cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Glycine Betaine Reverses Osmotic Shock Induced Protein Destabilization in Living Cells

Cells utilize several mechanisms for adapting to changes in osmotic pressure. Bacteria, including Escherichia coli, can grow in a wide range of osmolarities. Increasing the external osmolarity (i.e., hyperosmotic shock) causes water efflux, reduction in cell volume and accumulation of osmolytes such as glycine betaine. This volume reduction increases the crowded nature of the cytoplasm, which is expected to affect protein stability. In contrast to traditional theory, which predicts that more crowded conditions can only increase stability, recent work shows that crowding can destabilize proteins through transient attractive interactions. Here, we quantify protein stability in living E. coli cells before and after osmotic shock in the presence and absence of glycine betaine. The 7-kDa N-terminal SH3 domain of Drosophila signal transduction protein drk (SH3) is used as the model protein because it exists in an equilibrium between a folded state and an unfolded ensemble. Labeling SH3 with a fluorine on its sole tryptophan facilitates NMR-based detection of both states simultaneously, allowing quantification of the free energy of unfolding in vitro and in living E. coli cells. We find that hyperosmotic shock decreases SH3 stability, consistent with the idea that weak interactions are important under physiologically relevant crowded conditions. Subsequent uptake of glycine betaine returns SH3 to the stability observed without osmotic shock. These results highlight the effect of transient interactions on protein stability in cells and provide a new explanation for why stressed cells accumulate osmolytes.
Comparisons of RNA-seq results for cryopreserved (CRYO) and formalin fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples.

e22211 Background: FFPE is the worldwide clinical standard for preservation of tissue samples. Although CRYO tissues are widely used for research, most gene expression assays in clinical use analyz...
Implementing COP 21

The global policy of halting climate change has only been decided upon in Paris 2015, as the implementation process has yet to start. Many more meetings and conferences are held by The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change almost monthly, but the real putting into effect of means and instruments that promote the COP21 goals is still lacking, at least from a global point of view. I will point out the problematic with the COP21 Agreement, employing two well-known social economics models and illustrating it with a few examples from the real world. The findings include that several countries face an energy-emissions conundrum that the climate change project must face.
Enhancing evaluation of cancer cachexia (CC) and sarcopenia through skeletal muscle mass (SMM) determination in patients (pts) with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), assessing at the L1 level on routine chest CT: A prospective study of accuracy for cancer patients.

e20725 Background: Sarcopenia and CC reportedly occur in up to 60% of pts with NSCLC and have been linked to several negative outcomes. SMM assessment by CT (SD < 1.2kg) is more accurate than Dual ...
Testing Mediators of Reduced Drinking for Veterans in Alcohol Care Management.

INTRODUCTION Alcohol Care Management (ACM) is a manualized treatment provided by behavioral health providers working in a primary care team aimed at increasing patients' treatment engagement and decreasing their alcohol use. Research has shown that ACM is effective in reducing alcohol consumption; however, the mechanisms of ACM are unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the mechanisms of change in ACM in the context of a randomized clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness of ACM. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study performed secondary data analysis of existing data from a larger study that involved a sample of U.S. veterans (N = 163) who met criteria for current alcohol dependence. Upon enrollment into the study, participants were randomized to receive either ACM or standard care. ACM was delivered in-person or by telephone within the primary care clinic and focused on the use of oral naltrexone and manualized psychosocial support. According to theory, we hypothesized several ACM treatment components that would mediate alcohol consumption outcomes: engagement in addiction treatment, reduced craving, and increased readiness to change. Parallel mediation models were performed by the PROCESS macro Model 4 in SPSS to test study hypotheses. The institutional review boards at each of the participating facilities approved all study procedures before data collection. RESULTS As hypothesized, results showed that treatment engagement mediated the relation between treatment and both measures of alcohol consumption outcomes, the percentage of alcohol abstinent days, and the percentage of heavy drinking days. Neither craving nor readiness to change mediated the treatment effect on either alcohol consumption outcome. CONCLUSIONS Findings suggest that ACM may be effective in changing drinking patterns partially due to an increase in treatment engagement. Future research may benefit from evaluating the specific factors that underlie increased treatment engagement. The current study provides evidence that alcohol use disorder interventions should aim to increase treatment engagement and reduce barriers to care.
Suppression of quantum noises in coherent atom lithography through squeezing

Abbe’s diffraction limit restricts the resolution of an optical imaging and lithography system. A coherent Rabi oscillation is shown to be able to overcome the diffraction limit in both optical and atom lithography. In previous studies, semiclassical theory is applied, where the driving field is treated as a classical light, and quantum fluctuation is neglected. Here, we show that the quantum fluctuation may reduce the visibility of the superresolution pattern. However, by squeezing the photon number fluctuation, we are able to significantly increase its visibility.
A practical implementation of subsalt Marchenko imaging with a Gulf of Mexico data set

ABSTRACTMarchenko redatuming allows one to use surface seismic reflection data to generate the seismic response from sources at the surface to any point in the subsurface. Without requiring much in...
Molecular Regulation of Vasculogenesis and Angiogenesis: Recent Advances and Future Directions

Major advances have occurred over the past two decades in our understanding of the development of the vasculature as well as its response to injurious stimuli in the context of disease. This chapter emphasizes the molecular regulation of vascular morphogenesis, the process that leads to interconnecting networks of endothelial cell (EC)-lined tubes in three-dimensional (3D) tissues. Importantly, the process of vascular morphogenesis depends on the interaction of ECs with extracellular matrices (ECMs) in a 3D matrix-specific manner. Recent studies indicate that specific combinations of signaling molecules control vascular morphogenesis in a 3D matrix-specific manner. In addition to ECM, other critical regulators of vascular morphogenesis include growth factors and cytokines, which stimulate and modulate morphogenic responses such as proliferation, motility, invasion, sprouting, and tube formation. In addition, these factors regulate the proliferation and recruitment of pericytes and vascular smooth muscle cells to developing vessels. The advances in our understanding of these events have been facilitated by technical advances and development of models of vascular morphogenesis in vitro and in vivo. Emphasis is placed on utilizing in vitro experimental approaches as a primary discovery tool to more rapidly elucidate fundamental molecule and signaling requirements controlling vascular morphogenesis during development, postnatal life, and under disease conditions.
The Relationship of Childhood Obesity with Cardiomyopathy and Heart Failure

Obesity causes structural and functional changes in the hearts of children, in addition to increasing cardiometabolic risk and predisposition to early coronary artery disease. In this chapter, we summarize the evidence of obesity-related cardiomyopathy and discuss the pathophysiology of its development. We also describe the current practices in its diagnosis and treatment in children. The evidence shows that obesity-related cardiac changes in childhood can eventually worsen cardiac function and increase the risk of heart failure in early adulthood. Thus, efforts to improve the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of obesity-related cardiomyopathy could improve not only length and quality of life for obese children but also produce substantial savings in future care.
Shock Wave Lithotripsy: Opinion – the Ideal Machine

Achieving optimal results with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy is dependent both on technical factors related to lithotriptor design as well as careful attention to technique during the performance of lithotripsy. Recent research suggests that lithotriptor designs employing broad focal zones and lower pressures (as existed in the original lithotriptor, the Dornier HM3) provide the best balance between effective stone fragmentation and minimal tissue effects. Ensuring adequate coupling during lithotripsy is critical. Stone fragmentation can also be enhanced by slowing the shock wave delivery rate. No matter what lithotriptor design is being utilized, it is likely that ramping up gradually on the pressures in f2 will minimize tissue effects. In summary, both technology and technique are important to achieving optimal outcomes with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy.
Nature of Legal Questions and Problems of Handling Them

Although it is true that not many students these days write about the concepts of “legal dispute” and “political dispute,” 1 it may be appropriate to examine the general notion of both “legal dispute” and “legal question” which may become relevant to Article 36 (3) and Article 96 (I) of the Charter respectively in the course of the handling of international disputes by the Security Council.
Cardiac balanced steady-state free precession MRI at 0.35 T: a comparison study with 1.5 T

Background While low-field MRI is disadvantaged by a reduced signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) compared to higher fields, it has a number of useful features such as decreased SAR and shorter T1, and has shown promise for diagnostic imaging. This study demonstrates the feasibility of cardiac balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) MRI at 0.35 T and compares cardiac bSSFP MRI images at 0.35 T with those at 1.5 T. Methods Cardiac images were acquired in 7 healthy volunteers using an ECG-gated bSSFP cine sequence on a 0.35 T superconducting MR system as well as a clinical 1.5 T system. Blood and myocardium SNR and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were computed. Subjective image scoring was used to compare the image quality between 0.35 and 1.5 T. Results Cardiac images at 0.35 T were successfully acquired in all volunteers. While the 0.35 T images were noisier than those at 1.5 T, blood, myocardium and papillary muscles could be clearly delineated. At 0.35 T, bSSFP images were acquired at flip angles as high as 150°. Maximum CNR was achieved at 130°. Image quality scoring showed that while at lower flip angles, the 0.35 T images had poorer quality than the 1.5 T, but with flip angles of 110 and 130, the image quality at 0.35 T had scores similar to those at 1.5 T. Conclusions This study demonstrates that cardiac bSSFP imaging is highly feasible at 0.35 T.
The Social Perception of Humanoid and Non-Humanoid Robots: Effects of Gendered and Machinelike Features

Previous research has shown that features of synthetic robot faces suggesting social categories produce predictable and consequential social judgments. Artificial robot faces that are feminine (versus masculine) and humanlike (versus machinelike) have been shown to be judged as warmer and to produce relatively higher levels of comfort, resulting in positive evaluations and a greater desire for engagement. Two studies pursued these questions using images of real robots. In Study 1, images of existing robots were used to manipulate gendered features and machineness. Study 2 used an assortment of images of real robots including non-humanoid exemplars that vary naturally in gendered features and machineness. Consistent results emerged from the two studies. In both studies, robots were evaluated more positively and produced a greater desire for contact to the degree that they were seen as humanlike and feminine. These results attest to the importance of social factors in predicting responses to robots. Implications for robot design and future research are discussed.
System design for a >1 kW in-band pumped thulium-doped fiber amplifier (Conference Presentation)

High power thulium-doped fibers rely on 793 nm pumping and cross-relaxation. While this approach has been historically successful, low optical-to-optical efficiencies and high thermal loads impede multi-kW power scaling. Another option is to in-band pump the final amplifier. In-band pumped thulium-doped fibers enable >80% efficiencies and low thermal loads. Design concepts and simulations for scaling thulium-doped fibers >1 kW with in-band pumping are discussed. Developing the high power 1.9 µm pump units, the incoherent fiber combiner, and the specially designed final amplifier are detailed. Requirements on the seed source (wavelength, power, etc.) are also described.
The Outcomes of Isolated Lateral Release in Patellofemoral Instability: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

There have been conflicting reports regarding the outcomes of lateral release when used in the management of patellofemoral instability. This systematic review and meta-analysis therefore aims to evaluate the outcomes of isolated lateral release in the management of patellofemoral instability. The review was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. All studies that reported the outcomes of isolated lateral release for recurrent patellofemoral dislocations were included. A total of 10 publications were included, with 204 knees. All studies consistently reported a decrease in the rates of patellofemoral dislocation (odds ratio [OR]
Main Definitions and Basic Facts

This chapter introduces the main characters that will appear in this book: sets, words, graphs, automata, rewriting systems, various kinds of (universal) algebras, varieties, free algebras (including free semigroups and groups) and subshifts. We also introduce the main properties of algebras that we are interested in: the Burnside property, the finite basis property, properties of the growth function and the growth series, etc.
Platinum compounds: their continued impact on ovarian cancer treatment

Abstract Ovarian cancer treatment became ‘platinum-based’ with the approval of cisplatin by the United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in 1979 based on work sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The drug proved to be dramatically effective in spite of its usually advanced stage at diagnosis. Emesis and nephro-, neuro- and oto-toxicities were major challenges frequently faced by patients during treatment. Carboplatin retained the efficacy of cisplatin against ovarian and other related cancers and displaced cisplatin as part of standard treatment during the last three decades. Refinements in treatment of these cancers have more recently come from understanding the role of DNA repair deficiencies as the cause of vulnerability to these platinum drugs, and the integration of drugs inhibiting cellular repair mechanisms, and finally by targeting the tumor micro-environment to recruit new blood vessels and cellular immunity.
AdvSPADE: Realistic Unrestricted Attacks for Semantic Segmentation

Due to the inherent robustness of segmentation models, traditional norm-bounded attack methods show limited effect on such type of models. In this paper, we focus on generating unrestricted adversarial examples for semantic segmentation models. We demonstrate a simple and effective method to generate unrestricted adversarial examples using conditional generative adversarial networks (CGAN) without any hand-crafted metric. The naive implementation of CGAN, however, yields inferior image quality and low attack success rate. Instead, we leverage the SPADE (Spatially-adaptive denormalization) structure with an additional loss item to generate effective adversarial attacks in a single step. We validate our approach on the popular Cityscapes and ADE20K datasets, and demonstrate that our synthetic adversarial examples are not only realistic, but also improve the attack success rate by up to 41.0\% compared with the state of the art adversarial attack methods including PGD.
Excess electrons bound to H2S trimer and tetramer clusters.

We have prepared the hydrogen sulfide trimer and tetramer anions, (H2S)3− and (H2S)4−, measured their anion photoelectron spectra, and applied high-level quantum chemical calculations to interpret the results. The sharp peaks at low electron binding energies in their photoelectron spectra and their diffuse Dyson orbitals are evidence for them both being dipole-bound anions. While the dipole moments of the neutral (H2S)3 and (H2S)4 clusters are small, the excess electron induces structural distortions that enhance the charge-dipolar attraction and facilitate the binding of diffuse electrons.
Racial Disparities in Bariatric Surgery Complications and Mortality Using the MBSAQIP Data Registry

Racial disparities in postoperative complications have been demonstrated in bariatric surgery, yet the relationship of race to complication severity is unknown. Adult laparoscopic primary bariatric procedures were queried from the 2015 and 2016 MBSAQIP registry. Adjusted logistic and multinomial regressions were used to examine the relationships between race and 30-day complications categorized by the Clavien-Dindo grading system. A total of 212,970 patients were included in the regression analyses. For Black patients, readmissions were higher (OR = 1.39, p < 0.0001) and the odds of a Grade 1, 3, 4, or 5 complication were increased compared with White patients (OR = 1.21, p < 0.0001; OR = 1.21, p < 0.0001; OR = 1.22, p = 0.01; and OR = 1.43, p = 0.04) respectively. The odds of a Grade 3 complication for Hispanic patients were higher compared with White patients (OR = 1.59, p < 0.0001). Black patients have higher odds of readmission and multiple grades of complications (including death) compared with White patients. Hispanic patients have higher odds of a Grade 3 complication compared with White patients. No significant differences were found with other races. Specific causes of these disparities are beyond the limitations of the dataset and stand as a topic for future inquiry.
Recent advances in three-dimensional microelectrode array technologies for in vitro and in vivo cardiac and neuronal interfaces

Three-dimensional microelectrode arrays (3D MEAs) have emerged as promising tools to detect electrical activities of tissues or organs in vitro and in vivo, but challenges in achieving fast, accurate, and versatile monitoring have consistently hampered further advances in analyzing cell or tissue behaviors. In this review, we discuss emerging 3D MEA technologies for in vitro recording of cardiac and neural cellular electrophysiology, as well as in vivo applications for heart and brain health diagnosis and therapeutics. We first review various forms of recent 3D MEAs for in vitro studies in context of their geometry, materials, and fabrication processes as well as recent demonstrations of 3D MEAs to monitor electromechanical behaviors of cardiomyocytes and neurons. We then present recent advances in 3D MEAs for in vivo applications to the heart and the brain for monitoring of health conditions and stimulation for therapy. A brief overview of the current challenges and future directions of 3D MEAs are provided to conclude the review.
Bridging the Gap between Expectation and Reality: Urban Planning and the Public Bus System in Abu Dhabi

In urban planning, governments usually hold the decision-making power to shape not only city landscapes but also people's lives with the promoted goals of social welfare. Although states expect their own version of ideal scenarios in mind when carrying out infrastructural developments, after competition, people in reality have their own ways of perceiving and utilizing state-made infrastructures and urban transportation, sometimes in alignment with government plan, and sometimes at odds with it. Abu Dhabi is one of the cities in the world in which the government planned out the whole city and created urban infrastructure from scratch, including the city bus system. Although the Abu Dhabi public buses started operating in 2008, car dependency is still high and many residents consider public buses to be inefficient and time consuming and only used by certain immigrant working population.
Patterns of purifying selection in marine microbes reveal optimization in the genetic code

Abstract Ocean microbes are responsible for about 50% of primary production on Earth, but selective forces governing their evolution are not well understood. We studied evolutionary conservation by examining single-nucleotide variants in the marine environment, and discovered strong purifying selection exerted across marine microbial genes. We show evidence demonstrating that this selection is driven by the environment, and especially by nitrogen availability. We further corroborate that nutrient availability drives this ‘resource-driven’ selection by showing stronger selection on highly expressed and extracellular genes, that are more resource-consuming. Finally, we show that the standard genetic code, along with amino acid abundances, facilitate nutrient conservation through robustness to mutations that increase nitrogen and carbon consumption. Notably, this optimization also applies to multiple taxa across all domains of Life, including the Human genome, and it manifests in code structure. Overall, we uncover overwhelmingly strong purifying selective pressure across marine microbial life that may have contributed to the structure of our genetic code.
Self-Similar Hot Accretion onto a Spinning Neutron Star: Matching the Outer Boundary Conditions

Medvedev & Narayan have described a hot accretion flow onto a spinning neutron star in which the gas viscously brakes the spin of the star. Their self-similar solution has the surprising property that the density, temperature and angular velocity of the gas at any radius are completely independent of the outer boundary conditions. Hence, the solution cannot be matched to a general external medium. We resolve this paradoxical situation by showing that there is a second self-similar solution which bridges the gap between the original solution and the external medium. This new solution has an extra degree of freedom which permits it to match general outer boundary conditions. We confirm the main features of the analytical results with a full numerical solution.
A produção de sentido em jovens secundaristas à luz da teoria de Viktor Frankl

This study addresses the theme of the production of meaning in the lives of young high school students. It aims to analyze intervening factors in the personal and professional choices of students of a state school in southern Brazil. With a qualitative methodology to a data collection, it takes place through a questionnaire on a Lickert Scale and open questions, in addition to the field diary and literature review, mainly in Viktor Frankl and his commentators. The material analysis considers Bardin in his proposal for Content Analysis. The results show young people who seek support from family members for personal and professional decision-making; exercise of relative autonomy and responsibility in the face of the challenges of professional life; ability to make choices, even in adversity; desire for meaning in the exercise of autonomy, responsibility and the pain and joy of choices; need for continuing education to consolidate the production of meaning. It concludes with the development and consolidation of the value of the production of meaning, autonomy and responsibility, both in personal and professional life, not only in youth but in all age groups.
Sexual Identity and Birth Outcomes: A Focus on the Moderating Role of Race-ethnicity:

Race-ethnic disparities in birth outcomes are well established, and new research suggests that there may also be important sexual identity disparities in birth weight and preterm birth. This study uses the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and is the first to examine disparities in birth outcomes at the intersection of race-ethnicity and sexual identity. We use ordinary least sqaures and logistic regression models with live births (n = 10,318) as the unit of analysis clustered on mother ID (n = 5,105), allowing us to adjust for preconception and pregnancy-specific perinatal risk factors as well as neighborhood characteristics. Results show a striking reversal in the effect of lesbian or bisexual identity on birth outcomes across race-ethnicities: For white women, a bisexual or lesbian identity is associated with better birth outcomes than their white heterosexual counterparts, but for Black and Latina women, it is associated with worse birth outcomes than their heterosexual peers.
Long-term Outcomes after Postnatal Cytomegalovirus Infection in Low Birthweight Preterm Infants: A Systematic Review.

Background Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common viral infection seen in newborns. Although postnatally acquired CMV (pCMV) infection rarely results in serious manifestations in term infants, preterm infants can develop severe clinical illness. However, the long-term implications of pCMV infection of preterm infants are unknown. Few robust studies on long-term outcomes of pCMV infection have been performed, and those reported often present conflicting results. Our objective was to assess the long-term outcomes for low birthweight (LBW) preterm infants after pCMV infection. Methods A systematic review of English and non-English articles using MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL, and Web of Science was conducted. Search strategies included a mix of keywords and database-specific subject headings for CMV and LBW infants. Editorials, comments, reviews and animal-only studies were excluded. Case reports, observational, experimental and randomized controlled trials that examined pCMV in preterm or VLBW infants and long-term (>1 month) impact of pCMV were included. Results pCMV infection in preterm infants is associated with increased risk for pulmonary and neurologic complications and increases length of stay. There is less evidence to suggest that pCMV is associated with necrotizing enterocolitis, ophthalmologic, audiologic and anthropomorphic complications in preterm infants. Conclusions Preterm infants with pCMV, especially those with symptomatic infection, may have long-term pulmonary and neurodevelopmental morbidity compared with their pCMV negative counterparts. Our results highlight the importance of pCMV detection and prevention in preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. Large prospective studies are needed to fully define outcomes and determine if treatment improves outcomes.
Discourse analysis of academic debate of ethics for AGI

Artificial general intelligence is a greatly anticipated technology with non-trivial existential risks, defined as machine intelligence with competence as great/greater than humans. To date, social scientists have dedicated little effort to the ethics of AGI or AGI researchers. This paper employs inductive discourse analysis of the academic literature of two intellectual groups writing on the ethics of AGI—applied and/or ‘basic’ scientific disciplines henceforth referred to as technicians (e.g., computer science, electrical engineering, physics), and philosophy-adjacent disciplines henceforth referred to as PADs (e.g., philosophy, theology, anthropology). These groups agree that AGI ethics is fundamentally about mitigating existential risk. They highlight our moral obligation to future generations, demonstrate the ethical importance of better understanding consciousness, and endorse a hybrid of deontological/utilitarian normative ethics. Technicians favor technocratic AGI governance, embrace the project of ‘solving’ moral realism, and are more deontologically inclined than PADs. PADs support a democratic approach to AGI governance, are more skeptical of deontology, consider current AGI predictions as fundamentally imprecise, and are wary of using AGI for moral fact-finding.
Computational multi-wavelength phase synthesis using convolutional neural networks [Invited]

Multi-wavelength digital holographic microscopy (MWDHM) provides indirect measurements of the refractive index for non-dispersive samples. Successive-shot MWDHM is not appropriate for dynamic samples and single-shot MWDHM significantly increases the complexity of the optical setup due to the need for multiple lasers or a wavelength tunable source. Here we consider deep learning convolutional neural networks for computational phase synthesis to obtain high-speed simultaneous phase estimates on different wavelengths and thus single-shot estimates of the integral refractive index without increased experimental complexity. This novel, to the best of our knowledge, computational concept is validated using cell phantoms consisting of internal refractive index variations representing cytoplasm and membrane-bound organelles, respectively, and a simulation of a realistic holographic recording process. Specifically, in this work we employed data-driven computational techniques to perform accurate dual-wavelength hologram synthesis (hologram-to-hologram prediction), dual-wavelength phase synthesis (unwrapped phase-to-phase prediction), direct phase-to-index prediction using a single wavelength, hologram-to-phase prediction, and 2D phase unwrapping with sharp discontinuities (wrapped-to-unwrapped phase prediction).
In and out and up and down with lac permease.

Publisher Summary This chapter highlights lactose (lac) permease transport system of Escherichia coli ( E.coli ). The accumulation of β -galactosides against a concentration gradient in E.coli is carried out by lac permease, which is a hydrophobic polytopic cytoplasmic membrane protein that catalyzes the coupled translocation of β -galactosides and H + with a stoichiometry of unity. Lac permease is encoded by lac Y gene—the second structural gene in the lac operon— cloned into a recombinant plasmid, and sequenced. Sequences within the N-terminal 170 amino acid residues of lac permease are considered important for insertion. A three-amino acid sequence at the end of the last putative transmembrane helix is critical for stability and activity once the protein is inserted into the membrane. Based on the spectroscopic analyses of the purified protein and the hydropathy profiling of the amino acid sequence, a secondary structure model has been proposed in which the protein has 12 hydrophobic domains in α -helical configuration that traverse the membrane in zig-zag fashion connected by hydrophilic loops. Exclusive support for the 12-helix model has been obtained by analyzing a large number of lac permease–alkaline phosphatase ( lac Y - phoA ) fusions. Although the permease appears to be functional as a monomer, certain paired in-frame deletions devoid of large transmembrane domains complement functionally when expressed together in an appropriate host cell.
Studies on Modified Hemoglobins IV. HYBRID HEMOGLOBINS CONTAINING PROTO- AND MESOHEMES AND THEIR OXYGENATION CHARACTERISTICS

Abstract An artificial hybrid hemoglobin, α(Meso)β(Proto), the α and β subunits of which contain meso- and protohemes, respectively, and its complementary hybrid, α(Proto)β(Meso), were prepared. These hybrid hemoglobins are indistinguishable from native protohemoglobin and artificial mesohemoglobin in terms of electrophoretic and molecular sieving characteristics. The visible absorption spectra of the hybrid hemoglobins show minor differences between them as well as from those of an equimolar mixture of proto- and mesohemoglobins. The Hill plot of the absorbance changes upon oxygenation of α(Proto)β(Meso) are independent of measuring wavelengths and give identical oxygenation parameters for the protoheme-containing α subunits and the mesoheme-containing β subunits. On the other hand, the Hill plot of the absorbance changes upon oxygenation of α(Meso)β(Proto) is dependent on measuring wavelengths as that of an equimolar mixture of proto- and mesohemoglobins. A method has been devised to calculate individual oxygenation parameters for the mesoheme-containing α subunits and the protoheme-containing β subunits in α(Meso)β(Proto). The comparison of the oxygenation parameters of the hybrids with those of proto- and mesohemoglobins suggests that the intricate intersubunit contacts which exist in the highly cooperative protohemoglobin may have been perturbed by the partial and complete substitutions of the prosthetic groups with mesoheme for protoheme.
Solution and bulk properties of branched polyvinyl acetates: Part I: Non-Newtonian viscosity behaviour

Abstract A series of linear and branched fractions of polyvinyl acetate of relatively narrow molecular weight distribution was prepared and characterized by solution viscosity, hydrolysis, and light scattering measurements. At a given molecular weight, the intrinsic viscosity of a branched fraction was less than that of a linear fraction. The viscosity loss which takes place after removal of branches, by hydrolysis followed by re-acetylation, is a sensitive indication of the presence of branching in polyvinyl acetate. However, the process is not quantitative because of the presence of nonhydrolysable branches in the branched polymer. Benzene solutions of linear and branched polymers above a molecular weight of about 2×106 were significantly non-Newtonian in character. The major factor contributing to the non-Newtonian behaviour was found to be molecular weight rather than structure. Therefore, even though the intrinsic viscosity of a high molecular weight fraction is dependent on shear rate, the ratio of the intrinsic viscosities of branched to linear fractions of the same molecular weight (a term used in the estimation of the degree of branching) is not sensitive to shear rate. Since the shear sensitivity or degree of non-Newtonian viscosity behaviour is dependent upon molecular weight, it is possible to detect the presence of branching in polymers of molecular weight greater than 2×106 by comparison of the shear sensitivities of branched and linear fractions of the same intrinsic viscosity.
Evaluation and Purchase of Confocal Microscopes: Numerous Factors to Consider

The purchase of a confocal microscope is a difficult decision. Many factors need to be considered, which include hardware, software, company, support, service, and price. These issues are discussed to help guide the purchasing process.
Brief of Prof. Kristin E. Hickman as Amicus Curiae in Support of Neither Party, United States v. Quality Stores, Inc. (United States Supreme Court)

This amicus brief was filed before the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Quality Stores, Inc., No. 12-1408, to discuss whether Chevron or Skidmore provides the appropriate standard for judicial review of IRS revenue rulings. The brief summarizes and expands upon arguments made in some of my past scholarship.
Development, Survival, and Growth of Larval Weakfish at Different Prey Abundances

Abstract We reared larvae of weakfish Cynoscion regalis at different prey abundances in the laboratory (20.5°C). Larvae began to feed 52 h after hatching. When prey was withheld up to 72 h after larvae had the ability to feed, there was no increase in starvation-induced mortality. However, when prey was withheld more than 24 h, growth was significantly reduced. Times to yolk exhaustion (70 h posthatching) and irreversible starvation (168 h posthatching) were similar to those measured for other marine fishes reared at similar temperatures. We measured growth and mortality of 3–9-d-old larvae at prey abundances approximating those found in Delaware Bay and concluded that natural variations in prey abundance in systems such as Delaware Bay are sufficient to cause large variations in the growth rate of young weakfish larvae.
Complexes of uranyl ion with some simple organic acids

Abstract Stepwise formation constants were determined for complexes of uranyl ion with lactic, β-OH-propionic, α-OH-butyric, and β-OH-butyric acids. The constants were determined by pH titration, and some qualitative information was also obtained by polarography.
Optimal inventory policies under service-sensitive demand

The service level provided by a retailer influences demand and sales in several ways. In the short run, sales can fall short of demand when customers experience stockouts and choose not to backorder. In the long run, demand itself may decline as customers who experience excessive stockouts shift permanently to more reliable sources. The traditional approach to determining inventory policies assumes a fixed stockout cost attributable to each stockout occasion. In practice, stockout costs are difficult to determine, at least in part because they reflect the long-term loss of demand due to inadequate service. In this paper we model the response of long-run demand to the service level of the retailer, and determine optimal order-up-to inventory policies in the presence of service-sensitive demand. We show under what conditions inventory policy is sensitive to both the mean and the variance of long-run demand.
Photobleaching of the photoactive yellow protein from Ectothiorhodospira halophila promotes binding to lipid bilayers: evidence from surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy

The photoactive yellow protein (PYP) from the phototrophic bacterium Ectothiorhodospira halophila is a small, soluble protein that undergoes reversible photobleaching upon blue light irradiation and may function to mediate the negative phototactic response. Based on previous studies of the effects of solvent viscosity and of aliphatic alcohols on PYP photokinetics, we proposed that photobleaching is concomitant with a protein conformational change that exposes a hydrophobic region on the protein surface. In the present investigation, we have used surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy to characterize the binding of PYP to lipid bilayers deposited on a thin silver film. SPR spectra demonstrate that the net negatively charged PYP molecule can bind in a saturable manner to electrically neutral, net positively, and net negatively charged bilayers. Illumination with either blue or white light of a PYP solution, which is in contact with the bilayer, at concentrations below saturation results in an increase in the extent of binding, consistent with exposure of a high affinity hydrophobic surface in the photobleached state, a property that may contribute to its biological function. A value for the thickness of the bound PYP layer (23 A), obtained from theoretical fits to the SPR spectra, is consistent with the structure of the protein determined by x-ray crystallography and indicates that the molecule binds with its long axis parallel to the membrane surface.
Approximate Aeroelastic Modeling of Flapping Wings in Hover

A nonlinear aeroelastic model suitable for flexible insectlike flapping wings in hover is presented. The aeroelastic model is obtained by coupling a nonlinear structural dynamic model based on MARC, with a potential-flow-based approximate aerodynamic model that consists of leading-edge vortices and a wake model. The aeroelastic response is obtained using an updated Lagrangian method. The paper describes validation studies conducted on the structural dynamic model, aerodynamic comparisons, and aeroelastic studies conducted on isotropic and anisotropic Zimmerman wings. The results demonstrate the suitability of MARC for modeling anisotropic wings undergoing insectlike wing kinematics. For the aeroelastic cases considered, the approximate model shows acceptable agreement with computational-fluid-dynamics-based and experimental results. The approximate model captured several important trends correctly.
Transdermal estradiol with oral progestin: biological and clinical effects in younger and older postmenopausal women.

The purpose of this study was to compare the biochemical and clinical effects of transdermal estrogen replacement therapy (tERT) in younger and older postmenopausal women. We treated 15 younger (less than 60 y) and 13 older (greater than or equal to 60 y) healthy postmenopausal women (45-72 y) with four successive 8-week regimens of tERT at doses of 0 to 150 micrograms/day, combined with cyclic oral medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA). In both age groups, there were similar (p = .0001) dose-responsive increases in plasma estrogen levels and decreases in LH and FSH levels, although LH values were lower in older women both before and after tERT (p less than .02). The addition of MPA further suppressed LH and, to a lesser extent, FSH in both younger and older women. The ratio of estrogenized to nonestrogenized vaginal cells increased with tERT (p less than .007) in both age groups, but significant symptomatic improvement of vaginal irritation was noted only at the highest tERT dose. Adverse effects unrelated to age included short-term nausea in 4/28 women, and skin irritation at the patch sites in 20/28 women. Vaginal bleeding was of shorter duration, but breast tenderness was more common in older women. Further studies of long-term tERT effects in elderly women are indicated.
Urinary and Plasma Levels of Resveratrol and Quercetin in Humans, Mice, and Rats after Ingestion of Pure Compounds and Grape Juice

The present study investigates the bioavailability of resveratrol and quercetin in humans, mice, and rats after oral ingestion of grape juice preparations or pure aglycones. Oral administration of resveratrol and quercetin to humans yielded detectable levels of resveratrol, quercetin, and their derivatives in the plasma and urine. Urinary levels of resveratrol, quercetin, and their metabolites were observed in human subjects receiving 600 and 1200 mL of grape juice, whereas quercetin metabolites were identified in urine samples even after receiving 200 mL of grape juice. The cumulative amounts of resveratrol and quercetin excreted in the urine of mice receiving concentrated grape juice for 4 days were 2.3 and 0.7% of the ingested doses, respectively. After i.g. administration of resveratrol to rats (2 mg/kg), up to 1.2 microM resveratrol was observed in the plasma. The study demonstrates that the glycoside forms of resveratrol and quercetin in grape juice are absorbed to a lesser extent than the aglycones.
Detection of corrosion and cracking beneath paint using photonic techniques

Abstract This paper presents novel photonics imaging techniques; currently being developed to noninvasively detect corrosion and surface cracks beneath paint in structural members. The spectral, angular and polarization properties of the scattered light are used to detect and image corrosion and surface cracks beneath paint, up to a thickness of 120 μm.
Light absorption by black sand dust.

Light absorption by fine and coarse aerosols derived from Hawaiian black sand was determined by light transmission. The real part of the refractive index of this material was measured directly, and the imaginary part was estimated. The measured light absorption coefficients (Bap) were adjusted for multiple scattering artifacts by use of absorption-to-extinction ratios estimated with Mie theory. The best agreement between calculated and measured fine and coarse Bap was achieved with a value of 0.014 for the imaginary part of the refractive index. The corresponding absorption efficiencies for the fine and coarse black sand aerosols were 0.22 and 0.09 m2/g, respectively.
Photooxygenation-chemiluminescence high-performance liquid chromatographic detector for the determination of aliphatic alcohols, aldehydes, ethers and saccharides

Abstract A novel chemiluminescene high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) detector capable of quantitating many oxygen-containing compounds that cannot be determined by either absorption or fluorescence has been developed in our laboratory. The photooxygenation chemiluminescence (POCL) detector functions by first oxygenating the analytes —aliphatic alcohols, aldehydes, ethers, and saccharides— in a photochemical reaction to produce H 2 O 2 . The H 2 O 2 is then quantitated in the cobalt(II)–luminol chemiluminescence reaction. Since the photochemical reaction is sensitized by anthraquinonedisulfonate, the analytes themselves need not absorb light. The sensitivity of the detector varies for each analyte; however, the detection limits of most analytes are in the low microgram range. This paper demonstrates the use of this detector coupled to HPLC and presents optimization studies of the photochemistry and the chemiluminescence.
The adjustment of the older woman: effects of chronic ill health and attitudes toward retirement

While the general portrayal of today's aging woman in the literature is a rather bleak one, the few studies that have been concerned with her adjustment to retirement have revealed discrepant findings. The present study investigated affect and temporal experience as indicators of adjustment through structured interviews with fifty-two female retirees. Data were analyzed by a 2x2x2 ANOVA comparing groups in terms of Health, Willingness to Retire, and Time Since Retirement. In general, it was found that both healthy and ill females who had not initially wanted to retire, did not adjust over time to the retirement state. Even above the median time since retirement, these women experienced negative affect and a constricted and discontinuous sense of time passage. Second, and in contrast with the findings of an earlier study with male retirees, chronically ill females were not uniform in terms of maladjustment. A significant portion of ill female interviewees were seemingly able to surmount the effects of bodily disease and adjust to the requirements of role transition in an adaptive manner. Differential needs of the aging male and female in this cohort were emphasized, and implications for intervention were drawn.
Ammonium Sulfate and Water Dialysis Fractionation of Chicken Serum as Studied by Paper Electrophoresis

Abstract PREVIOUS investigations employing the chemical fractionation of serum have presumably isolated immune factors for the avian malaria parasite, Plasmodium lophurae (Becker et al., 1951; Trager and McGhee, 1950; and Truong, 1957). Electorophoretic analysis has also identified serum alterations which appear to be linked to an immune response (Sherman and Hull, 1960). One of the logical adjuncts to the study of the serological changes described by paper electrophoresis is the isolation, purification and characterization of these entities, and correlation of the chemical fractions with the electrophoretic species. Studies of the chemical fractions by means of paper electrophoresis were initiated in the hope of better understanding the relationships between these fractionation procedures. MATERIALS AND METHODS For the chemical fractionation, whole blood was withdrawn from the jugular vein of mature, uninfected Hyline chickens. These samples were incubated at 39°C. in lusteroid centrifuge tubes for one hour to assure maximum clot formation. They were …
The role of dendritic cells in autoimmunity

Dendritic cells (DCs) initiate and shape both the innate and adaptive immune responses. Accordingly, recent evidence from clinical studies and experimental models implicates DCs in the pathogenesis of most autoimmune diseases. However, fundamental questions remain unanswered concerning the actual roles of DCs in autoimmunity, both in general and, in particular, in specific diseases. In this Review, we discuss the proposed roles of DCs in immunological tolerance, the effect of the gain or loss of DCs on autoimmunity and DC-intrinsic molecular regulators that help to prevent the development of autoimmunity. We also review the emerging roles of DCs in several autoimmune diseases, including autoimmune myocarditis, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes and systemic lupus erythematosus.