cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Targeting MMP-14 for dual PET and fluorescence imaging of glioma in preclinical models

There is a clinical need for agents that target glioma cells for non-invasive and intraoperative imaging to guide therapeutic intervention and improve the prognosis of glioma. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-14 is overexpressed in glioma with negligible expression in normal brain, presenting MMP-14 as an attractive biomarker for imaging glioma. In this study, we designed a peptide probe containing a near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) dye/quencher pair, a positron emission tomography (PET) radionuclide, and a moiety with high affinity to MMP-14. This novel substrate-binding peptide allows dual modality imaging of glioma only after cleavage by MMP-14 to activate the quenched NIRF signal, enhancing probe specificity and imaging contrast. MMP-14 expression and activity in human glioma tissues and cells were measured in vitro by immunofluorescence and gel zymography. Cleavage of the novel substrate and substrate-binding peptides by glioma cells in vitro and glioma xenograft tumors in vivo was determined by NIRF imaging. Biodistribution of the radiolabeled MMP-14-binding peptide or substrate-binding peptide was determined in mice bearing orthotopic patient-derived xenograft (PDX) glioma tumors by PET imaging. Glioma cells with MMP-14 activity showed activation and retention of NIRF signal from the cleaved peptides. Resected mouse brains with PDX glioma tumors showed tumor-to-background NIRF ratios of 7.6–11.1 at 4 h after i.v. injection of the peptides. PET/CT images showed localization of activity in orthotopic PDX tumors after i.v. injection of 68Ga-binding peptide or 64Cu-substrate-binding peptide; uptake of the radiolabeled peptides in tumors was significantly reduced (p < 0.05) by blocking with the non-labeled-binding peptide. PET and NIRF signals correlated linearly in the orthotopic PDX tumors. Immunohistochemistry showed co-localization of MMP-14 expression and NIRF signal in the resected tumors. The novel MMP-14 substrate-binding peptide enabled PET/NIRF imaging of glioma models in mice, warranting future image-guided resection studies with the probe in preclinical glioma models.
Commentary: Acute Effects of Exercise Mode on Arterial Stiffness and Wave Reflection in Healthy Young Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

We recently read the article, “Acute Effects of Exercise Mode on Arterial Stiffness and Wave Reflection in Healthy Young Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis” by Doris R. Pierce, Kenji Doma and Anthony S. Leicht (volume 13, 2018). This particular article was a review and meta-analysis that focused on changes in arterial stiffness and measures of pulse wave reflection in response to different exercise modalities. The aim of this commentary is to highlight, and to make note, on some of the data that was presented in their manuscript. Increases in measures of pulse wave reflection, primarily the augmentation index (AIx), and the AIx at normalized to 75 beats per minute (AIx@75), are associated with increased cardiovascular mortality and morbidity (Weber et al., 2004). The AIx is defined as augmentation pressure expressed as a percentage of aortic pulse pressure. It is influenced by the timing and the amplitude of the forward traveling wave and the reflected wave (Wilkinson et al., 2000). Following resistance exercise there appears to be a significant impact on measures of pulse wave reflection (Fahs et al., 2009; Yoon et al., 2010; Kingsley et al., 2017; Tai et al., 2018). This is further supported by the meta-analysis of Pierce et al. (2018).
uPredict: A User-Level Profiler-Based Predictive Framework in Multi-Tenant Clouds

Accurate performance prediction for cloud applications is an essential component to support many cloud resource management and auto-scaling policies. However, most existing studies on performance prediction for cloud applications in multitenant clouds are at the system level and may require access to performance counters in hypervisors. In this work, we propose uPredict, a user-level profiler-based performance predictive framework for single-VM (virtual machine) applications in multitenant clouds. We designed three micro-benchmarks to assess the contention of CPUs, memory and disks in a VM, respectively. Based on the measured performance of an application and micro-benchmarks, the application and VM-specific predictive models are derived by exploiting various regression and neural network based techniques. These models can then be used to predict the application’s performance using the in-situ profiled resource contention with the micro-benchmarks. We evaluated uPredict extensively with representative benchmarks from PARSEC, NAS Parallel Benchmarks and CloudSuite, on a private cloud and two public clouds. The results show that the average prediction errors are between 10.4% to 17% for various predictive models on the private cloud with high resource contention, while the errors are within 4% on public clouds. A smart load-balancing scheme powered by uPredict is presented and can effectively reduce the execution and turnaround times of the considered application by 19% and 10%, respectively.
Molecular Model of the αIIbβ3 Integrin

A molecular model of the αIIbβ3 integrin has been developed utilizing (i) the crystal structure of αvβ3, (ii) homology model of the αIIb subdomain, and (iii) the docking of αIIbβ3/αvβ3 dual and sel...
Triage and Prognostication of Cancer Patients Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit.

Cancer remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Advances in cancer screening, early detection, targeted therapies, and supportive care have led to improvements in outcomes and quality of life. The rapid increase in novel cancer therapies can cause life-threatening adverse events. The need for intensive care unit (ICU) care is projected to increase. Until 2 decades ago, cancer diagnosis often precluded ICU admission. Recently, substantial cancer survival has been achieved; therefore, ICU denial is not recommended. ICU resources are limited and expensive; hence, appropriate utilization is needed. This review focuses on triage and prognosis in critically ill cancer patients requiring ICU admission.
Distributed Modeling and Problem Formulation

This chapter presents the modeling for the ramp metering problem in the distributed setting. It gives a detailed description of the dynamics and presents its limitations. The chapter also presents the control problem formulations in the distributed setting. The concept of projection dynamics is used to tackle the problems associated with the model.
Saving Cities or Exploiting Creditors?: State Diversion of Municipal Assets

States that seek to resolve fiscal distress within their political subdivisions face both political and economic pressures to balance residents’ and creditors’ interests. States have occasionally engaged in strategies that subordinate the rights of creditors, frequently by removing from debtor municipalities assets on which creditors may have relied for payment. Constitutional constraints, and the Contracts Clause in particular, created a bulwark against favoritism that arguably exploited creditors through the diversion of assets in the 19th Century. In those cases, states appeared to use asset diversion to impose a holdup “compromise” on creditors. More recently, states have adopted strategies that also divert assets away from creditors. Although the initial magnitude of the diversion differs from that in the earlier cases, the ultimate effect cannot be known at the time the strategy is implemented. Thus, the more recent strategies potentially have effects similar to those that caused earlier courts to invalidate the state’s action. Nevertheless, the more recent strategies appear to be deployed to provide distressed cities with needed capital to finance the services they were created to provide rather than to limit creditor recoveries after default. The inevitable difficulty of predicting the long-term consequences of current diversion of revenues complicates the ability to distinguish contemporary from 19th Century versions of the strategy. But history suggests that judicial reactions to state-approved asset stripping depend on the court’s conception of what the state was attempting to accomplish more than on a desire to achieve doctrinal consistency or coherence.
A comparative and correlational study of self-efficacy, grit, achievement motivation and gender differences on performance

Psychological factors such as self-efficacy, grit, and achievement motivation have been heralded as powerful predictors of performance. Their joint contribution to the prediction of success has not been fully investigated, however. The purpose of this study was to examine students’ (N=156) self-efficacy, grit (assessed as the perseverance of effort), and achievement motivation, and their relationship with gender. Correlation analysis was conducted between self-efficacy, grit, and achievement motivation, and the results were found to be positively correlated with each other. There was a marked significant correlation between self-efficacy, grit, and achievement motivation but when it was compared with gender self-efficacy and grit, grit, and achievement motivation had significant differences but self-efficacy and achievement motivation did not. The findings of the present study can find implications and help in the field of positive psychology. Counselling students and helping them to increase their self-efficacy and grit through various intervention programs. Screening of an individual’s belief in himself and having the grit to achieve success in life can also be greatly influenced as the findings say.
Investigation on the Strain Induced Oxide Layer Fracture and Bonding During Cold Rolling of Aluminum Alloys

Physical bond rolling experiments of aluminum sheets have been investigated in this study. In addition to native oxides on surface of aluminum, a thick oxide layer was deliberately added to AA3xxx aluminum sheets by anodization. For better monitoring of evolution of the oxide layer during roll bonding, the anodized layer was colored with Indigo Carmine in the anodization process. A progressive reduction per pass ranging from 2 to 70% has been performed in consecutive experiments at a constant rolling speed to develop different degrees of oxide surface expansion leading to its fracture and leaving disparate oxide fragments. The evolution of the oxide fragmentation and bonding of aluminum sheets were systematically characterized as a function of deformation by electron microscopy. It was revealed that the crack width between fragmented oxides increases exponentially while the oxide fragment size decreases exponentially as a function of the reduction ratio.
Evaluating temperature dependent degradation mechanisms of silicon-graphite electrodes and the effect of fluoroethylene carbonate electrolyte additive

Abstract Understanding and overcoming the relatively high rate of degradation observed with silicon (Si)-based anodes in lithium (Li)-ion batteries (LiBs) is crucial for developing cells with increased energy density. The capacity fade of Si-graphite (Gr) electrodes in electrolytes with and without 10 wt% fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) is explored during cycling at temperatures of 25, 45, and 70 °C, focusing on the complex degradation modes arising from loss of active material, loss of Li inventory, and cell resistance growth. We first show the common half-cell testing cannot be used at elevated temperatures as the performance of Li metal overshadows the behavior of Si-Gr electrode. Symmetric cell configuration successfully eliminates the effect of foreign materials, and reveals that while the presence of FEC provides better passivation of Si, it also results in greater parasitic reactions at 70 °C and faster capacity fade. The electrolyte without FEC, on the other hand, shows higher capacity retention at 70 °C. Finally, we propose a multi-step test protocol which can successfully deconvolute the information on loss of Li inventory and of active material. By combining half-cell and symmetric cell test methods, we demonstrate that loss of active material is reduced at higher temperatures and the dominant mechanisms of capacity loss for Si-Gr electrodes at elevated temperatures is loss of Li inventory.
Profiling of mature stage human breastmilk cells identifies host-defense lactocyte sub-populations

Breastmilk is chock-full of nutrients, immunological factors, and cells that aid infant development. Maternal cells are the least studied breastmilk component, and their unique properties are difficult to identify using traditional techniques. Here, we characterized the cells in mature stage breastmilk from healthy donors at the protein, gene, and transcriptome levels. Holistic analysis of flow cytometry, qPCR, and single cell RNA sequencing data identified the predominant cell population as epithelial with smaller populations of macrophages and T cells. Two percent of epithelial cells expressed four stem cell markers: SOX2, TRA-1-60, NANOG, and SSEA4. Furthermore, milk contained six distinct epithelial lactocyte sub-populations, including three previously unidentified sub-populations programmed towards host-defense and intestinal development. Pseudotime analysis delineated the differentiation pathways of epithelial progenitors. Together, these data define healthy human maternal breastmilk cells and provide a basis for their application in maternal and infant medicine.
Maternal ambient air pollution exposure preconception and during early gestation and offspring congenital orofacial defects

Background Maternal air pollution exposure has been related to orofacial clefts but the literature is equivocal. Potential chronic preconception effects have not been studied.
A robust scheme to track moving targets in sensor nets using amorphous clustering and Kalman filtering

This paper presents a Kalman-filter-based, distributed processing scheme to track a moving target in a sensor net. There are two major new features about the proposed scheme. First, distributed processing clusters are formed amorphously. That is: no explicit control message exchanges are needed to form a cluster and elect a leader; rather, data packets are routed to a place where leaders are spontaneously generated if they pass certain threshold condition. This leads to great savings in cost associated with cluster and leader management. Second, the proposed scheme loosens the strict requirement in traditional tracking schemes that there exists exactly one cluster leader at a particular step; rather, multiple leaders can exist at the same step. This leads to more robust operation where leaders can fail due to either device or communications links reasons. Further, the creation of multiple leaders is leveraged on the one and same packet flow and no extra cost is incurred. The proposed scheme is simulated in an example tracking application and the effects on error performance of various parameters are studied
Townscape character through residents' and tourists' perception.

This study focused on the city of Shimla, a popular tourist destination in the Himalayas. It examined how tourists and residents view the city’s changing townscape character. The study concluded that if Shimla wants to continue to be a viable tourist destination, it must focus all its social, political, and economic forces on protecting its townscape character and natural landscape. Failure to do this will not only erode the city’s visual character but will create environmental degradation. Since tourism and the quality of environment are inseparable, tourism planners must link the city's present and future with its past.
The SDEF Systolic Programming System

SDEF, a systolic array programming system, is presented. It is intended to provide 1) systolic algorithm researchers/developers with an executable notation, and 2) the software systems community with a target notation for the development of higher level systolic software tools. The design issues associated with such a programming system are identified. A spacetime representation of systolic computations is described briefly in order to motivate SDEF’s program notation. The programming system treats a special class of systolic computations, called atomic systolic computations, any one of which can be specified as a set of properties: the computation’s 1) index set (S), 2) domain dependencies (D), 3) spacetime embedding (E), and nodal function (F). These properties are defined and illustrated. SDEF’s user interface is presented. It comprises an editor, a translator, a domain type database, and a systolic array simulator used to test SDEF programs. The system currently runs on a Sun 3/50 operating under Unix and Xwindows. Key design choices affecting this implementation are described. SDEF is designed for portability. The problem of porting it to a Transputer array is discussed.
Two-photon processes in faint biphoton field

Summary form only given. We report our progress in studying correlation properties of various parametric down conversion sources and in engineering the sources with the desired fourth-order field correlation function. We discuss the experimental manifestation of biphoton initiated two-photon processes in photoelectric effect, photochemical reactions, in optical nonlinear phenomena, as well as their implications for quantum imaging, lithography, and information processing.
THE PLATEAU PHASE OF GROWTH OF THE L-M STRAIN MOUSE CELL IN A PROTEIN-FREE MEDIUM. II. PROLONGATION OF THE PLATEAU PHASE BY SUPPLEMENTAL GLUCOSE.

Abstract Supplementation of glucose at the beginning of the plateau phase has been shown to extend the duration of this phase by as much as fourfold in suspension cultures of L-M strain mouse cells in a protein-free medium. The role of glucose seems to be, at least in part, one of sparing action on the cells by providing a readily available energy source. Continued cell synthetic activity also may be promoted. No net increase in cell numbers occurred. Decrease in the average cell size and loss of viability were significantly delayed while a cyclic pattern of cell size changes suggested a low level of population turnover and renewal.
Changes in Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca and 87Sr/86Sr ratios between trophic levels in two forest ecosystems in the northeastern U.S.A.

The variability and biologicalfractionation of Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca and 87Sr/86Srratios were studied in a soil–plant–invertebrate–bird food chain in two forested ecosystems withcontrasting calcium availability in the northeasternU.S.A. Chemical measurements were made of the soilexchange pool, leaves, caterpillars, snails, and boththe femurs and eggshells of breeding insectivorousmigratory songbirds. 87Sr/86Sr values weretransferred up the food chain from the soil exchangepool to leaves, caterpillars, snails and eggshellswithout modification. Adult birds were the oneexception; their 87Sr/86Sr values generallyreflected those of lower trophic levels at each site,but were lower and more variable, probably becausetheir strontium was derived in part from foods intropical winter habitats where lower87Sr/86Sr ratios are likely to predominate. Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca ratios decreased at each successive trophiclevel, supporting previous suggestions that Sr/Ca andBa/Ca ratios can be used to identify the trophic levelat which an organism is primarily feeding. The changesin Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca ratios we measured for vegetationand insects were comparable to similar measurementsmade previously (but based on single samples of eachorganism) in an alpine ecosystem. Changes in Sr/Ca andBa/Ca ratios between birds and their food have notpreviously been measured, but the values we obtainedwere similar to those for herbivorous and carnivorousmammals at similar trophic levels. Our results provideevidence that supports the use of Sr/Ca ratios in thedetermination of human paleodiets and suggests thatSr/Ca ratios may also provide a useful tool in studiesof modern food webs. Furthermore, our findings suggestthat 90Sr from nuclear fallout will notbioaccumulate in forests and that changes in Sr/Caratios between trophic levels will need to beconsidered in some cases when using87Sr/86Sr as a tracer of calciumbiogeochemistry.
Mechanism of ventricular fibrillation in man. Observations based on electrode catheter recordings.

Abstract Observations are reported on the initiation and spontaneous termination of ventricular fibrillation in man using endocardial electrode catheter recordings. The report is based on 16 patients in whom ventricular fibrillation developed during electrophysiologic study. In 11 patients ventricular fibrillation was initiated by programmed ventricular stimulation and in 5 patients ventricular fibrillation occurred spontaneously. In each patient two to five simultaneous ventricular electrograms were recorded at the onset or termination, or both, of ventricular fibrillation. In most patients ventricular fibrillation began as a rapid and accelerating ventricular rhythm in which local electrograms remained discrete and with progressively shortening coupling intervals. Degeneration of local electrograms into fibrillatory activity occurred at random and at varying times. In four patients ventricular fibrillation developed spontaneously during sustained ventricular tachycardia. In these cases there was acceleration of the ventricular tachycardia before degeneration to ventricular fibrillation. Fragmentation and disorganization in local ventricular electrograms did not appear to spread between contiguous areas, but occurred randomly in widely separated areas. In six patients ventricular fibrillation spontaneously converted to sinus rhythm. In four of these cases spontaneous conversion was preceded by sequential reorganization of the electrograms and a tendency toward increasing interelectrographic intervals. These observations are compatible with the multiple wavelet (reentrant) theory of ventricular fibrillation.
Symptomatic rupture of the graafian follicle or corpus luteum

Abstract The sudden onset of lower abdominal pain in any woman at the time when ovulation should occur (twelve to sixteen days postmenstrual) or shortly before the onset of menstruation, with or without slight fever and leucocytosis, suggests the diagnosis of ruptured graafian follicle or corpus luteum. The severity of the symptoms should be the guide in regard to operation. If mild, observation for a few hours with frequent check of the fever and leucocyte count and close observation of the patient for evidence of progressive hemorrhage is indicated. If the possibility of appendicitis cannot be satisfactorily ruled out and operation is decided upon, we favor the use of a median or paramedian incision to permit adequate exploration of the pelvic viscera. The treatment of the ovary at the time of operation will depend entirely upon the amount of pathologic change present. In the case of a small rent with mild hemorrhage, suture of the opening is adequate. In the presence of larger hematoma partial resection of the ovary may be necessary, and when the whole appendage is involved with organizing hematoma, it may be wise to remove completely the involved tube and ovary.
Personal digital rights management for mobile cellular devices

Driven by an unparalleled advance in network infrastructure support as well as a boom in the number of interconnected personal communication, computation and storage devices, the modern mobile customer experience has become increasingly compelling. Traditional barriers between the roles of information consumer and producer have disappeared. Users increasingly produce and distribute valuable and often personal content such as pictures and free or purchased copyrighted media. It becomes essential to enable user-level DRM controls for content access, data integrity and rights management. In this presentation we will overview the design and implementation of a a personal digital rights management system for mobile devices. The Personal DRM Manager enables user-defined ORCON-type controls for personal content originating in a cell phone or other mobile device. Users can transparently define, generate, package and migrate content licenses between mobile devices on-demand. Networked cellular devices cooperate in the enforcement mechanisms.
An active site–tail interaction in the structure of hexahistidine‐tagged Thermoplasma acidophilum citrate synthase

Citrate synthase (CS) plays a central metabolic role in aerobes and many other organisms. The CS reaction comprises two half-reactions: a Claisen aldol condensation of acetyl-CoA (AcCoA) and oxaloacetate (OAA) that forms citryl-CoA (CitCoA), and CitCoA hydrolysis. Protein conformational changes that `close' the active site play an important role in the assembly of a catalytically competent condensation active site. CS from the thermoacidophile Thermoplasma acidophilum (TpCS) possesses an endogenous Trp fluorophore that can be used to monitor the condensation reaction. The 2.2 A resolution crystal structure of TpCS fused to a C-terminal hexahistidine tag (TpCSH6) reported here is an `open' structure that, when compared with several liganded TpCS structures, helps to define a complete path for active-site closure. One active site in each dimer binds a neighboring His tag, the first nonsubstrate ligand known to occupy both the AcCoA and OAA binding sites. Solution data collectively suggest that this fortuitous interaction is stabilized by the crystalline lattice. As a polar but almost neutral ligand, the active site–tail interaction provides a new starting point for the design of bisubstrate-analog inhibitors of CS.
Realizing the Vision of Smart Fire Fighting

On Sunday, 30 June 2013, on mountainous terrain near Yarnell Hill, Arizona, a team of fire fighters was racing to escape entrapment from an approaching wildfire. It was a race they would not win. In the days following the event, the shocking news came forth that 19 members of the elite Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew had perished.
Search time and test anxiety in a visual location task

This study was conducted to investigate whether increasing search time in a visual location task would result in significantly different relationships between worry/emotionality test anxiety component scores and performance. Fifty graduate students were given 3.5 or 8 s to locate seven embedded geometrical figures projected on a screen. Correlation coefficients (anxiety component scores X performance scores) for the two treatment groups were significantly different for the emotionality component, r = − .73 (3.5 s), r = − .06 (8 s), z(r) = 2.8, p < .01; but not for the worry component, r = − .61 (3.5 s), r = − .26 (8 s). Recommendations include further study utilizing actual classroom situations and commercial instructional materials. Tentative recommendations for the production and utilization of instructional materials are provided.
Tsunami exposure estimation with land-cover data: Oregon and the Cascadia subduction zone

A Cascadia subduction-zone earthquake has the potential to generate tsunami waves which would impact more than 1000 km of coastline on the west coast of the United States and Canada. Although the predictable extent of tsunami inundation is similar for low-lying land throughout the region, human use of tsunami-prone land varies, creating variations in community exposure and potential impacts. To better understand such variations, land-cover information derived from midresolution remotely-sensed imagery (e.g., 30-m-resolution Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery) was coupled with tsunami-hazard information to describe tsunami-prone land along the Oregon coast. Land-cover data suggest that 95% of the tsunami-prone land in Oregon is undeveloped and is primarily wetlands and unconsolidated shores. Based on Spearman rank correlation coefficients (rs), correlative relationships are strong and statistically significant (p < 0.05) between city-level estimates of the amount of land-cover pixels classified as developed (impervious cover greater than 20%) and the amount of various societal assets, including residential and employee populations, homes, businesses, and tax-parcel values. Community exposure to tsunami hazards, described here by the amount and relative percentage of developed land in tsunami-prone areas, varies considerably among the 26 communities of the study area, and these variations relate to city size. Correlative relationships are strong and significant (p < 0.05) for community exposure rankings based on land-cover data and those based on aggregated socioeconomic data. In the absence of socioeconomic data or community-based knowledge, the integration of hazards information and land-cover information derived from midresolution remotely-sensed imagery to estimate community exposure may be a useful first step in understanding variations in community vulnerability to regional hazards.
Anti-islet autoantibodies detected by monoclonal antibody 1A2: further studies suggesting a role in the pathogenesis of IDDM.

Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) is associated with autoantibodies to several pancreatic islet antigens. We have described an assay in which autoantibodies displace a radiolabelled monoclonal anti-islet antibody. Sera from 87 % of 429 children at time of diagnosis of IDDM were positive, while sera from control groups had much lower prevalences (1.3–19 %). Sera from 41.9 % of diabetic subjects remained positive after 20 years duration of IDDM. Sera from 23.6 % of parents and 37.9 % of non-diabetic siblings were positive. Twenty relatives who subsequently developed IDDM had the same prevalence of the antibodies (85 %) as did the patients at time of diagnosis. These findings confirm that the autoantibodies detected by monoclonal antibody (mAb) 1A2 are common at the onset of IDDM and their presence prior to the onset of hyperglycaemia suggests that this method may be useful in screening non-diabetic populations. The high prevalence of antibodies in relatives reduces the efficacy for diabetes prediction, but suggests either that generation of these antibodies is an autosomal dominant trait, or that the antigen detected by these antibodies is cross-reactive with a common environmental antigen. Differentiation between these hypotheses will await the identification of the specific islet-cell antigen detected by mAb 1A2. [Diabetologia (1996) 39: 1365–1371]
Inherent resistance of HeLa cell derivatives to paromomycin

The human tumor-derived cell line HeLa S3 and nuclear and mitochondrial gene mutants derived from it are resistant to the aminoglycoside antibiotic, paromomycin (PAR). Other carcinoma-derived cells, SV40-transformed cells, and four human diploid fibroblast cell lines are all sensitive to PAR. Sensitivity is dependent on cell density, and at cell numbers greater than 400/cm2 sensitive cells will proliferate in PAR. The resistance to PAR is inherited in a dominant manner in cell-to-cell fusion hybrids, but is not transferred in cytoplast-to-cell fusions. PAR resistance is therefore encoded by a nuclear gene(s). Resistance to PAR is not caused by changes in the response to mitochondrial or cytoplasmic protein synthesis to PAR in vitro. The uptake of PAR is similar in resistant and sensitive cells, and dimethyl sulfoxide does not render resistant cells more sensitive. Thus, HeLa cell PAR resistance is unlike previously reported ribosomal mutations and may derive from differences in the intracellular metabolism of PAR.
Health disparities in medication adherence between African-Americans and Caucasians with epilepsy

Abstract Objective The goal of this study was to determine whether racial disparities exist with respect to adherence to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in patients with epilepsy. Method We reviewed the pharmacy and clinical records of 108 patients with epilepsy who were part of the indigent care program at Shands–Jacksonville. We determined the medication possession ratio (MPR) for each patient and obtained other demographic and clinical variables. Using univariate analysis we determined which variables were associated with the MPR and used multiple linear regression to determine those that best predicted the MPR. Results Compared with Caucasians, African-Americans had poorer (lower) MPRs (0.872 for Caucasians vs 0.796 for African-Americans, P = 0.02). Age, gender, high school education, epilepsy classification, seizure freedom, number of AEDs, AED copayment scheme, and number of refills were not significantly affected by race. On stepwise multiple linear regression, race alone best predicted the MPR. Conclusion Compared with Caucasians, African-Americans have significantly poorer AED adherence, as measured by the MPR.
Carrageenan is a desirable substitute for agar in media growing Trichomonas vaginalis

Abstract Several gelling agents were tested as potential substitutes for agar in media growing Trichomonas vaginalis . They were evaluated on several criteria: growth of trichomonads, normal morphology of trichomonads, buoyancy of culture, clarity of intercellular fluid, proper harvesting of trichomonads and cost-efficiency. Only carrageenan, used at a 0.3 g·100 ml −1 concentration, fulfilled all the criteria.
Local information : Better utilizing the data at hand

Today's librarians are expected to be aware of the needs of their patrons, not just at the reference desk, but also in terms of the collection. While there are several articles written about collection development and the many tools available, few address how to take advantage of local resources to develop a patron profile. The purpose of this article is to discuss local collection development tools available to librarians on their college or university campus.
Expression of Recoverin mRNA in the Human Retina: Localization by In Situ Hybridization

The localization of mRNA encoding recoverin in the human retina was examined by in situ hybridization. The riboprobe utilized in this study was transcribed from a cDNA clone containing the complete coding region of human recoverin. The riboprobe hybridized extensively with the photoreceptor inner segments, and the outer nuclear layer. Specific hybridization was also seen in a subpopulation of cells in the inner nuclear layer, and occasionally in cells of the ganglion cell layer (GCL). Recoverin-like immunoreactivity was observed in all photoreceptors, and in a subpopulation of bipolar cells. Very robust immunolabeling was observed in a small population of cells in the GCL. This study suggests that recoverin, or a recoverin-like protein, is produced by at least three different cell types in the human retina: photoreceptors, bipolars and rare cells in the ganglion cell layer.
Normal and weibull distributions

Numerous applications of the Weibull distribution in diverse fields of human endeavor are well known today. Nevertheless, it is not uncommon to find applications of the normal distribution in such fields of studies as agriculture, biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, sociology and others. At the present time we have at our disposal many more refined statistical techniques for analyzing the normal rather than the Weibull data. Consequently, it is important for applied statisticians to know if some of their data which can be described by the Weibull distribution can also be described by the normal distribution. The present investigation of the author reveals that the normal distri,bution can be considered to be a good approximation to the Weibull distribution as long as its shape parameter is in the open interval (3.25, 3.61). This fact enables them to perform a refined statistical analysis of their data. Conversely, they can now easily compute the desired normal cumulative probabilities from the Weibull distribution function, which would be especially helpful for those standard normal deviates whose cumulative probabilities cannot be read from the available tables of normal cumulative probability. In a similar situation they can also use the Weibull distribution to obtain an approximation to any desired normal deviate for a given normal probability which may be better than those obtained by the linear interpolation method.
Does the use of a glossary aid patient understanding of the letters sent to their general practitioner

The NHS Plan suggests that all patients should be offered copies of letters regarding their treatment which are currently sent from a specialist clinic to their general practitioner (GP). Previous work has suggested that this enhances patient satisfaction, but medical letters can be difficult to understand. This report concerns the production and evaluation of a lung disease glossary to enhance patient understanding of terms used within the letter sent to their GP. Non-clinical staff reviewed 219 letters sent to GPs and words not likely to be understood by patients were listed and used to produce a glossary of 133 terms. One hundred and thirty-one participants from nine respiratory outpatient clinics in a London teaching hospital were sent the glossary and a questionnaire with their copy of the letter also sent to their GP Of the 131 participants, 93 patients (71%) returned the questionnaire. Eighty-three (89%) found the glossary useful and the number of words checked ranged from 0 to 14 with a median of three words. Those who did not find the glossary useful explained that their understanding was already optimal or that the words they did not understand were not contained within the glossary. This was usually because the words related to non-respiratory comorbidities. This study confirms that the inclusion of a specialty specific glossary with the patients' copy of the letter being sent to their GP is appreciated by patients and appears to aid their understanding.
Vascular endothelial growth factor promotes fibrosis resolution and repair in mice.

Background & Aims Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)−induced angiogenesis is implicated in fibrogenesis and portal hypertension. However, the function of VEGF in fibrosis resolution has not been explored. Methods We developed a cholecystojejunostomy procedure to reconstruct biliary flow after bile duct ligation in C57BL/6 mice to generate a model of fibrosis resolution. These mice were then given injections of VEGF-neutralizing (mcr84) or control antibodies, and other mice received an adenovirus that expressed mouse VEGF or a control vector. The procedure was also performed on macrophage fas-induced apoptosis mice, in which macrophages can be selectively depleted. Liver and blood samples were collected and analyzed in immunohistochemical, morphometric, vascular permeability, real-time polymerase chain reaction, and flow cytometry assays. Results VEGF-neutralizing antibodies prevented development of fibrosis but also disrupted hepatic tissue repair and fibrosis resolution. During fibrosis resolution, VEGF inhibition impaired liver sinusoidal permeability, which was associated with reduced monocyte migration, adhesion, and infiltration of fibrotic liver. Scar-associated macrophages contributed to this process by producing the chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 9 (CXCL9) and matrix metalloproteinase 13. Resolution of fibrosis was impaired in macrophage fas-induced apoptosis mice but increased after overexpression of CXCL9. Conclusions In a mouse model of liver fibrosis resolution, VEGF promoted fibrogenesis, but was also required for hepatic tissue repair and fibrosis resolution. We observed that VEGF regulates vascular permeability, monocyte infiltration, and scar-associated macrophages function.
Enhancement of avian mandibular chondrogenesis in vitro in the absence of epithelium

The roles of mandibular epithelium in chondrogenesis and growth of mandibular mesenchyme were examined in organ cultures. Epithelium and mesenchyme were separated from the mandibular arches of chick embryos at stages before and after the onset of chondrogenesis in vivo (stages 18-28). Isochronic and heterochronic tissue recombinations were prepared. Removal of the mandibular epithelium resulted in reduced growth of the explants and enhanced chondrogenesis, resulting in increased levels of mRNAs for type II collagen and aggrecan. The presence of mandibular epithelium promoted cell division in loosely arranged undifferentiated tissue from the mandibular mesenchyme and resulted in increased levels of type I collagen mRNA. Enhanced chondrogenesis was also observed in the mesenchyme isolated with basement membrane and isolated mesenchyme grown within Matrigel. These findings suggest that mandibular epithelium has mitogenic and chondrogenic-inhibitory effects on the underlying mesenchyme that are stage independent. Furthermore, the chondrogenic-inhibitory effect of mandibular epithelium on the underlying mesenchymal cells is not mediated by basement membrane.
Chemical and GC-MS characterization of marine dissolved lipids

Abstract The chloroform-extractable ‘lipid’ fraction of dissolved organic matter in seawater was analyzed by gravimetry, liquid chromatography, gas chromatography (GC), and gas chromatography—mass spectrometry (GC—MS). Gravimetric concentrations of dissolved lipids in the Gulf of Mexico were in the range of 60–160 μg 1−1 in near-surface waters and 61–116 μg 1−1 in near bottom waters and accounted for ∼4% of the dissolved organic carbon. Over a 12-h sampling period and a 5-d sampling period extensive variability in dissolved lipid quantity and quality were observed. The major percentage of extractable weight was collected in the polar liquid chromatographic fraction (55–95%). Gas chromatographic concentrations of the aliphatic fractions were in the range of 0.014-0.187 μg 1−1. Concentrations derived from gas chromatography were consistently lower than gravimetrically-derived concentrations. A number of compounds were tentatively identified by a combination of GC, GC—MS, and authentic standards. The major components of the analyzable dissolved lipids were n-alkanes (C16C32), pristane, phytane, methyl, ethyl and propyl esters of fatty acids. Minor components included olefins and cycloalkanes, aromatics, short-chained acids, and possibly a lactone and an alcohol. All concentrations and compounds were indicative of a fairly pristine environment. The n-alkane distribution appears to be the result of marine and terrestrial inputs superimposed on a chronic low-level background of oil pollution. It is suggested that the fatty acid esters and other fragment molecules are the result of the degradation of humic substances. A number of potential indicators of source were isolated.
The Scattering of Fast Electrons by Metals. II. Polarization by Double Scattering at Right Angles

The first paper of this series discussed methods of counting fast electrons, a consideration of which has shown the need for further experiments looking for polarization of fast electrons. The present paper concerns a search for polarization by double scattering at right angles, using radium E as a source, and a sensitive gold leaf electroscope to detect the arrival of the scattered electrons, the slower electrons being eliminated from the experiment. A peculiar type of polarization appears, which can be described as follows, using the notation of previous papers. At moderate electron speeds the number counted in the configuration called 0\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} is greater than the number counted at 180\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}. This effect does not appear for very slow electrons. As the speed of the electrons approaches that of light, the above type of polarization persists, and another type appears, superposed upon the first; the number counted at 270\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} becomes greater than the number counted at 90\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}. Previous experiments of a similar nature, in which one or the other of the above effects appears, are discussed.
Glucose stimulates cAMP accumulation in the oral bacterium Actinomyces viscosus

Actinomyces viscosus T14V, a Gram-positive bacterium found in the oral cavity, was found to be insensitive to glucose-mediated catabolite repression. Basal levels of beta-galactosidase (18-26 U) were observed at all phases of growth regardless of the culture conditions. Further, beta-galactosidase could not be induced with lactose, or with a known inducer of the enzyme, isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactoside, or with dibutyryl cAMP. Glucose, on the other hand, stimulated cAMP accumulation in a concentration-dependent manner. Fructose and sucrose mimicked the effects of glucose on cAMP accumulation, whereas galactose, mannose and maltose had lesser stimulatory effects. Other carbon sources, i.e., lactose, alpha-methylglucoside, ribose, xylose and succinate were without effect. Glucose and alpha-methylglucoside were found to stimulate cAMP accumulation in toluene-permeabilized cells, in the presence of the phosphodiesterase inhibitor, theophylline. Glucose did not stimulate cAMP levels in other Gram-positive bacteria including Streptococcus mutans, S. sanguis and S. salivarius but did cause cAMP accumulation in other strains of A. viscosus. The results suggest that glucose effects on cAMP metabolism are independent of the induction of beta-galactosidase as presently defined for Escherichia coli, and that the effects appear to be selective to the A. viscosus bacteria. The results also suggest that glucose stimulates cAMP accumulation via activation of adenylate cyclase.
The Wulff Shape of Alumina: II, Experimental Measurements of Pore Shape Evolution Rates

The rate at which a facetted tetragonal cavity of nonequilibrium shape approaches a cubic equilibrium (Wulff) shape via surface diffusion was modeled. The shape relaxation rate of a facetted “stretched cylinder” was also modeled. For the first geometry, only an approximate solution based on linearizing the mean potential difference between the source and sink facets was obtained. For the stretched cylinder, both an approximate and an exact solution can be obtained; the approximate solution underestimates the evolution rate by a factor of ’2. To assess the applicability of the models, nonequilibrium shape pores of identical initial geometry (’20 mm 3 20 mm 3 0.5 mm) were introduced into (0001), {101 #2}, {112 #0}, and {101 #0} surfaces of sapphire single crystals using microfabrication techniques, ion-beam etching, and hot pressing. The large (’20 mm 3 20 mm) faces of the pore are low-index surfaces whose nature is dictated by the wafer orientation. A series of anneals was performed at 1900°C, and the approach of the pore shape to an equilibrium shape was monitored. The kinetics of shape evolution are highly sensitive to the crystallographic orientation and stability of the lowindex surface that dominates the initial pore shape. The measured variations of the pore aspect ratio were compared to those predicted by the kinetic model. The observations suggest that when the initial bounding surface is unstable, shape relaxation may be controlled by diffusion. However, surfaceattachment-limited kinetics (SALK) appears to play a major role in determining the pore shape evolution rate in cases where the initial bounding surfaces have orientations that are part of the Wulff shape.
Spectrorefractometry and absorption spectroscopy

The dispersion relationships between absorption bands and refractive index dispersion allow measurement of spectra in either domain. Absorption spectroscopy techniques have, in general, been far more advanced. However, recent techniques such as asymmetric Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and the possibility of combining tunable lasers with refractometers make very high quality spectrorefractometry possible.
Prefix codes, trees, and automata

Abstract We investigate the relations between the tree representation of a prefix code C, its patterns, the minimal automaton which recognizes C ∗ , and the homomorphic images of the underlying algebra of . These relations provide us with an appealing formulation which allows us to state (and eventually solve) some problems concerning the structure of prefix codes and therefore the structure of trees.