cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Social organization of the spotted hyaena Crocuta crocuta. II. Dominance and reproduction

Abstract A 4-year study of the social organization of spotted hyaenas in a clan of 60–80 individuals showed that there is a separate dominance hierarchy within each sex. One female and her descendants dominated all others; matrilineal rankings were stable over time because maternal rank is inherited. Cubs of higher ranking females were able to feed at kills in competition with adults more successfully than other cubs, and male offspring of the alpha female were the only males able to dominate adult females. The mating system is highly polygynous: only the behaviourally dominant male was seen to mate, though all other resident males regularly courted females. Among females, there was no correlation between reproductive success and age, size, or social rank. It is postulated that the unusually aggressive sons of the alpha female would probably be highly successful competitors in the context of a polygynous mating system. A primary consequence of female dominance over males is that females and their young have priority of access to food in a highly competitive feeding situation. This competition may have been the selective force that produced female dominance and the associated syndrome of female virilization that is characteristic of the species. Cooperation among related females may be the basis for the matrilineal system, as has been suggested for certain primate species.
Management of Patients Taking Anticoagulants and Platelet Inhibitors Prior to Dermatologic Surgery

background. The use of anticoagulants and platelet inhibitors can increase the risk of intraoperative and postoperative hemorrhagic complications in cutaneous surgery. Currently there are no general guidelines and no consensus among dermatologic surgeons on how to manage patients taking these medicines. objective. To address many of the issues involved in the management of these patients. conclusion. General recommendations are made for managing patients taking anticoagulants and platelet inhibitors prior to dermatologic surgery.
Inelastic Electron-Deuteron Scattering and the Electromagnetic Structure of the Neutron

The neutron charge and magnetic moment form factors F/sub in/ and F/sub 2n/ are calculated from data on the reaction e + d yields e + p + n. Proton form factors that are used in the calculations are those found in e-p scattering. The cross sections for e + d yields e + p + n are calculated by means of a completely covariant theory, using dispersion relations. These cross sections are used to find F/sub in/ and F/sub 2n/, for momentum transfers of q/sup 2/ = 5 to 21 f/sup -2/. (T.F.H.)
Mechanically unzipping dsDNA with built-in sequence inhomogeneities and bound proteins.

We theoretically analyze the force signal expected during unzipping through a single double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) molecule with designed subsequences or inhomogeneities with large stability differentials compared to the rest of the molecule. Our calculations describe experiments where the extension between the unzipped ends is fixed --the so-called fixed-extension ensemble-- and the equilibrium force is measured. Two different types of force traces are obtained depending on the inhomogeneity length and strength. For short inhomogeneities, a “sawtooth” force trace is obtained, with a force jump corresponding to release of the entire inhomogeneity at once, as observed in unzipping of natural-sequence DNA (Bockelmann et al., Biophy. J. 82, 1537 (2002)). For longer inhomogeneities, traces with force plateaus are obtained, corresponding to a gradual unpeeling of the strongly bound region. We find that inhomogeneities are disrupted in sequence giving rise to a succession of force spikes superposed on the baseline unzipping force of 15pN. The height of the force pulses diminishes as regions further down the molecule are unzipped, and asymptotically the force response approaches that of DNA without large stability-enhanced islands. Our model also allows us to describe the transition between intact and disrupted binding zones by thermally activated kinetics. We then analyze the related situation where multiple proteins are bound at specific points on the DNA with or without cooperative interactions between proteins, and where the removal of each protein is required for unzipping to proceed further along the DNA. The proteins bind stably to dsDNA and also to single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) but with a lower binding enthalpy. The force jumps correspond to the extra mechanical work that has to be done to overcome the large protein binding enthalpy to either dsDNA or ssDNA. Each force jump leads to the dissociation of a corresponding protein, but we do not find simultaneous release of cooperatively stabilized proteins under the range of interactions strengths considered here. Our model is then used to describe recent experiments where the stability of nucleosome and nucleosome-analogues was assayed by mechanically unzipping the DNA template. Using physiological values of model parameters we find good agreement with the data.
Induction of a deoxycytidineless state in cultured mammalian cells by bromodeoxyuridine

Abstract Bromodeoxyuridine triphosphate is an allosteric inhibitor of ribonucleotide reductase, and bromodeoxyuridine can therefore kill cells by starving them for deoxycytidine nucleotides. The toxicity of bromodeoxyuridine for some cell lines is reduced many fold when deoxycytidine is also present. For example, wild type 3T6 cells can be grown serially in 1.5 × 10 −4 Molar bromodeoxyuridine and 2 × 10 −4 Molar deoxycytidine, remain healthy, and incorporate bromodeoxyuridine extensively into cellular DNA. Some of the numerous effects of this drug on the behavior of cells and viruses may be due to a deoxycytidineless state, rather than to the incorporation of the bromodeoxyuridine into DNA.
Family and Household Formations and Suicide in the United States

Family support systems have been theoretically linked to suicide risk. But no research to date has investigated the effects of detailed living arrangements on individual risk of suicide. Using data on 825,462 adults from the National Health Interview Survey Linked Mortality File reveals that living in families with stronger sources of social support and integration decreases risk of suicide. These effects persist despite controls for important individual level characteristics. Risk of suicide decreases for persons in married as well as unmarried families when children are present and risk increases for persons living with unrelated adults. These results reveal the structural importance of family formation on the social integrative forces that contribute to an individual's risk of suicide.
Ethanol Inhibits Fibroblast Growth Factor–Induced Proliferation of Aortic Smooth Muscle Cells

Objective— Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that moderate alcohol consumption reduces mortality associated with coronary artery disease. The protective effect is correlated with the amount of ethanol consumed but is unrelated to the form of alcoholic beverage. Adoption of a favorable lipoprotein profile accounts for about half of the protective action of alcohol, but the remaining causative factors remain conjectural. Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) play important roles in mediating smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation and migration, which are key factors in the atherosclerotic process. In the present study, we examined the effect of ethanol on FGF-mediated SMC growth and signaling. Methods and Results— Pharmacologically relevant concentrations of ethanol inhibited the proliferation of a rat aortic SMC line (SV40LT-SMCs) in response to FGF1 and FGF2. Human aortic SMC growth was similarly inhibited by ethanol. Transition into the G2/M phase was specifically affected. FGF-mediated phosphorylation of p42/p44 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) c-Raf, MAP kinase kinase kinase, MEK1/2 MAP kinase, kinase, stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun–NH2-terminal kinase, and p38 MAPK were variably reduced by ethanol. The inhibition of intracellular signaling by ethanol was correlated with inhibition of FGF receptor autophosphorylation. By contrast, neither epidermal growth factor receptor autophosphorylation nor epidermal growth factor–mediated p42/p44 MAPK activation was affected by ethanol. Conclusions— The findings identify the FGF receptor as an inhibitory target for ethanol, which could account in part for the inhibitory actions of ethanol on SMC proliferation observed in vivo.
Alpha-2-hyperglobulinaemia as a humoral indicator of the homograft reaction.

Abstract Raised levels of an α 2 -globulin have been observed in the serum of patients undergoing renal graft rejection. The persistence of raised levels tendered an unfavourable prognosis for the graft while normal levels indicated that a homograft reaction was unlikely. Initial analysis of this protein seems to distinguish it from several others associated with the " acute-phase " serum reaction.
A nitric oxide-donating flurbiprofen derivative reduces neuroinflammation without interacting with galantamine in the rat

Alzheimer's disease is associated with glial activation and increased levels of the cytokines as well as impaired forebrain cholinergic function. Current therapies focus on enhancing cholinergic function by administrating acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, such as galantamine. Epidemiological results also suggest that anti-inflammatory therapies might be effective in slowing the onset of the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. The current study investigated the ability of a nitric oxide (NO)-donating derivative of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) flurbiprofen, HCT1026, to reduce brain inflammation in young rats. Inflammation was produced by chronic infusion of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) into the 4th ventricle. The release of NO from HCT1026 requires the action of esterase enzymes. The current study determined whether the effectiveness of HCT1026 was attenuated by simultaneous treatment with the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor galantamine. Daily administration of the HCT1026 significantly reduced microglial activation and these effects were not attenuated by galantamine therapy.
Affording Housing at the Expense of Health Exploring the Housing and Neighborhood Strategies of Poor Families

Low-income families often simultaneously encounter housing and neighborhood problems pertaining to safety, affordability, and quality issues that necessitate strategies to maximize limited budgets and ensure safety. Such constrained decisions regarding inadequate housing and poor neighborhood conditions, however, may themselves create or exacerbate health risks. Building on the survival strategies literature, this article offers rich and detailed accounts of coping and management strategies on the part of vulnerable families facing housing and neighborhood hardships. The findings are based on in-depth interviews with 72 respondents and ethnographic observations in an urban community. The results illustrate how low-income women avoid neighborhood danger by relegating family life to the home environment, thereby increasing exposure to health risks such as stress, depression, and asthma. The discussion focuses on public health literature linking housing and health and proposes the use of legal strategies and...
Functional magnetic resonance imaging depicts the brain in action

In summary, FMRI is a new technique for discovering the organization and function of the brain. The ability rapidly and non-invasively to image regional cerebral blood flow, blood volume, and blood oxygenation may strengthen diagnoses in neurology, neurosurgery, and trauma medicine. The ability to localize specific functions in an individual's brain will have a large impact on the planning of therapeutic interventions, and in predicting outcomes after disease and injury. Substantial contributions to the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders are expected based on the ability to image subtle differences in a patient's response to auditory and visual stimuli of different emotional content.
Infrared Spectroscopic Study of ClCN Adsorption on Clean and Triethylenediamine-Precovered γ-Al2O3

The effect of triethylenediamine (TEDA) (also named 1,4-diazabicyclo [2.2.2]octane, DABCO) on the adsorption of ClCN on a γ-Al2O3 absorbent has been investigated. Both Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and theoretical studies indicate that no direct interaction between amine groups of TEDA and ClCN molecules takes place. Instead, we found that TEDA competes with ClCN for active surface sites on γ-Al2O3. In addition, the adsorption behavior of cyanogen chloride (ClCN) on a clean γ-Al2O3 surface has been studied. The sequence of the thermally activated processes of diffusion, adsorption, desorption, and decomposition of ClCN molecules on the clean γ-Al2O3 surface following icelike ClCN layer formation at lower temperature was observed. One of the decomposition products, Al−NCO, was assigned by using an Al−18OH labeled surface for reaction with ClCN. In addition, Al−CN and Al2−OCN species were also detected upon ClCN decomposition. Good correlation of the calculated vibrational frequencies for the adsorbed s...
Shape Memory Polymers: Viscoelastic Thermomechanical Constitutive Modeling

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) are known to change their elastic stiffness as they respond to change in induced stimulus such as temperature. Under appropriate loading and pre-deformation, a shape memory effect can be captured as the stimulus change. From the nature of polymers, the pre-deformation can tend to be large and can in turn be memorized by SMPs. Due to this characteristic of SMPs, it makes a great candidate for morphing structures. To analyze complex structures a simple but yet practical constitutive model needs to be developed for commercial engineering application. In this paper, a thermomechanical constitutive model is proposed making use of the standard linear viscoelastic model. The total strain during the shape memorization process is defined by mechanical, thermal and storage strains. The rheological model defined is an elastic element in parallel with a Maxwell element, which in turn are both in series with storage and thermal element. Inclusion of a storage strain within the model reveals the internal strain storage mechanism as the temperature of the material drops. Similar work done in the past requires material parameters that can be arduous to determine in the laboratory. This model proposes a simplified approximate material parameter called a binding factor which accounts for the polymer’s molecular architecture and morphology as the temperature changes. Finally, the model is applied to a four step shape memorization and stress-free recovery process. For this study, the four steps considered are a) Pre-loading of the material at high temperature b) Constant strain fixity c) unconstrained relaxation at low temperature d) unconstrained free strain recovery. The developed model is validated by comparing the predictions to experimental results in literature.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Third-Person Perception and Optimistic Bias Among Urban Minority At-Risk Youth:

Recent third-person perception articles suggest that optimistic bias is the mechanism underlying the perceptual bias but fail to empirically test the assumption. A small inverse relationship between third-person perception and optimistic bias was found among the youth surveyed: 51% of the students exhibited third-person perceptions, believing they were less influenced by televised safer-sex messages than were their peers. These students were less optimistic about their chances of becoming HIV infected than their peers; 34% exhibited first-person perceptions, believing they were more influenced by the messages than were peers, and were more optimistic than were their peers concerning HIV infection. Most students (89%) exhibited some degree of optimistic bias regarding their chances of avoiding HIV infection in the future. The findings effectively link the two literatures within a sample neglected by previous studies: urban, minority, at-risk youth. The study advances knowledge of third-person perceptions b...
Uncoupling Protein-3 Is a Mediator of Thermogenesis Regulated by Thyroid Hormone, β3-Adrenergic Agonists, and Leptin

Mitochondrial uncoupling proteins (UCPs) are transporters that are important for thermogenesis. The net result of their activity is the exothermic movement of protons through the inner mitochondrial membrane, uncoupled from ATP synthesis. We have cloned a third member of the UCP family, UCP3. UCP3 is expressed at high levels in muscle and rodent brown adipose tissue. Overexpression in yeast reduced the mitochondrial membrane potential, showing that UCP3 is a functional uncoupling protein. UCP3 RNA levels are regulated by hormonal and dietary manipulations. In contrast, levels of UCP2, a widely expressed UCP family member, showed little hormonal regulation. In particular, muscle UCP3 levels were decreased 3-fold in hypothyroid rats and increased 6-fold in hyperthyroid rats. Thus UCP3 is a strong candidate to explain the effects of thyroid hormone on thermogenesis. White adipose UCP3 levels were greatly increased by treatment with the β3-adrenergic agonist, CL214613, suggesting another pathway for increasing thermogenesis. UCP3 mRNA levels were also regulated by dexamethasone, leptin, and starvation, albeit differently in muscle and brown adipose tissue. Starvation caused increased muscle and decreased BAT UCP3, suggesting that muscle assumes a larger role in thermoregulation during starvation. The UCP3 gene is located close to that encoding UCP2, in a chromosomal region implicated in previous linkage studies as contributing to obesity.
Maternal–fetal metabolic gene–gene interactions and risk of neural tube defects

Abstract Single-gene analyses indicate that maternal genes associated with metabolic conditions (e.g., obesity) may influence the risk of neural tube defects (NTDs). However, to our knowledge, there have been no assessments of maternal–fetal metabolic gene–gene interactions and NTDs. We investigated 23 single nucleotide polymorphisms among 7 maternal metabolic genes ( ADRB3 , ENPP1 , FTO , LEP , PPARG , PPARGC1A , and TCF7L2 ) and 2 fetal metabolic genes ( SLC2A2 and UCP2 ). Samples were obtained from 737 NTD case-parent triads included in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study for birth years 1999–2007. We used a 2-step approach to evaluate maternal–fetal gene–gene interactions. First, a case-only approach was applied to screen all potential maternal and fetal interactions (n=76), as this design provides greater power in the assessment of gene–gene interactions compared to other approaches. Specifically, ordinal logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for each maternal–fetal gene–gene interaction, assuming a log-additive model of inheritance. Due to the number of comparisons, we calculated a corrected p-value (q-value) using the false discovery rate. Second, we confirmed all statistically significant interactions (q ENPP1 rs1044498 and fetal SLC2A2 rs6785233 (interaction OR=3.65, 95% CI: 2.32–5.74, p=2.09×10 −8 , q=0.001), which was confirmed in step 2 (p=0.00004). Our findings suggest that maternal metabolic genes associated with hyperglycemia and insulin resistance and fetal metabolic genes involved in glucose homeostasis may interact to increase the risk of NTDs.
Changing hemisphere dominance by changing reward probability in split-brain monkeys

The manifested dominance split-brain monkeys usually show for performing visual tasks through one hemisphere, when perceptual information is equally available to both, was analyzed. Three split-brain monkeys, each being trained similar yet different discriminations to each hemisphere, were allowed the opportunity to choose between the two problems when both were presented simultaneously. Initially all consistently preferred to respond with the right hemisphere. Subsequently, in separate training, the reward schedule for the dominant eye was advanced to FR-6 while the nondominant hemisphere was maintained on FR-1 or continual reward. Simultaneous exposure of the two problems now found the animals altering their original dominance and consistently performing through the nondominant hemisphere. The results are consistent with the view that attentional or preference processes, or both, are amenable to reward probability. Also, each half of the bisected brain can reliably keep different assigned reward values localized and specific to each hemisphere.
Secondary Electron Yield Measurements as a Means for Probing Organic Films on Aerosol Particles

ABSTRACT Secondary electron yields of salt particles (KCl and NaCl) coated with organic films (dioctyl sebacate and octacosane) were measured by impacting aerosol particles with monoenergetic electrons (10–600 eV) inside a particle beam apparatus. The results demonstrate that secondary electron yield measurements can be used to obtain information on the structure of organic films on aerosol particles. The technique relies upon the large differences in the yields of organic compounds and certain salts in order to obtain a measurable contrast in the yields of clean and coated particles. Secondary electron yields measured as a function of primary electron energy and film coverage show that the probe depth of electrons increases with energy and is ∼10–20 nm for the range of energies investigated. The technique is sufficiently sensitive that submonolayer films can be detected. Measurements made within the monolayer regime suggest that vapor-deposited dioctyl sebacate (DOS) forms uniformly thick films, and that...
Talking to Children Matters: Early Language Experience Strengthens Processing and Builds Vocabulary

Infants differ substantially in their rates of language growth, and slow growth predicts later academic difficulties. In this study, we explored how the amount of speech directed to infants in Spanish-speaking families low in socioeconomic status influenced the development of children's skill in real-time language processing and vocabulary learning. All-day recordings of parent-infant interactions at home revealed striking variability among families in how much speech caregivers addressed to their child. Infants who experienced more child-directed speech became more efficient in processing familiar words in real time and had larger expressive vocabularies by the age of 24 months, although speech simply overheard by the child was unrelated to vocabulary outcomes. Mediation analyses showed that the effect of child-directed speech on expressive vocabulary was explained by infants' language-processing efficiency, which suggests that richer language experience strengthens processing skills that facilitate language growth.
High-diversity genes in the Arabidopsis genome.

High-diversity genes represent an important class of loci in organismal genomes. Since elevated levels of nucleotide variation are a key component of the molecular signature for balancing selection or local adaptation, high-diversity genes may represent loci whose alleles are selectively maintained as balanced polymorphisms. Comparison of 4300 random shotgun sequence fragments of the Arabidopsis thaliana Ler ecotype genome with the whole genomic sequence of the Col-0 ecotype identified 60 genes with putatively high levels of intraspecific variability. Eleven of these genes were sequenced in multiple A. thaliana accessions, 3 of which were found to display elevated levels of nucleotide polymorphism. These genes encode the myb-like transcription factor MYB103, a putative soluble starch synthase I, and a homeodomain-leucine zipper transcription factor. Analysis of these genes and 4–7 flanking genes in 14–20 A. thaliana ecotypes revealed that two of these loci show other characteristics of balanced polymorphisms, including broad peaks of nucleotide diversity spanning multiple linked genes and an excess of intermediate-frequency polymorphisms. Scanning genomes for high-diversity genomic regions may be useful in approaches to adaptive trait locus mapping for uncovering candidate balanced polymorphisms.
A large-scale real-time network simulation study using prime

We examine the capabilities of conducting network experiments involving a large-scale peer-to-peer web-content distribution network. Our study uses a real-time network simulator, called PRIME, running on EmuLab, which is a shared cluster computing environment designed specifically for network emulation studies. Our study is one of the largest network experiments that involve a real implementation of a peer-to-peer content distribution system under HTTP traffic from a public-domain empirical workload trace and using a realistic large network model. Our experiments demonstrate the potentials of real-time simulation for studying complex behaviors of distributed applications under large-scale network conditions.
Out of User Space Storage and RDMA

User space applications must invoke kernels calls in order to have the operating system handle file system and device driver processing for storage requests. There is a high overhead associated with such calls, including the processing of suspending, scheduling and dispatching threads, interrupts, cache misses, etc. The overhead contributes to wasted processor cycles because all work on the thread being switched is stopped until the task switch is complete. The problem is worse for applications with a high storage I/O to compute ratio. Alternatives to enable user space applications to pass storage requests directly to I/O adapters without run-time involvement from the operating system would eliminate this overhead
Options and UMS

Most people who have speculated about the causes of ums in speech (also known as filled pauses) have suggested that they are produced when the speaker is confronted with a challenging choice. This idea, in spite of its intuitive appeal and theoretical usefulness, has never been directly tested. The present experiment manipulates the complexity of options facing a speaker by having subjects describe mazes with a varying number of alternate possible routes. The mazes with more options did produce more filled pauses. However, in describing even the simplest maze, one of the easiest possible speech tasks, the subjects still said um regularly. It is suggested that options are only one factor in filled pause production, and that breaking up the rhythm of speech may also fosterfilled pauses.
Insecticide sprays, natural enemy assemblages and predation on Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Psyllidae).

The Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), Diaphorina citri Kuwayama is considered a key citrus pest due to its role as vector of ‘huanglongbing’ (HLB) or citrus greening, probably the most economically damaging disease of citrus. Insecticidal control of the vector is still considered a cornerstone of HLB management to prevent infection and to reduce reinoculation of infected trees. The severity of HLB has driven implementation of intensive insecticide programs against ACP with unknown side effects on beneficial arthropod fauna in citrus agroecosystems. We evaluated effects of calendar sprays directed against this pest on natural enemy assemblages and used exclusion to estimate mortality they imposed on ACP populations in citrus groves. Predator exclusion techniques were used on nascent colonies of D. citri in replicated large untreated and sprayed plots of citrus during the four major flushing periods over2years.Populationofspiders,arborealantsandladybeetleswereindependently assessed. Monthly sprays of recommended insecticides for control of ACP, adversely affectednatural enemy populations resultinginreducedpredation onACP immature stages, especially during the critical late winter/early spring flush. Consequently, projected growth rates of the ACP population were greatest where natural enemies had been adversely affected by insecticides. Whereas, this result does not obviate the need for insecticidal control of ACP, it does indicate that even a selective regimen of sprays can impose asyet undetermined costs in terms of reduced biological control of this and probably other citrus pests.
Scarce Human Capital in Managerial Labor Markets

Strategic human capital scholars are increasingly recognizing the importance of human capital scarcity for explaining individual and firm outcomes. This article focuses on scarce human capital in the top manager labor market—and in particular, patterns in which top managers and firms form employment relationships. This examination redirects strategic human capital scholarship in three important ways. First, the findings point to the importance of specifying an omission from prior human capital scholarship: the relationship between human capital and the firm’s resource base (e.g., potential complementarities). Second, the article illustrates the need to simultaneously consider both human capital scarcity and complementarities, and reinforces that scarce human capital can indeed be general human capital. Finally, the theory explains how complementarities fundamentally alter value creation and appropriation dynamics. Specifically, complementarities facilitate the matching of the best managers and firms with ...
Feminism, Nationalism, and Militarism

Feminism, Nationalism, and Militarism. Constance R. Sutton. ed. Arlington, VA: American Anthropological Association, 1995. lv+ 106 pp., contributors, notes, references.
Multiple window correlation estimation with applications in adaptive filtering

A novel autocorrelation estimator is developed using Slepian sequences as multiple windows. The estimator has more degrees of freedom than any single-window estimate, including the sample average, with the same frequency domain resolution. Because the Slepian sequences are orthogonal, confidence intervals can be estimated by jackknifing as well as by standard chi /sup 2/ methods. The proposed multiple window estimator is applied to batch autoregressive (AR) parameter estimation and recursive least squares equalization. Both applications show significant improvement, especially for small data lengths, while only linearly (in the number of windows) increasing computational complexity. Generalizations to higher-order correlation estimators are delineated. >
ALTERED ABUNDANCE OF MESSENGER RNA TRANSCRIPTS WHOSE PRODUCTS HAVE MEMBRANE ATTACHMENT SITES IN PREGNANCY-INDUCED HYPERTENSION

Pregnancy-induced hypertensive disorders (PIH) are leading causes of maternal mortality. Although the mechanism responsible for initiating and maintaining the disorder is unproven, physiologic molecular attachments in kidney and placenta play a role. The SHHF/Mcc-facp (SHHF) rat has features of the disorder, including abnormal placenta gene expression. To gain a molecular understanding of the gene expression profile associated with PIH, kidneys and placentas of SHHF rats at gestation day 20 were compared to WKY controls using microarray technology. We report that SHHF rats have spontaneous PIH, elevated total placenta weights, and reduced total pup weights than WKY controls and that they also have greater total number of mRNA transcripts expressed in placenta. Kidneys of SHHF rats, on the other hand, not only expressed disproportionately more predicted gene products with attachment sites such as RGD motifs, N-glycosylation sites, and N-myristoylation sites they also responded more profoundly to oral administration of L-arginine. We conclude that the increased abundance of transcripts whose products engage in posttranslational attachments using RGD motifs, N-glycosylation sites, and N-myristoylation sites and the reversal of these increases by oral administration of L-arginine suggests that NO may be of importance in PIH at the level of molecular attachments.
Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Contact Line Motion

We report on molecular dynamics simulations of incompressible Lennard-Jones fluids sheared between two solid walls. Boundary conditions and flow fields were studied for both single fluid and immiscible two-fluid systems. For single fluid systems, equal wall and fluid densities or strong wall-fluid couplings crystallized the first layers of fluid atoms. Different wall densities and weaker coupling led to normal Couette flow with a no-slip boundary condition. Our simulations of two fluid systems indicate that there is always slip within ∼ 2 atomic spacings from the contact line. This slip appears to be associated with the breakdown of hydrodynamics at atomic scales. Changes with capillary number in the interface shape and dynamic contact angle were consistent with previous analytic results.
Identification and classification of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access signals

This paper proposes a scheme for identification and classification of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) signals. Specifically, the cyclostationary pilot signature of an IEEE 802.16e standard compliant waveform is investigated. The proposed scheme performs waveform identification through a preamble cross-correlation technique. Classification is achieved through the use of a pilot cross-correlation technique in combination with cyclostationary feature extraction in order to determine the cyclic prefix of the IEEE 802.16e waveform. Similar methods are then used for determining other OFDMA waveform parameters, such as the FFT size, Segment number and IDcell. MATLAB simulation results validate the preamble cross-correlation and pilot cross-correlation techniques as effective methods of signal identification and classification, respectively.
An experimental study of the half-wave dipole antenna immersed in a stratified conducting medium

Measurements are described of the driving-point admittance and the amplitude and phase distributions of the current for a half-wave dipole antenna immersed in a stratified medium for various gradients S of the ratio \sigma/\omega\epsilon_{r}-\epsilon_{0} = b+sx , where the origin of the coordinates is at the driving point of the dipole antenna and the x axis is along the antenna. The study includes a description of the apparatus, a discussion of the effect of the nylon films separating the layers, and an interpretation of the data. Reference is made to the possible application of a half-wave dipole antenna to the detection of an inhomogeneity in a medium.
A radiometric method for evaluation of chemotherapy sensitivity: results of screening a panel of human breast cancer cell lines

We have used a radiometric method to screen for chemotherapy sensitivity among a panel of human breast cancer cell lines. This method utilizes the inhibition of conversion of [14C]glucose to 14CO2 as an index of cytotoxicity. Nine different breast cancer cell lines were exposed for 1 h to 4 different concentrations of several antineoplastic agents with and without documented clinical activity against breast cancer. Cytotoxic effects were analyzed as a function of the ratio of the concentration required to inhibit cell growth to 50% of control to 1/10 of the known peak plasma concentration in humans for each particular drug. The drug-induced inhibition of 14C production by breast cancer tumor cells correlated strongly with the drug-induced antiproliferative effect (P less than 0.002) and with the inhibition of colony formation in a soft agar cloning assay (P less than 0.05). The HS578T cell line and one of the MCF7 cell lines exhibited a chemosensitivity pattern consistent with the clinical responsiveness of human breast cancer to the agents tested. Most of the other cell lines exhibited resistance to clinically active agents, especially the cell lines obtained from patients exposed to prior chemotherapy. These results suggest that this radiometric method measures a drug-induced metabolic effect that correlates with the antiproliferative activity of antineoplastic agents on breast cancer cells. The HS578T and the MCF7-KO cell lines, tested in this system, could be a useful screen for new anticancer compounds with activity against human breast cancer.
Red cell distribution width and outcome in patients with septic shock.

Introduction: Red cell distribution width (RDW) is reflective of systemic inflammation. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between RDW (on day 1 of development of septic shock) and mortality. Methods: A total of 279 patients with septic shock were included. We categorized the patients into quintiles based on RDW as follows: 19.4%. Results: Red cell distribution width was a strong predictor of hospital mortality with a significant risk gradient across RDW quintiles after multivariable adjustment: RDW 13.5% to 15.5% (odds ratio [OR], 4.6; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0-23.4; P = .06); RDW 15.6% to 17.5% (OR, 8.0; 95% CI, 1.5-41.6; P = .01); RDW 17.6% to 19.4% (OR, 25.3; 95% CI, 4.3-149.2; P 19.4% (OR, 12.3; 95% CI, 2.1-73.3; P = .006), all relative to patients with RDW <13.5%. Similar significant robust associations were present for intensive care unit mortality. Estimating the receiver–operating c...
EST-based analysis of gene expression in the human cochlea

Hearing is one of the vital senses helping to perceive, reflect and communicate with the world around us. Genetics, developmental conditions, mechanical damage, infections, ototoxic medications, and aging are among the factors disabling or deteriorating this sense. The cochlea is a sensory organ responsible for hearing. Over 15,000 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) extracted from this organ had been previously clustered with other sequences and aligned to earlier versions of the human genome and known genes. This is especially important as more genomic and phenotypic data becomes available almost on a daily basis. Many transcripts corresponding to ESTs present in the dataset might not be expressed as proteins, but instead are degraded by nonsense-mediated mRNA decay or other cell surveillance mechanisms. Large-scale sequencing of tissue-specific genes and fast yet reliable mapping of sequences will help to identify key components of sound transduction and speed up progress in hearing research.
New methods of improving parallel fault simulation in synchronous sequential circuits

A highly successful parallel fault simulator, called PROOFS, for synchronous sequential circuits has been reported. The performance of PROOFS has been substantially improved in HOPE. In HOPE, a systematic way of screening out faults with short propagation zone is proposed. We propose several new techniques which further reduce the fault simulation time of HOPE. The new techniques are: functional fault injection, static fault ordering by fanout free regions and dynamic fault ordering of potentially detected faults. The three methods are incorporated into HOPE and called HOPE1.1. HOPE1.1 shows significant improvement in performance for all the benchmark circuits experimented as compared to HOPE. Experimental results show that HOPE1.1 is especially effective for large circuits. For s35932 which is the largest circuit experimented with, the number of events is reduced by 24%, and the CPU time by 53% compared to HOPE.
Time resolved characterization of the polarization state of optical pulses

A technique to determine the time evolution of the polarization state within an optical pulse is described and example measurements of pulses affected by polarization-mode dispersion are presented.
An overview of test synthesis tools

The two types of tools now commercially available implement the basic elements of first synthesis differently. Selecting among various gate- and RT-level tools requires a careful evaluation considering issues like desired circuit quality, methodology circuit area, and integration. >
Learning Along With Others

Abstract Unlike how most psychology experiments on learning operate, people learning to do a task typically do so in the context of other people learning to do the same task. In these situations, people take advantage of others’ solutions, and may modify and extend these solutions, thereby affecting the solutions available to others. We are interested in the group patterns that emerge when people can see and imitate the solutions, innovations, and choices of their peers over several rounds. In one series of experiments and computer simulations, we find that there is a systematic relation between the difficulty of a problem search space and the optimal social network for transmitting solutions. As the difficulty of finding optimal solutions in a search space increases, communication networks that preserve spatial neighborhoods perform best. Restricting people’s access to others’ solutions can help the group as a whole find good, hard-to-discover solutions. In other experiments with more complex search spaces, we find evidence for several heuristics governing individuals’ decisions to imitate: imitating prevalent options, imitating options that become increasingly prevalent, imitating high-scoring options, imitating during the early stages of a multiround search process, and imitating solutions similar to one’s own solution. Individuals who imitate tend to perform well, and more surprisingly, individuals also perform well when they are in groups with other individuals who imitate frequently. Taken together, our experiments on collective social learning reveal laboratory equivalents of prevalent social phenomena such as bandwagons, strategy convergence, inefficiencies in the collective coverage of a problem space, social dilemmas in exploration/exploitation, and reciprocal imitation.
Genital hiatus size is associated with and predictive of apical vaginal support loss

Background Recognition and assessment of apical vaginal support defects remains a significant challenge in the evaluation and management of prolapse. There are several reasons that this is likely: (1) Although the Pelvic Organ Prolapse-Quantification examination is the standard prolapse staging system used in the Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery field for reporting outcomes, this assessment is not used commonly in clinical care outside the subspecialty; (2) no clinically useful and accepted definition of apical support loss exists, and (3) no consensus or guidelines address the degree of apical support loss at which an apical support procedure should be performed routinely. Objective The purpose of this study was to identify a simple screening measure for significant loss of apical vaginal support. Study Design This was an analysis of women with Pelvic Organ Prolapse-Quantification stage 0-IV prolapse. Women with total vaginal length of ≥7 cm were included to define a population with "normal" vaginal length. Univariable and linear regression analyses were used to identify Pelvic Organ Prolapse-Quantification points that were associated with 3 definitions of apical support loss: the International Consultation on Incontinence, the Pelvic Floor Disorders Network revised eCARE, and a Pelvic Organ Prolapse-Quantification point C cut-point developed by Dietz et al. Linear and logistic regression models were created to assess predictors of overall apical support loss according to these definitions. Receiver operator characteristic curves were generated to determine test characteristics of the predictor variables and the areas under the curves were calculated. Results Of 469 women, 453 women met the inclusion criterion. The median Pelvic Organ Prolapse-Quantification stage was III, and the median leading edge of prolapse was +2 cm (range, –3 to 12 cm). By stage of prolapse (0-IV), mean genital hiatus size (genital hiatus; mid urethra to posterior fourchette) increased: 2.0 ± 0.5, 3.0 ± 0.5, 4.0 ± 1.0, 5.0 ± 1.0, and 6.5 ± 1.5 cm, respectively ( P 3.75 cm was highly predictive of apical support loss (area under the curve, >0.8 in all models). Conclusions Increasing genital hiatus size is associated highly with and predictive of apical vaginal support loss. Specifically, the Pelvic Organ Prolapse-Quantification measurement genital hiatus of ≥3.75 cm is highly predictive of apical support loss by all study definitions. This simple measurement can be used to screen for apical support loss and the need for further evaluation of apical vaginal support before planning a hysterectomy or prolapse surgery.
Detection of Autophagy in Caenorhabditis elegans by Western Blotting Analysis of LGG-1

A common way to measure the induction of autophagy in yeast and mammalian cells is to compare the amount of Atg8/LC3-I with that of Atg8-PE/LC3-II by using western blot analysis. This is because changes in the amount of LC3-II correlate closely with changes in the number of autophagosomes present in cells. Atg8/LC3 is initially synthesized as an unprocessed form, which is proteolytically processed to form Atg8/LC3-I, and then this is modified into the phosphatidylethanolamine (PE)-conjugated Atg8-PE/LC3-II form. Atg8/LC3-II is membrane bound, whereas Atg8-PE/LC3-I is cytosolic. By associating with both the inner and outer membranes of the autophagosome, Atg8-PE/LC3-II is the only autophagy reporter that is reliably associated with completed autophagosomes. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the ortholog of Atg8/LC3 is LGG-1. Here, we discuss how changes in the levels of LGG-1-II (and the paralog LGG-2) protein can, with appropriate controls, be used to monitor autophagy activity in nematodes and present a protocol for monitoring changes in the protein levels of different forms of LGG-1 by western blotting.
Production of phenol oxidases and peroxidases by wood-rotting fungi

Quantitative studies of extracellular phenol oxidase and peroxidase production by eight species of wood-rotting fungi were performed. Coriolus versicolor, Phellinus igniarius and Lycoperdon sp. exh...
Application of Induced Pulmonary Arterial Collateral Circulation as Collateral Supply to the Heart.

SummaryWhen adhesions are created between the heart and a lung the pulmonary artery of which has been ligated, abundant large connections develop between the coronary arteries and vastly expanded bronchial arteries. The efficiency of these connecting vessels as collateral blood supply to the heart is under investigation.
Does the preclinical evidence for functional remyelination following myelinating cell engraftment into the injured spinal cord support progression to clinical trials

This article reviews all historical literature in which rodent-derived myelinating cells have been engrafted into the contused adult rodent spinal cord. From 2500 initial PubMed citations identified, human cells grafts, bone mesenchymal stem cells, olfactory ensheathing cells, non-myelinating cell grafts, and rodent grafts into hemisection or transection models were excluded, resulting in the 67 studies encompassed in this review. Forty five of those involved central nervous system (CNS)-derived cells, including neural stem progenitor cells (NSPCs), neural restricted precursor cells (NRPs) or oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs), and 22 studies involved Schwann cells (SC). Of the NSPC/NPC/OPC grafts, there was no consistency with respect to the types of cells grafted and/or the additional growth factors or cells co-grafted. Enhanced functional recovery was reported in 31/45 studies, but only 20 of those had appropriate controls making conclusive interpretation of the remaining studies impossible. Of those 20, 19 were properly powered and utilized appropriate statistical analyses. Ten of those 19 studies reported the presence of graft-derived myelin, 3 reported evidence of endogenous remyelination or myelin sparing, and 2 reported both. For the SC grafts, 16/21 reported functional improvement, with 11 having appropriate cellular controls and 9/11 using proper statistical analyses. Of those 9, increased myelin was reported in 6 studies. The lack of consistency and replication among these preclinical studies are discussed with respect to the progression of myelinating cell transplantation therapies into the clinic.
SKY-01 Type Digital Control Automatic Pressure Calibration System

The paper introduces the constitution performance index of SKY-01 type digital control automatic pressure calibration system, describes in detail the operation function and process of desktop computer. The calibration system has the characters of easy operation high automation level, and has the function of electronic saving and indexing for the convenience of equipment management. The system is welcomed by the operators.