cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
HUMAN TESTIS-SPECIFIC LACTATE DEHYDROGENASE-C PROMOTER DRIVES OVEREXPRESSION OF MOUSE LACTATE DEHYDROGENASE-1 CDNA IN TESTES OF TRANSGENIC MICE

The three isozymes of lactate dehydrogenase, each encoded by a separate gene, are developmentally regulated and differentially expressed in tissue-specific patterns. The lactate dehydrogenase-C (LDHC, mouse Ldh3) gene is temporally expressed exclusively in the germ line during spermatogenesis, whereas lactate dehydrogenase-A (LDHA, mouse Ldh1) and B (LDHB, mouse Ldh2) genes are active in somatic tissues. To determine, therefore, whether overexpression of Ldh1 would perturb spermatogenesis, we constructed a transgene in which a sequence from the promoter region of human LDHC was coupled with mouse Ldh1 cDNA. Among nine (three males, six females) founder lines that were identified as being transgenic for the construct, one male transmitted the gene through its germ line. Homo- and heterotetramers containing the LDH-A subunit were detected in homogenates of testes from transgenic animals. We conclude that the human LDHC promoter contains the necessary regulatory sequence(s) for specific expression of mouse Ldh1 as a transgene during spermatogenesis. The fertility of the founder animal was not impaired.
The case method: A perspective

The task of preparing a case is similar to writing a legal brief or an essay insofar as all three should contain a thesis or main point and argumentation or logically arranged facts and inferences. However, different from a brief or an essay, case studies should not contain a conclusion. A case should lead the reader through the facts, but it should not offer a firm or fixed resolution or moral judgment. Ideally it should leave the reader with the opportunity to create and insert their own conclusion. A good case study should be amenable to the following kinds of questions or analysis procedures:
Homeostatic disruption and memory: effect of insulin administration in rats

The present study examined the effect of insulin-induced hypoglycemia on 24-h retention of passive avoidance in rats. In the initial experiment, rats received either insulin (50 U/kg) or saline injections 30 min prior to training and testing. Impairments in retention were observed when animals were trained with insulin and tested with saline. This anterograde memory loss was attenuated, however, when insulin was administered prior to both training and testing. A subsequent experiment further explored the disruptive effect of hypoglycemia on memory. Data from this study indicated that lower doses of insulin at training (5 and 10 U/rat) yielded impairments in 24-h retention of passive avoidance. It is concluded that disruption of glucoregulation can produce state-dependent anterograde memory losses in rats. Possible implications for the effects of hypoglycemia on cognitive functioning in humans are discussed.
A Source of X-Rays Using Resonance Transition Radiation

The resonance condition for transition radiation is considered as a possible method for providing x-rays with a specified frequecy spectrum. Two radiators have been designed for peak emission at photon energies of 11.6 and 12.8 keV. With an incident 4 GeV positron beam, the spectra of the radiators were measured and the results were in good agreement with theoretical predictions.
ATTACHMENT OF PNEUMOCYSTIS CARINII TO PRIMARY CULTURES OF RAT ALVEOLAR EPITHELIAL CELLS

Pneumocystis carinii (PC) is an exclusively extracellular pathogen which causes pneumonia in immunocompromised individuals. Histologic studies have demonstrated that PC organisms attach preferentially to type I alveolar epithelial cells and rarely bind to type II cells. Previous reports have demonstrated that cultured type II cells develop a type I cell-like phenotype and express type I cell surface antigens. The current study examines the attachment of PC organisms to isolated rat type H alveolar epithelial cells as a function of time in culture. PC attachment to isolated type II cells increased as the type II cells differentiated in culture from 2.3 ± 1.2% on Day 2 to 18.4 ± 2.7% by Day 8. Previous studies have indicated a role for fibronectin (Fn) and Fn receptors as mediators of PC attachment. Addition of anti-Fn antibodies decreased attachment of PC to Day 8 type II cells from 19.4 ± 2.5% to 9.4 ± 1.9% (P < 0.01). Addition of antibodies to the αv and α5 integrin subunits resulted in significant decreases in PC attachment to Day 8 type II cells. Examination of expression of αv and α5 integrins on Day 2 and Day 8 type II cells demonstrated increased expression of both αv and α5 integrin subunits on Day 8 type II cells. Overall these data indicate that attachment of PC to isolated rat type II cells increases as the cells differentiate into a type I cell-like phenotype in vitro and correlates with increased expression of Fn-binding integrins on the cell surface of the cultured type II cells.
Spectrum Sensing Using a Hidden Bivariate Markov Model

A new statistical model, in the form of a hidden bivariate Markov chain observed through a Gaussian channel, is developed and applied to spectrum sensing for cognitive radio. We focus on temporal spectrum sensing in a single narrowband channel in which a primary transmitter is either in an idle or an active state. The main advantage of the proposed model, compared to a standard hidden Markov model (HMM), is that it allows a phase-type dwell time distribution for the process in each state. This distribution significantly generalizes the geometric dwell time distribution of a standard HMM. Measurements taken from real data confirm that the geometric dwell time distribution characteristic of the HMM is not adequate for this application. The Baum algorithm is used to estimate the parameter of the proposed model and a forward recursion is applied to online estimation and prediction of the state of the cognitive radio channel. The performance of the proposed model and spectrum sensing approach are demonstrated using numerical results derived from real spectrum measurement data.
Tariffs, real exchange rates, and the trade balance in a two-country world

Abstract An intertemporal model of a two-country world in which optimizing agents consume three goods (importables, exportables and nontradables), is developed to investigate a tariffs effects on real interest rates, real exchange rates and the trade balance. Real interest rates and real exchange rates are shown to move asymmetrically across countries in response to a temporary tariff. We also show that, in contrast to the findings of two-tradable good models, a temporary tariff may actually worsen the trade balance of both deficit and surplus countries, even when there are no cross-country differences in tastes.
Multiple-electron processes in fast ion-atom collisions

Abstract Research in atomic physics at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory SuperHILAC and Bevalac accelerators on multiple-electron processes in fast ion-atom collisions is described. Experiments have studied various aspects of the charge-transfer, ionization, and excitation processes. Examples of processes in which electron correlation plays a role are resonant transfer and excitation and Auger-electron emission. Processes in which electron behavior can generally be described as uncorrelated include ionization and charge transfer in high-energy ion-atom collisions. A variety of experiments and results for energies from 1 to 420 MeV u are presented.
EFFICACY OF SOUR WHEY AS A SHELF-LIFE ENHANCER: USE IN ANTIOXIDATIVE EDIBLE COATINGS OF CUT VEGETABLES AND FRUIT*

The effectiveness of edible coatings containing sour whey powder (SWP), compared with soy protein isolate (SPI) and calcium caseinate (CC), in reducing oxidative browning and moisture loss during storage (4C) of cut apples, potatoes, carrots, and onions was investigated. Oxidative discoloration, as determined by the Commission Internationale de I'Eclairage L*a*b* color scale, was significantly reduced (P < 0.05) by treatments over a storage time of 120 min. Loss of lightness was reduced by CC, SPI and SWP coatings. These respectively showed 2.7, 3.3 and 1.5% change of L* value in coated apples as compared with 7.4% in the control. Browning in cut potatoes was significantly reduced from a 145.1% increase in the a* value of the control to 45.9, 37.0 and 30.3% increase for CC, SPI and SWP treatments, respectively. The b* values also reflected the effectiveness of SWP. The moisture barrier effect, tested over a period of 5 days at 4C, was significantly better for the treatments than control. SWP was the best and significantly reduced moisture loss in potatoes and carrots by 40 and 59%, respectively, over control. Cut onions did not show any treatment effect both in terms of off-color development and moisture loss. The reasons for the excellent moisture barrier and antioxidative property of SWP were discussed. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Oxidative degradation of fresh fruits and vegetables is a major problem faced by the industry today. Most of the fresh produce is grown in the southwestern part of the country, requiring days of transportation to retail outlets. As the educated consumer is highly health conscious, any effort in extending the shelf life will have to be nonchemical, and preferably natural. Because of small profit margins, the intervention must also be inexpensive. Millions of MT of sour whey, a by-product of cottage whey manufacture, is wasted because of the lack of appropriate food applications. It is natural, nutritious and presently very inexpensive. Our research investigated the possibility of using this by-product as a final wash to enhance the so-called window of freshness of fresh produce and fruit.
Border commuter workers and transfrontier metropolitan structure along the United States‐Mexico Border

This article examines Mexican border commuter workers within the context of the emerging socio-geographical structure of metropolitan areas along the U.S.-Mexico boundary. While border commuters are, in a sense, part of the larger migrant labor pool that travels from Mexico to the United States, this study seeks to demonstrate that the Mexican commuter experience is part of a phenomenon unique to the border region, thus generating a research agenda that moves beyond the framework of general migration theory.
FDG PET for the study of primary hepatic malignancies in children.

*INTRODUCTIONFDG PET is an important imaging modality in themanagement of adult patients with oncologic disorders,andhasbeenapprovedbytheCenterforMedicareServicefor multiple indications [1]. The role of FDG PET in theevaluation of pediatric malignancies is evolving [2,3].PET holds great promise in assisting the management ofchildhood tumors, but since these are relatively rare, theprecise roles of PET in individual malignancies have notyetbeenwelldeﬁned.Thereislimitedliteratureontheroleof FDG PET in primary hepatic malignancies in adults.In children, who have a different spectrum of primaryliver tumors as compared to adults, the data are evensparser.Incontrasttoadults,childrenwithprimaryhepaticmalignancies typically have normal hepatic function andnormal hepatic structure in areas not involved with tumor[4–6]. Inview of themany differences between adult andpediatric hepatic malignancies, we sought to explore theuptake of FDG in pediatric patients with primary livertumorsandtoevaluatethepotentialclinicalutilityofFDGPETimaging in children with liver tumors.MATERIALS AND METHODSSeven patients, aged 11 months to 5 years 4 months,underwent FDG PET scanning. There were four boys,three girls. Diagnoses were hepatoblastoma (n¼5) andembryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (n¼2). In addition,patients also underwent CT scans, MRI and bone scansasclinicallyindicated.FDGPETscanwasobtainedwithin2 weeks of concurrent CT, MRI, or bone scan. The FDGPET scan procedurewas explained, and written informedconsent was obtained from a parent of the pediatricpatient.ParentswereinstructedtomaintainthechildNPOfor4hrforscans occurringintheafternoon,orNPOaftermidnightforscansoccurringinthemorning.Patients1–6received 370 MBq (10 mCi) FDG/1.7 m
Microwave short-pulse generator for bed-level detection

Describes the design and testing of a short-pulse microwave radar system which is simple both in design and operation. The radar can be used for measuring with accuracy targets which are very near the measurement system. A very simple step-recovery diode circuit is used to generate the radar pulses. Experimental testing has been conducted in the laboratory using metal and limestone targets.
Inductance of Steel Reënforced Aluminum Cable

Calculated values of inductance of steel reenforced aluminum cable, presented in this paper, show that previously published values of inductance obtained experimetally are in error by amounts ranging up to 5 per cent. Furthermore, all these errors are on the low side, that is, the unsafe side from the standpoint of the design engineer.
Priorities for policy research on treatments for alcohol and drug use disorders

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Substance Abuse Policy Research Program (SAPRP) supported 368 awards for nearly $60 million to complete policy research related to alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use and abuse. As part of its closure in 2009, SAPRP commissioned four papers that articulated policy research priorities for tobacco cessation and control, alcohol prevention, drug prevention, and addiction treatment. The papers were released at a Congressional Briefing on October 2, 2009 and are available on the SAPRP Web site (http://www.saprp.org/Research_Agenda.cfm). An abridged version of the treatment policy paper summarizes what we know, what we need to know, and research recommendations. The paper examines five categories of policy concerns that are likely to affect addiction treatment services over the next 5 years: (a) organization and delivery of care, (b) quality of care, (c) evidence-based practices, (d) access to care, and (e) financing, costs, and value of care.
Arthropod vertical stratification in temperate deciduous forests: Implications for conservation-oriented management

Studies on the vertical distribution patterns of arthropods in temperate deciduous forests reveal highly stratified (i.e., unevenly vertically distributed) communities. These patterns are determined by multiple factors acting simultaneously, including: (1) time (forest age, season, time of day); (2) forest structure (height, vertical foliage complexity, plant surface textures, tree cavities); (3) plant community composition (plant diversity, invasive species); (4) climatic gradients (light exposure, temperature, wind speed, humidity); (5) resource availability (foliage, sugars, wood, epiphytes, carrion, dung, prey, hosts, mates); (6) inter-specific interactions (predation, interference, competition) and (7) logistics (dispersal abilities, proximity to emergence sites, open flight zones). Several recommendations can be made with respect to incorporating canopy habitats and resources into management plans in order to maintain diverse forest arthropod communities. Efforts should be made to maintain diverse plant communities, for instance, including eliminating or controlling invasive plant competitors. Protecting large diameter trees and snags is also important, especially for a wide variety of canopy arthropod taxa associated with standing or suspended dead wood, tree cavities and epiphytes. Finally, it is essential to ensure adequate spatial and temporal continuity in the availability of these and other key resources. Although how to best achieve this last objective remains an active area of research, it may be preferable to retain clusters of trees as opposed to isolated individuals.
The American Dream and the Power of Wealth

Heather Johnson joins two streams of scholarship in her recent book The American Dream and the Power of Wealth. The first is the now-familiar story that family wealth plays a central role in the stratification of U.S. society, and that social class and race inequalities are magnified due to their association with the intergenerational transfer of wealth and its advantages. The second, more interesting argument is that everyone recog nizes that wealth matters, but that this knowledge does not dislodge a deep and abiding belief in the American Dream of meritocracy. Johnson refers to this variously as a "paradox," "contradiction," "unresolved con flict," or "disjointed logic." Whatever we might choose to call it, the book focuses on the juxtaposition of a sociological truism?that wealth matters in access to good schools and in getting ahead in U.S. society?and a belief system that she refers to as the "American Dream." How, she asks, can rich and poor alike acknowledge that wealth matters in providing advantages, yet cling so passionately to an ideology that says that anyone can make it, regardless of their social origins? Johnson draws on in-depth interviews with 232 black and white par ents of school-age children in Boston, Los Angeles, and St. Louis, most of whom were middle class. She supplemented these data with interviews of the members of 20 wealthy white families in Washington, DC and New York City. The volume and vividness of the data are impressive: the inter views ask important questions about how wealth works, the nature of the ideology of meritocracy, and how parents strategically choose schools for their children to attend. In demonstrating that poor and middle-class fam ilies alike recognize that wealth matters, but cling to the American Dream, Johnson invites the reader to join her in illuminating an opportunity struc ture that is unfair and unjust, and reflecting on the policies and practices that sustain the reproduction of social inequality across generations. In spite of the power and passion of Johnson's prose, I am not per suaded by her account of the phenomenon she seeks to understand. I have three major reservations, which I develop below. First, I think that
Atypical Calciphylaxis in a Patient Receiving Warfarin Then Resolving With Cessation of Warfarin and Application of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Calciphylaxis is a rare, usually fatal vasculopathic disorder characterized by cutaneous ischemia and necrosis due to calcification of arterioles. Although calciphylaxis is most frequently associated with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and secondary hyperparathyroidism, it has been reported infrequently among patients on warfarin. No standard treatment has been established for atypical calciphylaxis; however, a potentially beneficial treatment is hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). A high degree of clinical suspicion, early diagnosis, and understanding the pathophysiology of this disease promotes the optimal management of this extremely morbid and often fatal condition. Case Report: We present a 63-year-old Polynesian woman with biopsy-proven calciphylaxis in the absence of ESRD or elevated serum calcium levels while taking warfarin. Therapeutic dose enoxaparin was substituted for warfarin and she received 40 sessions of HBOT during which lower extremity ulcers resolved. Discussion: Warfarin has been implic...
Sex Hormone-Binding Protein, Hyperinsulinemia, Insulin Resistance and Noninsulin-Dependent Diabetes

Possible data implicating sex hormones, especially testosterone, in the etiology of cardiovascular disease and noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) comes from the much higher rates of cardio
Hydrodynamic tracer diffusion in suspensions of swimming bacteria

We present theoretical predictions, simulations, and experimental measurements of the diffusion of passive, Brownian tracer particles in the bulk of three-dimensional suspensions of swimming bacteria performing run-tumble random walks. In the theory, we derive an explicit expression for the “hydrodynamic” tracer diffusivity that results from the fluid disturbances created by a slender-body model of bacteria by ensemble averaging the mass conservation equation of the tracer over the space of tracer-bacterium interactions which are assumed to be binary. The theory assumes that the orientations of the bacterium before and after a tumble are uncorrelated and the fluid velocity disturbance created by the bacterium is small compared to its swimming speed. The dependence of the non-dimensional hydrodynamic diffusivity Dh obtained by scaling the dimensional hydrodynamic diffusivity by nL3UsL on the persistence in bacterial swimming and the Brownian diffusivity of the tracer are studied in detail through two nond...
Pain and genetics

Purpose of reviewPain management is one of the most important fields in the practice of anesthesiology. The concept that genes involved in the absorption, metabolism, and receptor affinity of analgesics are critical to a drug's efficacy is becoming widely accepted. A review of pharmacogenomics and h
Hysteretic characterization of cold-formed steel stud-to-sheathing connections

Abstract The series of experiments reported here aims to characterize the hysteretic behavior of the connection between cold-formed steel (CFS) studs and sheathing when subject to in-plane lateral demands. This connection provides the key energy dissipating behavior in wood sheathed CFS shear walls, and provides bracing to the studs under gravity and out-of-plane loads. A testing rig is developed consisting of two CFS lipped channels facing toe-to-toe connected on the flanges by sheathing (oriented strand board, or gypsum board) and cycled such that the eight connecting fasteners experience shear. Sheathing configuration, fastener spacing, steel thickness, and fastener type are varied to determine connection performance. The dominant role of sheathing type and stud thickness is highlighted in the results. The hysteretic behavior of the experimental results is summarized for further use in the analysis of shear walls and under gravity and lateral load. The work serves as a supplement to North American efforts to advance seismic performance-based design of CFS structures and is part of a larger effort to better understand CFS lateral force resisting systems.
Cognitive systems for revenge and forgiveness.

Minimizing the costs that others impose upon oneself and upon those in whom one has a fitness stake, such as kin and allies, is a key adaptive problem for many organisms. Our ancestors regularly faced such adaptive problems (including homicide, bodily harm, theft, mate poaching, cuckoldry, reputational damage, sexual aggression, and the infliction of these costs on one's offspring, mates, coalition partners, or friends). One solution to this problem is to impose retaliatory costs on an aggressor so that the aggressor and other observers will lower their estimates of the net benefits to be gained from exploiting the retaliator in the future. We posit that humans have an evolved cognitive system that implements this strategy-deterrence-which we conceptualize as a revenge system. The revenge system produces a second adaptive problem: losing downstream gains from the individual on whom retaliatory costs have been imposed. We posit, consequently, a subsidiary computational system designed to restore particular relationships after cost-imposing interactions by inhibiting revenge and motivating behaviors that signal benevolence for the harmdoer. The operation of these systems depends on estimating the risk of future exploitation by the harmdoer and the expected future value of the relationship with the harmdoer. We review empirical evidence regarding the operation of these systems, discuss the causes of cultural and individual differences in their outputs, and sketch their computational architecture.
The effects of a vegetational corridor on the abundance and dispersal of insect biodiversity within a northern California organic vineyard

During 1996 and 1997, two adjacent 2.5 has organic vineyard blocks (A and B) were monitored to assess the distributional and abundance patterns of the Western grape leafhopper Erythroneura elegantulaOsborn (Homoptera: Cicadellidae) and its parasitoid Anagrus eposGirault (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae), Western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) and generalist predators. The main difference between blocks was that block A was cut across by a corridor composed of 65 flowering plant species which was connected to the surrounding riparian habitat, whereas block B had no plant corridor. In both years, leafhopper adults and nymphs and thrips tended to be more numerous in the middle rows of block A and less abundant in border rows close to the forest and corridor where predators were more abundant. The complex of predators circulating through the corridor moved to the adjacent vine rows and exerted a regulatory impact on herbivores present in such rows. In block B all insects were evenly distributed over the field, no obvious density gradient was detected from the edges into the center of the field. Although it is suspected that A. epos depended on food resources of the corridor, it did not display a gradient from this rich flowering area into the middle of the field. Likewise no differences in rates of egg parasitism of leafhoppers could be detected in vines near the corridor or in the vineyard center. The presence of riparian habitats enhanced predator colonization and abundance on adjacent vineyards, although this influence was limited by the distance to which natural enemies dispersed into the vineyard. However, the corridor amplified this influence by enhancing timely circulation and dispersal movement of predators into the center of the field.
Coalescence in the Lake Washington story: Interaction strengths in a planktonic food web

Lake Washington is arguably the most famous case study of lake pollution and subsequent recovery, and the widely cited story implicates just a few major players in the lake’s food web transformations. ‘‘The Lake Washington story’’ historically highlights key players that negatively affect other taxa—filamentous cyanobacteria, the influential grazer Daphnia, and its predator Neomysis. This food web model has been based variously on experiments, observation, and educated inference. Here we tested the robustness of that historical conceptual model in a single multivariate analysis of long-term data. Most aspects of the historical model are supported, but the analysis also suggests key roles for food resources not previously considered—the nutritious cryptomonads and ubiquitous picoplankton. This cohesive analysis helps align the historical model with recent studies emphasizing ‘‘bottom-up’’ controls in Lake Washington and similar systems, and demonstrates the usefulness of using long-term data analysis to validate results from traditional ecological approaches.
Hardware-software partitioning and pipelined scheduling of transformative applications

Transformative applications are computation intensive applications characterized by iterative dataflow behavior. Typical examples are image processing applications like JPEG, MPEG, etc. The performance of embedded hardware-software systems that implement transformative applications can be maximized by obtaining a pipelined design. We present a tool for hardware-software partitioning and pipelined scheduling of transformative applications. The tool uses iterative partitioning and pipelined scheduling to obtain optimal partitions that satisfy the timing and area constraints. The partitioner uses a branch and bound approach with a unique objective function that minimizes the initiation interval of the final design. We present techniques for generation of good initial solution and search-space limitation for the branch and bound algorithm. A candidate partition is evaluated by generating its pipelined schedule. The scheduler uses a novel retiming heuristic that optimizes the initiation interval, number of pipeline stages, and memory requirements of the particular design alternative. We evaluate the performance of the retiming heuristic by comparing it with an existing technique. The effectiveness of the entire tool is demonstrated by a case study of the JPEG image compression algorithm. We also evaluate the run time and design quality of the tool by experimentation with synthetic graphs.
Beneficial effects of postural intervention on prehensile action for an individual with ataxia resulting from brainstem stroke.

Primary objective: This paper examined the effectiveness of postural training on upper extremity performance in an ataxic individual. The ataxia resulted from a brain stem stroke. Research design: Before-after, single-subject experimental design. Experimental intervention: Four-week course of postural training, comprised of three one-hour sessions/week. Main outcomes and results: The patient demonstrated an increase in function of the ataxic limb, as evidenced by appreciable increases in the Fugl-Meyer score and modest increases in the Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke Patients (PASS) score. Conclusions: Improvement in postural control influences upper extremity function affecting the speed and accuracy of the movement. We demonstrate the effectiveness of using postural training as an intervention towards reducing the effects of ataxia, a movement coordination impairment for which relatively few therapeutic techniques have been specifically developed or evaluated.
Dietary intake of pterostilbene, a constituent of blueberries, inhibits the β-catenin/p65 downstream signaling pathway and colon carcinogenesis in rats.

Stilbenes are phytochemicals present in grapes, berries, peanuts and red wine. A widely studied stilbene, resveratrol (trans-3,5,4'-trihydroxystilbene), has been shown to exert antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, chemopreventive and antiaging effects in a number of biological systems. We reported earlier that pterostilbene (trans-3,5-dimethoxy-4'-hydroxystilbene), a structurally related stilbene found in blueberries, was effective in reducing the incidence and multiplicity of aberrant crypt foci formation in the colon of rats injected with azoxymethane (AOM). Our present study was to identify the chemopreventive potential of pterostilbene with colonic tumor formation as an end point and further to evaluate the mechanistic action of pterostilbene during colon carcinogenesis. F344 rats were given two AOM injections subcutaneously when they were 7 and 8 weeks old and continuously fed the control or 40 p.p.m. pterostilbene diet for 45 weeks. Overall analyses indicated that pterostilbene reduced colon tumor multiplicity of non-invasive adenocarcinomas, lowered proliferating cell nuclear antigen and downregulated the expression of beta-catenin and cyclin D1. Pterostilbene decreased mucosal levels of the proinflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin (IL)-1beta and IL-4. Colon tumors from pterostilbene-fed animals showed reduced expression of inflammatory markers as well as nuclear staining for phospho-p65, a key molecule in the nuclear factor-kappaB pathway. In HT-29 cells, pterostilbene reduced the protein levels of beta-catenin, cyclin D1 and c-MYC, altered the cellular localization of beta-catenin and inhibited the phosphorylation of p65. Our data with pterostilbene in suppressing colon tumorigenesis, cell proliferation as well as key inflammatory markers in vivo and in vitro suggest the potential use of pterostilbene for colon cancer prevention.
Steady-State Flow in Marble at 500° to 800°C

The stress-strain behavior of Yule marble, both parallel and normal to the foliation, has been determined in a series of constant strain-rate extension tests at 5000 bars confining pressure, at temperatures of 500° to 800° C and at strain rates ranging from 10−3 to 10−7/sec. These data correlate well with earlier results at 25° to 500° C and l0−1 to 10−8/sec. Steady-state flow is dominant at 400° C and rates <10−7/sec, at 500° C < 10−4/sec, and at all strain rates at higher temperatures. Transient flow (work hardening) is prevalent at lower temperatures and higher rates. Transmission and reflection microscopy as well as etch-pit studies reveal that translation gliding on r, f and twinning on e are dominant in the transient region, becoming less prominent in the steady-state region at high temperatures. Polygonization by dislocation climb becomes characteristic in the steady-state flow region, along with intergranular and intra-granular recrystallization. Grain boundary sliding is present, but of minor importance. The effect of temperature and strain rate on the mechanical behavior, as well as on the correlation of subgrain formation and recrystallization with steady-state flow, is consistent with a diffusion-controlled process. Comparison of the data with several models for diffusion-controlled flow show poor correlation with the Eyring equation, e = A exp ( −E/RT) sinh (Bσ), but excellent correlation with the Weertman equation, e = C exp ( −E/RT) <σN. The activation energy E and the stress exponent N are nearly identical for both orientations of this highly anisotropic marble, and thus this material becomes nearly isotropic (mechanically) for steady-state flow. On the basis of the empirical-flow equation, extrapolations to representative natural strain rates of 3 × 10−14/sec predict stresses of 103 bars at 250° C, ranging to about 30 bars at 700° C. Work-hardening can be expected at these rates at temperatures <250° C; in this region, this marble is expected to be mechanically anisotropic. Calculated equivalent viscosities at natural strain rates range from 3 × 1022 poises at 25° to 4 × 1020 poises at 700° C.
Prospects for relevant glaucoma models with retinal ganglion cell damage in the rodent eye

Retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death is the end result of practically all diseases of the optic nerve, including glaucomatous optic neuropathy. Understanding the factors determining susceptibility of the retina or the optic nerve to glaucomatous damage, and the means to prevent it, requires good animal models. Here we review the different, current models in rodents that have been used to study RGC damage, discuss their value, and their adequacy as models for human glaucoma.
Specializing in pediatric hematology and oncology.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in children, surpassed only by accidents. In 2006, 9,500 children ages 0–14 years were estimated to be diagnosed with cancer; of those, approximately 1,500 were expected to succumb to their disease.[1][1] When compared with the nearly 1.4 million new
Predicting deep-brain stimulation frequencies to suppress pathological population oscillations in a network model of Parkinson's disease

Deep-brain stimulation (DBS) is used to treat medication-refractory Parkinson's disease (PD). However, tuning stimulation parameters requires time intensive visits with a clinician using a trial-and-error process until therapy is achieved with minimal side effects [1]. There is a need for a systematic approach to determining DBS parameters from the patient's physiological response to the stimulus. It is hypothesized that oscillations in the basal ganglia are responsible for many motor signs of PD [2] and that DBS works by disrupting these pathological oscillations. These oscillations arise from the excitatory-inhibitory loop between subthalamic nucleus (STN) and globus pallidus external (GPe) [3]. Periodic forcing of an oscillating system can induce chaos at certain frequencies [4]. When the system is chaotic it behaves aperiodically thereby suppressing the pathological oscillations. From a system's phase response curve (PRC), it is possible to determine at which stimulus frequencies and amplitudes chaotic responses will occur. Here we measure PRCs and predict optimal stimulation frequencies in a physiologically realistic computational model of STN DBS [5]. The model consists of 300 neurons in GPe and 100 neurons in STN and was tuned to reproduce non-human primate data. In the PD state, GPe activity produces a strong 32 Hz oscillation similar to the beta oscillations observed in the animal model. DBS pulses are applied to the STN and its efferent connections. Stimulation at 136 Hz, commonly used clinically, suppresses the beta oscillation. From low frequency stimulation (2 Hz) we are able to estimate the PRC of the population oscillation to the DBS pulse. From the measured PRC the stimulus frequencies that induce chaos in the STN-GPe loop are predicted. The STN was then stimulated over a range of frequencies and the power of the 32 Hz population oscillation measured. There is a strong correlation between the stimulus frequencies predicted to produce chaos from the PRC and the simulations where beta is suppressed. This indicates that it may be possible to predict DBS frequencies to successfully eliminate pathological oscillations based on a PRC measured from a patient using low frequency stimulation. Novel contributions of this work are methods of measuring PRCs from population activity and utilizing them to accurately predict stimulus frequencies that suppress oscillations in a model of the basal ganglia. We propose that this approach can be applied to patients in which electrophysiology measurements can be made simultaneously with stimulation. This approach to tuning stimulation parameters may dramatically reduce tuning time and improve efficacy for treatment of PD.
Low pre-pregnancy body mass index and risk of medically indicated versus spontaneous preterm singleton birth.

Abstract Objective(s) There were three primary objectives of this study: (1) to estimate the risk of preterm and very preterm birth by severity of low pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), (2) to determine if the risk in preterm and very preterm birth by severity of low pre-pregnancy BMI differs for spontaneous versus medically indicated preterm delivery, and finally (3) to determine if there is a difference in the risk for preterm and very preterm birth by severity of low pre-pregnancy BMI across gradations of gestational weight gain. Study design This study utilized the Missouri maternally linked cohort files from 1989 to 1997. After restricting analyses to singleton live births (gestational age 20–44 weeks) and women with either a low or normal BMI, the final study population consisted of 437,403 births. Pre-pregnancy BMI was categorized as normal (19.5–24.9), mild thinness (17.0–18.5), moderate thinness (16.0–16.9) and severe thinness (≤15.9). Statistical analyses included chi-square tests and logistic regression with generalized estimating equations (GEE). Results Underweight mothers were more likely to experience a preterm delivery. For all preterm births, the risk among underweight mothers increased with ascending underweight severity ( p Conclusions These findings suggest that women with low or normal pre-pregnancy BMI should be counseled to maintain a moderate level of gestational weight gain (0.23–0.68kg/week) in order to reduce their risk for preterm birth. Further, our observation that severity of low pre-pregnancy BMI was associated directly (in a dose–response pattern) with preterm birth highlights the importance of preconceptional counseling for women—specifically the importance of women achieving or maintaining a normal weight status prior to pregnancy.
Neurologic complications of regional anesthesia

T HOUSANDS of cases of regional anesthetia are safely performed in this country on a daily basis. There is an exceptional safety record with these anesthetic techniques. True severe neurologic injury from regional anesthesia/analgesia is considered to be a rare event. Although the incidence of profound neurologic complications with regional anesthesia is unknown (reporting of complications tends to be spotty because of concern over litigation), it is considered to be as low if not lower than the incidence of death with general anesthesia, a Even with this apparent rarity, profound neurologic complications such as paralysis or debilitating chronic back pain are feared, justly or not, by anesthesiologists and patients alike. The purpose of this report is to detail the major neurologic complications and to focus with particular interest on the recent concern regarding the use of spinal lidocaine.
Phase-referenced doppler optical coherence tomography

A phase-referenced Doppler optical coherence tomography (OCT) system includes a low-coherence optical radiation source and a reference source co-propagated to a sample arm and a reference arm. The low-coherence and reference optical radiation reflected from the reference and arms is detected by a pair of detectors, yielding OCT and reference interferometric data output signals. The reference interferometric data output signal can be used to correct the OCT interferometric to yield velocity-indicating images that are free from defects due to sample motion and/or interferometer jitter.
Byzantine-tolerant, information propagation in untrustworthy and unreliable networks

In a decentralized network system, an authenticated node is referred to as a Byzantine node, if it is fully controlled by a traitor or an adversary, and can perform destructive behavior to disrupt the system. Typically, Byzantine nodes together or individually attack point-to-point information propagation by denying or faking messages. In this paper, we assume that Byzantine nodes can protect themselves from being identified by authentication mechanisms. We present an authentication-free, gossip-based application-level propagation mechanism called LASIRC, in which "healthy" nodes utilize Byzantine features to defend against Byzantine attacks. We show that LASIRC is robust against message-denying and message-faking attacks. Our experimental studies verify LASIRC's effectiveness.
Nonrigid Correspondence and Classification of Curves Based on More Desirable Properties

We present a few more desirable properties to find correspondence and dissimilarity of two plane curves in nonrigid sense. A crossed scheme is used to define dissimilarity metric, which ensures an actual bi-morphism between two curves to be aligned. The optimal correspondence is found by a modified dynamic-programming method. From the optimal correspondence between two curves, we compute their dissimilarity by the overall difference of curvature, local dissimilarity, and local scale of stretching of their corresponding segments. Based on dissimilarity, we can do pattern recognition in nonrigid sense among curves which is very important in many areas such as recognition of hand written letters and cardiac curves where rigid transformations and scaling do not work well. Finally, the effect of correspondence and the classification is shown in application to cardiac curves.
Early head cooling in newborn piglets is neuroprotective even in the absence of profound systemic hypothermia

Background: Selective head cooling in the newborn infant has been proposed as a neuroprotective treatment with a lower level of systemic adverse effect than that of systemic hypothermia. However, the efficacy is not confirmed as well as that of systemic hypothermia. In order to analyze the safety and efficacy of selective head cooling, 25 newborn piglets were randomly selected for either normothermic or hypothermic treatment.Methods: Global hypoxic insult was induced by lowering the oxygen concentration to the maximal level to maintain the background electroencephalogram (EEG) voltage under 7 muV for 45 min. The core temperature of normothermic piglets was maintained between 38.5degreesC and 39degreesC, while prophylactic cooling was applied to the hypothermic piglets at the same time of the insult. Very mild systemic hypothermia by 1degreesC was induced in addition to selective head cooling with 10degreesC coolant temperature. Animals were killed for histopathological examination seven hours after the end of the insult.Results: Two normothermic piglets died while all hypothermic piglets survived. Neuropathological findings were significantly severer in the normothermic group than in the hypothermic group. Intracranial pressure was significantly lower, and EEG recovery was significantly better in the hypothermic piglets. There was no significant difference in the lowest oxygen concentration, degrees of acidosis, blood lactate, and blood pressure between the groups, although heart rate was significantly lower in the hypothermic group.Conclusions: We have demonstrated that early head cooling was effective in preventing some of the earliest brain damage due to hypoxic insult even in the absence of profound systemic hypothermia.
Patterns on the Connected Components of Terabyte-Scale Graphs

How do connected components evolve? What are the regularities that govern the dynamic growth process and the static snapshot of the connected components? In this work, we study patterns in connected components of large, real-world graphs. First, we study one of the largest static Web graphs with billions of nodes and edges and analyze the regularities among the connected components using GFD(Graph Fractal Dimension) as our main tool. Second, we study several time evolving graphs and find dynamic patterns and rules that govern the dynamics of connected components. We analyze the growth rates of top connected components and study their relation over time. We also study the probability that a newcomer absorbs to disconnected components as a function of the current portion of the disconnected components and the degree of the newcomer. Finally, we propose a generative model that explains both the dynamic growth process and the static regularities of connected components.
Coupling and Stacking Order of ReS2 Atomic Layers Revealed by Ultralow-Frequency Raman Spectroscopy.

We investigate the ultralow-frequency Raman response of atomically thin ReS2, a special type of two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors with unique distorted 1T structure. Bilayer and few-layer ReS2 exhibit rich Raman spectra at frequencies below 50 cm–1, where a panoply of interlayer shear and breathing modes are observed. The emergence of these interlayer phonon modes indicate that the ReS2 layers are coupled and orderly stacked. Whereas the interlayer breathing modes behave similarly to those in other 2D layered crystals, the shear modes exhibit distinctive behavior due to the in-plane lattice distortion. In particular, the two shear modes in bilayer ReS2 are nondegenerate and clearly resolved in the Raman spectrum, in contrast to the doubly degenerate shear modes in other 2D materials. By carrying out comprehensive first-principles calculations, we can account for the frequency and Raman intensity of the interlayer modes and determine the stacking order in bilayer ReS2.
Social Media and E-professionalism in Child Welfare: Policy and Practice

The professional child welfare literature offers little guidance to child welfare managers and agency policy makers about the use of social media to search for or communicate with clients. Ethical social media use relies upon e-professionalism, defined as the professional identity established by workers through the way they utilize digital communications. This article offers considerations for standards of e-professionalism in child welfare policy and practice. Specific considerations are outlined for social media policy and practice scenarios are offered, which can be used to prompt agency discussions with child welfare workers.