cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Parainfluenza 1 virus and multiple sclerosis: the conversion of 6/94 virus released from human brain cells and other mammalian cells into and infectious form by passage in macrophages.

The parainfluenza type-1 6/94 virus isolated from lysolecithin-fused CV-1 and multiple sclerosis brain cells and propagated in eggs was found to infect human brain, and other mammalian cells. The virus obtained from the extracellular fluids of 6/94-infected human brain and MDBK cells was not infectious for a second passage in these cells but did replicate in cultures of mouse macrophages (IC-21). 6/94 virus obtained from infected macrophage culture fluid was in turn infectious for human brain and MDBK cells but the virus produced by the latter cultures was again found to infect only macrophages. Following treatment with trypsin, the noninfectious virus obtained from either human brain of MDBK cell culture fluids was found to possess restored infectivity. Ammo acid and carbohydrate radiolabeled 6/94 virus purified from MDBK and human brain cell culture fluid was examined by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis before and after treatment with trypsin. The pattern, number and molecular weights of the viral polypeptides were compared to egg grown 6/94 virus and correlated with the restoration of infectivity for MDBK and human brain cells.
Factors affecting perioperative mortality and wound-related complications following major lower extremity amputations

Major lower extremity amputations continue to be associated with significant morbidity and mortality, yet few recent large series have evaluated factors associated with perioperative mortality and wound complications. The purpose of this study was to examine factors affecting perioperative mortality and wound-related complications following major lower extremity amputation. A retrospective review was conducted of all adult patients who underwent nontraumatic major lower extremity amputations over a 5-year period at a single tertiary-care center in southern West Virginia. Demographic and clinical data, perioperative data, and outcomes were collected and analyzed to identify any relationship with perioperative mortality, as well as wound complications and early revisions (within 90 days) to a more proximal level. Variables were examined using chi-squared, two-tailed t-tests, and logistic regression. Three hundred eighty patients (61% male) underwent 412 major lower extremity amputations during 1999-2003. The initial level of amputation included 230 below-knee (BKA), 149 above-knee (AKA), and one hip disarticulation. Perioperative mortality was 15.5% (n = 59). From a regression model, age, albumin level, AKA, and lack of a previous coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) were independently related to mortality. Patients who did not have a previous CABG were nearly three times more likely to die than those who did (p = 0.038). Overall early wound complications were noted in 13.4% (n = 51). Four factors were independently related to experiencing a 90-day wound complication: BKA, community (rather than care facility) living, type of anesthesia, and preoperative hematocrit >30%. Major lower extremity amputation in patients with peripheral vascular disease continues to be associated with considerable perioperative morbidity and mortality. Even though the surgical procedure itself may not be challenging from a technical standpoint, underlying medical conditions put this group at high risk for perioperative death. Wound-healing problems are frequently encountered and must be minimized to facilitate early mobilization and hospital discharge.
Forskolin induced increase in spontaneous activity of auditory brainstem neurons is comparable to acoustic stimulus evoked responses

Contemporary proposals for the pathophysiology of tinnitus due to cochlear damage underscore increased spontaneous activity of auditory brainstem neurons. One of the several consequences of the cochlear injury is the activation of the ERK pathway, suppression of phosphodiestase E activity, and putatively setting a long-term increase in intracellular levels of cyclic AMP at central auditory neurons. Local application of forskolin also increases intracellular cyclic AMP and spontaneous neural activity. We measured the effects of locally applied forskolin on spontaneous firing rate of isolated neurons in the peri-olivary region of the superior olive complex in anesthetized adult Long Evan rats. Forskolin induced increase in spontaneous neural activity was comparable to supra-threshold tone evoke neural responses. These results are viewed in context of hyperexcitability as a correlate of tinnitus.
Nanostructured Electrodes for Organic Solar Cells: Analysis and Design Fundamentals

Nanostructured electrodes (NEs) improve optical absorption and charge collection in photovoltaic (PV) devices. Traditionally, the electrodes have been designed exclusively for higher optical absorption. Such an optical design of the electrodes does not necessarily ensure better charge collection. Since the efficiency of organic PV (OPV) devices is hindered by the low carrier mobility of the organic semiconductors, the charge collection property of the NEs provides an interesting design alternative. The goal of this paper is the formulation of the essential design rules for NEs to improve charge collection in the low-mobility organic materials. We use detailed optoelectronic device simulation to explore the physics of NEs embedded in the organic semiconductors and quantify its effect on the performance gain of organic solar cells. Our analysis suggests that an optimum codesign of electrodes and morphology is essential for significant performance improvement (mainly through fill factor) in OPV cells.
Serotesting versus presumptive varicella vaccination of adolescents with a negative or uncertain history of chickenpox

Abstract Objective: To review the current practice of adolescent health care providers when an adolescent reports a negative or uncertain history of chickenpox in order to provide information for future practice. Methods: Retrospective chart review of a sample of patients seen in a hospital-based adolescent primary care clinic between 1996 and 1999. Results: Among adolescents who reported a positive history of chickenpox (190 patients, aged 15 ± 1 years), varicella occurred before age 5 years in 30%, between 5 and 10 years in 56%, and at older than age 10 years in 14% of the patients. When adolescents reported a negative or uncertain history of varicella (55 patients, aged 15 ± 1 years), serotesting was ordered for the majority (73%) of cases, while only 16% were presumptively vaccinated with varicella vaccine. In six patients no intervention was noted in the charts, and these patients were contacted. In 80% of the patients who were serotested, varicella IgG titers of ≥ 1:32 indicated a previous unnoticed infection and lifelong immunity to varicella. In only 20% of the patients sera were negative for varicella IgG titer, requiring varicella vaccination. There was no statistical difference between the number of siblings of patients with a positive serologic test (3 ± 1) and the number of siblings of seronegative patients (2 ± 1, p = 0.41). Seven of the eight seronegative patients consented to varicella vaccination and were vaccinated within 10 months of serotesting. Conclusions: These data support the practice of serotesting for a previously unnoticed varicella infection rather than presumptive vaccination in the adolescent age group. A follow-up vaccination of seronegative adolescents should be scheduled as close to serotesting as possible.
Growth and decay of groundwater mounds induced by percolation

Abstract Analytical expressions are derived which describe the growth and decay of groundwater mounds in an unconfined aquifer receiving uniform vertical percolation. The aquifer is homogeneous, isotropic, resting on a horizontal impermeable base, and discharging into a surface reservoir in which the water level remains equal to that of the main flow before the incidence of percolation. The rate of percolation is maintained by a spreading area in the form of an infinitely long strip, but of finite width, located above the aquifer. The rate of percolation relative to the hydraulic conductivity is considered so small that the vertically downward percolation is almost completely refracted in the direction of the slope of the water table.
Pattern-based time-series subsequence clustering using radial distribution functions

Clustering of time series subsequence data commonly produces results that are unspecific to the data set. This paper introduces a clustering algorithm, that creates clusters exclusively from those subsequences that occur more frequently in a data set than would be expected by random chance. As such, it partially adopts a pattern mining perspective into clustering. When subsequences are being labeled based on such clusters, they may remain without label. In fact, if the clustering was done on an unrelated time series it is expected that the subsequences should not receive a label. We show that pattern-based clusters are indeed specific to the data set for 7 out of 10 real-world sets we tested, and for window-lengths up to 128 time points. While kernel-density-based clustering can be used to find clusters with similar properties for window sizes of 8–16 time points, its performance degrades fast for increasing window sizes.
Bifurcation analysis of the plane rectilinear deformation on dry sand samples

Abstract Diffuse bifurcation modes of plane rectilinear deformations on dry sand samples are discussed. Sand is described by a Mohr-Coulomb, single hardening, rigid-plastic model, with a non-associated flow rule in which Rowe's stress-dilatancy principle is incorporated. The only significant diffuse bifurcation mode in the biaxial test with mixed boundary conditions is antisymmetric buckling before localization. In the strain controlled biaxial test internal buckling is possible everywhere in the hyperpolic regime.
A monolithic mass tracking formulation for bubbles in incompressible flow

Abstract We devise a novel method for treating bubbles in incompressible flow that relies on the conservative advection of bubble mass and an associated equation of state in order to determine pressure boundary conditions inside each bubble. We show that executing this algorithm in a traditional manner leads to stability issues similar to those seen for partitioned methods for solid–fluid coupling. Therefore, we reformulate the problem monolithically. This is accomplished by first proposing a new fully monolithic approach to coupling incompressible flow to fully nonlinear compressible flow including the effects of shocks and rarefactions, and then subsequently making a number of simplifying assumptions on the air flow removing not only the nonlinearities but also the spatial variations of both the density and the pressure. The resulting algorithm is quite robust, has been shown to converge to known solutions for test problems, and has been shown to be quite effective on more realistic problems including those with multiple bubbles, merging and pinching, etc. Notably, this approach departs from a standard two-phase incompressible flow model where the air flow preserves its volume despite potentially large forces and pressure differentials in the surrounding incompressible fluid that should change its volume. Our bubbles readily change volume according to an isothermal equation of state.
High-resolution spectrograph for the spectroscopic survey telescope

ABSTRACT An international team led by The University of Texas and Pennsylvania State University is planning a fiber fed highresolution spectrograph for the Spectroscopic Survey Telescope. Design goals are (1) resolution 60,000 with a fiberdiameter greater than 1 arc second, (2) spectral coverage per exposure to the limits permitted by the combined bandpass of the SST and optical fibers and the RQE and area of the CCD. The R • product will be maximized by use of a high-blaze angle echelle mosaic and image or pupil slicing while the bandwidth will be maximized usingcross dispersion and dichroic beam division in a dual spectrograph with large-area CCDs. Critical issues are crossdispersion and order spacing, sky subtraction, echelle and CCD selection, fiber optic feed, and image or pupil slicing.Proposed methods to achieve the goals and meet the challenges posed by the issues will be presented. 1. INTRODUCTION The Spectroscopic Survey Telescope (SST) has been described elsewhere.1'2'3 It will be an Arecibo-type opticaltelescope with axis of its 1O-m segmented spherical mirror tilted 35 from the zenith, its pointing direction fixedduring observations. Objects will be followed across the curved focal surface by a six-axis tracker carrying the primefocus corrector, field acquisition camera, faint object spectrograph, and optical fiber feeds. The 12 square tracker
Transition metal oxide-platinum alloy phase equilibria and their consequences for nonstoichiometry measurements

Abstract Thermodynamic calculations have been performed on the solubility of the metallic components of binary nickel and iron oxides in platinum as a function of oxygen partial pressure. The implications of the results obtained for the measurement of deviations from stoichiometry in oxides are briefly discussed.
Animal Welfare—Scientific Approaches to the Issues

Nonhuman animal welfare is of significant public interest, globally and within the United States. Value-based judgments are intrinsic to animal welfare assessment, according to the relative weighting of factors associated with animal performance, health, affective states, and natural living. The concept of animal welfare is consistent with the scientific method because questions are open to deductive reasoning, formation of hypotheses and predictions, and collection and analysis of empirical data. Multidisciplinary techniques used in the laboratory are helpful to understanding a whole animal response to particular situations and are especially important in interpretation of data about affective states. Epidemiological techniques can be used to identify prevalence and risk factors associated with particular animal welfare challenges in field conditions and are particularly useful for motivating change and evaluating the effectiveness of interventions intended to improve animal welfare on farms. Compromised...
Defining the Optimal Activated Clotting Time During Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: Aggregate Results From 6 Randomized, Controlled Trials

Background —Unfractionated heparin has been the primary anticoagulant therapy for percutaneous coronary intervention for >20 years. Despite the availability of rapid “point of care” testing, little clinical data defining the optimal level of anticoagulation are available. Furthermore, recent reports have advocated the use of low-dose heparin regimens in the absence of large-scale, well-conducted studies to support this practice. Methods and Results —We pooled the data from 6 randomized, controlled trials of novel adjunctive antithrombotic regimens for percutaneous coronary interventions in which unfractionated heparin constituted the control arm. Patients were divided into 25-s intervals of activated clotting times (ACTs), from 476 s. In a total of 5216 patients, the incidence of death, myocardial infarction, or any revascularization and major or minor bleeding at 7 days were calculated for each group and compared. An ACT in the range of 350 to 375 s provided the lowest composite ischemic event rate of 6.6%, or a 34% relative risk reduction in 7-day ischemic events compared with rates observed between 171 and 295 s by quartile analysis ( P =0.001). Conclusions —Contrary to recent reports, the optimal suppression of ischemic events with unfractionated heparin therapy in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention demands treatment to ACT levels that are substantially higher than currently appreciated. These data define a goal for heparin dosing within coronary interventions and establish a benchmark of optimal unfractionated heparin therapy against which future trials of novel antithrombotic regimens in percutaneous interventions can be compared.
Ontology of World Politics

Culture division influences our lives differently in how we identify and evaluate who we are as individuals. We respond to life situations in how we interpret ourselves. How we function in society as a whole signifies invaluable differences in how we base our demeanor. Freedom of speech is a given right in American society. It is the social norm to be able to voice your opinion on diverse issues faced in our global environment. The Ontology of World Politics is a form of mediating issues of concern.
Long-term trends in DDT, polychlorinated biphenyls, and chlordane in California mussels.

The California State Mussel Watch program is a long-term monitoring program conducted by the State Water Resources Control Board and the Department of Fish and Game. In a fifteen year time span, from 1977–1992, mussels were collected at 378 stations. From these stations, 47 were chosen to conduct statistical analysis based on the criteria that they had been sampled at least 6 times for total DDTs, total polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and total chlordanes. Declines of total DDTs and chlordanes were noted at approximately half of the stations. Declines of total PCBs were noted at approximately one-quarter of the stations. Declines of PCBs but not DDTs in mussels near Los Angeles County's sewer discharge corresponded to declines of these contaminants in treated effluent.
A comparative analysis of the mitogenic response of intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes in various age groups of turkeys.

SUMMARY. Mitogenic responsiveness of intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (i-IEL) to concanavalin A (Con A), phytohemagglutinin P (PHA-P), and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Salmonella typhimurium were evaluated in various age groups of turkeys by a colorimetric blastogenic microassay. Comparisons were made between mitogenic responses of turkey iIEL and peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL). The results from this study demonstrated that i-IEL and PBL of turkeys responded to T-cell mitogens, Con A and PHA-P, in every age group examined. The LPS induced a significant mitogenic response in PBL but not in i-IEL of turkeys. The mitogenic responses of turkey i-IEL and PBL to the three mitogens examined were similar to mitogenic responses observed in an earlier study performed by using chicken i-IEL and PBL. The results indicated a difference in mitogenic response between different age groups. An increase was found in mitogenic response of i-IEL to both T-cell mitogens from 3 days of age to 1 wk of age, whereas mitogenic response of PBL to all three mitogens declined significantly from 1 day of age to 3 days of age. The highest mitogenic response of i-IEL to T-cell mitogens was observed at 1 wk of age. The highest mitogenic response of PBL to both T-cell mitogens was observed at 1 day of age and the highest PBL response to LPS was observed at 16 wk of age. The mitogenic response induced by PHA-P provided less variability between age groups than the mitogenic response induced by Con A.
Strategies for advanced applications of permutation–inversion groups to the microwave spectra of molecules with large amplitude motions

Abstract This article presents permutation–inversion group-theoretical strategies and recipes aimed at helping a high-resolution molecular spectroscopist use the existing pedagogical literature to carry out their own treatment of the basic symmetry questions in rotating molecules with large-amplitude vibrational motions. Topics addressed include: determination of the feasible permutation-inversion group and its symmetry species and character table; a general equation defining coordinates that can describe translation, overall rotation, large-amplitude vibrations and small-amplitude vibrations for a large class of floppy molecules; and the determination of symmetry species for basis functions and selection rules for operators written in these coordinates. The article is intended to be more advanced than existing pedagogical works, but it still leaves many important topics untreated.
Noncooperative collusion in durable goods oligopoly

Coase conjectured that a durable goods monopolist who can make offers to sell arbitrarily frequently will lose the ability to extract positive profits. This result, which has now been proved, can be attributed to the inability of the monopolist to commit to maintaining sufficiently high prices in the near future. For the case of durable-goods oligopoly, we show that letting the firms make offers arbitrarily frequently enhances their ability to commit to high prices and in the limit enables the firms to enjoy total market profits equal to the full commitment (one-shot) monopoly profit.
Identification and characterization of regions of the rice genome associated with broad-spectrum, quantitative disease resistance.

Much research has been devoted to understanding the biology of plant-pathogen interactions. The extensive genetic analysis of disease resistance in rice, coupled with the sequenced genome and genomic resources, provides the opportunity to seek convergent evidence implicating specific chromosomal segments and genes in the control of resistance. Published data on quantitative and qualitative disease resistance in rice were synthesized to evaluate the distributions of and associations among resistance loci. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) for resistance to multiple diseases and qualitative resistance loci (R genes) were clustered in the rice genome. R genes and their analogs of the nucleotide binding site–leucine-rich repeat class and genes identified on the basis of differential representation in disease-related EST libraries were significantly associated with QTL. Chromosomal segments associated with broad-spectrum quantitative disease resistance (BS-QDR) were identified. These segments contained numerous positional candidate genes identified on the basis of a range of criteria, and groups of genes belonging to two defense-associated biochemical pathways were found to underlie one BS-QDR region. Genetic dissection of disease QTL confidence intervals is needed to reduce the number of positional candidate genes for further functional analysis. This study provides a framework for future investigations of disease resistance in rice and related crop species.
Using Journals to Improve Listening Behavior: An Exploratory Study.

This article describes a study of journal keeping to focus business students' attention on their listening behaviors and the need for improvement. Guided by an instructor, 42 students wrote daily o...
Hydrogen sulfide protects against ischemia-reperfusion injury by decreasing neutrophil-mediated tissue damage

METHODS: Human neutrophils were incubated in 10uM HS or saline and labeled with antibodies to PSGL-1, LFA-1, Mac1alpha, L-selectin and beta-2 integrin CBRM1/5 epitope prior to flow cytometry analysis. Additional neutrophils were activated with IL-8, fMLP, or TNFalpha, or treated with 30uM TAPI-0 (an inhibitor of the enzyme responsible for L-selectin cleavage) prior to HS/saline treatment, labeling, and flow cytometry. Nine C57BL/6 mice were administered an intravenous dose of 20uM HS or saline. Mice then underwent 3h of unilateral tourniquetinduced hindlimb ischemia, followed by 3h of reperfusion. The bilateral gastrocnemius muscles were harvested and stained with H&E. Neutrophil infiltration was quantified.
Plio–Pleistocene basalts from the Meseta del Lago Buenos Aires, Argentina: evidence for asthenosphere–lithosphere interactions during slab window magmatism

Plio–Pleistocene (3.4–0.125 Ma) post-plateau magmatism in the Meseta del Lago Buenos Aires (MLBA; 46.7jS) in southern Patagonia is linked with the formation of asthenospheric slab windows due to ridge collision along the Andean margin f6 Ma ago. MLBA post-plateau lavas are highly alkaline (43–49% SiO2 ;5 –8% Na2O+K2O), relatively primitive (6–10% MgO) mafic volcanics that have strong OIB-like geochemical signatures. Their relatively enriched Sr–Nd isotope ratios ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr=0.7041–0.7049; 143 Nd/ 144 Nd=0.51264–0.51279), low 206 Pb/ 204 Pb (18.13–18.45), steep REE patterns (La/ Yb=11–54), and low LILE/LREE and LILE/HFSE ratios (Ba/La 15) are distinctive from most other Neogene Patagonian slab window lavas. These data are interpreted to indicate contamination of OIB-like asthenosphere-derived slab window magmas with an EM1-type component derived from the Patagonian continental lithospheric mantle (CLM). The EM1-type signature in Patagonian slab window lavas are geographically associated with the Deseado Massif and indicate important regional differences in lithospheric mantle chemistry beneath southern Patagonia. We propose that hot, upwelling subslab asthenosphere in slab window tectonic settings can cause significant thermo-mechanical erosion and thinning of the continental lithospheric mantle and, thus, may be an important process in slab window magma petrogenesis. D 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Comparative Resistance to Teriparatide-Induced Bone Resorption With Denosumab or Alendronate

Context: In postmenopausal osteoporotic women, denosumab fully inhibits teriparatide-induced bone resorption at approved doses. This property of denosumab is distinct from that of alendronate and likely contributes to the efficacy of combination denosumab and teriparatide therapy. Whether denosumab fully inhibits bone resorption when challenged by a higher dose of teriparatide is unknown. Objective: We aimed to define the comparative ability of denosumab and alendronate to block the acute proresorptive effects of high-dose teriparatide. Design, Setting, and Participants: In this randomized controlled trial, bone resorption (serum C-telopeptide [CTX]) was measured in 25 postmenopausal women prior to and 4 hours after a single 40-μg sc teriparatide injection. Subjects then received either a single injection of denosumab 60 mg or oral alendronate 70 mg weekly for 8 weeks. After 8 weeks, serum CTX was again measured before and 4 hours after a teriparatide a 40-μg injection. Outcomes: The primary outcome was t...
ARIEL: automatic wi-fi based room fingerprinting for indoor localization

People spend the majority of their time indoors, and human indoor activities are strongly correlated with the rooms they are in. Room localization, which identifies the room a person or mobile phone is in, provides a powerful tool for characterizing human indoor activities and helping address challenges in public health, productivity, building management, etc. Existing room localization methods, however, require labor-intensive manual annotation of individual rooms. We present ARIEL, a room localization system that automatically learns room fingerprints based on occupants' indoor movements. ARIEL consists of (1) a zone-based clustering algorithm that accurately identifies in-room occupancy "hotspot(s)" using Wi-Fi signatures; (2) a motion-based clustering algorithm to identify inter-zone correlation, thereby distinguishing different rooms; and (3) an energy-efficient motion detection algorithm to minimize the noise of Wi-Fi signatures. ARIEL has been implemented and deployed for real-world testing with 21 users over a 10-month period. Our studies show that it supports room localization with higher than 95% accuracy without requiring labor-intensive manual annotation.
Compensatory arterial enlargement is a common pathobiologic response in early atherosclerosis.

Background: Human arteries are dynamic conduits that respond to different stimuli by remodeling their structure and size. Arterial dilatation has been shown to occur in moderate and advanced atherosclerosis in studies that evaluated only one artery, either coronary, carotid, or superficial femoral artery (SFA). The purpose of this study was to quantify and compare compensatory arterial enlargement throughout the peripheral vascular system in early atherosclerosis. Methods: Seventy-two patients (40 male, 32 female, mean age 67 ± 12 years) underwent transcutaneous B-mode ultrasound imaging during routine examinations. Thirty-nine carotid, 19 aorta, 19 iliac, 23 common femoral (CFA), 21 SFA, and 23 popliteal arteries were longitudinally imaged. Eight healthy volunteers (6 male, 2 female, mean age 27 ± 2.2 years) had the same arteries evaluated (n = 48). Internal diameter (ID) and external diameter (ED) were measured in disease-free areas and in paired adjacent areas exhibiting increased intima-media thickening (IMT) and small atherosclerotic plaques. The percent change in ID, ED, IMT, and plaque thickness were calculated. Results: There was no observed change in ID or ED in all arteries of the healthy volunteers. When compared with normal vessel segments, all arteries demonstrated a marked decrease in ID and increase in ED in areas of small, hemodynamically insignificant plaque. The aorta had a 6.00% ± 1.92% increase in ED, which was significantly less than the percent increase in ED observed in carotid (8.14 ± 4.5%. P = 0.05), CFA (9.73 ± 3.54%, P = 0.0001), SFA (9.15 ± 4.25%, P = 0.005), and popliteal arteries (9.67 ± 4.34, P = 0.002). In all arteries there was a strong correlation between plaque thickness and percent change in ED with the best correlation observed in the popliteal artery (R2 = 0.823, P <0.0001). IMT was significantly increased in all normal vessel segments of the patients when compared with the healthy volunteers (P <0.001). Conclusion: All peripheral arteries dilate in response to intima-media thickening and early atherosclerotic plaque formation. This adaptive response occurs at the site of the lesion to preserve luminal area. The percent change in ED is strongly related to plaque thickness and is greatest in the more distal arteries.
Expression of Heparin/Heparan Sulfate Interacting Protein/Ribosomal Protein L29 During the Estrous Cycle and Early Pregnancy in the Mouse

Using a variety of approaches, we have examined the expression of the heparin/heparan sulfate (Hp/HS) interacting protein/ribosomal protein L29 (HIP/RPL29) in mouse uteri during the estrous cycle and early pregnancy. HIP/RPL29 selectively binds heparin and HS and may promote HS-dependent embryo adhesion. HIP/RPL29 was prominently expressed in both luminal and glandular epithelia under almost all conditions, including the phase of embryo attachment. In contrast, differences were noted in HIP/RPL29 expression in the stromal compartment both during the estrous cycle and during early pregnancy. Most notably, HIP/RPL29 accumulated in decidua, where it displayed a pattern complementary to that of pericellular deposition of the HS proteoglycan, perlecan. HIP/RPL29 protein was detected in implanted embryos at both initial and later stages of implantation; however, embryonic HIP/RPL29 mRNA accumulation was more pronounced at later stages (Day 7.5 postcoitum). In situ hybridization revealed similar spatial changes for HIP/RPL29 mRNA during these different physiological states. Whereas differences in the spatial pattern of HIP/RPL29 protein and mRNA expression were demonstrable, little change was detected in the level of HIP/RPL29 mRNA or protein in total endometrial extracts. Mouse blastocysts attached, but did not outgrow, on surfaces coated with recombinant murine HIP/RPL29. Surprisingly, soluble glycosaminoglycans including heparin, low molecular weight heparin, or chondroitin sulfate were not able to inhibit embryo attachment to HIP/RPL29-coated surfaces. These latter observations indicate that embryonic cell surface components other than HS proteoglycans can promote binding to HIP/RPL29 expressed by uterine cells.
Color Doppler Imaging of the Myocardium: Current Status and Potential Clinical Applications

Doppler myocardial imaging (DMI) is a new technique with potential clinical and research applications. It applies traditional pulsed and color Doppler techniques to the analysis of myocardial contractile velocity. A major area of focus is in the quantitation of regional and global myocardial function and evaluation of myocardial perfusion in conjunction with myocardial contrast studies. DMI may also provide a direct, relatively load-independent assessment of diastolic function. Further work is required to identify its role in clinical and research studies.
A master switch for consciousness

Consciousness is big. Most neural theories of consciousness involve distributed large-scale networks throughout the brain. Whether it is the global workspace theory [1], information integration theory [2], or global theories of brain neuroenergetics [3], there is broad agreement that normal consciousness depends on widespread bilateral brain activity. An inevitable consequence of these theories is that impaired consciousness—seen in disorders such as head trauma, vascular disease, infection, or seizures—occurs when there is dysfunction in large distributed brain regions. However, size is not everything. Small lesions critically located in the upper brainstem or medial diencephalon are well known to produce coma [4]. Small in size, these regions, nevertheless, interact widely and are responsible for arousal in the entire thalamocortical grid [5,6]. Thus, turning off the relatively tiny nuclei of the subcortical arousal systems brings down the whole cortex, taking consciousness off line. This deep brain arousal circuit is a master switch for consciousness.
Molecular watchdogs on genome patrol

By removing various obstacles from single strands of DNA, an enzyme called Pif1 clears the way for other enzymes that act on DNA.
Predicting electoral activism among gays and lesbians in the United States

Although battles over gay and lesbian rights have appeared prominently in political arenas, scholars have created few empirical studies on gay and lesbian activism. To address this absence, this quantitative study identified factors that inspired greater electoral engagement among gays and lesbians in the United States (n = 285).After integrating “resource,”“mobilizing,” and “framing” variables into regressions, this study found that electoral activism was inspired by many sorts of motivators. In sum, activist tendencies were swayed by educational levels, perceptions of political potency, a desire to conceal sexual orientations, surviving hate crimes, and joining certain political groups. Interestingly, this study supported“new social movement” theories that downplay economic factors as predictors of involvement in gay and lesbian rights campaigns.
Globally Dispersed Local Challenges in Conservation Biology

Contemporary challenges in conservation biology seem more formidable than 20 years ago, when the founding of the journal Conservation Biology more or less coincided with the emergence of conservation biology as a distinct scientific discipline. Several years ago, David Ehrenfeld, the founding editor of the journal, and one of the cofounders of the discipline, likened conservation biologists to practitioners of medicine and urged that we evaluate the success or development of our discipline by the condition of our patient (Ehrenfeld 2000). Of course, our patient—biodiversity—is not well, particularly in the tropics where most biodiversity is found. Although deforestation rates have slowed in some parts of the world,forest degradation has accelerated in other parts ( Jha & Bawa, 2006). Moreover, improved monitoring methods indicate that previous rates of biodiversity loss may have been gross underestimates (Laurance et al. 2004). Some might argue that were it not for the contributions made by conservation biologists, biodiversity loss may have been much higher, but for most parts of the world we lack the evidence to validate such an argument.The challenges we face, as Ehrenfeld also pointed out, are not primarily biological. In that sense, the term conservation biology may itself be misdirected. However,whatever name one chooses to more accurately describe the field, biologists do have a great deal to contribute to the resolution of contemporary challenges. Suppose we posit a goal of curtailing or eliminating further biodiversity losses over the next 20 years. To achieve that goal, we will have to fundamentally transform many of the interactions between society and biodiversity. In particular, we must recognize that in the developing world, poverty and disenfranchisement pose severe constraints to conservation of biodiversity over vast areas (Adams et al. 2004). Unless we develop a new conceptual framework for action,create the necessary institutional and policy frameworks, and build human capacity, our successes will be limited and ephemeral. To pursue such goals we must meet five interrelated challenges: economic sustainability, institutional development, interdisciplinarity, capacity building, and large-scale action.
Molecular structure and adsorption of dimethyl sulfoxide at the surface of aqueous solutions

Surface vibrational sum frequency generation (VSFG) spectroscopy complemented with surface tension measurements has been utilized to probe the air/ dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) interface as a function of DMSO concentration in water. For the neat DMSO surface, the DMSO methyl groups extend away from the liquid phase and VSFG polarization studies show that the methyl transition dipole moments of pure DMSO are on average oriented a maximum of 55° from the surface normal. A blue shift of the methyl symmetric stretch is observed with decreasing DMSO concentration and attributed to an electronic interaction between the sulfur and the methyl groups of DMSO. From surface tension data of the aqueous DMSO system, it is shown that DMSO number densities are higher at the surface of DMSO−water solutions relative to bulk DMSO concentrations revealing surface partitioning effects. Structural changes of surface DMSO are discussed in terms of monomers, dimers, and clusters which could account for the large differences in VSF...
Exploring the throughput-fairness tradeoff of deadline scheduling in heterogeneous computing environments

The scalability and computing power of large-scale computational platforms has made them attractive for hosting compute-intensive time-critical applications. Many of these applications are composed of computational tasks that require specific deadlines to be met for successful completion. In this paper, we show that combining redundant scheduling with deadline-based scheduling in these systems leads to a fundamental tradeoff between throughput and fairness. We propose a new scheduling algorithm called Limited Resource Earliest Deadline (LRED) that couples redundant scheduling with deadline-driven scheduling in a flexible way by using a simple tunable parameter to exploit this tradeoff. Our evaluation of LRED shows that LRED provides a powerful mechanism to achieve desired throughput or fairness under high loads and low timeliness environments.
Smooth Muscle Cells: To Be or Not To Be? Response to Nguyen et al

The conversion of contractile vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) to a synthetic or proliferative phenotype is thought to play a major role in vascular diseases, such as atherosclerosis and restenosis.1–3 Our recent work presents evidence that challenges this widely accepted dogma. Our findings suggest that multipotent vascular stem cells (MVSCs) are a major contributor to vascular remodeling.4 The experimental results demonstrate that the major population of the traditionally defined proliferative/synthetic SMCs is derived from the differentiation of MVSCs rather than the dedifferentiation of mature SMCs. Both in vitro and in vivo results suggest that vascular disease is a stem cell disease, which raises the question on the previous dogma: Is vascular disease a SMC disease? In this issue of Circulation Research , a group of leaders in the area of SMC biology wrote a commentary on this work.5 They present evidence in the literature that seems to support the SMC dedifferentiation hypothesis. However, in many previous studies, it was incorrectly assumed that the vascular cells in the primary culture and in injured blood vessels were mostly derived from SMCs. Thus, the previous experimental findings on vascular cells were often attributed to SMCs, which resulted in data misinterpretation and the overstatement on SMC functions. We agree that further investigations are needed to determine the relative contribution of MVSCs and SMCs to vascular remodeling in various animal models; however, we respectfully disagree on some of the arguments in the commentary. Vascular SMC biology has been studied in vitro and in vivo extensively in the past 50 years since the method for SMC culture was established. The concept of phenotypic modulation of SMCs was originated from the ultrastructural characterization of SMC culture in 1960s to 1970s, which has been summarized in the comprehensive review by Chamley-Campbell et al. …
Eliminating false positives during corner finding by merging similar segments

We present a new comer finding algorithm based on merging like stroke segmentations together in order to eliminate false positive comers. We compare our system to two benchmark corner finders with substantial improvements in both polyline and complex fits.
Familiarity and categorization processes in memory search

Abstract A fundamental distinction in tasks of memory search is whether items receive varied mappings (targets and distractors switch roles across trials) or consistent mappings (targets and distractors never switch roles). The type of mapping often produces markedly different performance patterns, but formal memory-based models that account quantitatively for detailed aspects of the results have not yet been developed and evaluated. Experiments were conducted to test a modern exemplar-retrieval model on its ability to account for memory-search performance involving a wide range of memory-set sizes in both varied-mapping (VM) and consistent-mapping (CM) probe-recognition tasks. The model formalized the idea that both familiarity-based and categorization-based processes operate. The model was required to fit detailed response-time (RT) distributions of individual, highly practiced subjects. A key manipulation involved the repetition of negative probes across trials. This manipulation produced a dramatic dissociation: False-alarm rates increased and correct-rejection RTs got longer in VM, but not in CM. The qualitative pattern of results and modeling analyses provided evidence for a strong form of categorization-based processing in CM, in which observers made use of the membership of negative probes in the “new” category to make old–new recognition decisions.
Coordinated Activation of Caspases and Apoptosis in Allogeneic Antigen Stimulated Human T Cells.

METHODS. Normal peripheral blood T lymphocytes were stimulated in vitro with γirradiated allogeneic peripheral blood mononuclear cells and IL-2. Intact cells were assessed by flow cytometry for propidium iodide uptake and phosphatidylserine (PS) externalization using fluorochrome conjugated annexin V. Intact cells were also analyzed by flow cytometry as well as confocal microscopy for the simultaneous binding of annexin V and FMK-VAD-FITC, a cell permeable caspase inhibitor that binds to activated caspases. Immunoblotting and enzymatic assays were respectively performed in whole cell lysates to determine the proteolytic cleavage of caspases and the ability of activated caspases to cleave fluorogenic substrates in vitro. RESULTS. Freshly isolated normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells did not contain apoptotic cells or processed caspase-3. After 5 to 8 days of allogeneic antigen stimulation, 30 to 40% of T cells became apoptotic as determined by a combination of propidium iodide uptake and annexin V binding. A good correlation between annexin V binding and in situ detection of activated caspases using FMK-VAD-FITC was found in this population. Western blotting of whole cell lysates showed the proteolytic cleavage of caspase-3 into 22-kDa and 17kDa subunits in cultured T cells. This was accompanied by detectable levels of in vitro cleavage activity against the caspase-3 substrate, DEVD-AMC. Confocal microscopy showed externalization of PS in all of the T cells with caspase activation detected by FMK-VAD-FITC labeling. Activation with an agonist anti-Fas antibody increased the level of apoptosis, binding of FMK-VAD-FITC, caspase-3 enzymatic activity and the cleavage of caspase-3 into a smaller 12-kDa subunit. Importantly, the broad-spectrum cell permeable caspase inhibitor zVAD (OMe)-FMK blocked anti-Fas antibody-induced apoptosis, activation of intracellular caspases, and the cleavage of 22-kDa caspase-3 into smaller subunits. DISCUSSION. Our data demonstrate that in vitro activation of normal human T cells with allogeneic antigens leads to apoptosis in a significant proportion of T cells as indicated by permeability to propidium iodide and PS externalization. Caspase-3, a key enzyme required for
Geochemistry of carbonate cements in the Sag River and Shublik Formations (Triassic/Jurassic), North Slope, Alaska: implications for the geochemical evolution of formation waters

Carbonate cements (calcite, siderite, dolomite, and ankerite) formed throughout the diagenetic history of the Sag River and Shublik Formations. The trace element and isotopic geochemistry of these cements varies as a function of the timing of precipitation. Earliest calcites, formed prior to significant compaction of the sediment, are relatively enriched in Mg (up to 4·4 mol%), and have 87Sr/86Sr values (mean = 0·707898) compatible with the original marine pore waters. Later calcites are relatively Fe-rich (up to 5·0 mol%) and are characterized by increasing 87Sr/86Sr values (up to 0·712823) and Sr content with decreasing age. The Fe content of zoned siderite and dolomite/ankerite rhombs increases towards the outside of the rhombs (i.e. increasing Fe content with decreasing age). These geochemical variations appear principally to result from changes in pore-water chemistry during diagenesis. The increase in 87Sr/86 Sr and Sr content of the cements is most likely due to interaction between pore waters and 87 Sr-rich clay and possibly feldspar in Ellesmerian mudrocks (whole rock 87Sr/86 Sr signatures for the mudrocks are > 0·716). Pore-water Fe2+ concentration was probably controlled by diagenetic alterations involving Fe-bearing minerals (e.g. pyrite precipitation). A reconnaissance examination of carbonate cements in the overlying Kingak Shale indicates that similar alterations occurred in the Kingak. The low δ18 O value of some calcite cements (-11·96% PDB) suggests that an influx of meteoric water may have occurred in the mid-Neocomian, though the low value could also result from an abnormally high geothermal gradient associated with mid-Neocomian rifting.
A Design Checklist for Control and Prediction of Cumulative Trauma Disorder in Intensive Manual Jobs

The goal of this work was to improve productivity and prevent cumulative trauma disorders in manual work. Towards this end a design checklist was developed. The checklist contains twenty different questions with respect to physical factors that affect worker performance and stress—e.g., contact with sharp edges, vibration, size, and material of tool's handle etc. A score is given to indicate how well the factors on the list have been addressed. To provide immediate response to the user, the checklist was programmed and implemented on a personal computer (IBM PC). A pilot study was performed on seven jobs at one factory, using the computerized checklist. The analysis scores were correlated with the incidence rates of cumulative trauma disorders per 200,000 work hours in 1982 (r= −0.8678). These results support the feasibility of the use of a computerized checklist in job design. Future development of this system is discussed.