cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cell-surface phosphatidylserine regulates osteoclast precursor fusion

Bone-resorbing multinucleated osteoclasts that play a central role in the maintenance and repair of our bones are formed from bone marrow myeloid progenitor cells by a complex differentiation process that culminates in fusion of mononuclear osteoclast precursors. In this study, we uncoupled the cell fusion step from both pre-fusion stages of osteoclastogenic differentiation and the post-fusion expansion of the nascent fusion connections. We accumulated ready-to-fuse cells in the presence of the fusion inhibitor lysophosphatidylcholine and then removed the inhibitor to study synchronized cell fusion. We found that osteoclast fusion required the dendrocyte-expressed seven transmembrane protein (DC-STAMP)-dependent non-apoptotic exposure of phosphatidylserine at the surface of fusion-committed cells. Fusion also depended on extracellular annexins, phosphatidylserine-binding proteins, which, along with annexin-binding protein S100A4, regulated fusogenic activity of syncytin 1. Thus, in contrast to fusion processes mediated by a single protein, such as epithelial cell fusion in Caenorhabditis elegans, the cell fusion step in osteoclastogenesis is controlled by phosphatidylserine-regulated activity of several proteins.
College females with maltreatment histories have atypical autonomic regulation and poor psychological wellbeing

Objectives This study uniquely examined the impact of maltreatment (without a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) on physiological responses to a physical and an emotional stressor. The study sample was composed exclusively of women, because men may differ in maltreatment experience and neural regulation of physiological reactivity. Method Participants were 60 female college students. A significant proportion of the participants reported experiencing childhood maltreatment without a history of PTSD. Participants completed measures assessing psychological and PTSD symptomatology. Heart rate was monitored before, during, and after riding a stationary bike (physical stressor) and viewing a video of a child being maltreated (emotional stressor). Baseline and stressor related patterns of heart rate and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were quantified from the beat-to-beat heart rate. Results Women with maltreatment histories reported more psychological distress and PTSD symptomatology, had lower levels of RSA and faster heart rate, and reacted to the stressors with atypical vagal regulation of RSA and heart rate. Conclusion Accompanying psychological difficulties, women with maltreatment histories exhibit atypical physiological regulation to stressors consistent with clinical observations of lower thresholds to defensiveness and other manifestations of compromised resilience. The findings are consistent with polyvagal theory, which emphasizes the role of the "vagal brake" in social engagement and coregulation behaviors-features frequently compromised in survivors of emotional and physical abuse. Future research should investigate whether these features of atypical autonomic regulation are lead indicators of mental and physical health risks and whether these features can be reversed. (PsycINFO Database Record
Epigenetic marks of in utero exposure to gestational diabetes and childhood adiposity outcomes: the EPOCH study.

Aims To identify gestational diabetes mellitus exposure-associated DNA methylation changes and assess whether such changes are also associated with adiposity-related outcomes. Methods We performed an epigenome-wide association analysis, using Illumina 450k methylation arrays, on whole blood collected, on average, at 10.5 years of age from 81 gestational diabetes-exposed and 81 unexposed offspring enrolled in the EPOCH (Exploring Perinatal Outcomes in Children) study, and on the cord blood of 31 gestational diabetes-exposed and 64 unexposed offspring enrolled in the Colorado Healthy Start cohort. Validation was performed by pyrosequencing. Results We identified 98 differentially methylated positions associated with gestational diabetes exposure at a false discovery rate of Conclusions Our findings suggest that epigenetic marks may provide an important link between in utero exposure to gestational diabetes and obesity in childhood, and add to the growing body of evidence that DNA methylation is affected by gestational diabetes exposure.
At what costs? Student loan debt, debt stress, and racially/ethnically diverse college students' perceived health.

Objectives There has been little research on the direct and indirect connections between student loan debt and health. The present study tested a transactional stress model (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984a) of student loan debt in which the appraisal of debt as stressful was proposed to mediate the associations between student loan debt amount and perceived health (i.e., self-rated general health, depressive symptomatology). Method The present study draws on a racially/ethnically diverse college student sample (N = 1,412) from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshman (NLSF). Structural equation modeling (SEM) with robust maximum likelihood (MLR) estimation was used to test the fit of the transactional stress model and compare it with an alternative model (that is, Schachter and Singer's (1962) two factor). Multigroup analyses were conducted to test racial/ethnic differences. Results SEM results indicated good fit of the transactional stress model and suggested its superiority to the alternative two-factor model. Multigroup SEM analyses revealed racial/ethnic differences. Whereas for Black/African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, and White Americans, appraisal of debt as stressful was linked to poorer general health and more depressive symptomatology, these associations were nonsignificant for Asian Americans. Tests of indirect effects indicated that the mediating role of debt stress was most consistently significant for Black/African Americans and Hispanic/Latino Americans compared with Asian and, to a lesser extent, White Americans. Conclusions Results affirm the potential health impact of both student loan debt amount and the subjective appraisal of stress associated with student loan debt as significant stressors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).
Experimental Conversations: Sign Language Studies with Chimpanzees

Sign language studies of chimpanzees are a tool for studying the continuity between human behavior and behavior of other animals and between verbal behavior and other intelligent behavior. Cross-fostered chimpanzees paralleled children in their acquisition and use of signs and phrases. These procedures occurred under rigorous and systematic record keeping and experimental paradigms. The study of Wh-questions and the use of remote videotaping (RVT) are examples of experimental procedures. These revealed chimpanzee-to-chimpanzee signing and private signing. Face-to-face interactions between the chimpanzees and an interlocutor who presented various systematic probes is another experimental procedure. The chimpanzees adjusted to the interlocutor with revisions, new signs, or no response when appropriate. The hallmark of the sign language studies is that caregivers treated the chimpanzees as conversational partners socially motivated rather than experimental subjects bribed or forced into participation. These findings confirm continuity with differences of degree among species.
Age Differences in Workers’ Efforts to Cope with Economic Distress

The idea that people of different ages may cope with stressful life events quite differently is a recurring theme in the literature on stress and adaptation. Yet neither current theories nor existing empirical evidence offer a consistent picture of such life-course variations. Some theorists, for example, argue that coping efforts in old age are marked by regression to immature, ineffective defense mechanisms (Guttman, 1964, 1974; Pfeiffer, 1977). Others argue that, as a result of lifelong experience in adapting to stressful situations, older adults exhibit equanimity and maturity in their efforts to cope with stressful events (e.g., Denney, 1982; Vaillant, 1977). Moreover, as these two examples illustrate, work on life-course variations in coping is motivated by prescriptive as well as descriptive concerns. That is, investigators have attempted not only to document and describe age differences in coping styles but also to evaluate the maturity or adequacy of various coping styles, sometimes on the basis of clinical judgment or theoretical criteria rather than empirical evidence of effectiveness (e.g., Frydman, 1981; Haan, 1977; Vaillant, 1977).
Abstract 4475: Adenomatous polyposis coli like protein (APCLP) functions as a novel negative regulator of NF-kB signaling in colon cancer cells

Colon cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in the United States. CRC is marked by aberrantly activated signaling of the nuclear factor of kappaB (NF-kB), a family of transcription factors which regulate wide varieties of cellular processes. Despite recent advances in comprehension of players of NF-kB signaling, deeper understanding of its regulation is imperative for the development of novel cancer therapeutics. Using the powerful validation-based insertional mutagenesis (VBIM) technique, we recently discovered APCLP as a novel negative regulator of NF-kB. The objective of this study is to elucidate the role APCLP in regulating NF-kB signaling in CRC at the molecular and biological levels and to understand the mechanism by which this regulation occurs. To determine the biological effect of APCLP on NF-kB signaling, we used lentiviral vectors to either overexpress or knockdown (shRNA) APCLP in human CRC cell lines (HT-29, HCT116, DLD-1). We show that overexpression of APCLP decreased the NF-kB activity, reduced cellular proliferation, migratory ability, as well as anchorage-independent growth of cells while knockdown of APCLP had an inverse effect. Furthermore, in vivo experiments in a xenograft mouse model confirmed that APCLP overexpression impeded whereas shRNA knockdown promoted tumor growth. To study the mechanism by which APCLP regulated NF-kB signaling, we conducted co-Immunoprecipitation experiments and confirmed that APCLP and the major subunit of NF-kB, p65, may complex or bind directly to each other. Studies are ongoing regarding the mechanism of interaction between APCLP and p65. In summary, discovery of APCLP and understanding of its molecular mechanism and biological function are significant because the knowledge acquired from this study could lead to utilization of APCLP as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target in CRC as well as other cancers that are driven by hyperactivated NF-kB. Citation Format: Matthew Martin, Rasika Mundade, Tao Lu. Adenomatous polyposis coli like protein (APCLP) functions as a novel negative regulator of NF-kB signaling in colon cancer cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4475.
Fast and thermal neutron detectors for radiation portal monitors

Radiation portal monitors (RPMs) can include thermal or fast neutron detectors or a combination of the two. Nearly all current RPM designs contain only thermal neutron detectors, predominantly 3He proportional tubes, in order to detect the spontaneous fast neutron emissions from special nuclear material (SNM) as an elevated count rate above the low natural neutron background. The spontaneous fission neutrons emitted by SNM isotopes are emitted at fast energies on the order of MeV. Thermal neutron detector materials, such as 3He, exhibit their highest interaction cross-sections at much lower thermal neutron energies, below the Cadmium cutoff energy of 0.5 eV. Therefore, 3He tubes are embedded in a low Z moderator, such as high density polyethylene (HDPE), to allow for neutrons to thermalize, thus increasing the system detection efficiency. For SNM hidden in cargo containers, the surrounding environment, such as cargo or a designed shield, will act as an additional moderator. 3He tubes in RPMs therefore are often slightly undermoderated to account for the presence of other moderating material. Fast neutron detectors, such as liquid or plastic organic scintillation detectors or crystalline organic scintillators like stilbene, are typically insensitive to neutrons below 400 keV in energy but are very efficient for higher energy neutrons. Through a series of measurements and simulations of a 252Cf spontaneous fission neutron source with 3He and organic liquid scintillation detectors and stilbene, the effects of varying thicknesses of HDPE shielding are studied. For some shielding scenarios operational benefits might exist for using fast neutron detectors instead of or in addition to thermal neutron detectors. The goals of this study are to identify shielded SNM scenarios for which RPMs might benefit from the addition of fast neutron detectors and to quantify those gains in terms of neutron detection efficiency.
Sound recognition

Sound recognition has been a primitive survival instinct of early mammals for over 120 million years. In the modern era, it is the most affordable sensory channel for us. Here we explore an auditory vigilance algorithm for detecting background sounds such as explosion, gunshot, screaming, and human voice. We introduce a general algorithm for sound feature extraction, classification and feedback. We use Hamming window for tapering sound signals and the short-term Fourier transform (STFT) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for feature extraction. We then apply a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) for classification; and we use the feedback from the confusion matrix of the training classifier to redefine the sound classes for better representation, accuracy and compression. We found that the frequency coefficients in a logarithmic scale yield better results versus those in linear representations in background sound recognition. However, the magnitude of the sound samples in a logarithmic scale yields worse results versus those in linear representations. We also compare our results to that of the linear frequency model and the Melscale Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC)-based algorithms. We conclude that our algorithm reaches a higher accuracy with available training data. We foresee broader applications of the sound recognition method, including video triage, healthcare, robotics and security.
Diagnosing autoimmune encephalitis based on clinical features and autoantibody findings.

Introduction: Autoimmune encephalitides have been accepted as a reproducible and treatable new group of diseases. At present, there is concern that such diagnoses might be made too liberally.Areas ...
High-Resolution Road Vehicle Collision Prediction for the City of Montreal

Road accidents are an important issue of our modern societies, responsible for millions of deaths and injuries every year in the world. In Quebec only, in 2018, road accidents are responsible for 359 deaths and 33 thousands of injuries. In this paper, we show how one can leverage open datasets of a city like Montreal, Canada, to create high-resolution accident prediction models, using big data analytics. Compared to other studies in road accident prediction, we have a much higher prediction resolution, i.e., our models predict the occurrence of an accident within an hour, on road segments defined by intersections. Such models could be used in the context of road accident prevention, but also to identify key factors that can lead to a road accident, and consequently, help elaborate new policies.We tested various machine learning methods to deal with the severe class imbalance inherent to accident prediction problems. In particular, we implemented the Balanced Random Forest algorithm, a variant of the Random Forest machine learning algorithm in Apache Spark. Interestingly, we found that in our case, Balanced Random Forest does not perform significantly better than Random Forest.Experimental results show that 85% of road vehicle collisions are detected by our model with a false positive rate of 13%. The examples identified as positive are likely to correspond to high risk situations. In addition, we identify the most important predictors of vehicle collisions for the area of Montreal: the count of accidents on the same road segment during previous years, the temperature, the day of the year, the hour and the visibility.
Detection of high-frequency artifact as a function of pulse generator algorithms and outer-insulation material.

Background A high rate of malfunction, predominantly intermittent high-frequency artifacts (HFAs), has been recently reported in Abbott Medical Tendril pacing leads. Objective To investigate the factors associated with the occurrence of HFAs on Tendril leads using a commonly used comparator lead for a control. Methods We reviewed institutional data for Medtronic CapSureFix 5076 and Abbott Medical Tendril pace-sense leads retrospectively. Recordings deemed to be due to electromagnetic interference and far-field oversensing were not included in the classification of HFAs. Results A total of 7673 leads were analyzed: 1628 Optim-insulated Tendril leads, 825 non-Optim Tendril leads, and 5220 CapSureFix 5076. HFAs were seen in 212 leads and were more frequently observed in Tendril compared to CapSureFix leads during a mean follow-up of 4.1 ± 3.6 years. Lower age at implant, defibrillator systems, atrial position, and connection to an Abbott Medical generator were associated with increased HFA. In multivariable analysis, only connection to Abbott Medical generators (odds ratio 7.686, P Conclusion Abbott Medical pulse generators independently predict HFA in Tendril and CapSureFix 5076 leads, likely the result of displaying short or low-amplitude noise episodes that other devices do not record. When restricted to Abbott generators only, Optim-insulated Tendril leads show an increased incidence of HFAs when compared to non-Optim Tendril leads but not CapSureFix 5076 leads.
Post-fledging habitat use in a declining songbird.

Background Fledglings of many mature forest-dependent Neotropical songbirds move from mature forest habitats into areas of thick vegetation such as regenerating clearcuts. The Cerulean Warbler (Setophaga cerulea), a Neotropical migratory songbird, is a species of conservation concern across its range and it is listed as endangered in Indiana. This species has declined faster than any other species of wood-warbler in North America. Most prior research on Cerulean Warblers has examined the breeding biology, but there are no data on habitat use by fledgling Cerulean Warblers. Our research aimed to determine where fledgling Cerulean Warblers dispersed after they left their nest, but before they migrated to their wintering grounds. Methods Since 2007, Cerulean Warbler breeding populations have been monitored in Yellowwood and Morgan-Monroe state forests in southern Indiana as part of a 100-year study called the Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment. To identify habitats used by fledgling Cerulean Warblers, we captured by hand or mist-nets, adult and juvenile Cerulean Warblers once young had fledged from a nest. We attached radio-transmitters to individuals and tracked each bird daily using radio-telemetry. Radio-telemetry data were collected from May to July 2015-2017, and microhabitat data on fledgling locations and random locations were collected during the same years in the month of July. Results Fledgling presence, when compared to random non-use sites, was positively correlated to presence of grapevines, greater vertical vegetation density, and greater ground and canopy cover. Fledgling presence was negatively correlated with white oak abundance, aspect, basal area, and the abundance of mature trees that Cerulean Warbler adults use for nesting. Conclusions Our study is the first to demonstrate that Cerulean Warbler fledglings occupy habitats that are characterized by specific habitat components. Fledgling sites were located in areas with high vegetation density, such as clusters of grapevine, which provided cover from predators. Identifying Cerulean Warbler habitats throughout the breeding season can better inform natural resource personnel on how to manage forests to meet the habitat needs of this rapidly declining migratory songbird.
Discrimination and Career Satisfaction: Perceptions from US Forest Service Scientists

Research, largely focused on academia, has shown demographic differences in perceptions and experiences of workplace culture in science fields, including natural resources. Less is known about experiences of those working for government institutions. This study examined relationships between demographic characteristics (gender, scientific discipline, years as a scientist), experiences of discrimination or harassment, and perceptions of career success and satisfaction as reported in a survey by 100 research scientists in the US Forest Service: a hierarchical federal agency with explicit goals for workforce diversification. Approximately half the survey respondents, and more women than men, indicated that they had experienced work-related discrimination or harassment. Survey respondents identified gender as the most common basis of discrimination. Although most felt successful and satisfied in their careers, this perception was lower among those who had experienced discrimination or harassment. These findings highlight challenges of workforce diversification, especially in hierarchical institutions where organizational structure favors conformity.
The Association of Low Admission Serum Creatinine with the Risk of Respiratory Failure Requiring Mechanical Ventilation: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

To assess the association between low serum creatinine (SCr) value at admission and the risk of respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation in hospitalized patients. A retrospective cohort study was conducted at a tertiary referral hospital. All hospitalized adult patients from 2011 through 2013 who had an admission SCr value were included in this study. Patients who were mechanically ventilated at the time of admission were excluded. Admission creatinine was stratified into 7 groups: ≤0.4, 0.5–0.6, 0.7–0.8, 0.9–1.0, 1.1–1.2, 1.3–1.4, and ≥1.5 mg/dL. The primary outcome was the occurrence of respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation during hospitalization. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the independent risk of respiratory failure based on various admission SCr, using SCr of 0.7–0.8 mg/dL as the reference group in the analysis of all patients and female subgroup and of 0.9–1.0 mg/dL in analysis of male subgroup. A total of 67,045 eligible patients, with the mean admission SCr of 1.0 ± 0.4 mg/dL, were studied. Of these patients, 799 (1.1%) had admission SCr of ≤0.4 mg/dL, and 2886 (4.3%) developed respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation during hospitalization. The U-curve relationship between admission SCr and respiratory failure during hospitalization was observed, with the nadir incidence of in-hospital respiratory failure in SCr of 0.7–0.8 mg/dL and increased in-hospital respiratory failure associated with both reduced and elevated admission SCr. After adjustment for confounders, very low admission SCr of ≤0.4 mg/dL was significantly associated with increased in-hospital respiratory failure (OR 3.11; 95% CI 2.33–4.17), exceeding the risk related to markedly elevated admission SCr of ≥1.5 mg/dL (OR 1.61; 95% CI 1.39–1.85). The association remained significant in the subgroup analysis of male and female patients. Low SCr value at admission is independently associated with increased in-hospital respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation in hospitalized patients.
Influence of fatty acid desaturase (FADS) genotype on maternal and child polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) status and child health outcomes: a systematic review.

Context Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are important during pregnancy for fetal development and child health outcomes. The fatty acid desaturase (FADS) genes also influence PUFA status, with the FADS genes controlling how much product (eg, arachidonic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid) is metabolized from the precursor molecules linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid. Objective The current review discusses the influence of FADS genotype on PUFA status of pregnant women, breast milk, and children, and also how FADS may influence child health outcomes. Data sources The Ovid Medline, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL Plus, PubMed and Web of Science databases were searched from their inception to September 2018. Data extraction Eligible studies reported FADS genotype and blood concentrations of PUFA during pregnancy, in childhood, breast milk concentrations of PUFA or child health outcomes. Data analysis In pregnant and lactating women, minor allele carriers have higher concentrations of linoleic acid and α-linolenic acid, and lower concentrations of arachidonic acid, in blood and breast milk, respectively. In children, FADS genotype influences PUFA status in the same manner and may impact child outcomes such as cognition and allergies; however, the direction of effects for the evidence to date is not consistent. Conclusion Further studies are needed to further investigate associations between FADS and outcomes, as well as the diet-gene interaction.
Retirement Security, Finance Science, SeLFIES and The Flex MMM Plan

Prof. Merton’s attempts to improve retirement security over the last 40 years, when viewed through his preferred lens of using “finance science” to address societal challenges, results in the creation of SeLFIES (Standard-of-Living indexed, Forward-starting, Income-only Securities) to improve retirement outcomes. SeLFIES have been proposed in countries as diverse as Australia, Chile, Colombia, France, India, Japan, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, and the United States – all interested in funding infrastructure and improving retirement security. Merton (1984) introduced the idea of government-issued consumption-linked bonds as a way to allow a fully funded public pension fund to offer consumption-indexed annuities. Later, Merton (2007) would address the challenges of defined contribution (DC) plans and argue that the welfare of individuals should be expressed in units of retirement income, and not wealth. A key insight is that the traditional “risk-free” asset in Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) was risky from a retirement income perspective. Muralidhar, Ohashi and Shin (2014), in developing the Relative Asset Pricing Model (RAPM), leveraged the Merton (2007) idea that in retirement planning (or in any goals-based portfolio), investors care about (the utility of) funded status, defined as wealth divided by stochastic liabilities, and not expected utility of wealth. In RAPM, an additional variable – the relative risk-free asset or the asset that replicates the stochastic goal – is critical to asset allocation and asset pricing (and CAPM is just a special case of RAPM; namely CAPM assumes a deterministic goal). Currently in DC plans, the goal replicating portfolio (an annuity) is illiquid, costly and complex and Modigliani (1986) highlights the “annuity puzzle”. Muralidhar (2015) and Muralidhar, Ohashi and Shin (2015) recommend the creation of a new bond that replicates the desired cash flow profile in DC plans – a bond (called BFFS) that pays a fixed currency coupon, in real-terms, that starts paying once an individual retires for a period equal to the life expectancy of the country. Merton and Muralidhar (2017b) recommend linking these bonds to per-capita consumption (leveraging Merton 1984) thereby creating SeLFIES and show why SeLFIES are a good deal for governments too. BFFS/SeLFIES help complete financial markets and this idea is easily extended to other goals. The paper concludes by demonstrating how finance science can be used to design effective DC pension plans for uncovered workers.
Racial differences in aneuploidy in high-grade muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

400Background: Bladder cancer is marked by racial disparities in stage at presentation, treatment, and survival. It is unknown how somatic tumor genomes differ by race. Tumor aneuploidy, defined as...
Differences in electrical responses and recovery of GaN p+n diodes on sapphire and freestanding GaN subjected to high dose 60Co gamma-ray irradiation

We investigate the effects of high-rate and high total doses of 60Co gamma rays on the current–voltage (IV) characteristics of GaN p+n diodes grown by metal-organic chemical vapor phase epitaxy on Ga-face (0001) sapphire and hydride vapor phase epitaxy freestanding GaN substrates. We show that diodes grown on sapphire undergo more permanent changes upon irradiation at doses up to 3900 kGy than those grown on freestanding GaN. By combining diode and circular transfer length method measurements, we show that the p-type contact interface and adjacent p++ Mg-doped layer are sensitive to irradiation. In initial experiments, diodes grown on sapphire exhibited p-type contacts with Schottky characteristics, while those on freestanding GaN were Ohmic. Serendipitously, we identified and subsequently irradiated a freestanding sample with a pre-irradiation spatial gradient of p-contact Schottky vs Ohmic behavior across the die. This sample allowed the root cause of induced change to be identified as differences in the p++ contacting layer. We show that the p-type contact's pre-irradiation Schottky behavior is predictive of diodes' IV characteristics changing significantly upon gamma-ray irradiation. Further, we observe that the IV curves of diodes on freestanding GaN recover fully over several weeks at room temperature to be indistinguishable from pre-irradiation. IV curves from diodes on sapphire do not fully recover; we thus hypothesize that interactions between radiation-induced point defects and threading dislocations affect the evolution of radiation damage.
Cultivating Compassion: Rhetoric or Reality?

Despite the massive amounts of research conducted on the effect of college on students, almost no empirical work has been done on whether students grow in compassion during their undergraduate studies. Designed to address this gap, this longitudinal study of more than 500 students found that the majority demonstrated change in compassion across their fi rst two undergraduate years. Four campus experiences were associated with shifts in compassion: Involvement with voluntary community service and immersion trips were positively associated with changes in average compassion while participation in Greek life and required community service-learning were negatively correlated with compassion change.
Further Characterization of the Neuronal Cell Surface Protein Mitogenic for Schwann Cells

During development, in the mature state, and in reaction to injury and disease, Schwann cell function is regulated by cues provided from neurons (1,2). Interaction of neuron and Schwann cells is apparent from the earliest outgrowth of nerve fibers from peripheral ganglia. Lagging just behind the front of neuritic growth cones, Schwann cells are evident attached to growing axons (3). The Schwann cell population expands along with the number and length of axons; injection of [3H]-thymidine into developing rats followed by radioautography of 1 µm sections of cervical sympathetic trunk shows that Schwann cell proliferation reaches a maximum at two days postnatal in this nerve, when 18.2% of the Schwann cells incorporate label into their nuclei (4) during a 24 hour pulse. Schwann cell proliferation reaches the low adult level (0.5%) by the end of the second postnatal week. Similar observations have been made in mouse sciatic nerve (5). Aguayo et al. (6) showed that decreasing fiber number in the neonatal rat cervical sympathetic trunk by killing neurons in the superior cervical ganglion led to a concomitant decrease in absolute Schwann cell number, although the ratio of axons to Schwann cells remained normal. This experiment implied regulation of Schwann cell number by axons. Evidence from tissue culture of neurons and Schwann cells has borne this out, and further suggests that the burst of Schwann cell proliferation during development is regulated by a molecule, or molecules, on the surface of the neuron.
Psychosocial Care Needs of Persons with AIDS

Persons diagnosed with frank AIDS are not a uniform group and do not have uniform needs. Some AIDS patients are first seen in the late stages of their illnesses when death is imminent. Others are seen much earlier, during a period of relatively good health or during an acute illness from which they will recover. Some AIDS patients are incapacitated by debilitating illness or impaired cognitive functioning. Others are alert, vigorous, and able to live independently and actively for months or even years. The emotional issues that confront an AIDS patient who is near death are very different from the issues relevant to the person with AIDS, who is in a prolonged remission. Because the health course associated with AIDS is not uniform and consistent, and because the same individual may experience worsenings and improvements in health, no single intervention strategy is relevant for all patients.
Surface Contamination and Biomaterials

Synthetic materials for medical applications (biomaterials) are widely used in the United States today. The types of materials used to fabricate medical implant devices include plastics, elastomers, fibers, metals, carbons, ceramics, glasses, and composites. The extent of the use of synthetics in medicine is emphasized by the numbers of implants itemized in Table 1. Although high success rates are generally realized with these implants, there is much room for improvement. It is reasonable to surmise that an enhanced understanding of the surface of these implants, the region directly interfacing with the body, can lead to improvements in performance of these devices.
Development of a bipartite ecdysone-responsive gene switch for the oomycete Phytophthora infestans and its use to manipulate transcription during axenic culture and plant infection.

Summary Conditional expression systems have been proven to be useful tools for the elucidation of gene function in many taxa. Here, we report the development of the first useful inducible promoter system for an oomycete, based on an ecdysone receptor (EcR) and the ecdysone analogue methoxyfenozide. In Phytophthora infestans, the potato late blight pathogen, a monopartite transactivator containing the VP16 activation domain from herpes simplex virus, the GAL4 DNA-binding domain from yeast and the EcR receptor domain from the spruce budworm enabled high levels of expression of a β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene, but unacceptable basal activity in the absence of the methoxyfenozide inducer. Greatly improved performance was obtained using a bipartite system in which transcription is activated by a heterodimer between a chimera of VP16 and the migratory locust retinoid X receptor, and a separate EcR-DNA-binding domain chimera. Transformants were obtained that exhibited >100-fold activation of the reporter by methoxyfenozide, with low basal levels of expression and induced activity approaching that of the strong ham34 promoter. Performance varied between transformants, probably as a result of position effects. The addition of methoxyfenozide enabled strong induction during hyphal growth, zoosporogenesis and colonization of tomato. No significant effects of the inducer or transactivators on growth, development or pathogenicity were observed. The technology should therefore be a useful addition to the arsenal of methods for the study of oomycete plant pathogens.
Writing a literature review.

Literature reviews occupy an important corner of the world of scientific activity, yet most scientists do not receive training in how to write them. In the early days of psychological research, many people did their research based on intuitions and personal insights, and one did not have to spend much time in background reading simply because there was not much to read. As our field’s knowledge base expands month by month, however, it becomes increasingly important to be able to master the amount of information already published. New ideas increasingly have to build on previously published works.
Hepatic CEACAM1 Over-Expression Protects Against Diet-Induced Fibrosis and Inflammation in White Adipose Tissue

CEACAM1 promotes insulin extraction, an event that occurs mainly in liver. Phenocopying global Ceacam1 null mice (Cc1(-/-) ), C57/BL6J mice fed a high-fat (HF) diet exhibited reduced hepatic CEACAM1 levels and impaired insulin clearance, followed by hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, and visceral obesity. Conversely, forced liver-specific expression of CEACAM1 protected insulin sensitivity and energy expenditure, and limited gain in total fat mass by HF diet in L-CC1 mice. Because CEACAM1 protein is barely detectable in white adipose tissue (WAT), we herein investigated whether hepatic CEACAM1-dependent insulin clearance pathways regulate adipose tissue biology in response to dietary fat. While HF diet caused a similar body weight gain in L-CC1, this effect was delayed and less intense relative to wild-type (WT) mice. Histological examination revealed less expansion of adipocytes in L-CC1 than WT by HF intake. Immunofluorescence analysis demonstrated a more limited recruitment of crown-like structures, and qRT-PCR analysis showed no significant rise in TNFα mRNA levels in response to HF intake in L-CC1 than WT mice. Unlike WT, HF diet did not activate TGF-β in WAT of L-CC1 mice, as assessed by Western analysis of Smad2/3 phosphorylation. Consistently, HF diet caused relatively less collagen deposition in L-CC1 than WT mice, as shown by Trichrome staining. Coupled with reduced lipid redistribution from liver to visceral fat, lower inflammation and fibrosis could contribute to protected energy expenditure against HF diet in L-CC1 mice. The data underscore the important role of hepatic insulin clearance in the regulation of adipose tissue inflammation and fibrosis.
Cardiovascular pharmacotherapy in patients with Marfan syndrome.

The cardiovascular complications of Marfan syndrome (MFS) remain the primary source of morbidity and mortality in affected patients. Over the last decade, the underlying pathogenesis of these cardiovascular abnormalities has been the focus of much research. Such research has shed light on the potential role of several novel medical therapies and their ability to prevent cardiovascular disease progression. This paper summarizes the research underlying new medical therapies and provides a review of the scientific foundation underlying all current medical therapies used for prevention of cardiovascular disease in patients with MFS, including β-adrenoceptor antagonists, calcium channel antagonists, ACE inhibitors, and angiotensin receptor antagonists.
Commitment to Splice Site Pairing Coincides with A Complex Formation

Differential recognition of exons by the spliceosome regulates gene expression and exponentially increases the complexity of metazoan proteomes. After definition of the exons, the spliceosome is activated by a series of sequential structural rearrangements. Formation of the first ATP-independent spliceosomal complex commits the pre-mRNA to the general splicing pathway. However, the time at which a commitment to a specific splice site choice and pairing is made is unknown. Here, we demonstrate that alternative splicing patterns are irreversibly chosen at a kinetic step different from the ATP-independent commitment to splicing. Splice sites become committed at the first ATP-dependent spliceosomal complex when rearrangements lock U2 snRNP onto the pre-mRNA. Thus, commitment to the splicing pathway and commitment to splice site pairing are separate steps during spliceosomal assembly, and ATP hydrolysis drives the irreversible juxtaposition of exons within the spliceosome.
Dynamics of Myzus persicae arrestment by volatiles from Potato leafroll virus-infected potato plants during disease progression

Green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), an important pest of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) (Solanaceae), preferentially settles on Potato leafroll virus (PLRV)-infected potato plants as compared with non-infected ones, primarily in response to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released by the plants. In this study, we examined the dynamics of these effects, measuring arrestment of apterous M. persicae in response to VOC from upper, middle, and lower leaflets of PLRV-infected potato plants at the same stage in disease progression (4 weeks after inoculation), but inoculated at 1, 3, or 5 weeks after transplanting (WAT). Sham-inoculated plants were used as controls and VOC were collected and quantified. Aphid arrestment was greater on PLRV-infected plants inoculated at 1 and 3 WAT as compared with sham-inoculated plants, but this preference was reversed in plants inoculated at 5 WAT. Relative arrestment of M. persicae by infected plants and VOC release was greater for lower and middle leaflets than for upper leaflets at 1 and 3 WAT compared to sham-inoculated plants. The reverse was observed in plants inoculated at 5 WAT. Findings indicate that aphid preference is influenced by VOC release from PLRV- or sham-inoculated potato plants and that VOC emissions and aphid preference depend upon the age at inoculation and leaf position within the potato plants. The implications of these dynamics in vector behavior for spread of PLRV in the field in natural and managed systems are discussed.
A fast CT reconstruction scheme for a general multi-core PC

Expensive computational cost is a severe limitation in CT reconstruction for clinical applications that need real-time feedback. A primary example is bolus-chasing computed tomography (CT) angiography (BCA) that we have been developing for the past several years. To accelerate the reconstruction process using the filtered backprojection (FBP) method, specialized hardware or graphics cards can be used. However, specialized hardware is expensive and not flexible. The graphics processing unit (GPU) in a current graphic card can only reconstruct images in a reduced precision and is not easy to program. In this paper, an acceleration scheme is proposed based on a multi-core PC. In the proposed scheme, several techniques are integrated, including utilization of geometric symmetry, optimization of data structures, single-instruction multiple-data (SIMD) processing, multithreaded computation, and an Intel C++ compilier. Our scheme maintains the original precision and involves no data exchange between the GPU and CPU. The merits of our scheme are demonstrated in numerical experiments against the traditional implementation. Our scheme achieves a speedup of about 40, which can be further improved by several folds using the latest quad-core processors.
The power of statistical tests in science teachnig research

A calculation of the probability of rejecting H0 when it should be rejected (power) was completed on each of the 66 applicable articles in Volumes 6 and 7 (1969, 1970) of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching. These power calculations utilized the effect size definitions and tables developed by Cohen (1969). The mean power of each article to detect small, medium, and large effect sizes was determined from its major statistical tests. These mean powers were then compiled and analyzed. The powers calculated for the different effect sizes were disturbingly low (small, 0.22; medium, 0.71; large, 0.87) but not generally as low as Cohen (1962) found in an analysis of another behavioral journal. Recommendations for improving confidence in research in science teaching is provided and centers on significant increases in sample sizes and an understanding of power and its relation to a, effect size and sample size.
High-throughput flow cytometric screening of combinatorial chemistry bead libraries for proteomics and drug discovery

For proteomics drug discovery applications, combinatorial microbead thioaptamer libraries (one thioaptamer sequence per bead) are being created by split synthesis method, creating a "proteomics library" of protein capture beads which can be analyzed by high-throughput screening methods in this case, flow cytometry and cell sorting. Thioaptamers, oligonucleotides with thiophosphate backbone substitutions, function like antibodies in terms of recognizing specific protein sequences but have a number of advantages over antibody libraries. These proteomics beads can then be analyzed by high-speed flow cytometry and sorted to single-bead level depending on relative fluorescence brightness of fluorescently-labeled proteins, or for a specific protein from all of the molecules of cell subpopulations being analyzed. The thioaptamer sequences on a given bead showing high affinity for that protein can then be sequenced. Alternatively, the protein-capturing beads can be analyzed by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry for analysis of the bound proteins. The beads can be thought of as equivalent to single-element positions of a proteomics chip arrays but with the advantage of being able to much more rapidly analyze hundreds of millions of possible amino acid sequences/epitopes on the basis of thioaptamer sequence affinities to select single sequences of interest. Additionally, those beads can be manipulated and isolated at the single bead level by high-throughput flow cytometry/cell sorting for subsequent sequencing of the thioaptamer sequences.
Smokeless tobacco reduction with the nicotine lozenge and behavioral intervention

Introduction: Studies have evaluated smoking reduction with nicotine replacement therapy to reduce tobacco exposure and facilitate abstinence among cigarette smokers, but none have evaluated a reduction approach in smokeless tobacco (ST) users. Methods: We conducted an open-label pilot study to determine if the 4-mg nicotine lozenge with a behavioral intervention could facilitate ST use reduction among ST users compared with a behavioral intervention alone. Eligible subjects were ST users not interested in quitting. Results: One hundred and two subjects were randomized. Both interventions were associated with significant decreases in ST use and toxicant exposure and with increased abstinence, quit attempts, and duration of abstinence. However, no significant differences were observed between groups for these outcomes. Discussion: A behavioral intervention with or without the nicotine lozenge may be effective for decreasing both ST use and toxicant exposure and for increasing tobacco abstinence, quit attempts, and duration of abstinence. The use of reduction strategies for ST users not interested in quitting deserves further evaluation as an intervention strategy.
Molecular dynamics simulation of cascade-induced ballistic helium resolutioning from bubbles in iron

Abstract Molecular dynamics simulations have been used to assess the ability of atomic displacement cascades to eject helium from small bubbles in iron. This study of the ballistic resolutioning mechanism employed a recently-developed Fe–He interatomic potential in concert with an iron potential developed by Ackland and co-workers. The primary variables examined were: irradiation temperature (100 and 600 K), cascade energy (5 and 20 keV), bubble radius (0.5 and 1.0 nm), and He-to-vacancy ratio in the bubble (0.25, 0.5 and 1.0). Systematic trends were observed for each of these variables. For example, ballistic resolutioning leads to a greater number of helium atoms being displaced from larger bubbles and from bubbles that have a higher He/vacancy ratio (bubble pressure). He resolutioning was reduced at 600 K relative to 100 K, and for 20 keV cascades relative to 5 keV cascades. Overall, the results indicate a modest level of He removal by ballistic resolutioning. The results may be particularly relevant to fusion irradiation conditions which produces high levels of helium by transmutation. They can be used to provide initial guidance in selection of a “resolution parameter” that can be employed in kinetic models to predict the bubble size distribution that evolves under irradiation.