cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Catecholamine receptors on locus coeruleus neurons: pharmacological characterization.

Abstract There is evidence that the noradrenergic neurons of the locus coeruleus (LC) possess α-adrenoreceptors in the vicinity of their cell bodies. To further characterize this receptor, we studied the responses of LC neurons to a series of catecholamine agonist and antagonist drugs using the techniques of single-unit recording and microiontophoresis. The spontaneous firing of LC neurons was inhibited by microiontophoretic application of norepinephrine, epinephrine, the α-adrenoreceptor agonist clonidine and the β-agonist isoproterenol. These inhibitions were blocked by the α-adrenergic antagonist piperoxane but not by the β-antagonist sotalol. In addition these cells were strongly inhibited by dopamine or α-methylnorepinephrine, but only weakly inhibited by phenylephrine or the dopamine agonist apomorphine. The dopamine antagonist trifluoperazine was ineffective in blocking the inhibitions of LC neurons by both dopamine and norepinephrine. The rank order of potencies of agonist drugs in inhibiting LC neurons was clonidine > > α-methylnorepinephrine ⩾ epinephrine = norepinephrine > > phenylephrine. In this respect the LC α-receptor is similar to ‘presynaptic’ or ‘α2’ receptors or peripheral sympathetic nerves and differs from the classical postsynaptic α-receptor. The noradrenergic neurons of the LC thus appear to possess catecholamine receptors on or near their cell bodies which have pharmacological characteristics of ‘presynaptic’ α-adrenergic receptors. The LC receptors are distinct from central dopamine receptors and from norepinephrine receptors areas of the brain receiving their noradrenergic iput fom the LC.
Sensory Characteristics, Texture, Color, and Selected Nutrient Content of Veal Muscle

Effects of cooking methods, internal end-point temperatures, cut and type of veal on yield, sensory characteristics, color and texture were determined. Fatty acid profiles and fat, cholesterol and iron content were also determined for selected cuts of veal. In general, veal cooked at higher temperatures and to a higher end-point temperature had greater cooking losses and less moisture and was less tender. HunterLab color and Instron compression values also were affected by end-point temperature. Muscle from the bottom round was redder and darker in color, contained less moisture and more fat and had a more metallic flavor than muscle from the sirloin. Bob veal was more red and contained more moisture, cholesterol and iron but less fat than special-fed veal (SFV). More meaty and sour flavor was detected in SFV than in Bob veal.
A Defense of the 'Sterility Objection' to the New Natural Lawyers' Argument Against Same-Sex Marriage

The “new natural lawyers” (NNLs) are a prolific group of philosophers, theologians, and political theorists that includes John Finnis, Robert George, Patrick Lee, Gerard Bradley, and Germain Grisez, among others. These thinkers have devoted themselves to developing and defending a traditional sexual ethic according to which homosexual sexual acts are immoral per se and marriage ought to remain an exclusively heterosexual institution. The sterility objection holds that the NNLs are guilty of making an arbitrary and irrational distinction between same-sex couples and sterile heterosexual couples. The NNLs believe that it is a necessary condition for two people’s being morally and legally entitled to get married that they be able to perform sexual acts that are “suited to procreating.” But sterile heterosexual couples are incapable of performing such acts. Therefore, it should follow from the NNLs’ own premises that sterile heterosexual couples are not entitled to marry. But the NNLs do not draw this conclusion. Instead, they maintain that sterile heterosexuals can marry while denying that the same is true of same-sex couples. The sterility objection claims the NNLs are being inconsistent in treating the two kinds of couples differently. Although the sterility objection has been endorsed by recent critics, I don’t think it has yet been adequately defended. The NNLs have responded by arguing that there is a sense in which the sex acts of sterile heterosexual couples are as suited to reproduction as those of fertile heterosexuals. Thus they maintain that the distinction they draw between the two kinds of couple has a rational basis. A successful defense of the sterility objection must show that this response on the part of the NNLs fails. Such is the task I undertake in this paper. I argue that the NNLs’ response fails because acts of penile-vaginal intercourse between sterile heterosexuals lack the actual causal power to produce conception that sexual acts need to be considered truly reproductive, and because their assumption that penile-vaginal intercourse always functions reproductively is bad biology.
Neutron Studies of the Iron-based Family of High Tc Magnetic Superconductors

We briefly review recent neutron scattering investigations carried out at the NIST Center for Neutron Research on the crystal structures, magnetic structures, and spin dynamics of the iron-based ROFe(As,P) (R=La, Ce, Pr, Nd), and (Ba,Sr,Ca)Fe2As2 systems. All the undoped materials exhibit universal behavior, where a tetragonal-to-orthorhombic structural transition occurs between ~100−220 K, below which the systems become antiferromagnets. The magnetic structure within the a-b plane consists of chains of parallel Fe spins that are coupled antiferromagnetically in the orthogonal direction, with an ordered moment typically less than one Bohr magneton. Hence these are itinerant electron magnets, with a spin structure that is consistent with Fermi-surface nesting and a spin wave bandwidth ~200 meV. The rare-earth moments order antiferromagnetically at low T like ‘conventional’ magnetic-superconductors. With doping, the structural and magnetic transitions are suppressed in favor of superconductivity, with superconducting transition temperatures up to 56 K, while the Ce crystal field linewidths are affected when superconductivity sets in. The application of pressure in CaFe2As2 transforms the system from a magnetically ordered orthorhombic material to a ‘collapsed’ non-magnetic tetragonal system which is superconducting at lower T when anisotropic pressure is applied. Fe1+xTe shows a transition from a monoclinic to orthorhombic low T structure with increasing x, and a crossover from commensurate to incommensurate magnetic order. Se doping suppresses the magnetic order, while incommensurate magnetic scattering is observed in the superconducting regime.
LASER-DRIVEN PHYSICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION FOR THIN-FILM CdTe SOLAR CELLS

We review the use of laser-driven physical vapor deposition from solid targets for the growth of CdTe-related photovoltaic materials on glass substrates. The physical conditions in the laser-driven plume from 15 nsec pulses at λ = 308 nm from an XeCI laser have been studied by optical multichannel spectroscopy and time-of-flight methods. Film growth has been optimized in terms of substrate temperature, laser pulse energy density, and overall growth rate through the use of optical absorption, Raman scattering, x-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, and electrical measurements on the films. Early results of device fabrication have yielded an all-LDPVD CdS/CdTe cell of 8.7% AM 1.5 efficiency.
Reusability in e-Assessment: Towards a Multifaceted Approach for Managing Metadata of e-Assessment Resources

Reusability of resources is a challenge for the development of e-assessment. We have analyzed the existing frameworks reported in surveys and literature in e-assessment and complementary domains. It turns out that they insufficiently address issues such as security, accessibility, quality, and context. We suggest overcoming these barriers by integrating metadata into a multidimensional framework, which might considerably optimize the reusability of (e)-assessment resources. As part of the framework, we propose a comprehensive description of assessment data with a multi-faceted approach that allows any actor in the e-assessment lifecycle to consider the missing aspects of e-assessment materials. This framework will encourage the management, sharing, storage, and reuse of e-testing resources regardless of the form and context of assessment
A Transcultural Strengths Assessment Interview Guide for Parent Caregivers

The Haley Transcultural Strengths Assessment interview guide for parent caregivers is an instrument for nurses and related health care providers to identify, better understand, and promote the development of strengths of parents for children with ongoing, complex health needs. Assisting these caregivers to build on their strengths, as identified through their own cultural perspective, is crucial not only to promote their health and well-being, but also to the quality of care they deliver to their child. The development of the instrument is discussed. The interview guide and description of how to use it are presented. This is a versatile instrument that may be used across cultures in the home or clinical setting, or in research. It frames the strengths of the parent caregiver, so these strengths can be encouraged and woven into the parent's life, promoting a positive sense of energy, empowerment, and harmony.
Testosterone and the allocation of reproductive effort in male house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus)

Testosterone has been proposed to serve as the mediator that controls the relative effort that an individual male bird will devote to mating effort versus parental effort. Here, we demonstrate a testosterone-influenced trade-off between parental and mating efforts in male house finches. Male house finches with experimentally elevated testosterone fed nestlings at a significantly lower rate, but sang at a higher rate than males without manipulated testosterone levels. Females mated to testosterone-implanted males fed nestlings at a significantly higher rate than females mated to males without testosterone implants, resulting in similar feeding rates for both treated and untreated pairs. The effects of testosterone on male house finches, however, were not as dramatic as the effects of testosterone observed in some other socially monogamous species of birds. Because extra-pair copulations are uncommon in house finches and males provide substantial amounts of parental care, these more modest effects may be due to differences in how the allocation of reproductive effort affects the costs and benefits of different reproductive behaviors.
An empirical Bayes mixture model for SNP detection in pooled sequencing data

Motivation: Detecting single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in pooled sequencing data is more challenging than in individual sequencing because of sampling variations across pools. To effectively differentiate SNP signal from sequencing error, appropriate estimation of the sequencing error is necessary. In this article, we propose an empirical Bayes mixture (EBM) model for SNP detection and allele frequency estimation in pooled sequencing data. Results: The proposed model reliably learns the error distribution by pooling information across pools and genomic positions. In addition, the proposed EBM model builds in characteristics unique to the pooled sequencing data, boosting the sensitivity of SNP detection. For large-scale inference in SNP detection, the EBM model provides a flexible and robust way for estimation and control of local false discovery rate. We demonstrate the performance of the proposed method through simulation studies and real data application. Availability: Implementation of this method is available at https://sites.google.com/site/zhouby98 Contact: baiyu.zhou@einstein.yu.edu
61.3: High‐Contrast, Remodulation Projector with Constant Brightness and System Adjustments

A projector with a native contrast >500k:1 and NRb (night-vision) contrast >50k:1 has been developed with a constant brightness feedback system. Multiple projectors can be connected in flight simulators to provide constant brightness between projectors, thereby reducing the alignment time and maintenance and improving the realism of flight simulators.
Invasive black spiny‐tailed iguanas (Ctenosaura similis) on Gasparilla Island, Florida, USA

The native range of Ctenosaura similis extends from southern Mexico through Panama. From an initial introduction of 3 animals in 1979, the species now numbers in the thousands on Gasparilla Island in southwest Florida. In response to complaints of property damage from residents and threats to native species, local officials and the US Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services began a removal program in 2008. Through 2011, trappers removed 9467 ctenosaurs. The number removed declined from 32 iguanas/day in 2008 to 1.9 iguanas/day in 2011 despite no easing of the control effort. We necropsied 2757 ctenosaurs to document aspects of their natural history. Females outnumbered males overall, although the largest size class (>300 mm snout-vent length) included 32 males and just 2 females. Reproduction was seasonal. We found oviducal eggs in females from early Apr to early Jun, approximately 2 months later than C. similis in its native range. We trapped hatchlings from late Jul to early Oct coincident with the summer rainy season. Clutch size increased with female body size, with 62 being the largest clutch size recorded. In general, the biology of the invasive population on Gasparilla Island resembles native C. similis populations in Central America, except for the lack of large individuals. We suggest that shorter day length and colder temperatures create environmental conditions that are suboptimal for individual growth compared to those in the native range.
A high-performance web-based information system for publishing large-scale species range maps in support of biodiversity studies

Abstract Functionality, performance and scalability are critical to Web-based information systems for publishing and disseminating large-scale species distribution data. Existing systems do not support dynamic spatial window queries on large-scale species range maps that are important to compute alpha and beta diversities for biodiversity analysis and modeling. In this study, we have developed a main-memory based novel quadtree data structure to represent large-scale species range maps and support dynamic spatial window queries to retrieve a list of species and their area sizes within a query window efficiently. Using the NatureServe's 400 0 + bird species range maps, experiment results have shown that the memory footprint of the proposed quadtree data structure representing the range maps of all the species is about 1/6 of the quadtree derived by combining individual quadtrees each representing a species range map. The experiment results have also demonstrated that the query response times of our main-memory spatial database are well below a fraction of a second for query windows as large as 10 × 10°, which are 2–3 orders better than using a typical disk-resident spatial database system.
An Adaptive Fast Multipole Boundary Element Method for Three-dimensional Potential Problems

An adaptive fast multipole boundary element method (FMBEM) for general three-dimensional (3-D) po- tential problems is presented in this paper. This adaptive FMBEM uses an adaptive tree structure that can balance the multipole to local translations (M2L) and the direct evalu- ations of the near-field integrals, and thus can reduce the number of the more costly direct evaluations. Furthermore, the coefficients used in the preconditioner for the iterative solver (GMRES) are stored and used repeatedly in the di- rect evaluations of the near-field contributions. In this way, the computational efficiency of the adaptive FMBEM is im- proved significantly. The adaptive FMBEM can be applied to both the original FMBEM formulation and the new FMBEM with diagonal translations. Several numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the adaptive FMBEM for studying large-scale 3-D potential prob- lems. The adaptive FMBEM is found to be about 50% faster than the non-adaptive version of the new FMBEM in solv- ing the model (with 558,000 elements) for porous materi- als studied in this paper. The computational efficiencies and accuracies of the FMBEM as compared with the finite ele- ment method (FEM) are also studied using a heat-sink model. It is found that the adaptive FMBEM is especially advanta- geous in modeling problems with complicated domains for which free meshes with much more finite elements would be needed with the FEM.
Linking environmental risk assessment and communication : an experiment in co-evolving scientific and social knowledge

Dissemination of information to decision-makers and enhanced methods of public participation are often put forward as antidotes to a perceived disconnect between risk assessment and risk communication in the public domain. However, mechanisms that support both the provision of routine, timely and relevant technical knowledge to the public and meaningful opportunities for public participation in the evaluation and management of risk are few. We argue for the need to re-conceptualise the institutional context in which risk research and communication occur as one in which scientific knowledge and public understanding are co-evolutionary instead of independent or sequential. Here, we report on an experiment to promote co-evolution of environmental risk assessment and risk communication through the instrumental use of a web-based platform that dynamically links expert and public discourses through common information sources, linked scenario evaluations, and opportunities for iterative dialogue. On the basis of technical feasibility, research value and public communication capacity, we conclude that there is potential for further refinement of the methodologies presented here.
Microvilli appear to represent the first step in actin bundle formation in Drosophila bristles

During bristle development the emerging bristle shaft, socket cell, and the apical surface of thoracic epithelial cells form tiny protuberances or pimples that contain electron-dense material located on the cytoplasmic surface of the pimple tip. In a few cases short actin filaments extend from this material into the cortical cytoplasm. When cultured in the presence of jasplakinolide, an agent that prevents filament disassembly, pimples elongate to form microvilli containing a core of crosslinked filaments. Emerging-bristle mutants delay cortical bundle formation and are aggregated by forked protein crossbridges. Using these mutants and enhancing core bundle formation with jasplakinolide we found that microvillar formation represents the first stage in the morphogenesis of much larger actin bundles in Drosophila bristle shaft cells. Evidence is presented showing that socket cells do not contain forked protein crossbridges, a fact that may explain why cortical bundles only appear in bristle shaft cells. Furthermore, as pimples and microvilli form in the absence of both forked and fascin crossbridges, we also conclude that neither of these crossbridges account for core bundle formation in microvilli, but there must exist a third, as yet unidentified crossbridge in this system. Immunocytochemisty suggested that this new crossbridge is not Drosophila villin. Finally, ultrastructural comparisons suggest that microspikes and microvilli form very differently.
Cohen syndrome with bull's eye macular lesion.

The Cohen syndrome is an autosomal recessive disorder which is characterized by hypotonia, obesity, mental deficiency, and facial, oral and ocular anomalies. During a twelve-year period of observation, the authors’ patient manifested pigmentary retinal degeneration and a bull's eye macular lesion. The Cohen syndrome must be included in the differential diagnosis of syndromes with retinitis pigmentosa.
FREE SPEECH AND OFFENSIVE EXPRESSION

Free speech has historically been viewed as a special and preferred democratic value in the United States, by the public as well as by the legislatures and courts. In 1937, Justice Benjamin Cardozo wrote in Palko v. Connecticut that protection of speech is a “fundamental” liberty due to America's history, political and legal, and he recognized its importance, saying, “[F]reedom of thought and speech” is “the matrix, the indispensable condition, of nearly every other form of freedom.” It is likely notable that in the Bill of Rights free speech is protected in the First Amendment rather than later.
Isolation and determination of the glycoproteins in cerebrospinal fluid.

SummaryA procedure is described for the isolation of the glycoproteins from spinal fluid that also separates the lipides and free sugars. The carbohydrates in the glycoproteins were identified by paper chromatography, mannose, galactose, fucose, and glucosamine were found. 2. Methods are given for the quantitative estimation of the hexose and hexosamine associated with the glycoproteins and the gamma globulin, and also the neuraminic acid content of the spinal fluid. 3. An increase in gamma globulin hexose was found in multiple sclerosis. The ratio of gamma globulin hexose to glycoprotein was likewise increased. However the ratio of hexose to gamma globulin was not different from that found in non-demyelinating diseases, indicating that the hexose increase merely reflected the increase in gamma globulin.
Moving Target Detection in Distributed MIMO Radar on Moving Platforms

This paper examines moving target detection in distributed multi-input multi-output radar with sensors placed on moving platforms. Unlike previous works which were focused on stationary platforms, we consider explicitly the effects of platform motion, which exacerbate the location-induced clutter non-homogeneity inherent in such systems and thus make the problem significantly more challenging. Two new detectors are proposed. The first is a sparsity based detector which, by exploiting a sparse representation of the clutter in the Doppler domain, adaptively estimates from the test signal the clutter subspace, which is in general distinct for different transmit/receive pairs and, moreover, may spread over the entire Doppler bandwidth. The second is a fully adaptive parametric detector which employs a parametric autoregressive clutter model and offers joint model order selection, clutter estimation/mitigation, and target detection in an integrated and fully adaptive process. Both detectors are developed within the generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) framework, obviating the need for training signals that are indispensable for conventional detectors but are difficult to obtain in practice due to clutter non-homogeneity. Numerical results indicate that the proposed training-free detectors offer improved detection performance over covariance matrix based detectors when the latter have a moderate amount of training signals.
Adaptive Information Passing for Early State Pruning in MapReduce Data Processing Workflows.

MapReduce data processing workflows often consist of multiple cycles where each cycle hosts the execution of some data processing operators e.g., join, defined in a program. A common situation is that many data items that are propagated along in a workflow, end up being “fruitless” i.e. they do not contribute to the final output. Given that the dominant costs associated with MapReduce processing (I/O, sorting and network transfer) are very sensitive to the size of intermediate states, such fruitless data items contribute unnecessarily to workflow costs. Consequently, it may be possible to improve the performance of MapReduce data processing workflows by eliminating fruitless data items as early as possible. Achieving this will require maintaining extra information about the state (output) of each operator, and then passing this information to descendant operators in the workflow. The descendant operators can use this state information to prune fruitless data items from their other inputs. However, this process is not without any overhead and in some cases, its costs may outweigh its benefits. Consequently, a technique for adaptively selecting Information Passing as part of an execution plan is needed. This adaptivity will need to be determined by a cost model that accounts for MapReduce’s partitioned execution model as well as its restricted model of communication between operators. These nuances of MapReduce impose limitations on the applicability of information passing techniques developed for traditional database systems. In this paper, we propose an approach for implementing Adaptive Information Passing for MapReduce platforms. Our proposal includes a benefit estimation model, and an approach for collecting data statistics needed for benefit estimation, which piggybacks on operator execution. Our approach has been integrated into Apache Hive and a comprehensive empirical evaluation is presented.
Liquid-Membrane Hollow Fiber Enzyme Reactors

The hollow fiber enzyme reactor has continued to attract both experimental and theoretical attention (1–8) since a theoretical study was first published in 1971 (9). A motivating force for the interest in the hollow fiber reactor, other than the fact that it is another object for chemical engineers to model mathematically, is the fact that it is one of the few practical reactors for the “immobilization” of multienzyme-coenzyme mixtures, a subject that is very much at the forefront of enzyme engineering at the present time. Notable is the work of Ford, Chambers and collaborators (1–3), who developed the first workable system for continuous steady-state operation with cofactor-requiring enzymes. These investigators employed a Dow reverse osmosis hollow fiber beaker, which had a rather tight membrane cutoff (200 M.W.), to retain the cofactor. They observed, however, that the permeability of even low molecular weight substrates and products (e.g. ethanol, acetaldehyde, and acetate) was quite small and suggested that a more open membrane, one with a higher molecular weight cutoff, would not only increase the permeability of small molecules, but would expand the capability of the hollow fiber reactor to higher molecular weight substrates and products.
Circadian clocks govern calorie restriction–mediated life span extension through BMAL1- and IGF-1-dependent mechanisms

Calorie restriction (CR) increases longevity in many species by unknown mechanisms. The circadian clock was proposed as a potential mediator of CR. Deficiency of the core component of the circadian clock-transcriptional factor BMAL1 (brain and muscle ARNT [aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator]-like protein 1)-results in accelerated aging. Here we investigated the role of BMAL1 in mechanisms of CR. The 30% CR diet increased the life span of wild-type (WT) mice by 20% compared to mice on anad libitum(AL) diet but failed to increase life span ofBmal1(-/-)mice. BMAL1 deficiency impaired CR-mediated changes in the plasma levels of IGF-1 and insulin. We detected a statistically significantly reduction of IGF-1 in CRvs.AL by 50 to 70% in WT mice at several daily time points tested, while inBmal1(-/-)the reduction was not significant. Insulin levels in WT were reduced by 5 to 9%, whileBmal1(-/-)induced it by 10 to 35% at all time points tested. CR up-regulated the daily average expression ofBmal1(by 150%) and its downstream target genesPeriods(by 470% forPer1and by 130% forPer2). We propose that BMAL1 is an important mediator of CR, and activation of BMAL1 might link CR mechanisms with biologic clocks.-Patel, S. A., Chaudhari, A., Gupta, R., Velingkaar, N., Kondratov, R. V. Circadian clocks govern calorie restriction-mediated life span extension through BMAL1- and IGF-1-dependent mechanisms.
A life-course perspective on legal status stratification and health

Scholars have expressed growing interest in the relationship between legal status stratification and health. Nevertheless, the extant research often lacks theoretical underpinnings. We propose the life-course perspective as a theoretical lens with which to understand relationships between legal status stratification and health outcomes. In particular, the life-course perspective guides researchers׳ attention to historical contexts that have produced differential social, political, and economic outcomes for immigrants based on legal status, and to the potentially long-term and intergenerational relationships between legal status stratification and health. We review four key dimensions of the life-course perspective and make recommendations for future directions in public health research on legal status and health.
The effect of a 70 deg swept canard on the leading-edge vortices of a 70 deg swept delta wing during dynamic pitching

The effect of a canard on delta wing vortices was investigated in the 2 ft x 3 ft water tunnel at Wichita State University. It is well known that the leading-edge vortices generated by a delta-shaped wing greatly enhance a vehicle's performance at high angles of attack. In this experiment, a 70 swept canard was placed in front of a 70 deg swept main delta wing. Dye flow visualization was used to observe the vortex breakdown location during dynamic pitch-up and pitch-down motion with varying pitch rates. Compared to the no canard configuration, results showed that there was a delay in vortex breakdown due to the presence of the canard and the dynamic pitch motion. The most favorable delay was obtained when the canard was located closest to the main delta wing and the model was pitched up at a fast rate or pitched down at a slow rate. Complete vortex breakdown on the main delta wing occurred at 53 deg for the static case without canard. In comparison, complete vortex breakdown did not occur until 90 deg when the canard configured delta wing was pitched up at a very fast rate. (Author)
Performance Flexibility of a Reconfigurable Family of UAVs

This paper demonstrates approaches to assess the performance exibility of recon gurable unmanned air vehicles consisting of modular airframe components that can be interchanged between sorties. A notional family of aircraft based on a xed forward fuselage and a library of interchangeable engines and wings of di erent sizes is de ned. The performance of the family is quanti ed for a spectrum of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance and strike mission pro les using a multidisciplinary aircraft performance analysis toolset. Performance exibility is assessed through three approaches: (1) point performance capability, (2) mission performance boundaries for canonical mission pro les, and (3) a probabilistic technique to quantify the likelihood that emergent missions can be accomplished. The probabilistic method also incorporates logic for determining which aircraft variant should be con gured for each mission based on the assessment of its performance exibility. Results demonstrate a substantial increase in overall mission capability of the family as compared to individual variants within the family. This exibility is achieved with a manageable recon guration frequency that is promising for the pace of practical operations.
HG-05DAAM2 PROMOTES TUMOR PROLIFERATION AND MIGRATION IN GLIOBLASTOMA

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most common and aggressively malignant high-grade gliomas in humans. GBM tumors as are comprised of astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. Genes involved in the development of these glial cells have been linked to GBM tumorigenesis. Considering tumorigenesis is currently viewed as a convergence of genetic mutation and developmental context, we want to understand how the mechanisms which govern glial cell fate decisions contribute to GBM formation. The Wnt signaling pathway, for example, has well defined functions in neural progenitor self-renewal during development. This function is dysregulated in several cancers, yet surprisingly poorly defined in GBM. Given our finding that Daam2 plays a key role in Wnt signaling in the developing and CNS, we hypothesize that Daam2 is a key component of the Wnt signaling pathway which is dis-regulated in GBM. Indeed, we found that Daam2 is highly expressed in human GBM samples. Subsequent analysis of Daam2 function in GBM reveals that it promotes tumor proliferation and migration both in vitro and in vivo. The way we approached gain and loss of function in vivo study is to use In Utero Electroporation (IUE) technology to target astro-glial lineages with oncogenes. The attributes of this model are rapid and efficient generation of GBM after three weeks. Currently, I am working to precisely define Daam2 molecular mechanism in tumor. It shows that Daam2 potentiates canonical Wnt signaling in GBM tumor cell lines. Moreover, we surprisingly find that Daam2 not only functions through Wnt signaling pathway in GBM, but also interacts with PI3K. These studies represent the first characterization of Daam2/Wnt signaling/ PI3K function in GBM.
Effects of propanolol and sotalol on epinephrine-induced hyperglycemia and glycogen depletion of liver and muscle in the rat.

SummaryPropranolol at doses of 5 and 30 mg/kg and sotalol in a dose of 100 mg/kg only partially inhibited the hyperglycemic response to epinephrine in the rat. These β-adrenergic antagonists completely antagonized the glycogenolytic effect of epinephrine on skeletal muscle, but they did not modify the marked effect of epinephrine on liver glycogen.
Computerizing Small Sections of the Clinical Laboratory

Although stand-alone microcomputers cannot currently accommodate the information processing needs of an entire clinical laboratory, they may find applications in small laboratory sections. In this article, a computer program that handles the information processing needs of a mycobacteriology laboratory is described. The program generates the laboratory log book, patient reports, and cumulative patient summaries and supports a variety of ad hoc inquiries. A novel feature of the program is the generation of interpretive interim reports, a process that incorporates medically oriented logic and illustrates the application of a simple “expert system” in practice. Experience with the program over a two-year period illustrates the advantages and drawbacks of using stand-alone microcomputers in small sections of the laboratory.
Protective Effect of Polysccharide Sulfate on Sodium Nitroprusside-induced Neurotoxicity in PC12 Cells

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the protective effect of polysccharide on sodium nitroprusside-induced neurotoxicity in PC12 cells. METHODS: PC12 cells were cultured and divided into control,damage,PSS(50,100,150 μg·mL-1) and nimodipine groups. The cell survival was measured by MTT assay. The apoptosis was measured by flow cytometry. The levels of LDH,MDA,SOD,Ca2+i and the caspase-3 activity were determined as well. RESULTS: Compared with the damage group,PSS could significantly reduce cell death rate,lower the efflux of LDH and production of MDA,increase SOD activity,lower the activities of intracellular Ca2+i and caspase-3 activity,and inhibit apoptosis of PC12 cells. CONCLUSION: The remarkable protective effect of PSS on sodium nitroprusside-induced damage of PC12 cells is possibly related to its antagonistic action on intracellular calcium accumulation and anti-peroxidation of lipid.
Lupus anticoagulant testing using two parallel methods detects additional cases and predicts persistent positivity.

Background Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS) is characterized by laboratory evidence of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) [e.g. lupus anticoagulant (LA), anticardiolipin (ACL), and/or antiβ2-glycoprotein I (aB2GPI)] in a clinical setting of thrombosis or pregnancy morbidity. The International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis recommends two different testing modalities to detect LA. To evaluate these recommendations in a clinical setting, our hospital, a tertiary care center with a specialized coagulation laboratory, added the dilute Russell's viper venom time to be performed in parallel with the PTT-lupus anticoagulant to detect LA. Methods Results of aPL testing were collected on all patients who had LA testing for one year. Chart review was performed to correlate LA results with ACL, aB2GPI, and clinical history. Results Patients who were initially LA positive by both PTT-lupus anticoagulant and dilute Russell's viper venom time were more likely to be persistently positive. Patients who were positive for ACL and aB2GPI were likely to be positive by both LA methodologies. No single method was absolutely sensitive, as cases of APS were detected by PTTLA only, DRVVT only, and both methods. Conclusions The addition of a second testing method for LA provides additional diagnostic information and may be helpful in stratifying risk of thrombosis.
Anemia and quality of life in cancer patients: impact of transfusion and erythropoietin.

Anemia is a frequent complication of cancer and its treatment and can have a significant impact on one's quality of life. The utility of mechanisms currently used to ameliorate the anemia (i.e. transfusion and erythropoietin) is reviewed vis-a-vis improving quality of life.
SU-D-207B-06: Predicting Breast Cancer Malignancy On DCE-MRI Data Using Pre-Trained Convolutional Neural Networks

Purpose: We investigate deep learning in the task of distinguishing between malignant and benign breast lesions on dynamic contrast-enhanced MR images (DCE-MRIs), eliminating the need for lesion segmentation and extraction of tumor features. We evaluate convolutional neural network (CNN) after transfer learning with ImageNet, a database of thousands of non-medical images. Methods: Under a HIPAA-compliant IRB protocol, a database of 551 (357 malignant and 194 benign) breast MRI cases was collected. ROIs around each lesion were extracted from the DCE-MRI slices at the second post-contrast time point. Depending on the size of the tumor, the dimensions of ROIs varied between 1 and 1.5 times the maximum diameter of the lesion, which were further upsampled or downsampled to yield 256×256-pixel ROIs. Next, these ROIs were directly input to the convolutional neural network ConvNet, which had been pre-trained by AlexNet on the ImageNet database. The internal layer of ConvNet output 4,096 features, which were subsequently used as the input to a support vector machine (SVM) to classify the lesions as malignant or benign. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used as a figure of merit for the classification task. We performed 10-fold cross-validation with training and testing sets consisting of 90% and 10% of the database, respectively. Results: The CNN with transfer learning and subsequent SVM yielded an an AUC value of 0.85, demonstrating the predictive value of the CNN. In future work, we will compare the results obtained with ConvNet with the results obtained using conventional tumor radiomics features. Our approach returns the prediction within minutes, due to incorporation of transfer learning. Conclusion: A CNN pre-trained on non-medical images can be used to extract image characteristics from breast DCE-MR images relevant to diagnostic decision-making. Our work shows that transfer learning can aid in prediction of breast cancer malignancy. M. Giger is a stockholder in R2/Hologic, co-founder and equity holder in Quantitative Insights, and receives royalties from Hologic, GE Medical Systems, MEDIAN Technologies, Riverain Medical, Mitsubishi, and Toshiba
Impact of Massachusetts Health Reform on Enrollment Length and Health Care Utilization in the Unsubsidized Individual Market.

Objective To evaluate the impact of the 2006 Massachusetts health reform, the model for the Affordable Care Act, on short-term enrollment and utilization in the unsubsidized individual health insurance market. Data Source Seven years of administrative and claims data from Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. Research Design We employed pre-post survival analysis and an interrupted time series design to examine changes in enrollment length, utilization patterns, and use of elective procedures (discretionary inpatient surgeries and infertility treatment) among nonelderly adult enrollees before (n = 6,912) and after (n = 29,207) the MA reform. Principal Findings The probability of short-term enrollment dropped immediately after the reform. Rates of inpatient encounters (HR = 0.83, 95 percent CI: 0.74, 0.93), emergency department encounters (HR = 0.85, 95 percent CI: 0.80, 0.91), and discretionary inpatient surgeries (HR = 0.66 95 percent CI: 0.45, 0.97) were lower in the postreform period, whereas the rate of ambulatory visits was somewhat higher (HR = 1.04, 95 percent CI: 1.00, 1.07). The rate of infertility treatment was higher after the reform (HR = 1.61, 95 percent CI: 1.33, 1.97), driven by women in individual (vs. family) plans. The reform was not associated with increased utilization among short-term enrollees. Conclusions MA health reform was associated with a decrease in short-term enrollment and changes in utilization patterns indicative of reduced adverse selection in the unsubsidized individual market. Adverse selection may be a problem for specific, high-cost treatments.
Estimating the impact of oyster restoration scenarios on transient fish production

Oyster reef restoration projects are increasing in number both to enhance oyster density and to retain valuable ecosystem services provided by oyster reefs. Although some oyster restoration projects have demonstrated success by increasing density and biomass of transient fish, it still remains a challenge to quantify the effects of oyster restoration on transient fish communities. We developed a bioenergetics model to assess the impact of selected oyster reef restoration scenarios on associated transient fish species. We used the model to analyze the impact of changes in (1) oyster population carrying capacity; (2) oyster population growth rate; and (3) diet preference of transient fish on oyster reef development and associated transient fish species. Our model results indicate that resident fish biomass is directly affected by oyster restoration and oyster biomass, and oyster restoration can have cascading impacts on transient fish biomass. Furthermore, the results highlight the importance of a favorable oyster population growth rate during early restoration years, as it can lead to rapid increases in mean oyster biomass and biomass of transient fish species. The model also revealed that a transient fish's diet solely dependent on oyster reef-derived prey could limit the biomass of transient fish species, emphasizing the importance of habitat connectivity in estuarine areas to enhance transient fish species biomass. Simple bioenergetics models can be developed to understand the dynamics of a system and make qualitative predictions of management and restoration scenarios.
Bound-Free Correlation Potentials for Scattering Theory

Density functional theory [1,2] (DFT) models a system of N interacting electrons by an effective one-electron Hamiltonian with a local exchange-correlation potential function. There is no competitive method available for realistic calculations on condensed matter, large molecules, or molecules containing heavy atoms. For atoms or small molecules, DFT is much more efficient than alternative methods, and often gives results of useful accuracy [3]. Many applications of this theory to bound states have used the local-density approximation (LDA), based on the interacting homogeneous electron gas, which does not provide an adequate model of an electron outside the charge distribution responsible for the interaction energy. LDA is not expected to be a correct model for the nonlocal polarization response involved in bound-free correlation and the van der Waals interaction [3].
Video-Mediated Peer Support in an Online Community for Recovery from Substance Use Disorders

People in recovery from substance use disorders seek peer support through online health communities like InTheRooms.com (ITR). This community provides the unique opportunity to study video-mediated health peer support online, as it hosts over 100 weekly video meetings for fellowships like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). We describe two synergistic investigations of participants' use, perceptions, and tensions around video meetings on ITR: an online questionnaire, and in-depth inter-views with active site members. We discuss four themes that may be important to other peer-support health communities: opportunities for video-mediated support, synergy with face-to-face contact, challenge of transparency of norms, and the importance of constructive moderation.
The positive psychology of recovery: a review

Can Positive Psychology provide an adequate theory to understand and address addiction This is the question addressed in this current review Positive Psychology is far from merely a study about what is positive It supports grappling with addiction from a stance of hope optimism and growth Using a literature review and numerous examples this paper discusses Positive Psychology and addictions recovery This review finds that Positive Psychology provides a compelling model for understanding and treating addiction Positive Psychology seeks to build a life worth living rather than merely avoiding substance use Numerous practical Positive Psychology strategies are applied to addiction treatment Lastly the review also discusses a number of important gaps in the literature It should be noted that for brevity this review uses the abbreviation PP rather than Positive Psychology
Directed β C–H Amination of Alcohols via Radical Relay Chaperones

A radical-mediated strategy for β C–H amination of alcohols has been developed. This approach employs a radical relay chaperone, which serves as a traceless director that facilitates selective C–H functionalization via 1,5-hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) and enables net incorporation of ammonia at the β carbon of alcohols. The chaperones presented herein enable direct access to imidate radicals, allowing their first use for H atom abstraction. A streamlined protocol enables rapid conversion of alcohols to their β-amino analogs (via in situ conversion of alcohols to imidates, directed C–H amination, and hydrolysis to NH2). Mechanistic experiments indicate HAT is rate-limiting, whereas intramolecular amination is product- and stereo-determining.
Nonlinear Thermoelectroelastic Analysis of III-N Semiconductor Devices

The diffusion-drift electron transport description is combined with finite deformation theory to model thermoelectroelastic behaviors in piezoelectric semiconductors under conditions when the mechanical strains/displacements are not small so that the usual assumption of linearity cannot be justified. The nonlinear treatment includes both kinematic and constitutive corrections as well as a proper treatment of the electrostatic conditions at free surfaces. The theory is illustrated using numerical simulations of various III-N devices of technological interest, including of conventional AlGaN/GaN HEMTs and of semiconducting microelectromechanical structures that can require the nonlinear theory’s rotational invariance even when the strains are small. Despite uncertainties in the values of the various material coefficients, it seems likely that the nonlinear corrections are often substantial.
Water Quality Monitoring of an Urban Estuary and a Coastal Aquifer Using Field Kits and Meters: A Community-Based Environmental Research Project

Water quality is an important interdisciplinary environmental topic for project-based learning. An undergraduate summer research internship program at a public minority serving institution engaged environmental science majors in community-based research experiences. The research focused on the field monitoring of water quality for surface water and groundwater in urban areas of New York and New Jersey that have been heavily impacted by industrialization and urbanization. Groups of students collected water samples from the tidal section of the Passaic River and the Hackensack River, as well as the Newark Bay in New Jersey. Groundwater samples were also collected from a sandy coastal aquifer located in the East Shore of Staten Island, New York. Students analyzed water samples using a portable pH-EC meter, a portable colorimeter, or field test kits for various water quality parameters in the field or laboratory. Students prepared and presented research posters in conferences and at a local community event. T...