cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Contribution of E.S.R. analysis toward diagenic mechanisms in bituminous deposits

Abstract The E.S.R. g -values of a variety of bituminous materials have been plotted against a function of their heteroatom content ∑ δ κ X κ , where δ is the splitting coefficient of the given heteroatom κ, and X is its atomic fraction. Three discrete series are evident: two coal series, one exhibiting direct variation of g with ∑ δ κ X κ (Series I), the other exhibiting an inverse relationship (Series II). The petroleum asphaltenes, as well as most asphaltites and asphaltoids (Series III), lie above and roughly parallel to Series I. Sulfur-treated asphaltics approach Series I, whereas heated asphaltenes and resins are situated around the intersection of Series II and III. Bituminous deposits may transform through diagenesis to their mature forms, as evidenced by their increase in the delocalization (increased aromaticity) with a decrease in heteroatom content. The diagenesis of coal is reliant on oxygen whose elimination may result in aromatization (Series I), and further transformations may increase active peripheral oxygen function groups (Series II). The intersection of Series I and II contains the delocalization states. There exist major differences in the precursors and mode of transformation between members of the coal and asphaltene series.
Low dose aspirin, platelet function and prostaglandin synthesis: influence of epinephrine and alpha adrenergic blockade.

Abstract The present investigation has evaluated the effects of low doses of oral aspirin on platelet prostaglandin synthesis and function. Whole (80 mg) or half (40 mg) tablets of baby aspirin given to adults had no effect on the response of their platelets to thrombin, ADP and epinephrine, but selectively inhibited aggregation induced by threshold concentrations of arachidonate 16–20 hours after ingestion. Larger amounts of arachidonate overcame the inhibition imposed by low dose aspirin, but not by adult aspirin tablets (600 mg). Epinephrine, in concentrations too low to cause aggregation, restored the sensitivity of aspirin-treated platelets to arachidonate. Studies with a-adrenergic agonists, antagonists and calcium channel blockers demonstrated that the corrective effect of epinephrine was mediated by an a-adrenergic receptor influence on calcium modulation of the platelet membrane.
Electrical injection and detection of spin accumulation in Ge at room temperature

Abstract We inject spin-polarized electrons from an Fe/MgO tunnel barrier contact into n -type Ge(001) substrates with electron densities 2×10 16 n 17 cm −3 , and electrically detect the resulting spin accumulation using three-terminal Hanle measurements. We observe significant spin accumulation in the Ge up to room temperature. We observe precessional dephasing of the spin accumulation (the Hanle effect) in an applied magnetic field for both forward and reverse bias (spin extraction and injection), and determine spin lifetimes and corresponding diffusion lengths for temperatures of 225–300 K. The room temperature spin lifetime increases from τ s = 50 ps to 123 ps with decreasing electron concentration, as expected from electron spin resonance work on bulk Ge. The measured spin resistance–area product is in good agreement with values predicted by theory for samples with carrier densities below the metal–insulator transition (MIT), but 10 2 larger for samples above the MIT. These data demonstrate that the spin accumulation measured occurs in the Ge, although dopant-derived interface or band states may enhance the measured spin voltage above the MIT. We estimate the polarization in the Ge to be on the order of 1%.
Identification of SNF1/AMP Kinase-related Kinase as an NF-κB-regulated Anti-apoptotic Kinase Involved in CD95-induced Motility and Invasiveness

The death receptor CD95 (APO-1/Fas) induces apoptosis in many tissues. However, in apoptosis-resistant tumor cells, stimulation of CD95 induces up-regulation of a defined number of mostly anti-apoptotic genes, resulting in increased motility and invasiveness of tumor cells. The majority of these genes are known NF-κB target genes. We have identified one of the CD95-regulated genes as the serine/threonine kinase (SNF1/AMP kinase-related kinase (SNARK)), which is induced in response to various forms of metabolic stress. We demonstrate that up-regulation of SNARK in response to CD95 ligand and tumor necrosis factor α depends on activation of NF-κB. Overexpression of SNARK rendered tumor cells more resistant, whereas a kinase-inactive mutant of SNARK sensitized cells to CD95-mediated apoptosis. Furthermore, small interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of SNARK increased the sensitivity of tumor cells to CD95 ligand- and TRAIL-induced apoptosis. Importantly, cells with reduced expression of SNARK also showed reduced motility and invasiveness in response to CD95 engagement. SNARK therefore represents an NF-κB-regulated anti-apoptotic gene that contributes to the tumor-promoting activity of CD95 in apoptosis-resistant tumor cells.
Determination of metformin in human plasma using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Abstract A sensitive, simple and rapid assay based on hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) with tandem mass spectrometry was developed and validated for the quantitative analysis of metformin in human plasma using protein precipitation. Plasma samples were prepared using a protein precipitation solution containing acetonitrile, 0.5% formic acid and the internal standard, metformin-D6. The analytes were separated on a GL Sciences Inertsil HILIC column using an isocratic mobile phase consisting of water/acetonitrile (30:70, v/v) and 0.1% formic acid. Metformin and internal standard were recorded using multiple reaction monitoring in positive ion electrospray mode with transitions of m/z 130–71 and m/z 136–77, respectively. No endogenous components in plasma were found to interfere with metformin measurements. The lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was 0.5 ng/mL (0.1 pg on-column). The linear range was 0.5–500 ng/mL with an average correlation coefficient of 0.999 using weighted (1/x2) linear least-squares regression. Dilutional linearity was evaluated up to 5000-fold dilution and the results indicate no influence on the accuracy of analysis. The absolute extraction recovery was 81% for metformin. Intra-day and inter-day precision (CV, %) ranged from 0.73% to 7.18%, and accuracy within ±10.98% from nominal. The analyte was found to be stable for at least 38 days at −20 and −80 °C, 24 h at room temperature, and stable for four freeze–thaw cycles. The processed extracts were stable for 88 h at 4 °C.
Evidence for the induction of two antibodies with identical combining sites in outbred animals

THE mechanism by which the immune system produces an apparently limitless array of antibodies in response to a variety of antigenic stimuli remains an unresolved biological question. Primary structural analysis has shown that immunoglobulin heavy (H) and light (L) chains have both variable (V) and constant (C) regions of amino acid sequence. Within the VH and VL region sequences there are areas of hypervariability which are thought to be associated with the antibody combining site. It is the amino acid substitutions within certain of these hypervariable areas that result in the multiplicity of antibody specificities (sites) expressed in nature. It seems clear that separate genes code for the V and C regions of H and L chains and that integration of V- and C-region genes occurs at the DNA level1. One can account for antibody isotypic diversity by postulating a limited number of C-region genes which are transmitted from generation to generation in the germ line. The difficulty arises in the attempt to account for the apparent large numbers of V-region genes required to explain antibody combining site diversity. V-gene counting has been accomplished by RNA–DNA hybridisation2–4. Evidence from these studies has not definitely demonstrated whether the capacity to generate large numbers of combining sites exclusively arises by either the inheritance of a complete set of VH and VL genes in the germ line or by somatic mutation. The repeated occurrence of V-gene products has, however, been indicated by sequence analysis of myeloma proteins5–7, isoelectric focusing8–10, and idiotypic analysis11–13.
Impregnation of Toroids for High-Temperature Service

Two materials have been used successfully for vacuum impregnation of magnetic amplifiers and similar devices for continuous operation at 325°F or higher. Complete impregnation, even through layers of interwinding tape, has been achieved. One material is an undiluted silicone rubber capable of withstanding 500°F continuously. The other is a rigid, filled epoxy resin using a nonvolatile hardner, which will withstand 325°F continuously. With proper design, both materials will withstand high accelerations in vibration between --65°F and their maximum operating tempera- ture.
Phenotype of cranioectodermal dysplasia with different hair and bone abnormalities

We report on a 3-year-old boy with hair abnormalities and a generalized bone dysplasia. He had very short, sparse hair and craniosynotosis. His stature, growth, and limb lengths were normal, as was his neurological development. While this phenotype has some resemblance to cranioectodermal dysplasia, the radiographic and hair abnormalities are different. Histological studies showed abnormalities in the internal root sheath of the hair follicle and the hair shaft. These findings define a new ectodermal dysplasia syndrome of unknown cause. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells on niobium-doped fluorapatite glass-ceramics

Abstract Objective Our goal was to characterize the response of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) to a niobium-doped fluorapatite-based glass-ceramic (FAp). Methods The glass was prepared by twice melting at 1525 °C for 3 h, and cast into cylindrical ingots later sectioned into discs and heat-treated to promote crystallization of fluorapatite submicrometer crystals. Tissue culture polystyrene (TCP) was used as control. The surface of the FAp discs was either left as-heat treated, ground or etched. Initial cell attachment was assessed at 3 h. Proliferation and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) expression data were collected at days 1, 4, and 8. Cell morphology was examined using SEM, at days 2 and 4. Mineralization was evaluated by Alizarin Red staining and SEM. Results Initial cell attachment on as heat-treated, etched, or ground surfaces was similar to that of the positive control group ( p > 0.05). The percentage of area covered by living cells increased significantly on as heat-treated, etched, or ground surfaces between days 1 and 8 ( p Significance hMSCs displayed excellent attachment, proliferation, and differentiation on niobium-doped FAp glass-ceramic.
The object instancing paradigm for linear fractal modeling

The recurrent iterated function system and the L-system are two powerful linear fractal models. The main drawback of recurrent iterated function systems is a difficulty in modeling whereas the main drawback of L-systems is inefficient geometry specification. Iterative and recursive structures extend the object instancing paradigm, allowing it to model linear fractals. Instancing models render faster and are more intuitive to the computer graphics community. A preliminary section briefly introduces the object instancing paradigm and illustrates its ability to model linear fractals. Two main sections summarize recurrent iterated function systems and L-systems, and provide methods with examples for converting such models to the object instancing paradigm. Finally, a short epilogue describes a particular use of color in the instancing paradigm and the conclusion outlines directions for further research.
Systems Level Analysis and Identification of Pathways and Networks Associated with Liver Fibrosis

Toxic liver injury causes necrosis and fibrosis, which may lead to cirrhosis and liver failure. Despite recent progress in understanding the mechanism of liver fibrosis, our knowledge of the molecular-level details of this disease is still incomplete. The elucidation of networks and pathways associated with liver fibrosis can provide insight into the underlying molecular mechanisms of the disease, as well as identify potential diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers. Towards this end, we analyzed rat gene expression data from a range of chemical exposures that produced observable periportal liver fibrosis as documented in DrugMatrix, a publicly available toxicogenomics database. We identified genes relevant to liver fibrosis using standard differential expression and co-expression analyses, and then used these genes in pathway enrichment and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analyses. We identified a PPI network module associated with liver fibrosis that includes known liver fibrosis-relevant genes, such as tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1, galectin-3, connective tissue growth factor, and lipocalin-2. We also identified several new genes, such as perilipin-3, legumain, and myocilin, which were associated with liver fibrosis. We further analyzed the expression pattern of the genes in the PPI network module across a wide range of 640 chemical exposure conditions in DrugMatrix and identified early indications of liver fibrosis for carbon tetrachloride and lipopolysaccharide exposures. Although it is well known that carbon tetrachloride and lipopolysaccharide can cause liver fibrosis, our network analysis was able to link these compounds to potential fibrotic damage before histopathological changes associated with liver fibrosis appeared. These results demonstrated that our approach is capable of identifying early-stage indicators of liver fibrosis and underscore its potential to aid in predictive toxicity, biomarker identification, and to generally identify disease-relevant pathways.
Chlamydia pneumoniae Activates Nuclear Factor κB and Activator Protein 1 in Human Vascular Smooth Muscle and Induces Cellular Proliferation

Abstract Background. Observational data strongly suggest an association between Chlamydia pneumoniae and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. However, few studies have mechanistically linked C. pneumoniae to vascular remodeling. The purpose of the present study was to examine the mechanistic relationship between C. pneumoniae and human vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) physiology. We sought to determine the influence of human VSMC infection by C. pneumoniae on (1) VSMC proliferation and (2) activation of the proinflammatory and proliferative transcription factors nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) and activator protein 1 (AP-1). Materials and methods. C. pneumoniae was grown and isolated from Hep 2 cells. Human aortic VSMCs were inoculated with C. pneumoniae in the presence and absence of the azalide antibiotic azithromycin. Cell proliferation was assayed by direct cell counting 48 h following infection. Two hours following infection, nuclear extracts were isolated, and activation of both NF-κB and AP-1 was assessed by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Results. Compared with control, C. pneumoniae infection stimulated VSMC proliferation ( P Conclusions. VSMC infection with C. pneumoniae activates proliferative intracellular signals and stimulates cell growth. These data implicate C. pneumoniae as a pathogenic mediator and a potential therapeutic target in the prevention of atherosclerotic disease.
Growth Differentiation Factor 15: A Canary in a Coal Mine?

It has been 50 years since Dr. William B. Kannel coined the term “factors of risk” in relation to cardiovascular disease (1). Since then, clinical risk assessment, including the use of circulating biomarkers, has become an integral part of medical practice. The current era of genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics is projected to lead to the discovery of an immense number of novel candidate biomarkers. With that in mind, the American Heart Association recently issued a statement emphasizing the critical appraisal of novel risk markers to determine their clinical utility (2). Although very few candidate biomarkers will likely survive the test of time (3), the study by Rohatgi et al. published in the present issue of Clinical Chemistry demonstrates the strengths of one such biomarker, growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15),2 as a prognostic marker in the community (4). In this report from the Dallas Heart Study, the authors describe their investigation of the association of GDF-15 with subclinical coronary atherosclerosis and mortality. Increasing circulating GDF-15 concentrations were cross-sectionally associated with cardiovascular risk factors and coronary artery calcium. More importantly, GDF-15 was a significant predictor of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality independent of traditional risk factors and other novel biomarkers (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, N-terminal pro–B-type natriuretic peptide, and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T). This study is an important contribution to the mounting evidence that GDF-15 bears prognostic information in the general population. GDF-15 has been shown to predict all-cause, cardiovascular, and noncardiovascular mortality in older individuals in the Rancho Bernardo Study (5) and was associated with endothelial and cardiac dysfunction in elderly participants in the Prospective Investigation of the Vasculature in Uppsala Seniors study (6). The findings in the Dallas Heart Study certainly add to those of existing community-based studies and, importantly, extend the prognostic role of GDF-15 to a substantially younger …
A flux pump for NMR magnets

A flux pump coupled to a slightly dissipative NMR magnet enables the magnet to operate effectively in persistent mode. This paper presents: 1) design and operation concept of the flux pump; 2) parameters and performance results of a prototype flux pump; and 3) a plan to couple a full-scale flux pump to two NMR magnets, one comprised of low- and high-temperature (LTS/HTS) superconducting coils in which the HTS insert is dissipative and the other an all-LTS which can be artificially made resistive. Performance results of the prototype coupled, sequentially, to two Nb-Ti magnets show that agreement between analysis and experiment is excellent.
Assessing the role of a medication-indication resource in the treatment relation extraction from clinical text

Objective To evaluate the contribution of the MEDication Indication (MEDI) resource and SemRep for identifying treatment relations in clinical text. Materials and methods We first processed clinical documents with SemRep to extract the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) concepts and the treatment relations between them. Then, we incorporated MEDI into a simple algorithm that identifies treatment relations between two concepts if they match a medication-indication pair in this resource. For a better coverage, we expanded MEDI using ontology relationships from RxNorm and UMLS Metathesaurus. We also developed two ensemble methods, which combined the predictions of SemRep and the MEDI algorithm. We evaluated our selected methods on two datasets, a Vanderbilt corpus of 6864 discharge summaries and the 2010 Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside (i2b2)/Veteran's Affairs (VA) challenge dataset. Results The Vanderbilt dataset included 958 manually annotated treatment relations. A double annotation was performed on 25% of relations with high agreement (Cohen's κ = 0.86). The evaluation consisted of comparing the manual annotated relations with the relations identified by SemRep, the MEDI algorithm, and the two ensemble methods. On the first dataset, the best F1-measure results achieved by the MEDI algorithm and the union of the two resources (78.7 and 80, respectively) were significantly higher than the SemRep results (72.3). On the second dataset, the MEDI algorithm achieved better precision and significantly lower recall values than the best system in the i2b2 challenge. The two systems obtained comparable F1-measure values on the subset of i2b2 relations with both arguments in MEDI. Conclusions Both SemRep and MEDI can be used to extract treatment relations from clinical text. Knowledge-based extraction with MEDI outperformed use of SemRep alone, but superior performance was achieved by integrating both systems. The integration of knowledge-based resources such as MEDI into information extraction systems such as SemRep and the i2b2 relation extractors may improve treatment relation extraction from clinical text.
Development of Onchocerca volvulus (Filarioidea: Onchocercidae) in the West African black fly Simulium yahense (Diptera: Simuliidae) in Liberia.

Simulium yahense black flies infected with microfilaria of Onchocerca volvulus were kept in a defined insectary environment in Liberia, West Africa. A daily sample of infected flies was dissected for larvae developing in the thoracic muscles and examined for growth in stadial development. Microfilariae ingested by black flies transformed to the L1 larval stage without molting. Successive larval development included molting to the L2 stage and, finally, to the L 3 stage, which was infective in humans. The cephalic cap, consisting of a laterally located hook and central stoma, occurs in the first larval stage. The caudal appendix and the laterally located anal opening are apparent in the L 1 larva. In the L2 stage, the cephalic cap is lost and the large circular stoma becomes surrounded with elevated flaps. The caudal appendix was lost after larvae molted to the L 3 stage, and in its place, 3 terminal papillae developed. Sense organs, such as 2 opposing phasmids and 8 papillae that were arranged into 2 circles, developed in the cephalic region of the L 3 larva. The evidence of pathological consequences due to the presence of the L3 larva in the fly host are illustrated and discussed. Microscopic studies of the development and morphology of Onchocerca volvulus in Simulium damnosum s.l. black flies were first described more than 70 yr ago in Sierra Leone by Blacklock (1926a, 1926b) and later in Cameroon by Duke (1968). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies, which re- veal morphologic detail characters in a vector, were reported for O. volvulus larvae by Franz and Renz (1980), who exam- ined third-stage larvae (L 3) for identification purposes, and by Franz and Schulz-Key (1981), who showed the anterior region of 3 larval stages. Gibson et al. (1976), Martinez-Palomo and Martinez-Baez (1977), and Matsuo et al. (1980) used transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to study the ultrastructure of O. volvulus microfilariae. Strote and Bonow (1993, 1995) studied the ner- vous system, sensory organs, excretory system, and genital pri- mordium of L
HITON: a novel Markov Blanket algorithm for optimal variable selection.

We introduce a novel, sound, sample-efficient, and highly-scalable algorithm for variable selection for classification, regression and prediction called HITON. The algorithm works by inducing the Markov Blanket of the variable to be classified or predicted. A wide variety of biomedical tasks with different characteristics were used for an empirical evaluation. Namely, (i) bioactivity prediction for drug discovery, (ii) clinical diagnosis of arrhythmias, (iii) bibliographic text categorization, (iv) lung cancer diagnosis from gene expression array data, and (v) proteomics-based prostate cancer detection. State-of-the-art algorithms for each domain were selected for baseline comparison. Results: (1) HITON reduces the number of variables in the prediction models by three orders of magnitude relative to the original variable set while improving or maintaining accuracy. (2) HITON outperforms the baseline algorithms by selecting more than two orders-ofmagnitude smaller variable sets than the baselines, in the selected tasks and datasets.
Evidence of uplift near Charleston, South Carolina

In spite of extensive research, the causal structure of the 1886 magnitude 7 earthquake near Charleston, South Carolina, has not been identified. In this study the authors analyzed digital surface topography and river morphology in light of earlier studies using seismic reflection, seismic refraction, earthquake seismology, and gravity and magnetic surveys. This analysis revealed an area approximately 400 km{sup 2} northwest of Charleston that may have been repeatedly uplifted by earthquakes. Geologic and seismic reflection data confirm alteration of formations at depth. Deformation of the surface is supported by observations on aerial and LANDSAT photographs. Therefore, the structure on which the 1886 earthquake occurred may be within the uplifted area defined in this report.
Application Phenomena and Efficacy of Concentrated Acaricide Dusts for Northern Fowl Mite Control on Caged Laying Hens

Fluorescent pigments were used to measure plumage coverage when caged laying hens were dusted for northern fowl mite, Ornithonyssus sylviarum (Canestrini and Fanzago), control. Carriage type electrostatic or high velocity backpack equipment produced superior coverage 2 hr posttreatment when the rates of 454 g (1 lb) dust per 100 or 500 hens was employed. A redistribution of dust was noted 48 hr posttreatment, and a subsequent experiment demonstrated that this phenomenon resulted from intracage cross contamination dependent upon bird caging density. Carbaryl 80% wettable powder (WP) at 454 g/1600 hens and tetrachlorvinphos 50% WP at 454 g/1000 hens provided northern fowl mite control for 11 and 5 weeks posttreatment, respectively.
Nicorandil. The Drug That Keeps on Giving

Nicorandil is a nicotinamide nitrate used as an antianginal agent. It has two modes of action. First, by opening adenosine triphosphate–dependent potassium channels, nicorandil increases transmembrane potassium conductance and relaxes peripheral and coronary arterioles. Second, with its nitrate moiety, nicorandil increases intracellular concentrations of cGMP, resulting in peripheral vein and coronary artery dilation. Thus, because of its ability to dilate arteries and veins, nicorandil maximizes coronary flow while concomitantly reducing myocardial work through reductions in afterload. For these reasons, nicorandil has been successful in managing angina and hypertension. However, growing evidence suggests that this drug provides additional benefits that reach beyond its original therapeutic indications. Recently, the Impact of Nicorandil in Angina (IONA) study demonstrated significant improvement in outcomes in patients with angina when comparing a composite end point of morbidity and mortality attributable to coronary heart disease, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and unplanned hospital admission for chest pain.1 The consensus regarding the success of nicorandil in IONA purports an association between cardiac preservation and mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate–dependent potassium (KATP) channel activation.1 In light of what is already known about KATP channels, this is a germane conclusion, specifically, with regard to the pivotal role KATP channels play in cardiac preconditioning and …
Interdisciplinary industry-university collaboration: lessons from an operations improvement project

A six-month Leaders-for-Manufacturing student internship at the Alcoa extrusion and tube plant in Lafayette, Indiana identified a promising operations improvement opportunity in tube manufacturing and led to a two-year collaboration between Alcoa and faculty members from the schools of engineering and management at MIT to develop integrated process planning models. Project participants included production managers, supervisors and planners at the plant, process engineers from the Alcoa Technical Center, and faculty and students in engineering, operations research, and management. The project demonstrated that the plant could reduce tube drawing effort by more than 20 percent by using decision support tools and improving the planning processes. It also generated techniques to diagnose problems, new performance metrics, and software for short-term and medium-term process planning, persuaded plant managers to take a systems view of process planning, led to undergraduate and graduate thesis research, provided examples for class room use, and highlighted the enablers and challenges in conducting industry-university projects, particularly those dealing with supply-chain integration.
Annular resonators for high-power chemical lasers

Resonators capable of extracting highly coherent energy from DF and HF chemical laser annular gain media have been under investigation for weapon application since 1974. This survey article traces the background of interest in these devices, describes the various concepts that have been experimentally and analytically investigated, and discusses the issues associated with their operation. From the discussion of issues, preferred concepts are selected. Applicability of these concepts to high-power operation is addressed through discussions of past and ongoing high-power demonstration programs and the issues facing their application to weapon sized devices capable of strategic and tactical missions such as ballistic missile defense (BMD), theater missile defense (TMD), and anti satellite (ASAT).
Orbital Infection With Intracranial Involvement.

A 9-year-old boy presented with 4 days of painful right eye swelling (Fig 1). He had fever and leukocytosis without focal neurological findings. Imaging revealed pansinusitis with superior orbital wall subperiosteal abscess and frontoparietal subdural empyema. The patient had three serial washout operations with ophthalmology, otolaryngology, and neurosurgery (Fig 2) and four weeks of tailored intravenous antibiotics for cultures positive for group C streptococcus, Streptococcus constellatus, Hemophilus influenza, and Prevotella. He recovered fully. Orbital cellulitis (postseptal cellulitis) typically arises in conjunction with acute rhinosinusitis. It is potentially lifethreatening in the setting of intracranial involvement. Intracranial complications include epidural abscess, subdural empyema, meningitis, encephalitis, and dural sinus thrombophlebitis. Infection can propagate by septic thromboembolism or direct extension through diploic
Impact of Simulated Proximal Interphalangeal Arthrodeses of All Fingers on Hand Function

Purpose To evaluate the impact of simulated proximal interphalangeal (PIP) arthrodeses on hand performance and to assess the resulting compensatory metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint motions in healthy subjects. Methods Fifteen healthy subjects were tested under 2 conditions: (1) with unrestricted distal interphalangeal, PIP, and MCP joints and (2) with the PIP joint fixed at 40° of flexion in all 4 fingers of 1 hand and unrestricted MCP and distal interphalangeal joints. Subjects performed the Jebsen hand function test and 13 activities of daily living. Perceived difficulty in performing tasks was assessed with a study-specific questionnaire. The motion of each finger was monitored using a motion analysis system. Results The average time to complete the Jebsen test did not increase significantly with simulated PIP arthrodesis, nor did subjects perceive the tasks to be more difficult. Activities of daily living tasks requiring power grasp did not show significant increases in MCP flexion or abduction. Precision handling tasks requiring greater PIP joint flexion did show increased MCP flexion and were associated with greater perceived difficulty. Conclusions Our study showed a minimal overall impact from simulated arthrodeses of all 4 fingers at the PIP joints in 40° of flexion when measured by selected lower-demand activities of daily living in healthy subjects. Precision handling tasks that normally use higher degrees of PIP joint flexion, however, were perceived to be more difficult to perform and required greater compensatory motion at the MCP joints. This study does not address directly the impairment that patients with generalized hand arthritis may experience after PIP joint arthrodesis. Type of study/level of evidence Prognostic, Level I.
Lack of association between dietary fructose and hyperuricemia risk in adults

Background High serum uric acid concentration (hyperuricemia) has been studied for its relationship with multiple adverse health outcomes, such as metabolic syndrome. Intervention studies have produced inconsistent outcomes for the relationship between fructose intake and serum uric acid concentration.
Cryptic Transcription Mediates Repression of Subtelomeric Metal Homeostasis Genes

Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) prevents the accumulation of transcripts bearing premature termination codons. Here we show that Saccharomyces cerevisiae NMD mutants accumulate 5′–extended RNAs (CD-CUTs) of many subtelomeric genes. Using the subtelomeric ZRT1 and FIT3 genes activated in response to zinc and iron deficiency, respectively, we show that transcription of these CD-CUTs mediates repression at the bona fide promoters, by preventing premature binding of RNA polymerase II in conditions of metal repletion. Expression of the main ZRT1 CD-CUT is controlled by the histone deacetylase Rpd3p, showing that histone deacetylases can regulate expression of genes through modulation of the level of CD-CUTs. Analysis of binding of the transcriptional activator Zap1p and insertion of transcriptional terminators upstream from the Zap1p binding sites show that CD-CUT transcription or accumulation also interferes with binding of the transcriptional activator Zap1p. Consistent with this model, overexpressing Zap1p or using a constitutively active version of the Aft1p transcriptional activator rescues the induction defect of ZRT1 and FIT3 in NMD mutants. These results show that cryptic upstream sense transcription resulting in unstable transcripts degraded by NMD controls repression of a large number of genes located in subtelomeric regions, and in particular of many metal homeostasis genes.
Smoke and mirrors: The overnight abstinence paradigm as an index of disrupted cognitive function

Smoking abstinence is known to cause decrements in cognition, but the effects are small and variable. One way to reduce variance may be to aggregate measures or visits. Although trait-like individual differences in smoking abstinence effects on cognition are theorized to predict relapse, the test-retest reliability (TRR) assumed in trait models has not been evaluated. The objectives of this study were to assess the value of aggregating measures to determine effect sizes (ESs) of smoking versus abstinence on measures of cognition and to assess the short-term TRR of abstinence effects on cognition. Thirty adult smokers completed the typical overnight abstinence paradigm twice; each visit pair consisted of one smoking visit and one abstinent visit. Measures of attention, working memory, and inhibitory control were obtained in each visit. There were small to medium ESs for smoking abstinence on individual cognitive measures during the first abstinence experience (“visit pair”). Aggregating the measures within the visit pair and across visit pairs additively increased the ES of smoking versus abstinence. Although TRRs were acceptable between smoking visits and between abstinent visits, TRRs for abstinence effects (smoking vs. abstinent visit differences) on cognition were consistently weak. The ability of the typical overnight abstinence paradigm to reflect disrupted cognition at the group level can be substantially improved by aggregating across cognitive outcomes and/or multiple study visits. However, the patterns of poor TRR of smoking-abstinence differences in cognition caution against their use as trait-like markers in studies of relapse or treatment response.
One watt gallium arsenide class-E power amplifier with a thin-film bulk acoustic resonator filter embedded in the output network

Integration of a class-E power amplifier (PA) and a thin-film bulk acoustic wave resonator (FBAR) filter is shown to provide high power added efficiency in addition to superior out-of-band spectrum suppression. A discrete gallium arsenide pseudomorphic high-electron-mobility transistor is implemented to operate as a class-E amplifier from 2496 to 2690 MHz. The ACPF7041 compact bandpass FBAR filter is incorporated to replace the resonant LC tank in a traditional class-E PA. To reduce drain voltage stress, the supply choke is replaced by a finite inductance. The fabricated PA provides up to 1 W of output power with a peak power added efficiency (PAE) of 58%. The improved out-of-band spectrum filtering is compared to a traditional class-E with discrete LC resonant filtering. Such PAs can be combined with linearisation techniques to reduce out-of-band emissions.
Quantum theory of solitons in optical fibers. I: Time-dependent Hartree approximation

This paper is the first part of a two-part study on the quantum nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation [the second paper follows: Lai and Haus, Phys. Rev. A 39, 854 (1989)]. The quantum nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation is solved analytically and is shown to have bound-state solutions. These bound-state solutions are closely related to the soliton phenomenon. This fact has not been pursued in the literature. In this paper we use the time-dependent Hartree approximation to construct approximate bound states and then superimpose these bound states to construct soliton states. This construction enables us to study the quantum effects of soliton propagation and soliton collisions.
1058 New Segmentation Method Shows Effects of Prematurity on Cerebral Tissue Volumes at Term

Background and Aim Longitudinal studies show that premature birth increases infants’ risk for mental and motor development deficits. Our aim was to investigate the influence of prematurity on cerebral tissue volumes at term obtained with a novel fully automatic segmentation method. Methods 62 preterm infants (GA 27.7±1.3wks) and 15 term-born infants (GA 40±1.1wks) were scanned at term-equivalent age (GA 40.5±1.5wks). T1 and T2 MR images were segmented with a novel atlas-free automatic method based on morphological constraints. Each brain was separated into the two hemispheres, cortical and subcortical gray matter, myelinated and unmyelinated white matter, brainstem, cerebellum and CSF. Results Linear regression models were fitted to study the dependency of tissue volumes on GA at birth, GA at scan and intracranial volume. Models show significant dependence on GA at birth for cortical gray matter (Beta=0.270, P=0.000, R 2 =0.818), unmyelinated white matter (Beta=0.196, P=0.03, R 2 =0.575), cerebellum (Beta=0.348, P=0.000, R 2 =0.648) and CSF (Beta= –0.329, P=0.000, R 2 =0.708). Wilcoxon Signed Ranks tests showed significantly larger unmyelinated white matter volumes in the right hemisphere compared to the left hemisphere (Z= –4.826, P=0.000), and significantly larger total volumes of the right hemisphere compared to the left hemisphere (Z= –3.486, P=0.000). Conclusions Reliable volume assessments were derived from the new automatic segmentation. CSF volumes at term increased with lower GA at birth, while cortical gray matter, unmyelinated white matter and cerebellum volumes at term increased with GA at birth, suggesting impaired growth of these tissues associated with prematurity. Cerebral asymmetry was present at term for both preterm and term infants.
Abstract 1827: HnRNP I interacts with lncRNA UCA1 and regulates its stability.

Background: The human genome also makes a large number of non-coding RNAs including long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs in addition to protein-coding genes. While microRNAs are well characterized, little is known about lncRNAs. Emerging evidence has implicated lncRNAs in gene regulation; and they are often aberrantly expressed in a variety of human diseases, in particular cancer. The heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein I (hnRNP I) is a member of the large hnRNP family and has been implicated in mRNA splicing, stability and translational regulation of certain RNA transcripts. During screening for lncRNA-interacted proteins, we identified hnRNP I as a binding partner for UCA1. However, it remains unclear how hnRNP I interacts with UCA1 and whether such an interaction impacts UCA1-mediated cell growth and responsiveness to anti-cancer drugs. Methods: To determine cell growth and response to doxorubicin, we performed MTT assays as well as cell counting assays. Protein levels from treated cells were analyzed by western blot. Real-time RT-PCR was used to determine relative expression of genes. Interaction between hnRNP I and UCA1 was confirmed by RNA co-immunoprecipitation and RNA pulldown. RNA stability was determined by treating MCF-7 cells with actinomycin D, followed by real-time RT-PCR. hnRNP I was knock down by transient transfection of hnRNP I siRNAs. Results: We found that UCA1 induced proliferation and increased resistance to doxorubicin in MCF-7 cells. RNA pulldown assays revealed that UCA1 RNA directly interacted with hnRNP I. This interaction was further confirmed by RNA immunoprecipitation by hnRNP I antibody. Real-time RT-PCR revealed that knockdown of hnRNP I by RNAi reduced the level of UCA1 in MCF-7 cells and it also repressed the induction of UCA1 by doxorubicin. Further experiments suggested that hnRNP I impacts the UCA1 stability. We showed that half-life of UCA1 was about 12 h but was decreased to about 6 h in the presence of hnRNP I siRNAs. We further showed that the phosphorylated form of hnRNA I, predominantly in the cytoplasm, was a major form that interacts with UCA1. Conclusion: Taken together, these results suggest that hnRNP I plays a role in regulation of the stability of UCA1. Since previous work implicates the involvement of UCA1 in tumor cell growth and chemoresistance, a better understanding of the underlying mechanism will provide new insight of targeting UCA1 in cancer therapy. Citation Format: Jianguo Huang, Yin-Yuan Mo. HnRNP I interacts with lncRNA UCA1 and regulates its stability. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1827. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1827
Corneal inflammation after miniature keratoprosthesis implantation.

Purpose To compare corneal inflammation after syngeneic and allogeneic penetrating keratoplasty (PK) with miniature Keratoprosthesis (m-KPro) implantation in mice. Methods BALB/C (syngeneic) or C57BL/6 (allogeneic) corneas were transplanted onto BALB/C host beds as part of PK or m-KPro implantation. Corneal inflammation was assessed by determining the frequencies of CD45(+) leukocytes, CD4(+) T cells, CD11b(+) cells, and Gr-1(+) granulocytes/monocytes by flow cytometry at 2, 4, and 8 weeks post transplantation. In addition, expression levels of the proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-1β were analyzed using real-time qPCR at 8 weeks post transplantation. Results Cell frequencies in the syngeneic (syn) and allogeneic (allo) m-KPro groups were higher compared with the syngeneic and allogeneic PK groups, respectively, at all time points. However, after week 4, frequencies of all analyzed immune cells were higher in the alloPK group as compared with synKPro group. At 8 weeks, the expression of TNF-α was higher in synKPro, alloPK, and alloKPro groups compared with the naive and synPK groups. The expression of IL-1β was significantly higher in both KPro groups as compared with PK groups. Conclusions Although the m-KPro device augments the inflammatory response in the cornea after its implantation, allogenicity (of the carrier tissue) is also a significant contributor to corneal inflammation. These data suggest that using syngeneic or decellularized corneal tissue as a Boston-KPro carrier could reduce the postoperative inflammation response.
Automated quantification of abdominal adiposity by magnetic resonance imaging.

Objectives To develop a fully-automated algorithm to process axial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) slices for quantifying abdominal visceral, subcutaneous and total adipose tissues, i.e., VAT, SAT, and TAT, without human intervention or prior knowledge. Materials and Methods Fat regions in single MRI slice or sequence (20 slices) were identified with image processing techniques including region-growing, inhomogeneity correction, fuzzy c-means clustering, and active contours segmentation. The MR images of 85 subjects (60 males and 25 females), whose body mass index (BMI) values ranged from 19.96 to 40.35 kg/m2, were analyzed using the fully-automated algorithm—the automatic method developed in the research and the widely used semi-automated software (sliceOmatic® Tomovision, Inc.)—the reference method. Results The proposed automated method showed good performance against the reference method to quantify adipose tissues in both single umbilical slice and MRI sequence. The square of the Pearson correlation coefficients (R2) based on the results generated from the two methods for VAT/SAT/TAT were 0.977/0.998/0.997 for single slice data and 0.995/0.999/0.999 for volumetric data. The intra-class correlation of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) between the three operators was 0.939 in the reference method, which was improved to 0.999 in the automatic method. The adipose tissue measurements in the slice at Lumbar 3 vertebra have the highest correlation with the total fat volumes across the entire abdomen. Conclusion The fully-automated algorithm presented in the paper provides an accurate and reliable assessment of abdominal fat without human intervention. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Survey of hapatitis B infection and immunization in the new students from primary and middle school in Jilin City in 2008

Objective To understand the hepatitis B infection status and evaluate immunization effect in the new students from 3 different age groups in Jilin City.Methods Immunization certificate were inspected when the new students entered a school,meanwhile blood samples were taken from the target students,HBsAg and HBsAb were determined by ELISA.Re sults There was significant difference of the positive rate of HBsAg(χ2=32.36,P0.025)and HBsAb(χ2=261.33,P0.025) among three age groups of students.The positive rates of HBsAg from low to high were pupils,junior high school students and high school students;however,the positive rates of HBsAb were in the opposite order.The positive rates of HBsAb and HBsAg of male were higher than those of female’s.The students live in suburbs were higher than that in city in surface antigen test.The rate of certificate coverage,vaccine immunization and timely immunization in pupils were highest,senior high students low est.Conclusion Reinforcement of hepatitis b vaccine immune can control the hepatitis b effectively.HBV prevention in se nior high school need to be strengthened.
The effect of adding Al_2O_3 on Mo-V-Te-Nb-O catalyst for selective oxidation of propane to acrylic acid

The influences of adding Al2O3 into MoV0.31Te0.24Nb0.12On catalyst on the structure of catalyst were studied by XRD,FT-IR and BET techniques and the catalytic performance of the MoV0.31Te0.24Nb0.12On/Al2O3 catalyst for selective oxidation of propane to acrylic Acid were investigated.It was found that Al2O3 changed the crystal structure of catalyst,enhanced the activity of the surface lattice oxygen,increased the specific area of catalyst and improved the stability of catalyst obviously,however,the selectivity to acrylic acid decreased and the formation of acetic acid increased remarkably.For MoV0.31Te0.24Nb0.12On /Al2O3 catalyst,the highest yields of acrylic acid and acetic acid,8.80% and 6.52%,respectively,were obtained at 340℃,and for Mo1V0.31Te0.24Nb0.12On catalyst,the best yields of acrylic acid and acetic acid,18.26% and 1.25%,respectively,were obtained at 380℃.
Cancer, clinical pharmacology, and aging.

The pharmacology of cancer chemotherapy in the elderly is largely unexplored. Known results of therapy and known toxicities related to age are explored, and the clinical pharmacology of cancer chemotherapeutic agents is reviewed.