cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Semiparametric temporal process regression of survival-out-of-hospital

The recurrent/terminal event data structure has undergone considerable methodological development in the last 10–15 years. An example of the data structure that has arisen with increasing frequency involves the recurrent event being hospitalization and the terminal event being death. We consider the response Survival-Out-of-Hospital, defined as a temporal process (indicator function) taking the value 1 when the subject is currently alive and not hospitalized, and 0 otherwise. Survival-Out-of-Hospital is a useful alternative strategy for the analysis of hospitalization/survival in the chronic disease setting, with the response variate representing a refinement to survival time through the incorporation of an objective quality-of-life component. The semiparametric model we consider assumes multiplicative covariate effects and leaves unspecified the baseline probability of being alive-and-out-of-hospital. Using zero-mean estimating equations, the proposed regression parameter estimator can be computed without estimating the unspecified baseline probability process, although baseline probabilities can subsequently be estimated for any time point within the support of the censoring distribution. We demonstrate that the regression parameter estimator is asymptotically normal, and that the baseline probability function estimator converges to a Gaussian process. Simulation studies are performed to show that our estimating procedures have satisfactory finite sample performances. The proposed methods are applied to the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS), an international end-stage renal disease study.
Effects of autonomic modulation: more than just blood pressure.

The development left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) represents a critical milestone in patients with hypertensive heart disease (HHD). This structural remodeling and the associated abnormalities in diastolic function portend an increased risk of both mortal and morbid events ([1–4][1]). Treatment
Chapter 5 – Radiative Transfer in a Cloudy Atmosphere and Its Parameterization

Abstract Chapter 5 presents and overview of radiative transfer in a cloudy atmosphere and its parameterization. Included in this chapter is a discussion of how radiation influences cloud droplet growth, and how aerosols effect the radiative properties of clouds.
Effectiveness of Outpatient Antibiotics After Surgical Drainage of Abscesses in Reducing Treatment Failure

Abstract Background The optimal approach to outpatient antibiotic use after surgical drainage of abscesses is unclear given conflicting clinical trial results. Objective Our primary objective was to evaluate the real-world effectiveness of outpatient antibiotic prescribing after surgical drainage of cutaneous abscesses on reducing treatment failure. Methods We performed a retrospective observational study using data extracted from the electronic health record of a single academic health care system. All emergency department (ED) visits that resulted in discharge with a surgical drainage of a cutaneous abscess procedure code were included in the sample. All visits were categorized into having received or not having received an antibiotic prescription at the index visit. Outcome frequencies were compared using Pearson's chi-squared test. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to estimate the odds of treatment failure among those who did and did not receive an antibiotic prescription at their index ED visit. Results The final sample consisted of 421 index ED visits, of which 303 (72%) received an antibiotic prescription. Treatment with antibiotics after drainage did not significantly reduce the odds of composite treatment failure within 30 days when controlling for sociodemographic and clinical encounter variables (odds ratio 0.52, 95% confidence interval 0.23–1.21). Conclusions This real-world, comparative effectiveness analysis did not demonstrate any significant reduction in treatment failure with the use of antibiotics after drainage of abscesses in the ED. It is unclear if the clinical benefit observed under controlled trial conditions will carry over to routine clinical practice where varied antibiotic regimens are the norm and local bacterial resistance patterns vary.
Variance Amplification of Accelerated First-Order Algorithms for Strongly Convex Quadratic Optimization Problems

We study performance of accelerated first-order optimization algorithms in the presence of additive white stochastic disturbances. For strongly convex quadratic problems, we explicitly evaluate the steady-state variance of the optimization variable in terms of the eigenvalues of the Hessian of the objective function. We demonstrate that, as the condition number increases, variance amplification of both Nesterov's accelerated method and the heavy-ball method by Polyak is significantly larger than that of the standard gradient descent. In the context of distributed computation over networks, we examine the role of network topology and spatial dimension on the performance of these first-order algorithms. For $d$ -dimensional tori, we establish explicit asymptotic dependence for the variance amplification on the network size and the corresponding condition number. Our results demonstrate detrimental influence of acceleration on amplification of stochastic disturbances and suggest that metrics other than convergence rate have to be considered when evaluating performance of optimization algorithms.
Flourishing Lives: Exploring Natural Law Liberalism

This book elaborates, illuminates, and illustrates a confident and attractive account of social and political liberalism in light of a rich understanding of flourishing and fulfilment rooted in a version of natural law theory. Examining issues in ethics, law, and politics - including consumer responsibility, the assignment of grades by teachers, deception by lawyers, war and empire, and the use of victim-impact statements in parole decisions - Gary Chartier shows how natural law theory can effectively support pluralism, diversity, social equality, integrity, peace, and freedom.
Student perceptions of teaching effectiveness and learning achievement: A comparative examination of online and hybrid course delivery format

Although a good deal of research has been published that compares the effectiveness of communication courses delivered in face-to-face and online formats, much less is known about the comparative e...
Electron correlation in channel-resolved strong-field molecular double ionization

Strong-field ionization plays a fundamental role in attosecond science as the source of electron wave packets which ultimately provide attosecond bursts of radiation as they are driven back to the atom or molecule of origin. Double ionization is an important probe of electron correlation (correlated electron dynamics), which lies at the core of attosecond science. While double ionization of atoms has been studied extensively, the double ionization of molecules is relatively unexplored---particularly for the case of polyatomic systems. We present coincidence (three and four particle) velocity map imaging measurements of molecular double ionization in 1,3-cyclohexadiene and 1,4-cyclohexadiene using few cycle ($\ensuremath{\sim}10$ fs) laser pulses. Our measurements allow us to distinguish between dissociative and nondissociative double ionization, and we find a difference in the correlation of electrons that come from the different channels.
The Philosophy of Football (Ethics and Sport Series): by Steffen Borge, London and New York, Routledge/Taylor Francis, 2019, 287 pp, $145.79 (hardback), ISBN: 978-0-367-18091-1, $28.30 (paperback), ISBN: 978-0-367-18092-8, $26.88 (ebk), ISBN: 978-0-429-05947-6

The Philosophy of Football is an important book written by a very capable author. It should be required reading for all serious scholars in the philosophy of sport. I say this because it includes s...
Adjunctive use of fluoroscopy during MitraClip implantation reduces procedural complexity: The parallax technique

BACKGROUND During MitraClip implantation sub-valvular correction of trajectory and/or alignment may increase adverse clip or leaflet events. With systematic adjunctive use of fluoroscopy ("Parallax technique"), we aimed to assess parameters that minimize the need for corrective measures and help increase procedural efficiency. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed 30 patients without (Fl-) and 39 patients utilizing adjunctive fluoroscopy (Fl+) during MitraClip implantation. After establishing trajectory and supra-valvular alignment, the Parallax technique was utilized. Trajectory and alignment are maintained during advancement. RESULTS All patients had 3 or 4+ MR. There were no differences in baseline demographics. The average number of clips (Fl- vs Fl+) was 1.72 ± 0.8 vs 1.59 ± 0.5, p = .57. For the first clip, the need for sub-valvular alignment (80% vs. 36%, p = .0001), eversion with retraction back to left atrium (23% vs. 10%, p = .001) and the number of grasps (2.3 ± 1.2 vs 1.4 ± 0.9) was reduced. The time from transseptal puncture to first clip deployment (71 ± 21 vs 44 ± 16 min, p = .01) was reduced. Procedural success was achieved in all but one patient in the Fl- group (p = ns). There were no differences noted for in-hospital or 30-day outcomes. CONCLUSIONS Systematic use of a simple and easy to implement "Parallax technique" was associated with reduced need for sub-valvular manipulation and was associated with improved procedural times. Further larger scale studies are needed to assess the applicability of the technique.
Digital Ethics: Rhetoric and Responsibility in Online Aggression: Jessica Reyman and Erika M. Sparby, eds. New York: Routledge, 2020. 254 pages. $155 hardcover.

Digital research is not only methodologically complex, but it also exposes researchers to numerous risks, demands emotional labor, and presents complicated and unpredictable ethical quandaries, all...
Fine-Grained Named Entity Recognition with Distant Supervision in COVID-19 Literature

Biomedical named entity recognition (BioNER) is a fundamental step for mining COVID-19 literature. Existing BioNER datasets cover a few common coarse-grained entity types (e.g., genes, chemicals, and diseases), which cannot be used to recognize highly domain-specific entity types (e.g., animal models of diseases) or emerging ones (e.g., coronaviruses) for COVID-19 studies. We present CORD-NER, a fine-grained named entity recognized dataset of COVID-19 literature (up until May 19, 2020). CORD-NER contains over 12 million sentences annotated via distant supervision. Also included in CORD-NER are 2,000 manually-curated sentences as a test set for performance evaluation. CORD-NER covers 75 fine-grained entity types. In addition to the common biomedical entity types, it covers new entity types specifically related to COVID-19 studies, such as coronaviruses, viral proteins, evolution, and immune responses. The dictionaries of these fine-grained entity types are collected from existing knowledge bases and human-input seed sets. We further present DISTNER, a distantly supervised NER model that relies on a massive unlabeled corpus and a collection of dictionaries to annotate the COVID-19 corpus. DISTNER provides a benchmark performance on the CORD-NER test set for future research.
COVID-19 May Change Modern Companies Forever—A Brief Outlook

The future is a big word. It can be composed of uncertainties that make us all fear for. However, it is also filled with opportunities that one can grasp vast amount of optimism. We, as the human species, have always been fascinated with our imagination about the future. In the past, we besought witches to tell us about our fortunes. Nowadays, we form risk management entities and consulting firms that help clients identify opportunities and dangers, while attempting to “shape” the future for each one’s favor if possible. If you ask any one at the New Year Eve party about their predictions of the year 2020 on December 31st, 2019, no one would have believed what was bound to take place—in the same fashion as one from 1700s would have never believed the establishment of European Union. While the virus halted our daily routines and is enforcing humans to change their social behaviors, the very reality of this current pandemic COVID-19 is indeed unprecedented. Humans cannot rewind the reality to the past—we should analyze the current situation and predict the future trends in the hope of a more adequate preparation. COVID-19 can be perceived as a catalyst that boosts the progress of various occurring long-term trends in business conducts. Hence, these key long-term trends can shape up companies’ future structures and behaviors forever.
Evaluating the impact of prescription isodose line on plan quality using Gamma Knife inverse planning.

The impact of selection of prescription isodose line (IDL) on plan quality has not been well evaluated during inverse planning (IP). In this study, a total of 180 IP plans at five levels of IDL were generated for 30 brain metastases (BMs). For each BM, one round of IP was performed with typical IP settings, followed by a quick fine-tuning to ensure the same target coverage and comparable conformality index. The impact of the IDL on the quality metrics (selectivity, gradient index [GI], and treatment time) was evaluated. The decrease of selectivity and increase of GI meant inferior target dose conformality and more dose spillage. Additionally, a metric directly correlated to the treatment time was proposed. For all cases, the mean GI decreased monotonically as IDL decreased from 70% to 30%, and the decreasing rate was significantly different based on tumor size. The mean selectivity and number of shots decreased monotonically as IDL decreased for all the tumors. From 70% to 30% IDL, the decreasing rate of the mean selectivity was 2.8% (p = 0.020), 7.7% (p = 0.005), and 15.4% (p = 0.020) and that of the number of shots was 75.4% (p = 0.001), 73.2% (p = 0.001), and 50.7% (p = 0.009), for the large, medium, and small tumors, respectively. For the medium and small tumor groups, the mean treatment time increased monotonically when IDLs decreased (increasing rate was 80.0% [p = 0.002] for medium tumors [p = 0.001] and 130.8% [p = 0.001] for small tumors from 70% to 30%). For the large tumors, the mean treatment time was the shortest at 50% IDL (59.0 min) and higher at 70% (65.9 min) and 30% (71.9 min). Overall, the GammaPlan chose smaller sectors for plans with lower IDLs except for the large size group.
Acupuncture for Sickle Cell Pain Management in Pediatrics: A Promising Non-Opioid Therapy Emerges

Purpose In response to our nation’s epidemic drug overdose deaths, the Joint Commission has mandated that non-pharmacologic therapies, for example acupuncture, be offered to patients with pain. Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years in China for pain, and has gained global utilization. Acupuncture is recognized by the National Institute of Health as safe and effective for pain. It is widely administered in the Veterans Administration for pain and has positively contributed towards the decrease in opioid dosing. …
Philomatry in plants: why do so many species have limited seed dispersal?

Many have noted limited seed dispersal of plants in diverse environments and attempted evolutionary explanations for it. Although philopatric ('love of fatherland') is used by zoologists to describe organisms that remain near their place of origin, philomatric ('love of motherland') is proposed as more appropriate for plants because seeds develop on the maternal parent, fecundity and dispersal are maternally influenced characteristics, and the term dovetails with the mother-site hypothesis (MSH) for the evolution of restricted dispersal. Proximate reasons for philomatry include intrinsic drivers such as morphological features of diaspores and where on the maternal parent they are produced. Extrinsic drivers include local environmental conditions, surrounding vegetation, and ineffective dispersal agents. The MSH proposes that selection should favor philomatry in a population adapted to a particular habitat because offspring will likewise be adapted to that same habitat. Several studies show philomatry can mitigate distance-dependent costs of dispersing into surrounding inhospitable areas. Undispersed diaspores can eliminate energetic costs of accessory structures or biochemicals needed by dispersible diaspores, but it is unclear whether these costs are significant to the evolution of philomatry. Disadvantages of limited dispersal are (a) inability to escape deteriorating habitat conditions, (b) inability to colonize new habitats, and (c) inbreeding among offspring. Heterocarpic species offset these disadvantages by producing dispersed plus undispersed diaspores. A conceptual framework is presented relating dispersal distance to the probability of seedling establishment. Future research should recognize dispersal as a covarying syndrome of multiple life history traits and focus on ecological selection agents that favor philomatry. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Breast Irradiation is Well Tolerated in Carriers of a Pathogenic ATM Variant.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S) There is mixed and limited scientific evidence regarding radiotherapy (RT) tolerance in carriers of a pathogenic, germline ATM variant. The ASTRO-ASCO-SSO guidelines on management of hereditary breast cancer suggest offering RT to these patients if clinically indicated. We investigate RT toxicity for carriers of either a pathogenic ATM variant, or variant of unknown significance (VUS), in ATM. MATERIALS/METHODS Patients with a breast cancer history who had hereditary genetic testing and were found to carry either a pathogenic variant or VUS in ATM were identified. For those who received RT at our institution, toxicity metrics were recorded including dermatitis (scored per CTCAE version 4.0), moist desquamation, and cosmetic outcome (scored per Harvard scale). Fisher's exact test for count data was performed to compare toxicity between the two cohorts. Wilcoxon rank-sum testing was performed to assess for differences in cohort patient characteristics. RESULTS Forty-four carriers of a pathogenic ATM variant, and 163 carriers of an ATM VUS, were identified. Fifteen pathogenic and 56 VUS patients, respectively, received RT at our institution and had available toxicity records. The cohorts did not statistically differ in race, medical comorbidities, clinical or pathologic T-stage, hormone receptor status, receipt of chemotherapy, fractionation schedule, or receipt of a boost. No patients had a known collagen vascular disease. 77% of patients (55/71) had breast conservation. 62% received whole breast RT, 7% received chest wall RT, 4.2% received partial breast RT, and 26.8% received whole breast or chest wall RT with regional nodal RT. 58% received conventionally-fractionated RT, and 38% received hypofractionated RT. Median toxicity follow up was 11.6 months. 29% (4/15) of pathogenic carriers and 26.4% (14/56) of VUS carriers developed moist desquamation (P = 0.7). The rates of grade 2+ acute dermatitis were 71% in pathogenic carriers and 57% in VUS carriers (P = 0.4). 100% of pathogenic carriers and 91% of VUS carriers had a good/excellent cosmetic outcome at first follow up (P > 0.9). No patients with a pathogenic variant had a fair or poor cosmetic outcome at last follow up. CONCLUSION RT is well tolerated in carriers of a pathogenic ATM variant, with rates of grade 2+ dermatitis and moist desquamation comparable to a matched VUS cohort. High rates of good or excellent cosmetic outcome were seen following treatment. Further analyses including an ATM wild type cohort and continued detailed toxicity documentation/analysis is on-going to elucidate longer term morbidity.
Cavity Enhanced Spectroscopy: Applications Theory and Instrumentation

Cavity-enhanced spectroscopy (CES) is a sensitive technique for measuring the absolute optical extinction by samples that absorb or scatter light. Like other spectroscopic measurements, CES is based on measuring the change in intensity of light as it passes through an absorbing medium, CES is unique because it employs very long effective path lengths that are achieved by using highly reflective mirrors to form a high-finesse optical cavity. A number of instrumental variations on this technique have been developed and successfully used to measure trace gas and aerosol concentrations in the atmosphere. CES is applicable to a wide range of atmospheric compounds with spectral absorptions. Detection limits vary with the application and molecule, but are typically of the order of parts per billion or parts per trillion in air.
Abortion, Intimacy, and the Duty to Gestate

In this article, I urge that mainstream discussions of abortion are dissatisfying in large part because they proceed in polite abstraction from the distinctive circumstances and meanings of gestation. Such discussions, in fact, apply to abortion conceptual tools that were designed on the premiss that people are physically demarcated, even as gestation is marked by a thorough-going intertwinement. We cannot fully appreciate what is normatively at stake with legally forcing continued gestation, or again how to discuss moral responsibilities to continue gestating, until we appreciate in their own terms the goods and evils distinctive of gestational connection. To underscore the need to explore further the meanings of gestation, I provide two examples of the difference it might make to legal and moral discussions of abortion if we appreciate more fully that gestation is an intimacy.
Topic Distillation and Spectral Filtering

This paper discuss topic distillation, an information retrieval problem that is emerging as a critical task for the www. Algorithms for this problem must distill a small number of high-quality documents addressing a broad topic from a large set of candidates. We give a review of the literature, and compare the problem with related tasks such as classification, clustering, and indexing. We then describe a general approach to topic distillation with applications to searching and partitioning, based on the algebraic properties of matrices derived from particular documents within the corpus. Our method – which we call special filtering – combines the use of terms, hyperlinks and anchor-text to improve retrieval performance. We give results for broad-topic queries on the www, and also give some anecdotal results applying the same techniques to US Supreme Court law cases, US patents, and a set of Wall Street Journal newspaper articles.
Persistent Pain in Frail Older Adults After Hip Fracture Repair

Objectives: To identify factors associated with persistent hip pain in elderly hip fracture patients with physical frailty. Design: Cohort study. Setting: Community-based study conducted at academic medical center. Participants: Eighty-eight men and women (mean age±standard deviation 80±7 years) with a recent hip fracture (mean 14.5±4.8 weeks after hip fracture repair) and physical frailty, defined as a modified Physical Performance Test Score between 12 and 28, enrolled in an exercise intervention trial. Measurements: Dependent variable was self-report of moderate to severe regional hip pain in the week preceding the baseline interview. Independent variables were self-reported demographic information, health characteristics, and activity of daily living (ADL) function; Yesavage Mood Score (YMS); 36-item Short Form percentile scores; and objective measurements of lower extremity strength, range of motion, balance, and gait. Results: Forty-two percent of the sample reported moderate or severe hip pain at the baseline assessment. Moderate/severe pain was related to difficulty with ADL performance and multiple measures of quality of life. Variables independently associated with moderate/severe hip pain were frequency of pain medication use (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=5.75, 95% confidence interval (CI)=2.23–14.82, P=.003), YMS score (AOR=2.69, 95% CI=1.18–6.12, P=.02), and knee extension at 60°/s in the fractured limb (AOR=0.96, 95% CI=0.92–1.0, P=.05, model coefficient of determination=0.34). Conclusion: Persistent hip pain is a frequent symptom in frail elderly community-dwelling hip fracture patients. Pain medication use, symptoms of depression, and skeletal muscle weakness of the fractured leg are independent correlates of moderate to severe hip pain in this patient population. Clinicians should assess for, and address, persistent pain in this patient population.
One way or another: Erotic subjectivity in Cuba

Intervening at the nexus of queer anthropology, black resistance, and Latin American and Caribbean culture and politics, I examine sites, modalities, and limits of “erotic subjectivity” during Cuba's Special Period in Time of Peace (Periodo Especial en Tiempo de Paz)—the economic crisis of the 1990s. I trace how nonheteronormative black Cubans have been reinventing ways to participate, officially and unofficially, in a number of fraught, uneven exchanges on the ground. I aim to outline a genealogy of the political possibilities for nonheteronormative black Cubans. [queer, black, Cuba, subjectivity, gender]
Structures and energies of AlOOH and FeOOH polymorphs from plane wave pseudopotential calculations

Plane wave pseudopotential methods are used to investigate the structures and total energies of AlOOH and FeOOH in the five canonical oxyhydroxide structures: diaspore (goethite), boehmite (lepidocrocite), akaganeite, guyanaite, and grimaldiite. The local density approximation was used in conjunction with ultrasoft pseudopotentials in full optimizations of both AlOOH and FeOOH in each of these structures. Structures are in reasonably good agreement with experiment, with lattice parameters and bond lengths within 3% of experimental values. Neither AlOOH nor FeOOH have been identified in the grimaldiite or guyanaite structures, however we find that total energies for AlOOH and FeOOH in these structures are comparable to or lower than the total energies of the commonly observed polymorphs (with the exception of FeOOH in the grimaldiite structure, which is anomalously high energy). Estimated zero-point energy corrections do not alter this result. For diaspore and boehmite, we also provide calculations using the generalized gradient approximation and norm-conserving pseudopotentials to assess the extent to which the results depend on the particular level of theory used. We find that diaspore is predicted to have a lower energy, consistent with experimental observation, using all but one methodological combination where the generalized gradient approximation is combined with ultrasoft pseudopotentials. Thus, although one may reasonably conclude that the differences in total energies of the various (Al,Fe)oxyhydroxide polymorphs are small, current electronic structure methods do not appear to be fully capable of accurately resolving these small differences. These findings provide further confirmation that the structures of oxyhydroxide polymorphs and surface precipitates are more likely to be a function of kinetics than of intrinsic lattice stability.
Bill Winnowing in U.S. State Legislatures

While much research has examined the workings of U.S. legislatures, few studies have examined the winnowing process in a systematic way, so we know little about why some bills progress while others languish. Research has shown that the winnowing process is cue based, with institutional and individual cues influencing the fate of individual bills. But what we know about the process of winnowing comes from research at the Congressional level, so it is not clear whether the findings about the winnowing process are institution specific or how variations in the institutional milieu affect the winnowing process. Using data on the legislative history of all bills introduced in four state legislative sessions (Georgia, Vermont, and Wisconsin during the 2007-2008 legislative session and Vermont in the 2003-2004 session), I examine the winnowing process at the state level. Preliminary results show that partisanship is critical to explaining which bills advance, but also that the factors that predict whether a bill becomes a law vary from state to state.
Caring for the pregnant kidney transplant recipient.

Concepcion BP, Schaefer HM. Caring for the pregnant kidney transplant recipient. Clin Transplant 2011: 25: 821–829. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Abstract: As fertility can be restored to normal soon after a kidney transplant, it is important for physicians caring for recipients to be able to inform the patient about the potential risks of pregnancy. Current opinion is that pregnancy can be successful if carried out under optimal circumstances, including stable allograft function for at least one yr post-transplant without rejection, good control of blood pressure, and appropriate adjustment of immunosuppression and other known teratogenic medications prior to conception. In planning for pregnancy, one should discuss pregnancy outcomes and risks to both the mother and fetus. During pregnancy, it is important to pay close attention to medical complications such as worsening of hypertension and development of preeclampsia; risk of infection, in particular of the urinary tract; and worsening anemia. Pregnant recipients should be managed in close conjunction with a high-risk obstetrician.
Morphogenesis of poliovirus III. Formation of Provirion in Cell-Free Extracts

Formation of an apparent virion precursor, the provirion, can be demonstrated in cytoplasmic extracts of poliovirus-infected HeLa cells.
Characterization of Cryptococcus neoformans variety gattii SOD2 reveals distinct roles of the two superoxide dismutases in fungal biology and virulence

We studied superoxide dismutases (SODs) in the encapsulated yeast Cryptococcus neoformans (Cn) variety gattii to analyse the role of mitochondrial MnSOD (SOD2) in fungal biology and virulence. SOD2 was cloned from a Cn cosmid library, sod2 mutant and sod2 + SOD2 reconstituted strains were constructed by homologous recombination, and two sod1sod2 double mutants were constructed by replacing SOD2 in the sod1 mutant with the sod2::HYG allele. The SOD2 protein (SOD2p) encoded 225 amino acids, with 36-66% identity with other fungal SOD2ps. SOD2 deletion rendered Cn highly growth-defective at 37 degrees C in 19-20% oxygen (normal air), and this defect was reversed by limiting oxygen to 1.3% as well in the presence of antioxidant, ascorbic acid. The sod2 mutant accumulated significantly more reactive oxygen species (ROS) at 37 degrees C as well at 30 degrees C in the presence of antimycin A, suggesting that SOD2p is the primary defence of Cn against the superoxide anion (O(2) (.-)) in the mitochondria. The sod2 was also highly susceptible to redox-cycling agents, high salt and nutrient limitations. The sod2 mutant was avirulent in intranasally infected mice and markedly attenuated in its virulence in intravenously infected mice. The virulence defect of sod2 mutant appeared related to its growth defects in high oxygen environment, but not resulting from increased sensitivity to oxidative killing by phagocytes. The sod1sod2 double mutants were avirulent in mice. Additionally, sod1sod2 double mutants showed a marked reduction in the activities of other known Cn virulence factors; and they were more susceptible to PMN killing than was the sod2 single mutant. Previously, we reported that the attenuation of sod1 mutant in mice was resulting from enhanced susceptibility to phagocyte killing, combined with a reduction in the activities of a number of virulence factors. Thus, SOD1p and SOD2p play distinct roles in the biology and virulence of Cn var. gattii via independent modes of action.
Watson–Crick Base Pairs

Watson–Crick base pairs are crucial in the formation of double helical DNA and in the storage of genetic information. They comprise two of the most common geometries involving the pairing of dA with dT and dG with dC through the formation of two and three hydrogen bonds, respectively. The complementarity of the anti-parallel strands forming a double helix is crucial in DNA replication since the complementary strand is synthesized by adding the Watson–Crick complementary bases of the parent strand. The hybridization of DNA or DNA–RNA strands is widely used in biotechnology and molecular biology for multiple purposes. Keywords: Watson–Crick base pairs; hybridization; DNA melting curves; UV spectroscopy; circular dichroism spectroscopy
The Interaction of Genotype, Explant and Media on the Regeneration of Shoots from Complex Explants of Brassica napus L.

The relative importance of explant type, genotype and growth regulator regime in the determination of shoot regeneration frequencies from complex expiants of Brassica napus L. has been evaluated. Cotyledon, hypocotyl and stem sections taken from one spring (Westar) and three winter (Ariana, Cobra, Libravo) varieties of B. napus were cultured on three different growth regulator regimes, 0 5 mg dm"3 NAA + 2-0mg dm"3 BAP, 0-5 mg dm"3 NAA + 4-0mg dm"3 BAP and 1-0mg dm"3 NAA + 40 mg dm"3 BAP. The most significant effects on shoot regeneration were due to explant type and variety. The regeneration from stem segments was not only two to three times higher than from hypocotyls or cotyledons, in all varieties, but the response was also more uniform across the varieties. The expiant effect accounted for 44-95% of the regeneration response. In contrast, the contribution of growth regulator regime was negligible. Although the growth regulator regime as an independent effect was unimportant, regeneration from both Ariana and Libravo was significantly affected by the interaction of genotype with growth regulator regime. The importance of both the high shoot regeneration frequency from stem segments and the relative uniformity of response across the four tested genotypes is discussed with respect to the potential benefits of using this expiant source in Agrobacterium-based transformation experiments.
Performance-Cost Analysis of Solar Combined Heat and Power Systems

Solar combined heat and power (CHP) systems can compete or exceed solar photovoltaics (PV) — which is often used as the benchmark in terms of efficiency, performance, and cost — in a range of distributed generation applications, and across a range of specific technology platforms. A common metric to evaluate the cost of photovoltaics is a cost per peak power output or “dollars per watt” metric. For the purpose of comparison, we develop a new analytic methodology to evaluate the cost of the electricity generated from a solar CHP system. The electricity generation and thermal subsystems of a solar CHP system are energetically intertwined, yet by comparing thermal and electrical outputs a sensible cost division can be determined. This method is then used to compare the cost of stationary PV and solar Rankine CHP systems with tracking and stationary collectors. The capacity factors of electricity generation for each system is found in simulation using NREL TMY3 climatic data for 1020 sites in the United States. The solar Rankine system with stationary collectors outperforms the PV system in warmer and sunnier climates relative to its rated “dollar per watt” output, while PV outperforms solar Rankine in cooler climates. With tracking concentrating collectors, the solar Rankine system outperforms PV systems in the vast majority of US sites at an estimated cost of $4/W and a collector high temperature of 250°C. In conclusion, a PV system and solar Rankine CHP system, sized equally in terms of peak power output, will produce comparable amounts of electricity (+/− 10% on average), however the solar Rankine CHP system will additionally provide 4 to 6 units of useful heat energy for every one unit of electricity generated.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Conductive polymer PEDOT/PSS electrodes on the piezoelectric polymer PVDF

Inkjet printing of conductive polymers has been successfully done before, but never before has the process been used to electrode piezoelectric polymers as we have done. Piezoelectric polymers such as poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) rely on high electric fields to take advantage of their mechanical output. The electrodes need to be securely attached to the PVDF and are traditionally made of metal. The rigidity of metal significantly reduces the performance of devices made with PVDF. We have applied much more flexible conductive polymer PEDOT/PSS (3,4-polyethylenedioxythiophene-polystyrenesulfonate) electrodes on PVDF using an HP 5850 inkjet printer. The inkjet printing method is simple and cost effective. It deposits the PEDOT/PSS in uniform coatings and allows for the creation of any desired patterns on the surface of the PVDF. We have also constructed bimorphs and actuators using PVDF with the new electrodes.
The miRNA23b-regulated signaling network as a key to cancer development—implications for translational research and therapeutics

A growing body of evidence indicates that microRNA23b (miR23b) is pleiotropic—it plays important roles in regulating physiological functions of cells, in regulating differentiation of cells and in regulating cellular immune responses. Our review of the literature showed that dysregulation of miR23b expression is implicated in the disruption of these cellular mechanisms and development of diseases such as cancer. MiR23b dysregulation appears to do this by modulating the expression level of candidate gene products involved in a network of signaling pathways including TGF-beta and Notch pathways that govern malignant properties of cancer cells such as motility and invasiveness. More recently, miR23b regulation of gene expression has also been associated with cancer stem cells and chemoresistance. Our review covers miR23b’s role in immunity, endothelial function, differentiation, and cancer as well as its potential for translation into future cancer diagnostics and therapeutics.
Growth factors and kidney development

The formation of the metanephric kidney is dependent upon the timed and sequential expression of a number of polypeptide growth factors. To shed light on the participation of members of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) and epidermal growth factor/transforming growth factor-alpha (EGF/TF-alpha) families, we measured the synthesis of IGF-I, IGF-II, EGF and TGF-alpha by developing rat metanephroi in organ culture and determined the effect of anti-growth factor antibodies on growth and development. IGF-I, IGF-II and TGF-alpha were produced by metanephroi and released into culture media. We could detect no EGF. Inclusion of anti-IGF-I, anti-IGF-II, anti-IGF-II receptor or anti-TGF-alpha antibodies in organ cultures inhibited growth and development of metanephroi. Our findings suggest that both members of the IGF family and TGF-alpha are produced within the developing metanephros and promote renal organogenesis.
Genomics, the cytoskeleton and motility

The draft human genome sequence is an important step in cataloguing the molecular hardware that supports the processes of life. Here I look at what we have learned from the draft sequence about our cytoskeletal and motility systems. Most cytoskeletal and motility proteins were discovered previously by biochemical isolation, traditional cloning methods or random sequences of complementary DNAs. The ongoing challenges of assembling and annotating genes for motor proteins with long, fragmented coding sequences emphasize the importance of expert knowledge of related proteins and confirmatory evidence from cDNA sequences.
Chromosome structure and mitosis in the dinoflagellates: an ultrastructural approach to an evolutionary problem.

Chromosome structure and mitosis have been examined in three evolutionarily diverse members of the Pyrrophyta. Chromosome uncoiling, revealing the chromonema, has been correlated with the uptake of [3H]thymidine. In addition, chromosome uncoiling has been observed during gamete formation, gamete fusion, and in the nucleolar organizing region of the chromosomes suggesting that dinoflagellate chromosomes undergoing duplication, transcription or pairing have a morphology different from the characteristic tightly banded structure generally observed during most of interphase and mitosis. The dinoflagellate chromonema is composed of 2.5-nm fibers and 9.0-nm granules coiled into a helix around a central core of 9.0-nm fibers. Chromosome attachment to nuclear channels and kinetochore division and separation have been examined in several dinoflagellates. After evaluating many nuclear and cytoplasmic characteristics of the dinoflagellates it appears that this group of organisms are true eukaryotes which may be on the main line to the evolution of the mitotic spindle typical of higher plant and animals cells.U
Feynman Rules and Factor Ordering in Derivative Coupling and Spin-One Theories

Several methods may be employed to derive the Feynman rules for canonical theories. With emphasis on vector particle theories, we recast the theorem of Lee and Yang into functional integral and Hori operator formulations. For the class of Lagrangians considered, equivalent results are obtained: The canonic~! generating functional is used to relate T and T* products to the Hamiltoniim and- Lagrangian versions of theories with dependent fields. With- the aid of Hori operators, we show that there is a wide class of ordering prescriptions compatible with the_ Lee-Yang. theorem. .Of these, the. only familiar candidates are . normal ordering and symmetrization of momenta and .coordinates. It is argued that the latter is preferred, thus confirming a result of Suzuki and Hattori. Finally, the expanded Lee-Yang theorem for general ordering prescriptions is outlined, and ordering for a Yang-Mills theory is discussed.
Crystal structure of bullfrog M ferritin at 2.8 A resolution: analysis of subunit interactions and the binuclear metal center.

Ferritins concentrate and store iron as a mineral in all bacterial, plant, and animal cells. The two ferritin subunit types, H or M (fast) and L (slow), differ in rates of iron uptake and mineralization and assemble in vivo to form heteropolymeric protein shells made up of 24 subunits; H/L subunit ratios reflect cell specificity of H and L subunit gene expression. A diferric peroxo species that is the initial reaction product of Fe(II) in H-type ferritins, as well as in ribonucleotide reductase (R2) and methane monooxygenase hydroxylase (MMOH), has recently been characterized, exploiting the relatively high accumulation of the peroxo intermediate in frog H-subunit type recombinant ferritin with the M sequence. The stability of the diferric reaction centers in R2 and MMOH contrasts with the instability of diferric centers in ferritin, which are precursors of the ferric mineral. We have determined the crystal structure of the homopolymer of recombinant frog M ferritin in two crystal forms: P4(1)2(1)2, a = b = 170.0 A and c = 481.5 A; and P3(1)21, a = b = 210.8 A and c = 328.1 A. The structural model for the trigonal form was refined to a crystallographic R value of 19.0% (Rfree = 19.4%); the two structures have an r.m.s.d. of approximately 0.22 A for all C alpha atoms. Comparison with the previously determined crystal structure of frog L ferritin indicates that the subunit interface at the molecular twofold axes is most variable, which may relate to the presence of the ferroxidase site in H-type ferritin subunits. Two metal ions (Mg) from the crystallization buffer were found in the ferroxidase site of the M ferritin crystals and interact with Glu23, Glu58, His61, Glu103, Gln137 and, unique to the M subunit, Asp140. The data suggest that Gln137 and Asp140 are a vestige of the second GluxxHis site, resulting from single nucleotide mutations of Glu and His codons and giving rise to Ala140 or Ser140 present in other eukaryotic H-type ferritins, by additional single nucleotide mutations. The observation of the Gln137xxAsp140 site in the frog M ferritin accounts for both the instability of the diferric oxy complexes in ferritin compared to MMOH and R2 and the observed kinetic variability of the diferric peroxo species in different H-type ferritin sequences.
Oral insulin increases small intestinal mass and disaccharidase activity in the newborn miniature pig.

Oral Insulin Increases Small Intestinal Mass and Disaccharidase Activity in the Newborn Miniature Pig
Education, Ethnic Identity, and Acculturation as Predictors of Self-Esteem in Latino Adolescents.

This study examines the self-esteem, acculturation, and ethnic identity of 150 Latino adolescents enrolled in either a bilingual or traditional education program. Bilingual education programs were established to ensure that academic failure was not the product of limited English proficiency. Grade point average (GPA), acculturation, and ethnic identity significantly predicted self-esteem for students in bilingual programs, whereas only GPA and acculturation significantly predicted self-esteem for students in traditional educational programs.
What a Dog Can Do: Children with Autism and Therapy Dogs in Social Interaction

Abstract For almost 50 years specially trained dogs have been used in clinical and family settings to facilitate how children with autism engage in social interaction and participate in everyday activities. Yet little theoretical grounding and empirical study of this socioclinical phenomenon has been offered by social science. This article draws on interdisciplinary scholarship to situate the study of the therapeutic use of dogs for children and teens with autism. Two case studies of service and therapy dogs' mediating social engagement of children with autism in relationships, interactions, and activities illustrate how dogs support children's communication, their experience of emotional connection with others, and their participation in everyday life. Theorizing this process enriches approaches to sociality in psychological anthropology. [animal-assisted therapy, autism, engagement, sociality, intersubjectivity]
Acute severe postischemic myocardial depression reversed by triiodothyronine

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of triiodothyronine (T 3 ) on postischemic left ventricular performance and high-energy phosphate content in a severe injury model. Isolated working rat hearts (n = 63) received 20 mL of hyperkalemic NIH No. 1 cardioplegia and were subjected to 20 minutes of ischemia at 37 °C. Treated hearts were reperfused with T 3 -supplemented modified Krebs-Henseleit buffer. Control hearts did not receive T 3 supplementation. All treated hearts (n = 44) performed work after ischemia, whereas 26% ( 5 / 19 ) of the control hearts were not able to perform any left ventricular work after ischemia. Comparisons with preischemic values demonstrated significant progressive hemodynamic recovery with increasing concentrations of T 3 (0, 0.06, 0.15, and 0.60 ng/mL) with concomitant recovery of left ventricular stroke work index (63%, 72%, 89% [ p p p p > 0.05). We conclude that administration of T 3 in a severe left ventricular injury model significantly augments rapid ventricular recovery with no change in postischemic high-energy phosphate concentrations.
Oxygen isotope effect in high-temperature oxide superconductors.

The effect of oxygen isotope substitution on the superconducting transition temperature, Tc, has been measured for BaBi0.25Pb0.75O3 (Tc, ≈ 11 K) and Lal1.85 Ca0.15CuO4 (Tc ≈ 20 K), and is compared to the shifts observed for La1.85Sr0.15CuO4 (Tc ≈ 37 K) and YBa2Cu3O7 (Tc ≈ 92 K). For all four materials, the transition temperature is shifted to lower temperature upon substitution of oxygen-18 for oxygen-16. The observed shifts demonstrate that phonons are involved in the electron-pairing mechanism in these oxide superconductors.
Tau Phosphorylation, Tangles, and Neurodegeneration: The Chicken or the Egg?

Pathological aggregation of the microtubule-associated protein tau is a common feature of many neurodegenerative diseases. Although tau aggregation is associated with abnormal tau phosphorylation, the role of phosphorylation in the initiation of neurodegeneration has been unclear. Now, several animal models and data from human patients provide converging evidence that aberrant tau phosphorylation can cause a neurodegenerative phenotype similar to that seen in human neurodegenerative diseases.