cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Natural Truncation of the Chemokine MIP-1β/CCL4 Affects Receptor Specificity but Not Anti-HIV-1 Activity

Activated lymphocytes synthesize and secrete substantial amounts of the β-chemokines macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α/CCL3 and MIP-1β/CCL4, both of which inhibit infection of cells with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). The native form of MIP-1β secreted by activated human peripheral blood lymphocytes (MIP-1β(3–69)) lacks the two NH2-terminal amino acids of the full-length protein. This truncated form of MIP-1β has now been affinity-purified from the culture supernatant of such cells, and its structure has been confirmed by mass spectrometry. Functional studies of the purified protein revealed that MIP-1β(3–69) retains the abilities to induce down-modulation of surface expression of the chemokine receptor CCR5 and to inhibit the CCR5-mediated entry of HIV-1 in T cells. Characterization of the chemokine receptor specificity of MIP-1β(3–69) showed that the truncated protein not only shares the ability of intact MIP-1β to induce Ca2+ signaling through CCR5, but unlike the full-length protein, it also triggers a Ca2+ response via CCR1 and CCR2b. These results demonstrate that NH2-terminally truncated MIP-1β functions as a chemokine agonist with expanded receptor reactivity, which may represent an important mechanism for regulation of immune cell recruitment during inflammatory and antiviral responses.
Towards Strategic and Authentic Corporate Social Responsibility in Professional Sport

The rise and institutionalization of CSR in sport is captured in a growing body of work in sport management; however, this research tends to highlight trends across teams, obscuring the opportunity...
Nonlinear Finite-Element Analysis of Composite Steel Girder Bridges

This paper investigates the behavior of composite steel girder bridges by means of sophisticated three-dimensional nonlinear finite-element (FE) analyses. The bridge model is such that the deck is represented by shear flexible shell elements and the structural steel girder is idealized by Timoshenko beam elements. The full composite action between slab and girder is guaranteed by multipoint constraints. Both the bridge deck and steel girder are divided into a number of layers to account for the cracking and yielding through their depth. This paper also presents a reinforced concrete material model, which utilizes a strain decomposition approach. The strain decomposition technique enables the explicit inclusion of physical behavior across the cracked concrete surface, such as aggregate interlock and dowel action, rather than intuitively defining the shear retention factor. The proposed material model is integrated into the commercial FE software ABAQUS shell elements through a user-supplied material subroutine. The FE results have been compared to experimental results reported by other researchers. The proposed bridge FE model is capable of predicting the initial cracking load level, the ultimate load capacity, and the crack pattern with good accuracy.
Estimation of the correlation length of activation processes during atrial fibrillation

Atrial tissue wavelength critically determines susceptibility to atrial fibrillation (AF), but this measurement is not obtainable in humans. The authors speculated that wavelength also determines the extent of spatial organization during AF and developed a quantitative measure of this organization (the spatial correlation length, L/sub c/) by determining the distance over which activation sequences measured at equally spaced sites within the human atria are well-correlated during AF. L/sub c/ varied among patients, was highly reproducible within single patients, and changed predictably with administration of anti-arrhythmic drugs (AAD). Quantitative assessment of the extent of spatial organization of activation sequences during AF may allow for estimation of electrophysiologic changes underlying the susceptibility to AF, and may provide an objective measure of AAD action in vivo. >
Different drums: contrasts between scientific communication and journalism

The qualities which symbolize excellence in a scientific paper contrast in many respects with those that characterize excellent journalism. In part, this dichotomy arises because significant science, based on careful assessment of uncertainties and possible errors as well as prior results, intrinsically lacks qualities that provide journalistic interest. In addition, journalism and scientific communication follow widely divergent traditions which value differing skills. We document these divergent values through the results of a survey and a focus group interview with journalism and physics educators, editors and research physicists.
Quantifying the functional importance of neuronal assemblies in the brain using Laplacian Hückel graph Energy

Determining the functional relationships between nodes in complex networks such as the neuronal networks is important. In recent years, graph theory has been employed to characterize the functional network structure of the brain from neurophysiological data such as the electroencephalogram (EEG). Current work on graph theoretic analysis of brain networks focuses on global characteristics of the network such as small world network measures. However, it is as important to be able to extract local features of the graph and quantify the vulnerability and robustness of different brain regions. In this paper, we explore how a well-known measure in signal processing, energy, can be extended toward understanding the functional role of neural assemblies in the brain network as represented by a graph. For this purpose, we introduce the Laplacian-Huckel Energy to quantify the local contribution of the nodes to the organization of any scale-free graph and determine anomalies in the graph. The proposed measure is evaluated for both the well-known Zachery karate network and a brain network constructed from an electroencephalogram study.
Defective chromatin recruitment and retention of NHEJ core components in human tumor cells expressing a Cyclin E fragment

Exposure to genotoxic agents, such as ionizing radiation (IR), produces double-strand breaks, repaired predominantly in mammalian cells by non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ). Ku70 was identified as an interacting partner of a proteolytic Cyclin E (CycE) fragment, p18CycE. p18CycE endogenous generation during IR-induced apoptosis in leukemic cells and its stable expression in epithelial tumor cells sensitized to IR. γH2AX IR-induced foci (IRIFs) and comet assays indicated ineffective NHEJ DNA repair in p18CycE-expressing cells. DNA pull-down and chromatin recruitment assays revealed that retention of NHEJ factors to double-strand breaks, but not recruitment, was diminished. Similarly, IRIFs of phosphorylated T2609 and S2056-DNA-PKcs and its target S1778-53BP1 were greatly decreased in p18CycE-expressing cells. As a result, DNA-PKcs chromatin association was also increased. 53BP1 IRIFs were suppressed when p18CycE was generated in leukemic cells and in epithelial cells stably expressing p18CycE. Ataxia telangiectasia mutated was activated but not its 53BP1 and MDC1 targets. These data indicate a profound influence of p18CycE on NHEJ through its interference with DNA-PKcs conformation and/or dimerization, which is required for effective DNA repair, making the p18CycE-expressing cells more IR sensitive. These studies provide unique mechanistic insights into NHEJ misregulation in human tumor cells, in which defects in NHEJ core components are rare.
Osteocyte-derived FGF23 activates EGR-1 signaling in prostate cancer cells: A new vicious cycle in bone metastases

did not affect MDA-BO2 proliferation in vitro, it significantly shortened their entry in cell cycle. Finally, Twist-1 activity didnot interferewith the gene expression and/or subcellular localisation of proteins involved in bone remodelling and osteomimicry such as RUNX2, DKK-1, VEGF, MMP-9 and YB-1, suggesting that Twist-1 promotes the bonemetastasis formation by increasing the tumor burden in bone rather than modifying the osteomimetic properties of MDA-BO2.
Understanding Wicked Problems: A Key to Advancing Environmental Health Promotion

Complex environmental health problems--like air and water pollution, hazardous waste sites, and lead poisoning--are in reality a constellation of linked problems embedded in the fabric of the communities in which they occur. These kinds of complex problems have been characterized by some as "wicked problems" wherein stakeholders may have conflicting interpretations of the problem and the science behind it, as well as different values, goals, and life experiences. Accordingly, policy makers, public health professionals, and other stakeholders who grapple with these problems cannot expect to effectively resolve them by relying solely on expert-driven approaches to problem solving. Rather, they need to acknowledge that wicked environmental health problems are most likely to yield to (1) the application of effective community health promotion skills, (2) a sustained commitment to sound toxicological and epidemiological science, (3) the application of systems thinking, and (4) transparent communication among all stakeholders.
2-band enhanced vegetation index without a blue band and its application to AVHRR data

The enhanced vegetation index (EVI) has been found useful in improving linearity with biophysical vegetation properties and in reducing saturation effects found in densely vegetated surfaces, commonly encountered in the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). However, EVI requires a blue band and is sensitive to variations in blue band reflectance, which limits consistency of EVI across different sensors. The objectives of this study are to develop a 2-band EVI (EVI2) without a blue band that has the best similarity with the 3-band EVI, and to investigate the crosssensor continuity of the EVI2 from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). A linearity-adjustment factor (β) was introduced and coupled with the soil adjustment factor (L) used in the soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI) in the development of the EVI2 equation. The similarity between EVI and EVI2 was validated at the global scale. After a linear adjustment, the AVHRR EVI2 was found to be comparable with the MODIS EVI2. The good agreement between the AVHRR and MODIS EVI2 suggests the possibility of extending the current MODIS EVI time series to the historical AVHRR data, providing another longterm vegetation record different from the NDVI counterpart.
Interactions between Inhibitory Interneurons and Excitatory Associational Circuitry in Determining Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Hippocampal Dentate Granule Cells: A Large-Scale Computational Study

This paper reports on findings from a million-cell granule cell model of the rat dentate gyrus that was used to explore the contributions of local interneuronal and associational circuits to network-level activity. The model contains experimentally derived morphological parameters for granule cells, which each contain approximately 200 compartments, and biophysical parameters for granule cells, basket cells, and mossy cells that were based both on electrophysiological data and previously published models. Synaptic input to cells in the model consisted of glutamatergic AMPA-like EPSPs and GABAergic-like IPSPs from excitatory and inhibitory neurons, respectively. The main source of input to the model was from layer II entorhinal cortical neurons. Network connectivity was constrained by the topography of the system, and was derived from axonal transport studies, which provided details about the spatial spread of axonal terminal fields, as well as how subregions of the medial and lateral entorhinal cortices project to subregions of the dentate gyrus. Results of this study show that strong feedback inhibition from the basket cell population can cause high-frequency rhythmicity in granule cells, while the strength of feedforward inhibition serves to scale the total amount of granule cell activity. Results furthermore show that the topography of local interneuronal circuits can have just as strong an impact on the development of spatio-temporal clusters in the granule cell population as the perforant path topography does, both sharpening existing clusters and introducing new ones with a greater spatial extent. Finally, results show that the interactions between the inhibitory and associational loops can cause high frequency oscillations that are modulated by a low-frequency oscillatory signal. These results serve to further illustrate the importance of topographical constraints on a global signal processing feature of a neural network, while also illustrating how rich spatio-temporal and oscillatory dynamics can evolve from a relatively small number of interacting local circuits.
Driving Performance: A Growth Theory of Noncompete Law

Traditional law and economic analysis views postemployment restrictions, ranging from noncompete agreements to intellectual property controls over an ex-employee’s knowledge and skill, as necessary for economic investment and market growth. The orthodox economic analysis theorizes that without such contractual and regulatory protections, businesses would underinvest in research, development, and human capital. This Article challenges the orthodox analysis by introducing both behavioral dimensions and endogenous growth effects of job mobility over time. The article empirically tests the behavioral dimension with original experimental research demonstrating that contractual backgrounds in market relations impact motivation and performance. The behavioral study, simulating a job market, finds that participants constrained by postemployment restrictions significantly under-performed in the assigned experimental tasks. The Article integrates these experimental findings with new empirical evidence about positive spillovers, network effects, and economic growth in jurisdictions with lesser legal constraints on job mobility and information flows. The behavioral and dynamic growth effects elaborated in the article help explain regional advantage in patenting rates, entrepreneurship, and market growth of jurisdictions that employ weaker human capital controls. Combining the behavioral and network perspectives, the article develops a new lens through which to analyze the costs and benefits of human capital restrictions.
Malignant pheochromocytoma of the bladder.

Abstract A review of malignant pheochromocytoma of the bladder is presented with an illustrative case, emphasizing the importance of preoperative localization and an extirpative surgical approach for such patients. Since histologic criteria of malignancy in pheochromocytomas have not yet been established all of these patients warrant a thorough intraoperative search and long-term postoperative followup for possible metastases.
Online Change Detection Algorithm for Noisy Time-Series: An Application Tonear-Real Time Burned Area Mapping

Lack of the global knowledge of land-cover changes limits our understanding of the earth system, hinders natural resource management and also compounds risks. Remote sensing data provides an opportunity to automatically detect and monitor land-cover changes. Although changes in land cover can be observed from remote sensing time series, most traditional change point detection algorithms do not perform well due to the unique properties of the remote sensing data, such as noise, missing values and seasonality. We propose an online change point detection method that addresses these challenges. Using an independent validation set, we show that the proposed method performs better than the four baseline methods in both of the two testing regions, which has ecologically diverse features.
Techno-Economic Analysis of a Novel Indirect Coal–Biomass to Liquids Plant Integrated with a Combined Cycle Plant and CO2 Capture and Storage

The indirect coal to liquids (CTL) plant based on gasification and Fischer–Tropsch (FT) technology is technically feasible, but it is plagued with high CO2 emission in comparison to the petroleum-based fuel production processes. Addition of a moderate amount of biomass to the feed and inclusion of CO2 capture and storage (CCS) technology to the indirect CTL process can reduce its environmental footprint, but at the cost of higher capital investment as well as larger operational penalty. In this study, a techno-economic analysis of a novel indirect coal–biomass to liquids (CBTL) plant with CCS is performed using Aspen Process Economic Analyzer based on a process model developed in Aspen Plus. This paper has evaluated the impact of key investment parameters, such as raw material cost, project contingency, and process capacity, on the economic measures, including net present value, internal rate of return, payback period, and break-even oil price. In addition, the impacts of technology choices for product up...
Configuration Workspaces of Series-Parallel Mechanisms

The workspace of a mechanism is the set of positions and orientations that is reachable by its end effector. Workspaces have numerous applications, including motion planning, mechanism design, and manufacturing process planning, but their representation and computation is challenging due to high dimensionality and geometric/topological complexity. We propose a new formulation of the workspace computation problem for a large class of mechanisms represented by series-parallel constraint graphs. A wide variety of allowable constraints include all lower pair, some higher pair, and non-collision constraints. We show that the workspace of such mechanisms may be computed by a constraint propagation algorithm. After the space of all rigid body motions is discretized, these operations can be efficiently implemented using the Fast Fourier Transform and a depth first search. In contrast to algebraic formulations, the proposed method assures that all configurations in the computed workspace not only satisfy pairwise constraints but can be reached without breaking and reassembling the mechanism.© 2012 ASME
SAD–GLAD Pt–Ni@Ni Nanorods as Highly Active Oxygen Reduction Reaction Electrocatalysts

Vertically aligned catalysts comprised of platinum–nickel thin films on nickel nanorods (designated as Pt–Ni@Ni-NR) with varying ratios of Pt to Ni in the thin film were prepared by magnetron sputtering and evaluated for their oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity. A glancing angle deposition (GLAD) technique was used to fabricate the Ni nanorods (NRs) and a small angle deposition technique for growth of a thin conformal coating of Pt–Ni on the Ni-NRs. The Pt–Ni@Ni-NR structures were deposited on glassy carbon for evaluation of their ORR activity in an aqueous acidic electrolyte using the rotating disk electrode technique. The Pt–Ni@Ni-NR catalysts showed superior area-specific and mass activities for ORR compared to those of Pt–Ni alloy nanorod catalysts prepared using the GLAD technique and compared to those of conventional large-surface area Pt and Pt–Ni alloy nanoparticle catalysts.
Identification of a Noroxomaritidine Reductase with Amaryllidaceae Alkaloid Biosynthesis Related Activities.

Amaryllidaceae alkaloids are a large group of plant natural products with over 300 documented structures and diverse biological activities. Several groups of Amaryllidaceae alkaloids including the hemanthamine- and crinine-type alkaloids show promise as anticancer agents. Two reduction reactions are required for the production of these compounds: the reduction of norcraugsodine to norbelladine and the reduction of noroxomaritidine to normaritidine, with the enantiomer of noroxomaritidine dictating whether the derivatives will be the crinine-type or hemanthamine-type. It is also possible for the carbon-carbon double bond of noroxomaritidine to be reduced, forming the precursor for maritinamine or elwesine depending on the enantiomer reduced to an oxomaritinamine product. In this study, a short chain alcohol dehydrogenase/reductase that co-expresses with the previously discovered norbelladine 4′-O-methyltransferase from Narcissus sp. and Galanthus spp. was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Biochemical analyses and x-ray crystallography indicates that this protein functions as a noroxomaritidine reductase that forms oxomaritinamine from noroxomaritidine through a carbon-carbon double bond reduction. The enzyme also reduces norcraugsodine to norbelladine with a 400-fold lower specific activity. These studies identify a missing step in the biosynthesis of this pharmacologically important class of plant natural products.
Single Molecule Fluorescence and Atomic Force Microscopy Studies of DNA Repair

DNA polymerases that are responsible for replication make approximately one error for every 107 bases copied, but the human genome contains ∼6 billion bases, which results in ∼600 errors per round of replication. The DNA mismatch repair (MMR) system corrects these DNA synthesis errors that occur during replication. MMR is initiated by the highly conserved MutS and MutL homologs, which are both dimers and contain DNA binding and ATPase activities that are essential for MMR in vivo. MutS homologs initiate repair by binding to a mismatch and undergoing an ATP-dependent conformational change that promotes its interaction with MutL homologs. This complex signals the initiation of excision and resynthesis of the newly synthesized DNA strand containing the incorrect nucleotide. We have been using a combination of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and single molecule fluorescence to characterize the stoichiometries and the conformational and dynamic properties of MutS and MutL homologs and their assembly on DNA containing a mismatch. We have also developed a new dual resonance frequency enhanced electrostatic force microscopy (DREEM), in which we simultaneously collect the AFM topographic image and an image of the electrostatic potential of the surface. The DREEM images reveal the path of DNA inside individual protein-DNA complexes, yielding unprecedented details about DNA conformations within simple and complicated complexes. I will discuss our studies on the assembly of MutS and MutL homologs on mismatches, with a focus on how AFM, DREEM, and single-molecule fluorescence can be powerful tools to study the stoichiometries, conformations, and dynamic assembly of multi-component complexes.
A Multi-Cycle Switching Technique for Efficient Ultrasonic Wireless Power Delivery

A multi-cycle switching technique is proposed for efficient ultrasonic power delivery by providing dc-level shifting and load transformation in the receiver (Rx) side. This technique can increase the power delivery efficiency in the Rx and achieve larger voltages across the load ( ${R_{L}}$ ). In the proposed switching scheme, the Rx transducer is first shorted for several power carrier cycles, ${T_{p}}$ , to store the energy into the Rx ultrasonic transducer, and then is opened to deliver the energy to the load. A circuit model for this scheme has been presented and verified by simulations. In a proof-of-concept measurement setup, the proposed ultrasonic WPT link, operating at ${f_{p}=1/T_{p}= 1.02}$ MHz, achieved a large rectified voltage ( ${V_{L}}$ ) of 4.7 V by shorting the Rx transducer for $5{\times T_{p}}$ and then delivered the energy to an ${R_{L}}$ of 100 $\text{k}{\Omega }$ within ${T_{p}}$ , with the switching rate of ${f_{\mathbf{sw}}= 1/6T_{p}= 170}$ kHz. For the same input power, a conventional ultrasonic link with a passive full-wave rectifier achieved a small ${V_{L}}$ of 1 V.
RhIII‐Catalyzed Synthesis of Isoquinolones and 2‐Pyridones by Annulation of N‐Methoxyamides and Nitroalkenes

The Rh(III)-catalyzed synthesis of 4-substituted isoquinolones and 2-pyridones by the annulation of N-methoxyamides and nitroalkenes has been developed. Both aliphatic and aromatic nitroalkenes were effective inputs. Annulations also proceeded for aromatic, alkenyl, and heteroaromatic C-H bond starting materials. Moreover, benzoic acid provided a novel nitrodihydroisocoumarin. The structure and relative stereochemistry of this compound, which is an oil at room temperature, was determined unambiguously by single crystal X-ray diffraction of its inclusion complex with a hydrogen-bonded host framework.
Relationship of Blood Pressure to Heart Rate in Isolated Systolic Hypertension

Background Patients with isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) have been noted to be less responsive to β-blockers than patients with essential hypertension (HTN). The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between blood pressure (BP) and heart rate in ISH. Methods A total of 619 patients underwent 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring. Patients were grouped as normal, HTN, or ISH. Clinical characteristics, mean BPs, and mean heart rate were compared between the groups. Results Two hundred seventy-one patients had normal BP, 98 had HTN, and 90 had ISH. Antihypertensives were used in 37% with normal BP, 51% with HTN, and 58% with ISH. The pulse pressure was highest for ISH (67 [10] mm Hg), followed by HTN (59 [12] mm Hg) and normal BP (49 [7] mm Hg; P There was a positive relationship between diastolic BP and heart rate. In ISH, there was a negative relationship between systolic BP and heart rate (slope = −0.18; r = 0.24; P = 0.0209) and a positive relationship between diastolic BP and heart rate (slope = 0.19; r = 0.33; P = 0.0015). Conclusions The noted relationship of heart rate to systolic BP and pulse pressure may in part explain the lower efficacy of β-blockers in patients with ISH. The rate-lowering effects of these medications may result in an increase in systolic and pulse pressures.
Transport Properties of Very Dilute Superfluid Mixtures of 3He in 4He

The theory of transport properties of superfluid helium mixtures, based on the two fluid model, has been developed more than thirty years ago 1–3). One of the tests of this theory was by heat conductivity experiments 4), performed with dilute mixtures of 3He in the 4He with 1.4×10−4 ≤ X ≤ 1.3×10−2, where X is the 3He mole fraction. For the range X ≤ 10−2 the predictions become particularly simple and were confirmed by Ptukha’s experiments4). However more recent experiments with more dilute mixtures 5–7) showed the heat conductivity keff to depart from predictions for X ≤ 5×10−4. Furthermore the thermal relaxation times τ also showed an anomalous behavior 6,7). This stimulated further measurements of keff, τ and also of the thermal diffusion ratio kT* which we report in this paper.
Culture Conditions that Support Expansion and Chondrogenesis of Middle-Aged Rat Mesenchymal Stem Cells

ObjectiveRats are an early preclinical model for cartilage tissue engineering, and a practical species for investigating the effects of aging. However, rats may be a poor aging model for mesenchyma...
Pericytes Elicit Resistance to Vemurafenib and Sorafenib Therapy in Thyroid Carcinoma via the TSP-1/TGFβ1 Axis.

Purpose: The BRAFV600E oncogene modulates the papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) microenvironment, in which pericytes are critical regulators of tyrosine-kinase (TK)-dependent signaling pathways. Although BRAFV600E and TK inhibitors are available, their efficacy as bimodal therapeutic agents in BRAFV600E-PTC is still unknown. Experimental Design: We assessed the effects of vemurafenib (BRAFV600E inhibitor) and sorafenib (TKI) as single agents or in combination in BRAFWT/V600E-PTC and BRAFWT/WT cells using cell-autonomous, pericyte coculture, and an orthotopic mouse model. We also used BRAFWT/V600E-PTC and BRAFWT/WT-PTC clinical samples to identify differentially expressed genes fundamental to tumor microenvironment. Results: Combined therapy blocks tumor cell proliferation, increases cell death, and decreases motility via BRAFV600E inhibition in thyroid tumor cells in vitro. Vemurafenib produces cytostatic effects in orthotopic tumors, whereas combined therapy (likely reflecting sorafenib activity) generates biological fluctuations with tumor inhibition alternating with tumor growth. We demonstrate that pericytes secrete TSP-1 and TGFβ1, and induce the rebound of pERK1/2, pAKT and pSMAD3 levels to overcome the inhibitory effects of the targeted therapy in PTC cells. This leads to increased BRAFV600E-PTC cell survival and cell death refractoriness. We find that BRAFWT/V600E-PTC clinical samples are enriched in pericytes, and TSP1 and TGFβ1 expression evoke gene-regulatory networks and pathways (TGFβ signaling, metastasis, tumor growth, tumor microenvironment/ECM remodeling functions, inflammation, VEGF ligand–VEGF receptor interactions, immune modulation, etc.) in the microenvironment essential for BRAFWT/V600E-PTC cell survival. Critically, antagonism of the TSP-1/TGFβ1 axis reduces tumor cell growth and overcomes drug resistance. Conclusions: Pericytes shield BRAFV600E-PTC cells from targeted therapy via TSP-1 and TGFβ1, suggesting this axis as a new therapeutic target for overcoming resistance to BRAFV600E and TK inhibitors. Clin Cancer Res; 1–20. ©2018 AACR.
UNIT 5.24 Immunoprecipitation

Immunoprecipitation is a technique in which an antigen is isolated by binding to a specific antibody attached to a sedimentable matrix. It is also used to analyze protein fractions separated by other biochemical techniques such as gel filtration or density gradient sedimentation. The source of antigen for immunoprecipitation can be unlabeled cells or tissues, metabolically or intrinsically labeled cells, or in vitro-translated proteins. This unit describes a wide range of immunoprecipitation techniques, using either suspension or adherent cells lysed by various means (e.g., with and without detergent, using glass beads, etc.). Flow charts and figures give the user a clear-cut explanation of the options for employing the technology.
Modeling cationic adduction of oligonucleotides using electrospray desorption ionization.

Rationale Cationic adduction causes poor sensitivity and increases spectral complexity during mass spectral analysis of oligonucleotides and alkylamines are used to reduce this adduction. It is unclear the effect of the physiochemical properties of the alkylamines on the reduction of the cationic adduction. Methods All samples were directly infused into a Synapt G2 HDMS quadrupole time-of-flight (TOF) hybrid mass spectrometer in negative ion electrospray ionization mode through the native built-in fluidics system. The infusion flow rate was set to 50 μL/min. The TOFMS tuning parameters were as follows: capillary voltage -2.0 kV, cone voltage 25 V, extraction cone voltage 2 V, source temperature 125°C, desolvation temperature 450°C, cone gas flow rate 0 L/h, and desolvation gas (nitrogen) flow rate 1000 L/h. Results A quantitative model was created to predict the optimized alkylamine for MS analysis, while a qualitative model was generated to explain the most important physiochemical properties: proton affinity (13.83%), gas-phase basicity (11.79%), pKa (11.47%), boiling point (10.73%), MW (10.3%), Henry's Law Constant (9.56%), and partition coefficient (logP) (9.44%). The quantitative model was applied to RNA (microRNA) and a phosphorothioate and predicts the trend of cationic adduction. Conclusions Two models are described to understand the physiochemical properties that contribute to the adduction and to provide users a quick mathematical tool to predict the best choice of alkylamine to lower cationic adduction and decrease spectral complexity while enhancing sensitivity.
21st Century Syllabus: Aggregating Electronic Resources for Innovation-Based Learning

Our research group presents lessons learned and a newly created web tool related to an Innovation-Based Learning course offered to college undergraduate and graduate students. The course incorporates a variety of modern instructional techniques including blended learning, MOOC instruction, project-based learning, just-in-time learning, remote digital collaboration, and student-selected learning objectives. Aggregation is the term we use for both a posture of openness and a policy of rapid adoption as it relates to emerging web tools for student learning, productivity, and collaboration. We discuss both theoretical and tactical elements of managing a course in which students are afforded maximum freedom/flexibility while also being held accountable for their academic performance.
The Borrelia burgdorferi VlsE Lipoprotein Prevents Antibody Binding to an Arthritis-Related Surface Antigen.

Summary Arp is an immunogenic protein of the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi and contributes to joint inflammation during infection. Despite Arp eliciting a strong humoral response, antibodies fail to clear the infection. Given previous evidence of immune avoidance mediated by the antigenically variable lipoprotein of B. burgdorferi, VlsE, we use passive immunization assays to examine whether VlsE protects the pathogen from anti-Arp antibodies. The results show that spirochetes are only able to successfully infect passively immunized mice when VlsE is expressed. Subsequent immunofluorescence assays reveal that VlsE prevents binding of Arp-specific antibodies, thereby providing an explanation for the failure of Arp antisera to clear the infection. The results also show that the shielding effect of VlsE is not universal for all B. burgdorferi cell-surface antigens. The findings reported here represent a direct demonstration of VlsE-mediated protection of a specific B. burgdorferi surface antigen through a possible epitope-shielding mechanism.
Of Snails and Horsetails

The problem of generalization was a vexing one in anatomical investigations: when was it legitimate to generalize from one individual observed or dissected at a given time to the same individual at different times, or to individuals of the same species, or even to individuals from different species altogether? Views on these matters varied widely from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment and guided different research programs based on opposite assumptions. A growing basis of empirical results made anatomists aware of the dangers of hasty generalizations. The problem of reproduction in animals and plants led to especially startling findings that shattered naive assumptions about the uniformity of nature. Yet, from a multitude of seemingly unpredictable results, new, equally unpredictable patterns and analogies emerged, leading to the discovery of sexual reproduction in plants, for example. Snails and horsetails proved especially challenging in this context.
Positive Response to Fluorouracil and Oxaliplatin in Signet Ring Cell Adenocarcinoma of the Bladder Presenting With Retroperitoneal Fibrosis.

Bladder adenocarcinoma is an uncommon type of bladder cancer. Signet ring cell pathology is a rare subtype of bladder adenocarcinoma. Global incidence rates of signet ring cell adenocarcinoma of the bladder have not been established. Management of signet cell bladder cancer is challenging as it is aggressive in behavior with frequent relapse despite chemotherapy. Here we present a case of stage IV signet cell bladder cancer with retroperitoneal fibrosis treated with FOLFOX (folinic acid, 5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin) regimen with a complete durable response.
Convolutional neural network reconstruction of ultrashort optical pulses

Ultrashort pulse characterization and measurement is critical in the field of ultrafast and nonlinear optics. Here we present a method to reconstruct the complex pulse profile using a colinear frequency resolved optical gating (CFROG) acquisition combined with a convolutional neural network (CNN). The CFROG approach can be implemented with nonlinear nanoprobes for probing complex ultrafast optical fields. Typically, a CFROG trace is filtered and converted to a standard FROG trace which can then be processed by using the FROG retrieval algorithm to reconstruct both the amplitude and the phase profiles of the pulse. In this method, however, the reconstruction is often dependent on the subjective filtering step. In our approach, a CNN is trained with simulated unfiltered CFROG traces. Furthermore, we customize the CNN architecture to mitigate the ambiguity in the solution space and minimizes the error between the predicted and the input
Functional traits of broad-leaved monocot herbs in the understory and forest edges of a Costa Rican rainforest

Broad-leaved monocot herbs are widespread and dominant components of the shaded understories of wet neotropical forests. These understory habitats are characterized by light limitation and a constant threat of falling branches. Many shaded understory herb species have close relatives that occupy forest edges and gaps, where light availability is higher and defoliation threat is lower, creating an opportunity for comparative analysis of functional traits in order to better understand the evolutionary adaptations associated with this habitat transition. We documented ecological, morphological and ecophysiological traits of multiple herb species in six monocot families from each of these two habitats in the wet tropical rainforest at the La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica. We found that a mixture of phylogenetic canalization and ecological selection for specific habitats helped explain patterns of functional traits. Understory herbs were significantly shorter and had smaller leaves than forest edge species. Although the mean number of leaves per plant and specific leaf area did not differ between the two groups, the larger leaf size of forest edge species gave them more than three times the mean plant leaf area. Measures of leaf water content and nitrogen content varied within both groups and mean values were not significantly different. Despite the high leaf nitrogen contents, the maximum photosynthetic rates of understory herbs were quite low. Measures of δ13C as an analog of water use efficiency found significantly lower (more negative) values in understory herbs compared to forest edge species. Clonality was strongly developed in several species but did not show strong phylogenetic patterns. This study highlights many functional traits that differ between broad-leaved monocot species characteristic of understory and forest edge habitats, as well as traits that vary primarily by phylogenetic relatedness. Overall, plant functional traits do not provide a simple explanation for the relative differences in abundance for individual understory and forest edge species with some occurring in great abundance while others are relatively rare.
“Und das ungeheure Bild der Landschaft …”: The Genesis of Landscape Understanding in the German-Speaking Regions

In contemporary English language, landscape is commonly defined as a composite view of all the visible natural and human-made features of some area of land. Landscapes are occasionally associated w...
Human Factors Considerations for Teaming between Construction Workersand Voice-based Intelligent Virtual Agent (VIVA)

Construction sites experience low productivity due to particular characteristics such as unique designs in each project, sporadic arrival of projects, and complexity of the process. Another contrib...
Tendentive Powers of Elements

If the artist’s expressional intention cannot in the end alone justify the choice and dis-position of elements, it is equally evident that the artwork cannot be explained solely through the inherent expressional or expressive powers of the elements. Artworks are done by deliberate intent; they do not grow like cells, although the analogy has occasionally some power to illuminate the process. Elements do indeed have powers that they exert on one another, but in art as we have known it heretofore at least, composition intervenes. Clearly both composition and the inherent powers of elements are at work. The structure of the work depends upon both of these.
Fast and Scalable Barrier Using RDMA and Multicast Mechanisms for InfiniBand-Based Clusters

This paper describes a methodology for efficiently implementing the barrier operation, on clusters with the emerging InfiniBand Architecture (IBA). IBA provides hardware level support for the Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) message passing model as well as the multicast operation. This paper describes the design, implementation and evaluation of three barrier algorithms that leverage these mechanisms. Performance evaluation studies indicate that considerable benefits can be achieved using these mechanisms compared to the traditional implementation based on the point-to-point message passing model. Our experimental results show a performance benefit of up to 1.29 times for a 16-node barrier and up to 1.71 times for non-powers-of-2 group size barriers. Each proposed algorithm performs the best for certain ranges of group sizes and the optimal algorithm can be chosen based on this range. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to characterize the multicast performance in IBA and to demonstrate the benefits achieved by combining it with RDMA operations for efficient implementations of barrier. This framework has significant potential for developing scalable collective communication libraries for IBA-based clusters.
Root herbivores, pathogenic fungi, and competition between Centaurea maculosa and Festuca idahoensis

We used a common garden experiment to evaluate the isolated and combined effects of a biocontrol agent, the insect (Agapeta zoegana, Lepidoptera), and a native North American fungal pathogen (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) on competition between the noxious weed Centaurea maculosa and the native Festuca idahoensis. In 0.5-m2 plots with 24 plants per plot, competition between Centaurea and Festuca was highly asymmetrical, with Centaurea strongly reducing the final biomass and reproduction of Festuca, and Festuca having no effect, or possibly a positive effect, on Centaurea. The direct effects of the biological control agents differed entirely. All Centaurea individuals died in plots receiving Sclerotinia, but Agapeta did not significantly reduce the growth of Centaurea, and apparently stimulated a compensatory reproductive response in the weed. Individual Centaurea plants that had been damaged by Agapeta produced more flowerheads, and the number of Centaurea plants with Agapeta root damage in a plot was positively correlated with total Centaurea biomass. These differences in the direct effects of the consumers were reflected in their indirect effects. In plots where Sclerotinia killed Centaurea (strong direct effects) Festuca growth and reproduction was equal to that in Festuca plots without Centaurea and the reproductive output of Festuca increased substantially (strong indirect effects). However, in the absence of Sclerotinia, the application of Agapeta did not significantly decrease Centaurea biomass (weak direct effects) and actually stimulated small, but significant decreases in Festuca reproduction and trends towards lower Festuca biomass (weak and opposite indirect effects –Agapeta does not eat Festuca). If the direct effects of biocontrol agents on Centaurea are weak, as suggested by our results, natives are unlikely to be released from the competitive effects of Centaurea, and natives may suffer from Centaurea's compensatory response to herbivory.
A DYNAMICAL MODEL FOR THE ONSET OF MAGNETOSPHERIC SUBSTORMS

A model for the onset of magnetospheric substorms is developed based on the observations of Pytte et a1 (1976). North-South harmonic motion across the plasma sheet becomes instrumental in coupling the plasma sheet to the tail lobes when the plasma sheet is sufficiently thinned. The number density times the square of the plasma sheet thickness is found to be the critical parameter (n l 2≤ 8.1 x 1015 protons/cm). A merging theory is developed based on magnetic instabilities. The nightside merging rate is controlled by the value of the magnetic field in the tail lobes which, in turn, is dependent on the dayside merging rate. Merging and collisional damping of the J x B force contribute to the heating of the plasma sheet. The 10–15 minute interval between onsets is interpreted in terms of a weak coupling between the tail lobes and the plasma sheet. A straightforward application of small- amplitude oscillation theory shows that the period between onsets is a direct measure of the mean collision frequency in the plasma sheet. The obtained value is in good agreement with that calculated from the resistivity relation. An individual particle treatmenty in terms of analytic functions leads to similar conclusions regarding harmonic motion in the plasma sheet.
Hubble Space Telescope Ultraviolet Spectral Energy Distributions for Three Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies

We present Hubble Space Telescope Faint Object Camera ultraviolet (λ = 2300 A, 1400 A) images of three ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIGs: Lir > 1012 L⊙) selected from the IRAS Revised Bright Galaxy Sample. The purpose is to estimate spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to facilitate the identification of similar objects at high redshift in deep optical, infrared, and submillimeter surveys. All three galaxies, VII Zw 031 (=IRAS F05081+7936), IRAS F12112+0305, and IRAS F22491-1808, were well detected with the F220W filter. Two of the three were marginally detected with the F140W filter. The fluxes, together with ground-based optical and infrared photometry, are used to compute SEDs over a wide wavelength range. The measured SEDs drop from the optical to the ultraviolet, but the magnitude of the drop ranges from a factor of ~3 in IRAS F22491-1808 to a factor of ~100 in VII Zw 031. This is most likely due to different internal extinctions. Such an interpretation is also suggested by extrapolating to ultraviolet wavelengths the optical internal extinction measured in VII Zw 031. K-corrections are calculated to determine the colors of the sample galaxies as seen at high redshifts. Galaxies such as VII Zw 031 have very low observed rest-frame UV fluxes, which means that such galaxies at high redshift will be extremely red or even missing in optical surveys. On the other hand, galaxies such as IRAS F12112+0305 and IRAS F22491-1808, if seen at high redshift, would be sufficiently blue that they would not easily be distinguished from normal field galaxies and therefore, identified as ULIGs. The implication is then that submillimeter surveys may be the only means of properly identifying the majority of ULIGs at high redshift.
Diversity in Diversity: Changing the Paradigm

SUMMARY This essay discusses the growing complex diversity in client populations, emphasizes the need to support all legal statuses of clients, and advocates for a paradigm shift in culturally competent social work practice.
Drawing shadows to stone: the photography of the jesup north pacific expedition

Drawing Shadows to Stone: the Photography of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, 1897-1902. american museum of natural history, new york, ny (November 14, 1997-March 1, 1998)
Let's Talk About Race, Baby! When Whites' and Blacks' Interracial Contact Experiences Diverge.

The present study investigated whether the conditions that make interracial contact anxiety-provoking for Whites differ from those that make it anxiety-provoking for Blacks. Specifically, the present work examined interracial anxiety as a function of discussant race (i.e., White or Black) and discussion topic (i.e., race-related or race-neutral). To that end, we examined the nonverbal behavior of White and Black participants during brief interpersonal interactions. Consistent with previous research, White participants behaved more anxiously during interracial than same-race interactions. Additionally, White participants of interracial interaction behaved more anxiously than their Black interaction partners. Furthermore, whereas White participants of interracial interactions found race-related discussions no more stressful than race-neutral discussions, Black participants of interracial interactions found race-related discussions less stressful than race-neutral discussions. The implications of these racial and contextual differences in interracial anxiety for improving interracial contact and race relations, more broadly, are discussed.