cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Postnatal Coronary Morphogenesis and Growth

The early postnatal stage of development is characterized by a rapid growth of the myocardium, which occurs by increases in both cardiomyocyte volume and number. This marked and rapid myocardial growth requires a rapid and substantial expansion of the coronary vasculature. In this regard, it has been documented that in the rat heart, approximately 50 % of the capillary bed present in the adult is formed during the first 3 or 4 weeks of life [1]. Many studies have addressed capillary growth using quantitative methods to assess various capillary parameters. These approaches are explained in the following section.
Nutrition and brain development.

It has long been known that malnutrition retards growth. However, when these observations were initially made, it was not clear whether or not a child would recover if he or she subsequently received adequate nourishment. In an experiment done in Cambridge by Kennedy, McCance, and Widdowson, two groups of rats were malnourished for a period of time during growth. The only difference between the two groups was that in one the malnutrition was imposed from birth to weaning, and in the second malnutrition was imposed later, during the growth period. The results demonstrated that the animals malnourished from birth until weaning were small at the end of the period of malnutrition and remained small throughout the rest of their lives, no matter how they were subsequently fed. However, the group malnourished later in the growing period although also small at the end of the period of malnutrition, caught up when refed. So these investigators introduced the element of time into the equation: the earlier the malnutrition, the greater the chance of permanent effect. And yet, when growth was examined in terms of weight or height, or the usual anthropomorphic measurements, we could not break it down in such a way as to explain this dichotomy in recovery.
Pedometer-assessed steps per day as a predictor of cognitive performance in older adults.

OBJECTIVE To examine associations between pedometer-assessed daily steps and several domains of cognitive functioning in cognitive healthy older adults. METHOD A total of 582 cognitively healthy older adults enrolled in a longitudinal aging study completed the Uniform Data Set (UDS) neuropsychological battery (n = 374) or the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS; n = 208) and were asked to wear a pedometer for 1 week. RESULTS Bivariate correlations revealed associations between average daily steps and attention, executive functioning, language, and memory on one or both cognitive batteries. Multiple regression analyses controlling for demographic, health, and mobility variables demonstrated a significant relationship between average daily steps and the executive functioning composite of the UDS battery and average daily steps and the attention index of the RBANS battery. Both of these composites include measures of processing speed and, therefore, the most robust link between daily steps and cognition may be its association with processing speed. CONCLUSIONS Step counts as measured by a pedometer, a simple and inexpensive measure of daily physical activity, are robustly associated with aspects of cognition. As pedometer-based interventions have shown success in increasing daily physical activity in older adults, a greater number of future studies should consider measuring cognitive outcomes of these interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).
Keeping primary aldosteronism in mind: Deficiencies in screening at-risk hypertensives.

Abstract Background Primary aldosteronism is a common but underdiagnosed cause of hypertension. Patients with this disorder have worse morbidity compared with those with essential hypertension, but with timely diagnosis and appropriate intervention these patients are potentially cured and may have reversal of target organ damage. The goal of this study was to determine if hypertensive patients considered high risk were checked for primary aldosteronism. Methods We reviewed electronic health records to identify patients age 18 years or older with coexisting hypertension and hypokalemia or hypertension and sleep apnea, then determined if they had been investigated with measurement of aldosterone or renin. We built regression models to identify explanatory variables for screening in these 2 high-risk groups. Results Of nearly 37,000 patients with hypertension and hypokalemia, only 2.7% were ever screened for primary aldosteronism. Most opportunities for case detection were during inpatient hospitalizations, yet in this setting, patients were less likely than clinic patients be screened. Similarly, 3.0% of hypertensive patients with sleep apnea were screened since the inclusion of this group in case detection recommendations. Conclusion Uptake of practice guidelines by hospital physicians, fueled by support from their specialty societies, may help to identify many more patients with unrecognized primary aldosteronism.
Transboundary Air Pollution in South Korea: An Analysis of Media Frames and Public Attitudes and Behavior

The lack of a coherent policy to address seasonal air pollution in Northeast Asia is partly due to the complexity of the issue—that it is both domestic and transboundary in nature—and partly due to media frames that emerge in response to seasonal fluctuations. To provide a better understanding of these factors as well as their potential impact on public opinion and behavior, this paper claims that the varying narratives conveyed in the Korean media have an impact on and provide a basis for assessing Koreans’ opinions about the problem of air pollution, both transboundary and domestically. Invoking the extant literature that connects media effects with public opinion about air pollution, the analysis proceeds in two stages. First, based on an analysis of Yonhap News Agency reporting, it is shown that the emerging media-based frames are dominated by China and health-related content. Second, and in light of these frames, a survey is conducted of a representative sample of Seoul Metropolitan Area residents to determine how attention to the air pollution issue drives attitudes and, in turn, how such attitudes may be associated with specific pollution-reduction actions. Consistent with the media-based frames, it is shown that one’s attentiveness to the air pollution issue increases the importance one places on reducing Korea’s air pollution. Knowledge about air pollution also decreases one’s satisfaction with both Korea’s and China’s air pollution-reduction efforts. Knowledge about air pollution does not impact on Koreans’ decision to minimize exposure to air pollution outdoors (by wearing masks) or indoors (by using air purifiers), but it does increase the likelihood that one will simply stay indoors, indicating that health concerns are paramount for the average citizen.
THE VARYING ROLE OF SOCIAL TIES ON TEAM PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM THE MARKETING CLASSROOM

Firms and institutions of higher education alike emphasize the value of teamwork in increasing organizational performance. In this empirical study, the role of social ties on team performance is ex...
TRANSCATHETER AORTIC VALVE REPLACEMENT VERSUS SURGICAL AORTIC VALVE REPLACEMENT OUTCOMES IN PATIENTS WITH PULMONARY HYPERTENSION AND SEVERE AORTIC VALVE STENOSIS

Pulmonary hypertension (PHTN) has been identified as a risk factor for increased morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) and transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Nevertheless, the comparative outcome between TAVR or SAVR in PHTN patients has
Ritual, Reading and Resistance in the Prison and Cowshed during the Cultural Revolution

Putting the cultural experiences of a multitude of prisoners during the Cultural Revolution in the historical context of the modern Chinese prison system and in light of the critical theories of me...
Prevalence and correlates of periodic limb movements in OSA and the effect of CPAP therapy

Objective We sought to assess the prevalence, correlates, and consequences of periodic limb movements of sleep (PLMS) in persons with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and the effect (worsening or improvement) of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy on PLMS in a large prospective multicenter randomized controlled trial. Methods We performed retrospective analyses of data from the Apnea Positive Pressure Long-term Efficacy Study, a prospective multicenter randomized controlled trial. A total of 1,105 persons with OSA enrolled in this study underwent a polysomnographic investigation at baseline, another one for CPAP titration, and another study 6 months after randomization to either active CPAP or sham CPAP. Results Of all participants, 19.7% had PLM index (PLMI) ≥10/hour, 14.8% had PLMI ≥15/hour, 12.1% had PLMI ≥20/hour, 9.3% had PLMI ≥25/hour, and 7.5% had PLMI ≥30/hour. The odds of having a PLMI ≥10 were higher in older participants (odds ratio [OR] 1.03, p Conclusions PLMS are common in patients with OSA and are associated with a significant reduction in sleep quality over and above that conferred by OSA. Treatment with CPAP does not affect the severity of PLMS.
Prediction of short-term neonatal complications in preterm infants using exome-wide genetic variation and gestational age: a pilot study.

Preterm birth is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in young children, with over a million deaths per year worldwide arising from neonatal complications (NCs). NCs are moderately heritable although the genetic causes are largely unknown. Therefore, we investigated the impact of accumulated genetic variation (burden) on NCs in non-Hispanic White (NHW) and non-Hispanic Black (NHB) preterm infants. We sequenced 182 exomes from infants with gestational ages from 26 to 31 weeks. These infants were cared for in the same time period and hospital environment. Eighty-one preterm infants did not develop NCs, whereas 101 developed at least one severe complication. We measured the effect of burden at the single-gene and exome-wide levels and derived a polygenic risk score (PRS) from the top 10 genes to predict NCs. Burden across the exome was associated with NCs in NHW (p = 0.05) preterm infants suggesting that multiple genes influence susceptibility. In a post hoc analysis, we find that PRS alone predicts NCs (AUC = 0.67) and that PRS is uncorrelated with GA ( $$\widehat {\it{\rho }}$$ = 0.05; p = 0.53). When PRS and GA at birth are combined, the AUC is 0.87. Our results support the hypothesis that genetic burden influences NCs in NHW preterm infants.
PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF CARDIOLOGY FELLOWS REGARDING CORONARY ARTERY CALCIUM SCORING

CAC (coronary artery calcium) scoring is a noninvasive imaging modality which can be used to assess cardiovascular risk in asymptomatic patients and as a guide for initiating preventive therapy. While CAC scoring has gained wider acceptability, perceptions and practice patterns of providers
Sample preparation and liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry for the analysis of selected Pacific ciguatoxins in blood samples

Consumption of ciguatoxin-contaminated seafood can lead to ciguatera poisoning (CP). The diagnosis of CP in humans is based on the clinical symptoms after eating the fish from tropical or subtropical areas because no confirmatory clinical tests are available. One of the challenges for ciguatoxin analysis is their extremely low but toxicologically relevant concentration in biological samples. We previously reported a method using acetonitrile to precipitate proteins and extract the ciguatoxins simultaneously in whole blood samples from animals for toxin quantification by N2A cell-based assay. However, a test method for unambiguous confirmation of exposure of marine animals or humans to ciguatoxins is still needed. In the present study, we adopted the acetonitrile extraction method and added sample clean-up in the sample preparation for the determination of Pacific ciguatoxins CTX1B (aka P-CTX-1), 52-epi-54-deoxyCTX1B (aka P-CTX-2), and CTX3C (aka P-CTX-3C) in blood plasma by LC-MS/MS. We investigated sample clean-up, LC mobile phases, LC solvent programming, and settings of the two mass spectrometers (4000 Q TRAP and AB SCIEX Triple Quad 5500) in order to improve the ability to detect the Pacific ciguatoxins at ppt level. Rat blood plasma was used for the method development. Average recoveries of the three toxins in the rat plasma samples ranged from 90% to 116% with relative standard deviations of less than 15%. The method detection limits were still not low enough for the determination of the Pacific ciguatoxins in individual blood samples from Hawaiian monk seals with the two LC-MS systems. The methods were applied to a pooled sample of blood plasma collected from Hawaiian monk seals for confirmation of toxin exposure. This study will benefit monitoring of Pacific ciguatoxins in marine mammals and potentially humans by LC-MS/MS.
“The commons” as a dynamic variable in understanding strategic alliances of scale: A groundwater case study in Pajaro Valley, California

Abstract Groundwater, a critical resource in many parts of the world, is often characterized as a common pool resource ( Brozovic et al., 2006 ). Multiple individuals utilize groundwater from a basin, and each person has the capacity to reduce the quantity or quality available to others. We turn to a case study of the Pajaro Groundwater Basin in Central California to re-envision the characterization of “commons.” While providing a useful frame from which to analyze groundwater depletion in the Pajaro, we find Common Pool Resource (CPR) theory to be imprecise in its approach to a geographic scale. The notion of the “commons” is central to CPR studies, but there is wide divergence in what the “commons” constitutes, both spatially and socially ( Laerhoven and Ostrom, 2007 ). Rather than propose a normative definition for the “commons,” we suggest that the “commons” as a geographic category is socially constructed and dynamically active over time, akin to the analytic of scale as developed within the fields of political ecology and geography. This move from situating the “commons” as a fixed and discrete geographic area to that which is constantly changing and relational helps us to better understand the ways in which water users collaborate and communicate around shared groundwater sources.
Making Better Use of Repair Templates in Automated Program Repair: A Multi-Objective Approach

The automation of program repair can be coached in terms of search algorithms. Repair templates derived from common bug-fix patterns can be used to determine a promising search space with potentially many correct patches, a space that can be effectively explored by GP methods. Here we propose a new repair system, ARJA-p, extended from our earlier ARJA system of bug repair for JAVA, which integrates and enhances the performance of the first approach that combines repair templates and EC, PAR. Empirical results on 224 real bugs in Defects4J show that ARJA-p outperforms state-of-the-art repair approaches by a large margin, both in terms of the number of bugs fixed and of their correctness. Specifically, ARJA-p can increase the number of fixed bugs in Defects4J by 29.2% (from 65 to 84) and the number of correctly fixed bugs by 42.3% (from 26 to 37).
Performance Evaluation of SPDY over High Latency Satellite Channels

Originally developed by Google, SPDY is an open protocol for reducing download times of content rich pages, as well as for managing channels characterized by large Round Trip Times (RTTs) and high packet losses. With such features, it could be an efficient solution to cope with performance degradations of Web 2.0 services used over satellite networks. In this perspective, this paper evaluates the SPDY protocol over a wireless access also exploiting a satellite link. To this aim, we implemented an experimental set-up, composed of an SPDY proxy, a wireless link emulator, and an instrumented Web browser. Results confirm that SPDY can enhance the performances in terms of throughput, and reduce the traffic fragmentation. Moreover, owing to its connection multiplexing architecture, it can also mitigate the transport layer complexity, which is critical when in presence of middleboxes deployed to isolate satellite trunks.
Hospital clinical staging accuracy for upper gastrointestinal malignancy.

Background Decisions about multimodality treatment for upper gastrointestinal malignancies are largely predicted on clinical staging information. However, hospital-level accuracy of clinical staging is currently unknown. Methods A national cohort study of patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, stomach, or pancreas in the NCDB (2006-2015) who were treated with upfront resection. Hospital-level staging accuracy (ascertained by comparing clinical stage to pathologic stage) was calculated. Within hospital correlation of staging accuracy across disease sites was evaluated using risk and reliability adjustment. Results Overall, 1246 hospitals were evaluated. Median hospital T-staging accuracy was 77.5%, 73.7%, and 60.8% for esophageal, gastric, and pancreatic cancer, respectively. Median hospital N-staging accuracy was 80.2%, 72.9%, and 61.8%, respectively. For T-stage, over-staging was most frequently observed in esophageal patients (11.2%) while under-staging was most frequent in pancreatic patients (36.1%). For N-stage, over-staging was infrequent for all three, while under-staging was most common in pancreatic patients (37.4%). Correlation across disease sites was weak for both T- (best observed, r = .34) and N-stages (r = .30). When high volume hospitals were evaluated, correlation improved but accuracy rates were similar. Conclusions Despite the importance of clinical staging in multimodality treatment planning, hospitals inaccurately stage 20-40% of patients, with low correlation across disease sites.
Endobeuthos paleosum gen. et sp. nov., fossil flowers of uncertain affinity from mid-Cretaceous Myanmar amber

Endobeuthos paleosum gen. et sp. nov. is based on 6 flowers preserved together in a single block of mid-Cretaceous amber from Myanmar (Burma). The calyx is composed of ca. 50+ small, helically arranged sepals. The corolla consists of 5 imbricate petals forming a sheath-like structure that is usually concealed within the calyx. The petal tips are often spreading and exserted from the calyx. There are numerous stamens, each of which consists of a filament and an enlarged anther connective with a single lateral, bisporangiate theca. Dehiscence is extrorse. The tips of 3 or 4 styles are visible, indicating that the flowers are bisexual. The fossils possess unique features that prevent assignment to any modern family. However, the numerous sepals and stamens and a thickened anther connective may suggest an association of E. paleosum with the family Dilleniaceae.
Continuous Intermittent Intravenous Immunoglobulin in Heart Transplant Recipients with Elevated Donor-Specific Antibody Levels

Purpose Donor-specific antibodies (DSA) develop following heart transplantation (HT), and are associated with antibody-mediated rejection (AMR). However, treatment of persistently elevated DSA levels remains unclear. We aimed to evaluate the use of intermittent intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) for the treatment of elevated DSA. Methods We identified all adult HT recipients receiving monthly IVIg infusions between September 2019 and October 2020. Patient information including serial DSA levels, as well as hemodynamic and echocardiographic characteristics, were collected from the electronic health record. Results The cohort included 17 patients with a mean age of 57 +/- 15 years, 65% were male, & median time from HT was 48 months. 7 patients had prior biopsy-proven AMR, 7 had high mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) DSA alone, and 3 had allograft dysfunction without proven etiology. The average left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) prior to IVIg was 50% +/- 14%. Prior to intermittent IVIg 12 patients (71%) received an additional immunosuppressive agent (thymoglobulin, bortezomib, rituximab, belatacept), while 11 of them (65%) also received plasmapheresis. The mean duration of IVIg following pAMR was 7.6 +/- 7 months. DSA MFI decreased by 27% in patients with confirmed diagnosis of AMR and by 10% in those with elevated DSA alone after initiating intermittent IVIg (figure). Both LVEF and cardiac index improved in all three groups following initiation of IVIg infusions. Pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) decreased in the elevated DSA and allograft dysfunction groups while it increased in the AMR group. Seven patients were admitted for suspected rejection after starting treatment. Conclusion DSA MFI declined and LVEF improved following initiation of intermittent IVIg infusions. Further study is needed to determine whether IVIg can prevent de novo or recurrent AMR.
Affective forecasting and ex-offender hiring decisions

With over 600,000 Americans released from jails and prisons each year, it is increasingly important to understand the challenges that ex-offenders face when they attempt to reintegrate into society. Prior recidivism data indicate that over 80% of this population were rearrested within a decade of release, suggesting that the current social and economic environment is not conducive to successful reentry. The current research employs a simulation paradigm to explore how affective forecasting might predict hiring decisions for applicants with a criminal history. Using an online sample of adults (N = 322), an experimental hiring paradigm examined mock employment decisions for Black versus White applicants with or without a criminal history by measuring the degree to which applicant characteristics determined mock employer emotional forecasts and how those forecasts subsequently mediated simulated hiring outcomes. As expected, mock employers forecasted more intense negative emotion and less intense positive emotion when considering applicants who had a criminal history, and those forecasts predicted less favorable mock hiring outcomes for ex-offender applicants. Additionally, consistent with affective forecasting research, results showed that participants over-estimated the intensity of their negative emotion by forecasting more intense negative feelings than they experienced upon learning about the simulated hiring outcome. These findings suggest that evaluators generate emotional expectations about hiring applicants with a criminal history, which in turn account for their employment recommendations. Further, when evaluators utilize negative emotional predictions in a hiring decision they are likely relying on inaccurate information.
Changes in Evoked Responses During Maturation and Aging in Man and Macaque

The evoked response, or evoked potential, is the electrical response of the brain to a brief, peripherally applied stimulus. A pulse of light, a shock, or brief touch, or a click will elicit an evoked cerebral response by way of the respective sensory pathways. Single evoked response recordings have a long history and should not be confused with summed or averaged evoked responses. Single evoked responses were seen on cathode oscilloscopes or directly in the electroencephalogram (EEG). From these “older” methods it was concluded for years that the response of the brain to an instantaneous stimulus is a simple biphasic or triphasic wave lasting only a small fraction of a second. With the averaging or summing of evoked responses, the response that emerges is more complex, consisting of as many as fifteen phase shifts rather than two or three, and the response endures for several hundred milliseconds. Thus the technique of averaging or summing, whereby previously obscure cerebral electrical changes to stimuli can be extracted by computer from the brain’s background “noise” or ongoing electrical activity by relating them to the time of the stimulus, provides a closer look at the brain’s electrophysiology.
Superinfection immunity and prophage repression in phage P1. II. Mapping of the immunity-difference and ampicillin-resistance loci of P1 and phi amp.

Abstract P1 and ∅amp differ in two known ways: ∅amp has a gene ( amp r ) coding for ampicillin resistance which P1 lacks, and the two phages are heteroimmune although both code for a similar or identical repressor (gene c 1). The amp r gene of ∅amp and the immunity difference between P1 and ∅amp have been mapped here by a series of three-point crosses. Unlike other known substitutions in the P1 genome, amp r maps to the left of, and close to, the am 1.4 locus. The region responsible for the immunity difference between P1 and ∅amp is very closely linked to genes c 4 and vir and is not near the c 1 gene. This latter result is significant in regard to a possible model for the bipartite control of repression and immunity in P1 and ∅amp .
Water Retention Properties of Solid Foods

Water holding capacity (WHC) has been traditionally measured using a wide variety of techniques, some of which measure very different aspects of water retention. Water uptake ability and expressible moisture measure two such different properties in a practical way that can be used in both industry and research. A third measurement, drip loss, can be applied to raw, cooked, frozen, and otherwise processed samples. Keywords: Water uptake ability; expressible moisture; water holding; moisture loss; water retention
Teams Do It Better

I propose that interdisciplinarity and respectful team science become the norm for studying human development. This is not as simple a wish as it may seem because we tend to be trained in a single discipline. We tend to know much less about the theory, methods and findings of other disciplines. We often respect them less and minimize their contributions. It is now abundantly clear, however, that humans develop on multiple levels. Human development occurs from neurons to neighborhoods, cells to societies, and genes to geography. It is fundamentally evident that every level influences the others and all combine to constitute human development. While we may specialize, certainly a reasonable personal choice, it is critical to recognize and respect the contributions of other disciplines to the study of human development. This may best be achieved by recognizing the contributions of other disciplines and working in multidisciplinary teams.
Response to Plevin: Implications for Life Cycle Emissions Regulations

Such a dialogue is also critical for creating more accurate LCA meth-ods that will be accepted by scientists, industry, and the public. Plevin (2009) has identified multi-ple concerns with the life cycle emissions method-ology employed in our previous analysis using the Biofuel Energy Systems Simulator (BESS) model (Liska et al. 2009), but only four alter our estimates substantially: (1) denaturant addition (+6.5 gCO
Stereotaxic radiosurgery for brain metastases : the importance of adjuvant whole brain irradiation

Abstract Stereotaxic radiosurgery delivered from a modified 4 MV linear accelerator was used to treat 47 brain metastases in 27 patients at Stanford. Response was assessed in 41 lesions. Histopathologies included adenocarcinoma (24 lesions), renal cell carcinoma (9 lesions), melanoma (6 lesions), and squamous cell carcinoma (2 lesions). Followup ranged from 1.0–16.5 months, with a median of 5.0 months. Radiographic local control was achieved in 88% of the lesions. Three patients developed enlarging contrast-enhancing lesions in the radiosurgical field; one of these was biopsied and revealed necrosis with no viable tumor. Adjuvant whole brain irradiation (10 patients) was associated with regional intracranial control in 80% of patients. This was statistically superior (p = 0.0007) to the regional intracranial control rate achieved when radiosurgery alone was employed (6 patients). Most patients reported resolution of their neurologic symptoms, and were able to discontinue dexamethasone without impairment of neurologic function.
Temporal discounting and inter-temporal choice in rhesus monkeys.

Humans and animals are more likely to take an action leading to an immediate reward than actions with delayed rewards of similar magnitudes. Although such devaluation of delayed rewards has been almost universally described by hyperbolic discount functions, the rate of this temporal discounting varies substantially among different animal species. This might be in part due to the differences in how the information about reward is presented to decision makers. In previous animal studies, reward delays or magnitudes were gradually adjusted across trials, so the animals learned the properties of future rewards from the rewards they waited for and consumed previously. In contrast, verbal cues have been used commonly in human studies. In the present study, rhesus monkeys were trained in a novel inter-temporal choice task in which the magnitude and delay of reward were indicated symbolically using visual cues and varied randomly across trials. We found that monkeys could extract the information about reward delays from visual symbols regardless of the number of symbols used to indicate the delay. The rate of temporal discounting observed in the present study was comparable to the previous estimates in other mammals, and the animal’s choice behavior was largely consistent with hyperbolic discounting. Our results also suggest that the rate of temporal discounting might be influenced by contextual factors, such as the novelty of the task. The flexibility furnished by this new inter-temporal choice task might be useful for future neurobiological investigations on inter-temporal choice in non-human primates.
Chlorophyll-a analogues conjugated with aminobenzyl-DTPA as potential bifunctional agents for magnetic resonance imaging and photodynamic therapy.

A clinically relevant photosensitizer, 3-devinyl-3-(1-hexyloxyethyl)pyropheophorbide-a (HPPH, a chlorophyll-a derivative), was conjugated with Gd(III)-aminobenzyl-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid...
Descriptions: An intermediate stage in memory retrieval

It is possible to be either vague or precise in the specification of an idea. For many purposes, loose characterizations can be perfectly adequate; the degree of specificity required depends upon the purpose of the characterization and the form of alternative interpretations. In attempting to retrieve information from memory, the specification of that information can be either vague or precise: just how specific the characterization can be depends upon how much is known of the information that is being sought; how specific the characterization must be depends upon what else within memory might be specified by a weaker characterization. In this paper we present a semiformal model of memory retrieval based upon the notion of variable levels of specification. We call the specification a description. A description of an entity is a collection of perspectives, each of which is a way of viewing that entity in terms of a previously known prototype. The level of specification of a description is provided both by the choice of prototype and by further specification of the ways in which the described entity differs from the prototype. We postulate that retrieval starts with a description of the desired information as an initial specification of the records sought from memory. This retrieval description guides the memory search process and helps determine the suitability of retrieved records for the purpose of the retrieval. The initial description can be modified as intermediate information becomes available during the retrieval cycle. Which records are retrieved is determined both by the form of the retrieval description and the form of encoding of these records at acquisition. The effectiveness of the descriptions for retrieval is determined by two properties, discriminability and constructability. Discriminability is the ability of a description to discriminate among all possible records in memory at the time of retrieval. Constructability is the likelihood that an appropriate description will be constructed at the time retrieval is desired.
Multiple waves of recent DNA transposon activity in the bat, Myotis lucifugus

DNA transposons, or class 2 transposable elements, have successfully propagated in a wide variety of genomes. However, it is widely believed that DNA transposon activity has ceased in mammalian genomes for at least the last 40 million years. We recently reported evidence for the relatively recent activity of hAT and Helitron elements, two distinct groups of DNA transposons, in the lineage of the vespertilionid bat Myotis lucifugus. Here, we describe seven additional families that have also been recently active in the bat lineage. Early vespertilionid genome evolution was dominated by the activity of Helitrons, mariner-like and Tc2-like elements. This was followed by the colonization of Tc1-like elements, and by a more recent explosion of hAT-like elements. Finally, and most recently, piggyBac-like elements have amplified within the Myotis genome and our results indicate that one of these families is probably still expanding in natural populations. Together, these data suggest that there has been tremendous recent activity of various DNA transposons in the bat lineage that far exceeds those previously reported for any mammalian lineage. The diverse and recent populations of DNA transposons in genus Myotis will provide an unprecedented opportunity to study the impact of this class of elements on mammalian genome evolution and to better understand what makes some species more susceptible to invasion by genomic parasites than others.
Use of a Maternity Support Binder for Relief of Pregnancy-Related Back Pain

Objective: To examine the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of a support binder for low back pain in pregnancy. Design: Pilot study, using a prospective, two-group design with repeated measures. Setting: Ambulatory maternity clinic in a tertiary care teaching hospital. Participants: Women of at least 20 weeks gestation with low back pain, but no preexisting back or disc disease. Thirty women assigned to the intervention group and 10 to a comparison group. Interventions: Participants completed a pain assessment at pretest. Intervention participants received a maternity support binder to wear while awake for 2 weeks. At an appointment 2 weeks later, a posttest questionnaire and a taped interview were administered. The comparison group participants received the support binder after the second appointment. Main Outcome Measures: Back pain intensity, duration, and effect on daily activities were assessed using a pain in pregnancy questionnaire. Results: The intervention group had significant reduction in mean pain scores and effect of pain on daily activities, including family, house and yard, recreational, exercise, and sleep. Interaction of group by time was significant for change in pain and effect on family, house and yard, and exercise activities. Conclusion: The use of a support binder for pregnancy-related low back pain is a promising intervention and was well-accepted by the participants.
North American Symposium on Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy: introduction to the feature issue

This feature issue highlights the topics presented at the 2009 North American Symposium on Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy, in New Orleans, Louisiana, held 13–15 July 2009.
Twentieth Annual Conference on Vehicular Technology

The title "New Challenges for Vehicular Technology mineering" aptly describes the technical program of the Twentieth Annual Conference, which was held on December 4-5, 1969, in Columbus. OH, USA. The Conference Committee concluded that, while the IEEE Vehicular Technology Group had established strength in certain areas (e.g. mobile communications), the Twentieth Annual Conference presented an excellent opportunity to expand in several new and important directions. The resulting program, whicn is shown herein, thus represents an attempt by the Committee to stimulate interest in these new areas without diminishing interest and quality in our traditional areas of strength.
Hsp90α and Hsp90β together operate a hypoxia and nutrient paucity stress-response mechanism during wound healing

When tissues are injured and blood vessels clot, the local environment becomes ischemic, meaning that there is a lack of adequate supply of oxygen and glucose delivered to the surrounding cells. The heat shock protein-90 (Hsp90) family proteins protect tissues from various environmental insults and participate in the repair of damaged tissue. Here, we report discovery of a new ischemia-responsive mechanism in which the two Hsp90 isoforms Hsp90α and Hsp90β (also known as HSP90AA1 and HSP90AB1, respectively) work together to promote cell motility in wounded skin and accelerate wound closure. We demonstrate that Hsp90α and Hsp90β have distinct and non-exchangeable functions during wound healing. Under hypoxia and when there is a lack of serum factors, Hsp90β binds to the cytoplasmic tail of the LDL receptor-related protein-1 (LRP-1) and stabilizes the receptor at the cell surface. Hsp90α, however, is secreted by the cell into extracellular space where it binds and signals through the LRP-1 receptor to promote cell motility, leading to wound closure. In addition to skin injury, we suggest that this repair mechanism applies broadly to other non-cutaneous injured tissues.
Landmark constrained genus zero surface conformal mapping and its application to brain mapping research

In order to compare and integrate brain data more effectively, data from multiple subjects are typically mapped into a canonical space. One method to do this is to conformally map cortical surfaces to the sphere. It is well known that any genus zero Riemann surface can be mapped conformally to a sphere. Cortical surface is a genus zero surface. Therefore, conformal mapping offers a convenient method to parameterize cortical surfaces without angular distortion, generating an orthogonal grid on the cortex that locally preserves the metric. Although conformal mapping preserves the local geometry well, the important anatomical features, such as the sulci landmarks, are usually not aligned consistently. To compare cortical surfaces more effectively, it is advantageous to adjust the conformal parameterizations to match consistent anatomical features across subjects. This matching of cortical patterns improves the alignment of data across subjects, although it is more challenging to create a consistent conformal (orthogonal) parameterization of anatomy across subjects when landmarks are constrained to lie at specific locations in the spherical parameter space. Here we describe two methods to accomplish the task. The first approach is based on pursuing an optimal Mobius transformation to minimize the landmark mismatch error. The second approach is based on a new energy functional, to optimize the conformal parameterization of cortical surfaces by using landmarks. Experimental results on a dataset of 40 brain hemispheres showed that the landmark mismatch energy can be significantly reduced while effectively preserving conformality. The key advantage of these conformal parameterization approaches is that any local adjustments of the mapping to match landmarks do not affect the conformality of the mapping significantly. A detailed comparison between the two approaches will be discussed. The first approach can generate a map which is exactly conformal, although the landmark mismatch error is not reduced as effective as the second approach. The second approach can generate a map which significantly reduces the landmark mismatch error, but some conformality will be lost.
The Sociology of New Thinking: Elites, Identity Change, and the End of the Cold War

This article recounts the origins of Soviet “new thinking” as a case study of how Soviet intellectuals sought to redefine national identity in response to the West. It demonstrates that new thinking was fundamentally normative, not instrumental, insofar as it was developed in a period (1950s–1960s) when “socialism” was thought to be materially outperforming capitalism. It also demonstrates that new thinking decisively affected Soviet policy in the second half of the 1980s. Putting forth a socialization argument to show how newthinking ideas originated in the post-Stalin period within a community of intellectuals, the article charts the growing influence of these intellectuals through the 1970s and 1980s. In the mid-1980s, when Gorbachev became general secretary of the Communist Party and empowered many of the new thinkers as advisers, their liberal, Westernizing ideas played an indispensable role in shaping his reforms. The analysis focuses on mechanisms of identity change at two levels: that of the commu...
Suppressive actions of inorganic ions on the bioactivity of aminoglycoside antibiotics.

Abstract Many independent studies have shown that inorganic salts can suppress the inhibitory activities of aminoglycoside antibiotics against various bacterial species. From studies on the nature and mechanism of this suppressive ion effect, several conclusions can be drawn. Both monovalent and divalent cation salts can inhibit aminoglycoside action. At least two different mechanisms are apparently involved. The first is divalent cation dependent and has been described with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Mycobacterium smegmatis . With M. smegmatis , the effect aappears to be dependent more on a double positive charge than on particular metal ion species. The second mechanism is related to ionic strength and is elicited by both monovalent and divalent cation salts against many different organisms. However, based on studies with M. smegmatis , it appears that each of the two mechanisms involves interferance with the initial instantaneous electrostatic binding of drug at the cell surface.
Depositional fabrics in basal till reflect alignments during transportation

The fabrics of tills deposited by continental glaciers are usually assumed to reflect clast orientation during transportation and yet might only be imprinted during depositional processes. However, the striated surfaces of clasts must be acquired during transportation and by relating striation patterns to clast shape one can deduce the positions most frequently maintained by each group of clasts. Comparison of these orientations with the actual depositional fabrics of the same shape groups, demonstrates that dast orientations are maintained from transportation through deposition. Therefore subglacial transportation processes grade smoothly into those of deposition. The favoured interpretation is that bottom melting is the dominant mechanism leading to final deposition and that lodgement and smearing are likely restricted more to preliminary cycles of redeposition and re-erosion.
The Effect of Various Restorative Materials on the Microhardness of Reparative Dentin

This study showed a statistically significant difference between the microhardness of reparative and primary dentin at both five-and eight-week intervals. Reparative dentin from occlusal trauma is harder than reparative dentin underlying a cavity preparation at the 99% level. No statistical difference was noted in the hardness of reparative dentin underlying different materials, but trends were observed.
The effect of temperature on histone GRK aggregation

Abstract The aggregation of histone GRK, induced by the addition of salt, is found to be highly dependent on temperature. The rate of this aggregation decreases with decreasing temperature and can be essentially stopped at low temperatures.
The effects of 20-hydroxyecdysone on survival and development of first and third stage Cancer anthonyi larvae.

Abstract First and third stage C. anthonyi larvae were exposed to 0–400 μg/liter of 20-hydroxyecdysone dissolved in seawater. The results indicate that following a critical period in the molt cycle the addition of 20-hydroxyecdysone results in abnormal development of epidermally derived structures. This response is both dose and time dependent and suggests a possible role of ecdysone in larval crustacean molting control.
Monte Carlo calculations with dynamical fermions by a local stochastic process

We develop and test numerically a Monte Carlo method for fermions on a lattice which accounts for the effect of the fermionic determinant to arbitrary accuracy. It is tested numerically in a 4-dimensional model with SU(2) color group and scalar fermionic quarks interacting with gluons. Computer time grows linearly with the volume of the lattice and the updating of gluons is not restricted to small jumps. The method is based on random location updating, instead of an ordered sweep, in which quarks are updated, on the average, R times more frequently than gluons. It is proven that the error in R is only of order 1/R instead of 1/R12 as one might naively expect. Quarks are represented by pseudofermionic variables in M pseudoflavors (which requires M times more memory for each physical fermionic degree of freedom) with an error in M of order 1/M. The method is tested by calculating the self-energy of an external quark, a quantity which would be infinite in the absence of dynamical or sea quarks. For the quantities measured, the dependence on R−1 is linear for R ⩾ 8, and, within our statistical uncertainty, M = 2 is already asymptotic.
Interleukin-1-induced changes in the glioblastoma secretome suggest its role in tumor progression.

Abstract The tumor microenvironment including glial cells and their inflammatory products regulates brain tumor development and progression. We have previously established that human glioma cells are exquisitely sensitive to IL-1 stimulation leading us to undertake a comparative analysis of the secretome of unstimulated and cytokine (IL-1)-stimulated glioblastoma cells. We performed label-free quantitative proteomic analysis and detected 190 proteins which included cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, proteases, cell adhesion molecules, extracellular matrix (ECM) and related proteins. Measuring area under the curve (AUC) of peptides for quantitation, the IL-1-induced secretome contained 13 upregulated and 5 downregulated extracellular proteins (p Biological significance Present study is on an unbiased screening of the glioblastoma secretome stimulated by IL-1 which triggers neuroinflammatory cascades in the central nervous system. Network of secreted proteins were shown to be regulated revealing their possible contribution to glioma progression. Label free quantitative proteomics has provided unique novel targets for potential glioblastoma intervention.
Effect of a lexA41(Ts) mutation on DNA repair in recA(Def) derivatives of Escherichia coli K-12.

Derivatives of Escherichia coli K-12 carrying a deletion of the recA gene survive exposure to UV (254 nm) better if they also contain the lexA41 mutation which codes for a labile LexA protein. This effect of the lexA41 mutation is not observed in comparable strains carrying a uvr A6 mutation. Using two independent methods to detect pyrimidine dimers we found that UV irradiated RecA deficient cells removed dimers from their DNA more rapidly if they contained the lexA41 mutation than if the contained the wild-type lexA gene. Our results are consistent with the idea that a relatively high level of UvrABC incision nuclease resulting from inefficient repression of the corresponding genes by the labile LexA41 protein facilitates excision of pyrimidine dimers from the DNA of UV irradiated cells.