cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of food restriction on UDP‐glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) enzymes in liver

Purpose The influence of diet and nutritional status on drug metabolism has been widely documented. Hepatic drug metabolism enzymes can be profoundly altered in patients suffering from malnutrition and starvation. In this research we have studied the effect of food restriction on UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) enzymes in rat liver. Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats were maintained on a powdered commercial diet. Rats in control group (C, n=4) had ad libitum access to food and water. Animals in food restriction group (FRG, n=5) were fed with 60% of food intake of the control group. After 5 weeks, the rats were sacrificed and liver microsomes were prepared. Protein content was assessed by Western blot using polyclonal antibody for rat UGT1A1, human UGT1A6, and rat UGT1A7. Results The body weight of the FRG rats was reduced by 35% compared to the C rats. Hepatic and renal organ function was normal between the two groups. Western blot results revealed that antibody against human UGT1A6 cross-reacted with rat UGT1A6. The polyclonal antibodies were found to be specific for the UGTs. Food restriction did not have any influence on protein content of hepatic UGT1A1 and UGT1A7. However, the UGT1A6 protein levels were significantly lower (p<0.05) in the FRG rats (~3-fold reduction) compared to control animals. Conclusion Food restriction appears to selectively downregulate hepatic UGT enzymes in male rats. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (2004) 75, P85–P85; doi: 10.1016/j.clpt.2003.11.326
Detection of selected solar-stimulated fluorophores with a Fraunhofer line radiometer

In this paper we report the use of Fraunhofer Line Radiometry and the Fraunhofer Line Depth (FLD) method to measure the passive fluorescence of select, high quantum yield (> 0.7) fluorophores. The measurements we describe involved direct solar illumination of both a non-fluorescent standard material (NIST, Spectralon), and the fluorescent target materials (in solution) within several relevant Fraunhofer lines: 486 nm (H-beta), 518 nm (Mg), 589 nm (Na), and 656 nm (H-alpha). Of the selected labels, Rhodamine B demonstrated the highest fluorescence coefficient of 2.2, at 589 nm, and possessed a fluorescence intensity of 1.1 x 106 cps at an optical density of 1.0. These results show fluorescent labels can be selectively measured and observed passively in relevant Fraunhofer lines. The implications for such findings indicate the potential daytime measurement of environmental labels and probes as a promising sensing technology.
The Relationship Between Mental Health Problems and Violence Among Criminal Offenders

A major challenge in studying the relationship between mental disorder and violent behavior lies in eliminating spuriousness from the analysis because the two share many of the same risk factors. This study uses nationally representative data from the Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities 1997 (N = 17,248) in an attempt to isolate causal effects of mental health problems on violent behavior among criminal offenders. Controlling for respondents' past violent behavior and other relevant factors, the research found that a history of mental health treatment is more strongly associated with assaultive violence and sexual offenses than with other types of crimes. In addition, there is support for a deviance hypothesis: Offenders with mental health problems tend to engage in more deviant types of criminal acts than those without such problems.
Evaluating Information Technology Investments in Developing Economies Using Activity-Based Costing

Many firms in emerging economies invest in information technology primarily with the objective of protecting their cost advantages. This paper presents a framework for evaluating information technology investments by integrating the value chain model with activity-based costing. The proposed four-step approach is illustrated with a numerical example of a hypothetical manufacturing company seeking improvements in its cost structure.
Closed-Loop Control of Force During Electrical Stimulation of Muscle

The control of contractions elicited by electrical stimulation of muscle could be improved if there was a linear repeatable input-output relationship. The input is the command to the controlled stimulator and the output is the evoked contraction. Systems employing closed-loop force feedback to provide regulation of contractions were investigated in these studies. Force was modulated by both recruitment and temporal summation during intramuscular stimulation. Closed-loop systems with combined proportional and integral control were found to be stable and linear and to have good compensation for variations in muscle properties. A low proportional loop gain (approximately unity) was found necessary to prevent oscillation when modulating recruitment. Ratios of integral to proportional gain of about 10 gave the fastest response without compromising stability. The response time of the closed-loop system was as fast as or faster than the open-loop system.
A hierarchically coordinated operation framework for optimally integrating PHEVs into power grids

This paper explores the impacts of high-level vehicle-to-grid (V2G) enabled plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) penetration on power grids and proposes a novel hierarchically coordinated operation framework which will facilitate independent system operators (ISOs), distribution system operators, and individual households to effectively integrate V2G enabled PHEVs into existing transmission, distribution and home area networks, respectively. Accordingly, PHEVs can operate as controllably mobile energy storage resources for providing energy and reserve ancillary services, enhancing power systems security and economics, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, efficient charging/discharging strategies will considerably save the electricity bill and reduce financial risks of PHEV owners while satisfying their driving preferences.
The Lesions of Rotavirus Infection in 1- and 10-day-old Gnotobiotic Calves

Age-related resistance to rotavirus disease has been described with some rotaviruses. In the present study, we investigated age-related resistance to rotavirus disease by defining extent of intestinal infection, virus replication, and severity of intestinal lesions in groups of three 1- and 10-day-old gnotobiotic calves of mixed breed inoculated orally with a cloned bovine rotavirus of low virulence for calves (strain C3-160) and in two groups of three uninoculated control calves of mixed breed. One-day-old calves inoculated with rotavirus developed diarrhea 26 hours after inoculation, and their feces contained 10(8.5)-10(9.2) TCID50/g feces; inoculated 10-day-old calves did not develop diarrhea, virus excretion commenced on the second or third day after inoculation, and peak concentrations of virus in feces were 10(5.7)-10(7.9) TCID50/g feces. Calves were euthanatized within 8-30 hours after the attainment of peak virus shedding while they were still shedding virus at peak levels. The mean percentage of small intestinal epithelium that was immunostained for rotavirus was three times greater in 1-day-old calves than in 10-day-old calves, and the large intestine was infected more extensively in 1-day-old calves. Immunostaining for rotavirus was maximal in the mid small intestine. Staining of mucin was substantially less in the epithelium of the small intestines and colon of rotavirus-inoculated 1-day-old calves than in age-matched controls. The mean height of villi was reduced to approximately half that of controls in the mid and distal small intestine of rotavirus-inoculated 1-day-old calves and was unchanged in 10-day-old calves. Mean crypt cell production rates were greater than that in controls in both groups of rotavirus-inoculated calves, indicating increased enterocyte loss. Age-related resistance to disease was not due to an inability of rotavirus to infect and replicate in enterocytes with lethal effects but appeared to be associated with a slowing of the pathogenic process, which occurred because insufficient enterocytes became infected and destroyed for lesions to develop.
Distributed exploratory coverage with limited mobility

The impact of limited mobility in mobile sensor platforms is a limiting factor in the effectiveness of coverage algorithms. As the usage of autonomous drones increases in applications ranging from search-and-rescue, detection of forest fires, and surveillance, the ability for these platforms to employ distributed algorithms is increasingly important. In this paper, we examine the problem of exploratory coverage, wherein the objective is to move a number of mobile sensors to fully explore (and hence, sense every point in) a target area in order to detect any critical event that has already occurred in the area. Further, we present a taxonomy of coverage problems as identified by the relationships between sensor range, coverage area, number of sensors, and mobility (range). We then design a purely localised and distributed approximation algorithm for our problem, and provide simulation results for sparse and balanced deployments to demonstrate the effects of limited mobility on exploratory coverage.
Syngenta: Changing a Global Company

Syngenta customers are facing increasing costs, price volatility and risk for their production. To help customers deal with these challenges, the company announced the integration of seed and crop protection in early 2011. The “One Syngenta” strategy had three objectives: Innovate, Integrate, and Outperform. In North America, the company’s second largest region, the company faced two challenges: the non-exclusive distributors Syngenta sells through would need to carry Syngenta’s message to farmers and the internal culture of Syngenta’s marketing organization in North America would have to shift from specialists to generalists. The specific objectives of this case are to understand the strategic change Syngenta made as it shifted from a product (seed and crop protection) focus to a crop-based focus, assess how a global business can “think like a grower” and move from a product leadership discipline to a customer intimacy discipline, and gain insights into the Syngenta employee, retailer and grower perceptions of the new strategy.
Cell Structure and Gene Expression: Contributions of the Extracellular Matrix to Regulation of Osteoblast Growth and Differentiation

The role of the extracellular matrix of specialized tissues in promoting cellular differentiation has long been recognized (1–2). Our studies have utilized rat osteoblast cultures (3–5) as a model system to examine a well defined extracellular matrix (ECM) and the coordinate regulation of the changes in cell structure and gene expression as related to its formation. These cells produce a mineralized ECM having a bone tissue-like organization analogous to embryonic bone (4–6). In contrast to tumor-derived or transformed osteosarcoma cell lines (7), those normal diploid bone derived cells in culture exhibit normal cell cycle regulated expression of genes which is functionally coupled to expression of differentiation specific genes (4). As the ECM develops, osteoblasts differentiate, progressing through three stages of development, a proliferation period, a period of matrix maturation, and a mineralization period (4). In the previous chapter, temporal expression of genes characterizing the osteoblast phenotype associated with this differentiation in vitro has been described in detail and is summarized in Figure 1.
Methods for time series analysis of RNA-seq data with application to human Th17 cell differentiation.

Motivation: Gene expression profiling using RNA-seq is a powerful technique for screening RNA species’ landscapes and their dynamics in an unbiased way. While several advanced methods exist for differential expression analysis of RNA-seq data, proper tools to anal.yze RNA-seq time-course have not been proposed. Results: In this study, we use RNA-seq to measure gene expression during the early human T helper 17 (Th17) cell differentiation and T-cell activation (Th0). To quantify Th17-specific gene expression dynamics, we present a novel statistical methodology, DyNB, for analyzing timecourse RNA-seq data. We use non-parametric Gaussian processes to model temporal correlation in gene expression and combine that with negative binomial likelihood for the count data. To account for experiment-specific biases in gene expression dynamics, such as differences in cell differentiation efficiencies, we propose a method to rescale the dynamics between replicated measurements. We develop an MCMC sampling method to make inference of differential expression dynamics between conditions. DyNB identifies several known and novel genes involved in Th17 differentiation. Analysis of differentiation efficiencies revealed consistent patterns in gene expression dynamics between different cultures. We use qRT-PCR to validate differential expression and differentiation efficiencies for selected genes. Comparison of the results with those obtained via traditional timepoint-wise analysis shows that time-course analysis together with time rescaling between cultures identifies differentially expressed genes which would not otherwise be detected. Availability: An implementation of the proposed computational methods will be available at http://research.ics.aalto.fi/csb/software/ Contact: tarmo.aijo@aalto.fi or harri.lahdesmaki@aalto.fi Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Physics issues in the design of a recirculating induction accelerator for heavy ion fusion

It is pointed out that recirculating induction accelerators offer the potential of providing a driver for a heavy-ion fusion reactor at a lower cost than a linear induction accelerator. The authors discuss some of the design issues facing a recirculator and compare induction recirculators with induction linacs, RF-linac/storage rings, and synchrotron/storage rings. They briefly discuss two critical physics issues, in common with the RF-linac approach, emittance growth and beam interactions with the residual gas. >
The crystal-solution problem of sperm whale myoglobin.

The central question to be discussed in this paper is whether the structure established for sperm whale myoglobin in the crystalline state is the same as that of the protein in solution. As judged by its ultraviolet optical rotatory dispersion, the helical content of metmyoglobin in solution does not differ from that in the crystal, 77 per cent. Although an uncertainty of about ±5 per cent must attach to this result, it excludes many alternative arrangements of the polypeptide chain. The folding of the chain may be further restricted to the basic form seen in the crystal if the dimensions of the molecule in solution and the interactions of specific chemical groups are taken into account. Since the rotatory dispersion of metmyoglobin is constant with respect to ionic strength, and since the dispersions of reduced and oxymyoglobin reveal no change in helical content upon their formation from metmyoglobin, one may infer that the structure of the protein is largely maintained both as it dissolves and during its reversible combination with oxygen. The crystallographic model of myoglobin thus offers a structural basis for attempting to explain its physiological function in solution. The relevance of this conclusion to the crystal-solution problems presented by other species of protein is then best seen in the light of common factors that govern the equilibrium of all proteins between crystal and solution.
Real time dynamic wind calculation for a pressure driven wind system

We describe real time dynamic wind calculation for a pressure driven wind system. This simple and elegant approach allows us to perform visual effects in real time using a minute fraction of the CPU's processing power over and above what is required for static wind. Experiments were performed with a real-time application to render wind-driven snow over a 3D terrain to verify these claims.
The effect of bilirubin on the energy metabolism of brain mitochondria.

— Unconjugated bilirubin caused uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation in brain mitochondria prepared from mature or weanling rats. Human serum albumin in an amount sufficient to bind 100 per cent of the added bilirubin was able to protect the mitochondria from the inhibitory effects of bilirubin. Bilirubin inhibited both the endogenous and DNP-activated ATPase activities but had no effect upon the Mg2+-stimulated ATPase; albumin prevented the inhibition.
Opposing tissue-specific roles of angiotensin in the pathogenesis of obesity, and implications for obesity-related hypertension

Metabolic disease, specifically obesity, has now become the greatest challenge to improving cardiovascular health. The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) exists as both a circulating hormone system and as a local paracrine signaling mechanism within various tissues including the brain, kidney, and adipose, and this system is strongly implicated in cardiovascular health and disease. Growing evidence also implicates the RAS in the control of energy balance, supporting the concept that the RAS may be mechanistically involved in the pathogenesis of obesity and obesity hypertension. Here, we review the involvement of the RAS in the entire spectrum of whole organism energy balance mechanisms, including behaviors (food ingestion and spontaneous physical activity) and biological processes (digestive efficiency and both aerobic and nonaerobic resting metabolic rates). We hypothesize that opposing, tissue-specific effects of the RAS to modulate these various components of energy balance can explain the apparently paradoxical results reported by energy-balance studies that involve stimulating, versus disrupting, the RAS. We propose a model in which such opposing and tissue-specific effects of the RAS can explain the failure of simple, global RAS blockade to result in weight loss in humans, and hypothesize that obesity-mediated uncoupling of endogenous metabolic rate control mechanisms can explain the phenomenon of obesity-related hypertension.
Situations in 140 Characters: Assessing Real-World Situations on Twitter

Over 20 million Tweets were used to study the psychological characteristics of real-world situations over the course of two weeks. Models for automatically and accurately scoring individual Tweets on the DIAMONDS dimensions of situations were developed. Stable daily and weekly fluctuations in the situations that people experience were identified. Predicted temporal trends were found, providing validation for this new method of situation assessment. On weekdays, Duty peaks in the midmorning and declines steadily thereafter while Sociality peeks in the evening. Negativity is highest during the workweek and lowest on the weekends. pOsitivity shows the opposite pattern. Additionally, gender and locational differences in the situations shared on Twitter are explored. Females share both more emotionally charged (pOsitive and Negative) situations, while no differences were found in the amount of Duty experienced by males and females. Differences in the situations shared from Rural and Urban areas were not found. Future applications of assessing situations using social media are discussed.
Effect of sustained, low-dose curcumin on benzo[a]pyrene-induced tissue DNA adducts in rat model

AACR Annual Meeting-- Apr 12-16, 2008; San Diego, CA 3816 Intervention with natural or synthetic agent(s) is considered a useful strategy to prevent cancer development. Test agents are generally administered in the diet at high doses in order to achieve effective plasma concentration. We tested a novel hypothesis that agents administered systemically by polymer-based implants will lower the effective dose in diminishing carcinogen-induced DNA damage compared with dietary route. Female S/D rats were pretreated with curcumin either by diet (400 ppm, w/w) or by 1 cm polycaprolactone (PCL) implants entrapped with 20 mg curcumin. Implants were prepared by dissolving curcumin and PCL in appropriate solvents, melting the polymer following removal of the solvents, and extruding the molten material through a mold. Two weeks later, animals were challenged with a single intraperitoneal dose of benzo[ a ]pyrene (BP) (50 mg/kg). Animals were euthanized after 6 days and different tissues were collected. Analysis of the lung and liver DNA adducts by 32P-postlabeling showed that dietary curcumin inhibited the BP-induced DNA adducts by 45% and 83% in the lung and liver (65 ± 53 and 74 ± 110 adducts/109 nucleotides), respectively compared with sham treatment (117 ± 35 and 432 ± 118 adducts/109 nucleotides). The adduct inhibition also occurred in animals that received curcumin by polymeric implants, except that the degree of inhibition was 1.6 to 1.7-fold lower than the dietary administration. The lesser effectiveness of the implant route presumably stems from a low dose of curcumin delivered by the implant (~80 µg/rat/day) to combat against the bolus dose of BP. To test this hypothesis, animals pretreated with curcumin implants for two weeks were further treated with sustained, low dose of BP by polycaprolactone implant (1 cm implant entrapped with 10 mg BP) (Jeyabalan et al ., PAACR, submitted). Analysis of tissue DNA adducts by 32P-postlabeling 30 days post BP treatment showed 65% and 83% inhibition of adducts in the lung and liver (9 ± 5 and 4 ± 0.7 adducts/109 nucleotides), respectively compared with sham treatment (26 ± 5 and 23 ± 12 adducts/109 nucleotides). The average dose of curcumin over the duration of the study was ~110 µg/rat/day based on the amount left in the implants recovered from animals. Our data suggest that this polymer-based novel delivery system has the potential to apply to a host of plant-derived minor components for activity assessment in vivo that otherwise cannot be tested by the traditional dietary route due to their limited quantities, as well as to reduce toxicity of agents that need to be administered at high doses to achieve effective plasma concentration (Supported from the USPHS grants CA-90892, CA-118114 and CA-125152).
Providing end-of-life care to patients seeking hope for cure: Improving Mayo Clinic palliative care utilization

18552 Background: We reviewed Palliative Care Consultation Service (PCCS) referrals to attempt to promote earlier referrals, and to improve overall patient care. Methods: Eligibility for PCCS refer...
Autoregressive Group Mobility Model

We have described the autoregressive group mobility model that captures group realistic mobility accurately. We have explained a scheme to detect group movements, which can be used to activate/deactivate the second tier of the model. Simulation experimental results are also provided verifying the analytical models.
Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability in Parents at Risk for Child Physical Abuse

The present study examined heart rate and heart rate variability (i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) in a sample of 48 general population parents (41.7% fathers), who were either at high risk (n = 24) or low risk (n = 24) for child physical abuse. During baseline assessments of heart rate and RSA, parents sat quietly for 3 min. Afterward, parents were presented with a series of anagrams (either easy or difficult) and were instructed to solve as many anagrams as possible in 3 min. As expected, high-risk (compared with low-risk) parents evinced significantly higher resting heart rate and significantly lower resting RSA. During the anagram task, high-risk parents did not evince significant changes in heart rate or RSA relative to baseline levels. In contrast, low-risk parents evinced significant increases in heart rate and significant decreases in RSA during the anagram task. Contrary to expectations, the anagram task difficulty did not moderate the study findings. Collectively, this pattern of result...
Abstract 12064: Living with Significant Other is Associated with Lower Risk for Emergency Readmission after Unstable Angina&Non-ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Introduction: Patients who are diagnosed with unstable angina (UA) or non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (non-STEMI) are at risk for repeated acute cardiac episodes resulting in emergent rehospitalization. American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology practice guidelines recommend use of risk stratification prior to hospital discharge; however, the importance of identifying patients’ social support for follow-up planning is not emphasized. Hypothesis: UA and non-STEMI patients who live with significant others are less likely to return to the Emergency Department (ED) for acute cardiac-related events within one year. Methods: Secondary analysis was conducted of data from a prospective clinical trial (IMMEDIATE AIM Study, RO1HL69753), in which patients presenting to the ED with chest pain were enrolled and followed for one year. A total of 166 patients with UA or non-STEMI and 1-year outcome data were included in the present analysis. Hazard over time analyses were performed to assess whether living with a significant other was associated with cardiac-related ED readmission during the follow-up period. Significant other was defined as spouse, partner, child, or other care provider. Results: Multivariate Cox Regression analyses controlling for gender, race, discharge diagnosis, and Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) risk score revealed that patients who lived with a significant other were less likely to return to the ED for an acute cardiac event within one follow-up year. Living with a significant other was a significant independent contributor to the statistical model (hazard ratio =.47, 95% confidence interval .29 - .75, p=.002). Overall sensitivity and specificity of the model was 73% (C-statistic=.73). Conclusions: In patients with UA or non-STEMI, living without a significant other confers a 2 times greater relative risk of ED cardiac-related readmittance compared with patients who live with a significant other. Prospective clinical trials are needed to identify what the beneficial “active ingredients” are in living with a significant other and to develop interventions to reduce risk for patients who do not have a significant other living arrangement.
Bioassay of Desoxycorticosterone-like Material in Urine.∗:

SummaryAn assay for desoxycortieoster-one-like activity in biological fluids is presented, having a sensitivity in the order of 10 y of DOCA. The critical nature of solvent vehicle choice and of time-dosage of urinary extracts is presented and discussed. Urinary extracts from some edematous patients with heart failure and nephrosis show a sodium-retaining activity greater than that observed in normals and in non-edematous controls.
The Prevalence of Orthodontic Treatment Need

The prevalence of unmet orthodontic treatment need amongst 955 12-year-old Sheffield children has been assessed using the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need [I.O.T.N.]. The Index was found to be quick and simple to use, and demonstrated very good levels of intra-examiner agreement.
Correlates of electrical activity inXenopus laevis embryos

1. The presence of neuroid conduction in the skin ofXenopus laevis embryos gives them a precocious capacity to respond to stimuli. This conduction system constitutes a precursor of the sensory system, in that interactive electrical coupling exists between the myotomes and the epithelium prior to the appearance of sensory nerves. 2. Propagated electrical activity in the epithelium ofXenopus laevis embryos was recorded using extracellular electrodes for morphological stages in which myotomes are presumably not innervated (i.e., up to Nieuwkoop and Faber, stage 27). Relative to the external medium, transepithelial negativegoing spikes are superimposed on a positive transepithelial potential. Only epithelial activity was recorded; myotome activity was not recorded directly. 3. Specific correlates of transepithelial electrical activity were identified for the characteristic maneuvers for four behavioral stages. These stages are designated nonmotile, premotile, head flexure and coil, and alternating flexure. Earliest epithelial electrical activity in the nonmotile period, is thought to correspond with cytoplasmic contractions in myotomes. During the premotile period, which corresponds with Nieuwkoop and Faber stages 22 to 24 at a rearing temperature of 22° C, movement is minimal and only to one side. Head flexure and coil involve most of the myotomes capable of contractions. This activity usually involves a single contraction. Next the animal spontaneously bends from side to side repetitively during the alternating flexure stage. This corresponds with stages 25 to 27. In all stages different behavioral maneuvers can be identified from the electrical records. 4. Behavioral maneuvers were studied from film records to correlate movements with electrical recordings. 5. Morphological and behavioral stages were correlated at three rearing temperatures. The appearance of behavioral stages are retarded more than the appearance of morphological stages at reduced temperatures.
An Examination of Engineering Personnel Assignment Policies in the Multi-Project, Capacity Constrained Situation

Engineering management is often done in a multiproject setting where projects arrive dynamically, engineering human resources are overloaded, and preemption is allowed. In this simulation research,...
Nutrient content of selected baby foods.

Baby foods are the subject of the third section of the new revision of Agriculture Handbook No.8, soon to be released. Here, the authors describe the considerations whioh went into it and present selected data as examples of the changes.
Effects of in vivo metabolic acidosis on midcortical bone ion composition.

Chronic metabolic acidosis increases urine calcium excretion without altering intestinal calcium absorption, suggesting that bone mineral is the source of the additional urinary calcium. During met...
Generation of Transgenic Mice

In this post-genomic era, emphasis has shifted from identifying genes to understanding the physiological functions of gene products and their implications in human diseases. The use of transgenic mice is one of the key approaches in elucidating gene function and regulation. Transgenic mice have wide applications in biomedical research. These include (1) gain-of-function studies by overexpressing a protein in a tissue-specific manner; (2) loss-of-function studies by overexpressing a dominant-negative construct; (3) mapping functional domains by expressing various mutated constructs in a null (knockout mice) background; (4) mapping regulatory elements using a reporter gene; and (5) labeling subsets of cells with fluorescent proteins for live in vivo imaging of cell structure and function. In this chapter, we provide overviews as well as detailed protocols for each step involved in the generation of transgenic mice, including the selection of regulatory elements, purification of DNA, obtaining fertilized eggs, pronuclear injection, and genotyping of transgenic mice.
Optical Analysis of Ductile Fracture of Metals

The optical technique capable of recording 3-D deformation is applied to different cracked aluminum alloy specimens under tension. The experimental results are compared with the theories at the corresponding deformation stages. The singularity forms agree well with HRR field for stationary cracks and agree with the solutions proposed by Gao and Hwang when crack grows.
3D chromatin structure estimation through a constraint-enhanced score function

Based on experimental techniques of the type Chromosome Conformation Capture (3c), several methods have been proposed in the literature to estimate the structure of the nuclear dna in homogeneous populations of cells. Many of these methods transform contact frequencies into Euclidean distances between pairs of chromatin fragments, and then reconstruct the structure by solving a distance-to-geometry problem. To avoid the drawbacks of this strategy, we propose to abandon the frequency-distance translation and adopt a recursive multiscale procedure, where the chromatin fibre is modelled by a new kind of modified bead chain, the data are suitably partitioned at each scale, and the resulting partial structures are estimated independently of each other and then connected again to rebuild the whole chain. We propose a new score function to generate the solution space: it includes a data-fit part that does not require target distances, and a penalty part, which enforces soft geometric constraints on the solution, coherent with known physical and biological constraints. The relative weights of the two parts are balanced automatically at each scale and each subchain treated. Since it is reasonable to expect that many different structures fit any 3c-type data set, we sample the solution space by simulated annealing, with no search for an absolute optimum. A set of different solutions with similar scores is thus generated. The procedure can be managed through a minimum set of parameters, independent of both the scale and the particular genomic segment being treated. The user is thus allowed to control the solutions easily and effectively. The partition of the fibre, along with several intrinsically parallel parts, make this method computationally efficient. We report some results obtained with the new method and code, tested against real data, that support the reliability of our method and the biological plausibility of our solutions.
Population Density and AIDS-Related Stigma in Large-Urban, Small-Urban, and Rural Communities of the Southeastern USA

AIDS stigmas delay HIV diagnosis, interfere with health care, and contribute to mental health problems among people living with HIV. While there are few studies of the geographical distribution of AIDS stigma, research suggests that AIDS stigmas are differentially experienced in rural and urban areas. We conducted computerized interviews with 696 men and women living with HIV in 113 different zip code areas that were classified as large-urban, small-urban, and rural areas in a southeast US state with high-HIV prevalence. Analyses conducted at the individual level (N = 696) accounting for clustering at the zip code level showed that internalized AIDS-related stigma (e.g., the sense of being inferior to others because of HIV) was experienced with greater magnitude in less densely populated communities. Multilevel models indicated that after adjusting for potential confounding factors, rural communities reported greater internalized AIDS-related stigma compared to large-urban areas and that small-urban areas indicated greater experiences of enacted stigma (e.g., discrimination) than large-urban areas. The associations between anticipated AIDS-related stigma (e.g., expecting discrimination) and population density at the community-level were not significant. Results suggest that people living in rural and small-urban settings experience greater AIDS-related internalized and enacted stigma than their counterparts living in large-urban centers. Research is needed to determine whether low-density population areas contribute to or are sought out by people who experienced greater AIDS-related stigma. Regardless of causal directions, interventions are needed to address AIDS-related stigma, especially among people in sparsely populated areas with limited resources.
47,XXY With Associated Bilateral Renal Agenesis

Abstract We describe the case of a 36-week gestational-age male stillborn with bilateral renal agenesis and a 47,XXY karyotype, as well as features of Potter sequence. No other congenital abnormalities were noted. Severe oligohydramnios was diagnosed prenatally at 30 weeks, and cytogenetic analysis was performed postmortem. Urinary tract anomalies are uncommon in association with Klinefelter syndrome. Unilateral renal agenesis has been described. We describe, to our knowledge, the first case of bilateral renal agenesis in association with 47,XXY.
Comparison of a Polyclonal and Monoclonal Immunoassay for PSA: Need for an International Antigen Standard

Abstract Two leading commercial immunoassays for prostate specific antigen (the Yang Laboratories polyclonal radioimmunoassay and the Hybritech two-site monoclonal radioimmunometric assay) were compared using independently purified antigen as the calibrator. The Yang polyclonal assay yielded values from 1.4 to 1.9 times higher than the Hybritech monoclonal assay on the same sample, similar to results of previous investigators. When an independent prostate specific antigen calibrator was substituted for the respective kit calibrators, both assays yielded essentially identical results, thereby confirming that differences in assay values arise from differences in the assigned values of the kit calibrators. Otherwise, both assays had similar responses in the high and low range. Recovery studies of prostate specific antigen in various diluents demonstrated that antigen recovery was lowest in diluents with the highest protein content. We conclude that the kit manufacturers have assigned different values to their antigen calibrators. Sample values between the assays can be compared by use of an appropriate conversion table. Differences in their recommended ranges of normal for prostate specific antigen in male serum (zero to 2.5 ng./ml. for the Yang assay and zero to 4.0 ng./ml. for the Hybritech assay) reflect two factors: a difference in assigned calibrator values and differences in the selection of the “normal” population of men used to define the normal range of values. We urge adoption of an international standard calibrator for prostate specific antigen as a means to correct these differences.
Effectiveness of a newly reconstructed floodplain oxbow to reduce NO3-N loads from a spring flood.

Enhancing NO3-N processing in floodplains offers opportunities to achieve water quality improvements in agricultural watersheds but few studies have quantified the effectiveness of newly reconstructed oxbows to reduce loads delivered from floods. In this study, we evaluated NO3-N retention during a spring storm water runoff event in a newly reconstructed oxbow (<1 year old) located along Morgan Creek in eastern Iowa. A 30-h flood connected the oxbow to the creek for approximately nine hours and delivered 14.7 kg of NO3-N into the oxbow. Using a NO3-N sensor, oxbow NO3-N concentrations were observed to increase from 0.7 to 5.3 mg/l after the flood event, but decreased to background conditions over the next 21 days. We estimated NO3-N retention to be 0.30 g N m-2 d-1 and the NO3-N retention efficiency to be 74.2% for the single flood event. The NO3-N mass reduction in the oxbow intersected with predicted mass reduction from a first-order denitrification decay model after 21 days which suggests that denitrification was largely responsible for the observed NO3-N decrease. However, the effectiveness of the oxbow for reducing watershed-scale N loads appears to be limited, since the oxbow is located in a low-nutrient floodplain and would only retain NO3-N loads when delivered to the oxbow via flooding. Study results suggest that oxbows provides valuable ecosystem services during non-flooding periods and are activated for NO3-N load reduction during floods.
Ontology for the Engineering of Geospatial Systems

In this paper, a metamodel ontology is introduced to describe a domain of data components for geospatial data and query systems. The ontology satisfies the need to model the more complex environment that occurs within a geospatial system. For example, contrary to typical databases, geospatial data have additional metadata files describing the actual data. Also, a geospatial system may have domain ontologies in addition to semantic mappings. Currently, user knowledge is required to know the relationships between all data components (data, metadata, ontologies, mappings, etc.). Contrary to that, we propose a system ontology over which automatic inferencing can be done to determine relationships and meanings among data components. This work fits into the vision of the Semantic Web and interlinked data and knowledge networks and applies these notions to a metamodel for a data system.
Confinement studies during neutral beam injection in PLT

Neutral beam injection experiments on PLT have provided definitive information on ion energy confinement in highly collisionless plasmas. We find that ion thermal conduction is consistent, within a factor of approx. 3, with neoclassical theory, and that anomalous thermal convection of ion energy is a factor of 2-3 less than would be calculated from the INTOR D/sub e/ with a convection loss term of the form 5/2nkTv/sub r/. From our experiments with a shunted TF coil we have found that a single shallow ripple well of 2.5% has a neglible effect on ion energy confinement, even at the lowest collisionality obtainable on PLT. Scrutiny of the analytic theories of ripple induced transport motivated by these experiments, suggests that more theoretical (and perhaps numerical) work is needed in this area.
Stage IA2 cervical cancer: Long-term outcomes with less radical as opposed to more radical surgical management.

e17011Background: Standard treatment for stage IA2 carcinoma of the cervix consists of modified radical hysterectomy or pelvic radiation. The objective of this study was to compare outcomes of less...
The sequence dependent search mechanism of EcoRI

One-dimensional search is an essential step in DNA target recognition. Theoretical studies have suggested that the sequence dependence of one-dimensional diffusion can help resolve the competing demands of fast search and high target affinity, a conflict known as the speed-selectivity paradox. The resolution requires that the diffusion energy landscape is correlated with the underlying specific binding energies. In this work, we report observations of one-dimensional search by QD labeled EcoRI. Our data supports the view that proteins search DNA via rotation coupled sliding over a corrugated energy landscape. We observed that while EcoRI primarily slides along DNA at low salt concentrations, at higher concentrations its diffusion is a combination of sliding and hopping. We also observed long-lived pauses at genomic star sites which differ by a single nucleotide from the target sequence. To reconcile these observations with prior biochemical and structural data, we propose a model of search in which the protein slides over a sequence independent energy landscape during fast search, but rapidly interconverts with a "hemi-specific" binding mode in which a half site is probed. This half site interaction stabilizes the transition to a fully specific mode of binding which can then lead to target recognition.
School Climate, Student Engagement, and Academic Achievement: A Latent Variable, Multilevel Multi-Informant Examination:

This study tested the authoritative school climate theory that schools characterized by high structure and student support have greater levels of student engagement and that these factors are assoc...
Influence of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Lower Limb Muscle Activation and Balance Ability in Soccer Player

Purpose: This study is to investigate influence of tDCS on lower limb muscle activity and balance ability in soccer player. Methods: Sessions were conducted with 15 subjects in tDCS group and 15 in action observation training group for 20 minutes, 5 sessions a week, for 8 weeks. All soccer players underwent 30 minutes of plyometric training before main exercise. To evaluate lower limb muscle activation, rectus femoris and biceps femoris were taken measure using surface electromyogram system and to evaluate balance ability, surface area, whole path length, limited of stability were measured using biorescue. Results: Regarding balance shown in surface area, whole path length, limited of stability and muscle activation in rectus femoris and biceps femoris, tDCS group showed more significant change than action bservation training group. Conclusion: Therefore, intervention using tDCS is more effective in improving lower limb muscle activation and balance ability than action observation training.
Irradiation resistance of nanostructured interfaces in Zr–Nb metallic multilayers

Irradiation resistance of metallic nanostructured multilayers is determined by the interactions between defects and phase boundaries. However, the dose-dependent interfacial morphology evolution can greatly change the nature of the defect–boundary interaction mechanisms over time. In the present study, we used atomistic models combined with a novel technique based on the accumulation of Frenkel pairs to simulate irradiation processes. We examined dose effects on defect evolutions near zirconium–niobium multilayer phase boundaries. Our simulations enabled us to categorize defect evolution mechanisms in bulk phases into progressing stages of dislocation accumulation, saturation, and coalescence. In the metallic multilayers, we observed a phase boundary absorption mechanism early on during irradiation, while at higher damage levels, the increased irradiation intermixing triggered a phase transformation in the Zr–Nb mixture. This physical phenomenon resulted in the emission of a large quantity of small immobile dislocation loops from the phase boundaries.
The Matrix: An Agent-Based Modeling Framework for Data Intensive Simulations

Human decision-making is influenced by social, psychological, neurological, emotional, normative, and learning factors, as well as individual traits like age and education level. Social/cognitive computational models that incorporate these factors are increasingly used to study how humans make decisions. A result is that agent models, within agent-based modeling (ABM), are becoming more heavyweight, i.e., are more computationally demanding, making scalability and at-scale simulations all the more difficult to achieve. To address these challenges, we have developed an ABM simulation framework that addresses data-intensive simulation at-scale. We describe system requirements and design, and demonstrate at-scale simulation by modeling 3 million users (each as an individual agent), 13 million repositories, and 239 million user-repository interactions on GitHub. Simulations predict user interactions with GitHub repositories, which, to our knowledge, are the first simulations of this kind. Our simulations demonstrate a three-order of magnitude increase in the number of cognitive agents simultaneously interacting.
History and Future of Robotic Colorectal Surgery

The first prototype robots were developed in the mid-1990s to overcome the disadvantages of laparoscopic surgery, mainly the 2D plane, the rigidness instruments, and the limited degrees of freedom. Current robotic platforms mitigate these disadvantages by providing 3D imaging with enhanced instrument control. We are in unparalleled times for robotic surgical innovation, with new technologies being developed at unprecedented rates. In this chapter, we review the history of robotic surgery along with an overview of the current and future robotic surgical platforms.
Collection development and management for 21st Century Library collections: an introduction: Vicki L. Gregory, Chicago, Illinois, ALA Neal-Schuman, 2019, 264 pp., ISBN 978-0-8389-1712-1, $79.99, E-ISBN 978-0-8389-1761-9

Collection Development and Management for the 21st Century is an ideal way to introduce someone new to libraries to the intricacies of collection development and management as well as the emerging ...
ANTIGENIC CHARACTERIZATION OF INFLUENZA A VIRUS NUCLEOPROTEIN

ABSTRACT Antigenic variation in the nucleoprotein (NP) of influenza A viruses was studied using monoclonal antibodies. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) of these antibodies indicated that the WSN/33 (HON1) influenza virus NP possesses at least five distinct antigenic determinants, and that variation in some of these determinants has occurred in other influenza A strains. Competitive binding ELISA assays showed that the five determinants comprise three non-overlapping antigenic domains on the NP molecule. Monoclonal antibodies to two of the NP domains inhibited viral RNA synthesis in vitro , suggesting that these specific regions of the NP molecule are topographically or functionally involved in RNA transcription.