cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A combined morphometric and phylogenetic revision of the Late Ordovician brachiopod genera Eochonetes and Thaerodonta

Systematic revision of the Late Ordovician brachiopod genera Eochonetes Reed, 1917 and Thaerodonta Wang, 1949 was conducted utilizing specimen-based morphometric and species-level phylogenetic analyses. Previous studies had recognized Thaerodonta and Eochonetes as either distinct taxonomic entities or synonyms. New multivariate and phylogenetic analyses confirm the synonymy of Thaerodonta with Eochonetes and provide a framework to assess evolutionary and ecological patterns within the clade. Multivariate analyses were employed to delineate species in morphospace and provided information on potential species relationships. Phylogenetic analysis was used to produce an evolutionary framework for taxonomic revision and identify character evolution within the clade. Most species previously assigned to Thaerodonta are transferred to Eochonetes, and three others are excluded from Eochonetes and provisionally referred to other sowerbyellid genera. Three new species (Eochonetes maearum new species, E. voldemortus new species, E. minerva new species) are described, one species (Leptaena saxea Sardeson, 1892) is synonymized with E. recedens Sardeson, 1892, and one subspecies (Thaerodonta mucronata scabra Howe, 1965) is rejected. This study demonstrates that a combination of complementary approaches and data types has the potential to advance interpretations beyond analyses confined to single analytical tools. Specifically, multivariate analyses provide constraints on species boundaries, whereas species-level phylogenetic analyses provide frameworks to examine morphological, ecological, and biogeographic evolution within a clade.
Hate Does Not Have to Hurt: The Influence of Hate-Acknowledging Advertising on Positive Word of Mouth (An Extended Abstract)

It is nearly impossible for all consumers to like a brand. However, there is evidence suggesting that when a large portion of consumers hate a brand, that negative emotion can be hazardous to a brand’s success. Abercrombie and Fitch’s 17 % quarterly drop in earnings after announcing the brand would not be available in sizes larger than size 10 demonstrates the potential hazards of brand hate (see van Delzen 2014). Given the difficulties and limited options available to marketers in dealing with the challenges of brand hate emotions, many managers take the traditional approach of turning the other cheek. In contrast, some companies are experimenting with using nontraditional approaches to deal with the problem of hate by addressing the situation head-on and publically acknowledging the existence of brand haters. Some companies even go as far as attempting to capitalize on the cache of being hated, a tactic particularly popular among polarizing brands. Luo et al. (2013) introduce the concept of polarizing brands and define the term as those brands having a significant number of consumers professing to hate the brand, as well as a significant number of consumers claiming to love the brand.
The case against libertarian arguments for compulsory vaccination

In a recent paper in this journal, Jason Brennan correctly notes that libertarians struggle to justify a policy of compulsory vaccination. The most straightforward argument that justifies compulsory vaccination is that such a policy promotes welfare. But libertarians cannot make this argument because they claim that the state is justified only in protecting negative rights, not in promoting welfare. I consider two representative libertarian attempts to justify compulsory vaccination, and I argue that such arguments are unsuccessful. They either fail to show that the state is justified in implementing the policy or overgeneralise. I suggest that Brennan's solution is especially well motivated insofar as it addresses the shortcomings of these arguments. Brennan argues that we violate the rights of others by participating in an activity that imposes an unacceptable collective risk of harm. Going unvaccinated is an activity that imposes an unacceptable collective risk of harm, and thus amounts to a rights violation. So, the state can implement a policy of compulsory vaccination I object, however, that Brennan's delineation of acceptable and unacceptable risk implicitly rests on classical liberal rather than libertarian principles; he justifies compulsory vaccination on the grounds that it promotes welfare. I also object that Brennan's argument would entail significant departures from libertarian institutional arrangements. This leaves libertarians with a choice: they can develop new arguments to demonstrate that their position is compatible with compulsory vaccination, or they can accept that their view entails the impermissibility of compulsory vaccination, and argue that this is not an unpalatable implication of their view.
PREVALENCE OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE AMONG YOUNG ADULTS WITH MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION

Substance abuse is an increasingly recognized risk factor for myocardial infarction (MI) & is associated with significantly higher morbidity & mortality. Our objective was to assess its prevalence in a cohort of young adults who experience their first MI at ≤ 50 years of age. We retrospectively
Sidelobe behavior and bandwidth characteristics of distributed antenna arrays

This work investigates sidelobe and bandwidth behavior of various distributed antenna arrays. Two distributions are investigated for unique capabilities in sidelobe tapering. The Bates distribution lowers the sidelobe levels while widening the main beamwidth. By contrast, the Irwin-Hall distribution lowers sidelobe levels, while maintaining mainlobe beamwidth. The three-dimensional sidelobe pattern leads to an energy redistribution. Simulated results for a Circular Lebesgue taper are provided, similar to an Irwin-Hall taper in two-dimensional angular space. A short discussion on 3dB beamwidth with relation to bandwidth properties concludes this paper.
Selective bipotential differentiation of mouse embryonic hepatoblasts in vitro.

Abstract A line of hepatic endoderm cells, hepatoblast cell line 3 (HBC-3), was derived from the liver diverticulum of the mouse on day 9.5 of gestation by culture on a mitomycin C treated STON+ feeder layer in a hepatoblast culture medium consisting of Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium, nonessential amino acids, fetal calf serum, and beta-mercaptoethanol. This line, HBC-3, stains positively for alpha-fetoprotein, albumin, and cytokeratin 14 (CK-14), protein markers expressed by the embryonic liver diverticulum, indicating that HBC-3 cells retain an undifferentiated hepatoblast phenotype. HBC-3 cells acquire hepatocyte-like ultrastructural characteristics, including bile canaliculi, peroxisomes, and glycogen granules, when maintained in culture for 3 weeks without passage. Treatment with dimethylsulfoxide or sodium butyrate induces a rapid hepatocytic differentiation. The cells cease to express alpha-fetoprotein and CK-14, maintain albumin expression, and become positive for glucose-6-phosphatase activity (a profile consistent with differentiation along the hepatocyte lineage). On Matrigel, HBC-3 cells form elaborate ductular structures, which are positive for gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase and CK-14 and CK-19 and do not express detectable amounts of albumin, a phenotypic change consistent with differentiation along the bile ductular lineage. Thus, HBC-3 cells behave in culture as bipotential hepatoblasts and provide a model system to identify factors that regulate bipotential differentiation in the liver.
EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF PLASTIC WAVE PROPAGATION IN BARS

The results of a number of different experiments involving plastic wave propagation are presented and discussed briefly. Some comparisons with theoretical predictions based on both the strain rate and non-strain rate theories are included, but no theoretical predictions based on the modified strain rate theory presented in Part I are available for comparison.
An Overview of Clinical Trials of Targeted Therapies in Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer mortality in the United States ( 1 ). Over 75% of patients with pancreatic cancer have locally advanced or metastatic disease at diagnosis ( 2 ). The median survival of patients with metastatic and locally advanced pancreatic cancer is 3–6 months and 8–10 months, respectively. The only potentially curative treatment is surgical resection. Patients who undergo a potentially curative resection have a median survival of 14–20 months and <20% are long-term survivors because of the development of metastatic disease. Therefore, improvement in the outcome of patients with pancreatic cancer is dependent on the development of more effective systemic therapies. Gemcitabine is considered the standard chemotherapy in advanced pancreatic cancer. The response rate, median survival and 1-year survival in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer treated with gemcitabine in the pivotal trial were 5.4%, 5.6 months, and 18%, respectively ( 3 ). Combination chemotherapy did not demonstrate any significant survival advantage in randomized trials as compared with single-agent gemcitabine ( 4 , 5). In the adjuvant setting, gemcitabine has been shown to be superior to observation ( 6) or 5-fluorouracil ( 7 ). Therefore, the impact of cytotoxic chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer has been at best modest. Nevertheless, most of the new drug development using targeted agents has been based on a gemcitabine platform. Fundamental processes associated with carcinogenesis include molecular aberrations involving cell cycle control, signal transduction, apoptosis, angiogenesis, and invasion. The identification of agents that target these abnormalities offers an opportunity for the development of effective and selective systemic treatments for pancreatic cancer. Unfortunately, recently conducted clinical trials evaluating the role of novel targeted therapies in pancreatic cancer have demonstrated somewhat disappointing results (Table 33.1 ). This chapter reviews the clinical studies that have been undertaken in patients with pancreatic cancer using targeted agents.
The effects of phosphate on the structure and stability of the luciferases from Beneckea, harveyi, Photobacterium, fischeri, and, Photobacterium phosphoreum

Abstract The luciferases from three very distinct species of luminous bacteria, Beneckea , harveyi , Photobacterium , fischeri , and , Photobacterium , phosphoreum , bind phosphate and other anions to form complexes with decreased sensitivity to proteases and increased thermal stability. Upon treatment with either trypsin or chymotrypsin in either low phosphate or high phosphate buffers, the rate of loss of activity of all three luciferases is the same as the rate of bond cleavage within a discrete region of the α subunit. Unlike the enzyme from B. , harveyi , the β subunits of the enzymes from the Photobacterium species are sensitive to the proteases in low phosphate, while in high phosphate, the β subunits of all three luciferases are not sensitive to trypsin or chymotrypsin.
Implications for Savings of Aging in the Asian

Significant aging is projected for many high-saving emerging economies of East and Southeast Asia. By 2025, the share of the elderly in their populations will at least double in most of these countries. The share of the young will fall. Aging populations could adversely affect saving rates in these economies, particularly after 2025. For the world, one may observe that, initially, the Asian Tigers could become increasingly important for world savings, reflecting their increased weight in the world economy, their high saving and growth rates, and the aging of the industrial countries. After 2025, the aging of the Tigers may reinforce the tendency toward a declining world saving rate.
Nonlinear and Related Panel Data Models

Abstract The panel data linear regression model has been studied exhaustively in a vast body of literature that originates with Nerlove (1966) and spans the entire range of empirical research in economics. This chapter describes the application of panel data methods to some nonlinear models, such as binary choice and nonlinear regression, where the treatment has been more limited. Some of the methodology of linear panel data modeling can be carried over directly to nonlinear cases, while other aspects must be reconsidered. The ubiquitous fixed effects linear model is the most prominent case of this latter point. Familiar general issues, including dealing with unobserved heterogeneity, fixed and random effects, initial conditions, and dynamic models are examined here. Practical considerations, such as incidental parameters, latent class, and random parameters models, robust covariance matrix estimation, attrition, and maximum simulated likelihood estimation are considered. We review several practical specifications that have been developed around a variety of specific nonlinear models including binary and ordered choice, models for counts, nonlinear regressions, stochastic frontier and multinomial choice models.
Effects of interfacial modification for vapor phase polymerized PEDOT on glass substrate

Abstract Optically transparent and highly conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) thin films were grown through vapor phase polymerization on (3-Mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane functionalized 3,4-Ethylenedioxythiophene (MPTMS functionalized EDOT) grafted glass substrates. Compared to bare glass, the EDOT grafted surface led to enhancements in both electrical conductivity and adhesion of PEDOT thin films. A quinoid-rich structure with increased crystallinity and a further enhanced conductivity was induced by post-deposition sulfuric acid doping. X-ray diffraction showed different orientations of the PEDOT crystals grown on substrates with and without EDOT grafting. The highest conductivity of 2690 S/cm, with an average optical transmittance of 95.4 % in the visible range, was achieved when PEDOT was vapor phase polymerized on EDOT grafted substrates and doped with 98 % sulfuric acid. Photostability was tested using a xenon arc light source and characterized by attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, showing that photo-induced degradation is associated with a decrease in C C double bond content.
The use of apnea test and brain death determination in patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: A systematic review.

Abstract Objective To review practices of brain death (BD) determination in patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Methods A systematic search was applied to PubMed and 6 electronic databases from inception to May 22, 2019. Studies reporting methods of BD assessment in adult patients (>18 years old) while on ECMO were included, after which data regarding BD assessment were extracted. Results Twenty-two studies (n = 177 patients) met the inclusion criteria. Eighty-eight patients (50%) in 19 studies underwent the apnea test (AT); most commonly through decreasing the ECMO sweep flow in 14 studies (n = 42, 48%), followed by providing CO2 through the ventilator in 2 studies (n = 6, 7%), and providing CO 2 through the ECMO oxygenator in 1 study (n = 1, 1%). The details of the AT were not reported in 2 studies (n = 39, 44%). In 19 patients (22%), the AT was nonconfirmatory due to hemodynamic instability, hypoxia, insufficient CO2 rise, or unreliability of the AT. A total of 157 ancillary tests were performed, including electroencephalogram (62%), computed tomography angiography (22%), transcranial Doppler ultrasound (6%), cerebral blood flow nuclear study (5%), cerebral angiography (4%), and other (1%). Forty-seven patients (53% of patients with AT) with confirmatory AT still underwent additional ancillary for BD confirmation. Only 21 patients (12% of all patients) were declared brain-dead using confirmatory ATs alone without ancillary testing. Conclusions Performing AT for patients with ECMO was associated with high failure rate and hemodynamic complications. Our study highlights the variability in practice in regard to the AT and supports the use of ancillary tests to determine BD in patients on ECMO.
Cardiac Surgery and Postoperative Renal Allograft Failure.

Background Although cardiac surgery among renal allograft recipients is relatively safe, less is known about the impact of cardiac surgery on the functioning renal allograft. This study assessed postoperative renal failure among renal transplant recipients undergoing cardiac surgery. Methods The study population was identified by matching medical record numbers from the United Network for Organ Sharing Kidney Transplant Database to a cardiovascular surgery database and The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Adult Cardiac Surgery Database for the authors’ institution from January 1992 through August 2018. Results One hundred seventy-nine renal transplant recipients with a functioning allograft underwent cardiac surgery a mean of 6.4 ± 5.6 years after renal transplantation. Thirty (17.6%) of the 170 patients either died or had allograft failure during the first postoperative year. Receiver-operating characteristics curve analysis using Cox regression demonstrated an optimal cutoff point for preoperative serum creatinine predicting postoperative allograft loss is 1.9 mg/dL (hazard ratio 3; 95% confidence interval, 1.5 to 6.9) with a model C statistic of 0.642. Conclusions The current study affirms findings in the literature that cardiac surgery in renal transplant recipients carries acceptable perioperative morbidity and mortality. Renal transplant recipients who underwent cardiac surgery had a constant hazard of renal allograft loss similar to that of the general transplant population. A preoperative serum creatinine value greater than 1.9 mg/dL increases the risk for long-term renal allograft loss after cardiac surgery.
Mass Spectrometry of N-Nitrosamines

Magee and Barnes(1) reported that dimethylnitrosamine (NDMA) caused liver tumors when fed to rats. Ender and colleagues(2) reported that toxic herring meal contained NDMA and they speculated that the nitrosamine arose from the reaction of sodium nitrite and the methyl amines present in fish meal. N-Nitrosamines (NAs) are now known to be a widely acting group of animal carcinogens(3) and are found, usually at trace levels, in many diverse places in the environment, such as: nitrite- cured meats, polluted air, tobacco smoke, cutting oils, hydraulic fluids, cosmetics, herbicides, pharmaceuticals, beer, Scotch whiskey, and rubber products. This is not to say that nitrosamines will always be found in the sources listed, and it should be noted that due to research and subsequent corrective action, the levels of volatile nitrosamines have been reduced in certain products.
Making Transparency Policies Work: The Critical Role of Trusted Intermediaries

Address to the International Seminar on Accountability and Corruption Control, Mexico City, 21 October 2014. Over the last twenty years we have learned that transparency can be used to improve governmental accountability and performance in many ways. We have also become much better at understanding the political, bureaucratic and social factors that influence the adoption and successful implementation of transparency policies. But we have also witnessed the emergence of powerful trends -- such as economic globalization, the growth of terrorism, and a backlash against the democratic surge of the late twentieth century -- that have encouraged stronger resistance to transparency policies. And old approaches to transparency may not work well in a world in which governments and businesses are harvesting vast amounts of digitized information about citizens and customers. For all of these reasons, citizens need friends -- by which I mean organizations that are prepared to resist the rollback of transparency policies, and also explain precisely what governments and businesses are doing with the information they collect. But will there be a ready supply of organizations to play the role of trusted intermediary? This is the crucial question.
Disclosure Avoidance in the Census Bureau’s 2010 Demonstration Data Product

Producing accurate, usable data while protecting respondent privacy are dual mandates of the US Census Bureau. In 2019, the Census Bureau announced it would use a new disclosure avoidance technique, based on differential privacy, for the 2020 Decennial Census of Population and Housing [19]. Instead of suppressing data or swapping sensitive records, differentially private methods inject noise into counts to protect privacy. Unfortunately, noise injection may also make the data less useful and accurate. This paper describes the differentially private Disclosure Avoidance System (DAS) used to prepare the 2010 Demonstration Data Product (DDP). It describes the policy decisions that underlie the DAS and how the DAS uses those policy decisions to produce differentially private data. Finally, it discusses usability and accuracy issues in the DDP, with a focus on occupied housing unit counts. Occupied housing unit counts in the DDP differed greatly from 2010 Summary File 1 differed greatly, and the paper explains possible sources of the differences.
Definition of Learning Disabilities: A Clinical Approach

Defining learning disabilities is a thankless task. Nevertheless, it is necessary for the conduct of meaningful research, accurate diagnosis, and effective remediation. Some of the current definitions have been criticized for their use of exclusionary criteria, questionable statistical procedures, and ambiguities in terminology. It is helpful to examine the clinical implications of each of these criticisms.
Commutants modulo the compact operators of certain CSL algebras II

The commutant modulo compacts, or essential commutant, of a reflexive algebra with commutative subspace lattice is a C* algebra which is the sum of the compact operators in L(H) and a C* subalgebra of the core. We give a characterization of the essential commutant of a separably acting CSL algebra in terms of properties of the spectral measure of an operator in the intersection of the essential commutant and the core. This is used to determine some sufficient conditions on the lattice for when the essential commutant is norm generated by the projections it contains.
Effect of Increases in Loanable Funds or M1 on the GDP

This chapter examines the effect of M1 and loanable funds availability on GDP and concludes FR purchases have a positive effect, and that the effect is felt mainly through changes in M1’s effect on housing investment and 2 years later, changes in demand for consumer services.
Identifying neighbourhood and individual resilience profiles for cardiovascular health: a cross-sectional study of blacks living in the Atlanta metropolitan area.

Objective To simultaneously examine multiple individual-level neighbourhood perceptions and psychosocial characteristics and their relationships with cardiovascular health (CVH) among blacks. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Subjects were recruited between 2016 and 2018 via convenience sampling. Participants 385 Black men and women, age 30–70 living in the Atlanta metropolitan area (Georgia, USA). Primary outcome measure Individual’s CVH was summarised as a composite score using American Heart Association’s Life’s Simple 7 (LS7) metrics. Methods We implemented unsupervised learning (k-means) and supervised learning (Bayesian Dirichlet process clustering) to identify clusters based on 11 self-reported neighbourhood perception and psychosocial characteristics. We also performed principal component analysis to summarise neighbourhood perceptions and psychosocial variables and assess their associations with LS7 scores. Results K-means and Bayesian clustering resulted in 4 and 5 clusters, respectively. Based on the posterior distributions, higher LS7 scores were associated with better neighbourhood perceptions and psychosocial characteristics, including neighbourhood safety, social cohesion, activities with neighbours, environmental mastery, purpose in life, resilient coping and no depression. Taken together, the first principal components of neighbourhood perceptions and psychosocial characteristics were associated with an increase of 0.07 (95% CI −0.17 to 0.31) and 0.31 (95% CI 0.06 to 0.55) in LS7 score, respectively, after accounting for age, sex, household income and education level. Conclusion Both neighbourhood perception and psychosocial domains were related to CVH, but individual psychosocial characteristics appeared to contribute to CVH most. Approaches that acknowledge the importance of factors in both domains may prove most beneficial for enhancing resilience and promoting CVH among black communities.
Efficient Driving of Acoustic Microfluidic Devices using a Resonant Plate

Microfluidic acoustophoresis has previously demonstrated excellent discrimination in cell separation that exceeds what is possible at macroscale. However, to achieve high throughput for therapeutic applications, it requires scaling to parallel arrays of microchannels. Scale-up has thus far been limited by a corresponding need for comparable scaling of the piezoelectric source. Here we present a new approach to scale-up, introducing a rigid resonant plate between the microchannel array and the transducer. Results of simulation and experiment with suspended cells show that acoustophoresis is realized in a parallel array of channels with a transducer an order of magnitude smaller than what was previously required.
The efficiencies of the component steps of oxidative phosphorylation. I. A simple steady state theory.

Most earlier theoretical work on oxidative phosphorylation has emphasized the application of the formalism of nonequilibrium thermodynamics to the overall process. The resultant mathematical development and interpretation of some experimental data is complicated somewhat by the necessity of treating a system which is incompletely coupled (degree of coupling, q < 1). Here a simple alternative approach is proposed which can be applied to many studies in the field. In this approach the overall process is broken up into sequential steps so that the product of the efficiencies of the steps is equal to the efficiency of the overall process. Steps of interest for which the degree of coupling may be quite close to unity can be “isolated” by this procedure. This approach results in a simple mathematical formalism emphasizing the power use (or energy use) at each step of the energy transduction process. The efficiencies of the steps of the process can be experimentally evaluated as is shown in the accompanying paper (B. D. Jensen, K. K. Gunter, and T. E. Gunter, 1986, Arch. Biochem. Biophys.248, 305–323) where measurements are performed as dictated by the assumptions of the current theory. This alternative approach simplifies the analysis of changes induced in the process of oxidative phosphorylation as a result of agents added to the system or of changes in conditions. The locus (or loci) of such changes becomes rapidly apparent if the data is treated as suggested. Furthermore, the mathematical formalism lends itself both to the development of expressions and new experimental approaches which minimize the effects of a decrease in a value of q below unity and also to optimal statistical treatment of the data. As a concrete example of the use of this approach we reinvestigate the question of the equivalence of use of energy from the pH gradient and of the membrane potential in phosphorylation.
"Forecasts of Doom": The Dubious Threat of Graduate Teaching Assistant Collective Bargaining to Academic Freedom

On March 29, 2000, au administrative law judge of the National Labor., Relations Board approved a settlement between the NLRB and Yale University, which resolved unfair labor practices charges ►acle against the University by its Graduate Employees and Student Organization. This decision, however, did not resolve the underlying question of whether graduate teaching assistants are employees under the National Labor Relations Act. This Note analyzes recent cases concerning the unionization of graduate student teaching assistants at. private universities and colleges. This Note argues that the NLRB's application of a "compensated services" test to teaching assistants is correct and that the public policy arguments against collective bargaining for teaching assistants are based on flawed conceptions of the university, the work teaching assistants do, and the purposes of the National Labor Relations Act.
Towards observing dynamical localization within the quantum linear rotor

We discuss novel approaches towards observation of dynamical localization, a phenomenon believed to occur in the periodically δ-kicked quantum linear rotor and is related to one-dimensional Anderson localization.
Incidence and Costs of Adverse Drug Reactions in a Tertiary Care Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) increase morbidity, mortality, and hospital costs in children treated in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). Few studies have reported the incidence and risk factors of ADRs in PICU. Our study aimed to evaluate incidence, risk factors, and economic burden of ADRs in PICU. An intensive ADR surveillance was conducted at the PICU of Children's Hospital of Michigan between November 1, 2010 and May 31, 2011. A trigger list was used to screen for suspected ADR cases. Of the 697 consecutive PICU admissions reviewed, 13.1% experienced at least one episode of ADR. The ADR incidence was 22% in patients with cardiovascular (CV) surgery and 11.5% in other patients. The most frequently detected ADR was electrolyte imbalance associated with diuretic exposure. Mean age at admission was 4 years (interquartile range: 9 months-13 years). Risk factors for ADR included young age (<1 year), Pediatric Risk of Mortality (PRISM) score upon admission ≥3, and administration of ≥16 medications. ADRs increased total ICU costs by 3.5-fold and length of ICU stay by 3.8-fold. Increased ADR surveillance of high risk patients in conjunction with early intervention may reduce drug related morbidity and costs in the PICU.
Chemical arrows for enzymatic targets.

Reactive analogs of substrates or allosteric regulators can be designed to bind reversibly to particular ligand sites of enzymes. Subsequently, these compounds can react covalently with amino acids accessible from the ligand site, thereby functioning as chemical arrows aimed at specific enzymatic target sites. The approach of affinity labeling can be used to identify amino acid participants in active or regulatory sites, to provide a rational choice of targets for site-directed mutagenesis experiments, or to monitor conformational changes in the region of a particular enzyme site. Illustrations of these approaches include: 1) the use of reactive nucleotide analogs directed to substrate sites in adenylosuccinate synthetase and adenylosuccinate lyase and to regulatory sites of glutamate dehydrogenase, 2) the use of affinity cleavage by Fe2(+)-isocitrate to locate the metal-substrate site of isocitrate dehydrogenase, and 3) the use of reactive peptides and aromatic compounds to target the glutathione and xen...
Expression and regulation of Bradyrhizobium japonicum and Xanthobacter flavus CO2 fixation genes in a photosynthetic bacterial host.

Calvin cycle carbon dioxide fixation genes encoded on DNA fragments from two nonphotosynthetic, chemolithoautotrophic bacteria, Bradyrhizobium japonicum and Xanthobacter flavus, were found to complement and support photosynthetic growth of a ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase (RubisCO) deletion mutant of the purple nonsulfur bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides. The regulation of RubisCO expression was analyzed in the complemented R. sphaeroides RubisCO deletion mutant. Distinct differences in the regulation of RubisCO synthesis were revealed when the complemented R. sphaeroides strains were cultured under photolithoautotrophic and photoheterotrophic growth conditions, e.g., a reversal in the normal pattern of RubisCO gene expression. These studies suggest that sequences and molecular signals which regulate the expression of diverse RubisCO genes may be probed by using the R. sphaeroides complementation system.
African Union and the Evolution of International Criminal Justice in Africa: Challenges, Controversies and Opportunities.

With the concretisation and expansion of international criminal justice, intergovernmental bodies other than the United Nations Security Council UNSC) are increasingly becoming important role players. In particular, the African Union, the premier intergovernmental continental body of African states, is assuming greater and important roles in the evolution and functioning of the broader international criminal justice system. This is best illustrated by recent debates around Universal Jurisdiction and the international criminal court (ICC) in which a number of African Union organs (Assembly of Heads of State and Government, Pan African Parliament and the Peace and Security Council) have weighed in in some respects decisively. Various examples show that the AU is making forays in the unfolding system of international criminal justice and deeply impacting the debate and evolution of related processes. This chapter assesses the role of the AU in ICJ in Africa by reviewing recent debates around universal jurisdiction (as they relate to the proposed prosecution Hissene Habre as well as the controversial process triggered by Rwanda on the alleged abuse of UJ by European courts) and various interventions by AU organs in relation to the ICC, including the contested indictment of President Omar Al Bashir of Sudan. Locating international criminal prosecutions within a broader context of responses to conflict and associated atrocities, it discusses the evolving roles of the various AU organs – political, deliberative and judicial. The chapter/contribution argues that AU has a direct role to play in respect of prosecutions at the international and national levels and indirectly in a number of other ways that has a bearing on international criminal justice. Noting that this involvement by regional and sub-regional bodies in international criminal justice is for the most part novel, it argues that this heralds a new and exciting era of engagement that should contribute to the fight against impunity and by extension to peace and security on the continent. However, the approach adopted and certain measures taken by regional body have potential of undermining or rolling back gains made so far in the fight against impunity and achieving security on the continent.
Operations Research Models for Cancer Screening

Early diagnosis through screening is an effective means of decreasing the death rate from cancer, the second leading cause of death in the US, since most cancers are now curable if detected early. On the other hand, the interventional procedures that result from detected abnormalities (both false and true positives) during screening and the significant cost of population-based screening of asymptomatic individuals require a careful analysis of the benefits and risks of screening in both utility and economic terms. In this article, we summarize the studies applying Operations Research (OR) tools to investigate issues related to cancer screening. In particular, we review OR studies considering cancer screening that are either briefly described or not mentioned in previous review articles. We classify relevant literature by cancer type including breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and cervical cancer. We also discuss several issues for future research in cancer screening. Keywords: cancer screening; simulation methodology; stochastic models; MDP model; QALY; POMDP
PREVALENCE, INCIDENCE AND DURATION

Prevalence, incidence and duration of a condition or illness in a steady-state population are interrelated in such a way that two of these quantities may be used to obtain the third. Data may be collected in the most expedient manner, either as prevalence or incidence series of cases, and the results expressed as both incidence and prevalence. Information about the distribution of total durations of the condition in an incidence series of cases, or about the distribution of total durations or durations-to-date in a prevalence series is necessary in order to use these relations between prevalence and incidence of a condition or illness. The duration of a condition may be taken as one measure of the effect of the condition or illness on a population, and a "treatment effect" measured by comparing two populations may be termed the etiologic duration. Exact methods are presented for interconverting the distribution of total durations of condition among prevalence and incidence series of cases arising from the same steady-state population. Both prevalence and incidence series of cases may naturally arise in the same epidemiologic study, such as the initiation and conduct of a periodic screening program, and under certain conditions the size and even the direction of the etiologic duration may differ as measured in corresponding prevalence and incidence series of cases.
Influence of hydrogeochemical processes on zero-valent iron reactive barrier performance : A field investigation

The Publisher regrets that this article was an accidental duplication of an article that has already been published in J. Contam. Hydrol. 78 (2005) 291–312, doi:10.1016/j.jconhyd.2005.05.006 . The duplicate article has therefore been withdrawn from J. Contam. Hydrol. 80 (2005) 71–91.
Quantitative biology of single neurons

The building blocks of complex biological systems are single cells. Fundamental insights gained from single-cell analysis promise to provide the framework for understanding normal biological systems development as well as the limits on systems/cellular ability to respond to disease. The interplay of cells to create functional systems is not well understood. Until recently, the study of single cells has concentrated primarily on morphological and physiological characterization. With the application of new highly sensitive molecular and genomic technologies, the quantitative biochemistry of single cells is now accessible.
Fatty acid transport protein 4 is dispensable for intestinal lipid absorption in mice

FA transport protein 4 (FATP4), one member of a multigene family of FA transporters, was proposed as a major FA transporter in intestinal lipid absorption. Due to the fact that Fatp4−/− mice die because of a perinatal skin defect, we rescued the skin phenotype using an FATP4 transgene driven by a keratinocyte-specific promoter (Fatp4−/−;Ivl-Fatp4tg/+ mice) to elucidate the role of intestinal FATP4 in dietary lipid absorption. Fatp4−/−;Ivl-Fatp4tg/+ mice and wild-type littermates displayed indistinguishable food consumption, growth, and weight gain on either low or high fat (Western) diets, with no differences in intestinal triglyceride (TG) absorption or fecal fat losses. Cholesterol absorption and intestinal TG absorption kinetics were indistinguishable between the genotypes, although Western diet fed Fatp4−/−;Ivl-Fatp4tg/+ mice showed a significant increase in enterocyte TG and FA content. There was no compensatory upregulation of other FATP family members or any other FA or cholesterol transporters in Fatp4−/−;Ivl-Fatp4tg/+ mice. Furthermore, although serum cholesterol levels were lower in Fatp4−/−;Ivl-Fatp4tg/+ mice, there was no difference in hepatic VLDL secretion in-vivo or in hepatic lipid content on either a chow or Western diet. Taken together, our studies find no evidence for a physiological role of intestinal FATP4 in dietary lipid absorption in mice.
Inhaled Nitric Oxide Increases Coronary Artery Patency After Thrombolysis

Background Nitric oxide (NO) and nitrosovasodilators that release NO inhibit platelet aggregation. The antithrombotic effect of intravenously infused nitrosovasodilators is usually accompanied by systemic vasodilation. Inhaled NO is a pulmonary vasodilator that does not produce systemic hemodynamic effects. This study examines the antithrombotic effect of inhaled NO in a canine model of platelet-mediated coronary artery reocclusion after thrombolysis. Methods and Results In 25 anesthetized dogs, a segment of the left anterior descending coronary artery was traumatized and a high-grade stenosis created. Thrombus was injected at this site, and tissue plasminogen activator was administered, producing cyclic flow variations (CFVs) in 24 of 25 dogs. CFV frequency was unchanged in dogs not breathing NO but decreased by 35±9% ( P <.05) and 53±7% ( P <.01) while dogs breathed 20 and 80 parts per million (ppm) NO, respectively. The coronary artery patency ratio (fraction of time during which the coronary artery was patent; CAPR) was unchanged in dogs not treated with NO but increased from 51±7% to 64±8% while breathing 20 ppm NO ( P <.01) and from 49±3% to 75±7% while breathing 80 ppm NO ( P <.01). The increased CAPR during 80 ppm NO administration persisted during a 45-minute posttreatment period (70±7%, P <.05 versus baseline). NO inhalation did not change systemic hemodynamics. In a pharmacological model of coronary vasoconstriction, inhaled NO did not reverse the effect of the thromboxane A2 agonist U-46619. In vitro ADP-induced platelet aggregation was inhibited by NO gas. Conclusions Inhaled NO at concentrations of 20 and 80 ppm increases coronary patency and decreases CFV frequency in a canine model of platelet-mediated coronary reocclusion after thrombolysis without producing systemic hemodynamic effects.
Disruption of cellular associations within the granulosal compartment of periovulatory ovine follicles: Relationship to maturation of the oocyte and regulation by prostaglandins

Temporal relationships were defined in sheep between the onset of the preovulatory surge of luteinizing hormone (LH; 0 h), dispersion of mural granulosal cells and cumulus oophorus, resumption of meiosis of the oocyte, and ovulation. A quantitative increase in intercellular spacing among mural granulosal and cumulus cells was detected at the light-microscopic level 12 h following the onset of the surge of LH. Evidence of breakdown of the germinal vesicle of oocytes was apparent at 16 h and thereafter. Ovulation occurred near 24 h. Systemic administration of indomethacin, an inhibitor of prostaglandin/PG biosynthesis, at 8 h subsequently prevented dissociation of mural granulosal and cumulus cells and suppressed maturation of the oocyte. The action of the drug was reversed by intrafollicular injection of PGE2 at 12 h; PGF2α was ineffective in this regard. Prostaglandin E2 appears to be involved in preovulatory ovine follicles in the dissolution of cell-to-cell contacts and in maturation of the oocyte.
Towards massively parallel simulations of massively parallel high-performance computing systems

The power of high-performance computing (HPC) is applied to simulate highly complex systems and processes in many scientific communities, e. g. in particle physics, weather and climate research, bio-sciences, materials science, pharmaceutics, astronomy, or finance.Current HPC systems are so complex that the design of such a system, including architecture design space exploration and performance prediction, requires HPC-like simulation capabilities. To this end, we developed an Omnest-based simulation environment that enables studying the impact of an HPC machine's communication subsystem on the overall system's performance for specific workloads.As the scale of current high-end HPC systems is in the range of hundreds of thousands of processing cores, full system simulation---at an abstraction level that still maintains a reasonably high level of detail---is infeasible without resorting to parallel simulation, the main limiting factors being simulation run time and memory footprint.We describe our experiences in adapting our simulation environment to take advantage of the parallel distributed simulation capabilities provided by Omnest. We present results obtained on a many-core SMP machine as well as a small-scale InfiniBand cluster.Furthermore, we ported our simulation environment, including Omnest itself, to the massively parallel IBM Blue Gene®/P platform. We report results from initial experiments on this platform using up to 512 cores in parallel.
Perspective on digital mammography.

Summary Digital mammography, particularly through its advanced applications, holds great promise for improved diagnostic accuracy, but the display of the images is not ideal at present. Clinical softcopy workstations are somewhat unwieldy to use, and image processing has not yet been optimized for each machine or for each clinical task. In addition, the cost-effectiveness and accuracy of the technology warrant careful study before digital mammography becomes widely disseminated and potentially replaces screen-film mammography, a technology that has been well documented to reduce breast cancer mortality 99,30 .
Effect of Initiator and Ligand Structures on ATRP of Styrene and Methyl Methacrylate Initiated by Alkyl Dithiocarbamate

Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of styrene (St) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) initiated by various alkyl diethyldithiocarbamate (DC) initiators was successfully carried out in the presence of copper catalysts with nitrogen-based ligands. Well-controlled polymerizations with narrow molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn < 1.1 (St) and Mw/Mn < 1.2 (MMA)) were achieved in both polymerizations. The polymerization rate followed first-order kinetics with respect to monomer conversion, and the molecular weight of the polymers increased linearly up to high conversion. Initiation efficiency of both polymerizations was strongly dependent on the structure of a DC. The results of 1H NMR analysis of low-mass model compounds and chain extension confirmed that well-defined polystyrene bearing a DC group as the active chain end was obtained via ATRP of St with a DC initiator. Ligand structure and ligand/copper ratio also strongly affected the degree of control attained in the polymerization. Activation rate con...
Œdème pulmonaire lésionnel d'évolution mortelle au cours d'un accès pernicieux palustre

Resume Cette observation rapporte un cas d'acces pernicieux palustre complique d'un œdeme pulmonaire lesionnel. Malgre une chimioprophylaxie regulierement suivie, une femme de 40 ans presente, 15 jours apres son retour du Burkina Faso, un neuropaludisme avec une parasitemie de 50 %. En depit d'un traitement antipaludeen efficace (parasitemie = 1 % en 72 h), l'apparition d'un SDRA vient compliquer l'evolution et entraine le deces de la patiente. La physiopathologie du SDRA au cours de l'APP est mal connue et l'augmentation de la permeabilite capillaire liee a l'intensite de la parasitemie semble jouer un role essentiel. Le traitement etiologique precoce par la quinine ne se discute pas. Le traitement du SDRA, avant tout preventif et symptomatique, associe a la restriction des apports hydriques une limitation des transfusions sanguines. L'indication de l'exsanguinotransfusion reste discutee. meme en presence de facteurs de gravite.
Endomyocardial ultrastructural findings in preeclampsia

Ultrastructural findings in endomyocardial biopsy specimens obtained during cardiac catheterization in a patient with severe preeclampsia are described. Intramyocardial vessels revealed prominent swelling of the endothelial cell cytoplasm. In addition, cardiac myocyte mitochondria showed swelling and clearing within the matrix. Endomyocardial ultrastructural injury occurs in severe preeclampsia.