cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Nitronyl nitroxides as probes to study the mechanism of vasodilatory action of nitrovasodilators, nitrone spin traps, and nitroxides: Role of nitric oxide

Abstract Nitronyl nitroxides have been used to trap nitric oxide (·NO) produced during visible irradiation of nitrovasodilators such as sodium nitroprusside (Joseph et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 192:926–934; 1993). We have also shown that nitrone and nitroso spin traps exert a potent vasodilatory effect in the isolated perfused rat heart (Konorev et al., Free Radic. Biol. Med. 14:127–137, 1993). The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of nitronyl nitroxides on the vasodilatory action of sodium nitroprusside (SNP), S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP), α-(4-pyridyl-l-oxide)-N-tert-butyl nitrone (POBN) and 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyloxy free radical (TEMPOL) in the isolated perfused rat heart model. In this study, we have used the following nitronyl nitroxides as nitric oxide traps: 2-(p-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl imidazoline-3-oxide 1-oxyl (SLI) and 2(1′,1′-dimethyl-2′-hydroxyethyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl imidazoline-3-oxide 1-oxyl (SLII). Under in vitro conditions, both SLI and SLII trapped ·NO released from SNP/light treatment and from spontaneous decomposition of SNAP, forming the corresponding imino nitroxides, which were characterized by electron spin resonance (ESR) technique. In isolated hearts, SNP (2 μmol/1) and SNAP (20 μmol/l) increased coronary flow rate to a maximum of 185% and 190%, respectively. SNP-induced vasodilation was inhibited by SLI (0.05–3 mmol/l) from 162% to 131% of baseline, and SNAP-induced vasodilation was inhibited by SLII (0.05–1.2 mmol/1) from 190% to 136% of baseline. In contrast, neither SLI nor SLII inhibited the vasodilatory action elicited by POBN or TEMPOL. Only SNP and SNAP, but not POBN and TEMPOL, increased the cyclic GMP release into the coronary effluent. We conclude that coronary vascular relaxation induced by SNP and SNAP is mediated by ·NO and that the mechanism of the vasodilatory effect of POBN and TEMPOL does not involve ·NO release.
Un/civil Mourning: Remembering with Jacques Derrida

The death of philosopher and public intellectual Jacques Derrida drew international attention and generated public acts of mourning in the media. Several of the published obituaries for Derrida are notable for their overtly hostile and dismissive tone. This essay explores the genre of epideictic rhetoric and is grounded in Derrida’s work on mourning, analyzing several instances of “uncivil” epideictic rhetoric including three hostile obituaries and several responses to them written by friends and colleagues of Derrida for the insight that they yield regarding ethical public remembrance. We argue that a sincere engagement with the ideas of the dead, while always incomplete, is at the heart of an ethical, civil mourning.
Distributing digital imaging and communications in medicine data and optimizing access over satellite networks.

To improve radiology access to full uncompressed Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) data sets, we evaluated satellite access to a DICOM server. Radiologists′ home computers were connected by satellite to a medweb DICOM server (Medweb, San Francisco, CA). A 10.2-kb data set containing a 19-image head computed tomography (CT) scan was transferred using DirecPC (Hughes Electronics Corp, Arlington, VA) at three different times of the day; 6 AM, 3 PM, and 8 PM. The average transfer time for all 19 images from the DICOM server was 4 minutes and 17 seconds (257 seconds). The slowest transfer rate of 670 seconds (121 kbps) was obtained at 8 PM. The best transfer rate of 2 minutes, 54 seconds (467 kbps) was obtained at 6 AM. The full 16-bit DICOM images were viewed with bone, brain, and soft tissue windows. The Medweb plug-in viewer loaded the first image within 30 seconds of selecting the case for satellite transfer. In conclusion, satellite internet transfer of radiology studies is suitable for timely review of full DICOM data sets and can expand the range of teleradiology consultation.
Structure and Catalytic Mechanism of LigI: Insight into the Amidohydrolase Enzymes of cog3618 and Lignin Degradation

LigI from Sphingomonas paucimobilis catalyzes the reversible hydrolysis of 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylate (PDC) to 4-oxalomesaconate and 4-carboxy-2-hydroxymuconate in the degradation of lignin. This protein is a member of the amidohydrolase superfamily of enzymes. The protein was expressed in Escherichia coli and then purified to homogeneity. The purified recombinant enzyme does not contain bound metal ions, and the addition of metal chelators or divalent metal ions to the assay mixtures does not affect the rate of product formation. This is the first enzyme from the amidohydrolase superfamily that does not require a divalent metal ion for catalytic activity. The kinetic constants for the hydrolysis of PDC are 340 s(-1) and 9.8 × 10(6) M(-1) s(-1) (k(cat) and k(cat)/K(m), respectively). The pH dependence on the kinetic constants suggests that a single active site residue must be deprotonated for the hydrolysis of PDC. The site of nucleophilic attack was determined by conducting the hydrolysis of PDC in (18)O-labeled water and subsequent (13)C nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. The crystal structures of wild-type LigI and the D248A mutant in the presence of the reaction product were determined to a resolution of 1.9 A. The C-8 and C-11 carboxylate groups of PDC are coordinated within the active site via ion pair interactions with Arg-130 and Arg-124, respectively. The hydrolytic water molecule is activated by the transfer of a proton to Asp-248. The carbonyl group of the lactone substrate is activated by electrostatic interactions with His-180, His-31, and His-33.
Cytochromes of a Blue-Green Alga: Extraction of a c-Type with a Strongly Negative Redox Potential

Aqueous extraction of lyophilized Anacystis nidulans cells followed by chromatography on diethylaminoethyl cellulose separates three different c-type cytochromes. Of the two present in highest concentration, cytochrome-554 has a + 0.35-volt redox potential and resembles the cytochrome f of other photosynthetic tissues, while cytochrome-549 has a -0.26-volt potential. The possible participatidn of cytochrome-549 in electron transport in photosynthesis in this alga at a more negative oxidation-reduction potential than previously postulated for any cytochrome is inferred from the similarities in its spectra to the light-induced spectral changes in vivo observed by others.
Long-term high temperature oxidation behavior of ODS ferritics

Abstract Four oxide dispersion strengthened Fe–(13–14 at.%) Cr ferritic compositions were exposed in air and air with 10 vol.% water vapor for up to 10 000 h at 700–1100 °C. At 700–800 °C in air, the reaction rates were very low for all of the alloys compared to stainless steels. At 900 °C, a dispersion of Y2O3, compared to Al2O3, showed a distinct benefit in improving the oxidation resistance, due to a reactive element effect. However, failure occurred after 7000 h at 900 °C when only 13% Cr was present. The absence of Ti and W in one alloy appeared to result in a thinner reaction product after oxidation at 800 °C. One composition was exposed in 10 vol.% water vapor at 800 and 900 °C and in air at 1000 and 1100 °C. Under both of these conditions, there was a significant increase in the rates of oxidation. With the relatively low Cr contents in these alloys, their corrosion-limited operating temperature in air is near 900 °C.
The effect of isolation on catecholamine concentration and turnover in discrete areas of the rat brain.

Summary In normal grouped rats there are large variations in the rate of decline of catecholamines (CA) in 23 brain regions following inhibition of tyrosine hydroxylase. This suggests that regardless of the neuronal origin there are variations in turnover activity of CA terminals in different brain areas. Following tyrosine hydroxylase inhibition, the largest reductions of norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine (DA) were observed in the cell body areas. Furthermore, there is no distinction in turnover between regions innervated by the dorsal or ventral noradrenergic pathways. After 13 weeks of isolation, a significant decrease in the steady-state NE concentration was observed in the hippocampus, nucleus amygdaloideus centralis, while an increase was seen in the entorhinal cortex. A decrease in steady-state DA concentration was found in the amygdaloid centralis, while an increase was noted in the olfactory tubercle. Therefore, both a rise and fall in steady-state levels of amines occur in a few discrete regions of the brain. A decrease in turnover of NE was observed in 6 of 23 areas (hippocampus, amygdaloid centralis, cingulate cortex, caudate, nucleus interstitialis stria terminalis, paraventricular nucleus) following alpha methyl- p -tyrosine treatment. A decrease in turnover of DA was seen in the amygdaloid centralis. In prolonged isolation, it appears that the reduction of external stimuli results in a decrease in catecholaminergic activity in some limbic areas which may correlate with increased levels of emotionality and aggression.
Climate variation explains a third of global crop yield variability

Many studies have examined the role of mean climate change in agriculture, but an understanding of the influence of inter-annual climate variations on crop yields in different regions remains elusive. We use detailed crop statistics time series for ~13,500 political units to examine how recent climate variability led to variations in maize, rice, wheat and soybean crop yields worldwide. While some areas show no significant influence of climate variability, in substantial areas of the global breadbaskets, >60% of the yield variability can be explained by climate variability. Globally, climate variability accounts for roughly a third (~32-39%) of the observed yield variability. Our study uniquely illustrates spatial patterns in the relationship between climate variability and crop yield variability, highlighting where variations in temperature, precipitation or their interaction explain yield variability. We discuss key drivers for the observed variations to target further research and policy interventions geared towards buffering future crop production from climate variability.
Neural network model for a commercial PEM fuel cell system

Performance prediction of a commercial proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell system by using artificial neural networks (ANNs) is investigated. Two artificial neural networks including the back-propagation (BP) and radial basis function (RBF) networks are constructed, tested and compared. Experimental data as well as preprocess data are utilized to determine the accuracy and speed of several prediction algorithms. The performance of the BP network is investigated by varying error goals, number of neurons, number of layers and training algorithms. The prediction performance of RBF network is also presented. The simulation results have shown that both the BP and RBF networks can successfully predict the stack voltage and current of a commercial PEM fuel cell system. Speed and accuracy of the prediction algorithms are quite satisfactory for the real-time control of this particular application.
Computational geometry column 50

Two long-open problems have been solved: (1) every sufficiently large planar point set in general position contains the vertices of an empty hexagon; (2) every finite collection of polygons of equal area have a common hinged dissection.
Confidence interval for the mean of the exponential distribution, based on grouped data

When the available data from an exponential distribution are grouped, the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) for the mean and several modified MLE have been discussed in literature. However, little work has been done on interval estimators based on such grouped data. This paper derives the asymptotic property of a statistic which is used to construct an approximate confidence interval for the mean. The width of this approximate confidence interval, based on grouped data, is compared with those based on complete samples, and samples with type-I and type-II censoring. The limits of the ratios of these widths are derived when the sample size approaches infinity. The approximate confidence interval from grouped data is wider than those from complete and censored samples. However, Monte Carlo simulation indicates that the proposed method based on grouped data is adequate, considering the restricted information in this case.
Thermal fatigue behavior of squeeze cast, discontinuous alumina-silicate fiber-reinforced aluminum alloy (A356) composite

Abstract Microstructural damage mechanisms owing to thermal cycling and isothermal exposure at elevated temperature are studied for a short alumina-silicate fiber-reinforced aluminum alloy (A356) composite produced by pressure casting. The tensile strength of the metal matrix composite is found to degrade considerably in each case. An X-ray double-crystal diffraction method is employed to study the mechanisms of recovery in the matrix. The fractal dimension of the X-ray “rocking curves” for individual grains in the composite reflects the substructure formation owing to the rearrangement of dislocations into subdomain walls. Recovery by polygonization is more pronounced in the case of thermal cycling than for equivalent isothermal exposure. The residual stresses in the matrix that provide the fiber clamping force undergo more relaxation in the case of isothermal exposure. The two competing damage mechanisms, thermally activated recovery by polygonization and relaxation of clamping stresses in the matrix, result in identical strength degradation (∼25%) for both thermal cycling and isothermal exposure.
Mg2+-dependent and Ca2+, Mg2+-dependent ATPase activities in the Harderian gland of rodents: Age and sex influences

Three experiments employing male and female Syrian hamsters (aged 1, 2, and 8-10 months), male Sprague-Dawley rats (aged 1, 2, and 10 months) and male C57B1 mice (aged 2, 7, 13, and 29 months) examined the effects of age and sex on Mg(2+)-dependent and Ca2+, Mg(2+)-dependent ATPase activity in the Harderian gland. Significant differences due to age and sex were observed in the hamsters and rats but not with age in mice. Generally, male hamsters had significantly higher Mg(2+)-dependent and Ca2+, Mg(2+)-dependent (exception at one timepoint) ATPase activity than did females. Age-matched male and female rats had similar values of Mg(2+)-dependent ATPase activity, but males had significantly higher Ca2+, Mg(2+)-dependent ATPase activity than females at 2 months of age.
Linguistic theories in efficient multimodal reference resolution: an empirical investigation

Multimodal conversational interfaces provide a natural means for users to communicate with computer systems through multiple modalities such as speech, gesture, and gaze. To build effective multimodal interfaces, understanding user multimodal inputs is important. Previous linguistic and cognitive studies indicate that user language behavior does not occur randomly, but rather follows certain linguistic and cognitive principles. Therefore, this paper investigates the use of linguistic theories in multimodal interpretation. In particular, we present a greedy algorithm that incorporates Conversation Implicature and Givenness Hierarchy for efficient multimodal reference resolution. Empirical studies indicate that this algorithm significantly reduces the complexity in multimodal reference resolution compared to a previous graph-matching approach. One major advantage of this greedy algorithm is that the prior linguistic and cognitive knowledge can be used to guide the search and significantly prune the search space. Because of its simplicity and generality, this approach has the potential to improve the robustness of interpretation and provide a more practical solution to multimodal input interpretation.
Influence of ethanol on thermoregulation: mapping quantitative trait loci.

The genetic basis for the effects of ethanol on thermoregulation was investigated by utilizing recombinant inbred mouse strains from C57BL/6J and DBA/2J progenitor strains. Changes in core body tem...
Increasing prevalence of medically complex children in US hospitals.

OBJECTIVE: In this study we used national data to determine changes in the prevalence of hospital admissions for medically complex children over a 15-year period. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a component of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, was analyzed in 3-year increments from 1991 to 2005 to determine national trends in rates of hospitalization of children aged 8 days to 4 years with chronic conditions. Discharge diagnoses from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample were grouped into 9 categories of complex chronic conditions (CCCs). Hospitalization rates for each of the 9 CCC categories were studied both individually and in combination. Trends of children hospitalized with 2 specific disorders, cerebral palsy (CP) and bronchopulmonary dysplasia, with additional diagnoses in more than 1 CCC category were also examined. RESULTS: Hospitalization rates of children with diagnoses in more than 1 CCC category increased from 83.7 per 100 000 (1991–1993) to 166 per 100 000 (2003–2005) (P[r] P = .002), whereas the hospitalization rates of children with bronchopulmonary dysplasia plus more than 1 CCC diagnosis increased from 9.8 to 23.9 per 100 000 ( P CONCLUSIONS: Consistent increases in hospitalization rates were noted among children with diagnoses in multiple CCC categories, whereas hospitalization rates of children with CP alone have remained stable. The relative medical complexity of hospitalized pediatric patients has increased over the past 15 years.
Performance analysis of a CDMA network with mixed traffic using unequal power control

This paper considers the effect of unequal power control in direct sequence CDMA cellular networks in the reverse direction to achieve differentiated quality of service. In particular, power control can be used to maintain the required E/sub b//I/sub 0/ for a given type of traffic to meet the desired service quality. Here, an analytical approach is used to determine the probability of outage when two types of traffic with different quality of service requirements coexist. Results are presented for systems with equal and unequal power control.
Survival processing of faces

The mnemonic benefit of rating words according to their relevance in a survival scenario is well documented (e.g., Nairne, Thompson, & Pandeirada, 2007). The present study examined whether the survival processing effect would extend to face stimuli. We tested this hypothesis in five experiments, using multiple survival and control scenarios, real and computer-generated face sets, within- and between-subjects designs, and several memory tests, as well as free recall of survival-relevant and survival-neutral attribute statements written about the person. Although the standard survival processing effect was obtained for survival-relevant and neutral attribute statements, the survival processing effect was not obtained for face memory across all experiments. These results identify an important boundary condition for survival processing benefits.
Derepressed leucine transport activity in Escherichia coli.

Transport activity and synthesis of binding protein for the amino acids leucine, isoleucine and valine in E. coli are coordinately controlled by the level of leucine in the growth medium. Spontaneous mutants (dlu) which can utilize D-leucine as a source of L-leucine show derepressed transport activity for the three-branched chain amino acids. The increased transport activity is a result of an increase in the binding protein for these amino acids. Azaleucine-resistant mutants have been isolated which have a defect in leucine transport but normal levels of the binding protein for leucine.
Resampling auxiliary data for language model adaptation in machine translation for speech

Performance of n-gram language models depends to a large extent on the amount of training text material available for building the models and the degree to which this text matches the domain of interest. The language modeling community is showing a growing interest in using large collections of auxiliary textual material to supplement sparse in-domain resources. One of the problems in using such auxiliary corpora is that they may differ significantly from the specific nature of the domain of interest. In this paper, we propose three different methods for adapting language models for a Speech to Speech (S2S) translation system when auxiliary corpora are of different genre and domain. The proposed methods are based on centroid similarity, n-gram ratios and resampled language models. We show how these methods can be used to select out of domain textual data such as newswire text to improve a S2S system. We were able to achieve an overall relative improvement of 3.8% in BLEU score over a baseline system that uses only in-domain conversational data.
The Influence of Physical Activity on Cigarette Smoking Among Adolescents: Evidence From Add Health

Introduction This article explored the relationship between physical activity and smoking behavior among adolescents using rich longitudinal survey data from a nationally representative sample of adolescents. Methods Several endogeneity-corrected models were estimated to ascertain the effect of exercise on both the probability of being a smoker and the intensity of cigarette smoking. Results The analysis indicated that 1 additional weekly occurrence of exercise led to a 0.3% decline in the probability of being a smoker and led to a 4.1% reduction in the number of cigarettes smoked by a smoker during a month, a result that was robust to stratification by gender and race/ethnicity. Consistent with the national guidelines, frequencies of physical activity of at least 7 times per week appeared to exhibit the biggest benefits in terms of reduction in smoking for both genders and across races/ethnicities. Conclusions Reduction in health-damaging smoking behavior among adolescents could be an additional benefit of being physically active. This research documented a new pathway by which even moderate increases in physical activity could result in improved health outcomes by reducing smoking.
Self-consistent optical gain analysis and epitaxy of strain-compensated InGaN-AlGaN quantum wells for laser applications

Self-consistent optical gain analysis of strain-compensated InGaN-AlGaN quantum wells (QWs) using 6-band kldrp formalism shows 28% improvement, which is suitable for laser active regions. MOCVD-grown strain-compensated InGaN QW exhibited 62.7% improvement in integrated luminescence intensity.
Olfaction in the kidney: 'smelling' gut microbial metabolites.

New Findings What is the topic of this review? This review covers recent findings highlighting roles for renal and vascular sensory receptors that modify blood pressure control in response to changes in gut microbial metabolites. What advances does it highlight? This review highlights the novel roles that G-protein-coupled receptor 41 and olfactory receptor 78 play in blood pressure regulation. The gut microbiota have recently been recognized as an important component of host physiology and pathophysiology. Our recent studies have shown that a subset of gut microbial metabolites, known as short-chain fatty acids, act as ligands for host G-protein-coupled receptors (G-protein-coupled receptor 41 and olfactory receptor 78). Short-chain fatty acid-mediated activation of G-protein-coupled receptor 41 and olfactory receptor 78 modulates blood pressure control, both by modulating renin secretion and by modulating vascular tone directly. Further studies are needed in order to gain a better understanding of the underlying mechanism by which microbiota and microbial metabolites modulate host physiology and their potential implications in health and disease.
Venture Capital: For the Hospitality Industry?:

Venture capital is an important source of funding in entrepreneurial firms. High-technology industries have been the major recipients of this financing in the past. This paper addresses venture cap...
Wizard of Wii: toward understanding player experience in first person games with 3D gestures

We present a user study that begins to explore aspects of players experience in first person games that use 3D gestures for interaction. Our study uses Wizard of Wii, a video game prototype that has players perform a set of 25 distinct gestures over the course of four different game quests using the Nintendo Wii Remote. Our results indicate that players' ability to recall gestures improved with repeated play and they believed themselves to be performing better in the game. However, while the recognition accuracy improved significantly with repeated play, players were unable to perceive the difference.
miR-EdiTar

Motivation: A-to-I RNA editing is an important mechanism that consists of the conversion of specific adenosines into inosines in RNA molecules. Its dysregulation has been associated to several human diseases including cancer. Recent work has demonstrated a role for A-to-I editing in microRNA (miRNA)-mediated gene expression regulation. In fact, edited forms of mature miRNAs can target sets of genes that differ from the targets of their unedited forms. The specific deamination of mRNAs can generate novel binding sites in addition to potentially altering existing ones. Results: This work presents miR-EdiTar, a database of predicted A-to-I edited miRNA binding sites. The database contains predicted miRNA binding sites that could be affected by A-to-I editing and sites that could become miRNA binding sites as a result of A-to-I editing. Availability: miR-EdiTar is freely available online at http://microrna.osumc.edu/mireditar. Contact:alessandro.lagana@osumc.edu or carlo.croce@osumc.edu Supplementary information:Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Explanation of Anomalous Behavior Observed in Impedance Eduction Techniques Using Measured Data

Several enhancements that improve the accuracy and robustness of an impedance eduction technique that use an automatic optimizer are presented. These enhancements are then used to launch an intensive investigation into the cause of anomalous behavior that occurs for a small number of test conditions. This anomalous behavior is investigated for both a hardwall insert and a conventional liner. The primary conclusions of the study are that: (1) for the hard wall insert, the anomalies are due to narrow peaks in the objective function, (2) For the conventional liner, the anomalies are due to the presence of an extremely flat objective function, and (3) the anomalies appear to be triggered by inconsistencies between the duct propagation model and the measured data. At high frequencies, the duct propagation model may need to include the effects of higher-order duct modes, whereas at low frequencies, the effects of the mean boundary layer may have to be included.
Latin American Cities: Aspects of Function and Structure *

This essay will advance two interrelated hypotheses about the Latin American city. The first of them has to do with the role of the city in the settlement of the New World. The second suggests certain characteristics of the modern Latin American metropolis.
The chemistry of lysozyme and its use as a food preservative and a pharmaceutical.

The chemistry and use of lysozyme as a food preservative and a pharmaceutical are reviewed. Lysozyme inhibits the growth of deleterious organisms, thus prolonging shelf life. Chemicals used to improve the preservative effect of lysozyme and those that inhibit the enzyme are discussed, along with the stability of lysozyme in various chemical environments. Lysozyme has been used to preserve fresh fruits and vegetables, tofu bean curd, seafoods, meats and sausages, potato salad, cooked burdock with soy sauce, and varieties of semihard cheeses such as Edam, Gouda, and some Italian cheeses. Lysozyme added to infant‐feeding formulas makes them more closely resemble human milk. Lysozyme has been used clinically in the treatment of periodontitis, administered in chewing gum, and implemented to prevent tooth decay. It has also been administered to patients suffering from cancer for its analgesic effect and has been used as a potentiating agent in antibiotic therapy.
OTS adsorption : A dynamic QCM study

The uptake of octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) from an organic solution has been studied in situ and in real time by means of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) technique. Changes in both QCM frequency and resistance are reported for a range of OTS concentrations. In addition, the time dependence of OTS uptake has been used to calculate reaction constants. Silicon surfaces overall are characterized by higher levels of material uptake than gold.
Model testing: is it only a special case of software testing?

Effective testing of software is an important concern in the software engineering community. While many techniques regularly used for testing software apply equally well to testing the implementations of simulation models, we believe that testing simulations often raises issues that occur infrequently in other types of software. We believe that many code characteristics that commonly occur in simulation code are precisely those that the software testing community has identified as making testing challenging. We discuss many of the techniques that the software engineering community has developed to deal with those features and evaluate their applicability to simulation development.
Production and Catabolite Repression of the Constitutive Polygalacturonic Acid trans-Eliminase of Aeromonas liquefaciens

Abstract Production of polygalacturonic acid (PGA) trans-eliminase was greatly stimulated under conditions of restricted growth of Aeromonas liquefaciens. This was accomplished either by substrate restriction in a continuous-feeding culture or by restricting divalent cations in a batch culture, with the use of PGA as the sole source of carbon in a chemically defined medium containing inorganic nitrogen. Slow feeding of glucose, glycerol, or PGA to carbon-limited cultures allowed PGA trans-eliminase to be formed at a maximum differential rate 500 times greater than in batch cultures with excess substrate present. The differential rate of enzyme formation obtained by slow feeding of these three substrances or of a mixture of PGA plus glucose was observed to be the same. Therefore, PGA trans-eliminase produced by A. liquefaciens, contrary to the current view, appears to be constitutive. These observations also indicate that production of PGA trans-eliminase is subject to catabolite repression and that limiting the substrate reverses this repression. It was also found that, under conditions of unrestricted growth, any compound which the bacteria can use as a source of carbon and energy repressed constitutive PGA trans-eliminase production. The heritable reversal of catabolite repression of PGA trans-eliminase synthesis was demonstrated by isolation of mutant strain Gc-6 which can readily synthesize the constitutive catabolic enzyme PGA trans-eliminase while growing in the presence of excess substrate.
The U.S. environmental protection agency's examination of its risk assessment principles and practices: A brief perspective from the regulated community

In March 2004, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) published a review of its risk assessment principles and practices. In examining this review, we find a broad, but not particularly deep, review by the authors and areas where the U.S. EPA should strive to further improve the risk assessment process. Recommended areas of improvement include the use of less conservative default assumptions, calculating risk based on populations instead of individuals, and fostering research on multiple stressors and their impacts on estimating risks to ecological receptors.
Treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer

The human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 gene (HER2) is overexpressed and/or amplified in ~15% of breast cancer patients and was identified a quarter century ago as a marker of poor prognosis. By 1998, antibody therapy targeting the HER2 pathway was shown to demonstrably improve progression-free and overall survival in metastatic disease, and in 2005 evidence of improvement in disease-free and overall survival from the first generation of trastuzumab adjuvant trials became available. However, not all patients with HER2 overexpression benefit from trastuzumab. Second-generation studies in metastatic disease led to the approval of several new HER2-targeted therapies using small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as lapatinib, new HER2/HER3 antibodies such as pertuzumab, and the new antibody chemotherapy conjugate ado-trastuzumab emtansine. These successes supported the launch of second-generation adjuvant trials testing single and dual HER2-targeted agents, administered concomitantly or sequentially with chemotherapy that will soon complete accrual. HER2-positive breast cancer in the setting of HER2-targeted therapy is no longer associated with poor prognosis, and recent guidance by the US Food and Drug Administration suggests that pathologic response to HER2-targeted therapy given preoperatively may allow an earlier assessment of their clinical benefit in the adjuvant setting. An adjuvant trial of trastuzumab in patient whose tumors express normal levels of HER2 and trials of single/dual HER2-targeting without chemotherapy are also ongoing. In this article, we review the current data on the therapeutic management of HER2-positive breast cancer.
Pilot study: Mindful Eating and Living (MEAL): Weight, eating behavior, and psychological outcomes associated with a mindfulness-based intervention for people with obesity

Summary Objectives The purpose of this study was to pilot a brief (6-week) group curriculum for providing mindfulness training to obese individuals, called Mindful Eating and Living (MEAL). Setting and design Participants were recruited through a local Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in spring 2006. Data was collected at three time points: baseline, completion of intervention (6 weeks), and 3-month follow-up (12 weeks). Intervention Six weekly two-hour group classes (with two monthly follow-up classes). Content included training in mindfulness meditation, mindful eating, and group discussion, with emphasis on awareness of body sensations, emotions, and triggers to overeat. Main outcome measures Key variables assessed included changes in weight, body-mass index (BMI), eating behavior, and psychological distress. In addition, physiological markers of cardiovascular risk were evaluated including C-reactive protein (hsCRP), adiponectin, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). Results Ten obese patients enrolled with a mean BMI of 36.9kg/m 2 [SD±6.2]. The mean weight was 101kg/m 2 and the mean age was 44 years (SD=8.7; range=31–62). Compared to baseline data, participants showed statistically significant increases in measures of mindfulness and cognitive restraint around eating, and statistically significant decreases in weight, eating disinhibition, binge eating, depression, perceived stress, physical symptoms, negative affect, and C-reactive protein. Conclusions This study provides preliminary evidence that a eating focused mindfulness-based intervention can result in significant changes in weight, eating behavior, and psychological distress in obese individuals.
Application of pixel array detectors at x-ray synchrotrons.

Pixel array detectors have only recently been seriously used at x-ray synchrotrons. We describe the application of a digital pixel array detector (Pilatus100k) to a variety of synchrotron experiments at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. The Pilatus100k was developed at the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI). It has been commercialized by a PSI spinoff (Dectrics Ltd.) This is the first commercially available pixel array detector for x-ray synchrotron applications. The APS synchrotron provides tunable x-ray pulses with duration of ~80 ps and a repetition period of 153 ns (24-bunch mode). The Pilatus100k is a direct detection x-ray detector where each 172 micron pixel counts individual x-ray pulses above a lower threshold. It consists of ~100k pixels each of which is capable of single-photon counting (>3 keV) at count rates up to ~1 MHz. In addition, the Pilatus100k is an electronically gateable detector. We present data showing that the Pilatus100k is capable of isolating a single x-ray bunch at the APS in 24 bunch mode. We will also present a variety of different experiments exploiting the unique capabilities of the Pilatus100k.
Trace metal leaching in a spodosol irrigated with tomato packinghouse wastewater

Tomato packinghouse wastewater is often applied to land in Florida, but the sandy soils, low levels of organic matter, shallow groundwater and abundant rainfall present favourable conditions for leaching of wastewater-borne trace metals. We investigated the leaching of copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn) and zinc (Zn) from a sandy siliceous, hyperthermic Oxyaquic Alorthods packed in two distinct soil horizons (Ap and A ⁄ E) in 12 polyvinyl chloride soil columns (30 cm internal diameter · 50 cm length). Thirty leaching events were conducted by daily applying tomato packinghouse wastewater at low (0.84 cm ⁄ day), medium (1.68 cm ⁄ day) and high (2.51 cm ⁄ day) rates for 30-days period. Control treatment received de-ionized water at the same application rate as the medium treatment (1.68 cm ⁄ day). Application of wastewater at three rates did not affect the mean concentrations of Cu in leachate (0.19–0.2 mg ⁄ L) because of retention of Cu in the soil profile. However, leachate Zn concentrations were twice as much (0.3–0.32 mg ⁄ L) following wastewater application than for the control (0.13 mg ⁄ L) treatment. Leaching losses of Cu and Zn were smaller with the medium wastewater treatment (similar to control treatment) than for the high wastewater treatment. Concentrations of Cu and Zn at the 50 cm soil depth were much less than the drinking water standards, suggesting a minimum risk of groundwater contamination under fields to which wastewater was applied. Our results imply that tomato packinghouse wastewater can be safely land-applied at 1.68 cm ⁄ day to Florida’s Spodosols under vegetable production without concerns of significant trace metal leaching.
NKAP is required for T cell maturation and acquisition of functional competency

Newly generated T cells are unable to respond to antigen/MHC. Rather, post-selection single-positive thymocytes must undergo T cell maturation to gain functional competency and enter the long-lived naive peripheral T cell pool. This process is poorly understood, as no gene specifically required for T cell maturation has been identified. Here, we demonstrate that loss of the transcriptional repressor NKAP results in a complete block in T cell maturation. In CD4-cre NKAP conditional knockout mice, thymic development including positive selection occurs normally, but there is a cell-intrinsic defect in the peripheral T cell pool. All peripheral naive CD4-cre NKAP conditional knockout T cells were found to be functionally immature recent thymic emigrants. This defect is not simply in cell survival, as the T cell maturation defect was not rescued by a Bcl-2 transgene. Thus, NKAP is required for T cell maturation and the acquisition of functional competency.
Self-control instruction for children's fear-reduction

Abstract Five boys and two girls, 8 to 12 years of age, with severe night time fears of long duration, participated with their parents in three instruction sessions of self-control training for home-based practice. The parents supervised, monitored and rewarded with praise and “bravery tokens” their children's self-control exercises practiced nightly before bed, i.e., (1) muscle relaxation; (2) imaging a pleasant scene, and (3) reciting special “brave” self-statements. The long-standing, highly resistant problems of night time fears were solved for all families. No newfears or other problems occurred over the three-month, six-month and one-year follow-ups.
The serine protease prostasin (PRSS8) is a potential biomarker for early detection of ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer (OVC) is the deadliest of all gynecologic cancers, primarily as a consequence of asymptomatic progression. The complex nature of OVC creates challenges for early detection, and there is a lack of specific and sensitive biomarkers suitable for screening and detecting early stage OVC. Potential OVC biomarkers were identified by bioinformatic analysis. Candidates were further screened for differential expression in a library of OVC cell lines. OVC-specific overexpression of a candidate gene, PRSS8, which encodes prostasin, was confirmed against 18 major human cancer types from 390 cancer samples by qRT-PCR. PRSS8 expression profiles stratified by OVC tumor stage-, grade- and subtype were generated using cDNA samples from 159 OVC samples. Cell-specific expression and localization of prostasin was determined by immunohistological tissue array analysis of more than 500 normal, benign, and cancerous ovarian tissues. The presence of prostasin in normal, benign, and OVC serum samples was also determined. Gene expression analysis indicated that PRSS8 was expressed in OVC at levels more than 100 fold greater than found in normal or benign ovarian lesions. This overexpression signature was found in early stages of OVC and was maintained in higher stages and grades of OVC. The PRSS8 overexpression signature was specific for OVC and urinary bladder cancer among 18 human cancer types. The majority of ovarian cell lines overexpressed PRSS8. In situ hybridization and histopathology studies of OVC tissues indicated that overexpression of prostasin was largely localized to tumor epithelium and was absent in neighboring stroma. Significantly higher levels of prostasin were found in early stage OVC serum samples compared to benign ovarian and normal donor samples. The abundant amounts of secreted prostasin found in sera of early stage OVC can potentially be used as a minimally invasive screening biomarker for early stage OVC. Overexpression of PRSS8 mRNA and high levels of prostasin in multiple subtypes of early stage ovarian tumors may provide clinical biomarkers for early detection of OVC, which can potentially be used with CA125 and HE4.
Clinical Research and Advance of Physiological Pacing

Right ventricular pacing has been associated with adverse outcomes,including heart failure,atrial fibrillation,death'etc,which promote a new round of innovation in the pacemaker treatment.Physiological pacing is an important aspect of clinical research on cardiac pacing recently.Currently at home and abroad,minimizing ventricular pacing was mainly optimized by the pacing function or selected by the pacing site.As possible physiological pacing,the blood circulation keeped normal.In this way,physiologic pacing improves health-related quality of life and guides the clinical application of pacemaker.
Su 1910. L'emancipazione della dissonanza : Rhetoric of Youth, or Bridges to Nowhere

Architectonically speaking, there comes a stage in life that looks like a house. Everything appears already built up, all filled with kids and furniture, functionally disposed in interconnected spaces. The age of adulthood. Childhood instead is a playground, with apparatuses for swinging and climbing and an open court to serve their somewhat anarchic whims. What leads to the adult house is a road, which most people embark on in their twenties, as they decide what to do with their lives. But before one finds this road one needs to pass a bridge: the architectonics of youth, which, as I understand it in this paper, entails a passage between two distinct terrains, each more distinct than the passage between them: childhood and adulthood. Youth is not the road to the house of adulthood, which is discovered later; youth is a bridge, taking us to a place from which many roads start. Committing to an adult project means choosing one of them.
Management system of mobile network information based on web services

With the expanding of mobile communicating network and its traffic, both the types and amount of network entities are ex-periencing a constant increase. So more requirements for the management of network information are proposed. If web services metho-dology and approach using regular expression to describe data parsing rules are adopted to develop a management system of mobile net-work information, the new network entities are added to the system using simple configuration, and the system can expose a universalinterface to provide parsing and checking services. After running on the mobile communicating networks for a period of time, it is de-monstrated that the system is of universality, scalability and efficiency. Therefore the mobile networks run steadily.
Analysis of food microorganism test results during 1998～2008 in Ganzhou

Objective:To find out the sanitary quality of food produced and processed by units in Ganzhou and Zhanggong District of Ganzhou to provide a good basis for the food safety,improvement of prevention food borne illness,supervision and management level of food sanitation.Methods:According to the national "Microbiology examination of food hygiene",15467 items of food colony,coliform,pathogen,mildew and microzyme have been identified.Determined on the basis of "National Standard of Food Sanitation",sanitary analysis has been done after the data was input and collected by Excel software.Results:Among the 15467 items of test samples,13261 samples′ microbiology tests are qualified.The percent of pass reaches 85.74% and the qualification rate of district degree is 84.82%,while qualification rate of city degree samples is 88.71% The qualification rate of direct drinking water,cooked meat products and frozen drink produced by units in city and district is a bit low.There are some obvious differences between qualification rates of different year and different kinds of food′s microbiology test.Few samples are found that the pathogen or the mildew can be found in a few samples.Conclusion:There is also some distance between food sanitary quality and people′s food safety requirement,especially frozen drink,cooked meat products and direct drinking water.Relevant departments are hoped to strengthen the supervision and management in every process of food production and market,in order to secure the safety of food.
Fenoprofen, aspirin, and gold induction in rheumatoid arthritis

Fenoprofen calcium (2,400 mg/day) or aspirin (3,900 mg/day) was administered in double-blind fashion to 20 rheumatoid patients during 6 months of gold induction therapy, and to 20 rheumatoid patients not receiving gold. Among both the gold-treated and nongold-treated patients, the fenoprofen and aspirin groups improved equally in all but one parameter of disease activity. Fenoprofen and aspirin did not differ significantly in the observed prevalences of abdominal discomfort, guaiac-positive stools, or peptic ulcers. Aspirin was associated with significantly higher mean serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) levels than fenoprofen, but only among patients undergoing gold induction. Comparison of efficacy parameters between patients treated with gold and patients treated with oral drugs alone revealed significant differences favoring gold.