cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
When Mothers Lead: Revolutionary Adaptability in a Filipina/o American Diasporic Community Theater Organization

This essay argues that transnational social movement building is a dynamic process shaped by people’s changing realities and that immigrant mother cultural workers possess unique insights that can ...
Methods for Establishing and Using a Stable Cell Line Expressing Both Gaussia Luciferase and Firefly Luciferase to Screen for Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is one of the major mechanisms underlying the etiology of multiple diseases and drug-induced toxicity. Gaussia luciferase (Gluc) is a naturally secreted protein that has been used as a reporter for the secretory pathway of ER to enable efficient and real-time monitoring of the ER function. The Gluc assay has been widely used and optimized in various labs. In this chapter, we provide an example of the application of the Gluc assay by establishing a stable cell line expressing both Gluc and firefly luciferase (Fluc) to study ER stress in liver cells. We describe the detailed procedures used in our laboratory for Gluc- and Fluc-containing lentivirus production and titration, for establishing a HepG2-based stable cell line through lentivirus transduction and the validation process. In addition, we provide an example of using the established stable cell line to investigate ER stress.
The role of familial and sibling factors on abdominal adiposity: a study of south Indian urban children.

Background and objectives Childhood obesity is increasing in urban India. This study aimed to examine the associations of younger siblings abdominal adiposity with individual, familial and environmental factors, in urban school aged siblings. Methods and study design Weight, height and waist circumference of 2906 siblings aged 3-16 years were measured along with details on demographics, diet, lifestyle, behavior and reported parental anthropometrics. Abdominal adiposity was classified as waist circumference above the age and sex specific 75th percentile value. The associations of various factors with abdominal adiposity in the younger siblings were examined through logistic regression analyses. Results Sibling, familial factors and environmental factors had significant associations with abdominal adiposity. The odds of a younger sibling having abdominal adiposity was greatest (OR=3.16, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 2.27 to 4.42), when the older sibling had abdominal adiposity, followed by the odds ratio of both parents being overweight (OR=1.63, 95% CI: 1.33 to 1.99) compared to neither being overweight. The influence of abdominal adiposity of the older sibling was greater when the siblings were of the same sex (OR=3.55, 95% CI: 2.24 to 5.65) than when they were of different sex (OR=2.73, 95% CI: 1.67 to 4.46); the odds ratio being highest when both siblings were males. Conclusions The younger sibling's abdominal adiposity is associated with that of his/her sibling and parental obesity, in addition to other known risk factors in urban south Indian families. Interventions to prevent childhood obesity need to also consider the sibling effect along with the other known factors.
Reactive Arthritis in a 37-Year-Old Female With SARS-CoV2 Infection

We report the case of a 37-year-old female who presented for evaluation of acute 10/10 right hand pain, 12 days after testing positive for SARS-CoV2. The patient was admitted to the hospital due to the severity of her pain. As an inpatient, extensive workup by the medicine team and rheumatology revealed no structural, vascular, or neurogenic cause of her pain. The patient's blood work was unremarkable for elevations in lyme serology, antinuclear antibody (ANA), rheumatoid factor, and uric acid. It was determined that the cause of her pain was most likely reactive arthritis (ReA) secondary to her SARS-CoV2 infection. She was treated with voltaren gel, neurontin, and oral dilaudid as needed and discharged. Upon follow-up, her pain improved and she was prescribed a wrist splint, ultram, and occupational therapy for perceived wrist tendinitis. To our knowledge, this is the first description of a case of ReA caused by the SARS-CoV2 virus.
Early effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on physical activity and sedentary behavior in children living in the U.S.

COVID-19 restrictions such as the closure of schools and parks, and the cancellation of youth sports and activity classes around the United States may prevent children from achieving recommended levels of physical activity (PA). This study examined the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on PA and sedentary behavior (SB) in U.S. children. Parents and legal guardians of U.S. children (ages 5–13) were recruited through convenience sampling and completed an online survey between April 25–May 16, 2020. Measures included an assessment of their child’s previous day PA and SB by indicating time spent in 11 common types of PA and 12 common types of SB for children. Parents also reported perceived changes in levels of PA and SB between the pre-COVID-19 (February 2020) and early-COVID-19 (April–May 2020) periods. Additionally, parents reported locations (e.g., home/garage, parks/trails, gyms/fitness centers) where their children had performed PA and their children’s use of remote/streaming services for PA. From parent reports, children (N = 211) (53% female, 13% Hispanic, Mage = 8.73 [SD = 2.58] years) represented 35 states and the District of Columbia. The most common physical activities during the early-COVID-19 period were free play/unstructured activity (e.g., running around, tag) (90% of children) and going for a walk (55% of children). Children engaged in about 90 min of school-related sitting and over 8 h of leisure-related sitting a day. Parents of older children (ages 9–13) vs. younger children (ages 5–8) perceived greater decreases in PA and greater increases in SB from the pre- to early-COVID-19 periods. Children were more likely to perform PA at home indoors or on neighborhood streets during the early- vs. pre-COVID-19 periods. About a third of children used remote/streaming services for activity classes and lessons during the early-COVID-19 period. Short-term changes in PA and SB in reaction to COVID-19 may become permanently entrenched, leading to increased risk of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease in children. Programmatic and policy strategies should be geared towards promoting PA and reducing SB over the next 12 months.
Non-invasive monitoring of vital signs for older adults using recliner chairs

In-home monitoring has the potential to track health changes for older adults with chronic health conditions, thereby making early treatment possible when exacerbations arise. A recliner chair is often used by older adults for sleeping at night, especially by those with breathing difficulty, neck and back problems. Here, we present a sensor system for recliner chairs that can be used to monitor heart and respiration rates. The system uses two accelerometers placed strategically to capture these vital signs noninvasively and without direct contact with the body, while at the same time, being hidden from view. The system was tested with 45 subjects, having an average age of 78.8 (S.D. = 12.5) years, for both upright and reclined configurations of the chair. We also tested the system on 6 different types of recliner models. The ground truth signal for the heart and respiratory rates were obtained using a piezoelectric finger transducer and thorax chest belt respectively. The mean heartbeat error for 45 subjects was 0.6 ms with an average error rate of 3.6% (p value = 0.00081, significance level = 0.05). Similarly, the mean respiratory breath error was 4.2 ms with an average detection error rate of 6.25% (p value = 0.032, significance level = 0.05). An analysis of the error rates are considered and possible explanations are suggested. This new system has the potential to help in identifying health changes very early, thereby facilitating early treatment and improved health outcomes for older adults.
Microarthropod contributions to fitness variation in the common moss Ceratodon purpureus

The evolution of mutualism depends critically upon genetic variation in the fitness benefit to both partners. Estimates of these quantities are rare, however, because genetic variation for the interaction may be absent, aspects of the interaction may not be amenable to experimental manipulation, or the benefits to one partner may be unknown. In vitro experiments show that female mosses produce odors which attract sperm-dispersing microarthropods, but the fitness consequences of this interaction for either partner are unknown. Here we established experimental mesocosms to test for a commensal effect of sperm-dispersing microarthropods on moss reproduction. We found that of moss grown with microarthropods showed increased moss reproductive rates by five times, relative to control mesocosms, but remarkably also increased the number of reproducing genotypes, and changed the rank-order of fitness for both male and female genotypes. These results provide an estimate of the fitness benefit for mosses in the presence of microarthropods, and highlight the potential for biotic dispersal agents to alter fitness among moss genotypes in this relationship.
Pace Control via Adaptive Dropout for Federated Training: A Work-in-Progress Report

This paper proposes a neuron drop-out mechanism to control the training paces of mobile devices in federated deep learning. The aim is to accelerate the speed of local training on slow mobile devices with minimal impact on training quality, such that slow mobile devices can catch up with fast devices in each training round to increase the overall training speed. The basic idea is to avoid the computation of some neurons with low activation values (i.e., neuron dropout), and dynamically adjust dropout rates based on the training progress on each mobile device. The paper introduces two techniques for selecting neurons, LSH and Max Heap, and a method for dynamically adjusting dropout rates. It also discusses a few other approaches that can be used to control training paces.
Monitoring sparse and attributed networks with online Hurdle models

In this article we create a novel monitoring system to detect changes within a sequence of networks. Specifically, we consider sparse, weighted, directed, and attributed networks. Our approach uses...
Clinging to the Edge of Chaos: The Emergence of Practice in the First Year of Teaching:

Background/ContextNew teachers must cope with various instructional, personal and organizational challenges, an experience that often leads to difficulties enacting innovative, student-centered ins...
Using betatron coupling to suppress horizontal intrinsic spin resonances driven by partial snakes

A method for using betatron coupling to suppress partial snake driven resonances in a synchrotron is described. While the partial snakes permit avoidance of the strong resonances associated with the vertical betatron motion of the particles, they also excite numerous weak resonances associated with the horizontal betatron motion. These resonances occur whenever the fractional spin tune equals the fractional horizontal betatron tune. Since these are the same frequencies at which depolarizing resonances from betatron coupling occur, coupling resonances can be intentionally driven to exactly cancel the resonance driving terms of the partial snakes, thereby avoiding polarization loss due to these resonance crossings. Presented here is an explicit derivation of the partial snake driven resonances as betatron sidebands of strong imperfection resonances and a description of a practical scheme for their correction using the Brookhaven AGS as an example. Tracking results that verify the suppression via coupling are presented.
Pogo-Sticks and Maxillofacial Injuries: A Review of 619 Head and Neck Injuries.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study is to explore head and neck injuries secondary to accidents involving pogo sticks. MATERIALS AND METHODS We conducted a 20-year cross-sectional study using the National Electronic Injury Submission System (NEISS). Head and neck injuries resulting from the use of a pogo-stick were included. The predictor variables were demographics, type, site, context of injury, and season in which the injury occurred. The primary outcome variable was admission rate, used to estimate the severity of the injury. We employed chi-squared and independent sample tests to determine whether an association existed or not. We conducted a multivariate logistic regression model to determine the odds of admission for all significant variables. RESULTS A total of 619 pogo stick injuries were included, with 96.1% under 18 years of age. The decrease in the number of injuries from the year 2000 to 2019 was significant (P = .003). Nearly all patients were under 18 (96.1%), with the remaining few being 18 or older. Laceration (43.8%) was the most common primary diagnosis. The head (37.2%) was the most commonly injured anatomical region, followed by the face (32.8%). The majority of the injuries took place at the patient's home (85.9%). Patients with head injuries were more likely to be admitted relative to patients who didn't suffer head injuries (P < .01). Concerning primary diagnosis, patients who suffered fractures and internal organ injuries were more likely to be admitted relative to patients without the respective injuries (P < .01). On the contrary, patients who suffered lacerations were less likely to be admitted than patients who did not suffer lacerations (P < .01). After controlling for all possible covariates, fracture (OR, 12.31; P < .01) was independently associated with increased odds of admission. Additionally, compared to all other injuries, fractures were roughly 21 times (P < .05) more likely to get admitted. Patients under 18 were less likely to suffer an internal organ injury relative to patients age 18 or older (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS Head and neck injuries secondary to pogo sticks illustrated a predilection to the head. Fractures were the culprit behind the significantly increased odds of admission. Hence, all sectors of society should conceive different measures and implement them to protect against skull fractures (ie, helmet). Despite the decline in popularity of pogo sticks over the last two decades, all remaining riders should wear a helmet as religiously as bicycles or scooter riders to protect against skull fractures.
Maternal feeding benefits of allomaternal care in black-and-white colobus (Colobus guereza)

Caring for infants involves lactation, protection, provisioning, and carrying-all energetically taxing states for primate mothers. Holding and carrying clinging infants often constrains mothers from moving and traveling, potentially reducing their food and energy intake; however, when separated from its mother an infant is at risk of predation. This separation therefore requires that mothers be vigilant, further deterring them from feeding. Allomaternal care (AMC) is hypothesized to allow mothers to safely detach from their infants to feed, permitting them to increase energy intake, which is particularly needed for lactation. We examined the nutritional benefits of AMC in black-and-white colobus monkeys (Colobus guereza) by estimating energy intake by lactating mothers during AMC versus non-AMC. We studied seven mother-infant dyads in three groups of C. guereza during six months in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Immature group members handled infants more often than adults, and females handled infants more often than males. An infant's distance to its mother and its nearest neighbor's age and sex best predicted the occurrence of AMC. Lactating mothers fed more often, fed and rested for longer durations, and consumed more metabolizable energy during AMC compared to when they were caring for their infants. These results demonstrate that AMC in C. guereza provides mothers with feeding opportunities that increase their energy intake.
Somatomedin levels in human beings.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the somatomedin (SM) levels in human beings. It compares the SM concentration in adults and older children with that reported by various authors in sera of hypophysectomized patients and in pituitary dwarfs. As each group has employed a separate serum standard, normalization of the standards is performed based on the mean potency of the normal groups, excluding young children, which has been considered to be 1 somatomedin unit per milliliter. When the apparent potency of the house standard is recalculated, the analytic values are corrected. The results show a remarkable agreement among the various authors. In the case of patients who had surgical removal of a normal pituitary, the discrimination from the SM activity of normal serum is excellent. The discrimination in the case of idiopathic pituitary dwarfism is somewhat less clear. In normal individuals the diurnal variation in SM concentration is not significant. When hypopituitary patients are treated with growth hormone (GH), there is a subsequent rise in SM. The chapter discusses the type of response achieved with 5 mg of hGH per day. After intramuscular injection, little rise is noted for 6–12 hours.
Porcine colostrum and milk stimulate visceral organ and skeletal muscle protein synthesis in neonatal piglets

Our objective was to determine the relative contributions of protein synthesis and protein absorption in the rapid accretion of gastrointestinal protein in suckling piglets during the early neonatal period. We measured the rates of tissue protein synthesis using a flooding dose of L-[4-3H]phenylalanine in various visceral and peripheral tissues of neonatal piglets fed water, mature milk or colostrum for 6 h. The jejunal and ileal protein synthesis rates in piglets fed either colostrum or milk were three- to fourfold higher than in piglets fed water. The increased jejunal and ileal protein synthesis could not, however, account for the differences in protein mass between the colostrum-fed and water-fed groups. The relative abundance of IgG, a major porcine colostral protein, in jejunal tissue was markedly higher in piglets fed colostrum than in piglets fed either milk or water. The fractional protein synthesis rates in liver, kidney, spleen and skeletal muscle and the absolute protein synthesis rates in liver and spleen were also greater in piglets fed colostrum than in those fed milk or water. Increased endogenous protein synthesis made only a minor contribution to the increased intestinal protein accretion in neonatal piglets fed colostrum. A much larger proportion of this increase seemed to be a result of absorption and retention of ingested immunoglobulins.
GLUCOCORTICOIDS AS A REGULATORY FACTOR FOR BRAIN TRYPTOPHAN HYDROXYLASE

—The normal developmental rise of tryptophan hydroxylase levels in neonatal rat brain was blocked by adrenalectomy. Similarly, adrenalectomy prevented the rescrpine-induced elevation of tryptophan hydroxylase activity in brain stem of adult mice. In both cases, the effects of adrenalectomy could be reversed by replacement injections of corticosterone. Repeated injections of corticosterone (5 mg/kg daily) in fact induced a rise of brain tryptophan hydroxylase levels in neonatal brain. However, neither adrenalectomy nor repeated injections of large doses of the hormone (20 mg/kg, daily) was found to be effective in affecting the normal enzyme levels in adult brain. Apparent Km of the enzyme for substrate was unchanged by corticosterone in vivo or in vitro. These results indicate that glucocorticoids have a significant role in the regulation of brain tryptophan hydroxylase: possibly as an inducing signal during neonatal development and as a permissive factor at adult age.
Detoxified Bacterial Endotoxins I. Preparation and Biological Properties of an Acetylated Crude Endotoxin from Salmonella typhimurium

Martin, William J. (University of Utah, Salt Lake City), and Stanley Marcus. Detoxified bacterial endotoxins. I. Preparation and biological properties of an acetylated crude endotoxin from Salmonella typhimurium. J. Bacteriol. 91:1453–1459. 1966.—Acetylation of a crude endotoxin prepared by the Roschka-Edwards (RE) procedure from a strain of Salmonella typhimurium yields a product with reduced pyrogenicity in rabbits as well as one which is nontoxic in mice. A reduction in pyrogenicity of approximately 100 times was noted with this acetylated crude endotoxin when compared with the parent RE preparation. A comparison was made of immunogenicity with mice of Boivin, RE, and acetylated Roschka-Edwards (Acet-RE) preparations with a heat-killed, phenol-preserved (HP) vaccine prepared from the same strain of S. typhimurium. Less than pyrogenic doses of all vaccines were not protective. The least pyrogenic preparation (Acet-RE) was immunogenically effective in about five times the minimal pyrogenic dose. The data suggest that the Acet-RE preparation should be considered further in the search for enteric fever vaccines with lowered potential for undesirable systemic responses.
SideWalk: A Facility of Lightweight Out-of-Band Communications for Augmenting Distributed Data Processing Flows

The foundation of a data processing engine running on a large cluster is its programming model that defines data processing operations and data movements. A special kind of communication activities that are not normally defined in the programming model but are often used in ad hoc ways in system development, is called out-of-band communications. The existing ad hoc solutions of out-of-band communications are often hard to reuse, error-prone, and not free from unwanted side effects. To address these issues, we have designed and implemented a standalone facility of out-of-band communications called SideWalk. With this facility, users can add out-of-band communication operations into their distributed data flows through a set of reusable APIs. These APIs have well defined semantics and thus, users' chances of writing error-prone programs with SideWalk are minimized. To prevent users from introducing unwanted side effects while using SideWalk, we prototype SideWalk to efficiently handle lightweight out-of-band communications and we restrict communication patterns that can be conducted through SideWalk without affecting the applicability of SideWalk on typical use cases. Our experimental results show that execution times of distributed data processing flows in a Hadoop environment with out-of-band communications implemented with SideWalk are reduced up to 1.53 times compared with that of distributed data processing flows with out-of-band communications implemented with a representative ad hoc solution.
Attitudes of Elementary School Teachers Toward Counseling and Guidance in the Elementary Schools.

This study was designed to determine if teachers employed in elementary schools that have maintained a counseling and guidance program would express more favorable attitudes toward counseling and guidance in the elementary schools than teachers employed in elementary schools which have not provided this service. Attitude scales were distributed to 566 teachers and 388 were returned completed. Analysis of Variance revealed a trend in which teachers employed in elementary schools that have maintained a counseling and guidance providing for at least 2 years expressed more favorable attitudes than teachers employed in elementary schools not providing these services. In addition, significant differences between counties were found, which indicated that other factors influenced the teacher attitudes.
Specification of the User-System Interface

This article reviews the various methods for specifying the user-system interface (USI). Systematic procedures for developing and specifying USI requirements are presented. The use of requirements specification is traced through the stages in the design with recommendations for the efficient communication of user-system requirements. Consideration is given to the specification of the dynamics of the system operations as they impact the user-system interface. The use of a User System Interface Design Document (USIDD) is recommended and a suggested format is given.
Never-smokers with a positive family smoking history are more likely to be overweight or obese than never-smokers with a negative family smoking history.

To shed light on the complex relationship between smoking and body weight, we used never-smokers stratified on family smoking history to model the effects of a diathesis for smoking on body weight without the potential confound of metabolic changes or decreased physical activity caused by chronic tobacco smoke exposure. Participants were 100 family history negative never-smokers (FH−; 2 never-smoking parents) and 71 family history positive never-smokers (FH+; 2 ever-smoking parents). Controlling for significant group differences in race and age, BMI was significantly higher in FH+ (26.7 ± .6) than in FH− (24.5 ± .4; F = 10.351 p < .01). Further analysis using logistic regression showed that FH+ were 2.7 times as likely to be overweight/obese (BMI ≥ 25; 95% C.I. 1.398–5.351; p < .01). FH+ scored significantly higher on the Dieting and Bingeing Severity Scale than FH− and were significantly more likely to score in the severe or at-risk range. FH+ drank significantly more alcohol than FH−; they scored significantly higher on the CAGE and on the Michigan Alcohol Screening Test. Our analyses provide support for the role of inherited and/or environmentally-driven tendencies towards disinhibited eating and/or risky behaviors in general in the observed differences in BMI. No group differences in BMI or likelihood of being overweight/obese emerged based on prenatal exposure to nicotine in FH+ smokers, although our sample was too small to rule out an association. Further research in larger samples, using more complex statistical models, will be needed to disentangle these issues and identify causal pathways.
Monocyte-mediated suppression of lymphocyte cytotoxic activity for cultured autologous melanoma cells.

Abstract The cell-mediated cytotoxicity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells, monocyte-depleted lymphocytes, T cells, and non-T cells from patients with malignant melanoma was assessed using their autologous cultured tumor cells as targets. Mononuclear cells from 4 of 11 patients did not manifest cytotoxicity, whereas purified lymphoid preparations were unequivocally cytotoxic. The 1:1 addition of purified monocytes from one subject to autologous purified T cells resulted in the complete abrogation of cytotoxic activity. Our results indicate that monocytes from some patients with malignant melanoma suppress the lymphocyte-mediated cytolysis of their own tumor cells.
Client variables and the behavioral treatment of recurrent tension headache: a meta-analytic review.

Meta-analysis revealed that in studies evaluating behavioral treatments for tension headaches, the treatment outcome has varied with the client samples (e.g., age, gender, referral source) that have been used but not with the treatment procedures (e.g., type of behavioral intervention, length of treatment, whether or not efforts were made to facilitate transfer of training) or the research designs (e.g., internal validity, explicitness of diagnostic criteria) that have been used. Mean client age proved the best predictor of treatment outcome, accounting for 30% of the outcome variance following behavior therapy. Significantly poorer outcomes have also been reported in recent studies than were reported in early studies. These findings suggest that (1) outcomes obtained with behavioral interventions have been less dependent upon the treatment variables that have been the primary focus of research attention than upon characteristics of client samples and (2) behavioral interventions may be less effective in reducing headache activity than has previously been assumed.
Estrogen Treatment Reverses Heart Failure-Induced Cardiac Fibrosis and Inflammation

Heart failure is generally characterized by increased fibrosis and inflammation, which lead to functional and contractile defects. Recently we discovered that estrogen (E2) therapy can rescue advanced heart failure (HF) induced by pressure overload in mice by restoring left ventricular (LV) pressure and function. Here, we investigate the effects of E2 on reversing the adverse remodeling of the LV occurring during HF. Trans-aortic constriction procedure was used to induce HF. Once the ejection fraction reached ∼30%, one group of mice was sacrificed and the other group was treated with E2 (30 μg/kg/day) for 10 days. In vitro, co-cultured neonatal rat ventricular myocytes and fibroblasts were treated with angiotensin II (AngII) in the presence or absence of E2. Quantitative real-time PCR showed that the transcript levels of the pro-fibrotic markers collagen I, TGFβ, fibrosin 1 (FBRS) and lysil oxidase (LOX) were significantly upregulated in HF (from 1.00±0.16 to 1.83±0.11for collagen 1, 1.00±0.86 to 4.33±0.59 for TGFβ, 1.00±0.52 to 3.61±0.22 for FBRS and 1.00±0.33 to 2.88±0.32 for LOX) and were reduced with E2 treatment to levels similar to CTRL. In vitro studies validated our in vivo findings, as E2 also restored AngII-induced upregulation of LOX and TGFβ from 6.87±0.26 in AngII to 2.80±1.5 in AngII+E2 and 3.30±0.25 to 1.59±0.21 in AngII+E2, respectively (values normalized to CTRL). Furthermore, the pro-inflammatory interleukins IL-1β and IL-6 were upregulated from 1.00±0.19 to 1.90±0.09 and 1.00±0.30 to 5.29±0.77 in HF, respectively, and reversed to CTRL levels with E2 therapy. The anti-inflammatory interleukin IL-10 was downregulated from 1.00±0.17 to 0.49±0.03 in HF and reversed to 0.67±0.09 with E2 treatment. This data strongly suggests that one of the mechanisms for the beneficial action of estrogen on left ventricular heart failure is through reversal of inflammation and fibrosis.
Site-Specific Cross-Linking of Proteins through Tyrosine Hexahistidine Tags

The genetic addition of hexahistidine (H(6)) tags is widely used to isolate recombinant proteins by immobilized metal-affinity chromatography (IMAC). Addition of a tyrosine residue to H(6) tags enabled proteins to be covalently cross-linked under mild conditions in a manner similar to the natural, site-specific cross-linking of tyrosines into dityrosine. A series of seven hexahistidine tags with tyrosines placed in various positions (H(6)Y tags) were added to the amino terminus of the I28 immunoglobulin domain of the human cardiac titin. The H(6)Y-tagged I28 dimerized in the presence of excess Ni(2+) with a K(D) of 200 microM. Treatment of Ni(2+)-dimerized H(6)Y-I28 with an oxidant, monoperoxyphthalic acid (MMPP) or sodium sulfite, resulted in covalent protein multimerization through chelated Ni(2+)-catalyzed cross-linking of the Y residues engineered into the H(6) tag. The protein oligomerization was observed by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS PAGE). The presence of dityrosine in the cross-linked proteins was confirmed by fluorescence emission at 410 nm. Proteins lacking the Y residue in the H(6) tag treated with the same oxidative conditions did not cross-link or exhibit dityrosine fluorescence, despite the presence of an endogenous Y residue. The method may have potential uses in other protein conjugation applications such as protein labeling and interfacial immobilization of proteins on artificial surfaces.
Elevation of Hook1 in a disease model of Batten disease does not affect a novel interaction between Ankyrin G and Hook1.

Abstract Hook1 is a member of a family of microtubule-binding proteins. Studies on the Drosophila homolog of Hook1 have suggested a role in the maturation and trafficking of internalized proteins to the late endosome. A weak interaction between Hook1 and the lysosomal/late endosomal protein, CLN3, was recently reported. Mutations in CLN3 result in the neurological disorder Batten disease. Here we show a novel interaction between Hook1 and Ankyrin G, an adaptor protein that binds the spectrin–actin cytoskeleton and targets proteins to the peripheral membrane. Although we demonstrate co-localization of Hook1 and Ankyrin G, Hook1 also localizes to additional regions of the cell devoid of Ankyrin G where it likely interacts with other proteins. There is no disruption of the Hook1–Ankyrin G interaction or localization in tissue derived from a Cln3-knockout mouse despite a nearly threefold increase in the expression of Hook1. However, mutation of CLN3 could lead to alterations in the functioning and positioning of organelles and membrane proteins through this Hook1–Ankyrin G interaction.
Comparison of cervical range of motion in two seated postural conditions in adults 50 or older with cervical pain

AbstractObjectives: The influence of self-selected unsupported seated posture on cervical range of motion (ROM) has not been widely studied. Cervical ROM in habitual (HAB) compared to erect (ER) seated posture in adults 50 or older with cervical pain was investigated.Methods: Individuals 50 or older with chronic neck pain participated in this within-subject observational study. ROM and posture (sagittal distances from the nose to the occiput, C7, and thoracic width and relative to a projected laser plumb line) were measured with the CROM device in the two postures. Test–retest reliability, standard error of measurement (SEM) and minimum detectable change at the 95% confidence level (MDC95) were calculated.Results: Total planar ROM values were significantly different between HAB and ER postures. Extension, total rotation and lateral flexion, and R lateral flexion ROM were greater, while flexion decreased significantly in the ER posture. SEM% ranged from 4·0 to 9·5% and MDC95 values were lower in ER (5·8–11...
Lead astray: minimally invasive removal of a pacing lead in the left ventricle.

Pacemaker and implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) leads are placed routinely with few notable complications. A rarely described complication of transvenous lead placement is malpositioning into the left ventricle. This situation can cause additional complications in the form of thromboembolic events. We present a case of a malpositioned left ventricular lead that was successfully removed with a minimally invasive technique. Copyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Origin of the magnetic circular dichroism of absorption of the arsenic antisite in GaAs and Al x Ga 1-x As

We have investigated the transitions associated with magnetic circular dichroism of absorption (MCDA) in GaAs by studying the MCDA spectrum as a function of stoichiometry in Al{sub x}Ga{sub 1{minus}x}As grown at low temperatures via molecular-beam epitaxy. The main result of the stoichiometry-dependence study is that the spectrum of the singly ionized arsenic antisite can be well explained within the valence-band model, that is, the optical transitions are from the valence band to the A{sub 1} ground state. The competing internal transition model can be refuted. The stoichiometry dependence also suggests that the observed diamagnetic spectrum of the neutral arsenic antisite could be linked to the zero-phonon line of the optical-absorption spectrum. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society}
Color, Conformation, and Catalysis

The spectra of active-site specific chromophoric acyl enzymes are discussed in terms of both the chemical (electronic) nature of the acyl-enzyme bond and the protein conformation. The evidence presented demonstrates the following: (1) The acyl-enzyme bond is perturbed with regard to both reactivity and electronic spectrum. (2) The perturbation is intimately related to the native enzyme conformation. (3) Such extreme perturbation, although a ubiquitous property of native monomeric acyl enzymes, is lacking in an oligomeric enzyme (glyceraldehyde-3-PO4 dehydrogenase). (4) In the presence of a positive effector (NAD+), the same perturbation is evident. (5) NADH, the reverse reactant, is also an effector. Noncovalent binding of NADH results in a new electronic configuration for the acyl enzyme which can undergo hydrogen transfer. This configuration of the thiol ester is nonexistent in the absence of an effector.
Comparing production system architectures

Expert systems have become very popular in recent years. But the forward-chaining production systems (PS) driving the expert systems have severe limitations when run on general-purpose computers. The Match phase of the Match-Act-Select cycle production systems execute is computationally expensive and creates a limitation in the performance the PS's can deliver. This paper examines the architecture of three computers (DADO2, NON-VON, and Production System Machine) designed to speed up the Match process by pattern matching many facts and rules in parallel. The speeds of the designs are compared and the systems are analyzed to determine how suitable they are for use in the commercial environment.
PREDICTING PROTEIN DIGESTIBILITY AND QUALITY USING AN ENZYME‐TETRAHYMENA PYRIFORMIS W BIOASSAY1

A study was conducted to estimate protein quality in 4 days. Protozoan bioassays were combined with in vitro protein digestibility procedures. Data are included for 14 protein samples having a PER range of 0.68 to 2.83. In vitro protein digestibility values were in close agreement with rat apparent protein digestibility values. Two equations for predicting PER were derived from the in vitro digestibility and Tetrahymena bioassay data. Both equations have high multiple correlation coefficients (r=0.92 r=0.93). Rat PER data and computed PER data are listed. The standard deviation of the differences between the observed and computed PER is 0.28 PER (Equation 1) and 0.26 PER (Equation 2). This is compared to a standard deviation of 0.33 PER for the authors' observations of the variation in the rat bioassay.
Use of Ca(OH)2 for measuring microleakage.

Abstract Microleakage of restorative materials and luting agents traditionally has been carried out in the laboratory. This study deals with the use of calcium hydroxide (Dycal) as an agent to monitor microleakage. Based on the evaluation of 3 types of amalgams and an acrylic resin, it was shown that calcium hydroxide can be considered for use as an in vitro microleakage detection agent.
The Performance of MLEM for Dynamic Imaging From Simulated Few-View, Multi-Pinhole SPECT

Stationary small-animal SPECT systems are being developed for rapid dynamic imaging from limited angular views. This work quantified, through simulations, the performance of Maximum Likelihood Expectation Maximization (MLEM) for reconstructing a time-activity curve (TAC) with uptake duration of a few seconds from a stationary, three-camera multi-pinhole SPECT system. The study also quantified the benefits of a heuristic method of initializing the reconstruction with a prior image reconstructed from a conventional number of views, for example from data acquired during the late-study portion of the dynamic TAC. We refer to MLEM reconstruction initialized by a prior-image initial guess (IG) as MLEMig. The effect of the prior-image initial guess on the depiction of contrast between two regions of a static phantom was quantified over a range of angular sampling schemes. A TAC was modeled from the experimentally measured uptake of 99mTc-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (HMPAO) in the rat lung. The resulting time series of simulated images was quantitatively analyzed with respect to the accuracy of the estimated exponential washin and washout parameters. In both static and dynamic phantom studies, the prior-image initial guess improved the spatial depiction of the phantom, for example improved definition of the cylinder boundaries and more accurate quantification of relative contrast between cylinders. For example in the dynamic study, there was ~ 50% error in relative contrast for MLEM reconstructions compared to ~ 25-30% error for MLEMig. In the static phantom study, the benefits of the initial guess decreased as the number of views increased. The prior-image initial guess introduced an additive offset in the reconstructed dynamic images, likely due to biases introduced by the prior image. MLEM initialized with a uniform initial guess yielded images that faithfully reproduced the time dependence of the simulated TAC; there were no statistically significant differences in the mean exponential washin/washout parameters estimated from MLEM reconstructions compared to the true values. Washout parameters estimated from MLEMig reconstructions did not differ significantly from the true values, however the estimated washin parameter differed significantly from the true value in some cases. Overall, MLEM reconstruction from few views and a uniform initial guess accurately quantified the time dependance of the TAC while introducing errors in the spatial depiction of the object. Initializing the reconstruction with a late-study initial guess improved spatial accuracy while decreasing temporal accuracy in some cases.
The effects of surface roughness on sheet steels after phosphating

Abstract Surface characteristics of phosphated sheet steels are primarily responsible for variable paint performance. A Three-Dimensional Surface Characterization Technique is introduced to characterize the surface topography of the phosphated sheet steels. By using this new technique, the influences of the initial surface topography, temperature and immersion time on the surface finish are studied. The frequency domain analysis is also performed to identify the basic characteristics of a phosphating process.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence: lipids inside and out.

During infections, Mycobacterium tuberculosis has to acquire nutrients and resist host defense. Lipids are important for both: host-derived lipids provide food, whereas pathogen-derived lipids mediate immune suppression.
Induction of ras oncogene mutations and hepatocarcinogenesis in medaka (Oryzias latipes) exposed to diethylnitrosamine

Abstract Medaka ( Oryzias latipes ), a fish model for assessing the carcinogenic impact of environmental exposure to genotoxic chemicals, were subjected to 390 ppm of diethylnitrosamine (DEN) in an aqueous bath for 48 h. Histological examinations, at 5 and 7 months post-exposure, revealed that 11 of 17 fish developed hepatic neoplasms (hepatocellular carcinomas, cholangiomas and mixed hepato-cholangiocellular carcinomas). Genomic DNA extracted from the livers of normal medaka was used to obtain and sequence the structure of ras gene exon 1 and exon 2. Comparing PCR-amplified products from exon 1 and 2 by hybridization with specific mutation containing probes and/or by sequencing of liver DNA from control and exposed fish revealed an association of ras oncogene mutations and DEN-induced tumor formation. While none of the control fish showed any mutations, three of 11 fish with tumors had ras gene mutations. All three fish had mutations at codon 12 replacing glycine with aspartic acid, while one fish had an additional mutation at codon 16 replacing lysine with threonine. In addition to identifying DEN-induced mutations at codon 12 of the medaka ras oncogene, the present study represents a first report of an in vivo association of hepatocarcinogenesis, in any species, with a mutation at codon 16. Mutation at codon 16 and tumorigenesis has been previously predicted and artificially produced. Our study also supports the relevance of the medaka fish model for in vivo detection of the carcinogenic potential of environmental pollutants in sediments and biota of ambient water systems.
Alapexy: an alternative technique for repair of stenotic nares in dogs

Alapexy involves the creation and apposition of two small elliptical incisions, which fix the alae in an abducted position. Permanent alapexy was achieved in four of five dogs (eight of nine nostrils) that were operated. Four animals had significant improvement in their respiratory efforts because of reduced nasal obstruction. Although the alapexy procedure was somewhat more difficult to perform than simple wedge resection techniques, it may be a viable option in those animals where other techniques have failed or in animals that have dystrophic or flaccid alar cartilage. The alapexy technique may also improve the diameter of the nares compared to previously described techniques.
RHETORICAL PROPERTIES OF ARABIC RESEARCH ARTICLE INTRODUCTIONS

Abstract The purpose of the study is to investigate the rhetorical properties of Arabic research article introductions, using Swales’ CARS model. It is shown that Arabic introductions are varied in terms of their organization, resulting in a hybrid rhetorical structure: A few of them include features proposed in the CARS model, while the majority differs from it substantially. It is also shown how main features of Arabic discourse such as repetition and high-flown, ornamented expressions interact with rhetorical aspects of introductions. The significance of the findings is discussed using insights from the converging fields of genre analysis, contrastive rhetoric, and cross-cultural communication.
Ab Initio Interaction Energies of Hydrogen-Bonded Amino Acid Side Chain−Nucleic Acid Base Interactions

Hydrogen-bonding interactions often make substantial contributions to the specificity of protein−nucleic acid complexes. Using a geometric modeling approach, we previously identified 28 possible doubly hydrogen-bonded interactions to the four unpaired RNA bases. Here we present interaction energies of these models, calculated by ab initio quantum chemical methods, and describe a correlation between the computed energies and observed frequencies of the interactions. In general, interactions with charged side chains show the most favorable energies. An Asp/Glu−G interaction may be especially favorable for recognition of unpaired guanines in RNAs. Asn and Ser/Thr/Tyr side chains are calculated to make iso-energetic interactions to the Hoogsteen face of adenine, but Asn−A interactions are much more common with DNA than RNA, and Ser/Thr/Tyr−A interactions are more common with RNA than DNA. Examination of the known interactions suggests that Ser/Thr/Tyr may be accommodated in a wider variety of protein contexts...
Disturbance attenuation in LTI plants with finite horizon: optimality of nonlinear controllers

Abstract It is an established fact that search for an optimum in the problem of disturbance attenuation in linear time-invariant (LTI) plants can be restricted to linear designs when the sole criterion is the minimization of the H ∞ - norm of an appropriate input-output operator. What is not known, however, is whether there exist also optimal nonlinear controllers which would lead to uniformly better performance (than linear controllers) in a neighborhood of the worst-case disturbance. It is shown in this paper that for the finite-horizon version, and with the disturbance energy fixed, there do exist optimal (minimax) controllers outside the linear class, which can oout-perform the best linear controller locally. It is also argued that a differential (dynamic) games set-up provides a natural framework for the time-domain derivation of optimal (minimax) controllers for tracking, model matching and disturbance rejection problems, in both finite and infinite horizons.