cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Low momentum shell model effective interactions with all-order core polarizations

An all-order summation of core-polarization diagrams using the low-momentum nucleon-nucleon interaction V{sub low-k} is presented. The summation is based on the Kirson-Babu-Brown (KBB) induced interaction approach in which the vertex functions are obtained self-consistently by solving a set of nonlinear coupled equations. It is found that the solution of these equations is simplified using V{sub low-k}, which is energy independent, and using the Green's functions in the particle-particle and particle-hole channels. We have applied this approach to the sd-shell effective interactions and find that the results we calculated to all orders by using the KBB summation technique are remarkably similar to those of second-order perturbation theory, the average differences being less than 10%.
The effect of warfarin on urine calcium oxalate crystal growth inhibition and urinary excretion of calcium and nephrocalcin

Urine contains inhibitors of calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystal growth. One such inhibitor is nephrocalcin (NC), a glycoprotein which is made in the kidney and contains several residues of gamma-carboxyglutamic acid (Gla) per molecule. The presence of Gla may be important to its ability to inhibit crystal growth. Several studies suggest that vitamin K-dependent proteins may also play a role in renal calcium (Ca) handling, and that vitamin D deficiency may lead to excess urinary Ca loss, but the effect of the vitamin K antagonist warfarin on urinary Ca excretion and CaOx growth inhibition in humans is not known. We studied 11 men while they were taking warfarin for a mean of 252 days, and again a mean of 64 days after its discontinuation. Urinary Ca excretion did not differ between those on or off warfarin, or between those on warfarin and normal controls. The ability of the subjects' urine to inhibit CaOx crystal growth did not differ on or off warfarin, or from that of control urine, and the excretion of immunoreactive NC also did not differ between these groups. NC was found to be responsible for approximately 16% of the CaOx growth inhibition seen. These results do not suggest that vitamin K-dependent proteins play a major role in renal Ca excretion in men, or that interference with vitamin K alters NC excretion or inhibitory activity of the urine.
Brachytherapy and continuous infusion 5-fluorouracil for the treatment of locally advanced, lymph node negative, prostate cancer: A phase I trial

BACKGROUND 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is a known radiosensitizer that enhances efficacy, in vivo and in vitro, when administered during radiotherapy. The following study was performed to evaluate the toxicity of continuous infusion 5-FU administered concomitant with brachytherapy in patients with locally advanced prostate cancer. METHODS Over a 26-month period, a total of 25 patients with newly diagnosed, locally advanced prostate cancer underwent radioactive gold (Au198) brachytherapy. Twenty-four of 25 patients were surgically staged and confirmed node negative. Au198 seed placement was performed transperineally under fluoroscopic and ultrasonographic guidance using an average of 195 mCi of Au198. Within 4 hours after seed placement, 25 patients received 5-FU administered as a continuous infusion over 4 days, at 1 of 8 dose levels ranging from 200–1100 mg/m2/day. Patients had clinical follow-up for a minimum of 1 year. Decreases in serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) and prostate volume (normalized to pretreatment values) were determined at 12 months. RESULTS 5-FU associated toxicity was negligible, with Grade 1 nausea in four patients and no Grade 2 or higher toxicity. No unique locoregional toxicity was noted. At 12 months after treatment, PSA values decreased on average to 16.4% of pretreatment values. Twelve-month prostate volumes decreased to 55% of the pretreatment values. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that continuous infusion 5-FU can be administered safely concomitant with brachytherapy at doses up to 1100 mg/m2 per day for 4 days. Cancer 1996;77:924-7.
The use of mammography in breast preservation in locally advanced breast cancer.

Abstract Purpose : As the feasibility of breast preservation in locally advanced breast cancer is currently under evaluation, little information is available correlating mammographic changes to chemotherapy with local outcome. To evaluate the role of mammography in selecting candidates with locally advanced breast cancer for conservative local therapy, we analyzed mammographic changes in the breast to induction chemotherapy and correlated the radiologic appearance with pathologic outcome. Methods and Materials : From 1985 through 1993, 91 patients with Stage III breast cancer were enrolled on a multimodality clinical trial using chemohormonal therapy followed by local treatment and maintenance therapy. Induction therapy consisted of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, methotrexate, and 5-fluorouracil with hormonal synchronization using tamoxifen and conjugated estrogens. After nine cycles, surgical biopsies of the breast were performed. Through 1988, clinical examination alone directed the site for postinduction biopsy; for patients treated after 1988, mammography, in addition to physical examination, determined the biopsy location. Local treatment was determined by biopsy result. Patients with a pathologic complete response received radiation only to the breast and regional nodes, while those with pathologically proven residual disease underwent mastectomy and postoperative radiotherapy. Nine additional cycles of maintenance chemotherapy were administered. Results : Fifty-three of 91 patients (58%) obtained a clinical complete response (CR) to induction chemotherapy. Twenty-eight of the 53 women with a clinical CR had both pre- and postinduction mammograms. Of these 28 women, 9 obtained a pathologic CR and 19 obtained a pathologic partial response (PR). Fifty-five percent (5) of the pathologic complete responders had resolution of mammographic abnormalities on the postinduction mammogram. Sixty-eight percent (13) of the pathologic partial responders had abnormal mammographic findings. The positive predictive value for residual cancer using physical examination was 92%, while the negative predictive value was only 36%. Among patients with a clinical complete response, the positive and negative predictive values for residual cancer using postinduction mammography were 79% and 56%, respectively. Limitations of mammography included uncertain significance of residual microcalcifications and residual masses on postinduction chemotherapy mammograms. Conclusions : Although mammography improved the accuracy of noninvasive evaluation in patients with a clinical complete response, pathologic assessment was still required to determine appropriate local therapy. More sensitive imaging modalities or modifications of film-screen mammography may improve noninvasive detection of residual disease following induction chemotherapy.
Storage Mining: Where IT Management Meets Big Data Analytics

The emerging paradigm shift to cloud based data center infrastructures imposes remarkable challenges to IT management operations, e.g., due to virtualization techniques and more stringent requirements for cost and efficiency. On one hand, the voluminous data generated by daily IT operations such as logs and performance measurements contain abundant information and insights which can be leveraged to assist the IT management. On the other hand, traditional IT management solutions cannot consume and exploit the rich information contained in the data due to the daunting volume, velocity, variety, as well as the lack of scalable data mining and machine learning frameworks to extract insights from such raw data. In this paper, we present our on-going research thrust of designing novel IT management solutions by leveraging big data analytics frameworks. As an example, we introduce our project of Storage Mining, which exploits big data analytics techniques to facilitate storage cloud management. The challenges are discussed and our proof-of-concept big data analytics framework is presented.
Attendance at an asthma clinic did not reduce asthma morbidity more than did standard medical treatment

Source Citation Heard AR, Richards IJ, Alpers JH, et al. Randomised controlled trial of general practice based asthma clinics. Med J Aust. 1999 Jul 19;171:68-71. 10474578
Cancellation test performance in African American, Hispanic, and White elderly.

Shape and letter cancellation test performance was investigated among large samples of African American, Hispanic, and White non-demented elders. Ethnic minority elders took significantly longer to complete both tasks compared to Whites. An index of task efficiency, which simultaneously measures time and accuracy, suggested that slower time by minority elders was not related to a measurable effort to achieve greater accuracy. The frequency of commission errors was greater in our sample than in previous reports, especially among ethnic minority elders. Although significant differences were observed between the ethnic groups when matched for years of education, equating for literacy level eliminated all performance differences between African Americans and Whites on both cancellation tasks. (JINS, 2004, 10, 401–411.)
Some binary maximin distance designs

Abstract The search for space-filling designs is furthered by bringing to the task the ideas of coding theory. Determination of optimal parameter values for general binary maximin distance designs is described in detail. All cases for which this determination has been made are presented. Designs for all such cases are given in a catalog of space-filling designs. Designs are provided for up to 27 independent factors. Also, the statistical concepts of maximum resolution and minimum aberration are shown to be related to the duals of linear maximin distance designs.
Supermolecular structure and mechanical properties of P(AN-AM-AA)/PVA intermacromolecular complex formed through hydrogen bonding

The supermolecular structure and mechanical properties of poly (acrylonitrile - acrylamide - acrylic acid)/poly(vinyl alcohol) [P(AN-AM-AA)/ PVA] intermacromolecular complex formed through hydrogen bonding were studied by means of SEM, TEM, and mechanical property testing. The experimental results show that fibrous or network structure could be formed in P(AN-AM-AA)/PVA intermacromolecular complex, and this unique supramolecular structure endows the material with much superior mechanical properties to its constituents. The tensile strength of P(AN-AM-AA)/PVA complex is as high as 3 times that of PVA, and the Young's modulus of the complex is almost 6 times that of PVA. All the encouraging results demonstrate that intermacromolecular complexation among the polymers having complementary structures is an innovative strategy to reinforce polymer materials and, therefore, to prepare a new kind of microcomposites.
Francophobia, Anti-Americanism: Narratives of the Trans-Atlantic Other in French and U.S. News on Abortion-Related Issues:

This article examines the interplay of abortion and nationalism in French and U.S. print news discussions of abortion-related issues. U.S. news stories on RU-486 and French news stories on prolife direct action protesters are rife with qualifiers designating each issue as a foreign one. In American media, RU-486 is the French pill; in French media, protesters are American inspired/mobilized. Together, these cases constitute a site for the recurrent construction of the relation between nationhood, national identity, and moral goodness. In each case, media narratives of abortion-related issues reveal that more is at stake than reproductive rights issues. The authors argue that discourses on abortion are grounded in politics of nationalism that shore up the boundaries of the homeland and anchor the distinction between public and private spheres through a discourse of opposition to foreign cultural invaders. The articulation of moral conflict over abortion and myths of foreign origins situate the national col...
Depression in Homebound Older Adults: Recent Advances in Screening and Psychosocial Interventions

Homebound older adults are more likely than their ambulatory peers to suffer from depression. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of antidepressant medications alone in such cases is limited. Greater benefits might be realized if patients received both pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy to enhance their skills to cope with their multiple chronic medical conditions, isolation, and mobility impairment; however, referrals to specialty mental health services seldom succeed due to inaccessibility, shortage of geriatric mental health providers, and cost. Since a large proportion of homebound older adults receive case management and other services from aging services network agencies, the integration of mental health services into these agencies is likely to be cost-efficient and effective. This review summarizes recent advances in home-based assessment and psychosocial treatment of depression in homebound recipients of aging services.
Qualitative and quantitative determination of mixtures of amino acids using 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid.

Abstract Mixtures of TNP-amino acids may be rapidly resolved by chromatography on thin-layer plates of silica gel. The colored derivatives can be quantitated spectrophotometrically following elution from the plates. The advantages of this method lie in its rapidity and the modest equipment needed.
Classical confinement and outward convection of impurity ions in the MST RFP

Impurity ion dynamics measured with simultaneously high spatial and temporal resolution reveal classical ion transport in the reversed-field pinch. The boron, carbon, oxygen, and aluminum impurity ion density profiles are obtained in the Madison Symmetric Torus [R. N. Dexter et al., Fusion Technol. 19, 131 (1991)] using a fast, active charge-exchange-recombination-spectroscopy diagnostic. Measurements are made during improved-confinement plasmas obtained using inductive control of tearing instability to mitigate stochastic transport. At the onset of the transition to improved confinement, the impurity ion density profile becomes hollow, with a slow decay in the core region concurrent with an increase in the outer region, implying an outward convection of impurities. Impurity transport from Coulomb collisions in the reversed-field pinch is classical for all collisionality regimes, and analysis shows that the observed hollow profile and outward convection can be explained by the classical temperature screening mechanism. The profile agrees well with classical expectations. Experiments performed with impurity pellet injection provide further evidence for classical impurity ion confinement.
Protection of Pancreatic β-Cells by Group VIA Phospholipase A2-Mediated Repair of Mitochondrial Membrane Peroxidation

Mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen species and oxidation of cardiolipin are key events in initiating apoptosis. We reported that group VIA Ca(2+)-independent phospholipase A(2) (iPLA(2)beta) localizes in and protects beta-cell mitochondria from oxidative damage during staurosporine-induced apoptosis. Here, we used iPLA(2)beta-null (iPLA(2)beta(-/-)) mice to investigate the role of iPLA(2)beta in the repair of mitochondrial membranes. We show that islets isolated from iPLA(2)beta(-/-) mice are more sensitive to staurosporine-induced apoptosis than those from wild-type littermates and that 2 wk of daily ip administration of staurosporine to iPLA(2)beta(-/-) mice impairs both the animals' glucose tolerance and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion by their pancreatic islets. Moreover, the iPLA(2)beta inhibitor bromoenol lactone caused mitochondrial membrane peroxidation and cytochrome c release, and these effects were reversed by N-acetyl cysteine. The mitochondrial antioxidant N-t-butyl hydroxylamine blocked staurosporine-induced cytochrome c release and caspase-3 activation in iPLA(2)beta(-/-) islets. Furthermore, the collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential in INS-1 insulinoma cells caused by high glucose and fatty acid levels was attenuated by overexpressing iPLA(2)beta. Interestingly, iPLA(2)beta was expressed only at low levels in islet beta-cells from obesity- and diabetes-prone db/db mice. These findings support the hypothesis that iPLA(2)beta is important in repairing oxidized mitochondrial membrane components (e.g. cardiolipin) and that this prevents cytochrome c release in response to stimuli that otherwise induce apoptosis. The low iPLA(2)beta expression level in db/db mouse beta-cells may render them vulnerable to injury by reactive oxygen species.
To cloud or not to cloud: A study of trade-offs between in-house and outsourced virtual private network

The question of whether to migrate IT services to a cloud computing infrastructure arises before most IT decision makers today. To enable secure access to sensitive resources a virtual private network (VPN) is almost a required piece of technology. Setting up and managing a VPN server is a non-trivial task—there are a variety of modes in which VPN can be used (IPSec, SSL/TLS, PPTP), there are a variety of software-only and software-hardware solutions, and each comes with a rich set of configuration options. Therefore, it is a perplexing question to practitioners what option to choose, with an understanding of the performance and the security implications of each choice. In this paper, we consider the various factors that should go into such decision making and exemplify this by choosing among two competitive options for protecting access to IT resources of our NSF center which has a significant number of external (i.e., non-Purdue) users. The two options are an open-source software-only VPN (pfSense) and a commercial appliance, i.e., an integrated hardware-software solution. Further, the first is managed by us while the latter is outsourced to an entity that provides VPN services to multiple consumer organizations, and hence, referred by us as the cloud-based service. We follow up with conducting a post-deployment study of the VPN users which reveals that despite a two-fold reduction in throughput, the cloud-based service is considered satisfactory due to its non-intrusiveness with respect to other network activities and ease of configuration.
The conformation of the cytoplasmic helix 8 of the CB1 cannabinoid receptor using NMR and circular dichroism.

The cytoplasmic helix domain (fourth cytoplasmic loop, helix 8) of numerous GPCRs such as rhodopsin and the h-adrenergic receptor exhibits unique structural and functional characteristics. Computational models also predict the existence of such a structural motif within the CB1 cannabinoid receptor, another member of the G-protein coupled receptor superfamily. To gain insights into the conformational properties of this GPCR component, a peptide corresponding to helix 8 of the CB1 receptor with a small contiguous segment from transmembrane helix 7 (TM7) was chemically synthesized and its secondary structure determined by circular dichroism (CD) and solution NMR spectroscopy. Our studies in DPC and SDS micelles revealed significant a-helical structure while in an aqueous medium, the peptide exhibited a random coil configuration. The relative orientation of helix 8 within the CB1 receptor was obtained from intermolecular 31 P– 1 H and 1 H– 1 H NOE measurements. Our results suggest that in the presence of an amphipathic membrane environment, helix 8 assumes an alpha helical structure with an orientation parallel to the phospholipid membrane surface and perpendicular to TM7. In this model, positively charged side chains interact with the lipid headgroups while the other polar side chains face the aqueous region. The above observations may be relevant to the activation/deactivation of the CB1 receptor. D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Experimental Verification of Superachromatism

To verify superachromatism experimentally a five-element prism, to deviate a beam of light approximately 30 degrees without dispersion or distortion, has been designed and constructed from three types of Schott glass. When tested on a spectrometer, viewing a narrow slit with a telescope magnification of approximately 30 times, no dispersion could be seen. Pointings on 7 isolated spectrum lines separated by a monochromator show a maximum dispersion of 3 sec, 1 part in 36 000.
Knowledge and attitudes of norplant among adolescent females

Study Objective: To evaluate adolescent females' knowledge and attitudes of the side effects of the Norplant System. Design: A prospective case control study was employed using multivariate statistical analyses. Setting: An outpatient specialty adolescent gynecology clinic in a rural southern state. Participants: Of the 213 females approached, 206 agreed to participate by providing written informed consent. However, data from only 192 of these 206 adolescents were subjected to statistical tests because data was missing from the other 14 subjects. Main Outcome Measures: Knowledge and attitudes of concern for visibility, general safety, skin discoloration, and irregular menses were used as outcome variables. Demographic and related variables such as sexual activity and race were employed as indicator variables. Results: Logistic regression analyses were conducted on each outcome variable after first completing bivariate analyses. Multivariate analyses found improved knowledge was significantly associated with those adolescents currently using Norplant, sexual activity, and positive history of pregnancy. This same analytic plan found that visibility concerns were most likely associated with higher income and sexually active female Norplant users; similar findings were found for general safety and irregular menses where both were associated with current Norplant use; and skin discoloration was only associated with prior pregnancy history. Conclusions: Our data suggest that knowledge among the general adolescent female population is poor. However, the adolescents who currently employ this contraceptive method possessed better knowledge and were more concerned with possible side effects. Thus, counseling detailing potential side effects and cosmetic changes should be given at each follow-up visit.
The Perfect Storm of Information: Combining Traditional and Non-Traditional Data Sources for Public Health Situational Awareness During Hurricane Response

BACKGROUND: Hurricane Isaac made landfall in southeastern Louisiana in late August 2012, resulting in extensive storm surge and inland flooding. As the lead federal agency responsible for medical and public health response and recovery coordination, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must have situational awareness to prepare for and address state and local requests for assistance following hurricanes. Both traditional and non-traditional data have been used to improve situational awareness in fields like disease surveillance and seismology. This study investigated whether non-traditional data (i.e., tweets and news reports) fill a void in traditional data reporting during hurricane response, as well as whether non-traditional data improve the timeliness for reporting identified HHS Essential Elements of Information (EEI). METHODS: HHS EEIs provided the information collection guidance, and when the information indicated there was a potential public health threat, an event was identified and categorized within the larger scope of overall Hurricane Issac situational awareness. Tweets, news reports, press releases, and federal situation reports during Hurricane Isaac response were analyzed for information about EEIs. Data that pertained to the same EEI were linked together and given a unique event identification number to enable more detailed analysis of source content. Reports of sixteen unique events were examined for types of data sources reporting on the event and timeliness of the reports. RESULTS: Of these sixteen unique events identified, six were reported by only a single data source, four were reported by two data sources, four were reported by three data sources, and two were reported by four or more data sources. For five of the events where news tweets were one of multiple sources of information about an event, the tweet occurred prior to the news report, press release, local governmentemergency management tweet, and federal situation report. In all circumstances where citizens were reporting along with other sources, the citizen tweet was the earliest notification of the event. CONCLUSION: Critical information is being shared by citizens, news organizations, and local government representatives. To have situational awareness for providing timely, life-saving public health and medical response following a hurricane, this study shows that non-traditional data sources should augment traditional data sources and can fill some of the gaps in traditional reporting. During a hurricane response where early event detection can save lives and reduce morbidity, tweets can provide a source of information for early warning. In times of limited budgets, investing technical and personnel resources to efficiently and effectively gather, curate, and analyze non-traditional data for improved situational awareness can yield a high return on investment. Language: en
Vegetative anatomy and morphology of Amentiferae

Some of the important vegetative characters of amentiferous families described in research papers concerned with interfamilial relationships and published since 1947–1948 are briefly summarized. Important conclusions by the writers are also reviewed. Thus, Bataceae are considered derivatives of the Centrospermae ; Betulaceae, Casuarinaceae, and Ulmaceae are hamamelidaceous derivatives; Garryaceae and Cornaceae are closely related; and Julianiaceae and Anacardiaceae are plausible relatives. A more extensive tabulation of vegetative characters of essentially all amentiferous and ranalean families and Dilleniaceae is also presented, and the data are utilized to compare the percentages of advanced and primitive characters in these same taxa. The logic for considering trends whose evolutionary directions were initiated previous or incidental to angiospermous origin as more valid than other evolutionary trends is offered. The following principal conclusions are based upon the analysis of the tabulation: (1) the Amentiferae have sufficient advanced vegetative characters to preclude consideration of them as earliest angiosperms or their direct derivatives unless a large number of primitive features of other sorts offers strong counter evidence; (2) they also have sufficient primitive characters to discount the concept that they are highly evolved; (3) most Amentiferae clearly possess many more advanced vegetative characters than do most Magnoliales, Laurales, Trochodendrales, or Dilleniaceae ; and (4) relationships of several Amentiferae to various, unrelated angiospermous families have been demonstrated.
Scoping the potential of monitoring and control technologies to reduce energy use in homes

This scoping study takes a broad look at how information technology-enabled monitoring and control systems could assist in mitigating energy use in residences by more efficiently allocating the delivery of services by time and location. A great deal of energy is wasted in delivering services inefficiently to residents such as heating or cooling unoccupied spaces, overheating/undercooling for whole-house comfort, leakage current, and inefficient appliances. We construct a framework to estimate different categories of inefficient energy services and the result of our initial estimate is that over 39% of residential primary energy is wasted. We next discuss how monitoring and control technologies could manage home energy use to reduce waste. Technologies considered here include programmable thermostats, smart meters and outlets, zone heating, automated sensors, and wireless communications infrastructures. The level of energy services delivered is assumed to remain unchanged, with all energy savings being realized through better management. A final discussion on barriers to adoption of these systems speculates that a lack of consumer awareness of the technologies, high costs due to lack of economies of scale, and difficult user interfaces are currently the major hurdles toward adoption.
The European Constitutional Settlement

This paper argues first that a synthesis of the theories of endogenous policy formation, non-coercive interstate bargaining theo ry , and international regime theory provides a plausible account of the path of European integration, with little role for expl anations stressing geopolitical or ideological factors, international mediation, or political entrepreneurship . Moreover, these theories - which embrace economic fundamentals as driving factors - help explain the 'sequencing' of the European Union, especially in regard to successive enlar gements. However, the paper concludes that the process of European integration appears to have reached an 'institutiona l platea u,' for which a 'constitutiona l compromise' appears to be the only plausible equilibrium.
Compound Random Variables

We give a probabilistic proof of an identity concerning the expectation of an arbitrary function of a compound random variable and then use this identity to obtain recursive formulas for the probability mass function of compound random variables when the compounding distribution is Poisson, binomial, negative binomial random, hypergeometric, logarithmic, or negative hypergeometric. We then show how to use simulation to efficiently estimate both the probability that a positive compound random variable is greater than a specified constant and the expected amount by which it exceeds that constant.
Mitochondria-Derived Reactive Oxygen Species Dilate Cerebral Arteries by Activating Ca2+ Sparks

Mitochondria regulate intracellular calcium (Ca2+) signals in smooth muscle cells, but mechanisms mediating these effects, and the functional relevance, are poorly understood. Similarly, antihypertensive ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channel openers (KCOs) activate plasma membrane KATP channels and depolarize mitochondria in several cell types, but the contribution of each of these mechanisms to vasodilation is unclear. Here, we show that cerebral artery smooth muscle cell mitochondria are most effectively depolarized by diazoxide (-15%, tetramethylrhodamine [TMRM]), less so by levcromakalim, and not depolarized by pinacidil. KCO-induced mitochondrial depolarization increased the generation of mitochondria-derived reactive oxygen species (ROS) that stimulated Ca2+ sparks and large-conductance Ca2+-activated potassium (KCa) channels, leading to transient KCa current activation. KCO-induced mitochondrial depolarization and transient KCa current activation were attenuated by 5-HD and glibenclamide, KATP channel blockers. MnTMPyP, an antioxidant, and Ca2+ spark and KCa channel blockers reduced diazoxide-induced vasodilations by >60%, but did not alter dilations induced by pinacidil, which did not elevate ROS. Data suggest diazoxide drives ROS generation by inducing a small mitochondrial depolarization, because nanomolar CCCP, a protonophore, similarly depolarized mitochondria, elevated ROS, and activated transient KCa currents. In contrast, micromolar CCCP, or rotenone, an electron transport chain blocker, induced a large mitochondrial depolarization (-84%, TMRM), reduced ROS, and inhibited transient KCa currents. In summary, data demonstrate that mitochondria-derived ROS dilate cerebral arteries by activating Ca2+ sparks, that some antihypertensive KCOs dilate by stimulating this pathway, and that small and large mitochondrial depolarizations lead to differential regulation of ROS and Ca2+ sparks.
Integrating a ‘danger’ signal into molecular chaperoning to improve vaccination against cancer

Molecular chaperones are essential for maintaining cellular functions by assisting protein folding and translocation, or by preventing protein misfolding and aggregation [1]. Studies over the last two decades support the concept of intracellular chaperone molecules as carriers of the antigenic repertoire of cancer cells which is attributed to their intrinsic property to interact with polypeptide chains [2]. Autologous tumor-derived, chaperone-peptide complex preparations, therefore, provide an innovative immunotherapeutic approach to treatment of cancers. However, only limited improvement in the clinical outcome has been achieved using this approach [3]. Recombinant chaperone complex vaccines, which are built on the superior client or antigen-holding capability of large stress proteins (110 kDa heat shock protein, Hsp110 and 170 kDa glucose-regulated protein, Grp170), present an alternative vaccine strategy that effectively targets defined tumor antigens. Engineering a modified immunochaperone that is able to concurrently promote antigen cross-presentation and innate immune responses may lead to development of a new generation of chaperoning-based vaccine therapy with improved clinical feasibility and vaccine efficacy.
Piezoelectricity in tendon and bone.

Abstract We confirm that the electrical signals produced by samples of dried bone and tendon bent in the cantilever mode are d.c. square waves in response to step loading. The signals are similar to those produced by piezoelectric mineral crystals also tested, but with an important exception: the sign of the voltage reverses on end-for-end rotation of the mineral samples but does not change for bone and tendon. We deduce a theoretical expression for the expected signal using the standard theory of piezoelectricity and the contiuum theory of elasticity. The derived expression correctly describes the experimental results for the mineral samples but fails for bone and tendon. We then extend the standard theory of piezoelectricity by including a term relating the polarization to the gradient of the stress via a tensor of rank four. This extension leads to agreement with experiment.
Compatibility and thigmotropism in the lichen symbiosis: A reappraisal

The development of many complex stratified lichen thalli is made through stages of complex phenotypic interactions between a filamentous fungus (the mycobiont), and a trebouxioid alga (the photobiont). Typically, the second stage of this symbiotic development is marked by the envelopment of the photobiont by the mycobiont through increased lateral hyphal branching and the formation of appressoria. Previously, the mycobiont’s envelopment of photobiont cells was considered thigmotropic (a growth response due to shape) as a mycobiont can envelop algal sized objects in its environment. However, after growing the mycobiontCladonia grayi with various phototrophs and glass beads, we conclude that the mycobiont does not show this characteristic second stage morphological response when grown in non-compatible pairings. Instead,C. grayi displays a distinctive morphological growth response only in compatible symbiotic pairings, such as with its natural photobiontAsterochlor’is sp.
Application of Advanced Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimization Methods to Vehicle Design Synthesis

Advanced multidisciplinary analysis and optimization methods; namely, system sensitivity analysis and nonhierarchical system decomposition, are applied to reduce the cost and improve the visibility of an automated vehicle design synthesis process. This process is inherently complex due to the large number of functional disciplines and associated interdisciplinary couplings. Recent developments in system sensitivity analysis as applied to complex nonhierarchic multidisciplinary design optimization problems enable the decomposition of these complex interactions into subprocesses that can be evaluated in parallel. The application of these techniques may result in very significant computational and calendar time savings, furthermore they may result in significant cost, accuracy, and visibility benefits for the entire design synthesis process.
Preparation of mercury emissions inventory for eastern North America

Abstract Point and area inventories of anthropogenic mercury emissions documented by US and Canadian environmental agencies have been aggregated into a single archive for analysis and air pollution modeling work. For 5341 point sources and 1634 aggregated area sources, mercury emissions are apportioned among elemental gaseous [Hg(0)], reactive gaseous[Hg(II)], and particulate [Hg(p)] emissions using speciation factors derived from available monitoring measurements. According to this inventory, 4.82×105 mol of mercury were emitted in calendar year 1996 in the latitude range 24–51° north, and longitude range 64–91° west, which covers most of North America east of the Mississippi River. Using speciation factors consistent with past emission source studies, we find the relative emission proportions among Hg(0):Hg(II):Hg(p) species are 47:35:18. Maps of the various mercury species’ emissions patterns are presented. Gridded emission patterns show local mercury emission extremes associated with individual cement production and municipal incineration facilities, and in contrast to past inventories, population centers do not stand out. Considerable uncertainties are still present in estimating emissions from large point sources, as are methods of apportioning emissions among various mercury species.
Urologic Care of the Neurogenic Bladder in Children

Initial care of newborns with spina bifida centers on preventing bladder and upper tract damage from detrusor leak point pressure of greater than 40 cm H(2)O. The authors recommend using urodynamic-based management to select patients with elevated pressures for anticholinergic therapy and intermittent catheterization (CIC), using diapers and observation with biannual renal sonography for the remainder. At the age of toilet training, children who have urodynamic evidence of uninhibited contractions or rising pressure during filling are started on anticholinergics and CIC, or have their dosage increased until pressures less than 40 cm H(2)O and areflexia are achieved. Sphincter incompetency is diagnosed in incontinent children with pressures less than 40 cm H(2)O and areflexia or stress incontinence. Augmentation is indicated in patients with hydronephrosis or reflux and end-filling pressures or DLPP less than 40 cm H(2)O despite medical management to the point of patient tolerance. A minority of patients, not yet well-defined, will also need augmentation after bladder outlet surgery for similar postoperative indications.
Two New Iso‐Antigens in Chimpanzees

Two new iso-antigens present on the red cells of chimpanzees are described. These antigens, designated as HC1 and HC2, are detectable by two antibodies, anti-HC 1 and anti-HC 2, produced as a result of the immunization of chimpanzees with human red cells.
Evolving geometrical heterogeneities of fault trace data

SUMMARY We perform a systematic comparative analysis of geometrical fault zone heterogeneities using derived measures from digitized fault maps that are not very sensitive to mapping resolution. We employ the digital GIS map of California faults (version 2.0) and analyse the surface traces of active strike-slip fault zones with evidence of Quaternary and historic movements. Each fault zone is broken into segments that are defined as a continuous length of fault bounded by changes of angle larger than 1 ◦ . Measurements of the orientations and lengths of fault zone segments are used to calculate the mean direction and misalignment of each fault zone from the local plate motion direction, and to define several quantities that represent the fault zone disorder. These include circular standard deviation and circular standard error of segments, orientation of long and short segments with respect to the mean direction, and normal separation distances of fault segments. We examine the correlations between various calculated parameters of fault zone disorder and the following three potential controlling variables: cumulative slip, slip rate and fault zone misalignment from the plate motion direction. The analysis indicates that the circular standard deviation and circular standard error of segments decrease overall with increasing cumulative slip and increasing slip rate of the fault zones. The results imply that the circular standard deviation and error, quantifying the range or dispersion in the data, provide effective measures of the fault zone disorder, and that the cumulative slip and slip rate (or more generally slip rate normalized by healing rate) represent the fault zone maturity. The fault zone misalignment from plate motion direction does not seem to play a major role in controlling the fault trace heterogeneities. The frequency-size statistics of fault segment lengths can be fitted well by an exponential function over the entire range of observations.
The Confidence of Eyewitnesses in Their Identifications From Lineups

The confidence that eyewitnesses express in their lineup identifications of criminal suspects has a large impact on criminal proceedings. Many convictions of innocent people can be attributed in large part to confident but mistaken eyewitnesses. Although reasonable correlations between confidence and accuracy can be obtained under certain conditions, confidence is governed by some factors that are unrelated to accuracy. An understanding of these confidence factors helps establish the conditions under which confidence and accuracy are related and leads to important practical recommendations for criminal justice proceedings.
ROC Confidence Bands: An Empirical Study

This paper is about constructing confidence bands around an R OC curve such that (1 �)% of the ROC curves traced by data sets of size r will fall completely within the bands. We introduce to the machine learning community three methods from the medical field that are applicable to generate such bands. We then eval uate these methods on the simple case of “binormal” distributions— the scores for positive and the score for negative instances are drawn from two normal distributions. We show that none of the methods generate appropriate bands and investigate two types of variances problems. We show that widening the bands does not produce the proper bandwidths but that fitting a normal distr ibution to the observed drawn samples and drawing samples from this distribution (parametric bootstrap) does generate ba nds that are much closer to the desired coverage although still not perfect. We tested the original methods as well as parametric bootstrap on the covertype data set from the UCI ML-repority. The original methods perform the same as in the synthetic case, whereas the parametric bootstrap technique did not yield the expected results. This is primarily due to not being able to generate a good fit fo r the score distributions. Whether it is possible to fit well-b ehaving parametric distribution to learned models is an open question we leave to the machine learning community to answer.
Imaging assessment of tumor response: past, present and future

Anatomical response assessment criteria have been in use for decades, with the WHO guidelines being replaced by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST), updated in 2009 to RECIST 1.1. These methods rely on a change in size of a tumor as the main response criteria, but newer cytostatic agents tend to target tumor function at a molecular level before changing the size of a lesion. Recent modifications, such as the Choi criteria, have improved assessment by taking into account density of tumor, but all of these criteria fail to utilize functional imaging parameters, which are becoming increasingly available, including perfusion CT, perfusion MRI, diffusion-weighted imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound and combined PET/computed tomography. Developments in these modalities and standardization of imaging acquisition will help to optimize the next set of response criteria, with inclusion of multiparametric, functional modalities, evaluating tumors at the sa...
Prostate-Specific Antigen and Early Detection of Prostate Cancer

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is biochemically a 33-kDa serine protease and is the prototype of tumor marker most useful in investigating basic science and clinical application of prostate cancer. As an immunohistopathological marker, PSA is especially effective in the identification of distant metastatic prostate carcinoma and in the differential diagnosis of poorly differentiated transitional cell carcinomas of the bladder from prostate carcinoma. As a serologic marker, PSA is most useful in staging, monitoring and in early detection of recurrent disease. The greatest value of PSA is as a screening aid along with digital rectal examination for early detection of prostate cancer. PSA-based screening tests have been performed in various regions of the world and have yielded prostate cancer detection rates proportional to that of incidence rates in the countries. Most significantly, PSA detects early nonpalpable prostate cancer. Approximately 85% of the prostate tumors detected through PSA have the clinical features associated with medically important cancer. Further, a majority of the tumors, 70%, are confined to the organ. Although the issues of cost-benefit and increase in ultimate survival rate are still being evaluated in two large-scale randomized national trials, timely and definitive therapies of these potentially lethal tumors can result in high cure rate and improve the quality of patients' life.
Targeting Poly(ADP-Ribose) Polymerase and the c-Myb–Regulated DNA Damage Response Pathway in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Androgen deprivation is the standard treatment for advanced prostate cancer (PCa), but most patients ultimately develop resistance and tumor recurrence. We found that MYB is transcriptionally activated by androgen deprivation therapy or genetic silencing of the androgen receptor (AR). MYB silencing inhibited PCa growth in culture and xenografts in mice. Microarray data revealed that c-Myb and AR shared a subset of target genes that encode DNA damage response (DDR) proteins, suggesting that c-Myb may supplant AR as the dominant regulator of their common DDR target genes in AR inhibition-resistant or AR-negative PCa. Gene signatures including AR, MYB, and their common DDR-associated target genes positively correlated with metastasis, castration resistance, tumor recurrence, and decreased survival in PCa patients. In culture and in xenograft-bearing mice, a combination strategy involving the knockdown of MYB, BRCA1, or TOPBP1 or the abrogation of cell cycle checkpoint arrest with AZD7762, an inhibitor of the checkpoint kinase Chk1, increased the cytotoxicity of the poly[adenosine 5'-diphosphate (ADP)-ribose] polymerase (PARP) inhibitor olaparib in PCa cells. Our results reveal new mechanism-based therapeutic approaches for PCa by targeting PARP and the DDR pathway involving c-Myb, TopBP1, ataxia telangiectasia mutated- and Rad3-related (ATR), and Chk1.
Pulmonary cryptococcosis and pituitary Cushing's disease

Pulmonary cryptococcosis was diagnosed by examining smears obtained by fine-needle aspiration (FNA) in a patient with pituitary Cushing's disease. FNA allowed for rapid diagnosis and prompt treatment of a potentially serious infection. The patient fully recovered from her pulmonary disease. Although opportunistic infections may occur in patients with endogenous Cushing's syndrome, it is rare to see such infections in the subset of patients with pituitary Cushing's disease. Hypercortisolism associated with Cushing's syndrome appears to induce a transitory immune deficiency state and opens a window of opportunity for certain infectious agents such as Cryptococcus neoformans to exploit. To our knowledge, this is the third such case reported in this clinical setting, and the first diagnosed by FNA.