cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Microbial Synthesis of Purine Arabinosides and Their Biological Activity

A simple method for the synthesis of various purine arabinosides from purine bases and uracil arabinoside by microbial transarabinosylation is described. A wet cell paste of Enterobacter aerogenes AJ 11125 showed a wide substrate specificity range for purine bases. Not only naturally occurring purine bases such as adenine and hypoxanthine but also unnatural bases such as 6-thioguanine and 2-chlorohypoxanthine were catalyzed to give the corresponding purine arabinosides. The enzymatically synthesized purine arabinosides were isolated from the reaction mixtures and identified by physicochemical means. The biological activities of the compounds were investigated and it was found that thioguanine arabinoside and 2-methyladenine arabinoside have potent activity against Hela cells, and their ED50 were 10.5 and 21.5 μg/ml, respectively.
ConceptRDF: An RDF presentation of ConceptNet knowledge base

The exponential growth of information on the Web has prompted the introduction of new technologies such as Semantic Web and Common Sense knowledge bases. While there are different models available to present information, RDF, as the cornerstone of Semantic Web technologies, has a dominant place for formats suitable both for human interactions and machine understanding. In this paper we present ConceptRDF, a conversion of ConceptNet, as one of the largest common sense knowledge bases available for public use, to RDF/XML format, suitable for use in different fields of information retrieval.
pH affects fruiting and slug orientation in Dictyostelium discoideum

We have demonstrated two interesting facts about the transition from the migration stage to the final fruiting stage of Dictyostelium discoideum. One is that fruiting is favoured on acid substrata, and secondly, migrating slugs tend to migrate towards the acid side of a pH gradient. The suggestion is offered that these results can be interpreted in terms of the effects of NH3. It appears to be an additional mechanism (besides phototaxis and thermotaxis) to assure that the final fruiting takes place in a favourable environment.
Buoyancy optimization for computational fabrication

This paper introduces a design and fabrication pipeline for creating floating forms. Our method optimizes for buoyant equilibrium and stability of complex 3D shapes, applying a voxel-carving technique to control the mass distribution. The resulting objects achieve a desired floating pose defined by a user-specified waterline height and orientation. In order to enlarge the feasible design space, we explore novel ways to load the interior of a design using prefabricated components and casting techniques. 3D printing is employed for high-precision fabrication. For larger scale designs we introduce a method for stacking lasercut planar pieces to create 3D objects in a quick and economic manner. We demonstrate fabricated designs of complex shape in a variety of floating poses.
Demonstration of a Rational Strategy for Human Prostate Cancer Gene Therapy

AbstractThe potential efficacy and clinical feasibility of gene therapy for prostate cancer were tested. Efficacy was tested using the Dunning rat prostate carcinoma model. Rats with anaplastic, hormone refractory prostate cancer treated with irradiated prostate cancer cells genetically engineered to secrete human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) showed longer disease-free survival compared to either untreated control rats or rats receiving prostate cancer cell vaccine mixed with soluble human GM-CSF. A gene modified prostate cancer cell vaccine thus provided effective therapy for anaplastic, hormone refractory prostate cancer in this animal model.An evaluation of the clinical feasibility of gene therapy for human prostate cancer based on these findings was then undertaken. Prostate cancer cells from patients with stage T2 prostate cancer undergoing radical prostatectomy were first transduced with MFG-lacZ, a retroviral vector carrying the s-galactosidase reporter gene. Efficient ...
Africans and the Industrial Revolution in England: Atlantic Markets and the Development of the Major Manufacturing Sectors in England's Industrialization

THE CRITICAL ROLE OF AFRICAN PEOPLES in the evolution and operation of Atlantic markets and commerce from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century has been demonstrated in multiple ways in several of the preceding chapters. It has also been shown that the growth of English manufactured exports to Atlantic markets in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was largely responsible for increments in the sale of industrial products in England during the period and that the consequent expansion in the scale of industrial production provided the main source of pressure and opportunity for sustained technological and organizational development in manufacturing. This chapter continues the analysis by focusing on the specific mechanisms and channels through which access to Atlantic markets impacted the industrialization process in England from the midseventeenth to the mid-nineteenth century. To demonstrate the extent to which the process was trade driven – in particular, trade centered in the Atlantic basin – the specifics of the import substitution cum re-export substitution industrialization (ISI plus RSI), mentioned in Chapter 2 are examined in detail, both in industry-wide terms and in terms of the major manufacturing sectors. For purposes of the issues central to the analysis in this study, made clear in the preceding chapters, included among the Atlantic markets to which England's manufacturers had access during the period are Western Africa, the Americas, and the Iberian peninsula (Portugal and Spain).
Atrial fibrillation: a risk factor or risk marker?

This editorial refers to ‘Two-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation: results from GARFIELD-AF’[†][1], by J.-P. Bassand et al ., on page 2882. Atrial fibrillation (AF) continues to increase in incidence worldwide as people live longer in general and with co-existent cardiovascular diseases.1,2 In community-based studies, arrhythmia recurrence rates are frequent, and co-morbidities such as heart failure, stroke, and mortality remain pervasive despite different and evolving treatment approaches.3,4 In this context of an escalating disease incidence without consistent treatments that alter the natural history of the disease, two fundamental questions need to be considered. First, are community-based treatments appropriate and used correctly for the disease state and, if not, will improvement translate into better outcomes? Secondly, is our fundamental understanding of the disease correct? The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing study involving centres throughout the world that will ultimately include ∼52 000 patients. This registry will provide fundamental insight into practice patterns of AF treatments and AF-related outcomes.5 In an interim analysis of 17 162 patients, Bassand and colleagues5 presented antithrombotic use by stroke risk profiles and … [1]: #fn-1
A Review of “Gay and lesbian parents and their children: Research on the family life cycle; Who's your daddy? And other writings on queer parenting; Becoming parent: Lesbians, gay men, and family”

Queer parenting has come of age, or perhaps it's just that we queer parents are showing our age! Only a few years ago, gay and lesbian parenting was considered an oxymoron; you simply couldn't be g...
Coded caching for resolvable networks with security requirements

We consider networks where a set of end users, equipped with cache memories, are connected to a single server via a set of relay nodes. We further consider a special class of such networks that satisfy the so called resolvability property and study centralized coded caching scenarios under three security requirements. Under the first scenario, i.e., secure delivery, the wiretapper should not gain any information about the database files from the transmitted signals over the network links. In the second scenario, i.e., secure coded caching, we consider the case where users should not be able to obtain any information about files that they did not request. In the third scenario, the system requires both secure delivery and secure coded caching. We provide achievable schemes by jointly optimizing the cache placement and delivery phases, utilizing secret sharing and one-time pads. We provide numerical results to compare performance under these different requirements.
The epidemiology of inpatient pediatric trauma in United States hospitals 2000 to 2011

Abstract Background This study provides important updates to the epidemiology of pediatric trauma in the United States. Methods Age-specific epidemiologic analysis of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's Nationwide Inpatient Sample, representing 2.4 million pediatric traumatic injury discharges in the US from 2000 to 2011. We present yearly data with overlying loess smoothing lines, proportions of common injuries and surgical procedures, and survey-adjusted logistic regression analysis. Results From 2000 to 2011 there was a 21.7% decline in US pediatric trauma injury inpatient discharges from 273.2 to 213.7 admissions per 100,000. Inpatient case-fatality decreased 5.5% from 1.26% (95% CI 1.05–1.47) to 1.19% (95% CI 1.01–1.38). Severe injuries accounted for 26.5% (se=0.11) of all discharges in 2000 increasing to 31.3% (se=0.13) in 2011. The most common injury mechanism across all age groups was motor vehicle crashes (MVCs), followed by assaults (15–19years), sports (10–14), falls (5–9) and burns ( Conclusions The overall rate of inpatient pediatric injury discharges across the United States has been declining. While injury severity is increasing in hospitalized patients, case-fatality rates are decreasing. MVCs remain a common source of all pediatric trauma. Levels of evidence Level III.
Software as a Medium for Understanding Human Behavior

Our ability to understand users constrains our ability to design, create, and develop for them new ways of interfacing with technology. In turn, our ability to measure and derive insights from user behavior in real-world environments constrains our ability to truly understand them and how they will use the technology we develop for them. The psychological sciences (broadly defined) remain steadfastly locked in a tradition of experimental artifice—they make sense of our observations of humans by artificially constraining the environment (the laboratory) and human experience (experiments). However, the rate at which real-world endeavors are finding analogous virtualized platforms (e.g., entertainment, productivity, and sociality) is dramatically increasing; people are using software for more aspects of their lives than ever. This presents new measurement opportunities because software is a tool, and if we can instrument tools while they are used to perform tasks, then we can understand how humans approach those tasks. In this way, software is a new, virtualized medium for understanding real-human behavior in new compelling ways that bridge the gap between foundational research in the psychological science and applied research in the fields of human computer interaction (HCI). In this review paper, we will describe advances in gathering meaningful data from human in software environments and how it may be used to improve how people interface with their technology, understand cognition, as well as our understanding of people.
Multi-Objective Input Signal Design of Multi-Harmonic Signals for System Identification

Abstract The choice of perturbation inputs is critical in the identification and model building exercise. Accurate identification requires that the input be persistently exciting so as to excite all modes or frequencies of interest. However, there are multiple objectives that need to be considered. Multi-harmonic signals are a convenient choice for frequency domain identification. Multi-objective optimization formulations for synthesis of multi-harmonic signals are presented.
Covalent Capture of Aligned Self-Assembling Nanofibers.

A great deal of effort has been invested in the design and characterization of systems which spontaneously assemble into nanofibers. These systems are interesting for their fundamental supramolecular chemistry and have also been shown to be promising materials, particularly for biomedical applications. Multidomain peptides are one such assembler, and in previous work we have demonstrated the reversibility of their assembly under mild and easily controlled conditions, along with their utility for time-controlled drug delivery, protein delivery, cell encapsulation, and cell delivery applications. Additionally, their highly compliant criteria for sequence selection allows them to be modified to incorporate protease susceptibility and biological-recognition motifs for cell adhesion and angiogenesis. However, control of their assembly has been limited to the formation of disorganized nanofibers. In this work, we expand our ability to manipulate multidomain-peptide assembly into parallel-aligned fiber bundles. ...
CHAPTER 171 – Protein Proximity Interactions

Location, location, and location are the three most important aspects of real estate. The same may be true for intracellular signaling, as the subcellular localization of protein kinases and phosphatases are key determinants that control the response time and specificity of many signal transduction pathways. This is equally true for growth factor, phosphotyrosine, and second messenger regulated signaling events where the localization of enzymes in close proximity of substrates ensures an efficient relay of information and directs the signal toward a subset of target proteins. This “protein proximity” section of the handbook highlights a range of cellular mechanisms that contribute to the compartmentalization of signaling enzymes and the assembly of multiprotein networks. Three general areas are covered: 1. Techniques for the analysis of protein-protein interactions,
Asymmetry of inverted-topology repeats in the AE1 anion exchanger suggests an elevator-like mechanism

The membrane transporter anion exchanger 1 (AE1), or band 3, is a key component in the processes of carbon-dioxide transport in the blood and urinary acidification in the renal collecting duct. In both erythrocytes and the basolateral membrane of the collecting-duct α-intercalated cells, the role of AE1 is to catalyze a one-for-one exchange of chloride for bicarbonate. After decades of biochemical and functional studies, the structure of the transmembrane region of AE1, which catalyzes the anion-exchange reaction, has finally been determined. Each protomer of the AE1 dimer comprises two repeats with inverted transmembrane topologies, but the structures of these repeats differ. This asymmetry causes the putative substrate-binding site to be exposed only to the extracellular space, consistent with the expectation that anion exchange occurs via an alternating-access mechanism. Here, we hypothesize that the unknown, inward-facing conformation results from inversion of this asymmetry, and we propose a model of this state constructed using repeat-swap homology modeling. By comparing this inward-facing model with the outward-facing experimental structure, we predict that the mechanism of AE1 involves an elevator-like motion of the substrate-binding domain relative to the nearly stationary dimerization domain and to the membrane plane. This hypothesis is in qualitative agreement with a wide range of biochemical and functional data, which we review in detail, and suggests new avenues of experimentation.
Patočka on Europe in the aftermath of Europe

Jan Patocka’s elaborations in ‘Europe after Europe’ concern a kind of irrationalism and nativism proper to European thought that has prohibited the embryonic core of the idea of Europe, namely, the renewed Socratic-Platonic motif of the ‘care of the soul’ in Christian Europe, to unfold its full potential. The article investigates a further ‘irrationalism’ that narrows the universalist thrust of the idea of Europe, precisely, by conceiving of it in terms of the Greek concept of an idea. This article draws on the inner resources of the notion of the idea in order to recast Europe as a Europe beyond the idea.
Airborne Particulate Matter: Human Exposure and Health Effects.

Objective:Exposure to airborne particulate matter (PM) is estimated to cause millions of premature deaths annually. This work conveys known routes of exposure to PM and resultant health effects.Methods:A review of available literature.Results:Estimates for daily PM exposure are provided. Known mecha
On-farm comparisons of soil organic carbon under no-tillage and chisel-plow systems

ABSTRACTPurpose: Role of no-tillage (NT) in soil conservation has been already established but its influence on soil organic carbon (SOC) is still under debate.Materials and methods: Three paired s...
Preparation, ignition, and combustion of magnesium-calcium iodate reactive nano-composite powders

Abstract Arrested reactive milling is used to prepare a composite thermite powder combining magnesium metal with calcium iodate, Ca(IO3)2. Upon ignition, this material generates iodine, a biocidal species capable of effective inactivation of aerosolized microorganisms. The prepared material is metal-rich with a fuel/oxidizer ratio of 4. It contains 29 wt% of iodine. The material is a micron-sized powder with each particle having a magnesium matrix and nanosized inclusions of calcium oxide. A similar composite with a stoichiometric ratio of fuel to oxidizer is found to be unstable in air. The prepared metal-rich composite was characterized using thermo-gravimetric analysis, ignition experiments using an electrically heated filament, and particle combustion experiments in both air and the combustion products of an air-acetylene flame. The powder was found to readily release iodine upon heating. It ignited in two distinct stages, with the first, low-temperature ignition prompted by iodine release, and second stage ignition caused by reaction of any remaining magnesium. In an air-acetylene flame, the powder particles burned in two distinct stages, unlike other similar materials. In air, only one combustion stage was distinguished. Combustion of the prepared powders in air occurs much faster than in the products of the air-acetylene flame; burn rates of the prepared composite powders in both air and products of air-acetylene flame are slightly lower than those of pure magnesium burning in the same environments.
Parental knowledge gaps and barriers for children receiving human papillomavirus vaccine in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas

Purpose: Despite its availability for more than a decade, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has low uptake in Texas (49%). The objective of this study was to understand parental knowledge and ...
Budgeting for Success: Comparing Finances Between Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Predominantly White Institutions

There has been little research into the comparison of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to predominantly white institutions (PWIs) in recent years. With growing athletic department budgets, it is important to understand how HBCUs financially compare to their PWI counterparts. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine how HBCU athletic departments compare to their peer PWIs in terms of athletic department spending and to conduct a budgetary analysis of HBCU athletic departments. To examine differences in athletics budgets, data were collected from the U.S. Department of Education’s Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA) Survey. NCAA member institution peer groups with HBCU members were selected for this study. Institutional data include salary, recruitment, operation, and scholarship expenses and revenue for peer groups. An ANOVA was conducted to compare peer institutions, institutions in the same region, by division, and overall. The results indicated HBCU peer groups are spending significantly less compared to their PWI counterparts. Additionally, among HBCU institutions, most athletic programs are spending the most on athletic aid expenses. Similarly, HBCUs are earning significantly less revenue compared to their peers. Athletic department administrators can use the results of this study to help create budgets comparable to peer institutions.
VANISHING PAPILLARY THYROID CARCINOMA: MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES AFTER FINE-NEEDLE ASPIRATION.

ABSTRACT Objective: Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of a thyroid nodule is typically considered a benign procedure. Uncommonly, morphological changes can occur in the nodule or tissue after the proced...
Anatomical Predictors of Transcranial Surgical Access to the Suprasellar Space.

Objective The suprasellar space is a common location for intracranial lesions. The position of the optic chiasm (prefixed vs. postfixed) results in variable sizes of operative corridors and is thus important to identify when choosing a surgical approach to this region. In this study, we aim to identify relationships between suprasellar anatomy and external cranial metrics to guide in preoperative planning. Methods T2-weighted magnetic resonance images (MRIs) from 50 patients (25 males and 25 females) were analyzed. Various intracranial and extracranial metrics were measured. Statistical analysis was performed to determine any associations between metrics. Results Interoptic space (IOS) size correlated with interpupillary distance (IPD; a = 7.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.5–10.0, R 2 = 0.3708, p = 0.0009). IOS size also correlated with fixation of the optic chiasm, for prefixed chiasms (n = 7), the mean IOS is 205.14 mm2, for normal chiasm position (n = 33) the mean IOS is 216.94 mm2 and for postfixed chiasms (n = 10) the mean IOS is 236.20 mm2 (p = 0.002). IPD correlates with optic nerve distance (OND; p = 0.1534). Cranial index does not predict OND, IPD, or IOS. Conclusion This study provides insight into relationships between intracranial structures and extracranial metrics. This is the first study to describe a statistically significant correlation between IPD and IOS. Surgical approach can be guided in part by the size of the IOS and its correlates. Particularly small intraoptic space may guide the surgeon away from a subfrontal approach.
Blurring past and present: Using false memory to better understand false hearing in young and older adults.

A number of recent studies have shown that older adults are more susceptible to context-based misperceptions in hearing (Rogers, Jacoby, & Sommers, Psychology and Aging, 27, 33–45, 2012; Sommers, Morton, & Rogers, Remembering: Attributions, Processes, and Control in Human Memory [Essays in Honor of Larry Jacoby], pp. 269–284, 2015) than are young adults. One explanation for these age-related increases in what we term false hearing is that older adults are less able than young individuals to inhibit a prepotent response favored by context. A similar explanation has been proposed for demonstrations of age-related increases in false memory (Jacoby, Bishara, Hessels, & Toth, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 134, 131–148, 2005). The present study was designed to compare susceptibility to false hearing and false memory in a group of young and older adults. In Experiment 1, we replicated the findings of past studies demonstrating increased frequency of false hearing in older, relative to young, adults. In Experiment 2, we demonstrated older adults’ increased susceptibility to false memory in the same sample. Importantly, we found that participants who were more prone to false hearing also tended to be more prone to false memory, supporting the idea that the two phenomena share a common mechanism. The results are discussed within the framework of a capture model, which differentiates between context-based responding resulting from failures of cognitive control and context-based guessing.
Adversarial Autoencoders for Metasurface Design Optimization (invited)

We have coupled adversarial autoencoder deep generative network with adjoined topology optimization technique for metasurface design optimization. We have demonstrated that such approach ensures not only efficient optimization search of highly efficient metasurface designs but also provides unparalleled control over compressed design space distribution. The latter fact assures scalability of the approach to highly-constrained optimization problems.
Staphylococcus aureus osteomyelitis causing Brodie's abscess of the tibia in an adult man.

A 50-year-old man with a childhood history of right tibial fracture managed non-operatively with traction pin placement was referred to the orthopaedics clinic. He had several months of worsening right lower leg pain, warmth and swelling in the absence of systemic fever or chills. On presentation,
Understanding the idiosyncrasies of real persistent memory

High capacity persistent memory (PMEM) is finally commercially available in the form of Intel's Optane DC Persistent Memory Module (DCPMM). Researchers have raced to evaluate and understand the per...
CRISPR/Cas Correction of Muscular Dystrophies

Muscular dystrophies are a heterogeneous group of monogenic neuromuscular disorders which lead to progressive muscle loss and degeneration of the musculoskeletal system. The genetic causes of muscular dystrophies are well characterized, but no effective treatments have been developed so far. The discovery and application of the CRISPR/Cas system for genome editing offers a new path for disease treatment with the potential to permanently correct genetic mutations. The post-mitotic and multinucleated features of skeletal muscle provide an ideal target for CRISPR/Cas therapeutic genome editing because correction of a subpopulation of nuclei can provide benefit to the whole myofiber. In this review, we provide an overview of the CRISPR/Cas system and its derivatives in genome editing, proposing potential CRISPR/Cas-based therapies to correct diverse muscular dystrophies, and we discuss challenges for translating CRISPR/Cas genome editing to a viable therapy for permanent correction of muscular dystrophies.
Use of azathioprine or 6-mercaptopurine in the treatment of Crohn's disease

The efficacy and safety of therapy with azathioprine/6-mercaptopurine was studied in 78 patients with Crohn's disease. Mean duration of therapy was 1.6 years; 52 patients were treated greater than or equal to 6 months. All patients were also on other antiinflammatory medications. Evaluations included self-assessment and physician's assessment of well-being, functional capacity, general clinical response, clinical activities indices (National Foundation for Ileitis and Colitis/International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Harvey-Bradshaw), and achievement of specific therapeutic goals. General clinical condition improved in 70% of the patients. Median response time was 3 months. The average Harvey-Bradshaw score decreased 37% with therapy, and a decrease of greater than or equal to 30% occurred in 66% of the subjects. An overall 72% achievement rate for specified therapeutic goals included controlling refractory disease, 73%; corticosteroid "sparing," 76%; and lessening fistulization, 63%. Nine patients got worse despite therapy. Adverse effects requiring discontinuation of therapy occurred in 10%, whereas dosages were briefly lowered for mild side effects in another 10%. This study demonstrates the effectiveness and safety of azathioprine/6-mercaptopurine in the majority of selected patients with chronic, unremitting, or steroid-requiring Crohn's disease.
Single ventricle with normal relationship of the great vessels and pulmonic stenosis. A case report of an adult with the "Holmes heart".

Abstract A 26-year-old patient with single ventricle, normal relationship of the great vessels, and pulmonic stenosis is reported on. This is only the second patient with this lesion over age 21 to be described, the other being Holmes' original case as reported in 1824, who died at 22 years of age. A Potts-Smith anastomosis has greatly improved the patient's exercise tolerance and oxygen saturation of the arterial blood.
A formal methodology for compositional cross-layer optimization

The xTune framework employs iterative tuning using light-weight formal verification at runtime with feedback for dynamic adaptation of mobile real-time embedded systems. To enable trade-off analysis across multiple layers of abstraction and predict the possible property violations as the system evolves dynamically over time, an executable formal specification is developed for each layer of the system under consideration. The formal specification is then analyzed using statistical analysis, to determine the impact of various policies for achieving a variety of end-to-end properties in a quantifiable manner. The integration of formal analysis with dynamic behavior from system execution results in a feedback loop that enables model refinement and further optimization of policies and parameters. Finally, we propose a composition method for coordinated interaction of optimizers at different abstraction layers. The core idea of our approach is that each participating optimizer can restrict its own parameters and exchange refined parameters with its associated layers. We also introduce sample application domains for future research directions.
McCall Glacier record of Arctic climate change: Interpreting a northern Alaska ice core with regional water isotopes

Abstract We explored modern precipitation and ice core isotope ratios to better understand both modern and paleo climate in the Arctic. Paleoclimate reconstructions require an understanding of how modern synoptic climate influences proxies used in those reconstructions, such as water isotopes. Therefore we measured periodic precipitation samples at Toolik Lake Field Station (Toolik) in the northern foothills of the Brooks Range in the Alaskan Arctic to determine δ 18 O and δ 2 H. We applied this multi-decadal local precipitation δ 18 O/temperature regression to ∼65 years of McCall Glacier (also in the Brooks Range) ice core isotope measurements and found an increase in reconstructed temperatures over the late-20th and early-21st centuries. We also show that the McCall Glacier δ 18 O isotope record is negatively correlated with the winter bidecadal North Pacific Index (NPI) climate oscillation. McCall Glacier deuterium excess ( d-excess , δ 2 H – 8*δ 18 O) values display a bidecadal periodicity coherent with the NPI and suggest shifts from more southwestern Bering Sea moisture sources with less sea ice (lower d-excess values) to more northern Arctic Ocean moisture sources with more sea ice (higher d-excess values). Northern ice covered Arctic Ocean McCall Glacier moisture sources are associated with weak Aleutian Low (AL) circulation patterns and the southern moisture sources with strong AL patterns. Ice core d-excess values significantly decrease over the record, coincident with warmer temperatures and a significant reduction in Alaska sea ice concentration, which suggests that ice free northern ocean waters are increasingly serving as terrestrial precipitation moisture sources; a concept recently proposed by modeling studies and also present in Greenland ice core d-excess values during previous transitions to warm periods. This study also shows the efficacy and importance of using ice cores from Arctic valley glaciers in paleoclimate reconstructions.
The average-case parallel complexity of sorting

Abstract We present a simple proof of the following result of Alon and Azar: Every parallel comparison tree with p processors that sorts n elements requires average-case time Ω(log(n)/log(1+p/n)) .
Inhibition of microsomal calcium sequestration causes an impairment of initiation of protein synthesis in perfused rat liver.

Abstract The present study examined the effect of 2,5-di-( tert -butyl)-hydroquinone (tBuHQ), an inhibitor of liver microsomal calcium sequestration, on initiation of protein synthesis in perfused rat liver. Perfusion of livers with a concentration of tBuHQ previously shown to completely inhibit microsomal calcium sequestration in isolated hepatocytes caused a 50% inhibition of protein synthesis. The inhibition was characterized by an increase in liver content of free ribosomal particles and a decrease in polysomes indicating that peptide-chain initiation was slowed relative to elongation. Furthermore, the inhibition was associated with a 7.5-fold increase in the proportion of the α-subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF-2) present in the phosphorylated form and a reduction in the activity of eukaryotic initiation factor 2B (eIF-2B) to 37% of the control value. The results suggest that protein synthesis in rat liver is regulated directly by changes in intracellular calcium concentration through a mechanism involving modulation of the phosphorylation state of eIF-2α.
Differential Contributions of Lateral Prefrontal Cortex Regions to Visual Memory Processes

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is the seat of higher level control operations, with recognition and working memory processes critical to those operations. While not strictly organized by the principle of localization, certain functions are clearly more associated with one region than another within PFC dynamic systems. We set out to test the hypothesis that active visual memory comparison (making judgments of novelty) was most associated with the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), while the monitoring and manipulation of visual information was most associated with the mid-dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (mid-DLPFC). The current study used magnetic resonance volumetry to define the VLPFC and mid-DLPFC as regions of interest (ROIs), and analyzed those in relation to types of visual memory processes. We observed a functional dissociation of working memory within the PFC corresponding to comparison versus monitoring processes. One of the blocks of the monitoring and manipulation task showed a significant positive relationship with left, right, and total mid-DLPFC volume, with no significant relationship to the VLPFC. Performance on a memory comparison task bore a significant positive relationship with right and total VLPFC volume, and no relationship with the mid-DLPFC.
Indium Chloride Scintigraphy: An Index of Severity in Patients with Aplastic Anaemia

Summary. [111In]Indium chloride scans of the bone marrow were performed in 22 patients with idiopathic aplastic anaemia before therapeutic intervention. In 20 patients there was a marked reduction in the uptake of indium chloride by the marrow, and in two patients the uptake of indium chloride was normal. Nineteen of the 20 patients with reduced marrow uptake of indium chloride, who underwent bone marrow transplantation, died or failed to improve. One of the two patients with normal scans improved and the other has remained stable. Four patients studied both pre and post successful bone marrow transplantation had minimal marrow uptake before transplantation and normal scans after transplantation. Failure of indium-111 chloride marrow uptake correlates with poor prognosis in idiopathic aplastic anaemia.
Abstract 1091: ShcA-mediated ERK signaling contributes to the tumor-promoting activity of TGF-beta in the presence of mutant p53

Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) signaling has been shown to inhibit tumorigenesis at the early stage and promote metastasis at the late stage. However, biomarkers for identifying the complicated molecular alterations mediating the switch of TGF-β from a tumor suppressor to a tumor promoter still remain obscure. Published studies have shown that the presence of mutated tumor p53 can switch TGF-β to becoming tumor-promoting. However, we found that in the p53-null PC-3 prostate cancer cell line, the ectopic expression of the mutant p53 R175H (mp53) enhanced the Smad-dependent signaling, but inhibited TGF-β-induced cell migration by downregulating the active ERK. Since TGF-β is known to activate MAPK/ERK pathway to induce cell migration, EMT and survival through direct phosphorylation of adaptor protein ShcA isoform p52, we investigated how the expression of the mp53 inhibited ERK activation. We found that the expression of mp53 led to downregulation of phospho-p52ShcA and upregulation of ERK antagonist p66ShcA isoform. Interestingly, we found partial depletion of p52ShcA by using siRNA enhanced the TGF-β/Smad signaling and inhibited the TGF-β/ERK signaling in PC-3 cells and spontaneously immortalized and non-tumorigenic human mammary epithelial MCF-10A cell line, suggesting ShcA may act as an additional switcher of the TGF-β. Furthermore, reactivation of ERK by the expression of its activator, MEK1, restored active ERK level and TGF-β-induced cell migration in PC-3/mp53 cell. Those findings show that mp53 expression alone is not sufficient to promote the malignant phenotype of TGF-β in certain cells and the cooperation of mp53 and ShcA-mediated ERK signaling may switch TGF-β to be a tumor promoter. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1091. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-1091
Feasibility study of PZT thin-film sensors and actuators for smart microstructures and MEMS devices

This paper demonstrates the feasibility of using PZT thin films as sensors and actuators for smart structures and MEMS applications. The feasibility study includes specimen preparation and vibration testing. The specimen consists of a substrate, a PZT thin film, and a bulk PZT. The substrate is a doped conductive silicon wafer. The PZT thin film is fabricated through sol-gel dip-coating process with added PZT nano-particles to prevent homogeneous crystallization. The thickness of the PZT thin film is about 5 micrometers and the capacitance varies from 90 to 130 pF. The bulk PZT, which is commercially available, serves as a reference sensor and actuator for the specimen. The dimensions of the specimen are 2.7 cmx 1.4 cm . 0.4 mm. The vibration testing consists of sensor testing and actuator testing. In the sensor testing, the PZT thin film serves as a sensor, while the bulk PZT serves as an actuator. The specimen is cantilevered, and harmonic excitations are generated from 500 Hz to 500 kHz. A laser Doppler vibrometer also monitors the specimen vibration in addition to the PZT thin-film sensor. As a sensor, the PZT thin film produces legible harmonic output voltage ranging from 0.5 mV to 200 mV. In the actuator testing, the PZT thin film serves as an actuator, while the bulk PZT serves as a sensor. Similarly, harmonic excitations are generated from 100 Hz to 1 MHz. Depending on the excitation frequency, actuation voltage of the PZT thin film ranging from 0.1V to 100 V results in legible voltage response form the bulk PZT. Also, the PZT thin film experiences significant aging when it serves as an actuator. This might result from fatigue or accumulated defects of the PZT thin film. Finally, the PZT thin film can become nonlinear in sensing and actuation, when the excitation voltage is too high.© (2002) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Surface and interfacial fourier transform infrared spectroscopic studies of latexes. XV. Orientation of the sodium dioctyl sulfosuccinate surfactant molecules in core/shell-type styrene/butyl acrylate latex films at the film–air and film–substrate interfaces

This study addresses the effect of particle structure and composition on the mobility and orientation of sodium dioctyl sulfosuccinate (SDOSS) surfactant molecules in polybutyl acrylate/polystyrene core/shell-type latex films near the film-air (F-A) and film-substrate (F-S) interfaces. In an effort to determine how the surface tension of the substrate influences the migration and orientation of the SDOSS surfactant molecules, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and liquid Hg substrates were used. It appears that, as the concentration of styrene monomer in the latex increases, SDOSS migrates toward the F-A and F-S interfaces. As the surface tension of the substrate changes from 18 mN/m in PTFE to 400 mN/m for liquid Hg, the surfactant also migrates toward the two interfaces. For the latex particles composed of 50%/50% styrene/n-butyl acrylate (Sty/n-BA) latex copolymer, the hydrophilic SO−3Na+ groups of SDOSS surfactant are present primarily near the F-A interface, and they appear to be mostly parallel to the surface for the films cast on the PTFE surface. For the latex films cast on the liquid Hg surface, the SDOSS hydrophilic surfactant groups are found to be preferentially parallel near the F-A interface and perpendicular near the F-S interface. These studies indicate that the surfactant concentration and its orientation throughout the latex film change as a function of the initial monomer composition and the surface tension of the substrate. Furthermore, the SDOSS concentration appears to vary with depth into the latex interfaces. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Growth of GaN on porous SiC and GaN substrates

We have studied the growth of GaN on porous SiC and GaN substrates, employing both plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy (PAMBE) and metal-organic chemical-vapor deposition (MOCVD). For growth on porous SiC, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations indicate that the epitaxial-GaN growth initiates primarily from surface areas between pores, and the exposed surface pores tend to extend into GaN as open tubes and trap Ga droplets. The dislocation density in the GaN layers is similar to, or slightly less than, that observed in layers grown on nonporous substrates. For the case of GaN growth on porous GaN, the overgrown layer replicates the underlying dislocation structure (although considerable dislocation reduction can occur as this overgrowth proceeds, independent of the presence of the porous layer). The GaN layers grown on a porous SiC substrate were found to be mechanically more relaxed than those grown on nonporous substrates; electron-diffraction patterns indicate that the former are free of misfit strain or are even in tension after cooling to room temperature.
Comparative study of CO and CO2 hydrogenation over supported Rh–Fe catalysts

Abstract The hydrogenation of CO, CO + CO2, and CO2 over titania-supported Rh, Rh–Fe, and Fe catalysts was carried out in a fixed-bed micro-reactor system nominally operating at 543 K, 20 atm, 20 cm3 min− 1 gas flow (corresponding to a weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) of 8000 cm3 gcat− 1 h− 1), with a H2:(CO + CO2) ratio of 1:1. A comparative study of CO and CO2 hydrogenation shows that while Rh and Rh–Fe/TiO2 catalysts exhibited appreciable selectivity to ethanol during CO hydrogenation, they functioned primarily as methanation catalysts during CO2 hydrogenation. The Fe/TiO2 sample was primarily a reverse water gas shift catalyst. Higher reaction temperatures favored methane formation over alcohol synthesis and reverse water gas shift. The effect of pressure was not significant over the range of 10 to 20 atm.
The role of epithelial ion transport in taste transduction: A network thermodynamic model

The sensation of taste is mediated by electrical events in taste bud cells, which are embedded in the tongue epithelium. Prior to about 1981, many taste researchers regarded the tongue epithelium as virtually impermeable to most substances including small electrolytes. Taste transduction was assumed to be due to equilibrium adsorption of tastants to receptors on the taste cell membrane. More recent experiments show that, in the case of salt taste, the electrical events associated with transduction are due to ion flow across membranes rather than ion binding to a receptor. We wished to determine if standard assumptions about topology and membrane ion transport processes in high resistance (''tight'') epithelia apply to the tongue for a range of salt concentrations on the tongue surface. A model of the tongue epithelium was developed based on an earlier network model of ion transport in a kidney tight epithelium. The model has 4 membranes with series and parallel pathways and 3 transported ions. The model successfully simulates some aspects of both steady-state and transient transepithelial electrical measurements observed in vitro for a wide range (50-2000 mM) of NaCl concentrations. This is the concentration range of interest for gustation. The earlier kidney model had not been applied to hyperosmotic NaCl concentrations. The simulations indicate that common epithelial transport mechanisms can account for some phenomena important in taste transduction. They also indicate that the Na^+ channels in taste cells have different properties than those typical in other tight epithelia.
Spontaneous magnetization generated by spin, pulsating, and planar combustion synthesis

The motion of the high temperature front during combustion synthesis of ferrite materials generates residual magnetization in cylindrical product samples. The combustion wave created a current density of up to 10 A/cm2, which influenced the magnetization distribution. The measured peak magnetic field intensity was up to 8 μT. Qualitatively different magnetic field maps were generated in ferrite samples synthesized by different combustion modes. The average magnetization vector generated by either planar or pulsating combustion was oriented at a smaller angle with respect to the pellet axis (φ⩽45°) than those generated by spin combustion (60°⩽φ⩽80°). We estimate that an internal transient magnetic field of up to 5 mT formed in the postcombustion region when its temperature was below the Curie temperature. This explains why the Earth's field had no impact on the spontaneous magnetization field. Model calculations reproduce the qualitative features of the measured field maps.
Precision of impedance spectroscopy estimates of bulk, reaction rate, and diffusion parameters

Abstract Complex least squares fitting and Monte Carlo simulation have been used to generate numerical values for the ultimate precision with which various impedance spectroscopy fitting-model parameters can be estimated by complex nonlinear least squares fitting. Results are presented in terms of normalized relative standard deviations for bulk, reaction-rate, and diffusion parameters. The analysis applies only in the usual case where errors in the data are proportional to the data values themselves (constant percentage error). By using special normalization, we ensure that our results are of universal applicability and may be used for prediction and comparison of data situations with an arbitrary number of data values and for any reasonable error percentage. The results may be used in the design of experiments to predict, before any measurements are carried out, how accurately various fitting parameters can be determined for an assumed amount of error and a particular number of data points. Alternatively, they may be employed to evaluate the minimum expected uncertainty bounds of parameter estimates already obtained from complex nonlinear least squares fitting for comparison with the actual bounds obtained from the fitting. The results apply to several finite-length-diffusion situations, including restricted and ordinary diffusion of charged species and diffusion of neutral entities. We find that, depending on the specific fitting model and parameter values, there are some limiting situations where bulk resistance, reaction resistance, or diffusion exchange rate cannot be estimated with adequate precision by complex nonlinear least squares fitting.