cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Factors involved in depletion of glutathione from A549 human lung carcinoma cells: implications for radiotherapy.

Abstract We have measured the rate of GSH resynthesis in plateau phase cultures of A549 human lung carcinoma cells subjected to a fresh medium change. Buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) blocks this resynthesis. Diethyl maleate (DEM) causes a decrease in accumulation of GSH. If DEM is added concurrently with BSO there is a rapid decline in GSH that is maximal in the presence of 0.5 mM DEM. GSH depletion rapidly occurs when BSO is added to log phase cultures which initially are higher in GSH content. Twenty-four hr treatment of A549 cells with BSO results in cells that are more radiosensitive in air and show a slight hypoxic radiation response. A 2 hr treatment with either 0.25 mM or 0.5 mM DEM results in some hypoxic sensitization and little increase in the aerobic radiation response. The 24 hr BSO + 2 hr DEM treatment sensitizes hypoxic cells to a greater degree than either agent alone but does not increase the aerobic response more than is seen with BSO alone. Cells treated simultaneously with BSO + DEM show little increase in the hypoxic radiation response, compared to DEM alone, but are more sensitive under aerobic conditions. Decreased cell survival for aerobically irradiated log phase A549 cells occurs within minutes after addition of a mixture of BSO + DEM. The decreased cell survival following aerobic irradiation, after prolonged treatment with BSO or acute exposure to BSO + DEM, may be in part due to inhibition of glutathione peroxidases. For example, glutathione-S-transferase, known to have glutathione peroxidase activity (non-selenium), is nearly completely inhibited by the BSO treatments. In addition, cellular capacity to react with peroxide (glutathione peroxidase, selenium containing) was also inhibited. We suggest that the enhanced aerobic radiation response is related to an inability of GSH depleted cells to inactivate either peroxy radicals or hydroperoxides that may be produced during irradiation of BSO treated cells. Furthermore, enhancement of the aerobic radiation response may be useful In vivo if normal tissue responses are not also increased.
Induced abortion in the developing world: indirect estimates.

Indirect abortion estimates for 21 developing countries were derived through use of an alternative method of calculating the influence of abortion on fertility. The method is based on the assumption that the socioeconomic cultural and biologic variables that influence fertility operate through a limited number of proximate determinants. The total fertility rate for the countries for which Demographic and Health Survey data were analyzed averaged 5.2 lifetime births per woman but ranged from 2.7 (Turkey) to 7.7 (Yemen). The average value for the abortion index was 0.78: similar to the influence of contraceptive use (0.79) and marriage (0.78) but less important than postpartum insusceptibility (0.72). Abortion had its strongest effect on fertility in South America (range 0.45 in Colombia to 0.62 in Peru); in high-fertility areas of Africa abortions impact was minimal (range 0.95 in Burkina Faso to 1.06 in Rwanda). The values for three minor proximate determinants (fecundability intrauterine mortality and sterility) did not confound abortion estimates. Overall the analysis suggests that abortion is widely used to control fertility even under conditions of illegality increases in importance as fertility declines and contributes to fertility control at a level similar to that of contraception.
Expression of a Human Surfactant Protein C Mutation Associated with Interstitial Lung Disease Disrupts Lung Development in Transgenic Mice

Surfactant Protein C (SP-C) is a secreted transmembrane protein that is exclusively expressed by alveolar type II epithelial cells of the lung. SP-C associates with surfactant lipids to reduce surface tension within the alveolus, maintaining lung volume at end expiration. Mutations in the gene encoding SP-C (SFTPC) have recently been linked to chronic lung disease in children and adults. The goal of this study was to determine whether a disease-linked mutation in SFTPC causes lung disease in transgenic mice. The SFTPC mutation, designated g.1728 G → A, results in the deletion of exon4, generating a truncated form of SP-C (SP-CΔexon4). cDNA encoding SP-CΔexon4 was constitutively expressed in type II epithelial cells of transgenic mice. Viable F0 transgene-positive mice were not generated after two separate rounds of pronuclear injections. Histological analysis of lung tissue harvested from embryonic day 17.5 F0 transgene-positive fetuses revealed that SP-CΔexon4 caused a dose-dependent disruption in branching morphogenesis of the lung associated with epithelial cell cytotoxicity. Transient expression of SP-CΔexon4 in isolated type II epithelial cells or HEK293 cells resulted in incomplete processing of the mutant proprotein, a dose-dependent increase in BiP transcription, trapping of the proprotein in the endoplasmic reticulum, and rapid degradation via a proteasome-dependent pathway. Taken together, these data suggest that the g.1728 G → A mutation causes misfolding of the SP-C proprotein with subsequent induction of the unfolded protein response and endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation pathways ultimately resulting in disrupted lung morphogenesis.
Fiber feed for the SDSS spectrograph

A 640 fiber feed for a pair of moderate resolution spectrographs is being constructed for the sloan digital sky survey. The spectrograph slits, optical fibers and plug-plates are mounted together in removable cartridges. The cartridges protect the optical fibers and provide quick-change interfaces to the telescope and the spectrographs. Ten cartridges will be made to allow plugging to occur during the day. The fibers are constructed in harnesses of 20. These are mass-terminated in v- groove blocks at the spectrograph slit. At the input end the fibers are terminated in simple ferrules and manually plugged into aluminum plug-plates. The plug-plates are deformed to match the best focal surface of the telescope, and the holes are drilled to be parallel to the principal ray after bending. We describe a simple technique for drilling accurate holes.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Emerging strategies for the treatment of retinoblastoma.

Purpose of reviewOver the past 10 years, the treatment of retinoblastoma has changed dramatically. The main impetus for these changes, which are more intensive than traditional modalities and require a multidisciplinary approach, has been the avoidance of the serious, often fatal, complications of e
Lazy Threads

In this paper, we describe lazy threads, a new approach for implementing multithreaded execution models on conventional machines. We show how they can implement a parallel call at nearly the efficiency of a sequential call. The central idea is to specialize the representation of a parallel call so that it can execute as a parallel-ready sequential call. This allows excess parallelism to degrade into sequential calls with the attendant efficient stack management and direct transfer of control and data, yet a call that truly needs to execute in parallel, gets its own thread of control. The efficiency of lazy threads is achieved through a careful attention to storage management and a code generation strategy that allows us to represent potential parallel work with no overhead.
The VLISP verified Scheme system

The VLISP project has produced a rigorously verified compiler from Scheme to byte codes, and a verified interpreter for the resulting byte codes. The official denotational semantics for Scheme provides the main criterion of correctness. The Wand-Clinger technique was used to prove correctness of the primary compiler step. Then a state machine operational semantics is proved to be faithful to the denotational semantics. The remainder of the implementation is verified by a succession of state machine refinement proofs. These include proofs that garbage collection is a sound implementation strategy, and that a particular garbage collection algorithm is correct.
Pharmacogenetic variants influence tamoxifen's estrogenic effect on bone density

Background Long-term effects from tamoxifen therapy for breast cancer include changes in bone mineral density (BMD). Methods We examined the effects of menopausal status, tamoxifen and its metabolite concentrations on BMD in 69 women treated with 20mg of tamoxifen for one year. We tested for associations between genetic variants in CYP2D6, Estrogen Receptor α (ER) and change in BMD, measured in the lumbar spine and hip. Variants in CYP2D6 (*3, *4, *5, *6 and *10) and estrogen receptor (PvuII and XbaI) were identified by RFLP assays. Results We noted a significant decrease in lumbar BMD in pre-menopausal women (Mean −0.069± 0.057 g/cm2, p=.0001). No significant changes in post-menopausal women were found (p=.27). Pre-menopausal women with non-variant CYP2D6 genotypes experienced greater decrease in lumbar BMD than those who were *1/*4 or *4/*4 (p=.041). The active tamoxifen metabolite endoxifen was significantly correlated with lumbar spinal change in this pre-menopausal group (r2= 0.22, p= 0.023). ER variants did not predict these changes in BMD. In post-menopausal women who carried the ERα PvuII TT genotype there was a significant increase in hip BMD (Mean +0.019± 0.050 g/cm2, p=.023). Conclusion Pre-menopausal women experienced loss in lumbar spine BMD during tamoxifen treatment that was associated with CYP2D6 wild-type genotype and high endoxifen concentrations. In post-menopausal women, ERα TT genotype was associated with an increase in hip BMD. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (2005) 77, P21–P21; doi: 10.1016/j.clpt.2004.11.082
Crime and Heroin: The Effects of Race and Gender

Research on crime has made much of the fact that blacks have substantially higher official (police-recorded) rates of involvement in crime than do whites. This has led to efforts to account for high black crime rates in terms of conditions unique to the experience of Afro-Americans, including slavery and racism. The assumption has been that blacks have reacted to these conditions in a pathological or dysfunctional fashion by turning to crime (Curtis, 1973; Comer, 1985; Silberman, 1979). This approach is plagued by an unfortunate tendency to ignore differences in the distribution of black and white populations. In other words, certain population subgroups have higher official crime rates regardless of race, including those living in urban areas, the young, those in low-income groups, and the unemployed. Since a larger percentage of blacks fall into these crime-prone groups (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1984), it might be expected that they would have higher official rates. Hence this study seeks to examine crime in black and white subgroups that are comparable in terms of many of these relevant
Further evidence of genetic heterogeneity in families with autosomal dominant nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy.

Abstract Purpose Mutations in the genes encoding the alfa 2 , alfa 4 and beta 2 subunits of the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) play a causative role in autosomal dominant nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy (ADNFLE). Moreover, variations in the promoter of the corticotropic-releasing hormone gene ( CRH ) were also associated with ADNFLE. Here, we investigated whether nine brain-expressed genes ( CHRNA2 , CHRNA3 , CHRNA4 , CHRNA5 , CHRNA6 , CHRNA7 , CHRNB2 , CHRNB3 , CHRNB4 ), encoding distinct nAChR subunits, and CRH are associated with the disease in three distinct ADNFLE families from Southern Italy. Methods There were 14 living affected individuals (9 women), ranging in age from 14 to 57 years, pertaining to three unrelated families. Age at onset of seizures clustered around 9 years of age (range from 7 and 16 years, mean: 9.1 years±3.8). All affected individuals manifested nocturnal partial seizures of frontal lobe origin, which were well controlled by medications. Exon 5 of CHRNA4 and CHRNB2 genes, harboring all the known mutations, was sequenced in the probands. Then, we performed a linkage study on 13 affected and 26 non-affected individuals belonging to the three families with microsatellite markers and an intragenic polymorphisms encompassing the chromosome localization of the nAChR subunit genes and of the CRH gene. Results Mutational and linkage analyses allowed us to exclude the involvement of all known nAChR subunit genes and of the CRH gene in ADNFLE in our families. Conclusion Our results further illustrate the considerable genetic heterogeneity for such a syndrome, despite the quite homogeneous clinical picture. It is therefore reasonable to hypothesize that at least another gene not belonging to the nAChR gene family, in addition to CRH , is involved in the pathogenesis of ADNFLE.
Castration of female ninespine stickleback by the pseudophyllidean cestode Schistocephalus pungitii: evolutionary significance and underlying mechanism.

Abstract Parasitic castration may result from manipulation of host energy allocation away from reproduction, which should result in castration of lightly infected hosts as well as heavily infected ones. Castration also may result from nutrient theft alone, which incidentally influences host energy allocation to reproduction and should cause reproduction to end in heavily infected hosts. Although the pseudophyllidean cestode Schistocephalus pungitii is a castrator of ninespine stickleback fish (Pungitius pungitius), the cause and significance of castration remain unknown. We used predictions about reproductive capacity in lightly and heavily infected hosts and host size (age) at which castration occurs to address these questions. In Airolo Lake, Alaska, we found that inhibition of reproduction in ninespine stickleback occurs in small fish before the size (age) of sexual maturity and is not instantaneous. Castration was observed in lightly and heavily infected adult-size hosts. Infected fish do not reach th...
Assessing patients' information needs regarding drug-drug interactions.

Abstract Objective To assess patients' information needs regarding drug–drug interactions (DDIs) to inform patient DDI education resources. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Online (United States in May 2011). Participants Registered users of an online medication monitoring service (MediGuard). Intervention Online questionnaire. Main outcome measure Participants' information needs regarding DDIs and perceived importance of questions related to detecting and preventing harm from DDIs. Results Characteristics of the 100 surveyed participants were as follows: 57% women, 88% white, 96% non-Hispanic, 71% retired, mean (±SD) age 65.2 ± years (range 35–86). The number of prescription medications ranged from 2 to 22 (median 7) and the number of over-the-counter (OTC) medications from 1 to 10 (4). The most common concerns cited by participants were identification of interacting medications, seriousness of DDIs, interactions with OTC medications, interactions with foods, exacerbating comorbidities, short- and long-term adverse effects, signs and frequency of DDIs, and how to minimize adverse effects. Statistically significant differences based on gender, number of prescriptions, and number of OTC medications were observed in rankings of the importance of some DDI questions ( P Conclusion Patient-centered DDI education programs should consider addressing the seriousness of DDIs, the effect of DDIs on comorbidities, and interactions with OTC medications and foods and determining methods for identifying, minimizing, and managing DDIs.
Bibliography of literature pertaining to the onset, development, and treatment of stuttering during the preschool years

Abstract This bibliography consists of clinical, experimental, and theoretical papers pertaining to the onset, development, and treatment of stuttering in children five- years old and younger. It is a downward extension of Silverman, F.H., Bibliography of literature pertaining to stuttering in elementary-school children, Journal of Fluency Disorders , 1978, 3, 87–102.
Dimethylsulfide and Phaeocystis poucheti in the southeastern Bering Sea

Abstract Dimethylsulfide (DMS), a volatile excretion product of marine phytoplankton, was determined in the water column during the spring phytoplankton bloom on the southeastern Bering Sea shelf. In the same samples, a broad range of variables which characterize the biological processes in this region were measured. DMS was correlated with phytoplankton chlorophyll in the outer shelf and oceanic domains, but not in the middle shelf domain. A very strong correlation between the cell density of the haptophyte Phaeocystis poucheti and the DMS concentration in seawater was found, which suggests that this species accounts for most of the DMS present in the study region. We propose that in P. poucheti and certain other phytoplankton species the excretion of DMS is incidental to the release of acrylic acid which serves to inhibit bacterial attack upon the algae.
Digital Droplet PCR: CNV Analysis and Other Applications

Digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) is an assay that combines state-of-the-art microfluidics technology with TaqMan-based PCR to achieve precise target DNA quantification at high levels of sensitivity and specificity. Because quantification is achieved without the need for standard assays in an easy to interpret, unambiguous digital readout, ddPCR is far simpler, faster, and less error prone than real-time qPCR. The basic protocol can be modified with minor adjustments to suit a wide range of applications, such as CNV analysis, rare variant detection, SNP genotyping, and transcript quantification. This unit describes the ddPCR workflow in detail for the Bio-Rad QX100 system, but the theory and data interpretation are generalizable to any ddPCR system.
Records of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Record Group 82 at the National Archives of the United States

The archives of the Federal Reserve System are found in Record Group 82 at the National Archives of the United States. This article describes the materials available in that record group and ways to locate useful documents. Section i provides a brief history of the Federal Reserve; it describes the organisation of the institution and how it changed over time. The focus is on issues important for understanding the types of documents that may or will not be found in the archives. Section ii describes the process by which the documents were generated and preserved. Section iii provides a broad overview of the categories of information available. Section iv examines categories of particular interest in greater detail. Section v describes the basics of doing research in the National Archives and the finding aids available to researchers.
Diisopropyl phosphorofluoridate (DFP) treatment alters calcium-activated proteinase activity and cytoskeletal proteins of the hen sciatic nerve

Diisopropyl phosphorofluoridate (DFP) produces delayed neurotoxicity (OPIDN) in hens that is characterized by peripheral and central axonal degeneration. DFP administration resulted in mCANP activity inhibition in sciatic nerve and significant decrease in total NF-H, phosphorylated NF-H, vimentin, GFAP, tubulin, and tau. The degradation of cytoskeletal proteins even in the presence of decreased CANP activity may be ascribed to the release of intracellular Ca2+, elevation of other proteinase activity, or modification of cytoskeletal proteins resulting in their increased susceptibility in OPIDN.
Complete response and prolonged disease-free survival in a patient with recurrent duodenal adenocarcinoma treated with bevacizumab plus FOLFOX6

Small bowel adenocarcinoma is an uncommon gastrointestinal malignancy with limited data on effective chemotherapy in the adjuvant setting, as well as for advanced disease. We present a case report of a patient with recurrent duodenal adenocarcinoma after resection and adjuvant chemotherapy who experienced a complete response to bevacizumab with oxaliplatin and 5FU (FOLFOX) followed by bevacizumab/capecitabine maintenance therapy for 2 years. The patient continues to be disease-free 8 years after his recurrence. This case highlights the potential of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors to enhance chemotherapeutic regimens for advanced small bowel adenocarcinoma.
Ocean surface wind speed and direction retrievals from the SSM/I

A semi-empirical model is developed that permits retrieval of ocean surface wind direction information in addition to improved wind speeds from SSM/I measurements. With two SSM/I instruments currently providing operational ocean surface wind speed fields, the addition of wind direction information and improved wind speed retrievals will enhance its impact in weather prediction models and analysis.
Methanol-Dependent Gene Expression Demonstrates that Methyl-Coenzyme M Reductase Is Essential in Methanosarcina acetivorans C2A and Allows Isolation of Mutants with Defects in Regulation of the Methanol Utilization Pathway

Methanosarcina acetivorans C2A is able to convert several substrates to methane via at least four distinct methanogenic pathways. A common step in each of these pathways is the reduction of methyl-coenzyme M (CoM) to methane catalyzed by methyl-CoM reductase (MCR). Because this enzyme is used in each of the known pathways, the mcrBDCGA operon, which encodes MCR, is expected to be essential. To validate this prediction, a system for conditional gene inactivation was developed. A heterologous copy of the mcrBDCGA operon was placed under the control of the highly regulated mtaC1 promoter, which directs the expression of genes involved in methanol utilization, and recombined onto the M. acetivorans chromosome. This allowed for disruption of the endogenous mcr operon in the presence of methanol. Because the PmtaC1 promoter is transcribed only during growth on methanol, mcrBDCGA was rendered methanol dependent and the strain was unable to grow in trimethylamine media, strongly suggesting that mcrBDCGA is essential. Upon prolonged incubation, suppressed mutants which expressed mcrBDCGA constitutively could be selected. Expression analysis of PmtaC1::uidA gene fusions in several isolated suppressed mutants suggests that they carry trans-active mutations leading to deregulation of all genes under control of this promoter. Subsequently, proteome analysis of one such suppressed mutant revealed that all known proteins derived from mtaC1 promoter-dependent expression were constitutively expressed in this mutant. This genetic system can therefore be employed for the testing of essential genes and for the identification of genes under a common regulatory mechanism by making regulatory mutations phenotypically selectable.
MAGNETIC FIELD EXPOSURE FROM ELECTRIC APPLIANCES AND CHILDHOOD CANCER

The effect on childhood cancer of prolonged exposure to 60-H magnetic fields from electric appliances was examined using interview data from a recently completed case-control study. Exposures of children aged 0-14 years whose incident cancers were diagnosed between 1976 and 1983 and who resided in the Denver, Colorado, Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area were compared with those of controls selected by random digit dialing, matched on age, sex, and telephone exchange area. Parents of 252 cases and 222 controls were interviewed at home about the use of electric appliances by the mother during pregnancy (prenatal exposure) and by the child (postnatal exposure). After adjustment for income, prenatal electric blanket exposure was associated with a small increase in the incidence of childhood cancers (odds ratio (OR) = 1.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.7-2.2) that was more pronounced for leukemia (OR = 1.7, 95% CI 0.8-3.6) and brain cancer (OR = 2.5, 95% CI 1.1-5.5). Postnatal exposure to electric blankets was also weakly associated with childhood cancer (OR = 1.5, 95% CI 0.6-3.4), with a larger but imprecise association with acute lymphocytic leukemia (OR = 1.9, 95% CI 0.6-6.5). Water beds and bedside electric clocks were unrelated to childhood cancer incidence. Results aremore » limited by nonresponse and imprecision resulting from the rarity of appliance use, especially for subgroups of cases. Nonetheless, electric blankets, one of the principal sources of prolonged magnetic field exposure, were weakly associated with childhood cancer and warrant a more thorough evaluation.« less
New style, same substance

Substance has always been paramount at The Rockefeller University Press, but that doesn’t mean we can’t also have style. We are thus delighted to unveil a new design for the websites of our three journals, The Journal of Cell Biology , The Journal of Experimental Medicine , and The Journal of
Room Temperature Current Suppression on Magnetic Tunnel Junction Based Molecular Spintronics Devices

Molecular conduction channels between two ferromagnetic electrodes can produce strong exchange coupling and dramatic effect on the spin transport, thus enabling the realization of novel logic and memory devices. To realize such device, we produced Multilayer Edge Molecular Spintronics Devices (MEMSDs) by bridging the organometallic molecular clusters (OMCs) across a ∼2 nm thick insulator of a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ), along its exposed side edges. These MEMSDs exhibited unprecedented increase in exchange coupling between ferromagnetic films and dramatic changes in the spin transport. This paper focuses on the dramatic current suppression phenomenon exhibited by MEMSDs at room temperature. In the event of current suppression, the effective MEMESDs’ current reduced by as much as six orders in magnitude as compared to the leakage current level of a MTJ test bed. Current suppression phenomenon was found to be associated with the equally dramatic changes in the MTJ test beds due to OMCs. Role of OMC in changing MTJ test bed properties was determined by the three different types of magnetic characterizations: SQUID Magnetometer, Ferromagnetic Resonance, and Magnetic Force Microscopy. Observation of current suppression by independent research groups and supporting studies on similar systems will be crucially important to unequivocally establish the utility of MEMSD approach.
Lecciones aprendidas durante desastres naturales: 1970-2007.

Natural disasters affect lives and property, devastating communities for extended periods. This paper shows how some knowledge based on experiences and progress of science biological, psychosocial and behavioural, are still helping us to understand the behaviour of the survivor. The ability to implement guidelines and aid operations, data and practices based on evidence and empirical studies in the field of disaster is an evolutionary process for professionals in this field.
Alternative pathways in diffusion–collision controlled protein folding

The diffusion–collision model of protein folding has been solved exactly for a three-microdomain protein subunit. Numerical analysis shows that the exact kinetics may be excellently approximated in all cases studied by a standard chemical kinetics approach with the forward rate constants calculated from the mean folding time formula found previously.
At the Hands of Parties Unknown? The State of the Field of Lynching Scholarship

In October 2002 more than ninety historians and other academics gathered in Atlanta to attend “Lynching and Racial Violence in America: Histories and Legacies.” That Emory University conference, held in conjunction with a touring exhibition of lynching photographs that had attracted considerable publicity, was, to many participants, an important watershed in the study of the history of American lynching. Twenty-five panels of scholars explored collective violence in the United States from a wide range of angles; the variety and extent of inquiry evident at the conference signaled that the study of lynching and racial violence had reached a scale and depth that would have seemed unrealistic even just ten years earlier. As the fifteenth anniversary of the conference approaches, it seems appropriate to assess how lynching scholarship has developed over the last several decades, to measure the current strengths and weaknesses of the field, and to examine where future scholars might best direct their energies in grappling with the role of collective violence in the varied American regions where it took root during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It is also an opportune moment to reflect on what the phenomenon of lynching—that is, informal group killing—can reveal about the historical processes of state, social identity, and cultural formation in the United States and in global cultures.1 I began studying American mob violence twelve years before the Emory conference; an undergraduate senior thesis on lynching in Missouri grew into a doctoral dissertation on the relationship of lynching to the criminal justice system across the United States. The flowering of lynching scholarship over the following decade could not have been fully anticipated in 1990, as the history of mob violence was obscured in relative oblivion. The
Complete Genome Sequence of Strain H5989 of a Novel Devosia Species

ABSTRACT The CDC Special Bacteriology Reference Laboratory (SBRL) collection of human clinical pathogens contains several strains from the genus Devosia, usually found environmentally. We provide here the complete genome of strain H5989, which was isolated from a human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimen and represents a putative novel species in the genus Devosia.
The Calcium Component of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone-Stimulated Luteinizing Hormone Subunit Gene Transcription Is Mediated by Calcium/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type II

Calcium influx plays a critical role in GnRH regulation of rat LH subunit gene transcription, but the site(s) of action are undefined. We investigated the potential of GnRH acting through calcium to activate calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type II (Ca/CaMK II) in mouse gonadotrope-derived LbetaT2 cells. GnRH stimulated Ca/CaMK II beta subunit activity 3-fold 2 min after treatment and returned to control values by 45 min. The Ca/CaMK II response to GnRH was blocked by administration of the Ca/CaMK II-specific inhibitor, KN-93. The calcium channel activator Bay K 8644 stimulated a 3-fold increase in Ca/CaMK II activity, similar to GnRH. Blocking calcium influx with nimodipine or depleting intracellular calcium storage pools with thapsigargin each resulted in a partial suppression of GnRH-induced activation of Ca/CaMK II, and in combination, completely suppressed the Ca/CaMK II response to GnRH. KN-93 and nimodipine also suppressed alpha-subunit and LHbeta promoter responses to GnRH by 40-60%. LHbeta promoter constructs containing either proximal or proximal and distal GnRH-responsive regions were sensitive to inhibition. These data show for the first time that Ca/CaMK II activation plays an important role in the transmission of GnRH signals from the plasma membrane to the LH subunit genes.
A comparative analysis of methods for predicting clinical outcomes using high-dimensional genomic datasets

Objective The objective of this investigation is to evaluate binary prediction methods for predicting disease status using high-dimensional genomic data. The central hypothesis is that the Bayesian network (BN)-based method called efficient Bayesian multivariate classifier (EBMC) will do well at this task because EBMC builds on BN-based methods that have performed well at learning epistatic interactions. Method We evaluate how well eight methods perform binary prediction using high-dimensional discrete genomic datasets containing epistatic interactions. The methods are as follows: naive Bayes (NB), model averaging NB (MANB), feature selection NB (FSNB), EBMC, logistic regression (LR), support vector machines (SVM), Lasso, and extreme learning machines (ELM). We use a hundred 1000-single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) simulated datasets, ten 10 000-SNP datasets, six semi-synthetic sets, and two real genome-wide association studies (GWAS) datasets in our evaluation. Results In fivefold cross-validation studies, the SVM performed best on the 1000-SNP dataset, while the BN-based methods performed best on the other datasets, with EBMC exhibiting the best overall performance. In-sample testing indicates that LR, SVM, Lasso, ELM, and NB tend to overfit the data. Discussion EBMC performed better than NB when there are several strong predictors, whereas NB performed better when there are many weak predictors. Furthermore, for all BN-based methods, prediction capability did not degrade as the dimension increased. Conclusions Our results support the hypothesis that EBMC performs well at binary outcome prediction using high-dimensional discrete datasets containing epistatic-like interactions. Future research using more GWAS datasets is needed to further investigate the potential of EBMC.
Plant ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters

The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) protein superfamily is one of the largest known, with over 120 members in both Arabidopsis thaliana and rice (Oryza sativa). Most, but not all, ABC proteins are modularly organized membrane proteins (“ABC transporters”) that mediate MgATP-energized transmembrane transport and/or regulate other transporters. The range of processes in which members of the various subclasses of plant ABC transporters have been implicated encompasses polar auxin transport, lipid catabolism, xenobiotic detoxification, disease resistance, and stomatal function. Although it is often possible to predict the likely function of a plant ABC transporter on the basis of its subfamily membership, there are many whose capabilities deviate from what would be predicted from the properties of even their most sequence-related counterparts. When taking account of this and the disparate processes in which the few that have been characterized participate, it is likely that elucidation of the mechanistic basis of any given plant process will necessitate consideration of at least one ABC transporter.
The Development of a Substance Abuse Treatment Program for Forensic Patients with Cognitive Impairment.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Illness (SAMI) program combines cognitive rehabilitation and dual-diagnosis substance abuse treatment within a stages of change context. This article describes the development, implementation, and preliminary outcome analysis of the SAMI program in a forensic hospital.
Lateral accretion in a deep-marine channel complex: implications for channellized flow processes in turbidity currents

Some deep-marine channels show striking similarities to fluvial channels, despite major differences in the properties of the flows that they conduct. Some field observations from deep-marine channel deposits within a Late Cretaceous palaeo-canyon in the Rosario Formation of Baja California, Mexico, that bear on these comparisons have been reported. These channel deposits contain erosively based lateral accretion sets. These sets are generally a few metres thick and resemble fluvial point bar deposits. Sediment movement and deposition within these accretion deposits was induced by turbidity currents several to many times thicker than the depth of the channel, moving at several metres per second. The inclined sets define laterally migrating and sinuous channels locally at a high angle to the confining canyon. The instantaneous channel widths varied from 6 to 39 m, the depths from 2AE5 to 4 m and the sinuosities from 1AE 3t o 3AE1. Palaeocurrent data, taken mostly from clast imbrication in conglomerates, indicates current modes along the channel thalweg, but with other directions representing either secondary flow (oriented primarily up the point bar) or over-passing canyon-confined flow. It is suggested that, at times, the lower part of the turbidity currents flowing down the channels behaved similarly to within-bank fluvial currents, with a crosschannel component of flow towards the cut bank, and return flow at the bed sweeping up the point bar. At other times, this secondary circulation may be absent or reversed, which may be related to changes in flow thickness, coupling with the overriding flow and possible flow separation.
A Feasibility Study on Defending Against Ultra-Fast TopologicalWorms

Self-propagating worms have been terrorizing the Internet for several years and they are becoming imminent threats to large-scale Peer-to-Peer (P2P) systems featuring rich host connectivity and popular data services. In this paper, we consider topological worms, which exploit P2P host vulnerabilities and topology information to spread in an ultra-fast way. We study the feasibility of leveraging the existing P2P overlay structure for distributing automated security patches to vulnerable machines. Two approaches are examined: a partition-based approach, which utilizes immunized hosts to proactively stop worm spread in the overlay graph, and a Connected Dominating Set(CDS)-based approach, which utilizes a group of dominating nodes in the overlay to achieve fast patch dissemination in a race with the worm. We demonstrate through analysis and simulations that both methods can result in effective worm containment.
Polybia wasp biting interactions recruit foragers following experimental worker removals

Communicative interactions between colony members, or worker connectivity, can affect division of labour in insect societies. Nestmate workers of the eusocial paper wasp Polybia occidentalis engage in biting interactions, and correlational evidence suggests that biting promotes foraging by the workers that are bitten. I used experimental forager removals to test whether biting is a form of worker connectivity, inducing new recruits to enter the foraging force. I observed colonies with marked workers during a pretreatment (control) period, then removed all arriving foragers on the following day. Foraging ceased after several hours of forager removals, and remained depressed on the following morning. I grouped the remaining workers into four behavioural categories: nonforagers, individuals that stopped foraging after the manipulation, continuing foragers that were active before and after the manipulation and recruited foragers that began foraging after the manipulation. After the manipulation, the recruited foragers were bitten at similar rates to the continuing foragers and, most importantly, were the only ones that were bitten at significantly increased rates after the manipulation. Most recruits were observed being bitten before they began foraging. However, some recruits were not observed being bitten, and worker responses to biting were often gradual. These patterns suggest that the effect of biting is to modulate the probability of foraging in bitten workers. The experiments show that biting helps to induce foraging. Biting is a form of worker connectivity, serving as a mechanism of communication between Polybia workers that affects colony responses to changing conditions.
An overview of tests for exponentiality

Developments since 1960 in goodness-of-fit tests for the one and two parameter exponential models using both complete and censored samples are reviewed. Special attention is given to both the omnibus or general alternative and to specialized alter-natives such as the class of distributions with increasing failure rates. The use of transformations in developing tests is also discussed.
Multiple packet multiple channel CSMA/CD protocols for local area networks

Multiple-channel architectures have been proposed for broadcasting-based local area networks to overcome the problem of deteriorating performance when a very high speed communication channel is used. Such networks are called multiple-channel local area networks (M-LANs). In a carrier-sense multiple-access with collision detection (CSMA/CD) protocol designed for M-LANs (M-CSMA/CD), a ready station selects only one channel to transmit its packet according to some channel selection mechanism. A new CSMA/CD protocol for M-LAN architecture is proposed by which a station may select and try to transmit the same packet on K channels (K>or=1). If it has been successfully transmitted on more than one channel after the end-to-end propagation delay, it randomly selects one channel to finish its transmission and immediately stops its transmission on the rest of the channels. This is called the multipacket multichannel CSMA/CD protocol (MM-CSMA/CD). The performance of the proposed MM-CSMA/CD protocol can be shown to be potentially better than that of the M-CSMA/CD protocol and the traditional CSMA/CD protocol. >
GUT inflation and proton decay after WMAP5 data

We employ Coleman-Weinberg and Higgs potentials to implement inflation in nonsupersymmetric grand unified theories (GUTs) such as SU(5) and SO(10). To realize a scalar spectral index close to 0.96, as indicated by the most recent WMAP 5-year analysis, the energy scale of observable inflation turns out to be of order ${10}^{16}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$. This implies a GUT symmetry breaking scale of similar magnitude and proton lifetime of order ${10}^{34}\char21{}{10}^{38}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{years}$. In some SO(10) models with axion dark matter, the scalar leptoquark boson exchange leads to proton decay with a lifetime of order ${10}^{34}\char21{}{10}^{35}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{years}$.
Information and Market Institutions

Information flows from producer to consumer in the form of product and quality information and from consumer to producer in the form of payments and consumer preferences. The economic efficiency by which marketing channel functions (e.g., lending, contracts, packaging, storage, transportation, or marketing) perform is based on the market institutions available for a particular function. Entities using these functions are considered institutional players. They rely on market institutions to limit transaction costs, including search costs, facilitate quality and price negotiations, and monitor markets. Institutional players use information to increase efficiency within market institutions. If public agencies help to generate information that contributes to consumer welfare, then consumers should be advocates for public agencies continuing their information production. Yet, increasing public scrutiny concerning the role that public agencies play in providing information to the agricultural industry has been a factor recently. This chapter details some of the issues for which the public is at odds with how to value public information. The authors offer recommendations for the future of public information policy and the collection of public data.
Hypertonic saline is a negative inotropic agent in normovolumic dogs

The inotropic effects of hypertonic saline (HS) and hyperosmotic dextrose (HD; 2,400 mosmol/l, 4 ml/kg) were determined in normovolumic, chloralose-anesthetized, intact (n = 14) and autonomically blocked (n = 8) dogs. Solutions were infused intravenously over 3 min. HS and HD rapidly increased preload in both intact and autonomically blocked dogs, as assessed by significant (P < 0.05) increases in plasma volume, end-diastolic volume, and end-diastolic pressure. In intact dogs, HS produced a nonsignificant decrease in end-systolic elastance (Ees) and a nonsignificant increase in the maximal rate of change of left ventricular pressure (dP/dtmax) and cardiac output, whereas HD produced a significant increase in Ees, dP/dtmax, and cardiac output. In autonomically blocked dogs, HS significantly decreased Ees and significantly increased dP/dtmax but did not alter cardiac output, whereas HD significantly increased Ees, dP/dtmax, and cardiac output. We conclude that in normovolumic animals, HS is a negative inotropic agent, HD is a positive inotropic agent, and the in vivo effect of an ionic hyperosmotic agent (HS) differs from that of a nonionic hyperosmotic agent (HD).
Depth of Interaction Calibration and Capabilities in $2 \times 2$ Discrete Crystal Arrays and Digital Silicon Photomultipliers

Digital silicon photomultiplers (dSiPMs) have potential in the advancement of PET detectors. Their advantages include decreased dark counts through selective microcell activation, fast timing, and flexibility configuring event triggering and collection. Further improvements in PET image resolution are possible when photon depth of interaction (DOI) is available, as this reduces parallax error caused by mispositioning events at the peripheral field of view. These improvements are desirable in smaller ring diameter PET systems, such as whole body PET/MRI. In this study we quantify the DOI capabilities of a unique crystal array design (termed dual light sharing arrays or DLSA) that takes advantage of the 2-by-2-pixel die readout logic of a PDPC dSiPM (Philips Digital Photon Counting 3200) device by Philips Medical Systems. The DLSA is comprised of a $2 \times 2$ array of $4 \times 4 \times 22~\hbox{mm}^3$ LYSO crystals; inter-crystal surfaces were optically coupled in part with high-index optical adhesive and optically isolated in complimentary parts with mirror-film reflector such that light sharing was depth-dependent and different along two axes. The DLSA was mounted to one die of a PDPC and its depth-dependent response to 511-keV gamma rays was calibrated using a coincidence-collimated beam from both side and entrance surfaces. Entrance surface DOI calibration was performed through an iterative application of maximum likelihood calculations based on the signal ratio in crystals adjacent to the crystal of interaction. Results showed timing resolutions of 350-370 ps and energy resolutions of 10-12% while achieving a DOI position estimation of 6-7 mm FWHM. Significant improvements in depth estimation error were found when using maximum likelihood estimation and 3-4 depth bins. Furthermore, similar calibration results were obtained for both side-surface and entrance-surface illumination methods, which suggest that PET system calibrations may be easily performed using a monoenergetic flood source with entrance surface illumination.
Vascular cell adhesion molecule 1-positive reticular cells express interleukin-7 and stem cell factor in the bone marrow

In vitro studies have defined an essential role for stromal cells in supporting B-cell development, including production of lymphopoietic cytokines. It has been suggested that stromal cells are equivalent to adventitial reticular cells in the marrow; however, evidence of reticular cells producing cytokines has been difficult to obtain. Staining of bone marrow (BM) sections with antibodies to interleukin-7 (IL-7) showed a reticular pattern, mimicking that obtained using antibodies to vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1), a molecule present on both stromal cells in vitro and reticular cells. To more closely examine cytokine production within normal marrow, an immunomagnetic separation scheme was devised to directly enrich VCAM-1+ stromal cells. Twenty to thirty percent of cells isolated in the VCAM-1+ fraction shared characteristics with stromal cells from long term BM cultures, including cellular morphology and expression of alkaline phosphatase and alpha actin. These were termed "reticular stromal" cells. Immunohistochemical staining showed that virtually all of the latter cells possessed cytoplasmic IL-7 protein, and about half expressed stem cell factor. In contrast with cultured stromal cells, very few had detectable macrophage-colony-stimulating factor. These data constitute the first report of cytokine expression by marrow reticular cells in vivo. The implications of this data with respect to the existence of stromal cell subsets and their regulation of lymphopoiesis is discussed.