cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Summation of motor unit tensions in the tibialis posterior muscle of the cat under isometric and nonisometric conditions

1. The tension produced by the combined stimulation of two to four single motor units of the cat tibialis posterior muscle was compared with the algebraic sum of the tensions produced by each individual motor unit. Comparisons were made under isometric conditions and during imposed changes in muscle length. 2. Under isometric conditions, the tension resulting from combined stimulation of units displayed marked nonlinear summation, as previously reported in other cat hindlimb muscles. On average, the measured tension was approximately 20% greater than the algebraic sum of the individual unit tensions. However, small trapezoidal movements imposed on the muscle during stimulation significantly reduced the degree of nonlinear summation both during and after the movement. This effect was seen with imposed movements as small as 50 microns. 3. The degree of nonlinear summation was not dependent on motor unit size or on stimulus frequency. The effect was also unrelated to tendon compliance because the degree of nonlinear summation of motor unit forces was unaffected by the inclusion of different amounts of the external tendon between the muscle and the force transducer. 4. Our results support previous suggestions that the force measured when individual motor units are stimulated under isometric conditions is reduced by friction between the active muscle fibers and adjacent passive fibers. These frictional effects are likely to originate in the connective tissue matrix connecting adjacent muscle fibers. However, because these effects are virtually eliminated by small movements, linear summation of motor unit tensions should occur at low force levels under nonisometric conditions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Restoring oxidant signaling suppresses proarthritogenic T cell effector functions in rheumatoid arthritis

In patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), CD4 + T cells hyperproliferate during clonal expansion, differentiating into cytokine-producing effector cells that contribute to disease pathology. However, the metabolic underpinnings of this hyperproliferation remain unclear. In contrast to healthy T cells, naive RA T cells had a defect in glycolytic flux due to the up-regulation of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD). Excess G6PD shunted glucose into the pentose phosphate pathway, resulting in NADPH (reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate) accumulation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) consumption. With surplus reductive equivalents, RA T cells insufficiently activated the redox-sensitive kinase ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM), bypassed the G 2 /M cell cycle checkpoint, and hyperproliferated. Moreover, insufficient ATM activation biased T cell differentiation toward the T helper 1 (T H 1) and T H 17 lineages, imposing a hyperinflammatory phenotype. We have identified several interventions that replenish intracellular ROS, which corrected the abnormal proliferative behavior of RA T cells and successfully suppressed synovial inflammation. Thus, rebalancing glucose utilization and restoring oxidant signaling may provide a therapeutic strategy to prevent autoimmunity in RA.
In-Situ ISAR Imaging of Wind Turbines

Measurement and processing methodologies are developed to capture the in-situ inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) image of an operating wind turbine. In-situ measurement data of a small three-blade wind turbine are collected using an ultrawideband radar, and the measured signatures are compared with simulation results based on physical optics. The backscattering phenomenology is examined in the sinogram, spectrogram, and ISAR image domains. It is shown that the resulting ISAR images provide revealing geometrical insight into the blade scattering phenomenology which is not as apparent in either the range profile or Doppler spectrogram alone. Subsequently, the same methodologies are applied to generate the in-situ ISAR imagery of an 18-blade windmill and a 1.7-MW utility-class wind turbine.
Viola Group (Ordovician, Oklahoma) cryptolithinid trilobites; biogeography and taxonomy

Cryptolithinid trilobites have been repeatedly described from North America for over 150 years. Earlier work on these forms is here integrated with new information from Oklahoma to form a strong case for the following conclusions: 1) the genus Cryptolithus migrated to (present-day) eastern North America from Europe at a single time in the early Caradoc; 2) it gave rise rapidly to a western North American relative, Cryptolithoides; 3) both genera were restricted to relatively cool-water shelf environments roughly 30 m deep and remained, in general, geographically isolated for several million years. The Viola Group, geographically between these eastern and western occurrences and representing much of Middle and Upper Ordovician time, chronicles the interplay between these two genera over some six million years.In the biogeographic boundary region formed by Oklahoma, the two supposedly distinct genera showed suprising convergence of fringe pit and other character traits as marine transgression reduced provinciality through Ordovician time. This suprising convergence of genera is interpreted as hybridization of mere subspecies after several million years of incomplete geographic separation.
“Asia of the one side, and Afric of the other”: Sidney’s Unities and the Staging of Romance

At a crucial moment in his Defense of Poesy, Philip Sidney summons a magical horse. He does so in response to the question: “How then shall we set forth a story which containeth both many places and many times?” Sidney offers: “Again, many things may be told which cannot be showed, if they know the difference betwixt reporting and representing. As, for example, I may speak (though I am here) of Peru, and in speech digress from that to the description of Calicut; but in action I cannot represent it without Pacolet’s horse” (244).
O33-4 World trade centre disaster and the health of responders: surveillance, epidemiology, and biases

The World Trade Centre (WTC) disaster occurred on September 11, 2001 and resulted in 2,876 immediate deaths and approximately 6,000 injuries. Shortly after the disaster, the WTC medical screening program (MSP) was started for the responders. The program was initially designed as a one-time medical screening, but evolved into a longitudinal medical monitoring program allowing researchers to investigate a wide range of health outcomes. There have now been more than 2,000 WTC scientific publications, but none that have formally investigated potential impacts of biases that may have arisen from the challenging conditions under which the studies were designed and data collected. We conducted a systematic assessment of the potential impacts of biases on health effects studies of the WTC MSP. Systematic review of the published studies was supplemented with targeted analyses of the primary data collected from WTC responders to identify and evaluate biases in qualitative and quantitative approaches. Several potential biases were identified using questionnaire data collected by WTC MSP. Selection bias likely occurred at least through self-selection into the WTC MSP. Loss to follow-up and non-random sampling due to differential recruiting strategies across study periods also likely occurred. Significant exposure misclassification may have occurred through use of self-reported information without validation from objective real-time exposure assessment. For some health outcomes, misclassifications may have occurred due to low inter-rater reliability during clinical diagnosis of health conditions, as well by changes over time in which health conditions were recognised as WTC-related. A quantitative analysis estimated the magnitude of the impact of these biases. Implementing a disaster based epidemiologic surveillance faces many challenges; among them is designing health surveillance in ways that increase reliability and reduce potential biases. Our study aimed to strengthen future disaster epidemiology studies by learning from the challenges of data collection and analysis for the WTC MSP.
The Scientific Philosophy: Consciousness Theory of Occurrences & Access'Ability

Consciousness is presumably one of the most researched topics of this century. Consciousness theory of occurrences and access‘ability proposed by this research explains how consciousness actually manifests through occurrences, accessed by human brain. This theory bases its assumptions upon scientific principles of neurology, psychology & psychiatry, quantum mechanics and Einstein’s theory of relativity. It also uses concepts of philosophy of consciousness and spirituality to establish certain facts. Other than solving the mystery of consciousness, this theory also helps to understand why and how humans experience certain strange phenomena like intuition, precognition, premonitions, dreams, deja vu, paranormal, telepathy, reincarnation, past life memories, and communication with the dead.
NOVEL FORMULATION STRATEGIES FOR INSULIN DELIVERY

Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas that allows your body to use sugar (glucose) from carbohydrates in the food that you eat for energy or to store glucose for future use. Successful oral insulin delivery involves overcoming the enzymatic and physical barriers. Several companies across the globe are developing oral insulin based on different technology platforms. Insulin has been encapsulated in nanoparticles by mucoadhesive polymers such as chitosan, poly (lacticco-glycolic acid) (PLGA), and alginate which prevent enzymatic degradation and allow absorption across the epithelial layer in Peyer’s patches. Keywords : Novel Formulation Strategies, Insulin, hyperglycemia, Nanosphere-based oral insulin delivery
The Martial Arts in Qi Jiguang’s Military Training

Qi Jiguang’s Jixiao xinshu contains the second-earliest extant Chinese discussion of the martial arts. For modern scholars of Chinese martial arts, this work presents both a touchstone and a conundrum. General Qi’s chapter on boxing places unarmed combat skills within a military context and describes not only individual schools of martial arts but also a simplified new fighting system. Unarmed combat skills are therefore portrayed as an important basic component of a soldier’s training. Yet when General Qi revised his training manual many years later, he removed the chapter on unarmed combat. Unfortunately, Qi Jiguang did not explain his reasons for changing his manual. This paper attempts to explain why the later version of the Jixiao xinshu removed the chapter on unarmed combat, along with three others. It argues that Qi’s second edition of his manual was a further refinement of his military method based upon experience. His experience showed that unarmed combat was useful neither in war nor as physical training for soldiers. Part of the reason for this was the increasing use of firearms and polearms over swords and bows. This trend would be reinforced when the Japanese invaded Korea at the end of the 16th century. Qi Jiguang’s revised manual was therefore a leading indicator of where combat was going and signalled the separation of unarmed combat from battlefield effectiveness.
Nanoporous Metals as Electrocatalysts: State-of-the-Art, Opportunities, and Challenges

Nanoporous metals with their distinct three-dimensional interconnected porous networks are promising materials as electrocatalysts for fundamental studies and practical applications because they have highly conductive self-supporting porous structures with large electrochemical surface areas. This Perspective provides an overview of the recent developments and state-of-the-art nanoporous metals as electrocatalysts for various important electrochemical systems. Potential strategies and opportunities for utilizing the unique characteristics of nanoporous metals to overcome typical problems faced in electrocatalysis are presented. Lastly, challenges regarding the synthesis of nanoporous metals with controlled porous structure and targeted surface catalytic sites are also discussed to stimulate new ideas and interests for nanoporous metallic electrocatalysts.
Using Household Fit Indices to Examine the Psychometric Quality of Food Insecurity Measures

This study focuses on model-data fit with a particular emphasis on household-level fit within the context of measuring household food insecurity. Household fit indices are used to examine the psychometric quality of household-level measures of food insecurity. In the United States, measures of food insecurity are commonly obtained from the U.S. Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM, 18 items) of the Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement (CPS-FSS). These measures, in various forms, are used to inform national programs and policies related to food insecurity. Data for low-income households with children from recent administrations of the HFSSM (2012-2014) are used in this study (N = 7,324). The results suggest that there are detectable levels of misfit with Infit mean square error (MSE) statistics ranging from 6.73 % to 21.33% and Outfit MSE statistics ranging from 5.31% to 9.68%. The data suggest for Outfit MSE statistics that (a) male respondents, (b) respondents with lower levels of education, and (c) respondents who did not report participating in SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly the Food Stamp Program) tend to have more misfit. For Infit MSE statistics, lack of homeownership appears to be a predictor of misfit. The implications of this research for future research, theory, and policy related to the measurement of household food insecurity are discussed.
Translation of Animal Models into Clinical Practice: Application to Heart Failure

Abstract Animal models are widely used to gain insights into the pathophysiology and molecular mechanisms of heart failure. The advantages and disadvantages of small animal and large-animal models of heart failure are discussed. Several models are described, including acquired cardiomyopathies (myocardial infarction, ischemia-reperfusion, pressure and volume overload, toxic cardiomyopathies, sepsis-associated heart failure) and genetic cardiomyopathies. Possible improvements of animal models are discussed.
Correction to: The Effect of What We Think may Happen on our Judgments of Responsibility

On pages 263, 265, and 266, incorrect degrees of freedom and t values were reported. The statistical conclusions are not affected by these reporting errors, but the corrected values are shown below.
A joint cross interval difference analysis for detecting coupling trends between neurons

We present a new spike train analysis technique based on interval difference statistics. The Joint Cross Interval Difference (JCID) scatter plot is introduced to examine the dependency relationship between adjacent CIDs in a spike train allowing for inferences to be made about local cross train trends. Monotonically increasing, decreasing, constant, or alternatively varying CIDs will appear in separate quadrants in this JCID scatter plot. The method was applied to simulated spike trains in order to display the capabilities of this new technique. Repeated cross train trends between pairs of neurons can seen as clusters and bands of points in specific quadrants of this new scatter plot.
James Perry Wilson: Shifting Paradigms of Natural History Diorama Background Painting

The background painting of a natural history diorama is a crucial component contributing to the overall effect of the exhibit. It sets the frame for the taxidermy and other types of exhibits. This chapter discusses the work of early renowned artists in the field such as James Perry Wilson, his grid technique including later in his work the incorporation of photographs to inform and enable his work. Reference to original correspondence of Wilson, Chapman and Carlson are amongst other workers in the field whose work is highlighted to illustrate points in the development of technique in diorama construction.
The gas exposure technique for tritium labeling.

In the gas exposure technique for tritium labeling [1], organic compounds are exposed to curie amounts of tritium gas for several days. The energy released in the disintegration of the tritium and absorbed in the system provides the activation necessary to effect labeling. Since appreciable quantities of energy, 1.8·1019 ev per curie-day of tritium, are involved, some radiation damage occurs. The products of radiation damage may contain an appreciable fraction of the organically bound tritium and may have a high specific activity. Efficient purification procedures will generally be required to obtain the parent compound radiochemically pure. The concentration of tritium which can be introduced into a compound is limited by its sensitivity to radiation damage, but for many compounds activities from 10−3 to 10−1 c/g can be obtained without excessive radiation damage. Activities in this range have been obtained, for example, in hydrocarbons, carbohydrates, sterols, and peptides. Results of some degradative studies indicate that compounds labeled by this technique may contain tritium at all possible positions, but at a nonuniform distribution.
Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus and Exercise

Exercise is an important aspect of the care of both children and adults with type 1 diabetes, promoting improved cardiovascular health, glycemic control, and participation in normal life. However, exercise presents several important challenges related to exogenous insulin delivery and risk of potentially dangerous glycemic excursions. In these and other respects, considerations for management of exercise in type 1 diabetes are quite different from type 2 diabetes. In this chapter, general recommendations for exercise will be reviewed, along with an update on the understanding of differential physiologic mechanisms that contribute to glycemic excursions in type 1 diabetes. We will emphasize a practical approach based on underlying physiology to facilitate safe exercise in type 1 diabetes, with a specific discussion pertinent to new technology including the artificial pancreas.
Cervical fusion for degenerative disease: A comprehensive cost analysis of hospital complications in the United States from 2002 to 2014

Purpose: Recent data suggest great variability in costs for surgical hospitalization for spinal surgery. However, the magnitude of expenditures attributable to complications is unknown. The purpose of this study is to describe cost of care associated with surgical and medical complications after cervical spine surgery. Materials and Methods: A retrospective cohort study utilizing the National Inpatient Sample years 2002–2014 was conducted. A weighted sample of 901,508 adults undergoing elective cervical fusion for degenerative indications was extracted using diagnostic and procedure codes. Twelve categories of major complications were identified, and patient/hospital variables were evaluated as predictors of the overall reimbursed cost using multivariate regression. Mean differences (B) and 95% confidence intervals were reported. Results: The mean age was 52.2 ± 11.4 years, with 5.2% of patients experiencing a complication. Mean overall increase in inflation-adjusted cost associated with complication was $16,435 ± 10,358, varying significantly by type of complication, surgical approach, and number of levels fused. The most common complications and their attributed costs were dysphagia (1.6%, B = $2624 [2476–2771], P Conclusions: Although complications are rare after elective cervical fusion, they are associated with dramatically increase costs of care as high as $25,359 in the setting of postoperative infection. Improved understanding of the economic magnitude of complications may help guide efforts in reducing health care spending and improving perioperative care.
Up for Debate: Re-Envisioning the Journal Club with an Article-Centric Student Debate.

Effective utilization of evidence-based medicine requires skillful development of a critical literature evaluation process. Although traditional journal club activities are a common modality to teach and refine these skills, they may limit a learner’s motivation to perform a well-rounded critique of primary literature. Innovation: In response to the challenges with these traditional formats, we describe a novel approach to refining critical literature evaluation skills in an Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) setting utilizing a focused, article-centric journal club debate. Students, in pairs, are assigned a single article and are tasked with building critical arguments for both pro and con sides of the article, which culminates in a one-on-one debate. Key Findings: The debate has been well received by students and faculty for increasing engagement in the critical literature evaluation process. The article-centric nature of the debate pushes students to a deeper understanding of an article’s merits and pitfalls. Ongoing limitations include significant faculty assessment burden and lack of a standardized, debate-specific evaluation rubric. Next Steps: Future efforts should focus on evaluating student performance and perceptions of the debate compared to traditional journal club formats utilizing pre- and post- surveys. The creation of a debate-specific grading rubric may streamline the evaluation process and reduce faculty assessment burden. Article Type: Note
Are Otolaryngology Milestones Predictive of Otolaryngology Training Examination Scores

Importance:Otolaryngology residents take the otolaryngology training examination (OTE) yearly to assess their fund of knowledge. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) mil...
The pre-eminent good argument

According to J. L. Schellenberg, a perfectly loving God wouldn't permit the occurrence of non-resistant non-believers – that is, non-believers who are both capable of believing in and relating to God, but who fail to believe through no fault of their own. Since non-resistant non-believers exist, says Schellenberg, it follows that God doesn't. A popular response to this argument is some version or other of the greater good defence. God, it's argued, is justified in hiding himself when done for the sake of some greater good. But proponents of this defence have overlooked or neglected an important sub-argument in Schellenberg's case – what I call the ‘pre-eminent good argument’. In this article, I identify the nature of the argument and offer a solution to it.
A ‘Tale of two Jihadis’? Improperly conflating terrorists and foreign fighters in the Arab spring

ABSTRACTThis article draws on a unique dataset of state-level data for 196 countries to establish answers to three research questions. We begin by exploring whether a global spike in terrorist acts...
Cognition in Schizophrenia

In addition to the positive and negative features, deficits in cognition appear to be an important aspect of schizophrenia and are found in many cognitive domains, including attention, executive function, language, memory, processing speed, and visuospatial ability. The cognitive impairments associated with schizophrenia are present across the lifespan and occur in populations with schizophrenia across the world independent of geography and culture, although they might be more severe in men than in women. Despite considerable effort, there do not appear to be to date effective treatments for the cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia. The severe functional burden associated with the cognitive impairments of schizophrenia and lack of effective treatments indicate the need for additional research into cognitive function in schizophrenia and ways to prevent and to treat the cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia.
Renormalized Effective Hamiltonian Approach to QCD

Continuing our previous QCD Hamiltonian studies in the gluonic and quark sectors, we describe a new renormalization procedure which generates an effective Hamiltonian . The formulation , which is in the Coulomb gauge, provides an improved framework for investigating hadron structure .
Caught in the middle: examining a contentious divide through the experiences of a small Christian school for Mexican immigrants

In this article, I describe how Escuela Luz del Mundo (ELM), a progressive Christian school that served the Mexican immigrant community in Albuquerque, New Mexico USA was ‘caught in the middle’ bet...
The Effect of Navigational Aids on Spatial Memory in Virtual Reality

Modern navigation aids revolutionized human navigation, but are also criticized for potential negative effects on human spatial memory. However, previous tests focused on spatial skills such as environment learning and mental rotations rather then on spatial memory directly. Here, we test directly the effect of a simple navigational aid – an augmented arrow pointing towards the next target – on users’ spatial memory. We find that performance was significantly more efficient with these guiding arrows, but with no significant decrease in spatial memory performance. This suggests negative effects may stem from other features such as attention, and tempers the media’s over-alarmist view.
Algorithm-in-the-Loop Decision Making

We introduce a new framework for conceiving of and studying algorithms that are deployed to aid human decision making: “algorithm-in-the-loop” systems. The algorithm-in-the-loop framework centers human decision making, providing a more precise lens for studying the social impacts of algorithmic decision making aids. We report on two experiments that evaluate algorithm-in-the-loop decision making and find significant limits to these systems.
When reason sleeps: attempted suicide during the circadian night.

Disrupted sleep and nocturnal wakefulness are evidence-based risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors. We present a suicide attempt following a rapid increase in nocturnal wakefulness. This...
Analysis of urban mobility in South Florida using Uber Movement

Abstract Ridesharing services linked to mobile devices are increasingly playing a major role in human mobility in urban areas. With the recent release of Uber Movement data for certain large cities it is now possible to analyze urban mobility at finer spatial scales. In the present study, we used aggregate Uber trip data from 2016 to 2019 for the Miami metropolitan area. The peak hour of Uber trips and mean travel times were calculated using harmonic analysis. The total number of trips were expectedly higher on the weekdays compared to weekends for both sources and destinations. In addition, there was a distinct spatial clustering along major thoroughfares connecting the entire study area from north to south, and the two main airports of the study area, Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport. The main thoroughfares along which the Uber trips were clustered also overlap with the two modes of mass transit, metro rail and Tri Rail. This is indicative of most riders using mass transit to the closest station of their destination, and then using Uber as a connection to the location of interest. The results of our study will be useful for urban planning and better understanding of human mobility across the metropolitan area.
Abstract WP192: Periventricular White Matter Hyperintensities Are Associated With Functional Decline: The Northern Manhattan Study

Background: We previously showed that overall brain white matter hyperintensity volume (WMHV) was associated with accelerated long-term functional decline. However, it was unclear whether WMHV in p...
How engagement of a diverse set of stakeholders shaped the design, implementation, and dissemination of a multicenter pragmatic trial of stroke transitional care: The COMPASS study

Evidence is limited on how to synthesize and incorporate the views of stakeholders into a multisite pragmatic trial and how much academic teams change study design and protocol in response to stakeholder input. This qualitative study describes how stakeholders contributed to the design, conduct, and dissemination of findings of a multisite pragmatic clinical trial, the COMprehensive Post-Acute Stroke Services (COMPASS) Study. We engaged stakeholders as integral research partners by embedding them in study committees and community resource networks that supported local sites. Data stemmed from formal focus groups and continuous participation in working groups. Guided by Grounded Theory, we extracted themes from focus group and meeting notes. These were discussed as a team and with other stakeholder groups for feasibility. A consensus approach was used. Stakeholder input changed many aspects of the study including: the care model that treated stroke as a chronic condition after hospital discharge, training for hospital-based providers who often lacked awareness of the barriers to recovery that patients face, support for caregivers who were essential for stroke patients' recovery, and for community-based health and social service providers whose services can support recovery yet often go underutilized. Stakeholders brought value to both pragmatic research and health service delivery. Future studies should test the impact of elements of study implementation informed by stakeholders vs those that are not.
Middle school students’ construction of quantitative unknowns

Abstract Two iterative, after school design experiments with small groups of middle school students were conducted to investigate how students constructed quantitative unknowns, conceived of as values of fixed quantities that are not known but can be determined. Students solved problems about an unknown height or length measured in two different units. Of 13 students who participated, 6 structured quantities into three levels of units. These students constructed an unknown as a height consisting of an indeterminate number of length units, each of which consisted of smaller length units, and they symbolized these relationships in their equations. The other 7 students structured quantities into two levels of units. Five of these students symbolized only the relationships between the measurement units, with two students demonstrating more basic and advanced solutions. The study shows that grappling with unknowns as measured and indeterminate is beneficial for students’ construction of variable.
Cognitive Determinants of Aggressive Financial Reporting – The Combined Effects of Ego Depletion, Moral Identity, and an Ethical Intervention

We experimentally investigate the combined effects of ego depletion, moral identity, and ethical interventions on managers’ financial reporting aggressiveness in the development of an accounting estimate. We find that decision makers with high moral identity become more aggressive later in the day (once they become ego depleted), but those with low moral identity do not. We also find that an ethical intervention has a significant influence on the reporting judgments of depleted decision makers with low moral identity, but not on the judgments of depleted decision makers with high moral identity. However, the opposite effect occurs when decision makers are not depleted. That is, an ethical intervention has a significant influence on the financial reporting judgments of undepleted decision makers with high moral identity, but not on the judgments of undepleted decision makers with low moral identity. Supplemental analyses reveal different patterns of decision makers’ cognitive dissonance across experimental conditions.
“I Can be Who I Am When I Play Tekken 7”: E-sports Women Participants from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan:

Extant research on e-sports has focused on the growth and value of the phenomenon, fandom, and participant experiences. However, there is a paucity of e-sports scholarship detailing women’s experie...
Recursive feedforward regulatory logic underlies robustness of the specification-to-differentiation transition and fidelity of terminal cell fate during C. elegans endoderm development

Development is driven by gene regulatory networks (GRNs) that progressively dictate specification and differentiation of cell fates. The architecture of GRNs directly determines the specificity and accuracy of developmental outcomes. We report here that the core regulatory circuitry for endoderm development in C. elegans is comprised of a recursive series of interlocked feedforward modules linking a cascade of six sequentially expressed GATA-type transcription factors. This structure results in a reiterated sequential redundancy, in which removal of a single factor or alternate factors in the cascade results in no, or a mild, effect on endoderm development and gut differentiation, while elimination of any two factors that are sequentially deployed in the cascade invariably results in a strong phenotype. The strength of the observed phenotypes is successfully predicted by a computational model based on the timing and levels of transcriptional states. The feedforward regulatory logic in the GRN appears to ensure timely onset of terminal differentiation genes and allow rapid and robust lockdown of cell fate during early embryogenesis. We further found that specification-to-differentiation transition is linked through a common regulator, the END-1 GATA factor that straddles the two processes. Finally, we revealed roles for key GATA factors in establishing spatial regulatory state domains by acting as transcriptional repressors that appear to define the boundaries of the digestive tract. Our findings support a comprehensive model of the core gene network that describes how robust endoderm development is achieved during C. elegans embryogenesis. Graphic abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=63 SRC="FIGDIR/small/457588v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (18K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@440e79org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@12355aorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@16ccfc1org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@bb8ec9_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG
The Most Patient of All Animals, Next to the Ass: Jan Smuts, Howard University, and African American Leadership in 1930

In January of 1930, Howard University hosted former and future South African prime minister Jan Smuts. The curious visit, sponsored by the Phelps-Stokes Fund, intended to bring Smuts into conversation about the global color line with leading African-American activists. In a roundabout way, it did. Smuts' intoning prior to his Howard visit that "The African is the most patient of all animals, next to the ass," combined with the decision to ban faculty, students, and press (with the exception of three white reporters) from the event, contributed to the conference's important role in expanding black internationalism. This paper contextualizes the Smuts debacle and argues for its importance as a catalyst in US opposition to South African minority rule. Expanding upon the work of scholars such as Charles Johnson, Brenda Gayle Plummer, and Robert Vinson, it utilizes correspondence between leading African-American activists such as WEB DuBois and Robert Moton, meeting organizers' information, and press coverage to argue for the consideration of this early flashpoint in American perceptions of Africa.
Effects of Copper on the Periphyton of a Small Calcareous Stream

The effect of the continuous addition of copper to a small calcareous stream at a concentration of approximately 120 μg/litre was studied for a year. Of the parameters evaluated in this study, the species composition of the periphyton was found to be the most sensitive and informative measure of the effects of copper. Two of the dominant species of algae in the stream were eliminated from the periphyton: the diatom Cocconeis placentula var. euglypta, and the filamentous green alga, Cladophera glomerata. Cocconeis placentula, which commonly contributed 85 to 98 percent of the summer diatoms in the treated reach of the stream prior to the addition of copper, was replaced by three species of diatoms, Nitzschia palea, Navicula nigrii, and N. seminulum var. hustedtii. Other species of algae that were more abundant in the copper-treated reach than in the control reach of the stream were the filamentous blue-green alga, Schizothrix calcicola, and the desmids, Cosmarium granatum and C. subprotumidum.
Capitalisation of Operating Leases and Credit Ratings

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) will re-expose in the first half of 2013 a revised joint proposal for a new lease accounting standard (FASB 2012). The proposed standard requires lessees to record operating leases as debt, making it more difficult for lessees to avoid liability recognition. We examine whether or not the debt impact of operating leases is reflected in bond ratings. Using the methodology of Damodaran (2009), we compare firms’ actual credit ratings with synthetic ratings calculated using both reported financial statement data and financial statement data that has been adjusted to reflect the debt treatment of operating leases. We find that when operating leases are treated as debt, coverage ratios and synthetic ratings are significantly lower than those created under current accounting rules. In addition, we find that the actual ratings are significantly lower than unadjusted synthetic ratings, while synthetic ratings calculated using adjusted data approximate the actual ratings. This suggests that the debt impact of operating leases is important to ratings agencies and that the agencies incorporate available information into their ratings. However, information available under current accounting rules is incomplete. Given the importance of lease information and the incompleteness of the data available under current accounting rules, we suggest ratings may become more accurate under the proposed standard.
Radon’s inversion formulas

Radon showed the pointwise validity of his celebrated inversion formulas for the Radon transform of a function f of two real variables (formulas (III) and (III') in J. Radon, Uber die Bestimmung von Funktionen durch ihre Integralwerte langs gewisser Mannigfaltigkeiten, Ber. Verh. Sachs. Akad. Wiss. Leipzig, Math.-Nat. kl. 69 (1917), 262-277) under the assumption that f is continuous and satisfies two other technical conditions. In this work, using the methods of modern analysis, we show that these technical conditions can be relaxed. For example, the assumption that f be in L p (R 2 ) for some p satisfying 4/3 < p < 2 suffices to guarantee the almost everywhere existence of its Radon transform and the almost everywhere validity of Radon's inversion formulas.
Voluntary wheel running is necessary for hepatic PGC-1α adenovirus overexpression to increase hepatic mitochondria in LCR rats (LB741)

The hepatic adenoviral overexpression (o/e) of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α adenovirus (PGC-1α) in sedentary (SED) low capacity running (LCR) rats increases PGC-1α mRNA, but does not induce increased PGC-1α protein, increased mitochondrial content or fatty acid oxidation, as we have previously observed in SED Sprague-Dawley rats. It is well known that PGC-1α expression is highly regulated post-transcriptionally leading us to believe that LCR possess an unknown “brake” that blocks the impact of increased PGC-1α mRNA. We hypothesized that increased energy expenditure via voluntary wheel running (VWR) would result in increased hepatic PGC-1α protein in the LCR following PGC-1α o/e. LCR rats (age=20 wks; n=4-8) were assigned to SED+PGC-1α or VWR+PGC-1α for 4 weeks while β-galactosidase adenovirus groups served as controls. VWR reduced fat pad mass (~ 50%; p<0.05) but not body mass compared to SED. Both the SED+PGC-1α and the VWR+PGC-1α increased hepatic PGC-1α mRNA, but only the...
Microstructural Development in Ion Beam Deposited Superconducting YBa2Cu3O7-x and Bi-Ca-Sr-Cu-O Thin Films

The microstructural development of superconducting thin films in the Y-Ba-Cu-O (YBCO) and Bi-Ca-Sr-Cu-O (BCSCO) systems has been observed by transmission electron microscopy as a function of ion beam deposition and annealing conditions. 100 nm thick YBCO samples deposited between 580 and 650°C on SrTiO3 and MgO were found to be single crystal with c-axis normal orientation. Higher temperature deposition or annealing to improve the oxygen stoichiometry and critical properties enhanced microstructure development and produced grain oriented polycrystalline material. In the BCSCO system, the 85K superconducting phase is formed by recrystallization from a non-superconducting phase and exhibits c-axis normal grain orientation even on polycrystalline substrates. Device structures have been prepared from these materials which show the presence of at least two distinct types of weak link behavior associated with the grain boundaries in the superconductors.
ELECTRON IMPACT EXCITATION OF 2pq AND 3pq IONS

5) is reviexved. \Ye assess papers published since the last revision carried out for the Atomic Data \Yorkshop held at Osford in .4ugust 1987. 1 - IXTRODUCTION The present report updates two earlier revisions on electron impact escitation of positive ions mith 2pq and 3pq electronic configurations. They mere presented at the Atomic Data Workshops held at the Daresbury Laboratory in March 1985 /I/ and at St Catharine College, Oxford, in August 1987 121. Even though accurate cross sections for transitions in such ions are required in low and high temperature astrophysical and laboratory plasma diagnostics, in the past txvo years there has been a considerable decrease in reported work. This is perhaps due to lack of interest since these ions have received a lot of attention in the past, and the present trend is to attempt more ambitious calculations for larger systems. However, an exha~lstive examination carried out by Burke et a1 /17/ on the \veil studied
A Review of Antifriction Materials and Design for Cryogenic Environments

Friction is the resistance to movement of contacting surfaces. Wear is the surface degradation and material loss that result from mechanical interaction. Friction and wear are closely associated, but there is no direct relationship. Thus, high friction implies high wear, but the conditions leading to minimum friction for a given sliding couple do not necessarily minimize wear.
National vaccine injury compensation program: the potential impact of Cedillo for vaccine-related autism cases.

A serious accusation has been leveled. A serious accusation has been leveled against an important part of the public health arsenal against a preventable disease. An accusation has been leveled tha...
Identification and Functional Validation of Reciprocal microRNA-mRNA Pairings in African American Prostate Cancer Disparities

Purpose: African Americans (AA) exhibit higher rates of prostate cancer (PCa) incidence and mortality compared to European American (EA) men. In addition to socioeconomic influences, biological factors are believed to play a critical role in PCa disparities. We investigated whether population-specific and -enriched miRNA-mRNA interactions might contribute to PCa disparities. Experimental Design: Integrative genomics was employed, combining miRNA and mRNA profiling, miRNA target prediction, pathway analysis and functional validation, to map miRNA-mRNA interactions associated with PCa disparities. Results: We identified 22 AA-specific and 18 EA-specific miRNAs in PCa versus patient-matched normal prostate, and 10 9AA-enriched/-depleted9 miRNAs in AA PCa versus EA PCa comparisons. Many of these population-specific/-enriched miRNAs could be paired with target mRNAs that exhibited an inverse pattern of differential expression. Pathway analysis revealed epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR or ERBB) signaling as a critical pathway significantly regulated by AA-specific/-enriched mRNAs and miRNA-mRNA pairings. Novel miRNA-mRNA pairings were validated by qRT-PCR, western blot and/or IHC analyses in PCa specimens. Loss/gain of function assays performed in population-specific PCa cell lines confirmed miR-133a/MCL1, miR-513c/STAT1, miR-96/FOXO3A, miR-145/ITPR2 and miR-34a/PPP2R2A as critical miRNA-mRNA pairings driving oncogenesis. Manipulating the balance of these pairings resulted in decreased proliferation and invasion, and enhanced sensitization to docetaxel-induced cytotoxicity in AA PCa cells. Conclusion: Our data suggest that AA-specific/-enriched miRNA-mRNA pairings may play a critical role in the activation of oncogenic pathways in AA PCa. Our findings also suggest that miR-133a/MCL1, miR-513c/STAT1 and miR-96/FOXO3A may have clinical significance in the development of novel strategies for treating aggressive PCa.
Low efficiency of manganese fertilization of soybeans on a haplaquept soil

Abstract Manganese deficiency is frequently encountered in soybeans (Glycine Max. L., Merrill) on naturally high pH, fine textured, poorly drained soils (Vertic Haplaquept) in Kentucky. Information is needed for diagnosing deficient fields by soil tests and on the efficiency of Mn fertilizer applied to these soils. At two locations where Mn deficiency had occurred, MnSO4 was applied at annual rates up to 360 and 600 kg of Mn/ha. At site 1, where DTPA extractable Mn averaged 5.9 pg/g on untreated soil with pH of 7.4, seed yields were increased significantly in 1977 and over the three‐year period by Mn fertilization. Yields were unaffected by treatment at site 2, where extractable Mn averaged 5.8 pg/g and pH was 6.3. Concentrations of Mn in trifoliates of plants growing in untreated soil averaged 15–16 pg/g for three of the five site‐years. However, there were apparent seasonal effects of climate on Mn availability in certain years which resulted in Mn levels of 24–29 pg/g in trifoliates of plants growing i...
Atraumatic Recording of Gastric Contractions in Conscious, Unrestrained Rats

An atraumatic balloon technique is presented whereby gastric motor function is directly recorded from conscious, unrestrained rats continuously for as many as 5 days and intermittently for periods up to 2 weeks. Intragastric motility patterns resulting from these animals demonstrate good recording stability and are remarkably free of artifacts during their physiological and behavioral activities. The tracings during fasting most frequently showed periods of relative quiescence with occasional bursts of high amplitude contractions. After stimulation with either food or water, digestive contractions were obtained. The inherent limitation to the usefulness of this technique is anatomical inasmuch as it is less applicable for use in very small animals.
Antibacterial Therapy for Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in Adults: A Review

Because of difficulties in accurately determining an etiologic diagnosis, the ideal treatment for acute community-acquired lower respiratory tract infections remains to be established. Suggested regimens, in the absence of persuasive findings from gram-stained preparations of sputum, are best guesses made on the basis of clinical and epidemiological data. Results from randomized controlled trials are only partially helpful since most trials require the isolation of a potential pathogen, a condition that excludes as many as half of all potential study participants. Nonetheless, initial therapy for patients producing phlegm with abundant polymorphonuclear leukocytes should be chosen on the basis of the predominant organisms seen on a stained sputum smear. Patients who are admitted to the hospital from home, greater than 50 years of age, and not producing phlegm can be safely treated with amoxicillin or a second-generation cephalosporin. Atypical pneumonia in younger patients is best treated with erythromycin or tetracycline. Patients admitted from nursing homes, who frequently fail to respond to an initial treatment course in the absence of a diagnostic sputum sample, should receive empirical therapy with an agent that is also active against aerobic gram-negative rods.