cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Outside‐In: Body, Mind, and Self in the Advertisement of Aesthetic Surgery

L'A. tente de determiner dans quelle mesure l'industrie de la chirurgie esthetique americaine, notamment a travers son discours publicitaire, perpetue ou modifie les conceptions de la relation corps-esprit. Si le discours de la chirurgie esthetique tend a maintenir l'ancienne hierarchie ou l'esprit est superieur au corps, il a tendance, egalement, a reevaluer la place du corps dans cette relation en valorisant son aspect esthetique. L'A. soutient que cette valorisation du corps ne constitue qu'une rupture apparente de la hierarchie corps-esprit, dans la mesure ou la chirurgie esthetique ne valorise que le corps qui defie sa nature de corps en mutation, en accord avec les representations courantes de l'ideal de beaute. Selon l'A., l'industrie esthetique ne se preoccupe pas de l'alteration des perceptions du vieillissement et de la difference physique. Son objectif est de rehabiliter le corps d'une maniere a refleter le bonheur et les qualites du moi interieur. La comprehension des enjeux de l'industrie de la chirurgie esthetique dans l'histoire de cette relation peut contribuer aux debats sur l'interet de la medecine dans la normalisation du corps et de la psyche autour de considerations esthetiques
Meta-analysis of adverse cardiovascular events associated with echocardiographic contrast agents.

In October 2007, the Federal Drug Agency issued a black box warning for contrast agents used in patients undergoing echocardiography and restricted their use in patients with acute coronary syndrome, a decompensated heart, and respiratory failure. We performed a systemic review and meta-analysis to study the adverse effects of contrast agents used with respect to myocardial infarction and all-cause mortality. MEDLINE, EMBASE, BIOSIS, and Cochrane databases from inception to October 2009 were searched for studies that reported myocardial infarction and all-cause mortality after the use of contrast agents for echocardiography. A total of 8 studies were included in the present meta-analysis. A random-effect model was used, and between-studies heterogeneity was estimated with I 2 . A total of 8 studies reported death as an outcome and only 4 reported myocardial infarction. The incidence of death in the contrast group was 0.34% (726 of 211,162 patients) compared to 0.9% (45,970 of 5,078,666 patients) in the noncontrast group. The pooled odds ratio was 0.57 (95% confidence interval 0.32 to 1.01, p = 0.05). The reported incidence of myocardial infarction in the contrast group was 0.15% (86 of 57,264 patients) compared to 0.2% (92 of 44,503 patients) in the noncontrast group. The pooled odds ratio was 0.85 (95% confidence interval 0.35 to 2.05, p = 0.72). Significant heterogeneity was seen among the studies. In conclusion, the cumulative evidence has suggested that the use of contrast agents for echocardiography is safe and not associated with a greater incidence of myocardial infarction or and mortality.
Simulation-optimization approach to assess groundwater availability in Refugio County, TX

Sustainable management of groundwater resources is critical for viable development of semi-arid regions. Refugio County, TX, is predominantly a rural community that is in close proximity to two large urban areas of Corpus Christi and San Antonio. Large-scale water supply projects are being planned to export surplus water available in Refugio County to nearby growing cities. Being a coastal county with several sensitive bays and estuaries, these projects have caused concerns with regard to decreases in freshwater inflows to coastal bodies and raised the possibility of saltwater intrusion. A simulation model characterizing groundwater flow in the shallower unconfined and the deeper semi-confined formations of the Gulf coast aquifer was calibrated and evaluated. The model results were used in conjunction with a mathematical programming scheme to estimate maximum available groundwater in the county. Stakeholder concerns were incorporated as constraints, which included prevention of saltwater intrusion in the aquifer, limiting the amount of allowable drawdown in shallow aquifers, as well as maintaining current flow gradients especially near baseflow-dependent streams and rivers. For the conditions assumed in this study, the model results indicate that roughly 4.93 × 107 m3 of water can be extracted in a typical year. The management model was noted to be very sensitive to the imposed saltwater intrusion constraint.
The College Seminar: Participation under Instructor-Led and Student-Led Discussion Groups:

By use of Bales' Interaction Process Analysis, this study shows how to increase participation in an advanced seminar.
Postmaterialism of the Left and Right Political Conflict in Postindustrial Society

In his attempt to predict future political conflict, Ronald Inglehart writes that traditional class cleavages and ideologies will slowly erode and be replaced by the dominant value orientation of postmaterialism. This article shows that Inglehart's postmaterialists are not a unified social and political group. Postmaterialists of the right have attitudes that differ significantly from postmaterialists of the left about the ways in which society should be directed. These conflicting values and societal goals have their basis in social class and ideology, and the existence of the two groups suggests that political conflict will have its origin in intragenerational as well as intergenerational cleavages. This distinction also suggests that future public policy issues will continue to be framed in ideological, in addition to postmaterialist, terms.
Conceptual and Measurement Challenges in Research on Cognitive Reserve

Cognitive reserve, broadly conceived, encompasses aspects of brain structure and function that optimize individual performance in the presence of injury or pathology. Reserve is defined as a feature of brain structure and/or function that modifies the relationship between injury or pathology and performance on neuropsychological tasks or clinical outcomes. Reserve is challenging to study for two reasons. The first is: reserve is a hypothetical construct, and direct measures of reserve are not available. Proxy variables and latent variable models are used to attempt to operationalize reserve. The second is: in vivo measures of neuronal pathology are not widely available. It is challenging to develop and test models involving a risk factor (injury or pathology), a moderator (reserve) and an outcome (performance or clinical status) when neither the risk factor nor the moderator are measured directly. We discuss approaches for quantifying reserve with latent variable models, with emphasis on their application in the analysis of data from observational studies. Increasingly latent variable models are used to generate composites of cognitive reserve based on multiple proxies. We review the theoretical and ontological status of latent variable modeling approaches to cognitive reserve, and suggest research strategies for advancing the field. (JINS, 2011, 17, 593–601)
Dysregulated Inflammatory Signaling upon Charcot-Marie-Tooth Type 1C Mutation of SIMPLE Protein

Endosomal trafficking is a key mechanism to modulate signal propagation and cross talk. Ubiquitin adaptors, along with endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) complexes, are also integrated to terminate ligand-receptor activation in late endosomes and multivesicular bodies (MVBs). Within these pathways, we recently demonstrated that the protein SIMPLE is a novel player in MVB regulation. SIMPLE is also clinically important and its mutation accounts for the Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 1C (CMT1C) disease. MVB defects of mutation and deletion of SIMPLE, however, are distinct. Here, we show that MVB defects found in mutation but not deletion of SIMPLE lead to impaired turnover and accumulation of ESCRT-0 protein Hrs puncta in late endosomes. We further uncover increased colocalization of ubiquitin ligase TRAF6 and Hrs in late endosomes. Upon stimulation with interkeukin-1 or transforming growth factor β, prolonged activation of p38 kinase/JNK is detected, while nuclear accumulation of NF-κB and phosphorylation of SMAD2 is reduced with CMT1C mutation. The aberrant kinetics we observed in inflammatory signaling may contribute to increased tumor susceptibility and changes in the levels of chemokines/cytokines that result from CMT1C mutation. We propose that altered endosomal trafficking due to malformations of MVBs and subsequent atypical signaling kinetic may account for a toxic gain of function in CMT1C pathogenesis.
Is personality a key predictor of missing study data? An analysis from a randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE Little is known regarding the effects of psychological factors on data collection in research studies. We examined whether Five Factor Model (FFM) personality factors—Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness—predicted missing data in a randomized controlled trial (RCT). METHODS Individuals (N = 415) aged 40 years and older with various chronic conditions, plus basic activity impairment, depressive symptoms, or both, were recruited from a primary care network and enrolled in a 6-week RCT of an illness self-management intervention, delivered by means of home visits or telephone calls or usual care. Random effects logistic regression modeling was used to examine whether FFM factors predicted missing illness management self-efficacy data at any scheduled follow-up (2, 4, and 6 weeks, and 6 and 12 months), controlling for disease burden, study arm, and sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS Across all follow-up points, the missing data rate was 4.5%. Higher levels of Openness (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] for 1-SD increase = 0.24; 95% CI, 0.12–0.46; P <.001), Agreeableness (AOR = 0.29; CI 0.14–0.60; P=.001), and Conscientiousness (AOR = 0.24; CI 0.15–0.50; P <.001) were independently associated with fewer missing data. Accuracy of the missing data prediction model increased when personality variables were added (change in area under the receiver operating characteristic curve from 0.71 to 0.77; χ21=6.6; P=.01). CONCLUSIONS Personality was a powerful predictor of missing study data in this RCT. Assessing personality could inform efforts to enhance data completion and adjust analyses for bias caused by missing data.
Total and partial urogenital mobilization: focus on urinary continence.

Purpose: Total and partial urogenital mobilization procedures are the most common contemporary vaginoplasty surgeries for patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, urogenital sinus and cloacal anomalies. There is controversy regarding the urinary continence outcomes of these procedures. We reviewed the urinary continence outcomes of children who underwent total or partial urogenital mobilization at our institution and reviewed the literature to determine the continence rates of these procedures.Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 25 patients who underwent total or partial urogenital mobilization with a focus on postoperative continence status. Continence was defined as parental report of full toilet training with no accidents during the day and rare accidents (fewer than 2 per month) at night after age 3 years.Results: A total of 14 congenital adrenal hyperplasia, 5 urogenital sinus and 6 cloacal anomaly cases were managed by total (18) or partial (7) urogenital mobilization procedures ...
Methanation sites on a Pt/TiO2 catalyst

Abstract The adsorption of Hz and CO and the hydrogenation of CO were studied by temperature-programmed desorption and reaction (TPD, TPR) on a 1.8% Pt/TiO 2 catalyst. Two types of adsorbed CO were observed: CO is adsorbed on Pt and a HCO complex is adsorbed on the TiO 2 support. support. The HCO complex, which appears to be a methoxy (CH 3 O) species, hydrogenates at a faster rate than does the CO on Pt. Isotope labeling indicates that the methoxy species may be directly hydrogenated to CH 4 . The CO transfers rapidly from Pt to TiO 2 at methanation temperatures and below. The effects of H 2 pressure and adsorption temperature on the methanation rate during during TPR are presented. The higher rate of hydrogenation of the CH 3 O species adsorbed on the support (relative to CO adsorbed on Pt) may be related to the enhanced methanation activity of Pt/TiO 2 catalysts at steady state.
An algorithm for approximate membership checking with application to password security

Abstract Given a large set of words W , we want to be able to determine quickly whether a query word q is close to any word in the set. A new data structure is presented that allows such queries to be answered very quickly even for huge sets if the words are not too long and the query is quite close. The major application is in limiting password guessing by verifying, before a password is approved, that the password is not too close to a dictionary word. Other applications include spelling correction of bibliographic files and approximate matching.
Women's Representation in Parliament: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis

In recent years, statistical and case study research has increasingly reached conflicting findings in terms of the factors explaining cross-national variations in the percentage of women elected to national parliaments. To reconcile the conclusions of large-n and small-n research, this article employs qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), a medium-n technique, to study two populations of cases, Western and sub-Saharan African countries. In contrast to work predicated on assumptions of causal homogeneity and causal competition, the study reveals that multiple combinations of conditions lead to higher and lower levels of female representation. This finding corroborates the two guiding principles of QCA, causal combination and equifinality, suggesting that these methods may offer greater leverage than traditional techniques in discerning the various factors facilitating and hindering women's access to political office.
Making predictions about chemical reactivity: Assumptions and heuristics

Diverse implicit cognitive elements seem to support but also constrain reasoning in different domains. Many of these cognitive constraints can be thought of as either implicit assumptions about the nature of things or reasoning heuristics for decision-making. In this study we applied this framework to investigate college students' understanding of structure–property relationships in the context of chemical reactivity. The ability to understand and apply structure–property relationships to explain the behavior of physical, chemical, and biological systems is a core competence that many science and engineering majors are expected to develop. Core findings were derived from semi-structured interviews based on a ranking task. Study participants relied on intuitive, spurious, and valid assumptions about the nature of chemical entities in building their responses. In particular, many of students appeared to conceive chemical reactions as macroscopic reassembling processes thought to be more favored the easier it seemed to break reactants apart or put products together. Students also expressed spurious chemical assumptions based on the misinterpretation and overgeneralization of chemical ideas. Reasoning heuristics for decision-making also played a significant role in the construction of answers to ranking questions. Specifically, interviewees demonstrated strong over-reliance on variable reduction strategies and recognition memory in their reasoning. Our findings reveal the need for educational approaches that more effectively affect the conceptual sophistication and depth of reasoning about structure–property relationships of college students. Our research framework provides a productive approach for the analysis of student reasoning in scientific domains. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach
Tumor antigen extracts stimulate cytotoxicity against unrelated target cells.

A new cytotoxicity assay for the study of tumor antigens is described. Splenocytes from normal and mammary-tumor-bearing BALB/c mice were depleted of glass-adherent cells, exposed to various concentrations of tumor extracts and mixed with 51Cr-labelled chick red blood cells. Cytolysis evidenced by 51Cr release was determined 20 h after incubation at 37°C. Lymphocytes from tumor bearers exerted no cytotoxic action per se, but became cytolytic after confrontation with immunogenic tumor extracts. Although this cytotoxicity is expressed against targets other than the cells containing the sensitizing antigen, i.e., a non-specific activity, its induction is strictly specific as evidenced by the following: (1) extracts of D1-DMBA-3 tumors exerted an inductive effect only in lymphocytes from mice bearing this tumor and not in lymphocytes from normal mice; and (2) extracts of normal tissues or of a non-immunogenic mammary tumor, D1-DMBA-2, did not induce cytotoxicity in lymphocytes from normal or tumor-bearing mice. This approach may provide a useful method for in vitro determination of cell-mediated immunity in which specific reactions can be induced by tumor extracts as opposed to intact tumor cells. Stimulation, Par Des Extraits D'Antigenes Tumoraux, De La Cytotoxicite Envers Des Cellules-Cibles Non Apparentees Les auteurs decrivent un nouveau test de cytotoxicite pour l'etude des antigenes tumoraux. Les splenocytes de souris BALB/c normales ou porteuses de tumeurs mammaires ont ete separes des cellules adherant au verre, exposes a diverses concentrations d'extraits tumoraux et melanges a des globules rouges de poulet marques au Cr51. La cytolyse mise en evidence par la liberation du Cr51 a ete mesuree apres 20 h d'incubation a 37°C. Les lymphocytes des animaux cancereux n'etaient pas eux-měmes cytotoxiques, mais sont devenus cytolytiques apres confrontation avec les extraits de tumeurs immunogeniques. Cette cytotoxicite s'exprime contre des cibles autres que les cellules contenant l'antigene sensibilisant: elle n'est donc pas specifique, mais son induction est strictement specifique, comme l'indiquent les constatations suivantes: 1) les extraits de tumeurs D1-DMBA-3 n'ont exerce un effet inducteur que sur les lymphocytes de souris porteuses de cette tumeur et pas sur les lymphocytes des souris normales; 2) les extraits de tissus normaux ou d'une tumeur mammaire non immunogenique, D1-DMBA-2, n'ont pas rendu cytotoxiques les lymphocytes des souris normales ou cancereuses. Cette approche peut constituer une methode utile pour la determination in vitro de l'immunite a mediation cellulaire dans laquelle des reactions specifiques peuvent ětre induites non pas par des cellules tumorales intactes, mais par des extraits tumoraux.
Unconstrained Boundary Layers

In the real world it is almost impossible to find horizontal surfaces that are truly homogeneous; nor is it usually possible over continents to find a truly steady state condition that persists long enough to satisfy the restrictions we have imposed up to now. Simplifications such as we have made serve a useful purpose in permitting us to reach an introductory understanding, but applications as well as a comprehensive understanding of the atmosphere require that we consider more complex systems.
Atenolol: pharmacokinetic/dynamic aspects of comparative developmental toxicity☆

to most body tissues in humans [4,5] and in animal (rodent) species [3,7].However, only a small proportion of the administered dosereaches the brain in both humans [8] and animals [3,7].The brain tissue:blood concentration ratio in the human is about 0.2:1 compared to a much larger pro- portion (33:1) foranother widely used drug of the same class, propranolol [8]. Atenolol shows little-less than
Cubic Thallium(l) Halides

Publisher Summary It is noted that most of the univalent thallium halides exhibit cubic cesium-chloride structure. Cubic forms of the thallium (I) halides are important optical materials because of their high refractive index, far infrared transparency, relative insolubility in water, and moderate strength. These halides are miscible in all concentrations and eutectic mixtures are typically used to improve composition homogeneity. The cubic eutectic mixtures of thallium-halide crystals with the designations KRS-5 and KRS-6 are especially important. Thallium chloride has a direct band gap of 3.4 eV. Unlike most materials, the band gap increases with temperature, by about 0.02 eV from 0 to 200 K. Optical constants in the region of fundamental electronic absorption from the band gap to about 20 eV are determined. Strong absorption begins with the exciton formation at the band gap followed by the interband transitions between the valence band of chlorine and the conduction band of thallium. A thallium-valence-electron plasma oscillation occur around 7.2 eV and a chlorine 4p electron plasma resonance occurs near 12.4 eV.
Occurrence of cancer of the uterine cervix in New York, exclusive of New York City

Abstract The incidence of cervical cancer has increased moderately in the last 15 years according to the reports received by the Bureau of Cancer Control for New York State. During this same period, death due to cancer of the uterus has decreased by 40 per cent. A review of the hospital records shows that the incidence of recognized carcinoma in situ has tripled in a 10 year period while that of invasive cancer has decreased by 20 per cent. The 5 year cure rate of invasive cancer of the cervix is about 50 per cent while that of carcinoma in situ approaches 100 per cent. This, in part, would explain the decreasing mortality rate from cancer of the uterus.
Nanostructured Morphology of Spinel LiMn2O4 Oxide under Microwave Heating

The surface morphology and structure of the cubic stoichiometric spinel LiMn2O4 powder prepared by microwave heating were examined using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmittance electron microcopy. It is shown that the surface morphology of LiMn2O4 particle changed with increasing preparing temperature, while the crystal structure kept unchanged. Novel nanostructured morphologies including nanorods and nanowhiskers were formed under appropriate synthesis conditions. The growth mechanism of the nanostructured morphology of spinel LiMn2O4 was discussed in accordance with period bonding chains (PBCs) theory.
Influence of Hot Spring Phages on Community Carbon Metabolism: Win, Lose or Draw?

Abundant virus-like particles were concentrated from large-volume samples from two hot springs. Both addition of viral concentrates and addition of samples induced by addition of mitomycin-C changed patterns of carbon source utilization by hot spring microbial communities. Specific effects of the two treatments depended upon both temperature and incubation period. Increased metabolic capability with greater exposure to free phages, consistent with the view that phages are major lateral transporters of metabolic genes, was observed most clearly in microbes incubated at a temperature lower than that encountered in situ. On the other hand, decreases in the diversity of utilizable C sources upon exposure to phages may have been due to lytic activity in which susceptible bacterial populations were differentially reduced by infective viruses, consistent with the “killing the winner” hypothesis. Treatment of cultures with MC-treated culture extracts, assumed to increase exposure to excised prophages, resulted in higher average metabolic rates after 18 h, but lower rates after 48 h of incubation. With incubation at in situ temperature, this same treatment led to an initial increase in the number of readily utilized C sources, followed by a decrease in community metabolic diversity relative to controls in samples from both hot springs. Thus, treatments designed to increase the interaction between hot spring microbes and either free or newly-excised phages had observable time- and temperature-dependent effects on community metabolism, demonstrating an important, yet complex, ecological role for phages in hot spring waters.
Review: Building Seagram by Phyllis Lambert

Phyllis Lambert. Building Seagram New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2013, 320 pp., 140 b/w and 56 color illus. $65.00, ISBN 9780300167672 “Can there be a need for yet another book on Mies van der Rohe, who has been more exhaustively written about than any other of the hero figures of modern architecture?”1 J. M. Richards, the British critic and editor of Architectural Review , asked this question in 1975—thirty-eight years ago. Since then, the literature on Mies has grown substantially, and the most recent addition to it, Phyllis Lambert’s sumptuous monograph, Building Seagram , demonstrates once more that there is still plenty about Mies, his work, and its context to be uncovered.2 No one could tell the history of the most seminal office building of the twentieth century as well as Lambert, who selected the architect in 1954 and then worked closely with all participants as director of planning and representative of the client, her father, Samuel Bronfman, the president of Seagram. The experience changed her life. She went on to study architecture under Mies at IIT and immediately afterward designed the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts (known today as the Segal Centre for Performing Arts) in Montreal. She became an architectural historian, an active preservationist, and the founding director and main supporter of the Canadian Centre for Architecture, the premier research center for architectural history and theory in the world. The story of how the young Parisian art student rose up against her father, whose “fierce temper” had terrified her as a child, and interfered in his selection of an architect for the new company headquarters in New York, is so well known that it long ago assumed the quality of an architectural myth, equal to, perhaps, the account of Frank L. Wright sketching his famous perspective of Fallingwater between a phone call from the client, Edgar Kaufmann, and his arrival at Wright’s home half an hour …
Quantitative aspects of micro ATPase measurements on plasma from chicks with erythromyeloblastic leukosis.

SummaryChanges have been made in the conditions of the micro test of plasmas from chicks with erythromyeloblastic leukosis for their capacity to dephosphorylate adenosine triphosphate. The principal modification has involved use of a balanced saline solution in the reaction mixture resulting in a very large increase in the precision, sensitivity and resolution of the procedure. With 3-λ of plasma, instead of the 5-λ volumes employed earlier, the expected error of a single determination in 2 of 3 cases is ±4 gamma phosphorus on the basis of measurements by electrometric titration. The greater sensitivity has extended the range of plasma activity possible for accurate measurement and has shortened the time necessary for the estimation.
The Future of Sleeve Gastrectomy

The International Diabetes Federation has recently published a position statement on bariatric surgery. Facing a global diabetes crisis, it has added various types of surgery on the gastrointestinal tract as powerful options among the armamentarium to normalise glycaemia, avoid regular medications and decrease costs in severely obese patients. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy has been shown to be effective for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, with extremely low mortality and acceptable morbidity. It decreases caloric consumption, modifies gut hormones, changes gastric emptying, and lowers glycaemia. In the long term, if recurrences in weight or diabetes occur, it can be converted to a duodenal switch, potentially reaching 90% of patients with partial or complete remission.
Management of hypertension.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Hypertension affects some 23 million Americans. No clinician, however specialized, can avoid dealing with it. In this review we have tried to summarize the why, who, when, and how of the managernent of hypertension. The first three are clear these days. The last is not. The clinician must devise an orderly progression of therapies based on the pathophysiologic abnormalities present, but using blood pressure control as the crucial endpoint. The regimen should be simple and cheap, if possible, and be one the patient can take without problems caused by complexity or excessive cost. The clinician should be prepared to fight the constant battle of noncompliance and help the patient understand who suffers when he or she fails to take medicine properly. There is little doubt thatif we could successfully manage hypertension, and I think we have the tools to do so, we could make significant progress in bettering the health of the nation.
Categorization: The View from Animal Cognition.

Exemplar, prototype, and rule theory have organized much of the enormous literature on categorization. From this theoretical foundation have arisen the two primary debates in the literature—the prototype-exemplar debate and the single system-multiple systems debate. We review these theories and debates. Then, we examine the contribution that animal-cognition studies have made to them. Animals have been crucial behavioral ambassadors to the literature on categorization. They reveal the roots of human categorization, the basic assumptions of vertebrates entering category tasks, the surprising weakness of exemplar memory as a category-learning strategy. They show that a unitary exemplar theory of categorization is insufficient to explain human and animal categorization. They show that a multiple-systems theoretical account—encompassing exemplars, prototypes, and rules—will be required for a complete explanation. They show the value of a fitness perspective in understanding categorization, and the value of giving categorization an evolutionary depth and phylogenetic breadth. They raise important questions about the internal similarity structure of natural kinds and categories. They demonstrate strong continuities with humans in categorization, but discontinuities, too. Categorization’s great debates are resolving themselves, and to these resolutions animals have made crucial contributions.
The Solution Assembly of Biological Molecules Using Ion Mobility Methods: From Amino Acids to Amyloid β-Protein

Ion mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry (IMS-MS) methods are increasingly used to study noncovalent assemblies of peptides and proteins. This review focuses on the noncovalent self-assembly of amino acids and peptides, systems at the heart of the amyloid process that play a central role in a number of devastating diseases. Three different systems are discussed in detail: the 42-residue peptide amyloid-β42 implicated in the etiology of Alzheimer's disease, several amyloid-forming peptides with 6–11 residues, and the assembly of individual amino acids. We also discuss from a more fundamental perspective the processes that determine how quickly proteins and their assemblies denature when the analyte ion has been stripped of its solvent in an IMS-MS measurement and how to soften the measurement so that biologically meaningful data can be recorded.
Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) for Patients Aged 65 Years or Older with AML and MDS.

Abstract Allogeneic HSCT is a potentially curative treatment for AML/MDS, but aging is generally associated with poorer outcomes. The incidence of AML/MDS, however, increases after the 7th decade of life, and there is limited data with transplantation in this age group. Here we review our experience treating such patients. Methods: Retrospective analysis of outcomes of patients aged 65 or older treated from 1996 to 2004 with allogeneic HSCT (n=40; median age 67 years, range 65–75 years). Diagnosis was MDS in 5 cases and AML in 35 patients. Cytogenetics were high-risk in 50% and intermediate risk in 50%; 80% of the patients had active disease at HSCT (n=32). All preparative regimens contained fludarabine 100–150 mg/m2, combined with cytarabine 4 gm/m2, and idarubicin 36 mg/m2 (n=12); or with busulfan (n=8); with melphalan 140 or 180 mg/m2 (n=12); and with melphalan 140 mg/m2 and Mylotarg 2 or 4 mg/m2 (n=8). ATG was added in unrelated donor (MUD) HSCT. All but 2 patients received tacrolimus and methotrexate for graft-versus host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis. Stem cell source was bone marrow in 11 cases and peripheral blood in the others. Donors were related in 27 cases and unrelated in 13 cases (33%). Results: 35 patients engrafted (88%); complete remission (CR) rate was 72%, 6 patients died early and 3 did not respond. Eleven patients are alive at a median of 12.5 mo (range, 2.6–59 mo), 10 of them in CR. One-year overall survival was 30% for the whole group, 26% for recipients of MUD and 32% for recipients of related donor HSCT (MUD x sibling, P=NS). One-year event-free survival was 28%. Median survival and disease-free survival was 4.5 and 2.5 mo, respectively; 42% of the patients in CR post HSCT have relapsed (n=13). Acute and chronic GVHD rates were 45% and 48%, respectively. Non-relapse mortality (NRM) was 40%. Download : Download high-res image (116KB) Download : Download full-size image Figure shows survival of patients with and without circulating blasts at the time of transplant. Conclusions: Here we expanded our previous observations indicating that allogeneic HSCT is a treatment option for selected patients in this age range. In this cohort with advanced stage disease (80% with active disease at transplant), NRM was high, but survival after sibling and unrelated donor transplants was similar.
SUSY GUTs in 6D: Precise Gauge Coupling Unification

In the previous chapter we argued that precise gauge coupling unification [PGCU], i.e. the absence of threshold corrections at the GUT scale, requires certain specific soft SUSY breaking masses at the weak scale. In particular, lighter gluinos than expected from unification of gaugino masses. In this chapter we argue that non-local GUT breaking will, in general, eliminate one-loop GUT threshold corrections. This is because the compactification scale is the scale of GUT symmetry breaking [342, 343, 344]. In this chapter (based on [345]) we present a 6D model with SU(6) gauge symmetry and N=2 supersymmetry. In terms of 4D language, such a 6D theory with N=2 SUSY contains one vector adjoint and three chiral adjoints. The model has gauge-Higgs unification with the Higgs doublets coming from one of the chiral adjoints. The group SU(6) is broken to SU(5) × U(1) X via orbifold boundary conditions. Then SU(5) is broken to the Standard Model gauge group and, at the same time, Higgs doublet-triplet splitting is accomplished by a Wilson line. The two extra-dimensions are compactified on an orbifold that can be characterized as a sphere with a cross-cap (topologically equivalent to the manifold RP2), as described in [342, 343, 344]. Quarks and leptons can be in the bulk (or localized at the fixed points), and their Yukawa couplings to the Higgs are localized at the orbifold fixed points which only retain an N=1 SUSY in 4D (see for example [313, 346] where this phenomenon has been discussed).
The Memory Ensemble: improvising connections among performance, disability, and ageing.

There is a recognised need for research that illuminates mutually beneficial connections among performance, ageing, disability theory, and praxis. One such project is the Memory Ensemble™, an improvisational theatre intervention for persons with early stage Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). This case study explores how the programme productively disrupts and expands notions of all three: performance, disability, and ageing. The mission of the Memory Ensemble is to improve the quality of life for persons living with ADRD through the intervention of improvisational performance; to investigate the benefits of this non-pharmacological intervention; and to translate these benefits to other communities.
Management of Supraventricular Tachycardia in Infants

Supraventricular tachycardia is the most common tachyarrhythmia encountered in infants. In older children and adults, definitive treatment of the supraventricular tachycardia substrate with catheter ablation is a common approach to management. However, in infants, the risks of catheter ablation are significantly higher, and the patients often outgrow the potential to experience episodes. Therefore, antiarrhythmic medications are often utilized to minimize the likelihood of experiencing episodes. This article reviews the common arrhythmia mechanisms encountered in infants and the medications used to treat these patients.
Richard A. Easterlin, Economic Historian and Demographer

In this brief review of Richard Easterlinâ€™s earlier career as an economist, I wish to touch on some of his major works and their findings. I aim to subdivide his work into two fields â€“ the study of economic growth and the understanding of demographic factors.
A Dialectical and Dialogical Approach to Health Policies and Programs: The Case of Open Defecation in India

A multi-pronged approach to health policy and programs related to open defecation (OD) is proposed via a qualitative study conducted in rural India. A dialogic and dialectic perspective is employed...
Translocators in Bimolecular Lipid Membranes: Their Role in Dissipative and Conservative Bioenergy Transductions

Publisher Summary This chapter explains translocators in bimolecular lipid membranes: their role in dissipative and conservative bioenergy transductions. The theory is consistent with and relies heavily on findings in the ancillary fields of monolayer and surface chemistry. An ionic translocator mechanism is energized chemically to permit the synthesis of active transport and other bioenergy transductions in experimental lipid membranes. In an ideal situation, both the surface energies of the torus and of the bilayer are zero and the bilayer are torn or cut without retracting into the torus or forming a drop. The geometry and framing of the planar bilayer and the presence of special solvents create additional energy terms, which are absent in the spherical bilayers. When some lipid membranes are mechanically broken, they persist as sheets that do not contract into a drop. The extremely low ionic conductance of the bilayer must be attributed to the hydrocarbon region. Translocators show different degrees of functional complexity and are either simple or complex and show selectivity or variable dissociation for the translocated species and are also regulatable, that is, gated either by the translocated entity or by other agents. The energy conversions are linked to a central ion translocating system, which is capable of transporting ions against an electrochemical gradient
Human-Computer Interaction in a Computational Evolution System for the Genetic Analysis of Cancer

The paradigm of identifying genetic risk factors for common human diseases by analyzing one DNA sequence variation at a time is quickly being replaced by research strategies that embrace the multivariate complexity of the genotype to phenotype mapping relationship that is likely due, in part, to nonlinear interactions among many genetic and environmental factors. Embracing the complexity of common diseases such as cancer requires powerful computational methods that are able to model nonlinear interactions in high-dimensional genetic data. Previously, we have addressed this challenge with the development of a computational evolution system (CES) that incorporates greater biological realism than traditional artificial evolution methods, such as genetic programming. Our results have demonstrated that CES is capable of efficiently navigating these large and rugged fitness landscapes toward the discovery of biologically meaningful genetic models of disease predisposition. Further, we have shown that the efficacy of CES is improved dramatically when the system is provided with statistical expert knowledge, derived from a family of machine learning techniques known as Relief, or biological expert knowledge, derived from sources such as protein-protein interaction databases. The goal of the present study was to apply CES to the genetic analysis of prostate cancer aggressiveness in a large sample of European Americans. We introduce here the use of 3D visualization methods to identify interesting patterns in CES results. Information extracted from the visualization through human-computer interaction are then provide as expert knowledge to newCES runs in a cascading framework. We present aCES-derived multivariate classifier and provide a statistical and biological interpretation in the context of prostate cancer prediction. The incorporation of human-computer interaction into CES provides a first step towards an interactive discovery system where the experts can be embedded in the computational discovery process. Our working hypothesis is that this type of human-computer interaction will provide more useful results for complex problem solving than the traditional black box machine learning approach.
Mechanics of Erythrocytes, Leukocytes, and Other Cells

In the previous chapter, we studied the flow properties of blood. In this chapter, we turn our attention to the blood cells. We give most of the space to the red blood cells, but treat the white blood cells and other cells toward the end of the chpater.
Next Steps for Animal Rights

Over the past decade, the fifty state legislatures of the United States have been adopting legislation for the benefit of the group of animals known as companion animals. When considered together as a set, these laws create an initial set of legal rights for that group of animals. To explore that conclusion, the definition of a legal right and the particular statutes, such as new divorce laws, must be considered.
THE NATURE OF THE ACTIVATED OXYGEN INVOLVED IN THE HYDROXYLATION REACTIONS CATALYZED BY CYTOCHROME P450 FROM A STUDY OF ITS PEROXIDASE PROPERTIES

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the nature of the activated oxygen involved in the hydroxylation reactions catalyzed by cytochrome P-450 from a study of its reroxidase properties. It has been shown that liver cytochrome P-450 is responsible for the massive lipid peroxidation that ensues when hydroperoxides are injected into rats and results in extensive tissue damage and death. It is now believed that the activated oxygen of peroxidase compound I of cytochrome P-450 catalyzes rapid lipid peroxidation, that is, unsaturated lipid can act as a peroxidase donor. Different cytochrome P-450 and P-450s have different peroxidase activities and affinity for cumene hydroperoxide. Thus, cytochrome P-450 from liver catalyzes the hydroperoxide supported hydroxylations far more readily than other tissues. While enhancing NADPH-supported hydroxylation of benzopyrene or acetanilide, 3-methylcholanthrene induction actually decreases the hydroperoxide-supported hydroxylation. The chapter discusses the mechanism of cytochrome P-450 and the nature of the 440 nm complex. It also describes the implication of the peroxidase activity in cytochrome P-450 function.
Foscolo e il rovescio del sublime: la via italiana allo "humor" romantico

In questo saggio l'autore discute la differenza fra il sublime retorico italiano e il sublime etico-politico che si sviluppo in Inghilterra e Germania, paesi gelosi della loro indipendenza dalla Chiesa di Roma. L'ironia romantica del periodo della Restaurazione rappresenta il rovescio del sublime; in Italia essa trovo espressione emblematica prima nella Vita di Alfieri e poi nelle incompiute Lettere scritte dall'Inghilterra o Gazzettino del Bel Mondo, in cui Foscolo esprime le proprie opinioni sull'esilio, sulla noia (e sulla sua genealogia) e sugli autori di moda (che non rispondono alle esigenze dello schema dello Pseudo-Longino). Nell'ultima parte del saggio l'autore discute anche il Saggio sulla letteratura contemporanea in Italia di Foscolo, considerato "chiave" delle Lettere scritte dall'Inghilterra.
Costos de transacción, asignación de recursos y reglas de responsabilidad

En el presente trabajo, el autor nos brinda una brillante perspectiva de los costos transaccionales y la problematica que los rodea en cuanto a la asignacion de recursos y las reglas de responsabilidad que tenemos en nuestros ordenamientos legales. Con el motivo de dejar claro su planteamiento, el renombrado profesor Calabresi usa ejemplos empiricos para mostrar de que manera se da la intervencion gubernamental en la economia, cuando esta parece no poder regularse por si misma. In the present paper, the author gives us a brighter perspective of transaction costs and the problems around them in terms of resource allocation and liability rules that we have in our legal systems. With the occasion to clarify its approach, the renowned Professor Calabresi uses empirical examples that show how government intervention in the economy occurs when this does not seem to regulate for itself.
Population II/III Gamma-Ray Bursts

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) may provide the first direct observational evidence of the primordial stars that populated the universe at redshifts of \(z \gtrsim 15\). These cosmic explosions can shed light on the properties of their progenitors as well as that of the circumburst medium. We have performed numerical simulations of realistic environments for a variety of long-duration GRB progenitors with ZEUS-MP, and have applied a semi-analytic method to calculating GRB light curves in these profiles. We compare light curves produced by collapsars and binary merger events, and find that GRBs produced via the collapse of a single massive star may produce afterglows that are distinguishable from those produced by GRBs that result from stellar mergers. We also find that Population (Pop) II and Pop III GRB afterglows may be detectable at z ≥ 15 with current and proposed instruments at X-ray, infrared, and radio frequencies.
Microenvironmental engineering: An effective strategy for tailoring enzymatic activities

Abstract Rationally, engineering a favorable physicochemical microenvironment for enzymes has recently emerged as an effective strategy to improve their catalytic performance. In this review, we discuss four microenvironmental effects according to the mechanism of action: localizing and excluding reactants and regulators, regulating microenvironmental pH, creating a water-like microenvironment, and increasing the local temperature. These mechanisms are enzyme-independent and can in principle be used in combination to tailor enzyme behaviors, offering new approaches to enabling, enhancing, and regulating enzyme catalysis in diverse applications without the need for genetic engineering.