cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
18F-FMISO PET Imaging Identifies Hypoxia and Immunosuppressive Tumor Microenvironments and Guides Targeted Evofosfamide Therapy in Tumors Refractory to PD-1 and CTLA-4 Inhibition.

Purpose: Hypoxia is a common characteristic of many tumor microenvironments, and it has been shown to promote suppression of anti-tumor immunity. Despite strong biological rationale, longitudinal correlation of hypoxia and response to immunotherapy has not been investigated. Experimental Design: In this study, we probed the tumor and its surrounding microenvironment with 18F-FMISO PET imaging to non-invasively quantify tumor hypoxia in vivo prior to and during PD-1 and CTLA-4 checkpoint blockade in preclinical models of breast and colon cancer. Results: Longitudinal imaging identified hypoxia as an early predictive biomarker of therapeutic response (prior to anatomic changes in tumor volume) with a decreasing standard uptake value (SUV) ratio in tumors that effectively respond to therapy. PET signal correlated with ex vivo markers of tumor immune response including cytokines (Ifng, Gzmb, and Tnf), damage-associated molecular pattern receptors (Tlr2/4) and immune cell populations (macrophages, dendritic cells, and cytotoxic T cells). Responding tumors were marked by increased inflammation that were spatially distinct from hypoxic regions, providing a mechanistic understanding of the immune signaling pathways activated. To exploit image-guided combination therapy, hypoxia signal from PET imaging was used to guide the addition of a hypoxia targeted treatment to non-responsive tumors, which ultimately provided therapeutic synergy and rescued response as determined by longitudinal changes in tumor volume. Conclusions: The results generated from this work provide an immediately translatable paradigm for measuring and targeting hypoxia to increase response to immune checkpoint therapy and using hypoxia imaging to guide combinatory therapies.
Impact of cannabis use on prefrontal and parietal cortex gyrification and surface area in adolescents and emerging adults

Abstract Background Regions undergoing maturation with CB1 receptors may be at increased risk for cannabis-induced alterations. Here, we examine the relationships between cannabis use and prefrontal (PFC) and inferior parietal gyrification and surface area (SA) in youth. Methods Participants included 33 cannabis users and 35 controls (ages 18–25). Exclusions included co-morbid psychiatric/neurologic disorders and heavy other drug use. Multiple regressions and Pearson r correlations examined the effects of cannabis use on gyrification, SA and cognition. Results Cannabis use was associated with decreased gyrification in: ventral-medial PFC (RH: [FDR corrected p = .02], LH: [FDR corrected p = .02]); medial PFC (RH: [FDR corrected p = .02], LH: [FDR corrected p = .02]); and frontal poles (RH: [FDR corrected p = .02], LH: [FDR corrected p = .02]). No differences were observed in bilateral hemispheres, PFC, dorsolateral, ventrolateral, or inferior parietal ROIs. Cannabis use was associated with marginally decreased SA in left: medial PFC [FDR corrected p = .09], and ventral lateral PFC: [FDR corrected p = .09]. In cannabis users, increased gyrification was associated with improved working-memory performance in right medial ( p = .003), ventral-medial ( p = .03), and frontal pole ROIs ( p = .007). Conclusions Cannabis use was associated with reduced gyrification in PFC regions implicated in self-referential thought and social cognition. Results suggest that these gyrification characteristics may have cognitive implications.
The Inherent-Powers Corollary: Judicial Non-Delegation and Federal Common Law

Congress often explicitly delegates lawmaking power to courts — or does so implicitly by giving courts ambiguous terms to interpret. Do these laws violate the non-delegation doctrine?I argue that there’s nothing about the doctrine that exempts delegation to judges. But not all such delegations are unconstitutional. The traditional non-delegation doctrine is relaxed when Congress delegates into an area that’s within, or “interlinked with,” power that the delegate already has. This doctrine, which I call “the Inherent-Powers Corollary,” is central to understanding non-delegation.Applying the Inherent-Powers Corollary to the judiciary comes down to determining what exact powers federal courts have. The inherent-powers perspective provides interesting insights into the constitutional foundations of the Erie doctrine. It also connects the non-delegation doctrine with the debate over the scope of federal common law. Federal courts’ lawmaking powers include the power to make procedural rules, to make law in areas of “strong federal interest,” to create statutory defenses and remedies, and to engage in ordinary statutory interpretation. (Non-delegation arguments in the statutory con-text thus overlap with arguments about the permissibility of certain kinds of statutory interpretation.) It turns out that even under fairly restrictive views of federal common law, federal courts’ lawmaking powers are extensive enough to save a great many — but not all — delegations.
Prevalence of Salmonella in Diverse Environmental Farm Samples

The development of suitable intervention strategies to control Salmonella populations at the farm level requires reliable data on the occurrence and prevalence of the pathogen. Previous studies on Salmonella prevalence have focused on acquiring data from specific farm types and/or selected regions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the distribution of this pathogen across a variety of farm types and regions in order to generate comparative data from a diverse group of environmental samples. Farm samples (n = 2,496) were collected quarterly from 18 different farms across five states (Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama, California, and Washington) over a 24-month period. The participating farms included beef and dairy cattle operations, swine production and farrowing facilities, and poultry farms (both broiler chicken and turkey). The samples were analyzed for the presence of Salmonella by means of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Bacteriological Analytical Manual methods optimized for farm samples. Salmonella isolates were characterized by automated riboprinting. Salmonella serovars were recovered from 4.7% of all samples. The majority of positive findings were isolated from swine farms (57.3%). The occurrence of Salmonella was lower on dairy farms (17.9%), poultry farms (16.2%), and beef cattle farms (8.5%). The most commonly isolated serovar was Salmonella Anatum (48.4%), which was isolated notably more frequently than the next most common Salmonella serovars, Arizonae (12.1%) and Javiana (8.8%). The results of this study suggest that significant reservoirs of Salmonella populations still exist on swine production facilities and to a lesser extent in other animal production facilities. Data showed that the surrounding farm environment could be an important source of contamination.
WiMax'ble pervasive cloud - empowering next generation intelligent railway infrastructure

One of the major expectation from any next generation Railway Intelligent Infrastructure will be to reduce track side infrastructure to an extent possible by empowering on-board infrastructure as this enhances operational efficiency while reducing cost. If a broadband technology is made available in a dynamic train environment that could address critical signaling and control system requirements as well as empowers the train passengers - with on-board broadband it will boost business avenues. Pervasive Cloud combines the Power of the Cloud through Pervasive Mobile access . WiMax empowered pervasive access could address critical signalling/control systems requirements while Pervasive cloud itself addressing demands of passengers including but not limited to voice and data services at high speeds, there by addressing the goals of next generation intelligent infrastructure for railways. This paper while giving a futuristic view of related work in our Labs, intends to argue that WiMax'ble Pervasive Cloud (WiMax empowered Pervasive Cloud) could probably be a right candidate to address the expectations and aspirations of a next generation intelligent infrastructure for Railways.
Concurrency Analysis for Shared Memory Programs with Textually Unaligned Barriers

Concurrency analysis is a static analysis technique that determines whether two statements or operations in a shared memory program may be executed by different threads concurrently. Concurrency relationships can be derived from the partial ordering among statements imposed by synchronization constructs. Thus, analyzing barrier synchronization is at the core of concurrency analyses for many parallel programming models. Previous concurrency analyses for programs with barriers commonly assumed that barriers are named or textually aligned. This assumption may not hold for popular parallel programming models, such as OpenMP, where barriers are unnamed and can be placed anywhere in a parallel region, i.e., they may be textually unaligned. We present in this paper the first interprocedural concurrency analysis that can handle OpenMP, and, in general, programs with unnamed and textually unaligned barriers.We have implemented our analysis for OpenMP programs written in C and have evaluated the analysis on programs from the NPB and SpecOMP2001 benchmark suites.
Use of clomiphene citrate in treatment of wedge resection failures and as a preoperative test for wedge resection success

Abstract Twenty referred cases of failed wedge resection were treated with clomiphene citrate. Fourteen patients ovulated and 8 became pregnant during clomiphene treatment or during the first posttreatment cycle. Twenty-four patients were treated with clomiphene citrate prior to wedge resection. Eighteen patients demonstrated a positive response and had a successful wedge resection. Four patients became pregnant. The response to clomiphene is compared to other criteria for operability in these patients. Sixty-eight per cent of women who failed to respond to wedge resection ovulated after clomiphene therapy and half of these became pregnant. The high percentage of success suggests that a trial of clomiphene is worthwhile as a first step in the patient who has failed to respond to wedge resection.
Chapter 1.1 Perspectives on episodic and semantic memory retrieval

Abstract Episodic or autobiographical recollection involves re-experiencing a past event that is specific in time and place, while semantic recollection is concerned with facts and general knowledge about the world. Several prominent memory theories posit that the hippocampus differentiates between these two types of memories, mediating episodic, but not semantic, retrieval. In this chapter we explore a different view of hippocampus, one that emphasizes a singular response of the hippocampus during memory encoding and retrieval of both episodic and semantic memories, based on an amalgam of two existing theories of hippocampal function, multiple trace theory (MTT; Nadel & Moscovitch, 1997), and cognitive map theory (O'Keefe & Nadel, 1978). We review neuropsychological and neuroimaging literature suggesting that both semantic and episodic memory retrieval engages the hippocampus, at least within the normally functioning brain. We then describe an updated version of MTT that incorporates these new findings. Finally, we explore the notion that differences in the role the hippocampus plays in these forms of memory reflect two critical factors - the nature of the information being retrieved, and the requirements of the retrieval task.
Soluble interleukin 2 and CD8 and CD4 receptors in inflammatory bowel disease

Serum levels of soluble interleukin 2 receptor (sIL-2R) have been proposed as a clinical marker of inflammatory bowel disease. The source of sIL-2R in patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis is unknown, and other soluble receptors have not been investigated. In the present study, sIL-2R and soluble CD8 and CD4 levels were measured in plasma and culture supernatants of peripheral blood and intestinal mucosal mononuclear cells from patients with inflammatory bowel disease, surgical controls, and healthy subjects. Level of plasma sIL-2R was significantly higher in patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis than in healthy volunteers. Intestinal cells always produced more sIL-2R than peripheral cells. Spontaneous sIL-2R production by mucosal cells was significantly elevated in Crohn's disease but not in ulcerative colitis supernatants compared with levels of surgical controls. Soluble CD8 and CD4 were poor indicators of systemic or mucosal immunity. A positive correlation was found between plasma sIL-2R and spontaneous production by intestinal cells of patients with Crohn's disease and surgical control patients, whereas ulcerative colitis plasma sIL-2R correlated with spontaneous production by peripheral cells. The association of plasma or spontaneous sIL-2R levels with the degree of intestinal inflammation was weak, and there was a wide overlap with control values. Therefore, caution should be used before considering sIL-2R an accurate marker of inflammatory bowel disease activity.
Learning by problem processors: adaptive decision support systems

In this paper, we describe the potential advantages of developing Adaptive Decision Support Systems (Adaptive DSSs) for the efficient and/or effective solution of problems in complex domains. The problem processing components of DSSs that subscribe to existing DSS paradigms typically utilize supervised learning strategies to acquire problem processing knowledge (PPK). On the other hand, the problem processor of an Adaptive DSS utilizes unsupervised inductive learning, perhaps in addition to other forms of learning, to acquire some of the necessary PPK. Thus, Adaptive DSSs are, to some extent, self-teaching systems with comparatively less reliance on external agents for PPK acquisition. To illustrate these notions, we examine an application in the domain concerned with the scheduling of jobs in flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs). We provide an architectural description for an Adaptive DSS for supporting static scheduling decisions in FMSs. We illustrate key problem processing features of the system using an example. A prototype system, based on this architecture, is currently under implementation.
Building robust wireless LAN for industrial control with DSSS-CDMA cellphone network paradigm

Deploying wireless LAN for industrial control (IC-WLAN) has many benefits, such as mobility, low deployment cost and ease of reconfiguration. However, the top concern is robustness of wireless communications. Wireless control loops must be maintained under persistent adverse channel conditions, such as noise, large-scale path loss and fading. Many electro-magnetic interference sources in industrial environments, e.g. electric motor and welding, make wireless communication more challenging. The conventional IEEE 802.11 WLANs, which are designed for providing high bandwidth instead of high robustness, are therefore inappropriate for IC-WLAN. On the other hand, if the low data rate feature of industrial control is fully exploited by the state-of-the-art direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) technology, much higher robustness can be achieved. We hereby propose using DSSS-CDMA to build IC-WLAN, and exploiting the low data rate feature of industrial control loops for enhanced robustness. We carried out fine-grained physical layer simulations and Monte Carlo comparisons. The results show that DSSS-CDMA IC-WLAN provides much higher robustness than IEEE 802.11 WLAN, so that reliable wireless industrial control loops are made feasible. The DSSS-CDMA IC-WLAN scheme also opens up a new problem space for interdisciplinary study, involving real-time scheduling and resource management, communication, networking and control. In this paper, we study the resource management problems on maximizing robustness and minimizing control utility loss. Analytical resource optimization solutions are given
Generating Networks of Illegal Drug Users Using Large Samples of Partial Ego-Network Data

Use of drugs, including illegal ones such as marijuana and cocaine, is primarily a socially learned behavior. Friendship relationships often serve as the means by which youths are given the opportunity to try and continue using a drug. Counter-forces against use can also include friends, but often consist of close ties to parents. Since current research into youth drug use and abuse tends to focus on localized social networks of youths, we have yet to understand general characteristics of drug networks and how they might vary across subpopulations, such as youths of different cities. In this paper, I explore a method of sampling large networks of youths using the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). This method enables me to obtain population level network measures and assess risk of contact between non-users, users, and sellers and how that risk varies across different metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs).
Combined paraquat and acetaminophen toxicity.

AbstractA case of combined paraquat and acetaminophen ingestion is reported with accompanying serial serum levels (including pre and postcharcoal hemoperfusion) and autopsy tissue levels of both toxins. An increased lethality (time until death) is suggested in rats receiving both toxins as compared to either toxin alone. A proposed mechanism for the combined toxicity of the two drugs is hypothesized.
Binocular maps in Xenopus tectum: Visual experience and the development of isthmotectal topography

Xenopus frogs have a prominent binocular field that develops as a consequence of the migration of the eyes during the remodeling of the head during and after metamorphosis. In the optic tectum, a topographic representation of the ipsilateral eye develops during this same period. It is relayed indirectly, via the nucleus isthmi. In the early stages of binocular development, the topographic matching of the ipsilateral input to the retinotectal input from the contralateral eye is largely governed by chemical cues, but the ultimate determinant of the ipsilateral map is binocular visual input. Visual input is such a dominant factor that abnormal visual input resulting from unilateral eye rotation can induce isthmotectal axons to alter their trajectories dramatically, even shifting their terminal zones from one pole of the tectum to the other. This plasticity normally is high only during a 3-4-month critical period of late tadpole-early juvenile life, but the critical period can be extended indefinitely by dark-rearing. N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are involved in this process; plasticity can be blocked or promoted by chronic treatment with NMDA antagonists or agonists, respectively. Cholinergic nicotinic receptors on retinotectal axons are likely to play an essential role as well. Modifications in the polysialylation of neural cell adhesion molecule are correlated with the state of plasticity. The circuitry underlying binocular plasticity is not yet fully understood but has proved not to be a simple convergence of ipsilateral and contralateral inputs onto the same targets.
Procedures for construction of anisotropic elastic–plastic property closures for face-centered cubic polycrystals using first-order bounding relations

Abstract Microstructure-sensitive design (MSD) is a novel mathematical framework that facilitates a rigorous consideration of the material microstructure as a continuous design variable in the engineering design enterprise [Adams, B.L., Henrie, A., Henrie, B., Lyon, M., Kalidindi, S.R., Garmestani, H., 2001. Microstructure-sensitive design of a compliant beam. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 49(8), 1639–1663; Adams, B.L., Lyon, M., Henrie, B., 2004. Microstructures by design: linear problems in elastic–plastic design. Int. J. Plasticity 20(8–9), 1577–1602; Kalidindi, S.R., Houskamp, J.R., Lyons, M., Adams, B.L., 2004. Microstructure sensitive design of an orthotropic plate subjected to tensile load. Int. J. Plasticity 20(8–9), 1561–1575]. MSD employs spectral representations of the local state distribution functions in describing the microstructure quantitatively, and these in turn enable development of invertible linkages between microstructure and effective properties using established homogenization (composite) theories. As a natural extension of the recent publications in MSD, we provide in this paper a detailed account of the methods that can be readily used by mechanical designers to construct first-order elastic–plastic property closures. The main focus in this paper is on the crystallographic texture (also called Orientation Distribution Function or ODF) as the main microstructural parameter controlling the elastic and yield properties of cubic (fcc and bcc) polycrystalline metals. The following specific advances are described in this paper: (i) derivation of rigorous first-order bounds for the off-diagonal terms of the effective elastic stiffness tensor and their incorporation in the MSD framework, (ii) delineation of the union of the property closures corresponding to both the upper and lower bound theories resulting in comprehensive first-order closures, (iii) development of generalized and readily usable expressions for effective anisotropic elastic–plastic properties that could be applied to all cubic polycrystals, and (iv) identification of the locations of readily available or easily processable ODFs (e.g. textures that are produced by rolling, drawing, etc.) on the property closures. It is anticipated that the advances communicated in this paper will make the mathematical framework of MSD highly accessible to the mechanical designers.
Fish imagery in art 37: Courbet's The Trout

Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) was a Realist painter whose paintings were a rebellion against the Romantic painters who dominated the art of his day. His paintings of common people and common scenes shocked the 19th century French art world. The photograph below of The Trout does not do justice to Courbet’s excellence as a craftsman and a colorist but does reflect his uncompromising realism. The trout is painted as a terrorized victim of fate; it is difficult not to feel the pain of this fish as it struggles against the hook in its mouth. By painting reality in its unglamorous aspects, Courbet instigated the first of many artistic ‘revolutions’ which led to the chaotic modern art scene. The realist tradition he began continues today in such exhibits as that of the photographs of homosexual acts by Robert Mapplethorpe, which are as offensive to our society today as paintings like The Trout were to the society of Courbet’s time.
Morphine activation of c-fos expression in rat brain

The post-receptor mechanism of opiate action has been studied by examining the activation by morphine of the proto-oncogene c-fos and its encoded nucleoprotein pp55c-fos (FOS) in rat caudate-putamen, which is rich in the mu-type opiate receptor. Following an acute morphine treatment, c-fos mRNA levels in rat caudate-putamen were increased to maximum (420% of control level) at 45 minutes and returned to control levels at 90 minutes. This induction was completely abolished by naloxone, a morphine antagonist. Fos protein, detected by immunocytochemistry, was also increased 3 hours after morphine injection, in the caudate-putamen, but not in the olfactory tubercle, which does not have the mu-type opiate receptor. Upon activation of opiate receptors by morphine, the c-fos gene is activated and Fos protein may act as a signal transducer uniquely involved in the mechanism of opiate addiction at the level of gene regulation.
TAM macrophages promote growth and metastasis within the cancer ecosystem

Cancer continues to be the major cause of morbidity and death of more than 500,000 people in the US annually. Alternatively activated macrophages (M2 macrophages or TAMs) can facilitate tumor invasiveness and metastasis. As an invasive species in the tumor microenvironment, they provide an ideal therapeutic target.
Image-spoiling properties of selected materials for the infrared

Abstract Qualitative measurements have been made on the image-spoiling properties of several different infrared materials. The phrase “image-spoiling properties” is used to describe an optical material's tendency to deviate the light passing through it in a random manner. This deviation can spoil an otherwise good image. The experiments were performed by collimating the energy from a small blackbody aperture and refocusing the beam into a small spot, which is scanned with a narrow detector. The detector output is displayed as one coordinate on an X - Y recorder; the other co-ordinate represents the position of the detector. The resultant trace allows a direct measurement of the image size. A plane parallel disk of the sample to be tested is then inserted into the collimated beam, and the image size is remeasured. Any increase in image size is attributed to the image-spoiling properties of the sample. Samples tested have included fused quartz, silicon, germanium, arsenic trisulfide, calcium fluoride (both crystalline and hot-pressed), and hot-pressed dielectrics. Both lead sulfide and lead selenide detectors have been used, but the main spectral region of interest has been the 2.0–3.0 micron band. Interference filters have been used to isolate desired spectral regions.
Burh and Beam, Burning Bright: A Study in the Poetic Imagination of the Old English Exodus

The Old English Exodus, a vigorous poetic retelling of the most exciting parts of the eponymous book, stands out from its immediate context, Junius 11, a manuscript of Biblical verse, and, indeed, from the rest of the Anglo-Saxon literature. One of the distinct features of its poetics is its self-conscious handling of two unexpected evocative objects to explore the larger themes of connection and disruption, tradition and innovation. The first, surprising for a poem taking place in and around the desert and the sea, is the burh, “city, fortification, enclosure,” that emerges, on a horizontal axis, in various permutations throughout the epic voyage of the Israelites, and shows continuity within discontinuity. The second crucial artifact, the shape-shifting pillar separates Moses’ troop from their surroundings while connecting them vertically to the biblical past and the Christian and eschatological future. Through my investigation of these two evocative objects I hope not only to illuminate a new aspect of an Old English poetics, but also to make an early-medievalist contribution to recent discussions of fusions between the human and the artifactual in “thing theory.”
Magnetic monopoles and the phase transition of compact U(1) lattice gauge theory in four dimensions

Abstract We show that near the critical coupling of the compact U(1) lattice gauge theory in four dimensions the magnetic monopole number density exhibits the same long-term fluctuations between pairs of metastable states as the plaquette action. The transitions between these pairs of states occur synchronously for the monopole number density and the plaquette action. The correlation between the plaquette action and the monopole number density is found to be quite strong near the phase transition, and diminishes as the coupling deviaes from critical coupling.
Health and turnover of working mothers after childbirth via the work–family interface: An analysis across time.

This study examined organizational levers that impact work–family experiences, participant health, and subsequent turnover. Using a sample of 179 women returning to full-time work 4 months after childbirth, we examined the associations of 3 job resources (job security, skill discretion, and schedule control) with work-to-family enrichment and the associations of 2 job demands (psychological requirements and nonstandard work schedules) with work-to-family conflict. Further, we considered subsequent impact of work-to-family conflict and enrichment on women’s health (physical and mental health) 8 months after women returned to work and the impact of health on voluntary turnover 12 months after women returned to work. Having a nonstandard work schedule was directly and positively related to conflict, whereas schedule control buffered the effect of psychological requirements on conflict. Skill discretion and job security, both job resources, directly and positively related to enrichment. Work-to-family conflict was negatively related to both physical and mental health, but work-to-family enrichment positively predicted only physical health. Physical health and mental health both negatively influenced turnover. We discuss implications and opportunities for future research.
Specific subtotal labyrinthectomy of the superior semicircular canals of the kangaroo rat.

Unlike most mammals the semicircular canals of the kangaroo rat (Dipodomys) are free of petrous bone in the cavity of the mastoid sinus. This particular anatomical feature enabled the extirpation of individual semicircular canals with little or no damage to other portions of the inner ear or nearby vessels and nerves. Removal of the two superior semicircular canals resulted in: (a) a deviation of the eyes in an anterioventral direction, (b) an extension of the hindlimbs posteriorly. (c) a bending of the head ventrally, and (d) a falling to the right or left side in an anterior direction. The duration of these symptoms lasted 20 to 22 minutes. A loss of balance and falling while grooming or standing on the hindlimbs was observed to last up to three weeks. There were apparently no chronic symptoms.
Infrared Thermography as a Measure of Emotion Response

An ongoing challenge facing emotion researchers is finding appropriate measurement tools. Many of our theories focus on emotion in the context of dynamic interaction, yet many of our most relied-up...
Roles of PDK-1 and PKN in regulating cell migration and cortical actin formation of PTEN-knockout cells

Mutations in the tumor suppressor protein PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10) enhance cell migration, yet the underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely uncharacterized. Loss of PTEN in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) correlates with striking cortical actin accumulation. However, how loss of PTEN leads to cortical actin formation and whether the presence of cortical actin contributes to the increased cell migration are unclear. Here we show that overexpression of dominant-negative forms of (DN) PTEN, RhoA or its kinase-dead (KD) effector, PKN, inhibited cortical actin formation, indicating that cortical actin of Pten−/− MEFs is mediated by the PTEN/Rho/PKN pathway. However, neither DN RhoA nor KD PKN inhibited the enhanced migration of Pten−/− cells, in contrast to the inhibitory effect of DN Rac. In agreement with the previous observation that DN Akt inhibits migration of Pten−/− cells, we demonstrate here that overexpression of KD PDK-1, the Akt kinase, reduces Pten−/− cell migration. Furthermore, overexpression of DN forms of Akt, Rac, or PDK-1, all of which inhibit migration of Pten−/− cells, had no effect on cortical actin accumulation. Our findings suggest that PDK-1/Akt signaling pathway plays a major role in regulating cell migration induced by PTEN deficiency.
Lophotoxin: a novel neuromuscular toxin from Pacific sea whips of the genus Lophogorgia

A new neuromuscular toxin, lophotoxin, has been isolated from several pacific gorgonians of the genus Lophogorgia. The structure of lophotoxin was deduced by combined spectrochemical methods, and belongs to the well-known cembrene class of diterpenoid molecules. Lophotoxin contains furanoaldehyde and alpha, beta-epoxy-gamma-lactone functional groups, in sharp contrast to the cationic ammonium functional groups of the established neurotoxins.
Addressing target two of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation by rapidly identifying plants at risk

Target two of the 2002 Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), “A preliminary assessment of the conservation status of all known plant species, at national, regional, and international levels” was not accomplished by its original 2010 target date and has therefore been included as a revised 2020 target, “An assessment of the conservation status of all known plant species, as far as possible, to guide conservation action.” The most widely used system to estimate risk of extinction, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List, provides conservation assessments for fewer than 15,000 plant species. Progress achieving Target two has been hampered by the large number of plant species and the difficulty assembling the data needed for Red List assessments. Two streamlined methods for identifying those plant species considered At Risk under the GSPC Target two are compared and contrasted. Both methods use readily available locality data from herbarium specimens to efficiently identify At Risk species and approximate the list of species that would be identified as threatened by Red List analyses. A comprehensive analysis of the native plant species of Puerto Rico using both streamlined methods identifies 570 of the 2,025 species at some risk of extinction. More efficient systems for assessing threat allow a more timely response to Target two, allow conservation efforts to be directed to the species that need attention, and the list of threatened plants can be used to identify priority areas for plant conservation.
Gene Therapy with P53 and a Fragment of Thrombospondin I Inhibits Human Breast Cancerin Vivo

Abstract We recently reported that a p53 encoding plasmid (BAP-p53) complexed to liposomes administered intravenously markedly attenuates the growth of a malignant human breast tumor. We now have found that systemically delivered liposomes complexed to a plasmid expressing an established antiangiogenic peptide of thrombospondin I (BAP-TSPf) decreased the growth of MDA-MB-435 tumors compared to controls in nude mice. Compared to BAP-p53, the BAP-TSPf group had a similar antitumor efficacy. More importantly, liposomes complexed with BAP-TSPf and BAP-p53 synergistically decreased the growth of MDA-MB-435 tumors when compared to either BAP-p53 or BAP-TSPf alone. Furthermore, we also determined that the combination therapy of p53 and TSPf inhibited endothelial cells in vitro more than either p53 or TSPf alone. There was also a significant decrease of the blood vessel density in the combination p53 and TSPf treatment group compared to the control groups. These results suggest that liposomes complexed to a tumor suppressor and antiangiogenic genes may be effective in treating metastatic tumors.
Influence of feeding soybean oil on conjugated linoleic acid content in beef.

Forty-eight steers were used to study the influence of feeding soybean oil (SO) on the conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) content of beef. Steers were fed either a control diet containing 954 g/kg of dry matter (DM) corn-based concentrate (CTL) or a control diet supplemented with SO at 20 (SO2) or 40 g/kg (SO4) of diet DM for 105 days. Adipose tissue samples were collected from the M. longissimus dorsi (LD) and from the M. semitendinosus (ST) on days 0 and 63 of the experiment. Adipose and muscle tissue samples were collected from the LD and ST immediately after slaughter. Feeding 40 g/kg of DM as SO increased the proportions of trans-C18:1 in beef lipid as compared to CTL and SO2 treatments. The C18:2 cis-9, trans-11 isomer of CLA as a proportion of total fat was not different in adipose and muscle across treatments. Supplementing SO increased C18:2 trans-10, cis-12 CLA in adipose tissue of the LD. Supplementing high-grain finishing diets with SO is not an effective strategy to enhance the C18:2 cis-9, trans...
The impact of alignment between virtual enterprise and information technology on business performance in an agile manufacturing environment

Abstract Manufacturing companies are facing rapid and unanticipated changes in their business environment. Agile manufacturing (AM) is a manufacturing paradigm that focuses on smaller scale, modular production facilities, and agile operations capable of dealing with turbulent and changing environments. From several enablers of AM, virtual enterprise (VE) and information technology (IT) were chosen. This empirical study explored the impact of the alignment between VE and IT on business performance in an AM setting. Extensive data collection strategy and several tests are used to establish the reliability and validity of the data collected. Extensive analyses of the data using structural equation molding were performed for five hypotheses. The results indicate that both VE and IT had positive influences on business performance. It was also established that the alignment between VE and IT had a positive impact on business performance. Further, it was shown that the impact of the alignment between VE and IT on business performance was more significant than the impact of VE and IT on business performance individually. In conclusion, the assessment of the results along with future research directions is provided.
A Difference Equation Arising from Logistic Population Growth

Let be a fixed nonnegative integer. In this article we investigate the boundedness and the global attractivity of the positive solutions of the difference equation with . Here g is a real continuous function and initial conditions are nonnegative real numbers.
Effect of trace impurities in helium on the creep behavior of Alloy 617 for very high temperature reactor applications

Abstract The effect of trace impurities, methane and oxygen, in helium on the creep behavior of Alloy 617, has been investigated. The creep rupture life at relatively low applied stresses was shortest in a helium environment containing 500 vppm oxygen (He + O2), while it was the longest in helium containing 675 vppm methane (He + CH4). However, the rupture strain was significantly lower in the He + CH4 environment compared to that in pure helium (He) and He + O2. The low rupture strain in the He + CH4 is caused by cleavage fracture. In the He + CH4 environment, the fracture mode was cleavage at lower applied stresses and ductile at higher applied stresses while in the He and He + O2, a ductile fracture was observed at all stress levels. The apparent activation energy for creep was determined in all three environments, and it appears to be independent of stress in the He, dependent in the He + CH4, while in the He + O2 environment the stress dependence could not be conclusively established.
Paleoethologic implications of Zoophycos from Late Cretaceous and Paleocene limestones of the Venetian Prealps, northeastern Italy

Large specimens of Zoophycos are abundant in Paleocene pelagic limestone successions in the vicinity of Feltre and Belluno, in northeastern Italy. These burrow systems are familiar examples of the strongly ribbed, downwardly spiralling version of the ichnogenus, containing well-developed primary and secondary lamellae, marginal tunnels, and poorly preserved axial structures. Some of the specimens contain fecal pellets rich in non-carbonate mud and carbonized phytodetritus, suggesting surface deposit feeding and organized subsurface storage of fecal material by the Zoophycos producer. Other examples of the burrows record a departure from the normal behavioral pattern in the form of conspicuous radial tunnels that diverge from the axial region, cut across structural elements, and follow the laminae exactly to the outer margin. This special feature of fully developed Zoophycos appears to represent the last time the trace producers recycled the banks of fecal material, possibly during long intervals of meager food supply at the deep ocean floor.
Experimental and Simulated Cycling of ISFET Electric Fields for Drift Reset

We demonstrate the cycling of electric fields within an ion-sensitive field-effect transistor (ISFET) as a method to control drift. ISFETs had a repeatable drift pattern when cycling the vertical electric field by changing the voltage between the reference electrode and the substrate. Cycling the horizontal electric field, the voltage between the drain and source of the device, showed no effect, causing the device to continue to drift as it would during normal operation. Results were confirmed with multiple pH buffer solutions. An ISFET was modeled using ATHENA. The simulation included the electrolyte modeled as a modified intrinsic semiconductor. Empirical results are confirmed with device-level simulations of an ISFET using Silvaco TCAD. The model produced a scaled current of 90 μA, which is of similar order to the experimental values of 146 μA. The repeatable drift behavior could be easily reconciled to permit the use of ISFETs for long-term continuous monitoring applications.
Studies of the Length-Difficulty Relation in Serial Memorization.

The relation between the amount of free study time needed to prepare for a perfect serial recitation and the number of words in the list was determined for individual subjects when intralist segmentation was systematically varied by the experimenter and when it was left entirely up to the learner. It was found that list organization, regardless of source, failed to affect difficulty. The length-difficulty relation for a given kind of material is therefore a single, nondecomposable function whose shape is determined solely by the number of items in the list and not at all by how those items are segmented. What the learner gains by subdividing a list into groups is precisely what he loses by having to cope with the groups.
A Simple Flame Fusion Apparatus

THE need for large single crystals of refractoryoxides has been ever increasing in recent years. In many instances further technological advances are being hampered by the lack of materials of suitable purity and perfection. One of the major sources of contamination of materials prepared at high temperature is the container in which the material is heated. The flame fusion technique is one high-temperature crystal growth method which overcomes the container problem as the material under investigation acts as its own support. A rather complete review of the advantages, limitations, and operation of flame fusion furnaces is given by Popov1 in a book edited by Shubnikov and Sheftal.
CONCERNING THE SITE OF THE ADDITION OF NEW WALL SUBSTANCES TO THE ELONGATING NITELLA CELL WALL

CELL WALL growth usually involves surface expansion and an increase in total wall mass. Localization of the growth mechanism concerns both processes. With reference to surface expansion, the restriction of elongation to the cell tip has been found in fungal hyphae, root hairs, latex tubes, pollen tubes, and in the bast fibers of ramie (FreyWyssling, 1952). A generally even distribution of growth along the cell axis has been revealed, by marking experiments, in the epidermal cells of the Avena coleoptile (Castle, 1955) and in the internodal cells of Nitella (Green, 1954). In cells not accessible to direct marking procedures, the distribution of pit fields has been the basis for proposals of growth distribution along the cell axis. Wardrop (1955) found an even distribution of elongation in Avena coleoptile parenchyma and Wilson (1957) came to a similar conclusion for the cortical parenchyma of Elodea. It is more difficult to determine the site of the addition of new wall substances because here the position within the cross-section of the wall must be specified. Proposals as to the site of formiation of new wall are often based on the appearance of the cellulose framework of the wall in question. Houwink and Roelofsen (1954) present structural evidence that the cell walls of cotton hairs, stellate pith cells of Juncus, and corn root hairs grow through the addition of cellulose microfibrils, generally in the transverse direction, to the inner surface of the elongating wall. The elongation of the cell has the effect of passively reorienting previously deposited meshes of microfibrils to an isotropic or longitudinal arrangement which is observed on the outside of the cell wall. This type of growth is termed "multi-net growth." The large vesicular cells of the alga Valonia have been studied in the electron microscope and here also microfibrillar patterns suggest that new microfibrils are deposited at or near the inner surface of the wall (Steward and Miihlethaler, 1953; Preston, et al., 1953). Wilson (1951) has expressed the view that some component of the
A wild C. elegans strain has enhanced epithelial immunity to a natural microsporidian parasite.

Microbial pathogens impose selective pressures on their hosts, and combatting these pathogens is fundamental to the propagation of a species. Innate immunity is an ancient system that provides the foundation for pathogen resistance, with epithelial cells in humans increasingly appreciated to play key roles in innate defense. Here, we show that the nematode C. elegans displays genetic variation in epithelial immunity against intestinal infection by its natural pathogen, Nematocida parisii. This pathogen belongs to the microsporidia phylum, which comprises a large phylum of over 1400 species of fungal-related parasites that can infect all animals, including humans, but are poorly understood. Strikingly, we find that a wild C. elegans strain from Hawaii is able to clear intracellular infection by N. parisii, with this ability restricted to young larval animals. Notably, infection of older larvae does not impair progeny production, while infection of younger larvae does. The early-life immunity of Hawaiian larvae enables them to produce more progeny later in life, providing a selective advantage in a laboratory setting—in the presence of parasite it is able to out-compete a susceptible strain in just a few generations. We show that enhanced immunity is dominant to susceptibility, and we use quantitative trait locus mapping to identify four genomic loci associated with resistance. Furthermore, we generate near-isogenic strains to directly demonstrate that two of these loci influence resistance. Thus, our findings show that early-life immunity of C. elegans against microsporidia is a complex trait that enables the host to produce more progeny later in life, likely improving its evolutionary success.
Endometriosis of the round ligament. Is it really a rare entity

Endometriosis is a common gynaecological pathology occurring in 8–15% of women of fertile age, appearing mostly in the fourth decade of life (Walter 2001). It causes chronic pelvic pain, dysmenorrh...