cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Treatment With Growth Hormone Enhances Contractile Reserve and Intracellular Calcium Transients in Myocytes From Rats With Postinfarction Heart Failure

Background—Recombinant human growth hormone (GH) improves in vivo cardiac function in rats with postinfarction heart failure (MI). We examined the effects of growth hormone (14 days of 3.5 mg · kg−1 · d−1 begun 4 weeks after MI) on contractile reserve in left ventricular myocytes from rats with chronic postinfarction heart failure. Methods and Results—Cell shortening and [Ca2+]i were measured with the indicator fluo 3 in myocytes from MI, MI+GH, control, and normal animals treated with GH (C+GH) under stimulation at 0.5 Hz at 37°C. Cell length was similar in MI and MI+GH rats (150±5 and 157±5 μm) and was greater in these groups than in the control and C+GH groups (140±4 and 139±4 μm, P<0.05). At baseline perfusate calcium of 1.2 mmol/L, myocyte fractional shortening and [Ca2+]i transients were similar among the 4 groups. We then assessed contractile reserve by measuring the increase in myocyte fractional shortening in the presence of high-perfusate calcium of 3.5 mmol/L. In the control and C+GH groups, my...
Discrimination of biomass burning smoke and clouds in MAIAC algorithm

The multi-angle implementation of atmospheric correction (MAIAC) algorithm makes aerosol retrievals from MODIS data at 1 km resolution providing information about the fine scale aerosol variability. This information is required in different applications such as urban air quality analysis, aerosol source identification etc. The quality of high resolution aerosol data is directly linked to the quality of cloud mask, in particular detection of small (sub-pixel) and low clouds. This work continues research in this direction, describing a technique to detect small clouds and introducing the smoke test to discriminate the biomass burning smoke from the clouds. The smoke test relies on a relative increase of aerosol absorption at MODIS wavelength 0.412 micrometers as compared to 0.47-0.67 micrometers due to multiple scattering and enhanced absorption by organic carbon released during combustion. This general principle has been successfully used in the OMI detection of absorbing aerosols based on UV measurements. This paper provides the algorithm detail and illustrates its performance on two examples of wildfires in US Pacific North-West and in Georgia/Florida of 2007.
Design of removal agents for prevention of lithium intoxications Chelating tendencies of model β-diketones

Abstract Previous studies have shown the value of lithium salts in the treatment of the manic phase of the manic-depressive syndrome. However, the danger of side effects is real, and it is necessary to find a method for removing excess serum lithium. Dipivaloymethane has been shown to be specific for lithium in aqueous extractions of lithium from mixtures of sodium and potassium ions; other β-diketones, because of certain steric effects may also be specific. In this study, formation constants of dipivaloylmethane and dibutyrylmethane with lithium and other alkali-metal ions were determined to define the specifity for lithium and to explore the possibility of the utility of these and other β-diketones as model compounds for use as lithium control agents.
United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine: Warfighter research focusing on the past 25 years

The United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM) celebrated its 50th anniversary on July 1, 2011. This article reviews its history, evolution, and transition of its research programs as well as its scientific and military accomplishments, emphasizing the past 25 yr. During the 1990s, USARIEM published a series of pocket guides providing guidance for sustaining Warfighter health and performance in Southwest Asia, Somalia, the former Republic of Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and Haiti. Issues identified during Operation Desert Storm elicited research that improved nutritional guidelines for protracted desert operations; safer use of nuclear, chemical, and biological protective clothing; equipment, development, and fielding of efficient microclimate cooling systems; and effective evaluation of pharmaceuticals to protect soldiers from chemical and biological threats. During the first decade of the 21st century, USARIEM and the Department of the Army published official medical/performance doctrines for operations in the heat and cold and at high altitude. The current Global War on Terrorism focused research to improve doctrines for hot, cold, and high-altitude operations, reduce musculoskeletal training injuries, provide improved field nutrition, more efficient planning for operational water requirements, and improve both military clothing and materiel. This article also describes the critically important interactions and communications between USARIEM and deployed units and the benefits to Warfighters from this association. This report presents USARIEM's unique and world-class facilities, organizational changes, scientific and support personnel, and major research accomplishments, including the publication of 2,200 scientific papers over the past 25 yr.
On the control of late gene expression in Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (human herpesvirus-8)

Herpesvirus late genes require viral DNA replication for maximal expression. Although late gene expression appears to require DNA replication in cis in alphaherpesviruses, studies in Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) suggest that this cis-requirement might not pertain to the gammaherpesviruses. Based on these findings, a system was created to investigate the elements required for the regulation of Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV; human herpesvirus-8) late gene expression. The transcript of a classic late gene encoding the viral assembly protein was characterized and reporter genes driven by the assembly protein promoter region were constructed. Unlike the EBV case, expression of a reporter gene under the control of the assembly protein promoter did not display authentic regulation when removed from the context of the viral genome. Although reporter expression rose in cells displaying lytic replication, this expression was not diminished by specific inhibitors of viral DNA synthesis. Minimal core promoters were similarly unable to reproduce late gene regulation. These results suggest that proper KSHV late gene expression is likely to be dependent upon virus lytic replication in cis and indicate that the regulation of KSHV late genes more closely resembles that observed in herpes simplex virus than that described for EBV.
Enhancing interactivity and automation through finite element neighbours

In finite element analysis, each element is defined by a set of node numbers and stored. In this paper, it is shown that by storing the three neighbouring triangles of each triangular element, In addition to the three vertices, the interactivity and automation of the design station may be greatly enhanced. This enhancement results from the use of the data on neighbours in: 1 Identifying triangles pointed to on a graphics screen, through a digitizer. This is used for extracting potentials and field intensities at points, for refining meshes by adding points, and for imposing Neumann boundary conditions on the boundary edges and performing integrations, such as of force, over trianggles. 2 Following a path defined as a straight line for extracting graphs of potential and field intensity and performing contour integrations, like Maxwell stress, along such lines. 3 Checking the optimality of the mesh using the Delaunay criterion. 4 Determining discontinuities of field intensity at material interfaces. 5 Comparing the field intensities in adjacent triangles to measure error for adaptive refinement. Alternatively, in an environment where memory for storing the neighbours is scarce, such as when using microcomputers, it is shown that the values may be computed when they are required, at the expense of speed.
Running longer, running stronger: a brief review of endurance exercise and oestrogen

Athletic performance in endurance exercise is determined by an interplay among many physiological factors. Body fluid regulation, influenced by both hormonal and osmotic stimuli, is particularly important for maximising performance in endurance sports, as dehydration markedly decreases endurance. Oestrogen has a broad range of effects on the regulation of body fluid balance, as well as on aerobic capacity, metabolism, and other factors that impact endurance exercise performance, yet the role of oestrogen in endurance exercise performance has not been thoroughly examined. This review discusses the effects of oestrogen on compensatory hormonal and behavioural responses to dehydration, such as renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system activation and thirst, that restore body fluid balance and thereby affect exercise performance. Oestrogen-mediated effects and their potential consequences for endurance performance are also evaluated in the context of thermoregulation and aerobic capacity, as well as substrate util...
COMPUTER CALCULATIONS FOR A PERFECT CRYSTAL OF MULTIPOLES

Abstract A general method is proposed, which tests have shown to be convenient, for the study of how the following quantities vary with molecular orientation at the lattice sites: (1) the potential produced by a perfect crystal of multipoles; (2) the interaction energy with a second multipole; (3) the self-energy and self-potential of a primitive lattice. To make a study of the variation with molecular orientation feasible, it has been necessary to decompose the calculation into three stages: stage Ia is a function solely of crystal geometry; stage Ib, which involves the most calculation, can be greatly shortened by the use of any molecular symmetry; stage II, which is very short compared with stage I, is the only one which requires a quantitative knowledge of the multipole moments, and, therefore, of the charge distribution. The form of the proposed procedure—the result of a study of the ice lattice—has been shown to reduce markedly the computation required and to permit convenient error checks. Numerical constants required for calculations of orders ⩽ 5 are given.
Near-tip stress rotation and the development of deformation band stepover geometries in mode II

The propagation of deformation bands into compressive and extensional stepover geometries is investigated by integrating field observations with numerical model simulations of the effective stress state due to shear along the bands. Deformation bands are tabular discontinuities, with mm- to cm-scale thicknesses, of localized volumetric strain and shear. Deformation bands are precursors to frictional slip (i.e., faulting) in porous granular rocks and soils. Systematic rotations in near-tip principal stress orientation due to shear along the overlapping deformation bands are shown to predict band propagation paths that are consistent with characteristic stepover geometries as viewed in the mode II direction, the orientation in which the observation plane is parallel with the displacement direction. Therefore, propagation paths for deformation bands can be predicted from knowledge of the effective near-tip stress state. These results establish a mechanics-based framework for investigations of fault growth and fault-controlled fluid flow in porous granular rocks and soils.
Motility and absorption in the small intestines: Integrating MRI with lattice Boltzmann models

Nutrients are absorbed in the small intestines at a mucosal epithelium that covers multitudes of villi, fingerlike protrusions ∽200–400 μm in scale. The villi line the mucosal surface and have been observed to move in response to local stimulation. Luminal contractions (motility) create macro-scale fluid motions that transport nutrient molecules to the epithelium surrounding these moving micro-scale villi. We combine multi-scale modeling with dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the motions of the gut lumen to investigate the hypothesis that gut function requires the coupling of macro-micro scale fluid motions generated by lumen-scale motility with micro-scale motions generated by moving villi. We have developed 2-D models within the lattice-Boltzmann framework with second-order moving boundary conditions for velocity and for passive “nutrient” scalar concentrations. The first model was used to study the relative contributions of macro-scale peristaltic and segmental contractions on transport, mixing and absorption in the intestines. The macro-scale gut motions were quantified from time-resolved MRI of the in vivo rat jejunum using three-dimensional segmentation. The simulations show that segmental and peristaltic motions have disparate roles in fluid motion and nutrient absorption. The gut wall motions were decomposed with principle component analysis and analyzed using topographic space-time representations of deformation. These results suggest that the neurophysiology can produce a wide range of complex contractile patterns by stimulating only a few basic modes with varying phase relationship (MRI) and that absorption is optimized with segmental contraction with peristalsis interfering in absorption (modeling). To analyze the role of the villi in absorption, we designed a second 2-D model that mimics intestinal macro-micro scale flow interactions. Along the lower surface of a lid-driven macro-scale cavity flow we modeled a series of micro-scale “villi” with controlled coordinated motions using a multi-grid lattice-Boltzmann method. We discover the existence of a villi-induced “micro-mixing” layer that couples with the macro-scale motions to enhance absorption and show that a common assumption is incorrect in 2-D. These models have recently been extended to 3-D and will be combined in the future.
A compact routing scheme and approximate distance oracle for power-law graphs

Compact routing addresses the tradeoff between table sizes and stretch, which is the worst-case ratio between the length of the path a packet is routed through by the scheme and the length of an actual shortest path from source to destination. We adapt the compact routing scheme by Thorup and Zwick [2001] to optimize it for power-law graphs. We analyze our adapted routing scheme based on the theory of unweighted random power-law graphs with fixed expected degree sequence by Aiello et al. [2000]. Our result is the first analytical bound coupled to the parameter of the power-law graph model for a compact routing scheme.Let n denote the number of nodes in the network. We provide a labeled routing scheme that, after a stretch--5 handshaking step (similar to DNS lookup in TCP/IP), routes messages along stretch--3 paths. We prove that, instead of routing tables with O(n1/2) bits (O suppresses factors logarithmic in n) as in the general scheme by Thorup and Zwick, expected sizes of O(nγ log n) bits are sufficient, and that all the routing tables can be constructed at once in expected time O(n1+γ log n), with γ = τ-22/τ-3 + e, where τ∈(2,3) is the power-law exponent and e 0 (which implies e
Cotton Fiber Properties and Moisture: Water of Imbibition

Southern Regional Research Center (SRRC) is participating in a multi-year area-of-growth study of selected cotton cultivars. We report here preliminary moisture data (water of imbibition) on the co...
Diffuse interseismic deformation across the Pacific–North America plate boundary

Crustal movements and deformation within the diffuse Pacifi c‐North America (Pa-NA) plate boundary are dominated by the right-lateral motion between the two plates. By using the Pa-NA pole of rotation (PoR) spherical coordinate system, we decompose observed crustal movements into parallel and normal components to the Pa-NA plate motion. We transformed the 840 velocity vectors of the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) 3.0 velocity fi eld into the Pa-NA PoR system in order to characterize the interseismic velocity across the plate boundary. Our results show that despite the very different deformation styles occurring across the San Andreas fault, the fault trace follows the half plate motion contour. Deviation occurs in the southern section, where the half motion contour correlates with the San Jacinto and Imperial fault segments. Our analysis yields interesting asymmetric patterns in both parallel and normal components. The parallel component shows asymmetrical velocity gradients across the San Andreas fault, and the normal component indicates compression southwest of the Big Bend, but not northeastward. The observations are compared with viscoelastic modeling results, which show a similar velocity fi eld. The main disagreements between the observations and the model are in a narrow band along the San Andreas fault and in the Mojave block, suggesting that crustal heterogeneities and additional unmodeled fault segments should be considered in future models.
Why I would not recommend complementary or alternative therapies: a physician's perspective.

The use of "complementary" or "alternative" medicine (CAM) by our patients with rheumatic diseases is common, on the rise, and underreported by patients to physician. 4,16,30,32,33,34 The most commonly reported alternative therapies in order of frequency are herbal and nutritional supplements, homeopathy, chiropractic, and acupuncture. 32 Many of my patients with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), fibromyalgia, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and chronic pain syndromes use unproven therapies, either self-prescribed such as magnets, copper bracelets, gin, and raisins, or administered by equally unproven practitioners. Certain forms of CAM, mainly those that employ mind-body relationships in one way or another make good sense and have actually always been part of good medical practice, albeit perhaps under different names such as counseling, psychotherapy, or stress management. Other forms of CAM, including chiropractic, homeopathy, acupuncture, electromagnetic fields, Aryuvedic, and many others, have truly been alternatives to the conventional medical care that I give my patients. Have I ever recommended these therapies to my patients? Not willingly. Am I likely to do so in the future? Possibly, but only after I see convincing evidence that any of the modalities being promoted as effective, safe, and affordable really is. Why am I a skeptic when it comes to alternative therapy? Perhaps a few examples, which appear to be representative of the knowledge database supporting most of CAM's claims, from my own practice can begin to explain.
Corporate Revenue Miscalculations & The Impact On Stakeholders

Corporate earnings restatements are regarded as one of the most significant issues in accounting today. While there are various factors that can influence profitability, revenue is the key contributor to a business’ net income. During the 2000s, a multitude of domestic and multinational corporations faced significant issues with their revenue recognition practices. Although the investing public might regard any revenue restatement as laden with possible fraud, this is not always the case. Multinational firms face dual accounting systems, such as U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Currently, similarities and differences between the accounting systems exist. However, key differences between GAAP and IFRS may cease to exist in upcoming years due to the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB’s) and the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB’s) joint effort to converge the two systems. Throughout this paper, examples of revenue “miscalculations” will be presented as well any penalties levied by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission against implicated corporations. Accordingly, the impact that revenue blunders have on shareholder wealth will be examined. Finally, the authors will present recommendations for mitigating revenue “errors” in the future.
Inheritance of Maysin Content in Silks of Maize Inbreds Resistant to the Corn Earworm

Genetic information is needed on maysin, a compound in maize, Zea mays L., silks that is antibiotic to corn earworm larvae, Helicoverpa (formerly Heliothis) zea (Boddie), to assist in the process of breeding for resistance to this pest. This study was initiated to elucidate the inheritance of maysin content in the silks of a cross between two maize inbreds (GT114 and GT119) having resistance to the corn earworm. Reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) procedures were used to quantify the maysin concentration of silks from individual plants in the parent, F1, F2, and first backcross generations of the cross GT114 × GT119. A model assuming dominance at a single locus for low maysin content which is expressed only when a dominant modifier is present was proposed to explain the segregation ratios obtained in the F2 and first back-crosses of GT114 × GT119. This model also provided a fit for maysin data previously generated from a cross between inbreds F6 and F44. Observations of selfed families in the backcross of GT114 × GT119 to the low maysin parent confirmed the two-locus model (one factor with dominance for low maysin expressed only when a modifier gene is also present) as a plausible explanation for inheritance of silk maysin in the cross. The process of selection for high maysin will be complicated somewhat by the presence of a gene which modifies the expression of dominance unless a method of easily identifying the gene, independent of maysin content, can be developed.
Older adults' frequent visits to a fast-food restaurant

Abstract How might older adults' nonobligatory social interactions in a “third place” be described and interpreted? The ethnographic methodology, primarily participant observation, was used to gather data from a naturally occurring group of older adults who frequent a fast-food restaurant. Emerging themes include the concept of sociability, play, and laughter. Findings suggest that: (a) older adults congregate at this fast-food restaurant to be with their buddies “to play”; (b) the group is fun for members and there are lots of laughter; (c) group membership in this “third place” provides structure, meaning, and opportunities for these older adults to engage in personal expression; and (d) the members are sociable, but relatively little social support is exchanged.
Transformation of the Digital Watch: The evolution and what it signals.

Over the span of 40+ years, the wristwatch has not changed significantly. Digital watches have the same basic functionality they have always had: time, date, alarm, and maybe a stopwatch. Aside from a small category of higher-priced, highly specialized digital watches geared toward extreme sports, watches have been a relatively inexpensive accessory.
The Evolution of the Soul from Matter and the Role of Science in Karl Rahner's Theology

The relation between science and religion can be difficult for Christian theologians. Some like Whitehead and Teilhard seek full integration of the two; others prefer to keep them at arm's length. Karl Rahner recommends separating them into distinct spheres, yet in practice the general conclusions of science have had a significant influence on his thought. This appears explicitly on the topic of the evolution of the soul from matter. The human soul is part of the order of creation. That order is part of the proper area of study of the natural sciences, according to Rahner. So he listens carefully to what evolutionary scientists say, and maintains an openness to the conclusions of evolutionary and cognitive sciences, in forming his ideas about the origin of the human soul. In doing this he is also implicitly relying on other conclusions developed by science over the last 400 years.
Ascorbate deficiency and oxidative stress in the alveolar type II cell

The objective of this study was to determine the impact of limited ascorbate (Asc) availability on type II cell sensitivity to oxidant stress. Guinea pigs were fed diets with or without Asc for 18 ...
Analyses of PS integrin functions during Drosophila development

The Drosophila position-specific (PS) antigens are homologues of the vertebrate integrins, a family of transmembrane proteins that function in cell-matrix and cell-cell adhesion. The common beta subunit of PS integrins (PS beta) is encoded by the lethal(l)myospheroid gene (mys) and is required during wing, eye and muscle development. By expressing PS beta protein at defined developmental periods, we have shown that PS integrins are required throughout pupation, but not earlier, for normal development of wings. In contrast, the key requirement for PS integrins in eye development occurs only in the late pupa. Furthermore, PS integrins are apparently not required for the differentiation of the ommatidial cells; only for their organization. These results are consistent with roles for PS integrins in the interactions between the wing epithelia during the two phases of pupal wing expansion and in maintaining the attachment of a fully formed fenestrated membrane to the basement membrane of the retina. We have also examined the functional significance of alternative splicing of the transcript of the mys gene using P element-mediated transformation to introduce transgenes producing only one of the two spliced forms of PS beta. We find that either form is sufficient to rescue postembryonic mys phenotypes in the wing, eye and muscle but that both of the two splice forms are necessary to rescue the mys embryonic defects. This result indicates a requirement for the alternative splicing of mys during embryogenesis. The location of the alternative exons suggests that the two forms of the PS beta integrin subunit may interact with alternative alpha subunits and/or ligands.
Processing used nuclear fuel with nanoscale control of uranium and ultrafiltration

Abstract Current separation and purification technologies utilized in the nuclear fuel cycle rely primarily on liquid–liquid extraction and ion-exchange processes. Here, we report a laboratory-scale aqueous process that demonstrates nanoscale control for the recovery of uranium from simulated used nuclear fuel (SIMFUEL). The selective, hydrogen peroxide induced oxidative dissolution of SIMFUEL material results in the rapid assembly of persistent uranyl peroxide nanocluster species that can be separated and recovered at moderate to high yield from other process-soluble constituents using sequestration-assisted ultrafiltration. Implementation of size-selective physical processes like filtration could results in an overall simplification of nuclear fuel cycle technology, improving the environmental consequences of nuclear energy and reducing costs of processing.
Design of the Laboratory-Scale Plutonium Oxide Processing Unit in the Radiochemical Processing Laboratory

This report describes a design for a laboratory-scale capability to produce plutonium oxide (PuO2) for use in identifying and validating nuclear forensics signatures associated with plutonium production, as well as for use as exercise and reference materials. This capability will be located in the Radiochemical Processing Laboratory at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The key unit operations are described, including PuO2 dissolution, purification of the Pu by ion exchange, precipitation, and re-conversion to PuO2 by calcination.
Effect of corticotropin and growth hormone on allantoin synthesis and excretion in the dog.

Summary1. Growth hormone increased amount of ammonium citrate-N15 utilized for allantoin synthesis in dogs. Corticotropin did not have this effect. Neither hormone increased incorporation of N15 from glycine into allantoin. 2. Corticotropin increased output of urinary allantoin in dogs, without markedly reducing the specific enrichment with N15 in this excretory product. One possible interpretation of this finding is increased synthesis of allantoin, without qualitative changes in its origin.
Hypoglycemia produced by purified anterior pituitary growth hormone and its relationship to the pancreas.

Summary and ConclusionsThe administration of growth hormone to hypophysectomized dogs in the post-absorptive state results in a marked fall in blood sugar. This marked hypoglycemic response is seen only after the first of a series of injections of the hormone. The hypoglycemic effect of growth hormone also occurs in acutely depancreatized dogs. It is concluded that the presence of the pancreas is not essential for the aforementioned action of growth hormone. However, it remains to be established whether insulin is a necessary factor for the growth hormone induced hypoglycemia.
Force-driven polymer translocation through a nanopore: an old problem revisited.

We consider DNA translocation through a pore in a planar membrane. The pore is so narrow that only one DNA segment can fit in. Assuming that the biasing force f acts inside the pore only, and that the DNA monomer number N is asymptotically large, we modify the previously developed treatment of the stretched part of the pre-translocated polymer by introducing the concept of “iso-flux trumpet”. We show that friction of a moving chain in the trumpet, although it determines the speed of the process, provides only a marginal fraction of overall dissipation in the process. The dominant dissipation turns out to be due to irreversible entropic squeezing of the chain into the small pore. We also discover that because of the role of the membrane a much larger amount of heat of order kBT per monomer gets transferred from the heat bath on the post-translocation side to that on the pre-translocation side.
Levy Labels and Recursive Types

In this note we introduce a generalization of the Levy label technique which applies easily to lambda calculus with beta-eta conversion and lambda calculus with surjective pairing a’ la PSP.
August Weismann and Ferdinand Dickel: Testing the Dzierzon system

I examine and place into context a thirteen year correspondence (1897–1910) between the zoologist August Weismann and the apiarist Ferdinand Dickel. Their exchange concerns the validity of Johannes Dzierzon’s mid-century claim that drone bees are the outcome of parthenogenesis. What emerges is a story that reflects upon the relationship between professional and amateur, and between hard and soft inheritance. The story also compels us to examine the authority of microscopy, Weismann’s collaboration with his students, and the details of his germ-plasm theory at the turn-of-the-century.
Measurement and analysis of human micro-Doppler features in foliaged environments

The focus of this work is on measuring and classifying human micro-Doppler features in forested environments. As a first step, measurements of human motion activities are performed in an open space environment to establish the baseline of this study. Next, forest measurements were taken at two locations in a local park for: different frequencies, activities, and number of subjects. Each experimental trial was measured for 20 seconds using a vector network analyzer (VNA) and post-processed into spectrograms, from which features are extracted to classify human motion activities.
Theory of single-molecule controlled rotation experiments, predictions, tests, and comparison with stalling experiments in F1-ATPase

A recently proposed chemomechanical group transfer theory of rotary biomolecular motors is applied to treat single-molecule controlled rotation experiments. In these experiments, single-molecule fluorescence is used to measure the binding and release rate constants of nucleotides by monitoring the occupancy of binding sites. It is shown how missed events of nucleotide binding and release in these experiments can be corrected using theory, with F1-ATP synthase as an example. The missed events are significant when the reverse rate is very fast. Using the theory the actual rate constants in the controlled rotation experiments and the corrections are predicted from independent data, including other single-molecule rotation and ensemble biochemical experiments. The effective torsional elastic constant is found to depend on the binding/releasing nucleotide, and it is smaller for ADP than for ATP. There is a good agreement, with no adjustable parameters, between the theoretical and experimental results of controlled rotation experiments and stalling experiments, for the range of angles where the data overlap. This agreement is perhaps all the more surprising because it occurs even though the binding and release of fluorescent nucleotides is monitored at single-site occupancy concentrations, whereas the stalling and free rotation experiments have multiple-site occupancy.
Multiple hypotheses testing

Often one is interested in testing a set of hypotheses simultaneously. For example, Paul, Maiti, Dasgupta, and Forjuoh (2005) investigated the role of various factors in underground coal mine-relat...
Gamma Rhythms and Cell Assemblies

In Section 33.2, we mentioned Hebb’s idea of cell assemblies. The hypothesis is that information is carried by membership in neuronal ensembles that (temporarily) fire together. One attractive aspect of this idea is that it would give a brain with 1011 neurons an unfathomably large storage capacity, since the number of subsets of a large set is huge.
Do Grape Growers Cluster? A Study of Virginia Winery Locations between 1971 and 2015

The growing demand for wine presents opportunities for the expansion of viticulture into new regions. While the effect of climate and terrain upon the spatial distribution of wine grape ( vitis vinifera ) cultivation have been closely studied, economic factors such as the presence of local knowledge, tourist visitation patterns, and local investment and support also exhibit a strong influence upon where wineries open. After examining the spatio-temporal patterns of winery openings in Virginia from 1976-2015 there is a strong trend towards increased spatial clustering as the wine region develops, with the most pronounced clusters being associated with counties where agribusiness has local support. This pattern may offer local planners in other developing wine regions guidance for their zoning and developing policies to support a budding wine industry.
Vitamin A and Retinoic Acid Combined Have a More Potent Effect Compared with Vitamin A Alone on the Uptake of Retinol into Extrahepatic Tissues of Neonatal Rats Raised under Vitamin A–Marginal Conditions

Background: Vitamin A (VA; retinol) supplementation is widely used to reduce child mortality in low-income countries. However, existing research suggests that supplementation with VA alone may not be optimal for infants. Objective: We compared the effect of VA with VA combined with retinoic acid (VARA) on retinol uptake and turnover in organs of neonatal rats raised under VA-marginal conditions. Methods: Secondary analysis was conducted on data obtained from 2 previous kinetic studies in Sprague-Dawley neonatal rats nursed by dams fed a VA-marginal diet (0.35 mg retinol equivalents/kg diet). On postnatal day 4, pups had been treated with a single dose of VA (6 μg/g; n = 52; VA study), VA + 10% retinoic acid (6 μg/g; n = 42; VARA study), or placebo (canola oil; n = 94; both studies), all of which contained ∼2 μCi [ 3 H]retinol as the tracer for VA. Total retinol and tracer concentrations were measured in plasma and tissues from 1 h to 14 d after dosing. Control group data from both studies were merged before analysis. Kinetic parameters were re-estimated and compared statistically. Results: VARA supplementation administered to neonatal rats within a few days after birth resulted in a lower turnover of retinol in the lungs, kidneys, and carcass and less frequent recycling of retinol between plasma and organs (100 compared with 288 times in the VARA- compared with the VA-treated group). Although VA supplementation resulted in a higher concentration of retinol in the liver, VARA supplementation led to a higher uptake of postprandial retinyl esters into the lungs, intestines, and carcass. Conclusion: Given the relatively higher retinol uptake into several extrahepatic organs of neonates dosed orally with VARA, this form of supplementation may serve as a targeted treatment of low VA concentrations in extrahepatic organs that continue to develop postnatally.
The Accompaniment in “Unaccompanied” Bach: Interpreting the Sonatas and Partitas for Violin

Bach’s Sei Solo a Violino senza Basso accompagnato, the unaccompanied sonatas and partitas for violin, contain technical and musical material essential to the development of the young violinist. In...
How Patterns of Learning About Sexual Information Among Adolescents Are Related to Sexual Behaviors.

CONTEXT Parents, peers and media are informal sources of sexual information for adolescents. Although the content of sexual information communicated by these sources is known to vary, little is known about what adolescents report actually learning from each source. METHODS Data from 1,990 U.S.14–17-year-olds who participated in an online survey in 2015 were used to assess learning about four topics (sex, condoms, hormonal birth control and romantic relationships) from three informal sources (parents, peers, and television and movies). Gender and race differences in learning by source and topic were assessed using t tests. Following a factor analysis, learning about all topics was grouped by source, and regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between learning from each source and three outcomes: sexual activity, condom use and hormonal birth control use. Models included interactions between information sources and race and gender. RESULTS White adolescents reported learning more from parents and less from media than black adolescents. Compared with males, females learned more about hormonal birth control and less about condoms from their parents, and more about relationships from peers and media. Learning from parents and from peers were positively associated with adolescents’ sexual activity (unstandardized coefficients, 0.26 and 0.52, respectively). Learning from parents was positively associated with condom use (odds ratio, 1.5). CONCLUSION Adolescents’ learning about sex from informal sources varies by race and gender. Future research should examine whether sexual health interventions and message development can capitalize on these differences.
African-American race and mortality in interstitial lung disease: a multicentre propensity-matched analysis

We studied whether African-American race is associated with younger age and decreased survival time at diagnosis of interstitial lung disease (ILD). We performed a multicentre, propensity score-matched analysis of patients with an ILD diagnosis followed at five US hospitals between 2006 and 2016. African-Americans were matched with patients of other races based on a time-dependent propensity score calculated from multiple patient, physiological, diagnostic and hospital characteristics. Multivariable logistic regression models were used. All-cause mortality and hospitalisations were compared between race-stratified patient cohorts with ILD, and sensitivity analyses were performed. The study included 1640 patients with ILD, 13% of whom were African-American, followed over 5041 person-years. When compared with patients of other races, African-Americans with ILD were younger at diagnosis (56 years versus 67 years), but in the propensity-matched analyses had greater survival (hazard ratio 0.46, 95% CI 0.28–0.77; p=0.003) despite similar risk of respiratory hospitalisations (relative risk 1.04, 95% CI 0.83–1.31; p=0.709), and similar GAP-ILD (gender–age–physiology-ILD) scores at study entry. Sensitivity analyses in a separate cohort of 9503 patients with code-based ILD diagnosis demonstrated a similar association of baseline demographic characteristics with all-cause mortality. We conclude that African-Americans demonstrate a unique phenotype associated with younger age at ILD diagnosis and perhaps longer survival time.
Science is Ecological and Ecology is Scientific: The Uptake of Vinogradskii’s Direct Methods

Since his discovery of chemosynthesis in 1890, Vinogradskii had enjoyed an international reputation as a leading scientific figure and his second career with the Pasteur Institute only enhanced his reputation. There he pushed soil microbiology in a new direction and helped launch the field of ecological microbiology. The enthusiastic reception of his work in the twentieth century was based in part on the enduring significance of his earlier discoveries in the late nineteenth century, especially his discovery of autotrophism and his conception of global nutrient cycles.
Numerical modeling of D-mappings with applications to chemical kinetics

Numerical modeling of D-mappings was studied and applied to solving nonlinear stiff systems. These mappings were locally linearized for convergence analysis, and some applications were made to chemical kinetics. The technique avoids using multistep implicit codes that require inversion of Jacobian matrices, but depends on the Jacobians for its convergence analysis.
Prediction and Classification of Real and Pseudo MicroRNA Precursors via Data Fuzzification and Fuzzy Decision Trees

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNA molecules that play a significant role in post-transcriptional gene regulation. Although, hundreds of miRNAs have been identified, recent studies indicate that more remain to be discovered. Identifying novel miRNAs remains a very important aspect to the understanding of their biological roles. Computational methods can complement experimental approaches and can play an important role in identifying miRNAs candidates for further experimental validation. Most computational approaches utilize features extracted from miRNA precursors (pre-miRNA) sequences and/or their secondary structures to detect miRNAs. A key characteristic of pre-miRNAs is their hairpin structure. In this paper, Fuzzy decision trees are applied to the prediction and classification of real and pseudo pre-miRNAs. In our model, a number of features that encode local and global characteristics of pre-miRNA sequence structure are used. A fuzzy model of the extracted features was constructed. The fuzzified data was then fed into a fuzzy decision tree induction algorithm. Our experimental results showed that our method achieved better accuracy than other machine-learning based computational approaches. Analyzing the results revealed that one of the features ---the sequence length to number of basepairs ratio - is very critical to the classification and identification of pre-miRNAs.
What makes teaching special

The aim of this paper is to articulate some of our early attempts to understand how teaching interactions differ from everyday communicative interactions. In order to do this, we integrate theories from linguistics, particularly the branch of pragmatics, with work in math education and the learning sciences. Recognizing that communication is an inferential activity, we explore what makes teaching interactions a unique class of communication. Specifically, we suggest that individuals who take on a teaching role must deal with a prediction problem because knowledge is not equally shared between the communicators. Our analysis of classroom observations and tutoring interviews with third grade students learning single digit multiplication elucidate a few of the ways that the prediction problem is addressed in teaching activities.
A high-level command processor for human-robot interaction system

This paper presents a new semi-autonomous human-robot interaction concept for people with severe disability and discusses a proof-of-concept prototype system. The user communicates with the robot through electromyographic (EMG) signals. However, unlike most EMG controlled robotic operations, here the user can issue high-level commands to the robot. This would allow people with severe disability to access robots that can help them in activities of daily living. This paper describes the high-level command processor that translates high-level commands issued by a disabled user to perform certain activities of daily living (ADL), into a sequence of lower level commands that are executable by a robot. The command processor is implemented using TXL (Tree Transformation Language).
Urban Places, Planning for the Use of: Design Guide

‘Life Takes Place on Foot,’ the aphorism of Danish architect, Jan Gehl, asserts that no matter what technical innovations are taking place, opportunities for face to face contact still need to be built into daily life. People pursue necessary activities that take them through public spaces. If the environment is attractive, people will linger and engage in optional activities, which lead to sociability: people meeting accidentally or striking up a conversation with strangers. Traditional public spaces were not designed for leisure, so the issue of whether they were inviting or not did not arise. The European cafe with tables on the sidewalk or in the public square is a relatively recent innovation and the pedestrian street or pedestrian district is mostly a new phenomenon since around 1950. Research by William H. Whyte, Jan Gehl and others have now given us some simple principles for the design of these new kinds of public spaces, which can also be applied to the design of new neighborhoods, workplaces, and shopping districts. These principles can be summarized under the following headings: legibility, microclimate, seating, people watching, food, lighting, and surrounding activities. Research indicates that most people today will walk for no more than 5 or 10 minutes, which tells us how big networks of successful public places can be.
Troubleshooting Interstim Sacral Neuromodulation Generators to Recover Function

Purpose of Review Sacral neuromodulation (SNM) is being used to treat lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) with growing popularity among clinicians in multiple specialties. As this therapy becomes more common in the USA and Europe, urologists will encounter more patients implanted with SNM generators.
A dynamic N 6 -methyladenosine methylome regulates intrinsic and acquired resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) on mRNAs is critical for various biological processes, yet whether m6A regulates drug resistance remains unknown. Here we show that developing resistant phenotypes during tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy depends on m6A reduction resulting from FTO overexpression in leukemia cells. This deregulated FTO-m6A axis pre-exists in naive cell populations that are genetically homogeneous and is inducible/reversible in response to TKI treatment. Cells with mRNA m6A hypomethylation and FTO upregulation demonstrate more TKI tolerance and higher growth rates in mice. Either genetic or pharmacological restoration of m6A methylation through FTO deactivation renders resistant cells sensitive to TKIs. Mechanistically, the FTO-dependent m6A demethylation enhances mRNA stability of proliferation/survival transcripts bearing m6A and subsequently leads to increased protein synthesis. Our findings identify a novel function for the m6A methylation in regulating cell fate decision and demonstrate that dynamic m6A methylome is an additional epigenetic driver of reversible TKI-tolerance state, providing a mechanistic paradigm for drug resistance in cancer.
Passion, Purpose and Place: Shared Values, Clustering and Capability Development in Hybrid Companies

Most studies of clusters assume that they form structurally (e.g., along industry lines), but companies can also co-locate based on shared values. This paper argues that in a region, if transcenden...
A review of kernel methods for genetic association studies

Evaluating the association of multiple genetic variants with a trait of interest by use of kernel-based methods has made a significant impact on how genetic association analyses are conducted. An advantage of kernel methods is that they tend to be robust when the genetic variants have effects that are a mixture of positive and negative effects, as well as when there is a small fraction of causal variants. Another advantage is that kernel methods fit within the framework of mixed models, providing flexible ways to adjust for additional covariates that influence traits. Herein, we review the basic ideas behind the use of kernel methods for genetic association analysis as well as recent methodological advancements for different types of traits, multivariate traits, pedigree data, and longitudinal data. Finally, we discuss opportunities for future research.