cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract A174: Mechanistic elucidation of activation-induced deaminase (AID) in immunity and cancer

Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) plays a critical role in human immune system. It initiates both somatic hypermutation (SHM) and class switch recombination (CSR) of immunoglobulin (Ig) genes and possibly performs destructive mutations on non-Ig genes, related in cancer generation and development. Due to the aggregation behavior and extremely low activity of AID protein in vitro, the molecular basis of its function is still unclear. Using protein engineer approach, we successfully produced fully functional monomeric human AID mutants with dramatically elevated activity in vitro and intact CSR ability in vivo. Biochemistry data showed structured DNA with single strands joint feature, like G-quadruplex or partially branched DNA, can provide 10-20 fold AID affinity and 50-100 fold deaminase activity, suggests such structure can perform as direct AID recruiters in vivo. AID self-assembly upon DNA binding was observed and likely to be important for CSR. Stable AID-DNA complexes were purified in constant stoichiometry. Using crystallography method, we solved structures of AID alone and in complex with different DNA components in atomic resolution. Analyze on substrate binding interface and potential self-oligomerization interface together with abundant assay results support a structure based AID targeting and processing model during CSR and potential AID recruiting mechanism in causing off-target mutations. For the first time, our study reveals a closer look at this mystery protein, and provides solid basis for further investigation in AID function in antibody production and related diseases. Citation Format: Qi Qiao, Li Wang, Feilong Meng, Hao Wu. Mechanistic elucidation of activation-induced deaminase (AID) in immunity and cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR Inaugural International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival; September 16-19, 2015; New York, NY. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2016;4(1 Suppl):Abstract nr A174.
Isolation and properties of carbonic anhydrase from dog kidney and erythrocytes.

DEAE-cellulose chromatography of dog red cell carbonic anhydrase (CA) yielded a single main fraction, whereas under identical conditions human CA showed two distinct activity peaks corresponding with types B and C. When subjected to zone electrophoresis at pH 9.0 or 6.0, the main dog CA fraction moved as a single band with the same mobility as human CA type B. Its Km was found to be approximately 30 mM CO2 at 0°, 50% inhibitory concentrations for acetazolamide and sulfanilamide were similar to those of human CA type C. Structurally the enzyme appeared to be similar to other mammalian CA varieties. Preliminary experiments with CA obtained from the cytoplasmic fraction of dog kidney showed this enzyme to be similar to the red cell enzyme with respect to electrophoretic mobility and inhibition kinetics. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors wish to thank Dr. T. H. Maren for his interest and helpful suggestions. They also acknowledge the excellent assistance of Dr. T. K. McClane, Miss C. E. Wiley, Mr. A. C. Ellison, Mr. R. G. Schaffter, and Mr. R. Stern in various phases of this work. This research was supported by NIH grants CA 18402 and NB 01297.
Abstract 4553: Identification of CD30/TNFRSF8 as a primary target of the Myc oncoprotein and potential biomarker of Myc-driven cancer

Pathological activation of the transcription factor Myc induces a multitude of human malignancies. In Myc-driven tumor progression, there is a robust dependence on Myc activity; however, strategies developed to explicitly modulate Myc function in cancer have yielded little clinical success. Patients harboring Myc-dependent tumors would benefit from a therapy that circumvents molecular targeting of Myc expression and instead directs against a distinct downstream effector. Our preliminary data from an unbiased expression-profiling screen identify CD30 as a primary target of the Myc oncoprotein. CD30 is a member of the tumor necrosis factor superfamily and resides on the extracellular membrane; it is highly expressed in several lymphomas while acutely restricted in normal cells. Within the last few decades, CD30 has emerged as a diagnostic marker and therapeutic target of many lymphoproliferative diseases. However, the underlying mechanisms that regulate CD30 expression remain unclear. We report that CD30 is regulated at the transcriptional level by Myc. Through a genetic and biochemical approach, we define CD30 induction in a MYC-dependent manner across a variety of human cell lines of both lymphomagenic and non-lymphomagenic origin. Furthermore, deliberate modulation of Myc-activity demonstrates a positive correlation with CD30 surface protein expression in multiple malignancy models. With CD30 induction as a potential mechanism by which to identify and target Myc-driven oncogenesis, we can reshape detection and treatment of Myc-regulated cancer. Citation Format: Victoria Gennaro, Xiao-yong Zhang, Lauren DeSalle, Duonan Yu, Andrei Thomas-Tikhonenko, Christopher Vakoc, Steven B. McMahon. Identification of CD30/TNFRSF8 as a primary target of the Myc oncoprotein and potential biomarker of Myc-driven cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 4553.
Effect of Aberrations on Moiré Patterns in Digital Holographic Recording Systems

Moire patterns in digital holography with aberrated imaging systems are investigated. By exploiting spherical aberrations, undesired Moire patterns can be eliminated during digital recording of Fresnel holograms using a defocused single-lens imaging system.
How Science Teacher Educators of Color Conceptualize and Operationalize Their Pedagogy in Science Methods Courses

This study explored how four science teacher educators of color conceptualized and operationalized their pedagogy in elementary science methods courses. Conceptualization and operationalization in this study refers to the methodological tactics we constructed in response to the challenges, tensions, and problems impacting our substantial selves and situational selves within the context of our teaching spaces. The study used the self-study methodology, and data included metaphors and focus group interview transcripts. Inductive and thematic analysis of data revealed that we conceptualized our pedagogy within a role, and as a pedagogy needing safety nets to remove barriers that impinged on our professional roles. Even though the self-study of our practice revealed that we had aspirations to help transform our pedagogy of science teacher education for the success of our teacher candidates, these transformations were situated within tensions of role, identities, and methodological tactics for survival.
El Niño-Southern Oscillation: Effects on Eastern Pacific Coral Reefs and Associated Biota

The sudden and sporadic occurrence of anomalous conditions associated with El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) can precipitate diverse, immediate and long-term effects on eastern Pacific reef-building corals and associated organisms. ENSO is manifested in two complementary phases, namely warm (El Nino) and cool (La Nina) events, which have contrasting and potentially negative effects on coral reef ecosystems. Of the two distinct types of El Nino activity—Eastern-Pacific (EP) and Central-Pacific (CP)—the former exhibits maximum SST anomalies and related climate and weather impacts that affect eastern Pacific coral reefs. Relevant ENSO conditions, with direct or indirect effects, include (a) high and low sea temperature extremes, (b) thermocline and nutricline depths, (c) high and low sea level stands, (d) storm activity, (e) rainfall patterns (and terrestrial runoff), and (f) deviances in surface current direction, velocity and spatial extent. The first sign of ENSO stress to zooxanthellate corals is tissue blanching or bleaching, which may occur during periods of elevated (El Nino) or depressed (La Nina) thermal anomalies. Earlier studies of thermally induced coral bleaching in the Galapagos Islands and Panama are updated to 2012 with attention to anomalous warm and cool events that are stressful to reef-building corals. When thermal conditions normalize, surviving reef-building corals typically re-gain their usual complement of zooxanthellae (symbiotic dinoflagellates) and pigmentation. Long-term ecological effects from extreme ENSO activity, particularly during El Nino sea warming events, may occur over months or years following initial impacts. Such effects can markedly reduce coral cover, cause local species disappearances and significantly change the abundances of coral-associated taxa. The bioerosion of dead corals and carbonate frameworks can eliminate essential habitat space for a multitude of species if coral recruitment is suppressed and recovery unduly prolonged. Coral reef recovery and resiliency are examined in the context of recent ENSO disturbances. Since the last very strong 1997–98 El Nino coral reef bleaching event, live coral cover has increased significantly on many but not all equatorial eastern Pacific (EEP) reefs.
Study of a large sample of Russian FEU115M phototubes

We report on the results of tests of FEU115M one inch vacuum phototubes manufactured in Russia. The tubes are 12-stage, fast devices with high gain and low dark current. These photomultiplier tubes were developed for the PHENIX EMCal project by members of the PHENIX group at IHEP, Protvino (Russia). We report on investigations of the gain, quantum efficiency, linearity, photocathode uniformity and long-term behavior of these tubes. >
Mesenchymal Stromal Cells From AML Bone Marrow Are Abnormal by Gene Expression Profiling.

Abstract Abstract 1055 Cytogenetic and other evidence suggests that the mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) is abnormal in bone marrow (BM) affected by acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). To gain further insight into molecular and physiologic abnormalities, we used Affymetrix HG-U133 Plus 2 microarrays to compare gene expression between BM-MSCs from 12 AML patients and BM-MSCs from 4 normal donors (ND). BM-MSCs were purified by in vitro culture as adherent cells with a purity of over 95%. Comparison at the single-gene level between AML and ND samples found only one differentially-expressed probe by t tests at a false-discovery rate (FDR) of 0.1. Comparison by the gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) method of Subramanian et al., which is a more powerful way to find small differences that are significantly enriched within sets of biologically-related genes, first found that many enriched gene sets were predominantly the result of data from one AML sample. After excluding this sample, GSEA at an FDR of 0.25 found 115 downregulated gene sets for AML BM-MSCs from the Gene Ontology-based “C5” category of the mSigDB collection of gene sets. 19 of the 20 most significantly enriched downregulated gene sets were related to cell cycle progression, indicating that BM-MSCs are less proliferative in AML than in normal BM. An upregulated enriched gene set in AML BM-MSCs, from the “C2” category of curated gene sets, was composed of extracellular matrix genes for keratins, collagen, and laminin; while surprising, this is consistent with reports of BM-derived MSCs differentiating into epithelial cells after autografting, and suggest that BM-MSCs in AML may remodel the extracellular matrix. Overall, these results indicate that BM-MSCs in AML patients are substantially different from normal BM-MSCs. These and other differences could have substantial effects on the BM microenvironment and therapy response in AML, and should be studied further. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
The role of sex steroids in white adipose tissue adipocyte function

With the increasing knowledge that gender influences normal physiology, much biomedical research has begun to focus on the differential effects of sex on tissue function. Sexual dimorphism in mammals is due to the combined effects of both genetic and hormonal factors. Hormonal factors are mutable particularly in females in whom the estrous cycle dominates the hormonal milieu. Given the severity of the obesity epidemic and the fact that there are differences in the obesity rates in men and women, the role of sex in white adipose tissue function is being recognized as increasingly important. Although sex differences in white adipose tissue distribution are well established, the mechanisms affecting differential function of adipocytes within white adipose tissue in males and females remain largely understudied and poorly understood. One of the largest differences in the endocrine environment in males and females is the concentration of circulating androgens and estrogens. This review examines the effects of androgens and estrogens on lipolysis/lipogenesis, adipocyte differentiation, insulin sensitivity and adipokine production in adipocytes from white adipose tissue with a specific emphasis on the sexual dimorphism of adipocyte function in white adipose tissue during both health and disease.
Female Genital Mutilation Reconstruction: A Preliminary Report.

Background Female genital mutilation (FGM) is internationally recognized as a violation of human rights. Though rarely discussed, FGM is prevalent, affecting hundreds of millions of females worldwide. Objectives We believe that is important for plastic surgeons to be informed and prepared to address the surgical and emotional needs of these women. We present our experience on treatment of women subjected to FGM. Methods Three consecutive patients were treated by our clitoral restoration procedure. The procedure involves conscious sedation and involves wide release of scar tissue around the labia majora and clitoris. Labial flaps are elevated and secured down to the periosteum and the clitoris is allowed to remucosalize. Results Three females with grade II mutilation were treated. The average age was 32.3-years-old and the average follow up was 305 days. All patients self-reported improved sexual function and decreased embarrassment with their partners. And all recommended the treatment to other women subjected to FGM. Conclusions FGM is a violation of the basic rights of women and children. Plastic surgeons can help these women restore their physical and psychological sense of well-being by providing effective reconstructive options. Our goal is to raise awareness of this problem and describe a simple yet effective treatment for women that have been subject to FGM. Level of evidence 5.
Implementing Algebraic Effects in C

We describe an implementation of algebraic effects and handlers as a library in standard and portable C99, where effect operations can be used just like regular C functions. We use a formal operational semantics to guide the C implementation at every step where an evaluation context corresponds directly to a particular C execution context. Finally we show a novel extension to the semantics for optimized tail resumptions and prove it sound. This gives two orders of magnitude improvement to the performance of tail resumptive operations (up to about 150 million operations per second on a Core i7@2.6GHz).
Chapter 8 – Molecular Regulation of Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase

Publisher Summary This chapter summarizes the molecular mechanisms that govern inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) gene expression, focusing on the regulation of iNOS transcription. The gene for iNOS is expressed by many species and in a large variety of cell types. Typically, the expression is repressed in resting cells, requiring activation by an expanding number of biological, chemical, or physical stimuli. The molecular regulation of iNOS expression is complex and occurs at multiple sites in the gene expression pathway, with both transcriptional and posttranscriptional control mechanisms. Induction of nitric oxide synthesis has been shown to elicit either beneficial or detrimental consequences depending on the physiological or pathophysiological condition. An understanding of the signaling pathways and molecular mechanisms that regulate iNOS expression is critical for the development of effective therapies to modulate its expression in disease states. The major differences between human and rodent gene regulation as well as the mechanisms that downregulate iNOS expression are highlighted.
La réconciliation comme mission : de l’usage théologique de la notion de réconciliation par le décret sur la mission de la 35e Congrégation générale de la Compagnie de Jésus

Dans un decret presentant une vision de sa mission lors de la 35e congregation generale, en 2008, la Compagnie de Jesus a choisi de maniere singuliere la notion theologique de reconciliation comme principe integrateur. S’inscrivant dans une genealogie de decrets sur la mission depuis les annees 1960, ce decret sur la reconciliation comme mission harmonise a frais nouveaux les notions de service de la foi et de promotion de la justice, qui avaient marque la 32e congregation generale (1974-75) et ses suites parfois conflictuelles, tout en en renforcant l’aspect holistique par l’ajout d’un troisieme terme : la creation. La notion de reconciliation fournit le cadre d’une relecture originale des fondements bibliques, historiques, spirituels et existentiels de la mission de cet ordre religieux, sur fond des tensions habitant le monde moderne. Au final, une nouvelle geographie de la mission se degage, qui assigne une valeur differenciee aux frontieres et aux agents de reconciliation qui y oeuvrent. L’usage tres circonstancie de la notion de reconciliation pour rendre compte de la mission d’une communaute religieuse met ainsi en lumiere la plasticite et la fecondite du concept meme de reconciliation.
Peers with special educational needs and students’ absences

In the United States, the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) specifies that students with disabilities should be educated in the “least restrictive environment,” yet little ...
Zero-Order Chemical Kinetics as a Context To Investigate Student Understanding of Catalysts and Half-Life

Zero-order systems provide an interesting opportunity for students to think about the underlying mechanism behind the physical phenomena being modeled. The work reported here is part of a larger study that seeks to characterize how students integrate chemistry and mathematics in the context of chemical kinetics. Thirty-six general chemistry students, five physical chemistry students, and three chemical engineering students were asked to think aloud as they responded to an interview prompt about the half-life of a catalyst-driven zero-order reaction. Our findings revealed that students often described zero-order in mathematical terms (i.e., the zero-order rate law, integrated rate law, and graphical representation), but lacked a clear understanding of the particulate nature of zero-order systems. Results also indicated students have productive discipline-specific conceptions of catalysts but less productive ideas regarding half-life, expressing a limited view that seemed restricted to first-order decay rea...
Suicide Ideation in Female Survivors of Military Sexual Trauma: The Trauma Source Matters.

Female veterans who have experienced military sexual trauma (MST) are at elevated suicide risk, yet knowledge is limited regarding correlates of suicide ideation (SI) in this population. MST is associated with a higher risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) relative to other trauma types; however, no studies have examined whether experiencing SI differs based on the source of PTSD symptoms (MST-related, non-MST-related). Female service members/veterans (SM/Vs; n = 311) who screened positive for MST and reported exposure to a Criterion A event completed an online survey assessing self-reported demographics, PTSD, depression, the source of their PTSD symptoms, and SI. Ninety-one (29.3%) reported experiencing current SI, and 223 (71.7%) identified MST as the source of their current PTSD symptoms. Participants who identified MST as the source of their PTSD symptoms were over two times more likely to report SI, compared to those who described non-MST-related events as the source of their PTSD symptoms. Compared to those who reported the source of their PTSD symptoms as combat-/deployment-related, those who identified MST as the source were at least three times as likely to report current SI. Results underscore the importance of efforts to address MST-related PTSD symptoms when working with female SM/Vs.
Optimizing Wireless Power Transfer From Multiple Transmit Coils

The widespread need for ubiquitous power delivery is driving the commercialization of inductive wireless power transfer (WPT). Wireless power transfer systems, however, are plagued by low efficiency. To combat this, we propose a new approach to maximize the efficiency of inductive WPT using multiple coil charging systems. The use of multiple coils can potentially allow the system to efficiently adapt to magnetic field propagation conditions, similar to the way multiple antennas are used to adapt to channel conditions in wireless communication systems. We consider a multiple-input single-output WPT system using near-field inductive coupling. While such systems have been extensively studied in previous work using lumped resistance, inductance, and capacitance (RLC) circuit models to analyze their behavior, the difficulty of constructing tractable and realistic circuit models has limited the ability to accurately predict and optimize the performance of these systems. The main innovation in this paper is to take a more abstract approach to modeling the WPT system as a linear circuit whose input-output relationship is expressed in terms of a small number of unknown parameters that can be thought of as transimpedances and gains. The crucial advantage of this approach is the economy of the representation, i.e., the number of unknown model parameters can be much smaller than the number of lumped circuit elements required for a complete and accurate RLC circuit representation. We present simple derivations for the optimal voltage excitations to be applied at the transmitters to maximize power transfer efficiency as well as suboptimal excitations which are less computationally intensive. A simple procedure, which we call circuit sounding, for estimating the unknown parameters using a small set of direct measurements is described. We outline a series of experiments with four transmit coils and two receive coils that verify the model and show that the optimal solution can achieve higher efficiencies than those of previously known methods.
A systematic fault-tolerant computational model for both crash failures and silent data corruption

As the boundaries between Cloud and HPC continue to blur, it is clear that there is an urgent demand for a systematic computational model that adapts to the computing platform and accommodates the underlying workloads. As computing systems continue to scale out to satisfy the increasingly large demands on computing capacity, power awareness and fault tolerance have become major concerns. This paper proposes a novel computational model that applies to both compute- and data-intensive workloads, and deals with diverse types of faults. Evaluation results demonstrate that the proposed model is able to achieve significant energy savings compared to existing fault tolerance techniques, while maintaining the same level of fault tolerance.
The Oxygen and Carbon Isotopic Data Base for Classical Marble

In 1972 Harmon and Valerie Craig (1) suggested that stable isotopic ratios of carbon and oxygen could be used as signatures of provenance for classical marbles. Their suggestion has been amply proven to be correct and an isotopic data base of δ13C and δ180 of the principal classical Greek and Roman quarries of Turkey, Greece, Italy, and Tunisia has now been accumulated.
Rethinking Bank Regulation: Contrasting Approaches to Bank Regulation

People say that Russia should become like Sweden. Or like China. Or like America. But the problem is that we don't have enough Swedes. We don't have enough Chinese. We don't have enough Americans. Arkady Volsky, former Soviet official International Herald Tribune February 17, 2004, p. 1 Over the course of time and across countries, approaches to bank regulation have varied from extremely light to all encompassing, from highly interventionist regulations and even outright government ownership to episodes of “free” banking. In most countries, the level of regulatory intervention in banking has increased dramatically relative to that in other sectors since the Great Depression (Calomiris, 2003). Before looking in detail in Chapter 3 at current regulatory arrangements around the world, this chapter discusses the ways in which societies approach financial sector regulation, the primary features of regulation and supervision, and how external forces are shaping the regulatory choices that countries make. The first part of this chapter begins with the broad conceptual foundations for bank regulation. As with government interventions in other sectors, those in banking can be examined from the standpoint of the broader debate on the role of government in an economy. Two mostly opposing camps set the boundaries for this debate. The public interest view holds that governments regulate banks to facilitate the efficient functioning of banks by ameliorating market failures, for the benefit of broader civil society.
Apparent Contradiction in EPR Correlations

Different versions of an experiment which allows us to prove a Bell’s theorem for two particles without using an inequality are discussed. The experiment could be used to test local realism with the introduction of additional assumptions based on direct experimental observation.
The Role of Entitlement in Formatting Preferences Across Requesters and Recipients

Requesting plays a key role in human communication. One can request the same thing in multiple ways (e.g., “Pass the salt” vs. “Could you pass the salt?”). How do speakers determine which request f...
A critical review on numerical study of nanorefrigerant heat transfer enhancement

Abstract Nanorefrigerants have attracted the attention of refrigeration scientists and engineers across the globe during the last decade. They demonstrated some promising aspects like enhanced pool boiling and convective heat transfer coefficients, lead to produce smaller and more affordable refrigeration equipment. A comprehensive and useful review about the numerical studies of nanorefrigerants has been reported in this paper. Results show that thermal performance of nanorefrigerants is a function of nanoparticle concentration and also they introduce more pressure drop as a penalty. Nonetheless, it seems that more numerical studies are needed to make a valid and comprehensive outlook about this type of heat transfer fluids, especially where the experimental studies are not possible or affordable. Furthermore, a predicting correlation has been introduced for the nanorefrigerants thermal conductivity based on statistical analysis using the numerical data provided in the literature.
Influence of Reflow Profile on Thermal Fatigue Behaviors of Solder Ball Joints

In electronic package design, solder joints are critical in providing electrical connections and mechanical support. The mechanical reliability of interconnection is dependent on the microstructure evolution that occurs within the solder due to the temperature changes primarily from transportation, storage, and device usage. In this study, two solder alloys, eutectic 63Sn37Pb and lead-free 95.5Sn4.0Ag0.5Cu, were tested for their thermal fatigue reliability and were observed for changes in microstructure. The different microstructures of each sample were created by controlling the cooling rate, fast or slow, during reflow. To characterize reliability, the samples endured thermal cycling − 40-125 °C until electrical failure. Finite element analysis was used to predict the primary deformation mechanism. The microstructure was inspected by cross-sectioning the solder samples using scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. It was found that by controlling the microstructure development through the reflow rate, the solder joint’s thermal fatigue life can be extended, and concurrently, the reliability of the electronic package can be enhanced.
Peach pit impaction presenting as gallstone ileus

Small bowel obstruction (SBO) secondary to fruit pit impaction is rare. The presence of an ovoid, stony body in the bowel lumen on radiologic imaging in a patient presenting with signs and symptoms of SBO is likely to raise concern for gallstone ileus. We report the case of a 56-year-old man who presented with a 1-day history of intermittent left-sided abdominal pain and nausea associated with a single episode of vomiting. CT scan of the abdomen and pelvis revealed a 3.3 cm impacted stony mass in the terminal ileum resulting in high-grade partial SBO. The mass had a hypodense centre encased within a hyperdense, ridged outer layer. The diagnostic impression was gallstone ileus. The object was removed via enterotomy and was found to be a peach pit.
Attitudes and beliefs of obstetricians-gynecologists regarding Medicaid postpartum sterilization - A qualitative study.

Abstract Objective To explore the attitudes and beliefs of obstetrician–gynecologists in the United States (US) regarding the Medicaid postpartum sterilization policy. Study Design We recruited obstetrician–gynecologists practicing in ten geographically diverse US states for a qualitative study using the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists directory. We conducted semi-structured interviews via telephone, professionally transcribed, and analyzed using the constant comparative method and principles of grounded theory. Results We interviewed thirty obstetrician–gynecologists (63.3% women, 76.7% non-subspecialized, and 53.3% academic setting). Participants largely described the consent form as unnecessary, paternalistic, an administrative hassle, a barrier to desired patient care, and associated with worse health outcomes. Views on the waiting period’s utility and impact were mixed. Many participants felt the sterilization policy was discriminatory. However, some participants noted the policy’s importance in terms of the historical basis, used the form as a counseling tool to remind patients of the permanence of sterilization, felt the policy prompted them to counsel regarding sterilization, and protected patients in contemporary medical practice. Conclusion Many physicians shared concerns about the ethics and clinical impact of the Medicaid sterilization policy. Future revisions to the Medicaid sterilization policy must balance prevention of coercion with reduction in barriers to those desiring sterilization in order to maximize reproductive autonomy. Implications Obstetrician–gynecologists are key stakeholders of the Medicaid sterilization policy. Obstetrician–gynecologists largely believe that revision to the Medicaid sterilization policy is warranted to balance reduction of external barriers to desired care with a process that enforces the need for counseling regarding contraception and reviewing patient preference for sterilization throughout pregnancy in order to minimize regret.
Myelin Basic Protein and Cardiac Sympathetic Neurodegeneration in Nonhuman Primates.

Minimal myelination is proposed to be a contributing factor to the preferential nigral neuronal loss in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Similar to nigral dopaminergic neurons, sympathetic neurons innervating the heart have long, thin axons which are unmyelinated or minimally myelinated. Interestingly, cardiac sympathetic loss in PD is heterogeneous across the heart, yet the spatial relationship between myelination and neurodegeneration is unknown. Here, we report the mapping of myelin basic protein (MBP) expression across the left ventricle of normal rhesus macaques (n = 5) and animals intoxicated with systemic 6-OHDA (50 mg/kg iv) to model parkinsonian cardiac neurodegeneration (n = 10). A subset of 6-OHDA-treated rhesus received daily dosing of pioglitazone (5 mg/kg po; n = 5), a PPARγ agonist with neuroprotective properties. In normal animals, MBP-immunoreactivity (-ir) was identified surrounding approximately 14% of axonal fibers within nerve bundles of the left ventricle, with more myelinated nerve fibers at the base level of the left ventricle than the apex . Greater MBP-ir at the base was related to a greater number of nerve bundles at that level relative to the apex , as the percent of myelinated nerve fibers in bundles was not significantly different between levels of the heart. Cardiac sympathetic loss following 6-OHDA was associated with decreased MBP-ir in cardiac nerve bundles, with the percent decrease of MBP-ir greater in the apex (84.5%) than the base (52.0%). Interestingly, cardiac regions and levels with more MBP-ir in normal animals showed attenuated sympathetic loss relative to areas with less MBP-ir in 6-OHDA + placebo (r = −0.7, ), but not in 6-OHDA + pioglitazone (r = −0.1) subjects. Our results demonstrate that myelination is present around a minority of left ventricle nerve bundle fibers, is heterogeneously distributed in the heart of rhesus macaques, and has a complex relationship with cardiac sympathetic neurodegeneration and neuroprotection.
TU-CD-204-00: CT Scanner Hardware and Image Quality Assessment

For practicing medical physicists, CT image quality assessment is, in general, limited to the ones required by ACR and based on the axial images, such as CT number uniformity, image noise, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and high contrast resolution. However, with more advanced technologies introduced by CT vendors, just assessing these basic image quality metrics may not be enough. Noise power spectrum (NPS), characterizing the signal noise component at each spatial frequency, is a powerful tool to predict the CT performance related to lesion detectability and noise texture. The quality of coronal and sagittal reformatted images is, in a large part, determined by the slice profile. How to accurately assess the slice profile is important for clinical medical physicists but not well recognized. Automatic tube current modulation (ATCM) has been adopted by major CT manufacturers, to maintain image quality across the scan range. The way how ATMC works varies significantly among vendors. A “standard” method is needed to evaluate the performance of this critical dose-saving and image quality improvement technique. As dual energy CT becomes more readily available for routine clinical use, the need of image quality assessment metrics unique to the dual energy CT mode is becoming urgent. The session will facilitate the discussion of NPS and its application in the evaluation of FBP and iterative reconstruction. This session will also present the methods to measure the slice profile and characterize the performance of ATCM. The last part of this session will focus on the physics of CT dual energy mode, as well as unique image quality metrics to evaluate the performance of the dual energy mode. Learning Objectives: 1. Be familiar with procedures on how to correctly compute CT noise power spectrum 2. Understand why basic image quality metrics used for FBP may not be sufficient to characterize the performance of advanced iterative reconstruction 3. Understand CT slice profile and how to accurately measure it 4. Be familiar with ATCM from major CT vendors and how to evaluate its performance 5. Understand different hardware approaches for dual energy CT 6. Be familiar with image quality metrics relevant to dual energy mode Schmidt: Employee of Siemens Healthcare Fan: Employee of GE Healthcare
Connected Kids: community information system design and development

People mean many different things when they discuss democracy in the context of new technologies. However, two relatively consistent themes focus on the advantages that new technologies offer: (1) information democracy, ability to generate more, better information and distribute it to larger audiences, (2) improving the operations of liberal democratic governments by better interaction between citizens and their governmental representatives. However, a major impediment to achieving these goals is the problem of access and the fast development of tools that will allow users to post content to an information system. Further, some of the most useful information should be shared across organizational boundaries. The challenge here is to find ways to satisfy diverse organizational criteria for usability and functionality, while simultaneously enabling community organizations to contribute to a cross-organizational community information system. Connected Kids is a collaborative project bringing social science and computer science researchers together with representatives of city and county government in RPI's home town of Troy, New York and a wide variety of not-for-profit youth service agencies to develop a community information system (for details, please see http://troynet.net/ConnectedKids)
Modeling Class Size Effects Across the Achievement Distribution

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Previous findings from Project STAR have highlighted the benefits of being in small classes in early grades on average. Here, we examined the differential “value-added” effects of small classes across the achievement distribution. We find that once previous grade achievement and small class membership are controlled for, small class effects are by and large insignificant. Although high-achievers benefited more from small classes in third grade reading, overall, the differential small class effects were not systematic. Findings from longitudinal analyses failed to show that being in small classes for two or more years is as beneficial as being in small classes for only one year. Although the cumulative small class effects are positive, significant, and meaningful in magnitude, they do not indicate which grade (or grades) are the most important.
METABOLIC CONTROL OF PENICILLINASE BIOSYNTHESIS IN BACILLUS CEREUS

Yip, Lily C. (University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio), Ramesh Shah, and Richard A. Day. Metabolic control of penicillinase biosynthesis in Bacillus cereus. J. Bacteriol. 88:297-308. 1964.-Penicillinase production in strains 5 and 5/B of Bacillus cereus in response to treatment by 6-aminopenicillanic acid (APA), penicillin G, (6-N-alpha-(p-benzyloxyphenoxy)-propionylamino-penicillanic acid, and cephalosporin C (CC) was found to be analogous to that seen in constitutive strains. Strain 5 did not release penicillinase into the medium to any great extent. Penicillinase production and the effect of the above penicillins on it were found to decline with increasing density of the culture. The penicillins were shown to accelerate or retard the production of penicillinase activity in strain 5 cells during pretreatment at 0 C and during incubation at 37 C. Strains 5 and 5/B gave qualitatively similar responses to penicillin treatment. At 0 C, the specific activity of penicillinase in strain 5 passes through a period of rapid increase at 0 hr and a period of little change at approximately 1 hr, followed by an increased rate of change towards 2 hr. The effect of APA or CC on specific activity of strain 5 cells during treatment at 0 C could not be reversed by one another, but Hg could reverse the increase caused by CC to some extent and the repression caused by APA. The production of penicillinase in the microconstitutive strain 5 of Bacillus cereus in response to treatment with CC was influenced by various inhibitors. 8-Azaguanine inhibited the production of the enzyme both during a pretreatment of the cells with CC at 0 C and during the subsequent incubation at 37 C. Actinomycin D, 6-azauracil, 6-thioguanine, and 2-thiocytosine inhibit the increase in penicillinase arising after the pretreatment at 0 C. 6-Azathymine has very little effect on the change of penicillinase activity. The CC-induced change occurring during the 0 C period was postulated to be a process at the level of protein biosynthesis itself; change at 37 C, constituting a delayed response, was considered a process at the level of messenger ribonucleic acid synthesis.
Meanings of Compulsive Hoarding: An Archival Project-ive Life-World Approach

Existential phenomenological research in the Duquesne school has been rooted in experiential research but also includes what von Eckartsberg (1998b) and Garza (2007) have described, respectively, as hermeneutic or archival research (for more detailed accounts of this lineage, see Polkinghorne 1989; Smith 1983, 2002; and von Eckartsberg 1998b). In such research, human cultural objects such as films, novels, and, in this case, television shows are taken up as capturing “understandings” expressive of “projecting” (Heidegger 1927/1962) and as manifesting meaning horizons of the worlds from which they are drawn and of which they are expressive (Garza 2007). This article will examine meanings of compulsive hoarding, as manifest from multiple perspectives depicted in an episode of the A&E television series Hoarders (Barnes et al. 2010), as comprising lived worlds of intersecting project-ive horizons of meaning. These results are discussed in light of contemporary psychological literature on the topic and in view...
Event-Driven Virtual Machine for Business Integration Middleware

Business integration middleware uses a variety of programming models to enable business process automation, business activity monitoring, business object state management, service mediation, etc. Different kinds of engines have been developed in support of these programming models. At their core however, all of these engines implement the same kind of behavior: formatted messages (or events) are received, processed in the context of managed objects, and new messages are emitted. These messages can represent service invocations and responses, tracking events, notifications, or point-to-point messages between applications. The managed objects can represent process instances, state machines, monitors, or service mediations. Developing separate engines for each programming model results in redundant implementation efforts, and may even cause an "integration problem" for the integration middleware itself. To address these issues, we propose to use an event-driven virtual machine that implements the fundamental behavior of all business integration middleware as the sole execution platform, and provide compilers for higher level programming models. Conceptually, this is similar to passing from CISC to RISC architecture in CPU design: efficiently implement a small instruction set, and support higher level languages via compilers.
The Big Picture: Big Data Computing

On December 5, 2012, the Georgia Advanced Computing Research Center (GACRC) at the University of Georgia (UGA), together with Enterprise Information Technology Services (which handles IT at the uni...
Effect of Temperature on the Fatty Acid Composition of Thermus aquaticus

Thermus aquaticus contains four major fatty acids, iso-C15 (28%), iso-C16 (9%), normal-C16 (13%), and iso-C17 (48%), when grown at 70 C, as determined by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Small amounts of iso-C12, normal-C12:1, iso-C13, normal-C14, iso-C14, and normal-C15:1 were also detected. A change in growth temperature (50 to 75 C at 5-C intervals) affects a shift in the proportions of some of the fatty acids. The proportions of the monoenoic and branched-C17 fatty acids decreased and the proportions of the higher-melting iso-C16 and normal-C16 fatty acids increased. Cells grown at 75 C contained 70% more total fatty acids than cells grown at 50 C. The largest increases, in absolute amounts, were in the content of iso-C16 and normal-C16 fatty acids, with only a 1.6-fold increase in the major iso-C15 and iso-C17 fatty acids. There was a 2.5-fold decrease in normal-C15:1 and at least a 24-fold decrease in anteiso-C17, which is present at 50 and 55 C but not at higher temperatures. There was no difference in proportion or amount of fatty acids between exponential and stationary-phase cells grown at 70 C. When cells were grown on glutamate instead of yeast-extract and tryptone at 70 C, the total fatty acid content remained constant, but there was an increase in the proportions of iso-C16 and normal-C16 fatty acids concomitant with a decrease in the proportions of the iso-C15 and iso-C17 fatty acids.
The Origin of Spurious Solutions in Computational Electromagnetics

It is commonly believed that the divergence equations in the Maxwell equations are “redundant” for transient and timeharmonic problems, therefore most of the numerical methods in computational electromagnetics solve only two first-order curl equations or the second-order curl?curl equations. This misconception is the true origin of spurious modes and inaccurate solutions in computational electromagnetics. By studying the div?curl system this paper clarifies that the first-order Maxwell equations are not “overdetermined,” and the divergence equations must always be included to maintain the ellipticity of the system in the space domain, to guarantee the uniqueness of the solution and the accuracy of the numerical methods, and to eliminate the infinitely degenerate eigenvalue. This paper shows that the common derivation and usage of the second-order curl?curl equations are incorrect and that the solution of Helmholtz equations needs the divergence condition to be enforced on an associated part of the boundary. The div?curl method and the least-squares method introduced in this paper provide rigorous derivation of the equivalent second-order Maxwell equations and their boundary conditions. The node-based least-squares finite element method (LSFEM) is recommended for solving the first-order full Maxwell equations directly. Examples of the numerical solutions by LSFEM are given to demonstrate that the LSFEM is free of spurious solutions.
Early Experience Using the Wallgraft in the Management of Distal Microembolism from Common Iliac Artery Patholology

Blue toe syndrome commonly occurs as a result of aneurysmal or atherosclerotic disease in the iliac arteries. Surgery, angioplasty, or intraarterial stent placement are the most common treatment options but the optimal management has not been defined. Here we report managing distal microembolization from iliac artery atherosclerosis associated with aneurysmal dilation with the Wallgraft Endoprosthesis, a self-expanding metallic stent covered with Dacron. Three common iliac arteries in two patients were treated using this device. A 79-year-old male presented with unilateral symptoms and an 83-year-old female with bilateral disease. Arteriography demonstrated complex plaque at the aortic bifurcation associated with aneurysmal dilation of the distal common iliac artery in both patients. This complex disease was successfully covered using the Wallgraft Endoprosthesis. Postoperatively the patients received aspirin, their toe lesions healed, and neither has had a recurrence after 16 months. Covered stents offer the theoretic advantage of completely excluding the diseased segment, preventing the escape of thrombus or plaque debris, and covering aneurysmal dilation in the artery.