cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Streptavidin-biotin technology: improvements and innovations in chemical and biological applications.

Streptavidin and its homologs (together referred to as streptavidin) are widely used in molecular science owing to their highly selective and stable interaction with biotin. Other factors also contribute to the popularity of the streptavidin–biotin system, including the stability of the protein and various chemical and enzymatic biotinylation methods available for use with different experimental designs. The technology has enjoyed a renaissance of a sort in recent years, as new streptavidin variants are engineered to complement native proteins and novel methods of introducing selective biotinylation are developed for in vitro and in vivo applications. There have been notable developments in the areas of catalysis, cell biology, and proteomics in addition to continued applications in the more established areas of detection, labeling and drug delivery. This review summarizes recent advances in streptavidin engineering and new applications based on the streptavidin–biotin interaction.
Speciation of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in solventborne aerosol coatings by solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography

A method for the speciation of solventborne aerosol coatings is presented. Propellant from an aerosol coating is transferred to a gas collection bag and is then analyzed by GC-FID. The propellant-free liquid paint is then internally standardized with a mixture of C5 to C11 normal alkanes and analyzed on a 50-meter capillary column using solid phase microextraction (SPME) with GC-FID detection. This procedure makes it possible to assign linear retention indexes to virtually all of the individual volatile solvents in the coating with subsequent identification. After identification by SPME, the coating is dispersed in a high boiling solvent, internally standardized with a material not coeluting with the coating solvents, and is then analyzed by direct GC-FID. VOC regulations in California for aerosol coatings products require that the coatings have a reactivity (product weighted maximum incremental reactivity or PWMIR) which is below a designated value. Assignment of PWMIR values to aerosol coatings requires that the amount of each individual volatile component in a coating be known.
Developmental expression of PrP in the post-implantation embryo

Since prion protein (PrP) mRNA and PrPC expression levels in transgenic (Tg) mice using the CosSHa.tet vector correlate well with the PrP transgene copy, we constructed Prnp-LacZ Tg animals expressing β-galactosidase that was inserted into the CosSHa.tet vector. The CosSHa.tet vector was created from a large PrP cosmid clone in which the PrP open reading frame was deleted. In the developing nervous system, the β-galactosidase marker was not expressed in the neural progenitors of the mitotically active ventricular zone. It is first expressed in cells that have ceased proliferating, migrated radially from the ventricular zone, and differentiated into neurons in the intermediate layer. At E11.5 p.c., motor neurons in the ventral neural tube clearly express the marker transgene. Expression in dorsal neural tube neurons is observed at later stages, after their differentiation. These results indicate that Prnp gene expression in the nervous system begins in post-mitotic neural cells that have undergone neuronal differentiation. This pattern of Prnp expression in the nervous system appears to persist throughout the adult life of mammals.
On the role of superoxide radical in the mechanism of action of galactose oxidase.

Abstract The inhibition of galactose oxidase by superoxide dismutase is a function of the method of assay, nature of substrate, and composition of incubation and assay mixtures, as well as the concentration of dismutase. A reasonable level of inhibition is attained only when superoxide dismutase is present prior to the onset of catalysis although this effect is not observed under all conditions tried. Peroxidase activates galactose oxidase and blocks its interaction with either superoxide dismutase or catalase. These results further obscure the possible role of superoxide radical in the galactose oxidase reaction.
Understanding the influence of psychological and socioeconomic factors on diabetes self-care using structured equation modeling

Objective To develop and test latent variables of the social determinants of health that influence diabetes self-care.
Oxidized Alkyl Phospholipids Are Specific, High Affinity Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptor γ Ligands and Agonists

Synthetic high affinity peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) agonists are known, but biologic ligands are of low affinity. Oxidized low density lipoprotein (oxLDL) is inflammatory and signals through PPARs. We showed, by phospholipase A(1) digestion, that PPARgamma agonists in oxLDL arise from the small pool of alkyl phosphatidylcholines in LDL. We identified an abundant oxidatively fragmented alkyl phospholipid in oxLDL, hexadecyl azelaoyl phosphatidylcholine (azPC), as a high affinity ligand and agonist for PPARgamma. [(3)H]azPC bound recombinant PPARgamma with an affinity (K(d)((app)) approximately 40 nm) that was equivalent to rosiglitazone (BRL49653), and competition with rosiglitazone showed that binding occurred in the ligand-binding pocket. azPC induced PPRE reporter gene expression, as did rosiglitazone, with a half-maximal effect at 100 nm. Overexpression of PPARalpha or PPARgamma revealed that azPC was a specific PPARgamma agonist. The scavenger receptor CD36 is encoded by a PPRE-responsive gene, and azPC enhanced expression of CD36 in primary human monocytes. We found that anti-CD36 inhibited azPC uptake, and it inhibited PPRE reporter induction. Results with a small molecule phospholipid flippase mimetic suggest azPC acts intracellularly and that cellular azPC accumulation was efficient. Thus, certain alkyl phospholipid oxidation products in oxLDL are specific, high affinity extracellular ligands and agonists for PPARgamma that induce PPAR-responsive genes.
Jamestown Electric Supply Company: Assessing Customer Profitability

Customers increasingly demand that companies offer a wide variety of products and services. As a result, many companies spend millions of dollars conducting profitability analyses of their customers. For instance, the banking industry alone spends an estimated $500 million per year on customer profitability analyses. Accordingly, customer profitability analysis is listed as one of the recent major developments in managerial accounting (Cotton 2005). Customer profitability analysis refers to the practice of estimating the profitability of individual customers and identifying both customers that create value for the company and, just as importantly, those customers that destroy value. Effective customer profitability analysis provides the company with a strong competitive advantage by improving key strategic and operating decisions involving customer selection and retention. For example, Sprint Nextel drew the attention of investors, analysts, and customers alike when it “fired” 1,000 of its worst customers...
Wavelets and filter banks: relationships and new results

The discrete version of the wavelet transform, which has recently emerged as a powerful tool for nonstationary signal analysis is closely related to filter banks, which have been studied in digital signal processing. Also, multiresolution signal analysis has been used in image processing. The relationship between these techniques is indicated. It is shown how to construct biorthogonal systems with linear-phase finite impulse response (FIR) filters and with regular analysis and synthesis. Some examples of practical interest are given. The complexity of the discrete wavelet transform is also discussed. >
The Matter of Heartbleed

The Heartbleed vulnerability took the Internet by surprise in April 2014. The vulnerability, one of the most consequential since the advent of the commercial Internet, allowed attackers to remotely read protected memory from an estimated 24--55% of popular HTTPS sites. In this work, we perform a comprehensive, measurement-based analysis of the vulnerability's impact, including (1) tracking the vulnerable population, (2) monitoring patching behavior over time, (3) assessing the impact on the HTTPS certificate ecosystem, and (4) exposing real attacks that attempted to exploit the bug. Furthermore, we conduct a large-scale vulnerability notification experiment involving 150,000 hosts and observe a nearly 50% increase in patching by notified hosts. Drawing upon these analyses, we discuss what went well and what went poorly, in an effort to understand how the technical community can respond more effectively to such events in the future.
Postbulbar duodenal ulcer in a patient with pentagastrin-fast achlorhydria

This report describes the clinicopathologic features of a 55-yr-old man found to have a bleeding, postbulbar duodenal ulcer and fasting hypergastrinemia. Gastric analysis revealed pentagastrin-fast achlorhydria. Healing of the ulcer was documented 8 wk after vagotomy, antrectomy, gastrojejunostomy, and a course of sucralfate therapy. The etiology of the postbulbar ulcer was uncertain. This is the first documented case of a duodenal ulcer with pentagastrin-fast achlorhydria.
Physician's emerging roles relating to trends in health information technology.

Objective: To determine the new roles that physicians will adopt in the near future to adjust to accelerating trends from managed care to outcome-based practice to health care reform to health information technology to the evolving role of health consumers.Methods: Trends and related developments concerning the changing roles of physicians based on prior literature reviews.Results: Six possible roles, traditional, gatekeeper, coach, navigator, informatician and one voice among many, are discussed in terms of physician's centrality, patient autonomy, decision-making and uncertainty, information seeking, satisfaction and outcomes, particularly those related to compliance.Conclusion: A greater understanding of these emerging roles could lead to more efficacious outcomes in our ever changing, increasingly complex medical system. Patients often have little understanding of emerging trends that lead to the development of specialized roles such as hospitalist and navigators and, relatedly, the evolving roles of ...
A comparison of the effect of angels and venture capitalists on innovation and value creation

Abstract We examine the extent to which private equity investors generate value-added benefits to venture development and investigate whether these benefits differ across angel groups and venture capitalists. This is the first study to compare the relative contributions to venture innovation and successful exits by angel groups versus venture capitalists. We do so by tracking external investments in 350 technology ventures. The results suggest that VCs and angel groups contribute equally to innovation rates, but these effects are non-additive. We also show, however, that VC-backed ventures have more impactful innovations and experience faster commercialization rates.
Abstract 5315: Human tumor antigen-specific helper and regulatory T cells share common epitope specificity but exhibit distinct T cell repertoire

Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC CD4+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) accumulate at tumor sites and play a critical role in the suppression of immune responses against tumor cells. Here, we show that two immunodominant epitopes derived from the tumor antigens (TA) NY-ESO-1 and TRAG-3 stimulate both CD4+ T-helper cells and Tregs. TA-specific Tregs inhibit the proliferation of allogenic T cells, act in a cell-to-cell contact dependent fashion and require antigen activation to suppress IL-2 secretion by T cells. TRAG-3 and NY-ESO-1-specific Tregs exhibit either a Th1-, a Th2- or a Th0-type cytokine profile and dot not produce IL-10 or TGF-β. The Foxp3 levels vary from one Treg clone to another and are significantly lower than those of CD4+CD25high Tregs. In contrast to NY-ESO-1-specific T helper cells, the NY-ESO-1-specific Treg clonotype shares a common TCR CDR3 Vβ usage with Foxp3+CD4+CD25high and CD4+CD25− T cells and was not detectable in PBLs of other NY-ESO-1+ melanoma patients and of healthy donors, suggesting that its recruitment occurs through the peripheral conversion of CD4+CD25− T cells upon chronic antigen exposure. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that the same epitopes spontaneously stimulate both T-helper cells and Tregs in patients with advanced melanoma. They also suggest that TA-specific Treg expansion may be better impaired by therapies aimed at depleting CD4+CD25high Tregs and preventing the peripheral conversion of CD4+CD25− T cells. This work was supported by NIH/NCI Grants CA90360 and CA112198 (HMZ) and Cancer Research Institute grant (HMZ). Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5315.
Involvement of Adiponectin-SIRT1-AMPK Signaling in the Protective Action of Rosiglitazone against Alcoholic Fatty Liver in Mice

The development of alcoholic fatty liver is associated with reduced adipocyte-derived adiponectin levels, decreased hepatic adiponectin receptors, and deranged hepatic adiponectin signaling in animals. Peroxisomal proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) plays a key role in the regulation of adiponectin in adipose tissue. The aim of the present study was to test the ability of rosiglitazone, a known PPAR-γ agonist, to reverse the inhibitory effects of ethanol on adiponectin expression and its hepatic signaling, and to attenuate alcoholic liver steatosis in mice. Mice were fed modified Lieber-DeCarli ethanol-containing liquid diets for 4 wk or pair-fed control diets. Four groups of mice were given a dose of either 3 or 10 mg·kg body wt−1·day−1 of rosiglitazone with or without ethanol in their diets for the last 2 wk of the feeding study. Coadministration of rosiglitazone and ethanol increased the expression and circulating levels of adiponectin and enhanced the expression of hepatic adiponectin receptors (AdipoRs) in mice. These increases correlated closely with the activation of a hepatic sirtuin 1 (SIRT1)-AMP-activated kinase (AMPK) signaling system. In concordance with stimulated SIRT1-AMPK signaling, rosiglitazone administration enhanced expression of fatty acid oxidation enzymes, normalized lipin 1 expression, and blocked elevated expression of genes encoding lipogenic enzymes which, in turn, led to increased fatty acid oxidation, reduced lipogenesis, and alleviation of steatosis in the livers of ethanol-fed mice. Enhanced hepatic adiponectin-SIRT1-AMPK signaling contributes, at least in part, to the protective action of rosiglitazone against alcoholic fatty liver in mice.
Thermal Processing Enhances the Nutritional Value of Tomatoes by Increasing Total Antioxidant Activity

Processed fruits and vegetables have been long considered to have lower nutritional value than their fresh commodities due to the loss of vitamin C during processing. This research group found vitamin C in apples contributed < 0.4% of total antioxidant activity, indicating most of the activity comes from the natural combination of phytochemicals. This suggests that processed fruits and vegetables may retain their antioxidant activity despite the loss of vitamin C. Here it is shown that thermal processing elevated total antioxidant activity and bioaccessible lycopene content in tomatoes and produced no significant changes in the total phenolics and total flavonoids content, although loss of vitamin C was observed. The raw tomato had 0.76 +/- 0.03 micromol of vitamin C/g of tomato. After 2, 15, and 30 min of heating at 88 degrees C, the vitamin C content significantly dropped to 0.68 +/- 0.02, 0.64 +/- 0.01, and 0.54 +/- 0.02 micromol of vitamin C/g of tomato, respectively (p < 0.01). The raw tomato had 2.01 +/- 0.04 mg of trans-lycopene/g of tomato. After 2, 15, and 30 min of heating at 88 degrees C, the trans-lycopene content had increased to 3.11+/- 0.04, 5.45 +/- 0.02, and 5.32 +/- 0.05 mg of trans-lycopene/g of tomato (p < 0.01). The antioxidant activity of raw tomatoes was 4.13 +/- 0.36 micromol of vitamin C equiv/g of tomato. With heat treatment at 88 degrees C for 2, 15, and 30 min, the total antioxidant activity significantly increased to 5.29 +/- 0.26, 5.53 +/- 0.24, and 6.70 +/- 0.25 micromol of vitamin C equiv/g of tomato, respectively (p < 0.01). There were no significant changes in either total phenolics or total flavonoids. These findings indicate thermal processing enhanced the nutritional value of tomatoes by increasing the bioaccessible lycopene content and total antioxidant activity and are against the notion that processed fruits and vegetables have lower nutritional value than fresh produce. This information may have a significant impact on consumers' food selection by increasing their consumption of fruits and vegetables to reduce the risks of chronic diseases.
Advanced Methods of Concrete Characterization

The need for the rehabilitation of the infrastructure has lead to the adaptation of modem analytical methods for the characterization of concrete. These techniques are not commonly associated with evaluating concrete but promise to be very useful both as tools of quality assurance and in the determination of existing damage. This paper describes two such techniques, namely, coordinated electron-optical microscopy and gamma-ray tomography. Examples of the use and interpretation of each method are given.
Physiological Arousal and Political Beliefs

It is by now well known that political attitudes can be affected by emotions. Most earlier studies have focused on emotions generated by some political event (e.g., terrorism or increased immigration). However, the methods used in previous efforts have made it difficult to untangle the various causal pathways that might link emotions to political beliefs. In contrast, we focus on emotions incidental (i.e., irrelevant) to the decision process, allowing us to cleanly trace and estimate the effect of experimentally induced anxiety on political beliefs. Further, we build upon innovative new work that links physiological reactivity (Hatemi, McDermott, Eaves, Kendler, & Neale, 2013; Oxley et al., 2008a) to attitudes by using skin conductance reactivity as a measure of emotional arousal. We found that anxiety—generated by a video stimulus—significantly affected physiological arousal as measured by tonic skin-conductance levels, and that higher physiological reactivity predicted more anti-immigration attitudes. We show that physiological reactivity mediated the relationship between anxiety and political attitudes.
Branching Bandit Processes

A set of ni arms of type i, i = 1,…, L, is available. A pull of arm of type i occupies a duration Vi at the end of which a reward Ci and Ni1,…, NiL new arms are obtained, while all other arms are frozen. A Gittins priority order of types is obtained and shown to yield the maximal discounted reward from this branching process of arms.
XIV—Aristotle's Two Worlds: Knowledge and Belief inPosterior Analytics 1.33

At the end of Republic 5, Plato distinguishes episteme from doxa , knowledge from belief. In Posterior Analytics 1.33, Aristotle provides his own distinction between episteme and doxa. I explore his way of distinguishing them and compare it with Plato's.
Bipolar Junction Transistor

The bipolar junction transistor (BJT) was the first transistor to be commercially produced, and remains important for a broad class of applications. This chapter presents an overview of the BJT, including how it is made, how it operates, as well as both current and future directions, including the silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistor (SiGe HBT). Keywords: BJT; bipolar; transistor; HBT; SiGe; bipolar junction transistor
A dynamic and policy-controlled approach to federating information systems

Timely access to relevant data and information is critical to successful mission execution in network centric warfare. Often, the data required to support a mission is not always resident within a single system, but is distributed among multiple systems that must be dynamically interconnected to support the data and information needs. While proprietary and stove-piped information systems have slowly given way to standardized information management architectures (such as the Joint Battlespace Infosphere (JBI) architecture developed by the US Air Force Research Laboratory), each independent organization and/or mission is normally associated with a separate instance of a managed information space that operates in an independent manner. This is necessary given the different stakeholders and administrative domains responsible for the information. However, the demands for coordination and cooperation require interoperability and information exchange between these independently operating information spaces. This paper describes a federated approach to interconnecting multiple information spaces to enable data interchange. We propose a set of interfaces to facilitate dynamic, runtime discovery and federation of information spaces. We also integrate with the KAoS policy and domain services framework to realize policy-based control over the federation and exchange of information. Our approach allows clients to transparently perform publish, subscribe, and query operations across all the federated information spaces. We have integrated with three existing JBI implementations – Apollo from the Air Force Research Laboratory, Mercury from General Dynamics and AIMS from Northrop Grumman. Most recently, we have integrated with Phoenix, a fully SoA (Service-oriented Architecture) based approach to information management.
In Vivo Regulation of Follicle-Stimulating Hormone Receptor by the Transcription Factors Upstream Stimulatory Factor 1 and Upstream Stimulatory Factor 2 Is Cell Specific

Pituitary FSH promotes pubertal timing and normal gametogenesis by binding its receptor (FSHR) located on Sertoli and granulosa cells of the testis and ovary, respectively. Studies on Fshr transcription provide substantial evidence that upstream stimulatory factor (USF) 1 and USF2, basic helix-loop-helix leucine zipper proteins, regulate Fshr through an E-box within its promoter. However, despite the strong in vitro support for USF1 and USF2 in Fshr regulation, there is currently no in vivo corroborating evidence. In the present study, chromatin immunoprecipitation demonstrated specific binding of USF1 and USF2 to the Fshr promoter in both Sertoli and granulosa cells, in vivo. Control cells lacking Fshr expression showed no USF-Fshr promoter binding, thus correlating USF-promoter binding to gene activity. Evaluation of Fshr expression in Usf1 and Usf2 null mice further explored USF's role in Fshr transcription. Loss of either gene significantly reduced ovarian Fshr levels, whereas testis levels were unaltered. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis of USF-Fshr promoter binding in Usf-null mice indicated differences in the composition of promoter-bound USF dimers in granulosa and Sertoli cells. Promoter-bound USF dimer levels declined in granulosa cells from both null mice, despite increased USF2 levels in Usf1-null ovaries. However, compensatory increases in promoter-bound USF homodimers were evident in Usf-null Sertoli cells. In summary, this study provides the first in vivo evidence that USF1 and USF2 bind the Fshr promoter and revealed differences between Sertoli and granulosa cells in compensatory responses to USF loss and the USF dimeric composition required for Fshr transcription.
Tandem Nucleophilic Addition / Fragmentation of Vinylogous Acyl Triflates: 2‐Methyl‐2‐(1‐Oxo‐5‐Heptynyl)‐1,3‐Dithiane

2-Methyl-2-(1-oxo-5-heptynyl)-1,3-dithiane 2-Methyl-1,3-dithiane n-Butyllithium 2-Methyl-3-trifluoromethansulfonyloxy-cyclohex-2-en-1-one 2-Methyl-1,3-cyclohexanedione Trifluoromethanesulfonic anhydride Keywords: alkyne reactions; vinylogous acyl triflates (VATs); nucleophilic addition/fragmentation reactions; tethered keto-alkynes; 2-Methyl-2-(1-oxo-5-heptynyl)-1,3-dithiane
Diurnal temperature patterns in unrestrained cows.

Abstract Radio telemetry was used to measure the temperature in three different locations within the bodies of unmolested cows. The diurnal temperature pattern was measured over a four-day period in the reticulum, the crop area, and in a pararectal area. The reticular temperature of four mature cows varied from 32.2 C after drinking water, to a high of 40.5 C prior to feeding. Usually 60–90 min were required for the temperature to reach the predrinking level. However, other than at drinking time, reticular temperatures were between 39 and 40 C. The subcutaneous temperatures varied from 31.9 to 38.4 C and dropped rapidly when the animals were turned out for exercise during outdoor temperatures of approximately 10 C. The pararectal temperatures were most constant, but ranged between 34.4 and 39.2 C, reaching a peak during feeding. When the animals were lying down, pararectal temperatures dropped but the subcutaneous temperatures rose until they approached or exceeded the pararectal temperatures.
Phase transitions in the neuropercolation model of neural populations with mixed local and non-local interactions

We model the dynamical behavior of the neuropil, the densely interconnected neural tissue in the cortex, using neuropercolation approach. Neuropercolation generalizes phase transitions modeled by percolation theory of random graphs, motivated by properties of neurons and neural populations. The generalization includes (1) a noisy component in the percolation rule, (2) a novel depression function in addition to the usual arousal function, (3) non-local interactions among nodes arranged on a multi-dimensional lattice. This paper investigates the role of non-local (axonal) connections in generating and modulating phase transitions of collective activity in the neuropil. We derived a relationship between critical values of the noise level and non-locality parameter to control the onset of phase transitions. Finally, we propose a potential interpretation of ontogenetic development of the neuropil maintaining a dynamical state at the edge of criticality.
A remote sensing approach for estimating distributed daily net carbon dioxide flux in semiarid grasslands

[1] Semiarid systems compose a significant portion of the world’s terrestrial area and may play an important role in the global carbon cycle. A model was developed using the relation between surface reflectance and temperature obtained from satellite imagery to determine a Water Deficit Index (WDI) that estimated distributed plant transpiration, and by extension carbon dioxide (CO2) flux, for a point in time. Relationships were developed to scale these instantaneous flux measurements up to daytime estimates, which were then used to obtain measures of nighttime flux. Satellite images were acquired for a 5-year period (1996–2000) during which transpiration and net CO2 flux were measured for a semiarid grassland site in southeastern Arizona. Manual and automatic chamber data were also collected at the same site during the monsoon growing seasons of 2005 and 2006 and used to develop the relationship between and daytime and nighttime CO2 flux. Strong linear relationships were found between WDI-derived instantaneous and daytime net CO2 flux estimates (R 2 = 0.97), and between daytime and nighttime fluxes (R 2 = 0.88). These relations were used to generate maps of distributed total daily net CO2 flux. The error for the model was within the range of error inherent in the data sets used to create it and remained reasonable when used with WDI values less than 0.9. This study demonstrated that remote sensing can offer a physically based means of obtaining daily net CO2 flux in semiarid grasslands.
Abstract A4: Androgen receptor (AR) degradation is controlled by the co-operation of PMEPA1 and the E3 ubiquitin ligase NEDD4-1

Introduction and Objective: Androgen receptor (AR) plays critical roles in prostate growth and differentiation and prostate tumorigenesis. Our recent investigations have discovered a novel mechanism of AR degradation in CaP cells involving PMEPA1 and NEDD4-1 which is independent of MDM2. Previously we have shown that PMEPA1 is a highly androgen-inducible gene in CaP cells that recruits the NEDD4-1, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, to degrade AR. In an independent study NEDD4-1 has been identified as an E3 ligase controlling the levels of PTEN. We hypothesize that decreased or loss of PMPEA1 expression that is frequently observed in human prostate tumor cells may lead to enhanced AR functions. Elevated AR levels may increase NEDD4-1 and in turn destabilize PTEN in prostate cancer cells. Here, we further investigate the co-operation between PMEPA1 and NEDD4-1 to alter AR and PTEN protein levels. Methods: PMEPA1 and NEDD4-1 were ectopically expressed in androgen responsive LNCaP and VCaP cells by pCMV-XL4 and pcDNA3.1 vectors, respectively. AR, PMEPA1, NEDD4-1, MDM2 and PTEN were silenced by using specific siRNAs. Cell growth was monitored in response modulation of PMEPA1, NEDD4 and AR. Protein levels of AR, PMEPA1, NEDD4-1, PTEN and PSA were assessed by immunoblot assays. Results: Decreases in AR protein levels, inhibited AR signaling and cell growth in response to heterologous expression of NEDD4-1. Consistent with this observation, inhibition of NEDD4-1 by siRNA resulted in elevated AR protein levels, AR signaling and increased cell growth. Reduced cell growth by AR knock-down or by heterologous expression of NEDD4-, were rescued by the knockdown of PMEPA1. It was also shown that AR up-regulates the expression of NEDD4-1 in hormone responsive CaP cells. In VCaP cells, overexpression of NEDD4-1 resulted in decreased PTEN protein levels. Remarkably, PMEPA1 knockdown resulted in elevated AR and NEDD4-1 levels and the downregulation of PTEN protein. Conclusions: NEDD4-1 mediated AR degradation in hormone responsive CaP cells requires PMEPA1. The frequently observed decreased expression of PMEPA1 results in elevated AR protein levels and may facilitate NEDD4-1 mediated degradation of PTEN in CaP. Our findings revealed a complex interplay of the AR, PMEPA1, NEDD4 and PTEN underscoring the impact of the loss of PMEPA1 to increased AR and decreased PTEN, both proteins critical in prostate tumorigenesis. Citation Format: Hua Li, Albert Dobi, Shiv Srivastava. Androgen receptor (AR) degradation is controlled by the cooperation of PMEPA1 and the E3 ubiquitin ligase NEDD4-1 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Prostate Cancer Research; 2012 Feb 6-9; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(4 Suppl):Abstract nr A4.
Optical-Model Analysis of Elastic Scattering of Protons on Oxygen at Intermediate Energies

Differential cross sections and polarizations for the elastic scattering of protons by oxygen at bombarding energies between 8.66 and 19.2 Mev have been analyzed using the diffuse-surface optical model of the nucleus. The best fits to the experimental data were obtained by a leastsquares procedure. Excellent fits to the experimental differential cross sections were obtained over almost the entire region, although resonance structures in the cross sections required a rapid variation of the parameters with energy. The presence of a thin absorptive shell and small volume absorption is the outstanding feature of the optical potential. A Thomas spin-orbit term did not satisfactorily reproduce the experimental polarizations. (auth)
Stochastic Chemical Kinetics in Biology: an Overview

The lecture reviews the theory and simulation methods of stochastic kinetics by integrating historical and recent perspectives, presents applications, mostly in the context of chemical signal processing, gene expression, enzyme kinetics and autocatalytic processes. In recent years, due to the development in experimental techniques such as optical imaging, single cell analysis, and one-molecule uorescence spectroscopy, biochemical kinetic data inside single living cells have increasingly become available. The emergence of systems biology brought renaissance in the application of stochastic kinetic methods as is reected in this lecture based on the book just to appear around the week of the BIOMATH2014.
Acidosis, hypercalcemia, and hyperphosphatemia in rat fetuses near term and effects of maternal acid/base loading.

SummaryIn the rat fetus, under normal conditions, blood calcium, phosphorus, and pCO2 rise, and pH declines, during the last 6 days of gestation. Little or no correlation is seen between changes noted in the maternal organism and those occurring in her unborn offspring.Oral administration of NH4Cl to pregnant females results in a lowering of maternal blood pH, with no change in blood calcium, phosphorus, or respiratory gases. NaHCO3 administration does not alter any of these parameters. In contrast, profound changes are observed in the fetuses of both acid- and alkali-treated dams. With NH4Cl feeding, fetal pH falls while blood calcium, phosphorus, and pCO2 rise; with NaHCO3 administration, fetal blood pH increases and serum calcium, phosphorus, and pCO2 decline.These observations point strongly to an association between fetal blood pH and circulating levels of calcium and phosphorus, and suggest that the levels of these elements may be, in part, determined by the acid/base status of the organism in utero...
Atherosclerosis During Adolescence

Interest in diseases of the arteries during the juvenile period is evident during the first half of this century. In the 1950s, it was clearly demonstrated that the early lesions of atherosclerosis were detectable in children and, especially, in adolescents. By the end of the 1960s, the scope of early atherosclerotic changes in the arteries of juveniles became firmly established. In the 1970s, the search for adult risk factors in juveniles began in earnest. In the 1980s, adult risk factors were identified in juveniles and correlated with pathologic changes. The therapeutic issues that involve life-long compliance in high-risk children and adolescents are unique to this age group.
PSP expression in murine lacrimal glands and function as a bacteria binding protein in exocrine secretions

Nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice, an animal model for type I autoimmune diabetes and autoimmune sialoadenitis, abnormally express parotid secretory protein (PSP) in the submandibular glands (Robinson, C. P., H. Yamamoto, A. B. Peck, and M. G. Humphreys-Beher. Clin. Immunol. Immunopathol. 79: 50-59, 1996). To evaluate possible PSP gene dysregulation in the NOD mouse, we have examined a number of organs and tissues for PSP mRNA transcripts and protein expression. Results indicate that PSP is produced in the lacrimal glands of NOD mice as well as most laboratory mouse strains. Although purified salivary PSP from C3H/HeJ or BALB/c mice fails to affect amylase enzyme activity in in vitro assays, PSP bound to whole bacteria in a Zn2+-dependent manner. Additionally, radiolabeled protein bound to specific bacterial membrane proteins using a ligand binding assay. PSP gene transcription, but not protein production, was observed in the heart and pancreas from NOD mice, indicating abnormal transcription of the PSP gene. Sequence analysis of PSP cDNA from NOD mice revealed numerous base differences (compared with the published PSP sequence) capable of leading to significant amino acid substitutions, suggestive of strain-specific differences for the protein in mice. Together these results suggest that there exists in the NOD mouse a dysregulation of PSP transcription in various tissues. However, except for C3H/HeJ mice, PSP appears as a normal product of the lacrimal glands where, as in saliva, it may function as a nonimmune antimicrobial agent in the protection of tissue surfaces exposed to the external environment.
Patient Mutations of the Intellectual Disability Gene KDM5C Downregulate Netrin G2 and Suppress Neurite Growth in Neuro2a Cells

The X-linked lysine (K)-specific demethylase 5C (KDM5C) gene plays an important role in brain development and behavior. It encodes a histone demethylase that is involved in gene regulation in neuronal differentiation and morphogenesis. When mutated, it causes neuropsychiatric symptoms, such as intellectual disability, delayed language development, epilepsy, and impulsivity. To better understand how the patient mutations affect neuronal development, we expressed KDM5C mutants in Neuro2a cells, a mouse neuroblastoma cell line. Retinoic acid (RA)-induced neurite growth was suppressed by the mutation KDM5CY751C, KDM5CH514A, and KDM5CF642L, but not KDM5CD87G or KDM5CA388P. RNA-seq analysis indicated an upregulation of genes important for neuronal development, such as Ntng2, Enah, Gas1, Slit2, and Dscam, in response to the RA treatment in control Neuro2a cells transfected with GFP or wild-type KDM5C. In contrast, in cells transfected with KDM5CY751C, these genes were not upregulated by RA. Ntng2 was downregulated in cells with KDM5C mutations, concordant with the lower levels of H3K4 methylation at its promoter. Moreover, knocking down Ntng2 in control Neuro2a cells led to the phenotype of short neurites similar to that of cells with KDM5CY751C, whereas Ntng2 overexpression in the mutant cells rescued the morphological phenotype. These findings provide new insight into the pathogenesis of phenotypes associated with KDM5C mutations.
High-power, broadband terahertz radiation from large area plasmonic photoconductive emitters operating at telecommunication optical wavelengths

We present a high-power, broadband terahertz emitter that operates at telecommunication optical pump wavelengths at which high-performance and compact fiber lasers are commercially available. The presented terahertz emitter is a novel large area photoconductive emitter fabricated on a high resistivity ErAs:InGaAs substrate that utilizes a two-dimensional array of plasmonic nano-antennas. By incorporating plasmonic nano-antennas, stronger dipole moments are induced in response to an incident optical pump beam and, therefore, higher optical-to-terahertz conversion efficiencies are achieved compared to the state-of-the art. We demonstrate terahertz radiation power levels as high as 300 µW over a 0.1–5 THz frequency range at a 400 mW optical pump power. This is the highest reported terahertz radiation power level from a photoconductive terahertz emitter operating at telecommunication optical pump wavelengths.
A NOVEL ROUTE FOR THE METABOLISM OF ETHANOL; THE OXIDATION OF ETHANOL BY HYDROXYL FREE RADICALS

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses a catalase-independent pathway for the production of acetaldehyde from ethanol during the oxidation of xanthine by purified xanthine oxidase. It presents evidence for ·OH as an intermediate in the production of acetaldehyde by xanthine-xanthine oxidase and by autoxidizing ascorbate. It also presents an indirect evidence for the scavenging of ·OH by ethanol in intoxicated experimental animals. In the studies discussed in the chapter, a superoxide-mediated production of acetaldehyde from ethanol was observed both during the xanthine-xanthine oxidase reaction and during the spontaneous autoxidation of ascorbate. Both systems were stimulated by the addition of excess H2O2 at zero time, but H2O2 alone was without effect. These observations were consistent with the production of the oxidizing radical, ·OH via reaction 1 in each of the two systems. Suppression of acetaldehyde production by known ·OH scavengers but not by a substance known to react much more weakly than ethanol with ·OH (urea) supported the view that acetaldehyde arose from the reaction of ·OH with ethanol. The superoxide-mediated production of ·OH was also observed during the spontaneous autoxidation of dialuric acid or 6-hydroxydopainine.
Planting Land Mines in Common Ground: A Review of Charles Glenn's Review of "Short Route to Chaos.".

Arons responds to what he considers to be Glenn's misrepresentations of the tone and content of Short Route To Chaos. He writes that Glenn "appears to be attempting to construct the book's message into just one more salvo fired in the endless school wars. It is anything but....Reading Glenn's review, one is left with the impression that the book is a Christian-bashing, left-leaning, work of communitarian fuzziness in which a legal scholar unaccountably refuses to confine himself to ... technical explication of existing constitutional doctrine." In his response, Arons affirmatively sets out some of the book's main themes of political /cultural conflict over standardized schooling, corrects some of what he sees as Glenn's misundertsnadings, and notes that the book itself invites readers to eschew partisanship and recognize that there are deep structural problems in American public education. In closing, Arons uses an example of Glenn's partisan misunderstanding that leads Arons to recommend to the reader that it would be better to read Short Route to Chaos for oneself. One of the central themes in Short Route To Chaos suggests that unless Americans step back and get some perspective on the current school wars and the endless rounds of school reform fads, we are destined to keep repeating the nearly neurotic cycle of conflict that has characterized public schooling since the mid-nineteenth century. This conflict is unnecessary, culturally corrosive, and increasingly destructive of school quality; and the book discusses frankly the ugly side of these battles. Having done so, Short Route To Chaos invites the reader to put aside partisanship long enough to see that there are deep structural problems in American public education which are themselves a primary cause of this perennial conflict over the content of schooling. Early in the book, while stories of the school wars are still being told and the analysis
Response to The Electric Brain

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a technique for stimulating the brain in the hopes of achieving therapeutic benefits and/or intelligence enhancement. At home do-it-yourself (DIY) ...
African American Women's Perceived Influences on and Strategies to Reduce Sedentary Behavior

We conducted three focus groups to examine African American women's perceptions of factors influencing and proposed strategies for reducing sedentary behavior (SB). QSR NVivo 9 facilitated coding and organization of themes. Although participants ( n = 32, 53.6 ± 6.0 years, 75% obese) were unfamiliar with the term SB prior to focus groups, they described spending large amounts of time in SB at work and home. Participants viewed leisure-time SB as necessary and important but were amenable to decreasing SB at work. Participants also identified personal, social, and environmental factors contributing to SB as well as novel strategies for reducing SB. Results suggest that messages aimed at reducing SB in African American women should be positively framed, viewed within a socioecologic framework, and target nonleisure time SB. SB was viewed as a form of stress reduction; thus, future research might want to emphasize alternative stress management techniques that simultaneously reduce SB.
Downstream of Design: Web-based facility operations documents

Internet technologies provide opportunities for improving the delivery of facility information to building owners and operators. Discussions with facility operators have led to identification of problems in current practices of delivering facility information using as-built drawings. A Web-based software prototype illustrates how facility information can be automatically structured into documents that support specific facility operations tasks.
Use of Computer Codes in Estimating Fuel Element Fabrication Costs

Computer codes, which can be used in the evaluation of nuclear reactors, were developed for estimating fuel-element fabrication costs. The codes take into account variables that derive from fuel-el...
Recession Signals: The Yield Curve vs. Unemployment Rate Troughs

In early May 2018, The Wall Street Journal asked professional forecasters to predict when the next recession would begin. Nearly 6 in 10 answered that the next recession will begin sometime in 2020. If so, the current business expansion will have eclipsed the 1991-2001 expansion as the longest on record. Economists and policymakers look at several leading indicators when attempting to predict a slowdown or outright contraction in economic activity. Two stand out: the slope of the yield curve and the direction of the unemployment rate. The purpose of this essay is to ascertain the predictive power of these two economic indicators.
Ultra-high temperature deformation in TaC and HfC

Abstract TaC and HfC bars were thermo-mechanically tested up to 2900 °C using a non-contact loading method based on the Lorentz force. It was observed that HfC deflected more than TaC up to 2300 °C, which has been contributed to a difference in grain size facilitating diffusional creep, either Nabarro-Herring or Coble creep. Above 2500 °C, TaC continued to deflect more with temperature whereas HfC showed a reduced deflection. This reduced deflection was found to be an artifact of a preload plastic deformation response. Though both sets of samples were identified to have a prevalence of {110} slip, at elevated temperatures, it appears that mass transport and diffusional creep mechanisms dominate evident by porosity in the grain boundaries. The activation energies of TaC were found to be 946 ± 157 kJ/mol (between 2500–2700 °C) and HfC to be 685 ± 54 kJ/mol (between 2100–2300 °C).
Two Sides of a Platonic Coin: Marxism and Neoclassicism in the Socialist Calculation Debate

The socialist calculation debate occurred simultaneously with the development of increasingly idealized neoclassical market models in the early decades of the 20th century. Nonetheless, free market neoclassical economists were conspicuously absent from that debate, leaving the pro-market case to be made by Austrian economists. This paper puts forward an interpretation of the neoclassical school's relative absence based on certain shared philosophical premises of neoclassical market models and Marxism. It argues that the two schools' shared Platonic influences render the more devout exponents of static, perfectly competitive market models unable to contribute substantively to the defense of markets against advocates of socialism.
Practice change in environmental education: lessons from professional development

The field of environmental education (EE) strives to develop innovative practices to address emergent issues such as equity, climate change, and urbanization. Through facilitating workshops and ong...
A Comparative Analysis of Emotion-Detecting AI Systems with Respect to Algorithm Performance and Dataset Diversity

In recent news, organizations have been considering the use of facial and emotion recognition for applications involving youth such as tackling surveillance and security in schools. However, the majority of efforts on facial emotion recognition research have focused on adults. Children, particularly in their early years, have been shown to express emotions quite differently than adults. Thus, before such algorithms are deployed in environments that impact the wellbeing and circumstance of youth, a careful examination should be made on their accuracy with respect to appropriateness for this target demographic. In this work, we utilize several datasets that contain facial expressions of children linked to their emotional state to evaluate eight different commercial emotion classification systems. We compare the ground truth labels provided by the respective datasets to the labels given with the highest confidence by the classification systems and assess the results in terms of matching score (TPR), positive predictive value, and failure to compute rate. Overall results show that the emotion recognition systems displayed subpar performance on the datasets of children's expressions compared to prior work with adult datasets and initial human ratings. We then identify limitations associated with automated recognition of emotions in children and provide suggestions on directions with enhancing recognition accuracy through data diversification, dataset accountability, and algorithmic regulation.