cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mechanism of IL-10 Protective Effect in Development of Childhood B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is the most common malignancy of childhood. While significant progress has been made in the treatment of B-ALL, the factors that influence the development of B-ALL remain poorly understood. Epidemiological studies have established a role of early childhood infections in altering leukemia risk. The focus of these studies has been on documenting the number and timing of infectious exposures; however, the role of host immune response to infections in B-ALL development is largely unknown. Low birth levels of the immunomodulatory cytokine interleukin 10 (IL-10) are associated with a 25 fold increased risk of developing childhood B-ALL. Mechanistically, IL-10 plays a critical role in controlling the neonatal immune response to infections. Together, these findings suggest that IL-10, an important regulator of host immune responsiveness, protects against childhood B-ALL. To establish whether loss of IL-10 has an impact on leukemogenesis, we crossed Il10 knockout mice to the TEL-AML1 ( ETVX6-RUNX1I ) Ckdn2a null mouse model of childhood B-ALL. ETV6-RUNX1 t(12;21) is the most frequent chromosomal translocation in childhood B-ALLand one-fourth of these leukemias are observed in combination with loss of the Cdkn2a locus. The leukemia incidence in TEL-AML1 Ckdn2a null mice is 60%, therefore this is a robust and clinically relevant mouse model of childhood B-ALL. We used this model to assess the role of IL-10 in leukemogenesis by following Il10 knockout TEL-AML1 Ckdn2a null mice for the development of disease in comparison with control IL-10 expressing TEL-AML1 Ckdn2a null mice. We found that Il10 knockout accelerated leukemogenesis in the presence of TEL-AML1. The cancer free survival of the IL-10 expressing TEL-AML1 Ckdn2a null mice (n=74) was 227 days, whereas the survival of IL-10 knockout mice (n=40) was reduced to 180 days (p<0.0005). These data support a causal role of low levels of IL-10 in the development of B-ALL and raise the possibility of using an IL-10 receptor agonist for leukemia prevention in children with high risk of B-ALL. Thus, IL-10 loss is a defect in the host immune system that accelerates childhood B-ALL development, potentially through modifying immune responses to infections. Studies to understand the mechanism of how low IL-10 levels interact with infections to influence leukemogenesis are underway. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Abstract P136: Ischemic Evaluation in Patients With Hypertensive Emergency / Urgency and Acute Systolic Heart Failure: Is Coronary Angiography Required for All?

Aim: Patients presenting with hypertensive urgency / emergency (HU/E) often have systolic heart failure(S-HF). Coronary angiography is routinely done for these patients to rule out obstructive coronary artery disease (O-CAD). We performed a retrospective study to investigate predictors of O-CAD in this population. Methods: Consecutive patients who underwent angiography to investigate S-HF and had hospital admissions for HU/E in the preceding 6 months were included in the study. Chart review was performed to obtain demographic, clinical and imaging / angiographic data. Statistical analysis was performed using SAS 9.4 software. Results: 205 patients [age 58.9 ± 14.4 years; 62.4 % male; 39.5% diabetic; median EF 25% (Inter Quartile Range: 11)] were included in the study. 33.1% patients (n=68) had O-CAD. Age > 60 years (Odds Ratio: 2.3; 95% Confidence intervals: 1.3-4.3) , Diabetes (OR: 2.1; 95% CI: 1.2-3.8), history of stroke (OR: 2.7; 95% CI: 1.1-7.0) and presence of regional wall motion abnormalities (RWMA; OR: 7.4; 95% CI: 3.4-16.1) and abnormal perfusion study (OR: 7.6; 95% CI: 1.5-39.6) were significantly associated with O-CAD while African American (AA) race was a protective factor (OR: 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2-0.8). ROC curves constructed using an age cut off of 60 years along with non AA race, diabetes and RWMA yielded a good fit with a c statistic of 0.75. Conclusions: Our results suggest that only a minority of patients with HU/E and S-HF have obstructive CAD. It may be possible to stratify patients using demographic and non-invasive tests to direct only those with high likelihood of O-CAD for coronary angiography. These results should be validated in large registry populations.
Responsive Photonic Crystal Carbohydrate Hydrogel Sensor Materials for Selective and Sensitive Lectin Protein Detection.

Lectin proteins, such as the highly toxic lectin protein, ricin, and the immunochemically important lectin, jacalin, play significant roles in many biological functions. It is highly desirable to develop a simple but efficient method to selectively detect lectin proteins. Here we report the development of carbohydrate containing responsive hydrogel sensing materials for the selective detection of lectin proteins. The copolymerization of a vinyl linked carbohydrate monomer with acrylamide and acrylic acid forms a carbohydrate hydrogel that shows specific “multivalent” binding to lectin proteins. The resulting carbohydrate hydrogels are attached to 2-D photonic crystals (PCs) that brightly diffract visible light. This diffraction provides an optical readout that sensitively monitors the hydrogel volume. We utilize lactose, galactose and mannose containing hydrogels to fabricate a series of 2-D PC sensors that show strong selective binding to the lectin pro-teins ricin, jacalin and concanavalin A (Con A). Th...
Demons with firepower: How belief in pure evil relates to perceptions and punishments of gun violence perpetrators

Abstract Mass shootings have received widespread media attention due to their extreme violence. People who report greater belief in pure evil (BPE; the tendency to attribute harmdoing to dispositionally sadistic individuals) generally favor harsher criminal punishment, regardless of whether criminals exhibit stereotypically “evil” traits. We examined whether BPE predicted evaluations of gun violence perpetrators despite different situational factors related to the shooter's and crime's circumstances. An online, national sample (N = 275) read an allegedly real USA Today article about a mall shooting. We manipulated the shooter's evilness; whether the shooter exhibited a brain tumor, which could have accounted for his violent behavior; and, whether the event was a mass shooting. Results showed that individuals who reported greater BPE demonized, dehumanized, and punished the shooter more across all experimental conditions. Thus, results indicate that stronger pre-existing beliefs in pure evil may override key situational information when punishing violent offenders.
Love Thy Neighbor, Love Thy Fellow: Teaching Gower’s Representation of the Unethical Jew

The religio-ethical facet of the neighbor, in both its contemporary theorizations and its medieval articulations, offers advanced undergraduates a nuanced approach to John Gower’s representation of the unethical Jew in “The Tale of the Jew and the Pagan.” This insight brings into prominence the polemical subtext of Gower’s tale and so empowers students to interrogate its moralizing logic. By bringing together the neighbor’s significance in religious and civic communities with the slippery semantics of Gower’s Middle English, students perceive how both the Jew’s and the Pagan’s speeches of ethical responsibility reveal the ways in which Gower both asserts and challenges the Jew’s supposed moral deficit.
Identification of Erosional Terraces on Seamounts: Implications for Interisland Connectivity and Subsidence in the Galápagos Archipelago

Shallow seamounts at ocean island hotspots and in other settings may record emergence histories in the form of submarine erosional terraces. Exposure histories are valuable for constraining paleo-elevations and sea levels in the absence of more traditional markers, such as drowned coral reefs. However, similar features can also be produced through primary volcanic processes, which complicate the use of terraced seamounts as an indicator of paleo-shorelines. In the western Galapagos Archipelago, we utilize newly collected bathymetry along with seafloor observations from human-occupied submersibles to document the location and depth of erosional terraces on seamounts near the islands of Santiago, Santa Cruz, Floreana, Isabela, and Fernandina. We directly observed erosional features on 22 seamounts with terraces. We use these observations and bathymetric analysis to develop a framework to identify terrace-like morphologic features and classify them as either erosional or volcanic in origin. From this framework we identify 79 erosional terraces on 30 seamounts that are presently found at depths of 30 to 300 m. Although intermittent connectivity between the islands has been hypothesized, the depths of these erosional terraces in the Santiago region are the first direct evidence of paleo-connectivity in the modern archipelago. Collectively, the terraces have non-randomly distributed depths. We suggest that peaks in the distribution of terrace depths likely represent long durations of exposure (i.e. sea-level still or lowstands). By comparing these peaks to those of subsidence adjusted sea-level curves, we identify the average subsidence rate that best reproduces the observed terrace distributions. These rates are 0.2-0.4 m/kyr for this portion of the central Galapagos, since the formation of the seamounts, consistent with previous independent estimates. Using these subsidence rates and evidence for erosional terraces at depths up to 300 m, we conclude that all islands in the central archipelago have been intermittently connected starting between 435 and 900 ka. Individual island pairs have likely been repeatedly connected for short intervals since that time.
The deep error of political libertarianism: self-ownership, choice, and what’s really valuable in life

Contemporary versions of natural rights libertarianism trace their locus classicus to Robert Nozick’s Anarchy, State, and Utopia. But although there have been many criticisms of the version of poli...
Growth Guided Instrumentation: Shilla Procedure

The Shilla growth guidance technique was developed to allow growth of the child’s spine without requiring scheduled returns to the operating room for lengthenings. The center of the deformity (apex) is corrected to a straight alignment in all planes (coronal, sagittal, and axial) with osteotomies, bilateral screw fixation, and corrective maneuvers. Dual stainless steel rods are fixed to the corrected apex with fusion of the apical segments. Extraperiosteally placed sliding pedicle screws with the Shilla cap (which tightens to the screw and not to the rod) above and below the apex allow vertebral growth in a cephalad and caudad direction.
CT Fat Density Accurately Reflects Histologic Fat Quality in Adults With HIV On and Off Antiretroviral Therapy.

CONTEXT Microscopic measurement of adipocyte size is the gold standard for determining adipose tissue (AT) quality. AT density on CT may also reflect adipocyte quality (lower density = poorer quality). OBJECTIVE We used abdominal subcutaneous AT (SAT) specimens and CT scans to validate CT SAT density as a marker of SAT quality in adults living with HIV. SETTING AND DESIGN Secondary data analysis from completed trial of antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation (ACTG A5224s). CT abdominal SAT density was measured in HU. SAT specimens were digitally scanned for calculation of mean adipocyte area. PARTICIPANTS Participants had SAT biopsy and CT data at baseline (n = 54) and HIV-1 RNA <50 copies per milliliter on ART and biopsy or CT data at week 96 (n = 30). OUTCOME MEASURES Spearman correlations and linear regression models adjusting for participant characteristics examined associations between SAT density and adipocyte area. RESULTS Baseline median age was 40 years, CD4+ T lymphocyte count 219 cells per cubic millimeter, and body mass index 26.0 kg/m2; 89% were male and 67% white. Median SAT area and density were 199 cm2 and -100 HU. Over 96 weeks, SAT area increased (+18%) and SAT density decreased (-3%). Mean SAT adipocyte area correlated with SAT density (P < 0.01) off and on ART after adjustment for SAT area, age, race, sex, CD4+ T lymphocyte count, and HIV-1 RNA. CONCLUSIONS CT SAT density correlates with biopsy-quantified SAT adipocyte size in adults with HIV on and off ART, suggesting that CT is a useful tool for noninvasive assessment of SAT quality.
Pied Piper and Autonomous Vehicles

Pied Piper's first driverless car had been in an accident and had killed a 26-year-old jogger. Pied Piper felt a deep sadness for the victim's family, and was disappointed and alarmed because the company had optimistically thought driverless cars would eventually lead to total elimination of driving fatalities. The company needed to decide if the car's algorithm was responsible for this death and, if so, what the plan of action should be. Excerpt UVA-E-0413 Rev. Sept. 26, 2018 Pied Piper and Autonomous Vehicles Clara Sloan was in her new semiautonomous car as it drove down California Route 101 when she hit typical morning traffic. The car changed the arrival time to 10 minutes later than she had planned. She hoped to make it to her office in Mountain View, California, by 11:00 a.m. for a meeting with her team. Sloan worked at Pied Piper, a growing tech firm that had earned its stripes in Silicon Valley after creating an impressively fast compression algorithm for eventual use in a wide array of applications, including the most anticipated products of artificial intelligence, drone racing, and autonomous vehicles (AVs). Promoted to senior product manager of Pied Piper's AV division a year ago, Sloan and her team had chalked up some wins, most notably by accomplishing more than 70,000 miles of AV test drives with no accidents. On two occasions, the Pied Piper car had collided with a utility pole and a fire hydrant, but no humans or other cars were involved. Despite its success, Sloan knew that her team faced fierce competition from Ford, Lexus, and even Tesla (she had bought her Model Z before she joined the group) in bringing AVs to market. A rumor had swept through Silicon Valley that Ford was a year away from launching the next Fusion equipped with an autonomous feature. The race to launch the first mass-market AV program was on, and Sloan's development team was not about to lose that honor to what it called “a pack of programmers” from Detroit, Michigan. The stakes regarding this morning's meeting could not have been higher. Sloan and her team had just learned the night before that Pied Piper's first driverless car had been in an accident that had killed a 26-year-old jogger. News of the accident and outrage over the death of a well-loved community member were appearing on social media sites. Sloan felt a deep sadness for the victim's family, and was disappointed and alarmed because like so many others she had optimistically thought driverless cars would eventually lead to total elimination of driving fatalities. But the technology and its various complexities were still in a nascent stage; just yesterday, Sloan had read in a Business Insider article that in 2016 AVs were still “sort of in the Wild West of self-driving cars' ethics.” Nonetheless, Sloan and her team needed to decide if their car's algorithm was responsible for this death and, if so, what the plan of action should be. . . .
Effects of Simvastatin on Augmentation Index Are Transient: Outcomes From a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background Statins improve endothelial function, but their effects on arterial stiffness and aortic blood pressure in middle‐aged adults are uncertain. Methods and Results This was a prospective, r...
Amyloid β-protein oligomers promote the uptake of tau fibril seeds potentiating intracellular tau aggregation

Repeated failure of drug candidates targeting Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in clinical trials likely stems from a lack of understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying AD pathogenesis. Recent research has highlighted synergistic interactions between aggregated amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau proteins in AD, but the molecular details of how these interactions drive AD pathology remain elusive and speculative. Here, we test the hypothesis that Aβ potentiates intracellular tau aggregation, and show that oligomeric Aβ specifically exacerbates proteopathic seeding by tau. Using tau-biosensor cells, we show that treatment with sub-toxic concentrations of Aβ oligomers, but not monomers or fibrils, “primes” cells, making them more susceptible to tau seeding. The treatment with Aβ oligomers enhances intracellular tau aggregation in a dose-dependent manner when the cells are seeded with either recombinant or brain-derived tau fibrils, whereas little or no aggregation is observed in the absence of Aβ-oligomer priming. Priming by Aβ oligomers appears to be specific to tau, as α-synuclein seeding is unaffected by this treatment. Aβ oligomer-enhanced tau seeding also occurs in primary mouse neurons and human neuroblastoma cells. Using fluorescently labeled tau seeds, we find that treatment with Aβ oligomers significantly enhances the cellular uptake of tau seeds, whereas a known tau-uptake inhibitor blocks the effect of Aβ on tau uptake. The ability of Aβ to promote tau seeding suggests a specific and plausible mechanism by which extracellular Aβ initiates a deleterious cascade that is unique to AD. These data suggest that the Aβ-mediated potentiation of tau uptake into cells should also be taken into account when designing Aβ-targeted therapeutics.
Obstetric and neonatal outcomes in pregnancies complicated by fetal lung masses: does final histology matter?

Purpose: Fetal lung masses complicate approximately 1 in 2000 live births. Our aim was to determine whether obstetric and neonatal outcomes differ by final fetal lung mass histology.Materials and m...
Frederick Douglass’ Didactic Travel in My Bondage and My Freedom

In this chapter, I investigate teaching Frederick Douglass’ second autobiography My Bondage and My Freedom through a study abroad course to Ireland. In the chapter, I argue that teaching My Bondage and My Freedom in Ireland opens up a discussion for Douglass’ antislavery travels after he achieves freedom in his initial slave narrative. I argue that he extends his quest for freedom through his antislavery travels to Ireland and Great Britain. Thus, by teaching Douglass by following his freedom trail in Ireland, students are introduced to the need for an ongoing fight to secure the freedom of African Americans even after slavery is abolished.
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Infections Among Healthcare Workers, Los Angeles County, February-May 2020.

Across the world, healthcare workers (HCW) are at a greater risk of infection by the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) due to the nature of their work. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LAC DPH) set out to understand the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare facilities and HCWs by tracking and analyzing data from case-patient interviews of HCWs. As of May 31st, over three months into the pandemic, nearly 5,500 positive HCWs were reported to LAC DPH, representing 9.6% of all cases. Cases reported working in 27 different setting types, including outpatient medical offices, correctional facilities, emergency medical services, etc., with the highest proportion from long-term care facilities (46.6%) and hospitals (27.7%). Case-patients included both clinical and non-clinical roles, with nearly half (49.4%) of positive HCWs being nurses. Over two-thirds of HCWs (68.6%) worked at some point during their infectious period and nearly half (47.9%) reported a known exposure to a positive patient and/or co-worker within their facility. Overall, compared to all LAC cases, HCWs reported lower rates of hospitalization (5.3% vs. 12.2%) and death (0.7% vs. 4.3%) from COVID-19. There are many factors that increase HCWs risk of infection, including high risk work environment, limited supply of personal protective equipment, and even pressure to help and work during a pandemic. In response to these data, LAC DPH created resources and provided guidance for healthcare facilities to best protect their patients and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Factors associated with higher prostate biopsy yield: when is software-assisted fusion MRI-targeting necessary?

ABSTRACT Objective To evaluate the addition of software-assisted fusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) targeted biopsy to systematic biopsy and determine clinical and imaging factors associated with improved prostate cancer (PCa) detection. Methods We analyzed 454 patients who had prostate MRI and underwent combined systematic and software-assisted fusion MRI-targeted biopsy at 2 academic centers between July 2015 and December 2017. For our analysis, we compared the Gleason grade group of cores obtained systematically to cores obtained using MRI-targeting. Using multivariable analysis, we examined clinical and imaging factors associated with higher grade group disease in MRI-targeted cores. Results Software assisted fusion MRI-targeted biopsy detected higher grade group disease in 18.3% of patients. Factors associated with higher grade group disease in MRI-targeted cores included anterior MRI lesion location (odds ratio [OR] 3.15, P Conclusion Adding software-assisted fusion MRI-targeting to systematic prostate biopsy offers benefit for men with an anterior and multiple MRI lesions. In absence of these factors, systematic biopsy alone or with cognitive fusion may be considered.
Increased Energy Expenditure and Protection from Diet-Induced Obesity in Mice Lacking the cGMP-Specific Phosphodiesterase PDE9.

Cyclic nucleotides, cAMP and cGMP, are important second messengers for the regulation of adaptive thermogenesis. Their levels are controlled not only by their synthesis but also their degradation. Since pharmacological inhibitors of cGMP-specific phosphodiesterase 9 (PDE9) can increase PKG signaling and UCP1 expression in adipocytes, we sought to elucidate the role of PDE9 on energy balance and glucose homeostasis in vivo Mice with targeted disruption of the PDE9 gene, Pde9a, were fed nutrient matched high-fat (HFD) or low-fat diets (LFD). Pde9a -/- mice were resistant to HFD induced obesity, exhibiting a global increase in energy expenditure, while brown adipose tissue (AT) had increased respiratory capacity and elevated expression of Ucp1 and other thermogenic genes. Reduced adiposity of HFD-fed Pde9a -/- mice was associated with improvements in glucose handling and hepatic steatosis. Cold exposure or treatment with β-adrenergic receptor agonists markedly decreased Pde9a expression in brown AT and cultured brown adipocytes, while Pde9a -/- mice exhibited a greater increase in AT browning; together suggesting that the PDE9-cGMP pathway augments classical cold-induced β-adrenergic/cAMP AT browning and energy expenditure. These findings suggest PDE9 is a previously unrecognized regulator of energy metabolism and that its inhibition may be a valuable avenue to explore for combating metabolic disease.
Digital Compensation of SOA-Induced Nonlinearities in Field-Modulated Direct-Detection Systems

In this work we experimentally demonstrate the compensation of nonlinearities introduced by a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) operating as a power booster in a field-modulated direct detection fiber-optic system transmitter. We show that a combination of digital pre -compensation to deal with SOA nonlinearities, and digital post -compensation after Kramers-Kronig receiver for mitigating the impacts of chromatic dispersion and signal-signal beat interference (SSBI) is an effective scheme to gain ∼3dB in ROSNR in presence of SOA nonlinearity at 3dB of gain compression.
A Summary and Future Direction of the Principles and Dynamics of the Critical Zone

Abstract This final chapter is a summary of the contributions to The Dynamics and Principles of the Critical Zone , as well as a look through the binoculars to the future. We take this opportunity to go beyond the view provided by our binoculars and venture to look into our crystal ball to suggest a foundation for future directions and themes for Critical Zone research. We conclude with the argument that future Critical Zone research will need to include social scientists to understand the circumstances and consequences of human behavior.
The pituitary gland and the mobilization of fat

The sections in this article are: 1 Growth Hormone 2 Corticotropin 3 Thyrotropin 4 Fraction H (Peptide II), Peptide I and Melanophore Hormones 5 Conclusions
Mind Over Matter

This paper comprises a summary of observations on 50 patients hospitalized with anorexia nervosa, a description of experience gained in their treatment, and a consideration of the significance of these data to the understanding of female adolescence. The conclusion is that anorexia nervosa is a disease resulting from the efforts of a patient to establish the dominance of her mind over her matter in anticipation of the developmental work of adolescence. The need for a mental confirmation of self-control is occasioned by an experience in disappointment which the patient takes to be a sign of intolerable personal fault, and which she seeks to remedy by regressing to reform herself anew. Between 1960-1972, 41 girls and 9 boys, ranging in age from 8 to 16 years, were hospitalized at The Children's Hospital Medical Center in Boston under my care or supervision. Hospitalization ranged from one day to 9 months, with an average stay of about 3 months. Admission of these patients was obtained at the insistence of their local physicians, who were concerned over intractable weight loss in the absence of demonstrable organic etiology. The severity of the weight loss varied from moderate to extreme cachexia. Admission was dictated by medical concerns, and the children were attended to on a medical ward staffed by pediatric house officers, with the consultation of the author and other psychiatrists. Several religious persuasions and socioeconomic groups were equally represented among this group, but there were no black or Oriental children. During several periods there appeared to be a
Games and Networks

Modern networks are the product of, and arena for, the complex interactions between selfish entities. This talk surveys recent work (with Alex Fabrikant, Eli Maneva, Milena Mihail, Amin Saberi, and Scott Shenker) on various instances in which the theory of games offers interesting insights to networks. We study the Nash equilibria of a simple and novel network creation game in which nodes/players add edges, at a cost, to improve communication delays. We point out that the heavy tails in the degree distribution of the Internet topology can be the result of a trade-off between connection costs and quality of service for each arriving node. We study an interesting class of games called network congestion games, and prove positive and negative complexity results on the problem of computing pure Nash equilibria in such games. And we show that shortest path auctions, which are known to involve huge overpayments in the worst case, are “frugal” in expectation in several random graph models appropriate for the Internet.
The Bible as Law Book: Thomas Aquinas on the Juridical Uses of Scripture

Thomas Aquinas’s Treatise on Law (hereinafter “Treatise”) is enjoying a resurgence of interest among legal scholars. It is excerpted in leading legal philosophy texts, assigned in jurisprudence courses and cited in law journal articles and legal monographs on a wide range of subjects. Although the Treatise consists of nineteen chapters (“questions”), the average student of legal philosophy is likely to have been exposed only to portions of the first eight and little, if any, of the last eleven.The Treatise is not a short work, and most of the editorial decisions are both practically necessary and pedagogically understandable. Nevertheless, omitting the “rest” of the Treatise has had some unfortunate consequences. The omitted questions include the bulk of Thomas’s account of the relationship of theological revelation to human law, a subject of increasing importance in contemporary debates about religion and politics. The omissions also tend to reinforce the impression that Thomas’s natural law system can be hived off from his religious and cultural context. To be sure, Thomas does make the familiar natural law claim that there are moral truths that all human beings must know merely by virtue of being human. However, the deeper one goes into the Treatise, the clearer it becomes that Thomas’s treatment of natural law is part of a complex and theologically-informed understanding of nature, reason, revelation and the unfolding story of God’s action in the world.This article expounds and analyzes the role of Scripture in Thomas’s account of legislation and judging, arguing that Thomas leaves only modest room for the Bible to influence human law directly. After explaining some key theological presuppositions that underpin Thomas’s account of law generally, the article shows how Thomas divides the laws found in Scripture into several overlapping categories, only one of which (the “moral law” found in the Old Testament) has any direct continuing relevance for the Thomistic jurist. Even here, Scripture serves mostly to confirm the moral truths that human beings (at least the “wise” ones) already know.Nevertheless, it would be an overstatement to conclude that the Bible is completely irrelevant to the Thomistic jurist. The Scriptures bear witness to the grace of Christ, which, in Thomas’s account, is critical to the jurist’s proper exercise of his or her vocation. Moreover, the Thomistic jurist’s understanding of law is shaped by Scripture’s account of nature, the human person and ethics. While these theological starting points may not always make much difference in legal details, they do lead Thomas (and presumably his followers) to a vision of law that is famously at odds with many modern accounts.
On the Parameter Set Estimation Problem in Interconnected Systems

In this paper, the set theoretic approach to parameter estimation is introduced to robustly identify local subsystem parameters of an interconnected system. The main contribution of this paper is the introduction of a method to estimate subsystem parameters in the presence of subsystem interactions and external disturbances. The subsystem parameter set estimation problem, from the input-output point of view, can be formulated as several parameter set estimation problems, each with ARMAX model structure. A two-step strategy is proposed to extend the Optimal Volume Ellipsoid algorithm for parameter set estimation (which applies only to ARX models) to ARMAX models. Simulation results are given to substantiate the theoretical development for subsystem parameter set estimation.
Location of Aryl Sulfatase in Conidia and Young Mycelia of Neurospora crassa

Aryl sulfatase (arylsulfate sulfohydrolase, EC 3.1.6.1) was found to have multiple locations in Neurospora conidia. Some enzyme activity remained in the supernatant when a spore suspension was centrifuged or filtered. Part of the cell-bound activity could be detected by adding the assay ingredients to a suspension of intact spores (patent enzyme), and additional activity was only detectable when the spores were first treated to destroy their permeability barriers (cryptic enzyme). Such treatments include: disruption with an X-press, brief rinsing with chloroform or acetone, incubation at 60 C for 5 min, and incubation with phenethyl alcohol, nystatin, or ascosin. Part of the patent aryl sulfatase was inactivated by briefly acid treating the intact spores (no loss of conidial viability). This enzyme was considered to have a cell surface location. Some enzyme was acid-resistant in intact spores, but all of the enzyme was acid-sensitive in spores whose permeability barriers had been disrupted. The pH dependence, kinetic properties, and p-nitrophenyl sulfate uptake were investigated in acid-treated conidia. No aryl sulfatase was detected in ascospores. Young mycelia contained more aryl sulfatase than did conidia, but little, if any, was secreted into the growth medium. Cryptic activity was demonstrated in young mycelia by brief chloroform treatment or by rinsing the cells with 0.1 m acetate buffer. Enzyme activity in young mycelia was completely labile to acid treatment, as was cell viability.
On an equivalence of the reduction of k-unicast to 2-unicast capacity and the edge removal property

In recent work, Kamath et al. show that network code design for any k-unicast network reduces to network code design for a related 2-unicast network. The proof assumes that codes achieve their desired rates precisely (rather than approaching them asymptotically) and that error probability equals zero. We study two questions posed in but left unanswered by the Kamath et al. paper. The first asks whether the reduction for 0-error code design can be extended to show an equivalence in 0-error network capacity, which includes rates approached asymptotically. The second asks whether the reduction can be generalized to show an equivalence in Shannon capacity, which requires that error probability approach (but not necessarily hit) zero. While we do not solve these questions, we show that finding the k-unicast capacity reduces to finding the 2-unicast capacity under this reduction if and only if the so called “edge removal statement” is true for all networks. This equivalence holds under both 0-error and asymptotic notions of reliability.
Reassessment of Gastric Acid Inhibition by Cyholecystokinin and Gastric Inhibitory Polypeptide in Dogs

Abstract The inhibition of gastrin 17-stimulated acid secretion by a partially purified cholecystokinin preparation (PcB) containing 1.2% cholecystokinin and 0.7% gastric inhibitory polypeptide immunoreactivity was compared with the inhibition produced by immunopuri fled cholecystokinin, cholecystokinindepleted PcB, and gastric inhibitory polypeptide in 6 dogs with gastric fistulas. The dose-response curves for PcB and "pure" cholecystokinin were parallel and relative inhibitory potency of the pure peptide was 1.2. Dose-response curves of gastric inhibitory polypeptide and cholecystokinin-depleted PcB were similar, nonparallel to cholecystokinin dose response, and demonstrated potency significantly lower than that of PcB. When prepared without human albumin there were significantly higher losses of cholecystokinin-immunoreactivity by nonspecific adsorption from pure cholecystokinin solutions compared with PcB solutions. We conclude that inhibition of gastrin-stimulated acid secretion by partially pure cholecystokinin preparations can be explained by their cholecystokinin content and that previously reported differences in inhibitory potencies may be explained by nonspecific adsorption to glass from protein-free solutions.
Insecticidal control of the hessian fly.

Several organophosphate systemic insecticides were field-tested further in 1957, 1958, and 1959 as a control for the Hessian fly, Phytophaga destructor (Say). The materials used were: Am. Cyanamid 12008 ( O,O -diethyl S -(isopropylthio)methyl phosphorodithioate), Di-Syston® ( O,O -diethyl S -2-(ethylthio)ethyl phosphorodithioate) and prorate (formerly known as Thimet). These materials were applied with fertilizer from a standard grain-drill at planting time about 1 month before the fly-free date. Seed treatments were also included in some experiments for comparison. One-pound rates of prorate gave excellent protection from Hessian fly attack over long exposure periods. Materials applied with fertilizer significantly increased both forage and grain yields at the 1-pound rate of application.
Pseudo-winging of the scapula caused by scapular osteochondroma: review of literature and case report.

A 20-year-old male was evaluated for winging of the scapula and an enlarging axillary mass of 4 months’ duration. Imaging demonstrated a multiloculated cystic lesion that extended into the axilla and superiorly displaced the brachial plexus and axillary vessels surrounding an exostotic mass arising from the scapula. Surgery confirmed the mass to be a benign osteochondroma with a reactive bursa. The long thoracic nerve was intact and the serratus anterior muscle contracted normally with nerve stimulation. The scapular winging resolved completely following resection of the osteochondroma, and shoulder and arm function remained normal. A literature review of causes of pseudo-winging of the scapula was performed. Scapular osteochondroma is a rarely reported cause of scapula winging.
A case of unusual etiology for thrombocytopenia in a young male

Anorexia nervosa (AN) has a lifetime prevalence in men of 0.2%-0.3%. AN has been implicated in hematologic abnormalities including anemia, leukopenia, and less frequently thrombocytopenia. Only about 5% of patients with AN related cytopenias will have thrombocytopenia. Herein we discuss a patient with AN who initially presented with fatigue and thrombocytopenia (platelet count nadir of 49,000/µL). His initial workup was negative; however a bone marrow biopsy revealed profound hypocellularity of ten percent. AN related marrow suppression can occur via gelatinous bone marrow transformation as was the situation with our patient. His peripheral cell counts improved with improvement in his nutritional status. This is one of the few case reports of male anorexia leading to profound hypocellularity of the bone marrow.
Influence of surface texture of polymeric sheets on peripheral nerve regeneration in a two-compartment guidance system.

Abstract Synthetic guidance channels are useful tools to study the mechanisms underlying peripheral nerve regeneration. In the present study, the lumen of silicone elastomer tubes was divided into two compartments by a polymer strip 10 mm long placed along the tube length. The influence of varying the surface texture of hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymer strips on the morphology of the regenerated neural tissue was analysed. Hydrophilic nitrocellulose (NC) and hydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) films with smooth (S-NC and S-PVDF) or rough (R-NC, R-PVDF) surface texture were used. Five channels of each type were used to repair transected rat sciatic nerves and analysed after 4 wk. Tissue strips bridged the nerve stumps in all R-NC and R-PVDF tubes, in five of the S-NC and three of the S-PVDF tubes. In R-NC and R-PVDF tubes, bell-shaped tissue adhering to the polymer strip was observed, whereas in S-NC and S-PVDF tubes round, free-floating nerve cables were seen. All the cables contained myelinated and unmyelinated axons and Schwann cells grouped in microfascicles and surrounded by an epineurial layer. For both rough strips, the initial cell layer consisted of macrophages adhering to the polymer surface. The epineurial nerve tissue contacting the rough surface was significantly thinner for PVDF compared with NC strips. No difference in epineurial thickness was observed for nerves facing the silicone tube or for smooth NC and PVDF strips. S-PVDF tubes contained significantly more myelinated axons than S-NC tubes. This study shows that the morphology of regenerated peripheral nerves is significantly influenced by the surface texture of strips placed within guidance channels. Interactions between regenerating neural tissue and polymeric materials used as nerve guidance channels may be useful in controlling patterns and morphologies of regenerating nerves.
EVOLUTION, CONSCIOUSNESS, AND POLITICAL THINKING

Evolutionary theory is utilized to sketch the outline of a “performance”-based perspective of political “thinking.” It is argued that human consciousness evolved as an emergent and interactive mechanism for enabling the individual to cope strategically with environmental exigencies. Within the context of this evolutionary perspective, consciousness at the individual level is shown to develop in patterned yet flexible and individually variable ways as a result of the interaction of biological and environmental variables including, among the latter, those elements of the social environment like ideas, values, and intentions, as well as institutional patterns of conflict, affiliation, and authority, which are themselves products of coping strategies. Political “thinking,” it is suggested, is a strategic coping enterprise involving equilibration between the individual's own strivings and social demands for conformity in collective affairs.
First Observation of z-Dependent Electron-Beam Microbunching Using Coherent Transition Radiation.

We report the first measurements of the electron-beam microbunching $z$ dependence in a self-amplified spontaneous-emission (SASE) free-electron laser (FEL) experiment by the observation of visible wavelength coherent transition radiation (CTR). In this case the fundamental SASE wavelength was at 537 nm, and the CTR exhibited an exponential intensity growth similar to the SASE radiation. In addition, we observed for the first time structure in the CTR angular distribution patterns that may be useful for optimizing SASE FEL performance.
OVERPRODUCTION AND AFFINITY PURIFICATION OF SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE REPLICATION FACTOR C

Yeast replication factor C (RF-C) is a heteropentamer encoded by the RFC1-5 genes. RF-C activity in yeast extracts was overproduced about 80-fold after induction of a strain containing all five genes on a single plasmid, with expression of each gene placed under control of the galactose-inducible GAL1-10 promoter. This strongly indicates that overexpression of the five known RFC genes is sufficient for overproduction of RF-C. Overexpression of all five genes was also necessary to achieve overproduction of RF-C as omission of any single gene from the plasmid gave uninduced, i.e. normal cellular levels of RF-C. The interaction between RF-C and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was studied with PCNA-agarose beads. Binding of RF-C to PCNA-agarose beads is negligible in buffers containing 0.3 M NaCl. However, addition of Mg-ATP to the binding buffer caused strong binding of RF-C to the beads even at 0.8 M NaCl. Binding of ATP, but not its hydrolysis, was required for the strong binding mode as nonhydrolyzable analogs were also effective. The existence of two distinct binding modes between PCNA and RF-C was used as the key step in a greatly improved procedure for the purification of RF-C. RF-C from the overproduction strain purified by this procedure was essentially homogeneous and had a severalfold higher specific activity than RF-C preparations that had previously been purified through multicolumn procedures.
Postoperative anal canal length predicts outcome in patients having sphincter repair for fecal incontinence.

PURPOSE: Controversy exists in regard to the prognostic value of clinical data and physiological tests in patients undergoing sphincter repair for fecal incontinence. The aim of this study was to identify prognostic factors. METHODS: Between 1986 and 1996, 405 consecutive patients had a sphincter repair for fecal incontinence. Preoperative and postoperative manometric data were available on 51 of these patients, and these patients' charts were reviewed retrospectively, Preoperative and postoperative continence was scored using the four-level scale of Browning and Parks. Mean follow-up was 16.2 (median, 6; range, 1-96) months. Mean age was 41 (median, 36; range, 21-80) years, and 46 (90 percent) patients were female. RESULTS: Twenty-three (45 percent) patients had perfect continence postoperatively, whereas 41 (80 percent) patients demonstrated improvement in continence score after sphincter repair. Using univariate analysis, various clinical and anal physiologic data were analyzed for an association with postoperative continence score. Postoperative mean resting pressure and postoperative anal canal length were both significantly related to postoperative continence (r s B for Spearman correlation coefficient to differentiate from r for the Pearson coefficient. = 0.442; P = 0.0012; and r s = 0.440; P = 0.0012, respectively). whereas postoperative mean squeeze pressure was not (r s = 0.273; P = 0.0529). Postoperative mean resting pressure and anal canal length were entered into a logistic regression model. Postoperative mean resting pressure was not significant (P = 0.6643), and when it was dropped from the model, postoperative anal canal length was highly significant (estimated odds ratio, 3.2; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.1-9.3; P = 0.0047) in predicting postoperative continence. CONCLUSIONS: No preoperative data predicted functional outcome, and in contrast to other studies, postoperative anal canal length provides the best prediction of postoperative continence.
Native-like interactions favored in the unfolded bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor have different roles in folding.

Folding kinetics of a series of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) variants with similar stabilities and structures have been measured. All are strongly destabilized relative to WT. In Y21A, F22A, Y23A, G37A, and F45A, the three native disulfide bonds are retained. In RM(14−38), Cys14 and Cys38 thiols are methylated while C30−C51 and C5−C55 disulfides remain intact. At pH 2 and 20 °C, relaxation rate constants of the major kinetic phase range from ∼10 ms to 0.71 s in the absence of denaturant. All mutants except G37A exhibit standard two-state behavior. Y21A, F22A, and Y23A fold much more slowly than other mutants. The experiments were designed to test the hypothesis that native-like structure detected in the unfolded BPTI is important in folding. Two native-like contacts are implied by NOEs in reduced and unfolded BPTI, between residues Tyr23 and Ala25, and between Gly37 NH and the Tyr35 ring. The results support an earlier hypothesis that formation of the central β-hairpin, monitored by a local ...
Semantic priming revealed by mouse movement trajectories.

Abstract Congruency effects are taken as evidence that semantic information can be processed automatically. However, these effects are often weak, and the straightforward association between primes and targets can exaggerate congruency effects. To address these problems, a mouse movement method is applied to scrutinize congruency effects. In one experiment, participants judged whether two numbers were the same (“3 ⧹ 3”) or different (“3 ⧹ 5”), preceded by briefly presented pictures with either positive or negative connotations. Participants indicated their responses by clicking a “Same” or “Different” button on the computer screen, while their cursor trajectories were recorded for each trial. The trajectory data revealed greater deviation to unselected buttons in incongruent trials (e.g., “3 ⧹ 5” preceded by a green traffic light picture). This effect was influenced by the type of responses but not by prime durations. We suggest that the mouse movement method can complement the reaction time to study masked semantic priming.
Modulation of gap junctions in senescent endothelial cells

Gap junction-mediated intercellular communication (GJIC) was decreased in senescent human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), as detected by Gap-Frap studies. The molecular basis of this reduction and the effects of the calcium ionophore A23187 and epidermal growth factor (EGF) on young and old HUVEC have been investigated. Northern and Western analyses reveal that the levels of both cx43 (connexin 43) messenger RNA and protein decline as HUVEC age in vitro. While both young and senescent cells responded immediately to increases in intracellular calcium concentrations, only young cells produced a dose-dependent decrease in cell coupling in response to the addition of exogenous EGF. The down-regulation of cx43 mRNA and protein levels in senescent endothelial cells suggests that GJIC might play a role in the aging process. The inability of senescent cells to down-regulate gap junctions in response to EGF reflects a defect in the regulatory mechanism of gap junction activity in senescent cells.