cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Synthesis and Regulation of Fungal Secondary Metabolites

Fungi are well known for their ability to produce a multitude of secondary metabolites (SMs) which act as a weapon of defense to protect themselves against parasites and predators. A variety of fungal SMs have proved to serve as an important factor for decades. The synthesis of SMs in fungi is a complex, multi-step process and is stage-specific under specialized conditions. SMs are primarily synthesized by non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) or polyketide synthase (PKS) enzymes. The genes encoded for SM synthesis are often located in the cluster form at the sub-telomere region. The SM biosynthetic gene cluster comprises of genes encoding for NRPS/PKS, a transcription factor, and other accessory genes essential for assembly and maturation of SM. The regulation of SM synthesis in fungi can be achieved by pathway-specific (in-clustered transcription factor), global regulatory proteins and chromatin remodeling. The regulatory protein-encoding gene present in each gene cluster is considered to be a crucial regulatory circuit of the SM biosynthetic pathway. Moreover, the regulation of fungal SM biosynthesis is also guided by global regulatory proteins responsive to pH, carbon, nitrogen, light/dark, and other environmental cues. Histone modifications by methylation and acetylation often altered the chromatin structure; as a result, these changes repress or express the genes of SM biosynthetic pathway. Taken together, we conclude that fungal SM ability as antibiotics to toxins is useful to mankind.
Peripheral Nervous System Involvement

Vasculitis is an uncommon but treatable and thus important cause of neuropathy. Vasculitic neuropathy can occur as an isolated entity (nonsystemic vasculitic neuropathy) but more frequently evolves in the setting of a systemic vasculitis. Polyarteritis nodosa, anti-neutrophil antibody-associated vasculitides (especially microscopic polyangiitis and eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis), rheumatoid vasculitis, and cryoglobulinemic vasculitis are the systemic disorders most commonly associated with neuropathy. Both systemic vasculitic and nonsystemic vasculitic neuropathy usually present with a subacutely progressive, asymmetric/multifocal, painful, distal-predominant, axonal, sensory-motor phenotype. Available evidence suggests that nonsystemic and most systemic vasculitic neuropathies are mediated primarily by T-cell mechanisms, but immune complexes probably contribute. Evaluation of patients with suspected vasculitic neuropathy usually includes EMG, laboratory studies, and nerve/muscle biopsy. In patients lacking definite vasculitis in nerve biopsy, clinically probable vasculitic neuropathy can be diagnosed by recourse to supportive clinicopathologic findings. Vasculitic neuropathies occurring in the ANCA-associated vasculitides are treated in accordance with the underlying systemic vasculitis. About 50% of neuropathy-predominant primary systemic vasculitides are not controlled by initial corticosteroid monotherapy. IVIg or rituximab can induce remission in refractory or relapsing patients. Long-term outcome is reasonably good.
Standard language ideology is alive and well in public speaking textbooks

For more than 50 years, the field of linguistics has recognized the equality of human languages, including all dialects of all languages. In this study we examine how current popular public speaking textbooks handle issues of linguistic variation in English. We looked specifically at textbook discussions of accent, grammar and pronunciation. Unfortunately, we have found that the majority of textbooks we examined serve to maintain the outdated "deficit" model of language variation, to the detriment of students.
Langerhans cell sarcoma: The Mayo Clinic experience with an extremely rare disease.

e19543Background: Langerhans cell sarcoma (LCS) is a very rare cancer with the reported incidence of 2 per 100,000,000. It originates from antigen presenting cells belonging to the dendritic cell/m...
Data-Driven Decision Making and Community Indicators: Towards an Integration of DDDM in Community Development

This chapter presents a framework for better contextualizing the concept of integrating more data-driven decision making (DDDM) in community development. We relate DDDM to its use in other fields, specifically Business Management and Educational Studies. From the field of Educational Studies, we develop a series of questions that may be considered to support the still developing epistemology of DDDM in community development. We then, situate DDDM firmly within the toolbox of planning and planning history in the US. As such, we utilize and compare a few planning methods to support better understanding of what DDDM is and what it is not. We then present our recommendation that DDDM can be addressed, through the adoption and development of community indicator programs. Community indicator programs are an excellent tool to connect different forms of knowledge with different forms of action for enhanced community development practice.
Peripheral arterial occlusion due to COVID-19: CT angiography findings of nine patients.

Abstract Background Reports have indicated an association of large vessel peripheral arterial occlusion in the setting of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). While prior investigations have mostly focused on venous or cerebral arterial occlusions, we examined patients presenting exclusively with peripheral arterial extremity occlusions to investigate for any predisposing factors in this subset of COVID-19 patients. Materials and methods This is a retrospective study of COVID-19 patients with peripheral arterial occlusions presenting to a multi-hospital health care system in New York City between February 1st, 2020 and April 30th, 2020. Patient data and computed tomography angiography (CTA) exams in this subset were then collected and analyzed. Results For the months of February, March, and April 2020, we identified 9 patients (ages 37–93 yrs) at our health care system who underwent extremity CTA for large vessel upper or lower extremity arterial occlusion and were diagnosed with COVID-19. Patient medical histories and clinical parameters were evaluated to identify common risk factors including obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes. Patients presented with increased inflammatory markers including ferritin, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) as well as increased D-dimer. Conclusion Our findings suggest patients with COVID-19 and comorbidities presenting with elevated inflammatory markers and D-dimer may be at increased risk of large vessel peripheral arterial occlusion.
NaOH-impregnated oyster shell as a solid base catalyst for transesterification of soybean oil

There is significant interest in developing renewable solid base catalysts from agricultural wastes for use in the transesterification of fats into fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). In this study, an inexpensive base catalyst was synthesized by impregnating waste oyster shell with 50% sodium hydroxide solution, followed by calcination at 1000 ℃ for 3h. The resulting solid catalyst was used to catalyze transesterification of soybean oil. Transesterification using the catalyst was studied by systematically varying molar ratio (MR) (methanol to oil) and catalyst loading (CL). Results indicated that the highest FAME yield was 93.9% using MR of 12 and CL of 10%. Reusability tests suggested that the catalyst could be used for at least three runs without any significant decrease in FAME yield.
Sensory Evaluation of Blenderized Watermelon Flesh Juice With and Without the Rind

Objectives Although the rind of a watermelon contains much of health benefiting nutrients, it is much less appreciated by consumers and is often disposed. The purpose of this study was to compare sensory properties of blenderized watermelon (WM) flesh juice with and without rind.
Calibrating the Reliability of Publicly Available Nonprofit Taxable Activity Disclosures: Comparing IRS 990 and IRS 990-T Data

The topic of nonprofit commercialization has received increased attention from various groups including donors, regulators, and researchers. Perhaps the most commercial of all activities undertaken by nonprofits are those considered to be so far removed from an organization's exempt mission that the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) considers them to be taxable. Examination of these taxable activities can provide unique and valuable insights into the effects of purely commercial activities on nonprofit behavior. Nonprofits report their taxable activities on the confidential IRS 990-T. Although some information on taxable activities is reported on the publicly available IRS 990, unavailability of the IRS 990-T has prevented prior examination of its accuracy and reliability. Using a unique data set of otherwise confidential IRS 990-Ts, the authors calibrate the reliability of taxable activities as reported on the IRS 990, providing a roadmap for researchers to follow when examining nonprofits' taxable activities using publicly available data.
Economic Burden of Hospitalizations Associated with Opioid Dependence Among Patients Undergoing Spinal Fusion.

Background The current study seeks to examine the association between chronic opioid use and postoperative outcomes for patients undergoing anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) and posterior lumbar fusion (PLF). Methods The National Inpatient Sample was queried for patients with and without chronic opioid use undergoing ACDF or PLF for degenerative disc disease between 2012 and 2015 using ICD-9 diagnosis and procedure codes. Multivariable conditional logistic regression was performed to assess the association between chronic opioid use and length of stay (LOS), nonhome discharge, and hospital charge. Results A total of 391 patients undergoing ACDF and 644 patients undergoing PLF with opioid dependence were identified. On multivariable regression analysis, opioid dependence was significantly associated with an increased LOS (mean, 3.09 days vs. 2.16 days; odds ratio (OR) for prolonged LOS (>3 days), 2.11; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.43–3.14; P 75th percentile (OR, 1.44; 95% CI, 0.84–2.47; P = 0.188) or nonroutine discharge (OR, 1.48; 95% CI, 0.93–2.34; P = 0.098). For those undergoing PLF, opioid dependence was significantly associated with increased hospital charges (mean, U.S. $37,712.98 vs. $30,475.43, P 75th percentile, 1.78, 95% CL, 1.23–2.58, P = 0.002), LOS (mean, 3.42 days vs. 2.30 days; OR for prolonged LOS, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.16–2.00; P = 0.003), and nonroutine discharge (46.89% vs. 36.47%; OR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.34–2.26; P Conclusions Our analysis using a national administrative database showed that opioid dependence may be associated with worse economic outcomes for patients undergoing ACDF and PLF.
Entanglement Swapping in Quantum Switches: Protocol Design and Stability Analysis.

Quantum switches are critical components in quantum networks, distributing maximally entangled pairs among end nodes by entanglement swapping. In this work, we design protocols that schedule entanglement swapping operations in quantum switches. Entanglement requests randomly arrive at the switch, and the goal of an entanglement swapping protocol is to stabilize the quantum switch so that the number of unfinished entanglement requests is bounded with a high probability. We determine the capacity region for the rates of entanglement requests and develop entanglement swapping protocols to stabilize the switch. Among these protocols, the on-demand protocols are not only computationally efficient, but also achieve high fidelity and low latency demonstrated by results obtained using a quantum network discrete event simulator.
Recognition of human-vehicle interactions in group activities via multi-attributed semantic message generation

Improved Situational awareness is a vital ongoing research effort for the U.S. Homeland Security for the past recent years. Many outdoor anomalous activities involve vehicles as their primary source of transportation to and from the scene where a plot is executed. Analysis of dynamics of Human-Vehicle Interaction (HVI) helps to identify correlated patterns of activities representing potential threats. The objective of this paper is bi-folded. Primarily, we discuss a method for temporal HVI events detection and verification for generation of HVI hypotheses. To effectively recognize HVI events, a Multi-attribute Vehicle Detection and Identification technique (MVDI) for detection and classification of stationary vehicles is presented. Secondly, we describe a method for identification of pertinent anomalous behaviors through analysis of state transitions between two successively detected events. Finally, we present a technique for generation of HVI semantic messages and present our experimental results to demonstrate the effectiveness of semantic messages for discovery of HVI in group activities.
A Review of: “After Genocide: Bringing the Devil to Justice. By Adam Smith.”

In After Genocide: Bringing the Devil to Justice, Adam Smith challenges the conventional wisdom regarding international judicial institutions, and claims that in postconflict environments domestic ...
Adrenocortical Responses to Stress and Their Modulation in Free‐Living Vertebrates

The sections in this article are: 1 Labile (Transient) Perturbation Factors 2 The Emergency Life History Stage 3 Comparative Hormone Responses to Classical Stressors 3.1 Actions of Adrenal Hormones During Stress 3.2 Regulation of the Emergency Life History Stage by Glucocorticosteroids 4 Examples of the Emergency Life History Stage in Nature 4.1 Severe Storms and Interruption of Breeding 4.2 Snow and Ground-Feeding Birds 4.3 Storms and Oceanic Birds 4.4 Intraspecific Competition 4.5 Human Disturbance and Pollution 4.6 A Case for Glucocorticosteroids as Mediators of the Emergency Life History Stage 5 Facultative Metamorphosis 5.1 Desiccation and Metamorphosis in Amphibians 6 Semelparity and Programmed Death—Role of Glucocorticosteroids 6.1 Fish 6.2 Dasyurid Marsupials 7 Modulation of Adrenocortical Responses to Labile Perturbation Factors (Including Stress) 7.1 The Capture Stress Protocol 7.2 Variation Among and Within Populations Across Seasons 7.3 Facultative Variation Within a Population 7.4 Individual Variation Within a Population and Season 7.5 Variation in Physiological and Behavioral Responses to Elevated Levels of Glucocorticosteroids 8 Conclusion
COLLAGEN TYPE IX AND DEVELOPMENTALLY REGULATED SWELLING OF THE AVIAN PRIMARY CORNEAL STROMA

A critical event in avian corneal development occurs when the acellular primary stroma swells and becomes populated by mesen- chymal cells that migrate from the periphery. These cells then deposit the mature stromal ma- trix that exhibits the unique features necessary for corneal function. Our previous work corre- lated the disappearance of collagen type IX immu- noreactivity at stage 27 (51 ⁄2-6 days) with matrix swelling and invasion. To investigate further the mechanism of this disappearance, we employed immunohistochemistry after tissue fixation with Histochoice, a non-crosslinking fixative, immuno- blot analysis of protein extracts, and gel sub- strate chromatography (zymography) to detect endogenous proteolytic activity. We found that corneas fixed in Histochoice retain immunoreac- tivity for type IX collagen for 1-2 days after corneal swelling. This immunoreactivity, how- ever, becomes extractable from tissue sections of unfixed corneas at the time of initiation of stro- mal swelling and mesenchymal cell invasion. Im- munoblot analysis confirmed that, following swelling, immunoreactivity for collagen IX de- creased substantially in corneas, but not in the vitreous body, which served as a comparison. Analysis of ammonium sulfate (AS) fractions of such extracts indicated that, at the time of swell- ing, much of the immunoreactivity for type IX collagen in cornea shifted from the AS precipitate (containing high molecular weight molecules) to the AS supernatant (containing smaller frag- ments). In contrast, collagen IX immunoreactiv- ity from the vitreous was precipitated by ammo- nium sulfate throughout the period of study. Collagen type II, a major fibrillar collagen in both the corneal stroma and vitreous, remained in the high molecular weight fraction at all times exam- ined. Zymography detected the presence of the latent (proenzyme) form of gelatinase A (MMP-2) before corneal swelling and invasion (4 days), and both the latent and active forms of the en- zyme after corneal swelling. This suggests tissue- specific, developmentally regulated proteolysis of collagen IX as a trigger for corneal matrix swelling. Dev. Dyn. 1998;212:27-37.
10Be imaging of sediment accretion and subduction along the northeast Japan and Costa Rica convergent margins

Sediment accretion and subduction at convergent margins play an important role in the nature of hazardous interplate seismicity (the seismogenic zone) and the subduction recycling of volatiles and continentally derived materials to the Earth's mantle. Identifying and quantifying sediment accretion, essential for a complete mass balance across the margin, can be difficult. Seismic images do not define the processes by which a prism was built, and cored sediments may show disturbed magnetostratigraphy and sparse biostratigraphy. This contribution reports the first use of cosmogenic 10Be depth profiles to define the origin and structural evolution of forearc sedimentary prisms. Biostratigraphy and 10Be model ages generally are in good agreement for sediments drilled at Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 434 in the Japan forearc, and support an origin by imbricate thrusting for the upper section. Forearc sediments from Ocean Drilling Program Site 1040 in Costa Rica lack good fossil or paleomagnetic age control above the decollement. Low and homogeneous 10Be concentrations show that the prism sediments are older than 3–4 Ma, and that the prism is either a paleoaccretionary prism or it formed largely from slump deposits of apron sediments. Low 10Be in Costa Rican lavas and the absence of frontal accretion imply deeper sediment underplating or subduction erosion.
A decision-theoretic saliency, its biological plausibility and implications for pre-attentive vision

A decision-theoretic formulation of visual saliency, first proposed for top-down processing (object recognition) in (Gao & Vasconcelos, 2005) is extended to the problem of bottom-up saliency. Under this formulation, optimality is defined in the minimum probability of error sense, under a constraint of computational parsimony. The saliency of the visual features at a given location of the visual field is defined as the power of those features to discriminate between the stimulus at the location and a null hypotheses. For bottom-up saliency, this is the set of visual features that surround the location under consideration. Discrimination is defined in an information-theoretic sense and the optimal saliency detector derived for a class of stimuli that complies with known statistical properties of natural images. It is shown that the optimal detector consists of what is usually referred to as the standard architecture of V1 (Carandini, Demb, Mante, Tolhurst, Dan, Olshausen, et al., 2005): a cascade of linear filtering, divisive normalization, rectification and spatial pooling. The optimal detector is also shown to replicate the fundamental properties of the psychophysics of saliency (Treisman & Gelade, 1980): stimulus pop-out, saliency asymmetries for stimulus presence vs. absence, disregard of feature conjunctions, and Weber’s law. Finally, it is shown that the optimal saliency architecture can be applied to the solution of generic inference problems. In particular, for the class stimuli studied, it performs the three fundamental operations of statistical inference: assessment of probabilities, implementation of Bayes decision rule, and feature selection.
Flux pinning by grain boundaries in niobium bicrystals

Bicrystals of niobium with symmetric tilt boundaries grown directly from the melt with bicrystal seeds have been used as a model system to measure the resistive critical current Ic as a function of...
High spatial resolution upgrade of the electron cyclotron emission radiometer for the DIII-D tokamak.

The 40-channel DIII-D electron cyclotron emission (ECE) radiometer provides measurements of Te(r,t) at the tokamak midplane from optically thick, second harmonic X-mode emission over a frequency range of 83–130 GHz. The frequency spacing of the radiometer's channels results in a spatial resolution of ∼1–3 cm, depending on local magnetic field and electron temperature. A new high resolution subsystem has been added to the DIII-D ECE radiometer to make sub-centimeter (0.6–0.8 cm) resolution Te measurements. The high resolution subsystem branches off from the regular channels’ IF bands and consists of a microwave switch to toggle between IF bands, a switched filter bank for frequency selectivity, an adjustable local oscillator and mixer for further frequency down-conversion, and a set of eight microwave filters in the 2–4 GHz range. Higher spatial resolution is achieved through the use of a narrower (200 MHz) filter bandwidth and closer spacing between the filters’ center frequencies (250 MHz). This configur...
Radiosurgery and stereotactic radiation therapy of skull base meningiomas: proposal of a grading system.

Objective: The development of a grading system to guide treatment selection, and predict treatment difficulty and outcome of skull base meningiomas infiltrating the cavernous sinus
DDT thins shells of eggs from mallard ducks maintained on ad libitum or controlled-feeding regimens.

Mallard ducks were fed diets containing various levels of technical DDT or chemically purep,p'-DDT, or dieldrin. Either technical DDT orp,p'-DDT at 20 ppm or greater, or dieldrin at 10 ppm caused a statistically significant reduction in eggshell thickness, weight, and calcium. Shells of eggs from ducks fed 40 ppm ofp,p'-DDT were about 20% thinner than those from control ducks, and shells of eggs from ducks fed 10 ppm of dieldrin were about 6% thinner than those from controls. The reduction in eggshell thickness was linear with increasing dose of DDT to 40 ppm, and with increasing dose of dieldrin through all levels studies. Eggshell thinning occurred regardless of whether the diets containing DDT were fed underad libitum or controlled conditions. DDT fed at 200 ppm was lethal to the ducks. Neither DDT nor dieldrin affected weight of the eggs or rate of egg production.
Alpha liquid scintillation counting: past, present, and future

Beta liquid scintillation counting has been used for about 30 years, and its effectiveness for alpha particles has been known for almost that long; however, the technique has not been widely applied to alpha particle detection because of poor energy resolution, high background, and variable interference from beta and gamma radiation. Beginning with the work of Horrocks in the early 1960s, improvements in energy resolution and background rejection have been made. Further developments at Oak Ridge National Laboratory over the past 10 to 12 years have resulted in improved methods of sample preparation (using liquid-liquid extraction methods to isolate the sample and introduce it into the scintillator) and better instrumentation, including electronic rejection of beta and gamma pulses. Energy resolutions of 200- to 300-keV FWHM and background counts of 0.01 cpm are now routine. Alpha liquid scintillation spectrometry is now suitable for a wide range of applications, from the accurate quantitative determination of relatively large amounts of known nuclides in laboratory-generated samples to the detection and identification of very small, subpicocurie amounts of alpha emitters in environmental-type samples. Suitable nuclide separation procedures, sample preparation methods, and instrument configurations are outlined for a variety of analyses.
Mössbauer study of reduced rubredoxin as purified and in whole cells. Structural correlation analysis of spin Hamiltonian parameters.

The [FeII(Cys)4]2- site of rubredoxin from Clostridium pasteurianum (Rdred) has been studied by Mossbauer spectroscopy in both purified protein and whole cells of Escherichia coli overproducing it....
Silicon microlenses for enhanced optical coupling to silicon focal planes

The microlens array reported in this paper is for enhanced optical coupling of near IR photons into the edges of the Rockwell solid-state photomultiplier (SSPM). Here the edge-illumination is necessary to achieve the required quantum efficiency of near IR photons in the SSPM, a device which is capable of photon counting. SSPM detection requires a method of highly efficient optical coupling to the gain medium to concentrate light with a 100 fill factor where lenslets are centered with a precise 0.2 micrometers accuracy. The microlens array is designed for a center wavelength of 1.3 micrometers , 1975 micrometers pixel dimension and a speed of f/4, which results in the array being nearly diffraction limited. The smallest feature size is 0.9 micrometers for the 8-phase level devices. From this design, we have successfully fabricated an 8-phase- level SSPM microlens array which demonstrates a 0.2 micrometers alignment accuracy among all three mask levels. SEM studies of the microlens show a high-quality surface finish and near vertical sidewalls. Optical characterization demonstrates that the microlens array is diffraction- limited at the design speed and design wavelength, with diffraction efficiency higher than 84.
Biochemical recurrence after definitive prostate cancer therapy. Part I: defining and localizing biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer.

Purpose of reviewThe introduction of prostate-specific antigen into clinical practice heralded a dramatic shift in the epidemiology of prostate cancer. The diagnosis and treatment of lower stage disease in younger men with fewer competing co-morbidities has resulted in a longer period of post-treatm
SILICA-PROMOTED DIELS-ALDER REACTIONS IN CARBON DIOXIDE FROM GASEOUS TO SUPERCRITICAL CONDITIONS

Amorphous fumed silica (SiO2) was shown to increase yields and selectivities of several Diels−Alder reactions in gaseous and supercritical CO2. Pressure effects on the Diels−Alder reaction were explored using methyl vinyl ketone and penta-1,3-diene at 80 °C. The selectivity of the reaction was not affected by pressure/density. As pressure was increased, the yield decreased. At the reaction temperature, adsorption isotherms at various pressures were obtained for the reactants and the Diels−Alder adduct. As expected when pressure is increased, the ratio of the amount of reactants adsorbed to the amount of reactants in the fluid phase decreases, thus causing the yield to decrease. The Langmuir adsorption model fit the adsorption data. The Langmuir equilibrium partitioning constants all decreased with increasing pressure. The effect of temperature on adsorption was experimentally determined and traditional heats of adsorption were calculated. However, since supercritical CO2 is a highly compressible fluid, it...
Work in process: performance measures

Abstract The paper describes by a simulation example how misleading is one of the traditional measures of manufacturing performance: the manufacturing cycle efficiency (MCE). Instead of MCE a different measure. Value Added Efficiency (VAE) is proposed, which — as shown in another example — provides a more realistic result.
Functional interaction between RhoB and the transcription factor DB1

RhoB has been implicated in cell growth control, actin regulation, adhesion-dependent viability, and gene expression, but its effector functions are poorly defined. Prenylation is important for the physiological functions of Rho proteins, so to identify RhoB effector functions we identified proteins whose interaction was sensitive to prenylation. Here we report the investigation of one such protein, an ubiquitiously expressed transcription factor termed DB1 that was originally cloned as a Tax-activated regulator of the IL3 promoter. The RhoB-binding domain in DBI was located in a functionally undefined region upstream and separable from its zinc finger DNA binding domain. DB1 interacted strongly with prenylated RhoB but weakly with RhoA and not at all with H-Ras. Functional interaction was supported by the identification of prenylated species of RhoB in the nuclear membrane and in an intranuclear laminar region, where they were available for DB1 association in principle, and by the ability of RhoB to inhi...
The HHV6 paradox: ubiquitous commensal or insidious pathogen? A two-step in situ PCR approach.

Background: Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) and multiple sclerosis (MS) are demyelinative diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). PML occurs mostly in individuals with AIDS-impaired immunity and is thought to be caused by JC polyoma virus (JCV). In MS a neurotrophic virus trigger is suspected, but the precise etiology remains unknown. Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV6) is a ubiquitous, commensal and usually benign beta-herpesvirus. Some researchers have found evidence for HHV6 infection in MS plaques and sera. We recently demonstrated a high frequency of cells containing HHV6 genome in PML lesions, as well as co-infection of oligodendrocytes by JCV and HHV6. This suggests that HHV6 may be a co-factor in the etiology of PML, and raises questions about its role in other demyelinative diseases. Objectives: To determine the prevalence and cellular localization of HHV6, JCV and HIV-1 infected cells in PML, MS, AIDS and control CNS tissues, and their potential relationship with disease. Study design: An unconventional, sensitive two-step in situ polymerase chain reaction (ISPCR) procedure was used to amplify and detect HHV6, JCV and HIV-1 genomic DNAs in formalin fixed, paraffin-embedded archival CNS tissues. HHV6, JCV and HIV-1 gene expression was detected by ICC for HHV6 p41 and gp101, JCV large T, and HIV-1 p24 gag and NEF proteins. Results: A high frequency of HHV6 genome was consistently detected in both PML and MS white matter lesional cells; a peri-lesional concentration was notable. HHV6 was found mainly in oligodendrocytes, but neurons were also infected. HHV6 was present in larger amounts than JCV in PML lesions, while more HIV-1 than HHV6 was present in AIDS. Variable amounts of HHV6 genome were detected in normal, AIDS and other control brains; the frequency of infected cells tended to increase with patient age. Conclusions: High concentrations of HHV6 genome in association with PML and MS lesions, open the possibility that HHV6 activation may play a role in the pathogenesis of these demyelinative diseases.
Lymphangitis and lymphadenitis

Abstract In the various types of lymphatic disease the use of roentgen therapy is recognized as the best type of treatment. In some cases the beneficial effects are only temporary and it is necessary to repeat the treatment from time to time. Many of these diseases are really neoplastic and in the long run their prognosis is uniformly bad. Local metastatic lesions caused by malignant neoplasms may be treated by roentgen therapy as a palliative measure, but it must be recognized that the ultimate prognosis in such cases also is bad.
First Records of Both Subspecies of Brachiacantha quadripunctata (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) in Mississippi, U.S.A.

The first records of the lady beetles Brachiacantha quadripunctata quadripunctata (Melsheimer) and B. quadripunctata flavifrons Mulsant from Mississippi and their occurrence in sympatry are reported following a review of previously collected material. The new records also extend the known geographic distribution of B. quadripunctata quadripunctata and B. quadripunctata flavifrons about 150 km, respectively, southward and westward. Our findings support the argument that ongoing curation and periodic review of collections is critical for maintaining accurate regional faunal lists, in developing hypotheses about the geographic distributions of species, and to track changes in both through time.
Learning how actions function: the role of outcomes in infants' representation of events.

Action is a fundamental component of object representations. However, little is known about how infants represent actions performed on objects. Across four experiments, we tested the hypothesis that at 10 months of age (N = 80) infants represent the general ability of actions to produce outcomes (sounds). Experiments 1A and 1B showed that infants encode actions and associate actions and object appearances in events in which actions produced no sound outcomes. Experiment 2 showed that infants associate the presence or absence of outcomes with actions. Experiment 3 showed, in contrast, that infants did not associate the presence or absence of outcomes with object appearances. Together, these studies suggest that infants encode the outcome potential of specific actions. We discuss the implications of these findings for our understanding of the development of action representations.
HydroDesktop: Web services-based software for hydrologic data discovery, download, visualization, and analysis

Discovering and accessing hydrologic and climate data for use in research or water management can be a difficult task that consumes valuable time and personnel resources. Until recently, this task required discovering and navigating many different data repositories, each having its own website, query interface, data formats, and descriptive language. New advances in cyberinfrastructure and in semantic mediation technologies have provided the means for creating better tools supporting data discovery and access. In this paper we describe a freely available and open source software tool, called HydroDesktop, that can be used for discovering, downloading, managing, visualizing, and analyzing hydrologic data. HydroDesktop was created as a means for searching across and accessing hydrologic data services that have been published using the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) Hydrologic Information System (HIS). We describe the design and architecture of HydroDesktop, its novel contributions in web services-based hydrologic data search and discovery, and its unique extensibility interface that enables developers to create custom data analysis and visualization plug-ins. The functionality of HydroDesktop and some of its existing plug-ins are introduced in the context of a case study for discovering, downloading, and visualizing data within the Bear River Watershed in Idaho, USA.
Telematics supported learning in higher education: issues emerging from action research

University College Suffolk (UCS) is a large `mixed economy' College in the Further Education Sector offering higher, further and adult education. The paper asserts that telematics supported learning has value. To support this assertion, summary evidence from three projects are presented. The future role of telematics in higher education is at a crossroads between being perceived by educationalists as either an expensive toy or an effective educational tool. In the coming years further testing and evaluation will support critical judgements about the value of telematics supported learning that will impact on the future culture of higher education, its economics, and the design of the organisational structures that deliver it. Politically and pragmatically this testing and evaluation will need to clarify whether our engagement with telematics reflects nothing more than global commercial hype or the existence of a new and liberating approach to learning. There is evidence from work in Suffolk to suggest that the considered and professional use of telematics within a clear learning framework can add value, improve the quality of learning and potentially support independent and deep forms of learning. Whether such value and improvements can be realised will depend as profoundly on the ability of educationalists to articulate, and support learners to articulate, the learning outcomes to which they aspire, than it will in the marketing skills of Microsoft, IBM or any other global commercial enterprise. (6 pages)
Microstructure and strength of hydrated cement

Abstract Several hydrated portland cement systems have been studied at DBR in a wide range of porosities. These systems include room-temperature hydrated paste, autoclaved paste, autoclaved with addition of sulfur and silica, hot-pressed samples and compacts of synthetic 14A tobermorite. Measurements included compressive strength, Young's modulus, product density, porosity and helium inflow, by which the various systems were characterized. It was concluded that, at a given porosity, an optimum proportion of higher density crystalline material and poorly aligned and ill-crystallized material yields the best strength but the quantity of poorly-crystallized material required decreases with porosity.
Do mothers support and peers inhibit skilled object play in infancy

Abstract Videotapes of 14 infants observed longitudinally at 12, 15, and 18 months were coded. Three 10-minute conditions had been videotaped: play with the infant's mother, with a familiar peer, and alone. The infant's play with objects was coded using Belsky and Most's (1981) Development of Play Scale. This scale assigns ordinal numbers to successively higher levels of play. Two measures were analyzed: highest level of play seen and percentages of time spent at different levels of object play. For both, play was more sophisticated with mothers than with peers; in general, play with peers and play alone were indistinguishable. These results suggest that, at least for infants in their second year of life, peers may exercise an inhibitory effect on both the elicitation and expansion of conventional and symbolic play. Such roles may be reserved for more competent members of the culture.
Integrated optical and electrical modeling of plasmon-enhanced thin film photovoltaics: A case-study on organic devices

The nanoscale light control for absorption enhancement of organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices inevitably produces strongly non-uniform optical fields. These non-uniformities due to the localized optical modes are a primary route toward absorption enhancement in OPV devices. Therefore, a rigorous modeling tool taking into account the spatial distribution of optical field and carrier generation is necessary. Presented here is a comprehensive numerical model to describe the coupled optical and electrical behavior of plasmon-enhanced polymer:fullerene bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells. In this model, a position-dependent electron-hole pair generation rate that could become highly non-uniform due to photonic nanostructures is directly calculated from the optical simulations. By considering the absorption and plasmonic properties of nanophotonic gratings included in two different popular device architectures, and applying the Poisson, current continuity, and drift/diffusion equations, the model predicts quantum efficiency, short-circuit current density, and desired carrier mobility ratios for bulk heterojunction devices incorporating nanostructures for light management. In particular, the model predicts a significant degradation of device performance when the carrier species with lower mobility are generated far from the collecting electrode. Consequently, an inverted device architecture is preferred for materials with low hole mobility. This is especially true for devices that include plasmonic nanostructures. Additionally, due to the incorporation of a plasmonic nanostructure, we use simulations to theoretically predict absorption band broadening of a BHJ into energies below the band gap, resulting in a 4.8% increase in generated photocurrent.
Maturation and maintenance of the neuromuscular synapse: genetic evidence for roles of the dystrophin--glycoprotein complex.

Abstract The dystrophin–glycoprotein complex (DGC) links the cytoskeleton of muscle fibers to their extracellular matrix. Using knockout mice, we show that a cytoplasmic DGC component, α-dystrobrevin (α-DB), is dispensable for formation of the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) but required for maturation of its postsynaptic apparatus. We also analyzed double and triple mutants lacking other cytoskeletal DGC components (utrophin and dystrophin) and myotubes lacking a α-DB or a transmembrane DGC component (dystroglycan). Our results suggest that α-DB acts via its linkage to the DGC to enhance the stability of postsynaptic specializations following their DGC-independent formation; dystroglycan may play additional roles in assembling synaptic basal lamina. Together, these results demonstrate involvement of distinct protein complexes in the formation and maintenance of the synapse and implicate the DGC in the latter process.
Hemolymph melanization in the silkmoth Bombyx mori involves formation of a high molecular mass complex that metabolizes tyrosine.

The phenoloxidase (PO) cascade regulates the melanization of blood (hemolymph) in insects and other arthropods. Most studies indicate that microbial elicitors activate the PO cascade, which results in processing of the zymogen PPO to PO. PO is then thought to oxidize tyrosine and o-diphenols to quinones, which leads to melanin. However, different lines of investigation raise questions as to whether these views are fully correct. Here we report that hemolymph from the silkmoth, Bombyx mori, rapidly melanizes after collection from a wound site. Prior studies indicated that in vitro activated PPO hydroxylates Tyr inefficiently. Measurement of in vivo substrate titers, however, suggested that Tyr was the only PO substrate initially present in B. mori plasma and that it is rapidly metabolized by PO. Fractionation of plasma by gel filtration chromatography followed by bioassays indicated that melanization activity was primarily associated with a high mass complex (∼670 kDa) that contained PO. The prophenoloxidase-activating protease inhibitor Egf1.0 blocked formation of this complex and Tyr metabolism, but the addition of phenylthiourea to plasma before fractionation enhanced complex formation and Tyr metabolism. Mass spectrometry analysis indicated that the complex contained PO plus other proteins. Taken together, our results indicate that wounding alone activates the PO cascade in B. mori. They also suggest that complex formation is required for efficient use of Tyr as a substrate.
Use of mesenchymal stem cells or autologous conditioned serum to modulate the inflammatory response to spermatozoa in mares

Current treatments for Persistent mating-induced endometritis such as uterine lavage and oxytocin therapy focus on aiding the uterus in removal of inflammatory products, but these treatments do not modulate the inciting inflammatory response. Biological treatments, such as autologous conditioned serum (ACS) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), have been used in human and veterinary medicine for immunomodulation for over 10 years. The objectives of this project were to evaluate the ability of ACS or MSCs to modulate the inflammatory response to spermatozoa after breeding. Two experiments were performed with six normal mares in each study to evaluate the effects of intrauterine administration of ACS, dexamethasone, or a placebo (experiment 1), or allogeneic MSCs or a placebo (experiment 2) on the inflammatory response to spermatozoa using clinical and biochemical endpoints. Treatment with ACS and MSCs significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the number of neutrophils in the uterine lumen 6 hours after the sperm challenge. An increase (P < 0.05) in the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-1Ra was observed after treatment with MSCs before exposure to spermatozoa. There was no difference in IL-1Ra concentration in mares treated with ACS, dexamethasone, or a placebo. Mesenchymal stem cells and ACS were able to modulate the immune response to spermatozoa in normal mares. The effect may be due to an increase in IL-1Ra in MSCs-treated mares, but other bioactive molecules may be responsible for the decrease in neutrophils in ACS-treated mares. Autologous conditioned serum and bone-derived culture expanded MSCs were able to modulate the uterine inflammatory response to spermatozoa in normal mares. Treatment with allogeneic stem cells may be beneficial if a similar modulation in inflammatory cytokines occurs in mares affected by persistent mating-induced endometritis.
Recovery of an Offshore Lake Trout (Salvelinus Namaycush) Population in Eastern Lake Superior

The lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) population at Stannard Rock, Michigan, an isolated offshore reef in eastern Lake Superior, was monitored each spring from 1959–79 using a permit assessment gill net fishery. This population, like nearly all of those in inshore waters, declined to low levels during the years of intense predation by the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) in the late 1950s and early 1960s. After sea lamprey control began in 1961, the abundance of native lake trout at Stannard Rock began to increase slowly in the 1960s and was limited to recruitment into the fishable stock of native fish that were juveniles during the years of high sea lamprey activity. By the early 1970s, lake trout abundance increased sharply and remained at a high level. This rapid recovery resulted from several strong year classes produced by the small spawning aggregations that reached maturity in the 1960s. Reproduction occurred in all years during and after the peak of sea lamprey activity in 1959. The strengths of year classes produced in 1963–1968 were related to the relative abundance of spawners the previous fall.
Real-Time Parameter ID Using Polynomial Chaos Expansions

A novel real-time parameter identification algorithm has been developed that exploits polynomial chaos expansion (PCE) representations of uncertain parameters. Dynamic system models inevitably contain parameters whose values are rarely known with absolute certainty. In many cases, such parameters are either not measurable, or they are slowly time varying. In some cases, the dynamic system model is inadequate and parameter values are simply chosen to provide a “best fit” representation. For the method proposed here, we assume apriori knowledge of the probability distributions associated with the uncertain parameters. Within the PCE framework, the uncertain parameter distribution is explicitly propagated through the dynamic system equations using a Galerkin projection onto an orthogonal polynomial basis. The probabilistic PCE model is then collapsed to a deterministic model where an adaptive algorithm is designed to effectively reduce the uncertainty. For illustration, this algorithm is numerically demonstrated using a simple first order dynamic system with only a single uncertain parameter.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
Effects of physical conditioning on fibrinolytic variables and fibrinogen in young and old healthy adults.

BACKGROUNDThe effects of 6 months of intensive endurance exercise training on resting tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) activity, plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) activity, t-PA antigen, and fibrinogen were studied in 10 young (24-30 years) and in 13 old male subjects (60-82 years).METHODS AND RESULTSAfter training, maximum oxygen consumption was increased in the young group by 18% (44.9 +/- 5.0 to 52.9 +/- 6.6 ml/kg/min, p less than 0.001), whereas it was increased in the old group by 22% (29.0 +/- 4.2 to 35.5 +/- 3.6 ml/kg/min, p less than 0.001). The young group had no significant changes in any of the measured variables, whereas the old group had a 39% increase in t-PA activity (0.82 +/- 0.47 to 1.14 +/- 0.42 IU/ml, p less than 0.03), a 141% increase in the percentage of t-PA in the active form (11.1 +/- 7.7 to 26.8 +/- 15.1%, p less than 0.01), a 58% decrease in PAI-1 activity (8.4 +/- 4.9 to 3.5 +/- 1.7 AU/ml, p less than 0.01), and a 13% decrease in fibrinogen (3.57 +/- 0.79 to...