cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
What Motivates Biology Instructors to Engage and Persist in Teaching Professional Development

We conducted a study of 19 biology instructors participating in small, local groups at six research-intensive universities connected to the Automated Analysis of Constructed Response (AACR) project (www.msu.edu/∼aacr). Our aim was to uncover participants' motivation to persist in a long-term teaching professional development effort, a topic that is understudied in discipline-based educational research. We interviewed each participant twice over a 2-year period and conducted qualitative analyses on the data, using expectancy-value theory as a framework for considering motivation. Our analyses revealed that motivation among instructors was high due to their enjoyment of the AACR groups. The high level of motivation is further explained by the fact that AACR groups facilitated instructor involvement with the larger AACR project. We also found that group dynamics encouraged persistence; instructors thought they might never talk with colleagues about teaching in the absence of AACR groups; and groups were perceived to have a low-enough time requirement to warrant sustained involvement. We conclude that instructors have persisted in AACR groups because the groups provided great value with limited cost. The characterization of instructor experiences described here can contribute to a better understanding of faculty needs in teaching professional development.
Survival of Salmonella during Production of Partially Sprouted Pumpkin, Sunflower, and Chia Seeds Dried for Direct Consumption

Ready-to-eat foods based on dried partially sprouted seeds have been associated with foodborne salmonellosis. Whereas research has focused on the potential for Salmonella initially present in or on seeds to grow and survive during fresh sprout production, little is known about the potential for growth and survival of Salmonella associated with seeds that have been partially sprouted and dried. The goal of this study was to determine the growth of Salmonella during soaking for partial germination of pumpkin, sunflower, and chia seeds and subsequent survival during drying and storage. Pumpkin, sunflower, and chia seeds were inoculated with a four-serotype Salmonella cocktail by the dry transfer method and were soaked in sterile water at 25 or 37°C for 24 h. During the soaking period, Salmonella exhibited growth rates of 0.37 ± 0.26, 0.27 ± 0.12, and 0.45 ± 0.19 log CFU/h at 25°C and 0.94 ± 0.44, 1.04 ± 0.84, and 0.73 ± 0.36 log CFU/h at 37°C for chia, pumpkin, and sunflower seeds, respectively. Soaked seeds were drained and dried at 25, 51, and 60°C. Drying resulted in >5 log CFU/g loss at both 51 and 60°C and ∼3 log CFU/g loss at 25°C on partially sprouted pumpkin and sunflower seeds. There was no decrease in Salmonella during drying of chia seeds at 25°C, and only drying at 60°C provided losses >5 log CFU/g. Dried seeds were stored at 37 and 45°C at 15 and 76% relative humidity (RH) levels. The combination of temperature and RH exerted a stronger effect than either factor alone, such that rates at which Salmonella decreased generally followed this order: 37°C at 15% RH < 45°C at 15% RH < 37°C at 76% RH < 45°C at 76% RH for all seeds tested. Rates differed based on seed type, with chia seeds and chia seed powder having the smallest rate of Salmonella decrease, followed by sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Drying at higher temperatures (50 and 61°C) or storing at elevated temperature and humidity (45°C and 76% RH) resulted in significantly different rates of Salmonella decrease.
Chronic relapsing experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

Abstract Preliminary results are presented on the treatment of Strain 13 guinea pigs with chronic relapsing experimental autoimmune (allergic) encephalomyelitis (EAE) induced by a single sensitisation with whole spinal cord. Animals were treated at different stages of the disease with injections containing either myelin basic protein (MBP) alone in incomplete Freund's adjuvant (IFA), or MBP in combination with a lipid hapten of myelin, galactocerebroside (GC) in IFA. The rationale for this treatment stemmed from previous work which suggested that MBP was responsible for T cell sensitisation in EAE and that GC was important in producing demyelinating antibodies and that both myelin components were needed in the induction of disease. Although treatment with MBP alone caused some initial stabilisation of the disease process, subsequent relapses occurred in all animals. However, in animals given MBP and GC together, either early or late in the course of the disease, marked clinical improvement has been noted with little or no development of relapses over an observation period of more than one year posttreatment. In addition, evidence of extensive remyelination and oligodendroglial proliferation in CNS lesions has been found in MBP-GC-treated animals suggesting that this therapy might be beneficial for CNS repair and relevant to multiple sclerosis.
The Reticuloendothelial System and Erythropoiesis

A wide diversity of functions has been ascribed to the cells of the reticuloendothelial system (RES) since that term was first coined by Aschoff and Kiyono in 1913. These cells were identified by their ability to phagocytize foreign particles and stain with vital dyes. Although these attributes were recognized by Metchnikoff as early as 1905, it was the association of these phagocytic cells with reticulum (argentophilic) fibers which first led to their definition as a reticuloendothelial system. The terms mononuclear phagocytic system and reticulohistiocytic system are synonymous with RES.
SNOMED CT encoded Cancer Protocols.

SNOMED Clinical Terms® (SNOMED CT®) is being used to encode the Cancer Protocols published by the College of American Pathologists (CAP). As of January 1, 2004, one of the standards set for approved cancer programs by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer will be that at least 90% of surgical pathology reports contain all essential data elements identified in the CAP Cancer Protocols.
Performance Appraisals in Quality Award-Winning Companies: Does Practice Follow Prescription?

Within the quality literature there are two opposing schools of thought with regard to the performance appraisal. The followers of W. Edwards Deming would like to see it abolished, while many practitioners and academics perceive there to be a strong nee..
The Supremacy Clause, Cooperative Federalism, and the Full Federal Regulatory Purpose

This Article shows that private litigants may use the preemption doctrine to police the national standards of cooperative federalist regulatory programs without undermining the state primacy that Congress intended those programs to preserve. It focuses on the environmental cooperative federalist systems that Congress employs in many anti-pollution laws. Laws that employ these systems encourage states to take the lead in administering regulatory programs that meet minimum national standards for protection of public health and welfare. Preemption doctrine should ensure that state laws do not obstruct attainment of these regulatory systems’ lawful goals, yet must also take account of Congress’ goal to preserve state primacy. For preemption to operate appropriately in this context, courts must recognize that (a) the ultimate touchstone of preemption analysis is the full federal regulatory purpose, and (b) multiple federal goals drive cooperative federalist schemes. It is then practical to distinguish true conflicts between state action and the full federal regulatory purpose from false conflicts, in which state action may conflict with a particular federal mandate, but not with the federal regulatory purpose when considered as a whole. This distinction can be implemented by sorting state-federal conflicts in cooperative federalist systems into three categories, (1) isolated administrative mistakes, (2) deviations subject to robust federal corrective mechanisms, defined in terms of the cooperative federalist systems’ goals, and (3) true conflicts with the full federal regulatory purpose. Preemption of state action in the third category only will allow litigants - whether members of the regulated community or citizens seeking full implementation of regulatory protections - to use preemption doctrine to police, but not undermine, cooperative federalism.
Differential Conformational Dynamics Encoded by the Linker between Quasi RNA Recognition Motifs of Heterogeneous Nuclear Ribonucleoprotein H

Members of the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) F/H family are multipurpose RNA binding proteins that participate in most stages of RNA metabolism. Despite having similar RNA sequence preferences, hnRNP F/H proteins function in overlapping and, in some cases, distinct cellular processes. The domain organization of hnRNP F/H proteins is modular, consisting of N-terminal tandem quasi-RNA recognition motifs (F/HqRRM1,2) and a third C-terminal qRRM3 embedded between glycine-rich repeats. The tandem qRRMs are connected through a 10-residue linker, with several amino acids strictly conserved between hnRNP H and F. A significant difference occurs at position 105 of the linker, where hnRNP H contains a proline and hnRNP F an alanine. To investigate the influence of P105 on the conformational properties of hnRNP H, we probed the structural dynamics of its HqRRM1,2 domain with X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, and small-angle X-ray scattering. The collective results best describe that HqRRM1,2...
Abscisic Acid Signaling and Biosynthesis: Protein Structures and Molecular Probes

Abscisic acid (ABA) is an apocarotenoid plant hormone that mediates responses to abiotic stress and modulates multiple growth and developmental processes. ABA acts through a negative regulatory signaling module that is present in all land plant genomes sequenced. Here we review ABA’s biosynthesis, perception, and its core signaling network, focusing on the wealth of X-ray crystallographic data for the receptors, phosphatases, and kinases that form the core ABA response module. We unite these structural insights with progress in the development of ABA biosynthesis and signaling modulators and cover both inhibitors of 9-cis-expoycarotenoid dioxygenases (NCEDs) and ABA receptor modulators including the agonist quinabactin and antagonist AS6. Quinabactin preferentially activates dimeric subfamily III ABA receptors and its biological activity has defined pyrabactin resistance 1 (PYR1) and its close relatives as key targets for controlling transpiration. Structural analyses of receptor-ligand complexes have facilitated the design of ABA analogs such as AS6 that antagonize signaling by disrupting receptor-PP2C interactions. Thus, the extensive structural data now available is facilitating the development of chemical and genetic tools to manipulate ABA biosynthesis and signaling and has refined our understanding of these new druggable target sites.
Academic Achievement, School Attachment, and School Problems in the Differential Etiology of Violence

In the present paper, we test whether academic factors differentially predict violent offending, based on “differential etiology of violence” hypothesis as proposed by Savage and Wozniak (Thugs and Thieves: The Differential Etiology of Violence, [58]). We use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health. We used a three-tier statistical approach to test the differential etiology of violence thesis. First, we compared the slopes of coefficients generated by ordinary least squares regression models. Second, we examined negative binomial regression partial coefficients estimating the association between academic achievement and violent offending, controlling for nonviolent offending. Finally we used binary logistic regression to compare “any violent” to “nonviolent-only” offenders. The findings suggest that academic achievement, but not school attachment, is differentially associated with violent behavior in longitudinal, conservative models. Grade average is lower and several indicators of school problems are higher among violent offenders than nonviolent-only offenders, and GPA distinguishes violent from chronic, nonviolent-only offenders in models that control for a host of social factors as well as intelligence (measured with a picture vocabulary test), ADHD, alcohol, and drug use. The findings are consistent with the differential etiology of violence thesis, challenging the adequacy of general theories of offending and calling into question the assumption that the causes of violent offending are identical to those of nonviolent offending. Policy implications of these findings include the possibility that academic measures and programs might be used to target and address violent behavior problems; theoretical implications include a call for criminological theories specific to violence and appropriate tests of those theories.
Combinatorics of the Diagonal Harmonics

The Shuffle Theorem, recently proven by Carlsson and Mellit, states that the bigraded Frobenius characteristic of the diagonal harmonics is equal to a weighted sum of parking functions. In this introduction to the topic, we discuss the theorem and connections between it and the well-known Macdonald polynomials. Furthermore, we describe important combinatorial bijections which imply various restatements of the theorem and play an important role in its proof. Finally, we briefly discuss the proof and describe various generalizations of the theorem.
Genitopatellar Syndrome Secondary to De Novo KAT6B Mutation: The First Genetically Confirmed Case in South Korea

Genitopatellar syndrome (GPS) is a rare disorder characterized by patellar hypoplasia, flexion contractures of the lower limbs, psychomotor retardation and genital and renal anomalies. We report the case of a female infant diagnosed with GPS to a KAT6B gene mutation, which was identified using whole exome sequencing.
Service-Learning as a Practical Introduction to Undergraduate Public Health: Benefits for Student Outcomes and Accreditation

Since the mid-1980s, service-learning has gained recognition as a pedagogical model in higher education with exciting potential for students' academic, civic, and professional development (1). Deemed a high-impact educational practice by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), extant research points to student learning, engagement, and retention benefits from community-based experiences integrated into curriculum (2, 3). Numerous studies have examined best practices for service-learning from varying stakeholder perspectives (faculty, student, and community partner) and disciplines, however, due to the recent development of public health as a major offering in U.S. undergraduate education, the value of service-learning within the discipline should be further explored. While recommendations for service-learning in undergraduate public health programs have been provided, no evaluation of the impact on student learning outcomes has been conducted (4). This study presents one university's model of service-learning in introductory public health courses, and results from the analysis of two datasets representing students' experience with service-learning in undergraduate public health curriculum. Findings provide empirical support of the effectiveness of this pedagogy for advancing student learning and the achievement of foundational accreditation domains outlined by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).
Salicylic acid amplifies Carbachol-induced bronchoconstriction in human precision-cut lung slices

Asthma exacerbations evoke emergency room visits, progressive loss of lung function and increased mortality. Environmental and industrial toxicants exacerbate asthma, although the underlying mechanisms are unknown. We assessed whether 3 distinct toxicants, salicylic acid (SA), toluene diisocyanate (TDI), and 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (DNCB) induced airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) through modulating excitation-contraction coupling in human airway smooth muscle (HASM) cells. The toxicants include a non-sensitizing irritant (SA), respiratory sensitizer (TDI) and dermal sensitizer (DNCB), respectively. We hypothesized that these toxicants induce AHR by modulating excitation-contraction (EC) coupling in airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells. Carbachol-induced bronchoconstriction was measured in precision-cut human lung slices (hPCLS) following exposure to SA, TDI, DNCB or vehicle. Culture supernatants of hPCLS were screened for mediator release. In HASM cells treated with the toxicants, surrogate readouts of EC coupling were measured by phosphorylated myosin light chain (pMLC) and agonist-induced Ca2+ mobilization ([Ca2+]i). In addition, Nrf-2-dependent antioxidant response was determined by NAD(P) H quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) expression in HASM cells. In hPCLS, SA, but not TDI or DNCB, potentiated carbachol-induced bronchoconstriction. The toxicants had little effect on release of inflammatory mediators, including IL-6, IL-8 and eotaxin from hPCLS. In HASM cells, TDI amplified carbachol-induced MLC phosphorylation. The toxicants also had little effect on agonist-induced [Ca2+]i. SA, a non-sensitizing irritant, amplifies agonist-induced bronchoconstriction in hPCLS via mechanisms independent of inflammation and Ca2+ homeostasis in HASM cells. The sensitizers TDI and DNCB, had little effect on bronchoconstriction or inflammatory mediator release in hPCLS. Our findings suggest that non-sensitizing irritant salicylic acid may evoke AHR and exacerbate symptoms in susceptible individuals or in those with underlying lung disease.
Creativity and Posttraumatic Growth in Those Impacted by a Chronic Illness/Disability

ABSTRACTFor some individuals, a Chronic Illness/Disability (CID) diagnosis is analogous to a traumatic experience in that it challenges a person’s sense of identity and feelings about justness or f...
Inflammatory and Connective Tissue Disorders of the Aorta

This chapter discusses connective tissue diseases and inflammatory disorders that are known to affect the aorta and its major branches. While some of the diseases discussed in this chapter are quite rare, all have been associated with potentially life-threatening aortic complications making them an uncommon, but significant, clinical challenge. This chapter serves as a comprehensive review of the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical presentation, and available medical and surgical treatments for aortic disease in each of these unique patient populations.
Prevalence of mutations in a diverse cohort of 3162 women tested via the same multigene cancer panel in a managed care health plan

Advances in gene sequencing of mutations related to hereditary cancers have enabled expansion of this testing to patients cared for in community clinics. Our goal was to report on the prevalence of pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants (PV/LPV) and the distribution of mutations by cancer history in a diverse cohort. We evaluated 3162 women in a large non-profit health plan who were referred for cancer genetic counseling and tested them via the same multigene cancer panel. We examined the pathogenic variant/likely pathogenic variant (PV/LPV) prevalence for 20 genes by clinical factors, demographics, and personal or family cancer history. We calculated adjusted odds ratios for the association between race/ethnicity and mutation results. The majority of women (65.4%) were referred post-breast or ovarian cancer diagnosis. The overall prevalence of any PV/LPV result was 11.7%. Overall, nearly 5.4% had BRCA1/2 mutations, while 6.3% had at least one mutation in non-BRCA genes. In the subset with any PV/LPV result, 55.0% of the total mutations were in non-BRCA genes. The distribution of mutations was similar in those with or without a personal cancer history. Latina women were somewhat less likely to have mutations in non-BRCA genes implicated with breast cancer (OR = 0.55, 95% CI 0.36–0.87). Given that 55.0% of the PV/LPV results were in genes other than BRCA1/2, regardless personal or family cancer history, the study suggests that multigene cancer panel testing may be appropriate for detecting germline mutations in a high-risk cohort in a managed care or public health setting.
Changes to inter-aquifer exchange resulting from long-term pumping: implications for bedrock groundwater recharge

Extensive pumping of aquifer systems alters the water budget components for individual aquifer units. This study evaluated long-term changes in alluvial-bedrock groundwater exchange within a highly pumped region of the Denver Basin Aquifer System, Colorado (USA). For a data set spanning five decades, bedrock-aquifer water levels were compared to the elevation of mapped stream alluvium in three-dimensional space, providing a description of spatiotemporal changes in the relationship between the alluvial and bedrock aquifers. Results clearly show increased downward hydraulic gradients (from the alluvial aquifer to underlying sedimentary bedrock); thus, recharge to the bedrock aquifer has increased over time. Variably saturated flow modeling was performed to investigate the dependence of recharge on the bedrock aquifer’s water-table position. Model simulations with realistic geologic heterogeneity demonstrate the potential for unsaturated conditions within the bedrock aquifer, which may eventually produce a hydraulic disconnection between the alluvial and bedrock aquifers, limiting further pumping-induced changes in recharge. These results have important implications for understanding and forecasting long-term water-budget changes in aquifer systems subjected to high pumping stress, especially those in semi-arid regions.
Attention-Augmented Convolutional Autoencoder for Radar-Based Human Activity Recognition

We propose an attention-augmented convolutional autoencoder for human activity recognition using radar micro-Doppler signatures. We use attention to overcome the limited receptive field of convolutional autoencoders (CAE), thereby enabling them to learn global information in addition to spatially localized features, while preserving their unsupervised pretraining characteristic. The augmentation is accomplished by concatenating convolutional local-feature maps with a set of attention feature maps that capture global dependencies. Using real data measurements of falls and activities of daily living, we demonstrate that the incorporation of the attention mechanism yields superior classification accuracy with respect to training sample size, compared to the conventional CAE.
Balancing Internal and External Validity Using Precis-2 and Re-Aim: Case Exemplars:

The National Institutes of Health estimated that $3–$4 billion is spent supporting clinical trials annually, yet an average of 17 years is required for research evidence to be implemented into prac...
Niraparib maintenance in frontline management of ovarian cancer: a cost effectiveness analysis

Objectives Niraparib maintenance after frontline chemotherapy for advanced ovarian cancer extends progression free survival. The objective of this study was to determine the cost effectiveness of niraparib maintenance therapy in patients with newly diagnosed ovarian cancer. Methods Decision analysis models compared the cost of observation versus niraparib maintenance following chemotherapy for five groups: all newly diagnosed ovarian cancer patients (overall), those with homologous recombination deficiency, those harboring BRCA mutations (BRCA), homologous recombination deficiency patients without BRCA mutations (homologous recombination deficiency non-BRCA), and non-homologous recombination deficiency patients. Drug costs were estimated using average wholesale prices. Progression free survival was estimated from published data and used to estimate projected overall survival. Incremental cost effectiveness ratios per quality adjusted life year were calculated. Sensitivity analyses varying the cost of niraparib were performed. The willingness-to-pay threshold was set at US$100 000 per quality adjusted life year saved. Results For the overall group, the cost of observation was US$5.8 billion versus $20.5 billion for niraparib maintenance, with an incremental cost effectiveness ratio of $72 829. For the homologous recombination deficiency group, the observation cost was $3.0 billion versus $14.8 billion for niraparib maintenance (incremental cost effectiveness ratio $56 329). Incremental cost effectiveness ratios for the BRCA, homologous recombination deficiency non-BRCA, and non-homologous recombination deficiency groups were $58 348, $50 914, and $88 741, respectively. For the overall and homologous recombination deficiency groups, niraparib remained cost effective if projected overall survival was 2.2 and 1.5 times progression free survival, respectively. Conclusions For patients with newly diagnosed ovarian cancer, maintenance therapy with niraparib was cost effective. Cost effectiveness was improved when analyzing those patients with homologous recombination deficiency and BRCA mutations. Efforts should continue to optimize poly-ADP-ribose polymerase utilization strategies.
The ripples of modernity: How we can extend paleoanthropology with the extended evolutionary synthesis

Contemporary understandings of paleoanthropological data illustrate that the search for a line defining, or a specific point designating, "modern human" is problematic. Here we lend support to the argument for the need to look for patterns in the paleoanthropological record that indicate how multiple evolutionary processes intersected to form the human niche, a concept critical to assessing the development and processes involved in the emergence of a contemporary human phenotype. We suggest that incorporating key elements of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) into our endeavors offers a better and more integrative toolkit for modeling and assessing the evolution of the genus Homo. To illustrate our points, we highlight how aspects of the genetic exchanges, morphology, and material culture of the later Pleistocene complicate the concept of "modern" human behavior and suggest that multiple evolutionary patterns, processes, and pathways intersected to form the human niche.
Is Image Encoding Beneficial for Deep Learning in Finance

In 2012, SEC mandated all corporate filings for any company doing business in US be entered into the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system. In this work we are investigating ways to analyze the data available through EDGAR database. This may serve portfolio managers (pension funds, mutual funds, insurance, hedge funds) to get automated insights into companies they invest in, to better manage their portfolios. The analysis is based on Artificial Neural Networks applied to the data. In particular, one of the most popular machine learning methods, the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) architecture, originally developed to interpret and classify images, is now being used to interpret financial data. This work investigatesthe best way to input data collected from the SEC filings into a CNN architecture. We incorporate accounting principles and mathematical methods into the design of three image encoding methods. Specifically, two methods are derived from accounting principles (Sequential Arrangement, Category Chunk Arrangement) and one is using a purely mathematical technique (Hilbert Vector Arrangement). In this work we analyze fundamental financial data as well as financial ratio data and study companies from the financial, healthcare and IT sectors in the United States. We find that using imaging techniques to input data for CNN works better for financial ratio data but is not significantly better than simply using the 1D input directly for fundamental data. We do not find the Hilbert Vector Arrangement technique to be significantly better than other imaging techniques.
The role of aberrant salience in the association between cannabis use frequency and psychotic experiences among racial and ethnic minoritized youth.

Abstract Prior studies have shown cannabis use is correlated with psychotic symptoms, but few have explored potential underlying mechanisms. The present study examined whether aberrant salience explains the association between cannabis use frequency and psychotic experiences (PE) while accounting for the mediating role of anxiety in this association. A US urban undergraduate sample of 816 racial and ethnic minorities contributed data used in linear regression models to determine associations between recent (3 months) cannabis use frequency, aberrant salience, anxiety, positive subscale Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ) items, and distressing positive PQ items. Results from hierarchical linear regression and mediation models using Hayes PROCESS application indicated the association between cannabis use frequency and PE was significantly explained by higher aberrant salience and anxiety. Furthermore, anxiety's indirect association with cannabis use frequency and PE significantly occurred through aberrant salience's indirect association with cannabis use frequency and PE (i.e., serial mediation). A similar pattern emerged for distressing PE. We also found earlier age of cannabis use onset (age 12–14) was associated with a higher number of PE and distressing PE and that this was partially explained by higher aberrant salience. Anxiety's indirect association between earlier age of onset and PE/distressing PE only occurred through aberrant salience (i.e., serial mediation). Aberrant salience may be the part of psychosis proneness most directly connected to why earlier initiation of cannabis use is a risk factor for psychotic disorders. This should be explored further in future longitudinal work with clinical high-risk populations and among minoritized youth.
The Estrada Doctrine and United States Policy

Most states when considering whether or not to extend recognition have applied political considerations as well as legal criteria. There is little uniformity in the practice of recognition since states are free to apply the criteria in a way that most effectively advances their own self-interest. Thus recognition is held to be essentially a political and not a legal act, or rather, a political act with legal implications. Consistent with the view that recognition is a political act is the generally accepted position that there is no legal duty to recognize a new regime.
Human B cell subsets.

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the human b cell subsets, relates it to autoimmune disease, and discusses its functions. The chapter correlates them as the cell of origin of the B cell lymphomas and leukemias. The role of reactivated memory B cells and the role they play in the germinal center (GC) reaction as well as in the eventual production of antibody secreting cells are discussed in the chapter. B cells undergo multiple types of transition in the periphery, including developmental, activation-based, and survival based. The migration trails of antigen-responsive B cells in murine lymphoid tissue by isolating Ig transcripts are described. The recurring somatic hypermutation progressively drives the Ig repertoire of memory B cells to higher affinities and suggests that the high affinity clones do not arise during a single GC passage, but can be collected during successive recall responses. The current separation schemes related to human B cell subsets, transitions in peripheral B cell development, monoclonal antibodies from human B cell subsets, and autoimmune disease and human B cell subsets are also discussed. The chapter also presents a discussion on vaccine-induced plasma cells and recombinant antibodies. The advancement of multicolor flow cytometric analysis helps to distinguish populations based on surface markers.
Designing a better learning environment with the Web: Problems and prospects

The virtual university looms inevitably on the horizon, and Web-based education requires hypermedia technologies to be designed and implemented in a learner-centered fashion. To date, the technolog...
Autoimmune hemolytic anemia in an infant

A case of autoimmune hemolytic anemia in a 6-week-old infant is reported. Treatment with steroids, 6-mercaptopurine, heparin, anti-snake venom, and exchange transfusion were ineffectual. Thymectomy and splenectomy failed to induce a remission.
Channel Evolution Model of Semiarid Stream Response to Urban-Induced Hydromodification1

Hawley, Robert J., Brian P. Bledsoe, Eric D. Stein, and Brian E. Haines, 2012. Channel Evolution Model of Semiarid Stream Response to Urban-Induced Hydromodification. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(4): 722-744. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2012.00645.x Abstract: We present a novel channel evolution model (CEM) that qualitatively describes morphologic responses of semiarid channels to altered hydrologic and sediment regimes associated with urbanization (hydromodification). The CEM is based on southern California data from 83 detailed channel surveys, hundreds of synoptic surveys, and historical analyses of aerial photographs along 14 reaches. Channel evolution sometimes follows the well-known sequence described by Schumm et al. (Incised Channels: Morphology, Dynamics, and Control, Water Resources Publications, Littleton, Colorado, 1984) for incising, single-thread channels; however, departures from this sequence are common and include transitions of single thread to braided evolutionary endpoints, as opposed to a return to quasi-equilibrium single-thread planform. Thresholds and risk factors associated with observed channel response are also presented. In particular, distance to grade control and network position emerged as key controls on channel response trajectory. The CEM and quantitative extensions provide managers with a framework for understanding channel responses and rehabilitation alternatives, and may be transferable to other semiarid settings. It also offers insights regarding channel susceptibility to hydromodification, highlights key boundary conditions for high-risk channels, and underscores critical knowledge gaps in predicting the complex, discontinuous response trajectories that are highly prevalent in urbanized watersheds.
A comparison of inversion based Iterative Learning Control Algorithms

The learning filter in Iterative Learning Control determines the performance in terms of convergence rate and converged error. The ideal learning filter is the inverse of the system being learned. For minimum phase system, direct system inversion can be implemented easily. However for non-minimum phase system, direct system inversion would result in an unstable filter. In the literature, there are several methods that approximate the system inversion. In time domain, zero-phase-error tracking controller (ZPETC) and zero-magnitude-error tracking controller (ZMETC) have been used frequently for non-minimum phase system. In frequency domain, Model-less Inversion-based Iterative Control (MIIC) has been used for atomic force microscope (AFM) imaging. In this paper, a data-based dynamic inversion method in the frequency domain is proposed, and the performance is compared with aforementioned inversion methods.
Numerical Bifurcation Techniques for Chemical Reactor Problems

Mathematical models of chemical reactors are known to exhibit very complex bifurcation behavior due to the strong coupling between the transport processes and the nonlinear dependence of the reaction rates on temperature and concentration. During the past fifty years, they have proved to be an inexhaustible source for the development and testing of various local bifurcation techniques. Unlike the Navier-Stokes equations, which are partial differential equations in time and two/three spatial coordinates, models of chemical reactors and reacting flows vary from a pair of ordinary differential equations describing the behavior of a continuous flow stirred tank reactor with a single exothermic reaction to several PDEs, which describe combustion problems in which the fluid flow is strongly coupled to heat and mass diffusion and complex chemistry. Another distinguishing feature of reactor models is that the number of dimensionless parameters that appear is usually large, typically 4 to 15 for a single reaction. Hence, a comprehensive numerical study of the behavior of a given model is impractical without some theoretical guidance.
Infectious hepatitis during pregnancy and its effect upon the fetus.

Abstract 1. 1. A case was presented in which the patient was affected with infectious hepatitis approximately one month prior to conception. The hepatitis and/or jaundice persisted throughout the entire pregnancy. 2. 2. The product of this conception was a monster. 3. 3. The question is therefore raised, does infectious hepatitis, when contracted early in pregnancy by the mother, constitute a threat to the fetus? This question must await further reports for verification.
Charge-density-wave formation in Ta 2 NiSe 7 studied by scanning tunneling microscopy

Scanning tunneling microscope images of ${\mathrm{Ta}}_{2}$${\mathrm{NiSe}}_{7}$ taken at 77 and 4.2 K show a complex electronic rearrangment occurring below the charge-density-wave (CDW) onset temperature of 52.5 K. A large energy gap of 41.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}3.0 meV is observed and a CDW amplitude modulation of wavelength \ensuremath{\sim}2${\mathit{b}}_{0}$ is detected. The electronic transfer between chains appears to drive the CDW formation.
Pleistocene and ecological effects on continental‐scale genetic differentiation in the bobcat (Lynx rufus)

The potential for widespread, mobile species to exhibit genetic structure without clear geographic barriers is a topic of growing interest. Yet the patterns and mechanisms of structure—particularly over broad spatial scales—remain largely unexplored for these species. Bobcats occur across North America and possess many characteristics expected to promote gene flow. To test whether historical, topographic or ecological factors have influenced genetic differentiation in this species, we analysed 1 kb mtDNA sequence and 15 microsatellite loci from over 1700 samples collected across its range. The primary signature in both marker types involved a longitudinal cline with a sharp transition, or suture zone, occurring along the Great Plains. Thus, the data distinguished bobcats in the eastern USA from those in the western half, with no obvious physical barrier to gene flow. Demographic analyses supported a scenario of expansion from separate Pleistocene refugia, with the Great Plains representing a zone of secondary contact. Substructure within the two main lineages likely reflected founder effects, ecological factors, anthropogenic/topographic effects or a combination of these forces. Two prominent topographic features, the Mississippi River and Rocky Mountains, were not supported as significant genetic barriers. Ecological regions and environmental correlates explained a small but significant proportion of genetic variation. Overall, results implicate historical processes as the primary cause of broad-scale genetic differentiation, but contemporary forces seem to also play a role in promoting and maintaining structure. Despite the bobcat’s mobility and broad niche, large-scale landscape changes have contributed to significant and complex patterns of genetic structure.
An Integer Nonlinear Goal Programming Model for the Deployment of State Highway Patrol Units

A number of models have been developed in recent years for the allocation and deployment of urban police units. However, these models are not directly applicable to the state highway patrol counterparts. Although urban police and the state highway patrol are both law enforcement agencies, an urban police force typically operates by reacting to crimes already committed i.e., a reactive mode of operation while the state highway patrol attempts to maintain a visible presence to prevent infractions i.e., a proactive mode of operation. This paper describes a modeling approach that can be used to deploy state highway patrol cars to the road segments comprising a highway patrol district. Specifically, an integer nonlinear goal programming model is described and demonstrated within the context of a hypothetical case example. The model reflects the fact that the relationships between unit deployment and performance measures are often nonlinear-as additional patrol units are assigned to a road segment, performance will increase but at a decreasing rate. The model's goal constraints reflect the proactive nature of patrol deployment. The model is solved using a modified multi-criteria pattern/gradient search technique, and the results are analyzed to test their sensitivity to goal levels and priority structures.
Functional outcomes and quality of life following surgical treatment of aneurysmal bone cysts of the pelvis in children

Abstract Background Aneurysmal bone cysts (ABCs) are a benign aggressive tumor that occurs rarely in the pelvis in the pediatric population. Pelvic ABCs may involve the triradiate cartilage and/or the acetabulum, which increases the technical difficulty of surgical treatment and has potential implications on the growth and development of the hip joint. This study examines the clinical presentation, rate of surgical complications, and recurrence rate, as well as, long-term clinical and functional outcomes of children with pelvic ABCs treated at a single institution by a single treatment modality. Methods Between 1988 and 2008, 142 children with histologically confirmed ABCs were treated at our institution. Seventeen (12 %) tumors were located in the pelvis. A total of 13 pelvic ABCs (5 ilium-periacetabular, 4 pubic, 3 ilium-iliac wing, and 1 ischium) were included in this study. There were eight male and five female patients with a mean age of 12.9 years (range 4.1–17.5 years) at the time of surgery. The T...
Gleaning non-trivial structural, functional and evolutionary information about proteins by iterative database searches.

Abstract Using a number of diverse protein families as test cases, we investigate the ability of the recently developed iterative sequence database search method, PSI-BLAST, to identify subtle relationships between proteins that originally have been deemed detectable only at the level of structure-structure comparison. We show that PSI-BLAST can detect many, though not all, of such relationships, but the success critically depends on the optimal choice of the query sequence used to initiate the search. Generally, there is a correlation between the diversity of the sequences detected in the first pass of database screening and the ability of a given query to detect subtle relationships in subsequent iterations. Accordingly, a thorough analysis of protein superfamilies at the sequence level is necessary in order to maximize the chances of gleaning non-trivial structural and functional inferences, as opposed to a single search, initiated, for example, with the sequence of a protein whose structure is available. This strategy is illustrated by several findings, each of which involves an unexpected structural prediction: (i) a number of previously undetected proteins with the HSP70-actin fold are identified, including a highly conserved and nearly ubiquitous family of metal-dependent proteases (typified by bacterial O-sialoglycoprotease) that represent an adaptation of this fold to a new type of enzymatic activity; (ii) we show that, contrary to the previous conclusions, ATP-dependent and NAD-dependent DNA ligases are confidently predicted to possess the same fold; (iii) the C-terminal domain of 3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase, which binds serine and is involved in allosteric regulation of the enzyme activity, is shown to typify a new superfamily of ligand-binding, regulatory domains found primarily in enzymes and regulators of amino acid and purine metabolism; (iv) the immunoglobulin-like DNA-binding domain previously identified in the structures of transcription factors NFκB and NFAT is shown to be a member of a distinct superfamily of intracellular and extracellular domains with the immunoglobulin fold; and (v) the Rag-2 subunit of the V-D-J recombinase is shown to contain a kelch-type β-propeller domain which rules out its evolutionary relationship with bacterial transposases.
Multiple, large deletions in rat mitochondrial DNA: evidence for a major hot spot.

Abstract This study identified 33 different deletions in mitochondrial DNA from four aging Fischer-344 rat brains and from a cultured rat lymphoma cell line (Nb2 cells). The deletions were located in the longer arc between the heavy and light strand origins of replication. PCR products that spanned across the deleted regions were sequenced, and deletions ranging between 6548 bp and 9977 bp in length were identified. Short direct repeats of ≤ 8 bp were present at the end points of all but one of the deletions. The remaining deletion contained, instead, a near-perfect direct repeat ( 9 10 bp) within two base pairs of its end points. In 24 of the deletions, a sequence equivalent to one member of the paired direct repeats was lost with the deleted segment. In the remaining nine, either more or less of the base pairs of a single repeat were lost. Twelve of the 33 different deletions terminated on one side at a common locus (major hot spot) of 5 bp in length, located at the 5′ end of the tRNAThr gene. The opposite ends of these 12 deletions were at different sites. The hot spot was located in a region of the mtDNA with strong potential for secondary structure and was flanked by a pair of AT-rich sequences. The utilization of the hot spot as an end point for deletions appeared to be widespread in that it was represented in 1 3 − 1 2 of the deletions characterized in each of the five mtDNA sources examined. In addition, several minor hot spots, where one end of two or three different deletions coincided, were also identified.
The blowgun is mightier than the chainsaw in determining population density of Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus morio) in the forests of East Kalimantan

Due to its practical relevance to conservation, considerable efforts have been devoted to understanding the effects of logging on orangutan (Pongo spp.) population densities. Despite these efforts, consistent patterns have yet to emerge. We conducted orangutan nest surveys and measured forest quality and disturbance level at 108 independent locations in 22 distinct sites in the forests of the Berau and East Kutai regencies of East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Survey locations varied substantially in orangutan density, forest structure, distance to villages, and logging intensity. We incorporated site-specific nest tree composition into our estimates of nest decay rates to reduce errors associated with inter-site differences in nest tree selection. Orangutan nest densities were uncorrelated with altitude, fig density, or any other ecological measure. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that densities were not significantly affected by logging intensity (at the relatively light levels we report here) or the distance to the nearest village, but were positively correlated with the distance from the nearest village known to hunt orangutans. These results indicate that provided hunting is absent, lightly to moderately degraded forests retain high conservation value for orangutans. Widespread incorporation of degraded areas into management plans for orangutan populations would substantially increase the size of populations that could be protected, and thereby improve their changes for long-term survival.
Physiological response of symbiotic polychaetes to host saponins

Abstract Two species of the genus Arctonoe occur as host-isolated populations in the tidal and subtidal areas of Puget Sound. A saponin has been isolated from Evasterias troschelii (Stimpson) which has deleterious physiological effects on Arctonoe pulchra (Johnson), a species not associated with the asteroid. This same substance has no adverse effect on the viability and only a slight positive effect on the respiration of Arctonoe fragilis (Baird), the normal companion of Evasterias. These results suggest a possible mechanism for the strict isolation of these polychaetes and provide additional evidence for the biological significance of asterosaponins.