cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Association of ORMDL3 with rhinovirus-induced endoplasmic reticulum stress and type I Interferon responses in human leucocytes.

SummaryBackground Children with risk alleles at the 17q21 genetic locus who wheeze during rhinovirus illnesses have a greatly increased likelihood of developing childhood asthma. In mice, overexpression of the 17q21 gene ORMDL3 leads to airway remodelling and hyperresponsiveness. However, the mechanisms by which ORMDL3 predisposes to asthma are unclear. Previous studies have suggested that ORMDL3 induces endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and production of the type I interferon (IFN)-regulated chemokine CXCL10. Objective The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between ORMDL3 and rhinovirus-induced ER stress and type I IFN in human leucocytes. Methods ER stress was monitored by measuring HSPA5, CHOP and spliced XBP1 gene expression, and type I IFN by measuring IFNB1 (IFN-β) and CXCL10 expression in human cell lines and primary leucocytes following treatment with rhinovirus. Requirements for cell contact and specific cell type in ORMDL3 induction were examined by transwell assay and depletion experiments, respectively. Finally, the effects of 17q21 genotype on the expression of ORMDL3, IFNB1 and ER stress genes were assessed. Results THP-1 monocytes overexpressing ORMDL3 responded to rhinovirus with increased IFNB1 and HSPA5. Rhinovirus-induced ORMDL3 expression in primary leucocytes required cell–cell contact, and induction was suppressed by plasmacytoid dendritic cell depletion. The degree of rhinovirus-induced ORMDL3, HSPA5 and IFNB1 expression varied by leucocyte type and 17q21 genotype, with the highest expression of these genes in the asthma-associated genotype. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance Multiple lines of evidence support an association between higher ORMDL3 and increased rhinovirus-induced HSPA5 and type I IFN gene expression. These associations with ORMDL3 are cell type specific, with the most significant 17q21 genotype effects on ORMDL3 expression and HSPA5 induction evident in B cells. Together, these findings have implications for how the interaction of increased ORMDL3 and rhinovirus may predispose to asthma.
Persistent pain following breast cancer surgery: A case-control study.

9579 Background: Persistent pain following surgery for breast cancer is increasingly recognized as an important clinical problem. The mechanisms responsible remain to be determined, but psychologic...
Altered sensitivity to social gaze in the FMR1 premutation and pragmatic language competence

The FMR1 premutation affects 1:291 women and is associated with a range of cognitive, affective, and physical health complications, including deficits in pragmatic language (i.e., social language). This study investigated attention to eye gaze as a fundamental social-cognitive skill that may be impaired in the FMR1 premutation and could underlie pragmatic deficits. Given the high prevalence of the FMR1 premutation, efforts to define its phenotype and mechanistic underpinnings have significant public health implications. Thirty-five women with the FMR1 premutation and 20 control women completed an eye-tracking paradigm that recorded time spent dwelling within the eye region in response to a face displaying either direct or averted gaze. Pragmatic language ability was coded from a conversational sample using the Pragmatic Rating Scale. Women with the FMR1 premutation failed to show attentional preference to direct gaze and spent more time dwelling on the averted eyes relative to controls. While dwelling on the eyes was associated with better pragmatic language performance in controls, these variables were unrelated in the women with the FMR1 premutation. Altered sensitivity to social gaze, characterized by increased salience of averted gaze, was observed among women with the FMR1 premutation. Furthermore, women with the FMR1 premutation were unable to capitalize on information conveyed through the eyes to enhance social-communicative engagement, which differed from patterns seen in controls. These findings contribute to the growing characterization of social and communication phenotypes associated with the FMR1 premutation.
Every-other-day Dosing of Oral Viscous Budesonide Is not Effective in the Management of Eosinophlic Esophagitis

BACKGROUND Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a clinicopathologic disorder characterized histologically by esophageal eosinophilia. Oral viscous budesonide (OVB) is an effective treatment with remission rates reported between 55% and 87%; however, topical corticosteroids are associated with increased risk of candidal esophagitis and adrenal suppression. Attempts to decrease the daily dose of topical steroids have resulted in disease relapse. The objective of this study was to determine whether or not reducing the frequency of OVB administration would be effective in controlling esophageal eosinophilia in children and adolescents. METHODS Data were obtained by retrospective chart review of patients at Boston Children's Hospital diagnosed with EoE, based on endoscopic findings of >15 eosinophils per high power field (eos/HPF) on esophageal biopsies while on acid blockade. Patients with histologic evidence of response (<15 eos/HPF) while on daily OVB had been offered the option of maintenance therapy based on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday (MWF) dosing regimen. Changes in peak esophageal eosinophil counts over time were examined. RESULTS Eight male patients ages 5 to 18 years attained clinical response while receiving daily OVB and were subsequently maintained on a MWF OVB dosing regimen for 3 to 7 months. All 8 patients showed an increase in peak esophageal eosinophils, with 7 of 8 (88%) experiencing disease relapse. In fact, the distribution of peak esophageal eosinophils after MWF dosing was not statistically different from peak levels at diagnosis (P = 0.95). CONCLUSIONS An MWF dosing regimen of OVB was not effective at maintaining histologic response in children and adolescents with EoE. Larger prospective studies are warranted to confirm these results.
Deconfinement phase transition in proto-neutron-star matter

In this work, we study in detail the deconfinement phase transition that takes place in hot/dense nuclear matter in the context of neutron stars and proto-neutron stars (in which lepton fraction is fixed). The possibility of different mixtures of phases with different locally and globally conserved quantities is considered in each case. For this purpose, the chiral mean field model, an effective relativistic model that includes self-consistent chiral symmetry restoration and deconfinement to quark matter, is employed. Finally, we compare our results with blue results provided by perturbative QCD for different temperatures and conditions.
Brachytherapy for soft tissue sarcomas.

In this chapter we focus on the use of brachytherapy for soft tissue sarcoma. It is recognized that external-beam radiation therapy has been the traditional radiation approach to these tumors. However, emerging retrospective and prospective data have shown the value of the brachytherapy approach. We review soft tissue sarcoma of the extremity and superficial trunk, and also of the retroperitoneum. We also review the implant technique, retrospective data, our prospective trial, and our current practice at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC).
Internal Stability Analysis of Segmental Geogrid-Reinforced Soil Retaining Walls

Segmental geogrid-reinforced soil retaining wall is gaining increasing popularity due to its cost effectiveness and ease in construction. Internal stability analysis is a critical step in designing such structures, which to a great extent determines the layout and density of reinforcements. Maximum load in each reinforcement layer and the potential failure surface are two critical parameters in internal stability analysis. Nonlinear Finite Element method was used to investigate the maximum load in each reinforcement layer and its lateral location with different reinforcement densities and different backfilled soils. The effects of reinforcement creep on the two parameters were also analyzed. The results were then compared to those obtained using the suggested internal stability analysis method by FHWA. It was found that with regular reinforcement the locations of maximum reinforcement loads from the FE analysis were closer to the facing than those using the suggested method; it was also found that the maximum reinforcement load was smaller. The results agree with the findings from field and laboratory experiments by other investigators.
Testing for Breast Cancer Risk in the Ashkenazim

Breast cancer is the most common gender-specific malignancy among women. In the United States, over 180,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, and 46,000 die of the disease.1,2 One out of eight, or 12.6%, of all women can expect to develop breast cancer at some time during her lifetime and for 1 in 30 women, breast cancer will be the cause of death.3 Although breast cancer may also affect men, the frequency among males is quite small, approximately 1% of the total number of breast cancers.1
Decision Analysis for Cancer Prevention and Cancer Treatment in the Elderly

Decision analysis models are a major asset for geriatric oncology. They are particularly adapted for the analysis of multiple variables that cannot be directly addressed by specific clinical trials. Technical developments such as PDAs can make these tools available at bedside for daily practice.
Studing the Effect of Automatic Generation Control on the Power Frequency Based on PSD-FDS Emluator

Thepaper studies the effect of automatic generation control(AGC) on power frequency based on the full dynamic simulation. First modeling of AGC for the full dynamic simulation according to the three components of AGC, which is calculation of area control error (ACE), simulation of control strategy, and calculation of generating power regulation. Second the effect of key-parameters of AGC including dead band, transient frequency-deviationon and rate of generating power regulation on power frequency is studied by simulating. Finally, the paper takes Fujian power as an example to analyze the effect of AGC on under-frequency loading shedding(UFLS) by the serious faults and study on the coordination control between AGC and UFLS.
Changes in Characteristics and Behavior Among African American Men Who Have Sex with Men and Women in the Context of Reductions in HIV Diagnoses Among Women

Men who have sex with men and women (MSMW) connect lower prevalence populations of women to higher prevalence populations of men who have sex with men only. We hypothesize that HIV testing and treatment among MSMW have increased in recent years, and this increase can help explain the declining rates of new HIV diagnoses among African American women. We analyzed data from 2008, 2011, and 2014 of the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance system. African American men who have sex with men (MSM) were surveyed from 19 United States cities using venue-based sampling and tested for HIV infection. We used generalized estimating equations, using year of survey as an independent variable, adjusting for age, to determine differences for selected outcomes regarding healthcare and risk behaviors over time. Among the 1299 African American MSMW interviewed, significant increases were observed in the percent of men who had an HIV test in the previous 12 months (2008: 54%, 2011: 69%, and 2014: 68%, p-value < 0.001). Among HIV-positive men, the percentage of men who were aware of their infection at the time of the interview increased significantly over time (26, 35, and 48%, p-value = 0.002). Among those men, the percentage who reported currently being on antiretroviral therapy also increased significantly over time (46, 69, and 72%, p-value = 0.050). The percentage of men reporting high-risk sexual risk behaviors increased or remained stable. Our findings support the hypothesis that HIV testing and treatment has increased among African American MSM from 2008 to 2014. Additional research is needed to fully explore the population-level impact it has on HIV transmission among women.
Gauge invariance in flow line optics (Conference Presentation)

Classical nonimaging optical designs often use elliptical and hyperbolic flow lines. The transition can be understood by introducing change of gauge in the vector potential.
Guest Editorial Underwater Acoustic Propagation Physics and Signal Processing Techniques for Shallow Water Acoustic Communications

The papers in this special issue focus on the rapidly evolving techniques on shallow water acoustic communications, and how underwater acoustic (UWA) propagation models based on shallow water physics may be harnessed with signal processing techniques for high-resolution channel estimation, equalization, and resolving cross-layer challenges to achieve high-data-rate communications in shallow water. The definition of shallow water is relatively broad in scope, and not limited to any particular frequency range. Any UWA channel that exhibits significant multipath and rapid fluctuations in delay spread can be included in the paradigm of interest.
Single-Cell Analysis Reveals Regulatory Gene Expression Dynamics Leading to Lineage Commitment in Early T Cell Development.

Summary Intrathymic T cell development converts multipotent precursors to committed pro-T cells, silencing progenitor genes while inducing T cell genes, but the underlying steps have remained obscure. Single-cell profiling was used to define the order of regulatory changes, employing single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) for full-transcriptome analysis, plus sequential multiplexed single-molecule fluorescent in situ hybridization (seqFISH) to quantitate functionally important transcripts in intrathymic precursors. Single-cell cloning verified high T cell precursor frequency among the immunophenotypically defined “early T cell precursor” (ETP) population; a discrete committed granulocyte precursor subset was also distinguished. We established regulatory phenotypes of sequential ETP subsets, confirmed initial co-expression of progenitor with T cell specification genes, defined stage-specific relationships between cell cycle and differentiation, and generated a pseudotime model from ETP to T lineage commitment, supported by RNA velocity and transcription factor perturbations. This model was validated by developmental kinetics of ETP subsets at population and clonal levels. The results imply that multilineage priming is integral to T cell specification.
Transition states of the gold-catalyzed transannular [4+3] cycloaddition reactions: A computational study

Abstract The transition state structures for the gold-catalyzed transannular [4 + 3] cycloaddition reaction are located for two distinct mechanisms at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory. A direct [4 + 3] cycloaddition pathway is found to be favored over the step-wise cyclopropanation-Cope rearrangement pathway. In the former, partial bonding are apparent between the furan ring and the gold-stabilized allylic carbocation. The gold atom bearing the N-heterocyclic carbene ligand is bonded to the allylic system located near the center carbon. The acetate group, which is attached to C1 of the allylic carbocation, is anti to the gold atom. The C–Au distance in this transition state is 2.06 A. The forming bonds between the furan ring and the allylic carbocation are 1.66 and 2.0 A, respectively, indicating an asynchronous process. The calculated second pathway starts with a gold carbenoid intermediate, which must overcome two higher energy transition states in order to reach the same reaction product.
RF Effects of Umbrella Reflector Antenna Topology for CubeSats: Optimal Feed Point, Boresight Gain Loss and Grating Lobes

The development of compact high gain antennas for Cube-Sats can enable several advanced space missions at lower costs, and is an active area of research within the antenna community. A special class of reflector antenna, known as the umbrella reflector has regained much interest due to its ability to meet the demands of advanced space missions that require high gain and/or high spatial resolution. The umbrella reflector surface consists of a finite number of parabolic ribs, which are connected through surfaces called gores, which deviate from the true parabolic shape. This causes the radiation performance of the umbrella reflector surface to be far less intuitive than the conventional paraboloid. In this work, we provide a comprehensive understanding of the radiation mechanism of the umbrella reflector. We describe the techniques that have been investigated to determine the optimum feed position, study the dependency of the gain on the diameter and number of ribs and analyze the appearance of far-field grating lobes. Several closed form expressions are derived to aid the design of umbrella reflectors and achieve the tradeoff between mechanical complexity and RF performance.
Clitoral Epidermal Inclusion Cyst Leading to Anorgasmia: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Abstract Background Clitoral epidermal inclusions cysts are most frequently seen following trauma, especially female genital mutilation. Spontaneous clitoral epidermal inclusion cysts are rare with an unclear etiology and their impact on later sexual function has not been described. Case A 15-year-old spontaneously developed a clitoral mass that progressively enlarged over seven years, ultimately leading to secondary anorgasmia. Surgical removal resulted in restoration of normal anatomy and complete return of clitoral function. Final pathology revealed the mass to be an epidermal inclusion cyst. Summary and Conclusion Clitoral epidermal inclusion cysts typically present in childhood or early adolescence and can lead to sexual dysfunction if left untreated. Physicians must consider the potential sequelae of these cysts when counseling and managing these patients.
Insurgency and the City

Cities have been viewed as pivotal locations in insurgencies and rebellions throughout history, as the initial locations of protest and primary sites of political violence against ruling authorities or as secondary or ancillary places of conflict but ultimate objectives in such struggles. The spatial significance of cities, therefore, has led theorists to categorize insurgent approaches into three different strategies through which insurgencies can be waged: an urban, a rural, or a combined approach in which rural and urban strategies are employed in concert. The strategy of particular insurgent movements has largely varied by geo-historical context, and success or failure of a movement to gain power clearly depends on a large number of factors, many of which are inherently geographic. Urban landscapes provide distinct advantages and disadvantages to insurgents and counterinsurgents, yet the literature offers often contradictory conclusions and findings while failing to adequately distinguish or define the differences between rural and urban. As levels and rates of urbanization continue to increase, together with the subsequent urbanization of insurgency evident in recent decades, trends suggest urban centers of all scales – not just cities – will remain the spatial center of gravity during insurgencies. This paper provides a survey of the literature on insurgencies and the city and offers an appraisal of these theorizations in the context of insurgencies within the last decade. In particular, this paper seeks to build upon these works to propose a framework to better understand insurgencies as a spatial process in urban environments.
Trends of Status of Hypertension in Southern China, 2012–2019

Purpose Little is known about the recent trends of hypertension in southern China. The aim of the study was to investigate the trends of hypertension in Guangdong Province between 2012 and 2019. Methods We conducted two cross-sectional surveys in 2012 and 2019 in southern China, which included 10,970 and 27,483 participants, respectively, aged 35 to 75 years old using a method of stratified, multistage, and cluster sampling. Hypertension was defined as a mean systolic/diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP) ≥140/90mmHg, or a self-reported condition, or any pharmacological treatment in the last 2 weeks. In addition, according to the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline for high blood pressure, we estimated the prevalence and control rate of hypertension. Results According to the 2010 Chinese guideline, the age-standardized rate of hypertension prevalence was 34.7% in 2012 and 36.9% in 2019 with a slight increase, while the prevalence of prehypertension was stable (14.5% vs 14.3%). Over the period of our study, 45.6% and 60.7% of hypertensive patients knew their diagnosis in 2012 and 2019, and 40.8% and 51.5% were using antihypertensive medications, respectively. The control rates increased from 15.1% to 23.6%. Hypertension prevalence was 64.5% in 2012 and 63.2% in 2019, and the control rate increased from 3.0% to 4.8% during the study period under the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline. Conclusion Although the past 7 years have seen some progress in hypertension management, the rates of hypertension awareness, treatment, and control in southern Chinese remained regrettably low, and the prevalence rate was still high.
Record Contracts: Ideology in Action

Critique of ideology has been an underlying theme in critical theory dating back to Marx. This chapter provides definitions of key terms that Arditi uses throughout the book including ideology, hegemony, and exploitation. Ideology helps to reproduce the dominant material relations in society. This chapter analyzes the “ideology of getting signed” and theorizes ideology. Because most people are unaware of how record contracts operate at the same time they see celebrity musicians living lavish lifestyles, they believe record contracts result in wealth. Alienation between different musicians, fans, and the broader music industry allows this ideology to function. Part of the functioning of the ideology of record contracts is that musicians possess a different relationship with the product of their labor. Arditi demonstrates that ideology obscures the lived reality of recording artists and it motivates aspiring musicians to sign record contracts.
Chaos stabilizes synchronization in systems of coupled inner-ear hair cells.

Hair cells of the auditory and vestibular systems display astonishing sensitivity, frequency selectivity, and temporal resolution to external signals. These specialized cells utilize an internal active amplifier to achieve highly sensitive mechanical detection. One of the manifestations of this active process is the occurrence of spontaneous limit-cycle motion of the hair cell bundle. As hair bundles under in vivo conditions are typically coupled to each other by overlying structures, we explore the role of this coupling on the dynamics of the system, using a combination of theoretical and experimental approaches. Our numerical model suggests that the presence of chaotic dynamics in the response of individual bundles enhances their ability to synchronize when coupled, resulting in significant improvement in the system's ability to detect weak signals. This synchronization persists even for a large frequency dispersion and a large number of oscillators comprising the system. Further, the amplitude and coherence of the active motion is not reduced upon increasing the number of oscillators. Using artificial membranes, we impose mechanical coupling on groups of live and functional hair bundles, selected from in vitro preparations of the sensory epithelium, allowing us to explore the role of coupling experimentally. Consistent with the numerical simulations of the chaotic system, synchronization occurs even for large frequency dispersion and a large number of hair cells. Further, the amplitude and coherence of the spontaneous oscillations are independent of the number of hair cells in the network. We therefore propose that hair cells utilize their chaotic dynamics to stabilize the synchronized state and avoid the amplitude death regime, resulting in collective coherent motion that could play a role in generating spontaneous otoacoustic emissions and an enhanced ability to detect weak signals.
Metal-Insulator-Metal Point-Contact Diodes

The paper describes some recent results in understanding and improving metal-insulator-metal point-contact diodes for use as harmonic generators and mixers in laser frequency measurements. The parameters influencing the operation of MIM point-contact diodes are discussed and their implications on thin-film MIM diodes are considered. The theoretical analysis leads to results in good agreement with the experimental data.
Histiocytic Sarcoma Arising From a Long Bone: Report of Two Cases:

Histiocytic sarcoma is a rare, but aggressive malignant neoplasm of monocyte/macrophage lineage with a wide age distribution. Bone involvement is exceedingly rarer compared to the lymph node, skin, and soft tissue, and no long bone involvement has been reported in the English literature. We here report 2 cases of histiocytic sarcoma involving the long bone: one from the femur of a 77-year-old female, status post the placement of an intramedullary nail for subtrochanteric hip fracture; the other from the radius of a 3-year-old female with no significant medical history. Radiologic imaging showed highly destructive lesions in both cases with soft-tissue extension. Microscopy in both cases showed sheets of polygonal mononuclear cells with abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm, prominent nucleoli, and frequent mitosis. Hemophagocytosis were also identified. Immunohistochemistry showed that the lesional cells were strongly diffusely positive for CD68 and CD163. The first patient deteriorated rapidly, despite the aggressive treatment of amputation and chemotherapy. However, the second patient is disease free 36 months post the treatment of amputation only. We conclude that the long bone could be the primary site of histiocytic sarcoma. Its prognosis could be very variable and it is difficult to predict its behavior based on morphological evaluation only.
Model-Based Wisdom of the Crowd for Sequential Decision-Making Tasks.

We study the wisdom of the crowd in three sequential decision-making tasks: the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), optimal stopping problems, and bandit problems. We consider a behavior-based approach, using majority decisions to determine crowd behavior and show that this approach performs poorly in the BART and bandit tasks. The key problem is that the crowd becomes progressively more extreme as the decision sequence progresses, because the diversity of opinion that underlies the wisdom of the crowd is lost. We also consider model-based approaches to each task. This involves inferring cognitive models for each individual based on their observed behavior, and using these models to predict what each individual would do in any possible task situation. We show that this approach performs robustly well for all three tasks and has the additional advantage of being able to generalize to new problems for which there are no behavioral data. We discuss potential applications of the model-based approach to real-world sequential decision problems and discuss how our approach contributes to the understanding of collective intelligence.
Evaluation of Atomic Layer Deposition coating as gas barrier against hydrogen gas and humidity

Abstract Effectiveness of HfO 2 Atomic Layer Deposition coatings has been studied on ZnO varistors by I – V tests, impedance spectroscopy, and highly accelerated life test. Based on impedance spectroscopy analyses, the proton diffusion coefficient was measured to be 400 K times less in the coating. Transmission electron microscopy analysis shows that Atomic Layer Deposition films are continuous and conformal. After exposure to high temperature, partial crystallization was detected in the coating and increases proton diffusion coefficient by 150 times.
Some Aspects of In Vivo Human Protein and Amino Acid Metabolism, with Particular Reference to Nutritional Modulation

Under usual circumstances, the protein component of the diet serves as the source of amino acids which the body cannot make at a rate commensurate with meeting the metabolic needs of organs and tissues (the nutritionally indispensable or essential amino acids) and provides nitrogen for the synthesis of other amino acids (the nutritionally dispensable or non-essential amino acids) and nitrogen-containing compounds of physiologic and metabolic significance, such as neurotransmitters, creatinine, glutathione and nucleic acids. Where special nutritional therapies are necessary the amino acids and nitrogen can be supplied by formulations designed for either enteral or parenteral administration. In the body, proteins function as organic catalysts (enzymes), are used for the structural formation of cells, act as antibodies, and serve to control cellular metabolism (hormones and protein mediators). An inadequate protein or amino acid intake, due to lower than normal intakes or failure to raise intakes because of increased needs, causes diminished content of protein in cells and organs and deterioration in the capacity of cells to carry out their normal function. This leads to increased morbidity, and eventually death. Thus, an adequate diet, whether consisting of normal foods or specially formulated medical products, must contain an appropriate level of protein (nitrogen) and mixture of amino acids, in addition to major energy yielding substrates (carbohydrate and lipid) and other essential nutrients, including vitamins and minerals, if health is to be maintained and if the prevention of major body protein loss and/or restoration of body tissues during and following disease is to be achieved.
Neural nets and fuzzy logic provide a new systems view

The modern technologies of fuzzy logic and neural networks have underpinnings in truth values, or degrees of class membership, or subjectively driven weighted links. Researchers believe the technologies are closer to operating in the modes that humans use for thought and control. For this reason neural, fuzzy, genetic algorithms and the like are being called "natural computing", or "soft computing". When a designer understands the underlying functionality, he/she can find ways to apply the technologies to difficult problems involving high levels of complexity and non-linearity. This paper attempts to provide some insight into the idea of renaming the problem space based on the accessibility of natural computing tools.
Chemical discrimination of Columbia River basalt flows

[1] The homogeneity and distinctive chemical composition of individual Columbia River basalt flows are illustrated in a series of chemical plots, and the procedure for flow identification is outlined. The unique characterization of many individual eruptions permits units to be mapped from feeder dike to flow margins across the Columbia Plateau for hundreds of kilometers, and so provides critical constraints on the physical and chemical evolution of this continental flood basalt province.
Studies on a phytohemagglutinin from the lentil. II. Multiple forms of Lens culinaris hemagglutinin.

Two electrophoretically distinguishable hemagglutinins, Lens culinaris A (LcH-A) and L. culinaris B (LcH-B), have been obtained from the common lentil L. culinaris in homogeneous forms. Each protein had a molecular weight of 49,000, and each consisted of two identical polypeptide chains of 24,500 molecular weight. The proteins were immunochemically indistinguishable and had identical hemagglutinin activity and very similar compositions. LcH-B contained 4 more lysine residues per molecule than LcH-A, accounting for their different electrophoretic properties. Peptide mapping indicated that both proteins have a large majority of common primary sequence with small areas of unique sequence. Individual lentil seeds all contained both LcH-A and LcH-B, but with varying proportions depending on the source of the lentils.
Effect of substitution and the counterion on the structural and spectroscopic properties of CuII complexes of methylated pyrazoles

The coordination chemistry of pyrazole and three of its methyl derivatives with the chloride and nitrate salts of copper(II) under strictly controlled reaction conditions is systematically explored to gain a better understanding of the effect of counterion coordination strength and ligand identity on the structure and electronic absorption spectra of their resulting complexes. Despite the initial 2 : 1 ligand to metal ratio in water, copper(II) nitrate forms exclusively 4 : 1 ligand to metal complexes while copper(II) chloride forms a 4 : 1 ligand to metal complex only with pyrazole, with the methyl derivatives forming 2 : 1 ligand to metal complexes, as determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD). This is attributed to a combination of ligand sterics and stronger coordination of chloride relative to nitrate. Electronic absorption spectroscopy in both water and methanol reveals a surprisingly strong effect of the pyrazole methyl position on the CuII d–d transition, with 4-methylpyrazole producing...
Abnormalities of the Septum Pellucidum on .MR Scans in First-Episode Schizophrenic Patients

PURPOSE AND METHODS Cavities in the septum pellucidum have been widely regarded in clinical neurology or in autopsy series as incidental findings of little clinical importance; however, an association between this developmental anomaly and a diagnosis of psychosis has been reported. We compared MR brain scans of schizophrenic patients with normal control subjects to determine the prevalence of this finding in the two groups: RESULTS A cavum septum pellucidum was found in 14 of 62 (23%) schizophrenic patients and only one of 46 control subjects (2%). Pronounced enlargement of the cavum septum and a cavum vergae were seen only in two schizophrenic subjects. A partial agenesis of the corpus callosum was also seen in one of the schizophrenic cases with the largest cavum septum pellucidum. CONCLUSIONS The increased prevalence of a cavum septum pellucidum, the cavum vergae, and partial callosal agenesis in schizophrenics support the hypothesis that anomalous development of the brain is an important aspect of this disorder. The disturbed structures are closely linked developmentally to the limbic system which has been implicated etiologically in studies of schizophrenia.
Catalytic inactivation of human carbonic anhydrase I by a metallopeptide-sulfonamide conjugate is mediated by oxidation of active site residues.

Oxidation of active site residues (His and Trp), following catalytic inactivation of human carbonic anhydrase I by a copper−ATCUN conjugate of sulfanilimide, is evidenced by mass spectrometric analysis of tryptic and chymotryptic digests of the modified CA-I. Accordingly, residue oxidation rather than protein cleavage is the demonstrated mode of inactivation. An apparent second-order rate constant, k2 ∼ 7600 M-1min-1, has been determined for catalytic inactivation of CA-I.
An evaluation of feature sets and sampling techniques for de-identification of medical records

De-identification of text medical records is of critical importance in any health informatics system in order to facilitate research and sharing of medical records. While statistical learning based techniques have shown promising results for de-identification purposes, few such systems are publicly available. It remains a challenge for practitioners to build an accurate and efficient system as it involves a significant amount of feature engineering, i.e. creation and examination of new features used in the system. A comprehensive evaluation is needed to thoroughly understand the effects of different feature sets and potential impacts of sampling and their trade-offs between the often conflicting goals of precision (or positive predictive value), recall (or sensitivity), and efficiency. In this paper, we present the Health Information DE-identification (HIDE) framework and evaluate the open- source software. We present an evaluation of various types of features used in HIDE, and introduce a window sampling technique (only the terms within a specified distance from personal health information are used to train the classifier) and evaluate its effect on both quality and efficiency. Our results show that the context features (previous and next terms) are particularly important and the sampling technique can be used to increase recall with minimal impact on precision. We obtained token-level label precision of 0.967, recall of 0.986 and F-Score of 0.977 when not including true negatives. The overall HIDE system achieves token-level precision of .998, recall of .999, and f-score of .999 on the previous i2b2 challenge task.
Interaction of Smad3 and SRF-associated complex mediates TGF-β1 signals to regulate SM22 transcription during myofibroblast differentiation

Abstract Myofibroblasts play important roles in a variety of developmental and pathological processes, such as vascular remodeling, atherosclerosis and wound healing. In this study, we used the TGF-β1-treated 10T1/2 cells as an in vitro model to understand how Smad-mediated TGF-β1 signals regulate SM22 promoter transcription during myofibroblast differentiation. We found that TGF-β1 transiently induces SRF and SM22 transcription, and that this process is accompanied by transient increases of SRF and Smad3 binding to the SM22 promoter. Interestingly, Smad3, not Smad2, is the primary mediator for TGF-β1-induced transactivation of the SM22 promoter, while Smad6 and Smad7 repress such a transactivation. Smad3 can bind to a Smad-binding element (SBE) in the first exon of SM22 , and directly associate with the SRF complex in response to TGF-β1 treatment. Moreover, Smad3 and I-Smads regulate the SM22 promoter through CArG box-dependent transcription using dominant-negative SRF mutants and SRF-VP16. Although SBE as well as CArG boxes and TGF-β control element are all important for the SM22 promoter activities, the promoters with mutations at either one or all of them still respond to TGF-β1 treatment. Consistently, TGF-β1 stimulates SM22 transcription in Smad3 null mouse embryonic fibroblasts. These findings provide the first evidence that Smad3 directly links TGF-β1 signaling to an SRF-associated regulatory network in controlling SM22 transcription; it also implies that TGF-β1 regulates the SM22 promoter via Smad3-dependent and Smad3-independent pathways.
Plasma fibronectin—Binding glycosaminoglycans in the substratum adhesion sites of neural tumor cells

Abstract Polysaccharide from the substratum adhesion sites of rat glioma or neuroblastoma cells was passed through plasma fibronectin-Sepharose columns to identify polysaccharides which may be potential receptors on the cell surface for binding to this adhesion-promoting factor in the substratum-bound serum layer. Substratum-attached material was enriched in polysaccharide which binds to plasma fibronectin. Biochemical analyses identified the binding polysaccharide as highly N -sulfated heparan sulfate. These results, along with other evidence on the biochemical composition of the adhesion sites of glioma and neuroblastoma cells ( L. A. Culp, R. Ansbacher, and C. Domen, 1980, Biochemistry 19 , 5899–5907 ), indicate that the fibronectin-dependent adhesion of these neural tumor cells to serum-coated tissue culture substrata may be mediated by heparan proteoglycans on their surface.
Development of an ELISA microarray assay for the sensitive and simultaneous detection of ten biodefense toxins

Plant and microbial toxins are considered bioterrorism threat agents because of their extreme toxicity and/or ease of availability. Additionally, some of these toxins are increasingly responsible for accidental food poisonings. The current study utilized an ELISA-based protein antibody microarray for the multiplexed detection of ten biothreat toxins, botulinum neurotoxins (BoNT) A, B, C, D, E, F, ricin, shiga toxins 1 and 2 (Stx), and staphylococcus enterotoxin B (SEB), in buffer and complex biological matrices. The multiplexed assay displayed a sensitivity of 1.3 pg mL−1 (BoNT/A, BoNT/B, SEB, Stx-1 and Stx-2), 3.3 pg mL−1 (BoNT/C, BoNT/E, BoNT/F) and 8.2 pg mL−1 (BoNT/D, ricin). All assays demonstrated high accuracy (75–120 percent recovery) and reproducibility (most coefficients of variation <20%). Quantification curves for the ten toxins were also evaluated in clinical samples (serum, plasma, nasal fluid, saliva, stool, and urine) and environmental samples (apple juice, milk and baby food) with overall minimal matrix effects. The multiplex assays were highly specific, with little cross-reactivity observed between the selected toxin antibodies. The results demonstrate a multiplex microarray that improves current immunoassay sensitivity for biological warfare agents in buffer, clinical, and environmental samples.
Safer Outside: A Qualitative Exploration of Homeless People's Resistance to Homeless Shelters

Unsheltered or “street” homeless are an under-researched subset of the homeless population although they account for 37% of the total number of homeless people. The current study examines the lives of homeless people who reside in camps in the woods of East Orange County, Florida. Data for this study were collected via five focus groups with a total of 39 unsheltered homeless people. It is clear from this research that unsheltered homeless people have unique needs that differ from those of the sheltered homeless and that social services will need to change many aspects of the way services are provided to address these unique needs.
Solute extraction from an internally circulating spherical liquid drop

Abstract The forced convective extraction of a solute from a steadily falling liquid drop in Hadamard or Hill flow is examined. A qualitative description of the concentration boundary layers and wakes is given and the dominance of transfer in the drop interior is demonstrated. A quantitative description of the mass transfer in the drop interior is given and the overall mass transfer from the drop is obtained. This result is in general agreement with some published experimental results.
Asymptotic Tracking for Uncertain Dynamic Systems Via a Multilayer Neural Network Feedforward and RISE Feedback Control Structure

The use of a neural network (NN) as a feedforward control element to compensate for nonlinear system uncertainties has been investigated for over a decade. Typical NN-based controllers yield uniformly ultimately bounded (UUB) stability results due to residual functional reconstruction inaccuracies and an inability to compensate for some system disturbances. Several researchers have proposed discontinuous feedback controllers (e.g., variable structure or sliding mode controllers) to reject the residual errors and yield asymptotic results. The research in this paper describes how a recently developed continuous robust integral of the sign of the error (RISE) feedback term can be incorporated with a NN-based feedforward term to achieve semi-global asymptotic tracking. To achieve this result, the typical stability analysis for the RISE method is modified to enable the incorporation of the NN-based feedforward terms, and a projection algorithm is developed to guarantee bounded NN weight estimates.
SYNTHESIS AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF TRIAZOLE AND ISOXAZOLE DERIVATIVES OF AMPICILLIN

In order to improve the antibacterial activity of ampicillin, new penicillin derivatives having a 1-aryltriazole-4-carboxamide group or a 5-arylisoxazole-3-carboxamide group at the α-position of benzylpenicillin or p-hydroxybenzylpenicillin were synthesized. Some compounds in these series were found to possess high activity against Pseudomonas and other Gram-negative bacteria. In addition, structure-activity relationships, especially the effect of the hydrophobic character of the compounds on activity, were investigated.
Undermining the very democracy we seek to create: discussion practices in adult education and the dangers of repressive tolerance

Discussion has long held an honored place in the pantheon of lionized adult education practices. One of the most frequently venerated aspects of discussion is opening up conversation to include the widest possible diversity of perspectives and intellectual traditions. This democratic attempt to be open and inclusive is held to represent what is best about adult education—its humanistic concern to have all voices heard, all experiences analyzed, and all viewpoints honored. Herbert Marcuse's concept of repressive tolerance stands directly against these sentiments. Marcuse argues that an alternative idea, concept or text can be inserted into a discussion of familiar, mainstream materials in such a way that serves only to underscore the normality of the center while positioning the alternatives as exotic others. This paper explores how this process occurs and suggests how it might be countered.
Formation of nano-crystalline Si by thermal annealing of SiOx, SiCx and SiOyCx amorphous alloys: model systems for advanced device processing

Abstract Formation of Si with nanometer sized crystallites by thermal annealing of hydrogenated alloys of SiOx, SiCx, and SiOxCy (x,y∼0.1 to 0.2) amorphous alloys has been studied by infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy, Raman scattering, and high resolution cross-section transmission electron microscopy (TEM) lattice imaging. The appearance of crystalline features in the Raman spectra, and TEM micrographs coincides with qualitative and quantitative changes in the IR spectra. Crystrallites appear in the SiOx alloys at an annealing temperature of ∼900°C, and at higher temperatures in the SiCx and (Si,C)Ox alloys, 950°C and 1050°C, respectively.
Spectral noise level measurements used to track voice improvement in one patient.

Abstract In this report we present one example of the utilization of an acoustic measurement to aid in describing voice roughness objectively in a clinical context. Vowel spectral noise level (SNL) and fundamental voice frequency ( F 0 ) measurements were acquired for five sustained vowels produced by one patient having bilateral vocal fold nodules. The measurements were obtained at specific time intervals while the patient underwent voice therapy. Clinically observed changes over the course of therapy included an improvement in perceived voice quality, a general reduction in vowel SNL, and an increase in vowel F 0 . These observations were accompanied by visually detected laryngeal tissue changes. The results suggest that acoustic SNL measurements can be employed clinically to verify and support perceptual judgements of voice quality.
Extracellular dopamine increases in the neonatal olfactory bulb during odor preference training

Abstract Young rats learn to approach an odor that has been paired with tactile stimulation. This attraction is accompanied by changes in the metabolism and anatomy within the olfactory bulb glomerular layer. In this study, we examined the changes that occur in the olfactory bulb during early olfactory learning, rather than after such pairings have occurred. Specifically, we determined whether the pairing of an odor with tactile stimulation would produce a modified response by olfactory bulb glomerular-layer neurons. To monitor one large subgroup of these neurons during early learning, we used in vivo microdialysis to assess the activity of dopaminergic neurons in the olfactory bulb of postnatal day (PND) 3 rats during simultaneuous presentation of odor and tactile stimulation, tactile stimulation alone, odor alone, or clean air alone. Clean air evokes no change in extracellular dopamine (DA), while both odor alone and stroking alone induce and prolonged increases in DA peaking at about 200% of baseline. The combination of odor and tactile stimulation, which allows an olfactory preference to be formed, induces a prolonged increase in DA which peaks at about 400% of baseline. The level of the DA metabolite 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) increases only in pups receiving both odor and tactile stimulation and peaks at about 200% of baseline. With the exception of the pups exposed to clean air, all groups show an increase in homovanillic acid (HVA) of between 150–200% following sitmulation. The large and prolonged increase in DA may be linked to the longer term anatomical and physiological changes in the glomerular layer of the bulb that form as a consequence of early olfactory preference training.