cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Gene–Sodium Interaction and Blood Pressure: Findings from Genomics Research of Blood Pressure Salt Sensitivity

High blood pressure (BP) is a complex trait determined by both genetic and environmental factors, as well as the interactions between these factors. Over the past few decades, there has been substantial progress in elucidating the genetic determinants underlying the BP response to sodium intake, or BP salt sensitivity. Research of monogenic BP disorders has highlighted the importance of renal salt handling in BP regulation, implicating genes and biological pathways related to salt sensitivity. Candidate gene studies have contributed important information toward understanding the genomic mechanisms underlying the BP response to salt intake, identifying genes in the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system, renal sodium channels/transporters, and the endothelial system related to this phenotype. Despite these advancements, genome-wide association studies are still needed to uncover novel mechanisms underlying salt sensitivity, while future sequencing efforts promise the discovery of functional variants related to this complex trait. Delineating the genetic architecture of salt sensitivity will be critical to understanding how genes and dietary sodium interact to influence BP.
Depression, daily stressors and inflammatory responses to high-fat meals: when stress overrides healthier food choices.

Depression, daily stressors and inflammatory responses to high-fat meals: when stress overrides healthier food choices
Erythrocyte Dematin Regulates Glucose Transport Via Akt Phosphorylation and 14-3-3zeta Association.

Abstract 1990 Poster Board I-1012 Erythrocyte dematin is a widely expressed actin-binding and bundling protein, and functions as a suppressor of RhoA signaling in fibroblasts (Mohseni and Chishti, Molecular Cell Biology 28: 4712-4718, 2008). Dematin is a substrate of multiple protein kinases, and its actin bundling activity is regulated by cAMP dependent protein kinase. Recently, we identified a novel interaction between dematin and glucose transporter-1 (GLUT1) that is critically important for erythrocyte shape and membrane mechanical properties (Khan et al., Journal of Biological Chemistry 283:14600-14609, 2008). Since homologues of dematin and GLUT1 exist in many non-erythroid cells, we proposed that a conserved mechanism might couple related sugar transporters, such as the insulin-responsive glucose transporter-4 (GLUT4), to the actin cytoskeleton via dematin. Immunocytochemistry established the presence of dematin in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, and a small pool of dematin and GLUT4-containing vesicles co-localized in 3T3-L1 cells under both basal and insulin-stimulated conditions. Plasma membrane sheet assays indicate that upon insulin stimulation, dematin translocates to the plasma membrane along with GLUT4, resulting in partial co-localization at the plasma membrane. Furthermore, dematin RNAi treated 3T3-L1 cells show reduced GLUT4 protein expression, suggesting that dematin may regulate a sub-population of GLUT4 via the lysosomal degradation pathway in adipocytes. Importantly, glucose transport was reduced by ∼28% in 3T3-L1 adipocytes depleted of dematin, and by ∼15% in the dematin headpiece knockout (HPKO) mouse primary adipocytes. Since a significant amount of dematin did not co-localize with GLUT4 in the cytosol and plasma membrane, biochemical interaction between dematin and GLUT4 could not be verified using immunoprecipitation and transfection assays. Although dematin does not bind directly to GLUT4 under these conditions, a possibility existed that this interaction may be transient and mediated through an adaptor protein. Interestingly, dematin contains seven 14-3-3 binding sites, and 14-3-3 adaptor has been shown to be functionally involved in GLUT4 trafficking. We demonstrate that phosphorylated dematin binds to 14-3-3 in 3T3-L1 adipocytes under both basal and insulin stimulated conditions. Mutagenesis studies identify serine-85 on dematin as the primary phospho-binding site for 14-3-3zeta. Furthermore, using pharmacological inhibitors, Akt is identified as the likely protein kinase that phosphorylates dematin to mediate the biochemical interactions between dematin and 14-3-3zeta. Together, our results identify erythrocyte dematin as a potential regulator of glucose transporter trafficking and degradation pathways in adipocytes with functional implications for glucose homeostasis, diabetes, and obesity. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Atmospheric Stability Evaluation at Different Time Intervals for Determination of Aerial Spray Application Timing

Purpose: Evaluation of atmospheric conditions for proper timing of spray application is important to prevent off-target movement of crop protection materials. Susceptible crops can be damaged downwind if proper application procedure is not followed. In our previous study, hourly data indicated unfavorable conditions, primarily between evening 18:00 hrs in the evening and 6:00 hrs next morning, during clear conditions in the hot summer months in the Mississippi delta. With the requirement of timely farm operations, sub-hourly data are required to provide better guidelines for pilots, as conditions of atmospheric stability can change rapidly. Although hourly data can be interpolated to some degree, finer resolution for data acquisition of the order of 15 min would provide pilots with more accurate recommendations to match the data recording frequency of local weather stations. Methods: In the present study, temperature and wind speed data obtained at a meteorological tower were re-sampled to calculate the atmospheric stability ratio for sub-hour and hourly recommendations. High-precision evaluation of temperature inversion periods influencing atmospheric stability was made considering strength, time of occurrence, and duration of temperature inversion. Results and Discussion: The results indicated that atmospheric stability could be determined at different time intervals providing consistent recommendations to aerial applicators, thereby avoiding temperature inversion with minimal off-target drift of the sprayed liquid.
The Impact of the 2008–2009 Crisis

This chapter examines the impact of the 2008–2009 economic crisis on the automotive industry. The uneven nature of the crisis contributed to the gradual shift in production from traditional core areas of the global automobile industry to selected less developed economies. In this context, the chapter analyses the firm-level effects of the economic crisis in the Czech and Slovak automotive industries as two examples of automotive industry peripheries that were integrated in the European automobile production system and experienced rapid production increases after 1990. The analysis draws on unique data collected during a survey of 274 Czech-based and 133 Slovak-based automotive firms conducted in Fall 2009 and Spring 2010, 98 company interviews conducted with automotive firms in Czechia in 2010 and 2011, and 30 interviews conducted in Slovakia in 2011. Changes in revenues, production and employment during the economic crisis are compared between Czechia and Slovakia, and are analyzed according to ownership, the involvement of firms in the automotive value chain and firm size. The chapter also investigates plant closures and relocations in the Czech and Slovak automotive industries during the 2008–2009 economic crisis.
Normative goals and the regulation of social behavior: The case of respect

The rational actor model has a long and successful history of explaining human motivation across several disciplinary fields, but its focus on material self-interest fails to explain the many courtesies that people extend to each other and the frequent sacrifices they make on a day-to-day basis. What promotes this pro-social behavior—in particular trust in other people? I argue that interpersonal trust is supported by normative goals, in that people trust others, even complete strangers, because of a sense of what they ought to do, by social rules and obligations they feel they must follow. In particular, people feel they must respect the character of the other person, constrained to act as though the other individual is an honorable human being, irrespective of what they may privately believe. I describe how respect underlies trust in economic games as well as pro-social behavior in other social settings. This focus on normative goals, such as respect, suggests that people do not always act in alignment with their expectations, regulate themselves in terms their actions rather than possible outcomes of those actions, and choose pro-social action not out of desire to benefit others as much as a simple acquiescence to situational demands.
Enrollment and Retainment Experiences in a Pilot Clinical Trial Testing Deep Brain Stimulation in Early Stage Parkinson's Disease (P06.090)

OBJECTIVE: To determine the factors that influenced patients9 participation in a clinical trial of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in early stage Parkinson9s disease (PD). BACKGROUND: We conducted the only FDA-approved study of DBS for early PD (IDE G050016, IRB 040797). Prior to initiation, ethical concerns centered on exposing subjects to surgical risks when their symptoms were well-controlled with medications. Upon commencement, additional concerns were that subjects would either not enroll in the study or be highly motivated to receive DBS and would, therefore, drop out of the study if randomized to medications. DESIGN/METHODS: 30 subjects (27 men, 60 ± 6.9 mean age) with early stage PD, Hoehn & Yahr ≤ 2 off medication, without motor fluctuations, were enrolled in a prospective, randomized, single-blind clinical trial testing the safety and tolerability of DBS. 15 subjects randomized to DBS were implanted and followed in parallel with subjects randomized to medications. Subjects were evaluated every 6 months for a period of 2 years. At study completion, 27 subjects completed a survey concerning the enrollment and study experience. RESULTS: Upon enrollment, 89% of subjects hoped to be randomized to DBS. Two medication and one DBS subject considered dropping out following randomization. The only subject to drop out cited financial hardship. The most common reasons for remaining in the study were to help future patients with PD through research participation and to honor their commitment. Two subjects in the medication group elected to undergo DBS after study completion and 3 others are considering DBS. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that patients will enroll and remain in a trial testing DBS in very early stage PD. While most subjects hoped to be randomized to the DBS group upon study entry, dropouts in either study arm were remarkable low. A large scale multicenter study of DBS in very early stage PD is feasible. Supported by: Medtronic, Inc., by Vanderbilt CTSA grant UL1TR000445 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), by NCATS/NIH award UL1TR000011, by NIH R01 EB006136, and by private donations. Medtronic representatives did not take part in data collection, management, analysis, or interpretation of the data or in preparation, review, or approval of this abstract. Disclosure: Dr. Molinari has nothing to disclose. Dr. Currie has nothing to disclose. Dr. Turchan has nothing to disclose. Dr. Sidwell has nothing to disclose. Dr. Charles has received personal compensation for activities with Allergan, Inc., Ipsen, Medtronic, Inc., and the Alliance for Patient Access. Dr. Charles9 institution has received research support from Allergan, Inc., Ipsen, Merz Pharma, Medtronic, Inc., and UCB Pharma.
Disentangling effects of fire, habitat, and climate on an endangered prairie-specialist butterfly

Abstract Tallgrass prairie, arguably the most fire-dependent system in North America, is a Biome that has been essentially eliminated and is now exceedingly rare. Absent frequent disturbance, remnant tallgrass prairie rapidly converts to a dominant cover of woody plants. This creates unique challenges for conservation of prairie-specialist insects dependent on increasingly small and isolated habitats prone to direct and indirect threats from climate variability, habitat degradation, and management activities; or lack thereof. Regal fritillary butterflies (Speyeria idalia) exemplify this problem, with sharp population declines in recent decades and considerable disagreement on management practices, particularly in the use of prescribed burning to maintain habitat. Spanning 20-years (1997–2016), we evaluated regal fritillary populations within seven sites in relation to fire, habitat, and climate records to better understand these interacting effects on interannual and long-term population changes. Though fire had short-term negative effects on regal fritillary abundance, habitat quality was one of the most important factors explaining populations and was positively associated with prescribed fire. Burning every 3–5 years maximized regal fritillary abundance, but even annual burning was more beneficial to regal populations than no burning at all. Unburned refugia are important in maintaining populations, but creating and maintaining high quality habitat with abundant violets (Viola spp) and varied nectar sources, may be the most impactful management and conservation tool. Regal fritillary butterflies were consistently more than twice as abundant on high quality habitats and this relationship held across, and often dwarfed the effects of, various prescribed fire regimes or climate variability.
The Independence of the AC

In order to prove the independence of the Axiom of Choice from the axioms of ZF we cannot use the models which were employed in the previous section, since if M is a model of ZF + AC and G is P-generic over M, then M [G] also satisfies the AC. Yet the model N which we shall construct and which violates the AC is of the form M [G]. The corresponding language will have countably many symbols and we shall add to M countably many generic sets together with a set containing all these generic sets.
HELPING EVERYONE ASSESS RISK TODAY! (HEART!): ETHNIC, URBAN AND SUBURBAN ASCVD RISK DIFFERENCES

Our community program, Helping Everyone Assess Risk Today! (HEART!), provides free individual health screening by determining atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk using the ACC ASCVD Risk Estimator mobile application. In this study, we sought to compare ASCVD risk between suburban (
Practical Aspects of X-Ray Diffraction

In this and the following sections we provide some general experimental background to the x-ray diffraction technique. Each manufacturer’s instrument has its unique features, and for specific details you should refer to the instrument operating manual that came with your diffractometer. The experimental geometry used in the powder diffraction method is illustrated in Fig. 42. The three basic components of an x-ray diffractometer are the • X ray source • Specimen • X ray detector and they all lie on the circumference of a circle, which is known as the focusing circle. The angle between the plane of the specimen and the x-ray source is θ, the Bragg angle. The angle between the projection of the x-ray source and the detector is 2θ. For this reason the x-ray diffraction patterns produced with this geometry are often known as θ-2θ (theta-two theta) scans. In the θ-2θ geometry the x-ray source is fixed, and the detector moves through a range of angles. The radius of the focusing circle is not constant but increases as the angle 2θ decreases, as you can see from Fig. 42. The 2θ measurement range is typically from 0° to about 170°. In an experiment you need not necessarily scan the whole range of detector angles. A 2θ range from 30° to 140° is an example of a typical scan.
The Good and the Bad of Negative Word-of-Mouth: Empirical Investigation into the Effect of Online Messages

With the advancement of Internet technologies, customers can share their opinions in ways that were not possible just a few years ago. Consumers now have the ability to express their thoughts and feelings openly after they consume a product or service. In particular, when customers experience dissatisfaction with a brand, they can post their negative reactions on an online public forum such as a company’s website, social networking sites, or third-party complaint websites.
From Guiding Principles to Interpretive Organizations: Developing a Framework for Applying the UNGPs to Disputes that Institutionalizes the Advocacy Role of Civil Society

Global human rights NGOs evidence the power and temptations of the great normative institutional forces that affect the governance projects of transnational society in the early 21st century. These forces — (1) the drive for order and rationality even within emerging polycentric orders beyond the state, and (2) the transformation of the individual within this polycentric universe from singular being to disembodied abstraction made flesh in the body of civil society — are irresistible. The chapter’s thesis is this: the logic of emerging meta-governance points to the need to establish a central mechanism for the interpretation of transnational normative governance instruments and particularly the United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), and the logic of emerging mass governance principles points to the need to vest representative civil society organizations with the authority to bring cases and advocate before such an interpretive body. Movements to develop comprehensive treaty structures pose a threat to the establishment of a workable transnational order compatible with the realities of contemporary governance. This chapter considers both the challenges of the arguments for the institutionalization of NGOs within the normative framework of the UNGPs and the strengths of their critique of the Working Group on human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises (WG) for missed opportunities. Two of these opportunities, to date ignored, are worthy of serious development. The first is a facility for delivering interpretations of the GPs whether or not deemed binding by state or enterprise instrumentalities at the international level. The second, drawing from the first, would incorporate civil society as a key representative of individuals seeking an interpretation of the INGPs in particular contexts. It follows that the application-interpretation facility requires not just the establishment not just of an institutional framework for providing a means of hearing specific complaints, but one in which individuals could bring these complaints through representative civil society for determination of the application of the GPs in context. The object is to more fully develop the UNGP’s remedial third pillar through the creation of an internationally based autonomous source of process and governance that raises the stakeholder status of individuals, now represented by a civil society sector under the third pillar that states enjoy under the first pillar and enterprises enjoy under the second. The way to that goal requires substantial development, but its value appears clear.
Measuring Student Engagement in High School Classrooms and What We Have Learned

This chapter explains the methodology undergirding many of the studies on which this book is based. Those studies examine students’ engagement from moment to moment while in educational contexts with the experience sampling method, or ESM. Respondents of these studies carried a paging device (usually a programmable wristwatch), which signals them at random moments throughout the day. Each time they were signaled, they completed a brief questionnaire in which they answered open-ended and scaled questions about the day and time of the signal, their activities and thoughts, as well as the cognitive, affective, and motivational qualities of their experience. To study engagement, my colleagues and I analyzed ESM reports occurring while in schools exclusively, and especially while in classrooms, from the Sloan Study of Youth and Social Development (SSYSD), a nationally representative study conducted at the University of Chicago. On average, high school students report being less engaged while in classrooms than in almost any other setting in which they spend significant time. Students felt significantly more engaged, however, given certain perceptions of both instruction and themselves. Concentration, attentiveness, and overall engagement were significantly enhanced, for example, when instruction was perceived as challenging, relevant, and appropriately challenging and when students perceived themselves to be active, in control, and competent. Students were also significantly more engaged in group and individual work than while listening to a lecture or watching TV or a video. Students in our sample were also significantly more engaged in their nonacademic courses than in their academic ones.
Deuterated stilbene (stilbene-d12): An improved detector for fast neutrons

Abstract We have developed and evaluated two prototype fast neutron deuterated-stilbene scintillators. The largest scintillator is hexagonal in shape with volume 32 cm3, comprised of deuterated crystalline trans-stilbene (stilbene-d12). These samples were grown using a solution-based crystal growing method developed at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory to grow conventional 1H-based stilbene scintillator crystals. The stilbene-d12 prototype detectors show excellent neutron/gamma discrimination, noticeably better than 1H-stilbene, and appear to have less asymmetry in the response to neutrons incident from different directions. Like other deuterated scintillators, the stilbene-d12 detectors in many applications can provide incident neutron energy spectra, without time of flight, by suitably unfolding the neutron light-output spectra.
A two-dimensional and non-hierarchical framework of Bloom’s taxonomy for biology

Bloom’s taxonomy is a classification of learning objectives originally developed for general educational purposes. The taxonomy was subsequently revised to expand beyond cognitive processes and to ...
The PlyB Endolysin of Bacteriophage vB_BanS_Bcp1 Exhibits Broad-Spectrum Bactericidal Activity against Bacillus cereus Sensu Lato Isolates.

ABSTRACT Lytic bacteriophages (or phages) drive bacterial mortality by elaborating exquisite abilities to bind, breach, and destroy bacterial cell membranes and subjugate critical bacterial cell functions. These antimicrobial activities make phages ideal candidates to serve as, or provide sources of, biological control measures for bacterial pathogens. In this study, we isolated the Myoviridae phage vB_BanS_Bcp1 (here referred to as Bcp1) from landfill soil, using a Bacillus anthracis host. The antimicrobial activities of both Bcp1 and its encoded endolysin, PlyB, were examined across different B. cereussensu lato group species, including B. cereussensu stricto, Bacillus thuringiensis, and Bacillus anthracis, with pathogenic potential in humans and multiple different uses in biotechnological applications. The Bcp1 phage infected only a subset (11 to 66%) of each B. cereussensu lato species group tested. In contrast, functional analysis of purified PlyB revealed a potent bacteriolytic activity against all B. cereussensu lato isolates tested (n = 79). PlyB was, furthermore, active across broad temperature, pH, and salt ranges, refractory to the development of resistance, bactericidal as a single agent, and synergistic with a second endolysin, PlyG. To confirm the potential for PlyB as an antimicrobial agent, we demonstrated the efficacy of a single intravenous treatment with PlyB alone or combination with PlyG in a murine model of lethal B. anthracis infection. Overall, our findings show exciting potential for the Bcp1 bacteriophage and the PlyB endolysin as potential new additions to the antimicrobial armamentarium. IMPORTANCE Organisms of the Bacillus cereussensu lato lineage are ubiquitous in the environment and are responsible for toxin-mediated infections ranging from severe food poisoning (B. cereussensu stricto) to anthrax (Bacillus anthracis). The increasing incidence of many of these infections, combined with the specter of antibiotic resistance, has created a need for novel antimicrobials with potent activity, including bacteriophages (or phages) and phage-encoded products (i.e., endolysins). In this study, we describe a broadly infective phage, Bcp1, and its encoded endolysin, PlyB, which exhibited a rapidly bacteriolytic effect against all B. cereussensu lato isolates tested with no evidence of evolving resistance. Importantly, PlyB was highly efficacious in a mouse model of lethal bacteremia with B. anthracis. Both the Bcp1 phage and the PlyB endolysin represent novel mechanisms of action compared to antibiotics, with potential applications to address the evolving problem of antimicrobial resistance.
“We're nine miles from the board building, but the perception is that we're 100 miles away out in farm country”: The case of a rural school in a non-rural district

Abstract Due to historical district reorganization, Maplewood Elementary School remains the only school within its community: a rural school in a non-rural district. Participants' definitions of community are analyzed using local and institutional definitions of community to explain the distance (literal and figurative) and estrangement of this school from its district. Findings illustrate participants' definitions of community in geographic and demographic ways that are comparative (rural/non-rural) in nature. Educators articulate a third layer of community influencing their work: a local and institutional community. Theoretically, these findings complicate the neoinstitutional perspective that eschews the effects of the local ecological community and instead demonstrate in a rural community the institutional forces of a local and professional community: the school district. In addition, findings suggest the isolation of the school may influence the role of the rural school principal, the teachers' relationships to their rural students, as well as students' experiences of school transitions.
Acquired Resistance in Lung Cancer

The last decade has witnessed a transformation in the treatment of advanced-stage lung cancer from a largely palliative approach to one where long-term durable remissions and even cures might be wi...
Midwives and pregnant men: labouring toward ethical care in the United States.

In recent years, midwives have expanded their scope of practice to include transgender men; that is, men assigned female at birth who have transitioned. Transgender men may still have female reproductive organs and be able to conceive, carry a pregnancy and give birth. Midwives have been mostly
Incidence, Severity, and Characterization of Phytophthora Foot Rot of Citrus in Texas and Implications for Disease Management.

Phytophthora-induced foot rot, also known as gummosis, is an important disease affecting citrus production worldwide. In Texas, the third-largest citrus-producing state in the United States, limite...
Immunotherapy for Medulloblastoma: Current Perspectives

Background Immune-mediated therapies have transformed the treatment of metastatic melanoma and renal, bladder, and both small and non-small cell lung carcinomas. However, immunotherapy is yet to demonstrate dramatic results in brain tumors like medulloblastoma for a variety of reasons. Recent pre-clinical and early phase human trials provide encouraging results that may overcome the challenges of central nervous system (CNS) tumors, which include the intrinsic immunosuppressive properties of these cancers, a lack of antigen targets, antigenic variability, and the immune-restrictive site of the CNS. These studies highlight the growing potential of immunotherapy to treat patients with medulloblastoma, a disease that is a frequent cause of morbidity and mortality to children and young adults. Methods We conducted an inclusive review of the PubMed-indexed literature and studies listed in clinicaltrials.gov using combinations of the keywords medulloblastoma, immunotherapy, CNS tumors, brain tumors, vaccines, oncolytic virus, natural killer, and CAR T to identify trials evaluating immunotherapy in preclinical experiments or in patients with medulloblastoma. Given a limited number of investigations using immunotherapy to treat patients with medulloblastoma, 24 studies were selected for final analysis and manuscript citation. Results This review presents results from pre-clinical studies in medulloblastoma cell lines, animal models, and the limited trials involving human patients. Conclusion From our review, we suggest that cancer vaccines, oncolytic viral therapy, natural killer cells, and CAR T therapy hold promise against the innate immunosuppressive properties of medulloblastoma in order to prolong survival. There is an unmet need for immunotherapy regimens that target overexpressed antigens in medulloblastoma tumors. We advocate for more combination treatment clinical trials using conventional surgical and radiochemotherapy approaches in the near-term clinical development.
Patient interest in and barriers to telemedicine video visits in a multilingual urban safety-net system.

Objective To determine interest in and barriers to video visits in safety-net patients with diverse age, racial/ethnic, or linguistic background. Materials and methods We surveyed patients in an urban safety-net system to assess: interest in video visits; ability to successfully complete test video visits; and barriers to successful completion of test video visits. Results Among 202 participants, of which 177 (87.6%) were persons of color and 113 (55.9%) preferred non-English languages, 132 (65.3%) were interested in and 109 (54.0%) successfully completed a test video visit. Younger age, non-English preference, and prior smartphone application use were associated with interest. Over half (n = 112) reported barriers to video visits; Internet/data access was the most common barrier (n = 50, 24.8%). Conclusion Safety-net patients are interested in video visits and able to successfully complete test visits. Internet or mobile data access is a common barrier in even urban safety-net settings and may impact equitable telemedicine access.
Prototype Hat as a Biofeedback System to Address Vestibular Balance Impairment

Loss of vestibular feedback is considered a significant disabling factor among older adults. Studies show that prosthetic vestibular feedback in the forms of electro- and vibrotactile mechanisms expedite the treatment and recovery of vestibular feedback loss. We propose an alternative vibrotactile system in a hat that provides vestibular feedback to the skull based on signals from an accelerometer mounted on the hat. This work presents a proof of concept of our proposed wearable system and evaluates the balance performance of two healthy volunteers before and after wearing the hat. The balance performance evaluations were based on the Sensory Organization Test (SOT) protocol. Quantitative comparisons of balance performance show that our proposed system changes balance performance after wearing the hat for a short training session. The proposed system is easy to use and comfortable.
Evolution of the unfolded protein response in plants.

The Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) in plants is elicited by endoplasmic reticulum stress which can be brought about by adverse environmental conditions. The response is mediated by a conserved signaling network composed of two branches - one branch involving INOSITOL REQUIRING ENZYME1- BASIC LEUCINE ZIPPER60 (IRE1-bZIP60) signaling pathway and another branch involving the membrane transcription factors, bZIP17 and - 28. The UPR has been reported in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a unicellular green alga, which lacks some canonical UPR signaling components found in vascular plants, raising the question whether C. reinhardtii uses other means such as oxidative signaling or Regulated IRE1-Dependent Decay to activate the UPR. In vascular plants IRE1 splices bZIP60 mRNA in response to endoplasmic reticulum stress by cutting at a site in the RNA that is highly conserved in structure and sequence. Monocots have a single IRE1 gene required for viability in rice, while dicots have two IRE1 genes, IRE1a and -b. Brassicas have a third IRE1 gene, IRE1c, which lacks a lumenal domain, but is required in combination with IRE1b for gametogenesis. Vascular and non-vascular plants upregulate a similar set of genes in response to endoplasmic reticulum stress despite differences in the complexity of their UPR signaling networks. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Practical measures for residue avoidance in veal calves

The formula-fed veal industry consists of a fairly small number of production units, which are generally associated with a company which supplies feed and, in some instances, management and health advice. Production units may be independent, on contract or company owned. In many cases, there is no working relationship between the production unit and a veterinarian. A small survey was conducted of veterinarians who do work with veal production units. Fifteen US and Canadian veterinarians responded. These veterinarians work with a total of 322 veal farms. A summary of their responses regarding drug use on farms with which they work follows.
Beautiful aliens: a Steve Abbott reader: by Steve Abbott, edited by Jamie Townsend, New York, Nightboat Books, 2019, 300 pp., $21.95 (pbk), ISBN: 1643620152

How should we consider the writing and activism of Steve Abbott (1943-1992)? The story might begin with his undergraduate years at the University of Nebraska where he developed a budding interest i...
Structural Analysis and Optimization of Wings Subjected to Dynamic Loads

Dynamic loads arising from the Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR; “Aeronautics and Space,” Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Subchapter C Aircraft, Part 25 A...
Classification of subfactors and their endomorphisms

Preliminaries Approximate innerness for subfactors Central freeness for subfactors More on central freeness: the type $\text{III}_1$ case The main classification result Applications Appendix References.
Groove pancreatitis presenting with a double duct sign and mimicking pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Groove pancreatitis presenting with a double duct sign and mimicking pancreatic adenocarcinoma
Firm Heterogeneity and High-Skill Immigration Policy

This project attempts to explain why high-skill immigration quotas in the United States are so low given evidence of high levels of public support for high-skilled immigration. It argues that variations in firm size and productivity, combined with fixed costs to hiring immigrant workers, mean that only a subset of firms in an industry will hire immigrant workers and only those with high productivity will benefit from an increase in quota numbers. This limits the number of firms who will actively lobby for more open immigration policy. I apply the monopolistic competition model of Melitz (2003) to the case of labor migration and show that firms in an industry do not uniformly benefit from higher immigration caps in the presence of additional fixed hiring costs resulting from firms' need to find and sponsor immigrant workers. The model suggests that low immigration quotas and employer-sponsored immigration are mutually reinforcing.
Ecosystem strategies for complex technological innovation: The case of smart grid development

This paper deals generally with the creation, structuring and behavior of innovation ecosystems, i.e. a network of diverse actors, including emerging young firms, as well as established medium-size and large enterprises, NGOs, and government. More specifically, the paper explores these basic issues using the example of smart grid development, which is now taking place in the cleantech/renewable energy field. To examine and compare smart grid innovation ecosystems being assembled by GE, IBM and Cisco Systems, our study assembles data on ecosystem membership, provides metrics on key parameters, and generates “maps” of these smart grid innovation ecosystems. These ecosystems are also analyzed and compared using social networking analysis, focusing in particular on the parameters of diversity, centrality (degree, betweenness and closeness) and density. Generally, our results show that innovation ecosystem strategies constitute a key approach for entering and innovating in the smart grid arena.
RELIGION, ETHNICITY AND RISK-TAKING: EVIDENCE FROM A NEW LOTTERY- TEXAS

A debate over Oklahoma's possible adoption of a lottery was a highlight of the 2002 gubernatorial election. In 1992, Texas joined the many states already conducting lotteries. While dissimilar in some ways, the populations of Oklahoma and Texas are alike in many ways. Therefore, policy makers considering an Oklahoma lottery can gain considerable insight from examining Texas's lottery. Texas is a state characterized by divisions between Whites and Hispanics and divisions between Baptists and Catholics. Based on academic research, Baptists were expected to shun lottery participation, and Catholics were expected to be eager lottery participants. This article, analyzing county data from the introductory period of the Texas Lottery, finds that reality is more complicated than anticipated. As expected, Baptists do not participate in the lottery, but Catholics are not homogenous. Concentrations of White Catholics indicate high levels of lottery participation, as expected. However, concentrations of Hispanic Catholics indicate lower levels oflottery participation. In Texas's new lottery, participation is a White non-Baptist experience. As expected, lower incomes and lower educations signal higher levels oflottery participation. Lottery play fell with middle-income concentrations, only unexpectedly to rise again with concentrations of people with higher incomes. At the highest incomes, lottery play again declined.
Wide-field lifetime-based Förster Resonance Energy Transfer in Live animals

Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) plays an increased role in the drug development pipeline as it allows detecting and monitoring the binding of targeting ligands to receptors as well as receptor dimerization. Herein, we will present our instrumental, theoretical and experimental efforts to establish a new method to perform whole-body FRET imaging based on wide-field time-resolved structured illumination. We will present its application to monitor receptor dimerization/internalization quantitatively in vivo and to specifically discriminate between different Transferrin (Tfn)-targeted systems.
Bacteriologic studies in ligated and nonligated umbilical cords.

Abstract A bacteriologic study was conducted on newborns, employing two groups: (1) 88 cases of nonligated cords, and (2) 63 cases of ligated cords. The method has been described in detail, including the handling of the umbilical cord and that employed in the bacteriologic studies. The bacteriologic findings were divided into four groups: (1) Coagulase-Positive Staphylococci, (2) Intestinal Type Organisms, (3) Respiratory Type Organisms, and (4) Anaerobic Organisms. The incidence of Group 1 within 24 hours was 35 per cent in the ligated group and 57 per cent in the nonligated group, but within 72 hours the incidence in the ligated group rose from 35 per cent to 63 per cent and in the nonligated group dropped from 57 per cent to 45 per cent. Bacteriologic observations on Group III, in nonligated cords, showed that 13 cases which were positive within 24 hours became negative within 72 hours, and in Group IV in nonligated group, all organisms that were positive within 24 hours became negative within 72 hours. We feel that a cord that desiccates rapidly and separates early seems to be less favorable to the growth and maintenance of bacteriologic flora, and finally we feel that the amount of handling and contacts to which the severed cord is exposed is important in its relation to its bacterial flora. It is also felt that there are definite advantages in late severance and nonligation of the umbilical cord.
Prediction of anthropometric accommodation in aircraft cockpits

Abstract : Designing aircraft cockpits to accommodate the wide range of body sizes existing in the U.S. population has always been a difficult problem for Crewstation Engineers. The approach taken in the design of military aircraft has been to restrict the range of body sizes allowed into flight training, and then to develop standards and specifications to ensure that the majority of the pilots are accommodated. Accommodation in this instance is defined as the ability to: (1) adequately see, reach, and actuate controls; (2) have external visual fields so the pilot can see to land, clear for other aircraft, and perform a wide range of missions (ground support/attack or air-to-air combat); and (3) if problems arise, be able to escape safely. Each of these areas is directly affected by the body size of the pilot. The USAF is considering relaxing body size entrance requirements so that smaller and larger people could become pilots. Existing accommodation problems will become much worse. This dissertation describes a methodology for correcting this problem and demonstrates it by predicting pilot fit and performance in the USAF T-38A aircraft based on anthropometric data. The methods described can be applied to a variety of design applications where fitting the human operator into a system is a major concern. A systematic approach is described which includes: defining the user population, setting functional requirements that operators must be able to perform, testing the ability of the user population to perform the functional requirements, and developing predictive equations for selecting the future users of the system.
Large-scale neighbor-joining with NINJA

Neighbor-joining is a well-established hierarchical clustering algorithm for inferring phylogenies. It begins with observed distances between pairs of sequences, and clustering order depends on a metric related to those distances. The canonical algorithm requires O(n3) time and O(n2) space for n sequences, which precludes application to very large sequence families, e.g. those containing 100,000 sequences. Datasets of this size are available today, and such phylogenies will play an increasingly important role in comparative biology studies. Recent algorithmic advances have greatly sped up neighbor-joining for inputs of thousands of sequences, but are limited to fewer than 13,000 sequences on a system with 4GB RAM. In this paper, I describe an algorithm that speeds up neighbor-joining by dramatically reducing the number of distance values that are viewed in each iteration of the clustering procedure, while still computing a correct neighbor-joining tree. This algorithm can scale to inputs larger than 100,000 sequences because of external-memory-efficient data structures. A free implementation may by obtained from http://nimbletwist.com/software/ninja
Dual mTORC1/C2 inhibitors suppress cellular geroconversion (a senescence program)

In proliferating cells, mTOR is active and promotes cell growth. When the cell cycle is arrested, then mTOR converts reversible arrest to senescence (geroconversion). Rapamycin and other rapalogs suppress geroconversion, maintaining quiescence instead. Here we showed that ATP-competitive kinase inhibitors (Torin1 and PP242), which inhibit both mTORC1 and TORC2, also suppressed geroconversion. Despite inhibition of proliferation (in proliferating cells), mTOR inhibitors preserved re-proliferative potential (RP) in arrested cells. In p21-arrested cells, Torin 1 and PP242 detectably suppressed geroconversion at concentrations as low as 1-3 nM and 10-30 nM, reaching maximal gerosuppression at 30 nM and 300 nM, respectively. Near-maximal gerosuppression coincided with inhibition of p-S6K(T389) and p-S6(S235/236). Dual mTOR inhibitors prevented senescent morphology and hypertrophy. Our study warrants investigation into whether low doses of dual mTOR inhibitors will prolong animal life span and delay age-related diseases. A new class of potential anti-aging drugs can be envisioned.
Microwave and optical remote sensing study of Boone County, Missouri

Integration of synthetic-aperture radar data with spaceborne optical data offers potential for improving land-use classification for local and state government applications. Remote sensing techniques using optical sensor data are well established for local and state government applications. As commercial SAR products become available at lower costs, local government applications using optical based classification can incorporate SAR sensor data into their processing. For this study, we orthorectified and analyzed Radarsat SAR data and Landsat TM data that covers Boone County, Missouri. Optical and SAR sensor data are co-registered for data fusion and classification process. Training data from sites throughout the study area are used to verify and validate the classification of five classes: crops, water, built-up, forest and grass. We present preliminary results of our study.
Una retórica de la lucidez: poesía como arte de la memoria

Este ensayo explora la temporalidad del discurso poetico a partir de lo que ha llegado a nuestros dias como mnemotecnia, pero que durante siglos fue llama- do “arte de la memoria” y cifro maneras de relacionarse y apropiarse del pa- sado. La poesia lirica hereda de esta actitud hacia el archivo y la historiografia una dimension temporal de expansion con base en la simultaneidad. Frente a la narrativa y su profunda influencia sobre la constitucion de la memoria y, por tanto, su valoracion implicita de lo memorable, la lirica se instala en el instante y hace de el su punto de vista privilegiado. Esto muestra Noni Benegas en su poemario Cartografia ardiente (1995), libro que ha servido como base para la reflexion del ensayo. Benegas establece un lazo entre palabra, instante y es - critura, y desde ahi traza mapas de recoleccion, ya sea de experiencias, ya sea de obras de arte. Llevando a sus ultimas consecuencias las ensenanzas del arte de la memoria, en tanto iluminacion del sentido por el desencadenamien- to de significados en una temporalidad tumultuosa y simultanea, Benegas propone captar la experiencia de la vida y el arte como obra de la palabra cuyo sentido se amplifica en el instante.
The Measurement of Airflow Using Singing Helmet That Allows Free Movement of the Jaw

Summary Objectives Airflow measurement is a useful method of evaluating laryngeal physiology. We introduce a noninvasive device that measures airflow without restricting jaw movement or requiring phonation into a mouthpiece, thus facilitating measurement during singing and connected speech. Study design Validation and human subject trials were conducted. Airflow measurements were obtained from 16 male and 16 female subjects during singing, speech, and constant vowel production tasks. Methods A similar helmet was designed by Stevens and Mead in 1968. The new device validity was evaluated by comparing the measured volume of air to a known volume of administered air using a calibration syringe. Subjects were asked to voice sustained vowels at low, medium, and high vocal intensity, read two sentences at a conversational volume, and perform different singing exercises while airflow was recorded. Results The device accurately and reliably measured airflow with mean airflow values falling within previously published ranges. There was an experimentally determined response time of 0.173 ± 0.014 seconds. Subjects were able to comfortably perform speech and singing exercises. Male subjects had higher airflow for all sustained vowels ( P P Conclusions No other portable device has been shown to measure airflow during singing and speech while allowing for free movement of the jaw. This device provides a more natural environment to measure airflow that could be used to help evaluate laryngeal function and aid in singing training.