cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 1892: Dysfunction of resident memory CD8+ T cells facilitates breast cancer lung metastasis

Resident memory T cells (TRM) are generally intraepithelially located and manifesting defence potential in diverse existing virus infection models. However, their roles in cancer development, especially metastasis, are poorly understood. Herein, by using a murine model orthotopically inoculated with 4T1 mammary carcinoma cells, we demonstrated the dynamic distribution and functional changes of lung TRM during the formation of lung pre-metastatic niche. Peri-alveolar accumulation of CD8+ T cells, which constitutively express early activation marker CD69 and epithelial-resident marker CD103, is identified. These draining lymph nodes originated and tumor-specific TRM cells, with high expression of IFN-γ and other cytotoxic cytokines, patrol along blood stream and infiltrate in the pre-metastatic lung. IFN-γ coverts alveolar macrophages in the pre-metastatic lung into a immunosuppressive phenotype with high expression of IDO1, which reciprocally compromises the anti-tumor effects of TRM. In conclusion, our study revealed the alteration of lung TRM during the process of metastasis and its interaction with lung pre-metastatic niche, indicating that by finding possible approaches to enhancing TRM function or strengthening local defenses could decrease breast cancer lung-tropic metastasis. Citation Format: Erwei Song, Yue Xing, Shicheng Su. Dysfunction of resident memory CD8+ T cells facilitates breast cancer lung metastasis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1892.
‘Disease management’ in chronic medical conditions

The term 'disease management' falls strangely on the ears of the practicing physician, because managing disease is a good phrase to describe a large portion of his/her work. Historically, disease has been managed on a one-on-one arrangement between physician and patient. As managed care systems have developed in response to the need to regulate total spending on health care, a need arose to assist the process of medical decision-making that could be driven by data, and not by personal experience and knowledge alone. Managed health care aims at maximizing value of medical services to all parties, the payer as well as the consumer. It includes initiatives for preventive services and flexible algorithms to optimize treatment of diseases. Disease management (DM) and pharmacy benefit management (PBM) have been perceived and developed as components within managed health care. DM focuses on specific (often common) illnesses, and includes the identification of the population at risk as well as therapeutic guidelines. Because DM (and PBM as well) is based on data and includes elements of control and/or decision making for the provider involved, an information infrastructure is an essential element. Although this infrastructure would be most efficiently handled by computers, computers are enablers rather than essential elements of DM. This chapter will discuss why management solutions were needed for health care, how they developed initially, why the drivers for DM development were (and continue to be) economic, how DM works, and how it can be implemented. The chapter will discuss DM only, as it is the part of the managed care approach in which physicians can play a role. DM was initially directed to those chronic conditions that accounted for the largest portion of health-care expenses, i.e. diabetes, depression, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, osteoporosis. osteoarthri t is , benign prostatic hypertrophy, asthma, cancer, and peptic ulcer disease. These are mostly diseases that have (or had) a large impact on hospital costs. Thus, most of gastroenterology, aside from gastrointestinal bleeding or peptic ulcer disease [1], would be excluded from the initial focus of DM. Yet such a focus has begun and will continue. The end of the chapter outlines the progress that has been made to date on inflammatory bowel disease.
Conceptualizing the future: Marx’s value theory and the debate on markets and planning

AbstractMarx posits a vision of socialism in which mass-produced items are priced via computation of embodied labour-time with remuneration such that one hour of actual labour is exchanged for item...
Methods used to maximize follow-up: Lessons learned from the therapeutic Hypothermia after Pediatric Cardiac Arrest Trials*

Objectives To describe telephone interview completion rates among 12-month cardiac arrest survivors enrolled in the Therapeutic Hypothermia after Pediatric Cardiac Arrest In-Hospital and Out-of-Hospital trials, identify key characteristics of the completed follow-up interviews at both 3- and 12-month postcardiac arrest, and describe strategies implemented to promote follow-up. Setting Centralized telephone follow-up interviews. Design Retrospective report of data collected for Therapeutic Hypothermia after Pediatric Cardiac Arrest trials, and summary of strategies used to maximize follow-up completion. Patients Twelve-month survivors (n = 251) from 39 Therapeutic Hypothermia after Pediatric Cardiac Arrest PICU sites in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom. Interventions Not applicable. Measurements and main results The 3- and 12-month telephone interviews included completion of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Second Edition. Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Second Edition data were available on 96% of 3-month survivors (242/251) and 95% of 12-month survivors (239/251) with no differences in demographics between those with and without completed Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Second Edition. At 12 months, a substantial minority of interviews were completed with caregivers other than parents (10%), after calls attempts were made on 6 or more days (18%), and during evenings/weekends (17%). Strategies included emphasizing the relationship between study teams and participants, ongoing communication between study team members across sites, promoting site engagement during the study's final year, and withholding payment for work associated with the primary outcome until work had been completed. Conclusions It is feasible to use telephone follow-up interviews to successfully collect detailed neurobehavioral outcome about children following pediatric cardiac arrest. Future studies should consider availability of the telephone interviewer to conduct calls at times convenient for families, using a range of respondents, ongoing engagement with site teams, and site payment related to primary outcome completion.
Outpatient antimicrobial stewardship: Optimizing patient care via pharmacist led microbiology review.

Background Cultures are often taken in the outpatient setting but results are not acted upon, leading to unnecessary re-presentations to the health care setting. Methods This study was a prospective study with interventions made between January 1, 2018, and January 1, 2019. Cultures were reviewed to ensure appropriate antimicrobial coverage. The objective was to compare outcomes with accepted versus rejected interventions. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize data. Results A total of 7,360 antibiotic orders were reviewed by the infectious diseases pharmacists. Pharmacists intervened on 20.1% (n = 194) of encounters with related cultures. Interventions were most frequent in the emergency department (42%). Ciprofloxacin required the most interventions (26%), followed by third-generation cephalosporins (22%). The intervention acceptance rate was 76%, which was associated with decreased rates of 30-day treatment failure (5% vs 28%, P Discussion Approximately 20% of patients required intervention. Culture review services may be beneficial in a variety of outpatient settings. Outpatient stewardship literature is limited, and our study found a decrease in admission and treatment failure. Conclusions Microbiology review and intervention positively impacted care for outpatients. Intervention was associated with significantly decreased rates of treatment failure and admission when interventions were accepted.
Enveloped in the American Flag: Contrasting National Identity within Olympic and National Football League Media Consumption

This study explored causal relationships and moderation effects in the context of the National Football League (NFL; American football), employing 732 respondents from a pair of nationally represen...
Disease Characteristics, Radiologic Patterns, Comorbid Diseases, and Ethnic Differences in 32 Patients With Rosai-Dorfman Disease.

OBJECTIVE Rosai-Dorfman disease (RDD) is a rare and idiopathic nonneoplastic disease of histiocytes that is characterized by lymphadenopathy and extranodal disease. In this study, we documented anatomical preferences, imaging findings, comorbid diseases, and ethnic differences in 32 RDD patients. METHODS We conducted a retrospective review of pathologically confirmed cases seen at our institution from 1998 to 2016. These cases were analyzed for (a) anatomical locations, (b) radiologic appearance, (c) comorbid diseases, and (d) differences between ethnic groups. RESULTS We found 32 patients with RDD, 18 were women and 14 were men. There were 51 lesions in all patients, 23.5% of which were nodal, involving 11 lymph node regions, and 76.5% were extranodal. Cervical lymph nodes and maxillofacial area were the most common affected nodal and extranodal locations, respectively. Only 4 (12.5%) of 32 patients had pure nodal involvement, whereas 20 (62.5%) of 32 had pure extranodal disease and 8 (25%) of 32 had mixed nodal and extranodal disease.Anatomically, RDD affected multiple organs in our cohort, including the lymphatic system, maxillofacial area (glandular and nonglandular tissues), superficial soft tissue, central nervous system, breast, peritoneum, gastrointestinal tract, and lungs.Radiologically, RDD presentation was variable from an organ to another. However, most lesions were hypermetabolic on 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography/computed tomography and isointense on T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Computed tomographic findings were extremely variable between organs.Comorbid diseases were found in 11 patients. Those patients had 17 comorbid diseases; the most common were autoimmune diseases, viral diseases, and cancer.The organ distribution of RDD was slightly different between ethnic groups. The most frequent disease location for African Americans was lymph nodes; for whites, central nervous system and nonglandular maxillofacial (27.3% each); for Asians, lymph nodes, subcutaneous tissue, and nonglandular maxillofacial (25% each); and for Hispanics, lymph nodes and glandular maxillofacial (33.3% each). CONCLUSIONS Rosai-Dorfman disease represents a wide-spectrum disease not limited to lymph nodes. Radiologically, RDD has diverse imaging findings. However, most lesions were hypermetabolic on 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography/computed tomography and isointense on T1-weighted imaging. Patients with RDD have a high rate of comorbid diseases including autoimmune disease, viral infections, and cancer.
Automating Certification Objectives with SpeAR

The Speci cation and Analysis of Requirements (SpeAR) tool is a requirements prototyping and analysis tool based on the formal semantics of the Lustre language. It features a domain speci c language that formally captures functional requirements of systems or software. Once formalized, requirements can be analyzed to demonstrate correct- ness, consistency, and traceability using in nite-state model checking tools, such as JKind. The formal notation and analyses that SpeAR supports can be used to automate activities related to certi cation of safety critical software as suggested by DO-178C: Software Considera- tions in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certi cation. This standard de nes a rigorous software development process that ensures that soft- ware development activities produce object code that implement sys- tem requirements correctly, while introducing no additional functional- ity. Recent updates to the guidance allow for the use of formal methods to satisfy DO-178C certi cation objectives as outlined in DO-333: For- mal Methods Supplement to DO-178C and DO-278A. This paper walks through an e ort in which SpeAR is used to automate certi cation ac- tivities for production avionics software. It focuses on the use of SpeAR to address veri cation objectives related to the software design artifacts of DO-178C, replacing manual peer review activities with more rigorous formal-methods based analyses.
A non-canonical Hippo pathway regulates spindle disassembly and cytokinesis during meiosis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Meiosis in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is used to create haploid yeast spores from a diploid mother cell. During meiosis II, cytokinesis occurs by closure of the prospore membrane, a membrane that initiates at the spindle pole body and grows to surround each of the haploid meiotic products. Timely prospore membrane closure requires SPS1, which encodes a STE20-family GCKIII kinase. To identify genes that may activate SPS1, we utilized a histone phosphorylation defect of sps1 mutants to screen for genes with a similar phenotype and found that cdc15 shared this phenotype. CDC15 encodes a Hippo-like kinase that is part of the mitotic exit network. We find that Sps1 complexes with Cdc15, that Sps1 phosphorylation requires Cdc15, and that CDC15 is also required for timely prospore membrane closure. We also find that SPS1, like CDC15, is required for meiosis II spindle disassembly and sustained anaphase II release of Cdc14 in meiosis. However, the NDR-kinase complex encoded by DBF2/DBF20 MOB1 which functions downstream of CDC15 in mitotic cells, does not appear to play a role in spindle disassembly, timely prospore membrane closure, or sustained anaphase II Cdc14 release. Taken together, our results suggest that the mitotic exit network is rewired for exit from meiosis II, such that SPS1 replaces the NDR-kinase complex downstream of CDC15.
Sufficient Dimension Reduction: Methods and Applications With R

For some time, I have wanted to learn about sufficient dimension reduction (SDR), but have never quite known where or how to begin. Work in SDR began in the early 1990s with a set of papers by Ker-...
‘Can’t Have It All’: A Longitudinal Analysis of the Effect of Parental Leave on Early-Career Wage Growth

Work-family policies (WFPs) are a result of policymakers’ efforts to effectively support labor force participants work and family domains. Often, users of WFPs experience penalties or lower organizational rewards, which inhibits the effect of WFPs. To further study this, we examine the long-term effects of unpaid and paid parental leave on wage growth. Based on the ideal worker norm framework and signaling theory, we hypothesize that using paid/unpaid parental leave will result in lower wage growth over time, above and beyond the negative effect of having children. We further hypothesize that men will be penalized more than women for using parental leave. To test our hypotheses, we use the 1997 National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth with a sample of individuals who worked before and after taking parental leave. We find that, for both women and men, having children is associated with lower wage growth over time. Supporting our hypotheses, we find that women are penalized more than men for having children, while men are penalized more for using parental leave.
Recent Developments in Microtechnology-Based Chemical Heat Pumps

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has an ongoing program focused on the development of compact chemical heat pumps based on the absorption cycle. Design and laboratory data suggest that, by taking advantage of the high rates of heat and mass transfer available in microstructures, we are able to radically reduce the size of a heat-actuated heat pump based on the absorption cycle. Current estimates suggest a size reduction of a factor of 60 compared with a conventional heat pump. High performance is achieved by using microchannel combustor technology, microchannel heat exchangers and ultra-thin-film micromachined contactors. Currently all of the components of the system have been demonstrated and PNNL is assembling a complete bench-scale version of the device. Successful development of this technology will enable a new class of compact, heat-actuated space conditioning systems that can be used for portable or distributed heating and cooling.
Soil disturbance affects plant growth via soil microbial community shifts

Recent advances in climate research have discovered that permafrost is particularly vulnerable to the changes occurring in the atmosphere and climate, especially in Alaska where 85% of the land is underlain by mostly discontinuous permafrost. As permafrost thaws, research has shown that natural and anthropogenic soil disturbance causes microbial communities to undergo shifts in membership composition and biomass, as well as in functional diversity. Boreal forests are home to many plants that are integral to the subsistence diets of many Alaska Native communities. Yet, it is unclear how the observed shifts in soil microbes can affect above ground plant communities that are relied on as a major source of food. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that microbial communities associated with permafrost thaw affect plant growth by growing five plant species found in Boreal forests and Tundra ecosystems, including low-bush cranberry and bog blueberry, with microbial communities from the active layer soils of a permafrost thaw gradient. We found that plant growth was significantly affected by the microbial soil inoculants. Plants inoculated with communities from above thawing permafrost showed decreased growth compared to plants inoculated with microbes from undisturbed soils. We used metagenomic sequencing to determine that microbial communities from disturbed soils above thawing permafrost have differences in taxonomy from microbial communities in undisturbed soils above intact permafrost. The combination of these results indicates that a decrease in plant growth can be linked to soil disturbance driven changes in microbial community membership and abundance. These data contribute to an understanding of how microbial communities can be affected by soil disturbance and climate change, and how those community shifts can further influence plant growth in Boreal forests and more broadly, ecosystem health.
Do you believe in dragons? An outbreak of Salmonella ser. Agbeni in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Introduction Nontyphoidal Salmonella encompasses over 2500 serotypes of S. enterica subsp. enterica capable of causing asymptomatic infection, self-limited gastroenteritis, or invasive disease. Neonates are at high risk for invasive disease given the immaturity of their gastrointestinal tract and cell-mediated immunity. They also excrete bacteria longer after infection than older individuals. In nurseries, outbreaks may last months to years. Serotyping is essential for tracking outbreaks and can predict both severity of illness and source of infection. While traditional serotyping uses DNA fingerprinting, Salmonella surveillance is moving towards whole genome sequencing (WGS) for more precise characterization of isolates. Laptop-compatible sequencing technology and open-source bioinformatics make WGS accessible …
The impact of Uber and Lyft on vehicle ownership, fuel economy, and transit across U.S. cities

We estimate the effects of transportation network companies (TNCs) Uber and Lyft on vehicle ownership, fleet average fuel economy, and transit use in U.S. urban areas using a set of difference-in-difference propensity score-weighted regression models that exploit staggered market entry across the U.S. from 2011 to 2017. We find evidence that TNC entry into urban areas causes an average 0.7% increase in vehicle registrations with significant heterogeneity in these effects across urban areas: TNC entry produces larger vehicle ownership increases in urban areas with higher initial ownership (car-dependent cities) and in urban areas with lower population growth (where TNC-induced vehicle adoption outpaces population growth). We also find no statistically significant average effect of TNC entry on fuel economy or transit use but find evidence of heterogeneity in these effects across urban areas, including larger transit ridership reductions after TNC entry in areas with higher income and more childless households.
AGRIBUSINESS DEVELOPMENT FOR FARMING RICE ON PROGRAM CONCERN TO FARMER FOOD SECURITY AT BOALEMO REGENCY

The research aims to develop an alternative recommendation agribusiness program development paddy rice farming relation to food security in the district was. This research is quantitative. Sources of data in this research is secondary data and primary data from questionnaires. The data analysis technique used is the SWOT analysis. These results indicate that Based on the SWOT analysis proves that the strategy of the development of barns through agribusiness development program to support rice farming rice fields of food security in the district was located in quadrant I, which means it supports aggressive strategy or strategies SO. In quadrant I (aggressive) all the potential power that the majority of the district was a farmer who has the experience and motivation of farming is high, the potential for a large area, the production ability is above average, and institutional barns that support, can utilize / seize opportunities demand for rice increases, as well as increased yield harvest with agricultural intensification, so the chances of barns society has the potential to be developed further.
Knowledge-Infused Global-Local Data Fusion for Spatial Predictive Modeling in Precision Medicine

The automated capability of generating spatial prediction for a variable of interest is desirable in various science and engineering domains. Take precision medicine of cancer as an example, in which the goal is to match patients with treatments based on molecular markers identified in each patient's tumor. A substantial challenge, however, is that the molecular markers can vary significantly at different spatial locations of a tumor. If this spatial distribution could be predicted, the precision of cancer treatment could be greatly improved by adapting treatment to the spatial molecular heterogeneity. This is a challenging task because no technology is available to measure the molecular markers at each spatial location within a tumor. Biopsy samples provide direct measurement, but they are scarce/local. Imaging, such as MRI, is global, but it only provides proxy/indirect measurement. Also available are mechanistic models or domain knowledge, which are often approximate or incomplete. This article proposes a novel machine learning framework to fuse the three sources of data/information to generate a spatial prediction, namely, the knowledge-infused global-local (KGL) data fusion model. A novel mathematical formulation is proposed and solved with theoretical study. We present a real-data application of predicting the spatial distribution of tumor cell density (TCD)--an important molecular marker for brain cancer. A total of 82 biopsy samples were acquired from 18 patients with glioblastoma, together with six MRI contrast images from each patient and biological knowledge encoded by a PDE simulator-based mechanistic model called proliferation-invasion (PI). KGL achieved the highest prediction accuracy and minimum prediction uncertainty compared with a variety of competing methods. The result has important implications for providing individualized, spatially optimized treatment for each patient.
Downward Nominal Wage Rigidity and Determinacy of Equilibrium

It is well known that there is a tension between the frequency and duration of the zero lower bound on the nominal interest rate (ZLB) and the determinacy of equilibrium. In this article, I show that the presence of downward nominal wage rigidity (DNWR) resolves the tension by preventing a vicious cycle of price declines and output contractions under the ZLB. Consequently, the model with DNWR can replicate the long-lived ZLB episodes observed in the data.
Abstract TP327: Major Inflammatory Pathways in Peripheral Blood Associate With Intracerebral Hemorrhage Volume in Human

Objectives: Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) volume is a major determinant of functional outcome. The peripheral immune system plays a critical role in post-ICH damage and repair. Identifying potenti...
Identifying Novel Psoriatic Disease Drug Targets Using a Genetics-Based Priority Index Pipeline:

Background:Despite numerous genome-wide association studies conducted in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, only a small fraction of the identified genes has been therapeutically targeted.Objective...
TERT Promoter Mutations Are Enriched in Oral Cavity Cancers and Associated With Locoregional Recurrence

PURPOSETelomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter mutations are prognostic in many cancers and have been observed in human papillomavirus (HPV)–negative head and neck squamous cell carcinomas...
Zine Machine – A Tinkering Kit Involving Math and Making

This interactive demo presents Zine Machine, a paper-based math tinkering kit that uses two-dimensional mechanical movements to enable physical sense-making about mathematical functions. Zines are made by folding paper into the form of a pocket-sized story-telling magazine. Zine Machine presents automata, moving mechanical devices, in the format of a zine that sets a narrative between math and motion. With Zine Machine, learners can represent the mathematical concepts of functions, inputs, and outputs embodied in mechanical movements. The goal is to tinker with arrangements of the static and dynamic pieces in the zine to drive one or more outputs using a fixed input. The zine provides instruction as a folded booklet and opens up to a flat sheet to serve as the maker canvas. Zine Machine facilitates new thinking around math and making, offering an accessible and creative tangible medium of interaction.
Wave Propagation in a Stress-Relaxing Bar

An analysis of shock-induced wave propagation in a circular bar of stress-relaxing material is presented. The bar is subjected to a Motionless, elastic restraint to radial motion on the radial boundary. This boundary condition corresponds to an experimental configuration recently used to study the dynamic response of granular material confined in a thin, articulated shell. A solution is obtained by approximating the displacement components by early terms of Jacobi polynomials in the radial coordinate, resulting in equations that depend only on the axial coordinate and time. Final results are compared with a previous strictly one-dimensional analysis and with experimental results. The effects of radial motion are found to be relatively small because of the restraint produced by the radial boundary conditions.
Management of acute breathlessness in the person with chronic refractory breathlessness

Purpose of review The purpose of this review is to synthesize the current literature on classification and management of acute breathlessness that occurs in patients who are living with chronic refractory breathlessness related to cancer, cardiopulmonary, or neuromuscular disease. Recent findings In the context of chronic refractory breathlessness, acute breathlessness can be classified as either episodic breathlessness or breathlessness crisis. Episodic breathlessness is characterized by the severity, duration, and predictability of the symptom, and by the presence or absence of a trigger such as exertion, emotion, or an environmental factor. Breathlessness crisis is more sustained, occurs at rest, and overwhelms the patient's and caregivers' coping abilities, similar to the nontriggered unpredictable types of episodic breathlessness. Treatment of acute breathlessness focuses on alleviating the episode as quickly as possible without escalating medical intervention that may not be consistent with the patient's treatment preferences. Summary Attention to breathlessness in the published literature has increased exponentially in the past two decades. The challenge is now to translate the research findings into relief of symptoms, suffering, and distress in those who suffer from acute and chronic breathlessness because of chronic illness.
What Students Should Know about Technology: The Case of Scientific Visualization.

Starting with the focal question, “what should students know about technology?” we describe and illustrate a way of designing educational technology that is strongly informed by empirical studies of how students actually understand and use a technology. We also have theoretical aspirations in developing what we hope to be general principles that can, along with empirical data, orient design.
Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors of the oral cavity. Review of the literature and report of a case.

Abstract A case of uncommon malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor of the oral cavity, a malignant schwannoma, has been presented and the previously reported cases of malignant peripheral nerve tumor of the oral cavity have been reviewed.
Spatial variation of erosion in a small, glaciated basin in the Teton Range, Wyoming, based on detrital apatite (U-Th)/He thermochronology

Evolution of mountain landscapes is controlled by dynamic interactions between erosional processes that vary in efficiency over altitudinal domains. Evaluation of spatial and temporal variations of individual erosion processes can augment our understanding of factors controlling relief and geomorphic development of alpine settings. This study tests the application of detrital apatite (U-Th)/He thermochronology (AHe) to evaluate variable erosion in small, geologically complex catchments. Detrital grains from glacial and fluvial sediment in a single basin were dated and compared with a bedrock derived age-elevation relationship to estimate spatial variation in erosion over different climate conditions in the Teton Range, Wyoming. Controls and pitfalls related to apatite quality and yield were fully evaluated to assess this technique. Probability density functions comparing detrital age distributions identify variations in erosional patterns between glacial and fluvial systems and provide insight into how glacial, fluvial, and hillslope processes interact. Similar age distributions representing erosion patterns during glacial and interglacial times suggest the basin may be approaching steady-state. This also implies that glaciers are limited and no longer act as buzzsaws or produce relief. However, subtle differences in erosional efficiency do exist. The high frequency of apatite cooling ages from high altitudes represents either rapid denudation of peaks and ridges by mass wasting or an artifact of sample quality. A gap in detrital ages near the mean age, or mid-altitude, indicates the fluvial system is presently transport limited by overwhelming talus deposits. This study confirms that sediment sources can be traced in small basins with detrital AHe dating. It also demonstrates that careful consideration of mineral yield and quality is required, and uniform erosion assumptions needed to extract basin thermal history from detrital ages are not always valid.
Improving Web-Based Learning by Means of Narrative

Web-based learning mostly relies on written, asynchronous interaction, which grants learners time for reflection and freedom in the organization of their activity. Written communication, however, is considered an impoverished means by many people, because it lacks non-verbal cues, with consequent negative influence on the quality of the learning process, as concerns both its cognitive and motivational/emotional aspects. Hence, the research on web-based learning is increasingly giving attention to ways to overcome this problem. Based on the analysis of three different examples drawn from the literature, this paper argues that introducing a targeted narrative activity in the design of web-based learning can represent a valuable way to contextualize the learning activity and enhance social presence, in that narrative is a multifaceted form of communication which results natural in all cultures and is suitable for any learning subject.
A Search for Infrared Excesses in G-Type Stars

The IRAS Point Source Catalogue (PSC) has been searched for infrared sources associated with stars of spectral class G. Of the 1069 IRAS sources identified, 15 have enhanced emission at λ > 25 µm. This group includes 4 supergiants, 8 variable stars, and 3 stars known to have dusty circumstellar medii (RU Cen, R Sge, HD-101584). The preliminary findings from this study are described.
ULTRASTRUCTURE OF WARTHIN'S TUMOR. I. MITOCHONDRIA.

Specimens of Warthin's tumor of the parotid gland obtained from seven patients were studied in the electron microscope. The epithelial cells of the tumor contain large numbers of mitochondria. As compared to normal salivary gland mitochondria, frequently the organelles from the tumor show marked alterations in morphology. These changes include a striking increase in the number and length of the cristac and a large increase in the size of the mitochondria. The cristac are usually oriented longitudinally and are densely packed. All the tumor mitochondria lack dense intramitochondrial granules. Some of the mitochondria contain amorphous deposits of a moderately dense substance, the amount of which varies inversely with the number of cristae. A few of the mitochondria contain particulate material, which has an intense affinity for lead stains and resembles glycogen.
On the Development of a Coupled Land Surface and Groundwater Model

Management of surface water quality is often complicated by interactions between surface water and groundwater. Traditional Land-Surface Models (LSM) used for numerical weather prediction, climate projection, and as inputs to water management decision support systems, do not treat the LSM lower boundary in a fully process-based fashion. LSMs have evolved from a leaky bucket to more sophisticated land surface water and energy budget models that typically have a so-called basement term to depict the bottom model layer exchange with deeper aquifers. Nevertheless, the LSM lower boundary is often assumed zero flux or the soil moisture content is set to a constant value; an approach that while mass conservative, ignores processes that can alter surface fluxes, runoff, and water quantity and quality. Conversely, groundwater models (GWM) for saturated and unsaturated water flow, while addressing important features such as subsurface heterogeneity and three-dimensional flow, often have overly simplified upper boundary conditions that ignore soil heating, runoff, snow and root-zone uptake. In the present study, a state-of-the-art LSM (CLM) and a variably-saturated GWM (ParFlow) have been coupled as a single column model. A set of simulations based on synthetic data and data from the Project for Intercomparison of Landsurface Parameterization Schemes (PILPS), version 2(d), 18-year dataset from Valdai, Russia demonstrate the temporal dynamics of this coupled modeling system. Changes in soil moisture and movement of the water table are used as indicators of mass conservation between the LSM and GWM. This study demonstrates the affect of aquifer storage and a dynamic water table on predicted watershed flow. The model's ability to capture certain cold processes such as frozen soil and freeze/thaw processes are discussed. Comparisons of the uncoupled and coupled modes are presented and the differences in simulations of soil moisture and shallow and deeper ground processes are highlighted. A distributed version of the coupled model will ultimately be used to assist in the development of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)--a surface water quality standard--for a number of pollutants in an urban watershed in Southern California in the United States.
The Vitreomacular Interface in Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a leading health concern and a major cause of blindness. DR can be complicated by scar tissue formation, macular edema, and tractional retinal detachment. Optical coherence tomography has found that patients with DR often have diffuse retinal thickening, cystoid macular edema, posterior hyaloid traction, and tractional retinal detachment. Newer imaging techniques can even detect fine tangential folds and serous macular detachment. The interplay of the vitreous and the retina in the progression of DR involves multiple chemokine and other regulatory factors including VEGF. Understanding the cells infiltrating pathologic membranes at the vitreomacular interface has opened up the possibility of new targets for pharmacotherapy. Vitrectomies for DR remain a vital tool to help relieve tension on the macula by removing membranes, improving edema absorption, and eliminating the scaffold for new membrane formation. Newer treatments such as triamcinolone acetonide and VEGF inhibitors have become essential as a rapid way to control DR at the vitreomacular interface, improve macular edema, and reduce retinal neovascularization. These treatments alone, and in conjunction with PRP, help to prevent worsening of the VMI in patients with DR.
Barack Obama and the Transformation of the American Electorate

Along with the unpopularity of President Bush and the dire condition of the U.S. economy, changes in the composition of the American electorate played a major role in Barack Obama’s decisive victory in the 2008 presidential election. The doubling of the nonwhite share of the electorate between 1992 and 2008 was critical to Obama’s election as African-American and other nonwhite voters provided him with a large enough margin to overcome a substantial deficit among white voters. In addition, voters under the age of 30 preferred Obama by a better than 2-1 margin, accounting for more than 80 percent of his popular vote margin. Despite the overall Democratic trend, the results revealed an increasingly polarized electorate. Over the past three decades the coalitions supporting the two major parties have become much more distinctive geographically, racially, and ideologically. There are fewer competitive states and more landslide states. White liberals and nonwhites now make up the overwhelming majority of Democratic voters while white conservatives make up the overwhelming majority of Republican voters. The growth of the nonwhite electorate along with the increasing liberalism and Democratic identification of younger voters suggest that a successful Obama presidency could put the Democratic Party in a position to dominate American politics for many years. If so, 2008 may be remembered not only for the election of the first African-American president but as a turning point in American political history.
Relation between visceral fat and disease risk in children and adolescents

This review examines whether the relations and metabolic parameters necessary for the development of syndrome X are present in children and whether the metabolic complications of obesity in children are explained by excess intraabdominal adipose tissue (IAAT), or visceral fat. Despite the limited use of imaging techniques in research studies, an increasing number of studies reported on IAAT and its relation to disease risk in children and adolescents. For this article we reviewed studies that documented the early accumulation of IAAT in children and adolescents and the factors that contribute to variation in the degree of IAAT accumulation. We also reviewed studies that showed the clinical relevance of IAAT in children and adolescents through significant relations with adverse health effects including dyslipidemia and glucose intolerance in obese and nonobese children and adolescents of different ethnic groups.
The Mucosal Immune System of Teleost Fish

Teleost fish possess an adaptive immune system associated with each of their mucosal body surfaces. Evidence obtained from mucosal vaccination and mucosal infection studies reveal that adaptive immune responses take place at the different mucosal surfaces of teleost. The main mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues (MALT) of teleosts are the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT), skin-associated lymphoid tissue (SALT), the gill-associated lymphoid tissue (GIALT) and the recently discovered nasopharynx-associated lymphoid tissue (NALT). Teleost MALT includes diffuse B cells and T cells with specific phenotypes different from their systemic counterparts that have co-evolved to defend the microbe-rich mucosal environment. Both B and T cells respond to mucosal infection or vaccination. Specific antibody responses can be measured in the gills, gut and skin mucosal secretions of teleost fish following mucosal infection or vaccination. Rainbow trout studies have shown that IgT antibodies and IgT+ B cells are the predominant B cell subset in all MALT and respond in a compartmentalized manner to mucosal infection. Our current knowledge on adaptive immunity in teleosts is limited compared to the mammalian literature. New research tools and in vivo models are currently being developed in order to help reveal the great intricacy of teleost mucosal adaptive immunity and help improve mucosal vaccination protocols for use in aquaculture.
Interferon-induced guanylate-binding proteins lack an N(T)KXD consensus motif and bind GMP in addition to GDP and GTP.

Abstract The primary structures of interferon (IFN)-induced guanylate-binding proteins (GBPs) were deduced from cloned human and murine cDNAs. These proteins contained only two of the three sequence motifs typically found in GTP/GDP-binding proteins. The N(T)KXD motif, which is believed to confer guanine specificity in other nucleotide-binding proteins, was absent. Nevertheless, the IFN-induced GBPs exhibited a high degree of selectivity for binding to agarose-immobilized guanine nucleotides. An interesting feature of IFN-induced GBPs is that they strongly bound to GMP agarose in addition to GDP and GTP agaroses but failed to bind to ATP agarose and all other nucleotide agaroses tested. Both GTP and GMP, but not ATP, competed for binding of murine GBP-1 to agarose-immobilized GMP. The IFN-induced GBPs thus define a distinct novel family of proteins with GTP-binding activity. We further demonstrate that human and murine cells contain at least two genes encoding IFN-induced GBPs. The cloned murine cDNA codes for GBP-1, an IFN-induced protein previously shown to be absent from mice of Gbp-1b genotype.
Responses of ventral respiratory group neurons of the cat to natural vestibular stimulation

Stimulation of vestibular otolith afferents by fore-aft tilt (pitch) elicits changes in activity of nerves innervating respiratory muscles, including the diaphragm, abdominal muscles, and tongue musculature. To determine the role of ventral respiratory group (VRG) neurons in producing these vestibular-respiratory responses, the activity of VRG neurons was recorded during natural vestibular stimulation in multiple transverse planes. Only a small fraction of VRG neurons with inspiratory (I, 20 of 80 cells), expiratory (E, 11 of 59 cells), or phase spanning (4 of 16 cells) activity responded to tilts up to 15° in amplitude delivered at frequencies from 0.02 to 2 Hz. In particular, responses were infrequent in VRG neurons with projections to the spinal cord (0 of 23 E cells and 2 of 15° I cells), despite the fact that the tilts employed produced robust modulation of the activity of abdominal (expiratory) nerves. Furthermore, the characteristics of responses to tilt of the small fraction of VRG neurons with vestibular inputs did not match those of respiratory muscles. These data suggest that neurons in addition to those in the VRG must participate in generating vestibular-respiratory responses.
A DEEP CHANDRA OBSERVATION OF THE WOLF-RAYET + BLACK HOLE BINARY NGC 300 X-1

We have obtained a 63?ks Chandra ACIS-I observation of the Wolf-Rayet + black hole binary NGC?300 X-1. We measure rapid low-amplitude variability in the 0.35-8?keV light curve. The power density spectrum has a power-law index ? = 1.02 ? 0.15 consistent with an accreting black hole in a steep power-law state. When compared to previous studies of NGC?300 X-1 performed with XMM-Newton, we find the source at the low end of the previously measured 0.3-10?keV luminosity. The spectrum of NGC?300 X-1 is dominated by a power law (? = 2.0 ? 0.3) with a contribution at low energies by a thermal component. We estimate the 0.3-10?keV luminosity to be 2.6+0.8 ?1.0 ? 1038?erg?s?1. The timing and spectroscopic properties of NGC?300 X-1 are consistent with being in a steep power-law state, similar to earlier observations performed with XMM-Newton. We additionally compare our observations to known high-mass X-ray binaries and ultraluminous X-ray sources, and find the properties of NGC?300 X-1 are most consistent with black hole high-mass X-ray binaries.
Influence of rumen fermentation on response to endophyte-infected tall fescue seed measured by a rat bioassay.

ABSTRACTPossible alteration of toxicity of endophyte-infected tall fescue by ruminal fermentation was studied using 28 Harlan Sprague-Dawley rats (avg. initial wt., 141 g). These were assigned randomly to one of four treatments in a 2×2 factorial consisting of a 14-day growth period with weights and feed consumption data determined on days 0, 5,10 and 14. Treatments were: endophyte-infected Kentucky-31 tall fescue seed (E+) or endophyte free Johnstone tall fescue seed (E) that was incubated for 0 (NON) or 24 hours (INC) with rumen fluid collected from a 290-kg cannulated steer fed a diet containing 37% endophyte-infected tall fescue hay. Diets consisted of 50% lab chow, 39% fescue seed and 11% rumen contents (air-dry basis). Alkaloid content (N-acetyl plus N-formyl loline) for the four diets were 2540, 2680, 0, and 0 μg/g for E+NON, E+INC, E-NON, and E-INC diets, respectively. E-treatments gained faster, consumed more feed and converted feed more efficiently (P<.05) than did E+ fed groups. No difference i...
Ultrastructural changes in the Malpighian tubules of the house cricket, Acheta domesticus, at the onset of diuresis: A time study.

The Malpighian tubules (Mt) of insects are responsible for maintaining osmotic homeostasis and eliminating waste from the hemolymph. When stimulated by diuretic factors the tubule cells are able to transport extraordinary volumes of fluid over short periods of time. We have been studying the changes that occur within the cells that accompany and facilitate this phenomenon. We present the ultrastructural changes that occur in the mid-tubule of the house cricket, Acheta domesticus, following exposure to the second messenger analog, dibutyryl cAMP, over the period from 15-420 sec. Vacuolation of the cytoplasm begins as early as 30 sec poststimulation with a significant increase in vacuolation occurring after 120 sec. As expected, there is an increase in the surface area of the basolateral membrane to facilitate the rapid movement of fluid into the cells. Other ultrastructural changes noted to accompany the onset of diuresis include the movement of mitochondria into areas adjacent to transport membranes, the vesiculation of Golgi, mobilization of CaPO(4) spherites, and a direct interaction of these spherites with active mitochondria. We discuss several possible roles for these changes in terms of rapid fluid transport.