cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mutation and over‐expression of the P53 tumor suppressor gene frequently occurs in uterine and ovarian sarcomas

OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency of mutation and overexpression of the p53 tumor suppressor gene in female genital tract sarcomas. METHODS Immunostaining for p53 was performed in frozen sections of 46 ovarian and uterine sarcomas. Single-stranded conformation polymorphism analysis of exons 4-9 of the p53 gene was performed in 33 sarcomas. We performed DNA sequencing of the p53 gene in 22 cases in which we found p53 protein overexpression and/or shifted bands on single-stranded conformation polymorphism analysis. RESULTS Overexpression of p53 was seen in 27 of 46 sarcomas (59%), including 26 of 41 (63%) mixed mesodermal tumors, one of four (25%) leiomyosarcomas, and zero of one endometrial stromal sarcoma. Among the 33 sarcomas subjected to molecular analysis, 21 demonstrated mutations in the p53 gene (64%). Eighteen cancers had a single mutation, whereas three cases showed two mutations in the p53 gene. There was one mutation in exon 4, seven mutations in exon 5, three mutations in exon 6, six mutations in exon 7, six mutations in exon 8, and one mutation in exon 9. With the exception of one microdeletion, which predicted a truncated protein product, all of the mutations were missense point mutations. All but one of the point mutations resulted in changes in the predicted amino acid sequence. There were 18 transition mutations (75%), five transversions (21%), and one deletion (4%). CONCLUSIONS Mutation of the p53 tumor suppressor gene, with resultant overexpression of p53 protein, frequently occurs in ovarian and uterine sarcomas. Because most of the mutations are transitions, p53 mutations in these cancers likely arise from spontaneous errors in DNA synthesis and repair rather than from exposure to carcinogens.
An electron-microscopic analysis of axonal alterations following blunt contusion of the spinal cord of the rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta)

Following contusion (500 g-cm) at upper thoracic levels, sections from the spinal cords of 13 rhesus monkeys were examined with the electron microscope. Survival times ranged from 4 hr to 10 weeks. Samples were taken from the lesion site, from areas 3 and 10 mm rostral and caudal to the lesion center, and from the lumbosacral cord. Four hours postoperatively, several small axons located close to the grey matter at the lesion site exhibit abnormal accumulations of organelles including mitochondria, dense bodies, vesicular structures, and multivesicular bodies. By 12 hr postoperatively many axons at the lesion site appear to be swollen with organelles and exhibit thinning of their myelin sheath. Some organelle-rich profiles lack a myelin sheath altogether. At this time dark axons are present, and myelin sheaths which appear to be empty or to contain small amounts of flocculent material. By 18 hr the first signs of axonal changes appear in the tissue taken 3 mm from the center of the lesion, both swollen and pyknotic axons being present. The axonal pathology spreads from the central part of the cord to the periphery at the impact site, and from the impact site rostrally and caudally, beginning at 18 hr and continuing for the duration of the study. Small fibers degenerate first and large fibers later. The axonal changes observed appear to be comparable to those reported for the central and peripheral nervous systems in other species.
Immunologic measurement of growth hormone in human sera.

ABSTRACT. The immunoassay of human growth hormone utilizing the hemagglutination inhibition reaction has been found to be a reliable method for the measurement of purified human growth hormone and extracts of human anterior pituitary. This method was found to be unreliable when applied to human sera because of nonspecific factors present in most sera which induce hemagglutination inhibition. An extraction procedure has been developed which quantitatively removes growth hormone from the major portion of the serum proteins and eliminates the nonspecific factors. With the use of this serum fraction in the hemagglutination inhibition reaction, growth hormone has been measured in acromegalic patients in the range of 3.5–30 μg/100 ml of serum. The half-life in serum of exogenously administered human growth hormone is approximately 30–50 minutes. Growth hormone levels in normal adults are less than 2 μg/100 ml of serum.
A Collaborative Effort: Bridging Theory and Practice in Pre-Service Preparation

Preparing pre-service education candidates to be successful in today's classroom is a complex task. There must be a bridge between theory and practice that requires a collaborative effort between universities and public schools. This article presents: (1) teacher educators with a field-based clinical model for preparing pre-service teacher education candidates; (2) classroom teachers with effective mentoring strategies; and, (3) public school and university administrators strategies for working with a more authentic model of teacher preparation that requires deep and rich clinical field experiences to help novice teachers become more effective in today's schools.
Detection of a white dwarf companion to the Hyades stars HD 27483

We observed with IUE a white dwarf (WD) companion to the Hyades F6 V binary stars HD 27483. This system is known to be a close binary of two nearly equal stars with an orbital period of 3.05 days. Our IUE observations revealed the presence of a third star, a white dwarf with an effective temperature of 23,000 +/- 1000 K and a mass of approximately 0.6 solar mass. Its presence in the Hyades cluster with a known age permits me to derive the mass of its progenitor, which must have been about 2.3 solar masses. The presence of the white dwarf in a binary system opens the possibility that some of the envelope material, which was expelled by the WD progenitor, may have been collected by the F6 stars. We may thus be able to study abundance anomalies of the WD progenitor with known mass on the surface of the F6 companions.
Mediational construction vs. mediational perception in paired-associate learning

Noun paired associates were presented for one study trial under instructions to construct sentences containing the pairs (construction), to listen to and to repeat ready-made sentences containing the pairs (perception), or merely to read the pairs aloud (control). Recall was greater for construction than for perception. Recall in the construction group was not significantly greater than in the control group, and it was conjectured that this might be due to spontaneous mediational construction in the latter group. The hypothesis that the construction of mediation by the S himself is more effective than the perception of a ready-made mediational link was supported.
Effect of sustained typing work on changes in scapular position, pressure pain sensitivity and upper trapezius activity.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of sustained computer keyboard typing on the human musculoskeletal system by assessing the pressure-pain threshold (PPT), scapular position and activation of the upper trapezius. Methods: Vertical and horizontal positional changes of the scapular were measured with a palpation meter before and after keyboard work, and the PPT was measured using a pressure algometer. Activation of the upper trapezius during 20 minutes of computer keyboard work was measured by electromyography, and four consecutive 5-minute segments were analyzed. Results: The vertical distance from the seventh cervical process to the acromion, and the horizontal distance from the inferior angle to the same level of the spinal process were significantly increased after keyboard typing work compared with before keyboard typing work (p<0.05). The average value of the upper trapezius activity increased with increased time at the keyboard. The percent reference voluntary contraction of phase 1 (from start to 5 minutes) was lower than those of phase 2 (from 5 to 10 minutes), and phase 3 (from 10 to 15 minutes) (p<0.05). Conclusions: We observed that sustained computer work changed the scapular position in the stretched upper trapezius. To prevent musculoskeletal problems in the shoulder region, posture reeducation during computer work should be considered in terms not only of neck and trunk posture, but also of scapular position.(J Occup Health 2013; 55: 167–172)
Cryolipolysis conformable-surface applicator for nonsurgical fat reduction in lateral thighs.

Background Vacuum applicators have been effective for cryolipolysis of the abdomen, flanks, inner thighs, back, chest, and arms. However, the lateral thighs have not been easily treated because fat from this area cannot be easily drawn into a vacuum cup. Objectives The authors investigated the safety and efficacy of a prototype applicator for treatment of “nonpinchable” fat in the lateral thighs. Methods In this prospective, nonrandomized, interventional cohort, multicenter study, a 120-minute unilateral treatment with a prototype conformable-surface applicator was performed on 1 lateral thigh of 40 patients, with the contralateral thigh serving as the control. During follow-up visits at 2 and 4 months, fat reduction was assessed by ultrasound imaging and clinical photography, and patient satisfaction surveys were completed. Results Ultrasound data indicated a 2.6-mm mean normalized reduction in fat thickness—a statistically significant reduction vs the untreated control thigh ( P = 7.8E-8). According to patient survey responses, 89% of patients would recommend the procedure to a friend; 86% were satisfied with cryolipolysis for the lateral thighs; 86% noticed visible fat reduction; and 97% were likely to undergo a second treatment. A panel of 3 independent blinded physicians correctly identified baseline and posttreatment clinical photographs in 87% of cases. There were no serious adverse events or unanticipated adverse device effects. Conclusions The cryolipolysis conformable-surface applicator was safe and efficacious for treatment of lateral thigh fat. Clinical photographs and ultrasound results showed significant reduction in fat thickness, and noticeable reduction in undesirable “saddlebag” bulges. Level of Evidence: 3 ![Graphic][1] Therapeutic [1]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif
Signaling by Kit protein-tyrosine kinase—The stem cell factor receptor

Signaling by stem cell factor and Kit, its receptor, plays important roles in gametogenesis, hematopoiesis, mast cell development and function, and melanogenesis. Moreover, human and mouse embryonic stem cells express Kit transcripts. Stem cell factor exists as both a soluble and a membrane-bound glycoprotein while Kit is a receptor protein-tyrosine kinase. The complete absence of stem cell factor or Kit is lethal. Deficiencies of either produce defects in red and white blood cell production, hypopigmentation, and sterility. Gain-of-function mutations of Kit are associated with several human neoplasms including acute myelogenous leukemia, gastrointestinal stromal tumors, and mastocytomas. Kit consists of an extracellular domain, a transmembrane segment, a juxtamembrane segment, and a protein kinase domain that contains an insert of about 80 amino acid residues. Binding of stem cell factor to Kit results in receptor dimerization and activation of protein kinase activity. The activated receptor becomes autophosphorylated at tyrosine residues that serve as docking sites for signal transduction molecules containing SH2 domains. The adaptor protein APS, Src family kinases, and Shp2 tyrosyl phosphatase bind to phosphotyrosine 568. Shp1 tyrosyl phosphatase and the adaptor protein Shc bind to phosphotyrosine 570. C-terminal Src kinase homologous kinase and the adaptor Shc bind to both phosphotyrosines 568 and 570. These residues occur in the juxtamembrane segment of Kit. Three residues in the kinase insert domain are phosphorylated and attract the adaptor protein Grb2 (Tyr703), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (Tyr721), and phospholipase Cgamma (Tyr730). Phosphotyrosine 900 in the distal kinase domain binds phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase which in turn binds the adaptor protein Crk. Phosphotyrosine 936, also in the distal kinase domain, binds the adaptor proteins APS, Grb2, and Grb7. Kit has the potential to participate in multiple signal transduction pathways as a result of interaction with several enzymes and adaptor proteins.
On the enigma of day-to-day variability in equatorial spread F

[1] We show that large-scale wave structure (LSWS), in plasma density in the bottomside F layer, is a hitherto unheralded contributor to the long-standing enigma of day-to-day variability in equatorial spread F (ESF). Little is known about LSWS; it seems to appear in altitude near a vertical shear in zonal plasma drift, during the post-sunset rise of the F layer, and its growth via an interchange instability appears to predispose quasi-periodically spaced regions to development of plasma bubbles. First indications are that LSWS development is necessary and sufficient for ESF occurrence. We suggest that variability in LSWS development, perhaps together with the shear in zonal drift, may contribute to day-to-day ESF variability. A need revealed by this study is that a cluster of distributed sensors, not isolated ones, is necessary to pursue the problem of day-to-day variability.
Local and global statistical distances are equivalent on pure states

The statistical distance between pure quantum states is obtained by finding a measurement that is optimal in a sense defined by Wootters. As such, one may expect that the statistical distance will turn out to be different if the set of possible measurements is restricted in some way. It nonetheless turns out that if the restriction is to local operations and classical communication (LOCC) on any multipartite system, then the statistical distance is the same as it is without restriction, being equal to the angle between the states in Hilbert space.
Association of body weight with condition-specific quality of life in male veterans

Purpose We hypothesized that obese adults with coronary heart disease, obstructive lung disease, or depression would report greater impairments in health-related quality of life owing to their angina, dyspnea, or depressive symptoms as compared with persons with normal body weight. Methods We analyzed cross-sectional data from the Ambulatory Care Quality Improvement Project, a multicenter study of veterans enrolled in general internal medicine clinics. Health-related quality of life was assessed using the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form—36, the Seattle Angina Questionnaire, the Seattle Obstructive Lung Disease Questionnaire, and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist for Depression. Results Compared with patients of normal weight (body mass index: 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m2), underweight patients (body mass index Conclusion Body mass index was strongly associated with generic- and condition-specific health-related quality of life. Our results suggest that, when considering health-related quality-of-life outcomes among veterans, the optimal body mass index may be above the "normal" range. Further research should test the validity of the 1998 National Institutes of Health body mass index categories as predictors of health outcomes among veterans.
A response surface approximation for the bench-scale peak heat release rate from upholstered furniture exposed to a radiant heat source

This work investigates the initial stages of a residential fire scenario: specifically the peak heat release rate (kW/m2) from an item ignited by exposure to a radiant heat source. Parameters which may define a scenario include the material properties of the furniture and the ignition source. The emphasis is on the uncertainties in these parameters and their impact on the peak heat release rate (kW/m2). A response surface analysis is performed to determine the equivalent bench-scale heat release as a function of fabric, padding, oxygen concentration, and imposed radiant heat flux. A response surface is a polynomial which approximates the computer code and it may be used to predict heat release values, as well as the uncertainties in these values due to uncertainties in the model input variables.
Effect of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor on Nitric Oxide Production by Cultured Rat Mesangial Cells

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) stimulates nitric oxide (NO) production by endothelial cells in vitro and in vivo. However, the impact of VEGF on inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity and NO synthesis in cultured mesangial cells is not known. Therefore, we measured nitrite accumulation in cytokine-stimulated, rat mesangial cells (RMC) in response to graded concentrations of VEGF. Addition of VEGF (10-50 ng/ml) did not alter RMC viability or NO production in either normal (5.6 mM) or high (33.3 mM) glucose conditions. Exposure of RMC to VEGF did not modify the effects of L-arginine (20 mM) or L-NAME (1 mM) on nitrite accumulation in normal or high glucose media. The steady state abundance of iNOS mRNA and the cytosolic content of iNOS protein were unaffected by addition of VEGF. Cultured RMC expressed the high-affinity tyrosine kinase VEGF receptors, flt and flk/KDR, and the levels were not modulated by incubation in normal or high glucose media. We conclude that VEGF does not regulate proliferation or NO production in cultured RMC. These findings suggest that disturbances in the normal interaction between VEGF and NO are not involved in the pathogenesis of abnormal mesangial cell structure or function in diabetic nephropathy.
The role of the unified modeling language and the extensible markup language in computer-generated actor behavior evaluation

In spite of numerous efforts undertaken to develop processes and procedures for the test and evaluation of the performance and accuracy of computer-generated actors (CGAs), much remains to be done before we can confidently field CGAs that reliably provide a desired suite of behaviors. While it currently appears to be impossible to completely validate CGA behaviors, we believe that an experiment-based approach to CGA behavior evaluation can provide a high degree of confidence in the accuracy of the CGA behaviors and that, as a result, CGA behaviors can confidently be considered to be acceptable within the bounds of the testing and assessments related to its intended use. Clearly, exhaustive testing of all possible CGA behaviors is not feasible since exhaustive testing of CGA behaviors would be an even more computationally complex task than software testing; exhaustive software testing has proven to be impossible for any but the most trivial software. Therefore, our approach to addressing the CGA behavior test and evaluation challenge is based upon the use of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) to capture and describe the desired CGA behaviors. UML provides the capability to document the desired behavior from a number of perspectives and XML allows us to augment the UML documentation in a standard, open manner. The paper is organized as follows. Section One will contain an introduction to motivate our research and a discussion of the challenges that must be addressed to properly model human behavior and then test and evaluate CGA human behavior models. Section Two will contain a discussion of the relevant background technologies for our work. Section Three contains the discussion of our approach to CGA behavior testing, assessment, and evaluation and how we believe that UML and XML should be used for CGA behavior testing documentation. Section Four contains a summary and suggestions for further research.
Damping of the Earth's Free Nutation

The ‘free nutation’ of the Earth is a motion of the Earth's instantaneous axis of rotation around its mean position. The poles (intersections of the axis with the Earth's surface) describe changing orbits with the ‘Chandler period’ of about fourteen months. Every six or seven years the amplitude of these orbits reaches a maximum of up to ten metres and then decreases almost to zero. Following Jeffreys, Bondi and Gold have considered that the free nutation has a characteristic damping time of the order of ten periods. They find that such heavy damping cannot arise from internal motion of the core or from relative motion between core and mantle, and conclude that it results from non-elastic behaviour of the mantle.
Damage model for anisotropic materials, and its application to analysis of stability and spallation

We use Bai's conservation equation for cracks, and Rice and Tracey's equation for the growth of a spherical void in an infinite medium to derive an evolution equation for damage in an anisotropic material. It is then used to delineate the instability strain in a thin anisotropic sheet deformed in a plane stress state of deformation, and obeying Hill's yield criterion. Assuming that strain- and strain-hardening, and thermal and damage softening of the material can be characterized by a relation similar to that proposed by Batra, the effect of various material parameters, and the anisotropy of the sheet on the instability strain has been quantified. It is found that only strain hardening and thermal softening exponents strongly influence the instability strain. The spallation strength, time to spallation, and the fragment size are also discussed.
The Coming Crisis in Cuban Education

Abstract Since the revolution of 1959 Cuba massively expanded and, in many respects, transformed its education system. While the strategy under Fidel Castro initially differed from other LDCs in its emphasis on mass education and technical training, with time the island has been inflicted with the same ‘diploma disease’ as so many other LDCs. And once inflicted, it has had exceptional difficulty curing the illness. The country has come to be overeducated, relative to the employment opportunities available. Overeducation has become a political as well as fiscal problem following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Soviet aid and trade in turn. Faced with the problem, the government is attempting to deschool the younger generation. However, families are resisting the downward mobility implicit in the education restructuring.
Local Bonding Arrangements in Amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5: The Importance of GE and TE Bonding

Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) studies of as-deposited Ge2Sb2Te5 films yield Ge K edge spectra essentially the same as previously reported; however, these earlier studies assumed only Te nearest neighbors, but the comprehensive analysis of this paper indicates significant concentrations of both Ge–Ge and Ge–Te bonds. Average bond coordination and number of valence bonding constraints/atom have been determined from an extension of bond-constraint theory that includes broken bond-bending constraints for Ge–Ge bonds, and optical memory alloys on the Sb2Te3–GeTe tie-line ∼3.05 ± 0.05 bonding constraints/atom, consistent with formation of an intermediate phase. The fraction of threefold or over-coordinated Te increases from 7.1 to 25% along this tie-line, and the amorphous to crystalline optical transmissivity transition occurs over a narrow temperature range, <10 °C. Over-coordination and Te leads to formation of positively charged defects, which must be balanced by under-coordinated of negatively charged Sb or Ge defect bonding arrangements.
Nature and origin of materials exposed in the Oxia Palus-Western Arabia-Sinus Meridiani region, Mars

Images and thermal data obtained by the Viking Orbiter over the Martian equatorial cratered terrain in western Arabia, eastern Oxia, and Sinuses Sabaeus and Meridiani, have been evaluated with a view to the identification, characterization, and mapping of local, bedrock-related materials. Three primary color/thermal units are discernible: (1) bright red dust storm deposits; (2) brown materials, which may be indurated; and (3) dark, but less red materials which may be composed of medium sand size-range lithic fragments. The surficial units exposed over the study area are judged to represent mixed eolian deposits, largely decoupled from the bedrock underneath.
Pericarditis with Effusion Caused by Actinomyces israelii

Actinomyces israelii is a rare cause of pericarditis. Infection spreads to pericardium from an intrathoracic focus. Branching gram-positive filaments are seen on microscopic examination of clinical specimens. Cultures should be performed under anaerobic conditions. Both surgical drainage and antibiotics (penicillin) are required for treatment. Nocardiosis may resemble actinomycosis in many respects.
Endothelium-Dependent Responses and Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase in Lungs of Newborn Pigs With High Flow Pulmonary Hypertension • 109

Endothelium-Dependent Responses and Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase in Lungs of Newborn Pigs With High Flow Pulmonary Hypertension • 109
Strain effects on percolation conduction in conductive particle filled composites

The effect of uniaxial and multiaxial mechanical strain on the electrical conductivity of particle filled polymer composites is investigated in the framework of concentration-driven percolation. For composites consisting of low aspect ratio, rigid conductive particles in a compliant polymer matrix, a simple argument leads to the conclusion that the effective volume fraction of conductive particles (the ratio of total particle volume to the total volume of the deformed composite) plays a dominant role, with conductivity remaining isotropic despite the directional bias of the strain state. As such, conductivity is expected to exhibit classical power, law-dependence on concentration, which in this case takes the form of a strain-dependent effective volume fraction. Consideration of deformation effects on particle agglomerates suggest, however, that particle-to-particle network connections are likely to be affected most significantly along directions experiencing the most severe strains, introducing a directional bias in network connectivity at a higher length scale. To assess the importance of this possible directional bias, random resistor network models are used to study the conductivity of uniaxially strained composites. For conservative assumptions on the severity of the bias in bond probabilities, network conductivities exhibit approximately isotropic, concentration-driven behavior for moderate strains, supporting the predictive utility of the simple percolation conduction-effective volume fraction approach. Further corroboration is provided by experiments in the literature on silicone-graphite composites subjected to uniaxial compressive strain, where good agreement is obtained through moderate strains for the theoretically correct value of the conduction exponent in concentration-driven percolation.
Norms as Group-Level Constructs: Investigating School-Level Teen Pregnancy Norms and Behaviors

Social norms are a group-level phenomenon, but past quantitative research has rarely measured them in the aggregate or considered their group-level properties. We used the school-based design of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to measure normative climates regarding teen pregnancy across 75 US high schools. We distinguished between the strength of a school’s norm against teen pregnancy and the consensus around that norm. School-level norm strength and dissensus were strongly ( r = –0.65) and moderately ( r = 0.34) associated with pregnancy prevalence within schools, respectively. Normative climate partially accounted for observed racial differences in school pregnancy prevalence, but norms were a stronger predictor than racial composition. As hypothesized, schools with both a stronger average norm against teen pregnancy and greater consensus around the norm had the lowest pregnancy prevalence. Results highlight the importance of group-level normative processes and of considering the local school environment when designing policies to reduce teen pregnancy.
COMPARISONS: Possible and Impossible

AbstractIn the twentieth century, many anthropological comparisons were mounted on the base of the synchronic societal ethnographies being produced at the time. That work produced a valuable inventory of the range of variations and differences. Now, following quite a different track, and defining the task anew, a remarkable number of ethnographies consist of observations of processes of change as they go along. The considerable obstacles to comparing such temporally oriented, processual case histories distinguishes them from earlier studies of tradition and custom. In this review, five abbreviated case histories of ongoing development projects illustrate the difference of approach. The process by which plans to control particular aspects of a social field are designed, implemented, altered, and diverted are the object of these ethnographic studies. The cultures of control employed by the planners are noted, but the dynamic of the societal context into which projects are introduced is shown to be equally i...
An empirical investigation comparing IF-THEN rules and decision tables for programming rule-based expert systems

The author discusses which method is better for programming rule-based expert systems: IF-THEN rules or decision tables. Thirty undergraduate students served as experimental subjects in an eight week study. After four weeks, subjects wrote decision tables covering cases significantly more consistently than IF-THEN rules (p >
Case study: longitudinal comparative analysis for analyzing user behavior

In this case study we describe a four-step process for eliciting and analyzing user behavior with products over an extended period of time. We used this methodology for conducting a comparative study of two mobile applications over a period of seven months with 17 participants. To focus the discussion, we are concentrating on the methodology rather than the results of the study.
Phishpin: An Identity-Based Anti-phishing Approach

Phishing is a social engineering technique used to fraudulently acquire sensitive information from users by masquerading as a legitimate entity. One of the primary goals of phishing is to illegally carry fraudulent financial transactions on behalf of users. The two primary vulnerabilities exploited by phishers are: Inability of non-technical/unsophisticated users to always identify spoofed emails or Web sites; and the relative ease with which phishers masquerade as legitimate Web sites. This paper presents Phishpin, an approach that leverages the concepts of mutual authentication to require online entities to prove their identities. To this end, Phishpin builds on partial credentials sharing, & client filtering to prevent phishers from masquerading as legitimate online entities.
Stapled HIV-1 peptides recapitulate antigenic structures and engage broadly neutralizing antibodies

Peptide hydrocarbon stapling is used to generate protease-resistant HIV-1 MPER antigens that mimic the conformation of viral epitopes and that are recognized by two different broadly neutralizing antibodies to HIV.
The Structure of Reciprocity

Reciprocity is one of the defining features of social exchange and social life, yet exchange theorists have tended to take it for granted. Drawing on work from a decade-long theoretical research program, I argue that reciprocity is structured and variable across different forms of exchange, that these variations in the structure of reciprocity have profound effects on the emergence of integrative bonds of trust and solidarity, and that these effects are explained and mediated by a set of risk- and conflict-based processes. I discuss the consequences of this work for organizational theories of embeddedness and the production of social capital through network ties. Finally, I ask how the structure of networks and the structure of reciprocity are related to one another, and explore possible implications of the structure of reciprocity for exchange theorists' assumptions about actor motivations.
Anaplastic ependymoma: treatment of pediatric patients with or without craniospinal radiation therapy

The authors conducted a retrospective review of the clinical and treatment characteristics and outcomes in 28 pediatric patients with anaplastic ependymoma treated with radiation therapy since the advent of computerized tomography (CT) (1978-1994). Twelve patients received craniospinal irradiation followed by a boost to the primary site, two received whole-brain radiation therapy followed by a boost to the primary site, and the remaining 14 were treated with focal radiation therapy. The mean dose to the primary site was 5486 cGy. With a median follow-up period of 86 months for the 14 surviving patients (range 31-201 months), the median disease-free survival, measured from the date of diagnosis to the time of recurrence after radiation therapy, was 40 months. The median disease-free survival measured from the start of radiation therapy was 32 months. The median overall survival rate has not been reached and the actuarial estimates of overall survival rates at 5 and 10 years were 56% and 38%, respectively. According to univariate analysis, the disease-free survival rate was significantly improved (p < 0.01) in patients who underwent a gross-total resection at diagnosis. Overall survival rates were negatively influenced by treatment with craniospinal and whole-brain irradiation. As calculated by multivariate analysis, increasing dosage to the primary site (p < 0.05), infratentorial location (p < 0.01), and gross-total resections (p < 0.02) resulted in the longest disease-free survival times. All 19 patients in whom treatment failed after radiation therapy suffered a recurrence at the primary site. In addition, one of these patients experienced subarachnoid dissemination. Radiation treatment recommendations for patients with ependymoma have been based on the tumor's location, perceived risk for dissemination, and malignant propensity. The significance of anaplastic histological classification is controversial. Differences in the disease-free and overall survival rates have been demonstrated between ependymomas and anaplastic ependymomas treated in the pre-CT era. The results of this study show that there is no benefit from craniospinal irradiation in this group of patients.
MUCK: A toolkit for extracting and visualizing semantic dimensions of large text collections

Users with large text collections are often faced with one of two problems; either they wish to retrieve a semanticallyrelevant subset of data from the collection for further scrutiny (needle-in-a-haystack) or they wish to glean a high-level understanding of how a subset compares to the parent corpus in the context of aforementioned semantic dimensions (forestfor-the-trees). In this paper, I describe MUCK 1 , an open-source toolkit that addresses both of these problems through a distributed text processing engine with an interactive visualization interface.
Learning in Infancy

Several decades ago, the prevailing view of how learning and memory mechanisms might develop was based on the idea that altricial neonates are simply incompletely formed adults. Infant learning tasks were designed with the adult in mind, and performance differences between infants and adults were considered proof of the immature learning and performance capacities of infants. These immature capacities were attributed, in turn, to an immature nervous system (e.g., Cornwell and Fuller, 1961; Fuller, Easler, and Banks, 1950).
Polymeric Core–Shell Assemblies Mediated by Host–Guest Interactions: Versatile Nanocarriers for Drug Delivery

Novel hydrophilic-hydrophilic block copolymer with one block containing β-cyclodextrin was synthesized. Core-shell structured nano-assemblies with chemical sensitivity could be constructed by this copolymer in the presence of hydrophobic compounds. By selecting appropriate guest components, polyion complex micelles could also be assembled. These results suggest the potential versatile applications of this type of copolymers in pharmaceutics, nanomedicine, and nano-biotechnology.
Knowledge-Based Weak Supervision for Information Extraction of Overlapping Relations

Information extraction (IE) holds the promise of generating a large-scale knowledge base from the Web's natural language text. Knowledge-based weak supervision, using structured data to heuristically label a training corpus, works towards this goal by enabling the automated learning of a potentially unbounded number of relation extractors. Recently, researchers have developed multi-instance learning algorithms to combat the noisy training data that can come from heuristic labeling, but their models assume relations are disjoint --- for example they cannot extract the pair Founded(Jobs, Apple) and CEO-of(Jobs, Apple). This paper presents a novel approach for multi-instance learning with overlapping relations that combines a sentence-level extraction model with a simple, corpus-level component for aggregating the individual facts. We apply our model to learn extractors for NY Times text using weak supervision from Free-base. Experiments show that the approach runs quickly and yields surprising gains in accuracy, at both the aggregate and sentence level.
TRPA1 is a polyunsaturated fatty acid sensor in mammals.

Fatty acids can act as important signaling molecules regulating diverse physiological processes. Our understanding, however, of fatty acid signaling mechanisms and receptor targets remains incomplete. Here we show that Transient Receptor Potential Ankyrin 1 (TRPA1), a cation channel expressed in sensory neurons and gut tissues, functions as a sensor of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in vitro and in vivo. PUFAs, containing at least 18 carbon atoms and three unsaturated bonds, activate TRPA1 to excite primary sensory neurons and enteroendocrine cells. Moreover, behavioral aversion to PUFAs is absent in TRPA1-null mice. Further, sustained or repeated agonism with PUFAs leads to TRPA1 desensitization. PUFAs activate TRPA1 non-covalently and independently of known ligand binding domains located in the N-terminus and 5th transmembrane region. PUFA sensitivity is restricted to mammalian (rodent and human) TRPA1 channels, as the drosophila and zebrafish TRPA1 orthologs do not respond to DHA. We propose that PUFA-sensing by mammalian TRPA1 may regulate pain and gastrointestinal functions.
In-Situ Derivative Cyclic Voltabsorptometric Studies On Poly-3-Methylthiophene

Spectroscopic behavior of poly-3-methylthiophene (P3MT) has been studied employing derivative cyclic volt-absorptometric (DCVA) techniques. In the DCVA technique, the derivative absorption signal (dA/dt) is recorded as a function of the applied potential. The dA/dt signals, the spectroscopic analog of electrochemical currents in cyclic voltammetry, are capable of monitoring the potential dependency for the absorption band effectively discriminating against nonfaradaic signals. The DCVA studies on the P3MT system show that the neutral form of P3MT, absorbing at 490 nm (at less than 0.3 V vs. Ag), changes to the radical cation from, which absorbs at 760 nm. Initially, the formation of the radical cation goes through an isosbestic point, indicating that the conversion of the neutral to radical (polaron) form is chemically reversible. However, upon increasing the electrode potential, the rate of the radical formation at 760 nm starts to decrease, with the formation of another band at about 1250 nm, attributable to a quinoid (bipolaron) form. This trend begins above 0.6 V, shifting to a more positive voltage as the thickness of the film grows. This observation indicates that the electrochemical conversion of the neutral to radical form, followed by the quinoid form, is a slow process controlled by themore » diffusion of counter ions through the film. In-situ conductivity measurements as a function of applied potentials and chronoamperometric results support the observed spectroscopic behavior. 20 refs., 6 figs.« less
Correlation between intraoperative blood flows and hepatic artery strictures in liver transplantation

Hepatic artery strictures (HASs) may be a source of morbidity and mortality in liver transplant recipients. This study evaluated the potential correlation between intraoperative arterial and venous blood flows measured after implantation of the liver allograft and the occurrence of postoperative HASs requiring repair. Prospectively collected data from 1,038 patients with complete data sets who underwent initial orthotopic liver transplantations between December 1984 and December 1999 were used. Electromagnetic flow measurements were routinely obtained in these cases. Hepatic artery and portal vein patency were reassessed routinely according to our protocol in the first postoperative day by Doppler ultrasound. When considered hemodynamically significant, strictures were corrected. There was a 6.2% incidence (n = 64) of hepatic artery stenosis in our transplant population. When considered as a whole, the hepatic artery stenosis group had lower intraoperative flow volumes than transplant recipients who did not develop strictures (mean flows, 452 v 518 mL/min, respectively; P =.025). The hepatic artery stenosis group also had lower intraoperative portal vein flows compared with the group without hepatic artery stenosis (1.80 v 2.11 L/min, respectively; P =.0043). Strictures were less frequent among transplant recipients with cryptogenic cirrhosis. We did not observe differences among the groups for retransplantation or patient and graft survival. In our series, there was a 6.2% incidence of postoperative HASs. We observed a significant association between intraoperative hepatic artery and portal vein flows and postoperative HASs.
LYSANDER SPOONER: NINETEENTH-CENTURY AMERICA'S LAST NATURAL RIGHTS THEORIST

The main purpose of this essay is to articulate the ideas of the last powerful advocate of natural rights in nineteenth-century America. That last powerful advocate was the Massachusetts-born radical libertarian Lysander Spooner (1808-1887). Besides his powerful antebellum attacks on slavery, Spooner developed forceful arguments on behalf of a strongly individualistic conception of natural law and private property rights and against coercive moralism, coercive paternalism, and state authority and legislation. This essay focuses on the theoretical core of Spooner’s position which is his doctrine of natural rights—a doctrine that is primarily developed in Spooner’s The Law of Intellectual Property (1855), Natural Law (1882), and A Letter to Grover Cleveland (1886). I situate Spooner within the libertarian tradition in political thought by beginning this essay with an examination of two English writers whose radical writings (for the most part) preceded Spooner’s—Thomas Hodgskin (1787-1869) and the early Herbert Spencer (1820-1903). I emphasis the strongly Lockean character of Spooner’s thought and support this contention in part by showing how much more Lockean Spooner was than either Hodgskin or the early Spencer.
The Educational and Early Occupational Status Attainment Process: Replication and Revision

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain whether a recently proposed recursive model of the educational and occupational attainment process that had been evaluated for farm boys is applicable for youth from more diverse residential backgrounds. The basic question asked in the study is how well the model fits data for young men from communities of differing size. A related aim is to present a model which adequately explains the attainment process for boys from all residential backgrounds. Using data for five community-size categories the Sewell-Haller-Portes model is extended to include three additional paths of influence. The revised model is shown to be quite adequate for the total sample as well as for all sizes of community categories. Suggestions for theory and future research are offered. IN their influential volume, Blau and Duncan (1967) presented a recursive model of the occupational status attainment of American male adults. It is composed of two antecedent structural variables, father's education and father's occupation; two intervening behavioral variables, respondent's education and respondent's first job; and the dependent variable, respondent's occupational level in 1962. For a national sample, their model explains 26% of the variance in respondent's education, 33% of the variance in first job, and 43% of the variance in current occupational status. The addition of selected demographic variables failed to improve the effectiveness of the model. Subsequent research by Duncan, Featherman, and Duncan (1968) resulted in minor modifications. The main objective was to provide a more complete explanation of the process without necessarily increasing the proportion 1 Presented at a joint session of the American Sociological Association and the Rural Sociological Society, San Francisco, September 1969. The research reported herein was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Public Health Service (M-6275) and the Social and Rehabilitation Service, Social Security Administra
Business Power in Washington: The Insurance Exception

This article traces the scholarship on business political power from Bauer, Pool and Dexter, through Lindblom, to Graham Wilson and David Vogel. The prominent understanding now is that business was under attack in the 1960s and 1970s but has since recovered a privileged position. The variables common to this scholarship provide a framework for analyzing insurance industry politics. Drawing primarily upon the unisex case, the article shows that the insurance industry is not in control of the political agenda, does not enjoy the collaboration of federal elected officials, does not gain disproportionate benefits and usually does not make effective use of their lobbying resources. It argues that the industry's internal divisions and low public regard help explain its unprivileged position, and concludes that more attention to industry sectors will help refine what we know about the political power of business.
Phase Equilibria in the System Boron Carbide-Silicon Carbide

The system boron carbide-silicon carbide is quasi binary and contains a eutectic of composition 70 ± 2 wt% B4C and 30 ± 2 wt% Sic at a temperature of 2300°± 20° C. The solid solubility of both B4C in Sic and Sic in B4C is less than 2 wt% at this temperature, based on metallographic and X-ray analyses. The Sic corresponds to the hexagonal (a) allotrope when the compositions contain more than 50 wt% Sic. The cubic (p) form of Sic is stabilized in compositions which contain less than 50 wt% Sic.
Differential Responses in the Component Cells of Graafian Follicles Perifused with Large and Small Doses of LH

Oocytes in developing graafian follicles remain arrested at the prophase stage of meiosis I until the follicles are exposed to the preovulatory LH surge. The LH surge triggers the resumption of meiosis and the oocytes progress to the metaphase stage of meiosis II through the process of oocyte maturation.