cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 4505: miR-122 regulates hepatic glutamine metabolism by directly targeting mitochondrial glutaminase

It is well established that the liver specific miR-122, a bona fide tumor suppressor, plays critical role in lipid homeostasis [1]. However, its role, if any, in amino acid metabolism has not been explored. Since glutamine is an important energy source, we monitored glutamine metabolism in the wild type (WT) and miR-122 knockout (KO) mice by SIRM (Stable Isotope Resolved Metabolomics) studies. To this end, 6-8 weeks old mice were injected with [U-13C,15N]-L-glutamine (Gln) (7 mg/mouse, 2x at 15 min interval) and sacrificed 15 min after the last injection. Analysis of polar metabolites from snap-frozen liver tissues by NMR and IC-MS showed elevated 13C-glutamine, -glutamate, -α-ketoglutarate, -isocitrate and -citrate levels without significant changes in succinate, malate or fumarate levels in KO livers suggest enhanced glutaminolysis and a break in the latter half of the Krebs cycle in miR-122 depleted livers. Reduced conversion of [13C,15N-glutamine] to 13C3- and or/ 13C6-glucose-6-phosphate and -fructose-6-phosphate implicates reduced gluconeogenesis from glutamine in KO livers while that to 13C-glutathiones suggests decreased synthesis and/or increased utilization. To elucidate the underlying mechanism, we focused on HITS-CLIP and RNA-seq data of the WT and KO mice, which identified functional miR-122 targets in the liver transcriptome [2]. The results showed that Gls is a direct miR-122 target, which was validated by luciferase reporter assay. Importantly, Gls expression was suppressed in glutamine dependent hepatoma cells by ectopic expression of miR-122 mimic. These results explain that the increased conversion of [U-13C,15N]-L-glutamine to glutamate and other Krebs cycle metabolites is likely due to the upregulation of Gls in miR-122 depleted livers. TCGA-LIHC database analysis showed that GLS expression in tumors inversely correlated with miR-122 expression. Upregulation of GLS protein level in primary HCCs relative to the matched benign liver tissues suggests enhanced use of glutamine as energy source by the tumor cells. Collectively, these results show that miR-122 modulates glutamine metabolism both in vitro and in vivo. These results implicate therapeutic potential of glutaminase inhibitors in patients bearing HCCs that bear low levels of miR-122. (supported in part, by R01CA193244 grant from NIH and Pelotonia Idea grant) 1. Essential metabolic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumorigenic functions of miR-122 in liver. J Clin Invest. 2012 Aug;122(8):2871-83. 2. Argonaute CLIP Defines a Deregulated miR-122-Bound Transcriptome that Correlates with Patient Survival in Human Liver Cancer. Mol Cell. 2017 Aug 3;67(3):400-410.e7. Citation Format: Dipanwita Sengupta, Teresa Cassel, Kun-yu Teng, Peng Hu, Teresa Fan, Kalpana Ghoshal. miR-122 regulates hepatic glutamine metabolism by directly targeting mitochondrial glutaminase [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4505.
Parametric Dependence of Large Disturbance Response for Vector Fields with Event-Selected Discontinuities

The ability of a nonlinear system to recover from a large disturbance to a desired stable equilibrium point depends on system parameter values, which are often uncertain and time varying. A particular disturbance acting for a finite time can be modeled as an implicit map that takes a parameter value to its corresponding post-disturbance initial condition in state space. The system recovers when the post-disturbance initial condition lies inside the region of attraction of the stable equilibrium point. Critical parameter values are defined to be parameter values whose corresponding post-disturbance initial condition lies on the boundary of the region of attraction. Computing such values is important in numerous applications because they represent the boundary between desirable and undesirable system behavior. Many realistic system models involve controller clipping limits and other forms of switching. Furthermore, these hybrid dynamics are closely linked to the ability of a system to recover from disturbances. The paper develops theory which underpins a novel algorithm for numerically computing critical parameter values for nonlinear systems with clipping limits and switching. For an almost generic class of vector fields with event-selected discontinuities, it is shown that the boundary of the region of attraction is equal to a union of the stable manifolds of the equilibria and periodic orbits it contains, and that this decomposition persists and the boundary varies continuously under small changes in parameter.
Does updating natural hazard maps to reflect best practices increase viewer comprehension of risk

Abstract In this study, we examine whether updating an interactive hazard map using recommendations from the literature improves user map comprehension. Analyses of experimental data collected from 75 university students revealed that map comprehension scores were not significantly better for those who viewed a “best practices” map compared to those who viewed an existing version. This may be because the existing map was itself better than most other interactive maps. Additionally, we found map comprehension levels to have significant positive relationships with objective tests, but not self-reported measures of spatial ability. Moreover, self-reported spatial ability had statistically significant, but only moderately strong, correlations with objective tests. These results indicate that spatial ability should be measured objectively rather than through self-reported methods in research on map comprehension. Further research is needed to examine the cognitive processes involved in hazard map comprehension, especially using a broader range of map characteristics and population segments with more diverse cognitive abilities.
Improved heuristics for finding balanced teams

This research addresses the problem of dividing a group of people into a collection of teams that need to be “balanced” across a variety of different attributes. This type of problem arises, for ex...
Ordinary-Kriging Based Real-Time Seizure Detection in an Edge Computing Paradigm

To best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first work that uses Kriging for early detection of seizure. The threat of an epileptic seizure to the life of a patient is both social and physical. Seizure detection research has been developing over the years. Most efforts in the literature concentrate largely on accuracy and would often take computation to the cloud. However, there is a very short window between the onset of an epileptic seizure and a potentially fatal incidence that could lead to injury or loss of life. Hence, there is need for a more timesensitive approach to seizure detection. Here, we propose a real time seizure detection model in an edge computing paradigm using signals collected through the electroencephalogram (EEG) from the brain of both healthy and epileptic patients. The fractal dimensions of the signals were taken after de-noising with the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT), and then classified using the Ordinary Kriging method which gives a training accuracy of 99.4% and a perfect sensitivity. The proposed model was validated with a hardware implementation using an edge computing device and the results show a comparable classification accuracy and a lower mean detection latency of 0.85 sec.
Assessing teacher pedagogical knowledge: the Video Assessment of Teacher Knowledge (VATK)

This study examines the creation and implementation of a video-based assessment of teacher knowledge of effective teaching called the Video Assessment of Teacher Knowledge (VATK). The VATK was deve...
Chapter 17 – Accident investigation

This chapter is a guide to including fatigue as a potential cause or contributing factor in an industrial accident investigation. Considering human fatigue and/or a lack of sleep is appropriate for organizations with a fatigue risk management systems and organizations with shift workers or extended work shifts. The chapter outlines what should be included in a company policy related to accident/incident investigation and an example investigation with driver fatigue as the key finding. A summary of the chemical safety board’s BP Texas City accident investigation is also included.
Automated Mobile Phone Messaging Utilizing a Cognitive Behavioral Intervention: A Pilot Investigation.

Background In the setting of outpatient orthopaedic surgery, this pilot study utilized automated mobile messaging to assess (1) the feasibility of and interaction rates with a software delivered cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) intervention for postoperative opioid utilization, (2) the reliability of patient reported opioid utilization through our platform, (3) daily patient reported pain and opioid utilization within the first two postoperative weeks, and (4) the effect of software delivered CBT intervention on patient reported opioid utilization. Methods Musculoskeletal tumor patients scheduled for outpatient surgery were randomized into two study groups. Control patients received standard postoperative communication limited to a two-week postoperative follow-up visit. The intervention group received automated daily text-messages regarding pain, opioid utilization, and a daily CBT intervention. Interventional group patients also completed a patient satisfaction questionnaire at their two-week follow-up. Completion rates of all software delivered questions were determined in the interventional group. Median values of opioid utilization and interquartile range (IQR) were determined to compare utilization between groups. Spearman correlation coefficients were used to determine reliability of patient reported opioid utilization in the interventional group. Results Fourteen patients completed the pilot study (seven controls, seven intervention). Patients in the intervention arm completed 90% of pain and opioid questions. Intervention group patients utilized less of their daily prescribed opioid medication (20%, IQR:10%-27%) compared to controls (50%, IQR:4%-68%). Correlation between in-office pill counts and patient reported opioid medication utilization via our software messaging system was high (r=0.90, p=0.037). Conclusion Automated mobile phone messaging in outpatient tumor surgery yielded high interaction rates. Patient reported opioid utilization obtained through our platform demonstrated a high correlation with in-office pill counts. CBT delivered via automated mobile phone messaging demonstrated decreased opioid utilization in this pilot investigation.Level of evidence: II.
Bait and Switch: Online Training Data Poisoning of Autonomous Driving Systems.

We show that by controlling parts of a physical environment in which a pre-trained deep neural network (DNN) is being fine-tuned online, an adversary can launch subtle data poisoning attacks that degrade the performance of the system. While the attack can be applied in general to any perception task, we consider a DNN based traffic light classifier for an autonomous car that has been trained in one city and is being fine-tuned online in another city. We show that by injecting environmental perturbations that do not modify the traffic lights themselves or ground-truth labels, the adversary can cause the deep network to learn spurious concepts during the online learning phase. The attacker can leverage the introduced spurious concepts in the environment to cause the model's accuracy to degrade during operation; therefore, causing the system to malfunction.
Contribution of Time, Taxonomy, and Selective Antimicrobials to Antibiotic and Multidrug Resistance in Wastewater Bacteria

The use of nontherapeutic broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents triclosan (TCS) and benzalkonium chloride (BC) can contribute to bacterial resistance to clinically relevant antibiotics. Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria within wastewater may reflect the resistance burden within the human microbiome, as antibiotics and pathogens in wastewater can track with clinically relevant parameters during perturbations to the community. In this study, we monitored culturable and resistant wastewater bacteria and cross-resistance to clinically relevant antibiotics to gauge the impact of each antimicrobial and identify factors influencing cross-resistance profiles. Bacteria resistant to TCS and BC were isolated from wastewater influent over 21 months, and cross-resistance, taxonomy, and monthly changes were characterized under both antimicrobial selection regimes. Cross-resistance profiles from each antimicrobial differed within and between taxa. BC-isolated bacteria had a significantly higher prevalence of resistance to "last-resort antibiotic" colistin, while isolates resistant to TCS exhibited higher rates of multidrug resistance. Prevalence of culturable TCS-resistant bacteria decreased over time following Food and Drug Administration (FDA) TCS bans. Cross-resistance patterns varied according to sampling date, including among the most clinically important antibiotics. Correlations between strain-specific resistance profiles were largely influenced by taxonomy, with some variations associated with sampling date. The results reveal that time, taxonomy, and selection by TCS and BC impact features of cross-resistance patterns among diverse wastewater microorganisms, which could reflect the variety of factors influencing resistance patterns relevant to a community microbiome.
Startup Test Plan and Predictions for Highly Enriched Uranium to Low-Enriched Uranium Fuel Conversion at the University of Missouri Research Reactor

Nonpower reactors licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission require a startup test plan as part of any facility modification to verify operability prior to resumption of operations. In ord...
Guidelines on the use of race as patient identifiers in clinical presentations.

Abstract The value of including race as part of the patient identifier in care and medical education has been a topic of debate among clinicians, medical educators, and sociologists. 1 , 2 , 6 , 7 , 8 The perceived benefit of using racial identifiers is that it may allow physicians to predict the risk of disease and inform drug therapy. 9 This association is thought to be useful to medical students and trainees as they form their clinical knowledge base. However, there is a larger body of evidence that the use of race leads to bias and stereotyping by physicians. In many cases, patients are assigned to racial categorizations that are inconsistent with their self-reported identities. 1 , 15 It is unclear which medical schools have a policy that explicitly detail their stance on this topic. In this article, we propose a frame of thinking to guide medical educators as they develop policies on race as patient identifiers.
Biomechanical Identification of High-Risk Patients Requiring Permanent Pacemaker After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

Background Cardiac conduction disturbance requiring new permanent pacemaker implantation (PPI) is an important complication of TAVR that has been associated with increased mortality. It is extremely challenging to optimize the valve size alone to prevent a complete atrioventricular block (AVB). Methods In this study, we randomly took 48 patients who underwent TAVR and had been followed for at least 2 years to assess the risk of AVB. CT images of 48 patients with TAVR were analyzed using three-dimensional (3D) anatomical models of the aortic valve apparatus. The stresses were formulated according to loading force and tissue properties. Support vector regression (SVR) was used to model the relationship between AVB risk and biomechanical stresses. To avoid AVB, overlapping regions on the prosthetic valve where AV bundle passes will be removed as cylindrical sector with the angle θ. Thus, the optimization of the valve shape will be predicted with the joint optimization of the θ and valve size R. Results The average AVB risk prediction accuracy was 83.33% in the range from 0.8-0.85 with 95% CI for all cases; specifically, 85.71% for Group A (no AVB), and 80.0% for Group B (undergoing AVB after the TAVR). Conclusions This model can estimate the optimal valve size and shape to avoid the risk of AVB after TAVR. This optimization may eliminate the excessive stresses to keep the normal function of both AV bundle and valve leaflets, leading to a favorable clinical outcome. The combination of biomechanical properties and machine learning method substantially improved prediction of surgical results.
Masculinidades y enseñanza del fútbol: análisis comparativo en dos clubes de la ciudad de San Carlos de Bariloche

This article presents part of the results of investigation in masculinities and football teaching in the city San Carlos de Bariloche. It stands out that the teaching of football in both clubs inquired reveals the prevalence of male hybrids, who get rid of male attitudes and preserve other traditional stereotypes incorporating different elements including contradictory ones in order to serve the patriarchal dominance in this sport. The values related with the periods of work and leisure time are interlaced with masculinities which fluctuates around the figure of male suppliers, health y or gentlemen, according to the conditions given by the context of belonging to each association.
On the Interface between Labor and Employment Law

It is useful to think of labor law and employment law as alternative and complementary ways of governing the workplace, one aiming to institution alize a mechanism for governance through collective bargaining, the other governing directly through legal regulation. Labor law and legal regulation coexist in both the non-union and union workplace—even unorganized workers have the right to engage in concerted activities for mutual aid or protection, and workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement enjoy the protection of certain applicable laws—but the relationship between the two is often ambiguous and full of tension. Somewhat like the interaction of tectonic plates moving underneath the earth's surface, the two govern ance modes come into contact with one another across a series of doctrinal fault lines. Consequently, when they do come into contact with one an other, their interaction gives rise to the legal equivalent of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. In the unionized workplace the issue is not, for the most part, a matter of substantive conflict. While questions may arise regarding the applicabil ity of particular laws to the collective bargaining context1 or regarding whether substantive rights under a particular law are subject to waiver or have in fact been waived through collective bargaining,2 in general, states as well as the federal government may regulate working conditions and apply those regulations to the unionized workplace.3 Thus, the tension be tween legal regulation and collective bargaining has primarily gathered
Spatio-Temporal Modeling Of Anatomic Motion For Radiation Therapy

xi INTRODUCTION 1 CONTEXT OF THE PROBLEM 3 IMPACT OF THE RESEARCH 5 NOVELTY AND CONTRIBUTIONS 6 BACKGROUND 11 RADIATION THERAPY 11 COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY 12 IMAGE GUIDED RADIATION THERAPY 13 RESPIRATORY MOTION IN RADIATION THERAPY 14 FOUR DIMENSIONAL COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (4DCT) 15 CONVENTIONAL 4D CT 18
Perceptron-Like Performance for Intersections of Halfspaces

Given a set of examples on the unit ball in Rn which are labelled by a halfspace h which has margin ρ (minimum Euclidean distance from any point to the separating hyperplane), the well known Perceptron algorithm finds a separating hyperplane. The Perceptron Convergence Theorem (see e.g. [2]) states that at most 4/ρ 2 iterations of the Perceptron update rule are required, and thus the algorithm runs in time \(O(\frac{n}{\rho^{2}})\).
A Review of: “James H. Billington, Russia in Search of Itself.”

Nowhere to go but forward; apparently, that is not the consensus in post-Soviet Russia, as Russians seek both purpose and prestige in the 21 st century. James H. Billington's Russia in Search of It...
Corruption, Ideology, and the Returns to Democracy

This paper develops a game-theoretic model for assessing the relationship between ideological divisions in a society and prospects for good governance. Synthesizing the insights of the literature on political career concerns with those from the literature on issue framing, the model emphasizes that ideological balance - rough equality in the ideological component of utility the median voter derives from government and opposition - is the key to good governance. Polities which are ideologically balanced are ruled by elites who attempt to impress their merit upon the electorate through the provision of public goods. Ideologically imbalanced polities are ruled by elites who use public resources for their own consumption and who court voters through socially unproductive issue framing. The cases of pre-revolutionary Cuba, post-apartheid South Africa, and post-Pinochet Chile are used to illustrate the crucial importance of ideological balance for good governance.
Optimal Hedge Fund Allocation with Asymmetric Preferences and Distributions

Hedge funds typically have non-normal return distributions marked by significant positive or negative skewness and high kurtosis. Mean-variance optimization models ignore these higher moments of the return distribution, and thus fail to convince investors who care about the unwanted skewness and kurtosis that hedge funds may work well in a portfolio. We use a new method which incorporates Monte Carlo simulation and optimization to solve for a variety of investment objectives and address the special issues of hedge fund allocation. We applied the new optimization model to examine the effects of semi-variance, conditional third and fourth moments on portfolio allocation with hedge funds. We show that conditional on the investor's objective, a substantial allocation to hedge funds is justified even with consideration for the highly unusual skewness and kurtosis.
Drosophila Embryo: Dorsal‐ventral Specification

The dorsal-ventral pattern of the Drosophila embryo is established by sequential signalling pathways that transmit spatial information from the egg chamber to the zygote. Keywords: drosophila embryogenesis; dorsal-ventral polarity; signal transduction; EGF and toll-rel pathways
Health behavior change counseling in surgery for degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis. Part I: improvement in rehabilitation engagement and functional outcomes.

Abstract Objective To examine whether a brief motivational interviewing [MI]–based health behavior change counseling (HBCC) intervention increased patient participation in physical therapy and/or home exercise programs (HEPs), reduced disability, and improved health status after surgery for degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis. Design Prospective clinical trial. Setting Academic medical center. Participants From December 2009 through August 2012, consecutive patients (N=122) underwent surgery for degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis and, based on enrollment date, were prospectively assigned to a control (n=59) or HBCC intervention (n=63) group in a prospective, lagged-control clinical trial. Interventions Brief MI-based HBCC versus attention control. Main Outcome Measures Rehabilitation participation (primary); disability and health status (secondary). Therapists assessed engagement in, and patients reported attendance at, postoperative rehabilitation (physical therapy and/or HEP). At 3 and 6 months, disability and health status were assessed (Oswestry Disability Index [ODI] and Medical Outcomes Study 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey, version 2 [SF-12v2]) (significance, P Results Compared with controls, HBCC patients had significantly higher rehabilitation engagement (21.20±4.56 vs 23.57±2.71, respectively; P P P =.019) attendance, and better functional outcomes at 3 months (difference: ODI, −10.7±4.4, P =.015; SF-12v2, 6.2±2.2, P =.004) and 6 months (difference: ODI, −12.7±4.8, P =.008; SF-12v2, 8.9±2.4, P Conclusions HBCC can improve outcomes after spine surgery through improved rehabilitation participation.
A Theory of Status Organizations

There are many instances in which an individual's decision to patronize a firm depends not just upon the quality and price of the goods or services offered by the firm, but also upon the personal characteristics of the other patrons of the firm. Social clubs, such as country clubs, are conspicuous examples. The socioeconomic status and other personal attributes of a country club's membership are likely to be quite as important to a prospective member as are the quality of the golf course, the tennis courts, and the food served in the club diningroom. Private educational institutions provide another example: students commonly select a college not only on the basis of the quality of the instructional program, but also with an eye to the intelligence, earlier education, social attractiveness, athletic ability, and future promise of its other students. Residential suburbs exhibit the same phenomenon. There, individuals have a strong incentive to patronize-that is, to reside in-a community composed of people who build expensive residences. This incentive derives not simply from a taste for attractive surroundings and affluent friends, but also from the fact that such neighbors raise the community's property tax base and thus reduce the effective price of municipal services. Such considerations can be important not only in cases such as those just described, in which individuals are purchasing servicesfrom a firm, but also where individuals are selling services to a firm. A scholar, for example, will commonly choose employment with a particular university not just, or even
Can Personal Values Predict Performance? Evidence in an Academic Setting

In this paper we briefly review the construct of personal values, and we examine whether achievement values may be incrementally related to performance beyond personality. We also consider the motivational processes that may mediate the relationships between characteristics of the individual (personality and values) and performance. In an academic setting, achievement values were related to course performance even after controlling for the relevant personality factors of Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Extraversion. Further, motivational processes of goal content and goal striving mediated the relationships between individual characteristics (personality and values) and performance.
Small-business demise and recovery after Katrina: rate of survival and demise

Post-disaster research is often plagued by displacement of subjects, loss of infrastructure, and the disruption of communication. Economic losses and business disruptions caused by a disaster tend to affect small businesses on a greater scale. With the majority of small businesses being operated out of a home, the inability to recover affects both economic and overall well-being of the business and the family. Specifically for small businesses, post-disaster research is important because it leads to increased preparedness and survival strategies for the sector and reduced economic vulnerabilities in owner-controlled areas. Historically, most of what is known about preparation, response, and recovery of small businesses from natural disasters is based on businesses that have recovered. However, there exists a need for understanding recovery also from the perspective of those that tried, but failed to recover. Grounded in a pragmatic approach, this study presents a methodology for tracking demised small businesses after Hurricane Katrina. Supported by empirical evidence, solutions to the problems of timing, generalizability, and access are presented, providing a systematic methodology for successfully studying small businesses after a disaster event. Rate of survival and demise data are presented, providing more useful numbers than prior estimates. Locating demised and recovered small businesses efficiently is the first step in understanding how business owners prepare, react, adjust, and strive to recover from disaster-driven events. A solution to this challenging issue of access makes the study of demised small businesses possible.
A monte carlo study of the small sample properties of various estimators of Solow's distributed lag model

The results of some Monte Carlo experiments investigating the small sample properties of estimators ofSolow's distributed lag model are presented. In general, the relative efficiency of an estimation technique depends on the true values of the parameters being estimated. But if the assumptions of the model are not violated, then the maximum and mean likelihood and the Bayesian estimators are best.
Selected Quality Factors and Sensory Attributes of Cured Ham as Influenced by Different Phosphate Blends

In each of four replications, 32 packer-style hams were randomly allotted to one of eight treatment groups in which the curing brine formulated for a 10% pump contained: (1) No phosphate; (2) 100% sodium tripolyphosphate (STP); (3) 5% sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) + 95% STP; (4) 10% SHMP + 90% STP; (5) 5% Quadrafos (SQ) + 95% STP; (6) 10% SQ + 90% STP; (7) 10% tetrasodium pyrophosphate (TSPP) + 90% STP; or (8) 20% TSPP + 80% STP. Raw hams were subjectively evaluated for quality, samples were removed for analysis, and hams were processed according to commercial procedures. Processing losses and cooking losses were calculated, and physical and sensory properties of the processed, cooked hams were measured. The 20% TSPP blend was least effective in reducing processing shrinkage; whereas, the 5% SHMP blend was the most effective. Nonphosphate treated hams had greater cooking losses and were scored lowest for all sensory attributes. Greater drip cooking losses occurred as amounts of SHMP and SQ increased in the phosphate blends.
Role of the autonomic nervous system in the cytoprotective effect of neurotensin against gastric stress ulcers in rats

Abstract Pharmacologic agents were used to study the role of the autonomic nervous system in the cytoprotection produced by intracisternal neurotensin against cold plus restraint stress-induced gastric ulcers in rats. Drugs which stimulated α- or β-adrenergic receptors or blocked muscarinic cholinergic receptors reduced the incidence of ulcers to a similar degree as intracisternal neurotensin; α-adrenergic or β-adrenergic blockade as well as cholinergic stimulation prevented neurotensin's beneficial effect. However, pretreatment with indomethacin blocked only the cytoprotective effect of neurotensin or β-adrenergic stimulation, but not that of muscarinic cholinergic blockade. In addition, pretreatment with reserpine or guanethidine also was effective in preventing cytoprotection by intracisternal neurotensin. These data indicate that the mechanism for cytoprotection by centrally administered neurotensin is mediated at least in part through activation of the sympathetic nervous system. This activation by neurotensin appears to produce cytoprotection by stimulation of gastric mucosal prostaglandin synthesis.
Identification of the noncollagenous proteins of bovine bone by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis

We have characterized the noncollagenous proteins of bovine bone using two high-resolution gel electrophoretic techniques. Proteins were extracted from bone tissue by extended dialysis against 0.5 M EDTA. In some cases, a preextraction was done in guanidine HCl. Bovine plasma was also examined to identify the proteins in bone that might also be present in blood. We have scored 160 major, reproducible spots on our standard preparation bone map. These comprise about 40 individual protein groups. There are many more minor spots present which puts the total number present over 200. Of these groups, 15 are not present on plasma maps. Bone proteins identified in this way include actin, bone Gla-protein, and osteonectin. The remainder are unknown. Bone Gla-protein is present in bovine bone in four isoelectric forms, pI = 3.95-4.50. Electroblotting analysis of EDTA and guanidine HCl extracted material failed to reveal any higher molecular weight immunologically reactive species. The plasma proteins found in bone include, but are not limited to albumin, apo A-I lipoprotein, IgG, IgM, transferrin, alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein, and hemoglobin. Extraction with guanidine HCl plus EDTA significantly enriches the yield for the nonplasma proteins but does not appear to extract any additional bone proteins.
A Predictive Numerical Thermodynamic Model of Mixed Nonionic Surfactant Sorption in Natural Systems

Because most commercially available surfactants consist of mixtures of surfactant components, an understanding of mixed surfactant sorption behavior in the presence of natural materials may be essential for optimal design of surfactant-based industrial processes or environmental remediation applications. This paper presents a new predictive numerical model of surfactant sorption which can be used to assess the sorption behavior of nonionic surfactant mixtures based on a minimal set of physically intuitive, measurable parameters. The model is based on a chemical equilibrium formulation and can predict the sorption behavior of very broadly distributed mixtures containing 40 components or more. Formulation of the model is presented, and solution methods are discussed. The influence of model parameters on isotherm shape is examined, and application of the model to prediction of mixed sorption of a binary surfactant mixture is presented. An extension of the model which includes multiple surface site types is discussed.
Live cell imaging of the endocytosis and the intracellular trafficking of multifunctional lipid nanoparticles

Artificial lipid nanoparticles have drawn great attention due to their potential in medicine. Linked with targeting ligands, they can be used as probes and/or gene delivery vectors for specific types of target cells. Therefore, they are very promising agents in early detection, diagnosis and treatment of cancers and other genetic diseases. However, there are several barriers blocking the applications. Controlling the cellular uptake of the lipid nanoparticles is an important technical challenge to overcome. Understanding the mechanism of the endocytosis and the following intracellular trafficking is very important for improving the design and therefore the efficiency as a drug delivery system. By using fluorescence microscopy methods, we studied the endocytosis of lipid nanoparticles by live M21 cells. The movements of the nanoparticles inside the cell were quantitatively characterized and classified based on the diffusion behavior. The trajectories of nanoparticles movement over the cell membrane revealed hop-diffusion behavior prior to the endocytosis. Fast movement in large steps is observed in intracellular trafficking and is attributed to active movement along microtubule. These observations help to understand the mechanism of the endocytosis and the pathway of the particles in cells.
Analysis of user comments: an approach for software requirements evolution

User feedback is imperative in improving software quality. In this paper, we explore the rich set of user feedback available for third party mobile applications as a way to extract new/changed requirements for next versions. A potential problem using this data is its volume and the time commitment involved in extracting new/changed requirements. Our goal is to alleviate part of the process through automatic topic extraction. We process user comments to extract the main topics mentioned as well as some sentences representative of those topics. This information can be useful for requirements engineers to revise the requirements for next releases. Our approach relies on adapting information retrieval techniques including topic modeling and evaluating them on different publicly available data sets. Results show that the automatically extracted topics match the manually extracted ones, while also significantly decreasing the manual effort.
Biology and adoptive cell therapy of Epstein-Barr virus-associated lymphoproliferative disorders in recipients of marrow allografts

Summary: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is an ubiquitous herpesvirus which is carried as a latent infection of B lymphocytes and salivary gland epithelial cells in over 90% of normal adults. Latently infected IBV-transformed B cells circulate at low frequency in the blood for the life of the host. These transformed B cells stimulate a heterogeneous and complex host cell response, ultimately leading to the development and maintenance of high frequencies of HLA-restricted T cells specific for the EBV-encoded nuclear antigens EBNA2–EBNA6 and the latency membrane proteins LMP-1 and LMP-2. Responses to latent EBV-encoded proteins are hierarchical with responses to certain epitopes predominating, dependent upon the HLA genotype of the host. Profound suppression of T-Cell immunity may permit the emergence of polyclonal, oligoclonal or monoclonal EBV antigen-expressing lymphoproliferative disorders or malignant B-cell lymphomas expressing these latent EBV antigens. Adoptive transfer of small numbers of peripheral blood mononuclear cells or HLA-partially matched T cells from in vitro expanded EBV-specific T-cell lines derived from a seropositive marrow donor has induced durable regressions of bulky, widely metastatic monoclonal EBV lymphomas in a high proportion of cases. This review describes the current state of knowledge and hypothesis regarding the biology and immunology of EBV infection in the normal host, the features of donor, host and virus which contribute to the development of EBV-associated lymphoproliferative diseases and the mechanisms whereby they are controlled by adoptive transfer of immune T cells.
High-performance liquid chromatography of cardiolipin.

Abstract Resolution of freshly prepared and of commercially available (degraded) samples of cardiolipin into 15–30 components has been accomplished by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography using a 3-μm particulate Microsorb C18, column irrigated with linear gradients of acetonitrile—methanol—10 mM phosphate buffer pH 7.4. Selected resolved components were crystallized and characterized by infrared absorption spectra. Saponification of other components and identification of component fatty acids by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography demonstrated the presence of ten fatty acids (14:0, 14:1, 16:0, 16:1, 18:0, 18:1, 18:2, 18:3, 20:0, 20:4), with linoleic acid (18:2) identified in all resolved components. From fatty acid composition data it appears that several resolved fractions consist of single cardiolipin molecular species.
Renal artery obstruction

A 57-year-old woman with an extensive cardiac history presented complaining of left flank pain. An intravenous pyelogram performed for the presumptive diagnosis of renal calculus showed poor function of the left kidney. Angiography demonstrated a 95% obstructing embolus in the left renal artery, which was removed surgically. This case illustrates some of the pitfalls in the diagnosis of renal artery obstruction and the need for a high index of suspicion. The intrarenal infusion of thrombolytic agents such as streptokinase may become the treatment of choice despite the success of surgical embolectomy. The diagnosis, laboratory analysis, and treatment of renal artery obstruction is discussed.
Biofeedback, self-control, and self-management

A common goal of biofeedback is self-control of physiologic responses. The conceptions and paradigms of the literature on self-control of motoric and cognitive responses were surveyed to provide a basis for the self-control of physiologic responses. An operational definition of self-control was advanced, and self-control was placed in the framework of a general self-management strategy which included discrimination and maintenance components.
“The seven sins” of the Hebbian synapse: Can the hypothesis of synaptic plasticity explain long-term memory consolidation?

Memorizing new facts and events means that entering information produces specific physical changes within the brain. According to the commonly accepted view, traces of memory are stored through the structural modifications of synaptic connections, which result in changes of synaptic efficiency and, therefore, in formations of new patterns of neural activity (the hypothesis of synaptic plasticity). Most of the current knowledge on learning and initial stages of memory consolidation ("synaptic consolidation") is based on this hypothesis. However, the hypothesis of synaptic plasticity faces a number of conceptual and experimental difficulties when it deals with potentially permanent consolidation of declarative memory ("system consolidation"). These difficulties are rooted in the major intrinsic self-contradiction of the hypothesis: stable declarative memory is unlikely to be based on such a non-stable foundation as synaptic plasticity. Memory that can last throughout an entire lifespan should be "etched in stone." The only "stone-like" molecules within living cells are DNA molecules. Therefore, I advocate an alternative, genomic hypothesis of memory, which suggests that acquired information is persistently stored within individual neurons through modifications of DNA, and that these modifications serve as the carriers of elementary memory traces.
A Uterine Growth-Promoting Substance from Human and Bovine Uterine Muscle

When a protein preparation containing estrogen-dependent pyridine nucleotide transhydrogenase extracted from human or bovine uterus was injected into ovariectomized rats in combination with estradiol, it exhibited a synergistic effect in promoting uterine growth. Other protein preparations from the uterus or other proteins such as human serum albumin or partially purified placental estradiol dehydrogenase did not show the synergistic activity. Heating of this preparation at 70 C for 5 min inactivated this material, indicating that some specific protein in the preparation is responsible for this biological activity. The protein preparation was separated by starch grain electrophoresis into 2 fractions, one of which had estrogen-dependent pyridine nucleotide transhydrogenase activity, and the other of which was effective in the stimulation of uterine growth. (Endocrinology 76: 844, 1965)
Early Devonia benthic communities of the Alexander Terrane, southeastern Alaska

Emsian (upper Lower Devonian) limestones exposed on Kasaan, Round, and Wadleigh Islands in southeastern Alaska are part of an allochthonous suitc of island are deposits preserved within the accrctionary Alexander Terrane. Ten benthic marine communities, including several new brachiopod associations, are defined on the basis of field data correlated with a cluster analysis. Biologic and sedimentologic evidence is integrated with community group assignments in order to substantiate the paleoecology and evolutionary history of each community. These faunas were adapted to a spectrum of quiet and rough water habitats, including restricted, shallow subtidal areas nearshore, offshore biostromal banks, and open and restricted portions of a lagoon or shelf. Comparisons with coeval assemblages from the Cordillera and elsewhere reveal that these communities are unique to southeastern Alaska. Their origin within an early Paleozoic island are appears to have led to biogeographic isolation from other parts of the Cordillera and the development of a distinct biota at a site offshorc from the ancient continental margin. ▭Emsian, paleocommunities, community groups, cluster analysis, Alexander Terrane.
S6K1 Regulates GSK3 under Conditions of mTOR-Dependent Feedback Inhibition of Akt

Feedback inhibition of the PI3K-Akt pathway by the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) has emerged as an important signaling event in tumor syndromes, cancer, and insulin resistance. Cells lacking the tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) gene products are a model for this feedback regulation. We find that, despite Akt attenuation, the Akt substrate GSK3 is constitutively phosphorylated in cells and tumors lacking TSC1 or TSC2. In these settings, GSK3 phosphorylation is sensitive to mTORC1 inhibition by rapamycin or amino acid withdrawal, and GSK3 becomes a direct target of S6K1. This aberrant phosphorylation leads to decreased GSK3 activity and phosphorylation of downstream substrates and contributes to the growth-factor-independent proliferation of TSC-deficient cells. We find that GSK3 can also be regulated downstream of mTORC1 in a HepG2 model of cellular insulin resistance. Therefore, we define conditions in which S6K1, rather than Akt, is the predominant GSK3 regulatory kinase.
Getting our options clear: A closer look at agent-centered options

L'A. etudie les notions morales d'options et de restrictions centrees sur l'agent developpees par S. Kagan dans le cadre de l'ethique normative. L'A. leur oppose les notions de raisons protegeant l'agent et de raisons protegeant le patient, en s'appuyant sur les travaux de T. Nagel et S. Scheffler sur l'optionnalite des options
Diversifying acquisitions and financial relationships: Testing 1974-1976 behaviour

Fifty-four diverisifying acquisitions in manufacturing and mining industries from 1974 to 1976 are investigated in terms of sales growth rate, rate of return on assets, and current ratio of the acquiring and acquired companies. The average characteristics of acquired companies, classified by the characteristics of their acquiring companies, are compared. Results indicate significant structural matches between the acquired and acquiring companies to exploit strengths and avoid weaknesses in growth, profitability, and liquidity. It appears that firms try to balance their business segments in terms of product life cycle stages within a limit of maintaining proper levels of profit.
Early perspectives on the evolution of behavior: Charles Otis Whitman and Oskar Heinroth

The study of behavioral evolution is often traced back to two of the original ethologists, Charles Otis Whitman and Oskar Heinroth. In this review I argue that Whitman and Heinroth, in their most commonly cited works, emphasized very different aspects of the problem of behavioral evolution. In particular Whitman discussed the phylogenetic origins of behavior, and addressed such issues as common ancestry, character transformation, and character polarity. This work anticipated the current study of what could be called ”historical ethology”. By contrast, Heinroth studied behavioral function; he asked how environmental or social factors might influence the evolution of behavior, and he asked how variation in such factors might explain behavioral differences among different taxa. I argue that Heinroth anticipated, to a certain extent, the field of behavioral ecology, and in particular the discussion of adaptive costs and benefits in behavioral biology. The distinction between the work of Whitman and Heinroth, ...