cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cdc42 is required for EGF-stimulated protrusion and motility in MTLn3 carcinoma cells

Cdc42 plays a central role in regulating the actin cytoskeleton and maintaining cell polarity. Here, we show that Cdc42 is crucial for epidermal growth factor (EGF)-stimulated protrusion in MTLn3 carcinoma cells. When stimulated with EGF, carcinoma cells showed a rapid increase in activated Cdc42 that is primarily localized to the protruding edge of the cells. siRNA-mediated knockdown of Cdc42 expression caused a decrease in EGF-stimulated protrusion and reduced cell motility in time-lapse studies. These changes were correlated with a decrease in barbed-end formation and Arp2/3 localization at the cell edge, and a marked defect in actin filament branching, as revealed by rotary-shadowing scanning electron microscopy. Upstream of Arp2/3, Cdc42 knockdown inhibited EGF-stimulated activation of PI 3-kinase at early (within 1 minute) but not late (within 3 minutes) time points. Membrane targeting of N-WASP, WAVE2 and IRSp53 were also inhibited. Effects on WAVE2 were not owing to Rac1 inhibition, because WAVE2 recruitment is unaffected by Rac1 knockdown. Our data suggest that Cdc42 activation is crucial for the regulation of actin polymerization in carcinoma cells, and required for both EGF-stimulated protrusion and cell motility independently of effects on Rac.
The Stimulus to Feeding in Anemonia Sulcata

1. Feeding can be initiated in Anemonia sulcata by mechanical, chemical or electrical stimulation of the tentacles provided the stimulus sets up sufficiently prolonged excitation. Owing to rapid adaptation, mechanical stimuli rarely set up enduring excitation and inert objects are therefore usually rejected. Chemical stimuli set up prolonged excitation and food objects are therefore usually accepted. A series of electrical stimuli can produce rejection or feeding according to whether it is brief or prolonged. 2. The sensitivity of the tentacles varies greatly a different foods. It is greatest to animal foods. There is great sensitivity to certain kinds of mucus. 3. The active substances of natural foods are closely associated with protein. They fail to pass through a membrane which retains colloids. A feeding reaction can be obtained to food substances which appear to be insoluble in water. 4. Though the active substances of many natural foods are not in free solution, soluble derivatives of proteins, such as peptones and amino acids cause a feeding reaction. With pure proteins, the response of the cnida diminished. With amino acids, there is no cnida response. From this it follows that increased mechanical contact due to cnida discharge is not essential for excitation of the feeding response. 5. Fat, such as tristearin, and ethereal extracts of food are without effect. Alcoholic Soxhlet extraction of food yields a substance which causes the food reaction. Carbohydrates are without effect except in the case of glycogen, the action of which may be due to impurities. 6. The lower fatty acids, quinine and bile salts produce a withering contraction of the tentacles which differs from the response of the latter to food. The effect can be produced by prolonged electrical excitation at a higher frequency than that required for the feeding response and is therefore probably due to excessive stimulation. 7. The mouth responds to a greater variety of chemcial stimuli than the tentacles. The relative sensitivity of these organs to different chemcial stimuli is not the same, but for most agents the mouth is the more sensitive. Quinine, histamine and 10% bile salts excite the musculature of the mouth directly. 8. The range of chemical sensitivity in different coelenterates is discussed.
An experimental and theoretical investigation of the onset of convection in rotating spherical shells

Convection in a rapidly rotating spherical layer with constant-temperature boundary conditions is studied in a laboratory experiment. The asymptotic theory of Busse (1970) is extended to permit a comparison with the observations of the onset of convection and its properties. It is found that the prediction of the power-law dependences of the critical buoyancy number and the critical wavenumber on the rotation rate are borne out, although discrepancies in the actual values of these quantities do exist. Calculations on the basis of equations proposed by Roberts (1968) show that a thermal wind that is present in the basic state of the model has a stabilizing influence on the onset of convection. Stewartson layers not taken into account in the asymptotic analysis for vanishing Ekman number E appear to be responsible for the remaining disagreement between theoretical predictions and observations at finite values of E.
Sex Roles: An International Journal

Sex Roles is clearly becoming an international journal. In 2007, we published a total of 159 research articles. In analyzing these articles, we found that 30% were based on samples from countries other than the USA or Canada. In six papers, data came from multiple countries. Looking at where these samples come from, we note that Israeli samples were found in nine papers, and Australian samples were used in six papers. Five samples came from The Netherlands. In addition, European samples were found in 29% of the non-US samples. Asia (excluding Australia and New Zealand) accounted for 8% of the non-US samples, and Latin America for 4%. We published three papers using Turkish samples, and one with an African sample. Thus, we had good representation around the world, although the majority of our samples were in the most industrialized countries. We feel that gender-related research in psychology and the social sciences needs to broaden outside of the USA, and we are proud that Sex Roles is aiding in this. We welcome submissions of studies done in countries other than the USA. In addition to looking at samples outside the USA, we have sought the participation of scholars from many countries as peer reviewers of articles submitted to Sex Roles for publication consideration. Although the large majority of our reviewers were scholars based in the USA, we did call upon 31 scholars in Canada, 24 in the UK, 19 in Australia, 15 in Israel, seven in Turkey, and six in Germany. In all, we used a total of 641 reviewers from 32 countries. Our Editorial Board also brings an international perspective, with Canada, Mexico, Scotland, Turkey, Hong Kong, and Australia represented in addition to the USA. In order to build our understanding of cultural context, we are now requiring that every paper published in Sex Roles clearly identify where the sample comes from in the Abstract as well as in the Method section of the paper. This is required for studies based on samples from the USA, as well as those utilizing samples from other countries. In addition, we ask that in papers that build their theoretical framework on the basis of research published in countries other than that where the sample comes from, the authors identify this fact. To further educate all of us, we request that these authors provide some discussion of how the gender issues of concern in their paper have been addressed by scholars within the country where the data come from. Thus, as is often the case, if the theories cited in the paper were derived from samples in the United States, it is essential that this be explicitly identified, and that the relevance of such data and theory from the USA be explicitly addressed in the paper. If the theoretical framework and empirical data cited in the Introduction of the paper come from multiple countries, as is highly desirable, this too needs to be clearly explained. If there are regional variations in the variables of concern in the research, this is important information that needs to be acknowledged and discussed. Sex Roles (2008) 58:751 DOI 10.1007/s11199-008-9433-3
Overcoming Barriers to Conducting an Intervention Study of Depression in an Older African American Population

The purpose of this article is to describe barriers and strengths of a study testing the effects of reminiscence on depressive symptoms in community-dwelling older African Americans. Primary data sources included debriefing sessions, reflective journals, participant observations, and key informant interviews. Data were analyzed using immersion/crystallization technique. Mistrust between gatekeepers and universities, recruitment and retention of research assistants and participants, culturally insensitive instruments, and stigma associated with depression were barriers. Successful approaches used to overcome the barriers experienced by the research team are described. Implications for transcultural nursing research and practice are discussed.
The Effect of Intensity of Effort to Reach Survey Respondents: A Toronto Smoking Survey

The number of calls in a telephone survey is used as an indicator of how difficult an intended respondent is to reach. This permits a probabilistic division of the non­respondents into non­susceptibles (those who will always refuse to respond), and the susceptible non­respondents (those who were not available to respond) in a model of the non­response. Further, it permits stochastic estimation of the views of the latter group and an evaluation of whether the non­response is ignorable for inference about the dependent variable. These ideas are implemented on the data from a survey in Metropolitan Toronto of attitudes toward smoking in the workplace. Using a Bayesian model, the posterior distribution of the model parameters is sampled by Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods. The results reveal that the non­response is not ignorable and those who do not respond are twice as likely to favor unrestricted smoking in the workplace as are those who do.
Using Memory-Based Reasoning For Predicting Default Rates On Consumer Loans

In recent years, financial institutions have struggled with high default rates for consumer lending. An ability to reliably predict the probability of consumer loan defaults would have a significant impact of the profitability of that lending for these institutions. In response to this need, the financial institutions have employed loan analysis techniques such as logistic regression, discriminant analysis, and various machine learning techniques to improve the accuracy of detecting loan defaults. The objective of these techniques is to more precisely identify creditworthy applicants who are granted credit, thereby increasing profits, from non-creditworthy applicants who would be then denied credit, thus decreasing losses. The objective of this article is to employ an emergent data analysis technique, memory-based or case-based reasoning method, to this problem to test its accuracy in discriminating between good and bad loans. This paper examines historical data from consumer loans issued by a financial institution to individuals that the financial institution considered to be qualified customers. The data set consists of the financial attributes of each customer and includes a mixture of loans that the customers paid off or defaulted upon. The paper then compares the performance of this technique to other data mining techniques proposed in earlier works and analyzes the risk of default inherent in each loan for each technique.
Mood at the Midpoint: Affect and Change in Exploratory Search Over Time in Teams That Face a Deadline

The purpose of this paper is to advance the team dynamics and group development literatures by developing and testing a theoretical model of how affect shapes transitions in teams over time. Integrating the group transitions literature with theory and research on the mood-as-input theory, I propose that shared team mood influences the extent to which team members seek out and experiment with alternative ways of completing their work at different points in a team’s life. In the first half of the team’s life, when team members are relatively task-focused, I argue that team positive mood (i.e., a positively valenced affective state shared by team members at a given point in time) stimulates, whereas team negative mood (i.e., a negatively valenced affective state shared by team members) suppresses, exploratory search. At the temporal midpoint, however, when team members’ focus on performance heightens, team positive mood acts as a shutoff switch for search, leading to a decline in exploratory search over the second half of the team’s life. Team negative mood at the midpoint, on the other hand, leads team members to persist in exploratory search, even as a deadline draws near. A team’s trajectory of exploratory search over time, I propose, influences team performance such that it is highest when teams engage in high exploratory search early in the team’s life and decline in exploratory search over the second half of the team’s life. The results of a longitudinal, survey-based study of teams preparing for a military competition largely support my predictions.
Dynamic Measures of RSA Predict Distress and Regulation in Toddlers

In this study, we examined a new method for quantifying individual variability using dynamic measures of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). This method incorporated temporal variation into the measurement of RSA and provided information beyond that offered by more traditional quantifications such as difference scores. Dynamic and static measures of change in RSA were tested in relation to displays of emotion and affective behaviors during a fear-eliciting episode in a sample of 88 typically developing and high-fear toddlers during a laboratory visit at age 24 months. Dynamic measures of RSA contributed information that was unique from traditionally employed, static change scores in predicting high-fear toddlers' displays of shyness during a fear-eliciting episode. In contrast, RSA change scores offered information related to boldness in nonhigh-fear children. In addition, several associations included estimates of nonlinearchange in RSA. Implications for the study of individual differences in RSA and relations with emotion and emotion regulation are discussed. ! 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 52: 372-382, 2010.
In the beginning: the multiple discovery of the first hormone herbicides

Abstract The discovery of the first systemic or hormone herbicides, 2,4-D, 2,4,5-T, and MCPA, initiated an agricultural revolution and modern weed science. The finding of these herbicides was a striking case of multiple independent discovery by four groups of workers in two countries, the United Kingdom and the United States: William G. Templeman and associates at Imperial Chemical Industries; Philip S. Nutman and associates at the Rothamsted Agricultural Experiment Station; Franklin D. Jones at the American Chemical Paint Company; and Ezra Kraus, John Mitchell, and associates at the University of Chicago and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Because of wartime and commercial secrecy, the usual procedures of scientific publication and patent disclosure were not followed; instead, the first scientific report on these herbicides occurred in a publication by workers who were not original discoverers. Considerable confusion consequently resulted concerning the discovery and the discoverers. This confusion h...
Biochemical and Molecular Models for Circadian Clocks

We now have completed our survey of circadian organization in eukaryotic microorganisms (see Chapters 2 and 3)—with appropriate reference to prokaryotic and higher systems and to ultradian rhythms—and discussion of some the most important experimental findings from attempts to elucidate clock mechanisms (see Chapter 4). It is instructive to consider briefly some of the models for the biochemical and molecular bases of these oscillators that have been posited over the years (reviewed by Edmunds, 1976, 1983; Engelmann and Schrempf (1980); Sweeney, 1983; Jacklet, 1984; Jerebzoff, 1986; Schweiger et al., 1986; Vanden Driessche, 1987; see the still useful proceedings of the Dahlem Workshop on this subject, edited by Hastings and Schweiger, 1976). Despite the fact that models in this fields are plentiful, they do serve as useful foci, often leading to important experimental advances. If these results then falsify the construct, so much the better: a good model sows the seeds of its own destruction! Furthermore, it is perhaps useful to introduce the potential initiate to this field to some of the extant notions if for no other reason than to provide reassurance that it is still virgin territory. We have a long way to go to placate the editorial writer who plaintively queried, “Why is so little known about the biological clock?” and expressed hope that it soon would be “wound up” (Nature 231: 97–98, 1971). Indeed, the very fact that so many models have been put foward should serve as a warning that the biological clock possibly is much more complex than we earlier had envisioned.
Pharmacoepidemiology Studies Using Large Databases

The study designs used in postmarketing drug surveillance are those used in epidemiology in general, including randomized clinical trials, cohort studies, case-control studies, case series, and case reports. Pharmacoepidemiology studies, however, represent unique applications of these, for three reasons.1 First, randomized clinical trials are less likely to be useful, as they have already been conducted prior to marketing. Second, pharmacoepidemiology studies often must be performed very quickly, as pharmacoepidemiology questions frequently represent regulatory, commercial, and public health crises. Third, many of these studies require unusually large sample sizes. Because 500 to 3000 subjects are usually studied prior to marketing, a postmarketing surveillance pharmacoepidemiology study conducted as a randomized clinical trial, cohort study, or case series is generally unwarranted unless it can include at least 10,000 exposed subjects and, in the first two, another 10,000 controls. Analogously, a postmarketing pharmacoepidemiology case-control study must tap a population base of equivalent size.2
Community gardening and governance over urban nature in New Orleans's Lower Ninth Ward

Abstract Lefebvre's right to the city (RTTC) framework argues for a renewed politics of inhabitance in cities, which enfranchises urban residents to imagine and create urban space to meet their needs. Another theoretical framework, Urban Political Ecology (UPE) works to “untangle the interconnected economic, political, social, and ecological processes that go together to form highly uneven and deeply unjust urban landscapes” (Swyngedouw and Heynen, 2003. Antipode, 35 (5): 898). In this paper, I draw connections between the RTTC framework and literature in Urban Political Ecology (UPE) to consider how their intersection can inform analysis of grassroots urban agriculture initiatives in the Lower Ninth Ward Neighborhood of New Orleans. I argue that community efforts to transform vacant lots into productive gardens and food forests constitute a specific form of claims on the right to the city, and on the right to alter and improve urban ecology. These claims play out at the scale of the neighborhood, rather than that of the city, and are manifested within specific urban sites managed by residents of a particular neighborhood. I characterize specific, neighborhood-scale urban greening efforts as “political moments” (Becher, 2012. Political moments with long-term consequences. In: Smith, Michael Peter, McQuarrie, Michael (Eds.), Remaking Urban Citizenship: Organizations, Institutions, and the Right to the City. New Brunswick, NJ, Transaction Publishers, pp. 203–220), which, despite their locational and topical specificity, offer profound potential for broader urban social change.
A Review of "The Network Reshapes the Library: Lorcan Dempsey on Libraries, Services, and Networks"

This collaboration between Lorcan Dempsey and Kenneth Varnum is a curated selection of Dempsey's blog posts from October 2003 to August 2013. The 1,869 blog entries make up nine chapters covering s...
Production of Hyphopodia by Wild-Type and Three Transformants of Gaeumannomyces graminis var. graminis

Gaeumannomyces graminis var. graminis causes root and crown disease of rice and turf grasses. Its hyphae produce melanized hyphopodia (= appressoria) on aerial plant surfaces and on plastic; the hy...
Understanding Bank Runs: Do Depositors Monitor Banks?

We use unique, depositor-level data for a bank that faced a run and was placed in receivership to study whether depositors monitor banks. Depositors with uninsured balances, depositors with loan linkages and staff of the bank are far more likely to withdraw in response to the shock. We are able to contrast depositor behavior to this fundamental shock with an earlier panic at the same bank. Our results suggest that these withdrawals are due in part to the information known to depositors though overall this information appears to be very coarse. Our results provide direct evidence of depositor monitoring and the significance of fragility in a bank’s capital structure, and helps inform banking regulation.
Not for Specialists Only

Steven Weisenburger would call Gravity's Rainbow a satire, albeit of a special sort. Gabriele Schwab would call it a transitional text, although of a consummate kind. What difference do such classifications make to the understanding of Pynchon's novel? This is one question. What difference does Pynchon's novel, in turn, make to some understanding of the sophisticated theoretical vocabulary used by both critics? This is another question. Each of these books variously demonstrates how difficult it is to keep the two questions apart, which is probably just as it should be.
Probing Helicase Dynamics on Nucleic Acids through Fluorescence-Force Measurements

Helicases are crucial enzymes which regulate metabolism of nucleic acids and have been studied extensively at biochemical, structural and genetic levels. Yet limitations of experimental approaches restrained full characterization of helicase activities. Here, we have applied hybrid platforms of single-molecule fluorescence detection combined with optical tweezers under TIRF or confocal configurations to reveal new properties of nucleic acids translocation and unwinding activities of helicases.With aid of mechanical manipulation, we probed the translocase activity of hepatitis C virus NS3 helicase on laterally stretched, kilobase-size single-stranded DNA and RNA. The results demonstrate that NS3h monomer is a highly processive ssDNA and ssRNA translocase with force-independent translocation rates. Moreover, NS3h translocation rate is three times faster on ssRNA compared to ssDNA, which can be explained by differences in X-ray crystal structures of NS3 in complex with DNA and RNA. We observed a new translocation mode of NS3h on ssDNA, and together with smFRET experiments, we could assigned the mode to “NS3h-mediative repetitive looping”. We have showed that the looping rate is force-dependent.We are also examining the Pif1 helicase and its unwinding activities of G-loop, a three stranded structure composed by G-quadruplex and RNA-DNA hybrid structures. Recent studies suggested that G-loop of hexanucleotide expansion repeats at C9orf72 gene is highly associated with neurodegenerative diseases. Our results show that Pif1 monomer can unwind HRE-G4, which has been proposed as a four-layer G-tetrads, in a discrete, stepwise manner. Other data indicate that self-hairpin structure is predominant at low ionic strength, and HRE-G4 structure is predominant when ionic strength is higher. With the characterization of structural features of HRE-G4 and unwinding mechanism by Pif1, we can begin to address the question of how the folding of HRE-G4 affects the unwinding of RNA-DNA hybrid on HRE G-loop.
Nonsurgical Sperm Retrieval

Nonsurgical sperm retrieval is a less-invasive process compared to surgical sperm retrieval. Nonsurgical procedures include percutaneous testicular sperm aspiration or biopsy and percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration. These techniques are a less-invasive and usually less-expensive alternative to the open surgical techniques. However, it is important that the right patient is chosen, ideally a patient with good spermatogenesis (obstructive azoospermia).
Secure state-estimation for dynamical systems under active adversaries

We consider the problem of state-estimation of a linear dynamical system when some of the sensor measurements are corrupted by an adversarial attacker. The errors injected by the attacker in the sensor measurements can be arbitrary and are not assumed to follow a specific model (in particular they can be of arbitrary magnitude). We first characterize the number of attacked sensors that can be tolerated so that the state of the system can still be correctly recovered by any decoding algorithm. We then propose a specific computationally feasible decoding algorithm and we give a characterization of the number of errors this decoder can correct. For this we use ideas from compressed sensing and error correction over the reals and we exploit the dynamical nature of the problem. We show using numerical simulations that this decoder performs very well in practice and allows to correct a large number of errors.
GaN based high gain non-isolated DC-DC stage of microinverter with extended-duty-ratio boost

Microinverter is attracting more attention due to its compact size, plug and play concept, easy installation, and higher power yield under partial shading condition. This paper explores a converter for the DC-DC stage of a non-isolated microinverter. The topology termed as extended-duty-ratio (EDR) boost, is a hybrid of the interleaved boost and switched capacitor concept which has the advantage of providing high gain but simultaneously maintaining reduced voltage and current stress on most of the switches. The inductor current is interleaved, reducing the equivalent ripple on the converter input current and the inductor power loss. The converter operation is identified to be divided into different zones depending on the duty ratio of the phases. The operating principles along with the details of the component design and loss analysis as a function of converter phases has been studied. A 250 W GaN based 3-level EDR prototype with input from 20 V–40 V and 225 V output and operating at switching frequency of 200 kHz has been developed to validate converter's operation in hardware.
DEMONSTRATION OF A SOFT X-RAY LASER.

Recent experiments conducted with the multi-terrawatt Novette laser have demonstrated substantial amplification of soft x rays in laser-produced plasmas. Gains at wavelengths of 206 and 209 A in neonlike selenium and at 153 A in neonlike yttrium have been observed.
Air Quality and the Development of Los Angeles

This paper estimates the effect variation in air quality had on neighborhood population growth in Los Angeles during the 1950s and 1960s, a period the area experienced severe ozone problems. Regression results indicate that environmental effects substantially redistributed population spatially. Little evidence is found, however, that the demographic effects persist.
Genetic tools for reliable gene expression and recombineering in Pseudomonas putida

Pseudomonas putida is a promising bacterial host for producing natural products, such as polyketides and nonribosomal peptides. In these types of projects, researchers need a genetic toolbox consisting of plasmids, characterized promoters, and techniques for rapidly editing the genome. Past reports described constitutive promoter libraries, a suite of broad host range plasmids that replicate in P. putida, and genome-editing methods. To augment those tools, we have characterized a set of inducible promoters and discovered that IPTG-inducible promoter systems have poor dynamic range due to overexpression of the LacI repressor. By replacing the promoter driving lacI expression with weaker promoters, we increased the fold induction of an IPTG-inducible promoter in P. putida KT2440 to 80-fold. Upon discovering that gene expression from a plasmid was unpredictable when using a high-copy mutant of the BBR1 origin, we determined the copy numbers of several broad host range origins and found that plasmid copy numbers are significantly higher in P. putida KT2440 than in the synthetic biology workhorse, Escherichia coli. Lastly, we developed a λRed/Cas9 recombineering method in P. putida KT2440 using the genetic tools that we characterized. This method enabled the creation of scarless mutations without the need for performing classic two-step integration and marker removal protocols that depend on selection and counterselection genes. With the method, we generated four scarless deletions, three of which we were unable to create using a previously established genome-editing technique.
Moving Beyond Assumptions of Cultural Neutrality to Improve Accessibility and Opportunity to Learn for English Language Learners

The purposes of this chapter are twofold: (a) to suggest that sociocultural framing of UDL would more effectively support ELLs and (b) to examine in greater detail what sociocultural reframing of UDL could look like in assessment activities in which ELLs are participating. Similar to the second language acquisition field that began to take a “social turn” in the 1990s, we concur with disabilities researchers who, two decades ago, proposed a similar “social turn” might be taken to more explicitly extend UDL beyond its cognitive neuroscience roots to incorporate sociocultural lenses. Remember that students’ own linguistic, literate, and cultural pluralism have been and continue to be part of schooling. Instead of ignoring them or treating them as challenges, we invite educators to counter current policies and practices seeking to maintain hegemonic monocultural and monolingual approaches to learning and instead to embrace cultural and linguistic pluralism as additional opportunities to learn and natural accessibility practices.
Genome-Wide Association Study for Spot Blotch Resistance in Hard Winter Wheat

Spot blotch (SB) caused by Cochliobolus sativus (anamorph: Bipolaris sorokiniana) is an economically important disease of wheat worldwide. Under a severe epidemic condition, the disease can cause yield losses up to 70%. Previous approaches like bi-parental mapping for identifying SB resistant genes/QTLs exploited only a limited portion of the available genetic diversity with a lower capacity to detect polygenic traits, and had a lower marker density. In this study, we performed genome-wide association study (GWAS) for SB resistance in hard winter wheat association mapping panel (HWWAMP) of 294 genotypes. The HWWAMP was evaluated for response to B. sorokiniana (isolate SD40), and a range of reactions was observed with 10 resistant, 38 moderately resistant, 120 moderately resistant- moderately susceptible, 111 moderately susceptible, and 15 susceptible genotypes. GWAS using 15,590 high-quality SNPs and 294 genotypes we identified six QTLs (p = <0.001) on chromosomes 2D, 3A, 4A, 4B, 5A, and 7B that collectively explained 30% of the total variation for SB resistance. Highly associated SNPs were identified for all six QTLs, QSb.sdsu-2D.1 (SNP: Kukri_c31121_1460, R2 = 4%), QSb.sdsu-3A.1 (SNP: Excalibur_c46082_440, R2 = 4%), QSb.sdsu-4A.1 (SNP: IWA8475, R2 = 5.5%), QSb.sdsu-4B.1 (SNP: Excalibur_rep_c79414_306, R2 = 4%), QSb.sdsu-5A.1 (SNP: Kukri_rep_c104877_2166, R2 = 6%), and QSb.sdsu-7B.1 (SNP: TA005844-0160, R2 = 6%). Our study not only validates three (2D, 5A, and 7B) genomic regions identified in previous studies but also provides highly associated SNP markers for marker assisted selection. In addition, we identified three novel QTLs (QSb.sdsu-3A.1, QSb.sdsu-4A.1, and QSb.sdsu-4B.1) for SB resistance in wheat. Gene annotation analysis of the candidate regions identified nine NBS-LRR and 38 other plant defense-related protein families across multiple QTLs, and these could be used for fine mapping and further characterization of SB resistance in wheat. Comparative analysis with barley indicated the SB resistance locus on wheat chromosomes 2D, 3A, 5A, and 7B identified in our study are syntenic to the previously identified SB resistance locus on chromosomes 2H, 3H, 5H, and 7H in barley. The 10 highly resistant genotypes and SNP markers identified in our study could be very useful resources for breeding of SB resistance in wheat.
Human exposure to galactic cosmic rays in space

The Langley Research Center GCR (galactic cosmic rays) code (HZETRN) and the computerized Anatomical Man (CAM) model are used to estimate astronaut exposures, from GCR particles, for missions beyond earth's magnetosphere. Conventional risk assessments in terms of total absorbed dose and dose equivalent are made for skin, ocular lens, and bone marrow. For each organ, evaluations are made of relative contributions from incident protons, iron nuclei, and their secondary reaction products.
USE OF MICELLAR SYSTEMS IN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY-THEIR APPLICATION TO THE SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC DETERMINATION OF SULFITE ION WITH ACTIVATED AROMATIC COMPOUNDS

Sulfite ion undergoes essentially a quantitative equilibrium reaction at room temperature in aqueous cationic micellar solutions with polynitroaromatic reagents to form the corresponding anionic sigma complexes. The sulfite is determined by measurement of the absorption due to these sigma complexes. The reaction is useful for determining sulfur dioxide (as sulfite ion in solution) in the 0.3 to 9.0 μg/ml concentration range. Cationic surfactants are required in the procedure because they solubilize the aromatic reagents and completely shift the equilibrium reaction to the desired product side under the analytical conditions. Some possible anion interferences can be eliminated by the use of an appropriate buffered solution system or prior neutralization of the sample.
Information-Theoretic Methods

Shannon’s seminal work on information theory provided the conceptual framework for communication through noisy channels (Shannon, 1948). This work, quantifying the information content of coded messages, established the basis for all current systems aiming to transmit information through any medium.
Plant Mitochondrial Mutations

The complex mitochondrial genomes of angiosperms tend to rearrange, leading to rapid structural evolution and to visible mutations. The observed mutations include those affecting growth and morphology, as well as male fertility. The abnormal growth mutations are usually associated with defects in essential mitochondrial genes. In contrast, cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) usually results from the de novo expression of chimeric open reading frames (ORFs) in rearranged mitochondrial genomes. The expression of the CMS-chimeric ORFs can be modified by nuclear restorer-of-fertility (Rf) genes. Most of the Rf genes described to date are rapidly evolving members of a class of genes encoding pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins. Plants may also revert to fertility following mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) rearrangements that disrupt the sterility-associated region. Alternatively, subgenomes containing a CMS-ORF may be lost or highly suppressed. In many cases, the mtDNA rearrangements that lead to phenotypic changes are mediated by events involving short or microhomologous repeats. In this chapter, we emphasize work on cytoplasmic male sterility, including cytoplasmic reversion to fertility and nuclear restoration of fertility.
Effect of Blood Flow Restriction Training on Quadriceps Muscle Strength, Morphology, Physiology, and Knee Biomechanics Before and After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: Protocol for a Randomized Clinical Trial

Background Despite best practice, quadriceps strength deficits often persist for years after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Blood flow restriction training (BFRT) is a possible new intervention that applies a pressurized cuff to the proximal thigh that partially occludes blood flow as the patient exercises, which enables patients to train at reduced loads. This training is believed to result in the same benefits as if the patients were training under high loads. Objective The objective is to evaluate the effect of BFRT on quadriceps strength and knee biomechanics and to identify the potential mechanism(s) of action of BFRT at the cellular and morphological levels of the quadriceps. Design This will be a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Setting The study will take place at the University of Kentucky and University of Texas Medical Branch. Participants Sixty participants between the ages of 15 to 40 years with an ACL tear will be included. Intervention Participants will be randomly assigned to (1) physical therapy plus active BFRT (BFRT group) or (2) physical therapy plus placebo BFRT (standard of care group). Presurgical BFRT will involve sessions 3 times per week for 4 weeks, and postsurgical BFRT will involve sessions 3 times per week for 4 to 5 months. Measurements The primary outcome measure was quadriceps strength (peak quadriceps torque, rate of torque development). Secondary outcome measures included knee biomechanics (knee extensor moment, knee flexion excursion, knee flexion angle), quadriceps muscle morphology (physiological cross-sectional area, fibrosis), and quadriceps muscle physiology (muscle fiber type, muscle fiber size, muscle pennation angle, satellite cell proliferation, fibrogenic/adipogenic progenitor cells, extracellular matrix composition). Limitations Therapists will not be blinded. Conclusions The results of this study may contribute to an improved targeted treatment for the protracted quadriceps strength loss associated with anterior cruciate ligament injury and reconstruction.
Reduction of Dimensionality in Monte Carlo Simulation of Diffusion in Extracellular Space Surrounding Cubic Cells

The real-time iontophoretic method has measured volume fraction and tortuosity of the interstitial component of extracellular space in many regions and under different conditions. To interpret these data computer models of the interstitial space (ISS) of the brain are constructed by representing cells as Basic Cellular Structures (BCS) surrounded by a layer of ISS and replicating this combination to make a 3D ensemble that approximates brain tissue with a specified volume fraction. Tortuosity in such models is measured by releasing molecules of zero size into the ISS and allowing them to execute random walks in the ISS of the ensemble using a Monte Carlo algorithm. The required computational resources for such simulations may be high and here we show that in many situations the 3D problem may be reduced to a quasi-1D problem with consequent reduction in resources. We take the simplest BCS in the form of cubes and use MCell software to perform the Monte Carlo simulations but the analysis described here may be extended in principle to more complex BCS and an ISS that has a defined viscosity and an extracellular matrix that interacts with diffusing molecules. In the course of this study we found that the original analytical description of the relation between volume fraction and tortuosity for an ensemble of cubes may require a small correction.
'Testis-epididymis dissociation' in cryptorchidism and hydrocele: the tip of the iceberg of a persistent genital mesentery.

To investigate whether testis–epididymis dissociation encountered in boys with cryptorchidism/hydrocele is related with an abnormal persistence of the fetal mesentery of testis and associated ducts. We examined the morphology of peritoneal folds of the testis, epididymis, and vas deferens in 25 boys operated for unilateral cryptorchidism [inguinal (n = 20), intrabdominal (n = 5)] and 20 boys operated for unilateral communicating hydrocele. Findings were compared with the normally persisting genital mesentery of rats (n = 30, both sides), a known animal model of the genital mesentery of human fetuses, as well as with the normal mature pattern of genital peritoneal folds in adult male cadavers (n = 12, both sides). Rats before testis descent [aged 18 days (n = 15)] served for comparison with boys with cryptorchidism, while rats after testis descent [aged 50 (n = 15)] known to retain patent processi vaginales for comparison with boys with hydrocele. A well-developed genital mesentery, identical to the fetal-type genital mesentery in the rat, was documented in cryptorchidism and hydrocele. The peritoneum enveloped the testis, epididymis, and vas deferens, and formed wide ligaments between testis–epididymis, epididymis–vas deferens, and vas–posterior wall; processus vaginalis was patent in all cases. The testis–epididymis ligament was related with testis–epididymis distancing, the so-called testis–epididymis dissociation. On the contrary, genital mesentery had involuted in the adult male cadavers, except for a small portion of testis–epididymis ligament corresponding to the so-called sinus epididymis. The testis–epididymis dissociation encountered in cryptorchidism/hydrocele is part of an anomalously persisting fetal-type genital mesentery.
The Analysis of Film Surfaces by Abrasion with KBr

We have discovered a way to determine the chemical composition of the surface of a film. This method allows determination of the upper 50 A (estimated) of film surfaces.
Classification of Brain Metastases

Patients with brain metastases are a heterogenous population. The epidemiology of brain metastases is addressed elsewhere in this textbook. In the past, outcomes were considered uniformly grim for all patients with brain metastases. We now know that outcomes vary widely by diagnosis (type of primary cancer) and diagnosis-specific prognostic factors. This chapter reviews the history of prognostic classifications for patients with brain metastases and the current state of knowledge in this area. Such classification systems are important for two reasons: (1) they facilitate clinical decision-making regarding whether and what treatment is appropriate and (2) they provide a method for stratification of clinical trials to ensure trials are comparing comparable patients, which is particularly important in such a heterogeneous patient population.
An Unusual and Unfortunate Presentation of a Gastric Adenocarcinoma

Gastric adenocarcinoma is the third leading cause of mortality worldwide. Although it is a relatively infrequent neoplasm in North America, it is associated with a high mortality rate. Gastric adenocarcinoma is believed to result from inflammation of gastric cells leading to peptic ulcers which then progresses to cancer. Our case highlights a rare presentation of a rapidly growing gastric adenocarcinoma, originally unseen on endoscopy a month prior, and later appearing as a large circumferential mass. Initially the H. pylori and biopsy results in negative findings for adenocarcinoma, however, a month later the biopsy results were positive for gastric adenocarcinoma. Gastric adenocarcinomas are usually insidious and presents initially as non-specific symptoms such as dyspepsia, nausea, and early satiety. The initial workup consists of an EGD and EUS for localization, tissue biopsy, and determination of tumor size/depth as well as locating regional lymph nodes. Our case highlights the emphasis of frequent surveillance and close follow-up of patients who have increased risk factors for gastric adenocarcinomas as these cancers can often be missed and are fatal.
Donor-Acceptor Conjugated Macrocycles with Polyradical Character and Global Aromaticity

Summary Polyradical character and global aromaticity are fundamental concepts that govern the rational design of cyclic conjugated macromolecules for optoelectronic applications. Here, we report donor-acceptor (D−A) conjugated macromolecules with and without π-spacer derivatives to tune the antiferromagnetic couplings between the unpaired electrons. The macromolecules without π-spacer have a closed-shell electronic configuration and show global nonaromatic character in the singlet and lowest triplet states. However, the derivatives with π-spacer develop a nearly pure open-shell diradical and a very high polyradical character, not reported for D−A type macromolecules. Furthermore, the π-spacer derivatives display global nonaromaticity in the singlet ground state, but global aromaticity in the lowest triplet state, according to Baird's rule. The absorption spectra of the open-shell macromolecules calculated with time-dependent density functional theory indicate intensive light absorption in the near-infrared region and broadening to 2,500 nm, making these materials suitable for numerous optoelectronic applications.
Detection of Defects in Additively Manufactured Stainless Steel 316L with Compact Infrared Camera and Machine Learning Algorithms

Additive manufacturing (AM) is an emerging method for cost-efficient fabrication of nuclear reactor parts. AM of metallic structures for nuclear energy applications is currently based on the laser powder bed fusion process, which can introduce internal material flaws, such as pores and anisotropy. Integrity of AM structures needs to be evaluated nondestructively because material flaws could lead to premature failures due to exposure to high temperature, radiation and corrosive environments in a nuclear reactor. Thermal tomography (TT) provides a capability for non-destructive evaluation of sub-surface defects in arbitrary size structures. We investigate TT of AM stainless steel 316L specimens with imprinted internal porosity defects using a relatively low-cost, small form factor infrared camera based on an uncooled micro-bolometer detector. Sparse coding-related K-means singular value decomposition machine learning, image processing algorithms are developed to improve the quality of TT images through removal of additive white Gaussian noise without blurring the images.
Sex Differences in Alzheimer's Disease: Insights From the Multiomics Landscape.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) has complex etiologies, and the impact of sex on AD varies over the course of disease development. The literature provides some evidence of sex-specific contributions to AD. However, molecular mechanisms of sex-biased differences in AD remain elusive. Multiomics data in tandem with systems biology approaches offer a new avenue to dissect sex-stratified molecular mechanisms of AD and to develop sex-specific diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for AD. Single-cell transcriptomic datasets and cell deconvolution of bulk tissue transcriptomic data provide additional insights into brain cell type-specific impact on sex-biased differences in AD. In this review, we summarize the impact of sex chromosomes and sex hormones on AD, the impact of sex-biased differences during AD development, and the interplay between sex and a major AD genetic risk factor, the APOE e4 genotype, through the multiomics landscape. Several sex-biased molecular pathways such as neuroinflammation and bioenergetic metabolism have been identified. The importance of sex chromosome and sex hormones, as well as the associated pathways in AD pathogenesis, is further strengthened by findings from omics studies. Future research efforts should integrate the multiomics data from different brain regions and different cell types using systems biology approaches, and leverage the knowledge into a holistic examination of sex differences in AD. Advances in systems biology technologies and increasingly available large-scale multiomics datasets will facilitate future studies dissecting such complex signaling mechanisms to better understand AD pathogenesis in both sexes, with the ultimate goals of developing efficacious sex- and APOE-stratified preventive and therapeutic interventions for AD.