cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Influence of biostimulation by mature bulls on occurrence of puberty in beef heifers.

The objective of this study was to determine if biostimulation of prepuberal beef heifers by mature bulls would alter proportions of heifers exhibiting puberty, or age or weight at puberty. Angus (A), A X Hereford (H) and Tarentaise X HA heifers (n = 103) were stratified by age and weight within breed-type and location of birth and allotted randomly to the following treatments: 1) heifers exposed to mature bulls (T1; n = 52) or 2) heifers isolated from bulls (T2; n = 51). At the start of the experiment, heifers in T1 and T2 were 287 +/- 2 and 286 +/- 2 d of age, respectively. Male-to-female ratio for T1 was 1:26. Heifers in T1 and T2 were maintained in drylots separated by .5 km. Heifers were observed for estrus twice daily for 152 d. Puberty was characterized by the following criteria: 1) behavioral estrus, 2) presence of a palpable corpus luteum (d 9; estrus = d 0) and 3) a rise in serum progesterone above 1 ng/ml (d 9). Proportions of heifers reaching puberty by 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 mo of age did not differ (P greater than .10) between treatments. Percentages of heifers reaching puberty by the end of the experiment were 84 and 89% for T1 and T2, respectively. Age and weight at puberty did not differ (P greater than .10) between treatments and averaged 370 +/- 7 d and 293 +/- 4 kg, respectively. Results from this experiment indicated that presence of mature bulls did not alter proportions of beef heifers reaching puberty, or age and weight at puberty.
Maintenance of antimicrobial susceptibility of Acinetobacter baumannii in modeled microgravity.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a modeled microgravity environment on the antimicrobial resistance of Acinetobacter baumannii. DESIGN: Clinical isolates of A. baumannii (n=10) in Mueller Hinton broth were grown in high aspect ratio vessels using a rotary cell culture system oriented to achieve either normal earth gravity (1XG) or low sheer modeled microgravity (LSMMG) conditions. After culture MICs were determined by Etest. Antimicrobials included in the study were amikacin, ampicillin/sulbactam, azithromycin, ceftazidime, gatifloxacin, gentamicin, imipenem, meropenem, minocycline, ticarcillin/clavulanic acid, tigecycline, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Results were compared for MIC value and category interpretation (S, I, R). RESULTS: Overall category agreement was 100% (360/360). 100% of MIC values compared were within one twofold dilution of each other. CONCLUSION: Under these test conditions LSMMG had no apparent effect on the resistance pattern of A. baumannii. ABBREVIATIONS:1XG = normal earth gravity; LSMMG = low-shear modeled microgravity, MIC = minimum inhibitory concentration; S = susceptible; I = intermediate; R = resistant; NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration; RWV = rotating wall vessel; MDR = multi-drug resistant; TSA II – trypticase soy agar with 5% sheep blood; WHMC = Wilford Hall Medical Center; MHB = cation adjusted Mueller Hinton Broth; HARV = high aspect ratio vessel; RCCS = rotary cell culture system; mL = milliliter; RPM = rotations per minute.
ENHANCING biological nitrogen fixation in Common bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

viii CHAPTER 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 Hypotheses 7 Expected Outcomes 8 References 9 CHAPTER 2. GENOTYPIC VARIATION IN UREIDE CONTENT IN PHASEOLUS VULGARIS L. 19 Abstract 19 Introduction 20 Materials and Methods 21 Results and Discussion 23 Conclusions 28 References 29 CHAPTER 3. SHOOT AND ROOT CONTROL OF UREIDE ACCUMULATION AND PARTITIONING IN PHASEOLUS VULGARIS L. GENOTYPES 46 Abstract 46 Introduction 47 Materials and Methods 48 Results and Discussion 50 Conclusions 56 References 58 CHAPTER 4. GENERAL DISCUSSION 72
Picture Activity Schedules

Many science-based programs for young children with autism include picture activity schedules as key elements as key elements in intervention. This chapter reviews the literature on activity schedules and describes the procedures used to teach children to follow schedules. When correctly implemented, activity scedules diminish prompt dependence, promote on-task behavior, foster generalization across tasks, settings, and persons, and teach social interaction, choice-making, and independent performance. Activity schedules are most effective when used throughout a child’s day, in many different settings, and with different adults. They provide a framework for delivering many well-researched intervention procedures, such as incidental teaching, discrete-trial instruction, and video modeling.
Performance Evaluation and Enhancements of a Flood Simulator Application for Heterogeneous HPC Environments

This paper presents a practical implementation of a 2D flood simulation model using hybrid distributed-parallel technologies including MPI, OpenMP, CUDA, and evaluations of its performance under various configurations that utilize these technologies. The main objective of this research work was to improve the computational performance of the flood simulation in a hybrid architecture. Modern desktops and small cluster systems owned by domain researchers are able to perform these simulations efficiently due to multicore and GPU computing devices, but lack the expertise needed to fully utilize software libraries designed to take advantage of the latest hardware. By leveraging knowledge of our experimentation environment, we were able to incorporate MPI and multiple GPU devices to improve performance over a single-process OpenMP version up to 18x, depending on the size of the input data. We discuss some observations that have significant effects on overall performance, including process-to-device mapping, communication strategies and data partitioning, and present some experimental results. The limitations of this work are discussed, and we propose some ideas to relieve or overcome such limitations in future work.
Introduction to Quantum Monte Carlo Simulations of Electronic Systems

Monte Carlo statistical methods have a unique role in computational physics because random sampling can be used to carry out exact or nearly exact calculations for many-body systems. The subject of this paper is a brief outline of some of the current developments in applying Monte Carlo methods to quantum problems involving interacting electrons in condensed matter. We will discuss methods and examples, in particular, homogeneous electron systems, the metal-insulator transition in hydrogen at high pressure, and a brief introduction to ab initio calculations on general materials.
Cost Optimization of Osmotically Assisted Reverse Osmosis.

We develop a nonlinear optimization model to identify minimum cost designs for osmotically assisted reverse osmosis (OARO), a multistaged membrane-based process for desalinating high-salinity brine...
It’s About Time: Readiness, Commitment, and Stability in Close Relationships:

Timing matters in relationships. People vary in their sense of when they think the time is right to be involved in a committed relationship. We propose and examine the construct of commitment readi...
The Sovereign Right to Tax: How Bilateral Investment Treaties Threaten Sovereignty

Bilateral Investment Treaties, ("BITs"), are both a response to and likely at least partly responsible for the significant increase in international investments in the last fifty years. BITs provide potential private investors government assurances regarding a variety of factors relevant to their investments. Among these assurances, BITs regularly address the tax authority that the host government has with regard to the foreign investor, often protecting that foreign private investor against changes to the host country's tax system. If an investor believes the host country has violated the terms of the BIT, that investor can bring a claim against the country in front of an independent arbitration panel, whose decision will be final and binding. Because the power to tax is at the heart of what makes a sovereign authority a sovereign, restrictions on a sovereign's ability to tax foreign investors, which can be enforced by an external body, threaten that sovereign's very essence. As a result, tax provisions in BITs and the adjudication of those provisions by arbitration bodies must be carefully examined and potentially reconsidered, to protect the sovereign rights of governments to assess tax, to evolve their tax policies, and administer the laws of their countries in the best interests of their people. This Article explains the background and use of BITs, explores theories of sovereignty, and then demonstrates that the current use of BITs to restrict governments' ability to assess and collect tax within their borders threatens sovereign rights. The Article concludes by suggesting ways that the regulation of the taxation of international investments could be modified to protect sovereign rights.
Population Pharmacokinetics of Galcanezumab, an Anti-CGRP Antibody, Following Subcutaneous Dosing to Healthy Individuals and Patients With Migraine

Galcanezumab is a humanized immunoglobulin G (IgG) monoclonal antibody (mAb) indicated for the prevention of migraine that binds to calcitonin gene-related peptide. A population pharmacokinetic (PK) analysis was performed to characterize galcanezumab PK using data pooled from 7 clinical studies. Clinical studies included healthy individuals and patients with episodic or chronic migraine who were administered between 5 and 300 mg galcanezumab. The PK data were analyzed using nonlinear mixed-effects modeling. Galcanezumab concentration-time data were described with a 1-compartment model with first-order absorption following subcutaneous administration and linear elimination. At the median body weight of 74 kg, the estimated population apparent clearance (CL/F) was 0.00785 L/h (34% IIV), the apparent volume of distribution was 7.33 L (34% IIV), and half-life was 27 days. Patient body weight was found to have a modest effect of CL/F, with median galcanezumab concentrations being lower in the heaviest patients compared to the lightest patients, but this outcome was determined not to be clinically relevant in the context of model-estimated random variability. Dosing adjusted for body weight is not warranted in adults. Age, sex, race/ethnicity, immunogenicity, renal/hepatic markers, and injection-site location did not affect galcanezumab PK. In conclusion, galcanezumab exhibits PK parameters typical for an IgG mAb administered subcutaneously. The population PK model developed in this study demonstrates that galcanezumab exhibits linear PK that was not influenced in a clinically relevant manner by the patient factors evaluated.
Co-occurring psychopathy symptoms in offending boys: Do patterns of interactions among symptoms depend on levels of psychopathic tendencies?

Abstract Psychopathy is typically considered to include a myriad of personality traits. We explored how psychopathic features, assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL: YV; Forth, Kosson, & Hare, 2003), are interrelated in a network model among 1170 serious offending boys. Results showed callous/lack of empathy and irresponsibility are among the most frequently co-occurring features. Callous/lack of empathy, manipulation for gain, and serious criminal behavior were the most influential items among delinquent boys with elevated psychopathic tendencies. This study extends the understanding of psychopathic traits as an interconnecting network of features into offending adolescent boys, suggesting that certain interactions between certain features in youth may facilitate the manifestation of psychopathy into a stable personality trait in adulthood and also highlights the possibility that more common and less common symptom constellations make up psychopathy in delinquent youth. However, it should be noted that the level of psychopathic traits matter as to which features are central, with grandiose manipulative traits common at high levels of psychopathy (discriminating), and callous traits common even at low thresholds. These findings suggest that network analyses should consider the level of psychopathic traits (high v. med-to-low) when discussing which features are “central” or common.
Bone remodeling platforms: Understanding the need for multicellular lab-on-a-chip systems and predictive agent-based models

The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the need for more complex bone remodeling platforms that allow for investigations of intricate multicellular interactions that regulate this process. We discuss the efforts we have taken to develop lab-on-a-chip systems for bone remodeling and the motivation for pursuing more advanced multicellular models. Further, we discuss mathematical modeling opportunities that will allow experimental results to extend beyond the set laboratory conditions. We advocate for the development of an agent-based model comprised of multiple cellular automata of each bone cell type. In total, this work requires a combination of techniques from bone biology, microfluidics, cell mechanobiology, mechanics, and mathematical modeling. Thus, significant advancements within the field will require a collective contribution from a variety of research laboratories.
A Sense of Place: The Politics of Immigration and the Symbolic Construction of Identity in Southern California and the New York Metropolitan Area

American immigration has long been characterized by spatial concentration within major urban areas. Los Angeles and New York City are two of the most important immigrant meccas today. Recent studies of immigrant adaptation within these cities have emphasized material factors at the expense of cultural considerations. This paper adopts a comparative perspective to demonstrate extreme differences in the symbolic construction of identity vis-a-vis immigrants in these two urban areas. Using The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times as indicators of elite cultural orientations, a content analysis is performed. The results demonstrate the social construction of an exclusive “threat” narrative in Southern California, and an inclusive “immigrant as victim” narrative in the New York metropolitan area. I argue that this extreme variation in cultural orientations must be understood as the result of divergent material and symbolic contexts. In order to demonstrate the importance of cultural factors, this paper focuses on symbolic differences between these areas and the influence these differences have on the political process of inclusion/exclusion.
A Validation Trajectory for the Washington Assessment of Risks and Needs of Students

ABSTRACTThe State of Washington requires school districts to file court petitions on students with excessive unexcused absences. The Washington Assessment of Risks and Needs of Students (WARNS), a ...
Derivation of a procedural performance checklist for ultrasound-guided femoral arterial line placement using the modified Delphi method.

Background:Many specialties utilize procedural performance checklists as an aid to teach residents and other learners. Procedural checklists ensure that the critical steps of the desired procedure ...
Cross-laminated timber rocking walls with slip-friction connections

Abstract Construction of tall-wood buildings is increasing in North America. Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is one of the dominant structural mass-timber products and is a high strength, lightweight, value-added, wood-composite panel suited for shear walls. The advent of tall-wood buildings necessitates further connection development for increased seismic resiliency to meet life-safety and performance-based design objectives. A novel slip-friction connection (SFC) was tested on six 1.52 m by 3.04 m CLT walls subject to static and pseudo-static cyclic loading. The SFC used Belleville springs and brass shims to provide stable slip forces and equivalent-viscous damping ratios between 0.28 and 0.63. Half of the wall tests included a short post-tensioned restoring rod with Belleville washers. Inclined self-tapping screws (STS) were used to connect the SFCs to the CLT walls, and the SFCs were designed to reliably dissipate energy while protecting the rocking walls from damage. The wall’s response followed the idealized parallelogram, or flag shaped, hysteretic models observed in other slip friction systems. Results indicate repeatable performance and structural protection at least 2.5 times STS design loads. Self-centering and partially-centering wall conditions were tested by changing the SFC slip forces, while maintaining an initial 23 kN restoring force. Based on these experiments designers will be able to apply SFCs to CLT rocking walls.
Semi-supervised Transfer Learning for Infant Cerebellum Tissue Segmentation

To characterize early cerebellum development, accurate segmentation of the cerebellum into white matter (WM), gray matter (GM), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tissues is one of the most pivotal steps. However, due to the weak tissue contrast, extremely folded tiny structures, and severe partial volume effect, infant cerebellum tissue segmentation is especially challenging, and the manual labels are hard to obtain and correct for learning-based methods. To the best of our knowledge, there is no work on the cerebellum segmentation for infant subjects less than 24 months of age. In this work, we develop a semi-supervised transfer learning framework guided by a confidence map for tissue segmentation of cerebellum MR images from 24-month-old to 6-month-old infants. Note that only 24-month-old subjects have reliable manual labels for training, due to their high tissue contrast. Through the proposed semi-supervised transfer learning, the labels from 24-month-old subjects are gradually propagated to the 18-, 12-, and 6-month-old subjects, which have a low tissue contrast. Comparison with the state-of-the-art methods demonstrates the superior performance of the proposed method, especially for 6-month-old subjects.
Using the Pandemic as a Case Study: Teaching Social and Ethical Issues

The efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic present a living case that is unfortunate but well-suited for addressing the global professional practice and social responsibility domains of IT2017. It provides an ideal assignment for discussion, and as an open-ended case study, lends itself well to that discussion taking place in a multiweek, asynchronous online mode, should that be necessary.
Radiological Findings of COVID-19 Patients in Italy

# CONTEXT The emergence of COVID-19/SARS-CoV2 (COVID-19) was an outbreak that began in December 2019 and rose to pandemic levels in 2020. One of the largest problems with COVID-19 is the typical delay in testing and diagnosis that can lead to additional transmission of the disease. Under consultation with a board-certified radiologist, the study team evaluated the common radiological findings of COVID-19 on computed tomography (CT) and compared the efficacy of chest radiographs (i.e., x-rays) to CT in diagnosing COVID-19. # METHODS In 2020, the authors completed a retrospective review of radiologic imaging data (i.e., the original imaging report notes) from Italy performed on 47 patients who had tested positive for COVID-19 in Italy during the national outbreak from February to March 2020. Radiologic images were obtained from Societa Italiana di Radiologia Medica e Interventistica radiological database of COVID-19 patients. Each case was analyzed for whether they had positive findings on either chest radiograph or CT or both among patients who had positive COVID-19 test results. # RESULTS The authors found significant radiological finding similarities among the 47 COVID-19 positive case studies from Italy during the February to March 2020 time period. Ground glass opacities and crazy paving were the most significant findings, resembling the findings in China and other Coronavirus strains. The authors’ statistical analyses indicated that CT scans were more reliable by 30.7% than chest radiographs in identifying signs of COVID-19. In cases where either an initial negative swab for COVID-19 or providers lacked patient social histories, chest radiographs were used to show clinical findings consistent with COVID-19. # CONCLUSIONS Based on these results, chest radiographs appear to be a consistent method to assist in the diagnosis of most COVID-19 cases. The authors discuss several scenarios in community-based and non-hospital US settings for COVID-19 diagnostic processes.
A Framework for Assessing the Value of Management Inquiry

Using a Bayesian Cascaded Inference approach, this study provides a framework to allow an auditor to simultaneously consider important criteria identified in the literature in evaluating the credibility of evidence obtained from management inquiry. Specifically, the importance of management reliability attributes (competence and objectivity) and the role of misstatement risk are examined. Additionally, fraud risk scenarios are considered. Sensitivity analyses suggest three important propositions that have implications for practice and research. First, reliable management inquiries have the highest potential value when misstatement risks are greatest. Second, in a situation of suspected financial reporting fraud, inquiries from high level management are of little value due to concerns for objectivity. Third, in a suspected defalcation scenario the reliability of higher level management inquiries is contingent upon their competence in identifying suspected fraud, a type of competence that auditors have not traditionally assessed.
Humanidades Médicas: Un Enfoque Novedoso Sobre Medicina Para El Condado De Washington, Utah

Para amplificar y enriquecer la educacion de los medicos, las humanidades se han introducido en el curriculo de la escuela de medicina a traves de la literatura, la historia, el arte e incluso la musica. La cultura medica actual requiere e incluso provoca la desvinculacion emocional de los proveedores del sistema medico, pero las humanidades proporcionan una metodologia para cerrar esa brecha lamentable entre el paciente y medico. El cierre de esta brecha rompera las barreras que impiden el servicio excepcional del sistema medico. La fusion de humanidades medicas en la educacion y la practica de los medicos proporciona no solo una metodologia, sino una cultura que se puede incorporar dentro al sistema medico. La adopcion de esta cultura en el condado de Washington, Utah, podria ayudar a cerrar la brecha, beneficiando en gran medida a los ciudadanos y proveedores del sistema medico por igual. Este proyecto de investigacion, que incluye entrevistas con miembros de la comunidad de St. George y la Universidad de Utah, sugiere los beneficios que un enfoque interdisciplinario puede tener para el condado de Washington en sus hospitales y clinicas, tambien en el curriculo de estudios universitarios y en la escuela de medicina.
Penetrating trauma: Relationships to recreational drug and alcohol use

Abstract Introduction The incidence of alcohol and recreational drug use is increasing. The impact on penetrating trauma is unknown. This study was undertaken to identify the incidence of alcohol and recreational drug use prior to penetrating trauma, and to identify ISS and outcomes among patients with penetrating trauma. Methods In this retrospective study, eligible subjects included trauma patients age 18 and older, with major trauma (admitted or evaluated by the Trauma Team) from 2017 to 2021. A chart review was conducted to identify data including mechanism of injury, ISS, alcohol level, toxicologic testing, length of stay, and final disposition. Results Among 1270 adult subjects with penetrating trauma during 2017 through 2020, the majority were male (N = 1071; 84%), and African American (N = 679; 54.3%) or White (N = 537; 42.9%). Mechanisms of injury included gunshot wound (GSW) (N = 973; 76.6%) or stab wound (N = 297; 23.4%). Injury severity score (ISS) ranged from 1 to 75. Among 426 subjects (33.5%) tested for recreational drugs, 395 (93%) were positive for at least one substance. The most common recreational drugs identified included marijuana (N = 280; 65.7%), benzodiazepine ((N = 131;30.8%), alcohol ((N = 248; 25.3%), opiate ((N = 116; 27.2%), cocaine (N = 87; 20.4%), and amphetamine ((N = 84; 19.7%). Subjects with an ISS of 9 to 15 had higher odds of testing positive for opiates compared to subjects with an ISS of 1 to 3 (OR 2.3). Most patients were ultimately discharged home ((N = 912;71.8%) and a minority expired (N = 142; 11.2%). Conclusions Positive screens for alcohol and recreational drugs were common among penetrating trauma patients in this setting. The most common identified recreational drugs included marijuana, benzodiazepine, opiates, alcohol, cocaine, and amphetamine.
Density Waves in Linear Chain Compounds

These notes are intended to give an overview of the field which, in general, is referred to as density waves in solids. In their simplest form, two types of density waves occur, they are called charge and spin density waves. Charge density waves were first discussed by Frohlich in 1954 and by Peierls in 1955; spin density wave states were postulated by Overhauser in 1962. It was recognized early that highly anisotropic band structures are important in leading to these ground states. Experimental evidence for these ground states was found much later, when materials with a linear chain structure and with metallic properties were discovered and investigated. Several groups of both organic and inorganic materials are now standard examples of density wave ground states; some members of these groups have been investigated in detail by a wide array of experimental techniques.
The Motor Thalamus: Alteration of Neuronal Activity in the Parkinsonian State

Derivations of the term thalamus have been used in various ways since the time of Virgil and Ovid around the beginning of the first millennium. Historians attributed the first clear anatomical use of the term thalamus to Galen in the 2nd century A.D. It appears, however, that Galen was not describing the structure we recognize today as the thalamus, but instead used the word to describe a funnel-like region representing the inferior horn of the lateral ventricle. Galen called this area thalamus, since it resembled the inner chamber of a ship’s galley, or “thalami.” The first descriptions of the structure we currently recognize as the thalamus arose with Mondinus in the 14th century. Although Vesalius continued to lay the foundation of our understanding by providing visual representations of the thalamus, corpus striatum, and internal capsule, descriptions remained incomplete, since they lacked named structures. Thomas Willis provided the first clear representations of the thalamus to modern anatomists. Nuclear subdivisions of the thalamus, however, would not be described for another two centuries until Burdach did so in 1822 (Jones, 1985).
Assessing Performance Impacts in Food Retail Distribution Systems: A Stochastic Frontier Model Correcting for Sample Selection

A key organizational decision for retailers is whether to self-distribute or rely on a wholesaler-supplied network and yet little is known about the impact of this strategic choice on store-level productivity. We estimate a stochastic frontier model for food retailers that accounts for selectivity effects linked to the choice of distribution strategy. We ϐind that adoption of data-sharing technologies has a positive impact on store-level gross margins of stores in self-distributing chains. Technical inefϐiciency among U.S. food retailers leads to a gro ss margin that is around $5,000 less for a conventional food retailer and about $7,670 less for a supercenter. Many changes in the retail food environment are readily apparent to consumers, including the emergence of larger stores, a variety of new store formats, and enhanced service features offered by retailers. A less visible but equally important change is under way in the distribution structure of food retailing. The declining importance of independent supermarkets and rise of chain supermarkets have prompted a shift away from distribution by independent wholesalers and toward self-distribution systems in which retail stores and primary distribution centers operate under common ownership. Retail experts have highlighted a shift in volume from third-party wholesalers to chains’ own self-distribution centers. Kinsey (2000) noted that wholesalers generally report lower costs in self-distributing channels and contended that increased retail consolidation has promoted the growth of self-distribution. Food retailers that do not obtain their products through self-distribution or direct store delivery (DSD) from manufacturers are supplied through the wholesaler channel, and manufacturing (or packing), distribution, and retailing are performed by separate ϐirms. Products ϐlow from m anufacturers to distribution centers operated by wholesalers and then to individual food service and food retail establishments. The Grocery Manufacturers Association (2008) noted that DSD represented 24 percent of unit sales and 52 percent of retail proϐits in the grocery channel and was “poised to bec ome even more important to the retail trade in future years” (p. 2).
Microbial Fermentation of Rice Straw: Nutritive Composition and In Vitro Digestibility of the Fermentation Products

Rice straw was fermented with Cellulomonas sp. and Alcaligenes faecalis. Microbial cells and undigested residue, as well as chemically treated (NaOH or NH4OH) and untreated straws, were analyzed for nutrient composition and in vitro digestibility. In a typical fermentation, 75% of the rice straw substrate was digested, and 18.6% of the total substrate weight that disappeared was recovered as microbial protein. The microbial cell fraction was 37% protein and 5% crude fiber; the residue was 12% protein and 45% crude fiber. The microbial protein amino acid profile was similar to alfalfa, except for less cysteine. The microbial cells had more thiamine and less niacin than Torula yeast. In vitro digestibility of the microbial protein was 41.2 to 55%; that of cellulose was 52%.
1,4-Benzoquinone Reductase from Phanerochaete chrysosporium: cDNA Cloning and Regulation of Expression

A cDNA clone encoding a quinone reductase (QR) from the white rot basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium was isolated and sequenced. The cDNA consisted of 1,007 nucleotides and a poly(A) tail and encoded a deduced protein containing 271 amino acids. The experimentally determined eight-amino-acid N-germinal sequence of the purified QR protein from P. chrysosporium matched amino acids 72 to 79 of the predicted translation product of the cDNA. The M{sub r} of the predicted translation product, beginning with Pro-72, was essentially identical to the experimentally determined M{sub r} of one monomer of the QR dimer, and this finding suggested that QR is synthesized as a proenzyme. The results of in vitro transcription-translation experiments suggested that QR is synthesized as a proenzyme with a 71-amino-acid leader sequence. This leader sequence contains two potential KEX2 cleavage sites and numerous potential cleavage sites for dipeptidyl aminopeptidase. The QR activity in cultures of P. chrysosporium increased following the addition of 2-dimethoxybenzoquinone, vanillic acid, or several other aromatic compounds. An immunoblot analysis indicated that induction resulted in an increase in the amount of QR protein, and a Northern blot analysis indicated that this regulation occurs at the level of the qr mRNA.
Deep brain stimulation for severe autism: from pathophysiology to procedure.

Autism is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by early-onset impairment in social interaction and communication and by repetitive, restricted behaviors and interests. Because the degree of impairment may vary, a spectrum of clinical manifestations exists. Severe autism is characterized by complete lack of language development and potentially life-threatening self-injurious behavior, the latter of which may be refractory to medical therapy and devastating for affected individuals and their caretakers. New treatment strategies are therefore needed. Here, the authors propose deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA) as a therapeutic intervention to treat severe autism. The authors review recent developments in the understanding of the pathophysiology of autism. Specifically, they describe the genetic and environmental alterations that affect neurodevelopment. The authors also highlight the resultant microstructural, macrostructural, and functional abn...
Dynamic adaptation of Hidden Markov models for robust isolated-word speech recognition

The authors describe an HMM-based isolated-word recognition system that dynamically adapts word model parameters to new speakers and to stress-induced speech variations. During recognition all input tokens presented to the system can be used to augment the current word model parameters. New tokens can be weighted so that adaptation simply increases the size of the training set, or tracks systematic changes by exponentially weighting all previously seen data. This system was tested on the 35-word 10710 token Lincoln stressed speech data base. Speaker adaptation experiments produced error rates equivalent to speaker-trained systems after the presentation of only a single new token per vocabulary word. Stress condition adaptation experiments produced results comparable to multistyle-trained systems after the presentation of several new tokens per vocabulary word. >
Glucocorticoid insensitivity of P1798 lymphoma cells is associated with production of a factor that attenuates the lytic response.

Abstract P1798 murine lymphoma cells die when exposed to glucocortioids in vivo. Such cells are sensitive to glucocorticoids in culture in serum-free medium, and 80–90% of wild type cells will die within 24 h after addition of 0.1 µm dexamethasone. However, addition of fetal bovine serum prevents cell death in culture. Variants that were selected for resistance to the cytolytic effects of glucocorticoids in vivo are relatively insensitive to dexamethasone in culture. Insensitive variants die more slowly than wild type cells, with 10–20% cell death observed within 24 h after addition of dexamethasone. Conditioned medium from insensitive cultures protects wild type P1798 cells from dexamethasone in serum-free medium. Such medium contains one or more factors that attenuate the lytic response. This lysis resistance factor(s) has the properties of a protein and may be a growth factor. Expression of the lysis resistance factor(s) appears to be regulated by glucocorticoids. These studies define an heretofore uncharacterized mechanism whereby the ability of malignant lymphoid cells to elaborate and/or respond to an autocrine factor(s) influences the extent to which such cells die when exposed to glucocorticoids in culture and probably in vivo.
The Steamer Parish: The Rise and Fall of Missionary Medicine on an African Frontier

I remember visiting the Scottish Presbyterian Mission in Livingstonia on the northwest shore of Lake Malawi in 1996. At the edge of a steep escarpment high above the lake it was, although replete w...
National lacustrine core repository (LacCore)

This paper announces the launch of the first National Lacustrine Core Repository (LacCore) in the United States under the sponsorship of the National Science Foundation, Earth Systems History program, in cooperation with the University of Minnesota, Limnological Research Center (LRC) and Large Lakes Observatory (LLO). Policies are being developed in consultation with a national External Advisory Group (EAG), with requested input from the international paleolimnological community. The dynamic growth of national and international coring programs brings exciting new developments in paleolimnology and also brings a growing need for multi-proxy, cost-efficient usage of core material, similar to practices common in the marine sciences. The goals of this shared program and repository are to: (1) curate cores as a material documentation of scientific analysis and basin archives; (2) increase the quality and scope of paleoecological science by developing procedural standards and by facilitating interdisciplinary interaction among scientists; (3) provide community access to cores; and (4) create web-based access to an ongoing, developing data base. LacCore is a community venture and input is welcome in these early stages. The central idea is that curation of lake cores is significantly more than storage. A curation repository requires professional expertise and advice to assure consistent and coherent conventions for Initial Core Descriptions (ICD), data management, sample oversight, and pro-active dissemination of information on opportunities. Careful curation of cores allows maximum core utilization because maintained and documented cores are available for re-sampling, for comparative, interdisciplinary investigations, for application of new proxy techniques, and for correlation of proxies of environmental change across the continents.
Changes in weight and health behaviors after pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes mellitus: the CARDIA study

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) complicates about seven percent of pregnancies in the U.S., depending on the population studied (1). Women with a history of GDM are at high risk for type 2 diabetes (2, 3), with 3.7% diagnosed by nine months after delivery and 19% by nine years after delivery, within a large Canadian health care system (4). Because of this increased risk, experts and national organizations are calling for increased screening, monitoring and promotion of lifestyle changes for diabetes prevention (5, 6). In addition to triggering increased provider surveillance, a diagnosis of GDM could heighten women’s awareness of diabetes risk and motivate healthy behavioral change. However, support for making these lifestyle changes is crucial. Lifestyle interventions, such as The Diabetes Prevention Program, may reduce diabetes incidence in women with GDM histories (7). Cross-sectional studies show that providers may not adequately inform patients of their diabetes risk (8, 9), women may fail to perceive themselves at risk for diabetes (10) and overall, at-risk women are not engaging in healthier lifestyles (11, 12). A recent prospective cohort followed 238 Canadian women with and without GDM for one year postpartum (13). They reported no differences at one year in work or sports-related physical activity between groups, but women with GDM reported increased leisure-time physical activity at one year compared to women without GDM (13). However, few studies have measured weight and health behaviors from before to after pregnancy in women with GDM to assess post-pregnancy changes, although one previous study reported less than a two kg difference in mean weight gain from before to after pregnancies among women with and without GDM pregnancies (3). The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study is a prospective cohort study of young men and women with more than 20 years of follow up. Our objective was to compare changes in health behaviors (dietary intake and physical activity), and anthropometric measures (weight, body mass index [BMI] and waist circumference) from before to several years after pregnancy in women with and without GDM. We hypothesized that a diagnosis of GDM, despite its potential role as a “prognostic sign” for diabetes would not be associated with improved post-pregnancy anthropometric measures or health behaviors (e.g. less weight gain, improved diet). Understanding post-pregnancy changes in women with GDM could inform interventions aimed at promoting healthy post-pregnancy behavior changes.
Angular distributions of neutrons produced in the (n, 2n) reaction from127I at 14.5 MeV incident neutron energy

The (n, 2n) reaction from127I at 14.5 MeV incident neutron energy has been studied. NaI is used as a target as well as a detector of gamma-rays. The measured angular distributions of neutrons in coincidence with a pulse height are found to be symmetric about 90° and agree well with the predictions of the theory of statistical decay of the compound nucleus.
Ferroelectric thin-film connections in integrated circuit neural networks

The application of ferroelectric thin-film capacitors as connection element synapses in artificial neural network integrated circuits is described. A continuous-valued synapse (analog memory) where the synaptic efficacy is controlled by the polarization of a ferroelectric capacitor element is then described. This analog synapse utilized a non-destructive readout and required very infrequent refresh. A ferroelectric capacitor circuit model added to the SPICE circuit simulation program is discussed. >
Electromagnetic Theory of the Kerr and the Faraday Effects for Oblique Incidence

The Kerr reflection and the Faraday transmission relations are calculated for a magnetized slab of homogeneous isotropic material bounded by two nonmagnetic lossless media. Only the electric dipole contributions to optical properties of the media are considered. The light is obliquely incident on the slab and the applied magnetic field is placed in the polar, the longitudinal, and the transverse directions. Calculations for a single pass of the light through the slab are carried out for the transmitted light. The polar and longitudinal Faraday effects for a thin slab are shown to contain a constant term independent of thickness. The first-order transmission effect for a transverse magnetic field is independent of thickness.
Histone Deacetylase 1 and p300 Can Directly Associate with Chromatin and Compete for Binding in a Mutually Exclusive Manner

Lysine acetyltransferases (KATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs) are important epigenetic modifiers and dynamically cycled on active gene promoters to regulate transcription. Although HDACs are recruited to gene promoters and DNA hypersensitive sites through interactions with DNA binding factors, HDAC activities are also found globally in intergenic regions where DNA binding factors are not present. It is suggested that HDACs are recruited to those regions through other distinct, yet undefined mechanisms. Here we show that HDACs can be directly recruited to chromatin in the absence of other factors through direct interactions with both DNA and core histone subunits. HDACs interact with DNA in a non-sequence specific manner. HDAC1 and p300 directly bind to the overlapping regions of the histone H3 tail and compete for histone binding. Previously we show that p300 can acetylate HDAC1 to attenuate deacetylase activity. Here we have further mapped two distinct regions of HDAC1 that interact with p300. Interestingly, these regions of HDAC1 also associate with histone H3. More importantly, p300 and HDAC1 compete for chromatin binding both in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, the mutually exclusive associations of HDAC1/p300, p300/histone, and HDAC1/histone on chromatin contribute to the dynamic regulation of histone acetylation by balancing HDAC or KAT activity present at histones to reorganize chromatin structure and regulate transcription.
Barrier inhibition of a temporal neuraxial influence on early chick somitic myogenesis

Skeletal myogenesis in the chick embryo first occurs in the somite. Somites are transient, paired mesodermal structures adjacent to the neural tube. Somites form from the segmental plate mesenchyme at approximately 90-min intervals. We identify somitic myogenic cells by using confocal microscopy to detect the muscle specific intermediate filament protein, desmin, in whole mount chick embryo preparations. The appearance of desmin in somitic cells does not occur at a constant interval after the somite has formed. The rate of chick somitic myogenic onset, as evidenced by detection of desmin, is approximately 1.5 times faster than the rate of somitogenesis (Borman and Yorde [1994] J. Histochem. Cytochem. 42:265–272). Somitic myogenesis does not appear to be directly linked to somitogenesis but instead may be regulated by some influence external to the somite. Here we have specifically addressed the issue of whether an impermeable barrier placed between the neuraxis and the somites can prevent the onset of somitic myogenesis. When tantalum foil barriers are placed medial to the caudalmost 3–5 somites of embryos having up to 20 somites total (stage 13), the predominant result is an inhibition of myogenic cells lateral to the barrier. Conversely, when the tantalum foil is placed medial to the caudal somites of an embryo having 21 somites (stage 14) or more, desmin is detected lateral to the barrier in most cases. There is a temporal influence originating in the neuraxis which plays a role in the onset of somitic myogenesis. Although the nature of this interaction between the neuraxis and the somites is not yet clear, we have defined a precise temporal location within the developing embryo at which this tissue interaction is taking place. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Methylcobalamin corrects the deleterious in vitro effect of nitrous oxide on thymidylate synthetase.

In this study, cobalamin deficiency was produced in vitro by the use of nitrous oxide, known to inactivate the vitamin. In 14 sets of experiments, normal human lymphocytes stimulated with phytohemagglutinin on day 0 were exposed to nitrous oxide and oxygen on day 2. McCbl was delivered later to half of the cells. Untreated cells served as a control. On day 3, the cells were harvested, the lymphocytes were lysed, and the obtained extracts were assayed for thymidylate synthetase. In 16 other experiments the same procedure was performed, and the incorporation of radioactive thymidine or deoxyuridine by the intact cells was measured. In additional experiments, a deoxyuridine suppression test of treated and untreated stimulated lymphocytes was also performed. The results indicate that nitrous oxide significantly reduces the activity of thymidylate synthetase and that this reduction is significantly corrected by McCbl, suggesting a causative relation between the vitamin and the enzyme. However, there was no statistically significant effect of nitrous oxide demonstrated on the nucleoside incorporation nor on the deoxyuridine suppression test.
Dissolution of Some Lithium Dosage Forms and Correlation with Enslin Number

AbstractThe biopharmaceutic parameters of six conventional and one sustained release lithium carbonate commercial products were determined. From the dissolution data mean residence time, dissolution rate constants, and percent dissolved at 5 and 10 minutes were obtained. The ENSLIN numbers were compared with mean residence time and percent dissolved at 5 and 10 minutes. A good correlation was obtained between ENSLIN number and mean residence time for the conventional preparations.
The equilibrium between vitamin A alcohol and aldehyde in the presence of alcohol dehydrogenase.

Abstract Vitamin A is reversibly dehydrogenated to vitamin A aldehyde (retinene) in isolated retinal rods and in liver extracts containing alcohol dehydrogenase and coenzyme 1. The reaction is probably involved in the utilization of vitamin A for the regeneration of bleached visual purple. The equilibrium constant k H of the dehydrogenation is 3.3 × 10 −9 , about 300 times more favorable to the aldehyde than k H for ethyl alcohol.
Finding new phases for precipitate-hardening in platinum and palladium alloys

Abstract Precipitate hardening (via ordered phases rather than phase separation) of platinum and palladium can be effective even with a small volume-fraction of the ordered phase [M. Carelse, C.I. Lang, Scripta Materialia 54 (7) (2006) 1311]. The approach is particularly well suited to jewelry alloys which must be 95 wt.% pure and where ordered phases of 7:1 or 8:1 stoichiometries can be formed. We examined eight systems where this approach may lead to new applications: Pt–Al, Pd–Al, Pd–Cu, Pd–Mg, Pd–Nb, Pt–Mo, Pt–V, and Pd–V. In each system, using first-principles-based cluster expansion modeling, we have identified high stoichiometric-ratio phases that are stable. Furthermore, using Monte Carlo simulations, we have estimated the order–disorder transition temperatures to identify experimentally feasible phases. In three cases, the computational results are verified by experiment, suggesting that the remaining predictions are likely to be useful as well.