cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Maintenance of growth factor signaling through Ras in human colon carcinoma cells containing K-ras mutations.

Fifty percent of human colon carcinomas contain activating mutations in the K-ras gene. However, whether these alterations in K-ras affect the function of Ras proteins in growth factor (GF) signal transduction is not known. Here we have characterized a previously defined human colon carcinoma cell model system for K-ras gene mutations and for altered levels of Ras protein expression and have examined whether these alterations affect Ras function in GF signal transduction. Sequence analysis of PCR-amplified K-ras gene fragments indicated that among the more aggressive cell lines, four had a normal K-ras sequence, whereas 3 others (isolated from the same human tumor) contained a mutation at codon 13. In contrast, all 7 of the less aggressive cell lines contained a mutation at either codon 12 or 13. In addition to the presence of a K-ras mutation, one cell line expressed higher levels of the K-Ras protein and displayed elevated Ras-GTP loading (in the absence of GF addition) compared with the other cell lines examined. Despite these alterations, the mitogenic GF combination epidermal growth factor + insulin + transferrin resulted in an activation of Ras and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2. Collectively, our results indicate that the malignant phenotype of the cell lines was not correlated with the presence of K-ras mutations or with higher levels of Ras protein expression. Furthermore, K-ras mutations, high levels of K-Ras protein expression, and elevated Ras-GTP loading, as they occur naturally in human colon carcinomas, do not abolish the function of Ras in GF signaling.
Clathrin and AP-1 regulate apical polarity and lumen formation during C. elegans tubulogenesis

Clathrin coats vesicles in all eukaryotic cells and has a well-defined role in endocytosis, moving molecules away from the plasma membrane. Its function on routes towards the plasma membrane was only recently appreciated and is thought to be limited to basolateral transport. Here, an unbiased RNAi-based tubulogenesis screen identifies a role of clathrin (CHC-1) and its AP-1 adaptor in apical polarity during de novo lumenal membrane biogenesis in the C. elegans intestine. We show that CHC-1/AP-1-mediated polarized transport intersects with a sphingolipid-dependent apical sorting process. Depleting each presumed trafficking component mislocalizes the same set of apical membrane molecules basolaterally, including the polarity regulator PAR-6, and generates ectopic lateral lumens. GFP::CHC-1 and BODIPY-ceramide vesicles associate perinuclearly and assemble asymmetrically at polarized plasma membrane domains in a co-dependent and AP-1-dependent manner. Based on these findings, we propose a trafficking pathway for apical membrane polarity and lumen morphogenesis that implies: (1) a clathrin/AP-1 function on an apically directed transport route; and (2) the convergence of this route with a sphingolipid-dependent apical trafficking path.
Determination of the specific activities of methionine sulfoxide reductase A and B by capillary electrophoresis.

Abstract A capillary electrophoresis (CE) method for the determination of methionine sulfoxide reductase A and methionine sulfoxide reductase B activities in mouse liver is described. The method is based on detection of the 4-(dimethylamino)azobenzene-4′-sulfonyl derivative of l -methionine (dabsyl Met), the product of the enzymatic reactions when either dabsyl l -methionine S-sulfoxide or dabsyl l -methionine R-sulfoxide is used as a substrate. The method provides baseline resolution of the substrates and, therefore, can be used to easily determine the purity of the substrates. The method is rapid (∼20 min sample to sample), requires no column regeneration, and uses very small amounts of buffers. Separation was performed by using a 75-μm internal diameter polyimide-coated fused silica capillary (no inside coating) with 60 cm total length (50 cm to the detector window). Samples were separated at 22.5 kV, and the separation buffer was 25 mM KH2PO4 (pH 8.0) containing 0.9 ml of N-lauroylsarcosine (sodium salt, 30% [w/v] solution) per 100 ml of buffer. Prior to use, the capillary was conditioned with the same buffer that also contained 25 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate. The CE method is compared with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) as determined by comparing results from measurements of hepatic enzyme activities in mice fed either deficient or adequate selenium.
Modeling Passing Rates on a Computer-Based Medical Licensing Examination: An Application of Survival Data Analysis

The purpose of this article was to model United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 2 passing rates using the Cox Proportional Hazards Model, best known for its application in analyzing clinical trial data. The number of months it took to pass the computer-based Step 2 examination was treated as the dependent variable in the model. Covariates in the model were: (a) medical school location (U.S. and Canadian or other), (b) primary language (English or other), and (c) gender. Preliminary findings indicate that examinees were nearly 2.7 times more likely to experience the event (pass Step 2) if they were U.S. or Canadian trained. Examinees with English as their primary language were 2.1 times more likely to pass Step 2, but gender had little impact. These findings are discussed more fully in light of past research and broader potential applications of survival analysis in educational measurement.
Carbon-14-labeled diethylstilbestrol synthesis by the McMurry method: concurrent formation of hexestrol

Isotopically labeled diethylstilbestrol prepared from p-methoxypropiophenone by coupling with TiCl3-LiA1H4 contained approximately 50% hexestrol. Nonlabeled preparations and a subsequent labeled preparation had less than 2% hexestrol in them. Initial examinations for purity by gas-liquid chromatography, thin-layer chromatography, and isotope dilution did not show the presence of hexestrol. Specific ion monitoring of a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry determination revealed the presence of the deithylstilbestrol-hexestrol mixture.
Effect of thalidomide on stem cell collection and engraftment in patients with multiple myeloma.

Effect of thalidomide on stem cell collection and engraftment in patients with multiple myeloma
Copper-zinc superoxide dismutase-deficient mice show increased susceptibility to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis induced with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein 35-55.

In this report, we have addressed the role of copper–zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD1) deficiency in the mediation of central nervous system autoimmunity. We demonstrate that SOD1-deficient C57Bl/6 mice develop more severe autoimmune encephalomyelitis induced with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) 35–55, compared with wild type mice. This alteration in the disease phenotype was not due to aberrant expansion of MOG-specific T cells nor their ability to produce inflammatory cytokines; rather lymphocytes generated in SOD1-deficient mice were more prone to spontaneous cell death when compared with their wild type littermate controls. The data point to a role for SOD1 in the maintenance of self-tolerance leading to the suppression of autoimmune responses.
Phase I trial of rubidazone (NSC 164011) in children with cancer.

Rubidazone was administered to 24 children with advanced solid tumors or leukemia. The dose ranged from 80 to 150 mg/m2/IV daily to a total dose of 160 to 450 mg/m2/course. This course was repeated at intervals of approximately three weeks. Eighteen of 24 patients (75%) had received adriamycin and daunomycin as part of prior chemotherapy. The major toxic effects observed were myelosuppression, nausea, vomiting, mucositis, and skin rash. Four patients developed abnormal echocardiograms following the rubidazone therapy, 2 manifested clinical cardiac failure, of which one had anthracycline cardiomyopathic changes on autopsy. One of 7 adequately treated ALL patients achieved M2 marrow and improved peripheral counts for 3 weeks. One of the 2 neuroblastoma patients had subjective improvement of bone pain for 2 months. Rubidazone, in a previously heavily treated group of patients used in this study, had dosages of 360 and 450 mg/m2 which produced marrow hypoplasia to aplasia, with only minimal responses.
A Swift Introduction to Swift App Development (Abstract Only)

Swift is a new programming language recently introduced by Apple as a replacement for Objective-C. Considering that Objective-C ranks third on the Tiobe Index and is the progenitor of virtually all the 1.2 million apps in the App Store, Swift is likely to become the dominant language for creating both iOS and OS X apps. While Swift is aimed at application developers, the language and the tools that accompany it are also a boon for CS educators. Many of the features in Swift that aid commercial development, such as type-safety, clean syntax, closures, and named parameters, are also beneficial when learning programming. In addition to the language itself, Apple has introduced a remarkable feature called Playgrounds. As the name suggests, Playgrounds allow students to "play", that is, to interactively experiment, with code. They also provide a convenient visualization tool to graphically depict the impact of iteration, providing crucial insights for novice programmers. It is also possible to use Playgrounds to write tutorials or even entire textbooks with embedded, live code for students to experiment with. The workshop will introduce Swift through the use of Playgrounds. Participants will work through a variety of hands-on, active learning exercises to learn Swift's syntax and semantics. More importantly, they will experience a sample of active learning exercises that can be used in to introduce students to programming with Swift.
Template-driven gene selection procedure

The hierarchical clustering and statistical techniques usually used to analyze microarray data do not inherently represent the underlying biology. Herein we present a hybrid approach involving characteristics of both supervised and unsupervised learning. This approach is based on template matching in which the interaction of the variables of inherent malignancy and the ability to express the malignant phenotype are modelled. Immortalized normal urothelial cells and bladder cancer cells of different malignancy were grown in conventional two-dimensional tissue culture and in three dimensions on extracellular matrices that were either permissive or restrictive for expression of the malignant phenotype. The transcriptome represents the effects of two variables--inherent malignancy and the modulatory effect of extracellular matrix. By assigning values to each of the biological variables of inherent malignancy and the ability to express the malignant phenotype, a template was constructed that encapsulated the interaction between them. Gene expression correlating both positively and negatively with the template were observed, but when iterative correlations were carried out, the different models for the template converged to the same actual template. A subset of 21 genes was identified that correlated with two a priori models or an optimized model above the 95% confidence limits identified in a bootstrap resampling with 5,000 permutations of the data set. The correlation coefficients of expression of several genes were > 0.8. Analysis of upstream transcriptional regulatory elements (TREs) confirmed these genes were not a randomly selected set of genes. Several TREs were identified as significantly over-expressed in the sample of 20 genes for which TREs were identified, and the high correlations of several genes were consistent with transcriptional co-regulation. We suggest the template method can be used to identify a unique set of genes for further investigation.
A variable-dosing regimen with intravitreal ranibizumab for neovascular age-related macular degeneration: year 2 of the PrONTO Study.

Purpose To assess the long-term efficacy of a variable-dosing regimen with ranibizumab in the Prospective Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) Imaging of Patients with Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) Treated with intraOcular Ranibizumab (PrONTO) Study, patients were followed for 2 years. Design A 2-year prospective, uncontrolled, variable-dosing regimen with intravitreal ranibizumab based on OCT. Methods In this open-label, prospective, single-center, uncontrolled clinical study, AMD patients with neovascularization involving the central fovea and a central retinal thickness (CRT) of at least 300 μm as measured by OCT were enrolled to receive 3 consecutive monthly intravitreal injections of ranibizumab (0.5 mg) [Lucentis; Genentech Inc, South San Francisco, California, USA]. During the first year, retreatment with ranibizumab was performed at each monthly visit if any criterion was fulfilled such as an increase in OCT-CRT of at least 100 μm or a loss of 5 letters or more. During the second year, the retreatment criteria were amended to include retreatment if any qualitative increase in the amount of fluid was detected using OCT. Results Forty patients were enrolled and 37 completed the 2-year study. At month 24, the mean visual acuity (VA) improved by 11.1 letters ( P P Conclusions The PrONTO Study using an OCT-guided variable-dosing regimen with intravitreal ranibizumab resulted in VA outcomes comparable with the outcomes from the phase III clinical studies, but fewer intravitreal injections were required.
Cybermilitias and Political Hackers: Use of Irregular Forces in Cyberwarfare

Recent cyberattacks have grayed the line between political hacker and legitimate combatant. This article explores the possible benefits and drawbacks of cyberconflict and the ramifications of cybermilitias.
Intimate Betrayal: Domestic Violence in Lesbian Relationships

Help ease the secret suffering of lesbians in abusive relationships!Why is woman-on-woman violence so often ignored or discounted? Intimate Betrayal: Domestic Violence in Lesbian Relationships uncovers the hidden problem of lesbians who hurt the women they love. This long-needed book brings together theory, practice, and research to suggest new and fruitful ways to understand, prevent, and treat this common problem. Intimate Betrayal provides new empirical research into the psychological and sociocultural causes of abuse. As several of the chapter authors demonstrate, neither traditional feminist theories about power nor heterosexist paradigms explain the causes, dynamics, or treatment of this problem. However, the new research presented here suggests helpful diagnostic criteria and effective treatments. Intimate Betrayal analyzes the factors that contribute to lesbian domestic violence, including: heterosexism and homophobia minority stress emotional isolation and lack of community ties revictimization of women who have previously suffered abuseThe thorough literature review included reveals the paucity of attention that has been paid to this problem. Intimate Betrayal suggests exciting new models for freeing women from domestic violence, including the use of clinical and community resources and liberation theology. Community activists, counselors, and psychologists will be intrigued by the insightful analysis of the root causes of lesbian-on-lesbian violence and the valuable treatment suggestions. Researchers will welcome the new avenues it opens for additional research.
The System KAlSiO4–Mg2SiO4–KAlSi2O6

Schairer's study (1954) on phase relations in the system KalSi2O6–Mg2SiO4–SiO2 was extended to include the system KalSiO4–Mg2SiO4–KalSi2O6. It is shown that this join is ternary; however, the relatively high vapor pressure of the condensed phases prohibits study by the usual quenching techniques. The apparent intersection of the (KalSiO4–Mg2SiO4–SiO3) join with the primary phase volume of spinel is attributed to loss of the alkali-silicate constituents by vapor transport. This results in the effective bulk composition being moved away from this join toward the primary phase volume of spinel in the system K2O–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2.
Postoperative left ventricular contractility in the cardiac surgical patient: an evaluation of the force-interval relationship.

Abstract The force-interval relationship—the dependence of cardiac contractility on the rate and pattern of stimulation—was evaluated for its potential use in monitoring patients in the period immediately following heart surgery. Six patients were studied for three days after coronary artery bypass grafting. The monitoring instrumentation used during operation included a catheter-tip micromanometer introduced into the left ventricle, a pair of ultrasonic transducers placed on the left ventricular (LV) epicardium to monitor minor-axis dimension, pacing electrodes placed on the right atrium, and systemic arterial and venous catheters. During the experiments, heart rate was controlled by atrial pacing. After every twentieth systole (the control systole), a pause in the heart rate was introduced during which an extrasystole (S E ) and a postex-trasystole (S PES ) were elicited at test intervals t E and t PES , respectively. The intervals between the control systole and test systoles S E and S PES were experimentally manipulated. When the test intervals were increased, the peak first derivative of LV pressure ( max ) of S E and of S PES increased monophasically. To eliminate the effects of LV end-diastolic volume, we used only S PES and control systoles with the same LV end-diastolic dimension in construction of PES ratio curves ( max of S PES / max of the control systole, as a function of t PES ). The PES ratio rose monophasically with an increase in t PES ; these curves were well fitted by an exponential relationship. The PES ratio exceeded unity at long t PES intervals. This ratio, denoting postextrasystolic potentiation, was inversely dependent on t E . The patients experienced no complications. Our findings, identical to those in isolated myocardium and in the isolated, isovolumically contracting heart, suggest that the force-interval relationship can be used to safely and easily monitor postoperative ventricular contractility.
Security, trust, and QoS in next-generation control and communication for large power systems

The present communication architecture supporting control of the electric power grid makes it difficult to use the wealth of data collected at high rates in substations, retarding their use in new applications for controlling the grid. A flexible, real-time data network would make it possible to use these data for many more control and protection applications, potentially increasing the grid's reliability and increasing its operating efficiency. Applications that could use these data include: decentralised load frequency control; closed-loop voltage control; transient and small-signal stabilisation; and special protection schemes using data gathered over a wide area. Such applications and the flexibility of the underlying communication network imply greater data sharing between utilities, leading to new performance, availability and reliability requirements. This paper examines the security, trust and Quality of Service (QoS) requirements imposed by these applications and shows how they are met by mechanisms included in the GridStat middleware framework that we are developing.
Electron detachment dissociation of neutral and sialylated oligosaccharides

Electron detachment dissociation (EDD) has recently been shown by Amster and coworkers to constitute a valuable analytical approach for structural characterization of glycosaminoglycans. Here, we extend the application of EDD to neutral and sialylated oligosaccharides. Both branched and linear structures are examined, to determine whether branching has an effect on EDD fragmentation behavior. EDD spectra are compared to collisional activated dissociation (CAD) and infrared multiphoton dissociation (IRMPD) spectra of the doubly and singly deprotonated species. Our results demonstrate that EDD of both neutral and sialylated oligosaccharides provides structural information that is complementary to that obtained from both CAD and IRMPD. In all cases, EDD resulted in additional cross-ring cleavages. In most cases, cross-ring fragmentation obtained by EDD is more extensive than that obtained from IRMPD or CAD. Our results also indicate that branching does not affect EDD fragmentation, contrary to what has been observed for electron capture dissociation (ECD).
Exercise for patients with chronic disease: Physician responsibility

Patients with chronic disease typically become severely deconditioned, which often leads to physical disability. Every effort should be made to recommend and encourage patients to adopt and maintain a program of physical activity. Although there are no specific exercise guidelines for many chronic conditions, patients should be instructed to start a routine of physical activity that is gradual for most (if not all) days of the week, working up to 30 minutes per session at an exertion level that is easily tolerated. It is critical that assessment of physical functioning and recommendations for physical activity be included as a part of routine medical care. In doing so, we change the expectations of patients and family members, and work toward optimizing physical functioning and quality of life.
Relations between left-lateral strike-slip faults and right-lateral monoclinal kink bands in granodiorite, Mt. Abbot quadrangle, Sierra Nevada, California

Small left-lateral strike-slip faults and right-lateral monoclinal kink bands with subvertical fold axes may be related to the formation of a very large right-lateral kink band (Bear Creek kink band), about 8 km wide and at least 15 km long, trending N27W along Bear Creek Valley in the Mt. Abbot quadrangle, Sierra Nevada, California.
Saliva: a Dynamic Proteome

The proteome of whole saliva, in contrast to that of serum, is highly susceptible to a variety of physiological and biochemical processes. First, salivary protein secretion is under neurologic control, with protein output being dependent on the stimulus. Second, extensive salivary protein modifications occur in the oral environment, where a plethora of host- and bacteria-derived enzymes act on proteins emanating from the glandular ducts. Salivary protein biosynthesis starts with the transcription and translation of salivary protein genes in the glands, followed by post-translational processing involving protein glycosylation, phosphorylation, and proteolysis. This gives rise to salivary proteins occurring in families, consisting of structurally closely related family members. Once glandular secretions enter the non-sterile oral environment, proteins are subjected to additional and continuous protein modifications, leading to extensive proteolytic cleavage, partial deglycosylation, and protein-protein complex formation. All these protein modifications occur in a dynamic environment dictated by the continuous supply of newly synthesized proteins and removal by swallowing. Understanding the proteome of whole saliva in an environment of continuous turnover will be a prerequisite to gain insight into the physiological and pathological processes relevant to oral health, and be crucial for the identification of meaningful biomarkers for oral disease.
Niche-Specific Features of the Intestinal Bacteroidales†

By analyzing the genomic sequences of 12 Bacteroidales species, we found that all intestinal species have numerous polysaccharide biosynthesis loci, many with promoters that we demonstrate undergo DNA inversion. This feature is not conserved in the Bacteroidales order as a whole, as oral species do not share these genetic features.
Instruction scheduling for the Motorola 88110

The Motorola 88110 is an advanced superscalar design. The processor can issue up to two instructions per cycle among ten functional units, and it includes sophisticated load-store, speculative execution, exception recovery, and branch target buffer facilities. This paper examines several computationally inexpensive instruction scheduling strategies for a post-processor code optimizer for the 88110, including basic block scheduling using reservation tables for writeback buses as well as functional units, delayed branch removal, loop alignment, and special loop entry scheduling. For a set of 32 loop-intensive benchmarks, a combination of delayed branch removal and loop alignment yields the best code improvement. >
Differentiating Vitreous and Nonvitreous Durum Wheat Kernels by Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

ABSTRACT The vitreousnss of durum wheat is used by the wheat industry as an indicator of milling and cooking quality. The current visual method of determining vitreousness is subjective, and classification results between inspectors and countries vary widely. Thus, the use of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to objectively classify vitreous and nonvitreous single kernels was investigated. Results showed that classification of obviously vitreous or nonvitreous kernels by the NIR procedure agreed almost perfectly with inspector classifications. However, when difficult-to-classify vitreous and nonvitreous kernels were included in the analysis, the NIR procedure agreed with inspectors on only 75% of kernels. While the classification of difficult kernels by NIR spectroscopy did not match well with inspector classifications, this NIR procedure quantifies vitreousness and thus may provide an objective classification means that could reduce inspector-to-inspector variability. Classifications appear to be due, at ...
Evidence of Genetic and Environmental Effects On the Development of Low Self-Control

A body of research has revealed that low self-control is one of the strongest and most consistent predictors of antisocial behaviors. As a result, there is great interest in identifying the factors that cause variation in levels of self-control. Much of this work has centered on identifying the effects that social factors, such as parental socialization, have on self-control. More recently, however, there has been research revealing that levels of self-control are scripted by genetic factors as well as environmental factors. The current study examines whether a polymorphism (5HTTLPR) in the serotonin transporter gene and exposure to delinquent peers are associated with levels of self-control. Analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health indicates that the 5HTTLPR polymorphism interacted with a measure of delinquent peer affiliation to predict variation in self-control during adolescence and adulthood. Implications for theories of crime causation are discussed.
Beyond teacher cognition and teacher beliefs: the value of the ethnography of emotions in teaching

This article is an attempt to show the value of the ethnography of emotions in teaching, and the importance of exploring teacher emotion in understanding teaching. A coherent account of teacher emotion must find a dynamic outside the cognitive, discursive or normative practices that have monopolized attention in research on teacher cognition and teacher belief. Thus it is argued that this dynamic can be found in the very character of emotional expression—what the anthropologist William Reddy (1997, 2001) calls emotives. This article makes the above case through the description of findings from a case study of an elementary school teacher (Catherine) who participated in a three‐year ethnographic project investigating the role of emotions in her teaching. Emotional suffering and emotional freedom are examined; such a theorization gives political meaning back to research on teacher emotions and allows us to discern the successes and failures of particular emotional regimes within a school culture.
Acetylcholine Receptor Gating: Movement in the α-Subunit Extracellular Domain

Acetylcholine receptor channel gating is a brownian conformational cascade in which nanometer-sized domains ("Phi blocks") move in staggering sequence to link an affinity change at the transmitter binding sites with a conductance change in the pore. In the alpha-subunit, the first Phi-block to move during channel opening is comprised of residues near the transmitter binding site and the second is comprised of residues near the base of the extracellular domain. We used the rate constants estimated from single-channel currents to infer the gating dynamics of Y127 and K145, in the inner and outer sheet of the beta-core of the alpha-subunit. Y127 is at the boundary between the first and second Phi blocks, at a subunit interface. alphaY127 mutations cause large changes in the gating equilibrium constant and with a characteristic Phi-value (Phi = 0.77) that places this residue in the second Phi-block. We also examined the effect on gating of mutations in neighboring residues deltaI43 (Phi = 0.86), epsilonN39 (complex kinetics), alphaI49 (no effect) and in residues that are homologous to alphaY127 on the epsilon, beta, and delta subunits (no effect). The extent to which alphaY127 gating motions are coupled to its neighbors was estimated by measuring the kinetic and equilibrium constants of constructs having mutations in alphaY127 (in both alpha subunits) plus residues alphaD97 or deltaI43. The magnitude of the coupling between alphaD97 and alphaY127 depended on the alphaY127 side chain and was small for both H (0.53 kcal/mol) and C (-0.37 kcal/mol) substitutions. The coupling across the single alpha-delta subunit boundary was larger (0.84 kcal/mol). The Phi-value for K145 (0.96) indicates that its gating motion is correlated temporally with the motions of residues in the first Phi-block and is not synchronous with those of alphaY127. This suggests that the inner and outer sheets of the alpha-subunit beta-core do not rotate as a rigid body.
The G protein βγ subunit mediates reannealing of adherens junctions to reverse endothelial permeability increase by thrombin

The inflammatory mediator thrombin proteolytically activates protease-activated receptor (PAR1) eliciting a transient, but reversible increase in vascular permeability. PAR1-induced dissociation of Gα subunit from heterotrimeric Gq and G12/G13 proteins is known to signal the increase in endothelial permeability. However, the role of released Gβγ is unknown. We now show that impairment of Gβγ function does not affect the permeability increase induced by PAR1, but prevents reannealing of adherens junctions (AJ), thereby persistently elevating endothelial permeability. We observed that in the naive endothelium Gβ1, the predominant Gβ isoform is sequestered by receptor for activated C kinase 1 (RACK1). Thrombin induced dissociation of Gβ1 from RACK1, resulting in Gβ1 interaction with Fyn and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) required for FAK activation. RACK1 depletion triggered Gβ1 activation of FAK and endothelial barrier recovery, whereas Fyn knockdown interrupted with Gβ1-induced barrier recovery indicating RACK1 negatively regulates Gβ1-Fyn signaling. Activated FAK associated with AJ and stimulated AJ reassembly in a Fyn-dependent manner. Fyn deletion prevented FAK activation and augmented lung vascular permeability increase induced by PAR1 agonist. Rescuing FAK activation in fyn−/− mice attenuated the rise in lung vascular permeability. Our results demonstrate that Gβ1-mediated Fyn activation integrates FAK with AJ, preventing persistent endothelial barrier leakiness.
Own your own Whale

Neither inter-governmental agreement nor the moral exhortations of conservationists have prevented the indiscriminate slaughter of whales. John Majewski, Claude R. Lambe Fellow at the Institute for Humane Studies, Faifax, Virginia, contends that as long as whales remain common property, the whalers will respond rationally in attempting to exploit them. He looks beyond temporary impracticability to suggest the means of enforcing private property rights to ensure the whales' survival.
XML Security beyond XSLT

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is the "love-child" of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). XML is expected to facilitate Internet B2B messaging because of its simplicity and flexibility. One big concern that customer may have in doing Internet B2B messaging is security. Therefore considering some security features in XML such as element-wise encryption, digital signature and access control that are beyond the capability of the transport-level security protocol such as SSL is of interest. We describe some access control model for XML documents and then perform some cryptographic transformations on it. For this reason, XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations) may well have sufficient functionality to perform all reasonable cryptographic transformations. We examine this question by describing a real world XML application whose security requirements are more complex than for a simple document; proposing an access control model using XML document, we present encryption operation in the document using XSLT; and identify the constraints and those features of XSLT which must be applied to meet the application requirements and then we examine "extension functions" as a solution to enhance the abilities of XSLT. We conclude that XSLT is only adequate in the proposed scenario and trying to extract additional functionality, such as the application of an encryption algorithm, leads to unacceptable complexity and constrains the ways in which documents can be encrypted.
Sleep-related disturbances among adolescents with cancer: a systematic review.

The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the evidence for sleep-related disturbances among adolescents with cancer, particularly the types of disturbances reported, using single and mixed paediatric oncology samples. Methods: Electronic searches of Medline, PubMed, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews since inception to September 2013 were conducted to identify all relevant studies. Search terms included sleep, a second term including adolescent, juvenile, youth, child, or childhood, and a third term including cancer, leukaemia, or brain tumour. A total of 41 articles met inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Of these, 32 included patients with leukaemia and 21 included patients with brain tumours. Sleep-related disturbances included difficulty initiating sleep, fragmented sleep, disordered breathing, parasomnias, napping, daytime sleepiness/fatigue, and unspecified disturbances. Adolescents with cancer experience many problems related to sleep. Given the increase in survival rates of the youth diagnosed with leukaemia or brain tumours, symptom management is an essential area of research in order to continue improving quality of life.
Interaction of fast steady flow with slow transient flow: A new cause of shock pair and interplanetary Bz event

The occurrence of the nonspiral magnetic field (high helium density) Cold Magnetic Enhancement and counterstreaming suprathermal electron flux in the slow flow around the forward shock indicates that the slow flow is a CME in interplanetary space (ICME). The characteristics of the field and plasma in the fast flow around the reverse shock is typical for a high speed stream. Thus the shock pair here appears to be caused by the interaction of a high speed stream with a slow ICME. The fact that a -B(z) event occurred in such a shock pair suggests that the slow ICME is disconnected from the sun. It is shown that compression alone appears to be adequate to explain the large southward IMF component within the shocked plasma because of the large southward field component present in the ICME ahead of the forward shock. In addition, a new method to infer the shock angle and Mach number from the observed upstream plasma B and the jump ratios of proton density and total magnetic flux density across a shock is described.
SGPS: a semantic scheme for web service similarity

Today's Web becomes a platform for services to be dynamically interconnected to produce a desired outcome. It is important to formalize the semantics of the contextual elements of web services. In this paper, we propose a novel technique called Semantic Genome Propagation Scheme (SGPS) for measuring similarity between semantic concepts. We show how SGPS is used to compute a multi-dimensional similarity between two services. We evaluate the SGPS similarity measurement in terms of the similarity performance and scalability.
A Credential-Based Data Path Architecture for Assurable Global Networking

The main limitation for achieving information assurance in current data networks lies in absence of security considerations in the original Internet architecture. This shortcoming leads to the need for a new approach to achieving information assurance in networks. We propose a network architecture that uses credentials in the data path to identify, validate, monitor, and control data flows within the network. The important aspect of this approach is that credentials are tracked on the data path of the network, not just the end-systems, which implies that each and every packet can be audited. We present a credentials design that is based on Bloom filters and can achieve the desired properties to provide data path assurance.
Theory and observations of electrostatic ion waves in the cold Io torus

A study of the ELF plasma wave environment of the cold Io torus in Jupiter's magnetosphere is made. Voyager 1 data are presented which show three distinct types of electrostatic ion waves occurring there: the Buchsbaum ion-ion mode just below the proton cyclotron frequency f(cp), hydrogen Bernstein modes at (n + 1/2) f(cp), and lower hybrid waves near f(LHR). The presence of these waves at their characteristic frequencies is consistent with a predominantly heavy ion plasma composed of singly ionized sulfur and oxygen ions along with a small admixture of protons. The hydrogen Bernstein modes are tightly confined to the magnetic equator, occurring within + or - 4 deg of it, while the Buchsbaum mode is localized to the dense heavy ion plasma of the cold torus near the centrifugal equator. A general theory for excitation of the waves based on the ion pickup process is developed.
Atypical meningeal granular cell tumor in a dog

A 10-year-old, female spayed Chihuahua dog was presented to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at the University of Georgia for evaluation of seizures, abnormal mentation, and cervical pain of 2 months duration. On magnetic resonance imaging, there was generalized thickening of the meninges overlying the left cerebral hemisphere and along the falx cerebri. Despite symptomatic treatment, the dog remained neurologically affected. Consequently, the owners elected euthanasia. On gross examination, the meninges covering the left cerebral hemisphere were severely thickened and firmly adhered to the calvaria. On transverse section, the white matter of the left cerebral hemisphere was swollen, enlarged, and extended across the midline with resultant compression of the right cerebral hemisphere. Cytologic evaluation of an impression smear of the thickened meninges showed numerous large, spindloid to polygonal cells with abundant, amphophilic, vacuolated cytoplasm, present either in clusters or in individual cells. Histopathologic evaluation of the meninges revealed a poorly circumscribed and infiltrative, moderately cellular neoplasm, composed of vacuolated, spindloid to polygonal cells with marked anisocytosis and anisokaryosis, arranged in sheets, and occasionally separated by thick bands of connective tissue. Immunohistochemistry for vimentin revealed diffuse cytoplasmic staining of the neoplastic cells. Although the periodic acid-Schiff reaction was negative, ultrastructural findings showed numerous vesicles that were empty or that contained membranous or electron-dense material. Based on gross, microscopic, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural changes, the meningeal neoplasm was diagnosed as an atypical granular cell tumor.
Who can help me with this source code change

An approach to recommend a ranked list of developers to assist in performing software changes to a particular file is presented. The ranking is based on change expertise, experience, and contributions of developers, as derived from the analysis of the previous commits involving the specific file in question. The commits are obtained from a software systempsilas version control repositories (e.g., Subversion). The basic premise is that a developer who has substantially contributed changes to specific files in the past is likely to best assist for their current or future change. Evaluation of the approach on a number of open source systems such as koffice, Apache httpd, and GNU gcc is also presented. The results show that the accuracy of the correctly recommended developers is between 43% and 82%. New developers to a long-lived software project, or project managers, can use this approach to assist them in undertaking maintenance tasks, e.g., bug fix or adding a new feature. The approach can be realized as a plug-in to development environments such as Eclipse.
The incidence of nonattendance at an urgent care dermatology clinic

Abstract Nonattendance in dermatology clinics remains a burden on clinic efficiency. Nonattendance rates have been measured in an urban university-based dermatology clinic and are significant. The nonattendance rate in a dermatology clinic dedicated primarily to new acute problems is not known. We hypothesized that the nonattendance rate would be minimal in an urgent care setting. We measured the incidence of nonattendance in a university-based, urgent care dermatology clinic. The clinic is held once weekly for patients with new skin problems. Almost all patients seen in the urgent care clinic are first-time patients. We tabulated clinic attendees and nonattendance, including same-day cancellations, for 508 consecutive patients seen over a 10-month period at the urgent care clinic. We then determined nonattendance rates for the group and by payer type. The total nonattendance rate was 23.9%. The percentage of patients who failed to appear was 21.9 and same-day cancellation was 2.0. The highest nonattendance and same-day cancellation rates were noted in HMO-based programs. The lowest rate of nonattendance was in the Medicare-based program. The nonattendance rate in a dermatology clinic dedicated to new skin problems was similar to that reported in a general dermatology clinic and correlated with payer type. In addition to factors identified in previous studies that affect clinic attendance, the rate in this study may reflect spontaneous clearing of patient-identified skin problems. (J Am Acad Dermatol 2002;46:457-9.)
Quantifying the levels of sexual reproduction and clonal spread in the invasive plant, Rosa multiflora

Rosa multiflora Thunb., (Rosaceae), an invasive plant in the eastern U.S., was introduced into the U.S. in the early 1800s and was widely planted in the 1940s as a living fence, for wildlife cover, and to prevent soil erosion. This species spread rapidly from these original plantings via seed dispersal (sexual reproduction) and clonal spread, invading pasture and wooded areas. In this study we used allozyme markers to test for significant differences in the levels of asexual and sexual spread in large (>9 m cirumference) verses small (<2 m circumference) patches of R. multiflora and in pasture verses park settings. Although larger patches of R. multiflora tended to be dominated by one genotype, they exhibited significantly greater genetic diversity and inputs from sexual reproduction than did small patches; all large patches (N = 10) contained multiple unique genotypes. In contrast six of ten smaller patches of R. multiflora, consisted of a single genotype, though three patches had two genotypes and one had three unique genotypes. Similar analyses revealed clonal structure in R.multiflora populations both park and pasture habitats but with significantly greater genetic diversity and sexual inputs in the former than the latter. These results are consistent with a model of invasive spread involving clonal spread, sexual reproduction, and bird-mediated seed dispersal into established patches. Sexual inputs appear to be highest in larger patches and park habitats where perching sites for birds are most abundant. This flexible reproduction system likely contributes to the invasiveness of R. multiflora and to current management failures.
Detection of Noncontingency in a Free-Operant Situation

Two experiments are presented that demonstrate college students' success at detecting response-noncontingent outcomes. Both experiments used free-operant procedures. In Experiment 1, subjects were randomly assigned to either response-contingent or response-noncontingent outcome conditions that produced the same frequency and temporal distribution of outcomes. The procedures differed only in terms of whether responses produced outcomes. Behavioral and verbal judgment data indicated that subjects in the response-noncontingent outcome condition detected the noncontingency. Experiment 2 investigated the outcome frequency variable. Prior experiments have shown that, under certain conditions, higher frequencies of response-noncontingent outcomes produce higher degrees of perceived control over those outcomes; other experiments have failed to find a similar outcome frequency effect. We gave two groups of subjects different frequencies of response-noncontingent outcomes. Results showed that response rates, but no...
Lamin A/C deficiency reduces circulating tumor cell resistance to fluid shear stress

Metastasis contributes to over 90% of cancer-related deaths and is initiated when cancer cells detach from the primary tumor, invade the basement membrane, and enter the circulation as circulating tumor cells (CTCs). While metastasis is viewed as an inefficient process with most CTCs dying within the bloodstream, it is evident that some CTCs are capable of resisting hemodynamic shear forces to form secondary tumors in distant tissues. We hypothesized that nuclear lamins A and C (A/C) act as key structural components within CTCs necessary to resist destruction from elevated shear forces of the bloodstream. Herein, we show that, compared with nonmalignant epithelial cells, tumor cells are resistant to elevated fluid shear forces in vitro that mimic those within the bloodstream, as evidenced by significant decreases in cellular apoptosis and necrosis. Knockdown of lamin A/C significantly reduced tumor cell resistance to fluid shear stress, with significantly increased cell death compared with parental tumor cell and nontargeting controls. Interestingly, lamin A/C knockdown increased shear stress-induced tumor cell apoptosis, but did not significantly affect cellular necrosis. These data demonstrate that lamin A/C is an important structural component that enables tumor cell resistance to fluid shear stress-mediated death in the bloodstream, and may thus facilitate survival and hematogenous metastasis of CTCs.
Biological Evolution and Systems Theory

With the evolution of the cell, life as an organization entered a new phase of data processing. The coded information contained in the protoplasm of a cell results in an exceedingly complex set of interacting systems mediated through atomic and molecular functions. Some of the functions of these systems regulated by coded information include metabolism, reproduction, irritability, and contractibility. These functions are associated with the cell’s ability to respond to stimuli.