cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
High maternal serum inhibin A levels following the loss of one fetus in a twin pregnancy

Inhibin A levels are elevated in the second trimester of pregnancies affected with fetal Down syndrome, on average, two times the level in unaffected pregnancies. Inhibin A levels are also two times higher in twin than in singleton pregnancies. Prenatal serum screening using inhibin A levels as a second trimester marker began at the Women and Infants Hospital in March 1998. We describe a case of a 17-year-old woman thought to have had a complete spontaneous abortion of a twin pregnancy but later found to be continuing the pregnancy with a single fetus. Routine second trimester prenatal serum screening revealed an extremely elevated inhibin A level of 39 MoM (multiples of the median). The patient delivered an apparently healthy female infant at 41 weeks of gestation. Therefore, inhibin A may be extremely elevated in the second trimester of a twin pregnancy after the loss of one fetus and this increased inhibin A level does not have any obvious adverse maternal or fetal effects.
A Current-Transient Methodology for Trap Analysis for GaN High Electron Mobility Transistors

Trapping is one of the most deleterious effects that limit performance and reliability in GaN HEMTs. In this paper, we present a methodology to study trapping characteristics in GaN HEMTs that is based on current-transient measurements. Its uniqueness is that it is amenable to integration with electrical stress experiments in long-term reliability studies. We present the details of the measurement and analysis procedures. With this method, we have investigated the trapping and detrapping dynamics of GaN HEMTs. In particular, we examined layer location, energy level, and trapping/detrapping time constants of dominant traps. We have identified several traps inside the AlGaN barrier layer or at the surface close to the gate edge and in the GaN buffer.
Diaphragmatic hernia in an 8-year-old with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome

Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) includes a group of connective-tissue disorders characterized by abnormal collagen metabolism. The diverse spectrum of this disease and its complications present a distinct challenge to the surgeon. Patients with this hereditary disorder may have hyperelastic or fragile skin, poor wound healing, hypermobile joints, clotting abnormalities, spontaneous pneumothoraces, recurrent hernias, bowel perforation, and vascular complications. An 8-year-old female with EDS type VII and a newly diagnosed diaphragmatic hernia is presented. Surgical considerations of this syndrome are reviewed.
Mechanism of the antihypertensive effect of K depletion in the spontaneously hypertensive rat

Mechanism of the antihypertensive effect of K depletion in the spontaneously hypertensive rat. K depletion reverses hypertension in the SHR (systolic blood pressure: K deplete 122 ± 5 vs. K replete 164 ± 4mm Hg, P max ) (156 ± 20 vs. 81 ± 5 fmol/mg of protein, P max were still increased in nephrectomized K depleted SHR. To determine the specific effect of K depletion independent of Ang II on Ang II binding, studies were performed in mesenteric artery VSMC from SHR grown in culture. VSMC from K replete SHR were grown to confluency in K replete medium and then were incubated in K depleted medium for 24 hours. Binding was saturable, time and temperature-dependent in K replete and K depleted cells. Total binding and B max (139 ± 13 vs. 93 ± 7 fmol/mg protein, P
Multiobjective information theoretic ensemble selection

In evolutionary learning, the sine qua non is evolvability, which requires heritability of fitness and a balance between exploitation and exploration. Unfortunately, commonly used fitness measures, such as root mean squared error (RMSE), often fail to reward individuals whose presence in the population is needed to explain important data variance; and indicators of diversity generally are not only incommensurate with those of fitness but also essentially arbitrary. Thus, due to poor scaling, deception, etc., apparently relatively high fitness individuals in early generations may not contain the building blocks needed to evolve optimal solutions in later generations. To reward individuals for their potential incremental contributions to the solution of the overall problem, heritable information theoretic functionals are developed that incorporate diversity considerations into fitness, explicitly identifying building blocks suitable for recombination (e.g. for non-random mating). Algorithms for estimating these functionals from either discrete or continuous data are illustrated by application to input selection in a high dimensional industrial process control data set. Multiobjective information theoretic ensemble selection is shown to avoid some known feature selection pitfalls.
Cellular expression of midkine-a and midkine-b during retinal development and photoreceptor regeneration in zebrafish.

In the retina of adult teleosts, stem cells are sustained in two specialized niches: the ciliary marginal zone (CMZ) and the microenvironment surrounding adult Muller glia. Recently, Muller glia were identified as the regenerative stem cells in the teleost retina. Secreted signaling molecules that regu- late neuronal regeneration in the retina are largely unknown. In a microarray screen to discover such factors, we identi- fied midkine-b (mdkb). Midkine is a highly conserved heparin-binding growth factor with numerous biological functions. The zebrafish genome encodes two distinct mid- kine genes: mdka and mdkb. Here we describe the cellular expression of mdka and mdkb during retinal development and the initial, proliferative phase of photoreceptor regen- eration. The results show that in the embryonic and larval retina mdka and mdkb are expressed in stem cells, retinal progenitors, and neurons in distinct patterns that suggest different functions for the two molecules. Following the se- lective death of photoreceptors in the adult, mdka and mdkb are coexpressed in horizontal cells and proliferating Muller glia and their neurogenic progeny. These data reveal that Mdka and Mdkb are signaling factors present in the retinal stem cell niches in both embryonic and mature retinas, and that their cellular expression is actively modulated during retinal development and regeneration. J. Comp. Neurol. 514:
Infrared correlations in the bile acid series

Abstract The infrared spectra of a number of esters and free acids in the cholanic acid series have been examined with the aid of a special solvent system which overcomes the problem of solubility. Eleven absorption regions in the 9–12 μ region have been correlated with specific substitution on the steroid nucleus and side chain. In certain cases, perturbations were found when di- or tri-substitution occurred in rings A, B, andJor C.
Soviet Views of “The Scientific–Technological Revolution”

The author analyzes recent efforts by Soviet and East European theorists to explain the interrelationships among science, technology, and social change in socialist and capitalist countries, and to understand the role that scientific and technical advances are playing and can play in the transition to new forms of “developed socialism.” Theories of “the scientific-technological revolution” are examined from various perspectives: their intellectual content, their social and ideological functions, and the reciprocal influences of ideas, policy, and administrative practice. This essay brings to the attention of Western readers a type of literature strongly encouraged by contemporary Soviet leaders; it is a major evolving component of Marxism-Leninism, and may be influencing or reflecting some of the changing policies and attitudes of communist political elites.
Managing Osteopetrosis in Children: A Nutrition Challenge

Abstract Osteopetrosis, a rare condition caused by a failure of osteo-clasts to resorb bone, results in dense and deformed bones, growth failure, anemia, hypoplastic dentition, chronic infection, blindness, and massive splenomegaly. Children with infantile osteopetrosis have disease-related complications that affect nutritional status. Altered calcium and phosphorus intake has been reported in these patients, but previous studies did not include an assessment of dietary adequacy or nutrition-related complications. A prospective study of six children with severe infantile osteopetrosis was conducted to identify specific nutrition-related problems and effective nutrition intervention strategies. Patients were monitored by a registered dietitian while they participated in a clinical research protocol at St Jude Children's Research Hospital. Dietary records for each patient were obtained at set intervals during the 4-month study period. Because most patients lacked adequate dentition, they had difficulty obtaining adequate nutrition through normal oral intake. Three children required nutrition supplementation (enteral feedings for one and oral supplements for two). We conclude that oral and enteral nutrition support can provide nutrients needed for improved growth and response to treatment in patients with osteopetrosis. J Am Diet Assoc. 1996; 96: 172-175 .
Evolutionary patterns among measures of aging

Maximum lifespan has been one of the most common aging measures in comparative studies, while the Gompertz model has recently attracted both proponents and critics of its capacity to adequately describe the acceleration of mortality in the oldest age classes. The Gompertz demographic model describes age-dependent mortality rate acceleration and age-independent mortality using the parameters alpha and A, respectively. Evolutionary biologists have predominantly used average longevity in studies of aging. Little is known about the evolutionary relationships of these measures on the microevolutionary time scale. We have simultaneously compared Gompertz parameters, average longevity, and maximum longevity in 50 related populations of Drosophila melanogaster, many of which have been selected for postponed aging. Overall, these populations have differentiated significantly for the A and alpha parameter of the Gompertz equation, as well as average and maximum longevity. These indices of aging appear to measure the same genetic changes in aging. However, in some specific population comparisons, the relationships among these measures are more complex. In a second experiment, environmental manipulation of longevity had substantially different effects from genetic differentiation, with the A parameter accounting for changes in overall mortality. The adequacy of the maximum lifespan and the Gompertz equation as indices of aging in evolutionary studies is discussed.
Biggest virus molecular structure yet

The blue tongue virus core (BTVC) particle is the biggest molecular structure determined to date by X-ray crystallography. The atomic model shows that the inner core particle of 120 VP3 subunits guides the assembly of an outer shell with 780 VP7subunits. The structure may lead to new targets for particle based anti-viral agents and to experiments to refine the details of the proposed virus assembly pathway.
Enhancement of doxorubicin cytotoxicity of human cancer cells by tyrosine kinase inhibition of insulin receptor and type I IGF receptor

The type I insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF1R) contributes to cancer cell biology. Disruption of IGF1R signaling alone or in combination with cytotoxic agents has emerged as a new therapeutic strategy. Our laboratory has shown that sequential treatment with doxorubicin (DOX) and anti-IGF1R antibodies significantly enhanced the response to chemotherapy. In this study, we examined whether inhibition of the tyrosine kinase activity of this receptor family would also enhance chemotherapy response. Cis-3-[3-(4-methyl-piperazin-l-yl)-cyclobutyl]-1-(2-phenyl-quinolin-7-yl)-imidazo[1,5-a]pyrazin-8-ylamine (PQIP) inhibited IGF1R and insulin receptor (InsR) kinase activity and downstream activation of ERK1/2 and Akt in MCF-7 and LCC6 cancer cells. PQIP inhibited both monolayer growth and anchorage-independent growth in a dose-dependent manner. PQIP did not induce apoptosis, but rather, PQIP treatment was associated with an increase in autophagy. We examined whether sequential or combination therapy of PQIP with DOX could enhance growth inhibition. PQIP treatment together with DOX or DOX followed by PQIP significantly inhibited anchorage-independent growth in MCF-7 and LCC6 cells compared to single agent alone. In contrast, pre-treatment with PQIP followed by DOX did not enhance the cytotoxicity of DOX in vitro. Furthermore, OSI-906, a PQIP derivative, inhibited IGF-I signaling in LCC6 xenograft tumors in vivo. When given once a week, simultaneous administration of OSI-906 and DOX significantly enhanced the anti-tumor effect of DOX. In summary, these results suggest that timing and duration of the IGF1R/InsR tyrosine kinase inhibitors with chemotherapeutic agents should be evaluated in clinical trials. Long-term disruption of IGF1R/InsR may not be necessary when combined with cytotoxic chemotherapy.
Media Review: Designing Successful Transitions: A Guide for Orienting Students to College

(2012). Media Review: Designing Successful Transitions: A Guide for Orienting Students to College. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice: Vol. 49, No. 3, pp. 355-358.
On the Generation of Umbral Flashes and Running Penumbral Waves

From a review of the observed properties of umbral flashes and running penumbral waves it is proposed that the source of these periodic phenomena is the oscillatory convection which Danielson and Savage (1968) and Savage (1969) have shown is likely to occur in the superadiabatic subphotospheric layers of sunspot umbras. Periods and growth rates are computed for oscillatory modes arising in a simple two-layer model umbra. The results suggest that umbral flashes result from disturbances produced by oscillatory convection occurring in the upper subphotospheric layer of the umbra, where the superadiabatic temperature gradient is much enhanced over that in lower layers, while running penumbral waves are due to oscillations in a layer just below this upper layer.
Mobility of t-C4H9+ in polar and nonpolar atmospheric gases

Abstract The reduced zero-field mobilities of t -C 4 H 9 + drifting in He, N 2 , O 2 and H 2 O are measured by ion depletion arrival time analysis to be 14.8 ± 0.6, 3.7 ± 0.8, 3.3 ± 0.8 and 0.04 ± 0.02 cm 2 V −1 s −1 , respectively. The mobilities are relatively constant with varying drift fields in the three nonpolar gases, but increase significantly with increasing drift field in water vapor, demonstrating the large difference between polar and nonpolar interaction potentials on the mobility of t -C 4 H 9 + . The results are compared to locked–dipole calculations. The relevance towards better modeling of hypersonic combustion and ion-injection processes is also discussed.
Restorative gene therapy approaches to Parkinson's disease.

Numerous advances over the past decade have made it likely that clinical trials for genetic intervention in patients with Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders will occur within the next few years. Approaches to neurologic gene therapy include (1) ex vivo systems, based on altering the genetic framework of cells or tissues and then grafting these into the host brain, and (2) in vivo systems, predicated on directly introducing therapeutic genetic information into the brain. Each of these systems has seen enormous advances, resulting in encouraging results in animal models of Parkinson's disease. These approaches are likely to supplant tissue transplantation techniques that do not have the same scientific sophistication and have proven to be suboptimal in most clinical trials.
A reliable fast-operating door for small animal research

Described is a reliable and fast-operating door suitable for research with small animals. The primary operating control is a 60-rpm Hurst motor.
Proceedings of the 2002 ACM workshop on XML security

These proceedings contain the papers selected for presentation at the ACM Workshop on XML Security, held in conjunction with the 9th ACM Computer and Communications Security Conference, November 22, 2002, in Washington, DC (USA).In response to the call for papers, 18 papers were submitted to the workshop. These papers were evaluated on the basis of their significance, novelty, and technical quality. Each paper was reviewed by at least two members of the program committee. The program committee meeting was held electronically. Of the papers submitted, 11 were selected for presentation at the workshop. The workshop program also includes an invited talk by Phillip Hallam-Baker.
Implementation of analog shunting neural networks for optoelectronic detection and processing

A fully parallel and completely analog implementation of a shunting neural network is described. Such a network provides an artificial version of the biological cell connection structure and function commonly found in the more peripheral layers of a sensory organ, such as in the retina of an eye. This implementation is easily integrated with photodetector arrays and can be used to achieve many of the powerful signal processing properties normally associated with biological sensory systems. By using the circuit characteristics of a field-effect transistor biased into the voltage-variable conductance range, the implementation achieves an extremely high packing density with only one transistor per unilateral interconnection path. Dynamic range compression, edge enhancement, and preferential directional sensitivity are discussed in relation to the implementation constraints. >
Utility of the surgical apgar score: validation in 4119 patients.

Objectives To confirm the utility of a 10-point Surgical Apgar Score to rate surgical outcomes in a large cohort of patients. Design Using electronic intraoperative records, we calculated Surgical Apgar Scores during a period of 2 years (July 1, 2003, through June 30, 2005). Setting Major academic medical center. Patients Systematic sample of 4119 general and vascular surgery patients enrolled in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program surgical outcomes database at a major academic medical center. Main Outcome Measures Incidence of major postoperative complications and/or death within 30 days of surgery. Results Of 1441 patients with scores of 9 to 10, 72 (5.0%) developed major complications within 30 days, including 2 deaths (0.1%). By comparison, among 128 patients with scores of 4 or less, 72 developed major complications (56.3%; relative risk, 11.3; 95% confidence interval, 8.6-14.8; P P Conclusions The Surgical Apgar Score provides a simple, immediate, objective means of measuring and communicating patient outcomes in surgery, using data routinely available in any setting. The score can be effective in identifying patients at higher- and lower-than-average likelihood of major complications and/or death after surgery and may be useful for evaluating interventions to prevent poor outcomes.
Participation of host ‘spacer’ atoms in carboxylic acid binding: implications for amino acid recognition

Abstract Chiral 4,4′-diamido-2,2′-biimidazoles were synthesized and found to bind N-Boc protected amino acids in CDCl3. The biimidazole that features (R)-tetrahydrofurfuryl units discriminates between N-Boc- l -Ser (Kassoc=120 M−1) and its non-natural d -enantiomer (270 M−1). X-ray diffraction and computational analyses show that members of this receptor class adopt a cleft-like conformation, presenting a donor-spacer-donor-acceptor H-bonding array. Complexes of such biimidazoles with the –COOH unit of amino acids are stabilized by direct involvement of what is nominally a ‘spacer’ atom, unlike other D-Sp-D-A hosts.
Simultaneous delivery of cytotoxic and biologic therapeutics using nanophotoactivatable liposomes enhances treatment efficacy in a mouse model of pancreatic cancer

A lack of intracellular delivery systems has limited the use of biologics such as monoclonal antibodies (mAb) that abrogate molecular signaling pathways activated to promote escape from cancer treatment. We hypothesized that intracellular co-delivery of the photocytotoxic chromophore benzoporphyrin derivative monoacid A (BPD) and the anti-VEGF mAb bevacizumab in a nanophotoactivatable liposome (nanoPAL) might enhance the efficacy of photodynamic therapy (PDT) combined with suppression of VEGF-mediated signaling pathways. As a proof-of-concept we found that nanoPAL-PDT induced enhanced extra- and intracellular bevacizumab delivery and enhanced acute cytotoxicity in vitro. In an in vivo subcutaneous mouse model of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, nanoPAL-PDT achieved significantly enhanced tumor reduction. We attribute this to the optimal incorporation of insoluble BPD into the lipid bilayer, enhancing photocytotoxicity, and the simultaneous spatiotemporal delivery of bevacizumab, ensuring efficient neutralization of the rapid but transient burst of VEGF following PDT. From the Clinical Editor: Most patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) by the time present the disease it is very advanced, which unavoidably translates to poor survival. For these patients, use of traditional chemotherapy often becomes ineffective due to tumor resistance to drugs. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) can be an effective modality against chemo-resistant cancers. In this article, the authors investigated the co-delivery of a photocytotoxic agent and anti-VEGF mAb using liposomes. This combination was shown to results in enhanced tumor killing. This method should be applicable to other combination of treatments.
Nuclear Pore Complex Function in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Is Influenced by Glycosylation of the Transmembrane Nucleoporin Pom152p

The regulated transport of proteins across the nuclear envelope occurs through nuclear pore complexes (NPCs), which are composed of >30 different protein subunits termed nucleoporins. While some nucleoporins are glycosylated, little about the role of glycosylation in NPC activity is understood. We have identified loss-of-function alleles of ALG12, encoding a mannosyltransferase, as suppressors of a temperature-sensitive mutation in the gene encoding the FXFG-nucleoporin NUP1. We observe that nup1Δ cells import nucleophilic proteins more efficiently when ALG12 is absent, suggesting that glycosylation may influence nuclear transport. Conditional nup1 and nup82 mutations are partially suppressed by the glycosylation inhibitor tunicamycin, while nic96 and nup116 alleles are hypersensitive to tunicamycin treatment, further implicating glycosylation in NPC function. Because Pom152p is a glycosylated, transmembrane nucleoporin, we examined genetic interactions between pom152 mutants and nup1Δ. A nup1 deletion is lethal in combination with pom152Δ, as well as with truncations of the N-terminal and transmembrane regions of Pom152p. However, truncations of the N-glycosylated, lumenal domain of Pom152p and pom152 mutants lacking N-linked glycosylation sites are viable in combination with nup1Δ, suppress nup1Δ temperature sensitivity, and partially suppress the nuclear protein import defects associated with the deletion of NUP1. These data provide compelling evidence for a role for glycosylation in influencing NPC function.
Entanglement Entropy and Entanglement Spectrum of the Kitaev Model

In this Letter, we obtain an exact formula for the entanglement entropy of the ground state and all excited states of the Kitaev model. Remarkably, the entanglement entropy can be expressed in a simple separable form $S={S}_{G}+{S}_{F}$, with ${S}_{F}$ the entanglement entropy of a free Majorana fermion system and ${S}_{G}$ that of a ${Z}_{2}$ gauge field. The ${Z}_{2}$ gauge field part contributes to the universal ``topological entanglement entropy'' of the ground state while the fermion part is responsible for the nonlocal entanglement carried by the ${Z}_{2}$ vortices (visons) in the non-Abelian phase. Our result also enables the calculation of the entire entanglement spectrum and the more general Renyi entropy of the Kitaev model. Based on our results we propose a new quantity to characterize topologically ordered states---the capacity of entanglement, which can distinguish the states with and without topologically protected gapless entanglement spectrum.
99mTc-labeled porphyrin–lipid nanovesicles

AbstractPorphyrin–lipid nanovesicles (PLN) have been developed with intrinsic capabilities as activatable multimodal photonic contrast agents. Radiolabeling of PLN encapsulating drugs could eventually be able to provide quantitative in vivo information for diagnosing and treating diseases. In this study, we developed 99mTc-labeled porphyrin–lipid nanovesicles (99mTc-PLN) as a cargo-encapsulated formulation without significant impact on liposome integrity and encapsulation stability. 50 mM calcein was encapsulated into PLN by probe sonication. The size of the PLN was about 150 nm. The PLN were then reacted with 99mTc using SnCl2 dissolved in 1 mM HCl as a reducing agent and incubated for 10 min at 22 °C. The radiolabeling efficiency and stability of 99mTc-PLN were evaluated by instant thin-layer chromatography and low-pressure liquid chromatography (LPLC). 99mTc labeling was successful with a >92% labeling efficiency. LPLC showed that the liposomal elution peaks of the porphyrin–lipid and the calcein overl...
Toward A Scientific Pedagogy of Learning Disabilities: A Sameness in the Message

The development of a scientific pedagogy of learning disabilities as called for by Kirk and Bateman (1962) requires the rendering of a science of learning disabilities and a pedagogy derived from that science. But such a pedagogy is necessarily incomplete if it fails to recognize that the structure of the curriculum significantly shapes the act of teaching students identified as learning disabled. The current thinking about curricula is that the universe of information that a curriculum program comprises need only be organized around subject area topics (e.g., mathematics, reading, language arts, science, social studies) and hierarchically arranged in a scope and sequence that has as its main characteristic the general ordering of skills from simple to complex. For all practical purposes, information is viewed as raw material (Kaufman et al., 1990) that can be nominally organized and readily packaged. The information is then consumed as curriculum that requires little or no transformation of its form or structure. The articles in this series of the Journal of Learning Disabilities provide examples of how transforming information by identifying and developing curricula around structural samenesses can lead to a pedagogy that is efficient and effective. The development of a scientific pedagogy of learning disabilities requires that the field acknowledge the importance of curriculum structure and the complexity of information. The field must also examine the intricacies of designing curricula with the same kind of commitment and passion it has demonstrated in the last 30 years in investigating the etiology and organic basis of learning disabilities.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
EFFECT OF EARLY AND LATE CORD CLAMPING ON THE SYSTOLIC TIME INTERVALS OF THE NEWBORN INFANT

The effect of early and late cord clamping on the left ventricular performance of the newborn infant was assessed by measuring the systolic time intervals from the indirect carotid pulse tracings and simultaneous phonocardiogram and electrocardiogram. The study was performed in 13 normal, full-term infants sequentially at 20-105 min, 6-6 1/2 hrs, and 24-27 hrs of age. The umbilical cords were clamped early in 7 (E.C.) and clamped late in 6 infants (L.C.). The ratio of the pre-ejection period (PEP) to the left ventricular ejection time (LVET) was found to be significantly higher in the L.C. infants (mean +/- S.E., 0.400 +/- 0.18, 0.433 +/- 0.018, 0.410 +/- 0.021) compared with those of the E.C. (0.334 +/- 0.010, 0.347 +/- 0.009, 0.361 +/- 0.007) with p values of less than 0.01, less than 0.005 and less than 0.05, respectively in the three examination periods. The higher PEP/LVET ratios in the L.C. infants were mainly attributable to a prolongation of the PEP. It is suggested that late cord clamping, by allowing a sizable placental transfusion, appeared to affect adversely the left ventricular performance of the neonate. Furthermore, it is suggested that in evaluating systolic time intervals of the neonate during the first days of life, the volumic state or status of placental transfusion should be taken into consideration as a determinant.
Monochloramine directly modulates Ca2+-activated K+ channels in rabbit colonic muscularis mucosae☆☆☆

Abstract Background & Aims: Mesenteric ischemia, infection, and inflammatory bowel disease may eventuate in severe colitis, complicated by toxic megacolon with impending intestinal perforation. Monochloramine (NH 2 Cl) is a membrane-permeant oxidant generated during colitis by the large amount of ambient luminal NH 3 in the colon. Reactive oxygen metabolites can modulate smooth muscle ion channels and thereby affect colonic motility, which is markedly impaired in colitis. Methods: Effects of NH 2 Cl on ionic currents in the innermost smooth muscle layer of the colon, the tunica muscularis mucosae, were examined using the patch clamp technique. Membrane potential in whole tissue strips was measured using high-resistance microelectrodes. Results: Whole cell voltage clamp experiments showed that NH 2 Cl (3-30 μmol/L) enhanced outward currents in a dose-dependent manner, increasing currents more than 8-fold at a test potential of +30 mV. Tail current analysis showed that the currents enhanced by NH 2 Cl were K + currents. Inhibition by tetraethylammonium and iberiotoxin suggested that these currents represented activation of large-conductance, Ca 2+ -activated K + channels. The membrane-impermeant oxidant taurine monochloramine, however, had no effect on whole cell currents. Single-channel studies in inside-out patches showed that NH 2 Cl increased open probability of a 257-pS channel in symmetrical (140 mmol/L) K + . In the presence of NH 2 Cl, the steady-state voltage dependence of activation was shifted by −22 mV to the left with no change in the single-channel amplitude. The sulfhydryl alkylating agent N -ethylmaleimide prevented NH 2 Cl-induced channel activation. NH 2 Cl also hyperpolarized intact muscle strips, an effect blocked by iberiotoxin. Conclusions: NH 2 Cl, at concentrations expected to be found during colitis, may contribute to smooth muscle dysfunction by a direct oxidant effect on maxi K + channels. GASTROENTEROLOGY 1999;117:906-917
Growth and physiological responses to varied environments among populations of Pinus ponderosa

We investigated population responses in physiology, morphology, and growth of mature Pinus ponderosa trees to an environmental gradient across Nebraska, USA. Ten populations from western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming were grown in three 26-year-old provenance tests from the warmest and wettest site in the east (Plattsmouth) to the intermediate site in the middle (Halsey) to the coldest and driest site in the west (Alliance). We measured leaf morphology and water potential in 1995 and 1996, carbon isotope discrimination from foliage in 1993 to 1996 and from tree-ring cellulose for 1991, 1993, 1995, and 1996, and height and diameter at breast height (dbh) in 1994. We found that populations responded significantly to the environmental gradient in all traits. Trees grew significantly larger at the eastern site than at the other locations. The trend in height and dbhgrowthwas Plattsmouth > Halsey > Alliance. Variationamong thelocations inneedle length and carbonisotope discrimination in both foliage and cellulose followed the same pattern as growth. However, variation in xylem water potential differed from the trend in tree growth. Trees in Halsey had higher leaf water potential than trees at other sites. Populations differed significantly in morphological characteristics (i.e. specific leaf area and leaf length, F > 3.3, P 3.8, P 0.05) were lacking among populations.We conclude that physiological plasticity is the primary mechanism that allows P. ponderosa to grow in various environments. Population differentiations in growth and morphology are the results of a long-term response of these populations to natural selection in their original habitat. # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Effects of Goat Framing in Job Advertisements on Organizational Attractiveness1

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of goal framing in job advertisements on organizational attractiveness. Job ads were created that emphasized the potential costs or losses of not applying (i.e., loss frame) or the potential gains or benefits of applying (i.e., gain frame). The first experiment (N= 70) found that participants were more attracted to the company in the gain-framed ad than in the loss-framed ad. The second experiment (N= 100) attempted to determine the reason for the greater attractiveness of the gain-framed ad compared to the loss-framed ad. Two possible explanations— valence-based encoding and regulatory focus—were examined. Results suggest that both valence-based encoding and regulatory focus mediated the relationship between framing and organizational attractiveness.
Sectarian conflict and family law in contemporary Egypt

Egypt continues to experience interreligious sectarian conflict between Muslims and Copts since the overthrow of the Mubarak regime. The same factors that had contributed to escalating violence between the two communities continue to be at play in postrevolutionary Egypt. One of the key sites of sectarian conflict is interreligious marriage and conversion, an issue that ignites the passion and ire of both communities. While issues of sexuality and gender are at the center of these conflicts, religion-based family law plays a particularly pernicious role. In this essay, I rethink the nexus between family law, gender, and sectarian conflict through an examination of both the history of the emergence of Egyptian family law and the simultaneous relegation of religion and sexuality to the private sphere in the modern period. [sectarianism, Copts, Islam, state, family law, sexuality]
Thermostability of yeast lactase ( Kluyveromyces marxianus ) in milk

The half-life (∼ 2 h) of commercial yeast lactase (Kluyveromyces marxianus) in milk at 45 °C was 20 times greater than in milk salts and 50 times greater than in phosphate buffer. K was a more effective stabilizer than Na, both in milk salts and buffer. Stability was markedly reduced by the absence of divalent cations. Lactose and caseinate both stabilized the enzyme about 5-fold in milk salts, but together they stabilized it almost 50-fold. At equimolar concentrations, galactose was almost as effective as lactose as a stabilizer, but glucose was much less effective and sucrose had no effect. Stability in milk was independent of enzyme concentration, but varied with concentration of milk solids, reaching a maximum at about 25% solids. In milk, enzyme denaturation was more sensitive to changes in temperature in the range 42–53 °C than in the range 30–40 °C. At a concentration of 10 O-nitrophenyl-β-d-galactopyranoside units/ml it took 19 min at 45 °C to achieve 80% hydrolysis of lactose in milk, compared to 87 min at 30 °C.
The effect of nifedipine GITS on renal function in hypertensive patients with renal insufficiency.

Twelve hypertensive patients with moderately severe renal dysfunction were entered into a protocol to assess the blood pressure and renal effects of the sustained release calcium antagonist, nifedipine GITS (30 — 180 mg/d given once a day) administered for 5 weeks. Nifedipine GITS monotherapy effectively lowered blood pressure in 50% of the patients. Glomerular filtration rate and effective renal plasma flow were increased 18% and 20%, respectively. The filtration fraction and urinary protein excretion remained unchanged. Changes that were observed in renal junction were independent of the blood pressure responses of the patients; there was no correlation between the systemic and renal effect of nifedipine GITS monotherapy. Patients who had a poor systemic blood pressure response exhibited an increase in glomerular filtration rate (+11%) but had a decrease in effective renal plasma flow (-6%); patients who achieved a goal blood pressure response showed increases in both glomerular filtration rate (+35%) and effective renal plasma flow (+40%). These results show that nifedipine GITS monotherapy has the potential to improve renal function abnormalities that are encountered in hypertensive patients with renal disease; the improvement in renal function may be independent of their effect on systemic blood pressure.
Deductive synthesis of event-based software architectures

Describes the application of the Rebound (REuse Based On UNDerstanding) framework to synthesize event-based software architectures. Within Rebound, deductive techniques are used to select components and wrap them for integration. The framework guides the selection of wrappers based on the problem specification and the components that are available for reuse. The wrapper specifications are used to generate matching conditions for component retrieval, creating a "retrieval for adaptation" scenario. The output of the synthesis activity is mapped to an event-based JavaBeans architecture.
Asynchronous Rotation in By Cam: It’S Got a Good Beat and You Can Dance to it (Very Slowly)

Since its discovery, BY Cam was known to be an atypical AM Her type CV (Remillard et al. 1986). Observations showed the orbital and white-dwarf spin periods differ by about 1% (Silber et al. 1992). As the white dwarf rotates relative to the secondary, the accretion stream encounters different magnetic geometries, and hence follows different accretion paths to the white dwarf. The magnetic geometry seen by the accretion stream repeats at the beat period (1/P beat = 1/P spin - 1/P orb), which is 7 to 20 d (the range is due to the uncertainty in the measured periods). The shape of the light curve changes from night to night, which can be explained by the changing geometry of the highly-beamed cyclotron emission. Even if the asynchronous rotation is the underlying cause of the changing light curve, the light curve could differ at similar beat phases if the threading process is chaotic. Previous attempts to study the beat period using IUE (Zucker et al. 1995) and optical data (Mason & Chanmugam 1992) have been inconclusive.
Televised Consumption: Women, Advertisers and the Early Daytime Television Industry

This article looks at ways in which the US broadcasting and advertising industries conceptualized the female consumer in the immediate Post War period. It explores the emergence of daytime television and discusses broadcasters' views of their predominantly female audience. The article argues that by grasping the underlying principles that were developed in the early daytime television industry, one can gain a better understanding, not only of the manner in which female audience members were addressed in the 1950s, but also, to some extent, of the ways mass media address women today.
Object-oriented framework for high-performance electronic medical imaging

This paper describes the design and performance of an object-oriented communication framework we developed to meet the demands of next-generation distributed electronic medical imaging systems. Our framework combines the flexibility of high-level distributed object computing middleware (like CORBA) with the performance of low-level network programming mechanisms (like sockets). In the paper, we outline the design goals and software architecture of our framework, illustrate the performance of the framework over ATM, and describe how we resolved design challenges we faced when developing an object- oriented communication framework for distributed medical imaging.
Antimicrobial Resistance in Pathogenic Escherichia coli from Animals

This chapter focuses on the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance phenotypes among Escherichia coli isolates associated with enteric and systemic colibacillosis in minor species, cattle, pigs, and poultry, as well as bovine mastitis and uterine and urinary tract infections in companion animals. Antimicrobial resistance phenotypes among avian pathogenic E. coli recovered from diseased turkeys are similar to those reported from chickens. Fluoroquinolones are highly efficacious antimicrobial agents commonly used in human medicine. This class of drugs has also been approved for certain bacterial diseases in animals, including acute bovine respiratory disease and avian colibacillosis. Resistance to narrow-spectrum cephalosporins and tetracyclines among E. coli isolates may be due to their use for intramammary treatment for clinical mastitis in dairy cows. Treatment in grower-finisher rations was significantly associated with resistance to ampicillin, spectinomycin, sulfisoxazole, and tetracycline. Nineteen percent of swine E. coli isolates were also shown to possess class 1 integrons bearing gene cassettes conferring resistance primarily to trimethoprim and streptomycin. Plasmids containing the oqxAB genes yielded high resistance to olaquindox as well as chloramphenicol in E. coli. Diarrhea associated with E. coli infection is responsible for high rates of morbidity and mortality in goat kids and lambs. Antimicrobials are essential tools of disease management regimens in food and companion animals worldwide. The most commonly used antimicrobial drugs in food and companion animals are from five major classes: β-lactams, tetracyclines, aminogylcosides, macrolides, and sulfonamides.
Inflation in string theory confronts data

Abstract Following the 2015 Planck release, we briefly comment on the status and some ongoing opportunities in the interface between inflationary cosmology, string theory, and CMB data. The constraints in the r– n s plane introduce a new parameter into inflationary cosmology relative to the simplest quadratic inflation model, in a direction which fits well with couplings to heavy fields as occurs in string theory. The precision of the data permits further searches for and constraints on additional model-dependent features, such as oscillatory N-spectra, a program requiring specific theoretically motivated shapes. Since the perturbations can easily be affected by additional sectors and couplings, null results can usefully bound such contributions. We also review the broader lessons string theory has contributed to our understanding of primordial inflation, and close with some approaches to a more complete framework.
Coordinate actions of innate immune responses oppose those of the adaptive immune system during Salmonella infection of mice

The immune system enacts a coordinated response when faced with complex environmental and pathogenic perturbations. We used the heterogeneous responses of mice to persistent Salmonella infection to model system-wide coordination of the immune response to bacterial burden. We hypothesized that the variability in outcomes of bacterial growth and immune response across genetically identical mice could be used to identify immune elements that serve as integrators enabling co-regulation and interconnectedness of the innate and adaptive immune systems. Correlation analysis of immune response variation to Salmonella infection linked bacterial load with at least four discrete, interacting functional immune response "cassettes." One of these, the innate cassette, in the chronically infected mice included features of the innate immune system, systemic neutrophilia, and high serum concentrations of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6. Compared with mice with a moderate bacterial load, mice with the highest bacterial burden exhibited high activity of this innate cassette, which was associated with a dampened activity of the adaptive T cell cassette-with fewer plasma cells and CD4(+) T helper 1 cells and increased numbers of regulatory T cells-and with a dampened activity of the cytokine signaling cassette. System-wide manipulation of neutrophil numbers revealed that neutrophils regulated signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) signaling in B cells during infection. Thus, a network-level approach demonstrated unappreciated interconnections that balanced innate and adaptive immune responses during the dynamic course of disease and identified signals associated with pathogen transmission status, as well as a regulatory role for neutrophils in cytokine signaling.
Folk Theories are Corrupted by Cross-Domain Explanations

Research has demonstrated that people systematically overrate their knowledge, intelligence, and skills in various domains. Confronting people with evidence of their miscalibration, however, causes them to reassess these claims. For example, simply asking people to explain how a sewing machine works leads them to subsequently report understanding it less — a bias called the illusion of explanatory depth (Rozenblit & Keil, 2002). While previous work argues that this process is domain-bound, we demonstrate in several experiments that the bias to inflate subjective knowledge is attenuated not only by explanations of the focal item itself but also by explanations of other, entirely different things, implying the existence of a more parsimonious, domain-agnostic process for this bias.
C-SEC (Cyber SCADA evaluation capability): Securing critical infrastructures

C-SEC (Cyber-SCADA Evaluation Capability) is a new technology developed to secure our nation's critical infrastructures. C-SEC provides an evaluation software tool, laboratory testing and a framework that enables the proper and efficient evaluation of Cyber Security technologies for SCADA networks and its industrial components.
Rate control of a queue with quality-of-service constraint under bounded and unbounded action spaces

We consider a simple Markovian queue with Poisson arrivals and exponential service times for jobs. The controller can choose service rates from a specified action space depending on number of jobs in the queue. The queue has a finite buffer and when full, new jobs get rejected. The controller’s objective is to choose optimal (state-dependent) service rates that minimize a suitable long-run average cost, subject to an upper bound on the job rejection-rate (quality-of-service constraint). We solve this problem of finding and computing the optimal control under two cases: When the action space is unbounded (i.e. [0,∞)) and when it is bounded (i.e. [0, μ], for some μ > 0). We also numerically compute and compare the solutions for different specific choices of the cost function.
Microdissection and culture of murine pancreatic ductal epithelial cells

Given the complexity of morphological presentation and variability in clinical outcomes observed in -epithelial cancers, it is important to understand how genomic perturbations and resultant molecular aberrations lead to acquisition of tumorigenic phenotypes. Complex 3D epithelial culture systems provide investigators with the ability to propagate and manipulate primary cells in an appropriate physical setting in order to deconstruct the contribution of a given genetic lesion(s) to the process of cellular transformation. Pancreatic ductal epithelial cells (PDEC) can give rise to pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia-precursor lesions that precede pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA). In this chapter, we describe a series of methods for derivation and culture of primary PDEC, which can be used to elucidate the mechanistic contribution of oncogenic insults to the initiation and progression of pancreatic tumorigenesis.
A Note on the Fermat Problem

(1976). A Note on the Fermat Problem. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 83, No. 4, pp. 276-276.
Marketing and the Supreme Court in Transition, 1982–1984:

Although the Supreme Court seemed sharply divided in its 1981–82 and 1982–83 terms, its decisions continue to be important to marketers. Not only did the Court render decisions that were important ...