cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Purification of histidase from Streptomyces griseus and nucleotide sequence of the hutH structural gene.

Histidine ammonia-lyase (histidase) was purified to homogeneity from vegetative mycelia of Streptomyces griseus. The enzyme was specific for L-histidine and showed no activity against the substrate analog, D-histidine. Histidinol phosphate was a potent competitive inhibitor. Histidase displayed saturation kinetics with no detectable sigmoidal response. Neither thiol reagents nor a variety of divalent cations had any effect on the activity of the purified enzyme. High concentrations of potassium cyanide inactivated histidase in the absence of its substrate or histidinol phosphate, suggesting that, as in other histidases, dehydroalanine plays an important role in catalysis. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of histidase was used to construct a mixed oligonucleotide probe to identify and clone the histidase structural gene, hutH, from genomic DNA of the wild-type strain of S. griseus. The cloned DNA restored the ability of a histidase structural gene mutant to grow on L-histidine as the sole nitrogen source. The deduced amino acid sequence of hutH shows significant relatedness with histidase from bacteria and a mammal as well as phenylalanine ammonia-lyase from plants and fungi. Images
Attenuated Vesicular Stomatitis Viruses as Vaccine Vectors

We showed previously that a single intranasal vaccination of mice with a recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) expressing an influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) protein provided complete protection from lethal challenge with influenza virus (A. Roberts, E. Kretzschmar, A. S. Perkins, J. Forman, R. Price, L. Buonocore, Y. Kawaoka, and J. K. Rose, J. Virol. 72:4704–4711, 1998). Because some pathogenesis was associated with the vector itself, in the present study we generated new VSV vectors expressing HA which are completely attenuated for pathogenesis in the mouse model. The first vector has a truncation of the cytoplasmic domain of the VSV G protein and expresses influenza virus HA (CT1-HA). This nonpathogenic vector provides complete protection from lethal influenza virus challenge after intranasal administration. A second vector with VSV G deleted and expressing HA (ΔG-HA) is also protective and nonpathogenic and has the advantage of not inducing neutralizing antibodies to the vector itself.
Steady state relations between factors X, Xa, II, IIa, antithrombin III and alpha-2 macroglobulin in thrombosis

Abstract In health, steady state levels of factor X (FX), factor II (FII), antitnrombin III (AT3) and alpha-2 macroglobulin (A2M) are determined by synthetic and physiologic breakdown rates. Wnen FX is activated, FXa and thrombin react with AT3 and A2M bimolecularly to form complexes. In steady states simple relations define the resulting increased consumption of FX, FII, AT3 and A2M and plasma levels of free FXa and thrombin. FXa varies as ∼1/(AT3 level) and thrombin as ∼1/(AT3 level) 2 . This explains the susceptibility to thrombosis of patients with relatively moderately reduced AT3 levels. The same equations show that neparin and coumarin act multiplicatively to reduce thrombin levels and that neparin inhibits the sparing of AT3 by other antiproteases. Effects of activation of factor IX and modification of reactants by distribution in different blood phases are briefly noted.
The Use of Dorzolamide and Pilocarpine as Adjunctive Therapy to Timolol in Patients with Elevated Intraocular Pressure

Purpose: To report the results of two studies on the use of dorzolamide as adjunctive therapy to timolol in patients with elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). In the larger study, the additive effect of dorzolamide administered twice daily also was compared with 2% pilocarpine. Methods: Both studies were parallel, randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled comparisons. In the pilot study, 32 patients received 0.5% timolol twice daily plus either 2% dorzolamide twice daily or placebo twice daily for 8 days. In the Pilocarpine Comparison Study, 261 patients received 0.5% timolol twice daily plus 0.7% dorzolamide twice daily, 2% dorzolamide twice daily, 2% pilocarpine four times daily, or placebo (twice daily or 4 times daily) for 2 weeks. Patients then entered a 6-month extension period and received 0.5% timolol twice daily plus either 0.7% dorzolamide twice daily, 2% dorzolamide twice daily, or 2% pilocarpine four times daily. Results: In the pilot study, after 8 days, additional mean percent reductions in IOP for 2% dorzolamide and placebo were 17% and 3% at morning trough and 19% and 2% at peak, respectively. In the Pilocarpine Comparison Study, after 6 months, additional mean percent reductions in IOP (morning trough) were 9%, 13%, and 10% for 0.7% dorzolamide, 2% dorzolamide, and 2% pilocarpine, respectively. Patients receiving 2% pilocarpine had the highest rate of discontinuation due to a clinical adverse experience, and the use of dorzolamide was not associated with systemic side effects commonly observed with the use of oral carbonic anhydrase inhibitors. Conclusion: Dorzolamide twice daily was effective and well tolerated by the patients in these studies as adjunctive therapy to timolol. The larger study demonstrated that both concentrations of dorzolamide produce similar IOP-lowering effects to 2% pilocarpine.
Experimental Design and Data Analysis in Receiver Operating Characteristic Studies: Lessons Learned from Reports in Radiology from 1997 to 2006

Authors and readers should not refer to previous receiver operating characteristic studies without careful consideration of the strengths and weaknesses of the individual study when trying to understand or design a research study.
A BAYESIAN APPROACH TO PLANT‐LOCATION DECISIONS*

The paper addresses the problem of plant location in the formal context of decision making under uncertainty and presents a framework employing Bayesian analysis in the collection and assessment of information. As a general model, the Bayesian approach is shown to subsume two practical approaches common to plant-location literature: satisficing and spatial hierarchy of plant-site characteristics.
Epidemic quorums for managing replicated data

In the epidemic model an update is initiated on a single site and is propagated to other sites in a lazy manner. When combined with version vectors and event logs, this propagation mechanism delivers updates in causal order despite communication failures. We integrate quorums into the epidemic model to process transactions on replicated data while ensuring global serializability. We present a detailed simulation of a distributed replicated database and demonstrate the performance improvements.
Product water mass formation by turbulent density currents from a high-order nonhydrostatic spectral element model

In light of the pressing need for development of parameterizations of gravity current entrainment in ocean general circulation models, the behavior of turbulent gravity currents in the presence of ambient stratification is studied via numerical simulation, for cases in which equilibrated product water masses are formed. The main objective is to explore how the ambient stratification impacts entrainment and the properties of product water masses, which are of ultimate interest to ocean and climate modelers. Numerical experiments are conducted by employing the high-order nonhydrostatic spectral element model Nek5000. It is investigated how the separation level of the current from the bottom, the propagation speed, the salinity of the product water masses, and the transport and entrainment of the gravity current are affected as a function of the strength of the ambient stratification and the slope angle. Results show that, for the case of constant slope angle and linear ambient stratification, the gravity current separates from the bottom such that the entrained mass flux is independent of the slope angle. The entrainment mass transport, product mass transport, and product salinity then depend only on the ambient stratification, and these quantities are approximated as simple algebraic functions of the ambient stratification parameter that modify the source properties. � 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
High-resolution linkage analyses to identify genes that influence Varroa sensitive hygiene behavior in honey bees.

Varroa mites (V. destructor) are a major threat to honey bees (Apis melilfera) and beekeeping worldwide and likely lead to colony decline if colonies are not treated. Most treatments involve chemical control of the mites; however, Varroa has evolved resistance to many of these miticides, leaving beekeepers with a limited number of alternatives. A non-chemical control method is highly desirable for numerous reasons including lack of chemical residues and decreased likelihood of resistance. Varroa sensitive hygiene behavior is one of two behaviors identified that are most important for controlling the growth of Varroa populations in bee hives. To identify genes influencing this trait, a study was conducted to map quantitative trait loci (QTL). Individual workers of a backcross family were observed and evaluated for their VSH behavior in a mite-infested observation hive. Bees that uncapped or removed pupae were identified. The genotypes for 1,340 informative single nucleotide polymorphisms were used to construct a high-resolution genetic map and interval mapping was used to analyze the association of the genotypes with the performance of Varroa sensitive hygiene. We identified one major QTL on chromosome 9 (LOD score=3.21) and a suggestive QTL on chromosome 1 (LOD=1.95). The QTL confidence interval on chromosome 9 contains the gene ‘no receptor potential A’ and a dopamine receptor. ‘No receptor potential A’ is involved in vision and olfaction in Drosophila, and dopamine signaling has been previously shown to be required for aversive olfactory learning in honey bees, which is probably necessary for identifying mites within brood cells. Further studies on these candidate genes may allow for breeding bees with this trait using marker-assisted selection.
Design of a wideband microstrip patch antenna on a PBG type substrate

A new technique to widen the bandwidth of a microstrip patch antenna is proposed. A square patch antenna is printed on a thin dielectric substrate (Rogers R04003 with /spl epsi//sub r/=3.38 and substrate thickness 1.5 mm). It is demonstrated that antenna bandwidth can be improved substantially by utilizing a modified photonic band-gap type structure representing capacitive and inductive elements. Data demonstrating a bandwidth enhancement of 1.6 times the antenna original bandwidth is shown. Radiation pattern data are also presented.
Broadening the Study of the Self: Integrating the Study of Personal Identity and Cultural Identity

This article reviews what is known and what remains to be studied, regarding the association between personal identity and cultural identity. Although these two conceptions of identity have inspired separate literatures and have developed independently of one another, globalization and mass immigration have increased the need to study these two conceptions of identity together. The article puts forth recommendations for integrating the literatures on personal identity and cultural identity. These recommendations include using multidimensional constructs to represent both personal identity and cultural identity, refining the measurement of personal identity and of cultural identity, and of studying these conceptions of identity across various ethnic, cultural, and national groups.
The effective thermal conductivity of wire screen

A combined experimental and theoretical investigation was conducted to examine the thermal conductivity of layers of wire mesh screen. Employing a carefully controlled sintering process, layers of sintered wire screen were examined experimentally. The experimental results indicate that the effective thermal conductivity in the z-direction (i.e., normal to the plane of the wire screen layers) for single layer, inline structures and staggered multilayer wire screens is approximately 4–25% and 6.4–35% times that of the solid metal thermal conductivity, respectively. In addition to the conductivity of the base material, the contact conditions between the individual wires, as well as between the individual layers were found to be the most important factors in the determination of the effective thermal conductivity. In parallel with the experimental investigation, an analytical model was developed and shown to accurately predict the effective thermal conductivity of these layers as a function of the contact conditions between the wires, between the individual layers, and between the solid heating surface and the first layer of screen. In addition to the contact conditions, this new model is strongly dependent on three geometric parameters: the mesh number, M, the wire diameter, d, and the compression factor, cf. Experimental data from this and other investigations were used to verify the accuracy of the model, which was shown to accurately predict the effective conductivity as a function of the above mentioned parameters. In addition, a comprehensive literature review was performed and analyzed in order to further substantiate the validity and accuracy of this new model. The resulting conclusions highlight the importance of the contact conditions between the wires in the individual layers, and between the layers and the solid surface. � 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Acyl CoA synthetase 5 (ACSL5) ablation in mice increases energy expenditure and insulin sensitivity and delays fat absorption

Abstract Objective The family of acyl-CoA synthetase enzymes (ACSL) activates fatty acids within cells to generate long chain fatty acyl CoA (FACoA). The differing metabolic fates of FACoAs such as incorporation into neutral lipids, phospholipids, and oxidation pathways are differentially regulated by the ACSL isoforms. In vitro studies have suggested a role for ACSL5 in triglyceride synthesis; however, we have limited understanding of the in vivo actions of this ACSL isoform. Methods To elucidate the in vivo actions of ACSL5 we generated a line of mice in which ACSL5 expression was ablated in all tissues ( ACSL5 −/− ). Results Ablation of ACSL5 reduced ACSL activity by ∼80% in jejunal mucosa, ∼50% in liver, and ∼37% in brown adipose tissue lysates. Body composition studies revealed that ACSL5 −/− , as compared to control ACSL5 loxP/loxP , mice had significantly reduced fat mass and adipose fat pad weights. Indirect calorimetry studies demonstrated that ACSL5 −/− had increased metabolic rates, and in the dark phase, increased respiratory quotient. In ACSL5 −/− mice, fasting glucose and serum triglyceride were reduced; and insulin sensitivity was improved during an insulin tolerance test. Both hepatic mRNA (∼16-fold) and serum levels of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) (∼13-fold) were increased in ACSL5 −/− as compared to ACSL5 loxP/loxP . Consistent with increased FGF21 serum levels, uncoupling protein-1 gene ( Ucp1 ) and PPAR-gamma coactivator 1-alpha gene ( Pgc1α ) transcript levels were increased in gonadal adipose tissue. To further evaluate ACSL5 function in intestine, mice were gavaged with an olive oil bolus; and the rate of triglyceride appearance in serum was found to be delayed in ACSL5 −/− mice as compared to control mice. Conclusions In summary, ACSL5 −/− mice have increased hepatic and serum FGF21 levels, reduced adiposity, improved insulin sensitivity, increased energy expenditure and delayed triglyceride absorption. These studies suggest that ACSL5 is an important regulator of whole-body energy metabolism and ablation of ACSL5 may antagonize the development of obesity and insulin resistance.
Platinum-based oxygen reduction electrocatalysts.

An efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) offers the potential for clean energy generation in low-temperature, proton-exchange membrane fuel cells running on hydrogen fuel and air. In the past several years, researchers have developed high-performance electrocatalysts for the ORR to address the obstacles of high cost of the Pt catalyst per kilowatt of output power and of declining catalyst activity over time. Current efforts are focused on new catalyst structures that add a secondary metal to change the d-band center and the surface atomic arrangement of the catalyst, altering the chemisorption of those oxygencontaining species that have the largest impact on the ORR kinetics and improving the catalyst activity and cost effectiveness.This Account reviews recent progress in the design of Pt-based ORR electrocatalysts, including improved understanding of the reaction mechanisms and the development of synthetic methods for producing catalysts with high activity and stability. Researchers have made several...
Subjective Well-Being in Mexican and Mexican American Women: The Role of Acculturation, Ethnic Identity, Gender Roles, and Perceived Social Support

Latinas experience multiple oppressions and poorer mental health due to their often triple minority status as poor, female, women of color. The present study examined whether identifying with both Mexican culture and the dominant culture (bicultural), having high ethnic identity, identifying with both feminine and masculine behavior (androgynous gender role), and perceiving greater family social support predicted life satisfaction and positive affect in low socioeconomic status, Mexican and Mexican American women (n = 194). Results indicated that greater ethnic identity and greater perceived family social support significantly predicted Mexican and Mexican American women’s life satisfaction. Greater ethnic identity, greater feminine gender identity, greater androgynous gender identity, and greater perceived family social support were significant predictors of positive affect. Furthermore, as expected, social support from family was the most significant predictor for both life satisfaction and positive affect. Implications of the results and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Ste24p Mediates Proteolysis of both Isoprenylated and Non-prenylated Oligopeptides

Rce1p and Ste24p are integral membrane proteins involved in the proteolytic maturation of isoprenylated proteins. Extensive published evidence indicates that Rce1p requires the isoprenyl moiety as an important substrate determinant. By contrast, we report that Ste24p can cleave both isoprenylated and non-prenylated substrates in vitro, indicating that the isoprenyl moiety is not required for substrate recognition. Steady-state enzyme kinetics are significantly different for prenylated versus non-prenylated substrates, strongly suggestive of a role for substrate-membrane interaction in protease function. Mass spectroscopy analyses identify a cleavage preference at bonds where P1' is aliphatic in both isoprenylated and non-prenylated substrates, although this is not necessarily predictive. The identified cleavage sites are not at a fixed distance position relative to the C terminus. In this study, the substrates cleaved by Ste24p are based on known isoprenylated proteins (i.e. K-Ras4b and the yeast a-factor mating pheromone) and non-prenylated biological peptides (Aβ and insulin chains) that are known substrates of the M16A family of soluble zinc-dependent metalloproteases. These results establish that the substrate profile of Ste24p is broader than anticipated, being more similar to that of the M16A protease family than that of the Rce1p CAAX protease with which it has been functionally associated.
High Signal-to-Noise Ratio of Cr-Rich CoCr and CoCrPt Perpendicular Media

A high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) was achieved by increasing the Cr content of CoCr and CoCrPt perpendicular media. When the Cr content was increased from 22 at.% to 28 at.%, the S/N increased by 6 dB at 70 kFCI. Addition of 6 at.% Pt to the Co72Cr28 medium yielded a 2 dB higher S/N than that of a longitudinal medium. The medium noise was analyzed by using the parameters Ms, δM⊥, and medium thickness. The medium noise of both CoCr and CoCrPt media increase with the Ms value increase. The existence of an anti-magnetized area in the dc-erased track may affect the increase in the noise of the perpendicular media. There are two types of medium thickness dependence of the S/N. The Cr-rich CoCr medium, whose S/N is maximized at a large medium thickness, is expected to be used for recording densities of over 10 Gbits/in2.
Compositional Signaling in a Complex World

Natural languages are compositional in that the meaning of complex expressions depends on those of the parts and how they are put together. Here, I ask the following question: why are languages compositional? I answer this question by extending Lewis---Skyrms signaling games with a rudimentary form of compositional signaling and exploring simple reinforcement learning therein. As it turns out: in complex worlds, having compositional signaling helps simple agents learn to communicate. I am also able to show that learning the meaning of a function word, once meanings of atomic words are known, presents no difficulty.
Immunoreactive calcitonin in medullary carcinoma of the thyroid and in maternal and cord serum.

Abstract A radioimmunoassay method for measurement of human calcitonin is described. The assay is sensitive to as little as 0.032 ng. per milliliter of serum. The serum concentration of the immunoreactive calcitonin (iCT) in normal volunteers and patients with thyroid tumors other than medullary carcinoma of the thyroid (MCT) did not exceed 1 ng. per milliliter either at fasting or during calcium infusion. All patients with clinically active MCT had serum iCT concentration above 1 ng. per milliliter either at fasting or during calcium stimulation and the iCT rose with progress of the disease. In patients with MCT who were previously treated and had no remaining clinical evidence of the disease, some showed a normal serum iCT both at fasting and during calcium infusion. However, some showed high serum iCT at fasting or during calcium stimulation which may indicate residual disease. A member of a family with MCT who had normal thyroid clinically, showed high iCT during calcium infusion and surgery revealed bilateral MCT. Our data show that serum calcitonin measurement may be of value in the detection of early disease and in diagnosing metastasis of MCT before it becomes clinically evident. Serum iCT was measured in the peripheral venous and the umbilical cord serum at time of delivery in 15 normal pregnant women. Thirteen infants had significantly higher levels of calcitonin than their mothers. The high serum iCT concentration in the umbilical cord suggests that calcitonin may be an important hormone for the human fetus.
Isolation of rat telencephalic neural explants to assay Shh GABAergic interneuron differentiation-inducing activity.

Multiple assays for Shh activity using cell lines, primary cultures, and explanted tissue have been described. We first described the use of E11.5 rat dorsal telencephalic explants to assay Shh ventralizing and differentiation-inducing activity in Kohtz et al. (1). Using this assay, we subsequently showed that N-lipid modification is critical for Shh activity in the telencephalon (2). In vivo assays for lipid-modified Shh support the results of our E11.5 telencephalic neural explant assay (2). More recently, the method of isolating telencephaic explants was improved by an intraocular grid, increasing both its accuracy and reproducibility (3). Shh induces the expression of the following ventral telencephalic markers: MASH-1, the Dlx's, and Islet 1/2. Therefore, this assay for Shh induction of GABAergic interneurons defines a competent, but naive region within the E11.5 dorsal telencephalon, allowing the study of GABAergic interneuron induction and differentiation from an unspecified progenitor population.
Idiopathic Infantile Nystagmus, With and Without FRMD7 Gene Mutations

Clinical features and eye movement recordings of 90 subjects with mutations in the gene (FRMD7 group) were compared to 48 without mutations non-FRMD7 group) but with clinical idiopathic infantile nystagmus (IIN), in a study at University of Leicester, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leeds General Infirmary, Royal Preston Hospital, Addenbrooks Hospital, Cambridge, UK; Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, USA; and Medical University Graz, Austria.
Variability between credit units dedicated to dental and clinical sciences in dental schools across the USA

PURPOSE The Commission of Dental Accreditation (CODA) does not set minimum standards for clock hours of training in Dental and Clinical sciences. The purpose of this evaluation was to compare United States (US) dental schools for variability in clock hours. The current paper utilizes the American Dental Association's survey of clock hours of all US dental schools which is publicly available data. Clock hours survey from 2010 to 2011 was utilized and the analysis tool, JMP, was utilized to visualize and report variability. PERSPECTIVE The current paper highlights the large variation in clock hours of training among core clinical subjects in accredited dental schools around the United States. For example, teaching Physical Evaluations; Oral and Maxillofacial; and Oral Diagnosis and Treatment Planning were 97.0; 126.6; and 74.4 h. Moreover, upper limit for hours of Operative Dentistry teaching was 1410 h and lower limit was 129 h. Various other fields of education do enforce strict requirements on educational clock hours. For instance, Massachusetts' General Law states that both private and public schools must have 900 and 990 h in a school year for elementary and secondary schools, respectively. However, no such stipulation exists in the field of Dental Education. CODA's mission is "to serve the oral health care needs of the public" and CODA must consider if the average dental patient would consider a dentist who attended the school delivering 1410 h of Operative Dentistry to be the same standard as a graduate of the school delivering 129 h.
Thinking about a joint-use library?

Le succes d'un projet de bibliotheque a usage collectif requiert de la part des institutions impliquees une planification soigneuse et une implementation bien reflechie. La redaction d'un MOA (Memorandum of Agreeement) et d'un calendrier des etapes contribue a donner une structure au projet. L'article detaille les points qui doivent apparaitre dans le MOA.
The Prevalence of Voice Problems in a Sample of Collegiate a Cappella Singers

A large number of collegiate a cappella singing groups exist on college campuses across the United States. The purpose of this study was to collect preliminary data on the frequency of reported voice problems among a sample of collegiate a cappella singers and associated demographic characteristics. Information was obtained from 72 collegiate a cappella singers from a single academic campus using a survey instrument. Results demonstrated a past or present voice problem prevalence of 36% within the sample. The data suggest that collegiate a cappella singers are at a high risk for voice problems, with a small subset manifesting a past history of benign vocal fold lesions. The information reported in this study may be of clinical relevance to vocal health professionals who treat individuals from this population.
Kant on the faculty of apperception

ABSTRACTAlthough I begin with a brief look at the idea that as a faculty of mind, apperception must be grounded in some (noumenal) power of the soul, my focus is on claims about the alleged noumenal import of some of Kant’s particular theses about the faculty of apperception: it is inexplicable, immaterial, and can provide evidence that humans are members of the intelligible world (and so possess the noumenal freedom required for morality). I argue that when the claim of inexplicability is placed in the context of Kant’s standards for transcendental psychological explanation, it has no noumenal implications. Similarly, when understood in the context of his views about scientific explanations, Kant’s claim that the faculty of apperception cannot be understood in materialist terms has no important metaphysical payoff. The case of freedom is different, because for a long time, Kant believed that he could establish the freedom required for morality by appealing to the freedom required for thought. In the end,...
High-resolution EEG source imaging of one-year-old children

Recently we described an iterative skull conductivity and source location estimation (SCALE) algorithm for simultaneously estimating head tissue conductivities and brain source locations. SCALE uses a realistic FEM forward problem head model and scalp maps of 10 or more near-dipolar sources identified by independent component analysis (ICA) decomposition of sufficient high-density EEG data. In this study, we applied SCALE to 20 minutes of 64-channel EEG data and magnetic resonance (MR) head images from four twelve-months-of-age infants. For each child, we selected 15–16 near-dipolar independent components from multiple-model adaptive mixture ICA (AMICA) decomposition of their EEG data. SCALE converged to brain-to-skull conductivity ratio (BSCR) estimates in the 10–12 range and mostly compact gyral or sulcal cortical distributions for the IC sources.
The combination of triterpenoids and rexinoids for the prevention of experimental lung cancer

A114 Lung cancer will claim more than 160,000 lives in the United States in 2007. The 5 year survival rate in patients remains around 15% and has not changed in more than 30 years, so developing effective chemopreventive drugs is the only realistic approach to reduce the devastating mortality of this disease. We have previously shown that synthetic triterpenoids and rexinoids, as individual agents, significantly reduce the number, size and severity of lung tumors induced by the carcinogen vinyl carbamate in A/J mice. The methyl ester (CDDO-Me) of the triterpenoid CDDO (2-cyano-3,12-dioxooleana-1,9-dien-28-oic acid) is currently in phase II clinical trials for the treatment of pancreatic cancer and melanoma, and a rexinoid is being considered for phase I trials in lung cancer. Because both classes of drugs target numerous biological pathways, including inflammation, angiogenesis, and apoptosis and because new experiments suggest that these drugs target different cell types, we decided to test the combination of these two classes of agents for the prevention of lung cancer. Female A/J mice were injected i.p. with vinyl carbamate (16 mg/kg), once a week for two weeks. Starting one week after the last injection of carcinogen, the mice were fed the rexinoid LG100268 (268, 45 mg/kg diet), the triterpenoids CDDO-Me (40 mg/kg diet) or CDDO-EA (ethyl amide of CDDO, 400 mg/kg diet), or the combination of a triterpenoid and rexinoid for 16 weeks. CDDO-Me, CDDO-EA and 268 significantly (P 3 in the control group but only 3.9 mm 3 in mice fed 268, 1.1 mm 3 in mice fed CDDO-EA, and 0.6 mm 3 in mice fed CDDO-Me (P Supported by NIH grant R01 CA78814 and Reata Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Increased Extra-axial Cerebrospinal Fluid in High-Risk Infants Who Later Develop Autism

Abstract Background We previously reported that infants who developed autism spectrum disorder (ASD) had increased cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the subarachnoid space (i.e., extra-axial CSF) from 6 to 24 months of age. We attempted to confirm and extend this finding in a larger independent sample. Methods A longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging study of infants at risk for ASD was carried out on 343 infants, who underwent neuroimaging at 6, 12, and 24 months. Of these infants, 221 were at high risk for ASD because of an older sibling with ASD, and 122 were at low risk with no family history of ASD. A total of 47 infants were diagnosed with ASD at 24 months and were compared with 174 high-risk and 122 low-risk infants without ASD. Results Infants who developed ASD had significantly greater extra-axial CSF volume at 6 months compared with both comparison groups without ASD (18% greater than high-risk infants without ASD; Cohen's d = 0.54). Extra-axial CSF volume remained elevated through 24 months ( d = 0.46). Infants with more severe autism symptoms had an even greater volume of extra-axial CSF from 6 to 24 months (24% greater at 6 months, d = 0.70; 15% greater at 24 months, d = 0.70). Extra-axial CSF volume at 6 months predicted which high-risk infants would be diagnosed with ASD at 24 months with an overall accuracy of 69% and corresponding 66% sensitivity and 68% specificity, which was fully cross-validated in a separate sample. Conclusions This study confirms and extends previous findings that increased extra-axial CSF is detectable at 6 months in high-risk infants who develop ASD. Future studies will address whether this anomaly is a contributing factor to the etiology of ASD or an early risk marker for ASD.
Uterosacral Ligament Suspension

Uterosacral ligament vaginal vault suspension (USVVS) is commonly performed for pelvic organ prolapse and offers a minimally invasive alternative to the transabdominal route. Nonetheless, as with any major surgical procedure, there are complications specific to this approach. Complications common to many reconstructive procedures, including urinary tract infection, wound infection, venous thrombosis, and positioning-related neuropraxias, are discussed elsewhere. We focus on the most common complications specific to USVVS including hemorrhage, ureteral injury, bowel injury or obstruction, and peripheral nerve injury.
Preventing Wedge Deformities When Treating Intertrochanteric Femur Fractures with Intramedullary Devices: A Technical Tip

Intertrochanteric femur fractures are common injuries associated with significant patient morbidity and mortality and high societal costs. Although intramedullary devices have shown promises for treating a wide range of intertrochanteric femur fractures, improper technique can lead to malalignment, fracture displacement, and/or iatrogenic fractures. In particular, a "wedge effect" has been described, in which the passage of conical reamers and the intramedullary nail itself results in the distraction of intertrochanteric fragments with lateralization of the shaft from the femoral neck and varus malalignment. Here, we describe the mechanism by which this deformity is generated and describe techniques for preventing it, including the use of a modified starting point and an alternative to the conical opening reamers.
Indian Nationalists’ Cooperation with Soviet Russia in Central Asia: The Case of M.P.T. Acharya

While the major European powers were engaged in world war, a group of Indian nationalists were attempting to use the conflict to work toward the liberation of India from British rule. One of the main players was M.P.T. Acharya. Having left India in 1909, he joined a group of Indian nationalists. In 1915, the Germans established an office in Kabul, where Acharya was sent by the Berlin Indian Committee. After Germany’s defeat in the war, the Indians abandoned the Germans to try their luck with the Soviets, who were vying for supremacy over the British Empire in Central Asia. The first Soviet legation to Afghanistan, which Acharya later joined, arrived in Kabul in August 1919. The Soviets were hoping to export revolution to the Indian subcontinent, and the road to India lay through Afghanistan. Acharya spent two years in Central Asia working with a variety of Indian nationalists and with (and ultimately against) the Communist International; he was a founding member of the Indian Communist Party abroad and eventually its severest critic. Under the influence of his European experience, Acharya’s political views developed from proto-Bolshevik and narrowly nationalistic to international anarchism and libertarianism.
Comparing the effects of dynamic computer visualization on undergraduate students’ understanding of osmosis with randomized posttest-only control group design

This study describes the impact of embedding dynamic computer visualization (DCV) in an online instrument that was designed to assess students’ understanding of osmosis. The randomized posttest-only control group research was designed to compare the effect and the perceived helpfulness of the integration of DCV before and after the administration of an osmosis instrument. College students from three large classes (N = 640) were randomly assigned to participate in the research through an online system. Rasch-PCM was applied to determine the psychometric properties of the instrument and differentiate the student’s understanding of osmosis. Welch two-sample t test was applied to examine whether there was significant discrepancy between groups. Multiple regressions analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between predictors and the student’s understanding level, alluding to the performance on the online instrument. We found (a) the psychometric properties of the instrument with DCVs were reliable with good construct validity, (b) students who viewed DCV before they took the assessment performed better than those without, especially on solvation-related items, (c) students’ time spent on the DCVs significantly contributed to their performance, (d) the current data analytics enabled us to study respondents’ DCV navigation behavior, and (e) we summarized how participants perceived DCVs that are in the assessment. Educational implications and significance of this study is also discussed.
Repurposed FDA-approved Drugs Targeting Genes Influencing Aging Can Extend Lifespan and Healthspan in Rotifers

Pharmaceutical interventions can slow aging in animals, and have advantages because their dose can be tightly regulated and the timing of the intervention can be closely controlled. They also may complement environmental interventions like caloric restriction by acting additively. A fertile source for therapies slowing aging is FDA approved drugs whose safety has been investigated. Because drugs bind to several protein targets, they cause multiple effects, many of which have not been characterized. It is possible that some of the side effects of drugs prescribed for one therapy may have benefits in retarding aging. We used computationally guided drug screening for prioritizing drug targets to produce a short list of candidate compounds for in vivo testing. We applied the virtual ligand screening approach FINDSITEcomb for screening potential anti-aging protein targets against FDA approved drugs listed in DrugBank. A short list of 31 promising compounds was screened using a multi-tiered approach with rotifers as an animal model of aging. Primary and secondary survival screens and cohort life table experiments identified four drugs capable of extending rotifer lifespan by 8–42%. Exposures to 1 µM erythromycin, 5 µM carglumic acid, 3 µM capecitabine, and 1 µM ivermectin, extended rotifer lifespan without significant effect on reproduction. Some drugs also extended healthspan, as estimated by mitochondria activity and mobility (swimming speed). Our most promising result is that rotifer lifespan was extended by 7–8.9% even when treatment was started in middle age.
The Ny Jord Society Program

Before 1920 state support of new rural settling was only by laws and with some money. The former existed to formulate the procedures and limits of loaning and loans were available to expand the cultivated area of the nation. But not until 1920 did the state participate directly in the process. Instead it had granted funds for settling operations to one nationwide private agency, to 10 county agricultural societies, and to a few communes.
Contributions from Cross-National Comparative Studies to the Internationalization of Mathematics Education: Studies of Chinese and U.S. Classrooms

Cross-national studies offer a unique contribution to the internationalization of mathematics education. In particular, they provide mathematics educators with opportunities to situate the teaching and learning mathematics in a wider cultural context and to reflect on generalization of theories and practices of teaching and learning mathematics that have been developed in particular countries. In this chapter, we discuss a series of cross-national studies involving Chinese and U.S. students that illustrate to how cultural differences in Chinese and U.S. teachers’ teaching practices and beliefs affect the nature of their students’ mathematical performance. We do this by showing that the types of mathematical representations teachers present to students strongly influence the choice of representations students use to solve problems. Specifically, the Chinese teachers overwhelmingly used symbolic representations of instructional tasks, whereas the U.S. teachers relied almost exclusively on verbal explanations and pictorial representations, illustrating that mathematics teaching is local practice which takes place in settings that are both socially and culturally constrained. These results demonstrate the social and cultural nature of teachers’ pedagogical practice
Caregiver willingness to treat atopic dermatitis is not much improved by anchoring.

Background: Caregivers are often apprehensive about treating their child’s atopic dermatitis with a topical corticosteroid. Typical concerns include anxiety regarding side effects and the perceived...
Outcomes of Percutaneous Coronary Interventions in Patients With Anemia Presenting With Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Abstract Objective To study the influence of anemia on long-term outcomes of patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Patients and Methods The study included 5668 consecutive unique patients with acute coronary syndrome who underwent PCI at Mayo Clinic from January 1, 2004, through December 31, 2014. The patients were stratified on the basis of the presence (hemoglobin [Hgb] level, Results Unadjusted all-cause in-hospital mortality (4.6% [84 of 1831] vs 2.0% [75 of 3837]) and 5-year follow-up mortality (44.4% [509] vs 15.4% [323]) were higher in patients with anemia than in those without anemia (P Conclusion After accounting for differences in risk profiles of anemic and nonanemic patients, anemia appeared to be an independent risk factor for increased long-term all-cause and noncardiac mortality.
A framework for predicting links between indirectly interacting nodes

Link prediction is the problem of inferring new relationships among nodes in a network that are likely to occur in the near future. Classical approaches mainly consider neighborhood structure similarity when linking nodes. However, we may also want to take into account if the two nodes are already indirectly interacting and if they will benefit from the link by having an active interaction over the time. For instance, it is better to link two nodes $u$ and $v$ if we know that these two nodes will interact in the social network even in the future, rather than suggesting v’, who will never interact with u. In this paper, we deal with a new variant of the link prediction problem: given a pair of indirectly interacting nodes, predict whether or not they will form a link in the future. We propose a solution to this problem that leverages the predicted duration of their interaction and propose two supervised learning approaches to predict how long will two nodes interact in a network. Given a set of network-based predictors, the basic approach consists of learning a binary classifier to predict whether or not an observed indirect interaction will last in the future. The second and more fine-grained approach consists of estimating how long the interaction will last by modeling the problem via survival analysis or as a regression task. Once the duration is estimated, new links are predicted according to their descending order. Experimental results on the Facebook Network and Wall Interaction dataset show that our more fine-grained approach performs the best with an AUROC of 0.85 and clearly beats a link prediction model that does not consider the interaction duration and is based only on network properties.
Nanoparticle microarray for high-throughput microbiome metabolomics using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry

A high-throughput matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI)-MS-based metabolomics platform was developed using a pre-fabricated microarray of nanoparticles and organic matrices. Selected organic matrices, inorganic nanoparticle (NP) suspensions, and sputter coated metal NPs, as well as various additives, were tested for metabolomics analysis of the turkey gut microbiome. Four NPs and one organic matrix were selected as the optimal matrix set: α-cyano-4-hydroycinnamic acid, Fe3O4 and Au NPs in positive ion mode with 10 mM sodium acetate, and Cu and Ag NPs in negative ion mode with no additive. Using this set of five matrices, over two thousand unique metabolite features were reproducibly detected across intestinal samples from turkeys fed a diet amended with therapeutic or sub-therapeutic antibiotics (200 g/ton or 50 g/ton bacitracin methylene disalicylate (BMD), respectively), or non-amended feed. Among the thousands of unique features, 56 of them were chemically identified using MALDI-MS/MS, with the help of in-parallel liquid chromatography (LC)-MS/MS analysis. Lastly, as a proof of concept application, this protocol was applied to 52 turkey cecal samples at three different time points from the antibiotic feed trial. Statistical analysis indicated variations in the metabolome of turkeys with different ages or treatments.
Sub-terahertz testing of millimeter wave Monolithic and very large scale integrated circuits

Abstract Comprehensive Testing of Microwave Monolithic Integrated Circuits (MMICs) and Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) circuits is a problem of growing sophistication and importance. A commensurate problem involves the increasing relevance of hardware security, with rapidly increasing dependence of U.S. industry on imported electronics. Non-destructive, unobtrusive testing techniques are especially useful but hard to implement. In this paper, we report on using THz scanning of MMICs and VLSI circuits for testing, identification, and validation by measuring the circuit response at the pins. This technique could also be used to evaluate the reliability and lifetime of integrated circuits. This technique was demonstrated using a working and damaged MMIC with just a few transistors. For larger-scale circuits, this technique can be combined with machine learning for establishing the evolving database of the responses processed by an artificial-intelligence algorithm.
The Culture Of Health In Early Care And Education: Workers' Wages, Health, And Job Characteristics.

Little is known about the health of the 2.2 million early care and education (ECE) workers responsible for the care, well-being, and success of the approximately ten million children younger than a...
HBCUs Online: Can Students With Disabilities Access Historically Black College and University Websites?:

On January 18, 2018, U.S. Congress amended Section 508 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to hold all Title IV U.S. institutions of higher education to Level AA compliance with web access...
On stabilizer-free weak Galerkin finite element methods on polytopal meshes

A stabilizing/penalty term is often used in finite element methods with discontinuous approximations to enforce connection of discontinuous functions across element boundaries. Removing stabilizers from discontinuous finite element methods will simplify the formulations and reduce programming complexity significantly. The goal of this paper is to introduce a stabilizer free weak Galerkin finite element method for second order elliptic equations on polytopal meshes in 2D or 3D. This new WG method keeps a simple symmetric positive definite form and can work on polygonal/polyheral meshes. Optimal order error estimates are established for the corresponding WG approximations in both a discrete $H^1$ norm and the $L^2$ norm. Numerical results are presented verifying the theorem.