cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
344 Supportive Care of the Child with Cancer

Most chemotherapy drugs are administered by the intravenous (IV) route. Repeated IV infusions and blood tests are the norm. IV chemotherapy can be delivered via a peripheral vein or via an indwelling central venous catheter. Using peripheral IVs risk extravasations of medications into surrounding soft tissues, and some chemotherapy agents (particularly the vinca alkaloids and anthracyclines) can cause tissue destruction. The surgical implantation of indwelling central venous catheters facilitates both chemotherapy delivery and blood tests. There are two main types of devices: those that end with an external catheter and those that end in a reservoir under the skin.
The Skyline Drive

The Shenandoah National Park’s Skyline Drive developed out of disparate visions of planning in the region. This conflict between the regionalists and the metropolitanists shaped the development of the Skyline Drive through its early history and continues to influence the idea of the Drive today. As a parkway in the region, the Skyline Drive did not emerge directly out of the earlier parkways (as the next generation or the next scale of parkway). Neither the pursuit of urban reform, environmental reform, commuter travel, nor suburban recreation alone spurred on its development.
Bayesian metropolis methods applied to sensor networks for radiation source localization

We present an application of statistical techniques to the localization of an unknown gamma source in an urban environment. By formulating the problem as a task of Bayesian parameter estimation, we are able to apply Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) to generate a full posterior probability density estimating the source location and intensity based on counts reported from a distributed detector network. To facilitate the calibration procedure, we employ a simplified photon transport model with low computational cost and test the proposed methodology in a simulated urban environment, with calibration data generated using the radiation transport code MCNP. The Bayesian methodology is able to identify the source location and intensity along with providing a full posterior density.
Frequency and timing of thoracic tumor spread in 198 consecutive patients with advanced-stage high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC).

5575 Background: HGSC is the most common type of ovarian cancer. While routinely used, the necessity of chest CT in these patients is unknown. We hypothesize that thoracic metastases in HGSC occur late, after development of abdominal disease. We aimed to describe the frequency and timing of occurrence of thoracic disease in advanced (stage III and IV) HGSC in relation to the abdominal disease. Methods: In this IRB-approved, HIPAA-compliant retrospective study, we included 198 consecutive patients with pathologically proven advanced HGSC seen from January 2012 through December 2012 (mean age 60 years, SD±9.5 years; median follow-up 40 months, IQR 25-63). Time to development of abdominal and thoracic disease and survival thereafter was recorded by review of thoracic and abdominal imaging and electronic medical records, and compared using Mann-Whitney test. Predictors of occurrence and time to development of thoracic disease were identified using multivariate analysis. Results: Abdominal disease developed in...
KK-92A, a novel GABA B receptor positive allosteric modulator, attenuates nicotine self-administration and cue-induced nicotine seeking in rats

GABAB receptors (GABABR) play a critical role in GABAergic neurotransmission in the brain and are thought to be one of the most promising targets for the treatment of drug addiction. GABABR positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) have shown promise as potential anti-addictive therapies, as they lack the sedative and muscle relaxant properties of full GABAB receptor agonists such as baclofen. The present study was aimed at developing novel, selective, and potent GABABR PAMs with efficacy on abuse-related effects of nicotine. We synthetized ~100 analogs of BHF177, a GABABR PAM that has been shown to inhibit nicotine taking and seeking, and tested their activity in multiple cell-based functional assays. Among these compounds, KK-92A displayed superior PAM properties at the GABABR. Interestingly, our results revealed the existence of pathway-selective differential modulation of GABABR signaling by the structurally related GABABR allosteric modulators BHF177 and KK-92A. In vivo, similarly to BHF177, KK-92A inhibited intravenous nicotine self-administration under both fixed- and progressive-ratio schedules of reinforcement in rats. In contrast to BHF177, KK-92A had no effect on food self-administration. Furthermore, KK-92A decreased cue-induced nicotine-seeking behavior without affecting food seeking. These results indicate that KK-92A is a selective GABABR PAM with efficacy in inhibition of the primary reinforcing and incentive motivational effects of nicotine, and attenuation of nicotine seeking, further confirming that GABABR PAMs may be useful antismoking medications.
A Dual Approach to Understanding Facial Perception Before and After Blepharoplasty

ImportanceBlepharoplasty consistently ranks among the most common facial plastic surgery procedure sought by both men and women. Despite the popularity of blepharoplasty, there has been little rese...
Terrestrial Carbon Management in Urban Ecosystems and Water Quality

The hydrology of urban ecosystems is drastically different from those of natural, rural ecosystems. Urbanization deliberately alters natural hydrosystems for domestic uses, industrial processes, sanitation, and protection from floods, hurricanes, and tsunamis because most ancient urban centers were sited along rivers and deltas. The amount of water extracted in the natural environment for human use has tripled over the last 50 years. This water withdrawal is likely to increase in the future as the projected increase in global energy production by 60% until 2030 requires more water. In modern urban ecosystems, water quality is also affected by increased loadings of nutrients, metals, pesticides, and other contaminants in urban runoff, municipal and industrial discharges. Drastic alteration in hydrological fluxes is caused by the increase in impervious surface cover which decreases infiltration, increases surface runoff, and transports pollutants into streams. In 2000, for example, the impervious surface cover of the conterminous U.S. was 83,749 km2, and is projected to increase to 114,070 km2 by 2030, approaching the size of Ohio. Thus, reducing the impervious surface cover can moderate the extreme hydrologic conditions observed in urban centers. Managing urban storm water and establishing green roofs are other measures to improve urban hydrology. Stormwater runoff reduction by green roofs, for example, can be as much as 27% and 87% of annual precipitation. By establishing closed nutrient and water cycles in urban centers, the quality of water efflux from urban ecosystems can be improved. Increasing the levels of soil organic matter (SOM), in particular, drives microbial activity and nitrate (NO 3 − ) removal, and retains nutrients and contaminants in the soil. This can be achieved by increasing the urban area covered by vegetation and soil, increasing pervious sealing cover types, establishing green roofs on buildings, restoring degraded urban soils and enhancing the SOM sink.
Immigrant/Learner, Affiliate, Author, Expert: The Intersections of L2 Writing, Identity, and Computer-Mediated Communication.

As technology continues to shape our interactions in both personal and educational contexts, the exploration of how computer-mediated communication (CMC) may impact the development of second language writing skills has received greater interest. While a growing body of research has investigated potential applications of this technology within second language (L2) classrooms, the voluntary writing practices of L2 writers—where and what they choose to write outside of academic domains—are relatively uncharted as yet. This review of the literature seeks to identify the many CMC contexts in which L2 writers situate themselves, their purposes for engaging these online audiences, and the social roles or identities that emerge through their chosen writing activities. Previous studies indicate that social media platforms and other online communities indeed promote learners’ experimentation with identity, group membership, and language with apparent gains in writer confidence and motivation; however, establishing a clear link between CMC and literacy development, as well as determining how computer-based writing can be meaningfully integrated into academic settings, remain directions for future research.
Chapter 3 Subunit Stoichiometry of Heterooligomeric and Homooligomeric Epithelial Sodium Channels

Publisher Summary The chapter presents a study on subunit stoichiometry of hetero-oligomeric and homo-oligomeric epithelial sodium channels. Epithelial Na + channels (ENaCs) have a key role in the regulation of urinary Na + reabsorption, extracellular fluid volume homeostasis, and blood pressure, and are a major site of action of volume regulatory hormones. ENaCs are composed of three homologous subunits, termed α, β, and γ . One of the fundamental challenges pertaining to the structure of the Na + channel is the determination of its subunit stoichiometry. To determine the subunit stoichiometry of ENaC, a biophysical assay utilizing mutant subunits is used that display significant differences in sensitivity to channel blockers from the wild-type channel. The results suggest that ENaCs are a tetrameric channel, with a α 2 βγ stoichiometry. The α -subunit itself is sufficient to form functional channels. The results suggest that similar to heterooligomeric αβγ Na + channels, homooligomeric α -subunit Na + channels are also tetrameric in structure. The chapter presents an example of a biophysical approach, considering the situation in which an ion channel is formed by a single polypeptide “X,” it is assumed that the channel has been cloned, can be functionally expressed in Xenopus oocytes , and is inhibited by the compound “Y.”
On-Farm Corn and Soybean Fungicide Trials

An application of foliar fungicide to corn and soybean has become a popular input with many farmers in Iowa. The effect of fungicide on corn and soybean yield, however, can vary from year to year. Environmental conditions, such as rainfall and temperature, influence disease development, which will determine how a fungicide affects yield. Since environmental conditions vary from one year to the next, it is difficult to predict how and when to use a fungicide. The objective of these trials was to evaluate whether the application of a foliar fungicide would result in a yield increase in corn and soybean.
Paradigms and paradoxes of Heliconius butterflies

In 1925, E.B. Poulton acclaimed Papilio dardanus, the African swallowtail with polymorphic, Batesian mimetic females, ‘the most interesting butterfly in the world’. In the 21st century, at least if...
Tracking changes in Jain devotional singing

ABSTRACTOver the last two and a half decades of research in the Śvetāmbar Mūrtipūjak Jain community in Pune, Maharashtra, I have been in a unique position to track changes in the ways that Jain dev...
Natural Questions: A Benchmark for Question Answering Research

We present the Natural Questions corpus, a question answering data set. Questions consist of real anonymized, aggregated queries issued to the Google search engine. An annotator is presented with a...
Meeting Octavia E. Butler in Her Papers

Cataloging the papers of an individual is an intimate experience. During the process you may read letters to and from family members and friends. You may read journals or diaries never intended for...
Displacement of WDR5 from Chromatin by a WIN Site Inhibitor with Picomolar Affinity.

The chromatin-associated protein WDR5 is a promising target for pharmacological inhibition in cancer. Drug discovery efforts center on the blockade of the "WIN site" of WDR5, a well-defined pocket that is amenable to small molecule inhibition. Various cancer contexts have been proposed to be targets for WIN site inhibitors, but a lack of understanding of WDR5 target genes and of the primary effects of WIN site inhibitors hampers their utility. Here, by the discovery of potent WIN site inhibitors, we demonstrate that the WIN site links WDR5 to chromatin at a small cohort of loci, including a specific subset of ribosome protein genes. WIN site inhibitors rapidly displace WDR5 from chromatin and decrease the expression of associated genes, causing translational inhibition, nucleolar stress, and p53 induction. Our studies define a mode by which WDR5 engages chromatin and forecast that WIN site blockade could have utility against multiple cancer types.
Remote laboratory exercises and tutorials for spectrum-agile radio frequency systems

In this workshop, communications systems and wireless communications educators will experience and provide feedback on remote laboratory exercises and tutorials that employ an Internet-accessible, software-defined radio (SDR) based testbed. The tutorials introduce and demonstrate concepts relevant to spectrum sharing, cognitive radio, and other radio / wireless communications applications that involve spectrum agility. Students run, modify, and / or configure code for cognitive engines or adaptive controllers that make real-time modifications to radio waveform parameters such as operating frequency, transmitting power, signal bandwidth, modulation, and error correction. The controllers make adaptations to optimize over-the-air operation in challenging signal environments. The resulting radio link performance is measured using an experiment management framework and can be visualized using a web interface that displays performance metrics as well as three-dimensional and two-dimensional waterfall plots. In the process of working through the exercises, students learn to use the above tools, which also enable them to design and perform original experiments. This workshop will be valuable for anyone teaching or studying wireless communications or using interactive remote laboratories and tutorials to teach technical concepts.
Left atrial function after myocardial infarction in swine

Background Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia in United States, and is associated with atrial fibrosis. Although the cause of atrial fibrosis development is not understood, its etiology is related to cardiac dysfunction, mitral regurgitation (MR), and coronary artery disease. This study focuses on determining the acute effects of myocardial infarction (MI) on left atrial (LA) function. Our hypothesis is that MI may result in changes in left ventricular relaxation, MR, and LA pressure and volume overload, leading to changes in LA geometry and mechanics, which will result in later atrial fibrosis. We studied the changes in LA size, ejection fraction, and the relative contributions of passive and active emptying, comparing controls with post-MI animals. Methods Eleven Yorkshire pigs (average weight 37 ± 7 kg) were studied, including 5 control animals, and 6 pigs imaged one to two weeks after a transmural MI. The MI was induced by percutaneous balloon occlusion of left coronary artery (90 min) followed by reperfusion. All animals were imaged on a 1.5T Siemens scanner (Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany). A stack of short-axis cine images covering the left atrium were obtained with balanced SSFP, with a 1.3 x 1.3 x 3 mm spatial resolution (no gaps), and 25 frames, breath-holding and retrospective ECG-gating. All image processing was performed in Matlab (v 2014). To measure LA volume through the cardiac cycle, the cine images were segmented using thresholding, and regions of
AVALIAÇÃO DA VULNERABILIDADE SOCIOAMBIENTAL À DESERTIFICAÇÃO NO ESTADO DO ESPÍRITO SANTO, BRASIL

O processo de desertificacao e caracterizado pela influencia do clima, que emregioes secas (aridas e semiaridas) e o fator preponderante de fragilidadedo ambiente, que provoca deficits sociais e economicos, que por sua vezretroalimentam o processo por meio da pressao da populacao sobre o meioambiente. O indice de vulnerabilidade socioambiental a desertificacao (IVSD)foi desenvolvido em um sistema de informacoes geograficas utilizando dadosambientais e socioeconomicos, tais como taxa de analfabetismo, crescimentopopulacional, produto interno bruto, rendimento medio da populacao,precipitacao, evapotranspiracao, temperatura da superficie, indice de arideze monitoramento da qualidade da agua. No desenvolvimento do IVSDfoi realizada uma analise estatistica dos dados preparados e calculados.Essa analise consistiu na eliminacao dos valores de pico e na divisao de tresclasses por percentis (classes de vulnerabilidade alta, media e baixa), compercentis de 0 a 33,33%; 33,33 a 66,66%; e 66,66 a 100%, respectivamente. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi desenvolver e avaliar um indice paradeterminacao da vulnerabilidade socioambiental a desertificacao no estadodo Espirito Santo, visando identificar as regioes mais vulneraveis a esseprocesso. O IVSD evidenciou uma area localizada no norte-noroeste, que ja econsiderada oficialmente como uma area susceptivel a desertificacao, e umaarea localizada no extremo sul, que embora possua as mesmas caracteristicas,nao e considerada oficialmente uma area susceptivel a desertificacao.O IVSD permitiu evidenciar a necessidade de implantacao e de melhorias daspoliticas publicas para promover o avanco no desenvolvimento das regioesmais fragilizadas do Espirito Santo, visando torna-las menos vulneraveis aosprocessos de desertificacao.
Industrial Policy, Firm Capabilities, and Kaizen

Management studies and economics are yielding new insights into the determinants of firm-level productivity. Therefore, industrial policy in low-income countries increasingly focuses on the firm. This chapter argues that Kaizen—continuous improvement through the interaction of workers and managers—is an effective way to build “firm capabilities,” the knowledge and working practices that determine productivity and quality. However, firms often fail to respond to training due to lack of perception or motivation. Competitive pressure must complement training, and understanding the impact of other learning interventions—ranging from collective action by private firms to alternative training programs—is essential to better industrial policy.
Statistical Adaptive Stochastic Gradient Methods.

We propose a statistical adaptive procedure called SALSA for automatically scheduling the learning rate (step size) in stochastic gradient methods. SALSA first uses a smoothed stochastic line-search procedure to gradually increase the learning rate, then automatically switches to a statistical method to decrease the learning rate. The line search procedure ``warms up'' the optimization process, reducing the need for expensive trial and error in setting an initial learning rate. The method for decreasing the learning rate is based on a new statistical test for detecting stationarity when using a constant step size. Unlike in prior work, our test applies to a broad class of stochastic gradient algorithms without modification. The combined method is highly robust and autonomous, and it matches the performance of the best hand-tuned learning rate schedules in our experiments on several deep learning tasks.
Using Cyclic Quadrilaterals to Design Cylindrical Developable Mechanisms

Developable mechanisms on regular cylindrical surfaces can be described using cyclic quadrilaterals. Mechanisms can exist in either an open or crossed configuration, and these configurations correspond to convex and crossed cyclic quadrilaterals. Using equations developed for both convex and crossed cyclic quadrilaterals, the geometry of the reference surface to which a four-bar mechanism can be mapped is found. Grashof mechanisms can be mapped to two surfaces in open or crossed configurations. The only way to map a non-Grashof mechanism to a cylindrical surface is in its open configuration. Extramobile and intramobile behavior can be achieved depending on selected pairs within a cyclic quadrilateral and its position within the circumcircle. Selecting different sets of links as the ground link changes the potential behavior of the mechanism. Different cases are tabulated to represent all possibilities. A non-Grashof developable mechanism can only exhibit extramobile or intramobile behavior if all of the joints lie on one half of the circumcircle.
Interlinked expression of tumor attributes: Can their evaluation serve as a noninvasive paradigm for prognosis in glioblastoma?

Background: Glioblastoma (GB) is one of the deadliest brain cancers with a bleak prognosis. It is characterized by highly proliferating tumor cells influenced by surrounding stroma, with a constant detectable communication between the tumor and its environmental components, which can be assessed in terms of specific proteins. Patients and Methods: To experimentally establish this cellular dialog, we undertook to evaluate plasma expression of three proteins: human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), chitinase-like protein (YKL-40), and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) in 66 individuals inclusive of thirty primary and two secondary GB patients and 34 age-matched controls, with reference to proliferation, angiogenesis, and extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation biomarkers. A follow-up at 3 months postsurgery for marker profile was done for GB. Results: Plasma levels of markers were higher in therapy-naive patients than in controls (P Conclusion: These experimental blood-based data define the influence of angiogenesis and ECM remodeling on proliferation of GB relative to poor survival, using a panel of biomarkers. Evaluating the disease outcome noninvasively can pave the way for designing intervention strategy to control angiogenesis and ECM degradation and in turn tumor progression.
Planarian Regeneration: Connecting Lab Exercises & Scientific Modeling

There are benefits to both laboratory exercises and scientific modeling, and connecting the two may allow for deeper understanding and interest. Laboratory exercises provide students with opportunities to experience phenomena, but without scientific modeling, students may still lack understanding of the mechanisms at play. This article describes an example of how a traditional laboratory exercise on planarian regeneration is enhanced with a modeling activity on cell signaling.
Submicrometer-Gap Thermionic Power Generation Based on Comprehensive Modeling of Charge and Thermal Transport

This paper presents the comprehensive performance analysis of thermionic power generation when the interelectrode vacuum gap shrinks to the submicron range. Although reducing the vacuum gap has been suggested as an effective approach to mitigate space-charge accumulation in thermionic-energy-conversion (TEC) devices, previous theoretical works have predicted the optimal gap distance in the single-digit micrometer range. However, we demonstrate that nanoscale charge and thermal interactions between thermionic electrodes, such as Schottky barrier lowering due to image charge perturbation and near-field enhanced radiative heat transfer, significantly affects the TEC performance within the submicron vacuum gap. Carefully conducted energy-balance analysis reveals that submicron-gap TEC at $d\ensuremath{\approx}700$ nm can produce an approximately fourfold increase in power output with a higher energy conversion efficiency than micron-gap TEC under the same operating condition. In addition, significant thermionic and near-field radiative heating of the collector in the submicron-gap TEC system can be beneficially used to further enhance the power output and efficiency by combining with a bottom-cycle heat engine. We believe that the present work provides a theoretical framework for submicron-gap thermionic power generation as a promising energy recycling scheme for high-quality heat sources.
Brainstem auditory evoked responses and bone conduction assessment in alpacas.

Abstract Auditory loss has been reported in camelids using brainstem auditory evoked responses (BAER). Differentiation between conductive versus sensorineural dysfunction has not been investigated. Therefore, the objective of the study was to investigate auditory function using BAER and bone conduction (BC). Twenty-four alpacas: 15 females, 9 intact males (2–16 years of age) were included in a randomized clinical trial. BAER and BC were recorded using two derivations (vertex to mastoid and vertex to cranial aspect of second cervical vertebra). All alpacas underwent complete physical examinations and were sedated with xylazine hydrochloride at 0.6 mg/kg IM. Peaks, when present, were identified and latencies, amplitudes, and amplitude ratios were determined. Eleven alpacas had normal responses and 13 had auditory loss based on BAER. The latter consisted of complete absence of peaks bilaterally (n = 3), absence of peaks unilaterally (n = 1), delayed latencies bilaterally (n = 4), and delayed latencies unilaterally (n = 5). Distinct peaks on BC supported conductive auditory loss in 6 alpacas, difficult to interpret due to stimulus artifact and additional undefined peaks in 4, and absent peaks in 3 alpacas. The cause of auditory loss was presumed to be due to otitis in 6, aging in 4 (10–16 years old), and congenital sensorineural (absent peaks on BAER and BC) in 3 alpacas with unpigmented fiber and irises. BAER and BC are useful and non-invasive to perform techniques for the investigation of auditory loss in alpacas, and further characterization as conductive or sensorineural.
Body Antenna With DGS for Body Centric Wireless Communication System

This paper presents modified patch antenna for 3 GHz and 5 GHz operating frequencies. Here different approaches are studied by varying slot sizes, defected ground size, notch and also changing feed position. Insertion of slots gives dual frequency operation. Notch provides shifting of lower frequency band towards left hand side. Here combined effect of each techniques adopted gives desired result. Proposed antenna resonates for 3 and 5 GHz frequency. Simulation is done using IE3D software for various parameters. Return loss of final design was -12.17 dB for 3 GHz frequency and VSWR of 1.65. For 5 GHz simulation response was -10.04dB return loss and VSWR of 1.91. Proposed antenna is fabricated giving different details. Paper gives good agreement between measured and simulated results.
DASH diet adherence and cognitive function: Multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis.

Summary Background and aims The Adherence to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet has been associated with better cognitive function in studies of predominantly White participants; few studies have examined this association in diverse cohorts. Our objective was to examine the association between the DASH diet and cognitive function in the diverse Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) cohort. Methods Among 4169 MESA participants, we evaluated prospectively, the association between DASH diet adherence and cognitive function. Participants completed a food frequency questionnaire at baseline (2000–2002) and cognitive function was assessed using the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI), Digit Symbol Coding (DSC), and Digit Span (DS) at Exam 5 in 2010–2012 and Exam 6 (2016–2019). Regression analyses were used to evaluate the association between quintiles of DASH diet adherence with CASI, DSC, and DS performance and decline, adjusting for potential confounders. Effect modification by hypertension, diabetes, race/ethnicity, acculturation, and exercise were evaluated. Results DASH diet adherence was not associated with cognitive performance or decline for any of the measures. There were no differences by racial/ethnic groups, with the exception that Hispanic participants reporting greater DASH diet adherence, performed worse on DS at Exam 5 (p = 0.05). Components of the DASH diet were differentially correlated with test performance: increased consumption of nuts/legumes was associated with better performance on the CASI at Exam 5 (p = 0.003) and Exam 6 (p = 0.007). Increased consumption of whole grains was associated with better DSC performance at Exam 5 (p = 0.04) and better DS performance at Exam 6 (p = 0.01). Conclusions DASH diet adherence was nominally associated with cognitive function with a suggestion of differences by race/ethnicity. Future work should examine more closely, the relationships between racial and ethnic groups and the impact of diet on cognitive function.
Measurement of ION Field Emission from Anode Surfaces Using a 1-MV, 50-Nanosecond Pulse Generator

Strong evidence for the emission of ions from anode surfaces as being a mechanism for the initiation of cathode plasma formation and electrical breakdown of vacuum gaps has been previously presented.1 It was shown, for example, that treatment of the anode surface can dramatically affect the turn on of the cathode. It is believed that field emission of ions from the anode is the responsible mechanism. Here we report on a more direct measurement of these ions using a Thomson parabola as a mass spectrometer using CR-39 film as an ion detector. The results of these measurements give us the species of ion responsible for the observed effects and the sensitivity of this emission to anode preparation.
Antigen Bridging in T Cell-B Cell Interaction: Fact or Fiction?

Antigen-bridging models of the interaction between T and B lymphocytes rose to prominence in the late 1960s, based principally on two different experimental approaches1–3. One involved the “carrier effect”, in which physical association between hapten and carrier is required for a secondary anti-hapten antibody response in animals primed separately with hapten and carrier, and the other involved thymus-marrow reconstitution of irradiated animals, demonstrating that hapten and carrier were recognized by different cell types in the anti-hapten antibody response.
Soil Heat Flux

Soil heat flux is sometimes ignored because its magnitude is often small relative to the other terms in the energy balance equation. The daily and yearly sums are normally near zero, but daily values can be significant when the soil is heating in the spring or cooling in the fall. Hourly values of the soil heat flux can be large under dry bare soil conditions. Omission of soil heat flux measurements from hourly energy budget analyses will introduce a phase error in the evaluation even though the 24-hour totals will remain unchanged.
jContractor: Bytecode Instrumentation Techniques for Implementing Design by Contract in Java

Abstract Design by Contract is a software engineering practice that allows semantic information to be added to a class or interface to precisely specify the conditions that are required for its correct operation. The basic constructs of Design by Contract are method preconditions and postconditions, and class invariants. This paper presents a detailed design and implementation overview of jContractor, a freely available tool that allows programmers to write “contracts” as standard Java methods following an intuitive naming convention. Preconditions, postconditions, and invariants can be associated with, or inherited by, any class or interface. jContractor performs on-the-fly bytecode instrumentation to detect violation of the contract specification during a program's execution. jContractor's bytecode engineering technique allows it to specify and check contracts even when source code is not available. jContractor is a pure Java library providing a rich set of syntactic constructs for expressing contracts without extending the Java language or runtime environment. These constructs include support for predicate logic expressions, and referencing entry values of attributes and return values of methods. Fine grain control over the level of monitoring is possible at runtime. Since contract methods are allowed to use unconstrained Java expressions, in addition to runtime verification they can perform additional runtime monitoring, logging, and testing.
Gene control using tRNA-shRNA chimeras: knockdown by shRNA and degradation of tRNA (749.3)

Gene therapy using RNA interference (RNAi) mediated by short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) targeted against HIV-1 is a promising alternative to antiretroviral therapy. Fusing shRNA to carrier tRNA to produce a tRNA-shRNA chimera can provide a tunable level of shRNA delivery that is dependent on the action of the enzyme tRNaseZ to separate the shRNA and tRNA components of the chimera. We have introduced changes in the sequence of the acceptor stem of the tRNA portion of the tRNA-shRNA chimera to produce the next-generation of tRNA-shRNA chimeras. Our targeted mutations are designed to result in an isomerization that triggers rapid tRNA decay after release of the shRNA by tRNaseZ. The knockdown efficiency of the resulting constructs can be assayed by a dual luciferase assay.Grant Funding Source: Supported by NSF CHE-1005253
Why are Male IQ Scores More Variable

The male female difference in the variance of quantitative traits including IQ can be accounted for by the observation of the concentration of genes involved in brain development on the X chromosome and by the mechanism of sex determination in mammals. Females have two X chromosomes with one randomly inactivated. Males have a single X chromosome, which results in increased variance. It is shown that these factors are sufficient to account for the observed differences.
The Nature of the Hydrogen Transfer in the Dimethylbenzimidazolycobamide Coenzyme-catalyzed Conversion of 1,2-Propanediol to Propionaldehyde

Abstract This paper shows that the hydrogen which is removed from C-1 of a particular diol during the conversion to the corresponding aldehyde is not necessarily the same hydrogen which replaces the hydroxyl group of the diol and that therefore the reaction is not necessarily intramolecular.
NGSS and the landscape of engineering in K-12 state science standards

Recent documents pertaining to K-12 education have fostered a connection between engineering and science education to help better prepare our students and future citizens to better meet the current and future challenges of our modern and technological society. With that connection, there has been a concerted effort to raise the visibility of engineering within K-12 science education, which is reflected in the Framework for K-12 Science Education and the recently released Next Generation Science Standards. As states look towards the adoption and implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards, it is important to take a deeper look at the shift in K-12 science education that is being suggested by these documents and what that means in terms of the potential changes for states that have chosen to adopt these standards. The main research question that has guided the work for this paper is: What is the extent and quality of the engineering that is present in state science standards and the Next Generation Science Standards? This paper will present a detailed analysis of the landscape of engineering in K-12 policy before and after the release of the NGSS through a comparative case study of academic state science standards and Next Generation Science Standards. This comparison provides insight into what the widespread adoption of the NGSS would mean in terms of potential changes in the way we implement science education in the United States. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 52: 296–318, 2015
Muscle differentiation in cell culture. Effects of nucleoside inhibitors and Rous sarcoma virus.

Abstract We have studied some biochemical aspects of the differentation of chick embryonic skeletal muscle cells in cell culture. Cultures are initiated in a medium that supports cell fusion and muscle cell differentiation. After 40 to 44 hours of culture, the normal onset of cell fusion is prevented by exchanging the medium for one low in Ca++ (80 µm). After a further 24 hours, high Ca++ (880 µm) standard medium is restored and cell fusion proceeds, followed by synthesis of creatine kinase and myokinase. Before cell fusion is allowed to proceed, cultures are treated with 5-bromotubercidin or 5-fluorouridine, nucleoside inhibitors of RNA synthesis. 5-Fluorouridine is an irreversible inhibitor of ribosomal RNA synthesis but does not inhibit synthesis of heterogeneous nuclear RNA, or by inference, messenger RNA. 5-Bromotubercidin is a reversible inhibitor of the synthesis of both ribosomal RNA and heterogeneous nuclear RNA and of mRNA. In cultures treated with 5-fluorouridine cell fusion and synthesis of creatine kinase and myokinase proceed as in control cultures. In cultures treated briefly (8 hours) with 5-bromotubercidin, cell fusion and synthesis of creatine kinase and myokinase are delayed and lag about 16 hours behind control cultures. We conclude: (a) continuing synthesis of ribosomal RNA (or ribosomes) is not necessary for expression of differentiated muscle properties, i.e. cell fusion and enzyme synthesis. (b) After cultures are refed high Ca++ medium (permissive for cell fusion) there must be synthesis of one or more messenger type RNA's before differentiated properties are expressed. (c) Synthesis and translation to protein of the messenger RNA(s) needed for the expression of differentiated muscle properties does not require concomitant synthesis of ribosomal RNA (or ribosomes). Cultures of differentiating muscle cells have been infected with the RNA tumor virus Schmidt-Ruppin RSV (SR-RSV). Myotubes in infected cultures become progressively vacuolated and within 3 to 4 days after infection by SR-RSV the differentiated myotubes are destroyed. Cell fusion and synthesis of muscle enzymes continue for 2 to 3 days after cultures are infected with SR-RSV. The vacuolization and destruction of myotubes infected by SR-RSV seems to be a response analogous to the morphological transformation occurring in RSV-infected fibroblasts. The differentiated muscle cell, unlike the fibroblast, is not able to respond in a manner which would balance the deleterious effects of this tumor virus and is subsequently destroyed. Since expression of differentiated properties can begin at least 24 hours after infection by SR-RSV, it does not seem likely that transformation by SR-RSV produces an immediate effect on cell differentiation at the level of DNA.
Evaluation of the Bleeding Patient

The evaluation of the bleeding patient starts with the integration of data from the history and physical examination. From this results either one probable explanation that can easily be substatniated by laboratory studies or, as more commonly occurs in practice, several possibilities that are reasonable and must be investigated by more extensive laboratory tests. In either event, the initial laboratory evaluation usually includes examination of the peripheral blood and measurement of the platelet count, bleeding time, prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, and thrombin time. More specific laboratory tests are then performed if indicated.
The Narrativization of Experience in the Oral Style.

While acknowledging that the distinction between oral and literate styles of communication is not in reality a dichotomy, but a continuum of styles, this paper focuses on the oral style. Many child...
Nukak: Ethnoarchaeology of an Amazonian People

Archaeologists do not value modern ethnographies. Why? Archaeologists need information on material culture – how it is made, who uses it, how long it lasts, what happens when it breaks, what happens when its owner dies, and so on. Although there are some notable exceptions, few modern ethnographies pay attention to such mundane things. But archaeologists need these data to construct arguments that allow us to make secure inferences from the material things that we recover. For this reason, a few archaeologists have climbed out of their trenches and conducted ethnoarchaeological research with the living. Politis is one of those archaeologists, and Nukak is the result of his efforts. This book covers some of the same ground as his 1996 Nukak (published by the Instituto Amazonico de Investigaciones Cientificas) but is updated, placed in a larger theoretical context, and made available to the largely monolingual North American audience. The Nukak are a small group of hunter-gatherers who live in the Columbian rain forest. Politis worked with those who were least acculturated to western society. As an archaeologist who has also done ethnographic research, I understand the effort that lies behind Nukak. Ethnography, especially that of nomadic peoples in isolated places, is not easy. There are the usual problems: language barriers, medical issues, feeding yourself and your students, explaining yourself and your task to the people. Parrafo extraido de la resena a modo de resumen.
Waveforms for SAR imaging through dispersive material

As an electromagnetic wave propagates through a dispersive material in which the refractive index is a complex function of frequency, those frequencies that lie below the absorption band experience the least amount of attenuation and hence become the dominant contribution to the field for large propagation distances. Asymptotic analysis has shown that in dielectrics, this low-frequency contribution, the so-called Brillouin precursor, has a peak amplitude point that decays algebraically with propagation distance z, as z−1/2 (Oughstun and Sherman, J. Opt. Soc. Amer. B, 5, 817–849, 1988). It has been suggested that near-optimal pulse penetration is possible by using the Brillouin precursor as the transmit pulse, which may then have applicability to radar imaging (Oughstun, IEEE Trans. Ant. Prop., 53, 1582–1590, 2005).
Hypothalamic Agouti-Related Peptide Neurons and the Central Melanocortin System Are Crucial Mediators of Leptin’s Antidiabetic Actions

Leptin has beneficial effects on glucose metabolism via actions in the hypothalamus, but the roles of specific subgroups of neurons responsible for these antidiabetic effects remain unresolved. We generated diabetic Lep(ob/ob) or Lepr(db/db) mice lacking or re-expressing leptin receptors (LepRb) in subgroups of neurons to explore their contributions to leptin's glucose-lowering actions. We show that agouti-related peptide (AgRP)-expressing neurons are both required and sufficient to correct hyperglycemia by leptin. LepRb in pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons or steroidogenic factor-1 (SF1) neurons are not required. Furthermore, normalization of blood glucose by leptin is blunted in Lep(ob/ob)/MC4R-null mice, but not in Lep(ob/ob) mice lacking neuropeptide Y (NPY) or gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in AgRP neurons. Leptin's ability to improve glucose balance is accompanied by a reduction in circulating glucagon. We conclude that AgRP neurons play a crucial role in glucose-lowering actions by leptin and that this requires the melanocortin system, but not NPY and GABA.
Mutagenic analysis of Cox11 of Rhodobacter sphaeroides: Insights into the assembly of CuB of cytochrome c oxidase.

The Cu(I) chaperone Cox11 is required for the insertion of CuB into cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) of mitochondria and many bacteria, including Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Exploration of the copper binding stoichiometry of R. sphaeroides Cox11 led to the finding that an apparent tetramer of both mitochondrial and bacterial Cox11 binds more copper than the sum of the dimers, providing another example of the flexibility of copper binding by Cu(I)-S clusters. Site-directed mutagenesis has been used to identify components of Cox11 that are not required for copper binding but are absolutely required for the assembly of CuB, including conserved Cys-35 and Lys-123. In contrast to earlier proposals, Cys-35 is not required for dimerization of Cox11 or for copper binding. These findings, plus the location of Cys-35 at the C terminus of the predicted transmembrane helix and thereby close to the surface of the membrane, allows a proposal that Cys-35 is involved in the transfer of copper from the Cu(I) cluster of Cox11 to the CuB ligands His-333/334 during the folding of CcO subunit I. Lys-123 is located near the Cu(I) cluster of Cox11, in an area otherwise devoid of charged residues. From the analysis of several Cox11 mutants, including K123E, L and R, we conclude that a previous proposal that Lys-123 provides charge balance for the stabilization of the Cu(I) cluster is unlikely to account for its absolute requirement for Cox11 function. Rather, consideration of the properties of Lys-123 and the apparent specificity of Cox11 suggests that Lys-123 plays a role in the interaction of Cox11 with its target.
High Communication Throughput and Low Scan Cycle Time with Multi/Many-Core Programmable Logic Controllers

Programmable logic controllers (PLCs) are hard real-time embedded systems designed to interact with (through sensors and actuators) and control physical processes in pharmaceutical, manufacturing, energy, and automotive industries. PLCs are the fundamental building blocks in modern industrial automation systems; they are designed to operate in extreme, harsh environments for decades without interruption. This letter presents and evaluates a novel, scalable hardware/software architecture for multi/many-core PLCs capable of pipelining the “sensing-executing-actuating” stages of a control system and thus reducing the scan cycle time (SCT) and maintaining a high-throughput communication (HTC). SCT and HTC are two of the most important key performance indicators (KPIs) in industrial control systems because they determine the accuracy of the control algorithms.
Reduction of rat caries by trimetaphosphate on different tooth surfaces: variations produced by diet and oral flora

Abstract Osborne-Mendel rats fed coarse particle Diet 585 developed mostly sulcal lesions and showed no increase in caries as a result of being inoculated with exogenous mixed cariogenic flora including a strain of Streptococcus mutans . Uninoculated rats fed high sucrose Diet 2000 developed mostly sulcal lesions, while the inoculated animals showed some increase in the sulci and a very pronounced increase on the smooth surfaces. The addition of TMP to both of the diets was associated with a limited, but significant, reduction in sulcal caries and almost complete elimination of smooth surface lesions, which were already low on Diet 585 and a highly significant reduction on Diet 2000.
Delay of gratification in children: The effects of training under fixed, decreasing and increasing delay of reward☆

Abstract The effect of fixed, gradually decreasing, or increasing delay of reward in discimination learning on later delay of gratification was investigated. In discrimination training, employing a correction procedure, a candy reward was delivered either after 0, 10, 20, 40 or 60 sec fixed delay; or after 60 sec in the first block of trials and decreased in successive block; or reward was immediate in the first block of trials and delay was gradually increased to 60 sec. In the delay of gratification tests, subjects could press a button immediately to receive a small reward (one candy or a cheap toy) or delay pressing and receive an increasingly larger reward (more candy or a better toy). Learning was not significantly affected by either fixed or decreasing delays. Increasing delays resulted in faster learning than decreasing delays. The increasing delay group demonstrated superior delay of gratification on both tests. Fixed delay groups did not differ significantly among themselves, nor from the decreasing delay group. The effectiveness of exposure to increasing delays in facilitating delay of gratification was interpreted as due to either the acquisition of coping responses or the extinction of frustration.