cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Two roads for oncolytic immunotherapy development

Oncolytic viruses are an emerging class of immunotherapy agents for cancer treatment. In this issue of JITC, Machiels et al. reports early phase data from an oncolytic adenovirus given by intravenous (IV) administration. While this may allow easy access to metastatic lesions, there is limited data supporting the therapeutic effectiveness of this approach. Further studies should include assessment of viral replication in tumor tissue and consider comparative trials using IV and intratumoral delivery to fully optimize oncolytic immunotherapy.
Emotional branding speaks to consumers’ heart: the case of fashion brands

In this highly competitive market, fashion brands struggle to distinguish themselves to increasingly apathetic consumers. To become more competitive, fashion retailers employ emotional branding as a way to engage their customers, addressing the growing trend of consumers’ seeking emotional relationships with a brand. Although brand technicalities such as product attributes, features, and facts may be unmemorable, personal feelings and experiences better shape consumers’ evaluations of brands. This study illustrates why emotional branding is essential, especially to fashion brands, when developing brand strategies in a volatile marketplace. Trends that support a need for these strategies include consumers’ desires for positive experiences, expressing authentic self, achieving warm glow from helping others, and co-creating design or ideas with the brand. We propose a model for emotional branding strategies that focuses on sensory branding, storytelling, cause branding, and empowerment. The case studies we provide for each strategy describe how fashion brands can engage customers through emotional branding.
Technologies used in responsive facade systems: a comparative study

Technological advancements in electrical control systems, computer engineering, information technology, artificial intelligence, cybernetics and material science have provided opportunities for the...
Optimizing the Data Processing Decision for Hybrid Fog Environments

In the Cloud, computing loads found a new virtualized and dynamically scaling home. However, because of the pay-as-you-go business concept that is dominant in the Cloud, scenarios where a big percentage of requests turn up with low-value data (as in incomplete, meaningless or out-of-sync) can be financially detrimental to the Cloud tenant. Internet of Things offerings expand the list of data sources for a Cloud-based service. They also take the data filtering and pre-processing required of services to get to the core value-returning requests to a new level. The availability of Fog nodes offers an opportunity where some processing is done on the edge of the network in order to distribute the load and minimize the network congestion caused by low-value data. This poses a question to Cloud service designers on how to optimize this process. The decision as to where to perform each step of the data management can make the difference for Cloud providers in mitigating both the risk of pushing high loads to the Cloud servers and network which increases the cost and the risk of almost localizing the whole process and losing the benefits from Cloud services. This process is complicated by constraints pertaining to the Fog nodes capacity, and bandwidth available. Furthermore, the impact of realistic factors like Fog node ownership and device priority must be considered. To tackle this challenge, we consider the question of optimizing the decision process for a data-intensive highly distributed Cloud service. A novel optimization model is presented with 3 alternate objects (request computational delay, service provider cost and a weighted multi objective version). Initial experimental results using 4 heuristic algorithms are presented. Shown results offer some insight into the contradicting factors in play (cost, network capacity, node and Cloud capacity).
Methods for Solving Letter Series

Letter series problems occur in many American tests for measuring quantitative ability of supervisory personnel.They are more difficult than number-series used for measuring mathematical ability because are unusual and complex. According to the English alphabetic order:
Statistical Analysis of Animal-Related Outages in Power Distribution Systems - A Case Study

This paper presents a data-driven approach for exploring animal-related outages in power distribution systems. The main objectives are to uncover the underlying structure of animal-related outages, identify variables that strongly influence their frequency, and build a model to predict their occurrence on a weekly basis. To carry out this study, we utilize actual outage data obtained from a major utility company in the U.S., in addition to different types of wildlife and weather-related data. Results of this study could be very informative to utility companies in maximizing insight into their animal-related outage problems, and to build parsimonious models for predicting them.
Effect of Propranolol on 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Uptake in Brown Adipose Tissue in Children and Young Adults with Neoplastic Diseases.

To evaluate the effectiveness of propranolol at mitigating FDG uptake in brown adipose tissue (BAT) of pediatric patients with known or suspected malignancies. PET/CT scans of 3 cohorts of patients treated from 2005 to 2017 were scored for the presence of FDG uptake by BAT at 7 sites: right or left neck/supraclavicular area, right or left axilla, mediastinum, posterior thorax, and abdomen/pelvis. Uptake was scored as follows: 0, none; 1, mild uptake liver. Group 1 consisted of 323 patients (630 scans) who had no specific preparation to mitigate FDG uptake by BAT. Group 2 consisted of 345 patients (705 scans) who underwent only warming in an uptake room with a fixed temperature at 24 °C. Group 3 consisted of 622 patients (1457 scans) who underwent warming. In group 3, patients 8 years and older, 471 patients (1114 scans), were also pre-medicated with oral propranolol 60 min before injection of FDG. Generalized estimation equation, using the logit link method, was used to model the relationship between the incidence of BAT score > 0, in any site, as a function of age, sex, seasonal effect, and body surface area (BSA). In patients aged 8 years or older, the incidence of BAT uptake was 35–44 % and declined to 15 % with propranolol. BAT was most frequent in the neck (26 %), axilla (18 %), posterior thorax (18 %), mediastinum (14 %), and abdomen/pelvis (8 %); BAT was less common in warm months (p = 0.001). No substantial benefit was shown with pre-injection warming alone. No significant effect was found for age, sex, or BSA separately. When BAT uptake was present, it was usually intense. Propranolol preparation minimizes FDG uptake by BAT and should be considered routine for pediatric FDG PET/CT cancer-related protocols in children, adolescents, and young adults.
Violent Victimization and Violence Perpetration Among American Indian Adolescents

In the current study, we propose an integrative approach, which will incorporate elements from the social learning and self-control theories of delinquency and crime to examine violence in an understudied, marginalized, and often discriminated subpopulation group-American Indian youth. The analysis is based on survey data collected between 2009 and 2013 from a sample of American Indian adolescents (N = 3,380) enrolled in 27 school districts located in five regions of the United States (Northern Plains, Southwest, Upper Great Lakes, Southeast/Texas, and the Northeast). The main objective of the analysis is to identify the factors more likely to predict violent offending among American Indian adolescents, a vulnerable group that has an elevated risk of violent victimization. Results of the Tobit regression analysis indicate that in both gender groups a low level of self-control, association with delinquent friends, poor school performance, and underage alcohol consumption significantly predict violence perpetration. Nonetheless, experience with direct violent victimization has the largest effect on male and female adolescents' violent behavior. Although living with both biological parents and childhood exposure to domestic violence do not influence significantly the adolescents' aggressive behavior, parental monitoring does have a significant violence-deterrent effect in both gender groups. Findings suggest that more opportunities should be created for indigenous communities to control their education systems and ensure American Indian students achieve academic success, which is one of the violence protective factors identified in this study. Moreover, measures meant to prevent youth violence in American Indian communities should also focus on parents/caregivers who, directly and indirectly, have the capacity to reduce the adolescents' risk of becoming victims and/or perpetrators of violence.
Three-dimensional chromatin organization in cardiac development and disease

Recent technological advancements in the field of chromatin biology have rewritten the textbook on nuclear organization. We now appreciate that the folding of chromatin in the three-dimensional space (i.e. its 3D "architecture") is non-random, hierarchical, and highly complex. While 3D chromatin structure is partially encoded in the primary sequence and thereby broadly conserved across cell types and states, a substantial portion of the genome seems to be dynamic during development or in disease. Moreover, there is growing evidence that at least some of the 3D structure of chromatin is functionally linked to gene regulation, both being modulated by and impacting on multiple nuclear processes (including DNA replication, transcription, and RNA splicing). In recent years, these new concepts have nourished several investigations about the functional role of 3D chromatin topology dynamics in the heart during development and disease. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of our current understanding in this field, and to discuss how this knowledge can inform further research as well as clinical practice.
An approach for encryption and decryption using matrix theory

In this paper, a method for encryption and decryption have been discussed using matrix theory and we have illustrated an example for this method.
Isolated Acetabuloplasty for Femoroacetabular Impingement: Favorable Patient-Reported Outcomes and Sustained Survivorship at Minimum 5-Year Follow-Up.

Purpose To evaluate minimum 5-year outcomes and conversion rate to total hip arthroplasty (THA) for the treatment of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) syndrome with an isolated acetabular osteoplasty. Methods Patients undergoing hip arthroscopy with an isolated acetabular osteoplasty from March 2009 to June 2014 for FAI syndrome with pincer and/or cam morphology and a labral tear were identified. Those who underwent femoroplasty or prior ipsilateral hip surgery or who had previous hip conditions, ipsilateral hip dysplasia, or a Tonnis grade higher than 2 were excluded. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) collected included Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) scores specific to physical functioning and pain interference, modified Harris Hip Score, International Hip Outcome Tool 12, Hip Outcome Score–Activities of Daily Living, Hip Outcome Score–Sport-Specific Subscale, and Numeric Pain Rating Scale. Patients were also queried about secondary surgical procedures and conversion to THA. Results We identified 86 patients at minimum 5-year follow-up (average, 7.4 years). The average patient age was 39.8 ± 12.3 years, 70.9% of patients were female, and 7% of patients had Tonnis grade 2. The mean PRO scores were 52.0 ± 8.9 for the PROMIS physical functioning score, 39.6 ± 7.5 for the PROMIS pain interference score, 78.7 ± 12.0 for the modified Harris Hip Score, 73.3 ± 23.1 for the International Hip Outcome Tool 12 score, 89.9 ± 12.0 for the Hip Outcome Score–Activities of Daily Living, and 81.4 ± 21.0 for the Hip Outcome Score–Sport-Specific Subscale. Of the patients, 72.1% achieved the patient acceptable symptomatic state (PASS) according to previously established PASS scores for FAI syndrome treated with hip arthroscopy at minimum 5-year follow-up. The overall rate of revision arthroscopy was 3.5%, and the rate of conversion to THA was 5.8%. Conclusions An isolated acetabular osteoplasty can provide sustained clinical benefits for the treatment of FAI syndrome with labral tears, with good to excellent PROs and PASS rates and a low rate of conversion to THA at minimum 5-year follow-up. Level of Evidence Level IV, case series.
The Emergence of Capitalism in Early America: by Christopher W. Calvo, Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2020, Pp. 308, $90.00 (hbk), ISBN 9780813066332

In this intricately written and deeply analytical book, Christopher Calvo analyses how antebellum American political economists understood capitalism as it developed in the young republic. Calvo is...
Human alveolar lining fluid from the elderly promotes Mycobacterium tuberculosis growth in alveolar epithelial cells and bacterial translocation into the cytosol

ABSTRACT The elderly population is at significant risk of developing respiratory diseases, including tuberculosis (TB) caused by the airborne Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb). Once M.tb reaches the alveolar space, it contacts alveolar lining fluid (ALF) which dictates host cell interactions. We previously determined that age-associated dysfunctionality in human ALF soluble innate components lead to accelerated M.tb growth within human alveolar macrophages. Here we determined the impact of human ALF on M.tb infection of alveolar epithelial cells (ATs), another critical cellular determinant of infection. We observed that E-ALF-exposed M.tb had significantly increased intracellular growth in ATs compared to adult ALF (A-ALF)-exposed bacteria. Despite this, there were no alterations in AT inflammatory mediators or cell activation. However, exposure to E-ALF altered endosomal trafficking of M.tb, driving bacterial translocation to both endosomal and cytosolic compartments in ATs. Our results indicate that exposure of M.tb to E-ALF promotes translocation of bacteria into the AT cytosol as a potential favorable niche for rapid bacterial growth and at the same time dampens AT’s immune responses. Thus, our findings highlight the influence of the elderly lung mucosa on M.tb infection of ATs, an unexplored contributing factor to the elderly population’s increased susceptibility of developing active TB disease.
An infection-activated redox switch promotes tumor growth

Abstract Oxidative stress is a defining feature of most cancers, including those that stem from carcinogenic infections1. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) can drive tumor formation2–4, yet the molecular oxidation events that contribute to tumorigenesis are largely unknown. Here we show that inactivation of a single, redox-sensitive cysteine in the host protease legumain, which is oxidized during infection with the gastric cancer-causing bacterium Helicobacter pylori, accelerates tumor growth. By using chemical proteomics to map cysteine reactivity in human gastric cells, we determined that H. pylori infection induces oxidation of legumain at Cys219. Legumain oxidation, which is enhanced by the ROS-promoting bacterial oncoprotein CagA, dysregulates intracellular legumain processing and localization and decreases legumain activity in H. pylori-infected cells. We further show that the site-specific loss of Cys219 reactivity increases tumor growth and mortality in a xenograft model. Our findings establish a link between the precise oxidation of a host protein and tumorigenic signaling during bacterial infection and demonstrate the importance of oxidative post-translational modifications in tumor growth.
How Deep is the Labor Market for Female Directors? Evidence from Mandated Director Appointments

We examine the depth of the labor market for female directors following an exogenous shock to demand caused by California Senate Bill 826. Despite a surge in female appointments, new female director qualifications remain stable when benchmarked to control groups, indicating a deep labor market. Relative to the same control groups, we likewise find little evidence that investors view female director appointments more negatively following the law. However, stock returns to new female director appointments do not offset negative returns to the 2018 enactment of the law, suggesting that overall, investors still anticipate negative effects.
Emergence of perceptuomotor relationships during paleolithic stone toolmaking learning: intersections of observation and practice.

Stone toolmaking is a human motor skill which provides the earliest archeological evidence motor skill and social learning. Intentionally shaping a stone into a functional tool relies on the interaction of action observation and practice to support motor skill acquisition. The emergence of adaptive and efficient visuomotor processes during motor learning of such a novel motor skill requiring complex semantic understanding, like stone toolmaking, is not understood. Through the examination of eye movements and motor skill, the current study sought to evaluate the changes and relationship in perceptuomotor processes during motor learning and performance over 90 h of training. Participants’ gaze and motor performance were assessed before, during and following training. Gaze patterns reveal a transition from initially high gaze variability during initial observation to lower gaze variability after training. Perceptual changes were strongly associated with motor performance improvements suggesting a coupling of perceptual and motor processes during motor learning. In order to evaluate changes and relationships in perceptual process during motor learning and motor performance over training, Bayani et al examine eye movements and motor skill in a paleolithic stone toolmaking task. They demonstrate the importance of understanding the emergence and evolution of perceptual-motor coupling not only in complex motor skill learning.
Introduction: Public Choice Essays in Honor of a Maverick Scholar: Gordon Tullock

In May 1999, over 50 distinguished scholars from all over the world gathered to honor Gordon Tullock, one of the most prolific, original, and versatile scholars of his generation. Gordon is best known for his pioneering work in Public Choice, the study of how self-interested individuals interact with governments. Gordon’s research in public choice has contributed to our understanding of the decisions made by elected officials and bureaucrats, as well as knowledge about how individuals and pressure groups both inside and outside the government seek to shape it. Yet Gordon’s work ranges well beyond Public Choice. He has made significant contributions to political science, law, military strategy, and conflict resolution as well. He is one of the few, perhaps the only, economist who has published in the American Naturalist, one of the top-ranked journals in biology.
Impact of Gap Junctional Intercellular Communication on MLO-Y4 Sclerostin and Soluble Factor Expression

Bone remodeling is a continual process in which old bone is resorbed by osteoclasts and new bone is formed by osteoblasts, providing a mechanism for bones' ability to adapt to changes in its mechanical environment. While the role of osteoblasts and osteoclasts in bone remodeling is well understood, the cellular regulation of bone remodeling is unclear. One theory is that osteocytes, found within bone, play an important role in controlling the bone remodeling response. Osteocytes possess gap junctions, narrow channels that extend between nearby cells and allow communication between cells via the transfer of small molecules and ions. This work investigated the potential role of gap junctional intercellular communication in bone remodeling by exposing osteocyte-like MLO-Y4 cells to mechanical strains and quantifying the expression of soluble factors, including sclerostin, a protein closely associated with bone remodeling. The soluble factors and sclerostin expression were further examined after inhibiting gap junctional intercellular communication to study the impact of the communication. At supraphysiologic strains, the inhibition of gap junctional intercellular communication led to increases in sclerostin expression relative to cells in which communication was present, indicating that the communication may play a significant role in regulating bone remodeling.
The emerging technique of electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy-guided fine-needle aspiration of peripheral lung lesions: Promising results in 50 lesions

BACKGROUND Literature on the diagnostic yield of electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy (ENB) with ENB-guided fine-needle aspiration (ENB-FNA) in peripheral lung lesions (PLLs) that measure ≤ 2 cm is scarce. Data on the diagnostic yield of ENB-FNA for PLLs when performed in conjunction with positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT), rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE), ENB-guided bronchial brushing (ENB-BB), and ENB-guided transbronchial biopsy (ENB-TBx) is also limited. In this study, the authors evaluated their experience with ENB-FNA performed in conjunction with all 4 modalities: PET-CT, ROSE, ENB-BB, and ENB-TBx. METHODS ENB-FNA and other tests over a 2-year-period (from July 2011 to July 2013) were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS There were 50 PLLs from 40 patients, and the mean lesion size (available for 45 PLLs) was 2.6 cm: these included 24 PLLs that measured ≤ 2 cm and 21 PLLs that measured > 2.0 cm. The ENB-FNA diagnosis was malignant in 17 lesions, atypical in 1 lesion, benign in 31 lesions, and nondiagnostic in 1 lesion. On the basis of lesion size, the diagnostic yield of PLLs was 87% in lesions ≤ 2 cm and 100% in lesions > 2.0 cm (P = 0.5; not significant). Follow-up available in 49 of 50 PLLs from 39 patients had an overall diagnostic yield of 94% for ENB-FNA. The diagnostic yield of PET-CT (available in 31 of 50 PLLs) and of ENB-BB and ENB-TBx (available in 40 of 50 PLLs) in conjunction with ENB-FNA was 61% and 95%, respectively. ROSE was performed in 46 of 50 PLLs: the overall sensitivity of ROSE and ENB-FNA was 85% and 89.4%, respectively, and their specificity was 96.5% and 100%, respectively. There were no procedure-related complications. CONCLUSIONS The high overall diagnostic yield of 94% and fewer complications make ENB-FNA a useful modality for the assessment of PLLs. In this study, ROSE was useful, whereas PET-CT, ENB-BB, and ENB-TBx were not useful in the evaluation of PLLs. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 2014;122:191–199. © 2013 American Cancer Society.
Vina A. Lanzona. Amazons of the Huk Rebellion: Gender, Sex, and Revolution in the Philippines

In Amazons of the Huk Rebellion, author Vina Lanzona places Filipina voices at the center of a discussion that reclaims their gendered political and social history. Within a framework of guerrilla ...
Hormonal and Gravitropic Specificity in the Regulation of Growth and Cell Wall Synthesis in Pulvini and Internodes from Shoots of Avena sativa L. (Oat)

Segments can be cut from the peduncular-1 internode of oat (Avena sativa L.) shoots so as to contain the graviresponsive leafsheath pulvinus and gibberllin-sensitive internodal tissue. Incorporation of [14C]glucose was used to monitor cell wall synthesis in these two tissues as affected by gravistimulus, indoleacetic acid (IAA), gibberellic acid (GA3), and fusicoccin (FC). Pulvinar cell wall synthesis was promoted by IAA and FC (both within about 1 h), as well as by gravistimulus (starting between 3 and 6 h), whereas GA3 had no effect on nongravistimulated pulvini. In contrast, GA3 and FC promoted internodal cell wall synthesis (initiated between 1 and 2 h), whereas IAA and gravistimulus caused a decrease in internodal uptake. FC preferentially promoted incorporation into the matrix component of the wall in both tissues. Gravistimulus failed to increase responsiveness of pulvinar tissue to IAA, whereas GA3 partially overcame gravitimulus-promoted incorporation into pulvinar cell wall, probably because of preferential movement of label into the rapidly elongating internode. The results demonstrate that these eight stimulus/tissue combinations can be examined easily in an isolated 10-mm stem segment, providing new opportunities for the comparative study of tissue- and stimulus-specific events in gene regulation and signal transduction in agronomically important cereals.
Maternal Vitamin D Status as a Critical Determinant in Gestational Diabetes

ABSTRACT Objective To synthesize published research to determine the evidence for the association between maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy and the development of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Data Sources Literature searches were conducted for data based articles that examined maternal vitamin D during pregnancy, GDM, glucose tolerance, and insulin resistance using the PubMed, CINAHL, and SCOPUS data bases and reference lists from reviewed papers. Study Selection Primary research studies published in the English language between 1999 and 2011 reporting findings regarding the association of vitamin D with glucose homeostasis during pregnancy and GDM. Data Extraction Study characteristics and findings related to vitamin D status determinants, gestational timing, and measures of glucose homeostasis and insulin resistance. Data Synthesis Six data based articles met the criteria for study inclusion. Study findings comprised solely Level‐2 evidence for the association of maternal vitamin D deficiency and risk of GDM. The majority of studies (66%) were conducted between 24 and 30 weeks gestation. Five (83%) studies reported an inverse relationship between circulating vitamin D levels and markers of glucose homeostasis associated with gestational diabetes or an increased risk for GDM associated with reduced maternal levels of vitamin D. In one study, researchers did not identify an association between vitamin D and GDM but did identify an association between higher vitamin D levels and lower fasting glucose and insulin levels. Conclusion Maternal vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency is prevalent among gravid women and is associated with markers of altered glucose homeostasis. These findings underscore the need for mechanistic and clinical studies to determine optimal vitamin D status in pregnancy for reduction in the risk for GDM with implications for vitamin D supplementation as a potential target for GDM prevention.
Direct anthropogenic contributions to sea level rise in the twentieth century

GLOBAL compilations of tide records indicate that sea level has been rising throughout the twentieth century1,2, with potentially dangerous consequences for low-lying coastal regions. Thermal expansion of ocean water3 and melting of alpine glaciers4 in response to increased atmospheric temperatures may have been responsible for some of this change, but human activities can also influence sea level directly. For example, the rise in sea level would have been even larger5 if large quantities of water had not been stored in reservoirs, and channelled into aquifers by irrigation projects. Here we show, however, that these and other human activities have together caused a net increase in sea levels over the past century. We estimate that a combination of groundwater withdrawal, surface water diversion and land-use changes has caused at least a third of the observed rise, and suggest that the contributions of climate-related effects must therefore be smaller than has been previously supposed.
Anti-virtual machines and emulations

Virtual Machines are important infrastructural tools for malware analysis. They provide safe yet accurate way of evaluating real life behavior and impact of any executable code, thus providing a better understanding of obfuscated or non conventional portions of code within a binary file. Many virtual machines, such as VMware, Qemu, VirtualBox and SandBoxes, are available and are widely adopted by malware researchers and analysts. Moreover, many antivirus scanners have their own implementation of emulators to achieve comparable results by running malicious code within a controlled environment in order to decrypt obfuscated code. Virus writers have always responded to these technologies. Most malware today uses anti-debug techniques to counter analysis and evade antivirus detection. Lately, malware like Zeus/SpyEye and associated families such as Smoaler, Dromedan, Kazy, Yakes, and other malware such as Spyrat or W32.Pilleuz, have deployed techniques to disrupt the use of virtual machines and emulators. These malware families are able to implement different variations of disruption techniques within single samples or within related groups of malware before propagation. This paper will present a study of these anti-emulation and anti-virtual machine techniques.
How Reliable is a Single Measurement of Urinary Flow in the Diagnosis of Obstruction in Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

Twenty-six elderly patients with obstructive symptomatology and an initial low peak urinary flow rate (< 15 ml/s) were observed for 6 to 12 months. Repeated assessments were made of flow rates and residual volumes. Within patients variation of the maximal urinary flow was significant; the standard deviation (SD) varied from 0.8 to 5.5 ml/s. The SD varied with the mean peak flow rates and this suggests that the precision of a single determination of a patient's peak flow is inversely related to the peak flow itself. In all, 333 determinations of peak flow were obtained. Only 80% were below 2 SD of the mean Siroky nomogram. Multiple determinations were used to estimate the sensitivity rate for each patient, i.e. the proportion of peak flows that were less than 2 SD below the mean of Siroky's nomogram. The average sensitivity for all of the flow values was 0.813 when applied to voided volumes and increased only slightly to 0.838 when applied to total bladder volume. Given a prevalence of 0.70 of obstruction ascribed to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) among elderly men, the positive predictive value of an abnormally low peak flow was 0.97. A single low peak flow based on assessment of voided volume may serve as an almost sure indication of obstruction. If a patient has a single normal peak flow rate, he still has a 0.31 probability of having evidence of obstruction in his following uroflow determinations. Using total bladder volume does not make a difference in most patients and is not worth the effort and discomfort. The only patients who require accurate residual measurements are those with a normal uroflow but clear-cut obstructive symptomatology or with borderline peak flow. The results of this study are relevant to everyday clinical practice and to the evaluation of studies on alternatives to surgery in BPH.
Surface Conductivity of Cleaved Silicon Surfaces

The experimental results of Palmer, Morrison, and Dauenbaugh on the conductivity of cleaved surfaces of silicon are reinterpreted in terms of a large density of states below the center of the forbidden energy gap. This new interpretation shows that the conductivity measurements and the work function and photoelectric threshold measurements are not in disagreement. If a Shockley-type band of surface states is present at the surface, it is possible to estimate an upper bound for the mobility of its carriers. The value of the mobility is found to be less than 0.01 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$/volt sec.
Polymer-supported metallocenes and their applications to the catalysis of olefin isomerization, oligomerization, epoxidation and dinitrogen fixation reactions

Summary Polymer-attached TiCp 2 Cl 2 and TiCpCl 3 have been reduced by BuLi and the reduction products have been employed in catalytic isomerization of allylbenzene and 1,5-cyclooctadiene. The former was converted into a mixture of trans -and cis -propenyl benzene, white the 1,5-cyclooctadiene was isomerized to 1,3-cyclooctadiene through the 1,4-cyclooctadiene intermediate. Oligomerization of ethyl propiolate has been effected by the polymer-attached titanocene species and gave a mixture of closed and open trimers. Polymer-supported TiCp 2 −Cl 2 and TiCpCl 3 can be used directly, without going through the reduction process, for the low yield epoxidation of cyclohexene and cyclooctene. Polymer-supported, methylene-bridged, Cl 2 TiCp(C 5 H 4 CH 2 C 5 H 3 -Π)CpTiCl 2 , was prepared and used in dinitrogen fixation studies. Polymer-attached TiCp 2 (CO) 2 was prepared.
Thoughts on Gabor Temes

I was very fortunate to be part of the graduate program in circuits at UCLA in the 1980?s, which was led by scholars of remarkable distinction and ambition. Gabor Temes, along with John Orchard and Alan Wilson, were the senior leading faculty in the circuits area, and a formidable array of younger faculty were also on the scene, including Asad Abidi, Ken Martin and Henry Samueli. The program was?and remains?justifiably famous for its rigor, productivity, and very high intellectual standards. This was at a time when switched-capacitor circuits and delta-sigma data converters were just becoming dominant in analog and mixed-signal design, and UCLA was one of the world leaders in this emerging area. It seemed that every new issue of the Journal of Solid-State Circuits or Transactions on Circuits and Systems brought some exciting insight or breakthrough in the field, often developed right on the Westwood campus.
Efficient recovery of functionally intact mRNA from agarose gels via transfer to an ion-exchange membrane

A simple method is described for the efficient recovery of intact mRNA from high resolution agarose gels. Fractionation of RNA is accomplished by gel electrophoresis under denaturing conditions using methylmercuric hydroxide. The RNA in the gel is then transferred electrophoretically to a diethylaminoethyl (DEAE)-membrane. After reversing the methylmercuric modification of the RNA, the membrane is sliced into narrow sections and the RNA is eluted at 65 degrees with a high ionic strength buffer containing 6M guanidine hydrochloride. RNA isolated by this procedure is suitable for subsequent enzymatic reactions, including in vitro translation and reverse transcription. The major advantages offered by this procedure are: 1) The membrane-bound RNA is a replica of the high resolution fractionation pattern achieved in the gel. 2) The immobilization and concentration of RNA and the removal of gel matrix contaminants are all accomplished in one step. 3) Small quantities of RNA are efficiently recovered and are suitable for subsequent biochemical manipulations. The method is of general utility for any biological system. We have applied its use to the fractionation, recovery, and analysis of mRNA from Xenopus liver and have identified cDNA clones complementary to albumin mRNA.
Construction project planning process model for small-medium builders

The construction project planning (CPP) stage is a critical stage in the project development and delivery phase of the life cycle of a building project. This stage lays the framework upon which most of the construction decisions are made. Despite its importance, many construction firms go through this stage in an arbitrary fashion. This problem is particularly crucial for small‐medium‐size building projects and the firms constructing such projects in a design‐build environment. The CPP stage for such firms is chosen as the targeted domain of construction for this paper. The research effort reported in this paper had the following objectives: (1) To highlight the importance of CPP as an integral function of the construction project management cycle; and (2) to develop a CPP process model that can provide descriptive representation of the microlevel steps of an integrated approach to cost plans and time plans generation. The usefulness of such a model to serve a number of needs related to project planning, ...
Dietary restriction normalizes glucose metabolism and BDNF levels, slows disease progression, and increases survival in huntingtin mutant mice

In addition to neurological deficits, Huntington's disease (HD) patients and transgenic mice expressing mutant human huntingtin exhibit reduced levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, hyperglycemia, and tissue wasting. We show that the progression of neuropathological (formation of huntingtin inclusions and apoptotic protease activation), behavioral (motor dysfunction), and metabolic (glucose intolerance and tissue wasting) abnormalities in huntingtin mutant mice, an animal model of HD, are retarded when the mice are maintained on a dietary restriction (DR) feeding regimen resulting in an extension of their life span. DR increases levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and the protein chaperone heat-shock protein-70 in the striatum and cortex, which are depleted in HD mice fed a normal diet. The suppression of the pathogenic processes by DR in HD mice suggests that mutant huntingtin promotes neuronal degeneration by impairing cellular stress resistance, and that the body wasting in HD is driven by the neurodegenerative process. Our findings suggest a dietary intervention that may suppress the disease process and increase the life span of humans that carry the mutant huntingtin gene.
Relaxed natural selection alone does not permit transposable element expansion within 4,000 generations in Escherichia coli

Insertion sequences (ISs) are transposable genetic elements in bacterial genomes. IS elements are common among bacteria but are generally rare within free-living species, probably because of the negative fitness effects they have on their hosts. Conversely, ISs frequently proliferate in intracellular symbionts and pathogens that recently transitioned from a free-living lifestyle. IS elements can profoundly influence the genomic evolution of their bacterial hosts, although it is unknown why they often expand in intracellular bacteria. We designed a laboratory evolution experiment with Escherichia coli K-12 to test the hypotheses that IS elements often expand in intracellular bacteria because of relaxed natural selection due to (1) their generally small effective population sizes (Ne) and thus enhanced genetic drift, and (2) their nutrient rich environment, which makes many biosynthetic genes unnecessary and thus selectively neutral territory for IS insertion. We propagated 12 populations under four experimental conditions: large Ne versus small Ne, and nutrient rich medium versus minimal medium. We found that relaxed selection over 4,000 generations was not sufficient to permit IS element expansion in any experimental population, thus leading us to hypothesize that IS expansion in intracellular symbionts may often be spurred by enhanced transposition rates, possibly due to environmental stress, coupled with relaxed natural selection.
III. Three-dimensional electron microscopy of mammalian cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum at 80 kV.

The Golgi black reaction method was combined with stereoscopic techniques to obtain three-dimensional of cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) using a conventional electron microscope operating at 80 kV. We have previously described the SR in avian and mammalian skeletal muscles with similar techniques. It was necessary to modify these earlier techniques for cardiac muscle. Two regions of mammalian heart were explored: trabecular and papillary muscles. These muscles presented striking differences with regard to relative volume of mitochondria and myofibrils, but both muscles presented similar dispositions of the inner tubules of SR. The SR near myofibrils appeared heterogeneous and consisted of fenestrated collar, bulbous extensions at the Z line (corbular SR), and flat extended regions (cisternal SR). The SR near mitochondria, however, always formed a simple rete with occasional cisternal SR. Specific “staining” of the inner tubules of cardiac SR by the Golgi method offers new views of cardiac fibers that suggest a more extensively developed SR than previously acknowledged.
Historiography in the Dead Sea Scrolls

Abstract Historiographical writing is woefully under-represented in the Scrolls. This fact may be due in part to ideological reasons. The sectarians were not disposed to preserve the praises of the Maccabees, and they seem to have been far more interested in the niceties of halakah than in historical records. But in part it is also due to chance. The pesharim presuppose familiarity with historical traditions, whether oral or written, that have not survived. The so-called annalistic texts provide a glimpse of the form those traditions may have taken. These texts are not historiography on the grand scale of the books of Maccabees or Josephus, but they are historical records, however minimal, and they show that Judeans between the Maccabees and Josephus, including the sectarians known from the Scrolls, were not entirely indifferent to historical memory.
Geochemical and isotopic evidence for paleoredox conditions during deposition of the Devonian-Mississippian New Albany Shale, southern Indiana

The upper part of the New Albany Shale is divided into three members. In ascending order, these are (1) the Morgan Trail Member, a laminated brownish-black shale; (2) the Camp Run Member, an interbedded brownish-black and greenish-gray shale; and (3) the Clegg Creek Member, also a laminated brownish-black shale. The Morgan Trail and Camp Run Members contain 5% to 6% total organic carbon (TOC) and 2% sulfide sulfur. Isotopic composition of sulfide in these members ranges from -5.0% to -20.0%. C/S plots indicate linear relationships between abundances of these elements, with a zero intercept characteristic of sediments deposited in a non-euxinic marine environment. Formation of diagenetic pyrite was carbon limited in these members. The Clegg Creek Member contains 10% to 15% TOC and 2% to 6% sulfide sulfur. Isotopic compositions of sulfide range from -5.0% to -40%. The most negative values occur in the uppermost Clegg Creek Member and are characteristic of syngenetic pyrite, formed within an anoxic water column. Abundances of carbon and sulfur are greater and uncorrelated in this member, consistent with deposition in as euxinic environment. In addition, DOP (degree of pyritization) values suggest that formation of pyrite was generally iron limited throughout Clegg Creek deposition, but sulfur isotopes indicate that syngenetic (water-column) pyrite becomes an important component in the sediment only in the upper part of the member. At the top of the Clegg Creek Member, a zone of phosphate nodules and trace-metal enrichment coincides with maximal TOC values. During euxinic deposition, phosphate and trace metals accumulated below the chemocline because of limited vertical circulation in the water column. Increased productivity would have resulted in an increased flux of particulate organic matter to the sediment, providing an effective sink for trace metals in the water column. Phosphate and trace metals released from organic matter during early diagenesis resulted in precipitation of metal-rich phosphate nodules.
Two structural features of λ integrase that are critical for DNA cleavage by multimers but not by monomers

Despite many years of genetic and biochemical studies on the λ integrase (Int) recombination system, it is still not known whether the Int protein is competent for DNA cleavage as a monomer. We have addressed this question, as part of a larger study of Int functions critical for the formation of higher-order complexes, by isolating “multimer-specific” mutants. We identify a pair of oppositely charged residues, E153 and R169, that comprise an intermolecular salt bridge within a functional Int multimer. Mutation of either of these residues significantly reduces both the cleavage of full-att sites and the resolution of Holliday junctions without compromising the cleavage of half-att site substrates. Allele-specific suppressor mutations were generated at these residues. Their interaction with wild-type Int on preformed Holliday junctions indicates that the mutated residues comprise an intermolecular salt bridge. We have also shown that the most C-terminal seven residues of Int, which comprise another previously identified subunit interface, inhibit DNA cleavage by monomeric but not multimeric Int. Taken together, our results lead us to conclude that Int can cleave DNA as a monomer. We also identify and discuss unique structural features of Int that act negatively to reduce its activity as a monomer and other features that act positively to enhance its activity as a multimer.
ANALYSIS OF SURIMI GEL PROPERTIES BY COMPRESSION AND PENETRATION TESTS

Gel properties of surimi of different quality were analyzed using compression and penetration tests. Parameters used to vary the surimi quality were species, freshness, freeze-abuse and added ingredients. Compressive force at failure was more discriminative than penetration force. The result of a failure response analysis suggests that the compression test is useful in assessing the cohesive property, while the penetration test is better for assessing density and compactness. Good correlations between compression and penetration force values were seen in surimi gels prepared from the same species with and without ingredients, while poor correlations were observed in the surimi which either underwent freeze-abuse or was prepared from different species.
Acute episode of eyelid oedema. Blepharochalasis.

A 34-year-old Caucasian man presented to the ophthalmology emergency clinic with painless, bilateral upper and lower eyelid oedema since waking up that morning. The patient denied any history of lip swelling, tongue swelling, or shortness of breath. He reported a recent episode of an upper respiratory infection that had resolved. He was otherwise in good health. Medications included cetirizine HCl 10 mg a day and guaifenesin 1200 mg twice a day. He denied allergies to medications. Family history was negative for skin disease or angioedema. Further history revealed that the patient had recurrent episodes of eyelid oedema from the age of 10 years, each lasting 5–7 days and with a frequency of two to five episodes per year. All episodes were associated with antecedent upper respiratory infection. The patient reported that each episode progressed similarly with spontaneous onset of bilateral, upper and lower eyelid swelling and conjunctival injection followed by irritation, foreign body sensation, difficulty focusing his vision and photophobia on day 3 or 4. All symptoms would then resolve without intervention by 1 week. Over the years he had observed that the eyelid skin between acute episodes had …
The folding of alpha-1-proteinase inhibitor: kinetic vs equilibrium control.

Abstract Previous folding studies of α-1-proteinase inhibitor (α 1 -PI), which regulates the activity of the serine protease human neutrophil elastase, show an intermediate state at ∼1.5 M guanidine–HCl (Gu). For the normal form of α 1 -PI, we demonstrate the reversible formation of the same stable distribution of monomeric and polymeric intermediates after ∼1 h in 1.5 M Gu at ∼23°C from fully folded or fully unfolded α 1 -PI at similar final total concentrations and show that the stable distribution of monomeric and polymeric intermediates conforms with the law of mass action. We attribute these observations to an apparent equilibrium among intermediates. Our CD data are compatible with the intermediates having slightly relaxed structures relative to that of fully folded α 1 -PI and, thus, with the polymeric intermediates having a loop–sheet structure. Furthermore, we observe that the rates of folding (fast and slow terms) from the intermediate state are the same as those from the fully unfolded state, thereby supporting the contention that this intermediate state is on the folding pathway. We attribute the tendency of the Z mutant protein to polymerize/aggregate to an increased rate of the monomeric intermediate to form the apparent equilibrium distribution of intermediate species relative to its rate of folding to give intact α 1 -PI.