cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
IL-10 Receptor Neutralization–Induced Colitis in Mice: A Comprehensive Guide

Interleukin-10 (IL-10) and its receptor (IL-10R) have been foremost targets to understand inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) pathogenesis. For the past several decades, IL-10-deficient (Il10-/- ) mice were considered one of the best models to study immune-mediated colitis. Several physiologic limitations with this model, e.g., delayed and varied disease onset, have hindered investigators in testing new clinical therapies for IBD. In this article, we provide comprehensive guidance for using anti-IL-10R monoclonal antibody (αIL-10R mAb) neutralization as a superior alternative model to study IBD. This article describes the feasibility of using αIL-10R mAb to induce chronic colitis (within 4 weeks), perform time-dependent mechanistic studies, and assess the efficacy of IBD therapeutics. This article also delineates protocols for in-house assays to critically assess colitis and associated inflammatory parameters. Overall, we underscore αIL-10R mAb neutralization as a relevant immune-mediated murine colitis model to study human Crohn's disease. © 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: Induction of chronic colitis in mice via αIL-10R mAb neutralization Basic Protocol 2: Biochemical evaluation of αIL-10R mAb neutralization-induced chronic colitis Support Protocol 1: Stool analysis and scoring Support Protocol 2: Swiss roll method.
Circulating levels of maternal vitamin D and risk of ADHD in offspring: results from the Vitamin D Antenatal Asthma Reduction Trial.

Background Low levels of circulating 25-hydroxy-vitamin D [25(OH)D] have been shown to associate with prevalent attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but few studies have examined the association between 25(OH)D during fetal development and risk of childhood ADHD. Methods Maternal plasma 25(OH)D was measured at 10-18 and 32-38 weeks of gestation, with sufficiency defined as 25(OH)D ≥ 30 ng/ml. Offspring ADHD status between ages 6-9 years was measured by parent report of clinical ADHD diagnosis among 680 mother-child pairs from the Vitamin D Antenatal Asthma Reduction Trial. Association between maternal 25(OH)D and child ADHD was assessed using logistic regression, adjusting for maternal age, race and ethnicity. Effect modification by offspring sex was also assessed. Results No associations between maternal 25(OH)D at 10-18 weeks of gestation and offspring ADHD were observed. In the third trimester, we observed associations between maternal vitamin D sufficiency and offspring ADHD [odds ratio (OR) 0.47, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.26-0.84], in addition to maternal 25(OH)D sufficiency category, comparing the deficient (OR 0.34, 95% CI 0.12-0.94), insufficient (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.15-1.10) and sufficient (OR 0.20, 95% CI 0.08-0.54) categories against highly deficient 25(OH)D, respectively. Stratified analyses revealed a protective association for sufficient maternal 25(OH)D and child ADHD among males (OR 0.47, 95% CI 0.23-0.94); the synergy index for additive effect modification of risk was 1.78 (95% CI 0.62-5.08). Conclusions Higher levels of maternal vitamin D in the third trimester are associated with lower risk of ADHD in offspring, with modest evidence for a stronger effect among male offspring. However, larger studies will be necessary to confirm these findings.
Unusual bilateral variation of the flexor digitorum accessorius longus muscle and its relation on tarsal tunnel syndrome

During standard anatomical dissection for a medical anatomy course, we encountered an unusual bilateral variant of a unipennate flexor digitorum accessorius longus (FDAL) muscle, a supernumery muscle of the deep posterior leg and medial ankle. We documented the muscles course and measured the diameter and length of the FDAL muscle belly, as well as the full length of its tendinous attachments. On both right and left legs, the FDAL originated from the proximal posterior fibula and distal one-third of the flexor hallucis longus muscle. The tendon had a distal attachment on the flexor digitorum longus (FDL) tendon and traveled with the FDL tendon as it inserted on the third distal phalanx. The left FDAL full length was 42.54 cm; the length of the muscle belly was 16.26 cm; and the circumference of the muscle belly was 4.44 cm. The right FDAL full length was 44.20 cm; the length of muscle belly was 12.06; and the circumference (belly) was 4.44 cm. Surrounding musculature and neurovasculature follow standard anatomical courses. This anatomical documentation provides opportunities for clinicians to consider mechanical influences of the FDAL on plantar foot function and further consider the accessory ankle muscles that have the potential to cause compressive neuropathies such as tarsal tunnel syndrome.
Development of blue VCSELs with highly reflective nanoporous GaN DBRs

The main challenge in III-nitride VCSEL technology is the fabrication of n-side DBR due to the absence of highly reflective epitaxial DBR. We will mainly discuss the fabrication and use of nanoporous GaN as a low-index medium, toward a manufacturable DBR mirror.
The Implications of Discharge Regularity: My Forty-Year Peek into the Vestibular System

The chapter traces my research in the vestibular system starting in the late 1960s when Cesar Fernandez and I collaborated in a study of the discharge properties of the mammalian vestibular nerve. In this chapter, I have taken advantage of Arthur Popper and Richard Fay’s invitation to write an account that “might be very personal.” The scientific literature emphasizes the orderly progress of knowledge. But research advances by fits and starts, with crucial clues coming not only from well-thought-out experiments, but also from experiments undertaken for purposes that, in retrospect, might be ill conceived. In this chapter I emphasize those intellectual way stations, both accidental and well conceived, that drove my own research. The theme that dominates the research is the discovery, made in our early studies, that afferents differing in their discharge regularity differ in many other respects as well. Later research showed that results first found in mammals were confirmed in other vertebrate classes. Regular and irregular units differ in their terminal morphology and their neuroepithelial locations. Beginning with studies of galvanic responses in the 1980s and confirmed more recently in intracellular recordings of the subthreshold events leading to spike discharge, the cellular basis of discharge regularity and associated properties are now well understood. Mutual-information calculations imply that regular and irregular units are optimized in the encoding, respectively, of low- and high-frequency head motions.
Ten thousand views of bioinformatics: a bibliome perspective.

Objective: Summarize the current state bioinformatics research from the published literature in 2008. Methods: The entire corpus of publications indexed by the National Library of Medicine in the PubMed repository was reviewed for articles tagged as belonging to the discipline of bioinformatics by Medical Subject Heading or by term in the title or abstract of the article. Selected summary statistics of this corpus were then used to motivate additional exploration. Results: Over ten thousand articles published in 2008 populated the bioinformatics corpus. Significantly, there were at least as many publications in genomics and genetics that used computational techniques but that were not identified as bioinformatics research. Genomics and proteomics continued to be the leading application domains of bioinformatics research but despite the proliferation of human studies, the genes most studied in the corpus were from yeast rather than the human organism. The growth in the genomic studies of human disease was accompanied by a growing critical literature regarding the methods, results and impact of these studies. Concurrently, the availability of full genome sequences at commodity prices has increased the computational challenges of human studies by several orders of magnitude. Further concerns were raised about the consequences of public disclosure of comprehensive or even aggregate genomic data. Conclusion: The impressive size of the bioinformatics bibliome is easily dwarfed by the challenges generated by the continued increased growth of high-throughput biological data sets. The demand for bioinformatics expertise and tools is therefore likely to continue to increase, at least in the near term.
Possession and Dispossession: Wittgenstein, Cavell, and Gregory of Nyssa on Life Amidst Skepticism†

This article follows Ludwig Wittgenstein, Stanley Cavell, and Gregory of Nyssa in a journey of epistemic dispossession. It begins by tracing two ways of wandering off this trail, two epistemological sirens that tempt wayfarers from a path of epistemic dispossession. These are skepticism and anti-skepticism, elaborated by Wittgenstein and Cavell as joined in their enthronement of epistemically-anchored certainty. Following Wittgenstein and Cavell into an exploration of the forms of life and death that sustain and are sustained by grasping at such certainty, this article yet identifies two sources of un-peace in their projects. One is an ill-confessed threat that looms over their work, and the other is the inhuman difficulty of resisting the skeptical temptations of isolation and domination after this threat is named. It is the threat of death, which becomes, under the skeptic's anxiety, the threat of murder. That is, the skeptic denies finitude in such a way that he refuses to come to terms with the way that death attends life, and such refusal introduces as a skeptical temptation the further threat of murder. The difficulty of resisting skeptical temptations rides on the incompleteness of (merely) epistemic dispossession, which will always undo itself unless deepened into a more radical form of dispossession. Such forms of dispossession are suggested by Cavell and perfected in Gregory's descriptions of his sister Macrina. Macrina illumines epistemic dispossession as a form of love that refuses certain relationships to property. Yielding a vision for how dispossession might meet the threat of murderousness, Macrina's life thus interprets relationships of property, love, and death that complete epistemic dispossession.
Circulating granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) levels after allogeneic and autologous bone marrow transplantation: endogenous G-CSF production correlates with myeloid engraftment.

Myeloid engraftment after bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is influenced by a number of variables, including cytoreductive chemoradiotherapy, genetic disparity, number of reinfused committed myeloid progenitor cells, healthy microenvironment, and the presence of hematopoietic growth factors. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G- CSF) stimulates proliferation of myeloid progenitor cells and enhances myeloid engraftment after BMT. We investigated the temporal relationship between endogenous G-CSF production and myeloid engraftment in both children and adults after allogeneic (ALLO) and autologous (AUTO) BMT. Circulating endogenous G-CSF levels ranged between 0 and 2552 pg/mL. The correlation coefficient between circulating serum G-CSF levels and the peripheral absolute neutrophil count (ANC) was r = -.875 (P less than .001). The endogenous serum G- CSF level was highest during the first week after BMT, when the ANC was less than or equal to 200/microL (699 +/- 82.3 pg/mL) (P less than .001). Both children and adults demonstrated a similar inverse relationship between circulating G-CSF level and degree of neutropenia. One patient failed to engraft after AUTO BMT and also failed to generate any endogenous G-CSF production. Lastly, once the serum G-CSF level decreased to less than 200 pg/mL, a mean of 6.1 +/- 0.9 days elapsed before the ANC was greater than or equal to 500/microL for 2 consecutive days. This study demonstrates that endogenous G-CSF production is associated with myeloid engraftment in both children and adults after AUTO and ALLO BMT and that the rate of increase and decrease in endogenous G-CSF may be predictive of either failure to engraft or duration of neutropenia.
Prototype development progress toward a 500 kV solid state Marx modulator

Recent advances in IGBT and SiC technology have made possible a range of solid-state modulator concepts that were unthinkable a decade ago. Power densities and speeds of pulsed-power circuits have increased dramatically due to the commercial introduction of fast, multikilovolt IGBT silicon and SiC diodes featured in PCB-style packages. A solid-state modulator concept that stands to benefit considerably from recent IGBT and SiC breakthroughs is the Marx configuration-where an array of stacked modules generates high-voltage output pulses directly from a low voltage DC supply. The Marx scheme avoids the large, inefficient and costly magnetic cores inherent in standard modulator designs, resulting in a considerably simpler, cheaper and more compact mechanical solution. The main disadvantage to this approach is that the individual cells in a Marx bank must float at high voltages during the pulse, complicating the distribution of power and timing signals. This paper examines in closer detail the practical advantages and pitfalls of a solid-state Marx configuration, and explores a design approach with emphasis on performance, wall-plug efficiency, cost of manufacture, availability and ease of service. The paper presents electrical diagrams, mechanical CAD layout and preliminary prototype test data.
Performance and Politics in Tanzania: The Nation on Stage

Reviewed Medium: book Authors: Laura Edmondson Year: 2007 Pages: 224 Publisher: Indiana University Press ISBN: 978-0-253-34905-7 (hard cover). Prices: $65.00 USD(hard cover).
Research on school bullying and victimization: what have we learned and where do we go from here?

This special issue on bullying and victimization in School Psychology Review highlights current research efforts in American schools on bullying and peer victimization, and how this research can in...
Correlation of estriol excretion patterns of pregnant women with subsequent development of their children

Abstract This paper is the first of a series concerning the follow-up of children born of pregnancies during which the maternal urinary estriol excretion has been studied. Four groups of children are presented: offspring of mothers with (1) normal urinary estriol excretion, (2) sometimes abnormally low estriol excretion but normal just before delivery, (3) declining urinary estriol, and (4) chronically low estriol. These 34 children were 1 to 7 years of age at follow-up. Growth parameters and developmental progress were measured. Developmental and intelligence tests used were the Denver Developmental Test, Slosson Intelligence Test, the Vineland Social Maturity Scale, and the Bender Gestalt Test of Visual Motor Perception. Results of these tests are shown in relation to the urinary estriol excretion patterns, the maternal pregnancy complications, infant neonatal course, and socioeconomic status. The study reveals that low estriol excretion before delivery is compatible with infant development and intelligence in the normal range.
Dorsoventral lineage restriction in wing imaginal discs requires Notch

The formation of boundaries that prevent the intermixing of cells is an important developmental patterning mechanism. The compartmental lineage restrictions that appear in the developing imaginal discs of Drosophila are striking examples of such boundaries. However, little is known about the cellular mechanism underlying compartmental lineage restrictions. The dorsoventral (D/V) lineage restriction that arises late in the developing wing imaginal disc requires the dorsal expression of the transcription factor Apterous and it has been hypothesized that apterous (ap) maintains compartmentalization by directly regulating the expression of molecules that modify cell adhesion or affinity. However, ap expression also regulates signalling between dorsal and ventral compartments, resulting in high levels of Notch signalling at the D/V boundary. Here we show that the formation of Notch-dependent boundary cells is required for the D/V lineage restriction.
Characterization and Classification of Vernal Pool Vegetation, Soil, and Amphibians of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Abstract Vernal pools are isolated ephemeral bodies of water that are often overlooked on the landscape. Despite their temporary nature, these pools are important to forest communities, providing critical breeding habitat for amphibians and an important food and water source for other taxonomic groups including birds, bats, and other terrestrial vertebrates. Sparse information about vernal pools in the upper Midwest, including Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (PIRO), inhibits conservation. We sampled soil, vegetation, and amphibians in 21 vernal pools in PIRO during spring 2010 to provide quantitative and qualitative evaluation of vernal pool abiotic and biotic characteristics within PIRO to help managers determine which pools to prioritize for conservation. Average vernal pool size sampled was 0.124 ha. Soils had an average of 13.5% carbon and 0.7% nitrogen. Vegetation was diverse within the vernal pools, with 115 vascular plants identified. Five species of amphibians were encountered during our surveys...
Epigenetics and the developmental origins of inflammatory bowel diseases

The gut microbiota, the intestinal mucosa and the host immune system are among the large biological networks involved in the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes Crohn disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Host genetics and environmental factors can significantly modulate the interactive relationships among these biological systems and influence predilection toward IBD. High monozygotic twin discordance rates and the rapid rise in the prevalence of IBD indicate that environmental influences may be as important or even more important in their pathogenesis than genetic susceptibility. However, the nature and timing of environmental factors critical for inducing IBD remain largely unknown. The molecular mechanisms and the key biological component(s) that may be affected by such factors are also in question. Epigenetic changes, such as DNA methylation (the methylation of cytosines followed by a guanine in CpG dinucleotides) can be modified by environmental influences during finite developmental periods and have been implicated in the pathogenesis of IBD. Mucosal DNA methylation can also react to changes in the commensal microbiota, underscoring the intercalating relationships among the large biological systems involved in gastrointestinal disorders. Therefore, transient environmental influences during specific periods of development may induce critical change(s) in an isolated or concomitant fashion within the intestinal biomic networks and lead to increased susceptibility to IBD. The present review focuses on the emerging paradigm shift considering IBD to originate from critical environmental effects during pre- and postnatal development.
Enthalpies of solution in complex systems: albumin + KCl(aq), polystyrene + toluene, and polystyrene + carbon tetrachloride

Abstract Enthalpies of solution and dilution have been measured for three complex systems: albumin + KCl(aq), polystyrene + toluene, and polystyrene + carbon tetrachloride. Mixtures of albumin + KCl(aq) were studied at 298.15 and 310.15 K while the other mixtures were investigated only at 298.15 K.
The Dialectics of Colonial Labour Control: Class Struggles in the Nigerian Coal Industry, 1914-1949

This paper is a case study of the labour movement at the Enugu Government Colliery, Nigeria from its opening in 1914 until a massacre of 21 striking miners in 1949. It focuses on the emergence of worker consciousness in a context of overlapping ethnic and class-based affiliations and its expression in acts of collective and individual protest. The workers struggled against a complex system of labour control emanating from both inside and outside the industry. Through confrontations with the state, they came to understand their own importance to the national and regional economy.
Comparison of line probe assay and DNA sequencing of 5' untranslated region for genotyping hepatitis C virus: description of novel line probe patterns.

Abstract We compared a commercial line probe assay (INNO-LiPA™ HCV II, Innogenetics, N.V., Ghent, Belgium, distributed by Bayer Diagnostics) to an in-house 5′ untranslated region direct DNA sequencing method for genotyping hepatitis C virus (HCV). Initial evaluation demonstrated that the INNO-LiPA™ HCV II assay and sequencing assay assigned the same genotype for 110/132 (83.3%) patient specimens (98 subtype and 12 genotype only identifications). Following the initial evaluation, the INNO-LiPA™ HCV II assay was used routinely to genotype HCV from patient specimens submitted to our laboratory for genotyping ( n = 1,739). During this second part of the study, novel line probe patterns have been noted and interpreted using the in-house direct sequencing assay. Reactivity at bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8 ( n = 4) or 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 ( n = 2) represented HCV genotype 1. Reactivity at bands 1, 2, 5 and 9 ( n = 1) represented HCV genotype 2. Reactivity at bands 1, 2, 5, 9 and 16 ( n = 1) represented HCV genotype 4. Reactivity at bands 1, 2, 5, 9, 10, 11 (weak band) and 12 ( n = 118) most likely represented HCV genotype 2b. This information should be of use to INNO-LiPA™ HCV II assay users.
Simultaneous evaluation of dual gene transfer to adherent cells by gamma-ray imaging

Abstract A gamma camera imaging method was developed to detect dual gene transfer to adherent cells growing as monolayers in cell culture plates. Human cancer cells were infected with replication-incompetent adenoviral vectors encoding the human type 2 somatostatin receptor (Ad-hSSTr2) and/or herpes virus thymidine kinase (Ad-TK). The hSSTr2 and TK reporter proteins were detected by imaging internally bound 99m Tc-P2045 peptide (Diatide, Inc.) and radioiodinated 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoro-β-D-arabinofuranosyl-5-iodouracil (FIAU), respectively. Following gene transfer, expression of hSSTr2 and TK were accurately imaged in vitro.
Helping the Resistance

The evolution of antiviral drug resistance sounds like a simple Darwinian story. The high mutation rate that characterizes RNA viruses ensures that drug-resistant mutations are generated continuously, and the global use of antivirals provides the selection pressure for these mutations to sweep through viral populations. In some cases, however, reality is more complex. The mutations that confer antiviral resistance may have a detrimental effect on viral fitness in the absence of the drug so that secondary fitness-restoring mutations must occur to enable the large-scale spread of resistance. More puzzling, drug resistance can also occur in the absence of the main agent of selection—the widespread use of antiviral drugs. Both of these evolutionary conundrums are apparent in one of the most important cases of antiviral resistance in recent years—the global spread of resistance to oseltamivir in seasonal H1N1 influenza A virus. On page 1272 of this issue, Bloom et al. ( 1 ) show that in a “permissive” genetic background, seasonal H1N1 virus avoids the fitness costs normally associated with oseltamivir resistance.
Masked rheumatic myocarditis in an elderly male.

A case is described in which active rheumatic myocarditis was found at autopsy in a 77-year-old man. Although he had been admitted many times to the V.A. Hospital during a period of about fourteen years, at no time did the history, physical examination, roentgenograms, electrocardiograms and laboratory determinations arouse any suspicion of the presence of rheumatic heart disease.
Testing the Universality of the Effects of the Communities That Care Prevention System for Preventing Adolescent Drug Use and Delinquency

Universal community-oriented interventions are an important component in the prevention of youth health and behavior problems. Testing the universality of the effects of an intervention that was designed to be universal is important because it provides information about how the program operates and for whom and under what conditions it is most effective. The present study examined whether the previously established significant effects of the universal, community-based Communities That Care (CTC) prevention program on the prevalence of substance use and the variety of delinquent behaviors held equally for boys and girls and in risk-related subgroups defined by early substance use, early delinquency, and high levels of community-targeted risk at baseline. Interaction analyses of data from a panel of 4,407 students followed from Grade 5 to Grade 8 in the first randomized trial of CTC in 12 matched community pairs suggests that CTC reduced students’ substance use and delinquency equally across risk-related subgroups and gender, with two exceptions: The effect of CTC on reducing substance use in 8th grade was stronger for boys than girls and the impact of CTC on reducing 8th-grade delinquency was stronger for students who were nondelinquent at baseline.
Surrogate Skull-Brain Response to a Pressure Wave

In current US Military operations, warfighters are frequently subjected to blast events, which can lead to traumatic brain injury (TBI). The causes of mild and moderate TBI are not yet well understood by the medical community, and current diagnoses rely on identifying behavioral or physiological symptoms. Characterizing the brain response to various threats should provide a better understanding of possible injury mechanisms, and this knowledge could be applied to equipment design for prevention of TBI.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
Restoration of Nontarget Species: Bee Communities and Pollination Function in Riparian Forests

Nontarget species such as pollinators may be of great importance to the restoration process and the long-term functioning of restored habitats, but little is known about how such groups respond to habitat restoration. I surveyed bee communities at five equal-aged restored sites, paired with five reference sites (riparian remnants) along the Sacramento River, California, United States. Flower availability and bee visitation patterns were also measured to examine the restoration of pollination function. Restoration of structural vegetation allowed diverse and abundant native bee communities to establish at the restoration sites; however, the composition of these important pollinator communities was distinct from that in the remnant riparian sites. Differences did not arise primarily from differences in the composition of the flowering-plant community; rather there must be other physical characteristics of the restored sites or differences in nesting site availability that led to the different pollinator communities. Because sites were spatially paired, the differences are unlikely to be driven by landscape context. Bee life-history and other biological traits may partially explain the differences between bee communities at restored and remnant sites. Patterns of visitation to native plant species suggest that pollination function is restored along with pollinator abundance and richness; however, function may be less robust in restored habitats. An examination of interaction networks between bees and plant species found at both restored and remnant riparian sites showed less redundancy of pollinators visiting some plants at restored habitats.
A Computational Study of Methyl α-D-Arabinofuranoside: Effect of Ring Conformation on Structural Parameters and Energy Profile

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations at the HF/6-31G* level of theory and density functional theory calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G* level have been carried out on methyl α-d-arabinofuranoside (1). All 10 possible envelope forms were constructed and minimized, providing a partial energy surface which identified 3E as the lowest energy north conformer and, depending on the level of theory used, either 2E or E1 as the southern hemisphere minimum. The southern conformation was the global minimum regardless of the level of theory. The energy profile identifies pseudorotation through the eastern pathway as the most favorable. Pseudorotation through the west is higher in energy and similar to inversion through the planar species. The dependence of structural parameters (i.e., bond distances, bond angles, dihedral angles, and interatomic distances) on the ring conformation have been determined. Energy profiles based on additional electron correlation and extended basis sets with the HF/6-31G* geometries are ...
High-Performance Traffic Classification on GPU

Traffic classification is an essential task in network management. Recently, there has been a new trend in exploring Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) for network applications. These applications typically do not perform floating point operations and obtaining speedup can be challenging. In this paper, we design a high-performance traffic classifier based on an alternate representation of the C4.5 decision-tree algorithm and implement it using Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA). To remedy the unbalanced nature of the decision-trees arising in traffic classification, we convert the C4.5 decision-tree into a set of completely balanced range-trees. Classification is performed by searching the range-trees and merging the search results. We optimize our design by storing the range-trees using compact arrays without explicit pointers in shared memory. By exploiting thread level parallelism, we develop throughput-optimized as well as latency-optimized designs. Experimental results show that for a typical decision-tree containing 128 leaf nodes and 6 features, our design achieves a throughput of over 1600 million classifications per second (MCPS). Compared with the state-of the-art multi-core implementation, our design demonstrates 16x improvement with respect to throughput. We also demonstrate similar performance improvements on a variety of decision-trees with respect to number of leaf nodes, structure of the tree and number of features.
The use of a phospholipase A-less Escherichia coli mutant to establish the action of granulocyte phospholipase A on bacterial phospholipids during killing by a highly purified granulocyte fraction.

Abstract Phospholipase A2 present in a highly purified, potently bactericidal, fraction from rabbit granulocytes produces net bacterial phospholipid degradation during killing of a phospholipase A-less strain of Escherichia coli. In the wild-type parent strain phospholipid breakdown is caused not only by the action of phospholipase A2 but also by phospholipase A1, indicating activation of the most prominent phospholipase of E. coli. This activation occurs as soon as the bacteria are exposed to the granulocyte fraction. Phospholipid breakdown by both phospholipases A is dose dependent but reaches a plateau after 30–60 min and at higher concentrations of the fraction. Phospholipid degradation is accompanied in both strains by an increase in permeability to actinomycin D that is also dose dependent. Even though net hydrolysis of phospholipids is greater in the parent strain than in the mutant, the increase in permeability is the same in the two strains. The addition of 0.04 M Mg2+, after the effects on phospholipids and permeability have become manifest, initiates in both strains the restoration of insensitivity to actinomycin D, the net resynthesis of phospholipids, and the disappearance of monoacylphosphatides and the partial disappearance of free fatty acids that had accumulated. Loss of ability to multiply is not reversed by Mg2+ in either strain. Less than 5 μg of granulocyte fraction causes loss of viability of from 90 to 99% of 1 × 10 8 microorganisms of both strains. However, at lower concentrations the parent strain is considerably more sensitive to the bactericidal effect of the granulocyte fraction than the mutant strain.
In vitro downregulation of growth factors by insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 in cervical cancer☆

Abstract Objective Our hypothesis is that insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGF-BP3) would downregulate epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R) levels in cervical cancer cell lines, thereby reducing cellular IGF-II and angiogenesis-related vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF). As folate deficiency is a risk factor in cervical cancer, we sought to determine if folic acid treatment might increase IGF-BP3 production, thereby inhibiting malignant cell proliferation. Material and methods We determined the cellular levels of EGF-R, IGF-II, and VEGF in the cervical cancer cell lines HeLa, ME-180 (both positive for human papilloma virus; HPV), and HT-3 (HPV-negative), following their treatment with IGF-BP3. Levels of IGF-BP3 in these cells before and after treatment with folic acid and VEGF were also enumerated, using a computerized semiquantitative immunofluorescent antibody assay. Results Treatment with IGF-BP3 significantly reduced the levels (mean intensity per pixel) of EGF-R, IGF-II, and VEGF in all three cell lines and IGF-I receptor (IGF-IR) in representative ME-180 cell line. Treatment with antiproliferative folic acid increased IGF-BP3 levels while the proliferative VEGF depleted cellular IGF-BP3 in all the cell lines. Conclusion Levels of EGF-R, IGF-II, IGF-IR, and VEGF are significantly reduced following treatment with IGF-BP3 in cervical cancer. We observed increased levels of IGF-BP3 by folic acid, and decreased IGF-BP3 levels by VEGF. Downregulation of EGF-R by IGF-BP3 suggests an IGF-independent action. Folate deficiency is a risk factor in cervical cancer. Our results suggest that folic acid supplementation can lead to inhibition of cervical cancer cell growth by promoting increased IGF-BP3 levels.
Basal-like breast cancer stem cells are sensitive to anti-DR5 mediated cytotoxicity

Breast cancer stem cells (BrCSC) are resistant to common therapeutic modalities including chemotherapy, radiation, and hormonal agents. They are thought to contribute to treatment resistance, relapse, and metastases. This study examines the effect of a monoclonal anti-DR5 antibody (TRA-8) and chemotherapy (adriamycin, taxol) on BrCSC populations from basal-like breast cancer cell lines. Doubly enriched BrCSC (CD44+, CD24−, ALDH+) cells were exposed to TRA-8 and control reagents and examined for cytotoxicity, caspase activation, tumorsphere formation and tumorigenicity. Doubly enriched BrCSC populations expressed cell surface DR5 and were sensitive to TRA-8 mediated cytotoxicity with induction of caspase 8 and 3 activation. TRA-8 at sub-nanomolar concentrations inhibited 2LMP and SUM159 BrCSC tumorsphere formation and was more than 50-fold more inhibitory than TRAIL or anti-DR4 at equimolar concentrations. Chemotherapy treatment of 2LMP and SUM159 cell lines resulted in a relative increase of BrCSC, whereas TRA-8 produced a decrease in the percentage of BrCSC. TRA-8 exposure to 2LMP and SUM159 BrCSC preparations produced significant inhibition of tumorigenicity. DR5 maybe a therapeutic target on the surface of basal-like BrCSC which is amenable to agonistic monoclonal anti-DR5 therapy.
Pseudo-extensions of computable functions

One partial recursive function is a pseudo-extension of another just in case the former agrees with the latter on all but finitely many of those arguments for which the latter is defined. This paper deals with the problem of effectively modifying programs to make them halt on large classes of inputs. Solvable special cases of the problem of effectively finding programs (when they exist) for pseudo-extensions of partial recursive functions are characterized.
Thyroxine Replacement Attenuates Hypothyroxinemia, Hearing Loss, and Motor Deficits Following Developmental Exposure to Aroclor 1254 in Rats

The nervous system is dependent upon thyroid hormones for normal development, and we previously reported that developmental Aroclor 1254 (A1254) exposure caused hypothyroxinemia, hearing loss and other behavioral changes in rats. (Goldey et al., 1995a; Herr et al., 1996). The hypothesis that A1254-induced hypothyroxinemia may have contributed to the observed functional changes was tested in primiparous Long-Evans rats given daily oral doses of corn oil (control) or 8 mg/kg of Aroclor 1254 from gestation day (GD) 6 through postnatal day (PND) 21. In addition, from PND 4 to PND 21, all pups in one-half of the litters received daily, subcutaneous injections of saline or 100 micrograms/kg thyroxine (T4), to yield four groups of litters: corn oil plus saline (CO-S),. corn oil plus T4 (CO-T4), Aroclor 1254 plus saline (PCB-S), and Aroclor 1254 plus T4 (PCB-T4). We measured thyroid hormone concentrations (T4 and T3) in serum collected from 7-, 14-, and 21-day-old pups. The kinetics of the injected T4 were also monitored in the CO-T4 and PCB-T4 groups on PND 7 and 21 by measuring T4 and T3 at 1, 3, 5, 8, and 24 h after injection. Circulating T4 concentrations were dramatically depleted in the PCB-S group relative to CO-S. The kinetics study indicated that T4 therapy raised circulating T4 concentrations following in the PCB-T4 pups to near CO-S concentrations, but only for approximately 6 h postinjection, and T4 concentrations fell precipitously thereafter to near PCB-S concentrations. In accord with previous studies, PCB-S pups showed early eye opening, an effect which was exacerbated by T4 injection (in both the CO-T4 and the PCB-T4 groups). Motor activity (figure-eight maze) testing also replicated our finding of an age-dependent, transient reduction in motor activity on PND 15 that was significantly attenuated in the PCB-T4 group. Similarly, we again found reduced acoustic startle amplitudes on PND 23 and low-frequency (1 kHz) hearing loss in animals tested as adults (the latter determined by reflex modification audiometry). Importantly, the hearing loss at 1 kHz in PCB-exposed animals was significantly attenuated by T4 replacement therapy. These data suggest the hypothesis that hypothyroxinemia is involved in PCB-induced alterations in motor and auditory function, while other effects (e.g., eye opening) appear to have a different mechanism of action.
Secular changes in the upper cut-off rigidity of the solar diurnal anisotropy of cosmic rays

Abstract We have calculated the upper cut-off rigidities applicable to the solar diurnal anisotropy of cosmic rays, for the period 1965–1979. Our results are consistent with those reported by others. We note that the mean values of the upper cut-off rigidities during 1975–1977 are less than 50 GV. This explains why no diurnal variation is observed by the muon detectors at Socorro (NM) at a depth of 80 m of water equivalent (MWE) for this period. The threshold ( R o ) and the median primary rigidities ( R m ) of response applicable to the underground vertical telescope at Socorro are 45 and 300 GV, respectively.
Transcriptional regulation of mammalian miRNA genes

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are members of a growing family of non-coding transcripts, 21-23 nucleotides long, which regulate a diverse collection of biological processes and various diseases by RNA-mediated gene-silencing mechanisms. While currently many studies focus on defining the regulatory functions of miRNAs, few are directed towards how miRNA genes are themselves transcriptionally regulated. Recent studies of miRNA transcription have elucidated RNA polymerase II as the major polymerase of miRNAs, however, little is known of the structural features of miRNA promoters, especially those of mammalian miRNAs. Here, we review the current literature regarding features conserved among miRNA promoters useful for their detection and the current novel methodologies available to enable researchers to advance our understanding of the transcriptional regulation of miRNA genes.
Response of Heidenhain pouch to histamine, gastrin and feeding before and after truncal vagotomy in dogs.

Dogs with both gastric fistulas of the main stomach and Heidenhain pouches were studied before and after transthoracic truncal vagotomy. Confirming earlier studies in dogs with gastric fistulas alone, truncal vagotomy abolished the acid secretion in response to 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) and depressed the response to submaximal doses of exogenous gastrin or histamine but did not alter the maximal responses to gastrin or histamine. Effects of truncal vagotomy on acid secretion from the Heidenhain pouches: a) response to 2-DG with the gastric fistulas open was abolished, b) submaximal, but not maximal, responses to histamine were decreased, c) submaximal and maximal responses to exogenous gastrin were markedly increased, and d) response to feeding was markedly increased.
Expression of type V adenylyl cyclase is required for epidermal growth factor-mediated stimulation of cAMP accumulation.

Previously, this laboratory has demonstrated that epidermal growth factor (EGF) increases adenylyl cyclase activity in cardiac membranes and elevates cAMP accumulation in hearts and cardiac myocytes. Since EGF does not increase cAMP accumulation in all tissues, we investigated the possibility that the expression of a specific isoform of adenylyl cyclase (AC) was necessary to observe EGF-elicited stimulation of cAMP accumulation. HEK 293 cells were transfected with different isoforms of AC, and the ability of EGF to increase AC activity as well as elevate cAMP accumulation was determined. In cells transfected with AC I, II, V, and VI cDNAs, neither the expression nor the amount of the two isoforms of Gsα (45 and 52 kDa) were altered. Similarly, EGF-elicited phosphorylation of cellular proteins on tyrosine residues in various transfectants was unaltered. However, EGF increased AC activity and elevated cAMP accumulation only in cells expressing the rat and canine ACV. EGF did not alter either AC activity or cAMP accumulation in cells overexpressing types I, II, and VI isozymes. As assessed by the ability of an anti-Gsα antibody to obliterate the effect, stimulation of AC activity in AC V transfectants involved the participation of Gsα, a finding consistent with previous data concerning EGF effects on cardiac AC (Nair, B. G., Parikh, B., Milligan, G., and Patel, T. B.(1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 21317-21322). Thus we conclude that the expression of AC V isoform confers specificity to the ability of EGF to stimulate AC activity.
Improving Web Navigation Usability by Comparing Actual and Anticipated Usage

We present a new method to identify navigation-related Web usability problems based on comparing actual and anticipated usage patterns. The actual usage patterns can be extracted from Web server logs routinely recorded for operational websites by first processing the log data to identify users, user sessions, and user task-oriented transactions, and then applying an usage mining algorithm to discover patterns among actual usage paths. The anticipated usage, including information about both the path and time required for user-oriented tasks, is captured by our ideal user interactive path models constructed by cognitive experts based on their cognition of user behavior. The comparison is performed via the mechanism of test oracle for checking results and identifying user navigation difficulties. The deviation data produced from this comparison can help us discover usability issues and suggest corrective actions to improve usability. A software tool was developed to automate a significant part of the activities involved. With an experiment on a small service-oriented website, we identified usability problems, which were cross-validated by domain experts, and quantified usability improvement by the higher task success rate and lower time and effort for given tasks after suggested corrections were implemented. This case study provides an initial validation of the applicability and effectiveness of our method.
An Adult Attachment Theoretical Perspective of Gender Symmetry in Intimate Partner Violence

Adult attachment theory and research specifically related to men’s and women’s intimate partner violence (IPV) are reviewed. In an effort to help explain gender similarities, two different IPV patterns predicted by individual differences in adult attachment orientations are proposed. Gender differences are addressed, including by critiquing the assessment of outcome severity in previous research. Applications to practice and recommendations for future research are discussed.
Effect of lead on blood protoporphyrin levels of a group of ring teal ducks (Callonetta leucophrys)

This research determined the relationships between blood lead level and zinc protoporphyrin (ZnPROTO), protoporphyrin IX (PROTO), and free erythrocyte protoporphyrin (FEP) levels in a group of 18 ring teal ducks. Blood samples were drawn from two groups of ring teal ducks as part of the routine health maintenance program of the New York Zoological Park. One group of six teals had been exposed to what is believed to be lead-contaminated dust, while the second group of twelve teals was unexposed. Blood samples were analyzed for lead by flameless atomic absorption and for protoporphyrins by fluorescence. Blood lead level and log blood lead level had positive correlations with each of the protoporphyrins: the logarithmic correlations were better than the nonlogarithmic correlations, and PROTO correlated better than ZnPROTO. With one exception, PROTO levels were higher than ZnPROTO levels. The results suggest that PROTO, FEP, or ZnPROTO could serve as a biological indicator of lead poisoning in ring teal ducks.
In vitro detection of Mycoplasma fermentans binding to B-lymphocytes in fresh peripheral blood using flow cytometry

Previous reports have shown, using fluorescent probes conjugated to the organism, that Mycoplasma fermentans fuses with about 12% of peripheral blood lymphocytes. However, no lymphocyte subset was specified. To elucidate the specific subset of lymphocytes involved, we developed a three-color flow cytometric assay to detect M. fermentans binding to fresh peripheral blood cells. In our assay, two strains of M. fermentans were grown in SP4 glucose broth, mixed with fresh whole blood samples (n > 20), and incubated at 37 degrees C. The blood samples were then stained with a polyclonal antibody to M. fermentans, a monoclonal antibody to B-lymphocytes (CD19), and a monoclonal antibody to T-lymphocytes (CD3). Using three-color flow cytometry, we obtained data confirming binding of M. fermentans to 10%-15% of peripheral blood lymphocytes with minimal granulocyte or monocyte staining detected. Flow cytometric analysis showed that early binding appears predominantly directed towards B-lymphocytes (86.7 +/- 9.0%), and that this binding could not be blocked by antibodies directed towards common B lymphocyte cell surface antigens. M. fermentans binding to B-lymphocytes occurred within 5 min of in vitro inoculation, reached a maximum within 30-60 min (94-97%), and thereafter plateaued. The binding was concentration dependent over a three log dilution using 10(3) color changing units as standard. Binding to T-lymphocytes was minimal (<5% positive). B lineage tumor cells or peripheral blood B cells obtained from HIV infected individuals demonstrated reduced binding of M. fermentans. This assay provides a good method to study the cellular interactions of mycoplasma and may help to elucidate pathogenic mechanisms of mycoplasma infections.
BASL Controls Asymmetric Cell Division in Arabidopsis

Development in multicellular organisms requires the organized generation of differences. A universal mechanism for creating such differences is asymmetric cell division. In plants, as in animals, asymmetric divisions are correlated with the production of cellular diversity and pattern; however, structural constraints imposed by plant cell walls and the absence of homologs of known animal or fungal cell polarity regulators necessitates that plants utilize new molecules and mechanisms to create asymmetries. Here, we identify BASL, a novel regulator of asymmetric divisions in Arabidopsis. In asymmetrically dividing stomatal-lineage cells, BASL accumulates in a polarized crescent at the cell periphery before division, and then localizes differentially to the nucleus and a peripheral crescent in self-renewing cells and their sisters after division. BASL presence at the cell periphery is critical for its function, and we propose that BASL represents a plant-specific solution to the challenge of asymmetric cell division.