cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Genome-Wide Measurement of Bacterial Transcriptional Regulatory States

The regulation of gene expression plays a pivotal role in all aspects of biology, from the manner in which bacteria respond to their environment to the differentiation of tissues in higher eukaryotes. In the era of genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, however, biologists are still bereft of a generally applicable method for rapid determination of the regulatory logic underlying the pattern of gene expression in a bacterial cell under a given set of conditions. This logic arises in large part from the binding of transcription factors (TFs) which can either repress or activate expression of nearby genes. We have recently developed a method enabling the simultaneous measurement of the complete regulatory state of bacterial cells under physiological conditions, in the form of a map of protein binding occupancies throughout the genome. This is accomplished by physically separating protein-DNA complexes from bulk genomic DNA, sequencing the footprinted complexes, and then applying a statistical mechanics-based model to identify protein occupancies. The newly developed method is applicable to any bacterium without the need for prior knowledge of its regulatory network, and will allow the rapid dissection of bacterial responses to environmental stresses.View Large Image | View Hi-Res Image | Download PowerPoint Slide
DONOR PREFERENCES AND RECIPIENT FISCAL BEHAVIOR: A SIMULTANEOUS ANALYSIS OF FOREIGN AID

We theoretically develop and empirically estimate a preference model determining foreign aid donor behavior. Aid access and levels are separately determined by endogenous budgetary allocations, the international economic environment, the distribution of income between countries, basic human needs, the small country effect, and regional bias. We find fungibility of aid in recipient budgets is due to donor and recipient preferences. Despite the importance of other economic influences, we find a significant pro-poor country bias in aid allocations, although little aggregate influence of basic human needs or regional bias. The small country effect is significant for two (of six) donors. (JEL F35, O19, H 77)
Stability characteristics of 1000 watt FEL-type QTH lamps during the seasoning and screening process

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) employ the 1000 watt FEL-type quartz-tungsten-halogen (QTH) lamp as its transfer device for the spectral irradiance scale. The cost of the calibrated lamps from the NIST makes it prohibitive to use them for routine calibrations. To dilute the costs and extend the working lifetime of the lamps it is customary to transfer the NIST scale to secondary lamps and then using these to transfer to tertiary (working standards) lamps. NOAA's Central UV Calibration Facility (CUCF) currently owns six of the NIST primary standards of spectral irradiance. The CUCF transfers the spectral irradiance scale from the NIST primaries to secondary standards, which in this case are also used as working standards. Careful seasoning and screening of the secondary lamps is essential to achieve the maximum benefit out of this transfer and the operation of the expensive primary standards. The process of lamp seasoning and screening techniques used by the CUCF is described here. They include visual inspection of the lamp envelope, filament and lead wires during each step of the screening process. Also, the temporal stability of the lamp irradiance, lamp current and voltage and anomalous emission and absorption lines is discussed. Some of the problems that the CUCF has found with lamps are also shown.
Dynamics of flow control in an emulated boundary layer-ingesting offset diffuser

Dynamics of flow control comprised of arrays of active (synthetic jets) and passive (vanes) control elements , and its effectiveness for suppression of total-pressure distortion is investigated experimentally in an offset diffuser, in the absence of internal flow separation. The experiments are conducted in a wind tunnel inlet model at speeds up to M = 0.55 using approach flow conditioning that mimics boundary layer ingestion on a Blended-Wing-Body platform. Time-dependent distortion of the dynamic total-pressure field at the ‘engine face’ is measured using an array of forty total-pressure probes, and the control-induced distortion changes are analyzed using triple decomposition and proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). These data indicate that an array of the flow control small-scale synthetic jet vortices merge into two large-scale, counter-rotating streamwise vortices that exert significant changes in the flow distortion. The two most energetic POD modes appear to govern the distortion dynamics in either active or hybrid flow control approaches. Finally, it is shown that the present control approach is sufficiently robust to reduce distortion with different inlet conditions of the baseline flow.
Cytotoxicity of cadmium and characteristics of its transport in cardiomyocytes.

Cadmium (Cd) is reported to produce cardiotoxicity at doses and exposure conditions that cause no effect in kidney or liver. The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the cytotoxicity of Cd to neonatal rat cardiomyocytes in primary culture and to elucidate the transport characteristics of Cd in these cells at a nontoxic concentration. Cd concentrations of 0.1 microM and higher that are well tolerated by hepatocytes and renal cortical epithelial cells were toxic to the cardiomyocyte. The plot of initial uptake rate of Cd at various concentrations was nonlinear suggesting that, in addition to simple diffusion, other processes may also be involved. These processes required metabolic energy as pretreatment with dinitrophenol or sodium fluoride inhibited 58 and 59% of the Cd uptake, respectively. The uptake of Cd was also affected by the incubation temperature and lowering the temperature from 37 to 4 degreesC reduced Cd uptake over 30 min by 61%. Cd uptake required interaction with membrane sulfhydryl groups; pretreatment with p-chloromercuribenzenesulfonic acid or mercuric chloride reduced Cd uptake by 46 and 58%, respectively. Cd utilized the transport pathways for calcium (Ca), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu). Coincubation with 1.26 mM Ca competitively inhibited Cd uptake by 77%. In the presence of Ca, 30 microM Zn or Cu further inhibited Cd accumulation competitively by as much as 63 and 32%, respectively. Cd could enter the cardiomyocytes through Ca channels and Ca channel blocker, verapamil, inhibited up to 76% of Cd uptake. From the above results it can be concluded that Cd is highly toxic to the cardiomyocytes. A majority of Cd enters these cells through transport processes that exist for Ca, Zn, and Cu. The transport processes utilized by Cd are temperature sensitive and dependent on metabolic energy. Furthermore, these involve membrane sulfhydryl groups and include Ca channels.
Distributed Real-Time Detection and Tracking of Homogeneous Regions in Sensor Networks

In many applications we can deploy large number of sensors spanning wide geographical areas, to monitor environmental phenomena. The analysis of the data collected by such sensor network can help us to understand the field dynamics, and optimize the deployment of other solutions. We define a group of sensors having similar underlying distribution over a period of time as a homogeneous region. In this paper we propose distributed algorithms to detect such regions, approximate their boundary with a piece-wise linear curve and track the boundary in real-time. Experimental results show the accuracy and efficiency of our detection and tracking algorithms.
An experimental comparison of exponential and adaptive smoothing forecasting models using actual operating data

Abstract The forecast accuracy of exponential and adaptive smoothing models is compared using actual operating data. The data, involving the historical demand for twelve different medical supply items, was obtained from a large medical center. The adaptive smoothing model proposed by Trigg and Leach has been extended in this paper to include the continous adjustment of the smoothing constant values for the trend and seasonal factors in the forecasting model. The results indicate that while an adaptive smoothing model can reduce the bias in the forecasts in comparison with those produced by an exponential smoothing model, the adaptive smoothing model does not provide a significant reduction in the variation in the forecast errors (measured in terms of MAD) for most of the medical supply items studied.
Interactions among the Escherichia coli mutT, mutM, and mutY damage prevention pathways.

Abstract We have investigated in detail the interactions between the Escherichia coli mutT , mutM , and mutY error-prevention systems. Jointly, these systems protect the cell against the effects of the oxidative stress product, 8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG), a base analog with ambiguous base-pairing properties, pairing with either A or C during DNA synthesis. mutT mutator strains display a specific increase in A·T→C·G transversions, while mutM and mutY mutator strains show specific G·C→T·A increases. To study in more detail the in vivo processing of the various mutational intermediates leading to A·T→C·G and G·C→T·A transversions, we analyzed defined A·T→C·G and G·C→T·A events in strains containing all possible combinations of these mutator alleles. We report three major findings. First, we do not find evidence that the mutT allele significantly increases G·C→T·A transversions in either mut + , mutM , mutY or mutMmutY backgrounds. We interpret this result to indicate that incorporation of 8-oxodGTP opposite template C may not be frequent relative to incorporation opposite template A. Second, we show that mutT -induced A·T→C·G transversions are significantly reduced in strains carrying mutY and mutMmutY deficiencies suggesting that 8-oxoG, when present in DNA, preferentially mispairs with dATP. Third, the mutY and mutMmutY deficiencies also decrease A·T→C·G transversions in the mutT + background, suggesting that, even in the presence of functional MutT protein, A·T→C·G transversions may still result from 8-oxodGTP misincorporation.
Analogical Modeling and morphological change: the case of the adjectival negative prefix in English

This article examines the usefulness of Skousen's Analogical Modeling (AM) for explaining morphological change. In contrast to previous accounts of analogy, AM constitutes a general unified model of language that accounts for both sporadic and systematic changes. AM also provides explicit constraints on analogy that allow explanation of how morphological changes begin, which forms most likely serve as patterns for analogy, and which forms are most likely to change.AM is then tested on the case of the adjectival negative prefix in English (in-, un-, dis-, etc.), using the Middle and Early Modern English portions of the Helsinki corpus as a basis for prediction. AM was given the task of using forms containing negative prefixes for one time period to predict the prefixes that adjectives would take in the subsequent time period. For each of the roughly seventy-year periods in the corpus, AM was able to predict valid prefixes about 90 percent of the time.
The relationship between birth weight and growth with caries development in young children remains uncertain.

Article Title And Bibliographic Information Is there a relationship between birth weight and subsequent growth on the development of dental caries at 5 years of age? A cohort study. Kay EJ, Northstone K, Ness A, Duncan K, Crean SJ. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 2010;38:408-14. Reviewers Bruce A. Dye, DDS, MPH, Cynthia L. Ogden, PhD, MRP Purpose/Question Do height and weight at birth and subsequent growth affect caries development? Source of Funding Partial support through Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children from the UK Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, and the University of Bristol Type of Study/Design Cohort study Level of Evidence Level 2: Limited-quality, patient-oriented evidence Strength of Recommendation Grade Not applicable
A roundoff error analysis of the LMS adaptive algorithm

The steady state output error of the least mean square (LMS) adaptive algorithm due to the finite precision arithmetic of a digital processor is analyzed. It is found to consist of three terms: 1) the error due to the input data quantization, 2) the error due to the rounding of the arithmetic operations in calculating the filter's output, and 3) the error due to the deviation of the filter's coefficients from the values they take when infinite precision arithmetic is used. The last term is of paricular interest because its mean squared value is inversely proportional to the adaptation step size μ. Both fixed and floating point arithmetics are examined and the expressions for the final mean square error are found to be similar. The relation between the quantization error and the error that occurs when adaptation possibly ceases due to quantization is also investigated.
Comparison of open and minimally invasive partial nephrectomy for renal tumors 4-7 centimeters.

Abstract Background Indications for partial nephrectomy (PN) in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma are evolving, particularly for larger, more complex tumors. Objective Compare single-institution outcomes for minimally invasive partial nephrectomy (MIPN) and open partial nephrectomy (OPN) for tumors >4–7cm. Design, setting, and participants A total of 2290 patients underwent PN from 2002 to 2010 at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; 280 had >4–7cm renal cortical tumors. Of these 280 patients, 230 had pT1b, 48 had pT3a, and 2 had angiomyolipomas; 226 underwent OPN and 54 underwent MIPN (16 robot-assisted and 37 laparoscopic procedures). Perioperative management was uniform on the clinical pathway. Perioperative data, clinicopathologic variables, complications within 30 d, and oncologic outcomes were reviewed. Measurements Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was calculated using the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equation. Complications were reported from prospectively collected data based on a modified Clavien system. The Fisher exact and Mann-Whitney U tests were used for descriptive statistical analysis. Kaplan-Meier methods were used to estimate survival. Results and limitations Median follow-up for OPN and MIPN was 29 and 13 mo, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences in age, gender, preoperative American Society of Anesthesiologists score, laterality, histologic subtype, tumor size, tumor stage, or margin status between procedures. Univariate analysis revealed significantly greater values in the OPN group for preoperative eGFR, renal artery clamp time, estimated blood loss, use of renal hypothermia, and length of stay. Differences in overall survival and recurrence-free survival were not statistically significant; however, short median follow-up times limit comparison. There was no significant difference in the number of complications grade ≥3 ( p =0.1) or urine leaks requiring intervention ( p =0.7). Limitations include the retrospective nature of the study and the possibility of selection bias. Conclusions OPN and MIPN procedures performed in patients with tumors >4–7cm offer acceptable and comparable results in terms of operative, functional, and convalescence measures, regardless of approach.
Impacts of density and large mammals on space use by the pouched mouse (Saccostomus mearnsi) in central Kenya

Rodents in tropical Africa have been recognized for decades both as important pests of agriculture and as reservoirs of numerous diseases that affect humans and livestock (Keesing 2000). Despite this recognition, however, little is known about the ecology and behaviour of these abundant and widespread animals. Because the impacts of small mammals as pests are expected to be some function of their population density, most ecological research on African rodents has focused on their population dynamics (Delany 1972, 1986; Leirs et al. 1994, 1996a).
Impact of myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography on referral to catheterization of the very elderly. Is there evidence of gender-related referral bias?

Objectives. This study sought to assess the impact of myocardial perfusion studies on subsequent management in the very elderly with respect to referral to catheterization or revascularization. Background. The very elderly are a rapidly growing segment of the U.S. population, and myocardial perfusion studies are frequently performed in this patient subset for evaluation of coronary artery disease. Methods. The study utilized 1,006 consecutive patients ≥ 80 years old (511 men, 495 women) who underwent stress myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) using pharmacologic stress (n = 605) or treadmill exercise (n = 401). Referral to catheterization or revascularization within 60 days of the nuclear scan was correlated with clinical and nuclear variables. Results. Catheterization and revascularization were performed in 119 and 77 patients, respectively. Stratification of referral rates showed a low rate in normal and mildly abnormal scan categories and significantly higher rates in patients with severely abnormal scan results irrespective of the presenting symptoms or pretest likelihood of coronary artery disease. Multiple logistic regression analysis of clinical and nuclear variables revealed that extent and severity of reversibility by SPECT and the final scan result were the two most powerful predictors of referral to catheterization and revascularization in men and women (catheterization: chi-square 65 and 78; revascularization: chi-square 37 and 68, respectively). Overall, referral rates to catheterization and revascularization were similar in men and women (catheterization: 13% vs. 11%; revascularization: 8% vs. 8%, respectively). However, women with severely abnormal scan results were more frequently referred to catheterization (28% vs. 18%, p < 0.03) and revascularization (21% vs. 12%, p < 0.01) than men. Conclusions. In patients ≥ 80 years old, myocardial perfusion SPECT had a significant impact on patient management. The apparent discrepancy in referal rates for interventional management in men and women is unexplained but may be appropriate in light of our previous observations that women with severely abnormal scan results are at increased risk for hard cardiac events than are men with severely abnormal scan results.
Relatedness and genetic structure in a socially polymorphic population of the spider Anelosimus studiosus

The evolution of sociality remains a challenge in evolutionary biology and a central question is whether association between kin is a critical factor favouring the evolution of cooperation. This study examines genetic structure of Anelosimus studiosus, a spider exhibiting polymorphic social behaviour. Two phenotypes have been identified: an ‘asocial’ phenotype with solitary female nests and a ‘social’ phenotype with multifemale ⁄communal nests. To address the questions of whether these phenotypes are differentiated populations and whether cooperative individuals are closely related, we used microsatellites to analyse individuals from both communal and solitary nests. We found no evidence of differentiation between social and solitary samples, implying high rates of interbreeding. This is consistent with the hypothesis that these phenotypes coexist as a behavioural polymorphism within populations. Pairwise relatedness coefficients were used to test whether cooperating individuals are more closely related than expected by chance. Pairwise relatedness of females sharing communal webs averaged 0.25, the level expected for half-siblings and significantly more closely related than random pairs from the population. Solitary females collected at similar distances to the communal spider pairs were also more closely related than expected by chance (mean relatedness = 0.18), but less related than social pairs. These results imply that low dispersal contributes to increase likelihood of interaction between kin, but relatedness between social pairs is not explained by spatial structure alone. We propose that these phenotypes represent stages in the evolution of sociality, where viscous population structure creates opportunities for kin selection and cooperation is favoured under certain environmental conditions.
The difluoroethylenes: A reconsideration of the “Cis effect”

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations have been carried out on all three isomers of difluoroethylene with geometry optimization. The calculations were done with a “double-zeta” basis set. After correction of the SCF energies for the effect of electron correlation, the 1,1-isomer is shown to be 8 kcal/mole lower in energy than the cis, which is 1 kcal/mole more stable than the trans. As the stabilization of the isomers increases, the distance between the fluorine atoms decreases: trans, 3.57 A; cis, 2.77 A; 1,1-isomer 2.20 A. A simple explanation for these trends is based upon electrostatics and the small size and high electronegativity of the fluorine atom. As the fluorine atoms come closer together, the destabilization due to nuclear repulsions and electron repulsions is offset by the increased stabilizing electrons-nuclei attractions.
The influence of social niche on cultural niche construction: modelling changes in belief about marriage form in Taiwan

With introduction of social niche effects into a model of cultural change, the frequency of a practice cannot predict the frequency of its underlying belief. The combination of a general model with empirical data from a specific case illustrates the importance of collaboration between modellers and field researchers, and identifies the type of quantitative data necessary for analysing case studies. Demographic data from colonial-period household registers in Taiwan document a shift in marriage form within 40 years, from a mixture of uxorilocal marriages and virilocal marriages to the latter's dominance. Ethnographic data indicate marriage-related beliefs, costs, ethnic effects and colonial policies as well as the importance of horizontal cultural transmission. We present a formal model for the effects of moral beliefs about marriage and a population economic index on the decline of uxorilocal marriage. We integrate empirical marriage rates and an estimated economic index to produce five projections of the historical frequencies of one belief. These projections demonstrate how economic development may affect a cultural niche. They also indicate the need for future research on the relationship between wealth and cultural variability, the motivational force of cultural versus social factors, and the process of cultural niche construction.
Opening Pandora's Box: making biological discoveries through computational data exploration.

Editorial Over two decades ago the first electronic databases which systematically collected protein and nucleic acid sequence and structure data came into existence. This period also saw the emergence of the first algorithms and their implementations to query these databases for sequence and structure similarities, to align sequences, and to identify of compositional features in sequences. A parallel advance was the integration of these disparate data collections into strongly interconnected databases, which included repositories of biomedical literature (e.g. Entrez). It would be no exaggeration to state that these computational developments played a role comparable to that of the polymerase chain reaction in the rise of modern molecular biology.
Bistability of an In Vitro Synthetic Autoregulatory Switch

The construction of synthetic biochemical circuits is an essential step for developing quantitative understanding of information processing in natural organisms. Here, we report construction and analysis of an in vitro circuit with positive autoregulation that consists of just four synthetic DNA strands and three enzymes, bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase, Escherichia coli ribonuclease (RNase) H, and RNase R. The modularity of the DNA switch template allowed a rational design of a synthetic DNA switch regulated by its RNA output acting as a transcription activator. We verified that the thermodynamic and kinetic constraints dictated by the sequence design criteria were enough to experimentally achieve the intended dynamics: a transcription activator configured to regulate its own production. Although only RNase H is necessary to achieve bistability of switch states, RNase R is necessary to maintain stable RNA signal levels and to control incomplete degradation products. A simple mathematical model was used to fit ensemble parameters for the training set of experimental results and was then directly applied to predict time-courses of switch dynamics and sensitivity to parameter variations with reasonable agreement. The positive autoregulation switches can be used to provide constant input signals and store outputs of biochemical networks and are potentially useful for chemical control applications.
Further remarks on Breton agreement

Borsley and Stephens (1989/this issue) argue that the analysis of Breton agreement developed by Stump (1984) is untenable for two reasons: first, they argue that the fundamental empirical generalization which his analysis is designed to capture (the ‘Complementarity Principle’) is invalid; second, they argue that contrary to the assumptions underlying Stump's analysis, S cannot be a barrier to government in Breton. Here, Borsley and Stephens' claims are evaluated: it is shown that contrary to their first claim, the Complementarity Principle is a valid generalization for most if not all varieties of Breton; and while the truth of their second claim is acknowledged, it is nevertheless shown that the two principal claims embodied in the 1984 analysis can be maintained in a simple revision of that analysis. The revised account is shown to be fully consistent with the evidence cited by Borsley and Stephens, and is contrasted with the alternative analysis of Breton agreement proposed by Hendrick (1988).
Regime Type, Preferences, and War in Renaissance Italy:

The democratic peace has received substantial empirical support in the modern international system. The consistency of the results does not imply that reasonable critiques do not exist, that is, the effects of development, liberal economic structures, and preferences. These challenges, however, tend to strongly correlate with democracy, making direct statistical tests inefficient and not necessarily convincing. This study attempts to evaluate these challenges and extend the temporal domain of the democratic peace through an empirical analysis of Renaissance Italy. The data set contains the seven major powers of Renaissance Italy between 1250 and 1494, with measures of war, power, regime type, preferences, and contiguity. The analyses show that joint republicanism, power preponderance, and preference similarity decrease the probability of war.
Structure of adenovirus complexed with its internalization receptor, alphavbeta5 integrin

The three-dimensional structure of soluble recombinant integrin alphavbeta5 bound to human adenovirus types 2 and 12 (Ad2 and -12) has been determined at approximately 21-A resolution by cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM). The alphavbeta5 integrin is known to promote Ad cell entry. Cryo-EM has shown that the integrin-binding RGD (Arg-Gly-Asp) protrusion of the Ad2 penton base protein is highly mobile (P. L. Stewart, C. Y. Chiu, S. Huang, T. Muir, Y. Zhao, B. Chait, P. Mathias, and G. R. Nemerow, EMBO J. 16:1189-1198, 1997). Sequence analysis indicated that the Ad12 RGD surface loop is shorter than that of Ad2 and probably less flexible, hence more suitable for structural characterization of the Ad-integrin complex. The cryo-EM structures of the two virus-receptor complexes revealed a ring of integrin density above the penton base of each virus serotype. As expected, the integrin density in the Ad2 complex was diffuse while that in the Ad12 complex was better defined. The integrin consists of two discrete subdomains, a globular domain with an RGD-binding cleft approximately 20 A in diameter and a distal domain with extended, flexible tails. Kinetic analysis of Ad2 interactions with alphavbeta5 indicated approximately 4.2 integrin molecules bound per penton base at close to saturation. These results suggest that the precise spatial arrangement of five RGD protrusions on the penton base promotes integrin clustering and the signaling events required for virus internalization.
Stock Prices and Volume

The authors undertake a comprehensive investigation of price and volume co-movement using daily New York Stock Exchange data from 1928 to 1987. They adjust the data to take into account well-known calendar effects and long-run trends. To describe the process, they use a seminonparametric estimate of the joint density of current price change and volume conditional on past price changes and volume. Four empirical regularities are found: (1) positive correlation between conditional volatility and volume; (2) large price movements are followed by high volume; (3) conditioning on lagged volume substantially attenuates the "leverage" effect, and (4) after conditioning on lagged volume, there is a positive risk-return relation. Article published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Financial Studies in its journal, The Review of Financial Studies.
Don't Take Touch for Granted: An Interview with Susan Lederman

Susan Lederman (SL) is an invited member of the International Council of Research Fellows for the Braille Research Center and a Fellow of he Canadian Psychology Association. She was also an Associate of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research in the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Programme for 8 years. A Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Computing & Information Science at Queen's University at Kingston (Ontario, Canada), she has written and coauthored numerous articles on tactile psychophysics, haptic perception and cognition, motor control, and haptic applications in robotics, teleoperation, and virtual environments. She is currently the coorganizer of the Annual Symposium a Haptic Interfaces for Teleoperation and Virtual Environment Systems. Rene Verry (RV) is a psychology professor at Millikin University (Decatur, IL), where she teaches a variety of courses in the experimental core, including Sensation and Perception. She chose the often-subordinated somatic senses as the focus ...
TCDD Inhibition of Canonical Wnt Signaling Disrupts Prostatic Bud Formation in Mouse Urogenital Sinus

In mice, in utero exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p- dioxin (TCDD) reduces the number of dorsolateral prostatic buds resulting in a smaller dorsolateral prostate and prevents formation of ventral buds culminating in ventral prostate agenesis. The genes and signaling pathways affected by TCDD that are responsible for disrupting prostate development are largely unknown. Here we show that treatment of urogenital sinus (UGS) organ cultures with known inhibitors of canonical Wnt signaling also inhibits prostatic bud formation. In support of the hypothesis that TCDD decreases canonical Wnt signaling, we identify inhibitory effects of TCDD on multiple components of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway in the UGS that temporally coincide with the inhibitory effect of TCDD on prostatic bud formation: (1) expression of R-spondins (Rspo2 and Rspo3) that promote canonical Wnt signaling is reduced; (2) expression of Lef1, Tcf1, and Wif1, established canonical Wnt target genes, is decreased; (3) expression of Lgr5, a RSPO receptor that activates canonical Wnt signaling, is reduced; and (4) expression of Dickkopfs (Dkks), inhibitors of canonical Wnt signaling, is not increased by TCDD. Thus, the TCDD-induced reduction in canonical Wnt signaling is associated with a decrease in activators (Rspo2 and Rspo3) rather than an increase in inhibitors (Dkk1 and Dkk2) of the pathway. This study focuses on determining whether treatment of TCDD-exposed UGS organ cultures with RSPO2 and/or RSPO3 is capable of rescuing the inhibitory effects of TCDD on canonical Wnt signaling and prostatic bud formation. We discovered that each RSPO alone or in combination partially rescues TCDD inhibition of both canonical Wnt signaling and prostatic bud formation.
CLINICAL METHOD FOR ESTIMATING MONTHLY OUTPUT OF ESTRIN FROM SINGLE BIOASSAY ON POOLED NIGHT SPECIMENS OF URINE11

THE PURPOSE of this communication is to report studies toward the development of a method for estimating the total intermenstrual output of urinary estrins by means of a single bioassay on pooled specimens of urine collected at night from 8 P.M. to 8 A.M. for one month. Urine specimens used in this study were obtained from psychotic patients at the Pennsylvania Hospital. Previous studies (1) have shown that the urinary excretion of estrin in psychotic patientsis essentially the same as in non-psychotic patients. The accurate collection of specimens was assured by special nursing care. In each case the urine was collected in i2-hour periods, and all thenight urine was added in a common vessel until the desired number of specimens had been collected.The day specimens were similarly pooled in another container. Both specimens were kept on ice and,by addition of small quantities of concentrated hydrochloric acid, were kept acid to litmus.
Biocompatible force sensor with optical readout and dimensions of 6 nm3

We have developed a nanoscopic force sensor with optical readout. The sensor consists of a single-stranded DNA oligomer flanked by two dyes. The DNA acts as a nonlinear spring: when the spring is stretched, the distance between the two dyes increases, resulting in reduced Forster resonance energy transfer. The sensor was calibrated between 0 and 20 pN using a combined magnetic tweezers/single-molecule fluorescence microscope. We show that it is possible to tune the sensor's force response by varying the interdye spacing and that the FRET efficiency of the sensors decreases with increasing force. We demonstrate the usefulness of these sensors by using them to measure the forces internal to a single polymer molecule, a small DNA loop. Partial conversion of the single-stranded DNA loop to a double-stranded form results in the accumulation of strain: a force of approximately 6 pN was measured in the loop upon hybridization. The sensors should allow measurement of forces internal to various materials, including programmable DNA self-assemblies, polymer meshes, and DNA-based machines.
Influence of Cornual Insemination on Conception in Dairy Cattle

The objective of this study was to compare conception to artificial insemination (AI) services in dairy cattle when semen was deposited into the uterine body or into both uterine horns (cornual insemination). Nine herdsman inseminators (HI) in four commercial dairy herds in Washington constituted the experimental units. Herds ranged in size from 393 cows to 964 cows. The duration of the experiment was 12 mo in three herds and 18 mo in the fourth herd. At the beginning of the experiment all inseminators were trained to deposit semen in the body of the uterus. Inseminators were instructed to use this method for 6 mo. Following employment of body deposition, the same inseminators were retrained to deposit one-half of the semen into the right uterine horn and one-half into the left uterine horn. Cornual inseminations were performed for 6 mo. A total of 4,178 services constituted the data set. Milk samples were collected from cows on the day of insemination and later were assayed for progesterone (P4). There was variation (P less than .01) in conception associated with month of insemination and insemination method (P less than .001). The monthly variation was not associated with season of the year. Least squares means for conception when semen was deposited in the uterine body was 44.7%, compared with 64.6% when cornual insemination was employed. The insemination treatment X inseminator interaction was not significant. Results suggest that cornual insemination provides an alternative to deposition of semen in the uterine body.
Tarski’s Theorems and the Definition of Truth

Our next subject is that of formalizing definitions of truth for first order theories within first order theories. We already have two impossibility theorems, one of which was proved earlier and one of which is an easy consequence of earlier theorems. First, we might consider the possibility of finding for arbitrary theories a way of defining a predicate T such that T would numeralwise represent truth in the theory. That is, we would hope for a general method such that given an effective theory H and an interpretation we could define a predicate T H such that ⊢ Q T H (n) iff n is the Godel number of a true sentence of H. However, since we know that the set of true sentences of Q is not even recursively enumerable we know that we cannot numeralwise represent truth in Q in any effective extension of Q. The next best sense of definition that we could hope for would be that we could define a predicate T such that for every sentence of H we could prove T(‘A’) ↔ A in some suitable theory. We would, of course, want the theory which defined the predicate T to be consistent. If a theory has as consequences all of the sentences of the form T(‘A’) ↔ A where ‘A’ is a suitable representation of a sentence A of H and the theory is consistent, we shall say that it satisfies Tarsk’s condition for H.
Stability of Lithiated Silicene from First Principles

We explore the adsorption characteristics and stability of lithium on silicene from first principles. Our work shows that lithium adsorption could provide a unique method for isolating a stable sil...
APPLICATIONS OF MOLECULAR DYNAMICS SIMULATIONS TO SOL-GEL PROCESSING.

The molecular dynamics computer simulation technique has been used to study silicic acid and pyrosilicic acid molecules (H4SiO4 and H6Si2O7, respectively). The structure of the simulated molecules are compared to those found by molecular orbital calculations as well as structures inferred from silicate hydrates. The potentials used to simulate the molecules were also used in simulations of bulk silicates and compared with experimental data. Results indicate good correlation.
Religious Studies Encyclopedism: A Recent History

ABSTRACTAs academic reference librarians, we need to historically situate the reference sources we use within changing scholarly disciplines. Mircea Eliade’s Encyclopedia of Religion, for example, is an important text in religious studies, but it is not a neutral text. Rather, it clearly reflects certain intellectual commitments and discursive strategies that need to be situated within histories of scholarship. Failure on the part of librarians to contextualize the perspectives of a reference source is problematic because it leaves the assumptions of the text unchallenged. More constructively, librarians need to problematize the agendas of reference sources, and make salient their discursive positions.
Continuing Education Needs Assessment: A Brief Report

A needs assessment was conducted to quantify the need for, and the capacity to provide, public health continuing education in San Diego County, California. The study was conducted with the objective of developing public health continuing education courses to be offered by the San Diego State University Graduate School of Public Health (SDSU-GSPH) to address the unmet demands of local practitioners. Survey instruments were developed to separately assess the continuing education needs of public health practitioners and the capacity of SDSU-GSPH faculty to provide courses in San Diego County. The faculty survey was distributed to all full-time SDSU-GSPH faculty. Practitioner surveys were distributed to a systematic sample of divisions and subdivisions in the County of San Diego Department of Health Services. The overall survey response rates were 71% for faculty (22/31) and 40% for practitioners (190/470). Practitioners indicated a strong interest in several of the 64 specific course topics they were asked to rate. Reported faculty interest and capacity to teach continuing education courses appears to be limited. The analysis confirms a need to improve and increase SDSU-GSPH public health continuing education offerings. Further, our results suggest that external instructional resources will be needed to meet this educational demand.
THE CULTURAL TRANSMISSION OF GREAT BASIN PROJECTILE-POINT TECHNOLOGY I: AN EXPERIMENTAL SIMULATION

Una aproximacion Darwiniana a la arqueologia conduce, naturalmente, hacia un enfoque en la transmision cultural. Los modelos teoricos de la evolucion cultural indican que el nivel individual de la transmision de cultura puede tener efectos especificos y significativos sobre el nivel demografico. Esto implica que las diferencias de transmision pueden ser detectadas en la documentacion arqueologica. Aqui presentamos una simulacion experimental sobre la transmision cultural de tecnologia prehistorica puntas de proyectil, representando los dos modos de transmision: tendencia indirecta y variacion guiada. Ambos modos, segun Bettinger y Eerkens, fueron responsables de las diferencias en las correlaciones punto-parametro de Nevada y California. Grupos de participantes disenaron ?puntas virtuales de proyectil? y las probaron en ?medios virtuales de caceria? con diferentes fases de aprendizaje, simulando el modo de tendencia indirecta y el aprendizaje individual independiente. Como fue previsto, los periodos de transmision cultural fueron asociados con parametros de correlaciones significativamente mas fuertes que los periodos de aprendizaje individual. El experimento y las subsiguientes simulaciones computarizadas agente base, mostraron que los participantes, dedicados a la transmision cultural horizontal de tendencia indirecta, superaron los controles de aprendizaje individual. Este resultado se obtuvo especialmente entre los grandes grupos, cuyo aprendizaje individual es costoso y el entorno selecto es multi-modal. El presente trabajo demuestra que las simulaciones experimentales de transmision cultural, usadas con modelos matematicos y simulaciones en computadoras, constituyen una herramienta para estudiar los cambios culturales
Peace Has to Be Enforced

There is no denying that there was a kind of world order being built up after the First World War. As one who lived through those days of world agony and anguish, and as one who comes from a country greatly benefited by that postwar international order, I must solemnly testify that it was a real thing.
Multiphysics simulation of pulsed cold plasma arc rotation in the field of a ring permanent magnet

Pulsed cold plasma reforming is a novel method to harvest hydrogen from hydrocarbons. The harvested hydrogen can feed a fuel cell for distributed generation of electricity in a stationary or mobile platforms. The cold plasma arc is generated by a pulsating high voltage. The arc rotates in the magnetic field of a ring permanent magnet, thus increasing the collision area between the arc and the fuel. Due to the difficulties of measurement of plasma properties such as ion and electron temperature without disturbing the plasma, multiphysics simulation is a key step in the design of electrodes, thereby increasing the hydrogen harvest rate in the syngas. In this paper, a 3D multiphysics simulation including fluid dynamics, thermal simulation, and magnet fields has been carried out to assist in the design of electrodes, determination of input fuel rate and permanent magnet parameters. Experiments were carried out to verify the simulation results.
The Rebirth: Can We Live?:

Nathaniel Stone, the principal of Lakeshore Community High School, was summoned to a meeting in the city. The gathering included more than a dozen influential leaders. The conversation that unfolde...
Percolation Effects on Electrical Resistivity and Electron Mobility

Percolation, defined as the study of transport across a porous material, can be used to determine transport quantities of a material such as electrical and thermal conductivity. Observing the way electrons flow across a porous conductive sheet is a common way that percolation studies are performed, and has many practical applications in electronics. This study determines how elliptical pores cut into a conductive sheet affect the percolation threshold; the remaining area of the conductive sheet when the current across it first becomes zero. Past research has been performed on this topic which yielded theoretical results of the percolation thresholds, and this study aims to verify those results experimentally. This study shows that as the aspect ratio of an ellipse approaches zero, the percolation threshold approaches one. This report also establishes a novel experimental method of studying percolating networks.
Progress In Achieving Health Equity Requires Attention To Root Causes

Life expectancy and disease rates in the United States differ starkly among Americans depending on their demographic characteristics and where they live. Although health care systems are taking important steps to reduce inequities, meaningful progress requires interventions outside the clinic, in sectors such as employment, housing, transportation, and public safety. Inequities exist in each of these sectors, and barriers to educational attainment, higher-income jobs, and social mobility limit the opportunity of disadvantaged people to improve their circumstances. Financial institutions and other stakeholders are investing in cross-sector collaborations to remove these barriers and thereby strengthen local economies and population health. Meanwhile, recent trends suggest the need to widen the lens on health equity, to include not only the low-income residents of inner-city neighborhoods but also people in economically marginalized rural communities. Widening income inequality and stagnant wages, and their...
Administration of immunobiotic Lactobacillus plantarum delays but does not prevent lethal pneumovirus infection in Rag1−/− mice

Administration of immunobiotic Lactobacillus plantarum (Lp) directly to the respiratory mucosa promotes cross-protection against lethal pneumovirus infection via B-cell-independent mechanisms. In this study, we examined Lp-mediated cross protection in Rag1-/- mice which cannot clear virus from lung tissue. Although Lp was initially protective, Rag1-/- mice ultimately succumbed to a delayed lethal outcome associated with local production of the proinflammatory cytokines CCL1, -2, and -7, granulocyte recruitment, and ongoing virus replication. By contrast, CD8null mice, which are fully capable of clearing virus, are protected by Lp with no delayed lethal outcome, granulocyte recruitment to the airways, or induction of CCL7. Repeated administration of Lp to virus-infected Rag1-/- mice had no impact on delayed mortality. Moreover, administration of Lp to the respiratory mucosa resulted in no induction of IFN-α or -β in Rag1-/- or wild-type mice, and IFN-abR gene deletion had no impact on Lp-mediated protection. Overall, our findings indicate that although Lp administered to the respiratory tract has substantial impact on lethal virus-induced inflammation in situ, endogenous virus clearance mechanisms are needed to promote sustained protection. Our results suggest that a larger understanding of the mechanisms and mediators that limit acute virus-induced inflammation may yield new and useful therapeutic modalities.
A Teen With Cerebral Palsy and Intellectual Disability and the Hysterectomy Question

If I were the ethics consultant on this case, these are the questions I would have: Does Julia have the capacity to participate in decisions regarding treatment options for her gynecological pain?W...