospore production ( W. K. Gottschalk and D. R. Sonneborn, 1981, Exp. Mycol. 5, 1–14 ), blocks percentage encystment in a concentration-dependent manner. Encystment initiation is accomplished within 1–2 min exposure of zoospores to any given elicitor, in the presence or absence of ZMF, such that an external elicitor is no longer required to complete encystment. The encystment block point mediated by ZMF occurs after initiation, thus leading to retention of the motile zoospore phenotype; the block point is passed, and zoospores encyst, following removal of external ZMF. Certain encystment elicitors (MnSO4, cGMP, cAMP, adenosine, divalent cation ionophores) yield bell-shaped dose-response (percentage encystment) plots; at appropriately high concentration, each compound mediates an encystment block point that occurs after encystment initiation but before the ZMF block point. In each case, the block is passed, and zoospores encyst, following external removal of the blocking agent. The latter block points, as opposed to the ZMF block point, are inoperative in the NaCl-elicited encystment pathway. The data establish that zoospores possess cellular machinery that can allow them to reassess their developmental choice after the encystment alternative has been initiated.
Construction and Application of a Rh–Pt DNA Metalloinsertor Conjugate

We report the synthesis and characterization of a bimetallic conjugate (RhPt) in which an oxaliplatin derivative is tethered to a rhodium metalloinsertor through an aminomalonate leaving group ligand. The complex interacts with DNA through metalloinsertion at a base pair mismatch followed by formation of a covalent Pt–DNA adduct. Characterization of RhPt in mismatch repair-deficient HCT116O cells reveals increased cytotoxicity compared to cisplatin and oxaliplatin as well as relative to the unconjugated rhodium and platinum counterparts. Caspase and poly-ADP ribose polymerase inhibition assays indicate that RhPt induces apoptotic cell death. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) experiments reveal that RhPt exhibits enhanced cellular uptake properties that contribute to its increased efficacy.
Depressed and Well Mothers' Emotion Interpretation Accuracy and the Quality of Mother-Infant Interaction

The inadequate parenting associated with mothers' depression may be related to mothers' problems in interpreting infants' emotional expressions. The relations between depressed and well mothers' accuracy at interpreting babies' facial expressions and the quality of the mothers' interactions with their infants were examined. In partial support of our hypotheses, depressed mothers' level of depressive symptoms was associated with less accuracy, especially regarding positive emotions. Contrary to expectations, depressed mothers did not differ from well mothers in terms of their emotion accuracy. Furthermore, depressed mothers' accuracy at interpreting infants' emotions was not significantly related to the quality of their interaction with their infants; in contrast, well mothers' accuracy for infants' negative emotions was associated with better interaction quality. These findings provide new information about depressed mothers' emotional interpretations and their parenting. The different pattern of findings...
Readability of Questionnaires Assessing Listening Difficulties Associated With (Central) Auditory Processing Disorders

Purpose Eight English-language, student- or parent proxy-administered questionnaires for (central) auditory processing disorders, or (C)APD, were analyzed for readability. For student questionnaires, readability levels were checked against the approximate reading grade levels by intended administration age per the questionnaires' developers. For proxy questionnaires, results were compared to the reading grade level for the average U.S. adult and the minimum 5th- to 6th-grade reading level for health materials as recommended by adult health literacy experts. Method This was a descriptive study that was based on the results of a commercially available readability calculations software package. Text-based files of the 8 questionnaires were analyzed using 3 readability formulas: FORCAST (Caylor & Sticht, 1973), Flesch Reading Ease (FRE; Flesch, 1948), and Gunning’s Fog index (FOG; Gunning, 1952). Results The FORCAST formula, the most appropriate for nonnarrative-type materials, indicated that all 8 questionna...
Failure to diagnose breast cancer malpractice claims: a new threat to obstetrics and gynecology?

Abstract Malpractice claims against obstetrician-gynecologists for failure to diagnose breast cancer are increasing, but loss prevention techniques can provide quality patient care and avoidance of claims.