cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Snapshot Hyperspectral Light-Sheet Imaging allows 5D Investigation of Pancreatic Islets

The islet of Langerhans is a micro-organ which contributes to blood glucose homeostasis through the regulated secretion of glucagon (from α-cells) and insulin (from β-cells). Cell-cell interactions allow for specific dynamics and responses to glucose that are not seen in equivalent populations of isolated cells. For this reason, investigations of cellular signaling within the intact islet is crucial to a better understanding of diseases as type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Fluorescent markers are powerful non-invasive tools to follow dynamics within cells, thanks to their specificity and reliability for long term experiments. However, the molecular processes of hormones’ secretion are fast, and scanning microscopy techniques often lack of temporal resolution to follow these dynamics. Light sheet microscopy, with its intrinsic optical sectioning, permits the acquisition of fast, three-dimensional data sets from living samples, with low photobleaching. However, it is also needed to visualize multiple probes simultaneously, which increases the complexity of the system. Snapshot hyperspectral imaging overcomes these limitations, allowing real-time acquisition of (x,y,λ) voxels containing all the spatial and spectral information for each pixel in the image. We demonstrate the combination of a snapshot hyperspectral system, the Image Mapper Spectrometer (IMS), with an inverted Selective Plane Illumination Microscope (iSPIM). This novel snapshot hyperspectral light-sheet architecture provides three dimensional, high (spatial and temporal) resolution images of multiple fluorophores with a single excitation wavelength. This approach allows distinguishing α- from β-cells in an intact islet, while simultaneously acquiring information on the calcium activity and other cellular dynamics including changes in intracellular Zn2+.
Abstract 238: Androgen insensitivity syndrome germline loss-of-function mutations in the androgen receptor that acquire somatic gain-of-function in prostate cancer

Genomic alterations in the androgen receptor (AR) commonly occur in patients with advanced prostate cancer resistant to androgen deprivation therapies. While still retaining androgen sensitivity, recurring AR mutations become drivers of antiandrogen resistance by causing alterations in the ligand binding pocket that enables one specific antiandrogen to bind that particular mutant receptor in an agonist conformation, thereby aberrantly activating AR transcriptional activity. We chronically treated antiandrogen-sensitive preclinical prostate cancer models (LNCaP-AR and CWR22Pc) with antiandrogens followed by high-throughput sequencing of the AR exons 2-8 to search for novel mutations that may be associated with antiandrogen resistance. The mutation A597T in the DNA binding domain was found in four LNCaP-AR xenograft tumors from mice receiving enzalutamide or ARN-509, while the ligand binding domain mutation P893S was uncovered in CWR22Pc cells treated in vitro with combined androgen depletion and bicalutamide. Recent whole exome sequencing studies of clinical prostate cancer identified single patients with each of these mutations at high allele frequencies and without concurrent AR amplification (www.cBioPortal.org). A597T occurred in a Gleason 6 primary tumor, whereas P893S was found in a patient with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer who had received bicalutamide during the course of treatment. Remarkably, both A597T and P893S were earlier reported as germline loss-of-function mutations in patients with androgen insensitivity syndrome. Using an AR reporter assay in AR-null cells coupled with overexpression of these AR mutants, we confirmed that P893S is not activated by the androgen dihydrotestosterone (DHT), but nevertheless is potently stimulated by bicalutamide. In silico modeling showed that in contrast to the wild-type AR, cofactor-recruiting helix 12 of the ligand binding domain of P893S substantially drifted away from an agonist conformation when bound to DHT but was able to adopt the active conformation when simulated with bicalutamide. Importantly, overexpression of AR-P893S in CWR22Pc cells conferred bicalutamide resistance in vivo. These findings highlight an unexpected contextual element to the function of AR mutants, and suggest that rare or private AR mutations may nonetheless act as drivers of clinical progression. Citation Format: Philip A. Watson, Minna D. Balbas, Zeda Zhang, Taslima F. Ishmael, Kayla E. Lawrence, John Wongvipat, Sophie D. Sawyers, Yi-Mi Wu, Dan Robinson, Yang Shen, Arul M. Chinnaiyan, Charles L. Sawyers. Androgen insensitivity syndrome germline loss-of-function mutations in the androgen receptor that acquire somatic gain-of-function in prostate 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 238.
Knowledge attitude and practice toward pertussis vaccination during pregnancy among pregnant and postpartum Italian women.

In Italy, no specific recommendation toward maternal pertussis immunization during pregnancy has been issued. However, vaccination during pregnancy will be likely integrated in the Italian immuniza...
A reliability study in P-channel punchthrough for ASIC CMOS input/output buffer leakage

Quite simply, does CMOS punchthrough leakage current present a reliability risk? Does this form of leakage accelerate any other failure mechanisms or alter device performance within the circuit? This paper empirically answers these questions while providing an academic understanding of the mechanism and why it dose not pose a reliability risk.
Comparing true tumor volume to unidimensional and bidimensional measurements in lung cancer—A better discriminator of response?

13020 Background: Accurate evaluation of response is crucial to determine if a treatment is effective for a particular patient or if an experimental agent is effective against a specific tumor type...
Advances in antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation at the nanoscale

The alarming worldwide increase in antibiotic resistance amongst microbial pathogens necessitates a search for new antimicrobial techniques, which will not be affected by, or indeed cause resistance themselves. Light-mediated photoinactivation is one such technique that takes advantage of the whole spectrum of light to destroy a broad spectrum of pathogens. Many of these photoinactivation techniques rely on the participation of a diverse range of nanoparticles and nanostructures that have dimensions very similar to the wavelength of light. Photodynamic inactivation relies on the photochemical production of singlet oxygen from photosensitizing dyes (type II pathway) that can benefit remarkably from formulation in nanoparticle-based drug delivery vehicles. Fullerenes are a closed-cage carbon allotrope nanoparticle with a high absorption coefficient and triplet yield. Their photochemistry is highly dependent on microenvironment, and can be type II in organic solvents and type I (hydroxyl radicals) in a biological milieu. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles act as a large band-gap semiconductor that can carry out photo-induced electron transfer under ultraviolet A light and can also produce reactive oxygen species that kill microbial cells. We discuss some recent studies in which quite remarkable potentiation of microbial killing (up to six logs) can be obtained by the addition of simple inorganic salts such as the non-toxic sodium/potassium iodide, bromide, nitrite, and even the toxic sodium azide. Interesting mechanistic insights were obtained to explain this increased killing.
Determinants of Nurses’ Use of Physical Restraints in Surgical Intensive Care Unit Patients

Background Physical restraints are used in intensive care units, particularly among patients at risk for self-terminating necessary treatment interventions, including endotracheal tubes and invasive catheters. Assessments conducted by intensive care unit nurses often influence the collaborative decision to initiate and discontinue restraints in critical care patients. However, little is known about factors that influence the critical thought processes of intensive care unit nurses in determining use of restraints. Objectives To describe nurses' determinants of initiation and discontinuation of restraints in surgical intensive care unit patients. Methods Semistructured interviews were conducted to identify and describe determinants of initiation and discontinuation of physical restraints. Demographic and employment data were collected via questionnaire. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed by using conventional content analysis to establish categories and identify themes. Results A total of 13 nurses (mean age 43 [SD, 12] years, 92% female, mean of 18 [SD, 12] years of practice as a registered nurse, 69% bachelor of science in nursing) participated in the study. Content analysis revealed 3 general categories and 8 themes that indicated the thoughtful reflection processes nurses in a surgical intensive care unit use to determine use of restraints. Conclusions Top priorities were ensuring patient safety and comfort. Nurses synthesized factors including practice experience, patient-specific behaviors and risk, and patients' need for devices in determining use of restraints.
Global Precipitation Trends across Spatial Scales Using Satellite Observations

AbstractLittle dispute surrounds the observed global temperature changes over the past decades. As a result, there is widespread agreement that a corresponding response in the global hydrologic cycle must exist. However, exactly how such a response manifests remains unsettled. Here we use a unique recently developed long-term satellite-based record to assess changes in precipitation across spatial scales. We show that warm climate regions exhibit decreasing precipitation trends, while arid and polar climate regions show increasing trends. At the country scale, precipitation seems to have increased in 96 countries, and decreased in 104. We also explore precipitation changes over 237 global major basins. Our results show opposing trends at different scales, highlighting the importance of spatial scale in trend analysis. Furthermore, while the increasing global temperature trend is apparent in observations, the same cannot be said for the global precipitation trend according to the high-resolution dataset, P...
The Silver Screen and Authoritarianism: How Popular Films Activate Latent Personality Dispositions and Affect American Political Attitudes:

Do popular films activate authoritarianism? We theorize that, because of the willing suspension of disbelief, films encourage social learning, which primes viewers to respond to messages activating latent personality traits such as authoritarianism. This activation then affects citizens’ political attitudes. To test our theory, we use a 1 × 3 posttest experimental design where treatment groups watch feature-length films. As treatments, subjects watch 300 and V for Vendetta, and the control film is 21 Jump Street. Consistent with our hypotheses, we find that 300 activates authoritarianism while V for Vendetta activates antiauthoritarianism. As expected, 21 Jump Street has no effect. In addition, we show that the activation of authoritarianism produces significant differences in attitudes on U.S. primacy, rights of protestors, immigration, and military service. This research demonstrates how the causal mechanism between entertainment media and latent personality activation affects political attitudes, which...
Monte Carlo studies of oxygen ordering in the YBa2Cu3-xAxO7- delta systems (A=Ga,Al).

Monte Carlo simulation with constant oxygen concentration (Kawasaki dynamics) of a lattice-gas model with anisotropic interaction is used to explore the effects of thermal quenching on oxygen ordering in the basal plane of ${\mathrm{YBa}}_{2}$${\mathrm{Cu}}_{3}$${\mathrm{O}}_{7\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\delta}}}$ and related systems. The oxygen structure factor is calculated for various quenching conditions and for different oxygen concentrations. The growth of the orthorhombic domain is monitored through the q dependence of the oxygen structure factor along the a and b directions. The effect of substituting ${\mathrm{Ga}}^{3+}$ or ${\mathrm{Al}}^{3+}$ ions at Cu(1) chain sites on the oxygen ordering is also discussed within the framework of this model.
Multi-View Acoustic Sizing and Classification of Individual Fish

Estimating biophysical parameters of fish populations in situ such as size, orientation, shape, and taxa is a fundamental goal in oceanography. Towards this end, acoustics is a natural choice due to its rapid, non-invasive capabilities. Here, multi-view methods are explored for classification, size and orientation estimation, and 2D image reconstruction for individual fish. Size- and shape-based classification using multi-view data is shown to be accurate (~10% error) using kernel methods and discriminant analysis. For species-based classification in the absence of significant differences in size or shape, multi-view methods offer significant (~40%) reduction in error, but absolute error rates remain high (~20%) due to the lack of discriminant information in acoustic scatter. Length and orientation estimation are investigated using a parameter-based approach with a simple ellipsoidal scattering model. Good accuracy is obtained when the views span the full 360°. When the span is limited to less than 60°, incorporating a prior constraint on possible body shapes can lead to reduced uncertainty in the estimated parameters. Finally, using views that span the full 360°, sparse Bayesian learning coupled with a conventional Radon transform yields accurate two-dimensional, projected images of the fish.
A Strategy for Monoclonal Antibody Production to Ecto-ATPases

A variety of ecto-enzyme activities exist on the surfaces of all cells. The ecto-nucleotidases, ecto-ATPase, ecto-ADPase, and apyrase or ATP diphosphohydrolase (ecto-ATPDase), are of particular interest at this workshop. These enzymes are not as well understood as most of the other ecto-enzymes. There have been few attempts to purify these enzymes relative to a large number of descriptive studies. This is due in large part to the fact that these integral membrane glycoproteins (purification of which is particularly difficult) are rarely present in high concentration, and affinity chromatography of these enzymes has not always been successful. This paper will present a general strategy for production of monoclonal antibodies to these enzymes exploiting a new hybridoma screening assay. It will also discuss the use of the resulting monoclonal antibodies for immunopurification of the enzymes. The strategy and methods described have been applied to the purification of the chicken oviduct1 and chicken liver2 ecto-ATP diphosphohydrolase and to the chicken gizzard ecto-ATPase3. This paper will emphasize the methods used for purification of the chicken oviduct enzyme. Specific details for each enzyme have been published in the above references. This review will emphasize general methods which may be of use to other workers.
Positive Psychology Perspectives on Body Image

Using the positive psychology framework, this article directs the spotlight on positive body image, an understudied area that has tremendous clinical importance. The core features of positive body image include body appreciation, body acceptance and love, broadly conceptualizing beauty, inner positivity, and protective filtering information in a body-protective manner. Unconditional acceptance, media literacy, and spirituality promote and maintain positive body image. Confident and prosocial behavior, self-care, and befriending others who like their body emerge from positive body image. Cultural, gender, and age considerations are discussed. The best methods to measure and promote positive body image are revealed, ending with recommendations for researchers.
Pulmonary Hypertension in Pregnancy

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a rare disorder that can affect the pregnant patient with serious consequences. The physiologic changes of pregnancy are poorly tolerated by the parturient with pulmonary hypertension and are associated with significant maternal and fetal mortality. Key elements of management that may improve outcome are early diagnosis and referral to a specialized obstetric care center. With no consensus guidelines available regarding delivery mode or anesthetic technique in patients with pulmonary hypertension, the anesthesiologist’s management should aim to normalize cardiovascular function and optimize hemodynamic stability. These goals are best accomplished in coordination with specialists in high-risk obstetrics, cardiology, pulmonary critical care, and neonatology.
Rahama Wright and Shea Yeleen

Rahama Wright and Shea Yeleen is the story of a young female social entrepreneur, Rahama Wright, who started a nonprofit venture, Shea Yeleen, to train women in West Africa with a more lucrative li...
Human, Also Human

The first time you hear a patient's unconscious, I mean really hear it in all of its immediacy and intimacy, there's a shock—no matter how much Freud you've read, how much analysis you've had, how prepared you think you are. My first patient was an eleven-year-old boy. We met two or three times a week at his school, a middle school for bright children from poor, mostly black and brown families. There we were in one of our sessions, which were held in the principal's office, the closest thing the overcrowded school had to a private space. I was listening to him explain how, in different countries, there are different gestures for “fuck you.” He was pretty clearly enjoying the opportunity to use the forbidden word and make the forbidden gesture in my presence. In the United States it's the middle finger, he told me; then showed me. In China, it's the index and pinkie fingers. He paused for a moment over this gesture, which had triggered an association: Spider-Man. My patient then began to spin one of those ...
Heat-induced perfect light absorption in thin-film metasurfaces for structural coloring [Invited]

Heating reflective metals is known to produce a wide range of colors due to oxidation of the metal surface. In fact, the most vibrant colors used in the pre-industrial era came from oxides, acetates and carbonates of metal ores and minerals. In this work, we show that heating low reflectivity metals, e.g., Ni and Ti, creates structural colors through perfect light absorption. We tune the absorption across the visible and NIR spectrum by changing the heating duration and, consequently, the oxide thickness. We demonstrate experimentally angle-insensitive perfect and near-perfect absorption in the visible and NIR regimes up to ±60∘. The absorption is insensitive to the incidence angle due to the relatively high refractive index of the formed oxides, which create iridescent free coloration. We demonstrate that the oxide layer thickness, with refractive index n, is <λ/4n due to non-trivial phase change at the oxide/metal interfaces, which makes these systems the simplest example of meta-surfaces based on thin films. The results show that oxidized metals can have applications beyond producing vibrant colors.
Algebraic Theory of Feedback in Discrete Systems, Part I

Our world, both natural and technological, abounds in systems which may be thought of, at least in a first approximation, as operating in accordance with the following specifications: 1. Finite number of internal states. At each instance the system is in one, out of a finite number n, of well distinguishable internal configurations. 2. Finite number of input and output states. The system is connected to the environment by an input channel, through which at each instance one out of a finite number k of well distinguishable stimuli can be imposed on the system. In turn, the system can influence the environment through an output channel, capable of taking on but a finite number n of states.
Sense of Purpose in Life and Cardiovascular Disease: Underlying Mechanisms and Future Directions.

In this review, we synthesize recent research that has reported associations of a higher sense of purpose in life with reduced risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD), and then explore mechanisms that might underlie these associations. Accumulating observational and experimental evidence suggests that having a higher sense of purpose might influence CVD risk through three pathways: (1) enhancement of other psychological and social resources that buffer against the cardiotoxic effects of overwhelming stress; (2) indirect effects through health behaviors; and (3) direct effects on biological pathways. A sense of purpose in life is emerging as an independent risk factor for incident CVD. A key remaining question is whether purpose causally effects CVD risk; in the “Future Research Directions” section, we focus on work needed to establish causality and provide suggestions for next steps.
Intellectual Property, the Free Movement of Goods and Trade Restraint in the European Union

The European Union is the most significant trade partner of the United States. Trading in goods protected by intellectual property rights remains a challenge for American business entities as they are forced to sift through a myriad of law consisting of the federal intellectual property law of the European Union and the intellectual property law of the member-states. The Court of Justice of the European Union has been faced with dozens of complex cases arising out of conflicts between the national law of the member-states and the Articles of the Treaty on European Union that mandate the free movement of goods across national lines as one of the Treaty’s fundamental purposes. This work presents the pertinent issues that arise in conflicts between the two bodies of law and provides a thorough explanation and analysis of the case law of the European Court of Justice on the issue of intellectual property rights and the free movement of goods.
AV(SE) 2 : Audio-Visual Squeeze-Excite Speech Enhancement

The goal of audio-visual speech enhancement (AVSE) is to supplement audio-only information with visual information, such as target speaker’s lip movements, to improve the intelligibility and overall perceptual quality of noisy speech signals. We propose a new mechanism for audio-visual (AV) fusion that leverages a cross-modal squeeze-excitation (SE) block for speech enhancement: AV(SE)2. The fusion block is adaptable to any feature layer of the audio and visual networks and significantly reduces model parameters as compared to standard AV fusion methods of channel-wise concatenation without loss of performance. We show that AV(SE)2 with time-based gating across multiple feature layers outperforms baseline methods of single-point, channel-wise concatenated AV fusion on objective evaluations.
Microtubule organization and dynamics in oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, and microglia

Though much is known about microtubule organization and microtubule-based transport in neurons, the development and function of microtubules in glia are more enigmatic. In this review, we provide an overview of the literature on microtubules in ramified brain cells, including oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, and microglia. We focus on normal cell biology-how structure relates to function in these cells. In oligodendrocytes, microtubules are important for extension of processes that contact axons and for elongating the myelin sheath. Recent studies demonstrate that new microtubules can form outside of the oligodendrocyte cell body off of Golgi outpost organelles. In astrocytes and microglia, changes in cell shape and ramification can be influenced by neighboring cells and the extracellular milieu. Finally, we highlight key papers implicating glial microtubule defects in neurological injury and disease and discuss how microtubules may contribute to invasiveness in gliomas. Thus, future research on the mechanisms underlying microtubule organization in normal glial cell function may yield valuable insights on neurological disease pathology.
Epithelial morphogenesis, tubulogenesis and forces in organogenesis.

Abstract As multi-cellular organisms evolved from small clusters of cells to complex metazoans, biological tubes became essential for life. Tubes are typically thought of as mainly playing a role in transport, with the hollow space (lumen) acting as a conduit to distribute nutrients and waste, or for gas exchange. However, biological tubes also provide a platform for physiological, mechanical, and structural functions. Indeed, tubulogenesis is often a critical aspect of morphogenesis and organogenesis. C. elegans is made up of tubes that provide structural support and protection (the epidermis), perform the mechanical and enzymatic processes of digestion (the buccal cavity, pharynx, intestine, and rectum), transport fluids for osmoregulation (the excretory system), and execute the functions necessary for reproduction (the germline, spermatheca, uterus and vulva). Here we review our current understanding of the genetic regulation, molecular processes, and physical forces involved in tubulogenesis and morphogenesis of the epidermal, digestive and excretory systems in C. elegans.
De novo purine biosynthesis is a major driver of chemoresistance in glioblastoma

Glioblastoma is a primary brain cancer with a near 100% recurrence rate. Upon recurrence, the tumour is resistant to all conventional therapies, and because of this, 5-year survival is dismal. One of the major drivers of this high recurrence rate is the ability of glioblastoma cells to adapt to complex changes within the tumour microenvironment. To elucidate this adaptation's molecular mechanisms, specifically during temozolomide chemotherapy, we used chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing and gene expression analysis. We identified a molecular circuit in which the expression of ciliary protein ADP-ribosylation factor-like protein 13B (ARL13B) is epigenetically regulated to promote adaptation to chemotherapy. Immuno-precipitation combined with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry binding partner analysis revealed that that ARL13B interacts with the purine biosynthetic enzyme inosine-5'-monophosphate dehydrogenase 2 (IMPDH2). Further, radioisotope tracing revealed that this interaction functions as a negative regulator for purine salvaging. Inhibition of the ARL13B-IMPDH2 interaction enhances temozolomide-induced DNA damage by forcing glioblastoma cells to rely on the purine salvage pathway. Targeting the ARLI3B-IMPDH2 circuit can be achieved using the Food and Drug Administration-approved drug, mycophenolate mofetil, which can block IMPDH2 activity and enhance the therapeutic efficacy of temozolomide. Our results suggest and support clinical evaluation of MMF in combination with temozolomide treatment in glioma patients.
Speaking of Composing (Frameworks): New Media Discussions, 2000–2010

Abstract This article examines scholarly conversations for discussions of new media in College Composition and Communication, Research in the Teaching of English, Computers and Composition, and Kairos from 2000–2010. The author argues new media is a part of a larger, complex scholarly conversation that seeks to position rhetoric and composition within contemporary society while contributing to an understanding of the frameworks used to discuss composing, making the field relevant. The author analyzes published documents in the ten-year time period through a combination grounded theory, open coding approach. Using interrater reliability, the author's empirical analysis of the field's published scholarly conversations supports the argument that new media functions as one opportunity for the field to maintain relevance among a broad community of non-academic writers.
Computational Bayesian maximum entropy solution of a stochastic advection‐reaction equation in the light of site‐specific information

[1] This work presents a computational formulation of the Bayesian maximum entropy (BME) approach to solve a stochastic partial differential equation (PDE) representing the advection-reaction process across space and time. The solution approach provided by BME has some important features that distinguish it from most standard stochastic PDE techniques. In addition to the physical law, the BME solution can assimilate other sources of general and site-specific knowledge, including multiple-point nonlinear space/time statistics, hard measurements, and various forms of uncertain (soft) information. There is no need to explicitly solve the moment equations of the advection-reaction law since BME allows the information contained in them to consolidate within the general knowledge base at the structural (prior) stage of the analysis. No restrictions are posed on the shape of the underlying probability distributions or the space/time pattern of the contaminant process. Solutions of nonlinear systems of equations are obtained in four space/time dimensions and efficient computational schemes are introduced to cope with complexity. The BME solution at the prior stage is in excellent agreement with the exact analytical solution obtained in a controlled environment for comparison purposes. The prior solution is further improved at the integration (posterior) BME stage by assimilating uncertain information at the data points as well as at the solution grid nodes themselves, thus leading to the final solution of the advection-reaction law in the form of the probability distribution of possible concentration values at each space/time grid node. This is the most complete way of describing a stochastic solution and provides considerable flexibility concerning the choice of the concentration realization that is more representative of the physical situation. Numerical experiments demonstrated a high solution accuracy of the computational BME approach. The BME approach can benefit from the use of parallel processing (the relevant systems of equations can be processed simultaneously at each grid node and multiple integrals calculations can be accelerated significantly, etc.).
Full-term pregnancy after removal of remaining ovary at five months of gestation

Abstract A report of a successful full-term pregnancy in a patient possessing only one ovary which had to be removed after five months of gestation is presented. The case adds evidence to the belief that neither one nor both gonads nor the corpus luteum are necessary for the continuation of pregnancy once the placental hormones are elaborated in sufficient concentration.
Chapter 3 Insights from Computer Simulations into the Interaction of Small Molecules with Lipid Bilayers

Publisher Summary The chapter presents a discussion on insights from computer simulations into the interaction of small molecules with lipid bilayers. Ernest Overton's hypotheses about the distribution of small solute molecules in biological membranes and their permeation across these membranes are notable. The Meyer–Overton relationship for anesthetics has probably been influential. The correlation between the potencies of anesthetic compounds and their solubilities in olive oil, considered a model of the membrane interior, was found to be remarkably accurate for all conventional anesthetics and for different animals. The chapter presents a brief description of the methods of molecular simulations used to study the interactions of solutes with membranes. The chapter also discusses the distribution of anesthetics in the lipid bilayer and the mechanisms by which nonelectrolytes permeate membranes. The method of choice for computational studies of membrane systems at a molecular level has been the molecular dynamics method. Computer simulations reveal that solutes are distributed nonuniformly in a membrane and that their permeation across the bilayer cannot be characterized by a single diffusion coefficient. Instead, it is more appropriate to consider the membrane as consisting of at least three different regions comprising, respectively, lipid head groups, rigid hydrocarbon chain segments adjacent to the head groups, and fluid hydrocarbon tails in the center of the bilayer.
Response Surface Methodology--Current Status and Future Directions

This paper is a reflection on where response surface methodology (RSM) is at this point and what will likely be future directions. The emphasis in the last two decades on robust parameter design has brought attention to RSM as an alternative methodology..
Testing Candidate Topical Microbicides – Distinguishing Toxicity from Efficacy in Preclinical Testing

Topical microbicides are considered an affordable choice for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases in women. We have developed a comprehensive testing program for preclinical microbicide development. Over the years, we have tested several thousand compounds for use as topical microbicides in a series of cell-based assays addressing HIV-1 efficacy and toxicity. Recently, we compared historical data of the spermicide nonoxynol-9 (N-9) in a multi-center study and found that the HIV-1 efficacy paralleled its toxicity. Intra-assay, inter-assay, and interlaboratory variability for toxicity were remarkably consistent. In a recent clinical trial, N-9 was found to enhance HIV-1 infection, thus confirming the preclinical toxicity data. In addition to N-9, lemon and lime juices have been proposed and used as contraceptives and were recently shown to exhibit in vitro activity against HIV-1. Therefore, we tested freshly prepared lemon juice, lime juice, and household vinegar (concentration = 100%) for HIV-1 efficacy and toxicity and for effect on beneficial Lactobacillus species. In all assays, the therapeutic index was <10, due to toxicity of the juices and vinegar to cells (mean TC50 of lemon juice = 5.6%, mean TC50 of lime juice = 4.9%, and mean TC50 of vinegar 0.1%). Ten percent lemon or lime juice were not toxic to beneficial Lactobacillus species, in contrast to 10% vinegar which was highly toxic. Our preclinical data indicate that candidate topical microbicides should be moved forward into clinical trials with caution. from 2005 International Meeting of The Institute of Human Virology Baltimore, USA, 29 August – 2 September 2005
Proceedings of the great lakes symposium on VLSI

Welcome to the 22nd edition of the Great Lakes Symposium on VLSI (GLSVLSI) 2012 held in Salt Lake City, Utah at the Salt Lake Marriott, City Center. GLSVLSI is a premier venue for the dissemination of manuscripts of the highest quality in all areas related to VLSI, devices and systemlevel design. The venue of this year's GLSVLSI is Salt Lake City, which is located right next to the "Great Salt Lake." You will enjoy the beautiful Utah Mountains and surrounding scenery as well as the program over the two days of this year's GLSVLSI activity. As for the technical meeting, GLSVLSI 2012 was a resounding success: 144 papers were submitted, including authors from 34 different countries, of which 41 papers were accepted for oral presentation at the symposium (a 28% acceptance rate). With poster papers, a total of 71 papers will be presented at the symposium and published in the conference proceedings. The final technical program consists of 23 full presentations and 18 short presentations in 10 oral sessions and 30 posters in two poster sessions. GLSVLSI 2012 starts on Thursday, May 3rd, in the morning with an invited keynote talk followed by technical sessions on Emerging Technologies, Reliability, Circuit Design, CAD, Multi-core and NOC, Testing and Fault-Tolerance. Then, the technical program continues on Friday, May 4th with the second invited keynote talk followed by technical sessions which present the latest industrial and academic research covering topics such as Post-CMOS Circuits, Low Power, CAD, and VLSI Systems. The technical program of GLSVLSI 2012 includes two parallel tracks to allow longer presentations and discussions during the two days of the conference. Overall, there are ten regular sessions in the technical program with a poster session after lunch each day. We are also looking forward to the two plenary speeches that will be delivered by Al Davis, University of Utah on "The Role of Photonics in Future Data Centers", and by Khaled Salama, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology on "Memristor: The Illusive Device." Congratulations to Jia Zhao, Russell Tessier, and Wayne Burleson from University of Massachusetts, Amherst, for winning the GLSVLSI 2012 Best Student Paper Award for their paper, "Distributed Sensor Data Processing for Many-cores."
Reasoning about recursive processes:: Expansion is not always fair

Abstract When reasoning about parallel programs we would like to combine fixed-point laws for unrolling recursion with expansion laws for parallel composition. Algebraic manipulation using this combination is dangerous, because of the need to stay faithful to the assumption that parallel processes are executed fairly. We give an example of a finite-state parallel system in which the combination of fixed-point laws with a Milner-style expansion law causes a mismatch with fair parallel composition. Similar difficulties are well known in the literature, and it is traditional to conclude that the problem is caused by the unbounded non-determinism and inherent lack of continuity associated with fairness. Rather than laying the blame on fairness, we propose a new form of fair expansion for processes. Every finite-state process has a fair expansion, describing its behavior when run for an arbitrary finite number of steps. We show that fair expansion interacts smoothly with recursion and with parallel composition. We provide a fair expansion rule for obtaining a valid expansion for a parallel system from fair expansions for its components. We establish a theorem on the recursive characterization of parallel compositions of recursive processes, in what amounts to a fair parallel generalization of Bekic's theorem concerning simultaneous recursive definitions. We also discuss how to incorporate local variables.
On the origin of exponential galaxy discs

One of the most important unresolved issues for galaxy formation theory is to understand the origin of exponential galaxy discs. We use a disc galaxy evolution model to investigate whether galaxies with exponential surface brightness profiles can be produced in a cosmologically motivated framework for disc galaxy formation. Our model follows the accretion, cooling and ejection of baryonic mass, as a function of radius, inside growing dark matter haloes. The surface density profile of the disc is determined by detailed angular momentum conservation, starting from the distribution of specific angular momentum as found in cosmological simulations. Exponential and quasi-exponential discs can be produced by our model through a combination of supernova-driven galactic outflows (which preferentially remove low angular momentum material), intrinsic variation in the angular momentum distribution of the halo gas and the inefficiency of star formation at large radii. We use observations from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) New York University Value Added Catalog (NYU-VAGC) to show that the median Sersic index of late-type galaxies is a strong function of stellar mass. For blue galaxies, low-mass galaxies have n ≃ 1.3, while high-mass galaxies have n ≃ 4, with a transition mass of M star ≃ 2.5 × 10 10 M ⊙ . Our model with energy-driven outflows correctly reproduces this trend, whereas our models with momentum-driven outflows and no outflows overpredict the Sersic indices in low-mass galaxies. We show that the observed fraction of 'bulge-less' exponential galaxies is a strong function of stellar mass. For Milky Way mass galaxies (V rot ≃ 220 km s ―1 , M star ≃ 10 11 M ⊙ ), less than 0.1 per cent of blue galaxies are bulge-less, whereas for M33 mass galaxies (V rot ≃ 120 km s ―1 , M star ≃ 10 10 M ⊙ ) bulge-less and quasi-bulge-less galaxies are more common, with 45 per cent of blue galaxies having the Sersic index n < 1.5. These results suggest that the difficulty of hierarchical formation models to produce bulge-less Milky Way mass galaxies is, in fact, not a problem. However, the problem of producing M33-like galaxies remains, and will provide a key test for hierarchical galaxy formation models, and feedback models in particular.
C ring fine structures revealed in the thermal infrared

Abstract We analyze data sets obtained with the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) onboard the Cassini spacecraft after the Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI). Using the mid-IR interferometer's FP3 channel (600–1100 cm −1 ), we derive radial temperature profiles for the C ring with a spatial resolution never achieved before. For the first time, the C ring's plateaus and ringlets can be clearly separated from the optically thinner background and their thermal behavior is studied separately for different viewing geometries. In particular, thermal phase curves derived for the plateaus reveal an interesting surge near 0° phase, not observed in the background. We show that mutual shadowing in the plateaus can explain the existence of the surge but is not sufficient to model the phase curves in detail. By analogy with thermal emission of asteroid surfaces we discuss the possible influence of small scale and large scale roughness of the ring structure itself. Because infrared emissivity cannot be derived without being deconvolved from the ‘structural’ filling factor, we examine temperature and filling factors measurements at opposition where the filling factor is most constrained. The occurrence of higher temperatures in the plateaus than in the background near opposition likely arises from enhanced mutual heating between particles, multiple scattering and surface roughness combined with a higher single-scattering albedo.
KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION AND EXPERTISE EVALUATION

The knowledge acquisition phase of knowledge engineering is related to the phenomenology of domain expertise. The relationship between knowledge extraction and meta-knowledge (knowledge about what we know and how we reason) is stressed. Two knowledge extraction techniques for hard-to-trace expert reasoning are introduced. The nature of geographical knowledge and expertise is examined and related to the process of building spatial theory.
Mobilization-independent effects of a cytokinin on senescing tomato leaves.

re ichen Dioscoreaceen [3] zu vergleichen, die s t e t s zwei Reserves tof fe speichern. Die Musa-Plastiden bilden darf iber h inaus fgdige S t r u k t u r e n aus (Fig. 2, Pfeile) ; m i t e inem Durch messe r yon 4 0 6 0 ~ nn t e r sche iden sie sich deut l ich yon den t 2 0 1 4 0 ~ wei ten S i e b r 6 h r e n P l a s m a f i l a m e n t e n (Fig. t : F) . P la s t iden m i t ke i l f6rmigen Einschl f i ssen (Fig. I 3 ) s ind of fenbar t yp i s ch Ifir Monocoty len-Siebr6hren , sic w u r d e n bisher in fo lgenden O r d n u n g e n ge funden :
Transformations of volatile methylated selenium in soil

Abstract Microbial volatilization of selenium as dimethylselenide (DMSe) and dimethyldiselenide (DMDSe) from soil is an important part of the Se cycle in nature, but little is known about the stability and transformations of these gases during residence in the soil environment before dissipation to the atmosphere. Experiments monitored by gas chromatography and atomic absorption spectroscopy were made with various clay mineral standards, charcoal, commercial humic substances and soils to determine the sorption and transformations of DMSe and DMDSe injected into the headspace or passed through soil materials. Batch experiments conducted with 2–5 g materials placed into 40 mL Teflon centrifuge tubes equipped with Mininert™ gas sampling valves showed that DMSe was slowly sorbed by soil materials and most of the DMSe deficit in the headspace was recovered as SeO=3 and SeO=4. In contrast, DMDSe was rapidly partitioned from the gas phase and resulted in an increased recovery of less soluble elemental and selenide-Se forms. These results were confirmed during flow-through soil column studies with both little DMSe sorption and sorption of the majority of DMDSe addition. Additions of selenomethionine (SeMet) to soil to produce DMSe and DMDSe in sealed flasks resulted in an increased partitioning of Se into inorganic Se when compared with a flow-through system designed to limit the contact of Se gases with soil. These results suggest that soil Se volatilization as DMSe and DMDSe results in Se loss to the atmosphere as DMSe with concomitant soil Se immobilization due to the instability of DMDSe.
Nonparametric density and regression estimation for Markov sequences without mixing assumptions

The nonparametric estimation results for time series described in the literature to date stem fairly directly from a seminal work of M. Rosenblatt. The gist of the current picture is that under either strong or G2 mixing, many properties of nonparametric estimation in the i.i.d. case carry over to Markov sequences as well. The present work shows that many of the above results remain valid even when mixing assumptions are removed altogether. It is seen here that if the Markov process has a stationary density function, then under standard smoothness conditions, the kernel estimators of the stationary density and the auto-regression functions are asymptotically normal, with the same limiting parameters as in the i.i.d. case. Even when no stationary law exists, there are circumstances lenient enough to include ARMA processes and random walks, for which a kernel auto-regression estimator with sample-driven bandwidths is asymptotically normal. The foundation for this study is developments by Orey and Harris.
The formation of synaptic junctions in developing rat brain: A quantitative electron microscopic study

Abstract The formation of synaptic junctions in developing rat brain has been studied with the electron microscope, utilizing a selective staining method. In this procedure, glutaraldehyde-fixed tissue is not exposed to osmium tetroxide, but instead is blockstained with phosphotungstic acid in solution of ethanol. A selective staining of the paramembranous components of synaptic junctions results from this treatment, thus facilitating a quantification of the numerical density of synaptic junctions over large areas of sections. It was found that a sharp increase in the number of synaptic junctions occurs in rat cortex (molecular layer) during the 3rd and 4th postnatal weeks. The relationship between this increase in the numerical density of synaptic junctions and other events during development, such as the maturation of the EEG, is discussed. In addition, it is proposed that synaptic junctions evolve through several stages and a tentative morphogenetic scheme is presented.
Investigating the role of appearance-based factors in predicting sunbathing and tanning salon use

UV exposure via sunbathing and utilization of sun lamps and tanning beds are considered important risk factors for the development of skin cancer. Psychosocial models of UV exposure are often based on theories of health behavior, but theory from the body image field can be useful as well. The current study examines models that prospectively predict sunbathing and indoor tanning behaviors using constructs and interrelationships derived from the tripartite theory of body image, theory of reasoned action, health belief model, revised protection motivation theory, and a proposed integration of several health behavior models. The results generally support a model in which intentions mediate the relationship between appearance attitudes and tanning behaviors, appearance reasons to tan and intentions mediate the relationship between sociocultural influences and tanning behaviors, and appearance reasons not to tan and intentions mediate the role of perceived threat on behaviors. The implications of these findings are considered.
Atmospheric particulate background in a rural environs.

(1958). Atmospheric Particulate Background in a Rural Environs. American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal: Vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 271-275.