cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Case Demonstrating the Nuances of Acute Cortical Venous Thrombosis Anticoagulation Guidelines.

Background The American Stroke Association and the European Stroke Organization have established guidelines on cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT); however, questions remain when an individual case does not fall within the inclusion criteria on which these guidelines are based. This is relevant when considering the use of anticoagulation in cases of CVT regarding whether or not associated hemorrhage is present and whether the hemorrhage is currently expanding. Case Description A 16-year-old right-handed female G2P2 (gravidity 2 [2 pregnancies] and parity 2 [2 live births after at least 24 weeks) presented 8 days postpartum with complaints of slurred speech, right facial droop, and right upper extremity numbness that had progressed over the course of 4 hours before presentation. On imaging the patient had a CVT with associated hemorrhage progressing in size at serial 6-hour stability computed tomography scans for 24 hours post arrival. At 24 hours the patient went into disseminated intravascular coagulation and demonstrated signs of herniation. The patient underwent an emergency hemicraniectomy along with a right frontal external ventricular drain for intracranial pressure monitoring. Most recently, the patient had a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 15 and had a modified Rankin Scale score of 4 and was ultimately discovered to have antiphospholipid syndrome. Conclusions This case of CVT demonstrates the need for critically reading guidelines, as in this case the time to anticoagulation treatment was shorter than in cases included in guideline construction and repeated computed tomography examination demonstrated expansion suggesting it is unsuitable for immediate anticoagulation. Certain cases may fall outside of the study parameters on which guidelines are constructed, and clinicians should be aware of these exceptions.
Preoccupied and Dismissing Attachment Representations Are Differentially Associated With Anxiety in Adolescence and Adulthood: A Meta-Analysis

The claim that insecure attachment predisposes individuals to anxiety was put forth by attachment theorists more than 45 years ago, yet evidence of this association has produced mixed results. By c...
Invited Talk: Re-Engineering Computing with Neuro-Inspired Learning: Devices, Circuits, and Systems

Advances in machine learning, notably deep learning, have led to computers matching or surpassing human performance in several cognitive tasks including vision, speech and natural language processing. However, implementation of such neural algorithms in conventional “von-Neumann” architectures are several orders of magnitude more area and power expensive than the biological brain. Hence, we need fundamentally new approaches to sustain exponential growth in performance at high energy-efficiency beyond the end of the CMOS roadmap in the era of ‘data deluge’ and emergent data-centric applications. Exploring the new paradigm of computing necessitates a multi-disciplinary approach: exploration of new learning algorithms inspired from neuroscientific principles, developing network architectures best suited for such algorithms, new hardware techniques to achieve orders of improvement in energy consumption, and nanoscale devices that can closely mimic the neuronal and synaptic operations of the brain leading to a better match between the hardware substrate and the model of computation. In this presentation, we will discuss our work on spintronic device structures consisting of single-domain/domain-wall motion based devices for mimicking neuronal and synaptic units. Implementation of different neural operations with varying degrees of bio-fidelity (from “non-spiking” to “spiking” networks) and implementation of on-chip learning mechanisms (Spike-Timing Dependent Plasticity) will be discussed. Additionally, we also propose probabilistic neural and synaptic computing platforms that can leverage the underlying stochastic device physics of spin-devices due to thermal noise. System-level simulations indicate ~100x improvement in energy consumption for such spintronic implementations over a corresponding CMOS implementation across different computing workloads. Complementary to the above device efforts, we have explored different learning algorithms including stochastic learning with one-bit synapses that greatly reduces the storage/bandwidth requirement while maintaining competitive accuracy, saliency-based attention techniques that scales the computational effort of deep networks for energy-efficiency and adaptive online learning that efficiently utilizes the limited memory and resource constraints to learn new information without catastrophically forgetting already learnt data.
Neuromuscular Complications in COVID-19: A Review of the Literature

Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) belongs to the betacoronavirus family which is known to cross species barriers and lead to high pathogenicity. There is rapidly growing evidence that COVID-19 infection can be associated with neuromuscular complications. A comprehensive literature review was conducted evaluating articles published related to neuromuscular complications in COVID-19. In this review we focus our discussion on two ways that COVID-19 critically impacts neuromuscular medicine: (1) serious complications and outcomes associated with the viral infection and; (2) management considerations for neuromuscular patients on immunotherapies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Directly watching biological molecular machinery with high-resolution laser tweezers

Fundamental processes of life are carried out within cells by nanometer-scale molecular machines. Understanding how these tiny machines work reveals the basic physical underpinnings of life as well as provides opportunities for technological and medical advances. Single molecule biophysics, including optical tweezers, provides powerful experimental methods allowing us to directly observe the actions of individual molecules in real time. I will present new results from methods that combine two of the most powerful techniques: angstrom-resolution optical tweezers and single molecule fluorescence microscopy. I will describe some of the technical innovations involved in the research including tweezers stability and accuracy advances due to new acousto optic trap positioning device methods. I will then present very recent results where we have been able to perform high-resolution measurements of human telomerase protein machines extending DNA amid folding and unfolding DNA structures.
Transcriptional Error Rates Vary by Gene Expression Level in E. coli but not S. cerevisiae

Errors in gene transcription can be costly, and organisms have evolved a variety of mechanisms to prevent their occurrence or mitigate their costs. The simplest interpretation of the drift barrier hypothesis, which posits that species with large effective population sizes evolve superior adaptations, suggests that species with larger population sizes would have lower transcriptional error rates. However, Escherichia coli, which has a very large population size, seems to have a higher transcriptional error rate than species with lower effective population sizes, e.g. Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This could be explained if selection in E. coli were strong enough to maintain adaptations that mitigate the consequences of transcriptional errors through robustness, on a gene by gene basis, obviating the need for low transcriptional error rates. This alternative "local" solution to the problem of mistranscription can be superior because it avoids the costs associated with proofreading. Here we note that if selection is powerful enough to evolve local robustness, selection should also be powerful enough to locally reduce error rates. We therefore predict that in species with high effective population size and high transcriptional error rate, the transcriptional error rate will be lowest for highly expressed genes where selection is strongest. As expected, we find such a relationship between expression and transcriptional error rate in E. coli but not in S. cerevisiae.
Pain management following robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy: transitioning to an opioid free regimen.

Few studies demonstrate the safety and efficacy of postoperative pain regimens that exclude opioids altogether in patients undergoing robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). To reduce opioid use, we sought to develop an opioid-free regimen for RARP and determine perioperative outcomes before and after implementation. A retrospective, pre–post-interventional study was performed at a single institution between 8/2018 and 10/2019. An opioid-free pain regimen was developed and instituted on 3/7/2019, and all patients received preoperative counseling regarding pain expectations and management. Postoperative pain score was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes included postoperative opioid use, length of stay, adverse events and unplanned health encounters within 30 days of discharge. Pearson’s chi-squared and Student’s t-tests were performed on categorical and continuous variables, respectively. Multivariable analysis was performed to determine risk factors for postoperative opioid use in the opioid-free cohort. A total of 89 patients were included for analysis; consisting of 47 (53%) pre-intervention and 42 (47%) post-intervention patients. Baseline characteristics were similar between groups. A significantly lower proportion of patients in the post-intervention group were administered opioids postoperatively (5% vs 53%, p < 0.01), despite having similar postoperative pain scores (2.69 vs 3.11, p = 0.19) and length of stay (1.0 days vs 1.2 days, p = 0.07). The post-intervention group had a significantly lower rate of opioid discharge prescriptions (14% vs 96%, p < 0.01). The rate of ED visits (12% vs 15%, p = 0.68), pain-related phone calls (17% vs 19%, p = 0.76) or adverse events (19% vs 13%, p = 0.42) were similar between groups. Among the opioid-free group, older patients were less likely to be administered postoperative opioids (OR 0.84, p = 0.046). A structured opioid-free pain regimen following RARP is non-inferior compared to traditional opioid-based standard of care. Adoption of similar regimens can help address the ongoing opioid epidemic in the United States and future work is needed to apply these principles broadly.
A Meta Learning Approach to Discerning Causal Graph Structure.

We explore the usage of meta-learning to derive the causal direction between variables by optimizing over a measure of distribution simplicity. We incorporate a stochastic graph representation which includes latent variables and allows for more generalizability and graph structure expression. Our model is able to learn causal direction indicators for complex graph structures despite effects of latent confounders. Further, we explore robustness of our method with respect to violations of our distributional assumptions and data scarcity. Our model is particularly robust to modest data scarcity, but is less robust to distributional changes. By interpreting the model predictions as stochastic events, we propose a simple ensemble method classifier to reduce the outcome variability as an average of biased events. This methodology demonstrates ability to infer the existence as well as the direction of a causal relationship between data distributions.
Characteristics of long-track tropopause polar vortices

Abstract. Tropopause polar vortices (TPVs) are closed circulations centered on the tropopause that form and predominately reside in high latitudes. Due to their attendant flow, TPVs have been shown to influence surface weather features, and thus, a greater understanding of the dynamics of these features may improve our ability to forecast impactful weather events. In this study, we focus on the subset of TPVs which have lifetimes of longer than two weeks (the ninety-fifth percentile of all TPV cases between 1979 and 2018); these long-lived vortices offer a unique opportunity to study the conditions under which TPVs strengthen and analyze patterns of vortex formation and movement. Using ERA-Interim data, along with TPV tracks derived from the same reanalysis, we investigate the formation, motion, and development of these long-lived vortices. We find that these long-track TPVs are significantly stronger, occur more often in the summer, and tend to remain more poleward than an average TPV. Similarly, these TPVs are shown to form at higher latitudes than average. Long-lived TPVs form predominately by splitting from existing vortices, but a notable minority seem to generate via dynamic processes in the absence of pre-existing TPVs. These non-likely split genesis events are found to occur in select geographic regions, driven by Rossby wave growth and breaking. Notable differences emerge between the lifecycles of long-lived vortices in the summer and winter, specifically with regards to equatorward progression and amplitude. These long-lived TPVs also appear as likely as any TPV to exit the Arctic and move into the mid-latitudes, though this often occurs late in the vortex lifetime, immediately preceding vortex lysis in most cases.
Abstract 512: Angiotensin-(1-7) Attenuates PDGF-dependent Migration of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

Over one million percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures are performed each year and restenosis, the narrowing of the vessel lumen due to vascular damage, occurs in more than 40% of these patients. Previous studies by our laboratory demonstrated that infusion of angiotensin-(1-7) [Ang-(1-7)], an anti-proliferative peptide hormone of the renin-angiotensin system, attenuated neointimal formation after vascular injury which was associated with reduced vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation. However, prevention of restenosis after PCI requires inhibition of both VSMC proliferation and migration. In this study, the effect of Ang-(1-7) on VSMC migration was investigated to determine whether a decrease in VSMC migration also represents a component of the heptapeptide-induced reduction in neointimal formation. Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), a potent stimulus for VSMC migration, increased chemotaxis in a modified Boyden’s chamber; PDGF stimulated chemotaxis 228% over random migration and pre-treatment with Ang-(1-7) reduced the PDGF-mediated migration to 132% over random movement, a reduction of 42.1% (n=6, p 0.01). The reduction in PDGF-mediated migration by Ang-(1-7) was associated with a significant decrease in the phosphorylation of tyrosine 1009 on the PDGF beta receptor as well as the src homology 2 phosphatase-2 (SHP-2) and the tyrosine kinase Src, two enzymes which are positive mediators of PDGF-induced migration. Pre-treatment with Ang-(1-7) attenuated the PDGF-dependent increase in the phosphoY1009-PDGF receptor by 60%, phosphoY580-SHP-2 by 56% and phosphoY416-Src by 45% (n=5, p
Regulation of Intestinal Apolipoprotein Gene Expression

Apolipoproteins are lipid-binding peptides that are surface components of lipoprotein particles. They play essential roles in the assembly, secretion, and peripheral metabolism of lipoprotein particles. The liver and the small intestine are the two major organs responsible for the synthesis and secretion of lipoproteins containing lipid of endogenous and exogenous origin, respectively. Although many details of the uptake, processing, and secretion of the lipid components of intestinal lipoproteins have been elucidated, the mechanisms of regulation of intestinal apolipoprotein expression by lipid absorption and by other factors remain relatively poorly understood.
Future Robots: Towards a robotic science of human beings

This book is for both robot builders and scientists who study human behaviour and human societies. Scientists do not only collect empirical data but they also formulate theories to explain the data. Theories of human behaviour and human societies are traditionally expressed in words but, today, with the advent of the computer they can also be expressed by constructing computer-based artefacts. If the artefacts do what human beings do, the theory/blueprint that has been used to construct the artefacts explains human behaviour and human societies. Since human beings are primarily bodies, the artefacts must be robots, and human robots must progressively reproduce all we know about human beings and their societies. And, although they are purely scientific tools, they can have one very important practical application: helping human beings to better understand the many difficult problems they face today and will face in the future - and, perhaps, to find solutions for these problems.
Sex Differences and Similarities in Communication

Contents: Preface. Part I: Framing Sex Differences and Similarities. K. Dindia, Men Are From North Dakota, Women Are From South Dakota. E. Aries, Gender Differences in Interaction: A Reexamination. P.H. Wright, Toward an Expanded Orientation to the Comparative Study of Women's and Men's Same-Sex Friendships. J.A. Hall, How Big Are Nonverbal Sex Differences? The Case of Smiling and Nonverbal Sensitivity. G.N. Powell, L.M. Graves, Gender and Leadership: Perceptions and Realities. M. Allen, K.S. Valde, Researching a Gendered World: The Intersection of Methodological and Ethical Concerns. Part II: Approaches to Sex Differences and Similarities. P.A. Anderson, The Evolution of Biological Sex Differences in Communication. B.R. Burleson, A.W. Kunkel, Revisiting the Different Cultures Thesis: An Assessment of Sex Differences and Similarities in Supportive Communication. A.H. Eagly, A.M. Koenig, Social Role Theory of Sex Differences and Similarities: Implication for Prosocial Behavior. M. Crawford, M.R. Kaufman, Sex Differences Versus Social Processes in the Construction of Gender. L. Di Mare, V.R. Waldron, Researching Gendered Communication in Japan and the United States: Current Limitations and Alternative Approaches. Part III: Sex Differences and Similarities in Communicative Behaviors. A. Mulac, The Gender-Linked Language Effect: Do Language Differences Really Make a Difference? L.K. Guerrero, S.M. Jones, R.R. Boburka, Sex Differences in Emotional Communication. J.K. Burgoon, J.P. Blair, D.B. Buller, P. Tilley, Sex Differences in Presenting and Detecting Deceptive Messages. A.E. Lindsey, W.R. Zakahi, Perceptions of Men and Women Departing From Conversational Sex-Role Stereotypes. P.J. Kalbfleisch, A.L. Herold, Sex, Power, and Communication. Part IV: Sex Differences and Similarities in Romantic Relationships. M.R. Trost, J.K. Alberts, How Men and Women Communicate Attraction: An Evolutionary View. P.A. Mongeau, M.C.M. Serewicz, M.L.M. Henningsen, K.L. Davis, Sex Differences in the Transition to a Heterosexual Romantic Relationship. D.J. Canary, J. Wahba, Do Women Work Harder Than Men at Maintaining Relationships? L.M. Sagrestano, C.L. Heavey, A. Christensen, Individual Differences Versus Social Structural Approaches to Explaining Demand-Withdraw and Social Influence Behaviors. J.T. Wood, Gender, Power, and Violence in Heterosexual Relationships. J.S. Hyde, Epilogue.
Remarkable properties of alkali halides and new techniques for determining Debye--Waller factors

We have used 70 Ci 183Ta Mossbauer sources to measure the Debye--Waller factors of NaCl, KCl, and KBr single crystals for several of the (h00) and (nnn) Bragg reflections. We have found that the procedure used to analyze data by earlier workers leads to incorrect parameters in the Debye--Waller factor exponent, and we use a procedure that eliminates the need to introduce an empirical parameter to account for thermal expansion effects. We observe that both the cations and anions in NaCl and KBr have identical Debye--Waller factors in the [nnn] direction. We observe Q4 terms in NaCl and KCl, with some evidence for a Q4 term in KBr. The size of this contribution varies with the direction of momentum transfer and will be reported. We observe that the Debye temperature and the coefficient of the anharmonic Q2 term also vary with direction of momentum transfer. We believe this to be the first definitive evidence for a non-spherical thermal cloud in a cubic crystal; the ions have a larger amplitude of oscillation in the [h00] direction than in the [nnn] direction. This effect is temperature dependent and greater at lower temperatures.
Finite element methods in linear poroelasticity: theoretical and computational results

Linear Poroelasticity refers to fluid flow within a deformable porous medium under the assumption of relatively small deformations. Some of the areas that are being modeled with the equations of linear poroelasticity include reservoir engineering, soil mechanics and, more recently, biomedical engineering. The purpose of this dissertation is to present original results for the development, analysis and application of numerical finite element algorithms in the field of linear poroelasticity. A fully coupled finite element method involving continuous elements for displacements and a mixed space for flow is developed (CG/Mixed). Existence, uniqueness and optimality results are provided. The norm measuring the pressure error, however, depends on the value of the constrained specific storage coefficient. For degenerate values, this leads to a slightly weaker optimality result. For the not untypical case of a null constrained specific storage coefficient, the solution produced by the CG/Mixed scheme sometimes produces non-physical pressure oscillations, a phenomenon referred to as locking. One potential remedy is to eliminate the continuity requirement for the elements approximating displacements. Therefore, a family of schemes which couples discontinuous elements for displacements and a mixed space for flow is introduced (DG/Mixed). Existence and uniqueness are established, optimal a priori error estimates are provided, and some success in the removal of locking is shown. Direct verification of several benchmark analytical solutions shows that solutions in linear poroelasticity can lack regularity. This sometimes manifests in pressure boundary layers which might degrade the rate of convergence of numerical solutions. The situation can often be ameliorated with the development of adaptive grid refinement strategies. This motivates a posteriori estimates in terms of computable residual quantities. Interestingly, it is also shown that the CG/Mixed method can be combined with adaptive grid refinement as an alternative means to eliminate locking. The produced algorithms are then applied to some interesting application areas. In one instance, they are used to analyze the deformation and pressure dynamics in a cantilever bracket. Additionally, a variety of miscellaneous problems ranging from subsidence and well placement to scuba suit design highlight intriguing applications.
Tectonics of the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and Southern Pakistan Region

The Persian Gulf has major economic importance because of oil occurrence in large domes and anticlines of the Arabian platform and Zagros mountain belt, the two geological provinces which border the Persian Gulf (Fig. 1). Bordering the Gulf of Oman on the east are the Makran ranges and the Oman mountains. The Makran ranges extend into Pakistan, and abut the north-south oriented Kirthar mountains.
Segment polarity gene interactions modulate epidermal patterning in Drosophila embryos

Each segment of a Drosophila larva shows a precisely organized pattern of cuticular structures, indicating diverse cellular identities in the underlying epidermis. Mutations in the segment polarity genes alter the cuticle pattern secreted by the epidermal cells; these mutant patterns provide clues about the role that each gene product plays in the development of wild-type epidermal pattern. We have analyzed embryos that are multiply mutant for five key patterning genes: wingless, patched, engrailed, naked and hedgehog. Our results indicate that wild-type activity of these five segment polarity genes can account for most of the ventral pattern elements and that their gene products interact extensively to specify the diverse cellular identities within the epidermis. Two pattern elements can be correlated with individual gene action: wingless is required for formation of naked cuticle and engrailed is required for formation of the first row of denticles in each abdominal denticle belt. The remaining cell types can be produced by different combinations of the five gene activities. wingless activity generates the diversity of cell types within the segment, but each specific cell identity depends on the activity of patched, engrailed, naked and hedgehog. These molecules modulate the distribution and interpretation of wingless signalling activity in the ventral epidermal cells and, in addition, each can contribute to pattern through a pathway independent of the wingless signalling pathway.
Meis3 is required for neural crest invasion of the gut during zebrafish enteric nervous system development.

During development, vagal neural crest cells fated to contribute to the enteric nervous system migrate ventrally away from the neural tube toward and along the primitive gut. The molecular mechanisms that regulate their early migration en route to and entry into the gut remain elusive. Here, we show that the transcription factor meis3 is expressed along vagal neural crest pathways. Meis3 loss of function results in a reduction in migration efficiency, cell number and the mitotic activity of neural crest cells in the vicinity of the gut, while having no effect on neural crest or gut specification. Later, during enteric nervous system differentiation, Meis3 depleted embryos exhibit colonic aganglionosis, a disorder in which the hindgut is devoid of neurons. Accordingly, the expression of Shh pathway components, previously shown to have a role in the etiology of Hirschsprung's disease, was misregulated within the gut following loss of Meis3. Taken together, these findings support a model in which Meis3 is required for neural crest proliferation, migration into and colonization of the gut such that its loss leads to severe defects in enteric nervous system development.
Eating Disorder Prevention: An Experimental Comparison of High Level Dissonance, Low Level Dissonance, and No-Treatment Control

The purpose of this experiment was to provide an empirical comparison of two dissonance-based eating disorder prevention paradigms and a no-treatment control condition. Asymptomatic and symptomatic participants (N = 155) were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: high level dissonance, low level dissonance, or no-treatment control. Group x symptomatic status interactions, main effects, and pairwise comparisons were examined to assess differences in eating disorder attitudes and behaviors at postintervention and 4-week follow-up. Participants in the high level condition displayed fewer eating disorder attitudes and behaviors compared to participants in the low level condition at postintervention. Eating disorder attitudes and behaviors were not significantly lower among participants in either intervention condition compared to no-treatment control participants.
ACS/NCI breast cancer detection demonstration projects

The 28 Centers involved in the Breast Cancer Detection Demonstration Projects were initiated in 1973. The five-year commitment of some of the Projects will be completed during this calendar year, and those of others as late as 1981. The material available to us from the group of women studies is useful, but the accumulation of these data through the computer is still painfully slow. The last completed data available from the computer are those compiled through February 1979. They showed 273,108 women having completed their first examination, and the total number of examinations--1,011,709. In the breast biopsies that have been performed on patients from the study group, 85% have shown benign lesions, 14% have revealed invasive carcinoma, and 1% have shown preinvasive carcinoma, so-called carcinoma in situ. In general, these tumors have been at very early biological stages in the development of breast cancers. Some slightly less impressive figures have been obtained in those individuals who have discovered their cancers as a product of regular breast self-examination. The techniques of the survey clearly show that breast cancer can be picked up in a biologically earlier state and at a stage more amenable to definitive therapy.
A dual-reporter fluorescent imaging approach can be used to estimate sentinel lymph node tumor burden

The presence of metastatic tumor cells in tumor-draining lymph nodes is an important indicator for cancer staging and therapy. Current clinical approaches of assessing lymph node tumor burden require invasive surgery that can be associated with nerve damage and other complications. In this study, a dual-reporter fluorescence molecular imaging approach, previously validated for quantifying targeted reporter binding in various human tumor xenographs, was assessed as a means of quantifying tumor burden in metastatic disease in mice. The utility of the dual-reporter imaging approach to measure tumor burden in sentinel lymph nodes was investigated in a bioluminescent human breast cancer xenograph model in 18 female nude mice. Once the presence of tumor in the lymph node was confirmed by bioluminescent imaging, fluorescently labeled anti-EGFR antibody and an untargeted antibody (labeled with a different fluorophore) were injected intradermally, proximal to the lymph node, and the uptake of the two reporters was imaged simultaneously with a with a flat-panel fluorescent scanner. Preliminary results demonstrated a statistically significant correlation between the dual-reporter measured tumor burden and the bioluminescent measure of tumor burden.
Effects on Ground‐Water Quality and Induced Infiltration of Wastes Disposed into the Hocking River at Lancaster, Ohioa

Watercourse aquifer systems in many areas are adversely affected by wastes disposed into surface-water sources, resulting in either reduced streambed permeability, infiltration of wastes into the aquifer, or both. These conditions are illustrated at Lancaster, Ohio, where low streambed permeability in the vicinity of the municipal well field, resulting from the discharge of wastes to the Hocking River, seriously retards the infiltration of surface water and lessens the available yield of the wells. The wastes consist of brine and iron-laden effluent from the municipal treatment plant, discharged within the area of influence of the pumped wells to a stream already carrying much organic waste and other debris. Upstream from the discharge sewer, muck and organic debris have accumulated thickly on the streambed, while downstream from the sewer the streambed sediments have become tightly cemented by iron and other constituents in the waste water. There is evidence that, despite reduced streambed permeability, wastes have entered the aquifer and have materially contributed to declines in well efficiency and to recurring problems of well maintenance. Conditions such as those illustrated at Lancaster occur also at Dayton and are not uncommon elsewhere in Ohio. Indirect contamination of aquifers and adverse physical and chemical alteration of streambed sediments, resulting from surface-water waste disposal, may in many places pose a threat to the ground-water supply. This fact should not be overlooked in determining water-quality standards to be established under the Water Quality Act of 1965.
THE CRYSTAL STRUCTURE OF CESIUM AQUOPENTACHLORORHODATE(III)

Abstract The crystal structure of cesium aquopentachlororhodate(III) has been determined by X-ray diffraction using counter techniques. The complex crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group D 2h 17-Amam with a=8.023(3) A, b=17.271(10) A, and c=7.353(4) A. The crystal sank in methylene iodide (density 3.32 g-cm−3) in agreement with a density of 3.69 g-cm−3 calculated for four formula units in the unit cell. A total of 679 independent reflections was used in solving the structure, which was refined to a conventional R factor of 0.065 and a weighted R factor of 0.069. The complex is approximately octahedral, with Rh-Cl distances of 2.300 A and 2.337 A, and a Rh-O distance of 2.096 A. The rhodium compound is isostructural with its ruthenium analogue.
The relationship between sedimentary organic carbon isotopic composition and organic biomarker compound concentration

Abstract A study of organic biomarker compounds which could serve as tracers of terrigenous and marine sedimentary organic matter sources was performed on samples from a 208.7 m hydraulic piston core hole (DSDP Hole 619) from the hemipelagic Pigmy Basin in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Organic carbon-normalized concentrations of total long chain (C37–C39) alkenones and some individual C27–C29 desmethyl sterols were determined to be useful proportional indicators (tracers) of preserved marine and terrigenous organic carbon, respectively. The alkenones, whose only known source is marine phytoplankton of the class Prymnesiophyceae, generally occurred in higher concentrations in interglacial isotope stages 1 and 5a-b than in the intervening glacial stages. Sterols (C27-C29), apparently of a dominantly terrigenous origin, occurred in lower concentrations during interglacial stages than in glacial stages. Tracers of both terrigenous and marine organic matter appear to be affected by the differential diagenetic alteration of the biomarker/Corg ratios, as indicated by a simple, first-order kinetic model. The lack of any desmethylor 4a-methylsterol which is linearly related to the proportion of marine sedimentary organic matter (as scaled by δ13Corg) indicates that either 1. (1) sedimentary diagenesis has obscured the biomarker/Corg vs. δ13Corg record 2. (2) phytoplanktonic assemblage changes caused variations in the biomarker/Corg ratio of the primary input. Preferential preservation of terrigenous sterols may result in a biased sedimentary record of sterol input which could be misinterpreted as indicating solely terrigenous sterol sources. A simple model which characterizes the effects of sedimentary diagenesis on the relationship between Corg-normalized biomarker ratios and δ13Corg demonstrates the potential problems of long-term, differential-diagenetic skewing on those tracer records.
Plants in Your Ants: Using Ant Mounds to Test Basic Ecological Principles

Urban students often have limited access to field sites for ecological studies. Ubiquitous ants and their mounds can be used to study and test ecology-based questions. We describe how soil collected from ant mounds can be used to investigate how biotic factors (ants) can affect abiotic factors in the soil that can, in turn, influence plant growth.
Conversion of Allylic Alcohols into Allylic Nitromethyl Compounds via a Palladium-Catalyzed Solvolysis: An Enantioselective Synthesis of an Advanced Carbocyclic Nucleoside Precursor1

A two-step reaction sequence to homoallylic nitro compounds from allylic alcohols is presented. Ethoxy carbonylation of the alcohols with ethyl chloroformate provides the corresponding allylic ethyl carbonates in high yields. Exposure of these substrates to catalytic palladium(0) in CH3NO2 initiates a reaction sequence, ionization−decarboxylation−nitromethylation, that culminates with the formation of nitroalkenes. The regio- and stereochemical outcomes of the nitromethyl allylation reaction can be explained by the behavior of the transient π-allylpalladium complexes. This methodology serves as a centerpiece for the synthesis of an important carbocyclic nucleoside intermediate.
Modifications in phosphorus loading to Onondaga Lake, U.S.A., Associated with alkali Manufacturing

The effects of an alkali production facility on P loading to the epilimnion of Onondaga Lake are documented for the spring to fall interval of 1980 and 1981. The effects include additional load to the epilimnion from the hypolimnion and the outlet, and reduced loads from dense, ion-enriched inflows. Despite the compensating effects, the load received by the epilimnion from spring through fall is greater than previously estimated as a result of the manufacturing operations.
High–performance liquid chromatographic determination of nitrofurantoin in plasma

SUMMARY A reversed–phase high–performance liquid chromatographic method for the analysis of nitrofurantoin in rabbit plasma was developed. Acetanilide was used as the internal standard. The chromatography was performed using a C–18 column; the mobile phase consisted of 75:25 water to methanol; a flow rate of 09 ml/min; and UV detection at 270 run. Retention times were 58 and 101 min for nitrofurantoin and acetanilide, respectively. Recovery of nitrofurantoin added to plasma in the concentration range of 005–5 μg/ml was found to be greater than 92%. This procedure was used for the analysis of plasma samples collected over time following the oral administration of nitrofurantoin tablets to rabbits.
Transcriptional regulation of cytokine expression by diethyldithiocarbamate in human HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells.

Abstract Diethyldithiocarbamate (DDTC) is an investigational agent used to ameliorate chemotherapy-or radiotherapy-induced myelosuppression. We studied the effects of DDTC on the regulation of hematopoietic cytokine production in human myeloid cells. The results demonstrated that DDTC decreases proliferation of human HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells in a concentration-dependent manner. DDTC treatment also increased interleukin-α- (IL-1α), IL-1β, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) expression in these cells. Similar findings were obtained in normal human peripheral blood monocytes. Peak induction of these cytokines occurred 6–12 hr after exposure to DDTC; levels returned to those in control cells by 24–48 hr in HL-60 cells. This effect was specific for IL-1 and TNF in that there was no detectable increase in IL-3, macrophage colony-stimulating factor or granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor RNA expression. Transcriptional run-on analysis demonstrated that exposure to DDTC increased the rate of TNF gene transcription in HL-60 cells. These data suggest that the myeloprotective effects of DDTC may be mediated, at least in part, by the induction of TNF, IL-1α, and IL-1β.
The role of quantitative pharmacology in an academic translational research environment.

Translational research is generally described as the application of basic science discoveries to the treatment or prevention of disease or injury. Its value is usually determined based on the likelihood that exploratory or developmental research can yield effective therapies. While the pharmaceutical industry has evolved into a highly specialized sector engaged in translational research, the academic medical research community has similarly embraced this paradigm largely through the motivation of the National Institute of Health (NIH) via its Roadmap initiative. The Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) has created opportunities for institutions which can provide the multidisciplinary environment required to engage such research. A key component of the CTSA and an element of both the NIH Roadmap and the FDA Critical Path is the bridging of bench and bedside science via quantitative pharmacologic relationships. The infrastructure of the University of Pennsylvania/Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia CTSA is highlighted relative to both research and educational objectives reliant upon quantitative pharmacology. A case study, NIH-sponsored research program exploring NK1r antagonism for the treatment NeuroAIDS is used to illustrate the application of quantitative pharmacology in a translational research paradigm.
Associations between the morphology and physiology of ventral-horn neurons in the adult turtle

This study compared some morphologic and physiological properties of adult turtle spinal motoneurons (MNs) vs. interneurons (INs). Reconstructions were made of 20 biocytin-stained cells, which had been previously studied physiologically in 2-mm-thick slices of lumbosacral spinal cord. The intracellularly measured physiological properties included resting potential, input resistance (R(N)), threshold (rheobase, I(Rh)), and slope of the stimulus current (I) -spike frequency (f) relation. The seven morphologic properties that were quantified for each cell included three indices of somal size (diameter, area, volume), and four of dendritic size: the number of first- and last-order branches, rostrocaudal extent, and sigma individual lengths. Significant differences were shown between all seven morphologic parameters for MNs vs. INs. Despite the small sample size, significant differences were also shown for five of seven parameters for high-threshold vs. low-threshold MNs, and three of seven for low-threshold MNs vs. INs. These latter three parameters were the number of terminal dendritic branches, their rostrocaudal extent, and the sigma dendritic lengths. Linear associations for the MN + IN and the MN samples were stronger between the four dendritic parameters than between soma-dendritic ones. Exponential associations between morphologic and physiological properties were mostly significant (28 of 30), and their strength was in the order I(Rh) < R(N) < f/I slope for the MN +IN sample and I(Rh) < R(N) = f/I slope for the MN sample. There is discussion of the relevance of the above findings to the provisional classification of turtle ventral-horn neurons on the basis of electrophysiology alone.
Increased mitochondrial antioxidative activity or decreased oxygen free radical propagation prevent mutant SOD1-mediated motor neuron cell death and increase amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-like transgenic mouse survival.

The molecular mechanisms of selective motor neuron degeneration in human amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disease remain largely unknown and effective therapies are not currently available. Mitochondrial dysfunction is an early event of motor neuron degeneration in transgenic mice overexpressing mutant superoxide dismutase (SOD)1 gene and mitochondrial abnormality is observed in human ALS patients. In an in vitro cell culture system, we demonstrated that infection of mouse NSC-34 motor neuron-like cells with adenovirus containing mutant G93A-SOD1 gene increased cellular oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, cytochrome c release and motor neuron cell death. Cells pretreated with highly oxidizable polyunsaturated fatty acid elevated lipid peroxidation and synergistically exacerbated motor neuron-like cell death with mutant G93A-SOD1 but not with wild-type SOD1. Similarly, overexpression of mitochondrial antioxidative genes, MnSOD and GPX4 by stable transfection significantly increased NSC-34 motor neuron-like cell resistance to mutant SOD1. Pre-incubation of cells with␣spin trapping molecule, 5′,5′-dimethylpryrroline-N-oxide (DMPO), prevented mutant SOD1-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death. Furthermore, treatment of mutant G93A-SOD1 transgenic mice with DMPO significantly delayed paralysis and increased survival. These findings suggest a causal relationship between enhanced oxidative stress and mutant SOD1-mediated motor neuron degeneration, considering that enhanced oxygen free radical production results from the SOD1 structural alterations. Molecular approaches aimed at increasing mitochondrial antioxidative activity or effectively blocking oxidative stress propagation can be potentially useful in the clinical management of human ALS disease.
Effect of surface roughness on laser-driven instability dewetting of ultrathin Co films

Previous studies on dewetting of ultrathin Co films by nanosecond pulsed laser melting have shown that the films dewet due to a thin film hydrodynamic instability and form a system of ordered nanoparticles with uniform average size and nearest neighbor particle spacing. For Co films less than 8 nm thick, the nanoparticle spacing, λ NN was dependent on the initial film thickness, h, and varied as h 2 . For Co films thicker than 8nm, the nanoparticle spacing decreased with increasing film thickness, due to a thermocapillary effect generated by the ns laser heating. Here we show the results from investigations on dewetting of Co films that had initially much rougher surfaces with root mean square roughness values, 0.9 < R rms < 2.8 nm as compared to smoother films examined in prior investigations, for which R rms ≤ 0.2 nm. Laser induced dewetting of Co films with much large R ms values generated nanoparticles that were qualitatively similar to those created from smoother Co films. The size distribution of the nanoparticles was monodispersed and there was short range spatial order present in the system from the average nearest neighbor nanoparticle spacing; however, a drastic reduction in the characteristic length scales was observed in the nanoparticulate arrays created from the rougher Co films. This result suggests that knowledge of film thickness and roughness are important towards predicting characteristic length scales from metal film dewetting.
Organic Phosphorus Composition and Potential Bioavailability in Semi‐Arid Arable Soils of the Western United States

The organic P composition of semi-arid arable soils is largely unknown, but such information is fundamental to understanding P dynamics in irrigated agriculture. We used solution 31 P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and phosphatase hydrolysis to characterize organic P in semi-arid arable soils from the western USA (organic C 2.0-30.7 g C kg -1 soil, clay 2-48%, pH 5.2-8.2, CaCO 3 <1-480 g kg -1 soil). Total P concentrations ranged from 220 to 1210 mg P kg -1 soil, of which between 12 and 45% was extracted with NaOH-EDTA. Inorganic orthophosphate was the dominant P compound, but concentrations determined by solution 31 P NMR spectroscopy were consistently greater than those determined by molybdate colorimetry. Concentrations of organic P were relatively small, and were dominated by orthophosphate monoesters (11-130 mg P kg -1 soil), with smaller concentrations of orthophosphate diesters (0-7 mg P kg -1 soil). Pyrophosphate was present in almost all soils at concentrations up to 14 mg P kg -1 soil. Bicarbonate-extractable organic P ranged from 1.7 to 22.8 mg P kg -1 soil, of which between 37 and 87% was hydrolyzed by phosphatase enzymes, suggesting its bioavailability. Soil organic P concentrations were positively correlated with mean annual precipitation, organic C, clay, and oxalate-extractable metals (Al, Fe, Mn), and negatively correlated with mean annual temperature and soil pH. However, CaCO 3 concentrations were not significantly correlated with any soil property. These results indicate that equilibrium levels of organic P in semi-arid arable soils are controlled by a balance between the physical protection offered by the soil matrix and the suitability of the environment for biological productivity.
The effects of training and captivity on the metabolic capacity of the lizardSceloporus occidentalis

The effects of training and captivity on the running performance and selected metabolic and biochemical variables were investigated in the lizardSceloporus occidentalis (Sauria: Iguanidae) in two studies of 6 and 8 weeks duration. Resting and maximal oxygen consumption, lactate concentration of the blood and whole body, and enzyme activities in skeletal muscle were compared among trained and untrained-captive animals taken recently from the field. No significant changes in these metabolic and biochemical measurements occurred as a result of training or of captivity. Distance run to exhaustion and the running endurance of these animals also failed to change in a way attributable to the experimental treatments. Training and captivity appear incapable of altering the maximal rates or the components of metabolic energy production inS. occidentalis. This inflexibility is in contrast to the adaptability and plastic nature of the metabolic capacities exhibited by captive and domestic mammals subjected to varying amounts of chronic activity.