cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Graft-vs.-host and graft-vs.-leukemia reactions after delayed infusions of donor T-subsets

Abstract Infusions of donor leukocytes have been given to allogeneic bone marrow recipients after transplant to treat leukemia relapse. Treatment with these delayed infusions of donor cells has been called delayed or donor leukocyte infusion (DLI). While graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD) has typically been less severe than expected after DLI, it still remains a significant risk factor. Recently, we used a full major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-mismatched model (C57BL/6 into AKR) to determine how increased immunogenetic disparity affects GVH and graft-vs.-leukemia (GVL) reactions after DLI. In contrast to an MHC-matched model (B10.BR into AKR), GVHD was still observed when MHC-mismatched donor T cells were infused 3 weeks posttransplant. Limiting dilution analysis was used to determine the frequency of alloreactive cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) and interleukin (IL)-2-secreting T helper cells in the spleens of MHC-mismatched recipients 7 days after DLI treatment. GVHD correlated with elevated frequencies of alloreactive T-helper cells. One strategy for reducing the severity of GVHD after DLI is the selective administration of CD4 or CD8 T-subsets. Delayed infusion of purified T-subsets 3 weeks posttransplant resulted in significantly less GVHD than infusion of a mixture of the two subsets. No GVH-associated mortality was observed after DLI with purified donor CD4+ T cells. In GVL studies, MHC-mismatched CD8+ T cells were the most potent antitumor effectors against an acute T cell leukemia. The GVL effect of MHC-mismatched T-subsets was compared with that of MHC-matched subsets. When naive MHC-matched cells were given as DLI, depletion of either T-subset eliminated the GVL effect. CD8+ T cells from MHC-matched donors primed against host alloantigens, however, mediated a CD4 (T-helper)-independent GVL reaction. Together, these results suggest that administration of T-subsets can significantly reduce GVHD after DLI without loss of the beneficial GVL effect. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 1999;5(3):123-32.
Flux-Transport Dynamos with α-Effect from Global Instability of Tachocline Differential Rotation: A Solution for Magnetic Parity Selection in the Sun

We propose an αΩ flux-transport dynamo for the Sun that is driven by a tachocline α-effect. This α-effect comes from the global hydrodynamic instability of latitudinal differential rotation in the tachocline, as calculated using a shallow-water model. Growing, unstable shallow-water modes propagating longitudinally in the tachocline create vortices that correlate with radial motion in the layer to produce a longitude-averaged net kinetic helicity and, hence, an α-effect. We show that such a dynamo is equally successful as a Babcock-Leighton-type flux-transport dynamo in reproducing many large-scale solar cycle features. The success of both dynamo types depends on the inclusion of meridional circulation of a sign and magnitude similar to that seen on the Sun. Both α-effects (the Babcock-Leighton-type and tachocline α-effect) are likely to exist in the Sun, but it is hard to estimate their relative magnitudes. By extending the simulation to a full spherical shell, we show that the flux-transport dynamo driven by the tachocline α-effect selects a toroidal field that is antisymmetric about the equator, while the Babcock-Leighton flux-transport dynamo selects a symmetric toroidal field. Since our present Sun selects antisymmetric fields, we argue that the tachocline α-effect must be more important than the Babcock-Leighton α-effect.
Sociolinguistics and language as cultural practice

Book reviewed in this article: Sandra R. Schecter and Robert Bayley, Language as Cultural Practice: Mexicanos en al Norte
Taking Digital Stories to Another Level: Making Documentaries.

Using digital stories to have students tell about themselves, share their culture with the class, and learn from each other can help with establishing rapport, shows respect for different cultures, and can be motivating for students and their language teachers. However, what happens after that? After making their first video, students have some basic background knowledge about making a video; therefore, it would be advantageous to use this new knowledge and build on it by taking video making to the next step to make documentaries. Teachers and students could use the structure of a documentary to build language skills while improving their video editing skills to create interesting short documentaries, which can teach about the course content, history, science, health, citizenship, and so on. This article will cover the steps and structure involved in making a documentary, tips for making it look and sound good, and ideas for free editing software for the computer as well as the phone and iPad.
Pifithrin-α promotes p53-mediated apoptosis in JB6 cells

Recently, blockage of p53-dependent transcriptional activation and apoptosis by pifithrin-alpha (PFTalpha) has been reported to be useful for reducing the side effects of cancer therapy and the compound is thus thought to be a specific inhibitor of p53 [Komarov et al., Science 1999;285:1733-1737]. Here, we found that PFTalpha did not inhibit UVB- or doxorubicin (Dox)-stimulated p53-mediated transcriptional activation and apoptosis in JB6 cells. Instead, p53-dependent activation and apoptosis were not only induced by PFTalpha itself but were also enhanced by a combination of PFTalpha with UVB or Dox. Furthermore, PFTalpha-induced apoptosis was mediated through p53-dependent and -independent signaling pathways. Extracellular signal-regulated kinases and p38 kinase, but not c-jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs), were activated, and these activations were required for phosphorylation and accumulation of p53 in the cellular apoptotic response to PFTalpha. Thus, we conclude that PFTalpha is not a specific p53 inhibitor in JB6 cells but is a potential activator of p53-mediated signaling and apoptosis.
Structure and Magnetic Properties of Trigonal Bipyramidal Iron Nitrosyl Complexes

Non-heme Fe(II) proteins form stable nitrosyl adducts. However, there are few synthetic examples of structurally characterized non-heme iron nitrosyl complexes, especially those that are coordinatively unsaturated. Presented herein is a series of non-heme {Fe−NO}7 complexes with trigonal bipyramidal coordination geometry. These complexes were synthesized with tripodal ligands derived from tris(N-R-carbamoylmethy)amine [1R]3- where R = isopropyl (iPr), cyclopentyl (cyp), or 3,5-dimethylphenyl (dmp) groups. The R groups of these [1R]3- ligands form cavities around the metal ion that can influence structural and functional properties. The nitrosyl complexes were synthesized by treating the Fe(II) precursors [Fe1R]- with NO at room temperature. These iron nitrosyl complexes have similar molecular structures as determined by X-ray diffraction methods. They differ in their Fe−N−O angles which range from 178.2(5)° in [Fe1iPr(NO)]- to 160.3(2)° in [Fe1dmp(NO)]-. The observed difference in angle is related to the ...
The Imprint of Land-use History: Patterns of Carbon and Nitrogen in Downed Woody Debris at the Harvard Forest

Few data sets have characterized carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools in woody debris at sites where other aspects of C and N cycling are studied and histories of land use and disturbance are well documented. We quantified pools of mass, C, and N in fine and coarse woody debris (CWD) in two contrasting stands: a 73-year-old red pine plantation on abandoned agricultural land and a naturally regenerated deciduous forest that has experienced several disturbances in the past 150 years. Masses of downed woody debris amounted to 40.0 Mg ha−1 in the coniferous stand and 26.9 Mg ha−1 in the deciduous forest (20.4 and 13.8 Mg C ha−1, respectively). Concentrations of N were higher and C:N ratios were lower in the deciduous forest compared to the coniferous. Pools of N amounted to 146 kg N ha−1 in the coniferous stand and 155 kg N ha−1 in the deciduous forest; both are larger than previously published pools of N in woody debris of temperate forests. Woody detritus buried in O horizons was minimal in these forests, contrary to previous findings in forests of New England. Differences in the patterns of mass, C, and N in size and decay classes of woody debris were related to stand histories. In the naturally regenerated deciduous forest, detritus was distributed across all size categories, and most CWD mass and N was present in the most advanced decay stages. In the coniferous plantation, nearly all of the CWD mass was present in the smallest size class (less than 25 cm diameter), and a recognizable cohort of decayed stems was evident from the stem-exclusion phase of this even-aged stand. These results indicate that heterogeneities in site histories should be explicitly included when biogeochemical process models are used to scale C and N stocks in woody debris to landscapes and regions.
Optimum temperature staging of cryogenic refrigeration system

Abstract Optimum temperature staging is investigated to minimize entropy generation in a multi-stage cryogenic refrigeration cycle. It is found that the best intermediate temperature distribution is to have the same high to low temperature ratio at each stage of the system. As an example, the result is applied to the design of a cryogenic cascade thermoelectric cooler to find the optimum size distribution of each stage.
THE EFFECTS OF WRITTEN COMMENTS ON THE QUALITY OF STUDENT COMPOSITIONS AND THE LEARNING OF CONTENT

This study investigated the effects of two types of written comments on student compositions and learning of course content. One type of comment, the content comment, was designed to encourage students to view their papers as readers, to add and delete content, and to restructure content as needed. The other type of comment, the surface comment, focused on problems such as word choice, spelling, punctuation, and/or language usage. The comments occurred after students’ first drafts which they then revised. Significant differences among groups for holistic scores and for learning course content were revealed. The treatment group that received content comments wrote significantly better essays than the other treatment group or the control group. The treatment group that received content comments and the control group received significantly better scores on the course content test.
Polypeptides with known repeating sequences of amino acids. Comparison of several methods used for the synthesis of poly-γ-D- and L-glutamylglycine and investigation of its serological reaction with antianthrax immune serum

To make a comparison of some of the various polymerization methods, poly-γ-D-and L-glutamylglycine were synthesized through the mixed anhydride, carbodiimide, and pentachlorophenyl active ester methods. This last method proved to be best, on the basis of weight-average molecular weights (M - w ). A detailed study was also carried out to determine the optimum conditions for this method. The M - w , values of the polymers were determined by the sedimentation equilibrium method; it was found that the pentachlorophenyl active ester gave M - w values of up to 11, 500 but the mixed anhydride and carbodiimide methods gave M - w , values of only about 1000. Tests with rabbit antianthrax immune serum showed that neither D- nor L-isomer precipitated with the antiserum, but that, both were able to inhibit the precipitation of the antiserum by anthrax polypeptide. In addition, the D-polymer gave more inhibition than the L, which would indicate a specificity of the antibody for D-glutamic acid residues.
Fast retrieval of cursive handwriting

This paper presents an indexing method that can be used to search a large collection of cursive handwriting. The basic idea is to segment each cursive string into a set of strokes. Each of these strokes can be described with a set of features and, thus, can be stored as points in the feature space. The Karhuraen-Lor%e transform is then used to minimize the number of features used (data dimensionality) and thus the index size. Feature vectors are stored in an R-tree. Similarity search can be performed by executing a few range queries and then applying a simple voting algorithm to the output to select the strings that are most similar to the query. The proposed index can support similarity queries as well as substring mat thing. It is resilient to the kind of errors that result from the segmentation process, namely, stroke insertion/deletion and m-n substitution. The proposed index achieves substantial saving in search time over the sequential search. Moreover, it improves the matching rate up to 46~0 over the the sequential search.
Telomere length and adiposity in a racially diverse sample

To evaluate the cross-sectional relationship of anthropometric measures (body mass index (BMI) and visceral fat and the adipokines leptin and adiponectin) with telomere length in a racially diverse sample. Cross-sectional study of participants recruited from a health science university. Participants include 317 men and women aged 40–64 years without diagnosed diabetes, cardiovascular disease (defined as coronary heart disease or stroke/transient ischemic attack) or cancer. Study participants were 54.9% female, 58% non-Hispanic white (NHW) and 42% non-Hispanic Black (NHB). Of the sample, 76% were either overweight or obese. Linear regressions showed no association between the anthropometric measures (BMI (kg m−2), visceral fat (cm2), adiponectin (μg ml−1), leptin (ng ml−1) or adiponectin to leptin ratio (μg ng−1)) assessed in a continuous manner and telomere length assay ratio, either for the whole sample or when stratified by race or by gender. This study finds no linear associations between telomere length and several measures of obesity in a sample of NHB and NHW men and women. Further studies are needed to identify factors that influence telomere length in diverse populations.
X-RAY CRYSTAL STRUCTURE OF HUMAN ACIDIC FIBROBLAST GROWTH FACTOR

Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) are mitogenic and chemotactic agents for a wide variety of cell types and play a primary role in the regulation of angiogenesis. Angiogenesis is involved in a variety of critical physiological events including organogenesis, wound healing, ischemic collateral circulation, and solid tumor growth. High-resolution structural information is key to understanding the mechanism of action of these growth factors. We report here the X-ray crystal structure of human acidic FGF (aFGF), with data extending to 2.0 A resolution. The crystal contains four independent molecules in the asymmetric unit. Each molecule contains a single bound sulfate ion, in similar juxtapositions. The bound sulfate is stabilized through hydrogen-bond interactions with residues Asn 18, Lys 113, and Lys 118 and defines a potential heparin binding site. The hydrogen bond with the Nδ2 moiety of Asn 18 appears to be the most conserved interaction, being similar to those observed for sulfate ion bound to human bas...
No trend in volume of Antarctic snowmelt

A new study that measured Antarctic snowmelt volume found no significant trend over the past 31 years. Kuipers Munneke et al. used satellite microwave sensors, which can detect meltwater, combined with a regional climate model that includes snow physics to determine the Antarctic snowmelt volume for the period from 1979 to 2010. They found a mean continent-wide meltwater volume of about 90 gigatons per year. Although they observed large interannual variability, they found no significant trend in continent- wide or regional meltwater volume over the study period. Although almost all of the snow that melts in Antarctica refreezes and therefore does not contribute directly to sea level rise, it is useful to quantify snowmelt because meltwater can contribute to the weakening of ice shelves. (Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2011GL050207, 2012)
Using dynamic adjustment of serialization order for real-time database systems

Studies concluded that for a variety of reasons, optimistic concurrency control appears well-suited to real-time database systems. Especially, they showed that in a real-time database system that discards tardy transactions, optimistic concurrency control outperforms locking. We show that the optimistic algorithms used in those studies incur restarts unnecessary to ensure data consistency. We present a new optimistic concurrency control algorithm that can avoid such unnecessary restarts by adjusting serialization order dynamically, and demonstrate that the new algorithm outperforms the previous ones over a wide range of system workload. It appears that this algorithm is a promising candidate for a basic concurrency control mechanism for real-time database systems. >
The Foundation of Toxicology’s Dose x Time = Constant Paradigm in Physics

The relationship dose x time = constant (mg · hr) has been reported in many toxicological experiments during the past 100 years. It was handled as a curiosity until Rozman and Doull pointed out that it can be found in every experi- ment that is conducted under equilibrium conditions which is called steady state in pharmacology and toxicology. This manuscript suggests that this relationship is consistent with the most basic laws of physics.
Performance Analysis of Real Traffic Carried with Encrypted Cover Flows

Encrypted protocols, such as SSL, are becoming more prevalent because of the growing use of e-commerce, anonymity services, and secure authentication. Likewise, traffic analysis is becoming more common because it is often the only way to analyze these protocols. Though there are many valid uses for traffic analysis (such as network policy enforcement and intrusion detection), it can also be used to maliciously compromise the secrecy or privacy of a user. While the payload can be strongly protected by encryption, analysis of traffic patterns can yield information about the type and nature of traffic. In this paper we use simulation and an analytic model to examine the impact on user experience of a scheme that masks the behavior of real traffic by embedding it in synthetic, encrypted, cover traffic. This point provides a novel context where we observe the synergy of simulation and analytic modeling. We show that a detailed simulation model of network traffic characteristics can be used to estimate the parameters of an analytic model of tunneling.
The challenge of energy retrofitting the residential housing stock: grassroots innovations and socio-technical system change in Worcester, MA

This paper addresses an intractable problem: how to energy-upgrade the existing residential housing stock on a large scale, potentially saving up to 30% of all greenhouse gas emissions? The paper f...
Enhancement of Adjoint Design Methods via Optimization of Adjoint Parameters

Three approaches of enhancing the Euler adjoint design methods using a non-linear gradient-based optimization package, SNOPT, have been investigated. First, the convergence of Euler and adjoint solutions was accelerated by optimizing the coecients of the residual smoothing scheme and the CFL number. Second, the input parameters of Euler adjoint design methods were optimized such that the best aerodynamic shape can be achieved in a given number of design iterations. Finally the SNOPT software has also been used to provide line searches of the shape optimization parameters at each step and improved the robustness of the design methods. The numerical results showed the feasibility of integration of the SNOPT package and the adjoint software in order to speed-up, improve, and stabilize the performance of the design methods.
Understanding the immutability of restriction enzymes: crystal structure of BglII and its DNA substrate at 1.5 A resolution.

Restriction endonucleases are remarkably resilient to alterations in their DNA binding specificity. To understand the basis of this immutability, we have determined the crystal structure of endonuclease BglII bound to its recognition sequence (AGATCT), at 1.5 A resolution. We compare the structure of BglII to endonuclease BamHI, which recognizes a closely related DNA site (GGATCC). We show that both enzymes share a similar α/β core, but in BglII, the core is augmented by a β-sandwich domain that encircles the DNA to provide extra specificity. Remarkably, the DNA is contorted differently in the two structures, leading to different protein–DNA contacts for even the common base pairs. Furthermore, the BglII active site contains a glutamine in place of the glutamate at the general base position in BamHI, and only a single metal is found coordinated to the putative nucleophilic water and the phosphate oxygens. This surprising diversity in structures shows that different strategies can be successful in achieving site-specific recognition and catalysis in restriction endonucleases.
Academic medicine's core values: what do they mean?

When I visit academic medical centers (AMCs) across the country, I not infrequently find my colleagues, especially the young people, eager to talk about academic medicine’s heritage—what it stands for, what it should embody at its deepest level. Frequently these conversations get into core values, those handful of guiding tenets that define how we live as we carry out our missions and strive to achieve our goals. The fact that more and more people today want to talk about academic medicine’s core values is both a good and a bad sign. On the one hand, it suggests that there is a lack of clarity about what our core values are and what they actually mean. When there is no rudder, there is no means of steering the ship. On the other hand, it indicates that people are looking for something more permanent, more substantive than the same old hectic pace, with its constant focus on producing more with less at almost any cost [1]. “It’s easy to get caught up in the rat race and wake up a decade later and wonder where time went,” someone recently said. Core values are the organization’s essential and enduring principles and most fundamental beliefs—they require no external justification [2]. They powerfully shape organizational culture but are not to be confused with operating practices or group norms. A core value is one we would hold even if the marketplace penalized us (financially or otherwise) for holding it. Organizations that live out their core values are more gratifying places to work. WHICH VALUES ARE MOST CORE?
Regulation of Water Loss by Citrus Leaves

The factors responsible for the low transpiration rates of citrus were investigated. Leaf resistance to water vapor exchange by orange seedlings (Citrus sinensis L. cv. Koethen) including a substantial boundary layer resistance, was as low as 1 s cm−1 in humid air. Leaf resistance of well watered plants increased to values as large as 5 s cm−1 when the difference in absolute humidity between leaf and air was increased. Leaf resistance was only slightly influenced by temperature between 20 and 30°C providing the humidity difference between leaf and air was kept constant. Leaf resistance increased when leaf temperature was increased between 20 and 30°C when the absolute humidity external to the leaf was kept constant. Increased humidity differences resulted in greater increases in leaf resistance during initial experiments than when the experiments were repeated with the same leaves indicating acclimation by the plant. It was concluded that the effects of humidity differences on leaf resistance are partially responsible for the low transpiration rates of citrus.
Most RNAs regulating ribosomal protein biosynthesis in Escherichia coli are narrowly distributed to Gammaproteobacteria

In Escherichia coli, 12 distinct RNA structures within the transcripts encoding ribosomal proteins interact with specific ribosomal proteins to allow autogenous regulation of expression from large multi-gene operons, thus coordinating ribosomal protein biosynthesis across multiple operons. However, these RNA structures are typically not represented in the RNA Families Database or annotated in genomic sequences databases, and their phylogenetic distribution is largely unknown. To investigate the extent to which these RNA structures are conserved across eubacterial phyla, we created multiple sequence alignments representing 10 of these messenger RNA (mRNA) structures in E. coli. We find that while three RNA structures are widely distributed across many phyla of bacteria, seven of the RNAs are narrowly distributed to a few orders of Gammaproteobacteria. To experimentally validate our computational predictions, we biochemically confirmed dual L1-binding sites identified in many Firmicute species. This work reveals that RNA-based regulation of ribosomal protein biosynthesis is used in nearly all eubacterial phyla, but the specific RNA structures that regulate ribosomal protein biosynthesis in E. coli are narrowly distributed. These results highlight the limits of our knowledge regarding ribosomal protein biosynthesis regulation outside of E. coli, and the potential for alternative RNA structures responsible for regulating ribosomal proteins in other eubacteria.
Microscopic-macroscopic interface in biological information processing

Recent experimental work suggests that chemical messengers associated with the neuron membrane serve as a link between macroscopic and microscopic information processes in the brain. Arguments based on the physical limits of computing, on computational parallelism, and on evolution theory, suggest that microphysical computing processes enormously enhance the brain’s computing power. A number of models are briefly sketched which illustrate how molecular switching processes could be recruited for useful biological functions. The flow of information between microscopic and macroscopic forms is suggestive of processes which occur in a measuring apparatus, and the implications of this analogy are considered.
Utility of FDG-PET in clinical neuroendocrine prostate cancer

BACKGROUND Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) has well-characterized limitations in prostate adenocarcinoma (PCA). However, data assessing the utility of PET in neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is limited to isolated case reports. Herein, we describe the first case series to assess the utility of FDG-PET in NEPC. METHODS Inclusion criteria consisted of clinically progressive metastatic PCA in the setting of a chromogranin-A levels >1.5× the upper limit of normal, and ≥1 FDG-PET scan after the diagnosis of NEPC, which yielded 23 patients. All metastatic lesions on CT, PET, and bone scan were read by two independent physicians. RESULTS Five hundred ninety two unique lesions were identified across all imaging modalities, 510 were bone metastases, and 82 were soft tissue metastases. Of bone lesions, 22.2%, 92.7%, and 77.6% were detected by PET, CT, and bone scan, respectively. Of soft tissue lesions, 95.1% and 97.5% were detected by PET and CT, respectively. Stratified by the median survival from NEPC diagnosis, patients who survived <2.2 versus ≥2.2 years had more PET avid bone (8 vs. 2, P = 0.06) and soft tissue lesions (7 vs. 1, P = 0.01), and higher average SUVmax of bone (5.49 vs. 3.40, P = 0.04) and soft tissue lesions (8.02 vs. 3.90, P = 0.0002). CONCLUSIONS In patients with clinical NEPC, we demonstrate that FDG-PET has clinical utility in the detection of metastatic disease. In addition to detection, PET allows for treatment response to determine tumor viability. With novel therapies on the horizon to treat NEPC, consideration to investigate the use of FDG-PET to monitor response is warranted. Prostate 74:1153–1159, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Identification of 2-D noncausal systems

This paper presents methods for the identification of noncausal two-dimensional rational systems from impulse response or output covariance data. Consideration of the general class of noncausal systems is motivated by the need for noncausal models in two-dimensional power spectrum estimation. The identification methods studied here rely on a recently proposed notion of system state for noncausal systems.
Temperature effects on the viable but non‐culturable state of Vibrio vulnificus

The non-culturable state of Vibrio vulnificus, strain C7184, was studied in artificial seawater microcosms held at 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30°C. Plate counts were made on a non-selective medium, total cell counts were monitored by acridine orange epifluorescence, and direct viable counts (DVSs) by the method of Kogure et al. (Can J. Microbiol. 25, 415–420; 1986) and by the INT method. From an initial inoculum of 107 cells/ml, V. vulnificus became non-culturable within 40 days at 5°C, although both indicators of viability revealed a viable population exceeding 106 cells/ml. Cells at all higher temperatures remained culturable (at least 104/ml) throughout the study. The non-culturable states of the opaque and translucent colony variants of V. vulnificus, as well as those of six other clinical and environmental strains of V. vulnificus, were examined at 5°C; all but one strain and both colony variants also became non-culturable within 40 days. In contrast, six other Vibrio spp. (V. cholerae, V. mimicus, V. parahaemolyticus, V. natriegens, V. proteolyticus, and V. campbelli) remained culturable at 5°C. Thus, entrance of V. vulnificus into the non-culturable state appears to be highly temperature dependent and, among the vibrios, this species may be especially sensitive to low temperature. The public health aspects of these findings are discussed.
The relationship of the lipoprotein SsaB, manganese and superoxide dismutase in Streptococcus sanguinis virulence for endocarditis.

Summary Streptococcus sanguinis colonizes teeth and is an important cause of infective endocarditis. Our prior work showed that the lipoprotein SsaB is critical for S. sanguinis virulence for endocarditis and belongs to the LraI family of conserved metal transporters. In this study, we demonstrated that an ssaB mutant accumulates less manganese and iron than its parent. A mutant lacking the manganese-dependent superox- ide dismutase, SodA, was significantly less virulent than wild-type in a rabbit model of endocarditis, but significantly more virulent than the ssaB mutant. Neither the ssaB nor the sodA mutation affected sen- sitivity to phagocytic killing or efficiency of heart valve colonization. Animal virulence results for all strains could be reproduced by growing bacteria in serum under physiological levels of O2. SodA activity was reduced, but not eliminated in the ssaB mutant in serum and in rabbits. Growth of the ssaB mutant in serum was restored upon addition of Mn 2+ or removal of O2. Antioxidant supplementation experiments sug- gested that superoxide and hydroxyl radicals were together responsible for the ssaB mutant's growth defect. We conclude that manganese accumulation mediated by the SsaB transport system imparts viru- lence by enabling cell growth in oxygen through SodA-dependent and independent mechanisms.
Adoptive Immunotherapy for Relapsed Leukemia Following Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplantation

Donor mononuclear cell (MNC) infusions provide a very potent and effective anti-leukemic therapy. For patient's with CML who relapse after allogeneic BMT, the administration of donor MNC can result in a direct GVL effect and re-establish sustained remissions, even when assessed by very sensitive PCR-based techniques. The GVL reaction appears to be most prominent in patients with chronic phase CML. It is less apparent for patients with more advanced stages of CML or for patients with relapsed acute leukemia and myelodysplasia, although only small numbers of these patients have been treated. While the majority of patients tolerate this therapy very well, treatment related morbidity and mortality is still quite significant, and efforts to limit the severity of GVHD, and to recognize and treat marrow aplasia early may be useful. Longer follow-up of patients who have achieved complete remission will be required to determine if this therapy will have an impact on long term disease free survival, but at the current time, it would seem to be a very acceptable alternative to a second BMT.
Exploring age-related brain degeneration in meditation practitioners

A growing body of research suggests that meditation practices are associated with substantial psychological as well as physiological benefits. In searching for the biological mechanisms underlying the beneficial impact of meditation, studies have revealed practice-induced alterations of neurotransmitters, brain activity, and cognitive abilities, just to name a few. These findings not only imply a close link between meditation and brain structure, but also suggest possible modulating effects of meditation on age-related brain atrophy. Given that normal aging is associated with significant loss of brain tissue, meditation-induced growth and/or preservation might manifest as a seemingly reduced brain age in meditators (i.e., cerebral measures characteristic of younger brains). Surprisingly, there are only three published studies that have addressed the question of whether meditation diminishes age-related brain degeneration. This paper reviews these three studies with respect to the brain attributes studied, the analytical strategies applied, and the findings revealed. The review concludes with an elaborate discussion on the significance of existing studies, implications and directions for future studies, as well as the overall relevance of this field of research.
The Development of Scientific Thinking Skills in Elementary and Middle School.

Abstract The goal of this article is to provide an integrative review of research that has been conducted on the development of children’s scientific reasoning. Broadly defined, scientific thinking includes the skills involved in inquiry, experimentation, evidence evaluation, and inference that are done in the service of conceptual change or scientific understanding. Therefore, the focus is on the thinking and reasoning skills that support the formation and modification of concepts and theories about the natural and social world. Recent trends include a focus on definitional, methodological and conceptual issues regarding what is normative and authentic in the context of the science lab and the science classroom, an increased focus on metacognitive and metastrategic skills, and explorations of different types of instructional and practice opportunities that are required for the development, consolidation and subsequent transfer of such skills.
High-speed high-sensitivity low power photodetector with electron and hole charge plasma

High speed photodetectors’ intrinsic response is limited by the transit time of the carriers that light generates to the contacts that collect these carriers generating an electric response in the external circuitry. By contrast, charge plasma confined in a semiconductor can transfer energy, hence respond much faster, than the field-induced carrier drift current. The analogy is to a drop exciting a wave in a reservoir, which is detected more rapidly than the drop’s transport by current flow. Here we construct a photodetector device in which charge reservoirs of confined two dimensional electron and hole gasses (2DEG, 2DHG) mediate the photodetector response circumventing charge transport limitations in both expended energy and required velocity. In response to short optical pulses, this device produces electrical pulses which are almost two orders-of-magnitude shorter than the same device without the charge reservoirs. In addition to speed, the sensitivity of this process allows us to measure, at room temperature, as low as 11,000 photons. The device is shown to operate without applied bias, with high responsivity, at hundreds of gigahertz. These micro plasma devices can have a range of applications such as optical communication with fraction of a microwatt power compared to the present tens of milliwatts, ultrasensitive detection of light without need for cryogenic cooling, photovoltaic devices that are capable of harvesting dim light, detectors of THz radiation, and in detection of charged particles.
Single-chip microprocessor that communicates directly using light

An electronic–photonic microprocessor chip manufactured using a conventional microelectronics foundry process is demonstrated; the chip contains 70 million transistors and 850 photonic components and directly uses light to communicate to other chips. The rapid transfer of data between chips in computer systems and data centres has become one of the bottlenecks in modern information processing. One way of increasing speeds is to use optical connections rather than electrical wires and the past decade has seen significant efforts to develop silicon-based nanophotonic approaches to integrate such links within silicon chips, but incompatibility between the manufacturing processes used in electronics and photonics has proved a hindrance. Now Chen Sun et al. describe a 'system on a chip' microprocessor that successfully integrates electronics and photonics yet is produced using standard microelectronic chip fabrication techniques. The resulting microprocessor combines 70 million transistors and 850 photonic components and can communicate optically with the outside world. This result promises a way forward for new fast, low-power computing systems architectures. Data transport across short electrical wires is limited by both bandwidth and power density, which creates a performance bottleneck for semiconductor microchips in modern computer systems—from mobile phones to large-scale data centres. These limitations can be overcome1,2,3 by using optical communications based on chip-scale electronic–photonic systems4,5,6,7 enabled by silicon-based nanophotonic devices8. However, combining electronics and photonics on the same chip has proved challenging, owing to microchip manufacturing conflicts between electronics and photonics. Consequently, current electronic–photonic chips9,10,11 are limited to niche manufacturing processes and include only a few optical devices alongside simple circuits. Here we report an electronic–photonic system on a single chip integrating over 70 million transistors and 850 photonic components that work together to provide logic, memory, and interconnect functions. This system is a realization of a microprocessor that uses on-chip photonic devices to directly communicate with other chips using light. To integrate electronics and photonics at the scale of a microprocessor chip, we adopt a ‘zero-change’ approach to the integration of photonics. Instead of developing a custom process to enable the fabrication of photonics12, which would complicate or eliminate the possibility of integration with state-of-the-art transistors at large scale and at high yield, we design optical devices using a standard microelectronics foundry process that is used for modern microprocessors13,14,15,16. This demonstration could represent the beginning of an era of chip-scale electronic–photonic systems with the potential to transform computing system architectures, enabling more powerful computers, from network infrastructure to data centres and supercomputers.
Adults with severe reading and learning difficulties: A challenge for the family physician

Background: An estimated 40 to 44 million adults living in the United States have severe difficulty reading, writing, spelling, and doing arithmetic. These deficiencies interfere with their receiving adequate health care. Many of these adults have reading or other learning disabilities that further compromise their ability to understand their medical conditions and to participate fully in their own care. Methods: The literature on the cognitive and affective characteristics of adults with reading and learning disabilities was searched using the MEDLINE, PsychLIT, and ERIC databases. This literature is reviewed with an emphasis placed on how these characteristics might challenge a family physician9s ability to provide optimal patient care, and what can be done to meet these challenges. Illustrative case vignettes of adults with these disabilities are described. Results and Conclusions: The cognitive and affective characteristics of this patient population make it difficult for the family physician to provide optimal medical services. Suggestions are given to make medical care more accessible and appropriate for these patients.
Carbon Black Morphology: I. Particle Microstructure. II. Automated EM Analysis of Aggregate Size and Shape

Abstract Carbon black particle and aggregate microstructure were studied in detail by means of high resolution electron microscopy. Improved instrumental and environmental conditions have enabled more detailed studies on the size, orientation, and spacing of graphite layers in carbon black particles than heretofore possible. The layers form continuous networks about particle growth centers and between adjoining particles and show a paracrystalline orientation rather than individual crystallites. Based on this type of orientation carbon black primary aggregates are now defined as single graphite paracrystals exhibiting either a fibrous (furnace and channel blacks) or spheroidal (thermal blacks) shape.
Temperature-Emissivity Separation Algorithms for Hyperspectral Imaging Spectrometers

The ARTEMISS (Automatic Retrieval of Temperature and Emissivity using Spectral Smoothness) method was developed over the last 13 years to retrieve temperature, emissivity and associated uncertainties from data collected with hyper-spectral imaging spectrometers.
Changes in the Properties of N-Lauroyl-L-glutamate with Neutralization

Examination was made of changes in the properties of N-Lauroyl-L-glutamate (LGA) with neutralization. Foaming power was maximum at neutralization of 1.6, and emulsification capacity decreased with neutralization. 13C-NMR indicated α-carboxylic acid of LGA to be neutralized predominantly, and γ-carboxylic acid to be so in proportion to neutralization at 1.6. Fluorescence probe application showed micropolarity and aggregation number of micelles to increase rapidly at neutralization of 1.6. α-carboxylic acid of LGA would thus appear to contribute to interactions between LGA molecules.
Analysis for Science Librarians of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics: Missing Neutrinos, Oscillations, and the New Science of the Ghostliest Particle

ABSTRACTThe Royal Swedish Academy of Science announced that the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2015 would go to Arthur B. McDonald (Queen’s University, Ontario, Canada) and Takaaki Kajita (University of Tokyo, Japan) for their pioneering work in detecting and constraining neutrino oscillations, a phenomenon in which one type of neutrino becomes another type of neutrino as it travels through space. This article describes the science behind the prize, provides an overview of scientific contributions that Kajita and McDonald have made to the field of neutrino astronomy, and analyzes citation and authorship patterns for each Nobel prizewinner.
Local and Global Stress Distributions in BEOL Metallization

Design of reliable thin film metallization is a complex problem that requires information about local parameters such as composition, microstructure, residual and loading stresses, etc. On the other hand, such information has been traditionally obtained using techniques that have sampling volumes that are appreciably larger than the BEOL dimensions currently in use. In this article, the x-ray residual stress analysis technique and its extensions to micro-domain measurements are reviewed. These concepts are then applied to strain data from in-situ x-ray measurements, obtained in real-time from Al metallization lines subjected to thermal stressing and electromigration.
Imaging: seeing muscle in new ways.

Purpose of review The idiopathic inflammatory myopathies are diseases that can be difficult to diagnose and evaluate, but diagnosis has been improved by modern imaging techniques. Advances in imaging continue to be made. Therefore it is necessary to evaluate the implications of these advances for the diagnosis, understanding, and management of muscle diseases.
Marketing genetics to the masses: direct to consumer testing: should we have it?

Direct to consumer marketing and sales of medical tests has a long history. The great majority of uses have been in the area of chronic disease management as is seen for diabetes which began in the 1950s and ’60s. Pregnancy kits became available in 1978. However, with the advent of over-the-counter (OTC) availability of HIV tests, the first diagnostic tests became available directly to consumers. In the United States, OTC tests have been restricted to those tests that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The advent of the internet and the easy access to information and services that it affords has changed the situation. It is hard to argue against making high quality information available to the public. However, a reasonable balance must be struck between making information available and ensuring that important health care information is acted on appropriately by patients. Recent surveys in the US have shown that 75% of people either never or rarely check the source and date of information they obtain on the internet. Further, significant proportions fail to act appropriately on the information they receive. Many kinds of information can be obtained from genetic tests that range from information of direct value to an individual’s health to information that impacts lifestyle or reproductive decisions to trivial pursuits such as the smell of mercaptans after eating asparagus. The quality of the information is also enormously variable. In weighing the balance, the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG) has established its position that knowledgeable professionals should be involved in the process of ordering and interpreting genetic tests used in health care and that the information should be evidence based and inclusive of what is known and not known about a particular test. Privacy concerns should be addressed and tests should be performed in high quality laboratories.