cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
CD140b (PDGFRβ) Signaling in Adipose-Derived Stem Cells Mediates Angiogenic Behavior of Retinal Endothelial Cells

Adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) are multipotent mesenchymal progenitor cells that have functional and phenotypic overlap with pericytes lining microvessels in adipose tissue. The role of CD140b [platelet-derived growth factor receptor- β (PDGFR-β)], a constitutive marker expressed by ASCs, in the angiogenic behavior of human retinal endothelial cells (HREs) is not known. CD140b was knocked down in ASCs using targeted siRNA and lipofectamine transfection protocol. Both CD140b+ and CD140b- ASCs were tested for their proliferation (WST-1 reagent), adhesion (laminin-1 coated plates), and migration (wound-scratch assay). Angiogenic effect of CD140b+ and CD140b- ASCs on HREs was examined by co-culturing ASCs:HREs in 12:1 ratio for 6 days followed by visualization of vascular network by Isolectin B4 staining. The RayBio® Membrane-Based Antibody Array was used to assess differences in human cytokines released by CD140b+ or CD140b- ASCs. Knockdown of CD140b in ASCs resulted in a significant 50% decrease in proliferation rate, 25% decrease in adhesion ability to Laminin-1, and 50% decrease in migration rate, as compared to CD140b+ ASCs. Direct contact of ASCs expressing CD140b+ with HREs resulted in robust vascular network formation that was significantly reduced with using CD140b- ASCs. Of the 80 proteins tested, 45 proteins remained unchanged (>0.5- 1.5 fold) in CD140b- ASCs compared to CD140b+ ASCs. Our data demonstrate a substantial role for CD140b in the intrinsic abilities of ASCs and their angiogenic influence on HREs. Future studies are needed to fully explore the signaling of CD140b in ASCs in vivo for retinal regeneration.
Curvilinear Coordinate Systems

Shells involve thin walled elastic bodies wherein one dimension is considerably smaller than the other two, but in which the midsurface is curved in at least one direction. Thus, to describe a shell succinctly, curvilinear coordinates must be employed. This causes considerable complications in the mathematical descriptions and operations, not existing in the same equations posed in a Cartesian coordinate system. It would be proper to introduce the subject of shell theory by preceding it with a course in topology. However, in what follows, the description of mathematics involving curvilinear coordinates is given, sufficient only to derive the general shell equations. In no way is the presentation rigorous or inclusive. Other texts such as Malvern (Reference 1.1) and Sokolnikoff [1.2] should be consulted by those who wish to learn more.
The "Balance of Nature" Metaphor and Equilibrium in Population Ecology

I claim that the "balance of nature" metaphor is shorthand for a paradigmatic view of nature as a beneficent force. I trace the historical origins of this concept and demonstrate that it operates today in the discipline of population ecology. Although it might be suspected that this metaphor is a pre-theoretic description of the more precisely defined notion of equi- librium, I demonstrate that "balance of nature" has constricted the meaning of mathematical equilibrium in population ecology. As well as influencing the meaning of equilibrium, the metaphor has also loaded the mathematical term with values. Environmentalists and critics use this conflation of meaning and value to their advantage. This interplay between the "balance of nature" and equilibrium fits an interactionist interpretation of the role of metaphor in science. However, it seems the interaction is asymmetric, and the "balance of nature" metaphor has had a larger influence on mathematical equilibrium than vice versa. This disproportionate influence suggests that the metaphor was and continues to be a constitutive part of ecological theories.
Why Is the Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain Gene Mutation Status a Prognostic Indicator in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

The immunoglobulin heavy chain gene (IgHV) mutation status correlates with the clinical outcome of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) treated with chemoimmunotherapy. Why the survival rate of patients with unmutated IgHV is worse than that of patients with mutated IgHV is unknown. CLL cells with unmutated IgHV were thought to originate from naive B lymphocytes, whereas CLL cells with mutated IgHV were thought to arise from B cells that have undergone somatic hypermutation (SHM). Cell surface protein expression profile and gene expression studies showing that all CLL cells, regardless of their IgHV mutation status, are of postgerminal center origin, negated this hypothesis. We hereby propose that all CLL cells undergo SHM and their proliferation rate determines their IgHV mutation status. DNA breaks, accumulated during SHM, are restored by various DNA repair mechanisms. In rapidly dividing cells DNA breaks are repaired by the efficient high-fidelity homology-directed DNA repair apparatus, whereas in slowly dividing cells they are repaired by the inefficient low-fidelity nonhomology end-joining repair mechanism. Accordingly, a low IgHV mutation rate is found in rapidly dividing cells whereas a high mutation rate is typically found in slowly dividing cells. Thus, the proliferation rate of CLL cells determines the IgHV mutation status and patients' clinical outcome.
An accessible, interactive GenePattern Notebook for analysis and exploration of single-cell transcriptomic data

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has emerged as a popular method to profile gene expression at the resolution of individual cells. While there have been methods and software specifically developed to analyze scRNA-seq data, they are most accessible to users who program. We have created a scRNA-seq clustering analysis GenePattern Notebook that provides an interactive, easy-to-use interface for data analysis and exploration of scRNA-Seq data, without the need to write or view any code. The notebook provides a standard scRNA-seq analysis workflow for pre-processing data, identification of sub-populations of cells by clustering, and exploration of biomarkers to characterize heterogeneous cell populations and delineate cell types.
Acceleration techniques for semiclassical Maxwell-Bloch systems

The Maxwell-Bloch algorithm for simulating semiclassical quantum systems (such as interacting quantum dots) scales poorly for large numbers of particles due to an inherent computational complexity in the propagation calculation. Unfortunately, readily available methods that accelerate this calculation fail underneath a rotating-wave framework. The plane-wave timedomain algorithm, for instance, offers no performance benefit at time steps corresponding the bandwidth in a rotating (i.e. downshifted) frame. To overcome this we present an efficient alternative based on Adaptive Integral Method (AIM) that optimizes for any linear space-time differential operator acting on a potential function. We include results demonstrating the efficiency of this approach and its use in Maxwell-Bloch systems.
Ready or Not? Transitions of Depressed Adolescents During Acute Phase of Treatment.

Readiness to change has been identified as a predictor, moderator, and mediator of treatment. Individuals may start treatment in one stage and either stay, regress, or progress across stages, but there is little research exploring these transitions within mental health treatment. The present study addressed two aims: characterize the prevalence of stage membership and transitions, and explore predictors of stage membership and transitions. A Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study sub-sample was used and participants (n = 383) ranged in age from 12 to 17, with a primary diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder. The 18-item self-report Stages of Change Questionnaire was administered at baseline and week 6 of treatment. A latent transition analysis determined stage membership and transitions. Most adolescents initiated treatment in precontemplation or contemplation, and hopelessness predicted stage membership and stage transitions. This study revealed that readiness to change and hopelessness are related within the first few weeks of treatment, which may have implications for depressed adolescent’s ability to benefit from care.
An Iconic Image Through the Lens of Ka-tzetnik: The Murder of the Mother and the Essence of Auschwitz

Yehiel De-Nur, the author known as Ka-tzetnik 135633, testified at the Eichmann trial in 1961 that, even though he spent two years in Auschwitz, he could not say what Auschwitz is. Indeed, the difficulty of saying what Auschwitz is underlies the problem of Holocaust representation. This chapter takes what has been explored about Ka-tzetnik’s vision of the murder of the mother to examine an iconic photograph from the Shoah of a mother holding a child, both of whom are about to be shot by a member of Einsatzgruppe D. This chapter shows that this image attains a transcendent, iconic status because it reveals the invisible, ineffable essence of the Shoah as conveyed in De-Nur’s vision: the murder of the mother.
Isolation of PCV3 from Perinatal and Reproductive Cases of PCV3-Associated Disease and In Vivo Characterization of PCV3 Replication in CD/CD Growing Pigs.

Porcine circovirus 3 (PCV3) has been identified as a putative swine pathogen with a subset of infections resulting in stillborn and mummified fetuses, encephalitis and myocarditis in perinatal, and periarteritis in growing pigs. Three PCV3 isolates were isolated from weak-born piglets or elevated stillborn and mummified fetuses. Full-length genome sequences from different passages and isolates (PCV3a1 ISU27734, PCV3a2 ISU58312, PCV3c ISU44806) were determined using metagenomics sequencing. Virus production in cell culture was confirmed by qPCR, IFA, and in situ hybridization. In vivo replication of PCV3 was also demonstrated in CD/CD pigs (n = 8) under experimental conditions. Viremia, first detected at 7 dpi, was detected in all pigs by 28 dpi. IgM antibody response was detected between 7–14 dpi in 5/8 PCV3-inoculated pigs but no IgG seroconversion was detected throughout the study. Pigs presented histological lesion consistent with multi systemic inflammation characterized by myocarditis and systemic perivasculitis. Viral replication was confirmed in all tissues by in situ hybridization. Clinically, all animals were unremarkable throughout the study. Although the clinical relevance of PCV3 remains under debate, this is the first isolation of PCV3 from perinatal and reproductive cases of PCV3-associated disease and in vivo characterization of PCV3 infection in a CD/CD pig model.
Bayes' Theorem under Conditional Independence

In this article we provide a substantial discussion on the statistical concept of conditional independence, which is not routinely mentioned in most elementary statistics and mathematical statistics textbooks. Under the assumption of conditional independence, an extended version of Bayes' Theorem is then proposed with illustrations from both hypothetical and real-world examples of disease diagnosis.
Stratigraphy and depositional environments of the Mesaverde Group in the northern Bighorn Basin of Wyoming

Abstract Using single stratigraphic methods in the geological analysis of incompletely or poorly exposed sedimentary successions can lead to non-unique interpretations and increased potential for error. In this study of the Mesaverde outcrops (Eagle Formation, the Claggett Tongue of the Cody Shale, and the Judith River Formation) in the northern Bighorn Basin of Wyoming, which has limited and variable quality exposures, an integrated method utilizing sedimentological, ichnological, and palynological data was used in order to overcome these limitations. Ten facies are identified within the exposures examined. These facies are arranged so as to depict a broadly distal to proximal gradient recording the progradation of fluvial-dominated deltas into a shallow marine environment. The utilization of a Zobaa Ternary Plot and Calgary and Brown factor analysis (CABFAC) for palynofacies analysis in the study allows for corroboration of the lithological interpretation, which has not been possible in previous studies of correlative outcrops. It also enables the identification of environmental trends not seen in the lithological analysis, thus allowing for a more robust stratigraphic analysis. The methods used in this study not only decrease the inherent error in paleoenvironmental analysis of poorly exposed areas and thereby decrease variability in paleoenvironmental interpretations, but also allow identification of changes that are not evident from a single method approach. The result of utilizing this approach in areas of limited or poor quality exposure is a more comprehensive and well-informed regional stratigraphic framework.
Abstract A13: ASCL1 confers tolerance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors in EGFR mutant lung cancer

The majority of EGFR mutant lung adenocarcinomas respond well to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). However, the majority of these responses are partial, with drug-tolerant residual disease remaining even at the time of maximal response. This residual disease serves as a reservoir for the emergence of acquired resistance and tumor relapse, which inevitably occurs in patients treated with TKIs. It is thus critical to understand the biology of residual tumor cells and find out the mechanisms that underlie drug tolerance. Knowledge of such mechanisms could lead to the identification of potential strategies to forestall the emergence of drug resistance. Studies of residual disease have been hampered by the difficulty of studying these persister cells in patient specimens, and most studies to date have relied on analysis of established cell lines in culture. To investigate the cellular and molecular properties of residual tumor cells in vivo, we leveraged patient-derived models of EGFR mutant lung cancer. Three EGFR mutant PDXs were treated with the 3rd-generation TKI osimertinib. Tumors regressed in all cases, but measurable residual tumor remained in 2 out of the 3 PDXs even after 6 weeks of osimertinib treatment. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) of the untreated PDXs compared to the residual tumors revealed an unchanged mutational landscape between the samples, indicating that genetic mechanisms did not account for drug tolerance. Bulk RNA-sequencing, however, revealed extensive transcriptional changes between the untreated PDX and residual disease. In one of the PDXs, we identified upregulation of neuroendocrine lineage transcription factor ASCL1 in residual disease compared to untreated tumors. Using single-cell RNA-sequencing, we found a pre-existing ASCL1hi tumor cell population in untreated tumors, suggesting that these cells, which possessed drug-tolerant properties, were selected for during drug treatment. Depending on the cell line examined, expression of ASCL1 in human mutant EGFR lung cancer cell lines increased the number of persister clones following osimertinib treatment, indicating that the cellular context contributed to ASCL1’s role in conferring drug tolerance. Our studies provide insights into the role of neuroendocrine factor ASCL1 as a potential driver of drug tolerance in mutant EGFR lung cancer, and ongoing work is focused on identifying the mechanistic underpinnings of these findings. Citation Format: Bomiao Hu, Fernando J. de Miguel, Zongzhi Liu, Lok-Hei Chan, Mary Ann Melnick, Qin Yan, Don Nguyen, Rong Fan, Katerina Politi. ASCL1 confers tolerance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors in EGFR mutant lung cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on the Evolving Landscape of Cancer Modeling; 2020 Mar 2-5; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(11 Suppl):Abstract nr A13.
Integrative medicine smart phrase pilot study: Evaluating an EHR tool to improve providers' attitudes, knowledge and use of herbal and dietary supplements.

Abstract Context While many patients use herbal and dietary supplements (H/DS) for wellness, disease prevention and treatment, providers still cite a lack of resources and formal training as barriers to responding to patients’ inquiries about H/DS. Although the federal government, academic institutions and the private sector now offer more opportunities for education and research on H/DS, greater support in real time is needed to facilitate providers during the clinical encounter. Objective This small, pilot study evaluates the effects of implementation of smart phrases in the electronic health record (EHR) and an educational intervention on providers’ knowledge, attitude and use of H/DS in the clinical encounter. Design, Setting and Participants The study was conducted at The Institute for Family Health (IFH), a Federally Qualified Health Center and academic health center which operates the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health in affiliation with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Baseline and post-intervention surveys were conducted to explore providers’ attitudes, knowledge and use of integrative medicine (IM) smart phrases on H/DS. Main Outcome Measures Providers’ awareness of smart phrases of H/DS, knowledge of the content, confidence in using smart phrases to discuss H/DS, self-reported use of smart phrases were measured. Results A total of 32 subjects participated in the intervention and completed the baseline survey. Only half of the participants were familiar with the IM smart phrases in our system and 12.5% felt they were aware of the information covered in these smart phrases. Eighteen of 32 participants completed the post-intervention assessment. The intervention was successful in statistically increasing participants’ self-reported awareness of the information covered in the IM smart phrases (p Conclusion The implementation and adoption of evidence-based use of H/DS in the clinical encounter requires a sustained educational component to make the availability of smart phrases via technology (EHR) an effective strategy.
Adding Recurrence to Pretrained Transformers for Improved Efficiency and Context Size.

Fine-tuning a pretrained transformer for a downstream task has become a standard method in NLP in the last few years. While the results from these models are impressive, applying them can be extremely computationally expensive, as is pretraining new models with the latest architectures. We present a novel method for applying pretrained transformer language models which lowers their memory requirement both at training and inference time. An additional benefit is that our method removes the fixed context size constraint that most transformer models have, allowing for more flexible use. When applied to the GPT-2 language model, we find that our method attains better perplexity than an unmodified GPT-2 model on the PG-19 and WikiText-103 corpora, for a given amount of computation or memory.
Abstract 14691: Heart Rate Trajectories and Clinical Correlates in Patients Recovering From Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Longitudinal Analysis of Apple Watch Heart Rate Recordings

Introduction: Vital signs can provide critical details regarding a patient’s health status for clinical decision making, and confirm feedback on treatments. Using mobile health technology, vital si...
Data-driven activity reform: employing design research to improve scaffolding and concept development

For six semesters, activities have been incorporated into first year general chemistry courses in an effort to build student conceptual chemistry knowledge. The activities follow a learning cycle pedagogy (similar to Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning or POGIL activities) and consist of guiding questions involving animations, models, simulations, or a data set and are completed by students working in groups. The efficacy of the learning cycle approach and learning outcomes from POGIL and other similar initiatives have been well studied; however, examining how scaffolding in chemistry learning cycles can improve learning outcomes has not been well studied. In Fall 2016, an activity was implemented in a first semester general chemistry course that focused on energy changes during bond breaking and bond making. The data showed that, even after working with the PhET Atomic Interactions simulation guided by the activity, about half of the students in the sample (N = 55) still thought bond-breaking was an exothermic process, even though they collected data from the simulation that indicated otherwise. After analyzing student answers, the activity was redesigned to increase scaffolding and improve concept development. Students’ performance improved greatly with the implementation of the second activity with 82% of students (N = 34) able to identify and distinguish between exothermic and endothermic processes. Results have implications for applying research-based techniques to activity development to improve students’ conceptual understanding in chemistry.
Students’ Perceptions of Diversity at Two Hispanic-Serving Institutions Through Pictures: A Focus on Structures for Serving

Beyond the basic criteria to become a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), which includes enrolling 25% Latinx students, the federal government has not established guidelines for better serving these students. Instead, educators at HSIs must submit applications for competitive federal grants that allow them to define and enact “servingness” in practice, which is a multidimensional way to think about how to educate and liberate minoritized students and with a need to transform the “structures for serving” them. In both research and practice, however, students at HSIs have not been given the opportunity to define servingness, or to even talk about what it means to be educated at a campus that is compositionally diverse. The purpose of this study was to explore how students at two HSIs in the Midwest perceive diversity through pictures, with a focus on the organizational structures that represent diversity. Using a photo elicitation methodology, which prompted students to take pictures of the structural elements on campus that represent diversity, and one-on-one interviews that allowed them to describe their pictures, students talked about diversity as reflected in art on campus, people on campus, and spaces on campus. Implications are offered for understanding servingess, and specifically the structures for serving, as perceived by students.
Single cell proteomics of tumor compartments identifies differential kinase activities defining sensitivity to mTOR-PI3-kinase inhibition

Cancer therapy often results in heterogeneous responses in different metastatic lesions in the same patient. Inter- and intra-tumor heterogeneity in proteomic signaling within the various tumor compartments and its impact on therapy are not well characterized due to the limited sensitivity of single cell proteomic approaches. To overcome this barrier, we applied single cell mass cytometry with a customized 29-antibody panel [against cell states, receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin (PI3K/mTOR)-, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-, and cytokine- signaling] to PTEN-deleted orthotopic prostate cancer xenograft models to measure the evolution of kinase activities in different tumor compartments during metastasis and upon drug treatment. Compared with primary tumors and circulating tumor cells (CTCs), bone metastases but not lung and liver metastases exhibited elevated PI3K/mTOR signaling and RTKs including c-Met protein, which, when suppressed, impaired tumor growth in the bone. Intra-tumoral heterogeneity within tumor compartments also arises from highly proliferative EpCAM-high epithelial cells with increased PI3K and mTOR kinase activities co-existing with poorly proliferating EpCAM-low mesenchymal populations with reduced kinase activities, findings recapitulated in epithelial and mesenchymal CTC populations in metastatic prostate and breast cancer patients. Increased kinase activity in EpCAM-high cells rendered them more sensitive to PI3K/mTOR inhibition and drug resistant EpCAM-low populations with reduced kinase activity emerged over time. Taken together, single cell proteomics identified microenvironment- and cell state-dependent activation of kinase networks creating heterogeneity and differential drug sensitivity among and within tumor populations across different sites, defining a new paradigm of drug responses to kinase inhibitors.
Civil Engineering Students’ Beliefs about Global Warming and Misconceptions about Climate Science

AbstractCivil engineers will face increasing challenges in their careers due to climate change. The infrastructure they design and construct will directly contribute to or mitigate it. Action to re...
Value‐Added Per Share (VAPS): A Value‐Relevant Corporate Performance Metric

The authors introduce Value Added Per Share (VAPS) as a value‐relevant metric that is intended to complement earnings per share (EPS) in helping corporate managers and analysts understand and overcome the limitations of GAAP‐based reporting. VAPS discounts a firm's past and projected cash flows at its “cost of capital,” allowing companies to avoid the subjective accounting accrual process and other practices that often make EPS misleading. A company's VAPS is calculated in three main steps: (1) estimate the change in the capitalized value of after‐tax operating cash flow by taking the net change (plus or minus) of the firm's operating cash flow after taxes and dividing that number by the firm's cost of capital; (2) subtract total investment expenditures; and (3) divide by the number of shares outstanding. By capitalizing the change in after‐tax operating cash flow, one finds the net change in a firm's current operations value. By subtracting investment expenditures from that change in current operations value, the analyst gets a clearer picture of the benefit to shareholders net of the funds used to create that benefit. Consistent with basic theory, VAPS is positive when a company earns a return at least equal to its cost of capital and negative otherwise. Because of their fundamental differences, EPS and VAPS are likely to send different signals, and VAPS is expected to provide greater insight into stock price changes. The authors provide the findings of statistical tests showing the superior explanatory power of VAPS and recommend that companies publish statements of VAPS along with standard GAAP results, especially since the former can be readily calculated using the available income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement data.
Beyond Tuskegee - Vaccine Distrust and Everyday Racism.

Beyond Tuskegee When we hyperfocus on a few historical racist atrocities, we ascribe current Black health experiences to past racism, rooting our present in immovable past events and undermining ef...
College Student Mentors and Latino Youth: A Qualitative Study of the Mentoring Relationship

This phenomenological study describes the meaning of mentoring relationships from the perspectives of six purposefully selected mentors involved in the Latino Achievement Mentoring Program (LAMP), and investigates underlying themes regarding the mentors’ relationships. Clusters of themes pertaining to the mentors’ relationship with the mentee, the relationship of the mentor with the mentee’s family, and the mentors’ personal and professional development contributed to the meaning of the mentoring relationship for LAMP mentors. Mentors highlighted challenges that characterized the mentoring relationships at various points in time: However, relationship strengths outweighed potential obstacles. Findings are useful for programs that target Latino youth, and have implications for the recruitment and retention of mentors. Findings bring to light the need for future research that considers the quality of the mentoring relationship and its influence on outcomes for mentoring
Abstract 12623: MiR-125b is Critical for Fibroblast-to-Myofibroblast Transition and Cardiac Fibrosis

Objective: Fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transition (FMT) within the heart is the predominant cause of cardiac fibrosis, resulting in cardiac dysfunction. Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) plays a pivotal role in the induction of both FMT and cardiac fibrosis. However, the role of miRNAs in TGF-β-induced FMT and cardiac fibrosis remains largely unexplored. In this study, we propose a novel miRNA-mediated approach to attenuate cardiac fibrosis by blocking TGF-β-induced FMT. Methods and Results: We observed that the canonical TGF-β/SMAD pathway and not the MEK pathway played a pivotal role in the induction of FMT in primary cultures of human cardiac fibroblasts (HCFs). Importantly, we demonstrate for the first time that miR-125b is significantly upregulated during cardiac FMT. We observed significant upregulation of miR-125b in fibrotic human myocardium and two murine models of cardiac fibrosis (transverse aortic constriction and Angiotensin II infusion). Overexpression of miR-125b using specific miRNA mim...
Persistence of Gender Occupational Segregation and the Gender Income Gap in Early 21st Century USA

This study has found evidence that occupational segregation is still present, as some traditionally feminine occupations (primary school teaching and nursing) comprise significantly more women than men. Furthermore, this study has found evidence that the earnings gender gap persists even in these occupations that continue to be dominated by women. This article is available in Undergraduate Economic Review: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/uer/vol4/iss1/3 Wabash College ECO 401: Senior Seminar Dr. Joyce Burnette Persistence of Gender Occupational Segregation and the Gender Income Gap in Early 21 Century USA
Effect of Caloric Restriction during Pregnancy on Maternal and Fetal Body Composition in the Obese Sprague-Dawley Rat

The effects of 15, 30 or 50% caloric restriction during pregnancy on maternal and fetal compartments was determined in obese Sprague-Dawley rats. Pregnant and nonpregnant animals were assigned on a weight basis to one of the dietary treatments. All nutrients, except calories, were fed at levels to meet dietary requirements. Animals were killed on day 20 of treatment and fetuses were taken by Caesarian section. Pregnant animals achieved positive weight gain during 20 days of gestation at all levels of caloric restriction. Nonpregnant animals lost body weight when calories were restricted by 30 and 50%. Number of fetuses, fetal body nitrogen, and pup weight were not statistically different (P less than 0.05) among groups. Animals fed the 30 and 50% calorie-restricted diets showed a significant (P less than 0.05) decrease in total-body fat. Percent carcass protein tended to increase as dietary caloric restriction increased. The fetal compartment was apparently not affected by maternal caloric restriction up to 50% during pregnancy provided that all other nutrients were supplied in adequate amounts. Maternal stores were adversely affected at levels of 30 and 50% caloric restriction.
Reproductive coercion and intimate partner violence among rural women in Côte d'Ivoire: a cross-sectional study

A growing body of U.S.-based research demonstrates that reproductive coercion is an important consideration regarding the negative health impacts of intimate partner violence (IPV). However, less work on IPV and reproductive coercion has been done in West African settings. Cross-sectional data of 981 women who participated in the baseline survey of a randomized-controlled trial in rural, Cote d'Ivoire in October 2010 were analyzed for specific reports of reproductive coercion. Half (49.8%) of all women reported lifetime physical or sexual IPV, and nearly 1 in 5 (18.6%) reported experiencing reproductive coercion. In the final adjusted analyses, lifetime IPV was associated with a 3.7 increase in odds of reporting reproductive coercion (95% CI: 2.4-5.8) compared to women who did not report such victimization. Study findings underscore the importance of reducing IPV in order to improve reproductive health among women in rural Cote d'Ivoire.
Sensitive Fluorescence Monitoring of Aromatic Acids after Anion—Exchange Chromatography of Body Fluids

A simple, sensitive system has been developed for detecting oxidizable compounds that are eluted from chromatographic columns. It relies upon the production of fluorescent cerium(III) by the reaction of eluted compounds with cerium(IV) solution. When coupled with a modified ultraviolet-monitored anion-exchange chromatograph, this system provides excellent resolution and sensitivity in the analytical determination of aromatic organic acids.
Peroxidase-catalyzed and electrochemical oxidation of l-tryptophan

Abstract The oxidation of l -tryptophan by H2O2 catalyzed by type VI peroxidase (from horseradish peroxidase) at pH 4.3 has been studied and critically compared to the electrochemical oxidation reaction. The enzymatic reaction is rather slow but leads to formation of four well characterized products: two isomers of 2-carboxy-3a-hydroxy-1,2,3,3a,8,8a-hexahydropyrrolo-(2,3b)-indole, oxindolylalanine, and dioxindolylalanine. In addition, at least one oligomeric or polymeric product is formed although its structure is not known. Electrochemical oxidation of l -tryptophan under the same solution conditions gives the same products along with a very small amount of kynurenine. The latter compound might be formed in the enzyme reaction but is not a detected product because it is further oxidized. Because of the great similarities between the products of the enzymatic and electrochemical reactions it appears likely that the mechanisms of the two processes, in a chemical sense, are the same.
The SP2 high-performance switch

The heart of an IBM SP2™ system is the HighPerformance Switch, which is a low-latency, highbandwidth switching network that binds together RISC System/6000® processors. The switch incorporates a unique combination of topology and architectural features to scale aggregate bandwidth, enhance reliability, and simplify cabling. It is a bidirectional multistage interconnect subsystem driven by a common oscillator, and delivers both data and service packets over the same links. Switching elements contain a dynamically allocated shared buffer for storing blocked packet flits. The switch is constructed primarily from switching elements (the Vulcan switch chip) and adapters (the SP2 communication adapter). The SP2 communication adapter uses a variety of techniques to improve bandwidth and offload communication tasks from the node processor. This paper examines the switch architecture and presents an overview of its support software.
Intracoronary Low-Dose Ionizing Irradiation (β or γ) for Prevention of Restenosis: Could It Succeed Where Pharmacotherapy Failed?

Although the precise pathogenesis of restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) remains somewhat elusive, our understanding about the reparative phenomena at the site of dilatation has been significantly improved in recent years. Thus, restenosis appears to be the result of migration, proliferation, and excessive matrix formation by smooth muscle cells plus vascular wall remodeling leading to chronic recoil (constriction). Proposed pharmacotherapies to prevent restenosis have been ineffective in humans, in spite of a relative success in certain experimental animals. The rationale for low-dose irradiation (either β or γ) in order to prevent restenosis is based on the known ability of ionizing irradiation to arrest cell division and, therefore, to reduce the number of clonal progenitors in situations like angioplasty.
Filipin-dependent Inhibition of Cholera Toxin: Evidence for Toxin Internalization and Activation through Caveolae-like Domains

The mechanism by which cholera toxin (CT) is internalized from the plasma membrane before its intracellular reduction and subsequent activation of adenylyl cyclase is not well understood. Ganglioside GM1, the receptor for CT, is predominantly clustered in detergent-insoluble glycolipid rafts and in caveolae, noncoated, cholesterol-rich invaginations on the plasma membrane. In this study, we used filipin, a sterol-binding agent that disrupts caveolae and caveolae-like structures, to explore their role in the internalization and activation of CT in CaCo-2 human intestinal epithelial cells. When toxin internalization was quantified, only 33% of surface-bound toxin was internalized by filipin-treated cells within 1 h compared with 79% in untreated cells. However, CT activation as determined by its reduction to form the A1 peptide and CT activity as measured by cyclic AMP accumulation were inhibited in filipin-treated cells. Another sterol-binding agent, 2-hydroxy-β-cyclodextrin, gave comparable results. The cationic amphiphilic drug chlorpromazine, an inhibitor of clathrin-dependent, receptor-mediated endocytosis, however, affected neither CT internalization, activation, nor activity in contrast to its inhibitory effects on diphtheria toxin cytotoxicity. As filipin did not inhibit the latter, the two drugs appeared to distinguish between caveolae- and coated pit–mediated processes. In addition to its effects in CaCo-2 cells that express low levels of caveolin, filipin also inhibited CT activity in human epidermoid carcinoma A431 and Jurkat T lymphoma cells that are, respectively, rich in or lack caveolin. Thus, filipin inhibition correlated more closely with alterations in the biochemical characteristics of CT-bound membranes due to the interactions of filipin with cholesterol rather than with the expressed levels of caveolin and caveolar structure. Our results indicated that the internalization and activation of CT was dependent on and mediated through cholesterol- and glycolipid-rich microdomains at the plasma membrane rather than through a specific morphological structure and that these glycolipid microdomains have the necessary components required to mediate endocytosis.
THE RELATIVE REACTION WITHIN LIVING MAMMALIAN-TISSUES : II. ON THE MOBILIZATION OF ACID MATERIAL WITHIN CELLS, AND THE REACTION AS INFLUENCED BY THE CELL STATE.

The acidity of the macrophage granules in which litmus comes to be stored during life is considerable. It has proved possible to stain these granules in vivo with some of the phthalein indicators and the results, had they been obtained under controlled conditions, would indicate a pH of 3.0 or less. The amount of acid material which may accumulate within the cells of animals stained with litmus is great, sufficient in the case of the elements of a peritoneal exudate for the acid reaction to prevail when they are gathered together and crushed. The material is derived, not from the dye, but from living elements responding characteristically to a stimulus far from unique. Such responses may well play a role in normal physiological activities and in the cellular defense against microorganisms. Vital staining with litmus demonstrates anew that the intracellular reaction during life is independent of that of the body fluids. By means of color changes in the stored indicator one can distinguish sick as well as dead cells of certain sorts and follow their distribution and fate within the organism. There are data to suggest that with the aid of the indicator the normal period of survival of certain elements at least can be determined. By the indicator method, of which the foregoing observations afford a crude illustration, much should be learnt in the future about body processes. The present paper is the second of a series upon the theme.
Spontaneous opening at zero membrane potential of sodium channels from eel electroplax reconstituted into lipid vesicles.

The voltage-dependent sodium channel from the eel electroplax was purified and reconstituted into vesicles of varying lipid composition. Isotopic sodium uptake experiments were conducted with vesicles at zero membrane potential, using veratridine to activate channels and tetrodotoxin to block them. Under these conditions, channel-dependent uptake of isotopic sodium by the vesicles was observed, demonstrating that a certain fraction of the reconstituted protein was capable of mediating ion fluxes. In addition, vesicles untreated with veratridine showed significant background uptake of sodium; a considerable proportion of this flux was blocked by tetrodotoxin. Thus these measurements showed that a significant subpopulation of channels was present that could mediate ionic fluxes in the absence of activating toxins. The proportion of channels exhibiting this behavior was dependent on the lipid composition of the vesicles and the temperature at which the uptake was measured; furthermore, the effect of temperature was reversible. However, the phenomenon was not affected by the degree of purification of the protein used for reconstitution, and channels in resealed electroplax membrane fragments or reconstituted, solely into native eel lipids did not show this behavior. The kinetics of vesicular uptake through these spontaneously-opening channels was slow, and we attribute this behavior to a modification of sodium channel inactivation.
Reliability of delta-crystallin as a marker for studies of chick lens induction

Induction of a lens by the optic vesicle of the brain was the first demonstration of how tissue interactions could influence cell fate during development. However, recent work with amphibians has shown that the optic vesicle is not the primary inducer of lens formation. Rather, an earlier interaction between anterior neural plate and presumptive lens ectoderm appears to direct lens formation. One problem with many early experiments was the absence of an unambiguous assay for lens formation. Before being able to test whether the revised model of lens induction applies to chicken embryos, we examined the suitability of using delta-crystallin as a marker of lens formation. Although delta-crystallin is the major protein synthesized in the chick lens, one or both of the two delta-crystallin genes found in chickens is transcribed in many non-lens tissues as well. In studies of lens formation where appearance of the delta-crystallin protein is used as a positive assay, synthesis of delta-crystallin outside of the lens could make experiments difficult to interpret. Therefore, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, immunoblotting, and immunofluorescence were used to determine whether the delta-crystallin messenger RNA detected in non-lens tissues is translated into protein, as it is in the lens. On Coomassie-blue-stained gels of several tissues from stage-22 embryos, a prominent protein was observed that co-migrated with delta-crystallin. However, on immunoblots, none of the non-lens tissues tested contained detectable levels of delta-crystallin at this stage. By imunofluorescence, delta-crystallin was observed in Rathke's pouch and in a large area of oral ectoderm near Rathke's pouch, yet none of the cells in these non-lens tissues showed the typical elongated morphology of lens fiber cells. When presumptive lens ectoderm or other regions of ectoderm from stage-10 embryos were cultured and tested for lens differentiation, both cell elongation and delta-crystallin synthesis were observed, or neither were observed. The results suggest that delta-crystallin synthesis and cell elongation together serve as useful criteria for assessing a positive lens response.
Truck adaptive following distance based on threat assessment under variable conditions

Vehicle-stopping distance and recommended following distance are important factors for heavy-duty truck safety. The practical vehicle stopping-distance is affected by several factors beside vehicle dynamics: current speed, braking system retardation force, road slip and road grade. One of the purposes of truck onboard monitoring is to provide real-time feedback to the driver that could have two forms: a warning to the driver for any threat of frontal collision; or advisory information. Both are based on threat assessment and thus are equivalent in theory. Most previous work in the literature only provides threat assessment and warning under ideal cases that is, flat, straight, dry and concrete road surface conditions. The authors systematically investigate vehicle stopping distance under variable conditions, based on which the corresponding recommended following distance is generated. Although it is difficult for the driver to estimate the following distance visually, sensor detection plus appropriate feedback to the driver can achieve the same goal. Practical implementation issues and field test results are also presented. They show how significantly the environmental factors affect the threat assessment and the recommended following distance. The results are readily applicable to the development of safety systems for other types of vehicles.
Microwave activated combustion synthesis of titanium aluminides

Abstract TiAl and Ti3Al titanium aluminide intermetallic compounds were synthesized using a microwave activated combustion synthesis (MACS) method and compared to thermal activation (TACS) and conventional combustion (CS) methods. MACS represents an example of our “synergistic processing” philosophy, wherein the useful attributes of microwave processing and combustion synthesis are used synergistically. Thermodynamic calculations indicated activation was required for combustion synthesis to be successful in the Ti–Al system. MACS and TACS yielded Ti–Al products, while no reaction occurred with CS. Peak temperatures for TiAl during combustion were measured at 1500 °C for TiAl and 1450 °C for Ti3Al in MACS, compared to 1400 °C for TiAl and
Public Service Employment and Rural America

Public service employment programs are manpower instruments that provide income and transitional employment in times of high unemployment. Despite annual expenditures of nearly $1 billion since 1971, little attention has been directed toward the rural-urban distribution of public employment funds. After establishing alternative allocation formulae, actual allocations are compared with hypothetical allocations for public employment programs since 1971. The results indicate that rural areas did not obtain public employment funds in proportion to their shares of total unemployment. Reasons for the observed pattern of allocations are explored, and alternative allocating criteria to increase funds available to rural areas are discussed.
Regulation of cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate in relation to growth of dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-induced mammary tumors in rats.

In this study, adenylate cyclase, phosphodiesterase and cyclic adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate (cAMP) levels were measured in 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-induced mammary tumors with different growth characteristics in both intact and ovariectomized rats. Tumors were classified as growing, stable, or regressing over a 10–;14-day period before excision. Regressing or static tumors had a higher cAMP concentration relative to tumors that were growing actively. This was due to high adenylate cyclase activity and low phosphodiesterase (both high and low Km) activities. Although estrogen deprivation resulted in a much greater rate of tumor regression than would occur spontaneously under normal conditions, the levels of adenylate cyclase, phosphodiesterases and cAMP were the same in tumors obtained from either intact or ovariectomized rats, when comparisons were made within the same category of tumor. These observations suggest that cAMP metabolism is independent of estrogen, since it is related to enhancement or retardation of growth rather than to the presence of absence of estrogen.