cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Rupture of sinus of Valsalva aneurysm: Two case reports and a concise review of the literature.

Abstract Background The rupture of sinus of Valsalva aneurysm (RSoVA) is a rare disorder that affects the integrity of the cardiovascular system, disrupting its dynamics and resulting in a variety of manifestations. In this report, we discuss two cases of RSoVA that we encountered and review similar cases reported in the literature. Methods literature review of reported cases of RSoVA in PubMed and Google Scholar. Results A total of 223 cases were found and the final analysis included 225 cases, of which 69% occurred in males and the mean age was 38.9 years. Dyspnea was the most common presenting symptom and 76% of the cases described continuous murmur on examination. The right sinus was affected in 61% of the cases and the fistula connected to the right chambers of the heart 73% of the time. Conclusion RSoVA is a rare condition that is difficult to diagnose, it should be considered in the right context, particularly in young patients with symptoms of heart failure and the presence of continuous murmur on cardiac examination.
Chapter 6 – Career Coherence, Agency, and the Postdoctoral Scholar

Abstract This study explored the connections between elements of Magnusson and Redekopp's 2011 model of coherent career practice and agency to better understand how postdoctoral scholars in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields define and take action to realize their professional career goals. An initial survey of 172 postdocs and 19 individual interviews provided examples of how agency functions in the context of advancing career goals. Findings led to the development of three typical patterns relating to agency and goal clarity. These patterns point suggest interventions that may better support the career development needs of STEM postdocs.
Stress Models of the Annual Hydrospheric, Atmospheric, Thermal, and Tidal Loading Cycles on California Faults: Perturbation of Background Stress and Changes in Seismicity

Author(s): Johnson, CW; Fu, Y; Burgmann, R | Abstract: Stresses in the lithosphere arise from multiple natural loading sources that include both surface and body forces. The largest surface loads include near-surface water storage, snow and ice, atmosphere pressure, ocean loading, and temperature changes. The solid Earth also deforms from celestial body interactions and variations in Earth's rotation. We model the seasonal stress changes in California from 2006 through 2014 for seven different loading sources with annual periods to produce an aggregate stressing history for faults in the study area. Our modeling shows that the annual water loading, atmosphere, temperature, and Earth pole tides are the largest loading sources and should each be evaluated to fully describe seasonal stress changes. In California we find that the hydrological loads are the largest source of seasonal stresses. We explore the seasonal stresses with respect to the background principal stress orientation constrained with regional focal mechanisms and analyze the modulation of seismicity. Our results do not suggest a resolvable seasonal variation for the ambient stress orientation in the shallow crust. When projecting the seasonal stresses into the background stress orientation we find that the timing of microseismicity modestly increases from an ~8nkPa seasonal mean-normal-stress perturbation. The results suggest that faults in California are optimally oriented with the background stress field and respond to subsurface pressure changes, possibly due to processes we have not considered in this study. At any time a population of faults are near failure as evident from earthquakes triggered by these slight seasonal stress perturbations.
Differential patterns of contextual organization of memory in first-episode psychosis.

Contextual information is used to support and organize episodic memory. Prior research has reliably shown memory deficits in psychosis; however, little research has characterized how this population uses contextual information during memory recall. We employed an approach founded in a computational framework of free recall to quantify how individuals with first episode of psychosis (FEP, N = 97) and controls (CON, N = 55) use temporal and semantic context to organize memory recall. Free recall was characterized using the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLT-R). We compared FEP and CON on three measures of free recall: proportion recalled, temporal clustering, and semantic clustering. Measures of temporal/semantic clustering quantified how individuals use contextual information to organize memory recall. We also assessed to what extent these measures relate to antipsychotic use and differentiated between different types of psychosis. We also explored the relationship between these measures and intelligence. In comparison to CON, FEP had reduced recall and less temporal clustering during free recall (p < 0.05, Bonferroni-corrected), and showed a trend towards greater semantic clustering (p = 0.10, Bonferroni-corrected). Within FEP, antipsychotic use and diagnoses did not differentiate between free recall accuracy or contextual organization of memory. IQ was related to free recall accuracy, but not the use of contextual information during recall in either group (p < 0.05, Bonferroni-corrected). These results show that in addition to deficits in memory recall, FEP differed in how they organize memories compared to CON. First-episode psychosis patients exhibit impaired memory recall and deviation in how context is used to support recall ability. A US team of researchers led by the University of Pittsburgh’s Vishnu Murty examined how FEP affects an individual’s ability to organize memory based on context, by noting how well patients could recall words from a spoken list. Alongside recollection accuracy, Murty’s team assesed participant ability to recall words said proximally in sequence, and the ability to recall words from the same category—measuring ‘temporal clustering’ and ‘semantic clustering.’ The researchers found that patients with FEP had reduced recall ability and less temporal clustering. Recall accuracy and IQ were also found to be related. This study increases knowledge of FEP-related cognitive changes and could help to target specific therapies.
Introduction: Personal Interludes

In the early spring of 1980, one of the authors of this book (EVK) was an excited listener to a seminar presented in Moscow State University, the authors’ alma mater, by a well-known virologist, a scientist of rare creativity, and later a good friend, Anatoly Altstein. The subject of the seminar was a model of the origin of the genetic coding and translation he had developed [23]. The model was a beauty, but it was hard to imagine how one would go about verifying it (just in case the reader is curious, an attempt to test this idea using actual molecular models of nucleotides and amino acids has been subsequently published [24]). Toward the end of the seminar, upon answering the question about validation of the model for the umpteenth time, Anatoly dropped, rather casually, something to the effect of “Not to worry, we will soon have many gene sequences to compare and will be able to reconstruct the earliest stages of evolution”. This was the first occasion for the author, at the time a struggling graduate student in virology with a persistent but futile interest in evolution, to grasp the idea of comparative genomics. Even so, he remained skeptical as to the potential of sequence comparison to solve the mystery of the Origin of Life. Little did he know that his entire career in science would be dedicated to this very objective: understanding evolution through comparisons of genes, genomes, and proteins.
The Relationship Between Realism and Debatability in Policy Advocacy

Perspectives for evaluating debates that draw on the policy making paradigm have been defended as both more realistic and more debatable than alternatives. Conflict between the values of debatabili...
Finding Them a Spot: A Successful Preliminary Match Curriculum.

Purpose Nondesignated preliminary residents (N-DPRs) in General Surgery face difficult challenges of overcoming failure to match and quickly reentering the match again with little time to significantly improve their application. Programs with N-DPRs should take seriously their responsibility for helping these residents obtain a successful career path just as they do for their categorical residents. This study evaluates an intervention to improve the matching of N-DPRs into desired positions. Methods We evaluated the match results of N-DPRs at a single institution over an 8-year period. The first 4 years served as the historical control (Group 1), while the following 4 years of N-DPRs underwent a focused intervention (Group 2). Group 2 underwent an 8-step process: (1) a phone call shortly after supplemental offer and acceptance program (SOAP) to discuss strategy, (2) a 1-hour N-DPR specific orientation, (3) targeted meetings to identify reasons for an unsuccessful match, and personal statement revision in July, (4) mock interviews in August, (5) mid-interview cycle meetings to review strategy and trajectory, (6) meetings in January to prioritize rank lists, (7) meetings the week before the match to discuss plan if match is unsuccessful, and (8) meeting on Monday of Match Week. We determined the N-DPRs initial choice of specialty, specialty obtained after their N-DPR year, and career choice changes that occurred during their preliminary years for both groups. Comparisons and statistical analysis were then completed. Results There were 40 N-DPRs in the program over the last 8 years. Group 1, the 4 years before the curriculum, had only 13 of the 16 (81%) N-DPRs obtain a desired position. Group 2, the 4 years following intervention, had all 24 (100%) N-DPRs obtain a desired position. This was a significant improvement (number needed to treat (NNT) = 5.38, p = 0.027). There were no significant differences between groups in regard to the N-DPRs maintaining their original specialty of choice (44% vs 50%). Conclusions The implementation of an N-DPR curriculum significantly improved the probability of N-DPRs to obtain desired positions. Over half of the N-DPRs obtained a position in a specialty different from what they originally applied. Programs should consider aiding N-DPRs in navigating toward a different career path.
Depressive symptom dimensions and medication non-adherence in suboptimally controlled type 2 diabetes.

Abstract Aims Research suggests differential effects for somatic and cognitive-affective depressive symptoms in predicting health outcomes. This study evaluated differential relations with medication non-adherence among disadvantaged, and predominantly immigrant adults with sub-optimally controlled type 2 diabetes (T2D). Methods Health plan members taking oral diabetes medication and who had A1c ≥ 7.5% were recruited for a trial of telephonic self-management support. A subset (n = 376; age, M = 55.6 ± 7.2 years; A1c M = 9.1% ± 1.6) completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8). Diabetes medication adherence was measured by self-report and claims-based records. Multivariable logistic regression modeled depressive symptoms and odds of non-adherence using pre-intervention data. Results A positive PHQ-8 screen (OR = 2.72 [95%CI: 1.56–4.73]) and each standard deviation increase in PHQ-8 score (OR = 1.40 [95%CI: 1.11–1.75]) were associated with non-adherence, with no independent effects for somatic versus cognitive-affective symptoms. Exploration of individual symptoms identified three significantly associated with non-adherence in covariate-adjusted models; after adjustment for likely presence of clinical depression, only fatigue was independently associated with non-adherence (OR = 1.71 [95%CI: 1.06–2.77]). Conclusions Findings support depression symptom severity as a significant correlate of medication non-adherence among disadvantaged adults with T2D. Support was limited for differential associations for symptom dimensions, but findings suggest that fatigue may be associated with non-adherence independent of the likely presence of depression.
Germinoma Involving the Retina: An Unusual Presentation of Recurrent Intracranial Mixed Germ Cell Tumor.

Background We report a patient with primary central nervous system mixed malignant germ cell tumor (GCT) who presented with recurrent malignant germinomatous infiltration of the retina. Case Description A 10-year-old girl initially presented with a large suprasellar mixed malignant GCT with a near-complete response after initial induction of chemotherapy and irradiation. Three and a half years after initial therapy, she presented with progressively worsening vision in her left eye. Magnetic resonance imaging showed infiltrative changes within the left optic nerve but no discrete mass. Serum and cerebrospinal fluid tumor markers were not elevated and cerebrospinal fluid cytology was negative. Left optic nerve biopsy confirmed the presence of mature teratoma and pure germinoma components. She was treated with gross-total resection of the left eye and optic nerve and chemotherapy. Histopathologic evaluation of the optic nerve showed only mature teratoma elements, but with pure germinoma cells infiltrating the inner layers of the retina. Conclusions Loco-regional extension of suprasellar GCT to the optic nerve is not uncommon; however, to the best of our knowledge, infiltration of the tumor into the retina is not reported in the literature. Early detection of optic pathway involvement and proper delineation of the irradiation field may prevent GCT infiltration of the retina with subsequent vision loss.
Outcomes and imaging findings of respiratory epithelial adenomatoid hamartoma: a systematic review.

Background Respiratory epithelial adenomatoid hamartoma (REAH) is a recently classified histopathologic diagnosis often identified incidentally following endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) for presumed chronic rhinosinusitis. Limited data exist defining preoperative imaging features and surgical outcomes. The purpose of this study is to examine characteristic imaging findings of REAH and postoperative olfactory and recurrence outcomes. Methods A systematic review was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines on articles published from 1995 to present. PubMed, EMBASE, and Ovid MEDLINE databases were queried for studies pertinent to imaging findings of REAH and surgical outcomes. Quality of articles was assessed using the Methodological Index for Non-Randomized Studies (MINORS). Results A total of 294 articles were identified, with 15 meeting inclusion criteria. Seven articles assessed both imaging findings and surgical outcomes. Three articles focused exclusively on imaging, whereas 5 examined surgical outcomes. Olfactory cleft (OC) widening greater than 10 mm on computed tomography (CT) was characteristic of REAH. A total of 441 patients with REAH were included; 221 patients (50.1%) had concurrent nasal polyposis, whereas 154 patients (34.9%) had isolated REAH. Surgical intervention ranged from simple excision to complete ESS. Sixty-five percent (65%) of patients reported improved olfaction; 4.1% of patients recurred with follow-up ranging from 4 months to 5 years. Conclusion A widened OC may suggest the presence of REAH. This disease process has been identified in patients with nasal polyposis or encountered as an isolated lesion. Targeted surgery may result in improved olfaction and a low likelihood of recurrence, though long-term prospective studies are necessary.
Barriers to Communication in a PICU: A Qualitative Investigation of Family and Provider Perceptions.

Objectives Family and medical provider perceptions of communication barriers within the PICU are poorly understood. We designed a qualitative study to characterize the perspective of families and medical providers of critically ill children regarding communication barriers. The identified barriers may be used to direct efforts to improve communication. Design Semi-structured interviews were conducted from August 2017 to January 2018. Interviews were audio recorded and professionally transcribed verbatim. Setting A PICU at a tertiary care academic center. Patients Forty-two families whose children were admitted to the PICU (excluding patients receiving end-of-life care or with protective services involvement) and 12 PICU staff members, including nurses, residents, fellows, and attending's. Interventions None. Measurements and main results An interprofessional team of a physician, nurse manager, and medical student coded the transcripts. Interviewing continued until thematic saturation was reached. Codes were organized into common themes using a modified constant comparative method. The families interviewed represented 16 previously healthy children, and 26 children with a chronic health condition. Staff interviewed included three residents, three fellows, three attending intensivists, and three nurses. Participants' perceptions and experiences of barriers to communication included the following: 1) Communication breakdowns related to coordination of care among several services, 2) Family-centered rounds are insufficient for effective communication, 3) Undervaluing the knowledge of families of children with chronic health conditions or special needs, and 4) Communication breakdowns occur across provider hand-offs. Theme 3 was identified by families, but not by providers. Conclusions Families and medical providers both identified several barriers to communication. However, only families identified the barrier "Undervaluing the knowledge of families with chronically ill children." Future work should explore these barriers and the discrepancy in perception between providers and families to determine if there are interventions that improve both family satisfaction and patient care.
Econ FilmMaking: an experiential, problem-based, multimedia project for microeconomics

Econ FilmMaking projects are short, entertaining videos created by students to illustrate an economic concept. While the projects can be on any topic, this article focuses on an assignment that requires students to explain a firm's average cost of production. In this assignment, students gather background information on a firm's production process, build a spreadsheet cost model, and then work in teams to create a brief, educational and entertaining video summarising their results. The project is problem-based, experiential, and fun. The project is suitable for upper-level economics classes, and the resulting videos are useful in teaching cost theory to principles students.
Finding a Choice in a Haystack: Automatic Extraction of Opt-Out Statements from Privacy Policy Text

Website privacy policies sometimes provide users the option to opt-out of certain collections and uses of their personal data. Unfortunately, many privacy policies bury these instructions deep in their text, and few web users have the time or skill necessary to discover them. We describe a method for the automated detection of opt-out choices in privacy policy text and their presentation to users through a web browser extension. We describe the creation of two corpora of opt-out choices, which enable the training of classifiers to identify opt-outs in privacy policies. Our overall approach for extracting and classifying opt-out choices combines heuristics to identify commonly found opt-out hyperlinks with supervised machine learning to automatically identify less conspicuous instances. Our approach achieves a precision of 0.93 and a recall of 0.9. We introduce Opt-Out Easy, a web browser extension designed to present available opt-out choices to users as they browse the web. We evaluate the usability of our browser extension with a user study. We also present results of a large-scale analysis of opt-outs found in the text of thousands of the most popular websites.
3 – Introduction to Fluoropolymers

The important fluoropolymers include polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), perfluoroalkoxy polymer (PFA), fluorinated ethylene propylene polymer (FEP), ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer (ETFE), ethylene-chlorotrifluoroethylene copolymer (ECTFE), polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), and polyvinyl fluoride (PVF). This chapter describes the classification, preparation, properties, fabrication, applications, safety considerations, and economics of fluoropolymers. Monomer synthesis and properties are discussed as well.
Variation of leading-edge suction during stall for unsteady aerofoil motions

The suction force at the leading edge of a round-nosed aerofoil is an important indicator of the state of the flow over the leading edge and, often, the entire aerofoil. The leading-edge suction parameter (LESP) is a non-dimensional version of this force. In recent works, the LESP was calculated with good accuracy for attached flows at low Reynolds numbers (10 000–100 000) from unsteady aerofoil theory. In contrast to this ‘inviscid’ LESP, results from viscous computations and experiments are used here to calculate the ‘viscous’ LESP on aerofoils undergoing pitching motions at low subsonic speeds. The LESP formulation is also updated to account for the net velocity of the aerofoil. Spanning multiple aerofoils, Reynolds numbers and kinematics, the cases include motions in which dynamic stall occurs with or without leading-edge vortex (LEV) formation. Inflections in the surface pressure and skin-friction distributions near the leading edge are shown to be reliable indicators of LEV initiation. Critical LESP, which is the LESP value at LEV initiation, was found to be nearly independent of pivot location, weakly dependent on pitch rate and strongly dependent on Reynolds number. The viscous LESP was seen to drop to near-zero values when the flow is separated at the leading edge, irrespective of LEV formation. This behaviour was shown to correlate well with the loss of streamline curvature at the leading edge due to flow separation. These findings serve to improve our understanding and extend the applicability of the leading-edge suction behaviour gained from earlier works.
Developing a Course on Security and Intelligence with Spy Novels: An Extension of the Science Education Initiative into International Relations

This study brings together insights from the Science Education Initiative with a new course, “Spy Novel Diplomacy: Propaganda and International Relations,” which has been taught as a General Educat...
Balancing the Scales: A Configurational Approach to Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance is a topic eliciting much attention and scholarship. Yet what scholars mean by work-life balance is wide-ranging. This review focuses on work-life balance scholarship published pr...
Understanding Elderspeak: An Evolutionary Concept Analysis

Background and objectives Elderspeak is an inappropriate simplified speech register that sounds like baby talk and is used with older adults, especially in health care settings. Understanding the concept of elderspeak is challenging due to varying views about which communicative components constitute elderspeak and whether elderspeak is beneficial or harmful for older adults. Research design and methods Rodgers' evolutionary concept analysis method was used to evaluate the concept of elderspeak through identification of elderspeak's attributes, antecedents, and consequences. A systematic search using the PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Embase databases was completed. Results Eighty-three theoretical or research articles from 1981 to 2020 were identified. Elderspeak characteristics were categorized by semantic, syntactic, pragmatic, paralinguistic, and nonverbal attributes. The primary antecedent to elderspeak is implicit ageism, in which old age cues and signs of functional or cognitive impairment led to simplified communication, usually from a younger caregiver. Research studies varied in reporting whether elderspeak facilitated or interfered with comprehension by older adults, in part depending on the operational definition of elderspeak and experimental manipulations. Exaggerated prosody, a key feature of elderspeak, was found to reduce comprehension. Elderspeak was generally perceived as patronizing by older adults and speakers were perceived as less respectful. In persons with dementia, elderspeak also increases the probability of resistiveness to care, which is an important correlate of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. Discussion and implications Based on this concept analysis, a new definition of elderspeak is proposed, in which attributes that have been found to enhance comprehension are differentiated from those that do not. Recommendations for consistent operationalization of elderspeak in future research are made.
Physical function, cognitive impairment, and quality-of-life among adults with multiple myeloma and associated plasma cell disorders.

e20004Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) and immunoglobulin light chain (AL) amyloidosis are clonal plasma cell disorders (PCDs) of aging, with median ages at diagnosis of 69 and 76 years, respectiv...
Molecular dynamics simulation of human urea transporter B

We applied a new large two membrane model of human urea transporter B (UT-B) with urea concentration gradient between intracellular and extracellular solution to explore the structure and dynamics ...
New sampling strategy removes imaging spectroscopy solar-smearing bias in sub-km vapour scaling statistics

Abstract. Upcoming spaceborne imaging spectrometers will allow retrieval of total column water vapour (TCWV) over land at horizontal resolution of 30–80 m. Here we show how to obtain, from these retrievals, exponents describing the power-law scaling of sub-km horizontal variability in clear-sky bulk planetary boundary layer (PBL) water vapour (q). Using large-eddy simulations (LES) of shallow convective PBLs we show how sunlight entering the PBL up to several km away from the footprint location degrades estimates of these exponents. We address this by calculating exponents perpendicular to the solar azimuth, that is to say flying “across” the sunlight path rather than “towards” or “away” from the Sun. Across 23 LES snapshots, at SZA = 60° the mean bias in calculated exponent is 38 ± 12 % (95 % range) along the solar azimuth, while following our strategy it is 3 ± 9 % and no longer significant. Both bias and root-mean-square error RMSE decrease with lower SZA. We include retrieval errors from several sources including: (1) the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) instrument noise model, (2) requisite assumptions about the atmospheric thermodynamic profile, and (3) spatially nonuniform aerosol distributions. This technique can be used to obtain unique information about sub-km PBL q scaling from upcoming spaceborne spectrometer missions, while mitigating errors due to challenging solar geometries.
Integrating Psychological Research on Girls with Feminist Activism: A Model for Building a Liberation Psychology in the United States

A liberation psychology is needed to bridge the gap between psychology's focus on individual distress and broad social forces that foster such distress. We offer a model for bridging this gap by focusing on a specific area of psychology (psychological research on girls) and a specific social movement (feminist activism). Psychological research on girls and feminist activism share the common goal of improving the lives of girls and women. However, both have fallen short of this goal. This is due, in part, to the weaknesses associated with each endeavor and to the fact that the complementary strengths of each have remained isolated from the other. In this paper, we propose a common language and shared framework to integrate psychological research with feminist activism. First, we review the basic strengths and weaknesses associated with psychological research and feminist activism, with a particular focus on how they are distinct from one another. Second, we provide a taxonomic framework for integrating these two areas on the basis of the stress paradigm, with specific examples provided from our recent reviews of the literature and our own empirical work with adolescent girls. Finally, we conclude with recommendations for future work needed to integrate psychological research on girls with feminist activism toward the goal of building a liberation psychology in the United States.
A possible degree of motional freedom in bacterial chemoreceptor cytoplasmic domains and its potential role in signal transduction

We describe an array of gaps in an antiparallel four-helix bundle structure, the cytoplasmic domains of bacterial chemoreceptors. For a given helix, the side chain interactions that define a helix’s position are analyzed in terms of residue interfaces, the most important of which are a-a, g-g, d-d, g-d, and a-d. It was found that the interdigitation of the side groups does not entirely fill the space along the long axis of the structure, which results in a rather regular array of gaps. A simulated piston motion of helix CD1 along the helical axis direction by 1.2A shows that 85% of the side chain interactions still satisfy Van der Waals criteria, while the remaining clashes could be avoided by small rotations of side chains. Therefore, two states could exist in the structure, related by a piston motion. Analysis of the crystal structure of a small four-helix bundle, the P1short domain of CheA in Thermotoga Maritima, reveals that the two coexisting states related by a 1.3-1.7A piston motion are defined by the same mechanism. This two-state model is a plausible candidate mechanism for the long distance signal transduction in bacterial chemoreceptors and is qualitatively consistent with literature chemoreceptor mutagenesis results. Such a mechanism could exist in many other structures with interdigitating α-helices.
Machine-learning scoring functions for identifying native poses of ligands docked to known and novel proteins

Molecular docking is a widely-employed method in structure-based drug design. An essential component of molecular docking programs is a scoring function (SF) that can be used to identify the most stable binding pose of a ligand, when bound to a receptor protein, from among a large set of candidate poses. Despite intense efforts in developing conventional SFs, which are either force-field based, knowledge-based, or empirical, their limited docking power (or ability to successfully identify the correct pose) has been a major impediment to cost-effective drug discovery. Therefore, in this work, we explore a range of novel SFs employing different machine-learning (ML) approaches in conjunction with physicochemical and geometrical features characterizing protein-ligand complexes to predict the native or near-native pose of a ligand docked to a receptor protein's binding site. We assess the docking accuracies of these new ML SFs as well as those of conventional SFs in the context of the 2007 PDBbind benchmark dataset on both diverse and homogeneous (protein-family-specific) test sets. Further, we perform a systematic analysis of the performance of the proposed SFs in identifying native poses of ligands that are docked to novel protein targets. We find that the best performing ML SF has a success rate of 80% in identifying poses that are within 1 A root-mean-square deviation from the native poses of 65 different protein families. This is in comparison to a success rate of only 70% achieved by the best conventional SF, ASP, employed in the commercial docking software GOLD. In addition, the proposed ML SFs perform better on novel proteins that they were never trained on before. We also observed steady gains in the performance of these scoring functions as the training set size and number of features were increased by considering more protein-ligand complexes and/or more computationally-generated poses for each complex.
A comparative study of proteasomal inhibition and apoptosis induced in N27 mesencephalic cells by dopamine and MG132

Dopamine (DA) and its metabolites have been implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. DA can produce reactive-oxygen species and DA-derived quinones such as aminochrome can induce proteasomal inhibition. We therefore examined the ability of DA and MG132 to induce apoptosis and proteasomal inhibition in N27 rat dopaminergic cells. DA (0-500 micromol/L, 0-24 h) and MG132 (0-5 micromol/L, 0-24 h) treated N27 cells resulted in time- and concentration-dependent apoptosis. To better define DA and MG132-induced apoptosis, the activation of initiator caspases 2 and caspase 9 and the executioner caspase 3 was investigated. Activation of caspase 2, caspase 9, and caspase 3 occurred early and prior to cell death. In addition, N-acetylcysteine (NAC) blocked DA but not MG132-induced apoptosis and mitochondrial membrane potential loss. NAC can react with both reactive-oxygen and quinoid metabolites and its inhibitory activity suggests a role for reactive species in DA-induced apoptosis. Proteasomal inhibition was detected after DA treatment in N27 cells which occurred prior to cell death and was abrogated by NAC. Our results implicate DA-derived reactive species in proteasomal inhibition and caspase-dependent apoptosis in N27 cells. The ability of endogenous DA-derived metabolites to induce proteasomal inhibition and apoptosis may contribute to the selective loss of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease.
Selective detection of 3-deoxymannooctulosonic acid in intact lipopolysaccharides by spin-echo 13C NMR.

The 3-deoxy-D-mannooctulosonic acid (KDO) region of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) from the heptoseless mutant Salmonella minnesota R595 and inner core and heptoseless mutants derived from Escherichia coli K12 was studied by 13C NMR spectroscopy. A spin-echo spectral editing technique was employed for the selective detection of the quaternary anomeric carbon of ketosidically linked KDO. Only two quaternary carbon resonances attributable to KDO were detected in the anomeric carbon spectral region of each LPS from heptoseless mutants E. coli D31m4 (99.7 and 100.8 ppm) and S. minnesota R595 (100.0 and 100.9 ppm). Integrated signal intensities from fully relaxed normal 13C spectra showed that equivalent molar quantities of KDO and glucosamine (i.e. 2 mol of each) were present in each of these samples. Similarly, only two KDO anomeric carbon resonances were detected in the LPS from the inner core mutants E. coli D21f1 (100.8 and 101.2 ppm) and E. coli D21e7 (100.8 and 101.2 ppm). These data confirm the presence of a KDO disaccharide structure rather than a trisaccharide as determined by others using thiobarbituric acid-based assays. The LPS of E. coli D21 (complete inner core oligosaccharide) exhibited four quaternary anomeric carbon resonances (99.4, 100.7, 101.8, and 102.7 ppm). The unequal intensities of these resonances, however, demonstrated that significant heterogeneity exists with respect to KDO substitution in this LPS. A third KDO moiety present in substoichiometric amounts could be consistent with this observation. However, this possibility could not be distinguished from other modes of substitutional heterogeneity involving only 2 KDO residues.
A Dynamic Structural Model of User Learning in Mobile Media Content 1

Consumer adoption and usage of mobile communication and multimedia content services has been growing steadily over the past few years in many countries around the world. In this paper, we develop and estimate a structural model of user behavior and learning with regard to content generation and usage activities in mobile digital media environments. Users learn about two different categories of content – content from regular Internet social networking and community (SNC) sites and that from mobile portal sites. Then they can choose to engage in the creation (uploading) and consumption (downloading) of multi-media content from these two categories of websites. In our context, users have two sources of learning about content quality – (i) direct experience through their own content creation and usage behavior and (ii) indirect experience through word-of-mouth such as the content creation and usage behavior of their social network neighbors. Our model seeks to explicitly explain how direct and indirect experiences from social interactions influence the content creation and usage behavior of users over time. We estimate this model using a unique dataset of consumers‟ mobile media content creation and usage behavior over a 3-month time period. Our estimates suggest that when it comes to user learning from direct experience, the content that is downloaded from mobile portals has the highest average quality level. In contrast, content that is downloaded by users from SNC websites has the lowest average quality level. Besides, the order of magnitude of accuracy of signals for each content type from direct experiences is consistent with the order of the quality levels. This finding implies that in the context of mobile media users make content choices based on their perception of differences in both the average content quality levels and the extent of content quality variation. Further we find that signals about the quality of content from direct experience are more accurate than signals from indirect experiences. Potential implications for mobile phone operators and advertisers are discussed.
Direct determination (without chromatographic separation) of lithium isotopes in saline fluids using MC-ICP-MS: establishing limits on water chemistry

Produced waters from petroleum and geothermal reservoirs contain large amounts of cations including lithium, and while lithium isotopes are time-intensive to measure in the traditional way, they have the potential to reveal information about fluid and solute origins and diagenesis. We tested the effect of added cations that dominate in produced waters (Na, Ca, Mg) on accuracy and precision of lithium isotope measurements by MC-ICP-MS in Li-isotope standard solutions without chromatographic separation. Repeated measurement of Li-isotope standards with no added matrix demonstrate high 2 SD reproducibility: LSVEC (RM8545) had δ7Li of 0.04 ± 0.74‰ (n = 19); IRMM16 had δ7Li of 0.07 ± 1.2‰ (n = 11); Li7N had δ7Li of 30.07 ± 0.12‰ (n = 11); Li6N had δ7Li of −8.04 ± 0.58‰ (n = 8). Replicates of standards with matrix and of diluted produced waters had 2 SD reproducibility smaller than ±1.8‰ and ±2.0‰, respectively. Results showed that Na/Li (weight ratio) up to about 500 (analysed aliquot <20 mg kg−1 Na) and Ca/Li or Mg/Li up to about 250 (analysed aliquot <10 mg kg−1 Ca or Mg) do not diminish δ7Li accuracy or precision, so long as Li concentration in the measured solution is greater than 20 μg kg−1. Because produced waters are chemically more complex than the added-matrix isotope standards we tested initially, we also compared δ7Li in produced waters from which the Li was chromatographically separated, as is the convention, with diluted produced waters. Results show marked Li isotope fractionation occurred in those samples in which Na/Li ranged from 500 to almost 10 000. Geothermal waters and Na–Ca–Cl-type produced waters, therefore, are fluids that are most likely to have cation/Li ratios that will make them amenable to direct determination of δ7Li with only sample dilution. We also found that two aliquots of the Li-isotope standard, LSVEC (RM8545), one obtained in 1985 and one in 2012, have δ7Li that differs by about 2‰.
Psyttalia cf. concolor (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) for biological control of olive fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) in California.

Abstract The larval parasitoid, Psyttalia cf. concolor (Szepligeti), reared on Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Weidemann), by the USDA–APHIS–PPQ, Guatemala City, Guatemala, was imported into California for biological control of olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae (Gmelin), in olives, Olea europaea L. Mean percentage parasitism of olive fruit fly third instars infesting fruit in field cages ranged from 7.0 in Grapevine to 59.7 in Santa Barbara and in free releases ranged from 0 in Grapevine to 10.6 in Santa Barbara after 4- to 6-d exposures. In the laboratory, more parasitoids developed to adults in olive fruit fly larvae that were 11–13 d old than in larvae 8–10 d old. Adult parasitoids lived significantly longer when provided with water than adults without water in environmental chambers at 5°C, 85% RH; 15°C, 65% RH; 25°C, 25% RH; and 35°C, 25% RH. Adult parasitoids lived for 48 d with honey for food and water and 32 d with food and sugar solution at 15°C and 65% RH. Survival of adult parasito...
Mechanisms regulating hypoxic respiratory depression during fetal and postnatal life

Selected topics in the respiratory response to acute hypoxia in the fetus and newborn are reviewed. Peripheral chemoreceptors acting through ionotrophic glutamate receptors play an important role i...
Evaluation of elective repeat cesarean section as a standard of care: an application of decision analysis.

Abstract The rationale for routine repeat cesarean section (RCS) is avoidance of uterine rupture during labor. However, the incidence of uterine rupture following modern cesarean section is low, and the charge for cesarean section is greater than that for a trial of labor (TOL). The technique of decision analysis was used to investigate strategies of elective RCS and TOL with precautionary monitoring. Hypothetical cohorts of 10,000 pregnant women with previous low-transverse cesarean incisions were assumed. Probability data were obtained from the literature. In the TOL cohort, 6,623 patients were delivered vaginally. Uterine rupture occurred in 73 patients. In spite of this, TOL resulted in 37 fewer perinatal deaths and 0.7 fewer maternal deaths than elective RCS. The excessive perinatal mortality in the RCS cohort was related to iatrogenic prematurity that is now avoidable with the lecithin/sphingomyelin test. Direct costs were $5 million geater in the RCS cohort. We concluded that in contemporary practice mortality rates are essentially equal for both delivery practices. However, substantial cost savings are available with TOL.
Coupling of ocean bottom seismometers to sediment: Results of tests with the U.S. Geological Survey ocean bottom seismometer

Abstract The response of an ocean bottom seismometer (OBS) to a transient pull that excites the natural OBS-sediment coupling resonance can be modeled as a mass-spring-dashpot system in which the resonant frequency and damping are functions of instrument mass and bearing radius and of the physical properties of the sediment (primarily the shear modulus). For the very soft sediments sometimes found on the sea floor, this resonance may be within the main frequency band of interest (2 to 15 Hz) for many common instrument configurations. To test the model and to find an anchor that would shift the coupling resonance to a higher frequency and decrease its amplitude, we conducted a series of tests which measured the response of the vertical and horizontal components of the U.S. Geological Survey OBS to transient pulls as a function of anchor configuration and sediment properties. The tested anchors included a concrete “flowerpot,” a tripod, a plate, and a perforated plate. Sites were on soft, organic-rich ooze and on firm sand. Several small shots were also fired at the ooze site in order to compare the response of the plate and “flowerpot” anchors to seismic signals. For a given anchor at a given site, the observed response was very repeatable. We found that the model predicts the vertical coupling response quite well and that good vertical coupling can be achieved with the plate or perforated-plate anchors. The response to the horizontal pulls, however, was similar and resonant for all anchors.
Nursing home restraints and legal liability: Merging the standard of care and industry practice

(1992). Nursing home restraints and legal liability. Journal of Legal Medicine: Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 1-32.
Further reactions of 3‐hydroxy‐1(3H)‐isobenzofuranone with amines

The reaction of 3-hydroxy-1(3H)-isobenzofuranone (III) with 2-phenylethylamines has been shown to give either monoalkylated VI or dialkylated VII products (prodrugs) depending on the number of equivalents of III used. The monoalkylated products disproprotionated to the dialkylated products unless they were stabilized as salts. In addition, the reaction of III with cytosine and adenine resulted in the formation of N4 and N6-alkylated products, respectively. The alkylated 2-phenylethylamines, and cytosine and adenine are representative of a new type of prodrug approach to modifying the physical chemical properties of these two important classes of drugs.
Use of cyanamide to determine localization of acetaldehyde metabolism in rat liver

Various techniques have been employed previously to show that acetaldehyde is primarily oxidized in the mitochondrial matrix of rat liver. In this study, a new approach was tested. Mitochondrial low-Km aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) was partially inactivated and the effect on acetaldehyde oxidation measured. Cyanamide was chosen as the ALDH inhibitor. An enzymatic activation of cyanamide, probably by catalase, was necessary for the drug to inhibit ALDH activity. The level of remaining ALDH activity after cyanamide treatment was correlated with the ability of either rat liver mitochondria or liver slices to oxidize acetaldehyde. Any inhibition of ALDH resulted in a decreased rate of acetaldehyde oxidation, indicating that there is no excess of ALDH in the cell above what is needed to oxidize acetaldehyde. Approximately 15% of the acetaldehyde disappearance at 200 microM was catalyzed by high-Km ALDH, and nearly 30% of the acetaldehyde was lost through binding to cytosolic proteins.
Analysis of Random Telegraph Noise in 45-nm CMOS Using On-Chip Characterization System

An on-chip variability characterization system implemented in a 45-nm CMOS process is used for direct time-domain measurements of random telegraph noise (RTN) in small-area devices. A procedure for automated extraction of RTN parameters from large volumes of measured data is developed. Statistics for number of traps, NT, and single-trap amplitudes, ΔVth, are studied across device polarity, bias, and gate area. A Poisson distribution is used to model NT and a log-normal distribution is used to model ΔVth. The scaling of the two statistics across gate dimensions is discussed; the expected value of NT is shown to scale with (L - ΔL)-1, whereas the expected value of AVth is shown to scale with W-1(L - ΔL)-0.5. The two statistics are combined in a compact RTN probabilistic model representing the statistics of the overall ΔVth fluctuations because of RTN. This model is demonstrated to give accurate predictions of the tails of the measured RTN distributions at the 95th percentile level, which scale with W-1(L - ΔL)-1.5. A comparison between nMOS and pMOS devices shows that pMOS devices exhibit both a higher average number of traps and a larger average single-trap ΔVth amplitude, leading to a comparatively larger overall impact of RTN.
Neuraminidase from Trypanosoma cruzi: analysis of enhanced expression of the enzyme in infectious forms

Abstract We purified the neuraminidase (sialidase, acylneuraminyl hydrolase, EC 3.2.1.18) from the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, strain Y, and examined the developmental regulation of the enzyme. The detectable amount of enzyme activity increased 10- to 20-fold upon conversion of the parasite from the noninfectious epimastigote form to the infectious trypomastigote form. The enzyme was purified from membranes of trypomastigotes greater than 5000-fold to apparent homogeneity and migrated as an entity of Mr 60,000 under denaturing conditions. Antibodies produced in rabbits against the denatured protein recognized the neuraminidase in membrane extracts from the infectious stage but not from the noninfectious stage. Sera from a patient with acute chagasic disease also reacted strongly with the neuraminidase. Other T. cruzi strains exhibited similar neuraminidase activities and induction rates. The coincidence of infectivity and enhanced expression of neuraminidase in trypomastigotes suggests that this enzyme constitutes a virulence factor in T. cruzi.