cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
An Improved Mass Determination for M31 from Its Satellite Galaxies

The High-Resolution Echelle Spectrometer on the Keck I telescope has been used to measure the first radial velocities for stars belonging to the Andromeda I and III dwarf spheroidal galaxies. Our radial velocity for And III matches that reported by Blitz & Robishaw for an adjacent H I gas complex, supporting the association of this galaxy with a high-velocity cloud. New and previously published radial velocities for a sample of confirmed or suspected M31 satellites are combined with a homogeneous set of distance estimates to calculate the total mass of M31. Assuming the satellite orbits are isotropic, we find a median mass of MA (7.9 ± 0.5) × 1011 M☉ from eight candidate satellites having deprojected distances from M31 in excess of RA 100 kpc. If the orbits are radial, the inferred mass increases to MA (21.5 ± 3.8) × 1011 M☉; for circular orbits, the enclosed mass is MA (3.7 ± 0.4) × 1011 M☉. These masses are somewhat lower than those found for luminous spiral galaxies based on the ensemble dynamics of the their satellites, although the estimates are nevertheless consistent given the large uncertainties.
Multimode antenna selection for spatial multiplexing systems with linear receivers

Spatial multiplexing is a simple transmission technique for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communication links in which data is multiplexed across the transmit antennas. In Rayleigh fading matrix channels, however, spatial multiplexing with low-complexity linear receivers suffers due to a lack of diversity advantage. This paper proposes multimode antenna selection, which uses a low-rate feedback channel to improve the error rate performance of spatial multiplexing systems with linear receivers. In the proposed technique, both the number of substreams and the mapping of substreams to antennas are dynamically adjusted, for a fixed total data rate, to the channel based on limited feedback from the receiver. Dual-mode selection, where spatial multiplexing or selection diversity is adaptively chosen, dramatically improves the diversity gain achieved. Multimode selection (i.e., allowing any number of substreams to be dynamically selected) provides additional array gain. Various criteria for selecting the number of substreams and the optimal mapping of substreams to transmit antennas are derived. Relationships are made between the selection criteria and the eigenmodes of the channel. A probabilistic analysis of the selection criteria are provided for Rayleigh fading channels. Applications to nonlinear receivers are mentioned. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate significant performance improvements in independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) flat-fading Rayleigh matrix channels with minimal feedback.
The stem and leaf lectin of Dolichos biflorus L., previously thought to be cell wall associated, is sequestered in vacuoles

Post-embedding immunogold labeling has shown that the DB58 lectin is sequestered in vacuoles. Previous evidence indicating that a significant fraction of the DB58 lectin is cell wall associated is shown to be in error.
Optimizing responses to broadcast messages in radio networks

Algorithms to optimize the performance of response traffic for broadcast messages in a packet-switched radio network are studied. The situation considered here involves a source node sending a broadcast message to all destinations and collecting positive response packets from these destinations in a fully connected packet radio network. The exact value of the number of destination nodes is unknown. A contention-based two-level protocol is described. Based on the protocol, an optimization problem is formulated in order to minimize the time for the source node to receive all the responses. Several algorithms are presented and numerical results of the corresponding optimization problems are obtained. These optimization problems are treated by the methods of dynamic programming. An extension of the basic scheme—multicast instead of full broadcast message—is also studied.
Achieving Sustainable Economic Development in Communities.

The options available for communities to work toward sustainable community economic developmentare explored through four fundamental elements of community economic development theory.Sustainable community economic development is about changing perceptions and choices regardingcommunity resources, markets, rules, and decision-making capacity. The idea of new knowledgeand reframing issues is offered as a method to create new options. The dimensions of time, space,marginalized social-economic groups, and dynamic economies broaden the concept of sustainabledevelopment beyond the more traditional physical-biological definition.
Engineering 'hot spots' for surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Strong Raman signals have been observed in various molecules attached to rough metal film surfaces or nano silver/gold particles. This phenomenon is denoted as surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Recent experiments have shown that the effective cross sections of Raman scattering can reach the same level that of fluorescence of good laser dyes, making SERS a promising single-molecular detection tool. The commonly used substrates for SERS consist of colloidal Ag/Au particle aggregates, where SERS active sites, called “hot spots”, are only found by chance and not controllable. The poor repeatability and controllability of these SERS substrates have prevented SERS from viable industrial applications, therefore it is imperative to design and fabricate optimized "hot spots" with desired plasmon resonance frequency in a controllable fashion. In this paper, we present a new class of composite nano particles, which is consisted of stacked alternative metal/dielectric layers, called nanoburger. We study optical properties of these nanoburger particles by using discrete dipole approximation method. The numerical results show that nanoburger particles possess many advantages over single layered particles, including high brightness or scattering intensity, high local field enhancements, and more freedom of tuning plasmon resonance wavelength. Another important merit of the nanoburger particles is that they can be fabricated with traditional micro/nano lithography techniques, and thus are integrable with techniques such as lab-in-a-chip.
Sperm concentration dependency in the fertilization and zonae sperm binding properties of mouse eggs inseminated in vitro

Sperm penetration of zonae and fertilization of mouse eggs in vitro was studied as a function of sperm concentration over the range 10(3)-10(6) cells/ml. Maximal fertilization was obtained at 10(5) sperm/ml with markedly reduced levels seen at lower concentrations. Eggs inseminated at low sperm concentrations were, however, characterized by the absence of multiple sperm penetrations of their zonae and by the retention of an intact cumulus oophorus during culture. Penetration levels were similar in eggs inseminated with and without an intact cumulus, although increases in supernumerary and supplemental sperm were observed with partly denuded ova. The distribution of sperm found within eggs inseminated in vitro was compared with a distribution predicted by chance alone. The similarity in observed and expected distributions indicated that a functional zona reaction was absent in eggs inseminated in vitro. Sperm binding to zonae of cumulus-free unfertilized mouse eggs was shown to be related to sperm concentration over the range 10(3)-10(6) cells/ml. Zonae sperm binding sites, while too numerous for accurate quantitation, exceeded 100 per zona. The interrelationships between sperm penetration of and sperm binding to the zonae of cumulus-free eggs were examined. At low sperm concentrations, the ratio of sperm/zonae with bound sperm to sperm/penetrated egg approached one, although the total number of bound sperm exceeded the total number of penetrating sperm. That proportion of cells in a preincubated epididymal sperm suspension, capable of binding to the zona was determined and employed in an estimation of the extent of sperm capacitation.
Compressible, multiphase semi-implicit method with moment of fluid interface representation

A unified method for simulating multiphase flows using an exactly mass, momentum, and energy conserving Cell-Integrated Semi-Lagrangian advection algorithm is presented. The deforming material boundaries are represented using the moment-of-fluid method. The new algorithm uses a semi-implicit pressure update scheme that asymptotically preserves the standard incompressible pressure projection method in the limit of infinite sound speed. The asymptotically preserving attribute makes the new method applicable to compressible and incompressible flows including stiff materials; enabling large time steps characteristic of incompressible flow algorithms rather than the small time steps required by explicit methods. Shocks are captured and material discontinuities are tracked, without the aid of any approximate or exact Riemann solvers. Simulations of underwater explosions and fluid jetting in one, two, and three dimensions are presented which illustrate the effectiveness of the new algorithm at efficiently computing multiphase flows containing shock waves and material discontinuities with large "impedance mismatch."
On the Saturation of Nuclear Forces

The forces between heavy elementary particles, i.e., neutrons and protons, are investigated on the hypothesis that they emit electron-positron pairs. It is also assumed that the interaction of the heavy particles with the field of light particles is large compared with the kinetic energy of the light particles. It is shown that potentials result which are of the same order of magnitude as the kinetic energy of the light particles. When many heavy particles interact the total potential energy is found to be proportional to the number of heavy particles.
Private School Enrollment and Public School Performance

Federal, state, and local expenditures for public education amounted to $184 billion, or $4,538 per pupil, in 1987-88 (Lieberman, 1989: 29). At the same time, educational achievement in the United States, whether measured in terms of student performance on standardized tests, literacy rates, or other dimensions of learning, has been stagnant for a decade or more (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983). As a result, public concern with public education has reached a level not seen since the Soviet Union launched its Sputnik satellite in 1957. Calls for educational reform are rampant in many states, with proposals being advanced for increasing teacher salaries, implementing merit pay for teachers, adopting more stringent teacher training and certification requiremens, and introducing various other initiatives designed to improve the quality of education delivered by the public schools. Experiments with introducing choice into the public education process are also beginning to be undertaken. In 1987, for example, Minnesota implemented a plan allowing students to enroll at any public school within the state. Similarly, public school officials in Boston are considering a proposal that would divide the city into three autonomous zones and allow elementary and middle school students to attend any school within their zone of residence (Kelly, 1990). All such experiments are designed to improve the quality of public education by weakening the monopoly power of local school districts. The premise of this approach to educational reform is that by allowing greater freedom of
High outcrossing rates maintain male and hermaphrodite individuals in populations of the flowering plant Datisca glomerata

MODELS for the maintenance of androdioecy (the presence of male and hermaphrodite individuals in a breeding population) in plants predict that males must have a fertility at least double the male fertility of hermaphrodites in order to be maintained by selection1–3. An even greater advantage is required in partially self-fertilizing populations1–3 as the gain in fitness through increased pollen production is least when few ovules are available for outcrossing. Because such stringent theoretical requirements make the evolutionary stability of this breeding system highly unlikely, functional androdioecy is thought to be rare in plants, and indeed the only documented instance occurs in populations of Datisca glomerata (Datiscaceae)4. As such, these populations provide a unique opportunity to test predictions concerning the evolution of androdioecy in plants. Here we report high outcrossing rates (65–92%) in two androdioecious populations of D. glomerata using random amplified polymorphic DNA markers. These outcrossing rates, when analysed with respect to existing evidence concerning pollen production and inbreeding depression in this species, are sufficiently high to satisfy theoretical requirements for the maintenance of androdioecy.
Bone Density and Long Bone Representation in Archaeological Faunas: Comparing Results from CT and Photon Densitometry

Abstract Research into animal bone density has provided the foundation for the assessment of post-depositional destruction of archaeological faunal assemblages. This paper presents bone mineral density values for caprid long bones as determined by computed tomography (CT). Unlike photon densitometry, the technique employed in previous archaeological studies of bone density, CT provides precise assessments of the cross-sectional area of scan sites. Researchers using photon densitometry have been unable to factor out the marrow cavity in their determination of cross-sectional area, thereby significantly underestimating the density of long bone shafts. The density values obtained by CT are much higher, particularly for middle shaft portions, than those presented in previous studies and are more consistent with existing data on the material properties of bone. For two archaeological faunal assemblages that have been subject to post-depositional attrition, the CT density values show a much stronger correlation with long bone portion survival than those provided by photon densitometry. Given such advantages over photon densitometry, CT is a promising method for future archaeological investigations into bone density.
Evaluation of Chelating-Hydrofluoric Systems

Different chelating agent-HF mixture systems have been used to stimulate deep hot sandstone formations. Typically, chelating agents are used as a substitute for HCl and organic acids in HF based systems to stimulate hot and exotic oil and gas sandstone formations. Apart from reducing the risk of corrosion, secondary and tertiary reactions, the system can be deployed in formations containing high clays and carbonates as well as iron and zeolite bearing sandstone formations. However, several fields’ cases indicated precipitation of aluminum-based scale following acid treatments that include these systems. The focus of this paper is to identify the type of precipitations that occur during the reaction of chelating-HF systems and determine the factors that affect these precipitations. Solutions of different ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid EDTA containing two ammonium bifluoride ABF concentrations of 0.5 and 1.0 wt% were examined in this study. Aluminum chloride or calcium chloride was added separately to each chelating-HF solution to contain various concentrations of aluminum or calcium. The filtered liquid was analyzed using inductively coupled plasma ICP, while formed solid precipitate was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The main type of precipitate in solutions containing aluminum was identified as AlF3. The amount of precipitate was found to be dependent on solution initial aluminum and free fluoride concentrations. In other words, the main factor that controlled the aluminum-fluoride precipitation was found to be F/Al ratio and above a critical F/Al value, AlF3 precipitates.
Moving toward an unstable equilibrium: saddle nodes in population systems

1. We identify an unstable equilibrium with a two-dimensional stable manifold and a one-dimensional unstable manifold in a three-state variable (larva, pupa, adult) insect population growth model. 2. The saddle node forecasts that the time series of some initial numbers of larvae, pupae and adults are drawn closely to the unstable equilibrium before approaching the asymptotic stable attractor (a two-cycle), while the time series of other initial points are not. 3. Using two quantitative indices, we examine time series from a Tribolium experiment for evidence of the predicted saddle node. We conclude that a saddle node accounts for the transient dynamics in these data and for the differences between the transient behaviour of different replicates of the same experiment.
Parallel Change with Temperature of Water Structure and Protein Behavior

Dome-shaped temperature dependencies have been observed widely for the unfolding of proteins and for ligand binding by proteins. These curves have been rationalized in terms of hydrophobic interact...
Getting Under Your Skin: X-rays as Social History

Early in the 1980s, a number of books on the history of the American hospital presented a challenge to social and medical historians. Briefly, the books held that traditional medical history-defined by this group of scholars as the chronicling of the scientific achievements and intellectual development of physicians-was unable to address broader questions regarding the emergence of the hospital as a central institution in American life, the place where most Americans are born and where we expect to die. The younger historians held that to understand the centrality of the institution for the middle class, for example, we had to understand the demographic, spatial, and social forces that pushed the middle class out of their homes during periods of illness; to explain the transformation of the institution as a focus of charity and its development as a capital intensive money-generator, we had to place the institution in the center of the industrial and commercial economies that drove the broader American economy; to explain the emergence of the physician as a central figure in what were once long-term care facilities for the chronically ill, we had to trace the changing economic and social relationship of trustees, physicians, patients, and the government.' As part of a broader effort in this field, hospital history was recentered as historians' attention moved away from the activities of physicians at the bedside and scientists in their laboratories to the external economic, political, and social relationships that reshaped American health care. In the process, the field of medical history as a whole, once parochial and somewhat iconoclastic, became broadly conceived as a social history enterprise. While the history of hospitals certainly took on a greater sophistication, the new history tended to avoid the technical and biomedical aspects of change. In part, the resistance to discussing the activities of physicians in the hospital stemmed from a fundamental rejection of certain tenets of the old medical history that saw all change in the institution as deriving from inevitable,
Multidimensional control of femtosecond pulses by use of a programmable liquid-crystal matrix

We report the automated generation of high-fidelity spatiotemporally shaped femtosecond pulses by use of an optically addressed, two-dimensional liquid-crystal spatial light modulator. A single input pulse was divided into many independent regions, and each region was shaped temporally. By changing the imaging geometry we accomplished either real-space or wave-vector shaping.
The preparation of matrix-bound proteases and their use in the hydrolysis of proteins.

Abstract Four proteases, crude acid protease from Aspergillus , pronase, amino-peptidase M, and prolidase, have been covalently attached to activated agarose and to amino propyl glass beads. The matrix-bound enzymes have been tested as catalysts for the complete hydrolysis of protein substrates, with the primary goal to isolate unstable amino acid derivatives present in the substrate protein. Under conditions used in the present work, the total amino acid release from the protease-catalyzed hydrolysis of four substrate proteins (pancreatic ribonuclease, egg white lysozyme, yeast enolase, and bovine insulin) was 95–103% of that observed in standard acid hydrolysis. Recovery of individual amino acids showed greater deviation from the theoretical values, but cystine was the only amino acid recovered in low yields (42–77%) from all four proteins. Derivatized amino acids, such as methionine sulfoxide, O -(butylcarbamoyl)-serine, and N -glycosyl asparagine have been obtained from chemically modified proteins or from unmodified glycoprotein in good yield, and normal amino acid constituents of proteins which cannot be quantified after acid hydrolysis (tryptophan, asparagine, and glutamine) have also been determined either directly after proteolysis or after proteolysis in conjunction with acid hydrolysis.
Next-Generation Sequencing of Crown and Rhizome Transcriptome from an Upland, Tetraploid Switchgrass

The crown and rhizome transcriptome of an upland tetraploid switchgrass cultivar cv Summer well adapted to the upper Midwest was investigated using the Roche 454-FLX pyrosequencing platform. Overall, approximately one million reads consisting of 216 million bases were assembled into 27,687 contigs and 43,094 singletons. Analyses of these sequences revealed minor contamination with non-plant sequences (< 0.5%), indicating that a majority were for transcripts coded by the switchgrass genome. Blast2Gos comparisons resulted in the annotation of ~65% of the contig sequences and ~40% of the singleton sequences. Contig sequences were mostly homologous to other plant sequences, dominated by matches to Sorghum bicolor genome. Singleton sequences, while displaying significant matches to S. bicolor, also contained sequences matching non-plant species. Comparisons of the 454 dataset to existing EST collections resulted in the identification of 30,177 new sequences. These new sequences coded for a number of different proteins and a selective analysis of two categories, namely, peroxidases and transcription factors, resulted in the identification of specific peroxidases and a number of low-abundance transcription factors expected to be involved in chromatin remodeling. KEGG maps for glycolysis and sugar metabolism showed high levels of transcript coding for enzymes involved in primary metabolism. The assembly provided significant insights into the status of these tissues and broadly indicated that there was active metabolism taking place in the crown and rhizomes at post-anthesis, the seed maturation stage of plant development.
Vagal Cardiopulmonary Reflexes After Total Cardiac Deafferentation

Background—There are conflicting data regarding whether the primary source of afferent input for the vagal cardiopulmonary reflex emanates from receptors located in the ventricles, atria, and/or lungs. This study evaluated the effects of total cardiac deafferentation on the reflex control of efferent renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) in response to a stimulus that affected all vagal receptors in the cardiopulmonary region. Methods and Results—Experiments were performed in 14 chloralose-anesthetized dogs with sinoaortic denervation. Reflex control of RSNA in response to blood volume expansion was measured before and after interruption of cardiac vagal afferents by pericardial lidocaine (PL). Reflex sensitivity (% change in RSNA/mm Hg change in left atrial pressure) was markedly attenuated after PL (pre, −10.9±2.2; post, −1.6±0.6; P=0.002). RSNA responses to intracoronary nicotine and left atrial balloon inflation were abolished after PL, confirming that cardiac afferents were interrupted. RSNA respon...
ENSO Influence on Atlantic hurricanes via tropospheric warming

[1] A new pathway for the negative impact of ENSO on tropical North Atlantic (NAtl) storm activity is examined empirically. Anomalous tropospheric temperatures communicated from the Pacific by wave dynamics are hypothesized to impact storm development by affecting column stability relative to equilibrium with NAtl sea surface temperature (SST). This combines recent teleconnection theory with the role of tropospheric temperature-SST differences in hurricane intensity theory. An equilibrium principle component (EQ PC) in which NAtl SST and tropospheric temperature covary, explains most of their variance. A disequilibrium PC (DEQ PC), measuring column stability relative to SST, correlates highly with hurricane season indices for storm frequency and intensity. The hurricane season (Jun.–Nov.) DEQ PC is closely related to ENSO SST just prior to and within the season, consistent with NAtl SST not having had time to adjust to the teleconnected tropospheric warming from onsetting ENSO events. The EQPC is related to prior winter ENSO SST. INDEX TERMS: 3309 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Climatology (1620); 3314 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Convective processes; 3339 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Ocean/atmosphere interactions (0312, 4504); 3374 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Tropical meteorology. Citation: Tang, B. H., and J. D. Neelin (2004), ENSO Influence on Atlantic hurricanes via tropospheric warming, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L24204, doi:10.1029/ 2004GL021072.
Chaotic dark matter.

A very weakly coupled scalar field with mass $m$ and initial vacuum expectation value $V$ will provide enough mass to close the Universe provided $V\ensuremath{\simeq}(3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{8}\mathrm{GeV}){(100 \frac{\mathrm{GeV}}{m})}^{\frac{1}{4}}$. We discuss possible models in which such a field could arise.
SU‐EE‐A3‐01: Beyond SUV: New Methods for Assessing Treatment Response in PET Images

Purpose:PET use for radiotherapytreatment planning and monitoring has rapidly increased. Accumulating evidence suggests that characteristics of pre‐treatment FDG‐PET could be utilized as prognostic factors to predict radiotherapy outcomes in different cancer sites. Direct standardized uptake value (SUV) measurements were traditionally used to assess risk. However, such measurements are limited to intensity values irrespective of tumor‐microenvironment topological features. To improve our understanding of embedded information in PET, we are investigating new approaches for analyzing and extracting statistically robust candidate variables for predicting post‐radiotherapy relative‐risk. Method and Materials: We investigated two approaches for summarizing reliable information from PETimages to predict outcomes. The first approach is a generalization of the dose‐volume histogram (DVH) concept into functional imaging referred to as intensity‐volume histogram (IVH). An IVH would summarize the 3D functional imaging information for any anatomical structure into a single curve. Analogous to its DVH counterpart, intensity‐volume metrics are derived. The second approach utilizes extraction of shape and texture features that would characterize the structure of interest. These features enable mimicking of human perception of in terms of geometrical differences and texture variability. The tools are demonstrated on a subset of 14 cervix cancer patients who underwent pre‐treatment FDG‐PET scanning. Results: Nineteen candidate features, extracted from delineated tumor volumes, were analyzed for assessment of patients' risk of failure. Our preliminary results indicate that an intensity‐volume difference metric and texture energy had the strongest predictive power. A combined multivariable logistic regression model of these two variables yielded a Spearman's correlation of 0.53 (p=0.02) and area under ROC curve of 0.8. Conclusion: We have demonstrated new methods for analyzing functional imaging data. These methods allow for extracting visual cues and metrics that could facilitate incorporation of PETimaging information into assessment predictors of patient's response to radiotherapy treatment.
Validation of Knee Load Predictions During a Dual Limb Squat and Calfrise

Knowledge of knee loading would benefit prosthetic design, development of tissue engineered materials, orthopedic repair, and management of degenerative joint diseases such as osteoarthritis. Musculoskeletal modeling provides a method for estimating in vivo joint loading, but validation of model predictions is challenging. Data provided by the “Grand Challenge Competition to Predict In-Vivo Knee Loads” for the 2012 American Society of Mechanical Engineers Summer Bioengineering Conference [1] provides data from an instrumented prosthetic knee that can be used to validate load predictions. The Grand Challenge data set includes implant and bone geometries, motion, ground reaction forces, electromyography (EMG) as well as measured knee loading. Presented here are muscle driven forward dynamics simulations with a prosthetic knee for two of the calibration gait trials (SC_2legsquat and SC_calfrise) provided with the Grand Challenge data set. The calibration trials include the instrumented knee measurements and are provided to help “calibrate” models used in the Grand Challenge competition. Inputs to model simulations were experimental marker motion and outputs included muscle force, ground reaction forces, ligament forces, contact forces, and knee loading. Experimental measurements of knee loading, ground reaction force, and muscle activations were compared to model predictions.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
Content coverage maximization on word networks for hierarchical topic summarization

This paper studies text summarization by extracting hierarchical topics from a given collection of documents. We propose a new approach of text modeling via network analysis. We convert documents into a word influence network, and find the words summarizing the major topics with an efficient influence maximization algorithm. Besides, the influence capability of the topic words on other words in the network reveal the relations among the topic words. Then we cluster the words and build hierarchies for the topics. Experiments on large collections of Web documents show that a simple method based on the influence analysis is effective, compared with existing generative topic modeling and random walk based ranking.
Medical imaging applications of telecom sources

Telecom sources have become crucial elements of biophotonic imaging systems including optical coherence tomography and diffuse optical tomography. This presentation will focus on emerging applications of ultrabroadband and swept laser sources in optical coherence tomography.
Carcinoma of the esophagus involving the vagus nerves associated with gastric retention simulating pyloric obstruction. A case report.

A patient is described with squamous cell carcinoma of the lower third of the esophagus which was complicated by gastric retention and atony simulating mechanical pyloric obstruction. This was due to incarceration of both vagal trunks in the tumor with infiltration of the nerves and, it is presumed, resultant nerve degeneration. The effects of vagal denervation were similar to those of surgical vagotomy. The patient required a gastroenterostomy to reduce gastric retention.
The Transcriptional Coactivator PGC-1β Drives the Formation of Oxidative Type IIX Fibers in Skeletal Muscle

Skeletal muscle must perform different kinds of work, and distinct fiber types have evolved to accommodate these. Previous work had shown that the transcriptional coactivator PGC-1alpha drives the formation of type I and IIA muscle fibers, which are "slow-twitch" and highly oxidative. We show here that transgenic expression of PGC-1beta, a coactivator functionally similar to but distinct from PGC-1alpha, causes a marked induction of IIX fibers, which are oxidative but have "fast-twitch" biophysical properties. PGC-1beta coactivates the MEF2 family of transcription factors to stimulate the type IIX myosin heavy chain (MHC) promoter. PGC-1beta transgenic muscle fibers are rich in mitochondria and are highly oxidative, at least in part due to coactivation by PGC-1beta of ERRalpha and PPARalpha. Consequently, these transgenic animals can run for longer and at higher work loads than wild-type animals. Together, these data indicate that PGC-1beta drives the formation of highly oxidative fibers containing type IIX MHC.
Comet-FISH with strand-specific probes reveals transcription-coupled repair of 8-oxoGuanine in human cells

Oxidized bases in DNA have been implicated in cancer, aging and neurodegenerative disease. We have developed an approach combining single-cell gel electrophoresis (comet) with fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) that enables the comparative quantification of low, physiologically relevant levels of DNA lesions in the respective strands of defined nucleotide sequences and in the genome overall. We have synthesized single-stranded probes targeting the termini of DNA segments of interest using a polymerase chain reaction-based method. These probes facilitate detection of damage at the single-molecule level, as the lesions are converted to DNA strand breaks by lesion-specific endonucleases or glycosylases. To validate our method, we have documented transcription-coupled repair of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers in the ataxia telangiectasia-mutated (ATM) gene in human fibroblasts irradiated with 254 nm ultraviolet at 0.1 J/m2, a dose ∼100-fold lower than those typically used. The high specificity and sensitivity of our approach revealed that 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG) at an incidence of approximately three lesions per megabase is preferentially repaired in the transcribed strand of the ATM gene. We have also demonstrated that the hOGG1, XPA, CSB and UVSSA proteins, as well as actively elongating RNA polymerase II, are required for this process, suggesting cross-talk between DNA repair pathways.
Modeling radar antenna in NEC

The paper deals with the radar antenna modelling using NEC Win package. Obtaining radar antenna radiation model was necessary so one can later use it for calculation of radiation strength and estimation if there is any potential radiation damage to instruments that should be used for measuring radar antenna radiation. Model is also needed for future study radiation effects on human body exposure. Some illustrative numerical results have been presented in this work.
Sex- and gender-related differences in the neurobiology of drug abuse

Abstract Sex-related responses to drugs of abuse add an important dimension to the larger issue of gender-related differences in epidemiology, prevention strategies and treatment. One of the most important factors in collecting such data is controlling for the many demographic, behavioral, physiological, and hormonal differences that exist between males and females as these may influence the direct effects of a drug and contribute to a progression from use to abuse to dependence. There are a number of factors that make studying female subjects more challenging. Aside from the obvious hormonal and menstrual cycle differences, there are a variety of gender-related issues that are unique to women and alter the drug abuse profile of certain drugs, regardless of the pharmacological effect. Studies have revealed that the pharmacokinetic profiles (secondary to route of administration) may alter the responses to cocaine and may help explain some of the male/female differences that have been observed, especially via the intranasal route. Sex differences appear to be minimal when cocaine is administered i.v. or by inhalation suggesting that rate of absorption may play an important role in the acute effects of cocaine. In summary, difficulties in conducting studies with females can be overcome with careful planning, time and additional expense. Using controlled laboratory studies, important pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic differences in drug effects may modulate male/female expectations about psychoactive drug effects and ultimately play a role in the etiology of drug abuse, dependence and how treatment programs should be structured. Finally, the application of new brain imaging techniques has the potential to reveal the mechanism of these sex-related differences.
Polyyn-diyls capped by diruthenium termini: a new family of carbon-rich organometallic compounds and distance-dependent electronic coupling therein

Polyyn-diyls capped by Ru2(ap)4 termini (ap = 2-anilinopyridinate), that is, [Ru2(ap)4](μ-C,C‘-C2m)[Ru2(ap)4] (compounds 1−5 with m = 1−4 and 6), were synthesized through either a metathesis reaction between Ru2(ap)4Cl and LiC2mLi or a Glaser homocoupling reaction of Ru2(ap)4(CmH) under Eglinton/Hay conditions. X-ray diffraction studies of compounds 2 and 4 revealed both the linear rigid rod topology of these compounds and the fine structural details about the Ru2 cores and polyyn-diyl chains. Cyclic and differential pulse voltammetric (CV and DPV) measurements and spectroelectrochemical studies show that reduced and oxidized forms of 1, 2, 4, and 5 are donor−acceptor systems in which the Ru2 termini are coupled to varying degrees depending upon the length of the polyyn-diyl bridge.
Synergistic Movements of Ca2+ and Bax in Cells Undergoing Apoptosis

Apoptosis is a physiological counterbalance to mitosis and plays important roles in tissue development and homeostasis. Cytosolic Ca(2+) has been implicated as a proapoptotic second messenger involved in both triggering apoptosis and regulating cell death-specific enzymes. A critical early event in apoptosis is associated with the redistribution of Bax from cytosol to mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membranes; however, the molecular mechanism of Bax translocation and its relationship to Ca(2+) is largely unknown. Here we provide functional evidence for a synergistic interaction between the movements of intracellular Ca(2+) and cytosolic Bax in the induction of apoptosis. Overexpression of Bax in cultured cells causes a loss of ER Ca(2+) content. Depletion of ER Ca(2+) through activation of the ryanodine receptor enhances the participation of Bax into the mitochondrial membrane. Neither Bax translocation nor Bax-induced apoptosis is affected by buffering of cytosolic Ca(2+) with 1,2-bis(2-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid, suggesting that depletion of ER Ca(2+) rather than elevation of cytosolic Ca(2+) is the signal for cell apoptosis. This dynamic interplay of Ca(2+) and Bax movements may serve as an amplifying factor in the initial signaling steps of apoptosis.
Central Administration of Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone Stimulates Locomotor Activity in Juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)

This study evaluated the effect of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) on locomotor activity, habitat choice, and social behavior in juvenile spring chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). An intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of CRH caused a dose-dependent increase in locomotor activity. The stimulatory effect of exogenous CRH on locomotor activity lasted for at least 24 h. Injection (ICV) of a peptide antagonist of CRH, alpha-helical CRH(9-41) (ahCRH), prevented the increase in locomotor activity when administered concurrently with CRH. Furthermore, fish administered the antagonist alone had significantly lower locomotor activity levels compared to saline-injected control fish. The effects of CRH are often dependent on the social context. However, no evidence was found that the presence of conspecifics during the testing procedure affected locomotor activity following ICV injections of CRH. Similarly, ICV injections of CRH or ahCRH did not have a significant effect on the mean time spent in contact with a conspecific. However, the position of fish in the tank was affected by the treatments. ICV injections of CRH significantly increased the amount of time that fish spent near the center of the tank. Furthermore, ICV injections of ahCRH significantly increased the mean time taken for fish to find cover in the tank. The effect of CRH and ahCRH on locomotor activity was not related to changes in plasma cortisol or thyroxine. These results support the hypothesis that endogenous CRH within the central nervous system is involved in the stimulation of locomotor activity in fish. Furthermore, CRH may also alter habitat choice in a novel environment.
Delayed Compensation for Lost Income

Lengthy legal proceedings are often required before an individual who has unjustly lost income is compensated. The utility loss while waiting in straitened circumstances exceeds the utility gain from later compensation if compensation is merely monies lost plus interest. The excess loss will be larger the more averse the individual is to intertemporal variation in consumption, the less complete and perfect the markets for borrowing and trading contingent claims, and the less the certainty about whether an award will be made. To make an injured individual whole, the focus should be on compensating not for loss of discounted income, but for loss of utility.
Engineering TGF-β superfamily ligands for clinical applications

TGF-β superfamily ligands govern normal tissue development and homeostasis, and their dysfunction is a hallmark of many diseases. These ligands are also well defined both structurally and functionally. This review focuses on TGF-β superfamily ligand engineering for therapeutic purposes, in particular for regenerative medicine and musculoskeletal disorders. We describe the key discovery that structure-guided mutation of receptor-binding epitopes, especially swapping of these epitopes between ligands, results in new ligands with unique functional properties that can be harnessed clinically. Given the promising results with prototypical engineered TGF-β superfamily ligands, and the vast number of such molecules that remain to be produced and tested, this strategy is likely to hold great promise for the development of new biologics.
Contingency management in writing and the appearance of creative ideas: implications for the treatment of writing blocks.

Abstract Data for 3 groups of 9 ‘blocked’ writers who sought treatment to increase their output as writers are presented. Academicians who charted both their writing output and their generation of creative ideas for writing over 10 weeks of treatment showed the highest level of creativity under contingency management conditions that essentially forced them to write habitually. Subjects who wrote spontaneously reported modest levels of creativity, once writing was practiced with some regularity. Subjects who voluntarily abstained from professional writing generated minimal numbers of creative ideas. Conclusions: (1) External contingencies that ‘produce’ writing seem to facilitate, not impede, creativity. (2) Spontaneity in writing is relatively ineffective, compared to contingency management, for producing written copy or novel and useful ideas.
Fruitlands: The Alcott Family and Their Search for Utopia

Fruitlands: The Alcott Family and Their Search for Utopia RICHARD FRANCIS New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010 Pp. x +321, $30.00 (hbk), ISBN 978 0 300 14041 5 Louisa May Alcott was a prolific au...
Reprint of Breast cancer: hormones and other risk factors

Abstract In North America and Northern Europe, breast cancer incidence rates begin increasing in the early reproductive years and continue climbing into the late seventies, whereas rates plateau after menopause in japan and less developed countries. Female gender, age and country of birth are the strongest determinants of disease risk. Family history and mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are important correlates of lifetime risk. Genetic polymorphisms associated with estrogen synthesis and metabolism are currently under study. Atypical hyperplasia and molecular alterations in benign breast lesions appear to be involved in the pathogenesis of invasive carcinoma. In postmenopausal women, increased breast density on mammograms increases risk. Bone density and breast cancer are associated, presumably through the mechanism of endogenous estrogen levels. Serum estrogen levels are higher in breast cancer cases than controls. Many established risk factors for breast cancer may function through and endocrine mechanism. Current use of oral contraceptives and prolonged, current or recent use of hormone replacement therapy moderately increase risk. Tamoxifen and possibly other selective estrogen receptor modulators reduce breast cancer risk in high risk women. Relationships between various dietary micro and macronutrients and breast cancer have been suggested but require evaluation in clinical trials. Whereas alcohol consumption is associated with increased risk, most environmental factors, including polychlorinated compounds and electromagnetic fields, are not. Conclusion: Breast cancer etiology is becoming clearer through the study of molecular alterations in germline and somatic cell genes, and the interaction of these genes with steroid hormones and relevant growth factors. This knowledge should be useful for breast cancer prevention.
Who's Teaching Neonatal Resuscitation to Housestaff?: Results of a National Survey

Objective. This study was designed to investigate current patterns of training in neonatal resuscitation in US residency programs in general pediatrics. Methods. A questionnaire was mailed to the chief residents and directors of all US residency programs in general pediatrics to determine who provides supervision and teaching of neonatal resuscitation in the delivery room and neonatal intensive care unit. This questionnaire also inquired as to the use within these residency programs of standardized resuscitation training courses such as Pediatric Advanced Life Support and Neonatal Resuscitation Program. Results. Residents in their third and second years of training are most often cited as responsible for supervision and teaching of neonatal resuscitation in the delivery room, whereas attending neonatologists are cited most frequently as being responsible for these tasks in the neonatal intensive care unit. Pediatric Advanced Life Support is required by virtually all US residency programs, followed in frequency by Neonatal Resuscitation Program and Advanced Cardiac Life Support. Conclusions. Because those in training collectively provide much of the supervision and teaching of neonatal resuscitation, vigilance is required so that appropriate resuscitation skills are developed and maintained. Objective performance markers may be useful in assessing competency in caring for sick newborns.
On estimating approximate degrees of freedom of chi-squared approximations

In statistical applications involving linear models, many inferences can only be made based on statistics that are functions of positive linear combinations of mean squares. The Satterthwaite procedure is commonly used to approximate the distribution of such a linear combination to a chi-squared with appropriate degrees of freedom. This article presents a new procedure, based on recent work on confidence intervals, for determining this approximate degrees of freedom. Numerical examples are also given to compare the performance of the proposed method with other approximations
Multiple quasi-parabolic presentation of the IRI profile

Abstract The paper describes the representation of any given density profile with multiple quasi-parabolic (QP) segments and the technique is applied to IRI profiles. An optimization method is introduced that automatically finds the segment boundaries and minimizes the number of segments for a specified fitting accuracy. This representation of the profiles makes it possible to use analytical ray tracing techniques for ionospheric radio wave propagation studies. The Lowell Digisondes now provide the multiple QP profiles in real time as an additional output.