cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Role of Corticotropin-releasing Factor Signaling in Stress-related Alterations of Colonic Motility and Hyperalgesia.

The corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) signaling systems encompass CRF and the structurally related peptide urocortin (Ucn) 1, 2, and 3 along with 2 G-protein coupled receptors, CRF1 and CRF2. CRF binds with high and moderate affinity to CRF1 and CRF2 receptors, respectively while Ucn1 is a high-affinity agonist at both receptors, and Ucn2 and Ucn3 are selective CRF2 agonists. The CRF systems are expressed in both the brain and the colon at the gene and protein levels. Experimental studies established that the activation of CRF1 pathway in the brain or the colon recaptures cardinal features of diarrhea predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) (stimulation of colonic motility, activation of mast cells and serotonin, defecation/watery diarrhea, and visceral hyperalgesia). Conversely, selective CRF1 antagonists or CRF1/CRF2 antagonists, abolished or reduced exogenous CRF and stress-induced stimulation of colonic motility, defecation, diarrhea and colonic mast cell activation and visceral hyperalgesia to colorectal distention. By contrast, the CRF2 signaling in the colon dampened the CRF1 mediated stimulation of colonic motor function and visceral hyperalgesia. These data provide a conceptual framework that sustained activation of the CRF1 system at central and/or peripheral sites may be one of the underlying basis of IBS-diarrhea symptoms. While targeting these mechanisms by CRF1 antagonists provided a relevant novel therapeutic venue, so far these promising preclinical data have not translated into therapeutic use of CRF1 antagonists. Whether the existing or newly developed CRF1 antagonists will progress to therapeutic benefits for stress-sensitive diseases including IBS for a subset of patients is still a work in progress.
Traditional fire-use, landscape transition, and the legacies of social theory past

Fire-use and the scale and character of its effects on landscapes remain hotly debated in the paleo- and historical-fire literature. Since the second half of the nineteenth century, anthropology and geography have played important roles in providing theoretical propositions and testable hypotheses for advancing understandings of the ecological role of human–fire-use in landscape histories. This article reviews some of the most salient and persistent theoretical propositions and hypotheses concerning the role of humans in historical fire ecology. The review discusses this history in light of current research agendas, such as those offered by pyrogeography. The review suggests that a more theoretically cognizant historical fire ecology should strive to operationalize transdisciplinary theory capable of addressing the role of human variability in the evolutionary history of landscapes. To facilitate this process, researchers should focus attention on integrating more current human ecology theory into transdisciplinary research agendas.
Strong Convergence and Speed up of Nested Stochastic Simulation Algorithm

In this paper, we revisit the Nested Stochastic Simulation Algorithm (NSSA) for stochastic chemical reacting networks by first proving its strong convergence. We then study a speed up of the algorithm by using the explicit Tau-Leaping method as the Inner solver to approximate invariant measures of fast processes, for which strong error estimates can also be obtained. Numerical experiment sa re presented to demon- strate the validity of our analysis. AMS subject classifications :6 5C30, 60H35
Low power complementary metal-oxide semiconductor class-G audio amplifier with gradual power supply switching

The architecture, design and implementation of a low power complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) class-G audio amplifier with gradual power-supply switching (GPSS) are presented. The proposed class-G amplifier output stage strategically uses the parallel connection of a class-AB output stage operating from smaller supplies (V DDL/V SSL), and a class-C output stage (with crossover from V SSL to V DDL) operating from higher supplies (V DDH/V SSH). GPSS is achieved using an efficient biasing scheme with level shifters. Moreover, the proposed biasing scheme in conjunction with negative feedback enables low distortion during the power-supply transition. Experimentally, the class-G amplifier prototype achieves a −82.5 dB THD + N, a peak load power of 50 mW and a quiescent power consumption of 350 μW. The proposed class-G amplifier was implemented in a standard CMOS 90 nm technology and occupies an active silicon area of 0.08 mm2.
Dicofol as a feeding inhibitor of the Colorado potato beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Laboratory and field studies demonstrated that the organochlorine miticide dicofol is an antifeedant against the Colorado potato beetle (CPB), Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say). The activity of dicofol as a CPB antifeedant varied considerably depending on the formulation used: The 18.5% emulsifiable concentrate (EC) formulation suppressed CPB feeding at a concentration of 0.05 g (AI)/Iiter; the 35% wettable powder (WP) formulation suppressed feeding at a concentration of 0.2 g (AI)/liter; and the nonformulated technical grade dicofol suppressed feeding at a concentration of 0.5 g (AI)/Iiter. Although a threshold response was obtained in laboratory studies, a rate response was evident when EC dicofol was applied to potatoes in the field in 1983, with 3.03 kg (AI)/ha providing excellent larval control and preventing defoliation from exceeding 10% at the end of the season, compared with >95% defoliation of untreated potatoes. In 1984, the EC formulation exhibited greater residual effectiveness than the WP formulation. Two properly timed applications of EC dicofol prevented defoliation from exceeding 20% in 1984, whereas weekly applications of WP dicofol were necessary to obtain similar levels of protection.
New Technology for Shallow Water Hydrographic Surveys

The United States Office of Coast Survey is developing technology for shallow water hydrographic surveys in order to increase the efficiency with which hydrographic data are acquired and to improve the likelihood that all potential dangers to navigation are detected in the course of a hydrographic survey. Three areas of technology hold the greatest promise for meeting those goals: Airborne Lidar Hydrography (ALH), Shallow Water Multibeam Sonars (SWMB), and digital side scan sonar, especially the Coast Survey’s new High Speed, High Resolution Side Scan Sonar (HSHRSSS). The Coast Survey expects that all its ALH surveys will be outsourced to private sector contractors, and that its SWMB and side scan sonar surveys will be accomplished by both NOAA survey vessels and by private sector contractors. This diversity of sources for survey data influences the strategy for managing these new technologies.
The relationship between quality of life and self-efficacy in patients with diabetes in a community of Fuzhou

Objective To study the relationship between quality of life(QOL)and self-efficacy in patients with diabetes for the disease control.Methods Totally 110diabetes patients in a community were investigated by diabetes specific quality of life(DSQL)and self-efficacy scale(SES)and analyzed by SPSS package.Results The score of diabetes QOL was at medium level(53.70±10.08).The influencing degrees(ratio)of QOL dimension were as follows:psychology(2.12),physiology(1.95),treatment(1.77)and social relationship(1.45).The main influencing factors were disease complication, income and self-efficacy level.Conclusion Psychological health education should be strengthened to improve quality of life of diabetes.
Visibility in Meteorology

This discussion will be devoted to a brief study of those interrelations between the optical properties of the atmosphere and the characteristics of human vision which determine how far a given object can be seen at such and such a moment. This important distance, when referred to the ordinary objects which lie around the horizon of a meteorological observer, is called by meteorologists “the visibility”; it is not with any hope of changing this terminology, but only in the interests of logical discussion, that the same quantity, applied now to any object, will here be given the name visual range. The term is self-explanatory.
Will Work For Free: The Legality of Unpaid Internships

This Note addresses the current ambiguity in the law regarding if unpaid interns are employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Note explores relevant case law throughout the circuit courts, but primarily focuses on the Second Circuit’s recent decision in Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures. It argues that the primary benefits test created by the Second Circuit in Glatt does not adequately protect unpaid interns nor does it inform employers of the standards they need to meet in order to adopt legal unpaid internship programs. Instead, courts should adopt a clearer, more rigid test that finds an intern not to be an employee under the FLSA if the following three factors are met: (1) the training is similar to that of which the interns would receive at an educational institution, (2) the program is designed to benefit the intern, and (3) the intern does not displace regular employees. This test is congruent with Congress’s intent of only allowing for narrow exceptions to overtime and minimum wage compensation under the FLSA and provides both employers and employees with clearer guidelines for creating future internship programs.
Pound circuit-induced frequency sensitivities in ultra-stable cryogenic oscillators

The Pound technique is widely used in ultra-stable cryogenic oscillators to prevent frequency drift due to variations in the path delay between room-temperature electronics and the cryogenic resonator. We calculate frequency sensitivities to several other microwave signal corruptions that are not rejected by the Pound technique. Considering only linear circuit elements, we identify a quadratic variation of phase with frequency and a linear variation of amplitude with frequency as the lowest order processes that can induce frequency offsets. As an example, we evaluate the consequence of this frequency sensitivity for thermally induced frequency variation in an image-rejection filter.
NMR studies of cisplatin and oxaliplatin 1,2-d(GG) intrastrand cross-links and undamaged DNA in the AGG sequence context

1894 Oxaliplatin (OX), a second-generation platinum drug recently approved by the FDA for the treatment of colorectal cancer, differs from cisplatin (CP) by addition of a cyclohexane ring to the amines of CP to form a diaminocyclohexane (DACH) ring. We have recently determined the three-dimensional solution structure of the OX-GG adduct in the AGG sequence context by 2D NMR and have reported (Proc. AACR, 44: 83, 2003) that the structure of the OX-GG adduct was different from all previous solution structures of the CP-GG adduct. However, the previous solution structures of the CP-GG adduct were in the CGG and TGG sequence contexts, and Pt-GG adducts in the AGG sequence context are known to be more mutagenic than in other sequence contexts. Thus, it was not clear whether the differences observed were due to differences between OX-GG and CP-GG adducts or to differences in sequence context. Therefore, we have also characterized by 2D NMR undamaged DNA and DNA with the CP-GG adduct in the same d(CCTCAGGCCTCC)•d(GGAGGCCTGAGG) dodecamer duplex used for the OX-GG adduct. Sequential proton assignments are complete for both the CP-GG and undamaged DNA duplexes and 85-90% of the protons have been assigned for the CP-GG adduct. Several significant differences are observed between the OX-GG adduct and CP-GG adduct, and between the CP-GG adduct in the AGG sequence context and the data reported for CP-GG adducts in other sequence contexts. From the temperature dependence of the H1-imino peak volume, it can be concluded that the G6 H1 exchanges with water much more rapidly than the G7 H1 for both the CP-GG and OX-GG adducts, and that both the G6 H1 and G7 H1 protons exchange with water more rapidly for the OX-GG adduct than the CP-GG adduct. A number of chemical shift differences are observed for protons of the central four base pairs between the CP-GG and OX-GG adducts and between our CP-GG adduct and CP-GG adducts in other sequence contexts. For the CP-GG adduct strong H1-H2′ and weak H1′-H2“ DQF-COSY cross peaks were observed for both A5 and G6, consistent with the sugar in the N conformation for both nucleotides and consistent with the reported CP-GG structures in other sequence contexts. In contrast, N sugar pucker was observed for only the G6 sugar in the OX-GG structure. Finally, significant differences were observed between CP-GG and OX-GG adducts in the 1H-31P Hetcor spectra. These data suggest that the conformation of Pt-GG adducts is likely to be influenced by both the nature of the adduct (CP vs OX) and the sequence context. The possible significance of these differences for the cytotoxicity and mutagenicity of CP and OX will be discussed. (Supported by NIH grant CA84480).
Maximum-Likelihood Linear Transformation for Unsupervised Domain Adaptation in Speaker Verification

Recent advances in front-end factor analysis through development of i-Vectors have led to significant gains in speaker recognition technology. However, the problem of mismatch between the domains of system development and evaluation data remains a challenging one. This domain mismatch occurs primarily because of the variability in the sources of development and evaluation data. In this study, we propose a novel method of unsupervised probabilistic feature transformation (UPFT) to reduce this domain mismatch by transforming an out-of-domain development data toward in-domain development data. We formulate the alignment of two different domains as a probability density estimation problem. We first train a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) using the out-of-domain i-Vectors. Next, we employ an expectation–maximization (EM) algorithm to fit the means of the GMM to the in-domain i-Vectors by maximizing the overall likelihood. At the optimum, the two domains become closer to each other in the i-Vector space. While reaching the optimum through multiple iterations of the EM, we reparameterize the centroid locations using the following set of transformation parameters: rotation, translation, and scaling. These transformation parameters, which are obtained during the optimization process, are later used to transform the out-of-domain i-Vectors toward in-domain i-Vectors. We observe that such a transformation leads to an improvement in performance of the out-of-domain speaker recognition system. Our proposed method has an added advantage of being completely unsupervised, and thus does not rely on any tuning parameters. We conduct experiments on both 2013 domain adaptation challenge corpus as well as National Institute of Standards and Technology Speaker Recognition Evaluation (SRE)—2016 corpus. On both corpora, we obtain significant improvements using the proposed UPFT solution. Specifically for the SRE-2016 corpus, using a cosine distance scoring based system, we are able to recover almost 90% of the performance gap between an in-domain and out-of-domain system.
SURGICAL ASPECTS OF ALBUMIN METABOLISM

Publisher Summary This chapter presents surgical aspects of albumin metabolism. Patients who undergo major operative procedures lose albumin from the intravascular compartment through unreplaced deficits of blood volume. There is also a significant extravascular accumulation of albumin in skin and muscle, but not in lung, during operative procedures in man. Although sepsis may alter capillary permeability and result in further losses of albumin from the intravascular compartment into the interstitial fluid space, this possibility should not necessarily be interpreted as a reason to withhold albumin in hypoalbuminemic patients. When hypovolemia occurs in postoperative patients it is almost always associated with a gain of weight and a large increase in body water and sodium content. Patients treated with albumin had less pulmonary arteriovenous admixture in the postoperative period, with better maintenance of the circulating albumin mass, serum oncotic pressure and plasma volume than patients who were treated with Ringer's lactate.
Three-Dimensional Dynamics of a Flexible Marine Riser Undergoing Large Elastic Deformations

The equations of the three dimensional motion of a marine riser undergoinglarge elastic deformations are formulated using Kane's formalism. The riseris modeled using lumped masses connected by extensional and rotationalsprings including structural damping. Surface waves are described by Stokes'second-order wave theory. Fluid-structure coupling is achieved byapplication of the hydrodynamic loads via Morison's equation and added-masscoefficients using the instantaneous relative velocities and accelerationsbetween the fluid field and the riser segments. In the same way, a model forincorporating the effects of vortex-induced lift forces is included. Theeffect of internal flow is included in the model. The detailed algorithm ispresented and the equations are solved using a robust implementation of theRunge–Kutta method provided in MATLAB. The mathematical model and associatedalgorithm are validated by comparing the steady-state equilibriumconfiguration of the riser with special cases of an elastic catenary mooringline and large deflection statics of a cantilever beam. The results ofsample simulations are presented.
Legal origins and environmental policies: evidence from OECD and developing countries

We investigate the implication of a civil law legal heritage versus common law heritage for environmental policy outcomes. We utilize several estimators that address selection issues. Common law countries set weaker climate change policies than do civil law countries.
Starvation in the Midst of Plenty: Reflections on the History and Biology of Insulin and Leptin

Insulin and leptin are critical metabolic hormones that play essential but distinct roles in regulating the physiologic switch between the fed and starved states. The discoveries of insulin and leptin, in 1922 and 1994, respectively, arose out of radically different scientific environments. Despite the dearth of scientific tools available in 1922, insulin's discovery rapidly launched a life-saving therapy for what we now know to be type I diabetes, and continually enhanced insulin therapeutics are now effectively applied to both major forms of this increasingly prevalent disease. In contrast, although the discovery of leptin provided deep insights into the regulation of central nervous system energy balance circuits, as well as an effective therapy for an extremely rare form of obesity, its therapeutic impact beyond that has been surprisingly limited. Despite an enormous accumulated body of information, many important questions remain unanswered about the mechanisms of action and role in disease of both hormones. Additionally, although many decades apart, both discoveries reveal the complexities inherent to scientific collaboration and the assignment of credit, even when the efforts are spectacularly successful.
Cardiac adaptation in asphyxiated infants treated with therapeutic hypothermia.

BACKGROUND Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) affects one to two newborns per 1,000 live births and oftentimes involves multi-organ insult. The objectives were to assess the evolution of cardiac function in infants with HIE treated with therapeutic hypothermia using echocardiography (ECHO). METHODS Archived data during the period 2010-2016 was assessed. Amongst the infants with baseline ECHO assessments, a sub-cohort which had assessments in all the three phases (baseline/pre-active cooling [T1], cooling [T2] and rewarming [T3]) was analyzed separately. RESULTS Thirty three infants formed part of the overall cohort, the gestation and birthweight were 39.6 ± 1.6 weeks and 3306 ± 583 g, respectively. Baseline (T1) information noted impaired cardiac performance (right ventricle stroke volume 1.08 ± 0.04 ml/kg, fractional area change [FAC] 24 ± 0.5% and tricuspid annular peak systolic excursion [TAPSE] 7.46 ± 0.11mm). Serial information was available for 24 of 33 infants. Cardiac function improved significantly between the cooling and the re-warming kphases. This included changes in right ventricular output (127 ± 34 vs 164 ± 47 ml/kg/min, p <0.01) and FAC (20 ± 3 vs 28 ± 2%, p<0.01). Pairwise comparisons for fractional shortening did not show significant changes. From the cooling to the rewarming phase, maximum change was noted in FAC (26.3 ± 9.8%) while minimum change was noted in fractional shortening (median, interquartile range) of 4.6% (1.4, 9.1). Significant correlation between TAPSE and time to peak velocity as a proportion of right ventricular ejection time was noted (r2 = 0.68, p <0.001). CONCLUSIONS In infants with moderate to severe HIE, cardiac function evolves during various phases of therapeutic hypothermia. Low output state during cooling may be due to a combination of the disease state (HIE) and cooling therapy.
A Preoperative Cognitive Screening Test Predicts Increased Length of Stay in a Frail Population: A Retrospective Case-Control Study.

BACKGROUND:Frailty is associated with adverse perioperative outcomes including major morbidity, mortality, and increased length of stay. We sought to elucidate the role that a preoperatively assessed Mini-Cog can play in assessing the risk of adverse perioperative outcomes in a population at high ri
Between two cities: Jewish women and exogamous marriage in medieval Catalonia

ABSTRACTIn the marriage strategies of medieval Catalan Jews, the economic security of women came second to the economic goals of families. Exogamous marriages – marriages between the Jewish communi...
Are the Remedies for the Common Ownership Problem Worse than the Disease?: Assessing the Likely Decision and Error Costs of Proposed Antitrust Interventions

Antitrust scholars have recently proposed additional interventions — beyond enforcement of traditional rules on hub-and-spoke conspiracies, collusion- facilitating devices, etc. — to police anticompetitive harms purportedly resulting from institutional investors’ common ownership of small stakes in competing firms. They maintain that the current “enforcement passivity” on common ownership is unwarranted. Additional antitrust interventions are not justified, though, if they would create greater welfare losses than they would avert. This article considers the decision and error costs that would result from the interventions that have been proposed for remedying the purported problem of common ownership. It concludes that they would be substantial and would likely outweigh any benefits the interventions would secure.
Application of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy to Measure Engineering Decision-Making and Design Cognition: Literature Review and Synthesis of Methods

AbstractNew and disruptive building technologies will require new and disruptive ways of thinking about decision-making and design in engineering. The emergence of a novel neuroimaging technique, c...
47) The epidemiology and outcomes of hospitalized children with rhabdomyolysis in the United States during 2012

TITLE: The epidemiology and outcomes of hospitalized children with rhabdomyolysis in the United States during 2012 Alejandro Martinez Herrada, Jessica Barreto, Paul Madera, Balagangadhar Totapally Division of Critical Care Medicine, Nicklaus Children's Hospital, Miami, FL BACKGROUND: Large multi-institutional studies in children with rhabdomyolysis are lacking. OBJECTIVE: To characterize pediatric inpatient admissions with rhabdomyolysis in the United States and identify etiology and variables associated with complications and mortality. METHODS: A retrospective study using the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project 2012 Kids’ Inpatient Database was performed. Rhabdomyolysis in …
Association Between Self-Reported Traumatic Brain Injury and Threat/Control-Override

AbstractPrior research has focused on the effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI), psychosis, and threat/control-override (TCO) on violent behavior. There is, however, a lack of research exploring ...
Optimizing miR-29 measurements in biobanked, heparinized samples

Abstract Aims MicroRNAs (miRs) and their importance in development, normal physiology, and disease have become increasingly recognized. Our laboratory is interested in miR-29 and its effects on lung development. These studies set out to identify optimal conditions for the measurement of miR-29 in heparinized, biobanked samples and to compare isoform expression patterns. Materials and methods The efficiency of three distinct heparinases were tested using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR): recombinant F. Heparinum heparinase I; recombinant P. heparinus heparinase II; recombinant P. heparinus heparinase III; and heparinase I (B. efferthii-derived). The effects of freeze/thaws, and the relative expression of different miR-29 isoforms were also assessed using RT-PCR. Key findings Our investigations determined that heparinase 1 (recombinant F. Heparinum) and 2 (recombinant P. heparinus) at 1 or 2 h incubation efficiently neutralized heparin activity and prevented interference with the PCR. Also, a single freeze/thaw did not affect the measurement of miR-29-3p but multiple freeze/thaw cycles decreased the measureable miR levels. Finally, the -3p strand was most abundantly expressed in all three isoforms in both human and mouse plasma. Significance Our findings illustrate that specific conditions need to be optimized for the particular miR and the type of sample being tested.
Pediatric Spine Pain

Pediatric spine pain is a diverse entity. While some conditions and their treatments may be familiar to an adult pain specialist, many etiologies of pain as well as medication choices and dosing require review for this population. This chapter will provide a detailed overview of these subjects.
“Anti-rationalism, Relativism, and the Metaphysical Tradition: Situating Gadamer’s Philosophical Hermeneutics”

Hans-Georg Gadamer repeatedly acknowledges his deep indebtedness to Martin Heidegger. His habilitation dissertation was done under Heidegger, and Heidegger’s historicism had a deep and lasting impact on Gadamer’s theory of philosophical hermeneutics. This influence has led many to conclude—with positive attribution, in those such as Richard Rorty, or with negative attribution, in those such as Leo Strauss—that Gadamer is a moral relativist. Yet, notwithstanding his explicit appropriation of Heidegger, Gadamer refutes this charge throughout his career. What is even more perplexing is that Gadamer’s relationship to the metaphysical tradition runs deep. Indeed, one prominent commentator has described him as having roots in a metaphysical tradition that encompasses Plato, Neoplatonism, and St. Augustine. What is more, Gadamer explicitly and somewhat bluntly refers to himself late in his career as a “Platonist.” This essay will seek to explore Gadamer’s ambivalent relationship to Heidegger and the unusual way in which he combines Heidegger’s insights into the historical nature of human knowing with the tradition of Western metaphysics that was the very target of Heidegger’s critique.
Germline alterations other than BRCA in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients who underwent neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) on a prospective clinical trial.

1546Background: Previous studies have related germline BRCA mutations to pathologic complete response (pCR) in TNBC cohorts. However, prospective data is lacking on the frequency of non-BRCA germli...
The History of Statutory Compilations in Pennsylvania

This article reviews the official and unofficial compilations of Pennsylvania statutes from the early eighteenth century to the present.
Crowding-out or crowding-in: The impact of Chinese tourists on selected tourist segments in Vietnam destinations

Abstract This study estimates the short and long-term impacts of Chinese tourists on Vietnam's five leading inbound tourist markets. While most prior studies perceive crowding as an undesirable phenomenon relating to visitors' dissatisfaction and lower perceived destination attraction, this study extends the understanding of crowding's impacts on tourism by identifying crowding-out and crowding-in effects among tourist segments. The study contributes to the existing literature by considering crowding's impacts on different cultures in Vietnam's context, representing a fast-growing tourist destination that only earned a reputation in recent years and is different from ones previously considered. The methodology includes unit root, cointegration, causality testing, and application of the Limited Information Maximum Likelihood regression method. The findings indicate that Chinese tourist demand has primarily positive impacts on the other researched tourist markets. The findings provide practical implications for policymakers to strengthen inbound markets and enhance sustainability-oriented tourism development in the long run.
BARRETT'S EPITHELIUM RESULTING FROM CHRONIC GASTROESOPHAGEAL REFLUX (GER) IN CHILDREN

Histologic changes seen on esophageal biopsies in children with GER may include normal squamous epithelium, changes in rete peg height & inflammatory infiltrates of PMN's or eosinophils. While severe GER in adults may be accompanied by replacement of normal esophageal epithelium with columnar epithelium (Barrett's epithelium), this complication is not appreciated in children.
Germ cell defects and hematopoietic hypersensitivity to gamma- interferon in mice with a targeted disruption of the Fanconi anemia C gene

Fanconi anemia (FA) is an autosomal recessive chromosome instability syndrome characterized by progressive bone marrow (BM) failure, skeletal defects, and increased susceptibility to malignancy. FA cells are hypersensitive to DNA cross-linking agents, oxygen and have cell cycle abnormalities. To develop an animal model of the disease we generated mice homozygous for a targeted deletion of exon 9 of the murine FA complementation group C gene (fac). Mutant mice had normal neonatal viability and gross morphology, but their cells had the expected chromosome breakage and DNA cross-linker sensitivity. Surprisingly, male and female mutant mice had reduced numbers of germ cells and females had markedly impaired fertility. No anemia was detectable in the peripheral blood during the first year of life, but the colony forming capacity of marrow progenitor cells was abnormal in vitro in mutant mice. Progenitor cells from fac knock-out mice were hypersensitive to interferon gamma. This previously unrecognized phenotype may form the basis for BM failure in human FA.
HMM with auxiliary memory: a new tool for modeling RNA structures

For a long time, proteins have been believed to perform most of the important functions in all cells. However, recent results in genomics have revealed that many RNAs that do not encode proteins play crucial roles in the cell machinery. The so-called ncRNA genes that are transcribed into RNAs but not translated into proteins frequently conserve their secondary structures more than they conserve their primary sequences. Therefore, in order to identify ncRNA genes, we have to take the secondary structure of RNAs into consideration. Traditional approaches that are mainly based on base-composition statistics cannot be used for modeling and identifying such structures and models with more descriptive power are required. In this paper, we introduce the concept of context-sensitive HMMs, which is capable of describing pairwise interactions between distant symbols. It is demonstrated that the proposed model can efficiently model various RNA secondary structures that are frequently observed.
Intravascular Occlusion for the Correction of Extrahepatic Portosystemic Shunts in Dogs

Background: Congential extrahepatic portosystemic shunts (EHPSS) are common in dogs. An effective minimally invasive technique for correction of EHPSS could result in reduced morbidity, reduced costs, and reduced hospitalization times. Hypothesis: Use of an intravascular occlusion device can effectively and safely result in acute complete occlusion of EHPSS in dogs. Animals: Seven dogs with naturally occurring EHPSS that presented to the Purdue University Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Methods: Prospective, clinical trial. The 7 dogs were consecutively enrolled over a 2-year period. Results of serum biochemistry, total serum bile acids, fasting plasma ammonia, abdominal radiography, and ultrasonography suggested the diagnosis of portosystemic shunts in all dogs. Definitive diagnosis of EHPSS was achieved with cranial mesenteric arterial portography and acute occlusion was attempted by the deployment of the Amplatzer vascular plug (AVP). Results: EHPSS were identified in all dogs consisting of 5 portocaval and 2 portoazygous variants; 1/7 dogs (14%) were intolerant to temporary complete occlusion of the EHPSS. Of the remaining 6 dogs, 5 (83%) had complete occlusion of the EHPSS by the AVP. There were no complications and resolution of abnormal clinical signs and laboratory values was achieved in 4/5 (80%) dogs with complete occlusion. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Intravascular correction of EHPSS by the AVP is a viable option to surgical correction while larger studies will be required to determine the clinical applicability of this procedure in the broader portosystemic shunt population.
Readability, Contracts of Recurring Use, and the Problem of Ex Post Judicial Governance of Health Insurance Policies

While the rhetoric surrounding the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act focused on core issues such as cost, quality, and access to care, the dialog rarely acknowledged a key problem-the fact that most Americans do not understand their health insurance. Simply put, consumers do not fully grasp their health insurance coverage because the jargon found in many health insurance contracts is impenetrable to most Americans. This is disconcerting because consumer-oriented information is central to our increasingly consumer-directed health care system. Consumers are expected to make cost-effective choices among the array of health insurance plans that may be available to them, utilize health care services in a cost-effective manner, navigate provider networks, minimize their out-of-pocket expenses, and effectively appeal denials of coverage. Furthermore, unlike other types of insurance agreements, health insurance policies are contracts of recurring use. That is, health insurance policies are routinely and repeatedly invoked by consumers to finance their health care. Yet, such contracts are written at a level that is beyond the reading skills of most Americans. As such, insureds not only have difficultly understanding the details of their coverage, they do not fully comprehend the benefits and rights afforded by the policy. Consequently, the traditional approach of ex post judicial governance of insurance agreements (as adhesion contracts) by interpreting ambiguities in favor of insureds provides inadequate protection for health insurance consumers. If consumers do not understand their coverage rights and benefits, they cannot reasonably be expected to know when those benefits have been wrongly denied. The better, ex ante solution is to make health insurance contracts readable in the first instance by requiring that health insurance contracts meet an eighth grade readability standard as a condition of state approval.
Making Medicare: New Perspectives on the History of Medicare in Canada

Edited by Gregory P. Marchildon (University of Toronto Press). In the conclusion, historian Heather MacDougall rightly notes that “[h]istory matters, especially with regard to health policy, because health is fundamental to all to societies and their citizens.” And within Canada, history and
Scaling in plasticity-induced cell-boundary microstructure: Fragmentation and rotational diffusion

We develop a simple computational model for cell-boundary evolution in plastic deformation. We study the cell-boundary size distribution and cell-boundary misorientation distribution that experimentally have been found to have scaling forms that are largely material independent. The cell division acts as a source term in the misorientation distribution which significantly alters the scaling form, giving it a linear slope at small misorientation angles as observed in the experiments. We compare the results of our simulation with two closely related exactly solvable models that exhibit scaling behavior at late times: (i) fragmentation theory and (ii) a random walk in rotation space with a source term. We find that the scaling exponents in our simulation agree with those of the theories, and that the scaling collapses obey the same equations, but that the shape of the scaling functions depends upon the methods used to measure sizes and to weight averages and histograms.
In vitro metabolism of progesterone-4-14C by the adrenal gland of the Mongolian gerbil.

Abstract Progesterone-4-14C has been incubated with sectioned adrenal glands of the Mongolian gerbil ( Meriones unguiculatus ). Based on column chromatography and thin-layer techniques, 11-deoxycorticosterone, 18-hydroxy-11-deoxycorticosterone, and cortisone have been identified as progesterone metabolites. The relative distribution of these and other unidentified metabolites is discussed.
The effect of inorganic phosphate on creatine kinase in respiring rat heart mitochondria

Abstract The ability of creatine to stimulate the respiration of rat heart mitochondria in vitro is reversibly affected by the concentration of inorganic phosphate. The rate of oxygen consumption due to post-ADP state-4 respiration in the presence of 20 m m creatine is reduced significantly when the potassium phosphate concentration is raised from 5 to 20 m m . State-3 respiration is reduced only by potassium phosphate concentrations higher than 20 m m . The rate of synthesis of creatine phosphate is also affected by phosphate concentration, and the apparent K m of the coupled reactions for ADP is significantly higher at 25 m m phosphate as compared to that at 5 m m phosphate. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that inorganic phosphate acts as an effector molecule, regulating creatine phosphate synthesis by favoring the dissociation of mitochondrial creatine kinase from the mitochondrial membrane. Such regulation may be important in the case of cells undergoing partial or severe ischemia, where changes in phosphate concentration within this range have been reported.
Adult dystrophic (mdx) endplates exhibit reduced quantal size and enhanced quantal variation.

Examination of miniature endplate potential (MEPP) distributions indicated that the average quantal size is significantly reduced by approximately 44% in young adult mdx mice (5–7 weeks). The average quantum declined further to approximately 37% of non-dystrophic levels in mature (6- to 24-month) mdx mice. Young adult non-dystrophic and mdx endplates and mature non-dystrophic endplates exhibited a linear relationship between the mean and variance of uniquantal MEPP amplitude distributions. Mature mdx endplates, however, exhibited a distinctly nonlinear relationship characterized by large increases in variance at larger mean MEPP amplitudes. These results indicate a reduced average density of functional acetylcholine (ACh) receptors (AChRs) at mdx endplates that, in mature preparations, is associated with greater temporal or spatial variability in the density of functional AChRs apposed to individual release sites.
Resilient Leadership Delegation in Tactical Systems

Transferring the role of leadership between members of a team is an important requirement in tactical operations as it allows an operation to continue in spite of unforeseen events. Delegation, at first glance, appears to be the simple act of giving someone else a right that one possesses. However, this basic function is challenging to implement electronically, and thus there is a need for mechanisms to enforce flexible delegation policies in distributed systems. It has been shown that Law Governed Interaction (LGI) can address these challenges based on the assumption of the trustworthiness of its own enforcement infrastructure. However, to meet the needs of tactical missions, the proposed mechanism should also be resilient to the Byzantine compromise of the infrastructure. Therefore, in this paper we extend the original LGI model to provide containment, guaranteeing that a single Byzantine agent cannot compromise the properties of the system and in general, our approach can withstand the presence of multiple Byzantine agents as long as a correlated pair of agents is not corrupt.
Hydrodynamics of electroluidization: Separation of pyrites from coal

Dry, electrostatic separation is a potentially efficient method of removing pyrites from coal. However, progress in the past was hampered by a lack of a quantitative analysis of the process. To help design better separation equipment, the authors developed a hydrodynamic model of separation of pyrites from coal in a batch electrofluidized bed. The simulations were done on a Cray-2 computer. The input variables include the surface charge of the particles and the solids stress, which were measured. Realistic shapes and sizes of bubbles were computed with and without an applied electric field for a two-dimensional bed with a central jet. The bubble sizes and the rising velocities were smaller with an applied field, consistent with observations. Computed electrophoretic mobilities in the fluidized bed will be useful for a better design of continuous beds.
Semiorderings and Witt rings

For a pythagorean field F with semiordering Q and associated preordering T, it is shown that the Witt ring WT (F) is isomorphic to the Witt ring W (K) whre K is a closure of F with respect to Q. For an arbitrary preordering T, it is shown how the covering number of T relates to the construction of WT (F).
The Nuclear Moments of Se 79

Microwave measurements of the $J=2\ensuremath{\rightarrow}3$ rotational transition of OCSe containing the radioactive-nucleus ${\mathrm{Se}}^{79}$ have established the ${\mathrm{Se}}^{79}$ spin as $\frac{7}{2}$ and the ${\mathrm{Se}}^{79}$ quadrupole moment as 0.7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}24}$ ${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}20 percent. The quadrupole coupling constant $\mathrm{eqQ}$ is 752.09\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.05 Mc/sec. The magnetic moment of ${\mathrm{Se}}^{79}$ has been determined as -1.015\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.015 nuclear magnetons by observation of the Zeeman splitting of one hyperfine component. The $\frac{7}{2}$ spin and the large positive $Q$ are inconsistent with the single-particle nuclear-shell model, but suggest the configuration ${{({g}_{\frac{9}{2}})}^{2}}_{\frac{7}{2}}$. This assignment is substantiated by the negative magnetic moment.Measurement of isotopic shifts gives a value for the ${\mathrm{Se}}^{79}$ mass, and an odd-even mass difference of 2.4 millimass units for this nucleus.
In vivo imaging using a copolymer phased array.

Phased-array images have been obtained in vivo with a steered copolymer array operating at 2.5 MHz. The array was fabricated using 28 μm copolymer film, λ/4 resonant at 21 MHz, which was bonded to a glass ceramic backing with a thin film bond. The 32 array elements were created by laser ablation of the continuous gold electrode on one side of the film. The transducer was driven by 200 V shock excitation, and the received signal was processed by 32 custom IC preamplifiers that were mounted to the array connector. The amplifiers had a high input impedance compared to that of the array elements and their output impedance matched that of the coaxial cable that connected to the scanner. Because the copolymer transducer had a broad bandwidth, the spectrum of the pulse echo image was modified by the frequency dependent attenuation of tissue and the bandpass of the ultrasound scanner, resulting in a center frequency of 2.5 MHz. The performance of the copolymer array was compared to that of a 3 MHz, PZT array with similar dimensions. On the Duke phased-array scanner, the copolymer sensitivity was 28 dB less than that of PZT. The copolymer elements had a 6 dB pulse-echo angular response of 30°, and the interelement cross-coupling was -35 dB. Phased-array images were made of the heart of a 25 year-old normal male.
Applications of Nanotechnology in Bladder Cancer Therapy

Effective therapies can prevent superficial bladder cancer from developing into muscle-invasive stage or more severe stages which require radical cystectomy and negatively affect life quality. In terms of therapeutic approaches against superficial bladder cancer, intravesical (regional) therapy has several advantages over oral (systemic) therapy. Though urologists can directly deliver drugs to bladder lesions by intravesical instillation after transurethral resection, the efficacy of conventional drug delivery is usually low due to the bladder permeability barrier and bladder periodical discharge. Nanoparticles have been well developed as pharmaceutical carriers. By their versatile properties, nanoparticles can greatly improve the interactions between urothelium and drugs and also enhance the penetration of drugs into urothelium with lesions, which dramatically improves therapeutic efficacy. In this review, we discuss the advances of nanotechnology in bladder cancer therapy by different types of nanoparticles with different encapsulating materials.
Influence of sublingual nitroglycerin on diastolic transmitral flow velocities in normal subjects.

Abstract Pulsed Doppler echocardiographic sampling of transmitral diastolic flow velocities provides a noninvasive method for the serial evaluation of left ventricular diastolic function. 1 A reduction in the peak early filling (E) velocity and an increase in the peak late filling (A) velocity suggests reduced compliance of the left ventricle. 1 Similar changes in the velocity-time profile occur after the administration of nitroglycerin, 2 since diastolic function may be affected by changes in loading conditions 3 independent of intrinsic myocardial relaxation abnormalities. 4 Our purpose was to identify, in normal subjects, Doppler echocardiographic parameters of diastolic function that are not affected by preload reduction with sublingual nitroglycerin.
Hot-pressed Nd/sub 2/Co/sub 14/B magnets

The authors report consolidation of Nd/sub 2/Co/sub 14/B ribbons by hot pressing into nearly fully dense isotropic magnets. The remanence (B/sub r/=5.2 kG) and the energy product ((BH)/sub max/=5.4 MGOe) of the magnetically isotropic hot-pressed magnets were 2-3% less than values for annealed ribbons of the same composition. Five compositions were studied, and the best results were compared to those for a hot-pressed Nd-Fe-B magnet. A slight difference between the normalized demagnetization curves of Nd-Co-B and Nd-Fe-B hot-pressed magnets indicates a larger reversible demagnetization component in the former. There is no difference in the normalized recoil plots between Co-based and Fe-based alloys. >
Culture, Imaginary, and Rationality in Regional Economic Development

This paper outlines some key terms in a cultural analysis of economic systems. During empirical research I have concluded that radical geography in the tradition of political economy must employ cultural terms such as symbol, imaginary, and rationality. These terms link the material, through experience and interpretation, to the mental—consciousness, intentionality, and rationality. I argue that culture understood as symbolic practice is compatible with historical materialism in the tradition of Gramsci, Thompson, and Williams. The paper applies cultural materialism to the explanation of economic rationalities and developmental logics by drawing on Weberian sociology. These ideas are exemplified by a brief account of the New England moral economy. The paper concludes by calling for a new type of critical inquiry called cultural economy.