cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Design and Implementation of a Dual-Input LLC Converter for PV-Battery Applications

This paper proposes a dual-input LLC resonant converter that interfaces with one PV panel and one battery energy storage system (BESS). The topology is a dual half-bridge LLC circuit with four active switches. This topology allows the two sources to share the same resonant tank for transferring energy to the load without the need for additional circuit components. A phase-shift pulse width modulation (PWM) control is employed to implement maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for PV panel and duty cycle is controlled to regulate battery current. The converter voltage gain is controlled by varying the operating frequency as in a typical LLC resonant converter. Zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) is realized in all switches over the entire range of source voltage and load conditions. In addition, voltage stress across switches does not exceed the input voltage. A simulation study was carried out to validate the operating principles of the proposed topology. The input voltage range of the PV source was selected to be 25 V to 50 V and the nominal input voltage of battery was 60 V with an output voltage regulated at ±200 V DC.
Speciation: On the Scent of Mate Discrimination Genes.

Summary Animals use smell to recognize individuals from their own species and find suitable mates. A study of female chemical cues in two species of fruit flies uses a creative genetic strategy to identify an allele that is involved in species recognition and may play an important role in keeping these species apart in nature.
The Passthrough of Treasury Supply to Bank Deposit Funding

We demonstrate the passthrough of Treasury supply to deposit funding through bank market power. We show that an increase in Treasury supply leads to a net deposit outflow. At the same time, reliance on wholesale funding decreases. The effect is heterogeneous in nature - banks in more competitive markets experience larger outflows. The explanatory power of Treasury supply is not driven by monetary policy and bank-specific investment opportunities. Our empirical findings are rationalized with a model of imperfect deposit competition. Consistent with The Deposits Channel of Monetary Policy, the model and empirics predict the opposite effect for Fed Fund rate hikes: there is a larger response in less competitive markets. Our results also shed light on the effect of the Reverse Repurchase (RRP) Facility on monetary policy passthrough.
Assessment of individual differences in response to acute bupropion or varenicline treatment using a long-access nicotine self-administration model and behavioral economics in female rats.

Abstract Bupropion and varenicline are widely prescribed pharmacological treatments for smoking cessation. These treatments are only marginally effective in clinical populations but most preclinical studies show that they are effective in decreasing self-administration in rats on a group level. The present study investigated individual differences in responding to bupropion or varenicline in a preclinical model of long-access to nicotine (0.03 mg/kg/inf; 12 h/day) in female rats. Rats were first assessed for their individual economic demand for nicotine and for their individual performance in open field and elevated plus maze prior to nicotine access and during withdrawal. Rats were then tested for the acute effects of bupropion, varenicline, and yohimbine. We found that neither bupropion nor varenicline decreased responding for nicotine on test days. On the contrary, a moderate dose of bupropion (30 mg/kg) significantly increased responding for nicotine. We also found that rats with higher demand for nicotine were more sensitive to pretreatment with yohimbine which resulted in increased responding for nicotine during the dose-effect tests. Finally, we show that rats that had a higher demand for nicotine also were more persistent in seeking nicotine during extinction and reinstatement tests with nicotine or yohimbine as triggers. Our findings suggest that the length of access to daily nicotine may be an important factor underlying the response to pharmacological treatments like bupropion or varenicline. Future studies modeling chronic treatment approaches that include both sexes will be needed to further extend our findings.
The Health Resources and Services Administration's Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program in rural areas of the United States: Geographic distribution, provider characteristics, and clinical outcomes.

Background People living with HIV (PLWH) residing in rural areas experience substantial barriers to HIV care, which may contribute to poor HIV health outcomes, including retention in HIV care and viral suppression. The Health Resources and Services Administration's Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (HRSA RWHAP) is an important source of HIV medical care and support services in rural areas. The purpose of this analysis was to (1) assess the reach of the RWHAP in rural areas of the United States, (2) compare the characteristics and funded services of RWHAP provider organizations in rural and non-rural areas, and (3) compare the characteristics and clinical outcomes of RWHAP clients accessing medical care and support services in rural and non-rural areas. Methods and findings Data for this analysis were abstracted from the 2017 RWHAP Services Report (RSR), the primary source of annual, client-level RWHAP data. Organizations funded to deliver RWHAP any service ("RWHAP providers") were categorized as rural or non-rural according to the HRSA FORHP's definition of modified Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) codes. RWHAP clients were categorized based on their patterns of RWHAP service use as "visited only rural providers," "visited only non-rural providers," or "visited rural and non-rural providers." In 2017, among the 2,113 providers funded by the RWHAP, 6.2% (n = 132) were located in HRSA-designated rural areas. Rural providers were funded to deliver a greater number of service categories per site than non-rural providers (44.7% funded for ≥5 services vs. 34.1% funded for ≥5 services, respectively). Providers in rural areas served fewer clients than providers in non-rural areas; 47.3% of RWHAP providers in rural areas served 1-99 clients, while 29.6% of non-rural providers served 1-99 clients. Retention in care and viral suppression outcomes did not differ on the basis of whether a client accessed services from rural or non-rural providers. Conclusions RWHAP providers are a crucial component of HIV care delivery in the rural United States despite evidence of significant barriers to engagement in care for rural PLWH, RWHAP clients who visited rural providers were just as likely to be retained in care and reach viral suppression as their counterparts who visited non-rural providers. The RWHAP, especially in partnership with Rural Health Clinics and federally funded Health Centers, has the infrastructure and expertise necessary to address the HIV epidemic in rural America.
Fetoscopic insufflation modeled in the extrauterine environment for neonatal development (EXTEND): Fetoscopic insufflation is safe for the fetus.

Abstract Background Minimally invasive fetal surgery, or fetoscopy, is an alternative to open fetal surgery to repair common birth defects like myelomeningocele. Although this hysterotomy-sparing approach reduces maternal morbidity, the effects of in utero insufflation on the fetus are poorly understood. Our purpose was to determine the optimal fetal insufflation conditions. Methods Fetal sheep at gestational age 104 to 107 days were studied under insufflation conditions in utero and ex utero. The ex utero fetuses were cannulated via their umbilical vessels into a support device, the EXTra-uterine Environment for Neonatal Development (EXTEND). EXTEND fetuses were exposed to four different insufflation conditions for four hours: untreated carbon dioxide (CO2) (n = 5), warm humidified (whCO2) (n = 4), whCO2 with the umbilical cord exposed (n = 3), and whCO2 without amniotic fluid (skin and cord exposed) (n = 3). Results In utero insufflation led to significant increases in fetal CO2 and reductions in fetal pH. Ex utero insufflation with whCO2 did not lead to changes in fetal blood gas measurements or cerebral perfusion parameters. Insufflation with whCO2 with an exposed umbilical cord led to reduced umbilical blood flow. Conclusions Insufflation with warm humidified CO2 with an amniotic fluid covered umbilical cord is well tolerated by the fetus without significant changes in hemodynamics or cerebral perfusion parameters. Type of study Basic science Level of evidence N/A
Abstract 14355: Mono- and Biallelic Structural Variants in Alpha-actinin 2 Cause Contractile Dysfunction and Cardiomyopathy in Humans

Background and Aim: Cardiomyopathy is a common cause of sudden cardiac death in children that often requires heart transplantation. Alpha-actinins are critical cytoskeletal proteins that anchor act...
Success Weighted by Completion Time: A Dynamics-Aware Evaluation Criteria for Embodied Navigation.

We present Success weighted by Completion Time (SCT), a new metric for evaluating navigation performance for mobile robots. Several related works on navigation have used Success weighted by Path Length (SPL) as the primary method of evaluating the path an agent makes to a goal location, but SPL is limited in its ability to properly evaluate agents with complex dynamics. In contrast, SCT explicitly takes the agent's dynamics model into consideration, and aims to accurately capture how well the agent has approximated the fastest navigation behavior afforded by its dynamics. While several embodied navigation works use point-turn dynamics, we focus on unicycle-cart dynamics for our agent, which better exemplifies the dynamics model of popular mobile robotics platforms (e.g., LoCoBot, TurtleBot, Fetch, etc.). We also present RRT*-Unicycle, an algorithm for unicycle dynamics that estimates the fastest collision-free path and completion time from a starting pose to a goal location in an environment containing obstacles. We experiment with deep reinforcement learning and reward shaping to train and compare the navigation performance of agents with different dynamics models. In evaluating these agents, we show that in contrast to SPL, SCT is able to capture the advantages in navigation speed a unicycle model has over a simpler point-turn model of dynamics. Lastly, we show that we can successfully deploy our trained models and algorithms outside of simulation in the real world. We embody our agents in an real robot to navigate an apartment, and show that they can generalize in a zero-shot manner.
Opportunity and change in occupational assortative mating.

Abstract This article documents how opportunity and change in the U.S. occupational structure shaped patterns of occupational assortative mating between 1970 and 2015–2017. Trends in occupational assortative mating have often been cited as potentially contributing to the rise in economic inequality—the idea that doctors increasingly marry doctors instead of nurses—thereby exacerbating the concentration of resources among advantaged households. Previous estimates of trends in occupational assortative mating are now decades old and their impact on household inequality has not been quantified. Our results show large-scale change. The prevalence of dual-professional couples nearly tripled between 1970 and 2015–2017. Changes were especially large among particular occupational combinations. For instance, male doctors have become increasingly likely to be married to female doctors, and male lawyers to female lawyers. Almost all of the changes in occupational assortative mating patterns, however, are accounted for by changes in the distributions of spouses' occupations, for example, the rise of women in professional occupations. Because of this, the contribution of occupational assortative mating to the rise in economic inequality has been small. In the absence of any association between spouses’ occupations, observed increases in household earnings inequality would have been reduced by 5%. Although this is a small portion of overall changes in inequality, it is much larger than prior estimates of the effects of educational assortative mating on inequality, which recent studies have estimated to be essentially zero.
Realizable Learning is All You Need

The equivalence of realizable and agnostic learnability is a fundamental phenomenon in learning theory. With variants ranging from classical settings like PAC learning and regression to recent trends such as adversarially robust and private learning, it's surprising that we still lack a unified theory; traditional proofs of the equivalence tend to be disparate, and rely on strong model-specific assumptions like uniform convergence and sample compression. In this work, we give the first model-independent framework explaining the equivalence of realizable and agnostic learnability: a three-line blackbox reduction that simplifies, unifies, and extends our understanding across a wide variety of settings. This includes models with no known characterization of learnability such as learning with arbitrary distributional assumptions or general loss, as well as a host of other popular settings such as robust learning, partial learning, fair learning, and the statistical query model. More generally, we argue that the equivalence of realizable and agnostic learning is actually a special case of a broader phenomenon we call property generalization: any desirable property of a learning algorithm (e.g.\ noise tolerance, privacy, stability) that can be satisfied over finite hypothesis classes extends (possibly in some variation) to any learnable hypothesis class.
Effect of an acute bout of aerobic exercise on chemerin levels in obese adults.

Summary Aims Serum chemerin concentrations are elevated in obese individuals and may play a role in type 2 diabetes. Exercise improves insulin sensitivity, which may be related to changes in chemerin. This study explored how an acute bout of aerobic exercise affected chemerin levels in non-diabetic obese adults. Methods Blood samples from 11 obese adults were obtained during two separate conditions: sedentary (SED) and exercise (EX; 60–65% VO2peak). Samples were drawn at baseline, immediately following exercise and hourly for an additional 2 h. ANOVA was used to test for differences in chemerin between conditions. Results Unadjusted analysis showed no difference in overall change (baseline to 2 h post) in chemerin between conditions. During the 2-h post-exercise period, chemerin decreased to 12% below baseline, compared to a 2.5% increase above baseline during that time period on the sedentary day (p = 0.06, difference in post-to-2 h change between conditions). Controlling for homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), a significant difference existed between EX and SED in the change in chemerin from baseline to 2-h post (p = 0.02). Stratified analyses showed a consistent exercise-induced decrease in chemerin among non-insulin resistant subjects, while chemerin increased during exercise among insulin resistant subjects, and then decreased post-exercise. Conclusion An acute bout of exercise in obese individuals may elicit a drop in chemerin levels during the post-exercise period, and this response may vary based on insulin resistance.
Behavioral effects of trimethyltin in two strains of mice: I. Spontaneous motor activity☆

Abstract Adult male mice ( C57BL 6N and BALB c ) were administered single doses of trimethyltin·Cl (TMT) by the ip route. The effects of TMT administration were determined on lethality (3–6 mg/kg), spontaneous motor activity (SMA), and the physical appearance of the mice (0.3–3 mg/kg). The effects of TMT on lethality were strain dependent in that a single dose of 3 mg/kg, ip, produced approximately 35% lethality in the C57BL 6N strain during the first 72 hr following administration. Less than 15% lethality was observed at this dose in the BALB c strain. In both strains, 3.5 mg/kg, ip, produced more than 70% lethality during the first 144 hr after administration. Higher doses produced proportionally greater lethality. The SMA of both strains was not affected significantly at doses below 1 mg/kg, ip. At 1 mg/kg a small decrease in activity was observed during the first 24 hr. At 3 mg/kg, SMA was initially decreased in both strains. However, the decrease was of smaller magnitude in the C57BL strain and was followed by a large increase in SMA which did not return to control levels for approximately 1 week. An increase in SMA was observed in the BALB c strain on the fifth day following TMT but returned to control values by Day 6. At 3 mg/kg, ip, the C57BL mice were observed to have severe whole body tremors and were hypersensitive to external stimuli. The whole body tremor was not as marked in the BALB c strain. Neuropathological studies on the treated mice indicated that the behavioral studies paralleled the pathology produced by TMT. These data confirm the initial observation of greater sensitivity of the mouse to toxic effects of TMT compared to the rat.
Consequences of Raising Cane

States of Nature Science, Agriculture, and Environment in the Spanish Caribbean, 1760-1940. Stuart McCook. University of Texas Press, Austin, 2002. 215 pp. $50. ISBN 0-292-75256-3. Paper, $22.95. ISBN 0-292-75257-1. Examining the history of the agricultural and botanical sciences in Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Columbia, and Costa Rica, McCook concludes that growers and governments turned to science to help alleviate environmental and economic stresses without having to abandon their goals of export-led growth.
Microbial 13C utilization patterns via stable isotope probing of phospholipid biomarkers in Mojave Desert soils exposed to ambient and elevated atmospheric CO2

Changes in plant inputs under changing atmospheric CO 2 can be expected to alter the size and/or functional characteristics of soil microbial communities which can determine whether soils are a C sink or source. Stable isotope probing was used to trace autotrophically fixed 13 C into phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) biomarkers in Mojave Desert soils planted with the desert shrub, Larrea tridentata. Seedlings were pulse-labeled with 13 CO 2 under ambient and elevated CO 2 in controlled environmental growth chambers. The label was chased into the soil by extracting soil PLFAs after labeling at Days 0, 2, 10, 24, and 49. Eighteen of 29 PLFAs identified showed 13 C enrichment relative to nonlabeled control soils. Patterns of PLFA enrichment varied temporally and were similar for various PLFAs found within a microbial functional group. Enrichment of PLFA 13 C generally occurred within the first 2 days in general and fungal biomarkers, followed by increasingly greater enrichment in bacterial biomarkers as the study progressed (Gram-negative, Gram-positive, actinobacteria). While treatment CO 2 level did not affect total PLFA-C concentrations, microbial functional group abundances and distribution responded to treatment CO 2 level and these shifts persisted throughout the study. Specifically, ratios of bacterial-to-total PLFA-C decreased and fungal-to-bacterial PLFA-C increased under elevated CO 2 compared with ambient conditions. Differences in the timing of 13 C incorporation into lipid biomarkers coupled with changes in microbial functional groups indicate that microbial community characteristics in Mojave Desert soils have shifted in response to long-term exposure to increased atmospheric CO 2 .
Biodiversity and a New Best Case for Applying the Environmental Statutes Extraterritorially

The federal courts have applied a presumption that environmental statutes do not apply to conduct overseas. Efforts to overcome this presumption through the supposed intent of Congress have largely failed. This Article argues for a new best case for applying environmental laws extraterritorially, focusing on the Endangered Species Act's powerful section 7. This best case would assert that (1) the overseas action affects interests within the United States, such as the interest in preserving biodiversity for future needs, and (2) the action would not create a clash with the expectations of foreign governments or culture.
Concerns with Functional Depth

We study some problems inherent with certain forms of functional depth, in particular, zero depth and lack of consistency.
Preparation and Physicochemical Characterization of Eudragit ® RL100 Nanosuspension with potential for Ocular Delivery of Sulfacetamide

Purpose: Polymeric nanosuspension was prepared from an inert polymer resin (Eudragit® RL100) with the aim of improving the availability of sulfacetamide at the intraocular level to combat bacterial infections. Methods: Nanosuspensions were prepared by the solvent displacement method using acetone and Pluronic® F108 solution. Drug to polymer ratio was selected as formulation variable. Characterization of the nanosupension was performed by measuring particle size, zeta potential, Fourier Transform infrared spectra (FTIR), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Powder X-Ray Diffraction (PXRD), drug entrapment efficiency and in vitro release. In addition, freeze drying, redispersibility and short term stability study at room temperature and at 40C were performed. Results: Spherical, uniform particles (size below 500 nm) with positive zeta potential were obtained. No significant chemical interactions between drug and polymer were observed in the solid state characterization of the freeze dried nanosuspension (FDN). Drug entrapment efficiency of the selected batch was increased by changing the pH of the external phase and addition of polymethyl methacrylate in the formulation. The prepared nanosuspension exhibited good stability after storage at room temperature and at 40C. Sucrose and Mannitol were used as cryoprotectants and exhibited good water redispersibility of the FDN. Conclusion: The results indicate that the formulation of sulfacetamide in Eudragit® RL100 nanosuspension could be utilized as potential delivery system for treating ocular bacterial infections.
It's the system that matters

Purpose – This paper aims to highlight the importance of creating an effective work system.Design/methodology/approach – The paper shows the benefits of systematically incorporating good work practices.Findings – The paper illustrated that a systematic work system can unify work efforts. Several different work systems are described within the text.Practical implications – The paper describes what is needed so everyone is knows “Who we are” and “Where we are going”.Originality/value – This paper makes the case that it is more important to create a systematic approach to work than it is to implement any particular high performance work practice.
The Effects of State Farm Relief Legislation on Private Lenders and Borrowers: The Experience of the 1930s

The effects on private lenders and borrowers of farm relief programs that alter the enforceability of debt contracts are investigated. Evidence from the 1930s indicates that state relief legislation that altered debt contracts to the detriment of lenders substantially reduced the supply of loans and had different effects on different types of private lenders. This past experience suggests that, although such measures as moratoria on farm foreclosures and the recently enacted Chapter 12 bankruptcy law may provide relief for some farmers, they may also result in substantial reductions in the supply of agricultural credit.
Probing the Surface Structure of Quasicrystals Via Angle-Resolved Low-Energy Ion Scattering

Abstract Angle-resolved low-energy ion scattering is a valuable technique for examining the topmost surface layers of materials. Using this technique, information about both composition and structure can be obtained. We discuss the physical basis of this technique and present our findings for the fivefold surface of icosahedral (i-) Al–Pd–Mn. Our results clearly show that the exposed surface has a higher Al content than the bulk and can have fivefold periodicity. Information about frequently occurring interatomic distances on the surface can also be obtained by this technique. We discuss the results and compare them to recent scanning tunneling microscopy studies and to bulk structure models.
The story of the Tevatron accelerators: Accelerator science and technology breakthroughs, achievements and lessons

For almost a quarter of a century, the Tevatron proton–antiproton collider was the centerpiece of the world's high energy physics program — since it began operation in December of 1985, until it was overtaken by LHC in 2011. The aim of this unique scientific instrument was to explore the elementary particle physics reactions with center of mass collision energies of up to 1.96 TeV. The initial design luminosity of the Tevatron was 1030cm-2s-1, however as a result of two decades of upgrades, the accelerator has been able to deliver 430 times higher luminosities to each of two high luminosity experiments, CDF and D0. The Tevatron has been shut off since September 30, 2011. The collider was arguably one of the most complex research instruments ever to reach the operation stage and is widely recognized for many technological breakthroughs and numerous physics discoveries. In this paper, we briefly present the history of the Tevatron, major advances in accelerator physics, technology implemented during the long quest for better and better performance, and the lessons learned from our experience.
Arguing the Courtship of Elizabeth and Alençon: An Early Modern Marriage Debate and the Problem of the Historical Public Sphere

This essay analyzes one moment that has forced a reconsideration of the historical public sphere: the debate between John Stubbs and Queen Elizabeth I of England over her proposed marriage to the French Duke of Alencon. Stubbs adopted an argumentative strategy in which scripture served as a source of universal truth on which to base arguments about politics. Unable to allow such a strategy to undermine her own authority, Elizabeth's response asserted the communicative, rather than transcendent, nature of argument. Reading the debate in this way, in turn, calls into question a historical, developmental model of rationality and the public sphere. Ultimately, I argue, the public sphere does not develop as a radical emergence to be documented, but instead operates as a rearticulation of argumentative positions that are consistently and always available.
Model for aerosol impaction in the lung airways

Abstract A finite-difference model for aerosol impaction at an airway bifurcation has been presented. Results suggest that deposition due to impaction is relatively independent of the bifurcation angle for Stokes numbers less than 0.35. For larger values of Stokes number, impaction increases with increasing angle; asymptotic results are obtained for large angles. From comparison with Landahl's analysis, it is evident that the fluid flow field must be considered in any detailed account of impaction.
The influence of culture medium volume on cell density and lifespan of human diploid fibroblasts.

Abstract The volume of culture medium in which WI38 cells are grown affects the maximum cell number at stationary phase and in the vitro lifespan in terms of total population doublings. The saturation density at 0.53 ml/cm 2 (40 ml/T-75) is consistently about 2-fold higher than at 0.26 ml/cm 2 (20 ml/T-75). At a constant medium volume the cell yield at stationary phase is directly dependent on the amount of serum present. Thus the increased yields from greater medium volumes is probably due to a large extent on the increased amount of serum growth factor(s) present. For maximal cell yields in non-perfused WI38 cells, we suggest that routine subcultivation be carried out in medium containing10 % ( v v ) serum and at 0.53 ml/cm 2 medium of surface area.
Spatial variation in basal resources supporting benthic food webs revealed for the inner continental shelf

We used stable isotopes to examine the relative importance of phytodetritus and microphytobenthos (MPB) in supporting benthic food webs on the Louisiana continental shelf. Primary producers and macroinfauna were collected from Ship Shoal (SS), a submerged, sandy, barrier island where sediment-associated algae are primarily MPB and from silty, off-shoal areas where sediment-associated algae are primarily phytodetritus or a mixture of the two resources. Macroinfauna, as individual taxa and trophic guilds, were significantly more enriched in 13 Co n SS indicating greater dependence on MPB, which is enriched in 13C compared to phytoplankton. Using d13 Ci n a two-source mixing model, the estimated MPB dietary contribution for SS macroinfauna averaged across trophic guilds, ranged from 53.4% to 83.0%, depending on the mixing-model end-members used, and 5 of 14 taxa had lower 95% confidence intervals (CI) . 20%, indicating that MPB was a primary resource for most SS macroinfauna. Off-shoal, the dietary contribution of MPB ranged from14.5% to 47.7% and most taxa had a lower CI near 0%. Settled phytoplankton are the primary microalgal food source in muddy sediments, but the importance of MPB increases in more sandy sediments where MPB are the predominant microalgal resource. Sandy shoals play a unique food-web role in deltaic shelf systems and support benthic food webs on the continental shelf.
Global Mobile Media, by Gerard Goggin. New York, NY: Routledge, 2011. xiii + 224 pp. $39.95 hardcover. ISBN 9780415469180 hardcover.

The international scope of user practices with cell phones and emergent mobile industries is difficult to fully map. Gerard Goggin presents a sensitive overview of the worldwide shift in these user...
Metallocene LLDPE Films for Heavy-Duty Sack Applications

This article describes (1) the applications for heavy-duty sacks, (2) the technical requirements for the sacks, and (3) the films and resins used to meet the critical requirements for this industry. It also describes how the technical requirements of the sack are determined. Finally, it shows how gas phase metallocene-catalyzed hexene copolymer linear low density polyethylene resins are used to produce downgauged sacks with tailored properties to meet the needs of this industry.
Tensile and fatigue behavior of layered acrylonitrile butadiene styrene

Purpose – This paper aims to define the effect of specimen mesostructure on the monotonic tensile behavior and tensile-fatigue life of layered acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) components fabricated by fused deposition modeling (FDM). Design/methodology/approach – Tensile tests were performed on FDM dogbone specimens with four different raster orientations according to ASTM standard D638-03. Resulting ultimate tensile stresses (UTS) for each raster orientation were used to compute the maximum stress for fatigue testing, i.e. 90, 75, 60 and 50 or 45 per cent nominal values of the UTS. Multiple specimens were subjected to tension – tension fatigue cycling with stress ratio of R = 0.10 in accordance with ASTM standard D7791-12. Findings – Both tensile strength and fatigue performance exhibited anisotropic behavior. The longitudinal (0°) and default (+45/−45°) raster orientations performed significantly better than the diagonal (45°) or transverse (90°) orientations in regards to fatigue life, as displaye...
Site selective fragmentation of peptides and proteins at quinone modified cysteine residues investigated by ESI-MS

Described herein are several unique analytical applications utilizing mass spectrometry and the selective modification of the free thiol form of cysteine in both peptides and proteins by various quinones. This simple modification can be used to quantify the number of free or disulfide bound cysteines in a protein. In addition, quinone modification can also be used to easily probe the solvent accessibility of cysteine residues, which provides information about protein structure or folding state. Furthermore, the chromophoric properties of the quinone moiety can be leveraged for site specific photodissociation of the backbone. The photodissociation reveals both the presence and location of modified cysteine residues. For example, cleavage of the protein backbone of α-hemoglobin is observed selectively at a single cysteine out of 140 residues in the whole protein. This selective backbone fragmentation is accompanied by a parent ion mass loss, which is unique to the modifying quinone. When combined, this info...
Complete response in gallbladder cancer to erlotinib plus gemcitabine does not require mutation of the epidermal growth factor receptor gene: a case report

Background Gallbladder cancer typically follows an aggressive course, with chemotherapy the standard of care for advanced disease; complete remissions are rarely encountered. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a promising therapeutic target but the activity of single agent oral EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors is low. There have been no previous reports of chemotherapy plus an EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) to treat gallbladder cancer or correlations of response with the mutation status of the tyrosine kinase domain of the EGFR gene.
Amphetamine induced cerebral vasculitis

A case of cerebral vasculitis in a 39 year old male with a history of drug abuse is described. Angiographic evidence of vasculitis involving the internal carotid artery was corroborated by autopsy findings. Involvement of large elastic vessels has not been previously described in man, although it has been experimentally induced with amphetamines in animals. Amphetamine abuse appears to be causally related to necrotizing angiitis.
Hormonal and behavioral patterns of reproduction in female hylobatids.

Abstract Ovarian cyclicity, reproductive behavior, and gestation length were characterized in female hylobatids using non-invasive fecal steroid analyses and behavioral data. Progestagen metabolites were quantified in fecal samples collected for 3 months from seven females housed at seven North American zoological institutions. Mean (±SEM) ovarian cycle length was 23.1±1.5 days (seven females; 22 cycles) and was similar across individuals and species (range: 15.3–27.3 days). Gestation length in white-cheeked gibbons was 191±7.0 days ( n =2), and female-initiated reproductive behavior occurred throughout the ovarian cycle for each individual. This was the first study of its kind to use fecal hormone metabolite analysis in combination with behavioral observations to characterize female reproductive traits for various hylobatid species. These results contribute to our general knowledge of the basic biology of hylobatids, highlight the importance of evaluating both hormonal and behavioral information, and assist the management and breeding of zoo-housed populations of these endangered primates to support overall conservation efforts.
Dysfunctional lysosomal autophagy leads to peroxisomal oxidative burnout and damage during endotoxin-induced stress

Mammalian peroxisomes are ubiquitous organelles that possess a comprehensive ensemble of more than 50 enzymes. Cells regulate the number of organelles through dynamic interplay between biogenesis and degradation. Under basal conditions, approximately 30% of the peroxisomal pool is turned over daily. Recycling of peroxisomes is necessary for preservation of their functional competence, and correctly functioning autophagic/lysosomal pathways play a central role. In this study, we investigated (1) how lipopolysaccharide (LPS) influences peroxisomal dynamics and functions; and (2) how a superimposed lysosomal dysfunction affects pexophagy and modifies peroxisomal responses to LPS. We demonstrated that a transiently increased autophagic degradation of peroxisomes, pexophagy, followed by increased proliferation of peroxisomes is a default response to endotoxic stress. Impairment of autophagy due to lysosomal dysfunction, however, abolishes the above peroxisomal dynamics and results in accumulation of functional...
Androgen Receptor Repression of GnRH Gene Transcription

Alterations in androgen levels lead to reproductive defects in both males and females, including hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, anovulation, and infertility. Androgens have been shown to down-regulate GnRH mRNA levels through an androgen receptor (AR)-dependent mechanism. Here, we investigate how androgen regulates expression from the GnRH regulatory region in the GT1-7 cell line, a model of GnRH neurons. A synthetic androgen, R1881, repressed transcription from the GnRH promoter (GnRH-P) in an AR-dependent manner, and liganded AR associated with the chromatin at the GnRH-P in live GT1-7 cells. The three known octamer-binding transcription factor-1 (Oct-1) binding sites in GnRH-P were required for AR-mediated repression, although other sequences were also involved. Although a multimer of the consensus Oct-1 binding site was not repressed, a multimer of the cluster of Oct-1, Pre-B cell leukemia transcription factor (Pbx)/Prep, and NK2 homeobox 1 (Nkx2.1) binding sites, found at -106/-91 in GnRH-P, was sufficient for repression. In fact, overexpression of any of these factors disrupted the androgen response, indicating that a balance of factors in this tripartite complex is required for AR repression. AR bound to this region in EMSA, indicating a direct interaction of AR with DNA or with other transcription factors bound to GnRH-P at this sequence. Collectively, our data demonstrate that GnRH transcription is repressed by AR via multiple sequences in GnRH-P, including three Oct-1 binding sites, and that this repression requires the complex interaction of several transcription factors.
Oxygen deprivation provokes melanoma.

Melanoma may be promoted by low oxygen conditions in the skin, which turn on the oxygen-response regulator HIF-1. HIF-1 seems to act in concert with well-established oncoproteins to promote tumorigenesis—a process that responds to the drug rapamycin.
Intrathecal infusions of anisomycin impact the learning deficit but not the learning effect observed in spinal rats that have received instrumental training.

Abstract Previous research has shown that spinally transected rats will learn to maintain a flexion response when administered shock contingent upon leg position. In short, a contingency is arranged between shock delivery and leg extension so that Master rats exhibit an increase in flexion duration that lasts throughout the training session. Furthermore, when Master rats are later tested they reacquire the flexion response in fewer trials, indicative of some savings. As a control, a second group of spinal rats (Yoked rats) are given shock irrespective of leg position (noncontingent shock). These animals fail to show the same increase in leg flexion duration. Interestingly, when Yoked rats are later tested with a shock contingency in place, they still fail to learn (learning deficit). The present experiments were designed to determine whether both forms of instrumental learning in spinal animals require de novo protein synthesis. As such, we administered various doses of anisomycin intrathecally prior to training. Additionally, spinal rats were trained and tested either immediately or 24 h after test. We found that only the highest dose of anisomycin (125 μg/μl) had an effect in Yoked animals that were tested 24 h after training. Specifically, the highest dose of anisomycin reversed the learning deficit in those animals. Moreover, anisomycin had a similar effect when administered prior to training and immediately following training, but not 6 h after training. Finally, the results demonstrated that the observed effect of anisomycin was not due to state-dependency.
Interleukin-10 reduces the systemic inflammatory response in a murine model of intestinal ischemia/reperfusion.

Abstract Background . Intestinal ischemia/reperfusion ( I R ) is known to increase systemic cytokine levels, as well as to activate neutrophils in distant organs. This study was designed to investigate the effect of interleukin-10 (IL-10) on cytokine release, pulmonary neutrophil accumulation, and histologic changes in a murine model of I R . Methods . Forty female Swiss-Webster mice were divided into four groups. Group 1 underwent 45 minutes of superior mesenteric artery occlusion followed by 3-hour reperfusion ( I R ). Group 2 underwent laparotomy alone (Sham). Group 3 underwent I R , but was treated with IL-10, 10,000 units IP every 2 hours, starting 1 hour before reperfusion (Pretreatment). Group 4 was treated with an equal dose of IL-10, starting 1 hour after reperfusion (Posttreatment). All animals were killed at 3 hours, standard assays were performed for serum cytokine levels, and lung myeloperoxidase activity and intestinal histology were scored. Results . Serum cytokines (TNF-α, and IL-6), lung myeloperoxidase levels, and histologic score were significantly reduced when IL-10 was administered either before or after reperfusion. Conclusions . IL-10 reduced the severity of local and systemic inflammation in a murine model of intestinal I R when given before or after reperfusion injury. These observations suggest that IL-10 may exert its effect by blocking cytokine production and distant organ neutrophil accumulation.
SEPARATION FROM YEAST OF MATERIALS ESSENTIAL FOR GROWTH OF EXCISED TOMATO ROOTS

Three years ago the results of experiments on the cultivation of excised tomato root-tips, in vitro, for a period of one year were reported (7). From the data available at that time it was concluded that such roots could be kept growing and be maintained in apparently normal condition for potentially unlimited periods of time. The environmental complex used was shown to be adequate for all requirements of growth. Aside from possible traces of impurities in the salts and sugar used, only one factor of the environmental complex, namely, the extract of yeast, amounting to 0.01 per cent, of the nutrient, was recognized as unknown. Identification of the materials in this unknown and their replacement by known materials were considered important problems for the future. The idea that any growth-limiting material, such as a hormone, might be furnished to the culture from the parent plant was shown to be untenable. Since, however, such diverse materials as vitamines, auxins, auximones, bioses, and nutrilites, as well as biologically active sugars, accessory mineral elements, haemin, sex hormones, insulin, nucleic acids, porphyrins, and many other materials of uncertain physiological significance have been recorded as constituents of yeast, the presence of the yeast extract in the nutrient obviously represented a serious stumbling block to any definite conclusions as to the nutritional requirements of the plant tissues under consideration. The fact that Robbins (2) using a nutrient-containing peptone, "White (4) using a fibrin digest, Kotte (1) and White (4) using meat extract (Liebig), and Kotte (1) using various amino acids, all obtained some growth, suggested that the constituents necessary for normal growth might not be specific to yeast, but none of them had been identified. The work presented here was planned to throw light on the nature of these constituents.
Tension Sensing Nanoparticles for Mechano-Imaging at the Living/Nonliving Interface

Studying chemomechanical coupling at interfaces is important for fields ranging from lubrication and tribology to microfluidics and cell biology. Several polymeric macro- and microscopic systems and cantilevers have been developed to image forces at interfaces, but few materials are amenable for molecular tension sensing. To address this issue, we have developed a gold nanoparticle sensor for molecular tension-based fluorescence microscopy. As a proof of concept, we imaged the tension exerted by integrin receptors at the interface between living cells and a substrate with high spatial (<1 μm) resolution, at 100 ms acquisition times and with molecular specificity. We report integrin tension values ranging from 1 to 15 pN and a mean of ∼1 pN within focal adhesions. Through the use of a conventional fluorescence microscope, this method demonstrates a force sensitivity that is 3 orders of magnitude greater than is achievable by traction force microscopy or polydimethylsiloxane micropost arrays,(1) which are t...
Generating function identities for untwisted standard modules of affine Lie algebras

The present work generalizes to affine Lie algebras of type A,D or E the generating function identities used to construct bases of untwisted representations of the affine Lie algebra . For this, we apply multi-operator extensions of the Jacobi identity for generalized vertex algebras to the relative vertex operators associated to a dijrect sum of copies of the weight lattice of a Lie algebra of type A D or E. Then, using the properties of the δ-function, we construct mtalti-operator extensions of the Jacobi identity for relative untwisted vertex operators, and we obtain generating function identities for standard representations of untwisted affine Lie algebras as combinations of coefficients of these multi-operator Jacobi identities.
Preferential mating. Nonrandom mating of a continuous phenotype

Abstract A phenotypically determined nonrandom mating model is specified for a continuous trait controlled by a major gene. The distribution of phenotypic preferences of any particular individual choosing a mate may be specified in terms of the phenotype of the individual. The relative mating frequency is dependent on the frequency of the genotypes. Conditions for equilibria, polymorphic and degenerate, are given for a series of analytical and numerical cases. Certain classical nonrandom mating models for discrete phenotypes are special cases of the preferential mating model. However, other discrete phenotypic models do not have parallels because either the intergenotypic relationships are not geometrically consistent or the selective and assortative properties are not phenotypically consistent.
Frzb modulates Wnt-9a-mediated β-catenin signaling during avian atrioventricular cardiac cushion development

Normal development of the cardiac atrioventricular (AV) endocardial cushions is essential for proper ventricular septation and morphogenesis of the mature mitral and tricuspid valves. In this study, we demonstrate spatially restricted expression of both Wnt-9a (formerly Wnt-14) and the secreted Wnt antagonist Frzb in AV endocardial cushions of the developing chicken heart. Wnt-9a expression is detected only in AV canal endocardial cells, while Frzb expression is detected in both endocardial and transformed mesenchymal cells of the developing AV cardiac cushions. We present evidence that Wnt-9a promotes cell proliferation in the AV canal and overexpression of Wnt-9a in ovo results in enlarged endocardial cushions and AV inlet obstruction. Wnt-9a stimulates beta-catenin-responsive transcription in AV canal cells, duplicates the embryonic axis upon ventral injections in Xenopus embryos and appears to regulate cell proliferation by activating a Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway. Additional functional studies reveal that Frzb inhibits Wnt-9a-mediated cell proliferation in cardiac cushions. Together, these data argue that Wnt-9a and Frzb regulate mesenchymal cell proliferation leading to proper AV canal cushion outgrowth and remodeling in the developing avian heart.
Emergency care of the reimplantation patient

Emergency care of the reimplantation candidate involves care of the patient as well as the severed part. The part should be cooled rapidly to 0–4 C (32–39.2 F) after gentle cleansing with normal saline solution or Ringer's lactate. The stump should be gently irrigated with normal saline and pressure dressing applied. The suitability of the reimplantation candidate, chances for survival of the amputated part, and likelihood of eventual rehabilitation should be evaluated.