cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Genetic structuring in the threatened "Lagartijo del Bosque Seco" (Anolis cooki) from Puerto Rico.

Abstract Species with restricted geographic distributions consisting of isolated populations are particularly susceptible to extinction because these demes face an increased risk of disappearing due to environmental, demographic, and genetic stochasticity. We used partial DNA sequences of the cytochrome b (1083 bp) and ND2 (1041 bp) mitochondrial genes to investigate the phylogeography and population genetics of Anolis cooki, a threatened lizard endemic to the southwestern coast of the Caribbean Island of Puerto Rico. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods revealed relatively shallow genetic differentiation among 27 unique haplotypes (from 52 individuals) from the known extant populations of A. cooki in mainland Puerto Rico. Despite this pattern, specimens from the same geographic area tended to nest together. The most basal division within A. cooki is between haplotypes from the three westernmost populations (Punta Aguila, Morrillos, Playa Santa) and the remainder demes (Bahia Ballena, La Cueva, Punta Verraco). The three westernmost populations of A. cooki are separated from their conspecific demes by the Guanica Bay and the Loco River drainage system, which together may represent a physiographic barrier for A. cooki. Each population of A. cooki only has private haplotypes; in other words, there are no shared mitochondrial types between populations. Because the number of private haplotypes can be used as an indirect measure of gene flow, this finding suggests that currently there is no migration among demes, and that each is an independent demographic unit, despite the relatively short distances (ca. 2 km) that separate some of them. Pairwise FST values and spatial analyses of molecular variation confirmed the existence of distinct groups of genetically defined sampling areas, and of significant molecular variation among populations within groups and within populations. The conservation status of the populations of A. cooki varies greatly. The demes from Punta Aguila, Morrillos, and Bahia Ballena inhabit protected areas, and are larger, genetically diverse, and seemingly stable. The population from Playa Santa showed a high level of genetic diversity, but it occurs in an area that has been intensively developed for residential and touristic purposes, and its long-term survival is uncertain. A. cooki is also known from Caja de Muertos, an island off the southcentral coast of Puerto Rico. Surveys conducted on September 2006 and March 2007 did not produce any specimens, and a thorough assessment of Caja de Muertos is needed to determine the present status of A. cooki on the island.
Inference After Model Selection

Typical modeling strategies involve model selection, which has a significant effect on inference of estimated parameters. Common practice is to use a selected model ignoring uncertainty introduced by the process of model selection. This could yield overoptimistic inferences, resulting in false discovery. In this article we develop a general methodology via optimal approximation for estimating the mean and variance of complex statistics that involve the process of model selection. This allows us to make approximately unbiased inferences, taking into account the selection process. We examine the operating characteristics of the proposed methodology via asymptotic analyses and simulations. These results show that the proposed methodology yields correct inferences and outperforms common alternatives.
Histones and Basic Polyamino Acids Stimulate the Uptake of Albumin by Tumor Cells in Culture

Basic proteins and polyamino acids are taken up by mammalian cells at rates up to 3000 times greater than serum albumin. When given together with serum albumin they increase the albumin uptake by a factor that correlates with their own rate of uptake and can reach more than 50-fold. The lowest threshold of activity detected (10-10M)is comparable to the activities of the most potent membrane-active agents.
Primary malignant melanoma of the biliary tract

Primary malignant melanoma of the biliary tract is an obscure entity, with only four previously reported cases. We report two cases involving the common bile duct. A 43-year-old male who underwent a right hepatectomy and excision of the extrahepatic biliary tree for a lesion at the bifurcation of the common bile duct. He remains alive and well 11 months after resection. The second patient is a 45 year old male with obstructive jaundice due to an ampullary lesion. Pancreatico-duodenectomy was performed with no signs of metastatic disease. He is 6 years following resection without evidence of disease. This is an unusual cause of obstructive jaundice and a definitive search for a possible extra-biliary primary should be pursued. In appropriately selected patients without evidence of metastatic disease, resection can potentially afford long-term survival if these lesions are true primary lesions and not metastatic from an undefined primary. However, given the high metastatic potential of melanoma it is unclear whether resection of these lesions results in cure or just effective long-term palliation Copyright © 1995 by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
Weimar Radicals: Nazis and Communists between authenticity and performance

Timothy Brown has written an ambitious and provocative book about the attempts of the German Communist Party (KPD) to infiltrate the Nazi paramilitary Sturmabteilung (SA) and recruit the clusters o...
The solar wind interaction with Mars: results of three-dimensional three-species MHD studies

Abstract The interaction of the solar wind with planets with no or only very weak intrinsic magnetic fields, such as Mars and Venus, involves their ionosphere/atmosphere system. Single-species MHD models, which incorporate some of the important mass-loading processes, have been useful in reproducing numerous observed features at these planets, such as the location of the bow shock, but they do have obvious limitations. Our present 3D MHD model uses three continuity equations in order to consider protons in the solar wind and the two dominant heavy ion species (O+2 and O+) in the ionosphere, separately. We have used this model to study the interaction processes at Mars. The model results are in general agreement with the average observed bow shock shape and position and predict reasonable locations for the ionopause. The calculated oxygen escape flux down the tail was estimated to be about 3 × 1025 s−1, which is consistent with Phobos-2 estimates. We also studied the possible effect of the surface crustal magnetic field on the bow shock and the ionosphere of Mars.
The Contribution of Individual Differences in Hostility to the Associations between Daily Interpersonal Conflict, Affect, and Sleep

Adults of both sexes completed phone interviews assessing interpersonal conflict, state negative and positive affect (NA and PA), and sleep from the previous night on 7 consecutive evenings. Greater interpersonal conflict was associated with increased NA and decreased PA that day and increased sleep disturbance that night (measured on the next day). Mediational analyses were consistent with NA on the conflict day (but not PA) being a partial mediator of the prospective relation between greater conflict and greater sleep disturbance. Greater NA was associated with retrospective reports of obtaining less sleep and experiencing greater sleep disturbance the previous night but conflict was not associated with NA or PA on the following day. The associations between conflict and greater NA and sleep disturbance were exacerbated among individuals higher in cynical hostility. This exacerbation was not due to individuals higher in hostility reporting a greater number conflicts or more severe conflicts.
Acetaminophen prevents hyperalgesia in central pain cascade

Abstract Acetaminophen is an analgesic and antipyretic drug believed to exert its effect through interruption of nociceptive processing. In order to determine whether this effect is due to peripheral or central activity, we studied the efficacy of systemic (oral) and intrathecal (IT) application of acetaminophen in preventing the development of hyperalgesia induced through the direct activation of pro-algogenic spinal receptors. Spinal administration of substance P (SP, 30 nmol, IT) in rats produced a decreased thermal threshold, indicating centrally mediated hyperalgesia. Pretreatment of rats with oral acetaminophen (300 mg/kg), but not vehicle, significantly attenuated IT SP-induced hyperalgesia. Acetaminophen given IT also produced a dose-dependent (10–200 μg) antinociceptive effect. In addition, oral acetaminophen suppressed spinal PGE 2 release evoked by IT SP in an in vivo IT dialysis model. The ability of IT as well as oral acetaminophen to reverse this spinally initiated hyperalgesia emphasizes the likely central action and bioavailability of the systemically delivered drug. Jointly, these data argue for an important central antihyperalgesic action of acetaminophen.
Ocular Inflammatory Pseudotumor Associated with Propranolol Therapy

A 60-year-old man presented with a unilateral mass involving the iris and ciliary body associated with iridocyclitis, which was refractive to both topical and systemic corticosteroid therapy. After a systemic work-up was negative, anterior chamber paracentesis and transcorneal biopsy were performed to rule out malignant melanoma and other tumors. The lesion proved to be an inflammatory lymphoid process, which resolved when systemic propranolol administration was withdrawn. Evidence for the possible role of propranolol in the induction of an intraocular inflammatory pseudotumor is presented.
Generation of aluminum nanoparticles using an atmospheric pressure plasma torch

Nanoparticles of aluminum metal were generated by passing an aerosol of micrometer-scale (mean 50 μm) particles in argon through an atmospheric pressure plasma torch operated at less than 1000 W. A designed experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of plasma gas flow rate, aerosol gas flow rate, and applied power on the shape, size, and size distribution of the final particles. The size and shape of the metal particles were dramatically impacted by the operating parameters employed. At relatively low powers or at high powers and short residence times, virtually all the particles are spherical. Under other conditions, the particles had spherical heads, and virtually all had tails, some quite long. The particle size distributions also were influenced by the operating conditions. Under most conditions the size distributions were log-normal, consistent with growth by agglomeration. However, under some conditions, the population of particles above or below the mode was far too great to be consistent ...
Eigenfunction expansions for the nonspectral differential operators determined by −D2

Abstract For a nonspectral differential operator L determined by −D2, sufficient conditions are established for the L2-expansion of a function u ϵ L2[0, 1] in terms of the eigenfunctions of L. In some cases both necessary and sufficient conditions are derived.
Ultrastructural and lysosomal enzyme studies of skeletal muscle and myocardium in rats with long-term vitamin E deficiency

Muscular dystrophy and cardiomyopathy were produced in weanling rats by feeding a vitamin E-deficient diet for 12 mth. Deficient and control rats were killed, and skeletal muscle and myocardium were used for subcellular studies and biochemical assay of selected lysosomal enzymes. Ultrastructurally, the skeletal muscle showed various degrees of pathological changes. In the severely damaged muscle fibres, prominent increase of secondary lysosomes, autophagic vacuoles, residual bodies, disappearance of myofilaments, rupture of sarcolemma and shrinkage of muscle fibres were noted. The damaged muscle fibres finally became dense residual bodies and dispersed in the interstitial spaces, where the macrophages and fibroblasts were found. In the myocardium, some muscle fibres were intact with mild fatty infiltration and marked proliferation of mitochondria. However, in the severely damaged myocardial fibres, the whole fibre was always filled with amorphous dense bodies, and the sarcolemma was ruptured. This resulted in dispersion of many cellular organelles in the surrounding interstitial space. A significant increase of cathepsin and beta-glucuronidase activity in the cytosol of both organs suggests that lysosomal enzymes may play a major role in the destruction of muscle and cardiac fibres in the long-term vitamin E-deficient animals.
Energetic optimization of microalgal cultivation in photobioreactors for biodiesel production

Abstract Traditionally, algal cultivation in sparged photobioreactors has been optimized to maximize biomass productivity. In this study, an energy-based methodology is presented to maximize the net energy gain of the cultivation process by minimizing the energy input for sparging and by maximizing the energy output. Options for minimizing energy input through optimal gas-to-culture volume ratio and CO2-air ratio and options for maximizing lipid production through optimal levels of nutrition and CO2 are presented and validated with results from 900-mL bubble column reactors. In contrast to the traditional practice, the proposed energy-based optimization resulted in positive net energy gains. In single stage approach under optimal conditions (CO2 enrichment of 0.5%, gas-to-culture volume ratio of 0.18 min−1, and nitrate level of 1 mM), tests with Nannochloropsis salina resulted in positive net energy gain of 20 W/m3. In a test under nitrate starvation, the net energy gain in a reactor sparged with CO2 enrichment of 0.5% was double that in the reactor sparged with ambient air (8 vs. 19 W/m3).
Self-organized sorting of heterotypic agents via a chemotaxis paradigm

Cell sorting is a fundamental phenomenon in morphogenesis, a process that leads to shape formation in living organisms. The sorting of heterotypic cell populations is produced by a variety of inter-cellular actions, e.g. differential chemotactic response, adhesion, rigidity, and motility. Via a process called chemotaxis, living cells respond to chemicals released by other cells into the environment. Inspired by the biological phenomena of chemotaxis and cell sorting in heterotypic cell aggregates, we propose a chemotaxis-based algorithm that sorts self-organizing heterotypic agents. In our algorithm, two types of agents are initially randomly placed in a toroidal environment. Agents emit a chemical signal and interact with nearby agents. Given the appropriate parameters, the two kinds of agents self-organize into a complex aggregate consisting of a single group of one type of agent surrounded by agents of the second type. This paper describes the chemotaxis-based sorting algorithm, the behaviors of our self-organizing heterotypic agents, evaluation of the final aggregates and parametric studies of the algorithm.
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone-stimulated luteinizing hormone (LH) release from ovine gonadotrophs in culture is separate from phorbol ester-stimulated LH release.

The proposed involvement of protein kinase-C (PKC) as a mediator of GnRH action in pituitary cells was investigated. Treatment of dispersed ovine pituitary cells with the PKC activator phorbol 12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) for 6 h at a dose of 10 nM stimulated the release of 5- to 10-fold more LH than did GnRH at the same dose. Analogs of PMA also stimulated LH release, but at levels parallel to their reported abilities to activate PKC. Treatment with GnRH plus PMA stimulated more LH release than either one alone in a strictly additive manner at all dose combinations from 10 pM to 100 nM. The PKC-activating diacylglycerol sn-l,2-dioctanoylglycerol also stimulated LH release that was additive with GnRH-stimulated LH release. Furthermore, retinal, an inhibitor of PKC, inhibited only PMA-stimulated LH release and not GnRHstimulated LH release. These results do not support the theory that PKC activation is a necessary part of the mechanism of GnRH-stimulated LH release. The theory that calcium mobilization is...
Orientation by Taste in Fish of the Genus Ictalurus

Fish of the genus Ictalurus can find distant chemical clues by means of taste alone, and they exhibit true gradient searching in the absence of a current. Neither unilateral nor bilateral deprivation of the sense of smell impaired their searching ability, but unilateral deprivation of taste receptors which are spread over body and barbels of the animals caused pro nounced circling toward the intact side. The relation of swimming paths of the fish to the chemical in the water suggested that comparisons of concentrations were made in time and space.
Length and time for development of laminar flow in tubes following a step increase of volume flux

Laminar flows starting up from rest in round tubes are relevant to numerous industrial and biomedical applications. The two most common types are flows driven by an abruptly imposed constant pressure gradient or by an abruptly imposed constant volume flux. Analytical solutions are available for transient, fully developed flows, wherein streamwise development over the entrance length is absent (Szymanski in J de Mathematiques Pures et Appliquees 11:67–107, 1932; Andersson and Tiseth in Chem Eng Commun 112(1):121–133, 1992, respectively). They represent the transient responses of flows in tubes that are very long compared with the entrance length, a condition that is seldom satisfied in biomedical tube networks. This study establishes the entrance (development) length and development time of starting laminar flow in a round tube of finite length driven by a piston pump that produces a step change from zero flow to a constant volume flux for Reynolds numbers between 500 and 3,000. The flows are examined experimentally, using stereographic particle image velocimetry and computationally using computational fluid dynamics, and are then compared with the known analytical solutions for fully developed flow conditions in infinitely long tubes. Results show that step function volume flux start-up flows reach steady state and fully developed flow five times more quickly than those driven by a step function pressure gradient, a 500 % change when compared with existing estimates. Based on these results, we present new, simple guidelines for achieving experimental flows that are fully developed in space and time in realistic (finite) tube geometries. To a first approximation, the time to achieve steady spatially developing flow is nearly equal to the time needed to achieve steady, fully developed flow. Conversely, the entrance length needed to achieve fully developed transient flow is approximately equal to the length needed to achieve fully developed steady flow. Beyond this level of description, the numerical results reveal interaction between the effects of space and time development and nonlinear Reynolds number effects.
Origami-inspired active structures: a synthesis and review

Origami, the ancient art of paper folding, has inspired the design of engineering devices and structures for decades. The underlying principles of origami are very general, which has led to applications ranging from cardboard containers to deployable space structures. More recently, researchers have become interested in the use of active materials (i.e., those that convert various forms of energy into mechanical work) to effect the desired folding behavior. When used in a suitable geometry, active materials allow engineers to create self-folding structures. Such structures are capable of performing folding and/or unfolding operations without being kinematically manipulated by external forces or moments. This is advantageous for many applications including space systems, underwater robotics, small scale devices, and self-assembling systems. This article is a survey and analysis of prior work on active self-folding structures as well as methods and tools available for the design of folding structures in general and self-folding structures in particular. The goal is to provide researchers and practitioners with a systematic view of the state-of-the-art in this important and evolving area. Unifying structural principles for active self-folding structures are identified and used as a basis for a quantitative and qualitative comparison of numerous classes of active materials. Design considerations specific to folded structures are examined, including the issues of crease pattern identification and fold kinematics. Although few tools have been created with active materials in mind, many of them are useful in the overall design process for active self-folding structures. Finally, the article concludes with a discussion of open questions for the field of origami-inspired engineering.
Electrochemical Studies of the Lateral Diffusion of TEMPO in the Aqueous Liquid/Vapor Interfacial Region

Surface partitioning and lateral mobility of TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidynyloxy free radical) in the aqueous liquid/gas interfacial region were investigated electrochemically with 100 nm wide, 1.0 cm long microband electrodes positioned at the air/water interface. For redox active amphiphiles such as TEMPO, the electrochemical current is the sum of the surface and solution components representing the diffusive transport of TEMPO in both domains as well as the dynamics of equilibration at the air/water interface. Interpretation of the recorded current−voltage curves was aided by a FEMLAB simulation code developed to analyze transport processes in this class of systems. TEMPO and TEMPO+ partition constants (KT, KT+) and solution diffusivities (Dsol, equal for the two species) were obtained experimentally yielding KT = 5.0 ± 0.7 × 102 M-1, KT+ = 41 ± 3 M-1, and Dsol = 7.7 ± 0.35 × 10-6 cm2/s. In view of the low value of KT+, TEMPO+ was assumed not to partition to the air/water interface. We further ...
The Network Polls: A Critical Review

The network polls perform an important service reasonably competently, although they all have major weaknesses in questionnaire testing and in analyses of results. They are an excellent source of material for secondary analyses. Seymour Sudman is Professor of Business Administration and Sociology and Research Professor, Survey Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. The author wishes to thank Jeffrey Alderman, ABC; Warren Mitofsky, CBS; Roy Wetzel, NBC; and Kenneth Prewitt for providing information and comments on earlier drafts. Of course, the judgments about the polls, as well as any remaining inaccuracies are solely the responsibility of the author. Public Opmion Quarterly Vol. 47 490-496 ?) 1983 by the Trustees of Columbia University Published by Elsevier Science Publishing Co, Inc. 0033-362X/83/0047-490/$2.50 This content downloaded from 40.77.167.80 on Mon, 13 Jun 2016 06:04:33 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms THE NETWORK POLLS 491 the Associated Press from 1978 to 1983. Some of the information in this review, particularly on topics covered, comes from the print versions of these polls or from printed material released by the polls to social scientists. Other information comes from responses to questions that were raised with each of the polls. The polls are described and evaluated on the following aspects of survey quality: selection of topics, sample design, sample execution, interviewers and sample cooperation, questions and questionnaire design, analysis, reporting of limitations, and archiving. Although the network polls are not perfect, they have all made serious efforts to measure public opinion accurately. They are all far superior to the so-called polls conducted by some media that are based on readers or viewers writing in or calling in responses, and despite their limitations, the data from these polls can be a valuable resource for social scientists doing secondary analyses.
Predicting Having a Best Friend in Young Children: Individual Characteristics and Friendship Features

In this study, the authors investigated the characteristics that predict best friend status in young children. One hundred and twenty-four preschool, kindergarten, and first-grade children identified their "best friend" and up to four "other friends" in their class. Teachers completed a questionnaire about each friendship to determine positive and negative features of the relationships. First, the authors used individual characteristics to predict if a child had a best friend. The variables age, gender, and peer acceptance predicted that a child would have a best friend. Second, positive friendship features positively predicted best friendships in analyses of all friendship pairs. Best friendships are meaningful relationships to children even at this young age and offer children more positive experiences than do other friendships.
Adsorbed layers on Au(111) — The inelastic transitions

Abstract Measurements have been made of the inelastic energy changes between layers of inert gases adsorbed on Au(111) and He atoms. The monolayers appear to show dispersionless effects while, as the layers build up in thickness, and screen the stronger forces between the He and Au(111), the vibrational modes soften. A seven layer film clearly shows dispersion. The holding potential for Au surfaces is predicted to be larger than for Ag and Cu both of which are quite similar. Comparisons between the lowest energy transition in a monolayer on Au(111) and other faces of Ag and Cu are made.
Neutral salt effects on the velocity and activation volume of the lactate dehydrogenase reaction: evidence for enzyme hydration changes during catalysis.

Abstract The effects of different neutral salts on the maximal velocity ( V ) and activation volume ( Δ V‡ ) of the M 4 -lactate dehydrogenase reaction were studied to determine the mechanistic basis of the inhibitory effects of these salts. For salting-in salts (which increase protein group solubility), increasing salt concentrations led to reductions in V and increases in Δ V‡ , with the order of salt effectiveness following the Hofmeister (lyotropic) series: KSCN > KI > KBr. A 50% reduction in V was associated with an approximately 17 cm 3 mol −1 increase in Δ V‡ for different concentrations of the same salt and for equal concentrations of different salting-in salts. Salting-out salts were also inhibitory, but no uniform correlation between changes in V and Δ V‡ was observed. The strongly salting-out salt KF decreased Δ V‡ at all concentrations. The weaker salting-out salt K 2 SO 4 increased Δ V‡ at concentrations below 0.1 m and decreased Δ V‡ at higher concentrations. KCl increased Δ V‡ as the salt concentration was raised to approximately 0.2 m ; further increases in KCl concentration were without effect on Δ V‡ . The rate and volume effects of these neutral salts, especially the highly regular covariation in V and Δ V‡ found for salting-in salts, seem difficult to explain in terms of salt-induced changes in the geometry of the active site. We propose instead that these salt effects can all be explained in terms of the energy and volume changes which accompany transfers of protein groups (amino acid side chains and peptide backbone linkages) between the hydrophobic interior of the enzyme and the enzyme-water interface during catalytic conformational changes.
Erratum: Human sapoviruses: genetic diversity, recombination, and classification

Reviews in Medical Virology 2007; 17: 133–141 DOI: 10.1002/rmv.533 It has come to our attention that there was an error contained in the above article within Figure 1 on page 134. In the figure the strain called Cruise ship is classified as GII/3, it should have been classified as GII/5. We apologise for this anomaly
Calculation method for the inhomogeneous electron gas

Abstract A procedure is described for obtaining the approximate ground state energy and electron density of an inhomogeneous interacting electron gas by the direct minimization of an energy functional. Corrections to the local approximation for the exchange and correlation energy, if known, can be included without difficulty.
Instantaneous complex spectral domain OCT using 3x3 fiber couplers

We report that the complex conjugate ambiguity in spectral domain OCT approaches (including swept source OCT and Fourier-domain OCT) may be removed by the use of novel interferometer designs based on NxN couplers. An interferometer based on a 3x3 truly fused fiber coupler with equal splitting ratios provides simultaneous access to components of the complex interferometric signal separated by 120o. These phase components may be converted to quadrature components by use of a simple trigonometric operation, and then inverse Fourier transformed to obtain A-scans and images free of complex conjugate artifact. We demonstrate instantaneous complex spectral-domain OCT using a novel Fourier-domain OCT system employing photodiode arrays, and will also report on a similar system design for instantaneous complex swept-source OCT.
The annexin A5-mediated pathogenic mechanism in the antiphospholipid syndrome: role in pregnancy losses and thrombosis

Annexin A5 (AnxA5) binds to phospholipid bilayers, forming two-dimensional crystals that block the phospholipids from availability for coagulation enzyme reactions. Antiphospholipid (aPL) antibodies cause gaps in the ordered crystallization of AnxA5 which expose phospholipids and thereby accelerate blood coagulation reactions. The aPL antibody-mediated disruption of AnxA5 crystallization has been confirmed on artificial phospholipid bilayers and on cell membranes including endothelial cells, placental trophoblasts and platelets. Recently, we reported that hydroxychloroquine, a synthetic antimalarial drug, can reverse this antibody-mediated process through two mechanisms: (1) by inhibiting the formation of aPL IgG-beta2glycoprotein I complexes; and (2) by promoting the formation of a second layer of AnxA5 crystal 'patches' over areas where the immune complexes had disrupted AnxA5 crystallization. In another translational application, we have developed a mechanistic assay that reports resistance to AnxA5 anticoagulant activity in plasmas of patients with aPL antibodies. AnxA5 resistance may identify a subset of aPL syndrome patients for whom this is a mechanism for pregnancy losses and thrombosis. The elucidation of aPL-mediated mechanisms for thrombosis and pregnancy complications may open new paths towards addressing this disorder with targeted treatments and mechanistic assays.
Transplantation of mesencephalic cell suspensions from wild-type and heterozygous weaver mice into the denervated striatum: Assessing the role of graft-derived dopaminergic dendrites in the recovery of function

The Weaver (wv) mutation leads to a loss of mesencephalic dopamine cells and nigrostriatal dopamine axons in homozygosity (wv/wv) and to a deficiency of nigral dopaminergic dendrites without a concomitant loss of dopamine cell somata or axons in heterozygosity (wv/+). Previous studies have shown that grafts of foetal dopamine cells from wild-type (+/+) donors can survive when implanted into the wv/wv striatum, supply both an axonal and a dendritic innervation to the host, establish synaptic connections with host striatal neurons, and bring about a functional recovery evidenced by rotational asymmetry tests. The aims of the present study were to examine whether wv/+ dopamine cells maintain a "dendrite-poor" phenotype after transplantation to the denervated striatum, and to compare their functional effects with those of wild-type (+/+) grafts in reversing amphetamine-induced turning behaviour. To that end, +/+ and wv/+ ventral mesencephalic tissue (dissected out from E10-E12 foetal mice and made into a cell suspension by enzymatic and mechanical dissociation) was stereotactically grafted into the right striatum of either wv/wv hosts or +/+ hosts subjected in advance to 6-OHDA lesions of the right substantia nigra. Viability and morphology of grafted neurons were assessed by tyrosine hydroxylase immunocytochemistry on serial sections of the host forebrains. Dopamine cell bodies survived in comparable numbers in the grafts regardless of donor genotype; however, grafts of either genotype contained fewer dopaminergic cells when they were hosted in the wv/wv striatum as compared to the striatum of +/+ mice with 6-OHDA lesions. Despite the survival of cell somata, the dendritic arborisation of wv/+ cells was strikingly poorer than that of +/+ cells in grafts placed into both host types, most likely reflecting their in situ phenotypic abnormality. Recipient wv/wv mice with +/+ and wv/+ grafts exhibited 88% and 83% left rotations, respectively; 6-OHDA hosts with +/+ and wv/+ grafts showed 178% and 165% reversals of asymmetry, respectively. The differences between the effects of +/+ and wv/+ grafts were not statistically significant.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Migraine treatment throughout the lifecycle

The treatment of migraine headache is often suboptimal despite significant advances in our understanding of the pathophysiology and treatment of migraine. Children, adolescents, women and the elderly are particularly at risk of receiving inadequate or inappropriate therapy. In this review, the reader is brought up-to-date with changes to the International Headache Society diagnostic criteria for migraine. The pathophysiology of migraine is also reviewed, with a special emphasis on the evolving concept of central sensitization and cutaneous allodynia since this concept has led to a paradigm shift in the way migraines are managed. A review of the evidence supporting the benefits of early treatment before pain becomes moderate-to-severe is provided. Recommendations for acute and prophylactic treatments throughout the lifecycle are made in light of clinical practice guidelines and more recent evidence. Lastly, the current optimal treatment of migraine is provided and the potential role of calcitonin gene-related peptide antagonists in the future is discussed.
The nature of hydrogen bonding in electron-transport proteins

Abstract Dimer models are used to represent those hydrogen bonds in heme and iron-sulfur proteins which have been hypothesized to play a role in setting the redox potential of these proteins. Dimerization energies and charge density difference plots obtained from ab initio molecular orbital calculations help characterize the changes in these bonds with change in protein oxidation state.
Nonlinear dynamic analysis of deploying flexible space booms

A fundamental investigation of the planar deployment and lock-up of two flexible boom type appendages which have attached tip masses and are connected to a central rigid body through a rotational spring is presented. Nondimensional parameters are identified and it is shown that, in general, the solution depends only on two mass ratios and one nondimensional stiffness parameter. Results are presented for boom tip deflections, deployment time and root moments at lock-up. A threshold value of the nondimensional stiffness parameter is identified beyond which boom deflections become large. Also, a thorough examination of the effect of nonlinear terms in the equations governing the deployment phase is performed. Nonlinear terms in the deployment equations due to kinematics and structural deformation are required to predict more accurately boom deflections, but retention of an inconsistent set of nonlinear terms leads to erroneous results. In particular, retaining nonlinear kinematic terms while neglecting nonlinear structural terms can produce inaccurate results even below the threshold stiffness value.
The transfer of heat by natural convection between bodies and their enclosures

Abstract Natural convection heat transfer between concentrically located isothermal spherical, cylindrical and cubical inner bodies and their isothermal cubical enclosure was experimentally investigated. Comparisons were made with the existing data for these same inner bodies and a spherical enclosure. In addition, temperature distributions and flow visualization data were obtained for most of those geometries. Comparisons made between the spherical and cubical enclosure, for the same inner body types, showed that the cubical enclosure resulted in a larger Nusselt number for a given Rayleigh number and inner body size. Heat transfer data taken with a non-isothennal inner body showed that the isothermality conditions on the inner body could be relaxed. All of the heat transfer data was correlated with an average deviation of less than 14%. Overall, the effect of the enclosure shape was small so long as the appropriate length scale is employed.
Brain CHIP: removing the culprits in neurodegenerative disease.

A factor that is common to the most-frequent neurodegenerative diseases is the accumulation of abnormal proteins that are associated with cellular dysfunction. Contrary to years of speculation, recent evidence suggests that soluble intermediates – not the visible pathological aggregates associated with disease – are the cause of neurotoxicity. These findings suggest that aggregate formation might be an adaptive stress response that is facilitated by neuronal protein triage molecules. In particular, the molecular co-chaperone CHIP (C terminus of HSC70-interacting protein) has been linked to several of these disorders, serving as a crucial catalyst for the ubiquitination of several heat shock protein (HSP)70 client proteins that are involved in neurodegenerative disease. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms that are involved in CHIP-mediated protein trafficking might provide invaluable clues to neuronal function, both in normal and diseased conditions.
Automatic evaluation of derivatives

A method is presented for automatically computing the exact value of the gradient of equations of many variables. The derivatives of complicated expressions can be calculated using much less than 64 kb of memory and only a small amount of computer time. The general method is described, and an implementation in fortran code is presented.
Two models of preparing foster youths for emancipation

Abstract This paper compares two models for delivering emancipation preparation services implemented in Los Angeles County, California, using evaluative data from three related studies on programmatic, structural and client outcome dimensions. The two models differ in size, control over program elements, and the extensiveness of the intervention (provision of life skills and vocational preparation classes versus consideration of school, foster care and family issues in addition to access to those specialized classes). A salient distinction between the models is the extent of caseworker involvement in the delivery of individualized emancipation preparation services. Outcome data on youths' participation in emancipation preparation programs, emancipation readiness, and the casework role realized in each program are presented. The findings demonstrate that both models can achieve important objectives for youths, but that increased benefits emerge when responsibility for both the ongoing child welfare and emancipation preparation functions are integrated. This highlights the need for close monitoring by one consistent person of specialized emancipation programming, school progress, special needs programming, and relationships with caretaker and family of origin.
Poster 16: Genetic Approach to Huntington's Disease Therapeutics

Background Unlike other neurodegenerative disorders, Huntington's disease, with its motor, behavioral, and cognitive deficits and early loss of neurons in the striatum, has a single cause: expanded versions of a polymorphic CAG repeat in the HTT gene (previously HD) of ≥35 units. This uniform starting point permits the development of therapeutics based solely upon the features of the HTT CAG repeat. Methods, Results, and Discussion We are applying global methods, such as genome-wide gene expression levels, to discover dominant and CAG length-dependent genes and pathways, using cells and tissues bearing the full-range of HTT CAG allele sizes. These phenotypes can potentially point to small molecule or gene modifiers and can be converted into cell-, pathway- or gene-based assays suitable for high-throughput screens to find modifiers of HTT CAG size-dependent effects in models and humans. This genetic approach to therapeutic target discovery has demonstrated that the HTT CAG repeat is a functional polymorphism that, over the non-HD and the HD ranges, affects energy, RNA metabolism, and the cytoskeleton. These HTT CAG size-dependent signatures provide an unbiased read-out for assays with which to find compounds or genes that may slow or halt the earliest phase of the HD disease process.
Novel modular anastomotic valve device for hemodialysis vascular access: preliminary computational hemodynamic assessment.

PURPOSE Arteriovenous graft patency is limited by terminal occlusion caused by intimal hyperplasia (IH). Motivated by evidence that flow disturbances promote IH progression, a modular anastomotic valve device (MAVD) was designed to isolate the graft from the circulation between dialysis periods (closed position) and enable vascular access during dialysis (open position). The objective of this study was to perform a preliminary computational assessment of the device ability to normalize venous flow between dialysis periods and potentially limit IH development and thrombogenesis. METHODS Computational fluid dynamics simulations were performed to compare flow and wall shear stress (WSS) in a native vein and MAVD prototypes featuring anastomotic angles of 90° and 30°. Low WSS (LWSS) regions prone to IH development were characterized in terms of temporal shear magnitude (TSM), oscillatory shear index (OSI), and relative residence time (RRT). Thrombogenic potential was assessed by investigating the loading history of fluid particles traveling through the device. RESULTS The closed MAVD exhibited the same flow characteristics as the native vein (0.3% difference in pressure drop, 3.5% difference in surface-averaged WSS). The open MAVD generated five LWSS regions (TSM <0.5 Pa) exhibiting different degrees of flow reversal (surface-averaged OSI: 0.03-0.36) and stagnation (max RRT: 2.50-37.16). Reduction in anastomotic angle resulted in the suppression of three LWSS regions and overall reductions in flow reversal (surface-averaged OSI <0.21) and stagnation (max RRT <18.05). CONCLUSIONS This study suggests the ability of the MAVD to normalize venous flow between dialysis periods while generating the typical hemodynamics of end-to-side vein-graft anastomoses during dialysis.
Hsp90 stress potentiates rapid cellular adaptation through induction of aneuploidy

Aneuploidy--the state of having uneven numbers of chromosomes--is a hallmark of cancer and a feature identified in yeast from diverse habitats. Recent studies have shown that aneuploidy is a form of large-effect mutation that is able to confer adaptive phenotypes under diverse stress conditions. Here we investigate whether pleiotropic stress could induce aneuploidy in budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisae). We show that whereas diverse stress conditions can induce an increase in chromosome instability, proteotoxic stress, caused by transient Hsp90 (also known as Hsp82 or Hsc82) inhibition or heat shock, markedly increased chromosome instability to produce a cell population with high karyotype diversity. The induced chromosome instability is linked to an evolutionarily conserved role for the Hsp90 chaperone complex in kinetochore assembly. Continued growth in the presence of an Hsp90 inhibitor resulted in the emergence of drug-resistant colonies with chromosome XV gain. This drug-resistance phenotype is a quantitative trait involving copy number increases of at least two genes located on chromosome XV. Short-term exposure to Hsp90 stress potentiated fast adaptation to unrelated cytotoxic compounds by means of different aneuploid chromosome stoichiometries. These findings demonstrate that aneuploidy is a form of stress-inducible mutation in eukaryotes, capable of fuelling rapid phenotypic evolution and drug resistance, and reveal a new role for Hsp90 in regulating the emergence of adaptive traits under stress.
A microstructural study of massive transformations in the FeNi system

Abstract The formation of the b.c.c. α phase from the f.c.c. γ phase by the process of a massive transformation has been studied in the FeNi system over a range of composition and cooling rates. The massive α m product phase has been observed metallographically in alloys containing up to 8.7 at.% Ni. Microprobe studies have confirmed that composition invariance is maintained even in a two-phase region beyond the retrograde α /( α + γ ) phase boundary. In low Ni alloys the rate of transformation was fast enough to form a completely massive product at a cooling rate of about 3000 deg C/sec. For alloys with about 8 at.% Ni a cooling rate of about 7 deg C/sec is needed to produce even a small amount of the massive product. The occurrence of the massive transformation in a two-phase field suggests that local equilibrium is not established at the transformation interfaces during the transformation.
Travelling waves in multi-reaction systems

Abstract Six simple rules are presented for predicting the number, type and relative velocity of stable travelling waves which can be obtained when several chemical reactions occur simultaneously in an infinite domain, and the state of the system can be characterized by a single variable. A method is developed for dividing the global parameter space into regions with different number and types of waves. The organization of these regions in the parameter space may serve as a means of discriminating between rival kinetic models. The structure of the wave solutions becomes more intricate and rich as the number of stationary solutions increases.
Cancer incidence among Mormons and non-Mormons in Utah (United States) 1995-1999

We calculated age-adjusted incidence rates per 100,000 by religion (Mormon, non-Mormon) for Utah (United States) using the 49,182 cancer cases occurring between 1971–85. For all causes of cancer, the rate in Utah for male members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormons) was about 24 percent less than the comparable US rate. There was a 50-percent lower rate of cancers associated with cigarette smoking among LDS men. Non-LDS (NLDS) men in Utah experienced an incidence of smoking-associated cancers slightly higher than other US men. LDS men had an incidence of those cancers not associated with smoking slightly lower than US men, and NLDS men had a 40-percent higher rate than US men because of higher rates of melanoma and cancers of the lip and prostate gland. LDS women had an all-sites cancer rate 24 percent below the comparable US rate, and a 60-percent lower rate of smoking-associated cancers. The incidence of cancer not associated with smoking was 20 percent lower for LDS women compared with US women and was the result of lower rates of cancers of the colon, breast, and uterine cervix. NLDS women had a 13-percent higher incidence of cancers not associated with smoking because of higher rates of cancers of the lip and breast.
Calcitonin gene-related peptide containing primary afferent fibers synapse on primate spinothalamic tract cells

Spinothalamic tract (STT) cells were identified by intracellular injection or retrograde labeling with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) in the primate spinal cord. Using immunohistochemical techniques, a population of primary afferents containing calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is demonstrated in synaptic contact with these neurons. Large glomerular type CGRP terminals with morphology considered typical of primary afferent fibers are occasionally observed in contact with STT profiles in laminae I and IIo; however, this morphological type targets STT profiles chiefly in the deeper dorsal horn (laminae III, IV and V). In contrast, the majority of CGRP terminals contacting STT profiles in the superficial dorsal horn (laminae I and IIo), are small, round or oblong shaped terminals. Thus, evidenced by these data, the absence of large, glomerular type terminals does not rule out primary afferent input.