cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reversing Tumor Immune Suppression with Intratumoral IL-12: Activation of Tumor-Associated T Effector/Memory Cells, Induction of T Suppressor Apoptosis, and Infiltration of CD8+ T Effectors

A single intratumoral injection of IL-12 and GM-CSF-loaded slow-release microspheres induces T cell-dependent eradication of established primary and metastatic tumors in a murine lung tumor model. To determine how the delivery of cytokines directly to the microenvironment of a tumor nodule induces local and systemic antitumor T cell activity, we characterized therapy-induced phenotypic and functional changes in tumor-infiltrating T cell populations. Analysis of pretherapy tumors demonstrated that advanced primary tumors were infiltrated by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells with an effector/memory phenotype and CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T suppressor cells. Tumor-associated effector memory CD8+ T cells displayed impaired cytotoxic function, whereas CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ cells effectively inhibited T cell proliferation demonstrating functional integrity. IL-12/GM-CSF treatment promoted a rapid up-regulation of CD43 and CD69 on CD8+ effector/memory T cells, augmented their ability to produce IFN-gamma, and restored granzyme B expression. Importantly, treatment also induced a concomitant and progressive loss of T suppressors from the tumor. Further analysis established that activation of pre-existing effector memory T cells was short-lived and that both the effector/memory and the suppressor T cells became apoptotic within 4 days of treatment. Apoptotic death of pre-existing effector/memory and suppressor T cells was followed by infiltration of the tumor with activated, nonapoptotic CD8+ effector T lymphocytes on day 7 posttherapy. Both CD8+ T cell activation and T suppressor cell purge were mediated primarily by IL-12 and required IFN-gamma. This study provides important insight into how local IL-12 therapy alters the immunosuppressive tumor milieu to one that is immunologically active, ultimately resulting in tumor regression.
Sex‐based population structure of ectoparasites from Neotropical bats

The structure and composition of populations may be molded by multiple evolutionary and ecological mechanisms, with natural selection affecting sex ratios as well as the distributions of each sex throughout the environment. To address sex-based aspects of population structure, I evaluated sex ratios, co-occurrence of the sexes, correlations of abundance of the sexes, and dispersion of individuals of each sex for each of 34 host–ectoparasite associations from Paraguayan bats. Of the 34 host–ectoparasite associations, 23 exhibited positive co-occurrence, 27 exhibited positive correlation of abundances, three exhibited male sex bias, one exhibited female sex bias, 27 had clumped distributions of males, and 26 had clumped distributions of females. No associations exhibited negative co-occurrence, negative correlation of abundance, or hyperdispersed males or females. There was no evidence for sexual segregation, sex-based niche partitioning, or intrasexual selection in any host–ectoparasite association. Previously proposed mechanisms (e.g. pre-partum sex bias, local mate competition, or mortality from host grooming) fail to explain observed patterns of sex bias. For ectoparasites of hosts that occupy permanent roost sites, sex-specific behaviour related to reproduction may make females more susceptible to off-host predation, and less likely to be present in samples from bats captured away from the roost. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, ••, ••–••.
Performance Characteristics of Gang Scheduling in Multiprogrammed Environments

Gang scheduling provides both space-slicing and time-slicing of computer resources for parallel programs. Each thread of execution from a parallel job is concurrently scheduled on an independent processor in order to achieve an optimal level of program performance. Time- slicing of parallel jobs provides for better overall system responsiveness and utilization than otherwise possible. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has deployed three generations of its gang scheduler on a variety of computing platforms. Results indicate the potential benefits of this technology to parallel processing are no less significant than time-sharing was in the 1960s.
Introduction to Ceramics

INTRODUCTION. Ceramic Processes and Products. CHARACTERISTICS OF CERAMIC SOLIDS. Structure of Crystals. Structure of Glasses. Structural Imperfections. Surfaces, Interfaces, and Grain Boundaries. Atom Mobility. DEVELOPMENT OF MICROSTRUCTURE IN CERAMICS. Ceramic Phase Equilibrium Diagrams. Phase Transformation, Glass Formation and Glass--Ceramics. Reactions with and between Solids. Grain Growth. Sintering and Vitrification. Microstructure of Ceramics. PROPERTIES OF CERAMICS. Thermal Properties. Optical Properties. Plastic Deformation, Viscous Flow and Creep. Elasticity, Anelasticity and Strength. Thermal and Compositional Stresses. Electrical Conductivity. Dielectric Properties. Magnetic Properties.
Pharmaceutical quantities of yohimbine found in dietary supplements in the USA

In the USA, botanical dietary supplements are presumed to be safe, but this is not necessarily always the case. Extracts of the evergreen tree yohimbe, Pausinystalia johimbe, though banned in many countries, are sold in hundreds of dietary supplements in the USA. We analyzed 49 brands of supplements labelled as containing yohimbe or yohimbine available for sale from seven major retailers in the USA. Supplements were analyzed using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to photodiode and quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry detectors for quantity of three alkaloids found in P. johimbe (yohimbine, rauwolscine, and corynanthine). The alkaloids were confirmed on the basis of retention time, ultraviolet spectra, and mass spectra against reference standards. The quantity of the most active alkaloid, yohimbine, per recommended serving ranged from none detected to 12.1 mg. Thirty-nine percent of the supplements (19/49) did not contain rauwolscine and corynanthine suggesting that the yohimbine was either from highly processed plant extract or synthetic in origin. Only 11 supplement brands (22%, 11/49) listed a specific quantity of yohimbine on the label. Most of these were inaccurately labelled (actual content ranged from 23% to 147% of the content on the label). Eighteen percent (9/49) of the supplements' labels did not provide any information about yohimbine's adverse effects. Of the 49 yohimbine supplement brands sold at seven major retail chains in the USA, only 4.1% (2/49) provided consumers with both accurate information about the quantity of yohimbine as well as information about yohimbine's known adverse effects. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) induces remodeling and enhances TH2-mediated sensitization and inflammation in the lung.

Exaggerated levels of VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) are present in persons with asthma, but the role(s) of VEGF in normal and asthmatic lungs has not been defined. We generated lung-targeted VEGF165 transgenic mice and evaluated the role of VEGF in T-helper type 2 cell (TH2)-mediated inflammation. In these mice, VEGF induced, through IL-13–dependent and –independent pathways, an asthma-like phenotype with inflammation, parenchymal and vascular remodeling, edema, mucus metaplasia, myocyte hyperplasia and airway hyper-responsiveness. VEGF also enhanced respiratory antigen sensitization and TH2 inflammation and increased the number of activated DC2 dendritic cells. In antigen-induced inflammation, VEGF was produced by epithelial cells and preferentially by TH2 versus TH1 cells. In this setting, it had a critical role in TH2 inflammation, cytokine production and physiologic dysregulation. Thus, VEGF is a mediator of vascular and extravascular remodeling and inflammation that enhances antigen sensitization and is crucial in adaptive TH2 inflammation. VEGF regulation may be therapeutic in asthma and other TH2 disorders.
Cluster space control of aerial robots

The cluster space state representation for multirobot systems provides a simple means of specifying and monitoring the geometry and motion characteristics of a cluster of mobile robots. In previous work, this approach has been experimentally verified and validated for controlling the motion of planar mobile multi-robot systems ranging from land rovers to autonomous boats. In this paper we present the application of cluster space control to non-planar groups of two and three aerostatically stable blimps, each with four degrees of freedom. This paper reviews the relevant kinematic transforms and presents both simulation and experimental results that demonstrate successful formation control of these clusters.
Task and Conduit Framework for Multi-core Systems

Processor manufacturers have turned from driving clock speed higher to building multi-core systems for improving performance. This paradigm shift by hardware manufacturers means that the software community can no longer count on advances in the hardware to improve application performance. The free lunch is indeed over, and mainstream developers now have to deal with issues of concurrency and parallel programming. It is imperative that programming models, tools and languages evolve to simplify the task of programming these multi-core systems. MIT Lincoln Laboratory is developing the parallel vector tile optimizing library (PVTOL), which provides a means of writing high performance code that is portable across a range of traditional and multi-core architectures. The task and conduit framework in PVTOL provides the foundation for exploiting task parallelism, and increases productivity by providing a set of high-level programming constructs.
An empirical study of self-perceived employability: Improving the prospects for student employment success in an uncertain environment:

Employability of graduates has taken more prominence in recent years due to the bleak economic situation, the impact of student debt, and an increasingly competitive global labor market. Given the substantial individual and public investment made in higher education, it is particularly important that graduates are employable upon graduation. The focus of this study is students’ self-awareness through a measure of their expectations of gaining employment. Through the use of regression analysis, we examine the relationship between students’ expectations of finding employment upon graduation and a series of related variables and identify those factors that serve as boosters to self-perceived employability. Findings point out to the increasingly important role university can play in developing and enhancing graduates’ employability.
Studies of Androgen Production by the Rat: Testosterone and Androstenedione Content of Blood

Testosterone and androstenedione were identified in pools of testicular and adrenal venous blood of the rat by chromatographic mobility as free steroids and as derivatives and by retention time in gas-liquid chromatography. A double isotope derivative method was developed for the estimation of testosterone in blood using 14C steroids as internal standards and acetic anhydride-1-3H as indicator; androstenedione was reduced with NaBH4 and measured as testosterone. The nonspecific blanks for testosterone and androstenedione were 0.006 ± 0.006 (sd) and 0.10 ± 0.09 (sd) μg/100ml blood, respectively. The testosterone concentration in the testicular venous blood of untreated rats was 4.2 ± 0.56 (se) μg/100 ml and of ether-saline treated animals was 1.4 ± 0.42 (se) μg/100 ml; the significant difference in the testosterone concentration between these 2 groups (p < 0.01) suggests that the stress of ether administration lowered endogenous gonadotropin production. Both testosterone and androstenedione secretion incre...
Novel approaches for myelodysplastic syndromes: beyond hypomethylating agents.

Purpose of review Several novel therapeutic approaches exist for treatment of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome, with goals to improve quality of life and prolong survival. This review highlights new therapies from the last 18 months. Recent findings Immunosuppressants, erythropoiesis-stimulating agents in combination with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor or all-trans-retinoic-acid have shown improvement in decreasing the need for transfusions and improving quality-of-life and/or survival. Eltrombopag has shown promising results in the treatment of thrombocytopenia. However, determination of an optimal chemotherapeutic approach remains elusive and controversial. DNA methyltransferase inhibitors are well tolerated in outpatient settings, with azacitidine prolonging survival and decreasing time to acute myeloid leukemia progression in patients with high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes. A novel erythroid-specific gene expression profile may predict response to lenalidomide in patients who lack the deletion of 5q31.1. Tools such as the Charlson comorbidity index may help select appropriate patients for allogeneic stem cell transplant. A variety of promising new agents are under investigation. Summary This review focuses on recent advances in new strategies and targeted therapies for treatment of myelodysplastic syndrome.
Evaluating Students' Ecological Footprints: Big Data on a Budget

This article describes a project I developed as part of an environmental science course for second- and third-year undergraduate science majors. Students quantitatively evaluated their use of major resources (food, water, electricity, and waste/recycling generation) to assess their personal ecological footprints. To do so, students used inexpensive equipment and collected data throughout the day over several weeks. They compared data, which helped them appreciate the importance of standardized procedures. For a final report students managed, graphed, and interpreted data from a relatively large data set they generated in collaboration with each other. The data were shared anonymously, which allowed discussions about the ecological relevance of our resource use decisions. Based on feedback from student surveys, notable improvement in their graphing skills, and conversations with students, I regard the project as a success.
Active state in heart muscle. Its delayed onset and modification by inotropic agents.

The course of active state in heart muscle has been analyzed using a modified quick release method. The onset of maximum active state was found to be delayed, requiring 110–500 msec from time of stimulation, while the time to peak isometric tension required 250–650 msec. Further, the time from stimulation to peak tension was linearly related to the time required to establish maximum intensity of active state as well as to the duration of maximum active state. The duration of maximum active state was prolonged (90–220 msec), occupying most of the latter half of the rising phase of the isometric contraction. Norepinephrine (10-5 M) shortened the latency from electrical stimulus to mechanical response, accelerated the onset of maximum active state, increased its intensity, decreased its duration, and accelerated its rate of decline. These changes were accompanied by an increase in the rate of tension development and the tension developed while the time from stimulation to peak isometric tension was abbreviated. Similar findings were shown for strophanthidin (1 µg/ml) although lesser decrements in the duration of maximum active state and time to peak tension were found than with norepinephrine for similar increments in the maximum intensity of active state.
Methoxyflurane revisited: tale of an anesthetic from cradle to grave.

Methoxyflurane metabolism and renal dysfunction: Clinical correlation in man. By Richard I. Mazze, James R. Trudell, and Michael J. Cousins. Anesthesiology 1971; 35:247–52. Reprinted with permission.Serum inorganic fluoride concentration and urinary inorganic fluoride excretion were found to be mark
Pressure Induced Fusion (Pif) Liposomes: A Solventless Sterilizing Method for Producing Large Phospholipid Vesicles

AbstractWe have recently described a new method to create liposomes of high captured volume we term interdigitation-fusion vesicles or IFVs (Ahl, et al. (1994) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1195: 237–244). These vesicles arise from small (<100 nm) precursor liposomes comprised of saturated chain phospholipids which fuse upon induction to the interdigitated gel state after ethanol addition to form extensive sheets. When heated to the liquid crystalline state, these sheets vesicularize into large, predominantly unilamellar liposomes (IFVs). Here we report that a similar event occurs when hydrostatic pressures capable of causing acyl chain interdigitation are applied to small precursor vesicles of DPPC or DSPC. When DPPC small unilamellar vesicles were cycled three times between ambient pressure and 4.1 kbar (15 minute intervals) the resulting pressure induced fusion (PIF) vesicles had captured volumes of 13.1 ± 0.6 μl/μmole and were unilamellar as judged by 31P-NMR. Although three cycles yielded the maximum captur...
Human apolipoprotein A-I kinetics within triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and high density lipoproteins

Stable isotope methodology was used to deter- mine the kinetic behavior of apolipoprotein (apo) A-I within the triglyceride-rich lipoprotein (TRL) fraction and to com- pare TRL apoA-I kinetics with that of apoA-I in high density lipoprotein (HDL) and TRL apoB-48. Eight subjects (5 males and 3 females) over the age of 40 were placed on a baseline average American diet and after 6 weeks received a primed-constant infusion of (5,5,5- 2 H 3 )- l -leucine for 15 h while consuming small hourly meals of identical composi- tion. HDL and TRL apoA-I and TRL apoB-48 tracer/tracee enrichment curves were obtained by gas chromatography- mass spectrometry. Data were fitted to a compartmental model to determine the fractional secretion rates of apoA-I and apoB-48 within each lipoprotein fraction. Mean plasma apoA-I levels in TRL and HDL fractions were 0.204 6 0.057 and 134 6 15 mg/dl, respectively. The mean fractional cata- bolic rate (FCR) of TRL apoA-I was 0.250 6 0.069 and HDL apoA-I was 0.239 6 0.054 pools/day, with mean estimated residence times (RT) of 4.27 and 4.37 days, respectively. The mean TRL apoB-48 FCR was 5.2 6 2.0 pools/day and the estimated mean RT was 5.1 6 1.8 h. Our results indi- cate that apoA-I is catabolized at a slower rate than apoB-48 within TRL, and that apoA-I within TRL and HDL fractions are catabolized at similar rates. —Velez-Carrasco, W., A. H. Lichtenstein, P. H. R. Barrett, Z. Sun, G. G. Dolnikowski, F. K. Welty, and E. J. Schaefer. Human apolipoprotein A-I ki- netics within triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and high density lipoproteins. J. Lipid Res. 1999. 40: 1695-1700.
'Like' it or Not, Password Protection Laws Could Protect Much More than Passwords

Employers and schools in several states are now prohibited from requesting access to the social networking accounts of their employees, students, and applicants as a result of the “password protection” laws that are sweeping the nation. These laws take an expansive view of the definition of privacy by implying that viewing content on a user’s restricted-access social networking profile without his consent constitutes an invasion of privacy. Courts have consistently held that the information users post on social networking websites is, in fact, not private. Further highlighting the contrast between legislative and judicial interpretations of privacy in the context of these new technologies, the express language in one of the password protection laws declares that all Internet users have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their social networking website communications and affairs. This Article argues that password protection laws should be interpreted narrowly as only prohibiting the invasive methods used by employers and schools to gather information from social networking profiles — not as establishing in all cases that communications to which access has been restricted are private. The reasonableness of a user’s expectation of privacy in the content of his social networking profile must be determined by courts on a case-by-case basis, informed by such factors as how many people he invites to view it, the relationship between the user and his chosen audience, the exact calibration of his privacy settings, and the degree to which his digital information is guarded by the website under its privacy and data use policies.
Automated Synthesis of Planar Mechanisms With Revolute, Prismatic and Pin-in-Slot Joints

This paper presents a graph synthesis approach to planar N-bar mechanisms with revolute (R), prismatic (P), and RP (pin-in-slot) joints. This novel graph synthesis method extends the enumeration to define the possible topologies for mechanisms with any mix of R-, P-, and RP-joints. Each topology is explicitly defined as a graph which can be viewed and simulated within an online kinematic simulator. This method successfully produces the same number of topologies for 6, 8, 10, and 12-bar revolute joint mechanisms as those shown in the existing literature. It explicitly calculates all topologies for 6, 8, and 10 bars with a mix of the three joint-types.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Visualization and Quantification of Nasal and Olfactory Deposition in a Sectional Adult Nasal Airway Cast

To compare drug deposition in the nose and olfactory region with different nasal devices and administration techniques. A Sar-Gel based colorimetry method will be developed to quantify local deposition rates. A sectional nasal airway cast was developed based on an MRI-based nasal airway model to visualize deposition patterns and measure regional dosages. Four nasal spray pumps and four nebulizers were tested with both standard and point-release administration techniques. Delivered dosages were measured using a high-precision scale. The colorimetry correlation for deposited mass was developed via image processing in Matlab and its performance was evaluated through comparison to experimental measurements. Results show that the majority of nasal spray droplets deposited in the anterior nose while only a small fraction (less than 4.6%) reached the olfactory region. For all nebulizers considered, more droplets went beyond the nasal valve, leading to distinct deposition patterns as a function of both the nebulizer type (droplet size and initial speed) and inhalation flow rate. With the point-release administration, up to 9.0% (±1.9%) of administered drugs were delivered to the olfactory region and 15.7 (±2.4%) to the upper nose using Pari Sinus. Standard nasal devices are inadequate to deliver clinically significant olfactory dosages without excess drug losses in other nasal epitheliums. The Sar-Gel based colorimetry method appears to provide a simple and practical approach to visualize and quantify regional deposition.
Interpreting sports tactic based on latent context-free grammar

In this paper, latent context-free grammar (LCFG) is proposed to probabilistically interpret high level tactic concepts in sports video. From domain knowledge, a sports concept typically consists of multiple levels of recursive or non-recursive sub-concepts. Conventional shallow models, e.g. HMMs, have difficulties in characterizing such complex semantics. On the other hand, a comprehensive Bayesian network may require detailed design and parameterization, which is frequently impractical. LCFG is introduced as an extension to stochastic context-free grammar (SCFG), which jointly uses a set of low level discriminative terminals from video analysis and a set of intermediate context-free rules from sports domain knowledge to model the complex athletes' behaviors and the underlying tactics. The classical ‘pick-and-roll’ tactic in basketball game is studied in our experimental work. The experimental results demonstrated the rich representation and interpretation powers of LCFG through its probabilistic parsing trees.
Active Form of 2-4 Dinitrophenol in the Stimulation or Inhibition of Oxygen Consumption of Excised Rabbit Muscle.

Field, Martin and Field1,2,3 have shown that the stimulation or inhibition of yeast respiration by 2-4 dinitrophenol (DNP) and several related compounds depends upon the concentration of the undissociated form. Since this finding appears to have important physiological and pharmacological implications, we have undertaken an investigation of the action of DNP on excised rabbit striated muscle (diaphragm) to see whether the undissociated form is the active agent in stimulation of oxygen consumption of a mammalian tissue as well as of yeast.Rabbits were killed by a blow on the back of the neck. The diaphragm was rapidly excised, and strips of proper thickness (c. f. Warburg4) were placed in Ringer's solution containing 0.2% glucose and buffered at the desired pH with M/150 phosphate. Respiration was measured by the Warburg manometric method4 at 37° ± 0.02°C. in an atmosphere of oxygen. The respiration of each piece of tissue was followed for 30 minutes before addition of DNP from the vessel sidearms, to obta...
Hans Blumenberg's Multiple Modernities: A Spinozist Supplement to Legitimacy of the Modern Age

This essay focuses on a little-known essay by Hans Blumenberg on self-preservation and inertia, which the author reads as a supplement to his more famous Legitimacy of the Modern Age. She maintains that the Spinozist emphasis in the supplement offers an open conception of reason, one that is to be found in Legitimacy but is not emphasized there. Using the more open concept found in the supplement to read Legitimacy anew, she is able to situate it as a critical response to Horkheimer and Adorno's Dialectic of Enlightenment and the latter's argument about the inherent proclivity of reason to seek domination. She further situates this critical approach by Blumenberg in dialogue with more recent theoretical discussions that have highlighted problematic assumptions about the nature of secular subjectivity and secular reason.
Comparison of Leech extracts in anticoagulant and fibrinolytic activities and the composition of its enzymolysis products

AIM:To compare the anticoagulant and fibrinolytic activities of different Leech extracts which were in the search of the compositions of its products of enzymic hydrolysis.METHODS:Extraction of Leech was a-dopted such as pepsin hydrolysis,trypsin hydrolysis,bionic enzymatic hydrolysis,alcohol refluxing and boiling wa-ter by means of active partial thromboplastin time(APTT) and fibrin plate experiments.Pepsin hydrolysate was isolated by Sephadex G-100 gel column chromatography and its composition was analyzed by MALDI-TOF-mass spectrometer.RESULTS:Pepsin hydrolysate groups could not only obviously prolong APTT,but also dissolve fi-brin as compared with normal saline group.Other extracts didn’t show clear anticoagulant and fibrinolytic effect.A mixed polypeptide ingredient was isolated from pepsin hydrolysate and its relative molecular weight distribution was in the range of 700 ～3 200 identified by MALDI-TOF-mass spectrometer.CONCLUSION:Pepsin hydrolysate ex-traction is better than other extraction and its effective anticoagulant and fibrinolytic compositions are oligopeptide.
CHARACTERIZATION AND CATALYTIC BEHAVIOUR OF NANOSTRUCTURED IRON OXIDE POWDER FROM WASTE PICKLE LIQUOR OF STEEL INDUSTRY

Nanostructured iron oxide powder that has been recovered from waste pickling liquor unit of steel industry was studied for oxidation catalytic applications. In this research, the powder was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transition electron microscopy (TEM) for determination of phase structure, morphology and particle size. Furthermore, the specific surface area of the powder was achieved by BET method. Results show that the powder consists of α-Fe 2 O 3 particles with wide range distribution particle sizes between 50-300 nm. Specific surface area of the powder is about 4.33m 2 g -1 . Moreover, catalytic behaviour of the iron oxide powder was investigated. A quartz tubular furnace was applied as a reactor for measuring catalytic activity. Conversion test results show that CO to CO 2 conversion reaction was initiated at about 300°C (light-off temperature) and was completed at about 600°C. Also,the CO to CO 2 conversion ratio was almost constant during long-term stability test.
Direct Measurement of the Radical Translocation Distance in the Class I Ribonucleotide Reductase from Chlamydia trachomatis

Ribonucleotide reductases (RNRs) catalyze conversion of ribonucleotides to deoxyribonucleotides in all organisms via a free-radical mechanism that is essentially conserved. In class I RNRs, the reaction is initiated and terminated by radical translocation (RT) between the α and β subunits. In the class Ic RNR from Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct RNR), the initiating event converts the active S = 1 Mn(IV)/Fe(III) cofactor to the S = 1/2 Mn(III)/Fe(III) “RT-product” form in the β subunit and generates a cysteinyl radical in the α active site. The radical can be trapped via the well-described decomposition reaction of the mechanism-based inactivator, 2′-azido-2′-deoxyuridine-5′-diphosphate, resulting in the generation of a long-lived, nitrogen-centered radical (N•) in α. In this work, we have determined the distance between the Mn(III)/Fe(III) cofactor in β and N• in α to be 43 ± 1 A by using double electron–electron resonance experiments. This study provides the first structural data on the Ct RNR holoenzyme comp...
Creating Database-Driven Websites with PHP/MySQL

This chapter contains sections titled: Overview Connecting to Your MySQL Server with PHP Submitting SQL Queries Processing the Results of a Query Example of Login Procedure Other Useful Functions Grouping Our Methods in a Class Indexer/Searcher��-��Steps 3 and 4 ]]>
Advances in pharmacotherapy for erectile dysfunction and associated cardiac impact.

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and erectile dysfunction (ED) are two disease processes that affect millions of men. CVD and ED are increasingly recognized as sharing a common pathophysiologic origin. As the nature of this relationship continues to be elucidated, there is growing interest in developing a therapy to effectively target both processes. While researchers have largely focused on phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE5Is), the established first-line therapy for ED, newer ED drugs, designed based on better understanding of the physiology of erection, may also show promise.Areas covered: This paper will review the relationship between ED and CVD, as well as the currently available and investigational pharmacologic treatments for ED. The particular focus will be on the role that these therapies play in managing CVD.Expert opinion: PDE5Is, along with the newer ED therapies, are promising candidates for managing ED and concurrently providing cardioprotection. Despite some in vitro su...
Effective connectivity within the mesocorticolimbic system during resting-state in cocaine users

Objective: Although effective connectivity between brain regions has been examined in cocaine users during tasks, no effective connectivity study has been conducted on cocaine users during resting-state. In the present fMRI study, we examined effective connectivity in resting-brain, between the brain regions within the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system, implicated in reward and motivated behavior, while the chronic cocaine users and controls took part in a resting-state scan by using a spectral Dynamic causal modeling (spDCM) approach. Method: As part of a study testing cocaine cue reactivity in cocaine users (Ray et al., 2015b), 20 non-treatment seeking cocaine-smoking (abstinent for at least 3 days) and 17 control participants completed a resting state scan and an anatomical scan. A mean voxel-based time series data extracted from four key brain areas (ventral tegmental area, VTA; nucleus accumbens, NAc; hippocampus, medial frontal cortex) within the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system during resting-state from the cocaine and control participants were used as input to the spDCM program to generate spDCM analysis outputs. Results: Compared to the control group, the cocaine group had higher effective connectivity from the VTA to NAc, hippocampus and medial frontal cortex. In contrast, the control group showed a higher effective connectivity from the medial frontal cortex to VTA, from the NAc to medial frontal cortex, and on the hippocampus self-loop. Conclusions: The present study is the first to show that during resting-state in abstaining cocaine users compared to controls, the VTA initiates an enhanced effective connectivity to NAc, hippocampus and medial frontal cortex areas within the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system, the brain’s reward system. Future studies of effective connectivity analysis during resting-state may eventually be used to monitor treatment outcome.
Long shadow of fear in an epidemic: fearonomic effects of Ebola on the private sector in Nigeria.

Background The already significant impact of the Ebola epidemic on Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, was worsened by a fear of contagion that aggravated the health crisis. However, in contrast to other Ebola-affected countries, Nigeria fared significantly better due to its swift containment of the disease. The objective of our study was to describe the impact of Ebola on the Nigerian private sector. This paper introduces and defines the term fearonomic effect as the direct and indirect economic effects of both misinformation as well as fear-induced aversion behaviour, exhibited by individuals, organisations or countries during an outbreak or an epidemic. Methods This study was designed as a cross-sectional mixed-methods study that used semistructured in-depth interviews and a supporting survey to capture the impact of Ebola on the Nigerian private sector after the outbreak. Themes were generated from the interviews on the direct and indirect impact of Ebola on the private sector; the impact of misinformation and fear-based aversion behaviour in the private sector. Results Our findings reveal that the fearonomic effects of Ebola included health service outages and reduced healthcare usage as a result of misinformation and aversion behaviour by both patients and providers. Although certain sectors (eg, health sector, aviation sector, hospitality sector) in Nigeria were affected more than others, no business was immune to Ebola9s fearonomic effects. We describe how sectors expected to prosper during the outbreak (eg, pharmaceuticals), actually suffered due to the changes in consumption patterns and demand shocks. Conclusion In a high-stressor epidemic-like setting, altered consumption behaviour due to distorted disease perception, misinformation and fear can trigger short-term economic cascades that can disproportionately affect businesses and lead to financial insecurity of the poorest and the most vulnerable in a society.
Motherhood, Personhood, Identity, and Place-Making in Ancient Mesoamerica

Hudson and Henderson explore how motherhood shaped ancient Mesoamerican processes of identity construction—at the level of the individual and at the level of the community and polity—and how it influenced the social mechanisms of place-making and legitimization. Steambaths, at the core of domestic life, also symbolized key conceptual dimensions of motherhood and were consequently central to the development of individual personhood and to the formation of family and community identity. They draw attention to the close conceptual connection between steambaths and caves, which linked motherhood to the ancestors and to the construction of social and political identities extending beyond the community.
A Woman in Her 50s With a Mass in One Lung and a Cavitary Lesion in the Other

Case Presentation A woman in her 50s with no significant medical history presented with low-grade fever and cough of 3 days' duration, which was productive of blood-streaked sputum. She was an active smoker, with a 30 pack-year history of smoking. She denied chest pain, chronic cough, exertional dyspnea, or constitutional symptoms.
Swimming in the ocean of social media

If our focus on social media is primarily about how to use them as "tools" for journalism, we risk getting it backward. Social media are not so much mere tools as they are the ocean we're going to be swimming in - at least until the next chapter of the digital revolution comes along. What needs our attention is how we're going to play roles that bring journalistic values into this vast social media territory.
Vehicle-to-X Communications: The Killer Application of Millimeter Wave

Vehicles are becoming more intelligent and automated. To achieve higher automation levels, vehicles are being equipped with more and more sensors. High data rate connectivity seems critical to allow vehicles and road infrastructure exchanging all these sensor data to enlarge their sensing range and make better safety related decisions. Connectivity also enables other applications such as infotainment or high levels of traffic coordination. Current solutions for vehicular communications though do not support the gigabit-per-second data rates. This presentation makes the case that millimeter wave communication is the only viable approach for high bandwidth connected vehicles. The motivation and challenges associated with using mmWave for vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure applications are highlighted. Examples from recent work are provided including new theoretical results that enable mmWave communication in high mobility scenarios and innovative architectural concepts like position and radar-aided communication.
Periodic trajectories of mobile robots

Differential drive robots, such as robotic vacuums, often have at least two motion primitives: the ability to travel forward in straight lines, and rotate in place upon encountering a boundary. They are often equipped with simple sensors such as contact sensors or range finders, which allow them to measure and control their heading angle with respect to environment boundaries. We aim to find minimal control schemes for creating stable, periodic “patrolling” dynamics for robots that drive in straight lines and “bounce” off boundaries at controllable angles. As a first step toward analyzing high-level mobile robot dynamics in more general environments, we analyze the location and stability of periodic orbits in regular polygons. The contributions of this paper are: 1) proving the existence of periodic trajectories in n-sided regular polygons and showing the range of bounce angles that will produce such trajectories; 2) an analysis of their stability and robustness to modeling errors; and 3) a closed form solution for the points where the robot collides with the environment boundary while patrolling. We present simulations confirming our theoretical results.
The state of clinical research in neurology

Objective To study and provide an update on the state of clinical research in neurology in the United States. Methods US American Academy of Neurology members and chairs of departments of neurology were surveyed regarding clinical research in 2016. NIH data on the neuroscience pipeline and extramural grant funding were also collected. Results The response rate was 32% (n = 254) for nonchair researchers and 58% (n = 67) for department chairs. Researcher respondents were on average 50 years old, 66% were men, and 81% were actively conducting clinical research, with phase II/III clinical trials and outcome measure studies being the most common type of research conducted. Time to conduct research, recruitment, and administrative burden were the major barriers reported. According to department chairs, funding and training opportunities in patient-oriented research have increased over the last 10 years. Overall, applicants to neuroscience-specific NIH institutes for extramural funding have decreased over the same time period. Conclusions The state of clinical research in neurology has remained relatively stable over the last 10 years, but neurologists still have barriers in conducting clinical research. There has been an interval decrease in neuroscience applicants for NIH funding, which raises concerns about the pipeline and future of clinical research in neurology. These results will serve as a reference for the development of solutions to these issues.
Chiroptical Spectroscopic Studies on Soft Aggregates and Their Interactions

Abstract This chapter provides a review of chiroptical spectroscopy applications to soft aggregates formed by surfactants and their interactions with chiral molecules, which include small organics, proteins, peptides, inorganic complexes, β-cyclodextrin, nucleosides, nucleotides, and nucleic acids. A brief introduction to four chiroptical spectroscopic methods, namely optical rotatory dispersion (ORD), electronic circular dichroism (ECD), vibrational circular dichroism (VCD), and Raman optical activity (ROA), is provided first. Then the applications of ORD, ECD, VCD, and ROA to study soft matter have been reviewed. The literature at the interface of soft matter and ORD / VCD / ROA applications is extensively covered, while that relating to ECD includes selected applications from a large body of literature.
The multifactorial effects of dispersal on biodiversity in environmentally forced metacommunities

Disentangling the effects of dispersal and environmental heterogeneity on biodiversity is a central goal in ecology. Although metacommunity structure can be partitioned into spatial and environmental fractions, it remains unclear whether these statistical results can be used to infer the relative importance of dispersal limitation (spatial fraction) and environmental forcing (environmental fraction). Using an environmentally forced, spatially explicit metacommunity model, we show that the distinct effects of the mean (advection) and the standard deviation (diffusion) of the dispersal kernel on biodiversity are not easily detectable via variation partitioning alone. Although increasing dispersal ultimately leads to a decrease in the spatial fraction due to reduced dispersal limitation and greater species sorting, the magnitude of the spatial fraction depends on the complex interplay between the nature of dispersal and the type of boundary conditions in the metacommunity. Indeed, metacommunities characterized by either high or low dispersal can exhibit a small spatial fraction. A case study of a marine metacommunity experiencing strong alongshore transport is consistent with these findings, as the size of the spatial fraction is not associated with dispersal. Overall, our results suggest that accounting for the nature of environmental forcing as well as the multifactorial effects of dispersal is critical for understanding how ecological and environmental processes give rise to biodiversity across spatial scales.
Trapped Gravity Waves and Their Association with Turbulence in a Large Thunderstorm Anvil during PECAN

AbstractGeostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-14 (GOES-14) 1-km visible satellite data with 1-min frequency revealed horizontally propagating internal gravity waves emanating from tropo...
The Feasibility and Satisfaction of Using Telemedicine to Provide Tertiary Paediatric Obesity Care

Although telemedicine in paediatric tertiary care has been tried, satisfaction and outcome data is limited due to small sample sizes and the variation of methods and personnel by which telemedicine technology is delivered and participants assessed. Aim: to determine the feasibility of using telemedicine to deliver Paediatric tertiary obesity care and to evaluate Patient/Physician/Staff satisfaction. Method: we used a commercially available telemedicine system to conduct a prospective study where 30 patients in a Paediatric Healthy Life Centre Outpatient Clinic were evaluated by a specialist physician using telemedicine technology. A qualitative assessment of the patient/physician/staff perceptions of telemedicine use was assessed through a five-point Likert Scale and free text answers. Results: of the 30 patient sessions, 27 (90%) consultations were performed to completion. Fifteen consultations were initial assessments. Physician, staff and patient responders agreed that the use of telemedicine is an appropriate and effective use of the clinician’s skillset and time (≥96%), and can avoid patient travel from an underserved area to a tertiary care clinic (≥95%). Responders were comfortable and satisfied using the telemedicine equipment (≥85%). Physician and patients agreed that the telemedicine equipment helped the patient avoid a face-to-face visit (≥90%). Physician and patients felt the technology was effective in the management of their visit (≥93%). Conclusions: we successfully delivered tertiary obesity care through the use of telemedicine equipment in different clinical situations associated with paediatric obesity. Telemedicine is feasible, and is a realistic, successful and cost-effective modality to provide well-received specialty care for the obese paediatric population.
Association of Facility Volume With Positive Margin Rate in the Surgical Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer.

Importance The achievement of complete tumor resection with tumor-free margins is one of the main principles of oncologic surgery for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The negative prognostic influence of a positive margin (PM) across all head and neck subsites has been well established. National guidelines recommend the use of adjuvant chemoradiation therapy (CRT) in the setting of PM. Objective To determine the incidence of PM in HNSCC across multiple subsites, as well as the factors associated with its occurrence. Design, Setting, and Participants This retrospective cohort study used the National Cancer Database to identify patients diagnosed with HNSCC between 2010 and 2014 and who underwent surgical resection (n = 28 840). Main Outcomes and Measures Predictors of PM rate and likelihood to receive adjuvant CRT. Results Among the 28 840 patients included in this study, 19 727 (68.4 %) were men, and the average age was 62.4 years (range, 40 to ≥90 years). In univariable analysis, a lower PM rate was associated with higher facility volume (26.3% for the lowest volume quartile, 16.5% for the middle 2 quartiles, and 10.8% for the highest volume quartile) and treatment at academic vs nonacademic facilities (14.0% vs 22.7%). In multivariate analysis, those treated at higher-volume facilities remained significantly less likely to have PM (adjusted odds ratio, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.83-0.88). The trend of decreasing PM rate with increasing facility volume was observed in both academic (aOR, 0.88 per 10-case volume increase [95% CI, 0.85-0.91]) and nonacademic (aOR, 0.73 per 10-case volume increase [95% CI, 0.68-0.80]) facilities. There was no association between facility volume and patient likelihood of receiving adjuvant CRT in the setting of PM (compared with CCPs: aOR, 0.98 per 10-case volume increase [95% CI, 0.84-1.14] for CCCPs; and aOR, 1.24 [95% CI, 0.99-1.55] for INCPs). Conclusions and Relevance These findings suggest that high-volume facilities are associated with lower rates of PM in the surgical treatment of HNSCC in both academic and nonacademic settings. Facility volume for head and neck oncologic surgeries may be considered a benchmark for quality of care.
Air Pollution Alters Caenorhabditis elegans Development and Lifespan: Responses to Traffic-Related Nanoparticulate Matter

Air pollution is a heterogeneous environmental toxicant that impacts humans throughout their life. We introduce Caenorhabditis elegans as a valuable air pollution model with its short lifespan, medium-throughput capabilities, and highly conserved biological pathways that impact healthspan. We exposed developmental and adult life stages of C. elegans to airborne nano-sized particulate matter (nPM) produced by traffic emissions and measured biological and molecular endpoints that changed in response. Acute nPM did not cause lethality in C. elegans, but short-term exposure during larval stage 1 caused delayed development. Gene expression responses to nPM exposure overlapped with responses of mouse and cell culture models of nPM exposure in previous studies. We showed further that the skn-1/Nrf2 antioxidant response has a role in the development and hormetic effects of nPM. This study introduces the worm as a new resource and complementary model for mouse and cultured cell systems to study air pollution toxicity across the lifespan.