cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Differential Survival and the Effects of Predation on a Color Polymorphic Species, the Red-Backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus)

Abstract Color polymorphism is common in many species, and color morph frequency is affected by differences in ecological and evolutionary pressures on each color morph. Plethodon cinereus, the Red-Backed Salamander, has two common color morphs, striped and unstriped, that vary in frequency among populations. Plethodon cinereus color morphs differ in their escape behaviors when exposed to predators and in their tail autotomization rates; this may result from differential predation. Although these previous studies indirectly implicated differential predation, we directly tested the hypothesis that color morphs differed in survival and whether one morph was depredated at a higher rate. We determined the survival of each color morph over 3 yr with the use of mark–recapture data. We first compared frequencies of color morphs in juveniles and adults, and then estimated whether color morphs had different survival rates with the statistical program MARK. We found that frequency of striped salamanders was lower i...
Opportunities for New Photodynamic Molecular Beacon Designs

The ability to provide biomolecular recognition with a fluorescence readout has made molecular beacons useful in various medical and biological applications. Combined with photodynamic therapy photosensitizers, photodynamic molecular beacons hold potential as new tools for not only disease diagnosis, but therapy as well. In this chapter, we focus on classic and emerging nucleic acid-based molecular beacon design considerations. Designs based on the original stem-and-loop structure have been expanded, and these concepts have direct applicability for conversion into photodynamic molecular beacons.
Responsibilities of the Software Engineer in the Reliability Area

Widespread recognition of the need for software reliability was achieved only in 1971, [1], and the first symposium specifically dedicated to this subject was held in 1973, [2]. But the need for reliability as an essential ingredient of software development, and the need for highest levels of reliability in certain applications, had been recognized earlier as shown by the following two quotes: “Of all the requirements that we might place on a program, first and foremost is that it be correct. In other words, it should give the correct outputs for each possible input. This is what we mean when we say that a program ‘works’, and it is often and truly said that ‘any program that works is better than any program that doesn’t’.” [3]. “The consequences of software failures in all aspects are becoming increasingly serious. Particularly alarming is the seemingly unavoidable fallibility of large software, since a malfunction in an advanced hardware-software system can be a matter of life and death, not only for individuals, but also for vehicles carrying hundreds of people, and ultimately for nations as well.” [4]. In the meantime, a considerable body of techniques that support high reliability in computer software has been identified [5], but surprisingly little has been said about the manner in which this material should, be integrated into the day-by-day activities of the practicing software engineer. This is the area addressed in the following pages. Specifically, we want to discuss minimum responsibilities that the software engineer is expected to carry out on the job and to suggest that an education in software engineering provide adequate background in these topics. The following six key responsibilities have been identified.
Der Beleuchtungswert der Farbe

Wollen wir etwas, das in tiefem Schatten liegt, sehen, dann schirmen wir unser Auge so ab, das der Schirm Licht in den Schatten wirft.
Emotional and Behavioral Disorders in the New Millennium: The Future Is Now.

In assessing the prospects for the future of the field of behavioral disorders, we examine our current knowledge base related to two critical areas: (1) early intervention for prevention and (2) in...
"Learn From Every Patient": How a Learning Health System Can Improve Patient Care

Aim We created a Learning Health System, the "Learn From Every Patient" program, embedded in our cerebral palsy team clinic. This program was designed to simultaneously provide clinical care while systematically collecting data for quality improvement and research projects on all patients. Method Clinicians created tools within the Electronic Health Record to discretely capture data for clinical use which was also available for quality improvement/research efforts. At baseline, all patients in our clinic received annual hip x-rays to screen for hip displacement. Using our "Learn From Every Patient" database, we reviewed the outcomes for the most mildly affected patients, Level I on the Gross Motor Functional Classification System. Results One hundred thirty-two patients were classified as Gross Motor Functional Classification System Level I. During the study period, these patients received 212 pelvis x-rays, viewing 424 hips, of which 419 (98.8%) were normal. Five hips (1.2%) had < 30% displacement. None had any hip-related symptoms nor required any procedures during the period. We used these data to create an evidence-based change in our standardized hip screening procedure by eliminating annual screening x-rays for this population. Interpretation This implementation of a local learning health system approach to systematically collect research data simultaneously with routine clinical care enabled us to implement an evidence-based improvement in clinical practice. This complete integration of research into clinical care improved care by reducing radiation exposure, while simultaneously reducing health care costs.
Beyond the speech community: On belonging to a multilingual, diasporic, and digital social network

Abstract The experience of linguistic globalization, and the sociolinguistic disorder it entails, requires a serious retooling of most basic units of sociolinguistic analysis—foremost among them the speech community. The randomness and indeterminacy of contemporary flows of people, knowledge, texts, and commodities across social and geographical space is affecting the linguistic ideological boundaries of inclusion and exclusion. In particular, we can no longer assume that shared knowledge, especially indexical knowledge, can still provide a common ground to bind people together, negotiate conflicts, and share/transmit ideologies. Using data from a digital ethnography of a multilingual, diasporic social network, this paper will discuss the development of social formations in contemporary transidiomatic environment. The claim of this paper is that is now time to go beyond the study of speech communities, even if based upon a “linguistics of contact”, to examine social formations composed by both humans and digital agents and shaped by a linguistics of xenoglossic becoming, transidiomatic mixing, and digital recombinations.
Effect of re-use of surface sampling traps on surface structure and collection efficency for trace explosive residues.

Abstract In security settings, explosive residues or particles are collected by swiping the object of interest (e.g., luggage or package) with a collection medium, or trap. Particles on the trap are thermally desorbed for detection by ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) or other analyses. A high trap sampling efficiency increases the chance of detection, and is affected by a number of factors. In particular, this work studies the effect of trap re-use on collection efficiency of organic explosives, namely 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazinane (RDX), and correlates this data to quantifiable morphology changes. Collection efficiency was measured by liquid extraction of the traps with detection and quantitation by gas chromatography / mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Using silhouette microscopy for visualization of the trap texture, morphology changes were quantified by several measurements of trap roughness and hairiness, drawing from techniques and metrics used in the textiles industry. Nomex traps were visibly roughened by repeated re-use, and this was correlated with significant improvements in trap collection efficiency (11–57%) depending upon the specific analyte and substrate combination interrogated. Teflon-coated fiberglass (TCFG) traps showed little change with repeated swiping and minimal to no improvement in particle collection efficiency. These results have direct implications for optimizing particle collection traps for use in security settings.
The Effect of Fault Geometry and Minimum Shear Wavespeed on 3D Ground-Motion Simulations for an Mw 6.5 Hayward Fault Scenario Earthquake, San Francisco Bay Area, Northern California

Author(s): Rodgers, AJ; Pitarka, A; McCallen, DB | Abstract: We investigated the effects of fault geometry and assumed minimum shear wavespeed (VS min) on 3D ground-motion simulations (0–2.5 Hz) in general, using a moment magnitude (Mw) 6.5 earthquake on the Hayward fault (HF). Simulations of large earthquakes on the northeast-dipping HF using the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 3D seismic model have shown intensity asymmetry with stronger shaking for the Great Valley Sequence east of the HF (hanging wall) relative to the Franciscan Complex to the west (footwall). We performed simulations with three fault geometries in both plane-layered (1D) and 3D models. Results show that the nonvertical fault geometries result in larger motions on the hanging wall relative to the vertical fault for the same Earth model with up to 50% amplifications in single-component peak ground velocity (PGV) within 10 km of the rupture. Near-fault motions on the footwall are reduced for the nonvertical faults, but less than they are increased on the hanging wall. Simulations assuming VS min values of 500 and 250 m=s reveal that PGVs are on average 25% higher west of the HF when using the lower VS min, with some locations amplified by a factor of 3. Increasing frequency content from 2.5 to 5 Hz increases PGV values. Spectral ratios of these two VS min cases show average amplifications of 2–4 (0.5–1.5 Hz) for the lower VS min west of the fault. Large differences (up to 2×) in PGV across the HF from previous studies persist even for the case with a vertical fault or VS min of 250 m=s. We conclude that assuming a VS min of 500 m=s underestimates intensities west of the HF for frequencies above 0.5 Hz, and that low upper crustal (depth l 10 km) shear wavespeeds defined in the 3D model contribute most to higher intensities east of the HF.
Lymphocyte in vitro cytotoxicity: mechanism of human lymphotoxin-induced target cell destruction.

Abstract These in vitro studies were conducted in an attempt to elucidate the mechanism of how cell-free supernatant fluids obtained from PHA-stimulated human lymphocytes cause destruction of cells. The undiluted supernatant fluids with high activity exerted a nonspecific cytotoxic effect on many different continuous cell lines. However, upon dilution, a wide spectrum of cell sensitivities was observed. These studies suggest human lymphotoxin acts by first absorbing to receptors on the target cell plasma membrane. The next effect is shut-down of cellular DNA synthesis, followed later by a decrease in cell numbers and finally, cellular destruction. Once sufficient LT has bound to the target cell surface, the cytopathic effect is irreversible. A role for LT in lymphocyte-mediated tissue destruction is discussed.
Complex spikes encode reward expectation signals during visuomotor association learning

Climbing fiber input to Purkinje cells has been thought to instruct learning related changes in simple spikes and cause behavioral changes through an error-based learning mechanism. Although, this framework explains simple motor learning, it cannot be extended to learning higher-order skills. Recently the cerebellum has been implicated in a variety of cognitive tasks and reward-based learning. Here we show that when a monkey learns a new visuomotor association, complex spikes predict the time of the beginning of the trial in a learning independent manner as well as encode a learning contingent reward expectation signal after the stimulus onset and reward delivery. These complex spike signals are unrelated to and were unlikely to instruct the reward based signal found in the simple spikes. Our results provide a more general role of complex spikes in learning and higher-order processing while gathering evidence for their participation in reward based learning.
Solving differential equations using deep neural networks

Abstract Recent work on solving partial differential equations (PDEs) with deep neural networks (DNNs) is presented. The paper reviews and extends some of these methods while carefully analyzing a fundamental feature in numerical PDEs and nonlinear analysis: irregular solutions. First, the Sod shock tube solution to the compressible Euler equations is discussed and analyzed. This analysis includes a comparison of a DNN-based approach with conventional finite element and finite volume methods, and demonstrates that the DNN is competitive in terms of degrees of freedom required for a given accuracy. Further, the DNN-based approach is extended to consider performance improvements and simultaneous parameter space exploration. Next, a shock solution to compressible magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) is solved for, and used in a scenario where experimental data is utilized to enhance a PDE system that is a priori insufficient to validate against the observed/experimental data. This is accomplished by enriching the model PDE system with source terms that are then inferred via supervised training with synthetic experimental data. The resulting DNN framework for PDEs enables straightforward system prototyping and natural integration of large data sets (be they synthetic or experimental), all while simultaneously enabling single-pass exploration of an entire parameter space.
Evaluation of IoT Data Visualization Tools and Techniques

Internet of things (IoT) is a fully proven technology in the era of automation. IoT is a connected network of embedded systems with sensors and actuators. IoT generates huge volumes of data due to large number of implanted IoT devices everywhere. This generated data needs to be processed and analyzed to optimize operations and facilitate decision making. Data analytics plays a vital role in decision making. IoT has its applications in several areas: environmental monitoring, infrastructure management, manufacturing, energy management, medical and healthcare systems, building and home automation, transportation and many more. In every IoT application, a large amount of data has been generated with variations in it. Analysis, optimization and visualization of such huge data require smart tools and technologies. For example, some data requires specific algorithms to build models as a classification, whereas others require clustering and anomaly detection. The data visualization tools and techniques available for IoT data are very useful to get a better understanding of IoT, its framework, functions, and missions. There is still need for research and literature about data visualization tools and techniques for IoT and the challenges related to it. In this chapter, we have included various open-source commercial tools and techniques available in the market. We have also studied the benefits and challenges of existing tools. We analyzed and evaluated the suitability of existing tools and capabilities to gain leverage and support for IoT data visualization.
4-Hydroxy-7-oxo-5-heptenoic acid (HOHA) lactone induces apoptosis in retinal pigment epithelial cells.

Abstract Retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cell dysfunction and death play vital roles in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) pathogenesis. Previously we showed that oxidative cleavage of docosahexenoate (DHA) phospholipids generates an α,β-unsaturated aldehyde, 4-hydroxy-7-oxohept-4-enoic acid (HOHA) lactone, that forms ω-carboxyethylpyrrole (CEP) derivatives through adduction to proteins and ethanolamine phospholipids. CEP derivatives and autoantibodies accumulate in the retinas and blood plasma of individuals with AMD and are a biomarker of AMD. They promote the choroidal neovascularization of “wet AMD”. Immunization of mice with CEP-modified mouse serum albumin induces “dry AMD”-like lesions in their retinas as well as interferon-gamma and interleukin-17 production by CEP-specific T cells that promote inflammatory M1 polarization of macrophages. The present study confirms that oxidative stress or inflammatory stimulus produces CEP in both the primary human ARPE-19 cell line and hRPE cells. Exposure of these cells to HOHA lactone fosters production of reactive oxygen species. Thus, HOHA lactone participates in a vicious cycle, promoting intracellular oxidative stress leading to oxidative cleavage of DHA to produce more HOHA lactone. We now show that HOHA lactone is cytotoxic, inducing apoptotic cell death through activation of the intrinsic pathway. This suggests that therapeutic interventions targeting HOHA lactone-induced apoptosis may prevent the loss of RPE cells during the early phase of AMD. We also discovered that ARPE-19 cells are more susceptible than hRPE cells to HOHA lactone cytotoxicity. This is consistent with the view that, compared to normal RPE cells, ARPE-19 cells exhibit a diseased RPE phenotype that also includes elevated expression of the mesenchymal indicator vimentin, elevated integrin a5 promotor strength and deficient secretion of the anti-VEGF molecule pigment-epithelium-derived factor fostering weaker tight junctions.
One-Pot Tandem Assembly of Amides, Amines, and Ketones: Synthesis of C4-Quaternary 3,4- and 1,4-Dihydroquinazolines.

A multicomponent tandem assembly procedure for the synthesis of diverse C4-quaternary 3,4-dihydroquinazolines from amides, amines, and ketones has been developed. The one-pot reaction involves succ...
Monitoring Urban Growth Evolution by Multi-temporal Dynamics Analysis in a Southern Italy Area

A quantitative and qualitative weakening of natural environments occurs recently in some Italy areas invalidating ecological and agricultural capacities of soils in favor of urbanization and expansion of artificial surfaces. This study reports the assessment of the urban sprawl on a southern Italy territory in order to estimate the land cover changes from 1990 to 2015 and offer to policy makers a basemap for a more sustainable system of land use. The analysis involves a time of 25 years during which spatial and temporal changes were monitored, through a selection of indicators aimed to evaluate the land use/cover transition, land take per capita, rapidity of the transformation, incidence of the transformation compared to the original land cover stock. The results indicate an urban expansion and a soil consumption recorded in growing urban tissue, industrial areas and artificial surfaces as shown by increase of number of patches and by the intensity of soil consumption equal to 56.7% from 1990 to 2015. Local environmental conditions and human wellness have been negatively impacted by the consumption of fertile soil occurred at the expense of arable land, which reduced meaningfully over considered period.
Multi-Objective Optimization of Covariance and Energy for Asteroid Transfers

This paper presents a multi-objective optimization approach to minimize both error covariance and energy using indirect methods. Linear covariance dynamics and a continuous thrust model with contro...
Association of increased intensity of prostate-specific antigen screening in younger African American men with improved prostate cancer outcomes.

5004Background: African-American (AA) men are substantially more likely to present with lethal prostate cancer (PCa) at younger ages than non-Hispanic White men. Despite this disparity, AA men are ...
The Dance of Becoming: Pedagogy in Dance/Movement Therapy in the United States.

The purpose of this study was to begin to define pedagogical theory and practice in the field of dance/movement therapy (DMT). Fourteen DMT educators from American dance therapy association approved programs participated in the study, taking part in individual semi-structured interviews through a phenomenological lens. The participants had taught in the DMT field for at least five years and at most 44 years. Utilizing grounded theory methods, two focus groups were also conducted in which six DMT educators discussed initial qualitative themes from the individual interviews. Through an engaged process, participants were able to participate in the further defining of the study's themes. Data were analyzed using grounded theory methods of initial and focused coding. The researcher also used member checking, peer review, and a personal research journal to name her own reflexive position within the emerging data. The researcher's findings centered around six qualitative themes. These themes named the importance of the DMT student's development of self-awareness including body identity, cultural identity, and professional identity all housed within the experience of embodied learning. Findings also named the importance of educator transparency and modeling in the classroom to create space for student exploration. Recommendations from the study aimed towards creating more opportunities for educators to collaborate and communicate across the field with the goal of creating best practices for DMT education. Also recommendation for DMT educators centered around clarity of expectations in the embodied self-reflective learning process.
Chapter 5 Enzymatic Approaches for Studying the Structure, Synthesis, and Processing of Glycoproteins

Publisher Summary This chapter highlights the enzymatic approaches for studying the structure, synthesis, and processing of glycoproteins. Enzymes that hydrolyze specifically at the inner-core di- N -acetylchitobiose moiety comprise a broad group of glycosidic enzymes known as “endo- β -N-acetylglucosaminidases,” or more commonly, “endoglycosidases.” Among these, the bacterial enzymes Endo H and Endo F are widely used because of their different substrate specificities and their commercial availability. Protein conformational effects can influence greatly the course and extent of deglycosylation by rendering the susceptible oligosaccharides at certain glycosylation sites partially or completely “inaccessible” to endoglycosidase action. Various denaturants have been employed to expose otherwise inaccessible oligosaccharide cores, including ionic, nonionic, and zwitterionic detergents as well as chaotropic salts and thiols. For the oligosaccharide cleaving enzymes to be effective, they must be used in conjunction with highly sensitive analytical techniques for characterizing the carbohydrate or protein moieties. The simplest method of determining whether deglycosylation has occurred is by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of control and enzyme-treated material. A significant decrease in molecular weight (i.e., increase in electrophoretic mobility) is a good indication that Asn-linked oligosaccharides have been enzymatically released.
THY-1 Cell Surface Antigen (CD90) Has an Important Role in the Initial Stage of Human Cytomegalovirus Infection

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infects about 50% of the US population, is the leading infectious cause of birth defects, and is considered the most important infectious agent in transplant recipients. The virus infects many cell types in vivo and in vitro. While previous studies have identified several cellular proteins that may function at early steps of infection in a cell type dependent manner, the mechanism of virus entry is still poorly understood. Using a computational biology approach, correlating gene expression with virus infectivity in 54 cell lines, we identified THY-1 as a putative host determinant for HCMV infection in these cells. With a series of loss-of-function, gain-of-function and protein-protein interaction analyses, we found that THY-1 mediates HCMV infection at the entry step and is important for infection that occurs at a low m.o.i. THY-1 antibody that bound to the cell surface blocked HCMV during the initial 60 minutes of infection in a dose-dependent manner. Down-regulation of THY-1 with siRNA impaired infectivity occurred during the initial 60 minutes of inoculation. Both THY-1 antibody and siRNA inhibited HCMV-induced activation of the PI3-K/Akt pathway required for entry. Soluble THY-1 protein blocked HCMV infection during, but not after, virus internalization. Expression of exogenous THY-1 enhanced entry in cells expressing low levels of the protein. THY-1 interacted with HCMV gB and gH and may form a complex important for entry. However, since gB and gH have previously been shown to interact, it is uncertain if THY-1 directly binds to both of these proteins. Prior observations that THY-1 (a) interacts with αVβ3 integrin and recruits paxillin (implicated in HCMV entry), (b) regulates leukocyte extravasation (critical for HCMV viremia), and (c) is expressed on many cells targeted for HCMV infection including epithelial and endothelial cells, fibroblast, and CD34+/CD38- stem cells, all support a role for THY-1 as an HCMV entry mediator in a cell type dependent manner. THY-1 may function through a complex setting, that would include viral gB and gH, and other cellular factors, thus links virus entry with signaling in host cells that ultimately leads to virus infection.
What is Culture? Schemas and Spectacles in Uzbekistan

“What is culture?” is potentially an irritating question. Although I do not intend to provide a clear answer to this question in this paper, I am not asking it rhetorically. The question “what is culture?” is rather an interrogation of the schemas that my informants and I use to understand culture. Schemas are both representations of knowledge and information processing mechanisms (DiMaggio, 1997: 269) which are applied in the enactment and reproduction of social life (Sewell, 1992: 8). Schemas are a way to refer both to cognition and agency, linking the way we are taught to think about our world to our ability to react and adapt to it, linking institutions with individuals. The schemas I will be discussing in this paper refer specifically to the way people think about and produce culture, which I am using in this context to mean the arts. In this paper I propose that there are particular ways that culture producers trained in the Soviet system think about culture, and that we can identify a set of Soviet cultural schemas which continue to influence the arts in post-Soviet societies today. My analysis is based on a year of fieldwork in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, studying the cultural elite. In order to understand these Soviet schemas, I also explore my own schemas of culture and contrast them with what my informants say and do as they produce culture.
Improved efficacy of metformin therapy when combined with caloric restriction in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and NAFLD in OLETF rats (LB743)

Weight loss is recommended for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients while metformin may lower liver enzymes in type 2 diabetics. Yet, the efficacy of the combination of treatments on NAFLD is unclear. We sought to assess the effects of metformin, caloric restriction, and the combination on NAFLD in diabetic Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats. OLETF rats were (age 20 weeks; n=6-8/group) fed ad libitum (AL), given metformin (300 mg/kg/d; Met), caloric restricted (70% of AL fed; CR), or CR+Met for 12 weeks. Met lowered body weight and adiposity compared with AL, but was less effective than CR and CR+Met (p<0.05). All therapies improved fasting insulin, glucose, and/or HbA1c, but only CR+Met improved post-challenge glucose tolerance. Met, CR, and CR+Met reduced hepatic triglycerides by 40%, 70%, and 60% (p<0.05 Met vs. CR/CR+Met groups), respectively compared to AL rats; however, CR+Met further attenuated serum alanine aminotransferase levels. Only CR altered hepatic de novo lipogenes...
Evidence for methylotrophic symbionts in a hydrothermal vent mussel (bivalvia: mytilidae) from the mid-atlantic ridge.

Abstract Symbioses between chemolithoautotrophic bacteria and the major macrofaunal species found at hydrothermal vents have been reported for numerous sites in the Pacific Ocean. We present microscopical and enzymatic evidence that methylotrophic bacteria occur as intracellular symbionts in a new species of mytilid mussel discovered at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge hydrothermal vents. Two distinct ultrastructural types of gram-negative procaryotic symbionts were observed within gill epithelial cells by transmission electron microscopy: small coccoid or rod-shaped cells and larger coccoid cells with stacked intracytoplasmic membranes typical of methane-utilizing bacteria. Methanol dehydrogenase, an enzyme diagnostic of methylotrophs, was detected in the mytilid gills, while tests for ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase, the enzyme diagnostic of autotrophy via the Calvin cycle, were negative. Stable carbon isotope values (δ13C) of mytilid tissue (−32.7 and −32.5% for gill and foot tissues, respectively) fall within the range of values reported for Pacific vent symbioses but do not preclude the use of vent-derived methane reported to be isotopically heavy relative to biogenically produced methane.
Characterization of Nx,Ny‐Disubstituted adenines by ultraviolet absorption spectra

By the synthesis of representative Nx,Ny-dibenzyladenines and determination of their ultraviolet absorption spectra in acidic, basic and neutral solution we have assembled a body of spectral characteristics which makes it possible to distinguish among possible N,N-disubstituted adenines.
Georges Hartmann, the “Ideal Publisher”

Georges Hartmann (1843–1900), who was in business as a music publisher in Paris from 1868 to 1890, played a major part in the vigorous growth of French music in that period. He published most of the young French composers of that period, including Bizet, Franck, Delibes, Guiraud, Lalo, Castillon, Godard, Saint-Saens, Massenet, and many others. He provided a broad service for composers, helping to promote performances of their works both in France and abroad, and establishing at his premises on the Boulevard de la Madeleine a social center where musicians regularly gathered. Massenet was his star property, but in 1890 he was declared bankrupt. Massenet transferred his allegiance to Heugel, while Hartmann continued to work anonymously as a publisher. He was also a modest composer and a librettist who contributed to stage works by Massenet, Grandval, Leroux, Honnore, Hahn, Duvernoy, and Missa. More importantly, in the last years of his life he played a major part in guiding Debussy's career.
COMPARISON OF ANTIBODIES TO LEPTOSPIRA IN WHITE-TAILED DEER (ODOCOILEUS VIRGINIANUS) AND CATTLE IN OHIO

A survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of leptospiral antibodies in sera from 248 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Ohio. The sera were collected at check stations during the hunting season in 1983. The microscopic agglutination microtiter test was used to determine the presence of antibodies to Leptospira interrogans serovars pomona, icterohemorrhagiae, canicola, hardjo, and grippotyphosa. Eighteen of 248 (7.3%) serum samples had antibody titers (≥ 1:100) to at least one of the five serovars tested, with three of these samples reacting to more than one serovar. Prevalence did not differ significantly between sex or age groups. The serovar antigens reacting most frequently with serum antibodies were grippotyphosa (10 of 22, 45.5%) and pomona (eight of 22, 36.4%). Sera agglutinating with pomona antigen had higher titers (ranging from 1:200 to 1:6,400) than did sera agglutinating with the other serovars. These results were compared to results obtained from cattle tested at the Ohio D...
Controlled Release of GDNF Reduces Nerve Root-Mediated Behavioral Hypersensitivity

Nerve root compression produces persistent behavioral sensitivity in models of painful neck injury. This study utilized degradable poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels to deliver glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) to an injured nerve root. Hydrogels delivered ∼98% of encapsulated GDNF over 7 days in an in vitro release assay without the presence of neurons and produced enhanced outgrowth of processes in cortical neural cell primary cultures. The efficacy of a GDNF hydrogel placed on the root immediately after injury was assessed in a rat pain model of C7 dorsal root compression. Control groups included painful injury followed by: (1) vehicle hydrogel treatment (no GDNF), (2) a bolus injection of GDNF, or (3) no treatment. After injury, mechanical allodynia (n = 6/group) was significantly decreased with GDNF delivered by the hydrogel compared to the three injury control groups (p < 0.03). The bolus GDNF treatment did not reduce allodynia at any time point. The GDNF receptor (GFRα-1) decreased in small, nociceptive neurons of the affected dorsal root ganglion, suggesting a decrease in receptor expression following injury. GDNF receptor immunoreactivity was significantly greater in these neurons following GDNF hydrogel treatment relative to GDNF bolus treated and untreated rats (p < 0.05). These data suggest efficacy for degradable hydrogel delivery of GDNF and support this treatment approach for nerve root-mediated pain. © 2008 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 27:120–127, 2009
Organic acid profiling in adipocyte differentiation of 3T3-F442A cells: increased production of Krebs cycle acid metabolites☆

Abstract To try to find special metabolic characteristics of adipose tissue, we examined the organic acids released into the culture medium, which was changed every 48 hours, as 3T3-F442A mouse fibroblasts underwent differentiation to adipocytes under the influence of insulin and fetal calf serum. We identified 13 different organic acids, of which four (malate, fumarate, succinate, and 2-hydroxyglutarate) increased from threefold to 10-fold during an 18-day period of differentiation. After differentiation had occurred, the deletion of insulin from the culture medium resulted in a slight decrease in the concentration of malate, fumarate, and 2-hydroxyglutarate. Other acids were not affected, including 18 that we were unable to identify by gas chromatographymass spectroscopy. No acid was found to be present only in the medium of either fibroblasts or adipocytes.
Maternal Warmth Mediates the Relation Between Mother-Preadolescent Cohesion and Change in Maternal Knowledge During the Transition to Adolescence

SYNOPSIS Objective. This study assessed the relation between prior mother-preadolescent cohesion and changes in maternal knowledge during the transition to adolescence . Design . Questionnaire data were gathered from 148 mother-preadolescent dyads. Data were collected once per year for three years, beginning when the preadolescents were in fourth grade and aged 9–11 years. Participants completed measures of mother-preadolescent relational cohesion, maternal warmth, and maternal knowledge of the preadolescents' acquaintances, whereabouts, and behavior. Results . Longitudinal mediator model analysis indicated that when preadolescent reports were used, higher levels of mother-preadolescent relational cohesion at Time 1 were associated with greater knowledge at Time 3. The relation between prior cohesion and changes in knowledge was mediated by maternal warmth at Time 2. Alternative models with different time-orderings of the variables did not fit as well as the original hypothesized model. When maternal repo...
Auditory representations and phonological illusions: A linguist’s perspective on the neuropsychological bases of speech perception

Abstract This paper argues that speech perception includes grammatical—in particular phonological—computations implemented by an analysis-by-synthesis component ( Halle & Stevens, 1962 ) which analyzes linguistic material by synthesizing it anew. Analysis-by-synthesis, however, is not always required in perception but only when the listener wants to be certain that the words or morphemes identified in the input signal correspond to those intended by the speaker who produced the signal (= parity requirements, see Liberman, 1996 , Liberman and Whalen, 2000 ). As we will see, in some situation analysis-by-synthesis may generate ‘phonological’ illusions. A central assumption is that the representations of words or morphemes in perception involve distinctive features and are formally structured into syllables. Two perceptual modes are needed: phonetic and phonemic perception. In phonemic perception only contrastive aspects of sounds, i.e., the aspect of sounds associated with meaning differences, are searched for. In phonetic perception both contrastive and noncontrastive aspects of sounds are identified. The phenomenon of phonological ‘deafening’ will be shown to follow from phonemic perception. The paper also argues that the perception system must include an echoic memory component ( Neisser (1967) ) where faithful auditory representations of acoustic inputs can be stored. This echoic memory is part of a bottom-up system of perception dedicated to the collection and storage of the acoustic signal. The paper ends with the discussion of some hypotheses (and related questions) on the neural bases of perceptual processes and representations. A brief assessment of the role of mirror neurons in perception is given here.
Application of Divide and Conquer Extended Genetic Algorithm to tertiary protein structure of chymotrypsin inhibitor-2

Determining the method by which a protein thermodynamically folds and unfolds in three-dimension is one of the most complex and least understood problems in modern biochemistry. Misfolded proteins have been recently linked to diseases including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease. Because of the large number of parameters involved in defining the tertiary structure of proteins, based on free energy global minimisation, we have developed a new Divide and Conquer DAC Extended Genetic Algorithm. The approach was applied to explore and verify the energy landscape of protein chymotrypsin inhibitor-2.
INSL3/LGR8 role in testicular descent and cryptorchidism

Cryptorchidism, generally referred to a failure of testicular descent into the scrotum, is the most frequent (up to 3-4% at birth) congenital anomaly in newborn boys. Cryptorchidism is closely associated with impaired fertility, and represents an established risk factor for testicular cancer. Like other genital defects, cryptorchidism is believed to be caused by either endocrine or genetic abnormalities, or both. Recent elucidation of the molecular mechanism of the rodent testicular descent, and, in particular, the critical role of Insl3 (insulin-like 3) and its receptor Great/Lgr8 encouraged the search for naturally occurring mutations in the human homologues of these genes in the affected patient population. Genetic analysis revealed several functionally deleterious mutations in both INSL3 and GREAT/LGR8 genes. However, although some of mutations were found only in cryptorchid patients, it remains to be verified whether there is a causative link between the presence of mutations in INSL3 or GREAT/LGR8 and the undescended testis phenotype in men. The data and analysis of published studies indicate that mutations in these two genes might account for only a small portion of all cases of this disease in the human population.
Discriminating differing types of synchrony in neural systems

Abstract We apply our previously established measure [M. Żochowski and R. Dzakpasu, Condtional entropies; phase synchronization and changes in the directionality of information flow in neural systems. J. Phys. A 37 (2004) 3823] to a pair of coupled, non-identical Hindmarsh-Rose models of thalamo-cortical neurons and demonstrate that the measure is able to detect causal interdependencies between the activity of the neurons which may remain undetected when using other methods. The discrimination between the states when these interdependencies are pronounced or abolished may be important as they may underlie different physiological states. We show the robustness of the discrimination of the measure in the presence of noise.
Serum Agglutinin Levels to Sheep Red Blood Cells in Mice Infected With Rauscher Virus.

SummaryPrimary agglutinin liters were depressed in mice immunized with sheep red blood cells 8 days or more following inoculation of l0-1 or 10-2 dilutions of Rauscher leukemogenic virus. The extent of depression was proportional to virus dose and could frequently be detected before the appearance of hematological evidence of leukemic development. Immunization 7 days before, at the time of, or 4 days after, viral inoculation did not result in depression of primary titers. In all these instances a lag was noted in antibody response 4 days after the secondary stimulus; however, by 7 or 8 days increases in antibody titers over primary levels were similar in both virus and control groups. Even in mice markedly leukemic at the time of secondary challenge no depression of the secondary response was observed. A possible mechanism concerning the influence of viral leukemogenesis on the immune response is discussed.
Null constrained adaptive beamformer: discrete white noise source analysis

Abstract A null constrained beamformer is a minimum variance beamformer in which each weight is either forced to remain zero or allowed to participate in the adaptive interference nulling process. Based on source delay modeling, a null constraint set is determined by sensor position tolerance, look-direction tolerance and signal correlation characteristics. These constraints make the desired primary input signal statistically orthogonal to the reference input. This beamformer addresses the problem of reducing broadband and narrowband sidelobe interference without rejecting the mainlobe broadband signal. Wiener solution analysis guarantees superior output signal to interference plus noise ratio as compared to a conventional beamformer. Preservation of a broadband signal is proven to be insensitive to sensor-element gain. A spatial separation of discrete white noise sources is analyzed, using the inversion lemma. This easily implemented processor is well suited to wideband low power signals.
Quality improvement implementation and disparities: the case of the health disparities collaboratives.

Quality improvement implementation is challenging under the best of circumstances, and efforts to reduce racial and socioeconomic disparities in health care with QI techniques have additional barriers to hurdle. Many minority patients and patients of lower socioeconomic status receive their care in settings that have limited resources. In addition, vulnerable populations have a variety of economic, educational, and social difficulties that make it harder for them to improve self-management of chronic illnesses. While equity is one of the six fundamental domains of the Institute of Medicine’s definition of quality,1 it has generally received less attention compared with other elements such as effectiveness.2 Moreover, in the health disparities field,3 most of the existing literature documents disparities but a much smaller body of work seeks to develop and evaluate interventions to reduce these disparities.4 Community health centers (HCs) are vanguard providers of health care for vulnerable populations,5, 6 serving 16 million Americans in 5000 sites.7 Forty percent of HC patients are uninsured, 36% have Medicaid coverage, over 60% are racial or ethnic minorities, and 71% are at or below the federal poverty line.8 Nationally, HCs serve 1 out of every 4 people in poverty, 1 out of 10 minorities, and 1 out of 9 rural Americans. HCs are truly a critical provider of health care to underserved populations and a vital part of efforts to reduce national disparities in care. Therefore, the Health Disparities Collaboratives,9 a massive state-of-the-art effort by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Bureau of Primary Health Care (HRSA’s BPHC) to improve the quality of care in community health centers across the country, are an important case example to study for using quality improvement techniques to decrease disparities. As of December 2007, 915 HCs have participated in the HDC [personal communication: Charles Daly, Health Resources and Services Administration, December 10, 2007]. In this paper, I describe the HDC and then review the evidence for their impact on quality of care, the financial ramifications for society and the individual HC, and factors important for organizational change at the HCs. I end with summary conclusions and recommendations for future research questions.
Rapid method for the production ofBlastomyces dermatitidis protoplasts

Abstract We used a combination of three commercially available cell wall active enzyme preparations to protoplast the yeast form of the pathogenic fungusBlastomyces dermatitidis. The combination of Zymolyase, Novozym 234, and chitinase with 2-mercaptoethanol produced a mean yield of protoplasts of 86 ± 13% after 2 h with yeast forms cultured for 48 h. This report describes a fast and reliable means of obtaining protoplasts from yeast formB. dermatitidis.
Cys10 Mixed Disulfides Make Transthyretin More Amyloidogenic under Mildly Acidic Conditions

Conservative mutation of transthyretin's surface residues can predispose an individual to familial amyloidosis by dramatically changing the energetics of misfolding. Senile systemic amyloidosis (SSA), however, cannot be explained in this fashion because wild-type (WT) transthyretin (TTR) misfolds and misassembles into amyloid. Since various modifications of the SH functionality of Cys10 have been reported in humans, we sought to understand the extent to which these modifications alter the stability and amyloidosis of WT TTR as a possible explanation for SSA. Homotetrameric Cys10 TTR variants, including TTR-Cys, TTR-GSH, TTR-CysGly, and S-sulfonated TTR, were chemically synthesized starting with WT TTR. The TTR-Cys, TTR-GSH, and TTR-CysGly isoforms are more amyloidogenic than WT at the higher end of the acidic pH range (pH 4.4-5.0), and they are similarly destabilized relative to WT TTR toward urea denaturation. They exhibit rates of urea-mediated tetramer dissociation (pH 7) and MeOH-facilitated fibril formation similar to those of WT TTR. Under mildly acidic conditions (pH 4.8), the amyloidogenesis rates of the mixed disulfide TTR variants are much faster than the WT rate. S-Sulfonated TTR is less amyloidogenic and forms fibrils more slowly than WT under acidic conditions, yet it exhibits a stability and rates of tetramer dissociation similar to those of WT TTR when subjected to urea denaturation. Conversion of the Cys10 SH group to a mixed disulfide with the amino acid Cys, the CysGly peptide, or glutathione increases amyloidogenicity and the amyloidogenesis rate above pH 4.6, conditions under which TTR probably forms fibrils in humans. Hence, these modifications may play an important role in human amyloidosis.
A quantitative and qualitative evaluation of official and unofficial species of psyllium seeds and their mucilages

A convenient method for the quantitative determination of mucilage in Psyllium seed is described. Two native unofficial Plantago seeds are described and compared with those now official.
Crystallization during polymerization of poly-p-xylylene. II. Polymerization at low temperature

The polymerization of p-xylylene was followed with a newly designed differential thermal analysis system at temperatures between −196°C and −20°C. It was found that at the lower temperatures the monomer condenses first to the crystalline monomer before simultaneous polymerization and crystallization. At the higher temperatures, polymerization and crystallization are successive. The data are in agreement with the morphology and crystal structure data derived in Part I of this series of papers on crystallization during polymerization of poly-p-xylylene.