cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Temporal changes of multiple redox couples from proliferation to growth arrest in IEC-6 intestinal epithelial cells

Changes in intracellular redox couples and redox reactive molecules have been implicated in the regulation of a variety of cellular processes, including cell proliferation and growth arrest by contact inhibition. However, the magnitude, direction, and temporal relationship of redox changes to cellular responses are incompletely defined. The present work sought to characterize redox and metabolic changes associated with proliferative stages to contact inhibition of growth in rat IEC-6 intestinal epithelial cells. From the first day of culture until 1 day before confluence, an increase in GSH concentrations and a significant reduction in the redox potential of the GSSG/2GSH couple were observed. These changes were accompanied by a decrease in relative reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) concentrations and oxidation of the redox potential of the NADP(+)/reduced NADP and NAD(+)/NADH couples. Postconfluent cells exhibited a significant decrease in GSH concentrations and a significant oxidation of the GSSG/2GSH couple. When cell proliferation decreased, relative ROS concentrations increased (P < 0.01), whereas NO concentrations remained unchanged, and the NAD(+)/NADH couple became more reduced. Together, these data indicate that the redox potential of distinct couples varies differentially in both magnitude and direction during successive stages of IEC-6 growth. This finding points out the difficulty of defining intracellular redox status at particular stages of cell growth by examining only one redox species. In addition, the data provide a numerical framework for future research of regulatory mechanisms governed by distinct intracellular redox couples.
The Reliability of Quantum Mechanical Predictions of Chemical Reactivity

The reliability of the predictions of quantum mechanical methods is critically examined in selected areas of chemical reactivity. Several examples are discussed, including the mechanism and conformation of reaction products, the stability of carbocationic intermediates and the formation of hydrogen bonded species.
What is Speciesism

In spite of the considerable literature nowadays existing on the issue of the moral exclusion of nonhuman animals, there is still work to be done concerning the characterization of the conceptual framework with which this question can be appraised. This paper intends to tackle this task. It starts by defining speciesism as the unjustified disadvantageous consideration or treatment of those who are not classified as belonging to a certain species. It then clarifies some common misunderstandings concerning what this means. Next, it rejects the idea that there are different kinds of speciesism. Such an idea may result from confusion because there are (1) different ways in which speciesism can be defended; and (2) different speciesist positions, that is, different positions that assume speciesism among their premises. Depending on whether or not these views assume other criteria for moral consideration apart from speciesism, they can be combined or simple speciesist positions. But speciesism remains in all cases the same idea. Finally, the paper examines the concept of anthropocentrism, the disadvantageous treatment or consideration of those who are not members of the human species. This notion must be conceptually distinguished from speciesism and from misothery (aversion to nonhuman animals). Anthropocentrism is shown to be refuted because it either commits a petitio principia fallacy or it falls prey to two arguments: the argument from species overlap (widely but misleadingly known as “argument from marginal cases”) and the argument from relevance. This rebuttal identifies anthropocentrism as a speciesist view.
Nonsense mediated decay downregulates conserved alternatively spliced ABCC4 transcripts bearing nonsense codons

Drug transporters are an important part of the defense of cells against cytotoxic agents. One major group of transporters is known as multidrug resistance associated proteins (MRP; ABCC gene family). The MRPs belong to the ATP binding cassette transporter superfamily. One family member, ABCC4 (also known as MRP4) functions as a cellular efflux pump for anti-HIV drugs, such as 9-(2-phoshoenylmethoxyethyl) adenine and azido-thymidine-monophosphate, an antiviral nucleotide, ganciclovir-monophosphate, and anti-cancer agents such as thiopurines. We isolated a ABCC4 cDNA encoding a non-functional protein, owing to an insertion, and subsequently determined the ABCC4 gene structure. This analysis revealed that the insertion was attributed to two additional exons that would be predicted to produce premature termination codons (PTC) in ABCC4. The highly similar mouse Abcc4 gene also contained these exons, which were remarkable because their size and sequence identity were much higher than the overall similarity between these genes. Further, a comparison of human, monkey and rodent ABCC4 genes revealed that these same PTC-producing exons were also highly conserved in evolution. As all the ABCC4 mRNA containing these PTC exons might produce nonsense mRNA, we further tested the hypothesis that these mRNAs were targets of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). Protein synthesis inhibition selectively stabilized PTC containing ABCC4 transcripts in human, monkey and rodent cell lines. Moreover, the amount of PTC-containing ABCC4 transcripts was critically dependent upon protein synthesis, as removal of the inhibitor dramatically decreased expression, which correlated with the resumption of protein synthesis. These are the first studies to indicate that the highly conserved PTC exons of the ABCC4 gene may dictate its expression.
Theoretical estimates of the scavenging coefficient for soluble aerosol particles as a function of precipitation type, rate and altitude

Abstract Wet removal coefficients are derived for rain and snow. The parameterizations are intended for regional or mesoscale models and are meant to apply for soluble particles that are incorporated into the cloud liquid water via nucleation. The wet removal coefficients are shown to be a function of precipitation rate which, in turn, is a function of altitude. This altitude dependency is determined from a series of transendental equations and is related to height of the freezing level and form of precipitation at the ground (i.e. rain vs snow).
Coherent optical manipulation of quantum dot electron spins

We report on the coherent optical manipulation of electron spins in the ground state of charged quantum dots. The measured spin coherence time is limited by the distribution of g-factors, but exceeds one nanosecond.
Testing and Development of a Multi-Filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer Network for Distributed Monitoring of Aerosol Optical Depth and Fine Mode Fraction on US Northeast Region

Information about global distributions of aerosol optical thickness (AOT) and size categorization is necessary to quantify the aerosol radiative forcing as well as a method to monitor air-quality such as fine particulate matter. The development of suitable radiometer networks is central to this effort. Modern robotic solar instruments for retrievals of aerosols optical depth and other microphysical parameter retrievals, such as the CIMEL Sky Scanning Radiometers part of the Aeronet Network are crucial to this effort but are unfortunately quite sparse and expensive. It has been proposed that the use of more cost effective devices likes the multi-filter rotating shadow-band radiometer in a network might prove sufficient. Direct observations of the effects of aerosols are quite limited even with current advances in satellite base aerosols remote sensing.
The Feasibility of Automated Feedback-Directed Specification-Based Test Generation: A Case Study of a High-Assurance Operating System

In this paper, we describe results of a case study to establish the feasibility of deriving mappings between an abstract user level specification and the code elements in a concrete implementation of a highly secure smart card operating system. Such a mapping is necessary for feedback-directed specification-based test generation to improve code coverage, needed by the stringent criteria for high-assurance systems. We used test cases generated from the user level specification to identify the executed code elements and attempted to use static analysis to map the unexecuted code elements to the corresponding elements in the user level specification. Our primary result is evidence that, given a sufficiently expressive user level specification and a test generation system that is able to effectively use such a specification, the resulting tests will cover the vast majority of the code branches that are able to be covered. Therefore, the benefit of a feedback-directed system will be limited. We further provide evidence that the static analysis required to generate feedback in these cases tends to be difficult, involving inferring the semantics of the internal implementation of data structures. In particular, we observed that the internal states at the implementation level in a high security application pose significant challenges to this mapping process.
Task decomposition for multilimbed robots to work in the reachable-but-unorientable space

Multilimbed industrial robots that have at least one arm and two or more legs are suggested for enlarging robot workspace in industrial automation. To plan the motion of a multilimbed robot, the arm-leg motion-coordination problem is raised and task decomposition is proposed to solve the problem; that is, a given task described by the destination position and orientation of the end-effector is decomposed into subtasks for arm manipulation and for leg locomotion, respectively. The former is defined as the end-effector position and orientation with respect to the legged main body, and the latter as the main-body position and orientation in the world coordinates. Three approaches are proposed for the task decomposition. The approaches are further evaluated in terms of energy consumption, from which an optimal approach can be selected. >
The Prevalence and Characteristics of Male Perpetrators of Acquaintance Rape New Research Methodology Reveals New Findings

Previous research has found that whereas 15% to 25% of college women report being the victims of acquaintance rape, only 4% to 15% of men report committing acquaintance rape. This study follows Kazdin's suggestion to use all of the potentially important components to attempt to find a result when previous researchers have failed to achieve significant findings. A new methodology is used to attempt to find a percentage of males who admit to committing acquaintance rape that is commensurate with the percentage of women reporting that they were victims. The results indicate that although an alcoholexpectancy manipulation was not related to admission of involvement in acquaintance rape, the new methodological conditions (i.e., consumption of a nonalcoholic beer, a sexually explicit story, a private room, and a male experimenter) successfully resulted in a higher percentage of men reporting that they perpetrated sexual aggression and acquaintance rape. Specifically, 24% of the men admitted committing acquainta...
Beyond Fourier optical pattern recognition

This paper begins with the argument that classical Fourier optical pattern recognition has passed from science to engineering and, hence, new directions in optical pattern recognition are needed. It then summarizes several of the new directions we are taking with the hope that this will stimulate others to introduce even more and/or refine ours.
Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone-1 Expression in Incisors of Mice

GnRH-1 is a decapeptide hormone that regulates gonadal maturation and fertility. In brain, GnRH-1 is secreted by neurons residing mainly in the preoptic/hypothalamic area. These neurons arise from cells in the nasal placode during embryonic development. GnRH-1 mRNA and peptide in the nonhypothalamic region have been described, suggesting other functions of GnRH-1. This paper describes for the first time the expression of GnRH-1 in developing incisors in mice. At embryonic day (E) 12.5, GnRH-1 mRNA and peptide were localized in cells in oral and dental epithelia. At postnatal day (P) 6, before incisor eruption, GnRH-1 was expressed in cells in dental epithelial-derived structures that include the papillary layer, outer dental epithelium, stellate reticulum, stratum intermedium, and enamel-secreting ameloblast cell layer. GnRH-1 expression correlated with cell maturity, becoming stronger in cells farther away from the proliferative zone. From E12.5 through P6, GnRH-1 expression was not detected in neural crest-derived dental mesenchyme or in mesenchyme-derived structures that include dental papilla, dental follicle, and dentin-secreting odontoblast. In addition, GnRH-1 expression was not detected in molars, indicating that expression of GnRH-1 is differentially regulated in incisor vs. molars, with only the former exhibiting continuous growth in this species. In homozygous hypogonadal mice at P1, GnRH-1 peptide expression was not detected, yet incisors were present. However, morphological changes in cells between dental follicle and ameloblast cell layer were noted. Taken together, our results indicate that GnRH-1 expression, although not essential for initiation and formation of incisors, may be important in maturation and/or maintenance of these placodally derived structures. (Endocrinology 145: 3608 –3612, 2004)
Discovery of Potent and Selective Inhibitors of Trypanosoma brucei Ornithine Decarboxylase

Human African trypanosomiasis, caused by the eukaryotic parasite Trypanosoma brucei, is a serious health problem in much of central Africa. The only validated molecular target for treatment of human African trypanosomiasis is ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), which catalyzes the first step in polyamine metabolism. Here, we describe the use of an enzymatic high throughput screen of 316,114 unique molecules to identify potent and selective inhibitors of ODC. This screen identified four novel families of ODC inhibitors, including the first inhibitors selective for the parasitic enzyme. These compounds display unique binding modes, suggesting the presence of allosteric regulatory sites on the enzyme. Docking of a subset of these inhibitors, coupled with mutagenesis, also supports the existence of these allosteric sites.
Constraining spatial variability of methane ebullition seeps in thermokarst lakes using point process models

[1] Ebullition is an important but highly heterogeneous mode of methane emission in lakes. Variability in both spatial distribution and temporal flux creates difficulty in constraining uncertainties in whole lake emission estimates. Analysis of short- and long-term flux measurements on 162 ebullition seeps in 24 panarctic lakes confirmed that seep classes, identified a priori according to bubble patterns in winter lake ice, have distinct associated fluxes irrespective of lake or region. To understand the drivers of ebullition's spatial variability and uncover ways to better quantify ebullition in field work, we combined point-process modeling with field measurements of 2679 GPS-marked and classified ebullition seeps in three Alaskan thermokarst (thaw) lakes that varied by region, permafrost type, and seep distribution. Spatial analysis of field data revealed that seeps cluster above thawed permafrost soil mounds in lake bottoms. Seep density and clustering, determined from field observations, were used as parameters in a Poisson cluster process model to simulate seeps across entire lake surfaces. Sampling results indicated that (1) applying seep-class mean flux values to unmeasured seeps counted on ice-bubble surveys does not compromise accuracy of whole lake flux estimates; (2) three distributed 50 m2 ice-bubble survey transects more accurately estimate mean lake ebullition than 17 dispersed 0.2 m2 bubble traps; and (3) the uncertainty associated with whole lake mean ebullition estimated by lake-ice survey transects is inversely related to seep density. Findings suggest that transect field data collected on a large number of widely distributed lakes can be combined to provide a well-constrained, bottom-up estimate of regional lake ebullition.
A Game-Theoretic Model of Plagiarism

The damage to a reputation has long been viewed as the main and most effective deterrent against plagiarism among professional economists. We show that it is rational for individuals in the economics profession who want to plagiarize to engage in this activity given current incentives. Recent research concerning plagiarism in the economics profession has highlighted the frequency that instances of plagiarism have occurred. Our paper shows how it is possible given current incentives in the profession for these instances to go unreported therefore removing the threat of damage to a plagiarist’s reputation. We also discuss the harm that such actions cause to the original author and to the profession as a whole.
Building the Strategic National Stockpile Through the NIAID Radiation Nuclear Countermeasures Program

The possibility of a public health radiological or nuclear emergency in the United States remains a concern. Media attention focused on lost radioactive sources and international nuclear threats, as well as the potential for accidents in nuclear power facilities (e.g., Windscale, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima) highlight the need to address this critical national security issue. To date, no drugs have been licensed to mitigate/treat the acute and long-term radiation injuries that would result in the event of large-scale, radiation, or nuclear public health emergency. However, recent evaluation of several candidate radiation medical countermeasures (MCMs) has provided initial proof-of-concept of efficacy. The goal of the Radiation Nuclear Countermeasures Program (RNCP) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (National Institutes of Health) is to help ensure the government stockpiling of safe and efficacious MCMs to treat radiation injuries, including, but not limited to, hematopoietic, gastrointestinal, pulmonary, cutaneous, renal, cardiovascular, and central nervous systems. In addition to supporting research in these areas, the RNCP continues to fund research and development of decorporation agents targeting internal radionuclide contamination, and biodosimetry platforms (e.g., biomarkers and devices) to assess the levels of an individual's radiation exposure, capabilities that would be critical in a mass casualty scenario. New areas of research within the program include a focus on special populations, especially pediatric and geriatric civilians, as well as combination studies, in which drugs are tested within the context of expected medical care management (e.g., antibiotics and growth factors). Moving forward, challenges facing the RNCP, as well as the entire radiation research field, include further advancement and qualification of animal models, dose conversion from animal models to humans, biomarker identification, and formulation development. This paper provides a review of recent work and collaborations supported by the RNCP.
Homogeneous Expansion of Human T-Regulatory Cells Via Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor 2

T-regulatory cells (Tregs) are a rare lymphocyte subtype that shows promise for treating infectious disease, allergy, graft-versus-host disease, autoimmunity and asthma. Clinical applications of Tregs have not been fully realized because standard methods of expansion ex vivo produce heterogeneous progeny consisting of mixed populations of CD4 + T cells. Heterogeneous progeny are risky for human clinical trials and face significant regulatory hurdles. With the goal of producing homogeneous Tregs, we developed a novel expansion protocol targeting tumor necrosis factor receptors (TNFR) on Tregs. In in vitro studies, a TNFR2 agonist was found superior to standard methods in proliferating human Tregs into a phenotypically homogeneous population consisting of 14 cell surface markers. The TNFR2 agonist-expanded Tregs also were functionally superior in suppressing a key Treg target cell, cytotoxic T-lymphocytes. Targeting the TNFR2 receptor during ex vivo expansion is a new means for producing homogeneous and potent human Tregs for clinical opportunities.
Primal-dual algorithms for discounted Markov decision processes

Several well-known algorithms in the field of combinatorial optimization can be interpreted in terms of the primal-dual method for solving linear programs. For example, Dijkstra's algorithm, the Ford-Fulkerson algorithm, and the Hungarian algorithm can all be viewed as the primal-dual method applied to the linear programming formulations of their respective optimization problems. Roughly speaking, successfully applying the primal-dual method to an optimization problem that can be posed as a linear program relies on the ability to find a simple characterization of the optimal solutions to a related linear program, called the ‘dual of the restricted primal’ (DRP). This paper is motivated by the following question: What is the algorithm we obtain if we apply the primal-dual method to a linear programming formulation of a discounted cost Markov decision process? We will first show that a widely-used variant of the value iteration algorithm for Markov decision processes can be interpreted in terms of the primal-dual method, where the value function is updated with suboptimal solutions to the DRP in each iteration. We then provide the optimal solution to the DRP in closed-form, and present the algorithm that results when using this solution to update the value function in each iteration. Unlike the algorithms obtained from suboptimal DRP updates, this algorithm is guaranteed to yield the optimal value function in a finite number of iterations. Finally, we show that the iterations of the primal-dual algorithm can be interpreted as repeated application of the policy iteration algorithm to a special class of Markov decision processes. When considered alongside recent results characterizing the computational complexity of the policy iteration algorithm, this observation could provide new insights into the computational complexity of solving discounted-cost Markov decision processes.
Multiperiod competitive supply chain networks with inventorying and a transportation network equilibrium reformulation

In this paper, we present a multitiered dynamic supply chain network equilibrium modeling framework in which the decision-makers have sufficient information about the future and seek to determine their optimal plans that maximize their profits over the multiperiod planning horizon. We construct the finite-dimensional variational inequality governing the equilibrium of the multiperiod competitive supply chain network. The model allows us to investigate the interplay of the heterogeneous decision-makers in the supply chain in a dynamic setting, and to compute the resultant equilibrium pattern of product outputs, transactions, inventories, and product prices. We then establish the supernetwork equivalence of the multiperiod supply chain model with a properly configured transportation network, which provides a new interpretation of the equilibrium conditions of the former in terms of paths and path flows. This framework offers great modeling flexibility so that, for example, transportation delay and/or perishable products can be easily handled, as we also demonstrate. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate how such multiperiod supply chain problems can be reformulated and solved as transportation network equilibrium problems in practice.
Successive Galerkin approximations to the nonlinear optimal control of an underwater robotic vehicle

The application of a new nonlinear optimal control strategy to the station-keeping control of an underwater robotic vehicle is considered. The control approach described and demonstrated here is based upon the numerical approximation of solutions to the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation. These solutions are computed by an iterative application of Galerkin's method. Preliminary simulation results demonstrating the application of this approach to the control of an underwater vehicle in the horizontal plane are presented.
Energy Levels and Mean Lives of Cl ii–Cl vii*

Investigation of the spectra of chlorine between 500 and 2800 A using the beam-foil technique. Over 200 multiplets have been observed, many of which had not been reported earlier. A number of such transitions could be classified, and several new term values are proposed for Cl IV, Cl V, Cl VI , and Cl VII. Mean lives of various excited levels were measured for Cl II to Cl VII. The results are compared with theoretical calculations and other measurements in appropriate isoelectronic systems.
Comparison of fetal and maternal hind limb metabolic quotients in sheep.

Abstract This study compared substrate utilization by the fetal hind limb and the maternal hind limb in 26 sheep at 120 to 135 days of gestation. Catheters were placed in the mother and the fetus to sample femoral arterial and venous blood by use of a nonocclusive technique. Arterial and venous concentrations of oxygen content, glucose, lactate, acetate, and ketoacids were measured simultaneously and were used to calculate metabolic quotients. The fetal hind limb was perfused with arterial blood having a lower oxygen content than the maternal hind limb (3.03 ± 0.17 versus 4.94 ± 0.24 mmol/L, p
Phosphatase activity is related to N availability but not P availability across hardwood forests in the northeastern United States

Allocation processes are central to understanding patterns of productivity and nutrient retention in forest ecosystems. Nutrient addition experiments support ideas of resource allocation theory in soil with, for example, the addition of nitrogen promoting the activity of phosphatase enzymes in many different ecosystems. However, empirical evidence is needed to understand whether similar mechanisms operate spatially or temporally to balance availability of nutrients over the long-term. Therefore we examined the general question of whether N availability can influence phosphorus availability through effects on phosphatase enzyme activity, across hardwood forests in the northeastern United States that differ in age and soil properties. Using resin-available P and net N mineralization as our indices of plant-available nutrients, we found that the availability of P increased in relation to that of N across sites, with no effect of forest age. Net N mineralization was a significant predictor of soil phosphatase activity, suggesting that allocation to enzyme activity is a mechanism that could contribute to coupling of N and P availability in successional as well as mature northern hardwoods. However, resin-available P was not correlated with phosphatase activity. Bicarbonate-extractable P, an index of potentially available P, was not related to other soil variables across the stands. While N may influence the activity of phosphatase enzymes, this interaction does not appear to drive availability of P across these hardwood forest ecosystems. Instead we suggest that it operates at smaller scales and over shorter time scales than processes mediating the broader-scale coupling of N and P availability.
Japan’s Cooperative Leadership

Scant attention has been given to the leadership role Japan plays in international affairs. Japan has been criticized as being a 'reactive state', unable or unwilling to lead. When it did act, scholars argued it was because of external pressure called gaiatsu. I question this characterization of Japan, arguing that Japan has exercised leadership in international affairs. I begin by clarifying between two means of exercising leadership: coercive and intellectual. I argue that Japan relies on the intellectual. To demonstrate this, I examine Japan's leadership role in four events: the formation of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, the 1991 Cambodian peace process, the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis and its aftermath, and the 2003 Iraq War. Having shown that Japan exercises leadership through intellectual means, I refine the characterization of Japanese leadership, arguing that it should be characterized as 'cooperative leadership'.
Sorry Dave, I'm Afraid I Can't Do That: Explaining Unachievable Robot Tasks using Natural Language

Abstract : This paper addresses the challenge of enabling non-expert users to command robots to perform complex highleveltasks using natural language. It describes an integrated system that combines the power of formalmethods with the accessibility of natural language, providing correct-by-construction controllers for high-levelspecifications that can be implemented, and easy-to-understand feedback to the user on those that cannot be achieved.This is among the first works to close this feedback loop, enabling users to interact with the robot in order to identifya succinct cause of failure and obtain the desired controller. The supported language and logical capabilities areillustrated using examples involving a robot assistant in a hospital.
The Variation With in an Inbred Line of S. C. W. Leghorns

Abstract A point of interest and of some importance is that concerning reduction of variability within an inbred line as the inbreeding progresses. The action of inbreeding is to reduce heterozygosity among the Mendelian factors and effect an elimination of genetic variability. Highly inbred stocks of experimental animals are sometimes desirable because of the limited variation due to genetic differences. Unfortunately in many cases the amount of genetic variation which effects a character of quantitative nature may be a very small fraction of the total variation, with consequent small reduction of the total variation even in a stock relatively homozygous. EXPERIMENTAL A line of S. C. W. Leghorns which has reached an average coefficient of inbreeding of 60 percent supplies the data of this study. The individuals within the line have much the same physical conformation with nearly identical head and body types. They are quite alike for other characteristics as . . .
Effects of whole wheat flour and mill-fractions on lipid metabolism in rats.

SummaryEffects on lipid metabolism in rats were studied of (1) commercially available whole wheat flour (WW) and (2) hard-red winter (HRW) whole wheat and mill-fractions in cholesterol-free diets. For similar food intake, dietary WW as compared with white flour (WF) increased bile acid excretion, fecal dry weight, pellet number and size. The activities of hepatic dehydrogenases in the hexose-monophosphate shunt pathway were significantly higher in WW-fed than in WF-fed rats, and malic enzyme activity showed a similar trend. These higher enzyme activities are associated with a trend of higher levels of cholesterol in serum and liver and bigger size of abdominal fat pads. The effects on lipid metabolism varied among fractions of HRW whole wheat and mill-fractions. Cholesterol contents of both serum and liver were higher in rats fed whole wheat and low-grade flour diets than those fed shorts-germ and patent diets. Rats fed bran diet, however, had low serum cholesterol content. The levels of serum and liver t...
A GABAergic nigrotectal pathway for coordination of drinking behavior

The contribution of basal ganglia outputs to consummatory behavior remains poorly understood. We recorded from the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNR), the major basal ganglia output nucleus, during self-initiated drinking in mice. The firing rates of many lateral SNR neurons were time-locked to individual licks. These neurons send GABAergic projections to the deep layers of the orofacial region of the lateral tectum (superior colliculus, SC). Many tectal neurons were also time-locked to licking, but their activity was usually in antiphase with that of SNR neurons, suggesting inhibitory nigrotectal projections. We used optogenetics to selectively activate the GABAergic nigrotectal afferents in the deep layers of the SC. Photo-stimulation of the nigrotectal projections transiently inhibited the activity of the lick-related tectal neurons, disrupted their licking-related oscillatory pattern and suppressed self-initiated drinking. These results demonstrate that GABAergic nigrotectal projections have a crucial role in coordinating drinking behavior.
Low Temperature Effects on Early Vegetative Growth, Leaf Gas Exchange and Water Potential of Chilling-sensitive and Chilling-tolerant Crop Species

Two chilling-sensitive (Phaseolus vulgaris L., Zea mays L.) and two chilling-tolerant (Pisum sativum L. Spinacia oleracea L.) species were raised in growth chambers under warm (28/18 o C day/night cycle) and cool (18/12 o C) temperature regimes. Growth analysis techniques were used to evaluate leaf area and biomass partitioning during early autotrophic growth. Plants acclimated to both temperatures were measured for leaf gas exchange and water potential (ψ w ) before and immediately after a 24-h chilling (8/4 o C) treatment.
Syphilis on the Rise: What Went Wrong?

As the 1990s ended, syphilis was on the decline. At least in part due to safer sexual behaviors prompted by the AIDS epidemic,1 the rate of incident syphilis declined to fewer than 4 cases per 100 000 by the year 2000, a historic nadir. Eradication of Treponema pallidum infection in the United States seemed quite possible through concentrated public health efforts in a relatively small number of high-incidence US communities, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was developing a national syphilis elimination plan.2 Timing seemed auspicious for eradication efforts to be successful. Now, in 2016, hopes for eradication have long since faded, as have many of the gains realized by the effort. Rates of syphilis have trended steadily upward since 2000, and the CDC’s syphilis elimination efforts officially ended as of December 2013.
Feminism in Anthropology

Feminism in anthropology in the United States emerged in the mid-1970s with the publication of two collections that examined women's subordination, power, and influence. By the 1980s, US anthropologists were rediscovering their feminist foremothers and turning their attention from only women to an analysis of gender. Feminists paid more attention to history, class, race, and sexuality as gender relations. Since 2000, feminists have taken a global perspective in studying immigration, sexuality, masculinity, new reproductive technologies, neoliberalism, and gender violence. Despite some claims that the twenty-first century is a postfeminist era, US feminist anthropologists are participating in a variety of activist movements and collaborating with feminists on other continents.
Justification and the Gettier Problem

As we have just seen, to know something inferentially is to have a true justified belief about it. It is unlikely, however, that these conditions are jointly sufficient. For one thing, a person can have a true justified belief yet not believe because of his justification, but rather for some other frivolous reason. There must, in order words, be an appropriate causal condition between a person’s “best reasons” and his belief. This is a relatively trivial point, however, and could be easily incorporated into the conditions offered in the last chapter. We merely have to add that, in addition to having a justified true belief that p, the person must believe because of his justification. A more interesting reason for thinking true justified belief is not sufficient for knowledge is posed by the Gettier problem and the myriad examples it has spawned (Gettier, 1963). This problem underlines some of the difficulties in trying to defend a fallibilist conception of knowledge in detail.
APPLES: Efficiently Handling Spin-lock Synchronization on Virtualized Platforms

Spin-locks are widely used in software for efficient synchronization. However, they cause serious performance degradation on virtualized platforms, such as the Lock Holder Preemption (LHP) problem and the Lock Waiter Preemption (LWP) problem, due to excessive spinning by virtual CPUs (VCPUs). The excessive spinning occurs when a VCPU waits to acquire a spin-lock. To address the performance degradation, hardware facilities, such as Intel PLE and AMD PF, are provided on processors to preempt VCPUs when they spin excessively. Although these facilities have been predominantly used on mainstream virtualization systems, using them in a manner that achieves the highest performance is still a challenging issue. There are two core problems in using these hardware facilities to reduce excessive spinning. One is to determine the best time to preempt a spinning VCPU (i.e., the selection of spinning thresholds). The other is which VCPU should be scheduled to run after the spinning VCPU is descheduled. Due to the semantic gap between different software layers, the virtual machine monitor (VMM) does not have information about the computation characteristics on VCPUs, which is needed to address the above problems. This makes the problems inherently challenging. We propose a framework named AdPtive Pause-Loop Exiting and Scheduling (APPLES) to address these problems. APPLES monitors the overhead caused by excessive spinning and preempting spinning VCPUs, and periodically adjusts spinning thresholds to reduce the overhead. APPLES also evaluates and schedules “ready” VCPUs in a VM by their potential to reduce the spinning incurred by the spin-lock synchronization. The evaluation is based on the causality and the time of VCPU preemptions. The implementation of APPLES incurs only minimal changes to existing systems (about 100 lines of code in KVM). Experiments show that APPLES can improve performance by 3 $\sim$ 49 percent (14 percent on average) for the workloads with frequent spin-lock operations.
Training for variable and innovative behavior.

Abstract This paper provides a summary of a 1969 report (Pryor, Haag, & O’Reilly) of the spontaneous emergence of innovative behavior of a dolphin, a replication of this event through training in another dolphin, and the effect this work has had on current animal training technology. This paper provides a review of laboratory based research in support of some of the procedures found effective in modern animal training in developing innovative behavior, specifically use of the conditioned reinforcer to mark a behavior, differential reinforcement of variability, and intentional use of positive reinforcement procedures. The authors describe specific processes for establishing innovative skills, practical applications presently in use with animals, consequent human and animal welfare benefits, and suggestions for further research.
Surface Pb Nanoparticle Aggregation, Coalescence and Differential Capacitance in a Deep Eutectic Solvent Using a Simultaneous Sample-Rotated Small Angle X-ray Scattering and Electrochemical Methods Approach

Abstract Nanoparticle electrodeposition is a simple and scalable approach to synthesizing supported nanoparticles. Used with a deep eutectic solvent (DES), surface nanoparticles can be assembled and exhibit unique surface charge separation when the DES is adsorbed on the nanoparticle surface. Key to understanding and controlling the assembly and the capacitance is a thorough understanding of surface particle mobility and charge screening, which requires an in-situ approach. In this study, Pb particle formation, size, shape and capacitance are resolved in a 1:2 choline Cl−: urea deep eutectic solvent whilst sweeping the cell potential in the range: 0.2 V to −1.2 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). These system parameters were resolved using a complementary suite of sample-rotated small angle X-ray scattering (SR-SAXS) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), which are presented and discussed in detail. This approach is able to show that both particle and ion transport are impeded in the DES, as aggregation occurs over the course of 6 minutes, and dissolved Pb ions accumulate and remain near the surface after a nucleation pulse is applied. The DES-Pb interactions strongly depend on the cell potential as evidenced by the specific differential capacitance of the Pb deposit, which has a maximum value of 2.5 +/− 0.5 F g−1 at −1.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl. Altogether, the SR-SAXS-EIS approach is able to characterize the unique nanoparticle capacitance, mobility and ion mobility in a DES and can be used to study a wide range of nanoparticle deposition systems in-situ.
Health capital accumulation, health insurance, and aggregate outcomes: A neoclassical approach ☆

Abstract Over the past two decades, medical expenditure growth in the US has outpaced GDP growth by over 1.3% annually. To date, the literature has primarily focused on explaining the rapid rise in medical consumption relative to output, with only limited attention given to understanding the long-run macroeconomic implications of this trend. In this study, I modify the standard Neoclassical growth framework to include health capital accumulation, public and private health insurance, and GHH utility. After calibrating the model to match US data for the period 1996–2013, I systematically investigate the response of output, physical and health capital, medical and non-medical consumption, and household time allocation to one-time exogenous shocks to various potential determinants of medical expenditure growth. I find that a 10% increase in final goods and medical sector productivity shocks each have a positive effect on aggregate welfare. On the other hand, a 10% increase to the endogenous depreciation rate of health capital, or to either the public or the private health insurance share are all found to be welfare reducing.
Covariance control for discrete-time stochastic linear systems with incomplete state information

This work deals with a finite-horizon covariance control problem for discrete-time stochastic linear systems with incomplete state information subject to constraints. We show that under the assumption that the class of admissible control policies for this stochastic optimal control problem is comprised of sequences of non-anticipative (causal) control laws that can be expressed as linear combinations of the past and present output measurements of the system, then the covariance control problem can be reduced to a finite-dimensional, deterministic nonlinear program with a convex performance index. In addition, we show that the nonlinear program can be associated with a convex program via a simple relaxation technique that allows us to express the non-convex matrix equality constraint induced by the boundary condition on the terminal state covariance as a positive semi-definite (convex) constraint.
Retaliation in the Crito

Socrates has two major lines of argument in the Crito, concerning a possible escape: that retaliation is wrong (and that by escaping he would be retaliating against Athens for its judgment at his trial) and that he has a legitimate agreement with Athens that he will abide by its laws and judgments (and that escaping would be violating that agreement.) The second of those arguments has received the major attention in comments on the Crito,. But the retaliation topic, though significantly overlooked, is equally important and equally connected to Athenian thought in the fifth century. I argue here that Socrates attempts two distinct arguments to show that, contrary to orthodox Athenian public opinion, retaliation is wrong. However, upon critical examination—in which the bulk of the essay consists—both of those arguments fail. The consequence is that one half of Socrates’ case for not escaping cannot stand.
Proangiogenic Activity of Endometrial Epithelial and Stromal Cells in Response to Estradiol in Gelatin Hydrogels

Biomaterial vascularization remains a major focus in the field of tissue engineering. Biomaterial culture of endometrial cells is described as a platform to inform the design of proangiogenic biomaterials. The endometrium undergoes rapid growth and shedding of dense vascular networks during each menstrual cycle mediated via estradiol and progesterone in vivo. Cocultures of endometrial epithelial and stromal cells encapsulated within a methacrylamide-functionalized gelatin hydrogel are employed. It is reported that proangiogenic gene expression profiles and vascular endothelial growth factor production are hormone dependent in endometrial epithelial cells, but that hormone signals have no effect on human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT)-immortalized endometrial stromal cells. This study subsequently examines whether the magnitude of epithelial cell response is sufficient to induce changes in human umbilical vein endothelial cell network formation. Incorporation of endometrial stromal cells improves vessel formation, but co-culture with endometrial epithelial cells leads to a decrease in vascular formation, suggesting the need for stratified cocultures of endometrial epithelial and stromal cells with endothelial cells. Given the transience of hormonal signals within 3D biomaterials, the inclusion of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) to alter the bioavailability of estradiol within the hydrogel is reported, demonstrating a strategy to reduce diffusive losses via SHBG-mediated estradiol sequestration.
Palatal tremor as a manifestation of posterior circulation haemorrhagic stroke.

Palatal tremor (previously called palatal myoclonus) is an extremely rare movement disorder characterised by involuntary, rhythmic contractions of the palatal muscles. Due to its rarity, this cryptic neurological finding is practically challenging to discover, and often missed by clinicians unless specifically looked for during physical examination. Palatal tremor was first described by Politzer in 1862. Its prevalence data are lacking in the literature, with only a few hundred cases reported. The most notable pathological change is hypertrophic degeneration of the inferior olivary nuclei, which are presumed to be the pacemaker of symptomatic palatal tremor. The rhythmic inferior olivary activity is transmitted to the brainstem reticular centres controlling bulbar and limb functions.1 Two forms of palatal tremor have been described: essential and symptomatic. The aetiology of essential palatal …
Regulation of transcription of genes

The principles of the mechanism of gene regulation as elucidated for prokaryotes apply in outline to the eukaryotic as well. For example, the mechanisms of protein-DNA interactions are similar and in some cases highly conserved throughout evolution. It is not difficult to imagine how control elements found in prokaryotes could have been combined during evolution to render any given gene in a eukaryote subject to multiple controls. Moreover, it is now clear that the best understood case of development — that of the early stages of Drosophila - may be described as a reiteration and integration of a series of ‘genetic switches’ similar to that found in, for example, the coliphage λ.