cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mass murderers in the United States: predictors of offender deaths

Objective: many mass murderers appear to care more about harming others than they do about protecting themselves, and they often commit suicide or refuse to surrender and are killed by police. The present study offers the first in-depth investigation of differences between mass murderers who live and die as a direct result of their offenses. Method: data on 308 offenders in the United States from January 2006 to May 2014 are subjected to quantitative analysis, including logistic regression. Results: findings suggest that those who die are older, less likely to have co-offenders, and more likely to commit public mass killings or family killings, which corresponds with Durkheim’s theories of suicide in numerous ways. Conclusion: ultimately, several specific improvements in suicide prevention strategies could potentially help to reduce the prevalence of these high-fatality crimes.
A brief 20-item dental/medical health literacy screen (REALMD-20)

Objectives Few health literacy instruments are available to clinicians to help understand the implications of patient difficulty understanding health information. Those that do exist are lengthy and would not be conducive to use in a busy clinical setting. Long-term dental and medical outcomes may improve if health care providers can identify individuals with low health literacy levels who may benefit from tailored communication, yet few instruments are available for clinical use. The purpose of this study is to introduce a brief 20-item screener for limited dental/medical health literacy among adult dental patients.
The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 mediates dendritic cell maturation and allospecific T cell priming

Dendritic cells (DCs) have received increasing attention as a tool to manipulate the immune response following transplantation. DC maturational state has been shown to be one of the factors critical to allospecific T cell priming. We have previously shown that increased expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 in cardiac allografts can prolong allograft survival. The specific effect of p21 on DC maturation remains to be defined. We hypothesized that p21-deficient DC would mature more readily and therefore induce increased allospecific T cell priming. To test this hypothesis, we cultured bone marrow derived DC from p21 knockout (p21-/- on B6129 background) or wild type (wt) mice in the presence of GM-CSF to maintain DC in a relatively immature state. FACS analysis was performed to assess DC markers of maturation (MHC class II, CD80, CD86, and CD40). Allospecific T cell priming was determined by performing mixed lymphocyte reactions (MLR) using DC as stimulators of BALB/c responder splenocytes. ELISPOT and 3H-thymidine incorporation assays were used to determine T cell cytokine production and T cell proliferation, respectively, following MLR. DC p21 deficiency increased the surface expression of the co-stimulatory molecules CD80 (45 ± 10% of DC) and CD86 (40 ± 7% of DC) over that of wt (20 ± 4% of DC) and (22 ± 5% of DC), respectively (p < 0.05, n = 4). MHC class II and CD40 surface expression were unchanged. Following a 3 day MLR, p21 -/- DC induced greater allospecific T cell proliferation when compared to wt DC (3541 ± 207 cpm vs. 1909 ± 388 cpm, p < 0.05, n = 4). ELISPOT revealed that p21 -/- DC induced both greater Th1 priming (IFN-gamma producing cells 152 ± 7 in p21 -/- DC vs 90 ± 19 in wt DC, p < 0.05, n = 3) and Th2 priming (IL-4 producing cells 142 ± 15 in p21 -/- DC vs 92 ± 7 in wt DC, p < 0.05) following MLR. In conclusion, p21 deficiency increases DC maturation and subsequently augments the ability of DC to induce allospecific T cell priming. Thus, p21 manipulation may serve as an important modality to alter DC maturational state and thus inhibit allospecific T cell priming following transplantation.
Polyamine levels in normal human serum. Comparison of analytical methods.

Abstract A comparison of levels of the polyamines, putrescine, spermidine and spermine, in individual and pooled normal human serum, as determined by three independent methods, high pressure cation-exchange chromatography (HPCC), radioimmunoassay (RIA) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), has been made. Generally good correlations were found for values derived by the three different methods.
Diagnostic yield in CT-guided stereotactic biopsy of gliomas

✓ Twenty-seven patients underwent 29 computerized tomography (CT)-guided stereotactic biopsy procedures for untreated or recurrent malignant astrocytomas. Biopsies were obtained from the hypodense center, enhancing margin, and hypodense periphery as seen on contrast-enhanced CT scans, with diagnostic yields of (number of biopsies yielding tumor/number of biopsies obtained): 34/61 (56%), 68/101 (67%), and 8/22 (36%) from these three zones, respectively. Although tumor was identified in all three zones, diagnostic yield was significantly higher in the hypodense center and enhancing margin. Comparison of patients with untreated tumors to those with recurrent tumors demonstrated no statistical difference in tumor distribution, although there was a trend toward a higher yield from the hypodense periphery in the recurrent tumor group. Tumor was found up to 15 mm beyond the CT-enhancing margin, in addition to extending beyond the area of abnormality on T2-weighted magnetic resonance images. These findings sugges...
Cytosolic phospholipase A2 is induced in reactive glia following different forms of neurodegeneration.

Many recent studies have emphasized the deleterious role of inflammation in CNS injury. Increases in free fatty acids, eicosanoids, and products of lipid peroxidation are known to occur in various conditions of acute and chronic CNS injury, including cerebral ischemia, traumatic brain injury, and Alzheimer's disease. Although an inflammatory response can be induced by many different means, phospholipases, such as cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2), may play an important role in the production of inflammatory mediators and in the production of other potential second messengers. cPLA2 hydrolyzes membrane phospholipids and its activity liberates free fatty acids leading directly to the production of eicosanoids. We investigated the cellular localization of cytosolic phospholipase A2 in the CNS following: (1) focal and global cerebral ischemia, (2) facial nerve axotomy, (3) human cases of Alzheimer's disease, (4) transgenic mice overexpressing mutant superoxide dismutase, a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and (5) transgenic mice overexpressing mutant amyloid precursor protein, which exhibits age-related amyloid deposition characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. We show that in every condition evaluated, cytosolic phospholipase A2 is present in reactive glial cells within the precise region of neuron loss. In conditions where neurons did not degenerate or are protected from death, cytosolic phospholipase A2 is not observed. Both astrocytes and microglial cells are immunoreactive for cytosolic phospholipase A2 following injury, with astrocytes being the most consistent cell type expressing cytosolic phospholipase A2. The presence of cytosolic phospholipase A2 does not merely overlap with reactive astroglia, as reactive astrocytes were observed that did not exhibit cytosolic phospholipase A2 immunoreactivity. In most conditions evaluated, inflammatory processes have been postulated to play a pivotal role and may even participate in neuronal cell death. These results suggest that cytosolic phospholipase A2 may prove an attractive therapeutic target for neurodegeneration. GLIA 27:110–128, 1999. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Identification of IRO structures in photodarkening: A high pressure study of As2S3

Abstract The pressure dependence of reversible photodarkening was determined for glassy As 2 S 3 in the range from 1 to 60 kBar. Annealed samples were pressurized in a diamond anvil cell for successive light soaking and thermal annealing cycles at constant pressure. Similar to PD at atmospheric pressure, the absorption edge, determined from in-situ transmission measurements, exhibits a parallel shift to lower energy under illumination with band gap light. Hydrostatic pressure causes the magnitude of the reversible edge shift to increase in the low pressure region and then to decrease rapidly at higher pressures, leading to a vanishing of the effect at 60 kBar. The results are interpreted in terms of two IRO structural states: Application of low pressures further promotes a structural configuration responsible for PD at atmospheric pressure whereas at higher pressures, a second structural configuration that exhibits no PD becomes increasingly dominant.
CAST: Tiering Storage for Data Analytics in the Cloud

Enterprises are increasingly moving their big data analytics to the cloud with the goal of reducing costs without sacrificing application performance. Cloud service providers offer their tenants a myriad of storage options, which while flexible, makes the choice of storage deployment non trivial. Crafting deployment scenarios to leverage these choices in a cost-effective manner - under the unique pricing models and multi-tenancy dynamics of the cloud environment - presents unique challenges in designing cloud-based data analytics frameworks. In this paper, we propose CAST, a Cloud Analytics Storage Tiering solution that cloud tenants can use to reduce monetary cost and improve performance of analytics workloads. The approach takes the first step towards providing storage tiering support for data analytics in the cloud. CAST performs offline workload profiling to construct job performance prediction models on different cloud storage services, and combines these models with workload specifications and high-level tenant goals to generate a cost-effective data placement and storage provisioning plan. Furthermore, we build CAST++ to enhance CAST's optimization model by incorporating data reuse patterns and across-jobs interdependencies common in realistic analytics workloads. Tests with production workload traces from Facebook and a 400-core Google Cloud based Hadoop cluster demonstrate that CAST++ achieves 1.21X performance and reduces deployment costs by 51.4% compared to local storage configuration.
A bite of AIDS?—Institutional line staff and the fear of HIV contagion

I present a case study of an institutional staff member bitten by an HIV positive inmate. The case illustrates the vulnerability of line staffs to such trauma, the need to educate and train these staffs, and the significant psychosocial costs of not supporting them
Retroelements contribute to the excess low-copy-number DNA in pine.

Excess DNA in the single-copy component is rarely recognized as a contributor to the C-value paradox yet the single-copy component of the pine genome is reported to comprise over 3000 Mb of DNA, in large excess over the estimated 100 Mb required for gene expression. Two hypotheses regarding the factors that might contribute to the excess low-copy-number DNA were tested. The first hypothesis proposes that the excess low-copy kinetic component is actually overestimated by reassociation data analysis. To test this, a previously published C0t curve for Pinus strobus was reanalyzed using a new estimate of genome size based on laser flow cytometry. Part of the excess low-copy-number DNA in the pine genome could be attributed to the choice of parameters used in the analysis of the reassociation data. The second hypothesis holds that diverged retrotransposons contribute to the excess low-copy DNA. Sequences randomly sampled from single-copy and low-repetitive kinetic components of the P. taeda genome were characterized. Twelve of 46 fragments cloned from these fractions were found to show sequence similarity to retroelements; hence diverged retroelements contribute to the excess low-repetitive kinetic component in the pine genome. Similarity search was shown to be a conservative method for identifying retroelements, and thus the number of retroelements in the low-copy component was actually underestimated. Most of the retroelements in this fraction were nonfunctional, divergent from known retroelement families and previously reported only for flowering plants. Divergent retrotransposons are thus a major factor contributing to the expansion of the low-repetitive DNA component in higher plants.
HO-2 KNOCK-OUT MICE HAVE INCREASED LUNG OXIDATIVE INJURY IN HYPEROXIA. ♦ 855

Recent reports by us and others have demonstrated an antioxidant role for heme oxygenase (HO) in antioxidant defense(1,2). In its reaction, HO degrades heme, a potential oxidant, and forms bilirubin, a molecule known for its antioxidant properties. Therefore, the sum of the reaction of HO could serve in providing protection against oxygen radical mediated injury. Transgenic animals which lack the constitutive isoenzyme, HO-2 (KO), were developed by Poss et al(3). These animals do not show any morphologic differences compared to wild type(WT) litter mates. We chose to investigate whether the KO animals incur more lung and serum oxidative injury as a result of a 72 hour exposure to >95% O2 than do WT. We measured lung lipid peroxidation, protein oxidation and glutathione content as well as serum lipid hydroperoxides and serum glutathione levels in the KO and WT animals. After 72 hours of hyperoxic exposure lungs of KO had significant increase in lipid peroxidation(1.4-fold), protein oxidation, and significant glutathione depletion (50% of WT) compared to WT. Furthermore, serum lipid hydroperoxides were elevated(1.5-fold) in the KO mutants compared to WT. Northern analysis revealed increased induction of lung HO-1 mRNA in the KO animals suggesting that HO-1 induction occured as a result of increased oxidative stress. We conclude that deficiency of the constitutive form of HO is associated with increased susceptibility to oxidative injury, despite increased expression of the inducible HO-1 mRNA. We speculate that HO is important in antioxidant defense and that there may be differences in function of the constitutive versus the inducible form of this enzyme.
The effect of vibrational excitation in the reactions of OH with H2

Abstract Upper limits have been deduced at T ≈ 298 K for the rates of chemical reactions of hydroxyl, OH(υ = 0) and OH ‡ (υ = 1), with vibrationally excited hydrogen, H ‡ 2 (υ = 1). These are 3.3. × 10 12 and 5.7 × 10 12 cm 3 /mole s, respectively.
Alcohol Drinking Onset: A Reliability Study

ABSTRACT Early alcohol drinking onset (ADO) is associated with adult alcohol misuse, but the accuracy of ADO is unclear. Reliability of self-reported ADO was studied in two panels of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. For the Adult sample (n = 6,215), the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was .36. Older respondents had higher reliabilities and reported later ADO than younger ones. In the Child/ Young Adult sample, reliability varied from .19 for children 11 and 13 years old to .29 for children 12 and 14 years old. These low reliabilities and the age effect in reported ADO may affect epidemiologic research and interventions using this variable.
A Reinterpretation of the Results of the Moby Dick Experiments in Terms of the Nonequilibrium Model

The topological pattern of the set of measured pressure distributions included in the Moby Dick series of experiments on critical flow through a slender channel provided with a throat does not agree with that expected on the basis of the rigorous mathematical theory which predicts the appearance of a singular point, most likely, of a saddle point at or near the throat. This is considered to be paradoxical. The paper provides an alternative interpretation of these results. The Moby Dick experiments have clearly demonstrated the profound influence of the existence of metastable conditions near the flash point. For this reason, among others, the paper undertakes a re-evaluation of some of the Moby Dick results in terms of the nonequilibrium model first suggested by L. J. F. Broer in 1958 for use in flows of chemically reacting gases. Since the Moby Dick data contain measurements of the distribution α(z ) of void fractions, it becomes possible to calculate local relaxation times, θ[α(z )], and so to close the system of differential equations of the model. Extensive numerical calculations reproduce the measured pressure distributions with an error of 6–10 percent at most. More importantly, the topological features of the calculated pressures, P th (z ), turn out to be identical with the measured ones, P ex (z ). The most important, and totally unexpected, result is that the flow in the Moby Dick channel remained subcritical everywhere. In particular, the channel was not choked at the throat. Since the mass-flow rates were independent of back-pressure, it is concluded that the flows were choked at or near the exit. The paper advances additional reasons for the feasibility of this alternative interpretation, but emphasizes and re-emphasizes its provisional nature.
Adult Attachment Orientations, Depressive Symptoms, Anger, and Self-Directed Aggression by Psychiatric Patients

This study applied adult attachment theory to better understand self-directed aggression, defined as suicide attempts and nonsuicidal self-injury, reported by 109 hospitalized psychiatric patients. As expected, patients with higher levels of adult attachment anxiety were more likely to report suicide attempts and self-injury. We tested depressive symptoms and anger as mediators of the relationship between attachment orientations and self-directed aggression. As hypothesized, depressive symptoms partially mediated the relationship between attachment anxiety and self-directed aggression, but unexpectedly, anger did not. The results support that levels of depression partially explain the associations between attachment anxiety and self-directed aggression. Subsidiary analyses suggested that patients with higher levels of adult attachment avoidance were more likely to report histories of nonsuicidal self-injury but not suicide attempts. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
OnStaurikosaums pricei, an early saurischian dinosaur from the Triassic of Brazil, with notes on the Herrerasauridae and Poposauridae

The anatomy of the saurischian dinosaurStaurikosaums pricei Colbert from the Santa Maria Formation (Middle or Upper Triassic) of Rio do Sul, Brazil is redescribed.Staurikosaurus has 9 (or possibly 10) short cervicals, 15 dorsals and 2 sacral vertebrae, a modified brachyiliac pelvic girdle and an elongate hindlimb with the tibia longer than the femur.
Expression of Thyroid Transcription Factor-1, Cytokeratin 7, and Cytokeratin 20 in Bronchioloalveolar Carcinomas: an Immunohistochemical Evaluation of 67 Cases

Distinguishing primary pulmonary adenocarcinoma from metastatic adenocarcinoma involving the lung is a common challenging task. The distinction between mucinous bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC) and metastatic mucinous carcinoma of other sites, in particular, is difficult by routine histology. Immunohistochemical expression of thyroid transcription factor-1 (TTF-1), as well as cytokeratin 7 (CK 7) and cytokeratin 20 (CK 20), has proven diagnostic utility in discerning primary from metastatic neoplasms in the lung. Rigorous studies assessing the expression of these markers in BACs, particularly in regard to nonmucinous and mucinous subtypes, have not been performed. In this study, we evaluated the immunohistochemical expression of TTF-1, CK 7, and CK 20 in 67 BACs (48 nonmucinous, 12 mucinous, and 7 of mixed histology). Overall, 42 (63%) of the 67 BACs were positive for TTF-1. When stratified according to subtype, all 12 mucinous BACs were observed to be TTF-1 negative. This trend toward absence of TTF-1 expression in mucinous areas was also maintained among tumors with mixed histology. Sixty-three (94%) of 67 BACs were CK 7 positive, with no differences in expression observed upon subtype stratification. Three cases were noted to be positive for CK 20; all exhibited mucinous morphology. These results indicate that in contrast to the immunophenotypic profile exhibited by most pulmonary neoplasms, mucinous BACs are TTF-1 negative and may express CK 20. This suggests that in the context of differentiating mucinous BACs from extrapulmonary mucinous tumors metastatic to the lung, evaluation of TTF-1 and CK 20 expression may have limited diagnostic utility.
The heritability of general cognitive ability: A within-family adoption design

Abstract The current study employed a within-family adoption design to examine the genetic and environmental influences on general cognitive ability. A sample of 51 families with biological (mean age=9.83 years, S.D.=2.81) and adoptive children (mean age=6.86, S.D.=1.92) was selected from the larger Northeast–Northwest Collaborative Adoption Projects [Deater-Deckard, K., Petrill, S.A., & Wilkerson, B. (2003). The Northeast–Northwest Collaborative Adoption Project: Identifying family environmental influences on cognitive and social development (pp. 157–178). In K. Deater-Deckard & S. A. Petrill (Eds.). Gene-environment processes in social behaviors and relationships. New York: Haworth Press]. Parents and children were assessed using a shortform of the Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scale [Thorndike, R.L., Hagen, E.P., & Sattler, J.M. (1986). Guide for administering and scoring the fourth edition: Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scale. Chicago, IL; Riverside]. Mothers were significantly correlated with their biological children (r=.23) but not their adoptive children (r=−.03). These results suggest that genetic and nonshared environmental influences are significant, whereas shared environmental influences are nonsignificant. However, adoptive children's cognitive skills were predicted by age of placement and number of years in the home, suggesting that other nongenetic factors not related to maternal cognitive ability may be operating.
The immune response and maternal antibody interference to a heterologous H1N1 swine influenza virus infection following vaccination.

This study investigated the efficacy of a bivalent swine influenza virus (SIV) vaccine in piglets challenged with a heterologous H1N1 SIV isolate. The ability of maternally derived antibodies (MDA) to provide protection against a heterologous challenge and the impact MDA have on vaccine efficacy were also evaluated. Forty-eight MDA+ pigs and 48 MDA− pigs were assigned to 8 different groups. Vaccinated pigs received two doses of a bivalent SIV vaccine at 3 and 5 weeks of age. The infected pigs were challenged at 7 weeks of age with an H1N1 SIV strain heterologous to the H1N1 vaccine strain. Clinical signs, rectal temperature, macroscopic and microscopic lesions, virus excretion, serum and local antibody responses, and influenza-specific T-cell responses were measured. The bivalent SIV vaccine induced a high serum hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) antibody titer against the vaccine virus, but antibodies cross-reacted at a lower level to the challenge virus. This study determined that low serum HI antibodies to a challenge virus induced by vaccination with a heterologous virus provided protection demonstrated by clinical protection and reduced pneumonia and viral excretion. The vaccine was able to prime the local SIV-specific antibody response in the lower respiratory tract as well as inducing a systemic SIV-specific memory T-cell response. MDA alone were capable of suppressing fever subsequent to infection, but other parameters showed reduced protection against infection compared to vaccination. The presence of MDA at vaccination negatively impacted vaccine efficacy as fever and clinical signs were prolonged, and unexpectedly, SIV-induced pneumonia was increased compared to pigs vaccinated in the absence of MDA. MDA also suppressed the serum antibody response and the induction of SIV-specific memory T-cells following vaccination. The results of this study question the effectiveness of the current practice of generating increased MDA levels through sow vaccination in protecting piglets against disease.
Arterenol as an adjunct to the treatment of paroxysmal tachycardia

Abstract The use of l -arterenol is described for maintaining adequate levels of blood pressure during the treatment of paroxysmal tachycardia with intravenous procaine amide. This measure appears to permit the use of larger doses of procaine amide than could otherwise be tolerated and thus facilitates termination of the paroxysm.
Path integral Monte Carlo calculations of orientational ordering in compressed H 2

Pressure-induced orientational ordering transitions in solid molecular hydrogen and its isotopes are determined by path integral Monte Carlo methods. Effective interactions among molecules in the solid are calculated in the local density approximation. Unlike previous calculations which have systematically underestimated the ordering densities for this system, the present-treatment affords a calculation of the phase diagrams of ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$ and ${\mathrm{D}}_{2}$ in excellent agreement with experiment for orientational ordering up to a pressure of 100 GPa.
Examining the incentives and motivations for research-based legislation in Uganda

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to discuss the factors that would increase or decrease the prospects to use research evidence in legislation in a developing country. Design/methodology/approach – Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used to identify the gaps in ability to utilise research evidence among policymakers. A combination of expert analysis of five policy brief formats, 13 self-administered semi-structured interviews with policymakers, focus group discussion and literature analysis informed data collection. Findings – The incentives and motivations for research-based legislation are classified into three categories: those that concern legislators and researchers, those that concern legislators only and those that concern researchers only. Originality/value – The work discusses the need for policymakers to make decisions based on facts. The findings are a reflection of a long interaction the author had with policymakers and researchers in Uganda.
Relativistic electronic structure of the NaCl polymorph of CdS

The energy-band structure of the high-pressure (NaCl) phase of CdS has been calculated using a fully-relativistic symmetrized augmented-plane-wave method. The results have been used to obtain density-of-state histograms over a 30-eV range. Our results indicate that CdS, in this phase, is an indirect-gap semiconductor. The calculated forbidden band gap of 1.5 eV is in good agreement with experimental data. There is, however, no experimental information on the location and nature of the gap for further comparison. The valence band has two nearly degenerate maxima at $L$ and at ($\frac{\ensuremath{\pi}}{a}$) (1,1,0) in the $\ensuremath{\Sigma}$ directions. The conduction band, similarly, has one minimum at $\ensuremath{\Gamma}$ and another set at $X$ with almost the same energy.
Maskless Laser Plating Techniques For Microelectronic Materials

We describe techniques for laser enhanced plating of gold, nickel and copper. This maskless plating results in speeds up to 103 times that of conventional plating. Mechanisms and applications are discussed.© (1983) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Preparation and kinetic characterization of a series of βW37 variants of human hemoglobin A: Evidence for high-affinity T quaternary structures

Four variants of human β globin in which the Trp at position 37 has been replaced with a Tyr, Ala, Gly, or Glu have been expressed in Escherichia coli. These globins have been combined with normal ...
Simultaneous nonvanishing of automorphic L-functions

Abstract Let π be a unitary cuspidal automorphic representation of GL 2 ( A Q ) . We show that there are infinitely many primitive Dirichlet characters χ ( mod q ) such that L ( 1 2 , π × χ ) L ( 1 2 , χ ) ≠ 0 .
Two-to-one continuous images of N ∗

A function is two-to-one if every point in the image has exactly two inverse points. We show that every two-to-one continuous image of N ∗ is homeomorphic to N ∗ when the continuum hypothesis is assumed. We also prove that there is no irreducible two-to-one continuous function whose domain is N ∗ under the same assumption.
Transverse electromagnetic instabilities in collisionless plasmas

Abstract Computer simulation experiments are reported which verify the energy constants associated with the nonlinear theory of transverse electromagnetic instabilities.
Components And System Design Considerations For An Analog Video Optical Fiber Link

AbstractThe implementation of an analog video optical fibre link is a more difficult problem than a digital system. The signal -to -noise ratio (SNR) requirement is more stringent (40 to 60 dB as against typically 20 dBfor a digital system), and account must be taken of other significant requirements such as differentialgain distortion, amplitude flatness, and group delay. Close attention must be paid to equalizer designand modulation linearity.The performance that can be achieved with analog TV optical fibre links is examined in the light ofcurrent and anticipated near -term capabilities of optical sources, fibres and detectors, including lightemitting diodes and semiconductor lasers, and step -and graded -index fibres. Both baseband and subcarrierFM modulation are analyzed, and the corresponding attenuation, dispersion, and distortion limits discussed.The analysis is extended to multihop links, and consideration given to choosing an optimum (rather than amaximum achievable) amplifier spacing.IntroductionWhile signal -to -noise ratios (SNR) in the neighborhood of 20 dB are adequate for digital communicationslinks, analog television links require SNR's in the range of 40-60 dB, depending upon their quality. Atthese large SNR's, the optimum gain for an avalanche photodiode (APD) is unity (i.e., the signal dependentnoise dominates), so there is no advantage to using the more expensive APD over the non -avalanche PIN photo-
Interferons and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase: Role in antimicrobial and antitumor effects

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) is an interferon (IFN)-induced protein that initiates the metabolism of tryptophan along the kynurenine pathway. Although IDO can be induced by IFN-gamma in many cell types, only mononuclear phagocytes have been shown to be induced to decyclize tryptophan by all three IFN classes. Since tryptophan is an essential amino acid necessary for a variety of metabolic processes, depletion of available tryptophan may be an important mechanism for control of rapidly-dividing microbial pathogens and tumors. The purpose of this review is to present evidence that documents the effects of IFN-induced IDO on prokaryotic and eukaryotic pathogens, as well as on a variety of tumor cell lines.
DPSS Picosecond Energy Scaling for OPCPA Pumping

Energy scaling of a picosecond amplifier system for next generation OPCPA systems introduces several challenges. Mitigation of thermal loading and depolarization in high power amplifiers are addressed for DPSS, picosecond, high energy amplifier systems.
A Modified Method for Determination of Lumefantrine in Human Plasma by HPLC-UV and Combination of Protein Precipitation and Solid-Phase Extraction: Application to a Pharmacokinetic Study

An HPLC-UV method was developed and validated for the determination of lumefantrine in human plasma. Lumefantrine and its internal standard halofantrine were extracted from plasma samples using protein precipitation with acetonitrile (0.2% perchloric acid) followed by solid-phase extraction with Hypersep C8 cartridges. Chromatographic separation was performed on a Zorbax SB-CN HPLC column (3.0 × 150 mm, 3.5 μm) with water/methanol (0.1% TFA) as the mobile phases in a gradient elution mode. Detection was performed using UV/vis detector at λ = 335 nm. The method showed to be linear over a range of 50–10,000 ng/mL with acceptable intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy. The mean recoveries were 88.2% for lumefatrine and 84.5% for the I.S. The internal standard halofantrine is readily available from commercial sources. This method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic interaction study between a first-line antimalarial combination (artemether—lumefantrine) and antiretroviral therapy.
The physical map ofMus musculus chromosome 11 reveals evolutionary relationship with different syntenic groups of genes inHomo sapiens

The physical localization of sequences homologous to three cloned genes was determined by in situ hybridization to metaphase chromosomes. Previous work had assigned the skeletal myosin heavy chain gene cluster (Myh), the functional locus for the cellular tumor antigen p53 (Trp53-1), and the cellular homologue of the viral erb-B oncogene (Erbb) toMus musculus chromosome 11 (MMU11). Our results provide regional assignments ofMyh andTrp53-1 to chromosome bands B2→C, and ofErbb to bands A1→A4. Taken together with in situ mapping of three other loci on MMU 11 (Hox-2 homeobox-containing gene cluster, theSparc protein, and theColla-1 collagen gene), which have been reported elsewhere, these data allowed us to construct a physical map of MMU11 and to compare it with the linkage map of this chromosome. The map positions of the homologous genes on human chromosomes suggest evolutionary relationships of distinct regions of MMU11 with six different human chromosome arms: 1p, 5q, 7p, 16p, 17p, and 17q. The delineation of conserved chromosome regions has important implications for the understanding of karyotype evolution in mammalian species and for the development of animal models of human genetic diseases.
Cytoplasmic and Nuclear Progestin Receptors in Human Myometrium during the Menstrual Cycle and in Pregnancy at Term

Exchange assays have been developed for the determination of the total progestin receptor sites (unoccupied and occupied with endogenous hormone) in the cytosol and nuclei of human myometrium using radiolabeled R5020 (17,21– dimethyl–19–nor–4,9–pregnadiene–3,20–dione) as ligand. These assays have been applied to the measurement of cytosol and nuclear progestin receptor sites in the myometrium during the menstrual cycle and in pregnancy at term. Both the cytosol receptor levels as well as the sum of cytosol and nuclear receptor levels were highest during the proliferative phase of the cycle, dropped moderately but significantly in the secretory phase, and decreased markedly in pregnancy at term. Despite the marked drop in cytosol receptor levels, nuclear receptor levels in pregnancy at term were similar to those observed in the proliferative or secretory phase. In addition, the fraction of the total cellular receptor that was associated with the nucleus increased from 5.5% in the proliferative phase to 60%...
Efficient and Rapid Template-Directed Nucleic Acid Copying Using 2′-Amino-2′,3′-dideoxyribonucleoside−5′-Phosphorimidazolide Monomers

The development of a sequence-general nucleic acid copying system is an essential step in the assembly of a synthetic protocell, an autonomously replicating spatially localized chemical system capable of spontaneous Darwinian evolution. Previously described nonenzymatic template-copying experiments have validated the concept of nonenzymatic replication, but have not yet achieved robust, sequence-general polynucleotide replication. The 5′-phosphorimidazolides of the 2′-amino-2′,3′-dideoxyribonucleotides are attractive as potential monomers for such a system because they polymerize by forming 2′→5′ linkages, which are favored in nonenzymatic polymerization reactions using similarly activated ribonucleotides on RNA templates. Furthermore, the 5′-activated 2′-amino nucleotides do not cyclize. We recently described the rapid and efficient nonenzymatic copying of a DNA homopolymer template (dC15) encapsulated within fatty acid vesicles using 2′-amino-2′,3′-dideoxyguanosine−5′-phosphorimidazolide as the activate...
Dynamics of Piezoelectric Smart Beams Using a Three-Parameter Elastic Foundation Model

Piezoelectric patches are usually externally bonded to host structures as sensors and/or actuators. The performance and integrity of this type of smart structures are determined by the interface stresses within the adhesive layer. In this study, the dynamic behavior of a piezoelectric smart beam is analyzed using a novel three-parameter elastic foundation model. Closed-form solutions of the deformations, interfacial stresses, strain transfer, and sensing charge output are obtained. The new interfacial stress solutions overcome the inherent shortcomings in the existing two-parameter elastic foundation model by not only satisfying the zero shear stress boundary condition at the free edge, but also correctly predicting two different peeling stress distributions along the piezoelectric patch/adhesive interface and the host beam/adhesive interface. When the thick adhesive layer is used, the present three-parameter elastic foundation model exhibits high accuracy; while the existing two-parameter elastic foundat...
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENT RATE COEFFICIENT FOR THE REACTION O(3P) + NO2 NO + O2

Nitrogen oxides, NO and NO{sub 2} (collectively called No{sub x}), play a crucial role in atmospheric ozone chemistry: they lead to photochemical ozone production in the troposphere and catalytic ozone destruction in the stratosphere. The rate coefficient (k{sub 1}) for the reaction O({sup 3}P) + NO{sub 2} {r_arrow} O{sub 2} + NO was measured under pseudo-first-order conditions in O({sup 3}P) atom concentration over the temperature range 220--412 K. Measurements were made using pulsed laser photolysis of NO{sub 2} to produce oxygen atoms and time-resolved vacuum UV resonance fluorescence detection of O atoms. The NO{sub 2} concentration was measured using three techniques: flow rate, UV absorption, and chemical titration (NO + O{sub 3} {r_arrow} NO{sub 2} + O{sub 2}). The NO{sub 2} UV absorption cross section at 413.4 nm was determined as a function of temperature using the chemical titration and flow methods. Including the low-temperature data of Harder et al., the temperature-dependent No{sub 2} cross section is given by {sigma}{sub 413.4}(T) = (9.49 {minus} 0.00549 T) {times} 10{sup {minus}19} cm{sup 2} molecule{sup {minus}1}. The measured rate coefficients for reaction 1 can be expressed as k{sub 1}(T) = (5.26 {+-} 0.60) {times} 10{sup {minus}12} exp[(209 {+-} 35)/T] cm{sup 3} molecule{sup {minus}1}more » s{sup {minus}1}, where the quoted uncertainties are 2{sigma} and include estimated systematic errors. This result is compared with previously reported measurements of k{sub 1}.« less
On interpretation of flow visualization of unsteady shear flows

Flow visualization of an unsteady wake is simulated by computer-generated streaklines and timelines, the two most commonly employed markers in laboratory flows. The resultant visualization patterns are compared with prescribed vorticity fields having constant or decreasing strength. Effects on the visualized flow of thickness and location of the injected marker, discrete (as opposed to continuous) marker elements, and different reference frames are addressed.
A unifying local–semilocal convergence analysis and applications for two-point Newton-like methods in Banach space

Abstract We provide a local as well as a semilocal convergence analysis for two-point Newton-like methods in a Banach space setting under very general Lipschitz type conditions. Our equation contains a Frechet differentiable operator F and another operator G whose differentiability is not assumed. Using more precise majorizing sequences than before we provide sufficient convergence conditions for Newton-like methods to a locally unique solution of equation F(x)+G(x)=0. In the semilocal case we show under weaker conditions that our error estimates on the distances involved are finer and the information on the location of the solution at least as precise as in earlier results. In the local case a larger radius of convergence is obtained. Several numerical examples are provided to show that our results compare favorably with earlier ones. As a special case we show that the famous Newton–Kantorovich hypothesis is weakened under the same hypotheses as the ones contained in the Newton–Kantorovich theorem.
1003-4 Echocardiographic Diagnosis of Acute Pulmonary Embolism: A Distinct Pattern of Abnormal Right Ventricular Wall Motion

After observing an abnormal “hinge point” in the RV free wall of patients with acute PE, we tested the hypothesis that RV dysfunction (RVD) in acute PE has a distinct, regional pattern of abnormal wall motion. We quantitatively analyzed RV segmental wall motion in 3 patient groups: 1) 14 hemodynamically stable patients with acute PE and RVD; 2) 9 patients with primary pulmonary hypertension and RVD; and 3) 18 patients with normal studies (NL). Transthoracic echocardiograms were analyzed in random sequence by one investigator blinded to patient diagnosis. The RV free wall endocardium in the apical 4-chamber view was traced separately at end-systole and end-diastole for three cardiac cycles. Free wall excursion (FWE) was calculated for 40 segments with a modified centerline method. Patients with PE had a characteristic pattern of regional RVD. FWE was abnormal from the base through the apical free wall (p l 0.02 vs. NL for segments 0–36). but was near-normal at the apex (p g 0.13 vs. NL for segments 37–40). In contrast. patients with PPH had globally abnormal FWE (p l 0.03 vs. NL for segments 0–40) and differed from PE patients at the 5 most apical segments (p l 0.03 vs. PE for segments 36–40). Download : Download high-res image (79KB) Download : Download full-size image Conclusion There is a distinct, regional pattern of RVD in acute PE, which differs from the global RVD observed in PPH. This pattern of RVD, which spares the RV apex, can suggest the diagnosis of acute PE.
Phospholipase D activity is required for suppression of yeast phosphatidylinositol transfer protein defects

Yeast phosphatidylinositol transfer protein (Sec14p) function is essential for production of Golgi-derived secretory vesicles, and this requirement is bypassed by mutations in at least seven genes. Analyses of such ‘bypass Sec14p’ mutants suggest that Sec14p acts to maintain an essential Golgi membrane diacylglycerol (DAG) pool that somehow acts to promote Golgi secretory function. SPO14 encodes the sole yeast phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate-activated phospholipase D (PLD). PLD function, while essential for meiosis, is dispensable for vegetative growth. Herein, we report specific physiological circumstances under which an unanticipated requirement for PLD activity in yeast vegetative Golgi secretory function is revealed. This PLD involvement is essential in ‘bypass Sec14p’ mutants where normally Sec14p-dependent Golgi secretory reactions are occurring in a Sec14p-independent manner. PLD catalytic activity is necessary but not sufficient for ‘bypass Sec14p’, and yeast operating under ‘bypass Sec14p’ conditions are ethanol-sensitive. These data suggest that PLD supports ‘bypass Sec14p’ by generating a phosphatidic acid pool that is somehow utilized in supporting yeast Golgi secretory function.
The compact display of arbitrary nested arrays

An enhanced array display function, upward compatible from the one supplied with APL2, is presented. It overcomes several difficulties involved with the display of very large or very deep nested arrays, and permits convenient examination of arrays which would otherwise overflow the screen or observation window. Sub-array replication and sub-array similarity in the displayed array are considered at every depth, and presented in a straightforward shorthand notation if invoked. Also, leaf detail is elided by general compaction, but only if it precludes a reasonable overall display size.
NMR structures of r(GCAGGCGUGC)2 and determinants of stability for single guanosine-guanosine base pairs

Nucleotides in RNA that are not Watson−Crick-paired form unique structures for recognition or catalysis, but determinants of these structures and their stabilities are poorly understood. A single noncanonical pair of two guanosines (G) is more stable than other noncanonical pairs and can potentially form pairing structures with two hydrogen bonds in four different ways. Here, the energetics and structure of single GG pairs are investigated in several sequence contexts by optical melting and NMR. The data for r(5‘GCAGGCGUGC3‘)2, in which G4 and G7 are paired, are consistent with a model in which G4 and G7 alternate syn glycosidic conformations in a two-hydrogen-bond pair. The two distinct structures are derived from nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopic distance restraints coupled with simulated annealing using the AMBER 95 force field. In each structure, the imino and amino protons of the anti G are hydrogen bonded to the O6 and N7 acceptors of the syn G, respectively. An additional hydrogen-bond connec...
Secret supersymmetry in nature

Abstract A new model building technique is reviewed in which supersymmetry models do not necessarily have boson-fermion particle degeneracy. Possible low-energy phenomenological implications are discussed.
Contributions of Convectively Coupled Equatorial Rossby Waves and Kelvin Waves to the Real-Time Multivariate MJO Indices

Abstract The real-time multivariate (RMM) Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) indices have been widely applied to diagnose and track the progression of the MJO. Although it has been well demonstrated that the MJO contributes to the leading signals in these indices, the RMM indices vary erratically from day to day. These variations are associated with noise in the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and wind data used to generate the indices. This note demonstrates that some of this “noise” evolves systematically and is associated with other types of propagating modes that project onto the RMM eigenmodes. OLR and zonal wind data are filtered in the wavenumber–frequency domain for the MJO, convectively coupled equatorial Rossby (ER) waves, and convectively coupled Kelvin waves. The filtered data are then projected onto the RMM modes. An example phase space associated with these projections is presented. Linear regression is then applied to isolate the wave signals from random variations in the same bands of the w...
The Advisor's Assistant

Commercial computerized advising systems are available and expert-system shells have been used to develop aids for student advising. However, these approaches can be expensive, may not run on inexpensive PCs, may not be flexible enough, and would preclude giving copies to students for analysis of their own progress. Advisor's Assistant was developed to meet these requirements. The program, about 2000 lines of Turbo Pascal 5.0, reads a file describing the curriculum and a file containing information about each course in the curriculum, creating a tree data structure in memory. The advisor can then request a specific student's file. The tree data structure remains in memory while the individual student's file is read, adding nodes to the tree specific to the student. With the complete information about the curriculum, the courses, and the student's records in memory, the advisor can request that various items of information be derived for that student. For example, a student credit audit prints out the courses taken and the courses remaining in the various categories required for graduation. >