cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Microstructural integrity characterization of cement-based construction materials

Abstract In this paper, a new micromechanical framework to characterize the microstructural integrity and predict the effective properties of multi-phase particulate composites is presented. Within the framework, a new scalar micromechanical parameter is identified and used to derive new expressions for the effective elastic properties of particulate composites using the mean-field homogenization technique. The derived equations are then generalized for composites with multiple phase constituents. The generality of the proposed framework is demonstrated by combining the derived equations with the existing homogenization techniques such as the Mori–Tanaka method and the Generalized Maxwell’s Approach (GMA). The results show that the theory delivers consistent estimates of the effective properties of two-phase elastic composite materials. The new scalar micromechanical parameter is also used to characterize the microstructural integrity of both asphalt mixtures and Portland cement concrete. The results show that the new scalar micromechanical parameter correlates well with multiple key fundamental properties of asphalt concrete mixture, including the creep rate, the fracture energy density, the endurance limit, and the damage rate parameters. The results also show that the new micromechanical framework can be used to accurately predict the effective modulus properties of Portland cement concrete mixtures.
Bridging the Gap Between Semantic Planning and Continuous Control for Mobile Manipulation Using a Graph-Based World Representation

We present our ongoing efforts to create a mobile manipulation database tool, a flexible multi-modal representation supporting persistent life-long adaptation for autonomous service robots in every-day environments. Its application to a prototypical domain illustrates how it provides symbol grounding to a reasoning system capable of learning new concepts, couples semantic planning with whole-body prioritized control, and supports exploration of uncertain and dynamic environments.
Localized fairness: a rewriting semantics

Fairness is a rich phenomenon: we have weak and strong fairness, and many different variants of those concepts: transition fairness, object/process fairness, actor fairness, position fairness, and so on, associated with specific models or languages, but lacking a common theoretical framework. This work uses rewriting semantics as a common theoretical framework for fairness. A common thread tying together the different fairness variants is the notion of localization: fairness must often be localized to specific entities in a system. For systems specified as rewrite theories localization can be formalized by making explicit the subset of variables in a rule corresponding to the items that must be localized. In this way, localized fairness becomes a parametric notion, that can be easily specialized to model a very wide range of fairness phenomena. After formalizing these concepts and proving basic results, the paper studies in detail both a relative and an absolute LTL semantics for rewrite theories with localized fairness requirements, and shows that it is always possible to pass from the relative to the absolute semantics by means of a theory transformation. This allows using a standard LTL model checker to check properties under fairness assumptions.
Bayesian non-parametric multivariate statistical models for testing association between quantitative traits and candidate genes in structured populations

Summary. Population-based linkage disequilibrium mapping permits finer scale mapping than linkage analysis. However, the population-based association mapping is subject to false positive results due to the population structure and the kinship between the samples. Although there is interest in simultaneously testing the association between a candidate gene and the multiple phenotypes of interest, the currently available association mapping methods are limited to univariate traits only. Here we present a new method for population-based multitrait candidate gene association mapping as a Bayesian semiparametric approach, where the error distribution is flexibly modelled via a multivariate mixture of Polya trees centred on the family of multivariate normal distributions. The method that we develop accounts for the population structure and the complex relatedness between the samples. We compare the new proposal in type I error rate and power with the existing multivariate version of the parametric model of Yu and co-workers and Li's univariate semiparametric model by using the previously published two type Arabidopsis thaliana flowering data sets of association mapping, as well as simulated data.
Japanese Apparel Market for U.S. Producers

Japanese Apparel Market for U.S. Producers This report investigated the Japanese apparel market for U.S. apparel producers. This investigation includes: (1) an overview of the Japanese apparel import market, (2) detailed U.S. apparel export patterns to the Japanese market, and (3) a comparison of U.S. apparel products to products from export competitors, namely China and Italy. This paper utilized secondary data to explain U.S. apparel export patterns with the Japanese market. This investigation provided a new glimpse of the current Japanese apparel market to foreign producers, which has been considered extremely attractive, but hard to succeed with many examples of failures.
Proof of Concept for Operation House Call for Underserved Parkinson’s Disease Patients (P2.049)

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of caring for patient’s with Parkinson’s disease (PD) in a rural home-based setting and to have movement disorders fellows coordinate and manage all health care delivery. Background: The University of Florida Center for Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration established operation “housecall” to serve patients with PD who could not otherwise afford to travel to an expert center or to pay for medical care. PD is known to lead to significant disability, frequent hospitalizations, early nursing home placement and morbidity. Methods: Movement disorders fellows travelled to the home(s) of underserved PD patients and coordinated the care of eight patients. The diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease was confirmed using standardized criteria, and a Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale was performed and best treatment practices delivered. Results: All eight patients have been followed longitudinally every 3 to 6 months in the home setting, and they remain functional and independent. None have been hospitalized for PD related complications. Each patient has a new updatable electronic medical record. All operation housecall cases are presented during video rounds, for the interdisciplinary PD team can make recommendations for care (neurology, neurosurgery, neuropsychology, psychiatry, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and social work). Two operation housecall patients have successfully received deep brain stimulation (DBS). Financial support for medical supplies and transportation remains privately funded. Conclusion: This program provides a proof of concept for PD housecalls. Operation housecall provides underserved PD patients’ with quality medical care, allows them to remain in their home setting, and may prevent hospitalizations. Advanced medical care such as evaluation for DBS is possible. This program could provide a proof of concept for the construction of a larger visiting physician or nurse program. Acknowledgements: This program is supported by the Smallwood Foundation and the National Parkinson Foundation Center of Excellence located at the University of Florida. Disclosure: Dr. Hack has nothing to disclose. Dr. Akbar has nothing to disclose. Dr. Eilers has nothing to disclose. Dr. Rundle-Gonzalez has nothing to disclose. Dr. Martinez-Ramirez has nothing to disclose. Dr. Morita has nothing to disclose. Dr. Malaty has received personal compensation for activities with Prime-CME as a speaker. Dr. Malaty has received research support from the National Parkinson Foundation, Michael J. Fox Foundation, Tourette Syndrome Association for Parkinson, National Institutes of Health, and Abbott. Dr. Okun has received royalty payments from Demos, Humana, Amazon and Cambridge. Dr. Okun has received research support from the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the National Parkinson Foundation, the Parkinson Alliance, the Smallwood Foundation, the Tourette Syndrome Association, the Bachmann-Strauss Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health.
Tort reform by contract

The author argues that there is a current crisis in tort law and advocates that a return to a more widespread use of contracts in three areas - product liability, medical malpractice, and some aspects of automobile accidents. Such contracts, he suggests, should be allowed by the courts.
The Force of Gravity

While the theory of Newtonian potentials has various aspects, it is best introduced as a body of results on the properties of forces which are characterized by Newtons Law of Universal Gravitation1: Every particle of matter in the universe attracts every other particle, with a force whose direction is that of the line joining the two, and whose magnitude is directly as the product of their masses, and inversely as the square of their distance from each other. If, however, potential theory were restricted in its applications to problems in gravitation alone, it could not hold the important place which it does, not only in mathematical physics, but in pure mathematics as well. In the physical world, we meet with forces of the same character acting between electric charges, and between the poles of magnets. But as we proceed, it will become evident that potential theory may also be regarded as the theory of a certain differential equation, known as LAPLACE’S. This differential equation characterizes the steady flow of heat in homogeneous media, it characterizes the steady flow of ideal fluids, of steady electric currents, and it occurs fundamentally in the study of the equilibrium of elastic solids.
Cloning of the recA gene from a free-living leptospire and distribution of RecA-like protein among spirochetes.

Abstract A recombinant plasmid carrying the recA gene of Leptospira biflexa serovar patoc was isolated from a cosmid library of genomic DNA by complementation of an Escherichia coli recA mutation. The cloned serovar patoc recA gene efficiently restored resistance to UV radiation and methyl methanesulfonate. Recombination proficiency was also restored, as measured by the formation of Lac+ recombinants from duplicated mutant lacZ genes. Additionally, the cloned recA gene increased the spontaneous and mitomycin C-induced production of lambda phage in lysogens of an E. coli recA mutant. The product of the cloned recA gene was identified in maxicells as a polypeptide with an Mr of 43,000. Antibodies prepared against the E. coli RecA protein cross-reacted with the serovar patoc RecA protein, indicating structural conservation. Southern hybridization data showed that the serovar patoc recA gene has diverged from the recA gene of L. interrogans, Leptonema illini, and E. coli. With the exception of the RecA protein of L. interrogans serovar hardjo, the RecA protein of the Leptospira serovars and L. illini were synthesized at elevated levels following treatment of cells with nalidixic acid. The level of detectable RecA correlated with previous studies demonstrating that free-living cells of L. biflexa serovars and L. illini were considerably more resistant to DNA-damaging agents than were those of parasitic L. interrogans serovars. RecA protein was not detected in cells of virulent Treponema pallidum or Borrelia burgdorferi.
Section on Urology: Report of the Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California, 1995

The Section on Urology conducted its annual Scientific Meeting at the American Academy of Pediatrics Meeting in San Francisco, California, on October 14 through 18, 1995. Two-hundred eighty-three abstracts were submitted with 157 (55%) accepted for presentation. Eighty percent of the abstracts were contributed from the United States or Canada and 20% were received from other foreign institutions. Stuart B. Bauer, MD, from Boston, Massachusetts, presided over the meeting as chairperson of the Section on Urology. The annual John K. Lattimer Lecture was an update on pediatric renal transplantation presented by Oscar Salvatierra, Jr. MD, Professor of Surgery, Urology and Pediatrics; and Director of the Pediatric Renal Transplantation Program, Stanford University (Palo Alto, California). The American Urological Association lectureship was given by Robert L. Chevalier, MD, Professor and Vice Chairman, Chief, Division of Pediatric Nephrology of the University of Virginia (Charlottesville, Virginia). He discussed developmental renal physiology in the premature, low birth weight infant. The panel discussed urologic and gynecologic needs of the disabled female and was developed in cooperation with the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. The panel was chaired by Richard C. Rink, MD, from Indianapolis, Indiana and members included Dr Rink, S. Jean Emans, MD, and Mark R. Laufer, MD, from Boston, Massachusetts, and David Muram, MD, from Memphis, Tennessee. This article will summarize papers of interest to the general pediatrician. ANTENATAL HYDRONEPHROSIS Antenatal hydronephrosis continues to be a perplexing problem for the pediatric urologist. The role of fetal intervention for obstructive uropathy re mains controversial.
The Tensor Deep Stacking Network Toolkit

In this paper we introduce the Tensor Deep Stacking Network (T-DSN) Toolkit, an implementation of the T-DSN deep learning architecture. The toolkit consists of a Python library and a set of accompanying helper scripts that allow you to train and evaluate T-DSN models. The toolkit is designed to be portable, modular, efficient and parallelized. Our goal for the toolkit is to promote research on this and related deep learning architectures. The T-DSN Toolkit is open source and free for non-commercial use. In this paper, we summarize the core functionality of the toolkit and discuss its design and implementation. We also present a new set of experiments on standard machine learning datasets, demonstrating the model's effectiveness.
Timing Attacks in Low-Latency Mix Systems

A mix is a communication proxy that attempts to hide the correspondence between its incoming and outgoing messages. Timing attacks are a significant challenge for mix-based systems that wish to support interactive, low-latency applications. However, the potency of these attacks has not been studied carefully. In this paper, we investigate timing analysis attacks on low-latency mix systems and clarify the threat they pose. We propose a novel technique, defensive dropping, to thwart timing attacks. Through simulations and analysis, we show that defensive dropping can be effective against attackers who employ timing analysis.
2011 Federal Tax Update

This update explains several developments in the substantive federal income, estate and gift tax laws affecting individual taxpayers and small businesses. It contains summaries of significant cases, rulings, regulations, legislation and other matters from August, 2010, through August, 2011. This update generally does not discuss developments in the areas of qualified plans or the taxation of business entities (except to a very limited extent).
Cross-coupled filtered-X LMS algorithm and lattice structure for active noise control systems

A new active noise control algorithm is presented. It uses two cross-coupled filtered-X least mean square (LMS) adaptive filters to perform noise control and on-line error-path modeling simultaneously. A lattice structure is developed to decorrelate the reference input, which improves the convergence rate of the proposed algorithm. >
On the solid angle subtended by a circular disc

Abstract The solid angle subtended by a circular disc from a point is approximated by the analytical expression for the solid angle for n-sided, regular polygon of area equal to that of the disc. When the point is farther from the plane of the disc than 0.1 the disc radius, polygons of 20 and 36 sides are required for approximating the solid angle subtended by the disc to within 1 and 0.1% respectively. In addition, the average solid angles subtended by circular discs from circular discs are calculated and given in tabular form for a range of disc sizes.
THE THOUGHT OF LEO BAECK: A RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY FOR A TIME OF ADVERSITY

More than forty years after his death at the age of eighty-three in 1956, the extraordinary character of the German Rabbi Leo Baeck remains a source of astonishment. Accounts of acquaintances and associates portray a man whose sense of obligation to others under the most severe of circumstances repeatedly overrode concern for his own welfare. Leo Baeck was a theologian, whose major writings, some now nearly a century old, continue to arouse interest both in Germany and abroad, as indicated by the current appearance of a six-volume critical edition of his collected works.2 He was, as well, a communal leader. Beginning in 1933, he presided over the Reichsvertretung der deutschen Juden, and from 1939 the Reichsvereinigung derJuden in Deutschland, the representative bodies of all GermanyJewry, whose difficult task it was to maintain Jewish institutions and Jewish morale during the years of Nazi domination. Representing a middle position between Zionists and nonZionists, as well as between separatist Orthodox and radical Reform Jews, he enjoyed an extraordinarily broad support in the community. He was also a teacher, who continued to instruct students at the Hochschule (the Nazis lowered its status to that of Lehranstalt) fiur die Wissenschaft desJudentums, the Liberal Jewish seminary in Berlin, until a few months before his deportation early in 1943. Five times arrested, Baeck displayed a dignity and fearlessness before the Nazi authorities that utterly confuted the antisemitic stereotype of the coweringJew. For a time he also maintained connections with the German resistance movement. Well known is the thinly veiled anti-Nazi prayer that he composed for reading in all German synagogues on the Day of Atonement in 1935, which induced the Gestapo to confiscate it and to arrest its author.3 Less familiar is the only recently published "Word of Consolation" sent to Jewish communities a few weeks earlier
Yeast breads containing oils varied in fatty acid composition: Effects on sensory panel acceptability

Choice of the shortening ingredient in bread products has functionality effects and health implications. Little information is available on effects of various shortening ingredients on palatability and acceptability. The objective of the current study was to compare the acceptability of yeast-leavened wheat breads containing shortenings containing predominantly saturated fatty acids (coconut oil), monounsaturated fatty acids (canola oil) or unsaturated fatty acids (unhydrogenated soybean oil). Breads were prepared using a standardized formula and method. These were evaluated by a 16-member, semi-trained panel for color, flavor, texture, tenderness and overall acceptability using a seven-point hedonic scale. No significant differences in color and texture were defined; however, canola oil bread was judged significantly superior to soybean oil bread in flavor, and both of these breads were found to be significantly superior to coconut oil bread in flavor, tenderness, and overall acceptability.
CT and MRI manifestations of luxatio erecta humeri and a review of the literature

Abstract Aim We aimed to study luxatio erecta humeri using advanced imaging modalities. Method Patients with luxatio erecta humeri and a subsequent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and/or computed tomography (CT) scan were included in this study. Results Among 10 identified cases, we detected 2 rotator cuff, 4 labral, and 2 inferior glenohumeral ligament tears as well as 2 glenohumeral cartilage defects. We observed six comminuted displaced greater tuberosity fractures, four anterior inferior glenoid fractures, and four impaction fractures of humeral head. Conclusion This study provides detailed radiologic findings associated with luxatio erecta humeri using MRI and CT.
New assay technique for reactions that produce radioactive gases

Abstract A new technique is described for the radioassay of gas-producing reactions. The technique is simple and rapid and is useful for the determination of enzyme activities on a routine basis. The technique involves a closed reaction system and gas-solid scintillation counting with scintillator plastic.
How Can We Help People to Develop Lean and Healthy Bodies? A New Perspective

The dominant metabolic theory of obesity is that it develops from excessive positive energy balance. However, preventive interventions based on this theory have often been ineffective. This article proffers a developmental theory, which is based on recent epidemiologic research and a new line of research dealing with differentiation of immature stem cells into mature tissues. This theory posits that the mechanical stimulation provided by vigorous physical activity (PA) causes immature stem cells to differentiate into lean tissue cells rather than into fat cells. If this new theory is confirmed by future research, it implies that interventions that involve adequate doses of vigorous PA, along with appropriate diet composition, may be especially effective in promoting development of healthy bodies.
Spectator consumption practices at the Roman games

Purpose – This study seeks to further understanding of spectator consumption practices by applying modern consumer theory in a much different historical context: the gladiator games during the time of the Roman Empire. The objective is to validate modern ideas of consumption practices with evidence from the past.Design/methodology/approach – The research draws from a sampling of classical and contemporary literatures as well as the interpretation of the images and inscriptions delineated on archaeological artifacts such as relief sculptures on sarcophagi, floor mosaics, fresco paintings, and terracotta and glass lamps. The visual content and consumption themes of selected objects are described and analyzed.Findings – Spectators at the Roman games used these events for the sake of the experience, for integrating themselves into their community, for classifying themselves in a certain group category, and for interacting and socializing with other people. As in modern sporting events, consuming the Roman gam...
The Changing Content of Psychosomatics: Reflection of the Growth of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry?

Psychosomatics is the official journal of the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine, the national organization of consultation-liaison psychiatrists. The articles published in Psychosomatics, therefore, represent an important element of the scholarship of consultation-liaison psychiatry, and the evolution of this literature should reflect the development of its knowledge base in the past 40 years. This paper analyzes the content of Psychosomatics over this period and discusses the scientific, academic, and social (including economic and political) factors that have influenced the changes in the content of the journal and, thus, the subspecialty.
Experimental staphylococcal mastitis in the mouse: the induction of chronic mastitis and its response to antibiotic therapy.

Abstract Two strains of Staphylococcus aureus derived from chronic bovine mastitis caused an acute reaction when inoculated into the mammary glands of mice. The response in mice was converted to a chronic mastitis if a neutrophil population was elicited in the alveolar lumen by intramammary inoculation of endotoxin 6 h before staphylococcal challenge. Chronic mastitis was established in this way with each of the strains of S. aureus and in each case the infection failed to respond to intramammary therapy with sodium cloxacillin. The results are discussed in relation to bovine mastitis.
The use of lectins to select subpopulations of insect cells

Lectins have been used in glycoprotein purification, oligosaccharide analysis, and in cell-selection processes. Here, we utilize lectins in a rational attempt to select a subpopulation of insect cells (Estigmene acrea, EAA) with more complete glycosylation capacity by selecting cells that display more complex-type cell-surface oligosaccharides than the general population of cells. A lectin (ECA) from Erythrina cristagalli, specific for galactose β(1-4)N-acetylglucosamine, was found to be useful in recognizing a small subpopulation of Sf-21 and EAA cells. Cell selections were performed by lectin affinity chromatography and by selective agglutination. Analysis by lectin blots of cell lysates and a quantitative agglutination assay did not reveal significant differences in regard to the level of complex glycosylation between the negatively and positively selected subpopulations of EAA cells. Statistically significant differences in binding the fluorescently labeled lectin, ECA-TRITC were observed even 30 passages post-selection between EAA subpopulations that were negatively and positively selected by lectin affinity chromatography. There were no differences in the two subpopulations in the ECA quantitative agglutination assay. Thus, the hypothesis that a subpopulation differing in glycosylation capacity exists and that such a subpopulation can be identified by the character of cell-surface oligosaccharides is plausible. However, these differences appear to be too small to be of practical use. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 64: 616–619, 1999.
On the seasonal sea surface temperature variations in the tropical Pacific

In this paper, we investigated physical processes that control the seasonal variations of sea surface temperature in the tropical Pacific, using an intermediate ocean model. It is found that the westward propagation of sea surface temperature along the equator is attributed to dynamic response of the ocean to the wind (that consists of 3-dimensional temperature advection), whereas the northward propagation of sea surface temperature in the eastern Pacific results from the thermodynamic response of the ocean to the surface heat flux, primarily shortwave radiation that includes the effect of low-level stratus clouds. The remote response of the eastern Pacific sea surface temperature to seasonally varying wind in the western Pacific is of secondary importance, compared to the local wind forcing. The results suggest that the mechanism that controls the seasonal cycle of sea surface temperature is different from that associated with El Nino-Southern Oscillation.
On the finite torsion and radial heating of thermoelastic cylinders

Abstract The non-linear response to finite torsion accompanied by arbitrary radial heating of a cylinder of incompressible thermoelastic material with temperature-independent heat flux response is shown to be characterized completely by constitutive data collected from a block of the same material in a state of simple shear with uniform heating normal to the plane of shear.
EOQ revisited: The case of unequal and integral order quantities

Abstract The well-known economic order quantity (EOQ) of inventory control is a stationary ordering policy, which can be rigorously verified using dynamic programming techniques. In this paper, an alternative approach based on mathematical programming is used to prove that the EOQ formula is indeed an optimal stationary policy. Additionally, the impact of integer order quantities is investigated and a counterintuitive result is discovered. In particular, the optimal policy when order quantities are required to be integer is not necessarily stationary. This paper introduces an integer nonlinear programming model whose solution yields the optimal integer ordering policy in an EOQ setting over a finite horizon. Due to the inherent difficulties associated with solving integer nonlinear programming problems, a heuristic order policy based on elementary number theory is introduced. The results of a numerical experiment suggest that the proposed policy generates competitive solutions instantaneously using a spreadsheet.
Control of Hap1-DNA site recognition through the interplay of multiple distinct intermolecular interactions.

Hap I belongs to the Zn 2 Cys 6 zinc binuclear cluster family of transcription factors that typically bind as dimers to symmetric DNA sites containing two CGG triplets separated by spacer DNA. The cluster domain binds CGG while an adjoining C-terminal linker and dimerization helix specifies the length of spacer DNA recognized. Hapl is unusual in binding a direct repeat of CGG triplets, in contacting a TA in the spacer DNA, and in making direct dimer contacts between its cluster domains. Binding of Hap1 fragments to different DNA sites was tested to determine how these interactions control Hap1-DNA recognition. The spacer TA contacts were found to facilitate monomer binding of Hapl to a single CGG. When the spacer-binding residues were deleted, binding was still specific for the direct repeat but was much weaker and appeared to require dimerization. When the dimerization helix and all subsequent C-terminal residues were deleted, the remaining linker, cluster domain, and spacer-binding residues still dimerized on DNA. The energy of this dimerization was comparable to that of the Hap1-spacer TA interaction. Moving the TA from the spacer to a position following the second CGG maintained Hap1 monomer binding but greatly weakened dimerization. This suggested that binding a TA after the second CGG triplet required a geometry that impaired dimerization with a Hapl molecule on the first CGG. The geometric restraints for optimal TA binding and dimerization thus drive Hap1 selectivity for CGG direct repeat sites that contain an asymmetrically positioned spacer TA following the first CGG triplet.
Stem Cell–Derived Cardiomyocytes as a Tool for Studying Proarrhythmia: A Better Canary in the Coal Mine?

Proarrhythmia is a leading cause of hospitalization for adverse drug events, and screening for proarrhythmic potential resulting from QT interval prolongation has become a major component of the development process for any new drug candidate. Conventional wisdom, now embedded in regulatory guidelines from the Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory agencies, holds that drug block of the rapid component of the cardiac delayed-rectifier potassium current, I Kr, is the major proximate mechanism underlying prolongation of cardiac action potentials, an effect that leads to early afterdepolarizations in vitro and is manifest on the surface ECG as QT prolongation and occasionally torsades de pointes.1,2 As a result, regulatory guidance suggests an early look at I Kr blocking potency of new drug entities, even recognizing that other mechanisms, some newly described,3,4 may contribute. Article see p 1677 However, the correlation between I Kr block and QT interval prolongation is imperfect. Multiple mechanisms may underlie this “disconnect,” and a reasonable generalization is that I Kr is but one (albeit important) component of normal cardiac repolarization, and abnormalities in expression or function of other components of repolarization may, in turn, modulate the net effect of I Kr block on action potentials in cardiac myocytes and on QT interval and arrhythmia susceptibility in the whole heart. The logical extension of this line of reasoning is that screening for proarrhythmic potential should include the evaluation of not only drug effects on individual ionic currents such as I Kr contributing to repolarization but also the integrated effect of drugs on action potentials in vitro and on the QT interval in animal models and in humans. In conventional drug development programs, this is commonly accomplished by comparing the effects of a candidate drug molecule on QT intervals in human subjects with …
Luminescent studies of fluorescent chromophore-doped silica aerogels for flat panel display applications

The remarkable optical and electronic properties of doped and undoped silica aerogels establish their utility as unique, mulitfunctional host materials for fluorescent dyes and other luminescent materials for display and imaging applications. We present results on the photoluminescence, absorption, and photoluminescence excitation spectra of undoped silica aerogels and aerogels doped with Er{sup 3+}, rhodamine 6G (R6G), and fluorescein. 4 refs., 12 figs.
Quantitative trait loci affecting peak bone mineral density in mice

Peak bone mass is a major determinant of risk of osteoporotic fracture. Family and twin studies have found a strong genetic component to the determination of bone mineral density (BMD). However, BMD is a complex trait whose expression is confounded by environmental influences and polygenic inheritance. The number, locations, and effects of the individual genes contributing to natural variation in this trait are all unknown. Experimental animal models provide a means to circumvent complicating environmental factors, and the development of dense genetic maps based on molecular markers now provides opportunities to resolve quantitative genetic variation into individual regions of the genome influencing a given trait (quantitative trait loci, QTL). To begin to identify the heritable determinants of BMD, we have examined genetically distinct laboratory mouse strains raised under strict environmental control. Mouse whole-body bone mineral content by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) correlated strongly with skeletal calcium content by ashing, and peak whole-body BMD by DXA in female mice occurred at ∼80–90 days of age. We therefore determined mean body weight and peak whole body BMD values in 12-week-old female mice from a panel of 24 recombinant inbred (RI) BXD strains, derived from a cross between C57BL/6 and DBA/2 progenitors. The distribution of body weight and BMD values among the strains clearly indicated the presence of strong genetic influences on both of these traits, with an estimated narrow sense heritability of 60% and 35%, respectively. The patterns of differences in body weight and peak whole body BMD in the BXD strains were then integrated with a large database of genetic markers previously defined in the RI BXD strains to generate chromosome map sites for QTL. After correction for redundancy among the significant correlations, QTL analysis of the BXD RI strain series provisionally identified 10 chromosomal sites linked to peak bone mass development in the female. Several of the identified sites map near genes encoding hormones, structural proteins, and cell surface receptors that are intricately involved in skeletal homeostasis. Four QTL for body weight were also identified. One of these loci was also strongly linked to inherited variation in BMD. This finding suggests that body weight and peak BMD may be influenced by linked genes or perhaps by common genes with pleiotropic effects. Our phenotyping in the RI BXD strains has allowed us to map a number of specific genetic loci strongly related to the acquisition of peak BMD. Confirmation of these findings will likely result in the understanding of which genes control skeletal health.
Allergic reactions to cyclophosphamide: Delayed clinical expression associated with positive immediate skin tests to drug metabolites in five patients

Abstract BACKGROUND: Cyclophosphamide (CP) is one of the relatively few drugs implicated in systemic allergic reactions for which the metabolites are well known. Formation of CP metabolites is a multistep, time-dependent process (hours) with significant interindividual differences. Although allergic reactions to CP have been recorded in 17 previous reports, skin testing with CP or its metabolites has been included in only five. We now describe five patients receiving monthly cycles of intravenous CP whose allergic reactions included clinical features of type I hypersensitivity but were atypical in their markedly delayed onset (i.e., 8 to 16 hours in patients 1 to 4 and 10 days in patient 5). OBJECTIVE: The objective was to investigate these late-developing clinical reactions by skin testing with CP and two of its major metabolites. METHODS: The five patients and a control group receiving intravenous CP uneventfully were studied by the same skin test protocol. RESULTS: The four individuals in the control group were unreactive to CP or its metabolites. All five patients with late-onset allergic reactions had positive immediate skin test results to CP metabolites but not to CP itself. We propose that the allergic reactions in patients 1 to 4 were mediated, wholly or in major part, by IgE antibodies reactive with allergens derived from time-dependent drug metabolites. The 10-day lag time in patient 5 is unexplained. Immunomodulation by the underlying malignancies or by the immunosuppressive drugs could have contributed. CONCLUSION: IgE-mediated allergic drug reactions may have a delayed onset if the allergen is a time-dependent drug metabolite, illustrated in this study by CP. (J ALLERGY CLIN IMMUNOL 1996;97:26-33.)
Information Flows Across Markets: Evidence from China–Backed Stocks Dual–Listed in Hong Kong and New York

Using a bivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) model, we examine patterns of information flows for China–backed stocks that are cross–listed on exchanges in Hong Kong and New York. Results analyzing the dual–listed stocks indicate significant mutual feedback of information between domestic (Hong Kong) and offshore (New York) markets in terms of pricing and volatility. Stocks listed on the domestic market appear to play a more significant role of information transmission in the pricing process, whereas stocks listed on the offshore market play a bigger role in volatility spillover.
James K. Polk and the Mystery of Amor Patriæ

Between 1845 and 1858, a mysterious New Haven, Connecticut, resident wrote letters to President James K. Polk and proslavery pamphlets under the pseudonym “Amor Patriae.” Probing his writings for clues, this essay unearths the author's identity and chronicles the busy life that gave rise to his views on slavery, religion, and education.
Prosocial Behavior, Job Complexity, and Suggestion Contribution Under Gainsharing Plans:

This article reports a study of five manufacturing organizations with performance gainsharing plans, in which 100 nonmanagement employees responded to job characteristics scales from the Job Diagnostic Survey and were evaluated by their supervisors with respect to prosocial organizational behavior. The number of suggestions employees contributed to formal employee involvement systems was found to be positively related to perceptions of job complexity. A significant interaction revealed that suggestion making was also positively related to assisting behavior (a measure of extra role prosocial behavior), but only for employees reporting that they experienced relatively high levels of job complexity. Suggestion making was not found to be related to compliance (a measure of role-prescribed prosocial behavior). The authors present implications for further research on prosocial organizational behavior and the management of high-involvement gainsharing plans.
Rebels within the Ranks: Psychologists' Critique of Scientific Authority and Democratic Realities in New Deal America

During the 1930s, psychologists Gordon Allport, Gardner Murphy, and Lois Barclay Murphy emerged from the fields of social and personality psychology to challenge the neo-behavioralist status quo in American social science. Willing to experiment with the idea of 'science' itself, these 'rebels within the ranks' contested ascendent conventions that cast the study of human life in the image of classical physics. Drawing on the intellectual, social, and political legacies of William James' radically empiricist philosophy and radical Social Gospel theology, these three psychologists developed critiques of scientific authority and democratic reality as they worked at the crossroads of the social and the personal in New Deal America. Appropriating models from natural history, they argued for the significance of individuality, contextuality and diversity as scientific concepts as they explored what they envisioned as the nature of democracy, and the democracy of nature.
Isidor Rabi-1944 Nobel laureate in physics.

F e a Institute, Boston, MA (D.P.S.). I sidor Isaac Rabi was awarded the 1944 Nobel Prize in physics for his development of the atomic and molecular beam magnetic resonance method of observing atomic spectra. This method (developed in the 1930s) made it possible to measure the magnetic properties of atoms, atomic nuclei, and molecules. The method is based on measuring the spin of the protons in the atom’s core, a phenomenon known as nuclear magnetic moments. With the application of Rabi’s magnetic resonance method, several mechanical and magnetic properties, as well as the shape, of an atomic nucleus can be deduced. The precise measurements yielded by this method made possible such subsequent applications as the atomic clock, the maser, the laser, and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging used in diagnostic medicine. Rabi’s method provided the central technique for virtually all molecular and atomic beam experimentation. Isidor Rabi was born on July 29, 1898, in Rymanov, Austria (now in Poland). He was the older of 2 children. When Isidor was 1 year old, his family immigrated to the United States, where they settled in New York City. His father became the owner of a grocery store. Rabi’s early education was obtained in the New York City public schools; for his secondary education, he attended the Manual Training High School in Brooklyn, NY. He won a New York State scholarship that enabled him to attend Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. He started his college career in 1916 as an electrical engineering student but soon transferred to a major in chemistry. He obtained the BS degree in 1919. After college graduation, Rabi worked for 3 years as a chemist before returning, in 1922, to Cornell University for graduate work in chemistry. However, he changed his major to physics and, in 1926, was awarded the PhD degree in physics for a thesis on the measurement of the magnetic properties of crystals. Rabi was awarded a 2-year fellowship for postgraduate work in Europe, where he worked with
Single-cell analysis of circulating tumor cells identifies cumulative expression patterns of EMT-related genes in metastatic prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND. Prostate tumors shed circulating tumor cells (CTCs) into the blood stream. Increased evidence shows that CTCs are often present in metastatic prostate cancer and can be alternative sources for disease profiling and prognostication. Here we postulate that CTCs expressing genes related to epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) are strong predictors of metastatic prostate cancer. METHODS. A microfiltration system was used to trap CTCs from peripheral blood based on size selection of large epithelial-like cells without CD45 leukocyte marker. These cells individually retrieved with a micromanipulator device were assessed for cell membrane physical properties using atomic force microscopy. Additionally, 38 CTCs from eight prostate cancer patients were used to determine expression profiles of 84 EMT-related and reference genes using a microfluidics-based PCR system. RESULTS. Increased cell elasticity and membrane smoothness were found in CTCs compared to noncancerous cells, highlighting their potential invasiveness and mobility in the
Characterizing Permanent Deformation and Fracture of Asphalt Mixtures by Using Compressive Dynamic Modulus Tests

Permanent deformation and fracture may develop simultaneously when an asphalt mixture is subjected to a compressive load. The objective of this research is to separate viscoplasticity and viscofracture from viscoelasticity so that the permanent deformation and fracture of the asphalt mixtures can be individually and accurately characterized without the influence of viscoelasticity. The undamaged properties of 16 asphalt mixtures that have two binder types, two air void contents, and two aging conditions are first obtained by conducting nondestructive creep tests and nondestructive dynamic modulus tests. Testing results are analyzed by using the linear viscoelastic theory in which the creep compliance and the relaxation modulus are modeled by the Prony model. The dynamic modulus and phase angle of the undamaged asphalt mixtures remained constant with the load cycles. The undamaged asphalt mixtures are then used to perform the destructive dynamic modulus tests in which the dynamic modulus and phase angle of the damaged asphalt mixtures vary with load cycles. This indicates plastic evolution and crack propagation. The growth of cracks is signaled principally by the increase of the phase angle, which occurs only in the tertiary stage. The measured total strain is successfully decomposed into elastic strain, viscoelastic strain, plastic strain, viscoplastic strain, and viscofracture strain by employing the pseudostrain concept and the extended elastic-viscoelastic correspondence principle. The separated viscoplastic strain uses a predictive model to characterize the permanent deformation. The separated viscofracture strain uses a fracture strain model to characterize the fracture of the asphalt mixtures in which the flow number is determined and a crack speed index is proposed. Comparisons of the 16 samples show that aged asphalt mixtures with a low air void content have a better performance, resisting permanent deformation and fracture.
The action of trypsin and neuraminidase on the synaptic membranes of brain cortex

Abstract The population of intracellular membranes of rat cerebral cortex which exhibited the highest relative specific concentration of bound N- acetylneuraminic acid (NANA) and the highest relative specific activity of acetylcholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.7) (synaptic membranes) was incubated with bacterial neuraminidase and with trypsin under a number of experimental conditions. The electrokinetic profile displayed by the membrane preparation upon zonal density gradient electrophoresis changed as a result of the removal of bound NANA by neuraminidase, while its acetylcholinesterase activity remained unaffected; conversely, the action of trypsin led to the inactivation of acetylcholinesterase before any significant alterations of the electrophoretic mobility of the membranes became apparent. Prolonged incubation alone or in the presence of either neuraminidase or trypsin, resulted in the loss of membrane electrophoretic homogeneity, a circumstance which, most likely, reflects a disaggregation of the structural matrix of the membrane.
The impact of perceived social support and negative life events on bulimic symptoms.

Abstract Objective The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the relationship between social support, negative life events, and disordered eating using a longitudinal design. More specifically, we examined whether the interaction between perceived social support and occurrence of negative life events would predict symptoms of eating disorders. Method Two hundred seventy female undergraduate students completed self-report questionnaires at two time points to assess perceived social support, negative life events experienced, and current psychopathology. Results Low social support and a greater number of negative life events interacted to predict increased bulimic symptoms, but not restrictive eating tendencies or symptoms of depression or anxiety. Discussion Low perceived social support in the face of negative events may exacerbate bulimic symptoms. Management of interpersonal problems and the enhancement of social skills may be important targets in the treatment of eating disorders.