cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
RNase H eliminates R‐loops that disrupt DNA replication but is nonessential for efficient DSB repair

Abstract In Saccharomyces cerevisiae , genome stability depends on RNases H1 and H2, which remove ribonucleotides from DNA and eliminate RNA–DNA hybrids (R‐loops). In Schizosaccharomyces pombe , RNase H enzymes were reported to process RNA–DNA hybrids produced at a double‐strand break (DSB) generated by I‐PpoI meganuclease. However, it is unclear if RNase H is generally required for efficient DSB repair in fission yeast, or whether it has other genome protection roles. Here, we show that S. pombe rnh1∆ rnh201∆ cells, which lack the RNase H enzymes, accumulate R‐loops and activate DNA damage checkpoints. Their viability requires critical DSB repair proteins and Mus81, which resolves DNA junctions formed during repair of broken replication forks. “Dirty” DSBs generated by ionizing radiation, as well as a “clean” DSB at a broken replication fork, are efficiently repaired in the absence of RNase H. RNA–DNA hybrids are not detected at a reparable DSB formed by fork collapse. We conclude that unprocessed R‐loops collapse replication forks in rnh1∆ rnh201∆ cells, but RNase H is not generally required for efficient DSB repair.
The Possibilities of Research--The Promise of Practice.

The NAEA Strategic Vision (2015-2020)1 affirms that “students of all ages benefit from comprehensive, balanced, and sequential learning in the visual arts, led and taught by qualified teachers who ...
Accidental aspiration of a solid tablet of sodium hydroxide

Sodium hypochlorite is a corrosive, highly alkaline (pka=7.52) household product. Ingestion of sodium hypochlorite liquid is common, showing toxicity on the oesophagus and stomach. Nevertheless, cases of sodium hypochlorite ingestions in pellet are rare and the management of them is unknown. We report the case of a 65-year-old man who accidentally swallowed a bleach tablet of 3.5 g. Six hours later, the patient developed an aphonia associated with dysponea stage IV, motivating a nasofibroscopy showing glottis and supraglottic necrosis and oedema for which the patient received intravenous steroids, was intubated and then underwent a tracheotomy. After 2 weeks under tracheotomy, local evolution was favourable allowing a removal of the cannula and a return back home.
Derailed axons get on track.

How do growing axons in the central nervous system navigate through the dense jungle of cells and processes that they encounter on the way to their targets? On page 540 of this issue, Bonkowsky et al. show that the choice of pathways for growth cones (the leading edges of growing axons) in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is regulated by a receptor tyrosine kinase known as Derailed (Drl). These results further indicate that, rather than attracting growth cones to the right pathways, Drl causes them to be repelled from the wrong ones. The array of axons in the embryonic Drosophila central nervous system has a ladder-like structure (Fig. 1). Anterior and posterior commissural tracts cross the midline in each body segment, and two longitudinal tracts extend the length of the embryo. Each of the roughly 300 neurons within a unit of this structure is thought to extend its axon along a genetically determined pathway. Most interneurons (neurons that synapse with other neurons) extend axons across the midline of the central nervous system, and attractive and repulsive factors that regulate this fundamental crossing decision have been identified. But axon guidance at the midline involves more than just the decision whether or not to cross. Each commissure contains many distinct pathways, and the growth cone of a particular neuron always follows the same one. The unique sequence of navigational decisions made by its growth cone determines the complex and invariant shape of each axon in the central nervous system.
Proteolytic interactions of factor IXa with human factor VIII and factor VIIIa

Factor IXa was shown to inactivate both factor VIII and factor VIIIa in a phospholipid-dependent reaction that could be blocked by an antifactor IX antibody. Factor IXa-catalyzed inactivation correlated with proteolytic cleavages within the A1 subunit of factor VIIIa and within the heavy chain (contiguous A1-A2-B domains) of factor VIII. Furthermore, a relatively slow conversion of factor VIII light chain to a 68-Kd fragment was observed after prolonged incubation. Sites of cleavage were identified within the A1 domain at Arg336-Met337 and within the factor VIII light chain at Arg1719-Asn1720. Factor IXa failed to cleave isolated factor VIII heavy chains, yet cleaved isolated factor VIII light chain. In addition, the purified A1/A3-C1-C2 dimer derived from factor VIIIa was a substrate for factor IXa; however, cleavage of the A1 subunit occurred at less than 30% the rate of cleavage of A1 in trimeric factor VIIIa. These data suggest that factor VIII light chain contributes to the binding site for factor IXa and also support a role for a heavy chain determinant located within the A2 subunit in the association of factor VIIIa with factor IXa. Furthermore, the capacity of factor IXa to proteolytically inactivate its cofactor, factor VIIIa, suggests a mode of regulation within the intrinsic tenase complex.
ELECTRON SPIN RESONANCE OF BROKEN CARBON BONDS

An electron spin resonance absorption was observed to appear in soft carbons and graphite as the material is ground into a fine powder. The grinding was conducted in vacuum or in various atmospheres. The resonance line has a width of about 30–18 G and a g-value of 2.004–2.008. Part of the resonance is killed permanently by admission of air; part of the remaining resonance is sensitive and the rest insensitive to admission of oxygen, the relative amounts being different for different atmospheres. No matter if the sample was or was not exposed to air a large part of the resonance disappears when the sample is heat treated to 1000°C–1200°C. Spin centre concentration of 1 × 1019 spins/g were obtained by grinding; it is estimated that this corresponds to about ¼ of all carbon atoms present on the periphery of powder particles. It is suggested that the resonance observed is due to broken σ-bonds of carbon and that carbon atoms change from such active state (A) into a stable inactive one (G-state) under the influence of heat (activation energy). Following Coulson the stable state G is identified as the divalent state of carbon in s2p2 configuration; it is concluded on basis of all evidence that atoms in state G are traps for electrons from the π-band.
IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF EMISSIONS FROM A MUNICIPAL WASTE INCINERATOR

Emissions from a refuse-derived fuel steam generating plant indowntown Albany, NY, have been a subject of public concernduring, and since cessation of, operation of the plant.Aerosol samples routinely collected every sixth day at fourair quality monitoring sites (three PM10 and one TSP) inthe environs of the plant were analyzed for fourteen tracemetals and three combustion-related inorganic anions to detectcontributions of the incinerator to the ambient burden inAlbany. Statistical and correlative comparisons of the analyteconcentrations were made using direct comparison of monthly,quarterly and annual arithmetic and geometric means,enrichment-factor analysis, factor analysis and correlationwith wind direction, precipitation and tonnage of refuseburned. These several comparisons reveal that trace-metal andanion concentrations in the fallout of emissions from theplant are extremely low and are indistinguishable from thecorresponding ambient concentrations at Albany. Factoranalyses and wind-direction correlations indicate thatcontaminants at Albany were components of mixed air masseswith contributions from a variety of regionally distributedsources.
Controlled growth of layer-by-layer assembled polyelectrolyte multilayer films under high electric fields

Abstract Hypothesis The application of an external electric Field (E-Field) to control layer-by-layer (LBL) growth of polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEM) typically involves hydrolysis of the water at the electrodes. We hypothesize that by isolating the electrodes from contact with the water, high E-Fields could be used to control the conformation of the polyelectrolytes in the solution phase and thus, enable non-chemical control of the LBL growth. Experimental Attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy was used to monitor the bound fraction and adsorbed amount as a function of time for the sequential addition of polyacrylic acid and polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride adsorbed on a TiO2 film under the applied E–Field. Findings The direction of the E–Field relative to the TiO2 film controlled the PEM growth, resulting in non-linear growth or decay. In the case of non-linear LBL decay, there was a decrease in adsorbate mass in successive layers to a point of no growth.
The effect of a savings intervention on women's intimate partner violence victimization: heterogeneous findings from a randomized controlled trial in Colombia.

Women’s economic empowerment has long been assumed to lead to their social empowerment, but systematic tests of this relationship have only recently begun to appear in the literature. Theory predicts that control over resources, as through a savings account, may increase women’s negotiating power and self-efficacy. In this way, “economic empowerment” may lead to “social empowerment,” and have related benefits such as helping to reduce risk of intimate partner violence (IPV). The current study tests effects of an economic empowerment intervention on women’s social empowerment, IPV victimization, and health. We conducted an 18-month randomized controlled trial among 1800 urban poor women in Colombia between 2013 and 2015. The trial tested the impact of a savings account offer bundled with health services (vs. health services alone) on social empowerment outcomes, IPV victimization, and health. The bundled savings treatment did not have average effects on most outcomes, although it produced a small significant increase in financial participation and decrease in symptoms of depression. Treatment effects on perceived norms, decision-making patterns, self-reported IPV victimization, and health depended on whether women’s partnerships were free of violence when they entered the trial; specifically, women in nonviolent partnerships at baseline showed more positive effects of the intervention. Although bundling economic empowerment interventions with support features has been shown to empower poor women, this trial found that a bundled treatment did not on average improve most social and health outcomes of poor women experiencing IPV. Registered retrospectively, prior to realization of outcomes, 5/29/14: Evidence in Governance and Politics #20140529AA .
Efficient Algorithms for Finding Edit-Distance Based Motifs

Motif mining is a classical data mining problem which aims to extract relevant information and discover knowledge from voluminous datasets in a variety of domains. Specifically, for the temporal data containing real numbers, it is formulated as time series motif mining (TSMM) problem. If the input is alphabetical and edit-distance is considered, this is called Edit-distance Motif Search (EMS). In EMS, the problem of interest is to find a pattern of length l which occurs with an edit-distance of at most d in each of the input sequences.
Stable Low-Cost Organic Dye Anolyte for Aqueous Organic Redox Flow Battery

Aqueous organic redox flow battery represents a potential solution to significantly reduce the cost of flow batteries. An ideal organic redox active material for flow battery application shall poss...
Dataset for WWW landing pages webobject retrieval performance evaluation.

Abstract This dataset describes data obtained from a multi-day World Wide Web (WWW) measurement campaign distributed internationally across multiple Amazon Web Service (AWS) datacentres. The Chrome web browser was controlled by the Selenium framework to make repetitive requests to several popular websites; the resulting webobjects were captured by a proxy server and details about them stored in the provided SQLite3 databases. A Python script is provided to evaluate the webobjects with respect to their configured as well as their actual expiration times, as part of our more detailed analysis that we provide in [1]. Researchers and practitioners can readily employ this dataset in their own research endeavours with little efforts for avenues of inquiry beyond webobject expiration times we described in [1], as we provide additional information about each webobject and each website visit during the measurement campaign time horizon.
Deep neural networks enable quantitative movement analysis using single-camera videos.

Many neurological and musculoskeletal diseases impair movement, which limits people’s function and social participation. Quantitative assessment of motion is critical to medical decision-making but is currently possible only with expensive motion capture systems and highly trained personnel. Here, we present a method for predicting clinically relevant motion parameters from an ordinary video of a patient. Our machine learning models predict parameters include walking speed (r = 0.73), cadence (r = 0.79), knee flexion angle at maximum extension (r = 0.83), and Gait Deviation Index (GDI), a comprehensive metric of gait impairment (r = 0.75). These correlation values approach the theoretical limits for accuracy imposed by natural variability in these metrics within our patient population. Our methods for quantifying gait pathology with commodity cameras increase access to quantitative motion analysis in clinics and at home and enable researchers to conduct large-scale studies of neurological and musculoskeletal disorders. In the context of diseases impairing movement, quantitative assessment of motion is critical to medical decision-making but is currently possible only with expensive motion capture systems and trained personnel. Here, the authors present a method for predicting clinically relevant motion parameters from an ordinary video of a patient.
Zein and PVOH based bilayer approach for plastic-free, repulpable and biodegradable oil- and water-resistant paper as a replacement for single-use plastics

Biodegradable coated paper materials represent one of the most promising alternatives to petroleum-based materials, including plastics and plastic-paper composite materials. Herein, fully biodegrad...
The Leveraging Exercise to Age in Place (LEAP) Study: Engaging Older Adults in Community-Based Exercise Classes to Impact Loneliness and Social Isolation.

Abstract Objective Social isolation and loneliness are associated with morbidity and mortality in older adults. Limited evidence exists regarding which interventions improve connectedness in this population. Design/Setting/Participants In this pre-post study we assessed community-based group health class participants’ (age ≥50) loneliness and social isolation. Participants (n = 382) were referred by a Cedars-Sinai Medical Network (Los Angeles, California) healthcare provider or self-referred from the community (July 2017–March 2020). Intervention Participants met with a program coordinator and selected Arthritis Exercise, Tai Chi for Arthritis, EnhanceFitness, or the Healthier Living Workshop. Measurements We measured social isolation using the Duke Social Support Index (DSSI) and loneliness using the UCLA 3-item Loneliness Scale at baseline, class completion, and 6 months. Results Mean age was 76.8 years (standard deviation, SD = 9.1); 315 (83.1%) were female; 173 (45.9%) were Non-Hispanic white; 143 (37.9%) were Non-Hispanic Black; 173 (46.1%) lived alone; mean baseline DSSI score was 26.9 (SD = 4.0) and mean baseline UCLA score was 4.8 (SD = 1.8). On multivariable analysis adjusted for gender, race/ethnicity, income, self-rated health, and household size, DSSI improved by 2.4% at 6-week compared to baseline (estimated ratio, ER: 1.024; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.010–1.038; p-value = 0.001), and 3.3% at 6-month (ER: 1.033; 95% CI: 1.016–1.050; p-value Conclusion Community-based group health class participants reported decreased loneliness and social isolation at 6-month follow-up.
The morpho-syntax of phrasal proper names in German

This paper studies the morpho-syntax of proper names like die Deutsche Bank ‘the German Bank’ in German. Semantically, these types of proper names, called phrasal proper names here, refer to entities but have descriptive meaning. Lexically, they are frozen and morpho-syntactically, they are frozen or transparent depending on the phenomenon. To capture these hybrid properties, it is proposed that regular vocabulary items are taken from the lexicon, that these individual elements receive each a referential marker (i.e., an index), and that they are stored as a set in the lexicon. Second, these indexed elements build a regular structure during the syntactic derivation projecting the marker to the entire structure. As is clear from proper names in Italian, certain syntactic operations are sensitive to these markers. As a consequence, these operations cannot single out the individual parts (but only the entire structure). Regular vocabulary items and an ordinary derivation explain the transparent properties; the addition of referential markers accounts for the referentiality and the frozen characteristics. The optional presence of non-restrictive modifiers shows that these nominal structures can be quite complex. Given this discussion, it seems unlikely that the referentiality of phrasal proper names is located in the DP-level.
Schubert in the European imagination

In "Schubert in the European Imagination, Volume 1: The Romantic and Victorian Eras", Scott Messing examines the historical reception of Franz Schubert as conveyed through the gendered imagery and language of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century European culture. The concept of Schubert as a feminine type vaulted into prominence in 1838 when Robert Schumann described the composer's Madchencharakter ("girlish" character), by contrast to the purportedly more masculine, more heroic Beethoven. What attracted Schumann to Schubert's music and marked it as feminine is evident in some of Schumann's own works that echo those of Schubert's in intriguing ways. Schubert's supposedly feminine quality acted upon the popular consciousness also through the writers and artists - in German-speaking Europe but also in France and England - whose fictional characters perform and hear Schubert's music.The figures discussed include Musset, Sand, Nerval, Maupassant, George Eliot, Henry James, Beardsley, Whistler, Storm, Fontane, and Heinrich and Thomas Mann. Over time, Schubert's stature became inextricably entwined with concepts of the distinct social roles of men and women, especially in domestic settings. For a composer whose reputation was principally founded upon musical genres that both the public and professionals construed as most suitable for private performance, the lure to locate Schubert within domestic spaces and to attach to him the attributes of its female occupants must have been irresistible.The story told is not without its complications, as this book reveals in an analysis of the response to Schubert in England, where the composer's eminence was questioned by critics whose arguments sometimes hinged on the more problematic aspects of gender in Victorian culture. Scott Messing is Charles A. Dana Professor of Music at Alma College, and author of "Neoclassicism in Music" (University of Rochester Press, 1996).
Evaluating Fake News Detection Models from Explainable Machine Learning Perspectives

Many research efforts recently have aimed at understanding the phenomenon of fake news, including recognizing their common features and patterns, leading to several fake news detection models based on machine learning. Yet, the real distinct strength of those models remains uncertain: some perform well only with particular data, but others are more general. Most of the models classified the fake news as a black-box without giving any explanations to users. In this work, therefore, we conduct an exploratory investigation that evaluates and interprets fake new detection models, including looking into which important features that contribute to the models’ prediction from the explainable machine learning perspective. This give us some insights on how the detection models work and their trustworthiness.
Short-Term Outcomes of Vaginal Hysterectomy at the Time of Robotic Sacrocolpopexy.

Objective With the introduction of robotic sacrocolpopexy (RSC) at our institution in 2008, we noted a reduction in residents' vaginal hysterectomy (VH) experience. In 2012, we made a transition to perform VH on all robotic sacrocolpopexies. Our objective was to report our short-term outcomes and adverse events. Methods In this case series, we evaluated women who underwent VH with concomitant RSC for stages II to IV pelvic organ prolapse between 2012 and 2017. In these cases, the vesicovaginal and rectovaginal spaces were developed transvaginally. Descriptive analysis including demographics, short-term outcomes, and adverse events are reported. Results In this group of 209 women, median (interquartile interval) duration of follow-up was 49 (26-60) weeks. The majority of the women were white (84.7%) and postmenopausal (80.9%), with a mean (SD) age of 59 (9) years. At a median follow-up time of 49 weeks, pelvic organ prolapse quantification revealed 20 patients (12.4%) with Ba or Bp greater or equal to 0 and 1.4% of patients required repeat prolapse surgery. Among 9 women (4.3%) with postoperative fever, 4 (1.9%) were treated for pelvic collection/abscess. Of 5 women (2.4%) who had venous thromboembolism, 3 (1.4%) were diagnosed with pulmonary embolism. There were 18 patients (8.6%) treated for urinary tract infection within 6 postoperative weeks. Mesh exposure was noted in 16 (7.7%) of the patients, and 11 (6.2%) required reoperation. Conclusions Vaginal hysterectomy at the time of RSC may increase the risk of infection and mesh exposure compared with procedures without concomitant hysterectomy.
A Study of the Fouling Phenomenon During Ultrafiltration of Cottage Cheese Whey

A good example of the successful application of membrane technology is the processing of cheese whey. Table 1 gives some background to the problem. The production of cheese whey is growing at 4% per year and it is estimated that only about 50% of the whey is utilized in any form either for animal feed or in human foods. The proximate composition shown in Table 1 emphasizes some of the problems in treating whey. It has a low solids content, and a very unfavorable protein to lactose ratio of 11:89, which makes it difficult to utilize as animal feed or in human food products. This explains why reverse osmosis (RO) and ultrafiltration (UF) have attracted the attention of cheese producers, since it now affords the possibility of simultaneously purifying, fractionating and concentrating (at low energy cost) the whey and thus enhancing its utilization and reducing its pollution problems.
The Rise and Fall of War Crimes Trials: From Charles I to Bush II

This book is the first comprehensive analysis of the politics of war crimes trials. It provides a systematic and theoretically rigorous examination of whether these trials are used as tools for political consolidation or whether justice is their primary purpose. The consideration of cases begins with the trial of Charles I of England and goes through the presidency of George W. Bush, including the trials of Saddam Hussein and those arising from the War on Terror. The book concludes that political consolidation is the primary concern of these trials - a point that runs contrary to the popular perception of the trials and their stated justification. Through the consideration of war crimes trials, this book makes a contribution to our understanding of power and conflict resolution and illuminates the developmental path of war crimes tribunals.
Functional Measures of Therapy Based on Radiological Imaging

We seek a noninvasive, functional, radiological imaging method to determine the specificity and sensitivity of an ablative treatment for deeply placed lesions that cannot be directly visualized, in our case phthalocyanine-4 photodynamic therapy (Pc 4-PDT) of brain tumors. In a preliminary study we had expected that micro-positron emission tomography (μPET) would show dramatically reduced if not negligible 18F-FDG activity following Pc 4-PDT; however, our study has not found a statistically significant difference between the imaging of brain tumors in animals that underwent Pc 4-PDT and those that did not. While several magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) pulse sequences also did not discriminate tumors that had received treatment, our study of dynamic contrast enhancement magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) was able to discriminate tumors that had undergone necrosis following Pc 4-PDT. We expect that in addition to imaging therapeutic necrosis, it will also be possible to utilize other noninvasive, radiological imaging techniques to track apoptosis and/or autophagy in deeply placed lesions following treatments such as Pc 4-PDT.
A Software Lens for Image Reconstitution of the EEG

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses a software lens for image reconstitution of the electroencephalography (EEG). The electrical fields of current of active neurons in the cerebral cortex spread through the tissue to the surface of the cortex, where they can be observed as EEG waves. The potential fields of adjacent cell groups overlap and sum in the volume conductor. If there is a degree of uniformity in cell types and in the spread of their field currents with location within a sheet of cortex, the summation can be described by the mathematical operation of convolution. The standard pattern of spreading is known as the kernel. A neural activity pattern within the cortex can be said to be convolved with the kernel to give the surface EEG pattern. If the kernel is known, its inverse may be computed. Then convolution of a surface EEG pattern with the inverse kernel should restore the original neural activity pattern. The procedure is called spatial deconvolution of the EEG.
The Concept of Equality in Civil Procedure

The Article fills a void in the procedural literature by providing the first sustained treatment of the complex role that equality plays in procedural thought. The Article's central message is that there is not one "procedural equality" but rather a host of "procedural equalities." I identify and explore three different forms of equality that are central organizing principles of procedural justice. The Article creates a new typology of procedural equalities. The Article's second primary contribution is that it demonstrates how our procedural systems contain an intricate web of architectural decisions that promote procedural equalities. The Article discusses numerous procedural rules and approaches that contribute to the forms of equality that are identified. Finally, by carefully delineating the meaning of equality in various procedural domains, the Article provides an explanation for the Equal Protection Clause's impotence in the field of procedure - namely, that constitutional equality and these three procedural equalities are not the same thing. Although my conclusion is that constitutional adjudication is generally not a successful, nor even germane, method for achieving procedural equalities, the Article nonetheless contains a normative agenda. It concludes by providing policy suggestions to two sets of institutional actors - crafters of alternative dispute resolution systems and legislators considering procedural rules.
Consideration of nonlinear thermal dispersion variations in dispersion-managed fibers

We present a detailed study of the thermal variation of the dispersion of dispersion-managed fiber. The measured temperature dependence is parabolic rather than linear, and the choice of average dispersion can significantly impact the level of dispersion variability.
Trade in the Shadow of Power

In this chapter, we examine how some of the main results in international trade theory fare when we abandon the traditional assumption of third-party enforcement of property rights. Without such enforcement, countries arm and exercise power to secure resources used in production or to secure the output from that production. Because arming is endogenous and takes scarce resources to produce, the production of final goods is also endogenous. Consequently, prices in either domestic or international markets reflect not only preferences, endowments or technologies of production as predicted by traditional models, but also arming and the power that comes from that. As we show in the context of a Ricardian model, those countries that produce the most socially valued goods tend to arm less, giving them a "comparative disadvantage" in power. Accordingly, the level of welfare obtained by these countries could be lower than that obtained in a competitive economy with perfect security. In the context of a Heckscher-Ohlin model, we find that free trade need not be preferred to autarky, as the costs of conflict or self-enforcement swamp the familiar gains from trade for a certain range of world prices. Finally, trade in the shadow of power can distort comparative advantage.
A new species of Hemerodromia Meigen, 1822 from Sierra Leone with key to species of Afrotropical Region (Insecta, Diptera, Empididae)

Abstract A new species of Hemerodromia Meigen, 1822 from Sierra Leone is described: Hemerodromia curvinervis n. sp. is related to Hemerodromia portia Jones, 1940, from which it differs in having the veins R4+5 2 and M 1 ondulateand converging apically, M 2 sinuous and reaching to coste of wing, hind tibia apically lacking setae and for the shape of male terminalia
Balanced WDM weight banks for analog optical processing and networking in silicon

We demonstrate complementary (+/−) WDM weighted addition in a bank of silicon microrings using a balanced detection technique. Weighted addition that is tunable and complementary is a key function for multivariate analog signal processing and could enable scalable analog networking approaches with silicon photonic technologies.
The metabolic influence of progestins.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the effects of progesterone and synthetic progestins. The metabolic effects of synthetic progestins can be related to their pharmacological uses, including the unwanted side effects of the oral contraceptive drug mixtures. The most completely described influence of the progestins is that exerted on protein and electrolyte metabolism. Their effects on carbohydrate and fat metabolism are relatively unimportant or only secondary. The biosynthesis of glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids, androgens, and estrogens from cholesterol put progesterone in the obligatory intermediary position. In adrenal-deficient subjects on continuous maintenance therapy with mineralocorticoids, the natriuresis induced by progesterone is greater and more protracted. As one of the sex hormones, progesterone has a distinct growth-promoting influence on selected tissues of the accessory sex apparatus. However, in contradistinction with estracliol and testosterone, these effects of progesterone are generally not manifested unless the responsive tissues are primed by prior exposure to estrogen. When progesterone acts catabolically, the plasma amino acid nitrogen concentration is significantly lowered.
Specialized proresolving mediators (SPMs) inhibit human B-cell IgE production.

Specialized proresolving mediators (SPMs) constitute a recently recognized class of bioactive molecules thatpromote the resolution of inflammation. We recently reported that the SPMs resolvin D1 (RvD1) and 17-hydroxydocosahexaenoic acid (17-HDHA) promote the differentiation of IgG-secreting B cells and enhance antibody-mediated immune responses. However, there is an important knowledge gap regarding whether or not SPMs regulate human B-cell IgE production, which is the key effector in diseases such as asthma and allergy. Therefore, we investigated whether a panel of diverse SPMs influences B-cell IgE production. An important finding was that 17-HDHA and RvD1 inhibit IgE production by human B cells and suppress the differentiation of naive B cells into IgE-secreting cells by specifically blocking epsilon germline transcript. This effect is specific to human IgE, as the SPMs do not inhibit production of IgM and IgG and did not suppress other IL-4-upregulated genes. 17-HDHA and RvD1 act by stabilizing the transcriptional repressor B-cell lymphoma 6, which competes with STAT6 for binding at the epsilon germline transcript promoter. Overall, these new findings demonstrate that certain SPMs inhibit the differentiation of IgE-producing B cells, without being broadly immune suppressive, representing a novel class of potential therapeutics for IgE-driven diseases such as asthma and allergy.
An In Situ System for Annotation of Home Energy Data

This work presents a system for collecting user activity annotations using in-home distributed energy monitoring combined with a novel algorithm that generates device-specific profiles used to identify potentially important changes in user context. In a five-week study of five homes, the system was able to generate profiles for 80% of the devices studied. Moreover, between four and five important changes in user context were identified when background loads were accurately distinguished.
Long-term experience with current disease-modifying drugs in multiple sclerosis

■ Abstract Five different immunomodulatory treatments have been developed and approved for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. These have been shown to be efficacious over the short-term in the reduction of relapse rates, measures of disease activity and disease progression in randomised, placebo-controlled trials. However, multiple sclerosis is a chronic progressive disease of variable course in which long-term benefits of treatment are critically important. It is not possible to obtain data on long-term outcome from placebo-controlled trials and observational open-label designs are required. Ideally, these would involve prospective follow-up of all included patients over decades. Long-term studies with (3-interferons have generally used retrospective designs which have important limitations in terms of case ascertainment and selection bias. Nonetheless, they suggest that treatment benefit may be maintained over time. Glatiramer acetate is the only immunomodulatory treatment which has been studied prospectively over a period of ten years, and for which outcomes have been compared between subjects with continuous treatment and those in whom glatiramer acetate was discontinued. Ten-year data showed suppression of relapse rate to be maintained with 62 % showing stable or improved disability levels. Disability progression was less than what would be expected from natural history studies of untreated patients with multiple sclerosis.
Spin-Spin and Crystal-Field Interactions in the Rare-Earth Ethyl Sulfates. I. The Spectrum of Gadolinium

The interactions between magnetic rare-earth ions in a set of isomorphic salts have been investigated under the experimental condition $g\ensuremath{\beta}Hg\mathrm{kT}$ such that the spins are highly aligned by the external magnetic field. Paramagnetic resonance under these conditions is found to show behavior qualitatively similar to ferromagnetic resonance. The high degree of spin alignment results in a nearly uniform internal field for samples having a regular shape, so that it is possible to observe narrow line spectra in concentrated paramagnetic salts. The spin-spin interactions may be directly determined from the line shifts at low temperatures, and from the observation of resolved structure that results from the resonance absorption of ions having a near neighbor ion whose spin is antiparallel to the magnetic field. In dysprosium ethyl sulfate containing gadolinium as an impurity, the interaction of a Gd ion with its first-, second-, and third-nearest-neighbor Dy ions, as well as the total interaction with all Dy neighbors, has been measured. The interaction may be explained in terms of a dipolar coupling between the spins. The influence of the spin-spin interactions on the angular variation of the Gd spectrum is also examined. The spin-lattice relaxation time of a Gd ion is found to depend on its nuclear spin.
Determination of ammonium in soil extracts and water samples by an ammonia electrode

Abstract Interference and recovery tests reported indicate that the Orion ammonia electrode can be used satisfactorily for determination of ammonium in soil extracts and water samples. The electrode method of analysis described is rapid, simple, and precise, and its results agree closely with those obtained by a distillation‐titration method of determining ammonium in soil extracts and water samples.
Phenol–formaldehyde impregnation of densified wood for improved dimensional stability

To produce a highly stable wood-based product with increased mechanical properties, phenol formaldehyde (PF) resin impregnation was combined with the viscoelastic thermal compression (VTC) process. Dimensional stability and bending stiffness were evaluated. Two PF resins with weight average molecular weights of 172 and 780 were studied at three different concentrations, 5, 10 and 20%. After 24-h room temperature water soak and 2-h boil, both PF treatments at all concentration levels showed high levels of dimensional stability compared to non-impregnated VTC processed controls. The higher molecular weight PF provided greater stability with an average thickness swell value of 12% compared to 20 and 37% for the lower molecular weight PF resin treatment and control, respectively. High anti-swelling efficiency values were recorded for both low and high molecular weight resins, implying these modifications were effective at reducing the volumetric swelling which occurred in the unmodified control. PF treatments were also extremely effective at reducing irreversible swelling. The low and high molecular weight resin treatments had 1/5th and 1/7th the irreversible swelling than the unmodified VTC processed controls, respectively. All dimensional stability values improved as resin concentrations increased. Both resin types at all concentration levels reduced Young’s modulus.
Randomized trial of busulfan vs total body irradiation containing conditioning regimens for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium study.

Conditioning regimens for children with ALL have generally included total body irradation (TBI), which may result in significant sequelae. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome for children with ALL undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplant (SCT) with either busulfan (Bu) or TBI regimens. Patients <21 years with ALL undergoing allogeneic SCT were eligible. Conditioning included either Bu or TBI, with etoposide 40 mg/kg and cyclophosphamide 120 mg/kg. Randomization was stratified based upon duration of remission, remission status, and prior cranial irradiation. A total of 43 patients were enrolled; 21 received Bu and 22 TBI. Median patient age was 8 years (0.5–20 years). Remission status included 12 patients in CR1, 25 in CR2, and six in CR3. At a median follow-up of 43 months, event-free survival (EFS) is 45% at 3 years, with 29% EFS in the Bu arm and 58% in the TBI arm (P=0.03). There was no significant difference between Bu and TBI for patients who received stem cells from related donors (36 vs 58%, P=0.3). However, for URD, EFS was 20% for Bu and 57% for TBI (P=0.04). Relapses were similar in both arms. This randomized prospective study suggests that Bu is inferior to TBI for pediatric patients with ALL undergoing allogeneic SCT.
G2+M arrest of cultured mammalian cells after incorporation of tritium-labeled nucleosides.

Novikoff rat hepatoma cells were propagated in suspension cultures containing 0.5 to 10 ..mu..C of /sup 3/H-methyl-thymidine, /sup 3/H-5-uridine, /sup 3/H-G-adenosine or /sup 3/H-8-adenine. The presence of the /sup 3/H-labeled precursors caused an inhibition of cell replication which was due to a delay or arrest of the cells in G/sub 2/ and M. The degree of inhibition was proportional to the amount of radioactivity incorporated into nucleic acids. Almost immediate and complete inhibition resulted from incubation with 10 ..mu..C /sup 3/H-thymidine/ml. The presence of 0.5 ..mu..C /sup 3/H-thymidine/ml caused a significant increase in the relative proportion of cells in G/sub 2/ + M, even though the population doubling time of the culture appeared to be unaltered.
A mixed finite difference-Galerkin method for three-dimensional Rayleigh-Be´nard convection

A fast and accurate numerical method, for nonlinear conservation equation systems whose solutions are periodic in two of the three spatial dimensions, is presently implemented for the case of Rayleigh-Benard convection between two rigid parallel plates in the parameter region where steady, three-dimensional convection is known to be stable. High-order streamfunctions secure the reduction of the system of five partial differential equations to a system of only three. Numerical experiments are presented which verify both the expected convergence rates and the absolute accuracy of the method.
Shoulder pain as an unusual presentation of pneumonia in a stroke patient: a case report.

Abstract Petchkrua W, Harris SA. Shoulder pain as an unusual presentation of pneumonia in a stroke patient: a case report. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2000;81:827-9. Etiologies of shoulder pain in the hemiplegic population, such as glenohumeral subluxation, frozen shoulder, and reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), have been described extensively. We present an 89-year-old woman with right hemiparesis secondary to ischemic lacunar infarction who developed sudden onset of right shoulder pain on the fifth day of inpatient rehabilitation. The pain was severe, limiting range of motion (ROM) and participation in therapy. Extensive investigations to rule out subluxation, fracture, connective tissue disease, RSD, and pulmonary embolism were negative. Ultimately, her shoulder pain and decreased ROM completely resolved with antibiotic treatment for right lower lobe pneumonia. We conclude that her symptoms were possibly referred pain from diaphragmatic irritation transmitted via right C4 sensory axons in the phrenic nerve, which shares the same dermatome as the right acromion area. This case was an unusual presentation of pneumonia in an elderly woman with hemiplegia. We recommend that pneumonia be considered in the differential diagnoses of shoulder pain. © 2000 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Light-induced effects on Brownian displacements

Earlier work on particles in aqueous solution indicated that particle hydration could be expanded by incident light. To assess the effects of expanded hydration we measured Brownian displacements of microspheres exposed to light of varying intensities and wavelengths. Displacements were consistently diminished in an intensity-dependent and wavelength-dependent fashion, and center-to-center distances between microspheres were shifted to higher values. We conclude that suspended microspheres are surrounded by hydration zones substantial enough to impact Brownian displacements. Keywords: microsphere, light, exclusion zone, hydration, Brownian motion, displacement 1. Introduction Since Robert Brown first reported the seemingly random movements of pollen and other particles suspended in water, the phenomenon of Brownian motion has attracted the interest of physicists. Following Einstein’s pioneering work [1], physicists have come to understand the phenomenon in terms of thermal energy, i.e., as an expression of the heat associated with temperature. The resulting formulation expresses mean square deviations as a function of temperature, medium viscosity, particle size and time. According to the Langevin formulation [2], Brownian displacements in two dimensions can be expressed as follows: 〈r〉2=2RTN13πμaτ, where 〈r〉2 is the square of the displacement in the x–y plane, µ the viscosity of the solvent, a the radius of the particle, T the temperature of the sample, R the gas constant, N the number of molecules in one mole, and τ the time of interaction. The expression shows an inverse relationship between displacement and particle size.
Analysis of conventional and in vitro generated mutants of nmr , the negatively acting nitrogen regulatory gene of Neurospora crassa

Thenmr gene is the major negative regulatory gene in the nitrogen control circuit ofNeurospora crassa, which, together with positive regulatory genes, governs the expression of multiple unlinked structural genes of the circuit. Possible functional domains of the NMR protein were investigated by mutational analyses using three different approaches. First, the polymerase chain reaction was used to clone thenmr locus from two conventional mutants, V2M304 and MS5, and the mutant amino acid codons were identified. A single point mutation was shown to be responsible for the mutant phenotype in each of these strains. The V2M304 allele contains a nonsense codon, and in the MS5 allele an aspartate has been substituted for glycine at residue 386. Our second approach studied possible functionally important regions in thenmr gene by the use of site-directed mutagenesis. The region containing the naturally occurring substitution in MS5 appears to be essential for function whereas a region in the N-terminal part of the protein does not seem important for NMR function. Finally, over 50% of the protein coding region was randomly mutagenized and amino acid residues that are essential for function and others that are functionally unimportant were identified.
Contingent methadone delivery: Effects on illicit-opiate use

This study examined the effects of contingent vs. non-contingent delivery of a methadone dose supplement on relapse to illicit opiate use in the context of a methadone outpatient detoxification program. Following a 3-week methadone stabilization period on 30 mg, patients (N = 39) were randomly assigned to a contingent, a non-contingent, or a control treatment group. All patients received identical gradual reductions in their assigned methadone dose. During the dose reduction period (weeks 4-11), members of the contingent (N = 13) and non-contingent groups (N = 13) could obtain daily methadone-dose supplements up to 20 mg, but contingent group members could obtain supplements only if their most recent urinalysis results were opiate negative. Control subjects (N = 13) did not have dose increases available. The contingent group presented significantly lower opiate-positive urines during weeks 8-11 (14% positive) of the detox than the non-contingent (38% positive) or control (50% positive) groups. Additionally, the availability of extra methadone improved treatment retention and increased clinic attendance above levels observed in the control group. The potential for further use of methadone's reinforcing properties in the treatment of opiate dependence is discussed.
Integrating NDE-derived engineering properties with finite element analysis for structural composite materials

Abstract In this work, the use of ultrasonic property measurements as the basis for finite element analysis of full-scale composite components is presented. The approach utilizes multiple velocity measurements at oblique angles of incidence and quantitative analysis of radiographic images for the local determination of each of the nine orthotropic moduli in a given carbon-carbon composite. These values were then used as input into a finite element code (NASTRAN) to analyse the response of the material to load; here diametric compression. The predicted response was then compared with strain gauge results at several locations in the part to validate the approach.