cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Small vessel contribution to underwater noise

Understanding the types of noise generated by a small boat is important for ensuring that marine ecosystems are protected from detrimental anthropogenic noise. Here we present the results of a field test conducted to examine the effects of engine RPM, number of engines and number of propeller blades on the broadband and narrowband noise produced by a small boat. The test boat was a 23-foot aluminum-hulled boat with dual 100 hp engines. The broadband noise and narrowband peak levels were observed using two hydrophones in different locations. The broadband noise levels were affected by both the number of engines and the RPM; the narrowband peaks showed a greater increase in amplitude with an increase in RPM than the broadband noise levels.
From stress protein biochemistry to novel immunotherapeutics.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to briefly describe some of the achievements of Dr. John Subjeck that led to his selection by the Society of Thermal Medicine to be the recipient of our highest honor, the J. Eugene Robinson Award, presented with his lecture, April 15, 2012, at the annual meeting in Portland Or. First a bit of important history: In 1974 John received his Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of New York at Buffalo. His doctoral dissertation research was done in the laboratory of Dr. Leonard Weiss at Roswell Park Memorial Institute (later known as Roswell Park Cancer Institute) in the area of metastasis. From there he joined the Department of Radiation Medicine at Roswell (Chaired by Dr. Richard Johnson) to study in the areas of medical physics and radiation biology. He was trained as a medical physicist and later became certified by the American Board of Radiology. Over the years, John has frequently mentioned how much he enjoyed working in the clinic and interacting directly with patients and how different this work was compared to supervising a research laboratory. It was in this environment at Roswell Park that John learned about heat shock and began to study the heat protective roles of heat shock proteins (HSPs).
MOOCs, OOCs, flips and hybrids: The new world of higher education

A combination of new teaching methods, tools together with cloud services promises to deliver greater efficiency to higher education with improved teaching outcomes.
The American age: United States foreign policy at home and abroad since 1750

In this leading text, Walter LaFeber offers a comprehensive history of American foreign relations from the mid-eighteenth century to the present. His narrative account features several major themes: the connections between U.S. foreign policy and domestic politics; the impact of American economic development on foreign policy interests; popular culture, particularly film, as a filter for public opinion on American commitments abroad; the roles of public opinion, leadership, and bureaucracy in the formation of policy.
Transcriptional regulation of vertebrate axon guidance and synapse formation

The establishment of functional neural connections requires the growth of axons to specific target areas and the formation of synapses with appropriate synaptic partners. Several molecules that regulate axon guidance and synapse formation have been identified in the past decade, but it is unclear how a relatively limited number of factors can specify a large number of connections. Recent evidence indicates that transcription factors make a crucial contribution to the specification of connections in the nervous system by coordinating the response of neurons to guidance molecules and neurotransmitters.
A direct nitrogen-15 NMR study of neodymium(III)-nitrate complex formation in aqueous solvent mixtures

A study of contact ion-pair formation between the neodymium (III) and nitrate ions in aqueous solvent mixtures has been carried out by a direct, low temperature, nitrogen-15 (15N) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique. At low temperatures, −90 to −120°C ligand exchange is slow enough to permit the observation of15N NMR signals for uncomplexed nitrate ion, and this anion in the primary solvation shell of Nd(III). In aqueous mixtures with inert acetone and Freon-12, resonance signals for Nd(NO3)2+, Nd(NO3) 2 1+ , and two higher complexes are observed. Signal areas indicate these additional species are possibly a combination of the tetra-, penta-, and hexanitrato complexes, but not the trinitrato. In water-methanol, a medium of higher dielectric constant, complexation is much less and signals only for the mono-and dinitrato complexes are observed. The effect of solvent on complexation is demonstrated more clearly by a series of measurements in water-methanol-acetone mixtures.
Membrane—glycogen complexes in rabbit extraocular muscle

Analysis of 432 electron micrographs of membrane—glycogen complexes revealed that: (1) Golgi apparatus is closely associated with 4.2% of the complexes, such associations occurring irrespective of the degree of glycogen loading in the complex. (2) Apparent ribosomes are seen in association with about 30% of the complexes, either attached to membranes or enclosed between cisternac. (3) In longitudinal sections of the muscle fibers, complexes may form columns which extend for as much as 40 μm along the fiber. (4) Various cytoplasmic organelles may become enclosed within a complex. (5) Some cisternae of a complex may assume the form of randomly oriented tubules, in contrast to the typical systematic array of flattened cisternae. (6) Some cisternae of a complex may become distended in a wide and uneven manner, in contrast to the typical narrow and even distension.
Blood Pressure and NaCl-Sensitive Hypertension Are Influenced by Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Gene Expression in Transgenic Mice

ACE plays an important role in the regulation of arterial pressure; however, a linear relationship between ACE expression and arterial pressure has not been demonstrated. The present study employed...
Optical absorption in triphenylmethylarsonium tetracyanquinodimethan single crystals

Abstract Optical constants of triphenylmethylarsonium-TCNQ are evaluated by the reflectance technique between 0.4 and 2.4μ. The Cauchy-type dispersion relation satisfactorily describes the reflection coefficients in the region of 1.0 to 1.25 μ. The absorption mechanism beyond 1.50 eV has been explained on the basis of indirect transitions.
Evolution and recombination of the plasmidic qnr alleles.

qnr is an important and recently emerged plasmidic fluoroquinolone resistance gene. Numerous qnr alleles have been detected, but previous studies have suggested that there is little functional divergence among them. We performed phylogenetic analysis of representative qnr alleles and examined the phylogeny for the occurrence of positive selection (dN/dS). Positive selection rarely occurred near the tips of the tree, which confirms that the evolution of qnr alleles has not been driven by functional divergence. Interestingly, we also found evidence of recombination events among qnr alleles that may lack any functional relevance but contribute to the sequence variation of qnr alleles. These findings suggest that drift and recombination may be more important contributors to qnr sequence divergence than selection for new functions.
Reasoning about nested functional dependencies

Functional dependencies add semantics to a database schema, and are useful for studying various problems, such as database design, query optimization and how dependencies are carried into a view. In the context of a nested relational model, these dependencies can be extended by using path expressions instead of attribute names, resulting in a class of dependencies that we call nested functional dependencies (NFDs). NFDs define a natural class of dependencies in complex data structures; in particular they allow the specification of many useful intraand inter-set dependencies (i.e., dependencies that are local to a set and dependencies that require consistency between sets). Such constraints cannot be captured by existing notions of functional, multi-valued, or join dependencies. This paper presents the definition of NFDs and gives their meaning by translation to logic. It then presents a sound and complete set of eight inference rules for NFDs, and discusses approaches to handling the existence of empty sets in instances. Empty sets add complexity in reasoning since formulas such as VZ E R.P(z) are trivially true when R is empty. This axiomatization represents a first step in reasoning about constraints on data warehouse applications, where both the source and target databases support complex types.
Mad linker phosphorylations control the intensity and range of the BMP-activity gradient in developing Drosophila tissues

The BMP ligand Dpp, operates as a long range morphogen to control many important functions during Drosophila development from tissue patterning to growth. The BMP signal is transduced intracellularly via C-terminal phosphorylation of the BMP transcription factor Mad, which forms an activity gradient in developing embryonic tissues. Here we show that Cyclin dependent kinase 8 and Shaggy phosphorylate three Mad linker serines. We demonstrate that linker phosphorylations control the peak intensity and range of the BMP signal across rapidly developing embryonic tissues. Shaggy knockdown broadened the range of the BMP-activity gradient and increased high threshold target gene expression in the early embryo, while expression of a Mad linker mutant in the wing disc resulted in enhanced levels of C-terminally phosphorylated Mad, a 30% increase in wing tissue, and elevated BMP target genes. In conclusion, our results describe how Mad linker phosphorylations work to control the peak intensity and range of the BMP signal in rapidly developing Drosophila tissues.
Storms and Sedimentary Processes Along Northern British Honduras Coast: ABSTRACT

The destructive capacity of coastal storms is well known; it is not generally known that, in some places, storms may be the principal agents of coastline construction. This capability of storms can be demonstrated along the coast of northern British Honduras, which is on the southern edge of the Caribbean storm track and is struck by periodic hurricanes and lesser storms. The coastline of British Honduras is a complex of lagoons, mangrove marshes, and barrier ridges. Comparison of individual lagoons indicates an evolutionary sequence as tidal deltas grow into the lagoon from the rear edge of the barriers. Other, less active, sedimentary processes are: (1) filling of the lagoon with mud and shell debris, (2) encroachment by mangrove marshes, and (3) gradual elevation of mudflats. Together, these processes represent "normal" conditions. Numerous abandoned tidal deltas occur along the barriers. In these deltas, the seaward mouth of the tidal channel has been blocked by barrier ridges. Thus, the construction of barrier ridges represents an additional process which, at least locally, is able to upset the balance of forces responsible for the construction of tidal deltas. Major storms can be shown to be the cause. Scattered, newly formed beaches composed of soft, black, H2S-rich mud occur in small bights along the coast. At Northern River Lagoon, the sequence, from top to bottom, of black mud (18 in.), flotsam (2 in.), and clean quartz sand (at least 4 ft) indicates that the beaches did not accrete slowly, but formed during a single event. As these beaches do not appear on photographs taken in 1944, the most likely event is Hurricane Hattie, which struck the coast in 1961. At Midwinters Lagoon, a well-developed tidal channel, open in 1944, is now blocked by a beach at least 100 ft wide with ridge-and-swale topography. If colonized by mangrove, this beach probably will become a permanent addition to the barrier ridges. The development of the British Honduras coast can be understood only by considering both "normal" and "catastrophic" events. The complex interplay of all agents must be appreciated. End_of_Article - Last_Page 531------------
Potential Role of Oxidative Stress in Mediating the Effect of Altered Gravity on the Developing Rat Cerebellum.

Abstract We have previously reported that perinatal exposure to hypergravity affects cerebellar structure and motor coordination in rat neonates. In the present study, we explored the hypothesis that exposure to hypergravity results in oxidative stress that may contribute to the decrease in Purkinje cell number and the impairment of motor coordination in hypergravity-exposed rat neonates. To test this hypothesis we compared cerebellar oxidative stress markers 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT; an index of oxidative protein modification) and 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG; an index of oxidative DNA damage) between stationary control (SC) and rat neonates exposed to 1.65 G (HG) on a 24-ft centrifuge from gestational day (G) 8 to postnatal day (P) 21. The levels of 3-NT and 8-OH-dG were determined by specific ELISAs. We also compared the Purkinje cell number (stereorologically) and rotarod performance between the two groups. The levels of 3-NT were increased only in HG females on P6 and on P12 in the cerebellum, and only in HG females on P12 in the extracellabellar tissue. Limited cerebellar data suggests an increase in the levels of 8-OH-dG on P12 only in HG females. In extracerebellar tissue the increase in 8-OH-dG levels was observed in both HG males and HG females except on P6 when it was only observed in HG males. While preliminary, these data suggest that the effect of hypergravity on the developing brain is sex-dependent and may involve oxidative stress. Oxidative stress may, in turn, contribute to the decrease Purkinje cell number and impaired motor behavior observed in hypergravity-exposed rats.
Conduction Mechanisms in Radiation Damaged MINP Si Solar Cells

Current-vol tage characteristics of e- irradiated Si MINP solar cell s were studied as a function of temperature to understand the radiation-induced enhancement in the dark current. The devices show efficiences ~ 16% and excellent junction properties before irradiation. The conduction mechanisms in as-fabricated devices have been recognized as diffusion and recombination in the space charge region through deep centers. However, current conduction was found to be dominated by the presence of shallow defect centers in the space charge layer after the devices were irradiated by 1 MeV e- to a final fluence of 1.0×1016 e-/cm2. Some of the defect levels have been associated with structural damage caused by the irradiation.
Calcium absorption and the vitamin D3-dependent calcium-binding protein. 1. Inhibition by dietary strontium

Normal 2-week-old chicks, when fed a low-calcium (0.1%), vitamin D3-replete diet containig stable strontium at a level equimolar to 1.2% calcium, developed a severe rachiticlike condition within 7 days. Whereas formerly it was suspected that “strontium rickets” resulted from direct inhibition of calcification only, it was shown that, preceding any detectable bone change, strontium inhibited vitamin D3-induced CaBP production and, simultaneously, the intestinal calcium absorptive mechanism. The results suggest the possibility that this effect of strontium may be due to its interference with the normal mechanism of calcium regulation of CaBP synthesis.
Late Preterm Birth: A Review of Medical and Neuropsychological Childhood Outcomes

Late preterm (LP) birth (34 0/7 - 36 6/7 weeks’ gestation) accounts for nearly three-fourths of all preterm births, making this population a sizeable public health concern. The immature fetal development associated with LP delivery increases the risk of mortality and short-term medical complications. Which combination of maternal, fetal, or neonatal risk factors may be most critical has only recently begun to be addressed, and whether LP birth’s disruptive impact on brain development will exert adverse effects on neuropsychological functioning in childhood and adolescence has been understudied. Early data have shown a graded response, with LP children often functioning better than very preterm children but worse than term children, and with subtle intellectual and neuropsychological deficits in LP children compared with healthy children born at term gestational age. Further characterization of the neuropsychological profile is required and would be best accomplished through prospective longitudinal studies. Moreover, since moderate and LP births result in disparate medical and psychological outcomes, the common methodology of combining these participants into a single research cohort to assess risk and outcome should be reconsidered. The rapidly growing LP outcomes literature reinforces a critical principle: fetal development occurs along a dynamic maturational continuum from conception to birth, with each successive gestational day likely to improve overall outcome.
A Diagnostic Paradigm for Childhood Idiopathic Sensorineural Hearing Loss

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to determine the diagnostic yield of laboratory testing, radiological imaging, and GJB2 mutation screening in a large cohort of patients with differing severities of id...
TOWARD AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO THE GEOGRAPHY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE

An increased global interdependence poses both opportunities and obligations for a revitalized geography of international trade. THis subject area has never acquired a satisfactory focurs because its practitioners have taken a limited view of their topic, have neglected related work in other disciplines, and have failed to consider the policy implications of their study. As a remedy, this paper proposes a geography of international trade based upon three interrelated problem areas: the decision-making processes, the spatial fabric, and the space-time metric of world trade.
Selective enhancement of glutamate-mediated pressor responses after GABAA receptor blockade in the RVLM of sedentary versus spontaneous wheel running rats

Overactivity of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is a hallmark of many cardiovascular diseases. It is also well known that physical inactivity independently contributes to cardiovascular diseases, likely in part via increased SNS activity. Recent work from our lab has demonstrated increased SNS responses in sedentary animals following either direct activation or disinhibition of the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM), an integral cardiovascular brainstem region. These data led us to hypothesize that the interaction between excitation and inhibition of the RVLM is altered in sedentary versus physically active animals. To test this hypothesis, we recorded mean arterial pressure (MAP) and lumbar sympathetic nerve activity (LSNA) in Inactin anesthetized rats that were housed for 8-12 weeks with or without access to a running wheel. Pressor responses to direct activation of the RVLM with glutamate were similar between groups under intact conditions. However, blockade of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)A receptors with bicuculline selectively enhanced pressor responses to glutamate in sedentary animals. Interestingly, LSNA responses to glutamate were not enhanced in sedentary versus active animals in the presence or absence of tonic GABAergic tone. These results suggest that sedentary compared to active conditions enhances GABAergic inhibition of glutamate-sensitive neurons in the RVLM that are involved in blood pressure regulation, and by mechanisms that do not involve LSNA. We also speculate that regular physical activity has differential effects on SNS activity to specific vascular beds and may reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases via changes occurring in the RVLM.
Risk-neutral Modeling with Affine and Nonaffine Models

Option prices provide a great deal of information regarding the market’s expectations of future asset price dynamics. But, the implied dynamics are under the risk-neutral measure rather than the physical measure under which the price of the underlying asset itself evolves. This article demonstrates new techniques for joint analysis of the physical and risk-neutral models using data from both the underlying asset and options. While much of the prior work in this area has focused on affine and affine-jump models because of their analytical tractability, the techniques used in this article are straightforward to apply to a broad class of models of potential interest. The techniques are based on evaluating various integrals of interest using Monte Carlo sums over simulated volatility paths. In an application using S&P 500 index data, we find that log volatility models perform dramatically better than affine models, but that some evidence of misspecification remains. ( JEL: G13)
Vaginal Douching and Risk of Preterm Birth among African-American Women

Objective The purpose of this study was to examine how vaginal douching may influence risk of preterm birth. Study design We conducted a hybrid cohort study on risk factors for preterm birth. African American women who resided in Baltimore City, Maryland, were enrolled prenatally if they received prenatal care at 1 of 4 Johns Hopkins Medical Institution prenatal clinics or were enrolled after delivery if they delivered at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institution with late, none, or intermittent prenatal care. Interview data were collected on 832 women delivering singleton infants between March 2001 and July 2004. Results The preterm birth rate was 16.4%. After adjustment for several potential confounders, those covariates that were associated with either vaginal douching or preterm birth in our sample or that were identified as confounders in the literature, vaginal douching 6 months before pregnancy, and Conclusion Vaginal douching effects on the risk of preterm birth depend on the timing of the exposure. Douching in the 6 months before pregnancy, but not during pregnancy, appears to protect against preterm birth.
Further results on periods and period doubling for iterates of the trapezoid function

The trapezoidal function @lf"e(x), is defined for fixed e @? (0,1] and for @l @? [1,2] by @lf"e(x) = @l for |x - 1| = |x - 1| >= 1 - e. For a fixed e, this is a one parameter family of endomorphisms of the interval [0,2]. The structure of the periods (or cycles) of these mappings is studied. In addition, the metric properties of the corresponding bifurcation diagrams are considered; in particular, the rate of convergence of a sequence of bifurcation points in the (x,@l) plane is studied. It is shown to be different from that found by Feigenbaum and others for mappings which are not flat at the top. The limiting case e = 1 is of special interest. For cycles not containing a point x @? [e,2 - e], the period quadruplicates instead of doubling as it does in the usual case.
Relativistic description of quark-antiquark bound states. II. Spin-dependent treatment

We present the results of a detailed study of light- and heavy-quark-antiquark bound states in the context of the reduced Bethe-Salpeter equation with static vector and scalar interactions. In the present paper, we consider the spin-averaged spectra. Spin effects are considered in a separate paper. We find that this approach, although apparently successful for the heavy-quark $b\overline{b}$ and $c\overline{c}$ states, fails for the $s\overline{s}$, $l\overline{l}$, and light-heavy states. The reasons for the failure are intrinsic to the method, as we discuss. Difficulties are already evident for the $c\overline{c}$ states.
Hyperthermia in the neurosurgical intensive care unit.

Objective In patients with traumatic or ischemic brain injury, hyperthermia is thought to worsen the neurological injury. We studied fever in the neurosurgical intensive care unit (ICU) population using a definition common to surgical practice (rectal temperature >38.5 degrees C). We sought to determine fever incidence, fever duration, and peak temperature and to quantify the use of antipyretic therapy. We also attempted to determine the patient subgroups that are at highest risk for development of fever. Methods In a retrospective chart review of a 6-month period, all febrile episodes that occurred in a consecutive series of neurosurgical ICU patients in a university hospital setting were studied. A febrile episode was defined as a rectal temperature of at least 38.5 degrees C; an episode lasted until the temperature fell below this threshold. Results The 428 patients studied had 946 febrile episodes. Fever occurred in 47% of patients, with a mean of 4.7 febrile episodes in each febrile patient. Fevers occurred in more than 50% of patients who were admitted to the ICU for subarachnoid hemorrhage, a central nervous system infection, seizure control, or hemorrhagic stroke, but they occurred in only 27% of patients admitted for spinal disorders. Fevers occurred in 15% of the patients who stayed in the ICU less than 24 hours, but in 93% of those who remained longer than 14 days. Despite the use of antipyretic therapy for 86% of the febrile episodes, 57% lasted longer than 4 hours and 5% lasted longer than 12 hours. Conclusion Fever is common in critically ill neurosurgical patients, especially those with a prolonged length of stay in the ICU or a cranial disease. If hyperthermia worsens the functional outcome after a primary ischemic or traumatic injury, as has been suggested by several studies of stroke patients, treatment of fever is a clinical issue that requires better management.
Distribution of the Na,K-ATPase α Subunit in the Rat Spiral Ganglion and Organ of Corti

Processing of sound in the cochlea involves both afferent and efferent innervation. The Na,K-ATPase (NKA) is essential for cells that maintain hyperpolarized membrane potentials and sodium and potassium concentration gradients. Heterogeneity of NKA subunit expression is one mechanism that tailors physiology to particular cellular demands. Therefore, to provide insight into molecular differences that distinguish the various innervation pathways in the cochlea, we performed a variety of double labeling experiments with antibodies against three of the α isoforms of the NKA (NKAα1–3) and markers identifying particular subsets of neurons or supporting cells in whole mount preparations of the organ of Corti and spiral ganglion. We found that the NKAα3 is abundantly expressed within the membranes of the spiral ganglion somata, the type I afferent terminals contacting the inner hair cells, and the medial efferent terminals contacting the outer hair cells. We also found expression of the NKAα1 in the supporting cells that neighbor the inner hair cells and express the glutamate transporter GLAST. These findings suggest that both the NKAα1 and NKAα3 are poised to play an essential role in the regulation of the type I afferent synapses, the medial efferent synapses, and also glutamate transport from the afferent-inner hair cell synapse.
Assessment of Self-Determination--Negotiating the Minefield: A Response to Baker et al.

Baker, Horner, Sappington, and Ard (in this issue) identified a variety of needs and challenges related to the assessment of self-determination in the field of developmental disability. This response augments Baker et al.'s call, identifying issues related to the use and abuse of assessing self-determination and suggesting an empowerment evaluation approach to these efforts.
Segmentation by nonlinear diffusion. II

A global model which integrates three sequential steps for segmenting an image, namely, noise-filtering, local edge-detection, and integration of local edges into object boundaries, is described. The model overcomes some of the difficulties inherent in earlier global models, particularly their tendency to oversegment, and the lack of practical numerical algorithms for implementing them. The model consists of two coupled elliptic functionals, one for smoothing out the noise, and the other for boundary detection. The latter is obtained by regularizing the usual pointwise thresholding employed for boundary detection. The first variation of these functionals leads to coupled system of diffusion equations which are implemented by a simple finite difference scheme. The scheme may easily be converted into a parallel algorithm. >
Cord UIs: Controlling Devices with Augmented Cables

Cord UIs are sensorial augmented cords that allow for simple metaphor-rich interactions to interface with their connected devices. Cords offer a large underexplored space for interactions as well as unique properties and a diverse set of metaphors that make them potentially interesting tangible interfaces. We use cords as input devices and explore different interactions like tying knots, stretching, pinching and kinking to control the flow of data and/or power. We also look at ways to use objects in combination with augmented cords to manipulate data or properties of a device. For instance, placing a clamp on a cable can obstruct the audio signal to the headphones. Using special materials such as piezo copolymer cables and stretchable cords we built five working prototypes to showcase the interactions described in this paper.
Fast evaluation of photomask near-fields in subwavelength 193-nm lithography

Sub-wavelength lithography places a serious limitation on the conventional "thin mask" approximation of the field immediately behind the patterned mask. This approximation fails to account for the increasingly important topographical effects of the mask or "thick mask" effects. This approximation of the photomask near-fields results from the direct application of Kirchhoff Boundary Conditions, which multiply the incident field by a binary transmission function of the patterned mask. Polarization dependent edge diffraction effects, as well as phase and amplitude transmission errors that arise from the vector nature of light, and the finite thickness of the substrate and chrome layers, produce significant errors in the scalar simulations of the lithographic image. Based on the comparison of aerial images at the wafer plane produced by both rigorous electromagnetic solutions of the field on the mask and their "thin mask" counterparts, a more accurate model is proposed that consists of a fixed-width, locally-determined boundary layer of imaginary transmission coefficient added to every edge of the initial "thin mask" approximation. The accuracy of the resultant Boundary Layer model has been exhaustively tested against rigorously simulated aerial images of isolated as well as periodic features of very different profiles and dimensions. The conclusion being that this simple approach is capable of modeling "thick mask" effects at both 248nm and 193nm wavelength and high NA lithography. This greatly improves the accuracy of aerial image computation in photolithography simulations at a reasonable computational cost.
Asc and Ipaf Inflammasomes Direct Distinct Pathways for Caspase-1 Activation in Response to Legionella pneumophila

Caspase-1 activation is a key feature of the innate immune response of macrophages elicited by pathogens and a variety of toxins. Here, we determined the requirement for different adapter proteins involved in regulating host processes mediated by caspase-1 after macrophage infection by Legionella pneumophila. The adapter protein Asc was found to be important for caspase-1 activation during L. pneumophila infection. Activation of caspase-1 through Asc did not require the flagellin-sensing pathway involving the host nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat-containing protein Ipaf (NLRC4). Asc-dependent caspase-1 activation was inhibited by high extracellular potassium levels, whereas Ipaf-dependent activation was unaffected by potassium treatment. Activation of caspase-1 in macrophages occurred independently of Nalp3 and proteasome activity, suggesting that a previously uncharacterized mechanism for caspase-1 activation through Asc may be triggered by L. pneumophila. Rapid pore formation and pyroptosis induced by L. pneumophila required caspase-1, Ipaf, and bacterial flagellin but occurred independently of Asc. Equivalent levels of active interleukin-18 (IL-18) were detected in the lungs of mice infected with a flagellin-deficient strain of L. pneumophila and Asc-deficient mice infected with wild-type L. pneumophila. Active IL-18 was undetectable in the lungs of Asc-deficient mice infected with an L. pneumophila flagellin mutant, indicating independent roles for Ipaf and Asc in caspase-1-mediated processing and release of IL-18 in vivo. Ipaf-dependent activation of caspase-1 restricted bacterial replication in vivo, whereas Asc was dispensable for restriction of L. pneumophila replication in mice. Thus, L. pneumophila-mediated caspase-1 activation involves the coordinate activities of inflammasomes differentially regulated by Ipaf and Asc.
DNA methylation in insects: on the brink of the epigenomic era

imb_1092 553..566 DNA methylation plays an important role in gene regulation in animals. However, the evolution and function of DNA methylation has only recently emerged as the subject of widespread study in insects. In this review we profile the known distribution of DNA methylation systems across insect taxa and synthesize functional inferences from studies of DNA methylation in insects and vertebrates. Unlike vertebrate genomes, which tend to be globally methylated, DNA methylation is primarily targeted to genes in insects. Nevertheless, mounting evidence suggests that a specialized role exists for genic methylation in the regulation of transcription, and possibly mRNA splicing, in both insects and mammals. Investigations in several insect taxa further reveal that DNA methylation is preferentially targeted to ubiquitously expressed genes and may play a key role in the regulation of phenotypic plasticity. We suggest that insects are particularly amenable to advancing our understanding of the biological functions of DNA methylation, because insects are evolutionarily diverse, display several lineage-specific losses of DNA methylation and possess tractable patterns of DNA methylation in moderately sized genomes.
Cartilage imaging in osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common articular disorder encountered worldwide. Its successful evaluation (and eventual treatment) depends on establishing a set of criteria for measuring disease progression. An ideal measurement would evaluate changes in articular cartilage, where the primary pathology of the disease takes place. Plain radiographs are the simplest and most readily employable means of joint evaluation, and now microfocal radiographs have been developed, which magnify the radiograph and help portray the joint space more accurately. However, radiography, along with nuclear medicine scans, arthrography, and computed tomography (CT) scans, are limited in their use because they are unable to detect early cartilage abnormalities. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has the advantages of multiplanar imaging, soft tissue contrast, and noninvasiveness. Like radiography, MRI can underestimate the extent of cartilage abnormality. The most sensitive technique for measuring superficial articular abnormalities is arthroscopy, and small-bore arthroscopes are being used to assess knee damage in conscious, nonsedated patients. However, it is not yet clear if arthroscopy can detect subtle changes over time, and vision can be blocked by cloudy synovial fluid. Finally, although it is usually well tolerated, arthroscopy is an invasive technique.
Grain boundary energy and grain growth in Al films: Comparison of experiments and simulations

Abstract Relative free energies of 〈1 1 1〉 tilt boundaries in 1.7-μm-thick Al films were compared with boundary enthalpies obtained via molecular dynamics simulations. Grain growth studies in 25 and 100-nm-thick Al films were compared with simulations. The sources of the differences between experimental and simulational results are discussed.
Just-Identified Versus Overidentified Two-Level Hierarchical Linear Models with Missing Data

Summary. The development ofmodel-based methods f incomplete data has been a seminal contribution to statistical practice. Under the assumption ofignorable missingness, one estimates the joint distribution ofthe complete data f(y | θ )= f(yobs ,y mis | θ )fo rθ ∈ Θ from the incomplete or observed data yobs. Many interesting models involve one-to-one transformations of θ. For example, with yi ∼ N(µ ,Σ ) fo ri =1 , ... , n and θ =( µ, Σ), an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model is a one-to-one transformation of θ. Inferences based on such a transformation are equivalent to inferences based on OLS using data multiply imputed from f(ymis | yobs, θ) for missing ymis. Thus, identification of θ from yobs is equivalent to identification ofthe regression model. In this article, we consider a model f or two-level data with continuous outcomes where the observations within each cluster are dependent. The parameters ofthe hierarchical linear model (HLM) ofinterest, however, lie in a subspace ofΘ in general. This identification ofthe joint distribution overidentifies the HLM. We show how to characterize the joint distribution so that its parameters are a one-to-one transf ormation ofthe parameters ofthe HLM. This leads to efficient estimation ofthe HLM from incomplete data using either the transformation method or the method of multiple imputation. The approach allows outcomes and covariates to be missing at either ofthe two levels, and the HLM ofinterest can involve the regression ofany subset ofvariables on a disjoint subset ofvariables conceived as covariates.
Polysomnographic Differences Associated with Pulmonary Hypertension in Patients with Advanced Lung Disease Due to Cystic Fibrosis

Background Pulmonary hypertension (PH) commonly occurs in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), but there is no current data regarding alterations of sleep in patients with PH.
The competition vogue and its outcomes.

Abstract Social security and comprehensive health care financing were developed to protect all citizens and to redistribute money to cover costs. Their inspiration was social solidarity rather than pecuniary self-interest. The United States differed from other countries by continuing a private market in health, with many self-centred and competing providers and insurers; and its prevailing school of health economics deplored the national heath insurance and national health services that were universal in other countries and recommended devices that would eliminate "market failure" in health. When health economics grew in Europe during the 1970s and 1980s, the reformers' first presumption was that the voluminous American market-oriented literature must offer answers; but much of it proved superfluous, since European health care systems still had much competition and consumer choice, and they worked better than the reality in the United States. The United States itself has paid a heavy price for turning over health financing policy to the devotees of microeconomics and free markets, and today its serious problems in health are unsolved.So powerful is the pro-competitive ideology that it has now been adopted by the Democratic Clinton Administration, contradicting the heritage of Roosevelt, Truman, and Johnson.
Investigating synaptic plasticity in the crab Cancer borealis pyloric circuit and in a computational pyloric model network database

Homeostatic synaptic plasticity is a method employed by some neuronal networks to regulate their activity levels to stay within normal bounds. In this work, we investigate one particular synapse in the central-pattern-generating pyloric network of the crab Cancer borealis stomatogastric ganglion, and examine whether this synapse exhibits homeostatic plasticity. The pyloric network of the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion consists of an intrinsically bursting pacemaker kernel – one anterior burster (AB) neuron and two pyloric dilator (PD) neurons that all share electrical connections – which rhythmically inhibits the non-intrinsically-bursting follower neurons – one lateral pyloric (LP) neuron and several pyloric (PY) neurons – to participate in a characteristic triphasic oscillatory pattern. The lone feedback to the pacemaker kernel is inhibitory and comes from the LP neuron. To test whether this synapse exhibits homeostatic plasticity, we measured the synaptic conductance of the pacemaker-feedback synapse (LP-to-PD) before, during, and after a strong perturbation of pyloric network activity. The perturbation consisted of either a depolarizing or hyperpolarizing voltage-clamp step of 25 mV from baseline (-60 mV) into one of the PD neurons and was considered a strong network-wide activity manipulation because many network activity features (such as cycle period, burst durations, duty cycles, etc.) were affected along with the post-synaptic PD membrane potential. We observe in several trials that the conductance of the LP-to-PD synapse changes significantly in response to the perturbation. Surprisingly, this conductance change seems not to oppose the PD membrane potential perturbation as we hypothesized. For instance, we hypothesized that the inhibitory feedback synapse to the pacemaker would strengthen if the PD neuron were depolarized in order to oppose the depolarization in a homeostatic manner through increased inhibition, but instead we observe a marked weakening of the feedback synapse in response to post-synaptic depolarization. To further investigate what possible network activity effects could arise from this marked change in synaptic conductance, we turned to a previously described [1] computational pyloric network database. Using more than 4 million “pyloric-like” model networks, we analyzed the effect of a change in LP-to-PD synaptic conductance on several network-level activity features: cycle period, burst duration, duty cycle, delay, and phase. All network activity features were explored for both PD and LP. Following the computational analysis, we returned to the experimental results to investigate whether the observed change in synaptic conductance could be interpreted as homeostatically opposing disruptions in any of the network activity features. No such relationship was found, suggesting that the synaptic change we observed was not in the right direction for homeostasis for any of the network activity characteristics we examined.
Ionosonde networking, databasing, and Web serving

[1] A comprehensive set of technical solutions has been developed for the distributed network of digisonde ionospheric sounders to make their data available in a timely and user-friendly fashion. In a significant engineering effort, 34 digisondes operating worldwide stand as a modern sensor network with on-site intelligent data interpretation, data delivery to multiple locations for the automated storage and dissemination to end users, and a software suite for interactive data visualization/editing and remote network maintenance and sounding schedule control. The paper discusses lessons learned from the system operations and outlines future efforts.
Summer Undergraduate Program in Engineering Research at Berkeley

The Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California at Berkeley, has organized a program of undergraduate research during the past eight summers. Called SUPERB (Summer Undergraduate Program in Engineering Research at Berkeley), the program brings six to eight underrepresented minority students to Berkeley for a research experience. Individual faculty provide eight-week research projects and welcome students from other universities and colleges into their research groups. The goals of the program are to affirm the motivation of the students for graduate study while strengthening their qualifications. Based on evaluation of the program and annual tracking of the student participants, these goals have been met. About 75% of SUPERB alumni have attended or are attending graduate programs in engineering. In addition, other unanticipated positive effects have resulted. The Berkeley REU model differs from some others in ways which present interesting challenges.
The effects of customer participation in co-created service recovery

The benefits of customer co-creation of value in the service context are well recognized. However, little is known about service failures in a co-creation context and the consequent roles of both firms and customers in the advent of service recovery. In conceptualizing a new construct, “customer participation in service recovery,” this study proposes a theoretical framework that delineates the consequences of the construct and empirically tests the proposed framework using role-playing experiments. The results indicate that, when customers participate in the service recovery process in self-service technology contexts, they are more likely to report higher levels of role clarity, perceived value of future co-creation, satisfaction with the service recovery, and intention to co-create value in the future. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.
Synthesis of sum and difference patterns possessing common nulls for monopulse bearing estimation with line arrays

In conventional monopulse radar, the bearing of a single target within the main lobe of the transmitted beam is estimated via a maximum likelihood (ML) procedure based in a 2-D beamspace defined by sum and difference beams. The authors show that if the sum and difference beams have all but a few nulls in common, the ML estimate of the target bearing may be determined via a simple trigonometric expression which is exact in the case of no noise. It is shown that sum and difference beams exhibiting both the common nulls property as well as low sidelobe levels can be synthesized via linear combinations of phase-only steered beams formed in the receive mode. For proper operation in the presence of interference, a procedure is developed for synthesizing adaptive-adaptive sum and difference beams for which the set of common nulls includes nulls aligned with the bearings of strong interferences. The procedure works to maintain low sidelobe levels as best as possible under the interference null constraints. Sample patterns demonstrating the efficacy of the method are presented. >
Mathematical programming applications in the analysis of the deployment and utilization of fire-fighting resources

This paper gives a brief review of some applications of mathematical programming in the analysis of the deployment of fire engines. We discuss a semi-Markov decision process (linear programming) formulation of the problem of deciding how many fire engines to dispatch to a new alarm, a staged integer programming formulation of the problem of relocating fire engines to rebalance city-wide protection when extremely large fires deplete part of the city, and simple non-linear integer programming formulations of strategic resource allocation problems. All analyses have resulted in policy recommendations that have influenced current operations of the New York City Fire Department.
Larvae of the genus Nectopsyche (Trichoptera:Leptoceridae) in eastern North America, including a new species from North Carolina

Abstract The larva, adult male, and adult female of Nectopsyche waccamawensis n. sp. are described. This new species appears to be endemic to Lake Waccamaw in Columbus County, North Carolina, and brings to 9 the number of Nectopsyche species now known east of the Mississippi River. The larva of Nectopsyche sp. A, a probable new species, is also described. Descriptions, illustrations, and a key are provided for the larvae of all eastern North American species with the exception of N. spiloma (Ross), but including the previously undescribed larva of N. paludicola Harris.