cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Seven clues to the origin and structure of class-I ribonucleotide reductase intermediate X.

Abstract Class-I ribonucleotide reductases (RNRs) are aerobic enzymes that catalyze the reduction of ribonucleotides to deoxyribonucleotides providing the required building blocks for DNA replication and repair. These ribonucleotide-to-deoxyribonucleotide reactions occur by a long range radical (or proton-coupled-electron-transfer) propagation mechanism initiated by a fairly stable tyrosine radical (“the pilot light”). When this pilot light goes out, the tyrosine radical is regenerated by a high-oxidation-state enzyme intermediate, called X. The active site of class-I RNR-X has been recognized as a spin coupled Fe III Fe IV center with S total = 1/2 ground state. Although several clues have been obtained from Mossbauer, 57 Fe, 1 H, 17 O 2 , and H 2 17 O ENDOR (electron-nuclear double resonance), EXAFS (extended X-ray absorption fine structure), and MCD (magnetic circular dichroism) experiments, the detailed structure of the intermediate X is still unknown. In the past three years, we have been studying the properties of a set of model clusters for RNR-X using broken-symmetry density functional theory (DFT), and have compared them with the available experimental results. Based on the detailed analysis and comparisons, we have proposed a definite form for the active site structure of class-I RNR intermediate X. The puzzle is now set: can you find any flaws in the argument or evidence? Can you add anything further to the current experimental picture? The argument is formulated from seven experimental clues with associated calculations and models.
Changing perspectives on the origin of eukaryotes

From the initial application of molecular techniques to the study of microbial organisms, three domains of life emerged, with eukaryotes and archaea as sister taxa. However, recent analyses of an expanding molecular data set reveal that the eukaryotic genome is chimeric with respect to archaea and bacteria. Moreover, there is now evidence that the primitive eukaryotic group `Archezoa' once harbored mitochondia. These discoveries have challenged the traditional stepwise model of the evolution of eukaryotes, in which the nucleus and microtubules evolve before the acquisition of mitochondria, and consequently compel a revision of existing models of the origin of eukaryotic cells.
Sequence and time-dependent deamination of cytosine bases in UVB-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers in vivo.

The mutational specificity of UV-light is characterized by an abundance of C to T transition mutations at dipyrimidines containing cytosine or 5-methylcytosine. A significant percentage of these mutations are CC to TT double transitions. Of the major types of UV-induced DNA lesions, the cis-syn cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) are thought to be the most mutagenic lesions, at least in mammalian cells. It has been proposed that the CPDs become mutagenic perhaps only after cytosine bases within these dimers deaminate to uracil and the resulting U-containing photolesions are correctly bypassed by DNA polymerases. In order to assess the significance of this proposed mutagenic mechanism, we have developed two methods to specifically measure deaminated CPDs in UV-irradiated human cells or DNA. The first method is based on enzymatic photoreversal of CPDs, followed by cleavage of the DNA with uracil DNA glycosylase, an AP lyase activity, and ligation-mediated PCR to map the resulting strand breaks. The second method, which can be used to detect double deamination events (CC to UU), is PCR amplification of photolyase-treated DNA using primers complemetary to the deaminated sequences. We have measured deamination events in the human p53 gene, which contains a large percentage of C to T transitions in skin cancers. The deamination reactions are specific for cytosine within CPDs, are negligible immediately after irradiation, and are time-dependent and DNA sequence context-dependent. Twenty four hours after irradiation of human fibroblasts with UVB light, between 10 and 60% of most CPD signals are converted to the deaminated form, depending on the sequence. Significant deamination occurs at skin cancer mutation sites in the p53 gene. Double deamination also occurs and this reaction can involve dimers containing 5-methylcytosine or cytosine. These double events are expected to occur more frequently in cells with a DNA repair defect because there is more time for deamination in unrepaired lesions. This may explain the relatively high frequency of CC to TT mutations in skin cancers from xeroderma pigmentosum patients. In summary, these novel detection techniques demonstrate that deamination of cytosine in pyrimidine dimers is a significant event that most likely contributes to the mutational specificity of UVB irradiation in human cells.
Prognostic Factors in Patients Hospitalized for Heart Failure

Each year, there are over one million hospitalizations for heart failure in the United States, with a similar number in Western Europe. Although these patients respond to initial therapies, they have very high short and intermediate term (2-6 months) mortality and readmission rates, while the healthcare system incurs substantial costs. Several risk prediction models that can accurately identify high-risk patients have been developed using data from clinical trials, large registries or administrative databases. Use of multi-variable risk models at the time of hospital admission or discharge offers better risk stratification and should be encouraged, as it allows for appropriate allocation of existing resources and development of clinical trials testing new treatment strategies for patients admitted with heart failure.
Stature and frailty during the Black Death: the effect of stature on risks of epidemic mortality in London, A.D. 1348-1350.

Abstract Recent research has shown that preexisting health condition affected an individual's risk of dying during the 14th-century Black Death. However, a previous study of the effect of adult stature on risk of mortality during the epidemic failed to find a relationship between the two; this result is perhaps surprising given the well-documented inverse association between stature and mortality in human populations. We suggest that the previous study used an analytical approach that was more complex than was necessary for an assessment of the effect of adult stature on risk of mortality. This study presents a reanalysis of data on adult stature and age-at-death during the Black Death in London, 1348–1350 AD. The results indicate that short stature increased risks of mortality during the medieval epidemic, consistent with previous work that revealed a negative effect of poor health on risk of mortality during the Black Death. However, the results from a normal, non-epidemic mortality comparison sample do not show an association between stature and risks of mortality among adults under conditions of normal mortality. Fisher's exact tests, used to determine whether individuals who were growing during the Great Famine of 1315–1322 were more likely to be of short stature than those who did not endure the famine, revealed no differences between the two groups, suggesting that the famine was not a source of variation in stature among those who died during the Black Death.
The Value of Document Delivery: Where We Are 15 Years Later

Document delivery from a commercial provider is a service offered by Wichita State University Libraries as a convenience to faculty and staff. As the oversight of the service changed hands and as the budget shrank, it was time to re-evaluate the service. An evaluation was done to determine whether document delivery was still necessary and to answer the following questions: what departments are using the document delivery service; how many faculty and staff are using the service; how many items are ordered by ILL; and does the current commercial document delivery service continue to be a cost effective service for Wichita State University Libraries?
Mechanism of the effect of coronary artery stenosis on coronary flow in the dog.

Abstract The hemodynamic mechanism of the effect of coronary artery stenosis on coronary flow was studied in the circumflex artery of 10 open-chest dogs by simultaneously measuring coronary flow, aortic pressure, and coronary artery pressure distal to an adjustable constrictor; while the distal coronary bed was intermittently maximally vasodilated by intracoronary injections of angiographic contrast media (Hypaque-M, 75 per cent). For each stenosis, the pressure gradient across the stenosis varied directly with the flow through the stenosis (r = 0.99), the slope of the regression indicating the severity of the stenosis. An important observation was that this regression line did not intercept the flow axis at zero flow, but at a positive flow, meaning that for a given regression line slope the pressure gradient was much less than expected. At rest, distal bed resistance decreased as progressive stenosis lowered the distal bed pressure, maintaining flow at control level until the distal bed pressure dropped below 60 mm. Hg. However, at maximum hyperemia, distal bed resistance was at a fixed minimum value such that flow was directly proportional to distal bed pressure. Hence, progressive stenosis decreased the ratio of hyperemic to resting flow by: (1) causing the vasodilatory reserve to be used to maintain resting flow, decreasing that available for hyperemia, and (2) dropping the distal bed pressure relatively more for smaller increases in flow. This study provides a hemodynamic explanation for the known fact that progressive stenosis initially limits the maximum hyperemic flow, and only after this flow is decreased almost to resting level, does resting flow fall.
Experimental Investigations of the Effects of Multiple Heat Straightening Repair on the Structural Properties of Bridge Steels

The effects of multiple damage-heat straightening repair cycles (i.e., multiple cycles of damage followed by heat straightening repair) on the fundamental structural properties of typical bridge steels ASTM A36, A588, and A7 were evaluated. The damage and repair parameters considered in the study are the damage strain (ϵd), the restraining stress (σr), and the number of multiple damage-repair cycles (Nr). The effects of these parameters on the following structural properties were evaluated: elastic modulus, yield stress, ultimate stress, percent elongation, surface hardness, and fracture toughness. Seventy-five laboratory-scale specimens made from A36, A588, or A7 steel were subjected to multiple damage-repair cycles, and their effects on the structural properties were evaluated. The results indicate that multiple damage-repair cycles have a small influence (±15%) on the elastic modulus, yield stress, and ultimate stress. However, the percent elongation and fracture toughness of the damaged-repaired steel...
Money and the rule of law in ecuador

The rule of law is defined and its implications in the monetary sphere are elaborated. When national monetary arrangements fail to comport with the rule of law, “dollarization” is desirable. That policy provides for more stable money and expectations about its future value. The salutary effects of Ecuador's “dollarization” program of 2000 are reviewed. In addition, a manifesto for economic reform in Ecuador is presented. Its elements are: financial integration, fiscal transparency and control, tax simplification and reform, supermajority voting, deregulation, and privatization.
Contingency and Determinism in Replicated Adaptive Radiations of Island Lizards

The vagaries of history lead to the prediction that repeated instances of evolutionary diversification will lead to disparate outcomes even if starting conditions are similar. We tested this proposition by examining the evolutionary radiation of Anolis lizards on the four islands of the Greater Antilles. Morphometric analyses indicate that the same set of habitat specialists, termed ecomorphs, occurs on all four islands. Although these similar assemblages could result from a single evolutionary origin of each ecomorph, followed by dispersal or vicariance, phylogenetic analysis indicates that the ecomorphs originated independently on each island. Thus, adaptive radiation in similar environments can overcome historical contingencies to produce strikingly similar evolutionary outcomes.
On Some New General and Complementary Energy Theorems for the Rate Problems in Finite Strain. Classical Elastoplasticity

ABSTRACT General variational theorems for the rate problem of classical elastoplasticity at finite strains, in both Updated Lagrangian (UL) and Total Lagrangian (TL) rate forms, and in terms of alternate measures of stress-rate and conjugate strain-rates, are critically studied from the point of view of their application. Attention. is primarily focused on the derivation of consistent complementary energy rate principles which could form the basis of consistent and rational assumed stress-type finite element methods, and two such principles, in both UL and TL forms, are newly stated. Systematic procedures to exploit these new principles in the context of a finite element method are discussed. Also discussed are certain general modified variational theorems which permit an accurate numerical treatment of near incompressible behavior at large plastic strains
Colorado Plowable Hailstorms: Synoptic Weather, Radar, and Lightning Characteristics

AbstractSynoptic weather, S-band dual-polarization radar, and total lightning observations are analyzed from four thunderstorms that produced “plowable” hail accumulations of 15–60 cm in localized areas of the Colorado Front Range. Results indicate that moist, relatively slow (5–15 m s−1) southwesterly-to-westerly flow at 500 hPa and postfrontal low-level upslope flow, with 2-m dewpoint temperatures of 11°–19°C at 1200 LST, were present on each plowable hail day. This pattern resulted in column-integrated precipitable water values that were 132%–184% of the monthly means and freezing-level heights that were 100–700 m higher than average. Radar data indicate that between one and three maxima in reflectivity Z (68–75 dBZ) and 50-dBZ echo-top height (11–15 km MSL) occurred over the lifetime of each hailstorm. These maxima, which imply an enhancement in updraft strength, resulted in increased graupel and hail production and accumulating hail at the surface within 30 min of the highest echo tops. The hail core...
Transition strengths from 10B(e,e')10B

Inelastic electron scattering form factors for 10B are fitted with polynomial times Gaussian expressions in the variable y = (bq/2)**2 to extract electromagnetic transition strengths at the photon point.
Use of Pseudomonas biofilm susceptibilities to assign simulated antibiotic regimens for cystic fibrosis airway infection

Objectives: Increasing evidence indicates that Pseudomonas aeruginosa grows as a biofilm in the lungs of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. In contrast, the bacterial inoculum used in conventional susceptibility testing is composed of planktonic cells. As a prelude to a clinical trial of biofilm susceptibility testing in CF, simulated antibiotic regimens based on either biofilm or conventional susceptibility testing of CF patient isolates were compared. Patientsandmethods:BiofilmandconventionalsusceptibilitiesweredeterminedforP.aeruginosaisolate sets from 40 CF patients. An algorithm was used to assign simulated regimens of two anti-pseudomonal antibiotics for each patient/susceptibility method dataset. For agents with equivalent activity, the algorithm included a drug selection hierarchy, the rationale for which was suppression of chronic infection. Substitutionofanalternativehierarchy,basedontreatmentofacuteexacerbation,wasusedtoevaluatethe robustness of the regimen assignments. Results:Forbothdrug-rankingschemes,all40simulatedregimensbasedonconventionalsusceptibilities includedab-lactamantibiotic.Incontrast,basedonbiofilmtesting,only43%ofchronicregimensand65% of acute regimens included a b-lactam. Moreover, the conventional and biofilm regimens assigned to individual patients were discordant, with only 20% and 40% of chronic and acute regimens, respectively, consisting of drugs in the same two mechanistic classes by both methods. Conclusions: Biofilm susceptibility testing of CF P. aeruginosa isolate sets leads to different antibiotic assignments than conventional testing, with no single two-drug regimen predicted to provide optimal anti-biofilm activity against the majority of isolate sets.
Water tree morphology

Water tree morphology as revealed by oxygen plasma etching of water trees in low-density polyethylene is reported. Water trees sectioned by freeze fracturing are found to be virtually invisible until treated by plasma etching. Etching attack is localized and produces either a pitted or a channeled structure, depending on the water tree growth conditions. The spatial distribution of the pits or channels is reminiscent of water tree void distribution. Secondary electron photomicrographs of trees grown under varied conditions are presented. >
Moderate alcohol consumption induces sustained cardiac protection by activating PKC-ε and Akt

C57BL/6 mice were fed 18% ethanol (vol/vol) in drinking water for 12 wk. Isovolumic hearts were subjected to 20 min of ischemia and 30 min of reperfusion on a Langendorff apparatus. There were no d...
Blood volume measurement by hemodilution: association with valve disease and re-evaluation of the Allen Formula.

Background:Total blood volume (TBV) assessment is central to the management of cardiac surgical patients with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). The widely accepted Allen Formula lacks accuracy in estimating TBV in these patients. Moreover, the impact of commonly encountered cardiac disease states on TBV has not been systematically investigated. The aim of this study was to determine TBV by hemodilution (TBVHD) for patients with valve disease, compare TBVHD to algorithms frequently used during cardiac surgery and to modify the Allen Formula to better fit today’s patient population.Methods:TBVHD was prospectively measured upon initiation of CPB. Ninety-six patients were grouped into 4 cohorts by preoperative diagnosis and compared to Allen and weight-based formulae in a univariate analysis: mitral regurgitation (MR), coronary artery disease requiring bypass surgery (CABG) and aortic stenosis (AS) ± CABG. The independent effects of height and weight on TBV were correlated to the original Allen Formula by multipl...
Effectiveness of patient delivered partner medication for preventing recurrent Chlamydia trachomatis.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if providing Chlamydia trachomatis infected women with medication to deliver to their sex partner(s) could reduce recurrent chlamydia infections compared with the standard partner referral method. STUDY DESIGN: A observational cohort study of 178 women, 14-39 years old attending a family planning clinic, diagnosed and treated for C trachomatis between October 1993 and December 1994 was conducted (43 received patient delivered partner medication (PDPM) and 135 received partner referral cards). Women were retested before or at their annual visit. RESULTS: The mean time of follow up was 17.7 months (SD 7.7). The PDPM group (n = 43) was similar to partner referral group (n = 135) for age, race, contraceptive method, history of an STD, and follow up time. The annual recurrent infection rate was lower among the PDPM group compared with the partner referral group (11.5% v 25.5%, p < 0.05). After adjusting for age in logistic regression, women in the PDPM group were less likely than women in the partner referral group to have an incident C trachomatis infection (OR 0.37, 95% CI 0.15-0.97, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that patient delivered partner medication can protect women from recurrent C trachomatis infection compared with the standard partner referral approach. Prospective studies with larger sample sizes are under way.
Impact of an Intravenous Fluconazole Restriction Policy on Patient Outcomes

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate both the economic and clinical impact of an intravenous fluconazole restriction policy in a university teaching hospital.METHODS:Intravenous fluconazole was restricted to patients unable to take oral medications due to significant nausea or to patients whose oral intake was restricted. A retrospective chart review and computerized record review was conducted in patients receiving intravenous or oral fluconazole from January 1 to June 30, 1997, and again from January 1 to June 30, 1998, after implementation of the policy.RESULTS:Six-month institutional expenditures for intravenous fluconazole decreased following policy implementation, from $81 900 to $45 400, an estimated annual institutional savings of $73 000. A 47% reduction in the number of patients treated with intravenous fluconazole was observed over the six-month period after policy implementation. During this time, the rate of successful clinical outcomes for documented or suspected disseminated Candida albicansinfection or f...
Constrained shortest paths in wireless networks

We address several QoS routing problems in wireless ad hoc networks. Due to mobility or limited battery power, a link between two nodes can last for a certain period, which is represented by a life parameter. On the other hand, each link has cost parameters which can represent the delay of this link, the transmission power needed to support this link and so on. The life of a path is the shortest life of all links in this path; the cost of a path is the sum of the costs of all links. We first consider the problem of finding a path between a given pair of nodes with the maximum life while the cost of the path does not exceed a pre-specified bound. This problem can be solved in O((n log n + m) log n) time. Here n is the number of nodes and m is the number of links. A distributed version of the algorithm that is suitable for wireless ad hoc networks is also presented. In addition, we study the problem of finding a path between a given pair of nodes with the maximum battery energy level while the cost of the path does not exceed a pre-specified bound. We also developed both centralized and distributed polynomial-time algorithms for this problem. Specifically, when the cost represents the transmission power needed to support the link, we give a distributed algorithm with time complexity O(n log n) using O(n/sup 2/ log n) total messages.
Laryngeal structure following microcauterization.

This paper supports and reaffirms the objectives of contemporary laryngology in the treatment of cancer of this organ. These objectives are, first and foremost, the eradication of the tumor, and second, the preservation of function. A relatively recent contribution to the “state of the art” has been the development of the field of microlaryngology. The introduction of the surgical microscope has provided the laryngologist with better means to judge the type, localization and extent of neoplastic lesions. In a selected number of these patients radical surgery has been prevented by treating these recurrent tumors with the microcautery. Some of these patients, so treated, have been free of disease for more than three years after their recurrent tumors were destroyed with the microcautery. During this time these patients have enjoyed adequate voices. Reports indicate that superficial limited carcinomas of the larynx with good vocal cord mobility can be successfully treated by vocal cord stripping and/or radiotherapy. This paper presents the serious challenge posed by these limited tumors when they recur after radiotherapy. Extensive studies that have been performed in dogs with the microcautery indicate that a. An excellent recovery of the larynx is the rule, if microcauterization is carried out superficially. These initial experiments were performed on 10 dogs, duplicating the type and extension of microcauterization, as this procedure is usually performed clinically in the treatment of patients. b. The anterior and posterior commissures of the larynx were found understandably vulnerable to severe degrees of cauterization.
On Exact Solutions of Linear PDEs

The role of exact fundamental solutions in the study of linear PDEs is illustrated by several examples among equations of mixed type, subelliptic and degenerate elliptic equations, and hyperbolic equations. In particular, we derive exact fundamental solutions for the degenerate hyperbolic operators \( \partial _t^2 - {\partial ^{2l}}\vartriangle \) in \( {{\mathbb{R}}^{{2p}}} \times \mathbb{R} \) for arbitrary1 p =1, 2,….
Authority and Rebellion in Victorian Autobiography

It has been a literary (if not strictly historical) commonplace that the later nineteenth century was a time of pervasive rebellion of sons against fathers. For example, Butler's The Way of All Flesh and Gosse's Father and Son are texts often cited as indicative of a broader social phenomenon. “As Irish life runs to secret societies,” observed V. S. Pritchett, “so English life seems to run naturally to parricide movements. We are a nation of father haters.” Yet father-hating did not become conspicuous until the Victorian period, when, in contrast to the reputed submissiveness of the eighteenth-century son, a “growing self-consciousness by the son of his role as liberator” surfaced in fictional and biographical writing. Whether such a rebellion actually took place on any large scale is impossible to determine. Few men record such things, and when they do their real feelings tend to remain concealed or not fully understood. The premise of this study, based on selected examples of autobiography, is that the peculiar desperation of many Victorians to buttress eroding forms of traditional patriarchal authority had its first and perhaps most crucial effects within the family itself, intensifying ordinary generational conflict and its usual quota of rebellion, guilt, and neurosis. Amidst the conventional catalogues of accomplishment, there is a striking pattern of childhood experience within the family that incubated some version of future rebellion and profoundly affected the writers' emotional lives.Open warfare between generations is uncommon; most often rebellion instead employs a disguised language and context for its articulation.
Validation of an Experimentally Derived Uncertainty Model

The results show that uncertainty models can be obtained directly from system identification data by using a minimum norm model validation approach. The error between the test data and an analytical nominal model is modeled as a combination of unstructured additive and structured input multiplicative uncertainty. Robust controllers which use the experimentally derived uncertainty model show significant stability and performance improvements over controllers designed with assumed ad hoc uncertainty levels. Use of the identified uncertainty model also allowed a strong correlation between design predictions and experimental results.
Ocean-wave coupled modeling in COAMPS-TC: A study of Hurricane Ivan (2004)

Abstract Tropical cyclone ocean–wave model interactions are examined using an ESMF – (Earth System Modeling Framework) based tropical cyclone (TC) version of the Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS® 1 ). This study investigates Hurricane Ivan, which traversed the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) in September 2004. Several oceanic and wave observational data sets, including Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) buoys, satellite altimeter data, and Scanning Radar Altimeter (SRA) data, allow for a unique analysis of the coupled atmosphere, ocean (Navy Coastal Ocean Model, NCOM), and wave (Simulating WAves Nearshore, SWAN) models in COAMPS-TC. To determine the feasibility of coupling NCOM to SWAN in high-wind conditions during Hurricane Ivan, near-surface currents in NCOM were first compared to near-surface ADCP observations. Recent modifications to SWAN, including new wind-to-wave energy input and wave-breaking energy dissipation source functions, as well as a new ocean surface drag coefficient formulation appropriate for high-wind conditions, significantly improved the forecast wave field properties, such as significant wave height (SWH), in TC conditions. Further results show that the ocean-to-wave model coupling, which allows for the strong, hurricane-induced, surface currents in NCOM to interact with SWAN, provided additional improvements to the forecast SWH field. Additionally, wave-to-ocean model coupling, which included the input of the Stokes Drift Current (SDC) calculated from the SWAN wave spectra to NCOM, is examined. The models indicate that the SDC was on the order of 10–25% of the near-surface Eulerian current during Ivan. Recent studies of the importance of the SDC and the resulting Langmuir turbulence on vertical ocean mixing in TCs is also discussed.
Programmable logic arrays in single-electron transistor technology

This paper presents a programmable logic array (PLA) layered structure composed of single-electron tunneling transistor (SET) devices. In this array bits of information are represented by the presence or absence of single electrons at conducting islands. A layer in the array is composed of a SET summing-inverter cell replicated for performing a programmable Boolean operation of its inputs. A number of layers are added on to implement the logic function. We confirm the correct and stable operation of the PLA matrix using a well-known single-electron circuit simulator based on Monte Carlo technique. We then discuss challenges facing SETs and end with conclusions.
Customer incivility and employee well-being: testing the moderating effects of meaning, perspective taking and transformational leadership

ABSTRACTThis study investigated factors that influence the relationship between experiencing customer incivility and the psychological well-being of employees in the service industry (N = 215). Using the cognitive appraisal theory of stress, we identified and tested three factors that may buffer employees from the negative effects of customer incivility: finding meaning in work, perspective taking, and transformational leadership of supervisors. Transformational leadership was found to moderate the relationship between customer incivility and employee well-being. Meaning and perspective taking did not moderate the relationship between customer incivility and employee well-being, but did have a positive association with employee well-being. These findings contribute to the literature on customer incivility and suggest that organization-based resources that influence both primary and secondary appraisal, such as transformational leadership, are useful in buffering the harmful employee outcomes related to cu...
Erythropoietin responses to progressive blood loss over 10 days in the ovine fetus.

Long-term loss of fetal blood can occur with fetomaternal hemorrhage, vasoprevia, or placental previa. Our objective was to determine the effects of progressive fetal blood loss over 10 days on fet...
Vasopressor-induced natriuresis and altered intrarenal haemodynamics in cirrhotic man.

1. The influence of two intravenous vasopressors (angiotensin II and norepinephrine) on renal function and intrarenal blood flow distribution was studied in thirteen cirrhotic subjects and the results compared with those from eight non-cirrhotics. 2. Increased sodium excretion occurred in four of eight cirrhotics with ascites who received comparable pressor doses of angiotensin II and one of five similar subjects who received norepinephrine. In contrast, sodium excretion fell or remained the same in all eight non-cirrhotics. 3. Renal plasma flow fell and filtration fraction rose in nearly all subjects who did not respond to vasopressors with a natriuresis but changed little in those who did. 4. Vasopressor-induced changes of the multicompartmental 133 xenon washout curve were qualitatively different in the group who responded with a natriuresis in comparison to the others. Whereas the distribution of flow to the fastest component fell in the non-responder, it remained the same or rose in those who developed a natriuresis. 5. We interpret these results as suggesting a state of relative renal vasopressor resistance allowing the induced systemic hypertension to reduce tubular sodium reabsorption in some cirrhotics by influencing peritubular ‘physical factors’.
Investigating the Hydrolysis Reactions of a Chemical Warfare Agent Surrogate. A Systematic Study using 1H, 13C, 17O, 19F, 31P, and 35Cl NMR Spectroscopy

During the summer of 2015, I participated in the DHS HS-STEM fellowship at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL, NM) under the supervision of Dr. Todd M. Alam in his Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy research group. While with the group, my main project involved pursing various hydrolysis reactions with Diethyl Chlorophosphate (DECP), a surrogate for the agent Sarin (GB). Specifically, I performed different hydrolysis reactions, monitored and tracked the different phosphorous containing species using phosphorous (31P) NMR spectroscopy. With the data collected, I performed kinetics studies mapping the rates of DECP hydrolysis. I also used the NMR of different nuclei such as 1H, 13C, 17O, and 35Cl to help understand the complexity of the reactions that take place. Finally, my last task at SNL was to work with Insensitive Nuclei Enhanced by Polarization Transfer (INEPT) NMR Spectroscopy optimizing conditions for 19F- 31P filtering NMR experiments.
Characterization and regulation of E2F activity during Caco-2 cell differentiation.

The specific mechanisms controlling intestinal cell differentiation remain largely undefined. The retinoblastoma (Rb) proteins (pRb, p130, and p107) appear crucial to the terminal differentiation process of certain cells through their association and repression of E2F transcription factors. We have examined the expression of pRb-related proteins p130 and p107 as well as the regulation of E2F during spontaneous differentiation of the Caco-2 intestinal cell line. Nuclear protein levels of p130 and p107 were increased with Caco-2 differentiation. Induction of a slower-migrating E2F complex was noted in postconfluent (i.e., differentiated) Caco-2 cells; p130 protein was the predominant component of this E2F complex with a minor contribution from cyclin-dependent kinase-2. A small component of p107 binding was identified by deoxycholate release gel shift assays. In contrast, no pRb binding to E2F was noted in Caco-2 cells. In addition to increased association with p130, E2F-4 phosphorylation was markedly decreased in differentiated Caco-2 cells, whereas E2F protein levels remained unchanged. Taken together, our findings suggest that the regulation of E2F function may be an important contributing factor in the cell cycle block and spontaneous differentiation of Caco-2 cells. This regulation of E2F occurs most likely through its increased association with p130 as well as decreased phosphorylation.
The Role of Endogenous Versus Exogenous DNA Damage in Risk Assessment

The role of endogenous versus exogenous DNA damage in genotoxicity and carcinogenesis is reviewed from recent publications on genotoxicity, focusing on low-dose effects and risk assessment. Data for aldehydes, alkylating agents, oxidative stress, and radiation are summarized, with particular emphasis on new approaches that provide quantitative data on endogenous DNA damage and mutagenesis. Such data have markedly improved with new analytical instrumentation, such as mass spectrometry. A major breakthrough in these techniques has been the incorporation of stable isotope exposures, so that exogenous DNA damage can be readily distinguished from endogenous DNA damage. This has greatly improved both the accuracy of the data and our knowledge. Such data lend themselves to the development of new approaches for science-based risk assessment. As these new approaches advance, it should be possible to make science-based risk assessments for genotoxic agents, rather than resorting to the default-driven approaches that have no scientific basis.
Decentering Power in Research with Criminalized Women: A Case for Photo-Elicitation Interviewing

ABSTRACTThis article contributes to the project of developing a visual criminology that reclaims social relationships and the humanity and visibility of criminalized people and strives to disrupt the ideological and political underpinnings of mass incarceration and the state’s reliance on punitive responses to social inequality. Using photo-elicitation interviewing (PEI), I draw on qualitative research with 36 formerly incarcerated women living in Chicago. I review PEI’s potential to disrupt the power differential between researchers and participants and to include research participants as collaborators in knowledge production. I examine how limitations imposed by an Institutional Review Board created ethical concerns about representing women’s images and constrained women’s role in the coproduction of knowledge. I argue that PEI based on participant-generated images can help to overcome some of the ethical and methodological tensions encountered in visual criminology.
Gender-Based Differences in Surgical Residents' Perceptions of Patient Safety, Continuity of Care, and Well-Being: An Analysis from the Flexibility in Duty Hour Requirements for Surgical Trainees (FIRST) Trial.

Background Little is known about gender differences in residency training experiences and whether duty hour policies affect these differences. Using data from the Flexibility in Duty Hour Requirements for Surgical Trainees (FIRST) trial, we examined gender differences in surgical resident perceptions of patient safety, education, health and well-being, and job satisfaction, and assessed whether duty hour policies affected gender differences. Study Design We compared proportions of male and female residents expressing dissatisfaction or perceiving a negative effect of duty hours on aspects of residency training (ie patient safety, resident education, well-being, job satisfaction) overall and by PGY. Logistic regression models with robust clustered SEs were used to test for significant gender differences and interaction effects of duty hour policies on gender differences. Results Female PGY2 to 3 residents were more likely than males to be dissatisfied with patient safety (odds ratio [OR] = 2.50; 95% CI, 1.29–4.84) and to perceive a negative effect of duty hours on most health and well-being outcomes (OR = 1.51–2.10; all p Conclusions Gender differences exist in perceptions of surgical residency. These differences vary across cohorts and can be influenced by duty hour policies.
Medical Treatment of Refractory Daily Headaches, Including Interdisciplinary Management

The treatment-resistant medication overuse headache (MOH), chronic migraine (CM), new daily persistent headache (NDPH), and chronic tension-type headache (CTTH) patients often need an intensive interdisciplinary program. Physical therapy, medical, and focused psychological therapy are combined to create a treatment plan for each patient over a period of several weeks. Utilizing the same abortive and preventive principles found to be successful for less resistant cases, the treatment plan adds paced physical rehabilitation and individually tailored stress reduction, psychotherapy, and biofeedback. It is necessary to include behavioral evaluation and treatment, because ignoring psychological ramifications of chronic pain states, including headaches, as well as the psychological comorbidity commonly seen in the patient population, is tantamount to ignoring intra-abdominal trauma as the cause of shock in the severe accident-related head trauma case! This chapter explores the medical treatment of chronic daily headache and suggests that successful treatment of refractory chronic headache patients is possible with an interdisciplinary approach.
Mass spectrometry-based cross-linking study shows that the Psb28 protein binds to cytochrome b559 in Photosystem II

Photosystem II (PSII), a large pigment protein complex, undergoes rapid turnover under natural conditions. During assembly of PSII, oxidative damage to vulnerable assembly intermediate complexes must be prevented. Psb28, the only cytoplasmic extrinsic protein in PSII, protects the RC47 assembly intermediate of PSII and assists its efficient conversion into functional PSII. Its role is particularly important under stress conditions when PSII damage occurs frequently. Psb28 is not found, however, in any PSII crystal structure, and its structural location has remained unknown. In this study, we used chemical cross-linking combined with mass spectrometry to capture the transient interaction of Psb28 with PSII. We detected three cross-links between Psb28 and the α- and β-subunits of cytochrome b559, an essential component of the PSII reaction-center complex. These distance restraints enable us to position Psb28 on the cytosolic surface of PSII directly above cytochrome b559, in close proximity to the QB site. Protein–protein docking results also support Psb28 binding in this region. Determination of the Psb28 binding site and other biochemical evidence allow us to propose a mechanism by which Psb28 exerts its protective effect on the RC47 intermediate. This study also shows that isotope-encoded cross-linking with the “mass tags” selection criteria allows confident identification of more cross-linked peptides in PSII than has been previously reported. This approach thus holds promise to identify other transient protein–protein interactions in membrane protein complexes.
Spatial and temporal variability of air temperature across urban neighborhoods with varying amounts of tree canopy

Abstract Recent studies have emphasized the presence of microclimates in urban settings, but most do not have the high resolution observations necessary to understand the interactions taking place at a neighborhood scale. This study used a network of 10 identical weather stations and high resolution land cover data in Knoxville, Tennessee, to analyze the microclimates of a medium-sized city with a temperate climate. Two stations were installed in each of four urban neighborhoods in locations with varying localized tree cover, and two additional stations were installed in the center of downtown and in a nearby urban nature center. The intra-neighborhood results suggested that there is significant temperature variability within a single neighborhood based on the tree canopy density immediately surrounding a given weather station. However, the inter-neighborhood variability (differences between neighborhoods) was similar in magnitude, which suggests that the overall differences in neighborhood characteristics also have an effect on climate. Land cover at the neighborhood scale (in particular tree canopy percentages at the 500-m radii) had the highest correlation with the minimum daily temperature (Tmin) during the summer season. Maximum daily temperature (Tmax) relied most on the distance of each station from Downtown and the amount of impervious area in the 50 m surrounding each station. Tmax was also most influenced by surrounding land cover during dry conditions (a Dry Moderate air mass). Overall, highly localized impervious land cover percentages and larger-scale forested canopy were important in explaining temperature fluctuation, pointing to the importance of scale in microclimate assessments. Dry air masses enhanced the relationship between land cover and temperature during the day, while moist air masses did the same overnight. These data can be used to better inform planning strategies to build resiliency to extreme heat into urban environments by considering the influence of tree canopy.
Introduction—A Nation of Individuals and Markets

Individualism is commonly thought to go hand in hand with the practices and institutions of a market economy. This introduction lays out the essential claim of the book that in nineteenth-century America the rise of individualism and the rise of a market economy were interrelated and co-constitutive phenomena, but that neither strictly entails the other. In preparation for the historical and exegetical chapters that argue for this claim, this chapter defines and explores several key concepts: markets, market economies, and market societies as well as the individual, individuality, and individualism.
Optimal design method for fast carry-skip adders

A carry-skip adder is faster than a ripple carry adder and it has a simple structure. To maximize the speed it is necessary to optimize the width of the blocks that comprise the carry skip adder. This paper presents a simple algorithm to select the size of each block. Assuming that each logic gate has a unit delay, the algorithm achieves slightly faster designs for 64 and 128 bit adders than previous methods developed by Guyot, et al. and Kantabutra.
Early Life Epilepsies are a Comorbidity of Developmental Brain Disorders

Early-life epilepsies are a series of disorders frequently accompanied by a broad range of morbidities that include cognitive, behavioral, neuromuscular, and sleep disturbances; enteric and other forms of autonomic dysfunction; sensory processing difficulties; and other issues. Usually these morbidities cluster together in a single patient. Rather than these being separate conditions, all, including the seizures, are manifestations or coexpressions of developmental brain disorders. Instead of viewing epilepsy as the disease and the other features as comorbidities, approaching early-life epilepsies as part of the spectrum of developmental brain disorders could have implications for multidisciplinary care models, anticipatory guidance, and counseling of parents, as well as the design of randomized trials and targeting important outcomes. Ultimately, such an approach could improve understanding and help optimize outcomes in these difficult to treat disorders of early childhood.
Fasting and post-glucose load measures of insulin resistance and risk of incident atrial fibrillation: The Cardiovascular Health Study.

Abstract Background and aims Existing literature in individuals without diabetes has not demonstrated a relationship between IR and incident AF; however, data are limited and only fasting glucose measures of IR were assessed. We evaluated the relationship of both fasting and post-glucose load IR measures with the development of atrial fibrillation in nondiabetic older adults. Methods and results Among Cardiovascular Health Study participants, a population-based cohort of 5888 adults aged 65 years or older enrolled in two waves (1989–1990 and 1992–1993), those without prevalent AF or diabetes and with IR measures at baseline were followed for the development of AF, identified by follow-up visit electrocardiograms, hospital discharge diagnosis coding, or Medicare claims data, through 2014. Fasting IR was determined by the homeostatic model of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and post-glucose load IR was determined by the Gutt index. Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine the association of IR with risk of AF. Analyses included 3601 participants (41% men) with a mean age of 73 years. Over a median follow-up of 12.3 years, 1443 (40%) developed AF. After multivariate adjustment, neither HOMA-IR nor the Gutt index was associated with risk of developing AF [hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals): 0.96 (0.90, 1.03) for 1-SD increase in HOMA-IR and 1.03 (0.97, 1.10) for 1-SD decrease in the Gutt index]. Conclusions We found no evidence of an association between either fasting or post-glucose load IR measures and incident AF.
The Value of Peer Interaction in the First-Term Community College Classroom: A Faculty Perspective

ABSTRACTExisting literature suggests that social connection with peers is beneficial for first-term college students. First-term community college students are less likely to experience social inte...
A fault tolerant tracking control for a quadrotor UAV subject to simultaneous actuator faults and exogenous disturbances

An observer-based robust adaptive Fault Tolerant Control approach is proposed in this paper to tackle the problem of trajectory tracking for a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) suffering simu...