cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Emerging Theme: Cellular PDZ Proteins as Common Targets of Pathogenic Viruses

More than a decade ago, three viral oncoproteins, adenovirus type 9 E4-ORF1, human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 Tax, and high-risk human papillomavirus E6, were found to encode a related carboxyl-terminal PDZ domain-binding motif (PBM) that mediates interactions with a select group of cellular PDZ proteins. Recent studies have shown that many other viruses also encode PBM-containing proteins that bind to cellular PDZ proteins. Interestingly, these recently recognized viruses include not only some with oncogenic potential (hepatitis B virus, rhesus papillomavirus, cottontail rabbit papillomavirus) but also many without this potential (influenza virus, Dengue virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus, rabies virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, human immunodeficiency virus). Examination of the cellular PDZ proteins that are targets of viral PBMs reveals that the viral proteins often interact with the same or similar types of PDZ proteins, most notably Dlg1 and other members of the membrane-associated guanylate kinase protein family, as well as Scribble. In addition, cellular PDZ protein targets of viral PBMs commonly control tight junction formation, cell polarity establishment, and apoptosis. These findings reveal a new theme in virology wherein many different virus families encode proteins that bind and perturb the function of cellular PDZ proteins. The inhibition or perturbation of the function of cellular PDZ proteins appears to be a widely used strategy for viruses to enhance their replication, disseminate in the host, and transmit to new hosts.
Opportunistic medium access control in MIMO wireless mesh networks

As a newly emerging technology with some inherent advantages over other wireless networks, wireless mesh networks (WMNs) have received much attention recently. In this paper, we present a cross-layer protocol design for WMNs, which combines the MIMO technique in the physical layer and the opportunistic medium access in theMAC layer into an integrated entity and jointly considers their interactions. In particular, we propose a protocol named opportunistic medium access control in MIMO WMNs (OMAC-MWMN). In an infrastructure/backbone WMN, mesh routers are grouped into clusters, in each of which a cluster head has multiple pending links with its neighbors. This traffic-driven clustering provides a great opportunity for a cluster head to locally coordinate the multiuser medium access. In each iteration of the scheduling, a cluster head opportunistically chooses some compatible neighbors among multiple candidates by utilizing the benefits of multiuser diversity. Then the cluster head simultaneously communicates with multiple selected compatible neighbors through multiuser spatial multiplexing. We formalize the problem of finding a scheduler for a cluster head to select compatible neighbors as finding a compatible pair with the maximum SINR (signal-to-interference and noise ratio) product. Our simulation results show that the proposed protocol can significantly improve system capacity with minimum extra overhead.
Hepatic and Gastrointestinal Diseases

The gastrointestinal tract (GI) and the liver are important organs which are involved in the absorption and metabolism of nutrients, drugs, and toxins. Diseases involving the GI tract and the liver, therefore, affect every organ in the human body. Anesthesiologists have to be familiar with the anatomy, physiology, and disease states affecting the GI tract and the liver, to provide optimal care to the surgical patient.
Ad Hoc Access: The Regulation of Editorial Advertising on Television and Radio

The Fairness Doctrine1 and broadcasters' obligation to present both sides of controversial public issuesdied last August in a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) hearing room.2 Congress' attempts to prolong the Doctrine's life had been halted at the President's desk just six weeks before.3 The repeal of the Fairness Doctrine has meant more than an end to a system of regulation that broadcasters claimed was onerous; it has caused a reversal of the "unusual order of First Amendment values"4 in broadcasting, under which the right of viewers and listeners to be informed is paramount to the right of station owners to determine what shall be broadcast. This Current Topic argues that the Doctrine's demise should also mean new life for the previously discarded concept of broadcast access, at least for editorial advertisements.5 The current treatment of editorial advertisements illustrates well the new balance that has been struck between broadcasters' inter-
Utilization of Harvester Ant Debris by Tenebrionid Beetles

Tenebrionid beetles with defensive secretions are able to use these secretions as weapons against ants. The beetles feed on the organic matter that harvester ants collect around the entrance to their nests. By exploiting the organic matter collected and concentrated by the ants, the beetles greatly increase the amount of food available to them.
Identification of Brassica napus Lines with Partial Resistance to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

Abstract A collection of Brassica napus plant introduction (PI) lines was evaluated in a series of research trials to identify lines with resistance to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, causal agent of Scl...
Analyse of the curative effect of selective posterior rhizotomy for spastic cerebral palsy

Objective Selective posterior rhizotomy (SPR) of L2-S1 at conus medullaris level was performed and the procedure's results were followed up. Method SPR of L2-S1 at conus medullaris level through T12 to L2 laminectomy was performed on 22 patients suffering from spastic cerebral palsy, the change of spasticity and motor abilities were investigated through 6 months followed up. Result Reduction of spasticity was observed in all the muscular groups, and all the patients presented functional improvement of motor abilities. No patients developed serious complications. Conclusion SPR at medullaris level has showed a satisfactory result with a limited injury.
Design of Intelligent Reactive Power Compensation Controller Based on dsPIC and MCP3909

Due to the low precision and single function of the traditional reactive power compensation device,the capacitor switching process tends to produce large inrush current,causing the system overvoltage.To address this problem,this paper designs a new intelligent reactive power compensation controller to help the zero-cross-switching complex switch realize the LV distribution reactive compensation.The hardware of the controller adopts dsPIC33F processor and high precision analog-to-digital converting chip MCP3909,and the software uses the quasisynchronous sampling method for collection and calculation of the power grid parameters.The test results show that this reactive power compensation can be accurately controlled hierarchically compensated,capable of zero-cross-switching.The system can significantly improve the power factor.
Graduated probes for coronary bypass surgery.

In this report we shall describe the use of graduated probes in coronary bypass surgery. These probes facilitate the insertion of sutures and keep the operative field dry during creation of the anastomoses. They can be used to locate and gently dilate stenotic areas and to measure the internal diameter of vessels. The new probes are more useful and versatile than coronary dilators that have been used in the past.
Results of Testicular Autotransplantation Using the Microvascular Technique: Experience with 8 Intra-Abdominal Testes

AbstractChildren with intra-abdominal testes comprise a small group presenting for surgical management of the undescended testicle. During the last 4 years 6 children with 8 intra-abdominal testes have undergone testicular surgery. In 7 testicles the technique involved high intraperitoneal division of the testicular pedicle with reanastomosis of the distal spermatic artery and vein to the inferior epigastric artery and vein using the operating room microscope. Microsurgery on the 7 intra-abdominal testicles led to good results in 6 cases. In 1 testicle venous infarction occurred secondary to venous congestion. Although many children with intra-abdominal testes have been managed using the standard Stephens-Fowler technique, we believe that microsurgical reanastomosis will improve the previously reported results.
Lessons Learned in a Breastfeeding Media Campaign

Breastfeeding is well accepted as the optimal nutrition for babies. The American Academy of Pediatrics states that infant feeding should no longer be thought of as a lifestyle choice, but rather as a public health issue. In Shelby County, Tennessee, rates of breastfeeding continue to be disparately low. To address this public health problem, a focus group study was conducted with the Shelby County population least likely to breastfeed. Following participants' suggestion to use a billboard campaign with pictures of local mothers and families, one highway billboard and ten bus stop signs were placed around the city in areas of the lowest breastfeeding rates. Self-administered surveys were completed by convenience sampling in target population areas with women least likely to breastfeed, both before placing the signs and 6 months later. No significant differences were noted in knowledge, attitudes, or practices after the media campaign, but trends toward increased intention to breastfeed were noted among expectant mothers. With collapsed data (pre and post), a majority of participants believed that breastfeeding is the best way to feed a baby and they were significantly more likely to plan to breastfeed if they knew about health benefits to the baby and to themselves. If they had heard about breastfeeding on the TV or radio, they were more likely to believe breastfeeding is important for long-term health. These findings suggest that a media campaign could have a complementary role in promoting breastfeeding among women with low initiation rates.
Cortico-Cortical Interactions during Acquisition and Use of a Neuroprosthetic Skill.

A motor cortex-based brain-computer interface (BCI) creates a novel real world output directly from cortical activity. Use of a BCI has been demonstrated to be a learned skill that involves recruitment of neural populations that are directly linked to BCI control as well as those that are not. The nature of interactions between these populations, however, remains largely unknown. Here, we employed a data-driven approach to assess the interaction between both local and remote cortical areas during the use of an electrocorticographic BCI, a method which allows direct sampling of cortical surface potentials. Comparing the area controlling the BCI with remote areas, we evaluated relationships between the amplitude envelopes of band limited powers as well as non-linear phase-phase interactions. We found amplitude-amplitude interactions in the high gamma (HG, 70–150 Hz) range that were primarily located in the posterior portion of the frontal lobe, near the controlling site, and non-linear phase-phase interactions involving multiple frequencies (cross-frequency coupling between 8–11 Hz and 70–90 Hz) taking place over larger cortical distances. Further, strength of the amplitude-amplitude interactions decreased with time, whereas the phase-phase interactions did not. These findings suggest multiple modes of cortical communication taking place during BCI use that are specialized for function and depend on interaction distance.
The Right to Marry and State Marriage Amendments: Implications for Future Families

Various states amended their constitutions to reserve marriage for different sex couples, although the wording of those amendments differed significantly among the states. When the Court struck down same-sex marriage bans In Obergefell, it made some of the marriage amendments unenforceable as a general matter. However, other amendments included provisions precluding the state from according marital benefits to non-marital couples, and those provisions might be interpreted to be compatible with and hence not invalidated by Obergefell. This article discusses some of those provisions and their implications for many non-marital couples (whether same- or different-sex) and their children.
Reliability Analysis and Distributed Voting for NMR Nanoscale Systems

Redundancy techniques, such as N-tuple modular redundancy, has been widely used to correct faulty behavior of components and achieve high reliability. However, the NMR systems, and many other redundancy-based strategies, are all based on majority voting. The voter, therefore, becomes a bottleneck for the correct operation of any NMR system. In this paper, we propose a defect-tolerant strategy based on distributed voting mechanism to design a robust NMR system. We show that using a novel communication-inspired mechanism, namely logic code division multiple access, we can transfer data with extremely low error rates among N modules and completely eliminate the need for a centralized voter unit. Such a highly reliable strategy is vital for future nano systems in which high defect rate is expected. Experimental results are also reported to verify the concept, clarify the design procedure and measure the system's reliability.
TET2: Mechanism and Functional Consequences of Hydroxymethylation

Abstract SCI-32 TET family enzymes convert 5-methylcytosine (5mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) in DNA. Somatic TET2 mutations are frequently observed in myeloid neoplasms in humans. Bone marrow samples from patients with mutant TET2 , as well as some patients with wild type TET2 , display low levels of 5hmC in genomic DNA compared to healthy controls. Measurement of 5hmC levels in myeloid malignancies may prove valuable as a diagnostic and prognostic tool to tailor therapies and assess responses to anticancer drugs. We have developed novel and specific approaches to profile the genomic localization of 5hmC and will describe their application to profiling 5hmC in mouse hematopoietic progenitor cells that express or lack Tet2. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Atypical Presentation of Gordon Syndrome and Its Management: A Report of Three Patients

Gordon syndrome (GS) usually presents in children with hyperkalemia, hypertension and hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis. However, it has been reported in adults, where diagnosis can be missed in the absence of vigilance for electrolytes and acid base abnormalities. GS is traditionally managed with hydrochlorothiazide and restricted sodium diet. We report adult patients with GS, who were successfully treated with a potassium-restricted diet. Three female patients (aged 70, 61, and 79 years) presented to the clinic with untreated isolated hyperkalemia for several years. Patients did not complain of headache, palpitation, chest pain, polyuria or hematuria. Upon examination, two patients were normotensive and one patient had hypertension (150/90 mm Hg). Laboratory analysis revealed hyperkalemia (6.2, 6.1 and 6.2 mEq/L), serum bicarbonate level of 30, 27 and 28 mEq/L, hyperchloremia (108, 107 and 94 mEq/L) and serum normal creatinine (0.90, 0.8 and 0.78 mg/dL), based upon normal reference lab values. Plasma aldosterone and renin were normal. Based on patients’ history, physical examination, laboratory findings and absence of other causes of hyperkalemia such as the history of the use of NSAID, ACE inhibitors (angiotensin receptor blockers, aldosterone receptor blockers, and beta-blockers), and the absence of diabetes mellitus and other causes of hyporeninemic hypoaldosteronism, a diagnosis of GS was made. All three patients were treated with a restricted potassium diet contrary to a low sodium diet and hydrochlorothiazide. A 4-week follow-up showed normal serum potassium levels (4.2, 4.6 and 4.9 mEq/L) in all three patients. While GS has been reported previously in adults and can present with normal blood pressure, its management by a restricted potassium diet has not been reported, to the best of our knowledge. GS should be included in the differential diagnosis of adult patients presenting with unexplained hyperkalemia. J Med Cases. 2017;8(8):252-255 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jmc2874w
Condition-dependent foraging in the wolf spider Hogna baltimoriana

Abstract Spiders are major predators of terrestrial arthropods, so understanding the underlying drivers of spider foraging is crucial for understanding how energy and nutrients pass through terrestrial food webs. We tested predictions made by allometric and optimal foraging theory using the wolf spider Hogna baltimoriana and grasshopper prey as a model (Caelifera). Allometric foraging theory predicts that functional response parameters will be dependent on body size, whereas optimal foraging theory asserts the importance of energetic state in determining foraging behaviors. We found that space clearance rate (type II functional response parameter a ) was negatively related to the ratio of abdomen width to carapace width (a measure of energetic state) but not to body mass or carapace width. Thus, a key factor in determining the strength of foraging interactions in spiders may be recent energy intake that determines the current body condition of foragers.
Clinical Decisions: How Relevant is Modern Bacterial Taxonomy for Clinical Microbiologists?

Abstract Bacterial taxonomy has radically changed over the past three decades largely due to innovative technologies, such as 16S rRNA gene sequencing and whole-genome sequencing (WGS). These changes have resulted in an explosion in the number of proposed new bacterial species that are based upon a very limited number of strains and changes to our perspectives on what constitutes a "bacterial species." The format in which these new species have been proposed also presents challenges to both clinical and public health microbiologists. How much attention should be placed on monitoring these changes in nomenclature and classification when they may change quickly and can easily disrupt our laboratory information systems, our hospital information systems, and historical data extractions and dashboards, which need continual amendment? This review highlights taxonomic issues and changing trends related to the clinical laboratory, suggested guidelines for reviewing these proposals, and where the field of modern bacterial taxonomy may be going.
Return to Play After Hip Arthroscopy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background:The use of arthroscopic treatment for intra-articular hip pathology has demonstrated improved patient-reported outcomes (PROs) with a lower rate of complications, reoperation, and patien...
Evaluating diffusion of light in the eye by objective means.

Purpose The authors have developed an index of diffusion that describes the relative spread of light inside and outside the region of image focus of the living human eye. It provides in numerical terms a measure of light scatter and can be used to characterize the optical deficit in eyes with age- and disease-related abnormalities of the anterior segment. Method An improved version of the double-pass method of examining the aerial image formed by reflection of the retinal image of a point source is employed, together with a new way of analyzing the image. Experimental estimation shows the contaminating effect of back scatter from the media and corneal reflection to be negligible. Measurements are objective and do not require any responses on the part of the patient. Data become available practically on-line. Results Index of diffusion values were obtained on 13 patients and varied from 0.22 to 1.04, strongly tending to increase with age. They are rather robust to pupil size, exposure duration, and small amounts of defocus. Conclusion The index appears to provide a promising measure of optical performance of the media of the anterior segment of the eye, which might be useful in studying the effect of aging, injury, and disease.
Embedding ℓ1 into tensor products of Banach spaces

It is known that if E and F are Banach spaces neither of which contains a copy of l1, and if either E′ or F′ has the Radon-Nikodým property, then the e-tensor product E Open image in new window F does not contain a copy of l1. We show that the converse of this assertion fails by showing that JH Open image in new window JH fails to contain l1.
Direct, Transfer-Free Growth of Large-Area Hexagonal Boron Nitride Films by Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Film Conversion (PECFC) of Printable, Solution-Processed Ammonia Borane

Synthesis of large-area hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) films for two-dimensional (2D) electronic applications typically requires high temperatures (∼1000 °C) and catalytic metal substrates which necessitate transfer. Here, analogous to plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, a nonthermal plasma is employed to create energetic and chemically reactive states such as atomic hydrogen and convert a molecular precursor film to h-BN at temperatures as low as 500 °C directly on metal-free substrates—a process we term plasma-enhanced chemical film conversion (PECFC). Films containing ammonia borane as a precursor are prepared by a variety of solution processing methods including spray deposition, spin coating, and inkjet printing and reacted in a cold-wall reactor with a planar dielectric barrier discharge operated at atmospheric pressure in a background of argon or a mixture of argon and hydrogen. Systematic characterization of the converted h-BN films by micro-Raman spectroscopy shows that the minimum tempera...
How informed is our consent? Patient awareness of radiation and radical prostatectomy complications.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate patient's recall of pretreatment counseling for radical prostatectomy and radiation therapy for the treatment of prostate cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS A retrospective review of all patients presenting to our reconstructive urology clinic for the management of the complications of prostate cancer treatment was conducted over 24 months. Patients treated with only surgery or radiotherapy were included in the study. Patients were asked a standard series of questions to assess their recall of their pre-prostate cancer treatment counseling. RESULTS We identified 206 patients that met inclusion criteria. Of those, 153 underwent radical prostatectomy and 53 patients received radiation therapy. Median age at presentation was 72 years in the surgery group and 75 in the radiation therapy group. Mean time since treatment was 8.8 years in those that recalled being counseled and 9.9 years in those who did not (p=0.21). In the surgery group, the adverse effects experienced by 119 (77.8%) patients recalled, and counselled were related to the risk of treatment. In the surgical patients that had records with documentation of pretreatment counseling, 41/48 (85.4%) endorsed recall. In the surgery group, 117 (76.5%) stated that their treating physician was aware of their complication. In the radiation group, 5 patients (9.4%) endorsed recall (p<0.0001). In the subgroup of radiation patients with documentation of pre-treatment counseling, no patients endorsed recall. In the surgery group, 117 (76.5%) patients stated that their treating physicians were aware of their complication, while in the radiation group, only 16 (30.2%) of treating physicians were aware of the complications (p<0.0001). CONCLUSION Patient recall of potential complications of prostate cancer treatment is poor. It's unclear if this is secondary to poor recall, selective memory loss or inadequate counseling.
Immune-mediated encephalitis for the infectious disease specialist.

Purpose of reviewAutoimmune encephalitis is increasingly recognized and must be distinguished from infectious forms of encephalitis. Moreover, physicians should be aware of infectious triggers of autoimmune encephalitis and of infectious complications associated with treatment.Recent findingsRecent
Global Warming in the Fickle News

The scientifically assessed threat of climate change has become more dire since 1988, when it first became a public concern. However news coverage of climate, and public concern about it, are variable, sometimes high, sometimes low. Today it is at a high point, at least for the political left. Here we trace the fickle nature of news coverage and public concern, even as objective warming continues to worsen.
Surgery for Germ Cell Tumours: Current Status in the USA

No nationwide registry exists for the treatment of testis tumours in the United States. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2001 there will be 7200 new cases of testicular cancer and 400 deaths attributed to testis cancer [1]. Because testis cancer is a relatively rare tumour, a few referral centers in the United States provide the bulk of surgical care for these patients. As mentioned, because no nationwide registry exists for the treatment of these patients, the material presented herein is based upon abstracts and presentations from referral centers and the experience of the authors from Indiana University.
Can the IoT Help Small Businesses

The IoT (Internet of Things) can transform businesses by automating processes ranging from inventory management to robotics to automation, saving time, and money. However, can small businesses bene...
Implications of Four-dimensional Weather Cubes for Improved Cloud-free Line-of-sight Assessments of Free-space Optical Communications Link Performance

We advance the benefits of previously reported four-dimensional (4-D) weather cubes toward the creation of high-fidelity cloud-free line-of-sight (CFLOS) beam propagation for realistic assessment of autotracked/dynamically routed free-space optical (FSO) communication datalink concepts. The weather cubes accrue parameterization of optical effects and custom atmospheric resolution through implementation of numerical weather prediction data in the Laser Environmental Effects Definition and Reference atmospheric characterization and radiative transfer code. 4-D weather cube analyses have recently been expanded to accurately assess system performance (probabilistic climatologies and performance forecasts) at any wavelength/frequency or spectral band in the absence of field tests and employment data. The 4-D weather cubes initialize an engineering propagation code, which provides the basis for comparative percentile performance binning of FSO communication bit error rates (BERs) as a function of wide-ranging azimuth/elevation, earth-to-space uplinks. The aggregated, comparative BER binning analyzes for different regions, times of day, and seasons applying a full year of 4-D weather cubes data provided numerous occasions of clouds, fogs, and precipitation events. The analysis demonstrated the utility of 4-D weather cubes for adroit management of CFLOS opportunities to enhance performance analyses of point-to-point as well as evolving multilayer wireless network concepts.
Ultraviolet-reflective film applied to windows reduces the likelihood of collisions for two species of songbird

Perhaps a billion birds die annually from colliding with residential and commercial windows. Therefore, there is a societal need to develop technologies that reduce window collisions by birds. Many current window films that are applied to the external surface of windows have human-visible patterns that are not esthetically preferable. BirdShades have developed a short wavelength (ultraviolet) reflective film that appears as a slight tint to the human eye but should be highly visible to many bird species that see in this spectral range. We performed flight tunnel tests of whether the BirdShades external window film reduced the likelihood that two species of song bird (zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata and brown-headed cowbird, Molothrus ater) collide with windows during daylight. We paid particular attention to simulate the lighting conditions that birds will experience while flying during the day. Our results indicate a 75-90% reduction in the likelihood of collision with BirdShades-treated compared with control windows, in forced choice trials. In more ecologically relevant comparison between trials where all windows were either treated or control windows, the estimated reduction in probability of collision was 30-50%. Further, both bird species slow their flight by approximately 25% when approaching windows treated with the BirdShades film, thereby reducing the force of collisions if they were to happen. Therefore, we conclude that the BirdShades external window film will be effective in reducing the risk of and damage caused to populations and property by birds' collision with windows. As this ultraviolet-reflective film has no human-visible patterning to it, the product might be an esthetically more acceptable low cost solution to reducing bird-window collisions. Further, we call for testing of other mitigation technologies in lighting and ecological conditions that are more similar to what birds experience in real human-built environments and make suggestions for testing standards to assess collision-reducing technologies.
Selection of fewer dominant follicles in Trio carriers given GnRH antagonist and luteinizing hormone action replaced by nonpulsatile human chorionic gonadotropin

Studying selection of multiple dominant follicles (DFs) in monovulatory species can advance our understanding of mechanisms regulating selection of single or multiple DFs. Carriers of the bovine high fecundity Trio allele select multiple DFs, whereas half-sib noncarriers select a single DF. This study compared follicle selection during endogenous gonadotropin pulses versus during ablation of pulses with Acyline (GnRH antagonist) and luteinizing hormone (LH) action replaced with nonpulsatile human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) treatment in Trio carriers (n = 28) versus noncarriers (n = 32). On Day 1.5 (Day 0 = ovulation), heifers were randomized: (1) Control, untreated; (2) Acyline, two i.m. doses (Days 1.5 and D3) of 3 µg/kg; (3) hCG, single i.m. dose of 50 IU hCG on Day 1.5 followed by daily doses of 100 IU; and (4) Acyline + hCG. Treatments with nonpulsatile hCG were designed to replace LH action in heifers treated with Acyline. Acyline treatment resulted in cessation of follicle growth on Day 3 with smaller (P < 0.0001) maximum follicle diameter in Trio carriers (6.6 ± 0.2 mm) than noncarriers (8.7 ± 0.4 mm). Replacement of LH action (hCG) reestablished follicle diameter deviation and maximum diameter of DFs in both genotypes (8.9 ± 0.3 mm and 13.1 ± 0.5 mm; P < 0.0001). Circulating follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) was greater in Acyline-treated than in controls. Finally, Acyline + hCG decreased (P < 0.0001) the number of DFs from 2.7 ± 0.2 to 1.3 ± 0.2 in Trio carriers, with most heifers having only one DF. This demonstrates the necessity for LH in acquisition of dominance in Trio carriers (∼6.5 mm) and noncarriers (∼8.5 mm) and provides evidence for a role of GnRH-induced FSH/LH pulses in selection of multiple DFs in Trio carriers and possibly other physiologic situations with increased ovulation rate.Graphical AbstractSummary sentenceNumber of dominant follicles (DFs) was reduced from 2.7 in carriers of the high fecundity Trio allele to mostly a single DF in carriers with gonadotropin pulses ablated by GnRH antagonist and LH action replaced with nonpulsatile human chorionic gonadotropin treatment.
Extrinsic cues cooperate with intrinsic temporal factors to increase neuronal diversity

Summary How diverse neuronal types are sequentially generated from individual neural stem cells is a central question in neurobiology. This “temporal patterning” is controlled by both intrinsic and extrinsic cues. Whether and how extrinsic cues interact with intrinsic programs to increase neuronal diversity, or if they only fine-tune the timing of temporal transitions, is not known. We use the simple Drosophila mushroom body lineage, comprised of only three neuronal types that are sequentially produced, to address the role of extrinsic cues in temporal patterning. As they age, mushroom body stem cells (neuroblasts) advance through intrinsic and opposing temporal gradients of two RNA-binding proteins, Imp and Syp. These intrinsic gradients are used to first produce γ, then α’β’, and finally αβ neurons. The specification of each neuronal type is temporally confined to specific developing stages, and progression from one temporal window to the next occurs concurrently with key, developmental events. This suggests that extrinsic cues play important roles in patterning temporal identity in this lineage. We show that an extrinsic cue, Activin, not only times the young (Imp) to old (Syp) neuroblast fate transition but that it is also essential for increasing neuronal diversity by defining the mid-temporal window (α’β’). Activin reduces the levels of the intrinsic factor Imp, creating a scenario where Imp and Syp are both at low levels for an extended period. In Activin receptor mutants, α’β’ neurons are not generated because high Imp levels inhibit the activation of α’β’ effectors, including ecdysone receptor signaling. Additionally, the γ temporal window appears to be extended and the αβ window is shortened, due to a delayed Imp to Syp transition. Our results illustrate that temporal extrinsic cues during neurogenesis can modify an intrinsic temporal program to increase neuronal diversity.
Single-cell RNA sequencing: An overview for the ophthalmologist

Understanding the molecular composition of pathogenic tissues is a critical step in understanding the pathophysiology of disease and designing therapeutics. First described in 2009, single cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) is a methodology whereby thousands of cells are simultaneously isolated into individual micro-environments that can be altered experimentally and the genome-wide RNA expression of each cell is captured. It has undergone significant technological improvement over the last decade and gained tremendous popularity. scRNAseq is an improvement over prior pooled RNA analyses which cannot identify the cellular composition and heterogeneity of a tissue of interest. This new approach offers new opportunity for new discovery, as tissue samples can now be sub-categorized into groups of cell types based on genome-wide gene expression in an unbiased fashion. As ophthalmologists, we are uniquely positioned to obtain pathologic samples from the eye for further study. ScRNAseq has already been applied in ophthalmology to characterize retinal tissue, and it may offer the key to understanding various pathological processes in the future.
Novel Nitro-Heteroaromatic Antimicrobial Agents for the Control and Eradication of Biofilm-Forming Bacteria.

The synthesis and biological activity of several novel nitrothiazole, nitrobenzothiazole, and nitrofuran containing antimicrobial agents for the eradication of biofilm-forming Gram-negative and Gram-positive pathogens is described. Nitazoxanide (NTZ), nitrofurantoin, and furazolidone are commercial antimicrobials which were used as models to show how structural modification improved activity toward planktonic bacteria via minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assays and biofilms via minimum biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC) assays. Structure–activity relationship (SAR) studies illustrate the ways in which improvements have been made to the aforementioned antimicrobial agents. It is of particular interest in this regard that the introduction of a chloro substituent at the 5-position of NTZ (analog 1b) resulted in marked activity enhancement, as did the replacement of the 2-acetoxy substituent in the latter compound with a basic amine group (analog 7b). It is also of importance that analog 4a, which is a simple methacrylamide, displayed noteworthy activity against S. epidermidis biofilms. These lead compounds identified to have high activity towards biofilms provide promise as starting points in future pro-drug studies.
Constructing a Textual KB from a Biology TextBook

As part of our work on building a "knowledgeable textbook" about biology, we are developing a textual question-answering (QA) system that can answer certain classes of biology questions posed by users. In support of that, we are building a "textual KB" - an assembled set of semi-structured assertions based on the book - that can be used to answer users' queries, can be improved using global consistency constraints, and can be potentially validated and corrected by domain experts. Our approach is to view the KB as systematically caching answers from a QA system, and the QA system as assembling answers from the KB, the whole process kickstarted with an initial set of textual extractions from the book text itself. Although this research is only in a preliminary stage, we summarize our progress and lessons learned to date.
A different approach: Applying a wellness paradigm to adolescent female delinquents and offenders

Recent epidemiological and survey research indicates that the incidence of delinquency among adolescent females is increasing, Ex tin treatment programs, based primarily in research on males fail to consider the unique developmental needs of females. These programs focus on punishment rather than treatment, often reinforcing the behaviors they seek to reduce or eliminate. Programs that incorporate a focus on gender issues, prevention, early intervention, and positive mental health are needed. A wellness paradigm is presented and explored as a promising approach to preventing as well as treating delinquent behaviors among adolescent females. This approach is demonstrated using a case example from an inpatient adolescent treatment program.
Potential of multi-photon reading and writing for optical data storage systems

Multi-photon (MP) optical data storage systems (ODS) have been discussed for many years. A differentiating advantage for MP systems is the ability to interrogate through the depth of a multiple-layer substrate without significant influence from out-of-focus layers. Until recently, these systems have been impractical due to the cost, size and complexity of the lasers used for writing and reading. This presentation discusses a brief overview of MP physics for ODS, writing and readout techniques, MP-ODS systems published to date, potential storage densities, new compact MP laser sources appropriate for ODS, and a new MP enhancement effect for readout signal enhancement.
On the approximation of symmetric operators by operators of finite rank

The following Theorem 1 and Theorem 2 are established. The proof utilizes the elementary properties of symmetric operators. It is shown that the symmetry condition is necessary for these theorems to hold.
CrowdCL: Web-based volunteer computing with WebCL

We present CrowdCL, an open-source framework for the rapid development of volunteer computing and OpenCL applications on the web. Drawing inspiration from existing GPU libraries like PyCUDA, CrowdCL provides an abstraction layer for WebCL aimed at reducing boilerplate and improving code readability. CrowdCL also provides developers with a framework to easily run computations in the background of a web page, which allows developers to distribute computations across a network of clients and aggregate results on a centralized server. We compare the performance of CrowdCL against serial implementations in Javascript and Java across a variety of platforms. Our benchmark results show strong promise for the web browser as a high-performance distributed computing platform.
Ethanol and neuronal calcium channels

Ethanol alters voltage-dependent calcium channels and receptor-operated channels which transport calcium [e.g., the ion channels associated with N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors]. However, the question which still remain unanswered is whether these modifications have any physiological significance. This review will focus on the effects of ethanol on various calcium-related parameters with an emphasis on the possible relevance to the behavioral effects elicited by ethanol.
Addressing the Immediate Causes of Malnutrition: The Positive Deviance Approach to Household Food Security

Household food security is measured ultimately by the nutritional status of its individual members, especially young children. Malnutrition is the result of many interrelated factors: poverty, inadequate health services, poor maternal health and childcare practices, inadequate water and sanitation, and insufficient food security. For communities with a high prevalence of malnutrition, it may take years or decades before all these factors can be addressed. Today's malnourished children cannot wait for the results of a long-term approach; food security programs need to address their plight quickly. The positive deviance approach, operationalized in the Hearth Nutrition Model by Save the Children and other organizations, offers a way to address the immediate causes of malnutrition—direct food intake and childcare—that is economical, sustainable, and promotes community empowerment.
Long-Term Ascorbic Acid Administration Reverses Endothelial Vasomotor Dysfunction in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease

Background—Loss of endothelium-derived nitric oxide (EDNO) contributes to the clinical expression of coronary artery disease (CAD). Increased oxidative stress has been linked to impaired endothelial vasomotor function in atherosclerosis, and recent studies demonstrated that short-term ascorbic acid treatment improves endothelial function. Methods and Results—In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, we examined the effects of single-dose (2 g PO) and long-term (500 mg/d) ascorbic acid treatment on EDNO-dependent flow-mediated dilation of the brachial artery in patients with angiographically established CAD. Flow-mediated dilation was examined by high-resolution vascular ultrasound at baseline, 2 hours after the single dose, and 30 days after long-term treatment in 46 patients with CAD. Flow-mediated dilation improved from 6.6±3.5% to 10.1±5.2% after single-dose treatment, and the effect was sustained after long-term treatment (9.0±3.7%), whereas flow-mediated dilation was 8.6±4.7% at baseli...
Thrombophilia and Activated Protein C Resistance

In addition to classic vascular insults such as inflammation, trauma, malignancy, and surgery, a number of hereditary coagulation defects predispose patients to a wide array of thrombotic complications. A novel genetic defect in factor V allowing for resistance to its cleavage by activated protein C has recently been implicated in a significant number of cases of familial thrombophilia. A brief case report and review of the literature is presented to familiarize surgeons to this important and quite frequent cause of hypercoagulability.
Epoxides as alkene protecting groups. A mild and efficient deoxygenation

Abstract Dimethyl diazomalonate smoothly deoxygenates epoxides to alkenes with rhodium(II) acetate catalysis.
A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DEVELOPMENTAL AND NONDEVELOPMENTAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of developmental courses in a rural community college. The Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test, Blue Level, Form A, Stanford Test of Academic Skills English Subtest, Level 2, Form E, and the Stanford Diagnostic Mathematics Test, 3rd Edition, Blue Level, Form G were administered to two groups of entering freshmen in the fall of 1987. Group 1 included all students whose diagnostic test scores indicated a need for at least one developmental course. Group 2 consisted of all students whose diagnostic test scores did not indicate a need for developmental course work. Results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference in the mathematics mean Quality Point Averages with the developmental students attaining higher mean Quality Point Averages. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in English mean Quality Point Averages; however, developmental students obtained a higher Quality Point Average
THE STRUCTURE OF THE MERISTEMATIC ROOT TIP AND ORIGIN OF THE PRIMARY TISSUES IN THE ROOTS OF VASCULAR PLANTS

THERE HAS been considerable activity in recent years in the study of cell lineages and growth in meristems, but in spite of this, comparativelv little attention has been paid to the apical meristem of roots. In Esau's comprehensive review of the literature (1943) on the origin and development of primary vascular tissues in seed plants only four pages out of eighty-one are devoted to "procambial and early vascular differentiation in roots." Some seedling anatomy studies have been made (such as Hayward, 1932; Mulendore, 1935; Link, 1941; Hayward and Long, 1942) as well as other developmental studies (Esau, 1940, 1943; Engard, 1944; Allen, 1947), which give attention to the differentiation of tissues in the roots of the plants being considered. It is now generally known that there is a close ontogenetic relationship between the pericycle and vascular tissuesof the root, that the metaxylem initials may be distinguished before the protoxvlem initials even though they mature later in the ontogeny of the root, and that the primary phloem is functional farther down into the root tip than any other vascular tissue (Esau, 1943). In this study, which was begun in 1939, root tips of members of the various groups of vascular plants have been investigated and compared; the purpose being to note similarities and differences in structure and development within and among the various groups, as well as structures -and patterns common to root tips of all the groups. MATERIALS AND METHODs.-The 195 roots studied include. 74 species from 18 families of monocotyledons; 105 species from 48 families of dicotyledons; .11 species from 6 families of pteridophytes, and 5 species from 4 families of gymnosperms. Most of the root tips for this investigation were collected in the field. From such aquatic plants as Saqittaria, Isoetes, Salix, Carex, Juncus, Scirpus, many of the grasses and others, good root tips can be secured at almost any time. From plants of a mesophytic habitat tips can be best secured just following a rain.
Thermal conductance of thin silicon nanowires.

The thermal conductance of individual single crystalline silicon nanowires with diameters less than 30 nm has been measured from 20 to 100 K. The observed thermal conductance shows unusual linear temperature dependence at low temperatures, as opposed to the ${T}^{3}$ dependence predicted by the conventional phonon transport model. In contrast to previous models, the present study suggests that phonon-boundary scattering is highly frequency dependent, and ranges from nearly ballistic to completely diffusive, which can explain the unexpected linear temperature dependence.