cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Inhibition of 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin-D-Induced Keratinocyte Differentiation by Blocking the Expression of Phospholipase C-γ1

Keratinocytes produce vitamin D3 and convert it to the most active form, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, which regulates keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation. Phospholipase C-γ1 is the most abundant member of the phospholipase C family in keratinocytes and is induced by 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. Therefore, phospholipase C-γ1 might be important in the signaling pathway mediating 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin-D3-induced keratinocyte differentiation. To test this hypothesis, phospholipase C-γ1 expression in human keratinocytes was reduced by transfecting the cells with an antisense phospholipase C-γ1 construct and then evaluating the response of the keratinocyte differentiation markers involucrin and transglutaminase to 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. The results showed that involucrin and transglutaminase protein and mRNA levels were markedly reduced in keratinocytes transfected by the antisense phospholipase C-γ1 construct. Cotransfection of keratinocytes with the involucrin or transglutaminase promoter construct and the antisense phospholipase C-γ1 construct showed decreased involucrin or transglutaminase promoter activity in response to 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. To further investigate the mechanism by which phospholipase C-γ1 regulates keratinocyte differentiation, the calcium and inositol triphosphate levels in keratinocytes transfected by the antisense phospholipase C-γ1 construct were measured following 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 administration. The increase in keratinocyte intracellular free calcium and inositol triphosphate levels following 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 administration were markedly reduced by the transfection of the antisense phospholipase C-γ1 construct. These studies indicate that phospholipase C-γ1 plays a critical role in the signal transduction pathway mediating 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin-D3-induced keratinocyte differentiation at least in part by mediating the increase in inositol triphosphate production and intracellular calcium mobilization following 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 administration.
Peer Reviews Employees’ Dual Roles as Raters and Recipients

This study investigated nurses’ reactions to a peer rating system. Their level of system acceptance was assessed with both quantitative and qualitative measures. In addition, participants were aske...
Geomorphic considerations for erosion prediction

Current soil-erosion prediction technology addresses processes of rainsplash, overland-flow sediment transport, and rill erosion in small watersheds. The effects of factors determining sediment yield from larger-scale drainage basins, in which sediment movement is controlled by the combined small-scale processes and a complex set of channel and other basin-scale sediment-delivery processes, such as soil creep, bioturbation, and accelerated erosion due to denudation of vegetation, have been poorly evaluated. General suggestions are provided for the development of erosion-prediction technology at the geomorphic or drainage-basin scale based on the separation of sediment-yield data for channel and geomorphic processes from those of field-scale soil loss. An emerging technology must consider: (1) the effects on sediment yield of climate, geology and soils, topography, biotic interactions with other soil processes, and land-use practices; (2) all processes of sediment delivery to a channel system; and (3) the general tendency in most drainage basins for progressively greater sediment storage in the downstream direction.
Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease with focal findings: caveats to current diagnostic criteria

The clinical diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is largely based on the 1998 World Health Organization diagnostic criteria. Unfortunately, rigid compliance with these criteria may result in failure to recognize sporadic CJD (sCJD), especially early in its course when focal findings predominate and traditional red flags are not yet present. A 61-year-old man presented with a 3-week history of epilepsia partialis continua (jerking of the left upper extremity) and a 2-week history of forgetfulness and left hemiparesis; left hemisensory neglect was also detected on admission. Repeated brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed areas of restricted diffusion in the cerebral cortex, initially on the right but later spreading to the left. Electroence-phalography (EEG) on hospital days 7, 10, and 14 showed right-sided periodic lateralized epileptiform discharges. On day 20, the EEG showed periodic sharp wave complexes leading to a diagnosis of probable sCJD and subsequently to definite sCJD with brain biopsy. Neurological decline was relatively fast with generalized myoclonus and akinetic mutism developing within 7 weeks from the onset of illness. CJD was not immediately recognized because of the patient's focal/lateralized manifestations. Focal/lateralized clinical, EEG, and MRI findings are not uncommon in sCJD and EEG/MRI results may not be diagnostic in the early stages of sCJD. Familiarity with these caveats and with the most current criteria for diagnosing probable sCJD (University of California San Francisco 2007, MRI-CJD Consortium 2009) will enhance the ability to recognize sCJD and implement early safety measures.
GaAs surface plasma treatments for Schottky contacts

Abstract The properties of different rectifying metallizations (Al, Ti/Pt, WN x ) on GaAs have been investigated for various surface preparation procedures. In particular, in situ hydrogen plasma treatments were used to remove residual surface contamination (mainly O and C) and a nitrogen plasma to grow a thin mixed nitride layer. Al and Ti/Pt Schottky diodes with an ideality factor very close to 1, but with reduced barrier height, were found after the H 2 plasma as a consequence of H diffusion into GaAs. The Schottky barrier height was further reduced if a H 2 + N 2 plasma was performed. The N content in the sputtering environment during the WN x deposition affects the diode properties of plasma-treated WN x contacts. By increasing the N 2 partial pressure, the diode barrier height is reduced, probably due to nitridization of the GaAs surface. Such differences disappear after annealing the diodes in arsine overpressure at 800°C. WN x contacts deposited under different conditions on H 2 plasma treated substrates also show a similar Schottky barrier height after such annealing.
Purine analogs revisited: Interference in protein formation

We have examined in L1210 cells in vitro the effects of three guanine analogs (8-azaguanine, 3-deazaguanine, and 6-thioguanine) on protein biosynthesis and have compared this action with respect to effects on macromolecular synthesis and mechanisms of tumor growth inhibition and cell viability. The major site of action of azaG was the inhibition of protein synthesis. TG seemed to inhibit RNA synthesis more than DNA and protein synthesis. In contrast, DG inhibited both protein and DNA synthesis but not RNA synthesis. Whereas the LD50 and ID50 for macromolecular synthesis for DG and also for azaG were quite similar, for TG the LD50 was one-tenth that of the ID50 for macromolecular synthesis. Since azaG, DG, and TG had different effects on protein and RNA synthesis, the effects of the analogs on the process of translation were examined. DG and azaG, but not TG, altered the polyribosome sedimentation profile, increasing the numbers of monosomes and smaller polysomes and decreasing the number of larger polysomes. This shift in the polysome profile was reversed by low concentrations of cycloheximide, suggesting that DG and azaG inhibited the initiation of translation. This was examined directly by the incorporation of 35S-met-tRNA into the initiation complexes. DG and azaG inhibited the formation of the 43S and 80S initiation complexes and this inhibition correlated closely with the inhibition of total protein synthesis. It is likely that the inhibition of tumor growth by azaG is due to the inhibition of initiation of translation, perhaps through actions on mRNA. The mechanism of growth inhibition for DG is not yet known but may similarly involve actions at this level.
Protein Splicing Involving the Saccharomyces cerevisiae VMA Intein THE STEPS IN THE SPLICING PATHWAY, SIDE REACTIONS LEADING TO PROTEIN CLEAVAGE, AND ESTABLISHMENT OF AN IN VITRO SPLICING SYSTEM

Protein splicing involves the excision of an internal protein segment, the intein, from a precursor protein and the concomitant ligation of the flanking N- and C-terminal regions. It occurs in mesophilic bacteria, yeast, and thermophilic archaea. The ability to control protein splicing of a thermophilic intein by temperature and pH in a foreign protein context facilitated the study of the mechanism of protein splicing in thermophiles. On the other hand, no direct studies have been done on the mechanism of protein splicing in mesophiles. We examined the splicing of a chimeric protein containing the intein of the vacuolar ATPase subunit (VMA) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that involves cysteines rather than serines at the reaction center. The steps in the splicing process were deduced by analyzing intermediates and side products that accumulated as a result of amino acid substitutions and were found to be analogous to those occurring in thermophiles. Moreover, appropriate amino acid replacements allowed us to develop the first mesophilic in vitro protein splicing system as well as strategies for modulating the rate of protein splicing and for converting the splicing reaction to an efficient protein cleavage reaction at either splice junction.
Chronic disease management: A definition and systematic approach to component interventions

The burden of chronic diseases is tremendous, and traditional methods of healthcare delivery are unsuitable for addressing these needs. Chronic disease management has emerged as a new strategy for chronic disease care, but a consistent definition has not been utilized. Our objective is to present an operational definition of chronic disease management. Based on prior systematic reviews of chronic disease management programs, we propose a definition encompassing the main constructs noted in our reviews.
Relationship between circulating immune complexes and urinary antigens in human malignancy.

Urine samples obtained from patients with histologically proved melanoma and sarcoma were analyzed for the presence of tumor-associated antigens by complement fixation and enzyme immunoassay. Also, serum samples obtained during 24-hour urine collection from these patients were analyzed for circulating immune complexes by the complement consumption method and by the K562 radiometric assay. Of 36 cancer patients who were positive for urinary antigen (UA) by both assays, 28 (78%) were also positive for CIC in the two assays, six (17%) were positive in one of the two CIC-detection assays, and two (5%) were negative in both assays. Of 24 patients that were negative for CIC in both assays, ten (42%) were also negative for UA in both assays, i.e., complement fixation and enzyme immunoassay; 12 (50%) were negative by one of the two assays; and only two (8%) exhibited UA by both assays. This relationship was more striking for melanoma than sarcoma patients. In a melanoma patient whose samples were studied sequentially during his thermochemotherapy, the fluctuations in CIC and UA were parallel. These results suggest that excretion of tumor-associated antigen into urine is not an isolated phenomenon; rather, immune complex deposition in kidneys appears to cause glomerular damage which may allow the passage of the antigens into the urine.
A passive microfluidic hydrogen–air fuel cell with exceptional stability and high performance

We describe an advanced microfluidic hydrogen–air fuel cell (FC) that exhibits exceptional durability and high performance, most notably yielding stable output power (>100 days) without the use of an anode–cathode separator membrane. This FC embraces an entirely passive device architecture and, unlike conventional microfluidic designs that exploit laminar hydrodynamics, no external pumps are used to sustain or localize the reagent flow fields. The devices incorporate high surface area/porous metal and metal alloy electrodes that are embedded and fully immersed in liquid electrolyte confined in the channels of a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)-based microfluidic network. The polymeric network also serves as a self-supporting membrane through which oxygen and hydrogen are supplied to the cathode and alloy anode, respectively, by permeation. The operational stability of the device and its performance is strongly dependent on the nature of the electrolyte used (5 M H2SO4 or 2.5 M NaOH) and composition of the anode material. The latter choice is optimized to decrease the sensitivity of the system to oxygen cross-over while still maintaining high activity towards the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR). Three types of high surface area anodes were tested in this work. These include: high-surface area electrodeposited Pt (Pt); high-surface area electrodeposited Pd (Pd); and thin palladium adlayers supported on a “porous” Pt electrode (Pd/Pt). The FCs display their best performance in 5 M H2SO4 using the Pd/Pt anode. This exceptional stability and performance was ascribed to several factors, namely: the high permeabilities of O2, H2, and CO2 in PDMS; the inhibition of the formation of insoluble carbonate species due to the presence of a highly acidic electrolyte; and the selectivity of the Pd/Pt anode toward the HOR. The stability of the device for long-term operation was modeled using a stack of three FCs as a power supply for a portable display that otherwise uses a 3 V battery.
Water clusters on graphite: methodology for quantum chemical a priori prediction of reaction rate constants.

The properties, interactions, and reactions of cyclic water clusters (H2O)n=1-5 on model systems for a graphite surface have been studied using pure B3LYP, dispersion-augmented density functional tight binding (DFTB-D), and integrated ONIOM(B3LYP:DFTB-D) methods. Coronene C24H12 as well as polycircumcoronenes C96H24 and C216H36 in monolayer, bilayer, and trilayer arrangements were used as model systems to simulate ABA bulk graphite. Structures, binding energies, and vibrational frequencies of water clusters on mono- and bilayer graphite models have been calculated, and structural changes and frequency shifts due to the water cluster−graphite interactions are discussed. ONIOM(B3LYP:DFTB-D) with coronene and water in the high level and C96H24 in the low level mimics the effect of extended graphite π-conjugation on the water−graphite interaction very reasonably and suggests that water clusters only weakly interact with graphite surfaces, as suggested by the fact that water is an excellent graphite lubricant....
Grüneisen parameters of CaF2 and BaF2 from a lattice dynamical shell model

Abstract The microscopic Gruneisen parameters of CaF 2 and BaF 2 are calculated from a lattice dynamical shell model. The pressure variation of the interatomic force constants of the model is deduced from the experimentally known pressure dependence of the elastic and the dielectric constants. The quasi-harmonic model values of the macroscopic Gruneisen parameter are obtained by appropriate averaging over the microscopic mode gammas. The shift of the long wave optical mode frequencies with temperature is discussed in terms of thermal expansion and self energy shifts.
In-bore projectile dynamics in the linear induction launcher (LIL). Part II: balloting, spinning, and nutation

This paper examines three particular motions, balloting, spinning, and nutation, that may arise during the transit of the projectile within the barrel of a linear induction launcher (LIL). Experimental evidence in a low-velocity LIL confirms the theoretical predictions. >
A Nominal One-Megavolt, Pulsed Power Generator

A pulsed voltage generator, called Frizz, has been designed and constructed at Sandia Laboratories and is now being used as a voltage source for breakdown studies of various materials. Frizz generates a nominal 100 ns pulse of variable risetime from 5 to 50 ns across a vacuum chamber in which dielectric test samples are placed.
A BIST Circuit for DLL Fault Detection

A built-in-self-test (BIST) circuit for the test of a delay-locked loop circuit (DLL) is proposed. This circuit is based on a simple XNOR logic gate and uncalibrated delay lines to sample the output of the XNOR gate, so very little area overhead is introduced. In addition, no external stimulus is required for this BIST circuit, besides the ldquostart testrdquo signal. Fault simulation results show high fault coverage of structural faults, combined with some coverage of parametric variations.
Chemistry Education: Ten Heuristics To Tame

Students in our chemistry classes often generate shallow responses to our questions and problems. They fail to recognize relevant cues in making judgments and decisions about the properties of chemical substances and processes, and make hasty generalizations that frequently lead them astray. Results from research in the psychology of decision making can help us better understand how students approach chemistry tasks under conditions of limited knowledge, time, or motivation. In this contribution, I describe 10 cognitive heuristics that are often responsible for biases in student thinking. Helping students tame these heuristics may allow us to foster more meaningful learning in chemistry classrooms.
Adherence of Schizophrenia Pharmacotherapy To Published Treatment Recommendations: Patient, Facility, and Provider Predictors

Very little is known about patient, provider, and facility characteristics that may affect the likelihood that a schizophrenia patient who receives an antipsychotic medication is dosed according to treatment recommendations. In this study, prescription drug records for schizophrenia patients were collected from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and indicators were constructed describing whether the average daily dose was outside of the range recommended by the schizophrenia Patient Outcomes Research Team (PORT). Generalized estimation equations were used to identify patient, facility, and provider characteristics that are associated with adherence to PORT recommendations. We found that the majority (62.1%) of patients were dosed within the PORT-recommended dosing range. Patients who were older, were female, had comorbid psychiatric disorders, or were prescribed conventional antipsychotics were less likely to adhere to PORT recommendations. Provider and facility characteristics were generally not significantly associated with adherence. When patients were dosed outside of the recommendations, patients treated at facilities with more emphasis on mental health and research and education were more likely to be dosed above the recommendations.
Application of the phase-perturbation technique to randomly rough surfaces

The phase-perturbation method for the computation of fields scattered by rough surfaces is reviewed and then a method for calculating moments of the field scattered from randomly rough surfaces is investigated. In previous work, the authors have shown that the phase-perturbation method can provide an accurate approximation to the fields scattered from deterministic rough surfaces, even in cases when the rms surface-height variation is significant compared to the radiation wavelength. The present work employs cumulants to develop a systematic averaging procedure that retains this advantage, in the case of scalar-wave scattering from surfaces on which Dirichlet boundary conditions hold. The resulting expressions for the moments of the scattered field are shown to reduce to classical small roughness and physical-optics expressions in the appropriate limits. Numerical results for the magnitude of the coherent reflection coefficient in two test cases are also presented.
FOOD PLANT DERIVED DISEASE TOLERANCE AND RESISTANCE IN A NATURAL BUTTERFLY-PLANT-PARASITE INTERACTIONS

Organisms can protect themselves against parasite-induced fitness costs through resistance or tolerance. Resistance includes mechanisms that prevent infection or limit parasite growth while tolerance alleviates the fitness costs from parasitism without limiting infection. Although tolerance and resistance affect host-parasite coevolution in fundamentally different ways, tolerance has often been ignored in animal-parasite systems. Where it has been studied, tolerance has been assumed to be a genetic mechanism, unaffected by the host environment. Here we studied the effects of host ecology on tolerance and resistance to infection by rearing monarch butterflies on 12 different species of milkweed food plants and infecting them with a naturally occurring protozoan parasite. Our results show that monarch butterflies experience different levels of tolerance to parasitism depending on the species of milkweed that they feed on, with some species providing over twofold greater tolerance than other milkweed species. Resistance was also affected by milkweed species, but there was no relationship between milkweed-conferred resistance and tolerance. Chemical analysis suggests that infected monarchs obtain highest fitness when reared on milkweeds with an intermediate concentration, diversity, and polarity of toxic secondary plant chemicals known as cardenolides. Our results demonstrate that environmental factors-such as interacting species in ecological food webs-are important drivers of disease tolerance.
Distributed advance network reservation with delay guarantees

New architectures have recently been proposed and deployed to support end-to-end advance reservation of network resources. These architectures rely on the use a centralized scheduler, which may be unpractical in large or administratively heterogeneous networks. In this work, we explore and demonstrate the feasibility of implementing distributed solutions for advance reservation. We introduce a new distributed, distance-vector algorithm, called Distributed Advance Reservation (DAR), that provably returns the earliest time possible for setting up a connection between any two nodes. Our main findings in this context are the following: (i) we prove that widest path routing and path switching (i.e, allowing a connection to switch between different paths) are necessary to guarantee earliest scheduling; (ii) we propose a novel approach for loop-free distributed widest path routing, leveraging the recently proposed DIV framework. Our routing results directly extend to on-demand QoS routing problems.
Offspring of Prenatal IV Nicotine Exposure Exhibit Increased Sensitivity to the Reinforcing Effects of Methamphetamine

Maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with increased substance abuse in offspring. Preclinical research shows that in utero exposure to nicotine, the primary psychoactive compound in tobacco smoke, influences the neurodevelopment of reward systems and alters motivated behavior in offspring. The present study determined if prenatal nicotine (PN) exposure altered the sensitivity to the reinforcing and aversive effects of methamphetamine (METH) in offspring using a low dose, intravenous (IV) exposure method. Pregnant dams were administered nicotine (0.05 mg/kg/injection) or prenatal saline (PS) 3×/day on gestational days 8-21, and adult offspring were tested using METH self-administration (experiment 1) or METH-induced conditioned taste aversion (CTA; experiment 2) procedures. For METH self-administration, animals were trained to respond for IV METH (0.05 mg/kg/injection; fixed-ratio 3) and they were tested on varying doses the reinforcer (0.0005-1.0 mg/kg/injection). For METH CTA, rats received three saccharin and METH pairings (0, 0.3, or 0.5 mg/kg, sc) followed by fourteen daily extinction trials. Experiment 1: PN and PS animals exhibited inverted U-shaped dose-response curves; however, the PN animal’s curve was shifted to the left, suggesting PN animals were more sensitive to the reinforcing effects of METH. Experiment 2: METH CTA was acquired in a dose-dependent manner and the factor of PN exposure was not related to the acquisition or extinction of METH-induced CTA. There were no sex differences in either experiment. These results indicate that adult offspring of IV PN exposure exhibited altered motivation for the reinforcing effects of METH. This suggests that PN exposure, via maternal smoking, will alter the reinforcing effects of METH during later stages of development, and furthermore, will influence substance use vulnerability in adult human offspring.
Anomalies, unparticles, and Seiberg duality

We calculate triangle anomalies for fermions with non-canonical scaling dimensions. The most well known example of such fermions (aka unfermions) occurs in Seiberg duality where the matching of anomalies (including mesinos with scaling dimensions between 3/2 and 5/2) is a crucial test of duality. By weakly gauging the non-local action for an unfermion, we calculate the one-loop three-current amplitude. Despite the fact that there are more graphs with more complicated propagators and vertices, we nd that the calculation can be completed in a way that nearly parallels the usual case. We show that the anomaly factor for fermionic unparticles is independent of the scaling dimension and identical to that for ordinary fermions. This can be viewed as a conrmation that unparticle actions correctly capture the physics of conformal xed point theories like Banks-Zaks or SUSY QCD.
Fostering Communication Between Students Working Collaboratively: Results From a Practitioner Action Research Study

As a secondary mathematics teacher, I used practitioner action research to determine effective ways to intervene with students working in groups, with the goal of improving their communication. Utilising transcripts of group interactions and teacher interventions, field notes, and student feedback, I discovered ten different issues that prevent students from communicating effectively and developed ways in which I could intervene with the students, when these issues occurred, through questions or comments. Readers may identify with the issues presented in this article and be able to use the interventions to help improve discourse between their students working in groups.
Can pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research contribute to the empowerment of women affected by breast cancer

Breakthroughs in genetic testing have informed patients and physicians in the treatment of breast cancer; however, they have also added to the complexity of decision-making. Genetic testing for breast cancer susceptibility not only changes treatment and screening options, but also challenges the way in which interventions are evaluated. While comparative effectiveness and cost-effective analysis methods are now standard for evaluation at the societal level, technologies such as genetic testing require us to consider the role of patient preference, especially as we move towards more personalized approaches to medicine. In this review, we discuss the changing role of pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research by highlighting how the discipline could use patient preference methods, such as conjoint analysis, to promote shared decision-making and to empower breast cancer patients. By adopting these methods we could move our focus from what is best for payers or society to one that applies scientific methods to identify what is best for patients.
Parylene-based integrated wireless single-channel neurostimulator

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and functional testing of a fully implantable, flexible, Parylene-enable neurostimulator that features single-channel wireless stimulation capability [1]. This system comprises a fold-and-bond microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) coil for wireless power and data transmission, a BION 1-3 CMOS stimulator chip, discrete capacitors, as well as a carrier substrate with two platinum stimulating electrodes and interconnections for system assembly. The physical geometries of the devices are designed for use in retinal implantation with the specifications determined from the implantation results in canine eyes. The coil and carrier substrate are separately fabricated using a Parylene–metal skin technology. The unique properties of Parylene C allow these MEMS devices to be flexible and biocompatible, facilitating surgical procedure. The system assembly is achieved by interconnecting individual components together on the carrier substrate with a biocompatible silver epoxy. A 10 μm layer of Parylene C is selectively deposited on the integrated system to protect it from corrosive eye environment. The system functionality is verified using a telemetry link setup, and single-phase pulses with amplitudes ranging from 7 to 8.5 V are detected.
Treatment Intensification and Blood Glucose Control Among Hospitalized Diabetic Patients

Background Hyperglycemia is common among diabetic inpatients, and has been linked to adverse outcomes. However, antihyperglycemic treatment is seldom intensified in noncritical care patients, and the relationship between intensification frequency and glucose control is poorly understood. We evaluated the relationship between treatment intensification and changes in blood glucose in hospitalized diabetic patients.
Scalability Analysis of the Asynchronous, Master-Slave Borg Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithm

The Borg Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithm (MOEA) is a new, efficient, and robust optimizer that outperforms competing optimization methods on numerous complex engineering problems. To date, the Borg MOEA has been successfully applied to problems ranging from aerospace applications to water resources engineering. Problems from these domains often involve expensive design evaluations that require large-scale parallel algorithms to produce results in a reasonable amount of time. This study presents the first theoretical and experimental look at parallelizing the Borg MOEA. First, we derive theoretical models for predicting speedup, efficiency, and processor count lower and upper bounds. Second, we validate these models on a simple problem, DTLZ2, and a harder, non-separable problem, UF11. Third, we examine the effects of scaling on convergence speed and solution quality. These experiments are performed on the 62, 976 core Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) Ranger system.
Autophagy and aging: keeping that old broom working

Autophagy, a highly conserved mechanism of quality control inside cells, is essential for the maintenance of cellular homeostasis and for the orchestration of an efficient cellular response to stress. The decrease in autophagic activity observed in almost all cells and tissues as organisms age was proposed to contribute to different aspects of the aging phenotype and to the aggravation of detrimental age-related diseases. The recent advances in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying autophagy and the identification of the subset of genes involved in this process has enabled the use of genetic manipulations to start testing this hypothesis. Here, I review the recent genetic evidence in support of tight connections between autophagy, health span and aging.
Cytogenetic identification of Aegilops squarrosa chromosome additions in durum wheat.

A set of four normal chromosomes (1D, 2D, 3D, and 6D), and three translocation chromosomes (4DS·5DS, 5DL·7DS, and 7DL·4DL) involving all 14 chromosome arms of the D-genome were obtained as monosomic additions from Aegilops squarrosa (genome D, n=7) in Triticum durum Desf. cv ‘PBW114’ (genome AB, n=14). The cyclical translocation occurred during the synthesis of the amphiploid probably as a result of misdivision and reunion of the univalents during meiosis of the F1 hybrid T. durum x A. Squarrosa. The amphiploid was backcrossed twice with the durum parent to obtain monosomic addition lines. The monosomic addition chromosomes were identified by C-banding and associated phenotypic traits. All monosomic addition lines were fertile. The development of disomic and ditelosomic addition lines is underway, which will be useful for cytogenetic analysis of individual D-genome chromosomes in the background of T. Durum.
Effects and bioavailability of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene in spiked and field-contaminated soils to indigenous microorganisms

The response of potential nitrification activity (PNA), nitrogen-fixation activity (NFA), and dehydrogenase activity (DHA) in soil to 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) was assessed. Two garden soils of contrasting texture (sandy loam vs clay loam) were spiked with TNT (25-1,000 mg TNT/kg). Soil microbial activities and TNT residues were analyzed 1 week later. The estimated IC50 (concentration causing 50% inhibition) ranged from 39 to 533 mg/kg of the acetonitrile-extractable (AE) TNT (1 week after spiking), depending on indicators and soils. The lowest LOEC (lowest-observed-effect concentration) was 1 mg AE TNT/kg. Field soil (0-15 cm) was collected from three known contaminated sites in an abandoned TNT manufacturing facility. Microbial toxicity significantly correlated to TNT levels in these soils. The LOEC and NOEC (no-observed-effect concentration) values were site and indicator specific, with the lowest LOEC being 1 mg AE TNT/kg and the lowest NOEC being 0.4 mg AE TNT/kg. The IC50 of the pooled field samples was 51 mg AE TNT/kg for PNA or 157 mg AE TNT/kg for DHA. These results indicate that microbial responses were consistent and comparable between the laboratory and the field and that TNT could significantly inhibit soil microbial activities at very low levels. Both AE TNT and deionized water-extractable (DW) TNT concentrations correlated well with microbial toxicity, but AE TNT provided a better evaluation of TNT bioavailability than did DW TNT.
The Seventeenth-Century Crisis in South Asia

In several of the world's regions a ‘general crisis’ seems to have occurred in the first half of the seventeenth century. At that time in each region, political instability and war, population decline and urban stagnation, economic crises marked by falling prices and depleted stocks of precious metals, and dramatic climatic shifts converged. These symptoms have been detected in western Europe, in the Ottoman lands, and even in China and Japan. Their causes have been attributed in part to the effects of the price revolution, partly to climate change, and in part to rising populations which begin to outstrip agricultural production. The latter tendency in particular seems to have caused a fiscal crisis for the absolutist agrarian states characteristic of Eurasia in this period. Other analyses stress the effects of a tightening linkage in the emerging capitalist world economy in which precious metal flows served to mark newly imposed interdependencies.
Implementing innovative flexible work practices in Nigerian local firms: Implications for management of change in less-developed countries

There is an increasing interest in Africa as a potential sourcing location and a target for foreign direct investment (FDI). However, because of the uniqueness of the African context, there is a need to investigate whether management theories that have worked effectively in organizations in developed countries may be applicable within the African context. In this study, using a multiple case study approach, we investigated change implications and the effectiveness of implementing flexible work practices in local firms in Nigeria. Our results revealed that employees in local firms in Nigeria were compliant with the introduction of the practices, despite their negative perceptions about the potential impact of implementing the change and the ‘management of change’ process. Our study revealed that social, cultural, and religious factors, along with the value systems of the Nigerian context played a major role in influencing employees’ reaction to the successful implementation of the flexible work practices. The implications of the study for theory and practice within the broader African context are discussed.
Planning local container drayage operations given a port access appointment system

Abstract This paper studies the management of a fleet of trucks providing container pickup and delivery service (drayage) to a port with an appointment-based access control system. Responding to growing access congestion and its resultant impacts, many US port terminals have implemented appointment systems, but little is known about the potential impact of such systems on drayage fleet efficiency. To address this knowledge gap, we develop a drayage operations planning approach based on an integer programming heuristic that explicitly models a port access control system. The approach determines pickup and delivery sequences for daily drayage operations with minimum transportation cost. We use the framework to develop an understanding of the potential productivity impacts of access control systems on drayage firms. Most importantly, we find that it is critical for terminal operators to provide enough access capacity for drayage, since vehicle productivity can be increased by 10–24% when total access capacity is increased by 30%. Furthermore, poor (but not unreasonable) selection of access appointment time slots by drayage firms may result in substantial customer service deficiencies, reducing the number of customers that can be served by up to 4% for a fixed level of total access capacity.
New proboscideans from the early Miocene of Wadi Moghara, Egypt

Fieldwork conducted since 1981 has greatly increased the sample of proboscidean fossils from Wadi Moghara, Egypt. The Moghara proboscidean assemblage is taxonomically more diverse than previously suspected, comprising four taxa: Gomphotherium angustidens libycum, Afrochoerodon kisumuensis, cf. Archaeobelodon, and Zygolophodon aegyptensis, sp. nov. Biochronological analysis of the proboscideans supports previous findings based on the remainder of the fauna that the age of Moghara is early Miocene, approximately 18–17 Ma. The composition of the Moghara proboscidean assemblage suggests complex biogeographic distribution patterns of proboscideans throughout Eurasia and Afro–Arabia during the early Miocene. Moghara and other pene-contemporaneous Afro–Arabian sites were apparently characterized by a relatively high degree of mammalian species-level endemism.
Cyclooxygenase-2 expression and function in the medullary thick ascending limb.

The medullary thick ascending limb (MTAL) metabolizes arachidonic acid (AA) via cytochromeP-450 (CyP450)- and cyclooxygenase (COX)-dependent pathways. In the present study, we demonstrated that the COX-2-selective inhibitor, NS-398, prevented tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF)- and phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)-mediated increases in PGE2 production by cultured MTAL cells. Accumulation of COX-2, but not COX-1, mRNA increased when cells were challenged with TNF (1 nM) or PMA (1 μM). Pretreatment of cells for 30 min with actinomycin D (AcD, 1 μM) had little effect on COX-2 mRNA accumulation in unstimulated cells or in cells challenged with either TNF or PMA. Moreover, a posttranscriptional mechanism(s) appears to contribute significantly to COX-2 mRNA accumulation as pretreatment for 15 min with cycloheximide (CHX, 1 μM) caused a superinduction of COX-2 mRNA accumulation in unstimulated cells as well as in cells challenged with either TNF or PMA. Expression of COX-2 protein in unstimulated MTAL cells was attenu...
Surface Wind over Tropical Oceans: Diagnosis of the Momentum Balance, and Modeling the Linear Friction Coefficient

Abstract Previous diagnostic studies of surface wind momentum balances over tropical oceans showed that, under a linear friction assumption, the meridional friction coefficient is two to three times larger than the zonal friction coefficient, and that both friction coefficients exhibit a pronounced meridional dependence. The authors’ diagnosis of a global marine surface dataset confirms these results. Furthermore, it is shown that to first approximation the friction coefficients are independent of longitude and season in the tropical band between ∼20°S and ∼20°N. Poleward of 20°N and 20°S, the coefficients are no longer solely a function of latitude. To explain these empirical results, a simple analytical model of the friction coefficient is formulated based on the simplest K-theory mixed-layer parameterization, assuming constant viscosity. The model does a good job of reproducing the observed zonal friction coefficient, but does poorly for meridional friction. The poor result is thought to be from model ...
Phenylarsine oxide inhibits insulin-stimulated protein phosphatase 1 activity and GLUT-4 translocation

Phenylarsine oxide (PAO) has previously been shown to inhibit insulin-stimulated glucose transport without affecting insulin binding and tyrosine kinase activity of insulin receptor (S. C. Frost and M. D. Lane. J. Biol. Chem. 260: 2646-2652, 1985). This study examines the effect of PAO on insulin's ability to activate adipocyte protein phosphatase 1 (PP-1) and dephosphorylate GLUT-4, the insulin-sensitive glucose transporter. In particulate fractions, insulin stimulated PP-1 activity (40% increase over basal with phosphorylase a) in a time- and dose-dependent manner (half-maximal effect of 0.89 nM in 1 min). Insulin did not alter cytosolic PP-1 activity. With GLUT-4 as a substrate, insulin caused more than twofold stimulation of particulate PP-1 activity. Addition of PAO (5 microM) before or after insulin treatment abolished insulin's effect on PP-1 activation. The presence of 2,3-dimercaptopropanol (200 microM) prevented the effect of PAO on PP-1 activation and glucose uptake. In addition, PAO significantly increased GLUT-4 phosphorylation, blocked insulin-stimulated dephosphorylation, and partially diminished insulin-stimulated translocation of GLUT-4. We conclude that PAO may interfere with the components of insulin signal transduction pathways that lead to the activation of PP-1 and this may be responsible for the observed inhibition in insulin action.
Thrombospondin-Dependent Activation of Latent TGF-β in Fibrosis and Disease

TGF-β is a pleotrophic cytokine with effects on cell growth and survival, immune cell regulation and inflammation, and extracellular matrix remodeling. Its activity must be carefully regulated for homeostasis of the organism. Control of latent TGF-β activation is a major means of regulating appropriate levels of TGF-β activity. The matricellular protein, thrombospondin-1 (TSP1), is an important physiologic regulator of latent TGF-β activation. TSP1 binding to the latent complex through the lysine-arginine-phenylalanine-lysine (KRFK) sequence of TSP1 competes for binding of the leucineserine-lysine-leucine (LSKL) sequence in the latency associated peptide (LAP) of TGF-β to the mature domain of TGF-β, altering folding of the latent complex which renders TGF-β active. In this review, we discuss this and other mechanisms by which TSP1 induces activation of latent TGF-β. We also review the evidence for participation of TSP1 in the regulation of TGF-β activation in renal, pulmonary, hepatic, cardiovascular, and dermal fibrotic diseases. The use of peptide antagonists of TSP1-dependent TGF-β activation as a therapeutic strategy to treat fibrotic disease will be considered. The role of TSP1 in regulating TGF-β activity in cancer and wound healing and in host responses to infectious agents will also be discussed.
Perihepatitis and Hepatitis as Complications of Experimental Endocarditis Due to Neisseria gonorrhoeae in the Rabbit

Seven strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (colony type 1 or 2) were tested for their ability to produce endocarditis in rabbits with transaortic valve catheters. The gonococci exhibited three auxotype patterns and a broad range of susceptibility to penicillin and to complement-mediated serum bactericidal activity. Only four strains produced endocarditis; infectivity appeared to be related to serum resistance. Neither arthritis nor skin lesions were observed in infected animals, but 40% had hepatitis, often with fibrinous perihepatitis. Hepatic lesions could be induced by the continuous infusion of gonococci without a transvalvular catheter. Suppurative hepatitis in the rabbit endocarditis model is of particular interest in light of the unusual hepatic involvement reported in association with gonococcal endocarditis in humans. Since perihepatitis also occurs as a complication of experimental gonococcal bacteremia, perhaps the Fitz-Hugh-Curtis (gonococcal perihepatitis) syndrome appearing in women occurs more often as a function of undiagnosed bacteremia than has heretofore been suspected.
Plasma Clotting Time and Serum Calcium of Patients Recovered from Attacks of Coronary Thrombosis

Results and ConclusionsThe data presented in Table I show that there was no significant difference in the prothrombin time, in the plasma clotting time as indicated by the appearance of fibrin, or in the serum calcium content of the blood serum of persons who had suffered attacks of coronary thrombosis when compared with a group of controls. There was a difference in the interval between the appearance of fibrin and the formation of a solid clot of 7.4 seconds in the control series and of 13.2 seconds in the group of thrombosis cases. This difference was found to be significant when analyzed by the t test of Fisher.4 Since the time for the appearance of fibrin was practically the same for the 2 groups, this means that the blood of the thrombosis patients did not form a solid clot so readily as did that of the controls. Obviously, this difference indicates a tendency to a longer and not a shorter coagulation time of the blood of patients who have had attacks of coronary thrombosis.
Feeding and Movement on Cotton of Heliothis Species (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Parasitized by Microplitis croceipes (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Feeding and movement on cotton of Heliothis zea (Boddie) and H. virescens (F.) when parasitized by Microplitis croceipes were compared to that of unparasitized hosts. First-instar host larvae were placed on cotton plants in the greenhouse (one larva per plant), and subsets of them were parasitized at instars 2 to 5. Some hosts were left unparasitized as controls. Movement, activity, and feeding were scored daily. Hosts parasitized in instars 2 and 3 damaged 0.41- to 0.72-fold as many squares and 0.22- to 0.59-fold as many bolls as those parasitized in instar 5 or unparasitized. Parasitized larvae moved lessand fed lessoften than unparasitized larvae. These results suggest that the within-generation impact of parasitoids of larvae, like M. croceipes , on damage done by Heliothis larvae may have been underestimated in the past.
Investigations into the control of litter size in swine: I. Comparative studies on in vitro development of Meishan and Yorkshire preimplantation embryos

Three experiments were conducted to examine the in vitro development of preimplantation embryos from the prolific Chinese Meishan pig. Experiment 1 was conducted to assess whether Meishan embryos would develop in vitro and retain their viability, whereas Exp. 2 and 3 examined the developmental pattern of Meishan embryos. In all three experiments, Yorkshire embryos served as a contemporary comparison. Ovulation and embryo recovery rates were not different between Meishan and Yorkshire gilts. Meishan embryos cultured for 96 h were capable of establishing pregnancies. The number of cell nuclei present after 144 h of culture was lower (P < .01) for Meishan than for Yorkshire blastocysts. Meishan preimplantation embryos ex- hibited a slower (P < .02) in vitro rate of development from the four-cell to the compact morula stage than did Yorkshire embryos. Early blastocysts from Mei- shan gilts, although morphologically similar in size, contained fewer (P i .06) cells than did their counterpart Yorkshire embryos. These data demon- strate that Meishan embryos develop more slowly and contain fewer cells than do Yorkshire embryos. This differing developmental pattern of Meishan preim- plantation embryos, if similar to that previously reported in miniature swine and mice, may relate to increased embryo survival.