cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Oestrogen receptor (ER)-α and ER-β isoforms in normal endometrial and endometriosis-derived stromal cells

Several investigators have noted that hormone-dependent development of endometriosis implants lags behind that of simultaneously analysed eutopic endometrium. With the recent discovery of the oestrogen receptor-b (ER-b) isoform, the aim of this study was to investigate whether differences in the expression of ER-a and ER-b might explain this observation. mRNA transcripts from endometrial stromal cells isolated from normal endometrium (NE) and from endometriomas (EI) were analysed using a semi-quantitative reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) technique. RT‐PCR and Southern blot analyses of the two ER isoforms indicated that NE and EI stromal cells predominantly express ER-a mRNA, however the relative concentrations of ER isoform mRNA transcripts differed between the two cell types. Steady-state ER-a:ER-b mRNA ratios were 15.5 K 2.8 and 5.2 K 0.9 respectively for NE and EI cells (P J 0.02). NE and EI stromal cells expressed ER proteins with similar Kd (~0.9 nM) and densities (~24 500 binding sites/cell) respectively. Functional ER expression was indicated by an increase in progesterone receptor concentrations of ~60% (P J 0.03) after incubation with 10 nM oestradiol. We postulate that differential transcript processing, ligand specificity and biological actions of the ER-α and -β isoforms may influence differential growth responses in normal and ectopic endometrium.
Induction of Overt Menstruation in Intact Mice

The complex tissue remodeling process of menstruation is experienced by humans and some primates, whereas most placental mammals, including mice, go through an estrous cycle. How menstruation and the underlying mechanisms evolved is still unknown. Here we demonstrate that the process of menstruation is not just species-specific but also depends on factors which can be induced experimentally. In intact female mice endogenous progesterone levels were raised by the induction of pseudopregnancy. Following an intrauterine oil injection, the decidualization of the endometrium was reliably induced as a prerequisite for menstruation. The natural drop of endogenous progesterone led to spontaneous breakdown of endometrial tissue within an average of 3 days post induction of decidualization. Interestingly, morphological changes such as breakdown and repair of the endometrial layer occurred in parallel in the same uterine horn. Most importantly, endometrial breakdown was accompanied by vaginally visible (overt) bleeding and flushing out of shed tissue comparable to human menstruation. Real-time PCR data clearly showed temporal changes in the expression of multiple factors participating in inflammation, angiogenesis, tissue modulation, proliferation, and apoptosis, as has been described for human menstruating endometrium. In conclusion, human menstruation can be mimicked in terms of extravaginally visible bleeding, tissue remodeling, and gene regulation in naturally non-menstruating species such as intact female mice without the need for an exogenous hormone supply.
Weighing the Research Paper Option: The Difference that Information Literacy Skills Can Make

Requiring a short research paper in introductory political science courses can prove challenging for instructors, in part because of the diversity of student grade levels and majors in such courses. This is particularly the case with Introduction to Comparative Politics, as, at most universities, this course is not only required for the political science major, but often also fulfills multicultural requirements and can be used to complete lower division social science requirements. In deciding whether to include a research paper assignment in this course, one must weigh the benefit of catching majors early in order to begin building strong research skills, as well as the benefit of immersing students in key issues affecting the larger world, against the challenge of underdeveloped writing and research skills among the typical student in such a course. Another factor to consider is the grading load of reading large numbers of papers, given that most introductory courses have high enrollments. When choosing to require a research paper under these circumstances, then, one must also commit to working with students to hone their research and writing skills. In a collaborative, mutually beneficial partnership, college and library faculty can work together to identify ways to integrate information literacy concepts into course content and to design effective learning assignments addressing these important skills. This approach was undertaken by the authors, who revised a significant portion of the Introduction to Comparative Politics course at the University of West Florida to integrate information literacy activities in support of a semester-long, content-based research and writing assignment. This article explores using information literacy exercises as a tool to produce higher quality research papers in lower division political science courses.
EOF-Based Linear Prediction Algorithm: Theory

This study considers the theory of a general three-dimensional (space and time) statistical prediction/extrapolation algorithm. The predictor is in the form of a linear data filter. The prediction kernel is based on the minimization of prediction error and its construction requires the covariance statistics of a predictand field. The algorithm is formulated in terms of the spatiotemporal EOFs of the predictand field. This EOF representation facilitates the selection of useful physical modes for prediction. Limited tests have been conducted concerning the sensitivity of the prediction algorithm with respect to its construction parameters and the record length of available data for constructing a covariance matrix. Tests reveal that the performance of the predictor is fairly insensitive to a wide range of the construction parameters. The accuracy of the filter, however, depends strongly on the accuracy of the covariance matrix, which critically depends on the length of available data. This inaccuracy implies suboptimal performance of the prediction filter. Simple examples demonstrate the utility of the new algorithm.
Inhibition of Fatty acid synthase and induction of apoptosis in human breast cancer cells by Cacalia deliphiniifolia

629 Fatty acid synthase (FAS), a key enzyme in fatty acid biosynthetic pathway as well as in energy homeostasis, has been found to be over-expressed in a variety of human malignancies including breast cancer at a relatively early stage. Importantly, previous studies have demonstrated that inhibition of FAS expression resulted in induction of apoptosis in breast cancer cells. Therefore, FAS is considered to be an ideal target for anticancer therapy. Currently, there are several FAS inhibitors including siRNA and pharmacological compounds, however, they have limited clinical utility due to their relatively short half-life and various side effects. Therefore, it is desirable to develop a specific and non-toxic anti-FAS agent for clinical application. In this study, we screened extracts from various traditional Japanese edible herbal plants that are believed to have medicinal effects on cancer. Among them, Cacalia deliphiniifolia , strongly abrogated the expression of FAS in a dose and time dependent manner in breast cancer cell lines (MCF7 and MDA-MB-231). The extract also blocked cell growth and significantly induced apoptosis by activating the Caspase3. To identify an active component, a methanol extract of C. deliphiniifolia was fractionated by various chromatographies. We found that one of compounds, Cacalol, had significant anti-FAS activity in a dose- and time-dependent fashion and also showed significant induction of apoptosis in MCF7 and MDA231 cells compared to normal human mammary epithelial cells (HMEC). Cacalol has been known to be a strong anti-oxidant agent and we previously found that the FAS expression was partly controlled by Reactive oxygen species (ROS) which is often generated at a high level under hypoxic microenvironment of a growing tumor. Therefore, we examined whether Cacalol had the ability to block the generation of ROS in MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines. Indeed, Cacalol as well as C. deliphiniifolia extract significantly suppressed ROS in these cell lines, which was in parallel with its FAS-inhibitory activity, suggesting that the FAS inhibitory effect by Cacalol is partly due to its anti-oxidant activity. To further evaluate the potential anti-cancer activity of C. deliphiniifolia or Cacalol, we examined the synergistic effect of C. deliphiniifolia or Cacalol and Cyclophosphamide (CPA) which is commonly used for cancer chemotherapy. We found that a combination of C. deliphiniifolia or Cacalol and CPA synergistically enhanced apoptosis in MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines by blocking the FAS expression. Taken together, we demonstrated that C. deliphiniifolia and Cacalol induced apoptosis in breast cancer cells through its inhibitory effect on FAS expression which is likely to be mediated by their anti-oxidant activities. Therefore, C. deliphiniifolia and Cacalol have potential utility as chemopreventive as well as chemotherapeutic agents for breast cancer.
Five-choice serial reaction time task performance following catecholamine depletion of rat medial prefrontal cortex: implications for attention deficit in schizophrenia

The symptoms of schizophrenia are highly variable and include a variety of cognitive deficits, including attentional deficit. These cognitive deficits may involve dopamine (DA) underactivity in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) (Weinberger, Egan, Bertolino, Callicott, Mattay, Lipska, et al., 2001). The purpose of this thesis was to test the hypothesis that reduced DA in the PFC alters attention by examining the effects of reduced DA in the medial PFC (mPFC) of rats on a sustained attention task. Rats in the DA-lesioned group were administered 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) in the mPFC. Following 6-OHDA administration, rats in the DA-lesioned and shamlesioned group were trained to nose poke into a lit aperture for food reward in the 5-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT), a rodent analogue of the Continuous Performance Task used to assess sustained attention in schizophrenics (Robbins, 2002). The 6-OHDA administration resulted in depletions of both DA (33% of controls) and norepinephrine (NE) (50% of controls). Rats’ performance was assessed by comparing the frequency of correct, incorrect, omitted, and premature responses in testing conditions where the duration of stimulus in the 5-CSRTT was randomly varied from 2.5 to 0.25 seconds. No significant differences between lesioned and control rats were observed in any behavioral testing parameters. However, there was a trend toward increased numbers of omissions and reduced correct responses seen in lesioned rats especially at the shortest stimulus durations. The trend supports the hypothesis that reduced DA in the PFC contributes to attentional dysfunction in schizophrenia. Future studies should examine the behavioral effects of 6-OHDA lesions using larger sample sizes. Also, future studies should examine rats’ 5-CSRTT performance at stimulus durations less than 0.25 seconds to further explore the trend toward poorer performance seen in 6-OHDA lesioned rats.
A Primer: Extension, Indian Land Tenure, and Rangeland Limitations

On the Ground Rangelands in Indian Country are unique. Legal and historical realities present challenges to range and natural resources management not seen outside of Indian Country. Cooperative Extension educational programs are highly valued for their important impact on Agriculture and Natural Resources in counties. These programs exist on less then 10% of Americas Indian Reservations. Federally Recognized Tribal Extension Program (FRTEP) personnel, in the few places where they are funded, are a sought after resource to tribal individuals and communities in Indian Country.
[7] Enzymatic synthesis and separation of retinyl phosphate mannose and dolichyl phosphate mannose by anion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the enzymatic synthesis and separation of retinyl phosphate (Ret-P) mannose and dolichyl phosphate (DoI-P) mannose by anion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography. Retinyl phosphate is chemically synthesized by the phosphorylation of all- trans -retinol by bisditriethylamine phosphate. GDP-mannose (Sigma) or GDP-[U- 14 C] mannose is used as the mannose donor for the preparation of unlabeled or [ 14 C]mannose-labeled Ret-P-Mannose. Unlabeled Ret-P-Mannose is prepared. Ret-P-Mannose is purified from the extract by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on a Mono Q HR 5/5 column as described in detail in the chapter. The concentration of Ret-P-Man is determined spectrophotometrically at 325 nm in 99% methanol. [ 14 C]Mannose-labeled Ret-P-Man is prepared similarly to that for the synthesis of unlabeled Ret-P-Man. [ 14 C]Man is purified from the extract by HPLC on a Mono Q HR 5/5 column is also described in the chapter. Typically 30–40% of the added [ 14 C]mannose is transferred from GDP -[ 14 C]mannose to exogenous Ret-P under these incubation conditions. [ 14 C]Mannose-labeled Dol-P-Man may be prepared using incubation conditions similar to those described for the preparation of [14C]mannose- labeled Ret-P-Man. The major difference among the incubations is the inclusion of Triton X-100 which is required for the solubilization of the polyisoprenoid Dol-P. HPLC system for the separation of Mannose, Dol-P-Man, Ret-P-Man, and Ret-P is based on observation that Dol-P-Man, Ret- P-Man, and Ret-P could be separated by anion exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephacel columns, utilizing ammonium acetate in 99% methanol as the eluent. Mannose, Ret-P-Man, mannose phosphate, and GDP-mannose are separated based on their difference in anionic charge on the anion exchange Mono Q HR 5/5 column. Dol-P-Man is eluted in this system with approximately the same retention time as Ret-P-Man but in very poor yields due to poor solubility of Dol-P-Man in 70% methanol.
Lithium-ammonia reduction of tetrahydrocannabinols

Bei der Reduktion mit Lithium/Ammoniak erhalt man aus dem Chromen (I) unter Ringspaltung das Phenol (II).
Special report. The Second International Anti-cardiolipin Standardization Workshop/the Kingston Anti-Phospholipid Antibody Study (KAPS) group.

Forty-three laboratories in 13 countries participated in a workshop to determine the degree of agreement between laboratories performing anticardiolipin tests. Each laboratory received freezedried aliquots of three samples labeled Gl (107 GPL units), G2 (20 GPL units), and G3 (6 GPL units) to be used as reference standards in the IgG assay, and three samples labeled Ml (106 MPL units), M2 (21 MPL units), and M3 (5 MPL units) as references for the IgM assay. Participating laboratories were divided into 8 groups and serum samples were exchanged between laboratories in each group. For IgG anticardiolipin, results were reported as: high, IgG positive for samples with optical absorbance readings exceeding Gl; medium, IgG positive for samples with readings between Gl and G2; low, IgG positive between G2 and G3, and negative, if less than G3. In like manner, samples were defined as high-, medium-, or Iow-IgM positive, with reference to standards Ml, M2, and M3. An index of agreement was computed to determine the degree of agreement between laboratories in each group. Interlaboratory agreement was excellent in each category assessed. For high positive and negative IgG and IgM results, the index of agreement exceeded 90%, and for medium and low positive results, agreement exceeded 75%. The overall index of agreement between laboratories exceeded 90%. The researchers conclude that the use of these six standards to obtain a semiquantitative measure of anticardiolipin positivity will enable good interlaboratory agreement in reporting anticardiolipin results.
Sex differences in Gadd45b expression and methylation in the developing rodent amygdala

Precise spatiotemporal epigenetic regulation of the genome facilitates species-typical development; sexual differentiation of the brain by gonadal hormones and sex chromosomes causes extensive epigenetic reprogramming of many cells in the body, including the brain, and may indirectly predispose males and females to different psychiatric conditions. We and others have demonstrated sex differences in DNA methylation, as well as in the enzymes that form, or 'write', this epigenetic modification. However, while a growing body of evidence suggests that DNA methylation undergoes rapid turnover and is dynamically regulated in vivo, to our knowledge no studies have been done investigating whether sex differences exist in the epigenetic 'erasers' during postnatal development. Here we report sex differences in the expression of growth arrest and DNA damage inducible factor β (Gadd45b), but not family members α (a) or γ (g), in the neonatal and juvenile rodent amygdala.
Concentrations of asparagine in tissues of prepubertal rats after enzymic or dietary depletion of asparagine (Short Communication)

Growth of weanling rats was significantly depressed after 8 days of asparagine depletion produced by dietary means or by asparaginase treatment. Moreover, the concentration of free asparagine was significantly lowered in forebrain, skeletal muscle, liver, kidney, spleen and small intestines 3 h after an asparaginase injection, but remained lowered only in forebrain and skeletal muscle after 8 days of enzymic or dietary depletion of asparagine.
A phase I/II study of interleukin-3 in patients with aplastic anemia and myelodysplasia

We performed a phase I/II study of recombinant human interleukin-3 (rhIL-3) in 21 patients with aplastic anemia (AA) or myelodysplasia (MDS). Patients received 21-day cycles of IL-3 (0.5, 1.25, 2.5, 5.0, or 10 micrograms/kg/d) by subcutaneous injection followed by a 10- to 14-day washout period. Nineteen patients completed at least one 21-day cycle of IL-3. Frequent toxicities of IL-3 included headache, low-grade fever, and erythema at the injection site; at higher doses, weight gain and peripheral edema was seen. Eleven patients developed eosinophilia. Of the 20 evaluable patients, eight had increases in absolute neutrophil counts (seven with MDS, one with AA) including six of the nine patients receiving > or = 5.0 micrograms/kg/d. One AA patient became transfusion-independent for 8 months, while another AA patient had decreased transfusion requirements. Three patients with MDS had at least a doubling of their platelet count, and another patient experienced a 1.9-fold increase. One patient with RAEB progressed to aleukemic AML by the end of one treatment cycle. IL-3 was well-tolerated, but multilineage effects were seen in only 25% of patients with primary bone marrow failure states (five of 20 evaluable) and more commonly in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes. Its optimal use may be as part of combination hematopoietic growth factor therapy.
Host defense development in gut and related disorders

The gastrointestinal tract serves as an important interface between ingested elements from the external environment and the internal milieu of the person. Maturation of this intestinal barrier appears to occur along with the normal development of other organ systems. Evidence is presented for this maturational process, and the relation of this immature barrier to certain disease states seen in the neonatal period (e.g., infectious diarrhea, necrotizing enterocolitis, and allergic disease) is discussed.
The American Paradise: Freud, Ideology and Narcissism

America was constructed on, in Paul Ricoeur’s phrase, ‘a semantics of desire’. The relationship of sexual desire to ideology was embedded deep within the consciousness that shaped American culture. From our beginning America was seen in terms of pastoral feelings and beliefs that defined the land sexually as feminine. According to these metaphors and images, the land was virgin and female while men were hunters or yeoman farmers who conquered and lived off the wilderness. The disruptive energy of the unconscious that animates the dialog between desire and consensus in American literature and culture originates in this initial conception of America as a land of desire.
Green Colored Lenses: Worldviews and Motivated Reasoning in the Case of Local Water Scarcity

Studies linking local issue severity to public opinion often treat the effect as homogeneous, suggesting a straightforward relationship between issue exposure and policy opinions. It is more likely...
Introduction to Navigation

People routinely seek navigation assistance to find their way from one location to another. In particular, knowing one’s current location and finding ways to get to another location in unfamiliar geographic areas (e.g., a person visiting a city for the first time) can be daunting tasks. For thousands of years, humans have been building devices to provide navigation assistance, as reliable way-finding is important to everyone. Early navigation devices were based on the advanced technologies of the time which were mainly mechanical in principle and were not based on maps. As technologies further advanced and new technologies emerged, new navigation devices were developed. Current navigation devices enjoy a range of new and advanced technologies which are based on electronic principles and maps. Of the advanced technologies that provide the foundation for navigation gadgets, Global Positioning System (GPS) is the one which has had the greatest impact on the increasing popularity of navigation systems. Navigation technology for use in the outdoors can be grouped into four generations. Navigation technology for use in the indoors has a shorter life span and can be grouped into two generations. There are differences between navigation in outdoors and in indoors including the requirements for navigation assistance and the types of technologies and maps.
CRF: detection of CRISPR arrays using random forest

CRISPRs (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) are particular repeat sequences found in wide range of bacteria and archaea genomes. Several tools are available for detecting CRISPR arrays in the genomes of both domains. Here we developed a new web-based CRISPR detection tool named CRF (CRISPR Finder by Random Forest). Different from other CRISPR detection tools, a random forest classifier was used in CRF to filter out invalid CRISPR arrays from all putative candidates and accordingly enhanced detection accuracy. In CRF, particularly, triplet elements that combine both sequence content and structure information were extracted from CRISPR repeats for classifier training. The classifier achieved high accuracy and sensitivity. Moreover, CRF offers a highly interactive web interface for robust data visualization that is not available among other CRISPR detection tools. After detection, the query sequence, CRISPR array architecture, and the sequences and secondary structures of CRISPR repeats and spacers can be visualized for visual examination and validation. CRF is freely available at http://bioinfolab.miamioh.edu/crf/home.php.
Absent pedicles in campomelic dysplasia.

The objective of the present study is to report a case of campomelic dysplasia illustrating the absence of cervical and thoracic pedicles. This report reiterates the importance of this clinical peculiarity in the setting of spine instrumentation. A 10-year-old female patient with campomelic dysplasia presented with progressive kyphoscoliosis and signs of neural compromise. Imaging studies confirmed thoracic level stenosis and demonstrated absence of multiple pedicles in cervical and thoracic spine. The patient underwent decompression and instrumentation/fusion for her spinal deformity. The patient was instrumented between C2 and L4 with pedicle screws and sublaminar cables. However, pedicle fixation was not possible for the lower cervical and upper-mid thoracic spine. Also, floating posterior elements precluded the use of laminar fixation in the lower cervical spine. Cervicothoracic lumbosacral orthosis (CTLSO) was used for external immobilization to supplement the tenuous fixation in the cervicothoracic area. The patient improved neurologically with no signs of implant failure at the 2-year follow-up. Absence of pedicles and floating posterior elements present a challenge during spine surgery in campomelic dysplasia. Surgeons should prepare for alternative fixation methods and external immobilization when planning on spinal instrumentation in affected patients. Level of Evidence: Level IV Case Report
Real-Time Responses to Stravinsky’s Symphonies of Wind Instruments: Perception of Internal Repetition and Musical Interest

This experiment was designed to address factors that make repetition of musical themes within a piece recognizable, and to explore the relationship between internal repetition and musical interest. Thirty-seven participants of varied levels of music training listened to Stravinsky’s Symphoniesof Wind Instruments twice and responded to the music in real time. During the first listening, they continuously rated their level of interest and at the same time mentally identified the major themes. During the second listening, they indicated when they heard the major themes repeating. One theme was especially well recognized when repeated. It was relatively short, slow, began and ended with a predictable pattern, occurred relatively early in the piece, and was interspersed with other themes. Another theme stood out in the interest ratings, which was relatively long, fast, sometimes repeated immediately with a build-up of instrumentation and dynamics, and occurred later in the piece. In general, themes judged interesting were not those that were easily identified when repeated, suggesting these are independent aspects of this composition. No effect of music training was found. Extensive analyses of Stravinsky’s Symphonies consider how the themes are repeated and interwoven. The experimental results confirmed the musical attributes considered in these analyses.
Anthropomorphic Systems: An Approach for Categorization

Are systems that incorporate anthropomorphic attributes better at interactivity with a user than systems that do not use such attributes? Do these systems allow a user to interact with the system in a natural way; or can the system cause more frustration then aid? It is a fact that many systems nowadays are attempting to make their interfaces more natural to use. Some systems attempt to do so by the advance of various input systems, such as touch screens, screen readers, etc. Other systems attempt to create user interfaces that a user can easily relate to. They can take on various anthropomorphic attributes such as emotion, speech, cognition and learning abilities. These systems vary dramatically in how they incorporate the attributes as well. Some systems use an interface of cartoon characters that allow a user to believe that the character can speak and learn like the user, while still keeping a separation of the virtual and real world by its physical form. Others attempt to effect human attributes so much that it could be difficult to distinguish between the two.
Transformation of 2,3-butanediol in a dual bed catalyst system

Abstract The catalytic dehydration of 2,3-butanediol (BDO) was investigated over a dual bed catalyst system comprised of Sc 2 O 3 as the first bed and Al 2 O 3 , silica-alumina, and zirconia doped with calcium and ceria as the second bed at temperatures between 300 °C and 400 °C. A dual bed reactor concept was chosen to productively couple two different chemistries to direct reaction towards specific products. Both Sc 2 O 3 + alumina and Sc 2 O 3 + silica alumina gave 1,3-butadiene (BD) selectivity of about 61%, while Sc 2 O 3 + zirconia gave lower BD selectivities. Sc 2 O 3 + zirconia produced 2,5-dimethylphenol with selectivity reaching 12% at a maximum. The BDO dehydration over a single bed of zirconia catalyst was studied at various residence times. 2,5-dimethylphenol concentration increased as the residence time increased. Possible intermediates to form 2,5-dimethylphenol from BDO are methyl vinyl ketone (MVK), 3-buten-2-ol (3B2OL) and acetoin. The first bed Sc 2 O 3 selectively converted BDO to 3B2OL, while the second bed catalyst greatly affected the product distribution. Acidic oxides such as alumina oxide and silica alumina were better catalysts to convert 3B2OL to BD, while catalysts with basic sites, such as zirconia doped with ceria and calcium, catalyzed condensation reactions that ultimate lead to phenols like 2,5-dimethylphenol.
Design and Assessment of Online, Interactive Tutorials That Teach Science Process Skills.

The design, implementation, and assessment of interactive online tutorials that specifically teach science process skills are described. Completion of the tutorials significantly contributed to hig...
The Structure of a Natural Grain Boundary in a Magnetite Bicrystal Studied by XRD Technique

The structure of a natural small angle boundary in a magnetite bicrystal was investigated by X-ray diffraction. This boundary was a ‘general’ type with a mixed twist and tilt character. The grain boundary reflections observed around a 040 matrix reflection were in good agreement with those predicted by Bollmann’s O-lattice theory. These extra reflections appear to arise from a grain boundary dislocation network derived predominantly from a (100) b-plane. The grain boundary thickness estimated from the lengths of the relrods is of the order of four unit cells, which is close to the average spacing of the expected dislocation network in the boundary.
The Animal in Animal Imaging

With the development of new imaging modalities, techniques,and radiotracers, it is easy to get caught up in the excitement of the equipment and the pictures. Yet the value in imaging lies primarily in the benefit it brings to human lives. That potential value is determined first by studies in animals. This paper will focus on the care and handling of rodents as they make up over 90% of the animal research done. However,many of the concepts we will be discussing could be applied to any species. Whatever species you work with, take time to learn about them and their specific needs; it will pay compounding dividends.
IL-33 Induces Murine Intestinal Goblet Cell Differentiation Indirectly via Innate Lymphoid Cell IL-13 Secretion

Regulation of the intestinal mucus layer by goblet cells is important for preventing inflammation and controlling infection. IL-33, a cytokine upregulated in inflammatory bowel disease and helminth infection, induces intestinal goblet cells, but the mechanism remains unclear. Enteroids are three-dimensional structures of primary small intestinal epithelial cells that contain all differentiated intestinal epithelial cell types. We developed an enteroid-immune cell coculture model to determine the mechanism through which IL-33 affects intestinal goblet cell differentiation. We report that IL-33 does not directly induce goblet cell differentiation in murine enteroids; however, IL-13, a cytokine induced by IL-33, markedly induces goblet cells and gene expression consistent with goblet cell differentiation. When enteroids are cocultured with CD90+ mesenteric lymph node cells from IL-33-treated mice, IL-33 then induces IL-13 secretion by group 2 innate lymphoid cells and enteroid gene expression consistent with goblet cell differentiation. In cocultures, IL-33-induced Muc2 expression is dependent on enteroid Il4ra expression, demonstrating a requirement for IL-13 signaling in epithelial cells. In vivo, IL-33-induced intestinal goblet cell hyperplasia is dependent on IL-13. These studies demonstrate that IL-33 induces intestinal goblet cell differentiation not through direct action on epithelial cells but indirectly through IL-13 production by goup 2 innate lymphoid cells.
Cochlear compound action potentials from high-level tone bursts originate from wide cochlear regions that are offset toward the most sensitive cochlear region

Cochlear compound action potentials (CAPs) and auditory brain stem responses (ABRs) are routinely used in laboratories and clinics. They are typically interpreted as arising from the cochlear regio...
Should the United States government regulate prescription prices? A critical review

Prescription drug pricing in the United States continues to generate considerable debate. This critical review and commentary summarizes the evidence surrounding four factors often cited as contributing to high drug prices and/or as rationale for increasing government involvement in drug prices: (1) pharmaceutical industry profits, (2) government funding of basic and biomedical research, (3) "me-too" products, and (4) pharmaceutical advertising. Furthermore, it describes the potential impact of increased governmental regulations on prices and innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. Literature indicates that drug companies have consistently made higher profits than companies in other industries. Research suggests that the magnitude of that difference may be smaller than typically reported due to treatment of research and development (R&D) and marketing and promotional expenses. Research provides inconsistent results on the magnitude of that difference and the need for higher profits to compensate for the industry's level of risk. Evidence suggests that me-too drugs effectively decrease innovator products' period of market exclusivity and may modestly reduce drug prices directly or by increasing manufacturer rebates. The direct impact of advertising expenditures on drug prices is likely limited. The literature suggests that restrictions on advertising and me-too drug development would have minimal effects on prices. Government involvement in pricing products developed from government-funded research has been tried and found neither effective nor workable. These findings suggest that more widespread price regulation would likely result in decreased R&D and fewer new products. The impact of reduced R&D would, in turn, depend on the degree to which lower profits and R&D investments would stymie the development high-value, innovative new products or simply decrease the output of low-value duplicative products. In summary, this critical review of the literature found little evidence that targeted or broad government regulation of prescription prices in the United States would provide net positive societal benefits.
Factors Associated with the Initial Sensations of Smoking among Smokers with Mental Illness.

AbstractPeople with mental illnesses (MI) have a disproportionate smoking prevalence and associated disease burden. Smoking initiation among people with MI is poorly understood. However, the sensat...
Evaluating the influences of social support and smoking cues on daily smoking abstinence among socioeconomically disadvantaged adults.

Abstract Introduction Perceived social support and smoking cues, such as cigarette availability, are important factors that affect smoking cessation outcomes. However, very few studies examine the influences of social support and smoking cues on lapse during a quit attempt. Methods Socioeconomically disadvantaged smokers participating in a smoking cessation program at a safety net hospital completed smartphone-based ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) for two consecutive weeks (1-week pre-quit through 1-week post-quit). A mixed-effects logistic regression model was used to evaluate whether perceived support to quit smoking, perceived pressure to quit smoking, and situational cues (i.e., being offered a cigarette) were related to the likelihood of reporting smoking cigarettes on any EMA within a day. Results Perceived social pressure and support to quit were not related to daily smoking status. Participants were more likely to smoke on days when they were offered a cigarette compared to days when no such event occurred (OR = 3.31 [95% CI = 1.21, 9.06]). This effect was also significant after adjusting for perceived social pressure to quit and support to quit (OR = 3.38 [95% CI = 1.23, 9.31]). Conclusion The results suggest that being offered a cigarette negatively impacts smoking cessation. The results reinforce the need for including cigarette refusal skills in smoking cessation treatment to reduce the likelihood of smoking lapse among socioeconomically disadvantaged adults.
Molecular Mechanisms Underlying the Development of Drug Resistance in Multiple Myeloma.

A prominent feature of most cancers including multiple myeloma (MM) is a striking genetic instability, leading to ongoing accrual of mutational changes some of which underlie tumor progression, including development of drug resistance and metastasis. The molecular basis for the generation of genetic diversity in cancer cells has thus emerged as an important focus of investigation and a target for successful eradication. We have previously observed that homologous recombination (HR) is upregulated in MM. Utilizing a genomewide LOH assay based on SNP genotyping (Affymetrix) as a tool to estimate the rate of mutation and genomic instability, we have observed that over time elevated HR leads to progressive accumulation of genetic variation in MM cell lines and patient cells; and inhibition of HR activity in MM cells by altering components of the HR pathway concordantly affects the acquisition of new genetic changes. As HR activity is dependent on concerted action of number of genes, instead of over expressing single HR related gene, we utilized nickel chloride, a known recombinogen to evaluate effects of increased HR activity on the development of genomic diversity. We cultured ARP cells in the presence or absence of nickel chloride, over a period of 90 days. Genome-wide LOH was evaluated by comparing genotypes before and after the 90-day interval. In three independent experiments treatment of cells with nickel chloride increased the number of new LOH sites by more than 12-fold. We next evaluated the effect of induction of HR and the consequent increase in genetic aberrations, on development of drug resistance in MM. Myeloma cells were cultured with nickel chloride as a potent inducer of HR and dexamethasone (10−8M); control cells were exposed to dexamethasone alone. The cell viability was measured weekly. No live cells were detected in cultures exposed to dexamethasone alone; while >95% cells exposed to both nickel chloride and dexamethasone were alive following 2 weeks culture. These findings were confirmed by 3 independent experiments. The development of drug resistance was further confirmed by demonstrating no significant effects of dexamethasone on these cells at 10−6M concentrations for >1 week. Dexamethasone at this concentration kills all control cells by day 3. Evaluation of development of resistance to other agents is underway. We propose that continued accumulation of new genetic changes mediated by HR, as demonstrated here, provides the molecular events required to develop drug resistance; and its inhibition may allow us to successfully treat MM cells without the currently observed development of resistance. HR may be a potential therapeutic target to maintain chemo sensitivity of the tumors.
Finite-Element Modeling of Early-Age Concrete Stress Development

AbstractEarly-age cracking of concrete may influence the long-term durability of a structure. Cracking occurs when the tensile stress in concrete exceeds its tensile strength. Early-age stress deve...
Detecting age-related macular degeneration (AMD) biomarker images using MFCC and texture features

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible vision loss in older individuals. Clinically, ophthalmologists visually inspect optical coherence tomography (OCT) volumes to diagnose the stage of AMD based on well-known biomarkers. An early characteristic of AMD is drusen, which appears as yellowish deposits under the retina. AMD is mainly categorized into two types: dry AMD (non-neovascular) and wet AMD (neovascular). Given the large number of OCT images in an individual volume, an efficacious computer-aided detection system can reduce the workload for ophthalmologists by automatically detecting biomarkers in the relevant images. Because the shape of the RPE is critical in defining the pathological changes caused by wet and dry AMD, we propose a novel approach to describe the RPE shape using Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC). Our previous work indicates that Haralick texture features have the ability to distinguish drusen from healthy tissue on color photography, therefore, we also investigated Haralick texture features extracted from the region between Inner Limiting Membrane (ILM) and Bruchs Membrane (BM) layers in this study. We achieved a mean accuracy, sensitivity with respect to AMD image and specificity with respect to healthy image of 89.68%, 89.26% and 90.12% on testing sets and 69.22%, 67.40%, and 75.56% on new patient validation sets, respectively. Our binary classification results indicate that MFCC are uniquely suited for producing generalizable results to automatically detect AMD biomarker images.
Computational Geometry Column 70: Processing Persistence Diagrams as Purely Geometric Objects

In this column, we review the most recent results on processing persistence diagrams as purely geometric objects. (Yes, this is not a typo! While persistence diagrams originally come from computational topology, this column will mainly focus on the geometric parts and the minimal amount of knowledge on computational topology is needed to read this column.) We mainly focus on computing a center persistence diagram under the bottleneck and Wasserstein distances, and also the approximate nearest neighbor query under the bottleneck distance. At the end, we will go over a few open problems as well as some direction for future research, e.g., (approximate) farthest neighbor query under the bottleneck distance.
Methanogens: Their Impact on our Concept of Procaryote Diversity

Summary Methanogenic bacteria have catalyzed a revolution in our understanding of procaryote diversity. The development of a comprehensive phylogenetic basis for viewing methanogen relationships has modified considerably our concept of both the phylogenetic and phenotypic complexity of the bacteria. It provided the basis for description of a new taxonomic scheme for the methanogenic bacteria in which a measure of phylogenetic relationships served as a framework for organizing an extensive range of syntactic features circumscribing the group. The scheme illustrates in a general way the central role that relationships can play in bacterial systematics.
Heterogeneous Expectations and Bond Markets

This paper presents a dynamic equilibrium model of bond markets in which two groups of agents hold heterogeneous expectations about future economic conditions. The heterogeneous expectations cause agents to take on speculative positions against each other and therefore generate endogenous relative wealth fluctuation. The relative wealth fluctuation amplifies asset price volatility and contributes to the time variation in bond premia. Our model shows that a modest amount of heterogeneous expectations can help explain several puzzling phenomena, including the "excessive volatility" of bond yields, the failure of the expectations hypothesis, and the ability of a tent-shaped linear combination of forward rates to predict bond returns. The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Society for Financial Studies. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org, Oxford University Press.
German in childhood and Latin in adolescence: On the bidialectal nature of lexical access in English

The nature of word etymology, long a topic of interest in linguistics, has been considered to a much lesser extent in the word recognition literature. The present study created a database of overlapping words from the English Lexicon Project (ELP) and a database with the age of acquisition (AoA) norms which were categorized as either Germanic or Latin-based. Results revealed that Germanic words were learned earlier than Latin-based words. Germanic words also showed slower reaction times and higher accuracy relative to Latin-based words even when controlling for AoA, word frequency, and length. Additionally, analyses were conducted using a publicly available database that used the English Crowdsourcing Project (ECP) data with native and second language (L2) English speakers. The results with native speakers were similar to those collected with the ELP. However, nonnative speakers showed better accuracy and faster reaction times for Latin-based words compared to Germanic words. The findings support a bidialectal view of English in that Germanic words serve as the base of lexical processing during childhood, whereas Latin-based words fill in the lexical space across adolescence and into early adulthood. Furthermore, L2 speakers appear to acquire English via more advanced Latin-based vocabulary relative to native speakers. These results carry implications for theories of word recognition and the processing of lexical items in populations that come from linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Comments on the Papers by Melitz et al., Eichengreen, Fratianni and Hasukrecht, Savona and Maccario, and Dal Bosco

Let me start with a broad discussion on the general topic of the conference, which is “ideas for the future of the international monetary system,” and then come to a more focused discussion of the euro and the European Central Bank (ECB). I will discuss the papers as I go along, drawing on their results to emphasize my points. I would also like occasionally to refer to the Nordic and Asian crises.
Multiple parameters for the comprehensive evaluation of the susceptibility of Escherichia coli to the silver ion

The susceptibility of Escherichia coli B to the antibacterial activity of silver ions was measured in terms of the initial inhibitory concentration, complete inhibitory concentration, postagent effect for bacteriostatic susceptibility, minimum bactericidal concentration, maximum tolerant concentration, and log killing time for bactericidal activity. At a concentration of 9.45 μM and an inoculum size of 10 CFU ml, silver caused growth delay of E. coli; at a concentration of 18.90 μM, silver completely inhibited bacterial growth. Prolonged postagent effects ranged between 1.5 and 12 h at 0.75 x the initial inhibitory concentration, 1.0 x the initial inhibitory concentration, and 1.5 x the initial inhibitory concentration of the silver ion. One log-unit of viable bacterial population size was lost every 30 min at the minimum bactericidal concentration of the silver ion. Silver tolerance was determined as 20 times the initial inhibitory concentration with 48 h of exposure. This study presents an evaluative model as a reference for the quantitative analysis of the susceptibility of bacteria to silver ions. © Rapid Science 1998.