cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cloning, nucleotide sequence and characterization of a full-length cDNA encoding the myosin heavy chain from adult chicken pectoralis major muscle.

Abstract Four cDNA clones, encoding the chicken adult sarcomeric MyHC, have been isolated from a pectoralis major muscle cDNA library using gene-specific DNA probes. These clones were sequenced and then subcloned into a full-length, 6-kb, chicken adult sarcomeric MyHC cDNA. The entire cDNA consists of 5873 nucleotides with 19 bp 5′-untranslated region and 34 bp 3′-untranslated region. The complete cDNA encodes a 1939-aa polypeptide whose molecular weight is ∼223 kDa. The calculated isoelectric point of this protein is ∼5.7. Analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence and comparison with a previously published amino-acid sequence of the same MyHC isoform reveals that six amino acid residues are different. Hydrophilicity analysis of this adult MyHC amino-acid sequence shows a similar pattern as the embryonic MyHC. A recombinant baculovirus, carrying this full-length adult MyHC cDNA, has also been generated and expressed in the Sf9 insect cell line. A ∼220-kDa recombinant MyHC was synthesized and reacted specifically with chicken adult MyHC monoclonal antibodies
HDP-CVD STI oxide process with in situ post deposition laterally enhanced sputter etchback for the reduction of pattern-dependent film topography in deep submicron technologies

This paper introduces a postdeposition pattern-dependent topography-reduction enhancement to the high-density plasma chemical-vapor deposition (HDP-CVD)oxide profile for shallow trench isolation in deep submicron technologies. The enhancement is labeled "laterally enhanced sputter etchback" (L-SEB) and is carried out in situ in the HDP-CVD reactor after film deposition. The L-SEB is set up using O/sub 2/ and Ar at high O/sub 2/ flow. A design of experiment was run to search for optimum gas flow conditions. The optimized process is shown to yield significant lateral "pull-in" of the sizeable HDP oxide cones over large thin-oxide features and flattening of smaller cones over dense small features, without appreciable impact on field oxide (FOX) thickness or corner integrity. This contributes a significant improvement to an STI module that incorporates downstream planarization processes of reverse-tone etch (RTE) and chemical mechanical polishing (CMP). It also allows a start with a thinner film thickness and usage of a smaller lithography compensation factor for the reverse-tone mask, thus facilitating a smaller minimum feature for RTE exposure. These advantages enhance the manufacturability of the STI process module in terms of reducing the starting HDP film thickness,cutting down on etching and polishing times of RTE and CMP, respectively,and yielding better post-CMP within-die and within-wafer FOX uniformities.
When interflow also percolates: downslope travel distances and hillslope process zones

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Introduction In hillslopes with soils characterized by deep regoliths, such as Ultisols, Oxisols, and Alfisols, interflow occurs episodically over impeding layers near and parallel to the soil surface such as low-conductivity B horizons (e.g. Newman et al., 1998; Buttle andMcDonald, 2002; Du et al., In Review), till layers (McGlynn et al., 1999; Bishop et al., 2004), hardpans (McDaniel et al., 2008), C horizons (Detty and McGuire, 2010), and permeable bedrock (Tromp van Meerveld et al., 2007). As perched saturation develops within and above these impeding but permeable horizons, flow moves laterally downslope, but the perched water also continues to percolate through the impeding horizon to the unsaturated soils and saprolite below. Perched water and solutes will eventually traverse the zone of perched saturation above the impeding horizon and then enter and percolate through the impeding horizon. In such flow situations, only lower hillslope segments with sufficient downslope travel distance will deliver water to the riparian zone within the time scale of a storm. Farther up the slope, lateral flow within the zone of perched saturation will act mainly to shift the point of percolation (location where a water packet leaves the downslope flow zone in the upper soil layer and enters the impeding layer) down the hillslope from the point of infiltration. In flatter parts of the hillslope or in areas with little contrast between the conductivities of the upper and impeding soil layers, lateral flow distances will be negligible. From Darcy’s law, we can estimate the downslope travel distance for quasi-steady-state conditions within the saturated layer assuming Boussinesq (slope parallel) flow above the restrictive layer and normal flow (perpendicular to the slope) through the restrictive layer to unsaturated soils below (Figure 1). Using a downslope flow vector, we must employ an orthogonal normal vector and avoid Harr’s (1977) mistake of adding non-orthogonal and non-independent gradient vectors in calculating flow directions. Weassume that each layer is isotropic, and the impeding layer is saturated or nearly so and drains freely to an unsaturated layer below (pressure head equals zero at the base of the impeding layer). We assume diffuse porosity within the impeding layer so percolation is not restricted to randomly spaced discontinuities. With these assumptions generally applicable to hillslopes with deep regoliths and a low conductivity layer paralleling the soil surface, we will calculate downslope travel distances for reasonable combinations of slopes, conductivities, and impeding layer thicknesses; evaluate these distances with respect to typical slope lengths;map the downslope travel distances on watersheds with soil and slope conditions matching these assumptions; and discuss how couplingBoussinesq downslope flow and percolation affect our understanding of the potential zonation of lateral flow processes.
Neurobehavioral deficits in Persian Gulf veterans: Evidence from a population-based study

Reports of low-concentration nerve gas exposures during the Persian Gulf War have spurred concern about possible health consequences and refocused interest on the symptoms reported by many returning military veterans. The Portland Environmental Hazards Research Center is studying veterans from the Northwest USA who report persistent, unexplained “Persian Gulf” symptoms (cases) or who do not report those symptoms (controls). Of the first 101 veterans studied, cases differed substantially from controls on a broad range of psychological tests indicative of increased distress. A subgroup of cases was identified with objective deficits on neurobehavioral tests of memory, attention, and response speed. (JINS, 1999, 5, 203–212.)
Impact of fault-tolerant avionics on life-cycle costs

The authors examine the effects of a fault-tolerant implementation of a mission-critical avionics function on aircraft life-cycle costs. A triplex redundant architecture is contrasted with a simplex implementation of the same function. The cost analysis used in this study accounts for the major contributors to the cost of ownership. It is shown that an increased mission readiness and a high function reliability during the mission combine to provide a much higher overall mission success level and consequently a significant cost advantage for the fault-tolerant architecture. A fault-tolerant implementation of an avionics function can significantly reduce life-cycle costs by reducing the number of additional aircraft required to achieve desired levels of mission readiness and success. The high fault coverage inherent in such an implementation increases the probability of mission success by reducing the probability of undetected faults prior to the start of the mission and mitigating the effects of faults during the mission. >
Sensor-centric energy-constrained reliable query routing for wireless sensor networks

Standard wireless sensor network models emphasize energy efficiency and distributed decision-making by considering untethered and unattended sensors. To this we add two constraints--the possibility of sensor failure and the fact that each sensor must tradeoff its own resource consumption with overall network objectives. In this paper, we develop an analytical model of energy-constrained, reliable, data-centric information routing in sensor networks under all the above constraints. Unlike existing techniques, we use game theory to model intelligent sensors thereby making our approach sensor-centric. Sensors behave as rational players in an N-player routing game, where they tradeoff individual communication and other costs with network wide benefits. The outcome of the sensor behavior is a sequence of communication link establishments, resulting in routing paths from reporting to querying sensors. We show that the optimal routing architecture is the Nash equilibrium of the N-player routing game and that computing the optimal paths (which maximizes payoffs of the individual sensors) is NP-Hard with and without data-aggregation. We develop a game-theoretic metric called path weakness to measure the qualitative performance of different routing mechanisms. This sensor-centric concept which is based on the contribution of individual sensors to the overall routing objective is used to define the quality of routing (QoR) paths. Analytical results on computing paths of bounded weakness are derived and game-theoretic heuristics for finding approximately optimal paths are presented. Simulation results are used to compare the QoR of different routing paths derived using various energy-constrained routing algorithms.
Decision diagrams for the exact solution of Markov models

Department of Computer Science, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011-1041, USA.High-level models of asynchronous systems can easily produce large Markov chains, whose solution is desired to determineperformance measures about the system. Although these Markov chains are typically quite sparse, they can still require anexcessive amount of storage space if a traditional, sparse matrix representation is used. This article surveys compact datastructures that can be used to generate and store extremely large Markov chains corresponding to a high-level description.
FEAR OF CRIME AND HANDGUN OWNERSHIP

The levels of handgun ownership and the fear of criminal victimization Abstract are both considered social problems in American society. The present study attempted to test for causal effects among these and several other variables through the use of a nonrecursive simultaneous equation model to analyze data for 1,818 men. The results indicated that handgun ownership had the effect of reducing the fear of crime while fear had no statistically signficant effect on handgun ownership. These variables, in turn were influenced by religious membership, region, income, size of place of residence, political orientation, and age. The Findings do not support claims that the fear of crime motivates increased handgun ownership but do confirm arguments that in the contemporary United States. Handgun ownership provides some men with a sense of personal security. Language: en
Performance evaluation of a new hardware supported multicast scheme for k -ary n -cubes

In this paper, we propose a new hardware tree-based routing algorithm (HTA) for multicast communication un- der virtual cut-through switching in k-ary n-cubes that out-performs existing software and hardware path-based multicast routing schemes. Simulation results are com- pared against several commonly used multicast routing al- gorithms and show that HTA performs extremely well under many different conditions. ordered at the source and does not always provide the short- est path between the source node and each destination node. In this paper, we propose a hardware tree-based routing algorithm (HTA) which attempts to reduce the probability of message blocking, resulting in low message latencies. The probability of a message blocking is kept low by using virtual cut-through switching, independent virtual channels (VCs) for unicast and multicast messages, several VCs per physical channel (PC), an efficient deadlock detection and recovery scheme, and delayed header flit routing. The Hard- ware Tree-based routing algorithm (HTA) is a fully adaptive and minimal tree-based routing scheme for multicast rout- ing. The scheme is fully compatible with existing unicast routing schemes. Although tree-based routing has not been seen in the past as very practical because of large block- ing probabilities, we demonstrate that it can be made very competitive by judicial combination of existing techniques in addition to the new concept of delayed header flit routing.
Challenges and opportunities in drug-resistant TB

Abstract Tuberculosis (TB), the infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), remains a significant global public health threat. TB is the worldwide leading cause of death from a bacterial disease and the second leading cause of death from an infectious disease after Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections. Drug-Resistant TB (DRTB) is a growing concern around the world, but the magnitude of the disease burden is not well defined. A series of workshops (Program Chair, G.H. Cassell) was held by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States of America in 2008 and, subsequently, in 2010–2013 in four of the highest burden countries (South Africa, Russia, India and China) to assess the reality of the challenge of DRTB and the gaps in knowledge required to address the threat. The issues discussed ranged from biology, epidemiology and surveillance to diagnosis, treatment and infection control, as well as the drug supply chain and the needs of vulnerable populations. Through these meetings, a new image has emerged that dictates dramatic and radical policy changes in the approach to TB if policy makers are to prevent TB from becoming once again an incurable disease. The findings were similar in each country and were equally concerning: (1) the magnitude of the problem of multi-drug and extensively-drug resistant TB is underestimated; (2) the number of patients receiving treatment is small and ineffective; (3) over 90% of patients are treated without drug susceptibility data; and (4) drug-resistant strains are spread from human to human far more commonly than previously appreciated. To date, programs have largely been based on an approach that emphasizes treatment of drug-sensitive cases. If these programs provided comprehensive care for both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant TB, this would be encompassing the entire TB epidemic and would be addressing the growing threat of the unchecked growth of resistant strains. In the current presentation, Dr. Gail Cassell, chair of the planning committee convening the IOM workshops, will present the themes, challenges and opportunities emerging from the IOM initiative and discuss potential global actions and next steps to combat DRTB.
Musings on genome medicine: enzyme-replacement therapy of the lysosomal storage diseases

The lysosomal storage diseases, such as Gaucher's disease, mucopolysaccharidosis I, II and IV, Fabry's disease, and Pompe's disease, are rare inherited disorders whose symptoms result from enzyme deficiency causing lysosomal accumulation. Until effective gene-replacement therapy is developed, expensive, and at best incomplete, enzyme-replacement therapy is the only hope for sufferers of rare lysosomal storage diseases. Preventive strategies involving carrier detection should be a priority toward the successful management of these conditions.
Self-Recirculating Casing Treatment Concept for Enhanced Compressor Performance

A state-of-the-art CFD code (APNASA) was employed in a computationally based investigation of the impact of casing bleed and injection on the stability and performance of a moderate speed fan rotor wherein the stalling mass flow is controlled by tip flow field breakdown. The investigation was guided by observed trends in endwall flow characteristics (e.g., increasing endwall aerodynamic blockage) as stall is approached and based on the hypothesis that application of bleed or injection can mitigate these trends. The "best" bleed and injection configurations were then combined to yield a self-recirculating casing treatment concept. The results of this investigation yielded: 1) identification of the fluid mechanisms which precipitate stall of tip critical blade rows, and 2) an approach to recirculated casing treatment which results in increased compressor stall range with minimal or no loss in efficiency. Subsequent application of this approach to a high speed transonic rotor successfully yielded significant improvements in stall range with no loss in compressor efficiency.
Non-monotonic temporal logics that facilitate elaboration tolerant revision of goals

Temporal logics are widely used in specifying goals of agents. We noticed that when directing agents, humans often revise their requirements for the agent, especially as they gather more knowledge about the domain. However, all existing temporal logics, except one, do not focus on the revision of goals in an elaboration tolerant manner. Thus formal temporal logics that can allow elaboration tolerant revision of goals are needed. As non-monotonic languages are often used for elaboration tolerant specification, we propose to explore non-monotonic temporal logics for goal specification. Recently, a non-monotonic temporal logic, N-LTL, was proposed with similar aims. In N-LTL, goal specifications could be changed via strong and weak exceptions. However, in NLTL, one had to a-priori declare whether exceptions will be weak or strong exceptions. We propose a new nonmonotonic temporal logic, that not only overcomes this, but is also able to express exception to exceptions, strengthen and weaken preconditions, and revise and replace consequents; all in an elaboration tolerant manner.
Switching in nonminimum phase systems: applications to a VSTOL aircraft

We model the longitudinal dynamics of a VSTOL aircraft as a nonlinear hybrid system with three modes corresponding to typical aircraft behavior. Due to the nonminimum phase property of the aircraft, exact feedback linearization will not stabilize the aircraft. Using dynamic extension, approximate feedback linearization provides a stabilizing control in each mode. We show that the system will track with bounded error in each mode as well as across mode switches. Two examples of common VSTOL manoeuvres demonstrate the effectiveness of the switched control scheme.
THE USE OF SCENARIO ANALYSIS TO ASSESS FUTURE LANDSCAPE CHANGE ON WATERSHED CONDITION IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST (USA)

The ability to assess, report, and forecast the life support functions of ecosystems is absolutely critical to our capacity to make informed decisions which will maintain the sustainable nature of our environmental services and secure these resources into the future. Scenario analysis combined with land- scape sciences can be used to characterize uncertainties, test possible impacts and evaluate responses, assist strategic planning and policy formulation, and structure current knowledge to scope the range of potential future conditions. In this study, potential impacts from three wide-ranging scenarios in a large regional area in the northwest United States are compared to current conditions (ca. 1990) of the region in terms of a set of processes that are modeled in a geographic information system (GIS). This study presents an integrated approach to identify areas with potential water quality problems as a result of land cover change projected by stakeholders within the basin. Landscape metrics in con- junction with hydrological process models were used to examine the contribution
Gain-flattening filter using long-period fiber gratings

We propose a novel structure for a gain-flattening filter, in which a conventional long-period fiber grating (LPFG) and a phase-shifted LPFG are written closely. The transmission characteristics are investigated in the case of a closely arranged configuration. For the fabrication of a phase-shifted LPFG, a UV-trimming method to control the amount of the phase shift is examined theoretically and experimentally. Finally, a 67-mm-long LPFG gain-flattening filter designed for an erbium-doped fiber amplifier is fabricated and the measured spectrum is shown.
Inference and analysis of formal models of botnet command and control protocols

We propose a novel approach to infer protocol state machines in the realistic high-latency network setting, and apply it to the analysis of botnet Command and Control (C &C) protocols. Our proposed techniques enable an order of magnitude reduction in the number of queries and time needed to learn a botnet C &C protocol compared to classic algorithms (from days to hours for inferring the MegaD C &C protocol). We also show that the computed protocol state machines enable formal analysis for botnet defense, including finding the weakest links in a protocol, uncovering protocol design flaws, inferring the existence of unobservable communication back-channels among botnet servers, and finding deviations of protocol implementations which can be used for fingerprinting. We validate our technique by inferring the protocol state-machine from Postfix's SMTP implementation and comparing the inferred state-machine to the SMTP standard. Further, our experimental results offer new insights into MegaD's C &C, showing our technique can be used as a powerful tool for defense against botnets.
The Hippo Pathway Regulates Homeostatic Growth of Stem Cell Niche Precursors in the Drosophila Ovary

The Hippo pathway regulates organ size, stem cell proliferation and tumorigenesis in adult organs. Whether the Hippo pathway influences establishment of stem cell niche size to accommodate changes in organ size, however, has received little attention. Here, we ask whether Hippo signaling influences the number of stem cell niches that are established during development of the Drosophila larval ovary, and whether it interacts with the same or different effector signaling pathways in different cell types. We demonstrate that canonical Hippo signaling regulates autonomous proliferation of the soma, while a novel hippo-independent activity of Yorkie regulates autonomous proliferation of the germ line. Moreover, we demonstrate that Hippo signaling mediates non-autonomous proliferation signals between germ cells and somatic cells, and contributes to maintaining the correct proportion of these niche precursors. Finally, we show that the Hippo pathway interacts with different growth pathways in distinct somatic cell types, and interacts with EGFR and JAK/STAT pathways to regulate non-autonomous proliferation of germ cells. We thus provide evidence for novel roles of the Hippo pathway in establishing the precise balance of soma and germ line, the appropriate number of stem cell niches, and ultimately regulating adult female reproductive capacity.
Shining a Light on Human Pose: On Shadows, Shading and the Estimation of Pose and Shape

Strong lighting is common in natural scenes yet is often viewed as a nuisance for object pose estimation and tracking. In human shape and pose estimation, cast shadows can be confused with foreground structure while self shadowing and shading variation on the body cause the appearance of the person to change with pose. Rather than attempt to minimize the effects of lighting and shadows, we show that strong lighting in a scene actually makes pose and shape estimation more robust. Additionally, by recovering multiple body poses we are able to automatically estimate the lighting in the scene and the albedo of the body. Our approach makes use of a detailed 3D body model, the parameters of which are directly recovered from image data. We provide a thorough exploration of human pose estimation under strong lighting conditions and show: 1. the estimation of the light source from cast shadows; 2. the estimation of the light source and the albedo of the body from multiple body poses; 3. that a point light and cast shadows on the ground plane can be treated as an additional "shadow camera" that improves pose and shape recovery, particularly in monocular scenes. Additionally we introduce the notion of albedo constancy which employs lighting normalized image data for matching. Our experiments with multiple subjects show that rather than causing problems, strong lighting improves human pose and shape estimation.
The Fiscal Impact of Population Change

Population aging, and changing population age distributions, affect the fiscal situation through multiple channels, including the following: ; 1. Changing age distributions alter the per worker cost of providing a given age-vector of per capita benefits. For example, population aging will dramatically increase the costs of providing even existing benefits for Social Security and Medicare. ; 2. As a qualification to point 1, we note that fluctuations in population age distribution, for example, as caused by the baby boom in the United States, and transitional changes in age distribution, for example, as the population ages, add a dimension to the problem. Such changes can be considerably more dramatic than comparisons of steady states. They raise issues of intergenerational equity and risk-sharing.
A General Approach to Deciphering How Proteins Work Using Synthetic Chemistry and Mass Spectrometry

Understanding the molecular basis of protein function is currently a major focus of biological research. As chemists and biologists we would like to understand, for example, how protein domains recognize their target ligands or how enzymes are capable of catalyzing chemical reactions at nearly diffusion limited rates which in some cases are 106–1012 times faster than that of the uncatalyzed reaction. One way to get answers to questions like these is to use chemical synthesis to introduce specific mutations into the protein molecule and determine their effect on function [1].
High-altitude diving in river otters: coping with combined hypoxic stresses

SUMMARY River otters ( Lontra canadensis ) are highly active, semi-aquatic mammals indigenous to a range of elevations and represent an appropriate model for assessing the physiological responses to diving at altitude. In this study, we performed blood gas analyses and compared blood chemistry of river otters from a high-elevation (2357 m) population at Yellowstone Lake with a sea-level population along the Pacific coast. Comparisons of oxygen dissociation curves (ODC) revealed no significant difference in hemoglobin-oxygen (Hb-O 2 ) binding affinity between the two populations - potentially because of demands for tissue oxygenation. Instead, high-elevation otters had greater Hb concentrations (18.7 g dl -1 ) than sea-level otters (15.6 g dl -1 ). Yellowstone otters displayed higher levels of the vasodilator nitric oxide (NO), and half the concentration of the serum protein albumin, possibly to compensate for increased blood viscosity. Despite compensation in several hematological and serological parameters, theoretical aerobic dive limits (ADL) were similar between high-elevation and sea-level otters because of the lower availability of O 2 at altitude. Our results suggest that recent disruptions to the Yellowstone Lake food web could be detrimental to otters because at this high elevation, constraints on diving may limit their ability to switch to prey in a deep-water environment.
Update on 3D and multiplanar MDCT in the assessment of biliary and pancreatic pathology

The development of multidetector row computed tomography (MDCT) has led to the acquisition of true isotropic voxels that can be postprocessed to yield images in any plane of the same resolution as the original axially acquired images. This, coupled with rapid MDCT imaging during peak target organ enhancement has led to a variety of means to review imaging information beyond that of the axial perspective. Postprocessing can be utilized to identify variant biliary anatomy to guide preoperative planning of biliary-related surgery, determine the level and cause of biliary obstruction and assist in staging of biliary cancer. Postprocessing can also be used to identify pancreatic ductal variants, visualize diagnostic features of pancreatic cystic lesions, diagnose and stage pancreatic cancer, and differentiate pancreatic from peripancreatic disease.
RNAi-mediated Control of Aflatoxins in Peanut: Method to Analyze Mycotoxin Production and Transgene Expression in the Peanut/Aspergillus Pathosystem

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that 25% of the food crops in the world are contaminated with aflatoxins. That represents 100 million tons of food being destroyed or diverted to non-human consumption each year. Aflatoxins are powerful carcinogens normally accumulated by the fungi Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus in cereals, nuts, root crops and other agricultural products. Silencing of five aflatoxin-synthesis genes by RNA interference (RNAi) in peanut plants was used to control aflatoxin accumulation following inoculation with A. flavus. Previously, no method existed to analyze the effectiveness of RNAi in individual peanut transgenic events, as these usually produce few seeds, and traditional methods of large field experiments under aflatoxin-conducive conditions were not an option. In the field, the probability of finding naturally contaminated seeds is often 1/100 to 1/1,000. In addition, aflatoxin contamination is not uniformly distributed. Our method uses few seeds per transgenic event, with small pieces processed for real-time PCR (RT-PCR) or small RNA sequencing, and for analysis of aflatoxin accumulation by ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC). RNAi-expressing peanut lines 288-72 and 288-74, showed up to 100% reduction (p ≤ 0.01) in aflatoxin B1 and B2 compared to the control that accumulated up to 14,000 ng · g(-1) of aflatoxin B1 when inoculated with aflatoxigenic A. flavus. As reference, the maximum total of aflatoxins allowable for human consumption in the United States is 20 ng · g(-1). This protocol describes the application of RNAi-mediated control of aflatoxins in transgenic peanut seeds and methods for its evaluation. We believe that its application in breeding of peanut and other crops will bring rapid advancement in this important area of science, medicine and human nutrition, and will significantly contribute to the international effort to control aflatoxins, and potentially other mycotoxins in major food crops.
Land Use Planning for Assisted Housing - The President Signals Retreat

President Nixon, in his Statement on the Federal Policies Relative to Equal Housing Opportunities, articulated the housing policies of the Administration. Drawing a sharp distinction between the housing problems of the poor and those of minorities, the President insisted that land-use problems affecting low-income housing opportunities are essentially local rather than national in nature, and therefore the primary national effort should attack racial discrimination rather than restrict low-income housing development. In this Article, Professor Schroeder analyzes the President's Statement, compares it with the current housing situation, and, finding that racial discrimination and poverty are inseparable and that the housing problems they engender are of national concern, concludes that the Administration's policies not only run counter to the measures needed to deal with these important problems, but reverse steps which Congress has already taken toward solving them.
Surgical Treatment of Rheumatoid Wrists

Surgical procedures on rheumatoid wrists are often recommended for the alleviation of various associated problems. For example, early synovectomy is strongly indicated, and partial wrist fusion has proven to be effective in patients with moderate destruction of articular cartilage, deformities, and pain. However the use of total arthrodesis and arthroplasty is still in controversy. The proper surgery for rheumatoid wrist should be determined by the clinical severity of disease and radiological findings.
Spontaneous pressure-flow patterns in the kidney of conscious rats

We have developed a model that permits a quantitative analysis of the contribution of different mechanisms to the spontaneously occurring pressure-flow patterns of a vasculature. In this study we evaluated the spontaneous relationship between arterial pressure (P) and renal blood flow (F) in resting conscious rats during control conditions, autonomic ganglionic blockade (hexamethonium), and nonselective alpha-adrenoreceptor blockade (phentolamine). In a total of 250 trials in 29 rats, we measured the average P and F for each cardiac cycle over 13-min periods (approximately 4,000 cardiac cycles/trial). The P and F values for each cardiac cycle were expressed as percentage change from each 13-min average (beat-to-beat changes). The slope and angle of each consecutive beat-to-beat P-F change were calculated and collated into one of eight zones representing the physiological mechanisms responsible for the concurrent spontaneous changes in P and F. Our results reveal that, in the absence of any chemical or mechanical intervention (control), the renal circulation demonstrated a baroreflex-like P-F pattern approximately 38% of the time. An autoregulatory-like P-F pattern occurred, at the most, 35% of the time. Autonomic ganglionic blockade significantly (P < 0.05) decreased the baroreflex-like pattern and increased the presence of P-F patterns indicative of autoregulation. alpha-Adrenoreceptor blockade resulted in a P-F pattern that was qualitatively similar to that produced by hexamethonium, but with considerably more variability. These results indicate that, in the resting conscious undisturbed state, the autonomic nervous system exerts a tonic influence on the renal circulation that facilitates arterial pressure regulation via a baroreflex-like pattern.
Risk Group and Death From Prostate Cancer Among Men Undergoing Brachytherapy

patients received a course of hormone deprivation for 6 months at least. One biochemical relapse was observed in this cohort of patients. Five patients died during the follow-up period without cancer relapse or toxicity. Acute genitourinary toxicity was observed in 81% of patients with maximal score of 2 in 40.9% of patients. Charlson score greater than 4 did not predict an increase in toxicity. Rectal acute toxicity grade 2 with mucosal discharge was present in 17.6% of patients. Presence of any acute rectal toxicity risk was increased by 2.3 fold in the shorter OTT (cut-point 47 days). Late rectal toxicity Grade 3 was seen in 1 patient, and 5 more patients showed a grade 2 score. Chronic urinary toxicity grades 1-2 were observed in 27.5% of patients, but only 2 patients had grade 2 urinary toxicity. Conclusion: IMAT with SIB to the prostate was well tolerated, with acceptable rates of acute and early late toxicity. Shorter OTT seems to increase the risk of acute rectal toxicity. Charlson score should not be considered as a predictor factor for toxicity. Additional follow-up is necessary to fully define the long-term toxicity. Author Disclosure: F. Ferrer: None. G. Mendez: None. C. Chiruzzi: None. H. Letelier: None. A. Boladeras: None. R. De Blas: None. R. Pineiro: None. M. Galdeano: None. D. Najjari: None. E. Zardoya: None. R. Chavez: None. M. Ventura: None. E. Martinez: None. C. Gutierrez: None. C. Picon: None. J. Pera: None. F. Guedea: None.
Potential impacts of climate change on a mixed broadleaved-Korean pine forest stand: A gap model approach

A gap-typed forest dynamic model KOPIDE was used to assess the dynamic responses of a mixed broadleaved-Korean pine forest stand to climate change in northeastern China. The GFDL climate change scenario was applied to derive the changes in environmental variables, such as 10 °C based DEGD and PET/P, which were used to implement the model. The simulation result suggests that the climate change would cause important changes in stand structure. Korean pine, the dominant species in the area under current climate conditions, would disappear under the GFDL equilibrium scenario. Oak and elm would become the dominant species replacing Korean pine, ash and basswood. Such a potential change in forest structure would require different strategies for forest management in northeastern China.
Movement of Heliothis virescens (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Mississippi in the Spring: Implications for Area-Wide Management

About 250,000 internally marked, sterile male and sterile-male-producing female Heliothis virescens (F.) were released over a 238-km2 area in the Delta of western Mississippiin spring 1982 and 1983. Recaptures of males in 120 pheromone traps over an area of 1,500 km2 indicated that approximately 30% of the population could be accounted for within that area but that density of released males at distances greater than about 7.5 km from the edge of the release area was low relative to that at the center. Recovery of progeny of released females indicated that female movement is at least as great as that of males. In addition, males moved an average of 0.6 km upwind over a lifetime of about 9 d. The density of native males is patchy over a spatial scale of 10 km, and the location of patches is variable from year to year. These results lead to recommendations that experimental units for testing area-wide management tactics for H. virescens in areas similar to the Mississippi Delta should be at least 15 km in diameter, separated from one another by at least 50 km, and replicated.
Abstract 74: The role of epithelial splicing regulatory protein 1 in ovarian cancer

Epithelial splicing regulatory protein 1 (ESRP1) is a recently identified cell type-specific splicing factor which has been shown to control an alternative splicing network associated with the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Whether ESRP1 play any roles in the development and progression of epithelial ovarian cancer is unknown. To answer this question, we first examined its expression by RT-PCR in a panel of cultured cells including normal ovarian surface epithelial cells (HOSE), immortalized OSE (IOSE398 and IOSE120T) as well as ovarian cancer cell lines A2780, OVCA3, OVCAR5, OVCAR8 and SKOV3. We found that ESRP1was expressed at low levels in HOSE, IOSEs and A2780 cells, at intermediate levels in OVCAR8 and SKOV3 cells and at high levels in OVCAR3 and OVCAR5 cells. Examination of ESRP1 target gene FGFR2 showed that cells with low to intermediate levels of ESRP1 exclusively expressed mesenchymal form of FGFR2 (FGFR2IIIc) while cells with high levels of ESRP1 exclusively expressed epithelial form of FGFR2 (FGFR2IIIb). These results suggest two notions: 1) the switch of FGFR2 splicing occurs in an all-or-none format dependent on the threshold of ESRP1 expression levels; 2) normal ovarian surface epithelial cells may have mesenchymal properties. We also examined the expression of ESRP1 in seven pairs of matched ovarian tumor and adjacent normal tissues and found that ovarian tumors expressed higher levels of ESRP1 than normal tissues in all pairs. In the attempt to clone the entire coding sequence of ESRP1 from SKOV3 cells, we have identified 11 ESRP1 splice variants (SVs). Ectopic expression of four ESRP1 SVs in 293T and A2780 cells, which both have very low levels of endogenous ESRP1, triggered profound apoptosis. The two SVs with exons 14 and 15 skipped appeared more cytotoxic than full-length ESRP1. We are currently investigating the effects of knockdown of ESRP1 on the transformation properties of ovarian cancer cells. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 74. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-74
Optimization and evaluation of a method for the generation of DNA barcodes for the identification of crustaceans

Abstract Efficient methods for the species identification of seafood are important for ensuring food safety and detecting fraud. DNA barcoding, a technique based on PCR amplification and capillary sequencing of a short, standardized segment of a gene, is a reliable method for species identification of processed and packaged seafood when the species cannot be determined visually. Here we report the optimization and evaluation of a DNA barcoding method for identifying representative commercial decapod crustacean species, including select shrimp, crab, crayfish, and lobster. Two different segments of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase 1 (COI) gene were evaluated —a 655 base pair fragment beginning near the 5′ end, representing the “standard” DNA barcode fragment, and a non-overlapping 475 base pair fragment beginning near the 3′ end, representing an alternative DNA barcode marker for shrimp. The standard 5′ fragment was successfully amplified and sufficient to identify most crustacean species tested, but amplification of both the 5′ and 3′ barcodes were often required to efficiently identify shrimp.
Quantitative Evaluation of the Gibbs-Dimarzio Theory of the Glass Transition for Polystyrene

The applicability of the Gibbs-DiMarzio (G-DM) theory of the glass transition (Tg) is quantitatively evaluated for polystyrene (PS). The analysis was conducted under the assumption that both the inter- intramolecular energy ratio (r) and the effective chain segment density (n) remain constant while the fractional free volume at Tg(Vo) varies as a function of the reciprocal degree of polymerization (103/P). Based upon reduced parametric plots of Tg/Tg∞ versus 103/P, the results showed that the G-DM equations were satisfactory for PS; when 0.015 ≦ Vo ≦ 0.045, optimum agreement occurred at n = 1.80, r = 1.05.
Complications of Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT)

Continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) has been developed specifically for the treatment of critically ill patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) who cannot undergo traditional intermittent hemodialysis because of hemodynamic instability or in whom intermittent hemodialysis is unable to control volume or metabolic derangements. A careful understanding of the limitations and potential complications of CRRT is necessary to optimize the care of the critically ill patient with AKI and decrease undue morbidity. This chapter describes the complications of the CRRT procedure associated with vascular access, anticoagulation, hemodynamics, volume management, the extracorporeal circuit, electrolytes and acid-base, nutrition, and drug administration.
Modeling Climate Responses to Spectral Solar Forcing on Centennial and Decadal Time Scales

We report a series of experiments to explore clima~ responses to two types of solar spectral forcing on decadal and centennial time scales - one based on prior reconstructions, and another implied by recent observations from the SORCE (Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment) SIM (Spectral 1rradiance Monitor). We apply these forcings to the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) Global/Middle Atmosphere Model (GCMAM). that couples atmosphere with ocean, and has a model top near the mesopause, allowing us to examine the full response to the two solar forcing scenarios. We show different climate responses to the two solar forCing scenarios on decadal time scales and also trends on centennial time scales. Differences between solar maximum and solar minimum conditions are highlighted, including impacts of the time lagged reSponse of the lower atmosphere and ocean. This contrasts with studies that assume separate equilibrium conditions at solar maximum and minimum. We discuss model feedback mechanisms involved in the solar forced climate variations.
IL-12 Expressing oncolytic herpes simplex virus promotes anti-tumor activity and immunologic control of metastatic ovarian cancer in mice

Despite advances in surgical aggressiveness and conventional chemotherapy, ovarian cancer remains the most lethal cause of gynecologic cancer mortality; consequently there is a need for new therapeutic agents and innovative treatment paradigms for the treatment of ovarian cancer. Several studies have demonstrated that ovarian cancer is an immunogenic disease and immunotherapy represents a promising and novel approach that has not been completely evaluated in ovarian cancer. Our objective was to evaluate the anti-tumor activity of an oncolytic herpes simplex virus “armed” with murine interleukin-12 and its ability to elicit tumor-specific immune responses. We evaluated the ability of interleukin−12-expressing and control oncolytic herpes simplex virus to kill murine and human ovarian cancer cell lines in vitro. We also administered interleukin−12-expressing oncolytic herpes simplex virus to the peritoneal cavity of mice that had developed spontaneous, metastatic ovarian cancer and determined overall survival and tumor burden at 95 days. We used flow cytometry to quantify the tumor antigen-specific CD8+ T cell response in the omentum and peritoneal cavity. All ovarian cancer cell lines demonstrated susceptibility to oncolytic herpes simplex virus in vitro. Compared to controls, mice treated with interleukin−12-expressing oncolytic herpes simplex virus demonstrated a more robust tumor antigen-specific CD8+ T-cell immune response in the omentum (471.6 cells vs 33.1 cells; p = 0.02) and peritoneal cavity (962.3 cells vs 179.5 cells; p = 0.05). Compared to controls, mice treated with interleukin−12-expressing oncolytic herpes simplex virus were more likely to control ovarian cancer metastases (81.2 % vs 18.2 %; p = 0.008) and had a significantly longer overall survival (p = 0.02). Finally, five of 6 mice treated with interleukin−12-expressing oHSV had no evidence of metastatic tumor when euthanized at 6 months, compared to two of 4 mice treated with sterile phosphate buffer solution. Our pilot study demonstrates that an interleukin−12-expressing oncolytic herpes simplex virus effectively kills both murine and human ovarian cancer cell lines and promotes tumor antigen-specific CD8+ T-cell responses in the peritoneal cavity and omentum, leading to reduced peritoneal metastasis and improved survival in a mouse model.
Practical State Machine Replication with Confidentiality

We address the problem of how to store and process data privately in cloud environments that employ state machine replication. We show that the only known solution to the problem (Yin et al., SOSP '03) is potentially susceptible to attacks. We then present a new protocol that is secure in the stronger model we formalize. Our protocol uses only efficient symmetric cryptography, while Yin et al.'s uses costly threshold signatures. We implemented and evaluated our protocol. We show that our protocol is two to three orders of magnitude faster than Yin et al.'s, which is less secure than ours.