cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Maytansine binding to the vinblastine sites of tubulin.

Tubulin possesses two distinct binding sites for vinblastine; one of high affinity (Ka = 6.2 X 106M” ) occupancy of which prevents polymerization of tubulin and a second, lower affinity site (K, = 8 X 104M”) occupancy of which correlates with the aggregating effects of the alkaloid on tubulin [l]. The recent report [2] that maytansine, a new antitumor agent of plant origin [3,4] , was a potent competitive inhibitor of 3H vincristine binding in rat brain homogenates, led us to investigate which of the two vinblastine-binding sites would be involved in this effect. The formulae of these two compounds are shown below (fig.1). For polymerization experiments, tubulin was purified from rat brain extracts by three cycles of polymerization and depolymerization, according to the method of Shelanski et al. [5]. The kinetics of tubule assembly have been studied by turbidimetric measurements at 400 nm as described by Gaskin et al. [6] in a temperature-controlled chamber of a Cary spectrophotometer (model 14) at 37’C. The polymerization buffer contained 0.1 M 2-(N-morpholinoethane-sulfonic acid) (Mes) buffer, pH 6.4, 1 mM ethylene glycol-bis@amino-ethyl ether)-N,N’tetraacetic acid (EGTA), 1 mM GTP and 0.5 n&i MgClz. Colchicine binding was determined by a modification of the DEAE-filter paper method [7].
Backscattering enhancement and clustering effects of randomly distributed dielectric cylinders overlying a dielectric half space based on Monte-Carlo simulations

Backscattering enhancement can exist in volume-surface interactions where a double bounce can arise from one volume scattering and one surface scattering. An important quantity to be determined in backscattering enhancement is the angular width. The authors study backscattering enhancement of the volume-surface interaction by performing Monte-Carlo simulations of scattering by vertical dielectric cylinders overlying a dielectric half space using the Foldy-Lax multiple-scattering equations. The results indicate that the angular width of backscattering enhancement for a scattering layer with a small optical thickness is of the order of the wavelength divided by the layer thickness giving an appreciable angular width of the order of 10-30 degrees that can be important for remote sensing applications. The effects of clustering of scatterers leading to collective scattering and absorption effects are also studied. >
Simultaneous power supply, threshold voltage, and transistor size optimization for low-power operation of CMOS circuits

This paper demonstrates a new approach for minimizing the total of the static and the dynamic power dissipation components in a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) logic network required to operate at a specified clock frequency. The algorithms presented can be used to design ultralow-power CMOS logic circuits by joint optimization of supply voltage, threshold voltage and device widths. The static, dynamic and short-circuit energy components are considered and an efficient heuristic is developed that delivers over an order of magnitude savings in power over conventional optimization methods.
Fragility and Qualification of Components Using Censored Seismic Demand Data

Fragility functions are vital for the risk assessment of critical facilities and to calculate component probability of damage in performance-based earthquake engineering. Seismic qualification is used to prove the adequacy of components in existing facilities or to satisfy their design criteria in new facilities. This technical note describes an approach for component fragility development and seismic qualification using data for seismic demand experienced by similar components and their resulting performance. Depending on the observed component failure or survival, the seismic demand values either exceed or fall short of the random component capacity. The concept of censoring, which captures this excess or shortfall, is introduced to model such data and account for the different statistical characteristics of failure and survival data. The censored data are analyzed by survival analysis, which provides a rigorous and efficient approach to extract information from the data set. DOI: 10.1193/1.3158993
Using test dummy experiments to investigate pediatric injury risk in simulated short-distance falls.

Background Short-distance falls, such as from a bed, are often falsely reported scenarios in child abuse. In attempting to differentiate between abusive and nonabusive injury, knowledge of factors that affect injury risk in falls could prove useful. Objectives To assess the biomechanics associated with simulated short-distance falls in children (one fall scenario, without attempting to maximize injury potential) and to investigate the effect of impact surface type on injury risk. Methods Repeatable fall experiments from bed height (0.68 m) onto different surfaces were conducted using an instrumented side-lying Hybrid II 3-year-old test dummy. Biomechanical measures assessed in falls included head acceleration, pelvis acceleration, femur loading, and head injury criteria. Results Fall dynamics resulted in the pelvis or legs making first contact. Biomechanical measures assessed in simulated bed falls were below known head injury criteria and lower extremity injury thresholds. The impact surface type had a significant effect on head injury risk and lower extremity loading. Playground foam proved to have the lowest associated injury risk of all the tested surfaces. Conclusions The biomechanics of a child falling from a short distance, such as from a bed, were investigated using an experimental laboratory mock-up and an instrumented test dummy. Despite the impact surface having an effect on injury risk, rolling from a 0.68-m (27-in) horizontal surface from a side-lying posture presented low risk of contact-type head injury and leg injury on all tested impact surfaces.
Primary hepatic lymphoma presenting as fulminant hepatic failure with hyperferritinemia: A case report

Primary hepatic lymphoma is an unusual form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that usually presents with constitutional symptoms, hepatomegaly and signs of cholestatic jaundice. Diffuse hepatic infiltration is uncommon and presentation with acute hepatic failure even more rare. The presence of markedly elevated ferritin levels can complicate the evaluation process and suggest alternative diagnoses. We present the case of a middle-aged woman exhibiting pancytopenia, hyperferritinemia and rapidly deteriorating to develop acute hepatic failure. Her initial clinical picture led to a working diagnosis of adult onset Still's disease with probable hemophagocytic syndrome before her worsening liver function necessitated a percutaneous liver biopsy and establishment of the final diagnosis of primary hepatic lymphoma. Primary hepatic lymphoma is an uncommon malignancy and its manifestation as progressive hepatitis or acute fulminant hepatic failure can be difficult to diagnose. The presence of constitutional symptoms, pancytopenia and high ferritin levels can complicate the evaluation process. A liver biopsy early in the course of liver dysfunction may establish the diagnosis without a higher risk of bleeding complications seen once liver failure sets in.
SYSTEM-JUSTIFYING BELIEFS MODERATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERCEIVED DISCRIMINATION AND RESTING BLOOD PRESSURE

Perceiving discrimination is a chronic stressor that may negatively impact health. We predicted that the relationship between chronic perceptions of discrimination and chronic stress, as indexed by resting blood pressure, would be moderated by individual differences in system-justifying beliefs (SJBs), specifi cally the extent to which people believe that success is determined by hard work. We reasoned that people who strongly endorse SJBs would fi nd discrimination to be especially stressful because it both violates their expectations about the world and impedes their motivation to justify the system. In two studies, we measured White women’s self-reported SJBs and perceptions of personal discrimination based on gender. We later measured their resting blood pressure. The relationship between perceived discrimination and blood pressure was positive and signifi cant for women who strongly endorsed SJBs, but nonsignifi cant for women who did not endorse SJBs. Implications for Worldview Verifi cation Theory and System Justifi cation Theory are discussed.
Observations on calvarial growth in rachitic and healing rats

The histology of the rachitic and healing sutures, ectocranial and endocranial surfaces of the rat calvarium is described in this paper. Osteoid margins were evident on all surfaces observed at seven days in rachitic rats and were seen to increase in equal amounts on either side of the sutures as the disease process continues, while the osteoid accretion on the ectocranial and endocranial surface revealed differential growth rates throughout the experimental period. The pattern of osteoid deposition is suggestive of a process of calvarial reshaping from the younger animals to the older ones. The marrow spaces were gradually occluded by the osteoid deposition on their margins. On induction of healing by vitamin D, the osteoid was calcified and then differentially resorbed by osteoclasis. The first osteoclasts were seen at the anterior lambdoidal suture two days after vitamin D administration. At the end of four days of healing, osteoclasts were evident at the coronal, the anterior lambdoidal and the posterior lambdoidal sutures as well as the endosteal sides of the ectocranial and endocranial surfaces. There were no osteoclasts in contact with uncalcified osteoid throughout the entire experimental period. Only the osteoid assumed to be overgrowth was resorbed, while osteoid in some areas was calcified and then retained. At the end of a ten day healing period, the calvarium of the experimental animal was virtually identical to that of the control animal, with the exception of some localized osteoclasis continuing. A rachitogenic diet supporting excellent health and growth in the albino rat is described in this paper.
Large motion estimation for omnidirectional vision

We present a method for estimating large camera motions, including combinations of large rotations and displacements. We know that translation estimates are improved as the displacements between two camera positions increase. However, there is little work on motion estimation methods targeted at large motions since it is difficult to find correspondences between two planar perspective images under large motions. We can overcome the correspondence problem with omnidirectional cameras, which obtain a hemisphere or cylinder projection of the environment. We first develop a new motion estimation method for smooth omnidirectional camera motions. Our method incrementally improves estimates from incomplete information provided by a single feature correspondence, using an Implicit Extended Kalman Filter (IEKF). This general motion estimation method produces stable estimates from smooth camera motions, but it is not directly applicable to estimating large motions. We adapt the motion estimation method to large motions by using a novel Recursive Rotation Factorization (RRF) that removes the image motions due to rotation. Simulation results show that the RRF large motion estimates are accurate and robust.
Strain localization in the Spanish Creek mylonite, Northern Madison Range, southwest Montana, U.S.A.

The Spanish Creek mylonite zone formed within multiply deformed granitic orthogneisses in the Northern Madison Range in southwestern Montana. An integrated approach incorporating fieldwork, microstructural analysis, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), and U-Pb zircon geochronology was utilized to characterize this mylonite zone and place its evolution into a broader regional context. The mylonitic rocks are characterized by a well-developed L-S fabric and a variably porphyroclastic character. U-Pb zircon geochronology yielded a magmatic crystallization age of 2824 ± 47 Ma (2σ) for the granitic protolith of the porphyroclastic Spanish Creek mylonite, indicating that the mylonitic deformation could have occurred during either a late Archean tectonic event or the late Paleoproterozoic Big Sky Orogeny, potentially activated and then reactivated with each successive event. Three distinct structural realms defined within the study area on the basis of structural observations and EBSD data reveal differences in the degree of mylonitic deformation. Two models are herein proposed to explain these significant differences, which are manifest in deformation microstructures and CPO fabrics between structural realms. In the first model, the intrusion and mylonitization of the granitic protolith for the rocks of the third structural realm were broadly coeval during a late Archean tectonic event, allowing for high-temperature mylonitic deformation. In an alternate model, the mylonitic deformation significantly postdated the ∼2.8 Ga intrusion of the granitic protolith, with factors aside from temperature influencing the nature of the deformation. Strain localization provides a viable explanation for the observed differences in the intensity of deformation between structural realms.
Detection of glaucoma progression by population and individual derived variability criteria

Purpose Ocular imaging devices provide quantitative structural information that might improve glaucoma progression detection. This study examined scanning laser polarimetry (SLP) population-derived versus individual-derived cut-off criteria for detecting progression. Methods Forty-eight healthy, glaucoma suspect and glaucoma subjects, providing 76 eyes were used. All subjects had reliable visual field (VF) and SLP scans acquired at the same visits from ≥4 visits. VF progression was defined by guided progression analysis (GPA) and by the VF index. SLP measurements were analysed by fast mode (FM) GPA, compared with the population rate of progression, and extended mode (EM) GPA, compared with the individual variability. The agreement between progression detection methods was measured. Results Poor agreement was observed between progression defined by VF and FM and EM. The difference in temporal-superior-nasal-inferior-temporal (TSNIT) average rate of change between VF defined progressors and non-progressors for both FM (p=0.010) and EM (p=0.015) was statistically significant. Conclusions There is poor agreement between VF and SLP progression regardless of the use of population derived or individual variability criteria. The best SLP progression detection method could not be ascertained, therefore, acquiring three SLP scans per visit is recommended.
Influence of Carbon Black on Processability of Rubber Stocks. II. Extrusion Shrinkage

Abstract Extrusion shrinkage is caused by molecular relaxation of polymer after exit from the die. The rate of molecular relaxation is extremely rapid and under the present experimental conditions, 80% of limiting extrusion shrinkage, L∞, is reached in less than 10 sec. The dependence of extrusion shrinkage L, on time t may be expressed by an empirical equation: L=L∞(1−kt−n) where k and n are constants. An increase in relaxation temperature increases values of L∞ and decreases n, while increase in shear rate decreases constant k. As found previously, extrusion shrinkage, L∞, is related to shear stress. Maintaining a good uniformity of product in factory extrusion may be accomplished by controlling extrusion pressure as well as by speeding up and controlling the process of molecular relaxation. The latter goal may be attained by maintaining the extrudate at an elevated temperature for about 2 min, and controlling that temperature within narrow limits. The results show the importance of defining extrusion c...
High resolution PET imaging of tau using an MR-based information theoretic anatomical prior

642 Objectives PET Imaging of tau tangles in the brain is highly promising for monitoring the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and chronic traumatic encephalopathies. However, partial volume effects associated with the limited PET spatial resolution pose a challenge to quantitation. We developed an MR-based prior for partial volume correction in PET and applied it to [18F]T807 imaging in 10 subjects. Methods Our technique is based on 1) deconvolution of PET data with the spatially variant point spread function (PSF) of the scanner measured in the image space and 2) an MR-based information theoretic framework that minimizes the joint entropy between PET and T1MPRAGE MR. The PSF was measured with 0.5 mm diameter 18F point sources placed at different radial and axial locations in the scanner bore. The proposed joint entropy prior obviates the need for MR segmentation. We validate our approach in a Hoffman phantom and evaluate its performance in 10 normal subjects imaged for 20 min with [18F]T807 by quantifying grey to white matter SUV ratios. Correlations of the conventional and corrected PET images with the MMSE scores of the subjects are computed to further evaluate performance. Results Joint entropy based deconvolution successfully recovered edges and structural details in the PET images. In the Hoffman phantom, the mean grey-to-white SUV ratio increased from 3.0 to 3.3 (ground truth 4.0). There was a prominent reduction in the standard deviation of the SUV by 19% in the grey matter and 37% in the white matter. In [18F]T807 studies, the correlation coefficient of the MMSE scores with the SUVRs for the whole brain, the temporal lobe, the inferior temporal gyrus, the hippocampus, and the parahippocampal gyrus improved by 32%, 21%, 3%, 4%, and 13% respectively. Conclusions Accurate measurement of the PET PSF and MR-based priors led to significantly enhanced image contrast and reduction of variability. This translated into improved correlation of [18F]T807 SUVRs with neuropsychological test scores, making this approach promising for quantitative imaging of tauopathies.
Wallace Chafe's light subject constraint in conversational discourse in the immediate mode of consciousness

AbstractWallace Chafe reports that 81 percent of grammatical subjects in a 10,000-word conversational sample were verbalized as given information and that virtually all of the 81 percent were pronouns. Of the remaining 19 percent of grammatical subjects, 16 percent were verbalized as accessible. The final 3 percent, while being verbalized as new information, were mentioned only once and never again. To explain these findings, he has proposed a “light subject constraint”, which entails that all subjects in conversational discourse are “either (a) not new, or (b) of trivial importance”. Chafe distinguishes two modes of consciousness: immediate and displaced. The immediate mode relates to perceiving, acting on, and evaluating what is in the environment of a conversation; the displaced mode focuses on remembering and imagining. The present research analyzed a 4,200-word conversation conducted virtually exclusively in the immediate mode of consciousness and found that Chafe's light subject constraint was even ...
On the delay bounds of linear systems under delay independent truncated predictor feedback: The state feedback case

In a predictor feedback law for a linear system with input delay, the future state is predicted as the state solution of the linear system. The zero input solution contains the transition matrix. The zero state solution gives rise to the distributed nature of the feedback law. In a 2007 IEEE TAC paper, it is established that, when the system is not exponentially unstable, low gain feedback can be designed such that the predictor feedback law, with the distributed term discarded, still achieves stabilization for an arbitrarily large delay. Furthermore, in the absence of purely imaginary poles, the transition matrix in the truncated predictor feedback (TPF) can be safely dropped, resulting in a delay independent TPF law. In this paper, we first construct an example to show that, in the presence of purely imaginary poles, the delay independent TPF in general cannot stabilize the system for an arbitrarily large delay. A bound is then derived on the delay under which the delay independent truncated predictor state feedback law achieves stabilization for a general system that may be exponentially unstable.
Biodynamic Imaging: Rethinking Cancer Care using Light-Scattering Theranostics

Personalized cancer care holds significant potential for the selection of more effective cancer treatments. We present the first predictive screen for cancer therapy selection that uses light scattering from intracellular dynamics in living-tissue.
The Birth of a Style: Henry Hobson Richardson and the Competition Drawings for Trinity Church, Boston

The competition drawings for Trinity Church have been considered lost. Their recent discovery and their analysis reveal that Richardson's development of the Romanesque style did not come about through repudiation of his French training. His initial sketch was similar to esquisses in competitions at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. The outlines followed modular and proportional schemes based on French prototypes. The eccentric location and massing of Trinity's original spire, whose outlines were based on Flemish prototypes, were a synthesis of the French crossing dome with the English tower. The Romanesque arch, mastered by Richardson for the first time in Trinity, was the perfect compromise between the English Gothic lancet and the French Beaux-Arts arcade. As revealed here, the development of Richardson's style subjected English forms to the discipline of French practice.
POSTOPERATIVE MI AND MORTALITY ASSOCIATED WITH LEFT BUNDLE BRANCH BLOCK

There are conflicting data as to whether preoperative left bundle branch block (LBBB) portends worse postoperative outcomes for non-cardiac surgery. In 156,117 patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery at Vanderbilt University between 2000-2015, we examined the associations between preoperative LBBB
An Experiment in Honesty

medicine have been established in a few schools,22 and participation by sociologists in clinical teaching is mentioned in The Report on Teaching of Social and Environmental Factors in Medicine previously cited. Similarly, sociological jurisprudence which embodies more than strictly sociological material is being introduced into a few law schools. Educational sociology has been contributing to professional education for many years. Besides, schools of social work and schools of nursing have not only recommended sociological content for pre-professional training but have included courses in community organization and the family in their professional curricula. A number of emergent professions connected with agriculture are finding courses in rural sociology increasingly essential to adequate training. In addition to determining the specific sociological materials to be included in professional instruction the problems of timing and teaching must also be solved. What is to be required in pre-professional years and what is to be included in successive professional courses must be worked out in detail. Furthermore, what is to be taught by sociologists in professional schools and what sociology is to be incorporated into the materials given by non-sociologists remains to be determined through collaborative investigation. The broadening conceptions of professional responsibility and service are so recent that practice among professional schools is quite varied. There is no uniformity or consensus at present. Curricula are so crowded already that general revision will be necessary to dose the gap between what is desired and what is practiced. In the meantime a very significant effort is being made to do all that is possible to overcome the educational lag which exists at the moment. Postgraduate and in-service training is being employed to enable professional personnel to cope with the social changes which are occurring so rapidly. It is in short courses, institutes, conferences, and workshops for varied professional groups that sociologists can make. their immediate contributions.
Numerical Investigation of Geometric Effects on Total Pressure Recovery of S-Ducts

A five parameter numerical study was performed to determine main factors contributing to subsonic performance of S-duct inlets. Parameters of the study included duct length, vertical offset distance, expansion ratio of the cross-sectional area, aspect ratio of elliptical entry and Mach number at entry. The study coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics with Design of Experiments methodology. The results from six test cases are presented showing the effect of each parameter on inlet total pressure recovery and distortion at the aerodynamic interface plane. The results include two-order interaction effects from the five parameters. Low Mach number at the duct entry and low vertical offset distance had the largest benefit for both response variables.
Substrate Effects in In-Situ Growth of Perovskites by Pulsed Laser Deposition

In this study we report on in-situ growth of lead zirconate titanate (PbZr 1-x Ti x O 3 , PZT) and strontium titanate (SrTiO 3 , STO) films by pulsed laser deposition at 248 nm. Films were deposited in an oxygen background at elevated temperatures on a variety of substrates including MgO(l00), Pt(100)/MgO(100), Pt(111)/MgO(111), Pt(110)/MgO(110), Pt(111)/SiO 2 /Si, and Pt(111)/glass.Deposited films were characterized by Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and electrical (dielectric constant and leakage) measurements. A strong substrate dependence was found for both the fraction of pyrochlore (Pb 2 Zr 2-x Ti x O 7 ) phase in the PZT films, and the STO film dielectric constants. The origin of the substrate dependence is discussed with regard to nucleation and interface layer cffects, and the chemistry of the relevant materials.
Review of Electrification Processes in Planetary Atmospheres

Although the dynamics of the atmospheres of the small planets have been studied considerably over the past decade for comparison with Earth, there has been little discussion of the physical meteorology of these atmospheres. Electrical phenomena are common in the earth’s atmosphere and generally support the conceptual spherical capacitor theory. Sufficient is known about other planetary atmospheres to allow discussion of possible similar phenomena.
Ultrahigh-Speed Signal Processing using Temporal Imaging

Parametric temporal imaging enables robust, fully guided wave optical processing systems with greater than THz bandwidths. Here we will discuss the applications of such systems for processing a variety of ultrahigh-speed signals. Article not available.
Living Outside the Gender Box in Mexico: Testimony of Transgender Mexican Asylum Seekers

Objectives. To explore preimmigration experiences of violence and postimmigration health status in male-to-female transgender individuals (n = 45) from Mexico applying for asylum in the United States.Methods. We used a document review process to examine asylum declarations and psychological evaluations of transgender Mexican asylum seekers in the United States from 2012. We coded documents in 2013 and 2014 using NVivo, a multidisciplinary team reviewed them, and then we analyzed them for themes.Results. Mexican transgender asylum applicants experienced pervasive verbal, physical, and sexual abuse from multiple sources, including family, school, community, and police. Applicants also experienced discrimination in school and in the workplace. Applicants immigrated to the United States to escape persistent assaults and threats to their life. Applicants suffered health and psychological effects from their experiences in Mexico that affected opportunities in the United States for employment, education, and soc...
Multicast techniques for hybrid RF/FSO DTNs

Increasing the contact bandwidth in delay tolerant networks (DTNs) via multicopy routing leads to a decrease in data delivery delay and an improvement in throughput. In DTNs, in which nodes have both radio frequency (RF) and free space optical (FSO) PHY layers, contact bandwidth can be increased by using the FSO PHY as the data channel and performing multicasting. As we show in this paper, due to the highly directional nature of FSO, a naive broadcast strategy where the beam divergence includes all nodes in the broadcast set, it does not always result in the minimization of data delivery delay and the maximization of delivery probability. To this end, we develop multicast strategies for hybrid RF/FSO DTNs via an emulation of static conditions in mobile DTNs in which RF is primarily used for control. We show that the optimal multicast problem in static environments is an abstraction of the minimum weighted set cover problem, which is known to be NP-hard. To save on computation time, we propose a greedy local optimum heuristic. Performance of the various multicast techniques is comprehensively evaluated in a DTN simulator, using the Epidemic routing protocol. These evaluations show that our computationally cheap solution yields results identical to optimal while not compromising the performance of the DTN.
Cobalt- and Silver-Promoted Methylenecyclopropane Rearrangements

The rate of the methylenecyclopropane rearrangement is enhanced by an alkyne–Co2(CO)6 complex bonded to the para position of a benzene ring. This is explained by a stabilizing effect on the transition state leading to the biradical intermediate. Computational studies indicate that the benzylic-type biradical intermediate is stabilized by a delocalization mechanism, where spin is delocalized onto the two cobalt atoms. Silver cation also enhances the rate of the methylenecyclopropane rearrangement. Computational studies suggest that silver cation can also stabilize a benzylic radical by spin delocalization involving silver. In the case of the silver-promoted reactions, the rate enhancements in a series of aryl-substituted methylenecyclopropanes correlate with σ+ values. The question remains open as to whether the silver-catalyzed methylenecyclopropane rearrangement proceeds via an argento-stabilized biradical or whether the reaction involves an argento-substituted allylic cation.
Sphingomyelin and GM1 Influence Huntingtin Binding to, Disruption of, and Aggregation on Lipid Membranes

Huntington disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disease caused by the expansion beyond a critical threshold of a polyglutamine (polyQ) tract near the N-terminus of the huntingtin (htt) protein. Expanded polyQ promotes the formation of a variety of oligomeric and fibrillar aggregates of htt that accumulate into the hallmark proteinaceous inclusion bodies associated with HD. htt is also highly associated with numerous cellular and subcellular membranes that contain a variety of lipids. As lipid homeostasis and metabolism abnormalities are observed in HD patients, we investigated how varying both the sphingomyelin (SM) and ganglioside (GM1) contents modifies the interactions between htt and lipid membranes. SM composition is altered in HD, and GM1 has been shown to have protective effects in animal models of HD. A combination of Langmuir trough monolayer techniques, vesicle permeability and binding assays, and in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to directly monitor the interaction of a model, synthetic htt peptide and a full-length htt-exon1 recombinant protein with model membranes comprised of total brain lipid extract (TBLE) and varying amounts of exogenously added SM or GM1. The addition of either SM or GM1 decreased htt insertion into the lipid monolayers. However, TBLE vesicles with an increased SM content were more susceptible to htt-induced permeabilization, whereas GM1 had no effect on permeablization. Pure TBLE bilayers and TBLE bilayers enriched with GM1 developed regions of roughened, granular morphologies upon exposure to htt-exon1, but plateau-like domains with a smoother appearance formed in bilayers enriched with SM. Oligomeric aggregates were observed on all bilayer systems regardless of induced morphology. Collectively, these observations suggest that the lipid composition and its subsequent effects on membrane material properties strongly influence htt binding and aggregation on lipid membranes.
Discrimination of synthetic cathinones by GC–MS and GC–MS/MS using cold electron ionization

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry is currently among the methods of choice for the analysis of synthetic cathinones. However, these analytes are extremely labile, and classical electron ionization (EI) results in excessive and relatively uninformative fragmentation, yielding little to no molecular ions. Cold EI reduces the internal energy of the analytes by expansion of supersonic molecular beams prior to their ionization, leading to improved molecular ion information. In this study, classical and cold EI were compared for the analysis of synthetic cathinones. We demonstrated that cold electron ionization produced enhanced molecular ion intensity for most of the bath salts considered, as well as more informative fragmentation. Principal component analysis showed that cold EI mass spectra are more discriminative than those obtained by classical EI. MS/MS can offer improved confidence in synthetic cathinone identification even in cases where the relative intensity of the molecular ion is very low in MS spectra.
Obsessive beliefs, experiential avoidance, and cognitive fusion as predictors of obsessive-compulsive disorder symptom dimensions

Abstract Cognitive models of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), although widely-supported, do not fully explain obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms. Mid-level constructs from acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT; e.g., experiential avoidance, cognitive fusion) may advance our understanding of OCD symptoms by adding explanatory power to existing conceptual models. The current study examined the extent to which mid-level ACT constructs account for unique variability in OCD symptom dimensions within a large treatment-seeking sample of individuals with OCD. In line with previous research in analogue samples, regression analyses revealed that although experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion showed associations with OCD symptoms, these constructs did not generally add to the prediction of OCD symptoms once general distress and obsessive beliefs were accounted for. An exception was that cognitive fusion was a unique predictor of unacceptable obsessional thoughts along with beliefs about importance of and need to control thoughts. These findings provide further support for the cognitive model of OCD as well as the notion that mid-level ACT constructs best relates to the unacceptable thoughts dimension of OCD. Conceptual and treatment implications, study limitations, and future directions are discussed.
LINEAR PROGRAMMING (AN ALGEBRAIC APPROACH)

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses an algebraic approach to linear programming. A standard linear programming problem is a linear programming problem in which (1) the objective function is to be maximized; (2) the variables are all required to be nonnegative; and (3) in the other constraints, the expressions involving the variables are less than or equal to (≤) a nonnegative constant. Sometimes a linear programming problem that is not in standard form can be put into standard form. If the first condition is not satisfied—that is, if the objective function is to be minimized—a new objective function that is the negative of the original objective function is created. The new objective function is then maximized. A system of equations can be transformed to an equivalent system of equations by interchanging two equations; multiplying an equation by a nonzero constant; and adding a multiple of one equation to another equation.
Conversion Mechanism of Soluble Alkylamide Precursors for the Synthesis of Colloidal Nitride Nanomaterials

There are few molecular precursors that chemically convert to nitride nanomaterials, which severely limits the development of this important class of materials. Alkylamides are soluble and stable nitride precursors that can be based on the same primary amines that are often used in colloidal nanomaterial synthesis, but their conversion involves the breaking of stable C–N bonds through a mechanism that remained unknown up to now. A critical aspect of this conversion mechanism is uncovered here, involving a prelimary step whereby alkylamides are oxidized to N-alkylimines to yield NH2– amide species that are postulated to be the actual reactive precursors in the formation of indium nitride nanomaterials. Interestingly, this step also involves the concomitant reduction of indium(III) to In(0) nanodroplets, which consequently catalyze the growth of InN nanomaterials. The elucidation of the origin of the surprising reactivity of otherwise stable molecular precursors opens the door to the development of new solu...
Evaluation of the use of abdominal compression of the lung in stereotactic radiation therapy.

Abstract The goal of this retrospective study was to determine the benefit in using abdominal compression to reduce tumor motion for patients treated with lung stereotactic body radiotherapy. Forty-four lung lesions (n = 44) from 37 patients (N = 37) treated at the University of Toledo's Dana Cancer Center were assessed by determining the overall tumor displacement along with possible surrogates such as change in tidal volume and diaphragm displacement, with and without abdominal compression. Measurements of lung capacity were acquired from the 4DCT at maximum and minimum respiration in order to determine the tidal volume, with and without abdominal compression. Tumor centroid and diaphragm apex motion was then assessed in 3 dimensions from phase 0 to phase 50. This was measured in centimeters using the ruler method on MIM software, both with and without the compression belt. Change in overall tumor movement was 0.61 cm ± 0.09 cm with compression, and 0.60 cm ± 0.09 cm without the compression belt. Delta tumor motion was reduced in 5 cases, increased (made worse) in 6 cases, and did not clinically impact the remaining 33 cases. Average tidal volume with abdominal compression was 379.7 mL or 12.0% ± 0.724% of total lung volume while average tidal volume without abdominal compression was 337.7 mL or 10.5% ± 0.649% of total lung volume. Change in diaphragm position throughout the breathing cycle was 1.21 cm ± 0.10 cm with compression, and 1.28 ± 0.13 cm without the compression belt. These findings indicate that abdominal compression may not be an effective method in the reduction of respiratory motion, and can even negatively impact tumor motion by increasing its displacement. Compression decreased tumor motion in 5 out of the 44 cases studied. The 5 cases that benefitted tended to be lesions close to the diaphragm but these 5 corresponded to less than half of the inferior lesions, suggesting that even inferior lung lesions may not be prime candidates for abdominal compression.
Introduction to the special issue for The anaerobe society of the America's 14th Biennial congress in Las Vegas.

Abstract In June 2018, the Anaerobe Society of the America's (ASA) held their 14th Biennial Congress in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Congress was attended by over 200 individuals from many different countries. The focus of the meeting was the fast-growing area of anaerobes in human and animal infectious disease, computational tools to understand basic biology and therapeutic development, the role of anaerobes in the microbiome, and clinical trials of novel bacterial-based therapies. To strengthen the community of researchers working on anaerobes, the congress held two training workshops on clinical bacteriology and anaerobes in the microbiome, several networking events, as well as a dinner which honored the lifetime achievement award given to Ellen Jo Baron. The meeting was also attended by the grandfather of anaerobic bacteriology and the founder of (ASA), Sydney Finegold, at the age of 97. In all, there was a broad diversity of research presented that showed new ways that anaerobes play a important role in health and disease.
People of Arab Heritage

Arabs trace their ancestry and traditions to the nomadic desert tribes of the Arabian Peninsula. They share a common language, Arabic. Most are united by Islam, the world’s largest religion that originated in seventh-century Arabia. Despite these common bonds, great diversity exists among Arabs related to religious preference and other variant characteristics of culture discussed in Chap. 1. Many Arab Americans disappear in national studies because they are counted as white in census data. The September 11, 2001, al Qaeda terrorist attack on the US has increased the number and intensity of negative comments about Arabs. Health-care providers need to understand that few Arab Americans support terrorist attacks and that it is inappropriate to pigeonhole people by their cultural background.
“TO WORK BLACK MAGIC”: RICHARD BRUCE NUGENT’S QUEER TRANSNATIONAL INSURGENCY

Within the Harlem Renaissance’s politically charged climate, a discourse of anti-decadence emerged to police the boundaries of racial solidarity and to ward off the public specter of flamboyant homosexuality associated with European aestheticism. However, self-styled bohemian Richard Bruce Nugent (1906-1987) stubbornly embraced literary decadence and aestheticism, illuminating the ways that blackness and homosexuality possessed the power to deconstruct American national identity in distinct yet overlapping ways. For Nugent, blackness and homosexuality each had the power to rework fraternal relations between men that nationalist ideologies defined as inherently belligerent. Nugent’s decadence comes specifically to bear on the global-historical relationship between Italy and Africa, echoed in both the Ethiopian Crisis and the sometimes tense relations between African- and Italian-American men in the lead-up to World War II. In his largely overlooked short story, “Pope Pius the Only” (1937), Nugent responds to fascist Italy’s invasion of the sovereign African kingdom of Ethiopia with “black magic,” toppling categorical hierarchies and undoing global white nationalisms from within by putting blackness, homoeroticism, and literary decadence “to work.”
Vector Mosquito Surveillance Using Centers For Disease Control and Prevention Autocidal Gravid Ovitraps In San Antonio, Texas.

ABSTRACT Mosquito surveillance in large urban areas of the southern USA that border Mexico has become increasingly important due to recent transmission of Zika virus and chikungunya virus in the Am...
Fluorescent Cholangiography in Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy and the Use in Pediatric Patients

Background: Common bile duct (CBD) injury is one of the most serious complications of laparoscopic cholecystectomy and carries an incidence of 0.3%–0.7%. Recently indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescen...
Clinic-based Debridement of Chronic Ulcers Has Minimal Impact on Bacteria.

Outpatient-based sharp debridement is considered an important element for the care of a chronic ulcer. Objective The aim of this study is to evaluate the change in bacterial amounts with sharp debridement in a clinical setting. Materials and methods Bacterial autofluorescence, quantitative cultures, semiquantitative cultures, and qualitative speciation were performed predebridement and postdebridement during a single clinic visit. Results Thirty-six wounds were included in the analysis. The mean patient age was 62 years (range, 27-83 years), and there were 13 (36.11%) women and 23 (63.89%) men with an average body mass index of 33.8 kg/m² (range, 16.7-55.9 kg/m²). Of the 36 patients, 24 (66.67%) had type 2 diabetes and 19 (52.78%) had a prior history of lower extremity amputation. Majority of the ulcers were diabetic neuropathic (27, 75%); the most common location was on the plantar aspect of the foot (14, 41.67%) with a mean ulcer duration of 10 months (range, 1-36), mean ulcer area of 6.3 ± 12.8 cm² (range, 0.18-62.06 cm²), and mean volume of 2.2 ± 4.4 cm³ (range, 0.05-9.66 cm³). There was no statistically significant difference in bacterial autofluorescence between the predebridement (4.15 ± 8.82) and the postdebridement (4.65 ± 9.48) images (P = .32). There was a statistically significant difference in quantitative culture results between the predebridement (6.7 x 104 ± 1.4 x 106 CFU/cm²) and the postdebridement (1.7 x 104 ± 3.1 x 106 CFU/cm²) cultures (P = .04), although this is not a log reduction. Conclusions There is no statistically significant difference between the predebridement versus postdebridement semiquantitative culture results or a detectable pattern of change for the most common bacterial species encountered. These results suggest little impact of clinic-based sharp debridement on bacteria.
CRISPR/Cas9 knockout of human arylamine N-acetyltransferase 1 in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells suggests a role in cellular metabolism.

Human arylamine N-acetyltransferase 1 (NAT1), present in all tissues, is classically described as a phase-II xenobiotic metabolizing enzyme but can also catalyze the hydrolysis of acetyl-Coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) in the absence of an arylamine substrate using folate as a cofactor. NAT1 activity varies inter-individually and has been shown to be overexpressed in estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancers. NAT1 has also been implicated in breast cancer progression however the exact role of NAT1 remains unknown. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of varying levels of NAT1 N-acetylation activity in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells on global cellular metabolism and to probe for unknown endogenous NAT1 substrates. Global, untargeted metabolomics was conducted via ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) on MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines constructed with siRNA and CRISPR/Cas9 technologies to vary only in NAT1 N-acetylation activity. Many metabolites were differentially abundant in NAT1-modified cell lines compared to the Scrambled parental cell line. N-acetylasparagine and N-acetylputrescine abundances were strongly positively correlated (r = 0.986 and r = 0.944, respectively) with NAT1 N-acetylation activity whereas saccharopine abundance was strongly inversely correlated (r = −0.876). Two of the most striking observations were a reduction in de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis and defective β-oxidation of fatty acids in the absence of NAT1. We have shown that NAT1 expression differentially affects cellular metabolism dependent on the level of expression. Our results support the hypothesis that NAT1 is not just a xenobiotic metabolizing enzyme and may have a role in endogenous cellular metabolism.