cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Adenovirus-mediated transfer of the amphotropic retrovirus receptor cDNA increases retroviral transduction in cultured cells.

ABSTRACT The presence of functional amphotropic receptors on the cell surface is necessary for amphotropic retrovirus-mediated gene transfer. A recombinant adenoviral vector that expresses the receptor for amphotropic retrovirus (RAM) was constructed and used to express the receptor cDNA in different cell types in culture. Transfer of the RAM cDNA increased amphotropic retroviral-mediated transfer from 0 to 60% in Chinese hamster ovary cells. RAM expression increased retroviral transduction four- to eight-fold from 2–4% to 18%–35% in HeLa, Namalva, and X63 cells, but had no effect on 208F and HepG2 cells which have high baseline retroviral transduction rates of about 50%. For the purpose of application to ex vivo gene therapy, primary mouse hepatocytes were studied in a similar manner. Hepatocytes had a baseline transduction efficiency of about 40% and did not have increased rates of retroviral-mediated gene transfer with expression of recombinant RAM. This recombinant adenoviral vector conferred infectio...
Calculation of the Quantum Defect for Highly Excited S States of Para- and Orthohelium

Experimental term values for the $S$ states of para- and orthohelium for the case when one electron is in the ground state and the other is in a highly excited $S$ state can be represented by the formula $E=\ensuremath{-}\frac{\mathrm{Rh}}{{(n\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{1,2})}^{2}}$; ${\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{1}$ and ${\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{2}$ being the quantum defects for the ortho and para systems, which have the respective numerical values, 0.298 and 0.140. The object of the present paper is to calculate the values of ${\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{1}$ and ${\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{2}$ by a convenient method quite different from that used by Hylleraas. Neglecting the polarization of the atom core, the results obtained for ${\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{1}$ and ${\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{2}$ are 0.289 and 0.160, respectively, in contrast to the corresponding values 0.230 and 0.122 obtained by Hylleraas before he corrected for polarization. This difference is due to the more accurate wave functions obtained here and indicates that the effect of polarization is not as great as it would appear from the calculations of Hylleraas.
Finite-gyroradius stabilization of ballooning modes in a toroidal geometry

The stabilizing influence of finite-ion-gyroradius effects on magnetohydrodynamic ballooning modes for a simple model toroidal equilibrium is demonstrated
Fuzzy integral equations

Abstract We introduce a definition of the integral of a fuzzy-valued function that is only slightly different from the usual one, yet that is more intuitive and that can be applied to a larger class of functions. We show that our definition is equivalent to the extension principle for functions of this class. We then apply integration theory of fuzzy-valued functions to integral equations. We define a “measure” of the fuzziness of a fuzzy-valued function and show that, using this measure, we can view the integration of fuzzy functions as a fuzzy linear transformation 'from a certain subspace of fuzzy-valued functions to the space of fuzzy numbers. We then show how this can be used to study Fredholm integral equations of the second kind.
Binding of γ-aminobutyric acid and other amino acids by particulate fractions of developing rat brain

La retention de l'acide γ-aminobutyrique dans des particules subcellulaires du cerveau depend davantage du Na+ que ce n'est le cas des autres acides amines. La retention des acides amines dans le cerveau est en fonction de l'âge des rats.
Participation in community intervention design

The role of values in the design of community interventions is discussed. It is argued that participation in the design of community interventions by community members and professional staff associated with the problem of interest is congruent with the values of community psychology. The application and empirical support for the use of five methods for eliciting participation are evaluated. A model of intervention design consisting of seven stages is provided to demonstrate the relative efficacy of participation.
A fast integrated mobility spectrometer with wide dynamic size range: Theoretical analysis and numerical simulation

Abstract A fast integrated mobility spectrometer with wide size range (WSR-FIMS) is described. The WSR-FIMS greatly enhances the dynamic size range of the original FIMS [Kulkarni, P., & Wang, J. (2006a). New fast integrated mobility spectrometer for real-time measurement of aerosol size distribution—I: Concept and theory. Journal of Aerosol Science , 37 , 1303—1325; Kulkarni, P., & Wang, J. (2006b). New fast integrated mobility spectrometer for real-time measurement of aerosol size distribution—II: Design, calibration, and performance characterization. Journal of Aerosol Science , 37 , 1326—1339] by employing a non-uniform electric field. The strength of this electric field varies over three orders of magnitude along the width of the separator, allowing particles of a much wider size range to be classified and measured simultaneously. A theoretical framework is developed to derive the transfer function, resolution, and transmission efficiency of the WSR-FIMS. Two representative operation configurations are simulated, and the results show the WSR-FIMS can simultaneously measure particles ranging from 10 to 1470 nm, therefore greatly reducing the measurement time from minutes required by scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) to 1 s or less. The WSR-FIMS also has a higher size resolution than typical SMPS over most of its measurement size range. For typical ambient aerosols, the simulations show that 1 s measurements using the WSR-FIMS provide good counting statistics.
Theoretical Analysis of the Unusual Temperature Dependence of the Kinetic Isotope Effect in Quinol Oxidation

In this paper we present theoretical calculations on model biomimetic systems for quinol oxidation. In these model systems, an excited-state [Ru(bpy)2(pbim)]+ complex (bpy = 2,2′-dipyridyl, pbim = 2-(2-pyridyl)benzimidazolate) oxidizes a ubiquinol or plastoquinol analogue in acetonitrile. The charge transfer reaction occurs via a proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) mechanism, in which an electron is transferred from the quinol to the Ru and a proton is transferred from the quinol to the pbim− ligand. The experimentally measured average kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) at 296 K are 1.87 and 3.45 for the ubiquinol and plastoquinol analogues, respectively, and the KIE decreases with temperature for plastoquinol but increases with temperature for ubiquinol. The present calculations provide a possible explanation for the differences in magnitudes and temperature dependences of the KIEs for the two systems and, in particular, an explanation for the unusual inverse temperature dependence of the KIE for the ubi...
Mechanisms for accumulation of globin mRNA during dimethyl sulfoxide induction of murine erythroleukemia cells: synthesis of precursors and mature mRNA.

Abstract The role of differential post-transcriptional processing of globin mRNA in the accumulation of this RNA during murine erythroleukemia cell differentiation has been evaluated by two approaches. First, the incorporation of [ 3 H]uridine into globin RNA was followed throughout induction after short and long exposures to the isotope. Incorporation after short times is an index of globin gene transcription, while that after longer times reflects both synthesis and post-transcriptional events. A comparison of the incorporation at these two times will reveal differential processing. The second approach was to determine the proportion of pulse-labeled RNA found in mature globin mRNA and each of its precursors throughout induction. These proportions are a measure of precursor processing rate and this approach demonstrates whether regulation occurs on the level of precursor processing or stabilization. No differential processing was seen by either of these approaches and we conclude that transcriptional activation of the globin gene is the primary mechnism for globin mRNA accumulation in inducing murine erythroleukemia cells.
Male-to-Female Sex Reversal in Mice Lacking Fibroblast Growth Factor 9

Abstract Fgfs direct embryogenesis of several organs, including the lung, limb, and anterior pituitary. Here we report male-to-female sex reversal in mice lacking Fibroblast growth factor 9 ( Fgf9 ), demonstrating a novel role for FGF signaling in testicular embryogenesis. Fgf9 −/− mice also exhibit lung hypoplasia and die at birth. Reproductive system phenotypes range from testicular hypoplasia to complete sex reversal, with most Fgf9 −/− XY reproductive systems appearing grossly female at birth. Fgf9 appears to act downstream of Sry to stimulate mesenchymal proliferation, mesonephric cell migration, and Sertoli cell differentiation in the embryonic testis. While Sry is found only in some mammals, Fgfs are highly conserved. Thus, Fgfs may function in sex determination and reproductive system development in many species.
Project ASPIRE The Development of a Game for Resilience Training

The U.S. Marine Corps’ OSCAR program teaches resilience skills to warfighters. This paper describes the design and development process of Project ASPIRE, a light-weight, Flash-based game that serve...
ERKquake in Noonan syndrome: one step closer to personalized medicine.

A study now provides proof of concept that restoration of Ras-Erk signaling during adulthood rescues cellular and cognitive phenotypes in mouse models of the genetic disorder Noonan syndrome.
Study of Mobility Limiting Mechanisms in (0001) 4H and 6H-SiC MOSFETs

To study the mobility limiting mechanisms in (0001) 4H-SiC and 6H-SiC MOSFETs, physics based modeling of the inversion mobility of has been done. Two very different limiting mechanisms have been found for 4H-SiC and 6H-SiC MOSFETs. The mobility in 6H-SiC MOSFETs is limited by phonon scattering while the 4H-SiC MOSFET mobility is limited by Coulombic at low electric fields and surface roughness scattering at high electric fields.
Decoupled Gating and Simulation for Injection Molding

ABSTRACT Polymer process control is limited by a lack of observability and controllability of the state of the polymer melt. A new polymer processing system is described that utilizes multiple self-regulating valves to independently and dynamically control the melt pressure at multiple locations in a hot runner injection mold. Concurrently, multiple process simulations are executed in parallel to analyze the flow rates, given the pressure drops between the outlets of self-regulating valves and each mold cavity. The developed simulation utilizes a hybrid finite difference and finite element scheme to simultaneously solve the mass, momentum, and heat equations including juncture losses according to a Cogswell model. Numerical verification indicates that the flow rate predictions of the described simulations compare well with the results from a commercial mold-filling simulation. However, empirical validation indicates that the process simulation is qualitatively useful, but does not yet possess sufficient a...
Total parenteral nutrition turbidity and clearing of serum for assay purposes

Abstract Parenteral nutrition such as Liposyn III when introduced into patients causes their serum to become milky thereby creating potentially aberrant analyses when such a medium is subjected to spectrophotometric investigation during the time period prior to the metabolic removal of the intravenously injected triglycerides. However, it is possible to alter chemical reagents by the introduction of enzymatic clearing materials, which rapidly through hydrolytic action by lipases convert the offending triglycerides to glycerol and non-esterified fatty acids. The latter as potential soap formers with calcium and magnesium can be sequentially and quickly incorporated into transparent guest–host complexes with alpha cyclodextrin serving as the host, thus removing them as possible secondary sources of turbidity. Representative procedures incorporating the lipase-alpha cyclodextrin constituents into their reagents thus allow rapid clearing of the medium followed by spectrophotometric measurement during the clarified window of reaction without any change in the modified procedure. Additionally and importantly there is no interference from the addition of the clarifying ingredients added to the reagents. Commonly needed high volume tests such as hemoglobin, glucose, calcium, bilirubin, cholesterol and triglycerides are described as examples in which the clarifying processes are included in this novel analytical technology. No changes in the original methodologies are involved and no preliminary treatments are necessary for these important tests in which the interfering light-scattering properties of a sample are eliminated when optical measurement takes place even during the peak levels of parenteral nutrition necessarily introduced into any patient either adult or neonatal. These procedures involving enzymatic degradation of the triglycerides causing the primary turbidity sequenced to guest–host complexation of liberated fatty acids, the potential secondary turbidity, are effective for clarification of serum samples during measurement. This technology holds whether the source of the hypertriglyceridemia is parenteral nutrition or the pathological presence of excessive triglycerides as in diabetes.
Ampicillin, Tetracycline, and Chloramphenicol Resistant Haemophilus influenzae in Adults with Chronic Lung Disease: Relationship of Resistance to Prior Antimicrobial Therapy

Antibiotic resistance in 1,003 sputum isolates of Haemophilus influenzae from adults with chronic lung disease was assessed from January 1983 through June 1986. The incidence of resistance was 3.2% for tetracycline, 0.6% for chloramphenicol, and 12.5% for ampicillin. Resistance to ampicillin or tetracycline usually occurred alone, while 100% of chloramphenicol resistant isolates were co-resistant to tetracycline or ampicillin. More than 90% of antibiotic resistant isolates were nontypable and belonged to biotypes II, III, or V. Chart reviews of 331 patients revealed that patients with ampicillin resistant isolates were more likely than control subjects to have received ampicillin in the prior 6 wk (33% versus 6%, p less than 0.0001), whereas patients with isolates resistant to tetracycline or chloramphenicol plus tetracycline were more likely to have received tetracycline than control subjects (24% and 50%, respectively, versus 5%, p less than 0.005). The incidence of ampicillin resistance and the reluctance of physicians caring for adults to use chloramphenicol suggests that a newer cephalosporin such as cefotaxime may be the initial therapy of choice for severe H. influenzae disease in our patient population.
Pelvic girdle shape predicts locomotion and phylogeny in batoids.

Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida 33431ABSTRACT In terrestrial vertebrates, the pelvic gir-dle can reliably predict locomotor mode. Because of thediminished gravitational effects on positively buoyantbony ﬁsh, the same relationship does not appear toexist. However, within the negatively buoyant elasmo-branch ﬁshes, benthic batoids employ pelvic ﬁn bottom-walking and punting as primary or supplementaryforms of locomotion. Therefore, in this study, weemployed geometric and linear morphometrics to inves-tigate if their pelvic girdles exhibit shape characteris-tics similar to those of sprawling terrestrialvertebrates. We tested for correlates of pelvic girdleshape with 1) Order, 2) Family, 3) Swim Mode, and/or4) Punt Mode. Landmarks and semilandmarks wereplaced along outlines of dorsal views of 61 batoid pelvicgirdles (3/3 orders, 10/13 families, 35/72 genera). Theﬁrst three relative warps explained 88.45% of the vari-ation among individuals (P<0.01%). Only Order andPunt Mode contained groups that were all signiﬁcantlydifferent from each other (P<0.01%). Discriminantfunction analyses indicated that the majority of varia-tion within each category was due to differences inextension of lateral and prepelvic processes and puboi-schiac bar angle. Over 60% of the original specimensand 55% of the cross-validated specimens were cor-rectly classiﬁed. The neutral angle of the propterygium,which articulates with the pelvic girdle, was signiﬁ-cantly different among punt modes, whereas only pec-toral ﬁn oscillators had differently shaped pelvicgirdles when compared with batoids that perform otherswimming modes (P<0.01). Pelvic girdles of batoidsvary greatly, and therefore, likely function in ways notpreviously described in teleost ﬁshes. This study illus-trates that pelvic girdle shape is a good predictor ofpunt mode, some forms of swimming mode, and a spe-cies’ Order. Such correlation between locomotor styleand pelvic girdle shape provides evidence for the con-vergent evolution of morphological features that sup-port both sprawled-gait terrestrial walking and aquaticbottom-walking. J. Morphol. 000:000–000, 2013.
Infection after shoulder surgery.

Infection after shoulder surgery is rare but potentially devastating. Normal skin flora, including Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Propionibacterium acnes, are the most commonly isolated pathogens. Perioperative measures to prevent infection are of paramount importance, and clinical acumen is necessary for diagnosis. Superficial infections may be managed with local wound measures and antibiotics; deep infections require surgical debridement in combination with antibiotic treatment. Treating physicians must make difficult decisions regarding antibiotic duration and the elimination of the offending organisms by resection arthroplasty, direct implant exchange, or staged revision arthroplasty. Eradication of a deep infection is usually successful, but the course of treatment is often protracted, and tissue destruction and scar may adversely affect functional outcome.
Explanation of the experimental results of light backscattered from a very rough surface

We have calculated reflected and refracted electromagnetic waves from a rough surface with the boundary conditions exactly satisfied. The surface model consists of three parameters: the dimension of the independent cells, h; the parameter in the slope distribution function of the tangent plane t0; and the average radius of curvature of the surface, R. Within the reasonable range of these parameters, we have calculated the polarized component P and the depolarized component D measured by Renau et al. and have found the following features of the scattering of the reflected wave from a rough surface that have not been previously explained theoretically. (i) P and D have very different angular dependences. (ii) Whereas P is a sensitive function of t0, D is almost independent of t0. (iii) D does not vanish at all angles. A qualitative comparison between the data and the calculation is given.
Barriers to early detection of breast cancer among women in a Caribbean population

The purpose of this descriptive study was to identify and describe barriers to early detection of breast cancer, as well as current breast cancer screening behaviors and attitudes regarding the disease, among women aged 20 and older on the Caribbean island of Tobago. Tobago is the smaller of the two islands that make up the nation of Trinidad and Tobago. Between February and June 1996, 265 women fitting the age criteria completed a structured survey questionnaire. Women of African descent made up 89% of the respondents. In terms of age, 48% of those surveyed were between 20 and 39, 40% were between 40 and 59, and 12% were 60 or older. Barriers to early detection identified were a low level of breast self-examination, infrequent clinical breast examinations as part of regular care, unavailability of mammography services on Tobago, cost of screening, and difficulty of traveling to Trinidad for mammography. Furthermore, only a minority of the study participants had ever attended early detection or public awareness programs. The results were nearly the same for individuals with a family history of breast cancer, who would have a higher risk of occurrence of the disease. In addition, the majority of the respondents reported what can be considered a cultural barrier to early detection practices, a belief that no matter what they did, if they were to get breast cancer, they would get it. The authors recommend that mammography services be made available on Tobago. The authors also intend to use the findings to help develop an appropriate, culturally sensitive breast cancer awareness and early detection program for women on the island.
Finite weakest-link model of lifetime distribution of quasibrittle structures under fatigue loading

The design of various engineering structures, such as buildings, infrastructure, aircraft, ships, as well as microelectronic components and medical implants, must ensure an extremely low probability of failure during their service lifetime. Since such a low probability is beyond the means of histogram testing, we must rely on some physically based probabilistic model for the statistics of structural lifetime. Attention is focused on structures consisting of quasibrittle materials. These are brittle materials with inhomogeneities that are not negligible compared with the structure size, as exemplified by concrete, fiber composites, tough ceramics, rocks, sea ice, bone, wood, and many more at the micro- or nano-scale. This paper presents a finite weakest-link model of the fatigue lifetime of quasibrittle structures that fail at the fracture of one representative volume element (RVE). In this model, the probability distribution of critical stress amplitude is first derived by assuming a prescribed number of ...
CD151 represses mammary gland development by maintaining the niches of progenitor cells

Tetraspanin CD151 interacts with laminin-binding integrins (i.e., α3β1, α6β1 and α6β4) and other cell surface molecules to control diverse cellular and physiological processes, ranging from cell adhesion, migration and survival to tissue architecture and homeostasis. Here, we report a novel role of CD151 in maintaining the branching morphogenesis and activity of progenitor cells during the pubertal development of mammary glands. In contrast to the disruption of laminin-binding integrins, CD151 removal in mice enhanced the tertiary branching in mammary glands by 2.4-fold and the number of terminal end buds (TEBs) by 30%, while having minimal influence on either primary or secondary ductal branching. Consistent with these morphological changes are the skewed distribution of basal/myoepithelial cells and a 3.2-fold increase in proliferating Ki67-positive cells. These novel observations suggest that CD151 impacts the branching morphogenesis of mammary glands by upregulating the activities of bipotent progenit...
Gender Ideology Construction A Life Course and Intersectional Approach

Using life course and intersectional perspectives, this study examines how changes in life experiences such as marriage, parenthood, and work are associated with changes in individuals' gender ideology. Using longitudinal survey data and fixed effects, findings suggest that exposure to these experiences influences gender ideology, though with greater variation than previous work has detected. Marriage exerts an egalitarian influence on Blacks but a less egalitarian one on whites. Parenthood has a less egalitarian effect for all married parents but an egalitarian one for most unmarried parents. These findings suggest that gender ideology is dynamic and life experiences are important sources of change. Furthermore, this change depends on individuals' race-gender categories and the configuration of life events to which they are exposed. These nuanced findings amend past work by better identifying for whom and under which conditions life experiences shape gender ideology. In doing so, this study illustrates h...
Integrating reinforcement learning with human demonstrations of varying ability

This work introduces Human-Agent Transfer (HAT), an algorithm that combines transfer learning, learning from demonstration and reinforcement learning to achieve rapid learning and high performance in complex domains. Using experiments in a simulated robot soccer domain, we show that human demonstrations transferred into a baseline policy for an agent and refined using reinforcement learning significantly improve both learning time and policy performance. Our evaluation compares three algorithmic approaches to incorporating demonstration rule summaries into transfer learning, and studies the impact of demonstration quality and quantity, as well as the effect of combining demonstrations from multiple teachers. Our results show that all three transfer methods lead to statistically significant improvement in performance over learning without demonstration. The best performance was achieved by combining the best demonstrations from two teachers.
Roles for Vitamin K Beyond Coagulation

Recent interest in vitamin K has been motivated by evidence of physiological roles beyond that of coagulation. Vitamin K and vitamin K-dependent (VKD) proteins may be involved in regulation of calcification, energy metabolism, and inflammation. However, the evidence for many of these proposed roles in the maintenance of health is equivocal. There is also an emerging viewpoint that the biochemical function of vitamin K may extend beyond that of a cofactor for the VKD carboxylation of glutamyl residues (Glus) to carboxylated Glus in VKD proteins.
Neonatal Care of the Infant of the Diabetic Mother

After completing this article, readers should be able to: 1. Describe the most significant factor influencing neonatal morbidity in the diabetic pregnancy. 2. Characterize the impact of maintaining as normal a metabolic state as possible on the potential for perinatal and neonatal complications. 3. Describe the optimal location and services for delivery of a diabetic parturient. 4. Characterize the evaluation of an infant of a diabetic mother who requires resuscitation after birth. 5. Delineate the factor that most increases the chance of successful management of an infant of a diabetic mother in a regular nursery setting. Although many infants of diabetic mothers (IDMs) have an uneventful perinatal course, there is still an increased risk of complications, even in the infant born to the woman who has gestational diabetes. This discussion highlights specific factors that are critical in the immediate care of the IDM in the delivery room, in the nursery, and after discharge from the hospital. The care of this neonate builds on the pathophysiologic concepts presented in “The Infant of the Diabetic Mother” also appearing in this issue and other recent reviews of the subject. (1)(2) The physician responsible for the care and delivery of the parturient must inform the neonatologist, pediatrician, or their designee responsible for the care of the neonate of the mother’s condition well in advance of delivery to ensure optimal care of the newborn. Among the specific factors that are of utmost importance are the type of diabetes and degree of maternal control, prior pregnancy history, and complications occurring during the pregnancy, including data about fetal monitoring for determination of fetal size and maturation. This information allows the physician caring for the neonate to anticipate many, if not most, of the potential fetal and neonatal complications and assist in determining if a neonatologist needs to be present …
Liver Sinusoidal Endothelial Cell Transplantation Ameliorated Radiation-induced Liver Deformation And Sulfur Colloid SPECT Defect In Mouse Livers Following Partial Liver Irradiation

Purpose/Objective(s): To examine liver deformation and spatial liver function in a mouse model of radiation induced liver disease (RILD), using functional imaging with 99mTechnetium (99mTc) labeled Sulfur Colloid SPECT/CT. We further investigated whether liver sinusoidal endothelial cell (LSEC) transplantation can improve liver function and ameliorate deformation following image-guided stereotactic partial liver irradiation (HIR). Materials/Methods: DPPIV-deficient or C57Bl6 mice underwent a planning CBCT after gastrograffin gavage. Fifty Gy partial liver irradiation was delivered to the median lobe (ML) using the Small Animal Irradiator Platform (SARRP system) set at 220 kVP and 13.5 mA. Maximum bowel point dose was maintained under 20 Gy to prevent GI toxicity. SPECT/CT imaging was obtained using the Inveon Platform 20 mins after 99mTc Sulfur Colloid injection. Sulfur Colloid uptake was quantified in the irradiated and non-irradiated liver regions using planning CBCT isodose lines. For cell transplantation, DPPIV positive LSECs were isolated from C57Bl/6 mice and then injected intrasplenically to anesthetized congenic DPPIV-deficient mice 24 hours after HIR. The recipient mice were sacrificed 4 months post transplantation. Individual liver lobes were weighted separately and liver tissues were analyzed for engraftment and repopulation of transplanted cells using DPPIV histochemistry. Results: Partial liver irradiation to the ML resulted in a significant decrease in the ML weight from 35 4% of the liver weight to 25 3%, one to two months after irradiation. At 4 months, ML weight reached 16% of the whole liver. Sulfur colloid SPECT/CT imaging demonstrated decreased uptake in the irradiated liver regions by 20-25%, six weeks following HIR. One animal that received HIR, followed by mitotic stimulus with hepatocyte growth factor, showed virtually no uptake in the irradiated lobe with significant compensatory hypertrophy of the unirradiated liver one year after HIR. LSEC transplantation restored ML liver weight and by 4 months made up 37-40% of the liver weight while also restoring 99mTc sulfur colloid uptake in the irradiated lobe to baseline levels. DPPIV histochemistry confirmed near total replacement of the irradiated LSECs by the transplanted DPPIV positive cells. Conclusions: This data suggests that HIR resulted in a time-dependent decrease in the weight and functional uptake of 99mTc labeled sulfur colloid in the irradiated liver lobe. LSEC transplantation restored liver weight and improved liver function as demonstrated by 99mTc sulfur colloid SPECT/ CT imaging. Our data provide a rationale for investigating the use of 99mTc sulfur colloid SPECT/CT imaging to monitor patients at risk for developing RILD and LSEC transplantation to ameliorate against RILD. Author Disclosure: R. Kabarriti: None. H. Yaffe: None. W. Zhang: None. W.P. Koba: None. L. Liu: None. P. Asp: None. W.A. Tome: None. C. Guha: None.
Impacts of xenobiotics on crustacean molting: the invisible endocrine disruption.

SYNOPSIS. Aquatic pollution has led to the accumulation of various xenobiotics in crustaceans. A number of these environmental chemicals have been found to interfere with molting of crustaceans. Results of initial mechanistic studies with Uca pugilator suggest that the disruption of molting results from the disturbance to the Y-organ-ecdysteroid receptor (EcR) axis by xenobiotics. Such disturbance to the Y-organ-EcR axis can be caused by interference with epidermal ecdysteroid signaling and/or alterations in ecdysteroidogenesis and/or ecdysteroid disposition. Because the adverse impacts on crustacean molting cannot be readily seen in the wild, the disruption of molting represents an invisible form of endocrine disruption.
Live-cell imaging of mitosis in Caenorhabditis elegans embryos

Caenorhabditis elegans is a wonderful model system for live imaging studies of mitosis. A huge collection of research tools is readily available to facilitate experimentation. For imaging, C. elegans embryos provide large clear cells, an invariant pattern of cell division, only six chromosomes, a very short cell cycle, and remain healthy and happy at room temperature. Mitosis is a complicated process and the types of research questions being asked about the mechanisms involved are continuously expanding. For each experiment, the details of imaging methods need to be tailored to the question. Specific imaging methods will depend on the microscopy hardware and software available to each researcher. This article presents points to consider when choosing a microscope, designing an imaging experiment, or selecting appropriate worm strains for imaging. A method for mounting C. elegans embryos and guidelines for fluorescence and differential interference contrast imaging of mitosis in live embryos are presented.
Eating attitudes and food intakes of elite adolescent female figure skaters: a cross sectional study

Background Elite adolescent female figure skaters compete in an aesthetic-based sport that values thin builds and lithe figures. To conform to the sport’s physical requirements, skaters may alter their eating patterns in unhealthful directions. This study assesses the eating attitudes and dietary intakes of elite adolescent female figure skaters to assess the potential nutritional risks among them.
The Relationship between Partners’ Family-Size Preferences in Southern Malawi

Studies of the relative influence of partners' fertility preferences on behaviors tend to treat preferences as fixed, largely independent traits despite existing theoretical arguments and empirical evidence suggesting that they are moving targets that may be jointly developed within relationships. In this study, we use couple-level panel data from married and unmarried young adults in southern Malawi to examine the relationship between partners' family-size preferences. We find evidence of assortative mating: young Malawians are more likely to partner with individuals who have similar family-size goals. Additionally, although partners' family-size preferences do not perfectly converge, changes among men's and women's preferences are significantly more likely to be "toward" than "away from" those of their partner. Our findings point to a need for studies regarding the relative influence of partners on reproductive outcomes to consider the interdependence of partners' preferences and the varied ways in which partners can influence shared reproductive behaviors.
Cardiac Remodeling After Enzyme Replacement Therapy with Acid α-Glucosidase for Infants with Pompe Disease

Background Infantile Pompe disease (glycogen storage disease type 2) is a fatal disorder caused by deficiency of acid α-glucosidase. This deficiency results in glycogen accumulation in the lysosomes of many tissues including cardiac muscle. The disease is characterized by profound hypotonia, poor growth, organomegaly, and cardiomegaly. Severe hypertrophic cardiomyopathy often is present in early infancy, and most patients die of cardiac or respiratory failure in the first year of life. This report describes the cardiac response of infants with Pompe disease to a phase 2 trial of enzyme replacement therapy (ERT).
High resolution GSO block detectors using PMT-quadrant-sharing design for small animal PET

GSO position-sensitive block detectors have been developed using the PMT-Quadrant -Sharing (PQS) technology for animal PET imaging. Two prototype block detectors with dimensions of 1.51 mm/spl times/1.51 mm/spl times/10 mm (12/spl times/12 array) and 1.66 mm/spl times/1.66 mm/spl times/10 mm (11/spl times/11 array) were built using 19 mm round PMTs. The Enhanced Specular Reflector mirror-film (98% reflectance, 0.065 mm thickness, 3M Co.) was used to control the light collection and distribution in the PQS design. The detector pitches are 1.59 (12/spl times/12) and 1.74 mm (11/spl times/11) and the crystal-packing fractions 95.0 and 95.4%, respectively. List-mode measurements with Cs-137 sources were carried out to investigate the crystal decoding and analyzed to extract the individual crystal spectra. All the crystals in both the detectors were clearly identified and well isolated. The light-collection efficiency is lowest in the central crystals and highest in the crystals of the four corners, with a ratio of 0.76 for the 11/spl times/11 array. The overall energy resolution of the 11/spl times/11 array is 13.5% (15.4% at 511 keV) with a standard deviation of 1.2%, which indicates that the individual energy resolutions of the detector are high and uniformly distributed. From this study, we achieved a high decodable crystals/PMT ratio of 144:1 for the 19 mm PQS GSO detector technology with crystals 10 mm deep. It is believed that these detectors would be useful for high resolution animal PET imaging.
Molecular Dynamic Simulation of Surface Amorphization of NiTi Under Dynamic Shock Peening

Surface amorphization of NiTi has been achieved by ultra-high strain rate dynamic loading induced by ultrasonic nano-crystal surface modification (UNSM). The amorphous microstructure was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). To better understand the physical mechanism of the amorphization process, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation has been implemented to simulate the shock loading process and the results are consistent with the experiment. Central-symmetry parameter (CSP) and radial distribution function (RDF) were used to characterize the microstructure evolution. The simulation result demonstrates that the deformation is first formed as “twining” structure and then transformed into amorphization. The simulation also shows that shock speeds affect the amorphization level on the surface, while the shock amplitude mainly affects the amorphization depth.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Speeding up web page loads with Shandian

Web page loads are slow due to intrinsic inefficiencies in the page load process. Our study shows that the inefficiencies are attributable not only to the contents and structure of the Web pages (e.g., three-fourths of the CSS resources are not used during the initial page load) but also the way that pages are loaded (e.g., 15% of page load times are spent waiting for parsing-blocking resources to be loaded). To address these inefficiencies, this paper presents Shandian (which means lightening in Chinese) that restructures the page load process to speed up page loads. Shandian exercises control over what portions of the page gets communicated and in what order so that the initial page load is optimized. Unlike previous techniques, Shandian works on demand without requiring a training period, is compatible with existing latency-reducing techniques (e.g., caching and CDNs), supports security features that enforce same-origin policies, and does not impose additional privacy risks. Our evaluations show that Shandian reduces page load times by more than half for both mobile phones and desktops while incurring modest overheads to data usage.
Tranexamic Acid for Treatment of Residual Subdural Hematoma After Bedside Twist-Drill Evacuation

Background Management of nonemergent, nonacute subdural hematomas (SDHs) ranges from observation to burr-hole evacuation or craniotomy, but recurrence rates are high. We evaluated the safety and efficacy of tranexamic acid (TXA) for the treatment of residual SDHs after bedside twist-drill evacuation. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of a prospectively maintained database from November 2013 to November 2014 for all patients who underwent placement of a bedside subdural evacuating port system (SEPS) followed by treatment with oral TXA (650 mg daily). All demographics, evidence of venous thromboembolism, and volumes of pertinent computed tomography were obtained. Results Twenty subdural hematomas in 14 patients met the inclusion criteria for this study. Most SDHs were mixed density. Mean SDH volume on presentation was 145.96 ± 40.22 cm 3 with a mean midline shift of 9.44 ± 4.84 mm. Mean volumes decreased to 80.00 ± 31.96 cm 3 and midline shift improved to 4.44 ± 3.29 mm after SEPS placement ( P P = 0.0046). All patients were placed on TXA after their procedure. Mean follow-up with computed tomography was 92.1 ± 27.5 days, and mean SDH volume at last follow-up was 7.41 ± 15.54 cm 3 with a mean midline shift of 0.19 ± 0.69 mm ( P P = 0.0002). Percent volume reduction was significantly higher after TXA than after SEPS (91.31% vs. 40.74%; P Conclusions In our pilot study, chronic SDH volumes were reduced by 40.74% after SEPS drainage. The residual volume was reduced by an additional 91.31% during oral TXA treatment. No patients developed delayed recurrence or expansion of their SDHs. Further prospective studies are needed to evaluate the role of TXA for adjunctive treatment of chronic SDHs.
Liver-derived dendritic cells induce donor-specific hyporesponsiveness: use of sponge implant as a cell transplant model.

Spontaneously accepted mouse liver allografts are capable of protecting subsequently transplanted donor organs from rejection; however, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Dendritic cells (DC) residing in liver grafts are likely important in tolerance induction. DC propagated from mouse liver with GM-CSF are phenotypically and functionally immature. They are poor allostimulators in MLR and prolong survival of pancreatic islet allografts. It has been problematic to perform mechanistic studies in an islet transplant model because of difficulties in obtaining sufficient graft infiltrating cells. In this study, we used a sponge allograft model [i.e.. a subcutaneously implanted sponge matrix loaded with B10 (H2b) spleen cells]. To investigate the influence of administration of donor (B10) liver-derived DC on alloimmune reactivity of C3H (H2k) hosts, sponge graft infiltrating cells (SGIC) and recipient spleen cells were isolated, and their immunophenotype and donor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) activity were examined. The results illustrate that donor-specific CTL activity of T cells are lower in recipients that had received systemic treatment with liver-derived immature DC, associated with a decrease in CD8+ cell population and an increase in Gr-1+ cells in SGIC, compared with recipients treated with mature bone marrow (BM)-derived DC. Interestingly, administration of liver DC directly into the sponge did not inhibit T cell responses. These data suggest that systemic administration of donor liver DC induces donor-specific hyporesponsiveness, probably not by direct inhibition of graft infiltrating T cells. The increased Gr-1+ cells may play immune regulatory roles in induction of host donor-specific hyporesponsiveness.
Obstructed Solitary Pelvic Kidney and Urinary Ascites

We report on a patient with a congenital pelvic kidney who presented with anuria and urinary ascites. Extensive pelvic endometriosis involving the ureteropelvic junction was the cause of severe obstruction. We discuss successful management of this condition and review the literature.
On Constrained Local Model Feature Normalization for Facial Expression Recognition

Real time user independent facial expression recognition is important for virtual agents but challenging. However, since in real time recognition users are not necessarily presenting all the emotions, some proposed methods are not applicable. In this paper, we present a new approach that instead of using the traditional base face normalization on whole face shapes, performs normalization on the point cloud of each landmark. The result shows that our method outperforms the other two when the user input does not contain all six universal emotions.
Neuroscience: Hacking the brain to overcome fear

Confronting fears is a core component of cognitive behavioural therapies for anxiety disorders, but also a major hurdle for patients. A new study introduces a method for reducing defensive responses without consciously confronting the threatening cues, paving the way for fear-reducing therapies via unconscious processing.
Studying the Reliability Implications of Line Switching Operations

This paper proposes a method for studying the reliability implications of line switching operations in power systems. Two case studies are conducted on RTS and IEEE 118-bus system to illustrate this method. This method is designed to explore previously overlooked areas in reliability evaluation of line switching operations. Line removal test is proposed to obtain simulation data of the system, and then with risk analysis and impact analysis, six reliability indices are used to evaluate reliability performance of each transmission line in the system. Instead of the traditionally used mean value, this method introduces variance into analysis. Weibull distribution is used to reconstruct distributions of reliability indices which provide worst case scenario comparisons in reliability evaluation. Eventually, with results obtained from the proposed reliability evaluation method, categorization for line switching operations is introduced to classify all transmission lines based on their reliability performance. The categories provide reliability implications of line switching operations and can be used for guidance in actual operations.
Instrumentation and Experimental Techniques

Electron microscope instrumentation is changing very rapidly, so this chapter outlines only the general features which are desirable in an electron microscope intended for microdiffraction work. Many of the instrumental requirements (particularly in the pole-piece region) will be found to be similar to those for energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis. With the field-emission instruments used for the smallest probes, the need for a large tilting range may conflict with the electron-optical requirements for subnanometer probe formation, which requires a very small pole-piece gap. Several manufacturers are now prepared to offer the customer a series of compromise designs, from which a tilt range and minimum probe size combination can be selected. Certainly, for most of the applications described in this book which use the “incoherent” mode, a double tilt holder offering at least ±40° in one direction and ±60° in the other is desirable.
Maternal Exposure to Childhood Abuse is Associated with Mate Selection: Implications for Autism in Offspring.

Maternal experience of childhood abuse has been associated with offspring autism. To explore whether familial tendency towards autistic traits—presumably related to genetic predisposition—accounts for this association, we examined whether women who experienced childhood abuse were more likely to select mates with high levels of autistic traits, and whether parental autistic traits accounted for the association of maternal abuse and offspring autism in 209 autism cases and 833 controls. Maternal childhood abuse was strongly associated with high paternal autistic traits (severe abuse, OR = 3.98, 95% CI = 1.26, 8.31). Maternal and paternal autistic traits accounted for 21% of the association between maternal abuse and offspring autism. These results provide evidence that childhood abuse affects mate selection, with implications for offspring health.