cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Investigation of factors that inhibit furfural production using metal chloride catalysts

Abstract To increase the furfural yield from corncobs biomass when implementing metal chloride-based catalysts, four different routes that could inhibit furfural production were investigated: hydrolysis of hemicellulose, oxidation of corncobs and xylose, and humins formation. The evaluation was performed at both 90 and 170 °C. The results show that the hydrolysis of hemicellulose is not a factor for inhibiting furfural production at 170 °C while humins formation is. Oxidation of corncobs and xylose are factors for inhibiting furfural production at 90 and 170 °C. A novel method for predicting the activity of a catalyst for furfural production based on the fundamental chemical properties of metal ions (e.g., Lewis acid strengths, oxidizing properties, and solubility products of the corresponding hydroxides) was developed. The proposed method explains why AlCl3 enables the highest furfural production yield among FeCl3, FeCl2, AlCl3, and CuCl2.
Self-management of vocational skills for people with significant intellectual disabilities: A systematic review:

Access to employment opportunities is associated with increased quality of life for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities; however, many adults with intellectual and developmental...
Culicoides (Sinocoides) and two new species from China (Diptera:Ceratopogonidae)

Objective To determine the species distribution and taxonomy of Culicoides(Sinocoides) in China. Methods Bed nets,light traps and insect nets were used to collect the subjects. Results Eight species of Culicoides(Sinocoides) have been recorded in China,including Culicoides(Sinocoides) malipoensis Liu et Ren,sp. nov. and Culicoides(Sinocoides) nanniwanensis Liu et Wang,sp. nov. The distribution of the known species in China and measurements of the main differential characteristics were described to compile a key list of species. Conclusion The investigation clarified the distribution and composition of Culicoides(Sinocoides) in China. Culicoides(Sinocoides) malipoensis Liu et Ren,sp. nov. is alike to Culicoides subpalpifier Wirth et Hubert,1989. The latter is noticeably distinguishable by contiguous eyes,palpal ratio(PR) of 2.5 and unequal spermathecae of 3. Culicoides(Sinocoides) nanniwanensis Liu et Wang,sp. nov. is alike to Culicoides opertus Liu et Yu,1990,but the latter is distinctly characterized by the absence of sensory pits on the third palpus,absence of sensilla coeloconica in the 15th antenna segment,and wings with two pale spots. The type specimens are preserved in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Shenyang PLA Command,Shenyang 110034,China.
Temperature and solvent exposure response of three fatty acid peroxygenase enzymes for application in industrial enzyme processes

Abstract Free fatty acids (FFAs) are a useful feedstock for a range of industrial chemical synthesis applications. However, efficiently converting FFAs to molecules for biofuel and other high-value chemicals requires more efficient and cost-effective catalysts. Cytochrome P450 fatty acid peroxygenases (CYP152) have a unique chemistry that allows use of the peroxide shunt pathway for biochemical conversion of FFAs. Known CYP152s are heat labile, however, requiring characterization of more thermotolerant versions for use in industrial applications. A fatty acid peroxygenase from Bacillus methanolicus (CYP152K6) was shown here to have a higher optimal reaction temperature than OleT (CYP152L1). CYP152K6 was stable up to 50 °C and showed great stability in 3% acetone and dimethylformamide. Stability in solvents helps the enzyme's substrates remain soluble in solution for more efficient catalysis, and heat stability allows enzymes to remain active longer during industrial processes.
Mitigation of Scheduling Violations in Time-Sensitive Networking using Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient

Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) is designed for real-time applications, usually pertaining to a set of Time-Triggered (TT) data flows. TT traffic generally requires low packet loss and guaranteed upper bounds on end-to-end delay. To guarantee the end-to-end delay bounds, TSN uses Time-Aware Shaper (TAS) to provide deterministic service to TT flows. Each frame of TT traffic is scheduled a specific time slot at each switch for its transmission. Several factors may influence frame transmissions, which then impact the scheduling in the whole network. These factors may cause frames sent in wrong time slots, namely misbehaviors. To mitigate the occurrence of misbehaviors, we need to find proper scheduling for the whole network. In our research, we use a reinforcement-learning model, which is called Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG), to find the suitable scheduling. DDPG is used to model the uncertainty caused by the transmission-influencing factors such as time-synchronization errors. Compared with the state of the art, our approach using DDPG significantly decreases the number of misbehaviors in TSN scenarios studied and improves the delay performance of the network.
Cyclic Sparsely Connected Architectures for Compact Deep Convolutional Neural Networks

In deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs), model size and computation complexity are two important factors governing throughput and energy efficiency when deployed to hardware for inference. Recent works on compact DCNNs as well as pruning methods are effective, yet with drawbacks. For instance, more than half the size of all MobileNet models lies in their last two layers, mainly because compact separable convolution (CONV) layers are not applicable to their last fully connected (FC) layers. Also, in pruning methods, the compression is gained at the expense of irregularity in the DCNN architecture, which necessitates additional indexing memory to address nonzero weights, thereby increasing memory footprint, decompression delays, and energy consumption. In this article, we propose cyclic sparsely connected (CSC) architectures, with memory/computation complexity of $\mathcal {O}(N\log {}N)$ , where $N$ is the number of nodes/channels given a DCNN layer that, contrary to compact depthwise separable layers, can be used as an overlay for both FC and CONV layers of $\mathcal {O}(N^{2})$ . Also, contrary to pruning methods, CSC architectures are structurally sparse and require no indexing due to their cyclic nature. We show that both standard convolution and depthwise convolution layers are special cases of the CSC layers, whose mathematical function, along with FC layers, can be unified into one single formulation and whose hardware implementation can be carried out under one arithmetic logic component. We examine the efficacy of the CSC architectures for compression of LeNet, AlexNet, and MobileNet DCNNs with precision ranging from 2 to 32 bits. More specifically, we surge upon the compact 8-bit quantized 0.5 MobileNet V1 and show that by compressing its last two layers with CSC architectures, the model is compressed by $\sim 1.5\times $ with a size of only 873 kB and little accuracy loss. Finally, we design a configurable hardware that implements all types of DCNN layers including FC, CONV, depthwise, CSC-FC, and CSC-CONV indistinguishably within a unified pipeline. We implement the hardware on a tiny Xilinx field-programmable gate array (FPGA) for total on-chip processing of the compressed MobileNet that, compared to the related work, has the highest Inference/J while utilizing the smallest FPGA.
COVID-19 Critical Illness: A Data-Driven Review.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges in critical care medicine, including extreme demand for intensive care unit (ICU) resources and rapidly evolving understanding of a novel disease. Up to one-third of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 experience critical illness. The most common form of organ failure in COVID-19 critical illness is acute hypoxemic respiratory failure, which clinically presents as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in three-quarters of ICU patients. Noninvasive respiratory support modalities are being used with increasing frequency given their potential to reduce the need for intubation. Determining optimal patient selection for and timing of intubation remains a challenge. Management of mechanically ventilated patients with COVID-19 largely mirrors that of non-COVID-19 ARDS. Organ failure is common and portends a poor prognosis. Mortality rates have improved over the course of the pandemic, likely owing to increasing disease familiarity, data-driven pharmacologics, and improved adherence to evidence-based critical care. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Medicine, Volume 73 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
Remarks on acoustic propagation in inhomogeneous fluids: Single-phase shock regularization under the Maxwell model

Abstract The atmospheric shock problem considered in a recent article by Jordan (2020) is revisited. We show that the amplitude blow-up suffered by upward propagating acoustic shocks in an atmosphere whose ambient temperature is constant can also be eliminated by regarding air as a Maxwell fluid (i.e., a type of viscoelastic fluid), thus obviating the need for the dual-phase model assumed in Ref. Jordan (2020). Using an approach based on the Laplace transform, we then establish the existence of a range of values of the Maxwell relaxation time parameter for which the shock amplitude tends to zero and, moreover, that the upper bound of this range can be determined exactly by solving a certain quartic polynomial. And while linear, the equation of motion studied herein is shown to exhibit behaviors remarkably similar to those of certain PDEs that arise in nonlinear acoustics theory.
Capturing, Harmonizing and Delivering Data and Quality Provenance

Satellite remote sensing data have proven to be vital for various scientific and applications needs. However, the usability of these data depends not only on the data values but also on the ability of data users to assess and understand the quality of these data for various applications and for comparison or inter-usage of data from different sensors and models. In this paper, we describe some aspects of capturing, harmonizing and delivering this information to users in the framework of distributed web-based data tools.
Fatigue Prediction Based on Computational Fracture Mechanics

A general numerical method has been developed to predict fatigue crack initiation and fatigue crack propagation under cyclic loads. Finite element technique is employed to model specimen geometry. The method requires uniaxial stress/strain material data only; empirical fatigue constants are not required. It determines the number of load cycles for crack initiation or for crack propagation based on fracture energy, W, and dissipated energy per cycle, E. Fracture energy is the plastic-strain energy contained in a Dugdale-type cohesive stress zone located near an initial defect. The size of the cohesive zone of a specimen is established by a computational procedure that simulates elastic-plastic fracture under static loading. Dissipated energy per cycle is the plastic-strain energy in a hysteresis loop that exhibits cyclically stable behavior after "shake-down." The number of cycles to initiate a crack or to propagate a crack to a finite amount is obtained by dividing the fracture energy, W, by the dissipated energy per cycle, E. Verification examples showing stress amplitude versus number of cycles (S-N diagram) are compared with experimental results. Also, experimental crack growth rate as a function of stress intensity factor (Paris-type equation) is compared with calculated results based on this method. Fatigue constants based on experimental data were not required in the computations. Limited comparison of predicted cycles to experimental results indicates good correlation. This work is significant in that it suggests a new and improved approach to problems of fatigue. Since fatigue behavior can be predicted using only uniaxial material tensile data, it holds out the promise of a reduced need for experimental work in the future.
Occipitocervicothoracic stabilization in pediatric patients.

Object Although rarely encountered, pediatric patients with severe cervical spine deformities and instability may occasionally require occipitocervicothoracic instrumentation and fusion. This case series reports the experience of 4 pediatric centers in managing this condition. Occipitocervical fixation is the treatment of choice for craniocervical instability that is symptomatic or threatens neurological function. In children, the most common distal fixation level with modern techniques is C-2. Treated patients maintain a significant amount of neck motion due to the flexibility of the subaxial cervical spine. Distal fixation to the thoracic spine has been reported in adult case series. This procedure is to be avoided due to the morbidity of complete loss of head and neck motion. Unfortunately, in rare cases, the pathological condition or highly aberrant anatomy may require occipitocervical constructs to include the thoracic spine. Methods The authors identified 13 patients who underwent occipitocervicotho...
The Ubiquity of Good Taste: A Spatial Analysis of the Craft Brewing Industry in the United States

The performance and composition of the U.S. brewing industry have changed dramatically over the past three decades. More specifically, the industry has experienced contradictory shifts in both aggregate production volume and number of firms. While aggregate beer production in the US has increased modestly, per capita beer production has decreased steadily since the early 1980s, dropping 26 % from a record 26.2 barrels per person in 1981 to a low of 19.5 barrels per person in 2011. However, the number of brewing establishments increased substantially during the same period, expanding from 48 breweries in 1981 to nearly 1,700 by 2011–a 3,500 % increase. So what explains this counterintuitive story? And how has this story manifested itself over space? This chapter seeks to answer these questions by analyzing the economic geography of the U.S. craft brewing industry. Specifically, our empirical approach consists of three exercises. First, we examine the temporal changes in the aggregate production volume and the total number of brewing establishments for each state. Second, we examine state-level variation in total beer production, total craft-beer production, percent craft beer production, and per-capita craft beer production. And last, we map the precise location of craft beer establishments to show the spatial and temporal distribution of active craft breweries in the US. Our results are three-fold. First, we find the change in total brewing establishments and total beer production has manifested itself rather unevenly over space. Second, we find that craft-beer production at the state level has also increased in a spatially uneven manner, as the largest production still occurs in the states with a history of high beer production. Last, and in contrast to our first two exercises, we find that within states, the location of active craft-brewing establishments have spread from major urban centers in the 1980s to many non-urban locations by 2011. We conclude that although growth in the craft-brewing sector will continue to be highest in areas with already high levels of brewing activity, there will be significant growth in regions that currently have few brewing establishments.
Does Public Infrastructure Affect Economic Activity?: Evidence from the Rural Interstate Highway System

Abstract We examine the relationship between large infrastructure spending, of the type implied by interstate highway construction, and the level of economic activity. By collecting historical data on interstate highway construction and economic activity in the United States at the county level we find that highways have a differential impact across industries: certain industries grow as a result of reduced transportation costs, whereas others shrink as economic activity relocates. Additionally, we find that highways affect the spatial allocation of economic activity. They raise the level of economic activity in the counties that they pass directly through, but draw activity away from adjacent counties.
Climate change, the international intellectual property régime, and disputes under the TRIPS Agreement

This study considers intellectual property rules contained in the WTO TRIPS Agreement as they might affect climate change regulatory efforts. The TRIPS Agreement rules that are most directly applicable in this context are patents; confidential information, and enforcement of IP rights before national courts. With respect to patents, the Agreement provides rules on subject matter eligibility and compulsory licensing that may affect which climate-related technologies get patented and how they are applied. The rules concerning confidential information are less precise. The Study then considers how a WTO dispute-settlement panel might apply WTO rules (especially TRIPS) to climate change initiatives that a WTO Member might take.
Influence of estrogen administration on the growth response to growth hormone (GH) in GH-deficient mice

In women who are growth hormone (GH) deficient, exogenous estrogens increase the dosage of GH that is needed to normalize circulating levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1). Serum IGF-1 derives mostly from the liver, and it is unknown whether the peripheral effects of GH are also impaired by estrogens. Because the ultimate effect of GH is longitudinal growth, we have investigated the influence of estrogen administration on the growth response to recombinant mouse GH therapy in prepubertal GH-deficient (GHD) GHRH knockout (GHRHKO) female mice. Twenty-four GHRHKO female mice (4 animals/group) were treated for 4 weeks (from the second to sixth week of age) with the following schedules: Group I, GH only (25 microg/day); Group II, subcutaneous (sc) ethynil estradiol (EE) (0.035 ES01247g/day); Group III, GH + scEE; Group IV, oral (po) EE (0.035 microg/day); Group V, GH + poEE; Group VI, placebo. At the end of the treatment period, we measured uterine weight, total body weight (TBW), body length (nose-anus, N-A), and femur length. In addition, serum IGF-1 levels were measured. Uteri of mice treated with oral or scEE showed similar increases in weight. There was no difference in the increase in longitudinal growth parameters between mice treated with GH alone or with GH in association with oral or scEE. Serum IGF-1 decreased in animals treated with GH + scEE, compared with GH group, but no group was significantly different from placebo. These results show that subcutaneous or oral EE does not reduce the growth response to GH in female GHD mice.
Neural network based control system design of an advanced fighter aircraft

The author demonstrates the application of neural network technology to optimal scheduling of control gains in real-time flight control systems commonly used in the real-time control of an advanced fighter aircraft and high-performance aerospace vehicles where a priori target outputs are not known, and must be generated in real-time. A learning algorithm and an appropriate performance model have been used to synthesize a nonlinear functional relationship between varying plant parameters and control gains. A performance model is used to exemplify the desired responses and force the plant/controller dynamics via a neural network to imitate the model. The performance model contains the proper dynamics to supply desired responses to given test inputs. An arbitrary cost function is used to indicate the quality of plant/controller performance according to which the adjustments to the weights within the neural network are made by the learning algorithm. The process is repeated until the neural network produces an optimal set of gains for each point in the plant parameter space. >
Papillary carcinoma arising in a papillary cystadenoma of thyroid: A case report

Papillary cystadenoma of the thyroid is a controversial pathologic entity, the existence of which is not universally accepted. Its malignant potential is unknown, with only scant evidence that it may be a rare precursor of the papillary carcinoma. A case is presented as a pathologically documented instance of malignancy arising in a papillary cystadenoma in a 33-year-old woman. The clinical implications of this finding are discussed.
Sentinel lymph node biopsy, an alternative to elective axillary dissection for breast cancer

Abstract Background: Axillary metastases remain an important prognostic indicator in breast cancer. Axillary lymphadenectomy (ALND) carries significant morbidity and is unnecessary in most patients with early breast cancer; thus, sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy has been advocated for axillary staging. We studied the SLN identification rate and its accuracy in predicting axillary metastases. Methods: One hundred nineteen women with breast carcinoma underwent SLN and ALND. Lymphoscintigraphy was performed using Technetium 99 sulfur colloid supplemented by Isosulfan blue dye. Hematoxylin/eosin-stained lymph node sections were examined by light microscopy. Results: The SLN identification rate was 81%. One SLN was negative (1%) in a patient with axillary disease. SLN histology correctly predicted the absence of axillary disease in 98.6%. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were 96%, 100%, 100%, and 99%, respectively. Conclusions: Sentinel lymph node biopsy accurately predicts total axillary status and is valuable in the surgical staging of breast cancer.
An Appeal for a Historiographical Renaissance: Lost Lives and the Thirty Years War

(2005). An Appeal for a Historiographical Renaissance: Lost Lives and the Thirty Years War. The Historian: Vol. 67, No. 2, pp. 254-274.
Regulation of the Rent-to-Own Industry: Implications of the Wisconsin Settlement with Rent-A-Center

Abstract In August 1999, the Wisconsin attorney general’s office sued Rent-A-Center (RAC) for violating the state’s consumer act and deceptive advertising law. The parties eventually settled in November 2002. In this article, the author evaluates the merits of the case against RAC, RAC’s response to the settlement, and implications of the settlement for Wisconsin consumers as well as the rent-to-own industry.
GENERALIZED THURSTONE MODELS FOR RANKING - EQUIVALENCE AND REVERSIBILITY

Previous work has determined the conditions under which generalized versions of Thurstone’s theory of comparative judgment are formally equivalent (i.e., empirically indistinguishable) for choice experiments. This note solves the analogous problem for ranking experiments: It is shown that if two “Generalized Thurstone Models” are equivalent for choice experiments with n alternatives they are also equivalent for ranking experiments with n alternatives, despite the fact that ranking generates many more preference probabilities. This result in turn allows one to determine which Generalized Thurstone Models are “reversible,” i.e., satisfy the requirement that regardless of whether the subject ranks from best to worst or from worst to best, rankings that express the same preference order will occur with the same probability. Several recent articles in this journal have dealt with the equivalence properties of a family of random utility models for choice experiments that can be regarded as generalizations of Thurstone’s (1927) Theory of Comparative Judgment-generalized in the sense that the utility random variables (Thurstone’s “discriminal processes”) are no longer required to have normal distributions. (“Equivalence” here means experimental indistinguishability. Two models-that is, theories-are said to be equivalent for a given class of experiments if results that satisfy one always satisfy the other-so that no experimental decision can be made between them. Yellott (1977, 1978), Moszner (1978), and Rockwell and Yellott (1979), all deal with a generalized version of Thurstone’s Case V in which the utility random variables are independent and identically distributed except for shifts: Such models were referred to there simply as “Thurstone models”; here they will be called “Generalized Case V Thurstone (GT-V) Models.” Strauss (1979), analyzes a broader class of “Generalized Thurstone (GT) Models” which includes the GT-V models and also nonindependent cases. All this work is reviewed here in Section 2.) This paper deals with the equivalence properties of these same models when they are applied to ranking experiments-that is, experiments in which the subject does not simply choose a single best alternative from some set, but instead rank orders all the alternatives from best to
Different Structural Requirements at Specific Proline Residue Positions in the Conserved Proline-rich Region of Cytochrome P450 2C2

Abstract Cytochrome P450 is anchored to the endoplasmic reticulum membrane by an N-terminal transmembrane sequence with the catalytic domain facing the cytoplasmic side. Within the peptide sequence linking these two domains is a highly conserved proline-rich region. In cytochrome P450 2C2, this region has the sequence 30PPGPTPFP37. To examine the structural requirements at these proline residues, each proline was replaced with alanine, glycine, valine, or an acidic amino acid, and the activities of the mutated proteins were determined in transfected COS-1 cells. Lauric acid 1ω-hydroxylase activities of Pro30 and Pro33 mutants were less than 10% of wild type for each substitution except for alanine, which was 25-30%. In striking contrast, substitutions at Pro31, including an acidic residue, did not substantially alter activity. At positions 35 and 37, acidic amino acid substitutions reduced activity to less than 10% of wild type while substitution of the other three amino acids had little effect. The tolerance of substitutions of charged residues at Pro31 suggests that the side chain at this position is exposed to a polar environment; conversely, the reduced activity with charged substitutions, but not with uncharged substitutions at positions 35 and 37, suggests that these residues are exposed to a hydrophobic environment, presumably within the folded protein. The loss of activity with substitutions at Pro30 and Pro33 implies that the motif PXXP is important for the formation of a functional cytochrome P450 and that this sequence might have a helical structure with a repeat of three, as in the left-handed poly-L-proline II helix. Insertion of alanine between positions 29 and 30 did not substantially affect activity, but insertions between either 33 and 34 or 37 and 38 resulted in activity less than 25% of wild type. These data indicate that the position of PXXP, relative to the sequence flanking it on the C-terminal side, may be important for its function.
Reduced expression of CD27 by collagenase treatment: implications for interpreting b cell data in tissues.

Surface markers have been used to identify distinct cell subpopulations and to delineate various stages of maturation or activation of lymphocytes. In particular CD27 is used for delineation of naive and memory B cell populations, and is readily detected by flow cytometry. We here used flow cytometry to examine the expression of CD27 on lymphocytes isolated from various tissues of rhesus macaques, and found its expression was consistently low to absent on intestinal cell suspensions. However, immunohistochemistry revealed abundant CD27+ cells in intestinal tissue sections. Further investigation showed the marked loss of CD27 expression on processed intestinal cells was due to collagenase digestion of intestinal tissues, yet CD27 expression was recoverable within hours of cell isolation. By combining confocal microscopy, we confirmed that only a fraction of B cells express CD27, in contrast to expression on all T cells from tissues examined including the gut. Taken together, our results suggest that CD27 may be a memory marker for B cells, but not for T cells, since essentially all CD3 T cells expressed CD27. In summary, it is important to consider the influence of isolation procedures on cell surface expression of phenotypic markers, especially when examining tissue-resident lymphocytes by flow cytometry.
North American paragonimiasis. A case report.

Background Paragonimiasis is a parasitic infection with a predilection for pulmonary involvement. Paragonimus species occur throughout the world and exist in nature in a snail-crustacean-mammalian life cycle. Human disease is most frequently encountered in cultures that ingest raw or undercooked crustaceans. North American paragonimiasis, caused by an endemic Paragonimus species, Paragonimus kellicotti, predominantly causes disease in carnivorous and omnivorous animals but may cause human disease if the intermediate host, the crayfish, is ingested raw or undercooked. Case A previously healthy, 21-year-old male was infected with P kellicotti and developed parasitic hemoptysis. The disease was contracted through the ingestion of local, undercooked crayfish. Diagnosis was established through the morphologic examination of eggs in the cytologic preparation of bronchioalveolar lavage fluid. The patient was successfully treated with praziquantel and recovered without incident. Conclusion Paragonimiasis is a cause of parasitic hemoptysis worldwide. Paragonimiasis is infrequently encountered in North America and is usually not considered in the differential diagnosis of hemoptysis unless specific risk factors are known. The cytologist or cytopathologist, therefore, may be the first to encounter the diagnostic eggs and should be familiar with this disease.
Bioavailability of Particle-Associated Se to the Bivalve Potamocorbula amurensis

Elemental selenium, Se(0), is a prevalent chemical form in sediments, but little is known about its bioavailability. We evaluated the bioavailability of two forms of Se(0) by generating radioisotopic 75Se(0) through bacterial dissimilatory reduction of 75SeO32- by pure bacterial cultures (SES) and by an anaerobic sediment microbial consortium (SED). A third form was generated by reducing 75SeO32- with ascorbic acid (AA). Speciation determinations showed that AA and SES were >90% Se(0), but SED showed a mixture of Se(0), selenoanions, and a residual fraction. Pulse-chase techniques were used to measure assimilation efficiencies (AE) of these particulate Se forms by the bivalve Potamocorbula amurensis. Mean AE values were 3 ± 2% for AA, 7 ± 1% for SES, and 28 ± 15% for SED, showing that the bioavailability of reduced, particle-associated Se is dependent upon its origin. To determine if oxidative microbial processes increased Se transfer, SES 75Se(0) was incubated with an aerobic sediment microbial consortiu...
Anti-cancer drug induced neurotoxicity and identification of Rho pathway signaling modulators as potential neuroprotectants

Many chemotherapy drugs are known to cause significant clinical neurotoxicity, which can result in the early cessation of treatment. To identify and develop more effective means of neuroprotection it is important to understand the toxicity of these drugs at the molecular and cellular levels. In the present study, we examine the effects of paclitaxel (taxol), cisplatin, and methotrexate on primary rat neurons including hippocampal, cortical, and dorsal horn/dorsal root ganglion neuronal cultures. We found that all of these anti-cancer drugs induce substantial neurotoxicity evidenced by neurite degeneration. The neurons are capable of recovering after treatment withdrawal, but taxol exerts a biphasic effect that results in the collapse of processes days after treatment is withdrawn. After cisplatin and methotrexate treatment, we observed the degeneration of neuronal processes including the reduction of dendritic branching, length, and altered growth cone formation, indicating an abnormal arrangement of the actin cytoskeleton consistent with the involvement of Rho family small GTPases. Inhibiting RhoA downstream effector p160ROCK/Rho kinase using Y-27632, or activating p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) using non-peptide mimetic LM11A-31, were able to reverse the degeneration caused by cisplatin and methotrexate. Therefore, the neurotoxicity resulting from exposure to the anti-cancer drugs cisplatin and methotrexate can be alleviated by inhibiting Rho signaling pathway.
Smaller university endowments: team characteristics, portfolio composition and performance

Purpose – The paper aims to help explain how certain smaller university endowments are able to provide investment results that are more typical of much larger endowments. Investment teams' characteristics and risk-reward perceptions are examined in relation to portfolio composition and performance. Design/methodology/approach – This exploratory study uses a grounded-theory approach consisting of 20 in-depth interviews of financial officers at US colleges and universities with assets between $100 million and $200 million. Ten were conducted from the top performance quartile and ten from the bottom quartile. Interviews were transcribed and coded; afterward, emerging themes and constructs were identified. Objective investment performance over a ten-year period was employed from a well-known industry survey. Findings – Top-performing endowments were described as having endowment teams with greater investment expertise, efficacy, decision-making independence and learning commitment than teams from the low-perf...
Kenneth Olafur Johnson (18 May 1938–15 May 2005)

Kenneth Olafur JohnsonKenneth Johnson, Professor of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering and Director of the Krieger Mind/Brain Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, passed away on May 15, ...
Reflection and Transmission by a Periodic Array of Coplanar Cracks: Normal and Oblique Incidence

We have extended Wan Der Hijden and Neerhoff's treatment of scattering of in plane elastic waves by a single crack to the periodic case. Major advantages of our treatment are: the formulation is relatively simple, straightforward, and unified for both normal and oblique incidence, and there is no need for numerical integrations, because all the integrations involved in the formulation can be analytically evaluated thanks to the periodicity of the problem and the coplanarity of the cracks
Chinese hamster cells with a minichromosome containing the centromere region of human chromosome 1.

We describe a series of primary and secondary hamster-human hybrids which have selectively retained a small amount of human DNA. The hybrid XJM12.1.3 contains an estimated 4000–8000 kb of human DNA, and for a secondary hybrid derived from it, XEW8.2.3, our estimate is 1000–2000 kb. The hybridization of Southern blots of DNA from these hybrids with a variety of human satellite DNA probes reveals that these lines include centromere sequences of human chromosome 1. The identifiable human DNA is in the form of a minichromosome, as detected by in situ hybridization in the light microscope and in the electron microscope. At mitosis, the minichromosome can be observed to have kinetochores and to be associated with microtubules. Therefore, it can segregate in a stable fashion. It may be significant that in the selection of the hybrids we had selected for a human gene which has been mapped on human chromosome 1.
Adenosine inhibits a non‐inactivating K+ current in bovine adrenal cortical cells by activation of multiple P1 receptors

1. Bovine adrenal zona fasciculata (AZF) cells express a non-inactivating K+ current (IAC) that sets the resting potential while it is activated by intracellular ATP. In whole-cell patch clamp recordings from bovine AZF cells, we found that adenosine selectively inhibited IAC by a maximum of 78.4 +/- 4.6 % (n = 8) with an IC50 of 71 nM. The non-selective adenosine receptor agonist NECA effectively inhibited IAC by 79.3 +/- 2.9 % (n = 24) at a concentration of 100 nM. 2. Inhibition of IAC was mediated through multiple P1 adenosine receptor subtypes. The A1-selective agonist CCPA (10 nM), the A2A-selective agonist CGS 21680 (100 nM) and the A3-selective agonist IB-MECA (10 nM) inhibited IAC by 64.8 +/- 8.4, 78.4 +/- 4.6 and 69.3 +/- 6.9 %, respectively. 3. Specific adenosine receptor subtype antagonists including DPCPX (A1), ZM 241385 (A2A) and MRS 1191 (A3) effectively blocked inhibition of IAC by adenosine receptor-selective agonists. 4. A mixture of the three adenosine receptor antagonists completely suppressed inhibition of IAC by adenosine, but failed to alter inhibition by external ATP which acts through a separate P2 nucleotide receptor. 5. Inhibition of IAC by adenosine or NECA was eliminated by substituting GDP-beta-S for GTP in the pipette, or by replacing ATP with AMP-PNP or UTP. 6. In addition to inhibiting IAC, adenosine (10 microM) depolarized AZF cells by 46.2 +/- 5.8 mV (n = 6). 7. These results show that bovine AZF cells express at least three adenosine receptor subtypes (A1, A2A, A3), each of which is coupled to the inhibition of IAC K+ channels through a G-protein-dependent mechanism requiring ATP hydrolysis. Adenosine-mediated inhibition of IAC is associated with membrane depolarization. Adenosine and other purines may co-ordinate the stress-induced secretion of corticosteroids and catecholamines from the adrenal gland.
Osmotic Properties of Amphibian Muscles

Changes in the volume of fiber water in hypotonic and hypertonic Ringer's solution were determined for the sartorius, stomach, and cardiac muscle of the frog using two methods. Loss of water in hypertonic solutions was nearly the same in all muscles, but swelling in hypotonic solutions was greatest in the sartorius, smallest in the heart. For the sartorius the deviation from the properties of an osmometer can be accounted for by a loss of electrolyte and by assuming that a small part of the fiber water is bound, but this appears insufficient to explain the behavior of stomach and cardiac muscle in hypotonic solutions. In very dilute solutions of CaCl(2) and MgCl(2) a large difference in concentration of electrolytes is maintained between the fibers and the medium. Under these conditions divalent cations, accumulating in the fibers, produce a change in physical properties which indicates increased internal cross-linking. It is suggested, therefore, that swelling is limited as in a gel and that a considerable hydrostatic pressure may develop within the fibers.
Measurement of Molecular Interactions in Living Cells by Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer Between Variants of the Green Fluorescent Protein

Many signal transduction pathways operate through oligomerization of proteins into multi-subunit complexes. Although biochemical assays can identify potential protein-protein interactions, studying these interactions in living cells is more challenging. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) has been used as a "spectroscopic ruler" to measure molecular proximity, but these methods have been limited by the need for chemical labeling of target proteins or labeled antibodies. We present methods for examining interactions between target proteins molecularly fused to cyan and yellow variants of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) by FRET in living cells. Flow cytometric and microscope-based methods are described that have been applied to a variety of interacting proteins.
Coupling of 1-D and 2-D Hydrodynamic Models Using an Immersed-Boundary Method

Numerical simulations of flooding events through rivers and channels require coupling between 1-D and 2-D hydrodynamic models. The rivers and channels are relatively narrow and the widths are smaller than the grid resolution of the 2-D model. The shapes of the rivers and channels are complex and do not necessarily coincide with the grid points. The coupling between the 1-D and 2-D models are challenging. In this paper, a novel Immersed-Boundary (IB) type coupling is implemented. Using this method, no linkpoint needs to be manually determined, nor does the discharge boundary conditions need to be specified on the linkpoints. The linkpoints will be dynamically determined by comparing the water levels in the 1-D channel and the surrounding dry cell elevations in the 2-D model. The linkpoint flow conditions thus can be dynamically calculated by the IB type of implementation. This coupling method enables more realistic simulations of water exchange between channels and dry lands during a flooding event comparing to the traditional coupling method.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
Model Reference Robust Control of SISO Systems with Significant Unmodelled Dyamics

In this paper, a recently proposed control design technique, model reference robust control (MRRC) [10], is generalised to provide input-output robust control for much wider class of SISO systems. A system under consideration may contain not only parametric uncertainties, disturbances, uncertain high-order nonlinearities associated with output, but also unmodelled dynamics associated both input and output of the system. Unmodelled dynamics may be unstable and of infinite dimension. Common assumptions such as the order of nominal system, or bounds on system parameters, or coefficients in sise-bounding functions on uncertainties and unmodelled dynamics are not needed in this paper. The apriori information required to apply the proposed design procedure includes relative degree of the nominal system, closed-form expression of bounding functions, and, for arbitrarily small tracking error of reference model output, the minimum-phase condition. Under the proposed control, the output tracking error can be made arbitrarily small to achieve any specified tracking accuracy. The distinct feature of MRRC is that neither uncertainties nor unmodelled dynamics are required to be small.
Functional Requirement for Orai1 in Store-operated TRPC1-STIM1 Channels

Orai1 and TRPC1 have been proposed as core components of store-operated calcium release-activated calcium (CRAC) and store-operated calcium (SOC) channels, respectively. STIM1, a Ca2+ sensor protein in the endoplasmic reticulum, interacts with and mediates store-dependent regulation of both channels. We have previously reported that dynamic association of Orai1, TRPC1, and STIM1 is involved in activation of store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) in salivary gland cells. In this study, we have assessed the molecular basis of TRPC1-SOC channels in HEK293 cells. We report that TRPC1+STIM1-dependent SOCE requires functional Orai1. Thapsigargin stimulation of cells expressing Orai1+STIM1 increased Ca2+ entry and activated typical ICRAC current. STIM1 alone did not affect SOCE, whereas expression of Orai1 induced a decrease. Expression of TRPC1 induced a small increase in SOCE, which was greatly enhanced by co-expression of STIM1. Thapsigargin stimulation of cells expressing TRPC1+STIM1 activated a non-selective cation current, ISOC, that was blocked by 1 μm Gd3+ and 2-APB. Knockdown of Orai1 decreased endogenous SOCE as well as SOCE with TRPC1 alone. siOrai1 also significantly reduced SOCE and ISOC in cells expressing TRPC1+STIM1. Expression of R91WOrai1 or E106QOrai1 induced similar attenuation of TRPC1+STIM1-dependent SOCE and ISOC, whereas expression of Orai1 with TRPC1+STIM1 resulted in SOCE that was larger than that with Orai1+STIM1 or TRPC1+STIM1 but not additive. Additionally, Orai1, E106QOrai1, and R91WOrai1 co-immunoprecipitated with similar levels of TRPC1 and STIM1 from HEK293 cells, and endogenous TRPC1, STIM1, and Orai1 were co-immunoprecipitated from salivary glands. Together, these data demonstrate a functional requirement for Orai1 in TRPC1+STIM1-dependent SOCE.
Correlation between the induction of micronuclei in bone marrow by benzene exposure and the excretion of metabolites in urine of CD-1 mice.

Male and female CD-1 mice received single oral doses of benzene (220, 440, and 880 mg/kg) and were pretreated with modifiers of the mixed-function oxidase enzyme activities. Urinary metabolites (MT) (0–24 and 24–48 hr) were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography. The micronucleus test was performed at 30 h. The following pretreatments were used to correlate micronucleus formation and the excreted benzene MT: 3-Methylcholanthrene and β-naphthoflavone led to a marked increase in micronuclei (MN) and MT, whereas phenobarbital caused a slight increase, and SKF-525A had no effect. MN and MT were decreased when benzene was administered by the ip route or toluene was given simultaneously. Females had a lower number of MN and excreted more unconjugated phenol than did males. Muconic acid, hydroquinone, and phenol glucuronide and MN correlated well. They were dependent on both the dose and route of administration of benzene, being most inducible by P-448 inducers, in males more than females. The administration of hydroquinone induced MN, but phenol or catechol (200, 250, and 150 mg/kg, po, respectively) did not, and none of these compounds yielded trans,trans-muconic acid, a benzene MT in urine. This study establishes that benzene myeloclastogenicity is a function of its metabolism and that quantification of urinary metabolites could provide reliable correlates of this effect in vivo.
Using a Community Clinical Trials Network for Treatment, Prevention, and Control Research: Assuring Access to State-of-the-Art Cancer Care

(1995). Using a Community Clinical Trials Network for Treatment, Prevention, and Control Research: Assuring Access to State-of-the-Art Cancer Care. Cancer Investigation: Vol. 13, No. 5, pp. 517-525.
B12 Models with Highly Distorted N4 Equatorial Ligation and a Co−C−N Ring: Structural Assessment of the Steric Influence of Benzimidazole and Imidazole Axial Ligands

In human B12 enzymes, a histidyl imidazole is the lower axial ligand instead of the benzimidazole of the coenzymes. We have explored the differences in the binding interactions of these ligands using a novel class of organocobalt models, [LCo(N-CH2-CHEL)]X, with an unusually spacious lower coordination site created by a rare Co−C−N ring. We now compare two new analogs, 1 (L = 1,5,6-trimethylbenzimidazole = Me3Bzm) and 2 (L = N-methylimidazole = N-MeImd), with the first analog, 3 (L = pyridine = py). The three structures (X = PF6 for 1 and 2; X = ClO4 for 3) have similar geometrical parameters for the ring atoms (N(2), Co, C(12)). A pocket under the Co−C−N group is created by the raised position of N(2) above the plane of the other three equatorial N donors, the cis oxime N, N(1), the trans oxime N, N(4), and the cis imine N, N(3). A net upward bending is clearly shown by the sum of the four cis N−Co−N bond angles involving the L ligating atom, N(5). The sum is ∼23° more in the new models than in related i...
RECOVERY AND INACTIVATION OF INFECTIOUS RETROVIRUSES ADDED TO FACTOR VIII CONCENTRATES

Abstract The ability of infectious retroviruses to withstand the procedures used for factor VIII concentration was investigated. Mouse retroviruses added to human plasma survived these procedures and remained infectious in lyophilised samples of factor VIII. Lyophilised material had to be heated at 68°C for several hours before substantial quantities of infectious virus became inactivated. These findings support the possible role of retroviruses in AIDS, and indicate that factor VIII concentrates must be heated to inactivate these infectious viruses.
Comparison of Velocity Waveforms of Eye and Head Saccades

We compared the velocity waveforms of head and eye-in-head movements during eye-head saccades over a range 5-50 degrees. The velocity waveforms of eye-in-head saccades showed a skew ratio (acceleration period/saccade duration) that varied as a function of saccade size and duration. The velocity waveforms of head saccades showed a more constant skew of approximately 0.5 for the range of movements tested. These results suggest independent system controllers for eye and head components of eye-head saccades.