cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Using mineralogy and higher-level taxonomy as indicators of species sensitivity to pH: A case-study of Puget Sound

Information on ecosystem sensitivity to global change can help guide management decisions. Here, we characterize the sensitivity of the Puget Sound ecosystem to ocean acidification by estimating, at a number of taxonomic levels, the direct sensitivity of its species. We compare sensitivity estimates based on species mineralogy and on published literature from laboratory experiments and field studies. We generated information on the former by building a database of species in Puget Sound with mineralogy estimates for all CaCO 3 -forming species. For the latter, we relied on a recently developed database and meta-analysis on temperate species responses to increased CO 2 . In general, species sensitivity estimates based on the published literature suggest that calcifying species are more sensitive to increased CO 2 than non-calcifying species. However, this generalization is incomplete, as non-calcifying species also show direct sensitivity to high CO 2 conditions. We did not find a strong link between mineral solubility and the sensitivity of species survival to changes in carbonate chemistry, suggesting that, at coarse scales, mineralogy plays a lesser role to other physiological sensitivities. Summarizing species sensitivity at the family level resulted in higher sensitivity scalar scores than at the class level, suggesting that grouping results at the class level may overestimate species sensitivity. This result raises caution about the use of broad generalizations on species response to ocean acidification, particularly when developing summary information for specific locations. While we have much to learn about species response to ocean acidification and how to generalize ecosystem response, this study on Puget Sound suggests that detailed information on species performance under elevated carbon dioxide conditions, summarized at the lowest taxonomic level possible, is more valuable than information on species mineralogy.
How host metabolism impacts on virus pathogenesis.

The outcome of virus infections depends on multiple factors. This review deals with the role of host metabolism as one such factor. We describe how different cells in the immune system employ differential metabolic pathways and how this relates to the outcome of virus infections. We also discuss how nutritional and metabolic diseases can influence the nature of viral pathogenesis as well as how targeted therapies against metabolic processes can impact on the outcome of virus infections. The case is also made for metabolic profiling as a potential tool to predict the outcome of a virus infection and to guide therapies that enhance host resistance.
Expression of an 8R-Lipoxygenase From the Coral Plexaura homomalla.

Abstract Methods are presented for the use of the coral 8R-lipoxygenase from the Caribbean sea whip coral Plexaura homomalla as a model enzyme for structural studies of animal lipoxygenases. The 8R-lipoxygenase is remarkably stable and can be stored at 4°C for 3 months with virtually no loss of activity. In addition, an engineered “pseudo wild-type” enzyme is soluble in the absence of detergents, which helps facilitate the preparation of enzyme:substrate complexes.
Inter-sonographer reproducibility of ultrasonic attenuation backscatter coefficient measures in adults with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

The attenuation coefficient (AC) and backscatter coefficient (BSC) measures in the liver were found repeatable and inter-transducer reproducible in previous studies. This study assesses the inter-sonographer reproducibility of the two parameters. 56 participants (sex: 20M, 36F; age: 51.5±13.5, 24–74 yo; BMI: 32.2±5.2, 23.9–47.4 kg/m2; 43 had MRI-PDFF: 15.6±10.4%, 0.7–41.1%) with known or suspected NAFLD each underwent two same-day ultrasound liver examinations performed by two sonographers (out of six in total) using the Siemens S3000® ultrasound system. Each examination included five RF acquisitions in separate breathholds from the right liver lobe and one from a calibrated phantom using the same settings. The AC and BSC were estimated using the reference phantom technique from each liver RF acquisition. AC and log-transformed BSC (10logBSC) are frequency-averaged within 2.6-3.0 MHz. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to evaluate the inter-sonographer reproducibility. Without averaging mul...
Correction to: Goal-Striving Stress is Associated with Chronic Kidney Disease Among Participants in the Jackson Heart Study.

Please note the following correction in the Methods section of this article: The definition for goal-striving stress in the Jackson Heart Study included achievement defined as “where one was in life 10 years ago,” using a 10-point scale.
Transnational Experiences of Eastern European Women and Feminist Practices After 1989

In the context of new and developing democracies in Eastern and Central Europe, research accounts on the experience of women in general and (women) migrants from the post-communist states in particular are very scarce. Recent Eastern European scholarship on migration focuses on the dynamics surrounding the ethnicity of migrant populations, rather than gender, race or class, and puts emphasis on the link between internal and external migration. Compared to the extensive research on the earliest waves of Eastern European migrations to the United States and the current focus on recent waves of immigrants from Latin America and Asia, little attention has been given to the Eastern European coming to U.S. after the fall of the Soviet bloc. Furthermore, research on gender and migration has been greatly enriched by the works of scholars from Latin America and Asia—but generally overlooks the experience of Eastern European migrant women. From a theoretical standpoint, the experience of immigrants in general, and of Eastern European immigrants in particular, has been largely understood at the macro level with the conventional “push and pull” theory and at the micro-level constrained by the assimilationist model. Consequently, the purpose of this chapter is twofold. First it attempts to apply the new transnational model in the interpretation of immigration experience of Eastern European women and their families who migrated to the United States after 1989. Second, it integrates the macro-structural context by presenting the mediating role of women who either returned home or who engaged in circular migration in shaping the socio-cultural environment of their home countries. More specifically, this chapter looks at the effects of immigration on Eastern European migrant women, and the ways in which their immigration experiences advance feminist ideas and practices in their home countries including the form it takes in the context of the new developing democracies in Eastern Europe.
Statistical Analysis of Method Comparison Data: Testing Normality

A Lilliefors test of normality has been applied to data from precision and accuracy studies. Most data sets tested as non-normal. Simulation studies showed that the test is extremely sensitive to the rounded, narrowly distributed data that are typical of method performance studies in clinical chemistry. The Lilliefors test can be modified to be applicable to rounded data so that it gives fewer indications of non-normality. The authors conclude that the selection of a test of normality requires careful study of the properties of the test. Otherwise, the subsequent choice between parametric and nonparametric statistics may not be meaningful.
Abstract 1970: Novel Mcl-1 inhibitor effectively restores in vivo regorafenib sensitivity in resistant colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of deadliest malignancies and approximately 25% of patients present with metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis, necessitating efficacious therapeutic options. Treatment of CRC has been greatly improved by targeted therapies such as the FDA-approved multi-kinase inhibitor, regorafenib, which elicits its anti-cancer effects by inducing apoptosis. Ours and other studies identified the anti-apoptotic Mcl-1 protein as a significant resistance factor to regorafenib treatment in CRC, associated with inactivating mutations in the tumor suppressor F-box and WD repeat domain-containing 7 (FBW7). These mutations result in abrogated Mcl-1 degradation, which contributes to survival of cancer cells and ineffective regorafenib induced apoptosis. Therefore, there is sound rationale for Mcl-1 inhibition to circumvent FBW7 inactivity and restore the efficacy of regorafenib. Our group has discovered and developed several classes of selective small molecule Mcl-1 inhibitors that bind in the conserved BH3 groove. In HCT116 colon cancer cells, the lead compound, 483LM, engages endogenous Mcl-1 as demonstrated by a CETSA assay and leads to a rapid accumulation of Mcl-1 protein levels, indicative of protein stabilization. 483LM induces BAX/BAK dependent apoptosis in cancer cells, upregulates the pro-apoptotic protein, Noxa, and displays favorable in vivo DMPK properties. Using a genetic Mcl-1 knock-in (KI) CRC cell line to mimic the effect of FBW7 loss, we confirmed the in vitro resistance of these KI cells to single agent regorafenib treatment and restored apoptosis when treated in combination with 483LM. Importantly, the in vivo combination treatment of 483LM and regorafenib completely overcome Mcl-1-mediated regorafenib resistance in HCT116 KI CRC xenograft tumors. Pharmacodynamic evaluation of tumor samples revealed significant caspase-3 activation in 483LM treated tumors. The proximity ligation assay revealed the ability of 483LM to induce significant disruption of PUMA:Mcl-1 complexes in treated tumor samples. These data confirm the previous reports of the involvement of Mcl-1 in regorafenib resistance in CRC and provides rationale for further investigation into the clinical application of pharmacological Mcl-1 inhibition in combination therapies to combat resistance. In addition, these results provide evaluation and characterization of a novel Mcl-1 selective small molecule inhibitor with potent in vivo activity and potential to treat various malignancies. Citation Format: Karson J. Kump, Jingshan Tong, Ahmed S. Mady, Lei Miao, Siwei Li, Duxin Sun, Jian Yu, Lin Zhang, Zaneta Nikolovska-Coleska. Novel Mcl-1 inhibitor effectively restores in vivo regorafenib sensitivity in resistant colorectal cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1970.
Evaluation of h -index and its citation intensity based variants in the field of mathematics

Assessing and evaluating the academic impact and its results produced by researchers is necessary to promote the academic progress. A diverse and varied set of parameters have been proposed by the scientific community to find the most influential researchers, including citation count, the total number of publications, hybrid approaches, h-index, extensions and variants of h-index. Current state-of-the-art depicts that there is no standard benchmark available to determine the optimum parameter to find the most influential author of a specific domain. Furthermore, it has been observed that such indices are assessed on a small dataset and ingenious scenarios. The small dataset can never truly help to analyze the nature of these indices and it is very difficult to determine the significance and influence of every index over the others. Hence, it’s necessary to assess them on a large dataset. The following research would help in scrutinizing the h-index along with its citation intensity based variants to rank the authors by using a large dataset of Mathematics domain that consist of 57,533 authors and 62,033 total numbers of publications. These indices make use of the total published papers, citation count, along with the h-index and the five of its citation intensity based variants. The esteemed awards that are won nationally and internationally in the field of mathematics serve as a benchmark. This study would deal and help to recognize the most influential authors by concluding the results gained after evaluation of these indices. For this purpose, firstly, we calculated the correlation among different indices. The strong correlation was found between the h-index and its five citation intensity based variants. The occurrence of the award winners is examined according to the rank lists. H-index brought around 30.88% awardees in the top 10% of the ranked list. In a bird’s eye view, no index could succeed in elevating a 50% of award winners in the top-ranking. Our benchmark dataset is composed of 68 awardees. In the ranking lists, the maximum number of awardees belongs to American Mathematics Society (AMS) which are 29.
The ciliary GTPase Arl3 maintains tissue architecture by directing planar spindle orientation during epidermal morphogenesis

Arl/ARF GTPases regulate ciliary trafficking, but their tissue-specific functions are unclear. Here, we demonstrate that ciliary GTPase Arl3 is required for mitotic spindle orientation of mouse basal stem cells during skin development. Arl3 loss diminished cell divisions within the plane of the epithelium, leading to increased perpendicular divisions, expansion of progenitor cells and loss of epithelial integrity. These observations suggest that an Arl3-dependent mechanism maintains cell division polarity along the tissue axis, and disruption of planar spindle orientation has detrimental consequences for epidermal architecture. Defects in planar cell polarity (PCP) can disrupt spindle positioning during tissue morphogenesis. Upon Arl3 loss, the PCP signaling molecules Celsr1 and Vangl2 failed to maintain planar polarized distributions, resulting in defective hair follicle angling, a hallmark of disrupted PCP. In the absence of Celsr1 polarity, frizzled 6 lost its asymmetrical distribution and abnormally segregated to the apical cortex of basal cells. We propose that Arl3 regulates polarized endosomal trafficking of PCP components to compartmentalized membrane domains. Cell-cell communication via ciliary GTPase signaling directs mitotic spindle orientation and PCP signaling, processes that are crucial for the maintenance of epithelial architecture.
The Remarkable 2018 “Velvet Revolution”: Armenia’s Experiment Against Government Corruption

In 2018, massive street protests against its corruption forced the long-dominant political party in Armenia to relinquish power to its nemesis, who himself had been imprisoned for leading protests ...
Measurements of Greenhouse Gas Flux from Composting Green-Waste Using Micrometeorological Mass Balance and Flow-Through Chambers

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are produced during the composting process, but few studies have measured emissions from a full-scale windrow of composting green-waste. This is important for evaluating com...
History of childhood maltreatment is associated with reduced fractional anisotropy of the accumbofrontal ‘reward’ tract in healthy adults

The deleterious outcomes associated with exposure to childhood maltreatment (CM) are well known and may be at least partially mediated by self-harm behaviors. It has been suggested that these self-harm behaviors serve as a means of decreasing negative mood states but the effects of CM on health outcomes may be much more sinister. A wealth of data suggest that CM may lead to experience-dependent changes in neural circuits underlying reward processes; processes associated with many harmful behaviors. The present study examined the relationship between a history of CM and the microstructure of a white matter tract that may be central to reward processes. Healthy adults (N = 122) were assessed with a diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) exam and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Probabilistic tractography was used to delineate the accumbofrontal “reward” tract, connecting the orbitofrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens, and measures of white matter microstructure were extracted. We then examined whether variation in CTQ scores were associated with variation in the microstructure of this tract as measured by fractional anisotropy (FA). After accounting for the effects of age and sex, the CTQ total score accounted for approximately 6% of the variance of FA in the accumbofrontal tract (F(3, 121) = 5.74; p = .001). Post hoc analyses indicated that the overall severity of CM, rather than a specific type of maltreatment, drove this result. These findings indicate that CM influences white matter microstructure in a fiber tract that is likely central to reward processes and adds to a growing literature implicating CM in long-term health-related outcomes.
Estimating the Timing of Early Simian-Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infections: a Comparison between Poisson Fitter and BEAST

ABSTRACT Many HIV prevention strategies are currently under consideration where it is highly informative to know the study participants’ times of infection. These can be estimated using viral sequence data sampled early in infection. However, there are several scenarios that, if not addressed, can skew timing estimates. These include multiple transmitted/founder (TF) viruses, APOBEC (apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme, catalytic polypeptide-like)-mediated mutational enrichment, and recombination. Here, we suggest a pipeline to identify these problems and resolve the biases that they introduce. We then compare two modeling strategies to obtain timing estimates from sequence data. The first, Poisson Fitter (PF), is based on a Poisson model of random accumulation of mutations relative to the TF virus (or viruses) that established the infection. The second uses a coalescence-based phylogenetic strategy as implemented in BEAST. The comparison is based on timing predictions using plasma viral RNA (cDNA) sequence data from 28 simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV)-infected animals for which the exact day of infection is known. In this particular setting, based on nucleotide sequences from samples obtained in early infection, the Poisson method yielded more accurate, more precise, and unbiased estimates for the time of infection than did the explored implementations of BEAST. IMPORTANCE The inference of the time of infection is a critical parameter in testing the efficacy of clinical interventions in protecting against HIV-1 infection. For example, in clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of passively delivered antibodies (Abs) for preventing infections, accurate time of infection data are essential for discerning levels of the Abs required to confer protection, given the natural Ab decay rate in the human body. In such trials, genetic sequences from early in the infection are regularly sampled from study participants, generally prior to immune selection, when the viral population is still expanding and genetic diversity is low. In this particular setting of early viral growth, the Poisson method is superior to the alternative approach based on coalescent methods. This approach can also be applied in human vaccine trials, where accurate estimates of infection times help ascertain if vaccine-elicited immune protection wanes over time.
Sire contribution to pregnancy loss in different periods of embryonic and fetal development of beef cows.

Abstract The objective was to evaluate the effect of service sire on pregnancy results during different periods of embryonic and fetal development. Angus cows (n = 658) were timed artificially inseminated (TAI) on day 0 after synchronization of estrus using one of eight Angus sires. Estrus expression prior to TAI was evaluated using estrus breeding indicators. Blood samples were collected on days 0, 24 and 31 for quantification of circulating pregnancy-associated glycoprotein (PAG). Pregnancy was diagnosed at day 24 based on blood-based test, and on days 31 and 60 by transrectal ultrasonography to determine early embryonic mortality (EEM; between days 24 and 31) and late embryonic/early fetal mortality (LEM; between days 31 and 60). Sires were retrospectively classified according to the amount of pregnancy loss in each evaluated interval. Overall EEM was 5.54%, with values ranging from 1.8 to 11.7% among sires, whereas LEM was 6.7% with values ranging from 2.3 to 12.6% among sires. Individual sires had different phenotypes in regard to pregnancy loss during different developmental periods, indicating the importance of evaluating multiple milestones of embryonic development when classifying sire fertility. No difference (P ≥ 0.05) was observed in serum concentrations of PAG in cows bred with sires of different phenotypes. Pregnancy rate by sire was also influenced by estrus expression. Sires with a greater number of cows pregnant without estrus expression, had similar incidence of early (P = 0.71) but greater incidence of late embryonic mortality (P = 0.05). These results are significant to characterize sire contribution to pregnancy maintenance and establishment in beef cows and to serve as basis of studies to identify markers to improve sire fertility evaluation.
SETI 2020: The Pause That Refreshes? [Microwave Surfing]

Reports on the likely activities of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) in 2020.
The Evolving Landscape of Hepatocellular Carcinoma : A US Safety Net Collaborative Analysis of Etiology of Cirrhosis.

BackgroundHepatitis C virus (HCV) has historically been the most common cause of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the United States. With improved HCV treatment, cirrhosis secondary ...
Book Review: “The Marginal Revolutionaries: How Austrian Economists Fought the War of Ideas”

Janek Wasserman's _Marginal Revolutionaries_ is not so much an intellectual history of Austrian scholarship as a sociological history of a group of scholars who were initially united by geography and eventually were influential in many international research and policy institutions. While the book contains an interesting social narrative of the Austrian school, it falls short in its general economic understanding. A mischaracterization of the _Methodenstreit_ and a serious misunderstanding of Wieser mar the book, as does a politicized _ad hominem_ in the conclusion.
Efficacy of Distance-Based EMS Education in a Low-Resource Country.

Introduction Road traffic collisions are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in low-resource countries. Compounding this issue is a lack of advanced medical training in these regions and a paucity of developed emergency medical services (EMS). To help address this need, a distance-based EMS educational module was developed with the goal of advancing medical training in resource-poor areas. Design This prospective study evaluated the knowledge acquisition and technical effectiveness of a live online, distance-based EMS lecture provided to medical providers at Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital in Belize City, Belize. Participants were given a pretest consisting of 15 questions regarding ambulance and emergency vehicle safety, followed by a posttest of the same questions. One month later, a third test with the same questions was administered to assess knowledge retention. Technological effectiveness was evaluated as well. Results Nine participants completed all aspects of the study. Improvement was noted between the average scores of the pretest compared to the posttest (32.5% vs 74.1%) and was maintained from the pretest through the delayed posttest (32.5% vs 57.0%). Overall, participants approved of the technical aspects of the project. Conclusions This synchronously presented distance-based EMS educational program showed gains in both immediate and delayed knowledge acquisition among a small sample size. These results show promise that online, distance-based education is a viable option for continuing graduate medical education in low-resource countries.
Multi-Fidelity Bayesian Optimization via Deep Neural Networks

Bayesian optimization (BO) is a popular framework to optimize black-box functions. In many applications, the objective function can be evaluated at multiple fidelities to enable a trade-off between the cost and accuracy. To reduce the optimization cost, many multi-fidelity BO methods have been proposed. Despite their success, these methods either ignore or over-simplify the strong, complex correlations across the fidelities, and hence can be inefficient in estimating the objective function. To address this issue, we propose Deep Neural Network Multi-Fidelity Bayesian Optimization (DNN-MFBO) that can flexibly capture all kinds of complicated relationships between the fidelities to improve the objective function estimation and hence the optimization performance. We use sequential, fidelity-wise Gauss-Hermite quadrature and moment-matching to fulfill a mutual information-based acquisition function, which is computationally tractable and efficient. We show the advantages of our method in both synthetic benchmark datasets and real-world applications in engineering design.
THE TAIL OF THE STRIPPED GAS THAT COOLED: H I, Hα, AND X-RAY OBSERVATIONAL SIGNATURES OF RAM PRESSURE STRIPPING

Galaxies moving through the intracluster medium (ICM) of a cluster of galaxies can lose gas via ram pressure stripping. This stripped gas forms a tail behind the galaxy which is potentially observable. In this paper, we carry out hydrodynamical simulations of a galaxy undergoing stripping with a focus on the gas properties in the wake and their observational signatures. We include radiative cooling in an adaptive hydrocode in order to investigate the impact of a clumpy, multi-phase interstellar medium. We find that including cooling results in a very different morphology for the gas in the tail, with a much wider range of temperatures and densities. The tail is significantly narrower in runs with radiative cooling, in agreement with observed wakes. In addition, we make detailed predictions of H I, Halpha, and X-ray emission for the wake, showing that we generally expect detectable H I and Halpha signatures, but no observable X-ray emission (at least for our chosen ram pressure strength and ICM conditions). We find that the relative strength of the Halpha diagnostic depends somewhat on our adopted minimum temperature floor (below which we set cooling to zero to mimic physics processes not included in the simulation).
Immune Microenvironment in Gallbladder Adenocarcinomas.

Programmed death-1 (PD1) expression has not been reported in gallbladder adenocarcinoma. In this study we examined PD1 expression in gallbladder cancer to explore the correlation between PD1 expression and the clinicopathologic parameters. We found that 98% (46/47) cases expressed programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) with 85% cases being PD-L1 3+. PD1+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) were present in 78.7% cases (37/47). The tumor size was significantly smaller and the stromal CD3+ TILs were significantly higher in tumors with PD1+ TILs than those with PD1- TILs. In the tumors with size of 115/HPF or stromal CD8+ TILs >45/HPF were associated with much better survival than those with stromal CD3+ TILs ≤115/HPF or stromal CD8+ TILs ≤45/HPF. In tumors with the size of 3 cm or larger, PD1+ TILs or stromal CD8+ TILs >45/HPF carried a significantly poorer survival than PD1- tumors or stromal CD8+ TILs <=45/HPF. No correlation was identified between PD1 expression and lymphovascular invasion, distant metastasis, pathologic tumor stage or prognostic stage. Multivariate survival analysis showed that tumor TNM stage and age were independent prognostic factors in gallbladder adenocarcinomas. We conclude that gallbladder adenocarcinomas may have high PD-L1 expression and PD1+ TILs. Smaller tumor size and greater amount of stromal CD3+ T cells were found in tumors with PD1+ TILs. In small tumors (<3 cm), high stromal CD3+ TILs or high stromal CD8+ TILs were associated with better survival. However, in large tumors (≥3 cm), PD1+ TILs or high stromal CD8+ TILs carried a poorer survival. Our study implied that immune-based therapy including PD1/PD-L1 checkpoint blockade might be useful in gallbladder adenocarcinomas.
Binge drinking among Hispanic older adults: 2015-2019.

Previous research has shown that older adults (i.e., individuals 50 years or older) show a high propensity to report unhealthy alcohol habits. Much is to be gleaned regarding these relationships am...
Atrial Fibrillation: The Heart’s Tap Dance

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an irregularly irregular rhythm with variability in timing of the QRS complexes and pauses. It is the commonest heart rhythm disorder seen in clinical practice and is responsible for strokes, substantial impairment in life quality, and mortality. This chapter discusses the epidemiology of AF, the different types of AF, its mechanisms, and treatment including stroke prevention and rate and rhythm control with special reference to catheter ablation strategies. It also narrates the stories of patients suffering from AF.
Managing the Transition from Print to Electronic Journals and Resources: A Guide for Library and Information Professionals

"Managing the Transition from Print to Electronic Journals and Resources: A Guide for Library and Information Professionals" is a collection of essays from the leading authorities on print-to-e-resource transition - from library institutions of all sizes and levels of funding. This book will help librarians and information professionals to design, implement, and manage solutions to effectively provide online access to e-journals and e-resources. Special topics discussed include reconfiguring acquisition models, electronic resource management (ERM) systems, skill sets necessary for e-resource management, efficiency enhancement, and current trends and initiatives in licensing.In addition, the wide range of articles included in "Managing the Transition from Print to Electronic Journals and Resources: A Guide for Library and Information Professionals", will aid librarians in navigating the problems of changing formats, staffing issues, workflow approaches, and new and interrelated tools used to manage and provide access.
The Birth of the Big Bang

In Chap. I of his book, The Primeval Atom, Lemaitre suggested that our universe is not a flat, Euclidean space (as one might presume), but rather an elliptical, non-Euclidean space. Indeed, the nebulae which populate our universe bend space in their vicinity, according to Einstein’s theory of general relativity, allowing its edges to meet up—just like the opposite edges of a mercator projection map meet up to form a single meridian. In this sense, both the surface of the earth and the space of the universe are finite yet unbounded. Now, in Chap. IV Lemaitre turns to the question of cosmogony: how did the world begin? Before providing his own hypothesis, Lemaitre reviews the cosmogonic theories of Buffon, Kant and Laplace. Which (if any) of these theories of cosmogony do you find most compelling? Why?
Variations of East African climate during the past two centuries

The evidence on the climatic history of East Africa over the past two centuries comprises historical accounts of lake levels, observations and analyses of glacier variations, wind and current observations in the Indian Ocean, as well as raingauge measurements. East Africa experiences its rainy seasons in boreal spring and autumn, centered around April–May and October–November; the spring rains being more abundant and the autumn rains more variable. Rains tend to be abundant/deficient with slow/fast westerlies (UEQ) and Eastward Equatorial Jet (EEJ) in the upper hydrosphere of the equatorial Indian Ocean. A drastic climatic dislocation took place during the last two decades of the l9th century, manifest in a drop of lake levels, onset of glacier recession, and acceleration of UEQ and EEJ. The decades immediately preceding 1880 featured high lake stands, extensive glaciation, and slow UEQ and EEJ, as compared to the 20th century. The onset of glacier recession in East Africa after 1880 contrasts with a start of ice shrinkage in New Guinea and the Ecuadorian Andes around the middle of the l9th century. The regional circulation regime characterized by slow UEQ and EEJ in the decades prior to 1880 was conducive to extensive ice cover along with high lake stands in East Africa, and this may account for the onset of glacier recession much later than in the other mountain regions of the equatorial zone. The evolution of East African climate over the first half of the l9th century merits further exploration.
In vitro myelopoiesis stimulated by rapid medium exchange and supplementation with hematopoietic growth factors

We studied the effect of the combination of rapid culture medium exchange with the addition of the human hematopoietic growth factors interleukin-3 (IL-3), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and erythropoietin (Epo) on the proliferation and differentiation of human long-term bone marrow cultures (LTBMCs). Individually and in combinations, IL-3, GM-CSF, and Epo were added to the culture medium of LTBMCs that were maintained with 50% medium volume exchange per day. The combination of IL-3 + GM-CSF + Epo generated the most prolific cultures with an order of magnitude increase in nonadherent cell production from weeks 2 through 8 in culture as compared with unsupplemented controls. Under these conditions, the cultures produced as many cells as were inoculated every 2 weeks and led to a greater than 2.5-fold expansion in terms of the number of nonadherent cells produced over a 6- to 8-week period. Furthermore, the LTBMCs produced nonadherent colony-forming unit-GM (CFU-GM) for more than 20 weeks. The rapid medium exchange combined with the addition of human hematopoietic CSFs significantly enhances the proliferation and differentiation of LTBMCs. These results indicate that addition of combinations of hematopoietic CSFs, together with a rapid medium exchange rate, can provide culture conditions that are suitable for the expansion of the progenitor cell pool and perhaps for the increased survival of hematopoietic stem cells in culture. Although these culture conditions still fall short of full reconstitution of functional human bone marrow, they provide an improved approach to hematopoietic cell culture that may permit the expansion and manipulation of progenitor cells in vitro.
A novel ZVS bidirectional Cuk converter for dual voltage systems in automobiles

The automotive industry is heading towards a higher electrical voltage system of 42 V for next generation vehicles. In the interim, there will be dual voltage systems which would require a bi-directional dc-dc converter to regulate power flow between the 42 V and 14 V buses. Cuk converter with integrated magnetics has the advantage of zero ripple in both input and output currents, and also can handle power in both directions. This paper proposes a simple zero voltage switching scheme for the Cuk converter using only passive components. ZVS is effective at all loads, including reverse power flow, and thus improves the overall converter efficiency. The paper discusses the design methodology for the zero-ripple converter and the synthesis of the ZVS scheme. Computer simulations are used to verify the design.
Protein visualization and simulation in 3D

The function of a protein is primarily determined by its three-dimensional geometry, which is, in turn, determined by its one-dimensional amino acid sequence. It is not practical to replicate this process, called protein folding, with brute-force algorithms and today's computer technology. Instead, biological scientists and pharmacologists can utilize protein visualization software, which allows them to view and explore known protein structures in 3D on personal computers. In this way, researchers apply human intuition to the folding problem and can develop drugs that interact with proteins without directly solving the folding problem.
Mechanisms of Solar Irradiance Variations

This section discusses how measurements of the Sun's surface brightness may be used to determine its total emergent flux. We explore how solar luminosity and irradiance changes are related but distinct phenomena, which are not well treated in one-dimensional or diffusive solar convection zone models. Efforts to improve our knowledge of the solar luminosity are essential, since a refined understanding of the variability of the total solar luminosity, or even of the net emergent energy flux from isolated parts of the photosphere are critical tools for understanding the physics of the convection zone and for probing deeper into the solar interior. In combination with magnetic, helioseismic, and numerical simulation observations and tools, the global solar luminosity and irradiance variability can reveal much about the mechanisms of the solar cycle.
Characterization of Salmonella typhimurium Strains Sensitive and Resistant to Methionine Sulfoximine

Methionine sulfoximine inhibits the growth of Salmonella typhimurium at a concentration of 50 μM, and the addition of glutamine, but not glutamate, is sufficient to overcome this inhibition. The analogue causes 50% inhibition of glutamine synthetase activity at 2 to 4 μM and of glutamate synthase at 2 to 3 mM when these enzymes are assayed in vitro. No inhibition of glutamate dehydrogenase activity is observed at analogue concentrations as high as 50 mM. Two mutants selected for their resistance to methionine sulfoximine inhibition have a partial growth requirement for glutamine and a reduction in the glutamine synthetase and glutamate synthase activities. The sensitivity of the remaining glutamine synthetase activity in these mutants to methionine sulfoximine inhibition appears unaltered, and the lesions conferring the analogue resistance may not affect glutamine synthetase directly.
Calling in a Debt: Government's Role in Creating the Capacity for Explicit Corporate Social Responsibility

Before the field of business and society can adequately analyze the relationship between governmental policies and corporate social responsibility (CSR), either as a reality or an ideal, it is first necessary to understand exactly how governments nurtured the development of the autonomous corporation. The roles assigned to government by the economics and management literatures—regulator, standard setter, protector, and adjudicator—ignore the crucial part played by state violence and government expenditures in the rise and sustained success of the corporate economy. An examination of the history of the American case, crucial for the development of the modern corporation as well as the “explicit” form of CSR that eventually followed it, highlights these roles: the willingness of the state to intervene with force in labor conflicts bolstered the managerial autonomy that defined the large corporation, and the way government expenditures promoted innovation and firm success. Acknowledging how corporations depended on government assistance in their development is a necessary step for both assessing the responsibilities owed stakeholders and for advancing the theoretical development of the field.
Coping with the Stress of Pastoral Counseling

Using a stratified random sample of the three membership categories of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, this study investigated the experience of stress, related to the pastoral counseling profession, among 143 pastoral counselors and 95 of their spouses. In addition, the study examined how pastoral counselors were coping with stress by evaluating self-reported functional and dysfunctional behaviors. The data indicated that pastoral counselors and their spouses did not report high levels of stress related to the pastoral counseling profession. However, significant differences were found by work setting and age for pastoral counselors regarding the level of stress experienced. The data also indicated that pastoral counselors reported using more functional stress reduction behaviors than dysfunctional stress reduction behaviors.
Mechanism of naked DNA clearance after intravenous injection

Naked plasmid DNA as a non-viral vector has been extensively studied in gene therapy because of its ease of preparation, stability, biochemical simplicity, and safety compared to other nonviral and viral vectors. However, one of major hurdles of using naked DNA in gene therapy is that injected DNA will be quickly cleared out from the circulation. Many studies have previously reported that pDNA is degraded quickly by nucleases in the blood and other compartments and is rapidly removed from the circulation and taken up by the liver, predominantly by the liver nonparenchymal cells (NPCs), after intravenous administration into mice. In the present study, we have examined the role of liver uptake and serum degradation on naked DNA injected intravenously. The data in this study provides detailed information of naked DNA localization and activity after intravenous injection, including 1) the rate at which the liver can take up DNA; 2) information regarding clearance of naked DNA by the liver and serum; 3) demonstration that naked DNA is primarily taken up by the liver endothelial cells, not Kupfer cells; and 4) effect of the enlargement of the fenestrae on transgene expression and DNA uptake by hepatocytes. First, DNA uptake was examined using liver perfusion system. Our data show that the liver was able to take up over 50% of the DNA with a single pass perfusion of 5 |[mu]|g DNA. The absolute amount of pDNA taken up by the liver increased with an increase in the amount of perfused pDNA. The liver, even just one single pass, could take up as much as approximately 25 |[mu]|g of pDNA. Second, in vivo degradation of DNA by blood was examined by transient occlusion of blood flow through the liver followed by injection of plasmid DNA. The occlusion of blood flow was performed by clipping both the portal vein and the hepatic artery. The blood was collected 1, 3, and 5 minutes after the injection. The DNA degradation was examined by loading the blood samples on a 1% agarose gel for electrophoresis, which showed a lower clearance rate compared to that of liver uptake. In addition, using confocal microscopy and labeling both the DNA and endothelial cells, it was demonstrated that naked DNA is primarily taken up by the liver endothelial cells. The endothelial barrier could be overcome by manually massaging the liver (MML). Our TEM results clearly show that MML could enlarge the fenestrae, which increased uptake of DNA by hepatocytes and gene expression in the liver.
Reliability of the Short Form of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency with Five-Year-Old Children

This study investigated the reliability of the short form of the Bruininks-Oseretsky test and its subtest items with 5-yr.-old children. 32 5-yr.-old children were tested on the short form of the Bruininks-Oseretsky - test. An experienced tester administered the test two times with a 1-wk. interval between tests. Also, 13 children were tested two more times making a total of four test sessions for these children. Although the total test scores produced a relatively strong reliability coefficient, many of the subtest items lacked reliability and most items had low correlations to the total test scores. Additional test development is recommended to produce an adequate test of motor proficiency for 5-yr.-old children.
Unusual vertebral artery origins: Examples and related pathology

Anomalies of the vertebral arteries are uncommon, but important to recognize in the diagnosis and catheter based evaluation and treatment of patients suffering cerebrovascular disease. This article illustrates our experience with such anomalies. These include the vertebral artery arising as the fourth and most distal branch of the aortic arch, as a right subclavian artery branch arising distal to the right thyrocervical trunk, as a right common carotid artery branch in a patient with an aberrant right subclavian artery, and a case of left vertebral artery proximal duplication, with both aortic and left subclavian vertebral arteries present in the same patient; the latter join to form a single distal cervical vertebral artery.
Predator experience overrides learned aversion to heterospecifics in stickleback species pairs

Predation risk can alter female mating decisions because the costs of mate searching and selecting attractive mates increase when predators are present. In response to predators, females have been found to plastically adjust mate preference within species, but little is known about how predators alter sexual isolation and hybridization among species. We tested the effects of predator exposure on sexual isolation between benthic and limnetic threespine sticklebacks ( Gasterosteus spp.). Female discrimination against heterospecific mates was measured before and after females experienced a simulated attack by a trout predator or a control exposure to a harmless object. In the absence of predators, females showed increased aversion to heterospecifics over time. We found that predator exposure made females less discriminating and precluded this learned aversion to heterospecifics. Benthic and limnetic males differ in coloration, and predator exposure also affected sexual isolation by weakening female preferences for colourful males. Predator effects on sexual selection were also tested but predators had few effects on female choosiness among conspecific mates. Our results suggest that predation risk may disrupt the cognitive processes associated with mate choice and lead to fluctuations in the strength of sexual isolation between species.
Portuges, Catherine and Peter Hames, eds. 2013. Cinemas in Transition in Central and Eastern Europe after 1989. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. 279 pp.

Portuges, Catherine and Peter Hames, eds. 2013. Cinemas in Transition in Central and Eastern Europe after 1989. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. 279 pp. Reviewed by Lilla Tőke, Assistant Professor, CUNY, LaGuardia Community College
The Internet of Multimedia Nano-Things

Abstract Nanotechnology is enabling the development of novel devices which are able to generate, process and transmit multimedia content at the nanoscale. The interconnection of pervasively deployed multimedia nano-devices with existing communication networks and ultimately the Internet defines a novel communication paradigm that is further referred to as the Internet of Multimedia Nano-Things (IoMNT). The IoMNT is a truly cyber–physical system with a plethora of applications in the biomedical, security and defense, environmental and industrial fields, amongst others. This paper discusses the state of the art and major research challenges in the realization of the IoMNT. Fundamental research challenges and future research trends are outlined in terms of multimedia data and signal processing, propagation modeling for communication amongst nano-things in the terahertz band, physical layer solutions for terahertz band communication and protocols for the IoMNT. These include novel medium access control techniques, addressing schemes, neighbor discovery and routing mechanisms, a novel QoS-aware cross-layer communication module, and novel security solutions for the IoMNT.
Phase-contrast tomography and the local tomography problem

Phase-contrast tomography is a non-interferometric imaging technique for reconstructing the refractive index distribution of a weakly absorbing object from a set of tomographic projection measurements. In many practical situations, it is desirable to minimize the field of view (FOV) of the imaging system in order to increase the spatial resolution of the reconstructed image. When the object of interest is larger than the FOV, the measured projections are truncated and one is faced with a local tomography reconstruction problem. In this work, we investigate the local tomography problem for phase-contrast tomography and propose a simple algorithm for reconstructing image boundaries from untruncated and truncated phase-contrast projection data. Simulation studies are presented to corroborate our theoretical findings.