cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Production and Some Enzymatic Properties of Alkaline Proteinase of Candida lipolytica

An extracellular alkaline proteinase produced by Candida lipolytica was purified through iso-propanol and ammonium sulfate precipitation, decolorization with DEAE-cellulose, gel filtration with Sephadex G–100 and ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex A–50. The optimum pH of its caseinolytic activity was 9.0, and this activity was completely inactivated with DFP but not with chelating reagents, PCMB, STI, TLCK, TPCK, or SSI. This enzyme also hydrolyzed salmin and synthetic esters, such as Bz. Arg. OEt, Bz. His. OMe, Tos. Lys. OMe or Ac. Tyr. OEt, and the optimum pH of its esterase activity was 8.0. The molecular weight of the enzyme was estimated to be about 30,000 by the gel filtration method. These facts indicated that this enzyme was distinguishable from other microbial alkaline proteinases so far studied.
Essay review: History of agriculture and the study of heredity — a new horizon

In the spring of 1966 I had the privilege of interviewing L. C. Dunn (1893-1974), who became a graduate student in genetics under W. E. Castle at Harvard in 1914. 1 asked Dunn if the possibility of applying Mendelian genetics to agriculture had formed any part of his interest in the study of heredity. His answer was quick and emphatic: No! He entered the field to work on theory of heredity. I have no doubt than Dunn's view was true enough for him and for many of his contemporaries: they were not directly and personally motivated to study genetics because of agricultural concerns. However, the prevailing view that agriculture had little to do with the development of Mendelian theory in the twentieth century, or that Mendelian theory had little impact on agricultural development, is a myth promoted largely by venerable denizens of classical genetics such as A. H. Sturtevant or Dunn himself. The three books reviewed here amply show the long and interconnected history shared by those who, on the one hand, sought to understand the theoretical basis of inheritance, and those who sought to improve agricultural productivity. Of the three works, Nicholas Russell's is the most straightforward and least interpretive, serving more as the sixteenth-, seventeenthand eighteenth-century background for the other two works. Russell examines early attempts at inbreeding and crossbreeding, the various criteria by which desirable animals were selected (quite often mere size or appearance), and the gradual emergence of systematic record-keeping and breeding strategies.
Open quantum system model of the one-dimensional Burgers equation with tunable shear viscosity

Presented is an analysis of an open quantum model of the time-dependent evolution of a flow field governed by the nonlinear Burgers equation in one spatial dimension. The quantum model is a system of qubits where there exists a minimum time interval in the time-dependent dynamics. Each temporally discrete unitary quantum-mechanical evolution is followed by state reduction of the quantum state. The mesoscopic behavior of this quantum model is described by a quantum Boltzmann equation with a naturally emergent entropy function and H theorem and the model obeys the detailed balance principle. The macroscopic-scale effective field theory for the quantum model is derived using a perturbative Chapman-Enskog expansion applied to the linearized quantum Boltzmann equation. The entropy function is consistent with the quantum-mechanical collision process and a Fermi-Dirac single-particle distribution function for the occupation probabilities of the qubit's energy eigenstates. Comparisons are presented between analytical predictions and numerical predictions and the agreement is excellent, indicating that the nonlinear Burgers equation with a tunable shear viscosity is the operative macroscopic scale effective field theory.
Influence of histoincompatibility between mother and foetus on placental size in mice.

ALTHOUGH the mammalian foetus is a natural allograft because it inherits paternal strain antigens histoincompatible with the mother, frank manifestations of rejection do not occur. (Explanations for this phenomenon have already been reviewed1–7.)
Academic radiology in the new health care delivery environment.

Ongoing concerns over the rising cost of health care are driving large-scale changes in the way that health care is practiced and reimbursed in the United States. To effectively implement and thrive within this new health care delivery environment, academic medical institutions will need to modify financial and business models and adapt institutional cultures. In this paper, we review the expected features of the new health care environment from the perspective of academic radiology departments. Our review will include background on Accountable Care Organizations, identify challenges associated with the new managed care model, and outline key strategies—including expanding the use of existing information technology infrastructure, promoting continued medical innovation, balancing academic research with clinical care, and exploring new roles for radiologists in efficient patient management—that will ensure continued success for academic radiology.
Study on the thermal stability of polystyryl surfactants and their modified clay nanocomposites

Five oligomeric styrene surfactants, N,N,N-trimethylpolystyrylammonium, N,N-dimethyl-N-benzylpolystyrylammonium, N,N-dimethyl-N-hexadecylpolystyrylammonium, 1,2-dimethyl-3-polystyrylimidazolium, and triphenylpolystyrylphosphonium chlorides were synthesized and used to prepare organically modified clays. Both styrene and methyl methacrylate nanocomposites were prepared by melt blending and the type of nanocomposite was evaluated by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The thermal stability of the organically modified clays and the nanocomposites were studied by thermogravimetric analysis; these systems do give clays which have good thermal stability and may be useful for melt blending with polymers that must be processed at higher temperatures.
Increased expression of Wnt2 and SFRP4 in Tsk mouse skin: role of Wnt signaling in altered dermal fibrillin deposition and systemic sclerosis.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a complex human disorder characterized by progressive skin fibrosis. To better understand the molecular basis of dermal fibrosis in SSc, we analyzed microarray gene expression in skin of the Tight-skin (Tsk) mouse, an animal model where skin fibrosis is caused by an in-frame duplication in fibrillin-1 (Fbn-1). Tsk skin showed increased mRNA levels of several genes involved in Wnt signaling, including Wnt2, Wnt9a, Wnt10b and Wnt11; Dapper homolog antagonist of β-catenin (DACT1) and DACT2; Wnt-induced secreted protein 2; and secreted frizzled-related protein (SFRP)2 and SFRP4. RNase protection and northern blot confirmed microarray results. Furthermore, Wnt3a markedly stimulated matrix assembly of microfibrillar proteins, including Fbn-1, by cultured fibroblasts, suggesting that Wnts contribute to increased microfibrillar matrices in Tsk skin. Further analysis showed that SFRP4 expression is specifically increased in tissues expressing Tsk-Fbn-1, such as skeletal muscle and skin. The increase in SFRP4 mRNA in Tsk skin started 2 weeks after birth, following the increase in Wnt2 mRNA that occurred at birth. This suggests that SFRP4 may modulate Wnt functions in Tsk skin fibrosis. Lesional skin from SSc patients also showed large increases in SFRP4 mRNA and protein levels in the deep dermis compared to healthy skin, suggesting that the Wnt pathway might regulate skin fibrosis in SSc.
Methamphetamine selectively alters brain glutathione.

As methamphetamine-induced neurotoxicity has been proposed to involve oxidative stress, reduced and oxidized glutathione (GSH and GSSG, respectively), vitamin E and ascorbate were measured in the striata of rats killed 2 or 24 h after a neurotoxic regimen of methamphetamine. At 2 h, methamphetamine increased GSH and GSSG (32.5% and 43.7%, respectively) compared to controls at 2 h. No difference was seen in glutathione at 24 h, and in vitamin E and ascorbate at either time point. These findings indicate selectivity of methamphetamine for the glutathione system and a role for methamphetamine in inducing oxidative stress.
Synthesis of secreted and membrane-bound immunoglobulin mu heavy chains is directed by mRNAs that differ at their 3' ends.

Abstract The mRNA isolated from B lymphocyte tumor cell lines directs synthesis of two forms of μ heavy chain, one with a molecular weight of 67K and one of 64K. When these cell lines are converted to IgM-secreting cells by fusion with a myeloma cell, the 64K form of μ predominates; thus it is designated μ s (μ-secreted). The 67K form correlates with the presence of surface IgM; thus it is designated μ m (μ-membrane). Cells that make both forms of μ chain have two mRNAs, one of 2.4 kb that encodes μ s and one of 2.7 kb that encodes μ m . The difference between the μ s and μ m mRNAs can be localized to their 3′ ends by hybridizing 32 P-cDNA copies of the mRNA to a cloned copy of μ s mRNA, treating the mixtures with SI nuclease, and resolving the nuclease-resistant duplexes by electrophoresis. By probing the separated species of RNA with a DNA copy of the 3′ untranslated region of μ s mRNA, it was shown that the 3′ ends of the two μ mRNAs do not cross-hybridize. The difference between the two RNAs was mapped to the 3′ edge of the Cμ4 domain. Apparently two separate 3′ terminal sequences for μ mRNA are encoded in the genome, one that specifies an amino acid sequence appropriate for membrane-binding and a second that is involved in secretion. At different stages of immunocyte development, different μ mRNAs predominate: μ m during the lymphocyte stages and μ s during the secretion stages.
Changes in muscle fascicles of tibialis anterior during anisometric contractions are not associated with motor-output variability of the ankle dorsiflexors in young and old adults.

This study examined the associations between the fluctuations of foot acceleration during shortening and lengthening contractions with the electromyographic (EMG) activity of lower leg muscles and ultrasound measures of tibialis anterior fascicle length and pennation angle. Young (24.9 ± 4.17 years) and old (74.8 ± 3.31 years) adults lifted and lowered a submaximal load with the foot at different speeds (3°/s–50°/s). The standard deviation (SD) of foot acceleration normalized to the load lifted was similar for young (12.2 ± 7.22 cm s−2/kg) and old adults (14.3 ± 8.03 cm s−2/kg; P = 0.093). The changes in tibialis anterior muscle fascicle length and pennation angle were similar for young and old adults (P ≥ 0.233), but greater for shortening (fascicle length: 0.937 ± 0.633 cm, pennation angle: 1.61 ± 0.918o) than for lengthening contractions (fascicle length: 0.806 ± 0.521 cm, pennation angle: 0.966 ± 0.632o; P ≤ 0.014). The changes in fascicle length and pennation angle were not associated with the SD of foot acceleration (r 2 ≤ 0.031; P ≥ 0.092). The surface EMG of tibialis anterior was greater for the shortening contractions than for the lengthening contractions (P < 0.001), but triceps surae EMG was similar for the two types of contractions (P = 0.304). The results suggested that the influence of movement speed on variability in performance was similar for shortening and lengthening contractions with the dorsiflexor muscles; furthermore, old adults were able to match the performance of young adults.
Upset Events in Josephson Digital Devices under Alpha Particle Irradiation

Preliminary results on the effects of 5 MeV alpha particle irradiation on the electrical characteristics of large area (approximately 60 ?m2) Josephson Nb-amorphous Si-Nb tunnel devices indicate that these particles are effective in producing upset events when the device is operated in a switching mode. For bias currents very close to the critical current, IC, upset rates are near 0.1 per alpha. At a reduced bias current of 0.65 IC the upset rate is decreased but is still finite (0.002 per alpha). In addition, an hysteretic effect was observed for the critical current of the device under alpha irradiation. A simple heating model does not appear adequate to explain the observed upset rate as a function of bias current and the hysteretic effect.
Software implementation of MPEG-2 decoder on VLIW media processors

We have implemented software MPEG-2 decoders on two mediaprocessors, Texas Instruments TMS320C80 and Hitachi/Equator Technologies MAP1000, On the TMS320C80, its small instruction cache and inefficient advanced Digital Signal Processor architecture for bitstream parsing resulted in the performance of about twelve frames per second for 5 Mbit/s MPEG-2 bitstreams on a 50-MHz TMS320C80. On the other hand, the MPEG-2 decoder implemented on a 200-MHz MAP1000 achieved real-time performance in decoding of MPML bitstreams. The implementation details, such as tight loops and data flow, are presented. We also compare the architectural features of the two mediaprocessors in performing the MPEG-2 decoding. The instruction set specifically targeted for multimedia processing, better instruction cache utilization, and an independent variable length decoder are among the advantages of MAP1000.© (1999) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Imaging in the age of medical bioinformatics

Radiologists are often faced with information from a variety of sources: images from different modalities, clinical data, and patient medical history. In these diagnostic imaging tasks, humans and computers have disjoint skills. Humans are good at accepting information from multiple sources, but are poor at complex decisions that involve assimilating large amounts of data. Computers are able to solve complex problems and can handle very large amounts of data. However, computers often have difficulty in deriving the salient pieces of information from multiple data sources. For example, humans can in general more easily determine the correspondence of a lesion from multiple images and can more easily interpret written text. It is vitally important that we develop techniques to allow translation of disparate pieces of information into forms that are readily acceptable to computers. Many man-years have been invested into trying to solve this problem in many different fields and applications. With the growing number of large databases in medical science, techniques such as data mining can find new solutions and new avenues for research to improve the health status of humans. Images are a potential source for knowledge discovery, but in their current form (a string of pixels) they are not amenable to computer analysis. Further the dictated radiology report describes the contents of the image and holds the key to understanding the clinical findings contained in the image, but again this text report is not interpretable to the computer. It is imperative to develop techniques to extract pertinent information from imaging exams. In my talk, I will illustrate some of these concepts using breast imaging as an example.
Dual Function of Drosophila Cells as APCs for Naive CD8+ T Cells: Implications for Tumor Immunotherapy

Abstract With unseparated mouse spleen cells as responders, Drosophila cells expressing MHC class I (L d ) molecules alone lead to peptide-specific responses of CD8 + cells in the absence of exogenous cytokines. Under these conditions, DNA released from dying cells stimulates the B cells in spleen to up-regulate costimulatory molecules; these activated B cells then provide bystander costimulation for CD8 + cells responding to class I–peptide complexes on the Drosophila APCs. By stimulating B cells and presenting antigen to T cells, Drosophila cells thus serve two different functions in promoting primary responses of CD8 + cells in vitro. With this system, we show that L d -transfected Drosophila cells are able to induce autologous spleen cells to respond to a tumor-specific peptide in vitro and, after transfer, cause tumor rejection in vivo.
Selective polyamine-binding proteins spermine binding by an androgen-sensitive phosphoprotein

Abstract Rat ventral prostate contains an acidic protein which can bind spermine selectively. The relative binding affinities of various aliphatic amines for the protein are, in decreasing order, spermine > thermine >> spermidine > putrecine > 1,10-diaminodecane, cadaverine and 1,12-diaminododecane. The binding protein has an isoelectric point at pH 4.3 and a sedimentation coefficient of 3 S. Its molecular weight is approx. 30 000. Histones and nuclear chromatin preparations of the prostate can interact with the binding protein. The spermine-binding activity of the purified prostate protein can be inactivated by treatment with intestinal alkaline phosphatases. The phosphatase-treated preparation can then be reactivated by beef heart protein kinase in the presence of cyclic AMP and ATP. The spermine-binding activity of the prostate cytosol protein fraction decreases after castraction, but increases very rapidly after the castrated rats are injected with 5α-dihydrotesterone. This finding raises the possibility that, in the prostate, certain androgen actions may be dependent on the androgen-induced increase in the acidic protein binding of polyamines and their translocation to a functional cellular site such as nuclear chromatin. In the prostate cytosol, spermine also binds to 4-S tRNAs and to a unique RNA which has a sedimentation coefficient of 1.5 S.
Investigation of buried EUV mask defect printability using actinic inspection and fast simulation

The fast simulator RADICAL and the Actinic Inspection Tool (AIT) are used in advance of availability of high volume manufacturing quality exposure tools, resists, and masks to assess the expected defect printability levels in production conditions. AIT images are analyzed to qualitatively demonstrate general trends in defect printability: defects smaller than 0.5nm tall on the multilayer surface can cause an unacceptable critical dimension (CD) change, CD change increases for taller defects, and defect printability varies asymmetrically through focus. RADICAL is used to derive quantitative limits for defect size and demonstrate the effects of focus and illumination for 22nm and 16nm dense lines. For 22nm dense lines at best focus a 0.8nm tall defect causes a 10% CD change. For 16nm lines a 0.4nm tall defect causes a 10% CD change. The CD is shown to be more sensitive to buried defects out of focus, but less sensitive to defects in focus if annular or dipole illumination is used.
Quantitative analysis of chest compression interruptions during in-hospital resuscitation of older children and adolescents ☆

Abstract Aim To quantitatively describe pauses in chest compression (CC) delivery during resuscitation from in-hospital pediatric and adolescent cardiac arrest. We hypothesized that CPR error will be more likely after a chest compression provider change compared to other causes for pauses. Methods CPR recording/feedback defibrillators were used to evaluate CPR quality for victims ≥8 years who received CPR in the PICU/ED. Audiovisual feedback was supplied in accordance with AHA targets. Etiology of CC pauses identified by post-event debriefing/reviews of stored CPR quality data. Results Analysis yielded 205 pauses during 304.8min of CPR from 20 consecutive cardiac arrests. Etiologies were: 57.1% for provider switch; 23.9% for pulse/rhythm analysis; 4.4% for defibrillation; and 14.6% "other." Provider switch accounted for 41.2% of no-flow duration. Compared to other causes, CPR epochs following pauses due to provider switch were more likely to have measurable residual leaning (OR: 5.52; CI 95 : 2.94, 10.32; p 95 : −4.71, −0.13; p =0.04). Individuals performing continuous CPR≥120s as compared to those switching earlier performed deeper chest compressions (42±6 vs. 38±7mm; mean difference: 4.44mm; CI 95 : 2.39, 6.49; p 95 : 1.67, 15.66; p =0.004). Conclusions Provider switches account for a significant portion of no-flow time. Measurable residual leaning is more likely after provider switch. Feedback systems may allow some providers to continue high quality CPR past the recommended switch time of 2min during in-hospital resuscitation attempts.
Drug-Induced Hepatotoxicity: Metabolic, Genetic and Immunological Basis

Drug-induced hepatotoxicity is a significant cause of acute liver failure and is usually the primary reason that therapeutic drugs are removed from the commercial market. Multiple mechanisms can culminate in drug hepatotoxicity. Metabolism, genetics and immunology separately and in concert play distinct and overlapping roles in this process. This review will cover papers we feel have addressed these mechanisms of drug-induced hepatotoxicity in adults following the consumption of commonly used medications. The aim is to generate discussion around “trigger point” papers where the investigators generated new science or provided additional contribution to existing science. Hopefully these discussions will assist in uncovering key areas that need further attention.
Public relations’ place in corporate social responsibility: Practitioners define their role

Abstract Qualitative responses from 173 PR practitioners were used to analyze their roles and contribution to corporate social responsibility (CSR). Practitioners identified five roles for public relations in CSR—significant management, philanthropic, value-driven, communication, and none. PR professionals illustrated these roles by describing their contributions to social responsibility programs. They also expressed limitations to their ability to contribute to CSR programs.
Prodrug activation enzymes in cancer gene therapy

Among the broad array of genes that have been evaluated for tumor therapy, those encoding prodrug activation enzymes are especially appealing as they directly complement ongoing clinical chemotherapeutic regimes. These enzymes can activate prodrugs that have low inherent toxicity using both bacterial and yeast enzymes, or enhance prodrug activation by mammalian enzymes. The general advantage of the former is the large therapeutic index that can be achieved, and of the latter, the non-immunogenicity (supporting longer periods of prodrug activation) and the fact that the prodrugs will continue to have some efficacy after transgene expression is extinguished. This review article describes 13 different prodrug activation schemes developed over the last 15 years, two of which - activation of ganciclovir by viral thymidine kinase and activation of 5-fluorocytosine to 5-fluorouracil - are currently being evaluated in clinical trials. Essentially all of these prodrug activation enzymes mediate toxicity through disruption of DNA replication, which occurs at differentially high rates in tumor cells compared with most normal cells. In cancer gene therapy, vectors target delivery of therapeutic genes to tumor cells, in contrast to the use of antibodies in antibody-directed prodrug therapy. Vector targeting is usually effected by direct injection into the tumor mass or surrounding tissues, but the efficiency of gene delivery is usually low. Thus it is important that the activated drug is able to act on non-transduced tumor cells. This bystander effect may require cell-to-cell contact or be mediated by facilitated diffusion or extracellular activation to target neighboring tumor cells. Effects at distant sites are believed to be mediated by the immune system, which can be mobilized to recognize tumor antigens by prodrug-activated gene therapy. Prodrug activation schemes can be combined with each other and with other treatments, such as radiation, in a synergistic manner. Use of prodrug wafers for intratumoral drug activation and selective permeabilization of the tumor vasculature to prodrugs and vectors should further increase the value of this new therapeutic modality.
Fuel stores, time of spring, and movement behavior influence stopover duration of Red-eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus

Long-distance migration is characterized by periods of flight, when energy stores are consumed, and periods of stopover, when energy stores are replenished. The duration of the migratory period is largely determined by time spent at stopover sites. The time constraints imposed on spring migrants should act to minimize the time spent on migration, yet spring migrants often remain at stopover sites for extended periods. We measured the influence of arrival fuel stores, arrival date, and foraging movement rate on the duration of Red-eyed Vireos (Vireo olivaceus) that remained at stopover sites for more than 1 day. We captured spring migrants in mist-nets as they arrived after crossing the Gulf of Mexico. We released them at an inland site and continuously followed (radio-tracked) their movements until departure. Departure time was confirmed with extensive ground searches and aerial surveys. Migrants remained at the stopover sites from 1 to 8 days (2.80 ± 0.14 days). Less than one-third of migrants were transient, leaving the night following release (32 %). Of the migrants that remained more than 1 day, those that arrived with low fuel stores remained longer than those that arrived with more fuel stores. Only migrants arriving early in the spring stayed for extended periods of time (>5 days). Further, migrants that moved faster within the stopover landscape presumably replenished fuel stores faster because they did not remain as long as migrants that did not move as quickly. When arrival fuel stores, arrival day, and departure day were known, we found multiple factors influenced the length of stay at spring stopover sites. Early spring migrants with low fuel stores that moved slowly through the landscape spent the most time at spring stopover sites.
Flap design in exposing unerupted teeth

Abstract Delayed eruption of a tooth can occur when a high muscle attachment is present in the involved area. To induce eruption, a surgery procedure is presented that includes an apically repositioned flap, modified to include lingual tissue. With such a procedure, adequate attached gingiva is then provided for the patient and a future mucogingival defect can be avoided.
Analytical approaches for the electronic structure of C60

Abstract We use the recursion and path-integral methods to analytically study the electronic properties of a neutral C 60 molecule. We obtain closed-form analytic expressions of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions for both π and σ states as well as the Green functions and the local densities of states, which can be probed experimentally, around any site and around several ring clusters.
Janus Faces of Amyloid Proteins in Neuroinflammation

Amyloid forming molecules are generally considered harmful. In Alzheimer's Disease two amyloid molecules Aβ A4 and tau vie for consideration as the main pathogenic culprit. But molecules obey the laws of chemistry and defy the way we categorize them as humans with our well-known proclivities to bias in our reasoning. We have been exploring the brains of multiple sclerosis patients to identify molecules that are associated with protection from inflammation and degeneration. In 2001 we noted that aB crystallin (cryab) was the most abundant transcript found in MS lesions, but not in healthy brains. Cryab can reverse paralysis and attenuate inflammation in several models of inflammation including experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), and various models of ischemia. Cryab is an amyloid forming molecule. We have identified a core structure common to many amyloids including amyloid protein Aβ A4, tau, amylin, prion protein, serum amyloid protein P, and cryab. The core hexapeptide structure is highly immune suppressive and can reverse paralysis in EAE when administered systemically. Administration of this amyloid forming hexapeptide quickly lowers inflammatory cytokines in plasma like IL-6 and IL-2. The hexapeptide bind a set of proinflammatory mediators in plasma, including acute phase reactants and complement components. The beneficial properties of amyloid forming hexapeptides provide a potential new therapeutic direction. These experiments indicate that amyloid forming molecules have Janus faces, providing unexpected benefit for neuroinflammatory conditions.
Self- and Peer-Reported Personality: Agreement, Trait Ratability, and the “Self-Based Heuristic

Abstract Agreement between self- and peer-reported personality was investigated using the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP; Clark, 1993) and SNAP-Collateral-Report Version. Participants were 189 well-acquainted undergraduate pairs (64% female; 83.2% Caucasian; age M = 19.7 years) of either same (n = 129) or mixed gender (n = 60). Self–peer agreement correlations averaged .47 (range, .27–.62). Agreement variation across traits was associated with ratability (r = .58): Traits whose component items were judged more difficult to rate were associated with lower agreement. The degree to which the raters' own personality contributed to target ratings also was correlated negatively with agreement (r = −.60) and exhibited a strong relationship with ratability (r = −.73). Thus, when peers were asked to rate a target on difficult-to-judge traits, they reported more on their own personality, a phenomenon to which we apply the interpretive label the “self-based heuristic.”
Incidence and Management of Gastrointestinal Perforation from Bevacizumab in Advanced Cancers

Bevacizumab (Avastin™, Genentech) is a monoclonal antibody that deactivates the vascular endothelial growth factor leading to disruption of vital cancer signaling pathways and inhibition of angiogenesis which results in its anti-tumor activity. The use of bevacizumab in treating cancers has steadily increased since it was initially approved by the Food and Drug Administration for metastatic colorectal cancer. Clinical trials have revealed that bevacizumab has serious side effects, including spontaneous bowel perforation, which can occur in patients who have no involvement of the gastrointestinal tract by cancer. Although risk factors for bevacizumab-associated bowel perforation have been identified, it is still unclear which patients are specifically at risk for this complication. The management of bevacizumab-induced bowel perforation depends on the clinical presentation and the goals of care set by the treating physicians and the patient.
Nonabelian bosonization, triality, and superstring theory

Abstract Nonabelian bosonization and the triality property of so(8) are used to demonstrate in a simple way the equivalence of the old Neveu-Schwarz-Ramond superstring formalism, and the new Green-Schwarz formalism. In particular, the relationship between these two formalisms is made explicit.
Protection by acidotic pH and fructose against lethal injury to rat hepatocytes from mitochondrial inhibitors, ionophores and oxidant chemicals

The importance of mitochondrial ATP formation and extracellular acidosis was evaluated in hepatocyte suspensions after different toxic treatments. Acidotic pH was protective against cell killing from all toxic treatments examined except for pronase, a toxic protease. Fructose, a substrate for glycolytic ATP formation, provided good protection against toxicity from cyanide, oligomycin, t-butyl hydroperoxide, menadione and cystamine. Protection by fructose against CCCP, gramicidin and Br-A23187 required oligomycin. This indicated that these ionophores were causing cytotoxicity by uncoupling oxidative phosphorylation. Fructose provided little protection against pronase and HgCl2, the latter compound being a potent inhibitor of glycolysis. In conclusion, disruption of mitochondrial ATP formation was a common event contributing to the toxicity of chemical oxidants and ionophores. Acidotic pH was generally protective under these conditions of impaired ATP generation.
Regulation of the expression of the nod box-independent nodulation gene, nolX, in Sinorhizobium fredii, a nitrogen-fixing symbiont of legume plants

nolX, a nod box-independent nodulation gene from the nitrogen-fixing symbiont, Sinorhizobium fredii, regulates cultivar-specific nodulation of soybean. Expression of this gene is triggered by isoflavonoid cues from host roots but is not mediated by a typical cis-acting nod box promoter. We have found that two isoflavonoids, daidzein and coumestrol, induce expression of a nolX-lacZ gene fusion at pH values between 5.5 and 8.5, with an optimum at 6.5. Expression of nolX is highly dependent on nutritional status but insensitive to salinity. Methionine and casamino acids, amendments that enhance expression of hrpF, a homologous gene from the plant pathogen Xanthomonas campestris biovar vesicatoria, have no and strongly negative effects, respectively, on expression of nolX. Growth of S. fredii on rhamnose, galactose, xylose, or myo-inositol as carbon source greatly elevates inducibility in comparison to a standard yeast extract-mannitol medium. None of the tested variables, however, released nolX from its dependence on isoflavonoids as inducers.
Role of Occupational Therapy in Promoting Self-Determination Through Consumer-Directed Supports

Consumer-directed services (CDS) are a type of support system designed to increase the quality of life and self-determination of clients, such as adults with developmental disabilities. Occupational therapists can play an important role in facilitating people's involvement in CDS supports. This paper describes CDS, evidence that supports their use, and ways that occupational therapists use their training in person-centered practice to enhance CDS supports and self-determination. A case study is used to illustrate the application.
Neurotropic Desmoplastic Melanoma: A Rare Vulvar Malignancy

Melanoma represents the second most frequent vulvar malignancy, and yet is still considered to be an uncommon neoplasm. Several varieties of melanoma exist. A patient who was diagnosed with a rare subtype of melanoma as a primary vulvar process is presented here. To date, there is only one other reported case of neurotropic desmoplastic melanoma as a primary vulvar lesion. Our management included wide local excision of the primary lesion with clinical follow-up. Microstaging of this lesion showed it to fall into the poor prognosis category as per Breslow's technique, with a thickness of 6.5 mm. Clinical follow-up has been greater than 30 months without evidence of recurrence.
Transmission electron microscopy study of defect reduction in two-step lateral epitaxial overgrown nonplanar GaN substrate templates

Abstract Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is carried out to characterize the extended defect reduction in low-defect nonplanar GaN substrate templates grown by lateral epitaxial overgrowth (LEO). The LEO nonplanar GaN substrate template has a trapezoidal cross section with smooth (0 0 0 1) and { 1 1 2 ¯ 2 } facets. We demonstrate here the dislocation distribution and behavior in both ordinary LEO and two-step LEO. Penetration of threading dislocations (TDs) beyond mask windows is observed in ordinary LEO substrates. In two-step LEO substrates, which utilize the tendency for TDs to bend 90° at certain plane interfaces, only a type dislocations with Burgers vector b = 1 3 〈 1 1 2 ¯ 0 〉 are generated in the upper part above the TD bending zone between two mask windows with a density of ∼8×10 7 cm −2 , and there are almost no dislocations in the LEO wing region. This approach provides a promising path to produce low-defect GaN substrate templates for high-performance buried heterostructure lasers.
Complete amnesia induced by ECS and complete recovery of memory following reinstatement treatment.

Abstract Amnesia of fear conditioning in ECS animals was found to be equal to animals not conditioned. However, memory was shown to recover in ECS animals when different combinations of conditioning cues were presented 96 hr after training. The degree of memory recovered in ECS animals appeared to be a function of the type of reinstatement treatment given with apparent complete recovery obtained under one condition. Modification of retention by the reinstatement procedures was restricted to animals conditioned and made amnesic by ECS. These results are interpreted as indicating that ECS produces amnesia by interfering with memory retrieval processes and that the degree of memory recovered in ECS animals is a function of the type of reinstatement procedure used and the time at which it is administered.
ELECTRON MICROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS OF RAT AND MOUSE CEREBELLUM IN TISSUE CULTURE

Closely ordered stages of myelin formation in cultures of newborn rat and mouse cerebellum, selected by direct light microscopy, were studied with the electron microscope. Electron micrographs of these cultures reveal the presence of neurons, axons, neuroglia, microglia, and ependymal cells. The appearance of the neuron is identical to that previously described in vivo. The neuroglial cell has long, branching processes, and its cytoplasm is characterized by packets of long, narrow fibrils. During myelin formation, a glial cell process surrounds the axon. This process may form an internal mesaxon and may spiral for several turns around the axon. Other glial cell processes may interdigitate with or overlay the innermost process to contribute to the multilamellated structure. The glial processes flatten and the cytoplasmic surfaces of the cell membrane come into contact to form the lamellae of the myelin sheath. These adhesions may be temporarily incomplete as evidenced by sequestered islands of glial cytoplasm among the myelin lamellae. Ultimately, a compact, apparently spiral, myelin sheath is formed. These findings are discussed in relation to in vivo central myelin formation.
Ribozymes, riboswitches and beyond: regulation of gene expression without proteins

Recent findings suggest that RNA-based elements such as ribozymes and RNA sensors have a widespread role in gene expression regulation. Studies of these RNAs provide insights into mechanisms of gene expression control and the evolution of cellular functions from RNA-based origins.
Stability of stratified gas-liquid flow in horizontal annular channels

Abstract The stability of gas–liquid stratified flow regime in horizontal annular channels is investigated. Based on the available air–water experimental data, a simple criterion for the prediction of conditions that lead to flow regime transition out of the stratified wavy flow pattern is proposed. The proposed method is an extension of the instability criterion of Taitel and Dukler [AIChE J. 22 (1976) 47] for gas–liquid flow in near-horizontal pipes.
Finding Novel Molecular Connections between Developmental Processes and Disease

Identifying molecular connections between developmental processes and disease can lead to new hypotheses about health risks at all stages of life. Here we introduce a new approach to identifying significant connections between gene sets and disease genes, and apply it to several gene sets related to human development. To overcome the limits of incomplete and imperfect information linking genes to disease, we pool genes within disease subtrees in the MeSH taxonomy, and we demonstrate that such pooling improves the power and accuracy of our approach. Significance is assessed through permutation. We created a web-based visualization tool to facilitate multi-scale exploration of this large collection of significant connections (http://gda.cs.tufts.edu/development). High-level analysis of the results reveals expected connections between tissue-specific developmental processes and diseases linked to those tissues, and widespread connections to developmental disorders and cancers. Yet interesting new hypotheses may be derived from examining the unexpected connections. We highlight and discuss the implications of three such connections, linking dementia with bone development, polycystic ovary syndrome with cardiovascular development, and retinopathy of prematurity with lung development. Our results provide additional evidence that TGFB lays a key role in the early pathogenesis of polycystic ovary syndrome. Our evidence also suggests that the VEGF pathway and downstream NFKB signaling may explain the complex relationship between bronchopulmonary dysplasia and retinopathy of prematurity, and may form a bridge between two currently-competing hypotheses about the molecular origins of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Further data exploration and similar queries about other gene sets may generate a variety of new information about the molecular relationships between additional diseases.
Evidence from antibody studies that the CAG repeat in the Huntington disease gene is expressed in the protein

The neurodegenerative disorder Huntington disease (HD) appears to be caused by an increase in the number of repeats of the trinucleotide CAG located near the 5' end of the gene. The nucleotide sequences of the cDNA and the gene predict that the HD protein has a molecular weight of 347,000 (3144 amino acids) and that the CAG repeats encode a segment of polyglutamine beginning 17 amino acids from the amino terminus. Because the CAG repeat plays such a critical role in the etiology of the disease, we sought to obtain evidence that the polyglutamine segment is indeed present in the protein. We used two peptides, hd1-peptide (FESLKSFQQ), predicted to lie at amino acid positions 11-19, just amino-terminal to the polyglutamine segment, and hd2-peptide (QQPRNKPLK), predicted to lie at amino acid positions 2531-2539, to induce polyclonal antibodies in NZW rabbits. Both antibodies recognize a protein on Western blots of about 350 kDa in cell lysates from human brain tissue and human and monkey cell lines, including cells from individuals heterozygous and homozygous for the disease. These results suggest that the HD protein in these cells contains the predicted amino terminal segment, and by inference, the segment of polyglutamine, and that the protein is expressed even when only mutant copies of the gene are present. Interestingly, the antibody to hd1-peptide does not recognize the HD protein on Western blots containing lysates from rodent cell lines, whereas the antibody to hd2-peptide does. This discrimination provides a useful means to assay for the presence of the human HD protein in a rodent cell background.
Towards Ranking the Importance of Patents

The patents have long been recognized as a rich and potentially fertile source of data for the study of innovation and technological evolution, which, in turn, would eventually bring value to business. In particular, patent data includes citations to previous patents and to other scientific literature, and patent citations allow one to create an indicator of the "importance" of individual patents. However, existing methods of measuring the importance of patents simply count the number of citations, which is insufficient to capture the large variance in the technological and economic significance of individual patents. In this paper, we propose a ranking-based metric to measure the importance of patents. The metric not only takes into account of the citation counts, also considers the importance ranking score of citing patents. That is, the importance of patents propagates through the citation links. Using the defined ranking-based measure, we conduct an empirical study to show the effects of forward truncation problem in real patent citations data.
Evolutionary Psychology: The Wheat and the Chaff

Evolutionary approaches are on the rise in the social sciences and have the potential to bring an all–encompassing conceptual framework to the study of human behavior. Together with neuroscience, which is digging the grave of mind–body dualism, evolutionary psychology is bound to undermine the still reigning human–animal dualism. If a Darwinian reshaping of the social sciences seems inevitable, even desirable, this should not be looked at as a hostile takeover. The underlying theme of this essay is that it is time for psychologists to join the Darwinian revolution, yet the essay also critically reviews current evolutionary psychology. It questions the loose application of adaptationist thinking and the fragmentation of the genome, behavior, and the brain. From biology we learn that not every species–typical trait is necessarily advantageous, and from neuroscience we learn that not every psychological ability or tendency necessarily needs to have its own specialized brain circuitry. But even if the concept...
A shuttered neural probe with on-chip flowmeters for chronic in vivo drug delivery

This paper describes the development of shutters, fluidic ribbon cables, and flowmeters for use on bulk-micromachined neural probes. The resulting devices permit electrical recording, stimulation, and chemical drug delivery in the central nervous system at the cellular level. Dielectric shutters reduce unintended drug delivery by a factor of about 25 compared with an open orifice, while silicon fluidic cables are 1.5 times more flexible than the 70 mum-ID polyimide tubing previously used. A pulsed thermal flowmeter integrated on the probe allows verification of drug delivery on a per-channel basis with a resolution of 150 pL/s. Thermal time constants are about 60 mus, allowing multiple measurements within one delivery pulse while restricting any tissue heating to negligible levels. Finally, test structures have shown the process compatibility of on-chip thermopneumatic microvalves and micropumps. The fabrication of these fluidic structures (microchannels, shutters, cables, valves, and pumps) requires only two masks in addition to the eight normally used for passive probes, providing important new capabilities for use in neurophysiological research and neural prostheses
CONSTRAINED EXTENDED KALMAN FILTER FOR NONLINEAR STATE ESTIMATION

Abstract Constraints on state variables are commonly encountered in dynamic state estimation in the form of algebraic equality and/or inequality constraints. For weakly nonlinear systems, the extended Kalman filter (EKF) has found numerous uses as a suboptimal state estimator. Unfortunately the structure of the filter does not include constraints on the states. The failure of unconstrained EKF is frequently cited as motivation for moving horizon estimation (MHE) methods for constrained state estimation. However, work on actually imposing the constraints in the existing EKF framework is scarce. This paper presents analytical solutions to the state constrained EKF (CEKF) for a class of linear constraints. It is possible to implement the CEKF efficiently with little additional computation cost and avoid expensive online optimization in MHE. The MHE is a general suboptimal strategy to impose constraints on states, noise processes and inputs, but for a class of state constraints, the proposed CEKF is sufficient. The performance of CEKF is illustrated with a simulation study of a nonlinear batch reactor.