cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Adenosine Receptors and Membrane Microdomains

Adenosine receptors are a member of the large family of seven transmembrane spanning G protein coupled receptors. The four adenosine receptor subtypes—A1, A2a, A2b, A3—exert their effects via the activation of one or more heterotrimeric G proteins resulting in the modulation of intracellular signaling. Numerous studies over the past decade have documented the complexity of G protein coupled receptor signaling at the level of protein–protein interactions as well as through signaling cross talk. With respect to adenosine receptors, the activation of one receptor subtype can have profound direct effects in one cell type but little or no effect in other cells. There is significant evidence that the compartmentation of subcellular signaling plays a physiological role in the fidelity of G protein coupled receptor signaling. This compartmentation is evident at the level of the plasma membrane in the form of membrane microdomains such as caveolae and lipid rafts. This review will summarize and critically assess our current understanding of the role of membrane microdomains in regulating adenosine receptor signaling. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: “Adenosine Receptors”.
Responsabilidad profesional: máximos, mínimos, excelencia y veracidad

Professional responsibility provides the groundwork for medicinesince the existence of the Hippocratic Oath. Physicians must be prepared to justify theirdecisions and actions, based on scientific issues but also considering the underlyingprofessional responsibilities. Ethical theories form a major part of such justification. A numberof competing ethical theories may be identified. The maximal, minimal and excellence ethicaltheories agree with our experience with moral uncertainties. But veracity ethics is a new form ofanswering moral questions. Clinical situations are unavoidably conflictive. Lucidunderstanding of the necessary character of these conflicts leads to self-recognition and theitinerary of veracity ethics runs from misunderstanding to recognition. The self-awareness thatveracity offers to physicians is difficult and painful due to the narcissistic humiliation that itinflicts on them (Rev Med Chile 2006; 134: 233-9).(
Interfacial Electron Transfer in MoS2 Nanoclusters

The dynamics of photoinduced electron transfer between 3.0 nm diameter MoS 2 nanoclusters and adsorbed electron acceptors have been studied using static and time resolved optical spectroscopy. Two types of electron acceptors are adsorbed on these nanoclusters: 2,2'-bipyridine and 4,4',5,5'-tetramethyl-2,2'-bipyridine. The results reported here focus on the interpretation of the strongly non-exponential electron transfer kinetics. Electron/hole recombination kinetics have previously been analyzed in terms of a simple distributed kinetics model, and this model is extended to include the case of interfacial electron transfer.
The Linkage Between Secondary Victimization by Law Enforcement and Rape Case Outcomes

Prior research has suggested that almost half of rape victims are treated by law enforcement in ways that they experience as upsetting (termed secondary victimization). However, it remains unknown why some victims have negative experiences with law enforcement and others do not. The purpose of this study is to explore victims’ experiences with secondary victimization by detectives, comparing how these experiences vary in cases that were ultimately prosecuted by the criminal justice system to those that were not prosecuted. A total of 20 rape victims are interviewed within one county. The study uses grounded theory qualitative analysis, which showed that participants whose cases were eventually prosecuted described the detectives’ treatment toward them considerably different than participants with nonprosecuted cases. The study findings further show that victims with cases that were not prosecuted primarily described their detectives as engaging in secondary victimization behaviors and that victims with ca...
Fe Isotope Variations in the Modern and Ancient Earth and Other Planetary Bodies

Iron, the fourth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, has four naturally occurring stable isotopes: 54Fe (5.84%), 56Fe (91.76%), 57Fe (2.12%), and 58Fe (0.28%), and the natural, mass-dependent isotope variations of Fe in the rock record span a range of ~4 per mil (‰) in 56Fe/54Fe ratios (Fig. 1⇓). The field of Fe isotope geochemistry is relatively new but has received considerable attention because it may allow us to gain a better understanding of how Fe is cycled in different environments. Iron typically occurs as either reduced ferrous Fe in oxygen-poor environments, or as oxidized ferric iron in oxygen-rich environments. Notably, only the reduced species is soluble in oxygenated aqueous solutions, unless the pH is low. In the Archean and Early Proterozoic, the earth may have been relatively oxygen-poor (e.g., Kasting et al. 1979; Grandstaff 1980; Holland 1994), suggesting that there may have been significant quantities of Fe (0.9 millimolar) dissolved in the oceans as Fe(II)aq (e.g., Ewers 1983; Sumner 1997). The extensive iron formations of Archean to Early Proterozoic age may have been deposited from such Fe(II)-rich oceans (e.g., Beukes and Klein 1992). In the modern oxic oceans, however, Fe contents are exceedingly low, <1 nanomolar in the open oceans (e.g., Martin and Gordon 1988; Bruland et al. 1991; Martin 1992; Johnson et al. 1997), and it is now recognized that marine productivity is Fe-limited in parts of the open oceans (e.g., Martin and Fitzwater 1988; Martin et al. 1989, 1994). The differences in the behavior of Fe with redox state, and the significant isotope fractionations (1‰ or more in 56Fe/54Fe) that are associated with redox conditions, suggests that Fe isotope studies will be extremely useful for tracing …
Media Use and Public Perceptions of DNA Evidence

This study uses survey data to examine how various forms of media use are related to public perceptions of DNA evidence, including self-perceived understanding of DNA, perceptions of DNA evidence as reliable, weight attached to DNA evidence (or the absence thereof) in jury decision making, and support for a national DNA databank.The hypotheses build on cultivation theory, priming theory, and research regarding the “CSI effect.” The findings indicate that overall television viewing, crime television viewing, and news media use predict perceptions of DNA evidence. Moreover, a question-order experiment produced evidence that priming thoughts about media can influence such perceptions.
Source coding for decentralized estimation systems

Parameter estimation in decentralized systems with distributed processors is considered. The authors restrict the local processors to be quantizers and consider the optimal design of the system to minimize the estimation error. They derive the necessary conditions of the optimal system based on different distortion functions. In particular, they show that using Fisher's information as a distortion function can simplify the design of quantizers. An expression for the asymptotic quantization error of scalar quantizers is also derived. Numerical results show that using Fisher's information can simplify the design and achieve good performance. >
MPAP: virtualization architecture for heterogenous wireless APs

This demonstration shows a novel virtualization architecture, called Multi-Purpose Access Point (MPAP), which can virtualize multiple heterogenous wireless standards based on software radio. The basic idea is to deploy a wide-band radio front-end to receive wireless signals from all wireless standards sharing the same spectrum band, and use separate software base-bands to demodulate information stream for each wireless standard. Based on software radio, MPAP consolidates multiple wireless devices into single hardware platform, and allows them to share the same general-purpose computing resource. Different software base-bands can easily communicate and coordinate with one another. Thus, it also provides better coexistence among heterogenous wireless standards. As an example, we demonstrate to use non-contiguous OFDM in 802.11g PHY to avoid the mutual interference with narrow-band ZigBee communication.
GENE FLOW ACROSS A CLIMATIC BARRIER BETWEEN HYBRIDIZING AVIAN SPECIES, CALIFORNIA AND GAMBEL'S QUAIL (CALLIPEPLA CALIFORNICA AND C. GAMBELII)

Allopatric species commonly interbreed in a restricted margin between their ranges. The particular factors that permit interbreeding between species determine the extent of hybridization and its significance for evolution and conservation. Using California quail and Gambel's quail (Callipepla californica and C. gambelii) that naturally hybridize in a narrow region between relatively mesic and xeric environments, I assessed the exchange of genetic and phenotypic traits in relation to vegetative and climatic features (temperature and precipitation) that characterize the area of range overlap, and I examined genetic and phenotypic traits within the hybrid zone over a five-year period in relation to variation in precipitation. Using microsatellite markers, this study reveals that genetic, plumage, and morphometric traits are tightly associated with vegetation, rainfall, and temperature profiles through the abrupt transition from one parental species to the other across the hybrid zone. Results show that the hybrid zone has remained clinal, stationary, and bounded over the five-year study period. There was no evidence of introgression outside the narrow hybrid zone. Interannual climatic fluctuations are associated with internal hybrid zone dynamics but did not alter the shape and position of the zone. A transect through the hybrid zone revealed rapid and episodic genetic mixing within the zone. Possible long-term consequences of this restricted hybridization for the evolution of the two parental species are discussed in the light of changing environments.
The photopigment bleaching hypothesis of complementary after-images: a psychophysical test.

Abstract Normal observers color-adapted simultaneously to two spatially distinct sequences of light stimulation, equivalent in their bleaching effects but complementary to one another in hue. Following the adapting period, observers reported on the color appearance of the two adjacent after-images seen against a neutral background. The nonequivalence of the two after-images argues against the explanation of complementary after-images based on photopigment bleaching; in addition, the fact that the two after-images are mutually complementary further restricts the class of (neural) adaptation hypotheses.
Frequency reconfigurable printed inverted-F antennas

The designs of frequency reconfigurable printed IFAs have been demonstrated in this paper. It is shown that by loading simple SMT varactors, a small reconfigurable IFA can operate over a wide dynamic range while maintaining a reasonable antenna efficiency and maximum gain inside the instantaneous bandwidth.
A Scalable Framework For Segmenting Magnetic Resonance Images

A fast, accurate and fully automatic method of segmenting magnetic resonance images of the human brain is introduced. The approach scales well allowing fast segmentations of fine resolution images. The approach is based on modifications of the soft clustering algorithm, fuzzy c-means, that enable it to scale to large data sets. Two types of modifications to create incremental versions of fuzzy c-means are discussed. They are much faster when compared to fuzzy c-means for medium to extremely large data sets because they work on successive subsets of the data. They are comparable in quality to application of fuzzy c-means to all of the data. The clustering algorithms coupled with inhomogeneity correction and smoothing are used to create a framework for automatically segmenting magnetic resonance images of the human brain. The framework is applied to a set of normal human brain volumes acquired from different magnetic resonance scanners using different head coils, acquisition parameters and field strengths. Results are compared to those from two widely used magnetic resonance image segmentation programs, Statistical Parametric Mapping and the FMRIB Software Library (FSL). The results are comparable to FSL while providing significant speed-up and better scalability to larger volumes of data.
Progress to achieve balanced state policy relevant to pain management and palliative care: 2000-2003.

State laws and regulatory policies govern healthcare practice, including the prescribing, dispensing, and administering of opioid analgesics to treat pain. A number of national healthcare and law enforcement organizations have identified drug regulatory policy as a potential barrier to pain relief and palliative care, and have called for evaluation and removal. This article summarizes and discusses the results of an innovative evaluation methodology that was used to produce three policy analysis tools, including one report that graded and ranked states based on the quality of their policies related to pain management and palliative care (called a Progress Report Card [PRC]). The PRC development and implementation was a first-of-a-kind study that compared pain policies in all states over a three year period according to the same evaluation criteria. Results demonstrate significant progress to improve policy in a number of states during the study period, but also showed that most state policies are characte...
The Big Effects of Short-term Efforts: Mentorship and Code Integration in Open Source Scientific Software

Scientific progress relies crucially on software, yet in practice there are significant challenges to scientific software production and maintenance. We conducted a case study of a bioinformatics software library called Biopython to investigate the promise of Google Summer of Code (GSoC), a program that pays students to work on open-source projects for the summer, for addressing these challenges. We find three positive outcomes of GSoC in the Biopython community: the addition of new features to the Biopython codebase, training, and personal development. We also find, however, that mentors face several challenges related to GSoC project selection and ranking. We believe that because GSoC provides an occasion to extend the software with capabilities that can be used to produce new knowledge, and to train successive generations of potential contributors to the software, it can play a vital role in the sustainability of open-source scientific software.
The Influence Of Nonaudit Services On Perceptions Of Auditor Independence

This paper examines how nonaudit services influence public perceptions of auditor independence. Recent expansion of these services by public accounting firms has caused some to question whether auditors who provide nonaudit services to audit clients can remain independent of their clients. However, others view nonaudit services as enhancing the auditor's uniqueness to the client, thus strengthening the auditor's independence. Given the importance of auditor independence, a survey was conducted to assess the specific influence of six particular nonaudit services on the ratings of auditor independence from members of the general public, professionals from non-Big 5 CPA firms and professionals from Big 5 CPA firms. Results suggest that an expectations gap may exist between the general public and the accounting profession with respect to how they view the impact of nonaudit services on auditor indpendence. Implications of the survey as well as directions that future research may take are discussed.
Global Water Vapor Flux and Maintenance during FGGE

Abstract The relative humidity, temperature and wind fields generated by the First Global GARP Experiment (FGGE) III-b analysis of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) are used to examine the global precipitable water distribution, and the water vapor transport and maintenance for two extreme seasons of atmospheric circulation, i.e., December–February and June–August 1979. It has been observed that the major water vapor content exists in tropical areas, especially over three regions: equatorial Africa, the northern part of South America, and equatorial western Pacific in December-February; equatorial Africa, Central America and the northern part of South America, and monsoon areas in June-August. The water vapor transport was analyzed to explore how the high water vapor content of these areas is maintained by the large-scale atmospheric circulation. It is concluded that 1) the nondivergent stationary mode describes most of the atmospheric water vapor transport; 2) the stationary divergent mode...
Simulating disaster recovery as discrete event processes using python

Community disaster resilience is commonly conceptualized as the capacity to reduce post-event loss and facilitate effective recovery. Technologies, such as data systems, computer models, and visualization tools, are more common and well developed for understanding immediate (and static) loss than for understanding dynamic processes of recovery. Most available technology for understanding post-disaster dynamics is specific to short-term emergency or crisis processes. As a result, development of simulation models of recovery is necessary to enable technology-supported decision making for realizing community disaster resilience. We present a proof of concept design for a home reconstruction discrete-event simulation (DES) to evaluate its potential for simulating disaster recovery in general. The design is implemented as a prototype using the SimPy discrete-event simulation Python library. Preliminary outputs from the prototype simulation suggest that DES is appropriate and promising for modeling home reconstruction. The ability to alter the quantities of shared resource stocks, event durations, and access qualifications can likely facilitate modeling of other types of recovery processes, as well as a variety of post-disaster scenarios. As such, DES appears to be a novel technological approach that can be developed to support pre-and post-disaster decision making for improved community disaster resilience.
Retaining customers by utilizing technology-facilitated chat

We examine how technology-facilitated chat moderates the effect of website anxiety on intention to return to a website, and alleviates the negative impact of task complexity on the three factors (performance, enjoyment, and social presence). We also investigate how website anxiety moderates the relationship between user perceptions of the three factors and intention to return, and how the three factors could be negatively influenced by task complexity. Among others, the results reveals that technology-facilitated chat moderates the effect of website anxiety on intention to return, and attenuates the negative effect of task complexity on user perceptions of the three factors.
Pre-Publication in Medical Research: A Race to Open Pandora’s Box?

![Figure][1] “Unreasonable haste is the direct road to error.”—Moliere [(1)][2] In late September, our colleagues Drs. Eric J. Topol and Harlan M. Krumholz issued a call to action in the New York Times for clinical trialists to expeditiously release their raw data for public
Engaging Physician Learners Through a Web-Based Platform Individualized End-of-Life Education

Background:Web-based modules provide a convenient and low-cost education platform, yet should be carefully designed to ensure that learners are actively engaged. In order to improve attitudes and knowledge in end-of-life (EOL) care, we developed a web-based educational module that employed hyperlinks to allow users access to auxiliary resources: clinical guidelines and seminal research papers.Methods:Participants took pre-test evaluations of attitudes and knowledge regarding EOL care prior to accessing the educational module, and a post-test evaluation following the module intervention. We recorded the type of hyperlinks (guideline or paper) accessed by learners, and stratified participants into groups based on link type accessed (none, either, or both). We used demographic and educational data to develop a multivariate mixed-effects regression analysis to develop adjusted predictions of attitudes and knowledge.Results:114 individuals participated. The majority had some professional exposure to EOL care (...
Knowledge claims in cognitive development research: Problems and alternatives

Abstract Children's knowledge is often characterized in short propositional statements, e.g., a child may be claimed to know how counting works . This article analyzes the use of these knowledge claims in cognitive development research on children's understanding of numbers and counting. In this research, attempts to characterize children's knowledge in terms of knowledge claims are repeatedly invalidated by children's inconsistently normative uses of counting. This suggests that rather than describing cognitive structures/states, knowledge claims describe whether, in a certain domain, a person has a disposition to behave normatively (i.e., in a way that fits a consensually established standard of how things are appropriately done). Given that children's developing behavior is, by definition, inconsistently normative, knowledge claims can only characterize what research studies on children's conceptual knowledge presuppose—the incomplete normativity of children's behavior. Following the identification and explanation of this problem, several viable alternative approaches to the study of children's knowledge are described. The diversity of these alternatives reflects the need to disentangle descriptions from explanations, and discursive abstractions about cognitive processes from the processes themselves.
NavCue: Context Immersive Navigation Assistance for Blind Travelers

Research in assistive systems for travelers who are blind/low vision (B/LV) has been largely focused on basic map information. We present NavCue, an intelligent system module for providing rich, multi-sensory, context-based information using speech guidance and robot physical gestures. This approach is motivated by our previous user studies with people who are blind or low vision. This rich information should enhance user location awareness and confidence when traveling through unfamiliar locations.
The impact of personality on the success of prospecting behavior in changing landscapes

Personality can play a large role in dispersal decisions, influencing how each individual estimates and values expected costs versus benefits of venturing out to explore the unknown. We contrast the impact of persistence on fitness using decision theory models to examine the relative success of prospecting movement (which is a widespread behavior used by animals to explore available breeding habitat before determining where to settle) in different landscapes among individuals with different personalities. While evaluating trends in the costs and benefits of movement we provide a quantifiable measure of the impacts of relative tenacity in prospecting behavior on fitness gains/losses. Our model results predict that, regardless of landscape composition, individuals with greater tenacity in prospecting strategy have reduced fitness gains relative to individuals who are more willing to both initiate novel strategies, but then also abandon the new strategy rapidly if initial search does not seem fruitful. We show that fitness gains from choosing an appropriate prospecting strategy (i.e. abandoning poor habitat or staying in rich habitat) can be very high, indicating a potentially large influence from personality on fitness. Importantly, the model predicts that relative fitness gains are highly dependent on the availability of high quality habitat in the landscape, even if the difference under varying fitness outcomes between poor and rich habitat was substantial.
Survey of opioid use in chronic nonmalignant pain patients.

Background and Objectives Opioids have been accepted as appropriate treatment for acute and cancer pain, but remain controversial for use with chronic nonmalignant pain. Clinicians are concerned about efficacy, tolerance, addiction, and unwanted side effects. Methods The aim of this study was to survey chronic pain patients who were taking opioids for their pain, to determine the incidence of these adverse conditions. Two hundred seventeen patients who were being treated for their pain at two different pain centers completed a medication questionnaire. The most common diagnosis was low back pain. One hundred twelve patients reported taking oral opioids for their pain. Results Of the patients who reported taking opioids for their chronic pain, 83% felt that the opioids were moderately beneficial in relieving their pain; 25% felt that the opioid had not lost its ability to relieve the pain over time; 35% reported that they did not need to increase their medication; 36% expressed no fear of addiction or dependence; and 56% reported having no unwanted side effects. Conclusions The results suggest that chronic nonmalignant pain patients taking opioids for their pain reported some tolerance, fear of addiction, and side effects when taking opioids. However, despite these concerns, some of these patients felt that opioid therapy was very beneficial. Further investigations are needed to determine which patient characteristics predict benefit from opioid therapy for nonmalignant pain.
Weight Drop Models in Traumatic Brain Injury

Weight drop models in rodents have been used for several decades to advance our understanding of the pathophysiology of traumatic brain injury. Weight drop models have been used to replicate focal cerebral contusion as well as diffuse brain injury characterized by axonal damage. More recently, closed head injury models with free head rotation have been developed to model sports concussions, which feature functional disturbances in the absence of overt brain damage assessed by conventional imaging techniques. Here, we describe the history of development of closed head injury models in the first part of the chapter. In the second part, we describe the development of our own weight drop closed head injury model that features impact plus rapid downward head rotation, no structural brain injury, and long-term cognitive deficits in the case of multiple injuries. This rodent model was developed to reproduce key aspects of sports concussion so that a mechanistic understanding of how long-term cognitive deficits might develop will eventually follow. Such knowledge is hoped to impact athletes and war fighters and others who suffer concussive head injuries by leading to targeted therapies aimed at preventing cognitive and other neurological sequelae in these high-risk groups.
The Usefulness of Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography in Defining Painful Upper Cervical Facet Arthropathy

Objective Standard imaging techniques have low predictive value for identifying sources of neck pain. Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging in conjunction with computed tomography (CT) provides the sensitivity of bone scanning for areas of high metabolic activity with the sensitivity of CT for anatomic localization. We evaluated the usefulness of SPECT-CT imaging in identifying pain generators in upper cervical facet arthropathy. Methods In a retrospective study, we reviewed 7 patients (mean age, 68.7 years) who underwent diagnostic SPECT-CT imaging for upper cervical neck pain at our institution from August 2011 to February 2015. We assessed SPECT-CT radiotracer uptake and postoperative neck disability index (NDI) and visual analog scale (VAS) scores. Results Mean preoperative NDI and VAS scores were 42% (range, 34%–72%) and 7/10 (range, 5–8), respectively. SPECT-CT showed increased radiotracer uptake and inflammation at the level of pain generation indicated by history and physical examination. Intraoperatively, all patients had corresponding facet hypertrophy with degeneration at the site of increased radiotracer uptake. The mean postoperative NDI and VAS scores at 9 months were 23% (0%–54%) and 2/10 (0–5), respectively, representing improvements of 20% ( P = 0.025) and 4 ( P = 0.0028), respectively. Conclusions SPECT-CT imaging of the upper cervical spine is a potentially sensitive diagnostic test that can implicate pain generators with increased metabolic activity. We propose that SPECT-CT may be a useful adjunct in the workup for neck pain secondary to facet arthropathy that could obviate diagnostic injections.
Social Media in the Classroom

There is no shortage of warnings about how teachers should not befriend their students on social media or share potentially damaging photographs. Teachers or schools may have policies about the ways that teachers or students can connect online. A survey of educators on Twitter found that a small percentage (16–17%) of teachers use Twitter for in- or out-of-class activities for students, which may be due to the restrictions that schools place on the site (Carpenter & Krutka, 2014, p. 424).
The Power of Visualizing Fear

ABSTRACTThroughout the Fear Project, the author visualizes other people’s fears, many of which revolve around health-related issues. Through her illustrations, which accompany the words of her subjects, fears become a tangible representation of what people are most afraid of. The collaboration between the illustrator and the subjects shapes a health narrative that allows the subjects themselves to become more involved in their journey of self-discovery, by telling their own stories in ways that are outside the strict conventions of academia.
Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America. By Rachel Hope Cleves. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2014. Pp. xxiii, 267. $29.95.)

Opponents of same‐sex marriage often contend that it diverges radically from “traditional” marriage between a man and a woman, while supporters counter that marriage has changed over time. Into tha...
Syntheses, Structural Studies, and Copper Iodide Complexes of Macrocycles Derived from Williamson Ether Syntheses Involving 2,9-Bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1,10-phenanthroline, α,ω-Dibromides, and Resorcinol or 2,7-Dihydroxynaphthalene

1,3-Bis(6-bromohexyloxy)benzene, 2,7-bis(6-bromohexyloxy)naphthalene, 1,3-bis(4-bromomethylbenzyloxy)benzene, and 1,3-bis(3-bromomethylbenzyloxy)benzene were prepared via Williamson ether synthesis using resorcinol or 2,7-dihydroxynaphthalene and 1,6-dibromohexane, 1,4-bis(bromomethyl)benzene, or 1,3-bis(bromomethyl)benzene (21–47 % yield). These dibromides were condensed with 2,9-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1,10-phenanthroline in the presence of K2CO3 to give the corresponding 31- to 35-membered macrocycles (3a–d, 22–63 % yield). When 3a–d were treated with CuI, mononuclear 1 : 1 complexes formed, in which the CuI chelates to the nitrogen donor atoms of the phenanthroline moiety (4a–d, 40–80 % yield). The crystal structures of 3a–c and 4a–c were determined and analyzed using density functional theory calculations and in the context of rotaxanes that could be formed by treatment of 4a–d with terminal alkynes (e.g. macrocycle dimensions, void volumes). The copper and iodide atoms in 4a–c significantly protrude from the least-squares plane of the phenanthroline moiety (0.46–0.63 A and 1.65–2.07 A).
Structural characteristics of the molecular species of tetraacylglycerols in lesquerella (Physaria fendleri) oil elucidated by mass spectrometry

Abstract Tetraacylglycerols (triacylglycerol estolides) contain an acylacyl chain (one fatty acid attached to the hydroxyl group of another fatty acid attached to the glycerol backbone) and have different physical properties from those of triacylglycerols. Tetraacylglycerols can be used in industry such as the viscosity improver and pour point depressant of lubricants. The structures, contents and the ratios of the contents of regioisomers of the molecular species of tetraacylglycerols affect the physical properties of the mixture of tetraacylglycerols. They were elucidated by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry of the lithium adducts of tetraacylglycerols from the HPLC fractions of lesquerella oil. The ratios of the contents of acyl and acylacyl chains at the sn−2 position of the molecular species of tetraacylglycerols containing one normal FA (LsLsLsA type, Ls is lesquerolic acid. A is normal fatty acid and without hydroxyl group) in lesquerella oil were as: normal FA 58–98%), LsLs 0–35%), Ls 2–19%). For the molecular species of tetraacylglycerols containing two normal FA, 100% of the chains at the sn−2 position were normal FA, and the Ls, LsLs and LsA chains were all at the sn−1,3 positions. Acyl and acylacyl chains at the sn−2 position of the molecular species of tetraacylglycerols in lesquerella oil were predominately normal FA. Tetraacylglycerols are biodegradable and renewable, of low contents in seed oils, and can be produced through biotechnology focusing on triacylglycerol acyltransferase.
Preclinical immunoPET/CT imaging using Zr-89-labeled anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody for assessing radiation-induced PD-L1 upregulation in head and neck cancer and melanoma.

ABSTRACTRadiation therapy (RT) can induce upregulation of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) on tumor cells or myeloid cells, which may affect response to PD-1-based immunotherapy. PD-L1 upregulation during RT is a dynamic process that has been difficult to monitor during treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the RT-induced PD-L1 upregulation in the tumor and its microenvironment using immunoPET/CT imaging of two syngeneic murine tumor models (HPV+ head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) or B16F10 melanoma). Tumors were established in two locations per mouse (neck and flank), and fractionated RT (2 Gy × 4 or 2 Gy × 10) was delivered only to the neck tumor, alone or during anti-PD-1 mAb immunotherapy. PD-L1 expression was measured by PET/CT imaging using Zr-89 labeled anti-mouse PD-L1 mAb, and results were validated by flow cytometry. PET/CT imaging demonstrated significantly increased tracer uptake in irradiated neck tumors compared with non-irradiated flank tumors. Ex vivo analysis by bio...
CLINICAL ENGINEERING IN PSYCHIATRY: AUTOMATED SLEEP EEG AND EOG ANALYSIS

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the application of clinical engineering in psychiatry. Intensive research has led to the acceptance of all-night electroencephalographic (EEG) and electro-oculographic (EOG) sleep recordings as a useful diagnostic technique. The automatic analysis of electroencephalograms requires the capability to recognize phasic events, events that vary from less than 5 s to several seconds in duration and that consist of one to several cycles; they are alpha waves, beta waves, delta waves, and sigma sleep spindles. Rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep periods can be characterized by the three conceptually independent parameters: REM time, a tonic measure; (2) REM frequency, phasic characteristics; and (3) REM size, phasic characteristics. Depressed patients have REM sleep period times comparable to normal subjects, and in the depressives, as with normal, REM time does not significantly change across REM periods.
An Introduction to Weightlessness and Its Effects on Humans

Everyone associated with space and spaceflight has concepts of mass, gravity, weight and weightlessness. These individual concepts vary and can reach levels of sophistication that only a few can understand. In an effort to have a common set of tools with which to approach the biophysical aspects of weightlessness, a simple set of concepts, relations, and equations have been added to each chapter. These ‘background’ sections provide a common approach to the concepts and ideas that follow. What is included in Sect. 1.2 will often be superfluous and provide too much information for some readers. However, given the diversity of backgrounds in the intended readership, these background sections may be useful to some the authors have provided them as a useful tool. In this chapter on weightlessness and its effects, the background describing weightlessness must logically begin with clear definitions and examples of mass, weight, and weightlessness. As some readers will come to appreciate, concepts of weightlessness are often unclear or misunderstood (Fig. 1.1).
Astrocytes as targets for drug discovery

Recent studies have illuminated the crucial role of astrocytes in maintaining proper neuronal health and function. Abnormalities in astrocytic functions have now been implicated in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), Huntington's disease (HD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Historically, drug development programs for neurodegenerative diseases generally target only neurons, overlooking the contributions of astrocytes. Therefore, targeting both disease neurons and astrocytes offers a new approach for drug development for the treatment of neurological diseases. Looking forward, the co-culturing of human neurons with astrocytes could be the next evolutionary step in drug discovery for neurodegenerative diseases.
She'‐e‐os: gender effects and investor reactions to the announcements of top executive appointments

This study uses Kanter's token status theory to link announcements of top executives to shareholder reactions, highlighting possible gender effects. Using a sample of top executive announcements from 1990 to 2000, our results show that investor reactions to the announcements of female CEOs are significantly more negative than those of their male counterparts. Furthermore, women who have been promoted from within a firm are viewed more positively than women who come from outside. To supplement our analysis of investor reactions, we also analyze the text of popular press articles surrounding the announcements of male and female CEOs. These results show that articles about the appointment of a female CEO tend to emphasize gender, gender-related and other job or organizational considerations. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effect of a culturally-tailored mother-daughter physical activity intervention on pre-adolescent African-American girls' physical activity levels.

Abstract Positive parent-child attachment can be determined by opportunities for the child to interact with his/her parent and can influence a child's physical activity (PA) behavior. Therefore, an intervention that provides children and their parent more time to interact positively could impact children's PA. We examined the efficacy of a 12-week mother-daughter intervention on African-American girls' PA levels. In Spring of 2013 and 2014, mother-daughter dyads (n = 76) from Springfield, MA, were randomly assigned to one of three groups [child-mother (CH-M, n = 28), child alone (CH, n = 25), or control (CON, n = 23)] that participated in an afterschool culturally-tailored dance intervention (60 min/day, 3 days/week, 12 weeks). Girls in the CH-M group participated in the intervention with their maternal figure, while girls in the CH group participated in the intervention alone. CON group participants received weekly health-related newsletters. PA was assessed with accelerometers for seven days at baseline, 6-weeks, and 12-weeks. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine rates of change in PA. During the afterschool intervention time, girls in the CH-M group displayed a significantly steeper rate of increase in their percent time spent in vigorous PA compared to both the CON (γ = 0.80, p Trial Registration: Study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT01588379 .
Creativity and ageing in fandom

This article brings together insights from gerontology and fan studies to explore creative expression in late(r) life fandom. The migration of fandom to the Internet, combined with its increasing v...
Analysis of enterotoxigenic Bacillus cereus strains from dried foods using whole genome sequencing, multi-locus sequence analysis and toxin gene prevalence and distribution using endpoint PCR analysis

Bacillus cereus strains were isolated from dried foods, which included international brands of spices from South East Asia, Mexico and India purchased from several retail stores, samples of powdered infant formula (PIF), medicated fish feed and dietary supplements. The genetic diversity of 64 strains from spices and PIF was determined using a multiplex endpoint PCR assay designed to identify hemolysin BL, nonhemolytic enterotoxin, cytotoxin K, and enterotoxin FM toxin genes. Thirteen different B. cereus toxigenic gene patterns or profiles were identified among the strains. Randomly selected B. cereus strains were sequenced and compared with reference Genomic Groups from National Center Biotechnology Information using bioinformatics tools. A comprehensive multi-loci sequence analysis (MLSA) was designed using alleles from 25 known MLST genes specifically tailored for use with whole genome assemblies. A cohort of representative genomes of strains from a few FDA regulated commodities like dry foods and medicated fish feed was used to demonstrate the utility of the 25-MLSA approach for rapid clustering and identification of Genome Groups. The analysis clustered the strains from medicated fish feed, dry foods, and dietary supplements into phylogenetically-related groups. 25-MLSA also pointed to a greater diversity of B. cereus strains from foods and feed than previously recognized. Our integrated approach of toxin gene PCR, and to our knowledge, whole genome sequencing (WGS) based sequence analysis, may be the first of its kind that demonstrates enterotoxigenic potential and genomic diversity in parallel.
The hysterical personality. A controlled study.

In this study a group of psychiatric inpatients with the diagnosis of hysterical personality (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, ed 2) was compared to a control inpatient population. The index patients were young women who differed significantly from the controls in several ways, especially the occurrence of depressive symptoms, with or without suicide attempts. On the other hand, important differences were not found in many areas thought by others to be of consequence. Even though there was a high incidence of depressive symptoms, the index patients were not treated as if they were suffering from depressive syndromes primarily, but rather that their symptoms were expressions of traits of emotional instability and self-dramatization.
Medical Feeding: Applying Husserl and Merleau-Ponty

Although medical ethics’ vast literature devotes sparse attention to the Claire Conroy case, it remains a legal landmark. Through the case, the New Jersey Supreme Court in 1985 set a legal precedent in ruling that the artificial provision of nutrition and hydration via nasogastric feeding was considered medical treatment in the technical sense and thereby subject to treatment that an individual patient had the legal right to refuse. Imposing such treatment upon the patient without the patient’s consent could constitute a violation of that patient’s privacy.
Searching for interacting features

Feature interaction presents a challenge to feature selection for classification. A feature by itself may have little correlation with the target concept, but when it is combined with some other features, they can be strongly correlated with the target concept. Unintentional removal of these features can result in poor classification performance. Handling feature interaction can be computationally intractable. Recognizing the presence of feature interaction, we propose to efficiently handle feature interaction to achieve efficient feature selection and present extensive experimental results of evaluation.
The MAP kinase cascade.

Publisher Summary The discovery of a number of hormones and growth factors with receptors that are protein tyrosine kinases generated interest in discovering the pathway by which these signals are transmitted from these receptors to various parts of the cell. This chapter provides an overview of the two broad approaches that were employed to discover the pathway: (1) upstream approach and (2) downstream approach. The upstream approach shows that partially purified microtubule associated protein 2 (MAP-2) protein kinase obtained from insulin stimulates 3T3-L1 cells can phosphorylate and reactive a homogeneous phosphatase-treated S6 kinase. MAP-2 kinase, in essence a S6 kinase kinase, also appears to be regulated by serine/threonine phosphorylation because protein phosphatise 2A (PP2A) treatment inactivatsed the enzymatic activity. The chapter presents a downstream approach, which suggests that MAPKK could bind directly to p21 ras or indirectly through another protein and also MAPKK interacts with the Raf-1 C-terminal catalytic domain. These findings suggest that p21 ras and that MAPKK can form a complex with Raf-1 by binding to opposite ends of the protein. This chapter also discusses the features of MAP kinase cascade such as, inactivation of the cascade, functions and branch points, and cross talk with other kinases involved in signal transduction.
Thermoelectric Energy Harvesting

Temperature gradients and heat flow are omnipresent in natural and human-made settings and offer the opportunity to harvest energy from the environment. Thermoelectric energy harvesting (or energy scavenging) may one day eliminate the need for replacing batteries in applications such as remote sensor networks or mobile devices. Particularly, attractive is the ability to generate electricity from body heat that could power medical devices or implants, personal wireless networks or other consumer devices. This chapter focuses on the design principles for thermoelectric generators in energy harvesting applications, and the various thermoelectric generators available or in development. Such design principles provide good estimates of the power that could be produced and the size and complexity of the thermoelectric generator that would be required.
BYRDIE: A BYZANTINE-RESILIENT DISTRIBUTED LEARNING ALGORITHM

In this paper, a Byzantine-resilient distributed coordinate descent (ByRDiE) algorithm is introduced to accomplish machine learning tasks in a fully distributed fashion when there are Byzantine failures in the network. When data is distributed over a network, it is sometimes desirable to implement a fully distributed learning algorithm that does not require sharing of raw data among the network entities. To this end, existing distributed algorithms usually count on the cooperation of all nodes in the network. However, real-world applications often encounter situations where some nodes are either not reliable or are malicious. Such situations, in which some nodes do not behave as intended, can be modeled as having undergone Byzantine failures. Generally, Byzantine failures are hard to detect and can lead to break down of distributed learning algorithms. In this paper, it is shown that ByRDiE can provably tolerate Byzantine failures in the network under certain assumptions on the network topology and the machine learning tasks. ByRDiE accomplishes this by incorporating a local “screening” step into the update of a distributed coordinate descent algorithm. Finally, numerical results reported in the paper confirm the robustness of ByRDiE to Byzantine failures.