cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Novel Anionic Inward Rectifier in Native Cardiac Myocytes

Although the cationic inward rectifiers (Kir and hyperpolarization-activated I(f) channels) have been well characterized in cardiac myocytes, the expression and physiological role of anionic inward rectifiers in heart are unknown. In the present study, we report the functional and molecular identification of a novel chloride (Cl(-)) inward rectifier (Cl.ir) in mammalian heart. Under conditions in which cationic inward rectifier channels were blocked, membrane hyperpolarization (-40 to -140 mV) activated an inwardly rectifying whole-cell current in mouse atrial and ventricular myocytes. Under isotonic conditions, the current activated slowly with a biexponential time course (time constants averaging 179.7+/-23.4 [mean+/-SEM] and 2073.6+/-287.6 ms at -120 mV). Hypotonic cell swelling accelerated the activation and increased the current amplitude whereas hypertonic cell shrinkage inhibited the current. The inwardly rectifying current was carried by Cl(-) (I(Cl.ir)) and had an anion permeability sequence of Cl(-)>I(-)>>aspartate. I(Cl.ir) was blocked by 9-anthracene-carboxylic acid and cadmium but not by stilbene disulfonates and tamoxifen. A similar I(Cl.ir) was also observed in guinea pig cardiac myocytes. The properties of I(Cl.ir) are consistent with currents generated by expression of ClC-2 Cl(-) channels. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Northern blot analysis confirmed transcriptional expression of ClC-2 in both atrial and ventricular tissues and isolated myocytes of mouse and guinea pig hearts. These results indicate that a novel I(Cl.ir) is present in mammalian heart and support a potentially important role of ClC-2 channels in the regulation of cardiac electrical activity and cell volume under physiological and pathological conditions.
Teaching thinking dispositions: From transmission to enculturation

(1993). Teaching thinking dispositions: From transmission to enculturation. Theory Into Practice: Vol. 32, Teaching for Higher Order Thinking, pp. 147-153.
The association between sleep duration and obesity in older adults.

Reduced sleep has been reported to predict obesity in children and young adults. However, studies based on self-report have been unable to identify an association in older populations. In this study, the cross-sectional associations between sleep duration measured objectively and measures of weight and body composition were assessed in two cohorts of older adults. Wrist actigraphy was performed for a mean (s.d.) of 5.2 (0.9) nights in 3055 men (age: 67–96 years) participating in the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study (MrOS) and 4.1 (0.8) nights in 3052 women (age: 70–99 years) participating in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF). A subgroup of 2862 men and 455 women also underwent polysomnography to measure sleep apnea severity. Compared to those sleeping an average of 7–8 h per night, and after adjusting for multiple risk factors and medical conditions, a sleep duration of less than 5 h was associated with a body mass index (BMI) that was on average 2.5 kg/m2 (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.0–2.9) greater in men and 1.8 kg/m2 (95% CI: 1.1–2.4) greater in women. The odds of obesity (BMI ⩾30 kg/m2) was 3.7-fold greater (95% CI: 2.7–5.0) in men and 2.3-fold greater in women (95% CI: 1.6–3.1) who slept less than 5 h. Short sleep was also associated with central body fat distribution and increased percent body fat. These associations persisted after adjusting for sleep apnea, insomnia and daytime sleepiness. In older men and women, actigraphy-ascertained reduced sleep durations are strongly associated with greater adiposity.
Performance Evaluation of Serial Photolithography Clusters: Queueing Models, Throughput and Workload Sequencing

For clustered configuration of a photolithography toolset, operating under a scheduling policy inducing serial processing, measures of system performance are deduced. Queueing models demonstrate that, due to the parallelism inherent in the system configuration, the normalized cycle time behavior is different than that of the standard single server queue. Cluster throughput is evaluated based on measures of the frequency and magnitude of events common in manufacturing operation. It is shown that the maximum throughput of a serial photolithography cluster tool is not influenced by the order in which two classes of lots with different wafer processing speeds are processed
The Interface of Work and Relationships Critical Knowledge for 21st Century Psychology

This article introduces the Major Contribution in this issue of The Counseling Psychologist on the interface of work and interpersonal relationships. Initially, the various lines of literature that highlight the central place that work plays in human life are reviewed and integrated. The critically important perspectives offered by the relational movement are then reviewed with a particular focus on how this emerging body of work is transforming some fundamental beliefs within psychology. The existing literature on the connections between work and relationships is summarized next with attention to identifying the considerable needs for continued research and theory development in this line of inquiry. The article concludes by providing the reader with a framework with which to derive maximal meaning from the qualitative, discovery-oriented findings presented in the three articles by Phillips, Christopher-Sisk, and Gravino; Schultheiss, Kress, Manzi, and Glasscock; and Blustein, Fama, White, Ketterson, Sha...
Affective Assessment by Digital Processing of the Pupil Diameter

Previous research found that the pupil diameter (PD) can be an indication of affective state, but this approach to the detection of the affective state of a computer user has not been investigated fully. We propose a new affective sensing approach to evaluate the computer user's affective states as they transition from &#x0022;relaxationa#x201D; to &#x0022;stress,a#x201D; through processing the PD signal. Wavelet denoising and Kalman filtering were used to preprocess the PD signal. Then, three features were extracted from it and five classification algorithms were used to evaluate the overall performance of the identification of &#x0022;stressa#x201D; states in the computer users, achieving an average accuracy of 83.16 percent, with the highest accuracy of 84.21 percent reached with a Multilayer Perceptron and a Naive Bayes classifier. The Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) signal was also analyzed to study the comparative efficiency of affective sensing through the PD signal. We compared the discriminating power of the three features derived from the preprocessed PD signal to three features derived from the preprocessed GSR signal in terms of their Receiver Operating Characteristic curves. The results confirm that the PD signal should be considered a powerful physiological factor to involve in future automated affective classification systems for human-computer interaction.
Caenorhabditis elegans cyclin A- and B-type genes: a cyclin A multigene family, an ancestral cyclin B3 and differential germline expression.

We have cloned cDNAs for Caenorhabditis elegans cyclins A1, B and B3. While cyclins A1 and B are most closely related to either A- or B-type cyclins of other species, cyclin B3 is less related to these cyclins. However, this cyclin is most similar to the recently identified chicken cyclin B3. Our identification of a Caenorhabditis homolog demonstrates that cyclin B3 has been conserved in evolution. cyclin A1 is a member of an A-type multigene family; however the cyclin A1 cDNA only recognizes a single band on northern blots. A single-sized RNA is also observed for the cyclin B3 cDNA. In contrast, three different transcripts are observed for the cyclin B cDNA. Based on our analyses using RNAs from germline-defective mutants and from populations enriched for males, one cyclin B transcript is specific to the paternal germline. The two other cyclin B transcripts, as well as the cyclin A1 and cyclin B3 transcripts, are most abundant in the maternal germline and are only present at low levels in other tissues. Moreover, the 3′ untranslated regions of each Caenorhabditis cyclin cDNA possess several copies of potential translational control elements shown in Xenopus and Drosophila maternal cyclin mRNAs to function during oogenesis and early embryogenesis. SUMMARY
Connecting the Bethe entropy and the edge zeta function of a cycle code

Let the induced Bethe entropy of a pseudo-codeword be the Bethe entropy of the pseudo-marginal that, among all pseudo-marginals that correspond to this pseudo-codeword, has the maximal Bethe entropy. The aim of the present paper is to discuss a connection between the induced Bethe entropy of a cycle code and the edge zeta function of the same code. Namely, we show the equivalence of, on the one hand, the directional derivative of the induced Bethe entropy at the origin in the direction of a pseudo-codeword, and, on the other hand, the growth rate of the coefficients of the monomials that appear in the Taylor series expansion of the edge zeta function and that correspond to this pseudo-codeword. This connection is established via the entropy rate of some random walk that is associated with this pseudo-codeword, this random walk being an object of interest by itself.
Psychophysical estimate of extrafoveal cone spacing.

In the extrafoveal retina, interference fringes at spatial frequencies higher than the resolution limit look like two-dimensional spatial noise, the origin of which has not been firmly established. We show that over a limited range of high spatial frequencies this noise takes on a striated appearance, with the striations running perpendicular to the true fringe orientation. A model of cone aliasing based on anatomical measurements of extrafoveal cone position predicts that this orientation reversal should occur when the period of the interference fringe roughly equals the spacing between cones, i.e., when the fringe spatial frequency is about twice the cone Nyquist frequency. Psychophysical measurements of the orientation reversal at retinal eccentricities from 0.75 to 10 deg are in quantitative agreement with this prediction. This agreement implies that at least part of the spatial noise observed under these conditions results from aliasing by the cone mosaic. The orientation reversal provides a psychophysical method for estimating spacing in less regular mosaics, complementing another psychophysical technique for measuring spacing in the more regular mosaic of foveal cones [D. R. Williams, Vision Res. 25, 195 (1985); Vision Res. (submitted)].
Learning primary feature in compressive sampling space: a sparse representation study

In most biological metabolic processes, protein-protein interactions (PPIs) play a vital important role, the identification of which has been attracting much effort and devotion. Nevertheless, there are still many difficulties because of lacking enough information such as protein homology, protein structure and so on. Accordingly, a novel sequence-based computational method is proposed to predict PPIs and has achieved a promising performance. This method was put forward by incorporating primary feature representation with compressed learning theory framework. When applied to the PPI data of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, it shows an inspiring result and also performs well in an independent dataset. Our results not only demonstrate compressed learning theory framework is suitable for PPIs prediction, but also imply that it has potential applications in many other bioinformatics problems.
Canopy disturbance patterns in a bottomland hardwood forest in northeast Arkansas, USA

We characterized canopy disturbance patterns in a bottomland hardwood forest and identified linkages to tree species characteristics and interannual flooding patterns. We located 116 newly formed canopy gaps created by 136 gapmakers of 13 species. Over 83% of the gapmakers were snapped or uprooted (i.e., windthrow). The probability of any given gapmaker snapping or uprooting differed among years, species, and elevations. Neither wood properties nor diameter were major factors in determining the probability of snapping versus windthrow. Quercus texana, which had individuals with larger diameters-at-breast height than trees of other dominant species, was the most frequent gapmaker. The effects of elevation and flooding on the probability of snap versus windthrow seem to be tempered or amplified by interspecific rooting habits and tree morphology. Across species, windthrow occurred at lower elevations than snaps, and Q. texana and Q. lyrata showed differences in elevation between the two disturbance types. The total amount of area in newly-formed canopy gaps, as well as gap size, was relatively low compared to estimates for other forests. Our results suggest that natural disturbance patterns in bottomland hardwood forests are complex and are affected by the interactions among forest structure and composition and flooding patterns.
Surgical pathology-based outcomes assessment of breast cancer early diagnosis: a College of American Pathologists Q-Probes study in 199 institutions.

c Objective.—To develop breast cancer outcomes data relating pathologic tumor variables at diagnosis with clinical method of detection. Design.—Anatomic pathologists assessed 30 consecutive breast cancers at each institution, resulting in an aggregate database of 4232 breast cancers. Setting.—Hospital-based laboratories from the United States (98%), Canada, Australia, and Belgium. Participants.—One hundred ninety-nine laboratories in the 1999 College of American Pathologists Q-Probes voluntary quality improvement program. Main Outcome Measures.—Pathologic variables indicative of favorable outcomes included percentage of carcinomas detected at the in situ stage, tumors # 1c m in diameter, and invasive cancers with lymph nodes negative for metastases. Results.—All outcomes measures, including percent in situ carcinomas (26.9% vs 13.8%), tumor size # 1c m (57.8% vs 36.5%), and lymph node‐negative status (77.8% vs 64%), were more favorable when tumors were detected by screening mammography (P , .001) compared to all other detection methods. Conclusions.—This study demonstrates an opportunity for pathologists to develop outcomes information of interest to health care organizations, providers, patients, and payers by integrating routine oncologic surgical pathology and clinical breast cancer detection data. Such readily obtained interim outcomes data trended and benchmarked over time can demonstrate the relative clinical efficacy of preventive breast care provided by health care systems long before mortality data are available. (Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2001;125:325‐331)
Simultaneous Versus Sequential Modes of Communication in an Organization

This paper studies an organizational knowledge sharing process which requires costly "teaching" and "learning" efforts on the part of the sender and receiver, respectively. The process is a team problem in which the principal rewards successful communication by optimally rewarding performance. In this setting we compare two modes of communication with regard to efficiency. The first is sequential in which the sender pre-commits to teaching and the receiver acts as a follower. The second is simultaneous where each agent simultaneously exerts effort. A key result is that the sequential mode dominates when teaching and learning are complements, but the simultaneous mode dominates if teaching and learning are substitutes.
The Demography of Genocide

The demographic foundation of nations is remarkably resilient to losses with the causes of that resiliency not uniform cross-nationally. Countries in the early stages of development have very high birth rates and a growing youthful population with only the most extreme cases of genocide detrimentally affecting their long-term population. They are resilient due to the scale of potential population growth. More developed countries with near stagnated population growth and an increasingly aging population need the phenomena of a post-war baby boom or increased migration to recover. Resiliency can only come from the change in demographical rates. This chapter will evaluate casualties, gender ratios, disrupted age distribution, migrations, and the differing experiences of recovery.
Pergonal therapy of anovulatory infertility

Thirty anovulatory infertile patients received HMG-HCG therapy. Ovulation was achieved in 26 and pregnancy resulted in 18 cases. Of eighty-four treatment cycles, forty-nine were ovulatory. Four twin and one quadruplet gestation as well as four early abortions were noted in this series. Best results occurred in women with defective gonadotropin excretion and/or prolonged amenorrhea. Issues concerning selection of patients, side effects, multiple birth, and clinical management of drug administration are discussed.
Multi-scale modeling and simulation of complex systems: Opportunities and challenges

ABSTRACTHealthcare, like other industries, large corporations, and institutions, is a complex system composed of many diverse interacting components. Frequently, to improve performance of a system, to move into new markets, or to expand capability or capacity, healthcare decision makers face opportunities or mandates to implement innovations (new technology, processes, and services). Successful implementation of these innovations involves seamless integration with the policy, economic, social, and technological dynamics associated with the complex system. These dynamics are frequently difficult for decision makers to observe and understand. Consequently, they take on risk from lack of insight into how best to implement the innovation and how their system-of-interest will ultimately perform. This research defines a modeling and simulation framework that provides decision makers with prospective insight into the likely performance to expect once an innovation is implemented in a complex system. We describe ...
Model for the development of rural pharmaceutical services

The Central Pharmacy of Presbyterian Medical Services (PMS) a nonprofit corporation operating a rural comprehensive health care system in New Mexico, is discussed. PMS Central Pharmacy provides pharmaceutical services to a 34-bed acute care hospital and 24 widely scattered clinics for ambulatory patients. The financial base, administration, development of a formulatory, purchasing, prepackaging of medications, and consulting services of the PMS Central Pharmacy are described. Central Pharmacy acts as a drug wholesaler for PMS; the gross margin between acquisition cost and average wholesale price covers 90% of the cost of the pharmacy operation. In addition, the clinics pay a fee and travel expenses for pharmacist consultation. Seven clinics employ drug technicians who are trained and supervised by Central Pharmacy. It is concluded that this system may serve as a model for the development of pharmaceutical services in other rural areas or in poverty-stricken urban areas.
The many ways of knowing: Embracing multiplicity in narrative research:

In this article, I revisit my roots in pursuit of my epistemology. I write about how my mother’s story significantly shaped my interest in narrative inquiry. By inviting my mother to tell her story...
The zinc chelator 1,10-phenanthroline enhances the stimulatory effects of protein kinase C activators and staurosporine, but not sphingosine and H2O2, on phospholipase D activity in NIH 3T3 fibroblasts

Protein kinase C (PKC), an enzyme which is believed to mediate the stimulatory effects of the PKC activator phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) on phospholipase D (PLD) activity, has a zinc-dependent structure required for phorbol ester binding. Accordingly, zinc or zinc chelators would be expected to promote or inhibit, respectively, the stimulatory effects of PMA on PLD-mediated phospholipid hydrolysis. Instead, treatment of [14C]choline- and [14C]ethanolamine-labelled NIH 3T3 fibroblasts with the high-affinity zinc chelator 1,10-phenanthroline (0.2-1 mM) for 20-30 min was found to enhance the stimulatory effects of PMA on PLD-mediated hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine. In [14C]palmitic acid-labelled fibroblasts, in the presence of ethanol, phenanthroline also enhanced the stimulatory effect of PMA on the synthesis of phosphatidylethanol, a marker of PLD activity. Addition of zinc (250 microM) to phenanthroline-treated fibroblasts reversed the stimulatory effects of the chelator. The potentiating effects of phenanthroline were also partially reversed by cadmium, whereas iron, lead, copper, magnesium and calcium were without effects. Of the other activators of PLD tested, phenanthroline also enhanced the stimulatory effects of platelet-derived growth factor and staurosporine, but not that of sphingosine and H2O2, on the hydrolysis of both phospholipids. These results suggest that regulation of PLD by PKC activators and staurosporine involves a common intermediate step, which is inhibited by a chelatable cellular pool of zinc.
Is Hydrogen the Future of Nuclear Energy

The traditionally held belief is that the future of nuclear energy is electricity production. However, another possible future exists: nuclear energy used primarily for the production of hydrogen. The hydrogen, in turn, would be used to meet our demands for transport fuels (including liquid fuels), materials such as steel and fertilizer, and peak-load electricity production. Hydrogen would become the replacement for fossil fuels in these applications that consume more than half the world’s energy. Such a future would follow from several factors: (a) concerns about climatic change that limit the use of fossil fuels, (b) the fundamental technological differences between hydrogen and electricity that may preferentially couple different primary energy sources with either hydrogen or electricity, and (c) the potential for other technologies to competitively produce electricity but not hydrogen. Electricity (movement of electrons) is not fundamentally a large-scale centralized technology that requires centralized methods of production, distribution, or use. In contrast, hydrogen (movement of atoms) is intrinsically a large-scale centralized technology. The large-scale centralized characteristics of nuclear energy as a primary energy source, hydrogen production systems, and hydrogen storage systems naturally couple these technologies. This connection suggests that serious consideration be given to hydrogen as the ultimate product of nuclear energy and that nuclear systems be designed explicitly for hydrogen production.
The 16 August 1931 Valentine, Texas, earthquake: Evidence for normal faulting in west Texas

The 1931 Valentine, Texas, earthquake occurred in a region near the transition from the Southern Basin and Range/Rio Grande rift physiographic province to the Southern Great Plains province. Previous studies of this earthquake have presented focal mechanisms from first-motion data supporting either pure normal or strike-slip faulting with extension oriented in a southwest-northeast direction nearly perpendicular to the physiographic boundary between the provinces. This study presents the results of an inversion of regional and teleseismic body wave phases to determine earthquake source parameters. Results of the inversion suggest that the earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 km along a fault dipping 54° to the east with a strike of 10 to 20°, and a rake of −155°. The strike is similar to that of the southern segment of the nearby Mayfield fault, a fault that shows evidence for repeated movement during the Quaternary. Seismic and geodetic information suggest unilateral rupture toward the south during the earthquake. The T axis for the earthquake shows extension oriented in a northwest-southeast direction, a direction in agreement with the direction given by geologic stress indicators.
Detection of Mismatch Repair Deficiency and Microsatellite Instability in Colorectal Adenocarcinoma by Targeted Next-Generation Sequencing

Mismatch repair protein deficiency (MMR-D) and high microsatellite instability (MSI-H) are features of Lynch syndrome–associated colorectal carcinomas and have implications in clinical management. We evaluate the ability of a targeted next-generation sequencing panel to detect MMR-D and MSI-H based on mutational phenotype. Using a criterion of >40 total mutations per megabase or >5 single-base insertion or deletion mutations in repeats per megabase, sequencing achieves 92% sensitivity and 100% specificity for MMR-D by immunohistochemistry in a training cohort of 149 colorectal carcinomas and 91% sensitivity and 98% specificity for MMR-D in a validation cohort of 94 additional colorectal carcinomas. False-negative samples are attributable to tumor heterogeneity, and next-generation sequencing results are concordant with analysis of microsatellite loci by PCR. In a subset of 95 carcinomas with microsatellite analysis, sequencing achieves 100% sensitivity and 99% specificity for MSI-H in the combined training and validation set. False-positive results for MMR-D and MSI-H are attributable to ultramutated cancers with POLE mutations, which are confirmed by direct sequencing of the POLE gene and are detected by mutational signature analysis. These findings provide a framework for a targeted tumor sequencing panel to accurately detect MMR-D and MSI-H in colorectal carcinomas.
Simultaneous atrioventricular node ablation and leadless pacemaker implantation.

The ablate-and-pace technique is a well-established method to treat patients with persistent and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation with poor rate control on medical therapy.1 The technique represents a class IIa indication to control heart rates when pharmacologic therapy is insufficient or intolerable.2 As many of these patients are in permanent atrial fibrillation, they frequently require only single-chamber ventricular pacing after an atrioventricular (AV) node ablation. With the advent of transcatheter pacing systems, single-chamber pacemakers can now be implanted percutaneously without the need for leads or creation of a pocket or transvenous leads. Leadless pacemakers have a lower complication rate compared with that of traditional pacemakers in a historical control population.3
AMC: Attention Guided Multi-modal Correlation Learning for Image Search

Given a users query, traditional image search systems rank images according to its relevance to a single modality (e.g., image content or surrounding text). Nowadays, an increasing number of images on the Internet are available with associated meta data in rich modalities (e.g., titles, keywords, tags, etc.), which can be exploited for better similarity measure with queries. In this paper, we leverage visual and textual modalities for image search by learning their correlation with input query. According to the intent of query, attention mechanism can be introduced to adaptively balance the importance of different modalities. We propose a novel Attention guided Multi-modal Correlation (AMC) learning method which consists of a jointly learned hierarchy of intra and inter-attention networks. Conditioned on querys intent, intra-attention networks (i.e., visual intra-attention network and language intra-attention network) attend on informative parts within each modality, a multi-modal inter-attention network promotes the importance of the most query-relevant modalities. In experiments, we evaluate AMC models on the search logs from two real world image search engines and show a significant boost on the ranking of user-clicked images in search results. Additionally, we extend AMC models to caption ranking task on COCO dataset and achieve competitive results compared with recent state-of-the-arts.
Role of Notch1 in the expression of multidrug resistance protein, MRP1/ABCC1

2300 Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a major obstacle in the successful application of chemotherapy. The overexpression of ABC transporters, Pgp/ABCB1, MRP1/ABCC1, and BCRP/ABCG2, has been a well-known indicator of MDR. However, the importance of ABC transporters in MDR, and the mechanism of their upregulation have not been fully elucidated. The aim of this study is to examine the role of Notch1 in the expression of the multidrug resistance protein, MRP1/ABCC1. Notch1 is an enzymatic cleavable type I transmembrane protein, which is also known as an intracellular transcriptional regulator involved in regulating cell fate, apoptosis, proliferation and migration. We evaluated the levels of transmembrane Notch1 (N1 TM ) in cancer cell lines, such as CEM/VLB 100 , CEM/VM1-5, and BeWo known to overexpress the ABC transporters, Pgp, MRP1 and BCRP, respectively. Interestingly, we found an inverse relationship between the expression of Notch1 and MRP1/ABCC1 in the etoposide (VP16)-resistant CEM/VM1-5 cells and parental CEM cells. To investigate whether this inverse expression of N1 TM and MRP1 is associated with etoposide resistance, we used another cell model, VP-16-resistant MCF7/VP and its drug sensitive parents, MCF7/WT, and observed the same inverse relationship: low N1 TM but high MRP1 in the resistant MCF7/VP cells, compared to the parental cells. We hypothesize that Notch1 is one of the biological factors involved in MRP1 expression in the drug resistant cells. To understand the mechanism by which Notch1 may regulate MRP1, we measured the level and activity of intracellular Notch1 (ICN1) in MCF7/WT and MCF7/VP. As opposed to N1 TM , there were no detectable differences in the levels of ICN1 between MCF7/WT and MCF7/VP. However, the activity of ICN1 in MCF7/VP was about 1.5-times higher than MCF7/WT, as measured by CBF1 promoter assay. To further verify the effect of ICN1 on MRP1 expression, we blocked the generation of ICN1 in MCF7/WT and MCF7/VP with DAPT, a gama-secretase inhibitor (GSI). We observed a dose-dependent reduction of both ICN1 and MRP1 expression in the MCF7/VP cells but not in the parental cells, suggesting a possible role for ICN1 in the overexpression of MRP1 in drug resistant cells. We next measured the level of presenilin 1 (PSEN1), which is a main proteolytic enzyme involved in the generation of ICN1, and observed increased levels of PSEN1 in MCF7/VP. We conclude that etoposide-resistant cells show faster processing of ICN1, possibly via PSEN1 overexpression, and that this is associated with MRP1 upregulation. This MRP1 upregulation can be blocked by GSI, suggesting a therapeutic possibility to prevent the development of MDR. (This work was supported in part by grant CA-40570 [to WTB] and in part by the University of Illinois at Chicago)
Lack of prognostic value of atrial arrhythmia inducibility and change in inducibility status after catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation.

Background Previous studies have suggested a role of atrial arrhythmia inducibility as an endpoint of catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF). The prognostic value of noninducibility after ablation and of a change in inducibility status has not been investigated in large studies. Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic role of noninducibility and of a change in inducibility status after ablation of AF. Methods We studied 305 consecutive patients with AF (66% paroxysmal) undergoing antral pulmonary vein (PV) isolation plus non-PV triggers ablation. All patients underwent a standardized induction protocol before and after ablation from the coronary sinus and right atrium: 15-beat burst pacing at 250 ms and decrementing to 180 ms (up to 20 μg/min isoproterenol). Inducibility was defined as any sustained AF or organized atrial tachycardia (AT) lasting >2 minutes. Results A total of 197 patients (65%) had inducible AF/AT at baseline compared to 118 (39%) after ablation. One hundred seven patients (57%) changed their inducibility status from inducible preablation to noninducible postablation. After 19 ± 7 months of follow-up, 212 patients (70%) remained free from any recurrent AF/AT. Noninducibility of AF/AT postablation (log-rank P = .236) or change in inducibility status (log-rank P = .429) was not associated with reduced risk of recurrent AF/AT. Results were consistent across the paroxysmal and nonparoxysmal subgroups. Conclusion Noninducibility of atrial arrhythmia or change in inducibility status after PV isolation and non-PV trigger ablation is not associated with long-term freedom from recurrent arrhythmia and should not be used as an ablation endpoint or to support the appropriateness of additional ablation lesion sets.
Quantitative Detection in Lateral Flow Immunoassay Using Integrated Organic Optoelectronics

A low cost, disposable point-of-care (POC) diagnostic device with integrated organic optoelectronic devices has been investigated for quantitative detection. The diagnostic component consists of a lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) paper-based biosensor that uses capillary action for transportation of fluids. The absence of external fluid pumps and the low cost of materials utilized make LFIA a simple, inexpensive POC diagnostic device. For detection, the LFIA was integrated with organic optoelectronics devices on thin plastic sheets as a step toward a fully integrated lab-on-chip device. Organic semiconductor devices are suited for this purpose as they can be formed on many types of substrates and can have relatively large active area. For the light emitting component, phosphorescent green emitting organic light emitting diodes (OLED) have been used owing to their high brightness, while for the light detector an organic photodiode (OPD) that absorbs at green wavelengths has been used. Quantitative measurements were performed using optical transmission mode through the LFIA strip that forms red test and control lines by accumulation of gold nanoparticles (AuNP). In this configuration, the amount of transmitted light decreases as AuNPs accumulate on the test line, which directly correlates with the analyte concentration. This change in optical intensity results in a corresponding change in the measured OPD photocurrent. Initial quantification was obtained for 5 levels of rotavirus analyte. OLEDs and OPDs fabricated on plastic substrates were integrated within the LFIA chip to measure the intensity of line formation over a period of 30 min.
Reporter-Based Assays for High-Throughput Drug Screening against Mycobacterium abscessus.

Mycobacterium abscessus (Mab) is a non-tuberculous mycobacterium that causes pulmonary and non-pulmonary infections. Mab is resistant to many chemotherapeutic agents and the current treatment options show poor clinical outcomes. Thus, there is a dire need to find new antimicrobials effective at killing Mab. Screening drug libraries to identify potential antimicrobials has been impeded by the lack of validated HTS assays for Mab. In this study, we developed two 384-well high-throughput screening assays using fluorescent and bioluminescent reporter strains of Mab for drug discovery. Optimization of inoculum size, incubation time and the volume-per-well based on Z-factor and signal intensity yielded two complementary, robust tools for Mab drug discovery with Z-factor > 0.8. The MIC of known drugs, amikacin and clarithromycin, as determined by bioluminescence was in agreement with the published MIC values. A proof-of-concept screen of 2,093 natural product-inspired compounds was conducted using the 384-well bioluminescent assay to identify novel scaffolds active against Mab. Five active “hit” compounds identified in this pilot screen were confirmed and characterized by a CFU assay and MIC determination. Overall, we developed and validated a 384-well screen that offers simple, sensitive and fast screening of compounds for activity against this emerging pathogen. To our knowledge, this is the first reporter–based high-throughput screening study aimed at Mab drug discovery.
Phase equilibrium of a quaternary system: Methanol, ethylene, water and hydrogen peroxide

Abstract In this work, we examine, using molecular simulation, the liquid-vapor phase equilibria and atomic-level structure of an ethylene-expanded mixture of methanol, water and hydrogen peroxide as functions of temperature and pressure. The motivation for this study is a recently proposed catalytic process for the epoxidation of ethylene to ethylene oxide in Nb-doped silica nanopores [J. Catal. 336 75 (2016)], where the solvent (methanol) is expanded by the reactant (ethylene) in the presence of the oxidant (hydrogen peroxide in water). Optimal tuning of the reaction conditions can be greatly facilitated by detailed information as to the phase equilibrium and local structure (e.g., hydrogen bonding) of this quaternary mixture. In particular, we focus on the solubility of ethylene in this system as a function of water content. We compare this quaternary system to the recently studied ethylene/methanol/water ternary mixture [Fluid Phase Equilib. 429 275 (2016)]. One major conclusion of this work is that for solutions in which the methanol to water/hydrogen peroxide ratio is greater than 50%, the solubility of ethylene in the quaternary mixture is identical within the statistical error to that of a corresponding ternary mixture, in which hydrogen peroxide is replaced by water. Given that these methanol-rich systems are precisely those of most utility in the epoxidation process, this observation greatly simplifies the phase-equilibrium analysis.
Aquatic plants: Test species sensitivity and minimum data requirement evaluations for chemical risk assessments and aquatic life criteria development for the USA.

Phytotoxicity results from the publicly-available ECOTOX database were summarized for 20 chemicals and 188 aquatic plants to determine species sensitivities and the ability of a species-limited toxicity data set to serve as a surrogate for a larger data set. The lowest effect concentrations reducing the sublethal response parameter of interest by 50% relative to the controls (EC50) usually varied several orders of magnitude for the 119 freshwater and 69 saltwater plants exposed to the same test chemicals. Generally, algae were more sensitive than floating and benthic species but inter-specific differences for EC50 values were sometimes considerable within and between phyla and no consistently sensitive species was identified for the morphologically-diverse taxa. Consistent equivalencies of the phytotoxicity databases for freshwater-saltwater plants and floating-benthic macrophyte species were not demonstrated. Two species-sensitivity distribution plots (SSDs) were constructed for each of the 20 chemicals, one based on all available phytotoxicity information (range = 10-76 test species) and another based on information for only five species recommended for pesticide hazard evaluations. HC5 values (hazardous concentration to 5% of test species) estimated from the two SSDs usually differed four-fold or less for the same chemical. HC5 values for the five species were often conservative estimates of HC5 values for the more species-populated data sets. Consequently, the collective response of the five test species shows promise as an interim aquatic plant minimum data requirement for aquatic life criteria development. In contrast, the lowest EC50 values for the five species usually were greater than HC5 values for the same test chemicals, a finding important to criteria-supporting Final Plant Values. The conclusions may differ for comparisons based on other test chemicals, test species, response parameters and calculations.
Morphology control in surfactant free polyurethane/acrylic hybrid latices – The special role of hydrogen bonding

Abstract A series of surfactant free aliphatic PUD's, prepared with no organic solvent, were used as the first stage (seed) in the preparation of acrylic hybrid latices. The acrylic component consisted of various comonomers of methyl methacrylate, n-butyl acrylate and styrene. By using a combination of film formation, DSC, TEM, and SEM measurements, the composite latex morphologies were characterized for a wide variety of experimental conditions. Essentially all latex reactions resulted in non-equilibrium morphologies with a great deal of mixed polymers in the particles, but all reactions yielded colloidally stable latices at 20% total solids. Hydrogen bonding between the amine units in the PU and the carbonyl groups on the acrylic polymer chains was responsible for the lack of polymer phase separation in the particles. Removing the carbonyl groups in the second stage monomer and/or thermally annealing the finished latex or dried films above 130 °C, allowed nearly complete phase separation to occur. In addition it was found that all of the PU based latex particles contained surprisingly large amounts of water.
Handling times and saturating transmission functions in a snail–worm symbiosis

All dynamic species interaction models contain an assumption that describes how contact rates scale with population density. Choosing an appropriate contact–density function is important, because different functions have different implications for population dynamics and stability. However, this choice can be challenging, because there are many possible functions, and most are phenomenological and thus difficult to relate to underlying ecological processes. Using one such phenomenological function, we described a nonlinear relationship between field transmission rates and host density in a common snail–oligochaete symbiosis. We then used a well-known contact function from predator–prey models, the Holling Type II functional response, to describe and predict host snail contact rates in the laboratory. The Holling Type II functional response accurately described both the nonlinear contact–density relationship and the average contact duration that we observed. Therefore, we suggest that contact rates saturate with host density in this system because each snail contact requires a non-instantaneous handling time, and additional possible contacts do not occur during that handling time. Handling times and nonlinear contact rates might also explain the nonlinear relationship between symbiont transmission and snail density that we observed in the field, which could be confirmed by future work that controls for other potential sources of seasonal variation in transmission rates. Because most animal contacts are not instantaneous, the Holling Type II functional response might be broadly relevant to diverse host–symbiont systems.
Properties of CdSe-MIS Solar Cells

As evidenced from scanning electron microscopy and x-ray goniometer measurements, the short circuit current density of CdSe-MIS cells is strongly influenced by the crystallo-graphic properties of the CdSe layer. Spectral response measurements show that misorientations lead to a reduced collection efficiency of minority carriers. At the present stage of development efficiencies around 4 percent can be realised under AM1 conditions, using very simple, not yet optimised ZnS antireflection coatings. The very thin MIS structure permits cells to be fabricated with low material consumption which should reach efficiencies of 9 to 10 percent by turther improvements.
The role of pseudophosphatases as signaling regulators

Pseudophosphatases are atypical members of the protein tyrosine phosphatase superfamily. Mutations within their catalytic signature motif render them catalytically inactive. Despite this lack of catalytic function, pseudophosphatases have been implicated in various diseases such as Charcot Marie-Tooth disorder, cancer, metabolic disorder, and obesity. Moreover, they have roles in various signaling networks such as spermatogenesis, apoptosis, stress response, tumorigenesis, and neurite differentiation. This review highlights the roles of pseudophosphatases as essential regulators in signaling cascades, providing insight into the function of these catalytically inactive enzymes.
Ideology, Partisanship, and Senate Voting on Supreme Court Nominees

Research on Supreme Court nominations has demonstrated conclusively that senators take ideology into account when voting on nominees, with senators are more likely to vote for nominees whose ideologies are similar to their own. With few exceptions, however, studies have not examined the extent to which the effects of ideology are contingent on other factors. In this paper, I explore more fully the effects of ideology. I show that ideology does indeed play a primary role in determining votes under a wide range of conditions. However, I also show that under certain conditions - namely, when the senator is a member of the president's party - the role of ideology is more contingent than previously noted. The study thus shows the needs to more carefully disentangle the effects of party and ideology when examining confirmation votes.
EARLY DUAL ANTIPLATELET THERAPY DISCONTINUATION IN CANCER PATIENTS WITH NEWER GENERATION DRUG-ELUTING STENTS: A SINGLE CENTER EXPERIENCE

Newer generation drug-eluting stents (DES) may allow for early discontinuation of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT). DAPT duration after PCI has not been validated in cancer patients. We aimed to describe the practices and outcomes regarding DAPT duration in a cancer population with DES. We
A Quantum Chemical and Electrostatic Study of Alkyl and Substituted Benzenonium Cations and Related Molecules: The Effect of Atomic Charge Distribution on Carbocation Energy and Geometry

Geometries, NMR chemical shifts, atomic charges, and bond orders were calculated at the MP2/6-31G* level of theory for the isopropyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl, benzenonium, and six methyl- and trifluoromethyl-substituted benzenonium ions. The NPA charges correlate better than the CHELPG, MK, and AIM charges with the experimental and calculated carbon chemical shifts. The electrostatic energies of isomeric ions, calculated by treatment of the NPA charges as point charges, are comparable to their MP2 energy differences. The electrostatic calculations, although classical approximations, provide a qualitative understanding of the coulombic basis of the methyl and trifluoromethyl substituent effects. It is apparent that these species are stabilized by having adjacent, oppositely charged atoms (for example, having the negatively charged carbon of a methyl group bonded to a positive carbon). It is proposed that a methyl group be termed a nucleophilic (rather than electron-donating) substituent and that a trifluoromethyl group be termed an electrophilic substituent. In the benzenonium ions and in toluene, fluoromethylbenzene, difluoromethylbenzene, and benzotrifluoride, the endocyclic angle at the substituent increases with increasing electrophilicity of the substituent. An electrostatic calculation again provides some insight into the coulombic basis of these changes.
Characterization of Uniformity in Nb/Nb x Si 1-x /Nb Josephson Junctions

The uniformity of the barriers in Josephson junctions (JJs) is a critical parameter in determining performance and operating margins for a wide variety of superconducting electronic circuits. We present an automated measurement system capable of measuring individual JJs across a 1 × 1 cm die at both ambient temperature and 4 K. This technique allows visualization of the spatial variation over a large area of the critical electrical properties of the junctions and allows for the direct correlation between room-temperature (RT) resistance and low temperature properties. The critical current variation of NbxSi1-x (x = 15%) barriers is found to be about 2.6% (one standard deviation) for 1024 junctions across an individual die and only weakly correlates with RT resistance measurements.