cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Adoptive cell therapy of prostate cancer using female mice-derived T cells that react with prostate antigens

In this study, we report a novel treatment strategy that could potentially be used to improve efficacy of adoptive cell therapy for patients with prostate cancer. We show that female C57BL/6 mice are able to effectively reject two syngeneic prostate tumors (TRAMP-C2 and RM1) in a T cell-dependent manner. The protective antitumor immunity appears to primarily involve T cell responses reactive against general prostate tumor/tissue antigens, rather than simply to male-specific H-Y antigen. For the first time we show that adoptive transfer of lymphocytes from TRAMP-C2-primed or naive female mice effectively control prostate tumor growth in male mice, when combined with host pre-conditioning (i.e., non-myeloablative lymphodepletion) and IL-2 administration. No pathological autoimmune response was observed in the treated tumor-bearing male mice. Our studies provide new insights regarding the immune-mediated recognition of male-specific tissue, such as the prostate, and may offer new immunotherapy treatment strategies for advanced prostate cancer.
Space-variant processing of 1-D signals.

Two general schemes for 1-D space-variant processing are proposed. The direct output display scheme gives the space-variant system output along a line in the processor’s output plane. The output spectrum display scheme directly computes the space-variant system’s output spectrum. Both of these schemes utilize a 1-D input and a line spread function mask. Example applications and experimental results are also presented.
A note on the asymptotically optimal bandwidth for Nadaraya's quantile estimator

Let F(x) be a distribution function and let ξp denote the pth quantile for 0 < p < 1. In this note Nadaraya's estimator of ξp is considered. It is shown that the bandwidth h0 = C(k, f, K, p)n-1(2k − 1) for k ⩾ 2 is asymptotically optimal in the sense that [ξp(n, h0) − ξp]2/infh[ξp(n, h) − ξp]2 → 1 in probability as n → ∞, where ξp(n, h) denotes the estimator depending on the sample size n and the bandwidth h and C(k, f, K, p) is a constant depending on k, p, the density function f of F, and the kernel function K. When k = 2, this optimal bandwidth is identical to that obtained by Azzalini (1981) for the mean squared error criterion and is of the order n-13, which is different from the optimal bandwidth (in the mean squared error sense) for the kernel estimator of the density function.
Effect of (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acidson cytokine production and their biologic function

Cytokines are important biologic mediators with tightly regulated production. Overproduction contributes to pathogenesis of acute and chronic inflammatory, autoimmune, atherosclerotic, and neoplastic diseases. Animal and human studies have shown that production of cytokines can be reduced by long-chain (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). This, in turn, results in reduction of the severity of certain autoimmune, inflammatory, and atherosclerotic diseases and reduces cytokine-induced anorexia. Because these cytokines are also involved in control of the host defense, substantial reduction in their production could impair normal immune response. In addition, increased intake of (n-3) PUFAs without adequate antioxidant protection could result in increased free radical formation and lipid peroxidation, leading to a reduction in T cell-mediated function, natural killer cell activity, and macrophage cytotoxicity. These risks associated with the intake of (n-3) PUFAs may be minimized without compromising its beneficial effects by the intake of appropriate levels of antioxidants such as vitamin E.
Biased decoy sampling to aid the selection of near-native protein conformations

A central challenge in ab-initio protein structure prediction is the selection of low-resolution decoy conformations whose subsequent refinement leads to high-resolution near-native conformations. Successful selection strategies are tightly coupled with the exploration method employed to obtain decoys. Density-based clustering is often used to identify regions of the energy surface that are highly sampled by exploration trajectories. The trajectories are often numerous and long, because the goal is to obtain both a broad view of the energy surface and to converge to regions that are promising for further refinement. In this paper we separate this into two subgoals. We first investigate a robotics-inspired exploration framework and demonstrate its ability to steer sampling towards diverse decoy conformations. Once a broad view of the energy surface is obtained, Metropolis Monte Carlo trajectories continue the exploration from selected decoys. Density-based clustering then identifies regions where trajectories converge. The two exploration stages both employ molecular fragment replacement but gradually add more detail through different fragment lengths. Results on a diverse list of proteins show that highly-sampled regions contain near-native conformations that are worthy of further refinement for use in a blind prediction setting.
Argon Diffusion and Absorption Studies of Pyroxenes from the Stillwater Complex, Montana

Diffusion of argon from two bronzite pyroxenes from the Ultramafic Zone of the Stillwater complex, Montana, has been measured by both a stepwise heating Ar release process and long term isothermal heating. Both pyroxenes contained excess Ar40. This amounted to at least 88% of the total radiogenic Ar40 in the minerals. The Ar release occurred by at least two mechanisms, and possibly a third. One of the most important, quantitatively, occurs between 600° and 1000° C and has an activation energy in excess of 72 kcal/gm-atom Ar. A second occurs above 1000° C. A small, but possibly significant, loss occurs rapidly below 600° C. Both of the major Ar release processes yield some excess Ar, and there is no single temperature range or mechanism which can be assigned unambiguously to the in-situ produced radiogenic Ar. Consequently, no K-Ar age can be obtained which gives the true age unambiguously.
Accurate fault prediction of BlueGene/P RAS logs via geometric reduction

This investigation presents two distinct and novel approaches for the prediction of system failures occurring in Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Blue Gene/P supercomputer. Each technique uses raw numeric and textual subsets of large data logs of physical system information such as fan speeds and CPU temperatures. This data is used to develop models of the system capable of sensing anomalies, or deviations from nominal behavior. Each algorithm predicted event log reported anomalies in advance of their occurrence and one algorithm did so without false positives. Both algorithms predicted an anomaly that did not appear in the event log. It was later learned that the fault missing from the log but predicted by both algorithms was confirmed to have occurred by the system administrator.
Temperature- and pH-Induced Multiple Partially Unfolded States of Recombinant Human Interferon-α2a: Possible Implications in Protein Stability

Purpose. To study the effect of solution conditions on the structural conformation of recombinant human interferon-α2a (IFNα2a) to investigate its tendency to form partially unfolded intermediates.
Power quality index meter

The increased sensitivity of power electronics equipment results in high susceptibility of industrial customers to short term voltage variations such as sags and swells. Many utilities are publishing power quality index values to indicate overall quality of their distribution systems. In this study, a real time Power Quality Index Meter that combines the detection of disturbances and the calculation of required power quality indices is proposed. The real time index metering eliminates the need for extended memory and greatly reduces subsequent data processing efforts.
Locational Patterns and Dynamics of Industrial Activity in the Modern Metropolis

This paper attempts to review and re-structure a mass of published ideas on the geography of industrial activity in the modern metropolis. The argument proceeds in a series of stages. First, some basic locational factors in the city are examined. Second, a critical discussion of the literature on economies of agglomeration and scale in cities is undertaken. Third, a brief description of manufacturing activity in nineteenth-century cities is provided by way of motivating and orientating the succeeding discussion. Fourth, the phenomenon of industrial decentralisation in twentieth-century cities is described. Fifth, an attempt is made to construct a composite theory of intra-metropolitan industrial location on the basis of the historical process of the substitution of capital for labour in capitalist commodity production. Sixth, a schematic re-statement of the theory is presented, and its implications for the spatial-cum-organisational evolution of modern industry are elucidated. Seventh, some of the main po...
Visual analysis of evolutionary algorithms

The non-linear complexity of evolutionary algorithms (EAs) make them a challenge to understand. The difficulty in performing detailed analyses of an EA is in sorting through the large amount of of data that can be generated in a single run. This paper describes a visualization tool that facilitates navigation through the details of an EA run. The visualization tool organizes and displays EA data at various levels of detail and allows for easy transitions between related pieces of data.
Fungal Phospholipase Activity and Susceptibility to Lipid Preparations of Amphotericin B

It has been postulated that phospholipases of fungal origin can affect in vitro susceptibility testing of amphotericin B lipid complex (ABLC). We used specific phospholipase-deficient mutants of Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans in susceptibility testing and demonstrated that extracellular fungal phospholipase activity does not influence the in vitro susceptibilities of these two fungi to ABLC.
Cell-free DNA: measurement in various carcinomas and establishment of normal reference range

Abstract Background: Cell-free DNA is detectable in circulating blood. Numerous reports in the literature have pointed out that cell-free DNA in plasma or serum has the clinical potential to be a more specific tumor marker for the diagnosis and prognosis, as well as the early detection, of cancer. Methods: In order to adapt cell-free DNA to a routine clinical laboratory test, we used commercial kits such as the QIAamp blood kit for DNA extraction and the PicoGreen DNA kit for DNA quantification. This was done so our results and the normal reference value established would allow to be compared by other laboratories. We have established the normal reference level of cell-free DNA for females and males from age 20–70 years. We also detected elevated cell-free DNA in all cancers that were tested in this study, including carcinomas, leukemia and lymphoma. Results: Our study indicates that the elevation of serum cell-free DNA was usually detected in specimens containing elevated tumor markers and is most likely associated with tumor metastases. The electrophoretic pattern of cell-free DNA showed that cell-free DNA from cancer patient is fragmented, containing smaller DNA (100 bp) not found in normal cell-free DNA. Conclusions: Measuring cell-free DNA may complement currently used tumor markers for the management of cancer patients.
AMPHIDINIUM CRYOPHILUM SP. NOV. (DINOPHYCEAE) A NEW FRESHWATER DINOFLAGELLATE. II. ULTRASTRUCTURE1

The dinoflagellate Amphidinium cryophilum sp. nov. is one of the few gymnodinians to be studied at the ultrastructural level. It resembles other dinoflagellates in the structure of the nucleus, trichocysts, storage materials, flagella, mitochondria, and microbodies. Other features of A. cryophilum less commonly observed in related organisms include a network of small interconnected vesicles, a system of large, peripheral vacuoles, chloroplasts bound by two rather than three membranes, an accumulation body, thylakoid-associated plastoglobuli, a vesiculated nuclear envelope, a complex tubular pusule, striated flagellar collars, collared pits, and a peduncle. The occurrence of a peduncle, a structure implicated in phagotrophy, in this autotrophic organism is noteworthy. The ultrastructure of the peduncle of A. cryophilum differs significantly from that reported in another dinoflagellate.
Back pain and spinal cord compression: An uncommon presentation of childhood acute myeloid leukemia

Back pain is often reported in children undergoing cancer treatment, but is not typically a presenting symptom. Spinal cord compression secondary to myeloid sarcoma (chloroma) has been described, although is rare in children. We describe a 10-year-old child who presented with thoracic back pain, which progressed quickly to complete paraplegia prior to the diagnosis of myeloid leukemia. Neuroimaging demonstrated an extradural mass at level T6 to T10, requiring emergent laminectomy and posterior decompression. Histopathology of this lesion was consistent with myeloid sarcoma while peripheral blood and bone marrow examination documented acute myeloid leukemia. He underwent treatment with multiagent chemotherapy and remains in remission. Increased recognition of ominous symptoms that suggest underlying pathology or signs of cord compression will lead to earlier diagnosis and, ultimately, minimize neurol ogic morbidity.
Stock vs. stock-warrant units: evidence from seasoned offerings

Abstract Recent theories based on sequential financing and information signaling reveal a special role for warrants. Data from initial public offerings (IPOs) of stock-warrant units have been used to test the theories, and we extend the analysis to seasoned offerings. Consistent with predictions from both families of theories, we find that issues made by smaller and younger firms are more likely to involve stock-warrant units, and firms with greater stock price volatility are more likely to issue units in seasoned offerings. Moreover, firms with relatively high levels of long-term debt, and those whose issues are underwritten by less prestigious underwriters are more likely to employ stock-warrant unit financing. Consistent with information signaling, we find that firms with high managerial ownership are more likely to issue units. Firms that include warrants in their stock offerings are predicted to have experienced higher abnormal stock returns than if they had issued shares alone. Thus, consistent with both theoretical explanations, some firms can reduce capital costs by adding warrants to shares in seasoned offerings.
Role of light and jasmonic acid signaling in regulating foliar phloem cell wall ingrowth development

Phloem cells adjacent to sieve elements can possess wall invaginations. The role of light and jasmonic acid signaling in wall ingrowth development was examined in pea companion cells (CCs), Arabidopsis thaliana phloem parenchyma cells (PCs), and in Senecio vulgaris (with ingrowths in both cell types). Features characterized included wall ingrowths (from electron microscopic images), foliar vein density and photosynthetic capacity. In Arabidopsis, wall ingrowths were bulky compared with finger-like invaginations in pea and S. vulgaris. Relative to low light (LL), wall invagination in both CCs and PCs was greater in high light (HL). Treatment with methyl jasmonate in LL had no effect on CCs, but increased PC wall ingrowths. LL-to-HL transfer resulted in significantly less wall ingrowth in the fad7-1 fad8-1 (jasmonate-deficient) Arabidopsis mutant relative to the wild type. These results suggest that chloroplast oxidative status, via chloroplast-derived jasmonates, may modulate phloem structure and function. While CC wall ingrowths facilitate phloem loading by expanding the membrane area available for active uptake, one can speculate that phloem PC ingrowths may have two potential roles: to increase the efflux of sugars and/or protons into the apoplast to augment phloem loading; and/or to protect the phloem against pathogens and/or insects.
Subjective Control and Health Among Mexican-Origin Elders in Mexico and the United States: Structural Considerations in Comparative Research

Objectives. This study examines the joint impact of psychological and structural factors on Mexican and Mexican American elders ’ sense of personal control over important aspects of their lives and health in Mexico and the United States. Methods. We employ the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) and the Hispanic Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (H-EPESE) to explore patterns of association among structural factors, personal characteristics, indicators of material and physical vulnerability, and expressed locus of control. Results. The results suggest that an older individual’s sense of personal control over important aspects of his or her life, including health, refl ects real material and social resources in addition to individual predispositions. In Mexico, only the most privileged segment of the population has health insurance, and coverage increases one’s sense of personal control. In the United States, on the other hand, Medicare guarantees basic coverage to the vast majority of Mexican Americans over 65, reducing its impact on one’s sense of control. Discussion. Psychological characteristics affect older individuals ’ sense of personal control over aspects of their health, but the effects are mediated by the economic and health services context in which they are expressed.
Quantitation of Inflammatory Responses to Bacteria in Young Cystic Fibrosis and Control Patients

Recent studies suggest that inflammation plays a role in the pathogenesis of lung disease in cystic fibrosis (CF). The goal of the present study was to quantitatively compare bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) inflammation and its relation to bacterial infection, between children with CF and children with other chronic respiratory problems. Differential cell counts, immunoreactive interleukin 8 (IL-8), and quantitative bacterial cultures were done in BALF from 54 CF (median age 1.8 yr) and 55 control patients (median age 1.0 yr) who underwent bronchoscopy for clinical indications. Among infected CF patients, those with Pseudomonas aeruginosa did not have more inflammation than those without P. aeruginosa. The ratio of neutrophils or of IL-8 to bacteria in BALF was significantly greater for CF patients compared with control subjects, regardless of pathogen. Calculation of linear regression for either neutrophils or IL-8, as a function of bacterial quantity, yielded positive slopes for both CF and control patients, but with significant elevations for CF. We conclude that the inflammatory response to bacterial infection is increased or prolonged in CF compared with control patients, and that this increase is not necessarily due to pathogens specific for CF (e.g., P. aeruginosa). These data may provide further rationale for anti-inflammatory therapy early in CF.
Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) modulates odorant responses in the peripheral olfactory system of axolotls.

Peripheral signal modulation plays an important role in sensory processing. Activity in the vertebrate olfactory epithelium may be modulated by peptides released from the terminal nerve, such as go...
A Newton Acceleration of the Weiszfeld Algorithm for Minimizing the Sum of Euclidean Distances

The Weiszfeld algorithm for continuous location problems can be considered as an iteratively reweighted least squares method. It generally exhibits linear convergence. In this paper, a Newton algorithm with similar simplicity is proposed to solve a continuous multifacility location problem with the Euclidean distance measure. Similar to the Weiszfeld algorithm, the main computation can be solving a weighted least squares problem at each iteration. A Cholesky factorization of a symmetric positive definite band matrix, typically with a small band width (e.g., a band width of two for a Euclidean location problem on a plane) is performed. This new algorithm can be regarded as a Newton acceleration to the Weiszfeld algorithm with fast global and local convergence. The simplicity and efficiency of the proposed algorithm makes it particularly suitable for large-scale Euclidean location problems and parallel implementation. Computational experience suggests that the proposed algorithm often performs well in the absence of the linear independence or strict complementarity assumption. In addition, the proposed algorithm is proven to be globally convergent under similar assumptions for the Weiszfeld algorithm. Although local convergence analysis is still under investigation, computation results suggest that it is typically superlinearly convergent.
Response of plasma insulin and growth hormone to carbohydrate and protein feeding

Abstract Twelve male patients were fed diets of glucose, protein, starch and combinations of protein with either glucose or starch. Protein was a weak stimulus to insulin production compared to carbohydrate, which is a powerful insulin secretagogue. Combination feedings led to a synergistic effect on insulin secretion. Protein caused a greater plasma insulin response in the two patients with maturity-onset diabetes than it did in non-diabetic subjects. Protein feeding led to a rise in plasma HGH at the 2nd to the 4th hour. After glucose or starch there was a rise in plasma HGH at the 4th–5th hour following an initial suppression. HGH responses were blunted when combinations of carbohydrate and protein were fed. These interrelationships are discussed.
Adoption of No-Tillage Practices, Other Conservation-Tillage Practices and Herbicide- Resistant Cotton Seed, and Their Synergistic Environmental Impacts

If adoption of herbicide-resistant seed and adoption of conservation-tillage practices are determined simultaneously, adoption of herbicide-resistant seed could indirectly reduce soil erosion and adoption of conservation-tillage practices could indirectly reduce residual herbicide use and increase farm profits. Our objective was to evaluate the relationship between these technologies for Tennessee cotton production. Evidence from simultaneous estimation of a trinomial logit model for adoption of no-tillage, other conservation-tillage, and conventional-tillage practices and a binomial logit model for adoption of herbicide-resistant and conventional cotton seed suggests a simultaneous relationship. The elasticity for acreage in herbicide-resistant seed with respect to the probability of adopting conservation-tillage practices was 3.98. The elasticities for acreages in no-tillage practices and other conservation-tillage practices with respect to the probability of adopting herbicide-resistant cotton seed were 0.34 and 0.10, respectively. Adoption of herbicide-resistant cotton seed in Tennessee reduced soil erosion by 9.2 million tons through its effects on adoption of conservation-tillage practices. By 2004, increases in adoption of conservation-tillage practices increased adoption of herbicide-resistant cotton seed by 445 thousand acres, substituting non-residual herbicides for residual herbicides on those cotton acres.
The Domestic Politics of Preferential Trade Agreements in Hard Times

We present a theory of why some countries negotiate trade agreements during economic downturns. We argue that political leaders can gain from such agreements because of the signals they send to their publics. Publics are less likely to blame leaders for bad economic conditions when they have implemented sound economic policies, such as signing and implementing agreements designed to liberalize and expand trade. Leaders have particular reason to seek this type of insurance if they compete for office in a competitive political environment. The more democratic their political system is, the more they can gain from implementing trade agreements. We evaluate this argument by analyzing all preferential trade agreements (PTAs) ratified by countries since 1951. We find that democratic countries are especially likely to ratify PTAs during hard economic times.
Letter in response to: "Stimulant-induced hyperthermia and ice-water submersion: practical considerations".

Sir,We appreciate Drs. Richards’ and Colby’s comments and will address each of their concerns to clarify our advocacy of a technique that has been a standard approach to hyperthermia for over 30 ye...
The Treatment of Syphilis in Pregnancy by the Five-Day Massive Dose Method*

Summary Twenty-seven pregnant women with syphilis were treated by the five-day massive dose method of chemotherapy. In the majority of these cases a modified technique was used in which both arsenic and bismuth were administered concurrently during the five-day period. The treatment was well tolerated by both mother and fetus regardless of the stage of the pregnancy or the duration of the syphilis, whether primary, secondary or latent. In no instance was there encountered a severe reaction or interference with the pregnancy. Of the twenty-seven cases, one was lost from observation; twenty-five have resulted in the birth of full-term, normal infants; and one syphilitic infant was born of a mother who apparently had acquired a second infection while the infant was still in utero. In addition to this group, five other patients who had been treated for early syphilis by the massive dose method later became pregnant and gave birth to normally developed seronegative infants although further antisyphilitic treatment was purposely withheld from the mothers. The results of the treatment upon the mothers' syphilis wore similar to results obtained in nonpregnant patients treated by the same method for similar types of syphilis.
Characterization of the Life Cycle of a Fish Eye Fluke, Austrodiplostomum ostrowskiae (Digenea: Diplostomidae), with Notes on Two Other Diplostomids Infecting Biomphalaria havanensis (Mollusca: Planorbidae) from Catfish Aquaculture Ponds in Mississippi, USA

Ocular diplostomiasis is caused by trematode species in the family Diplostomidae, specifically those in the genera Austrodiplostomum, Diplostomum, and Tylodelphys. Diplostomid trematodes are globally distributed parasites of fish. Heavy infections of diplostomids that parasitize the eyes of fish can result in acute mortality while chronic infections are often characterized by impaired vision or blindness. In the southeastern United States, commercial catfish production is threatened by piscivorous birds and the many trematode species that parasitize them. The life cycles typically involve a piscivorous avian definitive host, a mollusk first intermediate host, and a fish second intermediate host. A survey of parasites infecting the snail host Biomphalaria havanensis (= B. obstructa ) in catfish production ponds was undertaken. Snails were collected from 2 separate ponds during the summer of 2014 and observed for the release of trematode cercariae. A total of 1,740 snails were collected. Three distinct longifurcate pharyngeate cercariae were observed and these cercariae were characterized morphologically and molecularly. Sequencing of ∼4,200 base pairs (bp) of the nuclear ribosomal genes and ∼450 bp of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase gene revealed 3 genetically distinct species. One morphotype shared 99-100% sequence identity with metacercariae from the aqueous and vitreous humors of gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum and channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus as well as an adult trematode, Austrodiplostomum ostrowskiae, a parasite of the double-crested cormorant Nannopterum auritus. The remaining 2 cercariae morphotypes shared 99-100% sequence identity with an unidentified Tylodelphys sp. and Austrodiplostomum sp. metacercaria from the brain and eyes of several freshwater fish. Herein we molecularly link the cercaria, metacercaria, and adult stage of the life cycle of A. ostrowskiae, identifying the snail host for this parasite, in addition to providing notes on 2 cercariae representing 2 other diplostomids.
Prenatal stress and newborn telomere length

Background The developmental origin of the health and disease hypothesis is based on the premise that many chronic diseases have their roots in fetal development. Specifically, maternal stress during pregnancy is associated with altered fetal development and many adverse long-term health outcomes. Although the mechanisms underlying this effect are currently unclear, at the cellular level 1 possible mediator is the regulation of telomere length. Telomere dynamics appear to play a role in disease progression, and an adverse intrauterine environment may contribute in the establishment of short telomeres in newborns. In accordance with this, it was recently reported that prenatal stress is significantly associated with shorter mean newborn telomere length. However, this finding has yet to be replicated, and currently we know nothing about whether different size classes of telomeres within the telomere length distribution are differentially affected by prenatal stress. Examining telomere length frequency distributions is important, because the shortest telomeres in the distribution appear to be the most indicative of telomere dysfunction and thus the best predictors of mortality and morbidity in humans. Objective We investigated the effects of intrauterine exposure to maternal stress over the whole course of gestation on newborn mean telomere length and telomere length frequency distributions. Study Design We conducted a prospective cohort study of 24 mother–newborn dyads at an urban teaching hospital. Pregnant women with nonanomalous, uncomplicated pregnancies were recruited and assessed in the third trimester of gestation. Maternal psychosocial stress was quantified using the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale and categorized as high stress (≥300 points) or low stress (≤299 points) exposure. Newborn telomere length was measured from cord blood at delivery using the Telomere Restriction Fragment assay. Results We found a significant negative association between maternal stress and newborn telomere length (β = −0.463, P = 0.04). Newborns whose mothers experienced a high level of stress during pregnancy had significantly shorter telomere length (6.98 ± 0.41 kb) compared to newborns of mothers with low stress (8.74 ± 0.24 kb; t = −3.99, P = .003). Moreover, the difference in newborn telomere length between high-stress and low-stress mothers was due to a shift in the telomere length distribution, with the high-stress group showing an underrepresentation of longer telomeres and an over-representation of shorter telomeres. Conclusion Our findings replicate those of other recent studies and also show, for the first time, that the prenatal stress−associated difference in newborn mean telomere length is due to a shift in the overall telomere distribution.
Modeling deep soil properties on California grassland hillslopes using LiDAR digital elevation models

Abstract Topography strongly regulates soil formation at the hillslope scale through its effects on sediment redistribution and biological activities. Spatially explicit land surface parameters (LSPs) such as slope and curvature hold potential for modeling the resulting soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) distributions, but their representation of deep soil profiles remains largely unexplored. In this study we examine relationships between deep soil profile C and N stocks and LSPs derived from a fine-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) on prototypical rolling hillslope catenas. Consistent with other studies we found that soil thickness was the primary controller of soil organic C and N stocks and was best predicted by mean curvature. Specifically, subsoil thickness, instead of A horizon thickness, explained variability of soil C and N on hillslopes. In addition, our results suggest that, along ridge to toeslope catenas, the processes mediating soil C and N distribution varied from convex to concave positions. Convex ridge positions appeared to favor processes that enrich soil profiles with high C and N concentrations despite their drier position, while concave hollow and toeslope positions favored cumulic processes, despite their conceptually moister conditions in which enrichment processes would be favored. Our data also point to slope aspect as a weak but potentially geomorphically important covariate in modeling soil thickness and C and N stocks using LSPs. Overall, LSPs of curvature and aspect explained 51% of the variability in soil thickness, while curvature and aspect explained 50% of the variability in soil organic C stocks. Our results suggest that diffusive sediment transportation likely exerts a first-order control on soil thickness and soil organic C and N stocks in many semi-arid landscapes. Our data also highlight the importance of subsoil in mapping soil C and N stocks and other soil properties. Quantitative modeling of soil C and N as in our study supports examination of additional ecosystem properties at fine spatial scales.
Diffeomorphism groups, pseudodifferential operators and r-matrices

We show a relation between the diffeomorphism group and the group of Fourier integral operators on a manifold M. For the corresponding relation on the Lie algebra level between vector fields and pseudodifferential operators we compute an r-matrix, which satisfies the modified Yang-Baxter equation, and determine the corresponding Poisson-Nijenhuis structure.
The Legal Basis for the Tamil Eelam Freedom Charter

The Tamils living on the Island have the right to self-determination under international law and practice, including the right to establish their own independent state if they so desire. And the fact that the Tamils living on the Island have been victims of genocide only strengthens and reinforces their right to self-determination, including establishing their own independent State if that is their desire.
Measles Outbreak in a Child Care Center, Cook County, Illinois, 2015

Background During January-February 2015, Cook County Department of Public Health led an investigation of a measles outbreak predominantly affecting infants at a child care center who were too young for routine immunization with measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. Methods Measles cases and contacts were investigated by Illinois public health officials. Cases were isolated for 4 days after rash onset. Exposed healthcare workers and child care center staff were required to provide documentation of receipt of 2 doses of MMR vaccine or laboratory evidence of immunity to return to work. Susceptible contacts were actively monitored for 21 days after exposure and provided postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) if certain criteria were met. Results Fifteen confirmed measles cases were identified; 12 (80%) occurred in infants who were attendees of a child care center. Clinical misdiagnosis of 1 case allowed for continued transmission within the center. Twelve (86%) of 14 exposed infants at the child care center were diagnosed with measles; no other attendees or staff were infected. Five cases visited outpatient pediatric clinics during their infectious period, exposing 33 infants. Six exposed child care center staff and 3 healthcare workers did not have documentation of immunity available and were excluded from work until this was obtained. No healthcare-associated transmission was identified. Ninety-one contacts were actively monitored and 20 received PEP. Conclusions This outbreak underscores the vulnerability of infants to measles, the need for early consideration of measles in susceptible patients presenting with a febrile rash illness, and the importance of immunity among individuals working closely with infants.
Parameter Sensitivities to Damage Progression in Structures

Variations in the natural frequency and damping coefficients with cyclic fatigue testing in steel and composite beams carrying a lumped mass are assessed. The identification of these parameters is performed by exploiting the nonlinear behavior of the beam-mass system and matching an approximate solution of the representative model with quantities obtained from spectral analysis of measured vibrations. Percentage variations of the identified parameters during the tests and up to the point where cracks were observed are determined. The results show that the damping is more sensitive to damage progression than the natural frequency.© 2009 ASME
Comparison of Turbulent Thermal Diffusivity and Scalar Variance Models

In this study, several variable turbulent Prandtl number formulations are examined for boundary layers, pipe flow, and axisymmetric jets. The model formulations include simple algebraic relations between the thermal diffusivity and turbulent viscosity as well as more complex models that solve transport equations for the thermal variance and its dissipation rate. Results are compared with available data for wall heat transfer and profile measurements of mean temperature, the root-mean-square (RMS) fluctuating temperature, turbulent heat flux and turbulent Prandtl number. For wall-bounded problems, the algebraic models are found to best predict the rise in turbulent Prandtl number near the wall as well as the log-layer temperature profile, while the thermal variance models provide a good representation of the RMS temperature fluctuations. In jet flows, the algebraic models provide no benefit over a constant turbulent Prandtl number approach. Application of the thermal variance models finds that some significantly overpredict the temperature variance in the plume and most underpredict the thermal growth rate of the jet. The models yield very similar fluctuating temperature intensities in jets from straight pipes and smooth contraction nozzles, in contrast to data that indicate the latter should have noticeably higher values. For the particular low subsonic heated jet cases examined, changes in the turbulent Prandtl number had no effect on the centerline velocity decay.
Online Identification of Dominant Characteristic Modes of Small Signal Disturbance and Selection of Strong Correlative Units

The source and development of online computation methods of power system small signal stability as well as the common used mathematical model of generators and eigenvalue analysis method are introduced.On this basis, according to eigenroot and damping ratio, the identification procedures of dominant oscillation modes for small signal disturbance analysis and the selection algorithm for strong correlative units under dominant characteristic modes are proposed, and the termination condition of the proposed algorithm is given.The phase characteristics of oscillation modes are analyzed in depth and used in the clustering of strong correlative units.A concept of clustering coefficient of correlation factor and its meaning are put forward.The proposed method is verified by two calculation examples.
Atmospheric Corrosion Behavior of Cu /Al Plane Contact Type Terminal Connectors

In order to evaluate the service condition of Cu /Al terminal connector under industrial air pollution environment,the NaCl + NaHSO 3 salt fog spray experiment was carried out to study the atmospheric corrosion behavior of the Cu / Al terminal connector,and the effect of the atmospheric corrosion on the electrical properties of the terminal connector was investigated. The results show that the corrosion products of the terminal connector are mainly composed of Al,Sn and Pb sulfates and water-soluble chlorides. In the initial stage of corrosion,pitting corrosion takes place on the Al oxide film at the Al / Sn-Pb solder interface due to Cl-ions. In the late stage of corrosion,uniform corrosion takes place on the both sides of the Al / Sn-Pb solder interface due to the HSO 3-ions,which even results in the fracture of the terminal connector along the Al / SnPb alloy interface,as the corrosion time increased. Moreover,the electrical resistivity of the Cu / Al terminal connector increases slowly in the initial corrosion stage and increases rapidly when the corrosion time is increased more than 2 days. These research results have reference significance to the operation management of the Cu / Al terminal connectors.
Arthroscopy of the distal radioulnar joint

SUMMARY Arthroscopy of the distal radioulnar joint is challenging. Its indications are evolving. When the experienced hand surgeon believes that the procedure is justified, unusual discoveries may be made. Patients with distal radioulnar joint pain who remain a diagnostic challenge before arthroscopy may sometimes be helped by the results of arthroscopy of this small joint.
On the Asymptotic Abelian Complexity of Morphic Words

The subword complexity of an infinite word counts the number of subwords of a given length, while the abelian complexity counts this number up to letter permutation. Although a lot of research has been done on the subword complexity of morphic words, i.e., words obtained as fixed points of iterated morphisms, little is known on their abelian complexity. In this paper, we undertake the classification of the asymptotic growths of the abelian complexities of fixed points of binary morphisms. Some general results we obtain stem from the concept of factorization of morphisms. We give an algorithm that yields all canonical factorizations of a given morphism, describe how to use it to check quickly whether a binary morphism is Sturmian, discuss how to fully factorize the Parry morphisms, and finally derive a complete classification of the abelian complexities of fixed points of uniform binary morphisms.
Buffered Tc-99m sulfur colloid substantially reduces the pain of lymphoscintigraphy injections

2028 Objectives: Lymphoscintigraphy involves the injection of Tc-99m sulfur colloid (SC) at multiple sites. Injection protocols vary between institutions, but 8 injections for breast cancer patients or 4 injections for melanoma patients are not uncommon. These injections can be quite painful, which may be related to the acidity of the SC. Almost all patients at our institution have reported some level of discomfort. We have therefore developed a protocol for buffering the SC to derease the acidity of the injectate and therefore the pain of the injections. Methods: 4% Sodium bicarbonate (Neut) was used as the buffering agent. We tested a range of dilutions: (1) 0.1 ml of Neut was added to a vial containing 0.9 ml of SC with a total activity of 2.2mCi resulting in a pH of 7.5. The stability of three doses of the SC were checked over a 10 hour period. (2) A second dilution of 0.4 ml of Neut and 0.9 ml of SC with a total activity of 2.2mCi resulted in a pH of 8.5. Three doses of the buffered SC were tested for stability. Results: The pH of the buffered SC was considerably changed from an initial pH of 6.0 to as high as 8.5. The stability of the SC was never less than 90% over 10 hours of testing. While we did not obtain pre- and post-buffering questionnaires, it has been clear to the technologists and physicians at our institution that the SC injections are much better tolerated by our patients since we have buffered the injectate. Pain levels have decreased substantially, with very mild pain reported only occasionally. The reported pain is now more often associated with site sensitivity rather than the sting of the injection. Conclusions: Buffering SC to a neutral pH does not compromise the quality of the radiopharmaceutical and substantially reduces the pain involved in lymphoscintigraphy injections.
Multiscale implementation of infinite-swap replica exchange molecular dynamics

Replica exchange molecular dynamics (REMD) is a popular method to accelerate conformational sampling of complex molecular systems. The idea is to run several replicas of the system in parallel at different temperatures that are swapped periodically. These swaps are typically attempted every few MD steps and accepted or rejected according to a Metropolis–Hastings criterion. This guarantees that the joint distribution of the composite system of replicas is the normalized sum of the symmetrized product of the canonical distributions of these replicas at the different temperatures. Here we propose a different implementation of REMD in which ( i ) the swaps obey a continuous-time Markov jump process implemented via Gillespie’s stochastic simulation algorithm (SSA), which also samples exactly the aforementioned joint distribution and has the advantage of being rejection free, and ( ii ) this REMD-SSA is combined with the heterogeneous multiscale method to accelerate the rate of the swaps and reach the so-called infinite-swap limit that is known to optimize sampling efficiency. The method is easy to implement and can be trivially parallelized. Here we illustrate its accuracy and efficiency on the examples of alanine dipeptide in vacuum and C-terminal β-hairpin of protein G in explicit solvent. In this latter example, our results indicate that the landscape of the protein is a triple funnel with two folded structures and one misfolded structure that are stabilized by H-bonds.
Exploring the two trigger fingers thesis: racial and ethnic differences in officer involved shootings

AbstractThis article provides a comparative, qualitative and quantitative, analysis of officer-involved shootings of residents who were white, black, or Latino in the City and County of Denver, Colorado from 1983 to 2012. This research project combined district attorney summaries, police shooting files, and police shooting video interviews to understand the patterns involving 213 officer-involved shootings resulting in 103 deaths. Thematically, the differences by race and ethnicity are outlined by three themes including (1) suspect characteristics, (2) officer characteristics, and (3) contextual factors. The findings highlight similarities and differences between incident narratives and compare these observations with aggregated statistics to explore whether law enforcement officers possess one trigger finger for whites and another for blacks and Latinos. This comprehensive analysis of racial and ethnic differences in officer-involved shootings indicates the intersectionality of suspect and officer charac...
ACUTE AORTIC REGURGITATION POST-TRANSCATHETER AORTIC VALVE REPLACEMENT: IMPACT OF VARIOUS TREATMENT STRATEGIES

Background: Balloon post-dilatation and a second device deployment are used to reduce residual aortic regurgitation (rAR) post transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). We aimed to evaluate success and complications of these strategies and to assess their impact on outcome. Methods: Patients
Formulation and Treatment of Chronic Suicidality in Patients with Developmental Trauma

Although the psychodynamic literature has examined some of the links between developmental trauma and suicidal thinking and behavior, much of this scholarship focuses on the management of chronic suicidality in the treatment of patients with borderline personality disorder. In this paper, we examine the relationship between complex trauma and the broad spectrum of chronic self-destructive thoughts and behaviors commonly seen in clinical practice. We incorporate perspectives from psychodynamic theory with an emphasis on attachment theory in our understanding of the underlying mechanisms involved. We describe how we use this developmental understanding to address chronic suicidality in ongoing clinical treatment beyond management and safety planning, by providing psychoeducational, cognitive, behavioral and affect-focused strategies that serve to enhance the treatment alliance.