cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Disclosure of Sexual Orientation, Victimization, and Mental Health Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Older Adults:

This study examined the lifetime victimization based on sexual orientation of 416 lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) older adults aged 60 or older. Participants reported the ages at which they were aware of their sexual orientation, self-identified as LGB, and first disclosed their sexual orientation to anyone. Frequencies of nine kinds of verbal and physical victimization were obtained. Nearly three quarters reported some kind of sexual orientation victimization. Men reported more overall victimization than women. The more open participants were about their sexual orientation and the less time they spent before disclosing their sexual orientation, the more victimization they reported. Physical victimization was associated with earlier achievement of sexual orientation milestones and more time being open about one's sexual orientation. Participants who had been physically attacked reported lower self-esteem, more loneliness, and poorer mental health than others. More suicide attempts were reported among thos...
A study of motions in a rotating liquid

Starting with the equations of motion for a perfect, incompressible fluid referred to a coordinate system which rotates about a vertical axis with uniform angular velocity R , the physical condition of ‘small motion’ is determined which permits the equations to be linearized. The small motions resulting from forced oscillations of a rotating liquid are investigated. It is shown that there are three types of flow depending on the relative magnitudes of the impressed frequency β and the angular velocity R of the fluid. Two of the regimes are studied in detail. A similarity law is developed which gives the solution of a class of problems of oscillations for β > 2 R in terms of the solutions to similar irrotational problems. An attempt is made to explain how slow, two-dimensional motion can be produced by introducing a boundary condition which is three-dimensional (as observed in experiments performed by G. I. Taylor), by considering problems from the moment at which the disturbance is created from rest relative to the rotating system, with the only initial assumption that the fluid is rotating uniformly like a solid body. For the particular cases studied the results are in agreement with Taylor’s experiments, in that the flow is found to become steady and two-dimensional if the disturbance which causes it approaches a steady state. If the disturbance is due to a body which moves along the axis of rotation of the fluid, the steady two-dimensional behaviour may be expected everywhere except in the neighbourhood of the surface of an infinite cylinder which encloses the body and whose generators are parallel to the axis of rotation. To resolve an apparent disagreement between certain theoretical results by Grace on the one hand, and experimental evidence by Taylor and the author’s conclusions, on the other, arguments are advanced that the various results may be in agreement, provided Grace’s are given a new interpretation.
A Multiplex High-Throughput Gene Expression Assay to Simultaneously Detect Disease and Functional Markers in Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium

There is continuing interest in the development of lineage-specific cells from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells for use in cell therapies and drug discovery. Although in most cases differentiated cells show features of the desired lineage, they retain fetal gene expression and do not fully mature into “adult-like” cells. Such cells may not serve as an effective therapy because, once implanted, immature cells pose the risk of uncontrolled growth. Therefore, there is a need to optimize lineage-specific stem cell differentiation protocols to produce cells that no longer express fetal genes and have attained “adult-like” phenotypes. Toward that goal, it is critical to develop assays that simultaneously measure cell function and disease markers in high-throughput format. Here, we use a multiplex high-throughput gene expression assay that simultaneously detects endogenous expression of multiple developmental, functional, and disease markers in iPS cell-derived retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). We optimized protocols to differentiate iPS cell-derived RPE that was then grown in 96- and 384-well plates. As a proof of principle, we demonstrate differential expression of eight genes in iPS cells, iPS cell-derived RPE at two different differentiation stages, and primary human RPE using this multiplex assay. The data obtained from the multiplex gene expression assay are significantly correlated with standard quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction-based measurements, confirming the ability of this high-throughput assay to measure relevant gene expression changes. This assay provides the basis to screen for compounds that improve RPE function and maturation and target disease pathways, thus providing the basis for effective treatments of several retinal degenerative diseases.
Regulation of inflammatory arthritis by the upstream kinase mitogen activated protein kinase kinase 7 in the c-Jun N-terminal kinase pathway

Introduction: The c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) is a key regulator of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) and cytokine production in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and JNK deficiency markedly protects mice in animal models of arthritis. Cytokine-induced JNK activation is strictly dependent on the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 7 (MKK7) in fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS). Therefore, we evaluated whether targeting MKK7 using anti-sense oligonucleotides (ASO) would decrease JNK activation and severity in K/BxN serum transfer arthritis. Methods: Three 2’-O-methoxyethyl chimeric ASOs for MKK7 and control ASO were injected intravenously in normal C57BL/6 mice. PBS, control ASO or MKK7 ASO was injected from Day -8 to Day 10 in the passive K/BxN model. Ankle histology was evaluated using a semi-quantitative scoring system. Expression of MKK7 and JNK pathways was evaluated by quantitative PCR and Western blot analysis. Results: MKK7 ASO decreased MKK7 mRNA and protein levels in ankles by about 40% in normal mice within three days. There was no effect of control ASO on MKK7 expression and MKK7 ASO did not affect MKK3, MKK4 or MKK6. Mice injected with MKK7 ASO had significantly less severe arthritis compared with control ASO (P < 0.01). Histologic evidence of synovial inflammation, bone erosion and cartilage damage was reduced in MKK7 ASOtreated mice (P < 0.01). MKK7 deficiency decreased phospho-JNK and phospho-c-Jun in ankle extracts (P < 0.05), but not phospho-MKK4. Interleukin-1beta (IL-1b), MMP3 and MMP13 gene expression in ankle joints were decreased by MKK7 ASO (P < 0.01). Conclusions: MKK7 plays a critical regulatory role in the JNK pathway in a murine model of arthritis. Targeting MKK7 rather than JNK could provide site and event specificity when treating synovitis.
What Where Wi: An Analysis of Millions of Wi-Fi Access Points

With the growing demand for wireless Internet access and increasing maturity of IEEE 802.11 technologies, wireless networks have sprung up by the millions throughout the world as a popular means for Internet access. An increasingly popular use of Wi-Fi networking equipment is to provide wireless 'hotspots' as the wireless access points (APs) to the Internet. These APs are installed and managed by individuals and businesses in an unregulated manner -allowing anyone to install and operate one of these devices using unlicensed radio spectrum. This has allowed literally millions of these APs to become available and 'visible' to any interested party who happens to be within range of the radio waves emitted from the device. As the density of these APs increases, these 'beacons' can be put into multiple uses. From home networking to wireless positioning to mesh networks, there are more alternative ways for connecting wirelessly as newer, longer-range technologies come to market. This paper reports an initial study that examines a database of over 5 million wireless access points collected through systematic wardriving by Skyhook Wireless. By performing the analytical study of this data including the default naming behavior, movement of access points over time, and density of access points, we found that the AP data, coupled with location information, can provide a fertile ground for understanding the "what, where and why" of Wi-Fi access points. More importantly, the analysis and mining of this vast and growing collection of AP data can yield important technological, social and economical results.
Measurement of optical scattering properties with low-coherence enhanced backscattering spectroscopy

Low-coherence enhanced backscattering (LEBS) is a depth selective technique that allows noninvasive characterization of turbid media such as biological tissue. LEBS provides a spectral measurement of the tissue reflectance distribution as a function of distance between incident and reflected ray pairs through the use of partial spatial coherence broadband illumination. We present LEBS as a new depth-selective technique to measure optical properties of tissue in situ. Because LEBS enables measurements of reflectance due to initial scattering events, LEBS is sensitive to the shape of the phase function in addition to the reduced scattering coefficient (μ ∗ ). We introduce a simulation of LEBS that implements a two parameter phase function based on the Whittle-Mat´ ern refractive index correlation function model. We show that the LEBS enhancement factor (E) primarily depends on μ ∗ , the normalized spectral dependence of E (Sn) depends on one of the two parameters of the phase function that also defines the functional type of the refractive index correlation function (m), and the LEBS peak width depends on both the anisotropy factor (g )a ndm. Three inverse models for calculating these optical properties are described and the calculations are validated with an experimental measurement from a tissue phantom. C 2011
The dominance behavioural system: A multidimensional transdiagnostic approach.

Objectives The dominance behavioural system (DBS) is multi-faceted, and various aspects of this system have links with a range of psychopathologies. Different scales have been used across psychopathologies though, and no single measure captures the core dimensions of the DBS. Our goal was to assess the importance of multiple DBS dimensions across psychopathologies. Methods Undergraduates (N = 612) completed a broad set of dominance items (many from pre-existing measures) and measures of lifetime depression, anxiety, and manic symptoms. Results Factor analysis suggested six distinct DBS factors: Authentic Pride, Hubristic Pride, Cooperation, Power/Influence, Discomfort with Leadership, and Ruthless Ambition. Depressive and anxious symptoms related to notably similar DBS profiles, characterized by lower authentic pride, lower perceived power, and greater willingness to endorse hubris. In contrast, hypomanic tendencies related to heightened pride, and an emphasis on the pursuit of power despite interpersonal costs. Conclusions With a multi-faceted approach, the DBS appears to be relevant for understanding multiple forms of psychopathology. Although limited by the reliance on self-report questionnaires, this is the first transdiagnostic study to consider these multiple facets of the DBS. Practitioner points The dominance system involves multiple separable dimensions. Manic tendencies appear tied to experiencing a heightened sense of pride and being willing to use more aggressive behavioural strategies to pursue dominance. Anxious and depressive tendencies appear particularly tied to low levels of subjective power, and more willingness to describe oneself as having hubris. Pride, the subjective sense of achieving power, and behavioural approaches to achieving power appear to be important dimensions of the dominance system for understanding psychopathology.
Life History of Brachyrhaphis parismina: Variation Within and Among Populations

Abstract Poeciliids provide a model system for comparative studies of life-history variation because of the relatively large number of species and the diversity of environments they occupy. Brachyrhaphis parismina is a narrow-bodied poeciliid that occupies rivers and streams in the eastern lowlands of Costa Rica. Detailed life-history information on species in the narrow-bodied clade of the genus Brachyrhaphis is lacking compared to the many studies on the round-bodied species of the genus. We test for variation in life history among five populations of Brachyrhaphis parismina, and for patterns of allometry associated with the reproductive value hypothesis among individuals. Life-history traits exhibited little variation among populations in contrast to variation observed among populations of round-bodied congeners. Furthermore, within locations females exhibit isometric patterns of reproductive allocation with female body size, thus life history varies little over a female's lifetime. This pattern is inc...
Creating Emotional Speech for Conversational Agents

This paper presents an automatic, real-time approach which is capable of creating expressive speech using a set of mathematical models. This approach allows showing emotions in synthetic animated speech in both audio and video. We collect the facial muscle movement data through a tracking system with a high-speed camera, and use that data to create mathematical models for the visual signal. Our emotional model drives muscle parameters to control the shape of the face and prosodic parameters to control the generation of synthetic audio. By applying these models, the expressions can be automatically generated with some optional parameters. We demonstrate the utility of our emotional model by developing a chat system that uses the six universal emotions to create synthetic emotional speech.
The Development of the Epididymis

The adult epididymis is a highly convoluted tubule that performs a variety of functions including sperm protection, maturation, concentration and storage. These functions can only be accomplished following a series of morphological changes that occur during development. These changes result in the development of a single tubule that differs in several regions with respect to morphology, function and gene expression. Therefore, it is not surprising that the development of the epididymis is a highly regulated event and is not yet completely understood. This chapter will attempt to summarize the events that take place leading to the development and differentiation of the adult epididymis. Major key studies will be summarized and important questions that remain unanswered will be addressed.
Viewing the High-Energy Universe with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has completed 2 years of observations of the entire sky from 10 keV to more than 300 GeV, providing a new view of the high-energy Universe.
An Engineering View of Cognitive Architectures

Engineering principles when coupled with a clear set of goals/constraints/behaviors can help guide the development of effective cognitive architectures.
Formation of massive black holes in galactic nuclei: runaway tidal encounters

Nuclear star clusters (NSCs) and supermassive black holes (SMBHs) both inhabit galactic nuclei, coexisting in a range of bulge masses, but excluding each other in the largest or smallest galaxies. We propose that the transformation of NSCs into SMBHs occurs via runaway tidal captures, once NSCs exceed a certain critical central density and velocity dispersion. The bottleneck in this process, as with all collisional runaways, is growing the first e-fold in black hole mass. The growth of a stellar mass black hole past this bottleneck occurs as tidally captured stars are consumed in repeated episodes of mass transfer at pericenter. Tidal captures may turn off as a growth channel once the black hole reaches a mass ~100-1000 solar masses, but tidal disruption events will continue and appear capable of growing the seed SMBH to larger sizes. The runaway slows (becomes sub-exponential) once the seed SMBH consumes the core of its host NSC. While the bulk of the cosmic mass density in SMBHs is ultimately produced (via the Soltan-Paczynski argument) by episodic gaseous accretion in very massive galaxies, the smallest SMBHs have probably grown from strong tidal encounters with NSC stars. SMBH seeds that grow for a time $t$ entirely through this channel will follow simple power law relations with the velocity dispersion, $\sigma$, of their host galaxy. In the simplest regime it is $M_\bullet \sim \sigma^{3/2}\sqrt{M_\star t / G} \sim 10^{6}M_\odot (\sigma / 50~{\rm km~s}^{-1})^{3/2}(t/10^{10}~{\rm yr})^{1/2}$, but the exponents and prefactor can differ slightly depending on the details of loss cone refilling. Current tidal disruption event rates predicted from this mechanism are consistent with observations.
Display of EEG chaotic dynamics

The method and results obtained with a dedicated computer package for visualizing the electroencephalogram (EEG) in state space are presented. Dynamics of the nonlinear system (the brain mechanisms) that produced the EEG can be reconstructed from a sampled version of the signal. The display may prove useful in characterizing clinically significant features such as spikes and seizures. Examples are presented. >
Dysregulation of the BRCA1/long non-coding RNA NEAT1 signaling axis contributes to breast tumorigenesis.

// Pang-Kuo Lo 1 , Yongshu Zhang 1 , Benjamin Wolfson 1 , Ramkishore Gernapudi 1 , Yuan Yao 1 , Nadire Duru 1 , Qun Zhou 1 1 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Greenebaum Cancer Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA Correspondence to: Qun Zhou, email: qzhou@som.umaryland.edu Keywords: BRCA1, NEAT1, miR-129, WNT4, breast cancer stem cells Received: March 18, 2016 Accepted: August 10, 2016 Published: August 18, 2016 ABSTRACT Dysregulation of long non-codng RNA (lncRNA) expression has been found to contribute to tumorigenesis. However, the roles of lncRNAs in BRCA1-related breast cancer remain largely unknown. In this study, we delineate the role of the novel BRCA1/lncRNA NEAT1 signaling axis in breast tumorigenesis. BRCA1 inhibits NEAT1 expression potentially through binding to its genomic binding site upstream of the NEAT1 gene. BRCA1 deficiency in human normal/cancerous breast cells and mouse mammary glands leads to NEAT1 overexpression. Our studies show that NEAT1 upregulation resulting from BRCA1 deficiency stimulates in vitro and in vivo breast tumorigenicity. We have further identified molecular mediators downstream of the BRCA1/NEAT1 axis. NEAT1 epigenetically silences miR-129-5p expression by promoting the DNA methylation of the CpG island in the miR-129 gene. Silencing of miR-129-5p expression by NEAT1 results in upregulation of WNT4 expression, a target of miR-129-5p, which leads to activation of oncogenic WNT signaling. Our functional studies indicate that this NEAT1/miR-129-5p/WNT4 axis contributes to the tumorigenic effects of BRCA1 deficiency. Finally our in silico expression correlation analysis suggests the existence of the BRCA1/NEAT1/miR-129-5p axis in breast cancer. Our findings, taken together, suggest that the dysregulation of the BRCA1/NEAT1/miR-129-5p/WNT4 signaling axis is involved in promoting breast tumorigenesis.
Guattari, ideology and the ironies of theoretical (im)practice

At a time of general crisis and continuing Anglophone depoliticization of ‘French Theory’, it is crucial to affirm the affinities of Guattari with Marxism, including with Althusser. The particular ...
Auditory deficits in amusia extend beyond poor pitch perception

Congenital amusia is a music perception disorder believed to reflect a deficit in fine-grained pitch perception and/or short-term or working memory for pitch. Because most measures of pitch perception include memory and segmentation components, it has been difficult to determine the true extent of pitch processing deficits in amusia. It is also unclear whether pitch deficits persist at frequencies beyond the range of musical pitch. To address these questions, experiments were conducted with amusics and matched controls, manipulating both the stimuli and the task demands. First, we assessed pitch discrimination at low (500Hz and 2000Hz) and high (8000Hz) frequencies using a three-interval forced-choice task. Amusics exhibited deficits even at the highest frequency, which lies beyond the existence region of musical pitch. Next, we assessed the extent to which frequency coding deficits persist in one- and two-interval frequency-modulation (FM) and amplitude-modulation (AM) detection tasks at 500Hz at slow (fm=4Hz) and fast (fm=20Hz) modulation rates. Amusics still exhibited deficits in one-interval FM detection tasks that should not involve memory or segmentation. Surprisingly, amusics were also impaired on AM detection, which should not involve pitch processing. Finally, direct comparisons between the detection of continuous and discrete FM demonstrated that amusics suffer deficits in both coding and segmenting pitch information. Our results reveal auditory deficits in amusia extending beyond pitch perception that are subtle when controlling for memory and segmentation, and are likely exacerbated in more complex contexts such as musical listening.
Convex Analysis and Duality over Discrete Domains

The aim of this paper is to establish a fundamental theory of convex analysis for the sets and functions over a discrete domain. By introducing conjugate/biconjugate functions and a discrete duality notion for the cones over discrete domains, we study duals of optimization problems whose decision parameters are integers. In particular, we construct duality theory for integer linear programming, provide a discrete version of Slater’s condition that implies the strong duality and discuss the relationship between integrality and discrete convexity.
Modeling Cognitive Trends in Preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) via Distributions over Permutations

This paper presents an algorithm to identify subsets of subjects who share similarities in the context of imaging and clinical measurements within a cohort of cognitively healthy individuals at risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In particular, we wish to evaluate how patterns in the subjects’ cognitive scores or PIB-PET image measurements are associated with a clinical assessment of risk of developing AD, image based measures, and future cognitive decline. The challenge here is that all the participants are asymptomatic, our predictors are noisy and heterogeneous, and the disease specific signal, when present, is weak. As a result, off-the-shelf methods do not work well. We develop a model that uses a probability distribution over the set of permutations to represent the data; this yields a distance measure robust to these issues. We then show that our algorithm produces consistent and meaningful groupings of subjects based on their cognitive scores and that it provides a novel and interesting representation of measurements from PIB-PET images.
Anti-inflammaging effect of human alpha 1 antitrypsin

An important feature of aging is a low grade, persistent, systemic inflammation without overt infection which is defined as “inflammaging”. Inflammaging plays an important role in both morbidity and mortality of most age-related diseases. However, the mechanism of inflammaging is largely unknown, and no treatment has been discovered. Human alpha-1 antitrypsin (hAAT), with anti-inflammatory properties, holds potential to decelerate the aging process. To test the anti-aging effect of hAAT, we generate hAAT transgenic Drosophila lines and showed that over-expression of hAAT in Drosophila fat body (liver) significantly extended the life span. Importantly, real-time PCR and RNA sequencing analyses showed that age-related inflammatory genes ( Relish and Diptericin) , and immune responsive genes were significantly inhibited in hAAT transgenic lines. To further investigate this anti-inflammaging effect in human cells, we employed a widely used irradiation-induced senescence cell model and tested the effect of hAAT treatment on Senescence-associated Secretory Phenotype (SASP). Our results from this study showed that hAAT treatments significantly decreased gene transcription and protein secretion of IL-6 and IL-8 (the 2 major SASP factors). In contrast, no effect from hAAT on senescence formation was detected. Intriguingly, it is strongly suggesting the epigenetic effect of hAAT since the inhibitory effect can last at least 7 days after withdraw of the treatment. In conclusion, our results have shown that hAAT has the anti-inflammaging effects and may extend life span by inhibiting transcription of inflammatory factors of SASP. Hence, as a FDA-approved drug, hAAT is a promising candidate to combat aging and aging-related diseases.
Historical Archeology in Missouri Basin Reservoir Areas: Current Investigations

A review of the present status of research, field reconnaissance, excavatlon, and analysis of sites of the historic period in the Missouri Basin, of both native and white origin, which are located ...
Neuropsychological residuals seven years after acute encephalitis. Results of a seven-year follow-up study of 21 children.

Neurologic abnormalities were found in 13 of 21 children studied seven years after having acute encephalitis, and EEG abnormalities were found in 8. The psychologic testing suggested that no signif...
Dexmedetomidine to treat opioid withdrawal in infants following prolonged sedation in the pediatric ICU

This retrospective study aims to report on the use of dexmedetomidine to treat opioid withdrawal following sedation during mechanical ventilation in a cohort of infants. Seven infants in the pediatric intensive care unit of a tertiary care center, ranging in age from three to 24 months (12.4 ± 8.2 months) and in weight from 4.6 to 15.4 kgs (9.9 ± 4.2 kgs), had received a continuous fentanyl infusion, supplemented with intermittent doses of midazolam for sedation, during mechanical ventilation. Withdrawal was documented by a Finnegan score ³ 12. Dexmedetomidine was administered as a loading dose of 0.5 mg/kg/hr, followed by an infusion of 0.5 mg/kg/hr. Dexmedetomidine effectively controlled the signs and symptoms of withdrawal in the seven patients. Subsequent Finnegan scores were £ 7 at all times (median 4, range 1 to 7). Two patients required a repeat of the loading dose and an increase of the infusion to 0.7 mg/kg/hr. These two patients had received higher doses of fentanyl than the other five patients (8.5 ± 0.7 versus 4.6 ± 0.5 mg/kg/hr, p < 0.0005). No adverse hemodynamic or respiratory effects related to dexmedetomidine were noted. This report involves the largest cohort of patients to receive dexmedetomidine in the treatment of withdrawal following opioid and benzodiazepine sedation during mechanical ventilation. We conclude that dexmedetomidine offers a viable option for such issues in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) setting.
Arrestin Interaction with E3 Ubiquitin Ligases and Deubiquitinases: Functional and Therapeutic Implications

Arrestins constitute a small family of four homologous adaptor proteins (arrestins 1–4), which were originally identified as inhibitors of signal transduction elicited by the seven-transmembrane G protein-coupled receptors. Currently arrestins (especially arrestin2 and arrestin3; also called β-arrestin1 and β-arrestin2) are known to be activators of cell signaling and modulators of endocytic trafficking. Arrestins mediate these effects by binding to not only diverse cell-surface receptors but also by associating with a variety of critical signaling molecules in different intracellular compartments. Thus, the functions of arrestins are multifaceted and demand interactions with a host of proteins and require an array of selective conformations. Furthermore, receptor ligands that specifically induce signaling via arrestins are being discovered and their physiological roles are emerging. Recent evidence suggests that the activity of arrestin is regulated in space and time by virtue of its dynamic association with specific enzymes of the ubiquitination pathway. Ubiquitin-dependent, arrestin-mediated signaling could serve as a potential platform for developing novel therapeutic strategies to target transmembrane signaling and physiological responses.
Symbolic Computation and Complexity Theory Transcript of My Talk

I gave talks at the conference Alan Turing’s Heritage: Logic, Computation & Complexity in Lyon, France on July 3, 2012, at the Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC) Paris 6, France on July 17, 2012, and at the Tenth Asian Symposium on Computer Mathematics (ASCM) in Beijing, China, on October 26, 2012 on the complexity theoretic hardness of many problems that the discipline of symbolic computation tackles.
Activation of Apoptosis Pathways by Anticancer Drugs

The first antitumor drug (aminopterin) was introduced into the treatment of childhood leukemia by Sidney Farber almost 50 years ago. In the past 20 years long term remission and cure has been achieved in 70–80% of patients with leukemia, using combination therapy with several anticancer drugs and high dose protocols. However, the widespread use of chemotherapy also has shown that certain tumors are chemosensitive while others are chemoresistant. Why is chemotherapy effective? Anticancer drugs have not been designed for a specific cellular or molecular target but have been identified in assays based on their capacity to inhibit proliferation and clonogenicity. Early concepts on how chemotherapy may kill tumor cells have focused on interference with either cellular metabolism or DNA synthesis. However the biochemical characterization of drug mediated inhibition of cellular proliferation has shown that most drugs hit various targets. Drugs efficiently used in cancer therapy include diverse chemical compounds such as anti-metabolites (e.g. methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil), DNA damaging agents (e.g. cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, doxorubicine), mitotic inhibitors (e.g. vincristine), nucleotide analogs (6-mercaptopurine) or inhibitors of topoisomerases involved in DNA repair (e.g. etoposide). While cell death induced by anticancer agents has been considered to be a consequence of a block in proliferation or simply “toxicity”, recent studies have shown that most anticancer agents induce apoptosis in target cells.
Toward a Transactional Perspective

I was born on July 16, 1930, in New York City. My parents, Ethel and Louis Altman, were first-generation Americans whose parents emigrated to this country in the late 1800s from the Soviet Union and Hungary, respectively. My wife Gloria and I were married in 1953 and have two children. Gloria was a primary-school teacher for several years but has worked in and managed a large travel agency in Salt Lake City for almost 20 years. Our older son, David, has a PhD in social ecology and is a senior research associate in the Center for Health Promotion, Stanford University. Our younger son, William, has a JD degree and a master’s degree in public policy and works for the American Psychological Association, specializing in legislation and policy in the areas of health and aging.
Egg Intake Has No Adverse Association With Blood Lipids Or Glucose In Adolescent Girls.

Objective: Longitudinal data on cardiometabolic effects of egg intake during adolescence are lacking. The current analyses aim to evaluate the impact of usual adolescent egg consumption on lipid le...
Towards sustainable bioplastic production using the photoautotrophic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris TIE-1

Bacterial synthesis of polyhydroxybutyrates (PHBs) is a potential approach for producing biodegradable plastics. This study assessed the ability of Rhodopseudomonas palustris TIE-1 to produce PHBs under various conditions. We focused on photoautotrophy using a poised electrode (photoelectroautotrophy) or ferrous iron (photoferroautotrophy) as electron donors. Growth conditions were tested with either ammonium chloride or dinitrogen gas as the nitrogen source. Although TIE-1's capacity to produce PHBs varied fairly under different conditions, photoelectroautotrophy and photoferroautotrophy showed the highest PHB electron yield and the highest specific PHB productivity, respectively. Gene expression analysis showed that there was no differential expression in PHB biosynthesis genes. This suggests that the variations in PHB accumulation might be post-transcriptionally regulated. This is the first study to systematically quantify the amount of PHB produced by a microbe via photoelectroautotrophy and photoferroautotrophy. This work could lead to sustainable bioproduction using abundant resources such as light, electricity, iron, and carbon dioxide.
A Critical Review of the Challenges, Opportunities, and Critical Issues in Teaching Diversity Management in Undergraduate Programs

Competency in diversity management is a requirement for undergraduate students in business management programs in the US. The ability to understand, embrace, and leverage demographic differences is a critical success factor in today’s organizations. This is because organizations have become more multicultural, and multi-ethnic than they were a few decades ago. The changed American workplace requires diversity management as a necessary business competency (Avery & Thomas, 2004). Higher education institutions, particularly business education programs that prepare students for the workplace, have had to respond by prioritizing diversity management education. This chapter reviews the challenges and pedagogical issues in undergraduate diversity education programs in the US and recommends critical pedagogy as an approach that might be more effective in preparing students to manage diversity in the workplace Critical pedagogy is both strategic, integrated, and empowers students to challenge beliefs about power and privilege in society. It is suggested that students need to have an understanding and appreciation of the historical and cultural factors that created the social and power structures in society before they can be challenged to think of ways to dismantle the discriminatory structures and embrace inclusion in the workplace.
Multipoint Series of Gromov–Witten Invariants of CP1

We derive explicit formulas for the multipoint series of \(\mathbb{C}\mathbb{P}^{\text{1}}\) in degree 0 from the Toda hierarchy, using the recursions of the Toda hierarchy. The Toda equation then yields inductive formulas for the higher degree multipoint series of \(\mathbb{C}\mathbb{P}^{\text{1}}\). We also obtain explicit formulas for the Hodge integrals \(\int {_{\overline {\mathcal{M}} _{g,n} } \psi } _1^{k_1 } ...\psi _n^{k_n } \lambda _{g - i}\), in the cases i=0 and 1.
A curated database reveals trends in single cell transcriptomics

Over 500 single cell transcriptomics studies have been published to date. Many of these have data available, but the links between data, study, and systems studied can be hard to identify through literature search. This manuscript describes a nearly exhaustive and manually curated database of single cell transcriptomics studies with descriptions of what kind of data and what biological systems have been studied. Additionally, based on the text in the listed papers information about analysis is included in the database, allowing analysis of trends in the field. As a particular example, it is demonstrated that the number of cell types identified in single cell RNA sequencing studies is directly proportional to the number of cells analyzed. Instructions to access the database are available at www.nxn.se/single-cell-studies/.
Biomass-Based Products and Chemicals

Abstract The integration of biofuels with high-margin bioproducts presents an opportunity to explore options for extracting high-value specialty chemicals to generate additional revenue from integrated biorefineries. The inherent functionalized nature of biomass offers a unique competitive advantage to produce oxygenated chemicals that are not easily synthesized from petroleum. Maximizing the value of biomass requires either higher-value applications as a raw material or deconstruction into more basic components that can be valorized. Some plants naturally produce relatively high concentrations of specific compounds or chemicals that can be recovered and purified for use. For integrated biorefineries, understanding the physiochemical structure of biomass to efficiently unpack the bulk components and recover the trace components provides insight into the chemical functionality that can be exploited for potential bioproducts and specialty biochemicals.
NOTCH Signaling in Cartilage Development and Disease

Abstract The NOTCH signaling pathway regulates cell fate determination, proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis in many tissues coordinating key aspects of development, maintenance, and disease progression. Recently, the NOTCH pathway has been identified as a critical regulator of cartilage development and cartilage-related diseases. This chapter specifically highlights data defining the roles for NOTCH during limb bud chondrogenesis, growth plate chondrocyte proliferation and hypertrophy, joint cartilage maintenance, and the initiation and progression of osteoarthritis. Finally, several unresolved questions regarding NOTCH function in cartilage development and disease are identified and the potential for NOTCH involvement in other cartilage-related diseases or disorders is discussed.
INDIVIDUAL AND CONTEXTUAL FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH BREASTFEEDING INTENTION AND FOLLOW-THROUGH

Objective To determine predictors of intention to breastfeed and breastfeeding follow-through in a low-income, urban-dwelling sample. Methods A total of 301 Dominican, Mexican and African-American mother-infant dyads, recruited at three major NYC hospitals, participated in the Metrobaby cohort study. At baseline, face-to-face interviews were conducted with the mother within three days of the baby’s birth. A telephone follow-up interview was completed with the mother when the baby was one month old, and again at six months of age. Using logistic regression, mother’s age, race, place of birth, education, relationship with father, household income, number of household members, cohabitation with partner and work status, were entered as predictors of three separate outcomes: (1) intention to breastfeed at baby’s birth, (2) breastfeeding at one month, and (3) breastfeeding at six months. Results At time of baby’s birth, 85% of mothers stated intention to breastfeed. When infants were one month, 64% of mothers were breastfeeding and when infants were six months, 32% were still breastfeeding. Univariate analysis showed race, place of birth (US or other) and cohabiting were significantly associated with all three outcomes. Only mother’s work status was significantly associated with breastfeeding follow-through when infants were 6 months. Mothers who were working, regardless of occupation, were 53% less likely to breastfeed (95% CI 20% to 90%) than those who did not work. Conclusions The finding that cohabitation and work status significantly predicted breastfeeding follow-through at one and six months has important implications in designing strategies to increase partner and employer support during the breastfeeding process.
Impact of Political Television Advertisements on Viewers’ Response to Subsequent Advertisements

We investigate how political ads on television impact how viewers respond to subsequent nonpolitical ads.
Intelligence Communities and Cultures: edited by Bob de Graaff, Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder: Colorado, 2020, 504 pp., $100 (hardback), ISBN: 978-1-62637-889-6

A review of programs offered in higher education focusing on intelligence studies, and you quickly discover that over 90% of the courses are on the history, policy, or operational perspective of th...
Computationally-guided technology platform for on-demand production of diversified therapeutic phage cocktails

New therapies are necessary to combat increasingly antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens. We have developed a technology platform of computational, molecular biology, and microbiology tools which together enable on-demand production of phages that target virtually any given bacterial isolate. Two complementary computational tools that identify and precisely map prophages and other integrative genetic elements (IGEs) in bacterial genomes are used to identify prophage-laden bacteria that are close relatives of the target strain. Phage genomes are engineered to disable lysogeny, through use of long amplicon PCR and Gibson assembly. Finally, the engineered phage genomes are introduced into host bacteria for phage production. As an initial demonstration, we used this approach to produce a phage cocktail against the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. Two prophage-laden P. aeruginosa strains closely related to PAO1 were identified, ATCC 39324 and ATCC 27853. Deep sequencing revealed that mitomycin C treatment of these strains induced seven phages that grow on P. aeruginosa PAO1. The most diverse five of these were engineered for non-lysogeny by deleting the integrase gene (int), which is readily identifiable and typically conveniently located at one end of the prophage. The ∆int phages, individually and in cocktails, showed killing of P. aeruginosa PAO1 in vitro as well as in a waxworm (Galleria mellonella) model of infection.
Foundations for Research in Cyber-Physical System Cyber Resilience using State Estimation

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) maintain operation, reliability, and safety performance using state estimation and control methods. Internet connectivity and Internet of Things (IoT) devices are being integrated with CPS, such as in smart grids. This integration of Operational Technology (OT) and Information Technology (IT) brings with it challenges for state estimation and cyber-threat exposure. This research establishes a state estimation baseline, details the integration of IT, evaluates the vulnerabilities, and develops an approach for detecting and responding to cyber-attack data injections. Where other approaches focus on integration of IT cyber-controls, this research focuses on development of a classification tool using data currently available in state estimation methods to quantitatively determine the presence of cyber-attack data. The tools may increase computational requirements but provide methods which can be integrated with existing state estimation methods. The updated cyber resilient state estimation process provides for future research in state estimation based cyber-attack incident response.
Mechanisms of EMRE-Dependent MCU Opening in the Mitochondrial Calcium Uniporter Complex

The mitochondrial calcium uniporter is a multi-subunit Ca2+-activated Ca2+ channel, made up of the pore-forming MCU protein, a metazoan-specific EMRE subunit, and MICU1/MICU2, which mediate Ca2+ activation. It has been established that metazoan MCU requires EMRE binding to conduct Ca2+, but how EMRE promotes MCU opening remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that EMRE controls MCU activity via its transmembrane helix, while using an N-terminal PKP motif to strengthen binding with MCU. Opening of MCU requires hydrophobic interactions mediated by MCU residues near the pore's luminal end. Enhancing these interactions by single mutation allows human MCU to transport Ca2+ without EMRE. We further show that EMRE may facilitate MCU opening by stabilizing the open state in a conserved MCU gating mechanism, present also in non-metazoan MCU homologs. These results provide insights into the evolution of the uniporter machinery and elucidate the mechanism underlying the physiologically crucial EMRE-dependent MCU activation process.
Estimated Spike Evolution and Impact of Emerging SARS-CoV-2 Variants

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, has been mutating and thus variants emerged. This suggests that SARS-CoV-2 could mutate at an unsteady pace. Supportive evidence comes from the accelerated evolution which was revealed by tracking mutation rates of the genomic location of Spike protein. This process is sponsored by a small portion of the virus population but not the largest viral clades. Moreover, it generally took one to six months for current variants that caused peaks of COVID-19 cases and deaths to survive selection pressure. Based on this statistic result and the above speedy Spike evolution, another upcoming peak would come around July 2021 and disastrously attack Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. This is the prediction generated by a mathematical model on evolutionary spread. The reliability of this model and future trends out of it comes from the comprehensive consideration of factors mainly including mutation rate, selection course, and spreading speed. Notably, if the prophecy is true, then the new wave will be the first determined by accelerated Spike evolution.
Who attends a crisis pregnancy center in Ohio

Abstract Objectives We sought to quantify the prevalence of ever attendance at a crisis pregnancy center (CPC) among adult, reproductive-age women in Ohio and identify demographic factors associated with ever attendance. Study Design We analyzed data from the Ohio Survey of Women, a survey of adult, reproductive-age women (N = 2529) conducted in 2018 to 2019. We calculated unadjusted and adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs) to evaluate the possible associations between demographic factors and ever CPC attendance. Analyses used statistical weights to be population-representative. Results Analyses are based on women reporting ever (n = 291) or never CPC attendance (n = 2151). Prevalence of ever CPC attendance was 13.5%. Ever CPC attendance was higher among women of Black, non-Hispanic race/ethnicity (adjusted PR, 2.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4–3.2) and currently in the lowest socioeconomic status (SES) stratum (defined as less than a college degree and annual household income less than $75,000) (aPR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.1–2.3) compared to those of other race/ethnicity and in the highest SES stratum. Conclusions Disparities exist among adult women in Ohio regarding their ever use of CPCs. Because CPCs typically are not medical facilities and may provide inaccurate information, future studies should evaluate a wider range of correlates of recent CPC attendance. Implications Findings from a population-based survey of adult, reproductive-age women in Ohio indicate that ever attendance to a CPC for pregnancy-related care is not rare, and this attendance is higher among Black/non-Hispanic women and those of low SES compared to other women.
Nonlinear Systems in Models for Enzyme Cascades

In this note we shall describe some of our recent efforts in the modeling of enzyme cascades. By such a cascade we shall mean a metabolic process effected by a finite sequence of enzymatic reactions. A characteristic feature of this sequence (as depicted in Figure 1) is that the “product” at each stage acts as the “enzyme” for the reaction in the next stage.
Chapter 3 Biochemistry of methanogenesis

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses microbiological, biosynthetic, and bioenergetic aspects of methanogens only when useful in understanding the biochemistry. Most methanogens are capable of using a variety of one-carbon substrates for methane production and as major substrates for growth, and a few can use acetate for these purposes. Also, a few can use multiple-carbon alcohols as a source of electrons, but cannot use the carbon atoms for methane or growth. Microbiological features important for the study of methanogenesis include growth rates, ability to grow to a high density in fermentors, and ease of application of molecular biology techniques. Unusual coenzymes in methanogens do not replace many commonly used coenzymes found in bacteria, because most of the traditional water-soluble vitamins are found in methanogens, including biotin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, nicotinic acid, pyridoxine, and lipoic acid, although their levels are sometimes low. Methanopterin (or a variant) is found in all methanogens, except possibly at very low levels in Methanosphaeru studtmanii.