cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Selective pancreatotoxicity in the rat induced by the naturally occurring plant nitrile 1-cyano-2-hydroxy-3-butene

The acute toxicity of 1-cyano-2-hydroxy-3-butene (CHB), a nitrile derived from many cruciferous plants, was investigated. Young male CDF (F-344/CrlBr) rats were treated by gavage once daily with 200 mg (2.1 mmol) CHB/kg body weight for 0-4 days and killed 24 hr after the final dose. Lesions were confined to the exocrine pancreas and characterized by individual acinar cell death, inflammation and acinar atrophy and disorganization. Ultrastructural alterations included dilation of cisternae of the acinar cell endoplasmic reticulum, acinar cell death resembling apoptosis, macrophage phagocytosis of acinar cell debris and regenerative changes in remaining acinar cells. Pancreatic, hepatic and renal non-protein thiol concentrations were elevated, suggesting an enhancement of tissue glutathione concentrations and an alteration in glutathione metabolism. Urinary thiocyanate (SCN-) excretion was modestly elevated, indicating some in vivo cyanide release from this nitrile. The results of this study indicate that CHB is a selective pancreatotoxin, inducing changes consistent with apoptosis. CHB is also a possible inducer of tissue glutathione in the liver and kidneys as well as in the pancreas, even at toxic doses.
A possible chemical term for the operatorgene.

IT has been known for a comparatively long time that DNA and proteins of the histone or protamine type are the main components of the chromosomes1. The DNA has been the subject of several studies and much knowledge has been gained on its structure and function. Examination of the protein components, however, has been neglected to a large extent. Since the amount of histone protein approximately equals that of the DNA in the nucleus2, it is apparent that they must play a major part in the cellular processes.
A Comprehensive Transcriptional Landscape of Human Hematopoiesis

Recently in Cell, Novershtern et al. (2011) reported a comprehensive transcriptome analysis of human hematopoiesis, combined with sophisticated bioinformatics analysis and high-throughput DNA binding data for multiple transcription factors. The resulting map of regulatory interactions controlling stem cell differentiation provides a valuable resource for identification of novel hematopoietic regulators.
Data Management Activities of Canada's National Science Library - 2010 Update and Prospective

NRC-CISTI serves Canada as its National Science Library (as mandated by Canada's Parliament in 1924) and also provides direct support to researchers of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). By reason of its mandate, vision, and strategic positioning, NRC-CISTI has been rapidly and effectively mobilizing Canadian stakeholders and resources to become a lead player on both the Canadian national and international scenes in matters relating to the organization and management of scientific research data. In a previous communication (CODATA International Conference, 2008), the orientation of NRC-CISTI towards this objective and its short- and medium-term plans and strategies were presented. Since then, significant milestones have been achieved. This paper presents NRC-CISTI's most recent activities in these areas, which are progressing well alongside a strategic organizational redesign process that is realigning NRC-CISTI's structure, mission, and mandate to better serve its clients. Throughout this transformational phase, activities relating to data management remain vibrant.
Electrical package impact on VCSEL-based optical interconnects

Abstract A new CAD tool fREEDA ® based on state variable approach and universal error concept is presented for modelling and simulating systems where physical domains such as electrical, thermal, and optical interact with each other. A single implementation of device equations in fREEDA ® can be used with different analysis types such as transient and harmonic balance, etc. To demonstrate the multi-physics capabilities of fREEDA ® , we present a study of the impact of electrical packages on the source module performance in multi-gigabit per second vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL)-based optical interconnects. The effect of various operating conditions such as bias/drive level and driver configuration are studied. We consider electrical packages such as printed wire board, thin-film and flip-chip in our study. A comparison of VCSELs with stripe lasers is also presented.
Metabolic profiling of livers and blood from obese Zucker rats.

Background/Aims Obesity frequently leads to changes in fatty acid metabolism with subsequent fatty infiltration in the liver. Methods In this study, metabolic profile of the livers and blood from lean and obese Zucker rats was established based on quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) analysis. Results 1 H NMR on liver lipid extracts indicated significantly increased concentrations of total fatty acids and triglycerides. 31 P NMR on liver extracts revealed that obese livers have a compromised energy balance (low [ATP/ADP]) with decreased mitochondrial activity. Simultaneously, increased glycolytic activity was detected. The most pronounced differences were highly increased methionine and decreased betaine concentrations in obese animals. This suggests a significant alteration in methionine metabolism, which may be in part responsible for the development of steatosis, induction of mitochondrial dysfunction, and increased vulnerability of fatty livers to ischemia/reperfusion injury. A trend towards decreased hepatic glutathione concentrations as well as a reduced [PUFA/MUFA] ratio were present in the obese group, indicating increased oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation. Conclusions In conclusion, NMR analysis on blood and liver tissue from obese Zucker rats reveals specific metabolic abnormalities in mitochondrial function and methionine metabolism, which result in a decreased hepatic energy state.
Effect of Dietary Protein on Bone Loss in Elderly Men and Women: The Framingham Osteoporosis Study†

Few studies have evaluated protein intake and bone loss in elders. Excess protein may be associated with negative calcium balance, whereas low protein intake has been associated with fracture. We examined the relation between baseline dietary protein and subsequent 4-year change in bone mineral density (BMD) for 391 women and 224 men from the population-based Framingham Osteoporosis Study. BMD (g/cm2) was assessed in 1988-1989 and in 1992-1993 at the femur, spine, and radius. Usual dietary protein intake was determined using a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and expressed as percent of energy from protein intake. BMD loss over 4 years was regressed on percent protein intake, simultaneously adjusting for other baseline factors: age, weight, height, weight change, total energy intake, smoking, alcohol intake, caffeine, physical activity, calcium intake, and, for women, current estrogen use. Effects of animal protein on bone loss also were examined. Mean age at baseline (+/-SD) of 615 participants was 75 years (+/-4.4; range, 68-91 years). Mean protein intake was 68 g/day (+/-24.0; range, 14-175 g/day), and mean percent of energy from protein was 16% (+/-3.4; range, 7-30%). Proportional protein intakes were similar for men and women. Lower protein intake was significantly related to bone loss at femoral and spine sites (p < or = 0.04) with effects similar to 10 lb of weight. Persons in the lowest quartile of protein intake showed the greatest bone loss. Similar to the overall protein effect, lower percent animal protein also was significantly related to bone loss at femoral and spine BMD sites (all p < 0.01) but not the radial shaft (p = 0.23). Even after controlling for known confounders including weight loss, women and men with relatively lower protein intake had increased bone loss, suggesting that protein intake is important in maintaining bone or minimizing bone loss in elderly persons. Further, higher intake of animal protein does not appear to affect the skeleton adversely in this elderly population.
The reactivity of well defined diiron(III) peroxo complexes toward substrates: addition to electrophiles and hydrocarbon oxidation.

Abstract The reactivity of previously reported peroxo adducts [Fe(μ-O2)(μ- L )(O2CPhCy)2(1-Bu-Im)2] (1), and [Fe(μ-O2)(μ- L )(O2CPhCy)2(py)2] (2), where L is a dinucleating ligand based on the m-xylylenediamine bis(Kemp’s triacid imide), toward a variety of substrates is described. These studies were performed to probe the electronic properties of 1 and 2 and evaluate their potential as selective hydrocarbon oxidants. Compound 1 is nucleophilic at −77 °C, reacting with phenols and carboxylic acids to liberate hydrogen peroxide, whereas the less electron-rich pyridine analogue 2 is unreactive toward both reagents. By contrast, neither reacts at −77 °C with electrophilic reagents such as olefins or triphenylphosphine, or with weak hydrogen atom donors such as dimethylbenzylamine. When solutions of 1 are warmed to room temperature in solvents such as THF, toluene, and cyclopentane, mixtures of alcohol and ketone products derived from the solvent are formed. A detailed investigation of cyclopentane oxidation strongly points to a radical autoxidation pathway. These results are discussed in the context of the selective hydroxylation chemistry that occurs at the carboxylate-bridged diiron centers in soluble methane monooxygenase.
How do DNA repair proteins locate damaged bases in the genome

The genome is susceptible to the attack of reactive species that chemically modify the bases of DNA. If genetic information is to be transmitted faithfully to successive generations, it is essential that the genome be repaired. All organisms express proteins specifically dedicated to this task. But how do these proteins find the aberrant bases amongst the enormous number of normal ones?
Further Studies of the Absorption, Distribution, and Elimination of Thiouracil

IT IS NOW well established (1–8) that thiouracil is very effective in controlling thyrotoxicosis. However, it has been shown to have toxic effects which interfere with freedom in its use. It is possible that the frequency of complications from this drug can be appreciably reduced when more is known about its metabolism. The establishment of the minimal effective dosage in the treatment of thyrotoxicosis must be made clinically, but this may be hastened by biochemical studies of thiouracil. Although many estimations have been made of the concentration of thiouracil in the thyroid glands of thyro toxic patients (9), the minimal quantity of the drug necessary to cause adequate inhibition of thyroxin production has not been determined. In ascertaining this point it seems reasonable that the dosage of thiouracil should be adequate to keep its concentration in the blood at a fairly even level. In a previous report (10) we have described some of our studies dealing with the absorption, distribution and excretion...
Modeling organizational adaptation: a replication of Levinthal's model of emergent order

Levinthal's application of Kauffman's NK model to economic firms continues to be one of the most accepted computational models in organization science. Levinthal investigates the impact to organizational fitness from both adaptive search and the interactions of strategic components within an organization. Despite concerns regarding the applicability of Kauffman's NK model to organization science, Levinthal's initial study has received limited critical analysis and has not been independently replicated. Building on previous replication research of Tivnan, this paper describes the formulation, successful replication and critical analysis of Levinthal's model of emergent order in contribution towards a model-centered organization science. The paper concludes with a discussion of a credibility assessment of the replication results; namely, model verification and validation.
Overcoming declining enrollments in petroleum engineering

It is noted that petroleum engineering departments across the country have experienced whiplash in their enrollments in the past decade, going from 10800 undergraduates to 1419 in the span of five years. The industry and student enrollments are cyclic and will continue to be so. It is suggested that this feature is perhaps symptomatic of other engineering disciplines. If so, the experience of the Mississippi State University Petroleum Engineering Department in recruiting and retaining students in a severe downturn will be beneficial to others. The department's approach to declining enrollment has been an aggressive recruiting campaign followed by a concerted effort of retention after the student joins the program. >
High-fat diet changes the temporal profile of GLP-1 receptor-mediated hypophagia in rats

Overconsumption of a high-fat diet promotes weight gain that can result in obesity and associated comorbidities, including Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Consumption of a high-fat diet also alters gut-brain communication. Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) is an important gastrointestinal signal that modulates both short- and long-term energy balance and is integral in maintenance of glucose homeostasis. In the current study, we investigated whether high-fat diets (40% or 81% kcal from fat) modulated the ability of the GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1r) agonists exendin-4 (Ex4) and liraglutide to reduce food intake and body weight. We observed that rats maintained on high-fat diets had a delayed acute anorexic response to peripheral administration of Ex4 or liraglutide compared with low-fat diet-fed rats (17% kcal from fat). However, once suppression of food intake in response to Ex4 or liraglutide started, the effect persisted for a longer time in the high-fat diet-fed rats compared with low-fat diet-fed rats. In contrast, centrally administered Ex4 suppressed food intake similarly between high-fat diet-fed and low-fat diet-fed rats. Chronic consumption of a high-fat diet did not change the pharmacokinetics of Ex4 but increased intestinal Glp1r expression and decreased hindbrain Glp1r expression. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that dietary composition alters the temporal profile of the anorectic response to exogenous GLP-1r agonists.
Local Adaptation in Community Perception: How Background Impacts Judgments of Neighborhood Safety

When observing an unfamiliar neighborhood, people use indicators of physical disorder to judge the local community (i.e., community perception), associating them with crime and weak relationships between neighbors. The authors argue that these judgments depend on people’s definition of disorder, which is adapted to their local community. This is tested with an experiment. Undergraduate students from across New York State rated the collective efficacy (i.e., social quality) of neighborhoods from a single city using images of physical structures. Participants reported which features they attended to when making these judgments. Participants were categorized as being from New York City (NYC), NYC suburbs, or the less densely populated upstate region. Images were from an upstate city. Those from NYC attended more to pavement than others. Ratings by those from upstate were most accurate and positive. These results supported the initial hypotheses and suggested that community perception combines heuristics and ...
'Exceptions to the General Rule': Unmarried Women and the 'Constitution of the Family'

Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, judges and lawmakers sought to erase the visibility of unmarried women. In the public law arena, for example, legislators conflated women and wives for the purpose of the franchise, arguing that women did not need the vote because their husbands voted for them. In the private law arena, doctrines intended to guarantee support to unmarried women functioned by constructing single women's legal identities in relation to marriage, thereby suggesting that marriage could provide for all women's material needs. This essay argues that understanding the history of single women's legal rights is critical to understanding the legal construction of marriage as the dominant institution for regulating all women's private relationships to men and public relationships to the state. Denying single women's existence allowed the law to ignore the potential threat they posed to a marriage-centric socio-legal order. Legal and political changes in the early decades of the twentieth century, however, made it increasingly difficult for the law to deny the existence of unmarried women. As single women gained social prominence, nonlegal writers in the 1930s and 1940s produced a new genre of prescriptive and descriptive literature for and about women living outside of marriage. Unlike earlier legal texts, these works embraced single women as a permanent and visible part of society. Like their legal predecessors, however, these modern authors sought to minimize the threat posed by single women to the institution of marriage, pointing to single women as proof of marriage's modern, consensual, democratic nature.
Pervasive computing research on aging, disability and independence

As we age, we experience normal declines in vision, hearing, cognition, and movement. We also accumulate chronic conditions such as arthritis, heart and circulatory disorders, glaucoma, and tinnitus. The cost of home health services for older persons with disabilities is increasing with the rapidly growing elder population. There is a significant need today to innovate cost-effective ways to help elders maintain their independence, and at the same time, reduce caregiver burden. The impressive wireless and portable technologies we have today and the emerging robotics, human computer interactions and mobile computing paradigms offer a unique and real opportunity for us to innovate pervasive applications and environments designed to support the elderly. Such environments enable cost-effective self-care and maintain a higher quality of life and independence for our oldest population. In this session of "Internet to Support Social Welfare", we review the outcomes of the International Conference on Aging, Disability and Independence (ICADI) which is a major effort to create a world-wide, cross-disciplinary community of researchers and practitioners from several fields of science, engineering, rehabilitation and gerontology.
THE FUTURE OF THE HIGH-SKILL EQUILIBRIUM IN GERMANY

Is the celebrated German skills system in peril? Western German employers have cut apprenticeship places since the 1980s, while the institutional supports of the ‘high-skill equilibrium’ (HSE) analysed by Finegold and Soskice (Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 4(3) 1988) are threatened: the globalization of equity markets menaces the ‘patient capital’ on which German companies depend; lean production techniques have rendered strategies of incremental innovation vulnerable on international markets; and German employers and labour face mounting organizational difficulties. This article derives implications from the HSE-model to assess these challenges against existing evidence. In fact, only the declining capacity of employers’ associations and unions constitutes an empirically verifiable threat to the German apprenticeship system, the magnitude of which depends on questionable assumptions of the HSE-model. Of potential future salience, though, is the growing importance of service-sector jobs and the further training system in Germany, which may eventually undo the political compromise on which the HSE has historically rested.
The inhibition of food intake in the dog by LDS, mescaline, psilocin, d-amphetamine and phenylisopropylamine derivatives.

Abstract Both LSD and d -amphetamine decreased food intake in the dog; however, the dose-response curve for amphetamine had a significantly steeper slope than that for LSD. Psilocin and mescaline also suppressed food intake with dose-response curves parallel to that of LSD. Seven ring-substituted phenylisopropylamine derivatives, that have been abused for their supposed hallucinogenic properties, also decreased food intake and produced dose-response curves parallel to that of d -amphetamine. It is concluded that the appetite suppressant effects of amphetamine and LSD can be distinguished by differences in slopes of the dose response curves. However, this difference does not pertain to all LSD-like drugs since some substituted amphetamines with LSD-like neuropharmacologic and behavioral profiles can show slopes for appetite suppression as steep as that of amphetamine.
Trends in energy intake among adults in the United States: findings from NHANES

Background: Energy intake is a key determinant of weight. Objective: Our objective was to examine trends in energy intake in adults in the United States from 1971–1975 to 2009–2010. Design: The study was a trend analysis of 9 national surveys in the United States that included data from 63,761 adults aged 20–74 y. Results: Adjusted mean energy intake increased from 1955 kcal/d during 1971–1975 to 2269 kcal/d during 2003–2004 and then declined to 2195 kcal/d during 2009–2010 (P-linear trend , 0.001, P-nonlinear trend , 0.001). During the period from 1999–2000 to 2009–2010, no significant linear trend in energy intake was observed (P = 0.058), but a significant nonlinear trend was noted (P = 0.042), indicating a downward trend in energy intake. Significant decreases in energy intake from 1999–2000 to 2009–2010 were noted for participants aged 20–39 y, men, women, and participants with a BMI (in kg/m 2 ) of 18.5 to ,25 and $30.
Contextual Fundamental Analysis Through the Prediction of Extreme Returns

This study examines the usefulness of contextual fundamental analysis for the prediction of extreme stock returns. Specifically, we use a two-stage approach to predict firms that are about to experience an extreme (up or down) price movement in the next quarter. In the first stage, we define the context for analysis by identifying extreme performers; in the second stage we develop a context-specific forecasting model to separate winners from losers. We show that extreme performers share many common market-related attributes, and that the incremental forecasting power of accounting variables with respect to future returns increases after controlling for these attributes. Collectively, these results illustrate the usefulness of conducting fundamental analysis in context.
A. database application for donor-recipient HLA match used in kidney transplantation

The outcome of kidney transplants from unrelated live donors or from cadaver kidneys have been reported to be strongly influenced by HLA compatibility. Due to the difficulty of allocation of kidneys for identical HLA match, to increase patients' chances of receiving transplants, consequently, matching has been proposed of deduced amino acid residues of the individual HLA molecules shared by cross-reactive antigen groups (CREGs). Currently many hospitals in China use a serological method for HLA typing, some of them use DNA based technology for HLA typing. But most hospitals in China perform HLA matching manually. We have developed a database application system with a program which can quickly find the most suitable individuals in need of kidney transplants from the waiting list for an available donor. Besides 0-3 mismatch of HLA-A,B, and DR, the program works with a criteria of CREGs and permissible HLA-DR mismatch. We noticed some different definitions of CREGs in the literatures and some divergence of views about permissible mismatch concept, it is also our goal to evaluate above criteria with statistical clinical results. Our system also covers virtually all aspects to meet the requirements of most hospitals' urological departments. Its features include patient information management, various statistical reports, and so on. Currently it is in use at two famous hospitals in China.
New Media for New Organs A Virtual Community for Pediatric Post-Transplant Patients

This article describes an eight-month pilot study in which 19 pediatric post-transplant patients at Children’s Hospital Boston, ages 11 to 15, used a computer-based psychosocial intervention develo...
Improved Accuracy and Low Fracture and Dislocation Rate with the Two-Incision Total Hip Replacement Technique

We report our early experience with the two-incision hip replacement technique. On the acetabular side, we studied whether a nonoriginating surgeon early in his experience with the minimally invasive two-incision technique for total hip arthroplasty could place components with appropriate accuracy. Thirty-five consecutive hip replacements performed using the two-incision technique were closely matched by height and weight with an equal number of control small-incision arthroplasties. Both leg-length accuracy and abduction angle were significantly superior with the two-incision technique. We also studied our rate of intraoperative femoral calcar or shaft fracture, and early complication rate in 120 two-incision arthroplasties. No displaced shaft or calcar fractures occurred, though two calcar cracks occurred in the first 10, and one nondisplaced shaft split occurred which required no operative treatment. No hip dislocated, and no early infections or femoral or sciatic nerve palsies occurred.
Alkalinities of Maine lakes: Are they really changing?

Alk.alinity changes between 1938-1944 and 1985 were evaluated for Maine lakes (zmaX 2 15 m) in granitic watersheds. Modern (late summer 1985) Gran alkalinities for the hypolimnion were compared with historical alkalinities computed using: tog,JHCO,-1 = PH(T) - PK’,(~ + log[HXO,*l where pH(T) is the historic reported calorimetric pH at each hypolimnctic sampling depth and temperature, pK’,(T) the temperature-dependent negative logarithm of the first dissociation cons’tant for carbonic acid, and H,CO,* represents initial CO, at last spring overturn, plus the change in CO, associated with the hypolimnetic oxygen deficit developed over summer (estimated from the historic oxygen data). With modern data for representative Maine lakes and historical (1932) data on dissolved gases reported for northern Wisconsin lakes, the apparent respiratory quotient relating ACO, to A02 = 0.92. The above model yields alkalinity estimates with a relative rootmean-square (RMS) error of - 15%. The alkalinities of the Maine lakes have
Host diversity begets parasite diversity: bird final hosts and trematodes in snail intermediate hosts

An unappreciated facet of biodiversity is that rich communities and high abundance may foster parasitism. For parasites that sequentially use different host species throughout complex life cycles, parasite diversity and abundance in 'downstream' hosts should logically increase with the diversity and abundance of 'upstream' hosts (which carry the preceding stages of parasites). Surprisingly, this logical assumption has little empirical support, especially regarding metazoan parasites. Few studies have attempted direct tests of this idea and most have lacked the appropriate scale of investigation. In two different studies, we used time-lapse videography to quantify birds at fine spatial scales, and then related bird communities to larval trematode communities in snail populations sampled at the same small spatial scales. Species richness, species heterogeneity and abundance of final host birds were positively correlated with species richness, species heterogeneity and abundance of trematodes in host snails. Such community-level interactions have rarely been demonstrated and have implications for community theory, epidemiological theory and ecosystem management.
Organic Reactions at Alumina Surfaces

Recent examples are given to emphasize that alumina can cause many different and often unexpected chemical reactions of adsorbed organic molecules. Recent developments are summarized to publicize that reagent-doped alumina can be used deliberately to achieve some very mild and highly selective organic transformations. The scope and limitations of organic reactions at alumina surfaces are discussed, and the advantages of these heterogeneous reactions over the corresponding homogeneous ones are pointed out. The role of the alumina and future problems are discussed briefly.
REMOVAL OF Cd2+, Cu2+, AND Ni2+ METALS FROM SIMULATED WASTEWATER IN SINGLE AND COMPETITIVE SYSTEMS USING LOCAL IRAQI PHOSPHATE ROCKS

The equilibrium uptake of cadmium (Cd2+), copper (Cu2+), and nickel (Ni2+) ions, both singly and in combination, by local Iraqi phosphate rocks (PR) was studied in a batch system. The phosphate rock was characterized using BET, FT-IR, XRD, and SEM techniques. Adsorption isotherms were developed for both the single and ternary-component systems and expressed by the mono- and multicomponent Langmuir, Freundlich, Redlich-Peterson, and Dubinin-Radushkevich adsorption models; model parameters were estimated by the nonlinear regression method using STATISTICA version 6 software. To understand the action of metals uptake, factors influencing the adsorption of the heavy metals including pH, initial metal ion concentration, weight of the adsorbent, mixing speed, contact time, and temperature were investigated. It was found that the mono- and multicomponent adsorption equilibrium data fitted very well to the Langmuir model with high determination coefficient (R 2). The maximum loading capacities (q max) were 70.852...
The exact security of digital signatures-how to sign with RSA and Rabin

We describe an RSA-based signing scheme which combines essentially optimal efficiency with attractive security properties. Signing takes one RSA decryption plus some hashing, verification takes one RSA encryption plus some hashing, and the size of the signature is the size of the modulus. Assuming the underlying hash functions are ideal, our schemes are not only provably secure, but are so in a tight way-- an ability to forge signatures with a certain amount of computational resources implies the ability to invert RSA (on the same size modulus) with about the same computational effort. Furthermore, we provide a second scheme which maintains all of the above features and in addition provides message recovery. These ideas extend to provide schemes for Rabin signatures with analogous properties; in particular their security can be tightly related to the hardness of factoring.
Absorption and circular dichroism studies of a gold (I)-DNA complex.

The DNA binding properties of the Au(I)-containing antiarthritic drug Ridaura and related Au(I) complexes have been investigated. Absorption and circular dichroism spectroscopy show that if the gold ion possesses an easily displaced ligand, e.g., Cl- or Br-, Au(I) is capable of interacting, in a nondenaturing fashion, with calf thymus DNA. Absorption studies with the four DNA nucleosides suggest that guanine and cytosine bases are important in the Au(I)DNA interaction.
Amifostine, cisplatin, and vinblastine in metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer: a report of high response rates and prolonged survival.

PURPOSEBased on preclinical and clinical studies that suggested amifostine may potentiate the effects of cytotoxic drugs, we conducted a phase II trial of amifostine, cisplatin, and vinblastine (ACV) in patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).PATIENTS AND METHODSTwenty-five patients with metastatic NSCLC received amifostine (740 or 910 mg/m2) before 120 mg/m2 of cisplatin on day 1, plus weekly 5 mg/m2 of vinblastine without amifostine. Cycles were repeated every 4 weeks. Patients were required to have good performance status, no prior chemotherapy or biologic therapy, adequate organ function, and measurable disease.RESULTSSixteen of 25 assessable patients had an objective response documented by computed tomographic (CT) scan (64%; 95% confidence interval, 45% to 85%). With a median duration of follow-up of 19.2 months, the estimated median survival is 17 months and 1-year survival is 64% (+/- 10%). Toxicities included grades 3 and 4 neutropenia (8% and 92%, respectively) and nausea and...
Separation-of-Powers Games in the Positive Theory of Congress and Courts

The hallmark of the new positive theories of the judiciary is that Supreme Court justices will frequently defer to the preferences of Congress when making decisions, particularly in statutory cases in which it is purportedly easy for Congress to reverse the Court. Alternatively, judicial attitudinalists argue that the institutional structures facing the Court allow the justices to vote their sincere policy preferences. This paper compares these sincere and sophisticated models of voting behavior by Supreme Court justices. Using a variety of tests on the votes of Supreme Court justices in statutory cases decided between 1947 and 1992, I find some evidence of sophisticated behavior, but most tests suggest otherwise. Moreover, direct comparisons between the two models unambiguously favor the attitudinal model. I conclude that the justices overwhelmingly engage in rationally sincere behavior.
Ability of bed bug-detecting canines to locate live bed bugs and viable bed bug eggs.

The bed bug, Cimex lectularius L., like other bed bug species, is difÞcult to visually locate because it is cryptic. Detector dogs are useful for locating bed bugs because they use olfaction rather than vision. Dogs were trained to detect the bed bug (as few as one adult male or female) and viable bed bug eggs (Þve, collected 5Ð6 d after feeding) by using a modiÞed food and verbal reward system. Their efÞcacy was tested with bed bugs and viable bed bug eggs placed in vented polyvinyl chloride containers. Dogs were able to discriminate bed bugs from Camponotus floridanus Buckley, Blattella germanica (L.), and Reticulitermesflavipes (Kollar), with a 97.5% positive indication rate (correct indication of bed bugs when present) and 0% false positives (incorrect indication of bed bugs when not present). Dogs also were able to discriminate live bed bugs and viable bed bug eggs from dead bed bugs, cast skins, and feces, with a 95% positive indication rate and a 3% false positive rate on bed bug feces. In a controlled experiment in hotel rooms, dogs were 98% accurate in locating live bed bugs. A pseudoscent prepared from pentane extraction of bed bugs was recognized by trained dogs as bed bug scent (100% indication). The pseudoscent could be used to facilitate detector dog training and quality assurance programs. If trained properly, dogs can be used effectively to locate live bed bugs and viable bed bug eggs.
Transmission of Solar Radiation by Clouds over Snow and Ice Surfaces: A Parameterization in Terms of Optical Depth, Solar Zenith Angle, and Surface Albedo

A multilevel spectral radiative transfer model is used to develop simple but accurate parameterizations for cloud transmittance as a function of cloud optical depth, solar zenith angle, and surface albedo, for use over snow, ice, and water surfaces. The same functional form is used for broadband and spectral transmittances, but with different coefficients for each spectral interval. When the parameterization is applied to measurements of ‘‘raw’’ cloud transmittance (the ratio of downward irradiance under cloud to downward irradiance measured under clear sky at the same zenith angle), an ‘‘effective’’ optical depth t is inferred for the cloud field, which may be inhomogeneous and even patchy. This effective optical depth is only a convenient intermediate quantity, not an end in itself. It can then be used to compute what the transmittance of this same cloud field would be under different conditions of solar illumination and surface albedo, to obtain diurnal and seasonal cycles of cloud radiative forcing. The parameterization faithfully mimics the radiative transfer model, with rms errors of 1%‐2%. Lack of knowledge of cloud droplet sizes causes little error in the inference of cloud radiative properties. The parameterization is applied to pyranometer measurements from a ship in the Antarctic sea ice zone; the largest source of error in inference of inherent cloud properties is uncertainty in surface albedo.
FRAMEWORK FOR ASSESSING ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN AGRICULTURE

1This paper incorporates interdisciplinary New Institutional Economics and suggests a holistic framework for assessing the forms and efficiency of environmental management in agriculture. First, it defines environmental management as a specific system of social order regulating behaviour and relations of various agents related to natural environment, and environmental management in agriculture as eco-management associated with agricultural production. Second, it specifies spectrum of modes and mechanisms of eco-management comprising: institutional environment, market, private, collective, public and hybrid. Third, it suggests stages in analysis and improvement of environmental management in agriculture including: identification of problems, and risks associated with natural environment; assessment of efficiency of available and feasible modes, and specifying cases of market, private, and public failures; assessment of comparative efficiency of alternative modes for new public intervention and selection of the most efficient one(s). Forth, it classifies personal, institutional, technological, natural, and transaction costs factors of management choice. Finally, it builds a principle governance matrix with the most effective market, private, and public modes taking into account the critical dimensions of ecoactivity and transactions (appropriability, assets specificity, uncertainty and frequency), and their potential to coordinate and stimulate eco-activities, meet preferences and reconcile conflicts of individuals, protect eco-rights and investments, overcome uncertainty and risk, assure socially desirable level of environmental protection, and minimize overall (implementing, third-party and transacting) costs.
Modeling Low-Frequency Bubble Plume Scattering

We have undertaken a modeling project to determine whether resonant scattering from the micro-bubble plumes that are generated in the surface scattering zone by plunging/breaking waves may be strong enough to account for the observed discrepancies between theoretical and measured low-frequency backscatter from the ocean surface. Our approach utilizes the Boundary Integral Equation method to compute the scattering amplitude for model plumes. We first specify a bubble plume of arbitrary size, shape and internal sound speed distribution. We then solve the integral equation that guarantees continuity across the plume surface, obtaining equivalent monopole and dipole source distributions for the plume considered as a primary radiator. Finally, we integrate these distributions over the plume’s surface to produce the scattering amplitude. The approach employs the plume’s internal Green function (obtained by numerical integration in the most general case) and the Green function of the surrounding external medium. We use a half-space external Green function to invoke the pressure relief boundary condition at the nearby air-water interface. We present preliminary results from a more elementary model developed as a benchmark for the full model, which is not yet operational.
Long Term Understanding of Study Information in Clinical Research Participants

Little is known about research participants' understanding of consent information over the course of a clinical study and the relationship of this information with participant behavior. We conducted a cross sectional patient completed questionnaire of comprehension and satisfaction administered at the end of a Parkinson's disease clinical trial. Scores on 9 comprehension items in a 30 item questionnaire covering the key elements of informed consent. 78% of eligible trial participants completed this substudy. Greater than 90% of respondents showed good comprehension of the study purpose, method of treatment assignment, experimental nature of drugs, voluntary participation, and expected effect of the trial on their PD. However, 42.3% of subjects incorrectly endorsed that participating in the study was part of the "usual treatment" for their PD. We found no relationship between comprehension, compliance, and satisfaction with whether or not one's own neurologist was also the study doctor. Years of education and cognitive function at baseline were correlated with comprehension of study information. Overall comprehension of key study information presented in the consent was high after 12 months of trial participation, although there were inconsistencies in responses that need further study.
Long-term outcome of patients with POEMS syndrome: An update of the Mayo Clinic experience.

Over the past decade, a number of changes have occurred in the diagnostic evaluation, management, and long-term follow-up of patients with POEMS syndrome at our institution. This study included 291 patients with POEMS syndrome diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic between 1974 and 2014. Patients diagnosed after 2003 had more features of the syndrome identified at diagnosis and were more likely to receive an autologous transplant (49% versus 8%, P < 0.0001) and to have achieved a hematologic complete response (CR) to treatment (41% vs 25%, P < 0.0001). With 2273 person-years of follow-up, 10-year overall survival (OS) was 62% (95% C.I., 56%, 67%). On multivariate analysis, the three factors associated with superior OS were younger age (RR 0.98 [0.96-1.00]), albumin greater-than 3.2 g/dL (RR 0.5 [0.32-0.89]) and attainment of complete hematologic response (RR 0.4 [0.2, 0.9]). This study confirms the very good long-term outcomes of patients with POEMS syndrome and identifies two new prognostic risk factors: albumin at diagnosis and attainment of complete hematologic response. Am. J. Hematol. 91:585-589, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Association between Types of Chronic Conditions and Cancer Stage at Diagnosis among Elderly Medicare Beneficiaries with Prostate Cancer

The current retrospective observational study was conducted to examine the association between types of chronic conditions and cancer stage at diagnosis among elderly Medicare beneficiaries with prostate cancer using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare linked database. The study cohort consisted of elderly men (≥66 years) with prostate cancer diagnosed between 2002 and 2009 (N = 103,820). Cancer stage at diagnosis (localized versus advanced) was derived using the American Joint Committee on Cancer classification. Chronic conditions were identified during the year before cancer diagnosis and classified as: (1) only cardiometabolic (CM); (2) only mental health (MH); (3) only respiratory (RESP); (4) CM + MH; (5) CM + RESP; (6) MH + RESP; (7) CM+ MH + RESP; and (8) none of the 3 types of conditions. Chi-square tests and multivariable logistic regressions were used to test the unadjusted and adjusted associations between types of chronic conditions and cancer stage at diagnosis. The highest percentage (5.8%) of advanced prostate cancer was observed among elderly men with none of the 3 types of chronic conditions (CM, RESP, MH). In the adjusted logistic regression, those with none of the 3 types of chronic conditions were 44% more likely to be diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer compared to men with all the 3 types of chronic conditions. Elderly men without any of the selected chronic conditions were more likely to be diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer; therefore, strategies to reduce the risk of advanced prostate cancer should be targeted toward elderly men without these conditions.
The SPS amino acid sensor mediates nutrient acquisition and immune evasion in Candida albicans.

Candida albicans is well adapted to its host and is able to sense and respond to the nutrients available within. We have shown that C. albicans avidly utilizes amino acids as a carbon source, which allows this opportunistic pathogen to neutralize acidic environments, including the macrophage phagosome. The transcription factor Stp2 is a key regulator of this phenomenon, and we sought to understand the mechanism of activation of Stp2, focusing on the SPS sensor system previously characterized for its role in nitrogen acquisition. We generated deletion mutants of the three components, SSY1, PTR3 and SSY5 and demonstrated that these strains utilize amino acids poorly as carbon source, cannot neutralize the medium in response to these nutrients, and have reduced ammonia release. Exogenous amino acids rapidly induce proteolytic processing of Stp2 and nuclear translocation in an SPS-dependent manner. A truncated version of Stp2, lacking the amino terminal nuclear exclusion domain, could suppress the growth and pH neutralization defects of the SPS mutants. We showed that the SPS system is required for normal resistance of C. albicans to macrophages and that mutants defective in this system reside in more acidic phagosomes compared with wild type cells; however, a more equivocal contribution was observed in the murine model of disseminated candidiasis. Taken together, these results indicate that the SPS system is activated under carbon starvation conditions resembling host environments, regulating Stp2 functions necessary for amino acid catabolism and normal interactions with innate immune cells.
Human Nutritive and Growth Failure

The unrelenting need for life-giving chemicals places the child at the mercy of his diet and of his capacity to provide his tissues with the constituents thereof. Digestion, absorption, assimilation, detoxication and excretion each contribute to this end and may be disrupted by the cellular degeneration that follows deficiency-induced metabolic failure. Such failure, whether latent or overt, is nutritionally correctable provided the damage is reparable and the treatment is knowledgeable.
Compressible instability of rapidly expanding spherical material interfaces

The focus herein is on the instability of a material interface formed during an abrupt release of concentrated energy as in detonative combustion, explosive dispersals, and inertial-confinement fusion. These applications are modeled as a spherical shock-tube in which high-pressure gas initially contained in a small spherical shell is suddenly released. A forward-moving shock and an inward-moving secondary shock are formed, and between them a material interface develops that separates high-density fluid from the low-density one. The wrinkling of this interface controls mixing and energy release. The interface’s stability is studied with and without the inclusion of metalized particulates. A numerical scheme is developed to discretize the full nonlinear equations of the base flow, and the 3D linearized perturbed flow equations. Linearization is followed by spherical harmonic decomposition of the disturbances, thereby reducing the 3D computational domain to one-dimensional radial domain. The 3D physical nature of the disturbances is maintained throughout the procedure. An extended Roe-Pike scheme coupled with a WENO scheme is developed to capture the discontinuities and accurately predict the disturbances. In Chapter 2, the contact interface’s stability is analyzed in the inviscid single-phase. The disturbances grow exponentially and the growth rate is insensitive to the radial initial-disturbance profile. For wave numbers less than 100, the results are in accordance with previous theories but clarify that compressibility reduces the growth rate. Unlike the classical RTI, the growth rate reaches saturation at high wavenumbers. The parametric studies show that for specific ratios of initial pressure and temperature, the instability can be eliminated altogether. Chapter 3 discusses the full effects of viscosity and thermal diffusivity. Although Prandtl number effects are minimal, viscous effects dampen the high-wave numbers. For a given Reynolds number there is a peak wave number at which the disturbances are most amplified. In Chapter 4, the multiphase case with metalized particles is investigated. The quasi steady gas-particle interaction forces and heat transfer decelerate the contact interface and reduce its Atwood number, which results in reducing the growth of the interfacial instabilities. A parametric study of the multiphase instability is presented to assist in controlling the instability. ( en )