cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Decreased parkin solubility is associated with impairment of autophagy in the nigrostriatum of sporadic Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a motor disorder that involves death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. Parkin is an autosomal recessive gene that is mutated in early onset PD. We investigated the role of parkin and autophagic clearance in postmortem nigrostriatal tissues from 22 non-familial sporadic PD patients and 15 control samples. Parkin was insoluble with altered cytosolic expression in the nigrostriatum of sporadic PD. Parkin insolubility was associated with lack of degradation of ubiquitinated proteins and accumulation of α-Synuclein and parkin in autophagosomes, suggesting autophagic defects in PD. To test parkin's role in mediating autophagic clearance, we used lentiviral gene transfer to express human wild type or mutant parkin (T240R) with α-Synuclein in the rat striatum. Lentiviral expression of α-Synuclein led to accumulation of autophagic vacuoles, while co-expression of parkin with α-Synuclein facilitated autophagic clearance. Subcellular fractionation showed accumulation of α-Synuclein and tau hyper-phosphorylation (p-Tau) in autophagosomes in gene transfer models, similar to the effects observed in PD brains, but parkin expression led to protein deposition into lysosomes. However, parkin loss of function mutation did not affect autophagic clearance. Taken together, these data suggest that functional parkin regulates autophagosome clearance, while decreased parkin solubility may alter normal autophagy in sporadic PD.
On the Chord Length Across a System

Abstract A method is presented for obtaining both , the mean chord length across a convex system, and a new and simple expression for .
The laser-raman spectra of hexaaminecobalt(III), chloropentaaminecobalt(III), and trans-dichlorotetraaminecobalt(III)

Abstract The laser-Raman spectra of Co(NH3)3+6 in cubic and distorted-octahedral environments. Co(NH3)5Cl2+ and trans-Co(NH3)4Cl+2 are reported and are empirically assigned. These spectra provide a basis for a discussion of ligand-ligand vibrational interactions in octahedral metal complexes.
Tribological performance evaluation of oil mist lubrication

In this research work, the tribological performance of oil mist lubrication (pure mist), as applied to rolling element bearings, was investigated. In the first part of this research, tests were conducted to compare the performances of oil mist and conventional oil sump lubrication in terms of operating temperature and friction with variation of load and speed. In the second part, the two methods of lubrication were compared directly under endurance test conditions. The oil mist lubricated high-precision angular contact test bearings ran cooler by about 10 C. Also, the oil mist lubricated bearings had about 25 percent less friction. In the third part, endurance tests were conducted to investigate the influence of oil mist lubrication on the life of rolling element bearings. Weibull and maximum likelihood analysis of the endurance test data indicated that, in addition to savings in energy, oil mist lubrication provides better wear and fatigue protection to the test bearings compared to conventional sump lubrication.
1097 DILEMMAS OF NEWBORN SCREENING FOR HYPERLIPOPROTEINEMIA

The incidence of congenital hyperlipidemia and early detection for institution of dietary and/or drug therapy is most desired by a society beset with major related health problems. Between January 30, 1975 to June 30, 1980, 12510 infants were studied with lipid screening (cholesterol, triglyceride, and lipoprotein electrophoresis). Repeated specimens and careful family histories were taken on infants with abnormal values. 51 infants had hyperlipidemia (0.4 per cent). One infant had glycogen storage disease. 71 per cent of the families had a history of hypertension and/or heart disease and 43 per cent, diabetes. 84 per cent of the hyperlipoproteinemic children placed on dietary therapy responded with lower triglyceride and cholesterol values and improved lipoprotein electrophoretic patterns. Diagnosis of hyperlipoproteinemia in the newborn is expensive and requires repeated testing and family history for confirmation. Dietary therapy is effective in lowering lipid values in the majority of children. Immediate family members, e.g.,parents, uncles, aunts, and grandparents have major medical problems. Strong family history of medically associated diseases should dictate future screening in infancy. Although blood lipids are effectively lowered by diet, large controlled studies are necessary to prove preventive aspects.
Clinical overview of promising nonthienopyridine antiplatelet agents.

Three novel nonthienopyridine antiplatelet agents—cangrelor, ticagrelor (AZD6140), and SCH 530348—are in advanced clinical testing in patients with coronary artery disease. Cangrelor and ticagrelor are direct and reversible inhibitors of the platelet adenosine 5′-diphosphate P2Y 12 receptor, whereas SCH 530348 is a thrombin receptor antagonist. Clinical data available to date for each of these compounds suggest that they have safety and efficacy profiles that will be advantageous to patients with acute coronary syndromes or undergoing percutaneous intervention. We review the clinical features of these new platelet inhibition therapies.
The total access system

In this paper, we describe the Total Access System (TAS) developed by the Archimedes Project at Stanford University's Center for the Study of Language and Information. The purpose of the TAS is to ensure everybody is able to access information regardless of individual needs, abilities, preferences and culture. Rather than modifying the computer that is to be accessed, the TAS provides individuals with a personal information appliance, called an accessor, that provides alternative ways to perform all of the necessary keyboard, mouse and/or monitor functions. With this approach, disabled users can transparently use the full capabilities of any system without penalty and with whatever performance augmentation they may require to be competitive.
The Fluorescent Treponemal Antibody-Absorption (Fta-Abs) Test for Syphilis

The FTA test was developed at a time when immunofluorescence procedures were not well-defined. Through technique control and research, a modification of the FTA test, the FTA-ABS, has attained a position as one of the leading treponemal tests to confirm the reagin tests for syphilis. In this review of the FTA-ABS test, attention has been focused on reagent development, with the anticipation that reagent standardization may soon become a reality. The T. pallidum antigen obtained by extracting infected rabbit testicular tissue has evolved from a preparation in which the treponemes remained in the initial extracting fluid to a reagent that can be free of rabbit tissue and globulin. These washed antigen preparations improve visibility of the treponemes on the microscope slide, reduce background fluorescence, and reduce or prevent from occurring nonspecific reactions that are a result of tissue and globulin components. Both washed and nonwashed antigens are available commercially, and, to date, little differentiation has appeared on the product label. The predominant immunoglobulin that reacts with T. pallidum in the indirect fluorescent antibody tests appears to be IgG. This is the major immunoglobulin detected in the FTA-ABS test. IgM, although increased in early syphilis, is also increased in other clinical conditions. Several reports suggest that adult IgM detection in the present FTA-ABS test would be nonspecific. Until specific IgM antibody in adult syphilis can be detected without a risk to test specificity, the conjugate for the FTA-ABS test should continue to be an anti-IgG reagent. Class-specific, anti-IgG reagents are more expensive than other reagents; however, their use may eliminate the problem of nonspecificity resulting from IgM detection. Additionally, micromethods can be used to reduce cost, and this possibility should be investigated. The sorbent that contains an antigen to the Reiter treponeme may or may not specifically absorb the reactivity that occurs in normal sera; certainly, there are questionable aspects about this reagent. Group antibodies not related to Reiter treponemes may be responsible for some nonspecific reactivity; additionally, antiglobulin factors have been reported to participate in the reaction. Antigens free of rabbit serum factors and class-specific, antiimmunoglobulin reagents are available, and may lead to a better understanding of nonspecific reactions. These reagents should allow resolution of the possible multiplicity of reactivity. In this interim period, the sorbent, with its possible nonspecific nature, appears to maintain a biological balance between natural or group and immune antibodies when used to detect IgG antibody.
CEO Succession: A Window on How Boards Can Get It Right When Choosing a New Chief Executive

This article presents a review of the book “CEO Succession: A Window on How Boards Can Get It Right When Choosing a New Chief Executive,” by Dennis C. Carey and Dayton Ogden.
Acute exposure of methylglyoxal leads to activation of KATP channels expressed in HEK293 cells

Highly reactive carbonyl methylglyoxal (MGO) is one of the metabolites excessively produced in diabetes. We have showed that prolonged exposure of vascular smooth muscle cells to MGO leads to instability of the mRNA encoding ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channel. In the present study we investigated the effects of MGO on the activity of KATP channels. Kir6.1/ SUR2B, Kir6.2/SUR2B or Kir6.2Δ36 (a truncated Kir6.2 isoform) alone was expressed in HEK293 cells. Whole-cell currents were recorded in the cells with an Axopatch 200B amplifier. Macroscopic currents and single-channel currents were recorded in giant inside-out patches and normal inside-out patches, respectively. Data were analyzed using Clampfit 9 software. The basal activity of Kir6.1/SUR2B channels was low. The specific KATP channel opener pinacidil (10 μmol/L) could fully activate Kir6.1/SUR2B channels, which was inhibited by the specific KATP channel blocker glibenclamide (10 μmol/L). MGO (0.1-10 mmol/L) dose-dependently activated Kir6.1/SUR2B channels with an EC50 of 1.7 mmol/L. The activation of Kir6.1/SUR2B channels by MGO was reversible upon washout, and could be inhibited completely by glibenclamide. Kir6.2Δ36 channels expressed in HEK293 cells could open automatically, and the channel activity was enhanced in the presence of MGO (3 mmol/L). Single channel recordings showed that MGO (3 mmol/L) markedly increased the open probability of Kir6.1/SUR2B channels, leaving the channel conductance unaltered. Acute application of MGO activates KATP channels through direct, non-covalent and reversible interactions with the Kir6 subunits.
Stereological analysis of creep cavities on polished sections

Abstract An analysis is presented of the stereological problem of estimating the distribution of sizes and shapes of creep cavities from cavity measurements taken on polished plane sections, subject to the assumptions that the cavities may be represented as collections of oblate spheroids and that the distribution of orientations of the cavities is known a priori. The problem is cast in the form of a double integral equation whose solution yields the desired distribution. An iterative numerical solution technique for this equation is proposed which seems to yield marked improvements over standard solution methods.
Evidence that nalorphine, butorphanol and oxilorphan are partial agonists at a κ-opioid receptor

Nalorphine, butorphanol and oxilorphan were compared in their ability to increase urinary output in the normally hydrated rat and to antagonize the increased urinary output produced by the full kappa-agonist, bremazocine. Nalorphine, butorphanol and oxilorphan increased 5-h cumulative urine output compared to controls, but the maximal effect was less than half the amount excreted after injection with 0.08 mg/kg of bremazocine. The effects of bremazocine were antagonized by nalorphine, butorphanol and oxilorphan. These effects of nalorphine, butorphanol and oxilorphan satisfy the criteria for classifying these agents as partial agonists at the kappa-opioid receptor responsible for mediating the effect of increased urinary output.
Development of a novel assay for human tyrosyl DNA phosphodiesterase 2.

Abstract Tyrosyl DNA phosphodiesterase 2 (TDP2), a newly discovered enzyme that cleaves 5′-phosphotyrosyl bonds, is a potential target for chemotherapy. TDP2 possesses both 3′- and 5′-tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase activity, which is generally measured in a gel-based assay using 3′- and 5′-phosphotyrosyl linkage at the 3′ and 5′ ends of an oligonucleotide. To understand the enzymatic mechanism of this novel enzyme, the gel-based assay is useful, but this technique is cumbersome for TDP2 inhibitor screening. For this reason, we have designed a novel assay using p -nitrophenyl-thymidine-5′-phosphate (T5PNP) as a substrate. This assay can be used in continuous colorimetric assays in a 96-well format. We compared the salt and pH effect on product formation with the colorimetric and gel-based assays and showed that they behave similarly. Steady-state kinetic studies showed that the 5′ activity of TDP2 is 1000-fold more efficient than T5PNP. Tyrosyl DNA phosphodiesterase 1 (TDP1) and human AP-endonuclease 1 (APE1) could not hydrolyze T5PNP. Sodium orthovanadate, a known inhibitor of TDP2, inhibits product formation from T5PNP by TDP2 (IC 50 = 40 mM). Our results suggest that this novel assay system with this new TDP2 substrate can be used for inhibitor screening in a high-throughput manner.
Microbiology of ancient and modern hydrothermal systems

Abstract Hydrothermal systems have prevailed throughout geological history on earth, and ancient Archaean hydrothermal deposits could provide clues to understanding earth's earliest biosphere. Modern hydrothermal systems support a plethora of microorganisms and macroorganisms, and provide good comparisons for paleontological interpretation of ancient hydrothermal systems. However, all of the microfossils associated with ancient hydrothermal deposits reported to date are filamentous, and limited stable isotope analysis suggests that these microfossils were probably autotrophs. Therefore, the morphology and mode of carbon metabolism are attributes of microorganisms from modern hydrothermal systems that provide valuable information for interpreting the geological record using morphological and isotopic signatures.
Magnetic guidance system for cardiac electrophysiology: a prospective trial of safety and efficacy in humans

Abstract Objectives We evaluated in humans the safety and efficacy of a novel magnetic guidance system (MGS) for electrophysiological mapping, pacing, and ablation. Background Catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation and other complex arrhythmias requires precise catheter manipulation and stabilization. We have shown in animals that the MGS can precisely manipulate a mapping catheter within the heart with an external magnetic field rather than manual catheter control. Methods Thirty-one adults referred for diagnostic electrophysiology studies were enrolled in a prospective trial of the MGS. The magnetic catheter was navigated to preselected sites in the right atrium (RA) and right ventricle (RV) in the first 20 patients. Electrograms were recorded at each target site, and pacing thresholds were measured. In a subset of five patients, RA and RV electrograms and stimulation thresholds were recorded with both a standard ablation catheter and the magnetic catheter. Eleven additional patients were recruited for supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) mapping, and seven of these underwent ablation. Results Navigation was successful in 200 of 202 predetermined right-sided navigation targets and 13 of 13 targets in the left atria. Pacing thresholds and electrogram amplitudes in the RA and RV were not significantly different between the standard and magnetic catheters. The SVT mapping with the magnetic catheter was successful in 13 patients, including 4 with left-sided accessory pathways. The MGS was used for successful ablation of SVT in seven of seven patients. There were no procedural complications. Conclusions These results demonstrate that the MGS can be used for intracardiac mapping, pacing, and ablation safely and effectively.
Deer density and disease prevalence influence transmission of chronic wasting disease in white-tailed deer

Host-parasite dynamics and strategies for managing infectious diseases of wildlife depend on the functional relationship between disease transmission rates and host density. However, the disease transmission function is rarely known for free-living wildlife, leading to uncertainty regarding the impacts of diseases on host populations and effective control actions. We evaluated the influence of deer density, landscape features, and soil clay content on transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in young (<2-year-old) white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in south-central Wisconsin, USA. We evaluated how frequency-dependent, density-dependent, and intermediate transmission models predicted CWD incidence rates in harvested yearling deer. An intermediate transmission model, incorporating both disease prevalence and density of infected deer, performed better than simple density- and frequency-dependent models. Our results indicate a combination of social structure, non-linear relationships between infectious contact and deer density, and distribution of disease among groups are important factors driving CWD infection in young deer. The landscape covariates % deciduous forest cover and forest edge density also were positively associated with infection rates, but soil clay content had no measurable influences on CWD transmission. Lack of strong density-dependent transmission rates indicates that controlling CWD by reducing deer density will be difficult. The consequences of non-linear disease transmission and aggregation of disease on cervid populations deserves further consideration.
Creation of a histone deacetylase 6 inhibitor and its biological effects

We report the development of a potent, selective histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) inhibitor. This HDAC6 inhibitor blocks growth of normal and transformed cells but does not induce death of normal cells. The HDAC6 inhibitor alone is as effective as paclitaxel in anticancer activity in tumor-bearing mice.
Zipf's law and the diversity of biology newsgroups

Usenet newsgroups provide a popular means of scientific communication. We demonstrate striking order in the diversity of biology newsgroups: Submissions to newsgroups obey a form of Zipf's law, a simple power law for the frequency of posts as a function of the rank, by posting, of contributors. We show that a simple stochastic process, due to Gunther et al. (1992, 1996), Levitin and Schapiro (1993), and Schapiro (1994), accounts for this pattern and reproduces many of the properties of newsgroups. This model successfully predicts the relative contribution from each poster in terms of the size, the number of posters and total posts, of the newsgroup.
Location-aided RAKE receiver delay tracking

We propose and analyze a new technique for improving RAKE receivers for DS-CDMA systems that eliminates the loss due to incorrect delay estimation of multipath fingers. Such loss occurs due to errors caused by the tracker in estimating the propagation delay of multipaths. Our technique uses a mobile location indexed database of multipath delays obtained error-free through offline techniques. During a mobile call, the mobile location is used to look up the database and obtain error-free delay information. We analyze the improvement due to such a "genie"-aided scheme on the performance of the RAKE receiver in terms of the SNR required to achieve a target BER and in terms of the system user capacity under a 4-path Rayleigh fading scenario.
Knowledge representation requirements for situation awareness

Full spectrum dominance (FSD), as defined by Joint Vision 2020, is the ability to be persuasive in peace, decisive in war and preeminent in any form of conflict. FSD cannot be accomplished without the capability to know what the adversary is currently doing as well as the capacity to correctly anticipate the adversary's future actions. This ability has been referred to as situation awareness (SA). An effective SA capability must seamlessly combine data driven bottom up approaches with top down goal directed approaches. A requirement that cuts across many of the functions required to provide SA is knowledge representation. In this paper, we provide an overview of SA, describe a framework that can assist in building SA systems, and provide a discussion on current issues with database and knowledge representation.
Evolution of Phase Strains During Tensile Loading of Bovine Cortical Bone

Synchrotron X-ray scattering is used to measure average strains in the two main nanoscale phases of cortical bone – hydroxyapatite (HAP) platelets and collagen fibrils – under tensile loading at body temperature (37 °C) and under completely hydrated conditions. Dog-bone shaped specimens from bovine femoral cortical bone were prepared from three anatomical quadrants: anterio-medial, anterio-lateral, and posterio-lateral. The apparent HAP and fibrillar elastic moduli – ratios of tensile stress as applied externally and phase strains as measured by diffraction – exhibit significant correlations with the (i) femur quadrant from which the samples are obtained, (ii) properties obtained at the micro-scale using micro-computed tomography, i.e., microstructure, porosity and attenuation coefficient, and (iii) properties at the macro-scale using thermo-gravimetry and tensile testing, i.e., volume fraction and Young's modulus. Comparison of these tensile apparent moduli with compressive apparent moduli (previously published for samples from the same animal and tested under the same temperature and irradiation conditions) indicates that collagen deforms plastically to a greater extent in tension. Greater strains in the collagen fibril and concomitant greater load transfer to the HAP result in apparent moduli that are significantly lower in tension than in compression for both phases. However, tensile and compressive Young's moduli measured macroscopically are not significantly different during uniaxial testing.
Wading through It: Balancing Opposing Tensions via Effective Literacy Coaching.

As with many schools nationwide, the school in which I teach has undergone numerous paradigm shifts in the past five years. First we adopted the America’s Choice reform model, and then abandoned it three years later. Around the same time, the state began its shift from outcomebased to performance-based standards for student learning. Throughout these dramatic and often unexpected shifts over which teachers had little control, it would have been easy for us to shut classroom doors and continue with ‘business as usual.’ Fortunately, my school’s kindergarten through second grade (K-2) literacy coach, Ms. Jacobs (pseudonym), has helped teachers wade through the uncertainty by facilitating teacher dialogue and guiding our professional learning in order to help us make sense of the new standards. If these standards simply had been handed to us, they would have been meaningless, and therefore, forgotten. Instead, our literacy coach helped us balance these centripetal forces, these orders from above, by helping us transform them into effective curriculum that embodied our knowledge of best practice and our beliefs about students. Literacy coaches have become increasingly common in elementary schools throughout the nation. As teachers like myself navigate complex performance based standards for student learning, administer comprehensive curriculum assessments to younger and younger students, and bear the burden of ensuring our schools make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), literacy coaches play a vital role in supporting us teachers to maintain not only our passion for students, but our commitment to one another as members of a professional learning community. Although much has been written about the duties and responsibilities of literacy coaches, not much has been said about their role in normalizing the tensions teachers can sense between implementing curriculum mandates and standardized tests, and their own teaching philosophies. In the school where I have taught first and second grades in for the last four years, I have worked closely with Ms. Jacobs, who has helped us do just that. First hired during the years when our school was an America’s Choice school, she has led us through implementing the America’s Choice model, transitioning to state performance-based standards, creating and using rubrics for evaluating student work, and designing curriculum to help raise student performance on standardized tests. For this piece, I reflected on how my work with Ms. Jacobs has impacted my teaching, as well as my thinking about curriculum, standards and testing. Our work together has helped balance the pressures I feel between state and district directives that seek to ‘standardize’ our curriculum and assessments and my own desire as a professional to assert my beliefs about students and learning in my classroom.
The Value of a River

The Skokomish river was once the most productive salmon river in Puget Sound, but since 1926 the North Fork Skokomish has been diverted for hydropower. The Skokomish tribe has fought unsuccessfully to restore natural ﬂows. At issue is the “non-market value” of the river’s biological productivity. The value of the river as “natural capital” for the tribe is analyzed from an historical, ethnographic, and ecological perspective. Keywords: non-market values, natural capital, salmon, Paciﬁc Northwest, Skokomish, riverine ecology, ecosystem management.
Development of a Bioartificial Liver Using Isolated Hepatocytes

Severe liver disease is very often life-threatening and dramatically diminishes quality of life. Liver support systems based on detoxification alone have been proved ineffective because they cannot correct biochemical disorders. An effective artificial liver support system should be capable of carrying out the liver's essential processes, such as synthetic and metabolic functions, detoxification, and excretion. It should be capable of sustaining patients with fulminant hepatic failure, preparing patients for liver transplantation when a donor liver is not readily available (i.e., bridge to transplantation), and improving the survival and quality of life for patients for whom transplantation is not a therapeutic option. Recent advances in cell biology, tissue culture techniques, and biotechnology have led the way for the potential use of isolated hepatocytes in treating an array of liver disorders. Isolated hepatocytes may be transplanted to replace liver-specific deficiencies or as an important element of an auxiliary hybrid, bioartificial extracorporeal liver support device, which are important therapeutic applications for treating severe liver disease. Recently, several hepatocyte-based liver support systems have been proposed. Although there is no current consensus on its eventual design configuration, the hollow fiber hepatocyte bioreactor shows the greatest promise. Furthermore, application of tissue engineering technology, based on cell-surface interaction studies proposed by our group and others, has enhanced interest in the development of highly efficient hybrid, bioartificial, liver support devices.
Healthcare Mistreatment and Continuity of Cancer Screening among Latino and Anglo American Women in Southern California

The aim of this research was to examine the relation of perceptions of healthcare mistreatment and related emotions to continuity of cancer screening care among women who reported healthcare mistreatment. The structure of relations among cultural beliefs about healthcare professionals, perceptions of mistreatment, mistreatment-related emotions, and continuity of screening was investigated. Participants included 313 Anglo and Latino American women of varying demographic characteristics from southern California who were recruited using multi-stage stratified sampling. Structural equation modeling confirmed the relation of perceptions of mistreatment to continuity of care for both Anglo and Latino American women, with ethnicity moderating this association. For Anglo Americans, greater perceptions of mistreatment were negatively related to continuity of screening. However, for Latinas the relation was indirect, through mistreatment-related anger. While greater perceptions of mistreatment were associated with higher levels of anger for both ethnic groups, anger was negatively related to continuity of care for Latino but not for Anglo women. Furthermore, cultural beliefs about professionals were indirectly related to continuity of screening through perceptions of mistreatment and/or mistreatment-related anger. These findings highlight the importance of the role of cultural and psychological factors in research and interventions aimed at improving patient-professional relations with culturally diverse women.
Gender Differences in Seven-Year Alcohol and Drug Treatment Outcomes among Older Adults

This study examined participants at seven-year follow-up to assess long-term outcomes of older women (n = 25) and men (n = 59) ages 55 and over in an outpatient addiction program. It measured demographic characteristics, alcohol and drug use, psychiatric symptoms, Addiction Severity Index, treatment length, and outcomes. At seven years, 76.0% of women reported abstinence in the prior 30 days versus 54.2% of men, p = .05. Logistic regression analysis found that longer treatment stay predicted abstinence. Findings indicate that older women have better long-term addiction outcome than older men, but treatment length is more significant than gender in predicting outcome.
Regulation of CorA Mg2+ Channel Function Affects the Virulence of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium

The CorA Mg2+ channel is the primary source of intracellular Mg2+ in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. In another study, we found that a strain lacking corA was attenuated in mice and also defective for invasion and replication within Caco-2 epithelial cells (K. M. Papp-Wallace, M. Nartea, D. G. Kehres, S. Porwollik, M. McClelland, S. J. Libby, F. C. Fang, and M. E. Maguire, J. Bacteriol. 190:6517-6523, 2008). Therefore, we further examined Salmonella interaction with Caco-2 epithelial cells. Inhibiting CorA acutely or chronically with a high concentration of a selective inhibitor, Co(III) hexaammine, had no effect on S. enterica serovar Typhimurium invasion of Caco-2 epithelial cells. Complementing the corA mutation with corA from various species rescued the invasion defect only if the complementing allele was functional and if it was evolutionarily similar to S. enterica serovar Typhimurium CorA. One explanation for these results could be that regulation of CorA function is needed for optimal virulence. Further experiments examining corA transcription, CorA protein content, CorA transport, and cell Mg2+ content indicated that both CorA expression and CorA function are differentially regulated. Moreover, the rates of Mg2+ influx via CorA are not closely correlated with either protein levels or Mg2+ content. We conclude that loss of the CorA protein disrupts a regulatory network(s) with the ultimate phenotype of decreased virulence. This conclusion is compatible with the microarray results in our other study, which showed that loss of corA resulted in changes in transcription (and protein expression) in multiple metabolic pathways (Papp-Wallace et al., J. Bacteriol. 190:6517-6523, 2008). Further study of the regulation of CorA expression and function provides an opportunity to dissect the complexity of Mg2+ homeostasis and its ties to virulence within the bacterium.
Cholesterol-lowering effects of psyllium intake adjunctive to diet therapy in men and women with hypercholesterolemia: meta-analysis of 8 controlled trials

Background: Soluble fibers, including those from psyllium husk, have been shown to augment the cholesterol-lowering effects of a low-fat diet in persons with hypercholesterolemia. As evidence of this, the US Food and Drug Administration recently authorized the use of health claims on food products containing soluble fiber from psyllium that state that they are associated with a decreased risk of coronary heart disease. Objective: This meta-analysis was conducted to more precisely define the hypolipidemic effects and safety of psyllium when used adjunctive to a low-fat diet in men and women with hypercholesterolemia. Design: The 8 studies in the meta-analysis included a total of 384 and 272 subjects receiving psyllium or cellulose placebo, respectively. All studies evaluated the hypocholesterolemic effects of 10.2 g psyllium/d adjunctive to a low-fat diet for ≥8 wk in individuals with mild-to-moderate hypercholesterolemia after a low-fat diet lead-in phase lasting ≥ 8 wk. The safety and adverse events associated with psyllium consumption were summarized from pooled data of 19 clinical studies ranging from 6 wk to 6 mo in duration. Results: Consumption of 10.2 g psyllium/d lowered serum total cholesterol by 4% (P < 0.0001), LDL cholesterol by 7% (P < 0.0001), and the ratio of apolipoprotein (apo) B to apo A-I by 6% (P < 0.05) relative to placebo in subjects already consuming a low-fat diet, with no effect on serum HDL or triacylglycerol concentrations. Conclusions: Psyllium supplementation significantly lowered serum total and LDL-cholesterol concentrations in subjects consuming a low-fat diet. Psyllium is well tolerated and safe when used adjunctive to a low-fat diet in individuals with mild-to-moderate hypercholesterolemia.
Price Elasticities in Consumer Sales Tax Revenue

If demand follows prices, income, and household characteristics, taxable spending by consumers also follows these variables, and a unique sales tax revenue elasticity should exist for each demand determinant. In this article, the author investigates whether price elasticities exist and how exemptions affect the price responses that should appear in consumer sales tax revenue. Consistent with microeconomic theory, the estimates in this study indicate that individual prices matter only when states exempt a large share of consumer purchases. For services, food, and residential utility exemptions, consumer price responses can affect revenue cycles. Within a revenue cycle, the pro-cyclical or countercyclical effect will depend on the relative price changes and the sales tax structure.
Skeletal muscle protein synthesis and degradation exhibit sexual dimorphism after chronic alcohol consumption but not acute intoxication.

Epidemiological evidence suggests alcoholic myopathy is more severe in females than males, but comparable animal studies are lacking that make elucidating the biochemical locus for this defect prob...
Further sharing of UHF television by private land mobile radio services

General Docket No. 85-172 proposes rules for further sharing of the UHF Television Band by Private Land Mobile Radio services. This paper describes methodologies for evaluating the interference potential to television reception based on the proposed rules. Two general situations are considered: (1) co-channel interference caused by land mobile operation outside the television coverage area, and (2) non co-channel interference caused by land mobile operation inside (or nearly so) the television coverage area. The interference probabilities are contrasted with those related to self-imposed UHF television interference.
Researching From Afar Distance, Ethnography, and Testing the Edge

In this article, the author discusses some of the methodological implications of conducting long-distance ethnographic research. The author suggests that while distance is not without its advantages (such as helping the researcher maintain novelty and/or feign ignorance when appropriate), it also poses serious challenges (e.g., cutting the researcher off from his or her support network and/or imposing an “unnaturally” restrictive timetable). In this light, distance might best be seen as a potential tool in the researcher's toolkit. The article concludes by situating long-distance ethnography in the tradition of voluntary risk taking or “edgework.”
Experimental implementation of adaptive-critic based infinite time optimal neurocontrol for a heat diffusion system

Recently the synthesis methodology for the infinite time optimal neuro-controllers for PDE systems in the framework of adaptive-critic design has been developed. In this paper, first we model an experimental setup representing one dimensional heat diffusion problems. Then we synthesize and implement an adaptive-critic based neuro-controller for online temperature profile control of the experimental setup.
Mechanisms and Morphology Evolution in Dealloying

Historically, dealloying, the selective dissolution of elemental components from an alloy, has been studied most intensively for binary noble-metal alloys such as Ag-Au, Cu-Au and Zn-Cu. There have been three primacy "mechanisms" proposed to explain ambient temperature dealloying in such systems: "simultaneous" dissolution of both components/redeposition of the more-noble constituent, lattice diffusion-supported by a di-vacancy mechanism of the more reactive component to the alloy/electrolyte interface and percolation dissolution. Here, we briefly discuss each of these mechanisms and the corresponding dealloyed morphology. In order to examine the connection between a mechanism and morphology we examined dealloying of Mg from Mg-Cd alloys under conditions for which vacancy-mediated lattice diffusion occurs at significant rates. Depending on alloy composition and dealloying rate, we observed either "negative" dendrites or bi-continuous structures, each of which is directly associated with the operation of a particular mechanism. Our findings should be useful to researchers employing dealloying to obtain particular types nanostructured features for a variety of applications. (C) 2013 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.
Mannich- and Lederer–Manasse-based analogues of the natural product S-(+)-curcuphenol as cancer proliferation and migration inhibitors

The Mannich-based analogues of S-(+)-curcuphenol (1), 3a–5a, and 3b potently inhibited the growth of several NCI's human cancer cell lines. In addition, 7a showed a 12-fold antimigratory activity (IC50 3.1 μM) against the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 compared to its parent 1 (IC50 37.2 μM).
Democratic Political Campaigning in Latin America: A Typological Approach to Cross-Cultural Research

The study of voting behavior and the study of the behavior of campaigners are both important in understanding politics. To date, social scientists have concentrated much more sophisticated attention upon the systematic study of voters. In the past quarter-century, students of voting in America, Britain and other countries have developed rigorous and elaborate techniques for analyzing influences upon voting behavior. Unfortunately, we do not have a similarly sophisticated conceptual framework for studying the behavior of campaigners. The literature of campaigning includes many diverse types of books. . . . Concentration upon describing very particular details of one election does not, however, permit the testing of generalizations by reference to several campaigns.'
New developments in selection modeling for quasi‐experimentation

Modeling the process by which participants are selected into groups, rather than adjusting for preexisting group differences, provides the basis for several new approaches to the analysis of data from nonrandomized studies.
Role of cardiac output in mediating arterial blood pressure oscillations

The objective of this study was to determine the role of cardiac output in mediating spontaneous fluctuations in mean arterial pressure (MAP) conscious dogs. Dogs were chronically instrumented to monitor MAP and cardiac output. Atrioventricular (AV) block was induced, and left ventricular and right atrial electrodes were implanted. After recovery, MAP was observed for 5 min under two conditions: 1) normal variation in heart rate and cardiac output via triggering the ventricular stimulator with each atrial depolarization (effectively reversing the AV block, AV-linked stimulation) and 2) computer control of ventricular rate to maintain cardiac output constant on a by-beat basis at the same level as observed during normal variations in heart rate and cardiac output. When cardiac output was held constant, large-amplitude, low-frequency oscillations in MAP were readily apparent. Spectral analysis by fast Fourier transform revealed that during constant cardiac output the power observed at low frequencies in the MAP spectrum represented 95.0 +/- 2.7% of the total power compared with 75.5 +/- 4.6% during normal variations in heart rate and cardiac output (P < 0.05). In addition, when cardiac output was held constant, the power observed at higher frequencies markedly decreased from 24.5 +/- 4.6% of total power during AV-linked stimulation to only 5.0 +/- 2.7% of total power during constant cardiac output (P < 0.05). We conclude that low-frequency oscillations in MAP are due to changes in peripheral resistance, whereas a significant amount of high-frequency changes in MAP stems from spontaneous changes in cardiac output.
Directly targeting the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis for cancer therapy using BH3 mimetics – recent successes, current challenges and future promise

Apoptosis within cancer cells is controlled by the BCL-2 family of proteins, making them powerful arbiters of cell fate in response to stress induced by neoplastic transformation as well as exposure to anti-cancer therapies. Many cancers evade pro-apoptotic stress signals by up-regulating anti-apoptotic proteins such as BCL-2, BCL-XL or MCL-1 to maintain their survival. However, this may come at a cost, as these cancers may also become dependent on these anti-apoptotic proteins for survival. The development and deployment of BCL-2 family inhibitors (drugs that mimic the activity of pro-apoptotic BH3-only proteins or 'BH3 mimetics') is based on this paradigm, and the first potent and specific molecules are now being evaluated in clinical trials. We review the recent successes in this field, the challenges currently being faced, and the promising future ahead.
Dissoziationsenergien von homonuklearen, zweiatomigen Molekülen der Seltenen Erden

Die Dissoziationsenergien von homonuklearen zweiatomigen Molekulen der Seltenen Erden wurden mit einer Kombination von massenspektrometrischer Analyse und derKnudsen-Effusionsmethode ermittelt. Die Anderung der Dissoziationsenergien mit der Ordnungszahl wird besprochen und verglichen mit den ahnlichen Beziehungen zwischen Ordnungszahl und Sublimationsenergien oder der Dissoziationsenergien der Selten-Erdmetalle und ihrer Oxide.
SIBLING SPECIES OF THE DROSOPHILA SERRATA GROUP

Drosophila serrata Malloch (1927) is a species belonging to the melanogaster section of the subgenus Sophaphora and was originally described from a locality (Eidsvold) in Queensland, Australia. A redescription, in the form now accepted in Drosophila systematics, was made by Mather in 1955. Dobzhansky and Mather (1961) collected living specimens in eight localities of New South Wales and Queensland in Australia, and in New Guinea and New Britain. They distinguished two subspecies, the southern D. serrata serrata in New South Wales and most of Queensland, and the northern D. serrata birchii from Cairns, Queensland, to New Guinea and New Britain. The southern subspecies was described as having females with darker abdomens and males with two pairs of strong bristles in the genital arch. The northern group was characterized as having lighter females and three pairs of bristles in the male genitalia. More recently, some 15 strains were collected by H. L. Carson and M. Wasserman. The present paper reports the results obtained from the study of all the available strains. It will be shown that the subspecies described by Dobzhansky and Mather are, in fact, two reproductively completely isolated species, D. serrata and D. birchii, which are sympatric at several localities. A strain collected in a locality of New Guinea (Madang) belongs to a third sibling species, fully isolated from the other two, which I have named Drosophila dominicana. A description of this new species has been published elsewhere (Ayala, 1965a).
Understanding the Holocaust through The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

The opening of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum attracted significant attention in both the popular and the architectural press. This attention and the continuing large numbers of visitors to the Holocaust Museum raise significant questions involving both the paradoxes inherent in the museum as a building type and the particular difficulties in creating a museum specific to the Holocaust. This article addresses a single question: How do visitors come to understand the reality of the Holocaust as they pass through the museum? The focus is primarily on the exhibit sequence, although the building is also discussed. In particular, this article focuses on the question of the “distance” in time and context between the museum's visitors and those who were participants in the Holocaust. I argue that the psychological phenomenon described as “identification” is critical in overcoming this distance in the Holocaust Museum experience.
Perceived Service Need After Hurricane Sandy in a Representative Sample of Survivors: The Roles of Community-Level Damage and Individual-Level Stressors.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to explore how individually experienced disaster-related stressors and collectively experienced community-level damage influenced perceived need for mental health services in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study we analyzed 418 adults who lived in the most affected areas of New York City at the time of the storm. Participants indicated whether they perceived a need for mental health services since the storm and reported on their exposure to disaster-related stressors (eg, displacement, property damage). We located participants in communities (n=293 census tracts) and gathered community-level demographic data through the US Census and data on the number of damaged buildings in each community from the Federal Emergency Management Agency Modeling Task Force. RESULTS: A total of 7.9% of participants reported mental health service need since the hurricane. Through multilevel binomial logistic regression analysis, we found a cross-level interaction (P=0.04) between individual-level exposure to disaster-related stressors and community-level building damage. Individual-level stressors were significantly predictive of individual service needs in communities with building damage (adjusted odds ratio: 2.56; 95% confidence interval: 1.58-4.16) and not in communities without damage. CONCLUSION: Individuals who experienced individual stressors and who lived in more damaged communities were more likely to report need for services than were other persons after Hurricane Sandy. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;page 1 of 8). Language: en