cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Region- and Cell-Specific Expression of Transmembrane Collagens in Mouse Brain.

Unconventional collagens are nonfribrillar proteins that not only contribute to the structure of extracellular matrices but exhibit unique bio-activities. Although roles for unconventional collagens have been well-established in the development and function of non-neural tissues, only recently have studies identified roles for these proteins in brain development, and more specifically, in the formation and refinement of synaptic connections between neurons. Still, our understanding of the full cohort of unconventional collagens that are generated in the mammalian brain remains unclear. Here, we sought to address this gap by assessing the expression of transmembrane collagens (i.e. collagens XIII, XVII, XXIII, and XXV) in mouse brain. Using quantitative PCR and in situ hybridization, we demonstrate both region- and cell-specific expression of these unique collagens in the developing brain. For the two most highly expressed transmembrane collagens (i.e. collagen XXIII and XXV), we demonstrate that they are expressed by select subsets of neurons in different parts of the brain. For example, collagen XXIII is selectively expressed by excitatory neurons in the mitral / tufted cell layer of the accessory olfactory bulb and by cells in the inner nuclear layer of the retina. On the other hand, collagen XXV, which is more broadly expressed, is generated by subsets of excitatory neurons in the dorsal thalamus and midbrain and by inhibitory neurons in the retina, ventral thalamus, and telencephalon. Not only is col25a1 expression present in retina, it appears specifically enriched in retino-recipient nuclei within the brain (including the suprachiasmatic nucleus, lateral geniculate complex, olivary pretectal nucleus and superior colliculus). Taken together, the distinct region- and cell-specific expression patterns of transmembrane collagens suggests that this family of unconventional collagens may play unique, yet-to-be identified roles in brain development and function.
Pathogenetic insights from quantification of the cerebriform connective tissue nevus in Proteus syndrome

Background The plantar cerebriform connective tissue nevus (CCTN) is the most common and problematic cutaneous manifestation of Proteus syndrome. Objective To gain insights into CCTN pathogenesis and natural history. Methods The size and location of plantar CCTN was measured on 152 images from 22 individuals with Proteus syndrome by 2 independent, blinded reviewers. Average measures of plantar CCTN were transformed into a linear mixed model to estimate proportionate change in size with age. Results Median patient age was 6.9 years at study onset. The intraclass correlation coefficient between 2 blinded reviewers was 0.946 for CCTN single measures. The CCTN relative area increased with age in children (n = 18, P AKT1 mutant allele frequency was observed (0.62, P = .10, n = 8). Limitations This was a retrospective review using photographs. Conclusion CCTN growth is affected by age and extent of the CCTN precursor lesion. Monitoring of CCTN size might prove useful for evaluating drug response in the treatment of Proteus syndrome.
100% Juice, Fruit, and Vegetable Intake Among Children in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children and Nonparticipants

Introduction The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides monthly food packages to low-income children (aged 1–4 years) in the U.S., including 128 ounces of 100% fruit juice and an $8 cash value voucher for purchasing fruits and vegetables. The fruit juice allowance translates to 71%–107% of the maximum intake recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (4–6 ounces/day). Careful examination of WIC food package allocations is necessary because overconsumption of fruit juice among young children has been linked to weight gain and juice lacks important nutrients found in whole fruit (e.g., fiber). Methods A total of 1,576 children aged 2–4 years were assessed using the 2009–2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. Multiple linear regressions were conducted in 2017 to analyze the association between WIC program participation and intake of 100% fruit juice, whole fruits, and vegetables. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between WIC program participation and the odds of exceeding the American Academy of Pediatrics maximum intake for juice. Results Adjusting for child and parent/caregiver characteristics, WIC participants consumed significantly more 100% fruit juice (β=0.22 cup equivalents/day, 95% CI=0.04, 0.40) compared with income-eligible nonparticipants, but not more whole fruits or total vegetables. WIC participants had 1.51-times greater odds (95% CI=1.06, 2.14) of exceeding the age-specific American Academy of Pediatrics maximum intake for juice compared with income-eligible nonparticipants. Conclusions These findings support recommendations to reduce 100% fruit juice allowances in the WIC program and reallocate those funds to the cash value voucher to increase whole fruit and vegetable consumption.
Laterally Asymmetric Diffusion Array with Out-of-Plane Sample Injection for Continuous Sorting of DNA Molecules

A new injection scheme is proposed and tested that allows continuous injection of sample in a molecular filtration device. This scheme can be used in many other types of devices.
Reconstruction of Segmentary Defects in Chronic Osteomyelitis Using the Combined Technique

Musculoskeletal infections remain a common problem, and the frequency of posttraumatic osteomyelitis continues to increase, despite recent improvements in orthopedic implant technologies and treatment techniques. In the modern world, individuals are exposed to high-energy traumas, such as gunshot, motor vehicle accident, and armed conflict injuries. Due to the existence of improved staging systems, antibiotics, and adjuvant treatment modalities, such as hyperbaric oxygen, the treatment strategy for chronic osteomyelitis has changed significantly over recent decades.
Empathy as Political Action Can Empathic Engagement Disrupt Narratives of Conflict in Israeli-Palestinian Relations

Democracy and peace rest on the ability of political institutions to channel conflict nonviolently. Most of the nearly two hundred states in the world today, however are not the product of negotiated social contracts. Rather, they came into existence as a result of political violence – imperialism, conquest, border wars, revolution, civil wars, anti-colonial independence movements, and the disintegration of empires. State formation thus often leaves a legacy of grievances and identities shaped in part by narratives and experiences of historical injury and victimization. Identity narratives are implicated not only in interstate conflict, but also in “ethnic” or “communal” conflicts within states. Can collective political action aimed at evoking empathy across the divide of identity-based enmity counter, challenge, or even disrupt these narratives of victimization and open spaces for the development or strengthening of identities committed to “what we have in common” as well as “how we are different,” and thus contribute to de-escalating, mitigating, resolving, or avoiding violent conflict altogether?
Taking advantage of symmetry in some quadratic assignment problems

AbstractWe propose to take advantage of symmetry that exists in some quadratic assignment instances when employing genetic or hybrid genetic algorithms to solve such instances. Such symmetry usuall...
Protecting our future generation: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial evaluating a sexual health self-care intervention with Native American youth and young adults

Disparities in sexually transmitted infections (STI) are an urgent problem among Native American youth and young adults which are not fully explained by different sexual or related behaviors. These sexual health disparities are more likely attributed to social environments and structural determinants such as a shortage of sexual healthcare providers, lower socioeconomic status, and access barriers to STI screening and treatment, including geographic isolation and confidentiality concerns. Innovative, non-clinic based alternatives to promote STI screening and treatment are essential for alleviating these disparities. Self-care, or the care taken by individuals towards their own health and well-being may be such a strategy. This study will assess the efficacy of a self-care intervention, called Protecting Our Future Generation, for increasing uptake of STI screening and impacting sexual risk and protective behaviors among Native American youth and young adults living in a reservation-based community in the Southwestern United States. The proposed study is a randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of a self-care intervention compared to a control condition. Participants will be Native Americans ages 14–26 years old who have had vaginal or anal sex at least once in their lifetime. Participants will be randomized to the intervention which includes: 1) a sexual health self-assessment with embedded clinical prediction tool predicting STI positivity, and 2) personalized messaging with key steps to lower risk for STIs, or the control condition which includes: 1) a self-assessment about water, soda and sugar sweetened beverage consumption, and 2) personalized messaging to meet recommended daily intake. All participants will be offered a self-administered STI test. Participants will complete assessments at baseline, 3- and 6-months follow-up. The primary outcome measure is completion of STI screening. Protecting Our Future Generation is among the first self-care interventions uniquely focused on sexual health among a Native American population, who endure significant sexual health disparities and are under-represented in research. If efficacious, the intervention will be a model of sexual health self-care for Native American youth and young adults adaptable for use in healthcare and community-based settings. Clinical Trials: http://clinicaltrials.gov; NCT03895320; Registered 03/28/2019.
Peripheral Nerve Stimulation

Peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) is a safe, adjustable, and reversible treatment option for patients with medically refractory neuropathic pain localized to the distribution of a peripheral nerve. Since its initial introduction in the 1960s following the development of the gate control theory, PNS has been used to treat chronic neuropathic pain in the craniofacial area, the trunk, and the extremities. It is based on the discovery that stimulation of a peripheral nerve activates large-diameter fibers preferentially over smaller diameter pain fibers, resulting in the mitigation of centrally perceived pain. In the decades since its initial clinical application, the electrodes and stimulation parameters employed have continued to evolve. More recently, paresthesia-free stimulation has been described through novel stimulation paradigms including burst and high-frequency stimulation. Currently, in most cases, spinal cord stimulator systems are adapted for peripheral nerve stimulation with the use of multi-contact percutaneous leads placed in proximity to the targeted nerve, although novel purpose-specific PNS systems have begun to emerge. Recently, transcutaneous powered systems specifically designed for PNS have become available. In this chapter, we primarily discuss the physiology of peripheral sensory nerves, theories of pain perception, biophysics of PNS, and clinical applications. In addition, we briefly discuss how peripheral nerve stimulation can modulate central nervous system pathology, with attention given to the treatment of epilepsy and depression.
Big Federal Data Centers Implementing FAIR Data Principles: ARM Data Center Example

Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) is a multi-laboratory/multi-institutional, US Department of Energy Office of Science National User Facility. ARM’s data is currently hosted at the ARM Data Center (ADC) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The ADC holds more than 12,000 data products, with a total holding of more than 1.8 PB of data that dates back to 1992. This includes data from instruments, value-added products, model outputs, field campaigns, and principle investigator contributed data. In this paper, we discuss how big federal scientific data centers, such as ARM, that use modern and scalable architecture apply findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) data principles to improve overall efficiency. These principles mainly emphasize machine-to-machine interactions that are directly applicable to ARM because of its data volume.
Resolution of Issues Related to Proxy Decision Making

The content of this brief final chapter has been organized around two goals. First, the critique of mainstream accounts of proxy decision making and the minimal-risk controversy, both previously discussed, will be revisited in the light of the fundamental principles of objective morality as laid out by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. These principles relate to the objective human good and aim at the protection of human dignity. As such they include objective truth, in particular absolute moral norms prohibiting intrinsically evil acts, together with conscience and virtue. While enlarging upon these principles, I will also refer to a number of major consent-related issues that impair both the human-rights documents and some of the analyses of informed consent addressed in previous chapters. In doing so, I will also provide a brief summary highlighting major moral issues detected in the course of this study.
Guarantee of Harmful Gamma Radiation Absence as Part of the Consumer Information Rights: A Behavioural Experiment under a Public Health Perspective

Gamma radioactivity produced by human technology is the most dangerous industrial product to life. Two recent global catastrophic events in which nuclear plants were involved, separated only by 25 years, have confirmed that, independently of the usage of nuclear weapons, achieving the 100% of security in the nuclear energy management was and still is a complete unrealistic idea. Although the guarantee of offering information of food and drink products quality concerning the date of expiry or the ingredients content is nowadays stipulated in laws around many countries, this is not the case of the radiation safety. An important investment to offer information concerning gamma radiation safety conditions in food and drink products offered by markets, which also could help to localize quickly, possible radioactive slight incidents, is here discussed. The implementation of a previous consumer-behaviour experiment in markets is also suggested.
A Non-volatile View of Site-Specific Adsorption and Dynamics of VOCs and CO2

Molecular adsorption—the process in which small molecules adhere to a surface—typically considers homogeneous, atomistically continuous, flat geometries. In this issue of Matter, Reimer and colleagues tackle a much more complex situation of volatile organic compounds and carbon dioxide on hierarchical nanoporous carbon with multiscale pores, resolving and characterizing phase-dependent site-specific dynamics via nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).
Access, barriers, and decisional regret in pursuit of fertility preservation among transgender and gender-diverse individuals.

Objective To query transgender and gender-diverse individuals on their desire for fertility preservation, perceived barriers to access care, and decisional regret. Design Cross-sectional. Setting Not applicable. Patient(s) A total of 397 gender-diverse individuals undergoing intake to the University of California Los Angeles Gender Health Program from January 2018 to March 2019. Seventy participated in a follow-up survey from September to October 2019 clarifying reproductive desires or intentions. Intervention Multiple-choice questionnaire. Main Outcome Measure(s) Perceived barriers to access fertility preservation and decisional regret surrounding choice to pursue fertility preservation as measured with the use of the validated Decision Regret Scale (scored 0 to 100). Result(s) Barriers to accessing care were primarily cost of treatment (36%), discontinuation/delay of hormonal therapy (19%), or worsening of gender dysphoria with treatment/pregnancy (11%). Respondents indicated that their family planning goals were addressed by primary care providers and/or medical endocrinologists (multiple responses allowed), but 37% stated that their family planning goals were not adequately addressed. Those who had made a firm decision to pursue or not pursue fertility treatment had mild decisional regret. Moderate-to-severe decisional regret was noted in those who were undecided regarding the pursuit of fertility perseveration before transition and in those who were interested in referral to reproductive endocrinology. Conclusion(s) Consultation with a reproductive endocrinologist may reduce decisional regret as well as clarify perceived barriers to fertility preservation in transgender and gender-diverse individuals interested in fertility preservation.
Forecasting eco-evolutionary dynamics in the Northern Blue butterfly (Lycaeides idas)

Natural selection can drive rapid evolutionary change, particularly in human-altered habitats. Rapid adaptation to global change requires standing genetic variation for ecologically important traits, but at present little is known about how much relevant genetic variation most populations possess. With this in mind, we began a long term study of genome-wide molecular evolution in a series of natural butterfly populations in the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) in 2012 to quantify the contribution of environment-dependent natural selection to evolution in these butterfly populations, and determine whether selection varies enough across space and time to maintain variation that could facilitate adaptation to global change. In 2018, we visited 11 focal populations to collect samples for DNA, estimate population sizes (using distance sampling and mark-release-recapture methods), and survey arthropod communities at the sites. Our analyses are ongoing, and this is a preliminary report, but thus far we have found that census population sizes are much higher than contemporary effective population sizes (though these metrics are highly correlated), and that both are independent of genetic diversity levels. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that selection plays a central role in eco-evolutionary dynamics in this system. Featured photo from Figure 1 in report.
Civil Engineering Esthetics—State-of-the-Art

Professional societies recommend and courts, laws and governmental regulations require consideration of environmental impact statements for larger projects affecting the natural and man-made enviro...
The Story of Wheaton v. Peters: A Curious Chapter in the History of Judicature

This chapter, an invited contribution to IP Stories, explores the backstory, as well as the doctrinal takeaways, from Wheaton v. Peters, the first great U.S. copyright case, decided in 1834. The saga involves a legal battle between the U.S. Supreme Court’s third and fourth Reporters of Decisions, Henry Wheaton and Richard Peters, Jr., as to who owned what copyright interests in the contents of early volumes of Supreme Court reports. The piece recounts events before, during, and after the decision in Wheaton, including a heated dispute on the bench itself on the day the opinions were handed down, and provides a detailed analysis of the doctrines those opinions discussed (statutory right vs. natural law, the importance of statutory formalities and, of course, copyright ownership in judicial reports). The chapter features a host of famous players, including Noah Webster of spelling book and dictionary fame, Supreme Court Justices John Marshall and Joseph Story, as well as all four of the Court's early Reporters - Alexander Dallas, William Cranch, Wheaton, and Peters - who together preserved for posterity the opinions of the Nation's Court. The title of the chapter is taken from a remark by Wheaton himself years later: “The incidents attending this case, should they ever be given to the world, would form a curious chapter in the history of judicature & indeed of human nature.” Note: This piece expands and updates the author’s earlier article, The Rise of the Supreme Court Reporter: An Institutional Perspective on Marshall Court Ascendancy, 83 Mich. L. Rev. 1291 (1985).
A Fully-Synthesizable Fast-Response Digital LDO Using Automatic Offset Control and Reuse

This paper proposes a fully synthesizable digital low-dropout (DLDO) regulator using an automatic offset control and reuse technique implemented in a 65-nm CMOS technology. To realize the fully synthesizable DLDO design, all components of core blocks are made with standard logic cells. The proposed offset control and reuse technique is adopted to cancel the offset voltage from the logic cells automatically, to provide the adaptive equivalent thresholds for the voltage comparison window, and to speed up the dropout voltage response. Besides, the modified comparator-triggered oscillator introduces the output of the comparator to the oscillation loop to choose the optimum clock edge in the delay line to feed back, which ensures both of the fast response and enough time margin for the comparator delay at the same time. The core area of the output-capacitance-less DLDO is 0.027 mm2. The simulated results show that a 100 mA step in load current produces a voltage drop of 140 mV with the response time of 1.2 ns. The steady-state error is less than 4 mV. The peak current efficiency is 99.9%.
Deconvolution in non-minimum phase microwave instrumentation circuits

Transfer function model-based deconvolution offers many advantages over transform-based deconvolution. These advantages are most evident in high-frequency systems which are difficult to characterize by spectrum analyzer data or by pulse tests due to the difficulty in generating test signals with sufficient energy at high frequencies. However, transfer function model-based deconvolution techniques become unstable when applied to nonminimum phase systems. This instability problem is solved through a novel technique in which the unstable poles are reflected about the unit circuit to make them stable; the data are then run through the resulting deconvolver in the reverse direction. Using computer simulations it is shown that this technique solves the instability problem, and offers results equal to or better than transform-based deconvolution techniques. Application of the approach to a 5-GHz measurement system used by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has confirmed its use with actual data. >
Measures in Intervention Research with Young Children Who Have Autism

In this paper, the outcome measures used in intervention research with young children with autism were analyzed. Two types of literature were reviewed: reports evaluating specific intervention practices and reports of complete intervention programs. A description of the types of measures used in each literature source and measurement practices reported were analyzed and described. In addition, the intervention program literature was reviewed to determine whether factors that may mediate outcomes were measured. Finally, the literature was reviewed to identify instances in which multiple risk and opportunity factors were analyzed to account for variations in outcomes.
Acquired Antibody-Mediated Immunity to Fungi

The importance of antibody-mediated immunity (AMI) for resistance to fungal disease has not been rigorously examined for most clinically relevant fungi. Information from the fungi that have been studied suggests that AMI can play an immunoregulatory role. Despite uncertainty about the importance of AMI in natural resistance to fungi, the efficacy of antibody (Ab) against Cryptococcus neoformans, Candida albicans, Histoplasma capsulatum, and Pneumocystis jiroveci is now established in experimental models. The demonstration that Ab can mediate protection against these fungi provides proof of the principle that AMI can be effective against medically relevant fungi. A human monoclonal Ab (MAb) to glucuronoxylomannan (GXM) produced from lymphocytes of a volunteer GXM-tetanus toxoid (TT) recipient reacted with all four GXM serotypes, albeit better with serotypes D and A. MAbs produced from human immunoglobulin (Ig) transgenic mice were largely specific for serotype D GXM but were reactive with serotype A C. neoformans cells, suggesting differential expression of the epitope(s) they recognize. Proof of the principle that AMI can prolong survival and enhance host immune mechanisms against experimental cryptococcosis fueled a paradigm shift that has resulted in reconsideration of Ab-based therapies for many infectious diseases. Protective and nonprotective Abs to Candida represent another system in which anti-fungal Abs can be distinguished by their structure and specificity and further clarifies the basis of historical difficulties in establishing the efficacy of sera against fungi.
Effects of Tunicamycin on Rotavirus Morphogenesis and Infectivity

The functions of the two rotavirus glycoproteins were investigated by using tunicamycin and a variant of SA11 rotavirus having nonglycosylated VP7. Results showed that glycosylation of VP7 is not required for normal viral morphogenesis and infectivity and suggested that the nonstructural glycoprotein is involved in assembly of the outer capsid.
Rugged spectroscopic calibration using neural networks

One of the greatest obstacles to wide spread adoption of multivariate spectroscopic assays for process control is the lack of ruggedness with respect to changes in instrument response. In the course of applying backpropagation artificial neural networks to a wide range of spectroscopic calibration applications we have found that neural networks have a tendency to overfit calibration data sets. Networks that overfit calibration data sets give poor predictive performance and exhibit sensitivity to small measurement errors on future samples. In addition, retraining after random initialization to new values does not converge to the same result when the quasi-Newton optimization method is employed. This behavior is due in part to the very large number of parameters being optimized and noise in the optimization surface. We have recently devised a training strategy to develop rugged calibrations that utilizes the tendency of neural networks to converge to different results. A rugged calibration is one which we hypothesize is insensitive to slight changes in instrument response due to wavelength calibration errors, baseline offsets or path-length changes.
Receptor Editing in B Cells

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the essential facts related to the organization of immunoglobulin genes, V(D)J recombination, and B-cell development. The chapter also presents how signals from the antigen receptor influence gene rearrangements during development, tolerance-induction, and immunity. The classical view of the immune system is that lymphocytes, like individuals in a natural animal population, have preexisting genetic diversity upon which selection can act. According to this Darwinian view, the selected growth or death of clones regulates immune specificity. The chapter additionally reviews the evidence, derived primarily from studies of mouse B cells, that a second mechanism of immune regulation, receptor selection, can modify the lymphocyte repertoire by regulating the receptor gene diversification mechanism itself. However, if antigen-specific positive selection is associated with the cessation of V(D)J recombination in B cells, then allelic inclusion would be predicted to occur frequently among normal B cells in vivo (as is the case for TCRa exclusion in T cells). On the contrary, there is substantial evidence from the study of autoantibody transgenic mice that negative selection (i.e., tolerance mediated by encounter with self-antigens) blocks developmental progression and prevents recombinase downregulation.
Ruminal Microbial Protein Synthesis in Sheep Fed Forages of Varying Nutritive Values

Six wethers, fitted with ruminal and duodenal cannulae, were utilized in a 6 x 6 Latin Square metabolism trial to determine efficiency of microbial protein synthesis in the rumen of sheep fed forages with varying nutritional quality. Ground alfalfa hay, oat-berseem clover hay, and baled corn crop residues were fed at an ad libitum or limited intake level. Chromium-mordanted fiber, cobalt- EDTA, and purines were used to determine digesta flow and solid passage rate, dilution rate, and microbial protein production, respectively. Sheep fed alfalfa hay had greater organic matter (OM) intakes, and amounts of OM apparently and truly ruminally digested (g/d; P < .05) than sheep fed either oat-berseem clover or corn crop residues at the ad libitum intake level. Rates of slow solid and liquid passage, and postfeeding ruminal ammonia-nitrogen (N) and volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentrations were lower (P < .05) in sheep fed corn crop residues than those fed alfalfa or oat-berseem clover hay. Total duodenal flows (g/d) and efficiencies of ruminal synthesis (g crude protein/100 g of OM truly digested; P < .05) of microbial protein were less in sheep fed corn crop residues than in sheep fed alfalfa, and oatberseem clover ad libitum. Whereas total duodenal microbial-N flow was related to organic matter intake (OMI; r2 = .97) and OM truly digested in the rumen (OMTDR; r2 = .97), microbial efficiency was related to g of nitroge truly digested in the rumen (NTDR)/100 g of OMTDR (r2 = .82) and slow solid passage rate (r2 = .91).
Nutation Theory for a Non-Rigid Earth: Present Status and Future Prospects

The 1980 IAU nutation series includes effects of the Earth’s non-rigidity. Certain simplifying assumptions were made in the model, including that the Earth is elastic and hydrostatically pre-stressed. The rationale was that geophysicists didn’t understand the Earth well enough to justify a relaxation of those assumptions, and that the nutation observations were not accurate enough to detect the difference, anyway. Geophysicists are still not able to construct a more accurate model that is independent of the nutation observations, themselves. But, the observations have improved enormously. Recent results obtained from VLBI data show discrepancies with the IAU model of close to 2 milliseconds of arc: many times the observational uncertainty. Thus, the nutation observations are beginning to tell us things about the Earth that cannot presently be inferred as accurately from other techniques. I will discuss some of these possible geophysical applications. Among them are the shape and internal structure of the core, and the Earth’s anelasticity.
The Influence of Uncertain Map Features on Risk Beliefs and Perceived Ambiguity for Maps of Modeled Cancer Risk from Air Pollution

Maps are often used to convey information generated by models, for example, modeled cancer risk from air pollution. The concrete nature of images, such as maps, may convey more certainty than warranted for modeled information. Three map features were selected to communicate the uncertainty of modeled cancer risk: (i) map contours appeared in or out of focus, (ii) one or three colors were used, and (iii) a verbal-relative or numeric risk expression was used in the legend. Study aims were to assess how these features influenced risk beliefs and the ambiguity of risk beliefs at four assigned map locations that varied by risk level. We applied an integrated conceptual framework to conduct this full factorial experiment with 32 maps that varied by the three dichotomous features and four risk levels; 826 university students participated. Data was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Unfocused contours and the verbal-relative risk expression generated more ambiguity than their counterparts. Focused contours generated stronger risk beliefs for higher risk levels and weaker beliefs for lower risk levels. Number of colors had minimal influence. The magnitude of risk level, conveyed using incrementally darker shading, had a substantial dose-response influence on the strength of risk beliefs. Personal characteristics of prior beliefs and numeracy also had substantial influences. Bottom-up and top-down information processing suggest why iconic visual features of incremental shading and contour focus had the strongest visual influences on risk beliefs and ambiguity. Variations in contour focus and risk expression show promise for fostering appropriate levels of ambiguity.
An unusual vascular impression on the renal pelvis

In a female patient who presented with the complaint of dysuria, angiography was required to distinguish a vascular impression on the renal pelvis from a possible tumor or calculus. Neither intravenous urography nor retrograde pyelogram clarified the smooth filling defect sufficiently to rule out the possibility of a urothelial tumor.
Updating exact P- values for the conditional likelihood ratio test of independence

We consider the exact likelihood ratio test of independence conditioned on row and column margins in an r × c contingency table with multinomial sampling. We develop an update algorithm to compute the exact Pvalue of the test and show it is better than the network algorithm in terms of computing speed. In the algorithm the P-value is reduced to a sum of probabilities for 2 × 2 contingency tables, which we compute using the hyper-geometric distribution. The same algorithm can also be used for testing homogeneity of independent multinomial populations.
Experimenter Philosophy: the Problem of Experimenter Bias in Experimental Philosophy

It has long been known that scientists have a tendency to conduct experiments in a way that brings about the expected outcome. Here, we provide the first direct demonstration of this type of experimenter bias in experimental philosophy. Opposed to previously discovered types of experimenter bias mediated by face-to-face interactions between experimenters and participants, here we show that experimenters also have a tendency to create stimuli in a way that brings about expected outcomes. We randomly assigned undergraduate experimenters to receive two different hypotheses about folk intuitions of consciousness, and then asked them to design experiments based on their hypothesis. Specifically, experimenters generated sentences ascribing intentional and phenomenal mental states to groups, which were later rated by online participants for naturalness. We found a significant interaction between experimenter hypothesis and participant ratings indicating a general tendency for experimenters to obtain the result that they expected. These results indicate that experimenter bias is a real problem in experimental philosophy since the methods and design employed here mirror the predominant survey methods of the field as a whole. The bearing of the current results on Knobe and Prinz’s (Phenomenology and Cognitive Science 7(1):67–83, 2008) group mind hypothesis is discussed, and new methods for avoiding experimenter bias are proposed.
A novel phenotypic marker for ATM-deficient 129S6/SvEvTac-ATMtm1Awb/J mice.

Ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) is a human autosomal recessive disorder characterized by neuronal degeneration as well as many other physiological and somatic defects. ATM (A-T, mutated), the gene mutated in A-T, encodes a 370 kDa protein kinase. ATM knockout mouse models (ATM−/−) show growth retardation, infertility, neurological dysfunction, defects in T-lymphocytes, and extreme sensitivity to ionizing radiation. We have recently established multiple ATM+/− breeding pairs and discovered that all ATM−/− offspring exhibit a nonpigmented section of tail, usually at or near the tip. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a phenotype of nonpigmented tail has been reported in ATM−/− knockout mice. We believe that the sections of nonpigmented tail of 129S6/SvEvTac-ATMtm1Awb/J mice provide a novel phenotypic marker for research using this ATM knockout mouse model. Results from histochemistry and immunoblotting analysis further demonstrate that while melanocyte precursors or melanoblasts are present in the nonpigmented tail tissue of ATM−/− mice, they fail to differentiate fully into mature melanocytes. The potential connection between this phenotype and other clinical symptoms caused by ATM deficiency, such as progressive neuronal degeneration, is discussed in this article. Anat Rec, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Detecting genotype combinations that increase risk for disease: Maternal-Fetal genotype incompatibility test

Biological mechanisms that involve gene-by-environment interactions have been hypothesized to explain susceptibility to complex familial disorders. Current research provides compelling evidence that one environmental factor, which acts prenatally to increase susceptibility, arises from a maternal-fetal genotype incompatibility. Because it is genetic in origin, a maternal-fetal incompatibility is one possible source of an adverse environment that can be detected in genetic analyses and precisely studied, even years after the adverse environment was present. Existing statistical models and tests for gene detection are not optimal or even appropriate for identifying maternal-fetal genotype incompatibility loci that may increase the risk for complex disorders. We describe a new test, the maternal-fetal genotype incompatibility (MFG) test, that can be used with case-parent triad data (affected individuals and their parents) to identify loci for which a maternal-fetal genotype incompatibility increases the risk for disease. The MFG test adapts a log-linear approach for case-parent triads in order to detect maternal-fetal genotype incompatibility at a candidate locus, and allows the incompatibility effects to be estimated separately from direct effects of either the maternal or the child's genotype. Through simulations of two biologically plausible maternal-fetal genotype incompatibility scenarios, we show that the type-I error rate of the MFG test is appropriate, that the estimated parameters are accurate, and that the test is powerful enough to detect a maternal-fetal genotype incompatibility of moderate effect size.
Testing equality of conditionally jfclhwdqw exponential distributions

For the models given V = v (a common random stress), X and Y are independently exponentially distributed with failure rates λ1and λ2v, testing H0λ1λ2using a random ‘paired’ sample is considered. It is shown that a uniformly most powerful invariant test does not exist even for one sided alternatives; locally most powerful invariant tests are derived and compared with existing procedures. The method is illustrated with reliability data. Finally, the robustness of the tests when the relationships of the failure rates to V is more complex are established.
Endothelial-astrocytic interactions in acute liver failure

Brain edema and the subsequent increase in intracranial pressure are major neurological complications of acute liver failure (ALF), and swelling of astrocytes (cytotoxic brain edema) is the most prominent neuropathological abnormality in ALF. Recent studies, however, have suggested the co-existence of cytotoxic and vasogenic mechanisms in the brain edema associated with ALF. This review 1) summarizes the nature of the brain edema in humans and experimental animals with ALF; 2) reviews in vitro studies supporting the presence of cytotoxic brain edema (cell swelling in cultured astrocytes); and 3) documents the role of brain endothelial cells in the development of astrocyte swelling/brain edema in ALF.
A nonstandard finite difference scheme for contaminant transport with kinetic langmuir sorption

This study focuses on a contaminant transport model with Langmuir sorption under nonequilibrium conditions. The numerical instabilities of the standard finite difference schemes including the upwind method are investigated. By using the nonstandard finite difference method, a better finite difference model is constructed. The numerical simulation on a specific system configuration proves the advantages of the new finite difference model. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 27: 767–785, 2011
Computer simulation of human blood flow and vascular resistance

Abstract Organ blood flows and associated vascular resistances have been investigated through the use of a Microsoft® WindowsTM-compatible computer program which employs Monte Carlo simulations based on the system's principal components. This approach replicates the system's behavior by maintaining proper correlations between all variables in the system as well as allowing for modulation of the system by its inherent uncertainties. By applying various external constraints, such as a specific age, weight, height and/or blood pressure, the simulations allow for insights to be obtained about the behavior of individual patients. In particular, patient specific organ blood flows and associated vascular resistances can be determined as a function of a patient's age, weight, height and blood pressure.
Collider Constraints on Dipole-Interacting Dark Matter

Dark matter which interacts through a magnetic or electric dipole moment is an interesting possibility which may help resolve the discrepancy between the DAMA annual modulation signal and the null results of other searches. In this article we examine relic density and collider constraints on such dark matter, and find that for couplings needed to explain DAMA, the thermal relic density is generically in the right ballpark to account for cosmological measurements. Collider constraints are relevant for light WIMPs, but less constraining that direct searches for masses above about 10 GeV.
Economic and environmental life cycle analysis of solar hot water systems in the United States

Abstract This paper evaluates the solar water heating systems for the U.S. typical residential buildings, from the energetic, economic and environmental perspectives, and includes two different types of solar collectors (i.e. flat-plate and evacuated-tube solar collectors), two types of auxiliary systems (i.e. natural gas and electricity), and three different locations (i.e. Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Chicago). The performance of solar water heating systems is also compared with conventional systems that use either natural gas or electricity. The results showed that the flat-plate solar water heating systems using natural gas auxiliary heater has the best performance among all the types and at all locations. The energetic and environmental payback periods for solar water heating systems are less than half of a year, and the life cycle cost payback for solar water heating systems vary from 4 to 13 years for different cities and different configurations when using the conventional electrical water heating system in each city as the benchmark. For a representative case, i.e. flat-plate solar water heating system with natural gas auxiliary heater in Atlanta, sensitivity analysis shows that the daily hot water use has the most significant effects on energetic, environmental and economic performance.
Identification of an Atypical Membrane Protein Involved in the Formation of Protein Disulfide Bonds in Oxygenic Photosynthetic Organisms

The evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis in cyanobacteria nearly three billion years ago provided abundant reducing power and facilitated the elaboration of numerous oxygen-dependent reactions in our biosphere. Cyanobacteria contain an internal thylakoid membrane system, the site of photosynthesis, and a typical Gram-negative envelope membrane system. Like other organisms, the extracytoplasmic space in cyanobacteria houses numerous cysteine-containing proteins. However, the existence of a biochemical system for disulfide bond formation in cyanobacteria remains to be determined. Extracytoplasmic disulfide bond formation in non-photosynthetic organisms is catalyzed by coordinated interaction between two proteins, a disulfide carrier and a disulfide generator. Here we describe a novel gene, SyndsbAB, required for disulfide bond formation in the extracytoplasmic space of cyanobacteria. The SynDsbAB orthologs are present in most cyanobacteria and chloroplasts of higher plants with fully sequenced genomes. The SynDsbAB protein contains two distinct catalytic domains that display significant similarity to proteins involved in disulfide bond formation in Escherichia coli and eukaryotes. Importantly, SyndsbAB complements E. coli strains defective in disulfide bond formation. In addition, the activity of E. coli alkaline phosphatase localized to the periplasm of Synechocystis 6803 is dependent on the function of SynDsbAB. Deletion of SyndsbAB in Synechocystis 6803 causes significant growth impairment under photoautotrophic conditions and results in hyper-sensitivity to dithiothreitol, a reductant, whereas diamide, an oxidant had no effect on the growth of the mutant strains. We conclude that SynDsbAB is a critical protein for disulfide bond formation in oxygenic photosynthetic organisms and required for their optimal photoautotrophic growth.
Pharmacological considerations in the modulation of multidrug resistance

INTRODUCTION MULTIDRUG RESISTANCE (MDR) is the phenomenoninwhich cancer cells become resistant to an array of chemotherapeutic agents with dissimilar structures and mechanisms of action [ 11. MDR can be mediated by the overexpression of a multidrug transporter, the best studied of which is termed Pglycoprotein (Pgp) [2-61. Pgp is a 170 kd plasma membrane protein with twelve transmembrane domains and two intracellular ATPase sites [7]. Pgp has broad specificity as an energy-dependent efflux pump and effectively transports a variety of amphipathic compounds out of the cell. Substrates for Pgp include many anticancer drugs, most notably those derived from natural products (Table 1). Many intrinsically chemoresistant cancers overexpress Pgp de nova. Other classically chemosensitive malignancies such as breast, ovarian and haematolymphoid cancers seldom express Pgp at diagnosis, yet have a high proportion of cases overexpressing Pgp upon relapse. Several studies have found Pgp expression to be predictive of poor response to chemotherapy and decreased overall survival (see reviews [8-l 01). Expression of Pgp also occurs in certain normal tissues (Table 2). Its presence on the apical surface of cells lining the lumen of large and small bowel, bile canaliculi and proximal renal tubules suggests that it may play a role in the excretion of potentially toxic xenobiotics [l 11. Furthermore, the Pgp expressed along the intraluminal surface of vascular endothelium comprising the blood-brain barrier, placenta and blood-testes barrier may play a role in protecting the CNS (central nervous system), fetus and germinal cells from toxic substances in the circulation [12, 131. Its function in other normal tissues remains a matter of conjecture. The calcium channel blocker, verapamil, was the first noncytotoxic agent found to inhibit the Pgp efflux pump in vitro [ 141. Soon thereafter, numerous other currently approved medications were shown to be modulators of drug resistance in vitro (see Table 3). The potential clinical benefit to be derived from a potent Pgp inhibitor has spawned a new field of drug development and clinical research on the modulation of multidrug resistance (MDR). The purpose of this paper is to review the clinical pharmacology of selected Pgp inhibitors and to assess the impact of normal tissue Pgp inhibition on the disposition and elimination of chemotherapeutic agents.
Fractional Brownian motion and packing dimension

LetX(t) (t∈R N ) be a fractional Brownian motion of index α inR d . For any compact setE⊆R N , we compute the packing dimension ofX(E).