cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
β-Adrenergic Receptor Kinase-2 and β-Arrestin-2 as Mediators of Odorant-Induced Desensitization

beta-Adrenergic receptor kinase (beta ARK) and beta-arrestin function in the homologous or agonist-activated desensitization of G protein-coupled receptors. The isoforms beta ARK-2 and beta-arrestin-2 are highly enriched in and localized to the dendritic knobs and cilia of the olfactory receptor neurons where the initial events of olfactory signal transduction occur. Odorants induce a rapid and transient elevation of adenosine 39,59-monophosphate (cAMP), which activates a nonspecific cation channel and produces membrane depolarization. Preincubation of rat olfactory cilia with antibodies raised against beta ARK-2 and beta-arrestin-2 increased the odorant-induced elevation of cAMP and attenuated desensitization. These results suggest that beta ARK-2 and beta-arrestin-2 mediate agonist-dependent desensitization in olfaction.
Management of Hydrocephalus in Children with Medulloblastoma: Prognostic Factors for Shunting

Patients with medulloblastoma frequently present with hydrocephalus. While not all patients with medulloblastoma will continue to suffer from hydrocephalus after tumor resection, there is a significan
pp1-cyano2, a protein serine/threonine phosphatase 1 gene from the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa UTEX 2063

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products similar to protein serine/threonine family I phosphatase genes were identified in five strains of cyanobacteria from three species. The gene for one of these protein phosphatase PCR products, pp1-cyano2 from Microcystis aeruginosa UTEX 2063, was cloned and sequenced. The deduced protein sequence PP1-cyano2 contains 264 amino acid residues (∼30.3 kDa). In its N-terminal region, PP1-cyano2 had a GDXXHG(X)nGDXXDRG(X)nGNHE (nP23) sequence that is well-conserved in all protein serine/threonine family I phosphatases. Of 19 amino acid residues important for either metal binding, structure of the active site, or catalysis in eukaryotic PP1, 18 were present in PP1-cyano2. Reverse-transcription-PCR results showed that pp1-cyano2 was expressed under laboratory culture conditions.
Evaluating performance of classifiers for supervisory protection using disturbance data from phasor measurement units

This paper provides rationale for a supervisory protective system to improve security of power system using classification of PMU data. It evaluates the performance of four major classifiers to classify disturbance events residing within the disturbance data obtained from the Phasor Data Concentrator (PDC) owned by a local utility. These classifiers are Support Vector Machines (SVM), k-Nearest Neighbor Classifier, Naive Bayesian Classifier, and Recursive Partitioning and Regression Trees (RPART). Previous work by authors is used to obtain the targets (classes) for the classifiers. Performance of these classifiers is quantified in terms of accuracy and speed. Their suitability for real time classification to help create the supervisory protection system is discussed.
Optically transparent superhydrophobic silica-based films

Abstract Optically transparent superhydrophobic silica-based films were obtained by means of sol–gel processing and self-assembly (SA). Desired surface roughness was obtained by tuning the microstructures of the sol–gels through careful control of hydrolysis and condensation reactions of various silica precursors during sol–gel processing, whereas modification of surface chemistry was done by introducing a monolayer through surface condensation reaction. Such coatings were obtained by dip-coating the silica sols directly onto substrates, followed with self-assembly. The resultant silica-based coatings showed optical transparency higher than 90%, and the reflection lower than 10%, and the best advancing and receding water contact angles were found to be of approximately 165°/115°. Such coatings can have applications where anti-reflection, optical transparency and superhydrophobicity are required, in addition to low temperature processing. In addition, such films can be made at room temperature involving no expensive equipment or tedious processing, and be readily coated on various substrates.
Composite Power System Vulnerability Evaluation to Cascading Failures Using Importance Sampling and Antithetic Variates

Large-scale blackouts typically result from cascading failure in power systems operation. Their mitigation in power system planning calls for the development of methods and algorithms that assess the risk of cascading failure due to relay overtripping, short-circuits induced by overgrown vegetation, voltage sags, line and transformer overloading, transient instabilities, voltage collapse, to cite a few. This paper describes such a method based on composite power system reliability evaluation via sequential Monte Carlo simulation. One of the impediments of the study of these phenomena is the prohibitively large computational burden involved by the simulations. To overcome this difficulty, importance sampling technique utilizing the Weibull distribution is applied to power generator outages. Another method combing importance sampling and antithetic variates together is implemented as well. It is shown that both methods noticeably reduce the number of samples that need to be investigated while maintaining the accuracy at a given level. It is found that the combined method outperforms importance sampling to certain extent. To illustrate the developed techniques, two case studies are conducted and analyzed on the IEEE one-area and three-area reliability test system.
Dynamic Diffusion and Perfusion MRI of Acute Experimental HIE † 1860

Introduction: The Levine model of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy(HIE) was investigated using dynamic interleaved diffusion MRI and perfusion weighted MRI, employing an intravascular iron containing blood pool contrast agent. Diffusion MRI yields maps of tissue apparent diffusion coefficient(ADC) which indicate the presence of cytotoxic edema. Perfusion MRI yields relative cerebral blood volume (CBV) information.
The Consequences of Communicating Social Stereotypes

At the extreme, social stereotypes can be learned either from direct contact with individual target group members or from communications about the target group received from others. These two forms of stereotype acquisition have consequences for the nature and content of the stereotype that is formed (Park & Hastie, 1987). The present studies examine these consequences using, in the first study, a rumor transmission design and, in the second, group discussions. The first study demonstrates that stereotypes that are received from others are more extreme, contain less variability information, and have higher social consensus than stereotypes learned from contact with individual target group members. The second study demonstrates that stereotypes that are communicated and learned through informal group discussions manifest the same properties. We argue that stereotypes are fundamentally altered through social communication and these effects are in part responsible for the biases that stereotypes induce.
Ecology of a Swamp in the American Tropics

ON a recent expedition to the Island of Haiti, a fresh-water swamp, Trou CaIman, lying well within the tropics (lat. 18° 39 N., long. 72° 9 W.), was examined in order to compare it with the tropical aerocratistic swamps reported by Carter and Beadle1 and Beadle2.
Recombinant pro-apoptotic Mycobacterium tuberculosis generates CD8+ T cell responses against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Env and M. tuberculosis in neonatal mice

Abstract Mycobacterium bovis BCG is an attractive vaccine vector against breast milk HIV transmission because it elicits Th1-type responses in newborns. However, BCG causes disease in HIV-infected infants. Genetically attenuated Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) mutants represent a safer alternative for immunocompromised populations. In the current study, we compared the immunogenicity in mice of three different recombinant attenuated Mtb strains expressing an HIV envelope (Env) antigen construct. Two of these strains (Δ lysA Δ panCD Mtb and Δ RD1 Δ panCD Mtb) failed to induce significant levels of HIV Env-specific CD8 + T cell responses. In striking contrast, an HIV-1 Env-expressing attenuated Δ lys A Mtb containing a deletion in secA2 , which encodes a virulence-related secretion system involved in evading adaptive immunity, generated consistently measurable Env-specific CD8 + T cell responses that were significantly greater than those observed after immunization with BCG expressing HIV Env. Similarly, another strain of Δ lysA Δ secA2 Mtb expressing SIV Gag induced Gag- and Mtb-specific CD8 + T cells producing perforin or IFNγ, and Gag-specific CD4 + T cells producing IFNγ within 3 weeks after immunization in adult mice; in addition, IFNγ-producing Gag-specific CD8 + T cells and Mtb-specific CD4 + T cells were observed in neonatal mice within 1 week of immunization. We conclude that Δ lys A Δ secA2 Mtb is a promising vaccine platform to construct a safe combination HIV-TB vaccine for use in neonates.
Ethical politics: reality or illusion?

whether the idea of ethical politics is a reality or an illusion, to consider briefly the meaning of ethical politics, or to put it bluntly, whether many Americans see any relation between ethics and politics.1 As we found out in our research for Habits of the Heart, most Americans think they know what they mean by politics (and by politicians), and it is not nice. Politics is the way some people get what they want by using undue influence, questionable tactics, even thinly veiled forms of bribery. If this widespread understanding of politics is correct, then the answer to the question my title asks is clear from the start: politics is not ethical. Indeed, almost by de1⁄2nition, in the minds of many Americans, politics is unethical. Yet we claim to be a free, democratic, and self-governing society. For most people all those terms are positive. Indeed, we tend to divide the world between democratic societies, which are good, and undemocratic ones, which are bad. But how do we exercise our freedom, how do we govern ourselves in a democratic society, except through politics? And if democracy is good, how can the political practices that make it work be inherently corrupt? One might say, it is not that democratic politics are inherently bad; it is just that ours at the moment are bad and we need to reform them. Fair enough. Most institutions, families, marriages, and individuals could use some reform. But will just putting stricter rules on lobbyists make our politics ethical, or are there deeper issues that we need to think about, issues concerning both ethics and politics? When I was asked to write this essay, I was examining ancient Greece, the
Ignorance is not bliss: On the role of education in subjective well-being

Abstract This study estimates the impact of education on self-reported happiness across 50 American states using the recently available Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index (WBI). A 3SLS model is used to estimate the simultaneous impact of education, income, and health on aggregated subjective well-being (SWB) as measured by state-level WBI. Over 80% of the variation in SWB across states can be explained by differences in education, income, health, age, trust, stress, temperature, religion, and rainfall. Higher education (college degree) has a relatively strong positive effect on SWB, but secondary education (high school) does not. We find no statistically significant educational spillover on SWB across state borders, which suggests that the positive effect of higher education on SWB is mostly due to private non-monetary benefits rather than positive externalities.
Irreversible Chemical Potential and Shear-Induced Diffusion in Crossflow Filtration

Nonequilibrium themodynamics is used in a novel way to fundamentally investigate colloidal back-diffusion during crossflow membrane filtration. A generalized chemical potential is assumed as a superposition of equilibrium and irreversible contributions, which are proven to originate from Brownian and shear-induced diffusion, respectively. As a result, an effective drag force is derived for a particle that is simultaneously undergoing both Brownian and shear-induced diffusion in a sheared concentrated suspension.
Mosquitocidal, Nematicidal, and Antifungal Compounds from Apium graveolens L. Seeds

The methanolic extract of Apium graveolens seeds was investigated for bioactive compounds and resulted in the isolation and characterization of mosquitocidal, nematicidal, and antifungal compounds sedanolide (1), senkyunolide-N (2), and senkyunolide-J (3). Their structures were determined by 1H and 13C NMR spectral methods. Compounds 1-3 gave 100% mortality at 25, 100, and 100 microg mL(-1), respectively, on the nematode, Panagrellus redivivus. Compound 1 showed 100% mortality at 50 microg mL(-1) on nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, and fourth-instar mosquito larvae, Aedes aegyptii. Also, it inhibited the growth of Candida albicans and Candida parapsilasis at 100 microg mL(-1). Compounds 2 and 3 were isolated for the first time from A. graveolens. This is the first report of the mosquitocidal, nematicidal, and antifungal activities of compounds 1-3.
Increase of C-type natriuretic peptide expression by serum and platelet-derived growth factor-BB in human aortic smooth muscle cells is dependent on protein kinase C activation.

C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) is produced by the vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) of injured and atherosclerotic arteries, in which it may exert autocrine control over SMCs by binding to its principal receptors, NPR-B and NPR-C, but few studies have examined the factors that regulate CNP expression in human SMCs. In the present report, we show that serum induces significant increases in both CNP and NPR-C transcript levels in human, but not rat SMCs in culture, and that pretreatment with either the general tyrosine kinase inhibitor genistein, the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) tyrosine kinase inhibitor AG 1296, or the protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor GF109203X blocks most of the serum-induced increase in CNP. PDGF-BB also induced significant dose-dependent increases in CNP transcript that correlated temporally with the serum effect on CNP mRNA. Inhibition of several PDGF-BB signaling pathways downstream of receptor activation showed that PKC inhibition with GF109203X was almost as effective as genistein in abolishing the PDGF-BBinduced up-regulation of CNP mRNA. Furthermore, PKC activation by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) produced an extremely high level of CNP mRNA that was abolished by GF109203X. Immunoreactive CNP was markedly increased in SMCs receiving 10% serum, 20 ng/ml PDGF-BB, or PMA, and was decreased in PDGF-treated and PMA-treated cells by AG 1296andGF109203X,respectively.Thisreportsuggeststhatin humans, PDGF and other factors signaling through receptor tyrosine kinases and downstream activation of PKC could represent an important control for CNP expression in vascular smooth muscle. (Endocrinology 147: 4169–4178, 2006)
Fish and Phytoplankton Exhibit Contrasting Temporal Species Abundance Patterns in a Dynamic North Temperate Lake

Temporal patterns of species abundance, although less well-studied than spatial patterns, provide valuable insight to the processes governing community assembly. We compared temporal abundance distributions of two communities, phytoplankton and fish, in a north temperate lake. We used both 17 years of observed relative abundance data as well as resampled data from Monte Carlo simulations to account for the possible effects of non-detection of rare species. Similar to what has been found in other communities, phytoplankton and fish species that appeared more frequently were generally more abundant than rare species. However, neither community exhibited two distinct groups of “core” (common occurrence and high abundance) and “occasional” (rare occurrence and low abundance) species. Both observed and resampled data show that the phytoplankton community was dominated by occasional species appearing in only one year that exhibited large variation in their abundances, while the fish community was dominated by core species occurring in all 17 years at high abundances. We hypothesize that the life-history traits that enable phytoplankton to persist in highly dynamic environments may result in communities dominated by occasional species capable of reaching high abundances when conditions allow. Conversely, longer turnover times and broad environmental tolerances of fish may result in communities dominated by core species structured primarily by competitive interactions.
Carbolactonization of olefins under mild conditions by cyanoacetic and malonic acids promoted by manganese (III) acetate

Abstract A variety of olefins can be converted to γ-lactones with good efficiency by intermolecular carbolactonization using cyanoacetic acid or malonic acid derivatives in the presence of Mn (III) at 23°.
Interaction of Citrobacter diversus Strains with HEp-2 Epithelial and Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells

More than 75% of neonates with Citrobacter diversus meningitis develop brain abscesses. Interaction of C. diversus strains with HEp-2 and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) was studied to examine mechanisms related to brain abscess formation. Two of 9 strains invaded HEp-2 cells and 0 of 6 invaded HUVEC better than the others. C. diversus survived at least 20 h within HEp-2 cells (in decreasing numbers). Adhesion to HEp-2 cells was increased in 3 of 4 strains expressing type 1 fimbriae, but this did not correlate with increased invasion. Inhibition of RNA or protein synthesis blocked invasion but not adhesion. Thus, invasion requires ongoing protein synthesis, and adhesion to and invasion of HEp-2 cells by type-1-fimbriated strains are independent steps. Invasion was inhibited by cytochalasin D. A 32-kDa protein found in cerebrospinal fluid isolates of C. diversus was not related to invasion of either cell line. Ability to invade HEp-2 cells was not increased among strains isolated from central nervous system sources.
Ultrafast Excited State Dynamics in Genomic DNA

Excited electronic states in a genomic DNA sequence containing all four DNA bases were studied using femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. Long-lived excited states observed in each single strand separately are conserved in the duplex DNA.
MULTIPLE OPIOID RECEPTOR-LIKE GENES ARE IDENTIFIED IN DIVERSE VERTEBRATE PHYLA

Polymerase chain reaction was used to determine whether opioid receptor-like sequences are present in species from the protostome and deuterostome branches of the metazoan kingdom. Multiple opioid receptor-like sequences were found in all vertebrates, but no specific fragments were obtained from any invertebrates. Delta, mu, kappa and ORL-1 receptors were identified from bovine DNA, and three different opioid receptor-like fragments were identified from the other vertebrates analyzed. The data suggest that the opioid receptor gene family has been highly conserved during vertebrate evolution and that, even in the primitive jawless fish, multiple members of the opioid receptor family appear to be present.
4-Hydroxy-2-nonenal and Ethyl Linoleate Form N2,3-Ethenoguanine under Peroxidizing Conditions

In these studies, we demonstrate that N2,3-ethenoguanine (N2,3-eGua) is formed from lipid peroxidation as well as other oxidative reactions. Ethyl linoleate (EtLA) or 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE) was ...
Abnormal endothelium-dependent coronary vasomotion in hypertensive patients

Abstract Coronary vasomotion is abnormal in hypertensive patients, as evidenced by reduced coronary vasodilator reserve, but endothelium dependent coronary vasomotion in hypertensive patients has not been studied. To assess the integrity of endothelium-dependent vasodilation, the response of coronary arteries to acetylcholine (an endothelium-dependent vasodilator) and nitroglycerin (an endothelium-independent vasodilator) was studied in 14 patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. Eight patients with essential hypertension were compared with six normotensive patients. None had obstructive disease detectable by coronary arteriography. Coronary artery diameter was measured with digital-subtracted arteriography and coronary blood flow velocity with a Doppler flow velocity catheter. At baseline, coronary artery diameter was similar in the hypertensive and the normotensive control patients (2.4 ±0.3 vs. 2.8 ± 0.7 mm). During intracoronary acetylcholine infusion (30 μg/min), coronary artery diameter decreased to 1.3 ± 0.7 mm in the hypertensive patients (p Therefore, these hypertensive patients exhibited marked coronary vasoconstriction in response to intracoronary acetylcholine but normal vasodilation in response to nitroglycerin, suggesting abnormal endothelium-dependent vasodilation. The latter may be a mechanism contributing to reduced coronary vasodilator reserve and angina pectoris in hypertensive patients.
Compact, low-profile UWB antennas exploiting the concept of closely-coupled dual-mode radiators

In this paper, the concept of closely-coupled, dual-mode radiators is utilized to design a compact, low-profile, ultra-wideband antenna. An antenna that consists of two closely-coupled loops is shown to exhibit two distinct modes of operation, which have complementary frequency bands of operation. By combining the two modes using a feed network that employs a frequency-dependent phase shifter, the antenna is automatically excited in its appropriate mode of operation depending on the input frequency. With the aid of the feed network, the antenna is demonstrated to achieve a larger overall bandwidth compared with what can be obtained using each mode individually. A prototype of the antenna was fabricated and measured and good agreement between measurements and simulations is observed.
Head circumference, brain weight, and tumor burden.

The failure to diagnose an ependymoma at an appropriately early age led to an incomplete excision and a tumor burden too great for radiotherapy to control. The development of normative curves for brain weight correlated with head circumference allowed for the estimates of the extremes of possible growth rates of the tumor. The importance of early diagnosis and combined surgical and radiotherapies is emphasized since ependymomas are locally recurrent but curable by x-irradiation (and host macrophages?) if the tumor burden is small. (J Child Neurol 1986;1:240-250)
Two-dimensional spin-echo dipolar-sideband enhancement in magic-angle-spinning NMR

Abstract A series of new two-dimensional dipolar-chemical-shift experiments in magic-anglespinning NMR are presented. A π pulse applied in the center of the evolution period produces dipolar sidebands spaced at one-half the spinning frequency in the ω 1 dimension. The π pulse may be applied to either rare or abundant spins, with differing results upon the spectrum. In both cases the sidebands are more intense than those obtained by conventional methods and should assist the measurement of small heteronuclear dipolar couplings. For one experiment, a dipolar spectrum may be extracted from the 2D landscape which is rigorously identical to the dipolar spectrum at one-half the actual spinning speed. The 2D sideband arrays are sensitive to the relative orientation of the chemical-shift and dipolar tensors, even in the regime where the spinning rate is comparable to the size of one or both tensors.
Traversable wormholes and black hole complementarity.

Black hole complementarity is incompatible with the existence of traversable wormholes. In fact, traversable wormholes cause problems for any theory where information comes out in the Hawking radiation.
Data Fusion with Optimized Block Kernels in LS-SVM for Protein Classification

In this work, we developed a method to efficiently optimize the kernel function for combined data of various different sources with their corresponding kernels being already available. The vectorization of the combined data is achieved by a weighted concatenation of the existing data vectors. This induces a kernel matrix composed of the existing kernels as blocks along the main diagonal, weighted according to the corresponding the subspaces span by the data. The induced block kernel matrix is optimized in the platform of least-squares support vector machines simultaneously as the LS-SVM is being trained, by solving an extended set of linear equations, other than a quadratically constrained quadratic programming as in a previous method. The method is tested on a benchmark dataset, and the performance is significantly improved from the highest ROC score 0.84 using individual data source to ROC score 0.92 with data fusion.
Engineering of a O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase chimera and repair of O4-alkyl thymidine adducts and O6-alkylene-2′-deoxyguanosine cross-linked DNA

A soluble human O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase (hAGT) chimera was engineered containing the active site of OGT (residues 139–159) and an additional S134P mutation. The resulting hAGT chimera not only retained hAGT's ability to repair bulky O6-alkylene-2′-deoxyguanosine interstrand cross-linked DNA damage but also displayed enhanced repair of various O4-alkyl thymidine adducts.
Preliminary Anatomic Investigation of Three Approaches to the Equine Cranium and Brain for Limited Craniectomy Procedures

Objective— To describe surgical approaches to the equine cranium and brain for limited craniectomy. Study Design— Descriptive anatomic study. Sample Population— Equine cadavers (n=7). Methods— Head and neck sections from cadavers were used to establish techniques for exposing areas of the equine brain. Three basic approaches were used: rostrotentorial, suboccipital, and transfrontal. Techniques were adapted from small animal descriptions and modified to account for anatomic differences. Results— Descriptions of the rostrotentorial, suboccipital, and transfrontal approaches to the equine cranium and brain were defined. Conclusions— Dorsal, caudal, lateral, and rostral aspects of the cranium and underlying cerebral cortex can be accessed using the rostrotentorial, suboccipital, and transfrontal approaches. Access to the dorsal, dorsolateral, and rostral aspects of the cerebral cortex is uncomplicated and more superficial compared with access to the extreme caudolateral cerebrum and cerebellum, which is complicated by the location of the transverse and temporal sinuses and deep exposure. Clinical Relevance— Many cases of equine brain disorders involve intracranial abscessation or hematoma formation because of trauma. Components of therapy may include microbial culture and surgical drainage or decompression of the affected area through limited craniectomy procedures. Increased use of advanced imaging in equine brain disease has resulted in earlier diagnosis and more precise lesion localization. Subsequently, the number of horses likely to improve with limited surgical intervention has increased. When surgery is indicated, descriptions of surgical approaches to the equine cranium and brain provide important information.
Characterization of MJO-related upper tropospheric hydrological processes using MLS

This study quantifies Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO)- related hydrological variability in the upper troposphere/ lower stratosphere (UT/LS) using Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) cloud ice water content (IWC) and water vapor (H2O). In a composite of six boreal-winter MJO events, the UT/LS IWC anomaly is strongly positively correlated with the convection (TRMM rainfall) anomaly. IWC anomalies range from +/-2 mg/cu m at 215 hPa to +/-0.08 mg/cu m at 100 hPa. The UT/LS H2O anomaly has an eastward-tilting structure similar to the previous-documented temperature structure, but the H2O maximum lags the temperature maximum by about a week. The H2O anomaly is positively correlated with the convection anomaly in the UT (261 hPa) and LS (68 hPa) but negatively correlated with the convection anomaly near the tropopause (100 hPa). This analysis provides a multi-parameter construct useful in validating and improving the parameterization of convection, clouds and cloud microphysics in MJO modeling.
Overexpression of adenylyl cyclase type 5 (AC5) confers a proarrhythmic substrate to the heart.

Inhibition of β-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) signaling is one of the most common therapeutic approaches for patients with arrhythmias. Adenylyl cyclase (AC) is the key enzyme responsible for transduc...
Fibroblast Growth Factor 23 and Risks of Mortality and End-Stage Renal Disease in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease

Context A high level of the phosphate-regulating hormone fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) is associated with mortality in patients with end-stage renal disease, but little is known about its relationship with adverse outcomes in the much larger population of patients with earlier stages of chronic kidney disease. Objective To evaluate FGF-23 as a risk factor for adverse outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease. Design, Setting, and Participants A prospective study of 3879 participants with chronic kidney disease stages 2 through 4 who enrolled in the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort between June 2003 and September 2008. Main Outcome Measures All-cause mortality and end-stage renal disease. Results At study enrollment, the mean (SD) estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was 42.8 (13.5) mL/min/1.73 m 2 , and the median FGF-23 level was 145.5 RU/mL (interquartile range [IQR], 96-239 reference unit [RU]/mL). During a median follow-up of 3.5 years (IQR, 2.5-4.4 years), 266 participants died (20.3/1000 person-years) and 410 reached end-stage renal disease (33.0/1000 person-years). In adjusted analyses, higher levels of FGF-23 were independently associated with a greater risk of death (hazard ratio [HR], per SD of natural log-transformed FGF-23, 1.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.3-1.7). Mortality risk increased by quartile of FGF-23: the HR was 1.3 (95% CI, 0.8-2.2) for the second quartile, 2.0 (95% CI, 1.2-3.3) for the third quartile, and 3.0 (95% CI, 1.8-5.1) for the fourth quartile. Elevated fibroblast growth factor 23 was independently associated with significantly higher risk of end-stage renal disease among participants with an estimated GFR between 30 and 44 mL/min/1.73 m 2 (HR, 1.3 per SD of FGF-23 natural log-transformed FGF-23; 95% CI, 1.04-1.6) and 45 mL/min/1.73 m 2 or higher (HR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.1-2.4), but not less than 30 mL/min/1.73 m 2 . Conclusion Elevated FGF-23 is an independent risk factor for end-stage renal disease in patients with relatively preserved kidney function and for mortality across the spectrum of chronic kidney disease.
Anthrax threats: a report of two incidents from Salt Lake City.

The threat of anthrax as an agent of bioterrorism in the U.S. is very real, with 47 incidents of possible exposure involving 5664 persons documented by the Federal Bureau of Investigation over a 14-month period in 1998 and 1999. The highly visible and potentially devastating effects of these threats require a well-coordinated and well-organized Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Emergency Department (ED) response to minimize panic and reduce the potential spread of an active and deadly biologic agent. This requires planning and education before the event. We describe the events of two anthrax threats in a major metropolitan area. The appropriate EMS and ED response to these threats is outlined.
Numerical analysis of recurrence plots to detect effect of environmental-strength magnetic fields on human brain electrical activity

Environmental magnetic fields may activate the neuroendocrine stressor system leading to some human diseases. The stressor theory predicts that the fields can trigger changes in brain electrical activity, like known stressors. We exposed subjects to 1 and 5 μT, 60 Hz while recording electroencephalograms (EEGs) from six derivations, and used a novel method based on numerical analysis of recurrence plots computed from the signals to detect brain electrical potentials evoked by onset and/or offset of the field. The EEGs were also analyzed using linear methods (time averaging). Evoked potentials occurred in all 22 subjects (family-wise error rate less than 0.05 for each subject); the average latency was 250 ms, as expected based on earlier studies using stronger magnetic fields. Field-induced changes in brain electrical activity were not found using time averaging. Control procedures and measurements obtained from electrical phantoms reasonably excluded recording artifacts or chance as explanations for the effects. Onset and offset of magnetic fields produced immediate changes in brain electrical activity, suggesting that the fields were detected by sensory transduction, like ordinary somatic stressors.
Male Kirtland's Warblers' patch-level response to landscape structure during periods of varying population size and habitat amounts

Forest planners must evaluate how spatiotemporal changes in habitat amount and configuration across the landscape as a result of timber management will affect species' persistence. However, there are few long-term programs available for evaluation. We investigated the response of male Kirtland's Warbler (Dendroica kirtlandii) to 26 years of changing patch and landscape structure during a large, 26-year forestry-habitat restoration program within the warbler's primary breeding range. We found that the average density of male Kirtland's Warblers was related to a different combination of patch and landscape attributes depending on the species' regional population level and habitat amounts on the landscape (early succession jack pine (Pinus banksiana) forests; 15-42% habitat cover). Specifically, patch age and habitat regeneration type were important at low male population and total habitat amounts, while patch age and distance to an occupied patch were important at relatively high population and habitat amounts. Patch age and size were more important at increasing population levels and an intermediate amount of habitat. The importance of patch age to average male density during all periods reflects the temporal buildup and decline of male numbers as habitat suitability within the patch changed with succession. Habitat selection (i.e., preference for wildfire-regenerated habitat) and availability may explain the importance of habitat type and patch size during lower population and habitat levels. The relationship between male density and distance when there was the most habitat on the landscape and the male population was large and still increasing may be explained by the widening spatial dispersion of the increasing male population at the regional scale. Because creating or preserving habitat is not a random process, management efforts would benefit from more investigations of managed population responses to changes in spatial structure that occur through habitat gain rather than habitat loss to further our empirical understanding of general principles of the fragmentation process and habitat cover threshold effects within dynamic landscapes.
Chemical and Mineralogical Differences Between Kittanning Coals from Marine-influenced Versus Fluvial Sequences

ABSTRACT Results from chemical and mineralogical analysis of channel samples of Lower Kittanning Coal are used to establish differences between coals formed in two paleoenvironments. The two major paleoenvironments represented by Kittanning Coals in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia are a marine-influenced paleoenvironment to the northwest and a fluvial-influenced paleoenvironment to the southeast. Based on chemical data from 143 samples, coals formed in a fluvial paleoenvironment are higher in Cu, Cr, Ti, K, Si, and Al. Marine-influenced coals are higher in Zn, Fe, pyritic sulfur, sulfate sulfur, and possibly Ca. Mineralogical studies on 34 samples from both paleoenvironments show higher kaolinite and sporadically high quartz and illite in fluvial-influenced samples and higher pyrite in marine-influenced samples. The clay mineralogy consists primarily of well-crystallized kaolinite, illite, and some mixed-layer material. Chemical differences between coals from the two major paleoenvironments can be condensed in a discriminant function based on pyritic sulfur, Ti, Fe, Si, Al, sulfate sulfur, and Zn. This discriminant function correctly classifies suites of bituminous coals from other areas.
A review on the development of piezoelectric composites for underwater acoustic transducer applications

For future sonar transducer applications that emphasize the detection of acoustical signals in a hydrostatic mode, new piezoelectric composite materials have been developed. Ceramic-polymer composites having '1-3' and '0-3' connectivity patterns are shown to exhibit much higher sensitivities than conventional PZT ceramics. Glass-ceramic composites are free of aging, and have potential applications in standard transducers. >
Endometrial Cancer Cells as Models to Study Uterine Receptivity

Endometrial estrogen and progesterone receptors mediate gene expression during the menstrual cycle in all mammalian species. At the time of implantation, differential patterns of gene expression occur on both glandular and luminal (surface) epithelium. Glandular secretions appear to be essential for embryonic development and viability, whereas luminal epithelium may provide a site for attachment and subsequent invasion of the nascent embryo. We have characterized previously integrins and other extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules as differentiated markers of endometrial epithelium. Both luminal and glandular epithelium express constitutive α3βl and α6β4 integrins and hormonally regulated α1βl, α4βl, α9βl, and αvβ3. The glandular epithelium expresses hormonally regulated ECM glycoproteins, such as osteopontin. Luminal cells exhibit cycle-dependent patterns of other α2βl and selectively express cytokeratin 13. Endometrial cancer cell lines have provided an excellent model to study normal endometrial epithelium. Of the many available cell lines, Ishikawa and ECC-1 cells maintain normal hormonal responsiveness to estrogen and progesterone, as well as to androgens. In this chapter, we review the potential of Ishikawa and ECC-1 cells as surrogate cells for normal endometrial epithelium and discuss their characteristics of glandular and luminal epithelia, respectively. Further characterization of these two cell lines may provide new insight into the mechanism of embryo implantation in humans and shed light on possible defects in endometrial receptivity.
The Past Under Erasure? History, Memory, and the Contemporary

This article seeks to explore some particularities of history writing in the present. It considers in turn the meanings of the contemporary interest in memory, the different ways in which ideas about and images of the past circulate through the mass-mediated public sphere of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, the complexities of publicness and the public sphere, and the shifting boundaries between popular ideas of the past and changes in the discipline of history. It then turns to the example of (West) Germany between the 1960s and now. The article concludes with some reflections on changing perceptions of the overall character of the twentieth century.
Expanding Horizons on a Diminishing Planet

I am honored and pleased to be given the opportunity to participate with you today in your celebration of an extraordinary 50 years of achivement1—a history which, even when viewed through a critical retrospective lens, can bear with distinction the appellations of prescient, bold, imaginative, and progressive. I doubt there is today any other professional medical organization which can display with pride such a record without developing a revisionist history adapted to the flow of subsequent events. It is obvious that the Academy has led, not followed; that it has deliberately and aggressively pursued concepts in prevention which were often more visionary than those advocated by leaders in my own field; and that this year, it has boldly extended its purview to embrace an even broader range of objectives in stating its "National Child Health Goals."2 Rightly, the Academy has recognized that solutions today must transcend the conventional boundaries of curative medicine. In enunciating your goals, you have implicitly recognized this in identifying objectives which will require an active partnership with educators and environmentalists, behavioral scientists, and politicians alike in the interests of healthier children. The past 50 years have witnessed unprecedented changes in medicine, in science in its totality—indeed, in our entire social structure and values. We can be confident that the next 50 years will bring even more revolutionary changes, but can we anticipate them any better than we anticipated the computer, organ transplantation, or the atom bomb? At a far more mundane level could the surgeon-general in the midst of a 1930 Washington heat wave have anticipated that the now ubiquitous air-conditioner would be in common use only 20 years hence?
Parturition and Hypocalcemia Blunts Calcium Signals in Immune Cells of Dairy Cattle

The stress of parturition in the dairy cow is associated with increased susceptibility to infectious disease. During the periparturient period the demands for calcium are increased; these increased demands for calcium can result in subclinical or clinical hypocalcemia. Periparturient cows also experience significant immune suppression. Because intracellular calcium signaling is a key early feature in immune cell activation, we have hypothesized that the increased demand for calcium in periparturient cows may adversely affect intracellular calcium stores of immune cells. This reduction in intracellular calcium stores in immune cells could blunt intracellular calcium release following an activating stimulus, contributing to the immune suppression seen in these animals. To test this hypothesis, peripheral mononuclear cells were obtained from 27 multiparous dairy cows spanning a period of 2 wk before and 2 wk after parturition. Following activation of these cells by anti-CD3 antibodies plus secondary antibodies, intracellular calcium release from intracellular stores was measured. The intracellular calcium released in response to the activation signal declined as calcium demand for lactation became more intense and recovered as plasma calcium normalized. Intracellular calcium stores in peripheral mononuclear cells, estimated by pretreating cells with pervanadate and ionomycin, significantly decreased at parturition and returned to normal levels as the cows' blood calcium returned to normal levels. Hypocalcemia, which is common in periparturient dairy cows, is associated with decreased intracellular calcium stores in peripheral mononuclear cells. Our data suggest that this is the cause of a blunted intracellular calcium release response to an immune cell activation signal. It is concluded that intracellular Ca stores decrease in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) before parturition and development of hypocalcemia. This suggests that systemic calcium stress precedes measurable hypocalcemia, particularly in cows that will develop milk fever. Therefore, PBMC intracellular Ca stores are a more sensitive measure of calcium stresses in transition cow. This decrease in PBMC intracellular Ca stores before parturition and the development of hypocalcemia contributes to periparturient immune suppression.
Identification of cohesive zone model and elastic parameters of fiber-reinforced cementitious composites using digital image correlation and a hybrid inverse technique

Abstract Traditional methods for the inverse identification of elastic properties and local cohesive zone model (CZM) of solids utilize only global experimental data. In contrast, this paper addresses the inverse identification of elastic properties and CZM of a range of materials, using full-field displacement through an optimization technique in a finite element (FE) framework. The new experimental–numerical hybrid approach has been applied to fiber-reinforced cementitious composites (FRCC). PVA microfibers are used at four volume fractions: 0.5%, 1%, 2% and 3%. Digital image correlation (DIC) technique is used to measure surface displacement fields of the test specimens. Four-point bend tests are carried out for the measurement of the modulus of elasticity, E, and the Poisson’s ratio, ν, while single edge-notched beams (SENB) are used for measurement of mode-I CZM parameters. A finite element update inverse formulation, which is based on minimization of the difference between measured and computed displacement field, is used for both identification problems. For the identification of E and ν, linearized form of the Hooke’s tensor in plane stress condition has been derived for two-dimensional linear elasticity in FE frame, and Newton–Raphson solver is employed for the inverse problem. For the identification of the CZM, generic spline curves have been used for the parameterization of any CZM thus avoiding the need of an assumption of the CZM shape, while derivative-free Nelder–Mead optimization with CZM shape regularization is employed as the solution method, which reduces the complexity of numerical implementation and improves robustness. The computed E and ν are consistent with published results. The computed CZMs of the FRCCs with different fiber volume fractions reveal a strain-hardening characteristic. The computed CZM is used in direct problem simulation, the results of which are consistent with the experimental global response.
The New Global American Dilemma and Terrorism

Psychological research on terrorism suffers from two main weaknesses, both of which arise from well known weaknesses in mainstream psychology (Moghaddam, 2005a). The first weakness is a lack of powerful conceptual frame works, and a reductionist-positivist reliance on data gathering on the assumption that data will allow us to mimic the success of the "real sciences" such as physics, and "real scientists" such as Einstein. Seldom have we bothered to notice that Einstein carried out thought experiments, not laboratory experiments. Of course experiments yielding data are needed, but there has to be a corresponding development in powerful theories. Psychology journals have produced mountains of "data" about individual difference measures, and particularly since 9/11 we are drowning in oceans of information about terrorists (there is now an international "terrorism studies indus try" generating more data than anyone can possibly keep up with); what we lack are conceptual frameworks powerful enough to interpret this information. The concept of significance quest, "an overarching motive propelling suicide terror ism" (Kruglanski, Chen, Deshesne, Fishman, & Orehek, 2009, p. 335), is integra tive and potentially very useful in helping us interpret some of the information being accumulated on terrorism. A second weakness of mainstream psychology is a tendency for researchers to split into "dispositional" and "contextual" camps, each camp supporting a competing picture of behavior as shaped by individual differences or contextual factors. Underlying this debate is the assumption that the contribution of disposi tional and contextual factors is fixed. An alternative and more accurate viewpoint is to treat the role of both dispositional and contextual factors as variable. The role of cultural context in shaping individual behavior is not static; rather, this role