cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cooperative regulation of nerve growth factor synthesis and secretion in fibroblasts and astrocytes by fibroblast growth factor and other cytokines.

Abstract Acidic fibroblast growth factor (aFGF) enhances nerve growth factor (NGF) synthesis by astrocytes obtained from various brain regions. NGF secretion by fibrous-shaped astrocytes transformed by dibutyryl-cAMP (db-cAMP) pretreatment was less than that by untreated astrocytes. However, aFGF also enhanced NGF secretion by fibrous-shaped astrocytes. The effects of various kinds of intracellular signaling modulators on NGF synthesis were examined. None of the following second messenger effectors had an effect on NGF synthesis: protein kinase C (PKC) agonist (phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)) or antagonist (sphingosine (SP)). LiCl, and ionomycin (Iono). Further, increases of intracellular cAMP by forskolin (FK) or db-cAMP have no significant effect on NGF synthesis in astrocytes under a standard culture condition. However, NGF synthesis by astrocytes in the presence of aFGF was significantly enhanced by db-cAMP, but not by FK or sodium butyrate. These results indicate that an excessive amount of cAMP enhances the effect of aFGF on NGF synthesis in astrocytes. NGF synthesis in astrocytes was not affected by treatment with anti-aFGF or anti-bFGF neutralizing antibodies, indicating that FGFs are not involved in the autocrine regulation of NGF synthesis in astrocytes. Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), which inhibits some effects of FGFs, increased NGF synthesis in concert with aFGF. Furthermore, the highest NGF synthesis was observed when astrocytes were stimulated by all of the following cytokines: aFGF, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and TGF-β1. The mechanism regulating NGF synthesis in fibroblasts obtained from prenatal rat skin was also investigated. Acidic FGF, basic FGF (bFGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), transforming growth factor-α (TGF-α), TGF-β1, IL-1β, and TNF-α were found to be regulators of NGF synthesis in skin fibroblasts. Among these cytokines, aFGF is the most potent regulator of NGF synthesis in fibroblasts. NGF synthesis by skin fibroblasts, either in the presence or absence of aFGF, was not modified by any of the following: FK, PMA, SP, LiCl, and Iono. However, db-cAMP significantly enhanced NGF synthesis in both conditions. Sodium butyrate enhanced NGF synthesis in the presence of aFGF, but not in the absence of aFGF. These results suggest that an excessive amount of cAMP and butyrate moiety regulate NGF synthesis in skin fibroblasts in different ways. Finally, the effects of cytokines, which can regulate NGF synthesis in skin fibroblasts, were found to be cooperative except in the following two combinations: aFGF+bFGF and EGF+TGF-α. These results demonstrate that NGF synthesis in both astrocytes and fibroblasts is cooperatively regulated by cytokines.
Left Brain/Right Brain Mythology and Implications for Management and Training

The claim has been made that functional differences between the two hemispheres of the human brain have practical implications for management and training practices. This paper reviews research on hemispheric differences and finds that such claims represent a “hemisphere mythology” that is contradicted by research on the nature of the differences between the hemispheres.
On Thin Ice: Does Uniform Color Really Affect Aggression in Professional Hockey?

Past research suggests that wearing either a black or a red uniform leads to increased aggression or an increase in perceived aggression during professional sports. However, this research suffers from a number of limitations, including an inability to manipulate the independent variable. A recent change in the National Hockey League’s uniform policy created the possibility of a naturally occurring experiment that allowed the authors to examine whether aggression levels were higher when teams wore black or red jerseys. The authors compared games against the same opponent in which home teams wore red or black jerseys for one game and their usual color for another game on several measures of aggression. They found no evidence that either black or red uniforms were related to higher levels of aggression in professional hockey games.
Value Conflict and Volatility in Party Identification

Are some people more prone to instabilities in partisanship due to the ways they rank and organize their core values? We investigate the mechanisms of partisan volatility, considering whether instabilities reflect value conflict and ambivalence. Our expectation is that when the basic values of the American ethos come into conflict in elite discourse, citizens have difficulty reconciling their own value arrangement with that of elites, resulting in greater partisan volatility. To this end, we use several heteroscedastic regression and ordered probit models to explore whether the conflict of competing values explains the response variance and instability of individual-level partisanship and ideology over time. To construct measures of value conflict, we rely on data from the 1992, 1994 and 1996 American National Election Studies. We find that, while instabilities in partisan identification reflect low information for some, the competition of core values generates volatility in partisan affiliations for others. In deliberating the value tradeoffs of politics, people may be of two minds even about central beliefs such as party identification.
Experimental aerosolized guinea pig-adapted Zaire ebolavirus (variant: Mayinga) causes lethal pneumonia in guinea pigs.

Eight guinea pigs were aerosolized with guinea pig–adapted Zaire ebolavirus (variant: Mayinga) and developed lethal interstitial pneumonia that was distinct from lesions described in guinea pigs challenged subcutaneously, nonhuman primates challenged by the aerosol route, and natural infection in humans. Guinea pigs succumbed with significant pathologic changes primarily restricted to the lungs. Intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies were observed in many alveolar macrophages. Perivasculitis was noted within the lungs. These changes are unlike those of documented subcutaneously challenged guinea pigs and aerosolized filoviral infections in nonhuman primates and human cases. Similar to findings in subcutaneously challenged guinea pigs, there were only mild lesions in the liver and spleen. To our knowledge, this is the first report of aerosol challenge of guinea pigs with guinea pig–adapted Zaire ebolavirus (variant: Mayinga). Before choosing this model for use in aerosolized ebolavirus studies, scientists and pathologists should be aware that aerosolized guinea pig–adapted Zaire ebolavirus (variant: Mayinga) causes lethal pneumonia in guinea pigs.
Five-Year Outcomes of Sirolimus-Eluting and Paclitaxel-Eluting Stents in Routine Clinical Practice Are They Equally Good (or Bad)?

Randomized clinical trials of new coronary devices, as with other novel therapies, are generally conducted in a homogeneous and usually low-risk population. There is valid statistical and methodological justification for this approach, including lower variances (resulting in increased statistical power) and increased probability that observed differences are due only to the study therapy. Although such trial designs generally increase the chances of a positive result, they result in a limited ability to generalize the findings to the broader population of patients encountered in routine clinical practice. Furthermore, the quality of evidence required for reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness, the benchmark for regulatory approval of a new device, is necessarily in equilibrium with the desire to bring novel designs to market and meet the clinical needs of the population for whom the therapy may be beneficial as expeditiously as possible. The resulting limited complexity of the study population and relatively short duration of follow-up after study therapy increase the risk of failing to detect important safety concerns in the premarket period. Article see p 2819 The short history of drug-eluting stents (DES) is a classic example of this paradigm. Early randomized clinical trials of the first 2 DES, the sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) and the paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES) were conducted in relatively low-risk patients and lesions and showed overwhelming efficacy compared with bare metal stent (BMS) controls without apparent safety concerns during a 1-year follow-up.1,2 Three years after marketing of these devices in the United States, there were warnings from 2 informal meta-analyses—presented originally at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) congress in 2006—of a possible late increased risk for death or myocardial infarction.3,4 Even though the mortality increase was noncardiac in one of these reports4 and subsequent detailed patient-level analyses from the randomized …
Renal Paraganglioma: Report of a Case Managed by Robotic Assisted Laparoscopic Partial Nephrectomy and Review of the Literature

We describe the pathological and clinical presentation of a rare case of renal paraganglioma occurring as an incidental left renal mass in a 58-year-old woman. The patient underwent robotic assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy, which is the first one in the literature.
Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is the operation of choice for bariatric surgery.

The choice of surgical procedures for an individual patient must be made by a surgeon who has all of the tools available to them in their environment. Decisions need to be made depending on the individual clinical scenario. No single tool or procedure can be considered appropriate for all patients. Assimilation of the known data is necessary for the surgeon to offer the appropriate procedure to the appropriate patient. The well-informed and well-trained individual will recognize that the best choice for most patients seeking surgical treatment for clinical severe obesity is laparoscopic RGB.
Mitogenic effects of bacterial neuraminidase and lactosylceramide on human cultured fibroblasts

Abstract Exogenously added bacterial neuraminidase and lactosylceramide both stimulated the growth of cultured human skin fibroblasts. Neuraminidase (100 units/ml) increased DNA synthesis 1.9-fold and cell density 1.4-fold after 24 and 48 h, respectively, in culture. Treated fibroblasts contained less ganglioside NeuAcα2-3Galβ1-4GlcCer (G M3 ), presumably due to neuraminidase-catalyzed hydrolysis to lactosylceramide. Addition of lactosylceramide (100 μ M ) to the fibroblast culture medium also increased DNA synthesis threefold within 24 h and cell density twofold after 48 h. These findings are compatible with a mechanism by which the proliferation of human fibroblasts is regulated by the relative levels of G M3 and lactosylceramide in the plasma membrane.
Soil Inoculum Production, Survival, and Infectivity of the Boxwood Blight Pathogen, Calonectria pseudonaviculata

Boxwood blight caused by Calonectria pseudonaviculata is typically expressed as a foliage disease with aboveground symptoms including defoliation, dieback and formation of dark narrow stem cankers. Whether this pathogen behaves like other Calonectria spp. and has a significant soil phase in the epidemiology of boxwood blight is not known. In this study we observed experimentally that (1) the boxwood blight pathogen consistently forms microsclerotia in artificially inoculated leaves and roots of Buxus spp., (2) soil artificially inoculated with conidia and microsclerotia of this pathogen can cause foliar blight, (3) conidia and microsclerotia can remain viable in soil for up to 3 and at least 40 weeks, respectively (4) and the pathogen can cause crown and root rot to plants only when roots and crowns are directly exposed to relatively high inoculum levels. Our results suggest that C. pseudonaviculata is primarily a foliar pathogen with a potentially epidemiologically significant soil phase.
A POSSIBLE CASE OF POSITION EFFECT ON DNA REPLICATION IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

The behavior of T(3;4)10 provides evidence that the centromere of 4 is not in the doublet 101D3,4, and that most of what has been called the left arm of 4 should be called basal 4R. Basal 4R usually does not replicate as much as the tip of 4R when 4 is in its normal position in the chromocenter. Translocated to the tip of 3R, however, basal 4R attains a width equal to that of the rest of the arm—a possible position effect on DNA replication.
Continuous approximation and the stability of averaging

Averaged models do not always correctly represent the stability of the systems being modeled. A well-known example is the peak-current controlled PWM converter in which subharmonic oscillation occurs when the duty ratio is larger than 50%. This paper is an effort to understand how stability might be changed in the process of averaging, and to develop alternative continuous-time models that preserve system stability. The basic approach taken here is based on sampled-data modeling and continuous approximation. In the process, we also established a link between state-space averaging and continuous approximation based on forward Euler transformation, providing a possible explanation for the inability of averaged models to predict system instability, especially in the case of peak current control. Use of bilinear transformation is then suggested for continuous approximation of sampled-data models as a means to avoid stability changes. Limitations of this approach are discussed pointing to the needs for new direct continuous-time modeling methods.
A novel method for visualizing functional connectivity using principal component analysis

Functional connectivity is a useful measure of voxel-wise functional magnetic resonance imaging signals that allows for the identification of functionally related brain areas and distributed networks. However, the high dimensionality of functional connectivity makes it difficult to visualize. In most studies, a small percentage of the total functional connectivity is visualized through diagrams that are constructed using individual seed voxels. In the present study describes a new method for visualizing most of the functional connectivity through a single diagram. This method does not rely on seed voxels, but rather employs a reduction of the high-dimensionality of the functional connectivity via a projection onto a three-dimensional color space using principal components analysis. With this new method, most of the information contained in a functional connectivity matrix can be represented through a single color-coded functional connectivity map, thereby facilitating a greater visual appreciation of functional connectivity.
Regulation of Sertoli cell function and differentiation through the actions of a testicular paracrine factor P-Mod-S.

The current study was designed to investigate the actions of the testicular paracrine factor P-Mod-S on Sertoli cell function and differentiation. Transferrin production by Sertoli cells was stimulated by P-Mod-S to a greater extent than any individual regulatory agent and in a manner similar to a combination of FSH, insulin, retinol, and testosterone (FIRT). P-Mod-S had an additive response in combination with FIRT. The increase in transferrin production with a combination of PMod- S and FIRT is the highest level of stimulation (up to 8- fold) observed. These profound effects of P-Mod-S on Sertoli cell function implied a potential unique mechanism of action for the paracrine factor. FSH and FIRT significantly stimulated cAMP levels with both 60-min and 72-h treatments. In contrast, P-Mod-S had no effect on cAMP levels with a 60-min treatment and only a small increase with a 72-h treatment. Interestingly, P-Mod-S stimulated cGMP levels that remained above basal levels up to 72 h of treatment. FSH had no e...
A Comparison of Environmental Contamination by Patients Infected or Colonized with Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus or Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci: A Multicenter Study

A total of 1,023 environmental surfaces were sampled from 45 rooms with patients infected or colonized with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) before terminal room cleaning. Colonized patients had higher median total target colony-forming units (CFU) of MRSA or VRE than did infected patients (median, 25 CFU [interquartile range, 0-106 CFU] vs 0 CFU [interquartile range, 0-29 CFU]; P = .033).
Spin polarized quantum dot light emitters

Summary form only given. In this paper, we describe the growth of (In,Mn)As self-organized quantum dots, or "diluted magnetic quantum dots" (DMQD), with Mn content up to 5%, at a substrate temperature of 285/spl deg/C. The ferromagnetic properties of the quantum dot layers have been studied. A value of T/sub c/ as high as 150 K is measured in as-grown (In,Mn)As QD layers with 5% Mn. The characteristics of spin-polarized quantum dot surface emitting LEDs, using DMS or DMQD layers as spin aligners are described.
Unitary completions of locally algebraic and locally analytic principal series of p-adic GL2

We generalize a result of Emerton on the relationship between unitary completions of locally Qp-analytic and locally Qp-algebraic principal series representations induced from certain locally Qp-algebraic characters of the diagonal torus of GL2(L), where L is a finite extension of Qp. Namely, under a non-critical slope hypothesis on the character being induced, the map on universal unitary completions arising from the inclusion of the locally algebraic induction into the locally analytic induction is a topological isomorphism. (Emerton proved this result for L = Qp.) The main ingredients in carrying out a “several-variable” version of Emerton’s argument are the description of the local convex space of locally Qp-analytic functions on the group &#x1d4aa;L in terms of the embeddings of L into our p-adic coefficient field, and a generalization by Breuil of the classical result of Amice-Velu and Vishik on “tempered distributions” on Zp.
Transforming space into place: some interactions in an urban plaza

This paper is concerned with relationships between space, place, and social interaction, exploring possibilities of moving from the analysis of the spatial organization of encounters and interacting ensembles to an understanding of how, in and through their interaction in a space, people transform it into a jointly experienced, meaningful, and memorable place. This exploration is conducted through the analysis of interactions of four different interacting units in a single space, the front of a church in a city in Colombia. They include a person talking on a cell-phone, a pair of children, a group of children, and a loving couple.
In vivo endotoxin exposure increases neutrophil counts without maintenance of primed superoxide anion release in short-term cultures of sheep bone marrow.

A short-term bone marrow culture was estab- lished to determine the functional and proliferative responses of neutrophils sampled from sheep exposed to endotoxin in vivo. Iliac crest bone marrow was drawn from surgical control animals and from sheep given a 12-h infusion of endotoxin. In these bone marrow aspirates, neutrophils from endotoxin-treated sheep showed primed superoxide anion release compared with controls when stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate. Priming was no longer present in neutrophils tested after 2 days in cub- ture. The neutrophil cell count, however, was higher after 2 days in culture than in controls. Increased neutrophil production/viability was reproduced in naive bone mar- row cultures by replacing part of the normal serum medium with plasma taken from sheep several hours after endotoxin infusion. These data suggest that a dissociation exists between priming and increased neutrophil produc- tion/viability in response to endotoxin. J. Leukoc. Biol. 56: 145-150; 1994.
A descriptive characterization of tree-adjoining languages: (project note)

Since the early Sixties and Seventies it has been known that the regular and context-free languages are characterized by definability in the monadic second-order theory of certain structures. More recently, these descriptive characterizations have been used to obtain complexity results for constraint- and principle-based theories of syntax and to provide a uniform model-theoretic framework for exploring the relationship between theories expressed in disparate formal terms. These results have been limited, to an extent, by the lack of descriptive characterizations of language classes beyond the context-free. Recently, we have shown that tree-adjoining languages (in a mildly generalized form) can be characterized by recognition by automata operating on three-dimensional tree manifolds, a three-dimensional analog of trees. In this paper, we exploit these automata-theoretic results to obtain a characterization of the tree-adjoining languages by definability in the monadic second-order theory of these three-dimensional tree manifolds. This not only opens the way to extending the tools of model-theoretic syntax to the level of TALs, but provides a highly flexible mechanism for defining TAGs in terms of logical constraints.
Carriers in drug powder delivery: Implications for inhalation system design

The performance of dry powder inhaler (DPI) systems depends on the design of the powder formulation, the dose-metering system, and the device used to disperse the powder as an aerosol. Multiple factors associated with drug and carrier particles are known to influence dry powder performance. Elucidation of a mechanistic understanding of particulate system properties and how these relate to powder performance and the disruption of inter-particulate forces that cause aggregation has not yet been achieved. However, the complexity of interactions within dry powder formulations has not restricted research in this area. Various strategies of overcoming inter-particulate forces have been devised, ranging from active inhaler designs to powder engineering approaches. The influence of the interactive carrier system’s physicochemical properties (i.e. size, shape, chemical properties, surface roughness, electrostatics, humidity, and ternary excipients) on the performance of carrier-based systems has been examined extensively in the literature. In addition, matrix carriers, which contain drug and functional excipients for promotion of powder performance, control of pharmacokinetics, stability, controlled release of active drug and enhanced control of drug targeting, have also been investigated. Both the interactive carrier and matrix carrier approaches are attempts to develop DPI systems that perform as device-independent formulations and/or provide patient-independent delivery (controlled carrier systems). It seems likely that the future of DPI systems will combine both of these strategies with future developments in device design (formulation independency).
Effectiveness of Digital Breast Tomosynthesis Compared With Digital Mammography: Outcomes Analysis From 3 Years of Breast Cancer Screening

Importance Breast cancer screening with digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) combined with digital mammography (DM) decreases false-positive examinations and increases cancer detection compared with screening with DM alone. However, the longitudinal performance of DBT screening is unknown. Objectives To determine whether the improved outcomes observed after initial implementation of DBT screening are sustainable over time at a population level and to evaluate the effect of more than 1 DBT screening at the individual level. Design, Setting, and Participants Retrospective analysis of screening mammography metrics was performed for all patients presenting for screening mammography in an urban, academic breast center during 4 consecutive years (DM, year 0; DBT, years, 1-3). The study was conducted from September 1, 2010, to September 30, 2014 (excluding September 2011, which was the transition period from DM to DBT), for a total of 44 468 screening events attributable to a total of 23 958 unique women. Differences in screening outcomes between each DBT year and the DM year, as well as between groups of women with only 1, 2, or 3 DBT screenings, were assessed, and the odds of recall adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, breast density, and prior mammograms were estimated. Data analysis was performed between February 16 and October 26, 2015. Exposure Digital mammography screening supplemented with DBT. Main Outcomes and Measures Recall rates, cancer cases per recalled patients, and biopsy and interval cancer rates were determined. Results Screening outcome metrics were evaluated for a total of 44 468 examinations attributable to 23 958 unique women (mean [SD] age, 56.8 [11.0] years) over a 4-year period: year 0 cohort (DM0), 10 728 women; year 1 cohort (DBT1), 11 007; year 2 cohort (DBT2), 11 157; and year 3 cohort (DBT3), 11 576. Recall rates rose slightly for years 1 to 3 of DBT (88, 90, and 92 per 1000 screened, respectively) but remained significantly reduced compared with the DM0 rate of 104 per 1000 screened. Reported as odds ratios (95% CIs), the findings were DM vs DBT1, 0.83 (0.76-0.91, P P P = .003). The cancer cases per recalled patients continued to rise from DM0 rate of 4.4% to 6.2% ( P = .06), 6.5% ( P = .03), and 6.7% ( P = .02) for years 1 to 3 of DBT, respectively. Outcomes assessed for the most recent screening for individual women undergoing only 1, 2, or 3 DBT screenings during the study period demonstrated decreasing recall rates of 130, 78, and 59 per 1000 screened, respectively ( P Conclusions and Relevance Digital breast tomosynthesis screening outcomes are sustainable, with significant recall reduction, increasing cancer cases per recalled patients, and a decline in interval cancers.
How Sure Are You, Doctor? A Standardized Lexicon to Describe the Radiologist's Level of Certainty.

OBJECTIVE. A standardized lexicon to specify the radiologist's level of certainty in a radiologic diagnosis can decrease the confusingly large number of words and phrases currently used for that purpose. Such a lexicon furthermore can minimize ambiguity and facilitate clearer communication among radiologists, referring physicians, and patients. CONCLUSION. We would like to share our experience with the lexicon that we developed in 2009. For ease of communication, the lexicon itself is included in each radiology report.
STUDIES OF NATURAL POPULATIONS OF MUS. I. BIOCHEMICAL POLYMORPHISMS AND THEIR BEARING ON BREEDING STRUCTURE.

Although the house mouse (Mus musculus L.) has received considerable attention from both the ecologist and the geneticist, very little information is available about genetic aspects of natural Mus musculus populations. Reasons for the paucity of such information are without doubt numerous. One which became obvious early in the current study is that most of the genetic variants known in the house mouse were discovered and studied in mice bred in the laboratory, under highly protective conditions. These same variants do not exist with any high frequency under more stringent conditions of the natural environment and so are of little value in the investigations of genetic aspects of natural populations. Only three systems have given any information about genetic parameters in natural populations of Mus musculus: (1) the agouti locus (Philip, 1938; Engels, 1948), (2) the T locus (Dunn, 1957a, b; Dunn and Suckling, 1956; Lewontin and Dunn, 1960) and (3) discontinuous skeletal variants (Gruneberg, 1952; Weber, 1950; Deol, 1958; Berry, 1963). Of these, the first is relatively straightforward, and has given some evidence, unfortunately very limited and conflicting, about breeding structure in the house mouse. The T locus is likewise of limited value in this respect because of the number of complications involved (e.g., homozygous lethality, high transmission ratio of t-bearing sperm in heterozygous males, the vari-
Searching for Personal Territory in a Human-Computer Interaction Design Studio

AbstractThe literature regarding studio-based education suggests that personal space is an integral component of a studio-based pedagogy (Brandt et al., 2010; Demirbas and Demirkan, 2000). However, the extant studio designed for a Human-Computer Interaction design (HCI/d) programme at the Masters level examined in this study does not offer any apparent provision for such space. This study aimed to determine if and how students in a studio-based HCI/d programme create and maintain personal space in a publicly accessible studio that does not explicitly provide space dedicated to individuals. The results of this study indicated a tendency toward group territoriality, with individual territoriality as a non-normative behaviour. These groups were generally ad hoc in construction, which presents a number of possible curriculum features by which students loosely form groups. The student’s personal computer and other personal items often indicated individual boundaries as well. The faculty design focused on integ...
Firm Heterogeneity,Returns to Scale and Spatial Flow of Labor:Theoretical Analysis Based on New-new Economic Geography

By extending new-new economic geography,this paper systematically studies firm heterogeheity,returns to scale and spatial flow of labor from the angle of theoretical analysis and numerical simulation.The results are as follows: firstly,the spatial transfer of firms and labor is determined by the level of interregional corporate production technology and the alteration of corporate fixed costs is positively related to the level of corporate production technology;secondly,the development of backward and developed areas and their own market openness are interdependent;thirdly,owing to some certain market demand in backward areas,bang-bang equilibrium is unlikely to occur in the reality.
The reduced flavin-dependent monooxygenase SfnG converts dimethylsulfone to methanesulfinate.

The biochemical pathway through which sulfur may be assimilated from dimethylsulfide (DMS) is proposed to proceed via oxidation of DMS to dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and subsequent conversion of DMSO to dimethylsulfone (DMSO2). Analogous chemical oxidation processes involving biogenic DMS in the atmosphere result in the deposition of DMSO2 into the terrestrial environment. Elucidating the enzymatic pathways that involve DMSO2 contribute to our understanding of the global sulfur cycle. Dimethylsulfone monooxygenase SfnG and flavin mononucleotide (FMN) reductase MsuE from the genome of the aerobic soil bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf0-1 were produced in Escherichia coli, purified, and biochemically characterized. The enzyme MsuE functions as a reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH)-dependent FMN reductase with apparent steady state kinetic parameters of Km = 69 μM and kcat/Km = 9 min(-1) μM (-1) using NADH as the variable substrate, and Km = 8 μM and kcat/Km = 105 min(-1) μM (-1) using FMN as the variable substrate. The enzyme SfnG functions as a flavoprotein monooxygenase and converts DMSO2 to methanesulfinate in the presence of FMN, NADH, and MsuE, as evidenced by (1)H and (13)C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The results suggest that methanesulfinate is a biochemical intermediate in sulfur assimilation.
Numeric simulation of occlusal interferences in molars restored with ultrathin occlusal veneers

Abstract Statement of problem Selecting material for a minimally invasive occlusal veneer reconstruction concept requires an understanding of how stresses are distributed during functional and parafunctional forces. Purpose The purpose of this in vitro study was to investigate stress distribution in a maxillary molar restored with ultrathin occlusal veneers and subjected by an antagonistic mandibular molar to clenching and working and nonworking movements. Material and Methods A maxillary first molar was modeled from microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) data, using medical image processing software, stereolithography editing/optimizing software, and finite element software. Simulated ultrathin occlusal veneer materials were used. The mandibular molar antagonist was a solid nondeformable geometric entity. Loads simulated clenching, working, and nonworking movements with loading of 500 N. The values of the maximum principal stress were recorded. Results In the clenching load situation, maximum tensile stresses were located at the occlusal veneer (52 MPa for composite resin versus 47 MPa for ceramic). In the working movement, significant additional tensile stresses were found on the palatal root (87 MPa for composite resin and 85 MPa for ceramic). In the nonworking movement, tensile stress on the ultrathin occlusal veneer increased to 118 MPa for composite resin and 143 MPa for ceramic veneers. Tensile stress peaks shifted to the mesiobuccal root (75 MPa for composite resin and 74 MPa for ceramic). Conclusions The topography of stresses generated by the various occlusal interferences were clearly identified. Significant tensile stress concentrations were found within the restoration’s occlusal topography and root, with the nonworking interference being the most harmful and also the most revealing of the difference between the composite resin and ceramic ultrathin occlusal veneers.
The Reachable Sets Method

This chapter provides an overview of the reachable sets (RS) method. The RS method represents a truly novel methodological approach to multi-objective programming problems with linear objectives and convex feasible regions, and to virtually any problems whose solutions can be approximated by such a formulation. The distinguishing feature of the method is that it is based on the methods of the theory of linear inequalities, with optimization methods playing only an auxiliary role. This contrasts sharply with the common solution procedures that have been generally applied to linear multi-objective programming problems. The standard algorithms used to generate the non-inferior set in such problems are generally parameterized versions of the optimization algorithms used to solve single objective problems. Whereas the standard linear multi-objective programming solution procedures rely on the simplex method, the RS approach relies on the theory of linear inequalities to derive orthogonal projections from the system of inequalities describing the convex polyhedron of objective functions and constraints.
Abstract 1360: Genistein-AR antagonist conjugate potently induce growth arrest in both androgen dependent and independent prostate cancer cell lines

The ability of prostate cancer to transition from androgen dependent- to androgen independent state (castration resistant), during androgen deprivation therapy, requires that new chemotherapeutic agents be introduced that will retain activity in the two prostate cancer types. Though described as androgen independent, castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) still relies heavily on androgen receptor (AR) signaling for survival. Enzalutamide, an AR antagonist, is probably that most effective drug used in androgen deprivation therapy for CRPC and AR dependent prostate cancer. Despite its clinical success, there is the fear of resistant to enzalutamide due to mutation in the ligand binding domain of AR. This poses a challenge that requires developing new agents devoid of resistance, in the event of mutation. One of the approaches being proposed is to develop new agents that can selectively induce AR degradation, an approach that was successfully used to develop the selective estrogen receptor degrader, fulvestrant. In our study, we incorporate genistein, a soy isoflavone known to perturb multiple biochemical pathways relevant for cancer survival, into an AR binding template to give AG-1-33. AG-1-33 was evaluated for growth inhibitory activity in LNCaP (AR dependent) and DU-145 (AR independent) prostate cancer cell lines. This compound retained its AR antagonist activity and also showed low micromolar anti-proliferation activity in the two prostate cancer cell lines. We also evaluated the effect of AG-1-33 on AR expression, as well as its ability to act as a selective AR degrader in LNCaP. Citation Format: Idris O. Raji, Alex George, Omer Kucuk, Adegboyega K. Oyelere. Genistein-AR antagonist conjugate potently induce growth arrest in both androgen dependent and independent prostate cancer cell lines. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1360.
The role of forcing agents on biogeochemical variability along the southwestern Adriatic coast: The Gulf of Manfredonia case study

Abstract This study investigates how multiple forcing factors such as rivers, surface marine circulation and winds affect hydrology and biogeochemical processes in the Gulf of Manfredonia and the seas around the Gargano peninsula, in the south-western Adriatic Sea. The study adopted an integrated approach, using in situ and remote sensing data, as well as the output of current models. The data reveal variability in the area's hydrography induced by local freshwater sources, the Western Adriatic Current (WAC) flowing from the north along the Italian coast, and the current patterns under different wind regimes. Specifically, exchange with offshore waters in the gulf induces variability in salinity and biogeochemical content, even within the same season, i.e. winter, in our case. This strong dependence on physical and biogeochemical factors makes the Manfredonia-Gargano ecosystem vulnerable to climate change, which could compromise its important role as a nursery area for the Adriatic Sea.
Novel Histogram Based Unsupervised Classification Technique to Determine Natural Classes From Biophysically Relevant Fit Parameters to Hyperspectral Data

Hyperspectral image analysis has benefited from an array of methods that take advantage of the increased spectral depth compared to multispectral sensors; however, the focus of these developments has been on supervised classification methods. Lack of a priori knowledge regarding land cover characteristics can make unsupervised classification methods preferable under certain circumstances. An unsupervised classification technique is presented that utilizes physically relevant basis functions to model the reflectance spectra. These fit parameters used to generate the basis functions allow clustering based on spectral characteristics rather than spectral channels and provide both noise and data reduction. Histogram splitting of the fit parameters is then used as a means of producing an unsupervised classification. Unlike current unsupervised classification techniques that rely primarily on Euclidian distance measures to determine similarity, the unsupervised classification technique uses the natural splitting of the fit parameters associated with the basis functions creating clusters that are similar in terms of physical parameters. The data set used in this work utilizes the publicly available data collected at Indian Pines, Indiana. This data set provides reference data allowing for comparisons of the efficacy of different unsupervised data analysis. The unsupervised histogram splitting technique presented in this paper is shown to be better than the standard unsupervised ISODATA clustering technique with an overall accuracy of 34.3/19.0% before merging and 40.9/39.2% after merging. This improvement is also seen as an improvement of kappa before/after merging of 24.8/30.5 for the histogram splitting technique compared to 15.8/28.5 for ISODATA.
Mechanisms to protect the privacy of families when using the transmission disequilibrium test in genome-wide association studies.

Motivation Inappropriate disclosure of human genomes may put the privacy of study subjects and of their family members at risk. Existing privacy-preserving mechanisms for Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) mainly focus on protecting individual information in case-control studies. Protecting privacy in family-based studies is more difficult. The transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) is a powerful family-based association test employed in many rare disease studies. It gathers information about families (most frequently involving parents, affected children and their siblings). It is important to develop privacy-preserving approaches to disclose TDT statistics with a guarantee that the risk of family 're-identification' stays below a pre-specified risk threshold. 'Re-identification' in this context means that an attacker can infer that the presence of a family in a study. Methods In the context of protecting family-level privacy, we developed and evaluated a suite of differentially private (DP) mechanisms for TDT. They include Laplace mechanisms based on the TDT test statistic, P-values, projected P-values and exponential mechanisms based on the TDT test statistic and the shortest Hamming distance (SHD) score. Results Using simulation studies with a small cohort and a large one, we showed that that the exponential mechanism based on the SHD score preserves the highest utility and privacy among all proposed DP methods. We provide a guideline on applying our DP TDT in a real dataset in analyzing Kawasaki disease with 187 families and 906 SNPs. There are some limitations, including: (1) the performance of our implementation is slow for real-time results generation and (2) handling missing data is still challenging. Availability and implementation The software dpTDT is available in https://github.com/mwgrassgreen/dpTDT. Contact mengw1@stanford.edu. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Four fundamental processes of community assembly

A central aim of ecology is understanding the mechanisms of community assembly. To address this problem, community assembly is often modeled as a sampling process, in which species are selected from a pool of available species, possibly with effects of interspecific interactions, habitat filtering, and other ecological mechanisms. However, the fundamental stochastic sampling process by which species are selected from the pool remains unexplored. Here we demonstrate the distinctness of four canonical sampling processes, the Bernoulli, Plackett-Luce, multinomial, and fractional multinomial processes. Each process can be affected by ecological mechanisms or it can occur in their absence. Although all four of the processes are a priori plausible and the first two are widely used in ecological models, we show that the multinomial and fractional multinomial processes broadly underlie community assembly.
Heat Treatment of Gas-Atomized Powders for Cold Spray Deposition

This communication demonstrates the efficacy of heat treatment on the improved deposition characteristics of aluminum alloy powders. A novel furnace was constructed for solutionizing of feedstock powders in an inert atmosphere while avoiding sintering. This furnace design achieved sufficiently high cooling rates to limit re-precipitation during powder cooling. Microscopy showed homogenization of the powder particle microstructures after heat treatment. Cold spray deposition efficiency with heat-treated powders substantially increased for the alloys AA2024, AA6061, and AA7075.
Polarity-Induced Surface Recognition and Self-Assembly of Noncanonical DNA Nucleobases on h-BN Monolayer

A systematic understanding of the self-assembly of DNA nucleobases is essential for biomolecular recognition on surfaces of novel 2D materials. Using atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we investigate the self-assembly of guanine and cytosine nucleobases on the hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) monolayer. We find that the self-assembly is driven by the inherent polarity of the bases determining the nature of molecular ordering and growth patterns: guanine into 2D aggregates and cytosine into 1D linear arrays and interconnected molecular chains. The base–base H-bond interactions guide the self-assembly, and the base-surface interactions facilitate surface recognition and monolayer adsorption. Simulations at elevated temperatures find reconstruction at the surface with cytosine forming distinct 1D chains and guanine forming an extended network. We propose that the distinctive patterns in assembly, unique to the DNA nucleobases, would serve as fingerprints for biomolecular recognition at the solid/li...
Design of a cytocompatible hydrogel coating to modulate properties of ceramic-based scaffolds for bone repair.

Physical and mechanical properties of ceramic-based scaffolds can be modulated by introducing hydrogel coatings on their surface. For instance, hydrogels can be used as elastic layers to overcome the brittleness of synthetic ceramic materials or to control the delivery of essential osteogenic factors. In this work, we aimed to achieve both goals by fabricating a novel cytocompatible hydrogel made of gelatin-alginate as a coating for beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) scaffolds. The hydrogel synthesis was optimized by varying the concentration of the crosslinkers N-hydroxysuccinimide and N-ethyl-N′-(3-dimethyl aminopropyl) carbodiimide (NHS/EDC). Swelling, degradability and mechanical studies were carried out to identify the suitable hydrogel coating formulation for the β-TCP scaffolds. The cytocompatibility of the coated ceramic was assessed in vitro by testing the proliferation and the osteogenic differentiation of human adipose stem cell (hASCs) for 2 weeks. The designed hydrogel layer could withstand cyclic compression and protected the brittle internal core of the ceramic. The hydrogel coating modulated the diffusion of the model protein BSA according to the degree of crosslinking of the hydrogel layer. Additionally, the polymeric network was able to retain positively charged proteins such as lysozyme due to the strong electrostatic interactions with carboxylic groups of alginate. A higher expression of alkaline phosphatase activity was found on hASCs seeded on the coated scaffolds compared to the hydrogels without any β-TCP. Overall, the hydrogel coating characterized in this study represents a valid strategy to overcome limitations of brittle ceramic-based materials used as scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications.
Directed synthesis and magnetic properties of a hexanuclear ferric cluster

Abstract The hexanuclear iron(III) complex, [Fe6(µ3-3-bpp)4(µ3-O)2(µ2-OMe)3.67(µ2-OH)0.33Cl2]·0.33MeOH·H2O (1) was synthesized by a redox reaction between FeCl2, AgNO2, and 3-H2bpp in methanol (3-H2bpp = 2,6-bis(3-pyrazolyl)pyridine). The crystal structure of the complex is composed of two trinuclear subunits related by an inversion operation. This symmetry results in an overall octahedral arrangement of Fe(III) sites within the cluster. The four equatorial Fe sites are linked together by µ2-OMe− and µ2-OH− bridges, while each of the four 3-bpp2− bridges spans two axial and one equatorial Fe sites. The two Cl− ligands cap the axial Fe sites. The difference in the coordination environment for the equatorial and axial Fe sites is validated by the observation of two quadrupole doublets in the Mossbauer spectrum of 1, which also confirms that all metal sites correspond to the high-spin Fe(III) ions. Temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility data reveal strong antiferromagnetic exchange coupling between the Fe(III) centers, which is also justified by quantum-chemical calculations at the density-functional level of theory.
Flow Field-Flow Fractionation: Analysis of Biomolecules and Their Complexes

This chapter is an overview on flow field-flow fractionation (FlFFF) and its use for investigations of biomolecules and their complexes. Separation theory will be discussed and compared to other separation methods. Example studies will be described applying FlFFF for the analysis of a wide range of biological subjects including proteins, ribosomes, viruses, and bacteria. In addition, the utilization of FlFFF as a biological clean-up tool and as a method for investigating biomolecules-metal interactions will be explored.