cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
NR5A2 and potential regulatory miRNAs in the bovine CL during early pregnancy

Progesterone, which is secreted from the corpus luteum, is indispensable for the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy. The orphan nuclear receptor subfamily 5 group A member 2 (NR5A2) is a regulator of murine luteinization, but neither its regulation nor its role in the fully differentiated, mature corpus luteum (CL) have been described. Therefore, the goal of this study was to profile abundance and investigate the regulation and functions of NR5A2 in the bovine CL. Treatment of cultured luteal steroidogenic cells with a pharmacological inhibitor of NR5A2 decreased progesterone production and tended to decrease abundance of HSD3B1 mRNA. Luteal NR5A2 mRNA increased and NR5A2 protein tended to increase between days 4 and 6 of the estrous cycle, coincident with increased steroidogenic capacity of the CL. Luteal NR5A2 mRNA decreased by 8 h after prostaglandin (PG) F2A injection. During early pregnancy, luteal NR5A2 mRNA was less on days 20 and 23 compared to day 14, but protein abundance did not change. Neither 1 nor 10 ng/mL interferon tau (IFNT) altered NR5A2 abundance in cultured luteal steroidogenic cells, but 10 ng/mL PGF2A decreased NR5A2. Because of discrepancies between mRNA and protein abundance of NR5A2, regulation by miRNA that changed during early pregnancy was investigated. miR-27b-3p, miR-432-5p, and miR-369-3p mimics decreased NR5A2 protein abundance and miR-369-3p also inhibited progesterone production. Overall, the results of this study show that NR5A2 may be maintained by miRNA during early pregnancy and may be an important regulator of luteal progesterone production.
Analysis of Long Non-Coding RNA in Cryptosporidium parvum Reveals Significant Stage-Specific Antisense Transcription.

Cryptosporidium is a protist parasite that has been identified as the second leading cause of moderate to severe diarrhea in children younger than two and a significant cause of mortality worldwide. Cryptosporidium has a complex, obligate, intracellular but extra cytoplasmic lifecycle in a single host. How genes are regulated in this parasite remains largely unknown. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play critical regulatory roles, including gene expression across a broad range of organisms. Cryptosporidium lncRNAs have been reported to enter the host cell nucleus and affect the host response. However, no systematic study of lncRNAs in Cryptosporidium has been conducted to identify additional lncRNAs. In this study, we analyzed a C. parvum in vitro strand-specific RNA-seq developmental time series covering both asexual and sexual stages to identify lncRNAs associated with parasite development. In total, we identified 396 novel lncRNAs, mostly antisense, with 86% being differentially expressed. Surprisingly, nearly 10% of annotated mRNAs have an antisense transcript. lncRNAs occur most often at the 3' end of their corresponding sense mRNA. Putative lncRNA regulatory regions were identified and many appear to encode bidirectional promoters. A positive correlation between lncRNA and upstream mRNA expression was observed. Evolutionary conservation and expression of lncRNA candidates was observed between C. parvum, C. hominis and C. baileyi. Ten C. parvum protein-encoding genes with antisense transcripts have P. falciparum orthologs that also have antisense transcripts. Three C. parvum lncRNAs with exceptional properties (e.g., intron splicing) were experimentally validated using RT-PCR and RT-qPCR. This initial characterization of the C. parvum non-coding transcriptome facilitates further investigations into the roles of lncRNAs in parasite development and host-pathogen interactions.
Epidemiology and Clinical Characteristics of Presumed Ocular Histoplasmosis in Olmsted County, Minnesota.

Purpose: To describe the incidence, prevalence, and clinical characteristics of presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome (POHS) in a Histoplasma endemic region.Methods: The International Classificat...
Optimization and validation of a DYRK1A TR-FRET assay for high-throughput screening.

Abstract Due to its role in brain development, the DYRK1A kinase (dual-specificity tyrosine phosphorylation-regulated kinase 1a) has been proposed as a drug target for Down syndrome, and diseases associated with neurodegeneration including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Other diseases in which DYRK1A is implicated include cancer and diabetes. Hence, there is need for potent and selective DYRK1A inhibitors. To screen large diversity compound libraries versus DYRK1A requires the development of a cost-effective high-throughput screen. In this study, we have taken a commercial time-resolved fluorescence energy transfer (TR-FRET)-based assay for DYRK1A and optimized for smaller volumes and homogenous format at room temperature. Tracer and enzyme concentrations were determined. DYRK1A-GST, anti-GST Ab and tracer were pre-combined and total assay volume reduced 2-fold. The assay was validated using whole plate minimum and maximum signal wells with a Z’ of 0.7-0.8 determined. Overall, this method: • Results in an optimized low volume, homogenous and validated assay for DYRK1A. • Delivers a cost effective high-throughput assay format for DYRK1A inhibitor screening
Vehicle Control as a Measure of Real-World Driving Performance in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

OBJECTIVE To quantify vehicle control as a metric of automobile driving performance in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS Naturalistic driving assessments were completed in patients with active RA and controls without disease. Data were collected using in-car, sensor-based instrumentation installed in the participants' own vehicles to observe typical driving habits. RA disease status, disease activity, and functional status were associated with vehicle control (lateral [steering] and longitudinal [braking/accelerating] acceleration variability [AV]) using mixed-effect linear regression models stratified by road type (defined by roadway speed limit). RESULTS Across 1,292 driving hours, RA drivers (n=33) demonstrated differences in vehicle control compared to controls (n=23) with evidence of significant statistical interaction between disease status and road type (p<0.001). On residential roads, participants with RA demonstrated overall lower braking/accelerating variability than controls (p≤0.004) and, when disease activity was low, lower steering variability (p=0.03). On interstates/highways, RA was associated with increased steering variability among those with moderate/high CDAI scores (p=0.04). In models limited to RA, increases in disease activity and physical disability over 12-weeks of observation were associated with a significant increase in braking/accelerating variability on interstate/highways (both p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Using novel naturalistic assessments, we linked RA and worsening RA disease severity with aberrant vehicle control. These findings support the need for further research to map these observed patterns in vehicle control to metrics of driver risk, and, in turn, to link patterns of real-world driving behavior to diagnosis and disease activity.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in a Dog in Connecticut in February 2021

We report the first detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in a 3-month-old dog in Connecticut that died suddenly and was submitted to the state veterinary diagnostic laboratory for postmortem examination. Viral RNA was detected in multiple organs of the dog by reverse transcription real time-PCR (RT-qPCR). Negative and positive sense strands of viral RNA were visualized by in situ hybridization using RNAscope technology. Complete genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of the hCoV-19/USA/CT-CVMDL-Dog-1/2021 (CT_Dog/2021) virus were conducted to identify the origin and lineage of the virus. The CT_Dog/2021 virus belonged to the GH/B1.2. genetic lineage and was genetically similar to SARS-CoV-2 identified in humans in the U.S. during the winter of 2020–2021. However, it was not related to other SARS-CoV-2 variants identified from companion animals in the U.S. It contained both the D614G in spike and P323L in nsp12 substitutions, which have become the dominant mutations in the United States. The continued sporadic detections of SARS-CoV-2 in companion animals warrant public health concerns about the zoonotic potential of SARS-CoV-2 and enhance our collective understanding of the epidemiology of the virus.
A Hybrid TDMA/CDMA System Based on Filtered Multitone Modulation for Upstream Transmission in HFC Networks

We present a novel hybrid TDMA/CDMA system for upstream transmission in multiple-access networks. The hybrid multiple-access scheme is based on a modulation technique related to orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing, named filtered multitone modulation (FMT). After introducing the principles of FMT modulation, we describe its application to upstream transmission in hybrid fiber/coax networks, and discuss the characteristics of the proposed scheme.
Clinical Ethics and Patient Safety

Patient safety and ethics are interrelated concepts. Clinical ethics is similar to other clinical practices and can be evaluated and improved using basic quality improvement principles. Distilling ethical issues clinically can be facilitated by identifying specific elements of safety and how they are affected by the ethical concerns. In addition, promoting patient safety rests on core ethical principles ubiquitous in medicine—the professional duties to provide benefit and prevent harm. Tying these ethical principles to quality and safety analysis has been a strong motivator in quality and safety improvement. Further, describing safety issues in terms of ethical responsibilities has the potential to motivate individual providers to improve quality and safety within their personal practice.
Tuple routing strategies for distributed eddies

Many applications that consist of streams of data are inherently distributed. Since input stream rates and other system parameters such as the amount of available computing resources can fluctuate significantly, a stream query plan must be able to adapt to these changes. Routing tuples between operators of a distributed stream query plan is used in several data stream management systems as an adaptive query optimization technique. The routing policy used can have a significant impact on system performance. In this paper, we use a queuing network to model a distributed stream query plan and define performance metrics for response time and system throughput. We also propose and evaluate several practical routing policies for a distributed stream management system. The performance results of these policies are compared using a discrete event simulator. Finally, we study the impact of the routing policy on system throughput and resource allocation when computing resources can be shared between operators.
MODERN METHODS IN SURFACE KINETICS. FLASH DESORPTION, FIELD EMISSION MICROSCOPY, AND ULTRAHIGH VACUUM TECHNIQUES

Publisher Summary This chapter describes modern methods in surface kinetics. The tremendous advance in the development and perfection of a variety of experimental techniques has been made possible, in large measure, by the reduction of ultrahigh vacuum techniques. It has become easy to specify exactly the environment at an interface and to perform meaningful measurements on samples with a surface area of less than a square centimeter. Flash desorption, although still dependent upon macroscopic wire samples, has made it possible to measure the rate processes involving the transfer of molecules between the gas phase and the solid. Even the dependence of surface kinetics on atomic structure could be established by studies on macroscopic samples. The power of the flash desorption technique lies in its ability to give a rapid, direct count of the number of adsorbed species on a surface. However, information on the properties of the adsorbed layer is obtained only indirectly by deduction from adsorption and desorption measurements. To supplement these indirect studies, there are needed techniques, such as field electron microscopy that yield information on the properties of the adsorbed material by direct observation of the gas layer.
Diversion in the Operating Room

This is the third in a six-part series on diversion of controlled substances in an acute health care setting. The six articles are meant to accompany the recommendations in the Hospital Pharmacy ar...
IFNγ-induced PD-L1 expression is JAK2 but not JAK1 dependent and its inhibition enhances NK-cetuximab mediated ADCC of HNSCC cells

Meeting abstracts Programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) is an immunosuppressive molecule expressed by many cancer types, including a large proportion of head and neck cancers (HNC), and ligation of its receptor, programmed death 1 (PD-1), induces exhaustion of effector T cells. It has been shown that
Approach to Modeling Demand and Supply for a Short-Notice Evacuation:

As part of disaster mitigation and evacuation planning, planners must be able to develop effective tactical and operational strategies to manage traffic and transportation needs during an evacuation. One aspect of evacuation planning is the estimation of how many people must be evacuated to provide strategies that are responsive to the number and location of these people. When such estimates are available, it may be possible to implement tactical and operational strategies that closely match the likely demand on the road network during the evacuation. With short notice for an evacuation, people may need to be evacuated directly from current locations. In addition, for some disasters, the spatial extent of the evacuated area may change over time. This problem may be exacerbated by congestion around the evacuated area. An estimation process is proposed for a short-notice evacuation. The method uses on-hand data typically generated through existing travel demand models at many metropolitan planning organizations. It estimates demand using convenient models for trip generation, trip distribution, and travel time generation for these trips, considering a staged evacuation. These demand estimates feed a dynamic simulation model, DynusT, that is used to model the supply characteristics of the roadway network during the evacuation. Such models can be applied using a case study based on a short-notice flooding scenario for Phoenix, Arizona.
Mathematical Programming Assisted Drug Design for Nonclassical Antifolates

A concept from optimization theory, specifically, mathematical programming, is proposed for designing drugs with desired properties. The mathematical programming formulation is solved to obtain the optimal descriptor values, which are employed in the Cerius(2) modeling environment to infer the optimal lead candidates, in the sense that they exhibit both high selectivity and activity while ensuring low toxicity. It has been observed that unique substituent groups and their molecular conformations are responsible for attaining the goal of simultaneous high selectivity and activity. Both linear and nonlinear quantitative structure activity relationships (QSARs) have been developed for use in the proposed approach. A comparative study of these models is done, and it is shown that the QSARs are well represented by nonlinear models. The proposed mathematical programming strategy has been demonstrated for a class of nonclassical antifolates for Pneumocistis carinii and Toxoplasma gondii dihydofolate reductase. Some of the potential leads found in this study have biological properties similar to those in the open literature. We believe the technique proposed is general and can be applied to other structure based drug design.
An experimental study of data retention behavior in modern DRAM devices: implications for retention time profiling mechanisms

DRAM cells store data in the form of charge on a capacitor. This charge leaks off over time, eventually causing data to be lost. To prevent this data loss from occurring, DRAM cells must be periodically refreshed. Unfortunately, DRAM refresh operations waste energy and also degrade system performance by interfering with memory requests. These problems are expected to worsen as DRAM density increases.The amount of time that a DRAM cell can safely retain data without being refreshed is called the cell's retention time. In current systems, all DRAM cells are refreshed at the rate required to guarantee the integrity of the cell with the shortest retention time, resulting in unnecessary refreshes for cells with longer retention times. Prior work has proposed to reduce unnecessary refreshes by exploiting differences in retention time among DRAM cells; however, such mechanisms require knowledge of each cell's retention time.In this paper, we present a comprehensive quantitative study of retention behavior in modern DRAMs. Using a temperature-controlled FPGA-based testing platform, we collect retention time information from 248 commodity DDR3 DRAM chips from five major DRAM vendors. We observe two significant phenomena: data pattern dependence, where the retention time of each DRAM cell is significantly affected by the data stored in other DRAM cells, and variable retention time, where the retention time of some DRAM cells changes unpredictably over time. We discuss possible physical explanations for these phenomena, how their magnitude may be affected by DRAM technology scaling, and their ramifications for DRAM retention time profiling mechanisms.
Oral dyskinesia in brain-damaged rats withdrawn from a neuroleptic: implication for models of tardive dyskinesia.

Rats with ablated frontal sensorimotor cortex and one with ablated sensorimotor connections to forebrain showed more vacuous chewing movements following 6-week chronic administration of a neuroleptic than did occipitally damaged rats or normal controls who were treated in the same way. The effect was still present 1 month after withdrawal. It was not clearly enhanced by subsequent treatments. Other behaviors (e.g., walking, rearing, or grooming) were not similarly affected by drug withdrawal. Additional results of terminal probes with amphetamine, apomorphine, and haloperidol are described, including movements labeled ‘sham eating’, observed only in frontal rats given apomorphine (AP). The results are interpreted in terms of a Jacksonian model of levels of brain organization; such a model may be applicable to tardive dyskinesia, seen in many schizophrenic patients who are maintained on neuroleptics for long periods.
A new algorithm for the minimal-area convex enclosure problem

Abstract The problem of cutting parts from a piece of material occurs in a number of settings. When the pieces to be cut are non-rectangular, the problem is called the irregular pattern layout problem (or nesting problem). This problem occurs in sheet metal and apparel industries, for example. One possible approach is to combine individual pieces into low-waste ‘modules’ which are then arranged by a heuristic technique. In this spirit, the Minimal-Area Convex Enclosure Problem is solved in this paper. Given two simple polygons, the algorithm finds the relative position of one with respect to the other such that the area of their convex enclosure is minimized. The technique searches along the envelope (or no-fit-polygon), dynamically maintaining the convex enclosure vertices as well as an analytic representation of the area. The algorithm runs quickly and computational experience is included.
Stacking behavior of an intertidal abalone: an adaptive response or a consequence of space limitation?

Abstract Intertidal populations of black abalone Haliotis cracherodii Leach at Santa Cruz Island, California, vary in density among surge channels from
The scope of -est: evidence from Japanese

It has long been observed that the superlative construction, exemplified by John climbed the highest mountain, has two readings. On the absolute reading, the heights of the relevant mountains in a relevant context are compared; on the comparative reading, relevant climbers’ achievements of mountain climbing are compared (Szabolcsi, Comparative superlatives, MIT Working Papers in Linguistics, 1986). Two theories have been proposed regarding this ambiguity. One theory holds that it results from movement of the superlative morpheme -est (movement theory) (Heim, Association with focus, Doctoral Dissertation, 1985, Notes on superlatives, 1999; Szabolcsi 1986).The other theory holds that the ambiguity is derived by assignment of different values to the context variable C, keeping a single LF structure where -est stays in situ (in-situ theory) (Farkas and Kiss, Nat Lang Linguist Theory 18:417–455, 2000; Sharvit and Stateva, Linguist Philos 25:453–504, 2002). As is pointed out by Heim (1999), a choice between these theories is hard to make based solely on English. Through an investigation of Japanese superlative constructions, this paper argues that, in Japanese at least, a movement theory is required.
Effects of lipid headgroup and packing stress on poly(ethylene glycol)-induced phospholipid vesicle aggregation and fusion

The effect of lipid headgroup and curvature-related acyl packing stress on PEG-induced phospholipid vesicle aggregation and fusion were studied by measuring vesicle and aggregate sizes using the quasi-elastic light scattering and fluorescence energy transfer techniques. The effect of the lipid headgroup was monitored by varying the relative phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) contents in the vesicles, and the influence of hydrocarbon chain packing stress was controlled either by the relative amount of PE and PC content in the vesicles, or by the degree of unsaturation of the acyl chains of a series of PEs, e.g., dilinoleoylphosphatidylethanolamine (dilin-PE), lysophosphatidylethanolamine (lyso-PE), and transacylated egg phosphatidylethanolamine (TPE). The PEG threshold for aggregation depends only weakly on the headgroup composition of vesicles. However, in addition to the lipid headgroup, the curvature stress of the monolayer that forms the vesicle walls plays a very important role in fusion. Highly stressed vesicles, i.e., vesicles containing PE with highly unsaturated chains, need less PEG to induce fusion. This finding applies to the fusion of both small unilamellar vesicles and large unilamellar vesicles. The effect of electrostatic charge on vesicle aggregation and fusion were studied by changing the pH of the vesicle suspension media. At pH 9, when PE headgroups are weakly charged, increasing electrostatic repulsion between headgroups on the same bilayer surface reduces curvature stress, whereas increasing electrostatic repulsion between apposing bilayer headgroups hinders intervesicle approach, both of which inhibit aggregation and fusion, as expected.
Estimating Age Ratios and Size of Pacific Walrus Herds on Coastal Haulouts using Video Imaging

During Arctic summers, sea ice provides resting habitat for Pacific walruses as it drifts over foraging areas in the eastern Chukchi Sea. Climate-driven reductions in sea ice have recently created ice-free conditions in the Chukchi Sea by late summer causing walruses to rest at coastal haulouts along the Chukotka and Alaska coasts, which provides an opportunity to study walruses at relatively accessible locations. Walrus age can be determined from the ratio of tusk length to snout dimensions. We evaluated use of images obtained from a gyro-stabilized video system mounted on a helicopter flying at high altitudes (to avoid disturbance) to classify the sex and age of walruses hauled out on Alaska beaches in 2010-2011. We were able to classify 95% of randomly selected individuals to either an 8- or 3-category age class, and we found measurement-based age classifications were more repeatable than visual classifications when using images presenting the correct head profile. Herd density at coastal haulouts averaged 0.88 walruses/m(2) (std. err. = 0.02), herd size ranged from 8,300 to 19,400 (CV 0.03-0.06) and we documented ∼30,000 animals along ∼1 km of beach in 2011. Within the herds, dependent walruses (0-2 yr-olds) tended to be located closer to water, and this tendency became more pronounced as the herd spent more time on the beach. Therefore, unbiased estimation of herd age-ratios will require a sampling design that allows for spatial and temporal structuring. In addition, randomly sampling walruses available at the edge of the herd for other purposes (e.g., tagging, biopsying) will not sample walruses with an age structure representative of the herd. Sea ice losses are projected to continue, and population age structure data collected with aerial videography at coastal haulouts may provide demographic information vital to ongoing efforts to understand effects of climate change on this species.
Road traffic congestion in the developing world

Road traffic jams continue to remain a major problem in most cities around the world, especially in developing regions resulting in massive delays, increased fuel wastage and monetary losses. Due to the poorly planned road networks, a common outcome in many developing regions is the presence of small critical areas which are common hot-spots for congestion; poor traffic management around these hotspots potentially results in elongated traffic jams. In this paper, we first present a simple automated image processing mechanism for detecting the congestion levels in road traffic by processing CCTV camera image feeds. Our algorithm is specifically designed for noisy traffic feeds with poor image quality. Based on live CCTV camera feeds from multiple traffic signals in Kenya and Brazil, we show evidence of this congestion collapse behavior lasting long time-periods across multiple locations. To partially alleviate this problem, we present a local de-congestion protocol that coordinates traffic signal behavior within a small area and can locally prevent congestion collapse sustaining time variant traffic bursts. Based on a simulation based analysis on simple network topologies, we show that our local de-congestion protocol can enhance road capacity and prevent congestion collapse in localized settings.
Outbreak of fatal adenoviral type 7a respiratory disease in a children's long-term care inpatient facility.

Adenoviruses are a common cause of respiratory diseases. Types 7,3, and 21 may cause a particularly serious and even fatal illness, especially in children. Outbreaks of adenovirus infection have been documented in military training populations, in a family setting, and as a nosocomial infection in a children’s home,’ pediatric wards,” 3 and a surgical intensive care unit.4 We report an adenovirus 7a outbreak in a pediatric long-term care inpatient facility. Four patients with symptoms, three patients without symptoms, and two personnel with symptoms were found to be infected with adenovirus type 7a. A high susceptibility to infection with adenovirus and a high mortality rate were documented in this population of chronically sick infants.
The determination of the stability constant for calcium-EGTA.

Abstract The stability constant for calcium-EGTA, KCaEGTA, was determined in imidazole, Tris-maleate and phosphate buffered-solutions. The value for KCaEGTA was found to be independent of the buffer solution, in contrast with earlier reports (Ogawa, Y. (1968) J. Biochem. 64, 225; Godt, R.E. (1974) J. Gen. Physiol. 63, 722). Using a newly developed Ca2+-selective electrode (Brown, H.M., Pemberton, J.P. and Owen, J.D. (1976) Anal. Chim. Acta, in the press) the Ca2+ activities in solutions of different [CaEGTA]/[EGTA] ratio were found to fit acalibration plot of mV vs. log calcium activity using the KCaEGTA value of Schwarzenbach, G., Senn, H. and Anderegg, G. ((1957) Helv. Chim. Acta 40, 1886).
Quantification of Chemically Reducing Species in the Phosphate Ion Catalyzed Degradation of Reducing Sugars

Chemically reducing species formed during phosphate ion catalyzed degradation of reducing sugars were directly quantified by titration with 2,6-dichloroindophenol (Tillman’s reagent) and by measurement of open circuit electrical redox potentials. Both techniques demonstrated a time-dependent increased production of chemically reducing species in 0.1 M phosphate buffer at 100 °C and the increasingly negative redox potentials observed were consistent with the formation of reductones. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) was investigated in an attempt to generate and observe the sugar-derived highly reactive reducing species in situ. CV analysis of a model Amadori compound, N-(1-deoxyfructos-1-yl)piperidine, indicated oxidative waves consistent with reductone formation, but chemical instability of the oxidation products formed precluded the electrochemical detection of highly electrophilic reducing species such as reductones.
vbyCaHβ CCD Photometry of Clusters. VIII. The Super-Metal-Rich, Old Open Cluster NGC 6791

CCD photometry on the intermediate-band vbyCaHβ system is presented for the metal-rich, old open cluster NGC 6791. Preliminary analysis led to [Fe/H] above +0.4 with an anomalously high reddening and an age below 5 Gyr. A revised calibration between (b - y)0 and [Fe/H] at a given temperature shows that the traditional color-metallicity relations underestimate the color of the turnoff stars at high metallicity. With the revised relation, the metallicity from hk and the reddening for NGC 6791 become [Fe/H] = +0.45 ± 0.04 and E(b - y) = 0.113 ± 0.012 or E(B - V) = 0.155 ± 0.016. Using the same technique, reanalysis of the photometry for NGC 6253 produces [Fe/H] = +0.58 ± 0.04 and E(b - y) = 0.120 ± 0.018 or E(B - V) = 0.160 ± 0.025. The errors quoted include both the internal and external errors. For NGC 6791, the metallicity from m1 is a factor of 2 below that from hk, a result that may be coupled to the consistently low metal abundance from DDO photometry of the cluster and the C-deficiency found from high-dispersion spectroscopy. E(B - V) is the same value predicted from Galactic reddening maps. With E(B - V) = 0.15 and [Fe/H] = +0.45, the available isochrones predict an age of 7.0 ± 1.0 Gyr and an apparent modulus of (m - M) = 13.60 ± 0.15, with the dominant source of the uncertainty arising from inconsistencies among the isochrones. The reanalysis of NGC 6253 with the revised lower reddening confirms that on both the hk and m1 metallicity scales, NGC 6253, while less than half the age of NGC 6791, remains at least as metal-rich as NGC 6791, if not richer.
Interannual to decadal changes in the western South Atlantic's surface circulation

[1] A combination of surface drifters and altimetry is used to analyze the seasonal to interannual variability of the surface velocity field in the Brazil-Malvinas confluence of the western South Atlantic Ocean. Longer-term changes are inferred from wind and sea surface temperature fields. During the period October 1992 to December 2007, a southward shift of −0.6 to −0.9° decade−1 is found in the confluence latitude of the Brazil and Malvinas currents. A comparable trend is found in the latitude of the maximum wind stress curl averaged across the South Atlantic basin, allowing a proxy for the confluence latitude to be calculated for the prealtimeter time period. This longer time series suggests that the recent trend may be part of a longer-term oscillation, which has returned to values last sustained in the early 1980s. This variation does not appear to be related to the multidecadal trend in the Southern Annular Mode, but instead is inversely related to long-term variations in the sea surface temperature anomaly in the Agulhas-Benguela pathway of the eastern South Atlantic subtropical basin.
Hepatocyte induced re-expression of E-cadherin in breast and prostate cancer cells increases chemoresistance

Post-extravasation survival is a key rate-limiting step of metastasis; however, not much is known about the factors that enable survival of the metastatic cancer cell at the secondary site. Furthermore, metastatic nodules are often refractory to current therapies, necessitating the elucidation of molecular changes that affect the chemosensitivity of metastases. Drug resistance exhibited by tumor spheroids has been shown to be mediated by cell adhesion and can be abrogated by addition of E-cadherin blocking antibody. We have previously shown that hepatocyte coculture induces the re-expression of E-cadherin in breast and prostate cancer cells. In this study, we show that this E-cadherin re-expression confers a survival advantage, particularly in the liver microenvironment. E-cadherin re-expression in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells resulted in increased attachment to hepatocytes. This heterotypic adhesion between cancer cells and secondary organ parenchymal cells activated ERK MAP kinase, suggesting a functional pro-survival role for E-cadherin during metastatic colonization of the liver. In addition, breast cancer cells that re-expressed E-cadherin in hepatocyte coculture were more chemoresistant compared to 231-shEcad cells unable to re-express E-cadherin. Similar results were obtained in DU-145 prostate cancer cells induced to re-express E-cadherin in hepatocyte coculture or following chemical induction by the GnRH agonist buserelin or the EGFR inhibitor PD153035. These results suggest that E-cadherin re-expression and other molecular changes imparted by a partial mesenchymal to epithelial reverting transition at the secondary site increase post-extravasation survival of the metastatic cancer cell and may help to elucidate why chemotherapy commonly fails to treat metastatic breast cancer.
Laser-driven planar Rayleigh-Taylor instability experiments.

We have performed a series of experiments on the Nova Laser Facility to examine the hydrodynamic behavior of directly driven planar foils with initial perturbations of varying wavelength. The foils were accelerated with a single, frequency doubled, smoothed and temporally shaped laser beam at 0.8{times}10{sup 14} W/cm{sup 2}. The experiments are in good agreement with numerical simulations using the computer codes LASNEX and ORCHID which show growth rates reduced to about 70% of classical for this nonlinear regime.
Taxonomy and conformational analysis of loops in proteins.

Abstract We propose a general classification scheme for loops, aperiodic segments of protein structure. In an effort to avoid the geometric complexity created by non-repeating φ ψ angles, a morphologic definition that focuses upon the linearity and planarity of loops is utilized. Out of 432 loops (4 to 20 residues in length) extracted from 67 proteins, 205 are classified as linear (straps), 133 as non-linear and planar (omegas), and 86 as non-linear and non-planar (zetas). The remaining 8 are classified as compound loops because they contain a combination of strap, Ω, and ζ morphologies. We introduce a structural alphabet as a shorthand notation for describing local conformation. The symbols of this alphabet are based on the virtual dihedral angle joining four consecutive alpha carbons. The notation is used to provide a compact description of loop motifs in phosphate binding and calcium binding proteins. Since similar loop conformations form similar “words”, the structural sequence facilitates the search for common structural motifs in a family of loops. Contrary to the view of loops as “random coils”, we find loops to have positional preferences for amino acid residues analogous to those previously described for β-turns.
Endoscopic and Computed Tomographic Findings in Ostiomeatal Sinus Disease

• Previously, there has been no organized format for the documentation of the findings of the nasal endoscopy and the coronal computed tomographic sinus scan. The findings from 100 nasal endoscopies and computed tomographic scans were reviewed and summarized. The summarized findings were incorporated into two forms—"the Nasal Endoscopy Exam Form" and the "Computed Tomographic Scan Findings [form]"—utilizing computerized graphics techniques. The forms are presented along with their illustration of pathologic ostiomeatal findings. These forms represent a method of documentation of nasal endoscopic and coronal computed tomographic scan findings. They may be used in the demonstration of disease, treatment, planning, resident training, communication of information, and assisting in a future classification of degrees of severity of sinus disease. ( Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg . 1991;117:279-287)
Who is the Old Man in a Golden Helmet

The authorship of the familiar canvas known as the Old Man in a Helmet is being increasingly debated. But whoever may have been its author, its emotional effect is undeniable, and this is evidently a function of its subject, here identified as Saturn, the god of Time and the personification of melancholia artificialis. This study compares the canonic literary and pictorial descriptions of Saturn to the elderly melancholic depicted here, also describing how the aged deity acquired a golden helmet in the Middle Ages. It also discusses certain emblematic Saturnian meanings associated with the decorative reliefs on the helmet.
A new intercostal artery management strategy for thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repair.

Objective The purpose of this study is to describe a new approach for addressing the intraoperative management of intercostal arteries during thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAAA) repair, using preoperative spinal MRA for detection of intercostal arteries supplying the anterior spinal artery. Methods Patients undergoing TAAA repair from August 2005 to September 2007 were included. Spinal artery MRA was performed to identify the anterior spinal artery, the artery of Adamkiewicz, and its major intercostal source artery (SA-AAK). Intraoperative spinal cord protection was carried out using standard techniques. Important intercostal arteries were either preserved or reimplanted as a button patch after removing aortic clamps. Demographic and perioperative data were collected for review. Analysis was performed with Fisher's exact test or Student's t- test, where applicable, using SAS ver. 8.0 (Cary, NC). Results Spinal artery MRA was performed in 27 patients. The SA-AAK was identified in 85% of preoperative studies. Open or endovascular repair was performed in 74% and 26% of patients, respectively. The SA-AAK was preserved or reimplanted in 13 (65%) of patients who underwent open repair. A mean of 1.67 (range 1–3) intercostal arteries were reimplanted. All patients undergoing endovascular repair necessitated coverage of the SA-AAK. No patient developed immediate or delayed paraplegia. Longer mean operative times in the reimplanted cohort were not statistically significant (330 versus 245 min, P = 0.1). Conclusion The SA-AAK identified by MRA can be preserved or safely reimplanted after TAAA repair. Further study is warranted to determine if selective intercostal reimplantation can reduce the risk of immediate or delayed paraplegia.
Multi-Sensor Data Fusion for Estimation of a Moving Polyhedral Object

This paper presents an approach to estimate the general 3D motion of a polyhedral object using multiple sensor data some of which may not provide, sufficient information for the estimation of object motion. Motion can be estimated continuously from each sensor through the analysis of the instantaneuous state of an object. The instantaneuous state of an object is specified by the rotation, which is defined by a rotation axis and rotation angle, and the displacement of the center of rotation. We have introduced a method based on Moore-Penrose pseudoinverse theory to estimate the instantaneuous state of an object, and a linear feedback estimation algorithm to approach the motion estimation. The motion estimated from each sensor is fused-to provide more accurate and reliable information about the motion of an unknown object. The techniques of multi-sensor data fusion can be categorized into three methods: averaging, decision, and guiding. We present a fusion algorithm which combines averaging and decision. With the assumption that the motion is smooth, our approach can handle the data sequences from multiple sensors with different sampling times. We can also predict the next immediate object position and its motion.
Importance sampling: a review

We provide a short overview of importance sampling—a popular sampling tool used for Monte Carlo computing. We discuss its mathematical foundation and properties that determine its accuracy in Monte Carlo approximations. We review the fundamental developments in designing efficient importance sampling (IS) for practical use. This includes parametric approximation with optimization-based adaptation, sequential sampling with dynamic adaptation through resampling and population-based approaches that make use of Markov chain sampling. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.
Studies of CP Violation at BABAR

Abstract BABAR has studied the time-dependent asymmetries in the decays B 0 →J/ψK S 0 and B 0 →ψ(2S)K S 0 in a data set of 9.0 fb −1 taken at the ϒ(4S) resonance. In these channels we reconstruct 168 events of which 120 are flavor tagged and used in a likelihood fit where we determine sin 2 β . The flavor of the other neutral B mesons is tagged using information primarily from identified leptons and Kaons. A neural network is used to recover events without any clear Kaon or lepton signature. A preliminary result of sin 2 β =0.12±0.37±0.09 is obtained.
MDR- and CYP3A4-Mediated Drug–Drug Interactions

P-glycoprotein (P-gp), multiple drug resistance associated proteins (MRPs), and cytochrome P450 3A4 together constitute a highly efficient barrier for many orally absorbed drugs. Multidrug regimens and corresponding drug-drug interactions are known to cause many adverse drug reactions and treatment failures. Available literature, clinical reports, and in vitro studies from our laboratory indicate that many drugs are substrates for both P-gp and CYP3A4. Our primary hypothesis is that transport and metabolism of protease inhibitors (PIs) and NNRTIs will be altered when administered in combination with azole antifungals, macrolide, fluroquinolone antibiotics, statins, cardiovascular agents, immune modulators, and recreational drugs [benzodiazepines, cocaine, lysergic acid dithylamide (LSD), marijuana, amphetamine (Meth), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), and opiates] due to efflux, and/or metabolism at cellular targets. Therefore, such drug combinations could be a reason for the unexpected and unexplainable therapeutic outcomes. A number of clinical reports on drug interaction between PIs and other classes (macrolide antibiotics, azole antifungals, cholesterol lowering statins, cardiovascular medicines, and immunomodulators) are discussed in this article. MDCKII-MDR1 was employed as an in vitro model to evaluate the effects of antiretrovirals, azole antifungals, macrolide, and fluroquinolone antibiotics on efflux transporters. Ketoconazole (50 muM) enhanced the intracellular concentration of (3)H ritonavir. The inhibitory effects of ketoconazole and MK 571 on the efflux of (3)H ritonavir were comparable. An additive effect was observed with simultaneous incorporation of ketoconazole and MK 571. Results of (3)H ritonavir uptake studies were confirmed with transcellular transport studies. Several fluroquinolones were also evaluated on P-gp-mediated efflux of (3)H cyclosporin and 14C erythromycin. These in vitro studies indicate that grepafloxacin, levofloxacin, and sparfloxacin are potent inhibitors of P-gp-mediated efflux of 14C erythromycin and (3)H cyclosporin. Simultaneous administration of fluoroquinolones and macrolides could minimize the efflux and metabolism of both of the drugs. Effects of erythromycin and ketoconazole on carbamazepine metabolism were examined. Formation of 10,11-epoxy carbamazepine, a major CBZ metabolite, was significantly inhibited by these agents. Therefore, drug efflux proteins (P-gp, MRPs) and metabolizing enzyme (CYP450) are major factors in drug interactions. Overlapping substrate specificities of these proteins result in complex and sometimes perplexing pharmacokinetic profiles of multidrug regimens. Drug-drug interactions with PIs and other coadministered agents for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive population have been discussed in light of efflux transporters and metabolizing enzymes. This article provides an insight into low and variable oral bioavailability and related complications leading to loss of therapeutic activity of MDR and CYP 450 substrates.
Boron Nitride and Composite Aerogels from Borazine Based Polymers

Poly(borazinylamines) have been processed in THF and toluene solvents and aerogel forms produced by supercritical drying methods. The polymer aerogels have been pyrolyzed and porous amorphous and crystalline BN monoliths have been produced. These have been characterized and effects of processing factors on surface area and pore structure are described.
LAND SUBSIDENCE ALONG THE TEXAS GULF COAST DUE TO OIL AND GAS WITHDRAWAL

Land subsidence caused by groundwater withdrawal in the Houston–Galveston region is a well-documented phenomenon. Subsidence of up to 3 m has been calculated in the region since 1905. Subsidence caused by hydrocarbon withdrawal is also a plausible cause of subsidence, where groundwater withdrawal has diminished and significant petroleum production has occurred for> 95 years. Sixteen fields were investigated by acquiring reservoir depressurization data near bore-hole extensometers set up by the Houston–Galveston Coastal Subsidence District. All reservoirs were found to be well below hydrostatic pressure; a few of them were underpressured even before production began. Four oil and gas fields (the Mykawa, Satsuma, Dyersdale, and South Gillock) and three production zones (the Miocene, Frio, and Yegua) were used in a reservoir model and a boundary clay reservoir model to calculate subsidence. Subsidence under these fields is predicted to be as high as 0.44 m in a 19-year period at the Satsuma field and as low as 0.02 m in a 22-year period at the Dyersdale field. Implications of this study are (1) hydrocarbon production, although not the major contributor to most land surface subsidence in this area, does play a role; and (2) depressurization and, subsequently, subsidence from oil and gas fields may be regional and connected with other fields which is inferred from the fact that some fields were already underpressured before production began.
Myocardial stunning and preconditioning: age, species, and model related differences: role of AMP-5'-nucleotidase in myocardial injury and protection.

Mechanisms of myocardial stunning include myocardial adenosine triphosphate (ATP) depletion, catecholamine release, and oxygen free radical formation. Although the latter is the most widely supported mechanism, levels of 5′-nucleotidase (directs AMP dephosphorylation) are inversely related to functional recovery following ischemia and may also have a role in ischemic injury. Previous studies reveal that 5′-nucleotidase levels increase with age and also vary with species. An inhibitor of this enzyme (alpha, beta methylene adenosine 5′-diphosphate) was effective in maintaining AMP levels in vitro but was ineffective in dogs due to limited permeability. Observed species-specific differences in recovery from myocardial stunning may be related to differences in AMP accumulation and subsequent metabolism. Species showing improved recovery from stunning may accumulate AMP as a result of feedback inhibition of 5′-nucleotidase. Using a model of extreme experimentally-induced ischemia, we found that adenosine treatment allowed full recovery of ventricular function within 30 minutes, probably by entrapping ATP catabolites. Similarly, enhancement of adenosine production by N-diarylalkylpeprazine derivatives has also been shown to be cardioprotective in the setting of global normothermic ischemia. Novel strategies for pharmacological intervention in the ATP catabolic pathway should use animal models involving species that are tolerant to myocardial stunning.