cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
T cell epitope mimicry in antiglomerular basement membrane disease.

Antiglomerular basement membrane (GBM) disease or Goodpasture’s syndrome is among the earliest recognized human autoimmune diseases. Although collagen 4α3 NC1 (Col4α3NC1) has been identified as the responsible autoantigen, it remains unknown how autoimmunity to this autoantigen is provoked. We have demonstrated in our rat model that a single nephritogenic T cell epitope pCol 28–40 of Col4α3NC1 induces glomerulonephritis. We hypothesized that microbial peptides that mimic this T cell epitope could induce the disease. Based on the critical residue motif (xxtTxNPsxx) of pCol 28–40 , seven peptides derived from human infection-related microbes were chosen through GenBank search and synthesized. All peptides showed cross-reactivity with pCol 28–40 -specific T cells at various levels. Only four peptides induced transient proteinuria and minor glomerular injury. However, the other three peptides induced severe proteinuria and modest to severe glomerulonephritis in 16–25% of the immunized rats. Unexpectedly, the most nephritogenic peptide, pCB, derived from Clostridium botulinum , also induced modest (25%) to severe (25%) pulmonary hemorrhage, another important feature of anti-GBM disease; this was not correlated with the severity of glomerulonephritis. This finding suggests that subtle variations in T cell epitope specificity may lead to different clinical manifestations of anti-GBM disease. In summary, our study raises the possibility that a single T cell epitope mimicry by microbial Ag may be sufficient to induce the anti-GBM disease.
Low-overhead message tracking for distributed messaging

As enterprise applications rely increasingly on commodity messaging middleware, message tracking has become instrumental in testing and run-time monitoring. However, building an effective message tracking system is challenging because of the large scale and high message rate of enterprise-wide applications. To address this challenge, we consider the case of message tracking for distributed messaging middleware. We desire to record the origin, path, and destination of every application message while imposing low overhead with respect to latency, memory and storage. To achieve our goal, we propose a tunable approximation approach based on Bloom filter "histories." Our approach is tunable in the sense that more accurate audit trails may be provided at the expense of storage space, or, conversely, storage overhead is reduced for applications requiring less accurate audit trails. We describe the design of the system and demonstrate its utility by analyzing the performance of a prototype implementation.
Nutritional Aspects and Clinical Management of Chronic Disorders and Diseases

Nutritional Support in Children, C. J. Valentine, I. J. Griffin, and S. A. Abrams Nutrition and Cardiovascular Health, T. A. Kotchen, and J. Morley Kotchen Nutritional Support in Chronic Diseases of the Gastrointestinal Tract and the Liver, K. P. Navder and C. S. Lieber Nutritional Therapy of Impaired Glucose Tolerance and Diabetes Mellitus, H. G. Preuss and D. Bagchi Nutritional Management of Metabolic Disorders, V. Utermohlen Nutritional Support and Management of Skeletal Diseases, M.J. Favus, T. O. Utset, and C. Lee Nutritional Support and Management of Renal Disorders, T. A. Ikizler Nutrition and Vision, J. R. Trevithick and K. P. Mitton Nutritional Assessment and Management of the Cancer Patient, J. B. Mason and S.W. Choi Nutritional Aspects of Trauma and Postsurgical Care, J. S. Smith and W. W. Souba Nutritional Management of Immunocompromised Patients, with Emphasis on HIV and AIDS, S. B. Richter, S. S. Teuber, and M. E. Gershwin Food Intake Management in Patients with Psychiatric Disorders, A. R. Lucas, D. L. Olson, and F. K.Olson Nutrition and Alcoholism, Khursheed P. Navder, and C. S. Lieber Index
A Matter with an effective EoS interacting with a tachynic field in an accelerating Universe

We consider a fluid described by a parameterized EoS of the general form $P=(\gamma-1)\rho+p_{0}+\omega_{H}H+\omega_{H2}H^{2}+\omega_{dH}\dot{H}$ \cite{Ren}, where $p_{0}$, $\omega_{H}$, $\omega_{H2}$ and $\omega_{dH}$ are free parameters of the model, interacting with a Tachyonic field with a relativistic Lagrangian $L_{TF}=-V(\phi)\sqrt{1-\partial_{i}\phi\partial^{i}\phi}$. The acceleration of the Universe described by a scale factor $a(t)=t^{n}, (n>1)$. Under consideration of different forms of interaction the field $\phi$ and the potential $V(\phi)$ are recovered and graphical analysis performed. For illustration purposes we fixed values of parameters of the models to provide $V \rightarrow 0$ for later stages of evolution, when $t \rightarrow \infty$.
Student descriptions of refraction and optical fibers

This paper reports our research into how students describe and think about optical fibers and the physical phenomena of refraction and total internal reflection (TIR) basic to their operation. The study was conducted as part of the improvement and expansion of web‐based materials for an innovative Rensselaer introductory physics course that examines the physics underlying information technology. As we developed the prototype module, we examined students’ understanding of the phenomena of refraction, TIR, and optical fibers through the use of clinical interviews. As students discussed refraction and tried to explain how optical fibers work, several patterns emerged. Our analysis of these patterns drives our assessment of the effectiveness of the revised materials in facilitating students’ transfer of learning, as well as the development of a multiple‐choice diagnostic tool.
The polyranking principle

Although every terminating loop has a ranking function, not every loop has a ranking function of a restricted form, such as a lexicographic tuple of polynomials over program variables. The polyranking principle is proposed as a generalization of polynomial ranking for analyzing termination of loops. We define lexicographic polyranking functions in the context of loops with parallel transitions consisting of polynomial assertions, including inequalities, over primed and unprimed variables. Next, we address synthesis of these functions with a complete and automatic method for synthesizing lexicographic linear polyranking functions with supporting linear invariants over linear loops.
Annotating smart environment sensor data for activity learning

The pervasive sensing technologies found in smart homes offer unprecedented opportunities for providing health monitoring and assistance to individuals experiencing difficulties living independently at home. In order to monitor the functional health of smart home residents, we need to design technologies that recognize and track the activities that people perform at home. Machine learning techniques can perform this task, but the software algorithms rely upon large amounts of sample data that is correctly labeled with the corresponding activity. Labeling, or annotating, sensor data with the corresponding activity can be time consuming, may require input from the smart home resident, and is often inaccurate. Therefore, in this paper we investigate four alternative mechanisms for annotating sensor data with a corresponding activity label. We evaluate the alternative methods along the dimensions of annotation time, resident burden, and accuracy using sensor data collected in a real smart apartment.
Human apolipoprotein B signal sequence variants confer a secretion-defective phenotype when expressed in yeast.

Hyperlipidemia arises from a disturbance in the balance between production and degradation of Lipoprotein particles. Variation in the secretion of human apolipoprotein B (apoB), the major protein component of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, directly affects this homeostasis. Naturally occurring apoB signal peptide variants (associated with hypertriglyceridemia, altered postprandial lipid metabolism, or atherosclerosis) were investigated for their ability to direct transit through the secretion pathway. Three apoB signal peptide iso forms were fused to the secretory protein, invertase, and expressed in yeast. A deletion or insertion in the hydrophobic core of the signal peptide mediated inefficient translocation into the endoplasmic reticulum and was secretion-defective, relative to the common 27-residue isoform. Additionally, the insertion apoB isoform was observed in yeast to confer a defect in export from the endoplasmic reticulum. Secretion of the apoB signal peptide-invertase fusions responded positively to an inhibitor of calpain type I proteases. These observations suggest that the apoB signal peptide plays a role in determining the levels of apoB degradation and secretion and, thus, hyperlipidemia.
Portable checkpointing for parallel applications

High Performance Computing (HPC) systems represent the peak of modern computational capability. As ever-increasing demands for computational power have fuelled the demand for ever-larger computing systems, modern HPC systems have grown to incorporate hundreds, thousands or as many as 130,000 processors. At these scales, the huge number of individual components in a single system makes the probability that a single component will fail quite high, with today's large HPC systems featuring mean times between failures on the order of hours or a few days. As many modern computational tasks require days or months to complete, fault tolerance becomes critical to HPC system design. The past three decades have seen significant amounts of research on parallel system fault tolerance. However, as most of it has been either theoretical or has focused on low-level solutions that are embedded into a particular operating system or type of hardware, this work has had little impact on real HPC systems. This thesis attempts to address this lack of impact by describing a high-level approach for implementing checkpoint/restart functionality that decouples the fault tolerance solution from the details of the operating system, system libraries and the hardware and instead connects it to the APIs implemented by the above components. The resulting solution enables applications that use these APIs to become self-checkpointing and self-restarting regardless of the software/hardware platform that may implement the APIs. The particular focus of this thesis is on the problem of checkpoint/restart of parallel applications. It presents two theoretical checkpointing protocols, one for the message passing communication model and one for the shared memory model. The former is the first protocol to be compatible with application-level checkpointing of individual processes, while the latter is the first protocol that is compatible with arbitrary shared memory models, APIs, implementations and consistency protocols. These checkpointing protocols are used to implement checkpointing systems for applications that use the MPI and OpenMP parallel APIs, respectively, and are first in providing checkpoint/restart to arbitrary implementations of these popular APIs. Both checkpointing systems are extensively evaluated on multiple software/hardware platforms and are shown to feature low overheads.
Topological color code and symmetry-protected topological phases

We study (d−1)-dimensional excitations in the d-dimensional color code that are created by transversal application of the R_d phase operators on connected subregions of qubits. We find that such excitations are the superpositions of electric charges and can be characterized by the fixed-point wave functions of (d−1)-dimensional bosonic symmetry-protected topological (SPT) phases with (Z_2)^(⊗d) symmetry. While these SPT excitations are localized on (d−1)-dimensional boundaries, their creation requires operations acting on all qubits inside the boundaries, reflecting the nontriviality of emerging SPT wave functions. Moreover, these SPT excitations can be physically realized as transparent gapped domain walls which exchange excitations in the color code. Namely, in the three-dimensional color code, the domain wall, associated with the transversal R_3 operator, exchanges a magnetic flux and a composite of a magnetic flux and the looplike SPT excitation, revealing rich possibilities of boundaries in higher-dimensional TQFTs. We also find that magnetic fluxes and the looplike SPT excitations exhibit nontrivial three-loop braiding statistics in three dimensions as a result of the fact that the R_3 phase operator belongs to the third level of the Clifford hierarchy. We believe that the connection between SPT excitations, fault-tolerant logical gates and gapped domain walls, established in this paper, can be generalized to a large class of topological quantum codes and TQFTs.
REGULARITY OF LORENTZIAN BUSEMANN FUNCTIONS

A general theory of regularity for Lorentzian Busemann functions in future timelike geodesically complete spacetimes is presented. This treatment simplifies and extends the local regularity developed by Eschenburg, Galloway and Newman to prove the Lorentzian splitting theorem. Criteria for global regularity are obtained and used to improve results in the literature pertaining to a conjecture of Bartnik.
A Dynamic Network Interdiction Problem

We present a novel dynamic network interdiction model that accounts for interactions between an interdictor deploying resources on arcs in a digraph and an evader traversing the network from a designated source to a known terminus, wherein the agents may modify strategies in selected subsequent periods according to respective decision and implementation cycles. For the resulting minimax model, we develop a reformulation that facilitates a direct solution procedure using commercial software or via a proposed alternating heuristic. We examine certain related stability and convergence issues, demonstrate special convergence cases, and provide insights into the computational performance of the solution procedures.
Purification of an RNA polymerase II transcript release factor from Drosophila.

Factor 2 was previously identified in Drosophila Kc cell nuclear extract (KcN) as an activity suppressing the appearance of long transcripts (Price, D. H., Sluder, A. E., and Greenleaf, A. L.(1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 3244-3255). A 154-kDa protein with factor 2 activity was purified to apparent homogeneity from KcN. An immobilized template assay indicated that factor 2 caused the release of transcripts by RNA polymerase II in an ATP-dependent manner. Some early elongation complexes were resistant to factor 2 action but became sensitive after treatment with 1 M KCl. In the absence of factor 2, transcription complexes still exhibited a low degree of processivity suggesting that factor 2 was only partially responsible for abortive elongation.
Analysis of dishevelled localization and function in the early sea urchin embryo

Dishevelled (Dsh) is a key signaling molecule in the canonical Wnt pathway. Although the mechanism by which Dsh transduces a Wnt signal remains elusive, the subcellular localization of Dsh may be critical for its function. In the early sea urchin embryo, Dsh is concentrated in punctate structures within the cytoplasm of vegetal blastomeres. In these cells, Dsh stabilizes beta-catenin and causes it to accumulate in nuclei, resulting in the activation of transcriptional gene regulatory networks that drive mesoderm and endoderm formation. Here, we present a systematic mutational analysis of Lytechinus variegatus Dsh (LvDsh) that identifies motifs required for its vegetal cortical localization (VCL). In addition to a previously identified lipid-binding motif near the N-terminus of Dsh (Weitzel, H.E., Illies, M.R., Byrum, C.A., Xu, R., Wikramanayake, A.H., Ettensohn, C.A., 2004. Differential stability of beta-catenin along the animal-vegetal axis of the sea urchin embryo mediated by dishevelled. Development 131, 2947-56), we identify a short (21 amino acid) motif between the PDZ and DEP domains that is required for VCL. Phosphorylation of threonine residues in this region regulates both the targeting and stability of LvDsh. We also identify functional nuclear import and export signals within LvDsh. We provide additional evidence that LvDsh is active locally in the vegetal region of the embryo but is inactive in animal blastomeres and show that the inability of LvDsh to function in animal cells is not a consequence of impaired nuclear import. The DIX domain of LvDsh functions as a potent dominant negative when overexpressed (Weitzel, H.E., Illies, M.R., Byrum, C.A., Xu, R., Wikramanayake, A.H., Ettensohn, C.A., 2004. Differential stability of beta-catenin along the animal-vegetal axis of the sea urchin embryo mediated by dishevelled. Development 131, 2947-56). Here, we show that the dominant negative effect of DIX is dependent on a highly conserved, lipid-binding motif that includes residues K57 and E58. The dominant negative effect of DIX is not a consequence of blocking VCL or the nuclear import of LvDsh. We provide evidence that isolated DIX domains interact with full-length LvDsh in vivo. In addition, we show that the K57/E58 lipid-binding motif of DIX is essential for this interaction. We propose that binding of the isolated DIX domain to full-length Dsh may be facilitated by interactions with lipids, and that this interaction may inhibit signaling by a) preventing endogenous Dsh from interacting with Axin, or b) blocking the ability of Dsh to recruit other proteins, such as GBP/Frat1, to the beta-catenin degradation complex.
Hepatic benzpyrene hydroxylase activity in endrin susceptible and resistant pine mice

Abstract Benzpyrene hydroxylase activity in hepatic microsomes from endrin resistant pine mice was found to be higher than in microsomes from susceptible mice. The hydroxylase activity of resistant offspring was also significantly higher than the parental strain. Pretreatment of resistant mice with dieldren resulted in a further increase in hydroxylase levels. It was concluded that the data presented offer supportive evidence for a heritable as well as an adaptive aspect of the resistance.
Intensive Insulin Therapy in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

There has been a significant increase in the prevalence of type 1 diabetes mellitus and type 2 diabetes mellitus in the past decade. The International Diabetes Foundation reported that there will be more than a half-billion people with diabetes by 2030, largely in emerging economies. Improved glucose control reduces microvascular and macrovascular complications and can be accomplished with intensive diabetes management. Continuous glucose monitors allow further improvement. The best way to emulate normal physiology is the development of an artificial pancreas. Early versions of closed-loop technology may be available in the United States in the next 3 to 5 years.
Development of Rod Shape TiAl Intermetallics by Mechanical Alloying Followed by Pulse Discharge Sintering Method

Rod shape intermetallic TiAl is developed by the method of mechanical alloying (MA) followed by pulse discharge sintering (PDS) process for the potential application in the automotive valves. Sintering of powder element mixture, instead of mechanically alloyed powder, was employed for the manufacturing of rod shape TiAl for comparison. The sintered TiAl rods were found to be homogeneous both in density and in microstructure in the axis direction. The effects of alloys' composition and sintering time on the microstructure and mechanical properties were also investigated. This work indicated that rod shape TiAl alloys with thin cross section could be successfully sintered with this process in which uniaxial pressure was applied. The fracture strength of TiAl alloys made by MA-PDS method was found to be much higher than that of sintered elemental compact.
Quasigeostrophic, ellipsoidal vortices in a stratified fluid

Abstract As a very simple model of some of the lens-like vortices of Mediterranean origin that drift in the eastern North Atlantic, we consider an ellipsoidal volume of uniform potential vorticity embedded in an otherwise quiescent, uniformly stratified fluid of infinite extent. We show that, under the quasigeostrophic approximation, such a vortex is a steadily rotating equilibrium solution and obtains its rotation rate as a function of the lengths of the principal axes. We also determine the dispersion relations for normal modes propagating on the ellipsoid. We find that unstable eigenmodes exist over a considerable range of the geometrical parameters that characterise the ellipsoid.
Neuronal MHC-I display in T-cell mediated neurodegeneration

Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other disorders feature the degeneration of ventral midbrain (VM) catecholamine neurons. Recent data suggest that neuroinflammatory mechanisms contribute to a cascade of events leading to chronic neuronal degeneration. In primary murine neuronal cultures, substantia nigra (SN) and locus coeruleus (LC) neurons are induced to express the major histocompatibility class I complex (MHC-I) by the proinflammatory cytokine, γ-interferon, L-DOPA, or conditioned medium from microglia exposed to α-synuclein or NM. SN DA neurons, moreover, process the foreign protein ovalbumin to an antigenic peptide that is presented by their MHC-I and triggers their specific destruction by CD8+ killer T-cells. In human postmortem samples, we find by immunolabel, mRNA profiling, and proteomic analysis that neuromelanin (NM)-containing catecholamine SN and LC neurons in adult human control and PD brains express MHC-I, often in proximity to CD8+ T-cells. These data reveal a novel inflammatory T-cell mediated neurodegenerative processes that could underlie neuronal death.
Differential expression of vascular endothelial growth factor isoforms and receptor subtypes in the infarcted heart.

Abstract Aims The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family contains four major isoforms and three receptor subtypes. The expressions of each VEGF isoform and receptor subtype in cardiac repair/remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI) remain uncertain and are investigated in the current study. Methods and results Temporal and spatial expressions of VEGF isoforms and VEGFR subtypes were examined in the infarcted rat heart. Sham-operated rats served as controls. We found that the normal myocardium expressed all VEGF isoforms. Following MI, VEGF-A was only increased in the border zone at day 1 and was significantly decreased in the infarcted heart during the 42 day observation period afterwards. VEGF-B was significantly suppressed in the infarcted heart. VEGF-C and VEGF-D were markedly increased in the infarcted heart in both early and late stages of MI. VEGFR-1 and 2 were significantly decreased in the infarcted heart, while VEGFR-3 was significantly increased, which was primarily expressed in blood vessels and myofibroblasts (myoFb). Conclusions VEGF isoforms and VEGFR subtypes are differentially expressed in the infarcted heart. Increased VEGF-A in the very early stage of MI suggests the potential role in initiating the cardiac angiogenic response. Suppressed cardiac VEGF-B postMI suggests that it may not be critical to cardiac repair. The presence of enhanced VEGF‐C and VEGF-D along with its receptor, VEGFR-3, in various cell types of the infarcted heart suggest that these isoforms may regulate multiple responses during cardiac repair/remodeling.
Feed Forward Modeling. Fixing the Force Frequency Relationship

The force frequency relationship has intrigued researchers since its discovery by Bowditch in 1871. Several attempts were made to construct mathematical descriptions of this phenomenon; from the simple formulation of Koch-Wesser & Blinks in 1963 to the most sophisticated ones of present days. This property of the cardiac muscle is amplified by the β adrenergic stimulation. In a coordinated way the neurohumoral state alters both: frequency (acting on the SA node) and force generation (modifying the ventricular myocytes). This synchronized tuning is needed to meet new metabolic demands. Failure to do so has deleterious consequences. We implemented this physiological coordination in a new version of LabHEART (v5.5) where the cell parameters are updated according to the frequency of stimulation in a sigmoidal fashion (namely: ICaL, IKs, SERCA pump and myofilaments’ Ca-sensitivity). This feed forward modeling helps to reproduce a more realistic cell behavior and complement the information obtained by experiments where frequency has been altered but without adding β-adrenergic agonists. Plots like rate-adaptation or APD vs cycle length can, now, be mapped into the neurohumoral state to provide insights about arrhythmias (or antiarrhythmic drugs). Cardiac modelers have already linked the mechanical and the electrical activity in their formulations and showed how those activities feedback on each other. Feed forward modeling is a step towards reproducing the neurological control and thus, to have a complete description of the heart performance, particularly when changes in frequency are involved. The presumptive sigmoidal dependence of parameters on pacing frequency used here can be refined but is a valid starting point to implement the convergence of cardiac chronotrophy and inotropy.
An Early Pleistocene molluscan assemblage from Fiji: gastropod faunal composition, paleoecology and biogeography

Abstract Ecologically important in many modern marine environments as both predators and prey, gastropod molluscs also offer keys to understanding the organization of past biotas. We analyzed Early Pleistocene gastropod shells from the Nasaki Beds in Viti Levu (∼1.8 Myr B.P.) to describe and interpret diversity at the species and higher levels, taxonomic and trophic aspects of community composition, and the taxonomic and biogeographic relations of past and present faunas. The assemblage studied probably represents a paleocommunity type that occurred in fine sand sediment in depths of 5–50 m inshore. Gastropods outnumbered bivalves 4 : 1. At least 320 gastropod species from at least 52 families and 146 genera were present. Neogastropods accounted for 51% of the species and two-thirds of individuals. Numerically the family-groups Nassariinae, Turridae, Olividae and Naticidae dominated. Turridae, Conidae and Naticidae had the most species. Most gastropod species and individuals were probably primary carnivores. About 15% were secondary predators, but these caused significant mortality of other gastropods present. Nearly half of all gastropod species suffered drilling predation, mainly by naticids, and these attacks were nearly always successful. Crabs and other durophagous predators probably killed only about 4% as many gastropods as drillers; a high frequency of shell repairs also suggests that they were less important mortality factors. The Lyellian percentage of the gastropod assemblage exceeds 80%. Two-thirds of the 212 extant species presently occur in Fijian waters; a similar modern fauna occurs in Laucala Bay in 8–25 m. Almost all of the locally extinct but globally extant species whose southern hemisphere distributions are known reach the eastern limits of their ranges west of Fiji, occurring as far east as Indonesia (99%), New Guinea (60%) and Vanuatu (15%). Pleistocene sea level fluctuations likely extensively altered the geographic distributions of gastropods inhabiting tropical subtidal nearshore soft sediments, as previously documented for reef-associated corals and bivalves.
Profiles of carbohydrate ligands associated with adsorbed proteins on self-assembled monolayers of defined chemistries

Conserved protein-carbohydrate-lipid pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) interact with cells of the innate immune system to mediate antigen recognition and internalization and activation of immune cells. We examined if analogous "biomaterial-associated molecular patterns" composed of proteins, specifically their carbohydrate modifications, existed on biomaterials, which can play a role in mediating the innate immune response to biomaterials. To probe for these carbohydrates in the adsorbed protein layer, as directed by the underlying biomaterial chemistry, self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) presenting -CH(3), -OH, -COOH, or -NH(2) were preincubated with serum/plasma, and the presence of carbohydrate ligands of C-type lectin receptors (CLRs) was investigated using lectin probes in an enzyme-linked lectin assay (ELLA). Presentation of CLR ligands was detected on control tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS). Absorbances of mannose or N-acetylglucosamine increased with decreasing incubating serum concentration, whereas absorbances of sialylated epitopes or fucose remained unchanged. Absorbances of alpha-galactose or N-acetylgalactosamine decreased with decreasing incubating serum concentration; beta-galactose was undetectable. Among SAM endgroups, preincubation with 10% serum resulted in differential presentation of CLR ligands: higher alpha-galactose on COOH SAMs than NH(2) or CH(3) SAMs, highest complex mannose on NH(2) SAMs, and higher complex mannose on OH SAMs than CH(3) SAMs. Least sialylated groups were detected on CH(3) SAMs. In summary, biomaterial chemistry may regulate protein adsorption and hence unique presentation of associated carbohydrates. The ultimate goal is to identify the effects of protein glycosylations associated with biomaterials in stimulating innate immune responses.
1,1-Dicyano-2-[6-(dimethylamino)naphthalen-2-yl]propene (DDNP): A Solvent Polarity and Viscosity Sensitive Fluorophore for Fluorescence Microscopy⊥

1,1-Dicyano-2-[6-(dimethylamino)naphthalen-2-yl]propene (II, DDNP) has been synthesized as a fluorescent dye whose intramolecular rotational relaxation is solvent polarity and viscosity dependent. Its fluorescence emission (λ max: 470−610 nm in hydrophobic and viscous environments) is in a very favorable region for its use with visible fluorescence microscopy, without interference from cell or tissue autofluorescence. Its fluorescence emission quantum yield in an aqueous environment is very low, allowing for facile differentiation between lipid or protein bound state and aqueous media. II crystallizes into two solid isoforms containing one (red crystals) and two conformers (yellow crystals), exhibiting differing spectral properties. X-ray crystal structures reveal a planar arrangement between dimethylamino and naphthalenyl moieties, with out-of-plane arrangements between the malononitrile and naphthalene ring found in each of the three conformers.
Do supply chain IT alignment and supply chain interfirm system integration impact upon brand equity and firm performance

Abstract Researchers and managers have recently shown increasing interest in measuring the return on intangible assets, including brand equity. However, in today's complicated business world, understanding such intangible assets in the single firm context offers only a limited view. Drawing on the resource-based view of the firm, this study explores supply chain specific IT resources such as IT alignment and interfirm system integration between supply chain partners as antecedents of brand equity, relating brand equity to firm performance variables. Furthermore, the study framework incorporates IT appropriability as a firm's internal facilitator and partner dependence as a relational factor that form such supply chain IT resources. The results indicate that both IT alignment and interfirm system integration have positive effects on brand equity while supply chain IT resources are affected by the relational factor, partner dependence. IT appropriability affects IT alignment and IT alignment is found to mediate the relationship between IT appropriability and interfirm system integration.
Novel route to fused nitrogen heterocycles by olefin metathesis

Abstract A novel technique for the efficient synthesis of fused nitrogen heterocycles has been developed that features the molybdenum alkylidene-catalyzed metathesis of α,ω-dienes containing a nitrogen atom in the chain linking the two olefinic functional groups. The starting materials may be readily prepared in three steps from succinimide and glutarimide via sequential Mitsunobu alkylation, sodium borohydride reduction, and addition of a vinyl cuprate to an N -acyliminium salt generated in situ .
Coexistence curve predicted by the soave-redlich-kwong equation in the critical limit

Abstract Some cubic equations of state accurately predict P-T behavior near the critical point, but do not properly predict density or volume. Calculation of P-T coexistence curves may be computationally complicated. Improvement of properly predictions and decrease in computational effort may result from studying predicted limiting behavior near the critical point. This was done for the Soave-Redlich-Kwong equation of state.
A priori estimates in terms of the maximum norm for the solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations

In this paper, we consider the Cauchy problem for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations with bounded initial data and derive a priori estimates of the maximum norm of all derivatives of the solution in terms of the maximum norm of the initial velocity field. For illustrative purposes, we first derive corresponding a priori estimates for certain parabolic systems. Because of the pressure term, the case of the Navier–Stokes equations is more difficult, however.
Dermoid cyst of the infratemporal fossa: case report and review of the literature.

Background Intracranial dermoid cysts are rare tumors of congenital origin. We report a case of a large dermoid tumor arising in the infratemporal fossa (ITF) with erosion into the middle cranial fossa. After reviewing the literature, we believe this represents the first reported dermoid tumor of the ITF with extension into the middle cranial fossa. Results A 21-year-old women presented with a large cystic mass involving the left infratemporal fossa and middle cranial fossa that was discovered following a motor vehicle collision. Neurologic examination was normal. The mass was resected through a frontotemporal extradural approach with endoscopic assistance. Imaging studies, gross findings, and histopathology were consistent with a dermoid tumor. Conclusion This is the first report of a dermoid cyst arising in the ITF with extension into the middle cranial fossa. We suggest including dermoid tumor in the differential diagnosis of cystic abnormalities in this region. Complete resection of the cyst remains the preferred treatment with surgical approach guided by preoperative imaging.
Meta-Analysis of Interventions To Improve Drug Adherence in Patients with Hyperlipidemia

Objective. To examine the results of meta-analyses addressing the net effect of tools and methods to enhance drug adherence in patients with hyperlipidemia. Methods. We searched MEDLINE, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (IPA), PsychLit, Educational Resource Information Clearinghouse (ERIC), and Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE) databases (1996–2000) for randomized controlled trials of interventions to improve patients' adherence to drug regimens for hyperlipidemia. All trials selected had at least 10 subjects/group. Effect sizes, represented as the correlation coefficient, were calculated from Cohen's d and d'. Analysis of variance and the Q test were performed to evaluate statistical significance and heterogeneity. Results. Of the 484 articles evaluated, only four met the criteria for inclusion. Multiple interventions or study samples were identified in two articles. Each intervention was counted as a separate study, yielding seven cohorts with a total of 3077 subjects. Behavioral interventions accounted for five cohorts (2915 subjects). No cohorts received solely educational interventions. Two cohorts, with a total of 162 subjects, received a combination of behavioral and educational interventions. Homogeneity of groupings and effect sizes were calculated for the overall grouping as well as for each type of intervention. Overall, the effect size for the data was 0.14 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.10–0.17) and the data were homogenous (Q = 7.36, df = 4, p=0.29). The effect size for the behavioral interventions was 0.14 (95% CI 0.11–0.18, Q = 5.25, df = 4, p=0.26). For interventions that combined behavioral and educational components, the effect size was 0.03 (CI −0.13–0.18, Q = 0.204, df = 1, p=0.65). Conclusions. The interventions evaluated had little impact on drug adherence. More studies are needed to assess how to improve drug adherence in patients with hyperlipidemia.
Beyond an Emic View of Anthropologists and Anthropology: An Alaskan Perspective

ideas. As teachers, we do not feel guilty about the emotional trauma experienced by whites whom we help and urge to sever cultural ties, because these children and adults are presumed to be acting out the American dream. Instead, we march happily into battle on behalf of groups whom we perceive to have been "forced" into adapting. It escapes our notice that Jesse Jackson does not speak Black English, and that Vine Deloria (1970), Jamake Highwater (1981), or noted artist Volume 15, 1984 176 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.124 on Wed, 22 Jun 2016 06:05:39 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Environmental variability selects for large families only in special circumstances: Another objection to differential K theory

Abstract Rushton has argued that less predictable climates should select for r traits. However, because selection calls for maximizing the geometric mean rather than the arithmetic mean, and having small families could contribute to survival in adverse times, unpredictability should select for K characteristics. An alternative in which excess births provide an option on larger families is considered and rejected. Biological evidence from the Great Tit and other birds is used for illustration. This effect may explain why humans have such low conception rates. Several additional pieces of evidence for Miller's (Personality and Individual Differences, 17, 227–255, 1994) differential paternal investment theory are offered. Evidence for seasonality in prehistoric death rates is offered. Comparisons of fixation coefficients for Y chromosome genes vs mitochondrial ones suggest that polygyny has been more common in Africa than in Europe since prehistoric times. Additional evidence for racial differences in motivations for marriage and child bearing is offered. Higher Black expenditures on clothing is explained. In cold climates the greater importance of detecting a mate's deception is argued to select for higher intelligence.
Distribution and diversity of the enterococcal surface protein (esp) gene in animal hosts and the Pacific coast environment.

Aims: This study sought to evaluate the distribution of the enterococcal surface protein (esp) gene in Enterococcus faecium in the Pacific coast environment as well as the distribution and diversity of the gene in Northern California animal hosts. Methods and Results: Over 150 environmental samples from the Pacific coast environment (sand, surf zone, fresh/estuarine, groundwater, and storm drain) were screened for the esp gene marker in E. faecium, and the marker was found in 37% of the environmental samples. We examined the host specificity of the gene by screening various avian and mammalian faecal samples, and found the esp gene to be widespread in nonhuman animal faeces. DNA sequence analysis performed on esp polymerase chain reaction amplicons revealed that esp gene sequences were not divergent between hosts. Conclusions: Our data confirm recent findings that the E. faecium variant of the esp gene is not human-specific. Significance and Impact of the Study: Our results suggest that the use of the esp gene for microbial source tracking applications may not be appropriate at all recreational beaches.
Malic enzyme activity in adult and newborn rat lung.

ABSTRACT: Using a sensitive technique measuring 14CO2 production from radiolabeled malate, we examined malic enzyme activity in both adult and newborn rat lung tissue and in L2 cells, a cell culture line of type II pneumocytes. Malic enzyme was present in both cytosolic and mitochondrial fractions. Time course experiments demonstrated a linear rate after the initial 10 min, up to 30 min. The optimal pH in the cytosolic fraction was 8.0, whereas maximal mitochondrial malic enzyme activity occurred at pII 7.0. The mitochondrial fraction exhibited biphasic kinetics over the 200-fold range of concentrations examined. The high-affinity Km was 0.16 mmol with Vmax of 7.11 nmol/mg protein/min. The low-affinity Km was 6.95 mmol, with Vmax of 31.82 nmol/mg protein/min. In the cytosol there was a single Km of 0.30 mmol and Vmax of 5.95 nmol/mg protein/min. In paired experiments examining differences between 1-d-old and adult rat lung, significantly higher total and mitochondrial malic enzyme activity-occurred in the newborn as compared with the adult. Malic enzyme activity was also present in the L2 cells. The finding of malic enzyme activity in the lung suggests that cytosolic malic enzyme may play a role in generating NADPH needed in the lung for fatty acid synthesis. These findings of developmental differences in malic enzyme activity suggest that alternate substrates such as anaplerotic amino acids may be used in the young animal as energy substrates by way of the tricarboxylic acid cycle.
Long stemmed total knee arthroplasty with interlocking screws: a computational bone adaptation study.

Abstract The ability of an interlocking screw fixation technique to minimize bone loss related to stress shielding in the tibia was investigated and compared to the abilities of cement and press-fit fixation. Full bony ingrowth has been associated with greater stress shielding than partial ingrowth; therefore, the effect of intimate bonding of the stem to bone on subsequent bone loss was also studied. A damage- and disuse-based remodeling theory was coupled with a two-dimensional finite element model of the tibia to predict changes in bone remodeling following long stemmed total knee arthroplasty (TKA) for four different fixation techniques (cement, press-fit, interlock with bony ingrowth, and interlock without bony ingrowth). Remodeling changes commenced with the model state variables––bone area fraction, mechanical stimulus, damage, and remodeling activity––at steady-state values predicted by the intact tibia simulation. After TKA and irrespective of fixation technique, the model predicted elevated remodeling due to disuse, in which more bone was removed than replenished. In regions below the tibial tray and along the cortices, the interlocking stem with full bony ingrowth and the cemented stem caused the least amount of bone loss. An interlocking stem with a smooth, matted finish did not reduce the bone loss associated with interlocking fixation.
Abstract 4224: MiR-7 and its novel target regulate sensitivity to microtubule stabilizing agents

Microtubule stabilizing drugs, such as Taxol that is used in the treatment of numerous malignancies, cause distinct responses in cancer cells, including apoptosis, mitotic catastrophe, necrosis and accelerated senescence. However, drug resistance, a complex and mutlifactorial phenotype, is a major obstacle to therapy and the foremost cause of disease progression and cancer-related mortality. MiRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that regulate protein expression by targeting their 3′UTRs, and are emerging as key regulators of cancer pathogenesis that can influence sensitivity to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. We have identified miR-7 as a regulator of sensitivity to the microtubule-stabilizing agents, discodermolide and Taxol. Over-expression of miR-7 in the lung cancer cell lines A549 and H2122, strongly inhibited cell proliferation and sensitized the cells to drug-induced apoptosis. Over-expression of miR-7 also increased the number of acidic lysosomes, as measured by β-galactosidase activity, which likely reflects lysosomal stress. It also increased basal and drug-induced caspase activation, which most likely mediate the sensitizing effects of discodermolide and Taxol. In addition, we validated that the transcription factor, Kruppel like factor 4 (KLF4) is a target of miR-7, and that its expression also regulates sensitivity to discodermolide and Taxol. KLF4 is suppressed in discodermolide- and Taxol-treated A549 cells that have a strong senescent phenotype, and is over-expressed in A549 cells that are resistant to either drugs. ShRNA-mediated knockdown of KLF4 in A549 and H2122 also sensitized cells to discodermolide and Taxol though to a lesser degree than miR-7 overexpression, and also inhibited cell proliferation and increased lysosomal β-galactosidase activity and caspase activity. Thus, we hypothesize that suppression of KLF4 partially mediates the potent anti-tumor effects of miR-7 in A549 and H2122 lung cancer cells. In summary, we have identified miR-7 and its novel target, KLF4, as important regulators of sensitivity to discodermolide and Taxol, and suggest that miR-7 is a promising candidate for therapeutic development. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4224. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-4224
HFE mutations are not strongly associated with sporadic ALS

The presence of oxidative damage and increased iron deposition in CNS tissues of ALS patients prompted the authors to examine the prevalence of two common HFE gene mutations linked to iron accumulation and consequent oxidative stress. The prevalence of the C282Y and H63D mutations was nearly identical in 51 ALS patients and 47 normal control subjects. The presence of either mutation did not significantly affect the age at onset or rate of progression in ALS.
Inflammatory breast carcinoma (carcinoma erysipeloides): an easily overlooked diagnosis

A 70-year-old woman developed erythema and induration of the right chest wall, and swelling of her right arm. The provisional diagnosis was deep venous thrombosis and/or cellulitis of the right arm. Skin biopsy showed a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma within lymphatic vessels, and immunohistochemical staining revealed this to be of breast origin. Inflammatory carcinoma or carcinoma erysipeloides represents < 1% of all cases of breast carcinoma. Our case illustrates the importance of considering this entity in the differential diagnosis of unilateral chest wall erythema and induration.