cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 15017: Nanoanalytical Analysis of Bisphosphonate-Induced Alteration of Microcalcifications Using a 3D Hydrogel Platform

Vascular calcification predicts atherosclerotic plaque rupture and cardiovascular events. Retrospective studies of women taking bisphosphonates (BiP), a proposed therapy for vascular calcification, paradoxically increased risk in patients with prior acute events but decreased risk in other patients. We recently demonstrated that calcifying extracellular vesicles (EV) released by cells within the plaque aggregate and nucleate calcific mineral. We hypothesize that BiP block EV aggregation and modify existing mineral growth, potentially altering microcalcification morphology and the resultant risk of plaque rupture. 3D collagen hydrogels incubated with calcifying EV modeled fibrous cap calcification, serving as a platform to image mineral nucleation and test potential therapies for vascular calcification. This study visualized EV aggregation and formation of stress-inducing microcalcifications at single-EV resolution, via scanning electron microscopy. Finite element analysis (FEA) of a representative microcalcification formed in the 3D platform predicted a consequential 350% increase in fibrous cap tensile stress (Figure, red color). Energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) confirmed that EV aggregates contained calcium and phosphorous. BiP (ibandronate) treatment added on day 0 decreased the size (21.5 μm 2 vs. 14.2 μm 2 ) and EDS-detected calcium (4.32% by weight (wt%) vs. 2.36 wt%) and phosphorous (4.26 wt% vs. 1.94 wt%) comprising EV aggregates measured on day 8. However, an increase in mineral was measured when BiP was added at later time points (Graph). BiP treatment altered microcalcification morphology in a time-dependent manner. These findings support our hypothesis that BiP alter EV-driven calcification, which may help explain confounding clinical data. The study confirmed that our 3D hydrogel is a viable platform to study EV-mediated mineral nucleation and evaluate potential therapies for cardiovascular calcification.
Effects of sulfur and selenium oxyanions on Hg-toxicity in turnip seed germination

The phytotoxicity of Hg-ion, as measured by inhibition of turnip seed germination, is antagonized by Group Vla oxyanions. The effects of S04= and Se04= are limited to moderately toxic Hg concentration and selenite although a more potent antagonist is limited by its own toxicity. Sulfite, therefore, was a far superior Hg-antitoxicant: At 2.80 mM Hg allowed only 1 % germination, but the presence of 5.5 mM S04=, raised the response to 76%. The significance of these data was considered with respect to Hg-Se relations in animals, and occurrence of Hg, Se and S, and possible membrane interactions.
The Cerebral Control of Speech and Language

This chapter discusses the cerebral control of speech and language. The mechanism for the human communicative nervous system is for the most part in the cerebrum. The cerebrum contains four lobes on its external surface: (1) the frontal, (2) parietal, (3) temporal, and (4) occipital lobes. A fifth, internal, lobe, the limbic lobe, plays a role in emotion and recent memory and may also be important in the motivation of communication. The insula historically has been considered a point of confluence of fibers traveling from the posterior portion of the brain to the anterior portion. The corpus callosum and the anterior and posterior commissures connect the two hemispheres and transfer information between them. Split-brain research after commissurotomy has dramatically demonstrated the asymmetrical functions of the two hemispheres. The left hemisphere is verbal, analytic, and logical; the right hemisphere is perceptual-spatial, intuitive, musical, and holistic. The language areas that were originally established clinicopathologically have been confirmed by newer neurodiagnostic methods. These language areas are richly supplied by cerebral arteries that join to form the circle of Willis at the base of the brain.
Evaluating Self-Refraction and Ready-Made Spectacles for Treatment of Uncorrected Refractive Error

Purpose: Uncorrected refractive error is the leading cause of visual impairment worldwide and has significant quality of life and economic implications. Treatment with subjective refraction...
The Classifying Autoencoder: Gaining Insight into Amyloid Assembly of Peptides and Proteins

Despite the importance of amyloid formation in disease pathology, the understanding of the primary structure?activity relationship for amyloid-forming peptides remains elusive. Here we use a new neural-network based method of analysis: the classifying autoencoder (CAE). This machine learning technique uses specialized architecture of artificial neural networks to provide insight into typically opaque classification processes. The method proves to be robust to noisy and limited data sets, as well as being capable of disentangling relatively complicated rules over data sets. We demonstrate its capabilities by applying the technique to an experimental database (the Waltz database) and demonstrate the CAE?s capability to provide insight into a novel descriptor, dimeric isotropic deviation?an experimental measure of the aggregation properties of the amino acids. We measure this value for all 20 of the common amino acids and find correlation between dimeric isotropic deviation and the failure to form amyloids when hydrophobic effects are not a primary driving force in amyloid formation. These applications show the value of the new method and provide a flexible and general framework to approach problems in biochemistry using artificial neural networks.
Representation of monoculturalism in Chinese and Korean heritage language textbooks for immigrant children

This article examines heritage language school textbooks issued by Chinese and Korean governments that are widely used for overseas heritage language learners at the preschool and elementary school...
Friedel’s Law in the Diffraction of Angular Momentum Carrying Paraxial Beams

A generalization of Friedel’s Law for diffraction of orbital angular momentum carrying beams by two-dimensional apertures is derived and verified f or B essel-Gauss and Laguerre-Gauss beams.
A step-by-step protocol for isolation of murine nucleus pulposus cells.

The intervertebral disc (IVD) is composed of three separate tissues with distinct origins and properties. Elucidating changes occurring in these tissues in response to injury or age is paramount to identify new therapies to better manage disc and spine degenerative conditions, including low back pain. Despite their small size and different mechanical load pattern compared to higher species, the use of mouse models represents a cost-effective and powerful approach to better understand the formation, maintenance, and degeneration of the IVD. However, the isolation of the different compartments of the IVD is complicated by their diminutive size. Here, we describe a simple, step-by-step protocol for the isolation of the nucleus pulposus (NP) tissues that can then be processed for further analyses. Analysis from mouse NP tissues shows sufficient quantities of RNAs, purity of the NP fraction, and overall RNA quality for gene expression studies, and reveals no increase in expression of disc degeneration markers, including TNFa, IL1b, and Mmp1 up to 15 months of age in C57BL6 wildtype mice.
Lithium, Sodium, Potassium, Rubidium, and Cesium

Abstract This article highlights the structural chemistry of molecular alkali metal coordination compounds reported from 2002 to early 2019. The focus is on unique coordination environments in which the alkali metals play a “non-spectator” role, along with the emergence of new ligand types and the stabilization of subvalent oxidation states. Compounds are classified by ligand categories, and specific applications for Group 1 coordination compounds are noted, including their uses as highly energetic materials and as catalyst precursors. Group 1 compounds in which macrocyclic ligands such as crown ethers are major components are in general not covered here.
Failures, Errors, and Mistakes: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Terms such as failure, mistakes, errors, obstacles, and struggle are used interchangeably, but each carries different connotations and discipline-specific meanings. Reactions to experiencing a failure can range as well from being seen as having educative value to be debilitating. These reactions are based on criteria like environment, prior experiences, and individual characteristics, to name a few. The purpose of this chapter is to synthesize and clarify how these terms are articulated and utilized in research studies and commentaries published between 1970 and mid-2018. Through a systematic literature review, we will discuss similarities and differences in how researchers defined these terms, as well as how these definitions differ by cultural context, discipline, and age of participants. Next, we briefly highlight how our research findings on failure within making and tinkering contexts contribute to our current thinking on failure, mistakes, and errors. Our research included approximately 500 youths and 150 educators situated in a variety of settings that implement making and tinkering programs and/or activities including an informal educational setting (i.e., museum), a formal educational setting (i.e., public middle school), and a hybrid setting (i.e., science center running after-school programming at local school sites). We conclude with open questions and recommendations for the field to consider when conducting research around failures, errors, and mistakes in educational contexts.
“What do we epistemically owe to each other? A reply to Basu”

What, if anything, do we epistemically owe to each other? Various “traditional” views of epistemology might hold either that we don’t epistemically owe anything to each other, because “what we owe to each other” is the realm of the moral, or that what we epistemically owe to each other is just to be epistemically responsible agents. Basu (Philos Stud 176:915–931, 2019) has recently argued, against such views, that morality makes extra-epistemic demands upon what we should believe about one another. So, what we owe to each other is not just a matter of word and deed, but also of belief. And in fact, Basu argues, sometimes those moral demands require us to believe in ways that cut against orthodox epistemic norms. This paper has three aims. First, to offer two strategies for accommodating the kinds of cases Basu discusses while nonetheless holding that only epistemic normativity makes demands on belief. Second, to offer an alternative account of what we owe to each other that does not hold that morality demands that we sometimes believe against our evidence or in violation of epistemic norms. And third, to give a brief diagnosis of why it seems intuitive that morality makes extra-epistemic doxastic demands on us. Ultimately, I argue that what we epistemically owe to each other does not require us to violate orthodox, invariantist epistemic norms. Morality demands that we have a proper regard for others, not that we sometimes believe against our evidence.
Preserved efficacy and reduced toxicity with intermittent linezolid dosing in combination with bedaquiline and pretomanid in a murine TB model

The novel regimen of bedaquiline, pretomanid, and linezolid (BPaL) is highly effective against drug resistant tuberculosis, but linezolid toxicities are frequent. We hypothesized that, for a similar total weekly cumulative dose, thrice-weekly administration of linezolid would preserve efficacy while reducing toxicity compared to daily dosing, in the context of the BPaL regimen. Using C3HeB/FeJ and BALB/c mouse models of tuberculosis disease, thrice-weekly linezolid dosing was compared to daily dosing, with intermittent dosing introduced (a) from treatment initiation or (b) following an initial period of daily dosing. In all animals, BPa was dosed daily throughout treatment. Blood counts were used to assess hematologic toxicity. Following unexpected findings of apparent antagonism, we conducted additional experiments to investigate strain-to-strain differences in the contribution of linezolid to regimen efficacy comparing each 1- and 2-drug component to the BPaL regimen in BALB/c mice infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv or HN878. Giving linezolid daily for 1-2 months achieved the greatest efficacy, but following that, results were similar if the drug was stopped, dosed thrice-weekly, or continued daily. Erythrocyte counts were lower with daily than thrice-weekly dosing. Linezolid had additive effects with BPa against M. tuberculosis H37Rv but antagonistic effects with BPa against M. tuberculosis HN878. However, overall efficacy of BPaL was high and similar against both strains. Dosing linezolid daily for the first two months, then less frequently thereafter, may optimize its therapeutic margin. Linezolids contribution to BPaL regimens may depend on M. tuberculosis strain.
Keys to diagnosis and management of spinal epidural abscesses: 9 years of institutional experience.

Abstract Objective : Spinal epidural abscesses (SEA's) are a challenge to diagnose, particularly if there are non-contiguous (skip) lesions. There is also limited data to predict which patients can be treated with antibiotics alone and which require surgery. We sought to assess which demographics, clinical and laboratory findings can guide both diagnosis and management of SEA's. Methods All patients with SEA (ICD9 324.1, ICD10 G06.1) between April 2011-May 2019 at a single tertiary center were included. A retrospective EMR review was completed. Patient and disease characteristics were compared using appropriate statistical tests. Results 108 patients underwent initial surgical treatment versus 105 that were treated medically initially; 22 (21 %) of those failed medical management. Patients who failed medical management had significantly higher CRP, longer symptom duration, and had higher rates of concurrent non-spinal infections. 9% of patients had skip lesions. Patients with skip lesions had significantly higher WBC, ESR, as well as higher rates of bacteremia and concurrent non-spinal infections. Demographic characteristics and proportion with IVDU, smoking, malignancy, and immunosuppression were similar among the three treatment groups. Conclusions 21 % of SEA patients failed initial medical management; they had significantly greater CRP, longer symptom duration, more commonly had neurologic deficits, and concurrent non-spinal infections. 9% of patients had skip lesions; they had significantly higher WBC, ESR, rates of bacteremia and infections outside the spine. These variables may guide diagnostic imaging, and identify those at risk of failing of medical management, and therefore require more involved clinical evaluation, and consideration for surgical intervention.
Learning to Control Reconfigurable Staged Soft Arms

In this work, we present a novel approach for modeling, and classifying between, the system load states introduced when constructing staged soft arm configurations. Through a two stage approach: (1) an LSTM calibration routine is used to identify the current load state then (2) a control input generation step combines a generalized quasistatic model with the learned load model. Our experiments show that accounting for system load allows us to more accurately control tapered arm configurations. We analyze the performance of our method using soft robotic actuators and show it is capable of classifying between different arm configurations at a rate greater than 95%. Additionally, our method is capable of reducing the end-effector error of quasistatic model only control to within 1 cm of our controller baseline.
Diabetic nephropathy in pregnancy: Report of two cases progressing to end-stage renal disease within one year postpartum

Abstract Background Diabetes mellitus is a leading cause of nephropathy and end-stage renal disease. However, diabetic nephropathy during pregnancy in patients with normal glomerular filtration rate and subsequent progression to end-stage renal disease has not been well studied. Cases This report presents two patients with poorly controlled type 1 diabetes mellitus who had diabetic nephropathy with preserved estimated glomerular filtration rate (Case 1: 117 mL/min/1.73m2; Case 2: 79 mL/min/1.73m2) and shared a similar clinical course, with glomerular filtration rates decreasing by approximately one-half during pregnancy and progression to end-stage renal disease within the first year postpartum. Both women had a long history of type 1 diabetes: 18 years and 24 years for case 1 and case 2 respectively. The first patient's course of pregnancy was complicated by difficult-to-control blood glucose and hypertension with subsequent preeclampsia. The second patient's course of pregnancy was complicated by difficult-to-control blood sugars and preterm labor resulting in classical cesarean delivery at 24 weeks. Both patients had renal biopsies shortly after delivery as their renal function continued to worsen postpartum. Both kidney biopsies demonstrated advanced diabetic nephropathy changes and ultimately required chronic renal replacement therapy within 7–9 months postpartum. Conclusion Comprehensive family planning discussions with women who have diabetic nephropathy should include the risks of renal disease progression, even in those patients with preserved renal function at the time of conception.
The Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Marriage Produces Marital Inequality

Progressives and conservatives agree upon the importance of proportional equity. Accordingly, this article evaluates same-sex marriage from the perspective of proportional equity, taking veterans' benefits as an analogy. Research indicates that opposite-sex couples assume a greater number of risks and encounter more difficulties in their relationships compared to same-sex couples, and yet provide society, and children, with some important and distinct benefits. It is concluded that judicial decisions that make same-sex marriage legally or otherwise equivalent to opposite-sex marriage create inequality rather than diminishing it. It is also noted that social forces may operate to restore equity in ways that increase social dysfunction.
Care partners reading patients' visit notes via patient portals: Characteristics and perceptions.

Abstract Background Care partners are key members of patients’ health care teams, yet little is known about their experiences accessing patient information via electronic portals. Objective To better understand the characteristics and perceptions of care partners who read patients’ electronic visit notes. Patient involvement Focus groups with diverse patients from a community health center provided input into survey development. Methods We contacted patient portal users at 3 geographically distinct sites in the US via email in 2017 for an online survey including open ended questions which we qualitatively analyzed. Results Respondents chose whether to answer as care partners (N = 874) or patients (N = 28,782). Among care partner respondents, 44% were spouses, 43% children/other family members, and 14% friends/neighbors/other. Both care partners and patients reported that access to electronic notes was very important for promoting positive health behaviors, but care partners’ perceptions of importance were consistently more positive than patients’ perceptions of engagement behaviors. Open-ended comments included positive benefits such as: help with remembering the plan for care, coordinating care with other doctors, decreasing stress of care giving, improving efficiency of visits, and supporting patients from a geographical distance. They also offered suggestions for improving electronic portal and note experience for care partners such as having a separate log on for care partners; having doctors avoid judgmental language in their notes; and the ability to prompt needed medical care for patients. Discussion Care partners value electronic access to patients’ health information even more than patients. The majority of care partners were family members, whose feedback is important for improving portal design that effectively engages these care team members. Practical value Patient care in the time of COVID-19 increasingly requires social distancing which may place additional burden on care partners supporting vulnerable patients. Access to patient notes may promote quality of care by keeping care partners informed, and care partner’s input should be used to optimize portal design and electronic access to patient information.
Succession, consolidation, and transition in China’s future

Succession politics in China is usually seen as one political process. This article argues that in fact, political succession in China after Deng Xiaoping should be seen as three analytically and politically distinct processes: succession, consolidation, and transition. Each process requires different political skills and attributes, and success in one process does not guarantee success in another, and may in fact work against success in another. The article argues that Jiang Zemin is likely to be the successor, but that he will have great difficulty consolidating power after Deng’s death. One way he might consolidate power is to reverse the verdict of June 4. The failure of Jiang or anyone else to consolidate power is likely to slow economic transition.
Reducing Wealth Volatility: The Value of Financial Advice as Measured by Zeta

F inancial advisers generally assume that their professional expertise and advice adds value to the lives of clients (Hanna and Lindamood 2010). There is, in fact, limited evidence in the literature to support this assertion. The purpose of this paper is to report findings from a study that was undertaken to quantify the value of financial advice. As has been documented frequently and extensively in the academic literature and public media, the sense of economic well-being shared by many Americans was severely challenged beginning in 2007 (Greenspan 2013). The year 2007 marked the beginning of what can best be described as a period of financial stress. Financial stress, as used in this paper, can be defined from a macroeconomic and household perspective. Hakkio and Keeton (2009) described macroeconomic financial stress as the “interruption to the normal functioning of financial markets” (p. 6). Financial stress, when viewed from this lens, exists when policymakers and consumers experience increased uncertainty about (1) the value of assets, (2) the behavior of other investors, (3) information gaps between buyers and sellers of assets, (4) the prudence of holding risky assets, and (5) the usefulness of illiquid assets within portfolios. At the household level, financial stress is generally defined in the context of the reactions exhibited by those in a household after experiencing a financial shock, such as losing employment, receiving late payment notices, being forced to forgo planned expenditures because of lack of income or assets, and losing wealth because of systematic changes in global markets (Garman, Leech, and Grable 1996). Negative reactions such as questioning the real value of assets—such as real estate and equities—and making significant asset allocation shifts from risky illiquid assets to high-quality, low-risk assets are indicative of events triggered by financial stress. Actions taken by policymakers beginning in 2005 to simultaneously promote asset building and restrict open access to the credit markets, coupled with the growing use of financial derivatives created to help deal with information asymmetry, contributed to a series of events that led to what is now commonly called the Great Recession. From a nominal peak in the mid-2000s, American households collectively experienced drops in both income and wealth for Reducing Wealth Volatility: The Value of Financial Advice as Measured by Zeta
Stereophotogrammetric Analysis of Wave Surfaces

Elements of stereophotogrammetric theory and technique pertinent to the present study are analyzed. This study involved the stereophotogrammetric analysis of the form and variation of the surface waves generated by a ship model. The specific application of stereophotogrammetry used in the study is discussed in detail along with some of the advantages and disadvantages of stereo-analysis. Suggested improvements in the instrumentation and technique are used.
Thermal Time Constant Between Powdered CMN and Superfluid 3He

We report measurement of the thermal relaxation time constant of a mixture of powdered cerium magnesium nitrate (CMN) and liquid 3He in its superfluid phases. At the superfluid transition of liquid 3He, there is a discontinuity in the thermal time constant. A thermal time constant discontinuity would be expected from a simple model for the CMN-3He mixture as two coupled thermal baths. The discontinuity may be used to extract the ratio of heat capacities of 3He below and above the superfluid transition temperature.
International Convention for the High Seas Fisheries of the North Pacific Ocean

By 1937 the Japanese had extended their salmon fisheries eastward in the Pacific along the Aleutian Islands and into Bristol Bay. Already this threat had aroused the ire of American fishermen, and in 1935 Cordell Hull, then Undersecretary of State (Hollick 1981), issued a strong statement calculated to warn the Japanese about the consequences if this movement continued. It stopped in 1937 and the Japanese withdrew. Looking back, it may not have been the threat of fishery retaliation so much as much larger events that were soon to take place, that caused the Japanese to retreat so quickly. Nevertheless, the crisis was averted for the moment, and it did not arise again until after the war.
Millimeter wave channel model and system design considerations

In order to exploit millimeter wave (mmWave) bands for 5G communications, challenges mainly due to blockage and strong dependency on beamforming operation need to be overcome. In this work, we address some of the fundamental issues related to the use of mmWave bands for 5G communications, from propagation channel characteristics and modeling to the implications on system and network architecture design. A statistical mmWave channel model considering cluster-level spatial/temporal correlation is proposed. System-level simulation results based on the proposed model demonstrate the channel characteristics and system performance. Following that, key techniques in enabling mmWave system operation are discussed. Although we believe that mmWave bands can be utilized in 5G networks, significant efforts and time are needed in order to complete the air interface, device and network design which is shown to be quite different from the existing cellular design.
Brain aging : models, methods, and mechanisms

Assessing Cognitive Aging Changes in Cognitive Function in Human Aging, E. L. Glisky Successful vs. Unsuccessful Aging in Rhesus Monkeys, M.B. Moss, T. L. Moore, S.P. Schettler, R. Killiany, and D. Rosene Neuropsychology of Cognitive Aging in Rodents, J. S. Rodefer and M. G. Baxter Quantifying Aging-Related Changes in the Brain Design-Based Stereology in Brain Aging Research, C. Schmitz and P.R. Hof The Effects of Normal Aging on Nerve Fibers and Neuroglia in the Central Nervous System, A. Peters Neurogenesis in the Adult and Aging Brain, D.R. Riddle and R.J. Lichtenwalner Expression Profile Analysis of Brain Aging, S.D. Ginsberg, Ph.D. Assessing Functional Changes in the Aging Nervous System Subtle Alterations in Glutamatergic Synapses Underlie the Aging-Related Declines in Hippocampal Functions, L. Shi, M. Adams, and J. Brunso-Bechtold Assessment of Second Messenger Function in the Hippocampus of Aged Rats with Cognitive Impairment, M.M. Nicolle, H.Y. Zhang, and J. L. Bizon Neurophysiology of Old Neurons and Synapses, A. Kumar and T. C. Foster Imaging Cognition in the Aging Human Brain, T. Hedden Mechanisms Contributing to Brain Aging Regulation of Cerebrovascular Aging, W.E. Sonntag, D.M. Eckman, J.Ingraham, and D.R. Riddle Stress and Glucocorticoid Contributions to Normal and Pathological Aging, K.A. Goosens and R.M. Sapolsky Altered Calcium Homeostasis in Old Neurons, E.C. Toescu Oxidative Stress and the Aging Brain: from Theory to Prevention, C.Gemma, Ph.D., J. Vila, A. Bachstetter, and P. C. Bickford, Ph.D. Index
Ratcheting Up the Duty: The Department of Labor's Misguided Attempt To Impose a Paternalistic Model upon Defined Contribution Plans Through ERISA

This Note contends that the Department of Labor's efforts to heighten the fiduciary duties of those providing and administering defined contribution plans under ERISA will not accomplish increased retirement security. Part II describes the history of the enactment of ERISA and describes its original fiduciary standard, as well as the rise of defined contribution plans. The history illustrates that Congress did not intend to impart relatively high levels of fiduciary duty in almost every situation, because it could have done so in the statute and did not. Part III examines the Department of Labor's recent efforts to alter the law of directed trustees, broaden the definition of fiduciary to include many service providers, and impose new obligations upon plans' sponsors where the plan includes open brokerage window features. Although they did not meet with much success, there is a concerted effort to ratchet fiduciary duty through these actions. Part IV argues that the Department of Labor's recent actions conform to a paternalistic model because they have the impact of limiting employees' options. The Department will not increase retirement security by any measure because the financial industry will rather cease offering services than be subjected to the risk of accounting for employees' losses and other sanctions under ERISA. Part V proposes that the Department of Labor should redirect its efforts toward providing employees with the knowledge to make safe investment decisions themselves.
Demise of CKM and its aftermath

Abstract Using firmly established experimental inputs such as ϵ K , Δ M d , Δ M s , Br ( B → τ ν ) , γ, V c b along with corresponding lattice matrix elements which have been well studied and are in full QCD such as B K , SU(3) breaking ratio ξ, B B s and in particular without using V u b or the pseudoscalar decay constants f B d or f B s from the lattice, we show that the CKM-paradigm now appears to be in serious conflict with the data. Specifically the SM predicted value of sin 2 β seems too high compared to direct experimental measured value by over 3σ. Furthermore, our study shows that new physics predominantly effects B-mixings and B d → ψ K s , and not primarily in kaon-mixing or in B → τ ν . Model independent operator analysis suggests the scale of underlying new physics, accompanied by a BSM CP-odd phase, responsible for breaking of the SM is less than a few TeV, possibly as low as a few hundred GeV.
Methyl α‐(Bromomethyl)Acrylate

Methyl α-(bromomethyl)acrylate reactant: 440 g (2.0 mol) of diethyl bis(hydroxymethyl)malonate intermediate: β,β′-dibromoisobutyric acid intermediate: 20 g (0.077 mol) of methyl β,β′-dibromoisobutyrate product: Ethyl α-(bromomethyl)acrylate product: Methyl α-(bromomethyl)acrylate Keywords: elimination, dehydrohalogenation; esterification, of substituted monobasic acids; replacement reactions, hydroxy by halogen; ethyldiisopropylamine; triethylamine; methyl α-(bromomethyl)acrylate
Ca2+ Sensitivity of L-Type Calcium Channel Inactivation Probed by Ca2+ Photouncaging--- Window onto Calmodulinopathies

Mutations in calmodulin (CaM) cause long-QT syndrome and recurrent cardiac arrest (Circulation (2013) 127: 1009). Arrhythmogenesis likely arises from impaired CaM regulation of ion channels, especially Ca2+-dependent inactivation (CDI) of L-type calcium channels (LTCCs). Yet, traditional assessment of the Ca2+ sensitivity of CDI conflates channel gating (controlling Ca2+ influx), and actual Ca2+ responsiveness of CDI. Here, we used Ca2+-photouncaging to deliver known Ca2+ steps to LTCCs. Li+ was the charge carrier to restrict the source of Ca2+ to that uniformly photouncaged by UV flashes. Panel A displays the CaM C-lobe component of CDI, isolated by coexpressing LTCCs with mutant CaM12 (Ca2+ binding only to C-lobe). Absent Ca2+ uncaging, quasi-steady currents were evoked (black). Ca2+ uncaging induced strong and kinetically resolved CDI (gray, with fit). Isolating the N-lobe form of CDI (panel B) yielded a slower but also strong form of CDI. Data such as these enabled full profiles of steady-state and kinetic responsiveness of CDI to Ca2+. Intriguingly, disease-related CaM mutations resulted in well-resolved and specific deficits in the Ca2+-to-CDI response profile, offering powerful insight into the channel mechanistic alterations that ultimately yield system-level disease.View Large Image | View Hi-Res Image | Download PowerPoint Slide
Isolation and Culture of Capillary Endothelial Cells from the Eel, Anguilla rostrata

Abstract There has been little development of endothelial cell cultures from vertebrates other than mammals. In this report the isolation of capillary endothelial cells from the rete mirabile of the eel, Anguilla rostrata, is described. The cells are isolated with collagenase H and dispase II. The cells are plated into fibronectin–hyaluronic acid coated flasks. The culture medium is M199 with Earle's salts supplemented with NaCl, HEPES, NaHCO 3 , glutamine, pyruvate, heparin, antibiotics, endothelial cell growth supplement, and 20% serum. Cultures are incubated at 25°C in humidified air. The rete mirabile contains pericytes in addition to endothelial cells. Variations in plating time, serum concentrations, and growth matrices were tried to separate the two cell types. The total number of endothelial cells and the ratio of endothelial cells to pericytes are the most important factors in obtaining pure cultures of capillary endothelial cells. Endothelial cells are isolated also from the endocardium, bulbus arteriosus, and large vessels. The initial isolates usually take 3–6 weeks to grow to confluence with subcultures taking about 2 weeks to confluence.
Land and labour in Latin American agriculture from the 1950s to the 1980s

A considerable amount of statistical information on the evolution of the Latin American peasantry during the last 35 years is used to show that it has become a large refuge sector that symptomises the developmental failures of the rest of the economy. While economic growth has been rapid until the debt crisis of the early 1980s, neither access to land nor employment creation has been sufficient to reduce rural poverty. As a result, the bulk of the peasantry neither competes with commercial farming nor becomes dispossessed of access to a plot of land. Through migration, poverty gradually becomes displaced to the urban sector.
Microresonators Based on 1:2 Internal Resonance

A nonlinear autoparametric resonance based microresonator concept is explored in this study. The concept is illustrated by modelling an electrostatically actuated T-beam structure, with the first two modes of the structure in 1:2 internal resonance. The response of the system to primary resonance of the first and second mode is presented. When the second mode is resonantly actuated, the second mode in turn excites the first mode due to 1:2 internal resonance and the nonlinear coupling between the two modes. The structure therefore oscillates in first mode with half the frequency of excitation voltage. This is a unique feature of this microresonator, and as a result of this feature, the resonator can serve as a filter as well as a mixer in RF MEMS devices. When the first mode is excited, the structure oscillates in both the first and the second mode and thus has an output signal with frequency twice the input signal. The response also showed Hopf-bifurcations for higher actuation voltages.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
‘No Arbitrary Discretion’: Specialisation in Short-Term Commercial Lending by Banks in Late Nineteenth-Century New England

In the late nineteenth century banks in New England embraced an increasingly specialised role in the economy, focusing on the provision of short-term loans to commercial borrowers and eschewing long-term relations with industrial enterprises. This drive to specialise resulted from a particular combination of circumstances: a tremendous expansion in the number of banks, and an equally dramatic rise in deposits as a source of lendable funds. The latter development incresed the interdependence of the banking system, making each institution vulnerable to runs provoked by the unsound practices of its competitors. The former made it difficult to regulate the lending practices of individual banks. By promoting strict standards for short-term commercial loans, bank reformers sought to increase the ablity of directors and stockholders to monitor the decisions of their banks' managers and, at the same time, to limit the damage to the system that unscrupulous bankers could inflict. Similar problems of control arose ...
Mobile Business Intelligence

Demand for business intelligence BI applications continues to grow at a rapid pace. Business intelligence via mobile devices is the latest frontier to drive demand among organizations interested in BI applications. However, mobile BI is still in its infancy. There are many opportunities to advance the way users use and interact with BI applications using mobile BI. Nevertheless, there are many challenges and issues that still require attention to attain mobile BI success. This paper highlights the state of mobile BI solutions and strategies to consider during a mobile BI implementation. It also discusses the challenges and opportunities mobile BI presents to organizations.
Suppression of the incidence of death with spontaneous tumours in DBA/2 mice after Corynebacterium parvum-mediated rejection of syngeneic tumours.

KILLED Corynebacterium parvum has been effective when administered into tumours or when included as a subcutaneous inoculum containing tumour cells (the subcutaneous site, unlike the intradermal site1, facilitates early tumour cell dissemination)2–4. After tumour rejection, the augmented host resistance prevented progressive growth of potentially lethal metastases present at the time of therapy5. In addition, animals rejecting tumours formed from primary grafts of tumour cells admixed with killed C. parvum (compared with those rejecting tumours after intratumour therapy with C. parvum) exhibited an augmented tumour-specific protection against inoculation of large challenge cell doses6. Whitmire and Huebner7 reported a significant decrease in incidence of 3-methyl-cholanthrene-induced malignancies in C57BL/Cum and BALB/c Cv mice after preimmunisation with formalin-killed wild-type virus and Rauscher leukaemia virus vaccines administered with Freund's complete adjuvant. We have now found a considerable decrease in the incidence of spontaneous tumours in the high-incidence strain of DBA/2 mice after rejection of tumours formed from subcutaneous transplants of syngeneic mammary adenocarcinoma cells admixed with killed C. parvum.
The semantics of Scheme control-flow analysis

This is a follow-on to my 1988 PLDI paper, "Control-Row Analysis in Scheme" [9]. I use the method of abstract semantic interpretations to explicate the control-flow analysis technique presented in that paper. I begin with a denotational semantics for CPS Scheme. I then present an alternate semantics that precisely expresses the control-flow analysis problem. I abstract this semantics in a natural way, arriving at two different semantic interpretations giving approximate solutions to the flow analysis problem, each computable at compile time. The development of the final abstract semantics provides a clear, formal description of the analysis technique presented in "Control-How Analysis in Scheme." This research was supported in part by the Office of Naval Research and in part by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DOD), monitored by the Office of Naval Research under Contract N00014-84-K-0415, ARPA Order No. 5404. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the author and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of ONR, DARPA or the U.S. government.
Congenital Disorders of Cardiac Rhythm and Conduction

Electrical instability of the heart has numerous congenital origins. This review approaches the problems from a morphological standpoint, utilizing selected examples from my own studies of the human cardiac conduction system performed during the last three decades. Subjects discussed include multifocal Purkinje cell tumors, benign congenital polycystic tumors of the AV node, several types of congenital heart block, postnatal morphogenesis of the AV node and His bundle (including considerations of persistent fetal dispersion and crib death), the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, left superior vena cava, focal fibromuscular dysplasia of small coronary arteries, hereditary neuromuscular or musculoskeletal diseases, familial atrial fibrillation, long QT syndrome, and apoptosis of the heart. In many congenital disorders of cardiac electrical activity, both arrhythmias and conduction disturbances may occur. How the abnormal anatomy may relate to cardiac electrical instability is discussed, including certain clinical matters to be considered.
Effects of restraint stress on gastric secretion in the rat.

When rats were stressed by restraint in a wire jacket for 20 hr., hemorrhagic gastric erosions consistently developed in the glandular mucosa. Previously vagotomized rats were partially protected from stress ulcers, whereas hypophysectomy or adrenalectomy were without effect. Measurement of 6-hr. gastric secretory output in rats submitted to the same restraint stress revealed a 94 per cent inhibition of gastric secretory activity in comparison with unstressed controls.
Effects of Intercellular Junction Protein Expression on Intracellular Ice Formation in Mouse Insulinoma Cells

The development of cryopreservation procedures for tissues has proven to be difficult in part because cells within tissue are more susceptible to intracellular ice formation (IIF) than are isolated cells. In particular, previous studies suggest that cell-cell interactions increase the likelihood of IIF by enabling propagation of ice between neighboring cells, a process thought to be mediated by gap junction channels. In this study, we investigated the effects of cell-cell interactions on IIF using three genet- ically modified strains of the mouse insulinoma cell line MIN6, each of which expressed key intercellular junction proteins (con- nexin-36, E-cadherin, and occludin) at different levels. High-speed video cryomicroscopy was used to visualize the freezing process in pairs of adherent cells, revealing that the initial IIF event in a given cell pair was correlated with a hitherto unrecog- nized precursor phenomenon: penetration of extracellular ice into paracellular spaces at the cell-cell interface. Such paracellular ice penetration occurred in the majority of cell pairs observed, and typically preceded and colocalized with the IIF initiation events. Paracellular ice penetration was generally not observed at temperatures >� 5.65 � C, which is consistent with a penetra- tion mechanism via defects in tight-junction barriers at the cell-cell interface. Although the maximum temperature of paracellular penetration was similar for all four cell strains, genetically modified cells exhibited a significantly higher frequency of ice pene- tration and a higher mean IIF temperature than did wild-type cells. A four-state Markov chain model was used to quantify the rate constants of the paracellular ice penetration process, the penetration-associated IIF initiation process, and the intercellular ice propagation process. In the initial stages of freezing (>� 15 � C), junction protein expression appeared to only have a modest effect on the kinetics of propagative IIF, and even cell strains lacking the gap junction protein connexin-36 exhibited nonnegli- gible ice propagation rates.
Speckled-like Pattern in the Germinal Center (SLIP-GC), a Nuclear GTPase Expressed in Activation-induced Deaminase-expressing Lymphomas and Germinal Center B Cells

We identified a novel GTPase, SLIP-GC, with expression limited to a few tissues, in particular germinal center B cells. It lacks homology to any known proteins, indicating that it may belong to a novel family of GTPases. SLIP-GC is expressed in germinal center B cells and in lymphomas derived from germinal center B cells such as large diffuse B cell lymphomas. In cell lines, SLIP-GC is expressed in lymphomas that express activation-induced deaminase (AID) and that likely undergo somatic hypermutation. SLIP-GC is a nuclear protein, and it localizes to replication factories. Reduction of SLIP-GC levels in the Burkitt lymphoma cell line Raji and in non-Hodgkin lymphoma cell lines resulted in an increase in DNA breaks and apoptosis that was AID-dependent, as simultaneous reduction of AID abrogated the deleterious effects of SLIP-GC reduction. These results strongly suggest that SLIP-GC is a replication-related protein in germinal center B cells whose reduction is toxic to cells through an AID-dependent mechanism.
Explorations of Improving Flow Uniformity in the Bipolar Plate of a PEM Electrolysis Cell Using Different Designs

Optimization of electrolysis cell for producing hydrogen is dependent of a set of complex physical and chemical processes occurring simultaneously. Similar to fuel cells, it has been demonstrated that these processes are strongly dependent on the fluid dynamics inside the fuel cell. Bipolar plates are important components of PEM electrolysis cells because they are the first stage of the flow distribution system. A non-uniform flow distribution across the bipolar plate surface area will probably lead to an unbalanced use of the precious catalyst, and an overall efficiency of the device lower than expected. In the present work various concepts were tested for the purpose of improving flow uniformity in the bipolar plate of a PEM electrolysis cell for hydrogen generation. Numerical results including pressure distributions and velocity profiles are reported. It is shown that the flow uniformity within the designed bipolar plate is greatly improved compared with the baseline bipolar plate for water electrolysis.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Characterizing right ventricular shape variations via subject adapted voxel-based morphometry: application to CMR of Tetralogy of Fallot

Introduction Tetralogy of Fallot (ToF) is the most common complex congenital heart defect, and involves abnormalities in right ventricle (RV). Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) is a widely used method for characterization of morphological variations between normal and pathologic states. VBM can facilitate statistical analysis across population groups of regional heart shape, registering each heart to a common template (or atlas) so that structures have similar shape, size and orientation among subjects. Then, by analyzing the transformation map, one can investigate subtle structural or functional changes. In conventional VBM, the template and transformation parameters are chosen empirically. The Auckland cardiac atlas can be used as a standard template, and a common transformation parameter is assigned to all subjects. However, the use of an arbitrary template introduces bias and the best set of transformation parameters needs to be optimized for each subject. We have developed a method for determining optimal template and transformation parameters for individual subjects by solving a global optimization problem that improves the statistical power to detect group differences between normal and pathological anatomy.
Aqueous and non-aqueous electrochemistry in thick-film nafion/mercury modified electrodes

Abstract Thick films (0.013 cm) of insoluble bulk Nafion can be brought into intimate electrochemical contact with liquid mercury. Electroactive exchanged into these films exhibit redox chemistry similar to the observed in solution. The fact that bulk Nafion is insoluble in most solvents allows these modified electrodes to be examined in non-aqueous solution. Consideration is also given to the problem of diffusion within permselective membranes under electrochemical conditions.