cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Theory of Terrorist Leadership (and its Consequences for Leadership Targeting)

States often target terrorist leaders with the belief that the leader's death or capture will cause the terrorist organization to collapse. Yet the history of this strategy of “leadership targeting” provides a mixed record—for every example of effectiveness, there are similar examples of ineffectiveness. The central question of this article is: what makes a terrorist leader important? Specifically, what does a terrorist leader do that no one else can do (or do as well) for the organization? To answer this question, I develop a theory of terrorist leadership that argues that leaders might potentially perform two main functions: they can provide inspiration and/or operational direction (or not for both). I also theorize as to how and why the provision of these functions changes over time as the organization itself changes. The consequences for leadership targeting flow naturally from this theory—when leaders provide these functions to the organization, leadership targeting is most likely to be effective. Ca...
A method to detect communities with stability in social networks

We propose stable community detection (SCD), a framework to effectively identify stable communities in online social networks (OSNs). Our framework works by first enriching the input network with the mutual relationship estimation of all links and then discovering stable communities using a lumped Markov chain model. SCD has the advantage of handling the real model of OSNs with weighted reciprocity relationships. This approach is also supported by a key connection between the persistence probability of a community and its local topology.To certify the efficiency and stability of the discovered communities, we test SCD on both synthesized datasets and real-world social traces, including the NetHEPT collaboration, Foursquare, Twitter and Facebook social networks, in reference to the consensus of other state-of-the-art detection methods. Competitive experimental results confirm the quality and efficacy of the proposed framework on identifying stable communities in OSNs.
Bioavailability of Sulfadiazine in Rabbits Using Tablets Prepared by Direct Compression and Fluidized-Bed Granulation

Experimental sulfadiazine tablets prepared by direct compression, using a commercially available direct compression tablet mass, were compared with experimental sulfadiazine tablets prepared by fluidized-bed granulation and commercially available sulfadiazine tablets USP. The values for friability and the time required to release 10 and 50% of the direct compression tablets were between those of the fluidized-bed tablets and the commercial product. With the commercial tablet as a standard, the extent of bioavailability was determined in rabbits; it was slightly higher for both the direct compression and fluidized-bed tablets. A statistically significant difference was found between the direct compression tablets and the standard with respect to the extent of bioavailability and the time of the peak.
The impact of previous fundoplication on laparoscopic gastric bypass outcomes: a case-control evaluation

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common comorbid condition in morbidly obese gastric bypass candidates. Unfortunately, some patients who ultimately present for bariatric surgery have previously undergone Nissen fundoplication for GERD. Many surgeons consider previous fundoplication to be a relative contraindication to subsequent laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) due to increased technical complexity and risk. We sought to compare the perioperative and long-term outcomes of a cohort of patients who had first undergone fundoplication and ultimately chose to later pursue LRYGB for morbid obesity (revision) to matched control patients. Data were obtained from our prospectively maintained bariatric surgery database. Patients who underwent laparoscopic takedown of a previous fundoplication and conversion to LRYGB were compared to control patients who underwent primary LRYGB. For every revision patient, two control subjects were randomly selected from the database after matching for preoperative body mass index and year of surgery. From July 2002 to April 2011, 14 patients underwent laparoscopic takedown of a previous Nissen fundoplication and then underwent LRYGB. During the same interval, 673 patients underwent LRYGB as a primary procedure for obesity from which 28 were selected as controls. There were no conversions to open laparotomy in any patient. Subjects were similar demographically. Operating time and duration of hospital stay were significantly longer in revision patients. Complications were more frequent in revisions (36% revisions vs. 7% controls, P = 0.03). Excess weight loss 1-year after surgery was excellent in both groups and did not differ (69% revision vs. 69.6% controls, P = 0.93). Although associated with longer operating times, longer duration of hospital stay, and complications, LRYGB after fundoplication is feasible and safe. Long-term weight loss outcomes are similar to those seen following primary LRYGB. Previous fundoplication is not a contraindication to LRYGB.
Modeling and Testing of a Novel Aeroelastic Flutter Energy Harvester

This paper proposes a novel piezoelectric energy harvesting device driven by aeroelastic flutter vibrations of a simple pin connected flap and beam. The system is subject to a modal convergence flutter response above a critical wind speed and then oscillates in a limit cycle at higher wind speeds. A linearized analytical model of the device is derived to include the effects of the three-way coupling between the structural, unsteady aerodynamic, and electrical aspects of the system. A stability analysis of this model is presented to determine the frequency and wind speed at the onset of the flutter instability, which dictates the cut-in conditions for energy harvesting. In order to estimate the electrical output of the energy harvester, the amplitude and frequency of the flutter limit cycle are also investigated. The limit cycle behavior is simulated in the time domain with a semi-empirical nonlinear model that accounts for the effects of the dynamic stall over the flap at large deflections. Wind tunnel test results are presented to determine the empirical aerodynamic model coefficients and to characterize the power output and flutter frequency of the energy harvester as functions of incident wind speed.
Hypnosis and Lamaze method--an exploratory study: a brief communication.

Abstract Literature on obstetrical hypnosis includes the hypotheses (a) that the ideal form of childbirth preparation would combine hypnosis with didactic education and (b) that Lamaze and natural childbirth methods are essentially the same thing as hypnosis. In the present study, 122 parturient women self-selected into three groups: Lamaze-only, hypnosis-only, and Lamaze-plus-hypnosis. Amount of medication, duration of labor, self-ratings, and nurses' ratings were used as dependent measures of pain and satisfaction. Treatment groups were compared by analysis of variance, and correlation coefficients were obtained between the dependent variables and scores on the Stanford Hypnotic Clinical Scale (SHCS). Neither hypnosis, Lamaze, nor a combination of the 2 emerged as a superior form of treatment. The SHCS scores were moderately correlated (r = .55) with self-ratings that Lamaze had lessened pain during delivery. This may suggest a functional similarity between hypnosis and Lamaze, but the present study suf...
Chimeric Primates: Embryonic Stem Cells Need Not Apply

In this issue, Tachibana et al. report the generation of the first chimeras from a nonhuman primate, the rhesus monkey. Unlike mice, rhesus chimeras fail to form when embryonic stem cells are injected into blastocysts. Instead, chimera formation is achieved by aggregation of several four-cell embryos.
Better to organize personal information by folders or by tags?: The devil is in the details

People can organize information items by placing them into folders or by tagging them with labels. Over the years there has been considerable discussion on the relative merits of folders vs. labels. But there is relatively little empirical data directly comparing people's experiences with each model of organization on comparable sets of information. We compared participants' experiences organizing information with both folders and labels over time. Results indicate that each model has its strengths and weaknesses when assessed with respect to basic activities of personal information management (PIM) such as keeping, organizing and re-finding. Results afford a deeper, more detailed understanding of each model in practice. This understanding is achieved by engaging participants in an active, “hands-on” comparison of models over a period of time. Study results point to syntheses in tool support for organizing information that might combine strengths of folders and labels while avoiding the inadvertent introduction of weaknesses from these models.
SPECIFICITY OF THE ANTIBODIES PRODUCED BY SINGLE CELLS FOLLOWING IMMUNIZATION WITH ANTIGENS BEARING TWO TYPES OF ANTIGENIC DETERMINANTS

A combination of double immunofluorescent technique and radioautographic localization of radioactive antigens was used to investigate the question whether single antibody-producing cells can make antibodies of more than one specificity after immunization with antigens bearing more than one determinant. When guinea pig gamma(2)-globulins, containing the F(ab')(2) and Fc determinants, were used to immunize rabbits, a small percentage of cells (3.7%) were stained with both the anti-F(ab')(2) and anti-Fc reagents. These results were shown to be due to the lack of absolute specificity of the detecting antigen and antibody reagents which can be obtained for use in this system. However, when immunological systems such as hapten-protein conjugates were used, and where completely specific antigen and antibody reagents could be prepared, the results were unequivocal. The individual lymph node cells from rabbits or guinea pigs immunized with hapten-protein conjugates produced antibodies against the hapten or antibodies against the antigenic determinants of the carrier molecule, never antibodies against both specificities.
Genome-Wide Detection of Single-Nucleotide and Copy-Number Variations of a Single Human Cell

Kindred cells can have different genomes because of dynamic changes in DNA. Single-cell sequencing is needed to characterize these genomic differences but has been hindered by whole-genome amplification bias, resulting in low genome coverage. Here, we report on a new amplification method-multiple annealing and looping-based amplification cycles (MALBAC)-that offers high uniformity across the genome. Sequencing MALBAC-amplified DNA achieves 93% genome coverage ≥1x for a single human cell at 25x mean sequencing depth. We detected digitized copy-number variations (CNVs) of a single cancer cell. By sequencing three kindred cells, we were able to identify individual single-nucleotide variations (SNVs), with no false positives detected. We directly measured the genome-wide mutation rate of a cancer cell line and found that purine-pyrimidine exchanges occurred unusually frequently among the newly acquired SNVs.
Screening of magnetic moments in PuAm alloy: local density approximation and dynamical mean field theory study.

The puzzling absence of Pu magnetic moments in a PuAm environment is explored using the selfconsistent dynamical mean field theory calculations in combination with the local density approximation. We argue that � -Pu-Am alloys provide an ideal testbed for investigating the screening of moments from the single impurity limit to the dense limit. Several important effects can be studied: volume expansion, shift of the bare Pu on-site f energy level, and the reduction of the hybridization cloud resulting from the collective character of the Kondo effect in the Anderson lattice. These effects compensate each other and result in a coherence scale, which is independent of alloy composition, and is around 800 K.
Permeability and the mechanism of transport of boric acid across the plasma membrane of Xenopus laevis oocytes.

Boron is an essential element for vascular plants and for diatoms, cyanobacteria, and a number of species of marine algal flagellates. Boron was recently established as an essential micronutrient for frogs (Xenopus laevis) and preliminary evidence suggests that it may be essential for all animals. The main form of B, which is available in the natural environment, is in the form of undissociated boric acid. The permeability coefficient and the mechanism of transport of boric acid, however, have not been experimentally determined across any animal membrane or cell. In the experiments described here, the permeability coefficient of boric acid in Xenopus oocytes was 1.5 × 10−6 cm/s, which is very close with the permeability across liposomes made with phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol (the major lipids in the oocyte membrane). Moreover, we investigated the mechanism of boric acid movement across the membrane of Xenopus oocytes and we compared it with the transport across artificial liposomes. The transport of boric acid across Xenopus oocytes was not affected by inhibitors such as HgCl2, phloretin, or 4,4-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2′-d-sulfonic acid (DIDS). The kinetics of B uptake was linear with concentration changes, and the permeability remained the same at different external boric acid concentrations. These results suggest that B transport occurs via simple passive diffusion through the lipid bilayer in Xenopus oocytes.
An Analysis of New Jersey's Day Reporting Center and Halfway Back Programs: Embracing the Rehabilitative Ideal Through Evidence Based Practices

Over the past several years practitioners in the field of Criminal Justice have begun to reaffirm, recognize, and implement the tenets of the rehabilitative ideal within their daily operations. However, despite scholarly research showing that offender rehabilitation can have marked positive affects upon recidivism, many practitioners remain deleteriously entrenched within the “get tough” paradigm. One area of the criminal justice system where the rehabilitative ideal is particularly salient is the field of community corrections, notably parole. The New Jersey State Parole Board (NJSPB) has recently revamped and largely modernized the methods by which it conducts its day-to-day operations in order to reflect tenets which have been empirically shown to “work,” largely identified as best, or evidence based practices. As a result the NJSPB is currently conducting system-wide evaluations of its operations, including those of its service providers. Two of the major services provided to the NJSPB include Day Rep...
A Passive Progressive Damping Design for Ride and Handling

This article presents a method of synthesizing the non-linear compression damping curve to more effectively control the suspension behavior over roads that generate maximum wheel displacements, while maintaining good ride quality on normal roads. One degree of freedom (1DOF) nonlinear mechanical system is used to develop the optimal compression damping curve. All findings obtained using this 1DOF system are then confirmed using a quarter car model, full vehicle ADAMS model, and vehicle tests. The article addresses only the jounce portion of the damping curve which significantly influences the wheel displacement and shock tower load during a pothole event.Copyright © 2013 by General Motors
The effect of various ions on the stability of crystalline salivary amylase in solution

Abstract The rate of inactivation of salivary amylase at 45 °C. and pH 8.0 may be varied from a half-time of 7 min. in a phosphate buffer (reagent-grade), up to 4200 min. in a recrystallized diethylbarbiturate buffer containing cyanide and chloride. The recrystallization and cyanide effect is related to heavy-metal impurities, the chloride effect to its role as an activator.
The fit between technology and structure as a predictor of performance in nursing subunits.

Regression analyses of field study data from 27 nursing subunits supported the hypothesis that a simple measure of fit between technology and structure is a better predictor of quality of care than...
Process monitoring based on classification tree and discriminant analysis

To cope with the computational intensity associated with classification tree analysis and the multicolinearity in the process data, a newly developed process monitoring scheme integrating classification tree and Fisher Discriminant Analysis (FDA) is developed. FDA extracts the most significant components in the original process data and achieves optimal discriminating among different faults. Classification tree uses the FDA scores, which are the lower dimensional representation produced by FDA, to separate observations into different fault classes. A stopping rule is applied to determine the optimal order of FDA. Two case studies are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods compared with the original classification tree. The new method generates better classification accuracy and uses less construction time.
3D Molecular Graphical user Interface AddOn for Analysis Program for EXAFS A New Prospect

This report describes an effort to include threedimensional interactive molecular graphics into the main APEX program, a free, open source, cross platform data analysis package for XRay Absorption Fine Structure (XAFS) data analysis. The latest version of APEX (2.7.3) based on a native TCL/TK tab-notebook style graphical user interface includes among others, user-friendly interactive two-dimensional graphics under BLT, an extension of TCL/TK with advanced printing capabilities; generic format conversion from ASCII to University of Washington binary-type files; new TCL routines for data handling; XMU corrections and multiple scattering fitting. Based on Virtual Rendering System (VRS), the 3D version reads and displays molecular structures for various file formats allowing object rotation, translation and atoms selection for determining interatomic distances and angles. The most important feature of 3D APEX is the interaction with the FEFF program: scattering paths are displayed, selected and are used to generate appropriate χ(k) XAFS spectra. 3D APEX is the only program that offers three-dimensional graphics and in its current form is suitable for routine data analysis and training. At this time the 3D APEX add-on is only available for Windows PC. Addition of more advanced methods of data analysis are planned.
Cytidylic acid "a" trihydrate: structure and conformation.

Cytidylic acid "a" (cytidine 29-monophosphate) crystallizes in the triclinic space group P 1 with two molecules of cytidine monophosphate (C 9 H 14 O 8 N 3 P) and six molecules of water in the unit cell. X-ray analysis of this crystal shows that in both molecules, the base is in the anti conformation, the ribose ring is C(29) -endo puckered, and the hydroxyl O(59) is gauche-gauche. The two molecules are linked by a short hydrogen bond through the phosphate oxygens.
Must scientific diagrams be eliminable? The case of path analysis

Scientists use a variety of modes of representation in their work, but philosophers have studied mainly sentences expressing propositions. I ask whether diagrams are mere conveniences in expressing propositions or whether they are a distinct, ineliminable mode of representation in scientific texts. The case of path analysis, a statistical method for quantitatively assessing the relative degree of causal determination of variation as expressed in a causal path diagram, is discussed. Path analysis presents a worst case for arguments against eliminability since path diagrams are usually presumed to be mathematically or logically “equivalent” in an important sense to sets of linear path equations. I argue that path diagrams are strongly generative, i.e., that they add analytical power to path analysis beyond what is supplied by linear equations, and therefore that they are ineliminable in a strong scientific sense.
Shuttle accident stalls science plans

Plans to make 1986 a uniquely productive year for U.S. space science activities ended in one horrible moment with the January 28, 1986, explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. The joyless scene at Cape Canaveral, Fla., stood in sharp contrast to the overwhelming success of Voyager 2 in its encounter with Uranus 4 days earlier. (Scientific details of that encounter will follow in upcoming issues of Eos.) Of the 15 space shuttle flights planned for fiscal year 1986, beginning October 1, 1985, a total of seven were to have carried scientific payloads for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The remaining eight flights were evenly divided between missions for the U.S. Department of Defense and commercial missions for NASA's paying customers. The explosion caused NASA to put its entire space shuttle program on hold to allow time for engineers to find the cause of the accident and for NASA to implement corrective measures. As Eos went to press, NASA acting administrator William R. Graham had not yet released the names of those who would serve on the formal investigative panel. “I think everybody's agreed that it will take weeks to months to unravel,” said Alexander Dessler, director of the space science laboratory at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center near Huntsville, Ala. Dessler speculated that investigators would begin with a list of hundreds of possible causes for the explosion.
Transcriptome-based differentiation of closely-related Miscanthus lines.

Background Distinguishing between individuals is critical to those conducting animal/plant breeding, food safety/quality research, diagnostic and clinical testing, and evolutionary biology studies. Classical genetic identification studies are based on marker polymorphisms, but polymorphism-based techniques are time and labor intensive and often cannot distinguish between closely related individuals. Illumina sequencing technologies provide the detailed sequence data required for rapid and efficient differentiation of related species, lines/cultivars, and individuals in a cost-effective manner. Here we describe the use of Illumina high-throughput exome sequencing, coupled with SNP mapping, as a rapid means of distinguishing between related cultivars of the lignocellulosic bioenergy crop giant miscanthus (Miscanthus × giganteus). We provide the first exome sequence database for Miscanthus species complete with Gene Ontology (GO) functional annotations. Results A SNP comparative analysis of rhizome-derived cDNA sequences was successfully utilized to distinguish three Miscanthus × giganteus cultivars from each other and from other Miscanthus species. Moreover, the resulting phylogenetic tree generated from SNP frequency data parallels the known breeding history of the plants examined. Some of the giant miscanthus plants exhibit considerable sequence divergence. Conclusions Here we describe an analysis of Miscanthus in which high-throughput exome sequencing was utilized to differentiate between closely related genotypes despite the current lack of a reference genome sequence. We functionally annotated the exome sequences and provide resources to support Miscanthus systems biology. In addition, we demonstrate the use of the commercial high-performance cloud computing to do computational GO annotation.
Initial operation of the NSTX phased array for launching high harmonic fast waves

Abstract A high harmonic fast wave (HHFW) antenna array, designed to provide up to 6 MW of power at 30 MHz for heating and current drive applications, has been operated on the NSTX experiment at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). The full array consists of 12 evenly spaced, identical current strap modules connected in pairs. Each pair is connected as a half-wave resonant loop and is intended to be driven by one transmitter, allowing rapid phase shift between transmitters. A decoupling network compensates for the mutual inductive coupling between adjacent current straps, effectively isolating the six transmitters from one another. Initial rf operation between November 1999 and January 2000 used eight straps to form four loops, which were driven by two transmitters. Two adjacent loops were connected with a λ/2 coax section to be driven out of phase by a single transmitter. Up to 2 MW of power was delivered during this stage of operation; inter-loop phasings of 0–π–π–0 and 0–π–0–π were investigated. Models of the power distribution system indicate the nominal plasma loading was about 5 Ω/m, close to the design value of 6 Ω/m. The HHFW system has now been reconfigured for 12-strap, six-transmitter operation with decouplers; low power vacuum and plasma measurements have begun.
High Jump Analysis

Abstract. This project presents a mathematical analysis of the high jump, a popular track and field event. The first and second stages of the high jump correspond to the athlete’s run along two distinct trajectories. The third stage is the actual jump. We propose an individual model for each of these stages and show how to combine these models to study the dynamics of the entire high jump.
Love as a Story

This article advances the view that love is a story. The article discusses relationships as stories, what our stories are like, kinds of stories, where stories come from, how stories control the development of relationships, the difficulty of changing stories, the role of ideal stories, the cultural matrix of stories and relations to theories of love.
Disruption of copulation in male rats after hypothalamic lesions: a behavioral, anatomical and neurochemical analysis.

Abstract Lesions of the medial forebrain bundle (MFB) in the middle and posterior hypothalamus disrupted copulatory behavior of the male rat. Detailed behavioral, anatomical and biochemical analyses of lesion effects yielded the following conclusions: (1) MFB lesions interfered with the initiation but not with the execution of copulation. This conclusion is based on the findings that lesioned animals either failed to copulate, or copulated after prolonged first mount and intromission latencies. Once the first copulatory response was achieved in a given test, ejaculations followed at a normal rate. (2) MFB lesions in the middle hypothalamus and lesions extending above the MFB in the posterior hypothalamus were more effective in disrupting copulation than ventrocaudal lesions. The results suggest that as the posterior hypothalamus is approached, a significant proportion of fibers responsible for producing the copulatory deficit leave the MFB in a dorsal direction. (3) The severity of the copulatory deficit was significantly related to telencephalic norepinephrine (NE) depletion but not to serotonin depletion. These results together with the anatomical distribution of effective lesion placements suggest that a dorsal ascending NE bundle, previously identified by histochemical fluorescence methods, may be a factor in the sexual effects of MFB lesions. However exceptions inthe data raise serious questions regarding any hypothesis which proposes that the degree of sexual deficit is directly and exclusively related to total level of telencephalic NE depletion.
Behavior of Vacancies and Interstitials at Semicoherent Interfaces

Using atomistic simulations on a model semicoherent interface, we show that the formation, migration, and clustering of vacancies and interstitials at semicoherent interfaces depend on the structure of the misfit dislocation network of the interface. Interfacial point defects trap at misfit dislocation intersections and migrate from one intersection to another along misfit dislocations by a multistage process. Interfacial point defect clusters are thermodynamically less stable than individual defects and the largest cluster size depends on the spacing between misfit dislocation intersections. Our results show that the behavior of interfacial point defects is intimately connected to interface structure.
3-D Vector Electromagnetic Scattering From Arbitrary Random Rough Surfaces Using Stabilized Extended Boundary Condition Method for Remote Sensing of Soil Moisture

We develop the stabilized extended boundary condition method (SEBCM) based on the classical EBCM to solve the 3-D vector electromagnetic scattering problem from arbitrary random rough surfaces. Similar to the classical EBCM, we expand the fields in terms of Floquet modes and match the extended boundary conditions at test surfaces away from the actual rough surface to retrieve the surface currents and therefore the scattered fields. However, to solve long-standing stability problems of the classical EBCM, we introduce a z-coordinate transformation to restrict and control the test surface locations explicitly. We also introduce the concepts of moderated test surface locations and balanced k-charts for further stabilization and optimization of the solutions. The computational efficiency is optimized by judicious submatrix decomposition. The resulting bistatic scattering cross sections are validated by comparing with analytical and numerical solutions. Specifically, the solutions are compared with those from the small perturbation method and small-slope approximation within their validity region, and with those from the method of moments outside the validity domains of analytical solutions. It is shown that SEBCM gives accurate, numerically efficient, full-wave solutions over a large range of surface roughnesses and medium losses, which are far beyond the validity range of analytical methods. These properties are expected to make SEBCM a competitive forward solver for soil moisture retrieval from radar measurements.
Staphylococcal Osteomyelitis in Children Success with Cephaloridine-Cephalexin Therapy

Cephaloridine intramuscularly and cephalexin orally were given sequen tially at dosages of 100 mg or 200 mg/kg/day for 28 days to 56 days in the treatment of 14 children with acute staphylococcal osteomyelitis. All patients recovered completely. No adverse effects were detected at either dosage schedule. The average duration of hospitalization was 13 days.
Correlates Among Nocturnal Agitation, Sleep, and Urinary Incontinence in Dementia

Family caregivers of elders with dementia often face the challenging behaviors of nighttime agitation, sleep disturbances, and urinary incontinence. To date, no study has examined the interrelationships of these behaviors in community-dwelling persons. This single group, descriptive study employs wireless body sensors to objectively collect data on nighttime agitation, sleep, and urinary incontinence in patients with dementia in their homes over a 5- to 7-day period. The aims are to (1) examine the feasibility and acceptability of the use of body sensors in community-dwelling persons with dementia; (2) describe patterns of nocturnal agitation, sleep continuity and duration, and nighttime urinary incontinence; and (3) examine the relationships among nocturnal agitation, sleep continuity and duration, and nighttime urinary incontinence. Data collection is in early stages and is still in progress. Challenges and advantages from preliminary data collection are reported.
The effect of a pre-workout supplement on power performance

Background Product specific research is necessary for determining the efficacy of dietary supplements comprised of different ingredients. Recently, the pre-workout supplement AssaultTM (MusclePharm, Denver, CO, USA) was investigated and demonstrated an ergogenic effect through improved lower body muscular endurance and agility choice reaction. However, continued product specific research is necessary for identifying further potential benefits AssaultTM has to offer. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of AssaultTM on anaerobic power measured on a Wingate Cycle Test (WAnT), upper body power via medicine ball put (MBP), and lower body power during a countermovement vertical jump (CMJ).
Esophageal perforations, anastomotic leaks, and strictures: The role of prostheses

Misfortunes deriving from esophageal anastomotic leaks, perforations, and strictures are surgical problems of major magnitude, especially when a delay in treatment exceeds 12 hours. To this date, there is not unanimity in the approach to these problems. The costs in hospital expense, morbidity, and mortality are such that methods thought to improve outcome should be given careful consideration. The author presents personal experience with intraluminal stenting under various circumstances with Celestin and Hood prostheses that seems to support their use in esophageal surgery as others have found in colon surgery. Further study of this method is suggested.
The Price of Power: Power Seeking and Backlash Against Female Politicians

Two experimental studies examined the effect of power-seeking intentions on backlash toward women in political office. It was hypothesized that a female politician’s career progress may be hindered by the belief that she seeks power, as this desire may violate prescribed communal expectations for women and thereby elicit interpersonal penalties. Results suggested that voting preferences for female candidates were negatively influenced by her power-seeking intentions (actual or perceived) but that preferences for male candidates were unaffected by power-seeking intentions. These differential reactions were partly explained by the perceived lack of communality implied by women’s power-seeking intentions, resulting in lower perceived competence and feelings of moral outrage. The presence of moral-emotional reactions suggests that backlash arises from the violation of communal prescriptions rather than normative deviations more generally. These findings illuminate one potential source of gender bias in politics.
Aspects of Racial Integration in the Methodist Church: Sources of Resistance to Organizational Policy

Ideologies and social perspectives of the larger society penetrate large-scale organizations as well as affecting community life and politics. Such penetration confronts organizational policy makers with critical decisions. Evidence is presented indicating that attempts by The Methodist Church (at the national level) to initiate policies leading to racial integration of the church have led (in the southern subgroups) to unanticipated consequences counter to this policy. For instance, some churches have decreased or eliminated their race relations giving. Leadership at the local church and conference level has accommodated to the forces resisting such policies. The extent of resistance to policy is correlated with the percent nonwhite in a district. The study indicates the difficulty of introducing policies with low consensus in a voluntary organization in which the leaders (both national and local) have a low balance of sanctions relative to the membership. C ertainly one of the most significant developments in American society during the last ten years has been the growth of a civil rights movement aimed at the destruction of racial segregation and discrimination. Scholarly and journalistic attention has focused on the growth of the movement and its effects in the political arena, in education, and on community life. But little attention has been given to the impact of the movement on the internal life of large-scale organizations, to the attempts of organizations to implement policies and perspectives stemming from the political and social ideologies and perspectives of the larger society. In this paper we focus on the consequences for its southern subgroups of an organization's (The Methodist Church) attempt to implement policies aimed at racial integration. Our analysis has been guided by Selznick's concept of unanticipated consequences. Selznick has alerted us to the fact that "observable unanticipated consequences" of purposive action are evidence of the breakdown of organizational control.' Where such consequences are present, there are likely to be sociologically identifiable forces at work-forces tangential to the rationally ordered structures and stated goals of the organization. The adaptation of leadership to these forces results in " 'character defining' commitments, which affect the organization's capacity to control its own
Evidence for Charge-Transfer-Induced Conformational Changes in Carbon Nanostructure–Protein Corona

The binding of proteins to a nanostructure often alters protein secondary and tertiary structures. However, the main physical mechanisms that elicit protein conformational changes in the presence of the nanostructure have not yet been fully established. Here we performed a comprehensive spectroscopic study to probe the interactions between bovine serum albumin (BSA) and carbon-based nanostructures of graphene and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). Our results showed that the BSA “corona” acted as a weak acceptor to facilitate charge transfer from the carbon nanostructures. Notably, we observed that charge transfer occurred only in the case of SWNTs but not in graphene, resulting from the sharp and discrete electronic density of states of the former. Furthermore, the relaxation of external α-helices in BSA secondary structure increased concomitantly with the charge transfer. These results may help guide controlled nanostructure–biomolecular interactions and prove beneficial for developing novel drug d...
Estimates of linkage disequilibrium and the recombination parameter determined from segregating nucleotide sites in the alcohol dehydrogenase region of Drosophila pseudoobscura.

The alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) region of Drosophila pseudoobscura, which includes the two genes Adh and Adh-Dup, was used to examine the pattern and organization of linkage disequilibrium among pairs of segregating nucleotide sites. A collection of 99 strains from the geographic range of D. pseudoobscura were nucleotide-sequenced with polymerase chain reaction-mediated techniques. All pairs of the 359 polymorphic sites in the 3.5-kb Adh region were tested for significant linkage disequilibrium with Fisher's exact test. Of the 74,278 pairwise comparisons of segregating sites, 127 were in significant linkage disequilibrium at the 5% level. The distribution of five linkage disequilibrium estimators D(ij), D(2), r(ij), r(2) and Dij were compared to theoretical distributions. The observed distributions of D(ij), D(2), r(ij) and r(2) were consistent with the theoretical distribution given an infinite sites model. The observed distribution of Dij differed from the theoretical distribution because of an excess of values at -1 and 1. No spatial pattern was observed in the linkage disequilibrium pattern in the Adh region except for two clusters of sites nonrandomly associated in the adult intron and intron 2 of Adh. The magnitude of linkage disequilibrium decreases significantly as nucleotide distance increases, or a distance effect. Adh-Dup had a larger estimate of the recombination parameter, 4Nc, than Adh, where N is the effective population size and c is the recombination rate. A comparison of the mutation and recombination parameters shows that 7-17 recombination events occur for each mutation event. The heterogeneous estimates of the recombination parameter and the inverse relationship between linkage disequilibrium and nucleotide distance are no longer significant when the two clusters of Adh intron sites are excluded from analyses. The most likely explanation for the two clusters of linkage disequilibria is epistatic selection between sites in the cluster to maintain pre-mRNA secondary structure.
Enhancement to the RANKPEP resource for the prediction of peptide binding to MHC molecules using profiles

We introduced previously an on-line resource, RANKPEP that uses position specific scoring matrices (PSSMs) or profiles for the prediction of peptide-MHC class I (MHCI) binding as a basis for CD8 T-cell epitope identification. Here, using PSSMs that are structurally consistent with the binding mode of MHC class II (MHCII) ligands, we have extended RANKPEP to prediction of peptide-MHCII binding and anticipation of CD4 T-cell epitopes. Currently, 88 and 50 different MHCI and MHCII molecules, respectively, can be targeted for peptide binding predictions in RANKPEP. Because appropriate processing of antigenic peptides must occur prior to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) binding, cleavage site prediction methods are important adjuncts for T-cell epitope discovery. Given that the C-terminus of most MHCI-restricted epitopes results from proteasomal cleavage, we have modeled the cleavage site from known MHCI-restricted epitopes using statistical language models. The RANKPEP server now determines whether the C-terminus of any predicted MHCI ligand may result from such proteasomal cleavage. Also implemented is a variability masking function. This feature focuses prediction on conserved rather than highly variable protein segments encoded by infectious genomes, thereby offering identification of invariant T-cell epitopes to thwart mutation as an immune evasion mechanism.
50-GHz Interconnect Design in Standard Silicon Technology

Coplanar waveguides were fabricated in a process that emulates silicon CMOS technologies with 5 to 10 metal layers. The observed S/sub 21/ loss of 0.3 dB/mm at 50 GHz is among the lowest ever reported with standard Al interconnects on Si/SiO/sub 2/. Optimum design parameters were counter-intuitive: in some frequency ranges, the lowest loss was achieved with relatively narrow lines over a low-resistivity substrate. This was exploited in the design of transmission lines that are fully compatible with a CMOS technology. The process emulation was calibrated with a commercial 4-layer Al/Cu CMOS technology.
Pneumococcal vaccination in nursing homes: does policy change practice?

Objective To describe the impact of a Tennessee Department of Health regulation amendment requiring that all nursing home residents 65 years of age or older demonstrate documentation of pneumococcal vaccination, or documented medical contraindication, or patient refusal. Design Cross-sectional descriptive study of nursing homes using a mailed self-administered survey instrument. Results Of 354 Tennessee nursing homes, 304 homes were targeted for the survey, after excluding hospital-based rehabilitation and skilled care facilities, and facilities with fewer than 50 beds. Pneumococcal immunization rates improved from 32% to 42% from 1998 to 1999, coincident with the new policy. Homes reporting high immunization rates (≥75%) increased from 21% to 28%. These facilities were more likely to be larger (>100 beds) and urban; to have a computerized or chart-based vaccine record; to have a standing order policy; and high influenza immunization rates. Overall, only 23% of homes reported that the policy was helpful in increasing immunization rates, and only 38% of facilities reported an increase in rates of at least 5%. However, 58% of facilities that found the policy useful improved pneumococcal vaccination rates at least 5% compared with 32% that did not find it useful. No other factors were strongly associated with improved vaccine rates. Conclusion Pneumococcal immunization rates of at least 75% were associated with facility size, location, and record-keeping practices. Pneumococcal vaccination rates improved only modestly between 1998 and 1999, coincident with the health department amendment. Those who found the policy useful had the greatest improvement in rates.
Role of luteinizing hormone in the expression of cholesterol side-chain cleavage cytochrome P450 and 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, delta 5-4 isomerase messenger ribonucleic acids in the primate corpus luteum

It is well established that LH has an obligatory role in the acute production of progesterone by the primate corpus luteum in vivo because interruption of LH support to the corpus luteum at any time during the luteal phase is accompanied by an immediate and sustained fall in serum progesterone concentrations. However, recent studies have demonstrated that maximal steroidogenic capacity of cultured human luteal cells and maximal levels of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) for cholesterol side chain cleavage cytochrome P450 (P450scc) and 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, delta 5-4 isomerase (3 beta-HSD) in luteal tissue are observed shortly after luteinization and decline thereafter throughout the remainder of the luteal phase. These findings would suggest that the role of LH in the acute regulation of progesterone production may differ from its role in the expression of mRNAs for steroidogenic enzymes. We initiated the current studies to define the role of LH upon the expression of mRNAs for P450scc and 3 beta-HSD by the primate corpus luteum. For this purpose, we treated cynomolgus monkeys with a potent GnRH antagonist for 1, 2, and 3 days during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle and measured levels of mRNAs for P450scc and 3 beta-HSD in corpora lutea. Treatment of monkeys with the GnRH antagonist reduced bioactive LH concentrations to less than 5 ng/ml by 48 h of treatment, and LH concentrations remained less than 5 ng/ml thereafter. Serum progesterone concentrations were reduced by 74% after 1 day of antagonist treatment, 88% after 2 days of antagonist treatment, and by more than 95% after 3 days of GnRH antagonist treatment. Although progesterone secretion was markedly diminished after 24 h of antagonist treatment, there were no differences in mRNAs for P450scc and 3 beta-HSD between antagonist-treated and control animals. However, mRNAs for P450scc and 3 beta-HSD were significantly (P < 0.05) reduced after 2 days of antagonist treatment and were nearly nondetectable after 3 days of antagonist treatment. These results demonstrate a temporal dissociation of the effects of LH on the acute regulation of progesterone secretion and the maintenance of specific mRNAs involved in progesterone production. Nonetheless, the results clearly show that LH is required for the continued expression of mRNAs for P450scc and 3 beta-HSD by the primate corpus luteum.
Intermittent fasting: A “new” historical strategy for controlling seizures?

In antiquity, fasting was a treatment for epilepsy and a rationale for the ketogenic diet (KD). Preclinical data indicate the KD and intermittent fasting do not share identical anticonvulsant mechanisms. We implemented an intermittent fasting regimen in six children with an incomplete response to a KD. Three patients adhered to the combined intermittent fasting/KD regimen for 2 months and four had transient improvement in seizure control, albeit with some hunger-related adverse reactions.
Retinol processing by the peritubular cell from rat testis.

The cells that surround and support the seminiferous epithelium of the tubules in the testis, i.e., the peritubular or myoid cells, are known to contain relatively high amounts of cellular retinol-binding protein (CRBP). This suggests that they may play an important role in the movement or metabolism of retinol (vitamin A alcohol), which is required for the maintenance of spermatogenesis. Peritubular cells in culture, isolated from the testes of the 20-day-old rat, maintained high levels of CRBP and had the ability to internalize retinol from retinol-binding protein (RBP), the blood transport protein for retinol, in a manner suggesting a receptor-mediated process. Little of the internalized retinol was esterified, in contrast to what occurs in other cell types that contain high amounts of CRBPs, and very little, if any, lecithin-retinol acyltransferase activity was present in microsomes obtained from the cultured cells. The cells did, however, have the ability to synthesize and release their own RBP to the medium. This suggests that retinol from the blood may actually reach the seminiferous epithelium by passing across the peritubular cell, released on a new molecule of RBP, rather than by entering into the tubule bound to the preexisting RBP present in the interstitial fluid.