cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
High Frequency and Large Number of Polymorphic Microsatellites in Cultured Shrimp, Penaeus (Litopenaeus) vannamei [Crustacea:Decapoda]

A total of 1479 recombinant clones were obtained from a Sau3A-digested genomic library of Penaeus (Litopenaeus) vannamei and used for probe hybridization. Of the 251 clones that tested positive to one or more of the probes and were sequenced, 173 (69%) contained 573 simple sequence repeats, or microsatellites, with 3 or more repeats. The frequency of microsatellites with 3, 5, and 10 or more repeats was 1 in 0.94 kb, 1 in 2.78 kb, and 1 in 5.94 kb, respectively. To increase the number of polymorphic markers for mapping, 136 primer sets that flanked microsatellites containing single or multiple motifs with 3 or more repeats were designed and tested. Of the 136 primers, 93 (68.0%) were polymorphic in cultured shrimp, with polymorphism information content (PIC) values ranging from 0.195 to 0.873, and observed heterozygosities ranging from 10% to 100%. These markers are being used along with other markers to construct a linkage map for P. vannamei.
Pulmonary delivery of anorectic oxyntomodulin in rats: food intake suppression, reduced body weight gain and pharmacokinetics.

Background: Oxyntomodulin (OXM1–37) is an anorectic gut-secreting peptide with a promise to treat obesity, but its needle-free delivery has yet to be successful. Results: Pulmonary delivery of OXM1–37, but not its C-terminal octapeptides, caused dose-related, transient 4–6 h food intake suppression in rats. At 0.5 mg/kg, its 30–38% food intake suppression led to 46% reduction in body weight gain by day 8. Its lung absorption was fast, elevating the systemic level rapidly, yet the bioavailability was low at 13%. In the brain, twofold neuronal c-fos activation was seen in the hypothalamus arcuate nucleus and brainstem area postrema. Conclusion: Pulmonary delivery is a promising needle-free systemic delivery option for OXM1–37 to treat obesity, as enabling effective lung absorption and brain interaction.
Optimal repeated measurements designs for comparing test treatments with a control

A-optimal and mv optimal repeated measurments designs for comparing serveral test treatments with a control are considered. the models considered are basically of two types: without preperides and the cirular model. It is shown known that some known strongly balanced uniform repeated measurements designs can be modified to obtain optimal designs for this problem. Some other methods of finding optimal designs are also given.
What is a natural disaster

Steinberg queries the distinction between natural and human-engineered disasters. Using evidence of floods caused by artificial dams, rain created by cloud seeding, and hurricanes affected by weather control projects, the author suggests that humans are altering the weather and unself-consciously contributing to natural disasters such as floods and droughts. This essay traces the history of natural disasters to underline the changing attitudes towards environmental events during the last two hundred years and distinguishes among weather events perceived to be Acts of God, neutral events, or human-engineered events.
Coordination of the random asynchronous replication of autosomal loci

Random monoallelic expression and asynchronous replication define an unusual class of autosomal mammalian genes. We show that every cell has randomly chosen either the maternal or paternal copy of each given autosome pair, such that alleles of these genes scattered across the chosen chromosome replicate earlier than the alleles on the homologous chromosome. Thus, chromosome-pair non-equivalence, rather than being limited to X-chromosome inactivation, is a fundamental property of mouse chromosomes.
The Political Structure of the Brain: Cerebral Localization in Bismarckian Germany

Eduard Hitzig and Gustav Fritsch's experimental "demonstration" of cerebral localization in 1870 was a major event in the history of attempts to relate behavior to the central nervous system. Their work transformed the vague speculations that began with Franz Josef Gall into professionally responsible activity. In Germany the work of Hitzig and his followers led to violent controversies concerning both the observations and interpretations of cerebral localization. This paper considers why German scientists, who had universally opposed the work of British and French localizers up to 1870, suddenly became interested in the subject at this time, and also why the issue of cerebral localization evoked such passion within the German scientific community. Adequate answers to these questions must involve consideration of the professional relations between physiologists and the developing field of psychiatry. They must also include discussion of the reactions of scientific intellectuals to the most important political development of the time, namely, the unification of Germany.
Infrared observations of the dark side of Iapetus

J, H, K, L and L-prime broadband and 2.8-3.8 micron narrowband photometric observations have been made of the dark side of Iapetus with circularly variable filter techniques. A 3-micron absorption feature is found which is too deep to be a residual water frost feature from the bright material around the poles. In light of laboratory simulations showing that the dark material must have a strong 3-cm absorption, it is suggested that the material may be a hydrated silicate mixed with a small amount of water frost.
LXXII. The corbino effect

(1914). LXXII. The corbino effect. The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science: Vol. 28, No. 167, pp. 692-702.
Carvedilol improves left ventricular function in heart failure patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy and a wide range of sympathetic nervous system function as measured by iodine 123 metaiodobenzylguanidine

Carvedilol treatment reduces the mortality rate in patients with congestive heart failure. It is not known whether carvedilol treatment is effective in heart failure patients with substantial cardiac sympathetic nerve dysfunction. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of chronic carvedilol treatment in patients with cardiac sympathetic nerve dysfunction of varying severity. In 22 congestive heart failure patients with idiopathic cardiomyopathy, sympathetic nerve function was assessed before and after 7.2 ± 2.7 months of carvedilol treatment with the use of iodine 123 metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) imaging, radionuclide ventriculography, and transmyocardial norepinephrine sampling. Patients with relatively advanced impairment of cardiac sympathetic nerve function, as manifested by a baseline I-123 MIBG ratio lower than 1.40, had a statistically significant improvement in I-123 heartmediastinum ratio with carvedilol treatment, from 1.26 ± 0.12 to 1.39 ± 0.20 (P = .004). Of 10 patients with a baseline I-123 MIBG ratio lower than 1.40, 9 had an increase in the heart-mediastinum ratio with carvedilol treatment. Left ventricular ejection fraction increased from 25.4% ± 7.8% to 37.3% ± 14.7% (P <.001), with no difference between patients with relatively advanced versus relatively preserved cardiac sympathetic nerve function. Most patients with congestive heart failure show a favorable response in left ventricular function to carvedilol treatment, regardless of the baseline level of cardiac sympathetic nervous system function, as assessed by neuronal imaging with I-123 MIBG. Patients with relatively advanced impairment of baseline I-123 MIBG uptake are most likely to show evidence of improved cardiac sympathetic nervous system function in response to carvedilol therapy.(J Nucl Cardiol 2002;9:608-15.)
Fuzzy object model based fuzzy connectedness image segmentation of newborn brain MR images

Cerebral parenchyma segmentation in newborn magnetic resonance (MR) images is crucial for developing computer-aided diagnosis systems in newborn cerebral diseases. However, there is limited number of studies on newborn brain MR image analysis. This study presents a novel method for fully automatically segmenting the cerebral parenchyma region using scale-based fuzzy connected image segmentation and fuzzy object models. The proposed method evaluates object affinity and homogeneity using the MR signal, and employs a fuzzy object model, which is built from training datasets. We have evaluated the proposed method based on 10 newborn MR images with subject revised age between -1 month and 2 months. These studies indicate that the use of a fuzzy object model is effective in improving the segmentation accuracy.
Rapid Generation and Flow Cytometric Analysis of Stable GFP-Expressing Cells

Expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP) represents a unique method for the fluorescent labeling of viable mammalian cells, with many potential applications. The studies detailed in this report examine the detection of GFP expression in murine cells using flow cytometry. Direct comparison of NIH 3T3 cells transiently expressing GFP or GFPS65T, a mutant form of GFP, showed that GFPS65T fluorescence (using 488 nm excitation) was detected more readily than fluorescence from wildtype GFP. Efficient generation of cell lines that stably expression GFPS65T was achieved using a plasmid vector that encoded a hygromycin phosphotransferase/GFPS65T fusion protein. Flow cytometric detection of NIH 3T3 cells expressing this fusion protein was improved using a 510/20 band pass filter instead of the standard filter setup for fluorescein detection. Additionally, staining the surface of these cells with phycoerythrin, RED 670, or allophycocyanin did not interfere with the detection of GFPS65T fluorescence, indicating that multiparameter analyses using GFPS65T fluorescence are possible. Importantly, we also observed that GFPS65T expression could be detected in NIH 3T3, BW5147, or freshly cultured Thy1lo CD3- murine bone marrow cells transduced with a retroviral vector encoding the fusion protein, suggesting that the potential applications of this system may be quite broad.
Porous Polymers by Controlling Phase Separation during Vapor Deposition Polymerization

A template-free method is described to fabricate continuous-phase, porous polymer films by simultaneous phase separation during vapor deposition polymerization. The technique involves concurrent polymerization, crosslinking, and phase separation of condensed species and reaction products. Deposited films form open-cell, macroporous structures consisting of crosslinked and glassy poly(glycidyl methacrylate). By limiting phase separation during vapor phase deposition, spatially dependent morphologies, such as layered morphologies, can be grown. Results show that combining vapor deposition polymerization with phase separation establishes morphological control, which may be applied to applications including cellular scaffolds, thin cushions and vibration dampers, and membranes for separations.
Construction and performance characterization of parallel interior point solver on 4-way Intel Itanium 2 multiprocessor system

In recent years the interior point method (IPM) has became a dominant choice for solving large convex optimization problems for many scientific, engineering and commercial applications. Two reasons for the success of the IPM are its good scalability on existing multiprocessor systems with a small number of processors and its potential to deliver a scalable performance on systems with a large number of processors. The scalability of a parallel IPM is determined by several key issues such as exploiting parallelism due to sparsity of the problem, reducing communication overhead and proper load balancing. In this paper we present an implementation of a parallel linear programming IPM workload and characterize its scalability on a 4-way Itanium/spl reg/ 2 system. We show a speedup of up to 3-times for some of the datasets. We also present a detailed micro-architectural analysis of the workload using VTune/spl trade/ performance analyzer. Our results suggest that a good IPM implementation is latency-bound. Based on these findings, we make suggestions on how to improve the performance of the IPM workload in the future.
One path to acoustic cloaking

A complete analysis of coordinate transformations in elastic media by Milton et al has shown that, in general, the equations of motion are not form invariant and thus do not admit transformation-type solutions of the type discovered by Pendry et al for electromagnetics. However, in a two-dimensional (2D) geometry, the acoustic equations in a fluid are identical in form to the single polarization Maxwell equations via a variable exchange that also preserves boundary conditions. We confirm the existence of transformation-type solutions for the 2D acoustic equations with anisotropic mass via time harmonic simulations of acoustic cloaking. We discuss the possibilities of experimentally demonstrating acoustic cloaking and analyse why this special equivalence of acoustics and electromagnetics occurs only in 2D.
On Logic Comparison

This report deals with the problem of discovering the differences between two implementations of the same partially specified function. It describes a heuristic approach to the boolean equivalence problem which yields information important for understanding structural differences. It also contains a formalization for the notion of "structural difference" and presents an algorithm for approximating this difference.
Wet corn distillers byproducts compared with dried corn distillers grains with solubles as a source of protein and energy for ruminants.

Five trials investigated the feeding value of wet and dried corn distillers byproducts as a source of protein and energy for growing and finishing cattle and investigated the effect of heat damage on the feeding value of dried distillers byproducts. In a calf growth trial, no differences in rate of gain or protein efficiency were observed among calves fed wet distillers byproducts (wet distillers grains + thin stillage; WDB) or one of three composites of dried distillers grains + solubles (DDGS) having a low, medium, or high concentration of ADIN. A finishing trial compared the energy value of dry-rolled corn (DRC) with WDB or the three DDGS composites, fed at 40% of the diet DM replacing DRC. Cattle consuming WDB or DDGS gained faster ( P .lo). In a lamb finishing trial, the addition of 5 or 10% ethanol did not affect (P > .lo) daily gain, DMI, or feed efficiency. In two metabolism trials with steers, grain byproducts (wet distillers grains, dry distillers grains plus solubles, wet corn gluten feed, dry corn gluten feed, hominy feed) and DRC had similar effects on ruminal pH and total VFA. Feeding thin stillage or condensed solubles reduced (P < .lo) ruminal pH and tended to reduce acetate:propionate. Wet corn distillers byproducts, fed at 40% of the diet DM, contain more NE, than did DRC and drying WDB reduces its NE, content. Acid detergent insoluble N is a poor indicator of protein and energy value in distillers grains.
The Zenith® AAA endovascular graft

The Zenith endovascular graft is the culmination of a worldwide collaboration of experts whose experience and developments were compiled, resulting in an endovascular prosthesis designed to treat infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms. The device is made of stainless steel, self-expanding Z-stents and polyester fabric. It has an uncovered stent with barbs (for fixation) that extend into the suprarenal aorta and is modular in design and allows for disparity in the length and diameter of the iliac arteries that are incorporated into the repair. A prospective study contrasting endovascular and open surgical patients was completed in 2002 and resulted in US Food and Drug Administration approval of the device for commercial sale within the USA. Although long-term data from the trial are still being evaluated, the worldwide experience with this device and its predicate devices has allowed for certain conclusions to be made with respect to performance expectations and aneurysm sac behavior. The periprocedural mortality in healthy patients with anatomy meeting the device instructions for use should be under 2%. The expected risk of endoleak (mostly Type II) was 7.4% at 12 months and 5.4% at 24 months. Migration (based on the reporting standards for endovascular aneurysm repair recommended by the vascular surgical societies, published in the Journal of Vascular Surgery in 2001) was not seen in any patients over 12 months. The majority of the aneurysms shrink at 1 and 2 years, and any patient exhibiting aneurysm growth had a detectable cause and required treatment. Coupled with European and Australian data, including several device explants, the device integrity issues are limited to barb separation (which has about a 2% incidence and appears incidental in the US trial) and suprarenal stent detachment (six cases detected worldwide). In order to address the latter problem, a design alteration was implemented with a double suture attachment, significantly increasing the tensile strength of the device. No separations have been noted since the change instituted at the conclusion of the US trial.
It wouldn't hurt to walk: promoting pedestrian injury research.

In 2009, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) developed a comprehensive research agenda that described the research needs and priorities for 2009–18.1 The research priorities were identified as those that warrant the greatest attention and intramural and extramural resources from the NCIPC during the next 10 years. For all priorities in the research agenda, special attention was given to vulnerable populations who experience disparate, increased injury risks. Pedestrian safety was identified as a priority area because pedestrians are a vulnerable population, the burden of pedestrian injuries is large (40 000 pedestrians killed in the United States since 2000), and there is a need to develop and implement effective interventions. SAVIR and CDC have been working together to identify strategies to promote the research agenda and identify resources that could be used to help fund the research priorities. Pedestrian injuries have been identified as a focus area for this partnership with the Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention at CDC. The built environment encompasses all aspects of one's surroundings that are human-made or modifiable.2 Traditionally, research on the built environment and physical activity has focused on land use patterns, physical infrastructure of roads, and sidewalks.3 Recently, the social environment, for example, crime, violence, and physical disarray, has also been recognised as an important factor when considering physical activity.4 Walking …
Construction of 8 T magnet test stand for cyclotron studies

A superconducting magnet designed to study cyclotron central regions and ion sources is under construction. Two split coils were used to provide an approximately flat field in the range of 2-8 T. The coils were epoxy potted and banded by stainless steel wire, and the winding form was removed from the coil to reduce the shear stresses. The horizontal and vertical support links were attached to the median plane structure. The pairs of the coils were weakly connected for independent excitations. The stresses in the coils and quench protection have been studied to ensure coil safety. >
An approach for selection of test points for analog fault diagnosis

This paper presents an algorithm for the selection of test points in frequency domain analysis of analog circuits. The proposed algorithm aims to find an optimum number of test points to isolate faults based on minimization of ambiguity groups using an information measure. This technique can be used for identifying catastrophic faults. The algorithm is composed of two stages. In the first stage, a fault dictionary is created and in the second stage, the required test points are selected based on the information measure provided by the test points. Two example circuits are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Measuring Trade Union Rights through Violations Recorded in Textual Sources: An Assessment:

The author uses item response theory to evaluate the increasingly prominent method of measuring labor rights developed by David Kucera. The analysis shows that most of the component items in the Kucera index relate to the same latent variable, which can be construed as “the propensity to violate labor rights.” At the same time, individual country scores highlight the method’s inability to distinguish between countries known to have excellent respect for worker rights and extremely repressive countries. The final section tests the robustness of Kucera’s finding that there is no relationship between observed labor rights violations and foreign direct investment.
A model for abstract process specification, verification and composition

An abstract business process contains a description the protocol that a business process engages in without revealing the internal computation of the process. This description provides the information necessary to compose the process with other Web services. BPEL supports this by providing distinct dialects for specifying abstract and executable processes. Unfortunately, BPEL does not prevent complex computations from being included in an abstract process. This complicates the protocol description, unnecessarily reveals implementation details, and makes it difficult to analyze correctness.We propose some restrictions on the data manipulation constructs that can be used in an abstract BPEL process. The restrictions permit a full description of a protocol while hiding computation. A restricted abstract process can easily be converted into an abstract BPEL process or expanded into an executable BPEL process. Based on these restrictions we propose a formal model for a business process and use it as the basis of an algorithm for demonstrating the correctness of a protocol described by a restricted abstract process. We then sketch an algorithm for synthesizing a protocol based on a formal specification of its outcome and the tasks available for its construction.
A study of high-energy gamma rays at the top of the atmosphere

Electromagnetic cascades with energy 0.7·1011≤E0≤1.2·1012eV have been investigated in several stacks of nuclear emulsion exposed at an altitude above 100 000 feet for between 7.5 and 15 h. The energy of 96 events has been measured by using the shower theory of Kamata and Nishimura. Extended evaluations from the theory were made for cascades initiated by an electron pair and by a single γ-ray. The scanning losses were measured and the detector biases calculated in order to determine the absolute intensity of individual γ-rays entering the stack at this altitude. The integral energy spectrum of individual γ-rays was found to obey a power law with an exponent of 1.9−0.2+0.3 in the region 0.7·1011≤E0≤1012 eV. The observed angular distribution of individual γ-rays at a depth into the atmosphere of ∼ 6.5 g/cm2 could be interpreted by a simple calculation and was found to have no significant energy dependence and to show no indication of a sizable contribution from primary γ-rays. The longitudinal development and lateral distribution of these cascades were compared with the average behavior predicted by the shower theory, and the agreement was very satisfactory.
Minimum Dissipative Relaxed States Applied to Laboratory and Space Plasmas

The usual theory of plasma relaxation, based on the selective decay of magnetic energy over the (global) magnetic helicity, predicts a force-free state for a plasma. Such a force-free state is inadequate to describe most realistic plasma systems occurring in laboratory and space plasmas as it produces a zero pressure gradient and cannot couple magnetic fields with flow. A different theory of relaxation has been proposed by many authors, based on a well-known principle of irreversible thermodynamics, the principle of minimum entropy production rate which is equivalent to the minimum dissipation rate of energy. We demonstrate the applicability of minimum dissipative relaxed states to various self-organized systems of magnetically confined plasma in the laboratory and in the astrophysical context. Such relaxed states are shown to produce a number of basic characteristics of laboratory plasma confinement systems and solar arcade structure.
Why Applied Geography

Geographers, like Robert Frost’s ants, are a curious race. As a group we are woefully insecure, and nothing binds us together more closely than the deep-seated conviction that we are not properly appreciated. So many members of our tribe complain so constantly about the failure of geographers to receive the respect they think we deserve that I once was tempted to wonder whether Herodotus (fifth century B.C.) might have been the first to complain about the poor public image of geography. Certainly he was not the last; Ronald F. Abler, in his presidential address to the Association of American Geographers (AAG) in 1987, felt moved to castigate ‘the incessant whining of geographers’ (Abler 1987, p. 515).
A distributed traffic control scheme based on edge-centric resource management

The correct admission of flows in the Differentiated Services (DiffServ) environment is critical to provide stable and predictable quality of service (QoS) to the end user. Without a scalable and precise admission control scheme, the service provider is faced with either over-provisioning the network or accepting periods of best-effort like behavior. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for admission control that exploits the unique architectural aspects of DiffServ. Through the use of periodic heartbeats emanating from edge routers to probe the network state on the available egress paths, edge routers are able to quickly conduct admission control with a tunable degree of precision. In this paper, we detail our approach, Edge-centric Resource Management (ERM), and conduct detailed simulation studies regarding the effectiveness of the approach.
We Were War Surplus, Too: Nick Joaquin and the Impossibilities of Filipino Historical Becoming

This article reads Nick Joaquin’s 1983 novel Cave and Shadows alongside his persistent engagement with Filipino identity and history to argue that an investigation of Philippine historiography reveals the colonial entrapments of Filipino subjectivity. A mystery novel set in the period immediately preceding Ferdinand Marcos’s 1972 declaration of martial law, it contextualizes Marcos authoritarianism within the scope of post-World War II concerns about national politics in the wake of independence. It also simultaneously grapples with overarching ideas about the legacies of colonial conquest and their effects on the Filipino common sense. Jack Henson’s traversals through Manila find him grappling with the quandary of “true Filipinoness,” a literary dilemma that reveals Joaquin’s investment in wrestling with claims to any inherent Filipino identity as a discursive exploration of the arc of Philippine history. Rather than adhere to Filipino subjectivity as a coherent, unproblematic social formation; the novel explores it as an episteme for locating and interrogating broader systems of governance and power. Such a paradigm offers modalities for contesting Marcos’s revisionist history projects. Such projects sought to recuperate Filipino identity from the dregs of a colonial past in order to celebrate its universal humanity in ways that aligned with the modernizing tactics of global development.
Deriving optimal operational rules for mitigating inter-area oscillations

This paper introduces a new method for mitigating inter-area oscillations of a large scale interconnected power system by means of generation re-dispatch. The optimal mitigation procedures are derived by searching for the shortest distance from current operating condition to a targeted operating condition with the desired damping ratio of the oscillation mode. A sensitivity-based method is used to select the most effective generators for generation re-dispatch and decision tree is trained to approximate the security boundary in a space characterized by the selected generators. The optimal operational rules can be found by solving an optimization problem where the boundary constraints are provided by the decision tree rules. This method is tested on a Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) 179-bus simplified model and simulation results have demonstrated the validity of the decision-tree-based method and shown promising application in real time operation.
Impact of dietary amino acid and crude protein levels in broiler feeds on biological performance

SUMMARY The concept of a requirement for dietary protein has been controversial since it was discovered that proteins are composed of amino acids and that some amino acids are dietary essentials for maximum growth and performance. In addition to the 10 essential amino acids and 3 that can be accreted only from limited substrates, poultry need a quantity of amino acids to synthesize the other 8 that are needed to synthesize body proteins. Adding purified amino acids or amino acid precursors has been known for more than 50 yr to allow for reduced levels of intact proteins to provide adequate levels of essential and nonessential amino acids (CP). It has been recognized that individual essential amino acid requirements are functions of the total CP level. Increasing the total CP level while maintaining ideal ratios of essential amino acids increases growth, feed utilization efficiency, and carcass yields (i.e., decreases carcass fat). A published data set is used here to demonstrate 1) that potential problems arise from analyzing combined data sets inappropriately; 2) that in the overwhelming majority of studies, there is a positive response in growth (P < 0.0002) and feed utilization efficiency (P < 0.0002) to increasing dietary protein levels; 3) that the relationships are much stronger in faster growing broiler strain birds; and 4) that there is no clear break point or “requirement” for CP in the range of dietary protein levels typically studied. Regardless of whether it is called “CP level” or “essential + nonessential amino acid level,” there is no clear requirement, only a smooth response curve that approaches maxima at lower levels for growth, and then feed utilization efficiency, and then lean meat yield, and finally the minimum for carcass fat. As a result, decisions on feeding levels for essential and nonessential amino acids should depend on the input-output relationships and costs.
Abnormal n-6 fatty acid metabolism in cystic fibrosis is caused by activation of AMP-activated protein kinase

Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients and model systems exhibit consistent abnormalities in PUFA metabolism, including increased metabolism of linoleate to arachidonate. Recent studies have connected these abnormalities to increased expression and activity of the Δ6- and Δ5-desaturase enzymes. However, the mechanism connecting these changes to the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) mutations responsible for CF is unknown. This study tests the hypothesis that increased activity of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), previously described in CF bronchial epithelial cells, causes these changes in fatty acid metabolism by driving desaturase expression. Using CF bronchial epithelial cell culture models, we confirm elevated activity of AMPK in CF cells and show that it is due to increased phosphorylation of AMPK by Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase β (CaMKKβ). We also show that inhibition of AMPK or CaMKKβ reduces desaturase expression and reverses the metabolic alterations seen in CF cells. These results signify a novel AMPK-dependent mechanism linking the genetic defect in CF to alterations in PUFA metabolism.
THE PREFERENTIAL REMOVAL OF BONE AND TOOTH COLLAGEN.

This investigation was undertaken to remove collagen from bone and tooth sections following fixation, decalcification and sectioning so that the noncollagenous tissues could be better demonstrated. Half heads of white mice were fixed in one of the following:Susa, neutral buffered formalin, ethyl or methyl alcohols. Decalcification was carried out with formic acid-sodium citrate solution, hydrochloricformic acid mixtures, formic acid alone, or the tetrasodium salt of ethylenediamine tetra-acetic acid. Paraffin sections were cut at 8 μ. After deparaffinization and hydrations the sections were immersed in one of two solutions, distilled water alone or 0.1% solutionof collagenase in distilled water. The experimental sections were incubated at 37°Cfor periods ranging from two to four days. Sections were then stained with picro naphthol blue black, hematoxylin and eosin, Van Gieson's stain or Masson's stain. The distilled water sections showed no change. The collagenase treated sections showed that the collagen had been removed from the matrix of bone and dentin leaving behind theosteocytes and odontoblast processes.
Malleable iterative MPI applications

Malleability enables a parallel application's execution system to split or merge processes modifying granularity. While process migration is widely used to adapt applications to dynamic execution environments, it is limited by the granularity of the application's processes. Malleability empowers process migration by allowing the application's processes to expand or shrink following the availability of resources. We have implemented malleability as an extension to the process checkpointing and migration (PCM) library, a user-level library for iterative message passing interface (MPI) applications. PCM is integrated with the Internet Operating System, a framework for middleware-driven dynamic application reconfiguration. Our approach requires minimal code modifications and enables transparent middleware-triggered reconfiguration. Experimental results using a two-dimensional data parallel program that has a regular communication structure demonstrate the usefulness of malleability. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Tannin and Lipid Content of Acorns in Scatterhoards and Larderhoards

Abstract Acorns comprise an important part of the diet of Tamias striatus Linnaeus (eastern chipmunks) and Sciurus spp. (squirrels) in eastern deciduous forests. These species prefer acorns from white oaks (section Quercus) for immediate consumption in the fall, but prefer acorns from red oaks (section Lobatae) for caching for winter use. In the fall, red oak acorns contain higher levels of lipids and tannins than white oak acorns. I tested for changes in lipid and tannin levels of acorns in simulated larderhoards and scatterhoards. Neither lipids nor tannins consistently increased or decreased during storage. Throughout the study, red oak acorns had lipid levels five to ten times greater than those of white oak acorns and tannin levels two to four times greater than those of white oak acorns.
Task analysis of laparoscopic camera control schemes.

Background Minimally invasive surgeries rely on laparoscopic camera views to guide the procedure. Traditionally, an expert surgical assistant operates the camera. In some cases, a robotic system is used to help position the camera, but the surgeon is required to direct all movements of the system. Some prior research has focused on developing automated robotic camera control systems, but that work has been limited to rudimentary control schemes due to a lack of understanding of how the camera should be moved for different surgical tasks. Methods This research used task analysis with a sample of eight expert surgeons to discover and document several salient methods of camera control and their related task contexts. Results Desired camera placements and behaviours were established for two common surgical subtasks (suturing and knot tying). Conclusion The results can be used to develop better robotic control algorithms that will be more responsive to surgeons' needs. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Novel Techniques for Ex Vivo Expansion of Cord Blood: Clinical Trials

Cord blood (CB) provides an excellent alternative source of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) for patients lacking human leukocyte antigen-matched peripheral blood or bone marrow graft for transplantation. However, due to the limited cell dose in CB graft, it is associated with prolonged time to engraftment, risk of graft rejection, infections, and treatment-related mortality. To increase the cell dose, a variety of ex vivo expansion techniques have been developed. Results of traditional methods of CB expansion using cytokines alone were disappointing. Expanding CB cells with mesenchymal progenitor cells led to sizeable increase in graft content and improved engraftment. Other methods used HPC-differentiation blockers, such as nicotinamide analogs, copper chelators, inducing constitutive Notch signaling, or an aryl hydrocarbon receptor antagonist (StemReginin1). Many of these methods lead to substantial expansions of total nucleated cells and CD34(+) cells, and significantly improved time to neutrophil or platelet engraftment in patients transplanted with the expanded products compared to the recipients of unmanipulated CBT. These studies differ not only in the expansion method but also with regards to the cytokines used, patient population, conditioning regimens, and transplantation practices, to name a few. Some of these methods employed expansion of a portion of CB unit in the setting of single CBT, while others in the setting of double CBT. Here, we review various procedures used for CB expansion and highlight some of the key differences. Novel methods of improving engraftment that aim at improving bone marrow homing potential of CB cells are not reviewed.
Homologous Recombination Repair Factors Rad51 and BRCA1 Are Necessary for Productive Replication of Human Papillomavirus 31

ABSTRACT High-risk human papillomavirus 31 (HPV31)-positive cells exhibit constitutive activation of the ATM-dependent DNA damage response (DDR), which is necessary for productive viral replication. In response to DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), ATM activation leads to DNA repair through homologous recombination (HR), which requires the principal recombinase protein Rad51, as well as BRCA1. Previous studies from our lab demonstrated that Rad51 and BRCA1 are expressed at high levels in HPV31-positive cells and localize to sites of viral replication. These results suggest that HPV may utilize ATM activity to increase HR activity as a means to facilitate viral replication. In this study, we demonstrate that high-risk HPV E7 expression alone is sufficient for the increase in Rad51 and BRCA1 protein levels. We have found that this increase occurs, at least in part, at the level of transcription. Studies analyzing protein stability indicate that HPV may also protect Rad51 and BRCA1 from turnover, contributing to the overall increase in cellular levels. We also demonstrate that Rad51 is bound to HPV31 genomes, with binding increasing per viral genome upon productive replication. We have found that depletion of Rad51 and BRCA1, as well as inhibition of Rad519s recombinase activity, abrogates productive viral replication upon differentiation. Overall, these results indicate that Rad51 and BRCA1 are required for the process of HPV31 genome amplification and suggest that productive replication occurs in a manner dependent upon recombination. IMPORTANCE Productive replication of HPV31 requires activation of an ATM-dependent DNA damage response, though how ATM activity contributes to replication is unclear. Rad51 and BRCA1 play essential roles in repair of double-strand breaks, as well as the restart of stalled replication forks through homologous recombination (HR). Given that ATM activity is required to initiate HR repair, coupled with the requirement of Rad51 and BRCA1 for productive viral replication, our findings suggest that HPV may utilize ATM activity to ensure localization of recombination factors to productively replicating viral genomes. The finding that E7 increases the levels of Rad51 and BRCA1 suggests that E7 contributes to productive replication by providing DNA repair factors required for viral DNA synthesis. Our studies not only imply a role for recombination in the regulation of productive HPV replication but provide further insight into how HPV manipulates the DDR to facilitate the productive phase of the viral life cycle.
Oncogenic ras predicts lack of response to PX-866, an inhibitor of the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase pathway in tumor xenograft models.

A257 The phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI-3-K)/Akt signaling pathway plays a major in cell growth, survival and the resistance of cancer cells to therapy. Several inhibitors of PI-3-K signaling are rapidly moving towards or have reached early clinical trials. As the patient population begins receiving these agents, defining measurable patient parameters to predict a subset who will receive a maximal survival benefit will prove increasingly important. PX-866, a semisynthetic viridin inhibitor of PI-3-K, exhibits antitumor activity in a number of in vivo tumor models and has been shown to have a toxicity profile suitable for entry into clinical trials. We have screened PX-866 in vivo against multiple tissue tumor cell line-derived xenografts for its ability to inhibit tumor growth. PX-866, when administered at a schedule sufficient for the prolonged inhibition of AKT activity, showed pronounced single agent cytostatic effects in several different tumor types. Additionally, a subset of tumor types was identified which displayed little or no growth arrest after prolonged treatment with PX-866 at pharmacologically relevant doses. The magnitudes of the responses to PX-866 in vivo were not reflected in standard cell killing assays under monolayer culture conditions. An analysis of the mutations in the cell lines xenografts screened revealed that the five showing moderate to complete resistance to PX-866 all harbored an oncogenic, activating mutation in the K or N ras signaling protein at codons 12, 13, or 61 The activated ras protein has been shown to have the ability to simultaneously activate a number of signaling pathways involved in oncogenic processes, including the Ral, Raf and PI3K pathways. Through the use of reverse lysate protein arrays (RPPA) we investigated the activation of signaling pathways in cell lines responsive and resistant to PI-3-K inhibition in our in vivo model. There was a significant increase in cyclin B and decrease of E-cadherin in the resistant lines, both changes previously found associated with ras transformation. To further explore which signaling pathways was driving resistance we utilized a colon cancer line in which the oncogenic ras was replaced with a series of ras constructs that preferentially activate one of the three key identified effector pathways through modulation of domains on the enzyme. Clonogenic assays with cell lines harboring these constructs revealed the ability of ras to utilize raf for growth and survival independent of PI-3-K signaling. Identification of active ras and/or markers associated with its activation as an indicator of lack of response may serve as important tools in the selection of individuals best suited for treatment with inhibitors of the PI-3-K signaling pathway for cancer therapy. Additionally, identification of signaling pathways driving this resistance may serve as a guide for the rational combination of these inhibitors, including PX-866, with other current and emerging targeted therapies.
THE FLUID EQUATIONS

The large majority of the basic processes occurring within gas discharges can be explained on the basis of the fluid equations. The use of the fluid equations suggests that the plasma is considered to act as a whole or as a conducting fluid rather than as individual particles. The condition for validity of this approximation is that the distance between particles be small with respect to the interparticle forces and the mean free path << scale of change of macroscopic quantities. This condition is usually well satisfied in most gas discharges and the fluid equations are found to be useful. There are three main fluid equations: (1) the equations of continuity, (2) momentum conservation, and (3) energy conservation. In a gas discharge, the electron gas and the neutral gas are the main focus. For the neutral gas, the main case of interest is the determination of the spatial temperature distribution when the source of energy is from collisions with the electron gas. Moreover, the Langevin approach to the determination of important discharge parameters gives good results for the electron gas. For the neutral gas, the heat flow terms represent the total heat loss.
Rhynchelmis aleutensis n. sp. (Clitellata: Lumbriculidae) from Adak Island, Alaska

A new lumbriculid worm, Rhynchelmis aleutensis , is described from streams on Adak Island, Alaska. The new species does not resemble other Alaskan or Siberian Rhynchelmis species. The paired spermathecal diverticula and the morphology of the male pores and atria suggest that it is more closely related to a species group known only from the western United States, south of Canada. The latter group has been associated with Sutroa Eisen, 1888.
Thermal Electrochemical, and Plasma Oxidation of Ti–50Zr, Cu–50Zr, Cu–50Ti, and Cu–33Ti–33Zr Alloys

The three main methods for oxidation of metallic substrates, thermal, anodic and plasma have been applied to a copper, titanium, and zirconium alloy and its corresponding binaries (Cu–33Ti–33Zr, Cu–50Ti, Cu–50Zr and Ti–50Zr). Polished polycrystalline samples of these alloys were examined before treatment, after vacuum thermal annealing at 100°C and heating in 20 mTorr oxygen at 100, 200, and 300°C. ISS depth profiles were taken of selected samples. The “least-noble” component oxidizes first, but at high temperatures and with plasma oxidation the “noble” component segregates to the surface. A comparison of the resulting structures on the ternary and binary alloys with different oxidation methods is used to explore the physico-chemical processes during oxidation. Results from these three methods are discussed in terms of physical/chemical parameters that influence the chemical nature and structure of the resulting oxides. The electrochemical processes that occur during the materials reaction with a chosen environment are used to discuss the physical and chemical mechanisms involved. Intrinsic (thermal and plasma oxidation) and extrinsic (electrochemical oxidation) electric fields are shown to influence the chemical and structural nature of the resulting oxide structures. The influence of transport phenomena is discussed.
Orbitofrontal participation in sign- and goal-tracking conditioned responses: Effects of nicotine.

Pavlovian conditioned stimuli can acquire incentive motivational properties, and this phenomenon can be measured in animals using Pavlovian conditioned approach behavior. Drugs of abuse can influence the expression of this behavior, and nicotine in particular exhibits incentive amplifying effects. Both conditioned approach behavior and drug abuse rely on overlapping corticolimbic circuitry. We hypothesize that the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) regulates conditioned approach, and that one site of nicotine action is in the OFC where it reduces cortical output. To test this, we repeatedly exposed rats to 0.4 mg/kg nicotine (s.c.) during training and then pharmacologically inactivated the lateral OFC or performed in vivo electrophysiological recordings of lateral OFC neurons in the presence or absence of nicotine. In Experiment 1, animals were trained in a Pavlovian conditioning paradigm and behavior was evaluated after inactivation of the OFC by microinfusion of the GABA agonists baclofen and muscimol. In Experiment 2, we monitored phasic firing of OFC neurons during Pavlovian conditioning sessions. Nicotine reliably enhanced conditioned responding to the conditioned cue, and inactivation of the OFC reduced conditioned responding, especially the sign-tracking response. OFC neurons exhibited phasic excitations to cue presentation and during goal tracking, and nicotine acutely blunted this phasic neuronal firing. When nicotine was withheld, both conditioned responding and phasic firing in the OFC returned to the level of controls. These results suggest that the OFC is recruited for the expression of conditioned responses, and that nicotine acutely influences this behavior by reducing phasic firing in the OFC.