cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
CXCR7 and CXCR3 interactions promote breast cancer (BrCa) cell migration, adhesion and survival

5334 Metastasis is responsible for all breast cancer (BrCa)- related deaths; therefore, therapies designed to prevent the spread of BrCa cells are greatly needed. The reasons why breast carcinomas preferentially metastasize to lymph nodes, bone, brain and lung are not fully understood. Similarly, the anti-apoptotic mechanisms employed by BrCa cells to survive in serum-free environments and apoptosis-inducing therapeutics are numerous and contribute significantly to the morbidity and mortality of this disease. Chemokines have been demonstrated to support BrCa metastasis and may also activate anti-apoptotic mechanisms. In this regard, BrCa cells express functionally active CXCR3, CXCR4 and CXCR7 to presumably support adhesion, invasion, and cell survival. The ligands for CXCR7 are CXCL11 (which also binds CXCR3) and CXCL12 (which also binds CXCR4); calcitonin-gene related peptide (CGRP) and adrenomedullin (AM) have also been suggested as potential CXCR7 ligands, which is somewhat controversial since these bioactive peptides have been definitively shown to bind class B G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and not chemokine receptors (class A GPCRs). Nevertheless, these ligands are expressed by activated stroma as well as vascular and lymphatic endothelial cells, which might support motility, adherence and survival of BrCa cells. Indeed, all of these potential CXCR7 ligands are elevated in tissue and serum from patients with a variety of systemic diseases, including BrCa. We provide evidence that breast cancer cell lines express CXCR7 and its expression correlates with disease stage. We also confirm that this receptor; along with CXCR3 and CXCR4, are expressed by BrCa cell lines. We further show that CXCR7 is responsive to CXCL11, CXCL12, and adrenomedullin, but not CGRP. Lastly, for the first time to our knowledge, we demonstrate that CXCL11 and AM lead to rapid CXCR3 desensitization on BrCa cells, while CXCL11, CXCL12, and AM differentially modulates CXCR7 clustering on BrCa cell lines. Taken together, these studies provide important and novel information regarding the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in CXCR3- and CXCR7-mediated breast cancer metastasis.
H-Mat hydrogen compatibility of polymers and elastomers

Abstract The H2@Scale program of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Fuel Cell Technologies Office is supporting work on the hydrogen compatibility of polymers to improve the durability and reliability of materials for hydrogen infrastructure. The hydrogen compatibility program (H-Mat) seeks “to address the challenges of hydrogen degradation by elucidating the mechanisms of hydrogen-materials interactions with the goal of providing science-based strategies to design materials, (micro)structures, and morphology with improved resistance to hydrogen degradation.” This research has observed interactions of hydrogen and pressure with model rubber-material compounds resulting in volume change and compression-set differences in the materials. The materials were investigated using helium-ion microscopy (HeIM), which revealed significant morphological changes in the plasticizer-incorporating compounds after exposure, as evidenced by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. Additional studies using transmission electron microscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance were performed to correlate morphological change to potential chemical change in the materials.
Chiral Symmetry and the Kuo Transformation

The various implications of a transformation recently suggested by Kuo in the model of Gell-Mann, Oakes, and Renner have been investigated.
Investigating Human Impacts on Local Water Resources & Exploring Solutions

An in-depth curricular unit exploring the effects of human land use on local water resources was created as part of a Teacher Professional Learning Program at the University of Connecticut's Natural Resources Conservation Academy. This unit was designed to connect high school students to water resources in their community, both in the field and through the use of interactive mapping technology. These methods engage students in science and technology using multiple disciplines and can help them better understand how their local water resource is affected by the surrounding landscape. In this unit, students explore the dynamics of local water resources and the anthropogenic issues that affect them through field and open-access online inquiry-based activities. The varied lessons within this unit were purposefully created to align with the Next Generation Science Standards and to fit within either an earth science or a biology course. They use existing online geospatial tools and can be tailored to any geographic area of interest.
Multiple Types of Childhood Maltreatment, Sleep, and Anxiety in Former Foster Youth

Although existing literature has widely identified significant relationships between a history of childhood maltreatment and mental health problems and between a history of childhood maltreatment and sleep problems, less is known about relationships between experiences of multiple types of childhood maltreatment, sleep problems, and anxiety in low-income young adults and former foster youth. This study aimed to explore whether experiences of multiple types of childhood maltreatment, a history of foster care placement, lifetime trauma, and hours of sleep would be associated with anxiety in low-income young adults and former foster youth. The study surveyed a total sample of 143 young adults, and their hours of sleep were measured with FitBits. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationships between experiences of multiple types of childhood maltreatment, a history of foster care placement, lifetime trauma, hours of sleep, and anxiety. The study found a significant relationship between multiple types of child maltreatment and anxiety, after controlling for a history of foster care placement, lifetime trauma, and demographic information. Notably, while experiences of multiple types of child maltreatment and a history of foster care placement were no longer associated with anxiety, a lifetime history of trauma remained associated with anxiety, after controlling for hours of sleep. Social workers and service providers need to provide low-income young adults and former foster youth with interventions aimed at addressing both sleep problems and traumatic stress, which may in turn reduce the risk for anxiety.
‘A strong woman’s troubles’: Victorina and the strong woman in Victorian Britain

In 1893 Julia Veidlere, or ‘Victorina’, brought a court case against the London Pavilion Company. The previous year, Victorina was hired to perform a series of strength feats, including the lifting...
Renal artery embolization post subtotal nephrectomy for xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis: A case report

Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis (XGPN) is a rare, chronic disease characterized by the destruction of renal parenchyma and replacement with granulomatous tissue and is associated with long-term obstructive uropathy, chronic renal parenchymal infection, and nephrolithiasis. A 57-year-old patient with XGPN was unable to undergo total nephrectomy. Renal artery embolization (RAE) was performed post subtotal nephrectomy as adjunct therapy to prevent urine formation and decrease the risk of post-operative infection. Our case report demonstrates that RAE can be performed safely and effectively without evident complications and underscores the utility of cone-beam computed tomography in cases of altered post-surgical anatomy. To the author’s knowledge, this is the second case in the literature demonstrating perioperative management of XGPN with RAE.
Regulating Conflicts of Interest in Medicine Through Public Disclosure: Evidence from a Physician Payments Sunshine Law

Hospital and healthcare administrators name high prescription drug costs as one of their largest problems. A significant body of research demonstrates that meals and honoraria from pharmaceutical f...
The characterization and distribution of polygonal impact craters on Ceres and their implications for the cerean crust

Abstract Polygonal impact craters (PICs) are supposed to form as a result of impacts into structure systems within the target. The structure systems are an umbrella term which encompass faults, joints, fractures, lithographic boundaries, and other planes of weakness. These impact craters are defined as having at least two linear rim segments with a recognizable angle between the segments. PICs have been reported on both rocky and icy bodies including Ceres. Using a near-global Cerean crater database, PICs were categorized into four different categories: (1) polygonal craters not related to visible structure systems (PICNVS), (2) polygonal craters related to visible structure systems outside of the crater (PICVSO), (3) polygonal craters related to visible structure systems inside of the crater (PICVSI), and (4) polygonal craters related to visible structure systems inside and outside of the crater (PICVSIO). Measurements of the number of linear rim segments, the angle between linear rim segments, mean angle between linear rim segments for the crater, length of linear rim segments, and the mean length of the linear rim segments for the crater were reported for each category. Additionally, the angle between nearby structure systems and the linear rim segments are determined, along with the crater's cardinal direction with relation to the structure system. The most frequent type of PIC is those not related to structure systems. Hexagonal craters are the most prominent polygon shape observed, which is consistent with the observed shape of PICs throughout the solar system. The visible structure systems which displayed the highest number of PICs related to them were the Junina and Samhain Catenae. The average angle between linear rim segments for PICs on Ceres is 121.99° ± 0.25° which is similar to the average angle between linear rim segments reported for PICs on Rhea and Dione. Polygonal craters are found in different degradation states, indicating structure systems have influenced the formation of PICs throughout much of Ceres' history. The observation of greater concentrations of PICs in the northern hemisphere may indicate target strength differences and support the idea of crustal heterogeneity across Ceres; however, the lack of PICs in the southern hemisphere may be due to the younger and larger impact basins (Urvara and Yalode) erasing these craters creating an observational bias.
New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen

Introduction: the hypermedia campaign 1. Political communication and information technology 2. Producing the hypermedia campaign 3. Learning politics from the hypermedia campaign 4. Organizational communication in the hypermedia campaign 5. Managed citizenship and information technology Appendix: Method notes on studying information technology and political communication.
Children in an Increasingly Violent Social Landscape: A Case Study from the American Southwest

AbstractChanges in the behaviour of both children and adults, as a response to increasing levels of violence in the Northern Sinagua area near modern Flagstaff, Arizona, demonstrate the need to consider childhood as a diachronic phenomenon. During the thirteenth century AD, the Sinagua moved to larger and increasingly fortified settlements and abandoned extensive use of dispersed field houses. Ramifications for children may have included larger peer groups, fewer tasks that took them far away from their home settlement and less participation in ceramic manufacture. Both of the latter changes would have had the important unintended consequence of reducing the children's preparation for adult tasks.
Multiple-instance and one-class rule based algorithms

In this work we developed rule-based algorithms for multiple-instance learning and one-class learning problems, namely, the mi-DS and OneClass-DS algorithms. Multiple-Instance Learning (MIL) is a variation of classical supervised learning where there is a need to classify bags (collection) of instances instead of single instances. The bag is labeled positive if at least one of its instances is positive, otherwise it is negative. One-class learning problem is also known as outlier or novelty detection problem. One-class classifiers are trained on data describing only one class and are used in situations where data from other classes are not available, and also for highly unbalanced data sets. Extensive comparisons and statistical testing of the two algorithms show that they generate models that perform on par with other state-of-the-art algorithms.
Environmental conditions associated with bat white‐nose syndrome mortality in the north‐eastern United States

Summary 1. White-nose syndrome (WNS) is an emerging disease of hibernating North American bats that is caused by the cold-growing fungus Geomyces destructans. Since first observed in the winter of 2007, WNS has led to unprecedented mortality in several species of bats and may threaten more than 15 additional hibernating bat species if it continues across the continent. Although the exact means by which fungal infection causes mortality are undetermined, available evidence suggests a strong role of winter environmental conditions in disease mortality. 2. By 2010, the fungus G. destructans was detected in new areas of North America far from the area it was first observed, as well as in eight European bat species in different countries, yet mortality was not observed in many of these new areas of North America or in any part of Europe. This could be because of the differences in the fungus, rates of disease progression and ⁄ or in life-history or physiological traits of the affected bat species between different regions. Infection of bats by G. destructans without associated mortality might also suggest that certain environmental conditions might have to co-occur with fungal infection to cause mortality. 3. We tested the environmental conditions hypothesis using Maxent to map and model landscape surface conditions associated with WNS mortality. This approach was unique in that we modelled possible requisite environmental conditions for disease mortality and not simply the presence of the causative agent. 4. The top predictors of WNS mortality were land use ⁄ land cover types, mean air temperature of wettest quarter, elevation, frequency of precipitation and annual temperature range. Model results suggest that WNS mortality is most likely to occur in landscapes that are higher in elevation and topographically heterogeneous, drier and colder during winter, and more seasonally variable than surrounding landscapes. 5. Synthesis and applications. This study mapped the most likely environmental surface conditions associated with bat mortality owing to WNS in the north-eastern United Sates; maps can be used for selection of priority monitoring sites. Our results provide a starting point from which to investigate and predict the potential spread and population impacts of this catastrophic emerging disease.
Practical Lock-Free and Wait-Free LL/SC/VL Implementations Using 64-Bit CAS

The ideal semantics of the instructions LL/SC/VL (Load-Linked, Store-Conditional, Validate) are inherently immune to the ABA problem which is a fundamental problem that affects most lock-free algorithms. This paper presents practical lock-free and wait-free implementations of arbitrary-sized LL/SC/VL variables using 64-bit CAS (Compare-and-Swap). The implementations improve on Jayanti and Petrovic’s 64-bit wait-free implementations by reducing the space overhead per variable to a small constant, and not requiring advance knowledge of the maximum number of participating threads, while maintaining minimal amortized expected time and work complexities.
A Review of: The Rhetoric of Pope John Paul II, edited by Joseph R. Blaney and Joseph P. Zompetti

The Rhetoric of Pope John Paul II begins to fill a considerable gap in communications scholarship about this rhetor, one of the most powerful and influential in the twentieth century. Examining Pop...
Conditions affecting acid secretion by mouse stomachs in vitro.

Summary Improved conditions have been found which increase the rate of acid secretion by excised mouse stomachs. Raising the partial pressure of oxygen to about 3200 mm. Hg increases secretion and reduces lactic acid production to a minimum. The optimal concentration of carbaminoylcholine is 0.1 mg. %, and higher concentrations inhibit secretion. Atropine antagonizes the effect of carbaminoylcholine. Histamine also stimulates acid secretion, but pyribenzamine does not antagonize the effect of histamine. Inflating the stomachs to 75 cm. H 2 O increases secretion in the presence or absence of carbaminoylcholine. The time of incubation must be chosen so that the pH of the internal fluid does not fall below 2.50, for if the pH is below this value acid accumulation stops. The stomach must be incubated in an adequate volume of buffer, but carbon dioxide beyond that produced by the stomach need not be present. The addition of glucose increases the rate of secretion, and its optimal concentration is between 0.015 and 0.030 M. Glucose cannot be completely replaced by other substrates, but lactate, pyruvate and fructose increase secretion in the absence of glucose. Thiocyanate, fat feeding and urogastrone inhibit acid secretion in the presence of carbaminoylcholine. The cytological appearance of the stomachs incubated under the improved conditions is satisfactory.
Solution Redox Couples for Electrochemical Energy Storage: I . Iron (III)‐Iron (II) Complexes with O‐Phenanthroline and Related Ligands

Iron (III)-Iron (II) complexes with o-phenanthroline and related ligands have been examined by electrochemical techniques in aqueous H2SO4 media with respect to their suitability as redox couples for electrochemical energy storage. The iron (II) complexes undergo a rapid 1 electron oxidation at graphite and platinum electrodes to yield iron (III) complexes; these complexes showed varying stabilities depending on the nature of the substituents on the complexes. The iron (II) complexes examined in this study were formed with (i) monodentate, (ii) bidentate, or (iii) tridentate ligands. The redox couples have a higher E o value which has been a positive consideration in the storage. Although the aquo iron (II)- iron (III) couple has an E o less than the complexes, it certainly has shown "greater promise in terms of storage stability. The kinetics of iron (II) complexation~has been followed by cyclic voltammetry.
Induced automaticity in isolated rat atrial cells by incorporation of a stretch-activated conductance.

Stretch of the atrium and sympathetic activity have been implicated as substrates for atrial fibrillation. We investigate how a model of stretch in combination with sympathetic stimulation can induce automaticity in atrial cells. We adapted our coupling clamp circuit so that a model ionic current that represents stretch-activated channels (SACs) was injected into an isolated rat atrial cell in real time. This current was calculated as I SAC=G SAC (V m−E SAC), where G SAC and E SAC are the conductance and reversal potential of SACs and V m is the cell’s membrane potential. Repetitive automaticity was induced by a sufficiently large G SAC and this critical value of G SAC was decreased by exposure to isoproterenol. The critical value of G SAC decreased from 0.63±0.05 nS (mean±SE) in control to 0.40±0.07 nS in isoproterenol (P<0.05). Additionally, after exposure to isoproterenol, automaticity continued after GSAC was no longer applied and was accompanied by delayed after-depolarizations. In three cells, repetitive automaticity could not be induced at any value of G SAC. Exposure to 10 nM isoproterenol converted these cells to cells with repetitive automaticity in response to G SAC. We conclude that automaticity can be induced in isolated rat atrial cells by application of a model of SACs. Exposure to isoproterenol enhances this effect.
Intermediates in the Metabolism of Fructose by Bovine Sperm

Abstract Metabolites obtained by incubation of washed bovine sperm in citrate-bicarbonate (IVT) buffer were studied using paper chromatographic procedures, U-C 14 -fructose, metabolic inhibitors, and standard chemical procedures. Accumulation of labeled hexose phosphates from fructose was negligible; however, a small amount of fructose-1,6-diphosphate did accumulate in the presence of N-ethyl maleimide and with iodoacetate and adenosine triphosphate. On occasion, a pentose-like substance was found which was not xylose, ribose, arabinose, or ribulose. Its low yield prevented identification. Glucose was formed and positively identified in incubations containing cyanide. It represented about 6% of radioactivity that could be recovered. Results indicate that pathways other than the Embden-Meyerhof may be operative for bovine sperm.
Recovery from hypothermia in cardiac Purkinje fibers: considerations for an electrogenic mechanism.

Sheep cardiac Purkinje fibers subjected to prolonged cooling (24 h at 4° C) in low (1.0 mM) K+ solution showed 20 mV hyperpolarization for several hours after rewarming to 37° C in normal (5.4 mM) or the higher K+ solutions. This was abolished by ouabain and low external K+. The hyperpolarization was also blocked when lithium replaced internal sodium. Rapid change from normal to low (2.7 mM) K+ in the bath during the period of hyperpolarization caused prompt depolarization. The preparation failed to show greater hyperpolarization when Rb+ replaced K+ in the bath in contrast to the findings in skeletal muscle under the similar condition (Adrian and Slayman, 1966). The findings are consistent with an electrogenic mechanism for Na transport under some conditions in mammalian cardiac Purkinje fibers.
A Party Before Dying

At one point, Joe called me over to his wheelchair. We exchanged simple thanks: his for the care I had provided to him and his family over the last month; mine for the opportunity to know him, to k...
Mental rotation ability in relation to self-perceptions of high school geometry

Abstract The study examined relations among mental rotation ability, mathematics achievement and mathematical self-perceptions among 113 high school students. Each participant completed a mental rotations test, an assessment of self-perceptions of geometry and self-perceptions of algebra. Geometry and algebra grades along with a standardized geometry test were used as measures of mathematics achievement. Significant relations emerged between mental rotation and both geometry grades and the standardized geometry measure; no significant relation emerged between mental rotation and algebra grades. A significant relation also emerged between mental rotation and self-perceptions of doing well in geometry and algebra, but not between mental rotation and self-perceptions of either liking geometry or algebra. Implications pertaining to the improvement of spatial thinking as they relate to encouraging students' interests in mathematical and scientific careers are addressed.
Computation of Solid-Liquid Phase Fronts in the Sharp Interface Limit on Fixed Grids

A finite-difference formulation is applied to track solid?liquid boundaries on a fixed underlying grid. The interface is not of finite thickness but is treated as a discontinuity and is explicitly tracked. The imposition of boundary conditions exactly on a sharp interface that passes through the Cartesian grid is performed using simple stencil readjustments in the vicinity of the interface. Attention is paid to formulating difference schemes that are globally second-order accurate in x and t. Error analysis and grid refinement studies are performed for test problems involving the diffusion and convection?diffusion equations, and for stable solidification problems. Issues concerned with stability and change of phase of grid points in the evolution of solid?liquid phase fronts are also addressed. It is demonstrated that the field calculation is second-order accurate while the position of the phase front is calculated to first-order accuracy. Furthermore, the accuracy estimates hold for the cases where there is a property jump across the interface. Unstable solidification phenomena are simulated and an attempt is made to compare results with previously published work. The results indicate the need to begin an effort to benchmark computations of instability phenomena.
Molecular Characterization of Human Pathogenic Bunyaviruses of the Nyando and Bwamba/Pongola Virus Groups Leads to the Genetic Identification of Mojuí dos Campos and Kaeng Khoi Virus

Background Human infection with Bwamba virus (BWAV) and the closely related Pongola virus (PGAV), as well as Nyando virus (NDV), are important causes of febrile illness in Africa. However, despite seroprevalence studies that indicate high rates of infection in many countries, these viruses remain relatively unknown and unstudied. In addition, a number of unclassified bunyaviruses have been isolated over the years often with uncertain relationships to human disease. Methodology/Principal Findings In order to better understand the genetic and evolutionary relationships among orthobunyaviruses associated with human disease, we have sequenced the complete genomes for all 3 segments of multiple strains of BWAV (n = 2), PGAV (n = 2) and NDV (n = 4), as well as the previously unclassified Mojui dos Campos (MDCV) and Kaeng Khoi viruses (KKV). Based on phylogenetic analysis, we show that these viruses populate 2 distinct branches, one made up of BWAV and PGAV and the other composed of NDV, MDCV and KKV. Interestingly, the NDV strains analyzed form two distinct clades which differed by >10% on the amino acid level across all protein products. In addition, the assignment of two bat-associated bunyaviruses into the NDV group, which is clearly associated with mosquito-borne infection, led us to analyze the ability of these different viruses to grow in bat (RE05 and Tb 1 Lu) and mosquito (C6/36) cell lines, and indeed all the viruses tested were capable of efficient growth in these cell types. Conclusions/Significance On the basis of our analyses, it is proposed to reclassify the NDV strains ERET147 and YM176-66 as a new virus species. Further, our analysis definitively identifies the previously unclassified bunyaviruses MDCV and KKV as distinct species within the NDV group and suggests that these viruses may have a broader host range than is currently appreciated.
Preliminary Evaluation of Noise Reduction Approaches for a Functionally Silent Aircraft

Aircraft noise is a major inhibitor of the growth of civil air transportation. Airports in key locations are operating at full capacity and the noise in the vicinity of airports is so intrusive that local communities object to any further expansion. Thus, quiet aircraft would constitute a crucial step forward on an economic, societal and urban planning level. A functionally-silent aircraft is aimed at achieving a step change in airframe and propulsion system noise reduction to noise levels below the current NASA goals. “Silent” in this context means sufficiently quiet that the aircraft noise is less than that of the background noise in a typical well populated environment. Such aircraft would enable an expansion in air transportation by creating opportunity for new airports and allowing increases in operating hours at existing sites. This Engineering Note reports on a preliminary evaluation of noise reduction technologies for a quiet aircraft. The work was conducted under a NASA Langley research contract in 2001–2003 (Manneville et al.1).
A multiple time-step method for molecular dynamics simulations of fluids of chain molecules

Abstract The implementation of a multiple time-step method that produces factors of 1.5 to 2.5 decrease in the computer time needed for performing molecular dynamics simulations of fluid alkanes is reported. The simulation method has been used to obtain a pair distribution function for n -butane that is compared with recent x-ray diffraction data.
The senescent rat diaphragm does not exhibit age-related changes in caspase activities, DNA fragmentation, or myonuclear domain.

The diaphragm muscle is essential for normal ventilation and it is chronically active throughout the lifespan. In most skeletal muscles, aging is associated with increased oxidative stress and myofiber atrophy. Since the diaphragm maintains a unique chronic contractile activity, we hypothesized that these alterations would not occur in senescent diaphragms compared to young diaphragms. In addition, we investigated whether senescence leads to altered diaphragmatic caspase activity and myonuclear domain. We harvested diaphragm muscles from 6 and 24–26 month old male Fisher 344 rats (n = 10 per group). Measurements of protein carbonyls, caspase 2, 3, 9, and 12 activities, DNA fragmentation, myofiber cross-sectional area, and myonuclear domain of diaphragm muscles were performed. No age-related changes (p > 0.05) in diaphragmatic protein oxidation or activities of caspase 2, 3, 9, and 12 were observed between groups. In addition, DNA fragmentation, as detected by the ligation-mediated polymerase chain reaction ladder assay, was not different (p > 0.05) between young and senescent diaphragms. Importantly, the cross-sectional area and myonuclear domain of diaphragm myofibers from senescent animals were also not different (p > 0.05) from young diaphragms. In conclusion, our data show that the senescent diaphragm does not atrophy or exhibit changes in select markers of the apoptotic pathway and this may be a result of the diaphragm’s unique continuous contractile activity.
The relative proportion of preterm births complicated by premature rupture of membranes in multifetal gestations: a population-based study.

Objective To compare the relative contribution of premature rupture of membranes (PROM) to preterm births in singleton compared with multifetal gestations. Study Design A population-based retrospective cohort study of 291,782 nonanomalous live births in the state of Ohio from January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2007, identified through birth certificate data. Frequency of PROM was compared between singleton and multifetal gestations and then stratified by gestational age at birth. Multivariate regression analysis estimated the risk of PROM by plurality in each gestational age group, accounting for influential risk factors. Results The frequency of PROM increased with increasing plurality of gestation. The relative proportion of preterm birth Conclusion The proportion of preterm birth attributable to PROM increases by plurality of gestation, with its most significant contribution in higher-order multiples and at earliest gestational ages when outcomes are the poorest.
Interaction with phosphoinositides confers adaptation onto the TRPV1 pain receptor.

Adaptation is a common feature of many sensory systems. But its occurrence to pain sensation has remained elusive. Here we address the problem at the receptor level and show that the capsaicin ion channel TRPV1, which mediates nociception at the peripheral nerve terminals, possesses properties essential to the adaptation of sensory responses. Ca2+ influx following the channel opening caused a profound shift (∼14-fold) of the agonist sensitivity, but did not alter the maximum attainable current. The shift was adequate to render the channel irresponsive to normally saturating concentrations, leaving the notion that the channel became no longer functional after desensitization. By simultaneous patch-clamp recording and total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) imaging, it was shown that the depletion of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) induced by Ca2+ influx had a rapid time course synchronous to the desensitization of the current. The extent of the depletion was comparable to that by rapamycin-induced activation of a PIP2 5-phosphatase, which also caused a significant reduction of the agonist sensitivity without affecting the maximum response. These results support a prominent contribution of PIP2 depletion to the desensitization of TRPV1 and suggest the adaptation as a possible physiological function for the Ca2+ influx through the channel.
Conservative aspect-orientated programming with the e language

e is a programming language designed for modeling and verification of electronic systems. As such it is used extensively in the microchip industry, and was recently declared an IEEE standard, e is also a powerful general-purpose language used in the implementation of complex commercial software tools.It was suggested some time ago that a number of idioms in e resemble those of AOP, but the suggestion was never examined in depth. The present paper takes up this task. For this purpose the relevant mechanisms in e are compared with those of today's prominent aspect-oriented language - AspectJ - with respect to syntax, semantics, and application.e's aspect-oriented capabilities turn out to be a small subset of AspectJ's, but an interesting one. It is weaker in its support for implementing developmental and non-functional concerns. However, with its simpler syntax and economical semantics, e captures in a natural way crosscutting concerns that stem from the application domain. Thus, e seems to exemplify an original variant of AOP - one that is conservative and robust from a software design point of view.
One-Year Clinical Results With the Slow-Release, Polymer-Based, Paclitaxel-Eluting TAXUS Stent in Patients With Diabetes Mellitus

The one-year clinical results of a polymer-based paclitaxel-eluting stent in preventing restenosis in patients with coronary artery disease were recently reported by Stone and colleagues.1 In the diabetic cohort, target lesion revascularization (TLR) was reduced by approximately 66%. The authors suggest that this technology should be the standard of care for stent implantation in the majority of de novo atherosclerotic lesions as studied in their clinical trial.2 With regard to patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, we feel this conclusion is premature. Extrapolation of these results to this patient population cannot be made on the basis of the design of this trial. First, this type of post hoc subset analysis carries a high risk that the differences observed may be due to chance alone (type I error), and therefore, the authors should be …
Strong agents and weak systems: University support for school level improvement

This study examined individual and school level factors that advance and suppress the traits of high performing schools. Based on action plans and reflective journals of 28 school level practitioners in 14 schools across 10 school districts, researchers tracked the progress of each practitioner from participation in a university-based school improvement institute through the initial 5 months of action plan implementation at the school site. This study also presents a conceptual model for a strong system, based on an extensive literature review. Findings are as follows: (1) Internal, school-level change agents who are knowledgeable and skillful with the traits of strong systems were able to make significant inroads within weak systems. (2) School and district level leadership knowledgeable and skillful with the traits of strong systems were crucial to the sustainability of improvement efforts. (3) The effectiveness of change agents in initiating improvement did not necessarily align with positional power, confirming prior complexity research findings that posit non-linearity of change. (4) Effective change agents focused in their work with colleagues on the cultivation of intellectual dispositions and complex skills. Such activity stands in contrast to much contemporary Professional Learning Community (PLC) work (so called) that focuses on “training” teachers in scripted procedures and suggests that much contemporary PLC work needs to be redirected from the learning of procedural skills to the cultivation of intellectual dispositions and complex skills. University colleges of education, whose signature traditions include inquiry, analysis, and reflection, are well-positioned to support such work.
Subcellular localization of binding sites for cytochalasin D: evidence from activation energies

The activation energies for binding of tritiated cytochalasin D to HEp-2 cells and isolated plasma membrane were determined by Arrhenius plots. The higher value for intact cells (24 kcal/mol) compared to the plasma membrane fraction (4 kcal/mol at greater than 11.5 degrees C, 18 kcal/mol at less than 11.5 degrees C) was taken as evidence that [3H]cytochalasin D must penetrate the plasma membrane in order to reach its binding sites. The data support the conclusion that binding sites for [3H]cytochalasin D are intracellular, on the cytoplasmic face of the plasma membrane (rather than within the lipid bilayer), and on microsomes (endomembranes).
Tunable Diode Laser Measurements Of Carbon Monoxide In Engine Exhaust

In the past few years we have made several studies of carbon monoxide (CO) in automotive exhaust with lead-salt tunable diode lasers. The laser system has several advantages over conventional exhaust analysis instrumentation including a fast response time (25 milliseconds) and the ability to measure CO in the presence of water vapor without interference. These studies were done using an engine dynamometer with a 5.7 l V-8 engine. Initially, the CO was measured before and after the exhaust catalytic converter during step changes in the air-fuel ratio to study the dynamic response of the converter. The converter responded differently when the air-fuel ratio was switched from lean to rich than it did when switched from rich to lean. This behavior was attributed to chemical storage effects on the converter bed, among other factors. Next, the engine was closed-loop controlled at a given CO concentration level using the diode laser as a CO sensor rather than the conven-tional oxygen sensor. Limit cycle oscillations of the closed-loop system were substantially reduced by this method. Finally, a linearized model of the engine's CO emissions was developed based on the TDL measurements of CO during oscillation of the air-fuel ratio at different engine operating conditions.© (1983) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Mineralogic Stratigraphic Marker in White Pine Group, Eastern Nevada: GEOLOGICAL NOTES

The upper three-fourths of the White Pine Group (Late Mississippian) at four widely separated and representative sections in eastern Nevada is characterized by illitic mixed-layer clay, whereas the lower fourth is characterized by well-crystallized illite and, at two of the four sections, by dolomite. These distinctive mineral assemblages meet at a sharply defined, easily determinable boundary that can serve as a stratigraphic marker within this thick, in places poorly exposed, commonly lithologically similar sequence. This boundary can be extended westward to a fifth section if one accepts that the clay minerals in the fifth locality have been affected by incipient metamorphism.
Pricing competitively — a response to Jay Lightfoot

Abstract A recent paper in this journal criticized the two methods commonly used to allocate the costs of multi-payload launches, and proposed two new alternatives. The paper argued that ‘Shapley-value’ pricing and the ‘Independent Cost Proportional Scheme’ are immune to instability problems possible under the traditional mass-proportional approach, and reduce ‘subsidies’ paid to small payloads. This rejoinder shows that neither claim is true in general. It also questions whether new pricing formulas are truly needed — or even sustainable in today's competitive market.
Plant-derived anticancer agents

Natural product drugs play a dominant role in pharmaceutical care. This is especially obvious in the case of antitumor drugs, as exemplified by paclitaxel (Taxol®), vincristine (Oncovin®), vinorelbine (Navelbine®), teniposide (Vumon®), and various water-soluble analogs of camptothecin (e.g., Hycamtin®). The most efficient method of discovering drugs such as these (i.e. novel chemical prototypes that may function through unique mechanisms of action) is bioactivity-guided fractionation, and it is certain that additional natural product drugs, some of which should be useful for the treatment of humans, remain to be discovered. For the commercial procurement of structurally complex natural product drugs, isolation from plant material may be most practical. With the advent of combinatorial chemistry and high throughput screening, however, even greater progress may now be expected with natural product leads. While systemic drug therapy, to an appreciable extent based on natural products, has been the mainstay of pharmaceutical care, the logic of disease prevention is overwhelming. Bearing in mind the pandemic nature of cancer, a proposal is put forth to create a cancer chemoprevention drug formulation for utilization on a widespread basis by the general population. Cancer chemopreventive agents, many of which are natural products, are capable of preventing or inhibiting the process of carcinogenesis. As with other pharmaceutical agents useful for disease prevention, a pharmacoeconomic analysis of a cancer chemopreventive formulation would need to be considered, and the composition of the formulation should improve over time. Nonetheless, implementation should commence immediately.
An analytical model for the channel electric field in MOSFET's with graded-drain structures

A simple analytical model for the lateral channel electric field in the drain region of MOSFET's with graded-drain or lightly doped drain structures is presented. The model's results agree well with two-dimensional simulations of the electric field in the drain region. Due to its simplicity, this model gives a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in reducing the electric field in the lightly doped region. Results show the impact of the length and doping concentration, assumed to be Gaussian, of the lightly doped region on the electric field. Effects of the oxide thickness and junction depth are also accounted for. In each case, there is an optimum doping concentration that minimizes the peak electric field.
Raman spectra and normal coordinate analysis of the copper(II) and copper(III) complexes of biuret and oxamide

Abstract The i.r. and Raman spectra of the N-coordinated copper(II)— and copper(III)—bis(biuretato) and —bis(oxamidato) complexes have been recorded, and normal coordinate analyses have yielded a Urey—Bradley force field for the Cu(III) complexes. The biuret system undergoes little change on oxidation, characterized by ring tightening and a general increase in mode frequencies. On oxidation, the oxamide system undergoes more drastic structural changes, most notably a strengthening of the CC bond in the oxamide rings, as shown by a 19% increase in K(CC), and an increase in electron density in the OCCO framework.
Cohesinopathies, gene expression, and chromatin organization

The cohesin protein complex is best known for its role in sister chromatid cohesion, which is crucial for accurate chromosome segregation. Mutations in cohesin proteins or their regulators have been associated with human diseases (termed cohesinopathies). The developmental defects observed in these diseases indicate a role for cohesin in gene regulation distinct from its role in chromosome segregation. In mammalian cells, cohesin stably interacts with specific chromosomal sites and colocalizes with CTCF, a protein that promotes long-range DNA interactions, implying a role for cohesin in genome organization. Moreover, cohesin defects compromise the subnuclear position of chromatin. Therefore, defects in the cohesin network that alter gene expression and genome organization may underlie cohesinopathies.
Image similarity search with compact data structures

The recent theoretical advances on compact data structures (also called "sketches") have raised the question of whether they can effectively be applied to content-based image retrieval systems. The main challenge is to derive an algorithm that achieves high-quality similarity searches while using compact metadata. This paper proposes a new similarity search method consisting of three parts. The first is a new region feature representation with weighted $=1 distance function, and EMD* match, an improved EMD match, to compute image similarity. The second is a thresholding and transformation algorithm to convert feature vectors into very compact data structures. The third is an EMD embedding based filtering method to speed up the query process. We have implemented a prototype system with the proposed method and performed experiments with a 10,000 image database. Our results show that the proposed method can achieve more effective similarity searches than previous approaches with metadata 3 to 72 times more compact than previous systems. The experiments also show that our EMD embedding based filtering technique can speed up the query process by a factor of 5 or more with little loss in query effectiveness.
A sequence of lower bounds for the spectral radius of nonnegatfve matrices

Abstract We present a sequence of progressively better lower bounds for the s pectral radius of a nonnegative matrix. Each element of the sequence is a function of the spectral radius of the geometric symmetrization of a power of the matrix, as defined by Schwenk. Each element provides a better approximation to the spectral radius than the elements in the sequences provided by other authors.
The Heme Oxygenase 1 Inducer (CoPP) Protects Human Cardiac Stem Cells against Apoptosis through Activation of the Extracellular Signal-regulated Kinase (ERK)/NRF2 Signaling Pathway and Cytokine Release

Intracoronary delivery of c-kit-positive human cardiac stem cells (hCSCs) is a promising approach to repair the infarcted heart, but it is severely limited by the poor survival of donor cells. Cobalt protoporphyrin (CoPP), a well known heme oxygenase 1 inducer, has been used to promote endogenous CO generation and protect against ischemia/reperfusion injury. Therefore, we determined whether preconditioning hCSCs with CoPP promotes CSC survival. c-kit-positive, lineage-negative hCSCs were isolated from human heart biopsies. Lactate dehydrogenase release assays demonstrated that preconditioning CSCs with CoPP markedly enhanced cell survival after oxidative stress induced by H2O2, concomitant with up-regulation of heme oxygenase 1, COX-2, and anti-apoptotic proteins (BCL2, BCL2-A1, and MCL-1) and increased phosphorylation of NRF2. Apoptotic cytometric assays showed that pretreatment of CSCs with CoPP enhanced the cells' resistance to apoptosis induced by oxidative stress. Conversely, knocking down HO-1, COX-2, or NRF2 by shRNA gene silencing abrogated the cytoprotective effects of CoPP. Further, preconditioning CSCs with CoPP led to a global increase in release of cytokines, such as EGF, FGFs, colony-stimulating factors, and chemokine ligand. Conditioned medium from cells pretreated with CoPP conferred naive CSCs remarkable resistance to apoptosis, demonstrating that cytokines released by preconditioned cells play a key role in the anti-apoptotic effects of CoPP. Preconditioning CSCs with CoPP also induced an increase in the phosphorylation of Erk1/2, which are known to modulate multiple pro-survival genes. These results potentially provide a simple and effective strategy to enhance survival of CSCs after transplantation and, therefore, their efficacy in repairing infarcted myocardium.