cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evidence of LAT as a dual substrate for Lck and Syk in T lymphocytes.

Abstract LAT is a linker protein essential for activation of T lymphocytes. Its rapid tyrosine-phosphorylation upon T cell receptor (TCR) stimulation recruits downstream signaling molecules for membrane targeting and activation. LAT is physically concentrated in cholesterol-enriched membrane microdomains and is known a substrate for Syk/Zap70 kinase. In this study, we demonstrate that LAT serves as a dual substrate for both Lck and Syk kinases. LAT phosphorylation is absent in Lck-deficient J.CaM1.6 cells and Lck is co-precipitated with LAT in pervanadate-activated Jurkat cells. Further, the in vitro kinase assay using purified Lck and LAT shows that Lck directly phosphorylates LAT. Both Lck and Syk, phosphorylate the ITAM-like motifs on LAT at Y171Y191, which is essential for induction of the interaction of LAT with downstream signaling molecules such as Grb2, PLC-γ1 and c-Cbl, and for activation of MAPK-ERK. Collectively, our data indicate that LAT is an immediate substrate for Lck in one of the earliest events of T cell activation.
Automatic Recognition of postures and activities in stroke patients

Stroke is the leading cause of disability in the United States. It is estimated that 700,000 people in the United States will experience a stroke each year and that there are over 5 million Americans living with a stroke. In this paper we describe a novel methodology for automatic recognition of postures and activities in patients with stroke that may be used to provide behavioral enhancing feedback to patients with stroke as part of a rehabilitation program and potentially enhance rehabilitation outcomes. The recognition methodology is based on Support Vector classification of the sensor data provided by a wearable shoe-based device. The proposed methodology was validated in a case study involving an individual with a chronic stroke with impaired motor function of the affected lower extremity and impaired walking ability. The results suggest that recognition of postures and activities may be performed with very high accuracy.
Basic patterns in national health expenditure

Analysed in this paper are national health accounts estimates for 191 WHO Member States for 1997, using simple comparisons and linear regressions to describe spending on health and how it is financed. The data cover all sources - out-of-pocket spending, social insurance contributions, financing from government general revenues and voluntary and employment-related private insurance - classified according to their completeness and reliability. Total health spending rises from around 2-3% of gross domestic product (GDP) at low incomes ( 7000 US dollars). Surprisingly, there is as much relative variation in the share for poor countries as for rich ones, and even more relative variation in amounts in US dollars. Poor countries and poor people that most need protection from financial catastrophe are the least protected by any form of prepayment or risk-sharing. At low incomes, out-of-pocket spending is high on average and varies from 20-80% of the total; at high incomes that share drops sharply and the variation narrows. Absolute out-of-pocket expenditure nonetheless increases with income. Public financing increases faster, and as a share of GDP, and converges at high incomes. Health takes an increasing share of total public expenditure as income rises, from 5-6% to around 10%. This is arguably the opposite of the relation between total health needs and need for public spending, for any given combination of services. Within public spending, there is no convergence in the type of finance - general revenue versus social insurance. Private insurance is usually insignificant except in some rich countries.
Tax considerations in R&D planning

The new tax environment, for US R&D planners brought about by the provisions of the 1981 Economic Recovery Tax Act is examined. Some of the rudiments of tax law bearing on R&D are discussed. It is shown through examples how effective utilization of tax advantages can help corporate performance. Among tax advantages discussed are tax credits for increases in corporate R&D, and R&D limited partnerships.
Determinants of intramethod choice in the oil and gas industry

Abstract Procedural flexibility can have a substantial impact on reported costs, revenues, expenses, and balance sheet valuations. Until 1978 oil and gas companies had considerable flexibility in applying full cost and successful efforts. A unique opportunity to measure the income effect of firms' procedural choices occurred when the SEC specified the exact procedures that must be followed by oil and gas producers when they account for exploratory and development costs under both the full cost and successful efforts methods. In complying with the new rules firms were required to adjust retained earnings retroactively to reflect what it would have been if the new procedures had been in effect all along. These retained earnings adjustments provide a measure of the income effect of procedural choices. This study shows that economic incentives influence the procedural accounting choices which were made by oil and gas producers. The same economic incentives also influence the choice of full cost or successful efforts. Finally, the discriminatory ability of firms' economci incentives is most powerful when firms' reporting strategies are defined in terms of both choice of accounting methods and procedural applications within those methods.
Targeted Gene Silencing to Induce Permanent Sterility

A non-surgical method to induce sterility would be a useful tool to control feral populations of animals. Our laboratories have experience with approaches aimed at targeting brain cells in vivo with vehicles that deliver a payload of either inhibitory RNAs or genes intended to correct cellular dysfunction. A combination/modification of these methods may provide a useful framework for the design of approaches that can be used to sterilize cats and dogs. For this approach to succeed, it has to meet several conditions: it needs to target a gene essential for fertility. It must involve a method that can selectively silence the gene of interest. It also needs to deliver the silencing agent via a minimally invasive method. Finally, the silencing effect needs to be sustained for many years, so that expansion of the targeted population can be effectively prevented. In this article, we discuss this subject and provide a succinct account of our previous experience with: (i) molecular reagents able to disrupt reproductive cyclicity when delivered to regions of the brain involved in the control of reproduction and (ii) molecular reagents able to ameliorate neuronal disease when delivered systemically using a novel approach of gene therapy.
Polyadenylated mRNA staining reveals distinct neuronal phenotypes following endothelin 1, focal brain ischemia, and global brain ischemia/ reperfusion.

Objectives: Most work on ischemia-induced neuronal death has revolved around the relative contributions of necrosis and apoptosis, but this work has not accounted for the role of ischemia-induced stress responses. An expanded view recognizes a competition between ischemia-induced damage mechanisms and stress responses in the genesis of ischemia-induced neuronal death. An important marker of postischemic stress responses is inhibition of neuronal protein synthesis, a morphological correlate of which is the compartmentalization of mRNA away from ribosomes in the form of cytoplasmic mRNA granules. Methods: Here we assessed the generality of this mRNA granule response following either 10 or 15 minutes of global brain ischemia and 1 hour of reperfusion, 4 hours of focal cerebral ischemia alone, and endothelin-1 intraventricular injection. Results: Both global and focal ischemia led to prominent neuronal cytoplasmic mRNA granule formation in layer II cortical neurons. In addition, we report here new post-ischemic cellular phenotypes characterized by the loss of nuclear polyadenylated mRNA staining in cortical neurons following endothelin-1 treatment and 15 minutes of global ischemia. Both mRNA granulation and loss of nuclear mRNAs occurred in nonshrunken post-ischemic neurons. Discussion: Where cytoplasmic mRNA granules generally appear to mark a protective response in surviving cells, loss of nuclear mRNAs may mark cellular damage leading to cell atrophy/death. Hence, staining for total mRNA may reveal facets of the competition between stress responses and damage mechanisms at early stages in post-ischemic neurons.
The chondrocrania of North American Rana larvae (Anura: Ranidae): a morphological comparison

Larson, P.M. 2008. The chondrocrania of North American Rana larvae (Anura: Ranidae): a morphological comparison. — Acta Zoologica (Stockholm) 89 : 279-288 A detailed morphological description of the chondrocranium is provided for the larvae of six species of North American Rana. Results indicated that although qualitative variation in chondrocranial morphology was limited among the larval Rana examined here, R. sylvatica is clearly distinguishable from other species based on the presence of a shorter articular process of the palatoquadrate, a wider muscular process of the palatoquadrate, and a more posterior position of attachment of the larval otic process to the palatoquadrate. These conditions are similar to those found in the Eurasian R. temporaria . Rana clamitans and R. catesbeiana are distinguished by a considerably narrower palatoquadrate in the region posterior to the anterior quadratocranial commissure, a more anterior position of attachment of the larval otic process to the palatoquadrate, and the presence of a lateral trabecular process in some specimens. These characters may represent larval synapomorphies for the traditional R. catesbeiana group (= Aquarana ).
A position-dependent transcription-activating domain in TFIIIA

Transcription of the Xenopus 5S RNA gene by RNA polymerase III requires the gene-specific factor TFIIIA. To identify domains within TFIIIA that are essential for transcriptional activation, we have expressed C-terminal deletion, substitution, and insertion mutants of TFIIIA in bacteria as fusions with maltose-binding protein (MBP). The MBP-TFIIIA fusion protein specifically binds to the 5S RNA gene internal control region and complements transcription in a TFIIIA-depleted oocyte nuclear extract. Random, cassette-mediated mutagenesis of the carboxyl region of TFIIIA, which is not required for promoter binding, has defined a 14-amino-acid region that is critical for transcriptional activation. In contrast to activators of RNA polymerase II, the activity of the TFIIIA activation domain is strikingly sensitive to its position relative to the DNA-binding domain. When the eight amino acids that separate the transcription-activating domain from the last zinc finger are deleted, transcriptional activity is lost. Surprisingly, diverse amino acids can replace these eight amino acids with restoration of full transcriptional activity, suggesting that the length and not the sequence of this region is important. Insertion of amino acids between the zinc finger region and the transcription-activating domain causes a reduction in transcription proportional to the number of amino acids introduced. We propose that to function, the transcription-activating domain of TFIIIA must be correctly positioned at a minimum distance from the DNA-binding domain.
Towards an authorization mechanism for user-role based security in an object-oriented design model

User-role based security (URBS) is a technique for characterizing database security that takes the responsibilities of individuals into consideration when determining the security requirements of an application. In previous work, the authors developed a set of techniques for defining and analyzing URBS for an application. They extend this work by considering an actual individual's authorized access rights in an application, and by focusing on specifying, analyzing, and validating these rights. Inconsistencies and conflicts not identified when the roles were defined and analyzed, might become apparent when different roles are combined to represent the privileges for an individual. This study serves as a fundamental step toward supporting an authorization mechanism for URBS, thereby achieving management and control over all authorized accesses to an object-oriented database. >
UDP-galactose 4′ epimerase (GALE) is essential for development of Drosophila melanogaster

SUMMARY UDP-galactose 4′ epimerase (GALE) catalyzes the interconversion of UDP-galactose and UDP-glucose in the final step of the Leloir pathway; human GALE (hGALE) also interconverts UDP-N-acetylgalactosamine and UDP-N-acetylglucosamine. GALE therefore plays key roles in the metabolism of dietary galactose, in the production of endogenous galactose, and in maintaining the ratios of key substrates for glycoprotein and glycolipid biosynthesis. Partial impairment of hGALE results in the potentially lethal disorder epimerase-deficiency galactosemia. We report here the generation and initial characterization of a first whole-animal model of GALE deficiency using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster . Our results confirm that GALE function is essential in developing animals; Drosophila lacking GALE die as embryos but are rescued by the expression of a human GALE transgene. Larvae in which GALE has been conditionally knocked down die within days of GALE loss. Conditional knockdown and transgene expression studies further demonstrate that GALE expression in the gut primordium and Malpighian tubules is both necessary and sufficient for survival. Finally, like patients with generalized epimerase deficiency galactosemia, Drosophila with partial GALE loss survive in the absence of galactose but succumb in development if exposed to dietary galactose. These data establish the utility of the fly model of GALE deficiency and set the stage for future studies to define the mechanism(s) and modifiers of outcome in epimerase deficiency galactosemia.
Observations on earthquake stress axes and seismic morphology of deep slabs

SUMMARY Focal mechanism solutions from centroid-moment tensor (CMT) and other studies in the NW Pacific and Tonga-Kermadec regions are analysed in association with velocity images from tomographic inversions. Deep compression axes and fast velocity slab anomalies are usually in consistent alignment, even when the slab is contorted or flattened. The down-dip direction for each event is given based on slab geometry interpreted from velocity anomalies and seismicity. The well-known pattern of tension to compression down-dip stress by Isacks & Molnar is seen and fitted with a tangent curve, which gives the location of the neutral down-dip stress zone (NDSZ). An abnormal pattern of NDSZ exists beneath major junctions of the arcs. The NDSZ is generally in the depth range of 100-250 km in the central parts of the arcs, while it is deeper in the Mariana region. The depth seems to depend on the dip and topology of the slab, but the NDSZ probably starts at more or less the same subducted length along the slab.
Multiplicity and hadron distributions in QCD jets: (II). A general procedure for all non-leading terms☆

Abstract A systematic procedure for calculating the average multiplicity and the small x hadrons produced in jets is given. The technical device used to achieve these results is a partial factorization in terms of angles rather than the usual factorization in terms of masses.
Epidemiology and Risk Factors for Isolation of Escherichia coli Producing CTX-M-Type Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase in a Large U.S. Medical Center

A case-case-control study was conducted to identify independent risk factors for recovery of Escherichia coli strains producing CTX-M-type extended-spectrum β-lactamases (CTX-M E. coli) within a large Southeastern Michigan medical center. Unique cases with isolation of ESBL-producing E. coli from February 2010 through July 2011 were analyzed by PCR for blaCTX-M, blaTEM, and blaSHV genes. Patients with CTX-M E. coli were compared to patients with E. coli strains not producing CTX-M-type ESBLs (non-CTX-M E. coli) and uninfected controls. Of 575 patients with ESBL-producing E. coli, 491 (85.4%) isolates contained a CTX-M ESBL gene. A total of 319 (84.6%) patients with CTX-M E. coli (282 [74.8%] CTX-M-15 type) were compared to 58 (15.4%) non-CTX-M E. coli patients and to uninfected controls. Independent risk factors for CTX-M E. coli isolation compared to non-CTX-M E. coli included male gender, impaired consciousness, H2 blocker use, immunosuppression, and exposure to penicillins and/or trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Compared to uninfected controls, independent risk factors for isolation of CTX-M E. coli included presence of a urinary catheter, previous urinary tract infection, exposure to oxyimino-cephalosporins, dependent functional status, non-home residence, and multiple comorbid conditions. Within 48 h of admission, community-acquired CTX-M E. coli (n = 51 [16%]) and non-CTX-M E coli (n = 11 [19%]) strains were isolated from patients with no recent health care contacts. CTX-M E. coli strains were more resistant to multiple antibiotics than non-CTX-M E. coli strains. CTX-M-encoding genes, especially bla(CTX-M-15) type, represented the most common ESBL determinants from ESBL-producing E. coli, the majority of which were present upon admission. Septic patients with risk factors for isolation of CTX-M E. coli should be empirically treated with appropriate agents. Regional infection control efforts and judicious antibiotic use are needed to control the spread of these organisms.
Working With Undecided Students: A Hands-on Strategy

Based on a concept described by the authors as “The Myth of the Academic Major,” a scheme for working with students who are undecided about their choice of major or career was developed. This scheme is a hands-on, time-limited method for using students' self-descriptions, rather than the institution's structure (e.g., lists of curricula), as the starting point for dialogue that points students in academic directions.
Low grade glioma guidelines: Foreword

In 1994, charged by the Guideline and Outcomes Committee of the Joint Section on Tumors, a multidisciplinary group of clinicians including neurosurgeons, neurologists, neuro-oncologists and radiation oncologists gathered to review the available literature and develop a set of guidelines for the management of patients with low grade gliomas [1]. At that time the methodology required that selected publications on this topic, as determined by a Medline search of published articles between 1966 and 1994, be sorted into three categories:
Pollutant Aging Studies in Soils

The bioavailability of pollutants is significantly influenced by its interactions with sedimentary organic matter. Natural organic matter (OM) is heterogeneous and exists as a multiphase macromolecular organic matrix formed from remnants of plant biobiopolymers degraded to varying degrees, dissolved and solid humic materials from plant degradation, refractory cross-linked organic matter derived from geologic processes, and deposited atmospheric combustion particles. Recent models have qualitatively described pollutant interactions with OM in soils but they often fail to adequately predict biological responses to aged contaminants. Our ability to predict pollutant behavior and bioavailability is limited by the lack of established techniques capable of probing the relevant molecular interactions of OM and our ignorance concerning the chemical composition of OM. Current models do not include chemical processes that transform plant materials to OM, nor do they include analytical methods for characterizing OM at the molecular level of detail. Thus, there is a gap in our knowledge about OM structure, maturation, and their subsequent effects on pollutant bioavailability and aging mechanisms.
Polyanionic Glycans of Cartilage, Bone, and Notochord

There has been general agreement among biologists for a long time that bone is a uniquely vertebrate tissue. However, conflicting views have been held of the taxonomic distribution of cartilage. The earlier arguments in favor of the presence of “true” cartilage in invertebrates were summarized by NOWIKOFF (1912). Opinions, still widely prevalent, that cartilage is confined to vertebrates have been expressed by SCHAFFER (1930), LUBOSCH (1938), HYMAN (1940), ROMER (1942), and others. Recently, the entire question has been reopened and indisputably resolved in review articles by PERSON and PHILPOTT (1967, 1969a). To the older morphological and histological observations were added newer data including results from electronmicroscopic and chemical studies. Collagen as well as polyanionic glycans (discussed below) were clearly identified as essential components. PERSON and PHILPOTT (1969a, b) suggested that cartilage may have originated in invertebrates but recognized that this tissue type could also have evolved independently in both invertebrates and vertebrates in response to similar needs for structural support.
A Free Market Model of a Large Corporation System

Much of recent academic writing in corporate and financial policy has been removed from the realities of either the business world or the marketplace and as a result often proposes self-defeating or harmful "solutions." Scholarly work in this area should always begin analysis with recognition of the principal aspects of a completely free and unregulated corporate system, the model for which seems to be less and less familiar to modern writers. Only by starting analysis with this picture can one properly appraise or evaluate changes that have occurred over the years as well as well as propose useful modifications. The free-market model comprehends an unregulated system for buying and selling all securities and a completely unfettered market for private information. In addition there would be no regulation of the qualifications for or composition of a board of directors, though we should anticipate the use of a board as the most efficient device for dealing with management succession problems. However, a genuinely free market for corporate control, when "contractually" allowed, is of the essence of this model, including extreme-form hostile tender offers as the ultimate solution to the managerial agency-cost problem. Equally fundamental in this model, a free market for private information will generate accurate stock pricing, either through market-dictated public disclosure or through insider trading. This in turn guarantees more efficient functioning of the market for corporate control. Insider trading may also be selected as a profit-maximizing device to avoid many of the problems with direct public disclosure as well as to assure, by constantly integrating new information into stock prices, a better flow of relevant information to top managers.
Plain truth and the incoherence of alethic functionalism

According to alethic functionalism, truth is a generic alethic property related to lower level alethic properties through the manifestation relation. The manifestation relation is reflexive; thus, a proposition’s truth-manifesting property may be a lower level property or truth itself, depending on the subject matter properties of the proposition. A true proposition whose truth-manifesting property is truth itself, rather than a lower level alethic property, is plainly true. Alethic functionalism relies on plain truth to account for the truth of propositions with challenging subject matter properties, such as logically complex propositions and truth attributions. In this paper, it is argued that plain truth leads to a number of serious problems for alethic functionalism. First: Shapiro (in Analysis 71:38–44, 2011) argues that plain truth threatens alethic functionalism with collapse to strong alethic monism; it is argued here that collapse is not merely threatened, but that, on pain of contradiction, collapse is immediate. Second, alethic functionalism’s commitment to alethic pluralism requires lower level alethic properties to be ways of being truth, where one property’s being a way of being the other property is irreflexive; thus, alethic functionalism is incoherent due to the conflicting commitments to a manifestation relation which is both reflexive and irreflexive. Third, it is argued that a reflexive manifestation relation leads to the contradiction that a lower level alethic property which manifests truth is both identical to and distinct from truth itself. Fourth, careful examination of the notion of a core truism shows that Objectivity and the correspondence intuition are the only core truisms. Finally, it is argued that the first and fourth problems jointly entail a collapse of alethic functionalism to strong correspondence monism.
Integrating Everyday Examples in Mechanical Engineering Courses for Teaching Enhancement

One critical measure of success in primarily undergraduate institutions is to achieve high retention rate. Retention rate is the number of students who continue as students at the same institution ...
Design and modelling of an airship station holding controller for low cost satellite operations

Current research has been directed in the use of autonomous airships as less expensive alternatives to satellites. A key component in these applications is the control and guidance systems. In this paper an existing airship has been considered, and the control and guidance laws have been tailored to it. Furthermore, the addressed airship is limited in its control authority. This presents a challenge in these designs. A realistic model of the airship was developed to test the performance of a guidance and control scheme. Simulation results show the efiectiveness of the approach.
A Versatile and Practical Solvating Agent for Enantioselective Recognition and NMR Analysis of Protected Amines

The 3,5-dinitrobenzoyl-derived 1-naphthylethyl amide 3 is an attractive CSA for NMR analysis of protected amines. It is readily prepared in a single step and combines practical resolution of diastereomeric complexes due to signal sharpness and effective signal separation. Crystallographic analysis shows that 3 forms a chiral cleft that can selectively bind one enantiomer of a substrate through hydrogen bonding, π-π stacking, and CH/π interactions. The enantioselective complex formation causes strong upfield shifts in the (1)H NMR spectrum even in the presence of only 5 mol % of 3.
Effect of Knowledge of Mechanical Principles in Learning to Perform Intermediate Swimming Skills

Abstract Using 31 women college students enrolled in two intermediate swimming classes at the University of Maryland, an experimental group of 15 was taught to understand and apply mechanical principles to the performance of the front crawl, back crawl, side and elementary back strokes. A control group of 16 students had identical instruction except for the mechanical principles. The experiment extended over a period of 14 weeks, including the initial and final testing programs. The groups were shown to be equated at the start of the experiment with respect to form and power in performing the four strokes, as well as in reading comprehension scores. The experimental group made significantly greater improvement in these strokes than did the control group after eight weeks of instruction. Specifically, these improvements were in the front crawl sprint, side stroke power, and form ratings for the front crawl, back crawl, and side strokes. The findings support the hypothesis that exposing students to an under...
Comparison of the Structures of Molecules in Coal and Petroleum Asphaltenes by Using Mass Spectrometry

Asphaltenes are a complex mixture of aromatic compounds that are present in petroleum and liquefied coal and have unknown molecular structures. Determination of the molecular structures of asphaltenes is greatly hindered by the extreme complexity of the mixtures. The average molecular weight of coal asphaltenes is known to be roughly half that of petroleum asphaltenes. In this study, tandem mass spectrometry experiments were used to compare the fragmentation patterns of molecular ions of the same mass-to-charge (m/z) value derived from coal and petroleum asphaltenes. The fragmentation pathways of the asphaltene ions were used to determine structural differences between the two types of asphaltenes. This type of analysis is new to the field of asphaltenes research and has not yet been utilized to compare coal and petroleum asphaltenes. Thus, this study was performed to both confirm its viability as well as further corroborate previous data gathered using different techniques. The results reported here demo...
A Measurement Model of Organizational Culture:Development and Empirical Study

This paper reported the process of developing a measurement model of organizational culture. At the exploratory stage, multidimensional scaling analysis was used to explore 26 experts' space cognition patterns about the structure of organizational culture. A five-dimension measurement model was developed and the dimensions include interpersonal harmony, openness/innovation, short-term/ outcomes orientation, competitive/efficiency, and rigid control. At the confirmatory stage, 607 surveys were collected from six companies. The results of confirmatory factor analysis indicate the validity of the five dimensions model is psychometrically sound. A scale of the measurement model, titled Dimensions of Organizational Culture Questionnaire (DOCQ) is established. The most significant contribution of this study is the theoretical framework of the measurement model is on the basis of multidimensional scaling analysis.
Turbulent and Laminar Flow: From Henry Adams to Harley Earl

Machines have not fared particularly well in assessments of American culture. Moreover, their seemingly inherent intrusiveness routinely excludes them from any discussion of beauty. Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–64), in the midst of a solitary exaltation of nature’s bounty, loses his muse to the clatter of an approaching locomotive. It is certainly not the same engine upon which John Muir perches so gleefully during his trip through Wisconsin, for this particular machine “brings the noisy world into the midst of our slumberous peace” (Hawthorne 1885, vol. 1, p. 503). In his seminal The Machine in the Garden, Leo Marx exploits Hawthorne’s personal irritation as symptomatic of a wider American anxiety regarding a mechanized assault upon the pastoral. Hawthorne’s Sleepy Hollow will never be the same, and Marx contends that American culture thereafter is defined by its response to the disaster of machines.
Denken und Sprache

Seit jeher beklagen wir Menschen unsere Torheit und ruhmen uns unserer Weisheit. Der Dichter T.S. Eliot zeigte sich beeindruckt von der »Nichtigkeit des Menschen … mit Stroh im Kopf«. Shakespeares Hamlet dagegen preist des Menschengeschlechtes »edlen Geist … grenzenlose Fahigkeiten … gottgleiche Fassungskraft«. In den vorangehenden Kapiteln haben auch wir uber unsere Fahigkeiten genauso gestaunt wie uber unsere Irrtumer.
Progression of noncalcified and calcified coronary plaque by CT angiography in SLE.

Premature coronary artery disease remains the major cause of late death in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Coronary artery calcium (CAC) represents an advanced stage of atherosclerosis, whereas noncalcified coronary atherosclerotic plaque (NCP) typically is more prone to trigger acute coronary events. The aim of this study was to assess the stability of NCP over time and identify factors associated with changes in NCP in patients with SLE. CT coronary angiography and calcium scanning were performed at baseline and follow-up in thirty-six SLE patients. Duration between baseline and follow-up NCP assessment ranged from 2 to 8 years. CAC was quantified by the Agatston score and classified as none, low (1–99), moderate (100–299) or high calcium score (300 and above). NCP was quantified based on a previously validated score and classified as none, low (<0.5) or high (0.5+). SLE disease activity was quantified using the SELENA–SLEDAI and physician global assessment indices. To assess the association between quantitative clinical variables and changes in NCP, adjusting for time, we used linear regression models. The group of 36 SLE patients were 75% females, 75% Caucasians, 17% African-Americans, 8% other ethnicities. The mean age of patients was 46.6 years. For NCP, 17/36 (47%) of the patients switched qualitative NCP class (none, low, high) between baseline and follow-up, whereas for CAC only 3/35 (9%) switched qualitative class. Increasing years between assessments were associated with an increase in NCP (P = 0.038). The proportion of time on immunosuppressants was associated with a decrease in NCP (P = 0.06). Calcified coronary plaque levels remained relatively stable over a period of 2–8 years. Noncalcified coronary plaque levels were more variable. Use of immunosuppressive drugs appeared to be protective against noncalcified coronary plaque progression.
Human Dendritic Cell Heterogeneity: Opportunities and Challenges for the Control of Immunity

Abstract SCI-21 Dendritic cells (DCs) comprise a heterogeneous population of potent antigen-presenting cells, which are master orchestrators of the immune response. DCs initiate immunity, and just as importantly, control its quality and outcome. DCs accomplish this by capitalizing on their defined subsets, which exert discrete functions in responding to different types of antigens and factors in the microenvironment. DCs, therefore, provide the immune system with an essential and robust flexibility to discriminate between enormous numbers of harmful and benign agents and to mount functionally distinct and appropriate responses in the contexts of innate and adaptive immunity. Our lab has focused on the contrasting functions of conventional human DC subsets, primarily monocyte-derived DCs (moDCs) versus CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cell-derived Langerhans-type DCs (LCs). Recent findings that have defined the afferent sensitization of different types of immune responses by these distinct DC subtypes will be discussed. For example, LCs use an endogenous IL-15R-α/IL-15 mechanism to generate potent cytotoxic T lymphocytes and break tolerance against a self-differentiation tumor antigen like WT1. This contrasts with the potency of moDCs in maturing and stimulating NK cells by their production of IL-12p70, whereas LCs can only ensure NK-cell viability. The application of these findings to the holy grail of separating graft-versus-leukemia from the deleterious aspects of graft-versus-host disease in allotransplantation, at the level of afferent sensitization by these distinct DC subtypes, as well as the novel use of small-molecule inhibitors of JAK-STAT signaling in DC-stimulated T cells, will also be addressed. Disclosures: Off Label Use: JAK2 inhibitors (potentially several) for inhibition of dendritic cell stimulated alloreactivity - but all data will be in vitro, so perhaps this is not off-label drug use because it is not in vivo in humans.
A new definition of conjugacy for semigroups

The conjugacy relation plays an important role in group theory. If a and b are elements of a group G, a is conjugate to b if g−1ag = b for some g ∈ G. The group conjugacy extends to inverse semigroups in a natural way: for a and b in an inverse semigroup S, a is conjugate to b if g−1ag = b and gbg−1 = a for some g ∈ S1. In this paper, we define a conjugacy for an arbitrary semigroup S that reduces to the inverse semigroup conjugacy if S is an inverse semigroup. (None of the existing notions of conjugacy for semigroups has this property.) We compare our new notion of conjugacy with existing definitions, characterize the conjugacy in basic transformation semigroups and their ideals using the representation of transformations as directed graphs, and determine the number of conjugacy classes in these semigroups.
Obesity impedes functional improvement in youth with chronic pain: An initial investigation.

Background Youth with chronic pain are at higher risk for obesity than the general population. In youth with chronic pain, obesity exacerbates pain-specific activity limitations, and in adults with chronic pain, obesity perpetuates a cycle of disability. The current study examined whether weight status predicts functional disability outcomes over time in youth with chronic pain. Methods Data were obtained from a retrospective chart review of patients who consented to participate in a longitudinal outcomes study. The Child Activity Limitations Questionnaire was used to assess functional disability at intake, 1-, and 3-month follow-up. Height and weight were measured at intake. A linear mixed model was used to test whether weight status and time predicted functional disability. Trend analysis with polynomial contrasts was used to test whether improvements in functional disability showed a linear trend over time. Results The linear mixed model analysis showed a main effect of weight, suggesting that youth with higher BMI demonstrated less improvement in functional disability over time. The trend analysis suggested that improvements in functional disability were consistent with a linear trend for both healthy weight and overweight participants, but not for obese participants. Conclusion These findings demonstrate that obesity impedes improvement in functioning for youth with chronic pain. Despite multidisciplinary pain treatment, youth with comorbid chronic pain and obesity demonstrate greater functional disability at follow-up and little improvement over time. These results support the need for interventions specifically tailored to the unique challenges faced by youth with comorbid chronic pain and obesity. Significance This study shows that obesity impedes improvement in functioning for youth with chronic pain. On the basis of these findings, interventions should be tailored to the unique challenges of this population.
Correction to: The spatial distribution of Republican and Democratic climate opinions at state and local scales

The referenced publication included a methodological error that affects a portion of the reported results for registered Democrats by about 1 percentage point on average.
Sustainability Ethics Across the Curriculum

This chapter identifies confusion about the normative dimensions of sustainability as an important obstacle to teaching the ethics of sustainability across the curriculum. It aims to overcome this obstacle by presenting a framework of sustainability ethics consisting of principles derived from the most basic commitments of common morality. Four rationales and related models for teaching ethics across the curriculum are identified, and an argument for infusing education at all levels with education in sustainability and sustainability ethics is framed on this basis. The prescribed model involves cross-curricular integration and collaborative public service projects, where possible.
Organization of the core respiratory network: Insights from optogenetic and modeling studies.

The circuit organization within the mammalian brainstem respiratory network, specifically within and between the pre-Botzinger (pre-BotC) and Botzinger (BotC) complexes, and the roles of these circuits in respiratory pattern generation are continuously debated. We address these issues with a combination of optogenetic experiments and modeling studies. We used transgenic mice expressing channelrhodopsin-2 under the VGAT-promoter to investigate perturbations of respiratory circuit activity by site-specific photostimulation of inhibitory neurons within the pre-BotC or BotC. The stimulation effects were dependent on the intensity and phase of the photostimulation. Specifically: (1) Low intensity (≤ 1.0 mW) pulses delivered to the pre-BotC during inspiration did not terminate activity, whereas stronger stimulations (≥ 2.0 mW) terminated inspiration. (2) When the pre-BotC stimulation ended in or was applied during expiration, rebound activation of inspiration occurred after a fixed latency. (3) Relatively weak sustained stimulation (20 Hz, 0.5-2.0 mW) of pre-BotC inhibitory neurons increased respiratory frequency, while a further increase of stimulus intensity (> 3.0 mW) reduced frequency and finally (≥ 5.0 mW) terminated respiratory oscillations. (4) Single pulses (0.2-5.0 s) applied to the BotC inhibited rhythmic activity for the duration of the stimulation. (5) Sustained stimulation (20 Hz, 0.5-3.0 mW) of the BotC reduced respiratory frequency and finally led to apnea. We have revised our computational model of pre-BotC and BotC microcircuits by incorporating an additional population of post-inspiratory inhibitory neurons in the pre-BotC that interacts with other neurons in the network. This model was able to reproduce the above experimental findings as well as previously published results of optogenetic activation of pre-BotC or BotC neurons obtained by other laboratories. The proposed organization of pre-BotC and BotC circuits leads to testable predictions about their specific roles in respiratory pattern generation and provides important insights into key circuit interactions operating within brainstem respiratory networks.
Novel Nano-Scale Au/α-Fe2O3 Catalyst for the Preferential Oxidation of CO in Biofuel Reformate Gas

Au/α-Fe2O3 catalyst was synthesized using a modified co-precipitation method to generate an inverse catalyst model. The effects of introducing CO2 and H2O during preferential oxidation (PROX) of CO were investigated. The goal of this work was ≥99.8% CO conversion at 80°C. There was an increase in the conversion at all temperatures with the introduction of CO2 and 100% of the CO was converted at the target temperature of 80°C for any amount of CO2. Furthermore, there was an increase in conversion to 100% for water fractions ranging from 3% to 10%.Finally, for realistic conditions of (bio-)fuel reforming, 24% CO2 and 10% water, 99.85% conversion was achieved. A long-term test of 200 hours showed no significant deactivation of the catalyst at a temperature of 80°C in presence of 24% CO2 and 3% water. The mechanism for PROX is not known definitively, however, current literature believes the gold particle size is the key. In contrast, we emphasize the tremendous role of the support particle size.© 2013 ASME
Stereotyped Behavior and Stress

It does not require a very extensive exposure to the relevant literature to appreciate the apparent impossibility of defining stress very rigorously (Mason, 1975a). Stress cannot be defined in terms of the physical properties of the eliciting stimulus as cognitive and emotional factors can change the impact of any stimulus on the same person or animal (Lazarus, 1967; Mason, 1975b). It is equally difficult to define stress as a specific set of physiological responses. Lacey (1967), for instance, has repeatedly pointed out that each “stressor” tends to elicit its own automatic response pattern, while at the same time there is a tendency for individuals to have unique physiological response profiles. Mason (1975b), who measures gonadal, thyroidal, growth hormone, adrenal medullary and insulin activity as well as pituitary-adrenal cortical changes, also emphasizes the specific adaptive pattern of hormone response depending upon the type of stress. Selye’s (1974) definition of stress as the nonspecific response of the body to any demand (whether pleasant or unpleasant) is likely to be too broad (and also too restricting in its focus on only a few responses) to continue to be useful in the future. Perhaps, agreement can be reached only on a very general statement such as an organism is subjected to stress when its adaptive mechanisms are taxed beyond their normal range of functioning either because of the intensity or the duration of the response required. In spite of the difficulty in defining stress, there may still be value in bracketing a field that concentrates on the consequences of straining adaptive mechanisms. Certainly, Selye (1956) has proven the value of such a focus in his highly productive career.
Gastric alkalinization does not increase the risk of pneumonia in critically ill patients

Nosocomial pneumonia remains an important determinant of hospital-acquired morbidity and mortality. Although therapy designed to prevent stress-induced gastritis has been effective at relieving upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, the use of agents (histamine-2 receptor antagonists, antacids) that raise gastric pH have also been implicated as increasing the incidence of nosocomial pneumonia. Examination of two recently published meta-analyses investigating the role of gastric pH and nosocomial pneumonia and several individual studies show that raising gastric pH does not increase the incidence of nosocomial pneumonia. Importantly, those clinical trials that purport to show that raising gastric pH increases the incidence of nosocomial pneumonia have not been blinded studies and have failed to control for sites of enteral feeding and volume. Taken together, analysis of several clinical trials finds no compelling evidence for the concept that gastric alkalization increases the evidence of nosocomial pneumonia. Given the methodological flaws incurred in several previous studies, the optimal approach for preventing nosocomial pneumonia while preventing stress gastritis-induced upper (GI) bleeding remains to be identified.
Binding of Lignin Nanoparticles at Oil–Water Interfaces: An Ecofriendly Alternative to Oil Spill Recovery

Synthetic amphiphiles used for managing large-scale oil spills have a toxic impact on the environment and marine life. Developing new oil spill recovery technologies is critical to minimize the environmental and ecological impact of such disasters. Here, we show that a mixture of lignin nanoparticles and 1-pentanol forms a biocompatible alternative to nondegradable, synthetic amphiphiles used for oil spill recovery. The pentanol in the mixture generates initial Marangoni flow and confines the spilled oil into a thick slick on the surface of water. While the alcohol solubilizes, lignin nanoparticles irreversibly adsorb onto the oil-water interface. We find that the lignin nanoparticle adsorption to the oil-water interface is governed by a combination of electrostatic, van der Waals, and hydrophobic interactions between the particles and the interface. These interactions, combined with interparticle electrostatic repulsion between nanoparticles adsorbed at the oil-water interface, drive the formation of a submonolayer. The submonolayer transforms into a film of jammed nanoparticles due to compressive stress acting on the interface upon the solubilization of pentanol. This interfacial layer of lignin nanoparticles restricts oil from respreading and locks the oil in its confined state. The herded state of the oil with the interfacial layer of nanoparticles facilitates safe removal of the spilled oil using mechanical methods. The study presents a new principle of using a mixture of heavy alcohol and biocompatible nanoparticles for oil herding applications, thus providing an ecofriendly alternative to oil spill recovery.