cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A disappearing biome? Reconsidering land‐cover change in the Brazilian savanna

The Cerrado, the tropical savanna covering 22% of Brazil's territory, or approximately 1.783 million km2, has suffered significant human impacts during the past three decades. This paper re-examines estimates of Cerrado vegetation change dynamics using high-resolution satellite remote sensing data from an area of interest extracted from eastern Mato Grosso State. This region has undergone a high degree of typical agricultural development since the early 1970s. Results indicate significant loss of original vegetation as well as high levels of regeneration, suggesting Cerrado vegetation may be more resilient to human impacts than catastrophic estimations suggest. The paper concludes with a critical review of Cerrado land-cover change studies and the implications of evidence for vegetation regeneration, land-cover dynamism and land-use intensification, paying particular attention to spatial scale and research methods. The discussion concludes that Cerrado land-cover change studied at a higher resolution and larger scales (smaller area) is required to represent more effectively the complexity of land conversion for better assessment of human impacts and environmental policy.
Nutritional regulation of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein gene expression in the ovine fetus and pregnant ewe.

The factors controlling the synthesis and degradation of the insulin-like growth factor-binding proteins (IGFBPs) during pregnancy are poorly understood. To clarify the roles of nutritional factors in the regulation of fetal and maternal IGFBP production, we examined the effects of fasting, refeeding, and glucose administration on plasma IGFBP concentrations and hepatic IGFBP mRNA levels in fetal lambs and pregnant ewes (n = 24). Maternal fasting for 3 days in late gestation stimulated a 50-100% increase in maternal plasma BP-1 concentrations (P < 0.05) and a 2- to 3-fold increase in fetal plasma BP-1 (P < 0.05), as determined by densitometric analysis of Western ligand blots. Fasting also stimulated a 40-70% increase in maternal plasma BP-2 concentrations (P < 0.05), but had no significant effect on fetal plasma BP-2 levels. Levels of hepatic BP-1 mRNA in the fetus and pregnant ewe during fasting paralleled plasma BP-1 levels, suggesting that fasting modulates fetal and maternal plasma BP concentrations ...
Effects of carbaryl on body weight and fat reserves of dietetically-stressed bobwhites

Intake of 4, 18, and 30 mg/kg/day of carbaryl in a balanced maintenance ration over a 15-day period did not alter fat reserves or body weights of under-weight adult male bobwhites.
Inverse expression of Pk and luke blood group antigens on human RBCS

BACKGROUND: Luke (LKE) is a high-frequency RBC antigen, related to the P blood group system. A LKE-negative phenotype is found in 1 to 2 percent of donors and may be associated with increased Pk. Because Pk and similar glycolipids are receptors for shiga toxin on cell membranes, a LKE-negative phenotype could have implications for infections by Shigella dysenteriae and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Volunteer donors (n = 257) were serologically typed for LKE with a LKE MoAb, MC813-70. LKE-strong-positive, LKE-weak-positive and LKE-negative RBCs were analyzed for Pk, P, LKE, and shiga toxin binding by immunofluorescence flow cytometry, high-performance thin-layer chromatography, scanning densitometry, and high-performance thin-layer chromatography immunostaining. RESULTS: Among Iowa donors, 78.6 percent were LKE-strong-positive, 20.2 percent were LKE-weak-positive, and 1.2 percent were LKE-negative. There was an inverse expression of Pk and LKE on RBCs. Pk expression was increased on LKE-negative RBCs and was associated with increased shiga toxin binding. A LKE-active glycolipid was identified in the ganglioside fraction of LKE-strong-positive RBCs. CONCLUSION: A LKE-negative phenotype is associated with increased expression of Pk on RBCs. Differences in Pk and LKE expression may play a role in host susceptibility to infection with S. dysenteriae and E. coli.
Role of geodesics in Schrödinger's theory of color vision.

Relation between geodesics in color space and Schrodinger’s theory of color vision is discussed. The FMC1 formula is used to test this theory by examining intersection of geodesics on the constant-brightness surface. Validity of the FMC1 formula in numerical verification of Schrodinger’s concept is indicated.
The shape and swimming technique of Bosmina longirostris1

High-speed motion pictures have enabled us to study the swimming movements of Bosmina Zongirostris. These small cladocerans swim using antenna1 movements which superficially resemble those of a human breaststroke, The time taken for each stroke is relatively constant, and the movements of the antennae during a stroke are nearly invariant. Thus, the animals vary their average speed mainly by varying the interval between strokes. In the absence of antenna1 forces, a Bosmina body would move broadside. Forces produced by the antennae of a swimming Bosmina constrain the body to move edgewise. The shape of the body is not the shape which minimizes drag. The orientation and shape of the body may reflect opposing selection for reducing drag and the ability of predators to find Bosmina and for the ability of predators to manipulate Bosmina.
Coarse-Grained Simulations of Protein-Protein Association: An Energy Landscape Perspective

Understanding protein-protein association is crucial in revealing the molecular basis of many biological processes. Here, we describe a theoretical simulation pipeline to study protein-protein association from an energy landscape perspective. First, a coarse-grained model is implemented and its applications are demonstrated via molecular dynamics simulations for several protein complexes. Second, an enhanced search method is used to efficiently sample a broad range of protein conformations. Third, multiple conformations are identified and clustered from simulation data and further projected on a three-dimensional globe specifying protein orientations and interacting energies. Results from several complexes indicate that the crystal-like conformation is favorable on the energy landscape even if the landscape is relatively rugged with metastable conformations. A closer examination on molecular forces shows that the formation of associated protein complexes can be primarily electrostatics-driven, hydrophobics-driven, or a combination of both in stabilizing specific binding interfaces. Taken together, these results suggest that the coarse-grained simulations and analyses provide an alternative toolset to study protein-protein association occurring in functional biomolecular complexes.
Investigation of Cantilever Resonance Applied to Potentiometric Sensing

We demonstrate a highly sensitive potentiometric gas sensor based on a resonating Si microcantilever. Using a scanning probe microscope based set up in non-contact mode, the microcantilever was made to oscillate at its resonance frequency with periodically changing amplitude, using simultaneous mechanical and electrical excitation sources. The variation of the oscillation amplitude was found to be extremely sensitive to changes in surface potential, and served as a linear indicator for surface work function changes caused by molecular adsorption. The microcantilever sensor was found to be able to detect changes in surface potential down to 50 µV, which is basically limited by the system noise. When applied to sensing hydrogen using platinum coated cantilevers, it was observed that the microcantilever sensor can detect 1000 ppm hydrogen with an estimated lower limit of the detection time of 70 ms, at a cantilever-ground electrode distance of ~10 micron. Several parameters, such as ac signal amplitude, cantilever – reference electrode distance, quality factor, area, and spring constant of the cantilever, can be adjusted to significantly enhance the sensitivity, possibly by orders of magnitude. Excitation of the cantilever at subharmonic resonance frequencies was also performed to study possible parametric resonance effects. In this system it was possible to observe sub-harmonic resonance of order more than 50 (i.e. lower than one-fiftieth the resonance frequency).
Negotiation criteria for multiagent resource allocation

Negotiation in a multiagent system is a topic of active interest for enabling the allocation of scarce resources among autonomous agents. This paper presents a discussion of the research on negotiation criteria, which puts in context the contributions to resource allocation from the fields of economics, mathematics, and multiagent systems. We group the criteria based on how they relate to each other as well as their historical origin. In addition, we present three new criteria: verifiability, dimensionality, and topology. The criteria are organized into five categories. The allocation category contains criteria concerning fairness and envy-freeness with respect to how resources are allocated to agents. The protocol category covers criteria for stability, strategy-proofness, and communication costs. The procedure category includes criteria about the complexity of allocation procedures. The resource category has criteria for the properties that various resources can take and how they affect allocation. The paper concludes with a discussion of the criteria for agent utility functions. The overall objectives of this paper are (1) to create a starting point for protocol engineering by future negotiation designers and (2) to enumerate the criteria and their measures that enable negotiation and allocation mechanisms to be compared objectively.
Analytic Model for Single-Cycle Detonation Tube with Diverging Nozzles

An analytic model for quantifying the specific impulse of a single-cycle detonation tube fitted with a diverging nozzle is developed. The model takes advantage of the fact that the detonation tube is choked, thus enabling the straight-tube and nozzle impulses to be dealt with separately. No assumptions of steady flow are needed, and the model can be applied even for nozzles that are not pressure-matched to the environment. The model is validated against ballistic-pendulum measurements. Application of the model is demonstrated by identifying optimized area ratios over a wide range of pressures. The optimized area ratio is shown to be mainly a function of the ambient/ plateau pressure ratio P1=P3.
Identification of a novel 9 cM deletion unit on chromosome 6q23–24 in papillary serous carcinoma of the peritoneum

To define regions of deletion on chromosome 6q in papillary serous carcinoma of the peritoneum (PSCP), we analyzed 103 tumor tissues from 53 patients by using 11 polymorphic microsatellite markers spanning loci from 6q23 to 6q27. Allelic losses on 6q were observed in 42 of 53 (79.2%) cases. We identified 3 distinct regions with a high percentage (>40%) of loss of heterozygosity. The first region is located at 6q23-24 and defined by D6S311 (15 of 35 informative cases, 42.9%). Detailed deletion mapping of chromosome 6q23-24 in these tumor samples identified a novel 9 cM minimal deletion region flanked by D6S250 and ESR. The second one is located at 6q25.1-25.2 and defined by D6S448 (17 of 36 informative cases, 47.2%). A second minimal deletion region of 4 cM was flanked by D6S420 and D6S442. The third region is located at 6q27 and defined by D6S297 (9 of 19 informative cases, 47.4%). Comparing these results with our cases of advanced staged invasive serous epithelial ovarian carcinoma (SEOC), we observed that allelic losses at D6S311 (6q23) and D6S149 (6q27) were significantly higher for PSCP than for SEOC. The pattern of allelic loss at each tumor site within an individual patient was also studied. A total of 36 cases displayed allelic loss for at least 1 of multiple tumor sites, and 35 of these patients exhibited nonidentical patterns of allelic loss at various tumor sites of the same patient. Furthermore, an alternating pattern of allelic loss in the same patient was identified in 3 of 53 patients studied. These results show that allelic losses on 6q are very frequent in PSCP, and we show 2 discrete minimal deletion regions on 6q, suggesting the existence of at least 2 tumor suppressor genes within 6q that may be involved in the pathogenesis of PSCP. In addition, the finding of different patterns of allelic loss at different tumor sites within the same patient indicate a mutifocal origin in some PSCP cases. These results provide strong evidence to support our previous reports that PSCP is a multifocal disease entity.
Lymphocyte-mediated cytolysis of allogeneic tumor cells in vitro. III. Enzyme sensitivity of target cell antigens.

Abstract Target tumor cells pretreated with high concentrations of papain or Pronase were resistant to lysis by cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL), whereas treatment with trypsin or neuraminidase had no protective effect. Parallel determinations of the H-2 content of target cells following enzyme treatment showed that approximately 80% of surface H-2 was removed by papain or Pronase, 40% by trypsin, and virtually none by neuraminidase treatment. Both susceptibility to lysis by CTL and content of surface H-2 after papain treatment were fully restored by 6 hr at 37 °C in nutrient medium. These findings suggest that lymphocyte-mediated cytolysis (LMC) determinants (target cell antigens bound by CTL) are sensitive to degradation by papain and Pronase but are resistant to the enzymatic action of trypsin and neuraminidase. That a similar pattern of enzyme sensitivity is shown by serologically defined H-2 antigens indicates that both functional classes, LMC and H-2, may have a structural association.
Sticks and stones may break my bones but words relate to adult physiology? Child abuse experience and women's sympathetic nervous system response while self-reporting trauma

Child abuse predicts a wide range of long-lasting deleterious outcomes, including disruptions in the biological systems central to emotion arousal and regulation. However, little is known about the specific ways in which child abuse affects adulthood sympathetic reactivity and recovery. This study investigated the association between child abuse experience and adult skin conductance level and habituation in 85 at-risk women as they completed a self-report trauma questionnaire. Childhood emotional abuse was independently associated with blunted skin conductance habituation over the course of survey completion after controlling for other abuse subtypes and current trauma symptoms. These results suggest that women emotionally abused as children experience prolonged emotional arousal and poor physiological regulation of emotion in response to reminders of traumatic experiences.
The Importance of Qualified Expert Witnesses

The recent increase in the abuse of prescription drugs is indeed troubling. Overdose deaths from these drugs, especially opioids, have become a greater problem than deaths from heroin overdose. So-called “pill mills”, which are pain clinics where patients have easy access to prescriptions for controlled substances, have cropped up and in some states, such as Florida, their numbers have increased at an alarming rate This has reasonably caused law enforcement agencies in that state and in others to set up task forces to deal with this problem. States have also put in place laws guiding the legal prescription of these drugs for pain. While physicians in some of these new pain clinics that prescribe opioids are not practicing legitimate medicine, some are. In addition to patients …
Manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MEMRI)

Manganese ion (Mn 2þ ) is an essential metal that participates as a cofactor in a number of critical biological functions, such as electron transport, detoxification of free radicals and synthesis of neurotransmitters. Mn 2þ can enter excitable cells using some of the same transport systems as Ca 2þ and it can bind to a number of intracellular sites because it has high affinity for Ca 2þ and Mg 2þ binding sites on proteins and nucleic acids. Paramagnetic forms of manganese ions are potent MRI relaxation agents. Indeed, Mn 2þ was the first contrast agent proposed for use in MRI. Recently, there has been renewed interest in combining the strong MRI relaxation effects of Mn 2þ with its unique biology, in order to further expand the already broad assortment of useful information that can be measured by MRI. Such an approach has been continuously developed in the past several years to provide unique tissue contrast, to assess tissue viability, to act as a surrogate marker of calcium influx into cells and to trace neuronal connections. This special issue of NMR in Biomedicine on manganese- enhanced MRI (MEMRI) is aimed at providing the readers of this journal with an extensive review of some of the most prominent applications of MEMRI in biological systems. Written by several of the leaders in the field, the reviews and original research articles featured in this special issue are likely to offer an exciting and inspiring view of the broad range of applications of MEMRI. Copyright # 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Computation of transients in lossy VLSI packaging interconnections

An efficient method for analyzing the dynamic behavior of lossy electrical interconnects (with frequency-dependent parameters) in VLSI Systems is presented. The method allows for inclusion of the electrical interconnects which are terminated by networks of lumped passive (R, L, C) and active nonlinear devices (diodes, and bipolar and MOS transistors). The method consists of deriving the circuit model for a transmission line from impulse-response data and incorporating this model into the UANTL (University of Arizona simulator for nonlinearly terminated transmission-line networks) computer program, which performs time-domain analysis for coupled transmission lines with nonlinear terminations. Several numerical experiments with this method were performed. Comparisons were made between the results obtained using this method and other published results. >
Angle-dependent scattering of polarized light by polymer-dispersed liquid-crystal films

Polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films are potentially useful for electronic displays, windows with electrically controllable light transmission, and other applications. PDLC film performance may depend strongly on the angular distribution of the light scattered by the films. We have measured the angular distributions of light scattered by both chemically cured and UV-cured PDLC films as a function of incident and scattered optical polarization. The measured angular dependences differ significantly from those produced by a collection of optically isotropic scatterers: off-diagonal elements of the amplitude scattering matrix are nonzero and comparable in magnitude to the diagonal elements. Furthermore, the scattered intensity for incident light polarized parallel to the scattering plane is not simply related to the scattered intensity for incident light polarized perpendicular to the scattering plane. Comparison of these results with a recent theory of light scattering from a nematic liquid-crystal droplet indicates that multiple scattering is important in PDLC films even in their on state. This multiple scattering is, at least in part, produced by total internal reflection at air-sample interfaces for certain scattering angles. From our polarization-dependent intensity measurements, we have computed the fractions of incident light scattered into the forward and backward hemispheres. The forward-scattered intensity is 2.5–4 times as large as the backscattered intensity for our samples.
SERPINA1 Full-Gene Sequencing Identifies Rare Mutations Not Detected in Targeted Mutation Analysis

Genetic α-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency is characterized by low serum AAT levels and the identification of causal mutations or an abnormal protein. It needs to be distinguished from deficiency because of nongenetic causes, and diagnostic delay may contribute to worse patient outcome. Current routine clinical testing assesses for only the most common mutations. We wanted to determine the proportion of unexplained cases of AAT deficiency that harbor causal mutations not identified through current standard allele-specific genotyping and isoelectric focusing (IEF). All prospective cases from December 1, 2013, to October 1, 2014, with a low serum AAT level not explained by allele-specific genotyping and IEF were assessed through full-gene sequencing with a direct sequencing method for pathogenic mutations. We reviewed the results using American Council of Medical Genetics criteria. Of 3523 cases, 42 (1.2%) met study inclusion criteria. Pathogenic or likely pathogenic mutations not identified through clinical testing were detected through full-gene sequencing in 16 (38%) of the 42 cases. Rare mutations not detected with current allele-specific testing and IEF underlie a substantial proportion of genetic AAT deficiency. Full-gene sequencing, therefore, has the ability to improve accuracy in the diagnosis of AAT deficiency.
'The Loss of My Elderly Patient:' Interactive reflective writing to support medical students' rites of passage

Background: The fostering of reflective capacity within medical education helps develop critical thinking and clinical reasoning skills and enhances professionalism. Use of reflective narratives to augment reflective practice instruction is well documented. Aim: At Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University (Alpert Med), a narrative medicine curriculum innovation of students’ reflective writing (field notes) with individualized feedback from an interdisciplinary faculty team (in pre-clinical years) has been implemented in a Doctoring course to cultivate reflective capacity, empathy, and humanism. Interactive reflective writing (student writer/faculty feedback provider dyad), we propose, can additionally support students with rites of passage at critical educational junctures. Method: At Alpert Med, we have devised a tool to guide faculty in crafting quality feedback, i.e. the Brown Educational Guide to Analysis of Narrative (BEGAN) which includes identifying students’ salient quotes, utilizing reflection-inviting questions and close reading, highlighting derived lessons/key concepts, extracting clinical patterns, and providing concrete recommendations as relevant. Results: We provide an example of a student’s narrative describing an emotionally powerful and meaningful event – the loss of his first patient – and faculty responses using BEGAN. Conclusion: The provision of quality feedback to students’ reflective writing – supported by BEGAN – can facilitate the transformation of student to professional through reflection within medical education.
Estimating hydroxyl radical photochemical formation rates in natural waters during long-term laboratory irradiation experiments

In this study it was observed that, during long-term irradiations (>1 day) of natural waters, the methods for measuring hydroxyl radical (˙OH) formation rates based upon sequentially determined cumulative concentrations of photoproducts from probes significantly underestimate actual ˙OH formation rates. Performing a correction using the photodegradation rates of the probe products improves the ˙OH estimation for short term irradiations (<1 day), but not long term irradiations. Only the ‘instantaneous’ formation rates, which were obtained by adding probes to aliquots at each time point and irradiating these sub-samples for a short time (≤2 h), were found appropriate for accurately estimating ˙OH photochemical formation rates during long-term laboratory irradiation experiments. Our results also showed that in iron- and dissolved organic matter (DOM)-rich water samples, ˙OH appears to be mainly produced from the Fenton reaction initially, but subsequently from other sources possibly from DOM photoreactions. Pathways of ˙OH formation in long-term irradiations in relation to H2O2 and iron concentrations are discussed.
The results of radical retropubic prostatectomy and adjuvant therapy for pathologic Stage C prostate cancer

Purpose: The results of therapy in 288 men with pathologic Stage C prostate cancer who underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) were analyzed to determine the effects of adjuvant therapy. Methods and Materials: Twenty-seven of the 288 patients received preoperative neoadjuvant hormonal therapy (leuprolide acetate). Postoperatively, 60 patients received adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) to the prostate bed. Follow-up ranged from 3 to 83 months (median = 32 months). Freedom from failure (FFF) was defined as maintaining a serum PSA level of ≤ 0.3 ng/ml. Results: The FFF was 61% at 3 years and 45% at 5 years for the entire group. The FFF following RRP plus RT was 75% at 3 years and 57% at 5 years as compared to 56% at 3 years and 40% at 5 years for RRP without RT (p = 0.049). The FFF following RRP plus neoadjuvant hormonal therapy was 58% at 3 years and 40% at 5 years as compared to 60% at 3 years and 45% at 5 years following RRP without hormonal therapy (p = 0.3). In patients without seminal vesicle (SV) invasion, the FFF was 81% at 3 and 5 years for RRP plus RT as compared to 61% at 3 years and 50% at 5 years for RRP without RT (p = 0.01). In patients with SV invasion, the FFF was 61% at 3 years and 36% at 5 years for RRP plus RT as compared to 44% at 3 years and 23% at 5 years for RRP without RT (p = 0.23). The projected local control rate was 83% at 5 years for those with RRP alone as compared to 100% for RRP plus RT (p = 0.02). Survival at 5 years was projected to be 92% and was significantly altered by the administration of adjuvant therapies. Conclusions: Postoperative RT was associated with significantly improved local control and FFF rates, especially in patients with tumors which did not involve the seminal vesicles.
Deep-sequencing identification of the genomic targets of the cytidine deaminase AID and its cofactor RPA in B lymphocytes

The cytidine deaminase AID hypermutates immunoglobulin genes but can also target oncogenes, leading to tumorigenesis. The extent of AID's promiscuity and its predilection for immunoglobulin genes are unknown. We report here that AID interacted broadly with promoter-proximal sequences associated with stalled polymerases and chromatin-activating marks. In contrast, genomic occupancy of replication protein A (RPA), an AID cofactor, was restricted to immunoglobulin genes. The recruitment of RPA to the immunoglobulin loci was facilitated by phosphorylation of AID at Ser38 and Thr140. We propose that stalled polymerases recruit AID, thereby resulting in low frequencies of hypermutation across the B cell genome. Efficient hypermutation and switch recombination required AID phosphorylation and correlated with recruitment of RPA. Our findings provide a rationale for the oncogenic role of AID in B cell malignancy.
Review: Alternate Ending 1: The Glimmering Noise by Michael Meredith, David Fenster

Michael Meredith, producer and writer; David Fenster, director. Alternate Ending 1: The Glimmering Noise Fenster Lubin Meredith, 2006, DVD, 36 min. Michael Meredith (Notes for those beginning the discipline of architecture) “I should like to begin by asking Professor Meredith whether or not he would agree with the following statement: Most people don’t care about a ——.” This first line of dialogue sets in motion Michael Meredith’s 2006 video Alternate Ending 1: The Glimmering Noise .1 The word “architecture” is bleeped out as if it were profanity, as it will be for the remainder of the thirty-six-minute short. It follows a minute and a half of literal glimmering noise, shards of moving light containing no discernible pattern, followed by a television stage set as seen from the third row of a studio audience (Figure 1). There are two Saarinen Tulip chairs flanking a Tulip table, outfitted with two microphones and two glasses of water. Nearly two minutes in, the apparent host of the show, played by actor David Nordstrom, enters and warms up with a series of practiced tics before being joined by Meredith, our uncomfortably grimacing Architect in a neck brace, who sits in silence until the interview begins.2 Figure 1 David Nordstrom (left) and Michael Meredith (right) in Alternate Ending 1: The Glimmering Noise Let’s call Nordstrom the Critic, although his wardrobe (corduroy jacket and turtleneck), grooming (sideburns and mustache), and affect (pipe-smoking and haughty intonations) might instead suggest that he is an archetype of the Historian, stuck in the trappings and theoretical mores of 1968. The Critic continues his opening salvo: “In consequence, a——s are, well, first of all, egotistical, and by dint of that egotism, relegated to almost complete obscurity, about as well known as, say, the local television meteorologist, at best.” The Architect sits motionless for several beats. “Was that a question?” he finally asks. It was not. This opening exchange sets the tone for what follows, a merciless grilling of our physically tired and verbally …
EFFECT OF CURE EFFICIENCY ON PROPERTIES OF GUM AND BLACK FILLED NATURAL RUBBER VULCANIZATES

Abstract Effects of the sulfur cure efficiency on the reversion behavior and the normal and edge-cut tensile strength of gum and black filled natural rubber (NR) vulcanizates were studied. N, N-dicyclohexyl-2-benzothiazole sulfenamide (DCBS) was used as an accelerator. A series of five vulcanizates with high to low cure efficiencies was prepared by increasing the sulfur (S) to DCBS ratios within the range of 0.26–6.66. All vulcanizates were formulated to have the same crosslink density. The degree of reversion (%) calculated from cure curves of gum and black filled NR at 20 min above the cure time (tc100) passed through maximum with decreasing cure efficiencies. For both gum and black filled NR, the highest degree of reversion (%) was observed at the S/DCBS ratio of 1.17. The normal tensile strengths of gum and black filled NR were directly proportional to the cure efficiency. For gum NR vulcanizates, the edge-cut tensile strength was markedly influenced by cure efficiency. Similar to the normal tensile s...
syn-Dispiro-[1,3-dioxolane-2,17'-penta-cyclo-[12.2.1.1.0.0]octa-decane-18',2''-[1,3]dioxolane]-7',15'-diene.

The title compound, C22H28O4, is composed of a central octa­decane ring and two spiro­[bicyclo­[2.2.1]hept[2]ene-7,2′-[1,3]dioxolane] units. This polycycle has pseudo twofold symmetry and the central cyclo­octane ring has a distorted boat configuration.
ENGINEERING APPROACH TO NONLINEAR WAVE SHOALING

Determination of a design wave height at a coastal structure requires calculation of a shoaling coefficient or determination of the maximum probable breaking wave height at the point of interest. In shallow water over a sloping bottom, low steepness waves are not accurately predicted by linear shoaling coefficients. Empirical breaking indices are inconsistent with both linear and nonlinear wave theories. Nevertheless, the coastal engineer must select a design wave in order to responsibly design the structure. A graphical procedure is presented herein to relate the equivalent deepwater wave to a breaking wave as it transitions into shoaling water. The procedure provides the coastal engineer with a more consistent understanding of the shoaling process. The results furthermore identify regions of relative depth and steepness where discrepancies arise when using linear shoaling coefficients that may significantly alter engineering design and laboratory studies.
Introduction to ‘Soul and Culture’:

This introduction briefly places Karl Mannheim’s 1918 lecture on the crisis in relations between ‘subjective’ and ‘objective’ culture in the context of Mannheim’s negotiations with Georg Simmel’s sociology of culture, as mediated by the young Mannheim’s intimate ties to Georg Lukacs and his circle.
Presence of anomalous coronary seen on angiogram is not associated with increased risk of significant coronary artery disease

It is unclear if anomalous coronary arteries are at higher risk for atherosclerosis. The link between anomalous coronary artery and early coronary artery disease has been suggested. The aim of this study is to determine whether the coronary artery anomaly predisposes to development of significant coronary disease. Using retrospective chart review, patients with documented anomalous coronary arteries recognized during coronary angiography between years 2000 to 2007 were analyzed. Prevalence of significant atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (defined as more than 50% luminal narrowing) was compared between normal and anomalous coronaries. A total of 147 patients with anomalous coronary arteries were found. Right coronary artery was the most common anomalous artery 128 of 148 (86.5%) in our dataset. There was no difference in the occurrence of atherosclerosis between anomalous and nonanomalous coronaries. Significant atherosclerosis was present in 59 of the 148 anomalous coronary arteries (37.8%), and 112 of the 293 nonanomalous coronary arteries (38.2%, p = 0.9). On the basis of our study, there is no evidence that anomalous coronary arteries predispose to significant coronary artery disease in comparison to normal coronary arteries.
Queue Stability Analysis in Network Coded Wireless Multicast Network

This letter considers a single hop wireless multicast network. We first introduce a new two-level queuing system consisting of a main queue and a virtual queue, where each packet in the virtual queue is associated with a user index set. Then, we propose a network coding based packet scheduling method to maximize the system input rate under the queue stability constraint. Our analytical and simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed solution.
Microtubule-interacting agents increase cell surface expression of human leukocyte antigen class i molecules in ovarian cancer cells

LB-126 Background: Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers in the United States. Standard first line chemotherapy for ovarian cancer includes taxane and platin based agents. Taxol stabilizes microtubules and arrests cells in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle. Little is known about the effect of microtubule-interacting (stabilizing and destabilizing) agents on the immune responses to tumors. There is compelling evidence that cancer cells use multiple strategies to evade immune recognition. One of these mechanisms is the down-regulation of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) Class I molecule expression on the tumor cell surface, allowing the cancer cells to escape immune recognition and destruction. Objective: To evaluate the effect of microtubule-interacting agents on HLA class I molecule expression in ovarian cancer cells. Methods: The IC50 was determined for microtubule-stabilizing agents (Taxol and Epothilone B), microtubule-destabilizing agents (Vinblastine and Navelbine), and alkalyting agents (Cisplatin and Carboplatin) using ovarian cancer cell line, HEY. Cells were treated with different concentrations of each agent, ranging from 1-fold IC50 to 50-fold IC50, and incubated at 37°C for 24 h, 48 h and 72 h. Cell surface expression of HLA Class I molecules (A, B, and C) was examined by flow cytometry using anti-HLA-A,-B,-C antibody, G46-2.6 clone. Results: Taxol, Epothilone B, and Vinblastine had comparable low nanomolar values of IC50 (1 to 3 nM). The IC50 of Cisplatin and Carboplatin was 10 μM and 700 μM, respectively. The Microtubule-stabilizing agents (Taxol and Epothilone B) and the microtubule-destabilizing agents (Vinblastine and Vinorelbine) all increased the cell surface expression of HLA Class I molecules in HEY cells. The increase of HLA Class I molecule expression was dose- and time-dependent. The gradual increase of HLA Class I molecule expression was observed after treatment with 10-fold to 50-fold IC50 of the drugs for 48 to 72 h. Both the microtubule stabilizing and the destabilizing agents increased the cell surface expression of HLA to similar levels, 2-fold (P = 0.002). Cisplatin and Carboplatin had no effect on the expression of HLA Class I molecules. Conclusions: Low nanomolar concentrations of microtubule-destabilizing and microtubule-stabilizing agents increase the expression of HLA Class I molecules in the ovarian cancer cell line, HEY. Our data suggest that low doses of microtubule-interacting agents can mediate the modulation of cell surface HLA expression and consequently may enhance immune recognition of tumor cells.
Technology and the Growth of Good US Jobs

In this chapter, Gabe examines the effects of technology on the economic development of states and US metropolitan areas. The specific types of technology considered are high-tech businesses, biotechnology, and environmental and energy companies, as well as businesses in the knowledge economy. Information presented in the chapter shows that all of these types of technology support the growth of good jobs. The positive impacts of technology are considerably stronger in metropolitan areas, especially very large regions, as compared to states. The technology-based indicators help the growth and productivity of US metropolitan areas, which suggests that differences in the deployment of technology across places are contributing to a divergence in the economic performance of US regions.
Relationship-Specific Investment, Contracting Environment and the Choice of Capital Structure

Firms in long-term bilateral relationships with their customers or suppliers are required to make relationship-specific investments in the form of physical equipment, human resources, specific production sites, or brand names. These dedicated assets are usually tied to a particular use or relationship and cannot be redeployed if the firm is liquidated. In the absence of legal enforcement, firms are required to limit their use of debt financing and, consequently, signal a reduced default risk to encourage investment by their contracting parties. Using a sample of 143,278 firm-year observations, and measures of industry-level relationship-specificity and the quality of legal enforcement across 57 countries, we find strong evidence that good quality contract enforcement mitigates the negative association between relationship-specificity and debt financing.
Prognosis of older patients with low-grade glioma: A retrospective study.

Introduction Clinical behavior, treatment parameters, and prognostic factors are less well defined in older adults with low-grade gliomas (LGG). We conducted a two-institution retrospective review of older patients with LGG to better understand disease characteristics and prognosis in this population. Methods Northwestern University (NU) and The University of Washington (UW) clinical research databases were queried for patients ≥ 50 years of age with a diagnosis of WHO grade II glioma between January 1, 2000 and December 2012 (UW). Medical records were reviewed and data relevant to diagnosis, treatment and outcomes were collected. PFS and OS with respect to prognostic factors were calculated. Log-rank test and multivariate proportional hazards models were calculated for multiple tumor characteristics. Results Thirty-five patients with a diagnosis of LGG (WHO grade II) were identified; 15 women and 20 men had a median age of 55 (range 50-78). Fourteen had astrocytomas, fourteen had oligodendrogliomas and seven had oligoastrocytomas. Eight patients had contrast enhancement on neuroimaging, 9 of 21 tested had 1p19q co-deletion and 5 of 14 tested had an IDH1 mutation. Five year PFS was 21% with median PFS of 17 months; 20 patients had died (5 year OS=43%, median OS=48 months). On univariate analysis There was a statistically significant improvement in OS for patients with mixed histology (p=0.001), no midline shift at diagnosis (p=0.002) and with IDH1 mutation (p=0.003). Conclusion LGG appear more aggressive in older patients. Treatment following surgical resection should be considered; ongoing studies may clarify the most appropriate treatments for this age group.
Deterministic Learning and an Application in Optimal Control

In a wide variety of real world situations a functional dependence y = g(x) has to be estimated from a set of observations (xL, yL) = {(xl, yl), l = 0, . . . , L− 1} concerning a phenomenon of interest. This is the case when the behavior of a continuous signal has to be forecast starting from its previous history or when the value of an unmeasurable quantity has to be inferred from the measurements of other related variables. If an insufficient amount of a priori information about the form of the functional dependence g is available, its estimation must provide for two different actions:
Application of the Phase Closure Technique to Passive Acoustic Imaging Through Inhomogeneous Media

We consider the problem of passive acoustic imaging of a spatially uncorrelated noise source through an inhomogeneous medium. The measurement system consists of an array of transducers whose signals are processed in a manner similar to that used in radio interferometry of celestial sources. Using a philosophy similar to that of radio astronomers in the field of very long baseline interferometry, we make use of a quantity known as the closure phase. Under certain assumptions, this quantity is independent of the effect of phase shifts in the intervening medium, but yet contains useful information about source structure. There is, of course, an important distinction between the acoustic case and radio astronomy. In the former case, the distorting medium is present in the entire region between the source and the imaging system, whereas in the latter case, the distorting medium is the earth’s atmosphere, representing a thin sheet of material at one end of the propagation path. Nevertheless, in the acoustic case, the closure phase is still a useful quantity for imaging purposes, provided that the time delay for a given path depends primarily on the receiver position and is independent of (or weakly dependent on) source position transverse to the line of sight, and that the medium does not change appreciably during the observation time. To investigate the applicability of the phase closure technique to the acoustic case, we have performed a series of numerical experiments in which a simple source is viewed through an inhomogeneous medium. These calculations support the theoretical predictions.
Electronic Instrumentation for Electrochemical Studies

Electrochemistry has undergone a revolution over the past two decades that has completely transformed existing experimental techniques and has led to the introduction of a myriad of new sophisticated methods for studying charge transfer processes at electrode/solution interfaces. The reason for this revolution was the introduction of integrated circuit operational amplifiers, which now form the inexpensive “building blocks” of modern electrochemical instrumentation. Operational amplifiers having bandwidths up to the megahertz range enabled experimenters to “tailor make” control instruments for their needs, and also led to a whole range of commercial instrumentation becoming available for use by those not well-versed in basic electronics.
Live-Attenuated Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccines

Live-attenuated respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines offer several advantages for immunization of infants and young children: (1) they do not cause vaccine-associated enhanced RSV disease; (2) they broadly stimulate innate, humoral, and cellular immunity, both systemically and locally in the respiratory tract; (3) they are delivered intranasally; and (4) they replicate in the upper respiratory tract of young infants despite the presence of passively acquired maternally derived RSV neutralizing antibody. This chapter describes early efforts to develop vaccines through the classic methods of serial cold-passage and chemical mutagenesis, and recent efforts using reverse genetics to derive attenuated derivatives of wild-type (WT) RSV and to develop parainfluenza vaccine vectors that express RSV surface glycoproteins.
Murine retinal citrullination declines with age and is mainly dependent on peptidyl arginine deiminase 4 (PAD4)

Purpose Citrullination is a post-translational modification (PTM) that serves many normal physiological functions. Studies have shown that this PTM-along with expression of the catalyzing enzymes, peptidyl arginine deiminases (PADs)-are increased in autoimmune and age-related pathologies. PAD2 retinal expression has been previously documented in rat and human. Herein, we report on the expression levels and patterns of PAD2, PAD4, and retinal citrullination in the murine retina with age. Methods Wild-type (WT) and Pad4-/- (PAD4KO) mice ages 0.5, 0.75, 1, 3, 6, and 9 months were investigated after euthanasia and eye enucleation. Retinal lysates from 3-month-old mice were probed for PAD4 by western blot. Whole eyes were fixed, cryosectioned, and probed using an anti-PAD2/4 antibody (Ab), a specific anti-PAD4 Ab, and F95 anti-citrullinated peptide Ab. Fluorescent intensities were quantified with ImageJ. Results WT retinas show different levels of PAD4 expression in distinct retinal layers, with the most intense labeling in inner retinal layers, while PAD4KO mice lacked retinal PAD4. Using a nonspecific anti-PAD2/4 Ab, PAD reactivity observed in PAD4KO mice was attributed to PAD2. In WT, both PAD2 and PAD4 expression levels decrease significantly with age while low-level residual PAD2 expression was seen in PAD4KO mice. Citrullination levels in WT retinas paralleled PAD4 expression, with PAD4KO mice exhibiting consistently minimal citrullination. Conclusions Both PAD2 and PAD4 expression and citrullination decrease with age in the murine retina. However, in the absence of PAD4, retinal citrullination is nearly abolished, indicating that PAD4 is a main effector for retinal citrullination under physiological conditions.
How Disease Risks Can Impact the Evolution of Social Behaviors and Emergent Population Organization

Individuals living in social groups are susceptible to disease spread through their social networks. The network’s structure including group stability, clustering, and an individual’s behavior and affiliation choice all have some impact on the effect of disease spread. Moreover, under certain scenarios, a social group may change its own structure to suppress the transmission of infectious disease. While many studies have focused on how different network structures shape the disease dynamics, relatively few have directly considered the equally important evolutionary question of how disease dynamics shape the success of social systems. In this paper, we summarize the relevant mathematical and biological literature on evolutionary theory and population network structure to discuss what is known about how the synergistic effects of network-based epidemiology of infection and social behavior can shape the evolution of social behaviors and the population structures that emerge from them. We close by discussing open questions, including how these insights may shift when instead considering macro-parasites as the infection spreading on the network.
Kinematic Post-processing of Ship Navigation Data Using Precise Point Positioning

Seafloor geodetic studies such as Global Positioning System (GPS)-Acoustic experiments often require the measurement platform on the sea surface to be positioned accurately to within a few centimetres. In this paper, we test the utility of Precise Point Positioning (PPP) for this application with two experiments. The first fixed platform experiment is a comparison between three independent processing software packages: Positioning and Navigation Data Analyst (PANDA), Global Navigation Satellite System-Inferred Positioning System and Orbit Analysis Simulation Software (GIPSY-OASIS), and the Canadian Spatial Reference System (CSRS)) and a more accurate solution based on conventional differential processing of a remote GPS station in the Aleutian Islands. The second moving platform experiment is a comparison among the three PPP software packages using 40 hours of ship navigation data collected during the Roger Revelle RR1605 cruise 170 nautical miles southwest of Palau in May 2016. We found the PPP solutions were repeatable to 5·49 cm in the horizontal components and 12·4 cm in the vertical component. This demonstrates not only that PPP is a useful tool for positioning marine platforms in remote locations, but also that modern ship navigation instruments such as the Kongsberg Seapath 330 + are suitable for seafloor geodetic application.