cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 250: Increased 18F-FDG Uptake in the Aortic Wall of β-Aminopropionitrile Exposed Rats May Be Predictive of AAA Rupture

Objectives: Ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is associated with a high mortality rate, and a noninvasive test is necessary to detect vascular wall inflammation that may aid in predicting AAA rupture. The ability of 18F-FDG positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to identify increased inflammation in the porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE) perfusion model in Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to β-aminopropionitrile (BAPN) to stimulate AAA rupture was evaluated. Methods: Starting 3d prior to infrarenal abdominal aortic exposure to PPE, BAPN (300mg/kg subcutaneous) was administered daily until AAA harvest or rupture (BAPN, n=9). Control rats only underwent PPE exposure (n=8). Aortic diameter was evaluated at 3, 7, and 14d post PPE exposure utilizing ultrasound (US, 12MHz). Both groups were imaged with 18F-FDG microPET (control n=4, rupture n=3) 7d post PPE exposure. Maximum AAA to mean muscle 18F-FDG uptake ratios (AMR) were determined. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 2 and 9 zymogramatic activities, in terms of integrated optical density (IOD), were assessed at 7d (control n=3, BAPN n=4) and 14d post PPE exposure (control n=3, rupture n=3). Results: Mean 7d aortic diameter increases of 247% and 398% (p=0.014) were observed in control and rupture groups, respectively, with no evidence of dissection in BAPN exposed rats on US. Three BAPN exposed rats ruptured within 24h after 18F-FDG microPET, with mean AMRs for the control and ruptured groups of 86.5 and 281.9 (p=0.048), respectively. IOD values of 4655 and 8373 (p=0.140) were determined for MMP9 activity in 14d control and ruptured AAA tissue, respectively, representing an 80% increase in ruptured AAA tissue. IOD values of 4760 and 1190 (p=0.032) were determined for MMP2 activity in 14d control and ruptured AAA tissue, respectively, representing a 75% decrease in ruptured AAA tissue. No differences in MMP2 or 9 activities for control and BAPN exposed rats were observed at 7d post PPE exposure. Conclusions: Alterations in MMP2 and 9 activities in BAPN exposed, ruptured, rat AAA tissues parallel alterations in MMP2 and 9 activities in ruptured, human AAA tissues observed by others. Increased 18F-FDG uptake by rat AAAs that subsequently ruptured suggests that FDG-PET may be used to predict AAA rupture in humans.
Blogging about the Affordable Care Act: A rhetorical analysis of weblogs kept by the Democratic and Republican Parties and the White House:

Political parties in the United States have used public relations tools to promote their opinions about health care reform since the subject first entered the lexicon in the 20th century. As the Af...
The Effects of Metformin on Obesity-Induced Dysfunctional Retinas.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of metformin on dysfunctional retinas in obesity-induced type 2 diabetic mice. Methods A high-fat diet (HFD)-induced diabetic mouse model (C57BL/6J) was used in this study. After 2 months of the HFD regimen, HFD mice were given daily metformin through oral gavage. Body weights, glucose tolerance, and retinal light responses were monitored regularly. Fluorescein angiography (FA) was used to assess changes in retinal vasculature. Ocular tissues (retina, vitreous, and lens) were harvested and analyzed for molecular changes as determined by immunofluorescent staining, Western blot analysis, and cytokine profiling. Results Starting 1 month after the diet regimen, mice fed the HFD had mildly compromised retinal light responses as measured by electroretinography (ERG), which worsened over time compared to that in the control. In HFD mice treated with metformin, systemic glucose levels reverted back to normal, and their weight gain slowed. Metformin reversed HFD-induced changes in phosphorylated protein kinase B (pAKT), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (pERK), and 5'AMP-activated protein kinase (pAMPK) in the retina. However, metformin treatments for 3 months did not restore the retinal light responses nor lessen the HFD-induced retinal neovascularization, even though it did reduce intraocular inflammation. Conclusions Although metformin was able to reverse systemic changes induced by HFD, it was not able to restore HFD-caused retinal light responses or deter neovascularization.
A Preliminary Survey of the Harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones) of Tobago, West Indies

Eleven species of harvestmen were collected from along the trail connecting the Speyside overlook to Pigeon Peak on Tobago, including representatives of the families Agoristenidae, Cosmetidae, Cranaidae, Manaosbiidae, Sclerosomatidae, and Stygnidae. The most abundant species were Cynortula granulata Roewer 1912 (Cosmetidae), Paecilaema inglei Goodnight and Goodnight 1947 (Cosmetidae), Rhopalocranaus albilineatus Roewer 1932 (Manaosbiidae) and Phareicranaus calcariferus (Simon 1879) (Cranaidae). We also captured adults of Prionostemma vittatum Roewer 1910, Avima intermedia (Goodnight and Goodnight 1947) and Stygnoplus biguttatus Pinto-da-Rocha 1997. With the exception of P. calcariferus, each of these collections represent a new record for Tobago. In this paper, we also provide descriptions of the male reproductive anatomy for each species as well as notes on natural history, including the association of cyanobacteria with a sclerosomatid harvestman and stridulation by C. granulata.
Relative fission product yields in the USGS TRIGA MARK I reactor

Relative fission product yields have been determined for three sampling positions in the USGS TRIGA MARK I reactor through radiochemical analysis. The relative mass yield distribution for valley nuclides decreases with epithermal neutrons compared to thermal neutrons. Additionally, a proportionality constant which related the measured beta activity of a fission product to the number of fissions that occur in a sample of irradiated uranium was determined for the detector used in this study and used to determine the thermal and epithermal flux. These values agree well with a previous study which used activation foils to determine the flux.
Isotopically-Labeled Iodoacetamide-Alkyne Probes for Quantitative Cysteine-Reactivity Profiling

Cysteine residues on proteins serve a variety of catalytic and regulatory functions due to the high nucleophilicity and redox activity of the thiol group. Quantitative proteomic platforms for profiling cysteine reactivity can provide valuable information related to the post-translational modification state and inhibitor occupancy of functional cysteine residues within a complex proteome. Cysteine-reactivity profiling typically monitors changes in the extent of cysteine labeling by cysteine-reactive chemical probes, such as iodoacetamide (IA)-alkyne. To enable accurate measurements of cysteine reactivity changes, isotopic labels are introduced into the two proteomes of interest using either isotopically tagged proteomes (SILAC) or cleavable linkers (isoTOP-ABPP) that are installed using copper-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC). Here we provide an alternative strategy for isotopic tagging of two proteomes for cysteine-reactivity profiling by developing IA-light and IA-heavy, a pair of isotopicall...
Tranexamic acid administration for anatomic and reverse total shoulder arthroplasty: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background Tranexamic acid (TXA) has been shown to reduce perioperative blood loss and risk of blood transfusion. Evidence establishing its efficacy in total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) is limited. The current study evaluated the effect of TXA on perioperative blood loss and transfusion risk after TSA. Methods A systematic review and meta-analysis of TXA administration for TSA was performed, and 6 studies with a total of 680 patients were found. Data on change in hemoglobin, drain output, total blood loss, and transfusion were extracted. Meta-analysis was performed with stratification into reverse and anatomic TSA subgroups. Results TXA administration was associated with decreased change in hemoglobin (−0.63 g/dL; 95% CI, −0.87 to −0.39 g/dL; P P P P = .06). TXA administration was associated with reduced drain output after anatomic TSA (−123.07 mL; 95% CI, −163.93 to −82.20 mL; P Conclusions Routine administration of TXA reduces perioperative blood loss and may reduce the risk of transfusion after reverse TSA. Future studies are needed to further characterize its effect on the risk of transfusion after reverse TSA and efficacy in anatomic TSA.
The benefits of adding a brief measure of simple reaction time to the assessment of executive function skills in early childhood.

Abstract Early childhood represents a period of rapid cognitive developmental change in executive function (EF) skills along with a variety of related cognitive processes, including processing speed. This leads to interpretational challenges in that children’s performance on EF tasks reflects more than EF skills per se. We tested whether the inclusion of a brief measure of simple reaction time (SRT) during EF assessments could help to partially address this challenge. Data were drawn from a cross-sectional convenience sample of 830 preschool-aged children. Individual differences in SRT were significantly associated with performance on all tasks (R2s = .09–.26); slower performance on the SRT task was associated with poorer performance on each EF task. Age-related differences in individual EF tasks were reduced by approximately one half after accounting for age-related differences in SRT, and EF task scores were less coherent (i.e., less strongly intercorrelated with each other) after the removal of SRT. Age-related differences in EF were smaller (Cohen ds = 1.36 vs. 0.78), and poverty-related differences in EF were larger (Cohen ds = 0.30 vs. 0.46) after accounting for SRT-related variation. Finally, consistent with previous studies, SRT-related differences in fluid reasoning were mediated by EF skills. Results are discussed with respect to using a brief measure of SRT to partially address the problem of measurement impurity at the level of individual EF tasks.
Adsorption isotherm, kinetic modeling and mechanism of tetracycline on Pinus taeda-derived activated biochar.

Abstract The objective of this study was to evaluate the adsorption of tetracycline (TC) on the Pinus taeda-derived activated biochar (BC). After NaOH activation, the well-developed porous surface structure was observed with a significantly increase in surface area (959.9 m2/g). The kinetic and isotherm studies indicated that hydrogen bonding and π-π interaction on the heterogeneous surface would be the possible mechanisms, while intra-particle diffusion was considered as the major limitation for the adsorption of TC on the activated BC. The maximum adsorption capacity of the activated BC (274.8 mg TC/g BC) was higher than those of various activated BCs from the previous studies while it was similar to those of commercial activated carbons. It indicated that the activated BC had the high potential for TC removal in water.
Convergence Excess: Characteristics and Treatment

Convergence excess esotropia may result from a high AC/A ratio (accommodative convergence excess), abnormally high proximal convergence (non-accommodative convergence excess), or decreased accommod...
Silent Day Detection on Microblog Data

Microblog has become an increasingly popular information source for users to get updates about the world. Given the rapid growth of the microblog data, users are often interested in getting daily (or even hourly) updates about a certain topic. Existing studies on microblog retrieval mainly focused on how to rank results based on their relevance, but little attention has been paid to whether we should return any results to search users. This paper studies the problem of silent day detection. Specifically, given a query and a set of tweets collected over a certain time period (such as a day), we need to determine whether the set contains any relevant tweets of the query. If not, this day is referred to as a silent day. Silent day detection enables us to not overwhelm users with non-relevant tweets. We formulate the problem as a classification problem, and propose two types of new features based on using collective information from query terms. Experiment results over TREC collections show that these new features are more effective in detecting silent days than previously proposed ones.
Levels of homeotic protein function can determine developmental identity: evidence from low‐level expression of the Drosophila homeotic gene proboscipedia under Hsp70 control.

The autonomous selector capacity of the homeotic proboscipedia (pb) gnee of the Drosophila Antennapedia Complex was tested. We introduced into the germline a P element containing a transcriptional fusion of a mini-gene for pb (normally required for formation of the labial and maxillary palps of the mouthparts) and the Hsp70 promoter. Uninduced expression of this Hsp70:pb element (HSPB) directs a novel, fully penetrant dominant transformation of antennae toward maxillary palps. Gene dosage experiments varying the number of HSPB elements indicate that the extent of the dominant transformation depends on the level of PB protein. At the same time, expression from the transgene also rescues recessive pb mutations. Finally, HSPB function may override the dominant antennal transformations caused by Antennapedia (Antp) mutations in a dose-sensitive manner, directing a switch of the antennal disc-derived appendage from ectopic leg to ectopic maxillary palp. This switch correlated with strikingly reduced ANTP protein accumulation when PB concentrations exceeded a genetically defined threshold level. These observations support a crucial role for quantitative aspects of pb function in determining segmental identity, including cross-regulatory events involved in this determination.
Hypoplasia of the Coronary Arteries

The term hypoplasia is applied to a coronary artery when it is uniformly narrow on the basis of its intrinsic structure and has a shorter course than usual. When a hypoplastic artery is present, the region of the heart usually supplied by this artery is perfused through branches from the other coronary arteries. As a rule, only one of the coronary arteries is hypoplastic, either the right or a branch of the left. While hypoplasia implies that there is an intrinsically narrow lumen, hypoplastic arteries may additionally harbor atherosclerotic lesions.
Anchored hybrid enrichment phylogenomics resolves the backbone of erebine moths.

The subfamily Erebinae (Lepidoptera, Erebidae) includes approximately 10,000 species with many still undescribed. It is one of the most diverse clades within the moth superfamily Noctuoidea and encompasses a diversity of ecological habits. Erebine caterpillars feed on a broad range of host plants including several economically important crops. Adults possess a unique array of adaptations for predator defense, including some of the most sensitive hearing organs (tympana) across the Lepidoptera and striking wing coloration to startle visual predators. Despite the relevance of these moths to agriculture and ecological research, a robust phylogenetic framework is lacking. Here we used anchored hybrid enrichment, a relatively new approach in phylogenomics, to resolve relationships among the subfamily. Using the recently developed Lep1 anchored hybrid enrichment probe set, 658 gene fragments with an average length of 320 bp were captured from an exemplar set of 75 erebine species, representing 73 genera and 23 tribes. While the total number of erebine tribes is not firmly established, this represents at least 75% of known tribal level diversity. Anchored hybrid enrichment data were partitioned by locus and by codon position for maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis and coalescent-based species-tree approaches. Results from our study provided strong nodal support (BP ≥ 95) for nearly all nodes in the partitioned ML tree, solidifying many relationships that were previously uncertain or moderately supported based on morphology or a smaller number of gene fragments. Likelihood analyses confidently resolved the placement of Acantholipini as a sister tribe to Sypnini and all other Erebinae. The remaining tribes were placed in a single, strongly supported clade split into two major subclades. Additionally, 25 tropical species that did not have previous tribal assignments are confidently placed on the phylogeny. Statistical comparisons with Shimodaira-Hasegawa (SH) tests found that our maximum likelihood trees were significantly more likely than alternative hypotheses. This study demonstrates the utility of anchored phylogenomics for resolving relationships within subfamilies of Lepidoptera.
Machine Learning Ensembles and Rail Defects Prediction: Multilayer Stacking Methodology

AbstractMachine learning has taken a front seat in railway big data analysis. This is partly due to perpetual data collection and the need for automated systems to expedite maintenance decisions. A...
ATP serves as a nucleotide switch coupling the genome maturation and packaging motor complexes of a virus assembly machine

The assembly of double-stranded DNA viruses, from phages to herpesviruses, is strongly conserved. Terminase enzymes processively excise and package monomeric genomes from a concatemeric DNA substrate. The enzymes cycle between a stable maturation complex that introduces site-specific nicks into the duplex and a dynamic motor complex that rapidly translocates DNA into a procapsid shell, fueled by ATP hydrolysis. These tightly coupled reactions are catalyzed by terminase assembled into two functionally distinct nucleoprotein complexes; the maturation complex and the packaging motor complex, respectively. We describe the effects of nucleotides on the assembly of a catalytically competent maturation complex on viral DNA, their effect on maturation complex stability and their requirement for the transition to active packaging motor complex. ATP plays a major role in regulating all of these activities and may serve as a 'nucleotide switch' that mediates transitions between the two complexes during processive genome packaging. These biological processes are recapitulated in all of the dsDNA viruses that package monomeric genomes from concatemeric DNA substrates and the nucleotide switch mechanism may have broad biological implications with respect to virus assembly mechanisms.
Indonesia: Adaptation and Differentiation in Informal Gold Mining

With some 900 small-scale mining sites throughout the country, Indonesia’s informal gold sector is large and growing. This chapter explores key influences and trends in this sector with a focus on the iterative development of gold mining crystallizations. First, it presents a national-level overview of the historical expansion and diversity of informal gold mining in Indonesia. Next, it describes how these general patterns have combined with local sociopolitical and material influences to shape the particular forms of gold production present in the Pongkor mining region of West Java. It highlights three transformative moments in Pongkor’s history: the region’s emergence as an informal gold mining site in the mid-1990s, the reconfiguration of gold production following increased policing efforts in the early 2000s, and the introduction of cyanidation technologies in the late 2000s. This historical trajectory illustrates the complex interplay of diverse, and often social and political rather than technical, influences that give shape to mining crystallizations. Taken as a whole, it provides a temporal picture of informal mining’s dynamic adaptability but also a troubling trend of socioeconomic differentiation.
Becoming English in the Workplace

Upon arrival in Britain, many Jews entered a relatively narrow range of jobs, including the garment trade or boot and shoe industries, in which nearly 40 per cent of Jewish immigrants had worked before emigrating. Records from the JBG, the press and parliamentary investigations offer a picture of women's changing experience in the labour market. Over time, Jewish women experienced improved working conditions and entered a wider range of occupations. Especially as women found employment beyond the East End, work contributed to their acculturation through new friendships, increased access to the consumer market and greater self-sufficiency. The Extent of Female Labour In recent years, there has been a good deal of debate over the extent and nature of women's work and economic roles prior to emigration. Traditional images of Jewish women often place them at the centre of the family's economic survival. Zborowski and Herzog described work in Eastern Europe as sexless and respected scholars claim women toiled while their men-folk prayed and studied the great works of Jewish law. According to sociologist Arthur Ruppin, ‘distinguishing features’ of Jewish family life included chastity before marriage, matrimonial fidelity, respect of children for parents and ‘boundless love and devotion’ by parents. Women did not participate in public life, ‘but attended to their domestic duties or assisted their husbands in their work’. Certainly, the popular image of women supporting their families had a basis in reality, but did not characterize the majority of Eastern European Jewish families.
LDPC design for 5G NR URLLC & mMTC

Low density parity check (LDPC) code in the fifth generation (5G or New Radio, NR) was mainly designed for the enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) scenario, and specific optimization has not been considered for both scenarios of Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) and massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC), especially for small transport block sizes (TBSs). Therefore, we introduce a specific optimized design method of LDPC code for small TBSs of the latter two scenarios. According to the proposed method, a new LDPC code is designed and its performance is better than the LDPC code in 5G. Furthermore, an improved algorithm combining belief propagation (BP) and ordered statistic decoding (OSD) is considered in this paper. Compared with traditional BP+OSD algorithm, although there is slight performance loss, the number of OSD decoding implemented in the improved algorithm can be reduced to 1 or 2. Simulation results indicate that the performance of the improved BP+OSD decoding algorithm is obviously better than that of the popular BP decoding and also better than that of the polar code in 5G.
Abstract A28: Deregulation of KMT2D promotes squamous differentiation in a mouse model of muscle-invasive bladder cancer

Cell differentiation and plasticity is precisely controlled by specific gene expression programs coordinate with chromatin remodeling, which are often deregulated during tumorigenesis. While divergent histopathologic differentiation in bladder cancer is prevalent and may affect clinical outcome, the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Here, we aim to elucidate mechanisms for alteration of the histopathologic and molecular features of muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) by interrogating the functional role of chromatin-remodeling genes using relevant genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs). High frequency of mutations in chromatin-remodeling genes encoding COMPASS-like chromatin-remodeling complex members has been identified in human MIBC. These genes include “writers” that create histone post-translational modification, such as the lysine methyltransferase KMT2D (MLL2/4), and “erasers” that remove these modifications, such as the lysine demethylase KDM6A (UTX). We have generated GEMMs that enable bladder-specific conditional inactivation of individual chromatin-remodeling genes in combination with loss of function of Trp53 and Pten, which leads to MIBC. Interestingly, bladder tumors from GEMMs having inactivation of Kmt2d along with Trp53 and Pten (e.g., Kmt2d;Trp53;Pten mice) develop a variant histologic phenotype that is not observed in tumors from either the Trp53;Pten or Kdm6a;Trp53;Pten mice. Specifically, these Kmt2d-inactivated tumors share histopathologic features in common with human urothelial carcinoma that display squamous differentiation. Furthermore, expression profiling of these Kmt2d;Trp53;Pten bladder tumors identified a unique set of differentially expressed genes that are enriched for genes representing squamous differentiation in other nonbladder cancers. Our findings suggest that deregulated Kmt2d expression promotes squamous differentiation in MIBC, at least in context of Trp53;pten coinactivation. Citation Format: Lijie Rong, Cory Abate-Shen. Deregulation of KMT2D promotes squamous differentiation in a mouse model of muscle-invasive bladder cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Bladder Cancer: Transforming the Field; 2019 May 18-21; Denver, CO. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2020;26(15_Suppl):Abstract nr A28.
Superconducting nanowire single photon detectors for optical communication and astronomy

Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors (SNSPDs) are the most advanced detectors available for time-resolved single photon counting from the UV to the mid-infrared. We will discuss recent progress in SNSPD development for the ground terminal in NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communication (DSOC) project as well as recent performance advances in other metrics, including the development of kilopixel SNSPD arrays, single-photon sensitivity at mid-infrared wavelengths as long as 10 microns, and SNSPDs with sub-3ps timing jitter. I will discuss a range of new potential scientific applications for SNSPDs, including exoplanet transit spectroscopy, dark matter detection, fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy, and quantum information science.
Lawyers and Civil Disobedience

This article is for lawyers who counsel and represent people who are thinking about or have committed civil disobedience, who have been arrested for violating a law in order to stand up for justice; lawyers who are willing to work with people and movements committed to a more radical vision of justice.
The Vaporization Enthalpy and Vapor Pressure of (±) N-Ethyl Amphetamine by Correlation Gas Chromatography

The vaporization enthalpy, and vapor pressure as a function of temperature of N-ethylamphetamine, a substance used in the 1950s as an appetite suppressant and more currently abused as a designer drug, is reported. Its physical properties are compared to those of S (+)-N-methamphetamine, a substance whose physiological properties it mimics. A vaporization enthalpy of (62.4 ± 4.4) kJ·mol-1 and vapor pressure of (19 ± 11) Pa at T = 298.15 K has been evaluated by correlation gas chromatography. Results are compared to estimated values and to the limited amount of experimental property data available.
Security Strategies in the Syrah of the Shiite Infallible Imams

This paper seeks to study the security strategies in the Syrah (The life conduct) of the Shiite Infallible Imams. Since one of the most important Shiite sources in understanding the life of the Infallibles Imams are the four books of hadith regarded as reliable by the Shi'as (Al-Kutub al-Arbaʿa), so this study have been analyzed these books in terms of case study. The research question is as follows: What security strategies did the Infallibles Imams use during their Imamate and what are the features of these security strategies? The research method used in this study is content analysis. The results of this research show: According to their historical circumstances, the Infallibles Imams have used these four security strategies: Alavi, Expediency, Order Good and Forbid Evil and Taqiyya.
Educators learning through struggle: Political education in social justice caucuses

At a time when educators are increasingly rising up within and beyond their unions to protect public education, it is vital to understand how activist educators become politicized and how their activist organizations contribute to such political education efforts. In this article, Maton and Stark examine the grassroots organizing work of three educator-led social justice caucuses and a national network in order to explicate how five forms of political education—relational, structured, situational, mobilized, and networked—support educators’ political learning within and beyond their unions. We tease apart the characteristics and central knowledge sources inherent to these five forms of political education, showcasing examples of how caucuses capitalize upon and embed political education within their change-making efforts.
Hydrolysis of Lactose in Milk: Current Status and Future Products

The lactose-free dairy market has significantly grown in the past years in relation to the large population who experience lactose intolerance. Lactose-free dairy products are nutritionally more at...
Background and Salient Features of the United Nations Convention on International Bills of Exchange and International Promissory Notes

The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) drew up at its first session in 1968 a program of work which listed as its priority topics the international sale of goods, international payments, and commercial arbitration.' In the first two of these areas, important projects have since been completed which contribute significantly to the unification of the laws and rules on international trade. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (Vienna, 1980)2 entered into force on January 1, 1988, followed on August 1, 1988, by its companion, the Convention on the Limitation Period in the International Sale of Goods
Cell cleavage: Ultrastructural evidence against equatorial stimulation by aster microtubules☆

Abstract Cell cleavage is spatially and temporally coordinated with karyokinesis. In astral division, as occurs in sea urchin eggs, coordination is accomplished by the mitotic asters. We have explored the following hypotheses: 1. 1. That microtubules of the two asters cross at the cell's equator. 2. 2. That because they cross, or by some other configuration, more microtubules interact with the equatorial cortex than with the polar cortex. 3. 3. That the microtubule component of astral rays differentially stimulates the equatorial cortex for cleavage contraction. Using a fixation procedure which enhances visibility of microtubules, we have determined that aster microtubules do not cross at the equatorial cortex at any stage of mitosis relevant to cleavage stimulation, contrary to the first hypothesis. Aster microtubules extend progressively farther during anaphase, but the two arrays occupy mutually exclusive hemispheres in the egg. Using another fixation procedure which results in more conventional microtubule morphology, we have systematically counted microtubules penetrating the cortex at both the equator and the poles in sections cut parallel and perpendicular to the axis of the mitotic apparatus, respectively, at all stages of mitosis. We did not observe any microtubules in the cortex of the equator during prometaphase, metaphase, early anaphase or mid-anaphase. In comparison, small numbers of microtubules were observed in the polar cortex during this time. By late anaphase there are some microtubules in the equatorial cortex but many more are observed in the polar cortex. These findings are contrary to the second hypothesis and therefore do not establish the morphological basis for the third hypothesis. We conclude that there is no positive correlation between microtubule numbers at the egg equator and the timing of cleavage stimulation. Therefore, coordination between karyokinesis and cell cleavage is achieved by some process other than the simple numerical increase of microtubules at the equatorial cortex.
Evaluating habitat associations of a fish assemblage at multiple spatial scales in a minimally disturbed stream using low-cost remote sensing

Habitat heterogeneity at multiple scales is a major factor affecting fish assemblage structure. However, assessments that examine these relationships at multiple scales concurrently are lacking. The lack of assessments at these scales is a critical gap in understanding as conservation and restoration efforts typically work at these levels. A combination of low-cost side-scan sonar surveys, aerial imagery using an unmanned aerial vehicle, and fish collections were used to evaluate the relationship between physicochemical and landscape variables at various spatial scales (e.g. micro-mesohabitat, mesohabitat, channel unit, stream reach) and stream–fish assemblage structure and habitat associations in the South Llano River, a spring-fed second-order stream on the Edwards Plateau in central Texas during 2012–2013. Low-cost side-scan sonar surveys have not typically been used to generate data for riverscape assessments of assemblage structure, thus the secondary objective was to assess the efficacy of this approach. The finest spatial scale (micro-mesohabitat) and the intermediate scale (channel unit) had the greatest explanatory power for variation in fish assemblage structure. Many of the fish endemic to the Edwards Plateau showed similar associations with physicochemical and landscape variables suggesting that conservation and restoration actions targeting a single endemic species may provide benefits to a large proportion of the endemic species in this system. Low-cost side-scan sonar proved to be a cost-effective means of acquiring information on the habitat availability of the entire river length and allowed the assessment of how a full suite of riverscape-level variables influenced local fish assemblage structure. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Aerodynamic characteristics of the Magellan spacecraft in the Venus upper atmosphere

The aerodynamic flight characteristics of the Magellan spacecraft in the Venus atmosphere are computed at a nominal altitude of 140 km over a wide range of incidence angles and roll angles. Computational methods are described that can be used to simulate flowfields in the transition and free-molecule domains over vehicles of arbitrarily complex geometry. Values of the drag, lift, and transverse forces and of the pitch, yaw, and roll moments are given for incidence angles of-60 to 60 deg and roll angles of 0 to 360 deg. Transitional-flow effects are quantified and shown to be small, but not negligible and should be accounted for if high accuracy is required.
The cyber terrorism shadow networks in Africa : AQIM and Boko Haram

Criminals have long leveraged the advances of new and evolving technology for gain or profit. The Internet, and its emerging information communication technologies, are no different. Both have changed the world of unlawful activity, providing it with a global reach that can touch anywhere in the world. Barriers to illegal cyber enterprises are limited only by access to a computer or Internet service. Terrorists have expertly used the forum to train, incite and recruit; and both criminals and terrorists have transitioned activities like money laundering to cyber space. By bypassing other more conventional media, the Internet, or cyber space as it is often called, has become an entirely new forum for cyber activity; activity that is often unconstrained by government censorship or traditional cultural norms.
Microscopic elasticity and rate and state friction evolution laws

[1] Rate and state friction formalism represents the dependence of macroscopic shear traction τM on sliding velocity V and the history of the sliding surface. In macroscopic terms, τM = PN[μ0 + a ln(V/Vref) + b ln(ψ/ψnorm)], where PN is normal traction, μ0 is the coefficient of friction, a ≈ b ≈ 0.01 are small dimensionless parameters, Vref is a reference velocity, ψ is the state variable that depends on history, and ψnorm represents the effect of changes in normal traction. This representation does not consider microscopic elasticity and is inadequate over very small times. The apparent value of a just after a small decrease in shear traction is a factor of a few larger than its traditional value of ∼0.01. Changes of microscopic elastic strain energy may cause this effect. Microscopic elasticity affects friction after changes in normal traction. Shear traction does not change instantly after a sudden change in normal traction because time is required for real contact area to change. A hybrid of the aging law (where ψincreases linearly with time during holds) and the slip law behavior (where the state variable does not change in the limit of zero sliding velocity) is necessary. Slip-law behavior dominates near steady state and also applies to sudden initial sliding where the state variable and porosity are far from steady state. Porosity increases from its initial value toward the steady state value over slip scaling with the critical displacementDc. The ratio of dilatant to shear strain in low porosity material is a modest fraction of 1 and related to the construct of dilatancy angle in engineering.
Effect of amino sugars on catabolite repression in Escherichia coli.

Abstract N-acetylglucosamine was found to be a good repressor source for catabolite repression of the β-galactosidase system in Escherichia coli. It was found capable of increasing the severity of repression by glucose or gluconate when included in the medium with either of these substrates. N-acetylglucosamine was shown to be assimilated under these conditions, but had no effect on culture growth rates. Its influence on catabolite repression was not altered by growth in the presence of inhibiting levels of penicillin. These findings indicated that catabolite repression may be associated with certain reactions of amino sugar metabolism. A working model has been formulated along these lines and will be used to explore this possible relationship further.
Vertical and horizontal land deformation in a desaturating porous medium

Abstract Soil deformation due to the flow of two immiscible fluids can be described by a general three-dimensional deformation field coupled with a three-dimensional hydrologic flow field. The resulting system of equations provides the components of displacement, the pressure and the fluid saturations. The equations governing saturated-unsaturated soil deformation are obtained as a simplified subset of a more general multiphase formulation. These equations can be solved numerically using an iterative Galerkin finite element technique with a weighted implicit finite difference approximation of the time derivative. A mixed stress-displacement formulation of the governing equations provides the flexibility necessary to consider both stress and displacement boundary conditions. The model predicts the commonly ignored horizontal displacements in a variably saturated system undergoing simultaneous desaturation and deformation. This is accomplished using completely coupled stress and pressure fields. The model provides vertical and horizontal displacement and changes in pressure (head) and saturation as a result of fluid withdrawal in a phreatic aquifer.
Effect of Purkinje cell loss on cerebellar gangliosides in nervous mutant mice.

The distribution of cerebellar gangliosides was studied in adult (73 +/- 2 days) nervous (nr/nr) mutant mice which lose 50-90% of their Purkinje cells. This neuronal loss is associated with significant reductions in cerebellar weight and ganglioside concentration. The cerebellar dry weights (mg) and the ganglioside concentrations (microgram N-acetylneuraminic acid per 100 mg dry weight) in nr/nr mice and age-matched normal littermates (+/?) are 7.4 +/- 0.3 mg and 13.2 +/- 0.4 mg; and 411.7 +/- 4.8 micrograms and 438.5 +/- 2.1 micrograms, respectively. Abnormalities were also observed for the concentration of certain ganglioside species. Most notably, GT1a is significantly reduced by 42%, and GD3 is significantly increased by 29% in the nr/nr mice compared to the +/? mice. The nr/nr mice also express a slight but significant reduction in GT1b. No ganglioside abnormalities were observed between the nr/nr and +/? mice in cerebral cortex. We previously found reduced cerebellar GT1a content in other mutants that also lose Purkinje cells, i.e., sg/sg, pcd/pcd, and Lc/+. GT1a is not reduced, however, in wv/wv mice that lose mostly granule cells. The findings in nr/nr mice are therefore consistent with our hypothesis that GT1a is enriched in Purkinje cells. GD1a, which is enriched in mature granule cells, is not reduced in the nr/nr mice.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Toxicity of trimethylselenonium chloride in the rat with and without arsenite.

Abstract Trimethylselenonium chloride (TMSeCl) was submitted to a toxicologic evaluation in rats. The ip LD50 was 49.4 mg Se/kg. In the presence of 4 mg of As/kg injected as arsenite, the LD50 was reduced to 2–3 mg Se/kg. The toxicity of trimethylsulfonium iodide was similar to that for TMSeCl, but arsenite had no effect. To further examine the apparent synergism between arsenite and TMSeCl, the effect of arsenic on the elimination of TMSe-selenium in the breath and in the urine was studied. At different levels of selenium administration, 3–9% was exhaled, and this amount was increased by the injection of arsenite. On the other hand, arsenite injection reduced urinary selenium excretion. It was also found that arsenite and dimethyl selenide (DMSe) were more toxic in combination than when injected individually, but arsenite did not affect the exhalation of Se from DMSe. When TMSeCl was fed, levels above 240 ppm Se were required to reduce growth, and even at a level of 960 ppm Se, no deaths were observed in a 5-wk experimental period. The presence of arsenite in the diet slightly increased the toxicity of the TMSeCl administered in the diet at intermediate levels of selenium.
Prospective use of temperature function integration for predicting the shelf-life of non-frozen poultry-meat products

Abstract Previous studies on the use of temperature function integration as a means of predicting the shelf-life of chilled flesh foods are reviewed and the possible application of this principle to poultry-meat products is discussed. Consideration of those mathematical models which are currently available for predictive purposes suggests that the square root equation of Ratkowsky et al. (1982) is the most appropriate according to tests on 28 sets of spoilage data from 14 published studies on poultry meat covering a temperature range of −2 to +25°C. However, discrepancies remain, particularly at higher ambient temperatures, which are relevant to abuse conditions. Deviations of observed data from the predictive models may be expected because of the apparent assumption that meat spoilage over a wide temperature range is principally a reflection of the temperature effect on growth of a single type of psychrotrophic bacterium (Pseudomonas). In fact, spoilage at higher temperatures would appear to involve other organisms with different growth characteristics as well as a separate effect of temperature on the metabolic activities of the organisms concerned and hence on the production of spoilage metabolites. These possibilities are discussed in the light of available data. Factors apart from temperature which are known to affect the shelf-life of raw poultry products stored aerobically at high relative humidity include the type of muscle present and the initial level of product contamination with spoilage bacteria. The successful application of devices for temperature function integration in the poultry industry would appear to require both carefully standardized tests for product acceptability and rigorous control of spoilage bacteria in the processing plant to reduce existing variation in carcass contamination.
The emotional motivation of righteous behavior

A distinction is made between two types of prosocial behavior: personal-helping and righteous behavior. Past studies suggest that sympathy may motivate personal helping but not righteous behavior. The latter may be better predicted by feelings of moral outrage and existential guilt. An experiment was designed to motivate a piece of righteous behavior, the writing of a political letter to stop the testing of nuclear weapons. A series of premeasures ascertained strength of attitude, sense of efficacy, acceptance of responsibility, and prior antinuclear behavior. Subjects who supported a nuclear freeze were exposed to material advocating a nuclear test ban, a video of a congressional aide who argued for the efficacy of writing letters to congressional representatives, and emotionally arousing material on the bombing of Hiroshima. After answering a questionnaire that included items to measure emotional state, subjects were individually given the opportunity to write a letter as they were waiting to be interviewed. Social pressure was deliberately minimized. Extent of moral outrage predicted both previous behavior and letter-writing behavior during the experiment. It combined with previous behavior and sense of efficacy to predict 56% of the variance in experimental behavior: Neither sympathy nor existential guilt were significantly related to this righteous behavior.
Accuracy of image fusion of normal upper abdominal organs visualized with PET/CT

Although PET/CT scanners have the potential for precise fused registration of structures visualized on both PET and CT, physiological motion during the acquisition of both studies may alter the appearance of organ shape, size or location. The degree of possible mismatch in abdominal organ size and position between PET and CT has not been evaluated. The aim of this study was to assess the consistency in location and measured size of upper abdominal organs with PET and CT using a combined PET/CT system. Forty-six consecutive inpatients who underwent clinical PET/CT scans for suspected cancer were evaluated. CT and PET images attenuation corrected by both CT and germanium-68 transmission scans were obtained, and we separately determined the location of the top and bottom (height), anterior and posterior margins (thickness), and right and left margins (width) for each organ, including liver, spleen, and bilateral kidneys, using CT and both sets of PET images. Differences between the two modalities in terms of location and measured organ size were investigated. In the upper margin of the liver and lower margin of the spleen, more than 10% of the cases showed a larger discrepancy (>20 mm) between CT-based and Ge-corrected PET-based measurements, although the differences in the positions of the edges were less than 10 mm in most cases. The center of the liver tended to be located cephalad and to the right of the body, and that of the spleen tended to be cephalad and posterior on PET, as compared with CT. Moreover, the center of both kidneys tended to be seen cephalad, posterior, and to the right on PET. The liver appeared slightly larger on PET than CT in thickness (CT vs CT-corrected PET vs Ge-corrected PET = 156 mm vs 162 mm vs 162 mm) and width (186 mm vs 189 mm vs 188 mm). By contrast, the spleen appeared slightly smaller on PET than CT in height (84 mm vs 77 mm vs 80 mm) and width (85 mm vs 81 mm vs 80 mm). A similar tendency was observed in the left kidney (105 mm vs 100 mm vs 99 mm in height, and 64 mm vs 59 mm vs 58 mm in width) and the right kidney (99 mm vs 93 mm vs 93 mm in height, and 64 mm vs 59 mm vs 60 mm in width). These differences between the two modalities were statistically significant (P<0.05). In conclusion, minor mismatches in location and organ size were found to exist between CT and PET images, in part due to physiological motion. Although these differences could potentially affect the quality of the image registrations, they were generally of a modest nature.