cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Vertically integrated dual-continuum models for CO2 injection in fractured geological formations

Various modeling approaches, including fully three-dimensional (3D) models and vertical-equilibrium (VE) models, have been used to study the large-scale storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) in deep saline aquifers. 3D models solve the governing flow equations in three spatial dimensions to simulate migration of CO2 and brine in the geological formation. VE models assume rapid and complete buoyant segregation of the two fluid phases, resulting in vertical pressure equilibrium and allowing closed-form integration of the governing equations in the vertical dimension. This reduction in dimensionality makes VE models computationally much more efficient, but the associated assumptions restrict the applicability of VE models to geological formations with moderate to high permeability. In the present work, we extend the VE models to simulate CO2 storage in fractured deep saline aquifers in the context of dual-continuum modeling, where fractures and rock matrix are treated as porous media continua with different permeability and porosity. The high permeability of fractures makes the VE model appropriate for the fracture domain, thereby leading to a VE dual-continuum model for the dual continua. The transfer of fluid mass between fractures and rock matrix is represented by a mass transfer function connecting the two continua, with a modified transfer function for the VE model based on vertical integration. Comparison of the new model with a 3D dual-continuum model shows that the new model provides comparable numerical results while being much more computationally efficient.
A Prospective Clinical Cohort and Biorepository of Multiple System Atrophy (MSA). (P6.077)

Objective: To establish a clinical and biospecimen database of probable or possible MSA1. Background: MSA is a rare adult-onset neurodegenerative alpha-synucleinopathy, which progresses rapidly and presents with a varying combination of parkinsonism, cerebellar ataxia, autonomic failure, and pyramidal signs. Though prospective biorepositories exist for Parkinson’s disease2, 3, there are few such resources for MSA in the US4. Design/Methods: Subjects were recruited after signing informed consent. Study approval was obtained from the Columbia University IRB. Clinical data included neurological history, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA), and part II (Motor Examination Scale) of the Unified Multiple System Atrophy Rating Scale (UMSARS)5. Blood samples were collected for plasma, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and DNA, and stored for future research use per standard protocols. Results: Over a 2-year period, we enrolled 34 MSA patients (23 MSA-C, 8 MSA-P and 2 mixed phenotype). 56% are male, average age of onset is 59.8 (range 45–75), average disease duration is 4.4 years (range 1–9) and average MoCA score is 25.9 (range 19–30). There is no correlation between MoCA score and age (Pearson’s r= −0.29, p=0.14), disease duration (Pearson’s r = −0.24, p=0.22), or age at onset (Pearson’s r=−0.28, p=0.16). Average UMSARS part II score is 22.8 (range 8–46). There is a correlation between UMSARS part II score and age (Pearson’s r=0.37, p=0.05) and disease duration (Pearson’s r=0.74, p Conclusions: We present early findings of our MSA cohort at Columbia University. Disclosure: Dr. Kim has nothing to disclose. Dr. Gupta has nothing to disclose. Dr. Liong has nothing to disclose. Dr. Ma has nothing to disclose. Dr. Kang has nothing to disclose. Dr. Kuo has nothing to disclose. Dr. Alcalay has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Denali, Prophase, Genzyme Sanofi. Dr. Sklerov has nothing to disclose.
Predicting venous thromboembolism in multiple myeloma: development and validation of the IMPEDE VTE score

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common cause of morbidity and mortality among patients with multiple myeloma (MM). The International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) developed guidelines recommending primary thromboprophylaxis, in those identified at high-risk of VTE by the presence of risk factors. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has adopted these guidelines; however, they lack validation. We sought to develop and validate a risk prediction score for VTE in MM and to evaluate the performance of the current IMWG/NCCN guidelines. Using 4446 patients within the Veterans Administration Central Cancer Registry, we used time-to-event analyses to develop a risk score for VTE in patients with newly diagnosed MM starting chemotherapy. We externally validated the score using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, End Results (SEER)-Medicare database (N = 4256). After identifying independent predictors of VTE, we combined the variables to develop the IMPEDE VTE score (Immunomodulatory agent; Body Mass Index ≥25 kg/m2 ; Pelvic, hip or femur fracture; Erythropoietin stimulating agent; Dexamethasone/Doxorubicin; Asian Ethnicity/Race; VTE history; Tunneled line/central venous catheter; Existing thromboprophylaxis). The score showed satisfactory discrimination in the derivation cohort, c-statistic = 0.66. Risk of VTE significantly increased as score increased (hazard ratio 1.20, P = <.0001). Within the external validation cohort, IMPEDE VTE had a c-statistic of 0.64. For comparison, when evaluating the performance of the IMWG/NCCN guidelines, the c-statistic was 0.55. In summary, the IMPEDE VTE score outperformed the current IMWG/NCCN guidelines and could be considered as the new standard risk stratification for VTE in MM.
Gender and Racial Bias in Radiology Residency Letters of Recommendation.

Abstract Objective Perceptions of agency and communality vary by race and gender, which may be contributing to the persistent gender and racial inequality in radiology. The objective of this study was to determine if there are differences in the use of agentic and communal language in letters of recommendation for radiology residency programs based on the demographics of the applicant and letter writer. Methods We retrospectively reviewed letters of recommendation for 736 diagnostic radiology residency applicants to Duke University from the 2015 to 2016 interview season. We then used computerized text analysis software to calculate the frequency of agentic and communal terms and multilevel negative binominal regression to compare differences in count by applicant and letter writer demographics. Results We analyzed 2,624 letters of recommendation, comprising 976,489 words. The majority of applicants were male (75%, 549 of 736) and white or Asian (77%, 565 of 736). Letter writers, who were mostly male (75%, 1,979 of 2,624) and of senior rank (50%, 1,313 of 2,624), described female applicants as more agentic than men (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 1.08, P Conclusion The extent to which agentic and communal language is used in letters of recommendation for diagnostic radiology residency programs differs by applicant and letter writer demographics.
Artificial intelligence policies in Africa over the next five years

As Africa embraces and interacts with AI, what policies are relevant to foster its development? This article highlights some domains where AI is being applied and will be beneficial given Africa's unique context and culture.
Application of artificial neural networks in the drilling processes: Can equivalent circulation density be estimated prior to drilling?

Abstract As the drilling environment became more challenging nowadays, managing equivalent circulating density (ECD) is a key factor to minimize non-productive time (NPT) due to many drilling obstacles such as stuck pipe, formation fracturing, and lost circulation. The goal of this work was to predict ECD prior to drilling by using artificial neural network (ANN). Once ECD is recognized, the crucial drilling variables impact ECD can be modified to control ECD within the acceptable ranges. Data from over 2000 wells collected worldwide were used in this study to create an ANN to predict ECD prior to drilling. Into training, validation, and testing sets, the data were splitted. 70% of the data utilized for training, the other part used for validation and testing to avoid overfitting and create a generalized network that can perform well on new data. Based on the mean square of error (MSE), a decision was made to have one hidden layer with twelve neurons, this scenario was selected since it gave the lowest MSE among other scenarios. Multiple training functions were tested to train the network, Bayesian regularization (BR) algorithm was chosen from the other algorithms since it had the lowest MSE and the highest R-squared. After optimizing the weights and biases, the results revealed that the created network has the ability to estimate ECD with an overall R-squared of 0.982, which is very high. This result gives an indication that the created network can predict ECD prior to drilling globally within a very small margin of error. Due to the availability of large historical data sets in the petroleum industry, the ANN can be used to make better future decisions to minimize NPT and the cost of drilling.
Coherency-Based Detection Algorithm for Synchrophasor Cyberattacks

The wide area monitoring system (WAMS) is critical for power system situational awareness, but represents a growing cybersecurity vulnerability. Malicious adversaries may seek to compromise one or more PMUs in order to effect control decisions that unnecessarily disrupt typical grid operations. One example of a particularly pernicious attack vector is the spoofing or replaying of a fault event using one or more compromised PMUs. This work documents the development and validation of a coherency-based cyberattack detection algorithm that integrates a sliding-window singular value decomposition (SVD) with physics-based partitioning analysis to achieve accurate classification of events. Special consideration is given to discerning a sophisticated fault-replay or fault spoofing attack from actual faults. A software-based cybersecurity testbed has been developed for rigorous testing of the algorithm. The algorithm is further validated using simulated synchrophasor datasets obtained from a MinniWECC 63-bus test system. Results show that the algorithm can successfully detect fault-replay attacks even when over half of the PMUs are compromised.
Does COVID-19 really call for an overhaul of nursing curricula or promoting the power, status, and representation of nursing?

The COVID‐19 pandemic has presented us with many well documented challenges as well as causing death, disability and economic devastation. All around the globe people were caught unprepared for the pandemic despite the warnings of public health experts. Many of these warnings were not considered serious and moves towards nationalism and populism have challenged global collaboration.
Transcatheter Mitral Valve Repair in Patients with Heart Failure: A Meta-Analysis.

Background Severe secondary mitral regurgitation (MR) is associated with poor prognosis in heart failure patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction. Few observational and randomized controlled studies demonstrated the efficacy of transcatheter mitral valve repair in heart failure patients with significant MR. A meta-analysis of published studies was performed to evaluate the role of transcatheter mitral valve repair using the MitraClip device in heart failure patients with significant secondary MR. Methods A literature search was performed using PubMed, Cochran CENTRAL, and Embase databases using the search terms "percutaneous mitral valve repair" or "transcatheter mitral valve repair" and "heart failure." Studies that compared medical therapy plus transcatheter mitral valve repair using MitraClip to medical therapy alone in heart failure patients with significant secondary MR were included for pooled analysis. A random-effects model with the Mantel-Haenszel method was used to analyze the data. Results Four studies, 2 randomized controlled and 2 nonrandomized studies met the criteria for analysis. Pooled analysis included a total of 1,421 patients, of which 746 patients underwent transcatheter mitral valve repair and 675 patients received medical therapy alone. When compared to medical therapy, transcatheter mitral valve repair significantly decreased all-cause mortality (OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.37-0.91; p = 0.02). A trend toward significant reduction in rehospitalizations (OR 0.35, 95% CI 0.12-1.00; p = 0.05) was also observed. Periprocedural complications ranged from 7.5 to 12.6%. Conclusion Evidence from pooled analysis suggests that transcatheter mitral valve repair using MitraClip on top of medical therapy, in appropriately selected symptomatic heart failure patients with significant secondary MR, provides survival benefit and may decrease hospitalizations when compared with guideline-directed medical therapy alone.
On- and non-farm adaptation in Senegal: understanding differentiation and drivers of farmer strategies

Rainfed farmers in Sudano-Sahelian West Africa have long adapted to variable growing conditions. Today, in response to intersecting pressures from climate change, soil fertility loss, and socioecon...
Folsom Point Diggings: The Johnson Site in the Foothills of Larimer County, Colorado

The Johnson site is a Folsom occupation in Larimer County, Colorado. T. Russell Johnson discovered the site in 1935, which led to excavations by the Colorado Museum of Natural History in 1936 and l...
On theory, citational practices and personal accountability in the study of music and affect

This essay attends to select affective politics of theoretical practices in the study of music and affect. Concentrating on EuroAmerican theoretical frames, I address how assumptions generating key...
Confident Pluralism: Surviving and Thriving Through Deep Difference (Introduction)

This is the draft introduction to my forthcoming book, Confident Pluralism: Surviving and Thriving Through Deep Difference (University of Chicago Press, 2016). Confident Pluralism argues that we can and must live together peaceably in spite of deep and sometimes irresolvable differences over politics, religion, sexuality, and other important matters. We can do so in two important ways. The first is by insisting upon constitutional commitments in three areas of the law: (1) protecting the voluntary groups of civil society through the rights of assembly and association; (2) facilitating and enabling dissent, disagreement, and diversity in public forums; and (3) ensuring that generally available government funding is not limited by government orthodoxy. The second way to pursue Confident Pluralism is by embodying its aspirations of tolerance, humility, and patience in three civic practices: (1) our speech; (2) our collective action (protests, strikes, and boycotts); and (3) our relationships across difference. Confident Pluralism suggests that when it comes to these civic practices, it is often better to tolerate than to protest, better to project humility than defensiveness, and better to wait patiently for the fruits of persuasion than to force the consequences of coercion. Confident Pluralism will not give us the American Dream. But it might help avoid the American Nightmare.
Computer modeling and simulation of a 20kHz ac distribution system for Space Station

A computer model of a 20 kHz, ac distribution testbed for Space Station is presented. The system consists of six resonant inverters, a one-hundred-meter transmission line, and three load receivers: a dc receiver, a bidirectional receiver, and an ac receiver. A model library is generated characterizing all system components. The system's local and global behaviors are investigated using the EASY5 dynamic analysis program.
Optimal Execution of Derivatives

We present a model for optimal execution of the financial derivatives. We show that if rehedging of the underwriter of the derivative is considered, the optimal strategy is generally non-deterministic even for deterministic price impact functions. This approach can be utilized for optimal execution of the risky asset when the price impact functions are measurable with respect to the filtration generated by the risky asset.
Kelsen, Quietism, and the Rule of Recognition

Sometimes the fact that something is the law can be justified by the law. For example, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is the law because it was enacted by Congress pursuant to the Commerce Clause. But eventually legal justification of law ends. The ultimate criteria of validity in a legal system cannot themselves be justified by law. According to H.L.A. Hart, justification of these ultimate criteria is still available, by reference to social facts concerning official acceptance - facts about what Hart calls the "rule of recognition" for the system. Drawing upon criticisms of sociological accounts of the law that can be found in the writings of Hans Kelsen, I argue in this essay that Hart's approach cannot account for statements about the law that assert the independence of legal validity from rule of recognition facts. I offer as an alternative a legal quietist approach, which can account for such statements. For the quietist, legal justification exhausts the possible justification for law. If our judgments about the law are fundamental, in the sense that they cannot be justified by other judgments about the law, then they have no justification (which is not to say that they should be abandoned). I argue that legal quietism is exemplified - if somewhat imperfectly - in Kelsen's writings, and I end the essay by exploring some difficulties that the quietist approach must face.
Multifocal Eosinophilic Granuloma Involving the Common Bile Duct: Histologic and Cholangiographic Findings

The multifocal eosinophilic granuloma syndrome (Hand-Schuller-Christian disease) is characterized histologically by focal accumulations of histiocytes and eosinophils. The clinical manifestations of this syndrome reflect the site and extent of these focal accumulations which are usually found in membranous bone, skin, and lung. Significant hepatobiliary disease due to this disorder has not been previously described. We are reporting an adult female with the multifocal eosinophilic granuloma syndrome who developed a mixed histiocytic and eosinophilic infiltration of the common bile duct which resulted in obstructive jaundice. Therapeutic attempts have failed to reverse this process, and the patient has shown progressive intrahepatic biliary tract destruction.
Thirty Years of Extragalactic H II Region Studies

I review a small part of the past thirty years of studies of extragalactic H II regions. Comparing a review of available results in 1975 to what we know today, we see a enormous increase in our knowledge of physical conditions and abundances in extragalactic H II regions, chemical evolution of galaxies, and the primordial helium fraction. Manuel Peimbert and Silvia Torres-Peimbert have made pioneering contributions to this eld. Here I outline the progress in understanding extragalactic H II regions and highlight the Peimberts’ contributions.
A functional inflammasome activation assay discriminates between genetically proven caps patients and patients with low penetrance NLRP3 variants

The cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (CAPS) are characterized by recurrent episodes of systemic inflammation. CAPS is caused by mutations in the NLRP3 gene encoding cryopyrin, an important component of the NLRP3 inflammasome that activates caspase-1 resulting in inflammation by excessive production of IL-1β and others. A diagnostic dilemma is often encountered in patients with unspecific inflammatory symptoms like fatigue, muscle pain, arthralgia or slight hearing loss and low penetrance variants in NLRP3 / CIAS with an inconsistent clinical phenotype. The analysis of IL-1β in the serum did not prove to be a valid diagnostic test in these individuals.
Staking a Claim for Social Responsibility: An Argument for the Dual Responsibility Model

More than 50 years ago, Siebert, Peterson and Schramm (1956) penned their groundbreaking work, Four Theories of the Press, in which they articulated the ideals of social responsibility. However, the economic model for the media in the United States has changed dramatically since Four Theories was written. Consequently, there is a need for a new model that combines the high ideals and First Amendment considerations of social responsibility theory while recognizing the economic realities of today's mega-corporate environment. Social responsibility is a no less worthy goal today than it was 50 years ago; however, although the paradigm shift has occurred, the theoretical writing has not kept pace with the modern reality. This study proposes a new dual responsibility model that acknowledges the equal weight of the economic responsibility to the stakeholder, as well as the social responsibility to the audience. ACCESS TO FULL TEXT
An orbifold relative index theorem

Abstract In this paper we prove a relative index theorem for pairs of generalized Dirac operators on orbifolds which are the same at infinity. This generalizes to orbifolds a celebrated theorem of Gromov and Lawson.
Reaction of Phenylaminoethyl Selenides with Peroxynitrite and Hydrogen Peroxide

Peroxynitrite, a reactive cytotoxic species generated by the reaction of superoxide with nitric oxide, rapidly oxidizes phenylaminoethyl selenide (PAESe) and its para-substituted derivatives with second-order rate constants ranging from 900 to 3000 M(-1) s(-1) at neutral pH (pH 7.0) and 25 degrees C. These values are approximately 3 x 10(4) times greater than the corresponding rate constants for the reactions of selenides with hydrogen peroxide. The peroxynitrite reaction was also studied at alkaline pH. HPLC analysis confirms that both the peroxynitrite and hydrogen peroxide reactions produced the corresponding phenylaminoethyl selenoxide (PAESeO) as the sole selenium-containing product, with a stoichiometry of 1 mol of PAESe oxidized per 1 mol of PAESeO formed per 1 mol of oxidant reacted. The influence of para-substituents on the rate constants was investigated using Hammett plots; in both cases the data are consistent with an S(N)2-type mechanism, wherein the selenium atom acts as the nucleophile. Our results provide further evidence that organoselenium compounds may play a protective role in the defense against the many reactive oxidizing species produced in cellular metabolism.
PATTERNS OF MITOSIS AND DIFFERENTIATION IN CELLS DERIVED FROM PEA ROOT PROTOPLASTS

of mitoses in these cultures. The patterns of the time course of both DNA synthesis and cell division in the protoplast cultures were similar to such pattems observed in the culture of intact root explants, although longer lag periods were observed in the protoplast cultures. Mitotic abnormalities including both chromosome breakage and spindle disfunction were observed in protoplast cultures. A large portion of the cell pairs derived from mitoses (27 % in one experiment) contained Feulgen-positive micronuclei. An accumulation of an as yet unidentified differentiation product termed dense cytoplasmic protoplast derivative was observed. Some of the conditions influencing the development of these derivatives are reported. THE PEA ROOT CORTICAL explant was selected as a source of tissue for protoplast isolation because of the existing background data concerning DNA synthesis and the developmental capacity of the system. Cells of the cortex of pea roots are involved in the formation of nitrogen-fixing nodules during symbiotic interactions with the bacteria, Rhizobium (Torrey and Barrios, 1969). The cortical cells are also capable of differentiation into tracheids in culture (Torrey and Fosket,
Diel bio-optical variability observed from moored sensors in the Arabian Sea

Abstract As part of the Forced Upper Ocean Dynamics Program, which ran concurrently with the US JGOFS Arabian Sea Expedition, five moorings were deployed in the historical axis of the Findlater Jet. In addition to other variables, moored sensors collected photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), particulate beam attenuation ( C p ), stimulated fluorescence (FLU), and dissolved oxygen (O2) data from October 1994 to October 1995. Diel bio-optical signals were recorded during two periods between the Northeast and Southwest Monsoons at 10, 35, and 65 m. Spectral analysis shows significant diel cycles of C p , FLU, and O2, but the strength of these cycles was not constant over time. Daily periodicity was lowest for all bio-optical signals just after a strong storm during the 1994 Fall Intermonsoon period. During a phytoplankton bloom associated with a cool advective feature, the FLU and O2 diel signals were most pronounced. Although these signals are biological responses to the daily cycle of irradiance, they are mediated by hydrographic conditions; strongest when phytoplankton are confined within the mixed layer or thermocline, and thus exposed to light intensities long enough to display these responses to PAR. Fluorescence quenching at 10 m due to high irradiance (∼1000 μEinstein m−2 s−1) forced the ratio of fluorescence to particulate attenuation into a diel periodicity at 10 m, but not at 35 m (noontime irradiance ∼200 μEinstein m−2 s−1), where the FLU and C p increases were almost in phase. Diel changes in C p , when scaled to particulate organic carbon, suggest a net production of ∼20 mg C m−3 d−1 at 10 and 35 m. We estimate a specific growth rate from a calculated particle production rate balanced by a constant grazing over 24 h to be 0.77 d−1, and using a C ∗ c of 424 mg C m−2, estimate a carbon : chl a ratio between 85 and 115 for a 10-d window during the 1994 Fall Intermonsoon period.
Massachusetts Health Reform and Disparities in Coverage, Access and Health Status

Background Massachusetts health reform has achieved near-universal insurance coverage, yet little is known about the effects of this legislation on disparities.
Bone mineral density of vertebrae, proximal femur and os calcis in normal Greek subjects as assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry: comparison with other populations

Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is an established method for the detection of even small changes in bone mineral density (BMD). It thus allows the earliest possible diagnosis of osteopenia, with consequent prompt estimation of fracture risk. However, for proper evaluation of densitometry results it is essential that a comparison with reference BMD values of normal age- and sex-matched persons from the same population be performed. For this purpose we determined bone density of the L2-L4 vertebrae, the L3 vertebra in the lateral projection, the proximal femur and the os calcis in a cross-sectional study of 168 men and 244 women from the Greek population. The age range of the subjects was 20-80 years. Peak bone mass for both sexes was attained in the 30-35 year age group for the vertebrae and in the 25-30 year age group for the proximal femur and os calcis. Mean annual vertebral bone loss calculated on cross-sectional data ranged from 0.1% to 0.22% for women 50 years, whereas in men the range was from 0.36% to 0.64% for the whole age spectrum. Regarding femoral neck, the values wer 0.3% (women 50 years) and 0.6-0.8% for men. Total bone loss between ages 20 and 70 was 29.5% for the vertebrae and 32% for the femoral neck in women, whereas the values for men were 19.5% and 29% respectively. A positive correlation was observed between bone density, body weight and body height in both sexes. Body mass index correlated significantly with density only in postmenopausal women. Compared with North American, Finnish and German populations, Greek men presented with lower BMD values in the decades above 40 years. Greek women exhibited lower vertebral BMD values than those from the USA. Germany and Japan (50-60 age group), whereas they did not differ from those of Finnish women. However, femoral neck BMD in Greek women was higher than in Japanese women in all age groups.
Themes revisited: Some problems in cognitive anthropology∗

Cognitive anthropology centers on the ethnographic investigation of conceptual structures through the analysis of language. Yet there has not been much work on those areas of the conceptual structure that are so pervasive, so basic, that they pervade numerous areas of daily life. Using the traditional anthropological notion of “theme,” an attempt is made to analyze unstructured biographically and daily routine interviews for pervasive premises that relate to social others. Particular emphasis is placed on problems with the theoretical language and methodological approach for the study of themal structure in elicited discourse.
Good-looking people are not what we think.

Meta-analysis was used to examine findings in 2 related areas: experimental research on the physical attractiveness stereotype and correlational studies of characteristics associated with physical attractiveness
Scattering of Laser Light from Mixed Micelles

Dynamic and static scattering of light was employed to investigate mixed micelles of two homologous anionic surfactants-sodium octyl sulfate and sodium hexadecyl sulfate, above the phase boundary temperature and critical micelle concentrations (cmc). The results indicate that the mixed micelles change from prolate to sphcrical as the molar ratio SOS/SHS increases from 1 to 8. Below 1 or above 8, the formation of micelles is due to one surfactant dissolving the other.
Amine-catalyzed elimination of β-phosphoric esters from aldehydes derived from ribonucleic acid and model substrates

Abstract The kinetics have been measured for several steps of the diamine-catalyzed elimination of the terminal nucleoside from periodate-oxidized RNA and from several model substrates. The general-acid-catalyzed, rate-determining step has a k HA of 0.13 M −1 min −1 (HA = RNH 3 + ) for primary amines, and the specific-base-catalyzed reaction has a k HH of 0.35 min −1 (0.2 m m RNA) with ornithine catalysis and a k HH of 0.077 min − (0.2 m m RNA) with lysine catalysis. Lysine has a third catalysis component, with a k AH of 12 min −1 M −2 . The diamino acid α,γ-diaminobutyrate is not effective as a catalyst, due to cyclic gem diamine formation. Substituents on the 5′-phosphoric ester group do not affect the kinetics unless the substituent is a proton (e.g., as in AMP); thus, AMP is not an accurate model for this type of sequential degradation of RNA. There are two degradative pathways, the β-elimination path and a route that involves cleavage of the C-1′-0-C-4′ ether linkage before the phosphoric ester is eliminated. The direct β-elimination path predominates below pH 7.5, with a maximum near pH 6, and yields only one set of end products. Because of its rapid and predictable course, the latter reaction is preferred for sequential degradation of RNA. The structure of the catalytically active intermediate (general-acid-catalyzed reaction series) involves the primary amino group of ornithine (lysine) condensed with the dialdehyde terminus to form the carbinolamine, aldimine, and enamine intermediates leading to the elimination. The ether cleavage path is controlled by a specific-base ( k HB ) intramolecular catalysis above pH 7, and a side reaction leads to lowered yields of phosphoric ester cleavage. A primary amine group is required, since 3-dimethylamino propylamine does not catalyze the ether cleavage.
Structural determinants for regulation of phosphodiesterase by a G protein at 2.0 Å

A multitude of heptahelical receptors use heterotrimeric G proteins to transduce signals to specific effector target molecules. The G protein transducin, Gt, couples photon-activated rhodopsin with the effector cyclic GMP phosophodiesterase (PDE) in the vertebrate phototransduction cascade. The interactions of the Gt alpha-subunit (alpha(t)) with the inhibitory PDE gamma-subunit (PDEgamma) are central to effector activation, and also enhance visual recovery in cooperation with the GTPase-activating protein regulator of G-protein signalling (RGS)-9 (refs 1-3). Here we describe the crystal structure at 2.0 A of rod transducin alpha x GDP x AlF4- in complex with the effector molecule PDEgamma and the GTPase-activating protein RGS9. In addition, we present the independently solved crystal structures of the RGS9 RGS domain both alone and in complex with alpha(t/i1) x GDP x AlF4-. These structures reveal insights into effector activation, synergistic GTPase acceleration, RGS9 specificity and RGS activity. Effector binding to a nucleotide-dependent site on alpha(t) sequesters PDEgamma residues implicated in PDE inhibition, and potentiates recruitment of RGS9 for hydrolytic transition state stabilization and concomitant signal termination.
Expression of osteopontin, a urinary inhibitor of stone mineral crystal growth, in rat kidney

Expression of osteopontin, a urinary inhibitor of stone mineral crystal growth, in rat kidney. Cultured mouse kidney cortical cells secrete osteopontin, a bone matrix protein that is also found in urine. Osteopontin is associated with cell proliferation/tumerogenesis and also inhibits kidney stone mineral crystal growth [1]. Using antibodies raised against osteopontin isolated from the culture medium, we localized osteopontin in normal rat kidney. Fluorescence, confocal and electron microscopy revealed osteopontin primarily in cells of the descending thin limb of the loop of Henle (DTL) and in papillary surface epithelium (PSE) in the area of the calyceal fornix. In situ hybridization with labeled RNA made from a cDNA that contains the entire coding sequence for mouse osteopontin revealed message at the same sites at which protein was demonstrated by immunocytochemistry. Immunogold labeling was localized to a population of dense vesicles distinct from lysosomes and endosomes. To examine the turnover of osteopontin, rats were injected with the protein synthesis inhibitor cyclohexamide, 14 mg/kg, six hours prior to kidney fixation. These kidneys no longer demonstrated osteopontin in DTL and the immunofluorescence in the papillary surface was attenuated. Thus, osteopontin is secreted at two sites in the kidney where urine is highly concentrated in stone mineral constituents. It has a relatively rapid turnover, suggesting that it could be subject to physiological regulation. Osteopontin may be important in the normal endogenous defense against kidney stone formation.
Further Studies on the Corticosteroid-Binding Globulin in the Rat: Proposed Endocrine Control

The activity of the corticosteroidbinding globulin (CBG) was determined in the sera of male and female rats by multiple equilibrium dialysis at 37 C using corticosterone-4-14C. Castration or estradiol injection increased the CBG activity in the male rat; when either of these procedures was combined with adrenalectomy, the effect on CBG activity was slightly greater than additive. Administration of estradiol to gonadectomized male animals resulted in about the same binding activity as that of intact estrogen-injected or of gonadectomized male rats. The CBG activity of adrenalectomized female rats was almost 3 times that of hypophysectomized animals; cortisol injections into adrenalectomized or hypophysectomized females produced a comparable percentage decrease of CBG activity. Using the data presented here and in our previous publications, a proposal for the endocrine control of CBG activity in the rat is offered. On the basis of these findings and of observations reported from other laboratories, an attem...
High Frequency Ultrasonic Imaging

High frequency ultrasonic imaging is considered by many to be the next frontier in ultrasound. It has many clinical applications ranging from imaging the eye and skin to small animal imaging. Small animal imaging has recently generated intense interest for the purpose of evaluating the efficacy of drugs and gene therapy. Commercial high frequency scanners often termed “ultrasonic biomicroscope”, or UBM, all use mechanically scanned single element transducers at frequencies between 30 to 60 MHz with a frame rate of 30 frames/second or lower. To alleviate problems with UBMs which include mechanical motion and fixed focusing, high frequency linear arrays and imaging systems in the 20–50 MHz range have been developed. In this paper, current efforts in the development of high frequency ultrasonic imaging will be reviewed and potential biomedical applications discussed.
Urban targets for image quality analysis of high-resolution satellite imaging systems

Commercial high-resolution satellite imaging sensors are used for precision mapping, analysis and earth science applications. The evaluation of their imaging performance on-orbit requires special ground targets. Urban areas are rich with potential image quality targets with simple geometries, scuh as points, lines and edges. In this paper, we use parking lot stripes to evaluate the Line Spread Function (LSF) of the DigitalGlobe QuickBird sensor and compare the results to those obtained from edge targets. The two techniques produce equivalent LSF measurements. Parking lot stripes are therefore an alternative target that have some advantages and disadvantages compared to edges.
Instability of laminated cylindrical shells with material non-linear effect

Abstract An analytical methodology is presented to study the post-buckling behavior of laminated cylindrical shells under axial compression and lateral pressure. Non-linear inplane stress-strain relations for transverse (E22) and shear (G12) modulus is considered. The user defined material subroutine UMAT in finite element analysis package, ABAQUS, with an updated Lagrangian formulation, and large displacement and small strain kinematic relations, is employed in this study. Numerical analyses are conducted to demonstrate the effect of material non-linearity and stacking sequence on the post-buckling behavior of laminated shells.
Electromagnetic field-induced protection of chick embryos against hypoxia exhibits characteristics of temporal sensing.

Abstract We previously studied the response of mammalian cultured cells to weak, 60 Hz-electromagnetic (EM) fields. Two time constants, similar to those observed in chemotaxis, were found to govern the cellular response to the field. We concluded that a system of temporal sensing, similar to that employed in chemotaxis by motile bacteria, was operative. We termed the shorter time (∼0.1 s) the “sensing” time, and the longer time (~10 s) the “memory” time. To investigate the possibility that temporal sensing was a general property of EM field–cell interaction, the temporal properties of another EM field-induced effect was studied. The EM field-induced protection against the effects of extreme hypoxia was examined in chick embryos. Embryos were exposed to 60 Hz-magnetic fields, the amplitudes of which were regularly altered throughout the 20-min exposure. Alteration was accomplished either by turning the field off and on at regular intervals (1–50 s), or by introducing brief (10 or 100 ms), zero amplitude gaps, once each second, throughout exposure. When the field was turned on and off at 0.1 s intervals, the protective effect conferred by a constant field was lost. At progressively longer on/off intervals, protection was progressively restored, maximizing at intervals of 10–30 s. Gapping the magnetic field for 10 ms, each second of exposure conferred the same protection as that observed for an uninterrupted field, but gapping the field at 100 ms each second produced a significant reduction in protection. These data exhibit remarkable consistency with those obtained in similar temporal studies of the magnetic field-induced enhancement of ornithine decarboxylase activity in L929 fibroblasts. It appears that temporal sensing is a general feature of the EM field–cell interaction.
Species specificity in the metabolism of nabilone. Relationship between toxicity and metabolic routes

The disposition of 14C-nabilone has been examined in dogs and monkeys; it is rapidly absorbed and extensively metabolized in both species. A metabolic pathway initiated by the stereoselective enzymic reduction of the 9-keto moiety of nabilone was of major importance in the biotransformation of nabilone in the dog but was only a minor pathway in the monkey. The resulting long half-lived carbinol metabolites accounted for 77% of the circulating 14C in dog but for only 19% in monkey, 48 h after drug administration. Accumulation of carbinol metabolites in brain tissue was observed in dogs, with 24 h brain concentrations being five to six times higher than the plasma concentrations. No accumulation of carbinol metabolites, nabilone or of 14C occurred in the brain of monkeys. Accumulation of the carbinol metabolites in brain tissue has been implicated as the causative factor for the CNS toxicity observed in dogs treated chronically with nabilone. Comparison of nabilone pharmacokinetics in dog and humans showed the dog to be unique in producing high levels of carbinol metabolites, so that monkey appeared to be a more appropriate model than dog for pre-clinical toxicological and safety studies. Studies with liver 15,000 g supernatants indicated that the enzymic reduction of nabilone to its carbinol metabolite was a viable metabolic pathway in rat, dog and monkey, so that a distinct species difference exists between dog and monkey in the subsequent metabolism and/or elimination of these carbinol metabolites.
Food Security, Biodiversity and Human Health: Ethnobiology as a Predictive Science

Ever since Mark Nathan Cohen’s (1976) treatise, The Food Crisis in Prehistory, ethnobiological explorations of historic shifts in subsistence strategies, agroeconomic structures and uses of biodiversity have explicitly dealt with the issue of cultural responses to food insecurity and declining nutrition health. More recently, sensationalistic and rather simplistic treatments of these topics by the likes of Jared Diamond (2005) have attempted to predict or ultimately avert future collapses in society’s capacity to sustain food security, with dubious results. However, archaeologists and ethnobiologists have diligently worked together to arrive at more nuanced understandings of how climatic, ecological, social, economic and political factors have interacted during prehistoric and historic periods of food crises (McAnany and Yoffee 2009, 2010). Nevertheless, the general sorts of questions posed by Diamond remain before us: Can the lessons learned from the historical sciences of archaeology, paleonutrition and ethnobiology be used to forge a more comprehensive and useful predictive science regarding trends and options for human health and food security? Can such predictions help assure the functioning of ecosystem services required for stable food production, while averting famine and improving nutritional health in the face of accelerating climate change, declining fossil fuel and fossil groundwater reserves, and burgeoning human populations? A thoughtful summary of interdisciplinary literature on the links between biodiversity and food security by T. C. H. Sunderland (2011) suggests that such an integrative and predictive science is not only possible but increasingly necessary. Drawing on an extensive review of ethnobiological literature, Sunderland concludes that:
Preparation and Characterization of Chemically and Osmotically Permeabilized Soybean [Glycine max. (L.) Merr.] Protoplasts

Summary Soybean [ Glycine max . (L.) Merr.] protoplasts have been permeabilized with dimethyl-sulfoxide, detergents and hypotonic shock as visualized by the fluorescent dye calcein. Maximum uptake was observed with hypotonic shock. Treated protoplasts were viable and underwent cell division in culture. The internalized dye was distributed throughout the cell, particularly in the vacuole. On the other hand, treatment of protoplasts with PEG resulted in a vesicular localization of fluorescence, concentrated in the cytoplasm. It was also shown that hypotonic shock results in protein (FITC: BSA) uptake.
Theology and Sociology On Validating David Tracy

IN THIS PAPER I propose to outline my efforts to find empirical validation for David Tracy's theory of the Analogical Imagination and then to engage in some speculation on the nature of the religious enterprise and its relationship to theological "classics." To summarize my findings, I was indeed able to find that hypotheses derived from the Tracy theory were sustained by social science data in two multi-nation studies involving ten countries (UK, BRD, Australia, Ireland, Italy, Austria, Canada, Hungary, the Netherlands, and the United States). On the basis of these findings I will suggest that religious sensibilities generate theological "classics" and not vice versa and that theology, even the theology of the "classics," is merely part of the superstructure of a religious heritage.' I must outline as a prelude my sociological theory of religion as imagination, which parallels Tracy's theological theory. Religion, I am convinced, is imaginative before it is propositional. It begins in (1) experiences which renew hope, is encoded in (2) images or symbols which become templates for action, is shared with others through (3) stories which are told in (4) communities and celebrated in (5) rituals. This model is a circle, not a straight line, and hence permits stories, communities and rituals in their turn to influence hope renewal experiences. Because we are reflective creatures we must reflect on our imaginative religion. Because we are creatures who belong to communities that
Probabilistic tail dependence of intense precipitation on spatiotemporal scale in observations, reanalyses, and GCMs

Daily precipitation variability as observed from weather stations is heavy tailed at most locations around the world. It is thought that diversity in precipitation-causing weather events is fundamental in producing heavy-tailed distributions, and it arises from theory that at least one of the precipitation types contributing to a heavy-tailed climatological record must also be heavy-tailed. Precipitation is a multi-scale phenomenon with a rich spatial structure and short decorrelation length and timescales; the spatiotemporal scale at which precipitation is observed is thus an important factor when considering its statistics and extremes. In this study, we examine the spatiotemporal scaling behavior of intense precipitation from point-scale to large grid cells and from 1 day to 4 weeks over the entire globe. We go on to validate the current generation of historically-forced climate models and reanalyses against observational data at consistent spatial scales. Our results demonstrate that the prevalence and magnitude of heavy tails in observations decrease when moving to lower spatiotemporal resolutions, as is consistent with stochastic theory. Reanalyses and climate models generally reproduce large, synoptic scale distribution classifications, but struggle to reproduce the statistics in regions that are strongly affected by mesoscale phenomena. We discuss these results in relation to physically consistent atmospheric regimes. We conclude with a global view of precipitation distribution type at daily resolution as calculated from the best-performing reanalysis, the Climate Forecast System Reanalysis.