cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
E. P. Wigner’s Comments at the Roundtable Discussion at the Conference on Nuclear Cross Sections and Technology

I am very grateful for the invitation to this conference. We all learned a great deal about nuclear physics and about nuclear reactors — and even about subjects outside the area of these. If I have any criticism it is that we were not exposed to more what I would call crazy ideas. Only two occur to me. The first of these is the fast breeder reactor, slow blanket proposal advanced by Tang and by Otterville and also considered by General Atomics. This is a very attractive idea. The other one is a suggestion made by McNally to devise fusion reactors without H3. This is an interesting suggestion, well worth looking into.
IMMUNE RESPONSE TO EXERCISE

KOCH, A. Immune Response to Exercise. Brazilian Journal of Biomotricity, v. 4, n. 2, p 92-103, 2010. Exercise produces transient perturbations in immunity, including alterations in circulating leukocyte numbers, cytokine concentration, and some measures of cell function. These changes are typically interpreted as being transiently detrimental to host defense. The mechanisms responsible for these immune fluctuations appear to be neuroendocrine-mediated alterations in cell-trafficking and function and microtrauma-mediated alterations in cytokine release. Alterations in immunity following exercise follow a similar pattern, but vary in magnitude depending on the volume and intensity of the exercise performed. In general, these alterations are resolved within a few hours. However, exercise induced changes in immunity may become clinically relevant after extremely prolonged bouts of exercise or repeated exercise bouts with insufficient recovery. Regular training appears to attenuate the immune response to exercise. Care should be taken to ensure that training is planned, with adequate variation in intensity and volume over time, to ensure recovery between sessions and avoid chronic systemic inflammation.
The Influence of David Keeling on Oceanic CO2 Measurements

Dave Keeling—only Roger Revelle called him "Charles David" and always in a tone that could command Dave's attention—had a remarkable influence on the creation of modem understanding of the oceanic CO 2 system. Although Dave resided at an oceanographic institution for almost his entire professional career, the great majority of his work concerned atmospheric measurements; his own account of his work [Keeling, 1998] makes scant reference to his ocean science papers. But those relatively few oceanic papers, and more importantly his intense personal interest and unimpeachable reputation for classic measurement, had enormous impact. It is possible to trace Dave's influence on oceanic measurement through the course of five decades, and over that time, our understanding has grown enormously. The following is a somewhat personal account, but Dave so influenced the careers of the small group of ocean CO 2 scientists that have led the way that any one of them would write a similar account.
A Process Simulator for pH Control Studies

A dynamic simulator for pH control studies is offered. The process influent is composed of various mono-and di-valent acids, bases, and common ion salts and is treated with a multi-component reagent (either acidic or basic). Mixing is in a non-ideal continuous flow stirred tank. Dynamic behavior includes autoregressive influent composition and sensor calibration drifts, sensor lags, and measurement noise. Idealizations in the model were intentionally chosen to balance computational effort with output accuracy. The program output is shown to duplicate a wide range of pH results and to be sufficiently accurate for industrial pH control simulations.
Structural Changes at Different Length Scales Caused by Mechanical Deformation of SEBS Triblock Copolymers

A Kraton® poly (styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene) (SEBS) Triblock copolymer, with hexagonally packed PS cylinders embedded within the Poly (ethylene/butylene) (E/B) matrix, has been studied using simultaneous small- and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (SAXD/WAXD) as a function of mechanical deformation. SAXD studies on unstrained samples not only show a series of concentric diffraction rings, that index as the successive orders of a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice of side a ≈ 30 nm, but also indicate the presence of a broader, more diffuse, diffraction ring of a different character centered at a spacing of 7.8 nm. At 65% strain, a four-point X-cross pattern develops and emerges from the {1010} diffraction ring for the unstrained sample. The fundamental spacing of the hexagonal lattice increases, and in addition the first evidence of discrete layer lines appears, orthogonal to the strain direction (SD). At higher strains, both the layer line spacing and the angle of the X-cross, relative to the SD, increase. These changes in layer line spacing as a function of strain provide additional insight into the extent of deformation imposed on the flexible matrix with shearing of PS cylinders layers relative to each other. Also, with increasing strain, the diffuse 7.8 nm diffraction signal transforms into a streak, parallel to the SD and centered on a reciprocal plane orthogonal to the SD. In the simultaneously recorded WAXD (4 nm-0.2 nm) patterns, an initial single diffraction ring observed at no strain, steadily transforms with strain into a symmetric pair of concentrated arcs centered on the equator. These X-ray diffraction results enable a delineation to be made between rotation and relative shear of layers of PS rods and the simultaneous strain-induced crystallization of the flexible matrix.
Behavioral Development: Timing Is Everything

Summary A new study has found that bonobos take longer to reach adult levels of two behaviors than do chimpanzees, providing empirical support for the ‘paedomorphism' hypothesis among our closest relatives.
The Test Anxiety Inventory for Children and Adolescents (TAICA): Examination of the Psychometric Properties of a New Multidimensional Measure of Test Anxiety Among Elementary and Secondary School Students

The Test Anxiety Inventory for Children and Adolescents (TAICA) is a new multidimensional measure used to assess test anxiety in elementary and secondary school students. The TAICA is a 45-item self-report measure consisting of a Total Test Anxiety scale, four debilitating test anxiety subscales (Cognitive Obstruction/Inattention, Physiological Hyperarousal, Social Humiliation, and Worry), a facilitating test anxiety scale (Performance Enhancement/ Facilitation Anxiety), and a Lie scale. In the present study, the psychometric properties of the TAICA scores are examined with a volunteer sample of 206 children and adolescents. Results of the study indicate that the TAICA scores have strong to very strong internal consistency reliability and temporal stability (1- to 3-week test-retest interval). Evidence supporting the construct validity of the TAICA scores was found.
Dynamic Range, Signal-To-Noise Ratio, And Bandwidth Of Encoded Signals

Many photonic sensors produce signals that are not a linear function of the stimulus. For example, radiation sensors' may produce an exponential decay response. Similarly, the Faraday current2, microwave3, Kerr voltage4, and VISAR5 sensors all produce a sinusoidal response. A perfect recorder system would reproduce the signal exactly. However, all real recorders introduce noise and bandwidth attenuation. The bandwidth response, dynamic range, and signal-to-noise ratio of the decoded data depend on the manner in which the data are encoded. This paper will analyze the various encoding techniques and their effects on data recording. Both simulated and experimental data will be presented which illustrate the effects of encoding on the dynamic range, signal-to-noise ratio, and bandwidth of a signal. The data will illustrate the advantage of recording phase encoded signals.
White organic light emitting diodes using Pt-based red, green, and blue phosphorescent dopants

Organic light emitting diodes using Pt-based red, green and blue dopants have been built for application to solid state lighting. All layers were deposited by thermal evaporation. Devices used a stacked design with separate red, green and blue layers. Blue devices achieved external quantum efficiencies of over 16% while devices with red / green / blue emissive layers reached quantum efficiencies of up to 15%, depending on the thickness of the red and green layers. We demonstrate an all-Pt based multiple emissive layer WOLED device.
Physicochemical and emulsifying properties of whey protein isolate (WPI)-dextran conjugates produced in aqueous solution.

The physicochemical and emulsifying properties of protein and polysaccharide conjugates prepared under mild conditions were investigated. The covalently linked conjugates of whey protein isolate (WPI) and dextran (DX, 440 kDa) were produced by incubating aqueous solutions containing 10% WPI and 30% DX at pH 6.5 and 60 °C for 48 h. After purification by anion-exchange chromatography and affinity chromatography, the conjugate had a weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of 531 kDa and a radius of gyration (Rg) of 30 nm as determined by size exclusion chromatography−multiangle laser light scattering (SEC-MALLS); the molar binding ratio of WPI to DX was calculated to be ∼1:1. The purified conjugate had significantly improved heat stability when subjected to 80 °C for 30 min and remained soluble over a range of pH from 3.2 to 7.5 and ionic strengths from 0.05 to 0.2 M in contrast to native WPI. The emulsifying ability and emulsion stability made with WPI−DX conjugate were also improved compared to WPI and gum ar...
Acute hepatitis C

Symptomatic acute hepatitis C occurs in only about 15% of patients who are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Acute hepatitis C is most often diagnosed in the setting of post-exposure surveillance, or seroconversion in high-risk individuals (eg, health-care professionals or injecting drug users) previously known to be seronegative. Although transmission via transfusion and injecting drug use has declined in developed countries, unsafe blood products and medical practices continue to increase transmission of HCV in many developing countries. Clinically, acute hepatitis C can increase concentrations of alanine aminotransferase to ten times the upper limit of normal but almost never causes fulminant hepatic failure. Diagnosis of HCV infection in the acute phase is difficult since production of antibodies against HCV can be delayed by up to 12 weeks, and about a third of infected individuals might not have detectable antibody at the onset of symptoms. Therefore, testing for HCV RNA by PCR is the only reliable test for the diagnosis of acute infection. Symptomatic patients with jaundice have a higher likelihood of spontaneous viral clearance than do asymptomatic patients, and thus should be monitored for at least 12 weeks before initiating antiviral therapy. By contrast, asymptomatic patients have a much lower chance of spontaneous clearance, and might benefit from early antiviral therapy. Antiviral therapy for 12 weeks is generally effective in treating patients who are HCV RNA negative after 4 weeks of treatment; lengthier courses could be needed for those who relapse or fail to show early virological clearance.
Diet-induced obesity and ethanol impair progression of hepatocellular carcinoma in a mouse mesenteric vein injection model.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a rapidly increasing cancer whose known risk factors are chronic ethanol abuse, viral hepatitis infection, and aflatoxin exposure. Obesity, an emerging HCC risk factor, is reaching epidemic proportions in developed nations. This study investigated the effects of diet-induced obesity (DIO) and chronic ethanol consumption on HCC progression in mice in vivo. In this study, C57BL/6 DIO mice and lean litter mates were maintained on a 60 % (high-fat diet [HFD]) diet or a 10 % (control diet [CD]) kcal % fat diet for 7 weeks before they were weaned to 10/20 % ([v/v], alternating days) ethanol in drinking water (EtOH) or maintenance on drinking water (H2O) alone. Hepatic tumor formation was initiated by intrahepatic Hepa1-6 cell (6 × 106 cells) inoculation 6 weeks later via the mesenteric vein. The animals receiving the HFD showed decreased tumor incidence and area of hepatic foci versus the CD animals maintained on H2O alone. The action of EtOH suppressed tumor incidence further in both the CD and the HFD mice. Serologic analysis showed no significant differences in liver enzymes among the groups. Protein analysis demonstrated increased P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) in the groups maintained on EtOH, an effect exacerbated by HFD. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis demonstrated increased tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) expression in HFD HCC mice (H2O and EtOH) concomitant with decreased transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) expression. Although obesity and EtOH consumption are known risk factors for HCC initiation and development, the data in this study suggest that these factors impair progression of established tumors within the liver.
Expression of red cell membrane proteins in erythroid precursor cells

Specific antibodies to human glycophorin A and spectrin were used to study the expression of these membrane proteins in normal and pathologic human bone marrow. In immunofluorescence experiments spectrin and glycophorin A are found in 50-60% of the nucleated cells in normal bone marrow. These two proteins are expressed at all stages of red cell differentiation and can be traced at least to the earliest morphologically recognizable nucleated red cell precursor, the proerythroblast; the two proteins are specific for cells of the red cell series and are not found to be expressed in lymphocytic, granulocytic cells or platelets. These conclusions were drawn from studies on bone marrow in patients with a temporary block in erythropoiesis at the level of stem cells or of the pronormoblast. Bone marrow from these individuals either lacked all nucleated cells stainable for glycophorin A and spectrin or contained only pronormoblasts. Similar findings were obtained on spleen cells from mice which were made severely anemic by multiple injections with N-acetyl-phenylhydrazine. Antibodies to a sialoglycoprotein isolated from mouse red cell membranes stain 70-80% of all cells in the spleen of anemic animals, while only 1-2% of such cells are seen in the spleen of normal animals. Spectrin and glycophorin A could be labeled metabolically and isolated using specific antibodies. The human tumor cell line K562 expresses both membrane proteins, but induction experiments with various agents thus far have failed to change their expression.
Gingivoperiosteoplasty and midfacial growth.

The objective of this study was to report the effect of gingivoperiosteoplasty on growth of the midfacial skeleton 6 years following primary surgical repair. Patients with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate who underwent primary cleft lip and nose repair with and without gingivoperiosteoplasty (GPP) were retrospectively compared by means of a lateral cephalogram. Mean age at the time of evaluation was 5.7 years. All patients were treated at the Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, New York University Medical Center. All surgery and presurgical orthopedics was performed by the same surgeon and the same orthodontist. Twenty-five consecutively treated patients who presented with complete unilateral clefts of the primary and secondary palate were included in the study. Of these, 20 patients were available for 6-year follow-up cephalometric documentation and review. All patients received preoperative orthopedics with passive molding appliances, followed by repair of the lip, alveolus, and nose in a single stage at the age of 3 months. The repair was performed using the rotation/advancement technique. The difference between the two groups was whether or not gingivoperiosteoplasty was performed. The reason for not performing gingivoperiosteoplasty was incomplete approximation of the alveolar segments usually due to a late start in beginning therapy. Lateral cephalograms (68.5 months post primary surgery) were obtained and traced. Cranial base (S-N), maxilla (ANS-PNS), and mandible (Go-Pg) were digitized for shape coordinate analysis. No significant difference in the mean position of ANS-PNS was found between groups (with or without gingivoperiosteoplasty). There was, however, a significant difference in the variance of position for the points ANS-PNS between the groups (p < .002). We were unable to observe any difference (anteroposterior or supero-inferior) in the average position of the hard palate (ANS-PNS) between groups. We conclude that gingivoperiosteoplasty results in a more uniform position of the hard palate (ANS-PNS) relative to patients that did not receive gingivoperiosteoplasty. We were unable to demonstrate any clear impairment of maxillary growth in the patients treated with gingivoperiosteoplasty when compared to patients treated without gingivoperiosteoplasty.
Worldwide trends in antimicrobial resistance among common respiratory tract pathogens in children.

BACKGROUND Respiratory tract infections among children are a common reason for health care provider visits and the primary reason for antimicrobial prescribing in this population. The increased prevalence of resistance among Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae pathogens poses a serious challenge in the successful treatment of respiratory tract infections caused by these pathogens. METHODS This paper reviews worldwide trends in antimicrobial resistance among common respiratory tract pathogens, highlighting data obtained from the pediatric population where available. RESULTS S. pneumoniae resistance to beta-lactams is mediated through alterations in the penicillin-binding proteins and macrolide resistance to acquisition of efflux or methylation genes. The mechanisms of resistance to the fluoroquinolones include target enzyme alterations via genetic mutations and transport out of the bacterial cell via an efflux pump. Beta-lactamase production is the primary mechanism of resistance to penicillins among H. influenzae isolates. Although S. pneumoniae with reduced susceptibility to penicillin was first documented > 30 years ago, resistance has increased at an alarming rate worldwide in the past decade. According to recent surveillance data, the worldwide prevalence of S. pneumoniae with reduced susceptibility to penicillin is 18.2%. Beta-lactamase production among H. influenzae ranges from approximately 4% in Russia to 26% in the United States and to 31% in France. The prevalence of beta-lactamase-negative, ampicillin-resistant H. influenzae remains very low (< 1%) worldwide, except in Japan, where the incidence is higher. In general, the highest rates of resistance are observed in isolates obtained from children, and risk factors for infection with a resistant pathogen include young age, the site of infection, day-care center attendance and recent antimicrobial use. CONCLUSIONS Increased prevalence of antimicrobial resistance among respiratory tract pathogens isolated from children and adults is evident worldwide. Treatment of infections caused by S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae with older agents or ineffective dosing regimens may not eradicate infections and may contribute to the spread of resistance. These observations confirm the need for appropriate antimicrobial use to halt or at least limit the spread of resistance.
Examination of osteoblastorthopaedic biomaterial interactions using molecular techniques

Abstract Molecular techniques can be used to elucidate the effects of extended periods of cellbiomaterial interactions on the time-course and level of expression of particular genes which determine cellular phenotype. We used the polymerase chain reaction to demonstrate the expression of genes for the bone-related proteins osteocalcin, osteonectin and osteopontin by neonatal rat calvarial osteoblasts. In addition, Northern blotting was subsequently used to show that messenger RNAs encoding osteonectin and osteopontin were consistently expressed during a 5 wk period of interaction of osteoblasts with Ti-6AI-4V, a commercial brand of hydroxyapatite, and tissue culture polystyrene.
Refractive Index of Silver Chloride for Visible and Infra-Red Radiant Energy*

The refractive indices of a 31° prism of silver chloride were measured at 30 wave-lengths at a constant room temperature of 23.9°C, from 0.578 to 20.6μ by use of a minimum-deviation spectrometer and a Perkin-Elmer infra-red spectrometer equipped with a calibrated screw for operation of the Littrow mirror. A cadmium-mercury lamp was the source from 1 to 2μ. From 2 to 20μ a Globar was used as the source with various Baird’s reflection interference filters and the absorption bands of carbon dioxide, carbon disulfide, water, methylcyclohexane, polystyrene, trichlorobenzene, and chlorobenzotrifluoride for the identification of wave-lengths. In the visible region two prisms, one pressed and polished, the other sawed and lapped, were used and the results compared. The sensitivity of index to temperature is approximately −6.1 × 10−5 per centigrade degree for wave-length 0.610μ.
Simulation of high resolution radar potarimetric images— unified full wave approach

Abstract The unified full wave approach is used to generate polarimctric images of composite rough surfaces illuminated by high resolution radar (i.e., real or synthetic aperture radars with small effective footprints). The unified full wave solutions account for Bragg scattering and specular point scattering in a self-consistent manner, therefore it is not necessary to decompose the surface into two surfaces with large and small roughness scales. The like and cross-potarized scattering cross-sections for the rough sea surface are tilt modulated due to the presence of swell or ship wakes. Hydrodynamic effects such as velocity bunching arc not considered here. The normal to an arbitrarily oriented mean plane associated with the illuminated resolution cell (pixel) is characterized by the tilt angles Q and t, in and perpendicular to, a fixed reference plane of incidence associated with the radar. The like and cross polarized backscatter cross sections of a tilted resolution cell are expressed in terms of the...
Myositis associated with interleukin‐2 therapy in a patient with metastatic renal cell carcinoma

Background Interleukin-2 (IL-2) has been used successfully in the treatment of some patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma and melanoma, with a partial response rate of 15%-20%. It produces a well documented spectrum of side effects. Autoimmune diseases have been associated with IL-2 immunotherapy and the development of autoimmune thyroiditis may correlate with antitumor clinical response. Methods A patient with metastatic renal cell carcinoma is described who developed a polymyositis-like myopathy after an autologous tumor vaccine and IL-2 therapy. Results The patient had a delayed response for 15 months after developing this previously unreported toxicity. Conclusions To the authors' knowledge, this represents the first reported case of necrotizing myositis in association with IL-2 therapy. Subsequent continuous partial response of the advanced malignancy was observed for 15 months. In this case, IL-2 may have broken tolerance to both normal muscle cells and tumor cells.
Cell biology: unchaining the condemned.

Like prisoners, condemned intracellular proteins are shackled with chains to await their fate. These chains are a signal that the proteins must be destroyed and are removed on protein degradation. New work shows how.
Pattern recognition analysis of polar clouds during summer and winter

A pattern recognition algorithm is demonstrated which classifies eighteen surface and cloud types in high-latitude AVHRR imagery based on several spectral and textural features, then estimates the cloud properties (fractional coverage, albedo, and brightness temperature) using a hybrid histogram and spatial coherence technique. The summertime version of the algorithm uses both visible and infrared data (AVHRR channels 1-4), while the wintertime version uses only infrared data (AVHRR channels 3-5). Three days of low-resolution AVHRR imagery from the Arctic and Antarctic during January and July 1984 were analyzed for cloud type and fractional coverage. The analysis showed significant amounts of high cloudiness in the Arctic during one day in winter. The Antarctic summer scene was characterized by heavy cloud cover in the southern ocean and relatively clear conditions in the continental interior. A large region of extremely low brightness temperatures in East Antarctica during winter suggests the presence of polar stratospheric cloud.
Fluoride ion binding and adsorption affinity of polyelectrolytes

Abstract Poly (2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) substituted with quaternary fluoride salts and phosphorous-containing pendent groups were prepared as pH 7 polyelectrolyte solutions. The ability of these polyelectrolytes to bind fluoride ions in solution and to adsorb onto calcium phosphate (hydroxyapatite) surfaces was studied as a function of the number and type of substituent groups. Fluoride binding was found to be enhanced by cross-linking, which maintains the polyelectrolyte in a compressed-coil conformation. Adsorption affinity and resistance to desorption were increased by the presence of phosphorous-containing groups, especially phosphonate esters. These factors will be important in designing polyelectrolytes to remove counter-ions from solution and concentrate them at surfaces for biomedical and industrial applications.
Optimization of atomic orbital charges by least squares representation of the molecular charge distribution

It is intuitively appealing to refer to atomic properties within a molecular environment. In particular, the total molecular charge can be apportioned among the constituent atoms in a number of plausible ways. We evade the recurring difficulty of assigning portions of the charge in an overlap region among adjacent atoms by demanding that the total charge distribution defined by atomic orbital occupation numbers match the molecular charge distribution in a least-squares sense. The formal basis for the definition of optimum atomic charges is presented, with the results of illustrative computations on a series of diatomic molecules and polyatomics.
Successive X-ray bursts from accreting neutron stars

The evolution of a neutron star undergoing a series of thermonuclear flashes in its accreted hydrogen-rich layer has been numerically followed to determine the effects of the history of the neutron star's thermal and compositional structure on the properties of the emitted X-ray bursts. Burst characteristics are studied for a range of mass accretion rates, CNO abundances in the accreted matter, and initial thermal states of the underlying neutron star core; the bursts exhibit erratic behavior for low CNO metal abundances and cool neutron star cores, with the burst recurrence time scales varying by 1-2 orders of magnitude. There is typically a continued presence of a substantial amount of unburnt hydrogen in the accreted layer throughout the series of the X-ray burst events. Convective mixing during the quiescent phase leads to the inward transport of helium to high densities and eventually to the initiation of the next outburst. The resulting bursts can be weak and, in such cases, are characterized by short recurrence time scales (1-2 hr), low peak luminosities (0.1-0.2 times the Eddington value), and low alpha-values (about 20).
A maximum-entropy method for the planning of conformal radiotherapy.

The maximum entropy method (MEM) is a powerful inverse analysis technique that is used in many fields of science and engineering to perform tasks such as image reconstruction and processing of nuclear magnetic resonance signals. Unlike other methods, MEM naturally incorporates a priori knowledge of the problem into the optimized cost function. This feature is especially important in radiotherapy planning, because some knowledge is usually available about the stage of tumor development and about the prescription doses, including some dose constraints to the surrounding normal organs. Inverse planning is inherently consistent with the ability of MEM to estimate parameters inversely. In this investigation, an entropy function determines the homogeneity of dose distribution in the planning target volume; a least-squares function is added to the maximum entropy function as a constraint to measure the quality of reconstructed doses in organs at risk; and an iterative Newton–Ralphson algorithm searches for the optimization solution. Here we provide two examples that validate this application of MEM and the results were compared with manual plans. Although the examples involve conformal radiotherapy, we think MEM can be adopted to optimize intensity-modulated radiation therapy.
Clinical Trial Report: The Presence and Rupture of Vulnerable Plaques in the Peripheral Circulation.

The incidence, associated risk factors, and clinical consequences of coronary artery plaque rupture have been previously well described [1, 2]. In contrast, similar data for the peripheral vasculature are notably lacking. Okura et al. investigate the prevalence of plaque rupture in the ilio-femoral circulation by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). The authors examine the relationship between the presence of plaque rupture and patient characteristics and correlate their findings with clinical outcomes.
Digital Genotyping of Macrosatellites and Multicopy Genes Reveals Novel Biological Functions Associated with Copy Number Variation of Large Tandem Repeats

Tandem repeats are common in eukaryotic genomes, but due to difficulties in assaying them remain poorly studied. Here, we demonstrate the utility of Nanostring technology as a targeted approach to perform accurate measurement of tandem repeats even at extremely high copy number, and apply this technology to genotype 165 HapMap samples from three different populations and five species of non-human primates. We observed extreme variability in copy number of tandemly repeated genes, with many loci showing 5–10 fold variation in copy number among humans. Many of these loci show hallmarks of genome assembly errors, and the true copy number of many large tandem repeats is significantly under-represented even in the high quality ‘finished’ human reference assembly. Importantly, we demonstrate that most large tandem repeat variations are not tagged by nearby SNPs, and are therefore essentially invisible to SNP-based GWAS approaches. Using association analysis we identify many cis correlations of large tandem repeat variants with nearby gene expression and DNA methylation levels, indicating that variations of tandem repeat length are associated with functional effects on the local genomic environment. This includes an example where expansion of a macrosatellite repeat is associated with increased DNA methylation and suppression of nearby gene expression, suggesting a mechanism termed “repeat induced gene silencing”, which has previously been observed only in transgenic organisms. We also observed multiple signatures consistent with altered selective pressures at tandemly repeated loci, suggesting important biological functions. Our studies show that tandemly repeated loci represent a highly variable fraction of the genome that have been systematically ignored by most previous studies, copy number variation of which can exert functionally significant effects. We suggest that future studies of tandem repeat loci will lead to many novel insights into their role in modulating both genomic and phenotypic diversity.
Scaling of coercivity in a 3d random anisotropy model

Abstract The random-anisotropy Heisenberg model is numerically studied on lattices containing over ten million spins. The study is focused on hysteresis and metastability due to topological defects, and is relevant to magnetic properties of amorphous and sintered magnets. We are interested in the limit when ferromagnetic correlations extend beyond the size of the grain inside which the magnetic anisotropy axes are correlated. In that limit the coercive field computed numerically roughly scales as the fourth power of the random anisotropy strength and as the sixth power of the grain size. Theoretical arguments are presented that provide an explanation of numerical results. Our findings should be helpful for designing amorphous and nanosintered materials with desired magnetic properties.
Streamlining grading toward better feedback

CS50 is Harvard University's introductory course aimed at majors and non-majors alike. Each week, students complete programming assignments and have traditionally received feedback from staff in the form of comments on PDFs of their code. Staff have historically reported spending significant amounts of time grading because of bottlenecks that included generating PDF documents and manually emailing feedback to students. Because we preferred that staff spend less of their time on grading logistics and more time providing feedback and helping students online or in person, we set out to improve the efficiency of the grading process.In Fall 2012, we developed and deployed CS50 Submit, a web-based utility through which staff can leave feedback for students via inline "sticky notes." Following the introduction of CS50 Submit, staff reported grading for 10% fewer hours (i.e., 42 minutes) per week and 13% fewer minutes (i.e., 4 minutes) per student, even while providing as much or more feedback. Meanwhile, we observed significantly higher levels of engagement with the course's online discussion board among staff, suggesting a more favorable distribution of staff workload. With CS50 Submit, we have also been able to audit exactly how much time staff spent grading each week in order to identify additional bottlenecks.Using CS50 Submit, we also observed that, on average, 9% of students each week never read their graders' comments, with a peak one week of 14%. The number of students who did not read feedback increased with time, which has led us to question whether asynchronous, textual comments are the most effective feedback mechanisms for students. In future terms, we plan to experiment with in-person, interactive means of delivering feedback to students.In this paper, we present CS50 Submit and the insights it has yielded into the behavior of students and staff alike.
Chiral decomposition in the electronic structure of graphene multilayers

and byhopes that these elegantly tunable systems might be usefulelectronic materials. In this paper, we demonstrate an unan-ticipated low-energy property of graphene multilayers, whichfollows from an interplay between interlayer tunneling andthe chiral properties of low-energy quasiparticles in an iso-lated graphene sheet. Our conclusions apply in the strongestform to models with only nearest-neighbor interlayer tunnel-ing, but are valid over a broad ﬁeld range as we explainbelow. We ﬁnd that the low-energy band structure of anygraphene multilayer consists of a set of independent pseu-dospin doublets. Within each doublet, the bands are de-scribed by a pseudospin Hamiltonian of the form
More progress defining the crosstalk between multiple myeloma and mesenchymal stem cells of the bone marrow

In this issue, Garderet et al. [1] report that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) recovered from the bone marrow of individuals with multiple myeloma are distinctly different from MSCs recovered from eq...
Internet-based learning and applications for critical care medicine.

Purpose:Recent changes in duty hour allowances and economic constraints are forcing a paradigm shift in graduate medical education in the United States. Internet-based learning is a rapidly growing...
Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors versus angiotensin receptor blockers for end-stage renal disease/mortality in type 2 diabetes

Abstract Aims To compare angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) development and all-cause mortality in veterans with macroalbuminuria and with newly documented type 2 diabetes. Methods A retrospective cohort study utilizing data from the national Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) databases. The study followed 5166 subjects without a history of use of ACEIs or ARBs. To control for differences in baseline characteristics between groups, comparisons of subjects ACEIs and ARBs were made by incorporating propensity scores analysis into multivariate logistic regression. This resulted in adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for ESRD development and all-cause mortality. Results The sample was followed up to five years with a mean follow-up of three years. Subjects taking ACEIs has lower odds of ESRD development (OR, 0.33 [95% CI, 0.13–0.82]) and all-cause mortality (OR, 0.10 [95% CI, 0.04–0.21]) than ARBs. Conclusions This study shows that ACEIs are associated with lower ESRD development and all-cause mortality than ARBs. This may have implications for guidelines which currently suggest that these two therapeutic classes provide similar benefits in people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes and macroalbuminuria.
Simplified concanavalin-A sepharose adsorption method for separation of cone visual pigments from rhodopsin.

Abstract Batch adsorption of chicken photoreceptor extract using Concanavalin-A Sepharose enables separation of rod and cone pigments and separation of cone pigments of different color sensitivity. In earlier work, column separations using the same adsorption medium, although effective, with high resolution, were slow, demanding and required many differential bleachings of column fractions for analysis. It is shown here that affinity separations can be performed in the batch adsorption mode to purify cattle, frog and chicken rhodopsin. These procedures are more rapid and much more convenient. An extract from the chicken retina can rapidly be separated into four fractions, including three highly enriched (80% or more) visual pigment fractions; (1) extraneous proteins, carotenoids and phospholipids; (2) short wavelength-sensitive pigments; (3) iodopsin; and (4) rhodopsin. While the resolution is not as great as that of the columns, the selectivity is sufficient to produce cone pigments, which are only slightly contaminated with rhodopsin and free of other proteins, either to experiment with directly or to enable heavier loading on high resolution columns. The method is adaptable both to highly labile pigments and to very small quantities, neither of which perform well in column separations.
MEK Signaling Is Required for Phosphorylation of eIF2α following Amino Acid Limitation of HepG2 Human Hepatoma Cells

The mammalian amino acid response (AAR) pathway is up-regulated by protein or amino acid depletion. This pathway involves detection of uncharged tRNA by the GCN2 kinase, phosphorylation of the translation initiation factor eIF2α (eukaryotic initiation factor 2α), and, through subsequent translational control, enhanced de novo synthesis of the transcription factor ATF4. The present studies demonstrate that inhibition of MEK activation in HepG2 human hepatoma cells by PD98059 or U0126 blocked the increased phosphorylation of eIF2α and ATF4 synthesis triggered by amino acid limitation, showing that the AAR requires activation of the MEK-ERK pathway. Inhibitors of the JNK or p38 MAPK pathways were ineffective. Consequently, inhibition of MEK activation blocked transcriptional induction of ATF4 target genes, but the induction was rescued by overexpression of ATF4 protein. Furthermore, the enhanced ERK phosphorylation following amino acid deprivation required GCN2 kinase activity and eIF2α phosphorylation. Inhibition of protein phosphatase 1 action on phospho-eIF2α by knockdown of GADD34 did not block the sensitivity to PD98059, suggesting that MEK functions to enhance GCN2-dependent eIF2α phosphorylation rather than suppressing dephosphorylation. Collectively, these results document a critical interdependence between the MEK-ERK MAPK signaling pathway and the amino acid stress-activated pathway.
Senescent change in tissue weight and immunoreactive β-endorphin, enkephalin, and vasopressin in eight regions of C57BL/6J mouse brain and pituitary

Tissue weights and immunoreactive (IR) content and concentration of beta-endorphin, enkephalin, and vasopressin were assayed for senescent change in anterior pituitary, neurointermediate pituitary, hypothalamus, hippocampus, striatum, dorsolateral cortex, and pons-medulla, as well as residual brain samples remaining after the other dissections. Groups of naive male C57BL/6J mice, 8-12 months old and 28-32 months old, served as subjects. Old mice exhibited significant decline in anterior pituitary and hippocampus weight. Significant increases with age were found in pons-medulla weight. IR beta-endorphin content decreased in hypothalamus and neurointermediate pituitary. IR enkephalin decreased in striatum and dorsolateral cortex. IR vasopressin content increased in hypothalamus and residual brain. Assays were replicated in later experiments using additional subjects, for total Ns of up to 54 mice. Although significant overall results were always consistent in direction from replication to replication, the magnitude of age change exhibited considerable variability. Such results suggest that single experiments on age changes in neuropeptides, particularly those giving negative results, should be carefully scrutinized and replicated before their acceptance as evidence for a transmitter's stability or instability throughout the lifespan.
Microfilaments in the polar lobe constriction of fertilized eggs of Ilyanassa obsoleta.

GARY W. CONRAD, DANIEL C . WILLIAMS, F. RUDOLF TURNER, KENNETH M. NEWROCK and RUDOLF A. RAFF. From the Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506, Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, Salisbury Cove, Maine 04672, and Department of Zoology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47401 . Drs. Conrad and Williams are from Kansas State University and Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory . Drs . Turner, Newrock, and Raff are from Indiana University.
TRIP8b Splice Variants Form a Family of Auxiliary Subunits that Regulate Gating and Trafficking of HCN Channels in the Brain

Hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-regulated (HCN) channels, which generate the I(h) current, mediate a number of important brain functions. The HCN1 isoform regulates dendritic integration in cortical pyramidal neurons and provides an inhibitory constraint on both working memory in prefrontal cortex and spatial learning and memory in the hippocampus. Altered expression of HCN1 following seizures may contribute to the development of temporal lobe epilepsy. Yet the regulatory networks and pathways governing HCN channel expression and function in the brain are largely unknown. Here, we report the presence of nine alternative N-terminal splice forms of the brain-specific cytoplasmic protein TRIP8b and demonstrate the differential effects of six isoforms to downregulate or upregulate HCN1 surface expression. Furthermore, we find that all TRIP8b isoforms inhibit channel opening by shifting activation to more negative potentials. TRIP8b thus functions as an auxiliary subunit that provides a mechanism for the dynamic regulation of HCN1 channel expression and function.
Visuo-spatial processing and executive functions in children with specific language impairment

Background: Individual differences in complex working memory tasks reflect simultaneous processing, executive functions, and attention control. Children with specific language impairment (SLI) show a deficit in verbal working memory tasks that involve simultaneous processing of information.Aims: The purpose of the study was to examine executive functions and visuo‐spatial processing and working memory in children with SLI and in their typically developing peers (TLD). Experiment 1 included 40 children with SLI (age = 5;3–6;10) and 40 children with TLD (age = 5;3–6;7); Experiment 2 included 25 children with SLI (age = 8;2–11;2) and 25 children with TLD (age = 8;3–11;0). It was examined whether the difficulties that children with SLI show in verbal working memory tasks are also present in visuo‐spatial working memory.Methods & Procedures: In Experiment 1, children's performance was measured with three visuo‐spatial processing tasks: space visualization, position in space, and design copying. The stimuli in ...
Measuring the effect of U.S. office of management and budget circular A-130: A case study☆

Abstract The Office of Management and Budget plays a significant role in federal information policy. This paper presents a case study that measures the effect of OMB Circular A-130 on the publishing program of a specific agency, the U.S. Department of Labor. The study suggests that A-130 was a contributing factor in a decline in service publications coupled with a smaller increase in administrative publications and that such a result may have been an outcome desired by the framers of the policy. The author concludes that while Reagan administration information policies may have been effective in the short run in reducing publications that the policy makers would consider “unnecessary,” the long-term effect is uncertain.
When Smart Groups Fail

In this study I investigated how collaborative interactions influence problem-solving outcomes. Conversations of twelve 6th-grade triads were analyzed utilizing quantitative and qualitative methods. Neither prior achievement of group members nor the generation of correct ideas for solution could account for between-triad differences in problem-solving outcomes. Instead, both characteristics of proposals and partner responsiveness were important correlates of the uptake and documentation of correct ideas by the group. Less successful groups ignored or rejected correct proposals, whereas more successful groups discussed or accepted them. Conversations in less successful groups were relatively incoherent as measured by the extent that proposals for solutions in these groups were connected with preceding discussions. Performance differences observed in triads extended to subsequent problem-solving sessions during which all students solved the same kinds of problems independently. These findings suggest that t...
Journalism on the Spot: Ethical Dilemmas When Covering Trauma and the Implications for Journalism Education

When covering traumatic events, novice journalists frequently face situations they are rarely prepared to resolve. This paper highlights ethical dilemmas faced by journalists who participated in a focus group exploring the news media's trauma coverage. Major themes included professional obligations versus ethical responsibilities, journalists' perceived status and roles, permissible harms, and inexperience. Instructional classroom simulations based on experiential learning theory can bridge the gap between the theory of ethical trauma reporting and realities journalists face when covering events that are often chaotic and unpredictable by their very nature. A simulation outline that can be used by journalism instructors is provided.
System for driving 2D infrared emitter arrays at cryogenic temperatures

The CVORG group at the University of Delaware is responsible for designing and developing a test platform for the operation and characterization of a 512×512 array of infrared LED emitters. This platform consists mainly of an integrated circuit responsible for driving current to the LEDs, a package to which the driver and LEDs can be mounted, and a cryogenic dewar used to run tests at 77K. The fabrication of the driver read-in integrated circuit, or RIIC, was completed using a 0.5μm CMOS process from OnSemiconductor. Because of the size of the array, stitching techniques were used to create the 3.3cm×3.3cm chip. The cryogenic package is a custom 6-layer printed circuit board (PCB) plated in a soft wire-bondable gold. Finally, modifications were made to the cryogenic dewar to allow us to properly interface with the RIIC.