cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Expression of parathyroid hormone-related protein and the parathyroid hormone/parathyroid hormone-related protein receptor in rat thymic epithelial cells.

Thymic epithelial cells are an important source of cytokines and other regulatory peptides which guide thymocyte proliferation and maturation. Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP), a cytokine-like peptide, has been reported to affect the proliferation of lymphocytes in vitro. The studies presented here were undertaken to test the hypotheses that PTHrP is produced locally within the thymus where it could influence thymocyte maturation and, more specifically, that thymic epithelial cells (TEC) could be the intrathymic source of PTHrP expression. To this end, immunohistochemical studies were performed to localise PTHrP and the PTH/PTHrP receptor within the adult rat thymus. Antibodies directed against 2 different PTHrP epitopes, PTHrP(1–34) and PTHrP(34–53), demonstrated prominent specific PTHrP immunoreactivity in both subcapsular and medullary TEC. In addition, faint but specific staining for PTHrP was seen in the cortex, interdigitating between cortical lymphocytes while sparing epithelial-free subcapsular areas, thus suggesting that cortical TEC could also be a source of PTHrP immunoreactivity. In contrast, PTH/PTHrP receptor immunoreactivity was only seen in medullary and occasional septal TEC; no evidence of cortical or lymphocytic PTH/PTHrP receptor immunoreactivity was detected. Immunohistochemical studies of cultured cytokeratin-positive rat TEC confirmed the results of these in situ studies as cultured TEC were immunoreactive both for PTHrP and the PTH/PTHrP receptor. Thus these results demonstrate that PTHrP is produced by the epithelial cells of the mature rat thymus. This suggests that PTHrP, a peptide with known cytokine, growth factor and neuroendocrine actions, could exert important intrathymic effects mediated by direct interactions with TEC, or indirect effects on PTH/PTHrP receptor-negative thymocytes.
Amplification and sequencing of 16/18S rDNA from gel-purified total plant DNA

We describe here methods and strategies for amplifying and sequencing the genes encoding the small subunits (16/18S) of nuclear and chloroplast ribosomal DNA (rDNA) from total plant DNA. These methods were developed in response to technical difficulties we encountered in our molecular systematic work with members of various plant families. These protocols have proved useful when the amount of tissue available for study is limited and when the tissues have high concentrations of undesirable secondary metabolites which are often co-isolated with nucleic acids.
Traction Performance of Transit and Paratransit Vehicles in Winter

The traction performance of transit and paratransit vehicles during the winter is an important factor in public transportation system operations. Vehicle traction forces are significantly reduced on snowy or icy surfaces, specifically during stopping, starting, cornering, and hill climbing. Reduced traction increases stopping distances and decreases controllability when a vehicle stops in an emergency situation. This study evaluated the traction performance of transit and paratransit vehicles on snowy and icy surfaces. Field tests were conducted in Fairbanks, Alaska, using three types of vehicles—a 41-passenger transit bus, a 32-passenger transit bus, and a 9-passenger paratransit vehicle. Each vehicle was tested for different combinations of tire types, including highway tires, snow tires, studded-siped tires, highway three-rib tires, all-season tires, and snow-siped tires. Tests of winter traction performance evaluated stopping distance, starting traction, hill climbing, cornering, and controllability. ...
Freedom from local and regional failure of contralateral neck with ipsilateral neck radiotherapy for node-positive tonsil cancer: updated results of an institutional clinical management approach.

Summary Purpose To update the outcomes of an institutional clinical management approach using ipsilateral neck radiotherapy in the treatment of node-positive squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsil with a well-lateralized primary lesion. Methods and Materials Between August 2003 and April 2014, 61 consecutive patients with ipsilateral node-positive squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsil without involvement of the base of the tongue or midline soft palate were treated at a community hospital-based cancer center with radiotherapy to the primary site and ipsilateral neck. Overall survival, disease-free survival and freedom from contralateral failure were calculated. Results Median follow up was 37.2 months (range 4–121 months). Freedom from contralateral nodal failure at 5 years was 98% with one contralateral nodal failure noted. The patient underwent a salvage neck dissection and was treated with post-operative radiotherapy with no evidence of disease to date. 5-year overall survival (OS) was 92.4% and 5 year disease-free survival (DFS) was 86.7%. Conclusions This represents the single largest series reported from a community hospital-based cancer center in which lateralized tonsil cancers with N+ disease were treated with ipsilateral neck radiotherapy. In this carefully selected cohort of patients with well-lateralized tonsil cancers, the risk of contralateral nodal failure appears to be
Some Suggestions Concerning the History of the Tribe of Reuben

32, for example, reflect a tradition that Moses awarded to Gad and Reuben certain territory across the Jordan prior to the invasion of the western lands. A careful examination of the actual allotment of cities, however, fails to disclose any clear evidence of a specific territory belonging to Reuben. For example, while in Num. 32:37 and Josh. 13:17 Heshbon is allotted to Reuben, in Josh. 21:39 it is accounted to Gad and in Isa. 15:4 and Jer. 48:2 it is considered Moabite. A precisely similar situation is found respecting Aroer and Dibon,I each being
Management Practices and Phytoremediation by Native Grasses

Using native species for phytoremediation may be more ecologically beneficial and cost-effective than monoculture planting approaches. This study evaluated the effect of various soil amendments and management on the potential of Midwestern prairie grasses to remediate field soil contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other pollutants. A greenhouse investigation was conducted using six different grass species native to Ohio. Plants were grown in buckets containing topsoil and a layer of field-collected contaminated soil. Buckets were amended with commercial compost, fertilizer, or a combination of both. Replicates were watered every fourth day (frequently) or every sixth day (infrequently). Chlorophyll content were measured monthly for five months during the growing season. After five months, cores were sampled from each treatment and the total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) and PAH concentration of the soil determined. Native Ohio grasses reduced TPH contamination at least 87% with frequent irrigation and 90% with infrequent irrigation from buckets containing both compost and fertilizer. PAHs were dissipated to concentrations below detection limit of 1 ppm except for benzo (123) perylene and indeno (123-cd) pyrene. Results of this study suggest that it may be effective to allow contaminated sites to re-vegetate with native grasses.
Characteristics of Combustion Processes in a Stagnation Point Reverse Flow Combustor

The performance of dry, low NOx gas turbines, which employ lean premixed (or partially premixed) combustors, is often limited by static and dynamic combustor stability, power density limitations and expensive premixing hardware. To overcome these issues, a novel design, referred to as the Stagnation Point Reverse Flow (SPRF) combustor, has recently been developed. Various optical diagnostic techniques are employed here to elucidate the combustion processes in this novel combustor. These include simultaneous planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) imaging of OH radicals and chemiluminescence imaging, and separate experiments with particle image velocimetry and elastic laser sheet scattering from liquid particles seeded into the fuel. The SPRF combustor achieves internal exhaust gas recirculation and efficient mixing, which eliminates local peaks in temperature. This results in low NOx emissions, limited by flame zone (prompt) production, for both premixed and non-premixed modes of operation. The flame is anchored in a region of reduced velocity and high turbulent intensities, which promotes mixing of hot products into the reactants, thus enabling stable operation of the combustor even at very lean equivalence ratios. Also, the flame structure and flow characteristics were found to remain invariant at high loadings, i.e., mass flow rates. Combustion in the non-premixed mode of operation is found to be similar to the premixed case, with the OH PLIF measurements indicating that nonpremixed flame burns at an equivalence ratio that is close to the overall combustor equivalence ratio. Similarities in emission levels between premixed and non-premixed modes are thus attributable to efficient fuel-air mixing in the nonpremixed mode, and entrainment of hot products into the reactant stream before burning occurs.Copyright © 2006 by ASME
Liver Lesions Discovered Incidentally on Ultrasound: Evaluation of Reader Ability to Characterize Lesions on MRI without Intravenous Contrast

Rationale and Objectives Liver lesions incidentally discovered on ultrasound (US) are often further evaluated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the added effectiveness of contrast-enhanced MRI, compared to noncontrast MRI, to correctly guide management of liver lesions incidentally identified on ultrasound in patients with low pretest probability of malignancy. We conducted the evaluation using a multireader study. Materials and Methods Liver MRI studies ordered to evaluate incidental liver US lesions were selected for analysis. Patients with no prior history of cancer or chronic liver disease who had 2 years of clinical follow-up (72 patients) were selected to ensure low pretest probability of malignancy and adequate follow-up to establish proof of diagnosis. Fifty of these studies were randomly selected and analyzed by two abdominal radiologists. In the initial interpretation session, only nonenhanced images were reviewed; after 6 weeks, the complete exam including the contrast enhanced images were viewed. Differences in interpretation between the noncontrast and contrast enhanced reading sessions were assessed. Results Sixty-nine patients (95.8%) had no abnormalities, benign masses, or hepatic steatosis accounting for the ultrasound findings. One patient was newly diagnosed with hereditary hemochromatosis, and 2 patients were newly diagnosed with metastatic disease. The most likely diagnosis changed for 15 of the lesions described by reader A, and 16 by reader B. The majority of these changes (26/31 lesions, 84%) were from one benign entity to another. Five of 31 (16%) of the changes involved that of a benign entity to a malignant one. Reader A recommended additional contrast enhanced imaging in 13/50 (26%) patients; reader B, 9/50 (18%) patients. After viewing the nonenhanced images, both readers recommended that all patients with eventual malignancies return for contrast administration and/or biopsy. After viewing the contrast-enhanced imaging, both readers accurately diagnosed all malignancies. Patient-based analysis receiver operating characteristic curves demonstrated no significant difference between the enhanced and noncontrast limbs of the study, and no significant difference between readers. Conclusion Most of the changes in lesion detection and characterization made after contrast administration were clinically insignificant. In the lesions in which clinically important differences were made, both radiologists recommended additional imaging or biopsy that would have eventually led to the correct diagnosis. None of the patients with malignancy was categorized as completely benign either on noncontrast or contrast-enhanced imaging. This supports the utility of initially performing a noncontrast examination in a population with a low pretest probability of malignancy, especially those in whom gadolinium administration is contraindicated.
Chronic renal failure secondary to post hysterectomy vaginal prolapse

Abstract The first case of posthysterectomy vaginal prolapse and associatedchronic renal failure requiring hemodialysis is presented. A review of the literature on vaginal prolapse and the mechanism and physiology of chronic renal obstruction in this setting is reviewed.
W and Z decays in low energy supersymmetry

Abstract We discuss the possible decays of W ± and Z 0 bosons to charged and neutral “inos” in models based on supergravity or softly broken supersymmetry. The decays of charged and neutral inos are also considered.
Can Two-photon Interference be Considered the Interference of Two Photons?

We report on a ``postponed compensation'' experiment in which the observed two-photon entangled state interference cannot be pictured in terms of the overlap of the two individual photon wave packets of a parametric down-conversion pair on a beam splitter. In the sense of a quantum eraser, the distinguishability of the different two-photon Feynman amplitudes leading to a coincidence detection is removed by delaying the compensation until after the output of an unbalanced two-photon interferometer.
Detection of unusual DNA structures with nanoparticles

The generic global structure of the DNA double helix is well known, but at the base pair level there are a multitude of deviations from the `ideal'. These deviations can result in sequence-directed curvature of DNA over a few base pairs. We have used luminescent mineral nanoparticles of CdS in optical assays to detect these curved DNAs. The nanoparticles, originally developed by the materials science community as `quantum dots,' are approximately 20 - 100 angstroms in diameter, similar to proteins, and their photoluminescence is sensitive to the presence and nature of adsorbates. In this paper, we have investigated higher-order structures of nucleic acids that are correlated with human disease: triplet repeats of the single-stranded oligonucleotides 5'-(CCG)n-3' and 5'-(CGG)n-3'. These sequences fold into structures that have not been determined, but give characteristic spectra in circular dichroism spectroscopy. Under salt conditions where 5'- (CCG)7-3' and 5'-(CGG)7-3' fold into these higher-order structures, our nanoparticles bind them well but do not bind to normal double-helical DNA. This result may form the basis for future assays of higher-order DNA structures.© (2000) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Host dependent modulation of hepatitis delta virus replication in chronic delta hepatitis

To determine whether host dependent differences modulated hepatitis delta virus replication in chronic delta hepatitis, we tested HDV RNA in homosexual and intravenous drug abuser populations. Overall, the seroprevalence of HDV RNA in the two groups with matching clinical characteristics was 72% (76/106 patient visits). A trend for greater prevalence of HDV RNA was noted at initial presentation in homosexuals (82%) compared to intravenous drug abusers (60%, P less than 0.05) and this trend appeared to be maintained during two years of sequential follow-up. The seroprevalence of co-appearing IgM and IgG anti-HD antibodies was similar in the two groups of patients. However, in HDV RNA positive homosexuals IgG anti-HD antibody was more prevalent, and additionally, assumed concordance with HDV RNA of 92% although the significance of this observation is unclear. The difference in prevalence of HIV in the two groups did not reach statistical significance. Prospective studies are required to confirm differences in HDV replication in various patient groups and to define underlying mechanisms.
Galvanostatic and Volumetric Studies of Hydrocarbons Adsorbed on Fuel Cell Anodes

The reactions of C1 through C4 hydrocarbons, both saturated and unsaturated, on platinum‐black fuel cell anodes have been followed with the aid of volumetric and galvanostatic techniques. Gas chromatography has been employed to provide supplementary information. Both acidic and alkaline electrolytes have been included in the studies. The hydrocarbons fall into three groups with regard to surface coverage with Cn species: low for methane, intermediate for saturated hydrocarbons, and high for unsaturates (including cyclopropane). Cracking, polymerization, and self‐hydrogenation are among the reactions occurring on fuel electrodes; evidence is presented for the formation of C1, C2, C3, and C4 species on electrodes equilibrated with ethylene. Significant amounts of species as high as C6 are formed from propylene and cyclopropane. The oxidation of the adsorbed carbonaceous species from all of the hydrocarbons requires high overvoltages which can be reduced by raising the temperature.
Real-time reservoir management: A multiscale adaptive optimization and control approach

We propose a decision-making approach for optimizing the profitability of hydrocarbon reservoirs. The proposed approach addresses the overwhelming complexity of the overall optimization problem by suggesting an oilfield operations hierarchy that entails different time scales. We discuss system identification, optimization, and control that are appropriate at various levels of the hierarchy and capitalize on the abilities of permanently instrumented and remotely actuated fields. Optimization is performed in real-time and is based on feedback. We provide details on real-time identification of hybrid models and their use at the scheduling and supervisory control levels. Case studies using field-calibrated simulation data demonstrate the applicability and value of the proposed approach. Directions for future development are given.
Sm-Nd dating of multiple garnet growth events in an arc-continent collision zone, northwestern U.S. Cordillera

Integrated petrologic and Sm−Nd isotopic studies in garnet amphibolites along the Salmon River suture zone, western Idaho, delineate two periods of amphibolite grade metamorphism separated by at least 16 million years. In one amphibolite,P−T studies indicate a single stage of metamorphism with final equilibration at ∼600°C and 8–9 kbar. The Sm−Nd isotopic compositions of plagioclase, apatite, hornblende, and garnet define a precise, 8-point isochron of 128±3 Ma (MSWD=1.2) interpreted as mineral growth at the metamorphic peak. A40Ar/39Ar age for this hornblende indicates cooling through ∼525°C at 119±2 Ma. In a nearby amphibolite, garnets with a two-stage growth history consist of inclusion-rich cores surrounded by discontinuous, inclusion-free overgrowths. Temporal constraints for core and overgrowth development were derived from Sm−Nd garnet — whole rock pairs in which the garnet fractions consist of varying proportions of inclusion-free to inclusion-bearing fragments. Three garnet fractions with apparent “ages” of 144, 141, and 136 Ma are thought to represent mixtures between late Jurassic (pre-144 Ma) inherited radiogenic components preserved within garnet cores and early Cretaceous (∼128 Ma) garnet overgrowths. These observations confirm the resilience of garnet to diffusive exchange of trace elements during polymetamorphism at amphibolite facies conditions. Our geochronologic results show that metamorphism of arc-derived rocks in western Idaho was episodic and significantly older than in arc rocks along the eastern margin of the Wrangellian Superterrane in British Columbia and Alaska. The pre-144 Ma event may be an expression of the late Jurassic amalgamation of marginal oceanic arc-related terranes (e.g., Olds Ferry, Baker, Wallowa) during the initial phases of their collision with North American rocks. Peak metamorphism at ∼128 Ma reflects tectonic burial along the leading edge of the Wallowa arc terrane during its final penetration and suturing to cratonic North America.
Specific Action of an Antiserum for Placental Proteins on Placenta and Normal Progress of Pregnancy

ConclusionsAn antiserum for full-term guinea-pig placentae reacted with liver and kidney autolysates. These precipitins were removed by in vitro absorption. The serum still reacted strongly with placental autolysates. Injection of this serum into pregnant guinea pigs caused them to abort.
Capsule commentary on Ganzani et al., trust is the basis for effective suicide risk screening and assessment in veterans.

In reaction to high rates of suicide among active duty military personnel and Veterans, the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) has implemented wide-spread suicide screening. However, for screening to be an effective early step in preventing suicide, Veterans must be willing to honestly engage in the process. Ganzani and her colleagues1 gathered qualitative interview data from 34 recent combat Veterans on their perception of the suicide screening process, as well as barriers, facilitators, and perceived consequences of disclosing suicidal thoughts. Similar to previous research,2,3 they found that patient barriers included shame, beliefs that thoughts were private, and concern that disclosure would lead to unwanted treatments. Ganzani et al. also found modifiable system and provider-level factors. Provider-level facilitators centered on perceived trustworthiness and clinical skills of screening healthcare providers. System-level factors included concerns regarding triage or other support staff, and that the Veteran did not have a relationship with those being screened. These results provide important guidance and also highlight challenges for healthcare professionals who are conducting suicide screens in ambulatory settings. While computerized, templated screening measures allow for simple and uniform administration with minimal system and provider burden, Veterans saw them as impersonal and insensitive. The authors provide a framework for how providers can overcome patient concerns: with genuineness, empathy, and using clear, straightforward language. Unfortunately, these are not provider qualities that are always nurtured by fast-paced ambulatory care environments. This article provides specific guidance on how providers can more clearly and skillfully assess the highly sensitive, stigmatized, and private topic of suicide. This article’s results provide rationale for additional research on barriers and facilitators to suicide disclosure in other high need populations, such as active duty military personnel and individuals with chronic illness. Also, more research is needed to investigate if interventions known to encourage other patient populations to disclose sensitive health information, can also be helpful in individuals with suicidality.4 Suicide is a serious problem among returning Veterans. This article brings to light potential barriers to effective routine suicide screening and makes important suggestions for improvement.
Differential survival, natural selection, and the manifestation of senescence

Evidence for natural selection is typically sought by searching for changes in organisms over generations (that is, evolution). However, evolution may represent but one biological manifestation of the force of natural selection. Although its evolutionary influence diminishes with aging, natural selection might also impact upon the manifestation of senescence via differential survival. Annual population estimates in the United States from 1951 to 1990 for age groups over 60 years old were analyzed. The rate of increase in the size of these age groups increased with increasing age. Since birth rates in developed countries have declined, this finding is a direct manifestation of differential survival over time. Correspondingly, increasing mortality rates from many disorders associated with senescence have been shown to be correlated with increasing age group population size. These observations suggest that natural selection, via differential survival, has had a demonstrable impact upon manifestation rates of the disorders of senescence.
Self-Efficacy Expectations and Coping with Career-Related Events.

Abstract The process of self-efficacy expectation development, coping with a difficult task, and task performance is examined using a path analytic framework. A model of this process is examined with a job interview task as a way of assessing the generalizability of self-efficacy theory to career-related behavior. Results show that self-efficacy expectation theory generalizes to a career-related task, and that emotion-focused coping mediates the relationship between self-efficacy expectations and perceived performance, but not performance as assessed by the interviewer. The importance of self-efficacy expectations and emotion-focused coping as mediating the relationship of perceived past performance and pretask anxiety with subsequent behavior and outcomes is discussed.
Maximizing job benefits on multiprocessor systems using a greedy algorithm

This project considers a benefit model for on-line preemptive multiprocessor scheduling. In this model, each job arrives with its own benefit function and execution time. The flow time of a job is the time between its arrival and its completion. The benefit function determines the benefit gained for any given flow time. The goal is to maximize the total benefit gained only by the jobs that meet their deadlines. In order to achieve this goal, a variety of approximation algorithms and their applications in multiprocessor scheduling were studied. A greedy algorithm with 2- approximation ratio is proposed to be added to an existing benefit based scheduling algorithm, in order to reduce the delay of each job, by assigning it to the processor with least utilization so far. This method will decrease the flow time of the jobs, resulting in higher benefits gained by each job. Also, evaluation of this approach shows that it uses the CPU cycles more efficiently by providing more balanced distribution of the jobs between the processors. Therefore, more jobs can meet their deadlines and add their gained benefits to the total benefit. In addition, the proposed method is computationally less expensive than the existing benefit based method.
Magnetomotive molecular probes for targeted contrast enhancement and therapy

The diagnostic, interrogational, and therapeutic potential of molecular probes is rapidly being investigated and exploited across virtually every biomedical imaging modality. While many types of probes enhance contrast or delivery therapy by static localization to targeted sites, significant potential exists for utilizing dynamic molecular probes. Recent examples include molecular beacons, photoactivatable probes, or controlled switchable drug-releasing particles, to name a few. In this review, we describe a novel class of dynamic molecular probes that rely on the application and control of localized external magnetic fields. These magnetomotive molecular probes can provide optical image contrast through a modulated scattering signal, can interrogate the biomechanical properties of their viscoelastic microenvironment by tracking their underdamped oscillatory step-response to applied fields, and can potentially delivery therapy through nanometer-to-micrometer mechanical displacement or local hyperthermia. This class of magnetomotive agents includes not only magnetic iron-oxide nanoparticles, but also new magnetomotive microspheres or nanostructures with embedded iron-oxide agents. In vitro three-dimensional cell assays and in vivo targeting studies in animal tumor models have demonstrated the potential for multimodal detection and imaging, using magnetic resonance imaging for whole-body localization, and magnetomotive optical coherence tomography for high-resolution localization and imaging.
On combining estimates of relative potency in bioassay

Biological assays based on a quantitative response in particular (e.g. hormone assays) typically involve the estimation of (log) relative potency (= M) with respect to some standard preparation on the basis of one or more symmetrical determinations usually at equally spaced (log) dose intervals. It is the purpose of this paper to consider further statistical aspects of estimates of M, and especially confidence limits for M based on a combination of separate assays. These are given as examples of tests of linear hypotheses. Two applications are given on the combining of quantitative bio-assay data.
Elevated temperature deformation and dynamic strain aging in polycrystalline RuAl alloys

Abstract The flow behavior and dislocation substructure in RuAl intermetallics have been studied in the temperature range of 298–1173 K. A number of characteristics indicative of dynamic strain aging are observed: serrated flow, flow stress plateau, maxima in the rate of work-hardening and minima in strain-rate sensitivity. Static aging experiments reveal that the serrated flow is associated with the presence of solute atoms that are mobile at T T m ≈0.3 . Dislocation substructures following elevated temperature deformation consisted of and dislocations present in the form of tangles and within cell walls. Typical features of the flow behavior of these intermetallic alloys are compared with those of NiAl, another B2 intermetallic that exhibits dynamic strain aging. Mechanisms for the DSA phenomenon in RuAl are proposed.
Development and characterization of new scintillation materials for fiber tracking and calorimetry

Abstract Several polystyrene-based scintillators have been prepared in the Chemistry Facility of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and their light yield, fluorescence, and transmittance have been studied. In addition, emission time distributions were measured and the decay time constants were determined. A radiation damage study was performed in which the samples were irradiated to a total dose of 10 Mrad. After annealing, the intrinsic light yield of the most radiation-hard scintillators had not changed significantly.
The analysis of transit-time effect of bipolar base collector junction breakdown

This paper analyzes the transit-time effect of a bipolar biased at base-collector junction breakdown condition. Both simulation and experiment show that dynamic negative resistance, due to the transit-time effect, can be achieved under the avalanche breakdown condition. Therefore, a bipolar biased at breakdown can be used as a transit-time diode, with the potential to generate RF power for millimeter / sub-millimeter frequency applications.
Optical rotatory dispersion studies on the conformational stabilization forces of yeast soluble ribonucleic acid.

Yeast soluble RNA has been shown by optical rotatory dispersion to exist in a highly ordered secondary structure (probably helical). A direct measure of this secondary structure is demonstrated by observing Cotton effects in one of the major ultraviolet absorption bands. The main forces responsible for maintaining this helical structure have been identified as hydrophobic in nature, i.e. base-base interactions. This is demonstrated by the use of ethylene glycol, which causes complete collapse of the secondary structure. After reaction of the amino groups with formaldehyde at an elevated temperature, the S-RNA shows a highly asymmetric structure at 20°C, as demonstrated by the observation of a large Cotton effect. This shows that an asymmetric structure can be maintained in the absence of amino-group hydrogen bonds.
Suppressor of cytokine signaling-3 and intimal hyperplasia in porcine coronary arteries following coronary intervention.

Abstract Aims The growth and differentiation of cells is regulated by cytokines by binding to cell-surface receptors and activating intracellular signal transduction cascade. Suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS)-3 is a negative regulator of cytokines. In this study we examined the expression of SOCS-3 in porcine coronary artery smooth muscle cells (PCASMCs) in vitro and in proliferating smooth muscle cells of neointimal lesions after coronary artery intervention in a swine model. Methods and results PCASMCs were cultured and stimulated with TNF-α and/or IGF-1 individually or in combination. Protein expression of SOCS-3 was examined using Western blot. For in vivo studies, six female Yucatan miniswine were fed with special high cholesterol diet for 8 months. At 4 months of high cholesterol diet, animals underwent coronary balloon angioplasty. At the end of 8 months animals were euthanized, coronary arteries were isolated and morphological and histological studies were performed. Western blot data revealed significantly high SOCS-3 expression in PCASMCs in the presence of either TNF-α or IGF-1 (5–6 fold) alone. However, in the presence of both TNF-α and IGF-1 the SOCS-3 expression was significantly decreased (4–5 fold). Results from morphological studies including, H&E and Masson's trichrome stain showed typical lesions with significant neointimal proliferation. Histological evaluation showed expression of smooth muscle α-actin and significantly increased proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in neointimal lesion. Interestingly, there was significantly decreased expression of SOCS-3 in smooth muscle cells of neointima as compared to control. Conclusions These data suggest that SOCS-3 expression is decreased in proliferating smooth muscle cells of neointimal lesions. This leads to uncontrolled growth of vascular smooth muscle cells in injured arteries leading to restenosis. Therefore, local delivery of SOCS-3 gene at the site of injury after coronary artery intervention could regulate the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells and help in preventing the neointimal hyperplasia and restenosis.
Evaluation of a New Early Pregnancy Test in Mares

Abstract The goal of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the early conception factor (ECF) assay test to answer the following questions: (1) Can the test be used reliably to make a decision to flush an embryo donor mare? (2) Can the test be used to detect early embryo loss before day 17 in the mare? (3) Can the test accurately diagnose non-pregnancy? The performance of the test (sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value [PPV], and negative predictive value [NPV]) was measured against the results of embryo flushing (n = 28) in 1 group and against ultrasound pregnancy diagnosis in another group (n = 17). Serum samples were taken from embryo donor mares on day 8 post-ovulation (day of embryo flushing) and from the embryo transfer recipient mares on days 6 to 8 after embryo transfer (day of pregnancy diagnosis by ultrasound). The tests were set up and read on the same day by 3 blinded observers. The kappa (κ) value, for agreement among the 3 blinded readers of the test, was 0.64. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy were, respectively, 42.6%, 51.9%, 63.8%, 31.1%, and 46.8%. Under the conditions of the current study, the test proved to be unreliable for detection of the presence of an embryo.
Adhering to Inherence: A New Look at the Old Steps in Berkeley's March to Idealism

1 Edwin B. Allaire, 'Berkeley's Idealism/ Theoria 29 (1963): 229-44; Reprinted in Iowa Publications in Philosophy, 1, Essays in Ontology (The Hague: Nijhoff 1963), 92-105. Page references herein are to the latter. Philip D. Cummins, 'Perceptual Relativity and Ideas in the Mind,' Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, XXIV (1963), 202-14. Richard A. Watson, 'Berkeley in a Cartesian Context,' Revue Internationale de Philosophie, 65 (1963), 381-94. Watson's original ideas were in his Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Iowa, completed in 1961. In private correspondence, Watson claims that the original idea for the
Accelerating Distributed Workflows with Edge Resources

Distributed data-intensive workflow applications are increasingly relying on and integrating remote resources including community data sources, services, and computational platforms. Increasingly, these are made available as data, SAAS, and IAAS clouds. The execution of distributed data-intensive workflow applications can expose network bottlenecks between clouds that compromise performance. In this paper, we focus on alleviating network bottlenecks by using a proxy network. In particular, we show how proxies can eliminate network bottlenecks by smart routing and perform in-network computations to boost workflow application performance. A novel aspect of our work is the inclusion of multiple proxies to accelerate different workflow stages optimizing different performance metrics. We show that the approach is effective for workflow applications and broadly applicable. Using Montage as an exemplar workflow application, results obtained through experiments on Planet Lab showed how different proxies acting in a variety of roles can accelerate distinct stages of Montage. Our microbenchmarks also show that routing data through select proxies can accelerate network transfer for TCP/UDP bandwidth, delay, and jitter, in general.
Diabetic nephropathy and transforming growth factor-β: Transforming our view of glomerulosclerosis and fibrosis build-up

The manifestations of diabetic nephropathy may be a consequence of the actions of certain cytokines and growth factors. Prominent among these is transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) because it promotes renal cell hypertrophy and stimulates extracellular matrix accumulation, the 2 hallmarks of diabetic renal disease. In tissue culture studies, cellular hypertrophy and matrix production are stimulated by high glucose concentrations in the culture media. High glucose, in turn, appears to act through the TGF-β system because high glucose increases TGF-β expression, and the hypertrophic and matrix-stimulatory effects of high glucose are prevented by anti-TGF-β therapy. In experimental diabetes mellitus, several reports describe overexpression of TGF-β or TGF-β type II receptor in the glomerular and tubulointerstitial compartments. As might be expected, the intrarenal TGF-β system is triggered, evidenced by activity of the downstream Smad signaling pathway. Treatment of diabetic animals with a neutralizing anti-TGF-β antibody prevents the development of mesangial matrix expansion and the progressive decline in renal function. This antibody therapy also reverses the established lesions of diabetic glomerulopathy. Finally, the renal TGF-β system is significantly up-regulated in human diabetic nephropathy. Although the kidney of a nondiabetic subject extracts TGF-β1 from the blood, the kidney of a diabetic patient actually elaborates TGF-β1 protein into the circulation. Along the same line, an increased level of TGF-β in the urine is associated with worse clinical outcomes. In concert with TGF-β, other metabolic mediators such as connective tissue growth factor and reactive oxygen species promote the accumulation of excess matrix. This fibrotic build-up also occurs in the tubulointerstitium, probably as the result of heightened TGF-β activity that stimulates tubular epithelial and interstitial fibroblast cells to overproduce matrix. The data presented here strongly support the consensus that the TGF-β system mediates the renal hypertrophy, glomerulosclerosis, and tubulointerstitial fibrosis of diabetic kidney disease.
Professional Characteristics of Humanistic Therapists: Analyses of the Collaborative Research Network sample / Berufliche Characteristika humanistischer Therapeuten: Analysen der Collaborative Research Network Stichprobe / Características Profesionales de los Terapeutas Humanistas: Análisis de una muestra de la Red de Investigación Colaborativa

Abstract The Collaborative Research Network's (CRN) Development of Psychotherapists Common Core Questionnaire has been completed by more than 5,500 mental health professionals worldwide. We used this data set to examine demographic and practice characteristics that define and distinguish humanistic therapists. We identified four groups of therapists based on their pattern of endorsement on a set of theoretical orientation questions: Purely Humanistic, Mixed Humanistic, Minimally Humanistic, and Wholly Nonhumanistic. We found that about 10% of this sample was Purely Humanistic in orientation, while Mixed Humanists accounted for another 20%. Nonhumanistic and Minimally Humanistic therapists appeared to be predominantly psychodynamic in orientation. We used the data to depict each of the four groups, in particular documenting the nature of the group of Mixed Humanistic therapists, who see a greater number and diversity of clients with apparently greater treatment flexibility.
Parental Ease in Asking Others Not to Smoke and Respiratory Symptoms and Illness among Children

Objective: Childhood exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) increases a child’s burden of respiratory conditions, but parental smoking bans may reduce such morbidity. This study evaluated household smoking bans and their relationship to respiratory illness in an outpatient otolaryngology clinic. Methods: The study was performed at the Heim Pal National Children’s Hospital, Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Department (Budapest, Hungary) from July to November, 2010. A consecutive series of children’s caregivers were approached to participate in a survey measuring household smoking bans, upper and lower respiratory tract symptoms and illnesses, and socioeconomic factors. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. Results: Of the 215 caregivers recruited for the study, 208 agreed to participate (response rate of 96.7%). More than half of the children were male (54%), and 39% lived in a household with at least one member who smoked. Smoking was frequently banned inside the car (91.3%) and home (85.1%). Respondents felt it easiest to ask friends (97.1%) and family members not living in the household (98.1%) to refrain from smoking inside the home. Respondents also found it easier to ask a stranger (81.7%) or a family member (61.1%) not to smoke around the child. Logistic regression showed that respondents for children with a history of pneumonia found it less difficult to ask visitors in the home not to smoke compared to children without pneumonia (OR = 0.23, 95% CI = 0.06–0.98). Conversely, respondents for children who had had adenoidectomy found it over three times more difficult to ask strangers not to smoke near the child compared to those of children without adenoidectomy (OR = 3.20, 95% CI = 1.43–6.38). Conclusions: In a population of children visiting an outpatient ENT clinic in Budapest, Hungary, we found a high degree of exposure to SHS. The ease with which caregivers felt towards asking others not to smoke predicted specific respiratory conditions. Since the ENT clinic offers a wonderful opportunity for clinicians to counsel parents on tobacco cessation, increased tobacco education of these providers is needed.
Father-daughter sexual abuse: an emerging perspective

This study probes the antecedents of father-daughter sexual abuse, utilizing perspectives of parent-child bonding and an emerging theory of incest avoidance. Data were obtained from a sample of abusive fathers and a comparison group who were not known abusers. Fathers' involvement in the early socialization of their daughters constituted a major differentiating variable.
Scattering by three-dimensional anisotropic scatterers

The coupled dipole approximation method has been extended to compute the scattering characteristics of three-dimensional, homogeneous, lossless, anisotropic objects. This method is simple, and does not require the solution of any integrodifferential equations. The method will work for any constitutive dyadic, provided it is lossless; furthermore, scatterers of any shape can be accommodated. Thus, this procedure will work well for any three-dimensional, lossless, anisotropic scatterer. Numerical results are given for uniaxial spheres made of titanium dioxide. >
Partial penectomy for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the penis: the Memorial Sloan-Kettering experience.

To present our institution’s experience with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the penis, with analysis of oncologic efficacy and survival. Between 1989 and 2005, we identified 32 consecutive patients (median age, 61 years) with SCC of the penis managed with partial penectomy. Clinicopathologic variables were examined, and overall and disease-specific survival were determined. Pathologic stage of the primary tumor was pTis in 1 patient (3%), pT1 in 11 (34%), pT2 in 16 (50%), and pT3 in 4 (13%). Pathologic grade was well differentiated in 9 patients (28%), moderately differentiated in 20 (63%), and poorly differentiated in 2 (6%). Twenty-five patients (78%) underwent inguinal lymph node dissection, with 15 (60%) demonstrating nodal metastases. Twenty-two patients (69%) underwent pelvic lymph node dissection; 21 were negative for pelvic nodal metastases, and 1 had grossly positive nodes. One patient developed local recurrence. After a mean follow-up of 34 months, overall survival was 56%. Numbers of patients alive and disease-free were 9 and 11 in the low-stage and advanced-stage groups, and 8 and 12 in the well and moderately differentiated groups, respectively. Both patients with poorly differentiated disease died of disease within 12 months from presentation. Partial penectomy for SCC of the penis provides excellent local control, with low recurrence rate, and acceptable maintenance of urinary and sexual function. Outcomes are generally poor, however, for patients with regional metastases, even in moderately differentiated disease. Future studies are needed to identify a reliable method of predicting regional metastases.
On the scaling behavior of reliability–resilience–vulnerability indices in agricultural watersheds

Abstract Risk indices such as reliability–resilience–vulnerability (R–R–V) have been proposed to assess watershed health. In this study, the spatial scaling behavior of R–R–V indices has been explored for five agricultural watersheds in the midwestern United States. The study was conducted using two different measures of spatial scale: (i) the ratio of contributing upland area to area required for channel initiation (FA), and (ii) Strahler stream order. It was found that R–R–V indices do change with spatial scale, but a representative watershed-specific threshold FA value exists for these indices to achieve stable values. Scaling with Strahler stream order is feasible if the watershed possesses a tree-like stream network. As an example of anthropogenic influences, this study also examined the role of BMPs placed within an agricultural watershed via a cost-effective optimization scheme on the evolution of R–R–V values with scale. While the placement of BMPs achieved reductions in concentrations and/or loads of constituents, they may not significantly change watershed risk measures, but are likely to cause significant reduction in vulnerability. If primarily upland BMPs are placed in a diffuse manner throughout the watershed, there might not be a significant change in the scaling behavior of R–R–V values.