cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Methanotrophic bacteria and facilitated transport of pollutants in aquifer material.

In situ stimulation of methanotrophic bacteria has been considered as a methodology for aquifer remediation. Chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons such as trichloroethylene are fortuitously oxidized by the methane monooxygenase produced by methanotrophic bacteria. Experimental results are presented that indicate that both colloidal suspensions containing methanotrophic cells and the soluble extracellular polymers produced by methanotrophic cells have the potential to enhance the transport and removal of other environmental contaminants such as polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and transition metals in aquifer material. Three well-characterized methanotrophic bacteria were used in the experiments: Methylomonas albus BG8 (a type I methanotroph), Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b (a type II methanotroph), and Methylocystis parvus OBBP (a type II methanotroph). Isotherms were obtained for sorption of two radiolabeled pollutants, [14C] phenanthrene and 109Cd, onto an aquifer sand in the presence and absence of washed cells and their extracellular polymer. Column transport experiments were performed with the washed methanotrophic cells and phenanthrene. The distribution coefficients for Cd with extracellular polymers were of the same order as that obtained with the aquifer sand, indicating that polymers from the methanotrophic bacteria could act to increase the transport of Cd in a porous medium. Polymer from BG8 significantly reduced the apparent distribution coefficient for Cd with an aquifer sand. [14C] phenanthrene also sorbed to extracellular polymer and to washed, suspended methanotrophic cells. The exopolymer of BG8 and OBBP significantly reduced the apparent distribution coefficient (Kd) for phenanthrene with aquifer sand. The distribution coefficients for phenanthrene with the methanotrophic cells were an order of magnitude greater than those previously reported for other heterotrophic bacteria. Cells of the methanotrophs also significantly reduced the apparent Kd for phenanthrene with an aquifer sand. The three strains of methanotrophs tested displayed mobility in a column of packed sand, and strain OBBP reduced the retardation coefficient of phenanthrene with an aquifer sand by 27%. These data indicate that both extracellular polymer and mobile cells of methanotrophic bacteria display a capacity to facilitate the mobility of pollutant metals and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons in aquifer material.
Casein and alpha-lactalbumin messenger RNAs during the development of mouse mammary gland. Isolation, partial purification, and translation in a cell-free system.

Abstract Messenger RNAs for the milk proteins, casein and α-lactalbumin, were isolated and partially purified from lactating mouse mammary glands by oligo(dT)cellulose chromatography followed by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. The translation of poly(A) + mRNA in a wheat germ cell-free system yielded three casein polypeptides and a putative precursor form of α-lactalbumin which were precipitated by specific antibodies and characterized by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The casein polypeptides synthesized in vitro had a molecular weight that was no greater than that of the caseins in mouse milk. The presence of individual casein mRNAs coding for these polypeptides was demonstrated by the translation of various fractions of mRNA obtained by sucrose density gradient centrifugation of poly(A) + mRNA. Casein mRNA activity increased about 250-fold between midpregnancy and the 10th–12th days of lactation, amounting to 50–60% of the total mRNA activity in that tissue. A similar study of α-lactalbumin mRNA showed an increase during lactation amounting to 0.2–0.4% of the total mRNA activity, which corresponds to the percentage of α-lactalbumin in total mouse milk protein.
Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism

This case examines the management of home and host country risk by Beiersdorf during the interwar years. It can be used both in business history courses and more generally to teach political risk management by multinational corporations. Beiersdorf, a German personal products company, expanded globally before 1914, but had its foreign factories and intellectual property expropriated during World War 1. After 1919 ceo Willy Jacobson rebuilt the international business, and sought to protect it by "cloaking" the ultimate ownership. Following the appointment of Adolf Hitler, as German Chancellor in 1933, Beiersdorf and Jacobson personally also came under attack by the anti-Semitic Nazi regime in its home country. The case can be used as a vehicle to understand the rise of both host and home country risk by companies during the interwar years, and more generally to explore the strategies which firms can follow to attempt to manage such risks.Learning Objective:Examines corporate response to home and host country political risk during the deglobalization era of the interwar years.
Leakage-resilient pseudorandom functions and side-channel attacks on Feistel networks

A cryptographic primitive is leakage-resilient, if it remains secure even if an adversary can learn a bounded amount of arbitrary information about the computation with every invocation. As a consequence, the physical implementation of a leakage-resilient primitive is secure against every side-channel as long as the amount of information leaked per invocation is bounded. In this paper we prove positive and negative results about the feasibility of constructing leakage-resilient pseudorandom functions and permutations (i.e. block-ciphers). Our results are three fold: 1. We construct (from any standard PRF) a PRF which satisfies a relaxed notion of leakage-resilience where (1) the leakage function is fixed (and not adaptively chosen with each query.) and (2) the computation is split into several steps which leak individually (a "step" will be the invocation of the underlying PRF.) 2. We prove that a Feistel network with a super-logarithmic number of rounds, each instantiated with a leakage-resilient PRF, is a leakage resilient PRP. This reduction also holds for the non-adaptive notion just discussed, we thus get a block-cipher which is leakage-resilient (against non-adaptive leakage). 3. We propose generic side-channel attacks against Feistel networks. The attacks are generic in the sense that they work for any round functions (e.g. uniformly random functions) and only require some simple leakage from the inputs to the round functions. For example we show how to invert an r round Feistel network over 2n bits making 4ċ(n+1)r-2 forward queries, if with each query we are also given as leakage the Hamming weight of the inputs to the r round functions. This complements the result from the previous item showing that a super-constant number of rounds is necessary.
Evaluating learning theory in donkeys (Equus asinus) while measuring heart rate variability and behavior when teaching donkeys to work to a cart

s 293 specifics under outdoor conditions. Only if horses live in harmony will they be safe to handle and to ride. Finally, most horses are bred for ‘top performance’ which, generally, means fast reactions. Breeding for a calm temperament in order to produce safe horses is, for various reasons, not a breeding goal. Yet, most horses are used for leisure purposes, not for Olympic level performance. Selection for a calm temperament would, in and of itself, have an important effect on horse accident statistics.
The association of nonsense codons with exon skipping

Some genes that contain premature nonsense codons express alternatively-spliced mRNA that has skipped the exon containing the nonsense codon. This paradoxical association of translation signals (nonsense codons) and RNA splicing has inspired numerous explanations. The first is based on the fact that premature nonsense codons often reduce mRNA abundance. The reduction in abundance of full-length mRNA then allows more efficient amplification during PCR of normal, minor, exon-deleted products. This mechanism has been demonstrated to explain an extensive correlation between nonsense codons and exon-skipping for the hamster Hprt gene. The second explanation is that the mutation producing an in-frame nonsense codon has an effect on exon definition. This has been demonstrated for the Mup and hamster Hprt gene by virtue of the fact that missense mutations at the same sites also are associated with the same exon-deleted mRNA. The third general explanation is that a hypothetical process takes place in the nucleus that recognizes nonsense codons, termed 'nuclear scanning', which then has an effect on mRNA splicing. Definitive evidence for nuclear scanning is lacking. My analysis of both nonsense and missense mutations associated with exon skipping in a large number of genes revealed that both types of mutations frequently introduce a T into a purine-rich DNA sequence and are often within 30 base pairs of the nearest exon boundary. This is intriguing given that purine-rich splicing enhancers are known to be inhibited by the introduction of a T. Almost all mutations associated with exon skipping occur in purine-rich or A/C-rich sequences, also characteristics of splicing enhancers. I conclude that most cases of exon skipping associated with premature termination codons may be adequately explained either by a structural effect on exon definition or by nonquantitative methods to measure mRNA, rather than an effect on a putative nuclear scanning mechanism.
Radon testing in schools in New York State: a 20-year summary.

Abstract For nearly 20 years the Department of Health has conducted programs to assist in the measurement and reduction of indoor radon concentrations in 186 schools located primarily in Zone 1 areas of New York State. Although many schools had few or no rooms containing radon above 148 Bq/m 3 , some rooms had >740 Bq/m 3 and remediation techniques were utilized to reduce exposure. Short-term radon measurements in the schools showed little correlation to basement and first-floor radon results from single-family homes in the towns.
Simulation-based extreme value marked correlations in fatigue of advanced engineering alloys

Abstract The objective of this research is to estimate the microstructure dependence of the extreme value probabilities of fatigue crack formation at the scale of the grains in polycrystalline and polyphase microstructures to facilitate preliminary parametric design exploration and property assessment. A simulation-based methodology is introduced for computing correlation functions of microstructure attributes marked by the extreme value microstructure-scale fatigue indicator parameters. Multiple statistically representative microstructure volumes simulated using a crystal plasticity constitutive model coupled with the FEM are used to characterize these extreme value marked correlation functions. By comparing these marked correlation functions to traditional correlation functions sampled from the bulk material, the interacting microstructure attributes important to the extreme value response are identified. This methodology is applied to identify dominant crystallographic relationships relative to fatigue crack formation in the polycrystalline P/M Ni-base superalloy IN100 and duplex Ti-6Al-4V. It is demonstrated that certain high contrast orientation relationships in both IN100 and Ti-6Al-4V (where grains oriented for hard slip are near grains oriented for easier slip) can significantly increase the driving forces for fatigue crack formation.
Boulder County Bees revisited: a resampling of Boulder Colorado Bees a century later

Historic species lists for a region can be of great interest to biologists surveying modern faunas. In 2001, we initiated a 5-year field study to examine the status of insect pollinators in Boulder County grasslands, Boulder, Colorado. Century-old records of the bee fauna were available from bee specialist Cockerell’s publication (University of Colorado Studies, Boulder, 1907) The Bees of Boulder County. We predicted that 116 species originally found by Cockerell would occur in grassland habitats. We recorded 110 species, including several species not present in the 1907 collection. We conclude that the bees of the grasslands of Boulder County have been largely conserved, and we hypothesize that the large amount of preserved habitat in the county has contributed to maintaining the insects.
Androgen formation from pregnenolone sulfate by fetal, neonatal, prepubertal and adult human testes.

To evaluate steroid sulfatase activity in fetal, neonatal, prepubertal and adult human testes, homogenates of testicular tissue were incubated with 3H-pregnenolone sulfate. Rate of cleavage of pregnenolone sulfate and the production of metabolites were measured. Free steroid products were isolated, identified and the amounts produced in 2-hr expressed as pmoles/mg protein incubated. On this basis, the rate of cleavage of pregnenolone sulfate in testes from the various stages of development did not show marked changes. A definite correlation was demonstrated between the age of the subject and the amounts of free C19 steroids produced by testicular homogenates. Testicular homogenates from 3 fetuses (107–152 days) yielded the same amount of testosterone, 1.29–1.38 pmoles/mg protein. Homogenates from a 3-week-old infant produced 0.22 pmoles/mg protein. No testosterone was formed in the testicular homogenates from 2-month, 14-month and 9-yr-old subjects. Homogenates from adults 19, 23, and 52 yr old synthesize...
The meaning of baldness and implications for treatment.

Abstract Use of therapies to improve an individual's appearance is not a new medical concept. Androgenetic alopecia has been recognized as a disorder since the time of Hippocrates, 1 and since that time, a variety of preparations and surgical procedures have been used as treatments. Recently, both the popular press and the professional literature 2 have given much attention to the antihypertensive agent minoxidil for treating androgenetic alopecia. Treatment of alopecia raises a number of interesting questions regarding the definitions of "disease" and "illness," some of which have implications for practitioners as they define the limits of proper medical practice.
Toward active, extensible, networked documents: multivalent architecture and applications

Rich varieties of online digital documents are possible, documents which do not merely imitate the capabilities of other media. A true digital document provides an interface to potentially complex content. Since this content is infinitely varied and specialized, we must provide means to interact with it in arbitrarily specialized ways. Furthermore, since relevant content may be found in distinct documents, we must draw from multiple sources, yet provide a coherent presentation to the user Finally, it is essential to be able to conveniently author new content, dejine new means of manipulation, and seamlessly mesh both with existing materials. Wepresent a new general paradigm that regards documents with complex content as “multivalent documents”, comprising multiple “layers” of distinct but intimately related content. Small, dynamically-loaded program objects, or “behaviors”, activate the content and work in concert with each other and layers of content to support arbitrarily specialized document types. Behaviors bind together the disparate pieces of a multivalent document to present the user with a single untjied conceptual document. As implemented in Java in the context of the World Wide Web, multivalent documents in effect create a customizable virtual Web, drawing together diverse content and functionality into coherent documentbased inte~aces to content. Examples of the diverse jimctionality in multivalent documents include: “OCR select and paste”, where the user describes a geometric region on the scanned image of a printed page and the corresponding text characters are copied out; video subtitling, which aligns a video clip with the script and language translations so that, e.g., the playing video can be presented simultaneously in multiple languages, and the video can be searrhed with text-based techniques; geographic information system (GIS) visualizations that compose several types of data from multiple datasets; and distributed user annotations that augment and may transform the Content of other documents. In general, a document management infrastructure built around a multivalent perspective can provide an extensible, networked system that supports incremental addition of content, incremental addition of interaction with the user and with other components, reuse of content across behaviors, reuse of behaviors across types of documents, and eficient use of network bandwidth. Multivalent The work reported here was supported in part by National Science Foundation grant IRI-9411334 as part of the NSF/NASA/ARPA Digital
4665 Secretin-stimulated functional mrcp: correlation with sphincter of oddi manometry.

INTRODUCTION : Reports suggest that the pancreatic duct (PD) may remain dilated for a longer time following secretin administration in pts with Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction(SOD), and thus may be able to predict elevated pancreatic basal sphincter pressure. AIM: To determine if pancreatic basal sphincter pressure elevation can be predicted by secretin stimulated functional magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP). METHODS : Pts with idiopathic pancreatitis or pancreaticobiliary abdominal pain who were scheduled for ERCP with SOM were eligible to participate. Seventy-two pts were recruited and underwent secretinstimulated MRCP; 42 had both MRCP and ERCP with SOM. Secretin was administered IV (1 CU/kg) and MRCP imaging performed on a 1.5 T General Electric Signa scanner using a single-slab technique with a singleshot, half-Fourier, fast spin echo pulse sequence. Imaging was repeated over a 30-minute period and measurements of the PD diameter were made at four anatomic locations on each scan. SOD was diagnosed when the basal pressure was ≥ 40mmHg. Pts with pancreas divisum were excluded. RESULTS: Of the 42 pts who underwent both studies 14 (M:F 6:8) had normal pancreatic manometry and 28 (M:F 9:19) had elevated pancreatic basal sphincter pressure. SUMMARY: Secretin-stimulated MRCP shows a diminished, rather than exaggerated, ductal dilation response in patients with documented SOD. CONCLUSIONS: The limited ductal diameter changes are suggestive of chronic pancreatitis. Further correlation studies evaluating other parameters for detecting subtle chronic pancreatitis are needed.
Clinical and Economic Outcomes of Pharmacist-Managed Antiepileptic Drug Therapy

This study explores the associations between pharmacist-managed antiepileptic drug therapy in hospitalized Medicare patients and diagnoses indicating the need for these drugs. It also explores the following major heath care outcomes: death rate, hospital length of stay (LOS), Medicare charges, drug charges, laboratory charges, complications, and adverse drug reactions. Data were drawn from the 1998 MedPAR and 1998 National Clinical Pharmacy Services databases. Pharmacist-managed antiepileptic drug therapy was evaluated in a study population of 9380 Medicare patients with diagnosed epilepsy or seizure disorders treated in 794 United States hospitals. This population was derived from the 38,311 hospitalized Medicare patients with epilepsy or seizure disorders (MedPAR). In hospitals without pharmacist-managed antiepileptic drug therapy, death rates were 120.61% higher, with 374 excess deaths (Χ 2 =5.983, df=1, p=0.014, odds ratio [OR]=1.553, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.102-2.189). Hospital LOS was 14.68% higher, with 8069 patient-days (Mann-Whitney U test [U]=3833132, p=0.0009); total Medicare charges were 11.19% higher, with $14,372,550 in excess total charges (U=3644199, p=0.0003); per-patient drug charges were $115 ± $92 higher (p=NS); laboratory charges were 32.24% higher, with $5,664,970 in excess charges; and aspiration pneumonia rate was 54.61% higher (Χ 2 =5.848, df=1, p=0.015, OR=1.233, 95% CI 1.081-1.901). Although the frequencies of other complications and adverse effects were higher, these differences were not statistically significant compared with hospitals with pharmacist-managed antiepileptic drug therapy. Clinical and economic outcomes were improved among hospitalized Medicare patients whose antiepileptic drug therapy was managed by pharmacists.
Optimal Experimental Design of Human Appraisals for Modeling Consumer Preferences in Engineering Design

Human appraisals are becoming increasingly important in the design of engineering systems to link engineering design attributes to customer preferences. Human appraisals are used to assess consumers’ opinions of a given product design, and are unique in that the experiment response is a function of both the product attributes and the respondents’ demographic attributes. The design of a human appraisal is characterized as a split-plot design, in which the respondent demographic attributes form the whole-plot factors while the product attributes form the split-plot factors. The experiments are also characterized by random block effects, in which the design configurations evaluated by a single respondent form a block. An experimental design algorithm is needed for human appraisal experiments because standard experimental designs often do not meet the needs of these experiments. In this work, an algorithmic approach to identify the optimal design for a human appraisal experiment is developed, which considers the effects of respondent fatigue and the block and split-plot structure of such a design. The developed algorithm seeks to identify the experimental design which maximizes the determinant of the Fisher Information Matrix, labeled as the D-criterion of a given design. The algorithm is derived assuming an ordered logit model will be used to model the rating responses. The advantages of this approach over competing approaches for minimizing the number of appraisal experiments and model-building efficiency are demonstrated using an automotive interior package human appraisal as an example.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Residual and recurrent acoustic neuromas.

A retrospective study was conducted on all 23 patients who underwent operation for residual or recurrent acoustic neuromas during the 10-year period January 1976 through December 1985. The most common symptoms at the time of reoperation were ataxia (16 patients), facial paresthesias (13 patients), and headaches (9 patients). Primary procedures had consisted of suboccipital posterior fossa approaches in 22 patients and a middle fossa approach in one. Reoperation for recurrent or residual tumor consisted of a retrosigmoid approach in 17 patients and a translabyrinthine or translaby-rinthine/retrosigmoid approach in six patients. This study confirms that residual or recurrent acoustic tumors are not common. It also suggests that long-term follow-up, for at least 7 to 8 years, is indicated.
Comparative effects of tin- and zinc-protoporphyrin on steroidogenesis: tin-protoporphyrin is a potent inhibitor of cytochrome P-450-dependent activities in the rat adrenals.

Synthetic metalloporphyins inhibit formation of bilirubin by the heme oxygenase system, an ability that is of considerable experimental and clinical interest for suppression of jaundice in the newborn. The present investigation compares the consequences of treatment with Sn- and Zn-protoporphyrin on hemoprotein-dependent enzymes of the rat adrenals and corticosterone production and defines Sn-protoporphyrin as a potent toxin to adrenal functions. Treatment of rats with Sn-protoporphyrin (two doses of 50 μmol/kg, in 7 d) resulted in a marked reduction of 30–40% in cytochrome P-450-dependent adrenal microsomal 21α-hydroxylase and mitochondrial 11β-hydroxylase activities. In the serum, the levels of corticosterone were reduced to about 70% of the control value. In addition, the mitochondrial cytochrome P-450SCC activity was decreased by about 50%. This decrease, however, could not be attributed to a reduced total heme level or an accelerated heme degradatory activity. Disruption by Sn-protoporphyrin of adrenal hemoprotein-dependent functions was not restricted to steroidogenic activities and encompassed drug metabolism activity of the organ; benzo(a)pyrene hydroxylase activity of both the microsomal and the mitochondrial fractions, as well as the microsomal NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase activity, were significantly reduced. Zn-protoporphyrin did not cause significant alterations in the above measured parameters although it too was effective in inhibiting the hepatic microsomal heme oxygenase activity. In light of the presently defined adverse effects of Sn-protoporphyrin on adrenal Steroidogenesis, we suggest Zn-protoporphyrin is the agent of choice for potential use in treatment of hyperbilirubinemia in humans.
Characteristics methods for transient analysis of wave propagation in unbounded media

A method based on characteristics was developed recently for the analysis of wave propagation in unbounded layered media [7]. In this paper, the method is extended to problems involving spherical and cylindrical computational boundaries. The procedure resulting from straightforward extension of the method meets with several difficulties in stability and accuracy. Modifications based on radial scaling and upwinding are applied to circumvent these difficulties. The resulting boundary conditions have all the properties desired in an artificial boundary condition. Numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the procedure.
Sphingolipids in neurodegeneration.

Although the brain contains a high content of sphingolipids, we know relatively little about the roles that sphingolipids play in regulating neural functions. Once regarded only for their structural roles in maintaining the integrity of cellular and sub-cellular compartments, it is now apparent that many sphingolipid species are biologically active and play important roles in regulating signaling events. Recent technological and scientific advances are rapidly increasing our knowledge of the roles that sphingolipids play in regulating normal neural activity. Likewise, we are beginning to understand how perturbations in sphingolipid metabolism contribute to the pathogenesis of a variety of neurodegenerative conditions. In this special issue of NeuroMolecular Medicine, we present a series of review articles that summarize new and emerging technologies for the analysis of sphingolipids, sphingolipid metabolic pathways, and how dysfunctions in sphingolipid metabolism contribute to neurodegeneration in lysosomal storage disorders, Alzheimer’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis.
The use of thrombolytic therapy in pregnancy

The relative hypercoagulable state of pregnancy leads to an increased risk of thrombotic complications, of which some may be life-threatening or medically devastating. In the non-pregnant patient, the current guidelines suggest thrombolysis as the primary treatment in acute ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction when percutaneous intervention is unavailable, certain cases of mechanical valve thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism with hemodynamic compromise or shock. Given that clinical trial data regarding thrombolytic use in pregnant women are absent due to exclusion, the goal of this review is to summarize the available published data regarding the use of thrombolytic agents and subsequent outcomes and complications in pregnant women. Overall, the use of thrombolytic agents in pregnancy is associated with a relatively low reported complication rate, especially given the severe medical conditions for which they are indicated. The data would suggest that thrombolysis should be considered for appropriate indications similar to that of non-pregnant patients. However, caution should be exercised when drawing conclusions regarding maternal and fetal safety, given the lack of controlled clinical trials including pregnant women and the nature of the weak evidence level of the cumulative data presented in this review.
EFFECTS OF ADVANCED GLYCOSYLATION END-PRODUCTS (AGE) ON AUTOREGULATION IN AFFERENT ARTERIOLES (AA) FROM DIABETIC RATS. † 1647

AGE have been shown to reduce systemic pressor responses to acetylcholine(ACh) and to quench nitric oxide (NO) in vitro. We studied the effects of AGE on autoregulation and the responses to ACh and NO-synthase inhibition in juxtamedullary (JM) afferent arterioles (AA) from rats with 40-50 days diabetes mellitus (DM) induced via i.p. injection of 65 mg/kg streptozotocin. Blood glucose was 447±20 mg/dl (n=10). JM AA were perfused in vitro with blood solutions containing fresh RBC's (Hct≈27%) suspended in either 6% bovine albumin or 6% AGE-albumin in Krebs Ringer. The superfusate also contained AGE or albumin (1%). AGE were made by incubation of 6% albumin with 0.5 M glucose for 45 days at 37° C followed by dialysis. To control for the effects of hyperglycemia, the glucose levels were 100 mg/dl in both solutions. Under these conditions, autoregulatory responses were evident: AA constricted 38±4% (n=8) in response to increased (60-140 mmHg) perfusion pressure (PP). The same vessels showed substantial basal tone: 10μM ACh caused a 48±6% dilation and calcium channel blockade with 10 mM MnCl2 elicited a 109±11% dilation at 100 mmHg. Significant basal NO production was evident, as 0.1 mM L-NAME constricted AA by 21±2% (n=9) at 100 mmHg PP. AGE dilated these AA (44±12% at 100 mmHg PP, n=8) at all PP levels; addition of ACh resulted in a modest further dilation (15±9%) to diameters similar to those seen with ACh and normal perfusate. Hence, in the absence of hyperglycemia, the vasodilatory action of AGE in DM AA is inconsistent with AGE reducing NO levels. Funded by Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International Grant #195079.
PERSPECTIVES IN PEDIATRIC PATHOLOGY: Progressive Familial Intrahepatic Cholestasis: A Personal Perspective

Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC), originally described as “Byler disease” in an Amish kindred, has been distinguished from other forms of cholestatic liver disease in childhood by clinical findings, clinical–laboratory observations, and morphologic studies in biopsy, hepatectomy, and autopsy specimens. Correlation with genetic analyses has permitted both more precise definition of PFIC and distinctions within PFIC. Two types of PFIC now are recognized: PFIC-1, resulting from mutations in a gene called FIC1 (familial intrahepatic cholestasis, type 1), and PFIC-2, resulting from mutations in a gene called BSEP (bile salt export pump). Other forms of PFIC may yet be identified. The roles of FIC1 and BSEP in the secretion of bile acids into bile and in the post-secretory modification of bile are under study.
Valuing fatal risks to children and adults: Effects of disease, latency, and risk aversion

We examine heterogeneity of willingness to pay (WTP) to reduce risks of fatal disease and trauma to adults and children. Using a stated-preference survey fielded to a large, nationally representative internet panel, we find that WTP to reduce fatal-disease risks (caused by consuming pesticide residues on foods) are similar for several types of cancer and non-cancer diseases and similar to WTP to reduce motor-vehicle crashes. WTP to reduce risk to one’s child is uniformly larger than to reduce risk to another adult or to oneself. Estimated values per statistical life are $6–10 million for adults and $12–15 million for children.
An analytic valuation formula for unprotected American call options on stocks with known dividends

Sometimes it pays to exercise an American-type call option prematurely, just prior to a cash emission by the underlying security. Such an option can be expressed as a combination of three European-type options whose valuation formulae are known.
Error estimate for the valence approximation to lattice QCD

Abstract A Monte Carlo algorithm is used to calculate m N / m ϱ , m Δ / m ϱ , m q m ϱ / m π 2 , f π / m ϱ , f ϱ / m ϱ and Λ mo for lattice QCD with the number of flavors N f of quarks contributing virtual loops given by zero, the valence approximation, and with N f chosen, in effect to be −2. The difference between corresponding pairs of quantities with N f of zero and N f of zero and N f of −2 we take to be an estimate of the difference between the value for a realistic theory with N f of +2 and for the approximate theory with N f of zero. The changes in mass ratios and Λ mo are consistent with zero and typically (20±20)% while decay constant ratios change by as much as (88±24)%.
Computing Sample Size for Receiver Operating Characteristic Studies

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVESHanley and McNeil (1982) proposed a nonparametric method for computing the standard error of the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The method has been important in planning the minimum sample size for ROC studies. However, the validity of this meth
The Effects of Organic Compounds on Inhibition of Hydrogen Permeation Through a Mild Steel Membrane

The effectiveness of 5-(4-pyridyl)-2,7-nonadiene, and 1 phenyl-2-propyn-ol (PP) on inhibition of the hydrogen evolution reaction on a 1010 steel membrane and on the degree of hydrogen ingress into the membrane was determined. Hydrogen evolution rates and permeation currents were monitored as a function of time at different applied potentials. In the presence of 0.5 g/liter PP in the electrolyte, the hydrogen discharge and permeation current density were inhibited by 98 and 95%, respectively.
Adenomatous Polyposis Coli/β-Catenin Interaction and Downstream Targets: Altered Gene Expression in Gastrointestinal Tumors

Gastrointestinal cancer affects 250,000 Americans a year with nearly half of those cases being colorectal cancer. The Wnt pathway is activated in most spontaneous and familial colorectal cancers and has been implicated in tumor formation at other sites in the gastrointestinal tract. In human tumors, the Wnt pathway is most often altered by mutations affecting certain components of this signal transduction cascade-the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) tumor suppressor gene or the ss-catenin gene. Perturbations in the function of either protein lead to altered gene regulation through the interaction of ss-catenin with T-cell factor (Tcf)/lymphoid enhancer binding protein (Lef) transcription factors. This review will discuss the Wnt pathway, examine the mutations of its components that are found in human cancer, and discuss the known downstream gene targets.
A new era in phosphate binder therapy: what are the options?

Dietary restriction of phosphorus and current dialysis prescription are unable to maintain phosphorus levels within the recommended range (2.7–5.5 mg/dl) in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD). Therefore, phosphate binders that limit the absorption of dietary phosphorus are commonly prescribed for this patient group. The first phosphate binders were introduced more than 30 years ago and included aluminum salts; however, although effective binders, the use of these agents was subsequently restricted because of concerns over aluminum accumulation in the central nervous system, bone, and hematopoietic cells. In subsequent years, calcium salts, namely calcium carbonate and calcium acetate, became the most widely used phosphate binders; however, increasing evidence now suggests that prolonged use of these agents increases the total body calcium load, induces adynamic bone, and potentially increases the risk of cardiovascular and soft tissue calcification. Sevelamer is the first phosphate-binding agent that is non-absorbed, calcium-free, and metal-free. To date, this agent has been shown to effectively control serum phosphorus levels in patients with CKD. It may also attenuate coronary and aortic calcification and has a number of other beneficial effects on lipid metabolism and inflammation among others. Lanthanum carbonate is another new agent that is reported to provide similar phosphate control to calcium-based phosphate binders but concerns that the long-term administration of such compound may lead to tissue accumulation may limit its use.
Optical protein sensor for detecting cancer markers in saliva

A surface immobilized optical protein sensor has been utilized to detect Interleukin-8 (IL-8) protein, an oral cancer marker, and can reach limit of detection (LOD) at 1.1 pM in buffer without using enzymatic amplification. Only after applying enzymatic amplification to increase the signal level by a few orders of magnitude, ELISA can reach the LOD of 1 pM level. We then develop the confocal optics based sensor for further reducing the optical noise and can extend the LOD of the surface immobilized optical protein sensor two orders in magnitude. These improvements have allowed us to detect IL-8 protein at 4.0 fM in buffer. In addition, these sensitive LODs were achieved without the use of enzymatic signal amplification, such that the simplified protocol can further facilitate the development of point-of-care devices. The ultra sensitive optical protein sensor presented in this paper has a wide number of applications in disease diagnoses. Measurements for detecting biomarkers in clinical sample are much more challenging than the measurements in buffer, due to high background noise contributed by large collections of non-target molecules. We used clinical saliva samples to validate the functionality of the optical protein sensor. Clinical detection of disease-specific biomarkers in saliva offers a non-invasive, alternative approach to using blood or urine. Currently, the main challenge of using saliva as a diagnostic fluid is its inherently low concentration of biomarkers. We compare the measurements of 40 saliva samples; half from oral cancer patients and half from a control group. The data measured by the optical protein sensor is compared with the traditional Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbant Assay (ELISA) values to validate the accuracy of our system. These positive results enable us to proceed to using confocal optical protein sensor to detect other biomarkers, which have much lower concentrations.
A Method for Measuring Polarization in the Vacuum Ultraviolet

A simple experimental method for determining the degree of plane polarization of a far ultraviolet monochromator was developed and tested. This determination requires only a measurement of the reflectance at 45° angle of incidence with two or more orientations of the reflector about the optic axis. This procedure works at all wavelengths without requiring a detailed knowledge of the optical constants of the reflector material. The degree of plane polarization has been determined for a 0.5-m Seya-Namioka monochromator. The polarization has been found to depend strongly on wavelength and on both the grating and the grating overcoating.
CO/UNBURNED HYDROCARBON EMISSIONS OF STRONGLY-PULSED TURBULENT DIFFUSION FLAMES

The CO and unburned hydrocarbon (UHC) emissions of pulsed turbulent diffusion flames were examined by injecting unheated ethylene into a combustor with an air coflow at atmospheric pressure. In all cases the flames were fully modulated (fuel flow fully shut off between injection intervals). Video imaging was performed and time-averaged emissions were measured on the combustor centerline. For short injection times ( ≤ 46 ms), compact, puff-like structures were generated. Longer injection times produced elongated flame structures with flame lengths closer to that of steady flames. The highest emission indices of CO and UHC were found for compact, isolated puffs. The emissions for all flames approached the steady-flame levels for a duty cycle (jet-on fraction) of approximately 0.4. This suggests that there are combinations of injection time and duty cycle for fully modulated, turbulent diffusion flames that produce emissions comparable to the steady flame but with a significantly shorter flame length.
Selective sweep analysis in the genomes of the 91-R and 91-C Drosophila melanogaster strains reveals few of the 'usual suspects' in dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) resistance.

Adaptation of insect phenotypes for survival after exposure to xenobiotics can result from selection at multiple loci with additive genetic effects. To the authors’ knowledge, no selective sweep analysis has been performed to identify such loci in highly dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) resistant insects. Here we compared a highly DDT resistant phenotype in the Drosophila melanogaster (Drosophila) 91-R strain to the DDT susceptible 91-C strain, both of common origin. Whole genome re-sequencing data from pools of individuals was generated separately for 91-R and 91-C, and mapped to the reference Drosophila genome assembly (v. 5.72). Thirteen major and three minor effect chromosome intervals with reduced nucleotide diversity (π) were identified only in the 91-R population. Estimates of Tajima's D (D) showed corresponding evidence of directional selection in these same genome regions of 91-R, however, no similar reductions in π or D estimates were detected in 91-C. An overabundance of non-synonymous proteins coding to synonymous changes were identified in putative open reading frames associated with 91-R. Except for NinaC and Cyp4g1, none of the identified genes were the ‘usual suspects’ previously observed to be associated with DDT resistance. Additionally, up-regulated ATP-binding cassette transporters have been previously associated with DDT resistance; however, here we identified a structurally altered MDR49 candidate resistance gene. The remaining fourteen genes have not previously been shown to be associated with DDT resistance. These results suggest hitherto unknown mechanisms of DDT resistance, most of which have been overlooked in previous transcriptional studies, with some genes having orthologs in mammals.
Optimizing molecular signatures for predicting prostate cancer recurrence.

BACKGROUND The derivation of molecular signatures indicative of disease status and predictive of subsequent behavior could facilitate the optimal choice of treatment for prostate cancer patients.
Activity in galaxies and quasars.

Activity in galaxies and quasars is interpreted in terms of plasma processes occurring in the magnetosphere of a magnetoid model. The magnetoid is comprised of a core and an annulus rotating about a common axis with different angular velocities. It is conjectured that the transition from a closed force field configuration to an open one will be effected by an MHD eruptive instability, and that such eruptions lead to high velocity clouds of cool gas, identified with clouds producing absorption lines in quasars. The ejection of radio clouds from galaxies and quasars is attributed to galactic flares. Current sheets contain mildly relativistic electrons moving in directions partially transverse to the magnetic field. Synchrotron radiation from these electrons is held responsible for the nonthermal radiation from quasars and certain galaxies. It is proposed that minor instabilities of the current sheets are responsible for fluctuations in the nonthermal luminosity and for small scale radio bursts sometimes observed.
Stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation: managing the risks in light of new oral anticoagulants.

Anticoagulation in patients with atrial fibrillation is essential to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with stroke, but at the same time the risk of bleeding needs to be carefully considered. There have been many recent developments in anticoagulation to improve medical management of these patients. CHA2DS2-VASc and HAS-BLED are two new algorithms that clinicians may use prior to initiating anticoagulation to estimate the risk of stroke and bleeding in patients with atrial fibrillation. In addition, new classes of oral anticoagulants such as direct thrombin inhibitors and selective Factor Xa inhibitors have emerged and consist of agents that aim to address many of the practical management challenges of warfarin. In this review of the literature, results of the clinical trials involving these new agents will be discussed and compared, with a focus on the balance between efficacy and safety.
Straylight Analysis Of An Aperture Shade Off-Set From The SIRTF Optical Axis

Adoption of an aperture shade whose axis is offset from the optical axis of the SIRTF telescope has been proposed by Davis (1988). Moving the high side of the asymmetric (truncated) shade away from the optical axis can equalize the barrel baffle lengths illuminated by the aperture shade and reduce the dimensions of both the barrel baffle and aperture shade. The stray-light performance of this revised design is compared to that of the SIRTF baseline design, which uses a coaxial asymmetric aperture shade. Both designs incorporate a back focal distance of 100 cm and Davis's specifications for the primary and secondary cone baffles. Adoption of an offset aperture shade for SIRTF would slightly degrade its performance but would not violate any of the stray-light requirements. The SIRTF goal of natural-background-limited observations can be met with known blacks, Class 750 mirror contamination, and either aperture shade configuration.
Binge Drinking Among College Students: A Partial Test of Akers’ Social Structure-Social Learning Theory

The present research continues to test the hypothesis from Akers’ Social Structure-Social Learning Theory (1998) that the effects of structural variables will be mediated by social learning processes. The present research uses Core Alcohol and Drug Survey data from eight diverse college campuses throughout the United States to study binge drinking. This research examines 13 structural features for a full range of college students. The results indicate the social learning variables (rewards, punishments and definitions) mediated most of the structural effects of binge drinking. There were significant interactions, which are not predicted by Akers. The paper discusses the implication of these findings for Akers’ mediation hypothesis.
New two-photon materials for fast volumetric rewritable optical storage

Two-photon absorption (TPA) is a promising technique for high density 3D-addressing for writing and read-out of data, provided that suitable two-photon sensitive materials facilitating fast recording and read-out will be developed. Free-base porphyrins and other metal-free tetrapyrroles, such as phthalocyanies and naphthalocyanines possess a unique fast intrinsic photo-tautomerization mechanism, which consists in switching the position of a pair of protons in the core of the molecule. In the past photo-tautomerization was used for holographic storage, but can be also applied for bit-oriented volumetric information storage using laser-excited fluorescence for readout. However, the utility of the photo-tautomerization for two-photon storage was severely restricted so far by the fact that all known tetrapyrroles have rather low TPA cross section, with values not exceeding 1 - 10 GM (1GM = 10-50 cm4 s photon-1). Recently we have discovered a new class of porphyrins, where TPA cross section is dramatically amplified by certain chemical modification of the chemical structure, and that some of the new porphyrins have the ability of photo-tautomerization by simultaneous absorption of two photons. In this paper we discuss the photophysics and nonlinear optics of the new porphyrins that can lead to fast volumetric re-writable optical storage. We present a quantitative comparison of the new compounds with previously known TPA chromophores and introduce a merit figure, which takes into account both TPA cross-section as well as the efficiency of light-induced changes. We show the combination of high cross sections of two-photon absorption, up to 1000 GM in near-IR range of wavelength, with the fast photo-tautomerization, offers, for the first time, a sufficiently high merit figure needed for implementation of high-density, high speed volumetric two-photon re-writable optical storage.