cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Enduring suffering: a grounded theory analysis of the pain experience of elderly hospice patients with cancer.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To identify, describe, and generate a theoretical analysis of the pain experience of elderly hospice patients with cancer. DESIGN Qualitative, grounded theory. SETTING Participants' homes in rural east Texas counties. SAMPLE 11 participants older than 65 years who were receiving services from a for-profit hospice. METHODS Broad, unstructured, face-to-face audiotaped interviews transcribed verbatim and analyzed using constant-comparative method of analysis. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES Participants' descriptions of their pain experience. FINDINGS Suffering is the basic social problem of pain. Participants deal with suffering through the basic social process of enduring. Enduring has two subprocesses: maintaining hope and adjusting. Trusting in a higher being and finding meaning are ways of maintaining hope. Dealing with uncertainty, accepting, and minimizing pain are ways of adjusting. CONCLUSIONS Findings provide the basis for assessment of and interventions to foster enduring. Faith, caring relationships, and strategies to decrease pain helped elderly hospice patients to endure. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE Nurses need to recognize and value the hard work of enduring to deal with suffering. Enduring may be fostered by assisting elderly hospice patients with cancer to maintain hope and adjust.
Do Vaccines Cause Transverse Myelitis

Natural viral infections with influenza, hepatitis A, measles, mumps and rubella and varicella have all been associated with transverse myelitis, albeit rarely. Thus, these viral vaccines may prevent transverse myelitis by protecting against natural infection. Vaccines currently routinely recommended to the general population in the U.S. have not been shown to cause transverse myelitis.
The Usefulness and Endogenous Supply of Disclosure Accessibility

In this paper, we analytically examine firms’ joint decisions to affect the informativeness of their key performance indicators (KPIs) and the accessibility of their supplementary disclosures (e.g., MD&A) when it is costly for investors to analyze the latter. We show that while disclosure accessibility can help investors extract information in supplementary disclosure to assess the informativeness of reported KPIs, its usefulness can also endogenously limit its supply. We analyze how the equilibrium level of disclosure accessibility is affected by the degree of information asymmetry between a firm and its investors, the accuracy of mandatory disclosure, and the degree of disclosure complexity. Our analyses provide a framework to evaluate policies and proposals aimed at improving investors’ understanding of firm disclosure.
Objective Pressure Injury Risk Assessment Using A Wearable Pressure Sensor

The healthcare industry has placed significant effort on reducing pressure injuries as they often occur while patients are seeking treatment for an unrelated condition, lengthen the stay of the patient, impact treatment options, are extremely painful, and can result in death. Current work has shown that an increase in nursing care can reduce pressure injury occurrence, but increased nursing care is not sustainable. The Braden Scale is the current method of stratifying patients by risk of forming a pressure injury, but previous work has shown that the Braden Scale is not an accurate predictor of pressure injury formation. We present an objective mobility measure of pressure injury risk that can be used in addition to the Braden Scale using a wearable pressure-sensing device. By assessing the current pressure readings in real-time we can determine when a patient is mobile and present this data to the clinic. In future we aim to use this mobility measurement in a Cloud-based system that can compare the mobility measurements to similar patients to assess risk with increased accuracy.
Experiences of graduates in Massachusetts of the United States from a RN-to-BSN program

Abstract Objective To generate an understanding of the lived experiences of a shared central phenomenon of RN-to-BSN graduates and determine their perceptions of the value of their BSN degree. Methods The data collection procedure was open-ended, semi-structured, which was consisted of one-on-one interviews with 12 nurses who are licensed in Massachusetts and who are graduates of RN-to-BSN programs. Results The findings identified seven major emerging themes, a) job requirement, b) promotion, c) professional growth, d) personal growth, e) family obligations, f) time and energy, and h) compensation. The themes were incomparable through all emerging themes. Conclusions The research data analysis supports the need for the non-BSN RNs to continue their education to the BSN level should be central for nurse executives in hiring positions to help non-BSN staff RNs interested in these positions to meet the BSN requirement for applying for jobs that they may qualify for, but do not possess the BSN degree. There was a definite connection between job requirement and promotion from all the research study participants.
Impact of Changes in the US Heart Allocation System on Waitlist Mortality and Listing Practices

Purpose In October 2018, the US changed the donor heart allocation policy from a three-tiered status system to a six-tiered system, with higher priority given to those with temporary mechanical circulatory support. The purpose of the current study was to examine changes in listing practices and waitlist mortality before and after the implementation of the new allocation system. Methods Retrospective analysis was performed of adult patients being listed for heart transplant between May 2018-March 2019 as identified in the UNOS database. Exclusions included multi-organ listing and previous transplant. Patients were grouped by era according to initial list date before or after October 18, 2018. Waitlist survival was censored at 6 months or upon transplant. Results During the study period, 3,933 patients were listed, with 2,001 prior to allocation change (Era 1, 50.9%) and 1,932 after allocation change (Era 2, 49.1%). No differences were noted between patients listed in age, gender, diagnosis, dialysis, and mechanical ventilation. ECMO at listing was 2.3% vs. 2.6% in Eras 1 & 2, respectively (p=0.557). IABP at listing was more common in Era 2 (4.4% vs. 8.6%, p In Era 1, 521 (26.0%) patients were listed as status 1A, with 892 (44.6%) patients as status 1B. In Era 2, 55 (2.9%) of patients were listed as new status 1, 270 (14.0%) as new status 2, and 211 (10.9%) as new status 3. A trend towards decreased probability of staying on the waitlist was noted in the Era 2 (Figure, p=0.051). However, when censored for removal from the waitlist for reasons other than transplant, waitlist survival was similar (p=0.791). Conclusion The new allocation system has led to the listing of more patients with intra-aortic balloon pumps, without changes in temporary mechanical support at listing. The new allocation system is associated with more frequent removal from the waiting list due to reasons other than mortality. Continued examination of outcomes with the new system is warranted.
Life cycle of a cyanobacterial carboxysome

Carboxysomes, prototypical bacterial microcompartments (BMCs) found in cyanobacteria, are large (~1 GDa) and essential protein complexes that enhance CO2 fixation. While carboxysome biogenesis has been elucidated, the activity dynamics, lifetime, and degradation of these structures have not been investigated, owing to the inability of tracking individual BMCs over time in vivo. We have developed a fluorescence-imaging platform to simultaneously measure carboxysome number, position, and activity over time in a growing cyanobacterial population, allowing individual carboxysomes to be clustered on the basis of activity and spatial dynamics. We have demonstrated both BMC degradation, characterized by abrupt activity loss followed by polar recruitment of the deactivated complex, and a subclass of ultraproductive carboxysomes. Together, our results reveal the BMC life cycle after biogenesis and describe the first method for measuring activity of single BMCs in vivo.
On writing transnational migration in On Black Sisters’ Street (2009) and Better Never Than Late (2019): An interview with Chika Unigwe

This interview with Nigerian writer Chika Unigwe, conducted by email over the course of three months in early 2020, addresses the ethics and aesthetics of representing sex trafficking and transnati...
AIDS: The eleventh year

In his novel The Plague, Albert Camus observed that “Epidemics like wars always seem to take people by surprise.”1 A number of the chapters in this volume address the latest “surprise” of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)—the significance of heterosexual transmission in the United States. While our finest biomedical scientists struggle to understand and gain some control over this “new” virus, the known risk groups are benign decimated by disease and the number of new cases, many involving heterosexual transmission, seems to grow inexorably, and ultimately will certainly affect all of society.
Abstract B42: YAP1/Hippo pathway and SWI/SNF as critical players in squamous cancers and normal development

Cancer development is a multistep process involving deregulation of transcription/epigenetic factors and signaling pathways. Accordingly, gene expression lies at the nexus of oncogenic cellular processes. The recent advent of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) has shed light on multiple genes involved in signaling, transcription, and other cellular processes that are subjected to genomic alterations in multiple cancers. These oncogenic drivers are involved in regenerative proliferation, metastasis, and other cellular processes that contribute to tumorigenesis. Epithelial-stromal interactions and the infiltrating immune response contribute significantly to tumor progression. Our recent studies revealed Hippo pathway activation as a critical component in ACTL6A (subunit of SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex) amplified squamous cancers. Our published genetic studies indicate that YAP is a key mediator of the oncogenic function of ACTL6A/p63 in head and neck squamous cancers. P63 is a master transcription factor in epithelial development. We have shown that YAP and p63 biochemically interact to maintain airway architecture and regeneration. YAP and p63 deletion are phenocopies and are required to maintain normal respiratory epithelial stem cells. P63/ACTL6A act as upstream regulators of YAP in squamous cancers. ACTL6A and p63 physically interact and cooperatively control a transcriptional program that promotes proliferation and suppresses differentiation, through activation of the Hippo-YAP pathway via regulators including WWC1 and GPRC5A. Consequently, loss of ACTL6A or p63 in tumor cells induces YAP phosphorylation and inactivation, associated with growth arrest and terminal differentiation, all phenocopied by WWC1 overexpression. YAP activation predicts poor patient survival in squamous cancers. These findings are also in keeping with the emerging role of the YAP pathway as a tumor driver in multiple contexts. Given interest in YAP as a therapeutic target, our studies reveal contribution of p63 and TEAD to YAP function as evident from global transcription profiling. Our most recent studies also indicate contribution of YAP in tumor progression by evading host immune response. All these indicate an important intrinsic role of YAP in development and disease, making it one of the ideal therapeutic targets to control cancer. Citation Format: Leif Ellisen, Purushothama Rao Tata, Rui Zhao, Jayaraj Rajagopal, Srinivas Vinod Saladi. YAP1/Hippo pathway and SWI/SNF as critical players in squamous cancers and normal development [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on the Hippo Pathway: Signaling, Cancer, and Beyond; 2019 May 8-11; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2020;18(8_Suppl):Abstract nr B42.
Examining the developmental toxicity of piperonyl butoxide as a Sonic hedgehog pathway inhibitor

Piperonyl butoxide (PBO) is a semisynthetic chemical present in hundreds of pesticide formulations used in agricultural, commercial, and residential settings. PBO acts as a pesticide synergist by inhibiting insect cytochrome P450 enzymes and is often present at much higher concentrations than active insecticidal ingredients. PBO was recently discovered to also inhibit Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling, a key molecular pathway in embryonic development and in brain and face morphogenesis. Recent animal model studies have shown that in utero PBO exposure can cause overt craniofacial malformations or more subtle neurodevelopmental abnormalities. Related adverse developmental outcomes in humans are etiologically heterogeneous, and, while studies are limited, PBO exposure during pregnancy has been linked to neurodevelopmental deficits. Contextualized in PBO's newly recognized mechanism as a Shh signaling inhibitor, these findings support more rigorous examination of the developmental toxicity of PBO and its potential contribution to etiologically complex human birth defects. In this review, we highlight environmental sources of human PBO exposure and summarize existing animal studies examining the developmental impact of prenatal PBO exposure. Also presented are critical knowledge gaps in our understanding of PBO's pharmacokinetics and potential role in gene-environment and environment-environment interactions that should be addressed to better understand the human health impact of environmental PBO exposure.
Zine Objects and Orientations in/as Arts Research: Documenting Art Teacher Practices and Identities Through Zine Creation, Collection, and Criticism

Zine making involves not only the creation of handmade and self-published books, but also local distribution in zine communities, as well as archival processes of zine collecting in university and ...
Revolutionary Queimada and Pre-1959 Cuba: Sites of Imperial Influence and National Agency

Released in 1969, the Italian-French film Queimada! directed by Gillo Pontecorvo narrates a fictitious Caribbean nation’s quest for self-determination amidst competing imperial interests. Queimada! provides many interesting analytical frameworks for the critic-historian in its portrayal of consistent exploitation of brown bodies in the Caribbean; challenges shared by Caribbean nations as they strove for liberation from European and U.S. imperial agendas; and to evade the defining and evaluating of the West. This paper, however, examines a less discussed historical category in academia––the agent provocateur––that is thoroughly explored in the film through the protagonist William Walker. Specifically, this paper compares Queimada!’s cinematic depiction of Walker, as he fueled revolutionary movements on the island by arming revolutionaries and inciting violence, with the diplomatic policies of the United States for Cuba in the pre-1959 antebellum period.
Transcortical Sensory Aphasia Sonnet: What Happens When Your Words Are Not Your Own?

> A ruddy clot, thick, viscous as fresh mud > > gets lodged within brain vessel. Language lobe, > > its thirst not slaked, vampiric quest for blood, > > succumbs, and like the emperor disrobed,
Estimating Rooftop Solar Potential in Urban Environments: A Generalized Approach and Assessment of the Galápagos Islands

Presently, many island communities are largely dependent on fossil fuel resources for energy, leaving the abundance of renewable energy resources largely untapped. Although various solar energy potential modeling tools have been developed, most require high-resolution data, which do not presently exist for many developing countries or remote areas. Here, we calculate the potential of rooftop solar systems using low-cost, readily obtainable data and methods. This approach can be replicated by local communities and decision-makers to obtain an estimate of solar potential before investing in more detailed analysis. We illustrate the use of these methods on the two major urban centers on the Gal\'apagos Islands (Ecuador), Puerto Baquerizo Moreno and Puerto Ayora. Our results show that a minimum of 21\% and 27\% of the total rooftop area must be covered with today's solar energy production technology to meet the current electricity demand of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno and Puerto Ayora, respectively. Additionally, the results demonstrate that Puerto Baquerizo Moreno has a higher production potential than Puerto Ayora, making it an attractive option for solar development that does not compete with the scarce land resources, most of which must be preserved as natural protected areas.
Effects of Voluntary Endurance Training on Skeletal Muscle Function During and Following Doxorubicin Treatment

Doxorubicin (DOX), an anthracycline antiobiotic, has been shown to decrease skeletal muscle function via underlying mechanisms associated with the generation of reactive oxygen species. Prior studi...
Automatic pattern inspection for multilayer ceramic package

Two types of automatic inspection systems are needed to achieve the optimal inspection environment for manufacturing high-volume multilayer ceramic substrates. Diagnostic systems with flexibility, which are adaptable to process and product changes, are most useful at the earlier product development stage. In the manufacturing environment, where the process parameters are stable, emphasis is on inspection speed. A diagnostic system is described to illustrate the essential components of an automatic pattern inspection system. The test methodology used to characterize the inspection system quantitatively is discussed, and test results are reported. The use of this system for multilayer ceramic product application is also discussed. >
Etoposide-induced Apoptosis in Human HL-60 Cells Is Associated with Intracellular Acidification

Apoptosis is a pathway of cell death characterized by internucleosomal digestion of genomic DNA. Such DNA digestion can be induced by both physiological stimuli and cytotoxic treatment with many anticancer agents. This digestion has generally been considered to be mediated by a Ca2+/Mg(2+)-dependent endonuclease that is activated by increases in intracellular Ca2+. However, we suggest that an alternate endonuclease, DNase II, may be a more likely candidate. In these studies, apoptosis was induced in human HL-60 cells by a 30-min incubation with the topoisomerase II inhibitor etoposide. DNA digestion characteristic of apoptosis began within 3 h of removal of etoposide. Morphological indication of apoptosis was observed concurrently. Only about 20% of the cells underwent apoptosis at this time; these appeared to be cells in S phase at the time of etoposide treatment. The remainder of the cells progressed to the G2 phase and arrested there for at least 48 h. Intracellular Ca2+ and pH were measured in individual cells by flow cytometry. No changes in intracellular Ca2+ were observed, but an acidification of up to 1 pH unit occurred in about 15% of the cells and correlated with the time course of appearance of DNA digestion. Cells were sorted on the basis of intracellular pH and only the acidic cells showed the morphology and DNA digestion characteristic of apoptosis. These results demonstrate the involvement of DNase II in apoptotic DNA digestion and suggest mechanisms of pH homeostasis as regulators of apoptosis.
Sexually dimorphic development of the mammalian reproductive tract requires Wnt-7a.

An important feature of mammalian development is the generation of sexually dimorphic reproductive tracts from the Mullerian and Wolffian ducts. In females, Mullerian ducts develop into the oviduct, uterus, cervix and upper vagina, whereas Wolffian ducts regress. In males, testosterone promotes differentiation of Wolffian ducts into the epididymis, vas deferens and seminal vesicle. The Sertoli cells of the testes produce Mullerian-inhibiting substance, which stimulates Mullerian duct regression in males1,2,3,4. The receptor for Mullerian-inhibiting substance is expressed by mesenchymal cells underlying the Mullerian duct that are thought to mediate regression of the duct5,6,7. Mutations that inactivate either Mullerian-inhibiting substance or its receptor allow development of the female reproductive tract in males8,9,10,11,12. These pseudohermaphrodites are frequently infertile because sperm passage is blocked by the presence of the female reproductive system9,10,12. Here we show that male mice lacking the signalling molecule Wnt-7a fail to undergo regression of the Mullerian duct as a result of the absence of the receptor for Mullerian-inhibiting substance. Wnt7a-deficient females are infertile because of abnormal development of the oviduct and uterus, both of which are Mullerian duct derivatives. Therefore, we propose that signalling by Wnt-7a allows sexually dimorphic development of the Mullerian ducts.
A vector forward mode of automatic differentiation for generalized derivative evaluation

Numerical methods for non-smooth equation-solving and optimization often require generalized derivative information in the form of elements of the Clarke Jacobian or the B-subdifferential. It is shown here that piecewise differentiable functions are lexicographically smooth in the sense of Nesterov, and that lexicographic derivatives of these functions comprise a particular subset of both the B-subdifferential and the Clarke Jacobian. Several recently developed methods for generalized derivative evaluation of composite piecewise differentiable functions are shown to produce identical results, which are also lexicographic derivatives. A vector forward mode of automatic differentiation AD is presented for evaluation of these derivatives, generalizing established methods and combining their computational benefits. This forward AD mode may be applied to any finite composition of known smooth functions, piecewise differentiable functions such as the absolute value function, , and , and certain non-smooth functions which are not piecewise differentiable, such as the Euclidean norm. This forward AD mode may be implemented using operator overloading, does not require storage of a computational graph, and is computationally tractable relative to the cost of a function evaluation. An implementation in C is discussed.
Trial of intensive acupuncture for smoking cessation: a pilot study

Background Despite the significant decline in smoking rates in the USA over the last 50 years, 42 million Americans continue to smoke. Although the combination of behavioural counselling with FDA-approved medications offers the best evidence-based treatment approach, 12-month relapse rates remain at >60%. Both healthcare providers and patients are searching for alternative treatment options. Most acupuncture trials have yielded poor results for smoking cessation; however, most trials have not used an intense treatment protocol and maintained treatment for at least 12 weeks. Methods We designed a pilot study to address these methodological problems. Twenty-eight smokers were recruited to attend two 1 h acupuncture sessions weekly for 12 weeks. Primary endpoints included completion rate, acceptability of the protocol and side effects. Secondary endpoints included carbon monoxide (CO)-confirmed, 7-day point prevalence quit rates at 12 weeks and 26 weeks. Results Sixteen of the 28 patients enrolled (57%) completed 12 weeks of treatment. Of the 17 patients who completed the end-of-study questionnaire, 94% (16/17) rated the programme as helpful, and 82% noted they would recommend it to friends for smoking cessation. Three of the 28 who initially enrolled in the study were confirmed abstinent at 12 weeks (10.7%); one of the 28 (3.6%) was abstinent at 26 weeks. Conclusions A larger study with a slightly less rigorous and more acceptable treatment protocol is feasible and should be considered.
Time allocation to topics in a course of study

Abstract The paper presents a stochastic method of optimization of a curriculum based on a new model of the education process, where sequential teaching may cause non-sequential learning.
On-demand intracellular amplification of chemoradiation with cancer-specific plasmonic nanobubbles

Chemoradiation-resistant cancers limit treatment efficacy and safety. We show here the cancer cell-specific, on-demand intracellular amplification of chemotherapy and chemoradiation therapy via gold nanoparticle- and laser pulse-induced mechanical intracellular impact. Cancer aggressiveness promotes the clustering of drug nanocarriers and gold nanoparticles in cancer cells. This cluster, upon exposure to a laser pulse, generates a plasmonic nanobubble, the mechanical explosion that destroys the host cancer cell or ejects the drug into its cytoplasm by disrupting the liposome and endosome. The same cluster locally amplifies external X-rays. Intracellular synergy of the mechanical impact of plasmonic nanobubble, ejected drug and amplified X-rays improves the efficacy of standard chemoradiation in resistant and aggressive head and neck cancer by 100-fold in vitro and 17-fold in vivo, reduces the effective entry doses of drugs and X-rays to 2-6% of their clinical doses and efficiently spares normal cells. The developed quadrapeutics technology combines four clinically validated components and transforms a standard macrotherapy into an intracellular on-demand theranostic microtreatment with radically amplified therapeutic efficacy and specificity.
Fine structural investigation of the insemination response in Urechis caupo

Electron microscopy of Urechis eggs revealed no changes in the egg cortex or investing layers until 4 min after insemination at 17†C. From 4 min to about 30 min after insemination the surface coat gradually elevates, widening the perivitelline space. During this period, microvilli separate from the tightly woven layer of the surface coat, fibrogranular aggregates resembling surface coat material appear in the perivitelline space, and some cortical granules are extruded from the egg cortex into cytoplasmic processes. There is no statistically significant decrease in the number of cortical granules remaining in the egg surface during the first 95 min after insemination; many cortical granules persist in postgastrulae. Most of the cortical granules remain in fertilized eggs after removal of the surface coat with glucose-EGTA. We found no morphological correlates of the polyspermy block which is established within 1 min of insemination (Paul, 1975).
Characterization and optimization of novel surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based nanoimaging probes for chemical imaging

We have developed a novel class of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based nanoimaging probes for chemical imaging with nanometer scale spatial resolution. Using these SERS nanoimaging probes it is possible to differentiate between different chemical components within the sample under analysis. These SERS nanoimaging probes are fabricated from coherent fiber optic imaging bundles composed of 30,000 individual image transmission elements. Using a specially programmed micropipette puller, the individual fiber elements are uniformly heated and pulled, creating a tapered bundle with a flat tip. In order to create the SERS active surface, the tapered end of the fiber bundle is roughened on the "molecular scale" via chemical etching, and is then over-coated with silver in a controlled manner via vapor deposition in a vacuum evaporator. Following etching, six regularly spaced peaks are produced surrounding each of the individual image transmission elements of the bundle, and it is these peaks onto which the metal over-layer is deposited. Due to the high degree of uniformity in the surface of these tapered and etched tips, these SERS nanoimaging probes exhibit significantly greater reproducibility than SERS substrates fabricated through similar silver film over nanostructure fabrication processes. Characterization and optimization of these SERS nanoimaging probes using SERS active chemicals is discussed.
End-user programmers on the loose: A study of programming on the phone for the phone

Microsoft TouchDevelop is a programming environment enabling users use their phones to create scripts that run on the mobile phones. This is achieved via a semi-structured editor and a programming language with several distinctive features, such as support for using smartphone hardware. In order to uncover opportunities for future tool development aimed at facilitating end-user programming of phones on phones, we have investigated the kinds of scripts that people are creating with the current tool set as well as what problems they ask for help with solving. This paper is the first to study how end-user programmers “in the wild” are programming mobile phones. In particular, no previous study has investigated the ways in which end users programmatically use mobile phones' special hardware (e.g., GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope) for practical everyday purposes. We discovered that, in essence, people are using TouchDevelop to create apps: downloadable applications with small, fairly reliable feature sets that take advantage of mobile hardware. In addition, we identified several areas for further innovation aimed at enhancing the programming tool and the online repository where users share scripts with one another.
Major histocompatibility complex class I proteins in brain development and plasticity.

Proper development of the central nervous system (CNS) requires the establishment of appropriate connections between neurons. Recent work suggests that this process is controlled by a balance between synaptogenic molecules and proteins that negatively regulate synapse formation and plasticity. Surprisingly, many of these newly identified synapse-limiting molecules are classic ‘immune’ proteins. In particular, major histocompatibility complex class I (MHCI) molecules regulate neurite outgrowth, the establishment and function of cortical connections, activity-dependent refinement in the visual system, and long-term and homeostatic plasticity. This review summarizes our current understanding of MHCI expression and function in the CNS, as well as the potential mechanisms used by MHCI to regulate brain development and plasticity.
Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated (ATM) Is Dispensable for Endonuclease I-SceI-induced Homologous Recombination in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

Ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) is activated upon DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) and phosphorylates numerous DSB response proteins, including histone H2AX on serine 139 (Ser-139) to form γ-H2AX. Through interaction with MDC1, γ-H2AX promotes DSB repair by homologous recombination (HR). H2AX Ser-139 can also be phosphorylated by DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit and ataxia telangiectasia- and Rad3-related kinase. Thus, we tested whether ATM functions in HR, particularly that controlled by γ-H2AX, by comparing HR occurring at the euchromatic ROSA26 locus between mouse embryonic stem cells lacking either ATM, H2AX, or both. We show here that loss of ATM does not impair HR, including H2AX-dependent HR, but confers sensitivity to inhibition of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases. Loss of ATM or H2AX has independent contributions to cellular sensitivity to ionizing radiation. The ATM-independent HR function of H2AX requires both Ser-139 phosphorylation and γ-H2AX/MDC1 interaction. Our data suggest that ATM is dispensable for HR, including that controlled by H2AX, in the context of euchromatin, excluding the implication of such an HR function in genomic instability, hypersensitivity to DNA damage, and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibition associated with ATM deficiency. Background: ATM acts as a master controller of the DSB response by phosphorylating numerous DSB response proteins, some of which, including histone H2AX, function in homologous recombination (HR). Results: HR is not impaired in mouse ATM-null ES cells. Conclusion: ATM is dispensable for HR, including H2AX-dependent HR. Significance: This study helps clarify the perception that ATM has a general role in HR, including that controlled by H2AX.
The relationship between selected student characteristics and activity patterns in a required high school physical education class.

Abstract This study described the activity patterns of students in a high school fitness class and explored the structural relationships between particular student characteristics and their systematically coded exercise behavior. Although percent of time spent jogging was low (18%), with no gains made in cardiovascular fitness, the amount of time spent jogging, the distance covered, and fitness level were all significantly correlated. A LISREL VI computer program was used to test a structural equation model representing the Fishbein Behavioral-Intention Model. In support of the model, results showed the prediction of exercise behavior by attitude and subjective norm was significantly mediated by intention. Although not significant, it is worth noting that subjective norm was found to be the stronger predictor of intention over attitude. Background variables were found to indirectly influence intention through their significant influence on attitude and subjective norm. For this sample of 9th and 10th grad...
Cardiotoxicity after massive amantadine overdose.

Introduction Amantadine hydrochloride is an antiviral medication used as therapy for parkinsonism and as a cognitive enhancer. We report 2 cases of massive, acute ingestion of amantadine hydrochloride confirmed with serial serum levels.
Intraoperative Radiotherapy for Breast Cancer: The Lasting Effects of a Fleeting Treatment

In well-selected patients who choose to pursue breast conservation therapy (BCT) for early-stage breast cancer, partial breast irradiation (PBI) delivered externally or intraoperatively, may be a viable alternative to conventional whole breast irradiation. Two large, contemporary randomized trials have demonstrated breast intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) to be noninferior to whole breast external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) when assessing for ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence in select patients. Additionally, IORT and other PBI techniques are likely to be more widely adopted in the future because they improve patient convenience by offering an accelerated course of treatment. Coupled with these novel techniques for breast radiotherapy (RT) are distinct toxicity profiles and unique cosmetic alterations that differ from conventional breast EBRT and have the potential to impact disease surveillance and patient satisfaction. This paper will review the level-one evidence for treatment efficacy as well as important secondary endpoints like RT toxicity, breast cosmesis, quality of life, patient satisfaction, and surveillance mammography following BCT with IORT.
Spectral asymptotics of fractal measures on Riemannian manifolds

Abstract Let M be a complete Riemannian with bounded geometry. A measure μ on M will be called locally uniformly α-dimensional if μ ( B r ( x )) ⩽ cr α for all r ⩽ 1 and all x ϵ M , where B r ( x ) denotes the ball of radius r about x . Let e tΔ denote the heat semigroup on M . We study the asymptotic behavior of e tΔ ( f dμ ) as t → 0 for f ϵ L 2 ( dμ ). We show sup t (n-x)/2 ∫| e t δ (f dμ)(x)| 2 dx ⩽ c ‖f‖ 2 2 ;t⩽1 Under additional hypotheses we show that lim sup t (n-x)/2 ∫| e tδ (f dμ)(x)| 2 dx t→0 is comparable in size to ∥f∥ 2 2 , and also lim sup t (n-x)/2 | tδ (f dμ)(x)|t→0 is comparable in size to ¦f(x)¦ almost everywhere on the support of μ, and equals zero almost everywhere off the suport of μ (with respect to α-dimensional Hausdorff measure). For α = 0 we obtain a generalization of Wiener's theorem that had previously been extended to compact Riemannian manifolds by Michael Taylor. These results generalize the analogous results for Euclidean space established in the author's previous paper, Fourier asymptotics of fractal measures, J. Funct. Anal. , 89 (1990), 154–187.
The birth of strange nonchaotic attractors

Abstract A mechanism is described for the development of strange nonchaotic attractors from two-frequency quasiperiodic attractors in quasiperiodically driven maps. This mechanism is intimately tied to the phenomenon of torus-doubling. The transition to strange nonchaotic behavior occurs when a period-doubled torus collides with its unstable parent torus. As the collision is approached, the period-doubled torus becomes extremely wrinkled, ultimately becoming fractal at the collision. The Lyapunov exponent remains negative through the collision. These collisions are shown to be a new type of attractor merging crisis; the new feature is the possibility of nonchaotic attractors taking part in the crisis. This mechanism is illustrated via numerical and analytical studies of a quasiperiodically driven logistic map.
Linking community and national park development: A case from the Dominican Republic

National parks have complex relationships with local communities that impact both conservation success and community well-being. Integrated conservation and development projects have been a key approach to managing these relationships, although their effectiveness has been increasingly questioned. Park-people relationships of the Armando Bermudez National Park in the Dominican Republic were studied, focusing on forests, aquatic resources, community well-being and development, and ecotourism. The park, established in 1956, is well respected by the community, based on its long history and its role in protecting water resources that are critical to the community. However, management of riparian vegetation and local fisheries present challenges in terms of finding a balance between conservation and development. Hiking and trekking opportunities attract both national and international tourists to the park, and community members benefit from employment as tour guides and providing mule rentals. At the same time, tourism activities also present continuing challenges related to: (1) the distribution of tourism benefits between local people and outsiders, and within the local community, (2) maintaining the local economic benefits of tourism while protecting park resources, and (3) developing park- or conservation-related economic opportunities to complement tourism. The results highlight the need to develop site-specific strategies to manage park-people relationships through interdisciplinary analysis.
On Leaving And Joining Africanness Through Religion: The ‘Black Caribs’ Across Multiple Diasporic Horizons

Garifuna religion is derived from a confluence of Amerindian, African and European antecedents. For the Garifuna in Central America, the spatial focus of authentic religious practice has for over two centuries been that of their former homeland and site of ethnogenesis, the island of St Vincent. It is from St Vincent that the ancestors return, through spirit possession, to join with their living descendants in ritual events. During the last generation, about a third of the population migrated to the US, especially to New York City. This departure created a new diasporic horizon, as the Central American villages left behind now acquired their own aura of ancestral fidelity and religious power. Yet New-York-based Garifuna are now giving attention to the African components of their story of origin, to a degree that has not occurred in homeland villages of Honduras. This essay considers the notion of 'leaving' and 'joining' the African diaspora by examining religious components of Garifuna social formation on St Vincent, the deportation to Central America, and contemporary processes of Africanization being initiated in New York.
Automated analysis and evaluation of SEC documents

This paper presents an intelligent corporate governance analysis and rating system, called AAE System, capable of retrieving SEC required documents of public companies and performing analysis and rating in terms of recommended corporate governance practices. With Machine Learning, local knowledge bases, databases, and semantic networks, the AAE system is able to automatically evaluate the strengths, deficiencies, and risks of a company's corporate governance practices and board of directors based on the documents stored in the SEC EDGAR database[1]. The produced score reduces a complex corporate governance process and related policies into a single number which enables concerned government agencies, investors and legislators to assess the governance characteristics of individual companies.
Factors Controlling the Vertical Extent of Fair-Weather Shallow Cumulus Clouds over Land: Investigation of Diurnal-Cycle Observations Collected at the ARM Southern Great Plains Site

AbstractSummertime observations for 13 yr at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Southern Great Plains site are used to study fair-weather shallow cumuli (ShCu). To roughly separate forced from active ShCu, days are categorized into “thin-” or “thick-” ShCu days according to whether the daytime-average cloud depth exceeds 300 m. By comparing diurnal-cycle composites of these two regimes, the authors document differences in cloud properties and their radiative impacts. The differences in environmental conditions provide clues as to what controls ShCu vertical extent.Higher boundary layer (BL) relative humidity (RH) is found on thick-cloud days, associated with large-scale moisture advection before sunrise. This higher BL RH not only contributes to a lower cloud base but also to the penetrating ability of an air parcel to reach higher levels, and thus leads to larger cloud vertical extent.Although not as significant as BL RH, ShCu vertical extent also varies with thermal stability and surface fluxes. Enha...
First record of the frog Eleutherodactylus lentus in the British Virgin Islands: Conservation implications of native or introduced status

Eleutherodactylus lentus, thought to be endemic to the US Virgin Islands, is now found on Jost Van Dyke in the nearby British Virgin Islands, where previous surveys have failed to note it. This poses an unusual conundrum. If the new record represents human-aided dispersal, then control actions may be appropriate, even though the species is categorized as at risk in its native range. However, it is possible that this population is native to Jost Van Dyke, and was not previously recorded because of methodological issues. In that case, protection would be warranted. Interviews with researchers and locals suggest the former scenario is more likely.
Attachment of Sulfolobus Acidocaldarius Cells on Coal Particles

Attachment of the thermophilic microorganism Sulfolobus acidocaldarius was studied on Kentucky #9 coal, an Ohio coal mixture, Ohio #6, a European coal designated as Sulzer coal, activated carbon and iron pyrite to define the effects of initial cell density, prior acid leaching, pyrite content, and surface area on rate and extent of preleaching attachment. The results showed that the rate of preleaching attachment was so high that equilibrium was reached in less than 5 min in most cases. Attached cells increased in number with increasing initial cell density. Prior nitric acid leaching of coal reduced the extent of cell adsorption while hydrochloric acid leaching did not affect cell attachment. Some adsorption isotherms fit the Langmuir model. The specific adsorption (cells/cm3 coal) increased with increasing surface areas measured by nitrogen adsorption. Pyrite gave the highest extent of cell attachment based on per unit surface area comparison. Adsorption isotherms of a pyrite-selective chemical adsorbate revealed that preleaching attachment of cells was affected further by altered surface properties of the coals and that the concept of selective attachment of cells on pyrite surfaces was also supported.
Metabolism and Transport of Maternal Serine by the Ovine Placenta: Glycine Production and Absence of Serine Transport into the Fetus

ABSTRACT: The present study compares the transplacen-tal transport of L-[l-13C]serine and L-[l-13C]leucine in sheep. An in vivo preparation using twin gestations was set up such that the arterial circulation to one uterine horn, including its placenta and fetus, was infused with tracer serine and leucine while the umbilical circulations of both fetuses were sampled. Uterine and umbilical blood flows were measured in each horn. Plasma serine enrichments were 14.6 ± 2.7% and 4.3 ± 1.6% in the uterine veins draining the experimental and control horns, respectively. Fetal plasma leucine enrichments in the umbilical veins were 50 and 55% of the uterine venous enrichments in the control and experimental fetuses, respectively. By contrast, during 280 min of infusion, there was no detectable serine enrichment in either fetal circulation. However, significant plasma glycine enrichment was present in the fetal circulation of the experimental horn and venous glycine enrichments in the experimental horn were significantly greater than arterial glycine enrichments for both the umbilical (p < 0.02) and uterine (p < 0.001) circulations. We conclude that under conditions in which leucine transport is easily demonstrable there is no significant transplacental transport of maternal serine and that maternal plasma serine is used within the uteroplacental tissues for producing glycine, some of which is delivered into the fetal circulation.
Pulmonary nodule registration in serial CT scans using Rib anatomy and nodule template matching

The goal of this study was to develop an automated method to identify corresponding nodules in serial CT scans for interval change analysis. The method uses the rib centerlines as the reference for initial nodule registration. From an automatically-identified starting point near the spine, each rib is locally tracked and segmented by expectation-maximization. The ribs are automatically labeled, and the centerlines are estimated using skeletonization. 3D rigid affine transformation is used to register the individual ribs in the reference and target scans. For a given nodule in the reference scan, a search volume of interest (VOI) in the target scan is defined by using the registered ribs. Template matching guided by the normalized cross-correlation between the nodule template and target locations within the search VOI is used for refining the registration. The method was evaluated on 48 CT scans from 20 patients. The slice thickness ranged from 0.625 to 7 mm, and the in-plane pixel size from 0.556 to 0.82 mm. Experienced radiologists identified 101 pairs of nodules. Two metrics were used for performance evaluation: 1) the Euclidean distance between the nodule centers identified by the radiologist and the computer registration, and 2) a volume overlap measure defined as the intersection of the VOIs identified by the radiologist and the computer registration relative to the radiologist's VOI. The average Euclidean distance error was 2.7 ± 3.3 mm. Only 2 pairs had an error >10 mm. The average volume overlap measure was 0.71 ± 0.24. Eight-three out of 101 pairs had overlap ratios > 0.5 and only 2 pairs had no overlap.
ASSET PRICES, OUTPUT AND MONETARY POLICY IN A SMALL OPEN ECONOMY

We formulate a macro-model of a small open economy in order to investigate the relative performance of rules that respond to asset prices and those that do not. Our model consists of three asset prices: the stock price, the long-term interest rate and the exchange rate. These asset prices interact with nominal wage and price Phillips curves, a law of motion for the labour share, a dynamic IS curve that describes output adjustment and a Taylor-type interest rate policy rule. Estimations of the model show that policy rules that respond to asset price movements dominate rules that do not.