cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Nest and Colony Site Selection in Common Terns (Sterna hirundo) in Mongolia

Abstract. The biology of the Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) has been studied on several continents, but information from central Asia is limited. Colony characteristics and nest site selection of Common Terns were studied in the desert and steppe of Mongolia to determine factors that influence their choices. Common Terns nested in marshy areas around small ponds, on sand bars adjacent to a lake in the Gobi, and on small islands in a water treatment plant in the steppe of Ulaanbaatar. In the Gobi, they nested with Pied Avocets (Recurvirostra avosetta) that defended the colony site, while the terns left. Common Terns selected colony sites surrounded by water and muck/ mud, and nest sites with good visibility. Their choice of colony and nest sites seemed to be a compromise between avoiding flooding, avoiding nest trampling by livestock, and finding any safe nesting place to avoid terrestrial predators.
A Mutant of Rhizobium Japonicum 110 with Elevated Nif Activity in Free-Living Culture

The enhancement of biological nitrogen fixation in the legume-Rhizobium symbiosis involves selection strategies at both the plant and symbiont level to identify and define traits suitable for improving the symbiosis. One of the major advances at the symbiont level was the identification of the hydrogen uptake (Hup) enzyme system as being important in the overall energy efficiency of nitrogen fixation (Schubert and Evans, 1976; also this volume). Rhizobium strains that possess the uptake hydrogenase are able to reutilize some of the hydrogen evolved from nitrogenase (Schubert and Evans, 1976) and thus regenerate ATP (Emerich et al., 1979). This is important in a system which has such a high energy (ATP) demand for biological nitrogen fixation (Andersen and Shanmugam, 1977).
Developing a learning progression for three-dimensional learning of the patterns of evolution

This paper examines how students make progress toward three-dimensional (3D) understanding of the patterns of evolution. Specifically, it proposes a learning progression that explains how scientific practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas come together in naming and grouping, length of change over time, and the role of common ancestry in evolutionary relatedness. To develop this learning progression, we created a 3D plant evolution curriculum for urban middle school students and over two implementation cycles we measured student understanding before, during, and after use of the curriculum. We used an iterative design, grounded in evidence of student learning over time to develop and revise our learning progression framework, assessments, and curriculum. The learning progression developed through this process is a template for conceptual learning through scientific practice, the type of 3D learning advocated by the Next Generation Science Standards. This paper describes the interplay between scientific practice learning and conceptual learning and the implications of this research for curriculum and assessment design.
Treatment of Multiple System Atrophy with Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) (P03.025)

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the efficacy of ECT treatment in patients with MSA. BACKGROUND: MSA is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by widespread neuronal loss and gliosis, and reduced GDNF (glial derived neurotrophic factor) levels. ECT could provide neuroprotection through enhancement of striatal dopamine D1 and D3 receptor binding and increase in GDNF and perhaps brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). DESIGN/METHODS: Three patients with MSA at mid-disease with limited ambulation and age 40-80 yo were enrolled in a 6-week trial of twice weekly ECT. Exclusions included: dementia, pregnancy, coexisting serious neurologic disorder, unstable or newly diagnosed medical or psychiatric disorder. Functional outcome measures: motor function with United Multiple System Atrophy Rating Scale (UMSARS); a combined history and examination tool; brief Composite Autonomic Symptom Scale (COMPASS); autonomic testing; CSF and serum levels of GDNF and BDNF. RESULTS: UMSARS Part I historical review scores: overall improvement 3/3. UMSARS Part II motor function: improvement 2/3 and mild worsening in 1. UMSARS part III autonomic symptoms: improved 2/3. UMSARS part IV global disability score: mild improvement 2/3. Autonomic testing did not show clear improvement and COMPASS was equivocal. Serum and CSF BDNF and GDNF levels did not show a consistent trend. CONCLUSIONS: ECT produced some functional improvement which did not correlate with increases in GDNF or BDNF, as had been hypothesized. The study was limited by small sample size and short follow-up which may change with a larger series and longer duration of ECT. A larger, multicenter trial would be required to determine the role of ECT in MSA. Supported by: Case CTSI grant. Disclosure: Dr. Husain has nothing to disclose. Dr. Ialacci has nothing to disclose. Dr. Walter has received personal compensation for activities with Deringer-Ney, Inc., Medtronic, Inc., Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Teva Neuroscience as a speaker, consultant and/or participant on an advisory board. Dr. Miller has nothing to disclose. Dr. Gao has nothing to disclose. Dr. Chelimsky has nothing to disclose. Dr. Chelimsky has received research support from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
14–16: Austrians and the Holocaust (2)

Hayek complained that Cannan and his fellow British-Austrians had failed to develop ‘economic liberalism to its ultimate consequences with the same ruthless consistency as Mises.’ According to Caldwell this was a reference to Liberalism in the Classical Tradition in which Mises stated that ‘The program of [classical] liberalism, therefore, if condensed into a single word, would have to read: property … The victory of Fascism in a number of countries is only an episode in the long series of struggles over the problem of property.’ Hayek and Mises promoted the deflation that facilitated Hitler’s rise to power; and other Austrians, such as Sennholz and Boettke, continued to demand deflation.
Who am I and how often?: Variation in self-essentialism beliefs, cognitive style, and well-being

Abstract Scientific and lay theories about personality as a stable entity reflect how people think about people, including themselves. The idea of immutable core attributes in others has been related to essentialist thinking in social cognition research, and to the belief in a “true self” in research on identity and well-being. Here items examining individual self-essentialism were used to examine to what extent said beliefs relate to well-being, cognitive styles, and self-construal. Study 1 found a three-factor structure comprised of beliefs about the self as an entity, about the biological origin of self attributes, and about the relevance of self attributes for predicting behavior. Greater self-essentialism scores were associated with greater life satisfaction, meaning in life, happiness, preference for consistency, and need for cognitive closure in two samples. Study 2 replicated findings for preference for consistency and need for cognitive closure, and revealed a relationship between greater self-essentialism and individualism. Individualism and collectivism separately moderated the well-being outcomes of self-essentialism; self-essentialism predicted greater well-being at low levels of individualism and high levels of collectivism. Study 2 additionally found a relationship between greater self-essentialism and people-essentialism. Implications for cultural fit and construct understanding are discussed.
Classification of HCV infections through sequence image normalization

Identification of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections is crucial in determining viral outbreaks. HCV has an affinity to lead towards chronic infection with time due to its highly mutable nature. This leads to increase in heterogeneous population of genetically related HCV variants in the affected individuals. To our knowledge, there are no reliable diagnostic assays for distinguishing acute and chronic HCV infections. Providing a robust classification scheme for the staging of viral infection requires identification of prominent features which in this case can be done using domain knowledge. Simple genetic heterogeneity metrics are not sufficient to represent HCV infections accurately as features for the classification algorithms. This is due to complexity of structural development of intra-host populations, which are affected by bouts of selective sweeps and negative selection during chronic infection [1], [2]. Although some machine learning models are known to work well for sequence data for classification problems, their straightforward application to viral genomic data is problematic, since the number of viral sequences and the structures of intra-host viral populations are not consistent across various samples. We propose a novel preprocessing approach to transform irregular viral genomic data into a normalized image data. Such representation allows to apply powerful machine learning algorithms to the problem of classification of recent and chronic HCV infections. Our dataset consists of intra-host HCV populations of a highly heterogeneous genomic region HVR1, collected from 108 recently and 257 chronically infected individuals sampled by next-generation sequencing. We train several classification models using stratified 10-fold cross validation on the transformed image data. SVM classification model achieves the highest accuracy of 98% and also has more than 95% of precision, recall and F1_Score metrics, for both acute and chronically HCV infected individuals.
Recruitment of Pulmonary Capillaries

Recruitment of pulmonary capillaries is an important component of gas exchange reserve that is utilized during exercise to meet the demand for increased oxygen uptake. However, important gaps exist in our understanding of the way in which alterations of pulmonary hemodynamics, with the attendant redistribution of pulmonary blood flow, affect capillary recruitment. The major reason that many aspects of pulmonary microcirculatory function are poorly understood is the considerable technical difficulty in studying pulmonary micro-vessels directly. The classical direct approach of in vivo microscopy is plagued by problems with tissue movement during the cardiorespiratory cycles. Nevertheless, important information has come historically from in vivo microscopy of the lung. The directness of this approach continues to make the technique attractive today.
Examining word processing via a megastudy of conditional reading aloud.

Results from a megastudy on conditional reading aloud for 2,145 monosyllabic words are reported. In stepwise regression analyses, the predictor variables accounted for over 66% of the reaction time...
Lexical Rules for Deverbal Adjectives

This paper deals with a particular microtheory developed in the framework of the Mikrokosmos computational semantic project.The microtheory of adjectival semantics is considered in one specific aspect, namely, the optimization and facilitation of the lexical entries for deverbal adjectives with the help of lexical rules deriving such entries from those of the corresponding verbs. Deverbal adjectives turn out to be the largest single subclass in the adjective lexical category. Unlike scalar and relative (or relational) adjectives, which are anchored in property and object concepts, respectively, in the underlying ontology, deverbal adjectives are based on process concepts. While acquisition with lexical rules is necessary, universal and efficient for the class of deverbal adjectives, our research shows that, often in spite of the strong appearance to the contrary, such acquisition is neither fully automatic nor cost-free. The work was based on the set of over 6,000 English and about 1,500 Spanish adjectives obtained from task-oriented corpora. The findings are largely language-independent, and only English examples are used throughout the paper.
Physical properties and sensory analysis of galacto-oligosaccharide glassy confections

Abstract Galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) are non-digestible food ingredients that have been shown to increase populations of health-promoting species of gut bacteria. GOS syrup forms an amorphous glass without any additives, which may be useful to develop hard candies for human clinical trials to test the prebiotic's effectiveness. Additionally, at its GRAS level of 25 g/100 g solids, GOS may replace corn syrup (CS) as a crystallization inhibitor in traditional sucrose-CS glassy confections. This replacement may have a direct industry application in reduced-sugar hard candies with additional health benefits. The objective of this study was to determine the stability of GOS glassy confections comprised of 100 g GOS/100 g solids and 25 g GOS/100 g solids as a replacement for CS. Confections were stored in controlled humidity (43, 58, and 75%) for 24 h and analyzed for moisture content (MC), glass transition temperature (Tg), crystal size distribution, and texture. GOS confections showed less recrystallization but higher stickiness than the control when exposed to high relative humidity environments. Sensory analysis showed that differences between 25 g GOS/100 g solids and control confection (25 g CS/100 g solids) were not detectable. Therefore, it may be possible to manufacture confections with 25 g GOS/100 g solids as a prebiotic replacer for CS by maintaining the storage, distribution, and packaging environments at a low relative humidity.
Moore's law — predict the unpredictable

Moore's Law has been the guiding principle for semiconductor industry in the last half century - # of transistors has been doubled up every two years. The economic motivation of Moore's Law has pushed the entire semiconductor industry to embrace many disruptive and unpredicted inventions (and dropped many) to drive to the predicted outcomes by Moore's Law. In this talk, the interaction of these technology inventions in the last 50 years will be synthesized to highlight the predictable and unpredictable parts of the Moore's Law, and concluded with the discussion of the path forward to continue the Law forever.
Acute symptomatic hyponatremia following elective rhinoplasty: A case report.

Abstract We present the first reported case of symptomatic hyponatremia after elective rhinoplasty. A 42-year old female underwent cosmetic rhinoplasty without complication and was discharged home after an uneventful recovery from general anesthesia. Just prior to midnight on the day of surgery, she reported nausea, which was treated with supportive care. Four hours later, she developed emesis, altered mental status, and seizure-like activity prompting medical transport to the emergency department. Upon arrival, she was hypotensive (BP 78/54), tachycardic (HR 112 bpm), hyponatremic (116 mmol/L), hypoosmotic (239 mOsm/kg), and had decreased consciousness (GCS = 10). She was admitted to the intensive care unit and had a central line placed for hypertonic saline infusion. Urinalysis was suggestive of SIADH (UrNa 111 mmol/L, UrOsm 546 mOsm/kg) and Nephrology was consulted. Her serum sodium was corrected over three days and her mental status improved. Surgeons should maintain a low threshold for further evaluation in patients who deviate from the expected postoperative recovery pathway. This report demonstrates that normal postoperative symptoms may mask underlying physiological abnormalities that can progress to acute life-threatening illness and underscores the importance of direct patient observation in the immediate postoperative period.
Traumatic and Sports Injuries of Bone

The high sensitivity of bone scintigraphy in the diagnosis of fractures, sports injuries, and operative lesions of bone is well documented. The examination is particularly valuable in the study of bone contusion, stress fracture, enthesopathy, and covert fractures in the rib cage, sternum, spine, and facial bones. Rib injuries including retractor compression and severed costovertebral joints during open chest surgery constitute another important indication. Many of these lesions are either elusory or invisible on ordinary radiograms. Bone scintigraphy reinforced with the pinhole technique appears to be the best primary test for these seemingly trivial yet worrisome pathologies. In addition, it often plays a significant role in assesssing the vascularity and viability of fracture fragments or graft bones as well as callus formation.
Immiscible Lattice Gases: New Results, New Models

Recent results obtained with immiscible lattice-gas models are reviewed. Particular attention is devoted to a description of a Galilean-invariant model and a study of spinodal decomposition. A variation of the basic model that simulates a fluid with a negative viscosity is also reviewed.
Selection line x diet interactions for two lines of pigs fed 12 or 24% protein diets.

An experiment with crossbred swine was conducted over six generations of selection based on an index (Index) of average daily gain in weight (ADG) in a test period from 56 d of age to 91 kg gross weight and average backfat thickness (ABF) measured from ultrasonic scans at 91 kg. Test pigs of the high protein select (HS) and control (HC) lines were fed a 24% crude protein (CP) diet and pigs of the low protein select (LS) and control (LC) lines were fed a 12% CP diet during the test period. The extent of genetic (selection line) x environmental (dietary) interaction effects was determined based on feeding closely related boars and gilts from both the HS and LS lines on both diets. Tests were conducted in 1986 and 1987 with progeny of the fifth and sixth generations of selection. Records for 472 pigs sired by 37 boars and out of 101 dams were analyzed for effects of selection and diets on AGE of pig at 91 kg, ADG, ABF, LMA (longissimus muscle area at the last rib) and Index. Statistically significant interactions effects of line x diet were noted (P less than .01) for AGE, ADG and Index, traits with low to moderate heritabilities (h2). For ABF and LMA, body composition traits with moderate or higher h2, interaction effects of line x diet were near zero. These results suggest that for best all-around future performance, traits such as AGE and ADG, selection probably should be practiced under dietary conditions under which future populations will be produced. For body composition traits such as ABF and LMA, selection probably would be more effective if pigs were fed a more enriched protein diet. However, as a practical matter, to more rapidly improve the genetic merit of the swine population, both the central station and on-the-farm testing programs should be conducted under standard commercial production systems.
Usefulness of the United States National Weather Service Radar Display as Rated by Website Users

AbstractWeather radar is now widely viewed by the general public in the United States via television, computers/tablets, and smartphones. Anyone can consult near-real-time maps and animations of we...
Design and Operation of a Waterless PV Soiling Monitoring Station

ASU-PRL has developed an autonomous, waterless, and wireless soiling monitoring station for photovoltaic (PV) plants. This soiling monitoring station is a 4th generation design, featuring: two split-cell coupons as sensors coplanar to the PV arrays (two soiled half-cells and two covered clean half-cells), utilizing remote web-monitoring, and capable of providing data for up to 13 different useful ratios. This design employs built-in heat sinks which eliminates the need for temperature correction of the monitored short-circuit current. This paper presents the design and operation of a waterless PV soiling monitoring station and how it differs from currently available soiling monitoring stations on the market as well as a data set obtained from different PV plants located in diverse climates to quantify the operation and methodology.
Usefulness of oncology time lines to multiple care providers.

e17625 Background: Clinicians need summaries of complex medical histories to efficiently provide care to patients. Cancer patients have systemic treatments that span over years. Uniform presentatio...
Utility of Optical Density of Picrosirius Red Birefringence for Analysis of Cross-Linked Collagen in Remodeling of the Peripartum Cervix for Parturition

We report on development of a rapid, quantitative analysis technique of collagen fibers in cross-linked structures to assess remodeling of the cervix during the transition from soft to ripening in preparation for birth. Optical density analysis of picrosirius red stain tissue using circular polarized birefringence light from fixed paraffin-embedded or frozen cervix from pregnant mice during phases of remodeling prior to birth. Data were analyzed using NIH Image J and extended recently to include studies of prepartum cervix in peripartum women. Our results, developed a rapid, consistent, technique to quantify cervical organization. This approach assesses the structure of collagen organization (the principle component of the cervix) and is essential for analysis of experimental outcomes that disrupt cervical morphology in rodent models of preterm birth. The technique, in this report has, for the first time permitted rapid, accurate assessment of the stages that define cervical ripening with large numbers of slides from individual animals. The approach integrates analysis of collagen organization, with distensability and inflammation, processes associated with cervical change before birth. This analysis further holds promise to evaluate other tissues, but also fibrolytic and fibrogenic changes in collagen associated with physiological or pathophysiological conditions.
Thromboelastography Variables, Immune Markers, and Endothelial Factors Associated With Shock and NPMODS in Children With Severe Sepsis

Objective: Evaluate hemostatic dysfunction in pediatric severe sepsis by thromboelastography (TEG) and determine if TEG parameters are associated with new or progressive multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (NPMODS) or shock, defined as a lactate ≥2mmol/L. We explored the relationship between TEG variables, selective cytokines, and endothelial factors. Design: Prospective observational. Setting: Single-center, quaternary care pediatric intensive care unit. Patients: Children aged 6- months to 14- years with severe sepsis with expected PICU stay for >72 h. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: Twenty-eight children were enrolled with median (IQR) age of 7.3 years (4.4-11.4), PELOD score (study day-1) of 11(1.25-13), and PICU length of stay of 10 days (5-28). TEG-defined hypercoagulable state occurred most commonly in 73% (94/129) of samples, followed by hypocoagulable state in 7.8% (10/129) and mixed coagulation state in 1.5% (2/129) of samples in the study cohort. In contrast, hypocoagulable state occurred most commonly in 66% (98/148) of samples based on standard coagulation parameters. In the seven children who developed shock with NPMODS compared to eight patients with shock without NPMODS and 12 patients with severe sepsis only, we found more profound coagulopathy [thrombocytopenia (p = 0.04), elevated INR (p = 0.038), low fibrinogen level (p = 0.049), and low TEG-G value (p = 0.01)] and higher peak of interleukin-6 (p = 0.0014) and IL-10 (p = 0.007). Peak lactate in the first 5 study days had moderate correlation with standard coagulation assays, TEG parameters, and selective cytokines. Peak lactate did not correlate with markers of endothelial activation. Lowest TEG -G value had moderate correlation with peak IL-10 (ρ -0.442, p =0.019), peak VCAM (ρ - 0.495, p = 0.007), and peak lactate (ρ -0.542, p = 0.004) in the first 5 study days. A combination of TEG-G value and IL-6 concentration best discriminated children with shock and NPMODS [AUC 0.979 (95%CI 0.929-1.00), p < 0.001]. Conclusion: This exploratory analysis of hemostasis dysfunction on TEG in pediatric severe sepsis suggests that while hypercoagulability is more common, a hypocoagulable state is associated with shock and NPMODS. In addition, TEG abnormalities are also associated with immune and endothelial factors. A larger cohort study is needed to validate these findings.
Calibrating from Within: Multipoint Internal Calibration of a Quantitative Mass Spectrometric Assay of Serum Methotrexate

Author(s): Hoffman, Melissa A; Schmeling, Michael; Dahlin, Jayme L; Bevins, Nicholas J; Cooper, Donald P; Jarolim, Petr; Fitzgerald, Robert L; Hoofnagle, Andrew N | Abstract: BACKGROUND:Clinical LC-MS/MS assays traditionally require that samples be run in batches with calibration curves in each batch. This approach is inefficient and presents a barrier to random access analysis. We developed an alternative approach called multipoint internal calibration (MPIC) that eliminated the need for batch-mode analysis. METHODS:The new approach used 4 variants of 13C-labeled methotrexate (0.026-10.3 µM) as an internal calibration curve within each sample. One site carried out a comprehensive validation, which included an evaluation of interferences and matrix effects, lower limit of quantification (LLOQ), and 20-day precision. Three sites evaluated assay precision and linearity. MPIC was also compared with traditional LC-MS/MS and an immunoassay. RESULTS:Recovery of spiked analyte was 93%-102%. The LLOQ was validated to be 0.017 µM. Total variability, determined in a 20-day experiment, was 11.5%CV. In a 5-day variability study performed at each site, total imprecision was 3.4 to 16.8%CV. Linearity was validated throughout the calibrator range (r2 g 0.995, slopes = 0.996-1.01). In comparing 40 samples run in each laboratory, the median interlaboratory imprecision was 6.55%CV. MPIC quantification was comparable to both traditional LC-MS/MS and immunoassay (r2 = 0.96-0.98, slopes = 1.04-1.06). Bland-Altman analysis of all comparisons showed biases rarely exceeding 20% when MTX concentrations were g0.4 µM. CONCLUSION:The MPIC method for serum methotrexate quantification was validated in a multisite proof-of-concept study and represents a big step toward random-access LC-MS/MS analysis, which could change the paradigm of mass spectrometry in the clinical laboratory.
The effects of temperature on oil-induced respiratory impairment in red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus).

Abstract The 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) crude oil spill, among the largest environmental disasters in U.S. history, affected numerous economically important fishes. Exposure to crude oil can lead to reduced cardiac function, limiting oxygen transport, ATP production, and aerobic performance. However, crude oil exposure is not the only stressor that affects aerobic performance, and increasing environmental temperatures are known to significantly increase metabolic demands in fishes. As the DWH spill was active during warm summer months in the Gulf of Mexico, it is important to understand the combined effects of oil and temperature on a suite of metabolic parameters. Therefore, we investigated the effects of 24h crude oil exposure on the aerobic metabolism and hypoxia tolerance of red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) following 3 week chronic exposure to four ecologically relevant temperatures (18 °C, 22 °C, 25 °C, 28 °C). Our results show that individuals acclimated to higher temperatures had significantly higher standard metabolic rate than individuals at lower temperatures, which resulted in significantly decreased critical oxygen threshold and reduced recovery from exercise. As predicted, crude oil exposure resulted in lower maximum metabolic rates (MMR) across the temperature range, and a significantly reduced ability to recover from exercise. The lowest temperature acclimation showed the smallest effect of oil on MMR, while the highest temperature showed the smallest effect on exercise recovery. Reduced respiratory performance and hypoxia tolerance are likely to have meaningful impacts on the fitness of red drum, especially with climate-induced temperature increases and continued oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico.
Effect of acetyl-L-carnitine on hypersensitivity in acute recurrent caerulein-induced pancreatitis and microglial activation along the brain's pain circuitry.

Effect of acetyl-L-carnitine on hypersensitivity in acute recurrent caerulein-induced pancreatitis and microglial activation along the brain’s pain circuitry
Improving Skills to Empower Community Access and Increase Independence

The current chapter approaches increasing independence and integration in the community for individuals with autism through a lifelong educational process involving ongoing assessment and instruction. Fundamentally, the skills or behaviors one needs to master in order to navigate their community vary based on their environment. As their environments change so should the curricular focus (e.g., a pre-kindergartener’s environments are different from adults in many ways). This chapter is organized around an ecological approach to curricular goal selection and provides the readers with sample benchmarks of behaviors that may be appropriate at different ages (e.g., play skills for pre-kindergarteners and sexuality education for high schoolers). We attempt to emphasize broad domains, including communication, academics, and functional life skills among others, across three age bands (pre-kindergarten, elementary school, and middle/high school). Because a book chapter cannot catalog every skill needed for every environment, the chapter instead provides a framework for practitioners to identify and integrate different skills into the curriculum dependent on the learner.
The inhibitory effect of trans-10,cis-12 conjugated linoleic acid on sterol regulatory element binding protein-1 activation in bovine mammary epithelial cells involved reduced proteasomal degradation of insulin-induced gene-1.

ABSTRACT Trans-10,cis-12 conjugated linoleic acid (t10,c12 CLA) is well recognized as a key CLA isomer responsible for the reduction in milk fat synthesis that leads to milk fat depression in dairy cows. Sterol regulatory element binding protein-1 (SREBP1) is a key transcription factor in bovine mammary gland coordinating transcription of the genes for fatty acid synthesis. SREBP1 activation requires the removal of insulin-induced gene-1 (Insig1) that serves as a repressor of SREBP1 in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). We hypothesized that t10,c12 CLA reduced SREBP1 activation by delaying Insig1 degradation. In the present study, we used undifferentiated bovine mammary epithelial cells (MAC-T cells) and treated them with t10,c12 CLA for 6 h. We found that SREBP1 protein expression declined over 56% when cells were treated with 60 µM or greater concentration of t10,c12 CLA. Such inhibitory effects were also observed in the mRNA expression of SREBP1-regulated genes including SREBP1, fatty acid synthetase, stearoyl-CoA desaturase, and Insig1. Compared with no CLA group, 60 µM or higher concentration of t10,c12 CLA increased Insig1 protein expression over 2-fold in cells transfected with FLAG-tagged Insig1. This stimulatory effect was not specific to t10,c12 CLA but also other polyunsaturated fatty acids including cis-9,trans-11 CLA and linoleic acid. Oleic acid had no effect on Insig1 protein expression, whereas palmitic acid decreased Insig1 protein expression. Further investigation revealed that increased abundance of FLAG-Insig1 with t10,c12 CLA was due to the inhibition of the proteasomal degradation of Insig1. The t10,c12 CLA delayed the Insig1 decay when protein synthesis was blocked. Immunoprecipitation also confirmed that the interaction between ubiquitin-like domain-containing protein 8 and Insig1, the key step of removing Insig1 from ER and freeing SREBP1 for proteolytic processing, was inhibited by t10,c12 CLA, but not palmitic acid. These findings suggested that t10,c12 CLA played a role in regulating SREBP1 activation by reducing proteasomal degradation of Insig1. We concluded that stabilized Insig1 retained SREBP1 in the ER from activation, thus reducing lipogenic gene transcription.
Thou Art the Man by Mary Elizabeth Braddon [1]: Scoundrel Fathers, Fugue States, and the Problematized Real in Victorian Sensation Novels

Victorian sensation novelist, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, subverts gender roles and generic expectations with Thou Art the Man [1], which subverts a patriarchal culture by exposing the father as a duplicitous scoundrel who resorts to murder, and then conceals his secret to maintain his position in society. This article examines the narrative surrounding the exposure of the true nature of the father, and the female protagonist’s expanding awareness of how reality is not what it seems, and that fugue states, which are seemingly flights of irrationality, actually point to the truth. Braddon’s narrative within a narrative, which is the protagonist’s journals, creates a foundational narrative of revelation, while the characters’ narratives that surround it create threads of deception, secrets, and lies, suggesting that the world of appearances in Victorian England was not to be trusted.
EMINENT DOMAIN Exercise of Power of Eminent Domain for Special Purposes: Provide Restrictions on Use of Eminent Domain Power by Petroleum Pipeline Companies

The Act requires petroleum pipeline companies to notify property owners of their rights before initiating eminent domain proceedings. The petroleum pipeline companies also must comply with a two-step application and review process. The Act contains provisions for public notices and hearings. Landowners must be compensated by the petroleum pipeline companies for any damages caused by surveying activities, property taken through the eminent domain proceeding, and unreasonable impacts of the property of the landowner that is not acquired by eminent domain.
One Is Enough

We postulate that multi-wheel statically-stable mobile robots for operation in human environments are an evolutionary dead end. Robots of this class tall enough to interact meaningfully with people must have low centers of gravity, overly wide bases of support, and very low accelerations to avoid tipping over. Accordingly, we are developing an inverse of this type of mobile robot that is the height, width, and weight of a person, having a high center of gravity, that balances dynamically on a single spherical wheel. Unlike balancing 2-wheel platforms which must turn before driving in some direction, the single-wheel robot can move directly in any direction. We present the overall design, actuator mechanism based on an inverse mouse-ball drive, control system, and initial results including dynamic balancing, station keeping, and point-to-point motion.
Studies on amphibian yolk. X. The relative roles of autosynthetic and heterosynthetic processes during yolk protein assembly by isolated oocytes.

Abstract Female Xenopus laevis were injected with human chorionic gonadotropin to stimulate oocyte growth. Enlarging oocytes 0.8–1.1 mm in diameter were manually dissected from the ovary of stimulated females, placed for 1 hr in labeled medium containing, among other components, vitellogenin, l -leucine, and Na2HPO4, and then transferred for various lengths of time to unlabeled medium of the same chemical composition. When vitellogenin was the labeled component, it was found that 0.70 μg entered the oocyte during the 1-hr period and subsequently underwent a macromolecular conversion to the yolk platelet proteins lipovitellin and phosvitin, which did not appear to undergo turnover. An additional 0.025 μg of vitellogenin protein was rapidly hydrolyzed to small molecular weight constituents. When l -leucine was the labeled component, the observed rate of protein synthesis within each oocyte was estimated to be not more than 0.09 μg/hr. Only about 6% of the synthesized protein was found in the lipovitellin region when oocyte extracts were chromatographed; furthermore, this labeled protein appeared to undergo turnover with time. Some of the protein synthesized by the oocyte is probably associated with membranous and ribosomal material. NaH2PO432P also failed to become incorporated specifically into either lipovitellin or phosvitin at any time, so that protein phosphorylation is not involved in either the transformation of vitellogenin or the crystallization of lipovitellin and phosvitin. The principal conclusion reached from these studies is that at least 99% of the protein present in the yolk platelet crystal is derived from a source outside the oocyte.
California's Suicide Decline, 1970–1990

From 1970 to 1990 California experienced a 32% decline in suicide, which was particularly pronounced among women, non-whites, the young, and urban dwellers. Suicide declines of over 50% were recorded in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and large decreases occurred in other coastal counties. Additionally, California was the only one of 51 states to show a consistent decline in teenage and young-adult suicide (accompanied by an 88% decrease in teenage drug and other poisoning deaths). Initial investigation of death certification, accident and homicide trends, economic measures, and prevention efforts did not produce an explanation for a suicide decrease of California's magnitude. However, the state does display anomalous trends in certain social measures (reduced divorce, rising non-White population, and rising homicide) that point to multifactorial hypotheses including demographic changes and changed attitudes toward violence. Review of the accuracy of past suicide certification procedures nationally is also indicated.
Cats differ from other species in their cytokine and antioxidant enzyme response when developing obesity.

Objectives: Obese cats show many similarities to obese people, including insulin resistance and an increased diabetes risk. However, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease are not seen in cats. In people, they are associated with the development of an inflammatory response, which, we hypothesized, does not occur in cats. Design and Methods: Twenty neutered cats of equal gender distribution were allowed to gain weight by offering food ad libitum and were examined before and at 10, 30, 60, and 100% weight gain. All cats reached 60% of weight gain, 12 cats gained 100 % in 12 months. Results: Fat was equally distributed between subcutaneous and visceral depots. Insulin-independent glucose uptake increased and insulin sensitivity decreased with increasing adiposity. However, baseline glucose concentrations were unchanged suggesting a decrease in EGP. Inflammatory cytokines (Il-1, IL-6, TNFa) and catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase did not change. Insulin, proinsulin, and leptin were positively and adiponectin negatively correlated with adiposity. Heat production increased with obesity, but became less when body weight gain was > 60 %. Conclusions: This indicates that metabolism adapts more appropriately to the higher intake of calories in the initial phase of obesity but slows at higher body fat content. This likely contributes to the difficulty to lose weight.
The histologic effect of progesterone on hyperplastic endometria

Abstract The present investigation was undertaken to determine whether physiologic changes could be produced in endometria showing abnormal patterns. For this purpose seven cases of endometrial hyperplasia were studied. The criteria for diagnosing hyperplasia were: (1) Straight, dilated glands showing reduplication and overgrowth of the glandular epithelium. (2) Absence of secretory changes in the epithelial cells and the presence of basilar placed nuclei and intact luminar membranes. (3) Density of the stroma which is characterized by small, tightly packed stromal cells with very little cytoplasm and by the infiltration of lymphoid cells.
Land, Labor, and Things: Surplus in a New West Indian Colony (1763–1807)

Surplus becomes a very interesting word when one considers slavery in the Caribbean. By asking the question how did people on the ground make surplus, we get a lot clearer picture of how slavery actually worked. Famous for the wealth of the planting class, the high mortality rates and low fertility rates of enslaved laborers, the complicated system of provisioning put in place to meet crises in population subsistence, plantation society in the British West Indies was anything but sustainable. Yet it did for nearly a century. Space plays a large role in that. The distance between cane field and teapot was large enough to ensure the person drinking the sweetened tea never thought about the enslaved African who cut the cane. I expand upon these issues by focusing on the colonial economies of the Eastern Caribbean. To map the intersecting interests born out of putative surplus, I look specifically at the commercial networks that emerged in relation to one island's intensification of export-oriented crop production. I then consider the material record of plantation life as one index of relational surplus and its uneven distribution across the island. Together these observations suggest that an institutional arrangement of people and things inverts traditional understandings of surplus in studies of slavery.
The importance of initial seed size in wheat plant response to salinity

Large initial seed size frequently confers distinct advantages on cereal crops in terms of seedling vigor, hardiness, improved stand establishment, and higher productivity. This study was conducted to determine if these advantages inherent in the plants grown from large seeds persist when the crop is subjected to salinity stress. Two hard red spring wheat cultivars, ‘Yecora Rojo’ and ‘Anza’ were grown in greenhouse sand cultures from seed of two size classes that differed in weight by a factor of 2. The cultures were irrigated four times daily with complete nutrient solutions to which NaCl and CaCl2 (2:1 molar ratio) were added to achieve osmotic potentials of −0.05. −0.55, and −0.70 MPa with electrical conductivities of 1.8, 12.8, and 15.8 dS m-1, respectively. In response to both salinity and small initial seed size, the following plant characteristics decreased: leaf appearance rate, blade area, tillers per plant, spikelets per spike and seeds per spike. Plants grown from large seeds out-yielded those from small seeds by 8, 37, and 27% for Yecora Rojo and by 15, 30, and 23% for Anza at osmotic potentials of −0.05, −0.55 and −0.70 MPa, respectively. Compared to the corresponding nonsaline controls, the yield of Yecora Rojo grown at −0.55 MPa was 51% for the plants from large seed and 35% from the small seeds. For Anza salinized at −0.55 MPa, these values were 49 and 40%, respectively. Exploitation of the benefits derived from large initial seed size may be a cost-effective management strategy for improving wheat productivity in salt-affected areas.
Biomass and Nutrient Accumulation During Natural Afforestation of Iron-Smelting Slag

This paper summarizes the accumulation of nutrient capital during the natural afforestation of iron-smelting slag. The study site was the Beckley Furnace (North Caanan, Connecticut, U.S.A.) slag dump, which was abandoned around 1918. Currently, a Pinus strobus (white pine)-dominated forest occupies the site. Our primary objective was to determine the relationships among stand development and belowground nutrient pools to evaluate controls on the rates at which nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, and potassium accumulate in the developing forest. Along a developmental gradient of increasing stand basal area, we measured (1) aboveground biomass, (2) root biomass, (3) above-ground nutrient capital, (4) belowground nutrient capital, (5) soil weight, (6) soil organic carbon weight, (7) soil moisture, and (8) understory richness and density. Regression analysis suggests, as expected, that the addition of organic matter controls the accumulation of above- and belowground nutrients, soil water, and understory plant composition and distribution. The rather rapid rate of nitrogen accumulation suggests that allochthonous as well as autochthonous organic matter is an important source of nutrients for the developing forest soil and vegetation. Compared to those of other northeastern forests, soils in the most developed areas at the Beckley site have accumulated more than enough labile nutrient capital in 75 years to support a forest typical of the region. In the most developed stands, understory composition indicates mesic soil conditions, and that within the next 75 years or so the Beckley slag dump will be floristically very similar to the surrounding forest.
A Summons to Promote Professional Ethics in the Academy

In this essay I make a fundamental claim about and a recommendation for professional ethics the lack of professional ethics in the academy is noteworthy and members of the Society of Christian Ethics ought to begin to address this reality as a matter of what is right and just for the SCE and for the academic professions at large—it is time to get our personal and corporate house in order.
A biobehavioral model for the study of exercise interventions in cancer-related fatigue.

Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is a multifactorial, biobehavioral phenomenon experienced by the majority of persons with cancer. It has negative consequences on the individual's physical functioning ...
Racial and Ethnic Differences in Preferences for End-of-Life Treatment

BACKGROUND Studies using local samples suggest that racial minorities anticipate a greater preference for life-sustaining treatment when faced with a terminal illness. These studies are limited by size, representation, and insufficient exploration of sociocultural covariables.
Isotropization in Brane Gas Cosmology

Brane gas cosmology (BGC) is an approach to unifying string theory and cosmology in which matter is described by a gas of strings and branes in a dilaton gravity background. The Universe is assumed to start out with all spatial dimensions compact and small. It has previously been shown that, in this context, in the approximation of neglecting inhomogeneities and anisotropies, there is a dynamical mechanism which allows only three spatial dimensions to become large. However, previous studies do not lead to any conclusions concerning the isotropy or anisotropy of these three large spatial dimensions. Here, we generalize the equations of BGC to the anisotropic case, and find that isotropization is a natural consequence of the dynamics.
Self-aligned 6H-SiC MOSFETs with improved current drive

Surface-channel n-MOSEET devices in 6H-SiC are fabricated with n+-polysilicon gates on 80 nm thick gate oxide using a self-aligned process. The mobility and subthreshold slope, 40 cm2/Vs and 500 mV/decade, are comparable to MOSFETs fabricated with a non-self-aligned process. These MOSFETs exhibit a saturation drain current of 18 mA/mm at 340°C when the gate is 9 V above threshold. This current density is approximately three times higher than the best self-aligned 6H-SiC MOSFETs reported to date, and approximately five times higher if scaled to the same oxide thickness.
X-ray Synchrotron Study of Packing and Protrusions of Polymer−Lipid Monolayers at the Air−Water Interface

Using X-ray scattering, the structure of compressed phospholipid monolayers at the air−water interface matrixed with varying amounts of polymer lipid has been determined. The out-of-plane structure of the monolayer was greatly perturbed by the incorporation of the bulky polymer lipid resulting in a systematic roughening of the interface and a decrease in the coherently Bragg-scattering lipid tail region. Our results indicate that the increased lateral packing stresses due to the hydrophilic polymer chains are predominately relaxed through an increase in lipid protrusions rather than an increased area per lipid molecule.
Diffusion imaging of human breast

It is shown that diffusion-weighted imaging is possible in the human breast. Diffusion constants were measured in the breast parenchyma of four volunteers with no known breast lesions. The apparent diffusion constant of water measured in regions of interest chosen in normal human breast fibroglandular tissue was 1.64±0.19×10−5 cm2/s and that measured in the area of fatty breast tissue was 0.32±0.18×10−5 cm2/s. The resulting images indicate that fibroglandular tissue and fat can be clearly distinguished in diffusion-weighted as well as in absolute diffusion images of the breast. Potential future applications of this technology for the study of breast pathologies are suggested. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.