cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Radiation Enhances Tumor Cell Metastasis

We previously reported that low dose photon radiation (i.e., γ and x-radiation) stimulates B16 melanoma cell anbβIIbβ3 integrin receptor expression (1). In studies reported here, we characterize radiation enhanced αIIbβ3 integrin expression and metastasis. We determined that radiation- nhanced B16 cell integrin expression: 1) is specific for the αIIbβ3 integrin receptor; 2) is reversible; 3) increases B16 cell adhesion to fibronectin, but not to laminin; and 4) is inhibited by the lipoxygenase inhibitor, NDGA.
The efficacy of sonographic measurement of inferior vena cava diameter as an estimate of central venous pressure

Central venous pressure (CVP) and right atrial pressure (RAP) are important parameters in the complete hemodynamic assessment of a patient. Sonographic measurement of the inferior vena cava (IVC) diameter is a non-invasive method of estimating these parameters, but there are limited data summarizing its diagnostic accuracy across multiple studies. We performed a comprehensive review of the existing literature to examine the diagnostic accuracy and clinical utility of sonographic measurement of IVC diameter as a method for assessing CVP and RAP. We performed a systematic search using PubMed of clinical studies comparing sonographic evaluation of IVC diameter and collapsibility against gold standard measurements of CVP and RAP. We included clinical studies that were performed in adults, used current imaging techniques, and were published in English. Twenty one clinical studies were identified that compared sonographic assessment of IVC diameter with CVP and RAP and met all inclusion criteria. Despite substantial heterogeneity in measurement techniques and patient populations, most studies demonstrated moderate strength correlations between measurements of IVC diameter and collapsibility and CVP or RAP, but more favorable diagnostic accuracy using pre-specified cut points. Findings were inconsistent among mechanically ventilated patients, except in the absence of positive end-expiratory pressure. Sonographic measurement of IVC diameter and collapsibility is a valid method of estimating CVP and RAP. Given the ease, safety, and availability of this non-invasive technique, broader adoption and application of this method in clinical settings is warranted.
Development of Next Generation Flip Chip Interconnection Technology Using Homogenized Laser-Assisted Bonding

Conventional flip chip technologies such as the mass reflow (MR) process and the thermal compression bonding (TCB) process are commonly used technologies in the micro assembly field. However, there is a continuous need for next generation interconnection technology to achieve a low form factor with increasing die and substrate complexities. Moreover, very thin 3D integrated packages and 2.5D packages with thin interposer die promise advanced interconnection technologies for mobile and wearable applications. With this point of view, the most important factor in interconnection is optimal thermal energy control for soldering. However, a conventional MR process cannot provide any selectivity and controlled thermal energy transferring with the traditional convection reflow. Its high thermal budget makes warpage an issue, aside from other side effects. To overcome the MR process problems, recent researches and industries have focused on developing a TCB process with non-conductive paste (NCP) or non-conductive film (NCF) due to TCB's unique advantages of low mechanical and thermal stress. However, the productivity of the TCB process is not comparably to the conventional process. Laser-assisted bonding (LAB) with beam homogenizer is considered to be the next generation interconnection technology due to its excellent thermal selectivity, extremely fast ramping up speed with purely controlled wavelength. This LAB process offers a very stable interconnection quality as well as robust functional and reliability result. Interestingly, it also achieves excellent results with thin coreless substrate due to its selective heating area availability. This paper will discuss the laser heating mechanism, multi-chip & component bonding availability and advantage of LAB from an assembly industrial perspective.
High power subpicosecond THz and IR production

We report a new THz/IR/UV source located at the free electron laser (FEL) facility at Jefferson Lab. For THz production, these electron bunches pass a chicane around the optical cavity, and therefore emit synchrotron radiation. The new facility offers simultaneous synchrotron light from the visible through the FIR along with broadband T-ray production. The FEL on the system provide record breaking levels of power by extending records in both power and operational wavelengths with 400 fs pulses at up to 74.85 MHz repetition rates.
When students speak, who listens?: constructing audience in classroom argumentation

Does a speaker craft an argument carefully if no one will hear it? Does an engineer design structures without reflecting on the individuals for whom her creations will have meaning and utility? Learning sciences research often explores such creative activities as meaningful opportunities for learning-inherent in these acts of creation is the concept of audience. In this paper, we draw on the philosophical and science studies literature to further unpack the role of audience in argumentation and examine three different ways that educators have addressed the problem of creating an audience for student work. We discuss how these approaches can challenge existing classroom structures and present evidence from empirical studies that demonstrate some of the outcomes.
Profiling of ARDS pulmonary edema fluid identifies a metabolically distinct subset

There is considerable biological and physiological heterogeneity among patients who meet standard clinical criteria for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). In this study, we tested the hypothesis that there exists a subgroup of ARDS patients who exhibit a metabolically distinct profile. We examined undiluted pulmonary edema fluid obtained at the time of endotracheal intubation from 16 clinically phenotyped ARDS patients and 13 control patients with hydrostatic pulmonary edema. Nontargeted metabolic profiling was carried out on the undiluted edema fluid. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses including principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were conducted to find discriminant metabolites. Seven-hundred and sixty unique metabolites were identified in the pulmonary edema fluid of these 29 patients. We found that a subset of ARDS patients (6/16, 38%) presented a distinct metabolic profile with the overrepresentation of 235 metabolites compared with edema fluid from the other 10 ARDS patients, whose edema fluid metabolic profile was indistinguishable from those of the 13 control patients with hydrostatic edema. This "high metabolite" endotype was characterized by higher concentrations of metabolites belonging to all of the main metabolic classes including lipids, amino acids, and carbohydrates. This distinct group with high metabolite levels in the edema fluid was also associated with a higher mortality rate. Thus metabolic profiling of the edema fluid of ARDS patients supports the hypothesis that there is considerable biological heterogeneity among ARDS patients who meet standard clinical and physiological criteria for ARDS.
Short-Range Repulsive Interactions between the Surfaces of Lipid Membranes

Short-range repulsive interactions are critical to many properties of both cell and model membranes. For example, the close approach of apposing membrane surfaces is governed by short-range interactions. Therefore, for cell membranes, both the magnitude and range of these short-range forces are important in the numerous biological processes where membranes come together, such as cell-cell recognition, synaptic transmission, and protein secretion. Moreover, specificity in biochemical associations can be achieved through a balance of short-range attractive and repulsive interactions. For model membranes, interbilayer interactions determine to a large extent the hydration, aggregation, and fusogenic properties of lipid bilayers and lipid-protein assemblies. In this paper we discuss our recent work on the two principal short-range repulsive interactions acting between cell and model membranes, namely the hydration and steric pressures.
Slingram Prediction of Optimal Vegetable Yields in Drought-Affected Alkaline Soil

Drought is a serious concern in many parts of the world, including in California, where paucity of available irrigation water has impaired crop production and soil health through salt accumulation. With extending water and salinity crises, there is a need for advanced salt and vegetation management. To develop more efficient management solutions, Slingram electromagnetic investigations and stochastic and statistical analyses were performed for determining optimal vegetable yields in a salt-affected farmland. The Slingram results were evaluated using multi-linear regression analyses, and the yield and salinity were characterized for central tendency, variance, distributions and symmetry. The yields of two studied vegetable crops, lettuce and tomato, increased with decreasing salinity load. The average lettuce and tomato yield potentials were 55 and 75%, respectively. The minimum yield potential for tomato was 9.5 times higher than that for lettuce. The mode value for conductivity (ECe) was 650 mS m−1, which corresponded to 50% yield loss. The yield loss was 850 mS m−1, the yield reductions for lettuce and tomato reached up to 96 and 60%, respectively. About 57 and 82% of the field area could be limited to 20% yield potentials for tomato and lettuce, respectively. Lettuce had a higher cost benefit than tomato albeit with a greater yield potential of the latter crop. By delineating the spatial contours of salt-induced yield variability, vegetables can be grown in segmented soil zones based on salinity levels.
A spin column-free approach to sodium hydroxide-based glycan permethylation.

Glycan permethylation was introduced as a tool to facilitate the study of glycans in 1903. Since that time, permethylation procedures have been continually modified to improve permethylation efficiency and qualitative applicability. Typically, however, either laborious preparation steps or cumbersome and uneconomical spin columns have been needed to obtain decent permethylation yields on small glycan samples. Here we describe a spin column-free (SCF) glycan permethylation procedure that is applicable to both O- and N-linked glycans and can be employed upstream to intact glycan analysis by MALDI-MS, ESI-MS, or glycan linkage analysis by GC-MS. The SCF procedure involves neutralization of NaOH beads by acidified phosphate buffer, which eliminates the risk of glycan oxidative degradation and avoids the use of spin columns. Optimization of the new permethylation procedure provided high permethylation efficiency for both hexose (>98%) and HexNAc (>99%) residues—yields which were comparable to (or better than) those of some widely-used spin column-based procedures. A light vs. heavy labelling approach was employed to compare intact glycan yields from a popular spin-column based approach to the SCF approach. Recovery of intact N-glycans was significantly better with the SCF procedure (p 0.75; p < 0.01). In summary, the SCF permethylation procedure expedites and economizes both intact glycan analysis and linkage analysis of glycans from whole biospecimens.
Estimating the Marginal Implicit Price of the Spatially Diverse Environmental Amenities from Urban Open Space in Onondaga County, New York: A Geographically Weighted Regression Approach

This research applies Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) to investigate how different types of urban open space and their spatial configurations are valued by residential property owners. To reflect residential property owners’ perception of neighborhood and spatially heterogeneous configuration of urban open spaces, environmental amenity variables are measured at 100m and 1km radius buffer surrounding each residential property. GWR and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) models are applied to analyze 4469 arms-length residential property transactions from Onondaga County, NY (USA) between Jan. 2000 and Dec. 2000 and are evaluated in terms of model fitting and spatial effects assessment. Results of this research show that GWR models outperform OLS models in model fitting and detecting spatial effects in model residuals, as well as is able to find spatial non-stationary relationships in larger number of environmental amenity variables. This research innovates in several ways. First, it innovates by considering spatial configuration of open spaces reflecting residential property owners’ perspective. Second, this research illustrated spatially varying effect of urban open space variables using the marginal implicit price of each variable.
Stent placement by EUS or ERCP for primary biliary decompression in pancreatic cancer: a randomized trial (with videos).

Background and Aims Studies on EUS-guided transmural biliary drainage (EUS-BD) have evaluated its efficacy as a rescue technique after failed ERCP. We performed a single-center, single-blind, randomized trial to compare EUS-BD and ERCP as primary treatment for distal biliary obstruction in pancreatic cancer. Methods Patients underwent EUS-BD (n = 33) or ERCP (n = 34). The primary endpoint was the rate of adverse events. Secondary endpoints were technical success, treatment success (defined as decline in serum bilirubin by 50% at a 2-week follow-up), reinterventions, and intraoperative technical outcome, when applicable. Follow-up was until death or a minimum of 6 months. Results The rates of adverse events were 21.2% (6.1% moderate severity; others mild severity) in the EUS-BD group and 14.7% (5.9% moderate severity; others mild severity) in the ERCP group (risk ratio, .69; 95% confidence interval, .24-1.97; P = .49). There were no procedure-related deaths. There was no significant difference in the rates of technical success (90.9% vs 94.1%, P = .67), treatment success (97% vs 91.2%, P = .61), or reinterventions (3.0% vs 2.9%, P = .99) between EUS-BD and ERCP cohorts, respectively. The endoscopic interventions did not impede subsequent pancreaticoduodenectomy that was performed in 5 of 33 patients (15.2%) in the EUS-BD and 5 of 34 patients (14.7%) in the ERCP group (P = .99). Conclusions Given the similar rates of adverse events and treatment outcomes in this randomized trial, EUS-BD is a practical alternative to ERCP for primary biliary decompression in pancreatic cancer. (Clinical trial registration number: NCT03054987.)
Whirled world (can't face self)

It catches the soul, which would otherwise be lost in metaphorical sneezes or other human paroxysms. None of the identical sagittal brain MRIs in the basic arrays faces itself. Note: This image had been posted to Instagram and is now removed.
Action of Fungus on Fungicide

When a toxicant or its precursor enters the fungous cell, it may react in any of four ways: (1) it may inhibit the fungus directly; (2) it may accumulate in the fungous cell and be stored; (3) the precursor may be converted to a toxicant through metabolic conversion; or (4) the toxicant may be inactivated by the fungus. In all of these cases, a portion of the molecular structure of the toxicant or its precursor may remain unaltered in the cell or the material may be changed, either reversibly or irreversibly.
Names, Descriptions, and Assertion

According to Millian Descriptivism, while the semantic content of a linguistically simple proper name is just its referent, we often use sentences containing such expressions “to make assertions…that are, in part, descriptive” (Soames 2008). Against this view, I show, following Ted Sider and David Braun, that simple sentences containing names are never used to assert descriptively enriched propositions. In addition, I offer a diagnosis as to where the argument for Millian Descriptivism goes wrong. Once we appreciate the distinctive way in which this account fails, we can better appreciate the very modest role that associated descriptive information plays in the pragmatics of proper names.
Sex and Gender in Sensation and Perception

Philosophers and scientists have been attempting to understand how humans sense, perceive, and respond to their environment for thousands of years. Psychophysicists have relied upon self-report, threshold measurements, perceptual accuracy, and epidemiological comparisons to define the limits and norms of our sensory abilities. A significant portion of these investigations have included comparisons of the differences between the sexes, and theories and explanations about why these differences occur have been proposed. Often these explanations have been sprinkled with anecdotal evidence or consensus stereotypes about differences between men and women. Our capacity to assess sensory ability and cognitive functioning has gradually improved over the last 100 years and has brought with it foundational theories that explain physiological functioning and how the eye, ear, and the other modalities sense the environment. It is fair to say that the improvement in our ability to unlock the secrets of the senses has increased exponentially in the last 20 years with the dawn of the digital age. It is also fair to speculate that in the next 20 years scientists will make significant progress in our understanding of how the brain interprets or perceives sensory information. These advances will bring with them a refinement of the tools needed to clarify the influences and outcomes of perceptual processes that do and do not differentiate the sexes. The intent of this chapter is to provide the reader first with a brief overview of the anatomy and physiology of the individual sensory systems. This is followed by several specific examples of what is known about the gender-related differences in sensory sensitivity and their neurobiological explanations. The focus is on human studies from the fields of cognitive psychology, psychophysics, and neuroscience. Sex differences in sensation and perception have been the subject of many previous reviews. Instead of focusing on an extensive history of the older literature, a brief overview of consensus findings on sensory sex differences will be presented, followed by the findings of recent investigations that have employed state-of-the-art neurophysiological and brain imaging techniques. This approach should provide the reader with an appreciation of the potential that newer methods can provide in our collective depth of understanding about what is to be a woman or a man.
Buffering Burnout: Preparing the Online Generation for the Occupational Hazards of the Legal Profession

This article explores legal education’s “elephant in the classroom”: the innate psychological toll of the legal profession and legal education’s failure to adequately prepare law students for that reality. This article will address the increasing need for reform by: 1) examining several unique qualities of Millennials and their use of technology; 2) exploring the occupational hazards of lawyering, namely stress, burnout and compassion fatigue; 3) identifying the ways in which technology increases Millennials’ vulnerability to these occupational hazards and subsequent professional impairments; and 4) providing best practices and preventative tools to be used in a professional formation curriculum aimed at preparing Millennial students to thrive in legal practice.
Firm and industry informational content from REIT FFO announcements

Conveyance of information associated with REIT FFO announcements is investigated by decomposing stock returns into three components: firm-specific, industry-level and market-wide. The relative impo...
Research Ethics in Geriatric Psychiatry

Research involving older populations raises a large number of ethical issues, including informed consent, decision-making capacity, and surrogate consent to research. In particular, because older adults may have cognitive impairment, additional safeguards may be needed in late-life research, depending on the nature of the research and the level of potential risk. As neuroscience investigations—and geriatric psychiatry research specifically—extends into increasingly innovative territory (e.g., responsive neuromodulation, brain-machine interfaces), and as research frameworks evolve—leading to the possibility of earlier and earlier prediction of neurocognitive disorders (e.g., preclinical Alzheimer’s disease [AD])—the array of ethical issues confronting researchers as well as clinicians will expand. This chapter provides a brief overview of key ethical principles and issues in geriatric psychiatry research.
Maximal surfaces in a certain 3-dimensional homogeneous spacetime

Abstract A generalized integral representation formula for spacelike maximal surfaces in a certain 3-dimensional homogeneous spacetime is obtained. This spacetime has a solvable Lie group structure with left invariant metric. The normal Gaus map of maximal surfaces in the homogeneous spacetime is discussed and the harmonicity of the normal Gaus map is studied.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors may lead to improved cataract surgery outcomes in patients with amblyopia.

Purpose To evaluate the effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)/serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) medications in combination with cataract surgery in treating amblyopia in adult patients. Patients and methods A retrospective chart review study was conducted on patients who had undergone cataract surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital Wilmer Eye Institute. Six inclusion criteria were used to assess patient eligibility: 1) >18 years of age, 2) diagnosis of amblyopia, 3) diagnosis of cataract and treatment with surgery, 4) electronic medical record contains pre-surgery and post-surgery visual acuity (VA) measurements, 5) electronic medical record contains information on whether the patient was ever prescribed a SSRI/SNRI and the treatment duration, and 6) interocular VA difference of two lines or more on Snellen chart prior to cataract surgery. From each record, preoperative VA, postoperative VA, date of surgery, date at which postoperative VA was measured, and age at surgery were collected. Results A total of 237 patients were included, with 38 of them being on SSRI/SNRI. The mean improvement in VA after surgery was not significantly greater in patients on SSRI/SNRI (SSRI/SNRI: -0.276 logMAR, control: -0.192 logMAR, p=0.15). Multivariable regression was subsequently performed and while holding all other variables constant, demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in VA in patients on SSRI/SNRI (95% CI: -0.194, -0.0116, p=0.03). The regression analysis further demonstrated that advanced age has an adverse effect on the change in post-op VA (CI: 3.34×10-3 logMAR, 9.77×10-3 logMAR, p<0.005). Worse baseline VA is associated with a greater improvement in post-op VA (95% CI: -0.659 logMAR, -0.463 logMAR, p<0.005) but adverse effect on the absolute post-op VA (95% CI: 0.341 logMAR, 0.544 logMAR, p<0.005). Conclusion This study suggests that patients with amblyopia undergoing cataract surgery may potentially have a greater visual improvement when treated with SSRI/SNRIs.
Picoliter Droplet Generation for Fast Monitoring the Brain Chemistry with Scaled Silicon Nanodyalisis Probe

To monitor neurochemicals while minimizing brain damage, a microdialysis system is developed with fluidic channels scaled to 5 μm-radius to fit into 15x50 μm2 silicon neural probe. Droplet generation is utilized to halt Taylor dispersion to achieve high temporal resolution. To extend the stability region for monodisperse droplet generation in such a space-limited probe at ultra-low nL/min flow rates, we varied the T-junction angle, parameter that is typically omitted from consideration for larger channels. In a series of experiments, we found that increase of the T-junction angle increases the critical capillary number separating squeezing and jetting segmentation regimes. With optimized geometry, we demonstrated generation of monodisperse pL-volume droplets in silicon nanofluidic channels. Finite element analysis indicated that these effects are due to interplay between differential pressure and viscous shear forces.
Do String-like Cooperative Motions Predict Relaxation Times in Glass-Forming Liquids?

The Adam–Gibbs theory of glass formation posits that the growth in the activation barrier of fragile liquids on cooling emerges from a loss of configurational entropy and concomitant growth in “coo...
Implementing routine patient-reported outcome collection in a large, academic health system.

7053Background: Patients' symptoms and side effects have traditionally been assessed by clinicians. There is increasing evidence that patient self-reported symptom severity often differs from clini...
Use of a Cervicofacial Flap in Closing Large Defects Following Wide Local Excision of Complicated Preauricular Lesions.

Purpose:To describe innovative surgical technique for closure of large defect following complicated preauricular cyst excision secondary to prior failed excision attempts, infections, and drainage ...
Organizational Rights in Times of Crisis

Are organizational rights more robust than individual rights in this time of crisis, as Adam Chilton and Mila Versteeg propose in their pathbreaking new book, “How Constitutional Rights Matter”? Are freedom of religion, unionization, and right to form political parties more robust because of their organizational character? I argue that in the face of unprecedented challenges, religious organizations, unlike student and parental organizations, have been able to articulate shared positions, and to fight for them through direct political representation, protests, and litigation.
Functional human gastrointestinal organoids can be engineered from three primary germ layers derived separately from pluripotent stem cells.

Summary Human organoid model systems lack important cell types that, in the embryo, are incorporated into organ tissues during development. We developed an organoid assembly approach starting with cells from the three primary germ layers—enteric neuroglial, mesenchymal, and epithelial precursors—that were derived separately from human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs). From these three cell types, we generated human antral and fundic gastric tissue containing differentiated glands surrounded by layers of smooth muscle containing functional enteric neurons that controlled contractions of the engineered antral tissue. Using this experimental system, we show that human enteric neural crest cells (ENCCs) promote mesenchyme development and glandular morphogenesis of antral stomach organoids. Moreover, ENCCs can act directly on the foregut to promote a posterior fate, resulting in organoids with a Brunner's gland phenotype. Thus, germ layer components that are derived separately from PSCs can be used for tissue engineering to generate complex human organoids.
Religiosity, Social Support and Care Associated with Health in Older Mexicans with Diabetes

The main purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between religiosity, social support, diabetes care and control and self-rated health of people living in Mexico who have been diagnosed with diabetes. Structural equation modeling was used to examine these associations using the Mexican Health and Aging Study, a national representative survey of older Mexicans. Findings indicate that emotional support from one's spouse/partner directly affects diabetes care and control and health. Although there is no direct relationship between religiosity and health, religiosity was positively associated with diabetes care and control, but not significantly related to health.
Exploring Scientific Workflow Provenance Using Hybrid Queries over Nested Data and Lineage Graphs

Existing approaches for representing the provenance of scientific workflow runs largely ignore computation models that work over structured data, including XML. Unlike models based on transformation semantics, these computation models often employ update semantics, in which only a portion of an incoming XML stream is modified by each workflow step. Applying conventional provenance approaches to such models results in provenance information that is either too coarse (e.g., stating that one version of an XML document depends entirely on a prior version) or potentially incorrect (e.g., stating that each element of an XML document depends on every element in a prior version). We describe a generic provenance model that naturally represents workflow runs involving processes that work over nested data collections and that employ update semantics. Moreover, we extend current query approaches to support our model, enabling queries to be posed not only over data lineage relationships, but also over versions of nested data structures produced during a workflow run. We show how hybrid queries can be expressed against our model using high-level query constructs and implemented efficiently over relational provenance storage schemes.
Tetrahydrofolate-dependent labilization of the hydrogen atom on carbon 5 of 5'-deoxycytidylate, a step in the deoxycytidylate hydroxymethylase reaction.

Abstract Deoxycytidylate hydroxymethylase, induced by the infection of Escherichia coli by T4 bacteriophage, specifically catalyzes an exchange between the hydrogen atom on carbon 5 of dCMP and water. The exchange is conveniently measured by the release of tritium from dCMP-5-3H into water. While tetrahydrofolate is required for the exchange, formaldehyde has been shown not to be involved. This exchange was not detectable in crude extracts of E. coli, but was found only in extracts of infected cells. The exchange activity was absent in extracts of cells infected by amber mutants of T4 which do not show dCMP hydroxymethylase activity. During purification of dCMP hydroxymethylase, the ratio of the rate of the over-all reaction to the rate of displacement of tritium from dCMP-5-3H remained constant. The rates of displacement of tritium from dCMP-5-3H, the incorporation of tritium ions from water into dCMP, and the incorporation of formaldehyde into hydroxymethyl dCMP have been compared. From these and other data, it has been concluded that the dCMP hydroxymethylase reaction consists of two reversible steps: the first, a tetrahydrofolate-dependent displacement of the hydrogen on carbon 5 of dCMP, and the second, the 5-hydroxymethylation of dCMP by formaldehyde or a derivative of formaldehyde, perhaps 5,10-methylene tetrahydrofolate. The first step has been postulated to be a reaction between carbon 5 of dCMP and the enzyme. The relationship of the hydroxymethylase system to the thymidylate synthetase reaction has been discussed. The release of tritium from dCMP-5-3H is a specific and sensitive assay for dCMP hydroxymethylase. dCMP hydroxymethylase induced by the infection of E. coli with bacteriophage T4 exhibited essentially the same properties during purification as the enzyme induced by phage T6.
19.2: Investigating the Function of Gd3+ in (Y,Gd)BOZ3: Eu3+ through Measurements of Host‐To‐Activator Transfer Efficiency

Using reflectance and excitation spectroscopy, we have calculated host-to-activator energy transfer efficiencies in (Y,Gd)BO3: Eu under vacuum ultraviolet excitation. As expected, we find an increase in the host-to-Eu transfer efficiency of these materials when Gd is doped into the YBO3 host. This effect is discussed in terms of current electron trapping and transport models.
Assessing Beliefs About Remarriages and Stepfamilies

Abstract In this study we refine and validate the factorial structure of the Remarriage Belief Inventory-an instrument developed to assess individuals' beliefs regarding remarriage. Using an online sample of 344 individuals in remarriages the factorial structure of a parsimonious, seven-factor, the 22-item instrument was confirmed. This structure was cross-validated by an independent sample of 217 remarried individuals. External validity is also provided for two of the subscales' direct effects on measures of marital quality. In addition, results from causal invariance tests indicate that relationships between the seven factors and remarital satisfaction did not differ by stepfamily type or years married. These constructs may now be used individually or collectively in future studies that consider cognitive dimensions related to remarriages.
Growth Rates of Sulfolobus acidocaldarius in Nature

Turnover times for water passing through several Sulfolobus acidocaldarius-containing springs were determined by measuring the dilution rates of small amounts of sodium chloride that were added to the springs. Chloride was diluted out exponentially, while concentrations of the bacteria remained constant. Additionally, temperature, pH, and chemical composition of the springs also remained constant during the time that the chloride was being diluted. The springs are thus steady-state systems, and since the rates of bacterial growth must be at least equal to the chloride dilution rates, minimal doubling times for the bacterial populations can be calculated. Half-times for chloride dilution, equivalent to bacterial doubling times, were on the order of 10 to 20 h for springs ranging in volume from about 20 to 2,000 liters, but approximately 30 days for two larger springs of about 1 million liters. Formaldehyde-fixed cells of a serologically distinguishable strain of S. acidocaldarius were also added as markers to four of the smaller springs, and the dilution rates of these bacteria were compared with the chloride dilution rates. The rates agreed reasonably well, thus verifying the growth rates obtained from the chloride dilution rates. In three springs, exponential growth was studied by draining the springs and allowing them to refill with bacteria-free water. Exponential doubling times were on the order of a few hours, much more rapid than steady-state doubling times. The methods used in this work may have wider utility in aquatic environments.
Effects of mutants and inhibitors on mitochondrial transport systems in vivo in yeast

Abstract We have reported elsewhere (Wills, C. and Martin, T. (1984) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 782, 274–284) that one or more mitochondrial transport systems may be involved in the regulation of the inducible alcohol dehydrogenase of yeast, ADH-II. In order to investigate this phenomenon further, it was necessary to determine which of these systems operate in the cell in vivo. We give in this paper preliminary evidence that inhibitors of the malate-phosphate ( n -butyl malonate), malate-citrate (hydroxycitrate) and malate-α-ketoglutarate (aminooxyacetate or cycloserine) transport systems all operate in vivo. While the demonstration of the in vivo inhibitory activity of n -butyl malonate and hydroxycitrate is entirely by physiological methods, that of the transaminase inhibitors aminooxyacetate and cycloserine depends in part on the isolation of mutants capable of growth on glycerol in minimal medium. On this medium these mutants depend on the malate-aspartate shuttle for growth, and as expected the transaminase inhibitors prevent their growth. Two of the mutants show an enhanced rate of mitochondrial glutamate uptake. A preliminary survey of the properties of the glycerol growth mutants is presented, showing that the probable mode of action of these mutants is an increase in the efficiency of the malate-aspartate shuttle.
Formation of biogenic amines in four edible mushroom species stored under different conditions

Abstract Wild growing mushrooms (Boletus badius, Boletus chrysentereon and Boletus variegatus) and cultivated common mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) were stored at 6 °C or 20 °C as intact fruiting bodies, wet slices and stewed slices for at least 2 days. Biogenic amines were determined as N-benzamides by high-performance liquid chromatography. No detectable levels of histamine and tyramine were observed. Concentrations of putrescine were up to 1600 mg kg−1 dry matter and of cadaverine up to 165 mg kg−1 dry matter in mushrooms of consumable quality. These levels seem to be safe for human consumption. No unambiguous effect of storage temperature on the amine levels was observed.
Evidence for Cellular Mediated Immunity in an Animal Model of Autoimmune Pituitary Disease

The anterior pituitary gland can be involved in an inflammatory reaction mediated by lymphocytes that leads to various degrees of dysfunction. In seven rabbits immunized with homologous pituitary tissue in complete Freund's adjuvant, a focal lymphocytic infiltrate, and increased fibrosis was observed in five. These changes were patchy in distribution and limited to the anterior pituitary. No inflammation was observed in five control animals. When incubated with pituitary extract, partially purified lymphocytes from four of the five animals with altered pituitary histology demonstrated a significant (p < 0.05) stimulation of 3H-thymidine incorporation. Measures of antipituitary antibodies using indirect immunofluorescence were negative in experimental as well as control animals. The present studies characterize the histologic changes and suggest that cellular immunity plays a role in the pathpgenesis of experimentally induced autoimmune pituitary disease.
Combinatorial recognition of a complex telomere repeat sequence by the Candida parapsilosis Cdc13AB heterodimer

The telomere repeat units of Candida species are substantially longer and more complex than those in other organisms, raising interesting questions concerning the recognition mechanisms of telomere-binding proteins. Herein we characterized the properties of Candida parapsilosis Cdc13A and Cdc13B, two paralogs that are responsible for binding and protecting the telomere G-strand tails. We found that Cdc13A and Cdc13B can each form complexes with itself and a heterodimeric complex with each other. However, only the heterodimer exhibits high-affinity and sequence-specific binding to the telomere G-tail. EMSA and crosslinking analysis revealed a combinatorial mechanism of DNA recognition, which entails the A and B subunit making contacts to the 3' and 5' region of the repeat unit. While both the DBD and OB4 domain of Cdc13A can bind to the equivalent domain in Cdc13B, only the OB4 complex behaves as a stable heterodimer. The unstable Cdc13AB(DBD) complex binds G-strand with greatly reduced affinity but the same sequence specificity. Thus the OB4 domains evidently contribute to binding by promoting dimerization of the DBDs. Our investigation reveals a rare example of combinatorial recognition of single-stranded DNA and offers insights into the co-evolution of telomere DNA and cognate binding proteins.
Damping prediction for hingeless rotor aeroelastic stability with experimental correlation

A numerical simulation technique is applied to determine the transient response of a hingeless rotor model and predict the lag damping for correlation with experimental results from a wind-tunnel test. Numerical investigations indicate that the present theoretical/numerical method improves somewhat the correlation of the theoretical and experimental results over earlier eigenvalue, perturbation analyses. For a shaft angle of as = 0 and —3 deg, the correlation still is not acceptable for the advance ratios, fi > 0.2. In addition to a steady inflow model, a 3 x 3 dynamic inflow model is also used in the present method. The results with this dynamic inflow model show some improvement relative to the experimental data, as compared to the uniform inflow model. For further improvement of the correlation with the experimental data, a highly efficient, accurate aerodynamic model suitable for the rotor blade aeroelastic stability analysis is required.
Inhibition of red cell and yeast hexokinase by triethyltin bromide [(C2H5)3SnBr]

Abstract Triethyltin bromide was found to be a selective inhibitor of red cell hexokinase. When intact red cell suspensions were exposed to the reagent (0.025–0.5 mM), inhibition of hexokinase occurred without any hemolysis and without effects on the activity of other glycolytic enzymes. Yeast hexokinase was also inhibited by triethyltin. The red cell and yeast hexokinases were protected against inhibition by triethyltin when the sugar substrates of the enzymes were included in the incubation mixture. This work identifies hexokinase as another among a limited number of proteins that are known to interact with triethyltin.
METS: The Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard

SUMMARY The Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard (METS) is a data communication standard for encoding descriptive, administrative, and structural metadata regarding objects within a digital library, expressed using the XML Schema Language of the World Wide Web Consortium. An initiative of the Digital Library Federation, METS is under development by an international editorial board and is maintained in the Network Development and MARC Standards Office of the Library of Congress. Designed in conformance with the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model, a METS document encapsulates digital objects and metadata as Information Packages for transmitting and/or exchanging digital objects to and from digital repositories, disseminating digital objects via the Web, and archiving digital objects for long-term preservation and access. This paper represents an introduction to the METS standard and, through illustrated examples, how to build a METS document.
The Collapse of Globalism and the Reinvention of the World

John Ralston Saul Atlantic Books, 2005 Having read Voltaire's Bastards a few years back, and now The Collapse of Globalism, I am left with the dominant impression that John Ralston Saul deserves re...
Cervical Spine Motion during Extrication

Abstract Background It has been estimated that up to one-quarter of spinal cord injuries may be significantly worsened during extrication or early treatment after a motor vehicle accident. Study Objectives The purpose of this study was to analyze the planar motions of the head relative to the torso during extrication from an automobile in a laboratory setting. Methods Video motion capture was used to quantify the range of motion of the head relative to the torso in 10 participants as they were extricated from a mock motor vehicle during four different extrication techniques: 1) Unassisted Unprotected, 2) Unassisted Protected with a cervical collar (CC), 3) Assisted and Protected with a CC, and 4) Assisted and Protected with a CC and Kendrick Extrication Device. Results The results indicated a significant decrease in movement for all motions when the driver exited the vehicle unassisted with CC protection, compared to exiting unassisted and without protection. Decreases in movement were also observed for an event (i.e., Pivot in seat) during extrication with paramedic assistance and protection. However, no movement reduction was observed in another event (i.e., Recline on board) with both paramedic assistance and protection. Conclusion In this study, no decrease in neck movement occurred for certain extrication events that included protection and assistance by the paramedics. Future work should further investigate this finding.
Energy transport in a modern disk amplifier

The University of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics has designed, built, and characterized a modern, 20-cm clear aperture, Nd:glass Brewster-disk amplifier. This device will be used as the final amplifier in the upgrade of the existing OMEGA laser system. This article describes results of the energy characterization of that amplifier. Specifically, spatially resolved measurements of small-signal gain and whole-beam measurements of large-signal gain are described. The amplifier met its small-signal design goal of 3.0 at only 70% of the design capacitor-bank energy with adequate spatial uniformity. A storage efficiency of 1.7% was achieved. Large-signal-gain measurements, both with and without 5-angstroms-FM bandwidth on the extracting beam, display no measurable change in gain because of the impressed bandwidth.
Previous stress increases in vivo biogenic amine response to swim stress

In vivo microdialysis was used to determine biogenic amines in medial prefrontal cortex of rats exposed to eight minutes of swim stress on two consecutive days. On the first day of stress, norepinephrine (NE) efflux increased by 183% over baseline after stress, while dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) remained stable throughout. On the second day of stress, a robust increase was observed in all 3 neurotransmitters measured, with (NE), (DA), and (5-HT) increasing by 310%, 441% and 496% respectively, and remaining elevated for an hour or more after stress. This suggests that the first exposure to swim stress, while not causing dramatic changes in biogenic amine release, may sensitize biogenic amines in medial prefrontal cortex to subsequent swim stress. Our results also serve as preliminary data concerning the neurochemical changes which might underlie the forced swimming model of “behavioral despair”.
Study of image quality in digital breast tomosynthesis by subpixel reconstruction

In digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT), the reconstructed image quality of small objects such as microcalcifications are limited by the detector resolution and the reconstruction voxel dimensions used, in addition to the inherent in-plane and inter-plane blurring due to limited-angle image acquisition. We are investigating the effects of subpixel reconstruction on the image quality of microcalcifications. In this study, subpixel projection images were generated by polynomial interpolation of the gray level values of the original projection images to reduce the pixel pitch by a factor of 2 to 4. The voxel dimensions in the reconstruction volume were varied. The in-plane voxel dimensions were chosen to match the pitch in the subpixel projection images while the voxel dimension in the depth-direction was varied systematically to study the relative effects. DBT scans of human subjects with microcalcifications were acquired with a GE prototype DBT system at 0.1 mm x 0.1 mm pixel pitch. In addition, computer modeling of the same system was used to generate simulated DBT projections of small spheres as a surrogate for microcalcifications. DBT volumes corresponding to the subpixel projections were reconstructed with SART. The FWHMs of the line profiles of the simulated microcalcifications on their in-focus DBT slices and FWHMs of the inter-plane artifact spread function (ASF) in the depth-direction were used for comparison of reconstruction quality. The results indicated that subpixel reconstruction increased the object contrast and reduced the inter-plane blurring to a certain extent. Further work is underway to study the dependence of the trade-off between image quality and reconstruction voxel dimensions on the image acquisition parameters (total scan angle, angular increment) of the DBT system and the properties of the objects of interest.
Socially meaningful syntactic variation in sign-based grammar

In this article, I investigate the implications of socially meaningful sociolinguistic variation for competence grammar, working from the point of view of HPSG as a kind of performance-plausible sign-based grammar. Taking data from African American Vernacular English variable copula absence as a case study, I argue that syntactic constraints and social meaning are intertwined. I present an overview of the literature on social meaning, discuss what grammars are models of, and argue that in order to model socially meaningful variation, competence grammars need to be extended to include social meaning, precompiled phrases, and probabilistic or frequentistic information. I then explore different heuristics for defining the boundaries of competence grammar and discuss the commonalities between the proposed additions and the kind of linguistic knowledge which is generally assumed to comprise competence grammar.