cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Photomodulation of chemosensory response inHalobacterium halobium

Responses ofHalobacterium halobium cells with various levels of bacteriorhodopsin pigmentation to photostimuli and chemostimuli were measured individually and in concert. Using the method of capillary accumulation, it was possible, for the first time, to separate completely signals from the phototactic and chemotactic apparatus ofH. halobium. Stimulation by green light produced a positive tactic response in fully pigmented cells, but repulsion in cells with lower bacteriorhodopsin content. Cells with all levels of pigmentation were repelled by near-violet light and application of this photostimulus modulated chemoresponse to a chemoattractant (glucose) and a chemorepellent (citrate). However, while green light also modified the attractive chemoresponse, it had little effect on the response to the chemorpellent. Thus, light can produce a general modulation of chemosensory response inH. halobium except in the presence of negative chemostimulation.
Shopping problems among high school students.

Abstract Background Although shopping behavior among adolescents is normal, for some, the shopping becomes problematic. An assessment of adolescent shopping behavior along a continuum of severity and its relationship to other behaviors and health issues is incompletely understood. Methods A large sample of high school students (n = 3999) was examined using a self-report survey with 153 questions concerning demographic characteristics, shopping behaviors, other health behaviors including substance use, and functioning variables such as grades and violent behavior. Results The overall prevalence of problem shopping was 3.5% (95% CI, 2.93-4.07). Regular smoking, marijuana and other drug use, sadness and hopelessness, and antisocial behaviors (e.g., fighting, carrying weapons) were associated with problem shopping behavior in both boys and girls. Heavy alcohol use was significantly associated with problem shopping only in girls. Conclusion Problem shopping appears fairly common among high school students and is associated with symptoms of depression and a range of potentially addictive and antisocial behaviors. Significant distress and diminished behavioral control suggest that excessive shopping may often have significant associated morbidity. Additional research is needed to develop specific prevention and treatment strategies for adolescents who report problems with shopping.
Striatal TGF-α: postnatal developmental expression and evidence for a role in the proliferation of subependymal cells

Abstract Transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-α) is expressed in the brain and affects cells by binding to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R). Using a ribonuclease protection assay, we found that TGF-α steady state mRNA levels in the mouse striatum peak during the first week of postnatal life. Temporally this peak correlates with the height of gliogenesis in the subependymal layer (SEL), which lies along the striatal border of the lateral ventricle. In vivo studies demonstrate that TGF-α can stimulate the proliferation of astrocytes, so glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) mRNA levels were measured as well and it was observed that the peak of GFAP expression followed that of TGF-α by 1 week. Furthermore, in a TGF-α deficient mouse, waved-1 (wa-1), a significant reduction of GFAP mRNA levels and immunostaining for GFAP was found in the striatum. Bromodeoxyuridine labeling combined with immunohistochemistry of normal postnatal day 6 brain showed that the proliferating cells in the SEL are EGF-R immunoreactive. In the waved-1 SEL, there were fewer BrdU positive cells and there was a reduced level of [3H]thymidine incorporation. EGF-R immunoreactive cells were found in the SEL of the adult mouse brain. Taken together, our data suggest that the TGF-α/EGF-R signaling pathway is involved in postnatal mitogenic events in the brain.
Targeting conservation efforts in the presence of threshold effects and ecosystem linkages

Abstract The prevailing federal policy of targeting conservation programs on the basis of physical criteria tends to ignore the threshold effect of conservation efforts and the correlation between alternative environmental benefits. In this article, we examine the extent to which conservation funds will be misallocated when threshold effects and correlated benefits are ignored. We show that targeting conservation efforts based on physical criteria or political equity concerns may actually lead to the lowest possible benefits to society from conservation expenditure. Ignoring correlated benefits may lead not only to misallocation of conservation funds among watersheds, but also to incorrect resources (e.g. land, streams) being targeted for conservation. The empirical analysis focuses on riparian habitat investments for salmon restoration in the Pacific Northwest. We show that a large portion of conservation benefits would be lost when threshold effects and correlated benefits are ignored, and argue that funds should be allocated so that the total value of environmental benefits is maximized, not the total amount of resources protected.
Teaching Fat Studies: From Conception to Reception

The field of fat studies has undergone tremendous growth in recent years, with colleges now offering courses in this area. The authors' investigation sought to identify and describe courses centered on this topic. Their solicitation of syllabi detected four fat studies courses currently being offered, along with two courses focused on Health at Every Size. Their inquiry also revealed six courses, four from the health sciences, which contain significant fat studies content. The authors sought to illustrate the content and pedagogical practices associated with these courses, discussing directions for future research in the teaching of fat studies.
Aging, Life Satisfaction, and Self-reported Problems Among Participants with Spinal Cord Injury

The purpose of this study was to identify the association of chronologic age and years post injury with subjective well-being. A total of 863 participants with SCI were administered the Life Situation Questionnaire-Revised (LSQ-R). Participants were grouped into five cohorts based on chronologic age and five cohorts based on years lived post injury and compared on the nine LSQ-R scales based on recent factor analysis. One-way analysis of variance was used for each comparison, with the alpha level adjusted for the number of comparisons. Linear and quadratic trends were tested for clarification on scales that were significantly different between groups. In general, the chronologic age and years lived post injury related to higher satisfaction and fewer self-reported problems on selected subscales. The results suggest several types of favorable changes in subjective well-being as individuals age with SCI.
Lactose and galactose uptake by genetically engineered Pediococcus species

The ability to utilize lactose is requisite for lactic acid bacteria used as starters in the dairy industry. Modern genetic recombination techniques have facilitated the introduction of the lactose-positive phenotype into bacteria such as Pediococcus species, which traditionally have not been used as dairy starters. This study investigated lactose and galactose uptake along with phospho-β-galactosidase activity in pediococci that had been transformed with a Latococcus lactis lactose plasmid. Lactose-positive transformants, Pediococcus acidilactici SAL and Pediococcus pentosaceus SPL-2, demonstrated an ability to accumulate [14C]lactose at a rate greater than the Lactococcus lactis control. Phospho-β-galactosidase activity was also higher in transformants versus Lactococcus lactis. Studies of [3H]galactose uptake suggested that a wild-type galactose transport system and the introduced lactose phosphotransferase system both functioned in galactose uptake by Pediococcus spp. transformants. Significantly lower levels of free galactose were detected in milk fermented with Lactobacillus helveticus LH100 and SAL or SPL-2 than in milk fermented with a LH100 plus Streptococcus thermophilus TA061 control starter blend.
Regulation of Voltage-Activated K(+) Channel Gating by Transmembrane β Subunits.

Voltage-activated K+ (KV) channels are important for shaping action potentials and maintaining resting membrane potential in excitable cells. KV channels contain a central pore-gate domain (PGD) surrounded by four voltage-sensing domains (VSD). The VSDs will change conformation in response to alterations of the membrane potential thereby inducing the opening of the PGD. Many KV channels are heteromeric protein complexes containing auxiliary β subunits. These β subunits modulate channel expression and activity to increase functional diversity and render tissue specific phenotypes. This review focuses on the KV β subunits that contain transmembrane (TM) segments including the KCNE family and the β subunits of large conductance, Ca2+- and voltage-activated K+ (BK) channels. These TM β subunits affect the voltage-dependent activation of KV α subunits. Experimental and computational studies have described the structural location of these β subunits in the channel complexes and the biophysical effects on VSD activation, PGD opening and VSD-PGD coupling. These results reveal some common characteristics and mechanistic insights into KV channel modulation by TM β subunits.
Transient focal cerebral ischemia as a presenting manifestation of unruptured cerebral aneurysms.

Few reports have described an association between cerebral transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) and unruptured cerebral aneurysms. This study presents seven patients with TIA who had aneurysms in a vascular distribution appropriate to their clinical symptoms. In three patients, angiographic evidence of embolization was present distal to the aneurysm without another apparent cardiac or extracranial arterial source for the emboli. The most reasonable pathogenesis for TIA in a patient with an associated saccular aneurysm would be thrombosis of the aneurysmal sac with subsequent embolization. However, subarachnoid blood can cause permanent focal intracranial narrowing, and this appeared to be a factor in at least one patient. The results imply that patients with symptoms of TIA should have their intracranial arterial circulation visualized as part of the diagnostic evaluation.
Long-term wave growth and its linear and nonlinear interactions with wind fluctuations

Following Ge and Liu (2007), the simultaneously recorded time series of wave elevation and wind velocity are examined for long-term (on Lavrenov's 4-scale or 3 to 6 h) linear and nonlinear interactions between the wind fluctua- tions and the wave field. Over such long times the detected interaction patterns should reveal general characteristics for the wave growth process. The time series are divided into three episodes, each approximately 1.33 h long, to represent three sequential stages of wave growth. The classic Fourier- domain spectral and bispectral analyses are used to identify the linear and quadratic interactions between the waves and the wind fluctuations as well as between different compo- nents of the wave field. The results show clearly that as the wave field grows the linear interaction becomes enhanced and covers wider range of frequencies. Two different wave-induced components of the wind fluctuations are identified. These components, one at around 0.4 Hz and the other at around 0.15 to 0.2 Hz, are generated and supported by both linear and quadratic wind- wave interactions probably through the distortions of the waves to the wind field. The fact that the higher-frequency wave-induced component always stays with the equilibrium range of the wave spectrum around 0.4 Hz and the lower- frequency one tends to move with the downshifting of the primary peak of the wave spectrum defines the partition of the primary peak and the equilibrium range of the wave spec- trum, a characteristic that could not be revealed by short-time wavelet-based analyses in Ge and Liu (2007). Furthermore, these two wave-induced peaks of the wind spectrum appear to have different patterns of feedback to the wave field. The quadratic wave-wave interactions also are assessed using the auto-bispectrum and are found to be especially active dur- ing the first and the third episodes. Such directly detected wind-wave interactions, both linear and nonlinear, may com- plement the existing theoretical and numerical models, and can be used for future model development and validation.
Translational Bioinformatics Approaches to Drug Development.

Significance: A majority of therapeutic interventions occur late in the pathological process, when treatment outcome can be less predictable and effective, highlighting the need for new precise and preventive therapeutic development strategies that consider genomic and environmental context. Translational bioinformatics is well positioned to contribute to the many challenges inherent in bridging this gap between our current reactive methods of healthcare delivery and the intent of precision medicine, particularly in the areas of drug development, which forms the focus of this review. Recent Advances: A variety of powerful informatics methods for organizing and leveraging the vast wealth of available molecular measurements available for a broad range of disease contexts have recently emerged. These include methods for data driven disease classification, drug repositioning, identification of disease biomarkers, and the creation of disease network models, each with significant impacts on drug development app...
Hypoglycemia and Alcoholism

Abstract This paper presents a case report of a man whose alcoholism was originally diagnosed as hypoglycemia, although subsequent clinical history and laboratory findings did not confirm the diagnosis. Discussion of the case includes a review of the physiology of glucose homeostasis and the effects of alcohol on that balance. Also included are suggestions about how to detect hypoglycemia and how to manage patients who are convinced they are suffering from hypoglycemia.
STACK EFFECT CORRELATION FOR ROOFTOP SOLAR CHIMNEYS

A correlation for calculating flow rate of air in solar chimneys is developed. This correlation is based on the variables that have the most direct influence on the volume flow rate of air through a solar chimney. These variables include: the spacing between the absorbing wall and glass (chimney depth), absorbing wall temperature, inlet air temperature and height of chimney. The slope of the rooftop solar chimney, for the range of typical roofs (30°–60°) has very little influence on the flow rate. The solution of energy balance equations for various components of the solar chimney along with the newly developed correlation shows a significant improvement of the results compared to the existing stack effect correlation.Copyright © 2011 by ASME
4-Methylpyrazole as a treatment in naturally occurring ethylene glycol intoxication in cats.

Objective – To describe the clinical experience and therapeutic use of fomepizole (4-methylpyrazole [4-MP]) in 3 cats with naturally occurring ethylene glycol (EG) toxicity. Case or Series Summary – All cats were documented to be EG positive by an ethylene glycol test kit. This report describes the dose of 4-MP used, available clinicopathological data, and clinical progression during hospitalization. All patients survived to discharge. New or Unique Information Provided – IV use of 4-MP at 125 mg/kg as an initial dose and 31.25 mg/kg at 12, 24, and 36 hours is safe and effective for treatment of naturally occurring EG toxicity in cats. Increased HCO3 concentrations were noted after IV use of 4-MP. This is the first report documenting the successful treatment of naturally occurring EG intoxication in cats with 4-MP.
Determination of required SNR values [radar detection]

The inverse signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) problem is defined as determining the average SNR X required to achieve a specified probability of detection P/sub d/, given P/sub fa/ the false alarm probability, N the integration number, and K a target fluctuation parameter that encompasses the Swerling and Marcum models. Although exact expressions exist for the standard problem of determining Pd given X and the other parameters, these expressions cannot be inverted. We present here approximations for the required SNR over a wide range of parameter values. Over most of the specified parameter ranges, the magnitude of the error in these approximations is less than 1 dB, in fact mostly less than 0.5 dB. If the resulting accuracy is insufficient, then an iterative procedure is necessary and the approximate value X/sub ap/' can be used as a starting value. The Marcum case results apply directly to the radiometry inverse problem as well.
Experimental Validation of the Kinematic Theory of Unsteady Separation

We present a study of a new kinematic theory of unsteady separation. The approach allows for the determination of both the location and orientation of separation in a two dimensional unsteady fluid flow based solely upon surface shear -stress and pressure measurements. The experimental results obtained for a rotor -oscillator flow are compared with complementary numerical simulations. It is clearly identified that in both periodic and certain aperiodic unsteady fluid flows, separation does not occur at a point of instantaneous zero skin -friction, but rather at a point where th e time -averaged skin -friction is zero.
A Poisson model for random multigraphs

Motivation: Biological networks are often modeled by random graphs. A better modeling vehicle is a multigraph where each pair of nodes is connected by a Poisson number of edges. In the current model, the mean number of edges equals the product of two propensities, one for each node. In this context it is possible to construct a simple and effective algorithm for rapid maximum likelihood estimation of all propensities. Given estimated propensities, it is then possible to test statistically for functionally connected nodes that show an excess of observed edges over expected edges. The model extends readily to directed multigraphs. Here, propensities are replaced by outgoing and incoming propensities. Results: The theory is applied to real data on neuronal connections, interacting genes in radiation hybrids, interacting proteins in a literature curated database, and letter and word pairs in seven Shaskespearean plays. Availability: All data used are fully available online from their respective sites. Source code and software is available from http://code.google.com/p/poisson-multigraph/ Contact: [email protected] Supplementary information:Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Large Cardiac tumor managed with resection and two ventricular assist devices

Symptomatic cardiac tumors can lead to a rapid clinical deterioration and death. Prompt surgical resection is ideal in this situation as it is the only proven treatment to date. We report the radical resection of a large malignant cardiac tumor that obstructed the right ventricular outflow tract. Extensive resection precluded reconstruction and limited the ability to implant a total artificial heart; thus, 2 paracorporeal devices were implanted instead.
“Stationary” Fluctuations of Na Current in Myelinated Nerve

Current in Na channels of nerve or muscle is transient. Its activation upon a depolarizing stimulus is followed by a spontaneous inactivation. Study of Na current fluctuations with methods that require stationarity is nevertheless possible: inactivation tends to be incomplete, so that a measurable Na current persists over hundreds of milliseconds, long enough for recordings in a nearly stationary state. While this sustained current is small and unimportant for the propagation of the nervous impulse, it allows us to analyze gating at just those membrane voltages where the Na channels are most sensitive to the electric field.
Carbohydrate metabolism in hyperthyroidism

I have attempted in this study to investigate the blood sugar and glycosuria in cases of hyperthyroidism. When this investigation was started it was my intention to study the blood sugar and glycosuria in every type of disease of the thyroid gland, so that this series includes about ten cases of colloid goiter without hyperthyroidism. The cases which were studied were not consecutive but were chosen because they showed either glycosuria or hyperglycemia two and one-half or more hours after a meal. The carbohydrate metabolism has been determined in each case by glucose tolerance tests made uniformly by the following method: One hundred grams of glucose in 250 cc. of icecold water plus the juice of one lemon is given by mouth in the morning before any food is taken. Blood is taken for sugar estimations before the glucose is administered and at successive intervals of one-half, one, two, three and four hours thereafter.
Noninvasive diagnosis of a wide QRS complex tachycardia mechanism by programmed atrial and ventricular stimulation using a dual chamber defibrillator.

STICHERLING, C., et al.: Noninvasive Diagnosis of a Wide QRS Complex Tachycardia Mechanism by Programmed Atrial and Ventricular Stimulation Using a Dual Chamber Defibrillator. Stored atrial and ventricular electrograms retrieved from dual chamber implantable defibrillators facilitate the diagnosis of arrhythmias. This case also illustrates the usefulness of programmed atrial and ventricular stimulation for noninvasive rhythm diagnosis in patients with a wide QRS tachycardia and an implantable defibrillator.
Francisella recognition by inflammasomes: differences between mice and men

Pathogen recognition by intracellular sensors involves the assembly of a caspase-1 activation machine termed the inflammasome. Intracellular pathogens like Francisella that gain access to the cytosolic detection systems are useful tools to uncover the details of caspase-1 activation events. This review overviews Francisella function in the mononuclear phagocyte with particular attention to inflammasome versus pyroptosome roles and outlines differences between mouse and human caspase-1 activation pathways. Specific attention is placed on functional differences between human and murine pyrin as an intracellular recognition molecule for Francisella.
Analysis and Design Optimization of Magnetic-Feedback Control Using Amplitude Modulation

In offline AC-DC and high-voltage DC-DC power supplies, galvanic isolation between the input and output is often implemented with optocoupler feedback. However, several disadvantages exist when implementing optocoupler feedback, such as a variable loop gain due to optocoupler tolerance and sensitivity to temperature, as well as a relatively high cost. An alternative to optocoupler feedback is to use magnetic feedback, which can be designed to have insensitivity to component tolerance, and good temperature stability. Although magnetic feedback has been in use for many years, a detailed analysis and clear design procedure has not been presented in the literature. This paper presents a thorough analysis of a magnetic-feedback implementation, and provides a comprehensive design procedure that is verified on a 7-V/15-W experimental prototype.
Influence of Nearshore Water Dynamics and Pollution Sources on Beach Monitoring Outcomes at Two Adjacent Lake Michigan Beaches

Beach closings are a growing concern in coastal regions because of serious public health and economic ramifications. Two beach sites separated by 150 m of shoreline on Lake Michigan were monitored in the summer of 2003 and 2004 for E. coli densities to evaluate the potential outcome of relocating an existing beach to a site immediately to the south. Under identical weather conditions, there was a large disparity between the two sites for 25 of the 39 days tested, where E. coli levels at the existing beach were at least twice as high as those at the proposed beach. Following rainfall, E. coli levels at the existing beach increased up to 100-fold to levels as high as 4,500 CFU/100 mL, whereas only a 10-fold increase in levels was observed at the proposed beach site. Water exchange in the beach areas was predominantly from wind driven currents rather than dilution, and longshore current speed at the proposed beach was calculated to be twice that of the existing beach. Stormwater and combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharged from two closely spaced outfalls approximately 0.5 km north of the existing beach was found to have E. coli levels above the EPA recommended limit of 235 CFU/100 mL for recreational waters. However, this input did not appear to be a major influence on beach monitoring results. In some cases, E. coli levels at the beach did not exceed 235 E. coli/100 mL during a CSO. Defining the sources and spatial range of pollution inputs would allow beach monitoring results to be interpreted in a more meaningful context, which may lead to the formation of effective management strategies.
Bioavailability in humans of zinc from beef: intrinsic vs extrinsic labels.

ABSTRACF Beefis a concentrated source ofzinc. However, the bioavailability ofZn from beef has not been clearly established. It is also unclear whether there is a difference in absorption between intrinsic and extrinsic Zn. To address these questions, a calf was labeled with 65ZnC12 and the meat was used as a source of intrinsically labeled beef. Twelve subjects were given a meal containing 100 g beef labeled either intrinsically or extrinsically with 65ZnC12. Gamma-ray emissions, as determined by whole-body counting, were used to calculate Zn absorption. Absorption values were 20.9 ± 5.5% from the extrinsic meal and 26.4 ± 10.6% from the intrinsic meal, a difference that was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Zn absorption was thus much less than the 40% assumed in establishing the 1980 Recommended Dietary Allowance for Zn. These results also indicate that extrinsic labels of Zn are valid markers of zinc absorption in beef. Am J Clin Nutr l988;48:350-4.
Dexras1: A G Protein Specifically Coupled to Neuronal Nitric Oxide Synthase via CAPON

Because nitric oxide (NO) is a highly reactive signaling molecule, chemical inactivation by reaction with oxygen, superoxide, and glutathione competes with specific interactions with target proteins. NO signaling may be enhanced by adaptor proteins that couple neuronal NO synthase (nNOS) to specific target proteins. Here we identify a selective interaction of the nNOS adaptor protein CAPON with Dexras1, a brain-enriched member of the Ras family of small monomeric G proteins. We find that Dexras1 is activated by NO donors as well as by NMDA receptor-stimulated NO synthesis in cortical neurons. The importance of Dexras1 as a physiologic target of nNOS is established by the selective decrease of Dexras1 activation, but not H-Ras or four other Ras family members, in the brains of mice harboring a targeted genomic deletion of nNOS (nNOS-/-). We also find that nNOS, CAPON, and Dexras1 form a ternary complex that enhances the ability of nNOS to activate Dexras1. These findings identify Dexras1 as a novel physiologic NO effector and suggest that anchoring of nNOS to specific targets is a mechanism by which NO signaling is enhanced.
Online optimization with dynamic temporal uncertainty: incorporating short term predictions for renewable integration in intelligent energy systems

Growing costs, environmental awareness and government directives have set the stage for an increase in the fraction of electricity supplied using intermittent renewable sources such as solar and wind energy. To compensate for the increased variability in supply and demand, we need algorithms for online energy resource allocation under temporal uncertainty of future consumption and availability. Recent advances in prediction algorithms offer hope that a reduction in future uncertainty, through short term predictions, will increase the worth of the renewables. Predictive information is then revealed incrementally in an online manner, leading to what we call dynamic temporal uncertainty. We demonstrate the non-triviality of this problem and provide online algorithms, both randomized and deterministic, to handle time varying uncertainty in future rewards for non-stationary MDPs in general and for energy resource allocation in particular. We derive theoretical upper and lower bounds that hold even for a finite horizon, and establish that, in the deterministic case, discounting future rewards can be used as a strategy to maximize the total (undiscounted) reward. We also corroborate the efficacy of our methodology using wind and demand traces.
Enthalpy of formation and thermodynamic parameters of the MAX phase V2AlC

Abstract Making use of the fact that the experimental equilibrium temperature of the reaction, Al4C3 + 6Al3V ⇒ 3V2AlC + 19Al, is 1211 ± 1 K, we calculated the standard enthalpy of formation of the MAX phase, V2AlC at 298 K and then used heat capacity results to derive its thermodynamic parameters over the 300–1400 K temperature range for the first time. Based on this work, the temperature dependence of the free energy of formation of V2AlC is given by: Δ G f 0 (kJ/mol) = (−192.5 ± 14.1) + 0.0284 T. The enthalpy of formation of V2AlC, from it elements, at 298 K, is −188,300 ± 14,100 J.
Bitcoin Mining Pools and Income Smoothing

This paper analyzes Bitcoin and associated mining pools. Participants may decide to join a mining pool as an income smoothing device. Such participants are risk averse whereas other Bitcoin participants are risk taking.
Revisiting Cost and Affordability Assumptions for High Speed Data Services in Low Population Density Locations

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 expanded the notion of Universal Service to encompass increased access to advanced telecommunications services to all sections of the United States including rural, insular, and high cost areas. The 1996 Act, as well as many state policies, assume that residents in low density, i.e., high cost, areas should have available telecommunications at prices comparable to those charged in lower cost areas. That is, unlike other items such as housing and transportation, which vary from place to place based on costs and market considerations, telecommunications services are assumed to have to be priced equally across the country, regardless of costs or ability to pay. The two most common services for providing high broadband Internet services to residences have been via the cable systems that already provide video service and the Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service of telephone providers. However, the technology and economics of both services are such that the enterprises that implement these services have made it clear they are unlikely to offer them in the least dense population areas. Several providers of direct broadcast satellite service are available to nearly any location in the continental U.S. The economics of existing multipoint microwave services are more favorable to rural deployment. The possible freeing up of 700 MHz spectrum would further support rural deployment at costs that would suggest pricing slightly higher than current cable and DSL. While the technologies are well known, there is far less fine grained research and data on the living costs and income of rural residents. Although some items, like market priced broadband would be higher priced than in high density areas, there is some data suggesting that other substantial household expenses, such as housing and transportation, are considerably lower in rural areas. Incomes are also lower, although on average the disparities between rural and urban incomes have diminished considerably over many decades. This paper raises questions that need be asked not so much about the technology as the expectations policy makers should have about the prices of broadband data services in rural areas as well as the ability of residents of rural areas to pay market prices for high speed Internet service.
Restoration of mutationally suppressed characters in Drosophila melanogaster

We examined three strains of Drosophila melanogaster made wingless for periods of up to 40 years by homozygosity for the recessive mutant, vestigial. The intent was to quantify the degeneration of genes for wing structure and function that were not expressed during these periods. No increase in abnormality of wing morphology or use was found in the oldest strains despite up to 1000 generations of winglessness. We propose that these genes have remained intact because of important pleiotropic effects not connected with wing formation.
Chemotherapeutic Studies of Alloxan, Dehydroascorbic Acid, and Related Compounds in Murine Haemobartonellosis

by a rickettsia-like organism, Haemobartonella muris, which remains latent in normal rats, but multiplies rapidly in the erythrocytes after removal of the spleen. The mechanism by which the intact spleen prevents the development of the disease remains obscure, but the fact that it does so suggests that it may discharge into the blood stream a chemoprophylactic agent of endogenous origin. The chemotherapeutic spectrum in this infection is unusual. Certain organic arsenical compounds were shown by Mayer, Borchardt, and Kikuth in 1927 to be highly effective (Kikuth, 1932). This observation has been confirmed re-
Effects of Controlling Polymer Nanostructure Using Photopolymerization within Lyotropic Liquid Crystalline Templates

A promising method of synthesizing polymers with useful property relationships utilizes self-assembling lyotropic liquid crystals (LLCs) as photopolymerization templates to direct polymer structure...
Research on the Method of Investment Benefit Assessment of Rural Power Grid Construction and Transformation Project

Because of increasing investment and high proportion cost of rural power grid construction project,there is an urgent need to establish investment analysis method adapting to the characteristics of rural power grid construction project. This paper presents an evaluation index system based on the real situation of country-level power grid,and an analysis model to calculate the investment benefit of rural power grid construction project through normalized and weight calculation of the index and evaluation using a linear model. The application example shows that this model is worthy of investment direction of rural power grid construction project,improving the investment benefit,and the menagement level of project decision-makers.
Giant tracheoesophageal fistula: management by esophageal diversion

Giant tracheoesophageal fistulas complicating the management of respiratory insufficiency are often difficult to close successfully because of suture line tension and narrowing of the trachea or esophagus or both. Recovery of lung function often depends on successful diversion of gastrointestinal contents from the tracheobrachial tree. We have managed six patients with giant tracheoesophageal fistula. In three cases the lesions were related to overinflation of low-pressure balloon cuffs. The only survivors were two of three patients managed by esophageal diversion and reconstruction through extrathoracic incisions. The techniques, advantages, and disadvantages of esophageal diversion for giant tracheoesophageal fistula are presented.
Cloud-based orchestration of a model-based power and data analysis toolchain

The proposed Europa Mission concept contains many engineering and scientific instruments that consume varying amounts of power and produce varying amounts of data throughout the mission. System-level power and data usage must be well understood and analyzed to verify design requirements. Numerous cross-disciplinary tools and analysis models are used to simulate the system-level spacecraft power and data behavior. This paper addresses the problem of orchestrating a consistent set of models, tools, and data in a unified analysis toolchain when ownership is distributed among numerous domain experts. An analysis and simulation environment was developed as a way to manage the complexity of the power and data analysis toolchain and to reduce the simulation turnaround time. A system model data repository is used as the trusted store of high-level inputs and results while other remote servers are used for archival of larger data sets and for analysis tool execution. Simulation data passes through numerous domain-specific analysis tools and end-to-end simulation execution is enabled through a web-based tool. The use of a cloud-based service facilitates coordination among distributed developers and enables scalable computation and storage needs, and ensures a consistent execution environment. Configuration management is emphasized to maintain traceability between current and historical simulation runs and their corresponding versions of models, tools and data.
DNA Methyltransferases Modulate the Bystander Effect in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells.

Abstract Cells exposed to radiation or other genotoxic agents can induce DNA damage and other stress responses in non-irradiated cells that are either cultured with the irradiated cells or have been exposed to culture medium from irradiated cells. This is called the bystander effect. In a previous study we found that the descendents of bystander cells exposed to Mitomycin C (MMC) are themselves capable of inducing homologous recombination in un-exposed cells. This suggests that MMC induces persistent and transmissible changes in expression in bystander cells. Bystander effects are likely caused by epigenetic mechanisms rather than “classic” mutations, i.e. changes in DNA sequence. One of the epigenetic mechanisms cells employ for changing expression is DNA methylation in which DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) add a methyl group to the 5 carbon of cytosine. In this study we asked if ionizing radiation can induce transmissible DNA damage in bystander cells by examining if bystander cells exposed to irradiated cells were themselves able to induce damage in naive cells. Furthermore, we asked if this was dependent on DNMT activity in the irradiated cells. We irradiated wild-type (WT) and DNMT triple knockout (DNMT TKO) mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and after two weeks of continuous culture, we collected conditioned medium (CM). CM was then added to cultures of naive WT ESCs (primary bystanders). Three weeks later, CM was collected from the primary bystanders and added to naive WT cells (secondary bystanders). We assessed DNA damage by evaluating strand breaks using the alkaline Comet assay and sister chromatid exchange (SCE) analysis. As expected, we found that medium from cells irradiated with 5 Gy induced modest damage in bystander cells. The median Olive tail moment was 2.8 in bystander cells exposed to conditioned medium from irradiated cells compared to 1.0 in control bystander cells (p
On the Duality of MIMO MAC and BC with AF Relays

In this work, we consider a two-hop multiuser amplify-and-forward relay network with MIMO nodes. The results are three-fold. First, for any relay amplification matrix D in the multiple-access channel (MAC), we show that duality holds when kappaDdagger is employed in the broadcast channel (BC), and vice versa, where k is obtained from switching the total source and relay power constraints. Second, under a total network power constraint, we show that MAC-BC duality holds when D and Ddagger are the relaying matrices in the MAC and BC respectively. Third, for any D in the MAC and cDdagger in the BC where c is any positive real scalar, duality under total network power constraint holds only for the above two cases.
Enhanced pro-inflammatory profile and Th17 alloresponse by targeting mTORC2 in DC (P2138)

Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is an important integrative kinase that regulates immune cell function. mTOR functions in two independent complexes: mTOR complex (mTORC) 1 and 2. The immunosuppressant Rapamycin inhibits mTORC1 but not mTORC2. Our aim was to study the immune regulatory role and underlying mechanistic properties of mTORC2 in DC. We generated a conditional mTORC2 knockout, targeting Rictor. Bone marrow cells were obtained from KO and WT B6 controls, and DC propagated in the presence of IL-4 and GM-CSF, with or without LPS. The phenotype, cytokine production, STAT3 activation and ability of DC to induce allogeneic T cell proliferation were evaluated, and also the responder T cell phenotype and cytokine production. DC differentiation was not affected, while DC yield was slightly reduced in mTORC2-deficient BM cultures compared with WT controls. DC lacking mTORC2 activity displayed similar levels of MHC and co-stimulatory molecules, but diminished B7-H1 expression, increased levels of IL-12p40, diminished STAT3 activation and higher T cell stimulatory ability following LPS stimulation, compared with WT. Staining of allogeneic T cells stimulated by Rictor-KO DC revealed more CD4+IL-17+ cells than those stimulated with WT DC. These novel data indicate that DC lacking mTORC2 activity exhibit an enhanced pro-inflammatory profile with ability to promote Th17 responses. Thus, targeting mTORC2 provides new insight into molecular regulation of DC function.
An Approach for Automatic and Large Scale Image Forensics

This paper describes the applications of deep learning-based image recognition in the DARPA Memex program and its repository of 1.4 million weapons-related images collected from the Deep web. We develop a fast, efficient, and easily deployable framework for integrating Google's Tensorflow framework with Apache Tika for automatically performing image forensics on the Memex data. Our framework and its integration are evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively and our work suggests that automated, large-scale, and reliable image classification and forensics can be widely used and deployed in bulk analysis for answering domain-specific questions.
The Role of the Calcium Receptor in Calcium Regulated Keratinocyte Differentiation

The epidermis is a stratified squamous, keratinized epithelium consisting of basal, spinous, granular and cornified cell layers. Each layer is defined by position, shape, polarity, morphology and state of differentiation of the keratinocytes. Keratinocytes in each epidermal layer express distinct biochemical markers. Keratin 5 (K5) and 14 (K14) are predominantly expressed in basal keratinocytes (1). In suprabasal cells, synthesis of differentiation-specific keratins K1 and K10 is initiated (1, 2, 3). In addition to keratins, maturing epidermal cells express unique proteins associated with the later stages of differentiation. Granular keratinocytes express profilaggrin (4), the precursor of a keratin cross-linking protein and a major component of keratohyaline granules, the enzyme catalyzing cornification, epidermal transglutaminase (5), and cornified envelope precursors, such as involucrin (6) and loricrin (7). In cultured epidermal keratinocytes, the concentration of extracellular Ca2+ [Ca2+]o is an important regulator for differentiation (8, 9). Under conditions where [Ca2+]o is 0.05 mM or lower, keratinocytes proliferate rapidly, express a basal cell phenotype, do not stratify or cornify, while higher [Ca2+]o induces terminal differentiation (8, 10, 11). The expression of biochemical markers in cultured keratinocytes is also tightly regulated by [Ca2+]o in medium (12). Ion capture cytochemistry and biophysical analyses have demonstrated the existence of a gradient of Ca2+ in mouse and human epidermis (13, 14, 15): Ca2+ content is low in basal and spinous layers while the granular layer has the highest Ca2+ content, which decreases in the stratum corneum. Previous studies have shown that changes in the epidermal Ca2+ gradient in vivo regulate lamellar body secretion and lipid synthesis (16, 17, 18), and that the formation of the Ca2+ gradient coincides with key developmental milestones of barrier formation and stratum corneum development (15). The factors that maintain the Ca2+ gradient transfected cells (42). Keratinocytes transfected with the full-length antisense CaR cDNA displayed markedly reduced [Ca2+]i response to [Ca2+]o compared to the vector-transfected cells (42). Transfection of the anti-CaR construct also blocked the calcium-induced inhibition of cell proliferation and the calcium-stimulated expression of differentiation markers involucrin and transglutaminase (42). These results indicated that CaR mediated calcium signaling is required for keratinocyte differentiation.
Empathy and Morality: Integrating Social and Neuroscience Approaches

Philosophers and psychologists have long debated the nature of empathy (e.g., Batson, 1991; Eisenberg, 2000; Ickes, 2003; Thompson, 2001), and whether the capacity to share and understand other people’s emotions sets humans apart from other species (e.g., de Waal, 2005). Here, we consider empathy as a construct accounting for a sense of similarity in feelings experienced by the self and the other, without confusion between the two individuals (Decety & Jackson, 2004; Decety & Lamm, 2006). The experience of empathy can lead to empathic concern (concern for another based on the apprehension or comprehension of the other’s emotional state or condition) or to personal distress (i.e., an aversive, self-focused emotional reaction to the apprehension or comprehension of another’s emotional state or condition). Understanding empathic processes is essential for understanding human social and moral development (Eisenberg et al., 1994). Furthermore, various psychopathologies are marked by empathy deficits, and a wide array of psychotherapeutic approaches stress the importance of clinical empathy as a fundamental component of treatment (Farrow & Woodruff, 2007). In recent years, there has been a great upsurge in neuroimaging investigations of empathy. Most of these studies reflect the new approach of social neuroscience, which combines research designs and behavioral measures used in social psychology with neuroscience markers (Decety & Batson, 2007). Such an approach plays an important role in disambiguating competing theories in social psychology in general and in empathy-related research in particular (Decety & Hodges, 2006). For instance, two critical questions debated among social psychologists are whether perspective-taking instructions induce empathic concern and/or personal distress, and to what extent prosocial motivation springs from self-other overlap. In this chapter, we focus on recent social neuroscience research exploring how people respond behaviorally and neurally to the pain of others. The perception of others in painful situations constitutes an ecologically valid way to investigate the mechanisms underpinning the experience of empathy. Findings from these studies
Genotypic variability among cotton cultivars for heat and drought tolerance using reproductive and physiological traits

Development of rapid and inexpensive screening tools for heat and drought stress tolerance is needed and will be helpful in cotton breeding programs and selecting cultivars for a niche environment. In this study, several pollen-based traits at optimum and high temperatures and physiological parameters measured during the boll-filling period were used to evaluate variability among the cultivars for heat and drought stresses. Principal component analysis and drought stress response index methods were used to categorize cotton cultivars into three heat and drought tolerant clusters. Based on the combined analysis, PX532211WRF has been identified as heat- and drought-tolerant, and would be expected to perform better under both heat- and drought-stressed environments. A poor correlation between reproductive and physiological indices indicates that screening breeders have to use different traits to screen cultivars for reproductive and vegetative tolerance. Identified traits could serve as valuable screening tools in cotton breeding programs aimed at developing genotypes to a changing climate. Moreover, cultivar-dependent relative scores will aid in the identification of cultivars best suited to niche environments to alleviate the influences of abiotic stresses at both vegetative and reproductive stages.