cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Validation of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form 36 (KDQOL-36) US Spanish and English versions in a cohort of Hispanics with chronic kidney disease.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the reliability and validity of the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form 36 (KDQOL-36) in Hispanics with mild-to-moderate chronic kidney disease (CKD). DESIGN: Cross-sectional SETTING: Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort Study PARTICIPANTS: 420 Hispanic (150 English- and 270 Spanish-speakers), and 409 non-Hispanic White individuals, matched by age (mean 57 years), sex (60% male), kidney function (mean estimated glomerular filtration rate 36ml/min/1.73m2), and diabetes (70%). METHODS: To measure construct validity, we selected instruments, comorbidities, and laboratory tests related to at least one KDQOL-36 subscale. Reliability was determined by calculating Cronbach's alpha. RESULTS: Reliability of each KDQOL-36 subscale [SF-12 Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS), Symptoms/Problems, Burden of Kidney Disease and Effects of Kidney Disease ] was very good (Cronbach's alpha >0.8). Construct validity was supported by expected negative correlation between MCS scores and the Beck Depression Inventory in all three subgroups (r=-0.56 to -0.61, P<.0001). There was inverse correlation between the Symptoms/ Problems subscale and the Patient Symptom Form (r= -0.70 to -0.77, P<.0001). We also found significant, positive correlation between the PCS score and a physical activity survey (r=+0.29 to +0.38, P< or =.003); and between the PCS and MCS scores and the Kansas City Questionnaire (r= +0.31 to +0.64, P<.0001). Reliability and validity were similar across all racial/ethnic groups analyzed separately. CONCLUSION: Our findings support the use of the KDQOL-36 as a measure of HRQOL in this cohort of US Hispanics with CKD. ( Ethn Dis. 2013;23[2]:202-209)
Novel treatments to tackle myelofibrosis.

Introduction: Despite the dramatic progress made in the treatment of patients with myelofibrosis since the introduction of the JAK1/2 inhibitor ruxolitinib, a therapeutic option that can modify the...
Lysyl Oxidase Is a Key Player in BRAF/MAPK Pathway-Driven Thyroid Cancer Aggressiveness.

Background: The BRAFV600E mutation is the most common somatic mutation in thyroid cancer. The mechanism associated with BRAF-mutant tumor aggressiveness remains unclear. Lysyl oxidase (LOX) is high...
SENSE: Siamese neural network for sequence embedding and alignment-free comparison.

Motivation Sequence analysis is arguably a foundation of modern biology. Classic approaches to sequence analysis are based on sequence alignment, which is limited when dealing with large-scale sequence data. A dozen of alignment-free approaches have been developed to provide computationally efficient alternatives to alignment-based approaches. However, existing methods define sequence similarity based on various heuristics and can only provide rough approximations to alignment distances. Results In this article, we developed a new approach, referred to as SENSE (SiamEse Neural network for Sequence Embedding), for efficient and accurate alignment-free sequence comparison. The basic idea is to use a deep neural network to learn an explicit embedding function based on a small training dataset to project sequences into an embedding space so that the mean square error between alignment distances and pairwise distances defined in the embedding space is minimized. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to use deep learning for alignment-free sequence analysis. A large-scale experiment was performed that demonstrated that our method significantly outperformed the state-of-the-art alignment-free methods in terms of both efficiency and accuracy. Availability and implementation Open-source software for the proposed method is developed and freely available at https://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/∼yijunsun/lab/SENSE.html. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
A causal inference framework for estimating genetic variance and pleiotropy from GWAS summary data

Motivation Much of research in genome-wide association studies has only searched for significantly associated signals without explicitly removing unwanted source of variation. Confounder correction is a necessary step to reveal causal effects, but often skipped in a summary-based analysis. Results We present a novel causal inference algorithm that controls unwanted sources in genetic variance and covariance estimation tasks. We demonstrate substantially improved statistical power and accuracy in extensive simulations. In real-world applications on the UK biobank summary statistics data, our method recapitulates well-known pleiotropic modules, suggesting new insights into biobank-scale GWAS analysis. Contact YP (ypp@mit.edu) and MK (manoli@mit.edu)
Periodic buckling of soft 3D printed bioinspired tubes

Abstract Buckled surfaces induced by mismatched swelling and elastic properties of materials are commonly observed in nature, such as on cacti and euphorbias. The rational design and mimicry of such buckling surfaces could lead to the development of smart, adaptive, and stimuli responsive devices. We designed a 3D printed tubular structure, composed of soft swellable poly N-isopropylacrylamide (pNIPAM) segments and stiff non-swellable polyacrylamide (pAAM) segments. Similar to the shape change of Saguaro stems after rainfall, the tubes show tunable periodic buckling modes in water at the room temperature. The buckling behavior was harnessed through the development of compressive stresses in the soft swellable segments induced by the constraint of the stiff non-swellable segments. We developed a finite element model to explore the design space of this periodic buckling behavior for the tube, and used a chemo-mechanically coupled constitutive model to describe the swellable hydrogel. Inspired by the classic bar buckling problem, we constructed a phase diagram and discovered a universal design parameter that combines the effects of geometric and material properties to guide the design of periodic buckling tubes for bioinspired functional gel structures.
Max-norm Estimates

The finite element approximation is essentially defined by a mean-square projection of the gradient. Thus, it is natural that error estimates for the gradient of the error directly follow in the L 2 norm. It is interesting to ask whether such a gradient-projection would also be of optimal order in some other norm, for example L ∞. We prove here that this is the case. Although of interest in their own right, such estimates are also crucial in establishing the viability of approximations of nonlinear problems (Douglas & Dupont 1975) as we indicate in Sect. 8.7. Throughout this chapter, we assume that the domain Ω ⊂ ℝ d is bounded and polyhedral.
Faster Algorithms for Testing under Conditional Sampling

There has been considerable recent interest in distribution-tests whose run-time and sample requirements are sublinear in the domain-sizek. We study two of the most important tests under the conditional-sampling model where each query specifies a subsetS of the domain, and the response is a sample drawn fromS according to the underlying distribution. For identity testing, which asks whether the underlying distribution equals a specific given distribution or -differs from it, we reduce the known time and sample complexities from e O( 4 ) to
First-in-human study of AMG 900, an oral pan-Aurora kinase inhibitor, in adult patients (pts) with advanced solid tumors.

3009 Background: Aurora kinases A, B, and, C play essential roles in regulating cell division. Overexpression of aurora A and B in human tumors is associated with high proliferation rates and poor ...
Depression and Anxiety Symptoms, Social Support, and Demographic Factors Among Kenyan High School Students

Depression and anxiety are leading causes of youth disability worldwide, yet our understanding of these conditions in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) youths is limited. Research has been sparse in SSA, and prevalence rates and correlates of these conditions remain scarcely investigated. To help address these gaps, this cross-sectional study assessed the prevalence of adolescent depression and anxiety symptoms in a community sample of high school students in Kenya. We also examined associations between those symptoms and psychosocial and sociodemographic factors. We administered self-report measures of depression and anxiety symptoms, social support, gratitude, growth mindsets, and life satisfaction to 658 students (51.37% female) aged 13–19. Only the measures of depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screen-7), and social support (Multidimensional Scale for Perceived Social Support Scale) showed adequate internal consistency (Cronbach alpha > 0.70) in the study sample. Findings with these measures among Kenyan youths showed high levels of depression symptoms (45.90% above clinical cutoff) and anxiety symptoms (37.99% above clinical cutoff). Older adolescents reported higher depression and anxiety symptoms, as well as lower social support than younger adolescents. Females reported more anxiety than males, and members of minority tribes reported more anxiety than members of majority tribes. This study highlights the high prevalence of adolescent internalizing symptoms in Kenyan high school students, identifies important correlates of these symptoms, and illustrates the need for culturally appropriate assessment tools.
'Lady Windermere's counterpart? Pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacteria in men with bronchiectasis.

Abstract Pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) disease occurs frequently in older women, and phenotypes of men with NTM disease are largely undescribed. We conducted a case–control study of 34 men with non-cystic fibrosis pulmonary NTM disease (cases), and three male and female control groups with or without NTM disease. Cases were median 71 years of age (range 30–94) and mostly non-Hispanic white (85.3%). These men had similarly low BMI as their female NTM patient counterparts, which was lower than both healthy men (p
The evolution and success of budgeting systems at institutions of higher education

A survey of the chief academic officers at comprehensive colleges and universities in the United States reveals a move toward more rational budgeting systems in higher education over the last 20 years. Systems with a traditional approach to budgeting are still one of the major systems, but they no longer dominate. Three other major systems found in higher education are rational systems: planning, programming, and budgeting systems (PPBS); combination PPBS and zero-base systems; and combination PPBS, zero-base, and performance systems. These three systems are more prevalent, appropriate and satisfactory than traditional systems.
Compressing $H^{2}$ Matrices for Translationally Invariant Kernels

$H^{2}$ matrices provide compressed representations of the matrices obtained when discretizing surface and volume integral equations. The memory costs associated with storing $H^{2}$ matrices for static and low-frequency applications are $O(N)$ . However, when the $H^{2}$ representation is constructed using sparse samples of the underlying matrix, the translation matrices in the $H^{2}$ representation do not preserve any translational invariance present in the underlying kernel. In some cases, this can result in an $H^{2}$ representation with relatively large memory requirements. This paper outlines a method to compress an existing $H^{2}$ matrix by constructing a translationally invariant $H^{2}$ matrix from it. Numerical examples demonstrate that the resulting representation can provide significant memory savings.
503 Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes in soft tissue sarcomas upregulate the exhaustion marker TIGIT and are reinvigorated by IL-15 stimulation and TIGIT blockade

Background Although the presence and activity of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) have been shown to be important factors for survival and response to immunotherapy for multiple cancer types, the benefits of immunotherapy in soft tissue sarcomas (STS) have been limited, and novel approaches are needed. In this study, we sought to characterize the phenotype and function of tumor infiltrating natural killer (NK) and T cells in STS patients and to evaluate clinically relevant strategies to augment TIL function. Methods Using both prospectively collected blood and tumor tissue from STS patients undergoing surgical resection (n = 21) and archived specimens (n = 45), we performed flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry to evaluate the extent of peripheral and intratumoral CD3-CD56+ NK and CD8+ T cell phenotype and function as predictors of outcome. We also analyzed TCGA data and the peripheral blood of dogs with spontaneous osteosarcoma receiving inhaled IL-15 on a clinical trial to evaluate the association of CD3-NKp46+ NK and CD8+ T cell activation as well as TIGIT upregulation with outcome. Finally, we stimulated patient PBMCs and TILs ex vivo with IL-15 and a novel human anti-TIGIT antibody to assess the impact of combination therapy on NK and T cell phenotype and function. Parametric and non-parametric statistical tests were used where appropriate. Univariate and multivariate survival analyses were performed by Cox proportional hazards models. Results Compared to peripheral expression, intratumoral NK and T cells showed an activated and exhausted phenotype by CD69 and TIGIT, respectively. Ex vivo TIL stimulation with IL-15 further increased markers of activation and function including CD69, Ki67, IFNg, and granzyme B, while increasing expression of exhaustion marker TIGIT. Analysis of a retrospective STS cohort and TCGA STS gene expression confirmed the association of TILs with improved prognosis. Dogs with metastatic osteosarcoma receiving inhaled IL-15 exhibited upregulation of activation markers and TIGIT. In vitro, IL-15 and TIGIT blockade of both peripheral and intratumoral NK cells increased cytotoxicity against sarcoma cell lines and increased expression of degranulation marker CD107a compared to IL-15 alone. Conclusions TILs are associated with improved survival in STS, and tumor infiltrating NK and T cells show features of both increased activation and increased exhaustion. Tumor-infiltrating NK and T cells respond to IL-15 stimulation, but simultaneously further upregulate TIGIT with the combination of IL-15 and TIGIT blockade showing greatest cytotoxic effects. Overall, our data suggest that the combination of IL-15 and TIGIT blockade is a promising clinical strategy in STS. Ethics Approval All experiments involving human and canine patients were approved by the respective Institutional Review Boards at the University of California, Davis, Schools of Medicine (Protocol #218204-9) and Veterinary Medicine (IACUC #20179).
Effectiveness of Molecular Testing Techniques for Diagnosis of Indeterminate Thyroid Nodules: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance Approximately 20% of thyroid nodules display indeterminate cytology. Molecular testing can refine the risk of malignancy and reduce the need for diagnostic hemithyroidectomy. Objective To compare the diagnostic performance between an RNA test (Afirma genomic sequencing classifier) and DNA-RNA test (ThyroSeq v3 multigene genomic classifier). Design, Setting, and Participants This parallel randomized clinical trial of monthly block randomization included patients in the UCLA Health system who underwent thyroid biopsy from August 2017 to January 2020 with indeterminate cytology (Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology category III or IV). Interventions Molecular testing with the RNA test or DNA-RNA test. Main Outcomes and Measures Diagnostic test performance of the RNA test compared with the DNA-RNA test. The secondary outcome was comparison of test performance with prior versions of the molecular tests. Results Of 2368 patients, 397 were eligible for inclusion based on indeterminate cytology, and 346 (median [interquartile range] age, 55 [44-67] years; 266 [76.9%] women) were randomized to 1 of the 2 tests. In the total cohort assessed for eligibility, 3140 thyroid nodules were assessed, and 427 (13.6%) nodules were cytologically indeterminate. The prevalence of malignancy was 20% among indeterminate nodules. The benign call rate was 53% (95% CI, 47%-61%) for the RNA test and 61% (95% CI, 53%-68%) for the DNA-RNA test. The specificities of the RNA test and DNA-RNA test were 80% (95% CI, 72%-86%) and 85% (95% CI, 77%-91%), respectively (P = .33); the positive predictive values (PPV) of the RNA test and DNA-RNA test were 53% (95% CI, 40%-67%) and 63% (95% CI, 48%-77%), respectively (P = .33). The RNA test exhibited a higher PPV compared with the prior test version (Afirma gene expression classifier) (54% [95% CI, 40%-67%] vs 38% [95% CI, 27%-48%];P = .01). The DNA-RNA test had no statistically significant difference in PPV compared with its prior version (ThyroSeq v2 next-generation sequencing) (63% [95% CI, 48%-77%] vs 58% [95% CI, 43%-73%];P = .75). Diagnostic thyroidectomy was avoided in 87 (51%) patients tested with the RNA test and 83 (49%) patients tested with the DNA-RNA test. Surveillance ultrasonography was available for 90 nodules, of which 85 (94%) remained stable over a median of 12 months follow-up. Conclusions and Relevance Both the RNA test and DNA-RNA test displayed high specificity and allowed 49% of patients with indeterminate nodules to avoid diagnostic surgery. Although previous trials demonstrated that the prior version of the DNA-RNA test was more specific than the prior version of the RNA test, the current molecular test techniques have no statistically significant difference in performance. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:NCT02681328
DNA Methylation Patterns in CD4+ T Cells of Naïve and Influenza A Virus-Infected Mice Developmentally Exposed to an Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Ligand

Background: Early life environmental exposures can have lasting effects on the function of the immune system and contribute to disease later in life. Epidemiological studies have linked early life ...
Underwater Explosive Response of Submerged, Air-backed Composite Materials: Experimental and Computational Studies

The response of composite plates subjected to underwater explosive (UNDEX) loading has been investigated through laboratory experiments and corresponding computational simulations. The focus of the work is the transient plate response and the evolution of material damage. The study is comprised of three main sections: (1) Response of flat E-Glass/Epoxy plates, (2) Response of curved E-Glass/Vinyl Ester plates, and (3) Effects of polyurea surface coatings. The first two sections present comparisons between experimental results and computational simulations, while the third section contains experimental observations. The UNDEX experiments are carried out using a water-filled conical shock tube (CST) which imparts pressure loading representative of the far field, underwater detonation of a spherical charge. During the experiments, the transient response of the plates is captured through either strain gages (flat plates) or the Digital Image Correlation Method (curved Plates). The computational models utilize the commercial finite element code LS-DYNA and are shown to accurately simulate the dynamic response of the plates as well as the fluid structure interaction (FSI). Polyurea coatings are shown to have both positive and adverse effects on the shock response of the composite plates depending on coating thickness and more importantly, coating location.
Contraceptive choice and cervical cytology.

Abstract The prevalence rates of atypical cervical cytology among two groups of contraceptive choosers were determined. Choosers of the intrauterine contraceptive device (IUD) and the oral contraceptive pill with no reported history of contraceptive use and choosers of the IUD and pill with a prior history of use of methods of contraception other than the pill were found to have small differences in screening rates of cervical cytologic atypicality. When the cervical cytology atypicality rate is described by both current and past reported methods of birth control, it is evident that contraceptive history is associated with differential rates of cervical cytology atypicality among choosers and that any comparison between choosers should control for past use of all major methods of birth control. The similarity in atypical cervical cytology rates may reflect a similar sexual history in IUD and pill choosers, but a study which includes more specific cytologic designations and detailed measures of contraceptive history and behavioral variables is necessary to evaluate this hypothesis. A prospective study which includes these variables in evaluating the relative rates of atypical cervical cytology among choosers of various methods of birth control is described.
Tonic Dopamine Inhibition of L-Type Ca2+ Channel Activity Reduces α1D Ca2+ Channel Gene Expression

Hormones and neurotransmitters have both short-term and long-term modulatory effects on the activity of voltage-gated Ca2+ channels. Although much is known about the signal transduction underlying short-term modulation, there is far less information on mechanisms that produce long-term effects. Here, the molecular basis of long-lasting suppression of Ca2+channel current in pituitary melanotropes by chronic dopamine exposure is examined. Experiments involving in vivo and in vitro treatments with the dopaminergic drugs haloperidol, bromocriptine, and quinpirole show that D2 receptors persistently decrease α1D L-type Ca2+ channel mRNA and L-type Ca2+ channel current without altering channel gating properties. In contrast, another L-channel (α1C) mRNA and P/Q-channel (α1A) mRNA are unaffected. The downregulation of α1D mRNA does not require decreases in cAMP levels or P/Q-channel activity. However, it is mimicked and occluded by inhibition of L-type channels. Thus, interruption of the positive feedback between L-type Ca2+ channel activity and α1D gene expression can account for the long-lasting regulation of L-current produced by chronic activation of D2 dopamine receptors.
Local stability under evolutionary game dynamics

We prove that any regular evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) is asymptotically stable under any impartial pairwise comparison dynamic, including the Smith dynamic; under any separable excess payoff dynamic, including the BNN dynamic; and under the best response dynamic. Combined with existing results for imitative dynamics, our analysis validates the use of regular ESS as a blanket sufficient condition for local stability under evolutionary game dynamics.
Mechanism of IκBα Binding to NF-κB Dimers

X-ray crystal structures of the NF-kappa B.I kappa B alpha complex revealed an extensive and complex protein-protein interface involving independent structural elements present in both I kappa B alpha and NF-kappa B. In this study, we employ a gel electrophoretic mobility shift assay to assess and quantitate the relative contributions of the observed interactions toward overall complex binding affinity. I kappa B alpha preferentially binds to the p50/p65 heterodimer and p65 homodimer, with binding to p50 homodimer being significantly weaker. Our results indicate that the nuclear localization sequence and the region C-terminal to it of the NF-kappa B p65 subunit is a major contributor to NF-kappa B. I kappa B alpha complex formation. Additionally, there are no contacts between the corresponding nuclear localization signal tetrapeptide of p50 and I kappa B alpha. A second set of interactions involving the acidic C-terminal/PEST-like region of I kappa B alpha and the NF-kappa B p65 subunit N-terminal domain also contributes binding energy toward formation of the complex. This interaction is highly dynamic and nonspecific in nature, as shown by oxidative cysteine cross-linking. Phosphorylation of the C-terminal/PEST-like region by casein kinase II further enhances binding.
Thucydides and Lawfulness

For the classical Athenians, legitimate law is public and yet usually arises from no person in particular, with the rule-proving exception being the laws that emerge from famous (and often mythical) lawgivers such as Solon. This notion of law that is public, yet indeterminately grounded, though commonly encountered in classical literature (e.g., in the Antigone), is hard to grasp. If the laws of Athens are public and controlled by the demos, both ideas that are central elements of Athenian democratic ideology, then how can it be sensible that the laws often, and often in particularly importance instances, are discussed as having an indistinct provenance? Such a paradoxical notion of law would seem to encourage lawlessness, though in fact what we know about Athens indicates the reverse.The Athenian historian Thucydides provides an exemplary demonstration of the nature of the Athenians’ paradoxical approach to the law. This is surprising. For one thing, Thucydides’ account, like that of other elite authors (like Plato or Aristophanes), seems to emphasize the lawlessness of Athens. Furthermore, at various points Thucydides’ narrative suggests that it is a simple thing to predict when laws will hold and when they will not; in particular, they will not hold in moments of extreme distress. It does not matter if they are ancient or unwritten or public. And yet a close reading of Thucydides demonstrates that lawfulness sometimes obtains even under the worst of circumstances, even and especially in Athens. It may have been surprising to Thucydides, as it seemed to have been to other Athenians and Greeks generally, but in a concrete way the Athenian polis was more resilient and more lawful than perhaps any other (and perhaps precisely because of the intensity of the Athenian attachment to its paradoxical notion of law). This point is easily missed, as there is a lack of an explicit explanation or theoretization of this phenomenon in Thucydides or elsewhere. Moreover, the nature of this insight is not such as to give much comfort or guidance to the would-be political reformer, but the strangeness of this approach only makes it more important.
On the Treatment of the Collision Operator for Hydrodynamic Models

In this work we study an alternative treatment for the collision operator for hydrodynamic models. We start with a trial displaced Maxwellian function for the electron distribution function and by explicit integration of the collision term, we obtain a hydrodynamic model. The model includes the Drift-Diffusion equations, in the low electric field limit. However, it does not include any heat transfer.
Efficient Management of Complex Striped Files in Active Storage

Active Storage provides an opportunity for reducing the bandwidth requirements between the storage and compute elements of current supercomputing systems, and leveraging the processing power of the storage nodes used by some modern file systems. To achieve both objectives, Active Storage allows certain processing tasks to be performed directly on the storage nodes, near the data they manage. However, Active Storage must also support key requirements of scientific applications. In particular, Active Storage must be able to support striped files and files with complex formats (e.g., netCDF). In this paper, we describe how these important requirements can be addressed. The experimental results on a Lustre file system not only show that our proposal can reduce the network traffic to near zero and scale the performance with the number of storage nodes, but also that it provides an efficient treatment of striped files and can manage files with complex data structures.
Stellar populations in circumnuclear star forming regions

We present a study of the stellar populations and gas physical conditions in Circumnuclear Star Forming Regions (CNSFR) based on broad and narrow band photometry and spectrophotometric data, which have been analyzed with the use of evolutionary population synthesis and photoionization models. It is found that most CNSFR show composite stellar populations of slightly different ages. They seem to have the highest abundances in HII region-like objects, showing also N/O overabundances and S/O underabundances by a factor of about three. Also, CNSFR as a class, segregate from the disk HII region family, clustering around smaller $\eta$' values, and thereforefore higher ionizing temperatures.
THE EVOLUTION OF ALTERNATIVE GENETIC SYSTEMS IN INSECTS

There are three major classes of insect genetic systems: those with diploid males (diplodiploidy), those with effectively haploid males (haplodiploidy), and those without males (thelytoky). Mixed systems, involving cyclic or facultative switching between thelytoky and either of the other systems, also occur. I present a classification of the genetic systems of insects and estimate the number of evolutionary transitions between them that have occurred. Obligate thelytoky has arisen from each of the other systems, and there is evidence that over 900 such origins have occurred. The number of origins of facultative thelytoky and the number of reversions from obligate thelytoky to facultative and cyclic thelytoky are difficult to estimate. The other transitions are few in number: five origins of cyclic thelytoky, eight origins of obligate haplodiploidy (including paternal genome elimination), the strange case of Micromalthus, and the two reversions from haplodiploidy to diplodiploidy in scale insects. Available evidence tends to support W.D. Hamilton's hypothesis that maternally transmitted endosymbionts have been involved in the origins of haplodiploidy. Bizarre systems of extrazygotic inheritance in Sternorrhyncha are not easily accommodated into any existing classification of genetic systems.
Patient discharge instructions for I-131 Bexxar therapy vs. I-131 sodium iodide therapy

2213 Objectives Describe the difference in patient preparation and discharge instructions for I-131 Bexxar® versus I-131 sodium iodide. Methods Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma patients being treated with I-131 Bexxar® were examined for patient discharge instructions. Bexxar® Therapeutic Regimen Forms A and C from GlaxoSmithKline were compared to the Johns Hopkins Division of Nuclear Medicine Instructions Following Radioactive Iodine Therapy. Results The instructions for I-131 Bexxar® were similar to I-131 sodium iodide and included: patient dwelling, personal contact, hydration, hand washing, linens and travel. Differences for I-131 Bexxar® included: allergy pre-treatment, thyroid blocking agent and an extended time period of 2-3 weeks. Conclusions Patient preparation and discharge instructions for I-131 Bexxar® were different than I-131 sodium iodide and included: allergy pre-treatment, thyroid blocking agent and all instructions were extended by 2-3 weeks.
Challenges of engineering higher education in a transitional economy: a Russian experience

Education and training serve as critical elements of advancement of a nation’s economy in transition. The restructuring of the power engineering industry in Russia has called for a fast implementation of new management system in electric power engineering and radical training of professional managers at different levels in organizations. Management training in electric power engineering in Russia has been implemented by (1) preparing highly professional managers in higher education institutions and technical universities and by (2) improving the management skills of practicing managers in technical universities and educational centers of different power energy companies. This article reports the experience of introducing a new discipline ‘Management in Electrical Engineering’ at the Moscow Power Engineering Institute (Technical University) and reflects on training managers in electric power engineering at higher education and corporate educational centers.
Functional role of CCCTC binding factor (CTCF) in stress-induced apoptosis

CTCF, a nuclear transcriptional factor, is a multifunctional protein and involves regulation of growth factor- and cytokine-induced cell proliferation/differentiation. In the present study, we investigated the role of CTCF in protecting stress-induced apoptosis in various human cell types. We found that UV irradiation and hyper-osmotic stress induced human corneal epithelial (HCE) and hematopoietic myeloid cell apoptosis detected by significantly increased caspase 3 activity and decreased cell viability. The stress-induced apoptotic response in these cells requires down-regulation of CTCF at both mRNA and protein levels, suggesting that CTCF may play an important role in downstream events of stress-induced signaling pathways. Inhibition of NFκB activity prevented stress-induced down-regulation of CTCF and increased cell viability against stress-induced apoptosis. The anti-apoptotic effect of CTCF was further studied by manipulating CTCF activities in HCE and hematopoietic cells. Transient transfection of cDNAs encoding full-length human CTCF markedly suppressed stress-induced apoptosis in these cells. In contrast, knocking down of CTCF mRNA using siRNA specific to CTCF significantly promoted stress-induced apoptosis. Thus, our results reveal that CTCF is a down stream target of stress-induced signaling cascades and it plays a significant anti-apoptotic role in regulation of stress-induced cellular responses in HCE and hematopoietic myeloid cells.
Two-spin correlation function for a Heisenberg magnet: Application to magnetostriction

Abstract The ratio between the magnetic-field-induced change in the two-spin correlation function and the square of the magnetization for Heisenberg ferromagnets and antiferromagnets is calculated as a function of temperature. The results explain magnetostriction data in EuO and MnF 2 .
A model of bank lending in the global financial crisis and the case of Korea

This paper studies two interrelated banking sector issues in the context of the global financial crisis and its impact on Korea: (i) To what extent did state owned banks expand lending to offset declining credit as private sector bank balance sheets deteriorated? (ii) In the recent crisis, was bank lending constrained because of funding or liquidity factors? To address these issues, a framework of optimal bank lending is presented in which banks face adverse selection in a market for risky investment projects, pay regulatory costs, and borrow in wholesale and traditional funding markets. The model implications are tested on bank-level data with a focus on the global financial crisis. The results point to significant credit expansion by public sector banks in response to deteriorating international credit conditions. Estimates of private sector lending during the crisis suggest that, at best, the credit crunch was less profound than it could have been. Wholesale funding is not found to have been a major driver of deteriorating credit conditions in Korea, reflecting, at least in part, strong policy support from the authorities during the crisis.
Effects of ionic and complexed metal concentrations on plant uptake of cadmium and micronutrient metals from solution

Uptake of Cd and micronutrient metals by intact tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum, cv. Wisconsin-55) from solution cultures was investigated by establishing four levels of Cd-ion activity in the presence or absence of a metal-complexing agent (±EDTA). Activity ratios of Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni, and Zn were controlled with chelating resin while activity ratios of K, Ca, and Mg were controlled with a strong-acid cation-exchange resin. Hydrogen ion activity was controlled with a weak-acid cation-exchange resin and P activity by a cation-exchange resin containing adsorbed polynuclear hydroxy-Al. The concentrations of all nutrients and Cd were maintained at concentrations similar to those occuring in solutions of sludge-amended soils. The EDTA treatments increased the concentrations of Cu and Ni in hydroponic solution by approximately four orders of magnitude, Zn by two orders of magnitude, Cd by a factor of 50, Mn by a factor of 2.4, and Fe by a factor of 1.6 Neither the Cd nor the EDTA treatments affected plant yield, and Cd treatments did not significantly affect uptake of other elements. EDTA treatments inhibited Fe uptake, enhanced Cu uptake, and had little effect on the uptake of Cd, Zn, and Mn. Accumulation of Cd, Zn, Mn, and Cu in plant shoots appears to be related to their respective ionic activities rather than their concentrations in hydroponic solution.
The role of vasopressin in the pressor response to bilateral carotid occlusion.

Abstract Exogenous arginine vasopressin (AVP) has been shown to interact with the arterial baroreflex control of renal sympathetic nerve activity. In addition, we have shown that both AVP and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) contribute to the pressor response to interruption of cardiopulmonary vagal afferents. This study examined the role and interaction of AVP and the SNS in the pressor response to a reduction of carotid sinus afferent activity by bilateral carotid occlusion (BCO). In addition the role of the area postrema (AP) in mediating the interaction between AVP and the SNS was examined. In aortic denervated conscious dogs, BCO increased mean arterial pressure 51.7 ± 3.1 mm Hg. Specific vascular (V 1 ) AVP antagonist d (CH 2 ) 5 Tyr(Me)AVP did not alter the response to BCO ( Δ 50.8 ± 7.9 mm Hg). Subsequent ganglionic blockade abolished the response to BCO ( Δ −10 ± 3.8). When ganglionic blockade was induced in the absence of AVP antagonist, BCO increased MAP 25.0 ± 2.8 mm Hg. AVP antagonist following ganglionic blockade eliminated the pressor response to BCO ( Δ −6.7 ± 5.1) There was an interaction between AVP and the SNS such that the contribution of one system to the hemodynamic response was greater in the absence of the other system. Ablation of the AP abolished the interaction between reflexly released AVP and the SNS which was observed in intact dogs. These data demonstrate that both AVP and the SNS contribute to the pressor response to BCO. Reflexly released AVP appears to limit the reflex activation of the SNS. The interaction of endogenous AVP and the arterial baroreflex involves the AP. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that vasopressin interacts centrally to limit a reflex increase in sympathetic outflow and thus modulate the pressor response to BCO.
Spatio-temporal aggregates over raster image data

Spatial, temporal and spatio-temporal aggregates over continuous streams of remotely sensed image data build a fundamental operation in many applications in the environmental sciences. Several approaches to efficiently compute multi-dimensional aggregates have been proposed in the literature. However, none of these approaches is suitable to compute aggregate values over streaming raster image data where the spatial extents and positions of individual images vary over time. In particular, the computation of a single aggregate value becomes less meaningful when the image data contribute only partially to a query region.In this paper, we present an indexing scheme -- based on the Box-Aggregation Tree -- to efficiently compute spatio-temporal aggregates over streams of raster image data that vary in position and size. Using information about the spatial extent of incoming image data, we show how multiple aggregate values are computed for a single spatio-temporal query, thus providing more meaningful query results over spatially varying image data. Using National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) data, we show the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed approach.
Okazaki Fragment Processing-Independent Role for Human Dna2 Enzyme During DNA Replication

Dna2 is an essential helicase/nuclease that is postulated to cleave long DNA flaps that escape FEN1 activity during Okazaki fragment (OF) maturation in yeast. We previously demonstrated that the human Dna2 orthologue (hDna2) localizes to the nucleus and contributes to genomic stability. Here we investigated the role hDna2 plays in DNA replication. We show that Dna2 associates with the replisome protein And-1 in a cell cycle-dependent manner. Depletion of hDna2 resulted in S/G2 phase-specific DNA damage as evidenced by increased γ-H2AX, replication protein A foci, and Chk1 kinase phosphorylation, a readout for activation of the ATR-mediated S phase checkpoint. In addition, we observed reduced origin firing in hDna2-depleted cells consistent with Chk1 activation. We next examined the impact of hDna2 on OF maturation and replication fork progression in human cells. As expected, FEN1 depletion led to a significant reduction in OF maturation. Strikingly, the reduction in OF maturation had no impact on replication fork progression, indicating that fork movement is not tightly coupled to lagging strand maturation. Analysis of hDna2-depleted cells failed to reveal a defect in OF maturation or replication fork progression. Prior work in yeast demonstrated that ectopic expression of FEN1 rescues Dna2 defects. In contrast, we found that FEN1 expression in hDna2-depleted cells failed to rescue genomic instability. These findings suggest that the genomic instability observed in hDna2-depleted cells does not arise from defective OF maturation and that hDna2 plays a role in DNA replication that is distinct from FEN1 and OF maturation.
The Theory of Statistical Decision

(1951). The Theory of Statistical Decision. Journal of the American Statistical Association: Vol. 46, No. 253, pp. 55-67.
Preparation and characterization of conducting iron tungstates

Abstract Several iron(III) tungstates have been prepared, and their crystallographic, magnetic, electric, and photoelectronic properties have been characterized. The compounds crystallize with the tri-α-PbO2 structure, and the actual ordering of theMO6 octahedra (M = Fe or W) appears to determine these properties. Under illumination, Fe2WO6 photoanodes show a photoresponse intermediate between those of conducting α-Fe2O3 and WO3, although the flat-band potential is still too positive.
The petroleum potential of Tertiary coals from Western Indonesia: Relationship to mire type and sequence stratigraphic setting

Abstract More than 500 deltaic sediments from 14 basins in Western Indonesia were subjected to detailed geochemical, petrographic and palynological analysis. The resultant data represent each of the main peat-forming tectonostratigraphic episodes (Paleogene syn-rift transgressive, Paleogene–Neogene post-rift transgressive and Neogene syn-tectonic regressive) of the Indonesian Tertiary. The coals are hydrogen-rich, with average hydrogen index (HI) of 250–300 and atomic H/C ratios of 1.0–1.3 where immature. Paleogene coals from syn-rift transgressive systems tracts are more hydrogen-rich than Neogene coals from syn-tectonic regressive systems tracts, and upon pyrolysis, yield lower gas/oil ratios, implying they are more oil-prone. Pliocene coals from a strongly regressive sequence in the Sumatran fore-arc are very hydrogen-poor with average HI of 138. Indonesian coals display a systematic increase in HI with increasing rank, peaking at a Tmax of c. 430 °C, suggesting that Rock-Eval pyrolysis underestimates petroleum potential in low rank coals. The increase in HI is accompanied by a decrease in S1/TOC ratio and the disappearance of suberinite and resinite, reflecting the assimilation of these macerals into the coal matrix with increasing diagenesis. Petrographic analyses reveal a very poor correlation between liptinite content and HI. The term Detrovitrinite Index (DI) is coined to describe the ratio of detrovitrinite/total vitrinite. A better relationship between HI and DI suggests that vitrinite type is a more important control on petroleum potential than liptinite content. The coals are classified into four sub-types (I–IV) on the basis of their pyrolysis potential and petrographic composition. Sub-types I, II and III are low ash coals and are likely to have been deposited in raised mires. Sub-type I is hydrogen-rich and primarily represents Middle to Late Miocene coals, deposited in a regressive megasequence. Sub-type II coals are hydrogen-poor and occur in multiple tectonostratigraphic settings. Sub-type III consists of very hydrogen-poor Pliocene coals from the rapidly subsiding West Sumatran fore-arc. Sub-type IV is hydrogen-rich, and consists of high ash Eocene coals, deposited in submerged mires in a transgressive, syn-rift setting. A close relationship between HI and tissue preservation index (TPI) suggests that the degree of degradation of the peat is an important factor in determining petroleum potential. Highly degraded peats result in hydrogen-rich coals with a higher proportion of vitrinite of detrital or allochthonous origin. The degree of degradation is most likely related to the amount of time the peat spends within the zone of influence of the water table, and is unlikely to be directly related to tectonostratigraphic setting.
5-chloro-2'-deoxyuridine cytotoxicity results from base excision repair of uracil subsequent to thymidylate synthase inhibition.

Abstract The lack of a phenotypic alteration of 5-hydroxymethyluracil (hmUra) DNA glycosylase (hmUDG) deficient Chinese hamster V79 mut 1 cells exposed to DNA-damaging agents known to produce hmUra has raised the question whether there might be DNA substrates other than hmUra for hmUDG. Based on the structural similarity between 5-chlorouracil (ClUra) and hmUra and the observations that 5-chloro-2′-deoxyuridine (CldUrd) induces base excision repair (BER) events, we asked whether hmUDG or some other DNA BER enzyme is responsible for the removal of ClUra from DNA. An in vivo flow cytometry assay with FITC-anti-BrdUrd (which cross-reacts with CldUrd) showed that exogenous CldUrd is incorporated into DNA. However, both in vivo and in vitro experiments indicated that ClUra is not excised from DNA by hmUDG or other DNA glycosylase activities. The absence of removal of ClUra by hmUDG raised the question whether DNA strand breaks occurred subsequent to thymidylate synthase inhibition, leading to deoxyuridine incorporation, followed by cleavage of uracil from DNA by uracil DNA glycosylase (UDG). An in vivo thymidylate synthase activity assay in V79 cells demonstrated that CldUrd treatment inhibits thymidylate synthase as effectively as 5-fluoro-2′-deoxyuridine (FdUrd) treatment. Uracil, a known UDG inhibitor, partially reverses the cytotoxic effects of CldUrd on V79 cells, thus confirming that CldUrd induced cytotoxicity is a result of UDG activity. Our results demonstrated that while CldUrd is not directly repaired from DNA, its cytotoxicity is directly due to the UDG removing uracil subsequent to inhibition of thymidylate synthase by CldUMP.
Spectrally- and time-resolved fluorescence emission of indole during solvent relaxation: a quantitative model

Abstract Relaxation of polar solvents around excited fluorescent solutes results in a continuous time-dependent red shift in the fluorescence spectrum. Static heterogeneous broadening can also produce time-variant fluorescence spectra. The two effects can be distinguished by a quantitative model of fluorescence during homogeneous electrostatic relaxation. The model describes the evolution of the instantaneous spectrum and the time variation of the intensity observed at any fixed wavelength. The model is in good agreement with the experimental data obtained using a solution of indole in anhydrous glycerol at 4 nm spectral and 65 ps temporal resolution.