cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Current Status of Therapy for Advanced Gastric Carcinoma

Advanced gastric carcinoma remains an incurable disease with a median survival of 6 to 9 months, and available therapeutic approaches are predominantly palliative. In small controlled trials, systemic chemotherapy has improved survival and quality of life of patients with advanced gastric carcinoma when compared with best supportive care. Patients with good performance status (Zubrod < or = 2), low tumor bulk, and good organ function are most likely to benefit from chemotherapy or combined-modality therapy. There is no generally accepted standard chemotherapy for advanced gastric carcinoma. Fluorouracil-and/or cisplatin-based combinations are often employed. Recently, several new classes of drugs have demonstrated activity against advanced disease. These include the taxanes (paclitaxel [Taxol] and docetaxel [Taxotere]), camptothecins (irinotecan [Camptosar], and flurouracil prodrugs (second-and third-generation agents, such as UFT [uracil and tegafur] and S-1). Early results with either single-agent therapy or combinations of new agents (irinotecan, paclitaxel, and docetaxel) and more conventional agents (cisplatin [Platinol] and fluorouracil) are encouraging. Several of these results need to be confirmed and eventually studied in well-designed, phase III trials. Similarly, a number of new combinations may be used in the future as preoperative therapies for gastric carcinoma. Nearly all of the new agents have radiosensitizing properties. This affords another opportunity to investigate new chemotherapeutic agents in conjunction with radiation therapy in patients with locoregional gastric carcinoma.
Herbal Medicine and Epilepsy

The potentially harmful effects of herbal remedies and herb-antiepileptic drug interactions in patients with epilepsy are reviewed by researchers at the Center for Integrative Complementary Medicine, and Division of Neurology and Toxicology, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel.
Dielectric dispersion at microwave frequencies in the camphor series

By an adaptation of the Roberts and von Hippie “short circuit-line” method the dielectric constant and loss at 3.20 cm. wavelength of dl-camphor, d-camphor and isoborneol have been measured in the solid state over a wide range of temperatures and in the liquid phase just above the melting point. The values here obtained are compared with the radio-frequency values found in the literature. At 3.20 cm. the rotator phase of all three compounds contains nearly the whole dispersion region. The temperature of maximum loss at this frequency is about 38°C for d-camphor, 28°C for dl-camphor and 72°C for isoborneol.
Recursive filters for subband decomposition algorithms in ultrasonic detection applications

In this study, we present a low-cost, low-power, and compact hardware platform for real-time ultrasonic detection applications. In order to cope with the computational complexity of the inherent signal processing algorithms, recursive IIR filter architectures are proposed for realizing the frequency diverse transforms; discrete Fourier transform (DFT) and discrete cosine transform (DCT), which provide robust detection performance. Both Goertzel (for DFT implementation) and folding kernel for DCT offer significant hardware reductions compared to standard transform implementations. In order to sustain the high throughput required for real-time signal processing, a sparse transform method is proposed where only the required transform coefficients are computed. FPGA implementation results confirm savings in hardware usage and viable performance for a portable ultrasonic imaging device.
Flavoring Compounds Dominate Toxic Aldehyde Production during E-Cigarette Vaping.

The growing popularity of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) raises concerns about the possibility of adverse health effects to primary users and people exposed to e-cigarette vapors. E-Cigarettes offer a very wide variety of flavors, which is one of the main factors that attract new, especially young, users. How flavoring compounds in e-cigarette liquids affect the chemical composition and toxicity of e-cigarette vapors is practically unknown. Although e-cigarettes are marketed as safer alternatives to traditional cigarettes, several studies have demonstrated formation of toxic aldehydes in e-cigarette vapors during vaping. So far, aldehyde formation has been attributed to thermal decomposition of the main components of e-cigarette e-liquids (propylene glycol and glycerol), while the role of flavoring compounds has been ignored. In this study, we have measured several toxic aldehydes produced by three popular brands of e-cigarettes with flavored and unflavored e-liquids. We show that, within the tested...
Automatic fault diagnosis for autonomous underwater vehicles using online topic models

As the capabilities of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) improve, the missions become longer, riskier, and more complex. For AUVs to succeed in complex missions, they must be reliable in the face of subsystem failure and environmental challenges. In practice, fault detection activities carried out by most AUVs employ a rule-based emergency abort system that is triggered by specific events. AUVs equipped with the ability to diagnose faults and reason about mitigation actions in real time could improve their survivability and increase the value of individual deployments by replanning their mission in response to failures. In this paper, we focus on AUV autonomy as it pertains to self-perception and health monitoring and argue that automatic classification of state-sensor data represents an important enabling capability. We apply an online Bayesian nonparametric topic modeling technique to state-sensor data in order to automatically characterize the performance patterns of an AUV, then demonstrate how in combination with operator-supplied semantic labels these patterns can be used for fault detection and diagnosis by means of nearest-neighbor classifier. The method is applied in post-processing to diagnose faults that led to the temporary loss of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute's Tethys long-range AUV in two separate deployments. Our results show that the method is able to accurately identify and characterize patterns that correspond to various states of the AUV, and classify faults with high probability of detection and no false detects.
Extracting dark matter signatures from atomic clock stability measurements

We analyze possible effects of the dark matter environment on the atomic clock stability measurements. The dark matter is assumed to exist in the form of waves of ultralight scalar fields or in the form of topological defects (monopoles and strings). We identify dark matter signal signatures in clock Allan deviation plots that can be used to constrain the dark matter coupling to the Standard Model fields. The existing data on the ${\mathrm{Al}}^{+}/{\mathrm{Hg}}^{+}$ clock comparison are used to put new limits on the dilaton dark matter in the region of masses ${m}_{\ensuremath{\phi}}g{10}^{\ensuremath{-}15}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{eV}$. We also estimate the sensitivities of future atomic clock experiments in space, including the cesium microwave and strontium optical clocks aboard the International Space Station, as well as a potential nuclear clock. These experiments are expected to put new limits on the topological dark matter in the range of masses ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}10}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{eV}l{m}_{\ensuremath{\phi}}l{10}^{\ensuremath{-}6}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{eV}$.
Microbiome Dynamics as Predictors of Lung Transplant Rejection

Lung transplantation offers the only treatment for multiple chronic diseases. Transplantation is dependent upon successful resistance to organ rejection. For children, a vulnerable population, the five and ten-year survival for lung transplants is only 52% and 29%, respectively. The reason for this low survival rate is primary due to chronic lung graft rejection in the form of Bronchiolitis Obliterans Syndrome (BOS). Our hypothesis is that the changes in the composition of the pulmonary microbiome are associated with the development and progression of graft rejection which is in turn related to detrimental cardiopulmonary outcomes and poor overall survival in lung transplant recipients. Samples were obtained from 6 pediatric lung transplant patients over multiple time points. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples were collected at approximately 7 time points for each subject. The DNA isolated from BAL is sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq machine. The longitudinal taxonomic profiles demonstrate the phylum Proteobacteria to be the most abundant across all samples. This suggests that certain members of this phylum may indicate a core microbiome in the lung graft. The association between Pseudomonas aeruginosa overgrowth and clinically suspected infection requiring antibiotic therapy was evaluated throughout the study period employing a Smoothing Splines ANOVA on the microbial taxonomic time series' profile. Overgrowth of Cellulomonas is associated with infection during the early days after the lung transplantation. Conversely, Bradyrhizobium, Acetobacter, and Coriobacterium are more abundant in the non-infected subjects. We also propose MetaLonDA, an R package that can be used to accurately detect metagenomic features (species, genes) relating to the phenotype or disease status, and accurately detect the starting and ending time points when the differences arise. It is able to handle sampling at different time points, unequal number of time points among the subjects, and long gap between longitudinal time points.
A study on the development of the OMS/MP based on the Fundamentals of Systems Engineering

Abstract The Systems Engineering method is increasingly recognized as a central in the Acquisition of Weapon Systems in South Korea. Because of these trends, issues concerned with improving weapon system design are increasingly raised. This paper presents a development of Operational Mode Summary/Mission Profile (OMS/MP) in terms of Weapon Systems Acquisition for application to Systems Engineering method. For a systematic approach, a precise concept of OMS/MP is derived by analyzing the concept of conventional OMS/MP. This paper reviews the results of a series of previously reported examples aiming to develop the OMS/MP of a weapon system. Based on this, the limitations of the conventional OSM/MP applications are investigated. And these limitations can be resolved by the Fundamentals of Systems Engineering. Finally, the OMS/MP framework based on the Fundamentals of Systems Engineering has been proposed and is successfully implemented for the Harbor Underwater Surveillance System.
Estimation of the Initial Image’s Contributions to the Iterative Landweber Reconstruction

This paper develops a closed-form frequency-domain transfer function to predict the initial image’s contributions in an iterative Landweber reconstruction for a given number of iterations. The transfer function shows that the initial image’s high frequency components play an important role when the iterative algorithm is stopped before convergence. The contributions from the initial image diminish as the iteration number increases if the imaging matrix has full rank.
Separation of cancer cells using vortical microfluidic flows

Label-free separation of viable cancer cells using vortical microfluidic flows has been introduced as a feasible cell collection method in oncological studies. Besides the clinical importance, the physics of particle interactions with the vortex that forms in a wall-confined geometry of a microchannel is a relatively new area of fluid dynamics. In our previous work [Haddadi and Di Carlo, J. Fluid. Mech. 811, 436-467 (2017)], we have introduced distinct aspects of inertial flow of dilute suspensions over cavities in a microchannel such as breakdown of the separatrix and formation of stable limit cycle orbits for finite size polystyrene particles. In this work, we extend our experiments to address the engineering-physics of cancer cell entrapment in microfluidic cavities. We begin by studying the effects of the channel width and device height on the morphology of the vortex, which has not been discussed in our previous work. The stable limit cycle orbits of finite size cancer cells are then presented. We demonstrate effects of the separatrix breakdown and the limit cycle formation on the operation of the cancer cell separation platform. By studying the flow of dilute cell suspensions over the cavities, we further develop the notion of the cavity capacity and the relative rate of cell accumulation as optimization criteria which connect the device geometry with the flow. Finally, we discuss the proper placement of multiple cavities inside a microchannel for improved cell entrapment.
Cellular Mechanisms of TGF-β Action

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), initially identified in platelet extracts by virtue of its ability to confer anchorage-independent growth and a neoplastic phenotype on mesenchymal cells, has subsequently been identified as a potent inhibitor of proliferation in most cells of epithelial origin. Our laboratory has investigated the role of specific second messengers in mediating the transcriptional responses of fibroblasts following addition of TGF-β 1 . Our studies indicate that TGF-β 1 , alone and in conjunction with epidermal growth factor (EGF), is capable of stimulating increases in both phosphoinositide metabolism and calcium influx, leading to significant increases in intracellular levels of Ca ++ and inositol trisphosphate (IP 3 ). Our data indicated that Ca ++ influx and inositol phosphate release are coupled in Rat-1 cells, and suggested that influx of Ca ++ from the extracellular medium is required for the change in IP 3 accumulation observed in response to both EGF and TGF-β 1 . Using nuclear run-on analysis of the transcription of rat transin, a secreted metalloproteinase homologous to human stromelysin, we have also demonstrated a significant inhibition of transin transcription within 10 min of TGF-β 1 treatment. The ability of TGF-β 1 to inhibit transin gene transcription was not related to the TGF-β 1 -induced influx of Ca ++ or to an increase in intracellular inositol phosphates, since inhibiting production of these second messengers failed to inhibit repression of the transin gene.
The Intangible Stories of War Carpets: War, Media, and Mediation

While feminist cultural and media studies have reinvigorated feminist scholarship in the last two decades, there is still a pressing need for an understanding of the uneven neoliberal, postcolonial, and transnational context within which knowledge and power intersect via consumerism and commodity circulation. The field of feminist cultural and media studies is still wide open for scholarly inquiries that bring into light the linkages between systems of representations and the circulation of labor, capital, and commodities.
Unified Gauge Theories and Galaxy Formation

Grand Unified strings may provide us with the primordial density fluctuations needed for galaxy formation. The properties and the cosmological evolution of such strings are discussed. A Grand Unified Theory with strings is constructed.
Modeling the Transport and Diffusion of Air Pollutants Using a Prognostic Mesoscale Model

Abstract The use of a three-dimensional, primitive equation, mesoscale model is examined for predicting the transport and diffusion of air pollutants in complex flow situations such as sea breeze and mountain valley circulations. Pollutant concentrations from area sources with scales larger than the model grid spacing can be adequately modeled using the conservation equation and gradient transfer theory. The modeling of pollutant concentrations from point sources is, however, difficult in coarse grid mesoscale models because of numerical damping and the theoretical inadequacy of K-theory for plumes which are small compared to the turbulent scales. To model point sources, a statistical particle dispersion scheme is explored within the mesoscale model framework.
Individual and Developmental Differences in Distributional Learning

Purpose This study examined whether children and adults with developmental language disorder (DLD) could use distributional information in an artificial language to learn about grammatical category...
The Pathophysiologic and Therapeutic Role of Platelet and Vascular Arachidonic Acid Metabolites in Renal Failure

Both acute and chronic renal insufficiency are associated with prolonged bleeding times and an increased incidence of cutaneous and gastrointestinal hemorrhage.1–3 This uremic bleeding tendency has been attributed to a qualitative platelet abnormality characterized by decreased platelet adhesiveness, impaired aggregation in response to adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and thrombin, and diminished platelet factor 3 release.4,5 While some reports1,6 have demonstrated that the platelet defect improves or normalizes with dialysis, others7,8 have not.
Novel lactate dehydrogenase inhibitors with in vivo efficacy against Cryptosporidium parvum.

Cryptosporidium parvum is a highly prevalent zoonotic and anthroponotic protozoan parasite that causes a diarrheal syndrome in children and neonatal livestock, culminating in growth retardation and mortalities. Despite the high prevalence of C. parvum, there are no fully effective and safe drugs for treating infections, and there is no vaccine. We have previously reported that the bacterial-like C. parvum lactate dehydrogenase (CpLDH) enzyme is essential for survival, virulence and growth of C. parvum in vitro and in vivo. In the present study, we screened compound libraries and identified inhibitors against the enzymatic activity of recombinant CpLDH protein in vitro. We tested the inhibitors for anti-Cryptosporidium effect using in vitro infection assays of HCT-8 cells monolayers and identified compounds NSC158011 and NSC10447 that inhibited the proliferation of intracellular C. parvum in vitro, with IC50 values of 14.88 and 72.65 μM, respectively. At doses tolerable in mice, we found that both NSC158011 and NSC10447 consistently significantly reduced the shedding of C. parvum oocysts in infected immunocompromised mice’s feces, and prevented intestinal villous atrophy as well as mucosal erosion due to C. parvum. Together, our findings have unveiled promising anti-Cryptosporidium drug candidates that can be explored further for the development of the much needed novel therapeutic agents against C. parvum infections.
Abstract #2796: Ligation of the CD44 adhesion molecule by the antibody A3D8 induces and enhances drug-induced apoptosis in acute myeloid leukemia cells through down-regulation of Mcl-1.

Cell surface molecule CD44, an extracellular matrix receptor, is highly expressed on acute myeloid leukemia blasts and plays important roles in many aspects such as cell survival, proliferation, differentiation, and death. Some of these events can be changed by ligation of CD44 with monoclonal antibodies. It has been found that CD44 monoclonal antibody A3D8 inhibits proliferation and induces incomplete differentiation/apoptosis in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL, M3 type of AML) derived NB4 cells. The apoptotic effects of A3D8 in six AML cell lines, HL-60, NB4, ME1-2f, SKNO-1, U937 and THP-1 cells were investigated. NB4, ME1-2f (M4 type of AML) and SKNO-1 (M2 type of AML) cells are responsive to A3D8-induced apoptosis. A3D8 at a concentration of 2.5 \#956;g/ml induces more than 30 % of these cells to undergo apoptosis. HL-60 (M2 type of AML) cells are less sensitive to A3D8-induced apoptosis with less 20 % of cells undergoing apoptosis after treatment with A3D8 at a concentration of 2.5 \#956;g/ml. U937 and THP-1 cells (both M5 types of AML) are not sensitive to A3D8 treatment even at a concentration of 5 \#956;g/ml. Currently Ara-C is used for the treatment of AML and As2O3 is used for the treatment of APL. The combined effects of A3D8 with Ara-C or As2O3 were investigated in HL-60 cells. Pretreatment with A3D8 at 2.5 \#956;g/ml for 16 hours increases apoptosis induction (about 50%) by Ara-C or As2O3 in HL-60 cells. Correlated with apoptosis induction, the levels of antiapoptotic protein Mcl-1, but not Bcl-2, were down-regulated in NB4, ME1-2f and SKNO-1 cells. Although HL-60 cells are less sensitive to A3D8-induced apoptosis, the level of Mcl-1 was decreased which contributes to the enhancement of Ara-C and As2O3-induced apoptosis. Hyaluronan, which also binds to CD44, does not induce nor block A3D8-induced apoptosis. Our data suggest that A3D8 targets CD44 signaling through a mechanism different from that of hyaluronan. A3D8 alone or in combination with Ara-C or As2O3 could be used to selectively target AML stem/progenitor cells which express high levels of CD44 and are thought to be resistant to current therapy. Citation Information: In: Proc Am Assoc Cancer Res; 2009 Apr 18-22; Denver, CO. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; 2009. Abstract nr 2796.
Signal discrimination without denoising

This article reveals that two previously established tests for autocovariance equality between stationary autoregressive moving average (ARMA) processes can also be used to discriminate between har...
Machine-Learning-Based Investigation of the Associations Between Residential Power Consumption and Weather Conditions

Machine learning feature selection was conducted to understand the impact of various weather attributes on residential electricity demand and its components in the northwestern United States. Unique residential load profile data were obtained from the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) and processed to yield hourly load profiles with the same temporal resolution and duration as weather condition data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at representative weather stations. The data were divided into five seasonal conditions. For each condition and each load component, the influences of weather factors were evaluated and quantified using cross-correlation, principal component analysis, and mutual information evaluation. Then predictive models were developed based on the ranked/screened factors using the regression tree (RT) and random forest (RF) approaches. After multi-fold cross-validation, the optimal complexity/depth of the regress tree models is found to vary for different load components, and the prediction accuracy using RT and weather data can be higher than 80% for heating and refrigeration, but as low as 30% for ventilation and cooking. The RF models can provide more accurate and consistent predictions than RT. The developed models provide guidance on improving load profile generation and can serve as a standalone predictive tool for approximating load profiles within balancing authority regions or climate zones where load profile data are not available.
High family SES and youth adjustment: The case of Chinese youth who were adopted from orphanages into American families

Abstract In this paper, we examined if high SES families had an effect on youth’s adjustment by comparing 226 internationally adopted female Chinese youth who experienced pre-adoption institutionalization with 1059 non-adopted Chinese peers living in China, as well as 209 non-adopted American peers. On average, the adopted youth’s families had a higher SES status than the two comparison groups. Survey data on behavioral problems and prosocial adjustment were collected with the third edition of the Behavioral Assessment for Children (BASC-3). We found the adopted Chinese youth outperformed their Chinese counterparts in all comparisons and their US counterparts in most comparisons. These results offer some evidence that a high family SES may compensate for the adoption-related risks such as earlier institutionalization. Possible mechanisms underlying the benefit of high SES were discussed.
Comparing fertilization rates from intracytoplasmic sperm injection to conventional in vitro fertilization among women of advanced age with non-male factor infertility: a meta-analysis.

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in improving fertilization rates compared to conventional in vitro fertilization rates (IVF) among women aged ≥38 years with a non−male factor diagnosis. Design Systematic review and meta-analysis. Setting Not applicable. Patient(s) Women aged ≥38 years with a non−male factor diagnosis receiving IVF or ICSI. Intervention(s) A systematic review of databases including PubMed and Embase was performed. Study protocol was registered at the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews. Studies were selected if they compared fertilization rates from ICSI with those from conventional IVF among women aged ≥38 years with a non−male factor infertility diagnosis. A random effects model was used. Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines were applied. Main Outcome Measure(s) Fertilization rate. Results Seven studies including 8796 retrieved oocytes (ICSI: 4,369; IVF: 4,427) with mean female age ≥38 years met the inclusion criteria. There was no significant difference in fertilization rates between ICSI and conventional IVF (relative risk [RR] 0.99, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.93−1.06; P = .8). Heterogeneity was observed between studies (I2 = 58.2; P Conclusions No difference was found in fertilization rates between conventional IVF and ICSI. Further studies are needed to assess the impact of ICSI in this population, controlling for other indications such as preimplantation genetic testing.
Vitamin D deficiency increases severity of paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy.

Approximately 25% of patients receiving weekly paclitaxel for breast cancer require treatment disruptions to avoid severe, irreversible peripheral neuropathy (PN). Vitamin insufficiencies are PN risk factors in many diseases, but their relevance to chemotherapy-induced PN is unknown. We investigated whether baseline insufficiency of vitamin D, vitamin B12, folate, or homocysteine increased PN in patients with breast cancer receiving weekly paclitaxel in a retrospective analysis of a prospective observational study. Patient-reported PN was collected at baseline and during treatment on the Quality of Life Questionnaire Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN20). The primary analysis tested associations between vitamin deficiency and the maximum increase from baseline in the CIPN20 sensory subscale (ΔCIPN8). Secondary analyses tested for association with PN-induced treatment disruptions and adjusted associations for treatment and clinical variables. 25-hydroxy-vitamin D was the only nutrient with sufficient deficiency (< 20 ng/mL) for analysis (15/37 = 41%). Vitamin D-deficient patients had a greater mean PN increase than non-deficient patients (ΔCIPN8 ± SD, 36 ± 23 vs. 16 ± 16, p = 0.003) and a non-significant, approximately threefold increase in risk of treatment disruption (OR 2.98, 95% CI [0.72, 12.34], p = 0.16). In multivariable models adjusted for clinical and treatment variables, baseline vitamin D level was inversely associated with PN (β = − 0.04, p = 0.02). Pre-treatment vitamin D deficiency was associated with PN in women receiving weekly paclitaxel for breast cancer. Vitamin D deficiency may be an easily detected PN risk factor that could be resolved prior to treatment to prevent PN, avoid treatment disruptions, and improve treatment outcomes.
Advances and applications of isomotive dielectrophoresis for cell analysis

Isomotive dielectrophoresis (isoDEP) is a unique electric field such that the gradient of the field-squared ([Formula: see text]) is constant, resulting a uniform dielectrophoretic force. The current status of isoDEP is presented in this review, and we will highlight the progress that has been achieved over the past 60 years in various avenues of isoDEP since H.A. Pohl initially described its premise. This article will discuss its applications and describe the various configurations of generating an isomotive force. Since H.A. Pohl introduced the theory of isoDEP, numerous authors have implemented isoDEP as a tool for the manipulation, sorting, separation, and characterization of polarizable particles without the need for biochemical labels or other bioengineered tagging. The growing field of microfluidics and electrokinetics has renewed interest in isoDEP, particularly for analytical characterization or separation of particles. Recent work has demonstrated that isoDEP can address some unmet needs for biomedical applications including single-cell analysis; moreover, advances in throughput as well as combining characterization and separation simultaneously will add significant value to isoDEP.
Analysis of spatial patterns of trends in the frequency and intensity of Indian precipitation

bl ‘’kks/k Ik= esa lewps Hkkjr ds 129 ekSle dsanzksa ds fy, 1910 ls 2000 rd dh le;kof/k ds nSfud o"kkZ ds fjdkM+ksaZ dks ,df=r fd;k x;k gS A blds ckn fofHkUu ekSle foKkfud mi[kaM+ksa ds fy, ek/; okf"kZd o"kkZ ds ekuksa ds vuqlkj bu dsanzksa dks ukS fHkUufk gS A izR;sd {ks= ds fy, gj ikip izfr’kr ds varjky ij dqy o"kkZ vkSj o"kkZ dh ckjackjrk dk foLr`r fo’ys"k.k fd;k gS A bu ifj.kkeksa ls lkekU;r% Hkkjr ds yxHkx lHkh Hkkxksa esa o"kkZ dh deh dk irk pyk gS tcfd dsoy mRrj if’peh Hkkxksa esa o"kkZ esa o`f) ns[kh xbZ gS A o"kkZ ds izfr lSadM+k oxZ varjkyksa ds vuqlkj fd, x, gekjs fo’ys"k.k ls ;g irk pyrk gS fd fo’ks"k :Ik ls ns’k ds vk/ks Hkkx if’peh {ks= esa vfro`f"V dh ?kVuk,i ckjc o"kkZ ds LFkkfud vk;keksa ij izdk’k Mkyus okys gkmxVu bR;kfn (2001) ds vkbZ- ih- lh- lh- ds oSKkfud ewY;kadu vkSj vU; v/;;uksa ds lkFk gekjs ifj.kke O;kid :Ik ls esy [kkrs gSa A We assembled daily precipitation records for 129 weather stations spread all over India for the time period 1910 to 2000. Next we classified these stations into nine different regions according to the mean annual precipitation values for the different India meteorological sub-divisions. We conducted detailed analysis of total precipitation and the frequency of precipitation for each five-percentile interval for every region. In general, our results show a decrease in precipitation throughout much of India with only the northwest showing an increase. Our analyses by precipitation percentile class intervals show that the most extreme events have become more frequent, particularly in the western half of the country. Our results are broadly consistent with the IPCC Scientific Assessment by Houghton et al. (2001) and other studies focusing on the spatial dimensions of Indian precipitation over time.
Impaired GSH biosynthesis disrupts eye development, lens morphogenesis and PAX6 function.

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this study was to elucidate the role and molecular consequences of impaired glutathione (GSH) biosynthesis on eye development. Methods GSH biosynthesis was impaired in surface ectoderm-derived ocular tissues by crossing Gclcf/f mice with hemizygous Le-Cre transgenic mice to produce Gclcf/f/Le-CreTg/- (KO) mice. Control mice included Gclcf/f and Gclcwt/wt/Le-CreTg/- mice (CRE). Eyes from all mice (at various stages of eye development) were subjected to histological, immunohistochemical, Western blot, RT-qPCR, RNA-seq, and subsequent Gene Ontology, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis and TRANSFAC analyses. PAX6 transactivation activity was studied using a luciferase reporter assay in HEK293T cells depleted of GSH using buthionine sulfoximine (BSO). Results Deletion of Gclc diminished GSH levels, increased reactive oxygen species (ROS), and caused an overt microphthalmia phenotype characterized by malformation of the cornea, iris, lens, and retina that is distinct from and much more profound than the one observed in CRE mice. In addition, only the lenses of KO mice displayed reduced crystallin (α, β), PITX3 and Foxe3 expression. RNA-seq analyses at postnatal day 1 revealed 1552 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the lenses of KO mice relative to those from Gclcf/f mice, with Crystallin and lens fiber cell identity genes being downregulated while lens epithelial cell identity and immune response genes were upregulated. Bioinformatic analysis of the DEGs implicated PAX6 as a key upstream regulator. PAX6 transactivation activity was impaired in BSO-treated HEK293T cells. Conclusions These data suggest that impaired ocular GSH biosynthesis may disrupt eye development and PAX6 function.
Rate-Dependent Fracture Behavior of Aerospace Epoxies: PR-520 and 3502

AbstractTo understand the response of polymeric materials used in fiber-reinforced composite structures, it is necessary to examine their brittle failure mechanisms under various loading scenarios....
Selective and Bioavailable Inhibitors of Collagen Prolyl 4-Hydroxylase

Collagen is the most abundant protein in animals. A variety of diseases are associated with the overproduction of collagen including cancer metastasis. The stability of collagen relies on post-tran...
Derivation and theoretical assessment of a set of biomechanics-based, AIS2+ risk equations for the knee-thigh-hip complex.

A set of risk equations was derived to estimate the probability of sustaining a moderate-to-serious injury to the knee-thigh-hip complex (KTH) in a frontal crash. The study consisted of four parts. First, data pertaining to knee-loaded, whole-body, post-mortem human subjects (PMHS) were collected from the literature, and the attendant response data (e.g., axial compressive load applied to the knee) were normalized to those of a mid-sized male. Second, numerous statistical analyses and mathematical constructs were used to derive the set of risk equations for adults of various ages and genders. Third, field data from the National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) were analyzed for subsequent comparison purposes. Fourth, the fidelity of the resulting set of risk equations was assessed by using the risk equations to transform the axial compressive femur loads from simulated, full-engagement, frontal crashes into event risks, and the resulting model-based injury rates were compared with the field-based injury rates. The results were promising: For unbelted drivers in towaway frontal crashes involving 1985-1997 model year passenger cars whose speed changes were less that 58 km/h, the model-based average injury rate was 1.10%; the field-based rate was 1.30%. Moreover, some of the trends in the field were confirmed with the model (e.g., there were more KTH-injured males than KTH-injured females). The risk equations demonstrated better fidelity for lower-speed crashes than high-speed crashes. Language: en
EXAMINING THE EFFECTS OF URBANIZATION ON STREAMS USING INDICATORS OF GEOMORPHIC STABILITY

Understanding the response of a watershed to urbanization is important for future land use management and preserving or restoring aquatic habitat. Previous geomorphic studies of urbanization primarily consist of case studies documenting changes in hydrologic response and channel morphology, but offer limited predictive capabilities. However, channel-stability assessment methods have been developed to distinguish between stable and degrading or aggrading sites. Such measures allow possible prediction of urbanization impacts and offer possibilities of better preservation tools. Preservation or restoration of urban channels may be approached using stability measures as preliminary guidelines, and their applicability to various scenarios is important to assess. Seven stream-channel sites, with drainage areas between 15.9 and 72.1 km2 and high density urbanization ranging from 0% to 32%, were studied for geomorphic stability. Two qualitative and seven quantitative stability measures were tested for distinguish...
Optimization of microbubble destruction

The rapid destruction of an ultrasound contrast agent on the time scale of microseconds which occurs when the bubble fragments provides the opportunity to distinguish echoes from bubbles and tissue. Fragmentation occurs when non-spherical oscillations in the bubble become large enough to produce a pinch-off of bubble fragments. The authors find that two factors are important in gauging the probability of fragmentation, the ratio of maximum expansion diameter to minimum compression diameter and the peak wall velocity. For wideband insonation (1-2 cycle insonation), the maximum expansion of a bubble relative to the initial diameter and the occurrence of fragmentation increase with decreasing bubble initial diameter. The ratio of expansion and the occurrence of fragmentation also increase with decreasing center frequency of for all frequencies and initial an increase in transmitted peak negative pressure yields increased expansion ratio and occurrence of fragmentation. A dependence of fragmentation on the phase of insonation is observed. A transmitted pulse of 0/spl deg/ phase (compression precedes rarefaction) produces fragmentation less than the same pulse but of phase 180/spl deg/ (rarefaction precedes compression). The maximum expansion of the bubble is larger in the 0/spl deg/ case but the wall velocity is larger in the 180/spl deg/ case.
Improvisation in implantable medical devices: A gordian knot

0 ver the past two decades, the practice of medicine has been revolutionized by the introduction of a whole variety of diagnostic and therapeutic devices. The rapid pace of these technologic advances, however, has ,placed a burden on government agencies charged with evaluating the safety and efficacy of these products before their approval for commercial use. So severe have bureaucratic delays become that physicians now lind themselves caught in an ever-worsening regulatory gridlock that severely limits their access to cutting-edge medical technology. lj2 In the current issue of the Journal, the report by Ip et al3 serves as a case study of the kind of improvisations some physicians are pursuing in order to provide
Telecom and IT: moving toward unified support

As the much-heralded convergence between IT and Telecom draws nearer, it is time for IT and Telecom support providers to begin considering the implications for user support. Laptops can connect to the internet via cellular services, handheld devices can deliver email and phone calls; support for these devices and services requires technical expertise that cuts across the traditional fields of information technology and telecommunications. At Yale University, the School of Medicine IT department has begun collaborating with the University Telecommunications department to provide a single point of contact for IT and Telecom services. We will outline the process we used to evaluate the single point of contact concept, including needs and feasibility assessments. Our discussion will identify both barriers and strategies for success. Some of the barriers were political, some logistical and some technical. Groundwork included developing a shared vision, establishing trusting relationships, defining user needs and preferences and researching current and emerging technologies. We will present the collaborations we have established, including a coordinated Web presence, collaborative research and development and a unified service center. We will also discuss the options we discarded, such as a single call center. We will offer advice for how other IT departments can begin integrating telecommunications support in this rapidly developing technology sector.
Basal Ganglia Neurons Dynamically Facilitate Exploration during Associative Learning

The basal ganglia (BG) appear to play a prominent role in associative learning, the process of pairing external stimuli with rewarding responses. Accumulating evidence suggests that the contributions of various BG components may be described within a reinforcement learning model, in which a broad repertoire of possible responses to environmental stimuli are evaluated before the most profitable one is chosen. The striatum receives diverse cortical inputs, providing a rich source of contextual information about environmental cues. It also receives projections from midbrain dopaminergic neurons, whose phasic activity reflects a reward prediction error signal. These coincident information streams are well suited for evaluating responses and biasing future actions toward the most profitable response. Still lacking in this model is a mechanistic description of how initial response variability is generated. To investigate this question, we recorded the activity of single neurons in the globus pallidus internus (GPi), the primary BG output nucleus, in nonhuman primates (Macaca mulatta) performing a motor associative learning task. A subset (29%) of GPi neurons showed learning-related effects, decreasing firing during the early stages of learning, then returning to higher baseline rates as associations were mastered. On a trial-by-trial basis, lower firing rates predicted exploratory behavior, whereas higher rates predicted an exploitive response. These results suggest that, during associative learning, BG output is initially permissive, allowing exploration of a variety of responses. Once a profitable response is identified, increased GPi activity suppresses alternative responses, sharpening the response profile and encouraging exploitation of the profitable learned behavior.
Cellular Synthesis of Synchronous Sequential Machines

A method of synthesizing sequential machines using identical cells arranged in arrays is described. The array is connected in a regular pattern and can be designed to include features such as redundancy and programmability. Minimal synthesis is also discussed.
Successful bone marrow transplantation for life threatening xanthogranuloma disseminatum in neurofibromatosis type-1

A 2-yr and 9-month-old female patient with neurofibromatosis type-1 presented with hepatomegaly, anemia, thrombocytopenia, and croupy cough and diagnosed with xanthogranuloma disseminatum (XD). She failed chemotherapy consisting of steroids, 6-mercaptopurine and methotrexate. A partial response to HLH-94 therapy that included etoposide and cyclosporine A was initially observed. However, she continued to have significant organ dysfunction without further improvement at 6 months of therapy. She then received matched unrelated donor bone marrow transplantation (BMT) following carmustine, etoposide, cytarabine and melphelan conditioning with complete resolution of symptoms. BMT is an option in therapy-resistant, life threatening XD cases.
Care and Use of Diamond Knives

Abstract A diamond knife is unsurpassed with regard to producing thin sections of the highest quality of soft or hard specimens, provided it is used carefully and skillfully, and kept free from specimen and resin debris.
The spacing between functional cis-elements of U3 snoRNA is critical for rRNA processing

The sequences and structural features of Xenopus laevis U3 small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA) necessary for pre-rRNA cleavage at sites 1 and 2 to form 18 S rRNA were assayed by depletion/rescue experiments in Xenopus oocytes. Mutagenesis results demonstrated that the putative stem of U3 domain I is unnecessary for 18 S rRNA processing. A model consistent with earlier experimental data is proposed for the structure of domain I when U3 is not yet bound to pre-rRNA. For its function in rRNA processing, a newly discovered element (5' hinge) was revealed to be important but not as critical as the 3' hinge region in Xenopus U3 snoRNA for 18 S rRNA formation. Base-pairing is proposed to occur between the U3 5' hinge and 3' hinge and complementary regions in the external transcribed spacer (ETS); these interactions are phylogenetically conserved, and are homologous to those previously described in yeast (5' hinge-ETS) and trypanosomes (3' hinge-ETS). A model is presented where the base-pairing of the 5' hinge and 3' hinge of U3 snoRNA with the ETS of pre-rRNA helps to correctly position U3 boxes A'+A for their function in rRNA processing. Like an earlier proposal for yeast, boxes A' and A of Xenopus may base-pair with 18 S sequences in pre-rRNA. We present the first direct experimental evidence in any system that box A' is essential for U3 snoRNA function in 18 S rRNA formation. The analysis of insertions and deletions indicated that the spacing between the U3 elements is important, suggesting that they base-pair with the ETS and 18 S regions of pre-rRNA at the same time.
Validation of static and dynamic activity detection using a tri-axial accelerometer and video

Recording body accelerations has been investigated previously to monitor health, metabolic energy expenditure, postural sway and falls [1]. Activity monitoring and the subsequent analysis of the accelerometry data have also proven useful in detecting physical activity levels among Parkinson’s [2] and osteoarthritis patients [3].Copyright © 2012 by ASME
Inositol hexakisphosphate kinase 2 sensitizes ovarian carcinoma cells to multiple cancer therapeutics

We recently identified inositol hexakisphosphate kinase 2 (IP6K2) as a positive regulator of apoptosis. Overexpression of IP6K2 enhances apoptosis induced by interferon-β (IFN-β) and cytotoxic agents in NIH-OVCAR-3 ovarian carcinoma cells. In this study, we contrast and compare IFN-β and radiation-induced death, and show that IP6K2 expression sensitizes tumor cells. Unirradiated NIH-OVCAR-3 cells transfected with IP6K2 formed fewer colonies compared to unirradiated vector-expressing cells. IP6K2 overexpression caused increased radiosensitivity, evidenced by decreased colony forming units (CFU). Both IFN-β and radiation induced caspase 8. IFN-β, but not γ-irradiation, induced TRAIL in NIH-OVCAR-3 cells. Gamma irradiation, but not IFN-β, induced DR4 mRNA. Apoptotic effects of IFN-β or γ-irradiation were blocked by expression of a dominant negative mutant death receptor 5 (DR5Δ) or by Bcl-2. Caspase-8 mRNA induction was more pronounced in IP6K2-expressing cells compared to vector-expressing cells. These data suggest that overexpression of IP6K2 enhances sensitivity of some ovarian carcinomas to radiation and IFN-β. IP6K2 may function to enhance the expression and/or function of caspase 8 and DR4 following cell injury. Both IFN-β and γ-irradiation induce apoptosis through the extrinsic, receptor-mediated pathway, IFN-β through TRAIL, radiation through DR4, and both through caspase 8. The function of both death inducers is positively regulated by IP6K2.
Lossy data compression for imaging interferometer data using a wavelet-transform-based image compression algorithm

Data compression on future space-based imaging interferometers can be used to reduce high telemetry costs, provided the performance is acceptable. This paper investigates lossy data compression of imaging interferometer datacubes using a wavelet transform-based compression algorithm, the Set Partitioning in Hierarchical Trees (SPIHT) image compression algorithm. Compression is performed on individual frames of the interferogram datacubes. Simulated datacubes from the Geosynchronous Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer (GIFTS) are modified to produce new complex GIFTS datacubes used to perform the experiments. Separate programs are written for the encoder and decoder in C++. The encoder and decoder are simulated to the bit-level, meaning they simulate the exact bit streams that would be generated by hardware implementations. All compression ratios reported are based on the actual file size of the encoded data. The simulations indicate very high performance of the algorithm in the interferogram domain, with average errors of less than one least significant bit (LSB) for the GIFTS long-wave band and just over one LSB for the GIFTS short/mid-wave band at compression ratios as high as 13.7:1 and 15.4:1, respectively. At the same compression ratios, errors in the spectral radiance domain are comparable to the simulated instrument noise and RMS temperature profile retrieval errors of less than 1 K are achieved using a University of Wisconsin-Madison prototype retrieval algorithm.