cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Black widow spider α-latrotoxin: a presynaptic neurotoxin that shares structural homology with the glucagon-like peptide-1 family of insulin secretagogic hormones

alpha-Latrotoxin is a presynaptic neurotoxin isolated from the venom of the black widow spider Latrodectus tredecimguttatus. It exerts toxic effects in the vertebrate central nervous system by depolarizing neurons, by increasing [Ca2+]i and by stimulating uncontrolled exocytosis of neurotransmitters from nerve terminals. The actions of alpha-latrotoxin are mediated, in part, by a GTP-binding protein-coupled receptor referred to as CIRL or latrophilin. Exendin-4 is also a venom toxin, and it is derived from the salivary gland of the Gila monster Heloderma suspectum. It acts as an agonist at the receptor for glucagon-like peptide-1(7-36)-amide (GLP-1), thereby stimulating secretion of insulin from pancreatic beta-cells of the islets of Langerhans. Here is reported a surprising structural homology between alpha-latrotoxin and exendin-4 that is also apparent amongst all members of the GLP-1-like family of secretagogic hormones (GLP-1, glucagon, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, secretin, pituitary adenylyl cyclase activating polypeptide). On the basis of this homology, we report the synthesis and initial characterization of a chimeric peptide (Black Widow GLP-1) that stimulates Ca2+ signaling and insulin secretion in human beta-cells and MIN6 insulinoma cells. It is also reported here that the GTP-binding protein-coupled receptors for alpha-latrotoxin and exendin-4 share highly significant structural similarity in their extracellularly-oriented amino-termini. We propose that molecular mimicry has generated conserved structural motifs in secretagogic toxins and their receptors, thereby explaining the evolution of defense or predatory strategies that are shared in common amongst distantly related species including spiders, lizards, and snakes. Evidently, the toxic effects of alpha-latrotoxin and exendin-4 are explained by their ability to interact with GTP-binding protein-coupled receptors that normally mediate the actions of endogenous hormones or neuropeptides.
Carbon-13 NMR spectra: Halocarbons vs hydrocarbons

Abstract The carbon-13 NMR chemical shift and 13 C 19 F coupling constant data for a variety of perhalo- and polyhalocarbon compounds, including alcohols, imines, and ketones, are reported. Bonding inferences derived from the 13 C data are compared with those from other spectroscopic and chemical data. Contrasts and similarities between the halocarbons and hydrocarbons are noted.
Damage and rheology in a fibre‐bundle model

SUMMARY In this paper, we consider the continuum deformation of the brittle upper continental lithosphere, utilizing the fibre-bundle model. Fibre failure is assumed to be a thermally activated process. We further assume that a failed fibre is replaced by a new unstressed fibre. This replacement is analogous to a migration of a dislocation, an earthquake rupture or a microcrack. We derive a non-Newtonian power-law viscous rheology. This is the rheology that has been used to explain the lithospheric deformation in Tibet. We also constrain the parameters in our model using aftershocks. A major advantage of our upper continental rheology is that it has a strong temperature dependence. We then use this model to define the strength envelope of the continental lithosphere. Our results suggest that a damage model is appropriate for the continuum rheology of the upper continental lithosphere.
TU-EE-A4-05: Comparison of Backprojection and a Penalized Maximum Likelihood Algorithm for Detection of Microcalcifications in Breast Tomosynthesis.

Tomosynthesis is proving to be a valuable tool for generating three dimensional images of the breast with only a limited number of projection angles. The image quality of the resulting tomosynthesis slices can potentially be improved by using more optimal acquisition geometries and/or improved reconstruction techniques. In this paper we compare the performance of a standard back‐projection (BP) algorithm with an algorithm that maximizes a penalized likelihood (PML) objective function using an optimization transfer principle leading to a simultaneous update algorithm. To compare reconstruction algorithms, a computer simulation is used to model the breast tomosynthesis geometry and human observer performance in detecting micro‐calcification clusters is evaluated. The simulation modeled the compressed breast using a structured breast phantom, with randomly inserted clusters of spherical “micro‐calcifications”. Clinically realistic x‐ray spectra were generated and x‐ray transport through the breast phantom was modeled using ray‐tracing combined with the focal spot and the detector blur of a 200 micron CsI scintillator. The iterative reconstruction used a simultaneous update algorithm where the non‐quadratic penalized likelihood objective function (which is difficult to maximize) is replaced by a surrogate paraboloidal function. A Huber prior was used as the potential function with the ability to control edge preserving factors and smoothness. A standard back‐projection technique that is computationally faster (in comparison to the iterative method) was used as a comparison. To evaluate microcalcification detection accuracy of the methods, an N‐alternative forced choice (NAFC) based observer study was performed. The results of NAFC studies performed with 3 observers and 63 pairs of images for each method shows that the PML based technique gave a percent correct improvement by 0.32 over the FB technique. The observers read the PML based images about 4 times faster than the FB technique indicating higher visibility of calcifications in the former.
The modifying effect of patient location on stage-specific survival following colorectal cancer using geosurvival models

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer death in the US, and stage at diagnosis is the primary prognostic factor. To date, the interplay between geographic place and individual characteristics such as cancer stage with CRC survival is unexplored. We used a Bayesian geosurvival statistical model to evaluate whether the spatial patterns of CRC survival at the census tract level varies by stage at diagnosis (in situ/local, regional, distant), controlling for patient characteristics, surveillance test use, and treatment using linked 1991–2005 SEER-Medicare data of patients ≥ 66 years old in two US metropolitan areas. The spatial pattern of survival varied by stage at diagnosis for both cancer sites and registries. Significant spatial effects were identified in all census tracts for colon cancer and the majority of census tracts for rectal cancer. Geographic disparities appeared to be highest for distant-stage rectal cancer. Compared to those with in situ/local stage in the same census tracts, patients with distant-stage cancer were at most 7.73 times and 4.69 times more likely to die of colon and rectal cancer, respectively. Moreover, frailty areas for CRC at in situ/local stage more likely have a higher relative risk at regional stage, but not at distant stage. We identified geographic areas with excessive risk of CRC death and demonstrated that spatial patterns varied by both cancer type and cancer stage. More research is needed to understand the moderating pathways between geographic and individual-level factors on CRC survival.
Contrasting food-web support bases for adjoining river-influenced and non-river influenced continental shelf ecosystems

Nutrient and chlorophyll a concentrations and distributions in two adjoining regions of the South Atlantic Bight (SAB), Onslow Bay and nearshore Long Bay, were investigated over a 3-year period. Onslow Bay represents the northernmost region of the SAB, and receives very limited riverine influx. In contrast, Long Bay, just to the south, receives discharge from the Cape Fear River, draining the largest watershed within the State of North Carolina, USA. Northern Long Bay is a continental shelf ecosystem that has a nearshore area dominated by nutrient, turbidity and water-color loading from inputs from the river’s plume. Average
Suggestions for the Analysis of Qualitative Dependent Variables

The interpretation of regression coefficients when the dependent variable is qualitative is not impaired by the scale variance which accrues from order preserving transformations of the dependent variable. The article compares the scale variance of dependent qualitative variables to the more familiar scale variance of independent or dummy variables. Further analysis is conducted about the properties of trichotomous dependent variables as applied to a specific example in the estimation of revealed preference and public choice.
Effects of anesthesia on DPOAE level and phase in rats.

Abstract Many studies of the auditory system are performed on animals under general anesthesia. A concern for researchers is that these agents may significantly alter the underlying neurophysiologic mechanisms being studied. The effects may very across species, and even among individuals within a species. An investigation was undertaken to study whether DPOAE measures differ using three different anesthetic regimens: acetylpromazine–ketamine, xylazine–ketamine, and sodium pentobarbital. The same rat was anesthetized in three consecutive weeks using a different anesthetic regimen each week. DPOAE magnitude and phase temporal responses were recorded from which several measures were taken: DPOAE levels at the onset of the primaries, changes in DPOAE level as a function of time during presentation of the primaries (ΔLI) and changes in DPOAE level (ΔLC) and phase (ΔPC) during presentation of a broad-band noise presented contralateral to the probe. Each week the same measurements were repeated with the rat anesthetized using a different regimen and at the end of the third week, the middle ear muscles were sectioned and the measurements repeated once again. Results showed that the anesthetic regimens did not differentially alter the DPOAE onset levels. When sodium pentobarbital was used as the anesthetic regimen, ΔLC and ΔPC were significantly smaller relative to those measured when the rats were anesthetized with acetylpromazine–ketamine and xylazine–ketamine. Based on the assumption that large, positive (ΔPC) values are related to middle ear muscle activation, the middle ear muscle reflex remained at least partially active in some rats under sodium pentobarbital anesthesia. The ΔLI measures were significantly smaller when the animals were anesthetized with xylazine–ketamine and sodium pentobarbital than when they were anesthetized with acetylpromazine–ketamine. Recordings taken after sectioning the middle ear muscles suggested that the middle ear muscle reflex substantially contributes to ΔLC and ΔPC measures under the anesthetic regimens xylazine–ketamine and acetylpromazine–ketamine. Data indicated that anesthetic agents variably alter neurophysiologic mechanisms involved with the complex control of the auditory signal even among individuals in the same species. Extreme care should be taken when comparing ΔLI, ΔLC and ΔPC across studies when different anesthetic regimens are used within and across species.
Seed Viability and Fire-Related Temperature Treatments in Serotinous California Native Hesperocyparis Species

Fire-prone serotinous California Hesperocyparis L. (cypress) have been experiencing low seedling recruitment, underscoring our need to better understand these species’ responses to fire. We investigated the specific heating conditions required to break cone serotiny and to promote seed dispersal by focusing on five Hesperocyparis species of interior California: Hesperocyparis nevadensis (Abrams) Bartel, Paiute cypress; H. bakeri (Jeps.) Bartel, Baker cypress (also known as Modoc cypress); H. forbesii Jeps. Bartel, tecate cypress; H. macnabiana (A. Murray bis) Bartel, McNab’s cypress; and H. sargentii (Jeps.) Bartel (Sargent’s cypress). A muffle furnace was used to conduct eight temperature treatments of 250 °C to 700 °C, ranging in duration from 30 seconds to 5 minutes of exposure. The heat-released seeds were tested for viability using a tetrazolium red stain. Logistic regression analysis of seed viability indicated that duration of heating alone was highly significant (P < 0.005) for all species, regardless of temperature, with durations of 1 min or less resulting in the greatest viability. Hesperocyparis forbesii and H. nevadensis were capable of tolerating temperatures as high as 700 °C. Models predicting seed viability reflected interspecific differences, with H. macnabiana and H. sargentii having higher seed viability than H. nevadensis and H. forbesii, which had higher seed viability than H. bakeri. Lab results coupled with field observations following fire suggest that fire can trigger a massive release of seeds, overwhelming the inherently low viability and allowing for greater potential for adequate seedling establishment.
Twice-Daily Application of HIV Microbicides Alters the Vaginal Microbiota

ABSTRACT Vaginal HIV microbicides offer great promise in preventing HIV transmission, but failures of phase 3 clinical trials, in which microbicide-treated subjects had an increased risk of HIV transmission, raised concerns about endpoints used to evaluate microbicide safety. A possible explanation for the increased transmission risk is that the agents shifted the vaginal bacterial community, resulting in loss of natural protection and enhanced HIV transmission susceptibility. We characterized vaginal microbiota, using pyrosequencing of bar-coded 16S rRNA gene fragments, in samples from 35 healthy, sexually abstinent female volunteer subjects (ages 18 to 50 years) with regular menses in a repeat phase 1 study of twice-daily application over 13.5 days of 1 of 3 gel products: a hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC)-based “universal” placebo (10 subjects), 6% cellulose sulfate (CS; 13 subjects), and 4% nonoxynol-9 (N-9; 12 subjects). We used mixed effects models inferred using Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo methods, which showed that treatment with active agents shifted the microbiota toward a community type lacking significant numbers of Lactobacillus spp. and dominated by strict anaerobes. This state of the vaginal microbiota was associated with a low or intermediate Nugent score and was not identical to bacterial vaginosis, an HIV transmission risk factor. The placebo arm contained a higher proportion of communities dominated by Lactobacillus spp., particularly L. crispatus, throughout treatment. The data suggest that molecular evaluation of microbicide effects on vaginal microbiota may be a critical endpoint that should be incorporated in early clinical assessment of microbicide candidates. IMPORTANCE Despite large prevention efforts, HIV transmission and acquisition rates remain unacceptably high. In developing countries, transmission mainly occurs through heterosexual intercourse, where women are significantly more vulnerable to infection than men. Vaginal microbicides are considered to be one of the most promising female-controlled products, in that women themselves insert the microbicides into the vagina to prevent HIV transmission during sexual intercourse. The failure of several microbicides in clinical trials has raised questions concerning the low in vivo efficacy of such anti-HIV molecules. This study was designed to gain insights into the failures of two microbicides by testing the hypothesis that the microbicides negatively affect a critical line of defense against HIV, the vaginal microbiota. The results suggest that in the early assessment of candidate microbicides, culture-independent evaluation of their effect on the vaginal microbiota should be considered and may constitute a critical endpoint.
Corneal deformation signal waveform analysis in keratoconic versus post-femtosecond laser in situ keratomileusis eyes after statistical correction for potentially confounding factors.

Purpose To evaluate and compare corneal biomechanical waveform parameters between keratoconic and post-femtosecond laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). Setting Jules Stein Eye Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA. Design Comparative case series. Methods The Ocular Response Analyzer was used to obtain the corneal hysteresis (CH), corneal resistance factor (CRF), and 39 biomechanical waveform parameters in manifest keratoconic eyes and post-femtosecond LASIK eyes. Univariate tests were used to assess the difference in each parameter between the 2 groups of eyes. After controlling for central corneal thickness (CCT) and age, a logistic regression model was used to select the parameters most useful in distinguishing between the 2 groups. Results After statistically controlling for the differences in CCT and age, 7 parameters were found to be the most useful in distinguishing between groups: aplhf (high frequency noise in the region between peaks [P1 and P2]; P P =.001), dslop1 (down-slope of P1 of wave; P P =.0007), uslope1 (upslope of the P1 of wave; P =.001), CH ( P =.035), and P1area (area under P1 of wave; P =.006). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for the model using these parameters was 0.932. Conclusions Differences in multiple biomechanical waveform parameters between the keratoconus and post-LASIK groups suggests that waveform analysis may be useful to differentiate between healthy and diseased biomechanical conditions. Financial Disclosure Dr. Hamilton has received honoraria from Reichert for educational lectures on corneal biomechanics. No author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.
Fusion of Face and Gait for Automatic Human Recognition

In recent years, several techniques have been proposed which integrate face, a physical biometric, with gait, a behavioral biometric, with the aim of investigating if such a combination will improve upon the performance of methods which exclusively employ only one of these biometrics. An overview of some of the well-known approaches in this area, along with a discussion of the advantages offered and the challenges faced by such systems, is provided in this paper and the potential of this technology for further research and application is explored.
Management of the healthcare worker infected with human immunodeficiency virus: lessons from nosocomial transmission of hepatitis B virus.

Since acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was first recognized and reported in 1981, more than 175,000 persons with AIDS have been reported to public health departments in the United States.1 Despite advances in therapy, the median survival following the diagnosis of AIDS is approximately two years.2 The dramatic increase in AIDS cases and their continued poor prognosis has resulted in great public concern regarding the risks of transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from infected healthcare workers to patients. The report of probable transmission of HIV infection from a dentist to five patients3-5 has lead in part to the recent publication of recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for the prevention of nosocomial transmission of HIV during exposure-prone invasive procedures from infected healthcare workers to patients.6 In brief, these recommendations entail the following: all healthcare workers should adhere to Universal Precautions (UP); healthcare workers who perform exposure-prone invasive procedures should know their HIV status but testing should be on a voluntary basis; and healthcare workers testing positive for HIV or hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B "e" antigen (HBeAg) should not perform exposure-prone procedures unless cleared by an expert panel, and then only with informed consent of their patients. Voluntary or mandatory exclusion from performing invasive procedures by HIV-infected healthcare workers also has been recommended in position papers published by the American Medical Association,7 the Society for Hosp tal Epidemiology of America,8 and the Association for Practitioners in Infection Control.8 However, a position paper from the Infectious Disease Society of A erica indicates that HIVinfected healthcare workers who comply with standard infection co trol practices should not be routinely excluded or re tricted from performing patient care activities, including invasive procedures.9 The scientific underpinning of the CDC recommendations is based on an evaluation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) outbreaks involving healthcare worker-to-patient transmission and the belief that HIV is tra smitted in ways similar to HBV, but less readily. We will review the published reports of HBV transmission during invasive procedures as a guide to d termine which procedure are likely to be associa ed with a risk of HIV transmission.
Manufacturing concessions: Attritionary outsourcing at General Motor's Lordstown, USA assembly plant

Workers at the General Motors (GM) auto assembly factory in Lordstown, Ohio, USA, fabled in the industrial sociology literature because of their militancy during a 1972 labor dispute, have over the past decade approved a succession of contracts whittling down the labor force from 12,000 to around 3000 today. These reductions were accomplished by ‘attritionary outsourcing’. To explain why labor has accepted such job loss, this interview project with Lordstown workers extends accepted accounts of deindustrialization by considering the political, material and ideological conditions underlying concessionary bargaining. As the tactic known as ‘whipsawing’ became less credible and consequential, GM turned to tactics that actively secure worker consent to job loss. Here one can see the replacement of Burawoy’s hegemonic despotism by a despotic hegemony.
Energy Efficient Routing for Statistical Inference of Markov Random Fields

The problem of routing of sensor observations for optimal detection of a Markov random field (MRF) at a designated fusion center is analyzed. Assuming that the correlation structure of the MRF is defined by the nearest-neighbor dependency graph, routing schemes which minimize the total energy consumption are analyzed. It is shown that the optimal routing scheme involves data fusion at intermediate nodes and requires transmissions of two types viz., the raw sensor data and the aggregates of log-likelihood ratio (LLR). The raw data is transmitted among the neighbors in the dependency graph and local contributions to the LLR are computed. These local contributions are then aggregated and delivered to the fusion center. A 2-approximation routing algorithm (DFMRF) is proposed and it has a transmission multidigraph consisting of the dependency graph and the directed minimum spanning tree, with the directions toward the fusion center.
Machine Learning-Based Runtime Scheduler for Mobile Offloading Framework

Remote offloading techniques have been proposed to overcome the limited resources of mobile platforms by leveraging external powerful resources such as personal work-stations or cloud servers. Prior studies have primarily focused on core mechanisms for offloading. Yet, adaptive scheduling in such systems is important because offloading effectiveness can be influenced by varying network conditions, workload requirements, and load at the target device. In this paper, we present a study on the feasibility of applying machine learning techniques to address the adaptive scheduling problem in mobile offloading framework. The study considers 19 different machine learning algorithms and four workloads, with a dataset obtained through the deployment of an Android-based remote offloading framework prototype on actual mobile and cloud resources. From this set, a subset of machine learning algorithms, which have relatively high scheduling accuracy, is selected to implement an offline offloading scheduler. Finally, by taking computational cost and the scheduling performance into account, we use Instance-Based Learning to evaluate an online adaptive scheduler for mobile offloading. In our evaluation, we observe that an Instance Learning-based online offloading scheduler selects the best scheduling decision in 87.5% instances, in an experiment setup in which an image processing workload is offloaded while subject to varying network bandwidth conditions and the amount of data transfer.
Extinction or Rescue for the Hawksbill

The hawksbill turtle is seriously threatened with extinction, due mainly to trade in tortoiseshell. This has sent the price rocketing. Divers hunting for lobsters and snappers find it rewarding to search even the remotest reefs in the hope of getting the odd turtle – worth $200 or more. The authors urge that only by stopping the trade through CITES can the hawksbill be saved.
Tooth and nail

Abstract Once, and only once, I had to fight for my life. The experience catapulted me to an edge of my being that I am glad to have found but don't want to visit too often–an edge others may seek by climbing a glacier, trekking in Nepal, or fasting for a week to induce visions. I am not a thrill-seeker, but a lazy quester content to make do with the ample shocks life has brought me unsought.
The distal hindlimb musculature of the cat. Patterns of normal use.

Chronic recordings were made of electromyographic (EMG) activity, tension, and length of distal hindlimb muscles in six cats performing a variety of normal motor tasks. Muscles studied thoroughly or in part were medial gastrocnemius, lateral gastrocnemius, plantaris, soleus, flexor digitorum brevis, flexor digitorum longus, flexor hallucis longus, tibialis posterior, tibialis anterior, extensor digitorum longus, peroneus longus, and peroneus brevis. Postural and locomotor activities were examined, as well as jumping, landing, scratching, and paw shaking. In general, muscles could be assigned to traditional groupings (e.g. extensor, flexor) related to the demands of the motor task. Patterns of muscle activity were most often consistent with current understanding of muscle mechanics and neural coordination. However, purely functional distinctions between flexor digitorum longus and flexor hallucis longus ("anatomical synergists") were made on the basis of activity patterns. Likewise, the activity of plantaris and flexor digitorum brevis, which are attached in series, was differentiated in certain tasks. The rhythmical oscillatory patterns of scratching and paw shaking were found to differ temporally in a manner consistent with the limb mechanics. In several cases, mechanical explanations of specific muscle activity required length and force records, as well as EMG patterns. Future efforts to study motor patterns should incorporate information about the relationships between muscle activation, tension, length and velocity.
INTACT SURF CLAM CRYSTALLINE STYLES AS IMMOBILIZED ENZYMES

The crystalline style of the surf clam, Spisula solidissima though initially quite compact and easy to handle, falls apart leaving a jelly, watery-like mass. Stabilization and retention of enzymatic activity within the style as an immobilizing matrix was the ultimate objective of this study. The crystalline style was subjected to glutaraldehyde treatment, and conditions for stabilization were established. These criteria were evaluated by measuring the amount of laminarinase activity recovered. The whole, stabilized styles were then tested in batch, plug flow and continuous stirred tank reactors for the hydrolysis of the algal polysaccharide laminarin.
Filamentary keratitis occurring after strabismus surgery

We report the case of a 58-year-old woman who developed filamentary keratitis after undergoing uncomplicated strabismus surgery for exotropia secondary to third-nerve palsy with a large head turn and incomitant left exotropia. Her symptoms were controlled after a bandage contact was used. No similar cases of filamentary keratitis occurring after strabismus surgery have been reported. Filamentary keratitis is usually associated with symptoms of ocular irritation and foreign-body sensation. Filamentary keratitis occurs in association with numerous disorders: keratoconjunctivitis sicca, superior limbic keratoconjunctivitis, epidemic keratoconjunctivitis, postcataract extraction, 1 post‐penetrating keratoplasty, 2 neurotrophic keratitis, 3 herpetic keratitis, bullous keratopathy, eyelid occlusion, 4 brain stem injury, 5 diphenhydramine hydrochloride use, 6 hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasis, 7 retrobulbar injection of botulinum toxin, 8 and anticardiolipin antibodies. 9 The exact pathogenesis of this entity remains unclear. 10 Filament formation results from a derangement in the corneal epithelium and a relative excess of mucus. The excess mucus is usually secondary to chronic irritation, and the location of the filaments depends on the type of underlying corneal pathology.
Host Country Network, Industry Experiences, and International Alliance Formation: Experience from the Venture Capital Industry

Integrating resource dependence and social network theories, we investigate how foreign firms’ position in alliance network in host country influences their further allying with firms from the host and home countries. We introduce network centrality as a factor that influences two competing forces in alliance formation: willingness and attractiveness. Furthermore, we argue that foreign firms suffering from a low network centrality may find it easier to enhance their network position if they have industry experience. Our analysis of data on US venture capital firms’ investment in China supports our theoretical framework. Theoretical and managerial implications of our findings are discussed.
Measurement of the Absorption of Microwave Power by Corroded Metals

Metal alloys, when exposed to a salt/organic environment at elevated temperatures, corrode resulting in a decrease in the surface conductivity. This decrease can be monitored and assessed via the measurement of the incident and reflected microwave signals impinging upon the corroded surface. Several metallic alloys, stainless steels and inconels, were treated with a salt/organic mixture (proprietary) and heat treated at 1100 F. Periodically, the metals were removed from the furnace, allowed to cool to room temperature, and measured electrically. The samples were re-coated with the salt/organic mixture and re-heat treated. The electrical measurements showed a generally increased power absorption as corrosion thickness increased.
DEVELOPMENTAL STABILITY IN LEAVES OF CLARKIA TEMBLORIENSIS (ONAGRACEAE) AS RELATED TO POPULATION OUTCROSSING RATES AND HETEROZYGOSITY.

Four natural populations of Clarkia tembloriensis, whose levels of heterozygosity and rates of outcrossing were previously found to be correlated, are examined for developmental instability in their leaves. From the northern end of the species range, we compare a predominantly selfing population (i = 0.26) with a more outcrossed population = 0.84), which is genetically similar. From the southern end of the range, we compare a highly selfing population = 0.03) with a more outcrossed population (t = 0.58). We measured developmental stability in the populations using two measures of within-plant variation in leaf length as well as calculations of fluctuating asymmetry (FA) for several leaf traits. Growth-chamber experiments show that selfing populations are significantly more variable in leaf length than more outcrossed populations. Developmental instability can contribute to this difference in population- level variance. Plants from more homozygous populations tend to have greater within-plant variance over develop- mentally comparable nodes than plants from more heterozygous populations, but the difference is not significant. At the upper nodes of the plant, mature leaf length declines steadily with plant age, allowing for a regression of leaf length on node. On average, the plants from more homozygous populations showed higher variance about the regression (MSE) and lower R2 values, suggesting that the decline in leaf length with plant age is less stable in plants from selfing populations than in plants from outcrossing populations. Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) was calculated for four traits within single leaves at up to five nodes per plant. At the early nodes of the plant where leaf arrangement is opposite, FA was also calculated for the same traits between opposite leaves at a node. Fluctuating asymmetry is significantly greater in the southern selfing population than in the neighboring outcrossed population. Northern pop- ulations do not differ in FA. Fluctuating asymmetry can vary significantly between nodes. The FA values of different leaf traits were not correlated. We show that developmental stability can be measured in plants using FA and within- plant variance. Our data suggest that large differences in breeding system are associated with differences in stability, with more inbred populations being the least stable.
Welcome and introduction to the summit

This is a remarkable time to be a pharmacist, particularly for ambulatory care practitioners. To begin with, at any moment in time, less than 1% of the population of the United States is in a hospital, which means that more than 99% of us are ambulating. You know the research. More than 50% of the
The Effectiveness of Industrial Print Advertisements across Product Categories

The relationships between 24 print ad characteristics and recall, readership, and inquiry-generation measures of effectiveness are examined for 1160 industrial ads. Both recall and readership are s...
The preparatory committee’s “Definition of crimes”—War crimes

T his essay provides commentary with respect to the March 1997 and December 1997 reports of the Working Group on the Definition of Crimes, with a focus on war crimes being addressed by the Working Group. The Working Group has drafted definitions of crimes for the Preparatory Committee on the Establishment of a Permanent International Criminal Court ("ICC"). The Preparatory Committee will finalize a draft Statute for the ICC in April 1998, and the Statute will be considered by the Diplomatic Conference on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court in Rome, June 15-July 10, 1998, for adoption by treaty. Even though some changes have occurred between the March and December reports, analysis of problematic words and phrases contemplated at some point by the Working Group is appropriate because final language has not been adopted and some might argue
Toxicological research on yellow pigment prepared from Leucosceptrum canum(Smith)

Yellow pigment with color value 1 040 U/mL was extracted by water at 85 ℃ from flower of Leucosceptrum canum(Smith) and toxicological research was carried out in the Center of Disease Control of Guangdong Province. NIH mouse(SPE grade) was given orally at dose of 2.15、4.64、10.0、21. 5 g/kg BW and it was found that the LD50 value of the pigment was more than 21. 5 g/kg BW, classified as non-toxic grade. No mutation effect for body cell and reproductive cell was observed at dose of 2.5 to 10.0 g/kg BW respectively by bone marrow microleues assay and sperm shape abnormality test. Ames test was negative.
Is skeletal response to parathyroid hormone abnormal in experimental renal failure

It is widely believed that skeletal resistance is the mechanism of impaired calcemic response to parathyroid hormone (PTH) in renal failure. The action of PTH not only involves skeletal mobilization of Ca, it may also stimulate intestinal absorption of Ca and renal conservation of Ca. We have examined each of these factors and studied the calcemic response to PTH in renal failure. PTH, 3 U/hr/100 gm, was infused for 5 hours in rats with renal failure 3 weeks after a five-sixths nephrectomy. In nonfasted animals, the post-PTH increments of total plasma Ca (0.71 +/- 0.06 mg/dl) and ionized Ca (0.37 +/- 0.06 mg/dl) of control sham-operated rats were significantly greater than those of rats with renal failure (plasma Ca 0.37 +/- 0.02 mg/dl and plasma ionized Ca 0.17 +/- 0.01 mg/dl both p less than 0.001). Urinary Ca excretion rate remained unchanged during PTH infusion despite the increase in plasma Ca. Plasma levels of calcitriol after PTH injection were higher in control rats (257 +/- 18 pg/ml) than in rats with renal failure (162 +/- 5 pg/ml, p less than 0.001). Pretreatment of rats with renal failure with 50 ng calcitriol intravenously corrected the abnormal calcemic response to PTH. To exclude the PTH effect on intestinal Ca absorption, PTH infusion was carried out in animals fasted for 18 hours. The post-PTH increments of Ca were no longer different between rats with renal failure (plasma Ca 0.37 +/- 0.04 mg/dl, plasma ionized Ca 0.20 +/- 0.01 mg/dl) and control rats (plasma Ca 0.37 +/- 0.03 mg/dl, plasma ionized Ca 0.19 +/- 0.01), suggesting that skeletal mobilization of Ca was similar between the two groups of animals. We conclude that lack of intestinal response to PTH rather than skeletal resistance was the mechanism of impaired calcemic response to PTH in this model of renal failure.
Dynamic Quantitative Assessment of Cortical Blood Flow

AbstractDynamic real time quantitative assessment of cortical blood flow is feasible with a thermal diffusion flow probe. The probe consists of a Peltier stack that creates a thermal gradient. The thermal gradient has been calibrated against Xe133 clearance for fast flow. Rapid changes in flow induced with pharmacologic agents, changes in perfusion pressure, or vascular manipulation are readily apparent.This technique is useful for intraoperative assessment of cortical blood flow and may prove useful in postoperative monitoring.
Sodium and Volume Disorders in Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease

The kidney has a remarkable ability to modulate sodium and water excretion to maintain homeostasis despite a widely varying dietary intake. However, as glomerular filtration rate falls to less than 30 mL/min, this ability can be compromised leading to an increased risk for disorders of serum sodium and extracellular volume. In all cases, these disorders are associated with an increased rate of morbidity and mortality. Management strategies to both prevent and treat these conditions are available but requiring special attention to the unique circumstance of advanced CKD to maximize therapeutic response and prevent complications.
Sensing Enzymatic Activity by Exposure and Selection of DNA‐Encoded Probes

A sensing approach is applied to encode quantitative enzymatic activity information into DNA sequence populations. The method utilizes DNA-linked peptide substrates as activity probes. Signal detection involves chemical manipulation of a probe population downstream of sample exposure and application of purifying, selective pressure for enzyme products. Selection-induced changes in DNA abundance indicate sample activity. The detection of protein kinase, protease, and farnesyltransferase activities is demonstrated. The assays were employed to measure enzyme inhibition by small molecules and activity in cell lysates using parallel DNA sequencing or quantitative PCR. This strategy will allow the extensive infrastructure for genetic analysis to be applied to proteomic assays, which has a number of advantages in throughput, sensitivity, and sample multiplexing.
Abstract 4113: Pre-metastatic niche formation in palmitic acid and Caco2 BBE secreted exosomes treated HepG2 cells by the CD98-integrin-FAK pathway

Up to 60% of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) will develop metastatic CRC. This study will use an in-vitro Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) model in HepG2 cells to determine how CD98 and colon cancer secreted exosomes initiate a pre-metastatic niche. CD98 is a glycoprotein that mediates integrin signaling, amino acid transportation, inflammatory cytokines, and possibly endocytosis of exosomes. The pathway of CD98-integrin-FAK may mediate uptake of exosomes as well as the formation of pre-metastatic niche in the liver. Exosomes secreted from colon cancer and NAFLD have been implicated to initiate a pre-metastatic niche in the liver. This combinatorial study will mimic in-vivo conditions of metastatic CRC. HepG2 cells are treated with 0 μM or 7 μM of palmitic acid (PA) for 5 days as well as stimulated with and without 10 μg/mL LPS to mimic chronic inflammation in-vitro. After the 5 days of PA and LPS, then the cells are treated for additional 2 days with Caco2BBE secreted exosomes. The treatments were assessed for NAFLD and inflammatory markers FAS, ABCA1, PPARα, PPARϒ, IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, and CD98 by Oil-Red staining, Western blot, RT-qPCR, and immunocytochemistry (IMC). The same set experiments with a knock down of CD98 and creation of pre-metastatic niche were examined through CD98-integrin-FAK pathway. This model showed that low doses of PA formed lipid vacuoles and increased NAFLD markers FAS, PPARα, PPARγ, and ABCA1. The cytotoxicity test of the 0-7 uM of PA with and without LPS as well as exosomes indicated low toxicity. IMC of HepG2 cells showed a unique co-localization patterns with no treatment and PA causing association CD98 with integrin β1 and CD98 with caveolin-1, while the LPS and knock down of CD98 disrupted these interaction and allowed an interaction between CD98 and actin. The addition of Caco2BBE secreted exosomes with PA and LPS altered the inflammatory markers and cellular location of CD98. In conclusion, low doses of palmitic acid produced lipid vacuoles, little cytotoxicity, and increased NAFLD markers. The loss of CD98 led to cellular re-location of CD98 to the nucleus and could explain the decrease uptake of Caco2 BBE secreted exosomes and decrease in inflammatory markers. These data suggest that a pre-existing condition such as NAFLD and Caco2 BBE secreted exosomes play an integral role in the development of pre-metastatic niche by the CD98-integrin-FAK pathway. The identifying the nuances of CD98-integrin-FAK pathway will elucidate future nano-particle therapeutics for metastatic CRC. Citation Format: Jenniffer L M Stetler, Brandon S. Canup, Hamed Laroui. Pre-metastatic niche formation in palmitic acid and Caco2 BBE secreted exosomes treated HepG2 cells by the CD98-integrin-FAK pathway. [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 4113.
Distal Subungual Onychomycosis

More than 85 % of all fungal nail infections (onychomycosis) present as distal lateral subungual onychomycosis (DLSO). Major predisposing factors are age, diabetes, and peripheral vascular disease. The general clinical presentation of DLSO is discoloration of the nail, subungual hyperkeratosis, and onycholysis. DLSO is easy to confuse with other nail dystrophies that mimic its appearance (i.e., trauma, psoriasis, lichen planus, etc.). Therefore, KOH, fungal culture, or PAS stain is necessary to confirm the diagnosis. Recurrence and reinfection are common.
Abstract 29: Efficient Differentiation and Polarization of Macrophages Differentiated From Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells-derived iPS Cells

Macrophages fulfill homeostatic functions beyond defense. Monocytes/macrophages derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are useful tools to study vascular diseases and potential ...
Semantic relatedness and similarity of biomedical terms: examining the effects of recency, size, and section of biomedical publications on the performance of word2vec

Understanding semantic relatedness and similarity between biomedical terms has a great impact on a variety of applications such as biomedical information retrieval, information extraction, and recommender systems. The objective of this study is to examine word2vec’s ability in deriving semantic relatedness and similarity between biomedical terms from large publication data. Specifically, we focus on the effects of recency, size, and section of biomedical publication data on the performance of word2vec. We download abstracts of 18,777,129 articles from PubMed and 766,326 full-text articles from PubMed Central (PMC). The datasets are preprocessed and grouped into subsets by recency, size, and section. Word2vec models are trained on these subtests. Cosine similarities between biomedical terms obtained from the word2vec models are compared against reference standards. Performance of models trained on different subsets are compared to examine recency, size, and section effects. Models trained on recent datasets did not boost the performance. Models trained on larger datasets identified more pairs of biomedical terms than models trained on smaller datasets in relatedness task (from 368 at the 10% level to 494 at the 100% level) and similarity task (from 374 at the 10% level to 491 at the 100% level). The model trained on abstracts produced results that have higher correlations with the reference standards than the one trained on article bodies (i.e., 0.65 vs. 0.62 in the similarity task and 0.66 vs. 0.59 in the relatedness task). However, the latter identified more pairs of biomedical terms than the former (i.e., 344 vs. 498 in the similarity task and 339 vs. 503 in the relatedness task). Increasing the size of dataset does not always enhance the performance. Increasing the size of datasets can result in the identification of more relations of biomedical terms even though it does not guarantee better precision. As summaries of research articles, compared with article bodies, abstracts excel in accuracy but lose in coverage of identifiable relations.
EDP Renewables North America: Tax Equity Financing and Asset Rotation

This case examines an innovative project finance solution in the renewables industry. In 2015, the CEO of EDP Renovaveis, S.A. (EDPR), the world's third-largest wind energy producer, was being briefed by the U.S. finance team on the financing of a 200 MW “wind farm” (or wind power plant). EDPR had ambitious growth targets and to keep its capital structure targets it was doing this capital investment using project finance. In the U.S. market, the solution was “tax equity” investment (a hybrid between debt and equity) to take advantage of the tax incentives for wind energy and the second source of external financing consisted of the “asset rotation” or “cash equity” investment from institutional investors. This project would be EDPR's 14th tax equity and 5th U.S.-based cash equity asset rotation transaction. The finance team had to develop a valuation model to explain to the CEO the key drivers of returns to EDPR shareholders with this particular financing strategy. How much did the tax equity and asset rotation financing strategy really boost the returns for EDPR shareholders? What made more sense, an attractive IRR on residual cash flows or a higher NPV for the complete project? Some competitors seemed to favor a public “YieldCo” (a portfolio of renewable energy–generating assets formed into a corporation and sold to the public); should EDPR consider it an alternative financing solution? The questions piled up as the team prepared to go through the analysis. Excerpt UVA-F-1757 Aug. 9, 2016 EDP Renewables North America: Tax Equity Financing and Asset Rotation In November 2015, Jo©o Manso Neto, the CEO of EDP Renovaveis, S.A. (EDPR), was arriving at the Houston, Texas, headquarters of EDP Renewables North America (EDPR-NA), its platform for the United States, Canada, and Mexico. He was going to be briefed by Gabriel Alonso (CEO of EDPR-NA), Bernardo Goarmon (EVP Finance of EDPR-NA), and the finance team on a new 200 MW wind farm investment located in Florida. Right before entering the meeting room, Manso Neto passed the state-of-the-art dispatch center that oversaw all of the 34 wind farms located across 12 U.S. states and one Canadian province. Over 2,300 wind turbines, totaling more than 4.2 GW of installed capacity, were monitored in real time for load factors and energy output. The new Rising Star wind farm under construction in Florida consisted of 90 turbines, and its start of operations was scheduled to occur at the end of 2015.