cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Lipid metabolism in the parasitic and free-living flatworms, Schistosoma mansoni and Dugesia dorotocephala.

Abstract As part of an investigation of lipid metabolism in platyhelminths, the composition and biosynthesis of fatty acids and complex lipids were examined in the parasitic blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni and the free-living planarian Dugesia dorotocephala. Both flatworms have similar lipid patterns, although some quantitative differences exist. Cholesterol, triglyceride, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylinositol constitute their major lipids. D. dorotocephala contains, in addition, ethanolamine plasmalogen and a small amount of cerebroside. The principal fatty acids of the two flatworms are saturated, mono- and polyenoic acids of 16–20-carbon chain lengths. Both the free-living as well as the parasitic flatworms have lost the ability to synthesize de novo sterols and fatty acids. But when supplied with dietary sources, they have the capacity to synthesize all of their complex lipids.
Generation of efficient parsers through direct compilation of XML schema grammars

With the widespread adoption of SOAP and Web services, XML-based processing, and parsing of XML documents in particular, is becoming a performance-critical aspect of business computing. In such scenarios, XML is often constrained by an XML Schema grammar, which can be used during parsing to improve performance. Although traditional grammar-based parser generation techniques could be applied to the XML Schema grammar, the expressiveness of XML. Schema does not lend itself well to the generic intermediate representations associated with these approaches. In this paper we present a method for generating efficient parsers by using the schema component model itself as the representation of the grammar. We show that the model supports the full expressive power of the XML Schema, and we present results demonstrating significant performance improvements over existing parsers.
Very Preterm Birth is Reduced in Women Receiving an Integrated Behavioral Intervention: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This study examines whether an integrated behavioral intervention with proven efficacy in reducing psycho-behavioral risks (smoking, environmental tobacco smoke exposure (ETSE), depression, and intimate partner violence (IPV)) in African-Americans is associated with improved pregnancy outcomes. A randomized controlled trial targeting risks during pregnancy was conducted in the District of Columbia. African-American women were recruited if reporting at least one of the risks mentioned above. Randomization to intervention or usual care was site and risk specific. Sociodemographic, health risk and pregnancy outcome data were collected. Data on 819 women, and their singleton live born infants were analyzed using an intent-to-treat approach. Bivariate analyses preceded a reduced logistical model approach to elucidate the effect of the intervention on the reduction of prematurity and low birth weight. The incidence of low birthweight (LBW) was 12% and very low birthweight (VLBW) was 1.6%. Multivariate logistic regression results showed that depression was associated with LBW (OR = 1.71, 95% CI = 1.12–2.62). IPV was associated with preterm birth (PTB) and very preterm birth (VPTB) (OR 1.64, 95% CI = 1.07–2.51, OR = 2.94, 95% CI = 1.40–6.16, respectively). The occurrence of VPTB was significantly reduced in the intervention compared to the usual care group (OR = 0.42, 95% CI = 0.19-0.93). Our study confirms the significant associations between multiple psycho-behavioral risks and poor pregnancy outcomes, including LBW and PTB. Our behavioral intervention with demonstrated efficacy in addressing multiple risk factors simultaneously reduced VPTB within an urban minority population.
Using Collaborative Engineering to Inform Collaboration Engineering

Collaboration is a critical competency for modern organizations as they struggle to compete in an increasingly complex, global environment. A large body of research on collaboration in the workplace focuses both on teams, investigating how groups use teamwork to perform their task work, and on the use of information systems to support team processes ("collaboration engineering"). This research essay presents collaboration from an engineering perspective ("collaborative engineering"). It uses examples from professional and student engineering teams to illustrate key differences in collaborative versus collaboration engineering and investigates how challenges in the former can inform opportunities for the latter.
Corrections to “Underwater Optical Imaging: The Past, the Present, and the Prospects” [J. S. Jaffe, IEEE J. Ocean. Eng., DOI: 10.1109/JOE.2014.2350751]

Presents corrections to several formulas from the paper, “Underwater Optical Imaging: The Past, the Present, and the Prospects” [J. S. Jaffe, IEEE J. Ocean. Eng., vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 327–336, Apr. 2015).
Ganglioglioma presenting as a meningioma: case report and review of the literature.

OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: Gangliogliomas are intra-axial, avascular masses located predominately in the temporal lobe. A ganglioglioma that mimics a meningioma in that it is extra-axial and has a significant extracranial vascular supply has not been reported previously. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: A 12-year-old girl presented with a right temporoparietal mass. A neurological examination revealed nothing abnormal, and the girl’s symptoms were limited to headaches. INTERVENTION: Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an extra-axial mass, and cerebral catheter angiography revealed a blood supply mainly from the posterior division of the right middle meningeal artery. Intraoperative findings confirmed the extra-axial location of the tumor, and histological analysis revealed that the tumor was a ganglioglioma. CONCLUSION: This report confirms that gangliogliomas can present as extra-axial, vascular masses that are similar to meningiomas. (Neurosurgery 50:1133–1136, 2002)
CIRCADIAN PLASMA GH CONCENTRATIONS IN CHILDREN WITH PHENYLKETONURIA (PKU), HYPERPHENYLALANINEMIA (H), CYSTINOSIS (C) AND HOMOCYSTINURIA (HU)

Inborn errors of amino acid metabolism are frequently associated with growth disorders, the pathogenesis of which is unknown. We have performed arginine-insulin tolerance tests and measurements of circadian hormone secretion in patients with PKU (n=2), H (1), C (1), HU (4) and normal control children (4). Integrated mean GH, insulin and blood sugar levels were obtained using the Sigmamotor ML-6 constant withdrawal pump. Blood was collected over ice and divided into hourly portions (n=24) to permit detection of possible pulse secretion of GH and correlations to the patients' sleep-wake activity as recorded by EEG. Two patients with HU, whose plasma and urine aminograms were normalized by diet and vitamin B6, were re-investigated after treatment had been discontinued for > 5 weeks. Summary of findings: (1) GH concentrations in HU were markedly elevated in patients out of metabolic control as compared to subjects with near normal aminograms. (2) GH concentrations were within the normal range in H and one patient with PKU, but increased in another girl with PKU and tall stature. (3) The lowest GH concentration among all subjects was observed in a 5-year old boy with C who was also severely dwarfed.- Supported by German Research Foundation, Grant Sche. 119/1
Noninvasive Evaluation of Carotid Artery Stenosis: Indications, Strategies, and Accuracy

Carotid artery occlusive disease is an important stroke risk factor and accounts for a significant proportion of stroke morbidity and mortality. In this article we survey the major clinical trials related to stroke risk in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients who have internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis; techniques for noninvasive screening of ICA stenosis including ultrasound, MR angiography, and CT angiography; and evolving algorithms for ICA evaluation. We comment on current interest in plaque morphology as a risk factor for stroke.
Structural differences between a ras oncogene protein and the normal protein.

One of the most commonly found transforming ras oncogenes in human tumours has a valine codon replacing the glycine codon at position 12 of the normal c-Ha-ras gene1–4. To understand the structural reasons behind cell transformation arising from this single amino acid substitution, we have determined the crystal structure of the GDP-bound form of the mutant protein, p21(Val-12), encoded by this oncogene. We report here the overall structure of p21(Val-12) at 2.2 A resolution and compare it with the structure of the normal c-Ha-ras protein5. One of the major differences is that the loop of the transforming ras protein that binds the β-phosphate of the guanine nucleotide is enlarged. Such a change in the "catalytic site' conformation could explain the reduced GTPase activity of the mutant6–8, which keeps the protein in the GTP bound 'signal on9 state for a prolonged period of time, ultimately causing cell transformation.
Spine fracture with neurological deficit in osteoporosis.

The literature suggests that spinal fractures acquired after minimal trauma in osteoporotic patients cause neurological problems only extremely rarely. This report describes 9 patients with severe osteoporosis in whom minimal trauma led to a fracture of the thoracic or lumbar spine causing significant neurological deficit. All patients presented originally with isolated back pain after minimal trauma. Initial radiographs documented what appeared to be ‘benign’ compression fractures with minimal loss of vertebral height. Over the following 1–12 weeks all patients described a gradual onset of severe radicular pain which was subsequently associated with profound lower extremity weakness in 7 cases. Repeat radiographs revealed advanced collapse of the fractured level. CT and MRI images revealed violation of the posterior cortex of the vertebrae with retropulsion of bone into the spinal canal. In 2 cases, two simultaneous fractures of this kind were noted; in both of these cases the fractures occurred at adjacent levels. The upper lumbar spine was most frequently involved. This relatively small series suggests that caution should be used in the assessment of benign-appearing compression fractures in osteoporotic patients. The delayed appearance of neurological signs and symptoms may lead to a late or missed diagnosis. The onset of back pain in an elderly patient quite frequently represents the acquisition of a fracture; subsequent complaints of leg pain or lower extremity dysfunction may indicate progression of such a fracture, with compromise of the neutral elements.
Strain aging in tungsten heavy alloys

Abstract : It has been shown that strengthening of tungsten-heavy alloys is possible through the use of cold working and heat treatment. The source of the increased strength has been attributed to strain aging due to the presence of carbon. Further, it was shown that this increase in strength did not have to be at the expense of elongation. For a 90% tungsten-heavy alloy, the strength increased from 164.7 ksi in the as-swaged condition to 178.4 ksi when heat treated at 700C for 1 hour. Under the same conditions the elongation increased from 10.8% to 12 .2%. Similar results were observed for a 93% tungsten-heavy alloy. The strength increased from 173.9 ksi as-swaged, to 197.0.o ksi when heat treated for 1 hour at 600 C. The elongation fully recovered at 800 C, held for 1 hour. Keywords: Heat treatment; Strain mechanics.
Sensory and Physical Hand Properties of Inherently Flame-Retardant Sleepwear Fabrics 1

Inherently flame-retardant sleepwear fabrics for children were assessed by 38 judges for sensory hand qualities using the semantic differential, and for hand preferences using the full forced-choice paired comparison. A 99 point certainty scale was used for both assessments. Physical hand properties were also measured instrumentally. Sensory hand responses differed more by fabric construction type than by fiber content, whereas hand preferences differed more by fiber content than by fabric construction type. There were no clear relationships between sensory hand qualities and preferences, although smoothness, softness, and gentleness of hand were associated with more favorable preferences. The word pairs that described physical properties directly (e.g., "flimsy/firm" for stiffness) were highly correlated with physical measures.
Outcome of intensive care in the elderly

The long-term survival of elderly patients following critical illness in the United Kingdom has not previously been studied. The demographic (age, sex, diagnosis, severity of illness) and treatment details (admission type, length of treatment, prior surgery) of all critically ill patients aged over 70 years were recorded. The 1-year survival of such patients was measured and compared with that of a matched normal population. Of 474 patients aged over 70 years, 88 patients died on the intensive care unit (19% mortality) and a further 133 died within 1 year (total mortality 47%). The 1-year survival of patients aged <85 years was 56% which was significantly better than that of patients over 85 years (27%). The survival of all critically ill elderly patients was significantly poorer than that of a matched normal population (1-year survival 93%). Logistic regression revealed that age, diagnosis and severity of illness are independent predictors of 1-year survival.
New and Little Known Species of Loxandrus LeConte 1852 (Coleoptera: Carabidae) from North and South America

AbstractThree new species of beetles in the genus Loxandrus are described: L. straneoi from the southern United States, L. icarus from the Eastern United States, and L. quinarius from central Bolivia. Loxandrus icarus, inhabitant of wet lowland habitat, is unique among eastern North American species in having reduced flight wings. The only other North American species with reduced flight wings, L. omiltemi Allen & Ball, is known from temperate cloud forest habitat in Mexico. Loxandrus quinarius shares a striking phenetic similarity to some members of the African caelostomine genus Strigomerus Chaudoir, and with L. strigomeroides Straneo. Illustrations of the male genitalia of L. strigomeroides and L. mirei Straneo are presented here to assist in identification of these species. The distributional range of L. strigomeroides is newly noted to extend across the Amazon basin. Loxandrus inferus Allen is placed into synonymy under L. velocipes Casey.
Changing responses to temperature and moisture of diapausing and developing eggs of Allonemobius fasciatus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae)

Abstract A portion of the Allonemobius fasciatus eggs laid in September averated embryonic diapause when transferred from 20 to 27°C in the first 12 days, but this proportion decreased if the transfer was delayed until day 16 or 20. This response may be explained by the interacting effects of low and high temperatures on the two types of diapause: Incubation at 20°C decreases the incidence of summer diapause during early embryonic stages but increases the incidence of winter diapause at a later stage. The intensity of winter diapause at 20°C was greatly increased by a 5-day exposure to 27°C occurring around the diapause stage. Exposure of eggs in winter diapause to different temperatures indicates that the thermal optimum for diapause development is relatively high (16-11°C) at the beginning and decreases to 6°C later. In the field, diapause development occurred rapidly in autumn but slowly during the winter. A short exposure of eggs to dry conditions (4–6 days) increased the incidence of summer diapause at 30°C but a long exposure (≥ 15 days) terminated summer diapause. In this cricket, the effects of different temperature and moisture conditions on diapause regulation thus change during the course of morphogenetic and diapause development.
Nuancing the patterns of empire informal empire, Anti-imperialism, And transnationalism

Espiritu’s essay locates Julian Go’s Patterns of Empire in the context of the critical literature of US Philippine colonial studies and explains why it is a signal contribution to that literature. It provides an appreciative view of its argument against exceptionalism as well as its comparative critical analysis of the British and US empires. Finally, it raises several questions about empire, informal empire, and anti- imperialism as a way of furthering the dialogue the book seeks between political studies writ large and postcolonial studies.
Cigarette Smoking and Exposure to Passive Smoke Are Risk Factors for Cervical Cancer

Personal cigarette smoking and exposure to passive smoke as risk factors for cervical cancer were examined in a population-based, case-control study conducted in Utah. Personal cigarette smoking was found to increase the risk of cervical cancer, after adjusting for age, educational level, church attendance, and sexual activity. The adjusted risk estimate associated with being a current smoker was 3.42 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.10 to 5.57); for having smoked for 5 or more pack-years, it was 2.81 (95% CI, 1.73 to 4.55); and for having smoked at least 100 lifetime cigarettes, it was 2.21 (95% CI, 1.44 to 3.39). The adjusted risk estimate (also adjusted for actual cigarettes smoked) associated with passive smoke exposure for 3 or more hours per day was 2.96 (95% CI, 1.25 to 7.03). Risk from passive smoking was greater in women who were not smokers (odds ratio, 3.43; 95% CI, 1.23 to 9.54) than in women who smoked (odds ratio, 2.59; 95% CI, 0.23 to 29.24). ( JAMA . 1989;261:1593-1598)
Conservation and management of migratory fauna: dams in tropical streams of Puerto Rico

1. Compared with most other tropical regions, Puerto Rico appears to have dammed its running waters decades earlier and to a greater degree. The island has more large dams per unit area than many countries in both tropical and temperate regions (e.g. three times that of the USA), and the peak rate of large dam construction occurred two or three decades before reported peak rates in Latin America, Asia and Africa. 2. Puerto Rico is a potential window into the future of freshwater migratory fauna in tropical regions, given the island's extent and magnitude of dam development and the available scientific information on ecology and management of the island's migratory fauna. 3. The paper reviews the ecology, management and conservation of migratory fauna in relation to dams in Puerto Rico. It includes a synthesis of recent and unpublished observations on upstream effects of large dams on migratory fauna and an analysis of patterns in free crest spillway discharge across Puerto Rican reservoirs. 4. Analyses suggest that large dams with rare spillway discharge cause near, not complete, extirpation of upstream populations of migratory fauna. They also suggest several management and conservation issues in need of further research and consideration, including research on the costs, benefits and effectiveness of simple fish and shrimp passage designs involving simulating spillway discharge. The appropriateness of establishing predatory fish in reservoirs of historically fishless drainages also needs to be considered. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Writing in Mathematics: An Alternative Form of Communication for Academically Low‐Achieving Students

Abstract. Classroom communication figures prominently in current math reform efforts. In this study, we analyze how one teacher used writing to support communication in a seventh-grade, low-track mathematics class. For one school year, we studied four low-achieving students in the class. Students wrote in journals on a weekly basis. Using classroom observations and interviews with the teacher, we developed profiles of the four students, capturing their participation in class discussions. The profiles highlighted an important similarity among the four students: marginal participation in both small-group and whole-class discussions. However, our analysis of the students' journals identified multiple instances where the students were able to explain their mathematical reasoning, revealing their conceptual understanding, ability to explain, and skill at representing a problem. In this respect, journals potentially facilitate another important form of classroom communication. The promise of writing is that it offers an alternative to the visions of classroom communication that are strictly oral in nature.
A Psychoanalytic View of Racial Myths in a Nazi Propaganda Film: Der Ewige Jude (The Eternal Jew)

This paper describes the emotional appeal of propaganda utilizing concepts from psychoanalysis, small group psychology, and psychohistory. The film propagandist attempts to exploit irrational emotional responses to visual scenes and commentary to change attitudes, values, and behavior in a mass setting. A link between shared unconscious fantasies and myth is offered as an explanatory concept to explain propaganda's wide emotional appeal. The German Nazi anti-Semitic film, Der Ewige Jude, serves as the case example of the exploitation of such fantasies in a mass setting for a political end.
Memory for Spatial Location: Role of the Hippocampus in Mediating Spatial Pattern Separation

A paradigm based on measuring short-term memory for spatial location information as a function of spatial similarity between distal cues was developed to examine the role of pattern separation in the modulation of short-term memory for spatial information. A delayed-match-to-sample for spatial location task using a dryland version of the Morris water maze was used to assess spatial pattern separation in male Long–Evans rats. In the sample phase, animals were trained to displace an object that covered a baited food well in one of 15 spatial locations along a row of food wells perpendicular to a start box. In the ensuing choice phase, the animal was allowed to choose between two objects identical to the sample phase object. One covered the same baited food well as did the object in the study phase (correct choice), and another foil object (incorrect choice) covered a different unbaited food well along the row of wells. Five spatial separations were randomly used to separate the correct object from the foil object. After reaching a criterion before the operation, animals were given either hippocampal or cortical control lesions. In trials after the operation, control animals matched their performance before the operation across all spatial separations. In contrast, hippocampal-lesioned animals displayed impairments across all spatial separations with the exception of the longest (105 cm) spatial separation. The results suggest that the hippocampus may serve to separate incoming spatial information by temporarily storing one place separate from another. It is proposed that hippocampal lesions decrease efficiency in pattern separation, resulting in impairments in trials with increased spatial similarity among working-memory representations.
Control of influenza virus infection by immunity to conserved viral features

Influenza has circulated among humans for centuries and kills more people than many newly emerging diseases. The present methods for control of influenza are not adequate, especially for dealing with a pandemic. In the face of a rapidly spreading outbreak, a race to isolate the virus and prepare a vaccine would probably not succeed in time to avoid great losses. Thus, additional anti-infection strategies are needed. Broad cross-protection against widely divergent influenza A subtypes is readily achieved in animals by several means of immunization. How does cross-protection work in animals, and can we apply what we have learned about it to induce broad cross-protection in humans?
Electrochemical extraction of copper from scrap steel

A packed-bed electrochemical method is presented for the removal of copper from scrap steel. The method is based on the principle that at certain potentials, steel can be passivated in a suitable electrolyte, whereas copper dissolves anodically. A rotating hemispherical electrode was used to determine the polarization curves of copper and mild steel in various electrolytes. Extraction tests were carried out with an electrochemical cell composed of a cathodic carbon packed bed and an anodic bed packed with synthesized steel scrap.
Minimum bias priors for estimating additive terms in state-space models

Estimation of parametrized additive terms (also sometimes called bias terms) in linear state space models is considered. Estimation of the state as well as the random parameters, which may have an arbitrary prior and which may appear in nonlinear functions, is done in a Bayesian framework. It is shown how the complete posterior density function may be recursively and exactly evaluated. Closed form expressions for both the deterministic and stochastic Cramer-Rao bounds are derived. The asymptotic behavior of the Bayesian minimum mean-square-error estimator as a function of the prior density is then examined. An adaptive prior is introduced and shown to improve the performance of the estimator within a realization. The proposed adaptive prior yields an estimate whose expected value tends most quickly to the true parameter, i.e. has minimum bias. >
Parents’ Daily Time With Their Children: A Workplace Intervention

OBJECTIVES: In the context of a group randomized field trial, we evaluated whether parents who participated in a workplace intervention, designed to increase supervisor support for personal and family life and schedule control, reported significantly more daily time with their children at the 12-month follow-up compared with parents assigned to the Usual Practice group. We also tested whether the intervention effect was moderated by parent gender, child gender, or child age. METHODS: The Support-Transform-Achieve-Results Intervention was delivered in an information technology division of a US Fortune 500 company. Participants included 93 parents (45% mothers) of a randomly selected focal child aged 9 to 17 years (49% daughters) who completed daily telephone diaries at baseline and 12 months after intervention. During evening telephone calls on 8 consecutive days, parents reported how much time they spent with their child that day. RESULTS: Parents in the intervention group exhibited a significant increase in parent-child shared time, 39 minutes per day on average, between baseline and the 12-month follow-up. By contrast, parents in the Usual Practice group averaged 24 fewer minutes with their child per day at the 12-month follow-up. Intervention effects were evident for mothers but not for fathers and for daughters but not sons. CONCLUSIONS: The hypothesis that the intervention would improve parents’ daily time with their children was supported. Future studies should examine how redesigning work can change the quality of parent-child interactions and activities known to be important for youth health and development.
Characteristics of Low‐Salt Frankfurters Produced with Enzyme‐Modified Mechanically Deboned Fowl

Objective and sensory methods were used to compare low-salt frankfurters containing enzyme-modified mechanically deboned fowl (MDF) with normal-salt (2%) and low-salt (0.5%) MDF frankfurter controls, a low-salt MDF pH control and a commercial chicken frankfurter. MDF was modified with Milezyme AFP 2000. There was no significant difference (P < 0.05) in reheated yield between the enzyme-modified treatment, the normal-salt control, and the commercial frankfurter. Enzymatic modification resulted in improved texture and had no adverse effect on cured meat color or flavor when compared to other low-salt treatments. Microbial numbers increased faster on the enzyme-modified low-salt frankfurter than on the normal-salt control.
Compressive sensing off the grid

We consider the problem of estimating the frequency components of a mixture of s complex sinusoids from a random subset of n regularly spaced samples. Unlike previous work in compressive sensing, the frequencies are not assumed to lie on a grid, but can assume any values in the normalized frequency domain [0, 1]. We propose an atomic norm minimization approach to exactly recover the unobserved samples, which is then followed by any linear prediction method to identify the frequency components. We reformulate the atomic norm minimization as an exact semidefinite program. By constructing a dual certificate polynomial using random kernels, we show that roughly s log s log n random samples are sufficient to guarantee the exact frequency estimation with high probability, provided the frequencies are well separated. Extensive numerical experiments are performed to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Our approach avoids the basis mismatch issue arising from discretization by working directly on the continuous parameter space. Potential impact on both compressive sensing and line spectral estimation, in particular implications in sub-Nyquist sampling and superresolution, are discussed.
Transaction Logic with Defaults and Argumentation Theories

Transaction Logic is an extension of classical logic that gracefully integrates both declarative and procedural knowledge and has proved itself as a powerful formalism for many advanced applications, including modeling robot movements, actions specification, and planning in artificial intelligence. In a parallel development, much work has been devoted to various theories of defeasible reasoning. In this paper, we unify these two streams of research and develop Transaction Logic with Defaults and Argumentation Theories, an extension of both Transaction Logic and the recently proposed unifying framework for defeasible reasoning called Logic Programs with Defaults and Argumentation Theories. We show that this combination has a number of interesting applications, including specification of defaults in action theories and heuristics for directed search in artificial intelligence planning problems. We also demonstrate the usefulness of the approach by experimenting with a prototype of the logic and showing how heuristics expressed as defeasible actions can significantly reduce the search space as well as execution time and space requirements.
Generation of Chimeric Rhesus Monkeys

SUMMARY Totipotent cells in early embryos are progenitors of all stem cells and are capable of developing into a whole organism, including extraembryonic tissues such as placenta. Pluripotent cells in the inner cell mass (ICM) are the descendants of totipotent cells and can differentiate into any cell type of a body exceptextraembryonictissues.Theabilitytocontribute to chimeric animals upon reintroduction into host embryos is the key feature of murine totipotent and pluripotent cells. Here, we demonstrate that rhesus monkey embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and isolated ICMs fail to incorporate into host embryos and develop into chimeras. However, chimeric offspring were produced following aggregation of totipotent cells of the four-cell embryos. These results provide insights into the species-specific nature of primate embryos and suggest that a chimera assay using pluripotent cells may not be feasible.
The Role of Demand Information and Monitoring on Tacit Collusion

This paper studies infinitely repeated games with stochastic demand in an experimental environment. The lab experiments are constructed to test the effects of demand information (knowledge of next period’s demand realization) and monitoring (knowledge of rivals’ actions) on collusion. Two treatments are motivated by the corresponding assumptions in the Green and Porter (1984) and Rotemberg and Saloner (1986) models: the former assumes imperfect knowledge of next period’s demand realization and imperfect monitoring of rivals’ actions whereas the latter assumes perfect knowledge of next period’s demand realization and perfect monitoring. A third, intermediate, treatment allows for imperfect demand information (as in Green and Porter) but perfect monitoring (as in Rotemberg and Saloner). Results indicate that for a sufficiently high discount rate, demand information seems to facilitate collusion more than monitoring, especially as subjects gain experience. While the data exhibits behavioral patterns consistent the theoretical predictions of the two motivating models, a robust finding is that subjects in the Rotemberg and Saloner treatment cooperate in the way predicted by this theory: collusion falls dramatically in anticipation of unusually large demand but returns to high levels otherwise. Our results suggest that tacit collusion could arise in stochastic environments and that it could be fairly elaborate.
Signal reconstruction from phase only information and application to blind system estimation

We propose a method for the reconstruction of a complex signal from its Fourier phase only, where the phase is known within a linear phase term, and the sequence's length is unknown. The case of the phase known exactly has received a lot of attention in the past, however, in most cases the phase can be estimated up to a linear phase term whose slope is unknown. Moreover, in most cases of interest, the exact length of the sequence which is to be recovered is unknown. As an application of the reconstruction from phase technique, we propose a method for blind channel identification.
Receptor-Induced Conformational Changes in the SU Subunit of the Avian Sarcoma/Leukosis Virus A Envelope Protein: Implications for Fusion Activation

The avian sarcoma/leukosis virus (ASLV) is activated for fusion by a two-step mechanism. For ASLV subgroup A (ASLV-A), association with its receptor (Tva) at neutral pH converts virions to a form that can bind target membranes and, in some assays, induce the lipid-mixing stage of fusion. Low pH is necessary to complete the fusion reaction. ASLV-A env (EnvA) exists on the viral surface as a trimer of heterodimers consisting of receptor binding (SU-A) and fusion-mediating (TM-A) subunits. As the receptor binding and fusion-mediating functions reside in separate subunits, we hypothesize that SU-A and TM-A are conformationally coupled. To begin to understand the effect of the binding of a soluble 47-residue domain of the receptor (sTva) on this coupling and the subsequent function of low pH, we prepared recombinant proteins representing full-length SU-A and a nested set of deletion mutant proteins. Full-length SU-A binds sTva with high affinity, but even small deletions at either the N or the C terminus severely impair sTva binding. We have purified the full-length SU-A subunit and characterized its interactions with sTva and the subsequent effect of low pH on the complex. sTva binds SU-A with an apparent KD of 3 pM. Complex formation occludes hydrophobic surfaces and tryptophan residues and leads to a partial loss of α-helical structure in SU-A. Low pH does not alter the off rate for the complex, further alter the secondary structure of SU-A, or induce measurable changes in tryptophan environment. The implications of these findings for fusion are discussed.
Likelihood tests of hypothesized durations: determining and accommodating biasing factors

Abstract Paleobiologists frequently hypothesize that a taxon's duration (i.e., the true span from origination to extinction) exceeds its stratigraphic range (i.e., the span from first appearance to last appearance in the fossil record). One can test hypothesized duration by assessing the plausibility of the implicitly hypothesized gaps between origination and first appearance and/or between last appearance and extinction. Several tests assess the probability of not finding a taxon over some stratigraphic gap. Because the likelihood of a hypothesis given data reflects the probability of the data given that hypothesis, these probabilities also give the likelihood of a hypothesized duration. However, many probability/likelihood tests require simplifying assumptions about unknown sampling parameters such as the consistency of sampling over time, sampling intensities for unknown ancestors, and actual sampling intensities themselves. This paper examines the effects of sampling parameters on probability/likeliho...
Family physicians and human rights: a case example from former Yugoslavia.

BACKGROUND: The role of family physicians in the protection of human rights is unclear. The purpose of this article is to explore this role through examination of the specific case of former Yugoslavia. METHODS: In January/February 1993, we investigated medical aspects of human rights abuses as part of a fact-finding mission for the Physicians for Human Rights organization. We used primarily qualitative methods, including direct observation, key informant interviews, focus groups, and key document review. RESULTS: We observed pervasive violations of medical neutrality, as indicated by the shelling of Kosevo Hospital, the major tertiary care hospital in Sarajevo. Forty-one percent of former prison camp detainees from north Bosnia housed at the Karlovac, Croatia, refugee camp had scars consistent with physical abuse. Civilians in north central Bosnia and Sarajevo were targeted through physical violence, artillery shelling, and strangulation of the public health infrastructure--food, water, electricity, heat, and medical supplies. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians can be uniquely useful in the investigation of human rights. The flexibility of family physicians and their attention to the biopsycosocial aspects of health can be especially useful. Family physicians should become actively involved in the protection of human rights. Language: en
Bacterial synthesis of substance similar to human chorionic gonadotrophin.

SummaryOur data tend to confirm the observations of Livingston et al. (1) that a microorganism(s) isolated from the urine of cancer patients is capable of producing a human chorionic gonadotrophinlike substance. Chromatographic properties as well as immunologic and receptor assay techniques offer strong evidence for this similarity.We are indebted to Dr. K. Sundaram for his examination of the extracts for in vitro gonadotropic activity, and to Drs. M. Goore and N. Starkovsky for their aid in performing the radioimmunoassay and radioreceptor assay. Also, to Dr. Livingston for supplying us with cultures of the organism as well as samples of her isolates.
Selective influences of age and speed on associative memory.

Data from three studies involving a continuous paired associates task performed by adults of different ages were analyzed, in an attempt to identify how processing speed might mediate age-related differences in associative memory. Age differences were found in measures postulated to represent encoding and consolidation processes, but not in a measure presumed to reflect rate offorgetting. It is suggested that increased age is associated with a reduction in the speed ofexecuting processes concerned with establishing a stable internal representation, but not with an alteration in the rate at which encoded information is lost as a function of time or subsequent pro
Power Generation Efficiency with Extremely Large Z factor Thermoelectric Material

A recently developed generic model of a thermoelectric power generation system suggests a promising future for cost effective and scalable power generation. The model is based on co-optimizing the thermoelectric module together with the heat sink. Using this model, efficiency at maximum output power is calculated. It is shown that this approaches the Curzon-Ahlborn limit at very large Z values which is consistent with thermodynamic systems with irreversible heat engines. However, this happens only when the thermal resistances of the thermoelectric device with hot and cold heat sinks exactly match. For asymmetrical thermal resistances, the efficiency at maximum output power is different. This is consistent with the very recent results for the thermodynamic engines. Finally, we study the impact of lowering the thermal conductivity of the thermoelectric material or increasing its power factor and how these affect the performance of the thermoelectric power generation system.
Acculturation and MMPI-2 Scale Scores of Mexican American Substance Abuse Patients

No significant correlation was found between a linear acculturation score derived from the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans-II and the scale scores of the MMPI-2, for 100 Mexican American men.
Expression, Purification, and Characterization of Almond (Prunus dulcis) Allergen Pru du 4

Biochemical characterizations of food allergens are required for understanding the allergenicity of food allergens. Such studies require a relatively large amount of highly purified allergens. The level of Pru du 4 in almond is low, and its expression in a soluble form in Escherichia coli required an expression tag. An MBP tag was used to enhance its expression and solubility. Sumo was used for the first time as a peptidase recognition site. The expression tag was removed with a sumo protease, and the resulting wild-type Pru du 4 was purified chromatographically. The stability of the allergen was investigated with chemical denaturation. The Gibbs free energy of Pru du 4 folding–unfolding transition was determined to be 5.4 ± 0.7 kcal/mol.
Effect of Dopamine Agonist Medications on Blood Pressure in Early Parkinson's Disease (P06.084)

Objective: To determine how Parkinson9s medications affect autonomic function (AF) in early stage disease. Background Non-motor symptoms such as orthostatic hypotension (OH) have been increasingly recognized as factors contributing to disability in early PD. Because PD medications can confound the underlying effect of the disease on AF, a medication washout is necessary to determine the effect of medications. We previously found that heart rate (HR) response to standing was diminished in subjects taking dopamine agonists.¹ Design/Methods: 14 subjects with Hoehn & Yahr Stage II idiopathic PD on optimal drug therapy (ODT) are enrolled in an ongoing clinical trial. Blood pressure (BP) and HR are recorded daily in the seated and standing positions during week-long medication washouts occurring every 6 months for a total of 2 years. Subjects were grouped based on medication regimen: Group 1 levodopa only, Group 2 dopamine agonist monotherapy, Group 3 combination therapy. We report here the AF of subjects one year after enrollment. Results: Diastolic BP (DBP) upon standing was 10 mmHg lower on Day 8 in subjects in Group 2. DBP increased 3.40 mmHg in Group 1 and 3.29 mmHg in Group 3 on Day 8. Comparisons were only significant between Groups 2 and 3 (p=0.03). Subjects in Group 3 experienced the smallest change in DBP over the washout. Changes in systolic BP and HR were not significant. Conclusions: AF in subjects taking levodopa or combination therapy improved over the washout as expected. However, we were surprised to find that DBP in Group 2 worsened. This is most likely due to the extended half-life of dopamine agonists or may suggest that dopamine agonists have an irreversible effect on AF. Future research investigating changes in AF over a washout and the effect of deep brain stimulation on AF will provide important information regarding AF in early PD. Supported by: The clinical trial from which this case is presented is supported by Vanderbilt CTSA grant 1 UL1 RR024975 from the National Center for Research Resources, National Institutes of Health, by a research grant from Medtronic, Inc., and by gifts from private donors. Disclosure: Dr. Molinari has nothing to disclose. Dr. Phibbs has nothing to disclose. Dr. Wang has nothing to disclose. Dr. Gill has nothing to disclose. Dr. Song has nothing to disclose. Dr. Charles has received personal compensation for activities with Allergan, Inc., Ipsen, Medtronic, Inc., Merz Pharma, Pfizer Inc, and Teva Neuroscience. Dr. Charles has received research support from Allergan, Inc., Ipsen, Medtronic, Inc., and Merz Pharma.
Preliminary Study of Seed Production Techniques for New Hybrid Rice Combination Fanyou 5468

Fanyou 5468,a new indica three-line hybrid rice combination from the cross between Fanyuan A and Fuhui 5468,was developed by Rice Research Institute,Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences and was released by Meizhou city,Guangdong province in 2012.Through its parents species characteristics observation,the industrial characteristics study and seed production practices of the small area at Jiangle county,Fujian in 2010—2012,preliminarily concluded in high-yield seed production techniques.
Balloon-assisted closure of a large atrial septal defect — guaranteeing a soft landing

Transoesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) performed on a 51-year-old male complaining of breathlessness on exertion delineated a 3.5-cm atrial septal defect (ASD) with an absent anterosuperior rim and thin floppy tissue making up the other margins. The patient had hepatocellular carcinoma and was scheduled for liver surgery. In view of this comorbidity, we decided to attempt percutaneous ASD closure rather than surgical closure on cardiopulmonary bypass. Under general anaesthesia, three-dimensional (3D) TEE and balloon sizing of the defect were performed (Fig. 1A–F). 3D TEE revealed a 39 × 30 mm defect. A 34-mm sizing balloon was over-inflated, but complete “stop-flow” could not be achieved. On fluoroscopy the balloon diameter was 34–35 mm, and 36–37 mm on TEE. Given the challenging size and morphology of the defect we elected to attempt device deployment with the balloon assist technique. This involves deploying the device with its discs splayed over the inflated sizing balloon, then gently deflating the sizing balloon, allowing the device to settle down onto the aortic margin. This reduces the risk of failure to capture the aortic margin due to unfavourable angulation of the left disc during and after deployment. A 40-mm Amplatzer Septal Occluder (St. Jude Medical) was implanted via a standard 14 F TorqueVue sheath (St. Jude Medical) (Fig. 2A–F). Final TEE assessment confirmed satisfactory device position with mild residual left-to-right flow. Transthoracic echocardiography performed on the following day showed the occluder in situ with the same trivial left-to-right shunt. The patient remains well with improved cardiovascular fitness at six-month follow-up. Balloon assisted deployment of ASD devices is one method of device positioning in challenging defects, especially those associated with an absent aortic rim. Other methods are described, including use of the Hausdorf sheath shape and deployment from the right upper pulmonary vein. Certain manufacturers also claim that their device design inherently increases the likelihood of successful deployment; however, this is speculative. Balloon assist requires a second venous access, but may decrease the overall time spent manipulating equipment in the left atrium; a factor implicated in both clot formation and erosion risk.