cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Utility of a routine urinalysis in children who require clean intermittent catheterization

Summary Background Children who require clean intermittent catheterization (CIC) frequently have positive urine cultures. However, diagnosing a urinary tract infection (UTI) can be difficult, as there are no standardized criteria. Routine urinalysis (UA) has good predictive accuracy for UTI in the general pediatric population, but data are limited on the utility of routine UA in the population of children who require CIC. Objective To determine the utility of UA parameters (e.g. leukocyte esterase, nitrites, and pyuria) to predict UTI in children who require CIC, and identify a composite UA that has maximal predictive accuracy for UTI. Methods A cross-sectional study of 133 children who required CIC, and had a UA and urine culture sent as part of standard of care. Patients in the no-UTI group all had UA and urine cultures sent as part of routine urodynamics, and were asymptomatic. Patients included in the UTI group had growth of ≥50,000 colony-forming units/ml of a known uropathogen on urine culture, in addition to two or more of the following symptoms: fever, abdominal pain, back pain, foul-smelling urine, new or worse incontinence, and pain with catheterization. Categorical data were compared using Chi-squared test, and continuous data were compared with Student's t-test. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were calculated for individual UA parameters, as well as the composite UA. Logistic regression was performed on potential composite UA models to identify the model that best fit the data. Results There was a higher proportion of patients in the no-UTI group with negative leukocyte esterase compared with the UTI group. There was a higher proportion of patients with UTI who had large leukocyte esterase and positive nitrites compared with the no-UTI group (Summary Figure). There was no between-group difference in urinary white blood cells. Positive nitrites were the most specific (84.4%) for UTI. None of the parameters had a high positive predictive value, while all had high negative predictive values. The composite model with the best Akaike information criterion was >10 urinary white blood cells and either moderate or large leukocyte esterase, which had a positive predictive value of 33.3 and a negative predictive value of 90.4. Conclusion Routine UA had limited sensitivity, but moderate specificity, in predicting UTI in children who required CIC. The composite UA and moderate or large leukocyte esterase both had good negative predictive values for the outcome of UTI. Download : Download high-res image (179KB) Download : Download full-size image Summary Fig. . Urinary white blood cells and leukocyte esterase in patients with and without UTI.
Using Single Board Computers in University Education: A Case Study

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has changed the traditional way of imparting education. Use of computers and mobile devices in classrooms made the teaching and learning process more interactive. However, educational institutions across the world have not yet exploited the full benefits of developments in ICT. A new breed of computing devices, called Single Board Computers (SBC), have flooded the market. These devices are being used by technology enthusiasts across the world for developing IoT (Internet of Things) projects. In this paper, we have presented the use of a SBC named Raspberry Pi in conducting theoretical and practical classes of Undergraduate programs in IT and related fields. Our case study proves that SBCs can be used to impart education in interesting as well as environment friendly manner. This case study can be used as a basis for implementing higher education in economic way in poor and middle income countries.
Understanding the Language of Information Literacy

Abstract Understanding the language of information literacy is necessary for the effective use of library resources. The results of a recent study indicate that undergraduate students lack such an understanding, and the authors recommend that librarians, working with faculty, reassess information literacy terms. This article examines what is involved in reassessing these terms by drawing on several ideas from the philosophy of language, which provides a foundation for grasping the semantic challenges librarians face in educating users. Any reassessment of information literacy terms should recognize their ordinary and specialized use and aim for the holistic expression of core concepts, however complex they may be.
Using Topic Models to Bridge Coding Schemes of Differing Granularity.

While Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) are often informed by the data extracted from tutoring corpora, coding schemes can be time consuming to implement. Therefore, an automatic classifier may make for quicker classifications. Dialogue from expert tutoring sessions were analyzed using a topic model to investigate how topics mapped on to pre-existing coding schemes of different granularities. These topics were then used to predict the classification of words into moves and modes. Ultimately, it was found that a decision tree algorithm outperformed several other algorithms in this classification task. Improvements to the classifier are discussed.
The Core Voter’s Curse: Clientelistic Threats and Promises in Hungarian Elections:

In elections around the world, voters are influenced not only by positive offers of gifts and favors but also by the threat of negative sanctions for their individual electoral choices. Preelectora...
Structured storage policies for energy distribution networks

We consider the problem of dynamically controlling a two-bus energy distribution network with energy storage capabilities. An operator seeks to dynamically adjust the amount of energy to charge to,...
Another RESIN for Pouchitis: Chronic Pouchitis With Erosion Secondary to Sodium Polystyrene Sulfonate Crystals.

Another RESIN for Pouchitis: Chronic Pouchitis With Erosion Secondary to Sodium Polystyrene Sulfonate Crystals
‘Locations of Possibility’: Critical perspectives on partnership

This article offers critical perspectives on collaborative partnerships and feminist teaching that revise paradigms of power, prioritize student agency, enrich curriculum and scholarship, and sustain empowered communities of learning that challenge institutional compartmentalization. The authors reflect on how co-created curriculum can catalyze new professional partnerships that in turn contribute to refreshed learning experiences and communities. This article presents evidence of how a partnership orientation effectively encompasses an ethic and practice of feminist teaching, posits a framework of feminist pedagogy and praxis into the discourse of partnership, and exemplifies possibilities of these practices as important steps towards a (re)vision of liberatory learning.
Mechanism: Some Historical Notes

The concept of machine has dual origins in mechanics and human fabrication. A machine was often taken as any device whose behavior can be explained solely by mechanical laws, and often as any man-made device for performing some task, and often as both. Machine behavior was assumed to be completely determined by such laws, and as a consequence of this, also predictable in principle, for the laws allowed one to calculate its behavior. A paradigm machine having all of these properties was the cuckoo clock which Descartes adopted as a model for living organisms. But insofar as the behavior of organisms is often de facto unpredictable and they remain beyond human fabrication — and biology irreducible to mechanics — any mechanistic thesis that organisms are machines will require a concept of machine which uproots and generalizes its origins, and suitably modifies or rejects the properties of determinism and predictability that were based on them. Thus it was only by assuming that God made the universe that Descartes could claim it was only “a machine in which everything happens by figure and motion”.
Understanding the Current Wave of Procurement Reform - Devolution of the Contracting Function

This brief paper proffers a conceptual model for procurement reform in the United States today. The paper argues that much of the current reform can be understood as an attempt to bring order to the devolution of the contracting function, from users, to agency contracting officials, to centralized purchasing agencies, and now, finally, to private contractors. The paper argues that this devolution is, in fact, an outsourcing of the contracting function, and that therefore classic models of private-sector outsourcing should be applicable. The government should, in other words, be asking whether the contracting function should be outsourced, and if so, whether that function is being properly devolved, with appropriate checks and limits. This model, which assesses U.S. procurement reform against the rush to devolve the contracting function, applies equally well to the procurement reform legislation pending before Congress. The various procurement reform measures in the pending defense authorization bills reflect Congress' effort to curb - or at least control - the devolution of the contracting function, because of rising concern that too much authority has devolved too far.
Cinnamaldehyde Improves Lifespan and Healthspan in Drosophila melanogaster Models for Alzheimer’s Disease

Cinnamon extract has been reported to have positive effects in fruit fly and mouse models for Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, cinnamon contains numerous potential active compounds that have not been individually evaluated. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of cinnamaldehyde, a known putative active compound in cinnamon, on the lifespan and healthspan of Drosophila melanogaster models for Alzheimer's disease, which overexpress Aβ42 and MAPT (Tau). We found that cinnamaldehyde significantly improved the lifespan of both AD and non-AD flies. Cinnamaldehyde also improved the healthspan of AD flies overexpressing the Tau protein by improving climbing ability, evaluated by rapid iterative negative geotaxis (RING), and improving short-term memory, evaluated by a courtship conditioning assay. Cinnamaldehyde had no positive impact on the healthspan of AD flies overexpressing the Aβ42 protein.
Conclusion and Coda: A Presidential Election, My Cousin Rachel , and the Lingering Effects of the Medicinal Poisoner

Crosby ends her examination of the medicalized poisonous woman with a coda that follows the metaphor and its political implications into the two opposing narratives still shaping constructions of the public in the USA. She investigates how this vision of America as either multi-racial and feminist or white and male supremacist played out in the rhetoric around poisonous women in the 2016 presidential election and how it lingers in current films about poisonous women, such as 2017’s My Cousin Rachel.
Social reinstatement: a rat model of peer-induced relapse.

An important factor that can lead to drug relapse is to re-associate with drug-using social peers, but there is little literature on the effect of social peers on relapse in animal models. The current study used a dual-compartment operant conditioning apparatus that allowed adult male rats to respond for cocaine in the presence of a conspecific. In experiment 1, rats were trained to self-administer cocaine in the presence of a social peer that was separated by a wire screen partition and then that peer was used as a reinstatement cue following a period of extinction. In the next experiments, rats were trained on alternating sessions to self-administer cocaine in the presence of one peer and to self-administer saline in the presence of a different peer using either a single-active lever procedure (experiment 2) or a double-active lever procedure (experiment 3). Following extinction of responding in the absence of the peers, the effect of re-exposure to the cocaine- and saline-associated peers on reinstatement of drug seeking was determined. This was tested using both single- and double-active lever procedures. In experiment 1, a peer that was present throughout cocaine self-administration was able to reinstate cocaine seeking following a period of extinction. In experiments 2 and 3, drug seeking was reinstated by the cocaine-associated peer (S+), but not the saline-associated peer (S−). This discrimination occurred when using either the single-active lever procedure or double-active lever procedure. These results indicate that a social peer can be used as a discriminative stimulus to signal cocaine availability and that re-introduction of a peer previously paired with cocaine can reinstate cocaine seeking, confirming clinical reports that peer affiliation among abstinent cocaine users is an important determinant of relapse.
Testing Changes in Communities for the Stochastic Block Model.

We propose and analyze the problems of \textit{community goodness-of-fit and two-sample testing} for stochastic block models (SBM), where changes arise due to modification in community memberships of nodes. Motivated by practical applications, we consider the challenging sparse regime, where expected node degrees are constant, and the inter-community mean degree ($b$) scales proportionally to intra-community mean degree ($a$). Prior work has sharply characterized partial or full community recovery in terms of a "signal-to-noise ratio" ($\mathrm{SNR}$) based on $a$ and $b$. For both problems, we propose computationally-efficient tests that can succeed far beyond the regime where recovery of community membership is even possible. Overall, for large changes, $s \gg \sqrt{n}$, we need only $\mathrm{SNR}= O(1)$ whereas a naive test based on community recovery with $O(s)$ errors requires $\mathrm{SNR}= \Theta(\log n)$. Conversely, in the small change regime, $s \ll \sqrt{n}$, via an information-theoretic lower bound, we show that, surprisingly, no algorithm can do better than the naive algorithm that first estimates the community up to $O(s)$ errors and then detects changes. We validate these phenomena numerically on SBMs and on real-world datasets as well as Markov Random Fields where we only observe node data rather than the existence of links.
Abstract 4432: Multi-omics profiling establishes the polypharmacology of FDA Approved CDK4/6 inhibitors and its impact on drug response

FDA approval of multiple drugs with different chemical structures against the same protein target raises the question whether such drugs have sufficiently similar mechanisms of action to be considered functionally equivalent. We compare three recently approved inhibitors of the cyclin-dependent kinases CDK4/6 - palbociclib, ribociclib, and abemaciclib - that have become highly promising therapies for the treatment of breast cancer and potentially other solid tumors. All three drugs have the same nominal targets but differ in selectivity. In humans, abemaciclib uniquely appears to exhibit single-agent activity and has a distinct toxicity profile. We systematically profile targets and activities of these CDK4/6 inhibitors using biochemical assays, mRNA profiling, mass spectrometry-based phospho-proteomics, GR-based dose-response assays, and mouse xenografts. We find that the three drugs differ at a cellular level and that abemaciclib has targets and activities not shared by palbociclib or ribociclib including: induction of cell death (even in pRb-deficient cells), arrest in the G2 phase of the cell cycle, reduced drug adaptation, and unique transcriptional effects in vitro and in vivo . These activities appear to arise from inhibition of CDKs other than CDK4/6 including CDK2/Cyclin A/E and CDK1/Cyclin B. We propose that inhibition of these kinases by abemaciclib target known mechanisms of resistance to CDK4/6 inhibition and thus elicit a response in cell lines that are resistant to palbociclib or ribociclib. Citation Format: Caitlin E. Mills, Marc A. Hafner, Kartik Subramanian, Chen Chen, Mirra Chung, Sarah A. Boswell, Robert A. Everley, Changchang Liu, Charlotte S. Walmsley, Dejan Juric, Peter K. Sorger. Multi-omics profiling establishes the polypharmacology of FDA Approved CDK4/6 inhibitors and its impact on drug response [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4432.
A CMOS Time Domain Microwave Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy System with a Contact-less Sensor for Liquid Chemical Detection

A CMOS time-domain (TD) microwave broadband dielectric spectroscopy (MBDS) system consisting of an ultra-wideband (UWB) transmitter with a broadband multi-tone excitation signal generator and a UWB DC-free direct converter receiver with the center frequency of 500 MHz along with an off-chip contact-less sensor is proposed for liquid chemical material characterization. To perform the complex permittivity detection; 1- a generated input pulse with 1 GHz bandwidth is up-converted to RF frequencies using a broadband single sideband (SSB) mixer to avoid the signal distortion at the receiver baseband, 2- the RF pulse is passed through the material-under-test (MUT) placed between two radiative near-field-coupled UWB Vivaldi antennas, and 3- phase and magnitude differences (Δφ,ΔMag) due to different MUTs are extracted from the direct down-converted signal. The 3-10 GHz MBDS system fabricated in 65nm CMOS, occupies 1.68 mm2 an area and consumes ~67 mW from a 1 V supply. The proposed system is verified with four different chemical liquids, and achieves an error less than 1.2% for phase/magnitude differences over the entire operating bandwidth compared to sensor VNA measurements.
Maintaining Social Connections through Direct Link Placement in Wireless Networks

Mobile Social Network (MSN), built on inter-connected mobile devices, enables the flexibility of information exchanges of individuals within a virtual community. MSN may be self-organized and/or infrastructure-less, and the communication links may frequently fluctuate. When link qualities degrade, it remains critical to maintain the connections of important social pairs when supporting all social pairs is impossible. To achieve this goal, we propose to proactively place some reliable links (e.g., satellite links or UAV links) into the underlying communication network, so as to improve the service quality of the important social pairs, referred to as the Maintaining Social Connections (MSC) problem. We formulate the MSC problem and prove it is NP-hard. As such, we first study a special case of MSC, which is submodular and solvable with high approximation-ratio. Since the general MSC problem is not submodular, we propose an efficient approximation algorithm. Specially, by carefully choosing two submodular functions to lower/upper bound the MSC problem, we are able to prove the high approximation ratio of the proposed algorithm using these selected submodular functions. We further develop evolutionary algorithms to iteratively adjust the link placement via different exploration strategies, which also yield guaranteed approximation-ratio. Extensive evaluations based on both synthetic and real-world social network traces demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed algorithms.
Identifying dynamic discrete choice models off short panels

Abstract This paper analyzes the identification of flow payoffs and counterfactual choice probabilities (CCPs) in single-agent dynamic discrete choice models. We develop new results on non-stationary models where the time horizon for the agent extends beyond the length of the data (short panels). We show that counterfactual CCPs in short panels are identified when induced by temporary policy changes affecting payoffs, even though the utility flows are not. Counterfactual CCPs induced by innovations to state transitions are generally not identified unless the model exhibits single action finite dependence, and the payoffs of those actions establishing single action finite dependence are known.
Molecular weight distribution of asphalt binders from Laser Desorption Mass Spectroscopy (LDMS) technique and its relationship to linear viscoelastic relaxation spectra

Abstract Asphalt binder is a complex viscoelastic hydrocarbon, whose performance depends upon interaction between its physical and chemical properties, both of which are equally important to the successful understanding of the material. In this research effort, a physico-chemical relationship is developed by utilizing the technique of Laser Desorption Mass Spectroscopy (LDMS) to relate the molecular structure of asphalt binders to its viscoelastic properties. The molecular weight distribution (MWD) data obtained from the LDMS technique is used to develop a relationship between number average molecular weight and width of relaxation spectrum of asphalt binders obtained from linear viscoelastic characterization using dynamic shear rheometer. The relationship shows that as the molecular weight of asphalt binders increase, they require more time to relax the developed stresses. Also, the shape descriptors of the molecular weight distribution suggest that asphalt binders possessing greater asymmetry and kurtosis require more time to relax the developed stresses.
Integrating Christian Faith and Work: Individual, Occupational and Organizational Influences and Strategies, by Sharlene G. Buszka and Timothy Ewest, Cham, Switzerland, Palgrave Macmillan, 2020, 291 pp., $119.99 (Hardcover) and $89.00 (Ebook)

The “becoming” of our lives in the pursuit of truly demonstrating our faith is a lifetime endeavor. The book Integrating Christian Faith and Work: Individual, Occupational and Organizational Influe...
Financial toxicity, financial well-being, and quality of life among bladder cancer patients.

133Background: Due to a long course of surveillance, and for some patients, multimodal therapy with chemotherapy and surgery, bladder cancer (BC) can present a financial burden to the household. Ye...
Non-Gaussian error distribution of 7Li abundance measurements

We construct the error distribution of 7Li abundance measurements for 66 observations (with error bars) used by Spite et al. (2012) that give A(Li) = 2.21 ± 0.065 (median and 1σ symmetrized error). This error distribution is somewhat non-Gaussian, with larger probability in the tails than is predicted by a Gaussian distribution. The 95.4% confidence limits are 3.0σ in terms of the quoted errors. We fit the data to four commonly used distributions: Gaussian, Cauchy, Student’s t and double exponential with the center of the distribution found with both weighted mean and median statistics. It is reasonably well described by a widened n = 8 Student’s t distribution. Assuming Gaussianity, the observed A(Li) is 6.5σ away from that expected from standard Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) given the Planck observations. Accounting for the non-Gaussianity of the observed A(Li) error distribution reduces the discrepancy to 4.9σ, which is still significant.
Impact of exposures to persistent endocrine disrupting compounds on the sperm methylome in regions associated with neurodevelopmental disorders

Abstract Background Although autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is among the most heritable of neurodevelopmental disorders, the rapidly rising prevalence of ASD suggests that environmental factors may interact with genetic risk for ASD. Environmental factors may impact both gene expression and phenotypes in ASD through epigenetic modifications that, in turn, could lead to intergenerational effects influencing risk for ASDs. Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), such as the long-lived organochlorines, are of particular interest with respect to risk for autism because of their ability to interfere with sex hormones that have been implicated in the regulation of RORA, a dysregulated gene in ASD that is a master regulator of many other ASD risk genes. Objectives The specific aims of this study are to: 1) investigate whether high versus low exposures to the persistent organochlorine 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene (DDE) are associated with differentially methylated regions (DMRs) in sperm from a Faroese cohort whose natural diet of pilot whale meat and blubber exposes them to higher than average levels of organic pollutants; 2) determine if genes associated with DDE DMRs are enriched for ASD risk genes; 3) identify pathways and functions over-represented among genes associated with DMRs. Methods Whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) was used to identify genome-wide DMRs in sperm from individuals divided by high and low exposure levels. Gene ontology and pathway analyses were used to determine enrichment in functional relationships to ASD. Results Genes in DMRs not only could discriminate between high and low exposures to DDE, but also were enriched in autism risk genes. Gene ontology and pathway analyses of these genes show significant enrichment for neurodevelopmental processes frequently impacted by ASD. Conclusion Results of this study show that elevated exposure to certain organochlorines is associated with genome-wide DNA methylation patterns in sperm affecting genes involved in neurological functions and developmental disorders, including ASD.
Climate Risk Is Investment Risk

In January of 2020, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manage with over seven trillion dollars under management at that time, announced it was placing environmental sustainability at the center of its investment approach because it had concluded that climate risk was investment risk. It warned of a very rapid movement of capital toward “sustainable” businesses. The coronavirus pandemic has intensified the appeal of sustainable investing. There is a push in the United States and the European Union to rethink the purpose of investor-owned corporations in light of the unprecedented need to deeply decarbonize the global economy and meet the Sustainable Development Goals on a very short timeframe. Without making substantive legal reforms, a common ground in this debate appears to be to reduce risks by promoting transparency and accountability. These values are aided by accurate and thorough reporting of a corporation’s environmental and social impacts, which facilitates investors’ ability to manage risk, and can inform broader public policy. Sustainability reporting also serves an internal purpose for boards of directors, alerting them about the effect the business is having on the environment and society, systemic risks, and ability of the company to achieve success in the long term. There is a growing awareness that a well-run company should have long-term plans charting its way toward environmental, social, and economic sustainability: the triple bottom line. One step in the direction of this call for transparency and accountability occurred in 2017 when the EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive became effective. This new law requires EU publicly traded corporations and financial and insurance institutions with more than 500 employees to report on environmental, social, and governance metrics. Strategically increasing access to information holds promise because it moves corporate social responsibility out of the voluntary realm; but early results already indicate areas where the law needs to be improved. This Article will explain how the climate crisis places a new focus on the purpose of the corporation; private governance and voluntary sustainability reporting; and the new mandatory reporting approach in the EU, its limitations and potential reforms, and possible replication in the United States.
Localization of Epileptic Foci by Means of Cortical Imaging Using a Spherical Head Model

A cortical imaging technique (CIT) with a three-sphere head model was used to estimate cortical potentials from scalp EEG recordings in 2 pediatric epilepsy patients. For patient #1, the cortical potentials during interictal spikes and seizure onset were estimated. For patient #2, the cortical imaging analysis was performed during interictal spikes. In all cases analyzed, localized areas of activity were observed, overlying with the epileptogenic zones, as confirmed by the post-operative ECoG recordings and neurosurgical resection in the patients. The present study suggests that CIT may provide a useful alternative for noninvasive localization of epileptic foci from pre-operative EEG recordings.
Runtime power-aware energy-saving scheme for parallel applications

Energy consumption has become a major design constraint in modern computing systems. With the advent of petaflops architectures, power-efficient software stacks have become imperative for scalability. Modern processors provide techniques, such as dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS), to improve energy efficiency on-the-fly. Without careful application, however, DVFS and throttling may cause significant performance loss due to the system overhead. Typically, these techniques are used by constraining a priori the application performance loss, under which the energy savings are sought. This paper discusses potential drawbacks of such usage and proposes an energy-saving scheme that takes into account the instantaneous processor power consumption as presented by the 'running average power limit' (RAPL) technology from Intel. Thus, the need for the user to predefine a performance loss tolerance is avoided. Experiments, performed on NAS parallel benchmarks and large-scale linear system solvers from the pARMS package, show that the proposed scheme saves more energy than the approaches based on the predefined performance loss.
The influence of particle size on separation and dustiness in powder mixtures during nonelectrostatic and electrostatic coating

Abstract Common food powders and their mixtures, consisting of two powders with the same composition but different in particle size: fine (51–95 μm) and coarse (244–401 μm) NaCl, KCl, sucrose, rice starch, maltodextrin, whey protein, casein and soy protein, were coated on a target at 0 and −25 kV. Over half of the mixtures showed separation due to a difference in particle size. Separation was caused by the difference in individual transfer efficiency of the powders and interactions during coating. Both composition and differences in size were found to be important. Being in a mixture did not change the amount of dust formed.
Optical Kinematics of Strong Radio Galaxies

Recent spectroscopic measurements of 5 strong radio galaxies showed that approximately 50% of these objects had internal gas velocities which were notably non-circular1. To investigate this, more detailed observations were done for the galaxies in question. Examination of these results suggests that the noncircular velocities tend to fall into a pattern. All of the objects have one kinematical component which fits the classical picture of “circular rotation”. This occurs in BOTH the stellar and ionized gas and displays MUCH HIGHER peak velocities than are found in E galaxies1. In addition, all of the objects studied possess a second ionized gas system at a different velocity from that of the rotating gas. Finally, at least one of the objects has an envelope of stars which is either not rotating or has a very different kinematic major axis from that of the stellar population in its inner regions.
ROLE OF BUTYRYL PHOSPHATE IN THE ENERGY METABOLISM OF CLOSTRIDIUM TETANOMORPHUM

Twarog, R. (University of Illinois, Urbana) and R. S. Wolfe. Role of butyryl phosphate in the energy metabolism of Clostridium tetanomorphum. J. Bacteriol. 86:112–117. 1963.—A partially purified butyrokinase from Clostridium tetanomorphum has been found to phosphorylate valerate, butyrate, isobutyrate, and propionate. The divalent cation requirement is satisfied with magnesium. The pH optimum lies between 7.4 and 8.3. Growth of the organism was followed using glutamate or histidine as substrate, butyrokinase being formed in each instance. The average dry weight of cells formed per mmole of substrate utilized was 6.8 mg for glutamate and 11.1 mg for histidine. Since both phosphotransbutyrylase and butyrokinase are present in the cells, it is proposed that a significant portion of energy derived from glutamate oxidation by this organism is obtained from butyryl phosphate.
Facilitative Leadership in Social Work Practice, by Elizabeth M. Breshears and Roger Dean Volker

There are thousands of books on leadership available to those who read any available for learning, teaching, and simply for pleasure. Moreover, many macro-based social workers have written some of ...
Apoptotic response of HL-60 human leukemia cells to the antitumor drug TAS-103.

TAS-103 is a DNA intercalating indeno-quinoline derivative that stimulates DNA cleavage by topoisomerases. This synthetic drug has a broad spectrum of antitumor activity against many human solid tumor xenografts and is currently undergoing clinical trials. We investigated the induction of apoptosis in human promyelocytic leukemia cells treated with TAS-103. The treatment of proliferating human leukemia cells for 24 h with various concentrations of the drug induces significant variations in the mitochondrial transmembrane potential (ΔΨ mt ) measured by flow cytometry using the fluorochromes 3,3-dihexyloxacarbocyanine iodide, Mitotracker Red, and tetrachloro-tetraethylbenzimidazolcarbocyanine iodide. The collapse ofΔΨ mt is accompanied by a marked decrease of the intracellular pH. Cleavage experiments with the substrates N -acetyl-Asp-Glu-Val-Asp-pNA, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, and pro-caspase-3 reveal unambiguously that caspase-3 is a key mediator of the apoptotic pathway induced by TAS-103. Caspase-8 is also cleaved, and the bcl-2 oncoprotein is underexpressed. Drug-induced internucleosomal DNA fragmentation and the externalization of phosphatidylserine residues in the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane were also characterized. The cell cycle perturbations produced by TAS-103 can be connected with the changes in ΔΨ mt . At low concentrations (2–25 nm), the drug induces a marked G 2 arrest and concomitantly provokes an increase in the potential of mitochondrial membranes. In contrast, treatment of the HL-60 cells with higher drug concentrations (50 nm to 1μ m) triggers massive apoptosis and a collapse ofΔΨ mt that is a signature for the opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pores. The discovery of a correlation between the G 2 arrest and changes in mitochondrial membrane potential provides an important mechanistic insight into the action of TAS-103.
The nitrogen-regulated Bacillus subtilis nrgAB operon encodes a membrane protein and a protein highly similar to the Escherichia coli glnB-encoded PII protein.

Abstract Expression of beta-galactosidase encoded by the nrg-29::Tn917-lacZ insertion increases 4,000-fold during nitrogen-limited growth (M.R. Atkinson and S. H. Fisher, J. Bacteriol. 173:23-27, 1991). The chromosomal DNA adjacent to the nrg-29::Tn917-lacZ insertion was cloned and sequenced. Analysis of the resulting nucleotide sequence revealed that the Tn917-lacZ transposon was inserted into the first gene of a dicistronic operon, nrgAB. The nrgA gene encodes a 43-kDa hydrophobic protein that is likely to be an integral membrane protein. The nrgB gene encodes a 13-kDa protein that has significant sequence similarity with the Escherichia coli glnB-encoded PII protein. Primer extension analysis revealed that the nrgAB operon is transcribed from a single promoter. The nucleotide sequence of this promoter has significant similarity with the -10 region, but not the -35 region, of the consensus sequence for Bacillus subtilis sigma A-dependent promoters.
Transient inactivation of Notch signaling synchronizes differentiation of neural progenitor cells

In the developing nervous system, the balance between proliferation and differentiation is critical to generate the appropriate numbers and types of neurons and glia. Notch signaling maintains the progenitor pool throughout this process. While many components of the Notch pathway have been identified, the downstream molecular events leading to neural differentiation are not well understood. We have taken advantage of a small molecule inhibitor, DAPT, to block Notch activity in retinal progenitor cells, and analyzed the resulting molecular and cellular changes over time. DAPT treatment causes a massive, coordinated differentiation of progenitors that produces cell types appropriate for their developmental stage. Transient exposure of retina to DAPT for specific time periods allowed us to define the period of Notch inactivation that is required for a permanent commitment to differentiate. Inactivation of Notch signaling revealed a cascade of proneural bHLH transcription factor gene expression that correlates with stages in progenitor cell differentiation. Microarray/QPCR analysis confirms the changes in Notch signaling components, and reveals new molecular targets for investigating neuronal differentiation. Thus, transient inactivation of Notch signaling synchronizes progenitor cell differentiation, and allows for a systematic analysis of key steps in this process.
FIRST ORDER, 2D, EINSTEIN GRAVITIES

This paper is dedicated to the memory of M. Markov, whose commitment to Quantum Gravity through the Seminars he organized made possible contacts across borders when they were most needed. The Palatini variational method breaks down in 2D: First order forms of the Einstein action do not fix the affinity completely, as they possess an additional, Weyl, invariance absent in the second order versions.
Expression of Glial Cell Line–Derived Neurotropic Factor Receptor α-1 in Immature Teratomas

The immaturity of teratomas is usually manifested as immature neuroepithelium. The amount of immature neuroepithelium has been correlated with the survival of adult patients with ovarian immature teratoma. To date, no immunohistochemical marker has been found to facilitate the identification of immature teratoma. In this study, we evaluated the expression of glial cell line–derived neurotropic factor receptor a-1 (GFRa-1) for this purpose. We retrieved 38 cases of germ cell tumors: 26 cases contained immature teratoma, of which 24 had immature neuroepithelium and showed strong membrane staining for GFRa-1. No significant staining was seen in other components including embryonal carcinoma, seminoma, yolk sac tumor, choriocarcinoma, immature mesenchyme, and intratubular germ cell neoplasia. Immunohistochemical staining for GFRa-1 in immature neuroepithelium may facilitate its identification. Teratomas are tumors with tissues derived from all 3 germ cell layers—endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm. Mature and immature teratomas are diagnosed based on the absence or presence of immature components. Teratoma can arise in ovaries and prepubertal and postpubertal testis. Evidence suggests that ovarian and prepubertal testicular teratomas are derived from benign germ cells. 1 In contrast, postpubertal testicular teratomas derive from malignant germ cells. Therefore, teratomas in prepubertal boys are clinically benign, 2 whereas in postpubertal men, they are malignant, independent of their degree of immaturity. 3 On the other hand, immaturity is an
Left-handers show greater test-retest variability in auditory and visual asymmetry

Abstract Left-right difference scores were analyzed for groups left- and right-handed subjects administered the same dichotic listening and visual half-tests on four separate days. The left-handed subjects showed greater test to test variability than the right handers for both modalities.
Ultrasonic characterization of follicular evacuation during ovulation and fate of the discharged follicular fluid in mares

Abstract The duration and pattern of follicular evacuation or follicular fluid release at the time of ovulation were characterized by continuous ultrasonic observation of the entire process in five mares. Follicular evacuation was detected while it was underway in six other mares, but the time of initiation was not known. The end of evacuation was defined as either the time when no fluid remained within the antrum of the preovulatory follicle, or remaining fluid had reached a minimal level (⩽ 5% of the original antral area), or no further evacuation occurred during 5 min of continuous observation. All 11 mares were used to characterize the patterns of residual fluid loss after the defined end of evacuation and to test the hypothesis that much of the follicular fluid released during evacuation does not collect in the ipsilateral oviduct. In the five mares in which evacuation was monitored continuously, the mean rate of decrease of the preovulatory antral area during the first 60 s of evacuation was estimated to be 1.4 ± 0.2% (s.e.m.) of the antral area per second. Antral area continued to decrease at a rate of 0.1 ± 0.05% per s during the subsequent 60 s. The average time for disappearance of 80% of the antral area was 90 s. Two distinct follicular evacuation patterns were observed; an abrupt decrease to less than 10% of the original antral area within 60 s (three mares) and a gradual decrease to approximately half of the original antral area by 60 s after the onset of evacuation (two mares). No residual fluid was detected within the antrum at the defined end of evacuation in three of 11 mares. The interval from the defined end of evacuation to the first postevacuation examination with no detected residual fluid ranged from 1 2 h to 5 h for the eight other mares. In six of the 11 mares, an apparent extraovarian fluid collection was detected immediately before or during evacuation. These fluid collections appeared to be in the ovulation fossa and continuous with the fluid of the evacuating follicle. The fluid collections disappeared at about the same time as (two mares) or shortly after (four mares) the defined end of evacuation. There were no other newly developed fluid areas detected during or immediately after follicular evacuation. The hypothesis was supported that much of the evacuated fluid does not collect in the ipsilateral oviduct.
T-cell and cytokine responses in leishmaniasis

Intracellular pathogens, particularly those that inhabit lymphocytes and macrophages, represent unique challenges to the immune system. Leishmania are protozoan parasites that replicate exclusively in macrophages and are thus in an excellent position to influence lymphocyte responses. T cell responses are critical in determining the outcome of infections with Leishmania. In both murine and human infections, strong T helper type 2 responses have been associated with disease, and a decreased or absent T helper type 2 response has been associated with healing.
Localization of Endogenous β-Galactoside-Binding Lectin in Human Cells and Tissues

A rabbit antiserum raised against the 14.5-kilodalton (kDa) subunit of human splenic galaptin was used to probe protein blots of several tissue extracts. For all tissues examined, the only immunoreactive species detected was a 14.5-kDa polypeptide. This antiserum and a rabbit antiserum raised against native lung galaptin were used in immunohistochemical assays to determine the localization of galaptin in selected tissues and cells. In normal colon, galaptin was found prominently in the basement membrane and in the stroma. The cytoplasm of epithelial cells stained lightly for galaptin whereas mucous granules and secreted mucin were uniformly negative for galaptin. Hemagglutination inhibition assays also failed to demonstrate an interaction between galaptin and mucin. Macrophages stained conspicuously for galaptin in colonic and cutaneous tissue as did some capillary walls. In cutaneous tissue, the extracellular matrix and hair follicle cells contained abundant galaptin. Galaptin was absent in basal cell carcinoma and associated stroma. Galaptin was found throughout the cytoplasm of carcinoma cells of gynecologic origin present in effusions. Protein blot analysis of extracts of extracellular matrix synthesized in vitro by endothelial cells confirmed the presence of galaptin in matrix. The results show that: (1) galaptin is variably expressed by different cells and tissues; (2) its cellular location is not restricted to the cell surface; (3) galaptin is not associated with normal mucin; (4) the extracellular matrix is a major site of galaptin deposition, and (5) some malignant tissue may be characterized by a deficiency of galaptin.
POLY-CRYST — A program for ab-initio crystal orbitals and polymer orbitals

Abstract Recently we have written a new program POLY-CRYST to calculate ab-initio orbitals for molecular crystals and polymers. This technique makes use of the translational symmetry in a crystal and the translational and/or translational rotational symmetry in a polymer. Into this new POLY-CRYST program we meshed, as options, all of our desirable optimal computational strategies for ab-initio calculations on large molecules. The results of preliminary test calculations are presented.
Electron detachment dissociation of fluorescently labeled sialylated oligosaccharides.

We explored the application of electron detachment dissociation (EDD) and infrared multiphoton dissociation (IRMPD) tandem mass spectrometry to fluorescently labeled sialylated oligosaccharides. Standard sialylated oligosaccharides and a sialylated N-linked glycan released from human transferrin were investigated. EDD yielded extensive glycosidic cleavages and cross-ring cleavages in all cases studied, consistently providing complementary structural information compared to IRMPD. Neutral losses and satellite ions such as C – 2H ions were also observed following EDD. In addition, we examined the influence of different fluorescent labels. The acidic label 2-aminobenzoic acid (2-AA) enhanced signal abundance in negative-ion mode. However, few cross-ring fragments were observed for 2-AA labeled oligosaccharides. The neutral label 2-aminobenzamide (2-AB) resulted in more cross-ring cleavages compared to 2-AA labeled species, but not as extensive fragmentation as for native oligosaccharides, likely resulting from altered negative charge locations from introduction of the fluorescent tag.
New Attachment Achieved by Guided Tissue Regeneration in Beagle Dogs

This study tested the effects of using a Gore-Tex periodontal material on new connective tissue attachment in beagle dogs with natural Periodontitis. Seven female beagle dogs with advanced Periodontitis were selected and given thorough root debridement. Under general anesthesia four weeks later, mucoperiosteal flaps were raised involving all mandibular premolars and first molars. Gore-Tex periodontal material was adapted to all premolare, and the flaps were sutured tightly, keeping the material covered. The first molars acted as controls, receiving only surgery. Some material was removed in one month, while other materials were removed eight to 10 weeks after surgery. All dogs were sacrificed at three months. After processing, descriptive histology and histometrics were carried out, evaluating new connective tissue attachment, bone response and epithelial downgrowth. Results were statistically analyzed, using paired t tests. They showed new connective tissue attachment with cementum deposition in areas wh...
Meningitis in infants and children with special reference to age-incidence and bacteriologic diagnosis

Summary 1. The susceptibility of infants to infection is apparent from the age distribution of the various etiologic types of meningitis. The majority of cases of each type occur during the first two years of life. 2. The frequency of the occurrence of influenzal meningitis is pointed out. 3. The characteristics of the spinal fluid are discussed for the various types of meningitis from the point of view of practical etiologic diagnosis. 4. The superiority of chocolate agar as a routine spinal fluid culture medium is emphasized. 5. Summaries of nine cases of meningitis due to various members of the colon group of bacilli are presented. In addition one case due to the Friedlander bacillus is presented.
A Recipe for Bidirectional Motor Learning: Using Inhibition to Cook Plasticity in the Vestibular Nuclei

In this issue of Neuron, McElvain et al. demonstrate for the first time plasticity at the synapse between vestibular nerve afferents and their postsynaptic targets in the medial vestibular nuclei. This new type of plasticity, which is gated by inhibition, is well suited to drive motor learning during adaptation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex.