cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Kinetic Relations of the Na-Amino Acid Interaction at the Mucosal Border of Intestine

The relation between unidirectional influxes of Na and amino acids across the mucosal border of rabbit ileum was studied under a variety of conditions. At constant Na concentration in the mucosal bathing solution, amino acid influx followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics permitting determination of maximal influx and the apparent Michaelis constant, Kt. Reduction in Na concentration, using choline as substitute cation, caused an increase in Kt for alanine but had no effect on maximal alanine influx. The reciprocal of Kt was a linear function of Na concentration. Similar results were obtained for valine and leucine and these amino acids competitively inhibited alanine influx both in the presence and in the absence of Na. These results lead to a model for the transport system which involves combination of Na and amino acid with a single carrier or site leading to penetration of both solutes. The model predicts that alanine should cause an increase in Na influx and the ratio of this extra Na flux to alanine flux should vary with Na concentration. The observed relation agreed closely with predicted values for Na concentrations from 5 to 140 mM. These results support the hypothesis that interactions between Na and amino acid transport depend in part on a common entry mechanism at the mucosal border of the intestine.
The Effect of Ionizing Radiation on the Rate of the Random Coil to Double-helix Conformation Change of Poly[d(A–T)]

A study was made of the effect of 9.8 krads of /sup 60/Co gamma radiation on double helix formation in solutions of polySTAd(A-- T)!, a synthetic nucleic acid copolymer with aiternating deoxyadenosine 5'-phosphate and thymidine 5'-phosphate residues. The rate of double-helix formation was measured by monitoring the hypochromicity change at 260 nm. A more than 3-fold decrease was recorded in the reaction rate constant of the fastest first-order process as a result of irradiation. There appeared to be no significant difference in the rate constant of the fast process, whether the polySTAd(A- T)! was irradiated in the helix or in the random-coil conformation. (UK)
Economic accountability and strategic calibration: The case of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party

I argue that the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan employed a strategy to prevent unpopular prime ministers from tainting the party’s image. Time-series analyses of public opinion data from 1960 to 2006 show that national economic performance had modest effects on prime minister support ratings and no effects on LDP ratings. When prime minister ratings fall below party ratings, cabinets are more likely to be reshuffled and prime ministers to be replaced to avoid having the cabinet’s negative image ‘rub off’ on the LDP. Although electoral rules, culture, and other factors surely play a role in sustaining the LDP, I show for the first time that the party manages its cabinet personnel strategically to maintain support.
Microbial Concentrations in Sand and their Effect on Beach Water in Door County, Wisconsin

The seasonal variations and patterns of Escherichia coli in Wisconsin's coastal waters have been closely studied in recent years due to increased beach monitoring activities. Patterns of distribution of the indicator organism, E. coli, in the sand at these beaches are now being investigated as a source of E. coli to adjacent beach water. This project investigates the concentrations of E. coli in beach sand, and the relationship between these sand-microbe concentrations and concentrations of microbes in the corresponding beach water. Weekly sampling of upshore, swash, and submerged sand at six beaches provided numbers of the indicator bacteria in each beach's sand substrate for two consecutive summers. Overall concentrations of E. coli were highest in the swash sand of the beach, with the highest numbers seen in the summer months and lowest numbers in the winter months. Each location had very different concentrations of E. coli in the beach sand from 1,800 CFU/100 g to 21,670 CFU/100 g sand. Each location had a very different relationship between the indicator organism found in the beach sand and that found in the beach water. These data suggest that sand may be a reservoir for E. coli at some locations, and another source of contamination that should be considered in beach monitoring programs. However, elevated levels of E. coli in beach sand were not universal and varied greatly from location to location.
A routing protocol for hierarchical LEO/MEO satellite IP networks

The rapid growth of Internet-based applications pushes broadband satellite networks to carry on IP traffic. In previously proposed connectionless routing schemes in satellite networks, the metrics used to calculate the paths do not reflect the total delay a packet may experience. In this paper, a new Satellite Grouping and Routing Protocol (SGRP) is developed. In each snapshot period, SGRP divides Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites into groups according to the footprint area of the Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites. Based on the delay reports sent by LEO satellites, MEO satellite managers compute the minimum-delay paths for their LEO members. Since the signaling traffic is physically separated from the data traffic, link congestion does not affect the responsiveness of delay reporting and routing table calculation. The snapshot and group formation methods as well as fast reacting mechanisms to address link congestion and satellite failures are described in detail. The performance of SGRP is evaluated through simulations and analysis.
Chronic Hexosamine Flux Stimulates Fatty Acid Oxidation by Activating AMP-activated Protein Kinase in Adipocytes

The hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP) serves as a nutrient sensor and has been implicated in the development of type 2 diabetes. We previously demonstrated that fatty acid oxidation was enhanced in transgenic mouse adipocytes, wherein the rate-limiting enzyme of the HBP, glutamine:fructose-6-phosphate amidotransferase (GFA), was overexpressed. To explore the molecular mechanism of the HBP-induced fatty acid oxidation in adipocytes, we studied AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), an energy sensor that stimulates fatty acid oxidation by regulating acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) activity. Phosphorylation and activity of AMPK were increased in transgenic fat pads and in 3T3L1 adipocytes treated with glucosamine to stimulate hexosamine flux. Glucosamine also stimulated phosphorylation of ACC and fatty acid oxidation in 3T3L1 adipocytes, and these stimulatory effects were diminished by adenovirus-mediated expression of a dominant negative AMPK in 3T3L1 adipocytes. Conversely, blocking the HBP with a GFA inhibitor reduced AMPK activity, ACC phosphorylation, and fatty acid oxidation. These changes are not explained by alterations in the cellular AMP/ATP ratio. Further demonstrating that AMPK is regulated by the HBP, we found that AMPK was recognized by succinylated wheat germ agglutinin, which specifically binds O-GlcNAc. The levels of AMPK in succinylated wheat germ agglutinin precipitates correlated with hexosamine flux in mouse fat pads and 3T3L1 adipocytes. Moreover, removal of O-GlcNAc by hexosaminidase reduced AMPK activity. We conclude that chronically high hexosamine flux stimulates fatty acid oxidation by activating AMPK in adipocytes, in part through O-linked glycosylation.
D-ribose-L-cysteine supplementation enhances wound healing in a rodent model.

Abstract Background Wound healing and chronic wounds are serious public health issues. While wounds heal, cellular stores of antioxidants are depleted. d -ribose- l -cysteine (DRLC) is a precursor to the antioxidant glutathione. The effect of oral supplementation with DRLC on wound healing was studied in rats. Methods A rodent model of calibrated wounding was used. Group A rats were given DLRC for 1 week before wounding and for 3, 7, or 14 days after wounding. Group B rats were given DRLC only after wounding. Control animals were given no supplement. Photographic comparisons were made to study wound edema and inflammation. Wound strength was determined by using a laser-vacuum device. Results During healing, both Group A and B animals showed less edema and inflammation than Control. Group A animals had the weakest wounds at 3 days after surgery, but the strongest wounds after 14 days. Group B animals had similar wound strength to Control animals at 7 days, but stronger wounds after 14 days. Conclusions DRLC supplementation appears to reduce wound inflammation early after wounding and enhance wound strength by 14 days. This suggests that increased intracellular glutathione levels may improve and enhance wound healing.
An Approach of Mobile Database Design Methodology for Mobile Software Solutions

Mobile applications support e-commerce businesses perform their tasks more efficiently and effectively. A number of mobile applications and services are already in the market and more are expected to become available in the future. As more demand is placed on mobile devices, it will become critical to properly manage the limited storage, display, and processing power of mobile devices. The purpose of this paper is to develop a viable mobile database design methodology for designing appropriate databases for m-commerce oriented systems involving mobile business applications and services. An implementation based on the proposed mobile database design methodology is performed to validate the methodology.
Arm-Training with T-WREX After Chronic Stroke: Preliminary Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial

This study presents preliminary results of a randomized controlled trial comparing a novel passive arm orthosis training system, the Therapy Wilmington Robotic Exoskeleton (T-WREX), with conventional self-directed upper extremity exercises. Chronic stroke survivors (n = 23) with moderate to severe upper limb hemiparesis trained three times per week for eight weeks with minimal supervision from an occupational therapist. Both groups demonstrated significant improvements in arm movement ability according to the Fugl-Meyer (3.7 point mean improvement in T-WREX group, p = 0.001, and 2.7 point improvement in control group, p = 0.003). Individuals who completed T-WREX training also demonstrated significant gains in self-rated quality of arm movement on the Motor Activity Log (p=0.05), and showed a trend towards greater gains on all clinical measures, although this trend was not significant at the current study size. Post-treatment surveys revealed a subjective preference for T-WREX training over conventional gravity-supported exercises. These preliminary results suggest that the T-WREX is a safe device feasible for clinical use, and effective in enhancing upper extremity motor recovery and patient motivation. Next steps are discussed.
Reconstitution of cytochrome c oxidase from an apo-enzyme and Cu(I)

Abstract Under anaerobic conditions, copper can be removed from reduced cytochrome c oxidase with concomitant loss of enzymic activity. Upon replacement of copper with Cu(I) acetonitrile, more than the original activity is regained. It is therefore probable that the enzymic activity of cytochrome c oxidase is copper-dependent.
Molecular weight assessment of proteins in total proteome profiles using 1D-PAGE and LC/MS/MS.

Background: The observed molecular weight of a protein on a 1D polyacrylamide gel can provide meaningful insight into its biological function. Differences between a protein's observed molecular weight and that predicted by its full length amino acid sequence can be the result of different types of post-translational events, such as alternative splicing (AS), endoproteolytic processing (EPP), and post-translational modifications (PTMs). The characterization of these events is one of the important goals of total proteome profiling (TPP). LC/MS/MS has emerged as one of the primary tools for TPP, but since this method identifies tryptic fragments of proteins, it has not generally been used for large-scale determination of the molecular weight of intact proteins in complex mixtures. Results: We have developed a set of computational tools for extracting molecular weight information of intact proteins from total proteome profiles in a high throughput manner using 1DPAGE and LC/MS/MS. We have applied this technology to the proteome profile of a human lymphoblastoid cell line under standard culture conditions. From a total of 1 × 107 cells, we identified 821 proteins by at least two tryptic peptides. Additionally, these 821 proteins are welllocalized on the 1D-SDS gel. 656 proteins (80%) occur in gel slices in which the observed molecular weight of the protein is consistent with its predicted full-length sequence. A total of 165 proteins (20%) are observed to have molecular weights that differ from their predicted full-length sequence. We explore these molecular-weight differences based on existing protein annotation. Conclusion: We demonstrate that the determination of intact protein molecular weight can be achieved in a high-throughput manner using 1D-PAGE and LC/MS/MS. The ability to determine the molecular weight of intact proteins represents a further step in our ability to characterize gene expression at the protein level. The identification of 165 proteins whose observed molecular weight differs from the molecular weight of the predicted full-length sequence provides another entry point into the high-throughput characterization of protein modification.
Advances in Nutritional Metabolomics.

Metabolomics is maturing as an experimental approach in nutrition science, and it is a useful analysis for re- vealing systems biology outcomes associated with changes in diet. A major goal of this review is to present the rapidly evolving body of scientific literature that seeks to reveal connections between an individual's metabolic profile and ex- perimentally manipulated or naturally varied dietary intakes. Metabolite profiles in tissue, serum, urine, or stool reflect changes in metabolic pathways that respond to dietary intervention which makes them accessible samples for revealing metabolic effects of diet. Three broadly defined areas of investigation related to dietary-metabolomic strategies include: (1) describing the metabolite variation within and between dietary exposures or interventions; (2) characterizing the meta- bolic response to dietary interventions with respect to time; and (3) assessing individual variation in baseline nutritional health and/or disease status. An overview of metabolites that were responsive to dietary interventions as reported from original research in human or animal studies is provided and illustrates the breadth of metabolites affected by dietary in- tervention. Advantages and drawbacks for assessing metabolic changes are discussed in relation to types of metabolite analysis platforms. A combination of targeted and non-targeted global profiling studies as a component of future dietary intervention trials will increase our understanding of nutrition in a systems context.
Self-Reported Alcohol Use and Sexual Behaviors of Adolescents:

Research has demonstrated a relation between alcohol use and engaging in high-risk sexual behaviors. Alcohol use, especially binge drinking, has been linked to a host of problems including high-risk sexual behavior, date rape, and academic problems. As such, the purpose of this study was to provide a descriptive profile of alcohol consumption among adolescents and to examine the relations of alcohol use (lifetime, current, binge) with sexual activity variables (sexual initiation, multiple sex partners, condom use, and pregnancy) among adolescents completing the 1993-1999 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Analysis showed alcohol use was associated with high-risk sexual activity. Binge drinking had stronger relations with sexual activity variables than lifetime use and current use of alcohol. This result is of particular concern, in that binge drinking has been implicated in many problem behaviors. As such, it is of great importance to intervene in the high-risk practices of adolescents before problems occur.
Seismicity and surface deformation of Mauna Loa Volcano, Hawaii

Changing patterns of seismicity and surface deformation indicate that magma is being injected and stored in a shallow reservoir beneath the summit, and that the probability of an eruption is increased. Mauna Loa is a 4169-m-high shield volcano on the Island of Hawaii. Its latest two eruptions occurred on the southwest flank in 1950 [Macdonald, 1954] and, mainly within the summit caldera, in 1975 [Lockwood el al., 1976]. The oval summit caldera is 3 by 5 km in diameter, with cliffs as much as 180 m high (Figure 1). It is elongate in the direction of two principal rift zones that extend northeastward and southwestward from the summit. These rift zones, which are commonly vents for flank eruptions, form the gently sloping ridges that give Mauna Loa its Hawaiian name—Long Mountain.
Snap and match: a case study of virtual color cosmetics consultation

In this paper we describe an imaging based virtual color consultation system that automatically recommends cosmetics appropriate for users' skin tone based on user's photograph. This system is intended for commercial use to address the problem of color selection of cosmetic foundation. Based on surveys and semi-structured interviews we have verified that visual selection of color foundation cosmetics by consumers is error prone, and the results of our study indicate that both mobile and kiosk touch points are essential to cover the entire target population (women of all ages) since we identified technical vs. social comfort, accuracy vs. convenience and social vs. individual parameters that play a huge role in the usage and adoption of such personal services for women.
Babel's tower revisited: a universal resource for cross-referencing across annotation databases

Motivation: Annotation databases are widely used as public repositories of biological knowledge. However, most of these resources have been developed by independent groups which used different designs and different identifiers for the same biological entities. As we show in this article, incoherent name spaces between various databases represent a serious impediment to using the existing annotations at their full potential. Navigating between various such name spaces by mapping IDs from one database to another is a very important issue which is not properly addressed at the moment. Results: We have developed a web-based resource, Onto-Translate (OT), which effectively addresses this problem. OT is able to map onto each other different types of biological entities from the following annotation databases: Swiss-Prot, TrEMBL, NREF, PIR, Gene Ontology, KEGG, Entrez Gene, GenBank, GenPept, IMAGE, RefSeq, UniGene, OMIM, PDB, Eukaryotic Promoter Database, HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee and NetAffx. Currently, OT is able to perform 462 types of mappings between 29 different types of IDs from 17 databases concerning 53 organisms. Among these, over 300 types of translations and 15 types of IDs are not currently supported by any other tool or resource. On average, OT is able to correctly map between 96 and 99% of the biological entities provided as input. In terms of speed, sets of ∼20 000 IDs can be translated in <30 s, in most cases. Availability: OT is a part of Onto-Tools, which is freely available at http://vortex.cs.wayne.edu/Projects.html Contact: sorin@wayne.edu
Regional Comparisons, Spatial Aggregation, and Asymmetry of Price Pass-Through in U.S. Gasoline Markets

Spot to retail price pass-through behavior of the U.S. gasoline market was investigated at the national and regional levels, using weekly wholesale and retail motor gasoline prices from January 2000 to the present. Asymmetric pass-through was found across all regions, with faster pass-through when prices are rising. Pass-through patterns, in terms of speed and time for completion, were found to vary from region to region. Spatial aggregation was investigated at the national level and the East Coast with the aggregated cumulative pass-through being greater than the volume-weighted regional pass-through when spot prices increase. These results are useful to the petroleum industry, consumers, and policy makers by providing a basis to estimate the retail price effects that result from a change in spot price.
Calculation of Residual Stresses in Glass

Lee, Rogers, and Woo presented a theory for calculating the stresses produced in glass by tempering. Unlike earlier treatments, theirs takes account of the viscoelastic properties of glass. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate this theory by comparison with experimental data. Discrepancies were found to exist between calculated and observed stress distributions. For cases in which glass is quenched from initial temperatures well above the strain point, these discrepancies result from the numerical formulation of the theory, not from any shortcomings of the theory itself. A modification of this formulation brought calculated and observed stresses into good agreement. For quenching from lower initial temperatures, the present theory could not be brought into agreement with experimental data. The reasons for this are briefly considered in the context of the structural heterogeneity of tempered glass and its possible effects on residual stresses.
Ground effects on V/STOL and STOL aircraft: A survey

The flow fields encountered by jet- and fan-powered Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing (V/STOL) aircraft operating in ground effect are reviewed and their general effects on the aerodynamic characteristics are discussed. The ground effects considered include: (1) the suckdown experienced by a single jet configuration in hover; (2) the fountain flow and additional suckdown experienced by multiple jet configurations in hover; (3) the ground vortex generated by jet and jet flap configurations in short takeoff and landing (STOL) operation and the associated aerodynamic and hot-gas-ingestion effects; and (4) the change in the downwash at the tail due to ground proximity. After over 30 years of research on V/STOL aircraft, the general flow phenomena are well-known and, in most areas, the effects of ground proximity can be established or can be determined experimentally. However, there are some anomalies in the current data base which are discussed.
The Emerging Paradigm of Network Medicine in the Study of Human Disease

The molecular pathways that govern human disease consist of molecular circuits that coalesce into complex, overlapping networks. These network pathways are presumably regulated in a coordinated fashion, but such regulation has been difficult to decipher using only reductionistic principles. The emerging paradigm of "network medicine" proposes to utilize insights garnered from network topology (eg, the static position of molecules in relation to their neighbors) as well as network dynamics (eg, the unique flux of information through the network) to understand better the pathogenic behavior of complex molecular interconnections that traditional methods fail to recognize. As methodologies evolve, network medicine has the potential to capture the molecular complexity of human disease while offering computational methods to discern how such complexity controls disease manifestations, prognosis, and therapy. This review introduces the fundamental concepts of network medicine and explores the feasibility and potential impact of network-based methods for predicting individual manifestations of human disease and designing rational therapies. Wherever possible, we emphasize the application of these principles to cardiovascular disease.
Nonreciprocity in magnetoelectric crystals

We show here that antiferromagnetic crystals, and crystals with expected simultaneous ferroelectric and antiferromagnetic or antiferroelectric and antiferromagnetic properties, which display the magnetoelectric effect, will possess the fundamental property of nonreciprocity based solely upon this effect when exposed to electromagnetic waves. Proof is presented of this phenomenon by enlisting the anisotropic reaction theorem. Defining measures of reciprocity from this theorem, it is demonstrated which crystals have nonreciprocal behavior based upon the magnetoelectric effect and which crystals may be expected to show nonreciprocal behavior based upon the magnetoelectric effect. >
War and Momentum: The 2008 Presidential Nominations

In the 2008 presidential nomination campaigns, both Obama and McCain staked out clear positions on the Iraq war. Exit polls conducted in primary and caucus contests show that the war in Iraq was indeed the key issue of support for the winning contenders. However, it was not agreement with the candidates' positions that drove primary voters into the arms of Obama and McCain; rather, it was concern with the Iraq war. Primary voters treated the war as a valence issue, not as a position issue. Each candidate also won an early contest (the Iowa caucuses for Obama and the New Hampshire primary for McCain) in which concern over the Iraq war was especially strong. Those victories sparked a momentum for both candidates in subsequent contests. As a result, both Obama and McCain owed their respective nominations for president to the combination of war and momentum.
Infinite horizon optimization for finite state Markov chain

We consider the infinite horizon optimal control of a finite state Markov chain from the point of view of overtaking optimality and the long-run average cost. The stochastic model is cast into a deterministic framework by considering the distribution of the original state as a new state. Using known results about deterministic control systems we obtain short proofs of existence and characterization of stationary overtaking optimal strategies for the stochastic problem.We characterize and prove existence of stationary strategies which have a minimal cost growth rate in the class of all nonanticipative strategies. Restricting our attention only to stationary strategies we show that for every given initial state there exists an overtaking optimal strategy. Finally, under more restrictive conditions, we establish the existence of a stationary overtaking optimal strategy for all the initial values.
MRI findings in eastern equine encephalitis: the “parenthesis” sign ☆

Two patients with eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) presented to a tertiary referral center. Both subjects' brain magnetic resonance imaging showed T2/FLAIR (fluid-attenuated inversion recovery) hyperintensities including linear areas of hyperintensity in the external and internal capsules with sparing of the lentiform nuclei. Single case reports of imaging findings in EEE exist with nonspecific patterns of abnormality. We propose that this "( ) parentheses sign" on T2 or FLAIR imaging may distinguish EEE from other processes.
Surveillance for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer in the world and is responsible for as many as a million deaths annually. In the United States, it is the most rapidly increasing form of cancer, accounting for at least 14,000 deaths yearly and ranking eighth as the most frequent cause.
Estimating Workforce-Related Economic Impact of a Pandemic on the Commonwealth of Virginia

A pandemic outbreak is one of the major planning scenarios considered by emergency-preparedness policymakers. The consequences of a pandemic can significantly affect and disrupt a large spectrum of workforce sectors in today's society. This paper, motivated by the impact of a pandemic, extends the formulation of the dynamic inoperability input-output model (DIIM) to account for economic perturbations resulting from such an event, which creates a time-varying and probabilistic inoperability to the workforce. A pandemic is a unique disaster, because the majority of its direct impacts are workforce related and it does not create significant direct impact to infrastructure. In light of this factor, this paper first develops a method of translating unavailable workforce into a measure of economic-sector inoperability. While previous formulations of the DIIM only allowed for the specification of an initial perturbation, this paper incorporates the fact that a pandemic can cause direct effects to the workforce over the recovery period. Given the uncertainty associated with the impact of a pandemic, this paper develops a simulation framework to account for the possible variations in realizations of the pandemic. The enhancements to the DIIM formulation are incorporated into a MatLab program and then applied to a case study to simulate a pandemic scenario in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
A first-in-human phase I trial of PBI-05204 (oleandrin), an inhibitor of Akt, FGF-2, NF-Kb, and p70S6K in advanced solid tumor patients

3537 Background: PBI-05204 contains oleandrin, a cardiac glycoside, which inhibits the α-3 subunit Na-K ATPase pump. Over-expression of the α-3 subunit in malignant cells correlates with the tumor ...
A Probabilistic Approach to Improve the Accuracy of Axle-Based Automatic Vehicle Classifiers

This paper details a simple and novel approach to solve the assignment problem of finding optimum thresholds for axle-based vehicle classifiers. A case study utilizing Oklahoma's axle-based classification stations was conducted in an effort to build, analyze, and verify the proposed solution. An extensive axle-space database with over 20 000 vehicle samples covering all 13 classes of the Federal Highway Administration's Scheme F was constructed. Histograms and Gaussian distribution fitting were individually done per class, per axle spacing, and from data gathered. Optimal class boundary thresholds were computed using the derived distributions, and a new classification algorithm was constructed. Results of field testing concluded that the newly proposed algorithm outperformed the existing one currently installed statewide and used by the other states as well. A significant false detection classification error reduction was achieved at a rate of 43% for class 8, 21% for class 5, 5% for class 6, and a combined reduction of 26% for classes 2 and 3. In addition, a misdetection error reduction of 21% for class 6, 13% for class 5, and a combined reduction of 37% for classes 2 and 3 was noted. A consolidated system error reduction relative to vehicle type was 15% for multiunit trucks of classes 8 to 13, 4% for single-unit trucks of classes 5 to 7, and 57% for passenger vehicles of classes 1 to 4. The process of calibrating the classification scheme was found to be completely transferable, thus could effectively be used to optimize classification algorithms in other states.
Effective resistance criterion for negative curvature: Application to congestion control

This paper develops the asymptotic relation between the resistance of the least resistive path R lrp (i; j) and the effective resistance R eff (i; j) between two extreme points i; j of a resistive lattice, as an electrical engineering mean to check negative curvature of a graph. More specifically, it is suggested that the behavior of R lrp (i; j)=R eff (i; j), understood asymptotically in the sense of a growing size network, is able to discriminate a Euclidean grid versus a hyperbolic grid. It is shown that the fraction asymptotically saturates in case of a hyperbolic grid, while it grows without bound in the Euclidean case. In the popular case of a Gromov hyperbolic grid quasi-isometric to a tree, the asymptotic saturation of R lrp (i; j)=R eff (i; j) is easy to prove, but the major contribution of this paper is to show that the same result holds under the by far less trivial situation of a hyperbolic grid not quasi-isometric to a tree. Applications include the role of curvature in congestion control problems understood in the broad sense as they apply to data network and power grid.
Conclusion: The Happy Appearance and the Wishful Tendency in Cultural Criticism

The book concludes by examining the problem of the idyll or happy appearance that music commodities and services present. Following Bloch’s method, I argue that this idyll must naturally be dispelled or demystified, but also that the critic must sometimes risk credulity in the happy appearance in order to identify and locate genuinely wishful images for social alternatives within cultural objects and practices. The conclusion thus makes a methodological claim for approaching music commodities and services (and cultural objects and practices more generally) through a simultaneously skeptical and wishful perspective, even at the risk that belief in the wishful appearance can, in Bloch’s words, “lure us demonically into the void.”
Enzyme Electrodes for the Food Industry

In the past decade, there have been extensive advancements in enzyme electrode technology. This paper reviews the technology, historical development and potential and current applications of enzyme electrodes in the food industry. Proper choice of enzyme, electrode and immobilization techniques are considered. An overview of potentiometric, polarographic and gas-sensing membrane electrode methods is provided. A discussion of the initial development of a variety of procedures for measuring glucose, using an assortment of electrodes and immobilization techniques is also included. Some electrodes for carbohydrate and amino acids analysis and other analytical applications for the food industry are listed as well as a number of commercially available techniques.
Dissociative Identity Disorder, Ambivalence, and Responsibility

If someone with dissociative identity disorder (DID) commits a wrongful act, is she responsible? If one adopts the Multiple Persons Thesis, it may seem that one alter cannot be responsible for the actions of another alter. Conversely, if one regards the subject as a single person, it may seem that she is responsible for any actions she performs. I will argue that this subject is a single person, but one who suffers from delusions of disownership and therefore does not fulfill ordinary requirements for responsible agency. This is because she suffers from extreme ambivalence: her deep-seated needs and desires conflict, and she forms alter-personalities as a way to cope with inner discord without abandoning any of these contradictory impulses. However, although the ability to exercise autonomous agency is eroded in such cases, the capacity for autonomous agency is preserved. The subject with DID is weakly responsible for her wrongful acts.
Trauma-informed child welfare systems and children's well-being: A longitudinal evaluation of KVC's bridging the way home initiative

Abstract This study evaluated the effectiveness of a system-wide reform effort to implement trauma-informed care (Trauma Systems Therapy [TST]) across a large, private child welfare system. The longitudinal associations among implementation of TST and four measures of children's well-being (functioning, emotional regulation, and behavioral regulation) and placement stability were examined. A description of the implementation of TST can be found in a separate article in this issue. Latent growth curve models were estimated using child-level administrative data on children's well-being, placement stability, and exposure to TST dosage for 1499 children in out-of-home placements. Results indicate that, as children's care teams implement TST, children demonstrate greater improvements in functioning, emotional regulation, and behavioral regulation and they experience increased placement stability. Moreover, results demonstrate that positive effects of implementation of TST are produced by both those who work closely with the child (caregivers, case managers, and therapists) and those who work more distally with the child (case manager supervisors and family service coordinators), suggesting that no one staff member or caregiver is central to providing trauma-informed care; rather it may be the confluence of the TST skills of the child's entire care team that produces better outcomes.
Cutting balloon and high-pressure balloon dilation for palliative treatment of congenital double-chambered right ventricle and primary infundibular stenosis in a Golden retriever dog.

Combined cutting balloon and high-pressure balloon dilation was performed in a dog with a double-chambered right ventricle and severe infundibular stenosis of the right ventricular outflow tract. The peak systolic pressure gradient across the stenosis decreased by 65% after dilation (from 187 mmHg before to 66 mmHg after) affirming the intervention as successful. However, early re-stenosis occurred within 3 months leading to exercise intolerance, exercise-induced syncope, and right-sided congestive heart failure. Cutting balloon followed by high-pressure balloon dilation provided temporary but not long-term relief of right ventricular obstruction in this dog.
iSonar: Software-defined Underwater Acoustic Networking for Amphibious Smartphones

Recent technological advances have brought to the end-user market smartphones that are able to remain fully-functional even when submerged under water. This capability will soon enable the commercialization of a plethora of exciting smartphone apps, including life-saving systems such as real-time monitoring of scuba divers breathing. On the other hand, it becomes paramount to empower smartphones with end-to-end underwater communication capabilities. In this paper, we propose iSonar, the first system implementing reliable software-defined acoustic networking between water-proof smartphones. Specifically, iSonar transforms off-the-shelf smartphones into ultrasonic software "radios" that implement an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing-based communication system to exchange data under water. To this end, iSonar sends and receives information through the AUX interface and by implementing a lightweight network stack entirely in software. We have implemented a fully-functional hardware/software prototype of iSonar on Android smartphones and off-the-shelf electronic equipment, and extensively evaluated its performance through several experiments in a tank testbed. Results show that iSonar is able to achieve packet error rate (PER) of 10-3, which is significant considering the low audio sampling rate and the strong multipath effect induced by the water tank environment.
Visceral metastases on abiraterone vs. placebo: A post-hoc analysis of mode of radiographic progression in COU-AA-302.

194Background: Abiraterone prolongs survival in patients with prostate cancer due to its potent inhibition of androgen synthesis. We previously observed increased rates of visceral metastatic disease at the time of progression on abiraterone compared to baseline, a poor prognostic feature associated with non-AR dependent prostate cancer. We hypothesized that the rate of development of visceral disease was increased with abiraterone compared to other treatments without potent androgen signaling inhibition. In order to test this, we examined time to visceral disease among patients treated with abiraterone vs placebo on the COU-AA-302 trial. Methods: We performed a post-hoc analysis of radiographic progression data for the phase 3 study of abiraterone vs placebo, via a data sharing agreement through the Yale Open Data Access Project. Data were censored at end of study treatment. The distribution of cumulative incidence for visceral metastases was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method and compared with log-ra...
NMR Studies and Minimum Energy Conformation Calculations on the 5′-Terminus of Mammalian mRNA

The 5′-terminal region of a wide variety of mRNAs of eukaryotes contain an unusual sequence of nucleosides in which the terminal is 7-methylguanosine(Rottman et al. 1974). In this structure the 5′ hydroxyl of 7-methylguanosine is connected through a triphosphate bridge to the 5′ hydroxyl of 2′–0-methylated nucleosides. It has been shown that this unusual sequence is necessary for mRNA to carry out in vitro translation with fidelity (Adams and Cory, 1975; Furuichi et al, 1977). To understand the structure-function relationships we have explored whether the presence of 7-methylated guanosine at the terminus endows any unique stereochemical features to mRNAs. The conformational properties of 7-methylguanosine-5′ monophosphate (7-Me-5′ GMP) and 5′ GMP have been studied using NMR spectroscopy and theoretical calculations using classical potential functions.
Blood levels and acute response to bupropion.

Twenty-three patients with major depressive disorder were treated with bupropion in an open-design protocol. Fifteen (65.2%) of the 23 responded with a more than 50% decrease in scores on the Beck Depression Inventory. Patients with trough blood levels of 10-29 ng/ml had a significantly better response than those with through levels of 30 ng/ml or more. This preliminary result warrants further, double-blind evaluation
Equidade, eficiência e o quadro econòmico global

O tema desta conferencia e a globalizacao. Globalizacao e o termo que empregamos para designar a integracao mais estreita das economias do mundo que resultou dos menores custos dos transportes, dos menores custos das comunicacoes e da reducao das barreiras artificiais erguidas pelos homens. Devido a integracao dos mercados mercados de capitais e mercados de servicos , existe actualmente em todo o globo uma maior liberdade de circulacao de produtos, servicos e capitais. O conhecimento tambem circula mais livremente atraves das fronteiras nacionais. Ha cento e cinquenta anos, quando os custos dos transportes e das comunicacoes comecaram a baixar e surgiram economias nacionais nos Estados Unidos e na Europa, o processo de formacao dessas economias nacionais foi superiormente dirigido e regulado pelos governos nacionais. Esses governos nacionais procuraram assegurar que os processos utilizados fossem positivos para a maioria dos seus cidadaos. O problema e que hoje em dia o processo de globalizacao nao esta sujeito a uma orientacao superior semelhante. Todos reconhecem a necessidade de um tipo qualquer de procedimentos e normas de regulacao, mas o que temos actualmente e um sistema de governacao global sem um governo global. Este sistema de governacao global sem governo global apresenta uma serie de deficiencias. Isto deu origem a formulacao de um conjunto de politicas que tem dado origem a enormes injusticas tanto ao nivel dos paises como entre paises. Vou sustentar que algumas das deficiencias e injusticas que
Asymmetric synthesis of (−)-naltrexone

(-)-Naltrexone, an opioid antagonist used extensively for the management of drug abuse, is derived from naturally occurring opioids. Herein, we report the first asymmetric synthesis of (-)-naltrexone that does not proceed through thebaine. The synthesis starts with simple, achiral precursors with catalytic enantioselective Sharpless dihydroxylation employed to introduce the stereogenic centers. A Rh(i)-catalyzed C-H alkenylation and torquoselective electrocyclization cascade provides the hexahydro isoquinoline bicyclic framework that serves as the precursor to the morphinan core. The acidic conditions used for Grewe cyclization not only provide the morphinan framework, but also cause a hydride shift resulting in the introduction of the C-6 oxo functionality present in (-)-naltrexone. The C-14 hydroxyl group is installed by an efficient two-step sequence of Pd-mediated ketone to enone dehydrogenation followed by C-H allylic oxidation using Cu(ii) and O2, a method that has not previously been reported either for the synthesis or semi-synthesis of opioids. The longest linear sequence is 17 steps, and because the stereogenic centers in the product rely on Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation, the route could be used to access either enantiomer of the natural product, which have disparate biological activities. The route also may be applicable to the preparation of opioid derivatives that could not be easily prepared from the more fully elaborated and densely functionalized opioid natural products that have traditionally served as the starting inputs.
Human natural killer cell expansion in vitro using mitomycin-C treatment as an alternative to irradiation of modified K562 feeder cells.

Introduction Current methods for in vitro expansion of Natural Killer (NK) cells require feeder cell irradiation, which is not readily available in many biomedical research or clinical facilities. Here we evaluated mitomycin-C (MMC) treatment of feeder cells as an alternative to irradiation for the purpose of expanding NK cells in human peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) cultures. Methods Using PBMCs from 4 healthy blood donors and genetically modified K562 feeder cells (K562-mb21-41BBL cells) that preferentially stimulate NK cells, we evaluated the efficacy of MMC treatment in limiting the proliferation of the feeder cells at a range of doses (0 ug/mL, 2 ug/mL, 10 ug/mL, 20 ug/mL, 30 ug/mL, and 200 ug/mL) with 3-hour incubation. We used 7AAD dye and CFSE proliferation dye to measure viability and cell proliferation, respectively. We then compared the percentages of NK cells (CD3 neg , CD56 pos ) in PBMCs cultured for 14 days in the presence of MMC-treated feeder cells or irradiated feeder cells using multiparametric flow cytometry. Results We found that 10 ug/mL dose of MMC for 3-hrs achieved a significantly higher percentage of viable cells compared to higher doses (p Discussion In conclusion, we found that 10 ug/mL mitomycin-C treatment of modified K562 feeder cells was optimal for limiting their proliferation for NK cell expansion that was equivalent to using irradiated feeder cells.
Civic Education and the Paradox of Political Participation

This issue of the Peabody Journal of Education—an issue dedicated to understanding the politics and policies of civic education today—comes at a time when the outcome of the great American democrat...
The Ballistic Response of Woven Kevlar Fabric as a Function of Projectile Sharpness

Right circular cylinders (RCC) are a common fragment-simulating projectile used to simulate debris resulting from an improvised explosive device (IED) blast. The specifications for ballistic performance of soft body armor specify the geometry and mass of RCC projectiles used for testing. The edges on the impacting side of an RCC projectile have a fillet radius, and recent investigations indicate that the fillet radius (or “sharpness”) of the projectile may affect the ballistic limit velocity, V50. It is hypothesized that this happens because the sharpness of the projectile changes the fiber failure mechanism, so to test this, 4 gr RCC projectiles with varying fillet radii (0.64 mm, 1.27 mm and 1.70 mm) are precisely manufactured. Previously collected, unpublished data for 4 gr RCC projectiles with fillet radii of 0.10 mm, 0.18 mm and 0.25 mm are also included to assess a range of projectile sharpness values. Ballistic impact tests on single layer woven Kevlar K706 fabric are conducted using a laboratory gas gun to measure the limit velocity, and it is found that the limit velocity decreases with increasing fillet radii. Back surface images and impacted targets are examined post-mortem to identify failure mechanisms.
Carboxylic Acids as a Traceless Activation Group for Conjugate Additions: A Three-Step Synthesis of (.+-.)-Pregabalin (XXV).

A photon-induced addition is developed which can be applied to a broad spectrum of carboxylic acids including natural and unnatural amino acids.
Cells Involved in Mechanotransduction Including MSCs

Abstract Mechanical signals are primary regulators of bone mass, architecture and repair, with load-induced changes in size and shape typically favoring a more mechanically competent structure. This article discusses the cells involved in bone mechanotransduction in the context of adaptation and repair, including osteocytes, the primary mechanosensors, and mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs), the effector cells responsible for generating new bone. Known mechanically sensitive signaling pathways are discussed, in both healthy and injured bone, with a particular focus on new developments.