cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reaction mechanism of soluble epoxide hydrolase: insights from molecular dynamics simulations

Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to gain insights into the catalytic mechanism of the hydrolysis of epoxides to vicinal diols by soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH). The binding of a substrate, 1S,2S-trans-methylstyrene oxide, was studied in two conformations in the active site of the enzyme. It was found that only one is likely to be found in the active enzyme. In the preferred conformation the phenyl group of the substrate is pi-sandwiched between two aromatic residues, Tyr381 and His523, whereas the other conformation is pi-stacked with only one aromatic residue, Trp334. Two simulations were carried out to 1 ns for each conformation to evaluate the protonation state of active site residue His523. It was found that a protonated histidine is essential for keeping the active site from being disrupted. Long time scale, 4 ns, molecular dynamics simulation was done for the structure with the most likely combination of binding conformation and protonation state of His523. Near Attack Conformers (NACs) are present 5.3% of the time and nucleophilic attack on either epoxide carbon atom, approximately 75% on C(1) and approximately 25% on C(2), is found. A maximum of one hydrogen bond between the epoxide oxygen and either of the active site tyrosines, Tyr465 and Tyr381, is present, in agreement with experimental mutagenesis results that reveal a slight loss in activity if one tyrosine is mutated and essential loss of all activity upon double mutation of the two tyrosines in question. It was found that a hydrogen bond from Tyr465 to the substrate oxygen is essential for controlling the regioselectivity of the reaction. Furthermore, a relationship between the presence of this hydrogen bond and the separation of reactants was found. Two groups of amino acid segments were identified each as moving collectively. Furthermore, an overall anti-correlation was found between the movements of these two individually collectively moving groups, made up by parts of the cap-region, including the two tyrosines, and the site of the catalytic triad, respectively. This overall anti-correlated collective domain motion is, perhaps, involved in the conversion of E.NAC to E.TS.
The Path to Academic Access for Students With Significant Cognitive Disabilities

Federal special education law (Individuals With Disabilities Education Act) guarantees, but does not define, access to the general education curriculum for all students with disabilities. In-depth qualitative telephone interviews were conducted with special educators (n = 33) about their academic decision making for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Findings revealed a distinct path to decision making about academic access, including a context of aloneness, the influence of professionalism, and perceived barriers. As traditional ways of educating students with significant cognitive disabilities are challenged by new expectations, this research provides a glimpse of how teachers struggle to interpret policy and enact access. Understanding access as a conceptual path enables policy, research, and professional development aimed at increasing access to focus on specific points in the decision-making process.
Differential Genetic Etiology of Reading Disability as a Function of IQ

To test the hypothesis that the genetic etiology of reading disability differs as a function of IQ, composite reading performance data from 223 pairs of identical twins and 169 pairs of same-gender fraternal twins in which at least one member of each pair was classified with reading disability were subjected to multiple regression analysis (DeFries & Fulker, 1985, 1988). In the total sample, heritability of the group deficit in reading performance (h2g) was .58 (± .08). However, when the basic regression model was fitted separately to data from twin pairs with average Wechsler (1974, 1981) full scale IQ scores below 100 or 100 and above, resulting estimates of h2 g were .43 and .72, respectively, a significant difference (p ≤ .03, one-tailed). The results of fitting extended regression models to reading performance and continuous IQ data provide evidence that the genetic etiology of reading disability differs as a linear function of IQ (p ≤ .007, one-tailed). These results suggest that IQ is relevant for ...
Determinants of pore folding in potassium channel biogenesis

Many ion channels, both selective and nonselective, have reentrant pore loops that contribute to the architecture of the permeation pathway. It is a fundamental feature of these diverse channels, regardless of whether they are gated by changes of membrane potential or by neurotransmitters, and is critical to function of the channel. Misfolding of the pore loop leads to loss of trafficking and expression of these channels on the cell surface. Mature tetrameric potassium channels contain an α-helix within the pore loop. We systematically mutated the “pore helix” residues of the channel Kv1.3 and assessed the ability of the monomer to fold into a tertiary reentrant loop. Our results show that pore loop residues form a canonical α-helix in the monomer early in biogenesis and that disruption of tertiary folding is caused by hydrophilic substitutions only along one face of this α-helix. These results provide insight into the determinants of the reentrant pore conformation, which is essential for ion channel function.
Protection of Plasma Membrane K+ Transport by the Salt Overly Sensitive1 Na+-H+ Antiporter during Salinity Stress

Physicochemical similarities between K+ and Na+ result in interactions between their homeostatic mechanisms. The physiological interactions between these two ions was investigated by examining aspects of K+ nutrition in the Arabidopsis salt overly sensitive (sos) mutants, and salt sensitivity in the K+ transport mutants akt1 (Arabidopsis K+ transporter) and skor (shaker-like K+ outward-rectifying channel). The K+-uptake ability (membrane permeability) of the sos mutant root cells measured electrophysiologically was normal in control conditions. Also, growth rates of these mutants in Na+-free media displayed wild-type K+ dependence. However, mild salt stress (50 mm NaCl) strongly inhibited root-cell K+ permeability and growth rate in K+-limiting conditions of sos1 but not wild-type plants. Increasing K+ availability partially rescued the sos1 growth phenotype. Therefore, it appears that in the presence of Na+, the SOS1 Na+-H+ antiporter is necessary for protecting the K+ permeability on which growth depends. The hypothesis that the elevated cytoplasmic Na+ levels predicted to result from loss of SOS1 function impaired the K+ permeability was tested by introducing 10 mm NaCl into the cytoplasm of a patch-clamped wild-type root cell. Complete loss of AKT1 K+ channel activity ensued. AKT1 is apparently a target of salt stress in sos1 plants, resulting in poor growth due to impaired K+ uptake. Complementary studies showed that akt1 seedlings were salt sensitive during early seedling development, but skor seedlings were normal. Thus, the effect of Na+ on K+ transport is probably more important at the uptake stage than at the xylem loading stage.
Direct numerical simulation of hypersonic boundary-layer transition over blunt leading edges. I - A new numerical method and validation

This paper presents and tests a new high-order upwind finite difference shock fitting method for the direct simulations of hypersonic flows with strong bow shocks. There are three main aspects of the new method: a simple unsteady shock fitting formulation, new upwind high-order finite difference schemes for spatial discretization, and new third-order semi-implicit Runge-Kutta schemes for temporal discretization. The results of accuracy tests of the new fifth-order shock-fitting method are presented for four test cases: 1D wave equation, 2D direct numerical simulation (DNS) of stability of supersonic Couette flow, steady viscous hypersonic flow over a circular cylinder, and the DNS of receptivity to freestream acoustic disturbances for hypersonic boundary layers over a parabola. (Author)
On the Viability of Sibling Marriages: A Comment on McCabe's Argument

The Miahuatlan survey did not involve a field by field 100% pedestrian survey of the 300-km2 study area. As discussed in the monograph (Markman 1981:6-9), sites were located by traditional methods of reconnaissance except for 68 km2 that were intensively surveyed, including a 50-km2 pilot area and an additional 18 km2 covered in transects. The thoroughness of the reconnaissance was verified by surveying six evenly spaced transects placed perpendicular to the river so as to include a sampling of all land types. The result of this check was that not a single site was encountered that had not been previously recorded during the reconnaissance. This was not surprising, as I was assisted by the archeological inspector of the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia whose job has involved years of covering the valley on foot. A point that must be emphasized is that the data from the sampling transects were used only to verify the thoroughness of the rest of the survey. This point is stressed because Byland's comment that the study lacks "statistical verification" could lead the reader to assume mistakenly that the transect samples were somehow used as a data base for defining regional settlement patterns. The transect information was neither used to define the environmental distribution of
Rapid exhumation of the Zermatt-Saas ophiolite deduced from high-precision SmNd and RbSr geochronology

Sm‐Nd isotope data from garnets in ultrahigh-pressure (coesite-bearing) eclogite from the Western Alps were obtained to determine the age of peak metamorphism and exhumation rates of deeply buried oceanic crust in the Zermatt‐Saas ophiolite complex. We report an exceptionally well-constrained Sm‐Nd isochron age of 40:62:6 Ma from the Lago di Cignana eclogite. Difficulties in dating Alpine eclogites using this method were overcome by using an HF acid-leaching procedure on garnet to remove mineral inclusions. The Zermatt‐Saas rocks reached greenschist-facies conditions around 38 2M a, on the basis of Rb‐Sr whole rock‐phengite isochrons. These data, combined with existing estimates of the pressure and temperature conditions of the eclogite, give an estimate for the initial exhumation rate of 10 to 26 km=m.y., depending on the inferred pressure for the recrystallization of phengite, followed by slow exhumation of 0.3 km= m.y. from 34 to 14 Ma. The initial exhumation rates at Lago di Cignana are among the highest yet determined for high-pressure terranes, and are well constrained because the age has been determined directly on the high-pressure assemblage. The rapid exhumation rates presented here place critical constraints on collisional tectonic models. © 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
High contrast gratings for integrated optoelectronics

We discuss a new concept of dielectric subwavelength grating leveraging high index contrast to manipulate light to achieve ultra broad band reflector, high-Q resonator, planar high numerical aperture lens and reflector, and hollow-core integrated optics.
Renal And Testis Injuries in Team Sports

ABSTRACTPurpose: Children with a solitary testis or kidney are generally advised against contact team sport participation to protect the solitary organ. We performed a review of renal and testis injury cases to ascertain if there was an increased likelihood of significant renal or testis injury in team sports.Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed charts on patients evaluated and/or admitted to the trauma service with renal or testis injuries. Severity, outcome and external cause of injury were evaluated as well as patient demographics. Patients were excluded from study if there was no radiographic or physical (postmortem or surgical) evidence of injury. Trauma admission/registry data from all patients enrolled were used for comparison.Results: Of 14,763 patients enrolled in the trauma registry from July 1984 until December 2000, 450 (3%) were given a renal or testis injury diagnosis by the registry but only 209 patients (1.4%) met the review criteria for documentation of injury. There were 19...
High-resolution EEG using spline generated surface Laplacians on spherical and ellipsoidal surfaces

Spline generated surface Laplacians are introduced as an effective method for estimating neocortical source activity at moderate scales. The method appears to be robust to the unavoidable perturbations of measured potentials and errors of head geometry and resistivity that are certain to occur in clinical or research settings. In particular, the surface Laplacian is derived for general ellipsoidal surfaces in terms of the spline function. The spline-Laplacian accurately estimates isolated dipoles or distributed sources, is insensitive to subcortical sources and to sources which originate outside the boundaries of the electrode array, and acts as a bandpass spatial filter whose characteristics appear to provide a good match to the volume conduction of intracranial sources through human heads. As a result, spatial resolution is improved over that obtained with conventional EEG by at least a factor of three. This improvement is likely to have a significant impact on both medical and cognitive studies involving EEG. >
Saturation of the NSLS DUV-FEL at BNL

The Deep Ultra Violet Free Electron Laser (DUV-FEL) experiment has reached a milestone by saturating the Free Electron Laser using High Gain Harmonic Generation (HGHG) method in the Source Development Laboratory (SDL) at NSLS. It utilizes the 10 m long, 3.9 cm period NISUS wiggler. The goal of the project is to produce radiation at a wavelength less than 100 nm, utilizing the HGHG method. HGHG at 266 nm has been accomplished by seeding with the 800 nm Ti:Sapphire laser and observed saturation. The third harmonic at 88 nm accompanying the 266 nm is being used in an ion pair imaging experiment in chemistry. We discuss the measurement of energy, gain, spectrum, and pulse length of the FEL output. We also describe the diagnostics used for operating the FEL.
General framework and modeling approach classification for chemical production scheduling

Despite the increased number of publications in the area during the last two decades, there is no unified notation and systematic framework for chemical production scheduling. In this article, we first develop a framework for the description of scheduling problems in the chemical industries. While building upon ideas used in discrete manufacturing, the proposed framework accounts for features such as material handling restrictions which are critical in chemical production scheduling. Second, we present a classification of the various modeling approaches that have been presented in the process systems engineering literature. Our classification is broader than previous schemes because it accounts for more attributes, and it also offers a broader discussion of the modeling of time. We believe that our analysis will enhance the understanding of chemical production scheduling and lead to further advances in the area. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 58: 1812–1828, 2012
A Foundation for Flexible Automated Electronic Communication

In this paper the author describes a formal language for communication based on linguistics--more specifically, a theory of natural language communication and models of natural language conversations. The language has a small number of general message types that are formally defined by their intended effects on the recipient. For each message type he defines a standard automated method of responding that depends only on the message type and is independent of the message's content. For more complex conversations he provides methods for responding that do depend on the content. In this system, a message's sender--automated or human--constructs and sends a message knowing that he cannot know, but can only predict, how it will be interpreted. The agent receiving the message interprets it and then uses it as a basis for inferring how he should respond. The message interpretation mechanism for this language is reusable, modular, and shared by all applications. The benefit of this communication system is that it makes the communication infrastructure more flexible, easier to modify, easier to expand, and more capable.
Spectroscopic Tracking of Molecular Transport Junctions Generated by Using Click Chemistry

The development of efficient methods for constructing molecular transport junctions (MTJs) with the capability to spectroscopically identify molecules assembled within the junctions continues to challenge the field of molecular electronics.[1,2] Most of the current work in MTJ fabrication relies primarily on ex situ syntheses of molecular wires (e.g. dithiolated molecules) followed by subsequent insertion of the molecules into the gap devices.[3] The problems associated with this approach are: 1) the difficulty involved in synthesizing long molecular wires with thiols on both ends because of the low stability and synthetic yields of these molecules, and 2) complications in bridging the electrodes because of a strong tendency of such molecular wires to aggregate.[4] In addition, the small junction sizes (normally only several nanometers in width) often prohibit the use of routine spectroscopic tools to identify the contents within MTJs. Therefore, a modular method for in situ synthesis of molecular wires to bridge nanogaps[4,5] that allows spectroscopic tracking of the assembly process merits development. Herein, we report a new method to fabricate MTJs using the alkyne-azide “click reaction” within nanogaps fabricated by On-Wire Lithography (OWL), while using surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) to characterize the assembly processes within the gaps. This strategy for forming MTJs proceeds in high yields, and, as a result of the accessible functional group requirements of click chemistry, is a modular approach that can be used to form MTJs comprised of different molecular components. Additionally, this approach is well suited for studying transport properties of various molecular architectures because the resulting triazole formed by reacting the alkyne and azide groups retains the conjugation required for the electronic transport.
Software Phase Locked Loop technique for grid-connected wind energy conversion systems

Accurate and fast detection for phase angle of the generated voltage is important in parallel grid- connected wind energy conversion systems (WECSs) utilizing converter-inverter unites. Software Phase Locked Loop (SPLL) technique is presented here for precisely detecting the phase angle during presence of the 5th and 7th harmonics. A second-order loop filter design is proposed here as a good trade-off of the filter performance and system stability. Also, this proposed technique is studied under frequency change and generated voltage unbalance conditions. The developed technique is also implemented in a laboratory setup which includes two synchronous generators (SGs: 250 W, 2.2 kW) each driven by a variable speed prime mover (VSPM) to emulate a wind turbine behavior, two 3-phase PWM based converter-inverter systems, 3-phase line inductors connected between wind generators and converters, and a digital signal processor (DSP TMS320F240). The experimental results confirm the validity of the proposed technique for parallel integrated WECSs.
cis and trans factors affecting Mos1 mariner evolution and transposition in vitro, and its potential for functional genomics

Mos1 and other mariner/Tc1 transposons move horizontally during evolution, and when transplanted into heterologous species can transpose in organisms ranging from prokaryotes to protozoans and vertebrates. To further develop the Drosophila Mos1 mariner system as a genetic tool and to probe mechanisms affecting the regulation of transposition activity, we developed an in vitro system for Mos1 transposition using purified transposase and selectable Mos1 derivatives. Transposition frequencies of nearly 10 –3 /target DNA molecule were obtained, and insertions occurred at TA dinucleotides with little other sequence specificity. Mos1 elements containing only the 28 bp terminal inverted repeats were inactive in vitro, while elements containing a few additional internal bases were fully active, establishing the minimal cis-acting requirements for transposition. With increasing transposase the transposition frequency increased to a plateau value, in contrast to the predictions of the protein overexpression inhibition model and to that found recently with a reconstructed Himar1 transposase. This difference between the ‘natural’ Mos1 and ‘reconstructed’ Himar1 transposases suggests an evolutionary path for down-regulation of mariner transposition following its introduction into a naive population. The establishment of the cis and trans requirements for optimal mariner transposition in vitro provides key data for the creation of vectors for in vitro mutagenesis, and will facilitate the development of in vivo systems for mariner transposition.
Cultural Self Meets Cultural Other in the African American Experience: Teachers' Responses to a Curriculum Content Reform.

school districts in many areas of the United States are involved in curricular content reforms generated by demands from local African American community members for changes in the quantity and quality of information that is taught about the African experience. In theory, if not in actual practice, these demands for change are also demands for culturally relevant teaching. School districts in Portland, Oregon, and Buffalo have instituted reforms that call for the infusion of African and African American content in all areas and at all levels of their curricula. These school districts have established African and African Ameri-
The effects of heat treatments on ectomycorrhizal resistant propagules and their ability to colonize bioassay seedlings.

The effect of disturbance on the resistant propagule community (RPC) of ectomycorrhizal fungi has been given relatively little attention. In this study we investigate the effects of heat, one important factor of fire disturbances, on the ability of ectomycorrhizal RPC fungi to colonize Pinus jeffreyi seedlings in greenhouse bioassays. Prior to planting the seed, soils were collected from an old growth mixed-conifer forest in the southern Sierra Nevada, California, USA and then subjected to four heat treatments of none, 45 C, 60 C, and 75 C. After eight months, seedlings were harvested and the ectomycorrhizal fungi colonizing the roots were characterized by molecular methods (PCR-RFLP and DNA sequencing). Rhizopogon species increased in dominance on seedlings grown in soils receiving the 75 C heat treatment. One species significantly increased in frequency, Rhizopogon olivaceotinctus, and two species (Cenococcum geophilum and Wilcoxina sp.) significantly decreased in frequency in the 75 C treatment. The increase of R. olivaceotinctus, coupled with other features of its behavior, suggests that substantial heat disturbances may benefit this species in competing for roots.
Brain systems underlying response flexibility in healthy and bipolar adolescents: an event-related fMRI study.

Objectives: Previous studies have indicated abnormalities in response flexibility in pediatric bipolar disorder (BD). Dysfunction in response flexibility may contribute to the pattern of behavioral and emotional dysregulation that is characteristic of BD, since depressed and manic patients respond inflexibly to emotional stimuli (i.e., anhedonia in the case of depression or inappropriate positive affect in the case of mania). The present study was undertaken to determine if neuronal responses differed between BD and control subjects on a simple motor response flexibility task. Methods: To elucidate the neural substrates mediating response flexibility in pediatric BD, we studied 25 youth with BD and 17 age-, gender- and IQ-matched controls (CON) as they performed the change task while undergoing event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The change task is a new fMRI task that requires subjects to both inhibit and replace a prepotent motor response with another motor response after the initial response has been cued. Results: On correctly performed change trials relative to correctly performed go trials, BD patients generated significantly more activity in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and in the primary motor cortex than did healthy controls, even though performance levels did not differ across groups. Conclusions: These results indicate that functional deficits within the left DLPFC may mediate deficits in response flexibility in pediatric BD. This deficit may extend beyond the realm of motor control and also affect emotion regulation.
The cast of clasts: catabolism and vascular invasion during bone growth, repair, and disease by osteoclasts, chondroclasts, and septoclasts

Three named cell types degrade and remove skeletal tissues during growth, repair, or disease: osteoclasts, chondroclasts, and septoclasts. A fourth type, unnamed and less understood, removes nonmineralized cartilage during development of secondary ossification centers. "Osteoclasts," best known and studied, are polykaryons formed by fusion of monocyte precursors under the influence of colony stimulating factor 1 (CSF)-1 (M-CSF) and RANKL. They resorb bone during growth, remodeling, repair, and disease. "Chondroclasts," originally described as highly similar in cytological detail to osteoclasts, reside on and degrade mineralized cartilage. They may be identical to osteoclasts since to date there are no distinguishing markers for them. Because osteoclasts also consume cartilage cores along with bone during growth, the term "chondroclast" might best be reserved for cells attached only to cartilage. "Septoclasts" are less studied and appreciated. They are mononuclear perivascular cells rich in cathepsin B. They extend a cytoplasmic projection with a ruffled membrane and degrade the last transverse septum of hypertrophic cartilage in the growth plate, permitting capillaries to bud into it. To do this, antiangiogenic signals in cartilage must give way to vascular trophic factors, mainly vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The final cell type excavates cartilage canals for vascular invasion of articular cartilage during development of secondary ossification centers. The "clasts" are considered in the context of fracture repair and diseases such as arthritis and tumor metastasis. Many observations support an essential role for hypertrophic chondrocytes in recruiting septoclasts and osteoclasts/chondroclasts by supplying VEGF and RANKL. The intimate relationship between blood vessels and skeletal turnover and repair is also examined.
ADAMTS13 autoantibodies cloned from patients with acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura: 1. Structural and functional characterization in vitro.

BACKGROUND Acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenia purpura (TTP) is a life-threatening illness caused by autoantibodies that decrease the activity of ADAMTS13, the von Willebrand factor–cleaving protease. Despite efficacy of plasma exchange, mortality remains high and relapse is common. Improved therapies may come from understanding the diversity of pathogenic autoantibodies on a molecular or genetic level. Cloning comprehensive repertoires of patient autoantibodies can provide the necessary tools for studying immunobiology of disease and developing animal models. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS Anti-ADAMTS13 antibodies were cloned from four patients with acquired TTP using phage display and characterized with respect to genetic origin, inhibition of ADAMTS13 proteolytic activity, and epitope specificity. Anti-idiotypic antisera raised to a subset of autoantibodies enabled comparison of their relatedness to each other and to polyclonal immunoglobulin (Ig)G in patient plasma. RESULTS Fifty-one unique antibodies were isolated comprising epitope specificities resembling the diversity found in circulating patient IgG. Antibodies directed both to the amino terminal domains and to those requiring the ADAMTS13 cysteine-rich/spacer region for binding inhibited proteolytic activity, while those solely targeting carboxy-terminal domains were noninhibitory. Anti-idiotypic antisera raised to a subset of antibody clones crossreacted with and reduced the inhibitory activity of polyclonal IgG from a set of unrelated patients. CONCLUSIONS Anti-ADAMTS13 autoantibodies isolated by repertoire cloning display the diversity of epitope specificities found in patient plasma and provide tools for developing animal models of acquired TTP. Shared idiotypes of inhibitory clones with circulating IgG from multiple patients suggest common features of pathogenic autoantibodies that could be exploited for developing more targeted therapies.
Query of relational database based on metamodel

This paper introduces the four layer metamodel theories and analyzes the characteristics of application based on metamodel, we put forward a method of query RDB based on metamodel. The main concept of the method is that the data conversion is completed by describing the conversion of data model in the process of data flow of information system. Data query is that the data are transferred from store mode to user mode. The two metamodels introduced in this paper are data dictionary and query definition. This method of query have been applied in several MIS.
Chemical analysis of actinolite from reflectance spectra

Ansrn-c.cr Reflectance spectra of medium (0.005 pm between 0.3 and 2.7 pm) and high (0.0002 pm between 1.38 and 1.42 pm and 0.002 pm between 2.2 and2.5 pm) spectral resolution of 19 minerals from the tremolite-actinolite solid solution series are used to characteiue systematic variations in absorption band parameters as a function of composition. The medium-resolution data are used to characterize broad absorptions associated with electronic processes in Fe3+ and Fe2*, and the high-resolution data are used to characterize overtones ofOH vibrational bands. Quantitative analyses ofthese data were approached using a model that treats absorptions as modified Gaussian distributions (Sunshine et al., 1990). Each spectrum was deconvolved into a set of additive model absorption bands superimposed on a reflectance continuum. For absorptions associated with electronic processes, the model bands were shown to provide estimates of the Fe and Mg mineral chemistry with correlations of greater than 0.98. The systematic changes in the energy, width, intensity, and number of OH overtone bands are easily quantified using the modified Gaussian model, and the results are highly correlated with the FelMg ratios of the samples. These results indicate that the modified Gaussian model can be used to quantify objectively the bulk chemistry of the minerals of the tremolite-actinolite solid solution series using high-resolution reflectance spectra ofthe OH overtone bands.
Sharing as a Means for Reflection: Seeing Differences, Understanding Affordances of Peers' Programming Solutions

The following paper proposes a design for engaging learners in the practices of comparing and contrasting solutions and understanding the affordances of competing approaches. The first part of this paper presents research that originated in mathematics education and has since been replicated in computer science education with comparable findings and conclusions for the ways in which working with alternate solutions can be particularly felicitous to student learning. The latter half of the paper demonstrates how this research can be integrated into the design of a game by enabling players to share, compare, and reflect on their own solutions and those of their peers as they advance through the game. In the game CodeStitch, players see differences in alternate solutions and, through an implicit moment of reflection, identify the merits of varying approaches (e.g. measured by re-usability / modularity, maintainability, and complexity).
A Fast and Simple Unbiased Estimator for Network (Un)reliability

The following is an unbiased estimator for the disconnectionprobability of an n-vertex graph with min-cut c whenevery edge fails independently with probability p: (i) contractevery edge independently with probability 1n2=c, (ii) compute(by brute force) the disconnection probability of the resulting tinygraph if each edge fails with probability n2=cp. We give a short,simple, self-contained proof that the estimator can be computedin linear time and has relative variance O(n2). Combining thesetwo facts with a standard sparsification argument yields anO(n3 log n)-time algorithm for estimating the (un)reliability ofa network. We also show how the technique can be used tocreate unbiased samples of disconnected networks
Three-arm randomized phase II study of carboplatin (C) and paclitaxel (P) in combination with cetuximab (CET), IMC-A12, or both for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who will not receive bevacizumab-based therapy: An Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) study (E4508).

7516 Background: Pre-clinical evidence supports the clinical investigation of inhibitors to the insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGFR) and the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) alone and ...
Central Administration of Indomethacin Mitigates the Injury-Induced Upregulation of Aromatase Expression and Estradiol Content in the Zebra Finch Brain

Injury to the vertebrate brain causes neuroinflammation, characterized in part by increases in prostaglandins. In rodents and songbirds, brain injury also induces the transcription and translation of aromatase in reactive astrocytes around the site of damage. Interestingly, this induction is more rapid in female zebra finches relative to males. Induced aromatization is neuroprotective, as inhibition of aromatase and estrogen replacement, increases and decreases the extent of damage, respectively. Although the consequences of induced astrocytic aromatization are intensely studied, little is known about what factors induce aromatase. Inflammation is sufficient to induce astrocytic aromatase suggesting that the link between inflammation and aromatase expression may be causal. To test this hypothesis, adult male and female zebra finches received bilateral mechanical injuries through which either the cyclooxygenase (COX)-1/2 inhibitor indomethacin or vehicle was administered into contralateral hemispheres. Subjects were killed either 6 or 24 hours after injury. In both sexes, an enzyme immunoassay for prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) revealed that indomethacin decreased PGE2 relative to the contralateral hemisphere at both time points, suggesting that the dose and mode of administration used were successful in affecting neuroinflammation locally. Indomethacin reduced aromatase expression and 17β-estradiol (E2) content at 6 hours but not 24 hours following injury in females. However, in males, the inhibitory effect of indomethacin on aromatase and E2 was apparent at 24 but not 6 hours after treatment. These data suggest that COX activity, perhaps via consequent prostaglandin secretion, may induce aromatase expression and central E2, an effect that is detectable in temporally distinct patterns between sexes.
Control of mitochondrial homeostasis by endocytic regulatory proteins

Mitochondria play essential roles in cellular energy processes, including ATP production, control of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and apoptosis. While mitochondrial function is regulated by the dynamics of fusion and fission, mitochondrial homeostasis remains incompletely understood. Recent studies implicate dynamin-2 and dynamin-related protein-1 (Drp1, also known as DNM1L), as GTPases involved in mitochondrial fission. Here, we identify the ATPase and endocytic protein EHD1 as a novel regulator of mitochondrial fission. EHD1 depletion induces a static and elongated network of mitochondria in the cell. However, unlike dynamin-2 and Drp1, whose depletion protects cells from staurosporine-induced mitochondrial fragmentation, EHD1-depleted cells remain sensitive to staurosporine, suggesting a different mechanism for EHD1 function. Recent studies have demonstrated that VPS35 and the retromer complex influence mitochondrial homeostasis either by Mul1-mediated ubiquitylation and degradation of the fusion protein Mfn2, or by removal of inactive Drp1 from the mitochondrial membrane. We demonstrate that EHD1 and its interaction partner rabankyrin-5 interact with the retromer complex to influence mitochondrial dynamics, likely by inducing VPS35-mediated removal of inactive Drp1 from mitochondrial membranes. Our study sheds light on mitochondrial dynamics, expanding a new paradigm of endocytic protein regulation of mitochondrial homeostasis.
WHEN DOES THE ANTHROCOSMIC MEDIA AGE BEGIN

The Google Lunar X Prize, which ends on December 31, 2017, has the potential to generate the first true instance of anthrocosmic media – media intended for consumption in outer space, which serves as a form of capital for an emergent autonomous field in the same. Winning the bonus segment of the X Prize consists of creating multimedia (photography or video) of one of the Apollo Landing Sites on the lunar surface. Both the terms of the creation of that media, and the media itself, are the first instances of agents acting to establish autonomy on the lunar surface – controlling how artifacts are accessed, used and represented. This paper is an exploration of the conditions required for the emergence of an anthrocosmic media age – an age where agents use media as a form of power in outer space to establish autonomy in fields that are also in outer space.
Mechanisms of Sustained Neutrophilia in Patient WHIM-09, Cured of WHIM Syndrome by Chromothripsis.

WHIM-09 is the first patient described with WHIM syndrome, an autosomal dominant form of neutropenia related to bone marrow retention of neutrophils. Originally diagnosed incorrectly with autoimmune neutropenia, the patient underwent splenectomy at age 9, but the absolute neutrophil count (ANC) did not rise. Subsequently, she was spontaneously cured by chromothripsis (chromosome shattering), which deleted the disease allele CXCR4 R334X , and 163 other genes, on chromosome 2 in a single hematopoietic stem cell (HSC). Chromothriptic CXCR4 +/o HSCs replaced CXCR4 +/R334X WHIM HSCs, and the ANC rose to a new sustained and benign baseline ~ 2-3-fold above normal that had remained unexplained. Here, we show that splenectomized Cxcr4 +/o mice had sustained and benign neutrophilia, phenocopying neutrophilia in WHIM-09. In addition, WHIM-09's granulocyte-macrophage precursor cells possessed increased granulocyte colony-forming activity ex vivo. Thus, WHIM-09's neutrophilia may be multifactorial, involving neutrophil-extrinsic factors (splenectomy), as well as CXCR4 haploinsufficiency-dependent neutrophil-intrinsic factors (increased myeloid precursor cell differentiation). The strong bone marrow retention signal for neutrophils conferred by the WHIM mutation may have prevented neutrophilia after splenectomy until the mutation was deleted by chromothripsis.
Scientific reasoning ability does not predict scientific views on evolution among religious individuals

Acceptance of evolutionary theory varies widely and is often associated with religious background. Some have suggested there exists an additional relationship between scientific reasoning ability and the acceptance of evolutionary theory. In this study, we used structural equation modeling to test whether scientific reasoning ability predicts religiosity, acceptance of creationist views, or acceptance of evolution. We administered internet-based surveys to 724 individuals nationwide who self-describe as being religious and built a structural-equation model to test predictive abilities. We found that while religiosity positively predicts the acceptance of creationist views and negatively predicts the acceptance of evolution, scientific reasoning ability does not predict religiosity, acceptance of creationist views, or acceptance of evolutionary theory. With a lack of any relationship between scientific reasoning ability and acceptance, an approach to evolution education that focuses on appealing to scientific reasoning may prove fruitless in changing student attitudes toward evolution; alternative teaching approaches regarding evolution are warranted.
Defense Against Biological Weapons (Biodefense)

Biological warfare (germ warfare) is defined as the use of any disease-causing organism or toxin(s) found in nature as weapons of war with the intent to destroy an adversary. Though rare, the use of biological weapons has occurred throughout the centuries.
Small and Mesoscale Convection as Observed in the Laboratory

Abstract Whitehead, J. A., 1990. Small and mesoscale convection as observed in the laboratory. Elsevier. Some laboratory studies of convectively driven flows in a rotating fluid are reviewed. Sugimoto and Whitehead investigated a model of a shallow sea of constant depth bounded by a deep ocean through a uniformly sloping continental rise. The experiment was cooled from above and heated at the deep ocean wall. There was a region that exhibited sinking convection cells which formed the coldest water. This water then spilled off the right-hand side of the shallow sea as a density current (looking downstream for counterclockwise rotation) and formed bottom water in the deep experimental ocean. There were three flow regimes: for very slow rotations there was one big gyre in the shallow sea, and the sinking (convection) region was near the coast; for faster rotations, there were two or three gyres, and for even faster rotations, there were many gyres. In this latter case, the sinking regions were very patchy and sporadic. Comparison with theoretical estimates of temperature difference between the coldest shelf water and the offshore water (based upon the assumption that the density current removes all the cold water) was good but yielded somewhat low predictions. Next, a study by Speer and Whitehead of convection in a rotating square laboratory basin is reviewed. The convection was driven by non-uniform heating from below, in a manner thought to be analogous to large-scale convection in the ocean. Like a previous non-rotating experiment by Rossby, the upper fluid showed little temperature variation. There was a thermal boundary layer near the warm bottom and fluid moved from the cool to the warm end. At a given location, convection cells were observed and as the water continued to move toward the warm end, the penetration depth of these cells increased. At the hottest point, the cells penetrated all the way to the surface. The scaling advanced by Rossby for the non-rotating experiment is reviewed and the difficulty in applying it to this experiment and to the ocean is discussed. Another scaling based upon both the Sugimoto and Whitehead results and upon arguments in other papers is put forth. Next, a review is given of the behavior of baroclinic eddies in a rotating fluid that are produced by the turbulent sinking of dense fluid. When there was a sloping bottom, and for certain parameters, a coherent lense of dense bottom water formed on the sloping bottom and propagated west (to the left looking upslope) with an overlying cyclonic vortex. The circulation in the bottom lense was relatively weak. Finally, recent experiments by Helfrich with a turbulent dense plume sinking into a rotating stratified fluid are reviewed. The analogy with various Heton generation processes is discussed.
The role of insulin as a satiety factor in the central nervous system.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the role of insulin as a satiety factor in the central nervous system (CNS). One potential problem with a theory suggesting that insulin interacts with the CNS is that most of the brain is known not to require insulin for glucose uptake and utilization. However, a number of experiments have recently demonstrated the presence of specific insulin receptors or binding sites within discrete brain regions, suggesting that insulin does indeed interact with the brain. These receptors have been found mainly in areas of the brain with a reduced blood–brain barrier, that is, the circumventricular organs, including parts of the ventral hypothalamus. The finding that individual neurons in the ventral hypothalamus respond to the direct application of insulin is consistent with the demonstration of insulin receptors there. It has been found that some neurons that respond directly to the iontophoretic application of insulin and others in which the response to glucose is modified by the simultaneous application of insulin. The paucity of reports of immunohistochemically identified insulin in the brain of mammals and the lack of demonstration of c-peptide or mRNA for insulin in the brain has led to question the concept that insulin is synthesized within the brain.
The Clearings and The Woods: The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Landscape – Gendered and Balanced

The core homeland of the Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois, stretches east to west across what is now upstate New York State (Fig.2.1). Haudenosaunee (“Ho-deh-no-show’-knee”) means “People of the Longhouse” (Powless 2000:14). “Iroquois” was originally a pejorative used by Algonquian Indian enemies of the Haudenosaunee meaning “real adders” – that is, really nasty killers (Hewitt 1969a:I, 617).
Tall tales and short shorts: Dr. J, Pistol Pete, and the birth of the modern NBA

Previous books about the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the 1970s have only focused on specific players or teams, failing to provide a comprehensive history of the decade in professional ...
A clean sweep: mucin bundles clear the airway.

Mucus bundles are important for airway clearance and are regulated by cholinergic stimulus http://ow.ly/Hovc30liwNo
A Riemannian Framework for Longitudinal Analysis of Resting-State Functional Connectivity

Even though the number of longitudinal resting-state-fMRI studies is increasing, accurately characterizing the changes in functional connectivity across visits is a largely unexplored topic. To improve characterization, we design a Riemannian framework that represents the functional connectivity pattern of a subject at a visit as a point on a Riemannian manifold. Geodesic regression across the ‘sample’ points of a subject on that manifold then defines the longitudinal trajectory of their connectivity pattern. To identify group differences specific to regions of interest (ROI), we map the resulting trajectories of all subjects to a common tangent space via the Lie group action. We account for the uncertainty in choosing the common tangent space by proposing a test procedure based on the theory of latent p-values. Unlike existing methods, our proposed approach identifies sex differences across 246 subjects, each of them being characterized by three rs-fMRI scans.
Integration of Human Eye-Tracking Responses and Object Recognition Test Performance

Abstract Object recognition tasks can be used as sensitive measures of rodent cognitive ability. We have developed a version of this task that can be used to study human cognitive ability, the Novel Image Novel Location [NINL] test. In the test, study participants are first shown a series of panels with photographs displayed in three of the four quadrants of each panel. Participants are subsequently shown a series of panels that include some that are identical to the panels in the first set (no change condition), some that contain an image in the panel shown before but placed in a novel location (novel location condition) and some containing a novel image (novel image condition). The study participants are asked whether they noticed a change and, if they did, the nature of the change that they noticed. As described in this chapter, we found that eye-tracking responses can correlate with successful and unsuccessful learning and memory performance on the NINL test. These finding hold promise for assessments of participants who lack sufficient language or motor skills, such as touching a computer or tablet screen, that might be affected by age, language or neurological condition.