cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Studies with cytotoxic agents suggest that apoptosis is not a major determinant of clonogenic death in neuroblastoma cells

We have previously reported the selection of a radioresistant human neuroblastoma cell line, Clone F, from IMR32 cells. We have shown that clonogenic radioresistance in these cells is accompanied by a reduced level of radiation-induced apoptosis [Cancer Res 55 (1995) 4915]. Here, we measured the response of these lines to several cytotoxic agents, in terms of clonogenicity and apoptosis. In the clonogenic assay, the radioresistant line was also resistant to cisplatin, melphalan and doxorubicin, but not to perillyl alcohol. However, all these agents produced less apoptosis in the Clone F cells, except cisplatin, which failed to induce any apoptosis in either cell line. Reduced apoptosis cannot be the cause of the Clone F cells' resistance to cisplatin. By extension, the Clone F cells' resistance to radiation and other agents cannot be due to diminished apoptosis either. Based on these results, apoptosis may not be a useful surrogate for clonogenic outcome.
Occupational exposure to human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B virus: A comparative analysis of risk

Abstract objective: To estimate the occupational risk from infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in terms of loss of (quality-adjusted) life expectancy, and to compare that risk to those posed by other hazards faced by health care workers. design: Decision-analytic model. results: For a 30-year-old female health care worker (unvaccinated for hepatitis B virus [HBV]), the loss of life expectancy from a needlestick from a symptomatic HIV-positive (HIV+) patient is 39 days (range, 17 to 93 days), as compared with a loss of 17 days from a needlestick from a patient who is hepatitis-B-surface-antigen-positive (HBsAg+), and 38 days from a needlestick from a patient who is hepatitis-B-eantigen-positive (HBeAg+). When morbidity is included in the analysis of risk (through calculation of the quality-adjusted loss of life expectancy), the risk from both HBV and HIV increases. The quality-adjusted loss of life expectancy due to a needlestick exposure from a symptomatic HIV+ patient is 45 days (range, 20 to 108 days), as compared with a quality-adjusted loss of life expectancy of 48 days from a needlestick from an HBsAg+ patient, and 109 days from a needlestick from a patient who is known to be HBeAg+. By comparison, a cross-country automobile trip is associated with a loss of life expectancy of approximately 1 day. The 45- to 50-day loss of quality-adjusted life expectancy from percutaneous exposures to HIV and HBV is approximately the same magnitude as the gain in life expectancy from 10 years of annual screening for breast cancer with mammography and physical examination. conclusions: The risk associated with percutaneous exposures to symptomatic HIV+ patients is comparable to other risks that health care workers have faced knowingly and have accepted in the recent past. However, the loss of quality-adjusted life expectancy associated with a needlestick exposure is significant. Identification of cost-effective methods that increase the safety of medical personnel but also ensure full access to high-quality care for HIV+ patients should be a high priority.
Prolactin Implants in the Hypothalamus Inhibit Prolactin Surges During Pregnancy and Alter Prolactin Release in Response to Dopamine Receptor Blockade

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine whether prolactin (PRL) could exert a negative feedback on it's own secretion during pregnancy and following ovariectomy, and to determine the possible mechanism by which this feedback acts. Implantation of ovine PRL into the arcuate nucleus-median eminence area of the hypothalamus completely inhibited the nocturnal PRL surge during pregnancy in the rat, and lowered baseline PRL to almost undetectable levels in the ovariectomized rat. When ovariectomized rats implanted with ovine PRL in the hypothalamus were injected with the dopamine receptor blocker domperidone the PRL response was significantly lower than in control rats implanted with albumin. Pregnancy increased the ability of domperidone to cause PRL release following ovine PRL implantation compared to what occurred in ovariectomized rats. These results suggest that PRL implantation increases the secretion of dopamine from the tuberoinfundibular neurons, resulting in a decrease in PRL secretion.
Mixing it up with M T 2 : Unbiased mass measurements at hadron colliders

Recently, much progress has been made on techniques to measure the masses of new particles with partially-invisible decays at a hadron collider. We examine for the first time the realistic application of ${M}_{T2}$-based measurement methods to a fully hadronic final state from a symmetric two-step decay chain with maximal combinatorial uncertainty. Several problems arise in such an analysis: the ${M}_{T2}$ variables are powerful but fragile, with shallow edges that are easily washed out or faked by ubiquitous combinatorics background. Traditional methods of both cleaning up the distribution and determining edge position can fail badly. To perform successful mass measurements we introduce several new techniques: the edge-to-bump method of extracting an edge from a distribution by analyzing a distribution of fits rather than a single fit; a very simple yet high-yield method for determining decay chain assignments event-by-event; and a systematic procedure to obtain ${M}_{T2}$ edge measurements in the presence of heavy combinatorics background, the key element being the parallel use of at least two independent methods of reducing combinatorics background to avoid fake measurements. All of these techniques are developed in a Monte Carlo study of the decay $\stackrel{\texttildelow{}}{g}\stackrel{\texttildelow{}}{g}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}2\stackrel{\texttildelow{}}{b}+2b\ensuremath{\rightarrow}4b+2{\ensuremath{\chi}}_{1}^{0}$ and verified in a second blind study with a different spectrum. In both cases, the gluino and sbottom masses are measured to a precision of $\ensuremath{\sim}10%$ with $\mathcal{O}(100\text{ }\text{ }{\mathrm{fb}}^{\ensuremath{-}1})$ at the LHC14 (assuming pessimistic $b$-tag efficiencies).
A monolithic multi-time-step computational framework for first-order transient systems with disparate scales

Abstract Developing robust simulation tools for problems involving multiple mathematical scales has been a subject of great interest in computational mathematics and engineering. A desirable feature to have in a numerical formulation for multiscale transient problems is to be able to employ different time-steps (multi-time-step coupling), and different time integrators and different numerical formulations (mixed methods) in different regions of the computational domain. To this end, we present two new monolithic multi-time-step mixed coupling methods for first-order transient systems . We shall employ unsteady advection–diffusion–reaction equation with linear decay as the model problem, which offers several unique challenges in terms of non-self-adjoint spatial operator and rich features in the solutions. We shall employ the dual Schur domain decomposition technique to split the computational domain into an arbitrary number of subdomains. It will be shown that the governing equations of the decomposed problem, after spatial discretization, will be differential/algebraic equations. This is a crucial observation to obtain stable numerical results. Two different methods of enforcing compatibility along the subdomain interface will be used in the time discrete setting. A systematic theoretical analysis (which includes numerical stability, influence of perturbations, bounds on drift along the subdomain interface) will be performed. The first coupling method ensures that there is no drift along the subdomain interface, but does not facilitate explicit/implicit coupling. The second coupling method allows explicit/implicit coupling with controlled (but non-zero) drift in the solution along the subdomain interface. Several canonical problems will be solved to numerically verify the theoretical predictions, and to illustrate the overall performance of the proposed coupling methods. Finally, we shall illustrate the robustness of the proposed coupling methods using a multi-time-step transient simulation of a fast bimolecular advective–diffusive–reactive system.
Rumen-protected methionine for lactation, wool and growth in sheep

Abstract Two experiments were conducted to investigate the value of rumen-protected methionine (RPmet) for lactating ewes and growing lambs. In Expt. 1, 18 lactating Dorset ewes (60.2 kg) with twin lambs and 12 Dorset ewes (59.4 kg) with single lambs were fed a supplement (1.0 kg/day) containing either 0 or 0.2% RPMet and had ad libitum access to chopped alfalfa hay for 42 d commencing 5 d post parturition. Treatment effects were not significant for either ewe or lamb bodyweight gain, ewe milk production, milk protein, or milk fat (P > 0.05). In Expt. 2, 26 12-wk-old Dorset ewe lambs (16.9 kg) were used to study the effect of RPMet on bodyweight gain and wool growth. Lambs were fed a corn-soybean meal supplement containing either 0, 0.1 or 0.2% RPMet. Lambs had ad libitum access to chopped grass hay. The supplement was offered to appetite for the first 56 d, and at 0.5 kg/d from d 56 to 112. RPMet did not affect bodyweight gain, feed efficiency, wool yield or staple length (P
A Markov blanket-based method for detecting causal SNPs in GWAS

Background Detecting epistatic interactions associated with complex and common diseases can help to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment of these diseases. With the development of genome-wide association studies (GWAS), designing powerful and robust computational method for identifying epistatic interactions associated with common diseases becomes a great challenge to bioinformatics society, because the study of epistatic interactions often deals with the large size of the genotyped data and the huge amount of combinations of all the possible genetic factors. Most existing computational detection methods are based on the classification capacity of SNP sets, which may fail to identify SNP sets that are strongly associated with the diseases and introduce a lot of false positives. In addition, most methods are not suitable for genome-wide scale studies due to their computational complexity.
Year in review 2011: Critical Care - neurocritical care

Contributions from the neurosciences to Critical Care in 2011 covered an array of topics. We learned about potential biomarkers for, and the effect of cerebral oxygen metabolism on, delirium, in addition to treatment of the latter. A group of investigators studied surface cooling in healthy awake volunteers, and incidence of infection associated with therapeutic hypothermia. The effects of statin and erythropoietin on stroke were revisited, and the role of adhesion molecule in the inflammatory reaction accompanying intracerebral hemorrhage was scrutinized. Biomarkers in subarachnoid hemorrhage and their relationship to vasospasm and outcome, and effect of daylight on outcome in this patient population, as well as a new meta-analysis of statin therapy were among the research in subarachnoid hemorrhage. Moreover, 2011 witnessed the publication of a multidisciplinary consensus conference's recommendations on the critical care management of subarachnoid hemorrhage. Results of studies regarding the diagnosis and vascular complications of meningitis were reported. Traumatic brain injury received its share of articles addressing therapy with hypertonic saline and surgical decompression, the development of coagulopathy, and biomarkers to help with prognostication. Finally, research on the treatment of Guillain-Barre syndrome in children, prediction of long-term need of ventilatory support, and pathophysiology of critical illness polyneuropathy and myopathy were reported.
Pseudarthrosis failures of anterior subaxial cervical spine fusion using a plate with a single screw per vertebral body: a case series.

Introduction The UNIPLATE was developed to improve operative times and limit dissection at the lateral margins of the vertebral bodies. The distinguishing character of this plate is its thin design, which requires only one screw per vertebral level (monovertebral screw plate). Most cervical spine plates, in contrast, are designed for two screws per vertebral level (bivertebral screw plate). Limited reports of the biomechanical efficacy of the UNIPLATE are available, and to the authors' knowledge, this report represents the largest clinical study of its use. Methods This is a retrospective chart-review study of consecutively treated patients without previous cervical spine surgery undergoing anterior cervical diskectomy and fusion at one or two levels. The primary end point was symptomatic pseudarthrosis requiring revision surgery. Pseudarthrosis is defined as a failure of bony fusion on the operated level seen on thin-cut computed tomography scans performed on symptomatic patients. The rate of revision surgery caused by symptomatic pseudarthrosis was compared between patients undergoing one- and two-level fusion surgeries treated with UNIPLATE compared with other plates with two screws per vertebral level. The minimum follow-up was 18 months. Results A total of 162 patients were identified, including 125 patients with one-level fusion and 37 patients with two-level fusion surgery. The median follow-up period was 3.3 years. A significantly greater incidence (odds ratio 10.2, P = 0.042) of reoperation for symptomatic pseudarthrosis was noted for patients treated with the UNIPLATE (4 of 13, 31%) compared with patients treated with bivertebral screw plates (1 of 24, 2.5%). No significant difference in reoperation attributable to symptomatic pseudarthrosis was noted for different plating systems for one-level fusion surgeries. Conclusions There is an increased rate of reoperation for symptomatic pseudarthrosis after anterior cervical diskectomy and fusion surgery with the use of a monovertebral screw semiconstrained plate, particularly in two-level fusion surgeries. Use of the UNIPLATE system has since been abandoned at our institution in favor of bivertebral screw plating systems.
Oral tetracycline therapy in cholera

Abstract The present study represents 3 groups of severely ill male cholera patients, who upon admission were similar in all respects except weight. 11 control patients received only routine intravenous replacement therapy and no antibiotics. The other 2 groups both received 2 grammes of tetracycline; 17 patients received 500 mg. every 6 hours for 4 doses and 14 received 250 mg. every 6 hours for 8 doses. The results clearly demonstrate that 2 grammes of oral tetracycline given in equally divided doses for either 1 or 2 days was effective in reducing the amount and duration of the diarrhoea as well as in reducing the percentage of positive V. cholerae cultures. This small dosage of tetracycline was not effective in establishing an irreversible vibriosterilizing effect, and several treated patients continued to excrete vibrios longer than the control patients.
Anxiety in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders

Anxiety and poor stress management are common concerns in clinical samples of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Anxiety may worsen during adolescence, as young people face an increasingly complex social milieu and often become more aware of their differences and interpersonal difficulties. This review summarizes the state of research on the prevalence, phenomenology, and treatment of anxiety in youth with autism and related conditions such as Asperger's Disorder. Using search words autism, asperger(s), or pervasive developmental disorder and anxiety or anxious to find reports published between 1990 and 2008, this review identified 40 papers. The results of the review suggest that anxiety, whether measured categorically or dimensionally, is indeed common in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders and may be a source of additional morbidity. The assessment of anxiety disorders in ASD should be conducted using multiple informants and modalities, as children with ASD often do not display age-typical symptoms of anxiety. To date, relatively few controlled intervention studies using well-characterized samples have been conducted despite preliminary evidence for efficacy of select pharmacological and psychosocial approaches. Recommendations for future applied research are presented and clinical implications are explored.
Transformational Leadership and Urban Renewal

Executive SummaryLeadership is a concept that has generated increasing interest in this century. A current focus has been on Burns's theory of transformational leadership. Transformational leadersh...
Random X inactivation in the mule and horse placenta

In eutherian mammals, dosage compensation of X-linked genes is achieved by X chromosome inactivation. X inactivation is random in embryonic and adult tissues, but imprinted X inactivation (paternal X silencing) has been identified in the extra-embryonic membranes of the mouse, rat, and cow. Few other species have been studied for this trait, and the data from studies of the human placenta have been discordant or inconclusive. Here, we quantify X inactivation using RNA sequencing of placental tissue from reciprocal hybrids of horse and donkey (mule and hinny). In placental tissue from the equid hybrids and the horse parent, the allelic expression pattern was consistent with random X inactivation, and imprinted X inactivation can clearly be excluded. We characterized horse and donkey XIST gene and demonstrated that XIST allelic expression in female hybrid placental and fetal tissues is negatively correlated with the other X-linked genes chromosome-wide, which is consistent with the XIST-mediated mechanism of X inactivation discovered previously in mice. As the most structurally and morphologically diverse organ in mammals, the placenta also appears to show diverse mechanisms for dosage compensation that may result in differences in conceptus development across species.
Modeling Advanced FET Technology in a Compact Model

The need for meeting the expectations of continuing the enhancement of CMOS performance and density has inspired the introduction of new materials into the classical single-gate bulk MOSFET and the development of nonclassical multigate transistors at an accelerated rate. There is a strong need to understand and model the associated new physics and electrical behavior to ensure widespread very-large-scale-integration circuit applications of new technologies. This paper presents some of the efforts toward the modeling of new technologies for bulk MOSFETs and multigate transistors. A holistic model for mobility enhancement through process-induced stress and a dynamic behavior model for high-k transistors have been developed to capture some of the new effects and new materials in the bulk MOSFET. A new analytical model is also presented for the fundamentally new device structure-FinFET
Ultrasound-guided arterial catheterization: a narrative review

Arterial catheterization is the second most common invasive procedure performed in the intensive care unit. Despite the ubiquity of the procedure, complications including failure to place the catheter occur. While many clinicians are familiar with the use of ultrasound (US) guidance to decrease complication rates of central venous catheter insertion, fewer are familiar with the use of ultrasound to guide arterial catheterization. This manuscript reviews the evidence for the utility of ultrasound for this indication. Technical aspects of the procedure and limitations of the existing evidence are reviewed. A description of the procedure is provided, along with an online supplemental video. Most studies indicate that first-pass success will be improved with US-guided (USG) arterial catheterization. The technique is easy to learn, particularly if one is already familiar with USG for central venous catheter placement. More research, including formal analyses of cost effectiveness, is needed.
The effects of developmental mentoring and high school mentors' attendance on their younger mentees' self-esteem, social skills, and connectedness

Far more has been written about the possible outcomes of cross-age mentoring than about actual outcomes and the processes that lead to change. This study examined the effect of mentors’ attendance on their mentees’ outcomes after six months of developmental mentoring. Developmental mentoring is a structured, cross-age peer mentoring program designed to promote children’s development by facilitating connectedness. In this randomized study of 73 Caucasian, rural youth, multiple analyses of covariance revealed that connectedness to school and parents at posttest were significantly greater for mentees than for the comparison group. Regression analyses revealed that changes in self-esteem, social skills, and behavioral competence were highly related to mentors’ attendance, suggesting relational processes accounted for more change than did exposure to program curricula. However, the relationship between mentors’ inconsistent attendance and mentees’ decline in self-esteem and behavioral competence suggests that absent mentors may do more harm than good. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. As many as a 2.5 million youth receive some form of mentoring each year in the United States (Rhodes, 2002). Despite many anecdotal reports of its effectiveness, our knowledge about the positive and negative effects of mentoring is limited (Rhodes, 2002). Less is known about peer mentoring. The present study examined the effects of peer mentoring. Mentoring Best Practices
Targeting Nrf2 Signaling Improves Bacterial Clearance by Alveolar Macrophages in Patients with COPD and in a Mouse Model

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have innate immune dysfunction in the lung largely due to defective macrophage phagocytosis. This deficiency results in periodic bacterial infections that cause acute exacerbations of COPD, a major source of morbidity and mortality. Recent studies indicate that a decrease in Nrf2 (nuclear erythroid-related factor 2) signaling in patients with COPD may hamper their ability to defend against oxidative stress, although the role of Nrf2 in COPD exacerbations has not been determined. Here, we test whether activation of Nrf2 by the phytochemical sulforaphane restores phagocytosis of clinical isolates of nontypeable Haemophilus influenza (NTHI) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) by alveolar macrophages from patients with COPD. Sulforaphane treatment restored bacteria recognition and phagocytosis in alveolar macrophages from COPD patients. Furthermore, sulforaphane treatment enhanced pulmonary bacterial clearance by alveolar macrophages and reduced inflammation in wild-type mice but not in Nrf2-deficient mice exposed to cigarette smoke for 6 months. Gene expression and promoter analysis revealed that Nrf2 increased phagocytic ability of macrophages by direct transcriptional up-regulation of the scavenger receptor MARCO. Disruption of Nrf2 or MARCO abrogated sulforaphane-mediated bacterial phagocytosis by COPD alveolar macrophages. Our findings demonstrate the importance of Nrf2 and its downstream target MARCO in improving antibacterial defenses and provide a rationale for targeting this pathway, via pharmacological agents such as sulforaphane, to prevent exacerbations of COPD caused by bacterial infection.
Col4a1 mutations cause progressive retinal neovascular defects and retinopathy.

Mutations in collagen, type IV, alpha 1 (COL4A1), a major component of basement membranes, cause multisystem disorders in humans and mice. In the eye, these include anterior segment dysgenesis, optic nerve hypoplasia and retinal vascular tortuosity. Here we investigate the retinal pathology in mice carrying dominant-negative Col4a1 mutations. To this end, we examined retinas longitudinally in vivo using fluorescein angiography, funduscopy and optical coherence tomography. We assessed retinal function by electroretinography and studied the retinal ultrastructural pathology. Retinal examinations revealed serous chorioretinopathy, retinal hemorrhages, fibrosis or signs of pathogenic angiogenesis with chorioretinal anastomosis in up to approximately 90% of Col4a1 mutant eyes depending on age and the specific mutation. To identify the cell-type responsible for pathogenesis we generated a conditional Col4a1 mutation and determined that primary vascular defects underlie Col4a1-associated retinopathy. We also found focal activation of Muller cells and increased expression of pro-angiogenic factors in retinas from Col4a1(+/Δex41)mice. Together, our findings suggest that patients with COL4A1 and COL4A2 mutations may be at elevated risk of retinal hemorrhages and that retinal examinations may be useful for identifying patients with COL4A1 and COL4A2 mutations who are also at elevated risk of hemorrhagic strokes.
Dynamic nuclear polarization in a magnetic resonance force microscope experiment

We report achieving enhanced nuclear magnetization in a magnetic resonance force microscope experiment at 0.6 tesla and 4.2 kelvin using the dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) effect. In our experiments a microwire coplanar waveguide delivered radiowaves to excite nuclear spins and microwaves to excite electron spins in a 250 nm thick nitroxide-doped polystyrene sample. Both electron and proton spin resonance were observed as a change in the mechanical resonance frequency of a nearby cantilever having a micron-scale nickel tip. NMR signal, not observable from Curie-law magnetization at 0.6 T, became observable when microwave irradiation was applied to saturate the electron spins. The resulting NMR signal's size, buildup time, dependence on microwave power, and dependence on irradiation frequency was consistent with a transfer of magnetization from electron spins to nuclear spins. Due to the presence of an inhomogeneous magnetic field introduced by the cantilever's magnetic tip, the electron spins in the sample were saturated in a microwave-resonant slice 10's of nm thick. The spatial distribution of the nuclear polarization enhancement factor e was mapped by varying the frequency of the applied radiowaves. The observed enhancement factor was zero for spins in the center of the resonant slice, was e = +10 to +20 for spins proximal to the magnet, and was e = −10 to −20 for spins distal to the magnet. We show that this bipolar nuclear magnetization profile is consistent with cross-effect DNP in a ∼105 T m−1 magnetic field gradient. Potential challenges associated with generating and using DNP-enhanced nuclear magnetization in a nanometer-resolution magnetic resonance imaging experiment are elucidated and discussed.
A new approach to the study of the lymphocyte.

SummaryA new approach to the study of the small lymphocyte is presented. Thoracic duct lymph cells from donor rats are injected into granuloma pouches in recipient rats and the transferred cells are studied both cytologically and histologically. Advantages and limitations of the new method are mentioned.
The Crystal Chemistry of the Europium Arsenides

Recently seven well-defined crystal structures of the europium arsenides, Eu5As3, Eu4As3, Eu5As4, Eu2As2, Eu3As4, Eu3As3, and EuAs3 (1–6), and two closely related oxides, Eu4As20 and Eu3As3TaO (7,8) have been reported from the same laboratory. In order to better understand the crystal chemistry of these materials and the nature of the elements, Eu and As, the crystal structure results are studied here via the calculation of polyhedral atomic volumes (PAVs), coordination numbers (CN), partial coordination number coefficients, f, Pauling metallic valences, and harmonic analysis (9,10). These approaches have been useful in the past in understanding and quantifying the crystal chemistry of rare earth intermetallics, halides and hydrides (10–12).
Coloring technology for surimi seafood

Surimi seafood was invented to mimic primarily Alaska king crab in Japan in the mid 1970s. Over 30 years of the production history, various surimi seafood products have been developed beyond shellfish (crab, shrimp, and lobster) and finfish (salmon and anchovy) substitutes. Now surimi seafood stands strong with its own identity, not as a shellfish substitute. Their color ranges from dark-red to bright blood-red, and dark brown-red to orange-red. Currently the worldwide industry achieves the desired surface color (hue) by blending various colorants such as carmine, monascus, paprika oleoresin, caramel, canthaxanthin, lycopene, and emulsifiers. All these colorants are derived from natural sources except canthaxanthin and beta-carotene which are chemically synthesized. In the body of white meat except salmon and anchovy style products, whitening agents such as vegetable oil, calcium carbonate, and titanium carbonate are used. This chapter covers colorants used in surimi seafood, color application to crabstick, application problems (flaking and bleeding/transfer), quality measurement, and labeling requirements.
Redefining Gender Roles in the Workforce

The redefining of gender roles is modifying our ideas of what constitutes women's work. Women have been moving into non-traditional roles and into professions previously dominated by men. Today, the message is that work roles are changing and what are society and technical and vocational educators doing to facilitate this? The author discusses women's roles in the workforce, highlighting their concentration in service professions, the lower level of education in some countries compared to men, and their lack of parity with men. The author then looks at how policy can address concerns about women's role in the workforce. The chapter concludes with suggestions as to how vocational and technical educators can help change the situation and assist women in participating fully in the workforce.
Multi-class SVM based on sleep stage identification using EEG signal

Currently, sleep disorders are considered as one of the major human life issues. Human sleep is a regular state of rest for the body in which the eyes are not only usually closed, but also have several nervous centers being inactive; hence, rendering the person either partially or completely unconscious and making the brain a less complicated network. This paper introduces an efficient technique towards differentiating sleep stages to assist physicians in the diagnosis and treatment of related sleep disorders. The idea is based on easily implementable filters in any hardware device and feasible discriminating features of the Electroencephalogram EEG signal by employing the one-against-all method of the multiclass Support Vector machine (SVM) to recognize the sleep stages and identify if the acquired signal is corresponding to wake, stage1, stage2, stage3 or stage4. The experimental results on several subjects achieve 92% of classification accuracy of the proposed work. A comparison of our proposed technique with some recent available work in the literature also presents the high classification accuracy performance.
Progressive Cl− channel defects reveal disrupted skeletal muscle maturation in R6/2 Huntington’s mice

Huntington’s disease (HD) patients suffer from progressive and debilitating motor dysfunction. Previously, we discovered reduced skeletal muscle chloride channel (ClC-1) currents, inwardly rectifying potassium (Kir) channel currents, and membrane capacitance in R6/2 transgenic HD mice. The ClC-1 loss-of-function correlated with increased aberrant mRNA processing and decreased levels of full-length ClC-1 mRNA ( Clcn1 gene). Physiologically, the resulting muscle hyperexcitability may help explain involuntary contractions of HD. In this study, the onset and progression of these defects are investigated in R6/2 mice, ranging from 3 wk old (presymptomatic) to 9–13 wk old (late-stage disease), and compared with age-matched wild-type (WT) siblings. The R6/2 ClC-1 current density and level of aberrantly spliced Clcn1 mRNA remain constant with age. In contrast, the ClC-1 current density increases, and the level of aberrantly spliced Clcn1 mRNA decreases with age in WT mice. The R6/2 ClC-1 properties diverge from WT before the onset of motor symptoms, which occurs at 5 wk of age. The relative decrease in R6/2 muscle capacitance also begins in 5-wk-old mice and is independent of fiber atrophy. Kir current density is consistently lower in R6/2 compared with WT muscle. The invariable R6/2 ClC-1 properties suggest a disruption in muscle maturation, which we confirm by measuring elevated levels of neonatal myosin heavy chain (MyHC) in late-stage R6/2 skeletal muscle. Similar changes in ClC-1 and MyHC isoforms in the more slowly developing Q175 HD mice suggest an altered maturational state is relevant to adult-onset HD. Finally, we find nuclear aggregates of muscleblind-like protein 1 without predominant CAG repeat colocalization in R6/2 muscle. This is unlike myotonic dystrophy, another trinucleotide repeat disorder with similar ClC-1 defects, and suggests a novel mechanism of aberrant mRNA splicing in HD. These early and progressive skeletal muscle defects reveal much needed peripheral biomarkers of disease progression and better elucidate the mechanism underlying HD myopathy.
Goal-Oriented Taxation: A Brief Discussion of the Living-Space Tax

Many Job Guarantee programs argue that the financing of the program is not a fundamental problem. The program’s funding depends upon a recognition that the government is able to spend the financial resources required to implement a job guarantee because there are no fundamental constraints to government spending, as in a gold-standard world. The value of the currency is not strictly determined by the scarcity of money and there is not an operational constraint on the amount of money that can be issued. Rather, the value is driven by the fact that the issuer of the currency will accept the currency in payments to itself. One can always use the money of a sovereign nation to pay taxes, so the money will have value. Since establishing a strong taxation system is one of the ways that a government may “drive” the value of its currency, the scheme of taxation becomes of interest to this line of research. Various taxation schemes may be explored to determine a more “effective” tax base. Common taxes are income and sales taxes, where the production and consumption of goods is taxed. As the concern over both environmental waste and resource use become policy concerns, a carbon tax might be a useful tax to consider. These taxes are not necessary to “finance” government spending, but rather are a necessary means by which a significant portion of the population will demand the currency so that they may pay their taxes, driving the value of the currency. This chapter will consider these issues and offer an alternative tax that will both drive the value of the currency while pursuing alternative environmental pollution and resource use goals.
Examining the role of fluctuations in the early stages of homogenous polymer crystallization with simulation and statistical learning

We propose a relationship between the dynamics in the amorphous and crystalline domains during polymer crystallization: the fluctuations of ordering-rate about a material-specific value in the amorphous phase drive those fluctuations associated with the increase in percent crystallinity. This suggests a differential equation that satisfies the three experimentally observed time regimes for the rate of crystal growth. To test this postulated expression, we applied a suite of statistical learning tools to molecular dynamics simulations to extract the relevant phenomenology. This study shows that the proposed relationship holds in the early time regime. It illustrates the effectiveness of soft computing tools in the analysis of coarse-grained simulations in which patterns exist, but may not easily yield to strict quantitative evaluation. This ability assists us in characterizing the critical early time molecular arrangement during the primary nucleation phase of polymer melt crystallization. In addition to supporting the validity of the proposed kinetics expression, the simulations show that (i) the classical nucleation and growth mechanism is active in the early stages of ordering; (ii) the number of nuclei and their masses grow linearly during this early time regime; and (iii) a fixed inter-nuclei distance is established.
Full length article: Lp Bernstein inequalities and inverse theorems for RBF approximation on Rd

Bernstein inequalities and inverse theorems are a recent development in the theory of radial basis function (RBF) approximation. The purpose of this paper is to extend what is known by deriving L^p Bernstein inequalities for RBF networks on R^d. These inequalities involve bounding a Bessel-potential norm of an RBF network by its corresponding L^p norm in terms of the separation radius associated with the network. The Bernstein inequalities will then be used to prove the corresponding inverse theorem.
Abstract 246: Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Reveal Mitophagy as an Essential Process Against Diabetic Cardiomyopathy

Diabetic cardiomyopathy is a common consequence of diabetes and associated with mitochondrial pathology. Using human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs) as an in vitro model of diabetes, we sought to understand the role of mitophagy, a process that selectively degrades mitochondria through the autophagy-lysosome pathway as a crucial quality control pathway against diabetic cardiomyopathy. We first showed that iPSC-CMs exposed to a diabetic milieu demonstrated increased hypertrophy, impaired calcium signaling, and higher oxidative stress. Flow cytometry analysis of iPSC-CMs subjected to diabetic conditions revealed two distinct population of cells (normal and hypertrophied), suggesting a heterogeneous response to hyperglycemia. In these cells, hypertrophied iPSC-CMs were found to have reduced mitophagy compared to normal cells when exposed to hyperglycemia. In addition, we showed that mitochondrial fragmentation was also decreased in the hypertrophied iPSC-CMs compared to normal cells upon exposure to hyperglycemia, demonstrating a link between mitochondrial fragmentation and mitophagy. Surprisingly, pretreatment of iPSC-CMs with a non-selective antioxidant, N-(2-mercaptopropionyl)-glycine, not only failed to limit the deleterious effects of hyperglycemia, but actually led to increased hypertrophy and cell death. We found that mitophagy was significantly reduced in iPSC-CMs following antioxidant treatment, suggesting the need of mild oxidative stress as a trigger for mitophagy. Future studies are warranted to further investigate the association between oxidative stress, mitochondrial fragmentation, and mitochondrial fission as targets against diabetic cardiomyopathy.
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hydroxylated PBDE metabolites (OH-PBDEs): A six-year temporal trend in Northern California pregnant women

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are brominated flame retardants. Technical mixtures PentaBDE and OctaBDE were phased out in 2004 through voluntary and regulatory actions with DecaBDE remaining in limited use until 2013. Biomonitoring studies have shown widespread presence of PBDEs in the US and worldwide population. While some studies suggest that human serum concentrations are declining over time, it is unclear whether this trend will continue. Our objective was to examine temporal trends of PentaBDEs and their hydroxylated metabolites (OH-PBDEs) between 2008 and 2014 in populations of ethnically diverse, pregnant women residing in Northern California (n = 111). Serum samples were collected and analyzed by high resolution mass spectrometry for five PentaBDE congeners and two OH-PBDEs. We found widespread exposures in participants from all three time points (2008/09, 2011/12, 2014). Temporal patterns varied substantially by congener. BDE-47, -99 and the OH-PBDEs decreased between 2008/09-2011/12 but plateaued between 2011/12-2014. In contrast, BDE-100 decreased across all years, BDE-153 decreased in the latter years, and BDE-28 decreased initially and then increased. These findings indicate that while policies to remove PBDEs from the marketplace have successfully lead to declines in exposures to some PBDE congeners, human exposures to these legacy pollutants could plateau and remain ubiquitous in human populations.
Spontaneous Transport of Single-Stranded DNA through Graphene–MoS2 Heterostructure Nanopores

The effective transport of a single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) molecule through a solid-state nanopore is essential to the future success of high-throughput and low-cost DNA sequencing. Compatible with current electric sensing technologies, here, we propose and demonstrate by molecular dynamics simulations the ssDNA transport through a quasi-two-dimensional nanopore in a heterostructure stacked together with different 2D materials, such as graphene and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). Due to different chemical potentials, U, of DNA bases on different 2D materials, it is energetically favorable for a ssDNA molecule to move from the low-U MoS2 surface to the high-U graphene surface through a nanopore. With the proper attraction between the negatively charged phosphate group in each nucleotide and the positively charged Mo atoms exposed on the pore surface, the ssDNA molecule can be temporarily seized and released thereafter through a thermal activation, that is, a slow and possible nucleotide-by-nucleotide transport....
Mycorrhizae Alter Toxin Sequestration and Performance of Two Specialist Herbivores

Multitrophic species interactions are shaped by both top-down and bottom-up factors. Belowground symbionts of plants, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), can alter the strength of these forces by altering plant phenotype. For example, AMF-mediated changes in foliar toxin and nutrient concentrations may influence herbivore growth and fecundity. In addition, many specialist herbivores sequester toxins from their host plants to resist natural enemies, and the extent of sequestration varies with host plant secondary chemistry. Therefore, by altering plant phenotype, AMF may affect both herbivore performance and their resistance to natural enemies. We examined how inoculation of plants with AMF influences toxin sequestration and performance of two specialist herbivores feeding upon four milkweed species (Asclepias incarnata, A. curassavica, A. latifolia, A. syriaca). We raised aphids (Aphis nerii) and caterpillars (Danaus plexippus) on plants for six days in a fully factorial manipulation of milkweed species and level of AMF inoculation (zero, medium, and high). We then assessed aphid and caterpillar sequestration of toxins (cardenolides) and performance, and measured defensive and nutritive traits of control plants. Aphids and caterpillars sequestered higher concentrations of cardenolides from plants inoculated with AMF across all milkweed species. Aphid per capita growth rates and aphid body mass varied nonlinearly with increasing AMF inoculum availability; across all milkweed species, aphids had the lowest performance under medium levels of AMF availability and highest performance under high AMF availability. In contrast, caterpillar survival varied strongly with AMF availability in a plant species-specific manner, and caterpillar growth was unaffected by AMF. Inoculation with AMF increased foliar cardenolide concentrations consistently among milkweed species, but altered aboveground biomasses and foliar phosphorous concentrations in a plant species-specific fashion. Increased herbivore sequestration of cardenolides followed AMF-mediated increases in foliar cardenolide concentrations. Aphid performance declined with increasing foliar cardenolide concentrations, while caterpillar survival increased with aboveground biomass. Our findings suggest that by altering plant phenotype, the availability of AMF in soil has the potential to influence both top-down (via sequestration) and bottom up (via plant defense and nutrition) forces that operate on herbivores.
Energy Transfer among Ions in Solids

The subject of interactions among atoms is introduced by considering first the static and then the dynamic effects of these interactions in a two-atom system and in a linear chain of atoms. Subsequently the different types of interactions (multipolar, exchange and electromagnetic) are examined. After reviewing the different modes of excitation of a solid containing both donors and acceptors, a “statistical” treatment of energy transfer is presented by considering first the case of energy transfer without migration among donors, and then the case of energy transfer when such migration occurs. Finally the concept of collective excitations in solids is introduced and a general theory of these excitations is presented.
Neuroimaging and neuropsychology of the striatum : Bridging basic science and clinical practice

Neuroimaging and neuropsychology are complementary disciplines that provide powerful means for assessing the structure and function of corticostriatal systems. Findings from four model basal ganglia disorders--OCD, TS, HD, and PD--are reviewed. This survey is intended as a vehicle for illustrating the breadth of current clinical and research applications, as well as the potential for future advances. The perspectives brought by neuroimaging and neuropsychology serve as a natural bridge from the basic neuroscience to the clinical practice articles in this issue.
Predicting recessions using trends in the yield spread

The yield spread, measured as the difference between long- and short-term interest rates, is widely regarded as one of the strongest predictors of economic recessions. In this paper, we propose an ...
Creativity in and out of (cognitive) control

The neurobiological mechanisms supporting cognitive regulation during creative thinking have been at the forefront of recent research on creative cognition. This work has revealed tradeoffs between activity in prefrontal executive control systems and posterior or subcortical brain regions, typically thought to comprise the brain’s default mode network. This review will offer a critical summary of the recent literature on the costs and benefits of cognitive control mechanisms for creative thinking, proposing an interpretation of these seemingly conflicting findings in the context of the complexity and diversity of executive control functions.
Minimally invasive approaches for the evacuation of intracerebral hemorrhage: a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is associated with a high rate of morbidity and mortality. Minimally-invasive surgery (MIS) has been increasingly used in recent years. We systematically reviewed the role of MIS in the acute management of ICH using various techniques. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION A comprehensive electronic search for relevant articles was conducted on several relevant international databases, including PUBMED (Medline), EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL). EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS Our primary literature research resulted in 1134 articles. In total, 116 publications finally met the eligibility criteria to be included in our systematic review. Five major MIS categories for the evacuation of ICH were identified, respectively: minimally invasive direct aspiration with or without thrombolytics, endoscope assisted technique, sonothrombolysis, aspiration-irrigation device and endoport-assisted evacuation. CONCLUSIONS The role of minimally invasive techniques in the management of ICH remains under dispute. However, a mounting evidence in the literature demonstrates that MIS is associated with significantly improved outcomes when compared with conservative treatment and conventional surgical evacuation strategy.
Body dysmorphic disorder and aesthetic procedures

Aesthetic practitioners treat all kinds of people, and each one is motivated to seek treatment for different reasons. In some cases, patients may have underlying issues that encourage them to seek ...