cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Use of RNAi to Elucidate and Manipulate Secondary Metabolite Synthesis in Plants

RNA interference technology (RNAi, dsRNA-mediated gene silencing) has already had a major impact on the study and manipulation of plant secondary metabolites. To date RNAi has mainly been used as a readily available, rapid, reverse genetics tool to create plants with novel chemical phenotypes, and to determine the phenotypes of genes responsible for the synthesis of many different secondary metabolites. These manipulations have also greatly facilitated the identification and improvement of specific plant-insect and plant-pathogen interactions, and have set the stage for greater exploitation of plants to produce commercially-valuable, plant-derived drugs, flavoring agents, perfumes, etc. RNAi has been used to study and manipulate products that are representatives of all three main groups of plant secondary metabolites, the phenylpropanoids (and allied phenolics), alkaloids, and terpenoids. We predict that because there exists so much diversity in chemical structure among plant secondary metabolites, and RNAi is highly efficient, foreign gene expression together with RNAi will undoubtedly play an increasingly important role in enabling plants to produce renewable chemical feed stocks now obtained from petroleum. Thus, various forms of RNAi will be very important in the post “peak oil” future of agriculture, worldwide. After a brief general introduction to plant secondary metabolites, we will survey recent studies that have used RNAi for phenotyping of secondary metabolite related genes, and to generating novel chemical phenotypes, pointing out the advantages gained. A few examples will be highlighted to exemplify the powerful approach of gene knockdown combined with foreign gene overexpression as a means for creating new secondary-product-based phenotypes (e.g., the blue rose). Where data is available, we will compare knockdown efficiency and stability of antisense, co-suppression and dsRNAi. As a case study, we will describe in more detail how RNAi has been used to chart carbon flow among branch pathways of diterpenoid biosynthesis in trichome glands. Finally we will discuss the potential of artificial miRNAi for S.-Y. Ying (ed.) Current Perspectives in microRNAs (miRNA), 431 © Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2008 Plant Physiology/Biochemistry/Molecular Biology Program, Plant and Soil Science Department, 200L KTRDC, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546–0091, USA *Corresponding author: E-mail: gwagner@uky.edu 432 G.J. Wagner, A.B. Kroumova enhancing the RNA-mediated gene silencing approach (particularly selectivity) in plants, and as a mutational tool.
The ethics of accumulating neurosurgical evidence in the clinical setting.

THE ETHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF CLINICAL RESEARCH All clinical research is grounded in three central principles: respect for autonomy, beneficence, and justice (Table 5.1). Foremost among these principles is respect for patient autonomy.2 The principle of respect for patient autonomy is the ethical basis for the imperative that we allow patients to make decisions for their own benefit. In the context of treating patients, as well as in research, respect for the autonomy of the patient or the subject is the foundation for the importance of informed consent. Certainly, respect for patient autonomy has not always been at the forefront of ethical decision making in medical care. For centuries before the past 40 years, in fact, physicians generally made decisions for their patients without involving the patients in this decision making. This philosophical approach, known as paternalism, changed dramatically over the past few decades. Evidence of this change can readily be found when examining what physicians tell their patients about diagnoses. For example, in 1961, Oken8 studied what physicians at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago told their patients about a diagnosis of cancer. At that time, 88% of physicians stated that they generally did not tell a patient a diagnosis of cancer. Only 16 years later, in 1977, Novack et al.7 surveyed physicians at the same hospital and found that 98% of physicians reported that their general policy was to tell patients a cancer diagnosis. Today, the importance of respecting patient autonomy is central to the paradigm of shared decision making that gives great weight to respecting patient autonomy to make choices about medical care. A second principle underlying the ethical conduct of clinical research is beneficence.2 This ethical principle makes explicit the importance of doing good for patients. Beneficence grounds the well-accepted position that when making decisions for patients, physicians should not be concerned about what will most benefit themselves, but rather what will most benefit the patient. Certainly, the understanding of what will most benefit an individual patient requires an understanding of the patient’s values and must depend on the patient to define what will be most beneficial. However, there is no question that it is the assessment of what will be good for the patient that should direct the decision making. Finally, the principle of justice needs little explication of its importance to the ethical conduct of research. In this context, the principle of justice refers to the importance of ensuring that the burdens and benefits of research are shared fairly.
Development drowned and reborn: The blues and bourbon restorations in post-Katrina New Orleans, by Clyde Woods

In 2005, when category 5 Hurricane Katrina bore down upon Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida with devastating force, the nation looked on as the quickly rising water left mostly Black residents st...
Amino-acid metabolism during osmotic stress in isolated axons of Callinectes sapidus.

Abstract During hypo-osmotic stress, the amino-acid concentration of isolated axons of C. sapidus decreases while the specific antivity of these compounds labelled from glucose increases. On the contrary, the amino-acid content increases and there is no significant change in specific activity during hyperosmotic shock. These results are discussed in terms of the mechanisms involved in the control of the amino-acid pool in the process of isosmotic intracellular regulation.
The "Dual-Plane" DIEP Flap: Measuring the Effects of Superficial Arterial and Venous Flow Augmentation on Clinical Outcomes.

Background Deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flaps are routinely elevated on a single dominant perforator from the deep epigastric vascular system. However, the single perforator may not always perfuse an entire flap adequately, particularly suprascarpal tissue. We often perform “dual-plane” single perforator DIEP flaps by rerouting the superficial (SIEA/V) system directly into a branch of the deep (DIEA/V) vascular system pedicle, thus allowing both systems to contribute and enhance flap perfusion. Methods A prospectively collected database of patients undergoing microvascular breast reconstruction was reviewed for patients undergoing “dual-plane” DIEP flaps. These were matched to a similar cohort of patients undergoing “traditional” single perforator DIEP free flaps over the same time period. Treatment demographics and flap-specific morbidity outcomes were assessed, including performance in the setting of radiation. Results Over 2 years, 23 “dual-plane” DIEP flaps were performed (15 patients), compared with 35 single-perforator “traditional” DIEP flaps (23 patients). Rates of delayed healing were similar between both cohorts (2.9 vs. 4.3%, p = 0.28). Rates of palpable fat necrosis were significantly lower in “dual-plane” DIEP flaps compared with “traditional” flaps (0 vs. 14.3%, p = 0.03). Rates of clinically palpable fat necrosis following radiation were significantly lower in the “dual-plane” flaps (4.3 vs. 40%, p = 0.02). Conclusions The “dual-plane” DIEP flap is one we routinely consider in our algorithm, as it allows for full preservation of functional abdominal musculature, and offers enhanced flap perfusion by incorporating both the deep and superficial (dominant) vascular systems. This results in lower fat necrosis rates, particularly in the setting of post-reconstruction radiation.
Physician network position and patient outcomes following implantable cardioverter defibrillator therapy.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate two novel measures of physician network centrality and their associations with implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) procedure volume and health outcomes. DATA SOURCES Medicare claims and the National Cardiovascular Data Registry data from 2007 to 2011. STUDY DESIGN We constructed a national cardiovascular disease patient-sharing physician network and used network analysis to characterize physician network centrality with two measures: within-hospital degree centrality (number of connections within a hospital) and across-hospital degree centrality (number of connections across hospitals). The primary outcome was risk-adjusted 2-year case fatality. Hierarchical logistic regression estimated the effects of physician's within-hospital and across-hospital degree centrality on case fatality. We included 105 109 ICD therapy patients and 3474 ICD implanting physicians in our analyses. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS After controlling for other physician and hospital characteristics, we observed greater risk-adjusted case fatality among patients treated by physicians in the highest across-hospital degree tertile compared to lowest tertile (OR [95% CI] = 1.10 [1.04-1.16], P = 0.001) and lowest tertile volume physicians compared with highest volume (OR [95% CI] = 0.90 [0.84-0.95], P < 0.001). Physician's within-hospital degree tertile was inversely associated with case fatality but not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS Degree centrality measures capture information independent of procedure volume and raise questions about the quality of physicians with networks that predict worse health outcomes.
Heterotrophic carbon metabolism and energy acquisition in Candidatus Thioglobus singularis strain PS1, a member of the SUP05 clade of marine Gammaproteobacteria

A hallmark of the SUP05 clade of marine Gammaproteobacteria is the ability to use energy obtained from reduced inorganic sulfur to fuel autotrophic fixation of carbon using RuBisCo. However, some SUP05 also have the genetic potential for heterotrophic growth, raising questions about the roles of SUP05 in the marine carbon cycle. We used genomic reconstructions, physiological growth experiments and proteomics to characterize central carbon and energy metabolism in Candidatus Thioglobus singularis strain PS1, a representative from the SUP05 clade that has the genetic potential for autotrophy and heterotrophy. Here, we show that the addition of individual organic compounds and 0.2 μm filtered diatom lysate significantly enhanced the growth of this bacterium. This positive growth response to organic substrates, combined with expression of a complete TCA cycle, heterotrophic pathways for carbon assimilation, and methylotrophic pathways for energy conversion demonstrate strain PS1's capacity for heterotrophic growth. Further, our inability to verify the expression of RuBisCO suggests that carbon fixation was not critical for growth. These results highlight the metabolic diversity of the SUP05 clade that harbours both primary producers and consumers of organic carbon in the oceans and expand our understanding of specific pathways of organic matter oxidation by the heterotrophic SUP05.
POLITICS OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: RACE AND PUBLIC POLICY IN AMERICA

The policy of Affirmative Action seeks to remedy consequences of a century of both law-induced and custom-induced racial or caste constraints on the social mobility of blacks in American society. It is a color-conscious or race- conscious policy or, in the case of female beneficiaries, a gender-conscious policy. The execution of this policy involves “goals,” “quotas,” and “preferential treatment” in such areas as employment, education (colleges and professional schools), and government contractual procurement.
GP92 The experience of a daily hospital wide operational huddle at Temple Street Children’s University Hospital

The increasing complexity of healthcare delivery makes care co-ordination and maintaining safety a continuous challenge. Adverse events persist at a rate of 10.7% and half of such events being preventable (Stockwell et al. 2018) The daily co-ordination of organisational needs results in a significant amount of information exchange across departments and individuals. This can affect the ability to plan and manage thus contributing to patient safety risk. Inter-dependant complex processes need a significant amount of information exchange and miscommunications could occur. - What was the initiative taken? A daily operational huddle to discuss key issues and plan ahead was piloted in 2014. The change was sustained and the huddle continuously improved and is now fully embedded. - How was the change implemented? Evidence from other organisations was reviewed. A format was designed and piloted amongst nursing staff initially. One representative from each department attended daily. Feedback and lessons learned were incorporated over time and the process expanded to include multiple departments. A pro forma whiteboard and huddle room was introduced in 2016. - What problems were encountered with the process of change and how were these overcome? Concerns regarding time to attend were initially expressed by frontline staff. Resolved by discussing benefits, visibility of teamwork in action through sharing resources and agreeing solutions. Additionally, it was agreed that attending the huddle reduced interruptions by phone calls. A survey of huddle participants revealed the following results; - How did this improve patient/client care? A daily forum now exists for planning, problem solving, identification of risks, sharing of lessons learned, sharing of resources and mass communication.
Charge Transfer Doping of Conjugated Polymers with Large Vibrational Activities: Insights into the Regime of Partial Charge Transfer

Effective charge transfer (CT) doping of conjugated polymers depends on electronic and structural factors alike, though the former receives the most attention in design and mechanistic consideratio...
UACFinder: Mining Syntactic Carriers of Unspecified Assumptions in Medical Cyber-Physical System Design Models

During the system development process, domain experts and developers often make assumptions about specifications and implementations. However, most of the assumptions being taken for granted by domain experts and developers are too tedious to be documented by them. When these unspecified assumptions are violated in an environment in which the system operates, failures can occur. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) medical device recall database, medical device recalls caused by software failures are at an all-time high. One major cause of these recalls is violations of unspecified assumptions made in medical systems. Therefore, it is crucial to have tools to automatically identify such unspecified assumptions at an early stage of the systems development process to avoid fatal failures.In this article, we present a tool called Unspecified Assumption Carrier Finder (UACFinder) that uses data mining techniques to automatically identify potential syntactic carriers of unspecified assumptions in system design models. The main idea of this tool is based on the observation we obtained from our earlier analysis of software failures in medical device recalls caused by unspecified assumptions. We observed that unspecified assumptions often exist in medical systems through syntactic carriers, such as constant variables, frequently read/updated variables, and frequently executed action sequences. Therefore, we develop the UACFinder to automatically find these potential unspecified assumption syntactic carriers rather than unspecified assumptions themselves. Once the UACFinder identifies the potential unspecified assumption syntactic carriers, domain experts and developers can validate whether these syntactic carriers indeed carry unspecified assumptions. We use a simplified cardiac arrest treatment scenario as a case study to evaluate the UACFinder in mining potential syntactic carriers of unspecified assumptions. In addition, we invite a medical doctor to validate unspecified assumptions carried by the mined syntactic carriers. The case study demonstrates that the UACFinder is effective in helping to identify potential unspecified assumptions from system design models.
Anti-HER2 IgY antibody-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes for detection and selective destruction of breast cancer cells

AACR Annual Meeting-- Apr 12-16, 2008; San Diego, CA 4904 Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) exhibit advanced physical properties promising for various biological applications. Antibody targeting is an important therapeutic strategy for cancer detection and intervention. Two unique properties of SWNT can be exploited to facilitate cancer detection and therapy in conjunction with the use of specific antibodies. SWNT has very strong Raman signals that can be harnessed for cancer cell detection. SWNT absorbs near-infrared (NIR) light producing excessive heat in the local environment, which can be utilized to achieve selective destruction of cancer cells without affecting normal cells. Recently, we have demonstrated the advantages of using anti-HER2 IgY antibody in detecting breast cancer cells [1]. IgY antibody offers specific and more sensitive detection of breast cancer cells compared with commercial IgG or IgM antibodies. In an effort to improve breast cancer detection and therapy by combining the advantages of anti-HER2 IgY antibody and SWNT, we herein constructed a HER2 IgY-SWNT complex by functionalizing SWNT with the anti-HER2 IgY antibody. Using Raman optical microscope, we found the HER2 IgY-SWNT complex specifically targeted receptor-expressing SK-BR-3 cells but not receptor-negative MCF-7 cells. Raman signal from HER2 IgY-SWNT-detected SK-BR-3 cells is five times greater than that from control cells, being either MCF-7 cells exposed to HER2 IgY-SWNT or SK-BR-3 cells without exposure to HER2 IgY-SWNT. NIR radiation selectively destroyed HER2 IgY-SWNT-targeted breast cancer cells without harming receptor-free normal cells. Thus, the unique intrinsic optical properties of SWNT combined with high specificity and high sensitivity of IgY antibodies can lead to new strategies for cancer detection and therapy. [1]. Xiao Y, Gao X, Gannot G, Emmert-Buck MR, Srivastava S, Wagner PD, AmosMD, Barker PE. Quantitation of HER2 and telomerase biomarkers in solid tumors with IgY antibodies and nanocrystal detection. Int J Cancer 2007 (in press).
A Context Integrated Relational Spatio-Temporal Model for Demand and Supply Forecasting.

Traditional methods for demand forecasting only focus on modeling the temporal dependency. However, forecasting on spatio-temporal data requires modeling of complex nonlinear relational and spatial dependencies. In addition, dynamic contextual information can have a significant impact on the demand values, and therefore needs to be captured. For example, in a bike-sharing system, bike usage can be impacted by weather. Existing methods assume the contextual impact is fixed. However, we note that the contextual impact evolves over time. We propose a novel context integrated relational model, Context Integrated Graph Neural Network (CIGNN), which leverages the temporal, relational, spatial, and dynamic contextual dependencies for multi-step ahead demand forecasting. Our approach considers the demand network over various geographical locations and represents the network as a graph. We define a demand graph, where nodes represent demand time-series, and context graphs (one for each type of context), where nodes represent contextual time-series. Assuming that various contexts evolve and have a dynamic impact on the fluctuation of demand, our proposed CIGNN model employs a fusion mechanism that jointly learns from all available types of contextual information. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first approach that integrates dynamic contexts with graph neural networks for spatio-temporal demand forecasting, thereby increasing prediction accuracy. We present empirical results on two real-world datasets, demonstrating that CIGNN consistently outperforms state-of-the-art baselines, in both periodic and irregular time-series networks.
Peripheral Arterial Disease and Diabetes

The incidence of type 2 (noninsulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus continues to increase in the United States (1). Consequently, the associated morbid and mortal events from the associated microvascular and macrovascular complications of this disease have also risen (1). The preponderance of research toward the understanding of vascular disease in diabetes has been directed toward the delineation of end organ injury from microvascular disease. Consequently, the focus on macrovascular peripheral vascular disease has been relatively ignored. However, several studies have elucidated both the incidence and prevalence of peripheral vascular disease associated with both type 1 (insulin-dependent) and type 2 diabetes mellitus. In general, these studies have found that the duration of diabetes is perhaps the best correlate to predict the development of coronary artery and renal disease, as well as other associated end organ injuries that have not consistently correlated with the development of peripheral vascular disease.
Controllability and Stabilization for Herding a Robotic Swarm Using a Leader: A Mean-Field Approach

In this article, we introduce a model and a control approach for herding a swarm of “follower” agents to a target distribution among a set of states using a single “leader” agent. The follower agents evolve on a finite state space that is represented by a graph and transition between states according to a continuous-time Markov chain (CTMC), whose transition rates are determined by the location of the leader agent. The control problem is to define a sequence of states for the leader agent that steers the probability density of the forward equation of the Markov chain. For the case, when the followers are possibly interacting, we prove local approximate controllability of the system about equilibrium probability distributions. For the case, when the followers are noninteracting, we design two switching control laws for the leader that drive the swarm of follower agents asymptotically to a target probability distribution that is positive for all states. The first strategy is open-loop in nature, and the switching times of the leader are independent of the follower distribution. The second strategy is of feedback type, and the switching times of the leader are functions of the follower density in the leader's current state. We validate our control approach through numerical simulations with varied numbers of follower agents that evolve on graphs of different sizes, through a 3-D multirobot simulation in which a quadrotor is used to control the spatial distribution of eight ground robots over four regions, and through a physical experiment in which a swarm of ten robots is herded by a virtual leader over four regions.
Can a Globally Endorsed Business Identity Code be the Answer to Risk Data Aggregation

That the financial system was vulnerable to global systemic risk was revealed to the general public and, more importantly the regulatory community when Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in 2008. It was further revealed that nether Lehman Brothers nor its clients, creditors, counterparties and regulators had a common understanding of the risk exposure that existed in the collapse of Lehman. In the complex, technology driven ecosystem of global finance that common understanding required a common identifying code that computer software could interpret as Lehman Brothers. That this did not exist over all of the generations of technology that financial systems evolved through was a revelation that drove a newly appointed global standards body, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) to sanction a series of global data standards initiatives. This included the establishment of a legal entity identifier (LEI), a unique, unambiguous and universal code for business entities participating in the financial system. Another significant lesson learned from the global financial crisis was that banks’ information technology and data architectures were inadequate to support management of financial risks. Because of weak risk data aggregation capabilities many banks lacked the ability to aggregate risk exposures and identify concentrations quickly and accurately at the bank group level, across business lines and between legal entities. This required a more granular view of risk, a view at the transaction level to compliment the position and balance sheet levels that were the cornerstone of the global risk agenda to that point. This issue was taken up by an existing risk standards body, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) through its Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS). It proposed to use the LEI in its risk and data aggregation framework now being implemented by the global systemically important banks (G-SIBs). This paper describes the implications of these new regulatory mandates on the technology and data management infrastructure underpinning risk management systems, within single financial enterprises and across multiple financial institutions and financial market utilities (FMUs). The paper traces the decisions that led to revising this infrastructure and offers suggestions to overcome remaining issues that have already been recognized. It argues for some redirection of implementations yet to be finalized, whose strategies were laid out with legacy infrastructure concepts remaining as best practice. This is occurring while the digital transformation of finance is well underway and promises less costly, less risk prone solutions. Significant operational risk capital reduction and cost reduction incentives are identified and quantified.
Numerical Methods for a Diffusive Class of Nonlocal Operators

In this paper we develop a numerical scheme based on quadratures to approximate solutions of integro-differential equations involving convolution kernels, $$\nu $$ , of diffusive type. In particular, we assume $$\nu $$ is symmetric and exponentially decaying at infinity. We consider problems posed in bounded domains and in $${\mathbb {R}}$$ . In the case of bounded domains with nonlocal Dirichlet boundary conditions, we show the convergence of the scheme for kernels that have positive tails, but that can take on negative values. When the equations are posed on all of $${\mathbb {R}}$$ , we show that our scheme converges for nonnegative kernels. Since nonlocal Neumann boundary conditions lead to an equivalent formulation as in the unbounded case, we show that these last results also apply to the Neumann problem.
Relating to Correlation

Is your high school GPA a good indicator of your college GPA? Is a high cholesterol level related to high fat intake? Are your grades related to the number of hours you study? People are often interested in measuring the relationships between two variables. One of the most popular; statistics that is used is the correlation coefficient, which measures how well the relationship between the two variables can be described by a straight line. Since a sample is used to estimate the correlation coefficient, can we find out how this estimate behaves for different values of the sample size and the population correlation coefficient?
Seismicity around Parkfield correlates with static shear stress changes following the 2003 Mw6.5 San Simeon earthquake

[1] Earthquakes trigger other earthquakes, but the physical mechanism of the triggering is currently debated. Most studies of earthquake triggering rely on earthquakes listed in catalogs, which are known to be incomplete around the origin times of large earthquakes and therefore missing potentially triggered events. Here we apply a waveform matched-filter technique to systematically detect earthquakes along the Parkfield section of the San Andreas Fault from 46 days before to 31 days after the nearby 2003 Mw6.5 San Simeon earthquake. After removing all possible false detections, we identify ~8 times more earthquakes than in the Northern California Seismic Network catalog. The newly identified events along the creeping section of the San Andreas Fault show a statistically significant decrease following the San Simeon main shock, which correlates well with the negative static stress changes (i.e., stress shadow) cast by the main shock. In comparison, the seismicity rate around Parkfield increased moderately where the static stress changes are positive. The seismicity rate changes correlate well with the static shear stress changes induced by the San Simeon main shock, suggesting a low friction in the seismogenic zone along the Parkfield section of the San Andreas Fault.
Linear regression and information systems: an exploratory study

Abstract Linear regression serves information systems researchers and practitioners in different ways: experimentally verifying a priori models and theories, constructing data-based models and theories, and enabling data-based and model-based decision making. Drawing on these differences, regression applications occuring over the last decade are examined. Evidence gathered by this study suggests that these differences are often not acknowledged, leading to results that are frequently suboptimal and at times erroneous.
Human fetal breathing: relationship to fetal condition.

Abstract By means of the real time B-scan method, 426 observations were made on 124 high-risk and 10 normal patients hospitalized at Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center. Of all observations, 95.5 per cent were made within two weeks of delivery, and all were made within four weeks. A significant relationship between the presence or absence of FBM in the last record before delivery and the Apgar score was observed (p
Function-oriented vision chips for factory automation

The emphasis is on high-speed processor architectures for visual processing. There are, in general, two types of high-speed processor architectures: highly programmable processors and function-oriented processors. Function-oriented processors are discussed. The author describes research trends in function-oriented industrial vision chips. Vision chips are categorized into digital, analog, and hybrid chips, which are discussed. It is expected that higher-level visual processing will get more attention for vision chips in the future while many current vision chips address early vision technologies or low-level visual processing. A key in extending early vision capabilities to high-level visual capabilities is the fusion of information from multiple imperfect visual recognition subsystems. >
Templated polymers enable selective capture and release of lysophosphatidic acid in human plasma via optimization of non-covalent binding to functional monomers.

The first solid phase extraction materials for selective lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) enrichment from human plasma are described. Molecularly imprinted polymers were designed, synthesized and evaluated as cartridge fillings. They enabled a relatively rapid and simple extraction protocol for LPA without any need for multiple liquid–liquid extraction steps. The five major subspecies of lysophosphatidic acid are readily separated from all other native plasma phospholipids, including those well-known to interfere with LPA quantitation, such as phosphatidylcholine and lysophosphatidylcholine. Outstanding LPA purity is obtained via these solid phase materials in a tandem extraction setup.
Transformation model and constraints cause bias in statistics on deformation fields

This work investigates the effects of nonrigid transformation model and deformation constraints on the results of deformation-based morphometry (DBM) studies. We evaluate three popular registration algorithms: a B-spline algorithm with several different constraint terms, Thirion’s demons algorithm, and a curvature PDE-based algorithm. All algorithms produced virtually identical overlaps of corresponding structures, but the underlying deformation fields were very different, and the Jacobian determinant values within homogeneous structures varied dramatically. In several cases, we observed bi-modal distributions of Jacobians within a region that violate the assumption of gaussianity that underlies many statistical tests. Our results demonstrate that, even with perfect overlap of corresponding structures, the statistics of Jacobian values are affected by bias due to design elements of the particular nonrigid registration. These findings are not limited to DBM, but also apply to voxel-based morphometry to the extent that it includes a Jacobian-based correction step (“modulation”).
Bortezomib and thalidomide, a steroid free regimen in newly diagnosed patients with multiple myeloma

Despite their efficacy in myeloma, corticosteroids have acute and chronic toxicities. Newer agents with significant anti-myeloma activity permit the development of steroid-free regimens. We designed a Phase II clinical trial to study the toxicity and efficacy of a steroid-free combination of bortezomib and thalidomide as a first-line treatment in patients with symptomatic myeloma. Patients received bortezomib 1·3 mg/m(2) on days 1, 4, 8 and 11 every 21 d and thalidomide 150 mg/d for a maximum of eight cycles. Amongst 27 evaluable patients, the overall response was 81·5% with 25·8% near complete response or greater. The response rate was comparable to most other two drug combinations for upfront therapy but lower than that obtained with the use of three drugs. The most common grade 3 toxicities were peripheral neuropathy (22%), pneumonia (15%), fatigue (7%) and anaemia (7%). Peripheral neuropathy completely resolved in 80% of the patients upon completion of therapy, but not in the remaining 20% of patients. No venous thromboembolic events were observed even in the absence of prophylactic anticoagulation. The median progression-free survival was 16·8 months (95% confidence interval 8·7-21·6 months). Median overall survival has not yet been reached at a median follow up of 39 months. The 3-year overall survival was 74%. This study demonstrates: (i) the efficacy of a steroid-free regimen; (ii) mostly reversible treatment-related peripheral neuropathy; and (iii) the absence of venous thrombotic events.
Three decades after Bhopal: What we have learned about effectively managing process safety risks

While no industrial chemical incident has had the magnitude for loss of life that occurred in 1984 at Bhopal, process safety incidents continue to occur today often resulting in serious injuries, fatalities, environmental harm, property damage, and business interruption. Over the last three decades, we have learned that these three interrelated foundations are essential for effective process safety programs: (1) process safety culture and leadership, (2) operational discipline, and (3) process safety systems. If any one of these foundations is weak, process safety incidents will occur and the organization's process safety performance will be poor. This article explores how the process safety systems are essential barriers when reducing risks, applying the layer of protection model and the bow tie barrier analysis model into a novel visual tool that can be used to identify both the foundational gaps and the process safety systems which failed. Although the Bhopal incident is used as the case study, the objective of this article is to provide a tool for others to use when summarizing their investigations in a way that helps them visually depict the investigation's findings and helps them prioritize and address weaknesses in one or more of their process safety program foundations. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog 34: 345–354, 2015
Silent Slip on the Cascadia Subduction Interface

Sensor arrays based on the Global Positioning System permit increasingly precise, continuous monitoring of deformation in Earth9s crust. In his Perspective, Thatcher highlights the report by Dragert et al ., who have analyzed data from one such array and have detected a silent (aseismic) slip event in a subduction zone. Such events would normally be expected to be associated with recent earthquake activity. Much remains to be learned about earthquake stress buildup, but thanks to GPS and other technologies, our understanding of earthquakes is rapidly expanding.
Three-dimensional vortex formation on a heaving low-aspect-ratio wing: Computations and experiments

Abstract This paper addresses by means of high-resolution numerical simulations and experimental quantitative imaging the three-dimensional unsteady separation process induced by large-amplitude heaving oscillations of a low-aspect-ratio wing under low-Reynolds-number conditions. Computed results are found to be in good agreement with experimental flow visualizations and PIV measurements on selected cross-flow planes. The complex unsteady three-dimensional flow structure generated during dynamic stall of the low-aspect-ratio wing is elucidated. The process is characterized by the generation of a leading-edge vortex system which is pinned at the front corners of the plate and which exhibits intense transverse flow toward the wing centerline during its initial stages of development. This vortex detaches from the corners and evolves into an newly found arch-type structure. The legs of the arch vortex move along the surface toward the wing centerline and reconnect forming a ring-like structure which is shed as the next plunging cycle begins. Vortex breakdown, total collapse and reformation of the wing tip vortices are also observed at various stages of the heaving motion. At the relatively high value of reduced frequency considered, these basic flow elements of the complex three-dimensional dynamic stall process are found to persist over a range of Reynolds numbers.
Capture of retrotransposon DNA at the sites of chromosomal double-strand breaks

Non-homologous repair of broken chromosomes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae can be studied at a defined location by expressing the site-specific HO endonuclease that cuts the mating-type (MAT) locus. When homologous recombination is prevented, most double-strand breaks are repaired by non-homologous end-joinings similar to those observed in mammalian cells. About 1% of non-homologous repair events were exceptional, having 'captured' approximately 100 base pairs of DNA within the HO cleavage site. In each case, the insertion came from yeast's retrotransposon Tyl element. Four of the five contained the R-U5 region, which is the first part of Tyl messenger RNA to be converted to complementary DNA. The capture of cDNA fragments at the sites of double-strand breaks may account for the way that pseudogenes and long and short interspersed sequences (LINES and SINES) have been inserted at many locations in the mammalian genome.
Immunoglobulin switch circular DNA in the mouse infected with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis: evidence for successive class switching from mu to epsilon via gamma 1.

Abstract We have characterized immunoglobulin switch circular DNA in mice infected with the nematode parasite Nippostrongylus brasiliensis. Two kinds of circular DNA were identified in the lymph nodes as excision products of switch recombination of immunoglobulin heavy-chain constant region (CH) genes. One is a recombinant between C mu and C gamma 1 (gamma 1 circle), and the other is a recombinant between C gamma 1 and C epsilon (epsilon circle). In the epsilon circle, a short piece of switch mu (S mu) sequence was inserted between S epsilon and S gamma 1 sequences. The inserted S mu sequence could be a trace of the preceding switch from C mu to C gamma 1. These findings indicate that parasitic infection can induce class switch recombinations in a successive manner, first from C mu to C gamma 1, and then from C gamma 1 to C epsilon.
Organizational Information-Processing Capabilities and Degree of Employee Participation A LONGITUDINAL FIELD EXPERIMENT

An empirical test of the relationship between information processing and employee participation in a longitudinal experimental field setting is described. Data were obtained over a 40-month period from an engineering division within a major southeastern power-generating organization, and hypotheses were tested using a nonequivalent control group design with a comparison group to analyze changes in information processing for employees having different degrees of participation (direct, indirect, or no participation) in decisions regarding an organizational change effort. Results indicate that degree of participation in the change effort affected information-processing capacity positively, thus partially confirming complementarity between participation theory and information theory.
Analytical Predictions for the Transmission Error Excitation in Various Multiple-Mesh Gear-Trains

Transmission error has long been considered the primary exciter of gear whine noise. Previous work has resulted in the development of an analytical procedure for contact analysis of gear meshing based on plate deflection models. This procedure has been demonstrated to give good accuracy while being much less computationally intensive than finite element models. This paper extends this procedure to predict the load distribution and transmission error in multiple-mesh gear-trains. The model takes into account the effect of the load distribution at one mesh, on the load distribution and transmission error on the other meshes. The local compliance at the meshes is calculated and the kinematic constraints are used to determine the contact points. The equations of contact are linearized and solved using a modified simplex algorithm. The effect of the ‘phasing’ of the meshes is also considered. Application areas of this analysis procedure include idler gears, planetary gear-trains and split-path transmissions.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
Long enough to act? Symptom and behavior patterns prior to out-of-hospital sudden cardiac death.

BACKGROUND Sudden cardiac death is a major cause of death in the United States. Most cases occur outside the hospital, yet little is known about the symptoms and actions of individuals who die before reaching the hospital. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to describe the symptoms, symptom management, and care-seeking patterns in sudden cardiac death victims. METHODS This cross-sectional study used qualitative and quantitative data collection methods to obtain descriptions of symptoms and treatment-seeking delay from family members and bystanders (respondents) in 140 cases of sudden cardiac death due to presumed myocardial infarction. Decedents were identified from death certificate data from the state of Oregon in the United States. Respondents completed a survey of demographics and myocardial infarction symptoms and an in-depth interview. Narrative analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. RESULTS Three behavior patterns or trajectory types were developed focusing on key characteristics of the symptom patterns, the meanings attributed to those symptoms, the actions taken by the decedents and their family members or bystanders, and the time course of events. Each case was categorized as 1 trajectory type. The trajectory types are Normal Day (n = 49), Something Not Right (n = 62), and Thought It Was Something Else (n = 29). The key distinction across the trajectory types is the perception and interpretation of symptoms and the resulting actions between symptom perception and death. CONCLUSIONS This study is 1 of the first to describe what victims of sudden cardiac death are doing and thinking during the period between symptom onset and collapse. The trajectory types identified in this study suggest that misinterpretation of symptoms (the Something Not Right and Thought It Was Something Else groups) is common among victims and bystanders.
Methodologies to monetize the variations in load factor and GHG emissions per passenger-mile of airlines

Global GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions from air travel are currently at 3% and it could increase to 15% of the total GHG emissions by 2050. To curb the growth of GHG emissions from air travel, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has created a policy to achieve carbon neutral growth by 2020 relative to the 2005 baseline. If the airline industry is to both grow and meet the objectives set by this policy, new and innovative aircraft designs, operational efficiencies, and widespread use of alternate fuels are required. To accomplish this would require large research and development investment. The federal government and state governments have passed legislations that provide tax breaks and other incentives to encourage investments in new technologies. One such tax policies is cap and trade system. This had partial success in reducing GHG emissions in certain industries but was not successful in the airline industry. This paper presents alternate methods to raise capital to invest in GHG emissions reduction projects in the airline sector. The four methodologies presented here monetizes the GHG emissions resulting from differences in load factor (ratio of number of passengers to number of seats) and GHG emissions per passenger-mile among different airlines, among different flight sectors, etc. to raise the capital. Based on 2012 air travel data, these methodologies could raise more than $300 million dollars annually to invest in GHG emissions reduction projects.
Faith and Nature The Effect of Death-Relevant Cognitions on the Relationship Between Religious Fundamentalism and Connectedness to Nature

A common theme among many religions, particularly those with Abrahamic roots, is that humans are separate from the rest of nature. Though empirical support is lacking, such themes do suggest that religiosity may play a role in shaping the ways that people relate to the natural world. The present research used terror management theory to address this issue. It was hypothesized that death-relevant concerns would moderate the relationship between religious fundamentalism and feelings of connectedness to nature. Across three studies, religious fundamentalism negatively predicted feelings of connectedness to nature when death-relevant thoughts were activated. No such relationship emerged in the absence of death-relevant thought. The implications of these findings for better understanding the role of religion in human/nature relationships and current ecological issues are discussed.