cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cerebrospinal Fluid Levels of Monoamine Metabolites in the Epileptic Baboon

The baboon represents a natural model for genetic generalized epilepsy and sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). In this retrospective study, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) monoamine metabolites and scalp electroencephalography (EEG) were evaluated in 263 baboons of a pedigreed colony. CSF monoamine abnormalities have been linked to reduced seizure thresholds, behavioral abnormalities and SUDEP in various animal models of epilepsy. The levels of 3-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenylglycol, 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid and homovanillic acid in CSF samples drawn from the cisterna magna were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography. These levels were compared between baboons with seizures (SZ), craniofacial trauma (CFT) and asymptomatic, control (CTL) baboons, between baboons with abnormal and normal EEG studies. We hypothesized that the CSF levels of major monoaminergic metabolites (i.e., dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine) associate with the baboons’ electroclinical status and thus can be used as clinical biomarkers applicable to seizures/epilepsy. However, despite apparent differences in metabolite levels between the groups, usually lower in SZ and CFT baboons and in baboons with abnormal EEG studies, we did not find any statistically significant differences using a logistic regression analysis. Significant correlations between the metabolite levels, especially between 5-HIAA and HVA, were preserved in all electroclinical groups. While we were not able to demonstrate significant differences in monoamine metabolites in relation to seizures or EEG markers of epilepsy, we cannot exclude the monoaminergic system as a potential source of pathogenesis in epilepsy and SUDEP. A prospective study evaluating serial CSF monoamine levels in baboons with recently witnessed seizures, and evaluation of abnormal expression and function of monoaminergic receptors and transporters within epilepsy-related brain regions, may impact the electroclinical status.
Illustrative Computational Experiments

Throughout this book, we have presented the Stochastic Decomposition algorithm and a number of features that have been designed to enhance its computational effectiveness. In this chapter we illustrate SD’s computational viability through the results of various computational experiments that have been conducted. As one might expect, the SD computer programs have evolved over time, and the results reported in this chapter were obtained from various generations of the program. To facilitate comparisons, we have attempted to report in a manner that is not dependent upon the particular implementation used. We note that the tasks in each iteration are well defined (i.e., solve a subproblem, execute the argmax procedure, update the cut coefficients, etc.), and the time required to implement each task depends critically upon the care with which they are implemented, as well as the machine on which the program is run. In this chapter, we are primarily focussed on measures related to the number of iterations required. Additionally, because SD uses sampled data in its quest for an optimal solution, it is important to review the quality of the solutions produced. For this reason, we report the extent to which the objective value associated with the SD solution deviates from the optimal objective value whenever possible. Finally, we explore run time characteristics, such as solution times and memory requirements for our large scale implementation as well.
VIP Patients: An Unexpectedly Vulnerable Population

When very important people (VIPs) become patients, they are at risk for receiving substandard care. Obstacles in the way of ideal care for these individuals include challenges with maintaining privacy, the complex attitudes of health-care professionals toward VIP patients, and the expectations of the VIP patient and family. While more research is certainly needed on this topic, health-care professionals and institutions should have a plan in place for treating VIP patients in order to ensure that their care and the care of other patients are not compromised. This plan must attend to patient and provider attitudes and expectations, a complex web of family and caregivers, and the influence of the VIP patient on the health-care system as a whole.
Republication: Incidental findings on intensivist bedside ultrasonographic examinations: Why should we care?

Introduction: The primary goal of intensivist bedside ultrasonography (INBU) is the assessment of patient hemodynamic and volume status. Inevitably, INBU examinations provide views of various thoracic and abdominal structures. Despite the rapid recent increase in utilization of INBU, there are no published descriptions of incidental findings and/or their significance in this setting. Methods: Echocardiographic and vena cava examinations were performed by noncardiologist intensivists in 124 Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) patients using hand-carried ultrasound. In addition, any findings that were deemed “incidental” were recorded. Information analyzed included patient demographics, time to complete INBU examination, and the nature of each incidental finding. Incidental findings were grouped into cardiac, pulmonary, and abdominal. To determine whether incidental INBU findings may have influenced subsequent diagnostic testing patterns, radiographic, and echocardiographic examinations directly relevant to the INBU findings and performed within 48 h of the INBU examination were reviewed. Results: Fifty-eight out of 124 (46.8%) patients in the study group had at least one incidental finding. There were 86 incidental findings, with 23 patients having more than one incidental finding. Forty-eight of 86 incidental findings (55.8%) were cardiac-related, 30 (34.9%) were pulmonary-related, and 8 (9.30%) were abdominal. There were significantly more diagnostic tests performed within 48 h of INBU in the incidental finding group (1.56/patient) than in the nonincidental group (1.18/patient, P Conclusions: Nearly half of all SICU patients who underwent INBU were found to have at least one incidental finding. The presence of an incidental finding may have influenced the subsequent pattern of clinical diagnostic testing. In addition, incidental findings on INBU were associated with a significant change in clinical management in nearly 7% of patients. The following core competencies are addressed in this article: Medical knowledge, Patient care, Practice based learning and improvement, Systems based practice. Republished with permission from: Stawicki SP, Shiroff AM, Hayden GE, Panebianco NL, Kirkpatrick JN, Horan AD, Gracias VH, Dean AJ. OPUS 12 Scientist 2008;2(3):11-14.
Maternal diabetes and high glucose in vitro trigger Sca1+ cardiac progenitor cell apoptosis through FoxO3a.

Recent controversies surrounding the authenticity of c-kit+ cardiac progenitor cells significantly push back the advance in regenerative therapies for cardiovascular diseases. There is an urgent need for research in characterizing alternative types of cardiac progenitor cells. Towards this goal, in the present study, we determined the effect of maternal diabetes on Sca1+ cardiac progenitor cells. Maternal diabetes induced caspase 3-dependent apoptosis in Sca1+ cardiac progenitor cells derived from embryonic day 17.5 (E17.5). Similarly, high glucose in vitro but not the glucose osmotic control mannitol triggered Sca1+ cardiac progenitor cell apoptosis in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Both maternal diabetes and high glucose in vitro activated the pro-apoptotic transcription factor, Forkhead O 3a (FoxO3a) via dephosphorylation at threonine 32 (Thr-32) residue. foxo3a gene deletion abolished maternal diabetes-induced Sca1+ cardiac progenitor cell apoptosis. The dominant negative FoxO3a mutant without the transactivation domain from the C terminus blocked high glucose-induced Sca1+ cardiac progenitor cell apoptosis, whereas the constitutively active FoxO3a mutant with the three phosphorylation sites, Thr-32, Ser-253, and Ser-315, being replaced by alanine residues mimicked the pro-apoptotic effect of high glucose. Thus, maternal diabetes and high glucose in vitro may limit the regenerative potential of Sca1+ cardiac progenitor cells by inducing apoptosis through FoxO3a activation. These findings will serve as the guide in optimizing the autologous therapy using Sca1+ cardiac progenitor cells in cardiac defect babies born exposed to maternal diabetes.
Contextual effects of noise on vocalization encoding in primary auditory cortex

The understanding of where and how auditory scene analysis is accomplished is of broad interest to neuroscientists. In this paper, we systematically investigated neuronal coding of multiple vocaliz...
Stimulation of different phospholipase A2 isoforms by TNF-α and IL-1β in adult rat ventricular myocytes

We previously showed that in adult rat ventricular myocytes interleukin (IL)-1β activates a membrane-associated, Ca2+-independent phospholipase A2(iPLA2). In this study, we examined the possible ex...
From Frameworks to Practice: Selecting Technology Tools for Instructional Integration

As technology continues to advance, higher education faculty are presented with an overwhelming array of choices for implementing instructional technology tools and the emerging pedagogical practices that they afford. Theoretical frameworks have been established for integrating technology into instruction, but they often fall short of providing pragmatic guidance for faculty seeking to select technology tools for their teaching. In this paper, an overview of prominent frameworks for instructional technology integration is provided along with a set of practical steps that higher education faculty can take to select the best technology tools for their teaching.
Utilizing patient navigators to enhance oral chemotherapy education and safety for at-risk patients.

43Background: Oral anticancer drugs are increasingly being used as standard therapy. At Tufts Medical Center Cancer Center, 10% of patients on active cancer treatment are receiving oral chemotherapy. To address barriers to medication education and timely management of treatment effects, we began an initiative involving our pharmacy specialist who reviews newly-started oral chemotherapy treatments for safety concerns, dose appropriateness, and drug interactions. In response to the cultural-linguistic needs of our Chinese patients (20% of our patients, largest minority group) and unique challenges of our patients of lower SES (40% of our patients), we are also leveraging patient navigators (PN) to improve timely care and understanding of and adherence to oral cancer medications for our most vulnerable patients. Methods: PN regularly interact with patients and work closely with the care team to address patients’ concerns. Formal PN visits with patients in clinic are documented in the EMR. To assess the scope...
The two transmembrane regions of Candida albicans Dfi1 contribute to its biogenesis

The opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans forms invasive filaments that grow into host tissues during disease. The glycosylated, integral plasma membrane protein Dfi1 is important for invasive filamentation in a laboratory model, and for lethality in murine disseminated candidiasis. However, Dfi1 topology and essential domains for Dfi1 biogenesis were undefined. Sequence analysis predicted that Dfi1 contains two transmembrane regions, located near the N- and C-termini. In this communication, we show that Dfi1 remains an integral membrane protein despite deletion of either predicted transmembrane region, whereas deletion of both regions results in a soluble protein. Additionally, Dfi1 that was properly oriented in the membrane, as indicated by N-linked glycosylation, was observed when either transmembrane region was deleted, but was absent when both transmembrane regions were deleted. Interestingly, deletion of the N-terminal transmembrane region resulted in production of two forms of Dfi1. Most of the protein molecules acquired normal N-linked glycosylation and a smaller population failed to become normally N-linked glycosylated. This defect was reversed by replacement of the N-terminal hydrophobic sequence with one synthetic transmembrane sequence but not another. Finally, microscopy studies revealed that Dfi1 lacking the N-terminal transmembrane region was observed at the cell periphery, where full-length Dfi1 normally localizes, whereas the double-truncation mutant was diffusely intracellular. Therefore, mature Dfi1 protein contains two transmembrane domains which contribute to its biogenesis.
Efficient query processing in crossbar memory

Today's computing systems use huge amount of energy and time to process basic queries in database. A large part of it is spent in data movement between the memory and processing cores, owing to the limited cache capacity and memory bandwidth of traditional computers. In this paper, we propose a non-volatile memory-based query accelerator, called NVQuery, which performs several basic query functions in memory including aggregation, prediction, bit-wise operations, as well as exact and nearest distance search queries. NVQuery is implemented on a content addressable memory (CAM) and exploits the analog characteristic of non-volatile memory in order to enable in-memory processing. To implement nearest distance search in memory, we introduce a novel bitline driving scheme to give weights to the indices of the bits during the search operation. Our experimental evaluation shows that, NVQuery can provide 49.3× performance speedup and 32.9× energy savings as compared to running the same query on traditional processor. In addition, compared to the state-of-the-art query accelerators, NVQuery can achieve 26.2× energy-delay product improvement while providing the similar accuracy.
Deception and its effects on negotiation outcomes

In this essay, I use leakage theory to suggest the case that negotiation outcomes are impacted by principal use of deception and that these effects are moderated by emotional intelligence and political skill. Also, I argue that deception is positively related to distributive outcomes but negatively related to integrative outcomes. I test my hypotheses with a negotiation experiment. While the main effects could not be supported, I was able to find moderating effects of emotional intelligence and political skill.
Enabling adaptive loop pipelining in high-level synthesis

Loop pipelining is an important optimization in high-level synthesis (HLS) because it allows successive loop iterations to be overlapped during execution. While current HLS pipelining approach achieves high performance for loops with regular and statically analyzable program patterns, it remains challenging to pipeline loops with irregular memory accesses, irregular dependence patterns, and unbalanced workload. The lack of support for dynamic program behaviors results in conservatively synthesized pipelines that sacrifice performance for maintaining presumed regularity. In this paper, we survey some of our recent work that addresses these challenges using a coordinated dynamic-static approach for enabling high-throughput pipelining of irregular loops. We propose to augment the HLS pipeline with dynamic scheduling to adapt to data-dependent behaviors, while employing static compile-time optimizations to minimize the hardware overhead associated with runtime optimization. Experimental results demonstrate that our proposed techniques can significantly improve effective pipeline throughput while conserving hardware resources.
A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study of the Association between Liver Enzymes and Lipid Levels

Background. To examine the association between low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels and liver enzyme functions. Methods. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 1999 to 2012 was used to examine the association between liver enzymes and lipid levels amongst adults in the United States. Results. Sixteen percent adults had ALT > 40 U/L, 11% had AST > 40 U/L, and 96% had ALP > 120 U/L. Age, gender, and race/ethnicity showed significant association with LDL, HDL, and triglycerides levels. LDL greater than borderline high was associated with little over two times higher odds of elevated ALT (OR: 2.33, 95% CI: 2.17, 2.53, ) and AST (OR: 2.79, 95% CI: 2.55, 3.06, ). High HDL was associated with 50% higher odds for elevated ALT (OR: 1.51, 95% CI: 1.39, 1.64, ) and over two-and-half fold elevated AST (OR: 2.77, 95% CI: 2.47, 3.11, ). LDL-C, HDL-C, and triglycerides were found to be good predictor of elevated ALT, AST, and ALP levels. Similarly, old age and female gender were significant predictor of elevated ALT and AST ( ). Conclusions. Underlying hepatic pathophysiology from dyslipidemia deserves further exploration due to its potential effects on hepatic drug metabolism/detoxification.
Topics in Multi-Component Fermi Systems

Recently there has been considerable interest in multi-component Fermi systems. Some examples are spin-polarized 3He, and 3He–4He mixtures, where the asymmetric spin populations form two-component Fermi liquids, isospin asymmetric nuclear matter, the coupled electron, proton, neutron and neutrino Fermi liquids in the astrophysical context of stellar collapse and cores of neutron stars, liquid metallic hydrogen where the interpenetrating electrons and protons form the two-component fluid, and electron-hole droplets in semiconductors. Recent experimental studies,1,2 in particular viscosity measurements1 in spin-polarized 3He near the melting curve, have stimulated new interest. Theoretical studies in the multi-component systems include the calculations of transport properties in various systems, but under varying degrees of approximations, by Flowers and Itoh,3 Meyerovich,4 Mullin and Miyake,5 and Oliva and Ashcroft.6 The interactions in the two-component system, especially in the context of 3He, have been studied by Quader,7 (and the references therein), Bedell and Quader,8 Bedell and Sanchez-Castro,9 and Hess, Pines and Quader.10
Risk factors and outcomes for bowel ischemia after open and endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair.

Abstract Objective Bowel ischemia (BI) is a serious complication after abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair. We sought to identify the incidence and risk factors associated with the development of postoperative BI and the post-BI outcomes for patients undergoing open aortic repair (OAR) and endovascular aortic repair (EVAR) of AAAs. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted for all patients who had undergone OAR or EVAR from 2003 to 2017 using the Vascular Quality Initiative database. Univariate (Student's t test, χ2, median) and multivariable (logistic regression) analyses were used to identify independent factors associated with postoperative BI and compare the post-BI in-hospital outcomes and mortality. Results We identified 45,474 patients who had undergone infrarenal AAA repair (OAR, 21.5%; EVAR, 78.5%). The overall incidence of postoperative BI was 1.9% (OAR, 6.2% vs EVAR, 0.8%; P Conclusions Confirming the results from previous studies, we found that BI is more common after a ruptured aneurysm and OAR. Other associated intraoperative factors included a transperitoneal approach, supraceliac clamping, and a reimplanted inferior mesenteric artery. More than one third of patients who developed postoperative BI in our cohort had died within 30 days after AAA repair. The factors associated with mortality after BI included surgical management and postoperative renal failure. A high index of suspicion for the signs and symptoms of BI should be maintained postoperatively for patients presenting with the risk factors identified.
Generation of Internal Lee Waves by Lateral Circulation in a Coastal Plain Estuary

AbstractRecent mooring observations at a cross-channel section in Chesapeake Bay showed that internal solitary waves regularly appeared during certain phases of a tidal cycle and propagated from th...
Brands that ‘sell their soul’: offshoring, brand liquidification and the excluded consumer

Fuelled by open markets and globalisation, offshoring has become a common business practice for firms in industrialised countries. However, consumer research investigating offshoring in a larger ma...
A Comparison of Gender-Affirming Chest Surgery in Nonbinary Versus Transmasculine Patients.

BACKGROUND Increasingly more nonbinary patients are obtaining better access for gender-affirming chest surgery (top surgery), representing an important subset of patients who undergo such surgery. OBJECTIVE We review our experience at gender-affirming chest surgery in nonbinary versus transmasculine patients in an integrated health care setting. METHODS We performed a retrospective study of nonbinary and transmasculine patients who underwent gender-affirming chest surgery from May 1, 2012, to December 27, 2017. RESULTS There were 111 nonbinary patients and 665 transmasculine patients included in the final analyses. Nonbinary patients were more likely to seek more than 1 surgical consultations than transmasculine patients (24.3% vs 1.7%, respectively, P < 0.0001). More nonbinary patients (17.3%) indicated nipple sensation to be important relative to their transmasculine counterparts (0.4%, P < 0.0001). Fewer nonbinary patients were on testosterone before surgery (33.64%) in comparison to transmasculine patients (86.14%, P < 0.0001). When only prior reduction mammaplasty or top surgery were considered, nonbinary patients (8.1%) were more likely than transmasculine patients (3.5%) to have had a prior chest surgery. When evaluating patients who did not have prior chest surgery before undergoing top surgery at our institution (n = 721), rates of major complications, minor complications, as well as revisions, were comparable between nonbinary and transmasculine patients. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated that more nonbinary patients requested nonflat chests relative to their transmasculine counterparts. Both groups in our sample displayed comparable rates of complications after top surgery.
Disengagement Training for the Treatment of Pathological Worry: A Preliminary Test

Abstract Pathological worry is characterized by an inability to distract or disengage from worry, and this uncontrollability is the defining feature of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The present study assessed a novel computerized strategy that targets these attention difficulties. Worry Disengagement Training (WDT), which involves alternating between writing about one’s worry and positive topics, was evaluated in a sample with elevated worry (N = 50), most of whom met for GAD diagnosis (66%). Compared to waitlist, WDT led to increased ability to disengage from in vivo worry on a breath focus task, resulting in fewer negative intrusions (β = -.29, p = .02; sr2 = .08). Relative to waitlist, WDT also led to lower self-reported general worry (β = -.36, p = .001, sr2 = .14) and depressive symptoms (β = -.25, p = .02, sr2 = .07). These effects remained in the subset of participants meeting criteria for GAD. WDT did not impact anxious arousal, suggesting some specificity of effects. These findings provide preliminary support for WDT as an effective strategy to increase disengagement ability and reduce worry and depression. Limitations and future directions are discussed.
Institutional Theory and Oil Prices: Ceci est ne pas un Marché?

Much of the existing scholarly literature on political economy of resources confuses various definitions of institutions (e.g., formal and informal), institutions with the environment, and rational perspectives on institutions with social perspectives. In order to take a different path from that of reductionist explanations, this chapter will address a variety of institutional perspectives on the oil price. The analysis will provide a broad theoretical overview going beyond the oil price issue as such. Taking account of a critical overview of the existing institutional approaches with regard to the price, the chapter aims to offer a survey of institutional theories of price and bring to the forefront a definition of the oil price as an institution in itself.
Calcitonin, prolactin, and growth hormone gene expression as model systems for the characterization of neuroendocrine regulation.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses calcitonin, prolactin, and growth hormone gene expression as model systems for the characterization of neuroendocrine regulation. The calcitonin gene provides the initial example of developmentally regulated tissue-specific RNA processing events in the neuroendocrine system. However, the underlying mechanisms are postulated to be responsible for the developmental alterations in the expression of many genes. Three polypeptide hormones, thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH), epidermal growth factor (EGF), and bombesin, exert rapid transcriptional effects on the apparently unique prolactin gene. These data directly demonstrate that the transcriptional effects of polypeptide hormones can account for the observed effects on messenger RNA (mRNA) accumulation or/and biosynthesis. Elevation of the intracellular level of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) rapidly increases prolactin gene transcription; cAMP, therefore, exerts direct transcriptional effects in higher eukaryote. Thyroid hormones and glucocorticoids rapidly increase the transcription of the growth hormone gene in cultured, clonal rat pituitary cell lines. These transcriptional effects are sufficient to account for the observed induction of growth hormone mRNA and the encoded protein. Glucocorticoids exert transcriptional regulation of pituitary growth hormone gene expression in vivo and in vitro. The determinants of glucocorticoid regulation of growth hormone gene expression reside in the gene itself, because such regulation is transferred by transfection of eukaryotic cells with the growth hormone gene cloned into various vectors. The study of the regulation of three neuroendocrine genes provides evidence for developmental regulation of RNA processing events, and defines the rapid transcriptional regulation of specific neuroendocrine genes by both polypeptide and steroid hormones.
Design considerations for fast charging lithium ion cells for NMC/MCMB electrode pairs

Lithium ion cells that can be quickly charged are of critical importance for the continued and accelerated penetration of electric vehicles (EV) into the consumer market. Considering this, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has set a cell recharge time goal of 10–15 min. The following study provides an investigation into the effect of cell design, specifically negative to positive matching ratio (1.2:1 vs. 1.7:1) on fast charging performance. By using specific charging procedures based on negative electrode performance, as opposed to the industrial standard constant current constant voltage procedures, we show that the cells with a higher N:P ratio can be charged to ~16% higher capacity in the ten-minute time frame. Cells with a higher N:P ratio also show similar cycle life performance to those with a conventional N:P ratio, despite the fact that these cells experience a much higher irreversible capacity loss, leading to a lower reversible specific capacity.
Closed loop wavefront sensing and correction in mouse brain enabled by computed optical coherence microscopy

Optical coherence microscopy (OCM) captures the optical field with high sensitivity and thus enables computational wavefront retrieval. Compared to a real-time wavefront sensor, wavefront measurement with OCM in post-processing uses coherence and confocal gate to obtain signals with less spatial crosstalk. Also, since this approach only requires a single shot, it is more robust to in vivo sample motion than sensorless adaptive optics. By computational aberration sensing and hardware correction, we demonstrated a physical compensation of the intentionally induced aberration at the white matter layer (~900 μm) in an ex vivo mouse brain.
Protein Interaction Networks: Computational Analysis

The analysis of protein-protein interactions is fundamental to the understanding of cellular organization, processes, and functions. Recent large-scale investigations of protein-protein interactions using such techniques as two-hybrid systems, mass spectrometry, and protein microarrays have enriched the available protein interaction data and facilitated the construction of integrated protein-protein interaction networks. The resulting large volume of protein-protein interaction data has posed a challenge to experimental investigation. This book provides a comprehensive understanding of the computational methods available for the analysis of protein-protein interaction networks. It offers an in-depth survey of a range of approaches, including statistical, topological, data-mining, and ontology-based methods. The author discusses the fundamental principles underlying each of these approaches and their respective benefits and drawbacks, and she offers suggestions for future research.
Darwin und die natürliche Auslese

Die Frage nach den geistigen Quellen von Darwins Theorie der naturlichen Auslese ist auch heute noch auserst umstritten. Die beliebteste Antwort der Historiker war seit jeher die, in dieser Theorie manifestiere sich die Denkweise der englischen Oberschicht in der ersten Halfte des 19. Jahrhunderts (Empirizismus, Merkantilismus, Industrielle Revolution, Armengesetze usw.). Darwins Zugestandnis, die Lekture von Malthus habe ihm die entscheidende Einsicht vermittelt, schien eine uberzeugende Bestatigung dieser Auffassung zu sein. Die Evolutionisten dagegen bevorzugten eine Auslegung auf der Basis einer „inneren Kausalitat“. Sie stutzten sich dabei auf Darwins beharrliche Beteuerung, seine genaue Kenntnis der Methoden der Tierzuchter habe ihm das entscheidende Beweismaterial geliefert. Die Wiederentdeckung der Notizbucher, die Darwin wahrend der eineinhalb Jahre vor seiner „Bekehrung“ gefuhrt hat, hat uns viel neue Information geliefert, die zwar den Spielraum unserer Optionen einengt, doch immer noch einander widersprechende Interpretationen erlaubt. Was ich jetzt hier vorlege, ist alles andere als das letzte Wort in einem noch andauernden Meinungsstreit. Weitere Forschungsarbeit wird notig sein, ehe die verbleibenden Unstimmigkeiten beseitigt werden konnen.
Aging-Related Hyperexcitability in CA3 Pyramidal Neurons Is Mediated by Enhanced A-Type K+ Channel Function and Expression

Aging-related impairments in hippocampus-dependent cognition have been attributed to maladaptive changes in the functional properties of pyramidal neurons within the hippocampal subregions. Much evidence has come from work on CA1 pyramidal neurons, with CA3 pyramidal neurons receiving comparatively less attention despite its age-related hyperactivation being postulated to interfere with spatial processing in the hippocampal circuit. Here, we use whole-cell current-clamp to demonstrate that aged rat (29-32 months) CA3 pyramidal neurons fire significantly more action potentials (APs) during theta-burst frequency stimulation and that this is associated with faster AP repolarization (i.e., narrower AP half-widths and enlarged fast afterhyperpolarization). Using a combination of patch-clamp physiology, pharmacology, Western blot analyses, immunohistochemistry, and array tomography, we demonstrate that these faster AP kinetics are mediated by enhanced function and expression of Kv4.2/Kv4.3 A-type K(+) channels, particularly within the perisomatic compartment, of CA3 pyramidal neurons. Thus, our study indicates that inhibition of these A-type K(+) channels can restore the intrinsic excitability properties of aged CA3 pyramidal neurons to a young-like state. Significance statement: Age-related learning deficits have been attributed, in part, to altered hippocampal pyramidal neuronal function with normal aging. Much evidence has come from work on CA1 neurons, with CA3 neurons receiving comparatively less attention despite its age-related hyperactivation being postulated to interfere with spatial processing. Hence, we conducted a series of experiments to identify the cellular mechanisms that underlie the hyperexcitability reported in the CA3 region. Contrary to CA1 neurons, we demonstrate that postburst afterhyperpolarization is not altered with aging and that aged CA3 pyramidal neurons are able to fire significantly more action potentials and that this is associated with faster action potential repolarization through enhanced expression of Kv4.2/Kv4.3 A-type K(+) channels, particularly within the cell bodies of CA3 pyramidal neurons.
Neuropeptide Y-Induced Feeding and Its Control

Publisher Summary This chapter critically reviews evidence of physiologically relevant appetite stimulation by neuropeptide Y (NPY) and to forecast how this knowledge might be applied in the context of eating disorders. Recently, a novel receptor for NPY, termed “Y5”, has been cloned from rat hypothalamus and appears to meet all the criteria necessary to be designated the “feeding” receptor distinct from previously cloned Y-type receptors. Striking appetite stimulation by NPY receptor agonists under pharmacological conditions can only elucidate the true physiological role of this neuropeptide if NPY receptor antagonists are found to be equally effective in blunting feeding produced under naturalistic conditions. Evidence for insulin actions on NPY gene expression was provided by studies that demonstrated that central infusion of insulin could depress elevated preproNPY mRNA levels induced by food deprivation of lean Zucker rats but was without effect on preproNPY mRNA content in fed or fasted obese Zucker rats. The extrapolation of the NPY-induced overeating and overweight syndrome in rodents to human obesity must await knowledge about the role of NPY in the human brain.
Evolution on a Restless Planet: Were Environmental Variability and Environmental Change Major Drivers of Human Evolution?

Two kinds of factors set the tempo and direction of organic and cultural evolution, those external to biotic evolutionary process, such as changes in the earth’s physical and chemical environments, and those internal to it, such as the time required for chance factors to lead lineages across adaptive valleys to a new niche space (Valentine 1985). The relative importance of these two sorts of processes is widely debated. Valentine (1973) argued that marine invertebrate diversity patterns responded to seafloor spreading as this process generated more or less niche space. He suggested that natural selection is a powerful force and that earth’s biota are in near equilibrium with the niches available on the geological time scale. Walker and Valentine (1984) modeled the evolution of species assuming a logistic speciation rate limited by internal factors and a diversity-independent death rate caused by ongoing environmental change. Fitting this model to the observed evolution of shelled marine invertebrates suggests that the lag between extinctions and the evolution of new species leaves perhaps 30% of ecological niches unfilled. In this model, the biota lag environmental change by perhaps a few million years. However, as Valentine (1985) notes, if adaptive landscapes have whole suites of niches protected by deep maladaptive valleys, the waiting time for some pioneering species to cross the divide may be very long, generating the rare events that set new body plans and generate major adaptive radiations. Eldredge and Gould (1972) and Gould (2002) championed the idea that internal processes such as genetic and developmental constraints, coupled with the complexity of the adaptive landscape, resulted in a highly historically contingent evolutionary process. On Gould’s account, most of the history of life had to do not with a relatively close tracking of a changing environment but with the halting evolutionary exploration a deeply fissured niche space, mostly by rapid bursts of evolution as a fissure was crossed, followed by long periods of stasis. Note that if the adaptive landscape is deeply fissured for any reason, evolution may take on a progressive character (Stewart 1997). Imagine that the original simple forms of life began at the foot of a large mountain range of
Adversarial face recognition and phishing detection using multi-layer data fusion

This thesis addresses digital identity for biometric / face recognition screening and cyberspace security subject to denial and deception characteristic of adversarial behavior. The adversarial aspect concerns defense and offense operations that involve impostors and identity theft. Denial and deception correspond to occlusion and disguise for biometrics, while for cyberspace security they correspond to spoofing and obfuscation. To prevent or mitigate the impacts of adversarial behavior from offensive attacks this thesis proposes the use of multi-layer data fusion. Multi-layer aspect of fusion refers to features, representations, algorithms, decision-making, adversarial aspects and their purposeful combinations. This novelty, feasibility, and utility of our research is illustrated in the physical and cyber worlds: (i) robust face recognition in the presence of occlusion and disguise, and (ii) phishing detection to prevent identity theft through spoofing and obfuscation. The novel face recognition methodologies include: (i) Adaptive and Robust Correlation Filters (ARCF) built around match filters and recognition-by-parts, and (ii) hybrid anthropometric and appearance based biometric authentication using boosting for feature level fusion and backpropagation learning for decision level fusion. The cluster and strength of the ARCF correlation peaks indicate the confidence in the face authentications. Experimental evidence using the AR benchmark database shows that our methods are highly reliable in the presence of occlusion, disguise, and illumination, expression and temporal variability. The novel phishing detection methodologies address: (i) phishing email detection using semantic topics and Probabilistic Latent Semantic Analysis (PLSA), boosting, and Co-Training for both labeled and unlabeled examples, (ii) phishing website detection using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) and boosting, and (iii) impersonated entity discovery using LDA, boosting, and Condition Random Field (CRF). The phishing detection methodology handles the adversarial use of synonyms, polysemy (words with multiple meanings) and other linguistic variations. In addition, the same methodology requires only a small percentage of data to be annotated thus saving time, labor, and avoiding errors incurred during human annotation. The phishing website detection methodology is device and language neutral. The impersonated entity discovery methodology automatically extracts the entity the attacker is trying to spoof. This helps service providers to collaborate with each other to exchange attack information and protect their customers. Experimental results on SPAM Archive, which is one of the largest public corpus, show that our phishing detection methodology outperforms state of the art phishing detection methods.
Biochemical and Phylogenetic Analyses of a Cold-Active β-Galactosidase from the Lactic Acid Bacterium Carnobacterium piscicola BA

We are investigating glycosyl hydrolases from new psychrophilic isolates to examine the adaptations of enzymes to low temperatures. A β-galactosidase from isolate BA, which we have classified as a strain of the lactic acid bacterium Carnobacterium piscicola, was capable of hydrolyzing the chromogen 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl β-d-galactopyranoside (X-Gal) at 4°C and possessed higher activity in crude cell lysates at 25 than at 37°C. Sequence analysis of a cloned DNA fragment encoding this activity revealed a gene cluster containing three glycosyl hydrolases with homology to an α-galactosidase and two β-galactosidases. The larger of the two β-galactosidase genes, bgaB, encoded the 76.8-kDa cold-active enzyme. This gene was homologous to family 42 glycosyl hydrolases, a group which contains several thermophilic enzymes but none from lactic acid bacteria. The bgaB gene from isolate BA was subcloned in Escherichia coli, and its enzyme, BgaB, was purified. The purified enzyme was highly unstable and required 10% glycerol to maintain activity. Its optimal temperature for activity was 30°C, and it was inactivated at 40°C in 10 min. The Km of freshly purified enzyme at 30°C was 1.7 mM, and the Vmax was 450 μmol · min−1 · mg−1 with o-nitrophenyl β-d-galactopyranoside. This cold-active enzyme is interesting because it is homologous to a thermophilic enzyme from Bacillus stearothermophilus, and comparisons could provide information about structural features important for activity at low temperatures.
Political risk analysis

Abstract Political risk should be a concern to any investor evaluating the potential of a foreign investment. This is especially true in the extractive industries where hold up problems, common to sunk cost investments, may appear in the form of Vernon's obsolescing bargain. This paper surveys the political risk literature and current evaluation methods available to natural resource investors; discusses strengths and weaknesses of the approaches; and offers possible considerations for future work. Although substantial contributions have been made, much work remains to be done, such as more quantitative assessments which can be directly incorporated into economic analysis of potential projects.
Securing images online: a protection mechanism that does not involve watermarking

The paper covers a method of allowing a client to browse an image to examine it in detail, while making it difficult to steal. It differs from invisible watermarking methods in that it attempts to prevent theft, rather than detect or verify theft after it has happened. The image is served to the client in parts. The parts are imperceptibly altered. No effort is made to protect individual parts; however, the alterations ensure that putting the parts together is extremely difficult without clearly visible distortion. Thus, the client can view any part of the image in detail, but is unable to obtain a usable copy of the whole.
Channel coding for a frequency-hopped wireless transceiver

We consider a multiple-access frequency-hopped system employing antenna diversity and error correction coding. A construction based on orthogonal Latin squares is used for the hopping patterns to improve code performance in the presence of interference. The measures of interest are the system performance, delay and decoder complexity, providing a basis for comparing BCH, Reed-Solomon (RS), and convolutional codes. It is shown that when binary non-coherent FSK modulation and hard decision detection are used, the BCH, RS, and convolutional codes that can meet the delay and bandwidth constraints have similar performance and comparable complexity. Soft decision decoding for the convolutional code and error-and-erasure correction decoding for the RS code are investigated in terms of the performance-complexity trade-offs for different decoding metrics. It is shown that improvement over hard decision decoding is significant when the right decoding metric is selected.
Erkrankungen durch Rickettsien

Die Rickettsien wurden fruher als nahe Verwandte der Viren angesehen, da sie kleiner als Bakterien sind und da ihre Vermehrung — ahnlich wie die der Viren — nur innerhalb lebender Zellen stattfindet. Es erscheint jedoch heute gesichert, das die Rickettsien kleine, obligat parasitare, echte Bakterien sind, bei denen sich in Ultradunnschnitten alle strukturellen Besonderheiten der Bakterien, ferner die meisten Enzyme sowie alle Bauelemente der Bakterienzellwand nachweisen lassen. Das naturliche Reservoir dieser Mikroorganismen sind Arthropoden, in denen sie — ohne das eine fasbare Krankheit bei diesem Wirt entsteht — sich vermehren konnen. Werden sie dagegen auf einen fremden Wirt, wie z. B. den Menschen, ubertragen, so konnen sie hier eine Erkrankung hervorrufen. Die Rickettsien-Infektionen des Menschen, zusammen mit den jeweiligen Erregern, sind in der folgenden Tabelle zusammengefast.
Rock-Fabric/Petrophysical Properties from Core Description and Wireline Logs: The One-Dimensional Approach

Petrophysical measurements and rock-fabric descriptions provide a basis for quantifying geological descriptions with petrophysical properties but represent point data. Point data are expanded in one dimension by detailed sampling of core material, and the vertical sequence of rock fabrics is used to extrapolate the petrophysical data laterally, as will be discussed in a later chapter. Core samples are normally available from only a few wells, whereas wireline logs are available from most wells. Therefore, most geological as well as petrophysical information must be derived from wireline logs.
Pumma: Parallel universal matrix multiplication algorithms on distributed memory concurrent computers

This paper describes the Parallel Universal Matrix Multiplication Algorithms (PUMMA) on distributed memory concurrent computers. The PUMMA package includes not only the non-transposed matrix multiplication routine C = A{center_dot}B, but also transposed multiplication routines C = A{sup T}{center_dot}B, C = A{center_dot}B{sup T}, and C = A{sup T}{center_dot}B{sup T}, for a block scattered data distribution. The routines perform efficiently for a wide range of processor configurations and block sizes. The PUMMA together provide the same functionality as the Level 3 BLAS routine xGEMM. Details of the parallel implementation of the routines are given, and results are presented for runs on the Intel Touchstone Delta computer.
Equilibrium Shape Diagram for Strained Ge Nanocrystals on Si(001)

We introduce a chemical-thermodynamic model to explain the formation and annealing behavior of Ge nanocrystalline islands grown on Si(001). Assuming the nanocrystals are essentially large adsorbed ...
Reduction in Morphological Sicklinc of Red Cells Incubated with Quinine

Quinine HCl reduced the formation of reversibly sickled cells in vitro over a concentration range of 0.2–5.0 mM. Quinidine and chloroquine had similar effects. Combinations of quinine and cyanate demonstrated synergistic, antisickling properties in vitro.
Anatomic Site Based Ploidy Analysis of Oral Premalignant Lesions

The location of oral leukoplakia correlates strongly with the probability of finding dysplastic or malignant alterations at biopsy. It is well established that early detection can dramatically improve the 5-year survival rates for oral squamous cell carcinomas. Since aneuploidy is predictive of future conversion to malignancy, we hypothesized that dysplastic lesions from high-risk sites (floor of mouth, tongue and lips) would exhibit greater aneuploidy than low-risk sites (palate, gingiva and buccal mucosa). Epithelial sections from 60 archival samples diagnosed as mild dysplasia (36 females, 20 males) from various high/low risk locations were stained with Blue Feulgen Stain for DNA Ploidy Analysis (Clarient, Aliso Viejo, CA) and ploidy was analyzed using a ChromaVision ACIS II (Clarient, ALiso Viejo, CA) Image cytometry system. A DNA histogram was generated using an image analyzing software that evaluated the amount of Feulgen stain which is proportional to the amount of nuclear DNA. An ANOVA analysis followed by the Student’s‘t’ test revealed significant differences between means (P ≤ 0.05). Lesions originating from lateral/ventral tongue (85%), floor of mouth (50%) and soft palate (44%) exhibited a higher frequency of aneuploidy than lesions from gingiva (22%) and lower lip (25%). This pilot study demonstrates that dysplastic lesions from high-risk sites such as the floor of the mouth and lateral/ventral tongue have higher frequency of aneuploidy.