cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The State of Knowledge and Practice in Concrete Structure Design for Earthquake

The duty of structural engineers is to design and build structures or buildings (1) that are safe, (2) that provide comfort to occupants during strong winds or earthquakes, and (3) that will result in the least construction cost and the most savings to building owners. The state of knowledge is that research has developed nonlinear response history analysis (NRHA) method for predicting the behavior (response) of reinforced concrete structures subjected to winds or earthquake ground motions from reinforcing steel yielding at critical sections to structural member (beam, column, connection, slab, and wall) failures up to partial or the whole structural system collapse. Some of the NRHA methods have been verified by shake table dynamic testing. The state of practice for the design of important structures whose failures could cause significant casualty of people’s life has been using NRHA for seismic and wind analyses and to ensure the safety of these buildings and to provide comfort to occupants and savings to building owners. Buildings have been designed and built worldwide using NRHA successively. And local jurisdictions (building departments) in the United States and China and other countries have required NRHA to be performed for high-rise buildings. NRHA is inherently complicated and complex because it involves earthquake ground motions which are random, in conjunction with nonlinear structural analyses due to the decreasing stiffness and increasing damping values of a structure resulting from concrete cracking and steel yielding at each time step of earthquake ground motions. Therefore, knowledge in the NRHA method and understanding of its proper use are essential. The way to gain that knowledge and understanding is timely sowing seeds in a good ground that will reap rich harvest. The proper use of NRHA enables structural engineers to design and build safer and better buildings with less construction cost than buildings without using the NRHA method against environmental hazards, such as earthquakes or winds. The same principle of timely sowing seeds in a good ground is also applicable to building a better and more resilient family structure against environmental hazards, such as drugs or violence, and we must do it timely because time flies.
History and Personal Autonomy

A.Mele tente de mettre en exergue les defauts du modele d'autonomie historique de J.Christmas et propose un autre modele prenant en compte a la fois les contraintes historiques et non historiques
Modeling Behavioral Traits and Well-being Using Human Biosignals: Challenges and Methods

Measuring and understanding self-reported behavioral responses plays an important role in various clinical applications. However, individual differences in physiology, perception, and behavior cause data heterogeneity in both selfreported responses and biosignals, which can pose challenges for machine learning models. Data heterogeneity not only impacts the performance of the models but can also yield biased predictions that may lead to unfair decision making. In this work, we will explore approaches to address the modeling challenges that rise from heterogeneity of human behavioral data.
Phase III integrated water recovery testing at MSFC - Partially closed hygiene loop and open potable loop results and lessons learned

A series of tests has been conducted at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to evaluate the performance of a predevelopment water recovery system. Potable, hygiene, and urine reclamation subsystems were integrated with end-use equipment items and successfully operated in open and partially closed-loop modes, with man-in-the-loop, for a total of 28 days. Several significant subsystem physical anomalies were encountered during testing. Reclaimed potable and hygiene water generally met the current Space Station Freedom (SSF) water quality specifications for inorganic and microbiological constituents, but exceeded the maximum allowable concentrations for Total Organic Carbon (TOC). This paper summarizes the test objectives, system design, test activities/protocols, significant results/anomalies, and major lessons learned.
Driving a Wedge? Republicans, Immigration, and the Impact of Substantive Appeals on African American Vote Choice:

Recently, a number of prominent Republican elites have argued that the economic plight of African Americans is attributable to undocumented immigration to the United States. Have these arguments co...
Mediating the Universal and Particular: Herder’s Tone and its Pastoral Performance

The article examines the constitutive role played by Herder’s theories of tone and aurality, as practiced as in his sermons, for his foundational concepts of universal and culturally particular com...
An uncontaminated measurement of the escaping Lyman continuum at z ∼ 3

Observations of reionization-era analogs at $z\sim3$ are a powerful tool for constraining reionization. Rest-ultraviolet observations are particularly useful, in which both direct and indirect tracers of ionizing-photon production and escape can be observed. We analyse a sample of 124 $z\sim3$ galaxies from the Keck Lyman Continuum Spectroscopic Survey, with sensitive spectroscopic measurements of the Lyman continuum region. We present a method of removing foreground contamination from our sample using high-resolution, multi-band Hubble Space Telescope imaging. We re-measure the global properties of the cleaned sample of 13 individually-detected Lyman continuum sources and 107 individually-undetected sources, including a sample-averaged absolute escape fraction of $f_{\rm esc,abs}=0.06\pm0.01$ and a sample-averaged ratio of ionizing to non-ionizing ultraviolet flux density of $ _{\rm out}=0.040\pm0.006$, corrected for attenuation from the intergalactic and circumgalactic media. Based on composite spectra, we also recover a strong positive correlation between $ _{\rm out}$ and Ly$\alpha$ equivalent width (W$_\lambda$(Ly$\alpha$)) and a negative correlation between $ _{\rm out}$ and UV luminosity. As in previous work, we interpret the relationship between $ _{\rm out}$ and W$_\lambda$(Ly$\alpha$) in terms of the modulation of the escape of ionizing radiation from star-forming galaxies based on the covering fraction of neutral gas. We also use a W$_\lambda$(Ly$\alpha$)-weighted $ _{\rm out}$ to estimate an ionizing emissivity from star-forming galaxies at $z\sim3$ as $\epsilon_{\rm LyC}\simeq5.5\times10^{24}$erg s$^{-1}$ Hz$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-3}$. This estimate, evaluated using the uncontaminated sample of this work, reaffirms that galaxies provide the majority of the ionizing background at $z\sim3$ and beyond.
LIGHTS OUT! on graph products over the ring of integers modulo k

LIGHTS OUT! is a game played on a finite, simple graph. The vertices of the graph are the lights, which may be on or off, and the edges of the graph determine how neighboring vertices turn on or off when a vertex is pressed. Given an initial configuration of vertices that are on, the object of the game is to turn all the lights out. The traditional game is played over $\mathbb{Z}_2$, where the vertices are either lit or unlit, but the game can be generalized to $\mathbb{Z}_k$, where the lights have different colors. Previously, the game was investigated on Cartesian product graphs over $\mathbb{Z}_2$. We extend this work to $\mathbb{Z}_k$ and investigate two other fundamental graph products, the direct (or tensor) product and the strong product. We provide conditions for which the direct product graph and the strong product graph are solvable based on the factor graphs, and we do so using both open and closed neighborhood switching over $\mathbb{Z}_k$.
Tamara Puffer, with Joyce Hollyday, Forgetting the Former Things: Brain Injury’s Invitation to Vulnerability and Faith: (Eugene, or: Cascade Books, 2019). xxii + 109 pp. Paperback, $18, ISBN 978-1-5326-5560-9.

Puffer’s book is a theological autobiography and autobiographical theology, specifically of living with brain injury. Intended for brain injury survivors and all persons connected with them (throug...
Regenerative approaches to preserve pancreatic β-cell mass and function in diabetes pathogenesis

In both type 1 diabetes (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D), there is a substantial β-cell mass loss. Residual β-cell mass is susceptible to cellular damage because of specific pancreatic β-cell characteristics. β cells have a low proliferation rate, being in human adults almost zero and a low antioxidant system that makes β cells susceptible to oxidative stress and increases their vulnerability to cell destruction. Different strategies have been addressed to preserve pancreatic β-cell residual mass and function in patients with diabetes. However, the effect of many compounds proposed in rodent models to trigger β-cell replication has different results in human β cells. In this review, scientific evidence of β-cell of two major regenerative approaches has been gathered. Regeneration proceedings for pancreatic β cells are promising and could improve β-cell proliferation capacity and contribute to the conservation of mature β-cell phenotypic characteristics. This evidence supports the notion that regenerative medicine could be a helpful strategy to yield amelioration of T1D and T2D pathogenesis.
Hyperfine-Structure Separations, Isotope Shifts, and Nuclear Magnetic Moments of the Radioactive Isotopes Tl 199 , Tl 200 , Tl 201 , Tl 202 , and Tl 204

The hyperfine structure and isotope shift of five radioactive isotopes of thallium have been measured spectroscopically. Thallium-199 (7.4 hr) and thallium-200 (27 hr) were produced by alpha bombardment of gold; thallium-201 (3 day), thallium-202 (12 day), and thallium-204 (4 year) were produced by deuteron bombardment of liquid mercury. The isotopes were excited in electrodeless-discharge lamps. Approximately 0.001 μg of radio-thallium was used in the lamps. The hfs splittings and isotope shifts in the 62P12,62P32, and 72S12 states were obtained by using a 10-in. plane diffraction grating in autocollimation in a 40-ft mirror monochromator. Previously measured values of the nuclear spins of the odd-even isotopes have been verified. Nuclear magnetic moments or upper limits on the moments have been calculated by comparison of the hyperfine splittings of the radioactive isotopes with the known splittings and moments of the stable thallium isotopes. A definite dependence of the relative isotope shifts on neutron number was observed.
We can see you: a study of communities' invisible people through reachout

Virtual communities are a great tool, both at home and in the workplace. They help in finding new friends and solving complicated problems by creating a virtual family or a giant group-mind. However, building a virtual community is not a trivial task. Many problems need to be addressed for a new community to be successful. While many of these problems are features of the medium, participants themselves are still the major part of the equation. Understanding the behavioral patterns of virtual community members is crucial for attracting participants and facilitating active participation. In this paper, we describe our findings from analyzing more than a year of activities of a workplace community. Our community used ReachOut, a tool developed in our group to support semi-persistent collaboration and community building. Throughout the year, all users' activities were logged, providing us with very detailed information. Not only do we know of people's postings to the community, but we can also track lurking behavior that is usually hidden. This allows us to check several hypotheses about non-active participants' behavior and propose some directions to increase active participation in virtual communities.
Effects of surface water on the adsorption of inert gases

Molecular water on mildly outgassed open oxide surfaces can, under special circumstances, significantly reduce the monolayer capacity for inert gas molecules. Non-porous thoria and cubic europia are two examples. The special proviso is that the surface be sufficiently uniform to permit the formation of a well structured, ice-like surface with non-polar character. This type of behavior reaches an extreme for a non-porous ground calcite; surface water converts a Type II isotherm for krypton into a Type III. These structured layers of adsorbed water adsorb nitrogen in a manner very similar to that found for various types of ice. For open oxide surface in a more thoroughly outgassed condition, the BET specific surface area does not generally vary with outgassing temperature at and above 150/sup 0/C. The area occupied by an inert gas molecule does not change, therefore, with varying hydroxyl ion content of the surface.
Mixture reduction via predictive scores

This paper explores the problem of reducing a mixture of conjugate priors to a smaller mixture, from the perspective of the application of a distance measure between priors. The analysis focuses on mixtures of Dirichlet priors, but it has wider applicability. In respect to the proposed scheme, it emerges that for mixtures of β-distributions a simple moment-matching reduction procedure is optimal and very good for the more general case of Dirichlet mixtures.
Enrichment Medium for Selection of Salmonella from Fish Homogenate

A new liquid medium, called "dulcitol selenite enrichment," has been developed for the detection and enumeration of Salmonella in foods. The medium is not only highly selective in enriching Salmonella and inhibiting completely or appreciably other extraneous organisms commonly found in seafoods, but is also highly sensitive in recovering as low as 2 to 7 cells of Salmonella, even in the presence of large numbers (10(4) to 10(6) cells) of mixed flora common to these foods. The addition of seafood material does not seem to interfere with the sensitivity, selectivity, or productivity of the medium. Even physiologically debilitated cells of Salmonella were enriched well enough in this medium to be detected easily.
Synthesis and maturation of phage P22 DNA. II. Properties of temperature-sensitive phage mutants defective in DNA metabolism.

Abstract Three temperature-sensitive mutants of phage P22 have been isolated which are defective in phage DNA metabolism. After infection at restrictive temperature, one mutant ( ts 12.1) fails to synthesize measurable quantities of phage DNA; nevertheless, parental phage DNA is recovered in a fast-sedimenting form similar to the first intermediate form observed after infection with normal phage. Another mutant ( ts 5.1) synthesizes normal amounts of phage DNA, but neither this DNA nor parental DNA is converted from the first, fast-sedimenting intermediate form into the second, more slowly sedimenting intermediate observed in normal infections. The third mutant ( ts 10.1), produces both intermediate forms in sequence, but fails to produce DNA having the sedimentation properties of mature phage DNA. None of the mutants encapsulates any DNA. The properties of these mutants are interpreted as supporting a scheme of sequential intermediates in P22 phage DNA synthesis and maturation.
A vasodepressor substance of the human placenta.

Abstract Acidic extraction of human placenta yields relatively large amounts of a substance that relaxes the duodenum and decreases the blood pressure of the rat. Extraction at neutral pH with water, acetone, ether, or ethanol did not provide any vasoactive materials. The substance(s) obtained by acidic extraction is not destroyed by heating with 6N HCl, indicating that it is not peptide. Exclusion filtration suggests a molecular weight of less than 500 for the vasodepressor material. The chemical and biological characteristics of the vasodepressor substance are similar to those of prostaglandin E 1 . Assay of four normal and four toxemic placentas suggests that there is less vasodepressor material in the toxemic placenta than in the normal placenta.
Overshoot dynamics in GaAs observed using THz radiation

Summary form only given. THz electromagnetic radiation emitted by accelerating electrons is used as to probe the transport dynamics of carriers in semiconductor devices. Velocity overshoot is directly observed in GaAs up to extremely high fields (200 kV/cm). >
Hydrogeologic Comparison of an Acidic-Lake Basin with a Neutral-Lake Basin in the West-Central Adirondack Mountains, New York

Two small headwater lake basins that receive similar amounts of acidic atmospheric deposition have significantly different lake outflow pH values; pH at Panther Lake (neutral) ranges from about 4.7 to 7; that at Woods Lake (acidic) ranges from about 4.3 to 5. A hydrologic analysis, which included monthly water budgets, hydrograph analysis, examination of flow duration and runoff recession curves, calculation of ground-water storage, and an analysis of lateral flow capacity of the soil, indicates that differences in lakewater pH can be attributed to differences in the ground-water contribution to the lakes. A larger percentage of the water discharged from the neutral lake is derived from ground water than that from the acidic lake. Ground water has a higher pH resulting from a sufficiently long residence time for neutralizing chemical reactions to occur with the till. The difference in ground-water contribution is attributed to a more extensive distribution of thick till (<3 m) in the neutral-lake basin than in the acidic-lake basin; average thickness of till in the neutral-lake basin is 24 m whereas that in the other is 2.3 m. During the snowmelt period, as much as three months of accumulated precipitation may be released within two weeks causing the lateral flow capacity of the deeper mineral soil to be exceeded in the neutral-lake basin. This excess water moves over and through the shallow acidic soil horizons and causes the lakewater pH to decrease during snowmelt.
RDS in cones does not interact with the beta subunit of the cyclic nucleotide gated channel.

Retinal degeneration slow (RDS) is a photoreceptor specific tetraspanin membrane protein. It is expressed in the rim region of rod outer segment (OS) discs and cone OS lamellae. Mutations in RDS cause both rod and cone-dominant retinal degenerations. We have recently shown that RDS functions differently in rods vs. cones, and have used the cone-dominant nrl –/– and rod-dominant wild-type (WT) murine retinas to study these differences and help understand the mechanism of rod and cone OS biogenesis. We hypothesize that the differential role of RDS in rods vs. cones is in part related to differences in RDS binding partners. RDS has been shown to bind to the GARP portion of the β subunit of the rod-cyclic nucleotide gated (CNG) channel. This interaction has been hypothesized to play a role in anchoring the disc rim to the rod plasma membrane. In this study we show that RDS does not interact with the cone CNG. Given that cone lamellae are not entirely encased in plasma membrane and therefore may have different anchoring requirements compared with rods, this observation may help explain some of the differential behavior of RDS in rods vs. cones.
Serum cytokeratin-18 fragment levels predict development of type 2 diabetes mellitus in adult patients with NAFLD.

Keywords: Ballooning; Fibrosis; Inflammation; Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD); Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH); Steatosis; Type 2 Diabetes mellitus
A general framework for credibility prediction of multidimensional first and second moments

Classical multidimensional credibility theory considers the predictions of an unknown vector w, usually the mean value of some basic underlying random vector x, as a linear least-squares function of a vector statistic, y, formed from the observational data, D = {x1, x2,…, xn}, and usually chosen as the mean observation, y = x. In Jewell and Schnieper (1985), the one-dimensional credibility formula was extended to the joint prediction of the first and second moments of x, using three first- and second-order statistics formed from the data. This paper extends these results to the multidimensional case by finding the credibility approximations to the Bayesian first- and second-order predictive moments of x, using all possible first- and second-order statistics formed from D. Although the least-squares formulation of this problem is conceptually clear, its solution would require the estimation of a possibly prohibitive number of hyperparameters, and the inversion of a very large covariance matrix. Nevertheless, this formulation gives valuable insight into the clustering of useful hyperparameters, and the correct organization of the statistics that are dominant in the case of large n. In closing, we show how this general framework specializes and simplifies for analytic models of special interest.
Case Report Noonan’s syndrome and hypopituitarism

Abstract A 37-year-old man with Noonan’s syndrome hypopituitarism is described. The patient had small stature, minor facial abnormalities, cubitus valgus and pectus excavatum. In addition, endocrine testing revealed deficiencies of growth hormone, gonadotrophins and TSH. Prolactin increased normally in response to TRH administration, but failed to rise after chlorpromazine. Although intrinsic pituitary dysfunction cannot be excluded, the dissociated response of prolactin to TRH and chlorpromazine suggests that the pituitary hormone deficiencies may be secondary to hypothalamic dysfunction.
CT-guided percutaneous core biopsy of deep face and skull-base lesions

Aim To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of deep face and skull-base computed tomography (CT)-guided core biopsy. Materials and methods Seventeen patients underwent CT-guided percutaneous core biopsies of deep face and skull-base lesions. One biopsy was repeated due to a non-diagnostic sample so 18 biopsy procedures were evaluated. The 17 lesions were centred within the central skull base ( n = 2), parapharyngeal ( n = 3), retropharyngeal spaces ( n = 4), masticator ( n = 3), pterygopalatine fossa ( n = 1), and deep lobe of parotid ( n = 4). Subzygomatic ( n = 7), retromaxillary ( n = 9), suprazygomatic ( n = 1), and transparotid ( n = 1) needle approaches were used. The diagnostic accuracy was either assessed by a positive histological result from the operative specimen or based on treatment response and clinical follow-up. Results No immediate or delayed procedural complications were encountered. A histological diagnosis was obtained in 16 of the 18 biopsies (89% diagnostic yield). The pathological diagnosis was confirmed by surgical excision (5/18 biopsies) and by predicted treatment response or clinical follow-up (10/18 biopsies). Diagnosis could not be confirmed for three of the 18 biopsies. The diagnostic accuracy of core biopsy was 13 of 15 (87%) for all samples. Conclusion CT-guided percutaneous deep face core biopsy is a safe technique with good diagnostic accuracy, allowing diagnosis of benign disease and classification of malignant disease.
Estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone: can they be used to treat autoimmune diseases?

BACKGROUND Sex hormones have marked immunomodulatory properties and may play important roles in the etiology of various autoimmune diseases. OBJECTIVE To review the immunomodulatory effects of sex hormones, their roles in the etiology of autoimmune diseases, and their potential therapeutic applications. DISCUSSION Progesterone and androgens suppress the immune system, prolactin stimulates it, and estrogens can do either. Rheumatoid arthritis tends to improve during pregnancy, during estrogen replacement therapy, and during treatment with estrogen-containing oral contraceptives. Systemic lupus erythematosus is aggravated by pregnancy and probably by estrogens. Therapy of rheumatoid arthritis with estrogens has not been promising, but testosterone replacement in men has shown modest benefits. In lupus, 19-nortestosterone has had little or no benefit, but danazol has been helpful in some patients, and encouraging preliminary results were obtained with dehydroepiandrosterone. CONCLUSIONS We strongly recommend estrogen replacement therapy to prevent postmenopausal osteoporosis in women with rheumatoid arthritis. Younger women with rheumatoid arthritis can undergo pregnancy or use estrogen-containing contraceptives. Estrogens can be used in lupus only with great caution. Recommendations regarding other hormones and other diseases are less firm, but research is continuing in this area.
Divisions of the physical world: Concepts of objects and substances.

Our concepts of the physical world distinguish objects, such as chairs, from substances, such as quantities of wood, that constitute them. A particular chair might consist of a single chunk of wood, yet we think about the chair and the wood in different ways. For example, part of the wood is still wood, but part of the chair is not a chair. In this article we examine the basis of the object/substance distinction. We draw together for the first time relevant experiments widely dispersed in the cognitive literature, and view these findings in the light of theories in linguistics and metaphysics. We outline a framework for the difference between objects and substances, based on earlier ideas about form and matter, describing the psychological evidence surrounding it. The framework suggests that concepts of objects include a relation of unity and organization governing their parts, whereas concepts of substances do not. We propose, as a novel twist on this framework, that unity and organization for objects is a function of causal forces that shape the objects. In agreement with this idea, results on the identification of an item as an object depend on clues about the presence of the shaping relation, clues provided by solidity, repetition of shape, and other factors. We also look at results from human infants about the source of the object/substance distinction and conclude that the data support an early origin for both object and substance knowledge
Tax Shifting in the Short-Run

Introduction: underlying concepts and assumptions, 562. — I. Pure Competition: specific taxes, 566; ad valorem taxes, 568; gross receipts taxes, 574; lump-sum taxes, 574; net returns taxes, 576. — II. Monopolistic Competition: specific taxes, 576; ad valorem taxes, 582; gross receipts taxes, 585; lump-sum taxes, 585; net returns taxes, 586. — A special case: one market competitive, one monopolistic, 586.
Template Synthesis of Ligands for Highly Charged Metal Cations

Macrocyclic and macrobicyclic ligands may enhance the stability of their metal complexes due to the inherent entropic and kinetic properties of a ligand ring or cage-type structure. In general, as the binding site becomes more encapsulated or preformed the reorganization entropy decreases, leading to a relatively higher formation constant for metal binding. Thus it would be expected that the formation constants be greatest for the series macrobicyclic > macrocyclic > exocyclic (Figure 1).
Expression of surfactant protein D in human corneal epithelial cells is upregulated by Pseudomonas aeruginosa

We reported previously that surfactant protein D (SP-D) was present in human tears and corneal epithelial cells, and that it contributed to tear fluid protection of those cells against Pseudomonas aeruginosa invasion. This suggested a role in ocular innate immunity. Here, we explored the effects of bacterial challenge on SP-D expression by human corneal epithelial cells. Results showed that these cells produced and secreted SP-D constitutively in culture, and that production (mRNA, protein) and secretion of SP-D were upregulated after exposure to heat-killed P. aeruginosa or to purified flagellin or lipopolysaccharide. To begin exploring the mechanism for flagellin-mediated SP-D induction, cells were exposed to purified flagellin or flagellin mutated in the TLR-5-binding domain (L94A, L88A) which reduces IL-8 secretion by A549 respiratory cells. Mutated flagellin did not upregulate IL-8 expression in corneal epithelial cells, but did induce SP-D responses. Mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitors, especially the JNK inhibitor SP600125, reduced secretion of SP-D, but not production, in the presence of P. aeruginosa. These data show that while SP-D and IL-8 corneal responses are each induced by P. aeruginosa or its antigens, they can involve different regions of the same ligand. The data suggest that separate mechanisms may regulate SP-D secretion and production by human corneal epithelia.
Comparison of Maternal Estimates and Performance-Based Assessment Scores for Young Handicapped Children:

The authors compared maternal estimates of child performance and performance-based scores using the Learning Accomplishment Profile. Very strong positive relationships were found for maternal estimates and evaluator ratings for overall scores as well as for four subscales. No significant difference was found for overall scores between the two data sources. A significant difference was found, however, for one subscale, gross motor. Results indicated that professionals should be aware of the purpose of individual assessment activities in order to effectively use parents as data sources.
Augmentation of the in vitro humoral immune response by pharmacologic agents. II: Comparison of the effects of antiproliferative agents with DBcAMP

Abstract We have compared the stimulatory activity of DBcAMP with various antiproliferative agents on the induction of the humoral response. When they are present only during an early stage of immune induction, DBcAMP, colcemid, cytosine-arabinoside, hydroxy urea, and high specific activity 3H-thymidine can all enhance the primary 19s antibody response to SRBC. In contrast, each of these agents inhibits the PFC response, when they are incubated with the cells during late stages of induction of humoral immunity. Because all of these agents can inhibit proliferation of cultured cells, the results suggested that DBcAMP and other agents that elevate cAMP could augment humoral immunity via their effects on cellular proliferation. However, we also found that although each agent could modulate induction of the immune response to SRBC, only DBcAMP produced a dose- and time-dependent augmentation of the response to DLF. We conclude that although antiproliferative effects of drugs may contribute to augmentation of some humoral antibody responses, this effect alone is insufficient to account for the mechanism by which agents that elevate intracellular levels of cAMP produce enhancement of humoral immunity.
Minimum distance conditional variance function checking in heteroscedastic regression models

This paper discusses a class of minimum distance tests for fitting a parametric variance function in heteroscedastic regression models. These tests are based on certain minimized L"2 distances between a nonparametric variance function estimator and the parametric variance function estimator. The paper establishes the asymptotic normality of the proposed test statistics and that of the corresponding minimum distance estimator under the fitted model. These estimators turn out to be n-consistent. Consistency of this sequence of tests at some fixed alternatives and asymptotic power under some local nonparametric alternatives are also discussed. Some simulation studies are conducted to assess the finite sample performance of the proposed test.
Conversion of 5-hydroxylysine to 5-hydroxypipecolic acid in honey locust leaves

Abstract The feeding of dl - and dl -allo-5-hydroxylysine-6-14C to honey locust leaves resulted in complete recovery of radioactivity in three compounds. Most of the radioactivity was recovered in two compounds that were identified as cis- and trans-5-hydroxypipecolic acids. The third product was identified as N6-acetyl-5-hydroxy-lysine. The results strongly indicate that 5-hydroxylysine is the normal precursor of 5-hydroxypipecolic acid in the honey locust. The formation of N6-acetyl-5-hydroxy-lysine appears to be unrelated to the formation of the 5-hydroxypipecolic acid. 5-Hydroxypipecolic acid was not actively metabolized in honey locust leaves.
Quinpirole attenuates the striatal immediate early gene expression, but not the hyperactivity, induced by the serotonin agonist RU-24969.

Abstract Systemic administration of the mixed 5-HT1A/1B agonist RU-24969 has been shown to produce a dramatic increase in locomotor activity and to induce robust c-Fos expression in the rat striatum. Previous studies have also shown that pretreatment with the D2-like dopamine agonist quinpirole virtually abolishes RU-24969-induced striatal c-Fos expression. The present study was undertaken to determine whether the effects of RU-24969 on immediate early gene expression extend to the additional Fos family transcription factors FosB and Fra-2. Additionally, this study quantitatively examined the effect of quinpirole pretreatment on the ability of RU-24969 to induce both locomotor hyperactivity and striatal immediate early gene expression. RU-24969 alone produced elevations in locomotor activity and induced clear expression of c-Fos, FosB and Fra-2 throughout the entire striatal complex. Quinpirole pretreatment virtually abolished RU-24969-induced expression of all three transcription factors, but did not alter the elevated locomotor activity produced by RU-24969. These results demonstrate that the effects of RU-24969 on locomotor activity can be dissociated from its effects on immediate early gene expression within the striatum.
Genomic and replicative hepatitis C virus RNA sequences and histologic activity in chronic hepatitis C

Abstract Hepatitis C virus (HCV) frequently leads to chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma, but the mechanism of liver injury is unknown. To determine whether replication of HCV is related to liver damage, we studied 17 liver biopsy specimens (six anti-HCV-positive chronic persistent hepatitis specimens, seven anti-HCV-positive chronic active hepatitis specimens, and four anti-HCV-negative controls) by reverse transcription followed by double polymerase chain reaction for the 5′ nontranslated regions of the genomic and replicative strands of HCV. The histologic activity index as well as lymphoid aggregates in portal tracts, bile duct damage, and fatty change were assessed semiquantitatively. There was a statistically significant correlation between the presence of HCV RNA sequences in liver tissue and anti-HCV antibody in serum ( P
Oxygen adsorption on the kinked Pt(321) surface

Abstract Oxygen adsorption and desorption were characterized on the kinked Pt(321) surface using high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy and thermal desorption spectroscopy. Molecular oxygen adsorbs mainly as a peroxo-like species at 100K with a heat of desorption of about 22 kJ/mol. Some of the molecular oxygen also adsorbs dissociatively at 100K. Atomic oxygen is adsorbed in three states. One state is due to adsorption on the terraces and another state is due to adsorption along the rough step sites. The heat of desorption of both of these states is approximately equal and decreases from 290 kJ/mol to 195kJ/mol with increasing coverage. Atomic oxygen is also observed to adsorb in another state which is interpreted as adsorption at an on-top site.
Nitroxyl (NO−): a substrate for superoxide dismutase

The interactions of Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD) with nitroxyl (NO-) and nitric oxide (NO), both of which are thought to be biologically significant, have been studied but remain undefined. Having previously noted that NO- can reduce Cu (II), Zn SOD aerobically, we now report that it also can do so anaerobically and that Cu, Zn SOD can catalyze the elimination of NO(-) in the absence of O2.NO- acts as a reductant of ferricytochrome c anaerobically, but in the presence of O2 causes the oxidation of ferrocytochrome c and NADPH. Equivalent fluxes of NO-, and NO + O2- were able to comparably oxidize NADPH, but the oxidation by NO + O2- was more than fivefold more sensitive to inhibition by Cu, Zn SOD than was the oxidation by NO-. Thus Cu, Zn SOD inhibited NADPH oxidation by NO- by a route independent of catalyzing the dismutation of O2. Plausible mechanisms for those observations are offered and rate constants are estimated.
Effect of Diet and Glucocorticoid Administration on Liver Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxykinase Activity in the Dairy Cow

Abstract The liver phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase activity and blood glucose and ketone concentrations of 18 dairy cows were determined at 6 weeks prepartum, during the first week postpartum, and during the sixth week postpartum. Six of the cows were assigned to each of 3 treatments : a) hay ad libitum up to parturition supplemented with restricted concentrate (15% protein) during lactation; b) restricted hay plus concentrate (15% protein) to appetite immediately before parturition and during lactation; and c) same as b with a 24% protein concentrate. The only significant change in liver phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase activity was a reduction in the activity of the cows on Treatment A during the first week postpartum. At the same time blood glucose was depressed and blood ketones elevated. The liver enzyme activity was positively correlated with digestible dry matter intake, crude protein intake, milk production and body weight. Three days of reduced feed intake tended to depress the liver phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase activity of lactating cows. The liver enzyme activity was reduced in both lactating and nonlactating cows 18 hours after the administration of a glucocorticoid hormone. At the same time blood glucose was increased up to twofold.
Excitation of Mg III by electron impact

Abstract Cross section for exciting Mg III from the ground state into various s, p and d excited states by electron impact, are calculated in the Born approximation for impact energies ranging from threshold to 5 keV. A simple analytic formula for the cross sections is presented.
PHOSPHATE DIRECTED Y-M VARIATION IN CANDIDA ALBICANS.

The influence of pH, O-R potential, dextrose/inorganic phosphate ratio, nitrogen source, and various cations on filamentation ofCandida albicans when grown on phosphate enriched Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (Difco) at 37° C were investigated. The dextrose/phosphate ratio apparently plays a key role under these conditions. It is postulated that magnesium ion trapped within the cell by excess polyphosphate formation leads to filamentation.
Multiphoton ionization of the noble gases by an intense 1014-W/cm2 dye laser.

The absolute yield of multiply charged ions of the noble gases argon, krypton, and xenon as a function of laser intensity in the range of ${10}^{13}$\ensuremath{\le}I\ensuremath{\le}5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{14}$ W/${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$ is reported. The actual numbers of ions produced using a well-characterized tunable picosecond dye laser were measured. These absolute measurements allow a direct, quantitative comparison of the data with theory. Both lowest-order perturbation theory and the ``tunneling ionization'' theory of Keldysh are used to model the experiment. Ionization rates obtained from the Keldysh theory are in quantitative agreement with the experimental results for production of the first charge state only. Reasons for the inability of the Keldysh theory to describe the production of multiply charged ions are discussed.
Expression, purification and crystallization of the SKICH domain of human TAX1BP1.

TAX1BP1 is a highly conserved, pleiotropic protein that plays many essential functions in human cells, including negative regulation of inflammatory and antimicrobial responses mediated by NF-κB and IRF3 signaling, inhibition of apoptosis, transcriptional coactivation and autophagy etc. TAX1BP1 contains a SKICH domain at the N-terminus, three coiled-coil domains in the middle and two ubiquitin-binding zinc-finger motifs at the C-terminus. The SKICH domain and the linker sequence between the SKICH domain and the coiled-coil region mediate interaction with ubiquitin-like proteins of the LC3/GABARAP family, which are autophagosome markers. For structure determination of the SKICH domain of TAX1BP1, a protein construct (amino acids 15–148) corresponding to the SKICH domain plus the linker region was expressed, purified and crystallized. A native diffraction data set has been collected to 1.9 A resolution. A molecular-replacement solution has been found by using the structure of the SKICH domain of NDP52, a paralog of TAX1BP1.
Optical physics and laser devices in II–VI quantum confined heterostructures

Abstract We review some of the recent advances in wide-gap II–VI heterostructures, with emphasis on device physics and engineering of quantum confinement in ZnSe-based multilayer structures for blue-green diode lasers and LEDs. An important element in these quantum well configurations are quasi-two-dimensional exciton effects which dominate absorption but are also of relevance in both spontaneous and stimulated emission processes.
India Invented: A Nation-In-The Making

Preface to the First Edition Preface to the Second Edition Introduction - Ethnicity: A Look into the Indian Kaleidoscope Prologue: India Invented, Disinvented & Re-invented Concepts & Categories Categories into Concepts 'Tribe' in India: From Ethnicity to Class Religion: Nationalism & Constitutional Order 'Harijans' into 'Dalits': From Caste to Class The Tower of Babel: Misunderstandings in Many Languages National Integration in a Fragmented Society Inconclusive Conclusions: Some Theoretical & Practical Considerations Epilogue: Another Republic for India References Index.
Effect of Angiotensin II on Immunoreactive Insulin

ABSTRACT Epinephrine and norepinephrine infusions, in man, inhibit immunoreactive insulin (IRI) responses to intravenous (iv) glucose, tolbutamide and glucagon. To determine the specificity of the reaction to catecholamine infusion, the effect of a non-adrenergic vasoconstrictor, angiotensin II, on the IRI response to glucose and tolbutamide was studied. Normal volunteers served as their own controls and either oral or iv glucose or tolbutamide was administered, with and without a continuous infusion of angiotensin II. A marked inhibition of IRI response to oral and iv glucose and to tolbutamide occurred during the infusion of angiotensin II. Following the infusion, a significant rise in IRI ensued. The comcomitant administration of phentolamine and angiotensin II did not modify the inhibition of IRI response. IRI response to oral glucose during angiotensin II was significantly greater than to iv glucose. The similar inhibitory effects of catecholamines and angiotensin II on IRI responses suggest that cha...
Characterizing regions in the human genome unmappable by next-generation-sequencing at the read length of 1000 bases

Repetitive and redundant regions of a genome are particularly problematic for mapping sequencing reads. In the present paper, we compile a list of the unmappable regions in the human genome based on the following definition: hypothetical reads with length 1kb which cannot be uniquely mapped with zero-mismatch alignment for the described regions, considering both the forward and reverse strand. The respective collection of unmappable regions covers 0.77% of the sequence of human autosomes and 8.25% of the sex chromosomes in the reference genome GRCh37/hg19 (overall 1.23%). Not surprisingly, our unmappable regions overlap greatly with segmental duplication, transposable elements, and structural variants. About 99.8% of bases in our unmappable regions are part of either segmental duplication or transposable elements and 98.3% overlap structural variant annotations. Notably, some of these regions overlap units with important biological functions, including 4% of protein-coding genes. In contrast, these regions have zero intersection with the ultraconserved elements, very low overlap with microRNAs, tRNAs, pseudogenes, CpG islands, tandem repeats, microsatellites, sensitive non-coding regions, and the mapping blacklist regions from the ENCODE project.
In situ immunologic phenotyping of mycosis fungoides.

In situ immunologic phenotyping of the cutaneous lymphoid infiltrates of five cases of mycosis fungoides (MF) was performed. This was done by the immunoperoxidase technic using monoclonal antibodies directed against antigens normally expressed by mature peripheral T cells and T cell subsets. A significant proportion of the infiltrates reacted with peripheral T cell antibodies. In addition, "helper" predominance was demonstrated. However, cells reacting positively with "suppressor" antibodies were also demonstrated in three cases, indicating immunologic heterogeneity of the infiltrates. The presence of a significant component of the infiltrates yielding an equivocal or negative reaction with the mature T cell antibodies, especially in the infiltrates of one case which had a fatal outcome, suggests further heterogeneity with the presence of immature cells. Future investigation with monoclonal antibodies directed against immature T cell differentiation antigens will be of interest.
Accuracy of color Doppler velocity in the flow field proximal to a regurgitant orifice: Implications for color Doppler quantitation of valvular incompetence

Color Doppler is routinely used in estimates of valvular regurgitation. Velocity and subsequently flow measurements are made at about 7-10 cm from the ultrasonic transducer. Error in velocity measurement may occur due to spatial broadening of the color Doppler beam in the axial, azimuthal and lateral directions. Error in velocity may also occur due to wall filters since the filtering process is not uniform throughout the velocity range indicated by the color bar. An attempt to estimate this error was made using an in vitro orifice model, a numerical finite element model (FEM), and information from the manufacturer. We found that the acoustic beam spatial expansion, wall filter sensitivity and Nyquist limit (NYL) have to be considered simultaneously to account for errors. The combined spatial expansion and wall filter effect on velocity was estimated as a weighted average over the sample volume. The error distributions are not universal but depend on orifice size and flow. For a 3-mm orifice and 100 cm s NYL the overall effect was overestimation of low velocities and significant underestimation of high velocities due to the high velocity gradients inside the sample volume. For the 5- and the 10-mm orifice the effect was less accentuated. Based on this overall error distribution, a correction was incorporated on color Doppler obtained data. The incorporated correction yielded better agreement with numerical velocity data. This correction is important in the application of the proximal isovelocity surface area (PISA) technique and the evaluation of regurgitant flowrates.
Creatine metabolism after x-irradiation of rats.

Summary1. Creatine-2-14C was injected into rats at different times after x- or sham-irradiation.2. Muscle creatine and phosphocreatine, as well as creatine from blood, kidney and urine, were isolated and their respective specific activities determined. Urinary creatinine was also isolated and its 14C-activity determined.3. Coincident with the maximal excretion of creatine, the specific activities of muscle creatine and phosphocreatine decreased after x-irradiation.4. Immediately after injecting the x-irradiated rats with creatine-2-14C, the specific activity of urinary creatine increased, whereas that of creatinine decreased, but at a somewhat later time.5. It is postulated that defective utilization of creatine by muscle constitutes the cause of radiation-induced creatinuria.
Short range forces between metallic half-spaces

Abstract The many-body theory for inhomogeneous systems developed by Kohn and Hohenberg is used to calculate the short range attraction force between two metallic half-spaces.