cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Exploitation of sulfated glycosaminoglycan status for precision medicine of platinums in triple-negative breast cancer

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast cancer lacking targetable biomarkers. TNBC is known to be most aggressive, and when metastatic is often drug resistant and uncurable. Biomarkers predicting response to therapy improve treatment decisions and allow personalized approaches for TNBC patients. This study explores sulfated glycosaminoglycan (sGAG) levels as a predictor of TNBC response to platinum therapy. sGAG levels were quantified in three distinct TNBC tumor models including cell line-derived, patient-derived xenograft (PDX) tumors, and isogenic models deficient in sGAG biosynthesis. The in vivo antitumor efficacy of Triplatin, a sGAG-directed platinum agent, was compared in these models to the clinical platinum agent, carboplatin. We determined that >40% of TNBC PDX tissue microarray samples have high levels of sGAGs. The in vivo accumulation of Triplatin in tumors as well as antitumor efficacy of Triplatin positively correlated with sGAG levels on tumor cells, whereas carboplatin followed the opposite trend. In carboplatin-resistant tumor models expressing high levels of sGAGs, Triplatin decreased primary tumor growth, reduced lung metastases and inhibited metastatic growth in lungs, liver, and ovaries. sGAG levels served as a predictor of Triplatin sensitivity in TNBC. Triplatin may be particularly beneficial in treating patients with chemotherapy-resistant tumors who have evidence of residual disease after standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy. More effective neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment will likely improve clinical outcome of TNBC. SignificanceTNBC is a heterogenous disease, often defined by the absence of a therapeutic target. Our recent results show sGAGs may provide a viable biomarker for Triplatin in patients with TNBC, producing a significant advantage over carboplatin in this setting. Selective precision medicine agents, such as Triplatin, that are active against chemotherapy-resistant disease and exploit molecular biomarkers like sGAGs may significantly benefit patients in this setting.
Sexual Cannibalism Increases Female Egg Production in the Chinese Praying Mantid (Tenodera sinensis)

The fecundity benefit of sexual cannibalism is a key parameter of models for the evolution and population-level consequences of sexual cannibalism. Previous studies of praying mantids that have attempted to measure the change in egg production following cannibalism have yielded inconsistent results, possibility due to differences in female ages and background diets. We studied the effect of cannibalism on egg production and egg laying in the Chinese praying mantid (Tenodera sinensis), standardizing female age and mating status, and maintaining females on diets that reflect natural rates of foraging. We experimentally assigned females to one of three treatments: cannibal, non-cannibal, or cricket consumers that received an additional diet of crickets (Acheta domesticus) roughly equivalent to the mass consumed by cannibals. We show that cannibalistic females that consume multiple males produced significantly more eggs and laid more eggs in their first ootheca (egg case) compared to non-cannibals. This result supports the hypothesis that sexual cannibalism in T. sinensis is a female foraging strategy that provides resources to increase fecundity. The increase in egg production by cannibals was similar to that of the cricket consumer females suggesting that male mantids are equivalent to other prey, per unit body mass, in terms of their effects on egg production.
Western Diet and Psoriatic-Like Skin and Joint Diseases: A Potential Role for the Gut Microbiota.

Shi et al. (2021) in "Short-term Western diet intake promotes IL-23-mediated skin and joint inflammation accompanied by changes to the gut microbiota in mice" show that Western diet (WD) exacerbates an IL-23 minicircle‒mediated model of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, with an expansion of IL-17A‒expressing γδ T cells and shifts to the gut microbial community. WD-associated inflammation is mitigated by diet manipulation or antibiotic administration. These results suggest that dietary manipulation may be useful in the treatment of IL-23‒mediated disease, possibly through the modulation of the gut microbiota.
Status of the Alligator Snapping Turtle, Macrochelys temminckii, in West Tennessee

Western alligator snapping turtles, Macrochelys temminckii, have experienced population declines throughout most of their distribution. The present study is the first to systematically sample aquatic habitats of western Tennessee to assess the status and distribution of this species within the state. At the 65 sites sampled, we captured 22 individual alligator snapping turtles from 4 sites, including 1 site where juveniles had been reintroduced more than a decade prior. We conclude that M. temminckii occurs at very low densities in western Tennessee, likely due to historical habitat modification (e.g., channelizing rivers or ditching).
CERVICAL NEOPLASIA IN PREGNANCY. A SERIES OF PREGNANT AND POSTPARTUM PATIENTS FOLLOWED WITHOUT BIOPSY OR THERAPY.

Abstract Forty-two pregnant or postpartum patients with a diagnosis of dysplasia or carcinoma in situ were followed into the postpartum period through the use of cytology and colpomicroscopy without any form of biopsy, cautery, or therapy. No regressions were noted. It would appear that the diagnosis of dysplasia or carcinoma in situ has the same significance whether in the pregnant or nonpregnant state.
Hegemony and Seigniorage: The Planned Spontaneity of the US Current Account Deficit

This article argues that the U.S. current account deficit emerged in the course of the structural transformation of the U.S. economy as the Fordist production regime underwent a profitability crisis, eroded, and was supplanted by the emerging dominance of the financial sector. This domestic transformation has been aided and abetted by the position of the U.S. dollar as key international currency which confers upon its owner the right of seigniorage whose spoils broadly defined to include not only seigniorage income and the benefits derived from the large-scale recycling of American debt, but also the ability to profit from exchange-rate manipulation of the dollar, have given further impetus to the erosion of the U.S. productive economy.
MSW Student Perceptions of the Efficacy and Ethics of Internet-Based Therapy.

This study reports on the results of a survey of 378 MSW students that asked about their attitudes regarding the efficacy and the ethics of online psychotherapeutic services (e-therapy).The student...
Effect of Substituted Aluminum in Magnesium Tension Twin

Atomistic simulations are performed in order to study the Aluminum substitution effect on Magnesium twinning mechanism. Multiple twin boundaries are found in pure Mg single crystal under tensile loading condition along (1012) crystallographic direction. However, no twinning has occurred under compression loading. Al substitution has been done for 2, 5, 7, and 10% doping. For 2 and 5% Al substitution, number of twins increase when the system is monitored under tensile loading. On the other hand, for 7 and 10% Al doping under tensile loading, no twin has been found. We found that dislocation-twin and dislocation-dislocation interaction are majorly responsible for this behavior and it is important that which one is prevalent.
Multivariate Uniformity, Liang–Fang–Hickernell–Li Test of

A test of multivariate uniformity attributable to Liang, Fang, Hickernell, and Li is discussed. Keywords: discrepancy measure; multivariate uniformity
Two-phase flow in porous media: crossover from capillary fingering to compact invasion

Motivated by a wide range of applications from enhanced oil recovery to carbon dioxide sequestration, we have developed a pore-level model of immiscible drainage, incorporating viscous, capillary, and gravitational effects. We have validated this model quantitatively, in the very different limits of zero viscosity ratio and zero capillary number. For a range of stable viscosity ratios ( μ injected /μ displaced ≥1), we have increased the capillary number, N c , and studied the way in which the flows deviate from capillary fingering (the fractal flow of invasion percolation) and become compact for realistic capillary numbers. Results exhibiting this crossover from capillary fingering to compact invasion are presented for the saturation profile and the average position of the injected fluid. The modeling results agree with earlier predictions.
Living Without Free Will: Empirical objections to agent-causal libertarianism

INTRODUCTION The most significant empirical objections to agent-causal libertarianism challenge its capacity to accommodate our best natural scientific theories. Different aspects of this type of libertarianism give rise to two such objections. First, given our scientific understanding of the world, how could there exist anything as fabulous as an agent-causal power? It would appear that our natural scientific theories could not yield an account of a power of this sort. Second, given our scientific understanding, how could there be agent-caused decisions that are freely willed in the sense required for moral responsibility? Such decisions, it would seem, would not be constrained by the laws of nature, and therefore could not exist in the natural world. Let us begin with the first of these two issues. Some libertarians maintain that there could be no natural scientific account of agentcausal powers. But they do not conclude from this that such powers do not exist, only that they could not be wholly physically realized. For others, a more congenial approach is to avoid non-physicalism by exploiting the resources of nonreductive materialism. According to nonreductive materialism generally construed, causal powers in the purview of sciences such as biology and psychology arise solely as a result of the organization of their material constituents, while they do not reduce to microphysical causal powers.
Serendipity: Teaching Composition through Crisis

A11 "teachers of writing" have often seen something similar to the thought expressed above, and we are aware of its simple implication: Writing is therapeutic. Yet in the light of the rapid increase of suicides (especially between the 18-25 year age bracket), the epidemic rise of psychosomatic illnesses, and the frightening nature of a national drug problem which extends all the way from the glue-sniffing junior high school student to the tranquilizer-addicted fifty-year old executive, it might appear that we educators have failed to convey to our students a very noble and worthwhile value of writing. Of course, it would be naive to blame the composition teachers for all the diseases of our culture, but it could be that many of us need to be reminded of what we could do in
Antisymmetric tensor propagator in AdS space

In this Brief Report we construct the propagator for the antisymmetric two-tensor in ${\mathrm{AdS}}_{d+1}.$ We check our result using the Poincar\'e duality between the antisymmetric tensor and the gauge boson in ${\mathrm{AdS}}_{5}.$
A Useful Modification of the Prothrombin Time

A useful modification of the prothrombin time test is described. It compares favorably with the usual Quick prothrombin time method in results and has the advantages of universal applicability, even for difficult or problem cases, and convenience for patient and physician.
Amicyanin and Complexes of Amicyanin with Methylamine Dehydrogenase and Cytochrome c551i

Amicyanin is the key component of a soluble periplasmic electron transfer chain in the bacterium Paracoccus denitrificans that passes electrons from an amine substrate to a terminal oxidase in the periplasmic membrane. It directly and specifically transfers electrons from methylamine dehydrogenase (MADH) to an inducible c-type cytochrome, c551i. Amicyanin is a 12.5-kDa monomeric cupredoxin, MADH is a 124-kDa heterotetramer oxidizing enzyme, and c551i is a 17.5-kDa monomeric cytochrome. Crystal structures of amicyanin, a binary MADH–amicyanin complex and a ternary MADH–amicyanin–cytochrome c551i complex, are described and correlated with their kinetic and electron transfer properties in solution. 3D Structure Keywords: cupredoxin; electron transfer complex; quinoprotein; cytochrome; oxidation/reduction; mutagenic studies
Self-Efficacy and College Student Satisfaction

Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy has been used extensively for the study of behavior in a variety of settings. Researchers in the areas of vocational and academic behavior have focused primarily o...
Behavior of bull spermatozoa in bovine uterine tube epithelial cell co-culture: an in vitro model for studying the cell interactions of reproduction.

Freshly ejaculated bull semen was centrifuged and spermatozoa were resuspended in modified sperm TALP. Bovine uterine tube epithelial cell monolayers (BUTC) were obtained from cows in the periovulatory phase of estrus. In Experiment 1, sperm aliquots were assigned to culture wells containing either BUTC, BUTC-conditioned TALP, or control TALP. Sperm heads attached to the monolayers within 1 h of co-culture. Attached spermatozoa showed vigorous tail motion. At 5, 8 and 11 h of incubation at 39°C, the percentage of unattached sperm cells with intact acrosome membranes and percentage of motility of these cells was measured. Sperm-BUTC co-cultures were also fixed in situ for electron microscopy. Unattached spermatozoa in co-culture had more (P<0.05) acrosomal membrane loss, showed hyperactive motion and had an overall decrease in motility as compared to sperm cells in control or conditioned medium. Evaluation by electron microscopy showed BUTC attached spermatozoa to behave in the co-culture system similar to reports for spermatozoa found in uterine tubes in vivo. Microvilli of the BUTC appeared to actively entrap the spermatozoa. Mucus-type granules could be seen on acrosomal regions and vesiculation of acrosomal membranes was seen in some cells. In Experiment 2, 43% of the 12 × 106 sperm cells added to 2-cm2 BUTC bound within 4 h of co-culture. By 7 h of co-culture 19% of the previously bound sperm cells had been released from the BUTC. Released cells had limited motility and were mostly dead (73%). Sperm cells remaining on the monolayer at 7 h showed vigorous tail motion and were gradually released from the BUTC over 48 h. Spermatozoa in co-culture interacted with the BUTC in a manner much like that seen in vivo, and sperm capacitation changes were stimulated by this interaction.
Surface antireflection studies of GaN nanostructures with various effective refractive index profiles

GaN nanostructures with various effective refractive index profiles were numerically studied as broadband omnidirectional antireflection structures for concentrator photovoltaics, as compared to that of the conventional GaN with flat surface.
Endothelial function and clinical outcome

Under pro-atherosclerotic conditions, endothelial cells lose the ability to produce bioactive nitric oxide and demonstrate increased expression of vasoconstrictor, pro-inflammatory, and pro-thrombotic factors. The available evidence suggests that these alterations in endothelial phenotype contribute to the formation, progression, and rupture of atherosclerotic lesions. There currently is great interest in understanding the mechanisms and clinical relevance of these changes in endothelial cell biology, because they could lead to new approaches for the management of patients with atherosclerosis. While it is clear that the endothelium regulates many aspects of vascular homeostasis, current approaches to evaluate local “endothelial function” in humans have been limited to assessment of endothelium dependent vasodilation. In addition, investigators have the ability to measure blood concentrations of various endothelium derived thrombotic and inflammatory factors and, most recently, numbers of endothelial progenitor cells. The clinical relevance of endothelial dysfunction for cardiovascular disease events is strongly supported by studies in the human coronary circulation showing that impaired endothelium dependent vasodilation in response to acetylcholine or shear stress predicts clinical outcome. For example, more severe impairment of the vasomotor response to intracoronary acetylcholine infusion identifies individuals with increased risk for acute coronary syndromes, cardiovascular death, and stroke.1–4 Impaired flow mediated dilation2 and a more severe constrictor response to the cold pressor test2,5 also predict future cardiovascular events. These findings apply to patients with advanced coronary artery disease2,3 and to individuals with angiographically normal or nearly normal coronary arteries.1,3,5 Although studies in the coronary circulation have the greatest clinical relevance, it is interesting that measures of endothelial function in peripheral arteries also have predictive value for coronary heart disease. For example, impaired endothelium dependent …
Nature of the Josephson barrier in electron-beam-written YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ junctions

We analyze the temperature $(T)$ dependence of the normal-state resistance ${R}_{n}$ and critical current ${I}_{c}$ in field-emission-gun electron-beam-written ${\mathrm{YBa}}_{2}{\mathrm{Cu}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{7\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\delta}}}$ Josephson junctions from the electrode transition temperature ${(T}_{c})$ to 1.5 K. From a theoretical fit to ${I}_{c}(T)$ and ${R}_{n}(T)$ we find that the Josephson barrier exhibits properties of a small Fermi-surface area, dirty normal metal near its maximum metallic resistivity. Within conventional superconductor-normal-superconductor theory the barrier is 3.5 mean-free-paths long at ${T}_{c},$ with a normal-metal coherence length at ${T}_{c}$ intermediate between the clean and dirty limits.
Racial Exclusion in Juries

This study examines the norms of jury selection, determines which norms are most important in qualifying individuals for jury service, and discusses how the interpretation and application of these ...
PLASMA-TRIGLYCERIDES IN REGULATION OF H.D.L.-CHOLESTEROL LEVELS

Abstract Plasma-high-density-lipoprotein (H.D.L.) cholesterol concentrations are lower in patients with coronary-artery disease than in control subjects. In an investigation of the relationship of H.D.L. cholesterol to other lipid and lipoprotein parameters in normal and hyperlipoproteinaemic subjects inverse correlations were found between H.D.L. cholesterol and very-low-density-lipoprotein (V.L.D.L.) cholesterol, and between H.D.L. cholesterol and plasma-triglyceride levels. Mean H.D.L.-cholesterol concentrations in normal subjects were 50 mg/dl, and in hyperlipoproteinaemic patients they were: type I, 17 mg/dl; type II, 44 mg/dl; type III, 38 mg/dl; type IV, 37 mg/dl; and type v, 27 mg/dl. H.D.L.-cholesterol levels were lowest in patients with fasting chylomicronaemia and were diminished in hyper-triglyceridaemic subjects, suggesting a relationship between the metabolism of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and H.D.L.
Fluorescence spectra of DNA dyes measured in a flow cytometer

The spectral properties of fluorescent dyes often vary with experimental conditions. Spectral changes contain information about the particles to which the dye is bound and can have practical consequences for the design of flow cytometry experiments. It is therefore desirable to have spectral information obtained under conditions that approach those under which the measurements in a flow cytometer are performed. This report describes the measurement of fluorescence spectra in a flow cytometer. We have attached a monochromator to one of the detector ports of our flow cytometer. The monochromator scans continuously over a range of wavelengths. For each measured particle, the monochromator wavelength is recorded along with the fluorescence intensity at that wavelength. Other fluorescence and scatter signals can also be recorded to distinguish different particle populations within the sample. This method for measurement of fluorescence spectra has advantages over conventional fluorimetry in that it distinguishes between bound and unbound dye and that spectral properties of different particle populations within a single sample can be separately reconstructed. Fluorescence spectra of common DNA dyes bound to chromatin are presented. A shift to the red in Hoechst 33258 fluorescence with increasing dye concentration is demonstrated. The spectra of DNA-bound Hoechst and ethidium bromide are compared with those of the free dyes in solution. Energy transfer between several pairs of DNA dyes is demonstrated using spectral measurements. We also find slight spectral variations between the different human chromosomes dual-stained with Hoechst and chromomycin. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Assay of picomole amounts of ATP, ADP, and AMP using the luciferase enzyme system

Procedural modifications of the luciferase method for ATP assay in conjunction with enzymatic conversion of AMP and ADP allow the assay of all three adenine nucleotides in quantities ranging from 4 to 20 pmoles. An unmodified Beckman scintillation detector at ambient temperature and in a coincidence mode of operation serves as a suitable instrument for quantitating light emitted by the enzyme preparation. The most significant modifications include use of Ca3(PO4) activated crude arsenate extracts of desiccated firefly lanterns, low arsenate concentrations during the assay, and an assay pH of 8.0. Extracts handled in this manner exhibit approximately fivefold higher activity than nonactivated extracts employed at pH 7.4 and 50 mm arsenate. Stability of activated extracts is also somewhat greater than for nonactivated preparations. ADP can be 95% enzymatically converted to ATP by treatment with phosphoenolpyruvate and pyruvate kinase under the conditions described. If myokinase is included, approximately 90% of sample AMP can be converted to ATP. Follwing the appropriate enzymatic treatment, the nucleotides are assayed as ATP and amounts calculated by comparison to curves established for known nucleotide standards. The method is appropriate for perchloric acid extracts of biological tissue and certain considerations necessary for application to experimental situations are described.
Dye-induced changes in the developmental physiology of Aedes aegypti larvae.

Exposure to methylene blue and neutral red affected length of development, rate of pupation, and larval mortality in populations of Aedes aegypti (L.). Female pupal weights generally were adversely affected, while male pupal weights were not. Retardation of growth was not caused by rejection of dyed food under the conditions of our experiments. Methylene blue, neutral red, and nile blue A were most severe in their action on longer exposures and exposures to earlier instars. The importance of recognizing the physiological and behavioral changes in organisms caused by perfunctory use of dyes is discussed. Zusammenfassung DURCH FARBSTOFFE INDUZIERTE ANDERUNGEN IN DER ENTWICKLUNGSPHYSIOLOGIE VON AEDES AEGYPTI-LARVEN Bei Larven von Aedes aegypti, die Methylenblau oder Neutralrot ausgesetzt wurden, lies sich eine deutliche Verzogerung des Wachstums nachweisen. Der Verpuppungsbeginn (Larven-Puppen-Hautung) wurde von beiden Farben in Abhangigkeit von der ansteigenden Konzentration verzogert. Obwohl zur Erzeugung der Reaktion mit Neutralrot hohere Konzentrationen erforderlich waren, war die Genauigkeit der Farbwirkung groser. Die gepruften Konzentrationen von Methylenblau reichten von 0,5 bis 4,5 ± die fur Neutralrot von 3 bis 9 ppm. In der Absicht, die Wirkungen der beiden Farben zu messen, wurden andere Parameter quantitativ gepruft. Diese umfasten die Mortalitat, den Weibchen-Prozentsatz und die durchschnittlichen Puppengewichte der Mannchen. Die Sterberaten waren hoch und auserst variabel. Es liesen sich auch keine Unterschiede im Geschlechterverhaltnis der Populationen finden, die als Larven in Methylenblau oder Neutralrot aufgezogen worden waren. Neutralrot und Methylenblau schienen auch die durchschnittlichen Puppengewichte der Mannchen nicht zu beeinflussen, jedoch erzeugten sie deutliche Wirkungen bei den durchschnittlichen Puppengewichten der Weibchen. Es konnten keine signifikanten Unterschiede in den Nahrungsmengen festgestellt werden, die von gefarbten oder ungefarbten Larven oder von Larven in ansteigenden Farbkonzentrationen aufgenommen wurden. Die jungeren Larvenstadien wurden starker beeinflust und langerer Aufenthalt in der Farbe ergab starkere Verzogerung der Wachstumsrate. Folgende Aspekte der “Vital”-Farbstoffe werden diskutiert: 1. ihre toxischen Wirkungen, 2. Beziehungen zwischen Genauigkeit und Aussagewert der experimentellen Ergebnisse, und 3. die Notwendigkeit vollstandigerer Kenntnis der Farbstoffe vor ihrer Anwendung auf lebende Systeme.
Image Local Contrast Enhancement using Adaptive Non-Linear Filters

We present a locally adaptive non-linear (YENI) filter to obtain the unsharp mask of an image. The unsharp mask obtained by the YENI filter preserves the edges in the image while filtering out the local details, which correspond to mid-range frequencies in the spectrum. The enhanced image using this unsharp mask effectively prevents over/under (o/u) shooting artifacts often observed with other unsharp masking techniques. The enhanced frequency range also spans lower frequencies compared to the techniques that are based on Laplacian filter variants. This improves the visual quality of the image, as measured subjectively and objectively in the real-video experiments. Furthermore, since the YENI filter reduces to an IIR filter at each pixel location, it has a low computational complexity.
Context-Aware Data Processing to Enhance Quality of Measurements in Wireless Health Systems: An Application to MET Calculation of Exergaming Actions

Wireless health systems enable remote and continu- ous monitoring of individuals, with applications in elderly care support, chronic disease management, and preventive care. The underlying sensing platform provides constructs that consider the quality of information driven from the system and ensure the reli- ability/validity of the outcomes to support the decision-making processes. In this paper, we present an approach to integrate con- textual information within the data processing flow in order to improve the quality of measurements. We focus on a pilot appli- cation that uses wearable motion sensors to calculate metabolic equivalent of task (MET) of exergaming movements. Exergames need to show energy expenditure values, often using accelerometer approximations applied to general activities. We focus on two con- textual factors, namely "activity type" and "sensor location," and demonstrate how these factors can be used to enhance the mea- sured values, since allocating larger weights to more informative sensors can improve the final measurements. Further, designing regression models for each activity provides better results than any generalized model. Indeed, the averaged R 2 value for the move- ments using simple sensor location improve from a general 0.71 to as high as 0.84 for an individual activity type. The different meth- ods present a range of R 2 value averages across activity type from 0.64 for sensor location to 0.89 for multidimensional regression, with an average game play MET value of 7.93. Finally, in a leave- one-subject-out cross validation, a mean absolute error of 2.231 METs is found when predicting the activity levels using the best models.
Financing of mental health services: psychiatry and national health care reforms.

Even before the election of President Clinton, it was widely believed that some form of a national health plan (NHP) would be enacted by Congress during the next presidential term.1 Indeed, health care insurance reform plans are emerging at a dizzying rate. The pressing public policy issues include control of health care costs; equity in access to health care services; and in mental health, parity between insurance coverage for psychiatric disorders and other medical illnesses. As a nation we currently spend 14% of our Gross National Product on health care, and yet, at some point during a single year, nearly 40 million people have no health insurance. Of those who are insured, few have adequate coverage for major mental illness. This column will not discuss the many (more than 50) different proposals for an NHP but rather will focus on the following question: What are the major concerns for psychiatry under any national health insurance reform?
Pliocene-early Pleistocene paleoclimatic history recorded in Antarctic-Subantarctic deep-sea cores

Abstract Micropaleontological studies have been carried out on seven cores of middle Pliocene to early Pleistocene age (lower to upper Matuyama; t = 0.7 to 2.43 m.y. BP) from northern Antarctic and Subantarctic waters south of Australia and New Zealand. All of the cores contain abundant foraminiferal and radiolarian faunas, and have been dated by both micropaleontological and paleomagnetic methods. Fluctuations of a cold left-coiling Globigerina pachyderma fauna, with a warmer Subantarctic fauna define ten distinct intervals of warming during the Matuyama Reversed Epoch. This compares with six for the Brunhes Normal Epoch (t = 0.0 to 0.7 m.y. BP). Peaks formed by increased frequencies of warm-water forms and right-coiling G. pachyderma are of lower amplitude than warmer-water peaks in the Brunhes. It is thus inferred that Matuyama climatic fluctuations in the Southern Ocean are of lower magnitude than those in the Brunhes. Furthermore, the foraminigferal evidence indicates that average temperatures during the Matuyama are in general cooler than during the Brunhes. This conflicts with previous paleotemperature determinations based on radiolarian assemblages which suggest average warmer conditions throughout the entire Matuyama Epoch. The disappearance of present-day subtropical radiolarians, Saturnulus planetes and Pterocanium trilobum, near the Brunhes-Matuyama boundary in the Southern Ocean has previously been regarded as strong evidence for a deterioration of climatic conditions in the Brunhes. Throughout the Matuyama, however, these forms occur in association with cold (northern Antarctic-Subantarctic) planktonic foraminiferal assemblages, and thus apparently lost their environmental tolerance for northern Antarctic-Subantarctic waters about 0.7 m.y. BP. The opposite is true for the planktonic foraminifer Globorotalia inflata which adapted to Subantarctic waters approximately 0.7 m.y. BP. Both of these apparent ecological adaptations coincide very closely with the magnetic reversal at the Brunhes-Matuyama boundary. Middle to late Pliocene (lower Matuyama) climatic oscillations within Subantarctic-northern Antarctic waters correspond rather closely with those established for the New Zealand middle to late Pliocene, but appear to be out of phase with equatorial and North Atlantic regions.
A Comparative Study of Feature Descriptors for Mitochondria and Synapse Segmentation

Full understanding of the architecture of the brain is a long term goal of neuroscience. To achieve it, advanced image processing tools are required, that automate the the analysis and reconstruction of brain structures. Synapses and mitochondria are two prominent structures with neurological interest for which various automated image segmentation approaches have been recently proposed. In this work we present a comparative study of several image feature descriptors used for the segmentation of synapses and mitochondria in stacks of electron microscopy images.
Note on a Geological Reconnaissance made in Arabia Petræa in the Spring of 1868

The following communication is of an essentially unsystematic nature. Owing to the small amount of country traversed, it has not been possible to construct anything more than a single line of section, which it is believed will be more acceptable as a contribution to exact Geology than an attempt to frame a general geological map of the whole country from observations made at only a few points. The order followed is, therefore, that in which the sections were observed, making it, as the title implies, more of a geological itinerary than a systematic description. The country included in the description is that between Suez and the lower part of Wady Ferran, the crystalline rocks of Sinai and the Tertiary beds near Tur being reserved for another communication, as I have not sufficient time at command to describe them in the present paper. General Outline .—As regards its physical outline, the western side of the peninsula of Arabia Petraea, or that part of it under immediate consideration, between Suez on the north and Tur on the south, along the coast of the Red Sea, together with the high ground behind, up to the culminating point of the country on the ridge of Sinai, may be best described as forming a series of comparatively level masses, arranged in steps or table-lands varying in height according to their distance from the coast. Through these steps have been cut a number of valleys, comparatively deep and of tortuous course, the general level of the plains
Spin–spin and spin–orbit interactions in strongly coupled gauge theories

Abstract We evaluate the spin–orbit and spin–spin interactions between two fermions in strongly coupled gauge theories in their Coulomb phase. We use the quasi-instantaneous character of Coulomb's law at strong coupling to resum a class of ladder diagrams. For N = 4 SYM we derive both weak and strong coupling limits of the spin–orbit and spin–spin interactions, and find that in the latter case these interactions are subleading corrections and do not seriously affect the deeply bound Coulomb states with large angular momentum, pointed out in our previous paper. The results are important for understanding of the regime of intermediate coupling, which is the case for QCD somewhat above the chiral transition temperature.
Diphenylpyrazoles as replication protein a inhibitors.

Replication Protein A is the primary eukaryotic ssDNA binding protein that has a central role in initiating the cellular response to DNA damage. RPA recruits multiple proteins to sites of DNA damage via the N-terminal domain of the 70 kDa subunit (RPA70N). Here we describe the optimization of a diphenylpyrazole carboxylic acid series of inhibitors of these RPA–protein interactions. We evaluated substituents on the aromatic rings as well as the type and geometry of the linkers used to combine fragments, ultimately leading to submicromolar inhibitors of RPA70N protein–protein interactions.
Thin endometrial echo complex on ultrasound does not reliably exclude type 2 endometrial cancers

Objective. The objective of this study was to determine the ultrasonographic characteristics of the uterus and endometrial echo-complex (EEC) of postmenopausal patients diagnosed with type 2 endometrial cancer, including uterine papillary serous carcinoma (UPSC), clear cell carcinoma (CCC), and other endometrial high-grade carcinomas (HGC). Methods. Postmenopausal patients with type 2 endometrial cancer who underwent preoperative pelvic ultrasound were identified. Histologic diagnoses were made by biopsy or hysterectomy. Ultrasound reports were abstracted for the following parameters: EEC thickness, presence of intracavitary fluid or lesion, myometrial mass, uterine size, and adnexal mass. Ultrasound films were re-reviewed by a single gynecologic ultrasonographer. Results. Fifty-two patients with detailed ultrasound reports comprised the study population. Twenty-six films were available for re-review and inter-examiner agreement was 92%. Forty-four women (85%) presented with abnormal vaginal bleeding. Thirty-four patients (65%) had a thickened EEC measuring >5 mm. In 9 cases (17%), the EEC measured <4 mm. In an additional 9 patients (17%) the EEC was indistinct. One or more other ultrasound abnormalities were found in each of the 18 cases with a non-thickened EEC: intracavitary fluid or lesion (8; 44%), myometrial mass (12; 67%), enlarged uterus (13; 72%), or adnexal mass (5; 28%). Conclusion. A thin or indistinct endometrial stripe, especially when associated with other ultrasound abnormalities does not reliably exclude type 2 endometrial cancer. Postmenopausal vaginal bleeding requires endometrial sampling despite a thin EEC in the presence of other ultrasonographic abnormalities or persistent bleeding.
Degradation of the North American Radiosonde Network

L'auteur presente les changements operes sur le reseau de radiosondes N-americain, la degradation du reseau qui en resulte et son impact negatif sur la recherche scientifique et les operations de collectes de donnees meteorologiques
Learning topological image transforms using cellular simultaneous recurrent networks

In this work, we investigate cellular simultaneous recurrent networks (CSRNs) to learn topological image mappings, particularly those of the affine transformations. While affine image transformation in conventional image processing is a relatively simple task, learning these transformations is an important part of having neural networks (NNs) function as generalized image processors. We introduce the CSRN and discuss its adaptation for image processing tasks. We report results for translation, rotation and scaling of both binary and grey-scale images. Our results suggest that the CSRN is capable of learning and performing these basic topological transformations.
Alteration of leukotriene D4 hypotension by thyrotropin releasing hormone.

Leukotriene D4 (LTD4), a component of slow reacting substance of anaphylaxis (SRS-A)1, produces marked hypotension in laboratory animals2,3, implicating it as a potential mediator of anaphylactic shock. It has been demonstrated that naloxone reverses the hypotension associated with endotoxaemia4–6, hypovolaemia7,8 and spinal injury9,10, presumably through blockade of endogenous opioid systems11. More recently, it has also been shown that thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) improves experimental shock12 and spinal injury13, and it has been postulated that TRH acts by ‘physiological’ antagonism of endogenous opioid systems in these conditions. Here we report that TRH both blocked and reversed leukotriene-induced hypotension in the unanaesthetized guinea pig, whereas naloxone had no effect. LTD4 hypotension was also reversed by intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) administration of TRH at a dose that had no effect when given systemically. LTD4 administration was associated with sympatho-adrenomedullary activation, and TRH further augmented this response. Peripheral cholinergic blockade with methylatropine did not alter the leukotriene hypotension. These data demonstrate the first dissociation of TRH and naloxone in experimental shock and suggest that the beneficial effects of TRH in this model result from central interactions which are not mediated by endogenous opioids. The findings further provide a potential link between the physiological (that is, cardiovascular) effects of a peptide (TRH) and those of a leukotriene; this may have implications with regard to the pathophysiology and therapy of anaphylaxis.
Parametric Study of the Behavior of Graphite/Epoxy Panels with Stiffener Terminations

The results of a parametric study examining six types of stiffener terminations for stiffened graphite/epoxy panels are presented. Stiffener blades are terminated by attaching to another blade, by tapering the stiffener height, by tapering the stiffener thickness, or by a combination of these methods. Stiffener flanges are also terminated abruptly or by tapering their thickness. Flange length is also varied. Both thin-skin panels and thick-skin panels are considered. Panels were analyzed with a nonlinear finite element analysis code to determine panel response and failure modes. Midplane axial and shear strains, surface strains, interlaminar strains, and failure predictions for the panels are discussed. These results indicate that the mechanism initiating failure is dependent on the stringer configuration of the panel. Interlaminar stresses and bending must be considered to predict the failure of thin-skin panels, and interlaminar stress, in-plane shear strains, and axial strains must be considered to predict the failure of thick-skin panels.
Explaining the Effects of Floral Density on Flower Visitor Species Composition

Floral density often influences the species composition of flower visitors. This variation in visitor species composition could have significant effects on pollination success and plant fitness but is poorly understood, especially in the many pollination guilds dominated by nonterritorial species. This article presents a foraging model that explores how flower visitors with diverse traits should distribute themselves across resource patches differing in floral density. The model predicts that species with low flower search speeds and low flower handling costs compared to those of competitors will usually dominate dense flower patches. In addition, among flower visitors that have lower energy expenditure rates while handling flowers than while traveling, species maximizing energetic efficiency are typically associated with dense flower patches, whereas those maximizing net rate of energy intake are associated with sparse patches. The model is able to predict some key aspects of a previously observed effect of floral density on species composition of flower visitors to the yellowflower tarweed (Holocarpha virgata). By providing insights into how flower visitors' traits shape the effects of floral density on the species composition of flower visitors, this study makes an important step towards understanding how pollinator diversity influences relationships between plant density and plant fitness.
The effect of inhaled sulfur dioxide and systemic sulfite on the induction of lung carcinoma in rats by benzo[a]pyrene.

In a previous study at this Institute, inhaled sulfur dioxide (SO2) was shown to enhance the induction by inhaled benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) of squamous cell carcinoma (SQCA) of the respiratory tract of rats ( S. Laskin, M. Kuschner, A. Sellakumar, and G. V. Katz, 1976 , In “Air Pollution and the Lung,” pp. 190–213). We attempted to confirm and extend this finding by using an experimental protocol intended to illuminate the role of SO2. Rats were treated with BaP by 15 consecutive weekly intratracheal instillations. Some of these rats were simultaneously exposed either to SO2 by inhalation or to sulfite/bisulfite anions that accumulated systemically from endogenous generation in rats with induced sulfite oxidase deficiency. The total treatment period spanned 21 weeks, after which the rats were observed for the development of tumors. BaP-treated rats began to die with SQCA of the respiratory tract at approximately 200 days after the first BaP treatment and at 2 years after the first treatment nearly all rats in the BaP-treated groups had died, most with SQCA. Survival in the control groups was excellent and the health of all groups (aside from pulmonary SQCA in BaP-treated groups) was also excellent. The probability of dying with a pulmonary SQCA in the experimental groups treated with BaP, BaP plus inhaled SO2, and BaP plus systemic sulfite/bisulfite was calculated by the logrank analysis. The data sets of SQCA probability from these groups were not statistically different (i.e., P > 0.05) by the x2 test indicating that, in this experiment, neither inhalation exposure to SO2 nor systemic exposure to sulfite/bisulfite anions affected the induction of SQCA of the lung by intratracheally instilled BaP. We conclude that the results of this study do not support an etiological role for either SO2 or sulfite/bisulfite anions in the induction of SQCA of the respiratory tract by BaP.
Tragic Base Surge in 1790 at Kilauea Volcano

Reconstruction of events surrounding the deaths of a party of Hawaiian warriors in 1790 on Kilauea Volcano suggests that they were killed by a hot, relatively ash-free base surge. Recognition of structures attributable to base-surge deposition in deposits of the 1790 eruption is consistent with this reconstruction.
The Role of the Coulomb Interaction in Superconductivity

It is found that particle pairing is nothing else but grouping in the statistical sense and that only in the particle–hole channel does the BCS Hamiltonian have the BCS solution for an attractive interaction, whereas the interaction in the particle–particle channel is still repulsive. A generalized perturbation approach beyond the random phase approximation (RPA), based on Ward's identity, was developed by the authors to deal with both weakly and strongly coupled electronic systems. The full summation of all of the possible Feynman diagrams of two-particle interaction guarantees its validity. A phase transition in this method is determined by instability of the normal state, often referred to as the pairing instability, but better to resonance of interaction, equivalent to the pole condition in the two-particle scattering amplitude. Of more importance and interest is that superconductivity, regardless of low or high temperature, is found to originate from the Coulomb correlations. It was shown that only i...
Stationary parabolic Anderson model and intermittency

This paper is devoted to the analysis of the large time behavior of the solutions of the Anderson parabolic problem: $$\frac{{\partial u}}{{\partial t}} = \kappa \Delta u\xi (x)u$$ when the potential ξ(x) is a homogeneous ergodic random field on ℝ d . Our goal is to prove the asymptotic spatial intermittency of the solution and for this reason, we analyze the large time properties of all the moments of the positive solutions. This provides an extension to the continuous space ℝ d of the work done originally by Gartner and Molchanov in the case of the lattice ℤ d . In the process of our moment analysis, we show that it is possible to exhibit new asymptotic regimes by considering a special class of generalized Gaussian fields, interpolating continuously between the exponent 2 which is found in the case of bona fide continuous Gaussian fields ξ(x) and the exponent 3/2 appearing in the case of a one dimensional white noise. Finally, we also determine the precise almost sure large time asymptotics of the positive solutions.
Reactive transport modeling: An essential tool and a new research approach for the Earth sciences

Abstract Reactive transport modeling is an essential tool for the analysis of coupled physical, chemical, and biological processes in Earth systems, and has additional potential to better integrate the results from focused fundamental research on Earth materials. Appropriately designed models can describe the interactions of competing processes at a range of spatial and time scales, and hence are critical for connecting the advancing capabilities for materials characterization at the atomic scale with the macroscopic behavior of complex Earth systems. Reactive transport modeling has had a significant impact on the treatment of contaminant retardation in the subsurface, the description of elemental and nutrient fluxes between major Earth reservoirs, and in the treatment of deep Earth processes such as metamorphism and magma transport. Active topics of research include the development of pore scale and hybrid, or multiple continua, models to capture the scale dependence of coupled reactive transport processes. Frontier research questions, that are only now being addressed, include the effects of chemical microenvironments, coupled thermal–mechanical–chemical processes, controls on mineral–fluid reaction rates in natural media, and scaling of reactive transport processes from the microscopic to pore to field scale.