cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mutagenesis of theN-(Deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine DNA Adduct in Mammalian Cells SEQUENCE CONTEXT EFFECTS

Abstract Site-specifically modified oligodeoxynucleotides were used to investigate the mutagenic properties of a major cooked food mutagen-derived DNA adduct,N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4, 5-b]pyridine (dG-C8-PhIP). dG-C8-PhIP-modified oligodeoxynucleotides were prepared by reacting an oligodeoxynucleotide containing a single dG (5′-TCCTCCTX GCCTCTC, where X = C, A, G, or T) with N-acetoxy-PhIP. The unmodified and dG-C8-PhIP-modified oligomers were inserted into single-stranded phagemid vectors. These single-stranded vectors were transfected into simian kidney (COS-7) cells. The progeny plasmid obtained was used to transform Escherichia coli DH10B. When dC was at the 5′-flanking position to dG-C8-PhIP, preferential incorporation of dCMP, the correct base, was observed opposite the dG-C8-PhIP. Targeted G → T transversions were detected, along with lesser amounts of G → A transitions and G → C transversions. No mutations were detected for the unmodified vector. The influence of sequence context on the dG-C8-PhIP mutation frequency and spectrum was also explored. When the dC 5′-flanking base was replaced by dT, dA, or dG, the mutational spectra were similar to that observed with dC-flanking base. Higher mutational frequencies (28–30%) were observed when dC or dG was 5′ to dG-C8-PhIP. A lower mutational frequency (13%) was observed when dA was at the 5′ to the lesion. Single-base deletions were detected only when dG or dT flanked the adduct. We conclude that dG-C8-PhIP is mutagenic, generating primarily G → T transversions in mammalian cells. The mutational frequency and specificity of dG-C8-PhIP vary depending on the neighboring sequence context.
Plasmodium falciparum: the effect of pH and Ca2+ concentration on the in vitro cytoadherence of infected erythrocytes to amelanotic melanoma cells.

Cytoadherence of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes to amelanotic melanoma cells was pH dependent; increased adherence was observed in the pH range of 6.1 to 6.8 and was greatest between pH 6.6 and 6.8. Ca2+ promoted Cytoadherence, but at higher concentrations (40–50 mM) than is usually the case for cell-cell adhesion. The effects of pH and Ca2+ were interdependent—the pH optimum of Cytoadherence was altered by the Ca2+ concentration in the medium. The adherent properties of several P. falciparum lines (including a knobless cytoadherent line) under varying pH and Ca2+ concentrations were similar.
Predicting consumers' reactions to product failure: Do responsibility judgments follow from consumers' causal explanations?

Recent research in psychology suggests that people's causal attributions for an occurrence may not reflect the entirety of their beliefs about how the event transpired but rather which subset of this information has “explanatory relevance” given the context of the causal question. The present research examines the implications of this proposition for causal judgments about product failure and manufacturer responsibility. An experiment is presented which shows that consumers' attributions for product failure — to manufacturer-related vs. consumer-related factors — may vary with the “causal background” or reference case against which the occurrence is considered. These findings are discussed in light of previous research in marketing which suggests responsibility judgments should be related to the locus of consumers' attributions.
A Sparse Learning Machine for High-Dimensional Data with Application to Microarray Gene Analysis

Extracting features from high-dimensional data is a critically important task for pattern recognition and machine learning applications. High-dimensional data typically have much more variables than observations, and contain significant noise, missing components, or outliers. Features extracted from high-dimensional data need to be discriminative, sparse, and can capture essential characteristics of the data. In this paper, we present a way to constructing multivariate features and then classify the data into proper classes. The resulting small subset of features is nearly the best in the sense of Greenshtein's persistence; however, the estimated feature weights may be biased. We take a systematic approach for correcting the biases. We use conjugate gradient-based primal-dual interior-point techniques for large-scale problems. We apply our procedure to microarray gene analysis. The effectiveness of our method is confirmed by experimental results.
Transient Neurologic Events Associated with Intraarterial Papaverine Infusion for Subarachnoid Hemorrhage-Induced Vasospasm

This report describes three patients who experienced transient neurologic events associated with intraarterial papaverine infusion in the vertebrobasilar system. Two of these involved respiratory depression and underscore the need for careful monitoring and, when required, cardiopulmonary support.
Field application of PAM as an amendment in deep-tilled US southeastern coastal plain soils

In sandy soils of the southeastern USA coastal plains, crop production is limited by low water holding capacity and compacted soil layers that reduce root growth and productivity. Polyacrylamide (PAM) was added to sandy coastal plain soils to improve physical properties and yield. Soils were amended with linear and cross-linked PAMs. Treatments and controls included the following: (1) spraying a 600 mg kg � 1 solution of linear PAM behind a subsoil shank at a rate of 3.93 kg ha � 1 , (2) spraying a 100 mg kg � 1 solution at 0.66 kg ha � 1 , (3) spraying only water at 13.1 m 3 ha � 1 , (4) dropping a dry PAM powder formulation (3005 KB) behind a subsoil shank at 300 kg ha � 1 , (5) dropping another dry PAM powder formulation (3005 K2) at 230 kg ha � 1 , (6) dropping a dry PAM powder formulation 3005 K2 at a lower rate of 55 kg ha � 1 , (7) applying nothing behind a subsoil shank, and (8) not subsoiling. In each of the 3 years of the experiment, new sets of treatments were set up while the old ones were maintained to look at longevity of the PAM effect. Though treatment effects were dominated by the tillage, the crosslinked PAMs were the only treatments more effective than tillage alone. The cross-linked PAMs may have been more effective because we could add more in dry form than in the spray form. The effect diminished with time similar to or faster than the results seen in tillage only. Though some PAM applications may have reduced cone indices, yields were not affected.
Polynomial Time Algorithms for Scheduling of Arrival Aircraft

A Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP) formulation of an arrival traffic scheduling problem is used as the starting point in order to evaluate the respective capabilities of two real-time scheduling algorithms. Three main issues are addressed: computational time, suboptimality and statistical performance. The first algorithm is an approximation algorithm, which is polynomial time and has a guaranteed bound on the suboptimality ratio. The second algorithm is a heuristic algorithm, which is polynomial time. Both algorithms are compared to the exact solution (computed with CPLEX) under realistic air-traffic scenarios generated from American Airlines timetable data for arrival traffic into Saint Louis, Missouri. Results show that the heuristic algorithm has the fastest run-time and is nearly optimal in most scenarios. However, the approximation algorithm generates schedules well within theoretical bounds, providing a guarantee on performance that the heuristic cannot provide. The approximation algorithm is also more robust to adverse weather scenarios than the heuristic algorithm.
A CLINICAL NOTE ON FOOD PREFERENCE OF INDIVIDUALS WITH PRADER‐WILLI SYNDROME: THE NEED FOR EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

The results have important heuristic value for several reasons. First, they indicate that contrary to popular belief, individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome do indicate a definite and, in fact, consistent food preference. Further, the degree of food preference seems to be related to the level of cognitive ability. Finally, these subjects consistently chose a lesser amount of preferred food over a greater amount of non-preferred food. This finding has many potential implications for contingent dietary management. These results which are contradictory to many reported observations, also indicate the importance of collecting objective data regarding the eating behaviour of this population.
Does municipal solid waste composting make economic sense

Currently there is widespread interest on the part of local Governments in incorporating municipal solid waste (MSW) composting into their integrated solid waste management systems. However, there is little information on the costs of MSW composting and how those costs compare with the costs of alternative forms of waste disposal (especially traditional land disposal). This article begins to fill this information gap by reporting the results of a survey of 19 MSW composting facilities around the United States. Results indicate that MSW composting generally costs around $50 per ton, and that very few facilities receive any revenues from the sale of compost to offset operating costs. Additional economic analysis indicates that, at present, MSW composting cannot be justified on financial grounds in most parts of the US, but may be competitive with land disposal where the cost of landfilling is high (such as the north-east).1998 Academic Press
The Effect of a Genetically Reduced Plasma Membrane Protonmotive Force on Vegetative Growth of Arabidopsis

The plasma membrane proton gradient is an essential feature of plant cells. In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), this gradient is generated by the plasma membrane proton pump encoded by a family of 11 genes (abbreviated as AHA, for Arabidopsis H+-ATPase), of which AHA1 and AHA2 are the two most predominantly expressed in seedlings and adult plants. Although double knockdown mutant plants containing T-DNA insertions in both genes are embryonic lethal, under ideal laboratory growth conditions, single knockdown mutant plants with a 50% reduction in proton pump concentration complete their life cycle without any observable growth alteration. However, when grown under conditions that induce stress on the plasma membrane protonmotive force (PMF), such as high external potassium to reduce the electrical gradient or high external pH to reduce the proton chemical gradient, aha2 mutant plants show a growth retardation compared with wild-type plants. In this report, we describe the results of studies that examine in greater detail AHA2’s specific role in maintaining the PMF during seedling growth. By comparing the wild type and aha2 mutants, we have measured the effects of a reduced PMF on root and hypocotyl growth, ATP-induced skewed root growth, and rapid cytoplasmic calcium spiking. In addition, genome-wide gene expression profiling revealed the up-regulation of potassium transporters in aha2 mutants, indicating, as predicted, a close link between the PMF and potassium uptake at the plasma membrane. Overall, this characterization of aha2 mutants provides an experimental and theoretical framework for investigating growth and signaling processes that are mediated by PMF-coupled energetics at the cell membrane.
Optimization of grey-scale morphological statistical estimators

General gray-scale morphological filters are interpreted as statistical estimators by employing the Matheron representation for increasing translation-invariant signal-to-signal mappings. Mean-square optimization is discussed, including the minimal search problem and the manner in which classical moving statistical filters fit into the more general morphological paradigm. Key to the method is the automatic generation of structuring elements based upon image statistics. >
Preventing Pressure Ulcers Through Use of Protocols in a Mentored Nursing Model

Few conditions offer a better opportunity for nurses to have a dramatic and visible impact on quality care than skin care. Nursing interventions targeted to prevent pressure ulcers and their painful, costly complications are an expected standard of care in all care settings. Preventing pressure ulcers may be most important in the acute care setting, where previously healthy elders with acute illness, immobility, impaired appetite, and new-onset incontinence may suddenly and unexpectedly develop pressure ulcers. Often acute care nurses have not been fully cognizant of the threat that pressure ulcers can pose for acutely ill patients. Teaching nurses skills of prevention, including assessments, and interventions for this group of patients is critical. Traditional teaching methods supplemented with an innovative mentoring program and clinical protocols may be one way to accomplish this.
ADAPTIVE LIFE-HISTORY EVOLUTION IN THE LIVEBEARING FISH BRACHYRHAPHIS RHABDOPHORA: GENETIC BASIS FOR PARALLEL DIVERGENCE IN AGE AND SIZE AT MATURITY AND A TEST OF PREDATOR-INDUCED PLASTICITY

Abstract I document a genetic basis for parallel evolution of life-history phenotypes in the livebearing fish Brachyrhaphis rhabdophora from northwestern Costa Rica. In previous work, I showed that populations of B. rhabdophora that co-occur with predators attain maturity at smaller sizes than populations that live in predator-free environments. I also demonstrated that this pattern of phenotypic divergence in life histories was independently repeated in at least five isolated drainages. However, life-history phenotypes measured from wild-caught fish could be attributed to environmental effects rather than to genetic differences among populations. In the present study, I reared male fish from four populations (two that co-occur with predators and two from predator-free environments) under four sets of environmental conditions. The pattern of phenotypic divergence in maturation size documented in the field between populations collected from different predation environments persisted after two generations i...
Adequacy of FDA'S Prescription to over-the-Counter Switch Criteria in Physician Evaluation of Proposed Switches of Drug Products*:

Futurists have forecast that, by the turn of the century, a majority of today's prescription drugs will be switched to over-the-counter (OTC) status. Currently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) evaluates potential switch candidates primarily using safety, effectiveness, and labeling criteria. These criteria may not be adequate because of the reported mishaps associated with OTC drug use. The criteria implicitly assume that consumers understand and follow labeled directions. They also do not take into consideration whether or not the switched drug product will be beneficial to consumers or is really needed in the market. Need for verbal counseling and market need for the product are two additional criteria that may be necessary for evaluating potential switch candidates. Since switch evaluation committees are comprised mainly of physicians, this project surveyed a nationwide sample of primary care and internal medicine physicians to assess on a drug-specific basis whether or not the existing FDA crit...
Macrophage-Mediated Killing of Opsonized Treponema pallidum

The ability of proteose peptone-induced normal rabbit peritoneal macrophages to kill Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum in vitro is demonstrated. Treponemes and 10% heated immune or normal sera were incubated with macrophages at a ratio of 1:200. After 2-10 h of incubation, these mixtures were injected intradermally at duplicate sites on normal rabbits. Maximal killing (failure to develop lesions) was seen at 10 h of incubation with immune serum: Only 7% (1/14) of lesions developed compared with 90% (9/10) after incubation in the presence of normal serum (P less than .001). Maximal phagocytosis (detected by immunofluorescence) occurred by 8 h in the presence of immune serum, when 90% of macrophages had ingested treponemes. At this point, however, 70% of lesion sites from macrophages incubated with treponemes and immune serum still developed, suggesting that effective killing may require at least 2 h after phagocytosis.
Effects of high activation energies on acoustic timescale detonation initiation

Acoustic timescale Deflagration-to-Detonation Transition (DDT) has been shown to occur through the generation of compression waves emitted by a hot spot or reaction centre where the pressure and temperature increase with little diminution of density. In order to compensate for the multi-scale nature of the physico-chemical processes, previous numerical simulations in this area have been limited to relatively small activation energies. In this work, a computational study investigates the effect of increased activation energy on the time required to form a detonation wave and the change in behaviour of each hot spot as the activation energy is increased. The simulations use a localised spatially distributed thermal power deposition of limited duration into a finite volume of reactive gas to facilitate DDT. The Adaptive Wavelet-Collocation Method is used to solve efficiently the 1-D reactive Euler equations with one-step Arrhenius kinetics. The DDT process as described in previous work is characterised by the formation of hot spots during an initial transient period, explosion of the hot spots and creation of an accelerating reaction front that reaches the lead shock and forms an overdriven detonation wave. Current results indicate that as the activation energy is raised the chemical heat release becomes more temporally distributed. Hot spots that produce an accelerating reaction front with low activation energies change behaviour with increased activation energy so that no accelerating reaction front is created. An acoustic timescale ratio is defined that characterises the change in behaviour of each hot spot.
Modeling approach to diameter breakpoint determination

In determining zone diameter breakpoints, the error-rate bounded method focuses directly on the observed discrepancy percentages (very major, major, and minor). These percentages, however, are quite variable due to the number of isolates investigated, the drug-specific relationship between MIC and zone diameter, the location of the isolates relative to the MIC intermediate zone, and the inherent variability of each test. To overcome potential sampling problems, a hierarchical model is proposed which explicitly accounts for each of these factors and probabilities from this model are used to determine diameter breakpoints. A simulation study is performed to demonstrate the improved consistency of this model-based procedure. Application to three published scatterplots demonstrate its interpretability advantages.
The scalar presentation of orthogonal leads

Abstract A method of presenting the information obtainable in 3 orthogonal leads by means of a display of 13 leads representing the single, double, and triple combinations of the former has been described. Such a display represents the rational arrangement of certain selected scalar derivatives of the spatial vectorcardiogram, and facilitates the interpretation of the electrical data collected from the body surface in terms of vector principles. The details of the construction and operation of a switching box ∗ ∗The switching box described herein was designed and constructed in accordance with the author's specifications by Engineering Specialties, 7706 Shawnee Run Road, Madeira, Ohio. for the rapid recording of these 13 scalar leads have also been given.
Improved phonon transport modeling using boltzmann transport equation with anisotropic relaxation times

A sub-micron thermal transport model based on the phonon Boltzmann transport equation (BTE) is developed using anisotropic relaxation times. A previously-published model, the full-scattering model, developed by Wang, directly computes three-phonon scattering interactions by enforcing energy and momentum conservation. However, it is computationally very expensive because it requires the evaluation of millions of scattering interactions during the iterative numerical solution procedure. The anisotropic relaxation time phonon BTE model employs a single-mode relaxation time idea, but the relaxation time is a function of wave-vector. The resulting model is significantly less expensive than the full-scattering model, but incorporates directional and dispersion behavior as well as relaxation times satisfying conservation rules. A critical issue in the model development is the accounting for the role of three-phonon N scattering processes. Direct inclusion of N processes into the anisotropic relaxation time model is not possible because such an inclusion would engender thermal resistance. Following Callaway, the overall relaxation rate is modified to include the shift in the phonon distribution function due to N processes. The relaxation times so obtained are compared with the data extracted from equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation by Henry and Chen. The anisotropic relaxation time phonon BTE model is validated by comparing the predicted bulk thermal conductivities of silicon and silicon thin-film thermal conductivities with experimental measurements.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
Infrared Detection of Hot Spots in Energized Electrical Equipment

An important aspect of plant operation is preventive maintenance of electrical apparatus. Local thermal overloads or bad electrical connections often appear as localized hot spots in energized electrical equipment. A survey of the use of infrared detection systems for location of such hot spots is presented. A tutorial introduction to infrared detection and imaging systems is given with emphasis on the requirements imposed by this particular application. Following this, a survey of commercially available systems suitable for remote detection of hot spots is presented. Finally, the highlights of new developments in infrared technology are discussed.
Flex-DIMM – A New High Density Module Form Factor

The Dual In-Line Memory Module (DIMM) has remained relatively unchanged for the past two decades, with exception of an increase in PCB size, I/O pads and layer count. A new generation called Flex-DIMM is introduced by replacing the rigid-PCB substrate with a thin, bifurcated, flexible circuit that enables several improvements; including a thinner cross-section, better signal integrity with lower layer count, better thermal dissipation and ability to be directly mated to the surface of a motherboard. Originally intended for RDIMM applications, the new module may be an ideal solution for clustered microservers.
Recent Developments Create Planning Opportunities for Disclaimers of Nonprobate Property

Planning for federal gift and estate taxes may involve the use of disclaimers of property. A disclaimer can be defined as an irrevocable gratuitous refusal to accept the ownership of property passing either by lifetime gift, bequest at death or by operation of law as with joint tenancy with right of survivorship or payment on death. A disclaimer must generally be affected before the disclaiming person has accepted any of the benefits from the transferred interest. ("Non-Acceptance Test") The IRS in a number of recent rulings has taken what some may say is a very flexible position in circumstances where a surviving spouse has inadvertently or due to need accepted a benefit from joint assets or other assets that pass outside of the will such as life insurance proceeds, pension or IRA account benefits prior to the effective date of a disclaimer. The result is that many otherwise failed estate plans focused on doubling the size of the available tax exemption for a married couple may have been arguably resurrected. As discussed in this article the IRS in a number of recent private letter rulings and a very significant public revenue ruling involving an IRA account has arguably increased the non probate property subject to disclaimer by not construing the Non-Acceptance Test quite so literally.
Deriving fatigue life models from the physical failure mechanism

We derive two fatigue life models for structural components in a varial>le-amplitude loading environment. The failure meclianisnl can be interpretccl in two distinct ways, each leading to a different prolxhility nlotlel. One of the models is related to the familiar Gaus-
Seasonal Dynamics of House Dust Mites, Dermatophagoides spp., in Homes in Southern California

The seasonal dynamics of house dust mites, Dermatophagoides spp., was investigated for 19 mo in southern Calif. In Orange Co. houses sampled, D. pteronyssinus (Trouessart) was generally more abundant from July–Nov. or Dec., while D. farinae Hughes was more prevalent from Aug.–Dec. or early spring. Both species were less abundant from late spring to ca. July. In Riverside houses, both species were generally more abundant from late summer to early fall (1975), and from early spring to early summer (1976), with lower numbers present from June–July (both years). Monthly fluctuations of each species generally corresponded to climatic changes, particularly RH, with increased populations occurring 1–2 mo after conditions approached or became optimum for D. farinae or D. pteronyssinus , while populations declined when RH reached or fell below critical levels for the respective species.
A Flow Solver for a Reconfigurable FPGA-Based Hypercomputer

This paper details initial efforts to program a basic, compressible flow solver on a reconfigurable field-programmable-gate-array(FPGA) based computer manufactured by Star Bridge Systems, Inc. An FPGA is an array of Silicon gates on a computer chip that can be reconfigured by programmers in the field for specific problems. In addition to the dynamic nature of FPGA hardware (which enables optimization to specific applications), FPGAs are also inherently parallel. This enables programmers to make as many operations run concurrently as they can physically fit on the FPGA, using its resources more efficiently than is possible on a CPU. Basic object like vectors and matrices and their corresponding operations like dot-product, matrix-vector and matrix-matrix multiplication were implemented. These basic components were then used to build a one-dimensional, explicit compressible flow solver.
Design and Implementation of a Perioperative Surgical Home at a Veterans Affairs Hospital

The innovative Perioperative Surgical Home model aims to optimize the outcomes of surgical patients by leveraging the expertise and leadership of physician anesthesiologists, but there is a paucity of practical examples to follow. Veterans Affairs health care, the largest integrated system in the United States, may be the ideal environment in which to explore this model. We present our experience implementing Perioperative Surgical Home at one tertiary care university-affiliated Veterans Affairs hospital. This process involved initiating consistent postoperative patient follow-up beyond the postanesthesia care unit, a focus on improving in-hospital acute pain management, creation of an accessible database to track outcomes, developing new clinical pathways, and recruiting additional staff. Today, our Perioperative Surgical Home facilitates communication between various services involved in the care of surgical patients, monitoring of patient outcomes, and continuous process improvement.
For All the World to See

Obviously, no oil company can afford the stigma and liability of a major oil spill or explosion. The industry would prefer to pump over 20 billion barrels of crude annually without spilling a drop of oil. Even though four million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico is but 1/4000th of one year’s production, or less than the share of a single drop in a one gallon bucket, such a spill is by no means the proverbial drop in a bucket.102
Advantages and disadvantages of office surgery.

Office surgery provides a near optimal setting for the performance of selected surgical procedures on selected patients but may also provide a haven for the least scrupulous practitioners in the medical profession. Advantages to the public, medical profession, individual patient, and surgeon are discussed.
TH-CD-BRA-12: Impact of a Magnetic Field On the Response From a Plastic Scintillation Detector

Purpose: To study the effect of a strong magnetic field on the scintillation and the stem effect from a plastic scintillation detector (PSD) and evaluate its accuracy to measure dose. Methods: A plastic scintillation detector and a bare plastic fiber were placed inside a magnet of adjustable field strength (B=0−1.5T) and irradiated by a 6-MV photon beam (Elekta Versa HD LINAC). The PSD was built in-house using a scintillating fiber (BCF-60, 3-mm long × 1-mm diameter) coupled to an optical fiber similar to the bare fiber (PMMA, 12-m long, 1-mm diameter). Light output spectra were acquired with a spectrometer. Intensity and shape of the output spectra were compared as a function of the magnetic field strength. The bare fiber was used to study the behavior of the stem effect (composed of Cerenkov and fluorescence). The spectrometry setup allowed to perform a previously demonstrated hyperspectral stem-effect removal and calculated dose was studied as a function of the magnetic field strength. Results: Signal intensities were shown to increase with the magnetic field strength by up to 19% and 79% at 1.5T in comparison to the irradiation without a magnetic field, for respectively the PSD and the bare fiber. The light produced by Cerenkov effect in the optical fiber was shown to be the major component affected by the magnetic field. Effect of the magnetic field on the electrons trajectory may explain this behavior. Finally, accounting for the stem effect using the hyperspectral approach led to accuracy in dose measurement within 2.6%. Interestingly, variations in accuracy were negligible for values over 0.3T. Conclusion: Dependence of PSDs to magnetic field is mainly due to the Cerenkov light. When accounting for it, PSDs become a candidate of choice for both quality assurance and in vivo dosimetry of therapy under strong magnetic fields (e.g. for MRI-Linacs).
Multiscale simulations of protein-facilitated membrane remodeling

Protein-facilitated shape and topology changes of cell membranes are crucial for many biological processes, such as cell division, protein trafficking, and cell signaling. However, the inherently multiscale nature of membrane remodeling presents a considerable challenge for understanding the mechanisms and physics that drive this process. To address this problem, a multiscale approach that makes use of a diverse set of computational and experimental techniques is required. The atomistic simulations provide high-resolution information on protein-membrane interactions. Experimental techniques, like electron microscopy, on the other hand, resolve high-order organization of proteins on the membrane. Coarse-grained (CG) and mesoscale computational techniques provide the intermediate link between the two scales and can give new insights into the underlying mechanisms. In this Review, we present the recent advances in multiscale computational approaches established in our group. We discuss various CG and mesoscale approaches in studying the protein-mediated large-scale membrane remodeling.
The effects of napping on the risk of hypertension: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective The risk of hypertension in adults who regularly take a nap is controversial. The objective of this meta-analysis was to assess the associations between napping and hypertension. Methods A literature search was performed using MEDLINE, EMbase and The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from inception through October, 2015. Studies that reported relative risks, odd ratios or hazard ratios comparing the risk of hypertension in individuals who regularly take nap were included. Pooled risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a random-effect, generic inverse variance method. Results Nine observational studies with 112,267 individuals were included in the analysis to assess the risk of hypertension in nappers. The pooled RR of hypertension in nappers was 1.13 with 95% CI(0.98, 1.30). When meta-analysis was limited only to studies assessing the risk of hypertension in daytime nappers, the pooled RR of hypertension was 1.19 with 95% CI(1.06, 1.35). The data on association between nighttime napping in individuals who work night shift and hypertension were limited, only 1 observational study reported reduced risk of hypertension in nighttime nappers with odds ratio of 0.79 with 95% CI (0.63, 1.00). Conclusions Our meta-analysis demonstrates a significant association between daytime napping and hypertension. Future study is needed to assess the potential benefits of HTN screening for daytime nappers. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
Integration of Neural Inputs in Peripheral Airway Ganglia

The goal of this chapter is to review information related to neural control of airway smooth muscle, and integration of neural inputs to airway smooth muscle. Neural inputs to airway smooth muscle can be controlled and modulated at the level of the central nervous system (CNS), the peripheral airway ganglia, and at the neuromuscular junction. Mechanisms of integration of neural inputs at the level of the peripheral airway parasympathetic ganglia and at the neuromuscular junction are discussed. Control and modulation at the level of the CNS are not discussed.
Compiler and runtime techniques for automatic parallelization of sequential applications

Multicore designs have emerged as the mainstream design paradigm for the microprocessor industry. Unfortunately, providing multiple cores does not directly translate into performance for most applications. An attractive approach for exploiting multiple cores is to rely on tools, both compilers and runtime optimizers, to automatically extract threads from sequential applications. This dissertation tackles many challenges faced in automatic parallelization of sequential applications, including general-purpose applications written in C/C++ and client-side web applications written in JavaScript, with the goal of achieving speedup on commodity multicore systems. First, a complete parallelizing compiler system for C/C++ is introduced. This system successfully identifies parallelization opportunities in programs and transforms the code to a parallel version. A matching runtime system, STMlite, is proposed to monitor the parallelized program behavior and fix any misspeculations that might happen. We show that this system can generate and execute parallel programs that are upto 2.2x faster than their sequential counterparts, when executed on an 8-core commodity system. The second piece of work focuses on a similar problem in a very different application domain, JavaScript programs running on the client's web browser. This dissertation is the first research work that proposes dynamic and automatic parallelization of JavaScript applications. The nature of the JavaScript language and its target execution environments impose a completely different set of challenges that we intend to solve. We first propose the ParaScript parallelizing engine, which identifies and speculatively parallelizes potentially parallel code segments while the code is running in the browser. A low-cost and highly customized speculation approach verifies the execution of the parallelized client-side code and rolls back in case of any misspeculation. Dynamic parallelization using ParaScript yields an average of 2.18x speedup over sequential JavaScript code on an 8-core commodity system. In addition, we introduce ParaGuard, a technique which executes the runtime checks required by trace-based JavaScript compilers in parallel with the main execution. ParaGuard is able to improve performance by 15% by using an additional core in multi-core systems.
Mean Almost Periodic Solutions to Some Stochastic Difference Equations

Periodicity often appears in implicit ways in various natural phenomena. For instance, this is the case when one studies the effects of fluctuating environments on population dynamics. Though one can deliberately periodically fluctuate environmental parameters in controlled laboratory experiments, fluctuations in nature are hardly periodic. Almost periodicity is more likely to accurately describe natural fluctuations (Diagana et al. [63]). This chapter deals with discrete-time stochastic processes known as random sequences. Here, we are particularly interested in the study of almost periodicity of those random sequences and their applications to stochastic difference equations.
Abstract P195: Nuclear Translocation of GRK5 Following Hypertrophic Stimuli Is a Calmodulin-Dependent Process

Maladaptive ventricular hypertrophy often precedes the pathological endpoint of Heart Failure (HF). G protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs), such as the β-adrenergic receptor, play a crucial role in the development of cardiac hypertrophy. GPCR Kinase 5 (GRK5) is a primary GRK expressed in cardiomyocytes. Traditionally, it phosphorylates and desensitizes agonist-bound GPCRs. Recent, exciting data from our lab shows that GRK5 translocates into the nucleus and phosphorylates Histone Deacetylase 5 (HDAC5) in response to hypertrophic stimuli. This novel kinase activity of GRK5 causes nuclear export of HDAC5, enhancing transcription of hypertrophic genes regulated by myocyte elongation factor 2 (MEF2). We hypothesize that that nuclear GRK5 activity plays a critical role in cardiomyocytes, facilitating pathological hypertrophy and HF, and that hypertrophic GPCR signaling induces GRK5 nuclear translocation. To test this hypothesis, we utilized neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes (NRVMs) to determine GRK5 localization following the hypertrophic stimulus of phenylephrine (PE) treatment. To determine the mechanism causing nuclear translocation, we analyzed the effects targeted inhibition of key post-GPCR hypertrophic signaling pathways on GRK5 cellular localization. Treatment of NRVMs with PE for 1 hour increases nuclear GRK5 accumulation by 100%. Chronic infusion of PE also lead to a 50% increase in nuclear GRK5 in the hearts of mice overexpressing cardiac-specific GRK5. Calmodulin inhibition (CaM) in NRVMs via calmidizolium chloride decreases nuclear GRK5 accumulation, while inhibition of PKC and PKD shows no significant effect. Using a luciferase assay, we have shown that overexpression of CaM increases MEF2 activity 3-fold and causes increased nuclear accumulation of GRK5. Further, overexpression of a GRK5 mutant that lacks CaM binding activity, results in a lack of PE- and CaM-induced nuclear translocation. We have now found that hypertrophic stimuli increases myocyte GRK5 nuclear translocation via a CaM-dependent process. Defining the role of CaM signaling in pathological GRK5 nuclear localization may offer a new therapeutic target for maladaptive hypertrophy and HF.
Surgical Oncology Evaluation and Management of Breast Diseases

For women with breast complaints or symptoms, history and physical exam are the first step toward diagnosis, followed by breast imaging with mammograms and sometimes ultrasound (US). Management of benign conditions is presented. For diagnosis of breast masses or abnormalities found on screening, needle biopsy should almost always be the first approach to a tissue diagnosis. Breast conservation should be the preferred approach to surgical management of most breast cancers, facilitated by imaging, neoadjuvant systemic therapy and oncoplastic techniques. Lymph node staging has become less radical over the past two decades, with sentinel node biopsy supplanting complete node dissection in most cases. Several options for reconstruction are available for women who need or choose total mastectomy.
Understanding the experiences of middle school girls who have received help for non-suicidal self-injury:

This study aimed to understand the experiences of middle school girls who have engaged in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and have received professional help for these behaviors. Participants descr...
Na/K pump: Single-channel vs. Two-access-channel

We re-studied the dialyzed Na/K pumps, the experimental foundation for the two-access-channel model. We found that the charge-movement pump currents, the major evidence for the two-access-channel, are only observed in certain situations. Once the stimulation pulse is high enough at low ionic concentration gradient, the backward pump currents disappeared. The two-directional charge movement pump currents become uni-directional pump currents showing that ions have passed through the channel across the cell membrane. A modified single-channel configuration is introduced to explain the pump currents as two-way charge movement current and the one-way current. The negatively charged amino acids deeply inside the pump channel constitute a spatial array that function as a collimator to align the moving ions in the channel lumen and an energy-well for the moving cations. If the stimulation pulse cannot drive ions to overcome the ionic concentration gradient, the ions will be entrapped into the energy-well as if the pump channel is obstructed showing two separated access-channels. Once the stimulation pulse is high enough to drive ions overcoming the ionic concentration gradient, ions will pass through the channel across the cell membrane so that Na/K pumps exhibit a single channel configuration.
A comparison study of intel SGX and AMD memory encryption technology

Hardware-assisted trusted execution environments are secure isolation technologies that have been engineered to serve as efficient defense mechanisms to provide a security boundary at the system level. Hardware vendors have introduced a variety of hardware-assisted trusted execution environments including ARM TrustZone, Intel Management Engine, and AMD Platform Security Processor. Recently, Intel Software Guard eXtensions (SGX) and AMD Memory Encryption Technology have been introduced. To the best of our knowledge, this paper presents the first comparison study between Intel SGX and AMD Memory Encryption Technology in terms of functionality, use scenarios, security, and performance implications. We summarize the pros and cons of these two approaches in comparison to each other.
Outcomes and predictors of survival in blast phase myeloproliferative neoplasms.

Abstract We retrospectively reviewed treatment outcomes for 57 patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms in blast phase (MPN-BP). The median overall survival (OS) of the entire cohort was 5.8 months. For patients receiving induction therapy, 67% achieved a complete response (CR) and 75% received stem cell transplantation (SCT). Median OS for all transplanted patients (n = 19) was not reached after a median follow-up of 19.2 months compared with 3.8 months in non-transplanted patients (p
A submm-wave comet explorer for water isotopic composition measurements

Remote submm-wave spectrometers have the capability of providing statistically significant numbers of isotopic composition measurements within the budget constraints of available planetary missions. This talk will present a mission and instrument concept that would enable an accurate measurement of the D/H ratio on not one but several dozens of comets in a four-year mission lifetime. The instrument would utilize advanced cryogenic detectors that would allow us to measure the abundance of the para and ortho spin states of water and its isotopologues. State of the art superconducting heterodyne receivers have been developed that provide detection sensitivities approaching the quantum limit in the 500 GHz frequency range enabling the measurement of D/H ratio on around 50 comets from an observatory stationed for example at the thermally benign Lagrange point L2
Biomarkers for Prognosis and Molecularly Targeted Therapy in Renal Cell Carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC), which comprises about 3% of all adult malignancies, is not a single entity but a heterogeneous group of epithelial tumors of the kidney, each with unique histology, cytogenetic characteristics, and molecular genetics. RCC treatment by surgical intervention has been an effective management strategy when the primary tumors are localized. However, the limited symptoms of RCC frequently result in late diagnosis by incidental imaging in advanced stages resulting in metastasis in 25% or more cases at diagnosis, which is the primary cause of cancer-related deaths among RCC patients. The poor response of metastatic RCC to most types of chemotherapy and immunotherapy raises a critical need for the identification of biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognostication as well as biotargets for effective molecularly targeted RCC therapies. In recent years, we have gained our greatest understanding of the molecular pathways and genes responsible for renal carcinogenesis from studies of families with inherited renal cancer syndromes. Since VHL gene inactivation and accumulation of hypoxia-inducible factor alpha [HIFα(alpha)] subunits is a hallmark feature of clear cell RCC, the most common tumor histology, the biotargets (VEGF, VEGFR, CAIX) for several promising molecularly targeted therapeutic agents were identified from components of the VHL–HIF axis. The discovery that dysregulation of the Akt–mTOR pathway and activation of the HGF/Met signaling pathway contribute to renal tumorigenesis has provided important focus areas for biotarget discovery, and drugs targeting mTOR and Met are currently in clinical trials for RCC. Biomarkers of poor prognosis from immune regulation (B7-H1, B7x) and metastasis (IMP3) may be promising as prognostic indicators of patient survival. Additional potential biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis have been identified through gene expression microarray analyses, immunohistochemical studies, and molecular profiling, and these await additional validation studies in large sample sets.
Second language learning in the context of massively multiplayer online games: A scoping review

This review examines the second language acquisition (SLA) literature with regard to the role of “massively multiplayer online games” (MMOGs) in second language (L2) learning. It focuses on commercially developed off-the-shelf (COTS) MMOGs only (some of them modified for educational purposes such as Reinders’ & Wattana’s work). It surveys the current empirical research to find out which aspects of L2 learning have been investigated, how they were studied, and what the findings suggest in relation to L2 learning opportunities and outcomes within and beyond MMOG contexts. We synthesized the findings of 31 studies reporting empirical evidence about the role of MMOGs in L2 learning. We observed that the empirical research in this area is mainly qualitative and that L2-related motivational and affective factors, L2 vocabulary, and learners’ communicative competence (or discourse management strategies) are the most widely investigated topics. Based on the findings, our paper presents a model that depicts hypothetical interrelationships among (a) MMOG designed settings, (b) the social and affective affordances provided in these settings, (c) L2 learning opportunities, and (d) the L2 learning outcomes achieved. We conclude that MMOGs provide socially supportive and emotionally safe (i.e. low-language-anxiety) environments that afford multiple opportunities for L2 learning and socialization, which, in turn, help L2 learners to enrich their L2 vocabulary repertoire and enhance their communicative competence in the target language.