cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A method for applying different stains to alternate serial sections on a single microscope slide.

Every other section on the slide is coated with an inert grease (Dow Corning 7 Compound). The first staining technique is applied, thus staining the sections not covered with grease. The grease is dissolved in xylene, the slide rehydrated, and the sections already stained are coated with grease. The second staining technique is applied, and the grease is again dissolved in xylene, yielding finally a slide on which alternate sections have been stained by the two different staining techniques. Silicone greases, applied with a syringe and blunt hypodermic needle, are useful coating materials because of their insolubility in water and alcohol, chemical inertness, and heat stability. Silicone coatings are compatible with most staining techniques, including those which use strong oxidants, reductants, acids, bases, enzymes, and high temperatures. The method is particularly useful in examining serial sections of small blocks of tissue, or of tissues varying significantly in structure every few sections.
S-band occultation experiment for Mariner Mars 1971

S band occultation experiment for Mariner Mars 1971 orbiters, measuring atmospheric density and ionospheric electron density profiles
Evaluation and management of asymptomatic third molars: Lack of symptoms does not equate to lack of pathology.

Because most adolescents and young adults have at least 1 third molar, and three quarters have 4, clinicians are often faced with advising their patients about third molar management.1 The term “asymptomatic” as applied to third molars continues to be a source of confusion for those confronted with a decision on treatment. A few clinicians and the public have assumed that “asymptomatic” infers “pathology free” today and for the future. Some patients have third molars that are “symptom free and pathology free.” More often, however, third molars are “symptom free, and pathology exists,” requiring a clinical or radiographic examination for confirmation. The source of this current conundrum for clinicians and patients can be traced back at least 5 decades. In 1962, Ash et al2 cautioned that the association between third molars and periodontal pathology affecting the adjacent second molars had been overlooked. Subsequently, to preserve the periodontal health of adjacent second molars, Ash3 suggested that third molars should be removed in young adults before root formation is complete. Since then, many clinicians have heeded this advice and urged patients to have their third molars removed to prevent pathology, including periodontal inflammatory disease, from developing, although the third molar had no symptoms. Without acknowledging that only a clinical exam can confirm the absence of pathology affecting the third molars, others have questioned the wisdom of removing “asymptomatic” third molars.4
Photovoltaic energy integration laboratory and experiments

A laboratory for education in modeling and integration of photovoltaic energy sources has been developed at the United States Military Academy. The primary purpose of this lab is to support a new Alternative Energy Engineering course and undergraduate capstone/research projects. The lab consists of a PV array, battery bank, maximum power point tracking charge controller, an inverter for local AC loads, grid interconnection, and programmable AC/DC electronic loads. The laboratory supports isolated testing and characterization of PV panels in addition to grid-tied or microgrid operation with energy storage. Additionally, load control, automatic acquisition, processing, and logging of data are accomplished with a combination of commercially available software and custom developed LabVIEW software. The following will be presented in this paper: i) the laboratory design, setup, and capabilities, ii) data acquisition iii) data processing, load control and integration, and iv) sample experiments and results.
Integration of progeny simian virus 40 DNA into the host cell genome.

Abstract A procedure was developed for the separation of cellular DNA of productively infected monkey kidney cells from free simian virus 40 DNA. The application of this procedure allowed the investigation of progeny viral DNA integration into the host cell DNA by nucleic acid hybridization techniques. The purification consisted of precipitation of the cellular DNA by Hirt's (1967) method, velocity centrifugation in alkaline sucrose gradients, equilibrium centrifugation in ethidium bromide/CsCl solution, and an additional velocity centrifugation in an alkaline sucrose gradient. The efficiency of each step of the procedure was determined by monitoring the amount of contaminating free viral DNA. Purified cellular DNA, isolated from cells late after infection, contained approximately 0/sd006% free viral DNA, but as much as 2% integrated simian virus 40 DNA. This corresponds to more than 20,000 integrated virus genome equivalents per cell, as determined by DNA-DNA reassociation kinetics. Integration of simian virus 40 DNA into the cellular DNA became detectable at 24 hours after infection, and increased with the increase in the rate of viral DNA synthesis.
Theoretical assessment of the viability of thermal [2+2] processes for formation of plumisclerin A

Abstract Results from density functional theory calculations on a proton-promoted [2+2] cycloaddition to form plumisclerin A’s cyclobutane ring are described. On the basis of these results, it is proposed that protonation allows for an energetically viable stepwise cycloaddition that provides an alternative to photochemical cyclobutane formation.
Optimization of the cost and sensitivity of receptor- and enzyme-based assays.

In detecting receptor antagonists or enzyme inhibitors, there are three parameters that often affect the outcome in a predictable quantitative manner: concentrations of the receptors (enzyme), labeled ligand (substrate), and antagonist (inhibitor). The usual goal of assay optimization is to maximize the ability of the assay to detect low concentrations of the analyte. Another question of practical importance, especially in screening of large numbers of samples, would be minimization of the reagent cost. Although the mathematical theory of optimization of the receptor binding assay was developed a long time ago, the resulting formulas (in the general case of unequal affinities of ligand and competitor) were not well suited for practical use. The current availability of computational programs, such as Mathematica, makes possible an efficient solution, both for receptor- and enzyme-based assays. We use a graphical approach to assay optimization and apply it to the following problems: (1) optimization of assay sensitivity, (2) optimization of the reagent cost, and (3) analysis of the entire range of the parameter values since the mathematically optimal values may sometimes be impractical. The computation is extremely simple and the problem can sometimes be solved in several minutes.
Notes on the variability of reflected inner core phases

Recent events beneath Central America have produced excellent sets of inner core reflection (PKiKP phase) at high frequency recorded by USArray ranging from 18° to 30°. However, the amplitude of this phase displays considerable scatter with a factor of six or more. Such scatter has been attributed to upper-mantle scattering and the Inner Core Boundary (ICB) in combination. Here, we show that neighboring events share upper-mantle scatterers beneath the receivers, and their ratio allows a clearer image of deep earth structure. After confirming some of the measured variation is indeed due to deep structure, we stacked nearby traces to reduce fine scale variations which are mostly due to shallow structure. Then, the remaining relatively large scale variation pattern of PKiKP phase is caused by the inner core boundary, as demonstrated by numerical experiments. After migration of data to the ICB, we observe a consistent image. We find such a pattern can be explained by a patch of mushy material of a few kilometers high where the material changes gradually from that of the outer core to that of the inner core.
The influence of freshwater runoff on biomass, morphometrics, and production of Thalassia testudinum

Efforts to restore more natural freshwater flows in South Florida will impact Biscayne Bay. In order to evaluate possible effects of decreased freshwater discharge on the seagrass Thalassia testudinum, we determined the biomass, density, morphometrics (width, length, number of blades per shoot) and production of T. testudinum twice a year for 2 year at sites exposed to varying degrees of freshwater runoff. Responses to freshwater discharge varied between the sampling years. The only morphometric variable to be influenced by freshwater runoff in both years was blade width with width of seagrass blades being less at sites influenced by freshwater runoff than at sites with limited influence of freshwater runoff. In 1996, no other parameters differed among the three freshwater conditions considered; canal discharge, sheet-flow runoff, and limited freshwater runoff. In addition, all measured parameters were greater in summer (wet season) than in winter (dry season) in 1996. In 1997, biomass, shoot weight, shoot production, and areal shoot production all were greater at sites on the eastern side of the bay that experience limited influence from freshwater runoff compared to sites on the western side of the bay that experience large amounts of freshwater runoff from sheet-flow and canal discharge. In 1997, only length of seagrass showed a significant increase from winter to summer. Factors thought to be responsible for these interannual differences are winter temperatures and seasonal rainfall amounts. The winter of 1996 was much colder than the winter of 1997, and 1997 experienced an unusually rainy dry season thus increasing the amount of time during the year that freshwater runoff would be influencing sites on the western side of the bay. Based on these results, reduced freshwater inflow to Biscayne Bay should have a positive effect on T. testudinum provided detrimental hypersaline conditions do not occur.
Accurate measurement of stable isotopes 46Ca and 48Ca in human feces, plasma, and urine in relation to human nutrition of calcium.

Abstract A method based on Radiochemical Neutron Activation Analysis (RNAA) is described which allows simultaneous measurement of two stable isotopes of calcium, 46 Ca and 48Ca, in human feces, plasma, and urine for the purpose of studying human nutrition and metabolism of calcium. It is shown that these measurements can be made with relative analytical precision of 1–5% depending on the particulars of a given experiment. The method has been applied in humans and data are given showing that kinetics of plasma appearance of 46Ca administered orally with food can be readily investigated. This method allows investigation of a number of important nutritional and metabolic issues in all human population groups without regard to radioisotope safety considerations, and should prove especially helpful in relation to studies of calcium bioavailability from different foods in a variety of population groups for whom use of radiocalcium is not warranted.
Child Labor: A Normative Perspective

Examining child labor through the lenses of weak agency, distributive inequality, and harm suggests that not all work performed by children is equally morally objectionable. Some work, especially work that does not interfere with or undermine their health or education, may allow children to develop skills they need to become well-functioning adults and broaden their future opportunities. Other work, including child prostitution and bonded labor, is unambiguously detrimental to children. Eliminating these forms of child labor should be the highest priority. Blanket bans on all child labor may drive families to choose even worse options for their children, however. Moreover, child labor is often a symptom of other problems poverty, inadequate education systems, discrimination within families, ethnic conflicts, inadequately protected human rights, weak democratic institutions that will not be eliminated by banning child labor.
Development of IR semiconductor lasers for scene projector applications

A semiconductor tunneling infrared laser (STIRL) multiple quantum well device fabricated in GaAs/AlGaAs/InGaAs material is proposed as the emitting element of a two dimensional array for a scene projector. Such sources have a pico-second response time and hence can be modulated at up to 100 GHz rate, which may provide very high dynamic range to produce a sensitive gray scale. The STIRL device utilizes the intra-band emission from the excited state of a quantum well to produce radiation in the 4 - 15 micrometers range. It exploits a novel technique to inject electrons directly into the upper state of a quantum well structure by selective tunneling and allows them to relax to the ground state by emitting an IR photon and subsequently removing electrons from the ground state of the quantum well by another selective tunneling process. The energy difference between the lowest sub-bands in a quantum well of GaAs/AlGaAs can be as high as 0.25 eV which is equivalent to 5 micrometers emission wavelength. The quantum well dimensions can be tailored to produce emission in 5 - 15 micrometers . By selecting InGaAs for the quantum well materials and InAlAs for the barrier materials the emission range can be extended beyond these limits. Individual devices can operate at 100 to 200 mV and at low current resulting in power consumption of less than 15 mW depending on the size of the device. Monolithic integration of these microsources at high densities makes the high definition IR scene projector feasible.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Studies of two-dimensional MoGe superconductors in a magnetic field

Abstract The H-T phase diagram of two-dimensional amorphous MoGe superconductors is studied near Hc2 and near the melting line of the vortex lattice. Good agreement with the lowest Landau level approximation is found for the broadening of the specific heat in a field. We also find that melting of the vortex lattice can be observed only on short enough length scales, shorter than the disorder-mediated lattice correlation length.
Carrier Dynamics in the Quantum Kinetic Regime.

We present a study of carrier dynamics in GaAs during and just after creation by ultrashort laser pulses. We observe a quasi-instantaneous spread of the carrier population in momentum-energy space. Attempts to fit the scattering rates in the relaxation time approximation result in parameters outside the range of validity of the theory. We interpret this as a failure of the Boltzmann kinetic approach in the quantum kinetic regime.
Help-Seeking Behaviors of Women with Urinary Incontinence: An Integrative Literature Review

Urinary incontinence (UI) affects approximately 17 million American women. Women with UI have reported a lower quality of life than women who do not experience UI. In many cases, UI affects a woman's ability to take part in a variety of recreational and social activities, and has negative psychological effects including depression, anxiety, and frustration. Studies show that fewer than 50% of women with UI discuss their symptoms with their health care provider. Although researchers have examined help-seeking behaviors in people with UI, few have examined women of all ages with all types of UI. The purpose of this integrative literature review is to summarize the help-seeking behaviors for UI symptoms among noninstitutionalized women of all ages with all types of UI. Five studies were reviewed. In all of the studies, less than 38% of women sought help for their UI symptoms. Factors affecting help seeking included quality of life scores, perceptions women had regarding the normalcy of UI, and beliefs about treatment options available for the problem. Age, type of UI, severity of UI, and embarrassment were found to be significantly related to help-seeking in most, but not all of the studies.
Emotional support in pediatric trauma: Remembering children like caleb

Sudden traumatic injury can be devastating to a child and family, especially when a loved one dies. Through a young boy's letter, health care providers can see how children try to cope with traumatic injury and death. Suggestions regarding ways to promote healing of the child's emotional wounds are also included
Faith-based efforts to improve prisoner reentry: Assessing the logic and evidence

Prisoner reentry constitutes one of the central criminal justice challenges confronting U.S. society. Coinciding with this emerging social problem has been increased policymaker interest in faith-based programs to improve outcomes for vulnerable populations, including released prisoners. Critical questions about the nature and effects of faith-based reentry programs remain largely unaddressed, however: (1) What is a “faith-based” program? (2) How does or could such a program reduce recidivism and improve other behavioral outcomes among released offenders? (3) What is the evidence concerning the impacts of faith-based reentry programs? (4) What are critical implementation issues that may affect the operations and impacts of such programs? This article examines each of these questions and identifies critical conceptual, theoretical, and research gaps in the literature. It highlights that the term “faith-based” is used inconsistently, that the precise causal relationship, if any, between various measures of faith and crime remains in question, and that few rigorous evaluations of faith-based reentry programs exist. It then discusses recommendations for improving knowledge and practice.
Growth and renal function after steroid-free tacrolimus-based immunosuppression in children with renal transplants.

Steroid withdrawal after renal transplantation and cyclosporine-based immunosuppression enhances growth in children, but this practice is not widely employed because of a 50%–60% rate of rejection, graft dysfunction, or graft loss. The current study evaluates growth and renal function after withdrawal and discontinuation of steroids within 1 year of transplantation in 52 children receiving tacrolimus (FK-506)-based immunosuppression. Height Z-score, weight-for-height index (WHI), and body mass index (BMI), as well as graft loss and calculated creatinine clearance as a measure of glomerular filtration rate (GFR), were assessed. Children were divided into three groups according to age at transplantation: group I, 16 children aged 0–5 years; group II, 17 children aged 6–12 years; group III, 19 children aged 13–16 years. Significant and sustained improvement in height occurred in groups I and III, with Z-scores increasing by 1.51 and 1.57 standard deviations at 3 years after transplantation compared with the Z-score at transplantation (P 95% denoting obesity. Failure of steroid withdrawal, defined as reinstitution of steroids, graft dysfunction, or graft loss, occurred in 9 of 68 (13%) children who underwent steroid withdrawal at any time after transplantation, and resulted in graft dysfunction or graft loss in 5 (7%). Over a 3-year period, rates of renal dysfunction, as manifested by >50% rise in the serum creatinine level above baseline, or graft loss were lower in these 68 children compared with 8 children who never had steroid withdrawal (P<0.05). Mean GFR at 3 years after transplantation ranged from 96 to 102 ml/min per 1.73 m2 in all three steroid withdrawal groups, and remained stable during the 3 years of follow-up. These data indicate that steroid withdrawal enables normalization of growth without obesity, and without imposing an excessive risk for graft dysfunction or graft loss.
Abstract 2236: A selection strategy for the design of small proteins that can distinguish DNA repair intermediates.

Proceedings: AACR 104th Annual Meeting 2013; Apr 6-10, 2013; Washington, DC Recognition of DNA damage by repair proteins is crucial for genomic stability. Several repair enzymes recognize aberrant DNA structural features, including nicks, gaps, and abasic sites, in a sequence-independent DNA manner. Reported here is a strategy to model these protein-DNA interactions using small proteins. A phage-displayed library of approximately one hundred million distinct zinc fingers was engineered at the DNA level based on the DNA binding domain of the repair protein poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. Eight codons, representing amino acid residues in ‘loop’ regions of the zinc finger structure, were randomized using an NNK codon scheme. The DNA cassette was cloned into a commercially obtained T7 phagemid vector. The resultant phage library was exposed to nicked DNA molecules, which were attached to magnetic beads via a biotin-streptavidin linkage. In four rounds of selection that featured negative selection against non-nicked DNA and streptavidin coated beads, viral retention on the affinity resin increased from a negligible quantity to 62%. DNA sequencing following the final round revealed near convergence to a single, 39-mer peptide. This selected peptide will be generated by bacterial expression and assayed for binding activity using multiple strategies. While phage display of sequence specific DNA binding proteins is well-precedented, selection of peptides that bind specific DNA structures has not been reported. Molecules discovered by this strategy will help illuminate the structure-function relationships of proteins that recognize distinct DNA structures and may lead to new anticancer approaches. Citation Format: Rachel M. Guerra, Kristina M. Langenborg, Kayla M. Gross, Emily V. Sher, John W. Gilboy, Dylan Plaskon, Kevin P. Rice. A selection strategy for the design of small proteins that can distinguish DNA repair intermediates. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2236. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-2236
ICAM-1 Affects Reperfusion Injury and Graft Function after Cardiac Transplantation

Abstract Background. The effects of increased expression of intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM-1), an important mediator of neutrophil-mediated reperfusion injury (RI), were assessed in donor cardiac allografts in a heterotopic rat transplantation model. Methods. At −24 h, PVG donors were untreated (n = 35) or treated (n = 37) with lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 5 mg/kg ip). Hearts were procured at 0 h, stored at 4°C for 45 min, and grafted heterotopically into ACI recipients pretreated with vehicle or anti-ICAM-1 (1A29) mAb. Intracardiac balloons (n = 8 per group) were used to measure allograft left ventricular function (dP/dt) prior to harvest and following reperfusion. RI was assessed at 6, 12, and 24 h by myeloperoxidase (MPO) levels, percentage wet weight (%w/w), and percentage contraction band necrosis (%CBN). Results. At 12 h, LPS-pretreated grafts showed increased ICAM-1 expression by Northern blot (n = 3) and immunohistochemistry (n = 3) and significantly increased MPO (0.33 ± 0.2 U/mg vs 0.05 ± 0.04 U/mg at 12 h), %w/w (81.7 ± 1.8% vs 79.2 ± 0.7% at 12 h), and %CBN (15.2 ± 1.9% vs 11.4 ± 2.0% at 24 h). LPS pretreatment had no effect on graft function at early time points (baseline to 2 h) but led to depressed dP/dt at later time points with trends toward significance at 12 h (2101 ± 1653 mmHg/s vs 173 ± 201 mmHg/s, P = 0.06, ANOVA). Recipient 1A29 treatment (n = 6 per group) reversed the effects of LPS pretreatment in all three RI parameters and significantly improved functional recovery. Conclusions. Alteration of cardiac graft phenotype to that likely seen in clinical organ donors leads to increased delayed-onset myocardial RI following transplantation in this model. The blockade of this increased RI following 1A29 mAb treatment supports a central role for ICAM-1 in this process.
Calbindin-containing non-specific thalamocortical projecting neurons in the rat

Immunoreactivity for calcium binding proteins was used to demonstrate the neurochemical profiles of non-specific thalamocortical neurons located in the ventromedial nucleus, the centrolateral nucleus, and the nucleus reuniens that project to the somatosensory cortex in the adult rat. Cortical injections of fluorescent tracers combined with immunohistochemistry for calcium binding proteins revealed that retrogradely labeled neurons in these three thalamic nuclei are immunoreactive for calbindin. The present results suggest the presence of a chemically distinct non-specific thalamocortical system which terminates in the neocortex.
Theoretical study of carboxylic acids with explicit water molecules

Formic, acetic, trichloroacetic, benzoic and salicylic acids were studied with density functional theory in the explicit presence of six or seven water molecules, comparing the relative energies of the solvated acid and dissociated forms. Six water molecules are found to be sufficient to stabilize the dissociated ion pair of these weak acids at the B3LYP/6-31++G** level of theory. The H13O6+ ion appears as a common (six water molecule) structural unit for the dissociated carboxylic acids as studied here. The relative energy differences between the non-dissociated and dissociated clusters for each acid are in accordance with pKa data.
Observation of gain-narrowing and saturation behavior in Se x-ray laser line profiles.

We report on the first successful measurements of the spectral width of an x-ray laser line. The experiments observed the 206.38-\AA{} laser in Ne-like Se and indicate an unamplified width of 50 m\AA{}, show gain narrowing to 10 m\AA{} in intermediate length amplifiers, and show no significant rebroadening in saturated amplifiers. The unamplified width is 1.4 times the expected Doppler width, and the lack of rebroadening leads to speculation that collisional effects may play a significant role in determining the line profiles.
Classic phenylketonuria: diagnosis through heterozygote detection.

Fifty-nine male and female (pregnant and nonpregnant) normal control subjects were differentiated from 18 male and female obligate heterozygotes for classic PKU. The method of genotyping utilized midday semifasting blood P and T quantitated by ion-exchange chromatography, an empiric determinant, P 2 /T, and a discriminant function (Σ), in which Σ=a 1 [P]+a 2 [T]; a 1 and a 2 were computed by multivariate analysis. This method of genotyping was applied in three clinical settings. In one family hyperphenylalaninemia was differentiated from classic PKU in two sisters with elevated blood P. In a second family maternal PKU was related to microcephaly in two retarded siblings, one of whom was also homozygous for classic PKU. In a third family a diagnosis of classic PKU was established in a normal-appearing infant whose blood P concentration was elevated.
Diffusivity of ions in agarose gels and intervertebral disc: Effect of porosity

The effect of tissue porosity on ion (sodium, potassium, and chloride) diffusivity in agarose gels and porcine intervertebral disc tissues was investigated using an electrical conductivity method. An empirical, constitutive model for diffusivity (D) of solutes in porous fibrous media was proposed: D/D o=exp [−α(r s/κ1/2)β] where r s is the Stokes radius of a solute, κ is the Darcy permeability of the porous medium, D o is the diffusivity in free solution, α and β are two positive parameters whose values depend on material structure. It is found that α=1.25±0.138, β=0.681±0.059 (95% confidence interval, R 2=0.92, n=72) for agarose gels and α=1.29±0.171 and β=0.372±0.088 (95% confidence interval, R 2=0.88, n=86) for porcine annulus fibrosus. The functional relationship between solute diffusivity and tissue deformation was derived. Comparisons of our model prediction with experimental data on diffusion coefficients of macromolecules (proteins, dextrans, polymer beads) in agarose gels in the literature were made. Our results were also compared to the data on ion diffusivity in charged gels and in cartilaginous tissues reported in the literature. There was a good agreement between our model prediction and the data in the literature. The present study provides additional information on solute diffusivity in uncharged gels and charged tissues, and is important for understanding nutritional transport in avascular cartilaginous tissues under different mechanical loading conditions.
Resonant impurity scattering and electron-phonon scattering in the electrical resistivity of Cr thin films

The resistivity as a function of temperature from 0.6 to 300 K for epitaxial and polycrystalline Cr thin films is presented and fit to a model which includes electron-phonon scattering and resonant impurity scattering. Resonant impurity scattering from localized defect states in the spin-density wave gap leads to very high residual resistivity (up to $400\text{ }\ensuremath{\mu}\ensuremath{\Omega}\text{ }\text{cm}$) and a minimum at low temperatures (below 100 K). This is strong experimental evidence for resonant impurity scattering due to defects in pure Cr rather than dopant atoms. The magnitude of the resistivity minimum scales linearly with the residual resistivity over 2 orders of magnitude. At moderate temperatures (100--300 K) the resistivity shows a positive, linear temperature dependence due to electron-phonon scattering. Defects affect the electron-phonon scattering as well leading to a variation in the effective Debye temperature and resistivity slope between samples, a significant deviation from Matthiessen's rule.
Conductance measurements of the lag phase of injured Salmonella typhimurium.

The duration of the lag phase of Salmonella typhimurium injured by heating, freezing, acidification or drying was measured using the ‘Malthus’ conductance meter. Results confirmed those previously obtained by viable counting and additionally, revealed the very wide variation in lag between and within populations and the extreme length of lag that can occur in some severely injured cells. In an extreme example, the measured lag times of low numbers of bacteria taken from the same heat-injured population ranged from 16 h to 70 h. The implications for the detection of injured micro-organisms in food are discussed.
Combinatorial Screening of Biomimetic Protein Affinity Materials

Materials that mimic the exquisite affinity and specificity of proteins have vast potential for multiplexed assays and biomaterials. The critical features of affinity materials are the recognition element(s) and the scaffold upon which the recognition element is presented. This is analogous to the structure of antibodies, which are comprised of several small recognition loops supported by a large three-dimensional scaffold. Polymer gels can be used as synthetic affinity materials and have been suggested as possible molecular recognition mimics of proteins. Like proteins, polymer gels present a three-dimensional surface but are typically built from a limited set of monomers when compared to the chemically diverse set of 20 amino acids used to build proteins. Unlike proteins, precise sequence control of monomers within a polymer gel is difficult. Conversely, DNA and peptide microarrays constructed on planar glass substrates present a precisely controlled and chemically diverse set of recognition elements, but are not representative of the three-dimensional protein surfaces used in nature. Combining the three-dimensional surface of polymer gels with the precisely controlled chemical diversity of microarrays is a potentially powerful approach for high-throughput screening of biomimetic affinity materials. Here we describe the preparation of large arrays of three-dimensional peptide grafted polymer affinity materials, allowing the screening of 10000 material combinations in parallel for protein affinity. While there are several classes of molecules which can be used to design protein-specific recognition elements including oligonucleotides, proteins, and peptides, peptides were selected because they can be synthesized in situ and peptides grafted to three-
Nonlinear dynamics: Universal clues in noisy skews

Crackling noise emitted in systems as diverse as candy wrappers and earthquakes show strikingly similar behaviour, but how it is influenced by the details of these systems is unclear. A study that identifies the microscopic origin of unexplained asymmetries in the noise emitted by a magnet could provide some answers.
Chlordiazepoxide's interaction with ethanol intake in the rat: relation to ethanol exposure paradigms.

Abstract Chlordiazepoxide's interaction with ethanol (5% v/v) intake was assessed in rats on a feeding regimen producing high daily quantities of ethanol intake (schedule-induction procedure with intermittent feeding), more moderate amounts of ethanol intake (a single daily feeding), and small amounts of ethanol intake (free feeding). Six days of twice daily sham injections (IP) were followed by 12 days of 0 (vehicle), 5, 10, or 15 mg/kg (twice daily) chlordiazepoxide, and finally six days of the saline (vehicle) injections. Rats in the intermittent feeding daily consumed 9.9–12.3 g/kg (80–95 ml) of ethanol on baseline which was reduced 15 to 33% by the drug. In the single feed condition most rats were drinking 70 to 85 ml (8.8–10.3 g/kg) of ethanol and this was reduced 15–40% by the drug. During the six days after drug, intake in both of these feeding regimens returned to the baseline level. Ethanol intake of rats under the free feeding condition (48 ml, 3.5 g/kg on average) was not affected by the drug, nor was water intake under any of the three feeding regimens.
Purification and methylation analysis of cell wall material from Solanum tuberosum

Cell wall material (CWM) of potatoes was prepared by sequentially extracting the wet ball-milled tissue with 1 % aq. Na deoxycholate, PhOHHOAcH2O and 90 % (v/v) aq. DMSO. The purity of the CWM (e.g. absence of residual starch) was established by carbohydrate analysis using different acid hydrolysis conditions and by methylation studies. The partially methylated alditol acetates from the CHCl3MeOH soluble fraction (S) of the methylated CWM were separated into 15 main peaks by GLC. Fourteen of these peaks were carbohydrate derivatives and the identity of most of these was established by MS. Reduction of the hydrolysate of S with NaBD4 was used to identify the carbohydrate derivatives present in peaks 7 and 11 above. The occurrence of 4-linked galacturonosyl residues in the methylated polymers was established after reduction of S with LiAlH4 and LiAlD4. The main glycosidic linkages present in the non-cellulosic polysaccharides of the wall in descending order of concentration are: 4-linked galactose, 4-linked galacturonic acid, 5-linked arabinose and 4,6-linked glucose. The major branch points are those through 0–6 of glucose and 0–4 of rhamnose. Arabinose, galactose and xylose residues constituted the non-reducing ends. Graded acid hydrolysis of the CWM made it possible to assess the relative strengths of some of the glycosidic linkages. The general structural features of the CWM are discussed in the light of these results.
Acute hepatitis A: an endangered species.

Background: Although inactivated hepatitis A vaccine is known to be well tolerated and immunogenic in healthy children and adults, its efficacy has yet to be established. Methods: To evaluate the efficacy of the hepatitis A vaccine in protecting against clinically apparent disease, we conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in a Hasidic Jewish community in upstate New York that has bad recurrent outbreaks of hepatitis A. At the beginning of a summer outbreak, 1037 healthy seronegative children 2 to 16 years of age were randomly assigned to receive one intramuscular injection of a highly purified, formalin-inactivated hepatitis A vaccine or placebo. A case was defined by the presence of typical signs and symptoms, a diagnostic increase in IgM antibody to hepatitis A, and a serum concentration of alanine aminotransferase at cast twice the upper limit of normal. Cases occurring ≥ 50 days after the injection were included in the evaluation of efficacy. The children were followed for a mean of 103 days. Results: A total of 519 children received vaccine, and 518 received placebo. The vaccine was well tolerated, with no serious adverse reactions. From day 50 after the injection, 25 cases of clinically apparent hepatitis A occurred in the placebo group and none in the vaccine group (P < 0.001), confirming that the vaccine had 100 percent protective efficacy. Before day 21, seven cases occurred in the vaccine group and three cases in the placebo group. After that time, there were no cases among vaccine recipients and 34 cases among placebo recipients. Conclusions: The inactivated purified hepatitis A vaccine that we tested is well tolerated, and a single dose is highly protective against clinically apparent hepatitis A.
Position Dependant Power Allocation Strategies in Cooperative Relay Networks

In fading wireless channels, relays are often used with the aim, of achieving diversity and thus overall performance gain. We use amplify and forward (AF) and decode and forward (DF) at the relay and optimize the power allocated to the relay, under total transmit power constraint, to maximize the instantaneous SNR and thus achieve improved throughput and BER performance. We compare the performance of the AF and DF protocols based on their positional BER and throughput and notice that our power optimized schemes outperform, existing ones at certain areas. Finally we also identify the region where relaying would provide performance gains for both the protocols
The seismic moment budget of slowly spreading ridges

Mid-ocean ridges with well developed median valleys are commonly the sites of large normal-faulting earthquakes1,2. A recent global study3–6 of the centroid depths and source mechanisms of such earthquakes has yielded two important conclusions: first, that all the largest mid-ocean ridge earthquakes occur beneath the inner floor of the median valley, and second, that the maximum thickness of the seismogenic layer increases with decreasing spreading rate. These results lend support to the hypothesis that the median valley arises from the necking of a strong, brittle lithosphere under horizontal extension7–9. Here we compare the global rate of seismic moment release along slowly spreading mid-ocean ridges with the rate predicted if widening of the median valley occurs entirely by seismogenic extension of the brittle lithosphere beneath the inner floor. We find that earthquakes account for no more than about 10–20% of the rate of plate separation across the central median valley.
Unique sequences in region VI of the flagellin gene of Salmonella typhi

Summary The HI (now renamed fliC; lino et al., 1988) alleles specifying antigenically different Salmonella flagellins are identical at their ends but differ greatly towards the middle, where there are two hypervariable segments (regions IV and VI). The flagellar antigen, d, of Salmonella typhi, is found also as phase-1 antigen in many other Saimonella species. We cloned the H1-d gene of a strain of S. typhi and determined the nucleotide sequence of its two hypervariable regions. Comparison with gene H1-d of Salmonella muenchen showed substantial differences in region VI: four scattered amino acid differences and ten adjacent amino acids in the inferred S. typhi sequence, all of which differ from the corresponding nine amino acids in the S. muenchen sequence. The results of polymerase chain reaction amplification indicated the presence of the S. typhi version in all of 18 additional S. typhi strains and the presence of the S. muenchen version in all four non-S. typhi species with flagellar antigen d. The difference in amino acid sequence in segment VI may be responsible for the minor serological differences between antigens d of S. typhi and antigen d of S. muenchen.
Proteomic profiling of acrolein adducts in human lung epithelial cells

Acrolein (2,3-propenal) is a major indoor and outdoor air pollutant originating largely from tobacco smoke or organic combustion. Given its high reactivity, the adverse effects of inhaled acrolein are likely due to direct interactions with the airway epithelium, resulting in altered epithelial function, but only limited information exists to date regarding the primary direct cellular targets for acrolein. Here, we describe a global proteomics approach to characterize the spectrum of airway epithelial protein targets for Michael adduction in acrolein-exposed bronchial epithelial (HBE1) cells, based on biotin hydrazide labeling and avidin purification of biotinylated proteins or peptides for analysis by LC-MS/MS. Identified protein targets included a number of stress proteins, cytoskeletal proteins, and several key proteins involved in redox signaling, including thioredoxin reductase, thioredoxin, peroxiredoxins, and glutathione S-transferase π. Because of the central role of thioredoxin reductase in cellular redox regulation, additional LC-MS/MS characterization was performed on purified mitochondrial thioredoxin reductase to identify the specific site of acrolein adduction, revealing the catalytic selenocysteine residue as the target responsible for enzyme inactivation. Our findings indicate that these approaches are useful in characterizing major protein targets for acrolein, and will enhance mechanistic understanding of the impact of acrolein on cell biology.
TREATMENT OF JUVENILE THYROTOXICOSIS.

Individuality of treatment and a certain latitude in choice of therapy in the management of juvenile thyrotoxicosis are advocated. Eighteen such patients, illustrative of this approach, are reviewed. Remission occurred in seven during medical therapy (thiouracil derivatives). Eight underwent subtotal thyroidectomy; 2 because of relapse after adequate periods of treatment, 3 because of toxic reactions to the drugs, with 2 there was inability to adhere rigidly to the treatment regimen, and in 1 instance because idiopathic neutropenia precluded trial of antithyroid medication. Inflexibility in the management of juvenile thyrotoxicosis is countered by compromise proposals which include initial use of antithyroid drugs and the later choice of definitive therapy based upon individual circumstances.
MicroRNAs and HIV-1: Complex interactions

RNAi plays important roles in many biological processes, including cellular defense against viral infection. Components of the RNAi machinery are widely conserved in plants and animals. In mammals, microRNAs (miRNAs) represent an abundant class of cell encoded small noncoding RNAs that participate in RNAi-mediated gene silencing. Here, findings that HIV-1 replication in cells can be regulated by miRNAs and that HIV-1 infection of cells can alter cellular miRNA expression are reviewed. Lessons learned from and questions outstanding about the complex interactions between HIV-1 and cellular miRNAs are discussed.
Reactions of methane with titanium atoms: CH3TiH, CH2=TiH2, agostic bonding, and (CH3)2TiH2.

Laser-ablated titanium atoms react with methane to form the insertion product CH3TiH, which undergoes a reversible photochemical α-H transfer to give the methylidene complex CH2TiH2. On annealing a second methane activation occurs to produce (CH3)2TiH2. These molecules are identified from matrix infrared spectra by isotopic substitution (CH4, 13CH4, CD4, CH2D2) and comparison to DFT frequency calculations. The computed planar structure for singlet ground-state CH2TiH2 shows CH2 distortion and evidence for agostic bonding (H−C−Ti, 91.4°), which is supported by the spectra for CHDTiHD.
Dissociation constants for GABAA receptor antagonists determined with neuronal networks on microelectrode arrays

Abstract Changes in spontaneous spike activities from murine frontal cortex networks grown on microelectrode arrays were used to determine the dissociation constants of three GABA A antagonists: gabazine, bicuculline, and trimethylolpropane phosphate (TMPP). Networks were treated with fixed concentrations of antagonists and titrated with the GABA A receptor agonist muscimol. Muscimol decreased spike activity in a concentration-dependent manner with full efficacy (100% spike inhibition). A sigmoidal curve fit provided a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) of 0.14 ± 0.05 μM (mean ± S.D., n = 5). Increasing concentrations of the three antagonists shifted the muscimol concentration response curves (CRCs) to the right with the same efficacy. Schild plot analyses with linear regressions resulted in slopes that are statistically not different from unity and provided X -intercepts (dissociation constants) of 0.23, 0.61, and 3.98 μM for gabazine, bicuculline, and TMPP, respectively. Corresponding pA2 values (−log K B ) were 6.64, 6.21, and 5.40. The dissociation constants for gabazine and bicuculline agree well with those obtained with other methods. The TMPP K B has not yet been reported in the literature. The data suggest that spontaneously active networks on microelectrode arrays can be used as reliable platforms for rapid quantitative pharmacological investigations.
The Effects of Copper on the Interfacial Failure of Gold Films

Nanoindentation test techniques were combined with deposition of highly stressed overlayers to study the interfacial fracture susceptibility of gold-on-copper and gold-2w/o-copper alloy films. The gold-on-copper film blistered readily following deposition of stressed tungsten overlayers. Additional stress from nanoindentation was required to trigger delamination and blister formation in the gold-copper alloy film. Fracture energies were then determined using mechanics-based models. The results show that the gold-copper alloy exhibited higher fracture energies than the gold-on-copper films. This increase scaled with film strength suggesting that the higher measured fracture energies in the gold-copper alloy film were due to solid solution hardening.
GENDER DIFFERENCES in Health and Health Actions Among Community-Dwelling Elders

This secondary analysis of data from a study of elders' health examined gender differences in the psychological and physical health and the health actions made in response to specific physical complaints in a random sample of 491 community-dwelling older adults (mean age of 75.3 years). Significant gender differences in anxiety, depression, and body awareness were found, although there were no differences in self-assessed health or total number of health problems reported. There were some gender differences in the types of health problems experienced. Subjects tended to use self-care actions, particularly over-the-counter medications and home remedies, more so than professional consultation. Different patterns of care emerged for women and men, with women somewhat more inclined to use self-care and men more likely to seek professional consultation.
Proof of Grünbaum's conjecture on the stretchability of certain arrangements of pseudolines

Abstract We prove Grunbaum's conjecture that every arrangement of eight pseudolines in the projective plane is stretchable, i.e., determines a cell complex isomorphic to one determined by an arrangement of lines. The proof uses our previous results on ordered duality in the projective plane and on periodic sequences of permutations of [1,n] associated to arrangements of n lines in the euclidean plane.
On the non-linear response of an elastic string to a moving load

Abstract The non-linear response of an elastic string to a moving load is studied, using a special perturbation method. Solutions are obtained that are valid throughout a particular neighborhood of the critical speed of the linear theory. The solutions show how the transitions from subcritical responses to supercritical responses, and vice versa , take place near the critical speed.