cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Metatranscriptomic analysis of autonomously collected and preserved marine bacterioplankton

Planktonic microbial activity and community structure is dynamic, and can change dramatically on time scales of hours to days. Yet for logistical reasons, this temporal scale is typically under-sampled in the marine environment. In order to facilitate higher-resolution, long-term observation of microbial diversity and activity, we developed a protocol for automated collection and fixation of marine microbes using the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) platform. The protocol applies a preservative (RNALater) to cells collected on filters, for long-term storage and preservation of total cellular RNA. Microbial samples preserved using this protocol yielded high-quality RNA after 30 days of storage at room temperature, or onboard the ESP at in situ temperatures. Pyrosequencing of complementary DNA libraries generated from ESP-collected and preserved samples yielded transcript abundance profiles nearly indistinguishable from those derived from conventionally treated replicate samples. To demonstrate the utility of the method, we used a moored ESP to remotely and autonomously collect Monterey Bay seawater for metatranscriptomic analysis. Community RNA was extracted and pyrosequenced from samples collected at four time points over the course of a single day. In all four samples, the oxygenic photoautotrophs were predominantly eukaryotic, while the bacterial community was dominated by Polaribacter-like Flavobacteria and a Rhodobacterales bacterium sharing high similarity with Rhodobacterales sp. HTCC2255. However, each time point was associated with distinct species abundance and gene transcript profiles. These laboratory and field tests confirmed that autonomous collection and preservation is a feasible and useful approach for characterizing the expressed genes and environmental responses of marine microbial communities.
P-3A and (−)-desacetamido P-3A: demonstration and Study of their effective functional cleavage of duplex DNA

A study of the Fe(II) complexes of P-3A (1) and (−)-desacetamido P-3A (2) abilities to cleave duplex DNA was conducted through examination of single-strand and double-strand cleavage of supercoiled φX174 RFI DNA (Form I) in the presence of O2 to produce relaxed (Form II) and linear (Form III) DNA, respectively. Like Fe(II)-bleomycin A2 and deglycobleomycin A2, Fe(II)-1 and 2 effectively produced both single- and double-strand cleavage of supercoiled φX174 DNA. Unlike Fe(II)-bleomycin A2 or deglycobleomycin A2, Fe(II)-1 and 2 were found to cleave duplex w794 DNA with no discemible sequence selectively suggesting that the polynucleotide recognition of the C-terminus tetrapeptide S subunit of the bleomycins including the bithiazole may dominate the bleomycin A2 DNA cleavage selectivity.
Altered arachidonic acid cascade enzymes in postmortem brain from bipolar disorder patients

Mood stabilizers that are approved for treating bipolar disorder (BD), when given chronically to rats, decrease expression of markers of the brain arachidonic metabolic cascade, and reduce excitotoxicity and neuroinflammation-induced upregulation of these markers. These observations, plus evidence for neuroinflammation and excitotoxicity in BD, suggest that arachidonic acid (AA) cascade markers are upregulated in the BD brain. To test this hypothesis, these markers were measured in postmortem frontal cortex from 10 BD patients and 10 age-matched controls. Mean protein and mRNA levels of AA-selective cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2) IVA, secretory sPLA2 IIA, cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 and membrane prostaglandin E synthase (mPGES) were significantly elevated in the BD cortex. Levels of COX-1 and cytosolic PGES (cPGES) were significantly reduced relative to controls, whereas Ca2+-independent iPLA2VIA, 5-, 12-, and 15-lipoxygenase, thromboxane synthase and cytochrome p450 epoxygenase protein and mRNA levels were not significantly different. These results confirm that the brain AA cascade is disturbed in BD, and that certain enzymes associated with AA release from membrane phospholipid and with its downstream metabolism are upregulated. As mood stabilizers downregulate many of these brain enzymes in animal models, their clinical efficacy may depend on suppressing a pathologically upregulated cascade in BD. An upregulated cascade should be considered as a target for drug development and for neuroimaging in BD.
Developmental expression of drug metabolizing enzymes: impact on disposition in neonates and young children

Profound changes in drug metabolizing enzyme expression occurs during development that impacts drug efficacy and the risk of adverse events in the neonate and young child. A review of our current knowledge suggests individual hepatic drug metabolizing enzymes can be categorized into one of three classes based on developmental trajectories. The time frame for the perinatal changes observed for both Class 1 and Class 3 enzymes varies considerably between different enzymes. However, for a given enzyme, significant interindividual variation is observed in the timing of the perinatal changes, creating windows of hypervariability. Genetic variation clearly impacts drug disposition in children. However, developmental factors can dominate pharmacogenetic factors. Thus, a major challenge in applying pharmacogenomics to improve pediatric drug safety is determining at what age functional genetic variants identified in adults become a major determinant of expression in children. Developmental and genetic data on drug metabolizing enzyme ontogeny, as well as age-dependent changes in other physiological factors impacting drug disposition, can be integrated into physiologically-based pharmacokinetic models. Such models have proven useful in predicting the range of expected metabolic capacities at a given age.
Active Site Analysis of P450 Enzymes: Comparative Magnetic Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy

Recent structural studies indicate that the substrate- and O2-binding distal pocket of the P450 enzymes are not identical. Thus, P450terp (CYP108) from the alpha-terpineol-metabolizing Pseudomonad differs from P450cam (CYP-101) (C. A. Hasemann et al., J. Mol. Biol. 236, 1169, 1994). In contrast, the distal pockets of P450terp and P450BMP (CYP102 heme domain; Bacillus megaterium) are more closely similar, including novel hydrogen-bonding interactions between the distal H2O ligand and the I helix (C. A. Hasemann et al., Structure, 3, 41-62, 1995). To evaluate the significance of these differences, we have compared solution magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectra of P450terp with spectra of other P450 enzymes (e.g., P450cam, P450BMP, P450BM-3holo, and P450BM1), as well as with spectra of chloroperoxidase and NO synthase. Spectra of native P450terp are more similar to those of P450BMP and those of mammalian P450LM-2 than to those of P450cam. Upon substrate-binding, the MCD spectra of ferric P450terp and all other thiolate-ligated heme systems examined to date display a strong Soret band that is distinctly unique relative to the typical Soret MCD pattern(s) of catalases or other 5-coordinate ferric heme systems. This intense negative MCD feature thus appears diagnostic for cysteinate-linked ferric hemes. In the case of ferrous P450s, the intensity of the Soret-region MCD trough varies between substrate-bound and substrate-free enzymes (despite the fact that the substrate is NOT in direct contact with the heme moiety). A novel finding of particular interest is the clear spectral shifts of the Soret MCD band between the substrate-bound and substrate-free forms of ferrous-CO-P450terp. No such observation has been made previously. Furthermore, the band positions for BOTH types of P450terp are red-shifted from known bands of ferrous-CO-P50cam. These data thus indicate a surprising sensitivity of MCD spectra to active-site polarity and to H2O occupancy, concurring with reports of distal pocket effects on CO-binding rates and equilibrium constants. Comparative analysis of the spectral properties of P450terp with MCD spectra of other P450 enzymes, as well as with chloroperoxidase and NO synthase, demonstrates both the expected similarities and the significant differences that reflect active-site structural features. The detailed spectral analysis of P450terp relative to other P450 enzymes presented herein includes the first observation of a substrate-induced spectral shift for a ferrous-CO-P450. Furthermore, testable structural predictions for P450-BM-1 and for the novel NO synthase enzyme (neither of which has been crystallized to date) are made herein. This work thus provides insights into structurally defined P450s and may also lead to understanding of other P450 enzymes.
Positive numerical integration methods for chemical kinetic systems

Abstract Chemical kinetics conserves mass and renders nonnegative solutions; a good numerical simulation would ideally produce mass-balanced, positive concentration vectors. Many time-stepping methods are mass conservative; however, unconditional positivity restricts the order of a traditional method to one. The projection method presented in this paper ensures mass conservation and positivity. First, a numerical approximation is computed with one step of a mass-preserving traditional scheme. If there are negative components, the nearest vector in the reaction simplex is found by solving a quadratic optimization problem; this vector is shown to better approximate the true solution. A simpler version involves just one projection step and stabilizes the reaction simplex. This technique works best when the underlying time-stepping scheme favors positivity. Projected methods are more accurate than clipping and allow larger time steps for kinetic systems which are unstable outside the positive quadrant.
Infinitary logics and 0–1 laws

Abstract We investigate the infinitary logic L∞ωω, in which sentences may have arbitrary disjunctions and conjunctions, but they involve only finite numbers of distinct variables. We show that various fixpoint logics can be viewed as fragments of L∞ωω, and we describe a game-theoretic characterization of the expressive power of the logic. Finally, we study asymptotic probabilities of properties expressible in L∞ωω on finite structures. We show that the 0–1 law holds for L∞ωω, i.e., the asymptotic probability of every sentence in this logic exists and is equal to either 0 or 1. This result subsumes earlier work on asymptotic probabilities for various fixpoint logics and reveals the boundary of 0–1 laws for infinitary logics.
A new orientational glass in low concentration N2−Ar solid mixtures

NMR studies of the orientational ordering of15N2 molecules in solid N2−Ar mixtures have been carried out for the first time for low N2 concentrations. We have observed a new phase, that appears to be an orientational glass, in which the molecular axes are frozen in random directions at each crystal site but for which the mean alignment with respect to each local axis is a maximum. This is to be contrasted to the case for higher N2 concentrations, 0.57<x(N2)<0.77, for which a true quadrupolar glass is observed with a broad distribution of both local molecular axes and the mean alignment with respect to those axes. The formation of the new phase is believed to occur only for the cubic lattice structure at low N2 concentrations, while the quadrupolar glass occurs for the hcp structure.
Defibrillation safety in emergency helicopter transport

Rotary aircraft play a growing role in the transport of critically ill patients who may require emergency treatment, including defibrillation, during transport. The close quarters and proximity of vital electronic equipment have generated concern among personnel carrying out defibrillation in the air. We address the chief safety issues in helicopter defibrillation by providing measurements of the transient leakage current resulting from contact with a paddle and tested in-flight electronic interference and survey the defibrillation experience of helicopter programs. Our data show that airborne defibrillation is safe. A maximum of 1.5 mA of transient leakage current was measured from a standard battery-powered defibrillator, well within the accepted safety standard of 50 mA. In flight, there was no interference with the avionics or medical equipment, and adequate clearance was available for personnel. Of the helicopter programs surveyed, 69 (87%) had defibrillated in flight without incident. We conclude that defibrillation can be performed in the helicopter without hesitation whether on the ground or in the air, provided standard defibrillation precautions are observed.
Surface-mediated chemiluminescent reaction of O and NO

Abstract Deep-red chemiluminescence occurs when beams of O and NO react on metal surfaces. Of the metals studied (Ni, Co, Pt; Kovar, Invar, and Monel), nickel was the most effective at promoting the chemiluminescent reaction. The rate depends inversely on the surface temperature. The reaction rate appears to be controlled by the flux of NO to the surface, and does not depend strongly on the NO beam temperature. These behaviors indicate that the chemiluminescence arises not from a gas-phase reaction near the surface, but from a surface-mediated reaction of O and NO to produce electronically excited gas-phase NO 2 , most probably of the Langmuir—Hinshelwood variety.
Spatiotemporal Variation of Trace Elements and Stable Isotopes in Subtropical Estuaries: I. Freshwater Endmembers and Mixing Curves

Understanding spatial and temporal variation in chemical constituents across salinity gradients is essential for using proxies to track riverine inflow, mixing processes, and migration of mobile fauna. We analyzed the freshwater endmembers and mixing curves of a suite of trace element concentrations (Mg, Ca, Mn, Sr, and Ba) and stable isotope ratios (δ18O and 87Sr/86Sr) in tributaries and estuaries of the south Texas coastal bend region. While Sr/Ca and 87Sr/86Sr were consistent across tributaries due to the dominance of carbonate bedrock underlying the region, Ba/Ca showed some river-specific variation perhaps due to upstream urbanization. In contrast, both Mn/Ca and δ18O showed a high degree of variability between 2 years due to their sensitivity to redox conditions and net evaporation, respectively. Mixing curves for Ca and Sr were moderately curvilinear, suggesting the potential importance of alternative processes altering mixing relationships, such as submarine groundwater discharge (SGD). Mixing of Mg was linear and consistent with conservative behavior, while Ba showed a low salinity peak and there was no apparent mixing relationship for Mn. Mixing of 87Sr/86Sr was curvilinear as expected, although the steepness of the mixing curve was lower than expected under linear mixing assumptions, further indicating the possible influence of SGD. Unexpectedly, δ18O values were elevated above marine values across the entire salinity gradient, perhaps due to drought conditions during the sampling period. Together, these results point to the individualistic spatiotemporal dynamics of chemical constituents and illustrate the care that must be taken when choosing an appropriate proxy for salinity.
Organic anion transporters: discovery, pharmacology, regulation and roles in pathophysiology.

Our understanding of the mechanisms behind inter- and intra-patient variability in drug response is inadequate. Advances in the cytochrome P450 drug metabolizing enzyme field have been remarkable, but those in the drug transporter field have trailed behind. Currently, however, interest in carrier-mediated disposition of pharmacotherapeutics is on a substantial uprise. This is exemplified by the 2006 FDA guidance statement directed to the pharmaceutical industry. The guidance recommended that industry ascertain whether novel drug entities interact with transporters. This suggestion likely stems from the observation that several novel cloned transporters contribute significantly to the disposition of various approved drugs. Many drugs bear anionic functional groups, and thus interact with organic anion transporters (OATs). Collectively, these transporters are nearly ubiquitously expressed in barrier epithelia. Moreover, several reports indicate that OATs are subject to diverse forms of regulation, much like drug metabolizing enzymes and receptors. Thus, critical to furthering our understanding of patient- and condition-specific responses to pharmacotherapy is the complete characterization of OAT interactions with drugs and regulatory factors. This review provides the reader with a comprehensive account of the function and substrate profile of cloned OATs. In addition, a major focus of this review is on the regulation of OATs including the impact of transcriptional and epigenetic factors, phosphorylation, hormones and gender. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Comparison of Throughput Performance for the IEEE 802.11a and 802.11g Networks

The 802. llg offers backward compatibility to 802.11b operating in 2.4 GHz with the same set of MAC parameters. However, this compatibility causes 802.1 lg to perform differently as 802.11a in terms of radio throughput performance, although both standards employ orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technology to achieve high data rate. In this paper, we compare and present an in- depth analysis of the throughput performance of both 802.11a and 802.1 lg standards. In order to compare the throughput performance of 802.11a and 802.1 lg, a Markov chain model of IEEE 802.11 MAC is adopted to evaluate the saturation throughput. Our analytical and experimental results show an inferior throughput performance for 802.1 lg even with the same OFDM technology as employed for 802.11a.
Extended Cesàro operators on Bergman spaces

We define an extended Cesaro operator Tg with holomorphic symbol g in the unit ball B of Cn. For a large class of weights w we characterize those g for which Tg is bounded (or compact) from Bergman space Lpa,w(B) to Lqa,w(B), 0<p,q<∞. In addition, we obtain some results about equivalent norms, the norm of point evaluation functionals, and the interpolation sequences on Lpa,w(B).
An Expermentally Validated Model for Two-Phase Pressure Drop in the Intermittent Flow Regime for Noncircular Microchannels

We report the development of an experimentally validated model for pressure drop during intermittent flow of condensing refrigerant R134a in horizontal microchannels. Two-phase pressure drops were measured in five circular channels ranging in hydraulic diameter from 0.5 mm to 4.91 mm. For each tube under consideration, pressure drop measurements were first taken over the entire range of qualities from 100% vapor to 100% liquid. In addition, the tests for each tube were conducted for five different refrigerant mass fluxes between 150 kg/m 2 -s and 750 kg/m 2 -s. Results from previous work by the authors on condensation flow mechanisms in microchannel geometries were then used to identify data that corresponded to the intermittent flow regime. A pressure drop model was developed for a unit cell in the channel based on the observed slug/bubble flow pattern for these conditions. The unit cell comprises a liquid slug followed by a vapor bubble that is surrounded by a thin, annular liquid film. Contributions of the liquid slug, the vapor bubble, and the flow of liquid between the film and slug to the pressure drop were included
ArPIKfyve regulates Sac3 protein abundance and turnover: disruption of the mechanism by Sac3I41T mutation causing Charcot-Marie-Tooth 4J disorder.

The mammalian phosphatidylinositol (3,5)-bisphosphate (PtdIns(3,5)P2) phosphatase Sac3 and ArPIKfyve, the associated regulator of the PtdIns3P-5 kinase PIKfyve, form a stable binary complex that associates with PIKfyve in a ternary complex to increase PtdIns(3,5)P2 production. Whether the ArPIKfyve-Sac3 subcomplex functions outside the PIKfyve context is unknown. Here we show that stable or transient expression of ArPIKfyveWT in mammalian cells elevates steady-state protein levels and the PtdIns(3,5)P2-hydrolyzing activity of Sac3, whereas knockdown of ArPIKfyve has the opposite effect. These manipulations do not alter the Sac3 mRNA levels, suggesting that ArPIKfyve might control Sac3 protein degradation. Inhibition of protein synthesis in COS cells by cycloheximide reveals remarkably rapid turnover of expressed Sac3WT (t½ = 18.8 min), resulting from a proteasome-dependent clearance as evidenced by the extended Sac3WT half-life upon inhibiting proteasome activity. Coexpression of ArPIKfyveWT, but not the N- or C-terminal halves, prolongs the Sac3WT half-life consistent with enhanced Sac3 protein stability through association with full-length ArPIKfyve. We further demonstrate that mutant Sac3, harboring the pathogenic Ile-to-Thr substitution at position 41 found in patients with CMT4J disorder, is similar to Sac3WT with regard to PtdIns(3,5)P2-hydrolyzing activity, association with ArPIKfyve, or rapid proteasome-dependent clearance. Remarkably, however, neither is the steady-state Sac3I41T elevated nor is the Sac3I41T half-life extended by coexpressed ArPIKfyveWT, indicating that unlike with Sac3WT, ArPIKfyve fails to prevent Sac3I41T rapid loss. Together, our data indentify a novel regulatory mechanism whereby ArPIKfyve enhances Sac3 abundance by attenuating Sac3 proteasome-dependent degradation and suggest that a failure of this mechanism could be the primary molecular defect in the pathogenesis of CMT4J.
Optimizing lidar dynamic range by engineering the crossover region

Accommodating the large dynamic range of lidar signals is always a challenge for optical engineers. Signals from low altitudes are much larger than signals from high altitudes because of their inverse-range-squared behavior, as well as atmospheric absorption and scattering. It is well known that the onset of received lidar signals with range can be controlled by adjusting the crossover of the laser beam into the receiver field of view. However, a careful analysis has shown that, in many lidar applications much of the system's dynamic range can be used up before the range where the crossover is complete. In addition, the analysis shows that defocus is the primary contributor to the geometrical overlap function in determining the range dependence of the signal, and that understanding defocus is necessary for the optical designer to optimize system performance. Examples are given to illustrate the improvements in dynamic range that can be achieved by optimizing the focus of a lidar receiver.
The infectivity of adenovirus 5 DNA-protein complex.

Abstract Adenovirus 5 DNA-protein complexes were prepared by treating virions with 4 M guanidinium chloride and resolving the faster sedimenting viral DNA from released capsid protein. These complexes were characterized by both gel electrophoresis and electron microscopy. After dialysis into saline buffer, approximately one-half of the viral DNA-protein complex was aggregated by association at its termini into conformations other than linear monomer length duplex molecules. However, the monomer length linear molecules in the viral DNA-protein complex sample also have protein attached to both of their termini: These linear molecules are resistant to digestion by a pressessive nuclease, adenosine triphosphate-dependent deoxyribonuclease, that requires a free terminus for activity, while Pronase-treated adenovirus DNA is susceptible to digestion, and the restriction endonuclease cleavage fragments from both ends of the viral DNA-protein complex migrate at an anomalous rate during electrophoresis in an agarose gel. As the infectivity of Ad5 DNA is exceptionally low, the infectivity of the DNA-protein complex was tested using the calcium technique for transfection. The efficiency of transfection with the Ad5 DNA-protein complex is about 100-fold higher than that of Pronase-treated Ad5 DNA.
Spike Clustering and Neuron Tracking over Successive Time Windows

This paper introduces a new methodology for tracking signals from individual neurons over time in multi-unit extracellular recordings. The core of our strategy relies upon an extension of a traditional mixture model approach, with parameter optimization via expectation-maximization (EM), to incorporate clustering results from the preceding time period in a Bayesian manner. EM initialization is also achieved by utilizing these prior clustering results. After clustering, we match the current and prior clusters to track persisting neurons. Applications of this spike sorting method to recordings from macaque parietal cortex show that it provides significantly more consistent clustering and tracking results.
Heterophile Antibodies to Bovine and Caprine Proteins Causing False-Positive Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 and Other Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Results

Heterophile antibodies are a well-recognized cause of erroneous results in immunoassays. We describe here a 22-month-old child with heterophile antibodies reactive with bovine serum albumin and caprine proteins causing false-positive results to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and other infectious serology testing.
Implication and referential constraints: a new formal reasoning

The authors address the issue of reasoning with two classes of commonly used semantic integrity constraints in database and knowledge-base systems: implication constraints and referential constraints. They first consider a central problem in this respect, the IRC-refuting problem, which is to decide whether a conjunctive query always produces an empty relation on (finite) database instances satisfying a given set of implication and referential constraints. Since the general problem is undecidable, they only consider acyclic referential constraints. Under this assumption, they prove that the IRC-refuting problem is decidable, and give a novel necessary and sufficient condition for it. Under the same assumption, they also study several other problems encountered in semantic query optimization, such as the semantics-based query containment problem, redundant join problem, and redundant selection-condition problem, and show that they are polynomially equivalent or reducible to the IRC-refuting problem. Moreover, they give results on reducing the complexity for some special cases of the IRC-refuting problem.
The fate and transport of nitrate in shallow groundwater in northwestern Mississippi, USA

Agricultural contamination of groundwater in northwestern Mississippi, USA, has not been studied extensively, and subsurface fluxes of agricultural chemicals have been presumed minimal. To determine the factors controlling transport of nitrate-N into the Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer, a study was conducted from 2006 to 2008 to estimate fluxes of water and solutes for a site in the Bogue Phalia basin (1,250 km2). Water-quality data were collected from a shallow water-table well, a vertical profile of temporary sampling points, and a nearby irrigation well. Nitrate was detected within 4.4 m of the water table but was absent in deeper waters with evidence of reducing conditions and denitrification. Recharge estimates from 6.2 to 10.9 cm/year were quantified using water-table fluctuations, a Cl– tracer method, and atmospheric age-tracers. A mathematical advection-reaction model predicted similar recharge to the aquifer, and also predicted that 15% of applied nitrogen is leached into the saturated zone. With current denitrification and application rates, the nitrate-N front is expected to remain in shallow groundwater, less than 6–9 m deep. Increasing application rates resulting from intensifying agricultural demands may advance the nitrate-N front to 16–23 m, within the zone of groundwater pumping.
Validation of voting committees

This article contains a method to bound the test errors of voting committees with members chosen from a pool of trained classifiers. There are so many prospective committees that validating them directly does not achieve useful error bounds. Because there are fewer classifiers than prospective committees, it is better to validate the classifiers individually than use linear programming to infer committee error bounds. We test the method using credit card data. Also, we extend the method to infer bounds for classifiers in general.
Blood pressure regulation by endocannabinoids and their receptors

Cannabinoids and their endogenous and synthetic analogs exert powerful hypotensive and cardiodepressor effects by complex mechanisms involving direct and indirect effects on myocardium and vasculature. On the one hand, endocannabinoids and cannabinoid receptors have been implicated in the hypotensive state associated with hemorrhagic, endotoxic and cardiogenic shock, and advanced liver cirrhosis. On the other hand, there is emerging evidence suggesting that the endocannabinergic system plays an important role in the cardiovascular regulation in hypertension. This review is aimed to discuss the in vivo hypotensive and cardiodepressant effects of cannabinoids mediated by cannabinoid and TRPV1 receptors, and focuses on the novel therapeutical strategies offered by targeting the endocannabinoid system in the treatment of hypertension. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
PHOTOSELECTIVE POTASSIUM-TITANYL-PHOSPHATE LASER VAPORIZATION OF THE BENIGN OBSTRUCTIVE PROSTATE: OBSERVATIONS ON LONG-TERM OUTCOMES

ABSTRACTPurpose: We present long-term observations on photoselective vaporization of the prostate in a prospectively studied cohort of men with obstructive benign prostatic hyperplasia.Materials and Methods: Obstructive benign prostatic hyperplasia in 94 men was treated with transurethral near contact vaporization with potassium-titanyl-phosphate laser with the patient under general or spinal anesthesia. Baseline characteristics, perioperative data, postoperative outcomes and adverse events were recorded.Results: Mean prostate volume was 45 ml (range 13 to 136). Mean lasing time was 47 minutes (range 10 to 99), and there was minimal blood loss and no evidence of fluid absorption. All 94 men were outpatients and all but 1 became catheter-free in less than 24 hours. Baseline mean American Urological Association symptom index score was 22, quality of life score 4.5, peak urinary flow rate 7.8 ml per second and post-void residual urine volume 197 ml. After surgery percentage changes from baseline in mean valu...
An evaluation of the serotonin system and perseverative, compulsive, stereotypical, and hyperactive behaviors in dopamine transporter (DAT) knockout mice

Rationale Mice lacking the dopamine transporter (DAT) display major behavioral alterations that include hyperactivity, perseverative locomotor patterns, and reduced prepulse inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex.
An active interference canceller for multistandard collocated radio

This paper proposes a novel active interference cancellation system that allows simultaneous operation of multistandard collocated radios. It addresses specifically, the coexistence problem of closely spaced Bluetooth and 802.11b WLAN radio systems on a mobile wireless device. The suggested technique uses a small replica of the aggressing signal tapped off from the transmit antenna to generate a cancellation signal across the entire receive band. A prototype of the solution has been implemented on an FR-4 board, which consists of an emulation filter to model the coupling channel; and amplitude, delay and phase alignment of the cancellation signal. The required VGA and phase aligner have also been fabricated on chip with a 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS technology using active circuitry. Cancellation of up to -30 dB of in-band interference has been measured. The integrated components dissipate 15mW of power.
Homeless Educational Policy: Exploring a Racialized Discourse Through a Critical Race Theory Lens

A qualitative research study conducted in two public high schools in an urban area of the Midwest sought to explore the issue of race as it pertains to educational policy implementation for unaccom...
The Dynamics of Strike-Slip Step-Overs with Linking Dip-Slip Faults

Fault step-overs with linking dip-slip faults are common features on long strike-slip fault systems worldwide. It has been noted by various researchers that under some circumstances, earthquakes can jump across fault step-overs to cascade into large events, while under other circumstances rupture is arrested at step-overs. There is also evidence that fault step-overs may be preferential locations for earthquake nucleation. The present work uses the 3D finite element method to model the dynamics of strike-slip fault systems with step-overs and linking dip-slip faults. I find that the presence of a linking normal or thrust fault greatly increases the ability of earthquake rupture to propagate across the step-over, leading to a larger event. Additionally, dilational step-overs with linking normal faults are more prone to through-going rupture than compressional step-overs with linking thrust faults. This difference is due to the sign of the normal stress increment on the dip-slip fault caused by slip on the strike-slip segments: Slip on the strike-slip segments causes a negative (unclamping) normal stress increment on the linking normal fault in a dilational step-over, whereas the opposite effect occurs on the linking thrust fault in a compressional step-over. Even in cases for which both dilational and compressional step-overs can experience through-going rupture, dilational step-overs typically experience higher slip, particularly on the linking normal fault. In the compressional case, rupture nucleation on the linking thrust fault may increase the likelihood of through-going rupture compared to nucleation on one of the strike-slip segments. Near the intersections between the fault segments, the stress interaction between the fault segments also causes a significant rotation of rake away from that which would be inferred from the regional stress field. The results help to emphasize the importance of two-way interactions between nearby fault segments during the earthquake rupture process. The results also may have implications for the probability of large earthquakes along geometrically complex strike-slip fault systems, and may help explain why step-overs sometimes act as barriers and other times as nucleation locations for large earthquakes.
Effect of heating and elevated temperature storage on cheese whey.

The effect of heating and storage of sweet (pH 6.1–6.3) and acid (pH 4.75) cheese whey for up to 10 hr at 62.8°C (145°F) on pH, titratable acidity, total bacteria count and protein denaturation was investigated. Heating and elevated temperature storage reduced the total bacteria counts of both types of whey to ≤ 100 mL−1 and stabilized their titratable acidity at 1.60–1.65%. These treatments resulted in up to 13.4% and 6.7% protein denaturation in sweet and acid whey, respectively, as measured by the pH 4.6 solubility method. SE- HPLC data confirmed that these elevated temperature treatments resulted in slight losses of major proteins.
Reselection of a Genomic Upstream Open Reading Frame in Mouse Hepatitis Coronavirus 5′-Untranslated-Region Mutants

An AUG-initiated upstream open reading frame (uORF) encoding a potential polypeptide of 3 to 13 amino acids (aa) is found within the 5' untranslated region (UTR) of >75% of coronavirus genomes based on 38 reference strains. Potential CUG-initiated uORFs are also found in many strains. The AUG-initiated uORF is presumably translated following genomic 5'-end cap-dependent ribosomal scanning, but its function is unknown. Here, in a reverse-genetics study with mouse hepatitis coronavirus, the following were observed. (i) When the uORF AUG-initiating codon was replaced with a UAG stop codon along with a U112A mutation to maintain a uORF-harboring stem-loop 4 structure, an unimpaired virus with wild-type (WT) growth kinetics was recovered. However, reversion was found at all mutated sites within five virus passages. (ii) When the uORF was fused with genomic (main) ORF1 by converting three in-frame stop codons to nonstop codons, a uORF-ORF1 fusion protein was made, and virus replicated at WT levels. However, a frameshifting G insertion at virus passage 7 established a slightly 5'-extended original uORF. (iii) When uAUG-eliminating deletions of 20, 30, or 51 nucleotides (nt) were made within stem-loop 4, viable but debilitated virus was recovered. However, a C80U mutation in the first mutant and an A77G mutation in the second appeared by passage 10, which generated alternate uORFs that correlated with restored WT growth kinetics. In vitro, the uORF-disrupting nondeletion mutants showed enhanced translation of the downstream ORF1 compared with the WT. These results together suggest that the uORF represses ORF1 translation yet plays a beneficial but nonessential role in coronavirus replication in cell culture.
Postconcussion Syndrome: A Review of Pathophysiology and Potential Nonpharmacological Approaches to Treatment

The incidence of all-cause concussions in the United States is estimated to range from 1.6 to 3.8 million annually, with the reported number of sport- or recreation-related concussions increasing dramatically, especially in youth sports.(1,2) Additionally, the use of roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan has propelled the incidence of concussion and other traumatic brain injuries to the highest levels ever encountered by the US military. As a result, there has also been a marked increase in postconcussion syndrome (PCS) and the associated cognitive, emotional, and memory disabilities associated with the condition. Unfortunately, however, there have been no significant advancements in the understanding or treatment of PCS for decades. The current management of PCS mainly consists of rest, reduction of sensory inputs, and treating symptoms as needed. Recently, researchers investigating the underlying mechanisms of PCS have proposed that activation of the immune inflammatory response may be an underlying pathophysiology that occurs in those who experience prolonged symptoms after a concussion. This article reviews the literature and summarizes the immune inflammatory response known as immunoexcitotoxicity. This article also discusses the use of nonpharmacological agents for the management of PCS that directly address this underlying mechanism.
Techniques for reallocating airport resources during adverse weather

The decreased airport arrival capacity during adverse weather conditions makes the pre-planned airline flight schedules unachievable, and necessitates the reallocation of arrival resources at the affected airport. This paper considers two different approaches based on market design to resolve the issue of airport landing resource reallocation. Several properties of these techniques are evaluated, including the nature of incentives for airlines to participate, report their true preferences, and the desire to minimize manipulation of the system. The first part of the paper analyzes the problem of slot trading without monetary payments, and presents sufficient conditions for the existence of stable allocations. The second part of the paper proposes the combination of optimization- based slot trading with a payment-based exchange scheme that ensures that the exchange (the FAA) does not operate at a deficit, while minimizing the extent by which airlines could manipulate the system by misrepresenting their preferences.
Severe deficiencies of IGF-I, IGF-II, IGFBP-3, ALS and paradoxically high-normal bone mass in a child with insulin-resistance syndrome (Rabson-Mendenhall type)

Abstract Rabson-Mendenhall syndrome is a rare genetic disorder characterized by severe insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia due to defects in signaling through the insulin receptor. Herein, we describe a new case of Rabson-Mendenhall syndrome in which investigations of the growth hormone (GH) – insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis – reveal severe deficiencies in total and free insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), IGF-II, IGF-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3), and the acid labile subunit (ALS). Based on these findings, we anticipated significant bone deficits, as have been described in other clinical scenarios in which the IGF axis is significantly perturbed. Long-bone studies revealed no gross malformations. Paradoxically, DXA scanning revealed a total body bone density Z -score of +2.0 (0.8 gm/cm 2 ), suggesting an overall high-normal BMD for age and a high BMD corrected for bone or height age. The mechanisms by which BMD is protected from severe deficiencies in the IGF-axis are unknown, yet may involve enhanced IGF sensitivity, increased local production of IGFs, and/or supra-physiological concentrations of insulin substituting for the actions of IGFs in bone.
Teleconnections in the Geopotential Height Field during the Northern Hemisphere Winter

Abstract Contemporaneous correlations between geopotential heights on a given pressure surface at widely separated points on earth, referred to as teleconnections in this paper, are studied in an attempt to identify and document recurrent spatial patterns which might be indicative of standing oscillations in the planetary waves during the Northern Hemisphere winter, with time scales on the order of a month or longer. A review of existing literature on the subject reveals the existence of at least four such patterns: the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oscillations identified by Walker and Bliss (1932). a zonally symmetric seesaw between sea level pressures in polar and temperature latitudes, first noted by Lorenz (1951), and what we will refer to as the Pacific/North American pattern, which has been known to operational long-range forecasters in this country since the 1950's. A data set consisting of NMC monthly mean sea level pressure and 500 mb height analyses for a 15-year period is used as a basis fo...
Breaking the city: Militarization and segregation in Rio de Janeiro

Abstract Emerging from the global city literature of the 1980s and 1990s, a vast scholarship has developed that embraces the ‘dual city’ concept as a useful analytical tool for explaining how global transformations produce polarization within cities. However, less is known about how local policies shape uneven patterns of development. Through an examination of Rio de Janeiro's Favela Pacification Program, we argue that state-level public policies play a significant role in institutionalizing duality. The recent military occupation of the slums in Rio de Janeiro demonstrates how the historically and politically contextualized public policy of confrontation has exacerbated tensions between the city's elites and poor residents along a number of social, economic, and political dimensions. Local policymakers can influence the impact of globalization on social polarization by considering the effects of public policies on spatial justice.
Boundary Layer Stimulation in Rectangular Conduits

Report on study applicable to sluices and conduits of flood control dams; stimulation of boundary layer will effectively reduce conduit length required for fully developed turbulent flow to about 40 equivalent diameters.
Religion and Health in Early Childhood: Evidence from the Indian Subcontinent

This paper studies early childhood health in India, Bangladesh and Nepal, focusing on inequalities in anthropometric outcomes by religious adherence. India and Nepal have Hindu majorities, while Bangladesh is predominantly Muslim. The results indicate that Muslim infants have an advantage over Hindu infants in height-for-age in India (for boys and girls) and in Bangladesh (for boys). However this advantage disappears beyond 12 months of age, at which point Hindu children in all three countries are found to have significantly better anthropometric outcomes than Muslim children. We report tests that rule out mortality selection and undertake falsification and robustness exercises that confirm these findings. Further results suggest that exposure to Ramadan fasting in utero may lead to positive selection of Muslim male infants, partially explaining the Muslim infant health advantage, but this does not fully explain the shift from Muslim advantage in infancy to Hindu advantage in childhood across all three countries.
Longitudinal evaluation of myocardial substrate metabolism in Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats as an animal model of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)

1092 Objectives GK rats are non-obese with an early onset of T2DM at the age of 2 weeks. The goal of this study was to characterize alterations in myocardial substrate metabolism in both male and female GK rats over a 10week period. Methods The study utilized 10 GK rats and 10 Wistar rats as controls with five rats per gender for a total of four groups. Each rat was imaged at 9 weeks (9W) and again at 19 weeks (19W) of age with small animal PET and three tracers in series: [11C]Acetate to quantify blood flow (MBF), [11C]Palmitate to quantify fatty acid metabolism, and FDG to quantify glucose metabolism. Blood samples were obtained during imaging protocol to determine concentration of insulin, glucose, fatty acid, triglycerides as well as glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C). Myocardial substrate metabolism was quantified based on established techniques to obtain estimates of MBF, myocardial fatty acid oxidation (MFAO) and uptake rate (MFAOUpR), myocardial fatty acid utilization (MFAU) and uptake rate (MFAUUpR) as well as myocardial glucose utilization (MGU). In addition, echocardiography (ECHO) measurements were obtained at both time-points to characterize changes in cardiac function as well as to facilitate partial-volume corrections based on established methods. Differences in measures were evaluated by two-way ANOVA. A P value of P Results At 9W, both male and female GK rats exhibited significantly lower MGU than control rats. No significant differences in fatty acid oxidation measures were observed. At 19W, in addition to differences in MGU observed at 9W, female GK rats exhibited significantly higher MFAO and MFAU than control rats, although gender-differences were not significant. Conclusions While both male and female GK rats are insulin-resistant at 9W, by 19W female GK rats utilize fatty acids significantly more than controls. Research Support NIH/NIBIB 1R01EB01228
Optical detection of lithocholic acid with liquid crystal emulsions.

The concentration level of bile acids is a clinical biomarker for the diagnosis of intestinal diseases because individuals suffering from intestinal diseases have a sharply increased concentration of bile acids at micromolar levels. Here, we report the detection of lithocholic acid (LCA) in aqueous solution by using surfactant-stabilized 4-n-pentyl-4′-cyanobiphenyl (5CB) liquid crystal droplets as an optical probe. We find that the surfactant adsorbed at the 5CB/water interface can be replaced by LCA, triggering a radial-to-bipolar configuration transition of the 5CB in the droplets. By simply observing the LCA-triggered transition with a polarizing optical microscope, micromolar levels of LCA in aqueous solution can be detected. The detection limit and selectivity of surfactant-stabilized 5CB droplets for LCA depend on the chain length and headgroup of the surfactants used for stabilizing 5CB droplets.
Colitis detection on abdominal CT scans by rich feature hierarchies

Colitis is inflammation of the colon due to neutropenia, inflammatory bowel disease (such as Crohn disease), infection and immune compromise. Colitis is often associated with thickening of the colon wall. The wall of a colon afflicted with colitis is much thicker than normal. For example, the mean wall thickness in Crohn disease is 11-13 mm compared to the wall of the normal colon that should measure less than 3 mm. Colitis can be debilitating or life threatening, and early detection is essential to initiate proper treatment. In this work, we apply high-capacity convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to bottom-up region proposals to detect potential colitis on CT scans. Our method first generates around 3000 category-independent region proposals for each slice of the input CT scan using selective search. Then, a fixed-length feature vector is extracted from each region proposal using a CNN. Finally, each region proposal is classified and assigned a confidence score with linear SVMs. We applied the detection method to 260 images from 26 CT scans of patients with colitis for evaluation. The detection system can achieve 0.85 sensitivity at 1 false positive per image.