cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Intraventricular Conduction Disturbances and Coronary Artery Disease Clinical, Hemodynamic and Angiographic Study

The clinical, hemodynamic and angiographic findings of 42 patients with coronary artery disease and electrocardiographic and vectorcardiographic evidence of an intraventricular conduction disturbance are reported. All patients were evaluated because of symptomatic heart disease, and they represent 7 percent of patients with coronary artery disease studied. Right bundle branch block was present in 6, left anterior hemiblock in 18, left anterior hemiblock with right bundle branch block in 9 and left bundle branch block in 8 patients; only 1 patient had right bundle branch block with left posterior hemiblock. Angina pectoris was present in 79 percent. Congestive heart failure and cardiomegaly were common in patients with left bundle branch block and left anterior hemiblock with right bundle branch block. Transmural myocardial infarction on electrocardiogram and vectorcardiogram was common (55 percent), involving the anterior wall of the left ventricle in 72 percent. Eight patients with left bundle branch block or left anterior hemiblock with right bundle branch block had a prolonged P–R interval. Patients with right bundle branch block had normal left ventricular function, end-diastolic volume and ejection fraction, and predominant three vessel coronary disease. In the absence of a transmural myocardial infarction, left anterior hemiblock was associated with normal end-diastolic volume and ejection fraction. More than half of the patients with left anterior hemiblock had single vessel disease. Patients with left bundle branch block or right bundle branch block with left anterior hemiblock had almost uniformly abnormal left ventricular hemodynamics, end-diastolic volume and ejection fraction, and the majority had double or triple vessel disease. The single patient with left posterior hemiblock and right bundle branch block had normal left ventricular function. All the patients with abnormal left ventricular function had abnormal anterior or apical systolic wall abnormalities, or both. All the patients, except the one with left posterior hemiblock and right bundle branch block, had significant disease of the left anterior descending coronary artery. We conclude that the hemodynamic derangements found are correlated more with the intraventricular conduction disturbance than with the extent of the coronary artery disease. The only significant relation with coronary artery disease was the finding of major disease of the left anterior descending coronary artery in all but one patient.
The Salmonella typhimurium his operon leader region contains an RNA hairpin-dependent transcription pause site. Mechanistic implications of the effect on pausing of altered RNA hairpins.

The Salmonella typhimurium his leader region contains a well documented transcription attenuator. We report here the results of in vitro transcription studies that characterized a transcription pause site in the his leader region. The pause occurred after synthesis of the first his leader secondary structure (A:B) and immediately preceding addition of G103 to the nascent transcript. RNA polymerase pausing at this site would allow a ribosome synthesizing the his leader peptide to release the paused polymerase and synchronize transcription and translation of the his leader region. The half-life of transcription complexes paused in the his leader was enhanced by NusA, but not guanosine 5′-diphosphate 3′-diphosphate. Nuclease digestion and RNA modeling studies were consistent with a compact three-dimensional structure for the his pause RNA. The half-life of the his leader paused transcription complex was decreased greatly on altered templates in which the C71-G93 base pair was disrupted but was unchanged when the C65-G100 base pair was disrupted. This result is consistent with a model for the structure of paused transcription complexes in which a portion of the RNA:DNA elongation heteroduplex is retained.
Neutralization of Staphylococcus aureus Exfoliatin by Antibody

Alum-precipitated exfoliatin was found to be an efficient antigen for eliciting high titers of neutralizing antibody in rabbits. Antitoxin thus produced, and transferred passively, was shown to protect neonatal mice against challenge with two to three lethal doses of preformed exfoliatin even when administration was delayed until 15 min before exfoliation began in control animals. The same dose of antitoxin afforded some protection against six to eight lethal doses of exfoliatin provided it was given before or at the time of challenge. Antitoxin, in the doses given, did not protect against infection with an exfoliatin-producing Staphylococcus aureus strain although the onset of exfoliation was delayed.
Benign cutaneous lesions potentially misdiagnosed as malignant neoplasms

Abstract Presented are five benign skin lesions that have features simulating malignant skin lesions. Although not a comprehensive review of all such potentially troublesome lesions, those reviewed here include (1) keratoacanthoma, (2) desmoplastic trichoepithelioma, (3) sclerosing hemangioma, (4) phototoxic drug eruption, and (5) pigmented spindle cell nevus. Those features, allowing their separation from malignant lesions, are presented. ( Seminars In Diagnostic Pathology 7:139–145, 1990.)
Contribution of LFP dynamics to single-neuron spiking variability in motor cortex during movement execution.

Understanding the sources of variability in single-neuron spiking responses is an important open problem for the theory of neural coding. This variability is thought to result primarily from spontaneous collective dynamics in neuronal networks. Here, we investigate how well collective dynamics reflected in motor cortex local field potentials (LFPs) can account for spiking variability during motor behavior. Neural activity was recorded via microelectrode arrays implanted in ventral and dorsal premotor and primary motor cortices of non-human primates performing naturalistic 3-D reaching and grasping actions. Point process models were used to quantify how well LFP features accounted for spiking variability not explained by the measured 3-D reach and grasp kinematics. LFP features included the instantaneous magnitude, phase and analytic-signal components of narrow band-pass filtered (δ, θ, α, β) LFPs, and analytic signal and amplitude envelope features in higher-frequency bands. Multiband LFP features predicted single-neuron spiking (1ms resolution) with substantial accuracy as assessed via ROC analysis. Notably, however, models including both LFP and kinematics features displayed marginal improvement over kinematics-only models. Furthermore, the small predictive information added by LFP features to kinematic models was redundant to information available in fast-timescale (<100ms) spiking history. Overall, information in multiband LFP features, although predictive of single-neuron spiking during movement execution, was redundant to information available in movement parameters and spiking history. Our findings suggest that, during movement execution, collective dynamics reflected in motor cortex LFPs primarily relate to sensorimotor processes directly controlling movement output, adding little explanatory power to variability not accounted by movement parameters.
Transaction Costs and the Present Value “Puzzle” of Farmland Prices

1. Introduction Farmland is by far the dominant asset in the U.S. agricultural sector's balance sheet, accounting for about two-thirds of the value of all farm assets (USDA, various years). The value of U.S. farmland was estimated at $593 billion on December 31, 1994, or roughly 10% of total market capitalization for firms in the SP Clark, Fulton, and Scott 1993; Tegene and Kuchler 1993). This is a "puzzling" result because the CDR-PVM has been widely accepted and generally used for land appraisal purposes. Beyond this, however, there is surprisingly little consensus regarding the determinants of farmland prices (Pope et al. 1979; Robison and Koenig 1992; Stare 1995). A major reason for this lack of consensus may be the heterogeneity of the data sets used for empirical analysis. Different studies use different levels of aggregation, different time periods, and different land value and rent series. Hanson and Myers (1995), for example, use country-level data, whereas Tegene and Kuchler (1993) use regional data and Just and Miranowski (1993) use state-level data. Hanson and Myers (1995) use data from 1910 to 1990, Shiha and Chavas (1995) use data from 1949 to 1990, and Brown and Brown (1984) use data from 1968 to 1981. Falk (1991) examines farmland values and gross cash rents, whereas Hanson and Myers (1995) examine farm real estate values and residual returns to farm real estate. Another possible explanation for the lack of consensus about farmland pricing, and the focus of the present study, is the presence of market frictions. Our motivation for exploring the role that market frictions might play in determining farmland prices is both theoretical and empirical. On the theoretical level, market frictions drive a wedge between the price at which outsiders wish to buy land and that at which farmers wish to sell it. The market price can be anywhere within this wedge, and thus can easily deviate from its frictionless present value. One can interpret this wedge as a band of inaction [delta^sup L^, delta^supU^], inside which farmers neither buy nor sell land even in the face of changing expected returns. The band is centered on the price that would prevail in the absence of transaction costs, and its width is determined by the size of these costs. On the empirical level, a review of the literature reveals that the frictionless market assumption is not a realistic representation of how farmland is actually traded. Although the costs associated with trading many financial assets are small, costs incurred in transferring ownership of farmland typically exceed 7.5% of the purchase price. To explore the role of market frictions, we use the PVM recently used by Lence and Miller (1999), which explicitly incorporates proportional transaction costs. …
Complementation Analysis in Fibroblasts from Eight Patients with Clinically Different Forms of Citrullinaemia

We have examined the possibility of genetic heterogeneity in citrullinaemia by measuring the incorporation of [14C]citrulline into protein in PEG-induced heterokaryons derived from paired combinations of fibroblasts from eight patients with varying forms of the disease. The results are compatible with interallelic, but not intergenic, complementation in several of these fusions.
Differential central nervous system responses folloqing single and multiple recombinant interleukin-2 infusions

The effects of systemic recombinant human interleukin-2 (rIL-2) infusion on cerebrovascular permeability to an endogenous circulating macromolecule, immunoglobulin G (IgG), were assessed in rats after single and multiple rIL-2 infusions. Ultrastructural detail of the cerebral vasculature and the related brain parenchyma was also examined for rIL-2-related changes following single and multiple infusions. Animals examined 6 and 24 h after a single rIL-2 infusion exhibited moderately increased permeability to IgG that was not observed in those animals examined 6 h after 5 days of rIL-2 infusion. Alterations of cerebrovascular morphology were evident as early as 6 h after a single infusion and were accompanied by occasional axonal degeneration and demyelination. Such structural changes persisted, becoming more widespread after 5 days of rIL-2 infusion, at which time they were associated with other neuronal as well as glial alterations.
A Note on Quine's Principles of Quantification

In his Mathematical logic Quine characterizes the theorems of quantification theory by six principles:
High-Energy Laser-Assisted Imaging Through Vaporizing Aerosols

The degradation of image quality due to multiple scattering in a turbid medium is analyzed under various conditions of illumination. The emphasis is on the forward-peaked multiple scattering effects, which can adequately be described by the small-angle approximation. In the case of incoherent illumination, the modulation transfer function (MTF) can be given explicitly both in the low- and high-frequency limits. For scattering with smaller degree of anisotropy, the MTF should be computed numerically by considering solutions to the equation of radiative transfer with a line or point source. As the beam power increases, the turbid medium becomes modified by its interactions with the beam, thus affecting the image resolution. In this nonlinear transport regime (flux levels of the order of 106 W/cm2 and higher) the propagation leads actually to beam narrowing. In the context of the imaging problem, an apparent paradoxical situation in which the image of a point source narrows down as the high-energy laser (HEL) beam propagates is discussed.
A rodent model of organophosphorus-induced delayed neuropathy: distribution of central (spinal cord) and peripheral nerve damage.

Central and peripheral nerve fibre damage has been produced in Long-Evans hooded male rats with tri-ortho-cresyl phosphate. Animals were dosed by gavage with intermittent or daily amounts of the organophos-phate and examined after 2, 6, 12, 18 and 24 weeks. The distribution of central nervous system (spinal cord) damage and the differential vulnerability among various peripheral nerves supported a ‘dying-back’ classification for the neuropathy. Giant axonal swellings, containing massive accumulations of smooth endoplasmic reticulum, hallmarked the neuropathy. In spite of severe neurological damage the animals displayed only moderate functional disturbances. These findings have shown that the rat is highly sensitive to the structural damage caused by organo-phosphates, although resistant to the ataxia.
Nonlinear Regression With Linear Constraints: An Extension of the Magnified Diagonal Method

A syntax-directed picture analysis system based on a formal picture description scheme is described. The system accepts a description of a set of pictures in terms of a grammar generating strings in a picture description language; the grammar is explicitly used to direct the analysis or parse, and to control the calls on pattern classification routines for primitive picture components. Pictures are represented by directed graphs with labeled edges, where the edges denote elementary picture components and the graph connectivity mirrors the picture component connectivity; blank and don't care “patterns” allow the description of simple relations between visible patterns. The bulk of the paper is concerned with the picture parsing algorithm which is an n-dimensional analog of a classical top-down string parser, and an application of an implemented system to the analysis of spark chamber film. The potential benefits of this approach, as demonstrated by the application, include ease of implementation and modification of picture processing systems, and simplification of the pattern recognition problem by automatically taking advantage of contextual information.
New constraints on "INO" masses from cosmology (I). Supersymmetric "inos"

Abstract In this first paper we derive new constraints on gravitino and photino masses in big bang cosmology. First, in the context of induced supersymmetry breaking we calculate explicitly the gravitino decay rate into gauginos, and find that in the absence of significant dilution the gravitino mass must be ⩾5 × 104 GeV in order not to affect nucleosynthesis. We also find in this case that constraints in the lightest R-odd particle, the photino, differ significantly from earlier bounds based on analogy with stable heavy neutrino bounds in the standard model, due to out of equilibrium gravitino decay. In order to avoid both these constraints the gravitino distribution must be severely suppressed. If this is due to inflation, it must occur at a scale ≲1010−1011 GeV.
Recent advances in energy harvesting technology and techniques

Energy harvesting is a fertile and rapidly expanding area of research due to the promises of providing a means for replacing conventional methods of powering electronic sensor and communication systems. This paper presents a review of the state-of-the-art of different energy harvesting (scavenging) technologies and describes their performance. With similar emphasis, this paper also presents a review of circuit configurations and techniques for low power interfaces between microgenerators and loads that aim to extract maximum power while dissipating minimum power. A brief review of each recent relevant paper is given to introduce the current state of the field of energy harvesting.
The Effect of Hypermedia Authoring on Elementary School Students' Creative Thinking

Promoting creative thinking in children has been an issue of critical importance to educators. Research shows that appropriate uses of computer programs such as word processing, computer imaging, and Logo programming have the potential to enhance children's creativity. Little is known, however, about the impact of hypermedia technology on children's creative thinking. This study examined whether engaging elementary school students in hypermedia authoring would promote their creative thinking. It was found that after engaging in an extended period of hypermedia authoring, the fourth graders increased their creativity scores in a number of areas. The low and intermediate ability students appeared to benefit from the hypermedia authoring environment more than the high ability students and working collaboratively on the hypermedia authoring projects enabled students to demonstrate higher creativity scores than when working individually. The findings are consistent with research on hypermedia and creativity wi...
Pneumonia and Bacteremia due to Aeromonas hydrophila

Aeromonas hydrophila is a gram-negative bacillus which has been rarely identified as a human pathogen except in immunologically compromised hosts. We have recently treated three patients for severe A hydrophila pneumonia and sepsis. Two of these patients were healthy young men who aspirated the organism from contaminated water associated with near drowning. One patient survived severe ARDS and gram-negative sepsis. A third patient with chronic renal failure acquired A hydrophila pneumonia at home and quickly died from the infection. A hydrophila is becoming more commonly recognized as a lethal pathogen and should be sought when gram negative infection is suspected.
Relationship of Decision Styles and Self‐Actualization1

This study focused on exploration of a possible relationship between psychological health (as measured by level of self-actualization) and the actual style involved in decision making. Forty three-member family groups were studied, using questionnaires and tape recordings, while they were involved in a simulated family situation, including three separate decision situations. Examination of the results suggested the existence of two separate decision styles: a traditional approach which appeared to be utilized by “normal” and low self-actualizing people, and a second approach which was utilized by those who ranked high in self-actualization scores. The decision styles utilized indicated that more attention should be paid, in all decision groups, to the effects of decision making on the individuals involved. It may be that decision-making style can, in itself, have a positive or negative effect on individual growth and development, and may offer a way for families to foster growth of all individuals while simultaneously solving specific problems.
Government as a super Becker-altruist

Gary Becker (1974, 1976) has previously analyzed a special case of altruistic behavior in which (1) the altruist's own-consumption can actually increase as a result of his beneficence, and (2) each egoist 'in the group linked by an altruist's transfers has an incentive to maximize the group's total income' (1976, p. 822). A subsequent exchange between Jack Hirshleifer (1977), Gordon Tullock (1977) and Becker (1977) served to clarify a number of limitations on the applicability of Becker's results. The purpose of this note is to show how Becker-altruism can be generalized when government acts the role of the altruist. Whereas Becker acknowledges that 'the group's income could be maximized in the absence of altruism if the "government" imposed appropriate taxes and subsidies' (1976, p. 822), I will argue that government can be more than a mere substitute for private altruism. It can serve as a super-Becker altruist, overcoming many of the limitations of private transfers subject to an important caveat discussed in Section 4.
Statistical failure analysis of adhesive resin cement bonded dental ceramics

The goal of this work is to quantitatively examine the effect of adhesive resin cement on the probability of crack initiation from the internal surface of ceramic dental restorations. The possible crack bridging mechanism and residual stress effect of the resin cement on the ceramic surface are examined. Based on the fracture-mechanics-based failure probability model, we predict the failure probability of glass-ceramic disks bonded to simulated dentin subjected to indentation loads. The theoretical predictions match experimental data suggesting that both resin bridging and shrinkage plays an important role and need to be considered for accurate prognostics to occur.
Effects of certain indoleamines in the hippocampal-septal circuit.

Abstract The effects of 5-HT and DMT upon the electrical activity in the lateral septal region, and region CA1 of the hippocampus, were studied in acutely prepared cats. Both 5-HT and DMT were found to have a facilitory effect on the firing of septal and hippocampal cells. Moreover, the facilitory effect of 5-HT in the lateral septal region appeared to be the result of a depolarizing action upon the cell membrane. Methiothepin was found to be an effective blocker of the DMT and 5-HTP induced effect, but not the 5-HT induced effect.
Latin American Trade Policies in the 1970's: Reply

I am very pleased indeed with Professor Balassa's full agreement with my policy recommendation for Latin America.' At the same time, I am rather perplexed at his reaction to my introduction of the concept of an "inefficiency illusion." The essence of my argument is that, when international competitiveness is used as an index of efficiency in the context of a multiple exchange rate system, deflation by the financial exchange rate will overstate noncompetitiveness. Instead, costs should be deflated by the exchange rates affecting the different inputs concerned. Since the input mix varies across sectors, each sector's cost exchange rate will normally also be different. Balassa argues for deflation by a hypothetical free trade rate; however, such a rate is inappropriate because it simply does not reflect the exchange rates actually affecting the inputs. Indeed, it is not at all clear what each actual nominal tariff rate deflated by a hypothetical free trade exchange rate would mean. It certainly would not measure the incentive given the particular commodity involved that depends on all the other tariffs, since we must look to distortions in relative prices for effects on factor allocation. Moreover, relative price distortion could be read off undeflated data as easily as off deflated data. It also does not measure the cost of protection, since again that is a function of the distortion in relative prices, not of a single price in comparison to some free trade exchange rate. Thus, again undeflated data would do perfectly well. In sum, all each deflated nominal tariff would measure is the absolute price increase (decrease) resulting from the imposition of the tariff system. And that does not tell us much of anything.2
Inhibition of the intestinal glucose transporter GLUT2 by flavonoids

We tested whether the dominant intestinal sugar transporter GLUT2 was inhibited by intestinal luminal compounds that are inefficiently absorbed and naturally present in foods. Because of their abundance in fruits and vegetables, flavonoids were selected as model compounds. Robust inhibition of glucose and fructose transport by GLUT2 expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes was produced by the flavonols myricetin, fisetin, the widely consumed flavonoid quercetin, and its glucoside precursor isoquercitrin. IC50s for quercetin, myricetin, and isoquercitrin were ∼200- to 1000-fold less than glucose or fructose concentrations, and noncompetitive inhibition was observed. The two other major intestinal sugar transporters, GLUT5 and SGLT1, were unaffected by flavonoids. Sugar transport by GLUT2 overexpressed in pituitary cells and naturally present in Caco-2E intestinal cells was similarly inhibited by quercetin. GLUT2 was detected on the apical side of Caco-2E cells, indicating that GLUT2 was in the correct orientati...
Stenotrophomonas maltophilia Infection Among Young Children in a Cardiac Intensive Care Unit: A Single Institution Experience

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia can present as bacteremia, respiratory tract infection, urinary tract infection, soft tissue and wound infections, bone and joint infections, meningitis, and endocarditis especially in immunosuppressed patients and those with underlying medical conditions. The incidence and impact of S. maltophilia in young children with heart disease are poorly defined. A single center retrospective observational study was conducted in infants <180 days of age with positive S. maltophilia cultures over a period of 5 years. The overall incidence for S. maltophilia infection was 0.8 % (n = 32/3656). Among 32 identified infants, there were 47 episodes of S. maltophilia infection 66 % of infants had prior exposure to broad spectrum antibiotics. 97 % of positive isolates were susceptible to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and 91 % to levofloxacin as well as ticarcillin/clavulanate. Ventilator-free days and absolute lymphocyte count prior to acquiring infection were significantly lower in non-survivors than in survivors. 100 % of survivors had clearance of positive cultures compared to 50 % in non-survivors (p < 0.05). The crude all-cause mortality rate was 37.5 %. All non-survivors had increased length of ICU stay and duration of mechanical ventilation and had delayed clearance of infection and required longer duration of treatment.
Low-end specificity of the Beck Depression Inventory

Selection of nondysphoric control subjects on the basis of low Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores has become a methodological issue in depression research. Therefore, we examined these questions: (1) Do current selection criteria result in a nondysphoric control group, a subsample of which is characterized by denial, psychopathic, or hypomanic tendencies? (2) Is there an identifiable subgroup of low scorers in which tendencies toward denial, psychopathy, or hypomania are particularly salient? Undergraduates completed the BDI and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). As predicted, the proportion of subjects who were elevated on MMPI validity scales was higher in the low-end sample than in dysphorics, and higher in very low scorers than in other low-end subjects. Low-end subjects did not score higher than other subjects on MMPI Psychopathic Deviate (MMPI-Pd) and MMPI Hypomania (MMPI-Ma) subscales. Suggestions for obviating problems associated with low-end specificity are offered.
Ongoing ischemic pain as a workload indexed by P3 amplitude and latency in real-versus feigned-pain conditions

We tested four independent groups: real pain, real pain/tracking, feigned pain, and feigned pain/tracking. After baseline (auditory oddball task only, .8/.2), the real pain groups had an ischemia cuff applied, which generated intense pain after 14 min. The pain feigners were instructed to simulate pain. The oddball task was repeated during low pain (6 min following cuff application) and during high pain (7-15 min following application). Real pain ratings were affected by low versus high pain and by tracking (reporting pain regularly), which elevated ratings. Nontracking feigned- and real-pain subjects differed in oddball-evoked P3 amplitude and latency during high pain. Oddball P3 amplitude decreased and latency increased from real low pain to high pain. Tracked but not untracked real low pain affected oddball P3 amplitude. Real and feigned pain-tracking subjects did not differ in P3 amplitude. P3 latency differed between real-pain and feigning subjects during low-pain tracking. A 91 % individual hit rate (real vs. feign) obtained.
Evaluation of survival after second-line intraperitoneal cisplatin-based chemotherapy for advanced ovarian cancer.

BACKGROUND The authors sought to evaluate survival of patients with ovarian cancer treated with second-line intraperitoneal cisplatin-based chemotherapy. METHODS From August 1985 to September 1991, 63 patients with recurrent or persistent ovarian cancer after first-line cisplatin-based chemotherapy were on a protocol and treated with cisplatin, cytarabine, with or without bleomycin. Eligibility included Stage III/IV invasive adenocarcinoma of the ovary, documentation of the size of residual disease at reoperation, and prior treatment with first-line intravenous cisplatin-based chemotherapy. RESULTS The median survival from intraperitoneal chemotherapy was 29 months. For patients who responded to first-line chemotherapy and second-line intraperitoneal chemotherapy, the 5-year survival was 60%, but for patients with response to first-line chemotherapy but no response to intraperitoneal chemotherapy the 5-year survival was only 17%, and no patient survived 5 years who did not have a response to first- or second-line therapy (P < 0.0001). There was significant improvement in the 2-year survival from initiation of intraperitoneal chemotherapy for patients with < or = 5 mm residual tumor in greatest dimension (74%), compared with patients with residual tumor larger than 5 mm and smaller than or equal to 2 cm (38%), and patients with residual tumor larger than 2 cm (0%) (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION Survival was increased for patients who (1) had a response to first-line intravenous chemotherapy and second-line intraperitoneal chemotherapy and (2) who had residual tumor 5 mm or smaller at the initiation of intraperitoneal therapy. The conclusion that the prolonged survival is secondary to cisplatin-based chemotherapy administered intraperitoneally must be made with caution because survival may have been secondary to the small residual disease at initiation of second-line chemotherapy or the systemic effect of cisplatin.
Molecular Modeling of the Misfolded Insulin Subunit and Amyloid Fibril

Insulin, a small hormone protein comprising 51 residues in two disulfide-linked polypeptide chains, adopts a predominantly α-helical conformation in its native state. It readily undergoes protein misfolding and aggregates into amyloid fibrils under a variety of conditions. Insulin is a unique model system in which to study protein fibrillization, since its three disulfide bridges are retained in the fibrillar state and thus limit the conformational space available to the polypeptide chains during misfolding and fibrillization. Taking into account this unique conformational restriction, we modeled possible monomeric subunits of the insulin amyloid fibrils using β-solenoid folds, namely, the β-helix and β-roll. Both models agreed with currently available biophysical data. We performed molecular dynamics simulations, which allowed some limited insights into the relative structural stability, suggesting that the β-roll subunit model may be more stable than the β-helix subunit model. We also constructed β-solenoid-based insulin fibril models and conducted fiber diffraction simulation to identify plausible fibril architectures of insulin amyloid. A comparison of simulated fiber diffraction patterns of the fibril models to the experimental insulin x-ray fiber diffraction data suggests that the model fibers composed of six twisted β-roll protofilaments provide the most reasonable fit to available experimental diffraction patterns and previous biophysical studies.
Imitation over a series of trials without feedback: Age six months

The 6-month-old infant is capable of imitation superior to previous reports, when he or she controls the timing of the model presented. By meeting the experimenter's gaze, 34 infants elicited a rhythmic burst of five mouth movements, opening and closing. After many trials a majority of the infants themselves produced a burst of two or more such movements. Although no universal sequence of acts emerged from the data, a sequence of accommodation was observed: (1) an orienting to the experimenter; (2) a series of imitations of single features of the model, beginning with mouth movements; (3) a string of two or more features of the model; and finally (4) integrating the features into bursts of mouth opening and closing. The findings are regarded as consistent with Piaget's general view of sensory-motor development. However, these subjects over a series of trials gradually imitated movements they could not see themselves make. The sequence of accommodation resembled the sequence of stages usually found in the development of imitation, when imitation is defined as an immediate response to one or two presentations of a model.
Amorphous IZO-based transparent thin film transistors

Abstract Active electronics implemented on cheap flexible polymer substrates offer the promise of novel display technologies, wearable electronics, large area memory, and a multitude of other, as-yet-unthought-of applications that require low cost and high volume manufacturing. Thin film transistors (TFT's) fabricated on temperature-sensitive plastic substrates at low temperatures are the key to this technology. TFT's that use metal (In, Zn, Sn, Ga) oxide channels offer both high mobility (relative to amorphous Si) and the advantage of optical transparency in the visible regime. We report on the fabrication and performance of amorphous oxide transparent thin film transistors that use dc-magnetron sputter techniques to deposit IZO (In 2 O 3 — 10 wt.% ZnO) at low oxygen potential (0 vol.% O 2 ) for the source, drain, and gate-contact metallization and, at higher oxygen partial pressures (10 vol.% O 2 ), for the semi-conducting channel. The devices in this study were processed at room temperature except for a single 280 °C PECVD deposition step to deposit a 230 nm-thick SiO x gate dielectric. The devices are optically transparent and operate in depletion mode with a threshold voltage of − 5 V, mobility of 15 cm 2 /V s, an on-off ratio of > 10 6 and, a sub-threshold slope of 1.2 V/decade. In addition, we report persistent photo-conductivity in the channel region of these devices when exposed to UV illumination.
Reading docufiction: Jia Zhangke's 24 City

Jia Zhangke's 24 City (2008) combines the work of professional actors with interviews of actual Chinese state employees to create a blended genre that illustrates changing economic fortunes in the 21st century. Through the medium of a new, hybrid filmic language, Jia articulates his concerns about the limitations of postsocialist realism and documentary in narrating factory workers' emotional struggles with history and reality. The synthetic vision of docufiction, controversial and unsettling as it is, gives Jia the philosophical freedom to contrast, juxtapose, and integrate the real and the fictional in ways that defy and overwhelm conventional cinematic storytelling. Using narrative ellipsis, tableaux shots and intertextual references, Jia expands on the Deleuzean idea of ‘the power of the false’ to negotiate the roles of docufiction directors and complicate his own intellectual position as insider and outsider, artist and activist.
Hierarchical testing using precomputed tests for modules

This thesis presents a new theory and method for generating tests for digital integrated circuits (ICs). Unlike most previous test generation techniques, which use logic-gate models of ICs, our method uses hierarchical models containing large primitive modules such as ALUs and multipliers connected by multi-bit buses. Many modern ICs are composed of complex, previously designed modules that can only be tested by reusing tests that were computed when the modules were designed. Our method propagates stimulus signals to the inputs of each module, and propagates module responses to the IC's primary outputs. We describe and evaluate a program we designed named PathPlan, one of the first test generators to use circuit and signal hierarchy and precomputed tests. PathPlan propagates symbolic references to precomputed tests along circuit paths. It is much faster than conventional test generators, and some of its features have already been applied commercially. However PathPlan and other hierarchical test generators described in the literature cannot generate tests for ICs whose bus structure is irregular, that is, when some buses are truncated. We present a general theory of signal propagation that enables the development of hierarchical test generation programs for complex circuits with truncated buses. A special representation of a module's input-output behavior called a propagation function is defined to quantify the module's signal transmission properties. A propagation algebra is developed and used to combine propagation functions for modules into propagation functions for multi-module circuits. Several theorems governing the transparency of signal transmission in circuits are proved using this algebra. The algebra also forms the basis for an efficient, hierarchical error propagation method for test generation, and a novel design-for-testability strategy. Finally, we describe a successor program to PathPlan called PathPlan2. This new test generator propagates module test stimulus signals as symbolic expressions, and implements the hierarchical error signal propagation method based on our theory to transmit module responses. It handles circuits with irregular bus structures and is more powerful and general than PathPlan, nevertheless, its performance is at least as good.
Regulation of differential processing of mouse immunoglobulin μ heavy-chain mRNA

The switch between the synthesis of membrane-bound and secreted IgM during B cell differentiation is accomplished by producing, from a single gene, two alternative forms of mu heavy-chain mRNA that differ only in their 3' termini. The precursor mu RNA is either polyadenylated at the first poly(A) site, for secreted mu mRNA, or spliced between the C4 and M1 exons, for membrane-bound mu mRNA, in a mutually exclusive manner. To elucidate the molecular mechanism of the differential processing of mouse mu mRNA, we analyzed the expression of various mouse mu gene constructs stably transfected into mouse cell lines. In B cell lines, processing of the exogenously transfected mu gene transcripts accurately reflected the developmental stage of the recipient cells: both secreted and membrane-bound mu mRNAs are produced in early-stage B cells while secreted mu mRNA is primarily produced in late-stage B cells. In fibroblast cell lines, mu mRNAs transcribed from the Moloney murine sarcoma virus LTR promoter were processed primarily to the secreted form. Thus, production of the secreted form seems to be the non-regulated processing pattern. When the splicing signal of the C4-M1 intron was mutagenized, polyadenylation at the first poly(A) site occurred efficiently regardless of the recipient cell lines. On the other hand, when the polyadenylation signal was mutagenized, the splicing occurred efficiently in early-stage B cells, but only weakly in late-stage B cells and fibroblast cells. These results suggest that the splicing of the C4-M1 intron is stimulated in early-stage B cells.
A Phenomenological Alternative to the "ADL Research Tradition"

Since the development of the Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living, ADL tools have been used to describe older persons' status and to predict outcomes. It is suggested that this approach is grounded in an ADL research tradition. An alternative that is based upon Husserl's phenomenology is proposed. A phenomenological study of older widows' lived experience is described. Distinctions between phenomenological inquiry and the ADL research tradition are addressed in terms of focus (tasks vs. lived experience) and interpretation of key terms such as independence.
ADVANCES IN QUANTUM-DOT RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY: THE PATH TO APPLICATION IN BIOLOGY

This account presents a survey of recent advances in quantum-dot research and technology and highlights trends of key significance as they relate to the emerging applications of quantum-dot technology in biology.
Peer Interactions and Friendship Opportunities Between Elementary Students With and Without Autism or Developmental Disability

Abstract This article describes a qualitative examination of the interactions between 2 students, 1 with autism and 1 with a developmental disability, and their peers without disabilities in 2 inclusive, public school elementary classrooms in the northeastern United States. Data were collected by naturalistic observation, semi-structured observation, and semi-structured interviews. Examining the quality and quantity of interactions, as well as the facilitating effects of educators, the goal was to identify conditions that support the development of friendship opportunities. The findings indicated that inclusive education and having classmates who accepted them were not enough to result in consistent friendship opportunities for the 2 focal students. Findings included (a) the identification of missed opportunities for educator intervention to support friendship opportunities, and (b) the success of several educator strategies to facilitate friendship opportunities. Implications and considerations to improv...
"Reverse" superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery bypass.

A new technical variant on the superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery anastomosis was performed in a patient with occlusions of both the left internal and external carotid arteries and persistent ischemic symptomatology. Instead of anastomosing the proximal segment of the superficial temporal artery to the middle cerebral artery as is conventionally done, the distal segment of the superficial temporal artery was anastomosed to a cortical branch of the left middle cerebral artery. Reconstituted flow of the left superficial temporal artery via right superficial temporal artery collateral branches proved adequate to relieve the patient's ischemic episodes. "Reverse" superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery anastomosis should be considered in those cases where occlusive disease of the external carotid circulation renders conventional bypass procedures ineffective in the treatment of ischemic symptomatology.
Blockade of B2 receptors attenuates the responses of group III afferents to static contraction

Recent evidence has been presented demonstrating that group III mechanoreceptors comprise an important part of the sensory arm of the exercise pressor reflex, which in turn functions to increase arterial blood flow to contracting skeletal muscles. Although group III afferents are stimulated by mechanical distortion of their receptive fields, they are also stimulated by bradykinin, which is produced by skeletal muscle when it contracts. Moreover, blockade of B (bradykinin)2 receptors has been shown to decrease the magnitude of the exercise pressor reflex. Nevertheless, the effect of blockade of B2 receptors on responses of group III afferents to contraction is not known. We therefore determined the effect of B2 receptor blockade with HOE 140 (40μg/kg) on the responses to both static and intermittent contraction of group III afferents with endings in the triceps surae muscle of decerebrated unanesthetized cats. We found that HOE 140 significantly attenuated (P=0.04) the responses of 14 group III afferents to static contraction, but did not significantly attenuate (P=0.16) the responses of 16 group III afferents to intermittent contraction. The attenuation induced by HOE 140 was present throughout the static contraction period, and led us to speculate that blockade of B2 receptors on the endings of group III afferents decreased their sensitivity to mechanical events occurring in the working muscles.
Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin 1: A Hair Cell Transduction Channel Candidate

Sound and head movements are perceived through sensory hair cells in the inner ear. Mounting evidence indicates that this process is initiated by the opening of mechanically sensitive calcium-permeable channels, also referred to as the mechanoelectrical transducer (MET) channels, reported to be around the tips of all but the tallest stereocilia. However, the identity of MET channel remains elusive. Literature suggests that the MET channel is a non-selective cation channel with a high Ca2+ permeability and ~100 picosiemens conductance. These characteristics make members of the transient receptor potential (TRP) superfamily likely candidates for this role. One of these candidates is the transient receptor potential melastatin 1 protein (TRPM1), which is expressed in various cells types within the cochlea of the mouse including the hair cells. Recent studies demonstrate that mutations in the TRPM1 gene underlie the inherited retinal disease complete congenital stationary night blindness in humans and depolarizing bipolar cell dysfunction in the mouse retina, but auditory function was not assessed. Here we investigate the role of Trpm1 in hearing and as a possible hair cell MET channel using mice homozygous for the null allele of Trpm1 (Trpm1−/−) or a missense mutation in the pore domain of TRPM1 (Trpm1tvrm27/tvrm27). Hearing thresholds were evaluated in adult (4–5 months old) mice with auditory-evoked brain stem responses. Our data shows no statistically significant difference in hearing thresholds in Trpm1−/− or Trpm1tvrm27/tvrm27 mutants compared to littermate controls. Further, none of the mutant mice showed any sign of balance disorder, such as head bobbing or circling. These data suggest that TRPM1 is not essential for development of hearing or balance and it is unlikely that TRPM1 is a component of the hair cell MET channel.
The synthesis of some substituted macrocyclic ether-ester compounds

Abstract A series of macrocyclic ether-esters has been prepared by treating various glycols with adipoyl chloride and various substituted malonyl, succinyl and glutaryl chlorides. The prepared compounds include: 15-ethyl- and 15-phenyl-1,4,7,10,13-pentaoxacyclohexadecane-14,16-dione ( 5 and 6 ); 15-methyl-, 15-phenyl-, cis -cyclohexo-[o]-and benzo-[o]-1,4,7,10,13-pentaoxacycloheptadecane-14,17-dione ( 7–10 ); trans,trans -1,4,7,10,13,18,21,24,27,30-de-caoxacyclotetratriacontane-15, 32-diene-14,17,31,34-tetraone ( 11 ); 1,4,7,10,13-pentaoxacyclooctadecane-14,18-dione ( 12 ); 15,15,16,16,17,17-hexafluoro- and 16-methyl-1,4,7,10,13-pentaoxacyclooctadecane-14,18-dione ( 13 and 14 ); 1,4,7,10-tetraoxacyclohexadecane-11,16-dione ( 15 ); and 1,4,7,10,13-pentaoxacyclononadecane-14,19-dione ( 16 ).