cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of experimental manipulation of environmental factors on phenol mineralization in soil

The effects of temperature and nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon enrichments on phenol mineralization were determined in the uppermost and deepest horizons of two contrasting soils. Soil samples were amended with trace levels of 14C-phenol and incubated under various experimental conditions. Mineralization was determined by measuring the production of 14CO2 with time. First-order rate constants (k) and extent of mineralization (PO) were estimated from the resulting data using nonlinear regression. Temperature affected mineralization differently as a function of soil type. While not stimulating mineralization in the upper horizons, nitrogen and phosphorus enrichment resulted in faster and more extensive mineralization in the subsurface horizons. Carbon (cellulose) enrichment had little effect in any soil examined. This study demonstrates the importance of temperature and inorganic nutrient availability in controlling the biodegradation of a model pollutant in surface and subsurface soil. It further illustrates the variability that exists between soil types and between different horizons of the same soil type as to factors capable of influencing biodegradation processes.
Calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy and revised zonation of the Pleistocene

Abstract Deep Sea Drilling Project sites 154A, 206, and 289 yielded reasonably complete Pleistocene sections of deep-sea sediments in which a good to excellent succession of calcareous nannofossils is present. A detailed study of the nannofossils from the above three sections and an evaluation of data from several piston cores have resulted in a revised zonation of the Pleistocene in which seven zones are recognized. A reasonably rigorous chronology is established for this zonal succession by correlating all possible biostratigraphic datum levels with magnetic stratigraphy in the Pacific and with paleoclimatic fluctuations in the Pacific and the Caribbean. The ages for intermediate levels are interpolated. From youngest to oldest the proposed zones for the Pleistocene and the absolute ages for their limits are as follows: Emiliania huxleyi Acme Zone 0.07 m.y. Small Gephyrocapsa Zone 1.22 to 0.92 m.y. Emiliania huxleyi Zone 0.27 to 0.07 m.y. Helicopontosphaera sellii Zone 1.51 to 1.22 m.y. Geophyrocapsa oceanica Zone 0.44 to 0.27 m.y. Cyclococcolithina macintyrei Zone 1.65 to 1.51 m.y. Pseudoemiliania lacunosa Zone 0.92 to 0.44 m.y. All of the above zones except one span time periods of 0.3 m.y. or less. The mid-Pleistocene Pseudoemiliania lacunosa Zone extends over a time interval of nearly 0.5 m.y. For the most part the marker species are cosmopolitan forms which have considerable latitudinal range, and are useful in hemipelagic as well as in oceanic Pleistocene strata.
Structural basis for the potent calpain inhibitory activity of peptidyl α-ketoacids

A series of peptidyl α-ketoacids and α-ketoesters was synthesized and studied as μ-calpain inhibitors. Docking studies revealed that the μ-calpain inhibitory activity of the compounds is influenced by hydrogen bonding interactions and the potential for ionic interaction with active site residues as well as placement of a planar N-terminal capping group into the S3 pocket of the enzyme.
Detection of heteroatoms in gas-liquid chromatographic effluents by ion-exchange flame excitation and ionization

Abstract A series of ion-exchange reactions between the effluent gases of a hydrogen flame ionization detector and crystalline salts positioned above the flame were explored as possible bases for detecting heteroatoms. Fluorine-containing compounds released chloride from calcium, barium and iron(II) chlorides for cetection by alkali flame ionization. The response to sulphur was lower. Fluorine- and chlorine-containing compounds released sulphur or phosphorus from calcium sulphide or calcium hypophosphite, respectively, for detection by flame photometry. The results obtained were consistent with the idea that the high specific sensitivity of several detectors could be extended todifferent heteroatoms through the use of on-line ion exchange in the effluent of a hydrogen flame. The primary requirements for the salt appear to be heat stability and deliquescence, and that the cation react with the hetero-atom to form a less soluble salt and or a more volatile acid gas.
Four-membered ring cyclic ketene – O,O – , – O,S – , – O,N – , – S,S – , – S,N – , and – N,N –acetals and their corresponding cations: a computational study

A systematic computational study of four-membered cyclic ketene –O,O–, –O,S–, –O,N–, –S,N– and –N,N-acetals as well as their protonated analogs have been performed at the second order Moller Plesset level with a polarized triple zeta basis set. The main purpose of this study was to make predictions about the nucleophilicity of these systems and the variations in nucleophilicity with the hetero atoms. Our calculations suggest that all six target molecules are good nucleophiles, and that the N,N analog is the strongest and the S,S analog the weakest nucleophile. Our results include molecular geometries, bond lengths, proton affinities, vibrational frequencies, and calculated charges.
Multiple steady states in heterogeneous azeotropic distillation

Abstract In this article we study multiple steady states in ternary heterogeneous azeotropic distillation. We show that in the case of infinite reflux and an infinite number of trays one can construct bifurcation diagrams on physical grounds with the distillate flow as the bifurcation parameter. Multiple steady states exist when the distillate flow varies non-monotonically along the continuation path of the bifurcation diagram. We show how the distillate and bottom product paths can be located for tray or packed columns, with or without decanter. We derive a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of these multiple steady states based on the geometry of the product paths. We also locate in the composition triangle the feed compositions that lead to these multiple steady states. We show that the prediction of the existence of multiple steady states in the case of infinite reflux and an infinite number of trays has relevant implications for columns operating at finite reflux and with a finite number of trays.
Does gender play a role in functional asymmetry of ventromedial prefrontal cortex

We found previously in a lesion study that the right-sided sector of the ventromedial prefrontal cortices (VMPCs) was critical for social/emotional functioning and decision-making, whereas the left side appeared to be less important. It so happened that all but one of the subjects in that study were men, and the one woman did not fit the pattern very well. This prompted a follow-up investigation, in which we explored the following question: Does gender play a role in the development of defects in social conduct, emotional functioning and decision-making, following unilateral VMPC damage? We culled from our Patient Registry same-sex pairs of men or women patients who had comparable unilateral VMPC damage in either the left or right hemisphere. Two male pairs and one female pair were formed, and we included two additional women with unilateral right VMPC damage (8 patients in all). The domains of measurement covered social conduct, emotional processing and personality, and decision-making. We found a systematic effect of gender on the pattern of left‐right asymmetry in VMPC. In men, there were severe defects following unilateral right VMPC damage, but not following left-sided damage. In women, there were defects following unilateral left VMPC damage; following right-sided damage, however, defects were mild or absent. The findings suggest that men and women may use different strategies to solve similar problems—e.g. men may use a more holistic, gestalt-type strategy, and women may use a more analytic, verbally-mediated strategy. Such differences could reflect asymmetric, gender-related differences in the neurobiology of left and right VMPC sectors.
Scheduling design activities with a pull system approach

The design process can be considered as a series of design phases. Each design phase can be further divided into number of design activities. In the network of design activities, the design activities generate information which is used by the succeeding activities. Since importance of the input information available from different activities changes with respect to the requirement of the design activities, a pull system approach for the management of design activities is proposed. Due to the concurrent consideration of many factors in the design process, it is required that the design activities are performed by teams of experts. In addition to the multiple resource requirement, the uncertainty in the weights and duration of design activities makes the problem of scheduling design activities complex. A heuristic algorithm is proposed to solve the problem considered in this paper.
Extracting Resistances of Carbon Nanostructures in Vias

This paper describes a current-sensing technique to extract the resistances of carbon nanostructures in via interconnects. Test structures designed and fabricated for via applications contain carbon nanofiber (CNF)-metal composites embedded in silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ). Electrical characterization of single CNFs is performed using an atomic force microscope (AFM). This technique yields a metal-CNF contact resistance of 6.4 k? and a lowest CNF resistivity of 1.89e-4 ?-cm.
Solar Subsurface Flow Inferred Directly from Frequency-Wavenumber Correlations in the Seismic Velocity Field

We describe a general strategy for inverting helioseismic data for laterally inhomogeneous (aspherical) structure, in which the physical state of the solar interior is compared directly with inhomogeneity-induced correlations in the observable seismic wave field. The method was used to invert for subsurface supergranular-scale flow using Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Michelson Doppler Imager high spatial resolution Doppler images. Although many approximations were made in carrying out the inversion, general agreement (a correlation coefficient of 0.68) was found between the Doppler component of the seismically inferred flow in the photosphere and the directly observed surface Doppler signal.
Early lactate clearance is associated with biomarkers of inflammation, coagulation, apoptosis, organ dysfunction and mortality in severe sepsis and septic shock

Lactate clearance, a surrogate for the magnitude and duration of global tissue hypoxia, is used diagnostically, therapeutically and prognostically. This study examined the association of early lactate clearance with selected inflammatory, coagulation, apoptosis response biomarkers and organ dysfunction scores in severe sepsis and septic shock. Measurements of serum arterial lactate, biomarkers (interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, interleukin-6, interleukin-8, interleukin-10, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, high mobility group box-1, D-Dimer and caspase-3), and organ dysfunction scores (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II, Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Multiple Organ Dysfunction Score, and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment) were obtained in conjunction with a prospective, randomized study examining early goal-directed therapy in severe sepsis and septic shock patients presenting to the emergency department (ED). Lactate clearance was defined as the percent change in lactate levels after six hours from a baseline measurement in the ED. Two-hundred and twenty patients, age 65.0 +/- 17.1 years, were examined, with an overall lactate clearance of 35.5 +/- 43.1% and in-hospital mortality rate of 35.0%. Patients were divided into four quartiles of lactate clearance, -24.3 +/- 42.3, 30.1 +/- 7.5, 53.4 +/- 6.6, and 75.1 +/- 7.1%, respectively (p < 0.01). The mean levels of all biomarkers and organ dysfunction scores over 72 hours were significantly lower with higher lactate clearance quartiles (p < 0.01). There was a significant decreased in-hospital, 28-day, and 60-day mortality in the higher lactate clearance quartiles (p < 0.01). Early lactate clearance as a surrogate for the resolution of global tissue hypoxia is significantly associated with decreased levels of biomarkers, improvement in organ dysfunction and outcome in severe sepsis and septic shock.
Is all free time above the minimum inhibitory concentration the same: implications for β-lactam in vivo modelling

Previously, ertapenem 50 mg/kg every 6h given subcutaneously to mice achieved a similar 24-h cumulative free time above the minimum inhibitory concentration (fT>MIC) to 1g every 24h in humans. However, this simplified regimen (SR) does not provide a superimposable concentration-time profile to that observed in humans, thus allowing concentrations to fluctuate above and below the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) throughout the 24-h period. Herein, we compared a complex regimen (CR; 9 various mg/kg doses over 24 h) providing a near superimposable concentration-time profile with the SR to determine implications on bacterial kill against eight extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing isolates over a wide MIC range. The CR resulted in a similar (+/-5%) 24-h cumulative fT>MIC to ertapenem 1 g every 24h in humans over an MIC range of 0.032 mg/L to 16 mg/L. Similar bacterial kill was observed with both regimens against all eight ESBL-producing isolates examined. In mouse models, it appears that the 24-h cumulative fT>MIC and not the distribution of the fT>MIC over 24 h drives efficacy.
The effects of hyperthermia in bone marrow purging of breast cancer

The number of autologous bone marrow transplants done for solid tumours, particularly breast cancer, has risen steadily over the last ten years. The role of bone marrow or peripheral blood progenitor cell purging in transplantation is incompletely understood. Theoretically, the reinfusion of untreated bone marrow containing tumour cells might result in relapse in some patients treated with highdose chemotherapy and hematopoietic support. Therefore, safe and effective purging techniques may increase longterm, disease-free survivorship. In this study, hyperthermia was evaluated for its ability to purge CAMA-1 breast cancer cells from normal human bone marrow. Between two and nine trials of a range of temperatures (42–45d`C) and durations of treatment (1–4 h) were performed. The effect of hyperthermia on normal bone marrow alone and in mixes with breast cancer cells was also evaluated. Hyperthermia (45d`C, 4h) produced >5 logs of CAMA-1 cell kill. Exposures of 45d`C for 2h and 44d`C for 4h resulted in approx...
Cultural Tourism in Transnational Adoption: “Staged Authenticity” and Its Implications for Adopted Children

The discursive practices of adoptive parents in two online transnational adoption forums (2006-2008) and observations of five international adoption workshops suggest that what Heather Jacobson described as culture keeping, the cultural socialization of children that retains a sense of native group identity, is more aptly characterized as cultural tourism, the selective appropriation and consumption of renovated cultural symbols, artifacts, and events that serve as the source of identity construction for adopted children. A feature of consumer capitalism, cultural tourism in transnational adoption helps shape the contours of cultural and racial identity. It also provides a partial understanding of how adopted children often fail to develop hybrid identities and how adult adoptees exist on the margins of two cultures.
A systematic review of randomized controlled trials of acupuncture in the treatment of depression

Abstract Background Acupuncture has become a popular complementary and alternative treatment approach. This review examined the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining the effects of acupuncture treatment of depression. Methods RCTs of the treatment of depression with acupuncture were located using MEDLINE, Allied and Complementary Medicine and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. The methodology of RCTs was assessed using the Jadad criteria, and elements of research design, i.e., randomization, blinding, assessment of attrition rates, were quantified for systematic comparisons among studies. Results Among the 9 RCTs examined, five were deemed to be of low quality based upon Jadad criteria. The odds ratios derived from comparing acupuncture with control conditions within the RCTs suggests some evidence for the utility of acupuncture in depression. General trends suggest that acupuncture modalities were as effective as antidepressants employed for treatment of depression in the limited studies available for comparison. However, placebo acupuncture treatment was often no different from intended verum acupuncture. Limitations The RCTs extracted were limited by small sample sizes, imprecise enrollment criteria, problems with randomization, blinding, brief duration of study and lack of longitudinal follow-up. Conclusions Despite the findings that the odds ratios of existing literature suggest a role for acupuncture in the treatment of depression, the evidence thus far is inconclusive. However, efforts are being made to standardize complementary approaches to treat depression, and further systematized research into their use is warranted.
Poisson tests of declustered catalogues

The commonly enunciated reason to decluster catalogues is so that the remaining ‘main’ events will be consistent with a spatially inhomogeneous, temporally homogeneous Poisson process (SITHP) model. But are they? Conclusions depend on the declustering method, the catalogue, the magnitude range, and the statistical test. Gardner and Knopoff's (1974) conclusion that 1932–1971 southern California events with M≥ 3.8 are Poisson after declustering apparently results from their use of a test with low power. That test ignores space, is insensitive to long-term rate variations, is relatively insensitive to seismicity rate fluctuations on the scale of weeks, and uses an inaccurate approximation to the null distribution of the test statistic. Better temporal tests and a novel spatio-temporal test show that SITHP does not fit M≥ 3.8 1932–1971 or 1932–2010 Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) catalogues declustered using Gardner and Knopoff's windows in a linked-window or a mainshock-window algorithm. For M≥ 4.0, SCEC catalogues declustered using the Gardner-Knopoff windows in a linked-window method are far closer to SITHP, while catalogues declustered using those windows in a mainshock-window method are inconsistent with SITHP. Reasenberg's (1985) declustering method applied to southern California seismicity produces catalogues inconsistent with SITHP, even for events with M≥ 4.0. If enough events are deleted from a catalogue, the remainder always will be consistent with SITHP. This suggests posing declustering as an optimization problem: Delete the fewest events such that those left pass a particular test or suite of tests for SITHP. While that optimization problem is combinatorially complex, inexpensive suboptimal methods are surprisingly effective: Declustered catalogues can be consistent with temporal tests of SITHP at significance level 0.05 and have 50–80 per cent more events than window-declustered catalogues that are inconsistent with SITHP. However tests that incorporate spatial information reject the SITHP hypothesis for those declustered catalogues, illustrating the importance of using spatial information.
Structural pyramids for representing and locating moving obstacles in visual guidance of navigation

The author presents an image pyramidal approach for representing and locating moving obstacles in the visual guidance of navigation for mobile robots or autonomous land vehicles. The algorithm is based on the utilization of a structural representation of the image in pyramids. A thresholding and mapping scheme for generating the structural pyramids is described. Obstacles are represented and located in terms of the grid cells in structural pyramids. Orthogonal projections are applied to calculate the velocity and acceleration of the moving objects and predict possible collision. >
Effects of crosstalk on the performance and design of all-optical networks with fiber nonlinearities

In all-optical networks, signals are propagated through switches with no electrical regeneration. The switches used in all-optical networks (called optical crossconnects, or OXC) are prone to signal leaking; due to the absence of electrical regeneration, these leaked signals, called crosstalk signals, may therefore propagate through hundreds to several thousands of kilometers. Moreover, crosstalk may be enhanced by fiber nonlinearities during the propagation, hence severely impairing network performance. In this paper, we present a simulation study that highlights the issues of crosstalk-impaired all-optical networks. We show that crosstalk cannot be ignored while designing all-optical networks and routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) algorithms and we show how network design and RWA could account for the presence of crosstalk.
Effect of structural distortion on fabry-perot temperature response

Low expansion glass cavities with optically contacted mirrors can exhibit structural distortions at the mirrors which significantly shift the temperature at which dn/dT = 0. An analytical analysis that incorporates finite element modeling is given.
Human adults and human infants show a "perceptual magnet effect" for the prototypes of speech categories, monkeys do not

Many perceptual categories exhibit internal structure in which category prototypes play an important role. In the four experiments reported here, the internal structure of phonetic categories was explored in studies involving adults, infants, and monkeys. In Experiment 1, adults rated the category goodness of 64 variants of the vowel /i/ on a scale from 1 to 7. The results showed that there was a certain location in vowel space where listeners rated the /i/ vowels as best instances, or prototypes. The perceived goodness of Iii vowels declined systematically as stimuli were further removed from the prototypic Iii vowel. Experiment 2 went beyond this initial demonstration and examined the effect of speech prototypes on perception. Either the prototypic or a nonprototypic IM vowel was used as the referent stimulus and adults’ generalization to other members of the category was examined. Results showed that the typicality of the speech stimulus strongly affected perception. When the prototype of the category served as the referent vowel, there was significantly greater generalization to other /i/ vowels, relative to the situation in which the nonprototype served as the referent. The notion of aperceptual magnet was introduced. The prototype of the category functioned like a perceptual magnet for other category members; it assimilated neighboring stimuli, effectively pulling them toward the prototype. In Experiment 3, the ontogenetic origins of the perceptual magnet effect were explored by testing 6-month-old infants. The results showed that infants’ perception of vowels was also strongly affected by speech prototypes. Infants showed significantly greater generalization when the prototype of the vowel category served as the referent; moreover, their responses were highly correlated with those of adults. In Experiment 4, Rhesus monkeys were tested to examine whether or not the prototype’s magnet effect was unique to humans. The animals did not provide any evidence of speech prototypes; they did not exhibit the magnet effect. It is suggested that the internal organization of phonetic categories around prototypic members is an ontogenetically early, species-specific, aspect of the speech code
The persistence of fad interventions in the face of negative scientific evidence: Facilitated communication for autism as a case example

AbstractCommunication disorder and mental health professionals may assume that once novel clinical techniques have been refuted by research, they will be promptly abandoned. Using facilitated communication (FC) for autism as a recent case example, we provide evidence to the contrary. Although FC was scientifically discredited by the mid-to-late 1990s, data we review demonstrate that it is still frequently administered in clinical and educational settings. We examine evidence for FC’s (a) continued use as an intervention for autism, (b) persistence in academic and institutional settings, (c) popularity in online and print sources, (d) promotion in the media, and (e) ongoing risk to caregivers accused of sexual abuse. We analyze the sources of these troubling developments, explore their ethical implications, and offer recommendations for addressing the spread of FC and other fad interventions.
Quality control of asphalt compaction using GPS-based system architecture

This paper describes research to develop a GPS-based automated quality control system for tracking pavement compaction. The research team has experimented with both vector and raster based algorithms and believe that the raster-based algorithm may be more efficient in this application. Simulated tests on CTS-111 have been extremely encouraging, and the team continues to improve the system for testing. After the tests are completed, the researchers are confident that this technology can be fitted in existing compactors at a cost of about $10,000 per compactor, including GPS devices, radios, hardware, and software.
Part tilting in capillary-based self-assembly: Modeling and correction methods

We present a model and experimental results on tilt angle of microparts in capillary-driven self-assembly. The assembly is carried out in an aqueous environment, using a heat curable adhesive for part-substrate lubrication and mechanical bonding. Silicon parts and substrate have matching hydrophobic binding sites, which drive the assembly by surface energy minimization. Force balance analysis of an assembled part leads to a model describing the dependence of tilt angle on assembly parameters such as adhesive volume and water-adhesive interfacial tension. The effect of adhesive volume on tilt angle is investigated experimentally. Tilt correction of the assembled parts is achieved by providing external energy to the system via vertical vibration.
A quantitative sucrose gradient analysis of the translational activity of 18 mRNA species in testes from adult mice

Sucrose gradients have been widely used to study the translational activity of mRNA species in meiotic and haploid spermatogenic cells in mammals. Unfortunately, the results of these studies have been very inconsistent. The purpose of the present study was to obtain accurate and reproducible measurements of the translational activity of a large number of testicular mRNA in sucrose gradients. Extracts of adult testes and cultured seminiferous tubules were sedimented on sucrose gradients, and the distribution of 18 mRNA species was quantified by phosphoimaging. The proportions of various mRNA species sedimenting with polysomes in meiotic and haploid cells (approximately 6-74%) is less than typical of efficiently translated mRNAs (85-90%), demonstrating that the initiation of translation of virtually all mRNA species is at least partially inhibited and that the extent of inhibition is mRNA-specific. Most mRNA species in meiotic and early haploid spermatogenic cells are translated on polysomes in which the ribosome spacing is somewhat wider than in somatic cells, 100-150 verses 80-100 bases. However, the ribosome spacing on protamine mRNAs is unusually close (40-50 bases), and the spacing on poly(A) binding protein mRNA is unusually wide (212-272 bases), thus suggesting that the rate of translational initiation, termination and/or elongation is regulated on translationally active forms of certain mRNA.
Prenatal Perfluorooctanoic Acid Exposure in CD-1 Mice: Low-Dose Developmental Effects and Internal Dosimetry

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is an environmental contaminant that causes adverse developmental effects in laboratory animals. To investigate the low-dose effects of PFOA on offspring, timed-pregnant CD-1 mice were gavage dosed with PFOA for all or half of gestation. In the full-gestation study, mice were administered 0, 0.3, 1.0, and 3.0 mg PFOA/kg body weight (BW)/day from gestation days (GD) 1-17. In the late-gestation study, mice were administered 0, 0.01, 0.1, and 1.0 mg PFOA/kg BW/day from GD 10-17. Exposure to PFOA significantly (p < 0.05) increased offspring relative liver weights in all treatment groups in the full-gestation study and in the 1.0 mg PFOA/kg group in the late-gestation study. In both studies, the offspring of all PFOA-treated dams exhibited significantly stunted mammary epithelial growth as assessed by developmental scoring. At postnatal day 21, mammary glands from the 1.0 mg/kg GD 10-17 group had significantly less longitudinal epithelial growth and fewer terminal end buds compared with controls (p < 0.05). Evaluation of internal dosimetry in offspring revealed that PFOA concentrations remained elevated in liver and serum for up to 6 weeks and that brain concentrations were low and undetectable after 4 weeks. These data indicate that PFOA-induced effects on mammary tissue (1) occur at lower doses than effects on liver weight in CD-1 mice, an observation that may be strain specific, and (2) persist until 12 weeks of age following full-gestational exposure. Due to the low-dose sensitivity of mammary glands to PFOA in CD-1 mice, a no observable adverse effect level for mammary developmental delays was not identified in these studies.
Clinical Significance of Loss of ARID1A Expression in Colorectal and Small Intestinal Carcinoma.

Clinical Significance of Loss of ARID1A Expression in Colorectal and Small Intestinal Carcinoma
Src and STAT3 inhibitors synergize to promote tumor inhibition in renal cell carcinoma

The intracytoplasmic tyrosine kinase Src serves both as a conduit and a regulator for multiple processes required for the proliferation and survival cancer cells. In some cancers, Src engages with receptor tyrosine kinases to mediate downstream signaling and in other cancers, it regulates gene expression. Src therefore represents a viable oncologic target. However, clinical responses to Src inhibitors, such as dasatinib have been disappointing to date. We identified Stat3 signaling as a potential bypass mechanism that enables renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cells to escape dasatinib treatment. Combined Src-Stat3 inhibition using dasatinib and CYT387 (a JAK/STAT inhibitor) synergistically reduced cell proliferation and increased apoptosis in RCC cells. Moreover, dasatinib and CYT387 combine to suppress YAP1, a transcriptional co-activator that promotes cell proliferation, survival and organ size. Importantly, this combination was well tolerated, and caused marked tumor inhibition in RCC xenografts. These results suggest that combination therapy with inhibitors of Stat3 signaling may be a useful therapeutic approach to increase the efficacy of Src inhibitors.
Challenges in the management of aortic stenosis

Unfortunately, physicians who manage aortic stenosis do not encounter straightforward classic cases very often.
Association between number of live births and markers of subclinical atherosclerosis: The Dallas Heart Study

AimsHigher parity has been associated with increased maternal risk of cardiovascular disease, but the mechanism is not well delineated. Whether the number of live births is associated with coronary...
Hypocalcemia and Increased Serum Calcitonin in Baby Rats Given Glucose Orally

SummaryBaby rats, 15 days old, were fasted > 13 hr and given 1.5 ml 5% glucose by stomach tube. Control babies were gavaged with 1.5 ml 0.9% NaCl which itself did not affect serum calcium or CT.Gavage with glucose produced a fall in serum calcium of 0.5-1.0 mg/dl 60 min later (P < 0.05-<0.005). Glucose produced a fall in serum phosphorus at 60 min similar to that in serum calcium. Measurement of immunoreactive CT in serum showed a significant rise from ~120 pg/ml or less up to as much as 900 pg/ml (P < 0.01). A time course study showed that serum CT increased and serum calcium decreased only at 60 min after oral glucose; values had not changed at 30 min and had returned to control levels by 90 min. In contrast, serum glucose was high (~300 mg/dl) at 30 min after gavage and had returned toward the control level (~130 mg/dl) by 60-90 min. The decrease in Ca after glucose must, at least in part, be due to CT since after thyroidectomy glucose did not produce a significant fall in serum calcium.The findings sh...
Geological Modeling of Dual Porosity Igneous Reservoir in Chepaizi Oilfield in Junggar Basin

Based on the geological, seismic, logging, well test data and the structural modeling, the lithofacies, fracture zone, fracture density and fracture porosity models for dual porosity reservoir of igneous rocks in Chepaizi oilfield in Junggar basin are developed. Also, the structural system model for target zones with different sizes and scales are developed, including hydrodynamic and permeability models for dual porosity reservoirs based on the tectonic stress, imaging log, micro-seismic wave inspection and well test analysis, etc. These models can be used as guides for calculation of the reserves in such a reservoir in Chepaizi oilfield.
Study on the stability of ofloxacin and levofloxacin in 9 kinds injections

Objective To observe the stability of ofloxacin and levofloxacin in 9 kinds of injections. Methods The contents ofloxacin and levofloxacin in 9 kinds of injections were determined by RP-HPLC. The color and clarity of injections were also assessed. The insoluble particles and pH were also measured. Results There were no or few changes in the appearance, pH, and contents of solutions. The number of insoluble particles were less than the limit standard in ChP( 2005 ). Conclusions The ofloxacin and levofloxacin in 9 injections were stable with in 8 h.
The studies on the countermeasures of students' physical health during the reform of universities' physical education curriculum

In accordance with the situation of college students'health,this article studies to establish the university physical science curriculum,and implement student physical health intervention mechanism to curb the decline in physical fitness of students.Results:The model form of teaching with "three independent,one intervention""club",extra-curricular sports activities with "a contest monthly,a small event weekly,arrangements every day",and integration "in class" of teaching intervention models,are targeted strongly,and inspired the "weak" student interest and motivation training to ensure the upward trend of their physical health.
Differential Susceptibility of Guanine Nucleotide-binding Proteins to Pertussis Toxin-catalyzed ADP-ribosylation in Brain Membranes of Two Congeneric Marine Fishes.

Pertussis toxin-catalyzed [32P]ADP-ribosylation was used to probe the guanine nucleotide binding regulatory proteins Gi and Go in brain membranes from two scorpaenid fishes, Sebastolobus alascanus ...
Reducing Communication Costs for Sparse Matrix Multiplication within Algebraic Multigrid

We consider the sequence of sparse matrix-matrix multiplications performed during the setup phase of algebraic multigrid. In particular, we show that the most commonly used parallel algorithm is often not the most communication-efficient one for all of the matrix-matrix multiplications involved. By using an alternative algorithm, we show that the communication costs are reduced (in theory and practice), and we demonstrate the performance benefit for both model (structured) and more realistic unstructured problems on large-scale distributed-memory parallel systems. Our theoretical analysis shows that we can reduce communication by a factor of up to 5.4 for a model problem, and we observe in our empirical evaluation communication reductions of factors up to 4.7 for structured problems and 3.7 for unstructured problems. These reductions in communication translate to run-time speedups of factors up to 2.8 and 2.5, respectively.
Suspicious Lives: Delinquency in the 1802 Poems

In a comment particularly pertinent to Wordsworth (and indeed to most Romantic writers), Foucault explains the central role that biography played in an important innovation in nineteenth-century police: the development of the concept of delinquency. This rubric replaced the amateur constable’s mission of apprehending criminals, guilty of a discrete offense, with the professional policeman’s diagnosis of delinquents, individuals whose predilection toward crime – whether they actually had violated a law or not – was verified by a “slow formation … shown in a biographical investigation,” carried out from the “triple viewpoint of psychology, social position, and upbringing” (Foucault, D&P, 252). Investigators policing delinquency associated details about an individual’s life seemingly irrelevant to a particular offense with a tendency to commit crime – a practice that in our own time has been rationalized in the profession of the criminal profiler. The twentieth-century identification of certain types of crime with social isolation, regularly disseminated through the newcast cliche for murder suspects, “s/he was a loner,” is one obvious example of the kind of link legal professionals make between crimes and character traits with no obvious, causal connection. Delinquency enters British policing practice not through a desire to circumvent the actions of violent criminals, for example, but in response to the vagrancy problem in London during the 1790s and early 1800s.
No Body's Perfect

How do you see blackness? What does it look like? Can it be shown? In seeming response to such uncertainties, artists Renee Green, Satch Hoyt, and Sheila Pree Bright forgo representation of the black body altogether. In installation and photographic works— Seen (1990), Say It Loud (2004), and Suburbia (2005–7), respectively—they instead present spaces seemingly for any body, black or otherwise, within contexts that signify black lives, histories, and experiences. The works affirm that the nature of blackness is not a given, while they demonstrate ways in which it has come to be regarded as such. Via texts, sounds, and objects the artists challenge us to see, not bodies, but the cultural constructions of and around them. Moreover, Green, Hoyt, and Bright demonstrate that blackness cannot be seen or shown by any body, or, rather, no body is perfect.
Selected Aspects of Cell and Molecular Biology of In Vivo Biocompatibility

The biocompatibility of an implanted material or prosthetic device is a dynamic and two-way process that involves the time dependent effects of the host on the material and the material on the host. The implantation of any synthetic material initiates a wound healing mechanism that is characterized by the inflammatory response. However, the inflammatory response itself involves complex and highly regulated interactions between specific cells and various molecular mediators. An understanding of these interactions which occur following biomaterial implantation has been hindered by the difficulty in quantifying the cellular and biological events.
Spatial methods for deriving crop rotation history

Abstract Benefits of converting 11 years of remote sensing classification data into cropping history of agricultural fields included measuring lengths of rotation cycles and identifying specific sequences of intervening crops grown between final years of old grass seed stands and establishment of new ones. Spatial and non-spatial methods were complementary. Individual-year classification errors were often correctable in spreadsheet-based non-spatial analysis, whereas their presence in spatial data generally led to exclusion of fields from further analysis. Markov-model testing of non-spatial data revealed that year-to-year cropping sequences did not match average frequencies for transitions among crops grown in western Oregon, implying that rotations into new grass seed stands were influenced by growers’ desires to achieve specific objectives. Moran’s I spatial analysis of length of time between consecutive grass seed stands revealed that clustering of fields was relatively uncommon, with high and low value clusters only accounting for 7.1 and 6.2% of fields.
"Making the Invisible Visible: Seeing "Unprepared"" Students Through a Bourdieusian Lens"

We teach undergraduate management courses at the same Massachusetts state university. It is a running theme at our school that our students are unprepared to do the work we ask of them. ‘Unprepared’ suggests to us both a manifest message and a latent message. The manifest message the word ‘unprepared’ sends is that our students are literally not ready for the work we assign them to do. The latent message implied to us, using an exemplar of Kathleen Gabriel’s book Teaching Unprepared Students, review of the research, and our own faculty-student interactions, is that our students are not socialized into the middle class. We thus argue for a rereading of Gabriel’s book and a rethinking of practical applications based on an explicit incorporation of Bourdieu’s work on habitus, cultural capital, and social class.
In Vivo Indicators of Cytoplasmic, Vacuolar, and Extracellular pH Using pHluorin2 in Candida albicans.

ABSTRACT Environmental or chemically induced stresses often trigger physiological responses that regulate intracellular pH. As such, the capacity to detect pH changes in real time and within live cells is of fundamental importance to essentially all aspects of biology. In this respect, pHluorin, a pH-sensitive variant of green fluorescent protein, has provided an invaluable tool to detect such responses. Here, we report the adaptation of pHluorin2 (PHL2), a substantially brighter variant of pHluorin, for use with the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans. As well as a cytoplasmic PHL2 indicator, we describe a version that specifically localizes within the fungal vacuole, an acidified subcellular compartment with important functions in nutrient storage and pH homeostasis. In addition, by means of a glycophosphatidylinositol-anchored PHL2-fusion protein, we generated a cell surface pH sensor. We demonstrated the utility of these tools in several applications, including accurate intracellular and extracellular pH measurements in individual cells via flow cytometry and in cell populations via a convenient plate reader-based protocol. The PHL2 tools can also be used for endpoint as well as time course experiments and to conduct chemical screens to identify drugs that alter normal pH homeostasis. These tools enable observation of the highly dynamic intracellular pH shifts that occur throughout the fungal growth cycle, as well as in response to various chemical treatments. IMPORTANCECandida albicans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that colonizes the reproductive and gastrointestinal tracts of its human host. It can also invade the bloodstream and deeper organs of immunosuppressed individuals, and thus it encounters enormous variations in external pH in vivo. Accordingly, survival within such diverse niches necessitates robust adaptive responses to regulate intracellular pH. However, the impact of antifungal drugs upon these adaptive responses, and on intracellular pH in general, is not well characterized. Furthermore, the tools and methods currently available to directly monitor intracellular pH in C. albicans, as well as other fungal pathogens, have significant limitations. To address these issues, we developed a new and improved set of pH sensors based on the pH-responsive fluorescent protein pHluorin. This includes a cytoplasmic sensor, a probe that localizes inside the fungal vacuole (an acidified compartment that plays a central role in intracellular pH homeostasis), and a cell surface probe that can detect changes in extracellular pH. These tools can be used to monitor pH within single C. albicans cells or in cell populations in real time through convenient and high-throughput assays.
Stress relaxation behavior of oat flakes

Abstract It is important to understand the viscoelastic properties of cereals as they affect product texture. Therefore, the stress relaxation behavior of oat flakes was studied using static testing. The oat flakes exhibited linear viscoelastic behavior at strain levels under 2%. The relaxation modulus was directly influenced by the moisture content of the samples; it was low at higher moisture levels. A two-element generalized Maxwell model fitted well to describe the viscoelastic behavior of oat flakes with its high R2 and low RMSE. The first and second stress coefficients ( G 1 a n d G 2 ) and the second relaxation time component ( τ 2 ) of the model generally decreased as the moisture content of the samples increased, which implied that samples showed lower resistance against applied force and relaxed faster with the increase in moisture content. The viscoelastic behavior of oat flakes was a function of both moisture content and temperature. The viscoelastic properties obtained in this study can be used to improve the textural attributes of oat-based products and further utilized in mathematical models describing drying or sorption processes.
Distribution and Charge State of Iron Impurities in Intentionally Contaminated Lead Halide Perovskites

Impurity contamination in thin-film solar cells remains an uncertain risk due to the little-known impact of impurities on recombination. Building upon previous work, in which we intentionally contaminated lead halide perovskite (LHP) solar cells with iron, we further examine the distribution and charge state of iron-induced defects in LHP films using synchrotron-based X-ray techniques. X-ray absorption measurements suggest that iron-rich regions, which form among iron feedstock concentrations that exceed 100 ppm, most closely resemble the chemistry of Fe2O3. Iron distributed within the bulk may form a mix of Fe2+ and Fe3+, the latter of which is not expected to be recombination active, potentially allowing LHPs to incorporate more iron than traditional semiconductors. X-ray beam induced current measurements show little correlation between the presence of iron-rich regions and charge collection, which further suggests low recombination activity at these sites. These results further elucidate the recombination behavior caused by iron incorporation in LHP films, revealing insight into how inhomogeneous incorporation of impurities may mitigate photovoltaic performance degradation.
IMP3 Stabilization of WNT5B mRNA Facilitates TAZ Activation in Breast Cancer.

Summary Insulin-like growth factor-2 mRNA-binding protein 3 (IMP3) is an oncofetal protein associated with many aggressive cancers and implicated in the function of breast cancer stem cells (CSCs). The mechanisms involved, however, are poorly understood. We observed that IMP3 facilitates the activation of TAZ, a transcriptional co-activator of Hippo signaling that is necessary for the function of breast CSCs. The mechanism by which IMP3 activates TAZ involves both mRNA stability and transcriptional regulation. IMP3 stabilizes the mRNA of an alternative WNT ligand (WNT5B) indirectly by repressing miR145-5p, which targets WNT5B, resulting in TAZ activation by alternative WNT signaling. IMP3 also facilitates the transcription of SLUG, which is necessary for TAZ nuclear localization and activation, by a mechanism that is also mediated by WNT5B. These results demonstrate that TAZ can be regulated by an mRNA-binding protein and that this regulation involves the integration of Hippo and alternative WNT-signaling pathways.