cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Prediction of hydrogen and carbon chemical shifts from RNA using database mining and support vector regression

The Biological Magnetic Resonance Data Bank (BMRB) contains NMR chemical shift depositions for over 200 RNAs and RNA-containing complexes. We have analyzed the 1H NMR and 13C chemical shifts reported for non-exchangeable protons of 187 of these RNAs. Software was developed that downloads BMRB datasets and corresponding PDB structure files, and then generates residue-specific attributes based on the calculated secondary structure. Attributes represent properties present in each sequential stretch of five adjacent residues and include variables such as nucleotide type, base-pair presence and type, and tetraloop types. Attributes and 1H and 13C NMR chemical shifts of the central nucleotide are then used as input to train a predictive model using support vector regression. These models can then be used to predict shifts for new sequences. The new software tools, available as stand-alone scripts or integrated into the NMR visualization and analysis program NMRViewJ, should facilitate NMR assignment and/or validation of RNA 1H and 13C chemical shifts. In addition, our findings enabled the re-calibration a ring-current shift model using published NMR chemical shifts and high-resolution X-ray structural data as guides.
When doing nothing is something. How task allocation strategies compromise between flexibility, efficiency, and inactive agents

We expect that human organizations and cooperative animal groups should be optimized for collective performance. This often involves the allocation of different individuals to different tasks. Social insect colonies are a prime example of cooperative animal groups that display sophisticated mechanisms of task allocation. Here we discuss which task allocation strategies may be adapted to which environmental and social conditions. Effective and robust task allocation is a hard problem, and in many biological and engineered complex systems is solved in a decentralized manner: human organizations may benefit from insights into what makes decentralized strategies of group organization effective. In addition, we often find considerable variation among individuals in how much work they appear to contribute, despite the fact that individual selfishness in social insects is low and optimization occurs largely at the group level. We review possible explanations for uneven workloads among workers, including limitations on individual information collection or constraints of task allocation efficiency, such as when there is a mismatch between the frequency of fluctuations in demand for work and the speed at which workers can be reallocated. These processes are likely to apply to any system in which worker agents are allocated to tasks with fluctuating demand, and should therefore be instructive to understanding optimal task allocation and inactive workers in any distributed system. Some of these processes imply that a certain proportion of inactive workers can be an adaptive strategy for collective organization.
Same profession, different people : Stratification, structure, and physicians' employment choices

Professions such as medicine are in the midst of profound change. This paper explores how recent stratifying forces within the medical profession relate to the trend toward salaried employment for physicians. Specifically, growing segments of female, black and Hispanic, and lower and middle class doctors are focused upon in the analysis. Several important structural forces related to managed care and the nature of medical work are discussed and examined as well. The results suggests that it is useful to consider factors internal to professions in explaining large-scale professional change. This does not mean forgetting about the role played by structure in this change. Instead, it supports incorporating stratification perspectives into studies of professionals and of considering micro levels of analysis which acknowledge and investigate the effects of intraprofessional diversity.
Water Quality Regulations

Water quality regulations are important for avoiding conflicts among water users, minimizing public health risks of certain chemical and biological pollutants, protecting the environment, and preventing conditions that lessen the recreational and aesthetic value of water bodies. Most countries have developed water quality regulations, but these rules vary in breadth, rigor, and enforcement. In the United States, the Clean Water Act requires that streams and other water bodies be classified according to use categories—each with specific water quality standards. The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) further requires permits to discharge wastewaters into public waters. The purpose of NPDES permits is to prevent streams and other water bodies from violating their water quality standards. These permits typically have limits on concentrations of pollutants in effluents, and many times, there are limits on quantities of pollutants that may be discharged. There is a growing tendency to develop total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) that specify the total quantities of selected pollutants that can be discharged into a stream or other water body by all permit holders. Standards with which municipal water supply operations must comply also have been developed to assure safe drinking water and protect public health.
Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in Adults

The results of all therapies for adults with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia remain disappointing. Five year survival of the 1929 intensively treated patients in the UKALL XII/ECOG 2993 study was 39% [1]. Chemotherapy is toxic and prolonged; this study reported a 12% 2-year non-relapse mortality in patients without donors. There is a feeling that chemotherapy cannot be pushed much further. Younger ( 5 abnormalities were 24, 22 and 28%, respectively making these patients valid targets for more aggressive approaches. In addition, a major German study of MRD at 9 time points in the first year of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) therapy, has found that patients with molecular MRD detectable at week 16 have a very poor outcome (12 vs. 66%) [3] making these patients logical candidates for trials of different approaches including upfront allografting (Table 13-1).
An optimization scheme for locating power system equilibria ranked by a scalar Lyapunov function

A constrained optimization algorithm for implementing a geometric approach to ranking UEPs (unstable equilibrium points) is proposed. The formulation seeks to minimize a Euclidean norm of the vector field along a constraint manifold defined by a constant contour of the Lyapunov function. When the norm is driven to zero on the manifold, one has located an equilibrium point having the given value of energy. A scheme for modifying the constraint contour is proposed, and a limit on the number of local minima in a neighborhood of the operating point is demonstrated. >
Getting More with Less: Experimental Constraints and Stringent Tests of Model Mechanisms of Chemical Oscillators

Initially, models of chemical systems displaying oscillatory behavior were judged successful if they could show how such behavior was even possible. Recently, however, reaction mechanisms for chemical oscillators have been subjected to more stringent experimental tests. I examine strategies for model testing that flow from theoretical considerations, in particular, the types of feedback relations between chemical species required to produce oscillatory behavior in mechanistic models. These theoretical considerations allow chemists to work around important practical considerations such as an inability to measure certain species in the experimental system. These sorts of testing strategies illuminate chemists’ desiderata for a “good model.”
Deriving deterministic prediction rules from reduction schemes

Deterministic Prediction in progressive coding of images is investigated. Progressive coding first creates a sequence of resolution layers by beginning with an original image and reducing its resolution several times by factors of two. Next, the resultant layers are losslessly encoded. The lowest-resolution layer is encoded first, then each higher resolution image is built incrementally upon the previous, until the original image is finally encoded. Coding efficiency may be improved if knowledge of the rules which produced the lower-resolution image of each pair is used to deterministically predict pixels of the higher, so they need not be encoded.
Equitable wind power scheduling in power system with multiple wind farms

Increasing penetration of wind power into the generation mix has necessitated the integration of wind farms in the daily planning and dispatching operations of independent system operators. This paper models a simple and intuitive cost function that can dispatch power among multiple wind farms in an economically equitable manner. The cost function is used in an optimal power flow problem for the IEEE 14 bus system with three wind farms. The results indicate that the proposed cost function can prevent the underutilization of certain wind farms due to their location while satisfying the system operating constraints.
Blindness and children: Social–emotional and communicative development in infancy

At birth, the human infant shows no evidence of true social responsiveness. Physical states such as hunger and pain elicit crying or other signs of distress, and these indications are reduced or eliminated by food or removal of the aversive stimulus. It makes little difference who or what causes the change in stimulus; one breast or bottle is as good as another, as long as it contains the right stuff. The neonate is nondiscriminatory as to the identity of the agent. By the age of six months, however, the typical infant has begun to discriminate among persons and respond selectively to them emotionally and socially; and well before a year of age, the infant has a well-refined system of response to individual people, including aversions as well as attractions. Attachment The term attachment refers to the development in the first year of selective social–emotional responsiveness to individual people, with positive responses to a small number of people (typically including one or both parents) and negative responses to other people (the phenomenon called “stranger fear”). This progression is typically described as a narrowing of the objects of attachment that begins to be apparent around six months of age, together with the development of an aversion to other individuals. Indices of positive attachment include smiling and vocalizing, and indices of aversion include distress not only when the attachment objects are not present but also when “strangers” are present. The development of specific attachments shows not only discrimination among people, but also the beginnings of emotional responsiveness upon which subsequent emotional ties will be based.
Fan labor audio feature introduction

An audio recording of the Gendered Fan Labor in New Media and Old Workshop from the 2008 Console-ing Passions conference, hosted by the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Contextual influences on eating behaviours: heuristic processing and dietary choices

This paper reviews some of the evidence that dietary behaviours are, in large part, the consequence of automatic responses to contextual food cues, many of which lead to increased caloric consumption and poor dietary choices. We describe studies that illustrate how these automatic mechanisms underlie eating behaviours, as well as evidence that individuals are subject to inherent cognitive limitations, and mostly lack the capacity to consistently recognize, ignore or resist contextual cues that encourage eating. Restaurants and grocery stores are the primary settings from which people obtain food. These settings are often designed to maximize sales of food by strategically placing and promoting items to encourage impulse purchases. Although a great deal of marketing research is proprietary, this paper describes some of the published studies that indicate that changes in superficial characteristics of food products, including packaging and portion sizes, design, salience, health claims and labelling, strongly influence food choices and consumption in ways for which people generally lack insight. We discuss whether contextual influences might be considered environmental risk factors from which individuals may need the kinds of protections that fall under the mission of public health.
Researching the state and engineering on the North China Plain, 1949–1999

This paper explores methodological and thematic approaches of an ongoing research project that focuses on how the government of the People’s Republic of China managed water resources after 1949. The project will formulate conclusions about the environmental consequences of different hydraulic engineering projects as China pursued different developmental paradigms. The state pursued Soviet-style central planning for much of the 1950s, Great Leap Forward decentralization and communalization between 1958 and 1961, a blend of state planning and mass mobilization during the 1960s and 1970s, and “market socialism” during the post-Mao era (1978–). The project will be organized around these four eras and it will examine the implications that each of these developmental approaches had on North China’s water resources. Comparative conclusions about the environmental consequences of these four developmental periods will be guided by several fundamental options that faced state and party leaders throughout the post-1949 period: (1) modern hydraulic engineering vs. traditional water conservancy and mass mobilization, (2) central vs. local planning, (3) international technical cooperation vs. self-reliance, and (4) economic development vs. environmental protection. The results of this study will suggest the potential environmental consequences of water policy choices that are made in China. Whether the issue is centralization versus decentralization, reliance on contemporary standards of hydraulic engineering versus traditional mass mobilization, or self-reliance versus international cooperation, an examination of the experience of water management in China since 1949 will point to the environmental consequences of hydraulic engineering choices.
Direct Visualization of a DNA Glycosylase Searching for Damage

DNA glycosylases preserve the integrity of genetic information by recognizing damaged bases in the genome and catalyzing their excision. It is unknown how DNA glycosylases locate covalently modified bases hidden in the DNA helix amongst vast numbers of normal bases. Here we employ atomic-force microscopy (AFM) with carbon nanotube probes to image search intermediates of human 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase (hOGG1) scanning DNA. We show that hOGG1 interrogates DNA at undamaged sites by inducing drastic kinks. The sharp DNA bending angle of these non-lesion-specific search intermediates closely matches that observed in the specific complex of 8-oxoguanine-containing DNA bound to hOGG1. These findings indicate that hOGG1 actively distorts DNA while searching for damaged bases.
Analysis of Security System Designs for Ferry Transportation

In detecting threats, particularly explosives, the challenge is to design a system with acceptable detection probability and false-alarm rate that does not unduly inconvenience travelers. Ferry passengers, in particular, are less likely than aviation passengers to tolerate extra delays for extensive scrutiny of themselves or their personal belongings. Similarly, substantial purchase and deployment costs of equipment by ferry owners and operators would not be tenable for small improvements in security. Thus, this paper analyzes different approaches to security and how best to combine detection capabilities and people to enhance ferry transportation security without affecting mobility. Several factors must be considered in choosing practical combinations of detectors to provide the best possible security system. Those factors and their interrelationships are examined within the context of different architectures. Besides the throughput analysis, the manuscript presents a general framework to compare security system designs and implement efficient and effective alternatives for ferry transportation.
Efficient base station antenna element for mobile communications

There is a continuous battle in designing modern wireless communication systems to save few decibels in power budgets to improve performance using all possible means. Antenna serves as a key critical component in such a design. Here, we are proposing to improve the basic antenna element that is being used at the base station antenna systems. It is suggested that more metalization in the radiating configuration that fill the volume would yield higher gain for electrically small antenna according to Fano-Chu limits (1950). Starting from this assumption, an antenna structure based on Moxon antenna is proposed. Cross Moxon elements will be broadened and tapered, bent and terminated accordingly to optimize gain and bandwidth and lower cross-polarization as well as maintain low profile and almost no losses since no dielectric materials are involved. Simultaneously, it will have a low back lobe, increasing the radiation efficiency in the forward direction even in the presence of a small ground plane. This concept has been demonstrated on SATCOM and RFID tag reader antennas leading to significant size reduction and increase in gain compared to state-of-the-art of commercial counterparts. Patent application is pending and it is currently licensed to third party. Designs of base station antenna elements are presented with this configuration for air and dielectric loaded Moxon based structures. Prototype antenna has been fabricated, tested and measurement data is presented.
Crystal Structure of Valonia Cellulose Iβ

The crystal structure of Valonia cellulose Iβ is determined by X-ray fiber diffraction analysis. A careful reanalysis of two existing X-ray diffraction data sets for Valonia cellulose I leads to a consistent, definitive structure of the β-phase. The results resolve ambiguities in existing X-ray analyses between “parallel up” and “parallel down” packing of the cellulose sheets in native Valonia cellulose. The molecular and sheet structures are essentially identical to those previously determined, but these results define precisely the packing of the sheets. The sheet packing is discussed in terms of the energy and density of the crystal structure. The structure of the β-phase has specific implications for the packing of the α-phase of Valonia cellulose I.
Inertial linkages between wages and inflation: Evidence from Brazil

Many observers of the Brazilian economy have suggested that wage growth causes inflation. Because wage growth is linked to past price growth, an inertial component is said to exist. The relationship between wage growth and inflation in Brazil over the period 1981–89 is examined. A model of wage growth and inflation is developed. Lagged effects of inflation on wage growth and a structural break in 1986 are tested for. The estimates suggest a lagged response of wages to prices in the pre-1986 period. However, in the post-1986 period, the response of wages to lagged inflation is not statistically different from zero and the contemporaneous response is not different from one.
p53-Independent Inhibition of Proliferation and p21Waf1/Cip1-Modulated Induction of Cell Death by the Antioxidants N-acetylcysteine and Vitamin E

Epidemiological evidence has suggested an association between diets rich in antioxidants and diminished risks of various types of cancer. Proposed mechanisms for protective effects of antioxidants have involved inhibition of free radical-mediated DNA damage. Recent data suggest that antioxidants may prevent or eliminate cancerous cells through their ability to inhibit proliferation or to induce programmed cell death (PCD). To begin to identify cell cycle and cell death regulatory factors involved in antioxidant-induced growth arrest and PCD, we have studied colorectal carcinoma cells (CRCs) that differ in expression of the tumor suppressor protein p53, and of the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor p21Waf1/Cip1. The antioxidants, N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and vitamin E either inhibited proliferation in a p53-independent manner without affecting cell viability or induced cell death. Growth arrest was not associated with upregulation of the CDK inhibitors p21Waf1/Cip1, p18ink4c or p16ink4a, but was associated with a decrease in reactive oxygen species (ROS). In contrast to previous observations, the absence of p21Waf1/Cip1 increased susceptibility of CRCs to antioxidant-induced PCD. NAC decreased levels of retinoblastoma protein (Rb) phosphorylation in all cells tested, but Rb was cleaved only in cells which underwent NAC-induced death. Although NAC decreased ROS in all cells studied, cell lines in which PCD occurred had higher baseline levels of ROS than cell lines in which proliferation was blocked. These observations suggest that expression of p21Waf1/Cip1 and basal levels of ROS are important determinants of outcome after antioxidant treatment.
Evidence for a small (∼0.000 030) but resolvable increase in seawater 87Sr/86Sr ratios across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary

Previous studies of 87 Sr/ 86 Sr patterns across the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) boundary have generated inconsistent results. Analyses of samples from Ocean Drilling Program Hole 1049C provide better taphonomic and diagenetic control than has been previously achieved and indicate (1) that there was a rapid increase of ∼0.000 030 in seawater 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios across the K-T boundary, (2) that post–K-T Cretaceous foraminifera at this site are reworked, and (3) that subtle diagenetic overprinting affects the basal ∼15 cm of the Danian ooze. These conclusions are consistent with the asteroid impact hypothesis. Reworking rather than survivorship confirms nearly complete extinction of Cretaceous Tethyan planktic foraminifera; the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr excursion can be explained by enhanced continental weathering, perhaps related to acid rain in the aftermath of the K-T impact.
Little-Known Truths, Quirky Anecdotes, Seething Scandals, and Even Some Science in the History of (Primarily Achievement) Motivation

This article presents a history of the study of motivation from approximately 1900-1975, focusing on achievement strivings and containing little-known and often surprising facts about the main contributors to this field. Four theorists are highlighted: David McClelland, Kurt Lewin, John Atkinson, and Fritz Heider, each associated with a different theoretical approach (respectively and in order of historical emergence: trait, Gestalt, expectancy/value, and attribution theory). A fifth conception, drive theory, is also represented. In addition, a number of individuals who influenced these theorists and others who followed them are discussed. The article emphasizes the interrelations between the theorists and the interaction between personal and scientific life.
Peripheral T-cell lymphoma. A case report demonstrating morphologic heterogeneity and progression, and atypical immune reactions

Peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCL) comprise a morphologically heterogeneous group of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. The authors report on PTCL occurring in a 13-year-old girl, in whom they were able to evaluate histologic material from 11 biopsy specimens obtained during her 8-month clinical course. These biopsy specimens demonstrated morphologic progression from atypical immune reactions and diffuse mixed cell lymphoma observed at different anatomic sites during early stages of the disease to pleomorphic large cell lymphoma with erythrophagocytic tumor cells at the time of her death. Morphologic variability of PTCL that may occur during the course of a patient's illness was demonstrated, and discordant histologic findings in biopsy specimens obtained simultaneously from different anatomic sites was noted. The morphologic evolution of PTCL was expressed, in sequential biopsy specimens, by a progressive cellular pleomorphism with the appearance of large, often bizarre lymphoid cells. This was associated with the gradual diminution and disappearance of the B-cell areas and epithelioid histiocytic reactions which were present initially in the biopsy specimens. The findings suggest that some of the various morphologic descriptions of PTCL given in the literature may represent transient histologic expressions of the lymphoma at various stages in its natural history. Cancer 57:2329–2342, 1986.
Preliminary assessment of a wreck in the Red River, Choctaw County, Oklahoma, USA

This paper reports the initial recording of an early riverboat wreck located in the Red River between Oklahoma and Texas. The wreck is probably the Caddo lost in 1842. The visible wreckage is described and the history of the Caddo is discussed. This is the earliest western rivers steamboat investigated by archaeologists to date.
Calculation of Ionic Crystal Surface Energies from Thermodynamic Data

An attempt was made to correlate theoretical surface energy calculations with empirically derived relations between surface energy, lattice energy, and molar volume. An equation linking these parameters is discussed in terms of real surface effects and is found to be consistent with the few available experimental values of surface energy obtained by cleavage techniques.
Patents, Genomics, Research, and Diagnostics

ABSTRACT Two kinds of currently available genomic patents may significantly interfere with medical research: (1) patents such as those on specific single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which may include claims that control the inference of phenotypic characteristics from specific genotypes, and (2) patents on computer-based genomic information, databases, or manipulation procedures. These will create more serious encumbrances than will patents on expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Two approaches should be considered vis-a-vis these genomic patents: (1) Reconsideration and redefinition of the recent extensions of patentable subject matter into more and more intangible areas. This could be pursued by legislation or by test litigation to seek Supreme Court reversal of certain of the decisions of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC). (2) A narrow legislative exemption protecting the ability to use SNPs and phenotypic—genotypic relationships in medical research, including contexts in which medical research and clinical practice are substantially intertwined.
Gamow-Teller strength at high excitations

A perturbative calculation is reported for the mixing of Gamow-Teller strength with two-particle two-hole configurations at high excitation energies. We find that roughly 50% of the Gamow-Teller strength is shifted into the region of 10--45 MeV excitation for the nucleus /sup 90/Zr. This would explain a substantial part of the continuum background seen in the 200 MeV (p,n) reaction.
Use of reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis for the determination of provitamin A carotenes in tomatoes

The usual methods for provitamin A evaluation of foods convert the total pigment amount, determined spectrophotometrically, into vitamin A units. Since the totally inactive lycopene is the major carotenoid in the tomato, such readings result in erroneously high provitamin A values. In view of the recent development of chemically bonded, reversed-phase, microparticulate packings and their use in high-performance liquid chromatography which combines highly accurate and reproducible resolution with the speed and ease of operation, a new method using such a system was developed to isolate carotenoid pigments from tomato samples. A 15-min column separation was thus achieved, dramatically decreasing the analysis time of the classical open column chromatographic procedures, which often result in unresolved and altered fractions due to long-term exposure to oxygen, light, solvents and sometimes adsorbent. beta-Carotene and lycopene were determined and quantitated in six tomato samples. beta-Carotene, 100% vitamin A-active, was expressed in International Units of vitamin A. The newly developed method gives a more reliable evaluation of the fruit potency in vitamin A than the methods of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists currently used for food composition tables.
Bis-pentafluorotelluriumoxide fluorocarbons

Abstract The reaction of xenon bis-pentafluorotelluriumoxide, Xe(OTeF5)2, with the haloolefins; CF2=CFCl, CF2=CCl2, and CF2=CFH, results in the high yield addition of two TeF5O-groups to the double bond. These compounds are the first examples of Rf(OTeF5)2 compounds in which Rf is not perfluorinated. For perfluorobutadiene, saturation of both double bonds occurs readily to give 1,2,3,4(TeF5O)4C4F6 in 97% yield.
On the self-fulfilling nature of apparent sex differences in behavior

Abstract A study was conducted to test the notion that a person's behavior conforms explicitly to the sex-role stereotype that attractive others have regarding the person's gender. In a 2 × 2 design, female subjects were induced to characterize themselves to a male partner who was either desirable or undesirable and whose stereotype of the ideal woman conformed very closely to the traditional female stereotype or its opposite. The results, which held for both an attitudinal and a behavioral measure of self-presentation, indicated that, when the partner was desirable, the subjects portrayed themselves as more or less conventional in terms of sex-role, depending upon whether the partner's stereotypic view of women was traditional or not. The implications of these findings for an analysis which stresses the self-fulfilling nature of apparent sex differences were discussed.
Shear-induced permeability changes in a polymer grafted silica membrane

Abstract The hydrodynamic response of a graft-polymerized membrane was demonstrated for a microporous silica-poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (silica-PVP) membrane. The membrane pores were modified by graft polymerizing vinyl pyrrolidone onto the membrane pore surface, resulting in a polymer surface layer of covalently tethered polymer chains. The hydraulic permeability of the modified membrane increased with increasing transmembrane pressure owing to flow-induced deformation of the grafted polymer chains. The dynamics of the modified pores was investigated by membrane hydraulic permeability studies along with a two-region hydrodynamic pore flow model. The thickness of the grafted polymer layer decreased with increasing pore-wall shear rate by up to about 47%, relative to the thickness at the zero shear limit, depending on the surface density and length of the grafted chains. Although the effective pore size of the polymer-grafted membrane was reduced by 5–36% (at the zero shear rate limit), about 18–59% of the pore size loss was regained at high pore-wall shear rates. Increasing the degree of shear-induced permeability change is feasible by increasing the ratio of the polymer chain length/pore size ratio as well as the surface density of the grafted polymer phase. The present results suggest that hydrodynamic pore size control could provide an additional useful degree of freedom in operating polymer-modified filtration membranes.
Detection of alkyl methylphosphonic acids in complex matrices by gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

Abstract A method was developed to detect alkyl methylphosphonic acids in complex matrices using gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. By converting the acids to their trimethylsilyl derivatives and monitoring the collision-induced dissociation of m / z 153 to m / z 75 under electron ionization or methane chemical ionization (CI) conditions, five members of this series (alkyl=ethyl, isopropyl, isobutyl, pinacolyl and cyclohexyl) were selectively detected against backgrounds of diesel fuel and soil extracts containing base–neutral–acid polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and pesticides without interference. Detection limits were 200–500 pg injected. Ammonia CI was successfully employed for molecular mass confirmation.
R&D, Patents, and Market Value Revisited: Is There A Second (Technological Opportunity) Factor?

It is known that innovations in the market value of manufacturing firms and their R&D expenditures are related (Pakes 1985, Mairesse and Siu 1984). This could be due to shifts in the demand for the output of a particular firm, to shifts in the technological opportunities available to the firm, or to both. In this paper we use innovations in patenting activity as an additional piece of information about technological shifts in order to attempt to identify the relative importance of these two types of shocks. We build a simple two-factor model of innovations in sales, investment, R&D investment, patent applications, and the rate of return to holding a share of the firm, and estimate it using a time series-cross section of U.S. manufacturing firms (340 firms from 1973 to 1980). Except in the pharmaceutical industry. we find little evidence of a second factor which can be clearly identified with technological opportunity, although there is evidence of a long-run growth factor linking both types of investment,...
Structural Studies on Alkylisocyanate Polymers by Thermal Degradation Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Homopolymers and copolymers of alkylisocyanates having n-hexyl, 2,6-dimethylheptyl, 3,7-dimethyloctyl, and (2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxolan-4-yl)methyl substituents underwent thermal degradation in the course of desorption electron ionization to yield trimers and monomers that were characterized in situ by tandem mass spectrometry. The trimers were trisubstituted cyanuric acids, the protonated molecules displaying a characteristic series of alkene eliminations on collision-induced dissociation to yield protonated cyanuric acid, m/ z 130. Confirmation of the identity of the pyrolysates was obtained by using two types of MS3 experiments: the reaction intermediate scan and the two-dimensional familial scan. The ion chemistry of the trimers and of the protonated monomer, the alkylisocyanate, was elucidated. Among the many interesting fragmentation processes undergone by the ionized trimers were a and 3 C-C bond cleavages and charge-remote fragmentations, which provided information on branching in the alkyl substituent. The dioxolane-containing substituent showed unique ion chemistry. The monomer distribution in the copolymers was deduced from the abundances of the various protonated trimers. The distribution was found to be random in all copolymers except that containing the dioxolane substituent.
The detection of some dicarbonyl intermediates arising from the degradation of Amadori compounds (the Maillard reaction)

Abstract Three Amadori compounds, N-(1- deoxy- d -fructos-1-yl)-glycine (1), N ϵ -(1- deoxy- d -fructos-1-yl )-N α - formyl- l -lysine (2) and N,N- di-(1-deoxy- d -fructos-1-yl)-glycine (3) were incubated (37°C) in buffered solutions having pH values corresponding to the pKa of the substituted amino group in the presence of aminoguanidine. The dicarbonyl intermediates that were produced were trapped as the stable triazine derivatives (6a, 6b and 7), and their yields were measured as a function of reaction time. The triazines derived from both 1-deoxy-2,3- d -erythro-hexodiulose (“1-deoxyglucosone”, 5) and 3-deoxy- d -erythro-hexos-2-ulose (“3-deoxyglucosone”, 4) were detected as the trimethylsilyl derivatives by GLC and were unequivocally identified by comparison with authentic standards and by GLC-MS. Varying the pH of the incubation mixture had little effect on the ratio or the nature of the dicarbonyl compounds produced. This represents an unusual situation, wherein two different dicarbonyl intermediates (one produced, presumably, as a result of initial 1,2-enolization and the other, presumably as a result of 2,3-enolization) were identified in the same Maillard reaction mixture.
Chemoattractant-induced phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate accumulation is spatially amplified and adapts, independent of the actin cytoskeleton

Experiments in amoebae and neutrophils have shown that local accumulations of phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate [PI(3,4,5)P3] mediate the ability of cells to migrate during gradient sensing. To define the nature of this response, we subjected Dictyostelium discoideum cells to measurable temporal and spatial chemotactic inputs and analyzed the accumulation of PI(3,4,5)P3 on the membrane, as well as the recruitment of the enzymes phosphoinositide 3-kinase and PTEN. In latrunculin-treated cells, spatial gradients elicited a PI(3,4,5)P3 response only on the front portion of the cell where the response increased more steeply than the gradient and did not depend on its absolute concentration. Phosphoinositide 3-kinase bound to the membrane only at the front, although it was less sharply localized than PI(3,4,5)P3. Membrane-bound PTEN was highest at the rear and varied inversely with receptor occupancy. The localization of PI(3,4,5)P3 was enhanced further in untreated polarized cells containing an intact cytoskeleton. Interestingly, the treated cells could respond to two independent gradients simultaneously, demonstrating that a response at the front does not necessarily inhibit the back. Combinations of temporal and spatial stimuli provided evidence of an inhibitory process and showed that a gradient generates a persistent steady-state response independent of a previous history of exposure to chemoattractant. These results support a local excitation/global inhibition model and argue against other schemes proposed to explain directional sensing.
The change in meat pigments in sausage making processes

The colour of cured meat and sausages depends essentially on the chemical modifications of the natural pigments of animal muscle. This paper deals with the influence of processing on the pigments and the control of their transformation by studying the refletion spectra of the surface of the samples. It is demonstrated that better curing conditions may be obtained by accurate control of the chemical modifications of pigments during the different stages of processing: curing, smoking, drying, etc. The keeping qualities of non-heated cured meat products (e.g., fermented sausages) depend essentially on the efficiency of the nitrosation process. Incomplete nitrosation of the porphyric pigments increases the sensitivity to discoloration by a Fe2+ Fe3+ oxidation of the residual native myoglobin.
Prodynorphin in invertebrates.

We have characterized a prodynorphin-like molecule in an invertebrate, specifically in the rhynchobdellid leech Theromyzon tessulatum. The 14270 Da protein was purified by gel permeation chromatography, anti-leucine-enkephalin-affinity column separation followed by reverse-phase HPLC. Its complete characterization was performed by Edman degradation, enzymatic treatments, and matrix assisted laser-desorption time of flight mass spectrometry. This 119 amino-acid protein exhibits 28.8% sequence identity with rat prodynorphin, 22.9% with human prodynorphin, and 21.8% with the pig molecule. Within the leech precursor, α-Neo-endorphin, dynorphin-A, and dynorphin B-like peptides are present at the C-terminus as in vertebrate prodynorphin. These biological active peptides exhibit 100%, 50%, and 76.6% sequence identity with their counterparts in mammals, respectively. The amount of leucine-enkephalin is identical to that found in vertebrates. Leech prodynorphin is distinguished from that found in mammals in that the N-terminus is shorter. This report constitutes the first complete biochemical characterization of a prodynorphin in invertebrates.
Children's perceived control of parental behavior: A proposal and an application☆

Abstract This paper presents the concept of children's perceived control of parental behavior and discusses the concept in relationship to two childhood behavior disorders regarded as manifestations of childhood depression—impulse control disturbance and dysphoric social withdrawal. To this end, it reviews child development literature on the affective and behavioral correlates of contingent parental response to child-initiated behavior and a selected literature on childhood conduct disorder and dysphoria. The concept is anticipated to further understanding of the general construct of perceived control and impart greater coherence to both research and clinical practice pertaining to children identified with either behavior disturbance.
Inhibitory short synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides and lupus

B cells and antigen-presenting cells express a group of intracellular Toll-like receptors (TLRs) that recognize nucleic acids and can be accessed only when apoptotic debris or immune complexes are internalized by B-cell receptors or Fc receptors. This results in rapid cell activation and release of inflammatory mediators that perpetuate the autoantibody response. TLR-7 and TLR-9 are required to generate autoantibodies to RNA and DNA, respectively. Synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides that inhibit the activity of these intracellular TLRs attenuate systemic lupus erythematosus in mouse models and may be of therapeutic benefit in human systemic lupus erythematosus.
Imaging Amyloidopathy in Parkinson Disease and Parkinsonian Dementia Syndromes

Dementia arising in patients with Parkinson disease or parkinsonian neurodegeneration comprises a heterogeneous neuropathology. Clinical labeling of patients with both dementia and Parkinson disease is dichotomous, depending on the temporal development of cognitive impairment and motor parkinsonism. Patients with dementia arising first (or within the first year of PD) are classified as dementia with Lewy bodies; patients with PD for more than one year before cognitive decline are classified as Parkinson disease with dementia. Despite this differential clinical classification, autopsy studies demonstrate variable admixtures of cortical synuicleinopathy, Aβ-amyloidopathy and tau neurofibrillary tangle deposition. There are no routine clinical diagnostic measures that accurately distinguish the underlying neuropathologies in individual patients. In the present paper, we review the published literature describing characteristics of fibrillary Aβ-amyloid deposition on the basis of PET radiotracer imaging in patients with Parkinson disease and in parkinsonian dementia syndromes. Although individual reports often include only small-to-modest subject numbers, there is overall suggestion that PD patients have a lower incidence of Aβ-amyloid deposition than seen amongst elderly normal subjects, and that Parkinson disease with dementia patients have a lower incidence of Aβ-amyloid deposition than do patients with dementia with Lewy bodies. These apparent features contrast the findings of Aβ-amyloid-PET imaging in normal aging and the development of Alzheimer disease, where Aβ-amyloid deposition arises asymptomatically and apparently many years before development of signs or symptoms of dementia. It is proposed that focused, prospective studies are needed to further address and understand the complex role(s) of Aβ-amyloid pathology in Parkinson disease, and that this understanding will be critical to the development of targeted disease-modifying therapy for dementia in PD.
Is the Midlatitude Zonal Flow Absolutely Unstable

Abstract An analysis is performed of the growth and propagation of unstable baroclinic wave packets in relatively realistic midlatitude zonal currents. The absolute growth rates are calculated, incorporating the effects of both Ekman friction and barotropic shear. It is found that these effects do not alter earlier conclusions (based on simpler models)that a finite easterly low-level wind is required for absolute instability in models with continuous shear. Ekman friction exacerbates the situation, shifting the absolute instability threshold from essentially zero surface wind to negative surface wind. While absolute instability of the midlatitude terrestrial jets thus seems unlikely, the conclusion stands that the atmosphere is at least near the boundary of absolute instability, especially under conditions prevailing in the oceanic storm tracks. In consequence, slow-moving short waves with growth rates below the maximum normal-mode growth rate typically contribute more to the amplification of wave packets...
Enthalpy of formation of some lime silicates by high-temperature solution calorimetry, with discussion of high pressure phase equilibria

The enthalpies of solution of anorthite, grossular, the three CaSiO3 polymorphs and CaO were measured at 970 K in a lead borate melt. These data, combined with previously published work, determine the enthalpies of formation (kcal/gfw) of the above silicates and diopside and CaAl2SiO6 pyroxene from the oxides at 970 K: • CaAl2Si2O8-anorthite (synthetic) −23.14 ± 0.45 • CaAl2Si2O8-anorthite (natural) −23.93 ± 0.48 • Ca3Al2Si3O12-grossular (synthetic) −77.91 ± 0.67 • CaMgSi2O6-diopside (synthetic and natural) −34.99 ± 0.41 • CaAl2SiO6-pyroxene (synthetic) −18.23 ± 0.39 • CaSiO3-wollastonite (synthetic and natural) −21.48 ± 0.36 • CaSiO3-pseudowollastonite (synthetic) −19.92 ± 0.31 • CaSiO3-high pressure polymorph (synthetic) −19.84 ± 0.34 Natural high temperature anorthite has a significantly more negative enthalpy of formation than synthetic anorthite. The enthalpy of formation of synthetic anorthite agrees with that given by the acid calorimetry of Barany (1962, U.S. Bur. Mines Kept. Inv.5900). Synthetic grossulars prepared both hydrothermally at 1000°C and 28 kbar and in the dry way at 1250°C and 35 kbar have the same enthalpy of solution. The enthalpy of formation of grossular from the oxides is more positive by 2–4 kcal/gfw than estimated by other workers from high pressure equilibrium diagrams. The enthalpy of formation of diopside agrees with that reported by Navtrosky and Coons (1976, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta40, 1281–1288) and is about two kcal less negative than given by Robie and Waldbaum (1968, U.S. Geol. Surv. Bull.1259). The enthalpy of formation and entropy of CaAl2SiO6 pyroxene agree well with the parameters derived from high temperature, high pressure phase equilibria by Robie and Waldbaum (1968). The enthalpies of formation of wollastonite and pseudowollastonite agree very well with those resulting from HF solution calorimetry. The dense high pressure CaSiO3 polymorph has an anomalously high entropy. The dP/dT slope of the stability boundary relative to wollastonite is indeed negative, as found by Essene (1974, Contrib. Mineral. Petrol.45, 247–250) and Huang and Wyllie (1975, Am. Mineralogist60, 213–217).
Influence of 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid on gastrointestinal lead absorption and whole-body lead retention.

Abstract 2,3-Dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) is a new orally active heavy metal chelator for the treatment of childhood Pb intoxication on an outpatient basis. The influence of DMSA, as well as other chelating agents, on gastrointestinal 203Pb absorption and whole-body 203 Pb retention was examined. Groups of Sprague-Dawley rats (230–260 g) were gavaged with a solution containing approximately 25 mg/kg Pb [as Pb(NO3)2] plus 15 μCi 203 Pb . Some groups were then immediately given 0.11 mmol/kg of either DMSA, CaNa2EDTA, d -penicillamine, or BAL by oral gavage, while other groups received the same drugs by ip injection. Control groups received solutions of the drug vehicles po or ip. Whole-body Pb retention and gastrointestinal Pb absorption (whole body retention + urinary Pb excretion) were significantly decreased in rats that received DMSA po. This finding implies that the use of DMSA to treat childhood lead intoxication on an outpatient basis is not associated with a risk for increased Pb absorption.
A Death in the Family Brings Insight to a Family Counselor

This article features one segment of an intergenerational family counselor’s journey in understanding her own family. Her father’s death and the impending funeral became a wellspring for new understanding and recognition of family patterns.