cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mortality and Recovery Associated with Kidney Failure Due to Acute Kidney Injury

Background and objectives AKI requiring dialysis is a contributor to the growing burden of kidney failure, yet little is known about the frequency and patterns of recovery of AKI and its effect on outcomes in patients on incident dialysis. Design, setting, participants, & measurements Using the US Renal Data System, we evaluated a cohort of 1,045,540 patients on incident dialysis from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2014, retrospectively. We examined the association of kidney failure due to AKI with the outcome of all-cause mortality and the associations of sex and race with kidney recovery. Results Mean age was 63±15 years, and 32,598 (3%) patients on incident dialysis had kidney failure due to AKI. Compared with kidney failure due to diabetes mellitus, kidney failure attributed to AKI was associated with a higher mortality in the first 0–3 months following dialysis initiation (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.28; 95% confidence interval, 1.24 to 1.32) and 3–6 months (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.16; 95% confidence interval, 1.11 to 1.20). Of the patients with kidney failure due to AKI, 11,498 (35%) eventually recovered their kidney function, 95% of those within 12 months. Women had a lower likelihood of kidney recovery than men (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.86; 95% confidence interval, 0.83 to 0.90). Compared with whites, blacks (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% confidence interval, 0.64 to 0.72), Asians (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.82; 95% confidence interval, 0.69 to 0.96), Hispanics (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.82; 95% confidence interval, 0.76 to 0.89), and Native Americans (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.72; 95% confidence interval, 0.54 to 0.95) had lower likelihoods of kidney recovery. Conclusions Kidney failure due to AKI confers a higher risk of mortality in the first 6 months compared with kidney failure due to diabetes or other causes. Recovery within 12 months is common, although less so among women than men and among black, Asian, Hispanic, and Native American patients than white patients.
Artificial Intelligence for Personalized Preventive Adolescent Healthcare.

Abstract Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are creating new opportunities for personalizing technology-based health interventions to adolescents. This article provides a computer science perspective on how emerging AI technologies—intelligent learning environments, interactive narrative generation, user modeling, and adaptive coaching—can be utilized to model adolescent learning and engagement and deliver personalized support in adaptive health technologies. Many of these technologies have emerged from human-centered applications of AI in education, training, and entertainment. However, their application to improving healthcare, to date, has been comparatively limited. We illustrate the opportunities provided by AI-driven adaptive technologies for adolescent preventive healthcare by describing a vision of how future adolescent preventive health interventions might be delivered both inside and outside of the clinic. Key challenges posed by AI-driven health technologies are also presented, including issues of privacy, ethics, encoded bias, and integration into clinical workflows and adolescent lives. Examples of empirical findings about the effectiveness of AI technologies for user modeling and adaptive coaching are presented, which underscore their promise for application toward adolescent health. The article concludes with a brief discussion of future research directions for the field, which is well positioned to leverage AI to improve adolescent health and well-being.
Electron-Nuclear Double Resonance in RbMn F 3

Electron-nuclear double resonance in RbMn${\mathrm{F}}_{3}$ at 4.2\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K is reported. Nuclear saturation was detected as a shift in the field required for antiferromagnetic resonance. At $X$-band frequencies, shifts of up to 500 Oe were obtained. The effective nuclear temperature was found to be a function of the nuclear drive frequency, tending asymptotically towards infinity at the unpulled hyperfine frequency of 687.8 MHz. This value is in good agreement with the value obtained from direct NMR. No anomalous splitting of the hyperfine frequency, as observed with direct NMR, was detected. Nuclear saturation has been observed in magnetizing fields both greater and less than the value for spin flop. Transient measurements yielded a value of 50 msec for ${T}_{1}$ at 4.2\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K.
Prevalence of stress urinary incontinence and intrinsic sphincter deficiency in patients with stage IV pelvic organ prolapse.

Aim To determine the prevalence of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and intrinsic sphincter deficiency (ISD) in women with stage IV pelvic organ prolapse. Methods Retrospective analysis of women with stage IV prolapse who underwent multichannel urodynamic testing. Abdominal leak point pressures (ALPP) and maximum urethral closure pressures (MUCP) were recorded. ISD was defined as ALPP ≤60 cm of water and/or MUCP ≤20 cm of water. Percentages were used to present the proportion of subjects diagnosed with SUI and ISD. Results A total of 145 patients met inclusion criteria. Mean age was 69 years; most patients were Caucasian (56%). Eighty-two (56%) patients were found to have SUI on urodynamic testing. Thirty-six (44%) of these were asymptomatic and identified as having occult SUI. Sixteen (19.5%) patients were diagnosed with ISD using ALPP and/or MUCP. Six (37%) of the ISD patients had at least one MUCP value ≤20 cm of water and 12 (75%) had observed leakage with at least one ALPP value ≤60 cm of water. The number of patients with leakage at ALPP ≤60 cm of water increased with increasing bladder volumes. Five ISD patients (31%) had ALPP ≤60 cm of water at 200 mL, six (37.5%) had ALPP ≤60 cm of water at 300 mL and seven (43.8%) had ALPP ≤60 cm of water at 400 mL. Conclusion Greater than 50% of patients with stage IV pelvic organ prolapse had SUI on urodynamic testing, and 20% were found to have ISD. Of the patients diagnosed with SUI, 40% were asymptomatic. These findings may assist in counseling and preoperative planning for women with stage IV prolapse.
Marginal Person and/or Marginal Situation: The Convert in Mishnah

The topic of Jewish converts and conversion has been of interest to both rabbis and scholars. Their works have been based on both Jewish and non-Jewish texts where they seek to understand the historical, social as well as the textual place of the convert within Judaism and its history. Those that focus upon early rabbinic text will introduce proof texts from all rabbinic literature of the early rabbinic period. In this chapter I will use a focused approach. I will examine only the text of Mishnah, as a stand-alone document (see Porton 1994, pp. 16–17, for a discussion of the development of early rabbinic texts). Mishnah, considered to be the first authoritative rabbinic document or code, was redacted in Palestine in approximately the second century of the common era.
Augmenting aer2vec: Enriching Distributed Representations of Adverse Event Report Data with Orthographic and Lexical Information.

Adverse Drug Events (ADEs) are prevalent, costly, and sometimes preventable. Post-marketing drug surveillance aims to monitor ADEs that occur after a drug is released to market. Reports of such ADEs are aggregated by reporting systems, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). In this paper, we consider the topic of how best to represent data derived from reports in FAERS for the purpose of detecting post-marketing surveillance signals, in order to inform regulatory decision making. In our previous work, we developed aer2vec, a method for deriving distributed representations (concept embeddings) of drugs and side effects from ADE reports, establishing the utility of distributional information for pharmacovigilance signal detection. In this paper, we advance this line of research further by evaluating the utility of encoding orthographic and lexical information. We do so by adapting two Natural Language Processing methods, subword embedding and vector retrofitting, which were developed to encode such information into word embeddings. Models were compared for their ability to distinguish between positive and negative examples in a set of manually curated drug/ADE relationships, with both aer2vec enhancements offering advantages in performances over baseline models, and best performance obtained when retrofitting and subword embeddings were applied in concert. In addition, this work demonstrates that models leveraging distributed representations do not require extensive manual preprocessing to perform well on this pharmacovigilance signal detection task, and may even benefit from information that would otherwise be lost during the normalization and standardization process.
Formal Methods in Human-Computer Interaction and Adaptive Instructional Systems.

Building reliable interactive systems has been identified as an important and difficult task from the late ‘60s. One approach to augment the reliability of interactive systems is to use formal models during system development. Formal methods have received attention for the design and analysis of human-computer interaction (HCI) for thirty years. The field of adaptive instructional systems (AIS) in general, and intelligent tutoring systems in particulars, have been mostly relying on empirical methods for training systems validation (the system supports learning), rather than formal methods for verification (the system meets its specifications). Empirical methods focus on the validity of pedagogical interventions at the individual task and problem sequence levels, using learning analytic methods such as Bayesian knowledge tracing, additive factors models, or machine learning models of human performance. The purpose of the paper is to explore some parallel and the applicability of HCI formal models to AIS. The paper: a) presents key concepts related to HCI formal models using semi-formal representations (workflow graphs), b) gives examples of formal properties to be verified, c) discuss briefly formal notations, and d) defines adaptive human-computer interaction. The last section of the paper discuss the similarity between HCI formal models and AIS standard modules, and identifies some area of applicability of HCI formal models to AIS design, recognizing the central value of AIS empirical methods at the foundation of AIS iterative design.
A Runtime Reconfigurable Design of Compute-in-Memory based Hardware Accelerator

Compute-in-memory (CIM) is an attractive solution to address the “memory wall” challenges for the extensive computation in machine learning hardware accelerators. Prior CIM-based architectures, though can adapt to different neural network models during the design time, they are implemented to different custom chips. Therefore, a specific chip instance is restricted to a specific network during runtime. However, the development cycle of the hardware is normally far behind the emergence of new algorithms. In this paper, a runtime reconfigurable design methodology of CIM-based accelerator is proposed to support a class of convolutional neural networks running on one pre-fabricated chip instance. First, several design aspects are investigated: 1) reconfigurable weight mapping method; 2) input side of data transmission, mainly about the weight reloading; 3) output side of data processing, mainly about the reconfigurable accumulation. Then, system-level performance benchmark is performed for the inference of different models like VGG-8 on CIFAR-10 dataset and AlexNet, GoogLeNet, ResNet-18 and DenseNet-121 on ImageNet dataset to measure the tradeoffs between runtime reconfigurability, chip area, memory utilization, throughput and energy efficiency.
Clinical evaluation of fitness to drive in patients with brain metastases (P6.151)

Objective: To determine whether clinical neurologic examination is sufficient to predict suitability to drive in patients with brain metastases. Background: Brain tumors can result in focal neurological and cognitive deficits which may impair the ability to drive. There are no evidence-based recommendations on driving restrictions for patients with brain metastases. Recommendations vary per practice, with extrapolation based on local driving and epilepsy laws. Occupational Therapy driving assessment (OTDA) may provide insight into limitations for this population. Design/Methods: We assessed the concordance between Neurology assessment of suitability to drive (pass/fail) and OTDA in individuals with brain metastases. 40 subjects will be prospectively enrolled through December 31st. Subjects undergo Neurooncology evaluation followed by OTDA during which a battery of objective measures of visual, cognitive and motor skills are administered. Results of the assessments are blinded. Results: We report preliminary results from the first 17 patients included. Mean age was 67.2 years. 88% had multiple brain metastases. Lung was the primary location of the tumor in 53% cases. 4 of 5 patients who received whole brain radiation therapy and 8 of 11 patients who underwent stereotactic radiosurgery failed the OTDA. There was agreement between the Neurology assessment and OTDA in 41% cases. “Fail” classification by Neurology predicted OTDA failure in 3/3 cases, whereas “pass” classification, predicted OTDA success in 4/14 cases. Failure to meet the required threshold of ≤1.0 seconds visual reaction time was the reason to fail the OTDA in 5/10 cases with lack of agreement. Conclusions: Subtle deficits that may impair the ability to drive safely may not be evident on neurologic examination. While accurate in predicting fails, OTDA more efficiently captured impairment regarding visual reaction speed, a strong predictor of driver safety. The results raise questions about the choice of assessments in making recommendations about fitness to drive in patients with brain metastases. Study Supported by: Saunders funds Mayo Clinic Arizona Opportunity funds Disclosure: Dr. Valencia Sanchez has nothing to disclose. Dr. Gora has nothing to disclose. Dr. Schild has nothing to disclose. Dr. Vora has nothing to disclose. Dr. Ashman has nothing to disclose. Dr. Daniels has nothing to disclose. Dr. Halyard has nothing to disclose. Dr. Rule has nothing to disclose. Dr. Sharma has nothing to disclose. Dr. Mrugala has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Novocure, Abbvie. Dr. Porter has nothing to disclose.
An optimal sensor placement design framework for structural health monitoring using Bayes risk

Abstract This paper presents a novel generalized framework for optimal sensor placement design for structural health monitoring (SHM) applications using Bayes risk as the objective function. Bayes risk considers the costs of consequences associated with making decisions and design selection (extrinsic cost) in the monitoring process, as well as intrinsic costs (e.g., sensor deployment and maintenance costs), which suggests that it is a natural choice for an SHM design objective function. The framework is intended to be sufficiently generalized to be applicable to any optimal sensor placement design used for SHM. To demonstrate the effectiveness and comprehensiveness of the proposed framework, it is applied to an example problem concerning the state detection of the boundary of a beam modeled by springs. We discuss in-depth the specific formulation of Bayes risk for this demonstration problem and detail multiple approaches to evaluate it. This paper addresses the challenges encountered in optimal sensor design problem due to the computationally expensive physics-based model, and it considers various uncertainties through the investigation and integration of Bayesian inference methods, uncertainty quantification, and optimization strategies. The effect of the initial design assumption and the technique used to approximate the Bayes risk on the final optimal sensor design is discussed.
The Biologist and the Mathematician: A Necessary Symbiosis

To gain knowledge about the internal organization of living systems is the goal of every research biologist and is especially tantalizing to those who work in the neurophysiology of the brain. It is only comparatively recently that the approach through mathematical models and artificial simulation has been added to the classical scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, of stimulus and response (with the brain in between as a black box).
Comparison of a simple obstructive sleep apnea screening device with standard in-laboratory polysomnography

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common underdiagnosed sleep disorder. Various strategies have been employed to easily screen for OSA. The ApneaStrip® (AS - S.L.P. Ltd, Tel Aviv, Israel) is an FDA approved OSA screening device applied to the upper lip at home. We evaluated the performance of this device against simultaneous in-laboratory polysomnography (PSG) in a group of well-characterized OSA patients. Diagnostic PSG was performed in 56 patients (29 M, 37 F; age 48.9 ± 14.6 years; body mass index [BMI] 37.5 ± 9.0 kg/m2; apnea-hypopnea index—events/h—[AHI] 32.8 ± 22.9). The AS was applied and positioned to detect nasal and oral airflow. The AS gives a “positive” result for AHI ≥ 15. We examined the sensitivity and specificity of the AS against three thresholds derived from PSG: AHI ≥ 5, AHI ≥ 15 (company recommendation), and AHI ≥ 30. For PSG AHI ≥ 15, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of the AS were 80, 54.5, 87.8, and 40 %, respectively. For PSG AHI ≥ 5, the values were 75.1, 66.7, 97.1, and 13.3 %, respectively. For PSG AHI ≥ 30, the values were 86.9, 36.2, 48.8, and 80 %, respectively. There were no significant modifying effects of age, BMI, gender, hypertension, diabetes, lung disease, and heart disease. The AS has a high sensitivity for detection of OSA with AHI ≥ 15, but only modest specificity. The AS could be a useful component of an OSA screening program; however, negative results should be interpreted cautiously.
Biosynthesis of Insulin and Glucagon: A View of the Current State of the Art

It is now well established that insulin biosynthesis proceeds through a precursor molecule, proinsulin. This single polypeptide chain form has been identified as a ribosomal product in the microsomal fraction from islet tissues. The newly synthesized peptide chain, after folding and thiol oxidation, is transferred to the Golgi apparatus where it begins to undergo proteolytic processing to insulin and packaging into secretory granules. The secretion from the cells of significant amounts of newly synthesized material by exocytosis begins only one hour or more after biosynthesis and this process is regulated by several factors, including glucose. Foci of current attention discussed in this paper include (1) the possible existence of larger precursor forms than proinsulin, especially short-lived biosynthetic transients with extended NH2-termini analogous to the recently described immunoglobulin L chain and proparathyroid hormone precursors; (2) the large-scale production of insulin by chemical or genetic engineering approaches; (3) isolation of beta-cell plasma membranes; (4) regulatory mechanisms for the biosynthesis and secretion of insulin, the possible role of mRNA modification in this process, and effects of somatostatin on insulin biosynthesis and secretion; (5) studies on the secretion, metabolism and clinical usefulness of the proinsulin C-peptide; (6) finally, the biosynthesis of glucagon and other peptide hormones and the general significance of precursor forms.
A Polypeptide Chain of Very High Molecular Weight from Red Blood Cell Membranes

Abstract Preliminary experiments indicate that human erythrocyte membranes contain very large polypeptide chains, of molecular weight about 200,000. This is the second largest molecular weight ever reported for a single polypeptide chain from any mammalian tissue, the only larger one being the heavy chain of myosin.
Integration of controls and diagnostics using neural networks

Controllers capable of performing failure diagnosis have additional diagnostic outputs to detect and isolate sensor and actuator faults. A linear such controller is usually called a four-parameter controller. In this paper; a neural network model of a controller with diagnostic capabilities (CDC) is presented for the first time. This nonlinear neural controller is trained to operate as a traditional controller, while at the same time it provides reproduction of the failure occurring, either at the actuator or the sensor. The cases of actuator and sensor failures are studied independently. Several simulation results concerning a nonlinear plant are provided.
Subaltern Empowerment in the Geoweb: Tensions between Publicity and Privacy

Geographers have argued that the emergence of the geospatial web, or geoweb, represents a radical shift away from the state's monopolization of geospatial technologies. Like the public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS) movement before it, the geoweb research agenda has emphasized a desire for empowerment and participatory democracy. However, this research agenda has also inherited a conceptualization of power that emphasizes the linkages between empowerment and public visibility, and this paper argues that this inheritance opens potentially sensitive geoweb data to exploitation. Geographers therefore have an important role to play in emphasizing the need to explore ways of harnessing the power of the geoweb for marginalized communities while nonetheless maintaining those communities' privacy. This paper uses work with the Maijuna indigenous people of Peru as a case study to begin a discussion about how the political goals of disempowered people may be best obtained through both public and private uses of the geoweb.
Cryocrystallography techniques and devices

In this chapter, practical aspects of cryocrystallography are discussed, with an emphasis on techniques and devices for crystal preparation and handling. Topics covered include crystal mounting, flash cooling and storage of crystals at low temperature.
The Politics of Public Health: Smallpox in Chile

Beset by a variety of diseases, numerous public health measures were advocated in late-nineteenth century Chile. Among these was the call for mandatory vaccination. Although the state supported programmes to encourage vaccination, these were voluntary. In the early 1880s, however, some legislators argued that compulsory vaccination would substantially reduce the death rate. Surprisingly, the legislature rejected this proposal. Claiming that the vaccination legislation would enhance the power of the executive branch, the congressmen soundly rejected an apolitical proposal designed to improve public health.
Extraintestinal Manifestations of Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can be a multisystemic disease involving other organs besides the gastrointestinal tract. Approximately one third of patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis have some extraintestinal disease manifestation. Most often this involves the eyes, skin, joints, kidneys, and liver but well over 100 extraintestinal manifestations have been reported. Since these manifestations can be the presenting symptom, instead of the classic bowel symptoms, in some patients, knowledge about them is critical. Further, extraintestinal manifestations of IBD are a cause of major morbidity in patients and need to be considered and addressed at all points of care. The more common extraintestinal manifestations found in the pediatric population with IBD will be presented in this chapter.
Homes scaling and BCS

It is argued on the basis of the BCS theory that the zero-$T$ penetration depth satisfies ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}(0)\ensuremath{\propto}\ensuremath{\sigma}{T}_{c}$ ($\ensuremath{\sigma}$ is the normal state dc conductivity) not only in the extreme dirty limit ${\ensuremath{\xi}}_{0}/\ensuremath{\ell}\ensuremath{\gg}1$, but in a broad range of scattering parameters down to ${\ensuremath{\xi}}_{0}/\ensuremath{\ell}\ensuremath{\sim}1$ (${\ensuremath{\xi}}_{0}$ is the zero-$T$ BCS coherence length and $\ensuremath{\ell}$ is the mean free path). Hence, the scaling ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}(0)\ensuremath{\propto}\ensuremath{\sigma}{T}_{c}$, suggested as a new universal property of superconductors [Dordevic, Basov, and Homes, Sci. Rep. 3, 1713 (2013)], finds a natural explanation within the BCS theory.
An Inside Look at Hippocampal Silent Cells

Hippocampal pyramidal cells can be divided into place cells, which fire action potentials when an animal is in specific locations, and silent cells, which are not spatially selective. In this issue of Neuron, Epsztein et al. find intracellular differences between place and silent cells by using whole-cell recordings in freely moving rats.
Codon context effects in missense suppression

Abstract After our first observation of codon context effects in missense suppression (Murgola & Pagel, 1983), we measured the suppression of missense mutations at two positions in trpA in Escherichia coli. The suppressible codons in the trpA messenger RNA were the lysine codons, AAA and AAG, and the glutamic acid codons, GAA and GAG. The mRNA sites of the codons corresponded to amino acids 211 and 234 of the trpA polypeptide, positions at which glycine is the wildtype amino acid. Our data demonstrated codon context effects with both pairs of codons. The results indicate that suppression of AAA and AAG by mutant lysine transfer RNAs was more efficient at 211 than at 234, whereas suppression of GAA and GAG by two different mutant glycine tRNAs was more efficient at 234 than at 211. In general, the context effects were more pronounced with GAG and AAG than with GAA and AAA. (In some instances it appeared that suppression of GAA or AAA at a given position was more effective than suppression of GAG or AAG.) By contrast, no context effects were observed with a glyT suppressor of AAA and AAG, a glyT GAA/G-suppressor, and a glyU suppressor of GAG. Our observation of this phenomenon in missense suppression demonstrates that codon context can affect polypeptide elongation and that the effects can be different depending on the codons and tRNAs examined. It is suggested that tRNA-tRNA interaction on the ribosome is involved in the observed context effects.
Modulation of alloreactivity by Mac-1+, -2+, and -3+ macrophages from normal and tumor-bearing hosts: flow cytofluorometrically separated macrophages.

Abstract Macrophages (MФ) are multifunctional cells that regulate humoral and cellular immune responses. Our studies of tumor-induced MФ-mediated dysfunction used MФ subsets which were defined by their Mac-1, Mac-2, and Mac-3 surface markers. To measure the accessory activity of MФ for T cell alloreactivity, thioglycollate-elicited peritoneal MФ from normal and tumor-bearing hosts (TBH) were labeled with anti-Mac-1, -2, or -3 antibodies and separated by flow cytofluorometry. The separated Mac-1+, -2+, and -3+ MФ were called sorted MФ, while unseparated MФ were designated unsorted MФ. Both MФ types were added to mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) cultures at concentrations ranging from a low of 2 % MФ to a high of 20 % MФ. The low concentration of unsorted normal host MФ caused a 31% suppression of alloreactivity. Suppression reached 68 % when high concentrations of unsorted normal host MФ were added to the MLR cultures. Unsorted TBH MФ reduced alloreactivity by 64 % and 86 % at low and high concentrations, respectively. When separated into subpopulations, normal host Mac-1+ MФ reduced alloreactivity by 48 % and 81 % when added at low and high concentrations, respectively. TBH Mac-1+ reduced alloreactivity by 31 % and 59 % at low and high concentrations, respectively. There were no differences in the suppression caused by normal or TBH Mac-2+ MФ, and by normal or TBH Mac-3+ MФ. Indomethacin treatment did not effect the suppression caused by Mac-1+ MФ, suggesting that prostglandin E2 was not involved. Indomethacin treatment did reduce suppression mediated by Mac-2+, -3+, and unsorted MФ. Mac-2+ MФ dramatically enhanced alloreactivity at low concentrations with normal host Mac-2+ MФ providing greater enhancement of alloreactivity than TBH Mac-2+ MФ. The division of MФ into subpopulations on the basis of Mac antigens suggested that Mac-1+ and -3+ MФ played a major role in immunosuppression in the normal host, while Mac-3+ MФ were more active in TBH immunosuppression. Because no one population of sorted TBH MФ was more suppressive than sorted normal host MФ, we suggest that tumor-induced immunosuppression may involve a network of suppressor MФ.
Mechanics of load transfer from matrix to fiber under flexural loading in a glass matrix composite using microfluorescence spectroscopy

Microfluorescence spectroscopy is used to measure the nature of stress transfer from matrix to fiber in a unidirectional fiber composite. A hybrid SiC fiber reinforced transparent glass matrix composite containing a few sapphire sensor fibers is developed. Sapphire fiber is used as a probe to generate fluorescence signal to measure stress in the fiber. The measured nature of load sharing by the fiber under flexural loading is compared with analytical predictions.
Disparate effects of similar phenolic phytochemicals as inhibitors of oxidative damage to cellular DNA.

Abstract Phenolic phytochemicals are natural plant substances whose cellular effects have not been completely determined. Nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) and curcumin are two phenolic phytochemicals with similar molecular structures, suggesting that they possess comparable chemical properties particularly in terms of antioxidant activity. To examine this possibility in a cellular system, this study evaluated the capacities of NDGA and curcumin to function as antioxidants in inhibiting oxidative damage to DNA. Jurkat T-lymphocytes were pre-incubated for 30 min with 0–25 μM of either NDGA or curcumin to allow for uptake. The phenolic phytochemical-treated cells were then oxidatively challenged with 25 μM hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Afterwards, cells were subjected to alkaline micro-gel electrophoresis (i.e. comet assay) to assess the extent of single-strand breaks in DNA. In a concentration-dependent manner, NDGA inhibited H2O2-induced DNA damage, whereas curcumin did not. In fact, incubating Jurkat T-lymphocytes with curcumin alone actually induced DNA damage. This effect of curcumin on DNA did not appear to reflect the DNA fragmentation associated with apoptosis because there was no proteolytic cleavage of poly-(ADP-ribose)-polymerase, which is considered an early marker of apoptosis. Curcumin-induced damage to DNA was prevented by pre-treatment of the cells with the lipophilic antioxidant, α-tocopherol, suggesting that curcumin damaged DNA through oxygen radicals. Therefore, it is concluded that NDGA has antioxidant activity but curcumin has prooxidant activity in cultured cells based on their opposite effects on DNA.
Improved uptake and retention of lipophilic prodrug to improve treatment of HIV.

Abstract Dideoxynucleosides currently in use for anti-HIV therapy have been found to be inefficient in passing through the blood–brain barrier to enter and maintain therapeutic drug levels in brain, a very significant reservoir of HIV. The low bioavailability of these drugs combined with the bone marrow toxicity of AZT (3′-azido, 3′-deoxythymidine, Zidovudine), resulting in anemia and leukopenia, pancreatitis with ddI (2′,3′-dideoxyinosine, Didanosine) and painful peripheral neuropathy in case of ddC (2′,3-dideoxycytosine, Zalcitabine) are the limiting factors in their use. In addition, the emergence of strains of HIV resistant to AZT, the most commonly used drug, further restricts its use. Thus the control of AIDS and its complications, needs special therapeutic approaches to combat the disease. In order to overcome these limitations, AZT and ddI have been synthesized as ester-linked ceramide- and phosphatidylcholine-linked prodrugs possessing therapeutic attributes lacking in the parent compounds. There is greater uptake and longer retention of these prodrugs in NIH/3T3 cells in vitro. Pretreatment with our prodrugs blocked infection of these cells by Moloney murine leukemia virus (M-MuLV) for an extended period, which the parent drugs failed to do. When human CD4+ HeLa cells were continuously exposed to the AZT prodrug, subsequent infection of these cells by HIV was blocked. Similar results were obtained with NIH/3T3 cells exposed to M-MuLV. AE6C, a prodrug of AZT linked to ceramide via a cleavable ester bond and a six carbon linker, was less toxic to both mouse and human bone marrow progenitor cells than free AZT. Most significantly, the prodrugs concentration was greater and the retention longer, in well known sanctuaries for HIV, such as the brain, testes and thymus.
Metabolism and binding of androgens in the spinal cord of the rat.

Abstract The binding of [3H]androgens and estrogens, and the metabolism of [3H]androgens, were studied in the spinal cord of the adult rat. High-affinity, specific binding sites for [3H]testosterone and [3H]estradiol were detected in cytosol fractions from the spinal cords of castrate animals. Equilibrium dissociation constants for reaction of these sites with their respective ligands were similar to those of androgen and estrogen receptors from other regions of the central nervous system. Nuclear binding of [3H]estradiol was observed in the spinal cord 1 h after intravenous administration of the isotope. Likewise, exchange assay demonstrated the presence of high-affinity androgen binding sites in spinal cord nuclei from orchidectomized, testosterone propionate treated animals. 5α-Reductase activity in homogenates of the spinal cord was relatively high, approximately 3 times that in the pooled hypothalamus, preoptic area, septum and amygdala. However, in contrast to the latter brain regions, estrogen formation was not detectable in spinal cord tissue. No sex differences were observed in the metabolism of [3H]testosterone by spinal cord homogenates. These results confirm the presence of androgen and estrogen receptors in the rat spinal cord. The lack of detectable aromatase activity in the spinal cord is consistent with the hypothesis that the effects of circulating testosterone on spinal reflex function are mediated primarily through the androgen receptor system.
Selective laser excitation of charge-compensated sites in KCl:Sm2+

Site-selective laser spectroscopy is used to investigate the defect structure of KCl:${\mathrm{Sm}}^{2+}$. A total of nine sites have been identified at 12 K. Our results indicate that the ${C}_{2v}$[110] nearest-neighbor complex dominates the spectrum. All the other sites belong to clusters that can be eliminated by quenching from elevated temperatures. These clusters may represent the nucleation stage for the formation of the Suzuki phase. The overwhelming dominance of the ${C}_{2v}$[110] center is in disagreement with recent theoretical calculations which estimate the stability of the ${C}_{2v}$[110] and the ${C}_{4v}$[200] complexes to be comparable.
siRecords: an extensive database of mammalian siRNAs with efficacy ratings

Summary: Short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) have been gaining popularity as the gene knock-down tool of choice by many researchers because of the clean nature of their workings as well as the technical simplicity and cost efficiency in their applications. We have constructed siRecords, a database of siRNAs experimentally tested by researchers with consistent efficacy ratings. This database will help siRNA researchers develop more reliable siRNA design rules; in the mean time, siRecords will benefit experimental researchers directly by providing them with information about the siRNAs that have been experimentally tested against the genes of their interest. Currently, more than 4100 carefully annotated siRNA sequences obtained from more than 1200 published siRNA studies are hosted in siRecords. This database will continue to expand as more experimentally tested siRNAs are published. Availability: The siRecords database can be accessed at http://siRecords.umn.edu/siRecords/ Contact: toli@biocompute.umn.edu
Coronary Revascularization Using Bilateral Internal Thoracic Arteries: Safe with Skeletonization?

Substantial evidence exists supporting a long-term survival benefit with bilateral internal thoracic artery (BITA) revascularization in coronary artery bypass grafting. However, this technique remains grossly underutilized worldwide and especially in the United States. In this review, we discuss evidence for the advantages of BITA grafting as well as the associated the risk of sternal wound complications. We then review a growing body of literature that suggests ‘skeletonization’ of the internal thoracic artery during harvest confers a protective benefit against sternal wound infection in patients receiving BITA.
Abstract 1923: The mTOR kinase inhibitor, CC214, preferentially blocks the growth of EGFRvIII-activated glioblastomas

mTOR pathway hyper activation is a common feature in many cancers, including in nearly 90% of Glioblastomas. mTOR exists in two multiprotein complexes, which differ in regulation, function, and response to the allosteric mTOR inhibitor rapamycin. The failure of glioblastomas to clinically respond to rapamycin appears to be mediated both by inability of rapamycin to inhibit mTORC2 signaling, and by failure to fully suppress p4E-BP1, a critical effector of mTORC1. The new generation of mTOR kinase inhibitors (mTORki) has emerged as a new class of targeted cancer therapies capable of blocking mTOR more potently than rapalogs (such as Rapamycin). Here we demonstrate that CC214-1 and CC214-2, mTOR kinase inhibitors, have potent effects on the growth of glioblastoma in vitro and in vivo. Across a panel of GBM cell lines, CC214-1 was significantly more effective at suppressing 4E-BP1 phosphorylation and protein translation, and mTORC2 signaling than rapamycin, resulting in significantly more growth inhibition at equal levels of suppression of S6 phosphorylation. EGFRvIII, the constitutively active EGFR mutant frequently detected in GBMs strongly activates mTORC1 and mTORC2 signaling, potently sensitizing tumors to CC214-1. In contrast, PTEN expression suppressed mTOR signaling and reduced the response to CC214-1. In vivo CC214-2 significantly inhibited mTORC1 and mTORC2 signaling, significantly suppressing tumor growth by 50%. CC214-1 also potently activated autophagy. Addition of chloroquine suppressed autophagy resulting in significant CC214-1-dependent apoptotic cell death. These results demonstrate the potential activity of mTOR kinase inhibitors in GBM, and identify EGFRvIII expression and PTEN loss as molecular determinants of response. These data also suggest that mTOR kinase inhibitors, alone or in combination with autophagy inhibiting agents, are likely to have significant anti-tumor efficacy in GBM patients. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1923. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-1923
Structure and stability of a model three-helix-bundle protein on tailored surfaces.

The interaction of protein molecules with surfaces is important in numerous applications. Theoretical work on protein adsorption has been limited. In particular, it is difficult to obtain quantitative predictions about the structure and stability of proteins on surfaces. In this study, density-of-states-based simulations were performed on a Gō-like model of a three-helix-bundle fragment from protein A (PDB ID: 1bdd). Both mechanical and thermal stability were investigated on neutral and attractive surfaces and compared to that in the absence of a surface. It was found that attaching the peptide to any type of surface decreases its melting temperature by as much as 9 K, depending upon orientation. Calorimetric cooperativity, as measured by van't Hoff to calorimetric enthalpy ratios, similarly decreased. It was also found that the mechanical strength of the peptide attached to surfaces is degraded to varying extents, depending upon the surface type and protein orientation. A comparison of mechanical and thermal stability showed that the two are not synonymous, but occur through different pathways, and that system configurations that are more thermally stable are not always so mechanically. Proteins 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Colonic pneumatosis and intestinal perforations with sunitinib treatment for renal cell carcinoma

Keywords Pneumatosis.Intestinalperforations.Sunitinibtreatment.RenalcellcarcinomaCase historiesPatient 1 A woman with renal cell carcinoma (RCC)presented with sudden right sided flank pain and anuria.Two years earlier she was diagnosed with RCC clear celltype and had a left-sided nephrectomy performed at thattime. Her initial staging evaluation revealed multiplepulmonary nodules consistent with metastatic disease andshe was started on sorafenib therapy. She remained on thistherapy for 9 months, but was then found to haveprogressive disease and high-dose interleukin-2 (IL2) wasinitiated. The patient developed bilateral pulmonary edemaduring her initial course of IL2 which was believed to besecondary to IL2-induced capillary leak and requiredendotracheal intubation. Accordingly, IL2 was abandonedwithout completing a full course and treatment withsunitinib (50 mg daily for 4 weeks followed by a 2 weekbreak) was pursued.Thirteen months after starting sunitinib, the patientdescribed approximately 12 h of acute right-sided flankpain with no urine output over that time period. Her pasthistory included a tiny calculus in the right kidney. Shedenied vomiting, diarrhea or recent change in her bowelmovements. Laboratory analysis revealed a lactate of3.5 mmol/l (normal range 0.5–2.2 mmol/l). A computedtomography (CT) exam of the abdomen and pelvis wasordered, showing colonic pneumatosis on the right andpneumoretroperitoneum (Fig. 1a–d). The patient proceededto surgery, with placement of a ureteral stent and a right-sided hemi-colectomy. Cystoscopy and an intraoperativeretrograde ureteropyelogram did not demonstrate an ob-structive stone and the anuria was attributed to gastrointes-tinal perforation (GIP). Pathologic examination of the rightcolon showed extensive pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis(Fig. 1e) and focal areas of ulceration of the mucosa withtransmural acute and chronic inflammation and giant cellreaction (Fig. 1f); microthrombi were observed in thevessels of the lamina propria. Three regional lymph nodes
π + -p Interactions in the Energy Range around 500 Mev

A hydrogen-filled diffusion cloud chamber investigation of ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{+}\ensuremath{-}p$ interactions in the energy range around 500 Mev is reported. The elastic scattering angular distribution, based on a total of 180 events, is analyzed using only $s$ and $p$ waves, and also using $s$ and $p$ waves with a $d$-wave interference term. Phase shifts are presented and ambiguities are discussed. The $d$-wave contribution is small. The elastic cross section is used to compute the real part of the forward coherent scattering amplitude. The latter is in good agreement with that predicted by the dispersion relations. Inelastic production sets in at about 300 Mev. Eighteen inelastic events were found; 7 were $p$+0, 7 were ${n}^{++}$, and 4 were unidentifiable. Inelastic processes are discussed in terms of various models.
Role of active site residues in the glycosylase step of T4 Endonuclease V. Computer simulation studies on ionization states

T4 Endonuclease V (EndoV) is a base excision repair enzyme that removes thymine dimers (TD) from damaged DNA. To elucidate the role of the active site residues in catalysis, their pKa's were evalua...
MPI-hybrid parallelism for volume rendering on large, multi-core systems

This work studies the performance and scalability characteristics of "hybrid" parallel programming and execution as applied to raycasting volume rendering — a staple visualization algorithm — on a large, multi-core platform. Historically, the Message Passing Interface (MPI) has become the de-facto standard for parallel programming and execution on modern parallel systems. As the computing industry trends towards multi-core processors, with fourand six-core chips common today and 128-core chips coming soon, we wish to better understand how algorithmic and parallel programming choices impact performance and scalability on large, distributed-memory multi-core systems. Our findings indicate that the hybrid-parallel implementation, at levels of concurrency ranging from 1,728 to 216,000, performs better, uses a smaller absolute memory footprint, and consumes less communication bandwidth than the traditional, MPI-only implementation.
Allelic Heterogeneity in Genetic Association Meta-Analysis: An Application to DTNBP1 and Schizophrenia

Background/Aims: Meta-analysis of genetic association studies is a useful approach when individual investigations do not yield studywise significant results but the evidence across studies is modest and homogeneous. Current meta-analysis methods account for heterogeneity by down-weighting studies as a function of between-study variance. We contend that current approaches may obscure interesting phenomena in genetic association data. However, an appropriate approach to examining heterogeneity across studies is lacking. Methods: We develop a novel approach, based on the EM algorithm, to detect allelic heterogeneity, identify subpopulations and assign studies to those subpopulations. We then apply these methods to the association between DTNBP1 and schizophrenia (Scz), one of the most studied relationships in complex disease genetics. We examined 32 published and unpublished population and family-based association studies containing up to 14 SNPs spanning the DTNBP1 locus. Results: We explored heterogeneity in several ways including meta-regression and approaches aimed at exploring the mixture of heterogeneous studies at a particular SNP. We found significant evidence for a mixture of association distributions at multiple loci. Conclusion: We propose a novel approach that is broadly applicable and may be useful in large scale genetic association meta-analyses to detect significant allelic heterogeneity.
Indogate and the Clinton Vote in 1996

The general literature on the electoral effects of scandal leaves it unclear whether Bill Clinton could have been expected to incur serious damage in 1996 as a result of the Democratic Party's raising of illicit foreign contributions. Furthermore, the few specific studies devoted to this Indogate scandal have done little to resolve the question. This study finds that the scandal hurt the president's vote in two major ways. Republican identifiers were subject to a priming effect, causing their choice of a candidate to become more dependent upon evaluations that related to the scandal during the final campaign period and on election day. Voters, however, regardless of partisanship, grew more critical of Clinton on the scandal-related evaluations themselves, which was yet another reason for the electoral harm he experienced.