cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Insulin-degrading enzyme is exported via an unconventional protein secretion pathway.

Insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) is a ubiquitously expressed zinc-metalloprotease that degrades several pathophysiologically significant extracellular substrates, including insulin and the amyloid β-protein (Aβ), and accumulating evidence suggests that IDE dysfunction may be operative in both type 2 diabetes mellitus and Alzheimer disease (AD). Although IDE is well known to be secreted by a variety of cell types, the underlying trafficking pathway(s) remain poorly understood. To address this topic, we investigated the effects of known inhibitors or stimulators of protein secretion on the secretion of IDE from murine hepatocytes and HeLa cells. IDE secretion was found to be unaffected by the classical secretion inhibitors brefeldin A (BFA), monensin, or nocodazole, treatments that readily inhibited the secretion of α1-antitrypsin (AAT) overexpressed in the same cells. Using a novel cell-based Aβ-degradation assay, we show further that IDE secretion was similarly unaffected by multiple stimulators of protein secretion, including glyburide and 3'-O-(4-benzoyl)benzoyl-ATP (Bz-ATP). The calcium ionophore, A23187, increased extracellular IDE activity, but only under conditions that also elicited cytotoxicity. Our results provide the first biochemical evidence that IDE export is not dependent upon the classical secretion pathway, thereby identifying IDE as a novel member of the select class of unconventionally secreted proteins. Further elucidation of the mechanisms underlying IDE secretion, which would be facilitated by the assays described herein, promises to uncover processes that might be defective in disease or manipulated for therapeutic benefit.
A Communication-Avoiding, Hybrid-Parallel, Rank-Revealing Orthogonalization Method

Orthogonalization consumes much of the run time of many iterative methods for solving sparse linear systems and eigenvalue problems. Commonly used algorithms, such as variants of Gram-Schmidt or Householder QR, have performance dominated by communication. Here, "communication" includes both data movement between the CPU and memory, and messages between processors in parallel. Our Tall Skinny QR (TSQR) family of algorithms requires asymptotically fewer messages between processors and data movement between CPU and memory than typical orthogonalization methods, yet achieves the same accuracy as Householder QR factorization. Furthermore, in block orthogonalizations, TSQR is faster and more accurate than existing approaches for orthogonalizing the vectors within each block ("normalization"). TSQR's rank-revealing capability also makes it useful for detecting deflation in block iterative methods, for which existing approaches sacrifice performance, accuracy, or both. We have implemented a version of TSQR that exploits both distributed-memory and shared-memory parallelism, and supports real and complex arithmetic. Our implementation is optimized for the case of orthogonalizing a small number (5 -- 20) of very long vectors. The shared-memory parallel component uses Intel's Threading Building Blocks, though its modular design supports other shared-memory programming models as well, including computation on the GPU. Our implementation achieves speedups of 2 times or more over competing orthogonalizations. It is available now in the development branch of the Trilinos software package, and will be included in the 10.8 release.
Tailoring a diabetes self-care intervention for use with older, rural African American women.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to tailor a diabetes management intervention to the cultural and age-related needs and preferences of older, rural African American women.Methods Findings from exploratory research, clinical experience, and review of the literature were used to inform the development of a culture- and function-specific intervention. Findings informed the design of the intervention, format of intervention delivery, format of intervention materials, and training provided to interventionists. Intervention materials were reviewed by a community advisory board, and the intervention was pilot tested with 43 women.Results The intervention's delivery was tailored to the needs of older African American women through the use of 1-hour, in-home sessions that used a storytelling format to share information. The design of the intervention individualized its content to each woman's symptom experience, self-care practices, and coping strategies. Extensive training sensitized intervention nurses to c...
Satellite-Observed Location of Stratocumulus Cloud-Top Heights in the Presence of Strong Inversions

Infrared channels on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) are used to infer cloud-top pressure (CTP), temperature, and effective cloud amount or emissivity. For low clouds, those with tops at pressures greater than 700 hPa, the infrared window 11-mum channel brightness temperature is used to determine the CTP and the corresponding cloud-top temperature by comparison with the temperature profile obtained from the NCEP Global Data Assimilation System meteorological analysis. In the presence of strong inversions which are common for marine stratus and stratocumulus, this leads to the identification of an erroneously high cloud-top height (CTH). This discrepancy is illustrated by comparing MODIS CTHs with those inferred from the geometric method used by the Multiangle Imaging SpectroRadiometer on the same satellite platform, and field observations. The error in CTH is typically about 2 km and depends on the shape of the actual temperature profile. It is shown that column water vapor above cloud retrieved from the MODIS solar infrared channels in the vicinity of the 0.94-mum water vapor absorption band can be used to flag the error and that the location of the true CTH could possibly be obtained using lapse rate formulations for cloud-topped boundary layers.
Ablation of lung endothelial injury after pacing-induced heart failure is related to alterations in Ca2+ signaling

We have previously shown that ANG II increases microvascular permeability in normal dog lungs but not after pacing-induced heart failure. This study investigated how ANG II induces permeability in ...
Effect of bit-rate, bias, and threshold currents on the turn-on timing jitter in lasers modulated with uncoded and coded waveforms

In this letter, we investigate the effect of the turn-on time jitter in semiconductor lasers biased below threshold on the system performance. It is shown that by appropriate scrambling or coding, the pattern dependent turn-on time jitter can be reduced, which will lead to improved system performance. It is shown that the Manchester code is less sensitive to the setting of the bias point than the data with unconstrained run length, leading to a more robust link.
Towards Neuromote: A Single-Chip, 100-Channel, Neural-Signal Acquisition, Processing, and Telemetry Device

This paper investigates the design of a single-chip, 100-channel wireless neural-signal acquisition, processing, and communications device. Design approaches for realizing front- end neural-signal amplifier, data conversion, microprocessor, and trasceiver circuitry have been outlined.
Experimental investigation of a tactile sensor based on bending losses in fiber optics

The authors present experimental results of an investigation of a prototype tactile sensor design based on microbending losses in fiber optics. The parameters which determine the sensitivity of a fiber to bending losses were identified, experiments were performed on a multimode optical fiber, and a prototype tactile sensor was constructed and tested. Results indicated that the limiting factor of the performance of the tactile sensor was the viscoelastic behavior of the fiber's cladding. >
Inhibition of peripheral blood mononuclear cell proliferation by cardiac glycosides

Introduction Prior studies have shown that ouabain, a cardiac glycoside that inhibits the sodium, potassium adenosine triphosphatase (Na+, K+, ATPase) enzyme, downregulates phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-induced peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMNC) proliferation. Objective This study examined and compared the effects of both ouabain and digoxin, a cardiac glycoside used therapeutically in humans, on PBMNC proliferation. Methods Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from healthy human subjects, incubated for 72 hours with and without PHA (2%) in the presence and absence of ouabain (10 -12 M to 10 -4 M) or digoxin (10 -9 to 10 -6 M), and pulsed with 3 H thymidine. Results For PHA-stimulated PBMNCs in the ouabain-treated group (n = 10 subjects), the mean (±STD) % uptake (% 3 H thymidine uptake in absence of ouabain) was 80.5 +/− 6.0 at 10 -12 M ouabain, 73.1 +/− 8.4 at 10 -10 M, 47.89 +/− 13.1 at 10 -8 M, 6.9 +/− 3.2 at 10 -6 M, and 3.4 +/− 1.6 at 10 -4 M. For PHA-stimulated cells in the digoxin-treated group (n = 9 subjects), the mean (+/−STD) % uptake (% 3 H thymidine uptake in absence of digoxin) was 89.8 +/− 9.8 at 10 -9 M digoxin, 92.6 +/− 8.2 at 10 -8 M, 54.3 +/− 19.8 at 10 -7 M and 1.0 +/− 2.4 at 10 -6 M. Repeated measures ANOVA demonstrated a signifiacnt effect of concentration of both glycosides on PBMNC proliferation ( P + , CD8 + , and CD19 + ) stimulated with mitogens. Additionally, dose-response inhibitory effects of glycosides on PBMNC Na + , K + , ATPase enzyme activity and interleukin-2 (IL-2) secretion by PHA-stimulated PBMNC were also noted. Neither glycoside had an effect on spontaneous PBMNC proliferation (no PHA) or trypan blue exclusion. Conclusions These studies demonstrate that both cardiac glycosides inhibited PHA-induced PBMNC proliferation, possible via Na + , K + , ATPase inhibition, but not via cell toxicity. The concentration range over which inhibition was observed was similar for both glycosides. The results raise the possibility that therapeutic or toxic doses of digoxin could have an effect on cell-mediated immunity in vivo.
PHONOSURGICAL VOCAL FOLD INJECTION: Procedures and Materials

Significant advances have recently occurred in the area of vocal fold injection. Phonosurgical vocal fold injection is now a precise set of techniques used to improve voice quality through vocal fold injection. Lipoinjection and collagen injection are discussed in detail. The different vocal fold injection techniques and materials are discussed in this article.
UV hyper-resistance in Prochlorococcus MED4 results from a single base pair deletion just upstream of an operon encoding nudix hydrolase and photolyase

Exposure to solar radiation can cause mortality in natural communities of pico-phytoplankton, both at the surface and to a depth of at least 30 m. DNA damage is a significant cause of death, mainly due to cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer formation, which can be lethal if not repaired. While developing a UV mutagenesis protocol for the marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus, we isolated a UV-hyper-resistant variant of high light-adapted strain MED4. The hyper-resistant strain was constitutively upregulated for expression of the mutT-phrB operon, encoding nudix hydrolase and photolyase, both of which are involved in repair of DNA damage that can be caused by UV light. Photolyase (PhrB) breaks pyrimidine dimers typically caused by UV exposure, using energy from visible light in the process known as photoreactivation. Nudix hydrolase (MutT) hydrolyses 8-oxo-dGTP, an aberrant form of GTP that results from oxidizing conditions, including UV radiation, thus impeding mispairing and mutagenesis by preventing incorporation of the aberrant form into DNA. These processes are error-free, in contrast to error-prone SOS dark repair systems that are widespread in bacteria. The UV-hyper-resistant strain contained only a single mutation: a 1 bp deletion in the intergenic region directly upstream of the mutT-phrB operon. Two subsequent enrichments for MED4 UV-hyper-resistant strains from MED4 wild-type cultures gave rise to strains containing this same 1 bp deletion, affirming its connection to the hyper-resistant phenotype. These results have implications for Prochlorococcus DNA repair mechanisms, genome stability and possibly lysogeny.
Associations between Difficulty Paying Medical Bills and Forgone Medical and Prescription Drug Care

Abstract Problems paying medical bills have been reported to be associated with increased stress, bankruptcy, and forgone medical care. Using the Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations developed by Gelberg et al as a framework, as well as data from the 2010 Ohio Family Health Survey, this study examined the relationships between difficulty paying medical bills and forgone medical and prescription drug care. Logistic regression was used to examine associations between difficulty paying medical bills and predisposing, enabling, need (health status), and health behaviors (forgoing medical care). Difficulty paying medical bills increased the effect of lack of health insurance in predicting forgone medical care and had a conditional effect on the association between education and forgone prescription drug care. Those who had less than a bachelor's degree were more likely to forgo prescription drug care than those with a bachelor's degree, but only if they had difficulty paying medical bills. Difficulty pa...
Evidence for a close spatial location of the binding sites for CO2 and for photosystem II inhibitors.

Abstract 1. 1. CO2-depletion of thylakoid membranes results in a decrease of binding affinity of the Photosystem II (PS II) inhibitor atrazine. The inhibitory efficiency of atrazine, expressed as I50-concentration (50% inhibition) of 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol reduction, is the same in CO2-depleted as well as in control thylakoids. This shows that CO2-depletion results in a complete inactivation of a part of the total number of electron transport chains. 2. 2. A major site of action of CO2, which had previously been located between the two electron acceptor quinone molecule B (or R) and plastoquinone, appears to be in the same membrane protein which binds the Photosystem II inhibitor atrazine as suggested by the following observations: (a) CO2-depletion results in a shift of the binding constant (kb) of [14C]atrazine to thylakoid mebranes indicating a decreased affinity of atrazine to the membrane; (b) trypsin treatment, which is known to modify the Photosystem II complex at the level of B, strongly diminishes CO2 stimulation of electron transport reactions in CO2-depleted membranes; and (c) thylakoids from atrazine-resistant plants, which contain a Photosystem II complex modified at the inhibitor binding site, show an altered CO2-stimulation of electron flow. 3. 3. CO2-depletion does not produce structural changes in enzyme complexes involved in Photosystem II function of thylakoid membranes, as shown by freeze-fracture studies using electron microscopy.
Transient Thermal Measurements Using Thermographic Phosphors for Temperature Rate Estimates

This paper addresses the potential for predicting heat flux from thermographic phosphor measurements. Temperature can be measured using thermographic phosphors by extracting the intensity decay of the phosphor, which is temperature dependent. This measured temperature can then be used to estimate boundary heat fluxes, which is often called the inverse heat conduction problem. Heating rate can also be estimated with the use of thermographic phosphors, from which heat flux can also be determined. In this case, the solution to the inverse problem appears more stable. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate the feasibility of measuring change in decay rates and the ability to determine the first derivative of temperature from these measurements. Preliminary analysis shows that by determining dT/dt instead of temperature, a better estimate of heat flux can be made. The experiment uses a millisecond phosphor, excited by an LED pulsed at 100 Hz. The phosphor is painted on a tungsten filament, which can be heated to hundreds of degrees in under a second. The temperature change during a single pulse is significant enough to affect the decay rate, which is necessary to achieve reasonable heating rate measurement. The measurements of heating rate are used to determine the volumetric generation rate (Joule heating) and the heat transfer loss from the system by convection and radiation. Early data show that estimates from heating rate data, as opposed to temperature data, result more accurate predictions with less error.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Experiences of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries with recruiting and retaining physicians in rural areas.

Objective: This present study discusses the potential pitfalls in measuring physician shortages in rural areas and presents existing evidence of the effectiveness of policy interventions designed to influence the geographical distribution of physicians. Design: Information on the geographical distribution of physicians was derived from a survey of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries and a desk review of the academic literature and policy documents of OECD governments. Main outcome measure: Whether policies have been effective in recruiting and retaining physicians in rural areas. Results: Existing measures of physician shortages in rural areas may be misleading as they do not account for a number of supply side factors (e.g. physician productivity, mobility of physicians across areas) and demand-side factors (e.g. patient needs for physician services). Increases in the national number of physicians have narrowed, but not eliminated, shortages in rural areas. Some success in increasing physician supply to rural areas has been reported with educational, regulatory and financial policies; whereas countries’ experiences with education-related funding policies are mixed. There is some evidence suggesting that the effectiveness of these policies can be enhanced by supporting occupational opportunities for the spouse/partner, education of children and accommodation. Conclusions: Although there has been little evaluation of policy interventions, physician shortages in rural areas may be reduced by supply side policies that focus on the physician in combination with measures to sustain the economic and social viability of rural communities. What is already known on this subject?: Numerous studies have reported inequalities in the geographical distribution of physicians, but this has not taken into account physician activity levels or patient needs for physician services. Little is known about the effectiveness of policies designed to influence the geographical distribution of physicians. What does this study add?: The present study suggests that increasing physician numbers does not change their geographical distribution, but educational, regulatory and financial policies may be effective. The findings on loan repayment schemes are mixed. To attract more physicians to rural areas, these supply side policies may need to be accompanied by policies that sustain the economic and social viability of rural communities.
Calculation of feedback gains for an optimal controller

AbstractThis paper presents a numerical algorithm for solving non-linear algebraic equations generated in an optimization problem in which the sum of a quadratic performance criterion and the H2-norm of the closed-loop transfer function from a Gaussian white noise stochastic disturbance to the state space variables of a linear time invariant system is minimized. The proposed algorithm is given in terms of algebraic Lyapunov equations. It is shown in this paper that this algorithm converges to the local minimum under non-restrictive, control theory and applications-oriented assumptions, stabilizability and detectability.
Progressive vector quantization on a massively parallel SIMD machine with application to multispectral image data

This correspondence discusses a progressive vector quantization (VQ) compression approach, which decomposes image data into a number of levels using full-search VQ. The final level is losslessly compressed, enabling lossless reconstruction. The computational difficulties are addressed by implementation on a massively parallel SIMD machine. We demonstrate progressive VQ on multispectral imagery obtained from the advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) and other earth-observation image data, and investigate the tradeoffs in selecting the number of decomposition levels and codebook training method.
Multinutrient undernutrition dysregulates the resident macrophage proinflammatory cytokine network, nuclear factor-κB activation, and nitric oxide production

We have described previously a murine model of multinutrient undernutrition that repro- duced the features of moderate human malnutri- tion and led to increased early dissemination of Leishmania donovani. Peritoneal cells from these malnourished mice produced decreased NO after stimulation with IFN-/LPS. We hypothesized that malnutrition may cause a deficit in NF-B activa- tion, a principal transcription pathway for induc- ible NO synthase and proinflammatory cytokines. Macrophages from malnourished mice, stimulated with IFN-/LPS, showed increased IL-6 production and decreased IL-10 and TNF- production. Neu- tralization of TNF- in macrophage cultures from the control mice mimicked the effect of malnutri- tion on NO and IL-10 production, whereas supple- mental TNF- added to cultures of macrophages from malnourished mice increased NO secretion. NF-B nuclear binding activity in macrophages from the malnourished mice was reduced early after stimulation, but increased to supranormal values by 16- or 24-h poststimulation. Blocking NO production in the macrophages from the con- trol mice reproduced the effect of malnutrition on the late activation of NF-B, whereas supplemental NO decreased the late NF-B activation in the malnourished mice. Thus, in macrophages from the malnourished mice, initial deficits in NF-B activity probably lead to decreased TNF-, which results in decreased NO; however, IL-6 is regu- lated independently from NF-B and TNF- .T he late activation of NF-B in the macrophages from malnourished mice is due to absence of negative feedback from NO. J. Leukoc. Biol. 74: 982-991; 2003.
Stereoselective synthesis of the fully functionalized core fragment of terpentecin

Abstract A stereoselective synthesis of the core fragment 4 of terpentecin is presented. The five contiguous asymmetric centers of 4 were prepared from enone 8 via a sequence of steps highlighted by: oxygenation of the C6 center by epoxidation of enone 18 , methylenation of the C8 carbonyl group of 20 by means of the Peterson olefination, stereoselective construction of the C8 center of 21 using homogeneous catalytic hydrogenation and stereoselective oxygenation of the C7 center.
An autoimmune "attack" on melanocytes triggers psoriasis and cellular hyperplasia.

![Figure][1] Insight from James Krueger A new study by [Jorg Prinz’s group][2] has identified a melanocyte-derived autoantigen that triggers T cell activation in psoriasis vulgaris. For two decades, psoriasis has been classified as a probable autoimmune disease based on a strong
Mechanics and Modeling of Chip Formation in Machining of MMC

Metal matrix composites (MMCs) offer high strength-to-weight ratio, high stiffness and good damage resistance over a wide range of operating conditions, making them an attractive option in replacing conventional materials for many engineering applications. Typically the metal matrix materials of MMCs are aluminum alloys, titanium alloys, copper alloys and magnesium alloys, while the reinforcement materials are silicon carbide, aluminum oxide, boron carbide, graphite etc. in the form of fibers, whiskers and particles. This chapter covers the mechanics of chip formation during machining of MMCs and various modeling techniques. Especially, modeling techniques dealing with cutting force, chip morphology, temperature and subsurface damage are covered.
Brief paper: Filtering in distributed parameter systems with moving boundaries

A general filter is presented for nonlinear distributed parameter systems having an arbitrary number of moving boundaries. The filter is capable of including both volume and boundary process noise as well as measurement errors. A large number of potential applications of the results, ranging from the estimation of the extent of crude oil spills to metallurgical solidification problems, are discussed.
Human leukemia cell line K562 responds to erythroid-potentiating activity

We report that erythroid-potentiating activity (EPA), known to stimulate the proliferation of normal human erythroid precursors in vitro, has a growth-promoting effect on human K562 erythroleukemia cells and Friend mouse erythroleukemia cells. Detailed studies were carried out using an EPA produced by a human T-lymphoblast line (Mo). Although EPA has not been purified to homogeneity, several observations indicate that the factor elaborated by Mo cells that stimulates erythroleukemia cell growth is the EPA molecule. The erythroleukemia growth factor cofractionates with EPA using gel exclusion chromatography, isoelectric focusing, and ion exchange chromatography. In addition, the activities exhibit similar kinetics of heat inactivation. A granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor also elaborated by Mo cells had no effect on the growth of the erythroleukemia cells. Other sources of EPA, such as peripheral blood leukocyte-conditioned medium, preparations from urine of anemic patients, and medium conditioned by a human monocyte-like cell line, stimulated erythroleukemia cell growth. Mouse sources of EPA (termed “burst-promoting activity”) stimulated mouse but not human erythroleukemia cells. The availability of cell lines apparently responsive to EPA should prove useful for examining the mode of action of this regulator of erythropoiesis.
Clinical Study on Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potential in Monitoring Anesthesia Depth and Awaken in Children

Objective: To study the objective guide of brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP) in monitoring the general anesthesia depth and awaken in children. Methods: Forty-five children with ASA graded I~ II and normal audition received the anesthesia of propofol, fentanyl, and isoflurane respectively, and the changes of PL and IPL and anesthesia dosage were studied. Results: (1) There was a significant positive correlation between propofol and isoflurane and their dosage. (2)PL of wave I was important to anesthesia degree. (3) It was wave V with the best stability and correlation to monitor anesthesia degree. (4) PL and IPL of some BAEP waves were still higher than normal after a period of anesthesia or patients almost awaken. (5) BAEP was not sensible for fentanyl anesthesia in intraooperative monitoring awaken. Conclusion: The change of PL and IPL can be used to determine the general anesthesia degree and awaken. Detention reaction should be consulted.
United States Responses to 9/11

Preventing acts of terrorism remains one of the major tasks of domestic governments and regional and international organisations. Terrorism transcends borders, so anti-terrorism law must cross the boundaries of domestic, regional and international law. It also crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries between administrative, constitutional, criminal, financial, immigration, international and military law, as well as the law of war. This second edition provides a comprehensive resource on how domestic, regional and international responses to terrorism have developed since 2001. Chapters that focus on a particular country or region in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia are complemented by overarching thematic chapters that take a comparative approach to particular aspects of anti-terrorism law and policy.
Fragmenty, albo przeznaczenia fotografii

Przeklad rozdzialu Fragments; or, The Ends of Photography z ksiązki From a Nation Torn: Decolonizing Art and Representation in France, 1945–1962 (Duke University Press 2014). Autorka analizuje w nim projekt Les voix du silence Andr e Malraux jako w istocie wspolbiezny z polityką historyczną i kolonialną panstwa francuskiego w okresie pod drugiej wojnie światowej, naznaczonym nieslawną pamiecią o okresie Vichy z jednej strony, a z drugiej – rozwojem ruchow emancypacyjnych we francuskich koloniach. Feldman bierze pod uwage zarowno treści – dziela sztuki – uwzglednione przez Malraux w jego obrazie sztuki świata, jak i jego metode, w tym swoiste uzycie fotografii.
Bodily Fluid Analysis of Non-Serum Samples using Point-of-Care Testing with iSTAT and Piccolo Analyzers Versus a Fixed Hospital Chemistry Analytical Platform

It's our pleasure to invite the Hawai‘i Journal of Medicine and Public Health (HJMPH) readership to this special issue of selected papers on health disparities among Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and Native Peoples in Hawai‘i and the Pacific region. Many of these papers were presented at our most recent health disparities conference perennially referred to as “He Huliau ∼ a Turning Point”. The 2012 He Huliau Conference was particularly memorable as our Center for Native and Pacific Health Disparities Research partnered for the first time with the Association of American Indian Physicians (AAIP) to jointly share the overall theme of the conference “Advancing Native Health and Wellness.”
Factors in Diminution of Uteroglobin Secretion in the Rabbit

Uteroglobin was measured under various hormonal conditions: pregnancy, pseudopregnancy, pseudopregnancy with exogenous progesterone, pseudopregnancy with exogenous 20alpha-hydroxyprogesterone, ovariectomy with exogenous progesterone, ovariectomy with exogenous estrogen, ovariectomy with exogenous estrogen and progesterone, and ovariectomy with either exogenous progesterone or estrogen and progesterone, plus uterine trauma. In pregnant females, uteroglobin levels diminished sharply after day 9. In pseudopregnancy, high concentrations were maintained through day 14. Although exogenous progesterone did not prevent this decrease in pseudopregnant females, re-elevation occurred in the continued presence of progesterone. A similar pattern of decline and re-elevation was found in ovariectomized females that received injections of estrogen and progesterone. With an increase in estrogen dosage, the period of uteroglobin secretion was shorter and the magnitude lower. Ovariectomized females receiving only progesterone did not manifest a clear uteroglobin diminution. Uterine trauma on day 7 of exogenous steroid administration to ovariectomized females was followed by a diminution in uteroglobin. At the dosage level used, administration of 20alpha-hydroxyprogesterone did not affect the peak uteroglobin secretion occurring on day 5 of pseudopregnancy. Ovariectomized females receiving estrogen or sesame oil vehicle had barely detectable levels of uteroglobin. A uteroglobin-estrogen complex is suggested as a possible inhibitor of uteroglobin synthesis by a feedback inhibition pathway in pseudopregnant females and in ovariectomized females treated with progesterone plus estrogen. In pregnant females, a uteroglobin-estrogen complex and/or the uterine decidual response to implantation could control uteroglobin synthesis.
Gastroenterology Disease and Lifestyle Medicine

Lifestyle medicine, emphasizing prevention as well as therapy, plays a central role in the understanding and treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses. This chapter will focus upon specific GI diseases associated with clinical symptoms related to disturbed immune function. Attention will be directed to the pathophysiologic underpinning of the disease process and the role of lifestyle applications preventing or ameliorating the illness. Such consideration will be given to GI reflux disease, peptic ulcer and gastritis, gall bladder disease, pancreatitis, Celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and inflammatory bowel diseases.
Patient with Groin Pain After a Plug and Patch Hernia Repair

Postoperative groin pain following hernia repair is a common complaint that usually resolves with time, but some patients do go on to develop chronic pain or, rather, inguinodynia. This pain can result from a plethora of causes, one of which is mesh migration. Mesh migration has been reported with every type of hernia repair, both open and laparoscopic. However, there is a significantly greater number of mesh migrations reported for the plug mesh repairs than flat mesh repairs. This chapter will outline the workup, diagnosis, and treatment of mesh migration from the plug and patch technique. The conclusion is that the addition of a plug to the standard Lichtenstein herniorrhaphy provides little benefit and may result in the described complication of migration.
Comparison of Outcomes between Individuals with Pure and Mixed Lupus Nephritis: A Retrospective Study

Introduction Lupus nephritis (LN) is a serious organ manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus. Histologic overlap is relatively common in the six pathologic classes (I to VI) of LN. For example, mixed proliferative LN (MPLN) often includes features of classes III & V or classes IV & V combined. We performed a comparative evaluation of renal outcomes in patients with MPLN to patients with pure proliferative LN (PPLN) against pre-specified renal outcomes, and we also identified predictor of clinical outcomes among those with PPLN and MPLN.
Jewish joke telling in Muttersprache Mameloschn: performing queer intervention on the German stage

This essay explores the central role of Jewish joke telling in Sasha Marianna Salzmann’s play Muttersprache Mameloschn (first performed in 2012). Subversively revealing the problematic of essentializing cultural, national, and even sexual identity, Jewish joke telling figures as a performance of social and political resistance and disidentification in this play. Engaging with Jack Halberstam’s queer epistemology of failure and Jose Esteban Munoz’s theory of queer disidentification, I propose that the act of Jewish joke telling by a young lesbian plays out as a new queer project of intervention in this play that confronts both antisemitism and culturally positioned sexual hegemony.
A narrow-beam undersea laser communications field demonstration

We report a demonstration of narrow-beam laser communication through the waters of Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, USA. The transmitter and receiver were mounted on an aluminum truss and placed in the water alongside a pier operated by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center. The transmitter consisted of a real-time modulator and encoder, a 515 nm wavelength commercial laser, collimating optics, and a steering mirror. The receiver included a steering mirror, a focal plane camera, a linear-mode avalanche photo-diode (APD), a photo-multiplier tube (PMT) single photon detector, a large area imaging camera, an iris to vary the field of view, optics to split the beam between the various detectors, and field-programmable gate array (FPGA) electronics for real-time demodulation and decoding. The PMT and APD detectors were used for communications demonstrations; the imaging and focal plane cameras were used for channel characterization measurements and system alignment. Communications and characterization data were collected through a variety of conditions over the five day field experiment, including day and night, calm and high winds, and flood and ebb tide. In the experiment, the transmit power, receiver field of view, and link distance were varied. The water transmissivity and volume scattering function were measured throughout the experiment to calibrate the results. Real-time communications demonstrations with the PMT were carried out between 1 megabit-per-second (Mbps) and 8.7 Mbps at 7.8 meters, which represented between 8 and 12 beam extinction lengths. With the APD, 125 Mbps were demonstrated at 4.8 meters, representing approximately 5 extinction lengths.
Is There a Relationship Between Body Mass Index and Fluoroscopy Time During Cervical Interlaminar Epidural Steroid Injections

Background The challenge of obtaining medical imaging in individuals with higher body mass index (BMI) is described, but there is minimal data regarding the relationship between BMI and fluoroscopy time during cervical interlaminar epidural steroid injection (CIESI). Objective To determine the relationship between BMI and fluoroscopy time during CIESI. Methods Retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent fluoroscopically guided CIESI between January 2014 and February 2015 at an academic pain medicine center. Fluoroscopy time data were collected. Comparisons based on analysis of variance were made between patients with normal (<25.0 kg/m 2 ), overweight (25.0-29.9 kg/m 2 ), and obese (≥30.0 kg/m 2 ) BMI. Results Of 399 procedure encounters, 366 had documented BMI and fluoroscopy time data and were included for analysis. Mean age (± SD) in this cohort was 53 ± 13 years, including 189 females (52%) and 205 first-time injections. Mean fluoroscopy time for all injections was 18 ± 10 seconds. Separated by categorical BMI class, the mean fluoroscopy time was 18 ± 9 seconds for normal weight patients, 17 ± 10 seconds for overweight patients, and 20 ± 11 seconds for obese patients, respectively. Post hoc analysis showed that fluoroscopy time was significantly longer only in obese compared with overweight patients ( P = 0.02). Trainee involvement and first-time vs repeat injection did not significantly alter fluoroscopy time ( P = 0.17 and P = 0.12, respectively). Conclusions The findings of this study indicate that BMI does not appear to have a clinically significant impact on fluoroscopy time during cervical interlaminar epidural steroid injection procedures. Future study is needed to directly quantify radiation exposure in patients and practitioners, as well as the associated health risk.
A R146N Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Myosin Mutation Disrupts Myosin Function, Myofibrillar Structure, and Cardiac Contraction in Drosophila

A human K146N hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) myosin mutation localizes near the N-terminus of β-cardiac MHC, and molecular modeling of the analogous Drosophila R146 residue predicts its electrostatic interaction with an E774 residue of the lever arm during the pre-power stroke state. We expressed the R146N mutation in Drosophila to test whether disrupting this interaction alters myosin structure and function and causes HCM. R146N mutants exhibited defects in flight ability and progressive disruptions in indirect flight muscle (IFM) morphology.
Nonlinear Propagation of 100 ps, UV Laser Pulses in Water with Strong Stimulated Raman Stokes Coupling*

Underwater UV laser pulse propagation experiments were performed at intensities spanning the linear and nonlinear regimes. Measurements and simulations show strong coupling to molecular Raman modes and suggest strong ionization-induced refraction near the beam focus.
A methylation center within intron 1 of RIL predisposes to silencing, and is opposed by a polymorphic Sp1/Sp3 site

2843 Aberrant promoter methylation is a common feature of cancer, yet the underlying mechanisms of it are not well understood. We have previously reported that the RIL gene is one of the most frequently methylated genes in different cancer types and is a candidate tumor suppressor by functional assays. In search for causes of abnormal methylation of RIL, we designed seven pyrosequencing assays around the transcription start site (TSS) of the gene as well as exon 1 and intron 1. Here we show that in a group of 19 normal colon samples, the region around the transcription start site of the gene (-306 to +168) shows low degrees of methylation (average methylation density, 25.9± 1.9%) and a strong correlation with age (R=0.62, P=0.006 as measured by the sum of Z-scores), whereas the intron 1 region (+370 to +384 has a very high degree of methylation in normal tissues (average methylation density, 85.35± 0.8%) and no correlation with age (R=-0.05, P=0.844). These data suggested that intron 1 contains a putative methylation center for RIL. To test this, we generated reporter constructs with (-589 to +516) and without (-590 to +20) intron 1 (the putative methylation center). Transient transfections of 3T3 cells showed 3.8 to 4.0 fold lower levels of expression for the constructs containing the methylation center, suggesting the presence of a repressor sequence within intron 1. Stable transfection of the constructs without the methylation center resulted in sustained expression, whereas intron-containing constructs showed gradual decline in transcription levels starting from day 37 after transfection, consistent with time-dependednt silencing. RIL has a polymorphic Sp1/Sp3 site in the TSS area that is associated with lower levels of methylation in vivo . Interestingly, among intron-containing constructs, Sp1+ transgenes were more resistant to time-dependent silencing relative to the Sp1- transgenes, as they showed substantially higher levels of expression (4.1-fold higher expression on day 25 and 23.8-fold higher expression on day 51). Similar data were obtained in the RKO cell line. Our results suggest a model whereby the RIL gene contains a methylation center in the intron region that predisposes its promoter to time-dependent silencing, whereas a naturally-occuring insertional Sp1/Sp3 polymorphic site acts as a barrier, preventing cis-acting spreading of heterochromatin.
TCT-659 Exercise Nuclear Stress Test: Discrepancy between Electrocardiographic Changes and Imaging

Nuclear stress testing remains the most common non-invasive means to assess for obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). Despite the prognostic utility of the test, equivocal results are common. The significance of ischemic electrocardiographic changes in the presence of normal myocardial
Intraoperative Mannitol Not Essential During Partial Nephrectomy.

Abstract Objective: Intraoperative mannitol is routinely administered for renoprotection in partial nephrectomy (PN). However, there is a paucity of evidence supporting mannitol's renoprotective ef...
Forgotten But Not Gone: Identifying the Need for Longitudinal Data Management in Cloud Storage

Users have accumulated years of personal data in cloud storage, creating potential privacy and security risks. This agglomeration includes files retained or shared with others simply out of momentum, rather than intention. We presented 100 online-survey participants with a stratified sample of 10 files currently stored in their own Dropbox or Google Drive accounts. We asked about the origin of each file, whether the participant remembered that file was stored there, and, when applicable, about that file's sharing status. We also recorded participants' preferences moving forward for keeping, deleting, or encrypting those files, as well as adjusting sharing settings. Participants had forgotten that half of the files they saw were in the cloud. Overall, 83% of participants wanted to delete at least one file they saw, while 13% wanted to unshare at least one file. Our combined results suggest directions for retrospective cloud data management.
Exploiting polarity and chirality to probe the Hsp90 C-terminus.

Abstract Inhibition of the Hsp90 C-terminus is an attractive therapeutic approach for the treatment of cancer. Novobiocin, the first Hsp90 C-terminal inhibitor identified, contains a synthetically complex noviose sugar that has limited the generation of structure-activity relationships for this region of the molecule. The work described herein utilizes various ring systems as noviose surrogates to explore the size and nature of the surrounding binding pocket.
Do Coffee Farmers Benefit in Food Security from Participating in Coffee Cooperatives? Evidence from Southwest Ethiopia Coffee Cooperatives.

Background:Most coffee in Ethiopia is produced by smallholder farmers who face a daily struggle to get sufficient income but also to feed their families. At the same time, many smallholder coffee p...
p16INK4a and Stem Cell Ageing: A Telomere-Independent Process?

Long-lived mammals replace lost or consumed cells at a tremendous pace: an adult human replaces ∼1% of their many trillion red blood cells every day through de novo synthesis. Similarly, cell division at various rates is at work throughout life to continuously replace lost cells in many epithelial tissues such as the gut, skin, breast, and lung. Moreover, several tissues (e.g., memory T-lymphocytes, pancreatic β-cells) possess a potential for “facultative growth” in the adult; that is, under certain circumstances (e.g., infection, pregnancy), these usually quiescent cells re-enter the cell cycle en masse to increase the mass of a given tissue through controlled proliferation. These forms of tissue replacement and repair require that many adult mammalian tissues contain reservoirs of stem cells capable of generating terminally differentiated effector cell types. The unique cellular property that enables stem cells to maintain such function throughout life is the ability to produce large numbers of differentiated cell types while also self-renewing themselves so that their reserves do not become depleted. In this chapter, I will review some of the evidence to support the notion that certain aspects of mammalian ageing result from an age-dependent decline in the function of self-renewing stem cells, and discuss the relationship of p16 and telomeres with regard to stem cell ageing. 1 Properties of Self-Renewal Relevant to Molecular Ageing A few characteristics of self-renewal bear mention. First, most proliferation in an adult mammal is not self-renewing. Self-renewal appears to be a specific and unusual property of stem cells and other rare cell types that are capable of limited numbers of self-renewing divisions after periods of dormancy. Strictly speaking, not all self-renewing cells are “stem cells”: adult tissue-specific stem cells (e.g., hematopoietic stem cells) are “multipotent” in that they can give rise to differentiated progeny of several Norman E. Sharpless Department of Medicine and Genetics, The Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Centre, The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. e-mail: NES@med.unc.edu
Hematological Observations on the Anemia Associated with Blood Type Rhnull

The purpose of this report is to direct attention of hematologists to a mild chronic hemolytic anemia, of unexplained etiology, characterized by the remarkable absence of all Rh-Hr factors. There are also defects in the Ss, U blood group determinants. The anemia has most of the routine hematological characteristics of mild stomatocytosis and/or hereditary spherocytosis. Like hereditary spherocytosis, it shows no abnormalities of intraerythrocytic enzymes nor of membrane lipids. Unlike hereditary spherocytosis, however, its inheritance is recessive. The proposed basis for this hemolytic anemia is homozygosity for a gene whose normal allele produces components of the erythrocyte membrane which function in the maintenance of intracellular osmotic equilibrium and which serves as substrate for the action of both the products of the Rh-Hr genes and of the genes of the MNSs, U and, possibly, of the Fy systems.
Accelerating geocomputation with cloud computing

The scientific and engineering advancements in the twenty-first century pose computing intensive challenges in managing Big Data, using complex algorithms to extract information and knowledge from Big Data, and simulating physical and social phenomena. Cloud computing is considered as the next generation computing platform with the potential to address these computing challenges and redefine the possibilities of geoscience and digital Earth. This chapter introduces through examples how cloud computing can help accelerate geocomputation with: (1) easy and fast access to computing resources that can be available in seconds to minutes, (2) elastic computing resources to handle spike computing loads, (3) high-end computing capacity to address large-scale computing demands, and (4) distributed services and computing to handle the distributed geoscience problems, data and users.
Polyenes and Polyvinylenes

Although not produced via the direct polymerization of acetylene, the following chapter will introduce the history of two earlier materials structurally related to the later formal polyacetylene. These two classes of materials were known as polyenes and polyvinylenes, two terms that at times have been used synonymously with polyacetylene.