cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Survival rates after resection for localized kidney cancer: 1989 to 2004

BACKGROUND. Mortality rates from kidney cancer have continued to rise despite increases in the detection of smaller renal tumors and rates of renal surgery. To explore the factors associated with this treatment-outcome discrepancy, the authors evaluated how changes in tumor size have affected disease progression in patients after nephrectomy for localized kidney cancer, and they sought to identify the factors associated with disease progression and overall patient survival after resection for localized kidney cancer. METHODS. In total, 1618 patients with localized kidney cancer were identified who underwent nephrectomy at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center from 1989 to 2004. Patients were categorized by year of surgery: from 1989 to 1992, from 1993 to 1996, from 1997 to 2000, and from 2001 to 2004. Tumor size was classified according to the following strata: 7 cm. Disease progression was defined as the development of local recurrence or distant metastases. Five-year progression-free survival (PFS) was calculated for patients in each tumor size strata according to the year of operation using the Kaplan-Meier method. The patient-, tumor-, and surgery-related characteristics associated with PFS and overall survival (OS) were explored using univariate analysis, and all significant variables were retained in a multivariate Cox regression analysis. RESULTS. Overall, the number of nephrectomies increased for all tumor size categories from 1989 to 2004. A tumor size migration was evident during this period, because the proportion of patients with tumors 7 cm decreased. One hundred seventy-nine patients (11%) developed disease progression after nephrectomy. Sixteen patients (1%) developed local recurrences, and 163 patients (10%) developed distant metastases. When 5-year PFS was calculated for each tumor size strata according to 4-year cohorts, trends in PFS did not improve or differ significantly over time. Compared with historic cohorts, patients in more contemporary cohorts were more likely to undergo partial nephrectomy rather than radical nephrectomy and were less likely to undergo concomitant lymph node dissection and adrenalectomy. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that pathologic stage and tumor grade were associated with disease progression, whereas patient age and tumor stage were associated with overall patient survival. CONCLUSIONS. Despite an increasing number of nephrectomies and a size migration toward smaller tumors, trends in 5-year PFS and OS did not improve or differ significantly over time. These findings require further research to identify causative mechanisms, and they argue for the consideration of active surveillance for patients who have select renal tumors and a re-evaluation of the current treatment paradigm of surgically removing solid renal masses on initial detection. Cancer 2008. © 2008 American Cancer Society.
Thermal contact conductance across filled polyimide films at cryogenic temperatures

Thermal contact resistance arises in the region of contact where two solid specimens are pressed together. The thermal resistance can be controlled by inserting an interstitial material at the interface, such as Kapton MT, a polyimide film containing alumina particles, which has a relatively low thermal resistance, but yet a high voltage standoff capability. The thermal resistance consists of two components: thermal contact resistance at the copper/Kapton MT interfaces, and the thermal conduction resistance across the Kapton MT film. The measured thermal resistance at low temperatures indicates that increasing the contact pressure reduces the thermal resistance, to a limit determined by the film conduction resistance. The effects of the contact pressure, the average interface temperature and the thickness of the interstitial layer are evaluated. A novel dimensionless correlation is derived from the experimental results that describes the thermal contact conductance of joints which include a soft interstitial material, at cryogenic temperatures.
Primary Prevention of Diabetes Mellitus

Two-thirds of all deaths in developed countries are caused by the major noncommunicable diseases, e.g., cardiovascular disease, cancer, and non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). There is increasing evidence that these diseases are a consequence of life-style change, and they have a number of risk factors in common. Primary prevention of both insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and NIDDM has become increasingly important because of their significant morbidity and mortality and the human and economic costs associated with diabetes and its complications. Prevention of the two major forms of diabetes, IDDM and NIDDM, are quite separate issues. The former appears to be an autoimmune disorder, whereas the latter should be considered along with other life-style-related noncommunicable diseases. The primary prevention of NIDDM appears to offer the greatest promise of success. The uncertainty that still exists as to the role of obesity and other risk factors in the development of NIDDM gives support to a multiple-risk-factor intervention approach (through a healthy life-style strategy) for NIDDM prevention.
The EU’s Democratic Deficit and Repeated Referendums in Ireland

This analysis tackles the question of whether the democratic deficit in the European Union is associated with repeated referendums—giving voters a second chance to vote “yes” for EU treaties. Looking at repeated referendums in Ireland on the Nice and Lisbon treaties, I argue that, broadly speaking, these referendums failed to give Irish voters the meaningful ability to contest the direction of EU policy or to choose among alternative policy options, an example of how the democratic deficit can endure even when the EU incorporates electoral mechanisms. I first discuss how this theoretical insight is evidenced by five aspects of the Irish referendums. Then, I examine three of these aspects more closely in case studies of the Nice and Lisbon referendums, focusing on how leaders (1) conceptualized the failure of the initial referendums as deriving from voter incomprehension, (2) planned repeated referendums in an additional effort to ratify the treaties, and (3) mobilized “yes” voters through extreme predictions about the consequences of second “no” outcomes. I conclude by discussing socio-economic trends seen from 2003 to 2014 and their implications for issues related to the EU’s democratic deficit.
GENETIC ANALYSIS OF THE MECHANISMS CONTROLLING TARGET SELECTION : TARGET-DERIVED FASCICLIN II REGULATES THE PATTERN OF SYNAPSE FORMATION

In Drosophila, motoneuron growth cones initially probe many potential muscle targets but later withdraw most of these contacts to form stereotypic synapses with only one or a few muscles. Prior to synapse formation, Fasciclin II (Fas II) is expressed at low levels on muscle. During synapse formation, Fas II concentrates at the synapse and disappears from the rest of the muscle. We previously showed that Fas II is required both pre- and postsynaptically for synaptic stabilization. Here, we show that the differential expression of target-derived Fas II has a profound influence on the patterning of synapse formation. A transient increase in muscle Fas II stabilizes growth cone contacts and leads to novel synapses that are functional and stable; targets that normally receive two inputs can now receive up to six inputs. Changing the relative levels of Fas II on neighboring muscles leads to dramatic shifts in target selection.
Image of Vietnam held by US tourists: Initial inquiry

Global tourism, although affected by international terrorism events and contagious disease, remains relatively robust and still performs important economic and social functions. Asian nations can and should take the potential of foreign tourists seriously. One nation of particular interest is Vietnam. However, the image of Vietnam as a tourist destination is assumed to be relatively unknown, especially among US tourists. Given the critical nature of image as it relates to marketing and development, this is a serious void. The purpose of this project was to examine the image of Vietnam among the attractive US market. Utilizing a combined quantitative and qualitative approach, an on-site questionnaire to US tourists revealed they are mature, affluent and well educated. Factor analysis of quantitative items revealed four key elements in Vietnam's image: world heritage sites; atmosphere and attractions; service value; and quality. Content analysis of open-ended questions supported and extended this image by d...
Socially biased learning in the acquisition of a complex foraging task in juvenile cottontop tamarins, Saguinus oedipus

Our longitudinal study explored the role of socially biased learning in the acquisition of a novel foraging task that could be solved in two ways in captive juvenile cottontop tamarins. We trained parents to adopt a single solution (pole or ceiling strategy). We tested 13 different juvenile offspring-parent pairs on the task over the course of 11 weeks. Our objective was (1) to investigate the extent to which juveniles match their parent, and (2) to analyse the influence of behavioural feedback between parent and juvenile offspring on learning trajectories, behavioural acquisition and performance. Although not all juveniles matched the modelled solution, both groups of juveniles significantly spent more time at the targeted location being modelled for them. Parent and offspring correlated well in time spent at the demonstrated location. We investigated predictors of performance and success by analysing data prior to first success. Juveniles' exploration of the apparatus was important in dictating their success at the task, whereas observation of the parent had no influence. Both juvenile scrounging and adult food calling, which encouraged begging, drew the attention of the juveniles away from the task and impeded learning. High adult refusals per beg predicted task success in young. Adults monitored their offspring's performance and increased their refusals per begs upon the first success of their offspring. Cottontop tamarins also showed some behavioural scaffolding. Solving the task did not simply reflect a maturational change in juveniles, but was rather influenced by an intricate behavioural feedback between parent and offspring.
The role of snow cover in the warming of arctic permafrost

[1] Air temperatures at high latitudes are expected to rise significantly as anthropogenic carbon builds up in the atmosphere. There is concern that warming of the ground in permafrost regions will result in additional release of carbon to the atmosphere. Recent emphasis has thus been on predicting the magnitude and spatial distribution of future warming at high latitudes. Modeling results show that changes in below ground temperatures can be influenced as much by temporal variations of snow cover as by changes in the near-surface air temperature. The recent (1983–1998) changes in permafrost temperatures on the North Slope of Alaska are consistent with decadal scale variability in snow cover. The implication of these results is that a better understanding of how winter precipitation patterns at high latitudes will change over the coming decades is needed to comprehend evolving permafrost temperatures.
Estimation of height in elderly Japanese using region-specific knee height equations.

Two knee height equations to predict standing height of Japanese elderly were cross-validated with Joetsu City elders. One equation was derived with Hawaiian residents of Japanese ancestry and the other with elders from the Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan. Subjects included 40 men and 39 women free-dwelling, healthy elders with mean ages of 68.0 +/- 2.2 years and 68.0 +/- 2.7 years, respectively. Heights of the subjects were representative of Japanese elderly. Experienced nurses, trained to measure knee height, also measured standing height with an automatic stadiometer. A pilot study refined measurement skills. Differences between actual and predicted heights for both equations were significant. Multiple linear regression was used to derive knee height equations specific for elderly males and females living in Joetsu City: women, 63.06 + (2.38 x knee height in cm) -(0.34 x age in years); men, 71.16 + (2.61 x knee height in cm) - (0.56 x age in years). Geographic-specific knee height equations for Japanese elderly and cross-validation with other locations are suggested to facilitate the accurate use of knee height in nutritional assessment of Japanese elders.
Fostering diversity: Graduate study in sociology at Northwestern University

Among major graduate sociology programs, Northwestern University halances quantitative and qualitative approaches in its diverse offerings. The program is student-centered and emphasizes the participation of the student in the definition of intellectual and career objectives. The core program is compact and concentrated in the first year so that students can develop their own research interests in subsequent years, with close faculty supervision and involvement. Students who are self-motivated and have well-developed intellectual interests generally thrive at Northwestern University.
EHF active phased array development in the USA

EHF active phased array technology has been pursued in the USA for several years. This paper sketches the basic considerations and problems encountered with such antenna systems, summarizes the lessons learnt from early work, and presents some recent achievements, including functional subarrays in this frequency range. It also summarizes new wafer-scale integration development of T/R modules that have been implemented at SHF but are presently being extended to EHF.
Three-dimensional object recognition using average surface normal detection

A direction characterization of a surface region in a range image, called the average surface normal (ASN), is presented in this paper. The goal is to robustly detect a direction for each range image pixel that is object centered and reasonably insensitive to the viewpoint. The average surface normal for a range image pixel is defined as the normal to that best-fitting plane of a local region of the image that surrounds the pixel. An analysis of the noise sensitivity of the ASN is presented and the bias due to Gaussian noise on a plane surface is determined. Results from empirical experiments are presented that confirm that the ASN operator has a very small bias in the presence of noise. The use of the ASN to aid three- dimensional object identification is considered. A three-dimensional object may be decomposed into a number of similar sized detectable surface regions each of which defines an object feature. Object identification is achieved by detecting a visible subset of these features.
Evolutionary physiology: A bone for all seasons

Because mammals have such high metabolic rates, it has long been thought that their growth is invulnerable to seasonal variation. But their bones turn out to contain annual lines, just as those of cold-blooded animals do. See Letter p.358 The question of dinosaur endothermy — warm-bloodedness — is a vexed one. One of the cases against is derived from the 'lines of arrested growth' evident in the creatures' bone histology, indicating seasonal slowdown or cessation of growth. Similar features are seen in the bones of reptiles and amphibians, leading to the suggestion that these lines indicate ectothermy. Endotherms, it was assumed, grow throughout the year. The problem was that the endotherms most commonly studied — birds and small mammals — tend to grow to full adult size within a season, leaving little scope for a seasonal hiatus in growth. Now, Meike Kohler et al. present a comprehensive study of wild ruminants — large endothermic mammals — living in a wide variety of climate regimes, from tropical to polar. In all of the animals studied, including deer, antelope and reindeer, there is evidence for arrested growth during the unfavourable season. This precludes the use of lines of arrested growth as an argument in support of ectothermy in dinosaurs.
Nox2 mediates high fat high sucrose diet-induced nitric oxide dysfunction and inflammation in aortic smooth muscle cells

article i nfo Article history: 2+ ATPase High fat high sucrose diet Diet-induced obesity and metabolic syndrome are important contributors to cardiovascular diseases. The decreased nitric oxide (NO) bioactivity in endothelium and the impaired response of smooth muscle cell (SMC) to NO signif- icantly contribute to vascular pathologies, including atherosclerosis and arterial restenosis after angioplasty. Sarco/ endoplasmic reticulum Ca
A fibre-optic chemical sensor with discrete sensing sites

A LONG-standing goal of clinical medicine has been the continuous, in situ measurement of solute concentrations (such as pH, pCO2and pO2), particularly in blood. Blood monitoring is accomplished at present by analysing discrete samples at a centralized, remote clinical laboratory, causing delays between sampling and analysis. Most multi-analyte sensors developed for 'bedside' in situ monitoring1 consist of several sensors fabricated into a sensor array or bundle2,3. This approach is not ideal where sensor size is an important factor. Here we describe a technique that enables the development of a compact, multi-analyte fibre-optic chemical sensor. The technique is based on localized photopolymerization of appropriate dye indicators on the face of an imaging fibre. The sensing sites fluoresce to a degree controlled by analyte concentration, intensities being monitored simultaneously with an enhanced charge-coupled device (CCD) video camera. We present results from a sensor that contains three individual pH-sensitive areas, and indicate how multi-analyte sensitivity may be achieved.
Expression, purification, and characterization of soluble K-Ras4B for structural analysis

Abstract A p21 GTPase K-Ras4B plays an important role in human cancer and represents an excellent target for cancer therapeutics. Currently, there are no drugs directly targeting K-Ras4B. In part, this is due to the lack of structural information describing unique features of K-Ras4B. Here we describe a methodology allowing production of soluble, well-folded K-Ras4B for structural analysis. The key points in K-Ras4B preparation are low temperature expression and extraction of K-Ras4B from the insoluble fraction using a nucleotide loading procedure in the presence of Mg 2+ and citrate, a low affinity chelator. Additionally, a significant amount of K-Ras4B could be extracted from the soluble fraction. We show that recombinant K-Ras4B is monomeric in solution. Excellent NMR signal dispersion suggests that the protein is well-folded and is amenable to solution structure determination. In addition, using phospholipid bilayer nanodiscs we show that recombinant K-Ras4B interacts with lipids and that this interaction is mediated by the C-terminal hypervariable region.
Bulk protonic conduction in Yb-doped SrCeO3

The protonic conductivity of the perovskite structured ceramic SrCeO3, doped with Yb3+ and treated in water vapor, was investigated. Measurements were carried out in the temperature range 25–250°C using complex impedance analysis to allow determination of the true bulk conductivity. The existence of an isotope effect, studied by comparing samples treated in H2O and D2O vapor, provides convincing evidence that the conductivity is primarily protonic. The activation energy of migration was found to be 0.63 eV, considerably lower than that reported by Iwahara et al. in a higher temperature range. The effect of varying the concentration of Yb dopant in the range 0.5–5% Yb was studied. It was found that there is not a simple linear relation between dopant concentration and conductivity in this range. In addition, analysis of the Arrhenius pre-exponential indicates that the concentration of hopping protons is only a small fraction of the concentration of Yb dopant. A comparison of samples treated in water vapor and in dry atmospheres shows that residual protonic still dominates in most “dry” samples. Finally, the conductivity, measured as a function of PO2, was found to be relatively insensitive in the PO2 range 1–10-12 atm but drops by one order of magnitude in a dry highly reducing atmosphere (PO2∼10-16 atm), where a contribution from electronic conduction evidently occurs.
Urban asthma and the neighbourhood environment in New York City.

Asthma is now the leading cause of emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and missed school days in New York City's poorest neighbourhoods. While most research focuses on the influence of the indoor environment on asthma, this study examines the neighbourhood effects on childhood asthma, such as housing and ambient environmental hazards. Using Geographic Information Science (GIScience) we identify neighbourhoods with elevated concentrations of childhood asthma hospitalizations between 1997 and 2000 in US census tracts, analyze the sociodemographic, housing characteristics, and air pollution burdens from stationary, land use and mobile sources in these areas. The paper reveals the importance of distinguishing the specific and often different combinations of poor housing conditions, outdoor air pollution and noxious land uses that contribute to the high incidence of asthma in impoverished urban neighbourhoods.
A novel noninvasive impedance-based technique for central venous pressure measurement.

Knowledge of central venous pressure (CVP) is considered valuable in the assessment and treatment of various states of critical illness and injury. We tested a noninvasive means of determining CVP (NICVP) by monitoring upper arm blood flow changes in response to externally applied circumferential pressure to the upper arm veins. Thirty-six patients who were undergoing CVP monitoring as part of their care had NICVP determined and compared with CVP. Volume changes were measured in the upper arm using tetra-polar impedance plethysmography underneath a blood pressure cuff. The cuff was inflated over 5 s to a pressure greater than CVP but less than diastolic arterial pressure. After 45 to 60 s, the cuff was rapidly deflated. Noninvasive CVP was determined as the cuff pressure noted at the maximum derivative of the volume increase under the cuff during deflation. Noninvasive CVP was then compared with invasively measured CVP taken during the same period by Bland-Altman analysis. A total of 108 trials (three per subject) were performed on 36 patients. Mean bias was j0.26 mmHg (95% confidence interval (CI): j0.67, 0.15). Limits of agreement were j2.7 and 2.2 mmHg with the 95% CI for the lower limit of agreement (j3.4, j2.0 mmHg) and for the upper limit of agreement (1.5, 2.9 mmHg). Correlation between CVP and NICVP was 0.95 (95% CI: 0.93 to 0.97; P G 0.0001). Noninvasive CVP as determined in this study may be a clinically useful substitute for traditional CVP measurement and may offer a tool for early diagnosis and treatment of acute states in which knowledge of CVP would be helpful. KEYWORDS—Monitoring, catheter, critical illness, injury, volume assessment
Limbic lesions and consummatory behavior in the rat

The consummatory behavior of normal rats and rats with lesions of the hippocampus, neocortex, entorhinal cortex or transections of the fornix was compared during 3 days of ad-lib feeding. The results showed that none of the groups differed on the mean amount of food or water consumed. However, the rats with lesions of the hippocampus dropped a significantly larger portion of their food ration through the wire mesh floors of the cages. The results are discussed in terms of a possible confounding which could occur when rats with hippocampal lesions are maintained on fixed rations of food and housed in wire mesh cages.
Interference phenomenon with correlated masks and its application

We describe the interference fringes produced when periodic and aperiodic (random) amplitude masks are illuminated with partially coherent light. Periodic transmission gratings and the recordings of laser speckle patterns have been used to constitute the masks. We will discuss applications to measure the motion of objects and in particular study the rotational motion measurement using random masks.
Determination of indwelling ureteral stent patency. Comparison of standard contrast and nuclear cystography, and lasix renography

Abstract Objective. Because of the difficulty in determining patency of Double-J ureteral catheters, a study was devised at Madigan Army Medical Center to determine the best method to demonstrate stented ureteral patency. Methods. Forty-two patients requiring Double-J ureteral stenting for various clinical reasons were the study group. Outpatients underwent contrast retrograde cystography, nuclear cystography, and diuretic renography every four to six weeks during the stent duration or just prior to stent removal if the stents were indwelling for less than four weeks. In addition, four weeks after stent removal diuretic renography alone was done to evaluate for possible delayed obstructive effect of the ureteral stenting. Results. A total of 53 stents and 42 patients were evaluated. Seventy-seven sets of studies were obtained. In only four instances did all three imaging methods agree on the obstruction. In the remaining 73 sets of data, at least one imaging technique indicated stented ureteral patency. The contrast retrograde cystogram was positive for reflux 52 times (71 %). Nuclear cystography showed patency 54 times (74%) and an unobstructed diuretic renogram was obtained 59 times (81 %). In addition, five of the six diuretic renograms accomplished with patients in the supine position only and which showed obstruction were repeated with patients in the upright position, and they showed unobstructed function. The overall sensitivity for diuretic renography was 89 percent when the diuretic renogram was done with patients in the supine and upright positions. Conclusions. Diuretic renography is the most sensitive test for detecting stented ureteral patency. This test needs to be performed with patients in both the supine and upright positions.
Examination of a possible mechanism by which anisomycin suppresses pulsatile luteinizing hormone release in ovariectomized rats.

An initial study was performed to ascertain the effects of anisomycin, a reversible inhibitor of protein synthesis, on pulsatile luteinizing hormone (LH) release in adult, ovariectomized (OVX) rats. F
Fluorescence and circular dichroism studies during the interactions of sulfated polysaccharides with antithrombin III

The changes in relative fluorescence of antithrombin III (AT-III) during its interaction with sulfated xylans were compared with that of sulfated glycosaminoglycans by measuring the ratio of the increase in fluorescence of AT-III in the presence of sulfated polysaccharide to the fluorescence of AT-III alone for various mass ratios. Interactions of corn cob xylan sulfate (CCXS) and sodium pentosan polysulfate (SP-54) with AT-III resulted in enhancements of relative fluorescence which were lower than commercial heparin. At mass ratios below 1, heparan sulfate and low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) gave increases in the relative fluorescence higher than that of commercial heparin, while highly sulfated semisynthetic chondroitin sulfates A and C gave much smaller increases. The relative fluorescence enhancements of AT-III by heparan sulfate, commercial heparin, LMWH and heparin derived pentasaccharide (HDP) increased with increasing mass ratios while the enhancements by CCXS, SP-54 and the highly sulfated chondroitin sulfates A and C were reversed at higher mass ratios. The estimated dissociation constants (kd) for the interaction of AT-III and the heparin-related compounds showed that heparin sulfate and LMWH gave the lowest kd values indicating a higher affinity for AT-III while commercial heparin and HDP gave higher kd values, indicating a lower affinity for AT-III. SP-54 gave a kd value lower than CCXS, indicating a greater affinity for AT-III. A comparison of the near ultraviolet (UV) circular dichroism (CD) spectrum of AT-III alone and during its interaction with oat spelts xylan sulfate (OSXS) showed enhancements of the two aromatic amino acid regions corresponding to phenylalanine and tryptophan.
Effects of respirators under heat/work conditions

Physiological responses and perceived strain of five unacclimatized male subjects were studied. The subjects were exposed to heat during an exercise task and were evaluated while wearing half and full facepiece, cartridge-type, air-purifying respirators, and without a respirator. The exercise consisted of walking on a treadmill for a period of 1 hour in a controlled environmental chamber at each of two different energy expenditure levels (200 and 400 Kcal/hr) (≅58 and 116 Watts) and two different heat exposures (air temperatures of 25°C and 43.3°C). The results indicated that wearing a full facepiece respirator imposed significant physiological strain added to that caused by the heat and workloads used in the study. Five of the six physiological measures show this increased physiological strain: (1) heart rate; (2) minute ventilation; (3) oxygen consumption; (4) energy expenditure; and (5) oral temperature. There was no detectable effect on sweat rate. Although subjective ratings indicated more discomfort...
Density Functional Theory of Chemisorption on Metal Surfaces.

Abstract : The density functional theory of chemisorption is developed by means of a self-consistent linear response formalism. Any chemisorbed species which can be represented as an external charge distribution perturbing the metallic surface can be studied with this approach. The formalism is applied to hydrogen chemisorbed on a tungsten surface. Theoretical results for the ionic desorption energy, adatom vibrational frequency, relative size of the dipole moment, resonance levels associated with the adsorbate, and the question of dissociation agree well with experimental measurements. The calculated level width is too large. Differential scattering cross sections for chemisorbed hydrogen are compared with those of the isolated atom. The rather satisfactory overall agreement of our theory with experimental results suggests that the linear response formalism may have a wider usefulness.
Does the level of family dysfunction moderate the impact of genetic factors on the personality trait of neuroticism

Background While the family environment can directly influence later risk for psychopathology, dysfunction in the family of origin may also moderate the impact of genetic factors on liability for psychiatric disorders. Can a similar pattern be seen for the personality trait of Neuroticism (N)-which is a risk factor for many psychiatric conditions? Method Our sample of 957 complete female-female twin pairs from a population-based register had measures of self-reported N and multiple reporters (twin, co-twin, mother, father) for family dysfunction (FD). Statistical analysis was conducted by traditional regression analysis and a moderator structural equation twin model operationalized in the computer program Mx. Results Dividing the sample into quartiles based on increasing levels of FD, the mean of N increased substantially while correlations of N in monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins were relatively constant. Regression analyses did not suggest greater twin resemblance for N with increasing levels of FD. The best-fit structural equation model was the standard un-moderated model in which the proportion of variance in N due to genetic (39%) and unique environmental effects (61%) remained constant across values of FD. Conclusions Although a false-negative result due to limited power cannot be excluded, these analyses do not support the hypothesis that FD moderates the impact of genetic factors on levels of N.
Evolutionarily Conserved Epitopes on Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus Reverse Transcriptases Detected by HIV-1-Infected Subjects

Anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL)-associated epitopes, evolutionarily conserved on both HIV type 1 (HIV-1) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) reverse transcriptases (RT), were identified using gamma interferon (IFN-γ) enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISpot) and carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimide ester (CFSE) proliferation assays followed by CTL-associated cytotoxin analysis. The peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) or T cells from HIV-1-seropositive (HIV+) subjects were stimulated with overlapping RT peptide pools. The PBMC from the HIV+ subjects had more robust IFN-γ responses to the HIV-1 peptide pools than to the FIV peptide pools, except for peptide-pool F3. In contrast, much higher and more frequent CD8+ T-cell proliferation responses were observed with the FIV peptide pools than with the HIV peptide pools. HIV-1-seronegative subjects had no proliferation or IFN-γ responses to the HIV and FIV peptide pools. A total of 24% (40 of 166) of the IFN-γ responses to HIV pools and 43% (23 of 53) of the CD8+ T-cell proliferation responses also correlated to responses to their counterpart FIV pools. Thus, more evolutionarily conserved functional epitopes were identified by T-cell proliferation than by IFN-γ responses. In the HIV+ subjects, peptide-pool F3, but not the HIV H3 counterpart, induced the most IFN-γ and proliferation responses. These reactions to peptide-pool F3 were highly reproducible and persisted over the 1 to 2 years of testing. All five individual peptides and epitopes of peptide-pool F3 induced IFN-γ and/or proliferation responses in addition to inducing CTL-associated cytotoxin responses (perforin, granzyme A, granzyme B). The epitopes inducing polyfunctional T-cell activities were highly conserved among human, simian, feline, and ungulate lentiviruses, which indicated that these epitopes are evolutionarily conserved. These results suggest that FIV peptides could be used in an HIV-1 vaccine.
Applying source level auto-vectorization to Aparapi Java

Parallelism dominates modern hardware design, from multi-core CPUs to SIMD and GPGPU. This bring with it, however, a need to program this hardware in a programmer-friendly manner. Traditionally, managed languages like Java have struggled to take advantage of data-parallel hardware, but projects like Aparapi provide a programming model that lets the programmer easily express the parallelism within their code, while still programming in a high-level language.This work takes advantage of this programmer-specified parallelism to perform source-level auto-vectorization, an optimization that is rarely considered in Java compilation. This is done using a source-to-source auto-vectorization transformation on the Aparapi Java program and a JNI vector library that is pre-compiled to take advantage of available SIMD instructions. This replaces the existing Aparapi fallback path, for when no OpenCL device exists or if that device has insufficient memory for the program.We show that for all ten benchmarks tested the auto-vectorization tool produced an implementation that was able to beat the default Aparapi fallback path by a factor of 4.56x or 3.24x on average for a desktop and a server system respectively. In addition it was found that this improved fallback path even outperformed the GPU implementation for six of the ten benchmarks.
Dendritic amputation redistributes sprouting evoked by axotomy in lamprey central neurons

In the previous paper (Hall and Cohen, 1988), we showed that axotomy of anterior bulbar cells (ABCs) in the hindbrain of the larval lamprey results in the sprouting of axonlike neurites from either the end of the proximal axon stump, the dendritic tips, or both, depending on the site of axotomy. Here we show that, unlike axotomy, dendritic amputation (dendrotomy) does not by itself induce sprouting from ABCs. However, dendrotomy does induce sprouting from dendrites in the immediate vicinity of the dendritic lesion in cells that have been previously axotomized. We found that dendrotomy acts primarily to rearrange the distribution of sprouts induced by axotomy rather than serving as an additional stimulus to neurite outgrowth. We propose that (1) dendritic sprouting in ABCs occurs because the dendritic tips become attractive sites for sprout initiation when they are either directly injured (as with dendrotomy) or are situated relatively close to the site of injury (as with axotomy close to the soma), and (2) the axon stump, dendritic stumps, and uninjured dendritic tips of the cell compete to initiate a limited total amount of sprouting induced by axotomy. The probability that a given locus will support sprouting is determined both by its proximity to the nearest lesion site and by whether there are other attractive potential sprouting sites in the cell.
Correlated light scattering by a dense distribution of condensation droplets on a window pane

An analytical model of the scattering structure factor for an assembly of noninteracting hard disks has recently appeared in the literature [Phys. Rev. A 42, 5978–5989 (1990)]. We employ this model to calculate correlated light scattering by monodispersions and binary mixtures of condensation droplets on a window pane. We find that an area fraction of f ≥ 0.6 is required for producing the near-forward direction scattering suppression and that a moderately wide polydispersion of droplet sizes is capable of producing the experimentally observed bright ring of colored light.
Bulged DNA substrates for identifying poxvirus resolvase inhibitors

Resolvase enzymes that cleave DNA four-way (Holliday) junctions are required for poxvirus replication, but clinically useful inhibitors have not been developed. Here, we report an assay for resolvase cleavage activity based on fluorescence polarization (FP) for high-throughput screening and mechanistic studies. Initial analysis showed that cleavage of a fluorescently labeled Holliday junction substrate did not yield an appreciable change in FP, probably because the cleavage product did not have sufficiently increased mobility to yield a strong FP signal. Iterative optimization yielded a substrate with an off-center DNA bulge, which after cleavage released a labeled short stand and yielded a greatly reduced FP signal. Using this assay, 133 000 compounds were screened, identifying 1-hydroxy-1,8-naphthyridin-2(1H)-one compounds as inhibitors. Structure-activity studies revealed functional parallels to Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs targeting the related human immunodeficiency virus integrase enzyme. Some 1-hydroxy-1,8-naphthyridin-2(1H)-one compounds showed anti-poxvirus activity.
Glutamate receptor-mediated taurine release from the hippocampus during oxidative stress

Background Hippocampal slices swell and release taurine during oxidative stress. The influence of cellular signalling pathways on this process is unclear. Glutamate signalling can facilitate volume regulation in other CNS preparations. Therefore, we hypothesize activation of taurine release by oxidative stress results from tissue swelling and is coupled to activation of glutamate receptors.
On the scalability and capacity of wireless networks with omnidirectional antennas

We consider a wireless network of N nodes equipped with omnidirectional antennas, and we extend the capacity results of some previous works by finding bounds on the maximum achievable per-node end-to-end throughput, /spl lambda//sub e/, while using a general network model and a bounded propagation model. Specifically, we show that when the network domain has a fixed area, /spl lambda//sub e/ is /spl Theta/(1/N) even when the mobility pattern of the nodes, the temporal variation of transmission powers, the source-destination pairs, and the possibly multi-path routes between them are optimally chosen. This result continues to hold even when the nodes are capable of maintaining multiple transmissions and/or receptions simultaneously, or when the communication bandwidth is partitioned into sub-channels of smaller bandwidth. We also address how /spl lambda//sub e/ depends on the other network parameters such as the area of the network domain, the path loss exponent, or the average number of hops between a source and a destination. Finally, we determine some required conditions to achieve a non-vanishing per-node end-to-end throughput as the number of nodes in the network grows large.
A lower bound on compression of unknown alphabets

Many applications call for universal compression of strings over large, possibly infinite, alphabets. However, it has long been known that the resulting redundancy is infinite even for i.i.d distributions. It was recently shown that the redundancy of the strings' patterns, which abstract the values of the symbols, retaining only their relative precedence, is subliner in the blocklength n, hence the per-symbol redundancy diminishers to zero. In this paper we show that pattern redundancy is at least (1.5log2e)n1/3 bits To do so, we construct a generating function whose coefficients lower bound the redundancy, and use Hayman's saddle-point approximation technique to determine the coefficients' asymptotic behavior.
Robust identification of transcriptional regulatory networks using a Gibbs sampler on outlier sum statistic

Motivation: Identification of transcriptional regulatory networks (TRNs) is of significant importance in computational biology for cancer research, providing a critical building block to unravel disease pathways. However, existing methods for TRN identification suffer from the inclusion of excessive ‘noise’ in microarray data and false-positives in binding data, especially when applied to human tumor-derived cell line studies. More robust methods that can counteract the imperfection of data sources are therefore needed for reliable identification of TRNs in this context. Results: In this article, we propose to establish a link between the quality of one target gene to represent its regulator and the uncertainty of its expression to represent other target genes. Specifically, an outlier sum statistic was used to measure the aggregated evidence for regulation events between target genes and their corresponding transcription factors. A Gibbs sampling method was then developed to estimate the marginal distribution of the outlier sum statistic, hence, to uncover underlying regulatory relationships. To evaluate the effectiveness of our proposed method, we compared its performance with that of an existing sampling-based method using both simulation data and yeast cell cycle data. The experimental results show that our method consistently outperforms the competing method in different settings of signal-to-noise ratio and network topology, indicating its robustness for biological applications. Finally, we applied our method to breast cancer cell line data and demonstrated its ability to extract biologically meaningful regulatory modules related to estrogen signaling and action in breast cancer. Availability and implementation: The Gibbs sampler MATLAB package is freely available at http://www.cbil.ece.vt.edu/software.htm. Contact: [email protected] Supplementary information:Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
A framework for analyzing and organizing complex systems

The paper discusses a framework and technologies enabling the quantitative analysis, organization and optimization of large-scale, globally distributed enterprise and e-services systems. The goal is to organize complex systems in such ways that traffic can be better explained, predicted and controlled at application and service layers rather than at the network layers. Our work approaches higher system perspectives where architectural decisions are made about the overall organization of work and task flows, the global placement of data and applications, etc. Those decisions are significant for the traffic induced in the system later on. Little support is provided today for designing and evaluating large-scale systems from these perspectives, primarily caused by the difficulties in developing realistic computerized models reflecting the dynamic behavior of services and applications. We reduce complex environments to uniform representations of resource demands and capacities and use them to improve the overall system organization. Case studies with earlier versions of our approach have been carried out with two corporate partners, which are discussed at the end.
Nomographic correspondence between specialist cell responses, electroantennograms and the probability of behavioral response: the importance of comparable stimuli and a benchmark.

Responses from single receptor cells, electroantennograms (EAGs) and the proportion of upwind flight in a wind tunnel elicited by graded stimulus strengths of (Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate (Z7-12:Ac) were measured from male cabbage loopers, Trichoplusia ni (Hubner). The approach that was taken to illustrate the relationship between these three measures on the same scale was to express the airborne stimulus strength for all three measures in molar units. A collateral discovery was finding a linear relationship between spiking activity in the receptor cells and the proportion of the first two stages of upwind flight behavior. Two validations corroborate the approach. The first of these demonstrates that, with only three exceptions, there is agreement between behavioral and electrophysiological measures from several laboratories. At the same time, there is a demonstration high- lighting the importance of the use of a stimulus benchmark in establishing the relevancy of an experimental stimulus strength to a natural context. The second validation shows that both electrophysiological and behavioral data can be used to estimate the same emission rate of Z7-12:Ac at low dosages from filter paper. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.
Identification of Methionine-rich Clusters That Regulate Copper-stimulated Endocytosis of the Human Ctr1 Copper Transporter

Copper uptake and subsequent delivery to copper-dependent enzymes are essential for many cellular processes. However, the intracellular levels of this nutrient must be controlled because of its potential toxicity. The hCtr1 protein functions in high affinity copper uptake at the plasma membrane of human cells. Recent studies have shown that elevated copper stimulates the endocytosis and degradation of the hCtr1 protein, and this response is likely an important homeostatic mechanism that prevents the overaccumulation of copper. The domains of hCtr1 involved in copper-stimulated endocytosis and degradation are unknown. In this study we examined the importance of potential copper-binding sequences in the extracellular domain and a conserved transmembrane 150MXXXM154 motif for copper-stimulated endocytosis and degradation of hCtr1. The endocytic response of hCtr1 to low copper concentrations required an amino-terminal methionine cluster (40MMMMPM45) closest to the transmembrane region. However, this cluster was not required for the endocytic response to higher copper levels, suggesting this motif may function as a high affinity copper-sensing domain. Moreover, the transmembrane 150MXXXM154 motif was absolutely required for copper-stimulated endocytosis and degradation of hCtr1 even under high copper concentrations. Together with previous studies demonstrating a role for these motifs in high affinity copper transport activity, our findings suggest common biochemical mechanisms regulate both transport and trafficking functions of hCtr1.
A Dual-Purpose Reconfigurable Negative Group Delay Circuit Based on Distributed Amplifiers

In this letter, a novel reconfigurable negative group delay distributed amplifier (NGD-DA) circuit is proposed. This NGD-DA offers a new method to realize negative group delay. By properly choosing the gain coefficient of each tap for the DA, we can synthesize the negative group delay at the reverse port of the DA in the frequency band of interest, while maintaining a flat gain at the forward port; this results in a dual-purpose DA. Moreover, the proposed NGD-DA is reconfigurable; the phase response at the reverse port can be simply controlled by adjusting the tap gain coefficients, and therefore the bandwidth as well as the amount of negative group delay can be manipulated. The proposed active NGD circuit is validated through theoretical explanation and experimental results.