cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Roles of Necrosis, Apoptosis, and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in S-(1,2-Dichlorovinyl)-L-cysteine Sulfoxide-Induced Cytotoxicity in Primary Cultures of Human Renal Proximal Tubular Cells

S -(1,2-Dichlorovinyl)-l-cysteine (DCVC) is the penultimate nephrotoxic metabolite of the environmental contaminant trichloroethylene. Although metabolism of DCVC by the cysteine conjugate β-lyase is the most studied bioactivation pathway, DCVC may also be metabolized by the flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMO) to yield DCVC sulfoxide (DCVCS). Renal cellular injury induced by DCVCS was investigated in primary cultures of human proximal tubular (hPT) cells by assessment of time- and concentration-dependent effects on cellular morphology, acute cellular necrosis, apoptosis, mitochondrial function, and cellular glutathione (GSH) status. Confluent hPT cells incubated with as little as 10 μM DCVCS for 24 h exhibited morphological changes, although at least 100 μM DCVCS was required to produce marked changes. Acute cellular necrosis did not occur until 48 h with at least 200 μM DCVCS, indicating that this is a high-dose, late response. The extent of necrosis was similar to that with DCVC. In contrast, apoptosis occurred as early as 1 h with as little as 10 μM DCVCS and the extent of apoptosis was much less than that with DCVC. Mitochondrial function was maintained with DCVCS concentrations up to 100 μM, consistent with hPT cells only being competent to undergo apoptosis at early time points and relatively low concentrations. Marked depletion (>50%) of cellular GSH content was only observed with 500 μM DCVCS. These results, combined with previous studies showing protection from DCVC-induced necrosis and apoptosis by the FMO inhibitor methimazole, suggest that formation of DCVCS plays a significant role in trichloroethylene-induced renal cellular injury in hPT cells.
Evolution of Severe and Nonsevere Convection Inferred from GOES-Derived Cloud Properties

AbstractGeostationary satellites [e.g., the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)] provide high temporal resolution of cloud development and motion, which is essential to the study of many mesoscale phenomena, including thunderstorms. Initial research on thunderstorm growth with geostationary imagery focused on the mature stages of storm evolution, whereas more recent research on satellite-observed storm growth has concentrated on convective initiation, often defined arbitrarily as the presence of a given radar echo threshold. This paper seeks to link the temporal trends in robust GOES-derived cloud properties with the future occurrence of severe-weather radar signatures during the development phase of thunderstorm evolution, which includes convective initiation. Two classes of storms (severe and nonsevere) are identified and tracked over time in satellite imagery, providing distributions of satellite growth rates for each class. The relationship between the temporal trends in satellite...
Sequential switching series resonant converter with phase shift control

Properties of a two-section phase-shift-controlled sequential switching series-resonant converter with (and without) mutually coupled tank inductors are discussed. Results of computer simulation and prototype evaluation show that the low semiconductor switching stresses, typical of all resonant converters, are further reduced in this topology, and that highly reliable operation is indicated. Comparisons with conventional phase-shift-controlled topologies (i.e. without sequential switching) and with a PWM series-resonant converter are also presented. >
Diabetes and Dyslipidemia

Numerous prospective cohort studies have indicated that diabetes mellitus is associated with a three- to fourfold increase in risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) (1–3). The increase in risk is particularly evident in both younger age groups and in women. Women with type 2 diabetes appear to lose a great deal of the protection that characterizes nondiabetic females. Furthermore, patients with diabetes have a 50% greater in-hospital mortality and a twofold increased rate of death within 2 years of surviving a myocardial infarction. Overall, CHD is the leading cause of death in individuals with diabetes who are over the age of 35 years.
SeaWinds radiometer (SRad) brightness temperature calibration and validation

NASA's SeaWinds scatterometer, on Japan's ADEOS-II satellite, is a special purpose radar remote sensor used to measure ocean surface wind vector (speed and direction). The paper presents a novel use of this instrument as a SeaWinds radiometer (SRad) to measure the ocean microwave emissions (brightness temperature). The derivation of the SRad radiometric transfer function is presented, which is used to calculate the apparent brightness temperature collected simultaneously with the radar scattering measurement. Results are presented for the on-orbit calibration and validation of the SRad brightness temperature algorithm performed using simultaneous measurements from the advanced microwave scanning radiometer (AMSR) also on the ADEOS-II.
Suspending Damage: A Letter to Communities.

In this open letter, Eve Tuck calls on communities, researchers, and educators to reconsider the long-term impact of "damage-centered" research—research that intends to document peoples' pain and brokenness to hold those in power accountable for their oppression. This kind of research operates with a flawed theory of change: it is often used to leverage reparations or resources for marginalized communities yet simultaneously reinforces and reinscribes a one-dimensional notion of these people as depleted, ruined, and hopeless. Tuck urges communities to institute a moratorium on damage-centered research to reformulate the ways research is framed and conducted and to reimagine how findings might be used by, for, and with communities.
Joseph Harold Greenberg (1915‐2001)

Joseph H. Greenberg was long and widely admired among social and behavioral scientists as an important voice of linguistics, achieving many "firsts" of recognition as a scholar. Among these, he served magisterially as the very first Distinguished Lecturer of the American Anthropological Association during the tumultuous 69th (San Diego) Annual Meeting of 1970. During a career of more than 60 productive years, he flourished among anthropologists, although he was principally a library linguist-the New York Public Library and, later, Stanford's Green Library were his domains-whose scholarly work both drew on and spoke powerfully to anthropological issues and approaches in a number of disciplinary fields. Succumbing to pancreatic cancer on May 7, 2001, at the time of his death Greenberg was the Ray Lyman Wilbur Professor Emeritus of the Social Sciences at Stanford
Connexin43 (GJA1) is required in the population of dividing cells during fin regeneration

Abstract In zebrafish, mutations in the gap junction gene connexin43 lead to short bony fin ray segments that give rise to the short fin phenotype. The sofb123 mutant exhibits fins that are half the length of wild-type fins and have reduced levels of cx43 mRNA. We find that sofb123 regenerating fins exhibit reduced levels of cell proliferation. Interestingly, the number of dividing cells per unit length of fin growth is similar between wild-type and mutant fins, suggesting that the number of cells that enter the cell cycle is specifically affected in sofb123. Expression of cx43 is identified in mitotic cells, which further suggests that Cx43 may contribute to establishing or maintaining the population of dividing cells. Indeed, missense alleles exhibiting high or low levels of gap junctional communication reveal a correlation between defects in direct cell–cell communication, cell proliferation, and segment length. Finally, targeted gene knockdown of cx43 in adult regenerating fins recapitulates the sofb123 phenotype, revealing that the loss of Cx43 is sufficient to reduce both cell proliferation and segment length. We hypothesize that the level of gap junctional intercellular communication among dividing cells regulates the level of cell proliferation and ultimately regulates bone growth.
Photolabeling studies of polymer–cell surface interaction. Evaluation of 3‐[(4‐azidophenyl)dithio]propionic acid as a polymer‐bound photolabel

3-[(4-Azidophenyl)dithio]propionic acid (1a) was prepared in four steps from 4,4′-diamino-diphenyldisulfide. Attachment of 1a to poly[(3-hydroxypropyl)oxirane] was accomplished under very mild conditions via an acid-catalyzed caarbodiimide coupling. Photolysis of polymer-bound 1a with an electronic flash unit proceeded without detectable disulfide bond cleavage. Mild reduction of the disulfide bond of an analogue of 1a which carried no azido group confirmed that 1a should be useful in photolabeling studies of polymer–cell surface interaction.
Targeted therapeutic nanotubes influence the viscoelasticity of cancer cells to overcome drug resistance.

Resistance to chemotherapy is the primary cause of treatment failure in over 90% of cancer patients in the clinic. Research in nanotechnology-based therapeutic alternatives has helped provide innovative and promising strategies to overcome multidrug resistance (MDR). By targeting CD44-overexpressing MDR cancer cells, we have developed in a single-step a self-assembled, self-targetable, therapeutic semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube (sSWCNT) drug delivery system that can deliver chemotherapeutic agents to both drug-sensitive OVCAR8 and resistant OVCAR8/ADR cancer cells. The novel nanoformula with a cholanic acid-derivatized hyaluronic acid (CAHA) biopolymer wrapped around a sSWCNT and loaded with doxorubicin (DOX), CAHA-sSWCNT-DOX, is much more effective in killing drug-resistant cancer cells compared to the free DOX and phospholipid PEG (PL-PEG)-modified sSWCNT formula, PEG-sSWCNT-DOX. The CAHA-sSWCNT-DOX affects the viscoelastic property more than free DOX and PL-PEG-sSWCNT-DOX, which in turn a...
Interactions of Behaviorally Handicapped Children: Functional Effects of Peer Social Initiations

The two experiments described in this article represent an attempt to functionally analyze the effects of specific peer social initiations on the behavior of withdrawn, handicapped children. The fo...
Boundary formulations for sensitivities of three-dimensional stress invariants

The direct, singular, boundary element analysis (BEA) formulation has been shown to provide a basis for a computationally efficient and accurate shape structural design sensitivity analysis (DSA) approach for three-dimensional solid objects. Within the boundary element analysis context, the theoretical formulation for sensitivities of important stress-related quantities including principal and deviatoric stresses, von Mises, maximum shear, and other stress invariants are presented, both for the surface as well as the interior of a continuum structure. Numerical results are given to demonstrate the accuracy of this approach.
Nanometer-scale shock-front structure in metals

Molecular dynamics shock wave simulations have been performed, which for the first time include a realistic many-body description of the atomic interactions. The structural instabilities observed in the shock-front structure are dramatically influenced by the many-body effects of these atomic interactions. 11 refs., 2 figs.
Outcomes of Patients With Hepatitis B Who Developed Antiviral Resistance While on the Liver Transplant Waiting List

Background & Aims: Lamivudine has been shown to improve liver disease and survival of hepatitis B virus patients on the orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) waiting list, but liver failure might worsen in patients with drug resistance. Use of antiviral salvage therapy might decrease this risk. Methods: We analyzed data from patients enrolled in the NIH HBV OLT cohort to study the effects of pretransplant antiviral therapy on transplant-free survival and survival without transplant. We also compared the clinical outcomes of those who did or did not develop antiviral failure (virologic breakthrough or genotypic resistance) while awaiting transplant. Results: One hundred twenty-two eligible patients received antiviral therapy before OLT and were followed for a median of 40.5 months (range, 0.4–123.0 months) after initiation of antiviral therapy. Forty-four (36.1%) patients developed antiviral failure; all had lamivudine monotherapy as initial treatment. Forty-two patients started salvage therapy a median of 5 months after lamivudine failure; the median Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score was 12. Twenty-one (50%) patients had a full response to salvage therapy. Eleven (26.2%) patients had a suboptimal virologic response but remained clinically compensated. Antiviral failure was not a significant predictor of transplant or death (P = .09) or death without transplant (P = .39). Multivariate predictors of transplant or death were high MELD score, hepatocellular carcinoma, and low albumin. High MELD score and low albumin were predictors of death without transplant. Conclusions: Antiviral failure in patients with HBV on the OLT waiting list did not impair clinical outcome if recognized early and if salvage therapy is promptly initiated.
Type-Aware Web Service Composition Using Boolean Satisfiability Solver

The goal of the Web Service Composition (WSC) problem is to find an optimal "composition" of web services to satisfy a given request using their syntactic and/or semantic features, when no single service satisfies it. In this paper, in particular, we study the WSC problem from semantic aspects, exploiting the supertype-subtype relationship among parameters, and propose a novel solutionbased on techniques for the boolean satisfiability problem (SAT). Given a set of web service descriptions and a requirement web service, we reduce the WSC problem into a reachability problem on a state-transition system, and then we find the shortest path for the reachability problem, which is amount to the optimal composition. A preliminary experiment using 7 examples reveals that our proposal can find optimal compositions of web services efficiently.
Enhanced terahertz detection via ErAs:GaAs nanoisland superlattices

We demonstrate enhanced terahertz detection using photoconductive antennas fabricated on superlattices of self-assembled ErAs nanoislands and GaAs. Low-temperature GaAs and radiation-damaged silicon-on-sapphire based detectors are compared in terms of bandwidth, signal-to-noise ratio, and optical efficiency.
Oscillatory Bottom Boundary Layers

A turbulence closure model is applied to the case of an oscillating boundary layer; model calculations compare favorably with data. Wave-induced oscillations can be temporally resolved in a one-dimensional model but not in three-dimensional ocean models, and, indeed, statistical wave models, working in consort with ocean models, can only provide information on expected wave periods and amplitudes. Therefore, in this paper, a way has been found to parameterize the effects of bottom flow oscillations; it entails augmenting the turbulence shear production as a function of amplitude and period of the oscillation, the bottom shear stress of the mean current flow, and the angle between the directions of the oscillations and the mean flow. The more conventional method of solving for an apparent wall roughness is also investigated in an appendix.
Arab-Jewish gap in life expectancy in Israel.

Background: Studies about the health status of ethnic minorities in the Middle East are rare. This article examines changes in the life expectancy gap during 1970–2010 between the Arab–Palestinian minority and the Jewish majority in Israel, a persistent gap that has widened over the last 20 years. It examines the gap in a period over which the minority group was undergoing an epidemiological transition and demonstrates consequences of the transition on changes in the main causes of death contributing to the life expectancy gap. Methods: Decomposition methods estimate the contribution of specific age groups and causes of death to the total gap in life expectancy at any given year and changes in these contributions over the studied period. Results: The contribution of mortality differentials at ages 45 has been gradually growing reaching >70% of the total gap. For both males and females, trends in cancer and diabetes mortality differentials contributed to widening the gap among the elderly. Trends in heart mortality lead to increasing the gap among males but to decreasing it among females. Conclusions: While differences in infant and child mortality have declined, old-age (>45) mortality differentials have emerged and have been gradually widening. These findings calls for a special attention to the various factors responsible for the widening mortality gap including social inequality between Arabs and Jews and higher levels of smoking and obesity among the Arab population.
Razing San Francisco: The 1906 disaster as a natural experiment in urban redevelopment

Abstract Urban developers face frictions in the process of redeveloping land, the timing of which depends on many economic factors. This timing can be disrupted by a large shock that destroys thousands of buildings, which could then have substantial short-run and long-run effects. Studying the impact of an urban disaster, therefore, can provide unique insight into urban dynamics. Exploiting the 1906 San Francisco Fire as an exogenous reduction in the city’s building stock, this paper examines residential density across razed and unburned areas between 1900 and 2011. In prominent residential neighborhoods, density increased at least 60 percent in razed areas relative to unburned areas by 1914, and a large density differential still exists today. These outcomes suggest that thriving cities face substantial redevelopment frictions in the form of durable buildings and that large shocks can greatly alter the evolution of urban land-use outcomes over time.
Highly Stretchable Fully-Printed CNT-Based Electrochemical Sensors and Biofuel Cells: Combining Intrinsic and Design-Induced Stretchability.

We present the first example of an all-printed, inexpensive, highly stretchable CNT-based electrochemical sensor and biofuel cell array. The synergistic effect of utilizing specially tailored screen printable stretchable inks that combine the attractive electrical and mechanical properties of CNTs with the elastomeric properties of polyurethane as a binder along with a judiciously designed free-standing serpentine pattern enables the printed device to possess two degrees of stretchability. Owing to these synergistic design and nanomaterial-based ink effects, the device withstands extremely large levels of strains (up to 500% strain) with negligible effect on its structural integrity and performance. This represents the highest stretchability offered by a printed device reported to date. Extensive electrochemical characterization of the printed device reveal that repeated stretching, torsional twisting, and indenting stress has negligible impact on its electrochemical properties. The wide-range applicabili...
Disparities in acute sepsis care: a systematic review

Disparities in the incidence and outcomes of sepsis have been documented in observational studies but little is known about how these occur and how we might prevent them. Our objective is to identify disparities by race, language, gender, socioeconomic status, insurance status and geography in acute sepsis care in emergency department (ED) or ICU settings in the published literature.
Bilateral Idiopathic Solitary Granuloma of the Uveal Tract: Diagnosis and Treatment.

We present a case of sequential bilateral idiopathic solitary granuloma of the uveal tract in a 51 year-old woman, who underwent enucleation in one eye due to complications of this condition, but was then successfully treated in the contralateral eye with anti-tumor necrosis-alpha therapy followed shortly by intraocular steroids and a steroid-releasing implant. Her visual acuity at its worst was 20/200 due to vitreous haze and cystoid macular edema, but then stabilized after successful treatment with a final visual acuity of 20/25 in her only seeing eye at 1 year followup. This represents the first known biopsy-proven case of bilateral idiopathic solitary granuloma, which additionally, has responded favorably to treatment.
SUPPRESSION OF SEX-RATIO MEIOTIC DRIVE AND THE MAINTENANCE OF Y-CHROMOSOME POLYMORPHISM IN DROSOPHILA.

Like several other species of Drosophila, D. quinaria is polymorphic for X-chromosome meiotic drive; matings involving males that carry a "sex-ratio" X chromosome (XSR ) result in the production of strongly female-biased offspring sex ratios (Jaenike 1996). A survey of isofemale lines of D. quinaria from several populations reveals that there is genetic variation for partial suppression of this meiotic drive. Crossing experiments show that there is Y-linked, and probably autosomal, variation for suppression of drive. Y-linked suppressors of X-chromosome drive have now been described in several species of Diptera. I develop a simple model for the maintenance of Y-chromosome polymorphism in species polymorphic for X-linked meiotic drive. One interesting feature of this model is that, if there is a stable Y-chromosome polymorphism, then the equilibrium frequency of the standard and sex-ratio X chromosomes is determined solely by Y-chromosome parameters, not by the fitness effects of the different X chromosomes on their carriers. This model suggests that Y-chromosome polymorphism may be easier to maintain than previously thought, and I hypothesize that karyotypic variation in Y chromosomes will be found to be associated with suppression of sex-ratio meiotic drive in other species of Drosophila.
Identifying treatment response subgroups for adolescent cannabis use

Abstract Introduction Outpatient treatments for adolescent substance use demonstrate clinically meaningful reductions in substance use, but effect sizes are often low, relapse rates are high, and response to treatment is heterogeneous across participants. The present study utilized cluster analysis to identify subgroups of treatment response among adolescents from three randomized clinical trials evaluating behavioral treatments for substance use. Methods Analyses were performed on a sample of 194 adolescents (average age = 15.8, 81.4% male) who reported cannabis use during the past 30 days or had a cannabis-positive urine test. Clustering was based on percent days cannabis use at 5 time periods (intake, end of treatment, 3, 6, and 9 months post-treatment). Participants in the identified subgroups were then compared across a number of variables not involved in the clustering (e.g., substance use, demographics, and psychopathology) to test for predictors of cluster membership. Results Four clusters were identified based on statistical indices and visual inspection of the resulting cluster profiles: Low Use Responders (n = 109, low baseline level, sustained decrease); High Use Responders (n = 45, high baseline level, sustained decrease); Relapsers (n = 25, medium baseline level, decrease, rapid increase post-treatment); and Non-Responders (n = 15; consistently high level of use). Cannabis dependence, mean cannabis uses per day, and socioeconomic status were predictive of cluster membership. Conclusions Cluster analysis empirically identified different patterns of treatment response over time for adolescent outpatients. Investigating homogenous subgroups of participants provides insight into study outcomes, and variables associated with clusters have potential utility to identify participants that may benefit from more intensive treatment.
Nonspecificity of the protamine test for disseminated intravascular coagulation.

Protamine tests were performed on 259 patients in whom intravascular coagulation was thought not to be present. There were 44 (17%) positive tests. Most of the patients were in the postoperative state and in the majority of them a mechanism for increased fibrin monomer formation was postulated. It is concluded that the protamine test has great sensitivity, not specificity, for the diagnosis of the entity of disseminated intravascular coagulation.
Low-overhead constructions for the fault-tolerant Toffoli gate

We present two constructions for the Toffoli gate which substantially reduce resource costs in fault-tolerant quantum computing. The first contribution is a Toffoli gate requiring Clifford operations plus only four $T=\mathrm{exp}(i\ensuremath{\pi}{\ensuremath{\sigma}}^{z}/8)$ gates, whereas conventional circuits require seven $T$ gates. An extension of this result is that adding $n$ control inputs to a controlled gate requires $4n$ $T$ gates, whereas the best prior result was $8n$. The second contribution is a quantum circuit for the Toffoli gate which can detect a single ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}^{z}$ error occurring with probability $p$ in any one of eight $T$ gates required to produce the Toffoli gate. By postselecting circuits that did not detect an error, the posterior error probability is suppressed to lowest order from $4p$ (or $7p$, without the first contribution) to $28{p}^{2}$ for this enhanced construction. In fault-tolerant quantum computing, this construction can reduce the overhead for producing logical Toffoli gates by an order of magnitude.
Nonpuberal estrus in beef heifers.

The frequency of occurrence of behavioral estrus without subsequent development of functional luteal tissue (termed nonpuberal estrus, NPE), was determined in 43 Simmental X Hereford-Brahman heifers. Blood samples were collected weekly from the start of the study to first behavioral estrus and then daily from d 1 (d 0 = estrus) through d 14 following first and subsequently observed estrous behaviors. All blood samples were analyzed for serum progesterone (P4) concentrations by radioimmunoassay. More heifers (62.8%) exhibited NPE than had luteal development after their first behavioral estrus (37.2%). There was a tendency for fewer light-weight heifers (less than or equal to 240 kg at the start of the experiment) to exhibit a puberal first estrus compared with the heavy-weight (greater than 240 kg at the start of the experiment) heifers (31.2% vs 68.8%, respectively; P = .12). Heifers that had a puberal first estrus were older (376 +/- 12 d vs 334 +/- 9 d, P less than .05) compared with heifers that had NPE. Weight at first behavioral estrus was similar between heifers that had a puberal first estrus and those that had NPE (298 +/- 8 kg and 289 +/- 6 kg, respectively). More heifers that had a puberal first estrus also had an elevation in serum P4 concentrations before that first estrus (64.3% vs 20.0%, P less than .05), and the serum P4 elevation was greater (2.5 +/- .4 ng vs 1.2 +/- .1 ng, P less than .05) than heifers that had NPE. We have concluded from these results that NPE is a common occurrence in heifers approaching puberty.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The inhibition in vivo of lipoprotein lipase (clearing-factor lipase) activity by triton WR-1339.

1. Lipoprotein lipase activity was measured in heart homogenates and in heparin-releasable and non-releasable fractions of isolated perfused rat hearts, after the intravenous injection of Triton WR-1339. 2. In homogenates of hearts from starved, rats, lipoprotein lipase activity was significantly inhibited (P less than 0.001) 2h after the injection of Triton. This inhibition was restricted exclusively to the heparin-releasable fraction. Maximum inhibition occurred 30 min after the injection and corresponded to about 60% of the lipoprotein lipase activity that could be released from the heart during 30 s perfusion with heparin. 3. Hearts of Triton-treated starved rats were unable to take up and utilize 14C-labelled chylomicron triacylglycerol fatty acids, even though about 40% of heparin-releasable activity remained in the hearts. 4. It is concluded that Triton selectively inhibits the functional lipoprotein lipase, i.e. the enzyme directly involved in the hydrolysis of circulating plasma triacylglycerols. 5. Lipoprotein lipase activities measured in homogenates of soleus muscle of starved rats and adipose tissue of fed rats were decreased by 25 and 39% respectively after Triton injection. It is concluded that, by analogy with the heart, these Triton-inhibitable activities correspond to the functional lipoprotein lipase.
Automatic Video Scene Segmentation to Separate Script and Recognition

Text or character detection in images or videos is a challenging problem to achieve video contents retrieval. In this paper work we propose to improved VTDAR (Video Text Detection and Recognition) Template Matching algorithm that applied for the automatic extraction of text from image and video frames. Video Optical Character Recognition using template matching is a system model that is useful to recognize the character, upper, lower alphabet, digits& special character by comparing two images of the alphabet. The objectives of this system model are to develop a model for the Video Text Detection and Recognition system and to implement the template matching algorithm in developing the system model. The template matching techniques are more sensitive to font and size variations of the characters than the feature classification methods. This system tested the 50 videos with 1250 video key-frames and text line 1530. In this system 92.15% of the Character gets recognized successfully using Texture-based approaches to automatic detection, segmentation and recognition of visual text occurrences in images and video frames.
LiSrGaF6:Cr3+—a new laser material of the colquiriite structure

In our search for more efficient Cr-doped laser materials, we discovered the promising colquiriite family of Cr3+ lasers, which thus far includes LiCaAlF6:Cr3+ and LiSrAlF6:Cr3+ (Cr:LiCAF and Cr:LiSAF, respectively).1 This Cr3+ family exhibits favorable laser properties in that high slope efficiencies have been attained in both laser-pumped and flashlamp-pumped laser configurations.2-4 These materials also have adequate thermomechanical properties and low thermal lensing.5 In this paper we report laser action for LiSrGaF6:Cr3+ (Cr:LiSGAF) in the laser-pumped laser configuration by using a sample of low-passive loss material obtained by Czochralski growth technique. Cr:LiSGAF is the gallium analog to Cr:LiSAF.
Impaired Alloantigen Presenting Activity of Cord Blood Nucleated Cells.

Transplantation of HLA-mismatched cord blood (CB) nucleated cells has limited risk of severe acute graft-versus-host disease and graft rejection. This may depend on naive T cells not yet exposed to many antigens and on immature antigen-presenting cells (APC) not delivering appropriate signals to allogeneic T cells. In order to test the APC activity of human circulating CB cells in-vitro, we initially used irradiated CB mononuclear cells (MNC) or immunomagnetically selected CD34+ cells, CD133+ cells, or CD14+ monocytes to stimulate the proliferative response of incompatible blood T cells in mixed leukocyte culture (MLC). CB MNC failed to induce allogeneic T cell proliferation, while CD34+ and CD133+ progenitors or CD14+ monocytes induced potent T cell alloresponses. Nevertheless, since allogeneic T cell response was not restored after depletion of CD3+ cells in the CB, nor the add-back of irradiated CB MNC to CD34+ or CD14+ stimulators inhibited allo-T cells, a direct suppressive effect of CB MNC was excluded. Allogeneic peripheral blood cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses were not induced after 7 days of stimulation with irradiated CB MNC, although after 4 weekly rechallenges with CB MNC, on average a 23% lysis of antigen-specific CB PHA-blasts was observed at the highest effector:target ratio (50:1). To test the tolerogenic potential of CB MNC, T cells initially exposed to CB MNC were rechallenged in secondary MLC with CB MNC, or CD34+ cells, or monocyte-derived dendritic cells (Mo-DC) generated in liquid culture with GM-CSF and IL-4. Allogeneic T cells were still unresponsive upon rechallenge with CB MNC, but proliferated upon 3 days of restimulation with CD34+ cells or Mo-DC from the same CB. Surprisingly, the supernatant of these latter MLCs did inhibit completely a 3rd party MLC. Instead, the supernatant of blood T cells that had been activated by CB CD34+ cells or Mo-DC both in primary and secondary MLC did not. These results show an impaired allo-APC activity of CB MNC but not CB CD34+ cells, and suggest that T cells releasing immunosuppressive cytokines may be activated by CB MNC and then expanded by a second more potent stimulation with professional APC. This hypothesis could explain the sustained engraftment of HLA-mismatched CB stem cell transplants in humans. Based on these results, the in-vivo or ex-vivo downregulation of T cell alloreactivity induced by CB MNC will be tested in experimental models of stem cell, as well as solid organ transplantation.
TRIESTE: A Trusted Radio Infrastructure for Enforcing SpecTrum Etiquettes

There has been considerable effort directed at developing "cognitive radio" (CR) platforms, which will expose the lower-layers of the protocol stack to researchers, developers and the "public". In spite of the great potential of such a radio platform, such "public" development threatens the success of these platforms: the proliferation of such wireless platforms, plus the open-source nature of their supporting software, is powerful but also dangerous. It is easily conceivable that inexpensive and widely available cognitive radios could become an ideal platform for abuse since the lowest layers of the wireless protocol stack are accessible to programmers. In order to regulate the future radio environment, this paper presents a framework, known as TRIESTE (Trusted Radio Infrastructure for Enforcing SpecTrum Etiquettes), which can ensure that radio devices are only able to access/use the spectrum in a manner that conforms to their privileges. In TRIESTE, two levels of etiquette enforcement mechanisms are employed. The first is an on-board mechanism that ensures trustworthy radio operation by restricting any potential violation operation from accessing the radio through a secure component located in each CR. External to individual cognitive radios, an infrastructure consisting of spectrum sensors monitors the radio environment, and reports measurements to spectrum police agents that punish CRs if violations are detected.
Clinical Chemistry Residency Training Program at the Oklahoma University Medical Center.

At the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Department of Pathology, we view excellence in training in clinical chemistry as an important element of our highly regarded clinical pathology residency training program. Over the years, this program has evolved into essential components that overall have proven to be most effective in producing high-quality clinical pathologists. These components are described below. ### Clinical Chemistry Training Overview Our chemistry resident teaching rotation consists of 14-week blocks (Table 1) that span 3 separate months of training in chemistry as well as other areas of the automated core laboratory, including phlebotomy, specimen processing and receiving, point-of-care testing, toxicology, endocrinology, hematology, coagulation, urinalysis, and specimen referral testing. The 3 separate months include introductory training (first-year residents), intermediate training (second-year residents), and advanced training (third- and fourth-year residents) in an effort to make our program progressive and therefore consistent with Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) (1) accreditation requirements. This progressive training “journey” allows a resident to gradually assume the role of a fully competent Laboratory Director. View this table: Table 1. Topics covered in a 14-week clinical chemistry residency training. The textbooks used for the chemistry rotation are The Professional Practice in Clinical Chemistry: A Review (2), Contemporary Practice in Clinical …
A novel nonsense mutation in androgen receptor confers resistance to CYP17 inhibitor treatment in prostate cancer

// Dong Han 1 , Shuai Gao 1, 2 , Kevin Valencia 1 , Jude Owiredu 1 , Wanting Han 1 , Eric de Waal 3 , Jill A. Macoska 1 , Changmeng Cai 1, 2 1 Center for Personalized Cancer Therapy, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, Massachusetts 02125, USA 2 Hematology-Oncology Division and Cancer Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA 3 Biology Department, University of Suffolk, Boston, Massachusetts 02108, USA Correspondence to: Changmeng Cai, email: changmeng.cai@umb.edu Keywords: prostate cancer, androgen receptor, androgen receptor mutation, CYP17 inhibitor, abiraterone Received: September 14, 2016 Accepted: December 13, 2016 Published: December 27, 2016 ABSTRACT The standard treatment for prostate cancer (PCa) is androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) that blocks transcriptional activity of androgen receptor (AR). However, ADT invariably leads to the development of castration-resistant PCa (CRPC) with restored activity of AR. CRPC can be further treated with CYP17 inhibitors to block androgen synthesis pathways, but most patients still relapse after a year of such treatment. The mechanisms that drive this progression are not fully understood, but AR activity, at least in a subset of cancers, appears to be restored again. Importantly, AR mutations are more frequently detected in this type of cancer. By analyzing tumor biopsy mRNA from CRPC patients who had developed resistance to CYP17 inhibitor treatment, we have identified a novel nonsense mutation (Q784*) at the ligand binding domain (LBD) of AR, which produces a C-terminal truncated AR protein that lacks intact LBD. This AR-Q784* mutant is transcriptionally inactive, but it is constitutively expressed in the nucleus and can bind to DNA in the absence of androgen. Significantly, our results show that AR-Q784* can heterodimerize with, and enhance the transcriptional activity of, full-length AR. Moreover, expressing AR-Q784* in an AR positive PCa cell line enhances the chromatin binding of endogenous AR and the recruitment of p300 coactivator under the low androgen condition, leading to increased cell growth. This activity of AR-Q784* mimics the function of some AR splice variants, indicating that CYP17 inhibitor treatment in CRPC may select for LBD-truncated forms of AR to restore AR signaling.
Interpretation of the precision matrix and its application in estimating sparse brain connectivity during sleep spindles from human electrocorticography recordings

The correlation method from brain imaging has been used to estimate functional connectivity in the human brain. However, brain regions might show very high correlation even when the two regions are not directly connected due to the strong interaction of the two regions with common input from a third region. One previously proposed solution to this problem is to use a sparse regularized inverse covariance matrix or precision matrix SRPM assuming that the connectivity structure is sparse. This method yields partial correlations to measure strong direct interactions between pairs of regions while simultaneously removing the influence of the rest of the regions, thus identifying regions that are conditionally independent. To test our methods, we first demonstrated conditions under which the SRPM method could indeed find the true physical connection between a pair of nodes for a spring-mass example and an RC circuit example. The recovery of the connectivity structure using the SRPM method can be explained by energy models using the Boltzmann distribution. We then demonstrated the application of the SRPM method for estimating brain connectivity during stage 2 sleep spindles from human electrocorticography ECoG recordings using an electrode array. The ECoG recordings that we analyzed were from a 32-year-old male patient with long-standing pharmaco-resistant left temporal lobe complex partial epilepsy. Sleep spindles were automatically detected using delay differential analysis and then analyzed with SRPM and the Louvain method for community detection. We found spatially localized brain networks within and between neighboring cortical areas during spindles, in contrast to the case when sleep spindles were not present.
Influential Spheres: Examining Actors’ Perceptions of Education Governance

Many layers of education governance press upon U.S. schools, so we separated state actors into those internal to and those external to the system. In the process, we unpacked the traditional state–local dichotomy. Using interview data (n = 45) from six case-study states, we analyzed local leaders’, state-internal actors’, and state-external players’ perceptions of implementation flexibility and hindrances across several policy areas. We observed how interviewees’ spheres of influence linked to which policy areas they viewed as salient or not, and their relative emphases on who and what within state education systems contributed to implementation flexibility and/or hindrances, and how these factors played out. We found important differences by sphere: the local sphere produced the most coherent findings, and state-internal was least coherent. We discuss implications for education governance research, applications for practitioners and policymakers, and a methodological contribution.
US farm workers: What drives their job retention and work time allocation decisions?:

This article investigates the time allocation choices of US workers between farm work and other job alternatives. Results indicate that green card farm workers tend to allocate fewer workweeks to farm employment than citizens and undocumented workers, in favour of better opportunities in the non-farm sector. There is evidence of an assimilation effect, whereby undocumented workers also tend to re-allocate their time from farm to non-farm employment as their residence tenure increases, even though they experience constrained mobility and visibility during periods of strict immigration control. In the context of employers’ violations of the existing labour laws that currently protect even the rights of undocumented workers, such turnover decisions seem justified. The findings raise concerns about whether any governmental effort to legalise the immigration status of such workers would reduce farm job turnover rates and increase farm employment retention, so long as labour standards are not enforced. Moreover...
Abstract P270: Resin-Assisted Capture Reveals Unique Targets of Oxidation in Ischemic Preconditioning

Proper maintenance of cellular thiol redox status is critical in the regulation of many processes that dictate normal myocardial function. Cell death signaling, in particular, is especially susceptible to alterations in thiol redox state. Myocardial ischemic preconditioning (IPC) is a redox sensitive process that is thought to provide protection from ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury, in part, via reversible oxidative signaling. Protein S -nitrosylation (SNO) is a reversible, thiol-based modification that we and others have shown to provide cardioprotection by modulating the activity of target proteins and by shielding cysteine residues from irreversible oxidation. Additional thiol-based modifications are also thought to play an important role in cardioprotection, and these include disulfide bridges and glutathiolation. Therefore, it is of interest to identify these redox sensitive targets that are unique to IPC. Langendorff perfused mouse hearts were subjected to various perfusion protocols (control, IPC, IR, IPC-IR) and homogenized. Specific sites of oxidation were identified using oxidation-resin assisted capture (Ox-RAC) with mass spectrometry. Consistent with a role for oxidative signaling in cardioprotection, Ox-RAC analysis identified 56 proteins that were oxidized with IPC, but not IR or IPC-IR. These proteins are likely to be reversibly oxidized, as evidenced by the fact that they are oxidized with IPC, but are no longer oxidized following reperfusion (IPC-IR). These proteins may represent important targets in cardioprotective signaling and include F-actin-capping protein β, Egl nine homolog 1, and numerous members of the heat shock family (HSP60, HSP70, HSP90β). Heat shock proteins are important in the cellular stress response and have been shown to play an important role in cardioprotection. Pathway analysis also revealed that more than 30% (19 of 56) of the proteins uniquely oxidized following IPC were involved with cell death pathways. These proteins include Aminoacyl tRNA synthase complex-interacting multifunctional protein 1, Charged multivesicular body protein 5, and Lamin-A/C. These results indicate that the cardioprotective effects of IPC may occur, in part, through the reversible oxidation of key protein targets.
Photochemical alteration of organic carbon draining permafrost soils shifts microbial metabolic pathways and stimulates respiration

In sunlit waters, photochemical alteration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) impacts the microbial respiration of DOC to CO2. This coupled photochemical and biological degradation of DOC is especially critical for carbon budgets in the Arctic, where thawing permafrost soils increase opportunities for DOC oxidation to CO2 in surface waters, thereby reinforcing global warming. Here we show how and why sunlight exposure impacts microbial respiration of DOC draining permafrost soils. Sunlight significantly increases or decreases microbial respiration of DOC depending on whether photo-alteration produces or removes molecules that native microbial communities used prior to light exposure. Using high-resolution chemical and microbial approaches, we show that rates of DOC processing by microbes are likely governed by a combination of the abundance and lability of DOC exported from land to water and produced by photochemical processes, and the capacity and timescale that microbial communities have to adapt to metabolize photo-altered DOC. The role of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) photo-alteration in the microbial respiration of DOC to CO2 is unclear. Here, the authors show that the impact of this mechanism depends on whether photo-alteration of DOC produces or removes molecules used by native microbial communities prior to light exposure.
Escherichia coli as a model organism for systems metabolic engineering

Abstract Societal demands for fuels and chemical products can be met using microbial biofactories, but this requires an increased understanding of microbial systems. To increase supply of these fuels and chemicals, the design-build-test cycle of metabolic engineering needs to be faster and more programmatic. However, this cycle is often hampered by a limited understanding of the intricate relationships between environments, genes, transcripts, proteins, metabolites, and fluxes—even for model organisms such as Escherichia coli. The developing field of systems biology is well-suited for identifying these global interactions to enable microbes, such as E. coli—arguably the most widely used and relatively well understood—to be rapidly developed into chemical production strains. Recent systems biology tools including genome-scale modeling, ‘omics datasets, and adaptive laboratory evolution will be detailed in this review along with examples of how these tools have been successfully used to metabolically engineer E. coli for chemical production.
[Experiences with tibia operations of gonararthrosis (author's transl)].

Von Oktober 1970 bis Dezember 1972 haben wir 112 Tibiakopfosteotomien bei 87 Patienten (Alter 30–79 Jahre) mit medialer oder lateraler Kniearthrose (Genu valgum, Crus varum) durchgefuhrt. 33 Operierte konnten wir nachuntersuchen, 43 durch einen Fragebogen erfassen. In ca. 77% der Falle war das Operationsergebnis gut bis sehr gut. Fugt man noch die mit befriedigend eingestuften 4% hinzu, so betragt die Gesamtquote der positiven Ergebnisse 81%. Die unbefriedigenden Resultate sind zum grosen Teil auf eine anfanglich ungenugende Indikationsstellung zuruckzufuhren. Schwere Komplikationen sahen wir nicht.