cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Blocking IL1 Beta Promotes Tumor Regression and Remodeling of the Myeloid Compartment in a Renal Cell Carcinoma Model: Multidimensional Analyses.

Purpose: Intratumoral immunosuppression mediated by myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) and tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) represents a potential mechanism of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) resistance in solid tumors. By promoting TAM and MDSC infiltration, Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1b) may drive adaptive and innate immune resistance in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and in other tumor types. Experimental Design: Using the RENCA model of RCC, we evaluated clinically relevant combinations of anti-IL-1b plus either anti-PD-1 or the multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) cabozantinib. We performed comprehensive immune profiling of established RENCA tumors by via multiparameter flow cytometry, tumor cytokine profiling, and single-cell RNA sequencing. Similar analyses were extended to the MC38 tumor model. Results: Analyses via multiparameter flow cytometry, tumor cytokine profiling, and single-cell RNA sequencing showed that anti-IL-1b reduces infiltration of polymorphonuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cells (PMN-MDSCs) and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). Combination treatment with anti-IL-1b plus anti-PD-1 or cabozantinib showed increased anti-tumor activity that was associated with decreases in immunosuppressive MDSC and increases in M1-like TAM. Conclusion/Discussion: Single-cell RNA sequencing analyses show that IL-1b blockade and ICI or TKI remodel the myeloid compartment through non-redundant, relatively T cell independent mechanisms. IL-1b is an upstream mediator of adaptive myeloid resistance and represents a potential target for kidney cancer immunotherapy.
Dynamics of visual perceptual processing in freely behaving mice

ABSTRACT Mice are being used increasing commonly to study visual behaviors, but the time-course of their perceptual dynamics is unclear. Here, using conditional accuracy analysis, a powerful method used to analyze human perception, and drift diffusion modeling, we investigated the dynamics and limits of mouse visual perception with a 2AFC orientation discrimination task. We found that it includes two stages – a short, sensory encoding stage lasting ∼300 ms, which involves the speed-accuracy tradeoff, and a longer visual short-term memory-dependent (VSTM) stage lasting ∼1700 ms. Manipulating stimulus features or adding a foil affected the sensory encoding stage, and manipulating stimulus duration altered the VSTM stage, of mouse perception. Additionally, mice discriminated targets as brief as 100 ms, and exhibited classic psychometric curves in a visual search task. Our results reveal surprising parallels between mouse and human visual perceptual processes, and provide a quantitative scaffold for exploring neural circuit mechanisms of visual perception.
Portfolio Risk Management via a CVaR and Stochastic Dominance Hybrid Approach

Risk management is a crucial aspect in decision making under uncertainty. This paper proposes a hybrid risk management approach for stochastic programming-based portfolio optimization problems. The proposed approach consolidates the classical Markowitz mean-conditional value at risk (CVaR) model, which is the most commonly used approach in power and energy applications, and the stochastic dominance (SD) concept. A case study on the risk management of a wind power producer’s stochastic bidding strategy in the electricity market is performed to demonstrate the superiority of the proposed approach over the commonly used mean-CVaR and the SD-based risk management approaches.
Rival landscapes of Georgia’s coastal plantations

Abstract Plantation landscapes on the Georgia coast were created and maintained by plantation owners and enslaved peoples with influences from the broader Atlantic World. Though plantation owners at the Sapelo Plantation defined the structure and boundaries of certain plantation spaces, enslaved people could manipulate, maintain, and control certain parts of those rival landscapes. The degree to which enslaved people could engage in reconfigurations of private places and spatial control of settlement spaces is reflected in the social rigidity of the plantation landscape and places.
Development and Pilot Testing of a Patient-Centered Web-Based Reproductive Decision Support Tool for Primary Care

Patient-centered counseling to help women achieve their reproductive goals is an essential yet often absent component of primary care. We developed and piloted MyPath, a novel web-based decision support tool integrating reproductive goals assessment, information about optimizing health before pregnancy, and contraceptive decision support, for use prior to primary care visits in the Veterans Administration (VA). We created MyPath using best practices for decision tool development, including a conceptual framework informed by theory and user-centered design with input from patients, providers, and scientific experts. We conducted a non-randomized pilot in two VA Women’s Health primary care clinics. A control group (n = 28) was recruited prior to and intervention group (n = 30) recruited after introduction of MyPath into clinics. Women Veterans ages 18–44 with an upcoming visit scheduled with one of eight providers. After recruitment of controls, providers and staff received a brief introduction to MyPath. Patients scheduled to see providers in the intervention phase used MyPath on an iPad in the waiting room prior to their visit. Acceptability, feasibility, discussions about pregnancy and/or contraceptive needs, and contraceptive decision quality by a survey of participants and providers. Nearly all participants who used MyPath reported they learned new information (97%) and would recommend it to other Veterans (93%). No providers reported that MyPath significantly increased workload. A greater proportion of intervention participants reported having discussions about reproductive needs in their visit compared to controls (93% vs 68%; p = 0.02). Intervention participants also experienced greater increases in pre-/post-visit knowledge and communication self-efficacy and a trend towards greater reduction in contraceptive decision conflict compared to controls. MyPath was highly acceptable to women, increased the proportion of primary care visits addressing reproductive needs, and improved decision quality without increasing providers’ perceived workload. A larger randomized evaluation of effectiveness is warranted.
When Fluxionality Beats Size Selection: Acceleration of Ostwald Ripening of Sub‐Nano Clusters

Size selection was demonstrated to suppress Ostwald ripening of supported catalytic nanoparticles. When the supported clusters are subnanometer in size and highly fluxional, such as Pt clusters on the rutile TiO2 (110) surface, this paradigm breaks down, and the established theory of sintering needs a revision. At temperatures characteristic of catalysis (i.e. 700 K), sub-nano clusters thermally populate many low-energy metastable isomers. As these isomers all have different geometric and electronic structures, and thus, formation and dissociation energies (in lieu of surface energy), Ostwald ripening is not suppressed, despite the size-selection. However, some clusters arise as magic numbers in terms of sintering stability at the ensemble level. Acceleration of sintering by metastable species persists though weakens in polydisperse cluster systems. We propose a competing pathways theory for sintering, which at the atomistic level describes the found size-specific sintering behavior.
Modeling Inverters with Grid Support Functions for Power System Dynamics Studies

A significant amount of converter-based generation, such as wind and photovoltaic, is being integrated into thebulk electric power grid to fulfill the future electric demand. Such converter-based distributed energy resources (DERs) will be providing multiple grid support functions (GSFs) to supportvoltage and frequency control of the power system. In thispaper, we present the development of a MA /Simulink-based simulation model to study power system dynamics whenDERs are equipped with GSFs. The simulation model of aninverter with GSFs is validated through comparisons against thecharacteristic curves for each function of the IEEE 1547-2018standard. The normalized root-mean-square-error (NRMSE) wascalculated to be less than 2%. The developed model is then used ina sample power systems dynamics study under various operatingconditions. Results show the exnected resnonse of inverfers withGSFs, properly supporting the grid voltage and frequency andmaintaining the value within an acceptable range.
Development and evaluation of pneumatic actuators for pediatric upper extremity rehabilitation devices

Textile pneumatic actuators were developed to provide full assistance to lift the arm of a model of an 11-year-old male beyond 120 degrees of shoulder abduction. Two fabrics and a variety of sealin...
Altered Mental Status: An Important but Overlooked Presenting Symptom of COVID-19 in Older Adults.

ABSTRACT Objectives To determine whether altered mental status (AMS) as a presenting symptom in older adults with COVID-19 is independently associated with adverse outcomes. Methods A retrospective single center observational study of admitted patients (n = 421) age greater than 60 and a positive COVID-19 test. Outcomes included mortality, intubation, acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute kidney injury, and acute cardiac injury. Multivariate regression analysis was used to determine if presenting with AMS was associated with adverse outcomes. Results There was an increased risk of mortality (RR 1.29, 95% CI 1.05–1.57), intubation (RR 1.52, 95% CI 1.09–2.12) and AKI (RR 1.42, 95% CI 1.13–1.78) in patients that presented with AMS. Conclusions During a global pandemic, prognostic indicators are vital to help guide the clinical course of patients, reduce healthcare cost, and preserve life. Our study suggests that AMS can play a major role in diagnostic algorithms in older adults with COVID-19.
The Overseers of Early American Slavery: by Laura R. Sandy, New York and London, Routledge, 2020, xix, 383 pp., £96.00 and £29.59 (hardback), ISBN 9780367419646; ISBN 9780367817015 (ebook)

This is a deeply researched, extensive study of the eighteenth-century plantation overseer in Virginia and South Carolina – a figure sorely underrepresented in the weighty historiography on slavery...
Computationally Efficient High-Dimensional Bayesian Optimization via Variable Selection.

Bayesian Optimization (BO) is a method for globally optimizing black-box functions. While BO has been successfully applied to many scenarios, developing effective BO algorithms that scale to functions with high-dimensional domains is still a challenge. Optimizing such functions by vanilla BO is extremely time-consuming. Alternative strategies for high-dimensional BO that are based on the idea of embedding the high-dimensional space to the one with low dimension are sensitive to the choice of the embedding dimension, which needs to be pre-specified. We develop a new computationally efficient high-dimensional BO method that exploits variable selection. Our method is able to automatically learn axis-aligned sub-spaces, i.e. spaces containing selected variables, without the demand of any pre-specified hyperparameters. We theoretically analyze the computational complexity of our algorithm and derive the regret bound. We empirically show the efficacy of our method on several synthetic and real problems.
Efficient Network-Based Vaccination Strategies for Epidemic Control

This paper studies the control of epidemic processes over networks. Numerous studies have investigated various methods to prevent or reduce the spread of disease during an outbreak. One of the most common approaches is network-centrality-based, which is computationally expensive, especially in networks with time-varying configurations. This paper proposes a novel immunizing strategy to control epidemics with SIR and SEIR models. This low-computation method clusters the network into subsets and selects the nodes to be immunized based on their in/out-degrees in each cluster. Our proposed algorithm is designed not only based on the network’s centrality measures but also on the network’s clusters to investigate the epidemic flow in a lower-dimensional subset. The effectiveness of our proposed method is illustrated via several numerical simulations using benchmark examples.
Rule of Law Reforms: Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc?

Between 2008 and 2013, Kenya’s Tenth Parliament was responsible for the most sustained period of legal reforms in the country’s history. The promulgation and implementation of a new constitution, the establishment of a truth commission and substantial changes to the country’s judiciary, security sector, electoral system, criminal justice system and witness protection programme meant that during this period Kenya made significant progress in ending impunity. After more than two decades of taskforces, commissions, inquiries, reports, recommendations and proposals, much-needed rule of law reforms were finally implemented. To what extent can the momentum for this widespread and fundamental rule of law reform be attributed to the OTP’s strategy of positive complementarity and the commencement of trials in The Hague.
Three perspectives on hierarchy

(1965). Three perspectives on hierarchy. Journal of Commonwealth Political Studies: Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 1-19.
Church-Related Law Schools: Academic Values and Deference to Religion

Until recently we in the Association have given little thought to problems posed by law schools with religious affiliations, perhaps because no problems arose. The Bylaws said nothing relevant until 1970 when a proposal reached the Executive Committee to add sex to the list of considerations race, color, national origin were already on it that could not serve as a basis for discrimination. The Committee added religion to the list apparently with little consideration, and, so enlarged, the amended bylaw was passed at the annual meeting with no stir at all. Only in the last several years, with the membership application of some church-affiliated schools that appeared to make distinctions on the basis of religion, was the issue given serious thought. It seemed to the Executive Committee that the new bylaw could not mean what it literally said. Distinctions on the basis of religion made to further the purposes of religiously affiliated law schools could not be equated with distinctions made on the basis of race, color, national origin, or sex. So the Committee tried to figure out the kinds of religious distinctions that did and did not amount to the discrimination contemplated by the bylaw. It produced a set of interpretive regulations, covering issues of academic freedom and privacy as well as discrimination, and remitted them to the mercies of the membership.1 The members were not merciful. The unfriendly reception given the regulations led the Executive Committee to withdraw them. There were two explanations. Either the regulations were not right or the
Circular linear prediction modeling for speech coding applications

Previously, we introduced a window-less linear-prediction method known as circular linear prediction (CLP) modeling for pitch-synchronous analysis of the speech spectrum. This paper presents the spectral estimation properties of the CLP method using various synthetic speech signals including fully-voiced, unvoiced and partially-voiced speech signals. As the true spectrum is known, it is possible to make objective measurements on how well the CLP method estimates the true spectrum. In addition, a multi-cycle generalization of the CLP method is proposed. This new method improves the spectral estimation performance of the CLP method for short pitch cycles (less than 7.5 ms). These experiments prove that the CLP method and its multi-cycle generalization are viable alternatives to the autocorrelation method for modeling speech signal, especially in transition regions.
Charge conjugation and self-conjugate bosons and fermions

The two types of charge conjugation seen in nature are discussed for particles with arbitrary integral or half-integral spin using a spinor formulation. The field operators for self-conjugate (neutral) particles are constructed for all spins and their commutation or anticommutation relation determined.
A Review of “The Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Religion”

Rachel M. McCleary assembled articles from 27 acclaimed scholars, including herself, to present a comprehensive, religiously diverse, survey of the economics of religion. McCleary earned her PhD in...
Dynamics and control of micromachined gyroscopes

We summarize principles of operation of micromachined gyroscopes, analyze dynamics of ideal and non-ideal systems, and propose an approach for formulation and solving problems of control. The suggested approach uses active nonlinear feedback control for drive and compensation of errors. Both non-adaptive and adaptive strategies are presented. These strategies can be used for a broad class of micromachined vibratory gyroscopes including those for angle and angular rate measurement.
Inverse Gaussian and Gaussian Analogies

The family of inverse Gaussian (IG) distributions is a versatile alternative to modeling nonnegative right-skewed data. The two parameter IG model is useful because of several properties it shares with the two-parameter Gaussian (normal) distribution. For example, in both cases, the maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters are sufficient and complete. They also are independent and characterize the distributions (Items 2–6, Table 1). Furthermore, the optimal procedure for testing homogeneity of several means involves an F-distribution analogous to the F-statistic associated with Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). This article catalogues such analogies between the two families. Keywords: Wald distribution; first passage time distribution
Classroom note: Variations in the solution of linear first-order differential equations

A special project which can be given to students of ordinary differential equations is described in detail. Students create new differential equations by changing the dependent variable in the familiar linear first-order equation (dv/dx) + p(x)v = q(x) by means of a substitution v = f(y). The student then creates a table of the new equations and describes how they are solved. Applications are also given.
Effects of smoking urge on temporal cognition

The authors examined temporal aspects of smoking urge. In Experiment 1, smokers assigned to high- or low-urge conditions were informed they would be allowed to smoke in 2.5 min. They next completed measures of time perception. High-urge smokers reported 45 s to pass significantly more slowly than did low-urge smokers. In Experiment 2, the high-urge smokers from Experiment 1 anticipated that their urges would climb steadily over the next 45 min if they were not permitted to smoke. Another group of high-urge smokers actually reported their urges over 45 min. These urge ratings did not show the steady rise anticipated by the first group. Results suggest that smoking urge may affect time perception and that craving smokers overpredict the duration and intensity of their own future smoking urges if they abstain.
Area coverage adaptive nulling from geosynchronous satellites: Phased arrays versus multiple-beam antennas

Antenna design trade-offs associated with providing an area coverage communication link via a geosynchronous satellite, where the geographical area to be serviced by the associated adaptive antenna system is characterized by a narrow-cone angle directed at an a priori known region on the earth's surface, are considered. Interference sources within and just surrounding the coverage area are adaptively nulled; interference sources located far from the coverage area are minimized by designing the antenna system to have low sidelobes outside the coverage area. This minimizes the number of adaptive channels which must be processed, with subsequent decrease in satellite weight and power requirements. The antenna design trade-off is between the phased array (PA) and the multiple-beam antenna (MBA). Three specific performance factors are considered in the MBA/PA design trade-off: susceptibility to out-of-coverage-area interference sources which use up the adaptive degrees of freedom allocated to the desired coverage area; effects of reduced link margin for low-gain thinned arrays; and nulling bandwidth restrictions imposed on spread spectrum communication systems. Three classes of PA's are considered: filled arrays, high gain thinned arrays, and low-gain thinned arrays.
Simulation model for transcervical laryngeal injection providing real-time feedback.

Objective:This study aimed to develop and evaluate a model for teaching transcervical laryngeal injections.Methods:A 3-dimensional printer was used to create a laryngotracheal framework based on de...
Assessment of Bleeding Events Associated With Short-Duration Therapeutic Enoxaparin Use in the Morbidly Obese

Background: Enoxaparin dosing for patients with morbid obesity is uncertain, and therefore, an elevated incidence of bleeding may exist in this group. Objective: To determine if increased bleeding events occur in patients with morbid obesity (body mass index ≥ 40 kg/m2) compared with lower-weight patients with treatment doses of enoxaparin. Methods: Patients at a single, academic medical center receiving enoxaparin for at least 24 hours from July to December 2009 were retrospectively evaluated. Patients with morbid obesity were randomly selected among the total cohort and were matched with lower-weight controls (1:2 ratio) based on the presence of renal dysfunction (serum creatinine >1.4 mg/dL). Bleeding events, defined on the basis of laboratory changes, administration of blood products, or clinical data, occurring up to 24 hours after enoxaparin administration were evaluated. Independent risk factors for bleeding were assessed via multivariate analysis. Results: The maximum single dose administered thro...
Electronic-microfluidic system for sorting particles and whole blood using gel electrodes

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is a MEMS technique widely used for sorting particles ranging from nanometer-sized latex beads to rare mammalian cells based on variations in their dielectric properties. Negative dielectrophoresis (nDEP), a type of DEP in which particles migrate down an electric field gradient, has been used to continuously sort particles into flowstreams for high-throughput sorting. Presented is an nDEP device utilizing vertical electrodes spanning the height of a microfluidic channel which generate clean sorting across flow lines and can be positioned along both channel sidewall, increasing control of the gradient shape compared to a traditional planar system. This method bypasses various microfabrication difficulties associated with vertical electrode fabrication by using channel geometry and a conductive gel formed via laminar flow to create nonuniform electric fields in the flow channel. The device consists of straight channel broken into three regions: a focusing inlet, a central sorting section, and a final trifurcation extending into three outlets for retrieval of sorted particles. Extending orthogonally from this channel on either side of the sorting region are hundreds of 30 micron wide side channels that lead from the main channel to two planarized Au/Ti electrodes on the glass substrate, between which the main channel lies. Channels are cast in PDMS using soft lithographic technique. All side channels are filled with a conductive gel of 0.5% agarose gel in PBS that provides a semisolid conductive medium beginning at the electrodes and terminating flush with the sidewalls of the main channel; these gel structures thus act as liquid vertical electrodes, focusing electric field lines from the planar electrodes and injecting them across the main channel. By strategically molding these vertical electrodes asymmetrically along the walls of the main flow channel, resultant electric field lines are dispersed as they travel from vertical electrodes of one wall to those of the opposing wall, yielding an electric field non-uniform in the x-y plane but uniform in the z-direction. To ensure even starting positions for entering particles and thus fair exposure to DEP force, attached to the entrance of the flow channel is a novel focusing system: several hundred 15μm-wide pillars spaced 10μm apart are arranged in rows tiled ±1.5° relative to laminar flow. Buffer passes through this focuser unobstructed but particles cannot and are redirected into flowlines progressively closer to either the center or one edge of the main channel. Particles thus enter the nDEP sorting region single-file along a strategically-chosen flowline, and sorting is a function only of the particles' DEP response.
Stateless Multicast Protocol for Ad Hoc Networks

Multicast routing protocols typically rely on the a priori creation of a multicast tree (or mesh), which requires the individual nodes to maintain state information. In dynamic networks with bursty traffic, where long periods of silence are expected between the bursts of data, this multicast state maintenance adds a large amount of communication, processing, and memory overhead for no benefit to the application. Thus, we have developed a stateless receiver-based multicast (RBMulticast) protocol that simply uses a list of the multicast members' (e.g., sinks') addresses, embedded in packet headers, to enable receivers to decide the best way to forward the multicast traffic. This protocol, called Receiver-Based Multicast, exploits the knowledge of the geographic locations of the nodes to remove the need for costly state maintenance (e.g., tree/mesh/neighbor table maintenance), making it ideally suited for multicasting in dynamic networks. RBMulticast was implemented in the OPNET simulator and tested using a sensor network implementation. Both simulation and experimental results confirm that RBMulticast provides high success rates and low delay without the burden of state maintenance.
Differences in importance of and satisfaction from job characteristics by sex and occupational type among Mexican-American employees☆

Abstract Data obtained from Mexican-American husbands and wives in four southwestern states were analyzed to discover if sex or occupational type (blue- versus white-collar) made a significant difference in the importance attached to or satisfaction received from 11 job characteristics. The prestige, opportunity for advancement, and regularity of their jobs were significantly more important to husbands than wives. Two of these characteristics—opportunity for advancement and regular, steady job—were also significantly more satisfying to husbands. Wives were significantly more satisfied with their jobs' freedom from safety/health hazards. Six characteristics were significantly more important to white-collar than to blue-collar male workers. Of these, two—freedom from safety/health hazards and opportunity for advancement—were also more satisfying to the white-collar male employee.
Applications of reconfigurable meshes to constant-time computations

Abstract Many practical problems lend themselves to an integer-based solution. Given such specialized data it is sometimes possible to design algorithms which are more efficient than a corresponding general-purpose algorithm. Integer sorting of the most basic integer-related problems. The purpose of this work is to present applications of reconfigurable meshes to constant time computations involving integers. More specifically, we develop a constant time integer sorting algorithm on a reconfigurable mesh and show how this leads to a constant time parentheses matching algorithm.
Apparent Indispensability of Bacteria in Foraminiferan Nutrition

SYNOPSIS. Bacteria were required for the sustained reproduction of 4 species of foraminifera in gnotobiotic culture. None of the species of algae tested, singly or in combination, supported continuous reproduction of the foraminifera in bacteria-free gnotobiotic culture. It is inferred that bacteria have some nutritional factor required by the foraminifera that is either unavailable or unavailable in sufficient quantity in an exclusively algal diet. Gnotobiotic clones of Quinqueloculina lata, Spiroloculina hyalina, Rosalina leei, and Allogromia laticollaris were established on bacteria + algae (usually 1 or 2 species). In balanced gnotobiotic cultures neither light nor foraminiferan density (organisms/ml) were limiting. As cultures aged, pH shifted and limited growth. When waste products were removed by washing, reproductive rates were higher.
The Status of Undergraduate String Teacher Education in American Colleges and Universities

This study is an examination of undergraduate string teacher education in American colleges and universities. A random sample of 180 NASM-accredited teacher training institutions was selected from the six MENC divisions, each of which represents a large geographical region of the United States. Specific research questions posed were (a) What types of string education courses are required for undergraduate music education majors? (b) What content is included in these courses? (c) How does string teacher education vary in different regions of the country? and (d) How well are undergraduate students being prepared to function as future public school string teachers? Statistically significant findings were obtained for the different regions of the country, with institutions in the North Central Division requiring the greatest number of separate string techniques and string methods courses for all music education majors. Institutions in this region also require the most contact hours per week per course, have ...
Storage Stability of α‐Tocopherol in a Dehydrated Model Food System Containing Methyl Linoleate

The storage stability of α-tocopherol in a dehydrated model food system containing methyl linoleate was evaluated. The degradation rate of α-tocopherol was best described by zero order kinetics with rates significantly greater than 0 (p≤0.002), correlation coefficients (|R|)≤0.88 and standard deviations from 4–13% of the reported rate constants. The zero order rate constants were dependent on the initial α-tocopherol concentrationn, indicating that the concentration of α-tocopherol and unknown reactant(s) does affect the storage stability of α-tocopherol. The storage parameters of water activity, storage container oxygen content, and storage temperature affected the rate of α-tocopherol loss indicating that these parameters must be controlled to maximize α-tocopherol storage stability.
Eruptive styles and inferences about plumbing systems at Hidden Cone and Little Black Peak scoria cone volcanoes (Nevada, U.S.A.)

We describe two small scoria cone volcanoes, Hidden Cone and Little Black Peak (ages between ~320–390 ka), in the Southwestern Nevada Volcanic Field and discuss their eruption mechanisms and inferences about their plumbing systems. Cone-forming pyroclastic deposits are consistent with eruptive styles ranging from Strombolian to violent Strombolian, and lavas emanated from near the bases of the cones. The volcanoes are monogenetic (rather than polycyclic, as allowed by previous geomorphic interpretations). Vents at each volcano appear to coincide with pre-existing normal faults, consistent with observations at older, deeply eroded volcanoes in the region. The existence of these two volcanoes on a topographically high area (particularly Hidden Cone) provides evidence for short feeder dike lengths (~500 m at the surface). We infer that this short length reflects the small length scale of the mantle source region that was tapped to feed each volcano.
Spin-up from rest in a differentially rotating cylinder

Etude par integration numerique des equations instationnaires de Navier-Stokes de la mise en rotation a partir du repos d'un cylindre dont les disques d'extremites tournent a des vitesses differentes
Synthesis and characterization of a highly reducing neutral "extended viologen" and the isostructural hydrocarbon 4,4''''-di-n-octyl-p-quaterphenyl.

The molecule 4,4‘ ‘‘ ‘-di-n-octyl-p-quaterphenyl was synthesized in one step by a nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction. Powder X-ray diffraction shows that it crystallizes in a layered structure with the long axis of the molecule nearly perpendicular to the layer plane. Differential scanning calorimetry indicates a transition to a liquid−crystalline phase at 81 °C. Reaction of 4,4‘-bis(4-pyridyl)biphenyl with 1-bromooctane yields the dication 22+ 2Br-, an “extended viologen” isostructural with 4,4‘ ‘‘ ‘-di-n-octyl-p-quaterphenyl. Reduction of 22+ 2Br- with sodium amalgam in DMF yields 2, the first neutral extended viologen to be isolated. The molecule 2 is, to the best of our knowledge, the most reducing neutral organic molecule that has been synthesized. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction shows that a diradical form, either singlet or triplet, makes an important contribution to the electronic structure of 2. The broadened 1H NMR spectrum of 2 indicates the presence of a triplet, but it has not been pos...
The gene 32 single-stranded DNA-binding protein is not bound stably to the phage T4 presynaptic filament.

Abstract A central reaction in homologous recombination is synapsis, which involves invasion of duplex DNA by a homologous single strand. A key intermediate in this process is the presynaptic filament, a protein–DNA complex composed of a “strand transferase” polymerized along the invading single strand. In this report, the organization and mechanism of assembly of the bacteriophage T4 presynaptic filament are explored. Three T4 proteins, encoded by the uvsX, uvsY and 32 genes, are involved in this process. It is demonstrated that a well-defined series of events involving multiple protein–DNA and protein–protein interactions is required to mediate a transition from an initial gene 32-DNA complex to a mature presynaptic filament in which the UvsX and UvsY proteins are in contact with the DNA and each other, while most or all of the gene 32 protein is removed from the complex.
Screening for anticoagulant activity in marine algae from the Northwest Mexican Pacific coast

Disorders in blood coagulation can lead to an increased risk of bleeding (hemorrhage) or clotting (thrombosis). These illnesses have increased over the last decades and no useful new substances have been discovered to remediate them. In search of new compounds from marine natural resources, macroalgae from the Northwest Mexican Pacific coast were investigated in order to detect anticoagulant activity. Egregia menziesii, Ulva neumatoidea, Porphyra perforata, Silvetia compressa, and Codium fragile were collected from Ensenada coasts. Collected materials were cleaned, dried, milled, and stored until use. Proximate chemical composition and sulfate content were determined in dried powder. Hot and cold aqueous extracts were obtained from the dried algae in order to isolate polysaccharides and similar compounds. Methanol-soluble compounds were separated by means of Soxhlet extraction. Organic and aqueous extracts were screened for anticoagulant activity in both intrinsic and extrinsic pathways of clot formation. Clotting activity was studied by standardized plasma coagulation tests (activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and prothrombin time (PT)). Heparin, a sulfated glycosaminoglycan widely used in anticoagulant therapy, was used as reference. Effects were defined either as aPTT index (Sample aPTT/Control aPTT ratio) or PT index (Sample PT/Control PT ratio). Some of the fractions showed anticoagulant activity over intrinsic pathways, whereas they were found to be coagulants on the extrinsic pathway. The highest aPTT index was 1.8 for U. nematoidea (1 μg mL−1). Hot aqueous extracts from E. menziesii (1 μg mL−1) showed the highest potency, with an aPTT index of 1.4. Sulfate content and anticoagulant activity were not correlated.
The influence on the pairing correlations and the coriolis force on the E2 ΔK = 1 transitions in deformed odd-mass nuclei

Abstract The influence of the pairing correlations, of the Coriolis mixing and of corrections to the Coriolis force mainly due to the rotation-vibration interaction on the E2 ΔK = 1 transitions are studied. Because the rotational transitions are as strong as 200 single-particle units and the Nilsson transitions lie between 10 −2 and 10 −5 units, already a small mixing can enhance the transition probability by several orders of magnitude. The pairing correlations affect the single-particle and the collective part of the transition probability in different ways. Because the single particle part of the Coriolis force is negative under time reversal, the Coriolis mixing is not reduced by the pairing force. However, the single-particle transition probability can be diminished by more than a factor 100 due to the pair correlations. The agreement of the collective values with the experimental results is good, while the Nilsson transition probabilities with pair correlations are up to several orders of magnitude too small.
Auricular escape during vagus stimulation after crushing sinus node tissue.

Abstract The effect of faradic stimulation of the right vagus nerve was studied in twenty-six dogs after specialized fibers of the sinus nodes had been crushed by means of a clamp. In eight experiments the atrial rate remained unchanged. In fourteen experiments the atrial rate was slowed but not stopped. In the remaining four experiments, the auricles were completely inhibited and the ventricles slowed. These animals were sick and the heart was in poor condition prior to the experiment. The “vagal escape” of the atria appeared as early as eight seconds after the clamping and persisted after removal of the clamp for twenty-nine minutes. Clamping off of other parts of the atria not containing specialized fibers was without effect.
Secondary Bonding as a Force Dictating Structure and Solid-State Aggregation of the Primary Nitrene Sources (Arylsulfonylimino)iodoarenes (ArINSO2Ar‘)

Iodonium ylides of the form ArINSO2Ar‘ (Ar = m-tolyl, Ar‘ = p-nitrophenyl (1); Ar = m-tolyl, Ar‘ = phenyl (2); Ar = m-tolyl, Ar‘ = p-tolyl (3); Ar, Ar‘ = p-tolyl (4)) have been prepared and crystal...
Noninvasive Measurement of Intrathoracic Fluids

lations.2,8 In a series of studies of four groups of healthy anesthetized dogs, the basal thoracic impedance (Z0) was evaluated as a means of detecting, localizing, and quantitating thoracic fluid accumulations. The Kubicek circumferential band electrode lead system4 and two variable “spot” electrode arrangements were used with a constant sinusoidal current applied to one pair of electrodes and the voltage reflecting thoracic impedance measured across the remaining pair of electrodes (Fig 1). In groups 1 and 2, pleural and pericardial effusion were simulated by the infusion and withdrawal of normal saline (37#{176}C) from each hemithorax or pencardial space, respectively. Pulmonary edema was induced in group 3 either by alloxan or sucrose, or simulated by
Surgical management of complex irreparable rotator cuff deficiency.

Abstract The authors surgically treated 23 shoulders in 23 patients with disabling pain associated with irreparable tears of the musculotendinous cuff. In a total of 12 shoulders with preserved passive motion, normal deltoid function, loss of glenohumeral joint surfaces, and sculpturing of the coracoacromial arch, a standard or oversized Neer II humeral prosthesis without glenoid replacement was selected. A total of 11 shoulders that failed to meet these prerequisites or demanded heavy use after operation underwent arthrodesis. Twenty-two patients (12 from the hemiarthroplasty group and 10 from the arthrodesis group) were available for evaluation at an average follow-up period of 37.5 months. Comfort level and overall function were improved in both groups. Active for-ward elevation improved an average of 44° in the hemiarthroplasty group and an average of 15° in the arthrodesis group. The success of hemiarthroplasty and the problems of glenoid loosening in the presence of cuff deficiency with upward head displacement have led to the conclusion that humeral hemiarthroplasty is the preferred method for managing complex irreparable tears of the rotator cuff in which the articular surface is destroyed, yet the deltoid muscle is functional. Shoulder arthrodesis is reserved for those patients who have both irreparable tears of the rotator cuff and irreparable deficiencies of the deltoid muscle, or the younger patient with demands for substantial strength at low angles of flexion.
LIGAND-DEPENDENT REGULATION OF RETINOIC ACID RECEPTOR ALPHA IN RAT TESTIS: IN VIVO RESPONSE TO DEPLETION AND REPLETION OF VITAMIN A

Male animals are sterile due to testicular degeneration in the absence of retinoic acid (RA) or functional retinoic acid receptor-alpha (RAR alpha). This degeneration can be reversed by injecting retinol, a precursor of RA, into vitamin A-deficient (VAD) rats. To determine the relationship between this ligand-dependent testicular degeneration and regeneration and the expression levels of RAR alpha messenger RNA and protein, testes were depleted and then replenished with retinol in vivo. Results showed that RAR alpha messenger RNA and protein levels declined to VAD amounts after 7 weeks on a VAD diet. This decline was due to decreased RAR alpha levels in early meiotic spermatocytes and the loss of advanced germ cells. Interestingly, the advanced germ cells still contained RAR alpha, but the protein was primarily cytoplasmic instead of nuclear, indicating inactivity as a transcription factor. In VAD testis, RAR alpha levels were low and then increased primarily in Sertoli cells after retinol replenishment. TUNEL analyses showed that most germ cells at the basal aspect of seminiferous tubules were undergoing apoptosis during degeneration. These results indicate that RAR alpha is either down-regulated or inactivated in RA-deficient testis and coincident with that, testes degenerate by apoptosis or selective loss of germ cells.
Effects of daytime carbon dioxide concentration on dark respiration in rice

Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration ([CO2]) has generated considerable interest in the response of agricultural crops to [CO2]. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of a wide range of daytime [CO2] on dark respiration of rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. IR-30). Rice plants were grown season-long in naturally sunlit plant growth chambers in subambient (160 and 250), ambient (330), or super-ambient (500, 660 and 900 μmol CO2 mol−1 air) [CO2] treatments. Canopy dark respiration, expressed on a ground area basis (Rd) increased with increasing [CO2] treatment from 160 to 500 μmol mol−1 treatments and was very similar among the superambient treatments. The trends in Rd over time and in response to increasing daytime [CO2] treatment were associated with and similar to trends previously described for photosynthesis. Specific respiration rate (Rdw) decreased with time during the growing season and was higher in the subambient than the ambient and superambient [CO2] treatments. This greater Rdw in the subambient [CO2] treatments was attributed to a higher specific maintenance respiration rate and was associated with higher plant tissue nitrogen concentration.
Quaternary stratigraphy, sediment characteristics and geochemistry of arsenic-contaminated alluvial aquifers in the Ganges-Brahmaputra floodplain in central Bangladesh

This study focuses on the Quaternary stratigraphy, sediment composition, mineralogy, and geochemistry of arsenic (As)-contaminated alluvial aquifers in the Ganges-Brahmaputra floodplain in the central Bangladesh. Arsenic concentrations in 85 tubewells in Manikganj area, 70 km northwest of Dhaka City, range from 0.25 microg/L to 191 microg/L with a mean concentration of 33 microg/L. Groundwater is mainly Ca-HCO(3) type with high concentrations of dissolved As, Fe, and Mn, but low level of SO(4). The uppermost aquifer occurs between 10 m and 80 m below the surface that has a mean arsenic concentration of 35 microg/L. Deeper aquifer (>100 m depth) has a mean arsenic concentration of 18 microg/L. Sediments in the upper aquifer are mostly gray to dark-gray, whereas sediments in the deep aquifer are mostly yellowing-gray to brown. Quartz, feldspar, mica, hornblende, garnet, kyanite, tourmaline, magnetite, ilmenite are the major minerals in sediments from both aquifers. Biotite and potassium feldspar are dominant in shallow aquifer, although plagioclase feldspar and garnet are abundant in deep aquifer sediments. Sediment composition suggests a mixed provenance with sediment supplies from both orogenic belts and cratons. High arsenic concentrations in sediments are found within the upper 50 m in drilled core samples. Statistical analysis shows that As, Fe, Mn, Ca, and P are strongly correlated in sediments. Concentrations of Cd, Cu, Ni, Zn, and Bi also show strong correlations with arsenic in the Manikganj sediment cores. Authigenic goethite concretions, possibly formed by bacteria, are found in the shallow sediments, which contain arsenic of a concentration as high as 8.8 mg/kg. High arsenic concentrations in aquifers are associated with fine-grained sediments that were derived mostly from the recycled orogens and relatively rapidly deposited mainly by meandering channels during the Early to Middle Holocene rising sea-level conditions.
Aging and cancer vaccines

Cancer vaccination is less effective at old than at young age, due to T cell unresponsiveness. This is caused by age-related changes of the immune system. Major immune defects at older age are lack of naive T cells, impaired activation pathways of T cells and antigen-presenting cells (APC), and age-related changes in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Also innate immune responses are affected by aging, but this seems less abundant than adaptive immune responses. In this review we compared various cancer vaccine studies at young and old age, demonstrating the importance of both innate and adaptive immune responses for cancer immunotherapy. Moreover, we found suggestive evidence that innate immune responses could help improve adaptive immune responses through cancer vaccination in old age.
Polycaprolactone and bovine serum albumin based nanofibers for controlled release of nerve growth factor.

Tissue engineering approaches for peripheral nerve regeneration employ biodegradable scaffolds coupled with growth factors for improved performance in regeneration of large nerve injuries. Electrospun nanofibers provide a versatile platform for fabrication of scaffolds with extracellular matrix like architecture and increased surface area. Incorporation of growth factors in nanofibers have been previously demonstrated using oil in water emulsion techniques but are associated with burst release and loss of valuable growth factor. Here, we show a novel blend of polycaprolactone and bovine serum albumin (BSA) to form nanofibers containing nerve growth factors. The BSA helps in overcoming the most common drawbacks associated with hydrophobic polymers such as reduced loading efficiency, long degradation periods, and burst release. The controlled release of nerve growth factor (NGF) from the nanofibers was evaluated using enzyme linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA) and PC12 based bioassay over a 28 day time peri...