cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Deep Sea Environments Across the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary in the eastern South Atlantic Ocean

Sediments recovered at ODP Site 1262 on Walvis Ridge (eastern South Atlantic Ocean, paleodepth ∼2500–3000 m) offer an opportunity to look into the nature and cause(s) of the benthic foraminiferal turnover across the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary at abyssal depths at a location relatively remote from the location of the asteroid impact on the Yucatan peninsula. Late Maastrichtian assemblages were diverse and heterogeneous, reflecting oligoto mesotrophic conditions at the sea floor. As at other locations, there was no significant extinction of benthic foraminiferal species at the K/Pg boundary, but the diversity and heterogeneity of the assemblages decreased precipitously. The percentage of infaunal buliminid taxa decreased rapidly, but the total percentage of infaunal taxa remained essentially unchanged. Benthic foraminiferal accumulation rates (BFAR) dropped at the boundary itself, and fluctuated strongly later in the Danian. After the K/Pg boundary, opportunistic taxa increased in relative abundance, and diversity and heterogeneity strongly fluctuated. There thus is no clear agreement between three proxies which have been used to indicate a high food supply to the sea floor: percentage buliminids, percentage infaunal taxa, and BFAR. This discrepancy might indicate that the food supply changed in character (e.g., type of food, temporal variability in flux), but did not show a long-term, large net change in total amount. The strong fluctuations in BFAR, heterogeneity and diversity indicate that environmental instability started at the K/Pg boundary, and persisted through planktic foraminiferal zones Pα and P1a. In lower planktic foraminiferal zone P1b, agglutinated species of the genera Spiroplectammina and Clavulinoides, thought to be infaunal and indicative of increasing levels of food supply, increased in relative abundance while the relative abundance of buliminids remained low. Possibly, agglutinated taxa took over at least part of the infaunal niche in the Paleocene, as a result of the rise in the calcium carbonate compensation depth. Towards the upper part of the studied interval (lower planktic foraminiferal Subzone 1c), benthic foraminiferal assemblages stabilized, with heterogeneity almost back to Maastrichtian values, although diversity and BFAR did not fully recover. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
The formation of diiodotyrosine in iodinated human serum albumin.

Abstract Human serum albumin (HSA) has been allowed to react with varying amounts of iodine under mild conditions. Almost all of the tyrosyl residues of HSA may be converted to iodotyrosyl residues (primarily diiodotyrosyl) without producing significant changes in the conformation of the protein. Difference spectral measurements in urea show the disappearance of "buried" tyrosyl and the appearance of "buried" diiodotyrosyl residues; a difference spectral peak attributed to diiodotyrosyl residues in iodinated HSA is seen at 302 mµ. It is proposed that the partly nonaqueous environment of "buried" tyrosyl residues directs their preferential conversion to diiodotyrosyl residues.
LFA-1-mediated costimulation of CD8+ T cell proliferation requires phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activity.

LFA-1 binding to ICAM-I provides a costimulatory signal for CD8+ T cell activation that results in increased IL-2 mRNA levels and protein production to support proliferation. CD28 binding to its B7 ligands has the same effect, and the two costimulatory receptors activate some of the same intracellular signaling events, including up-regulation of phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase activity. However, costimulation by LFA-1 depends upon the activity of this enzyme, whereas costimulation by CD28 does not, as evidenced by differential effects of specific inhibitors of PI 3-kinase. When cells are costimulated with ICAM-1 in the presence of the inhibitors wortmannin or LY294002, proliferation is blocked, but increases in IL-2 mRNA levels and protein production are not. Costimulation also results in increased surface expression of CD25, which is essential for formation of an active IL-2R. This is blocked by the PI 3-kinase inhibitors when costimulation is via LFA-1 but not when it is via CD28. Finally, IL-2-driven proliferation is not blocked by the inhibitors once CD25 surface expression has increased. Thus, the PI 3-kinase-dependent step in CD8 T cell costimulation by LFA-1 is up-regulation of IL-2R expression. In contrast, CD28 engagement also increases IL-2R surface expression, but the up-regulation does not depend upon PI 3-kinase activity.
Combining Public Health Education and Disease Ecology Research: Using Citizen Science to Assess Chagas Disease Entomological Risk in Texas.

Background Chagas disease is a zoonotic parasitic disease well-documented throughout the Americas and transmitted primarily by triatomine ‘kissing bug’ vectors. In acknowledgment of the successful history of vector control programs based on community participation across Latin America, we used a citizen science approach to gain novel insight into the geographic distribution, seasonal activity, and Trypanosoma cruzi infection prevalence of kissing bugs in Texas while empowering the public with information about Chagas disease. Methodology/Principal Findings We accepted submissions of kissing bugs encountered by the public in Texas and other states from 2013–2014 while providing educational literature about Chagas disease. In the laboratory, kissing bugs were identified to species, dissected, and tested for T. cruzi infection. A total of 1,980 triatomines were submitted to the program comprised of at least seven species, of which T. gerstaeckeri and T. sanguisuga were the most abundant (85.7% of submissions). Triatomines were most commonly collected from dog kennels and outdoor patios; Overall, 10.5% of triatomines were collected from inside the home. Triatomines were submitted from across Texas, including many counties which were not previously known to harbor kissing bugs. Kissing bugs were captured primarily throughout April-October, and peak activity occurred in June-July. Emails to our dedicated account regarding kissing bugs were more frequent in the summer months (June-August) than the rest of the year. We detected T. cruzi in 63.3% of tested bugs. Conclusions/Significance Citizen science is an efficient approach for generating data on the distribution, phenology, and infection prevalence of kissing bugs—vectors of the Chagas disease parasite—while educating the public and medical community.
Benefits of timely basal insulin control in patients with type 2 diabetes

Worldwide, both underdiagnosis and undertreatment leave many patients exposed to long periods of hyperglycemia and contribute to irreversible diabetes complications. Early glucose control reduces the risk of both macrovascular and microvascular complications, while tight control late in diabetes has little or no macrovascular benefit. Insulin therapy offers the most potent antihyperglycemic effect of all diabetes agents, and has a unique ability to induce diabetes remission when used to normalize glycemia in newly diagnosed patients. When used as a second-line therapy, basal insulin is more likely to safely and durably maintain A1C levels ≤7% than when insulin treatment is delayed. The use of basal insulin analogs is associated with a reduced risk of hypoglycemia and weight gain compared to NPH insulin and pre-mixed insulin. Patient self-titration algorithms can improve glucose control while decreasing the burden on office staff. Finally, recent data suggest that addition of incretin agents to basal insulin may improve glycemic control with very little, if any increased risk of hypoglycemia or weight gain.
Review of Heat Flow Data from the Eastern Mediterranean Region

Heat flow data from the eastern Mediterranean region indicates an extensive area of low heat flow, spreading over the whole basin of the Mediterranean east of Crete (Levantine Sea), Cyprus, and northern Egypt. The average of the marine heat flow measurements in the Levantine Sea is 25.7 ± 8.4 mW/m2, and the heat flow on Cyprus is 28.0 ±8.0 mW/m2. The estimated values of heat flow in northern Egypt range from 38.3 ± 7.0 to 49.9 ±9.3 mW/m2, apparently with no consistent trend. To the east, on the coast of Israel, the heat flow values increase, ranging from 36.6 ± 22.4 to 56.7 ± 14.2 mW/m2 along a SSE trend. The trend apparently correlates with an increase in crustal thickness, which is about 23 km at the north-west base of the Nile-Delta-cone, and close to 40 km beneath Israel.
Line width roughness and its control on photomask

Line edge roughness (LER) or line width roughness (LWR) is a fundamental challenge in the semiconductor industry. LWR on transistor gate length is a dominant parameter for determining the variability of threshold voltage, on-current and off-current, and LER on interconnect impacts breakdown voltages. Integrated circuit (IC) scaling enabled by lithography is the technology to increase device density and improve performance. However, scaling below 32nn technology node induces short-channel effect (SCE) because of the short distance between the transistor source and the drain. Final LER on the working layer results from several processes, and, thus, LER controls rely on lithography, resist properties, post-resist-development processing, pattern transfer methods, and photomask LER. Now, pattern generation is main source of LER, where short exposure wavelength and consecutive low photon numbers result in discrete photon flux and shot noise, causing high LER. Extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) uses shorter wavelengths and a lower dose than the current 193 nm lithography, making LWR one of the three most critical challenges. Characterization of LER is also a challenge. The current rms method is broadly used; however, this approach is not enough and a better method has yet to be established.
Developing a Rationale for Technology Integration

Technology enhanced distance education now pervades distance education. Many faculty are transforming existing print-based distance education courses into hybrid print-technology courses. This article offers faculty a systematic way to consider technology combinations relative to the learner's needs and background. To ensure meeting the full spectrum of learner's needs, the types of learner interactions are categorized and discussed. Another main factor with regard to course structure and delivery system is the entry-level knowledge of the learner including their knowledge of the course content and need for various types of interaction. Each type of technology offers a different level of interactivity to the learner. Faculty are encouraged to develop a rationale for technology inclusion that will benefit the learner.
Growth in children with congenital heart disease

A longitudinal study was made of height and weight growth in children with cyanotic and acyanotic congenital heart disease. Values were compared to a group of children without heart disease, which included siblings of the children with heart disease. Retardation in height and weight was noted in all children with cardiac disease but was more pronounced in those with cyanosis. This retardation appeared to be associated with the presence of rather than the degree of cyanosis. Weight retardation was more frequent and more marked than retardation in height. Delayed and retarded development was of greater severity in boys than in girls. A relationship between the degree of physical incapacity and extent of growth retardation was demonstrated.
Linguistic Refinement of Temporal Rules

The objective of hypothesis refinement is to modify the scope of a rule to more accurately model the data. In this paper we examine the relation between data summarization and hypothesis refinement in association rules with fuzzy temporal constraints. We then present two refinement strategies based on disjunctive constraint generalization and constraint specialization. Disjunctive generalization produces more general rules by merging adjacent constraints in the partition of the window of relevance. Temporal specification uses linguistic hedges to reduce the constraint window while maintaining the interpretability of the rule. The refinement strategies are developed to maintain or enhance the linguistic interpretability of the rules.
Spectral resonances which become eigenvalues

The stationary Schrodinger equation is ∂ x 2 φ + λV(x)φ=zφ for φ∈ℒ2(R +,dx). If the potential is bounded below, singular only atx=0, negative on some compact interval and behaves likeV(x)∼1/x μ asx→∞ with 2≧μ>0, then the system admits shape resonances which continuously become eigenvalues as λ increases. Here λ>0 and for μ=2 a sufficiently large λ is required. Exponential bounds are obtained on Im(z) as λ approaches a threshold. The group velocity near threshold is also estimated.
In vivo transcriptional cytokine responses and association with clinical and pathological outcomes in chickens infected with different Newcastle disease virus isolates using formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples

Little is known about the host response of chickens infected with Newcastle disease virus (NDV) and the relationship between the innate immune response and the severity of clinical disease. Measurement of cytokine responses during infection in vivo can help to elucidate the mechanisms of virus pathogenesis. The transcriptional response of several cytokines from paraffin-embedded, formalin-fixed spleen of chicken naturally infected by NDV velogenic viscerotropic viruses was compared to the responses of atypical velogenic, velogenic neurotropic, and mesogenic strains during the first five days after infection. The RNA expression for IFN-γ and IL-6 was enhanced at day two in the highly virulent velogenic viscerotropic viruses (California and rZJ1 strains) and corresponded with the presence of the virus in tissues. However, in one atypical velogenic viscerotropic virus (Australia strain), two velogenic neurotropic viruses (Turkey ND and Texas GB) and, a mesogenic virus (Anhinga strain) the cytokine responses to infection were delayed or reduced. Increased levels of IFN-β RNA expression were only detected in the velogenic viscerotropic virus infected chickens (California and rZJ1 strains) at 3 days post-infection and one mesogenic strain (Anhinga) early in infection. The RNA expression levels of IL-2 did not increase upon infection with any of the viruses. A pronounced increase of RNA expression levels of IL-6 and IFN-γ was detected simultaneously with infiltration of macrophages and/or lymphoid necrosis in the histopathological analysis of the spleen and cecal tonsils. The differences in the RNA expression levels may help explain possible underlying mechanisms of clinical disease and/or immune responses in birds infected with strains of APMV-1 that cause distinct pathologic changes.
Morphology of the Extensor Carpi Ulnaris Groove and Tendon

Purpose Injury to the extensor carpi ulnaris (ECU) fascial supports on the distal ulna can result in ulnar-sided wrist pain, particularly when the tendon subluxates medially out of the fibroosseous groove with forearm rotation. To better understand the potential risk factors for injury and the indications for modifying the ECU groove, we have evaluated and quantified the morphology of the ECU groove and tendon. Methods Axial plane magnetic resonance imaging of the wrist obtained for triangular fibrocartilage complex and intercarpal pathology in 60 patients were reviewed. Mean and standard error of the mean were calculated and unpaired Student t tests performed to compare groove width and depth, radius of curvature of the groove, carrying angle, and tendon-to-groove ratio. Results There were 23 females (38%), and the mean patient age was 40 years (range, 17−71 y). The average ECU groove depth and standard error of the mean was 1.4 mm ± 0.1 mm. The radius of curvature for the ulnar ECU groove was found to be 7.0 mm ± 0.4 mm with a carrying angle of 143° ± 2°. In neutral forearm rotation, the average ratio of the width of the ECU tendon to groove was 0.7 ± 0.02. The data approximated a normal distribution. There were no statistically significant differences in these measurements between the triangular fibrocartilage complex and the intercarpal pathology subgroups. Conclusions Variability in the relationship of the ECU groove and tendon may combine to represent risk factors for tendinosis or tendon subluxation. There may be a more normal distribution of ECU groove morphology than previously recognized. Clinical relevance ECU injuries may require clinical imaging of the tendon and subsheath, in addition to potential surgical reconstruction and ulnar groove deepening. This report establishes the normative morphology and depth of the ECU groove and provides a comparative baseline when considering treatment modalities.
Pattern Separation Deficits May Contribute to Age-Associated Recognition Impairments

Normal aging is associated with impairments in stimulus recognition. In the current investigation, object recognition was tested in adult and aged rats with the standard spontaneous object recognition (SOR) task or two variants of this task. On the standard SOR task, adult rats showed an exploratory preference for the novel object over delays up to 24 h, whereas the aged rats only showed significant novelty discrimination at the 2-min delay. This age difference appeared to be because of the old rats behaving as if the novel object was familiar. To test this hypothesis directly, rats participated in a variant of the SOR task that allowed the exploration times between the object familiarization and the test phases to be compared, and this experiment confirmed that aged rats falsely "recognize" the novel object. A final control examined whether or not aged rats exhibited reduced motivation to explore objects. In this experiment, when the environmental context changed between familiarization and test, young and old rats failed to show an exploratory preference because both age groups spent more time exploring the familiar object. Together these findings support the view that age-related impairments in object recognition arise from old animals behaving as if novel objects are familiar, which is reminiscent of behavioral impairments in young rats with perirhinal cortical lesions. The current experiments thus suggest that alterations in the perirhinal cortex may be responsible for reducing aged animals' ability to distinguish new stimuli from ones that have been encountered previously.
Biofouling in Marine Molluscan Shellfish Aquaculture: A Survey Assessing the Business and Economic Implications of Mitigation

The culture of oysters, clams, scallops, and other molluscs is collectively one of the fastest growing sectors of the domestic aquaculture industry. An inherent issue with shellfish culture methods, particularly for off-bottom culture (i.e., floating trays, racks, long lines, strings, rafts), is biofouling. Controlling and mitigating biofouling can result in significant costs for commercial shellfish culture operations. A survey of existing commercial shellfish culture operations was conducted among growers in seven US regions. A total of 1375 surveys were distributed. An overall response rate of 37% was achieved. The survey solicited information on business descriptors, perceptions of biofouling as a problematic issue, and costs associated with control. Respondents indicated that efforts to control biofouling accounted for an average of 14.7% of total annual operating costs. Survey findings suggest that the total costs associated with biofouling control by shellfish growers in the regions studied exceed $21 million. Over 40% of respondents indicated that biofouling affected the marketability of their product. The survey findings reveal significant variation in responses by region.
Poly(arylene ether)s carrying pendant (3‐sulfonated) phenylsulfonyl groups

A series of poly(arylene ether)s with biphenyl units and pendant sulfonated phenylsulfonyl groups was prepared via nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions of varying ratios of 3,5-difluoro-3′-sulfonated diphenylsulfone and 4,4′-difluorodiphenylsulfone with 4,4′-biphenol. As such, the sulfonic acid moieties reside in the meta position of a pendant, electron-poor phenylsulfonyl group. Mechanically robust proton-exchange membranes with ion-exchange capacities (IEC) ranging from 0.91 to 2.05 meq g−1 were cast from dimethylacetamide. The thermal stability of the membranes was evaluated via thermogravimetric analysis and the 5% weight losses were found to be in excess of 330 °C in air. The glass transition temperatures were determined, via differential scanning calorimetry, to range from a low of 148 to a high of 209 °C at IEC values of 0.91 and 1.79 meq g−1, respectively. The copolymer membranes reached proton conductivities as high as 142 mS cm−1 under 100% relative humidity, with relatively low water uptake values (8–32 wt%). Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry
Internet scale data analysis

This talk covers techniques for analyzing data sets with up to trillions of examples with billions of features, using thousands of computers. To operate at this scale requires an understanding of an increasing complex hardware hierarchy (e.g. cache, memory, SSD, another machine in the rack, disk, a machine in another data center, ...); a model for recovering from inevitable hardware and software failures; a machine learning model that allows for efficient computation over large, continuously updated data sets; and a way to visualize and share the results.
Influence of feed flavors and nursery diet complexity on preweaning and nursery pig performance.

In Exp. 1, 50 sows and their litters were used to determine the effects of adding a feed flavor to the creep diet on the proportion of pigs consuming creep feed ("eaters") and preweaning performance. Sows were blocked according to parity and date of farrowing and allotted to 2 experimental treatments: 1) litters fed a creep diet with no flavor (negative control) or 2) negative control diet with the feed flavor (Luctarom) included at 1,500 mg/kg. Both creep diets contained 1.0% chromic oxide and were offered ad libitum from d 18 until weaning at d 21. Adding flavor to the creep diet did not (P > 0.41) affect weaning weights, total BW gain, ADG, total creep feed intake, daily creep feed intake, or the proportion of creep feed eaters in whole litters. In Exp. 2, 480 weanling pigs (6.58 ± 0.41 kg; 20 ± 2 d) from Exp. 1 were randomly selected by preweaning treatment group, blocked by initial BW, and allotted to 1 of 8 treatments in a randomized complete block design to determine the interactive effects of preweaning exposure to flavor (exposed vs. unexposed), nursery diet complexity (complex vs. simple), and flavor addition to nursery diets (with vs. without flavor). Each treatment had 10 replications (pens) with 6 pigs per pen. Diets with flavor were supplemented with the flavor at 1,500 mg/kg in phase 1 diets and 1,000 mg/kg in phase 2 diets. A tendency for a 3-way interaction for ADG from d 5 to 10 (P = 0.10), 10 to 28 (P = 0.09), and 0 to 28 (P = 0.06) was observed. Postweaning ADG of pigs exposed to flavor in creep feed and fed flavored complex diets in the nursery was greater than pigs in any other treatment combination. Increasing diet complexity improved (P 0.34) and pig BW (P > 0.45) in both postweaning periods. Adding flavor to starter diets tended to improve ADFI (P = 0.06) during d 0 to 5. In conclusion, adding flavor to the creep feed did not affect litter creep feed intake, the proportion of piglets consuming creep feed, or preweaning performance when creep was provided for 3 d before weaning. Preweaning exposure to feed flavor improved postweaning ADG in pigs fed complex diets supplemented with the same flavor but did not influence performance of pigs fed simple diets.
Multidimensional Morphological Edge Detection

Recently, mathematical morphology has been used to develop efficient and statistically robust 2-dimensional edge detectors[1]. These edge detectors have been shown to outperform most mask and differentiation based edge detectors. In this paper, we introduce a general robust N-dimensional morphological edge detector that outperforms any of the previously developed morphological edge detectors. We compare the statistical performance of our edge detector with that of the previously developed 2-D morphological edge detector on images with various noise levels. Finally, we will also include some examples of our edge detector's output on both 2 and 3-dimensional images to compare with other operators.
Globin-methionine complexes formed during labelling studies

Summary. In implementing globin synthetic measurements using our recently described technique of Cellogel separation of 35S-methionine-labelled globin chain we sometimes encountered aberrant results. We discovered the presence of prominent radioactive bands trailing both the alpha and beta globin chains. Such bands were not present when 3H-leucine served as a label. These bands were not duc to contaminants in the 35S-methionine. Their formation could be prevented by including in the incubating mixture 1 mM cystine, cysteine or homocysteine. The bands could not be removed by trichloracetic acid or acid acetone precipitation but did disappear almost entirely after prolonged dialysis against a urea-containing buffer. The trailing bands appear to represent the result of the firm, but not covalent, binding of methionine to globin during the protein synthetic process. Since methionine is commonly used as a label for newly synthesized protein, this phenomenon may be important not only in the investigation of globin synthesis, but also in the study of the synthesis of other proteins.
Theoretical studies of the in-solution isomeric protonation of non-aromatic six-member rings with two nitrogens.

For exploring the preferred site for hydrogen bond formation, theoretical calculations have been performed for a number of six-member, nonaromatic rings allowing for alternative protonation on the ring nitrogens. Gas-phase protonation studies for test molecules indicate that the B3LYP/aug-cc-pvtz and QCISD(T) CBS calculations approach the experimental values within about 1 kcal/mol with considerable improvement for relative enthalpies and free energies. Relative free energies calculated at the IEF-PCM/B3LYP/aug-cc-pvtz level predict favorable protonation on the tertiary rather than on the secondary nitrogen both in aqueous solution and in a dichloromethane solvent for saturated rings. Protonation on a nitrogen atom next to a C = C bond is disfavored due to a large increase in internal energy. Monte Carlo simulations considering a counterion and Ewald summation for the long-range electrostatic effects for a 0.1 molar model system predict ΔG(solv)/MC values generally less negative than from the IEF-PCM calculations. These results make the protonation on the tertiary nitrogen even more favored. The solute-solvent pair-energy distribution depends sensitively on the applied model. In conclusion, the freely moving anion has been considered as the most relevant model with overall neutrality for the system and applying the least restrictions.
Ecosystems for sharing the knowledge-intensive datasets at clouds-technologies

This century, is set at plenty of”zeros-and-ones” at the Clouds. Furthermore, they are pragmatic in their style and very much knowledge-intensive meaning that they are consistent semantically with immense of practical understanding. They need agents to operate, convert and carry them for applications. Those slots openly allow sharing wherever and whenever needed though they are scattered. To share those knowledge-intensive wandering slots or elements and compact components; one or many interloped agents should provide an Ecosystem driver to gather them meaningfully in escalating by evaluating and elevating into the next level. This level could continue with the new content knowledge to the clouds-entity; is the next generation ecocycle system. Feynman, R.P, et. al [1963] professed that “if, in some cataclysm, all of scientific knowledge was to be destroyed, and only one sentence passed in to the next generation of creatures, what sentence would contain the most information in fewest words? It is the atomic hypothesis that all things are made of atoms — little particles that move around in perpetual motion, attracting each other when they are a little distance apart, but repelling upon being squeezed into one another. Here, there is a number of information that is beyond the imagination when applied. The features designed is to simplify the amount of external circuitry required; to configure the modules for simultaneous en-ergy-up and energy-down supply the attraction in sequencing with its complex logic and mixed-signals. We have developed an Ecosystem to handle and preserve a part of the scattered knowledge-intensive “zeros-and-ones” into a semantic scenario; fundamentally at the Cyberinfrastructure where we encapsulate the signals at a very low frequency level and convert them into a meaningful format in carrying over an ultra-wide-band environments; some are used, parked, converted, saved, and or added new flavor with injected knowledge.
Varicella Zoster Virus (Wild-Type) Infection, but not Varicella Vaccine, in Late Childhood Is Associated With Delayed Asthma Onset, Milder Symptoms, and Decreased Atopy

Varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection, early in life, has been shown to have a protective role against the development of asthma and atopy in children. It is unknown whether VZV infection in late childhood and adolescence also has an asthma protective effect. We studied whether VZV infection in late childhood and adolescence, or administration of the live attenuated varicella vaccine, provides a similar protective effect. In the present study, we use a retrospective chart review of a pediatric practice (N = 62) to analyze the effect of wild-type (WT) VZV infection or recombinant varicella vaccine in children (age 3–21 years) diagnosed with asthma. We found (1) asthma onset occurred 9.4 ± 4.4 years after WT VZV infection (4.4 ± 2.2) by age 13.9 ± 6.5 years, but only 3.0 ± 1.7 years after recombinant vaccine (3.2 ± 3.0 years) at age 5.0 ± 3.6 years (P = 0.05); (2) asthma classifications were 61.5% intermittent, 15.4% mild persistent, and 23.1% moderate persistent after WT VZV infection, but were 30.0% inte...
A Mutation Influencing the Transportation of Manganese, L-Dopa, and L-Tryptophan

Transportation of manganese, L-dopa, and L-tryptophan was slower through the tissues, of intact pallid mice than through those of black C57Bl/6J mice, presumably because of the influence of the gene pallid.
Wafer-scale integration and two-level pipelined implementations of systolic arrays

Abstract Two important issues in systolic array designs are addressed: How is fault tolerance provided in systolic arrays to enhance the yield of wafer-scale integration implementations? And, how are efficient systolic arrays with two levels of pipelining designed? (The first level refers to the pipelined organization of the array at the cellular level, and the second refers to the pipelined functional units inside the cells.) The fault-tolerant scheme proposed replaces defective cells with clocked delays. This has the distinct characteristic that data can flow through the array with faulty cells at the original clock speed. It is shown that both the defective cells under this fault-tolerant scheme and the second-level pipeline stages can simply be modeled as additional delays in the data paths of “generic” systolic designs. The mathematical notion of a cut is introduced to solve the problem of how to allow for these extra delays while preserving the correctness of the original systolic array designs. The results obtained by applying these techniques are encouraging. When applied to systolic arrays without feedback cycles, the arrays can tolerate large numbers of failures (with the addition of very little hardware) while maintaining the original throughput. Furthermore, all of the pipeline stages in the cells can be kept fully utilized through the addition of a small number of delay registers. However, adding delays to systolic arrays with cycles typically induces a significant decrease in throughput. In response to this, a new class of systolic algorithms has been derived in which the data cycle around a ring of processing cells. The systolic ring architecture has the property that its performance degrades gracefully as cells fail. Use of the cut theory and ring architectures for arrays with feedback gives effective fault-tolerant and two-level pipelining schemes for most systolic arrays. As a side effect of developing the ring architecture approach, several new systolic algorithms have been derived. These algorithms generally require only one-third to one-half of the number of cells used in previous designs to achieve the same throughput. The new systolic algorithms include ones for LU-decomposition, QR-decomposition, and the solution of triangular linear systems.
Bypass of senescence, immortalization, and transformation of human hematopoietic progenitor cells

We attempted to extend the lifespan of CD34+ stem/progenitor cells in human cord blood (CB) by transduction with lentiviral vectors carrying the human telomerase catalytic subunit (hTERT) and/or the human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) E6 and E7 oncogenes. We found that hTERT was incapable of prolonging the replicative capacity of CB cells maintained under serum-free conditions in the presence of stem cell factor, Flt3 ligand, thrombopoietin, and interleukin-3 beyond 4 months (n=3). However, transduced CB cells cultured in the same cytokine cocktail constitutively expressing HPV16 E6/E7 alone (n=2) or in concert with hTERT (n=9) continued to proliferate, giving rise to permanent (>2 years) cell lines with a CD45+ CD34- CD133+/- CD44+ CD235a+ CD71+ CD203+ CD33+ CD13+ myeloerythroid/mast cell progenitor phenotype. Notably, CB cell cultures expressing only HPV16 E6/E7 went through a crisis period, and the resulting oligoclonal cell lines were highly aneuploid. By comparison, the CB cell lines obtained by coexpression of HPV16 E6/E7 plus hTERT exhibited near-diploid karyotypes with minimal chromosomal aberrations, concomitant with stabilization of telomere length, yet were clonally derived. The immortalized E6/E7 plus hTERT-expressing CB cells were not tumorigenic when injected intravenously or subcutaneously into sublethally irradiated immunodeficient nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficient mice but could be converted to a malignant state by ectopic expression of a v-H-ras or BCR-ABL oncogene. These findings provide new insights into the mechanisms governing the senescence checkpoint of primitive human hematopoietic precursors and establish a paradigm for studies of the multistep process of human leukemogenesis.
Dichloroacetic acid improves in vitro myocardial function following in vivo endotoxin administration

Dichloroacetic acid (DCA), a stimulator of pyruvate dehydrogenase activity, ameliorates lactic acidosis and enhances myocardial function in several clinical shock states. DCA also improves survival in experimental lactic acidosis. Because of the key role played by the heart in the vascular collapse associated with fatal shock, we examined the effects of DCA on myocardial performance in vitro using the isolated working perfused heart preparation. Hearts were obtained from animals receiving a lethal dose for 50% of the group (LD 50 ) six hours of E coli endotoxin or saline vehicle. The presence of DCA in the perfusate significantly elevated stroke work, cardiac output, and peak systolic pressure development in hearts from endotoxin-treated rats at filling pressures from 7.5 to 25 cm of water. DCA had no significant effect on the mechanical performance of hearts obtained from vehicle injected controls. In the absence of glucose, DCA produced a slight but significant reduction in myocardial performance. In both control and endotoxin treated rat hearts, DCA increased the activity of pyruvic dehydrogenase by about 200%. DCA did not produce any alteration in ATP levels in the hearts from control animals; however, after endotoxin treatment DCA increased myocardial ATP content to control vaiues. The data show that DCA aguments myocardial performance in hearts from endotoxin-injected rats, and it restores the depressed ATP concentration to normal levels.
Hormone ontogeny in the ovine fetus: XIX: The effect of a potent luteinizing hormone-releasing factor agonist on gonadotropin and testosterone release in the fetus and neonate.

ABSTRACT: To investigate further the role of the hypothalamic luteinizing hormone releasing factor (LRF) pulse generator and the pituitary LRF receptor in the regulation of gonadotropin secretion and gonadal steroidogenesis in the ovine (O) fetus and neonatal lamb, we measured the increment (the difference between the concentration of plasma LH at time 0 and peak LH) in oLH (AoLH) and oFSH (AoFSH) responses to a potent LRF agonist, D-Trp6Pro9NEt-LRF (LRF-A), after consecutive daily doses in 17 ovine fetuses (six females, 11 males) and in 15 neonatal lambs (six females, nine males). Seven of the lambs had been studied as fetuses. In addition, plasma concentrations of testosterone (T) and androstenedione (A4A) were measured in nine male fetuses. After a stimulatory response to the first dose of LRF-A, the mean AoLH and AoFSH responses in the 106- to 118-d gestation fetuses of both sexes were significantly suppressed by the fourth dose and in the neonatal lamb by the second dose. Suppression was sustained throughout the duration of LRF-A therapy which included the gestational interval when the fetal pituitary exhibits its greatest responsiveness to an acute dose of synthetic LRF. The duration of oLH and oFSH suppression after cessation of LRF-A therapy was studied by measuring the AoLH and AoFSH responses to LRF before and at intervals after LRF-A therapy. In the fetus, the AoLH and AoFSH responses remained significantly decreased 7-8 d after the agonist was discontinued. No statistical differences were detected in the AoLH and AoFSH responses to LRF in the neonatal lamb at least by the 4th d after discontinuation of LRF-A. Increasing the duration of LRF-A therapy did not prolong the length of recovery of LH and FSH responsiveness to LRF in either fetus or neonate. Mean fetal plasma T levels rose significantly in response to a single dose of LRF or LRFA. Peak T responses to single dose LRF or LRF-A were lower on d 2-4 and d 7 than on the 1st d of LRF-A
Reserpine, hydrochlorothiazide and pituitary-gonadal hormones in hypertensive patients.

Sex histories and serum samples were obtained from 27 hypertensive men before and after 3 months of therapy with either 100 mg of hydrochlorothiazide or 0.25 mg of reserpine daily. Sera were analyzed for testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, estradiol, luteinizing hormone and prolactin. Both drugs effectively lowered blood pressure. The incidence of impaired sexual performance was low and insignificantly different in the two treatment groups. There were no significant changes in serum hormone concentrations as a result of drug therapy.
Computer‐delivered interventions to reduce college student drinking: a meta‐analysis

Aims This meta-analysis evaluates the efficacy of computer-delivered interventions (CDIs) to reduce alcohol use among college students. Methods We included 35 manuscripts with 43 separate interventions, and calculated both between-group and within-group effect sizes for alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Effects sizes were calculated for short-term (/=6 weeks) intervals. All studies were coded for study descriptors, participant characteristics and intervention components. Results The effects of CDIs depended on the nature of the comparison condition: CDIs reduced quantity and frequency measures relative to assessment-only controls, but rarely differed from comparison conditions that included alcohol-relevant content. Small-to-medium within-group effect sizes can be expected for CDIs at short- and long-term follow-ups; these changes are less than or equivalent to the within-group effect sizes observed for more intensive interventions. Conclusions CDIs reduce the quantity and frequency of drinking among college students. CDIs are generally equivalent to alternative alcohol-related comparison interventions. Language: en
Effects of Lower-Hybrid Heating on the Hot Electrons in an Electron-Cyclotron-Resonance Plasma

Experiments were performed on an electron cyclotron resonance plasma in a dc magnetic mirror to determine the effects of lower hybrid resonance radiation on the anisotropy of the plasma. It was found that the anisotropy of the plasma hot electrons decreased, the flux of hot electrons escaping through the mirror throats decreased and the midplane wall bremsstrahlung rate slightly increased as lower hybrid resonance power was increased. This is explained by observing that cold plasma, expelled by the lower hybrid radiation, decreases the number of scattering centers in the midplane, which results in a deeper diamagnetic well for the hot electrons.
Recovery of Cardiovascular Function in Newborn Lambs after Thoracotomy

Summary: Knowledge of the quality and speed of recovery after thoracotomy is crucial for studies of the early changes in cardiovascular function in the neonatal period. We studied the early recovery period after thoracotomy with pericardiotomy, but without ventriculotomy, in 21 lambs operated on between 2–24 days after birth. In 15 lambs, we measured resting pH, PaO2, PaCO2, O2 consumption, cardiac output, heart rate, and aortic and pulmonary arterial pressures, before and after thoracotomy, daily for 1 wk. We found that, except for PaO2 (82 versus 87 torr), all variables returned to normal by the third day after thoracotomy. Four lambs were exposed to hypoxia (FIO2 0.09 for 1 h) before and 3 days after thoracotomy; hypoxia-induced changes were not different at the two different periods. Six other lambs, undergoing thoracotomy within the first 3 days after birth and exposed to hypoxia on the third postoperative day, had hypoxia-induced responses similar to six age-matched nonthoracotomized lambs. These findings indicate recovery of cardiovascular function by 48–72 h after thoracotomy. We believe, therefore, that reliable studies of the circulation in lambs are possible as early as 3–4 days after birth, even if thoracotomy is required for making measurements. Speculation: Thoracotomy, often required for the study of cardiovascular function, has adverse effects for a certain period of time. In newborn and young animals this period is only 2-3 days, thereby permitting essentially uninterrupted longitudinal studies despite thoracotomy.
Standards for measuring umbilical cord length

Summary Umbilical cord length was measured in 9620 male and 9068 female infants and related to gestational age in order to construct a growth chart for umbilical cords. In addition to providing a standard for the US white population, these growth charts illustrate that umbilical cord length is widely divergent at the same gestational age, males have longer cords than females ( P
c-Maf interacts with c-Myb to down-regulate Bcl-2 expression and increase apoptosis in peripheral CD4 cells.

The transcription factor c-Maf is critical for IL-4 production and the development of Th2 cells, which promote humoral immunity and protect against extracellular parasites. Yet, little else is known of c-Maf function in CD4 cells. Here, we identify a novel role for c-Maf in regulating susceptibility to apoptosis. Overexpression of c-Maf results in increased susceptibility of CD4 cells to apoptosis induced by multiple stimuli, including growth factor withdrawal, dexamethasone, irradiation, and TCR engagement. This effect is independent of Fas or p53; however, Bcl-2 expression is reduced in c-Maf Tg CD4 cells. Immunoprecipitation and Western blot analyses demonstrate that c-Maf–c-Myb complex formation is enhanced among T cells from c-Maf Tg mice compared to non-Tg littermates following TCR engagement. Unlike non-Tg T cells, c-Myb binding to the Bcl-2 promoter is not detectable in c-Maf Tg T cells by chromatin immunoprecipitation. In reporter assays, Bcl-2 promoter activity is reduced by c-Maf in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, transgene-mediated Bcl-2 expression corrects the apoptosis defect observed among c-Maf Tg CD4 cells. These data suggest that c-Maf can interact with c-Myb to reduce Bcl-2 expression, thereby limiting CD4 cell survival following TCR engagement.
A 70 Gbps 16:1 Multiplexer and a 60 Gbps 1:16 Demultiplexer in a SiGe BiCMOS Technology

The authors present circuits for at-rate processing of high speed serial data for optical communication applications, implemented in the IBM 8HP SiGe BiCMOS technology. Specifically, the authors describe a 16:1 multiplexer and a 1:16 demultiplexer, each assembled into a package designed to support 80 Gbps data rates. The maximum speed of the packaged components (multiplexer: 70 Gbps, demultiplexer: 60 Gbps) is among the highest reported to date for this generation SiGe technology, particularly for circuits with this level of complexity (>10,000 transistors)
Fault avoidance for fixed-interconnect optical computers

Optical computers can be assembled by using fixed-interconnect structures to connect two-dimensional optical arrays. A four-phase model of the optical computer assembly is described, and the roles of design density (i.e., the number of available gates used in a design) and fault density and the assembly technique are empirically investigated. Low-cost array assignment techniques that make use of optical logic arrays with faulted gates and multiple-array orientations are introduced and shown to increase an effective yield by between 50 and 100%. These techniques provide near-optimal solutions to the general optimal array assignment problem, which is shown to belong to the complexity class NP-hard.