cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of renal causes of hypertension

Hypertension currently affects approximately 60 million Americans and can lead to significant morbidity and mortality including heart disease and renal failure. Although most people suffer from essential hypertension, a substantial subset (5% to 10%) has a secondary cause. Of this group of secondary causes, renal parenchymal disease and renovascular disease are the most prevalent. This article concentrates on the renal-mediated secondary causes of hypertension.
New Openings for Religious Empiricism

Though largely neglected now for forty years, there once thrived in this country an indigenously American form of revisionary theology/philosophy of religion. Its two wings were the self-conscious naturalists, who, with the exception of Santayana, centered mainly around Columbia University, and the more pluralistic, historicistic, sometimes naturalistic thinkers of the "Chicago school" gathered around the University of Chicago. Each had common roots in the "radical empiricism" of James and Dewey, established at around the turn of the century, and each was eclipsed after the Second World War by the influx of powerful new currents of thought from Great Britain and the continent. Amidst its disarray and even nihilism, one of the more hopeful signs in contemporary theology is the emergence of a varigated group of thinkers who are attempting to reappropriate this "empirical" American tradition for constructive theological purposes. More or less random examples of this judgment are the success of the new American Journal of Theology and Philosophy, aspects of the work of Robert Neville, or Nancy Frankenberry's recently published Religion and Radical Empiricism. The two excellent works here under review represent both the retrieval of this tradition and the efforts to push it into fresh constructive
Indocyanine green videoangiography in the management of dural arteriovenous fistulae.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the usefulness of indocyanine green (ICG) videoangiography in the operative management of dural arteriovenous fistulae (dAVFs). METHODS: Intraoperative ICG videoangiography was used as a surgical adjunct in 25 patients with cranial and spinal dural arteriovenous fistulae to identify the fistula and verify its complete obliteration. The findings on ICG videoangiography were compared with intraoperative and/or postoperative imaging. RESULTS: All dural arteriovenous fistulae were clearly identified by intraoperative ICG videoangiography and obliteration was documented in each case. Findings on ICG videoangiography correlated with intraoperative and/or postoperative imaging. CONCLUSION: ICG videoangiography is a useful adjunct to the surgical management of dural arteriovenous fistulae for localization and confirmation of complete obliteration. The safety and ease of use make it an attractive modality. The surgeon can only evaluate what is visualized under the operating microscope and must therefore fully expose the venous drainage of the fistula to confirm obliteration.
Increased L-arginine transport in a nitric oxide-producing metastatic colon cancer cell line

Background: Little is known about amino acid transport in human neoplastic cells. We previously characterizedl-arginine transport in the primary human colon cancer cell line, SW480, and found it is principally mediated by the sodium-independent system y+. In this study, we characterizedl-arginine transport in the metastatic cell line, SW620, and compared it with that in the primary cell line, SW480.
Organelle genome resources at NCBI

We are grateful to Sergey Resenchuk for valuable programming assistance with Web graphics, to Pavel Bolotov for technical assistance and database management, and to Jo McEntyre for a critical reading of the manuscript.
Bacillus cereus G9241 Makes Anthrax Toxin and Capsule like Highly Virulent B. anthracis Ames but Behaves like Attenuated Toxigenic Nonencapsulated B. anthracis Sterne in Rabbits and Mice

Bacillus cereus G9241 was isolated from a welder with a pulmonary anthrax-like illness. The organism contains two megaplasmids, pBCXO1 and pBC218. These plasmids are analogous to the Bacillus anthracis Ames plasmids pXO1 and pXO2 that encode anthrax toxins and capsule, respectively. Here we evaluated the virulence of B. cereus G9241 as well as the contributions of pBCXO1 and pBC218 to virulence. B. cereus G9241 was avirulent in New Zealand rabbits after subcutaneous inoculation and attenuated 100-fold compared to the published 50% lethal dose (LD50) values for B. anthracis Ames after aerosol inoculation. A/J and C57BL/6J mice were comparably susceptible to B. cereus G9241 by both subcutaneous and intranasal routes of infection. However, the LD50s for B. cereus G9241 in both mouse strains were markedly higher than those reported for B. anthracis Ames and more like those of the toxigenic but nonencapsulated B. anthracis Sterne. Furthermore, B. cereus G9241 spores could germinate and disseminate after intranasal inoculation into A/J mice, as indicated by the presence of vegetative cells in the spleen and blood of animals 48 h after infection. Lastly, B. cereus G9241 derivatives cured of one or both megaplasmids were highly attenuated in A/J mice. We conclude that the presence of the toxin- and capsule-encoding plasmids pBCXO1 and pBC218 in B. cereus G9241 alone is insufficient to render the strain as virulent as B. anthracis Ames. However, like B. anthracis, full virulence of B. cereus G9241 for mice requires the presence of both plasmids.
Synthesis, characterization, and computed tomography imaging of a tantalum oxide nanoparticle imaging agent

Water-soluble ≤6 nm tantalum oxide nanoparticles have been synthesized and characterized in solution using HPLC-ICP, DLS, and multinuclear NMR. Nanoparticle formulation permitted intravenous injection, in vivo imaging, and subsequent renal clearance. A clinical CT scanner provided excellent resolution following agent injection, and distribution to the arterial system was visualized. In vitro CT imaging studies indicated that at equal molar concentration of tantalum and iodine, tantalum produced greater image contrast than iodine across the diagnostic X-ray spectrum with contrast benefit increasing with peak X-ray energy.
Transfer function models for determining dynamic wind loads on buildings

Abstract A technique based on statistical integration and time series modeling is used to determine modal forces arising from wind pressure recorded at various levels of a building model in a wind tunnel experiment. The paper examines the use of Transfer Function Models in creating a statistically consistent ensemble of records using partial records available from several nominally identical experimental observations.
Composition and productivity of the benthic macroinvertebrate community of a subtropical reservoir

Physical-chemical conditions, phytoplankton productivity, community structure and productivity of the macroinvertebrate benthic community were determined during 1976–77 in a subtropical reservoir. Physical-chemical results revealed high nitrate and phosphate concentrations with highest values in the riverine segment. Large phytoplankton populations were present during most of the year. Phytoplankton productivity was high, producing an annual mean of 87 mg C · m−3 · h−1 (12 hours light day). High turbidity in the riverine segment limited phytoplankton productivity during winter and spring. Macrobenthos was dominated by chironomids (Chironomus, Procladius, Coelotanypus and Tanypus) and oligochaetes (Limnodrilus). The annual mean benthic population was estimated at 1,626 · m−2 with a mean dry weight of 0.66 g · m−2. Mean benthic species diversity was 1.80. A lacustrine-riverine community gradient was revealed. Benthic productivity was 6.8 g · m−2 · yr−1 (dry weight) with a P: B ratio of 10. A low correlation was observed between benthic and phytoplankton productivity, and between phytoplankton standing crop and benthic macroinvertebrate numbers throughout the reservoir. Algal food supplies had little impact on the benthic community which was composed predominately of species which fed mostly on organic detritus. Stressful conditions caused by low dissolved oxygen concentrations probably inhibited development of the benthic community throughout the reservoir during summer months, while high sedimentation rates limited development in the head waters.
FACTS ABOUT THE ARTIFACTS IN THE MEASUREMENT OF OXIDATIVE DNA BASE DAMAGE BY GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY-MASS SPECTROMETRY

Recently, several papers reported an artifactual formation of a number of modified bases from intact DNA bases during derivatization of DNA hydrolysates to be analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). These reports dealt with 8-hydroxyguanine (8-OH-Gua), 5-hydroxycytosine (5-OH-Cyt), 8-hydroxyadenine (8-OH-Ade), 5-hydroxymethyluracil (5-OHMeUra) and 5-formyluracil that represent only a small percentage of the 20 or so modified DNA bases that can be analyzed by GC/MS. Removal of intact DNA bases by prepurification of calf thymus DNA hydrolysates using HPLC was shown to prevent artifactual formation of these modified bases during derivatization. It needs to be emphasized that the procedures for hydrolysis of DNA and derivatization of DNA hydrolysates used in these papers substantially differed from the established procedures previously described. Furthermore, a large number of relevant papers reporting the levels of these modified bases in DNA of various sources have been ignored. Interestingly, the levels of modified bases reported in the literature were not as high as those reported prior to prepurification. Most values for the level of 5-OH-Cyt were even lower than the level measured after prepurification. Levels of 8-OH-Ade were quite close to, or even the same as, or smaller than the level reported after prepurification. The same holds true for 5-OHMeUra and 8-OH-Gua. All these facts raise the question of the validity of the claims about the measurement of these modified DNA bases by GC/MS. A recent paper reported a complete destruction of 2, 6-diamino-4-hydroxy-5-formamidopyrimidine (Fapy-Gua) and 4,6-diamino-5-formamidopyrimidine (FapyAde) by formic acid under the conditions of DNA hydrolysis prior to GC/MS. The complete destruction of FapyGua and FapyAde by formic acid is in disagreement with the data on these compounds in the literature. These two compounds were measured by GC/MS following formic acid hydrolysis for many years in our laboratory and by other researchers with no difficulties. These facts clearly raise the question of the validity of the claims made about the previous measurements of these compounds by GC/MS.
A flush-mounted multifunctional slot aperture (combo-antenna) for automotive applications

Two novel antennas: a variable growth, two-arm slot spiral and an annular slot are combined into a single, multicavity backed configuration. The spiral occupies the center/interior region and operates as a second mode circularly polarized (CP) antenna at 2.339 GHz. The annular slot occupies the outer region (at the periphery of the spiral) and is designed to operate as an omnidirectional vertically polarized antenna at 1.472 GHz. This combo antenna is intended for automotive applications and it was designed using the finite element-boundary integral method. Its performance was verified experimentally in a stand alone configuration and while mounted on a vehicle platform.
Uniform remeshing with an adaptive domain: a new scheme for view-dependent level-of-detail rendering of meshes

We present a new algorithm for view-dependent level-of-detail rendering of meshes. Not only can it effectively resolve complex geometry features similar to edge collapse-based schemes, but it also produces meshes that modern graphics hardware can render efficiently. This is accomplished through a novel hybrid approach: for each frame, we view-dependently refine the progressive mesh (PM) representation of the original mesh and use the output as the base domain of uniform regular refinements. The algorithm exploits frame-to-frame coherence and only updates portions of the output mesh corresponding to modified domain triangles. The PM representation is built using a custom volume preservation-based error function. A simple k-d tree enhanced jump-and-walk scheme is used to quickly map from the dynamic base domain to the original mesh during regular refinements. In practice, the PM refinement provides a view-optimized base domain for later regular refinements. The regular refinements ensure almost-everywhere regularity of output meshes, allowing optimization for vertex cache coherence and caching of geometry data in high-performance graphics memory. Combined, they also have the effect of allowing our algorithm to operate on uniform clusters of triangles instead of individual ones, reducing CPU workload.
Design and characterization of a novel hybrid actuator using shape memory alloy and DC motor for minimally invasive surgery applications

Recent developments in the field of robotics, smart materials, micro actuators and mechatronics have opened a new frontier for innovation and development in millimeter scale actuators for use in medical robotics. In this paper a novel design idea for developing a millimeter scale actuator is presented for actuating the end effector of a robot performing minimally invasive surgery (MIS). This actuator is designed by combining DC motor and shape memory alloy (SMA) actuator in series. The designed actuator is 5 mm in diameter and 40 mm in length and is used to actuate 10 mm long needle driver jaws, while generating a force of 15 N and a gripping force of 5.5 N.
A Model of Sex‐Role Transcendence

We propose a three-stage model of sex-role development which accounts for the failure of traditional models to explain sex-role socialization and eliminate discrimination. Our model asserts that sex-role development proceeds through three stages: an undifferentiated conception of sex roles, a polarized oppositional view of sex roles, and a transcendence of sex roles. The second stage characterizes many individuals and societal institutions today, and is regarded as the end-point in much social science work on sex roles. Our model necessitates exploration of multiple interactive processes which influence sex-role development and several different mechanisms of growth (accumulation of information and dialectic conflict resolution).
Stochastic Exposure and Health Indicators

As we saw in the previous Chapters, environmental models provide pollutant concentrations at any point in space-time, but they do not evaluate the actual effects of these pollutants on human health; this is the goal of human exposure analysis. Human exposure analysis involves the study of environmental exposure and its influence on the state of human health. Environmental exposure and health effect are integrated to form a holistic system (§I.1 and §II.1), which is of great importance in environmental health risk assessment. The latter focuses on the characterization of adverse health effects on humans of chemical agents and other hazardous substances in the environment. The concept of a holistic environmental health system is, also, supported by politicians and legislators as the most efficient way for ensuring sustainable development. The European Community, e.g., has recently issued a directive on integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC), which aims to formulate an integrated framework for industrial activities (Papameletiou, 1995) based on the promotion of Best Available Techniques (BAT).
What I See When I Think It's About Me: People Low in Rejection-Sensitivity Downplay Cues of Rejection in Self-Relevant Interpersonal Situations

Gauging one’s impression on a potential mate is challenging. There is a need to make reasonably accurate inferences from subtle, dynamic facial expressions and to maintain motivation to connect despite the risk of rejection. The interpersonal optimism of people low in rejection sensitivity (RS), people who confidently expect acceptance rather than anxiously expect rejection, as do their high RS counterparts, suggests that they may strategically underestimate social threat cues when inferring the impression they have made on others. To test this hypothesis, participants viewed the videotaped reactions of individuals said to have read the participant’s own or someone else’s biographical sketch in an online dating context, and then estimated the emotions of the targets. Estimates of negativity were unrelated to RS when participants believed the videos captured the reactions to someone else’s biographical sketch. However, to the extent that participants were low in RS, they made lower estimates of negativity when they believed the videos showed reactions to their biographical sketch compared to when they believed the videos captured the reactions to someone else’s biographical sketch. The tracking accuracy of participants estimating negativity was unrelated to RS under either condition, but increased with trait empathy. RS was unrelated to estimates of positivity. Supporting functional perspectives on interpersonal perception, results show that interpersonal optimism shapes impressions of others’ reactions to the self in ways that can foster relationship initiation.
High Quality Spatial Interpolation of Video Frames using an Adaptive Warping Method

The scenario we address in this paper is high quality interpolation of 'talking head' lecture video. It is often desired to enlarge streaming media of this type with frame size NtimesM to a higher spatial dimension of, let's say, 2Ntimes2M. Simple interpolation methods are sometimes preferred because of complexity constraints in processing. But even in the absence of such constraints, the quality of the image degrades as the image size is increased, typically resulting in a blurred version of the original. Here we report on a hybrid interpolation approach for high quality frame size expansion for lecture type video. The method assumes that we retain one high resolution reference frame of size 2Ntimes2M, which we use as a base to derive the other frames. Two variants are considered for deriving the high frequency frame content. Both achieve significant improvement compared to conventional interpolation, resulting in frames that are sharper and clearer
Modified Sol-Gel Synthesis of Vanadium Oxide Nanocomposites Containing Surfactant Ions, and Their Partial Removal

Recently, there has been much interest in creating new layered transition metal oxides. Vanadium oxides may be used as sorbents, catalysts, and cathodes in lithium batteries. The modified sol-gel technique allows for some control towards the final structure of the compound. Using this technique, a new layered vanadium oxide phosphate material, containing the surfactant dodecylphosphate, has been synthesized. The compound was analyzed using powder XRD, TGA, SEM, FTIR, TEM, and solid state NMR for both 51V and 31P. V2O3(PO4C12H25)3Na2−xKx(H2O)3.2 is the general formula of the layered product with an interlayer spacing of 36.6 A The initial compound is composed of a vanadium oxide phosphate layer sandwiched between two hydrocarbon layers. The synthesis, composition, and structure of the initial compound will be discussed. Interestingly, when this compound is calcined to 400°C, the structure changes and is possibly hexagonal. Preliminary results are presented on this calcined material.
Structural Design of Engineered Costimulation Determines Tumor Rejection Kinetics and Persistence of CAR T Cells

T cell engineering is a powerful means to rapidly generate anti-tumor T cells. The costimulatory properties of second-generation chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) determine the overall potency of adoptively transferred T cells. Using an in vivo "stress test" to challenge CD19-targeted T cells, we studied the functionality and persistence imparted by seven different CAR structures providing CD28 and/or 4-1BB costimulation. One configuration, which uses two signaling domains (CD28 and CD3ζ) and the 4-1BB ligand, provided the highest therapeutic efficacy, showing balanced tumoricidal function and increased T cell persistence accompanied by an elevated CD8/CD4 ratio and decreased exhaustion. Remarkably, induction of the IRF7/IFNβ pathway was required for optimal anti-tumor activity. Thus, 1928z-41BBL T cells possess strikingly potent intrinsic and immunomodulatory qualities.
Title efficacy of phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor on distant burn-induced muscle autophagy, microcirculation, and survival rate

Skeletal muscle wasting is an exacerbating factor in the prognosis of critically ill patients. Using a systemic burn injury model in mice, we have established a role of autophagy in the resulting muscle wasting that is distant from the burn trauma. We provide evidence that burn injury increases the autophagy turnover in the distal skeletal muscle by conventional postmortem tissue analyses and by a novel in vivo microscopic method using an autophagy reporter gene (tandem fluorescent LC3). The effect of tadalafil, a phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitor (PDE5I), on burn-induced skeletal muscle autophagy is documented and extends our published results that PDE5Is attenuates muscle degeneration in a muscular dystrophy model. We also designed a translational experiment to examine the impact of PDE5I on whole body and demonstrated that PDE5I administration lessened muscle atrophy, mitigated microcirculatory disturbance, and improved the survival rate after burn injury.
Methods and Measurements for Estimating Human Dermal Uptake of Volatile Organic Compounds and for Deriving Dermal Permeability Coefficients

ABSTRACTWater contamination of public drinking and recreational waters with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is widespread, resulting in human exposure through multiple routes. Although dermal absorption is of considerable importance, there is great uncertainty in the dermal permeability coefficient (KP) for many VOCs due to the methods by which they are derived. We present a human in vivo experimental approach for the measurement of VOC dermal uptake from water contaminated at environmentally relevant concentrations and for determination of KP. Dermal permeability was estimated from 11 adult subjects following immersion of their hand and forearm into a sealed 4.8-L Plexiglas cylinder containing 100 μg/L each of chloroform, 1,1,1-trichloroethane (111-TCA), and toluene and 400 μg/L of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) in water. Uptake was determined by measuring the decrease in VOC water concentration during the exposure. A control glass arm accounted for nondermal losses. The concentration of VOCs was d...
Optimal Operation of Active Distribution Grids: A System of Systems Framework

Active distribution grid is composed of autonomous systems which should collaborate with each other in order to operate the entire distribution grid in a secure and economic manner. This paper presents a system of systems (SoS) framework for optimally operating active distribution grids. The proposed SoS framework defines both distribution company (DISCO) and microgrids (MGs) as independent systems, and identifies the process of information exchange among them. As the DISCO and MGs are physically connected together, the operating condition of one might impact the operating point of other systems. The proposed mathematical model uses a decentralized optimization problem aimed at maximizing the benefit of each independent system. A hierarchical optimization algorithm is presented to coordinate the independent systems and to find the optimal operating point of the SoS-based active distribution grid. The numerical results show the effectiveness of the proposed SoS framework and solution methodology.
Comparison of coats and surface‐dependent properties of Bacillus cereus T prepared in two sporulation environments

The surface or coat-associated properties of Bacillus cereus T spores produced from modified G medium (MGM) and fortified nutrient agar (FNA) were compared. The two populations appeared structurally similar by transmission electron microscopy. Spores prepared on FNA were more susceptible to ozone inactivation than MGM-prepared spores. When activated by heating for 15 min at 70–85°C, FNA-prepared spores were optimally activated at 85°C and did not become hydrophilic on heat activation while MGM spores were optimally activated at 70°C and became hydrophilic on activation. Susceptibility to removal of coat and outer membrane by chemical and enzymatic extraction treatments was measured by monitoring reduced ability to germinate in nutrients and acquired ability to germinate in the presence of lysozyme. Bacillus cereus T MGM-prepared spores germinated in lysozyme upon 2 h treatment. Thus, B. cereus T FNA spore coats and outer membranes were more resistant to these denaturing agents. Transmission electron micrographs revealed no change in appearance of extracted spores. Sporulation environment must be considered when laboratory-prepared spores are used to assess or predict the effect of control procedures on spores present in nature.
The Vitamin B6 Content of Fresh and Stored Shell Eggs

Abstract FEW data are available for the vitamin B6 content of eggs, and none have come to the authors’ attention for stored eggs. The scarcity of data on the vitamin B6 content of various foods may have been caused, at least partially, by the complexity of the problem. Unlike most vitamins, several compounds have vitamin B6 activity, and different assay microorganisms behave differently towards them. Although most animals are believed to respond similarly to pyridoxine, pyridoxal, and pyridoxamine, only a few microorganisms are known to do so. Among those that do are some yeasts and the “pyridoxineless” mutant of the mold Neurospora sitophila. Cheldelin and Williams (1942) reported 0.22 μg. of vitamin B6 per gm. of fresh whole egg by yeast assay. Schneider et al. (1939) determined the relative values of different foods as sources of vitamin B6 for the rat and classed egg yolk as high, but the albumen was . . .
Pharmacodynamics of the antiprogesterone RU486 in women after oral administration.

The pharmacokinetic characteristics of RU486 and its acute effects on anterior pituitary hormone secretion after oral administration were examined in six normal women. Serum RU486 concentrations were determined by a radioimmunoassay. The absorption of RU486 was rapid with peak serum levels reached approximately 90 minutes after a single oral dose (4mg/kg). The disappearance of RU486 and its metabolites conformed to a noncompartmental model with a mean apparent half-life of 53.7±6.9 hours. The mean apparent volume of distribution and clearance rate were 1.47±0.25l/kg and 1.04±0.09l/hour, respectively. In comparison with a control group of normal women (n=9), there were significant elevations in transverse mean cortisol levels in the RU486 group ( P P
A Judgment-Based Model of Democratic Institutions: Re-Evaluating Direct Legislation

The standard long-used to evaluate contemporary democratic institutions – congruence between the people’s preferences and policy outcomes – has been challenged by both empirical and normative scholarship. Appealing to contemporary democratic theory and the institutional “case” of direct legislation, this paper develops an alternative standard for the evaluation of contemporary democratic institutions: how institutions enable and structure the construction of citizen judgment. Citizen judgment, public opinion work shows, is formed in the context of an inter-institutional agenda. This paper argues we should worry when institutions narrow the inter-institutional agenda to a single issue, and seek out institutional designs that contribute to a diverse inter-institutional agenda. Applying this judgment-based standard to direct legislation reveals an institution less democratic than the congruence standard indicates, but more democratic than normative theorists assume.
Development of delayed dermal hypersensitivity in guinea pigs immunized with inactivated respiratory syncytial virus vaccines.

SummaryGuinea pigs immunized with various potential inactivated RS virus vaccines grown in different tissue cultures systems developed delayed dermal hypersensitivity when skin tested with vaccine materials. Animals immunized with alum containing vaccines developed more severe reactions than did animals immunized with aqueous vaccines. The addition of DPT vaccine to RS virus preparations also appeared to intensify the observed reactions. In addition, animals immunized with bovine kidney parainfluenza vaccine developed delayed dermal hypersen-sitivity when skin tested with bovine kidney RS vaccine. It appeared that both viral and host cell components of these vaccines were responsible for the observed reactions. Partially purified RS antigen A and B did not elicit delayed dermal hypersensitivity in animals immunized with these vaccines.
Towards few-photon optoelectronics with photonic crystal devices

We report several devices based on the photonic crystal platform integrated with new optical materials, namely quantum dots and 2D-materials, to enable few-photon optoelectronics.
Multi-physics Response of Structural Composites and Framework for Modeling Using Material Geometry

Structural composite materials are now being engineered with increasingly complex heterogeneous morphology to achieve multi-functionality and reliable performance in extreme environments. Therefore, bulk response of material is inherently dependent on local morphology. Prognosis of structural composites via simulation (virtual or digital twin) will require understanding and mathematical representation of fundamental mechanisms of such interactions for a variety of service conditions. Although progress has been made regarding prognosis of material state changes due to mechanical loading, their synergistic response in a multi-physical environment is not fully understood. As a first step to address this broader scientific challenge, this paper examines how multi-physical environment (such as electrical field) causes microstructural changes in structural composites and hence may affect structural performance. Preliminary results show that increasing magnitude of electrical current can cause significant degradation. On the other hand, multi-physical behavior depends on local microstructure and resulting anisotropic nature of composite material. Details of expreimnetal procedure, results and a framework for future modeling approaches has been reported.
How SUMOylation Fine-Tunes the Fanconi Anemia DNA Repair Pathway

Fanconi anemia (FA) is a rare human genetic disorder characterized by developmental defects, bone marrow failure and cancer predisposition, primarily due to a deficiency in the repair of DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs). ICL repair through the FA DNA repair pathway is a complicated multi-step process, involving at least 19 FANC proteins and coordination of multiple DNA repair activities, including homologous recombination, nucleotide excision repair and translesion synthesis (TLS). SUMOylation is a critical regulator of several DNA repair pathways, however, the role of this modification in controlling the FA pathway is poorly understood. Here, we summarize recent advances in the fine-tuning of the FA pathway by small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO)-targeted ubiquitin ligases (STUbLs) and other SUMO-related interactions, and discuss the implications of these findings in the design of novel therapeutics for alleviating FA-associated condition, including cancer.
Nontuberculous mycobacterial adenitis outside of the head and neck region in children: A case report and systematic review of the literature

Nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) adenitis of the head and neck region is well-described in healthy children, most commonly presenting under the age of 5 years. Extracervicofacial NTM adenitis is less common. We present a case of NTM inguinal adenitis in a 2-year-old girl, followed by a systematic review of the literature.
Multiscale Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Model Hydrophobically Modified Ethylene Oxide Urethane Micelles.

The flower-like micelles of various aggregation numbers of a model hydrophobically modified ethylene oxide urethane (HEUR) molecule, C16E45C16, and their corresponding starlike micelles, containing the surfactants C16E22 and C16E23, were studied by atomistic and coarse-grained molecular dynamic (MD) simulations. We used free energies from umbrella sampling to calculate the size distribution of micelle sizes and the average time for escape of a hydrophobic group from the micelle. Using the coarse-grained MARTINI force field, the most probable size of the model HEUR molecule was thereby determined to be about 80 hydrophobes per micelle and the average hydrophobe escape time to be about 0.1 s, both of which are consistent with previous experimental studies. Atomistic simulations reveal that hydrogen bond formation and the mean lifetime of hydration waters of the poly(ethylene oxide) (or PEO) groups are location-dependent in the HEUR micelle, with PEO groups immediately adjacent to the C16 groups forming the ...
The London Money Market

The ‘money market’ in its narrower sense refers to the merchant bankers, and the discount and issuing houses, but in its wider sense it also embraces the whole of the British banking system, the Bank of England and the Stock Exchange.
Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly

This chapter discusses the theories of monopolistic and oligopolistic competition, which along with their popular variants can in two ways be made to serve the view that capitalist reality is unfavorable to maximum performance in production. It always has been so and output has been expanding all along despite the secular sabotage perpetrated by the managing bourgeoisie. Advocates of this proposition would have to produce evidence to the effect that the observed rate of increase can be accounted for by a sequence of favorable circumstances unconnected with the mechanism of private enterprise and strong enough to overcome the latter's resistance. However, those who espouse this variant at least avoid the trouble about historical fact that the advocates of the alternative proposition have to face. This avers that capitalist reality once tended to favor maximum productive performance or at all events productive performance so considerable as to constitute a major element in any serious appraisal of the system but that the later spread of monopolist structures, killing competition, has by now reversed that tendency.
The best of both Reps-Diabatized Gaussians on adiabatic surfaces.

When simulating nonadiabatic molecular dynamics, choosing an electronic representation requires consideration of well-known trade-offs. The uniqueness and spatially local couplings of the adiabatic representation come at the expense of an electronic wave function that changes discontinuously with nuclear motion and associated singularities in the nonadiabatic coupling matrix elements. The quasi-diabatic representation offers a smoothly varying wave function and finite couplings, but identification of a globally well-behaved quasi-diabatic representation is a system-specific challenge. In this work, we introduce the diabatized Gaussians on adiabatic surfaces (DGAS) approximation, a variant of the ab initio multiple spawning (AIMS) method that preserves the advantages of both electronic representations while avoiding their respective pitfalls. The DGAS wave function is expanded in a basis of vibronic functions that are continuous in both electronic and nuclear coordinates, but potentially discontinuous in time. Because the time-dependent Schrodinger equation contains only first-order derivatives with respect to time, singularities in the second-derivative nonadiabatic coupling terms (i.e., diagonal Born-Oppenheimer correction; DBOC) at conical intersections are rigorously absent, though singular time-derivative couplings remain. Interpolation of the electronic wave function allows the accurate prediction of population transfer probabilities even in the presence of the remaining singularities. We compare DGAS calculations of the dynamics of photoexcited ethene to AIMS calculations performed in the adiabatic representation, including the DBOC. The 28 fs excited state lifetime observed in DGAS simulations is considerably shorter than the 50 fs lifetime observed in the adiabatic simulations. The slower decay in the adiabatic representation is attributable to the large, repulsive DBOC in the neighborhood of conical intersections. These repulsive DBOC terms are artifacts of the discontinuities in the individual adiabatic vibronic basis functions and therefore cannot reflect the behavior of the exact molecular wave function, which must be continuous.
A Model for Precise and Uniform Pelvic- and Limb-Sparing Abdominal Irradiation to Study the Radiation-Induced Gastrointestinal Syndrome in Mice Using Small Animal Irradiation Systems:

Background and Purpose:Currently, no readily available mitigators exist for acute abdominal radiation injury. Here, we present an animal model for precise and homogenous limb-sparing abdominal irra...
Circular dichroism, optical rotatory dispersion and absolute configuration of flavanones, 3-hydroxyflavanones and their glycosides : Determination of aglycone chirality in flavanone glycosides☆

Abstract Flavanones of 2 S configuration and 3-hydroxyflavanones of 2 R ,3 R configuration, having equatorial 2-aryl substituents in the former or diequatorial 2,3-substituents in the latter, exhibit a positive Cotton effect due to the n → π * transition (∼ 330 nm) and a negative Cotton effect in the n α π * region (∼ 280–290 nm). Flavanone glycosides possessing chiral aglycones show Cotton effects quite similar to their optically active aglycones while flavanone glycosides having racemic aglycones show only weak Cotton effects at 250–350 nm. The π → π * Cotton effect is more suitable for determining aglycone chirality in flavanone glycosides. In addition to the two high wavelength bands, 2 S -flavanones generally showed a positive Cotton effect at 245–270 nm and a negative Cotton effect at 225–240 nm. trans 2 R ,3 R -3-Hydroxyflavanones gave two Cotton effects below 270 nm both of which were positive.
Identification of an oxytocinase/vasopressinase-like leucyl-cystinyl aminopeptidase (LNPEP) in teleost fish and evidence for hypothalamic mRNA expression linked to behavioral social status.

Abstract The vasotocin/vasopressin and isotocin/mesotocin/oxytocin family of nonapeptides regulate social behaviors and physiological functions associated with reproductive physiology and osmotic balance. While experimental and correlative studies provide evidence for these nonapeptides as modulators of behavior across all classes of vertebrates, mechanisms for nonapeptide inactivation in regulating these functions have been largely overlooked. Leucyl-cystinyl aminopeptidase (LNPEP) – also known as vasopressinase, oxytocinase, placental leucine aminopeptidase (P-LAP), and insulin-regulated aminopeptidase (IRAP) – is a membrane-bound zinc-dependent metalloexopeptidase enzyme that inactivates vasopressin, oxytocin, and select other cyclic polypeptides. In humans, LNPEP plays a key role in the clearance of oxytocin during pregnancy. However, the evolutionary diversity, expression distribution, and functional roles of LNPEP remain unresolved for other vertebrates. Here, we isolated and sequenced a full-length cDNA encoding a LNPEP-like polypeptide of 1033 amino acids from the ovarian tissue of Amargosa pupfish, Cyprinodon nevadensis. This deduced polypeptide exhibited high amino acid identity to human LNPEP both in the protein’s active domain that includes the peptide binding site and zinc cofactor binding motif (53.1% identity), and in an intracellular region that distinguishes LNPEP from other aminopeptidases (70.3% identity). Transcripts encoding this LNPEP enzyme (lnpep) were detected at highest relative abundance in the gonads, hypothalamus, forebrain, optic tectum, gill and skeletal muscle of adult pupfish. Further evaluation of lnpep transcript abundance in the brain of sexually-mature pupfish revealed that lnpep mRNAs were elevated in the hypothalamus of socially subordinate females and males, and at lower abundance in the telencephalon of socially dominant males compared to dominant females. These findings provide evidence of an association between behavioral social status and hypothalamic lnpep transcript abundance and suggest that variation in the rate of VT/IT peptide inactivation by LNPEP may be a contributing component in the mechanism whereby nonapeptides regulate social behavior.
Biostimulation for Anaerobic Bioremediation of Chlorinated Solvents

Chlorinated solvents often were released to the subsurface environment in wastewater or in the form of dense nonaqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs). As a result of their physical and chemical properties, chlorinated solvents are difficult to remediate once they have migrated into groundwater. However, enhanced in situ anaerobic bioremediation can be an effective method of degrading chlorinated solvents dissolved in groundwater, including chloroethenes, chloroethanes, and chloromethanes (collectively referred to as chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons, or CAHs). Advantages of enhanced in situ anaerobic bioremediation include the potential for complete detoxification of chlorinated solvents with little impact on infrastructure and relatively low cost compared to more active and aggressive engineered remedial systems.
Stress relaxation behavior and mechanisms in Ti-6Al-4V determined via in situ neutron diffraction: Application to additive manufacturing

Abstract The complex thermal histories present during additive manufacturing (AM) of metals result in the generation of residual stresses, which may result in distortion and early failure of the fabricated component. The amount of residual stress built up or relieved during deposition depends on the stress relaxation behavior of the deposited material as well as the substrate onto which the component is built, over the typical timescale for depositing a few layers in AM (seconds to minutes), which corresponds to the timescale over which the material is subjected to both stress and elevated temperature. This work presents a method for investigating stress relaxation behavior and mechanisms in conventionally processed and additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V (CP Ti-6Al-4V and AM Ti-6Al-4V) through compression tests at 600 °C and 700 °C with in situ neutron diffraction. The results show that with an applied plastic deformation, 60–80% of the initial stress in Ti-6Al-4V was relieved in ten minutes and the stress stabilized at a negligibly low level. With the same applied strain, the stress relaxation rate at 700 °C was 2–4 times higher than that at 600 °C, and the peak stress at 600 °C was twice as high as that at 700 °C. It was determined that neither stress partitioning nor phase transformation were active in Ti-6Al-4V at the temperatures studied. Thus, it was hypothesized that the stress relaxation was primarily due to dislocation glide and climb. The presently reported relaxation behavior can be used in the development and validation of thermomechanical models used to predict and mitigate residual stresses and distortion in AM, or to predict distortion in Ti-6Al-4V used in structural applications at elevated temperatures.
Delivering the dead fetus.

At the University of Iowa Hospitals, physicians have studied the delivery of dead fetuses from 360 patients. Labor was spontaneous in 58.9 percent but induced in 36.4 percent. Eleven patients who had retained a dead fetus from 4 to 10 weeks evidenced hypofibrinogenemia. Aggressive management for fetal death in utero is recommended.
Deterministic and Stochastic Approaches to Nonlinear Filtering

Nonlinear filtering theory has made extensive use of stochastic calculus models. Mortensen initiated an alternative deterministic approach, which provides a starting point for recent work on robust nonlinear filtering. Stochastic and deterministic approaches are connected by considering risk-sensitive optimality criteria instead of the traditional mean squared error criterion.
Overview of Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, and Disease Progression in Hereditary Angioedema

Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is an autosomal dominant disease caused by a deficiency in functional C1 inhibitor affecting an estimated 1 in 50,000 individuals in the United States. The disease is characterized by recurrent episodes of nonpruritic swelling of the hands, feet, arms, legs, trunk, face, genitalia, bowels, and larynx beginning in childhood or adolescence and continuing throughout the patient's lifetime. There is significant variability in both the severity and frequency of edema attacks. Untreated patients may suffer an attack as often as every few days, while patients undergoing prophylactic therapy may be symptom free for a decade or more. Although disease awareness has increased following the US Food and Drug Administration approval in 2009 of a new treatment for acute HAE attacks, delayed diagnosis, misdiagnosis, and inappropriate treatment remain significant problems. This article reviews the pathophysiology, symptoms and clinical course, and diagnostic challenges of HAE.
Variational EM Learning of DSBNs with Conditional Deep Boltzmann Machines

Variational EM (VEM) is an efficient parameter learning scheme for sigmoid belief networks with many layers of latent variables. The choice of the inference model that forms the variational lower bound of the log likelihood is critical in VEM learning. The mean field approximations and wake-sleep algorithm use simple models that are computationally efficient, but may be poor approximations to the true posterior densities when the latent variables have strong mutual dependencies. In this paper, we describe a variational EM learning method of DSBNs with a new inference model known as the conditional deep Boltzmann machine (cDBM), which is an undirected graphical model capable of representing complex dependencies among latent variables. We show that this algorithm does not require the computation of the intractable partition function in the undirected cDBM model, and can be accelerated with contrastive learning. Performances of the proposed method are evaluated and compared on handwritten digit data.
County-Level Factors Predicting Low Uptake of Screening Mammography

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to investigate county-level geographic patterns of mammographic screening uptake throughout the United States and to determine the impact of rural versus ur...