cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Dynamics and functional roles of splicing factor autoregulation

Non-spliceosomal splicing factors are essential, conserved regulators of alternative splicing. They provide concentration-dependent control of diverse pre-mRNAs. Many splicing factors direct unproductive splicing of their own pre-mRNAs through negative autoregulation. However, the impact of such feedback loops on splicing dynamics at the single cell level remains unclear. We developed a system to dynamically, quantitatively analyze negative autoregulatory splicing by the SF2 splicing factor in response to perturbations in single HEK293 cells. Here, we show that negative autoregulatory splicing provides critical functions for gene regulation, establishing a ceiling of SF2 protein concentration, reducing cell-cell heterogeneity in SF2 levels, and buffering variation in SF2 transcription. Most importantly, it adapts SF2 splicing activity to variations in demand from other pre-mRNA substrates. A minimal mathematical model of autoregulatory splicing explains these experimentally observed features, and provides values for effective biochemical parameters. These results reveal the unique functional roles that splicing negative autoregulation plays in homeostatically regulating transcriptional programs.
Cleft Lip and Palate Surgery Crowdfunding and Access to Care.

A total of 169 ACPA approved teams treat cleft deformities in the United States. These centers are unevenly distributed, and families may disproportionally pay extra travel costs to consult a multidisciplinary cleft team. Families experiencing hardships are able to create campaigns on GoFundMe to advertise their fundraiser publicly. The authors sought to establish whether a correlation exists between patients asking for support for cleft treatment and their geographic location in the US.A total of 635 crowdfunding campaigns for cleft lip and/or palate were reviewed from GoFundMe. Google searches for cleft lip and palate were evaluated utilizing Google Trends, with values reported as Relative Search Volumes (RSV). Driving distances and travel time to the nearest approved ACPA center were calculated using Google Maps data.There was a statistically significant difference in average driving distance and travel duration between the different subregions of the US (P = 0.0059 and 0.026, respectively). The South subregion had the highest proportion of campaigns (n = 259, 40.9%), mean driving distance (105.75 km) and mean driving duration (1 hour 8 minutes). The number of approved teams per state was negatively correlated to both RSV scores (r = -0.38, P = 0.048) and the number of campaigns (r = -0.34, P = 0.014).There is an uneven distribution of ACPA centers among the US subregions. The South seems to have the highest need for care, as identified by proportionate number of campaigns, adjusted driving distances and travel time. This data suggests that underserved areas for cleft care are correlated with greater numbers of hardship campaigns and more internet searches regarding cleft lip and palate.
Studies in Andean Ocotea (Lauraceae) V. Species with Unisexual Flowers and Sparsely Appressed-Pubescent or Glabrous Leaves without Domatia Occurring above 1000 m in Altitude

This is the fifth installment of a treatment of Ocotea Aubl. occurring above 1000-m altitude in the Andean countries of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. This part covers species with unisexual flowers lacking distinctive characters such as presence of domatia or erect or dense pubescence on leaves. Twenty-six species are treated, of which 12 are new to science. These are O. nidiae van der Werff from Venezuela; O. erugata van der Werff, O. gymnantha van der Werff, and O. lorda van der Werff from Colombia; O. ceronii van der Werff, O. depilis van der Werff, O. homeieri van der Werff, and O. pilosa van der Werff from Ecuador; and O. calcicola van der Werff, O. fulgida van der Werff, O. nana van der Werff, and O. tunquiensis van der Werff from Peru. Ocotea cernua (Nees) Mez is synonymized with O. leptobotra (Ruiz & Pav.) Mez and O. longifolia Kunth is synonymized with O. aurantiodora (Ruiz & Pav.) Mez.
Culture and FSH responses of Sertoli cells isolated from sexually mature rat testis.

We have previously provided evidence that 125I-FSH specifically binds to various preparations of rat testis which contain Sertoli cells, e.g. isolated seminiferous tubules and organ cultures of testicular explants which have been depleted of most germinal elements and Leydig cells (1,2). On the other hand, isolated germinal cells, peritubular cells or interstitial cells show no binding of the labeled FSH. Subsequently, it was demonstrated that FSH also stimulates endogenous cAMP (3′5′-cyclic adenosine monophosphate) levels in the isolated seminiferous tubules and organ cultures, but has no effect on the isolated peritubular or interstitial cells and only a slight stimulatory effect on the germinal cells (3). These results provided suggestive evidence that of the various cell types composing the testis, only the Sertoli cells possess the FSH binding receptors and respond to FSH stimulation with increased levels of cAMP. Since these two parameters are considered to be the initial steps of gonadotropin action in the target cells (4), it appeared that the Sertoli cells must represent the primary target site for the biological action of FSH in the testis.
Cardiac catheterization for hemoptysis in a Children’s Hospital Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory: A 15 year experience

Abstract Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic utility of cardiac catheterization and the efficacy of transcatheter intervention in patients with hemoptysis. Background Cardiac catheterization may play a role in identifying the etiologies of hemoptysis with the potential for transcatheter intervention. Methods This was a retrospective study of all the patients who were brought to the pediatric cardiac catheterization laboratory for the indication of hemoptysis over a 15-year period (2006–2020). Results Twenty-one patients underwent 28 cardiac catheterizations. The median age was 17.4 years (range 0.3–60.0 years), and the underlying cardiac diagnoses were normal heart n = 3, pulmonary hypertension 1, heart transplant 1, pulmonary arteriovenous malformation 1, pulmonary vein disease 3, biventricular congenital heart diseases 5, and single ventricles 7. The diagnostic utility of catheterization was 81% (17/21). At two-thirds (18/28) of catheterizations, transcatheter interventions were performed in 14/21 (67%) patients: aortopulmonary collateral embolization 14, aortopulmonary and veno-venous collateral embolization 1, and pulmonary arteriovenous malformation embolization 3. Although recurrent hemoptysis was frequent (50%) post-intervention, the final effectiveness of transcatheter interventions was 79% (11/14 patients). Overall mortality was 19% (4/21), all in those presenting with massive hemoptysis. Conclusions Cardiac catheterization was shown to have good diagnostic utility for hemoptysis especially in patients with underlying congenital heart disease. Despite the high mortality and recurrent hemoptysis rate, transcatheter interventions were effective in our cohort.
Quantitative time-resolved buildup in three-color coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering

Since its first demonstration in sixties, coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering has become a powerful spectroscopic tool. However, it is a multilinear four-wave mixing process that often leads to l...
Critical Molecular and Cellular Contributors to Tau Pathology.

Tauopathies represent a group of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease (AD) that are characterized by the deposition of filamentous tau aggregates in the brain. The pathogenesis of tauopathies starts from the formation of toxic 'tau seeds' from hyperphosphorylated tau monomers. The presence of specific phosphorylation sites and heat shock protein 90 facilitates soluble tau protein aggregation. Transcellular propagation of pathogenic tau into synaptically connected neuronal cells or adjacent glial cells via receptor-mediated endocytosis facilitate disease spread through the brain. While neuroprotective effects of glial cells-including phagocytotic microglial and astroglial phenotypes-have been observed at the early stage of neurodegeneration, dysfunctional neuronal-glial cellular communication results in a series of further pathological consequences as the disease progresses, including abnormal axonal transport, synaptic degeneration, and neuronal loss, accompanied by a pro-inflammatory microenvironment. Additionally, the discovery of microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT) gene mutations and the strongest genetic risk factor of tauopathies-an increase in the presence of the e2 allele of apolipoprotein E (ApoE)-provide important clues to understanding tau pathology progression. In this review, we describe the crucial signaling pathways and diverse cellular contributors to the progression of tauopathies. A systematic understanding of disease pathogenesis provides novel insights into therapeutic targets within altered signaling pathways and is of great significance for discovering effective treatments for tauopathies.
swdpwr: A SAS macro and an R package for power calculations in stepped wedge cluster randomized trials.

Abstract Background and objective:The stepped wedge cluster randomized trial is a study design increasingly used in a wide variety of settings, including public health intervention evaluations, clinical and health service research. Previous studies presenting power calculation methods for stepped wedge designs have focused on continuous outcomes and relied on normal approximations for binary outcomes. These approximations for binary outcomes may or may not be accurate, depending on whether or not the normal approximation to the binomial distribution is reasonable. Although not always accurate, such approximation methods have been widely used for binary outcomes. To improve the approximations for binary outcomes, two new methods for stepped wedge designs (SWDs) of binary outcomes have recently been published. However, these new methods have not been implemented in publicly available software. The objective of this paper is to present power calculation software for SWDs in various settings for both continuous and binary outcomes. Methods: We have developed a SAS macro %swdpwr, an R package swdpwr and a Shiny app for power calculations in SWDs. Different scenarios including cross-sectional and cohort designs, binary and continuous outcomes, marginal and conditional models, three link functions, with and without time effects under exchangeable, nested exchangeable and block exchangeable correlation structures are accommodated in this software. Unequal numbers of clusters per sequence are also allowed. Power calculations for a closed cohort employ a block exchangeable within-cluster correlation structure that accounts for three intracluster (intraclass) correlations: the within-period, between-period, and within-individual correlations. Cross-sectional cohorts allow for nested exchangeable or exchangeable correlation structures defined by the within-period and the between-period intracluster correlations only. Our software assumes a complete design and equal cluster-period sizes. While the methods accommodate correlation structures of constant within-period intracluster correlation coefficient (ICC) as well as a different within- and between-period ICC, it does not allow the between-period ICC to decay. Results: swdpwr provides an efficient tool to support investigators in the design and analysis of stepped wedge cluster randomized trials. swdpwr addresses the implementation gap between newly proposed methodology and their application to obtain more accurate power calculations in SWDs. Conclusions: In an effort to make computationally efficient (and non-simulation-based) power methods under both the cross-sectional and closed-cohort designs for continuous and binary outcomes more accessible, we have developed this user-friendly software. swdpwr is implemented under two platforms: SAS and R, satisfying the needs of investigators from various backgrounds. Additionally, the Shiny app enables users who are not able to use SAS or R to implement these methods online straightforwardly.
Syndromes of the Right Brain

The right cerebral hemisphere appears specialized for survival with substantial evidence supporting its functionally preeminent role in threat detection, sympathetic drive, escape or avoidance behaviors, and awareness of locations and events within extrapersonal space. It was with these resources that I approached my apiary one fateful afternoon on a rainy day in June without my protective gear and equipment. It was cold and wet and I knew that the honeybees that I served cared not for either of these conditions or for me, perhaps. I opened the hive and instantaneously found myself automatically processing the more complex aspects of survival with nary a verbally based thought derived from my more logical analysis of these events. I was running now and with speed for shelter and for escape from the Pandora’s box that I had so callously and naively opened but a moment ago. Surely, my heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, spatial analysis, and escape functions were released and in control of all that I was and all that I was going to do. By estimation, I outran tens of thousands of bees that day. I did not outrun 60 of them and they gifted me their lives through their suicidal stings. But these did not hurt on any measurement scale as much as the one bee that made it into the car with me and stung my lovely wife! I had no real difficulty with the beestings other than in my appearance like Rocky Balboa after his big fight. But with good conscience and reflection, I did call the local medical center for an emergency IQ test! The IQ test(s) though have been better indicators of the left hemisphere and especially based upon the rapid sequential processing and verbal linguistic analysis favored on these instruments. It would be hard to image the clinician even attempting the completion of an IQ test in an individual without substantial left cerebral functional capabilities. Instead, they would likely decline the consult as an “inappropriate referral.”
Studies of the Generation and Energy Relaxation in Chemical Intermediates-Divalent Carbon Molecules and Singlet Oxygen

To understand the nature of complex chemical phenomena, it is necessary to describe more than the initial reactants and the identities and relative amounts of final chemical products. It is the sequence or sequences of competing elementary steps by which the initial molecules evolve through a variety of energy states, molecular structures, and short-lived chemical intermediates, which are necessary to explain the distribution of final product molecules. In recent years, there has been enormous activity aimed at identifying the transient molecular species and their structures using inert matrices at low temperatures (≃4°K) as stabilizing environments. With picosecond laser methods, these unstable intermediates do not have to be “frozen” and stabilized but can be detected in their rapid evolution at room temperature in liquid systems where most of what we call chemistry occurs. Two chemical intermediates which we are studying are the divalent carbon fragments, R1-\( R_1 - \ddot C - R_2 \)-R2,(called carbenes)[1–11] implicated in an enormous variety of chemical reactions and singlet oxygen (102) [12–25] a prime species in materials degradation in photochemistry and photobiology. Little is known about the dynamics and competing pathways of their generation from precursor molecules such as diazo compounds and endoperoxides. There is also scant information about energy relaxation in carbene fragments, an issue which is of crucial importance since the chemistry is known to be state selective. With picosecond laser methods we can probe the energy states of the newborn chemical intermediates and thereby address the key issues of formation, energy relaxation and chemical reactivity of these transient species.
Experimental Inference of Inter-Particle Forces in Granular Systems Using Digital Image Correlation

The observed features of granular materials can be successfully predicted using models based on relationship of inter-particle forces and macroscopic properties. In the current work, a drop-tower experimental setup was developed for the impact testing of 2D assembly of cylinders and 3D assembly of spheres with impactor velocity of around 6 m/s. This drop tower setup was used to load 2D granular assembly of polyurethane and polycarbonate cylinders of 1.25″ length with 3 different diameters of 1/4″, 3/8″ and 1/2″. A high speed camera was used for recording the images of approx. 800 × 800 resolution at speeds between 10,000 and 15,000 fps to monitor the deformation of the cylinders. The recorded images were used to obtain the granular fabric and kinematics for each grain and average strains were obtained from images using digital image correlation. The experimental data was subsequently used to infer the interparticle forces between individual grains in the assembly using a Granular Element Method based optimization process.
Vertical dynamic forces from footsteps

Vertical dynamic forces from walking and running were measured by load cells placed between temporary supports and the centre of a 17-m-long floor strip. The measurements showed that the dynamic forces are composed of wave trains of harmonics of the walking or running rate. The significant low frequency contributions are generally contained within the first three to four harmonics
The Atlantic World: A History, 1400 - 1888

Before the voyage of Columbus in 1492, the Atlantic Ocean stood as a barrier to contact between the people (and their ideas and institutions), plants, animals, and microbes of Eurasia and Africa on the one hand and the Americas on the other. Following Columbus' voyage, the Atlantic turned into a conduit for transferring these things among the four continents bordering the ocean in ways that affected people living on each of them. The appearance of "The Atlantic World" marks an important achievement, for it stands out as the first successful attempt to combine the many strains of Atlantic history into a comprehensive, thoughtful narrative. At the core of this ground-breaking and eloquently written survey lies a consideration of the relationships among people living in Europe, Africa, and the Americas, with a focus on how these relationships played important roles - often the most important roles - in how the histories of the people involved unfolded. The ways of life of millions of people changed, sometimes for the better but often for the worse, because of their relationship to the larger Atlantic world. And unlike existing texts dealing with one or another aspect of Atlantic history, "The Atlantic World" does not subjugate the history of Africa and South America to those of the 'British Atlantic' or Europe. With historians and other scholars beginning to reconceptualise the Atlantic World as a dynamic zone of exchange in which people, commodities, and ideas circulated from the mid-fifteenth century until the dawn of the twentieth century, the interconnections between people along the Atlantic rim create a coherent region, one in which events in one corner inevitably altered the course of history in another. As this book testifies, Atlantic history, properly understood, is history without borders - in which national narratives take backstage to the larger examination of interdependence and cultural transmission. Conceived of and produced by a team of distinguished authors with countless hours of teaching experience at the college level, this thoughtfully organised, beautifully written, and lavishly illustrated book will set the standard for all future surveys intended as a core text for the new and rapidly growing courses in Atlantic History.
Tunable Laser Crystal Host Systems

Tunable solid state lasers were first demonstrated by Johnson, Dietz and Guggenheim as early as 1963. Only after the renewed interest in laser pumping of Ni2+:MgF2 and Co2+:MgF2 in addition to the first demonstrated tunable laser action in Cr3+ doped Al2BeO4 (alexandrite), were tunable solid state lasers considered for practical use. Since then several crystalline hosts for Cr3+ have been developed in addition to the demonstration of Ti3+ as an active ion for tunable lasers. All of these lasers belong to a class that can be loosely defined as active ion doped, optically pumped crystalline lasers. The distinction between this class and color center lasers lies mainly in the relative low stimulated emission cross section and long lifetime for the transition metal ions as compared to color centers. However d to f transitions in rare earth ions are similar to color centers.
Cascade resonance properties from charm baryon decays at BABAR

We present studies of hyperon and hyperon resonance production in charm baryon decays at BABAR. Two-body decay spin formalisms are extended to three-body final states and are used to study Ξ(1530)0 production in Λ c + decay. Similarly, the properties of the Ξ(1690)0 are extracted from a detailed isobar model analysis of the Λ c + → ΛK S K + Dalitz plot.
Food components that reduce cholesterol absorption.

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the compounds that are known to lower plasma cholesterol by inhibiting cholesterol absorption in the small intestine, including plant sterols and stanols, soluble fibers, saponins, soy protein, phospholipids (SM and PC), and stearic acid. All of these compounds—except, perhaps, stearic acid—appear to exert their effects mainly by interfering with micellar solubilization of cholesterol within the intestinal lumen. This can be the result of displacing cholesterol from the micelle, binding or precipitating cholesterol, impeding the movement of cholesterol by forming a viscous matrix, inhibiting digestive enzymes, binding bile acids and decreasing their participation in micelle formation, or down regulating cholesterol transporters within the enterocyte. Stearic acid appears to work systemically by incorporating into hepatic and biliary phospholipids, which destabilizes micelles and reduces cholesterol solubility. These compounds are attractive to food and nutraceutical companies because, in most cases, they are regulated as foods and not drugs.
Guest-host-interaction-induced enhancement of optical nonlinearity of liquids

Guest-host interaction has received a great deal of attention in the field of liquid crystals because of its potential. applications to displays and other optoelectronic devices. In one case, it was found that the unusually strong optical nonlinearity of nematic liquid crystals (LCs) can be further enhanced dramatically by a small amount of dye dissolved in the host. It was suggested that the enhancement is caused by optical excitation of dye molecules and dye-LC interaction. An important question unanswered is whether this effect is specific to liquid crystalline host material or it may have a more generic perspective. In this work, we show that the same guest-host effect also exists in the isotropic phase of liquid crystals, and more generally, in ordinary liquids without a mesomorphic phase. We demonstrate that by using 1-amino-anthroquinone dye as guest material and alkylcyanobiphenyls CN(C/sub 6/H/sub 4/)/sub 2/C/sub n/H/sub 2n+1/ as host materials, and performing optical Kerr effect measurement on such guest-host systems. To understand this guest-host effect on a microscopic level, we use a model based on the selective excitation of dye molecules and the change of guest-host interaction upon excitation.
The dorsal Morphogen Is a Sequence-Specific DNA-Binding Protein That Interacts with a Long-Range Repression Element in Drosophila

Abstract A gradient of the maternal morphogen dorsal ( dl ) establishes dorsal-ventral (D-V) polarity in the early Drosophila embryo. The dl concentration gradient is initiated by regulated nuclear transport, and only protein that enters nuclei is active in the D-V patterning process. Here we show that dl is a DNA-binding protein that specifically interacts with distal sequences of the zerknullt ( zen ) promoter, one of the genetic targets of the morphogen. These zen sequences have the properties of a silencer element and can act over long distances to repress the expression of a heterologous promoter. The dl protein recognizes a sequence motif similar to that of the mammalian transcriptional activator NF-κB, which was shown to contain extensive homology with dl and the oncoprotein rel . We present evidence that the DNA-binding activity of the dl protein is mediated by the region of homology (the rel domain) conserved in the rel and NF-κB proteins.
Helping the Struggling PETE Candidate: A Model of Intervention and Assistance

Abstract A systematic remediation process can help programs avoid the choice between failing students or graduating poor teachers.
An analytical model for the oxide size in Al alloys synthesized by reactive atomization and deposition

This article presents the formulation of an analytical model to predict the size scale of oxide dispersoids in as-deposited Al alloys synthesized by reactive atomization and deposition (RAD). The proposed model formulation is primarily based on the assumption that all of the strain energy in the oxides is used to create interfaces between the oxide dispersoids and the matrix. It is also assumed that oxides are fragmented into plate-shaped dispersoids. Assuming three types of cross-sectional geometries for the oxide plates, i.e., circular (corresponding to disc-shaped oxide dispersoids), rectangular, and equilateral polygon, the following predictions are made on the basis of the analytical model. First, the curves for calculated effective cross-sectional diameters of plate-shaped oxide dispersoids vs droplet size and calculated effective volumetric diameter of plate-shaped oxide dispersoids vs droplet size can be divided into three distinct regions. These three regions are identified on the basis of two characteristic droplet sizes corresponding to the solid fraction equal to that on the deposited material’s surface ( $$D_{f_{ss} } $$ ) and to solid fraction of 0.6 (D 0.6), respectively, at impact. Second, the velocity of individual droplets at impact has a limited effect on the calculated effective cross-sectional diameter and effective volumetric diameter. With an increase in solid fraction on the deposited material’s surface, the calculated effective cross-sectional diameter and effective volumetric diameter decrease significantly when droplet sizes are smaller than $$D_{f_{ss} } $$ , whereas they remain almost unchanged when droplet sizes are higher than D 0.6. Third, when plate-shaped oxide dispersoids with rectangular or equilateral polygon cross-sectional geometries are chosen, the calculated effective cross-sectional diameter and effective volumetric diameter are larger than the corresponding calculated diameter and effective volumetric diameter of disc-shaped oxide dispersoids. The calculated effective cross-sectional diameters, based on different cross-sectional geometries (e.g., circular, rectangular with up to 10 of the length/width ratio, and equilateral polygon), are all in reasonable agreement with the experimentally observed effective cross-sectional diameter of oxides.
The vibrations and structure of pyridine chemisorbed on Ag(111): the occurrence of a compressional phase transformation

Abstract High-resolution electron energy loss and UV photoemission spectroscopies have been used to study the chemisorption of pyridine on clean Ag(111) at T ≈ 140 K . Pyridine is weakly chemisorbed and undergoes a compressional phase transfomation from a Π-bonded species to a more weakly bound, nitrogen-lone-pair bonded species The molecular orientations of both chemisorbed phases are determined.
Sharing Our Experience: A Joint Practicum Case Study

Librarians at a private and a public institution collaborated to offer a health sciences librarianship practicum that emphasized public services. After advertising the practicum on library school internship Web sites, the librarians conducted joint interviews to select a student and determined what aspects of librarianship would be covered during the practicum. During the Fall 2010 semester, the student spent 60 hours at each library, working 2 days a week, gaining experience at each institution. The joint practicum was deemed a success by both libraries and the student. The libraries will continue with their collaboration. This model may be used by other libraries.
Overview of a simple model describing variation of dissolved organic carbon in an upland catchment

Abstract Hydrological mechanisms controlling the variation of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were investigated in the Deer Creek catchment located near Montezuma, CO. Patterns of DOC in streamflow suggested that increased flows through the upper soil horizon during snowmelt are responsible for flushing this DOC-enriched interstitial water to the streams. We examined possible hydrological mechanisms to explain the observed variability of DOC in Deer Creek by first simulating the hydrological response of the catchment using TOPMODEL and then routing the predicted flows through a simple model that accounted for temporal changes in DOC. Conceptually the DOC model can be taken to represent a terrestrial (soil) reservoir in which DOC builds up during low flow periods and is flushed out when infiltrating meltwaters cause the water table to rise into this “reservoir”. Concentrations of DOC measured in the upper soil and in streamflow were compared to model simulations. The simulated DOC response provides a reasonable reproduction of the observed dynamics of DOC in the stream at Deer Creek.
Interaction-line descriptions of fields

The property producing a field has a qualitative and a quantitative aspect. The former may appear as1, 2, 3,..., n possibilities in the source particles. Interaction lines representing the field must reflect these possibilities. Thus, one expects there to be1, 2, 3,..., n respective kinds of lines joining particles. The different lines interact with each other as well as with the particles at their ends. For gravitational fields,n is1; for electromagnetic fields,n is2; for chromodynamic fieldsn is3. Rest mass can be created by itself out of energy. But a positive-negative pair is the minimum possibility with electric charges, and a color-anticolor pair with quarks. A triplet of quarks or antiquarks, together with the appropriate neutrino, could also arise out of energy.
Computerized analysis of audible and ultrasonic vocalizations of rats as a standardized measure of pain-related behavior.

Abstract The behavioral assessment of experimental pain is essential for the analysis of pain mechanisms and the validation of therapeutic targets. Arthritic pain, in particular, is significantly associated with negative affective states and disorders. Here we present a standardized method for the quantitative analysis of audible and ultrasonic (25 ± 4 kHz) vocalizations in awake rats as a measure of higher integrated behavior in a model of arthritic pain. A bat detector and a condenser microphone were used to record ultrasonic and audible vocalizations, respectively, in response to innocuous and noxious mechanical stimulation of the knee before and after induction of acute arthritis in one knee. A computerized system was used to analyze number and duration of the filtered signals. For the behavioral tests, the animal was placed in a customized recording chamber to ensure consistent stimulus application and stable recordings and to eliminate any movement-induced noise. Noxious stimuli produced stronger vocalizations than innocuous stimuli. Both audible and ultrasonic vocalizations to innocuous (allodynia) and noxious (hyperalgesia) stimuli increased after the induction of acute arthritis. These changes were accompanied by increased knee joint circumference, lowered hind limb withdrawal thresholds and reduced exploratory behavior in the same animals. The computerized analysis of audible and ultrasonic vocalizations is a valid, quantitative, reliable and convenient method to measure pain-related behavior.
Use of Proliferation Signal Inhibitors in Cardiac Transplantation

Cardiac transplantation remains the definitive and most highly successful therapy for patients with advanced heart failure who have failed all other therapies. Long-term survival is limited by cardiac allograft vasculopathy, the transplant coronary artery disease, and malignancy. Standard, traditional immunosuppressive agents such as calcineurin inhibitors, anti-proliferative agents, and corticosteroids do little to attenuate cardiac allograft vasculopathy, which, because of its diffuse nature, is usually not amenable to percutaneous or surgical revascularization approaches, and may potentiate the developments of malignancies after cardiac transplantation. Proliferation signal inhibitors block the mammalian target of rapamycin, a critical protein involved in cell proliferation, and inhibit lymphocyte and smooth muscle cell proliferation. This results in inhibition of the alloimmune response and acute cellular rejection, even in the setting of low calcineurin levels. More significantly, they have been shown in several clinical trials to attenuate the progression of cardiac allograft vasculopathy when compared to mycophenolate or azathioprine regimens.
Evaluating sampling efficiency in depletion surveys using hierarchical Bayes

Estimating animal abundance is essential to natural resource management and conservation. However, the cost associated with abundance estimation can be high for populations that are difficult to sa...
A Constant-Approximation for Maximum Weight Independent Set of Links under the SINR Model

In this paper we study the following optimization problem in a plane multihop wireless network under the physical interference model. Given a multihop wireless network and a positive link weight (or demand) function, select a set of independent links whose total weight is maximized. This problem is known to be NP-hard. The best known approximation algorithm for this problem achieves logarithmic factor approximation with power control. In this work, we present a constant-approximation algorithm for the problem with the power assignment specified in this paper when the link weight-to-length ratio is bounded. Moreover, our constant-approximation bound is valid regardless of the value of the noise power and the lengths of the communication links.
Self-report assessment in high- and low-dating college women

High- and low-dating women differ significantly on several self-report measures potentially related to dating. These multiple self-report measures provide evidence for several components related to dating competence (e.g., assertion, selfesteem, physiological anxiety, etc.).
Evidence for a general category of oblique orientations in four-month-old infants.

Abstract Recent work on orientation perception and memory in infants suggests that oblique stimulus orientations are treated as members of a category. The two studies in this report support this hypothesis and extend previous findings by demonstrating that this category includes obliques on either side of vertical even when infants are previously exposed to obliques on only one side.
Cellular localization of gastrone in gastroduodenal mucosa by immunofluorescence.

In view of the previously demonstrated immunologic and biologic activity of a precipitating antibody to gastrone B, this antibody was used in immunofluorescence tests for cellular localization of gastrone in the gastroduodenal mucosa of man and dog. The antibody was raised in rabbits immunized with fraction 7 from the Sephadex G-100 gel filtration of anacid human gastric juices. In indirect Coons' test with the use of fluorescein-labeled antirabbit IgG and rabbit antigastrone B serum fluorescence appeared in the pyloric glands and surface epithelium of the antrum in man and dog and the villous epithelium and crypts of the duodenal bulb mucosa in the dog. These structures probably represent the main sites of cellular origin of gastrone B in these two species. No immunofluorescence was observed in the antrum of man or the antrum and duodenal bulb of the dog when normal rabbit or human serum was used in control tests. No immunofluorescence was detected, either, in the glandular structures of the fundal mucosa of man and dog. The surface epithelium of the fundus of the human and dog stomach gave a faint immunofluorescence both with antigastrone B and with normal rabbit sera, which could be nonspecific in nature.
An immuno-dot blot assay for the detection of antibody to HIV

This paper describes a simple and rapid immuno-dot blot assay for the detection of antibody to HIV. It utilizes nanogram quantities of HIV lysate, immobilized on nitrocellulose paper, and microliter quantities of serum or culture supernatants for the detection of antibody. The test is highly sensitive and specific. It offers the opportunity to perform multiple assays at a minimal cost and provides the additional advantage of not requiring any sophisticated or expensive equipment to perform the test or interpret the results.
SILIBININ INHIBITS ETHANOL METABOLISM AND ETHANOL-DEPENDENT CELL PROLIFERATION IN AN IN VITRO MODEL OF HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA

Chronic ethanol consumption is a known risk factor for developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The use of plant-derived antioxidants is gaining increasing clinical prominence as a potential therapy to ameliorate the effects of ethanol on hepatic disease development and progression. This study demonstrates silibinin, a biologically active flavanoid derived from milk thistle, inhibits cytochrome p4502E1 induction, ethanol metabolism and reactive oxygen species generation in HCC cells in vitro. These silibinin-mediated effects also inhibit ethanol-dependent increases in HCC cell proliferation in culture.
Hot-carrier degradation for deep-submicron N-MOSFETs introduced by back-end processing

Severe hot-carrier-induced device lifetime degradation has been observed on deep submicron N-MOSFETs after they are processed through the backend for multi-layer-metal interconnect. Our experimental data show that the hot-carrier lifetime degradation is dependent on: (1) H 2 annealing/sintering time; (2) choice of inter-metal-dielectric process, i.e., spin-on-glass (SOG) or high-density-plasma chemical-vapor-deposition (HDP-CVD) process; and (3) choice of pre-metal-dielectric process, i.e., BPSG (borophosphosilicate glass) or BPTEOS/O 3 (borophosphosilicate-tetra-ethoxy- silane and ozone oxide) deposition. The device hot-carrier lifetime can degrade more than 50% due to prolonged H 2 sintering time, and it could easily degrade by a order of magnitude when HDP-CVD oxide, instead of SOG, is used for inter-metal dielectric deposition. The gate oxide always remains of excellent quality through the entire backend processing, which indicate that the degradation is not caused by plasma damage to the gate oxide but by hydrogen-related defects at the Si-SiO 2 interface instead.
Mammography in 53,803 women from the New Hampshire mammography network.

PURPOSE: To describe measures of mammography performance in a geographically defined population and evaluate the interpreter’s use of the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Mammographic data from 47,651 screening and 6,152 diagnostic examinations from November 1, 1996, to October 31, 1997, were linked to 1,572 pathologic results. Mammographic outcomes were based on BI-RADS assessments and recommendations reported by the interpreting radiologist. The consistency of BI-RADS recommendations was evaluated. RESULTS: Screening mammography had a sensitivity of 72.4% (95% CI: 66.4%, 78.4%), specificity of 97.3% (95% CI: 97.25%, 97.4%), and positive predictive value of 10.6% (95% CI: 9.1%, 12.2%). Diagnostic mammography had higher sensitivity, 78.1% (95% CI: 71.9%, 84.3%); lower specificity, 89.3% (95% CI: 88.5%, 90.1%); and better positive predictive value, 17.1% (95% CI: 14.5%, 19.8%). The cancer detection rate with screening mammography was 3.3 per 1,000 women, with a bio...
Visualizing gridded time series data with self organizing maps: An application to multi-year snow dynamics in the Northern Hemisphere

Abstract Gridded time-series data are increasingly available for climatology research. Microwave imagery of snow water equivalent (SWE) has been accumulated at daily basis for over two decades, but complex spatial-temporal patterns in SWE dataset pose great challenges for exploration and interpretation. This paper introduces the use of several perspectives from a tri-space conceptualization of a time series of SWE grids combined with dimensionality reduction via the self-organizing map (SOM) method. While SOM has been predominantly viewed as a clustering mechanism within climatology research, we expand the visual-analytic potential of SOM for climate research with a series of conceptual, computational, and visual transformations. Specifically, we apply a medium-resolution SOM to an SWE dataset covering the Northern Hemisphere over a 20-year period, with high temporal resolution. Through clustering and visualization a number of distinct SWE patterns are identified, including mountainous, coastal, and continental regions. A subset of cells from six areas are selected for transition analysis, including mountainous (Sierra Nevada, Western Himalaya, Eastern Himalaya) and continental (central Siberia, western Russia and Midwest United States) regions. By combining with trajectory analysis, this SOM documents notable transitions in seasonal SWE accumulation and melt patterns in mountain ranges, suggesting that SWE in some geographic locations alternates between different discrete annual patterns. In the Sierra Nevada, transitions to classes with high SWE are shown to be related to the Southern Oscillation Index, demonstrating that the annual patterns and transitions in SWE regime identified by the SOM correspond to synoptic climate conditions.
Reactions of 1-halocycloheptenes with potassium t-Butoxide and with sodium pyrrolidide

Abstract Reactions of 1-halocycloheptenes with KO-t-Bu in DMSO and THF were studied. The principal products obtained could be accounted for on the basis of two competing dehydrohalogenation mechanisms. These are: dehydrohalogenation across the C1-C2 bond to give cycloheptyne; and dehydrohalogenation across the C1-C7 bond to give 1,2-cycloheptadiene. One or both of these intermediates react with KO-t-Bu to give 1-t-butoxycycloheptene in poor yield. The principal product from the three 1-halocycloheptenes in both solvents is tricyclo[7.5.0.028]tetradeca-2,14-diene (4), the dimer of 1,2-cycloheptadiene. Also formed are 5, the 2(8), 14-diene isomer of 4, presumably by cycloaddition of 1,2-cycloheptadiene and cycloheptyne, and 6, the 2,13-diene isomer of 4, by rearrangement of 4 effected by KO-t-Bu. Also studied were rections of 1 chloro- and 1-iodocycloheptene with sodium pyrrolidide (Na- NC4H8) in THF. These reactions give 1-(1-pyrrolidino)cycloheptene in fair yield together with smaller amounts of the 14-carbon hydrocarbons. Reactions of 1-chlorocycloheptene-1-14C and 4-chloro- and 4-iodobicyclo[5.1.0]oct-3-ene leading to (1-pyrrolidino)cycloheptenes were found to occur via both the corresponding cycloheptyne and 1,2-cycloheptadiene.
Delta excitations and shell-model information in heavy-ion, charge-exchange reactions

We calculate total cross sections for coherent pion production using localized plane-wave approximations for the shell-structure of valence nucleons that are excited to delta particles in the intermediate state in the (12C, 12B) and (12C, 12N) charge-exchange, heavy-ion reactions. We find comparable agreement to projectile downshift data for 12C(12C, 12B)12N. Then we improve the formalism by replacing the localized plane wave bound states with harmonic oscillator states which are imbedded in a multipole expansion approach and calculate pion differential cross sections to test for the sensitivity of the spectra to the single-particle mass parameter.
Recursive partial realization from the combined sequence of markov parameters and moments

Abstract In this paper, we develop the recursive structure of partial realization from a two-sided sequence of Markov parameters and moments. The specific feature of this recursive structure is that it accommodates sequences growing in two directions, like in the two-point Pade approximation. We present a recursive algorithm for the minimal partial realization from a sequence of Markov parameters and moments that amounts to recursive LU factorization of a Toeplitz behavior matrix, leaping over nongeneric sections. It turns out that this algorithm reveals a new continued-fraction expansion which extends the classical Cauer third form. As a corollary, various results related to Toeplitz matrices, two-point Pade approximations, continued fractions, etc. are unified within this partial-realization setting.
Repeat courses of antenatal corticosteroids: the controversy continues.

confirming the initial findings. 1 Despite what appears to be overwhelming evidence that a single course of antenatal corticosteroids improves outcomes and has a highly favorable risk to benefit ratio, obstetricians throughout the world slowly incorporated the use of corticosteroids into their practice. The reluctance to use corticosteroids was based on the risk of infection, inability to identify the pregnancies that would benefit most, and data from several animal models that suggested that exposure to exogenous corticosteroids resulted in intrauterine growth restriction and permanent damage to the central nervous system. In an attempt to review the scientific evidence and dispel unfounded myths regarding corticosteroids, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) held a consensus conference in 1994. The panel published a consensus statement that strongly supported the use of a single course of corticosteroids in pregnancies between 24 and 34 weeks gestation at risk for delivery within 7 days. 3 They also presented longterm pediatric follow-up data to prove its safety. After the dissemination of the NIH consensus statement, clinical practice appeared to change overnight. Administration of antenatal corticosteroids became the ‘‘standard of care’’ for women at risk for preterm birth and the use of repeat courses of corticosteroids became commonplace. 4 The practice of repeat courses was not
A large normal-fault earthquake at the junction of the Tonga trench and the Louisville ridge

The source mechanism of a large (M_s = 7.2) earthquake that occurred in the oceanic plate at the junction of the Tonga—Kermadec trench systems with the aseismic Louisville ridge is found by inverting long-period vertical-component Rayleigh waves recorded by the IDA network. The solution is an almost-pure normal fault, on a plane striking roughly parallel to the trench axis, with seismic moment of 1.7 × 10^(27) dyn cm, and thus is among the ten largest documented shallow normal-fault earthquakes. A point-source depth of 20 km for the event is resolved by modeling teleseismic body waves; the actual rupture may have extended deeper, to 30 or 40 km. The earthquake was a multiple event, consisting of two sources separated by 16 s. A rupture velocity of 3.5 km s−1 is inferred. The earthquake can be interpreted as tensional failure in the shallow portion of the downgoing plate caused by the gravitational pull of the slab. The Louisville ridge may be creating a local degree of decoupling of the oceanic plate from the overriding plate, and/or a zone of extension within the slab, which could enhance the effect of the gravitational forces in the shallower part of the downgoing plate. In particular, the earthquake could be associated with the break-up of the leading seamount of the ridge, which is currently right at the trench. Alternatively, the earthquake may have been caused by stresses associated with the bending of the plate prior to subduction.