cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Histochemistry of flight muscles in the jamaican fruit bat, Artibeus jamaicensis: Implications for motor control

Two fast-twitch fiber types are histochemically identified in the primary flight muscles of Artibeus jamaicensis. These are classified as type IIa and IIb according to an acid-preincubation staining protocol for myosin ATPase. All fibers in the bat flight muscles exhibit relatively intense staining properties for NADH-TR, suggesting a high oxidative capacity. The glycolytic potential of all fibers is rather low, as assessed by stains for alpha-GPD. This two-type histochemical profile appears to parallel biphasic electromyographic patterns observed in these muscles and leads us to propose that flight muscle histochemistry and activation are mediated by a "two-gear" neuromuscular control system. In contrast, earlier studies on Tadarida brasiliensis demonstrate the existence of a "one-gear" neuromuscular control system, exemplified by the presence of one fiber type. These observations are discussed with respect to the natural history and flight styles of several species.
Effect of Inclusions on Densification: II, Numerical Model

Experimental studies conducted in conjunction with a numerical analysis of strain-rate gradients have established the origin of the damage process that occurs upon the densification of powders containing nonsintering inclusions and reinforcements. The underlying phenomenon is the development of localized compressive strains in the porous matrix, both around high-aspect ratio reinforcements and between closely spaced reinforcements. These regions of compression densify first and then support grain growth. This process produces nondeformable networks that constrain the shrinkage of the adjacent, porous matrix. The constraint causes desintering and cracklike void formation in the lowdensity regions. The variables shown to be of importance are the volume fraction and aspect ratio of the reinforcements. The process is shown to be sensitive to the green density, such that a high initial density reduces initial damage and lowers the differential in densification.
Deformation experiments using synchrotron X-rays: in situ stress and strain measurements at high pressure and temperature

Abstract An experimental technique for in situ stress and strain measurements at high pressure and temperature using synchrotron X-rays has been developed at the X17B beamline of the National Synchrotron Light Source. The strain is measured by correlating sample-length marks in recorded X-ray radiographs. The stress is measured by simultaneously collecting energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction patterns of the sample in two perpendicular diffraction planes. Differential stress in the sample is derived from the different lattice strains along the different orientations relative to principal stress direction. Example measurements are conducted to study rheological properties of fayalite. Accuracy of the measurement is about 10–100 MPa for stress and about 10 −4 for strain.
Prolonged disengagement from distractors near the hands

Because items near our hands are often more important than items far from our hands, the brain processes visual items near our hands differently than items far from our hands. Multiple experiments have attributed this processing difference to spatial attention, but the exact mechanism behind how spatial attention near our hands changes is still under investigation. The current experiments sought to differentiate between two of the proposed mechanisms: a prioritization of the space near the hands and a prolonged disengagement of spatial attention near the hands. To differentiate between these two accounts, we used the additional singleton paradigm in which observers searched for a shape singleton among homogenously shaped distractors. On half the trials, one of the distractors was a different color. Both the prioritization and disengagement accounts predict differently colored distractors near the hands will slow target responses more than differently colored distractors far from the hands, but the prioritization account also predicts faster responses to targets near the hands than far from the hands. The disengagement account does not make this prediction, because attention does not need to be disengaged when the target appears near the hand. We found support for the disengagement account: Salient distractors near the hands slowed responses more than those far from the hands, yet observers did not respond faster to targets near the hands.
Dissimilatory Metal Reduction

Microorganisms can enzymatically reduce a variety of metals in metabolic processes that are not related to metal assimilation. Some microorganisms can conserve energy to support growth by coupling the oxidation of simple organic acids and alcohols, H2, or aromatic compounds to the reduction of Fe(III) or Mn(IV). This dissimilatory Fe(III) and Mn(IV) reduction influences the organic as well as the inorganic geochemistry of anaerobic aquatic sediments and ground water. Microorganisms that use U(VI) as a terminal electron acceptor play an important role in uranium geochemistry and may be a useful tool for removing uranium from contaminated environments. Se(VI) serves as a terminal electron acceptor to support anaerobic growth of some microorganisms. Reduction of Se(VI) to Se(O) is an important mechanism for the precipitation of selenium from contaminated waters. Enzymatic reduction of Cr(VI) to the less mobile and less toxic Cr(III), and reduction of soluble Hg(II) to volatile Hg(O) may affect the fate of these compounds in the environment and might be used as a remediation strategy. Microorganisms can also enzymatically reduce other metals such as technetium, vanadium, molybdenum, gold, silver, and copper, but reduction of these metals has not been studied extensively.
Constraint-Induced Movement therapy can improve hemiparetic progressive multiple sclerosis. Preliminary findings

ObjectiveTo evaluate whether Constraint-Induced Movement therapy (CI therapy) may benefit chronic upper extremity hemiparesis in progressive multiple sclerosis (MS).MethodsFive patients with progressive MS, who had chronic upper extremity hemiparesis and evidence for learned non-use of the paretic limb in the life situation, underwent 30 hours of repetitive task training and shaping for the paretic limb over 2–10 consecutive weeks, along with physical restraint of the less-affected arm and a “transfer package” of behavioral techniques to reinforce treatment adherence.ResultsThe patients showed significantly improved spontaneous, real-world limb use at post-treatment and 4 weeks post-treatment, along with improved fatigue ratings and maximal movement ability displayed in a laboratory motor test.Conclusions The findings suggest for the first time that slowly progressive MS may benefit from CI therapy. Further studies are needed to determine the retention of treatment responses.
Towards the global elimination of brain damage due to iodine deficiency—the role of the International Council for Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders

762 International Council for Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders, C/Centre for Health Promotion, Women’s and Children’s Hospital, 72 King William Road, North Adelaide, SA 5006, Australia. E-mail: iccidd@a011.aone.net.au made up of scientists and public health professionals from a range of disciplines available to assist national programmes; (iii) The development of effective national programmes through the UN System.
Disease-associated Mutations Inactivate AMP-Lysine Hydrolase Activity of Aprataxin

Ataxia-oculomotor apraxia syndrome 1 is an early onset cerebellar ataxia that results from loss of function mutations in the APTX gene, encoding Aprataxin, which contains three conserved domains. The forkhead-associated domain of Aprataxin mediates protein-protein interactions with molecules that respond to DNA damage, but the cellular phenotype of the disease does not appear to be consistent with a major loss in DNA damage responses. Disease-associated mutations in Aprataxin target a histidine triad domain that is similar to Hint, a universally conserved AMP-lysine hydrolase, or truncate the protein NH2-terminal to a zinc finger. With novel fluorigenic substrates, we demonstrate that Aprataxin possesses an active-site-dependent AMP-lysine and GMP-lysine hydrolase activity that depends additionally on the zinc finger for protein stability and on the forkhead associated domain for enzymatic activity. Alleles carrying any of eight recessive mutations associated with ataxia and oculomotor apraxia encode proteins with huge losses in protein stability and enzymatic activity, consistent with a null phenotype. The mild presentation allele, APTX-K197Q, associated with ataxia but not oculomotor apraxia, encodes a protein with a mild defect in stability and activity, while enzyme encoded by the atypical presentation allele, APTX-R199H, retained substantial function, consistent with altered and not loss of activity. The data suggest that the essential function of Aprataxin is reversal of nucleotidylylated protein modifications, that all three domains contribute to formation of a stable enzyme, and that the in vitro behavior of cloned APTX alleles can score disease-associated mutations.
Effects of Temperature and Reagent Concentration on the Morphology of Chemically Vapor Deposited β‐Ta2O5

Crystalline β-Ta2O5 coatings were deposited on hot-isostatically-pressed Si3N4 by reacting TaCl5 with H2 and CO2 in the temperature range of 1000°–1300°C and at a pressure of 660 Pa. The Ta2O5 coatings generally consisted of wellcoalesced 2–3 μm grains, resulting in the formation of a nonporous coating morphology. However, the presence of microcracks on the as-deposited surface was consistently observed. The surface morphology, texture, and growth rate of the coatings were examined as a function of deposition parameters.
Gendered Races Implications for Interracial Marriage, Leadership Selection, and Athletic Participation

Six studies explored the overlap between racial and gender stereotypes, and the consequences of this overlap for interracial dating, leadership selection, and athletic participation. Two initial studies captured the explicit and implicit gender content of racial stereotypes: Compared with the White stereotype, the Asian stereotype was more feminine, whereas the Black stereotype was more masculine. Study 3 found that heterosexual White men had a romantic preference for Asians over Blacks and that heterosexual White women had a romantic preference for Blacks over Asians; preferences for masculinity versus femininity mediated participants' attraction to Blacks relative to Asians. The pattern of romantic preferences observed in Study 3 was replicated in Study 4, an analysis of the data on interracial marriages from the 2000 U.S. Census. Study 5 showed that Blacks were more likely and Asians less likely than Whites to be selected for a masculine leadership position. In Study 6, an analysis of college athletics showed that Blacks were more heavily represented in more masculine sports, relative to Asians. These studies demonstrate that the gender content of racial stereotypes has important real-world consequences.
Preaching to the Choir: Americans Prefer Communicating to Copartisan Elected Officials

Past work suggests that partisan attachments isolate citizens from encountering elite messages contrary to their points of view. Here, we present evidence that partisan attachments not only serve to filter the information citizens receive from political elites; they also work in the other direction, isolating politicians from encountering potentially contrary perspectives from citizens. In particular, we hypothesized that Americans prefer expressing their opinions to politicians who share their party identification and avoid contacting outpartisan politicians. Three studies—drawing on a mixture of observational, field experimental, and natural experimental approaches—support this hypothesis: Citizens prefer to “preach to the choir,” contacting legislators of the same partisan stripe. In light of evidence that contact from citizens powerfully affects politicians’ stances and priorities, these findings suggest a feedback loop that might aggravate political polarization and help explain how politicians of different parties could develop different perceptions of the same constituencies.
Financial Contracting and the Specialization of Assets

We analyze the nature of financial contracting when an entrepreneur can choose the specificity of investments and financial contracts are incomplete. Investing in project specific assets increases productivity but decreases liquidation value. This creates a strategic incentive to specialize assets to decrease the bargaining power of the financier when debt financing is used. When the financier can contribute to the project, equity financing may be feasible if the entrepreneur is willing to take the firm public in order to make cash flows contractible and benefit from the financier's input. The entrepreneur faces a tension between going public, which is costly but induces the financier to exert effort, and remaining private, which limits the opportunities for contracting but allows the entrepreneur to divert cash flows. We predict that firms with greater opportunity to specialize will be mostly financed by equity, which results in optimal investment and exit decisions.
Data-Centric Visual Sensor Networks for 3D Sensing

Visual Sensor Networks (VSNs) represent a qualitative leap in functionality over existing sensornets. With high data rates and precise calibration requirements, VSNs present challenges not faced by today's sensornets. The power and bandwidth required to transmit video data from hundreds or thousands of cameras to a central location for processing would be enormous. A network of smart cameras should process video data in real time, extracting features and three-dimensional geometry from the raw images of cooperating cameras. These results should be stored and processed in the network, near their origin. New content-routing techniques can allow cameras to find common features--critical for calibration, search, and tracking. We describe a novel query mechanism to mediate access to this distributed datastore, allowing high-level features to be described as compositions in space-time of simpler features.
Direct demonstration that autologous bone marrow transplantation for solid tumors can return a multiplicity of tumorigenic cells

Patients with solid tumors are increasingly being treated by autologous bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Although response rates appear to be increased, disease recurrence is the commonest cause of treatment failure. Whether relapse is entirely due to residual disease in the patient or arises also from infiltrating malignant cells contained in the autologous marrow transplant has not been resolved. If the latter explanation is correct, then purging would be required as part of the transplantation procedure. We used retrovirally mediated transfer of the neomycin-resistance gene to mark BM harvested from eight patients with neuroblastoma in clinical remission. The marked marrow cells were subsequently reinfused as part of an autologous BMT. At relapse, we sought the marker gene in malignant cell populations. Three patients have relapsed, and in each the marker gene was detected by phenotypic and genetic analyses of resurgent malignant cells at medullary and extramedullary sites. Analysis of neuroblast DNA for discrete marker gene integration sites suggested that at least 200 malignant cells, each capable of tumor formation, were introduced with the autologous marrow transplant and contributed to relapse. Thus, autologous BMTs administered to patients with this solid tumor may contain a multiplicity of malignant cells that subsequently contribute to relapse. The marker-gene technique we describe should permit evaluation of the mechanisms of relapse and the efficacy of purging in patients receiving autologous marrow transplantation for other solid tumors that infiltrate the marrow.
Framework Cationization by Preemptive Coordination of Open Metal Sites for Anion-Exchange Encapsulation of Nucleotides and Coenzymes.

Cationic frameworks can selectively trap anions through ion exchange, and have applications in ion chromatography and drug delivery. However, cationic frameworks are much rarer than anionic or neutral ones. Herein, we propose a concept, preemptive coordination (PC), for targeting positively charged metal-organic frameworks (P-MOFs). PC refers to proactive blocking of metal coordination sites to preclude their occupation by neutralizing ligands such as OH(-) . We use 20 MOFs to show that this PC concept is an effective approach for developing P-MOFs whose high stability, porosity, and anion-exchange capability allow immobilization of anionic nucleotides and coenzymes, in addition to charge- and size-selective capture or separation of organic dyes. The CO2 and C2 H2 uptake capacity of 117.9 cm(3) g(-1) and 148.5 cm(3) g(-1) , respectively, at 273 K and 1 atm, is exceptionally high among cationic framework materials.
Cranial Variation and Size Allometry in Agouti paca from Ecuador

Nineteen measurements were taken on a series of 212 unknown-age skulls of Agouti paca from Pacific coastal Ecuador. Sex, age, individual variation, and size allometry of skull structures were analyzed. Eruption and wear patterns of the upper molars were used to establish age classes. Seventeen measurements were found to vary significantly with age, while none varied significantly with sex. Only one measurement showed significant interaction (age × sex). The cheek pouches, zygomatic plates, and rostrum were found to increase in size with significantly high rates of proportional change. The braincase showed a decrease in proportional size compared to the remainder of the skull.
Variable Range Hopping Conduction in BaTiO3 Ceramics Exhibiting Colossal Permittivity

Fast-fired barium titanate ceramics have been shown to exhibit room temperature colossal permittivity (er′ ≈ 105, tan δ ≈ 0.05 at 1 kHz) when synthesized via the spark plasma sintering technique. Broadband dielectric spectroscopy analysis is here utilized to identify the active conduction mechanisms in the compound. Analysis of the temperature-dependent bulk dc conductivity reveals that the bulk conduction in fast-fired barium titanate is the result of variable-range hopping with relatively short hopping distance (∼0.5 nm) compared to other colossal permittivity materials. A common equivalent circuit that can model the contributions of the different polarization mechanisms to both the dc conductivity and colossal permittivity is established.
Phylogenic relationships of Trichoderma harzianum causing mushroom green mold in Europe and North America to other species of Trichoderma from world-wide sources

Nucleotide sequences of internal transcribed spacers (ITS-1 and ITS-2) and the 5.8 S gene of the ribosomal DNA repeat were examined in 15 lines of Trichoderma spp. Six lines representing four bioty...
LXXIII. Observations on sulphurous æther, and sulphate of ætherine (the true sulphuric æther)

(1838). LXXIII. Observations on sulphurous aether, and sulphate of aetherine (the true sulphuric aether). The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science: Vol. 12, No. 77, pp. 474-480.
Hiding inside? Intracellular expression of non-glycosylated c-kit protein in cardiac progenitor cells

Cardiac progenitor cells including c-kit(+) cells and cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) play important roles in cardiac repair and regeneration. CDCs were reported to contain only small subpopulations of c-kit(+) cells and recent publications suggested that depletion of the c-kit(+) subpopulation of cells has no effect on regenerative properties of CDCs. However, our current study showed that the vast majority of CDCs from murine heart actually express c-kit, albeit, in an intracellular and non-glycosylated form. Immunostaining and flow cytometry showed that the fluorescent signal indicative of c-kit immunostaining significantly increased when cell membranes were permeabilized. Western blots further demonstrated that glycosylation of c-kit was increased during endothelial differentiation in a time dependent manner. Glycosylation inhibition by 1-deoxymannojirimycin hydrochloride (1-DMM) blocked c-kit glycosylation and reduced expression of endothelial cell markers such as Flk-1 and CD31 during differentiation. Pretreatment of these cells with a c-kit kinase inhibitor (imatinib mesylate) also attenuated Flk-1 and CD31 expression. These results suggest that c-kit glycosylation and its kinase activity are likely needed for these cells to differentiate into an endothelial lineage. In vivo, we found that intracellular c-kit expressing cells are located in the wall of cardiac blood vessels in mice subjected to myocardial infarction. In summary, our work demonstrated for the first time that c-kit is not only expressed in CDCs but may also directly participate in CDC differentiation into an endothelial lineage.
Phenoxybenzamine and dibenamine interactions with calcium channel effectors of the muscarinic receptor.

Phenoxybenzamine and dibenamine were more effective at blocking muscarinic acetylcholine receptor-mediated cyclic GMP formation in mouse neuroblastoma cells (clone N1E-115) than at blocking radiolabeled antagonist binding to the muscarinic receptors of these cells. High calcium concentrations antagonized the effects of these 2-halogenoethylamines on the cyclic GMP response but not on the receptor binding. In addition, the apparent equilibrium dissociation constant for carbachol and the muscarinic receptor determined in the biological assay with the use of the 2-halogenoethylamines was several-fold greater than that determined by radioligand binding assays. These results suggest that phenoxybenzamine and dibenamine interact with calcium channels in addition to muscarinic receptors, and on the basis of these and other results, we propose a scheme for the interactions of agonists and antagonists with muscarinic receptors and their effectors (calcium channels).
Conscious dynamic versus unconscious static cystourethrography.

AbstractPrior to treatment 30 urologically symptomatic subjects were studied with dynamic voiding cystourethrography while conscious and with single shot high pressure static cystourethrography while anesthetized. The former technique did not surpass the latter in demonstrating reflux, lower urinary tract disease or urethral anatomical detail. It is concluded that (problem cases aside) when management requires anesthetizing the patient only the high pressure, single shot static method should be used and that omission of premedication and manipulation of anesthetic planes to produce voiding are neither necessary nor desirable.
Heuristic Information-Processing

Heuristic information-processing is a style of thinking that is characterized by using simple rules (heuristics) learned through experiences to make decisions and judgments efficiently or as easily as possible. People tend to process information heuristically when they are less motivated or lack ability to carefully examine the validity of information they receive, or when they are under time pressure. Heuristics may be activated automatically, with little awareness, by ways that information is presented or by various noncontent-related message cues such as source attractiveness or expertise. Media may promote heuristic processing by making some information or its aspects and cues more available. Whereas the use of heuristics reduces cognitive load and saves effort and time, it also often results in biased and erroneous judgments. Keywords: biases; cognitive processes; decision-making; framing; information-processing and cognitions; news reporting; risk; systematic processing
Communication Between Infectious Disease Physicians and US State and Local Public Health Agencies: Strengths, Challenges, and Opportunities

Strong working relationships between infectious disease (ID) physicians and public health have resulted in the early detection of emerging infectious threats. From May 6 through June 5, 2015, we su...
Physical Activity and Health Promotion for People With Multiple Sclerosis: Implementing Activities in the Community

Abstract The use of physical activity practice and health-promoting activities in the everyday lives of individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) has far-reaching and known benefits. This chapter outlines the inclusion of persons with disabilities within public health and health promotion efforts from an evidence-based perspective, while providing details on health-promoting programs and physical activities for individuals with MS. The chapter provides evidence and practical tips on implementing community-based physical activity and health promotion programs for individuals with MS and addresses a number of questions, such as How do I prescribe physical activity to an individual with MS? “What barriers do persons with MS face when engaging in physical activity?” “What physical activity programs and activities can be implemented in the community?” and “How can I encourage or promote physical activity in the community?” Key guidelines and evidence-based programs are highlighted.
Nuclear Engineering Internships Education

Regional enclaves of industry and associations of neighboring universities have devised formalized programs for providing internship experiences for graduate students and residencies for post-docto...
Eye Movement Disorders in Clinical Practice, By Shirley H. Wray : New York, Oxford University Press, 2014, 437 pages. ISBN-13: 9780199921805, $135.00 (Hardcover)

“This is a very personal book,” is the beginning sentence of Dr. Wray’s preface for this comprehensive textbook of eye movement disorders. In it she presents relevant neuro-anatomy and neuroscience...
Performance Improvement of a Two-Dimensional Flood Simulation Application in Hybrid Computing Environments

This paper presents a practical implementation of a 2D flood simulation model using hybrid distributed-parallel technologies including MPI, OpenMP, CUDA, and evaluations of its performance under various configurations that utilize these technologies. The main objective of this research work was to improve the computational performance of the flood simulation in a hybrid architecture. Modern desktops and small cluster systems owned by domain researchers are able to perform these simulations efficiently due to multicore and GPU computing devices, but lack the expertise needed to fully utilize software libraries designed to take advantage of the latest hardware. By leveraging knowledge of our experimentation environment, we were able to incorporate MPI and multiple GPU devices to improve performance over a single-process OpenMP version up to 18x, depending on the size of the input data. We discuss some observations that have significant effects on overall performance, including process-to-device mapping, communication strategies and data partitioning. The limitations of this work are discussed, and we propose some ideas to relieve or overcome such limitations in future work.
Jack the Giant Tamer: Poetry Writing in the Treatment of Paranoid Schizophrenia

The author provides a brief case report on the use of poetry writing in the treatment of a patient with a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia.
Differences in renal metabolism of insulin and cytochrome c

Kidneys degrade small proteins such as cytochrome c (CYT c) by the classic lysosomal pathway. However, because alternate routes for the transport and degradation of protein hormones have been identified in other tissues, we set out to determine whether extralysosomal sites might participate in the renal degradation of insulin. First, we compared the effect of the lysosomal inhibitor NH4Cl on insulin and CYT c degradation by isolated perfused rat kidneys. After kidneys were loaded with radiolabeled proteins to allow for absorption and transport to lysosomes, degradation was measured in the presence or absence of inhibitors. Control kidneys degraded 45 +/- 1.5% of the trapped CYT c per hour, and this was inhibited 62 +/- 1.3% by NH4Cl. In contrast, 86 +/- 2.4% of the trapped insulin was degraded per hour, and this was inhibited 26 +/- 4% by NH4Cl. Next we followed the subcellular distribution of 125I-labeled insulin in kidneys exposed to 125I-labeled insulin in vivo or when isolated and perfused. Under both circumstances the distribution of insulin on a linear sucrose gradient differed from that of the lysosomal enzyme N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase. In contrast, [14CH3]CYT c, injected in vivo, distributed over a density similar to the lysosomal marker. Thus important differences exist between the renal metabolism of CYT c, which proceeds in lysosomes, and the renal metabolism of insulin. These include rate of degradation, sensitivity to NH4Cl, and subcellular sites of localization. Accordingly, we suggest that insulin degradation may occur, at least in part, in a different compartment from the classic lysosomal site of protein degradation.
A moderate form of osteogenesis imperfecta caused by compound heterozygous LEPRE1 mutations

Abstract Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a genetic disorder causing skeletal fragility, multiple fractures, and other extraskeletal manifestations. Most cases are caused by mutations in COL1A1 or COL1A2. Recent investigations have discovered several other autosomal recessive genes responsible for OI. Among these genes is LEPRE1, which is involved in post-translational modifications of collagen. To date, more than 40 LEPRE1 mutations have been described. One of these mutations is carried by 1.5% of West Africans and 0.4% of African Americans, and is associated with OI Type VIII. We describe the case of a five year old male with a moderate form of OI and compound heterozygous LEPRE1 mutations (c.1080 + 1G > T; c.1646 T > G, p.Met549Arg). He was diagnosed shortly after birth following a skeletal survey demonstrating multiple healing fractures as well as lower extremity deformity suggestive of remote fractures. He was then without a fracture until a calvarial fracture at 18 months of age, a femur fracture at 4 years and seven months and a second femur fracture at 5 years and 4 months. He walked at age 14 months and has been an active boy. Pamidronate infusions began at seven weeks of age and were discontinued at three years of age due to increased bone mineral density and absence of fractures. Type VIII OI typically causes a severe to lethal phenotype presenting at birth with severe osteopenia, congenital fractures and other clinical manifestations. Only a few individuals have survived to childhood. This case description serves to expand the clinical phenotyping of this recessive form of OI into the more moderate spectrum.
Web Exclusive. Annals On Call - Oral Pharmacologic Therapy in Type 2 Diabetes: Choosing Therapy Wisely.

In this episode of Annals On Call, Dr. Centor interviews Dr. Michael J. Barry about the evidence for choosing oral drug therapy for patients with type 2 diabetes from among the expanding list of op...
Epigenetic Mechanisms of Quercetin and Other Flavonoids in Cancer Therapy and Prevention

Abstract Flavonoids are the most abundant polyphenols in fruits, vegetables, and plant-derived beverages, and their presence in food has been associated with many positive outcomes in terms of protection against overall mortality and degenerative diseases. Recent findings suggest that quercetin and other flavonoids may possess the capacity to counteract the adverse epigenetic regulation involved in various forms of cancer. Epigenetics is the study of heritable changes in gene expression independent from those occurring in the genome and includes histone modifications, DNA methylation, and posttranscriptional gene regulation by noncoding RNAs. In general, hypomethylation leads to activation of genes that cause cancer, whereas global DNA hypomethylation is common in the metastatic phase. In several cases, it has been shown that hypermethylation of tumor-suppressive genes determines the silencing of these genes that is commonly associated with cancer development. In recent years, several studies have demonstrated that dietary factors may influence the structure of chromatin and contribute to regulating both gene transcription and translation. Here, we review the role of quercetin and other flavonoids in regulating epigenetic processes in cancer cells. Being that a large part of the studies analyzed are based on preclinical models, we conclude that although promising, the impact of flavonoids in the regulation of key epigenetic mechanisms controlling cancer requires validation from clinical studies.
Proceedings of the 28th ACM SIGPLAN Conference on Programming Language Design and Implementation

The ACM SIGPLAN Conference on Programming Language and Design has its roots in the 1979 Symposium on Compiler Construction, and has grown to be the premiere conference in its area. While computer science has matured to include many other subfields, the core area PLDI represents needs to remain vital and current. The difficult job of the program committee in 2007, and the selection of a record number of papers, is a welcome sign of this vitality. . In my role as General Chair, I would like to thank our Program Chair, Professor Kathryn McKinley, Tutorial Chair, Professor Michelle Mills Strout, Poster Chair, Stephen Fink, and Submissions Chair, Maria Jump, as well as our program committee members, for their excellent job. I also acknowledge the strong organizational support from ACM and my assistant Cheryl Eng. Finally, I'd like to reflect on two defining moments in our community this year. Two giants in the area of programming languages, Joseph Goguen and Ken Kennedy, passed away, and our community mourns their passing. More joyously, the A.M. Turing Award this year goes to one of the founders of our area, Frances Allen, for "contributions that fundamentally improved the performance of computer programs in solving problems, and accelerated the use of high performance computing." We honor and celebrate Fran's achievements at FCRC and PLDI 2007.
Crystallographic studies of some cyclic benzylidene acetals: Key synthons for o-glycoamino acid building blocks and solid-phase oligosaccharide synthesis

Synthesis of methyl 2-azido-2-deoxy-4,6-O-benzylidene-β-D-galactopyranoside (1), one of the key components in the synthesis of O-glycoamino acids, was undertaken in order to synthesize Tn and TF(3) antigen building blocks. In pursuit of an alternative approach, benzylidenation of the crude D-galactal (2a) afforded methyl 2-deoxy-4,6-O-benzylidene-α-D-galactopyranoside (3c) and 3,4-O-benzylidene-D-galactal (3b) besides the expected 4,6-O-benzylidene-D-galactal (3a). Formation of compound 3c was explained based on the presence of methyl 2 deoxy-α-D-galactopyranoside (2b) isomer and/or trace amount of methanol in the crude mixture of deacetylated product of 2 prior to benzylidenation. On the other hand, formation of 3b in substantial quantities appears to be a thermodynamically controlled product and its formation is found to be common during prolonged Lewis-acid catalyzed benzylidenation reaction. Crystal structures of these important and useful precursors were deduced by X-ray diffraction methods to enumerate their complete molecular structure as well as to understand the effect of the cyclic acetal on the pyranose ring conformation. Compound 1 crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group P212121 with cell dimensions a = 5.058(7), b = 12.766(7), c = 22.557(7) A 3b crystallizes in the hexagonal space group P61 with cell dimensions a = 18.265(4), b = 18.265(3), c = 6.323(2) A 3c crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21 with cell dimensions a = 10.614(3), b = 4.963(2), c = 12.730(3) A, and β = 95.47(3)°.
Fluid–Structure Interactions on a Tunable Store in Complex Cavity Flow

Fluid–structure interactions were studied on a store with tunable structural natural frequencies in complex cavity flow. Different leading-edge geometries, doors, and internal inserts generated cav...
Ethics Education in Franciscan Undergraduate Psychology Programs.

Ethics education is an important goal in higher education overall. It is not clear how well psychology programs are meeting this goal. The American Psychology Association’s Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major (APA 2013) were created to support high-quality education in psychology. The Guidelines focus on five goals including Ethical and Social Responsibility in a Diverse World. This study is a review of ethics information available online from Franciscan Colleges and Universities. We accessed 24 Franciscan institutions and reviewed the available information provided by 22 of them. We asked several questions: Whether the psychology department provided a mission statement and was ethics addressed in it? What courses focused on ethics or mentioned ethics in their description? Were there other institutional ethics courses required for psychology majors? Was ethics mentioned in the institution mission? The results of this study indicate a need for more intentional inclusion of ethics in university and program mission statements as well as specific courses for the undergraduate psychology major.
Work and Mental Health

Work1 is a central activity and a principal source of identity for most adults. As such, the relationship between work and mental and emotional well-being is of substantial interest. The effects of work on well-being, however, cannot be effectively understood simply by examining individual experiences in particular work settings. Rather, work-related wellbeing is linked to macroeconomic and labor market structures that define opportunities for employment (and probabilities for unemployment), to characteristics of jobs, to workers’ positions in other social stratification systems, and to the intersection of work roles and other major roles, especially marital and parental roles.
An International Mechanism of Accountability for Adjudicating Corporate Violations of Human Rights? Problems and Perspectives

The inception within the Open-ended intergovernmental working group on business enterprises and human rights (OEIGWG) of the negotiations on a binding instrument to regulate in international human rights law the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises and the release in the 2018 of the Zero Draft of the legally binding instrument and of its complementary Optional Protocol, has re-ignited the long-standing debate concerning the creation of international monitoring mechanisms for adjudicating corporate violations of human rights. While monitoring mechanism currently configured under the Zero Drafts does not depart from those traditionally existing under similar bodies in the international system of monitoring and supervision of human rights treaties, other options usually advocated by scholars, other experts, and the civil society, also include at the creation of an international tribunal with the specific mandate to deal with human rights violations committed worldwide within corporate activities or, alternatively, and at the regional level, the enlargement of the jurisdiction of already existing courts and tribunals dealing with human rights.
Are young Americans carless across the United States? A spatial analysis

Abstract This study uses the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) data to investigate the most recent correlates of vehicle ownership among young Americans. This study performs a spatial analysis to examine the potentially non-stationary relationships between sociodemographic factors and vehicle ownership. Consistent with previous studies, modeling results from this study showed that young Americans are more likely to be carless than older adults. The spatial analysis answers the research question – in which regions(s) young Americans are even less likely to have a car. The results highlighted the Northeast states for the young American’s extra-lower vehicle ownership if the influences of all other factors are held constant. The cost of living and availability of transportation alternatives are possible reasons. Further, this study built separate models for young adults (25–34 years old) and three older age groups. The vehicle ownership correlates within the young adults are found to be generally consistent with the correlates among all adults. Among young adults, vehicle ownership is still significantly related to their gender, educational attainment, employment status, household characteristics, and travel demand. However, young adults’ vehicle ownership seems to be less sensitive to household income than mid-age adults’ (35–44 years old), perhaps because young people may not perceive financial stress such as child support and mortgage. This study contributes by using a spatial analysis approach to reveal the non-stationary correlates of vehicle ownership. This approach is useful for future travel behavior research and transportation policy considering the spatial heterogeneity.
Breeding for Broiler Production

(1951). Breeding for Broiler Production. World's Poultry Science Journal: Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 115-119.
Tight decomposition functions for mixed monotonicity

Mixed monotonicity is a property of a system’s vector field that says that the vector field admits a decomposition function, in a lifted space, that has some order-preserving properties. It is recently shown that this property allows one to efficiently over-approximate the system’s one-step reachable set with a hyperinterval, which is obtained by evaluating the vector field’s decomposition function at two points. Such decomposition functions are usually not unique and some decompositions may not be tight in the sense that the resulting hyperintervals are not the smallest ones that contain the exact one-step reachable set, which leads to conservative over-approximation. In this paper, we show that for a general class of functions, there exists a tight decomposition, which can be implicitly constructed as the solution of certain optimization problems. This implies that any function from ℝn to ℝm (hence any forward complete system) is mixed-monotone. However, the usefulness of the constructed tight decomposition functions is limited by the fact that it might not be possible to evaluate them efficiently. We show that under certain conditions, the tight decompositions can reduce to a function with explicit expression, which can be directly evaluated. This result suggests that it is not mixed monotonicity itself, but other extra properties, which lead to explicitly evaluatable decomposition functions, that enable efficient and tight hyperinterval over-approximation of reachable sets.
A Longitudinal Training Study to Delineate the Specific Causal Effects of Open Monitoring Versus Focused Attention Techniques on Emotional Health

Abstract Background Emotional dysregulation is a core mechanism of mood disorders. Meditation-based interventions can ameliorate a wide range of psychological problems. However, in order to develop structured treatment and preventative protocols for emotional disorders, it is crucial to understand how different types of specific meditation practices improve emotion regulation abilities. Mindfulness-based techniques are broadly separated into two practices – open monitoring (OM) and focused attention (FA). This study directly investigated the potential practice-specific benefits of OM versus FA techniques as tools for improving emotion regulation skills from pre-to-post training. Method Novice participants were randomized into an 8-week long OM or FA intervention that was previously developed through a science of behavior change approach. Healthy emotional skills were assessed using experience sampling methodology and inventories. Participants were assessed before, during, and after the interventions to investigate if the type of training may explain longitudinal changes in emotional skills. Results Both OM and FA attentional training practices improved acceptance of stressors and reduced distress and rumination. We also found divergent effects of OM versus FA training: Compared to OM, FA training improved abilities to use reappraisal strategy to regulate emotions in naturalistic settings at the end of 8-weeks training. FA training (versus OM) also led to greater self-regulation abilities. Conclusion Our findings suggest that a FA training has specific causal impacts on emotion regulatory skills, and it can be selectively implemented in interventions to target emotional disorders.
Minimally-invasive Technique for Injection into Rat Optic Nerve

The rat optic nerve is a useful model for stem cell regeneration research. Direct injection into the rat optic nerve allows delivery into the central nervous system in a minimally-invasive surgery without bone removal. This technique describes an approach to visualization and direct injection of the optic nerve following minor fascial dissection from the orbital ridge, using a conjunctival traction suture to gently pull the eye down and out. Representative examples of an injected optic nerve show successful injection of dyed beads.
Single-crystal 3C-SiC-on-insulator platform for integrated quantum photonics

Photonic quantum information processing and communication demand highly integrated device platforms, which can offer high-fidelity control of quantum states and seamless interface with fiber-optic networks simultaneously. Exploiting the unique quantum emitter characteristics compatible with photonic transduction, combined with the outstanding nonlinear optical properties of silicon carbide (SiC), we propose and numerically investigate a single-crystal cubic SiC-on-insulator (3C-SiCOI) platform toward multi-functional integrated quantum photonic circuit. Benchmarking with the state-of-the-art demonstrations on individual components, we have systematically engineered and optimized device specifications and functions, including state control via cavity quantum electrodynamics and frequency conversion between quantum emission and telecommunication wavelengths, while also considering the manufacturing aspects. This work will provide concrete guidelines and quantitative design considerations for realizing future SiCOI integrated photonic circuitry toward quantum information applications.
Monolayer Enucleation of Colcemid-Treated Human Cells and Polyethylene Glycol 400-Mediated Fusion of Microkaryoplasts (Microcells) with Whole Cells

Modern somatic cell genetics began with the observation that hybridization can be achieved by cell to cell fusion in culture (Barski et al., 1961). In recent years, this new era in the study of gene expression has produced many advances in hybridization technology. Hybridization techniques can be grouped into two general classes: (1) whole genome transfer, involving cell to cell fusion, and (2) partial genome transfer, involving the introduction of genome fragments into whole cells. Mouse-human whole-cell hybridization has been used extensively for human gene mapping (Ruddle and Creagan, 1975; McKusick and Ruddle, 1977) and has relied on the fact that human chromosomes are spontaneously eliminated from these hybrids. Lengthy cultivation, recloning, and analysis are necessary before accurate chromosome assignment is possible (Weiss and Green, 1967).
The Seven Stars, Allāt from ʿmn and Dusares from rqm: a new Safaitic astronomical text

This article studies a newly discovered Safaitic inscription from northern Jordan. The text contains the first clear attestation of the asterism “the Pleiades” as well as new divine titles for the ...