cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Characterization of coastal wetland soil organic matter: Implications for wetland submergence

Abstract High rates of relative sea level rise can cause coastal wetland submergence, jeopardizing the stability of soil organic matter (SOM) sequestered within wetlands. Following submergence, SOM can be lost through mineralization, exported into the coastal ocean, or reburied within adjacent subtidal sediments. By combining measures of soil physicochemical properties, microbial community abundance, organic carbon fractionation, and stable isotope signatures, this study characterized subsurface SOM within a coastal wetland to inform its potential fate under altered environmental conditions. Nine soil cores were collected to a depth of 150 cm from a wetland currently experiencing rapid erosion and submergence within Barataria Bay, LA (USA), and were sectioned into 10 cm intervals. Each soil segment was analyzed to determine total carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) content, as well as extractable ammonium (NH4+), nitrate (NO3−), and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP). Extractable NH4+ and SRP concentrations increased 7× and 11×, respectively, between 0–10 cm and 130–140 cm. Through quantitative PCR, number of gene copies of bacteria and sulfate reduction genes were found to decrease with depth while there was no change in number of gene copies of archaea. This study also demonstrated only small decreases in labile: refractory C ratios with depth; by combining δ15N data with labile:refractory C ratios and no observed change in C:N ratios with depth, we inferred the presence of minimally processed organic material within deep soils and high nutrient availability, challenging the applicability of the traditional theory of selective preservation and decreased soil quality with depth. As wetland submergence progresses and soils are exposed to oxygenated seawater, this relatively labile SOM and bioavailable N and P stored at depth has the potential for rapid mineralization and/or export into the coastal zone.
Meta-emotions and the complexity of human emotional experience

Abstract We suggest that meta-emotions – defined as emotions about one's own emotions – contribute to the complexity of people's psychic life by modifying the intensity and quality of their first-order emotions, and influencing their decisions and behaviour. After addressing similarities and differences between first-order and second-order emotions, and the role played on the latter by emotion goals and evaluations about emotions, we try to show how, by revealing the consequences of emotions, meta-emotions orient people towards, and turn them away from, certain first-order emotions. We also suggest a number of favouring conditions for the elicitation of meta-emotions: the “importance” of the first-order emotion; its perceived unexpectedness; the presence of other people; and the impact of the first-order emotion on the self-image. We finally consider the possible functions of meta-emotions, by pointing to their crucial role in emotion regulation and in fostering coherence with one's own values.
Student meets author: accessibility and transnational feminist praxis

This special Conversations section, “Student Meets Author,” is a twist on the “Author Meets Critic” concept. The idea is that my undergraduate college students at Pace University, New York City, re...
Alpha Adjacency: A generalization of adjacency matrices

B. Shader and W. So introduced the idea of the skew adjacency matrix. Their idea was to give an orientation δ to a simple undirected graph G from which a skew adjacency matrix S(Gδ ) is created. The α-adjacency matrix extends this idea to an arbitrary field F. To study the underlying undirected graph, the average α-characteristic polynomial can be created by averaging the characteristic polynomials over all the possible orientations. In particular, a Harary-Sachs theorem for the average α-characteristic polynomial is derived and used to determine a few features of the graph from the average α-characteristic polynomial.
Unravelling triterpene biosynthesis through functional characterization of an oxidosqualene cyclase (OSC) from Cleome arabica L

Cleome arabica is a medicinal plant contains diverse bioactive compounds and terpenoids are the major components. However, the isolation and purification of the active triterpenes from this plant involve long and complicated procedures. The present work investigates the triterpenes profiles of different tissues, besides that, describes the isolation, heterologous expression and functional characterization of C. arabica gene coding for triterpenes synthases. The phytochemical investigation through GC-MS revealed significant accumulation of pentacyclic triterpenes in leaves and siliques at mature stage compared to the stems and roots of C. arabica. Among the pentacyclic triterpenes, the lupeol reached the highest level of 320 μg/g DW in leaves at maturity stage compared to the other tissues. The biosynthesis of a pentacyclic triterpene was investigated through isolation and cloning of a full-length oxidosqualene cyclase cDNA (CaOSC) from mature leaves of C. arabica. The bioinformatic analyses revealed that CaOSC was highly homologous with the characterized lupeol synthases and shared 79.3% identity to camelliol C synthase from A. thaliana. Heterologous expression of CaOSC gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae synthesized lupeol as a single product. The lupeol biosynthesis was exponentially increased after induction through the fermentation process reaching the maximum of 2.33 μg/ml for 240 h. Furthermore, organ-specific expression of lupeol gene was exactly matched the accumulation pattern in different tissues of C. arabica during phenological cycle. Thus, the identified CaOSC will be useful in enhancing triterpene yield for industrial purposes.
Measuring and correcting bias in indirect estimates of under-5 mortality in populations affected by HIV/AIDS: a simulation study

In populations that lack vital registration systems, under-5 mortality (U5M) is commonly estimated using survey-based approaches, including indirect methods. One assumption of indirect methods is that a mother’s survival and her children’s survival are not correlated, but in populations affected by HIV/AIDS this assumption is violated, and thus indirect estimates are biased. Our goal was to estimate the magnitude of the bias, and to create a predictive model to correct it. We used an individual-level, discrete time-step simulation model to measure how the bias in indirect estimates of U5M changes under various fertility rates, mortality rates, HIV/AIDS rates, and levels of antiretroviral therapy. We simulated 4480 populations in total and measured the amount of bias in U5M due to HIV/AIDS. We also developed a generalized linear model via penalized maximum likelihood to correct this bias. We found that indirect methods can underestimate U5M by 0–41% in populations with HIV prevalence of 0–40%. Applying our model to 2010 survey data from Malawi and Tanzania, we show that indirect methods would underestimate U5M by up to 7.7% in those countries at that time. Our best fitting model to correct bias in U5M had a root median square error of 0.0012. Indirect estimates of U5M can be significantly biased in populations affected by HIV/AIDS. Our predictive model allows scholars and practitioners to correct that bias using commonly measured population characteristics. Policies and programs based on indirect estimates of U5M in populations with generalized HIV epidemics may need to be reevaluated after accounting for estimation bias.
Top-Down and Bottom-Up Controls on Microeukaryotic Diversity (i.e., Amplicon Analyses of SAR Lineages) and Function (i.e., Metatranscriptome Analyses) Assessed in Microcosm Experiments

The availability of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) has transformed our understanding of the diversity of microbial eukaryotes (i.e. protists) across diverse habitats. Yet relating this biodiversity to function remains a challenge, particularly in the context of microbial food webs. Here we perform a set of microcosm experiments to evaluate the impact of changing predator and prey concentrations on a marine protist community, focusing on SAR (Stramenopila, Alveolata, and Rhizaria) lineages. We combine an estimate of taxonomic diversity through analysis of SSU-rDNA amplicons with metatranscriptomics, a proxy for function. We assess changes in a community sampled from New England waters with varying concentrations of predators (copepods) and prey (phytoplankton less than 15µm in size). The greatest impact observed is on the diversity and function of the small plankton (2-10µm) community in the presence of high prey abundance (i.e. bloom conditions). Many SAR taxa in the nanosized fraction decrease with increasing phytoplankton abundance, while ciliates (from both nano- and microsized fraction) increase. A large number of transcripts and function estimates in the nanoplankton are downregulated during our simulated phytoplankton bloom. We also find evidence of an interaction between increasing phytoplankton and copepods on the microsized planktonic community, consistent with the hypothesis that phytoplankton and copepods exert bottom-up control and top-down control on the microsized protists, respectively. Together our analyses suggest community function (i.e. diversity of gene families) remains relatively stable, while the function at the species level (i.e. transcript diversity within gene families) show a substantial reduction of function under bloom conditions. Our study demonstrated that interactions within plankton food webs are complex, and that the relationships between diversity and function for marine microeukaryotes remain poorly understood.
Dynamic QM/MM: a hybrid approach to simulating gas-liquid interactions.

In this chapter we describe molecular dynamics simulation methods in which the system being studied is divided into a region where quantum mechanics (QM) is used to determine forces for doing Born-Oppenheimer direct dynamics calculations (i.e., doing electronic structure calculations on the fly to determine energies and forces) and another region where empirical potentials that are commonly used in molecular mechanics (MM) calculations are used to determine forces. The two regions are linked through an embedding process that may or may not involve the possibility that atoms can be passed back and forth between regions at each time step. The idea with this dynamic QM/MM methodology is that one uses QM calculations to define the potential surface in portions of the system where reaction occurs, and MM to determine forces in what is typically a much larger region where no reaction occurs. This approach thereby enables the description of chemical reactions in the QM region, which is a technology that can be used in many different applications. We illustrate its use by describing work that we have done with gas–liquid reactions in which a reactive atom (such as an oxygen or fluorine atom) reacts with the surface of a liquid and the products can either remain in the liquid or emerge into the gas phase. Applications to hydrocarbon and ionic liquids are described, including the characterization of reaction mechanisms at hyperthermal energies, and the determination of product branching and product energy distributions.
Waving Israeli Flags at Right-Wing Christian Rallies in South Korea

The impeachment of President Park Geun-hye and the ensuing shift to a liberal administration triggered massive far-right rallies in South Korea. The rally participants waved the South Korean flag t...
Verifiable security templates for hardware

High-level synthesis (HLS) research generally focuses on transferring "software engineering virtues" (e.g., modularity, abstraction, extensibility, etc.) to hardware development with the ultimate goal of making hardware development as agile as software development. And recent HLS research has focused on transferring ideas and techniques from high assurance software formal methods to hardware development. Just as it has introduced software engineering virtues, we believe HLS can also become a vector for adapting software formal methods to the challenge of high assurance security in hardware. This paper introduces the Device Calculus and its mechanization in the Agda proof checking system. The Device Calculus is a starting point for exploring the formal methods and security of high-level synthesis flows. We illustrate the Device Calculus with a number of examples of formally verifiable security templates---i.e., functions in the Device Calculus that express common security structures at a high-level of abstraction.
Mimicking SIV chimpanzee viral evolution toward HIV-1 during cross-species transmission

HIV-1 evolved from SIV during cross-species transmission events, though viral genetic changes are not well understood. Here, we studied the evolution of SIVcpzLB715 into HIV-1 Group M using humanized mice. High viral loads, rapid CD4+ T-cell decline, and non-synonymous substitutions were identified throughout the viral genome suggesting viral adaptation.
Prevalence of coccidioidomycosis in cystic fibrosis patients residing in Southern Arizona.

Sparse data exists about patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and their risk of contracting coccidioidiomycosis or Valley Fever, which is highly endemic in southern Arizona. A retrospective review of medical records of 79 adult CF patients residing in Arizona was performed. Two cases only of coccidioidomycosis were documented between in the 790 patient years. However, false-positive serologies were found in 15 patients. This 10-year retrospective review of 79 adult CF patients found that there was a lower prevalence of coccidioidomycosis in CF patients compared to that of the general population of the area. Lay summary Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) suffer from chronic lung infection. Little is known about CF and fungal infection. Coccidioidomycosis is a fungal infection common in Arizona and this study shows a lower infection rate from Coccidioidomycosis in CF patients compared to the general population.
Ocean science and advocacy work better when decolonized

Ocean conservation is needed within various and complex contexts. A nuanced understanding of this will bring better results for the global oceans, argues Dyhia Belhabib.
A neural network-based shape prediction model for membrane mirrors in space telescopes

Thermo-plastic membrane mirrors could be used to realize very large reflective apertures needed for imaging distant objects at high spatial resolution. The dynamics of deployment of membrane mirrors in space is complex and hard to predict with physics based numerical simulations. Several factors such as local thermal gradient, solar radiation pressure, undamped vibration modes and membrane wrinkling effects need to be accounted for. An integrated architecture is required for multi-disciplinary design and optimization of such membrane structures. This paper investigates data driven methods and their ability to accurately learn and predict patterns that may lead to greater efficiency than conventional physical models. Of particular interest are understanding geometric and boundary factors that may lead to a desired inflated membrane shape. Our present work attempts build and train a deep neural network model with accurate predictions of inflated membrane shape with initial and boundary conditions. Numerical simulations are used to train and optimize the network. Membrane shape measurement data in the form of W-curves is used to train a deep neural network that has been used as a universal function approximator. For the present work, we focus on structural design factors determining the final shape of the inflated membranes. As an on-going effort, an experimental apparatus has been developed to make membrane shape measurements using photogrammetry. Experimental data shall be used to further refine the predictive model ad to verify its outputs. Predictions for expected inflated shapes for varying boundary conditions will be used to develop optimal boundary configurations and alternate feasible membrane geometries. This work aims to provide an alternate data driven approach leading to a multi-objective design and optimization of membrane structures for high frequency optical applications.
Cardiometabolic Risk Trajectory Among Older Americans: Findings From the Health and Retirement Study.

Background Cardiometabolic risk (CMR) is a key indicator of physiological decline with age; but age-related declines in a nationally representative older U.S. population have not been previously examined. Methods We examined the trajectory of cardiometabolic risk (CMR) over 8 years of aging, from 2006/2008 to 2014/2016, among 3,528 people over age 50 in the Health and Retirement Study. We used growth curve models to examine change in total CMR as well as in individual cardiometabolic biomarkers to understand how baseline differences and rates of change vary across sociodemographic characteristics, by smoking status, and medication use. Results Total CMR did not change among respondents who survived over 8 years. Despite significant differences in CMR across demographic and education groups at baseline, the pace of change with age did not differ by these characteristics. Among individual biomarkers, risk levels of diastolic blood pressure, resting heart rate, and total cholesterol decreased over 8 years while glycosylated hemoglobin, waist circumference, and pulse pressure increased over that time. Both the statistical significance levels and the magnitudes of the reduction over time with age in diastolic blood pressure, resting heart rate, and total cholesterol in models adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, gender, smoking, and education were reduced after controlling for blood pressure and cholesterol medication. Conclusions The relatively constant total CMR level over 8 years occurred because some indicators improved with age while some deteriorated in this period. Medication use contributed to the improvement in blood pressure, resting heart rate, and total cholesterol.
Psychophysical evaluation of toxic effects on sensory systems.

Toxic effects on sensory systems have rarely been evaluated by psychophysical methods. As examples of possible applications four studies are described. Sodium salicylate and kanamycin, both reported to produce hearing deficits in man, have also been demonstrated to affect auditory thresholds in monkeys. With the latter drug the deficits measured were found to be correlted with specific loss of receptor cells in the cochlea. Pheniprazine, known to induce red-green color blindness, was found to disrupt a wavelength discrimination in pigeons. Trans 11-amino-10,1l-dihydro-5-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-5,10-epoxy- 5H-dibenzo[a,d]-cycloheptene dihydrochloride, which was found to bleach the tapidum lucidum in dogs when given subacutely, was found to decrease sensitivity to light. The loss in sensitivity measured by behavioral techniques was correlated with the loss of coloration of the tapidum. Monkeys, not having a tapidum, did not show a similar effect.—Hanson, H. M. Psychophysical evaluation of toxic effects on sensory systems. Federation Proc. 34: 1753, 1852–1857, 1975.
Induced distal defence potentiation against Phytophthora sojae in soybean

Soybean phenylpropanoid defence responses to the wall glucan elicitor (WGE) fromPhytophthora sojae include the accumulation of phenolic polymers and glyceollin in cells immediately proximal to the point of treatment and the accumulation of conjugates of the isoflavones, daidzein and genistein, in distal cells. Since daidzein is a glyceollin precursor and genistein is both toxic to P. sojae and implicated in local potentiation of competency for the glyceollin response, it has been hypothesized that the distal cell response might raise the defence potential of cells distant from the infection court. In this paper, it is demonstrated that the WGE is indeed highly effective in protecting cells distal to the point of treatment from infection by P. sojae. Mycolaminaran, jasmonic acid (JA), methyl jasmonate and the ethylene precursor, 1-amino-cyclopropane carboxylic acid (ACC), are also effective, while salicylic acid (SA) is not. Methyl jasmonate, WGE and mycolaminaran are most effective, resulting in nearly complete protection against the pathogen even in the universally susceptible line, Williams. Dose response data revealed two distinct types of protection shared by all treatments. The first contains the pathogen to the point of inoculation, while the second is lesion limiting. Lesion limiting protection correlates very well with pre-infectional levels of genistein conjugates and accumulation of a specific peroxidase isozyme, P 2-4, and with post-infectional accumulation of glyceollin, suggesting that this type of protection may be the result of a distal potentiation of glyceollin elicitation competency. The mechanism underlying local containment protection is unknown, but it does not correlate well with any of the established phenylpropanoid responses.
L-Ribulose 5-phosphate 4-epimerase from Aerobacter aerogenes. Evidence for a role of divalent metal ions in the epimerization reaction.

Abstract l-Ribulose 5-phosphate 4-epimerase from Aerobacter aerogenes was inactivated by treatment with EDTA and was reactivated to varying extents by the addition of divalent metal ions in the order: Mn++ g Co++ g Ni++ g Ca++ g Zn++ g Mg++. When optimal Mn++ was present, the homogeneous enzyme had a specific activity of 70 µmoles-1 min-1 mg of protein at 28° and pH 7.2. This value is about five times greater than that displayed by the crystalline enzyme as isolated and assayed in the absence of added metal ion. In other mechanistic studies, l-ribulose 5-phosphate 4-epimerase was found to be stable to treatment with sodium sulfite and arsenite in the presence of a thiol compound. It was also stable to sodium borohydride in the presence or absence of substrate. Further, a reaction of tetranitromethane with the enzyme-substrate complex could not be detected. Possible mechanisms for l-ribulose 5-phosphate 4-epimerase are discussed.
Stellar pulsation, atmospheric structure, and mass loss

Pulsation in one or many radial and/or non-radial modes may be a universal characteristic of stars. The possible consequences of pulsation include an increase in the atmospheric scale height (“levitation”), the heating of a region of the atmosphere to a temperature well in excess of the radiative equilibrium temperatur, and the driving of substantial winds. The effectiveness of pulsation in driving and enhancing mass loss has led us to suggest that most mass loss of evolutionary significance is associated with (obvious, large amplitude) stellar pulsation (Willson & Bowen 1984). In this review we will first define and distinguish three atmospheric regions in pulsating stars, then discuss the essential physics of each region and its role with respect to driving/enhancing mass loss. We also explore the effects of combining pulsation with other outward acceleration mechanisms such as radiation pressure and rapid rotation.
Linking bioregulatory systems: Reciprocal autonomic activation predicts sleep over 1 year in middle childhood

This study examined reactivity to social-evaluative stress in the parasympathetic (PNS) and sympathetic (SNS) branches of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) as prospective predictors of sleep in middle childhood. Participants included 339 children (M age = 9 years and 5 months at T1; 54% female; 64% European American, 36% African American). Sleep efficiency, sleep minutes, and variability in sleep onset time were assessed with actigraphy for seven consecutive nights at T1 and 1 year later at T2. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity (RSAR) and skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR) were assessed in response to a developmentally salient social-evaluative stress task at T1. Controlling for demographic variables and the respective sleep parameter at T1, the interaction between RSAR and SCLR predicted T2 sleep efficiency and sleep minutes. Consistent with the hypothesized role of reciprocal sympathetic activation (higher SCLR) and parasympathetic withdrawal (higher RSAR), higher RSAR predicted higher sleep efficiency and sleep minutes among children with higher SCLR but not lower SCLR.
Improving peer-to-peer resource discovery using mobile agent based referrals

A peer-to-peer(P2P) system consists of a decentralized, distributed network of nodes that is capable of sharing resources and services without centralized supervision. A major functionality in P2P networks is locating resources or services present on remote nodes. Traditional techniques for resource discovery include blind searches among the nodes using query flooding, or, positioning resources strategically to enable rapid lookup using distributed hash tables. In this paper, we propose a mobile agent based referral service that directs resources queries intelligently towards the nodes possessing the resource. The mobile agents adaptively learn paths called trails within the P2P network to enable rapid location of resources. Preliminary results of our algorithm demonstrate that the agent based technique performs favorably with existing P2P resource discovery protocols.
The self in the other: Aleksandr Griboedov’s Orient

While scholars of Russian orientalism have diverged somewhat in their interpretation of Aleksandr Griboedov, they have in the main viewed him as a supporter of Russian expansion and seen in his works a justification of Russia’s conquests in the East. This essay seeks to complicate that view. By taking a comprehensive look at Griboedov’s Eastern-themed works (including his poems “There, Where Flows the Alazani”, “Kal'ianchi”, and “Predators on the Chegem”, the play Georgian Night and a series of editorials, letters, and travel notes written from the Caucasus and Persia) and situating them in the context of contemporary literary and political debates, the author argues that Griboedov undercuts rather than supports the orientalist conception of the East’s alterity. By portraying “Eastern” ways as possibilities latent within all humans and by pointing out the Russian past in the Persian present, Griboedov is able to question Russia’s role in the Caucasus and to explore the costs of Russia’s progress towards E...
Paclitaxel sensitivity of breast cancer cells with constitutively active NF-κB is enhanced by IκBα super-repressor and parthenolide

The transcription factor nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) regulates genes important for tumor invasion, metastasis and chemoresistance. Normally, NF-kappaB remains sequestered in an inactive state by cytoplasmic inhibitor-of-kappaB (IkappaB) proteins. NF-kappaB translocates to nucleus and activates gene expression upon exposure of cells to growth factors and cytokines. We and others have shown previously that NF-kappaB is constitutively active in a subset of breast cancers. In this study, we show that constitutive activation of NF-kappaB leads to overexpression of the anti-apoptotic genes c-inhibitor of apoptosis 2 (c-IAP2) and manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) in breast cancer cells. Furthermore, expression of the anti-apoptotic tumor necrosis factor receptor associated factor 1 (TRAF1) and defender-against cell death (DAD-1) is regulated by NF-kappaB in certain breast cancer cells. We also demonstrate that NF-kappaB-inducible genes protect cancer cells against paclitaxel as MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells modified to overexpress IkappaBalpha required lower concentrations of paclitaxel to arrest at the G2/M phase of the cell cycle and undergo apoptosis when compared to parental cells. The effect of NF-kappaB on paclitaxel-sensitivity appears to be specific to cancer cells because normal fibroblasts derived from embryos lacking p65 subunit of NF-kappaB and wild type littermate embryos were insensitive to paclitaxel-induced G2/M cell cycle arrest. Parthenolide, an active ingredient of herbal remedies such as feverfew (tanacetum parthenium), mimicked the effects of IkappaBalpha by inhibiting NF-kappaB DNA binding activity and Mn-SOD expression, and increasing paclitaxel-induced apoptosis of breast cancer cells. These results suggest that active ingredients of herbs with anti-inflammatory properties may be useful in increasing the sensitivity of cancers with constitutively active NF-kappaB to chemotherapeutic drugs. Oncogene (2000) 19, 4159 - 4169
STRESS WAVE PROPAGATION IN FINITE VISCOELASTIC THIN ROD WITH A CONSTITUTIVE LAW OF THE HEREDITARY TYPE

ABSTRACT This paper is concerned with stress wave propagation in a finite viscoelastic rod made of material which obeys a constitutive law of a general hereditary type. The method of perturbation about a Maxwell body solution, which is used to analyze the wave propagation in a semi-infinite rod, is extended to deal with reflections of stress fronts at both ends of the rod. It is found that the incident wave front is reflected from the free end without diminution in amplitude but with a change in sign. The reflected wave front propagates at a constant speed c, which is governed only by the initial value of the creep function, and attenuates at an exponential rate, which is dependent only on the initial value and initial slope of the creep function. Stress distributions behind the front are also given in the analysis. A numerical illustration of propagation of stress discontinuities in a finite rod made of Polyisobutylene is included.
Allometric Control, Inverse Power Laws and Human Gait

Abstract The stride interval in normal human gait is not strictly constant, but fluctuates from step to step in a random manner. Herein we show that contrary to the traditional assumption of uncorrelated random errors, these fluctuations have long-time correlations. Further, these long-time correlations are interpreted in terms of a scaling in the fluctuations indicating an allometric control process. To establish this result we measure the stride interval of a group of 5 healthy men and women as they walked for 15 minutes at their usual pace. From these time series we calculate the relative dispersion, the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean, and show by systematically aggregating the data that the correlation in the stride-interval time series is an inverse power law similar to the allometric relations in biology. The inverse power-law relative dispersion shows that the stride-interval time series is a random fractal. The differences in the fractal dimensions of surrogate time series from those of the original time series were determined to be statistically significant. This difference indicates the importance of the long-time correlations in walking.
A Study of Danazol's Safety

In a review of medical records of 530 recipients of danazol at Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, we identified 154 (29%) people who reported at least one adverse event that occurred within 45 days after receiving the drug. In no patient did the event require hospitalization, and there were no known long-term sequelae.
Hexachlorophene retinopathy in suckling rats: A light- and electron-microscopic study of short-term and long-term effect of hexachlorophene intoxication on the retina of young rats☆

Abstract Hexachlorophene (HCP) in very large doses has a toxic effect on the retina of adult rats. The present study examined the sensitivity of the developing retina to smaller doses and its ability to recover from neurotoxic damage. Suckling rats were intoxicated with HCP added to the mothers' diet. The retinae of the pups were examined by light and electron microscopy for early and late effects. All dose levels above 100 ppm caused vacuolar degeneration of the outer segments of photoreceptor cells within 14 days of intoxication, followed by degeneration of the inner segments after 28 days. The cell bodies of photoreceptor cells and all other retinal layers remained normal. Sucklings intoxicated with HCP (100–500 ppm) added to the mothers' diet for 28 days and then withdrawn, showed no recovery of the outer or inner segments of photoreceptors when examined up to 150 days later. In addition, extensive degeneration and loss of photoreceptor cell bodies occurred after withdrawal of HCP and the degenerative process extended to involve the inner nuclear layer. The rate of appearance of pathological changes was proportional to the total amount of ingested HCP. This study showed that photoreceptor cells in newborn rats are highly sensitive to HCP. The retinal lesions were irreversible and continued to progress by continued trans-synaptic degeneration after withdrawal of the toxic agent.
On Refractive Optical Flow

This paper presents a novel generalization of the optical flow equation to the case of refraction, and it describes a method for recovering the refractive structure of an object from a video sequence acquired as the background behind the refracting object moves. By structure here we mean a representation of how the object warps and attenuates (or amplifies) the light passing through it. We distinguish between the cases when the background motion is known and unknown. We show that when the motion is unknown, the refractive structure can only be estimated up to a six-parameter family of solutions without additional sources of information. Methods for solving for the refractive structure are described in both cases. The performance of the algorithm is demonstrated on real data, and results of applying the estimated refractive structure to the task of environment matting and compositing are presented.
Transcription Start Regions in the Human Genome Are Favored Targets for MLV Integration

Factors contributing to retroviral integration have been intractable because past studies have not precisely located genomic sites of proviruses in sufficient numbers for significant analysis. In this study, 903 murine leukemia virus (MLV) and 379 human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) integrations in the human genome were mapped. The data showed that MLV preferred integration near the start of transcriptional units (either upstream or downstream) whereas HIV-1 preferred integration anywhere in the transcriptional unit but not upstream of the transcriptional start. Defining different integration site preferences for retroviruses will have important ramifications for gene therapy and may aid in our understanding of the factors directing the integration process.
S-HAMMER: Hierarchical attribute-guided, symmetric diffeomorphic registration for MR brain images

Deformable registration has been widely used in neuroscience studies for spatial normalization of brain images onto the standard space. Because of possible large anatomical differences across different individual brains, registration performance could be limited when trying to estimate a single directed deformation pathway, i.e., either from template to subject or from subject to template. Symmetric image registration, however, offers an effective way to simultaneously deform template and subject images toward each other until they meet at the middle point. Although some intensity-based registration algorithms have nicely incorporated this concept of symmetric deformation, the pointwise intensity matching between two images may not necessarily imply the matching of correct anatomical correspondences. Based on HAMMER registration algorithm (Shen and Davatzikos, [2002]: IEEE Trans Med Imaging 21:1421-1439), we integrate the strategies of hierarchical attribute matching and symmetric diffeomorphic deformation to build a new symmetric-diffeomorphic HAMMER registration algorithm, called as S-HAMMER. The performance of S-HAMMER has been extensively compared with 14 state-of-the-art nonrigid registration algorithms evaluated in (Klein et al., [2009]: NeuroImage 46:786-802) by using real brain images in LPBA40, IBSR18, CUMC12, and MGH10 datasets. In addition, the registration performance of S-HAMMER, by comparison with other methods, is also demonstrated on both elderly MR brain images (>70 years old) and the simulated brain images with ground-truth deformation fields. In all experiments, our proposed method achieves the best registration performance over all other registration methods, indicating the high applicability of our method in future neuroscience and clinical applications.
More than a Dime's Worth: Using State Party Platforms to Assess the Degree of American Party Polarization

How polarized are American political parties? Recently, Kidd used an automated content analysis program to demonstrate that American party platforms reveal only minor policy differences. In contrast to his conclusions, this analysis produces three main findings. First, at the state level, state party platforms reveal considerable ideological differences between the parties. Second, differences in state public opinion do not account for these differences; rather, they are more closely correlated with activist opinions and increases in state party competition. Finally, the conflict is not simply ideological but applies to specific issues in the platforms. As such, American state parties are highly polarized on different measures. Automated content analysis programs clearly represent an important methodological advance in coding political texts, but the results here call attention to the importance of policy and agenda content in party platforms. Moreover, studies of American politics, particularly research focusing on parties and ideological polarization, need to take into account the diversity of agendas that is inherent in a federal party system.
Cesium-137, Lead-210 and Polonium-210 Concentrations in Selected Human Tissues in the United States

Abstract During the past few years, investigators at the Northeastern Radiological Health Laboratory have conducted a study of radionuclide concentrations in selected human tissues in the Boston, Massachusetts area. Since 1966, the study has concentrated on five selected tissues and has been expanded to include various other locations throughout the United States. The nuclides studied included cesium-137, lead-210, and polonium-210. Tissue samples analyzed were lung, liver, heart, ileum, and bladder. For cesium-137, the liver showed the highest concentration. The concentration for polonium-210 was highest in the liver and lowest in the heart. The bladder had the highest concentration of lead-210, and the lung contained the least. Of the tissues tested, the 210Po/210Pb ratio for the liver and lung showed ratios consistently greater than one. The ratios for the other tissues were usually found to be less than one.
Tracking random walk systems with vector space adaptive filters

Tracking properties are considered for adaptive filters that are adjusted within a vector space of filtering operations. Such vector space adaptive filters have both the desirable convergence properties of adaptive finite impulse response filters, and additionally some of the modeling flexibility of adaptive infinite impulse response filters. For a given vector space of systems, the adaptive filter structure is determined by a choice of basis for the vector space. Basis dependent expressions are developed for the asymptotic mean square error under least mean square, recursive least square, and Kalman filtering adaptation, when the optimal filter specification is subject to random walk variations. It is shown that under these conditions, the minimum achievable mean square error using least mean square adaptation is equal to the optimal value provided by the Kalman filtering algorithm, but that recursive least squares adaptation does not in general attain this minimum error. >
Teaching psychiatric residents about paraphilic disorders.

Objective The author describes a program for psychiatric residents in evaluating patients with paraphilic disorders.
A finite element solution of a reduced Fokker-Planck equation

Abstract A linearized Fokker-Planck equation governing the particle loss rate from large magnetic and potential square-well fields is solved using the Rayleigh-Ritz finite element method with tensor-product splines. The results are compared with those obtained from an approximate analytical theory and previous numerical work.
Hydroxymethylation of DNA influences nucleosomal conformation and stability in vitro

Abstract Background Hydroxymethylation of DNA at the C5 position of cytosine (5hmC) is recognized as an important epigenetic mark. The molecular role of 5hmC in gene regulation, however, is not well understood. Methods We studied the effects of 5-hydroxymethylation (5hmC) on nucleosome properties in vitro using a combination of biochemical and fluorescence assays. Competitive reconstitution was used to evaluate the effect of 5hmC on nucleosome formation. The effects of 5hmC on nucleosome compactness and stability were characterized using FRET assays. These findings have also been compared with another important epigenetic mark, the cytosine methylation (5mC) of DNA. Results We observed that hydroxymethylation increases the binding affinity of DNA for the histone octamer. The formed nucleosome exhibits slightly different conformations based on the sequence and epigenetic context of DNA. DNA hydroxymethylation decreases the stability of formed nucleosomes in salt-induced dissociation processes. Conclusion DNA containing 5hmC is more likely to be incorporated into nucleosomes. Once formed, the 5hmC nucleosomes might be in an open and transcriptionally active state due to the weakened interaction of hydroxymethylated DNA with the H2A–H2B dimers. General significance Our results reveal the effect of 5hmC on regulating nucleosome compactness and stability in vitro.
Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma of the Lacrimal Sac

Adenoid cystic carcinoma is the most common epithelial malignancy of the lacrimal gland and minor salivary glands. Its occurrence in the lacrimal drainage system is extremely rare. A 57-year-old woman presented with epiphora and a mass in the lacrimal sac, which proved to be an adenoid cystic carcinoma. Histologically, it appeared to arise from the wall of the lacrimal sac, and both the lacrimal gland and maxillary antrum were uninvolved by tumor. Despite aggressive surgical intervention, recurrence and metastasis developed. Adenoid cystic carcinoma must be considered in the differential diagnosis of epiphora.
Phylogenetic fate mapping

Cell fate maps describe how the sequence of cell division, migration, and apoptosis transform a zygote into an adult. Yet, it is only in Caenorhabditis elegans where microscopic observation of each cell division has allowed for construction of a complete fate map. More complex, and opaque, animals prove less yielding. DNA replication, however, generates somatic mutations. Consequently, multicellular organisms comprise mosaics where most cells acquire unique genomes that are potentially capable of delineating their ancestry. Here we take a phylogenetic approach to passively retrace embryonic relationships by deducing the order in which mutations have arisen during development. We show that polyguanine repeat DNA sequences are particularly useful genetic markers, because they frequently change length during mitosis. To demonstrate feasibility, we phylogenetically reconstruct the lineage of cultured mouse NIH 3T3 cells based on mutations affecting the length of polyguanine markers. We then employ whole genome amplification to genotype polyguanine markers in single cells taken from a mouse and use phylogenetics to infer the developmental relationships of the sampled tissues. The result is consistent with the present understanding of embryogenesis and demonstrates the large scale potential of this method for producing a complete mammalian cell fate at the resolution of a single cell.
POLY(A)+ RNA METABOLISM DURING OOGENESIS IN XENOPUS LAEVIS

Abstract In this study, we have measured the synthesis and turnover of oligo(dT)cellulose-bound RNA [poly(A) + RNA] in Xenopus laevis oocytes at the maximal lampbrush chromosome stage (stage 3) and at the completion of oocyte growth (stage 6). Oocytes at both stages are shown to be active in the synthesis of poly(A) + RNA. In stage 6 oocytes, the mean rate of synthesis of stable poly(A) + RNA is 15% the instantaneous rate of synthesis, while the mean half-life of the unstable component is 1.6 hr. In contrast, the instantaneous rate of synthesis in stage 3 oocytes is about one-third that seen in stage 6, and most of it is devoted to the production of unstable species with an average half-life of 5 hr. Studies on the nuclear versus the cytoplasmic distribution of the newly synthesized poly(A) + RNA demonstrated that by the end of a 12-hr labeling period for stage 3 oocytes and a 24-hr labeling period for stage 6 oocytes, approximately half of the material was cytoplasmic. This cytoplasmic material had the same electrophoretic mobility as bulk poly(A) + RNA. Similarly, as with bulk poly(A) + RNA, little, if any, of the newly synthesized material was found to be polysomal. Also, poly(A) labeling studies indicated that the newly synthesized poly(A) + RNA was associated with the synthesis of poly(A) of the same length as that appearing on bulk poly(A) + RNA. Studies on the content of bulk oligo(dT)cellulose-bound RNA indicated that about 86 ng is present in both stage 3 and stage 6 oocytes. The continual synthesis of poly(A) + RNA throughout oogenesis in the absence of its accumulation led to the conclusion that it must be turning over. These data are discussed in relation to the hypothesis that bulk levels of poly(A) + RNA are maintained by continually changing rates of synthesis and degradation.
Authorship Detection and Encoding for eBay Images

This paper describes a framework to detect authorship of eBay images. It contains three modules: editing style summarization, classification and multi-account linking detection. For editing style summarization, three approaches, namely the edge-based approach, the color-based approach, and the color probability approach, are proposed to encode the common patterns inside a group of images with similar editing styles into common edge or color models. Prior to the summarization step, an edge-based clustering algorithm is developed. Corresponding to the three summarization approaches, three classification methods are developed accordingly to predict the authorship of an unlabeled test image. For multi-account linking detection, to detect the hidden owner behind multiple eBay seller accounts, two methods to measure the similarity between seller accounts based on similar models are presented.