cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Photoinduced RNA interference using DMNPE-caged 2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro substituted nucleic acids in vitro and in vivo

Various chemical modifications to RNA have been incorporated in attempts to improve their pharmacological properties for RNAi interference (RNAi). Recent studies have shown that small interfering RNA (siRNA) containing 2′-fluoro modifications can elicit gene silencing through RNAi. Despite developments in using chemical modifications for increased stability, safety, and efficiency of these therapeutics, they still face challenges of spatial and temporal targeting. One potential targeting strategy is to use photocaging techniques, which involve the covalent attachment of photolabile compounds to the effectornucleic acid species that block bioactivity until exposed to near UV light. In this study we demonstrate that fully 2′-fluorinated nucleic acids (FNAs) can be caged for photoactivated gene silencing in cell culture and in zebrafish embryos. This strategy combines the improvement in chemical and enzymatic stability associated with 2′-substitutions with the targeting ability of a photoinducible trigger. Statistical alkylation of FNAs with 1-(4,5-dimethoxy-2-nitrophenyl)diazoethane (DMNPE) improved resistance to enzymatic degradation, reduced RNAi effectiveness, and protected the biological system from toxic doses of the effector. Photo-exposure to 365 nm light partially restored the silencing activity of the 2′-fluoro siRNAs. These results suggest that photocaging may offer control over RNAi therapeutics for spatially and temporally directed activation, while improving enzymatic stability and potentially enabling therapeutic dosing via light dose intensity.
Metabolism of n-hexadecane in myelinating rat brain.

Long-chain aliphatic hydrocarbons can be absorbed by the mammalian intestinal system. They also were found to be oxidized to the corresponding fatty acids in vivo [l-4] and in vitro by mammalian liver homegenates [3] and by subcellular preparations of intestinal mucosa [S] ; the formation of long-chain primary alcohols was proposed [5] as an intermediate step in this reaction. If long-chain alcohols are produced in the course of hydrocarbon oxidation by a mammalian tissue capable of synthesizing plasmalogens, it can be expected that such a tissue would utilize them for the formation of O-alkyl and U-alk-1-enyl moieties of glycerophosphatides. Studies from this laboratory have shown that myelinating rat brain incorporates various long-chain alcohols into O-alkyl and O-alk-1-enyl moieties of ethanolamine phosphatides [6-81 and into O-alkyl moieties of choline phosphatides [8]. It was found that all O-alkyl and O-alk1 -enyl moieties of the glycerophosphatides had the same chain length and degree of unsaturation as the precursor alcohol, but that the acyl moieties contained substantial amounts of elongation-desaturation products of the fatty acids derived through alcohol oxidation [6-81. Thus, comparative analysis of the O-alkyl, O-alk-lenyl and acyl moieties of the ethanolamine phosphatides of myelinating rat brain after intracerebral injection of [ 1-14C] n-hexadecane are expected to yield information not only on whether biological oxidations of hydrocarbons occur in mammalian tis-
On the design and analysis of antenna patterns for localization with smart devices

Source localization is a well-studied topic in the area of statistical signal processing. Several pertinent application scenarios exist for this problem, mainly derived from the type of observations available at the fusion center to conduct the estimation task. This work revisits some of the approaches and algorithms proposed for localization, albeit in the context of smart devices. A distinguishing feature of smartphones and emerging monitoring platforms is the fact that each device comes equipped with an embedded global positioning system (GPS) unit and an inertial measurement unit (IMU). These devices can therefore estimate in a very precise manner their own location, and they can infer their current orientation. In certain cases, derived estimates, which act as side information, can significantly improve the performance of a source localization algorithm.
National Human Rights Week: 10–17 December

Human Rights Week, 10–17 December, occurs each year in the United States to highlight and emphasize international human rights issues. Human Rights Day, 10 December, is the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights signed by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948. In the United States, a presidential proclamation created Human Rights Week, which names 10 December as Human Rights Day and 15 December as Bill of Rights Day. The Bill of Rights became a part of the United States Constitution on 15 December 1791.
Select transition zone prostate cancers may be radiocurable despite markedly elevated prostate-specific antigen levels

Abstract In 1993, three men with transition zone prostate cancers were described (Stamey et al., J. Urol. 149: 510–515, 1993) who despite high prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels remained PSA failure-free at 22 months postoperatively. This report illustrates that prolonged PSA failure free survival may be achieved when external beam radiation therapy is used to treat similar patients.
High-performance thin-film transistors in low-temperature crystallized LPCVD amorphous silicon films

Thin-film transistors (TFT's) were fabricated in low-temperature (550°C) crystallized amorphous LPCVD silicon films. The performance of these devices was found to depend upon the deposition temperature. Low threshold voltages and effective mobilities as high as 32 cm2/V.s are reported for devices fabricated in 150-nm-thick films with maximum processing temperature of 860°C. The performance of these devices is shown to be far superior to devices fabricated in as-deposited polycrystalline silicon films.
A geometric approach to continuous expected utility

Abstract Inspired by the recent literature on preferences over menus, we present alternate axiomatisations of the Expected Utility Theorem. These new axioms also lead to a new proof.
The humanities and their effect on engineering education

The author seeks to shed light on the current debate on what constitutes an appropriate education in the humanities and social sciences, to give some of its history and rationale, and to explain why there will and always should be such a debate. He then describes the humanities and social sciences and shows how they evolved fairly recently from philosophy. He discusses the importance of the humanities and social sciences to the education of engineers, to the engineering profession, and to the quality of life of individuals and society. Finally, he describes how the humanities and social science requirements are structured in most engineering curricula and makes recommendations for improvement. >
Toxic epidermal necrolysis clinical guidelines.

Abstract : Recommendations: Standards: 1) Cessation of causative medications is mandatory to halt progression of toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN). 2) Early transfer to a burn unit or similarly qualified specialized center is the standard of care for TEN. Guidelines: 1) Tissue diagnosis by full-thickness punch biopsy is recommended for the diagnosis of TEN 2) Systemic corticosteroids are not recommended in the treatment of TEN 3) The use of empiric prophylactic antibiotics is not recommended in patients with TEN 4) Coverage of areas of desquamated skin may be attained with a number of dressings, including biological, biosynthetic, and silver or antibiotic-impregnated dressings. Frequent dressing changes with topical antimicrobial ointments or solutions are not recommended 5) Enteral nutrition is recommended for patients with TEN 6) The clinical scoring system SCORTEN may be useful in predicting mortality of patients with TEN, particularly when repeated daily 7) Long-term outpatient follow-up is important in TEN survivors to manage late complications and identify at-risk patients for post-discharge mortality 8) Ophthalmologic consultation is highly recommended for patients with conjunctival involvement. Dermatology/dermatopathology consultation may be considered to rule out non-TENS diseases.
Numerical Prediction of an Antarctic Severe Wind Event with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model

Abstract This study initiates the application of the maturing Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to the polar regions in the context of the real-time Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS). The behavior of the Advanced Research WRF (ARW) in a high-latitude setting and its ability to capture a significant Antarctic weather event are investigated. Also, in a suite of sensitivity tests, the impacts of the assimilation of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) atmospheric motion vectors on ARW Antarctic forecasts are explored. The simulation results are analyzed and the statistical significance of error differences is assessed. It is found that with the proper consideration of MODIS data the ARW can accurately simulate a major Antarctic event, the May 2004 McMurdo windstorm. The ARW simulations illuminate an episode of high-momentum flow responding to the complex orography of the vital Ross Island region. While the model captures the synoptic setting and basic trajectory of the ...
Treatment of a common duct stone via transhepatic approach.

The authors describe a technique for percutaneous transhepatic removal of calculi from the common bile duct. The potential applications of this method are discussed and an illustrative case is presented.
Performance Evaluation Of A New Dedicated Mammography System

The performance characteristics of a new dedicated mammography unit (a Mammo Diagnost U-M, Philips Medical Systems, Inc., Shelton, Conn.) are presented. The unit has capabilities for contact imaging with or without a grid and magnification imaging without a grid, using a molybdenum target and either of two different beam filtrations (molybdenum or aluminum). Characteristics evaluated include the performance of the beam restriction system, accuracy of technique parameter selector indication of kilovoltage, tube current and exposure time, focal spot size, exposure output and beam quality characteristics as a function of kilovoltage and filtration, compression device attenuation and automatic exposure control system performance. The resultant data have been used to calculate breast entrance exposure and average glandular dose for each imaging modality and to compare the different imaging modalities in terms of equivalent bandwidth, fe, using established models for the modulation transfer functions of the focal spot and image receptor. Modifications to the system to enhance clinical utility and to allow for routine calculations of patient exposure are also described.
Does trazodone have a role in palliating symptoms

Introduction Trazodone is a unique antidepressant, which blocks the postsynaptic serotonin (5-HT) receptors, 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C, and weakly inhibits presynaptic 5-HT transporters.
Probiotic administration in congenital heart disease: a pilot study.

To investigate the impact of probiotic Bifidobacterium longum ssp. infantis on the fecal microbiota and plasma cytokines in neonates with congenital heart disease. Sixteen infants with congenital heart disease were randomly assigned to receive either B. infantis (4.2 × 109 colony-forming units two times daily) or placebo for 8 weeks. Stool specimens from enrolled infants and from six term infants without heart disease were analyzed for microbial composition. Plasma cytokines were analyzed weekly in the infants with heart disease. Healthy control infants had increased total bacteria, total Bacteroidetes and total bifidobacteria compared to the infants with heart disease, but there were no significant differences between the placebo and probiotic groups. Plasma interleukin (IL)10, interferon (IFN)γ and IL1β levels were transiently higher in the probiotic group. Congenital heart disease in infants is associated with dysbiosis. Probiotic B. infantis did not significantly alter the fecal microbiota. Alterations in plasma cytokines were found to be inconsistent.
Race, memory and family history

Attempts to grapple with the complicated tangle of race and memory are more prominent than ever in the public discourse of the United States. In 2006, public intellectual Henry Louis Gates sought to popularize the search for roots and meaning with his project African American Lives, and in 2007 the black and white descendants of the landmark Plessy v. Ferguson case met in New Orleans to discuss the past and present significance of their ancestors’ lives. As the crafting of identities around increasingly fluid notions of ‘race’ proceeds apace, the activities of family historians provide a useful entree into struggles over race, identity, and collective memory in the United States. The research reported here illustrates how the shared history of the multi-racial descendants of eighteenth and nineteenth century St Domingue/Haiti in Louisiana is encountered in racially distinct ways. Participant observation is used to examine how race is dealt with in the activities of two groups: 1) a mainly European America...
First experimental demonstration of nonbinary LDPC-coded modulation suitable for high-speed optical communications

The first experimental demonstration of nonbinary-LDPC-coded optical transmission is presented. Using DQPSK, we can achieve >8dB and ∼10dB net coding gains at the BER of 10−6 in the absence and presence of I/Q imbalance, respectively.
Blackbird with White Feather

I NOTICE a letter from Mr. Murphy in your issue of December 24, 1885, about a blackbird with a white feather in its tail. Allow me to say that last month I saw a cock blackbird with a pure white tail; the rest of its plumage was natural. I saw it very distinctly, as it was flying away from me at the time, not more than ten yards off when I first noticed it, with its tail extended; I saw it again last week, within a few feet of the same place, this time running under a gate. My wife says she saw a similar bird, at the same spot, about a year ago.
Integrated electronic detection of biomolecules

Electronics offers several unique opportunities for the detection and characterization of biomolecules such as oligonucleotides and proteins. Solid-state microfabrication technology, similar to that used to make integrated circuits, can be employed to make integrated electronic sensing systems that are capable of simultaneously detecting multiple molecules. Here, we review some of the capabilities afforded by electronics for rapid and sensitive detection of biomolecules and discuss a recent demonstration of a multi-marker electronic sensing system for detection of uropathogens in clinical samples.
Failure to restore the Vγ2-Jγ1.2 repertoire in HIV-infected men receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)

Abstract Gammadelta (γδ) T cells expressing the Vγ2-Jγ1.2Vδ2 (Vγ9-JPVδ2, alternate nomenclature) T cell receptor (TCR) constitute the major peripheral blood population of γδ T cells in adult humans and are specifically depleted during human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease. Vγ2-Jγ1.2Vδ2 T cells provide a convenient model for assessing the impact of antiretroviral therapy on cell populations that are not susceptible to direct infection because they do not express CD4 and depletion occurs by indirect mechanisms. We obtained longitudinal PBMC samples from 16 HIV-infected individuals who enrolled in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) and were starting highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Vγ2-Jγ1.2Vδ2 T cells were depleted in these individuals as a result of HIV infection. Despite evidence for clinical benefits of HAART, the Vγ2-Jγ1.2Vδ2 T cell repertoire did not recover after HAART initiation irrespective of treatment duration. These studies highlight important defects among cell subsets lost due to indirect effects of HIV.
Development of an Efficient Method for Generating and Screening Active Trypsin and Trypsin Variants

Des techniques classiques de biochimie et des approches nouvelles de genie genetique (construction d'un vecteur, mutagenese dirigee, expression dans E. coli et screening) sont mises au point et utilisees dans le but d'etablir les bases regissant la specificite d'une serine protease, la trypsine, pour son substrat
Irrigating short rotation intensive culture hybrid poplars

Abstract Irrigating hybrid poplars in northern Wisconsin, a cool humid temperate area, resulted in consistent growth increases. Maintaining field soil moisture tensions higher than −0·07 MPa and probably higher than −0·03 MPa resulted in the greatest biomass yields. Height growth increases ranged from 2 to 22% for 1- to 4-year-old trees, and biomass increases ranged from 27 to 33% for 3- to 5-year-old trees. Irrigation produced an added 8·0 Mg ha−1 of accumulated biomass in a 5-year-old plantation. Consumptive water use during the growing season was from 4·4 to 4·8 mm day−1. Irrigation had little effect on growth and no effect on tree survival during the establishment year. After the first year, increased number of irrigations were required to maintain the designated soil moisture tension levels. This suggests that the primary benefits of irrigation in northern Wisconsin may occur from cumulative biomass increases during the rotation rather than from improved survival during establishment.
Pertubation in the I/O Map of a Non-linear Feedback System Caused by Large Plant Perturbation☆

This paper studies the perturbation in the input-output (I/O) map of a multi-input multi-output non-linear feedback system caused by large plant perturbations. It compares the effect of these perturbations on the given feedback system and on the nominally equivalent open-loop system. First the unity feedback system is considered, then a more general configuration—which includes the usual summing node as a special case—is analyzed. In both cases it is shown that the degree of desensitization provided by feedback is controlled by the linearized return difference operator.
Transstyloid, Translunate Fracture–Dislocation of the Wrist: Case Report

Earlier reports have described characteristic fracture-dislocation patterns of the carpus and distal radius. Most result from a fall onto an outstretched arm, with an applied force directed in a radial-to-ulnar direction across the wrist. We present the clinical, radiographic, and arthroscopic findings noted with an unusual pattern of injury resulting from a force applied at the ulnar side of the wrist.
Qualitative assessment of the long‐term impact of a faculty development programme in teaching skills

CONTEXT The long-term impact of faculty development programmes (FDPs) is poorly understood, and most assessments of them have been quantitative in nature. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to use qualitative methods to better understand the long-term impact of an FDP in teaching skills (FDP/TS). METHODS A survey was carried out in July 2002 of the 242 faculty members and fellows who had participated in a 9-month FDP/TS at any time from 1987 through 2000. The survey included 2 quantitative questions and an open-ended qualitative question about the impact of the programme on the participants' professional and personal lives. RESULTS A total of 200 past participants (83%) responded to the survey. Participants from early and recent cohorts were similarly represented. In all, 82% of respondents said programme participation had had 'a moderate' or 'a lot' of impact on their professional life, and 49% said their personal life had been affected to this degree. Four major domains, each containing at least 3 subcategories, emerged from qualitative analysis. The domain intrapersonal development included changes participants reported in themselves and in their approach to self-management. Interpersonal development contained subcategories relating to how participants interact with others. Subcategories in the domain development as a teacher related to increased teaching ability and enjoyment. The domain career development included professional growth and career opportunities attributed to programme participation. CONCLUSIONS Longitudinal FDPs can have broad and sustained positive effects on the professional and personal lives of participants. Qualitative evaluation methods may result in a richer and deeper understanding of the impact of these programmes.
The Manickam-Miklós-Singhi conjectures for sets and vector spaces

More than twenty-five years ago, Manickam, Miklos, and Singhi conjectured that for positive integers n , k with n ? 4 k , every set of n real numbers with nonnegative sum has at least ( n - 1 k - 1 ) k-element subsets whose sum is also nonnegative. We verify this conjecture when n ? 8 k 2 , which simultaneously improves and simplifies a bound of Alon, Huang, and Sudakov and also a bound of Pokrovskiy when k < 10 45 .Moreover, our arguments resolve the vector space analogue of this conjecture. Let V be an n-dimensional vector space over a finite field. Assign a real-valued weight to each 1-dimensional subspace in V so that the sum of all weights is zero. Define the weight of a subspace S ? V to be the sum of the weights of all the 1-dimensional subspaces it contains. We prove that if n ? 3 k , then the number of k-dimensional subspaces in V with nonnegative weight is at least the number of k-dimensional subspaces in V that contain a fixed 1-dimensional subspace. This result verifies a conjecture of Manickam and Singhi from 1988.
Neutron diagnostics for pulsed high-density thermonuclear plasmas.

Time‐resolved measurements of the neutron flux from the Scylla IV–P linear theta‐pinch experiment have been made with scintillator‐photomultiplier combinations. Calibration of the detectors is accomplished by a comparison of their time‐integrated output with the total neutron yield measured using a foil‐activation technique for which an accurate calibration has been established. The temperature of the Maxwellian ion velocity distribution that would produce the observed flux is obtained from the Maxwellian reactivity <σv≳DD for D (d,n)He3 and measurements of the temporal evolution of the plasma column density and dimensions. This determination of the time history of the ion temperature is in good agreement with the plasma energy measured using other techniques.
Irritant Rhinitis in Allergic, Nonallergic, Control and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Populations

ABSTRACTBackground: Irritation symptoms after exposure to “nonspecific” stimuli are often attributed to nonallergic rhinitis (vaso-motor rhinitis). This is a heterogeneous syndrome of exclusion based on nasal symptoms with negative allergy skin tests.Method: Control (n = 114) and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS, n = 120) subjects scored the severity of nasal congestion and rhinorrhea sensations that they attributed to 9 irritants. The sum was the “Irritant Rhinitis Score” (IRS maximum 72). A positive IRS of > 19 defined “Irritant Rhinitis.” Demographic, allergy skin test and other assessments were done to characterize the Irritant Rhinitis population.Results: Irritant Rhinitis was present in 11% of control and 47% of CFS subjects. In multivariate analysis, positive IRS was correlated with a history of rhinitis complaints, systemic complaints such as fatigue, sensations of congestion and rhinorrhea induced by meteorological conditions, tobacco smoke, odors, perfumes, and other volatile materials, and diagnos...
Local computation and estimation of wavelet coefficients in the dual-tree complex wavelet transform

The dual-tree complex wavelet transform (DT CWT) was introduced to overcome the disadvantages of the traditional fully decimated discrete wavelet transform (DWT), namely the shift-variance and the poor directional selectivity properties. Because of its improvements in this regards, the dual-tree has been successfully demonstrated in many image processing applications such as denoising, motion estimation, image classification, and even compression despite its redundancy nature. Our goal is to be able to predict the wavelet coefficients of one tree knowing those of the other in the dual-tree complex wavelet transform. In other words, given a subset of real coefficients in the DTCWT, how can we compute or estimate accurately the imaginary coefficients in the same local neighborhood and vice versa? The proposed method is based on exploiting the orthogonality properties of one of the nicest dual-tree designs - the Q-shift complex wavelets.
MicroRNAs in skin and wound healing

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small endogenous RNA molecules ∼22 nt in length. miRNAs are capable of posttranscriptional gene regulation by binding to their target messenger RNAs (mRNAs), leading to mRNA degradation or suppression of translation. miRNAs have recently been shown to play pivotal roles in skin development and are linked to various skin pathologies, cancer, and wound healing. This review focuses on the role of miRNAs in cutaneous biology, the various methods of miRNA modulation, and the therapeutic opportunities in treatment of skin diseases and wound healing.
A new approach of top -down induction of decision trees for knowledge discovery

Top-down induction of decision trees is the most popular technique for classification in the field of data mining and knowledge discovery. Quinlan developed the basic induction algorithm of decision trees, ID3 (1984), and extended to C4.5 (1993). There is a lot of research work for dealing with a single attribute decision-making node (so-called the firstorder decision) of decision trees. Murphy and Pazzani (1991) addressed about multipleattribute conditions at decision-making nodes. They show that higher order decision-making generates smaller decision trees and better accuracy. However, there always exist NPcomplete combinations of multiple-attribute decision-makings. We develop a new algorithm of second-order decision-tree inductions (SODI) for nominal attributes. The induction rules of first-order decision trees are combined by AND logic only, but those of SODI consist of AND, OR, and OTHERWISE logics. It generates more accurate results and smaller decision trees than any first-order decision tree inductions. Quinlan used information gains via VC-dimension (Vapnik-Chevonenkis; Vapnik, 1995) for clustering the experimental values for each numerical attribute. However, many researchers have discovered the weakness of the use of VC-dim analysis. Bennett (1997) sophistically applies support vector machines (SVM) to decision tree induction. We suggest a heuristic algorithm (SVMM; SVM for Multi-category) that combines a TDIDT scheme with SVM. In this thesis it will be also addressed how to solve multiclass classification problems. Our final goal for this thesis is IDSS (Induction of Decision Trees using SODI and SVMM). We will address how to combine SODI and SVMM for the construction of topdown induction of decision trees in order to minimize the generalized penalty cost.
Graphical Perception of Multiple Time Series

Line graphs have been the visualization of choice for temporal data ever since the days of William Playfair (1759-1823), but realistic temporal analysis tasks often include multiple simultaneous time series. In this work, we explore user performance for comparison, slope, and discrimination tasks for different line graph techniques involving multiple time series. Our results show that techniques that create separate charts for each time series--such as small multiples and horizon graphs--are generally more efficient for comparisons across time series with a large visual span. On the other hand, shared-space techniques--like standard line graphs--are typically more efficient for comparisons over smaller visual spans where the impact of overlap and clutter is reduced.
Experiencing Emotion Across a Semester-Long Family Role-Play and Reflecting Team: Implications for Counselor Development

The use of role-play and reflecting teams have been established as acceptable practices in the education of counselors-in-training. However, the current counseling literature does not identify the range of emotion experienced by students, as they participate in experiential activities. This manuscript identifies the emotions experienced by students during the use of a 10-week-long role-play in a family theories course, whereby the students played various roles including that of co-counselor, family member, reflecting team member, and observation team member. Implications for the training of counselors and the importance of future research are explored.
Characterization of single-nucleotide variation in Indian-origin rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)

Rhesus macaques are the most widely utilized nonhuman primate model in biomedical research. Previous efforts have validated fewer than 900 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in this species, which limits opportunities for genetic studies related to health and disease. Extensive information about SNPs and other genetic variation in rhesus macaques would facilitate valuable genetic analyses, as well as provide markers for genome-wide linkage analysis and the genetic management of captive breeding colonies. We used the available rhesus macaque draft genome sequence, new sequence data from unrelated individuals and existing published sequence data to create a genome-wide SNP resource for Indian-origin rhesus monkeys. The original reference animal and two additional Indian-origin individuals were resequenced to low coverage using SOLiD™ sequencing. We then used three strategies to validate SNPs: comparison of potential SNPs found in the same individual using two different sequencing chemistries, and comparison of potential SNPs in different individuals identified with either the same or different sequencing chemistries. Our approach validated approximately 3 million SNPs distributed across the genome. Preliminary analysis of SNP annotations suggests that a substantial number of these macaque SNPs may have functional effects. More than 700 non-synonymous SNPs were scored by Polyphen-2 as either possibly or probably damaging to protein function and these variants now constitute potential models for studying functional genetic variation relevant to human physiology and disease. Resequencing of a small number of animals identified greater than 3 million SNPs. This provides a significant new information resource for rhesus macaques, an important research animal. The data also suggests that overall genetic variation is high in this species. We identified many potentially damaging non-synonymous coding SNPs, providing new opportunities to identify rhesus models for human disease.
Block-Sparse Recovery via Convex Optimization

Given a dictionary that consists of multiple blocks and a signal that lives in the range space of only a few blocks, we study the problem of finding a block-sparse representation of the signal, i.e., a representation that uses the minimum number of blocks. Motivated by signal/image processing and computer vision applications, such as face recognition, we consider the block-sparse recovery problem in the case where the number of atoms in each block is arbitrary, possibly much larger than the dimension of the underlying subspace. To find a block-sparse representation of a signal, we propose two classes of nonconvex optimization programs, which aim to minimize the number of nonzero coefficient blocks and the number of nonzero reconstructed vectors from the blocks, respectively. Since both classes of problems are NP-hard, we propose convex relaxations and derive conditions under which each class of the convex programs is equivalent to the original nonconvex formulation. Our conditions depend on the notions of mutual and cumulative subspace coherence of a dictionary, which are natural generalizations of existing notions of mutual and cumulative coherence. We evaluate the performance of the proposed convex programs through simulations as well as real experiments on face recognition. We show that treating the face recognition problem as a block-sparse recovery problem improves the state-of-the-art results by 10% with only 25% of the training data.
Delay of Surgery in Men With Low Risk Prostate Cancer

Purpose: Treatment options for patients with low risk prostate cancer include radical prostatectomy, radiation therapy, and active surveillance. Among patients treated with radical prostatectomy, prior studies have demonstrated significantly higher biochemical progression rates with surgical delays of 6 months or greater. We determined the impact of surgical delay on radical prostatectomy outcomes specifically in low risk patients.Materials and Methods: From our radical prostatectomy database we identified men who fulfilled the D'Amico low risk criteria (clinical stage T1c/T2a, prostate specific antigen less than 10 ng/ml, and biopsy Gleason 6 or less). Pathological tumor features and biochemical progression rates were compared between men with and without surgical delay. We used Cox proportional hazards models to examine predictors of biochemical progression.Results: Of 1,111 men who fulfilled the D'Amico low risk criteria, those with a surgical delay of 6 months or more were significantly older, had a h...
Optimal Layered Video IPTV Multicast Streaming over IEEE 802.16e WiMAX Systems

A wireless resource scheduling problem is formulated in the context of IPTV multicasting streaming services over WiMAX channels. The goal is to maximize quality of services, in terms of number of subscribers served, number of IPTV channels carried, and video qualities of individual channels; subject to constraints of finite amount of multicast channel capacities as well as time and spatially varying wireless channel qualities. While a globally optimal solution is NP-hard, we present an efficient heuristic algorithm that exploits the structure of the problem formulation to yield solutions that are very close to the optimal solution.
The Optimal Partnership of Radiation and Immunotherapy: from Preclinical Studies to Clinical Translation

The main role of the immune system is to restore tissue homeostasis when altered by pathogenic processes, including neoplastic transformation. Immune-mediated tumor rejection has been recognized as an extrinsic tumor suppressor mechanism that tumors need to overcome to progress. By the time a tumor becomes clinically apparent it has successfully escaped immune control by establishing an immunosuppressive microenvironment. Ionizing radiation applied locally to a tumor alters these tumor-host interactions. Accumulating evidence indicates that standard therapeutic doses of radiation have the potential to recover tumor immunogenicity and convert the tumor into an in situ personalized vaccine. Radiotherapy induces an immunogenic tumor cell death promoting cross-presentation of tumor-derived antigens by dendritic cells to T cells. In addition, radiotherapy stimulates chemokine-mediated recruitment of effector T cells to the tumor, and cellular recognition and killing by T cells that is facilitated by upregulation of major histocompatibility antigens, NKG2D ligands, adhesion molecules and death receptors. Despite these effects, radiotherapy alone is only rarely capable of generating enough proinflammatory signals to sufficiently overcome suppression, as it can also activate immunosuppressive factors. However, our group and others have shown that when combined with targeted immunotherapy agents radiotherapy significantly contributes to a therapeutically effective anti-tumor immune response. To illustrate this partnership between radiation and immunotherapy we will discuss as an example our experience in preclinical models and the molecular mechanisms identified. Additionally, the clinical translation of these combinations will be discussed.
Chronic overeating impairs hepatic glucose uptake and disposition.

Dogs consuming a hypercaloric high-fat and -fructose diet (52 and 17% of total energy, respectively) or a diet high in either fructose or fat for 4 wk exhibited blunted net hepatic glucose uptake (...
Quadrupole magnets for the SSC

The authors have designed, constructed, and tested four short (1-m) models and six full-size (5-m) models of the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) main-ring 5-m focusing quadrupole magnet (211 T/m). The results of this program are summarized. The magnet construction, test procedures, and test results are discussed. Except for modest training above the SSC operating point, the magnets performed very well and proved to be self-protecting. Some design flaws, e.g., inadequate end-clamping and pole shimming, were identified and corrected sufficiently so that the later magnets exceeded specifications. >
Understanding mobility mechanisms in extremely scaled HfO 2 (EOT 0.42 nm) using remote interfacial layer scavenging technique and V t -tuning dipoles with gate-first process

We demonstrate a novel “remote interfacial layer (IL) scavenging” technique yielding a record-setting equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) of 0.42 nm using a HfO 2 -based MOSFET high-к gate dielectric. Intrinsic effects of IL scaling on carrier mobility are clarified using this method. We reveal that the mobility degradation observed for La-containing high-к is not due to the La dipole but due to the intrinsic IL scaling effect, whereas an Al dipole brings about additional mobility degradation. This unique nature of the La dipole enables aggressive EOT scaling in conjunction with IL scaling for the 16 nm technology node without extrinsic mobility degradation.
Prevention of Projectile and Aerosol Contamination During Pulsatile Lavage Irrigation Using a Wound Irrigation Bag

﻿﻿﻿Pulsatile lavage is a high-pressure irrigation treatment commonly used in the debridement of wounds. The risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens and contaminants using high-pressure irrigation has been well documented in the literature. Projectile droplets and aerosolized fine droplets may form and spread, potentially contaminating the treatment facility and infecting personnel. A new device (Wound Irrigation Bag©, Pulse Care Medical LLC, North Andover, Mass) has been designed to decrease the dissemination of projectile and aerosolized particles. The wound irrigation bag (WIB) uses containment to decrease the amount of projectile and aerosolized pathogens spread during pulsatile lavage. This randomized prospective trial demonstrated that the WIB significantly decreased the amount of bacterial colony forming units disseminated during pulsatile lavage of infected wounds compared to standard wound irrigation techniques. The WIB is a useful new tool in the armamentarium of wound care that protects the debridement facility and the personnel who operate it by significantly reducing the dissemination of infectious particles.
Klf5 regulates lineage formation in the pre-implantation mouse embryo.

Kruppel-like transcription factors (Klfs) are essential for the induction and maintenance of pluripotency of embryonic stem cells (ESCs), yet little is known about their roles in establishing the three lineages of the pre-implantation embryo. Here, we show that Klf5 is required for the formation of the trophectoderm (TE) and the inner cell mass (ICM), and for repressing primitive endoderm (PE) development. Although cell polarity appeared normal, Klf5 mutant embryos arrested at the blastocyst stage and failed to hatch due to defective TE development. Klf5 acted cell-autonomously in the TE, downstream of Fgf4 and upstream of Cdx2, Eomes and Krt8. In the ICM, loss of Klf5 resulted in reduced expression of pluripotency markers Oct4 and Nanog, but led to increased Sox17 expression in the PE, suggesting that Klf5 suppresses the PE lineage. Consistent with this, overexpression of Klf5 in transgenic embryos was sufficient to suppress the Sox17+ PE lineage in the ICM. Klf5 overexpression led to a dose-dependent decrease in Sox17 promoter activity in reporter assays in cultured cells. Moreover, in chimeric embryos, Klf5–/– cells preferentially contributed to the Sox17+ PE lineage and Cdx2 expression was not rescued in Klf5–/– outer cells. Finally, outgrowths from Klf5–/– embryos failed to form an ICM/pluripotent colony, had very few Oct4+ or Cdx2+ cells, but showed an increase in the percentage of Sox17+ PE cells. These findings demonstrate that Klf5 is a dynamic regulator of all three lineages in the pre-implantation embryo by promoting the TE and epiblast lineages while suppressing the PE lineage.
A Chado case study

Motivation: A few years ago, FlyBase undertook to design a new database schema to store Drosophila data. It would fully integrate genomic sequence and annotation data with bibliographic, genetic, phenotypic and molecular data from the literature representing a distillation of the first 100 years of research on this major animal model system. In developing this new integrated schema, FlyBase also made a commitment to ensure that its design was generic, extensible and available as open source, so that it could be employed as the core schema of any model organism data repository, thereby avoiding redundant software development and potentially increasing interoperability. Our question was whether we could create a relational database schema that would be successfully reused. Results: Chado is a relational database schema now being used to manage biological knowledge for a wide variety of organisms, from human to pathogens, especially the classes of information that directly or indirectly can be associated with genome sequences or the primary RNA and protein products encoded by a genome. Biological databases that conform to this schema can interoperate with one another, and with application software from the Generic Model Organism Database (GMOD) toolkit. Chado is distinctive because its design is driven by ontologies. The use of ontologies (or controlled vocabularies) is ubiquitous across the schema, as they are used as a means of typing entities. The Chado schema is partitioned into integrated subschemas (modules), each encapsulating a different biological domain, and each described using representations in appropriate ontologies. To illustrate this methodology, we describe here the Chado modules used for describing genomic sequences. Availability: GMOD is a collaboration of several model organism database groups, including FlyBase, to develop a set of open-source software for managing model organism data. The Chado schema is freely distributed under the terms of the Artistic License ( http://www.opensource.org/licenses/artistic-license.php) from GMOD (www.gmod.org). Contact:cjm@fruitfly.org or emmert@morgan.harvard.edu.
A characterization of complex projective space up to biholomorphic isometry

Obata [3] gave a characterization up to isometry of the standard sphere sn in terms of the Hessian operator on a complete Riemannian manifold. With the convention Hess u = Vgrad u, his result says that if M is a complete Riemannian manifold which admits a nondegenerate function u such that Hess u = -u- Id then M is isometric to the standard sphere. Obata goes on to prove related results in conformal geometry which take advantage of the existence of a function whose Hessian has a special form. Other authors have also obtained strong geometric properties of a Riemannian manifold by exploiting the existence of a function u with Hess u = f - Id for some function f. In particular, this last equation implies that M is a warped product. For a proof and related results, see, for example, Osgood and Stowe [5]. In the complex case, a characterization of cn up to isometry was given by Stoll [6] via the complex Monge-Amp~re operator. Stoll's result says that if M is a complex manifold which admits a strictly plurisubharmonic exhaustion r: M --> [0, ~) such that (dd c log r) n -- 0, then (M, r) = (C", Iz12). In other words M, with hermitian metric given by the Kahler form ddCr, is biholomorphically isometric to C". Obata also showed that a complete, connected and simply connected Kahler manifold is isometric to the complex projective space ]?n if and only if it admits a solution to a certain linear system of third order differential equations [4]. Blair [1] subsequently showed that in some cases this characterization of ]?n follows from a corresponding result for Riemannian manifolds and indicated that one would not expect a characterization of ]?n by a Hessian equation analogous to that which Obata used to characterize S n. In this paper we give a complex analog of Obata's theorem [3]. We characterize complex projective space up to biholomorphic isometry by the existence of a solution to a system of second order equations. Since ]?n with the Fubini-Study metric is not a warped product, there does not exist a nontrivial function u on ]?n whose Hessian is a multiple of the identity. However, ]?n with one point deleted is the hyperplane section bundle over I? n- 1 and the fibers of this bundle are totally geodesic complex lines. Thus, there is a relationship between the natural metric structure and the line bundle structure of ~n. This relationship provides the motivation for the construction of a function u on ]?n
RHEOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF BUTTER USING LUBRICATED SQUEEZING FLOW

Rheological characteristics of butters made from anhydrous milk fat (AMF) and supercritically fractionated high melting triglyceride (HMT) fraction were compared. An Instron Universal Testing Machine was used to compress the samples between two lubricated plates at constant deformation rate (0.5 mm/min). Stress growth coefficients, computed from the ratios of stresses and biaxial strain rates, were plotted as function of time. HMT butter had higher stress growth coefficients than AMF butter, indicating its greater degree of firmness. Stress growth coefficients were negatively correlated to temperature due to lower crystallinity of fat at higher temperatures and increased on storage due to formation of weak van der Waal forces of attraction between crystalline fat chains.
The medieval church and rents from marriage market regulations

This paper addresses the medieval Roman Catholic Church's attempts to monopolize the marriage market and to wrest control over the institution from secular authority. In particular, the paper highlights specific doctrinal innovations and evolving rules and regulations. Rules surrounding endogamy, the definition of a valid marriages, and the escape clauses established by the Church are the principal features of the argument as is the place of these manipulations in the overall monopoly of the Church.