cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A review of meteorite evidence for the timing of magmatism and of surface or near-surface liquid water on Mars

[1] There is widespread photogeological evidence for ubiquitous water flowing on the surface of Mars. However, the age of surface and near-surface water cannot be deduced with high precision from photogeology. While there is clear evidence for old and young fluvial features in the photogeologic record, the uncertainty in the absolute calibration of the Martian crater flux results in uncertainties of ±1.5 Gyr in the middle period of Martian geologic history. Aqueous alteration of primary igneous minerals produces secondary minerals in Martian meteorites. Here we use the ages of secondary alteration minerals in Martian meteorites to obtain absolute ages when liquid water was at or near the surface of Mars. Aqueous alteration events in Martian meteorites occurred at 3929 ± 37 Ma (carbonates in ALH84001), 633 ± 23 Ma (iddingsite in nakhlites), and 0–170 Ma (salts in shergottites). Furthermore, these events appear to be of short duration, suggesting episodic rather than continuous aqueous alteration of the meteorites. The Martian meteorites appear to be contaminated by Martian surface Pb characterized by a 207Pb/206Pb ratio near 1. Lead of this composition could be produced by water-based alteration on the Martian surface. The high 129Xe/132Xe ratio in the Martian atmosphere compared to Martian meteorites indicates fractionation of I from Xe within ∼100 Myr after nucleosynthesis of 129I. Such fractionation is difficult to achieve through magmatic processes. However, water very efficiently fractionates I from Xe, raising the intriguing possibility that Mars had a liquid water ocean within its first 100 Myr.1.
Effects of maturase binding and Mg2+ concentration on group II intron RNA folding investigated by UV cross-linking.

The Lactococcus lactis Ll.LtrB group II intron encodes a reverse transcriptase/maturase (LtrA protein) that promotes RNA splicing by stabilizing the catalytically active RNA structure. Here, we mapped 17 UV cross-links induced in both wild-type Ll.LtrB RNA and Ll.LtrB-Delta2486 RNA, which has a branch-point deletion that prevents splicing, and we used these cross-links to follow tertiary structure formation under different conditions in the presence or absence of the LtrA protein. Twelve of the cross-links are long-range, with six near known tertiary interaction sites in the active RNA structure. In a reaction medium containing 0.5 M NH(4)Cl, eight of the 17 cross-links were detected in the absence of Mg(2+) or the presence of EDTA, and all were detected at 5 mM Mg(2+), where efficient splicing requires the LtrA protein. The frequencies of all but four cross-links increased with increasing Mg(2+) concentrations, becoming maximal between 4 and 50 mM Mg(2+), where the intron is self-splicing. These findings suggest that a high Mg(2+) concentration induces self-splicing by globally stabilizing tertiary structure, including key tertiary interactions that are required for catalytic activity. Significantly, the binding of the maturase under protein-dependent splicing conditions (0.5 M NH(4)Cl and 5 mM Mg(2+)) increased the frequency of only nine cross-links, seven of which are long-range, suggesting that, in contrast to a high Mg(2+) concentration, LtrA promotes splicing by stabilizing critical tertiary structure interactions, while leaving other regions of the intron relatively flexible. This difference may contribute to the high rate of protein-dependent splicing, relative to the rate of self-splicing. The propensity of the intron RNA to form tertiary structure even at relatively low Mg(2+) concentrations raises the possibility that the maturase functions at least in part by tertiary structure capture. Finally, an abundant central wheel cross-link, present in >50% of the molecules at 5 mM Mg(2+), suggests models in which group II intron domains I and II are either coaxially stacked or aligned in parallel, bringing the 5'-splice site together with the 3'-splice site and catalytic core elements at JII/III. This and other cross-links provide new constraints for three-dimensional structural modeling of the group II intron catalytic core.
Immunological evaluation of a 12-kilodalton protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

Objective: To purify and study the seroreactivity of native and recombinant 12-kilodalton protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. Design: M. tuberculosis H37Rv cells and Escherichia coli XL-1 containing the plasmid PRL4 encoding the M. tuberculosis heat shock protein GroES homolog were used as sources for the purification of native and recombinant 12 kD of M. tuberculosis respectively. The seroreactivity of the 12 kDs was studied by ELISA using sera from 35 leprosy and 25 active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients, and from 10 normal healthy controls. Results: The 12 kD protein was purified from H37Rv extract (s12 kD) and from recombinant E. coli (r12 kD) by ultrafiltration and MonoQ fast pressure liquid chromatography (FPLC). Analysis of s12 kD and r12 kD by SDS-PAGE revealed a single protein band in both cases with an approximate molecular weight of 12 000 which was recognized by monoclonal antibody SA-12 in immunoblotting. Both the proteins exhibited a pI of ~4.6 by isoelectric focusing. Both the 12 kD proteins exhibited 96% positivity with TB sera as compared to normal control sera (P < 0.01). Only one serum sample from the 35 leprosy sera tested exhibited binding to both the s12 kD and r12 kD proteins. Delayed type hypersensitivity reaction to the 12 kD proteins was elicited in guinea pigs that had been immunized with H37Rv sonicate. Conclusion: The 12 kD protein could be easily purified and could serve as a valuable serodiagnostic tool in the screening of TB cases from a large population in an endemic area.
The Character of American Workers: Psychological Predictors of Union Interest as Tools for American Union Practitioners

To aid American union practitioners in the selection of winnable worksites in unionization elections, we identified predictors of union interest from psychological perspectives that bear on the character of American workers. Using perceived union instrumentality as a standard to determine the prediction status of new psychological predictors of union interest, a cognitive version of self-enhancement (overconfidence in rating one’s skills and abilities) was found to predict interest above and beyond perceived instrumentality in a sample of American nonunion employees (N = 452), controlling for social desirability, demographic and structural predictors, and other hypothesized predictors in a six-step hierarchical regression equation. Implications for selecting winnable election worksites and for predicting psychological aspects of union interest are discussed.
Use of amniotic fluid for determining pregnancies at risk of preterm birth and for studying diseases of potential environmental etiology

Amniotic fluid (AF) is a biological medium uniquely suited for the study of early exposure of the human fetus to environmental contaminants acquired by the mother before and during pregnancy. Traditional diagnostic applications of AF have focused almost exclusively on the diagnosis of genetic aberrations such as Trisomy-21 and on heritable diseases in high-risk pregnancies. Since more than 50 anthropogenic compounds have been detected in AF, there is considerable potential in utilizing fetal protein biomarkers as indicators of health effects related to prenatal toxic exposure. Here, we focus on preterm birth (PTB) to illustrate opportunities and limitations of using AF as a diagnostic matrix. Representing a pervasive public health challenge worldwide, PTB cannot be managed simply by improving hygiene and broadening access to healthcare. This is illustrated by 15-year increases of PTB in the U.S. from 1989 to 2004. AF is uniquely suited as a matrix for early detection of the association between fetal exposures and PTB due to its fetal origin and the fact that it is sampled from women who are at higher risk of PTB. This critical review shows the occurrence in AF of a number of xenobiotics, including endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), which are known or may reasonably be expected to shorten fetal gestation. It is not yet known whether EDCs, including bisphenol A, phytoestrogens, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), can affect the expression of proteins considered viable or potential biomarkers for the onset of PTB. As such, the diagnostic value of AF is broad and has not yet been fully explored for prenatal diagnosis of pregnancies at risk from toxic, environmental exposures and for the elucidation of mechanisms underlying important public health challenges including PTB.
Porcine Hepatic Phospholipid Efflux during Reperfusion after Cold Ischemia

Background. Cold preservation produces hepatic injury that is difficult to assess during early reperfusion. The value of reperfusion plasma choline phospholipid in predicting subsequent organ function is documented in these studies. Materials and methods. Livers of female Yorkshire pigs were prepared for transplantation. After 2 h of cold ischemia the reperfusion plasma was evaluated for choline phospholipid and cholesterol. These values were correlated with bile secretion, hepatic hemodynamics, oxygen uptake, and plasma sorbitol dehydrogenase levels. Results. The isolated porcine liver demonstrates a rapid efflux of choline phospholipids into plasma during early reperfusion after cold preservation. After this initial efflux no subsequent plasma increment occurred. These choline–phospholipid increments were isolated in plasma higher density (d > 1.063) lipoproteins and were not accompanied by equivalent increases in cholesterol. Neither biliary reflux nor lecithin cholesterol acyl transferase abnormalities contributed appreciably to the phospholipid increments in reperfusion plasma. Livers with the largest efflux of choline phospholipids had the most impaired circulatory and bile secretory function at 4 h of reperfusion. Conclusion. The immediate increase of choline phospholipids, particularly lysophosphatidylcholine, in reperfusion plasma after cold ischemia provides an index of the injury occurring during this interval and correlates with early organ function.
Computational confirmation of C5N2 observed in rare-gas matrices

Abstract The structures and vibrations of several linear centrosymmetrical isomers of C 5 N 2 were investigated by DFT. Triplet ( 3 Σ − g ) and open-shell singlet ( 1 Σ − g ) states of NCCCCCN were found to have the lowest energies. The calculated frequencies and isotope shifts are in excellent agreement with the experimental results of prominent vibrational bands observed in rare-gas matrices [Chem. Phys. 184 (1994) 233], thus confirming the conclusion that linear centrosymmetrical NCCCCCN was generated in rare-gas matrices. However, the calculated results are not in reasonable agreement with the observed frequencies of weaker bands, suggesting these weaker bands originate from something else.
A measure of connectivity in the presence of crosstalk

Coherence is a widely used measure to investigate interaction between electrophysiological signals obtained from EEG or MEG. However spurious coherence between locations can be introduced through cross-talk or linear mixing between signals that occurs as a result of diffuse lead-field sensitivity (in sensor data) or limited spatial resolution (in cortical current density maps). Measures including the imaginary part of the coherence (IC), phase lag index (PLI) and Lagged coherence (LC) have all been proposed to overcome this problem. Each of these metrics use the fact that cross-talk will produce instantaneous or zero phase-lag interactions between signals. By constructing measures such as these, all of which have zero value in the case of instantaneous mixing only, we can reduce sensitivity to cross-talk. However, none of these measures considers the effect of interference from external sources. In this paper we first investigate the relative performance of IC, PLI and LC. We then propose and evaluate a novel measure, partial lagged coherence (PLC), which is more robust to cross-talk in the presence of interfering signals.
Molecular view of water dynamics near model peptides.

Incoherent quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) has been used to measure the dynamics of water molecules in solutions of a model protein backbone, N-acetyl-glycine-methylamide (NAGMA), as a function of concentration, for comparison with results for water dynamics in aqueous solutions of the N-acetyl-leucine-methylamide (NALMA) hydrophobic peptide at comparable concentrations. From the analysis of the elastic incoherent structure factor, we find significant fractions of elastic intensity at high and low concentrations for both solutes, which corresponds to a greater population of protons with rotational time scales outside the experimental resolution (>13 ps). The higher-concentration solutions show a component of the elastic fraction that we propose is due to water motions that are strongly coupled to the solute motions, while for lowconcentration solutions an additional component is activated due to dynamic coupling between inner and outer hydration layers. An important difference between the solute types at the highest concentration studied is found from stretched exponential fits to their experimental intermediate scattering functions, showing more pronounced anomalous diffusion signatures for NALMA, including a smaller stretched exponent β and a longer structural relaxation time τ than those found for NAGMA. The more normal water diffusion exhibited near the hydrophilic NAGMA provides experimental support for an explanation of the origin of the anomalous diffusion behavior of NALMA as arising from frustrated interactions between water molecules when a chemical interface is formed upon addition of a hydrophobic side chain, inducing spatial heterogeneity in the hydration dynamics in the two types of regions of the NALMA peptide. We place our QENS measurements on model biological solutes in the context of other spectroscopic techniques and provide both confirming as well as complementary dynamic information that attempts to give a unifying molecular view of hydration dynamics signatures near peptides and proteins.
Evaluation of 'east-to-west' ether-forming strategies for the total synthesis of maoecrystal V.

Model systems that evaluated different approaches to construct the central ether ring of maoecrystal V are described. Our first model systems attempted the ether formation using C–H functionalization reactions, which led to interesting rearrangements but none of the desired ether product. An intramolecular conjugate addition strategy was then explored that successfully formed the targeted C–O bond but resulted in the undesired stereochemistry.
Decision Making in an Emergency: When Information is not Enough

An emergency, whether in a nuclear power plant, a stock brokerage house, or a battlefield, requires rapid and appropriate decision making. Making a decision under the stress and confusion of a rapidly changing environment requires the availability of information. Before an emergency, sophisticated systems ensure that decision makers have as much information as possible. After an emergency, these same decision makers often complain that they did not have the information they needed to make good decisions. Analysis of simulated and actual emergencies suggests that adequate information is frequently available to the decision maker. The perception of a need for more and better information must be based on something other than the information itself. Our analysis of several such systems suggest that the inherent characteristics of modern, sophisticated information and communications systems may degrade decision making effectiveness during an emergency in three ways: (1) through decreasing the confidence decisi...
Primary culture of normal rat adrenocortical cells. II. Quantitation of steroid dehydrogenase stain.

A simple, rapid procedure for the quantitation of the histochemical stain for Δ5-3β-dehydrogenase (3β-HSD) in cultured cells is described. Adrenocortical cells were stained for 3β-HSD and then solubilized with 0.5N NaOH. The absorbance of the solubilized cell solution was measured at 570 nm and a linear relationship was obtained between the number of cells and the intensity of the absorption. It is shown that the regulation of 3β-HSD activity in primary cultures of normal rat adrenocortical cells can be monitored by the quantitative histochemical assay. The results show a good correlation with the data obtained by a biochemical assay for the enzyme.
Circulation dynamics and salt balance in a lagoonal estuary

[1] Albemarle-Pamlico Sound (APS) is a shallow lagoonal estuary connected to the Atlantic Ocean through narrow inlets. The circulation dynamics and salt balance in this estuary are investigated using a numerical model. Although the vertical stratification is weak, the mean flow features a two-layer gravitational circulation with speeds reaching several centimeters per second. Analysis of the momentum budget shows a primary balance among the barotropic pressure gradient as a result of sea level slope, the baroclinic pressure gradient due to horizontal salinity gradients, and stress divergence. The salt budget for APS is determined by the balance between river flow and salt exchange through the inlets. At the inlets, the salt flux resulting from estuarine shear flow is much weaker than that due to tidal pumping and subtidal barotropic transport. Tidal pumping produces a net influx of salt into APS: Strong flood currents push oceanic water into the estuary through a propagating density front, whereas ebb currents advect lighter estuarine water over denser bottom water. The salt flux due to the subtidal barotropic transport across the inlets shows large temporal fluctuations associated with wind events. This transport can be either a source or sink of salt to APS and correlates well with the sea level difference across each inlet. Higher–sea level on the shelf leads to an intrusion of oceanic water into APS whereas higher–sea level inside APS leads to a withdrawal of estuarine water to the shelf.
X-Ray Contributions to the Problem of Polymerization

Abstract It may be readily admitted that x-ray studies of the problem of polymerization are only in their beginning. Some complexities—as, for example, small unit cell dimensions— have been added, but in general a real contribution has already been made as a basis for further advances, which will come as knowledge of interpretation increases and as experimental technic improves.
Who succeeds in STEM studies? An analysis of Binghamton University undergraduate students

Abstract Using student level data, the characteristics of STEM and Non-STEM students are examined for attributes associated with academic success. We use fixed effects models to analyze the variables’ role in attaining graduation and college GPA and find preparation and ability, as evidenced by Advanced Placement course work, mathematical ability, gender, ethnicity, high school GPA and college experience are all statistically significant indicators of success. These attributes may confer a comparative advantage to STEM students. The engineers have statistically significant differing response elasticities than the non-engineers, and show evidence of persistence that may arise from learning-by-doing. A successful engineering STEM major at Binghamton has good mathematics preparation, and disproportionately is of Asian ethnicity. Women are few in numbers as engineers. Other STEM fields see less emphasis on mathematics preparation, but more emphasis on the presence of AP course work. Women have the same presence in these other STEM fields as in the whole university.
RENAL MEDULLARY CARCINOMA AND ABL GENE AMPLIFICATION

ABSTRACT Purpose: We characterized the clinical course of renal medullary carcinoma (RMC) and performed an expanded analysis of BCR-ABL . Materials and Methods: The literature was searched for all reports of RMC. New cases at Northwestern University are described and relevant clinical information was abstracted. BCR and ABL genes, and ABL protein were evaluated by fluorescence in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical analysis, respectively. Results: A total of 95 cases were identified. Mean age at diagnosis was 19 years, the male-to-female ratio was 1.9:1.0, 90% of all patients were black, 98% had an abnormality in a least 1 hemoglobin gene (ie sickle cell trait, SC disease or sickle cell disease) and mean survival was 19 weeks. Two patients (3%) without metastasis were long-term survivors. The response to chemotherapy was poor. One patient treated with thalidomide survived for 52 weeks. The ABL gene was amplified a mean ± SEM of 1.9 ± 0.1-fold in all 3 cases evaluated, while ABL protein was increased in 2 of 3 evaluated. No evidence of BCR-ABL translocation was detected. Conclusions: RMC is typically seen in young individuals with the sickle cell trait. It is diagnosed when metastatic, is not responsive to systemic therapy and rapidly causes death. Because cure appears possible with early diagnosis, increased awareness of the disease could make an impact. The use of thalidomide or newer anti-angiogenesis agents should be considered for advanced disease. The role of ABL amplification with respect to etiology and as a therapeutic target should be investigated further.
Improving probabilistic ensemble forecasts of convection through the application of QPF-POP relationships

Four new approaches of postprocessing quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPFs) from model ensemble output were used to generate probability of precipitation (POP) tables in order to develop a forecasting method that could outperform a traditional method that relies upon calibration of POP forecasts derived using equal weighting of ensemble members. Early warm season 10-member ensemble output from the NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed Spring Experiments was used, with 29 cases serving as a training set to create the POP tables and 20 cases used as a test set. The new approaches use QPF‐POP relationships based on two properties termed precipitation amount characteristic (PAC) and ensemble member agreement. Exploratory results are presented for 20-km grid spacing and selectively for 4-km grid spacing. In the first approach, POPs were based on a binned PAC and the number of ensemble members with 6-h precipitation accumulations greater than given thresholds. In a second approach, a neighborhood method was used to find the number of points in a given neighborhood area around each of the domain grid points with precipitation amounts greater than a given threshold, while also considering the binned PAC representative of the neighborhood. A third approach synthesized the previous methods and led to an increase in skill relative to the individual methods, and a fourth approach using a combination of methods produced forecasts with even greater skill. All of the forecasts from the four approaches were improved statistically significantly compared tothecalibratedtraditionalmethod’sforecastsat20-kmgridspacing.Thesecondapproachonitsownshowed skill comparable to that obtained by a traditional calibrated 10-member ensemble, so adopting this approach alone could potentially save computer resources that could then be used for model refinements, only sacrificing the increased skill that could have been obtained by using the fourth approach.
Energy Transfer from Luminescent Porous Silicon to Adsorbed Osmium(II) and Ruthenium(II) Polypyridyl Complexes

Surface adsorption of transition-metal polypyridyl complexes on highly luminescent, anodized porous silicon (p-Si) wafers leads to dramatic quenching of the emission. Facile energy transfer occurs from the surface to adsorbed complexes of RuII and OsII. Photoluminescence (PL) from underivatized p-Si is excitation- and monitoring-wavelength-dependent. A phenomenological model is proposed to explain these observations in which intercluster energy transfer occurs by an energy-transfer cascade, and there is weak kinetic coupling to even lower-energy surface emitters. Adsorption of [Zn(dmb)3](PF6)2 (dmb is 4,4‘-dimethyl-2,2‘-bipyridine) or fac-[Re(bpy)(CO)3(4-Etpy)](PF6)2 (bpy is 2,2‘-bipyridine; 4-Etpy is 4-ethylpyridine), possibly by ion-exchange, results in quenching of the low-energy surface emitters. For adsorbed [MII(bpy)2(4-CO2H-4‘Mebpy)](PF6)2 (M = Ru, Os; 4-CO2H-4‘Mebpy is 4-carboxylic acid-4‘-methyl-2,2‘-bipyridine), p-Si* → MII energy transfer occurs to low-lying metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLC...
Toxoplasma gondii‐Vertebrate Cell Interactions. II. The Intracellular Reproductive Phase

The reproduction of Toxoplasma gondii RH-strain in vertebrate cells was studied in a controlled-environment culture system. The lag period before reproduction and the doubling time of individual parasites were determined using a least-squares linear regression method of analysis which does not artificially constrain the data. In the majority of cases, the time intercept of the linear regression line was either zero, implying the lack of a lag phase before reproduction, or negative, implying the parasite had completed part of its reproductive cycle before entering the host cell. The mean doubling time of T. gondii is 10.9 h in bovine embryo skeletal muscle cells and 8.3 h in HeLa cells. This difference is not significant at the 5% level. The population doubling times of mouse-derived parasites is best described by a gamma distribution.
Design And Applications Of Multiple Hologram Systems

An important application of holographic optical elements (HOE) is coordinate transformations (or mappings) to put data into a format that can be operated on by an optical processor. In optical coordinate transformation, a specific one-to-one mapping of pixel locations in the input plane to pixel locations in the output plane is produced. For some desired transformations, the data redistribution cannot be realized with a single continuous-phase hologram, and in these cases a multiple hologram system must be considered. The processing of spotlight synthetic aperture radar (SSAR) data is used as a sample application to illustrate the concept. The design and fabrication of the holograms for SSAR data processing is discussed and experimental results are given.
Biologically-inspired image-based sensor fusion approach to compensate gyro sensor drift in mobile robot systems that balance

Current approaches to determine the orientation and maintain balance of mobile robots typically rely on gyro and tilt sensor data. This paper presents an image-based sensor fusion approach using sensed data from a MEMS gyro and a digital image processing system. The approach relies on the statistical property of man-made or cultural environments to exhibit predominately more horizontal and vertical edges than oblique edges. The gyro data and statistical image data is Kalman filtered to estimate the roll angle. The system was tested both indoors and outdoors at the University of Arizona campus, and it demonstrated continuous roll angle drift correction, without prior knowledge of or training on the environment. The algorithm was then implemented in a biped walking robot to demonstrate the real-time, end-to-end proof of concept.
Transfer function of a controlled-current inverter with purely inductive load

A controlled-current inverter can be regarded as an amplifier of an ac current signal: the direct current input is proportional to the magnitude of the desired ac output and the thyristor gating signals correspond to the desired frequency and phase of the output. The actual output is attenuated and phase-shifted by amounts that depend on the frequency; the inverter has a transfer function that can be plotted as a Bode diagram. Such a transfer function is developed for the simplified special case of a purely inductive load. Below a certain frequency, the gain is almost constant, but the phase shift varies from 0 to 180°. Above that frequency, the gain drops rapidly, but there is no further phase shift.
Distribution of the ten known laminin chains in the pathways and targets of developing sensory axons.

Laminins are heterotrimers of alpha, beta, and gamma chains. At present, five alpha, three beta, and two gamma chains have been described. The best characterized laminin (laminin 1 = alpha 1, beta 1, gamma 1) promotes neurite outgrowth from virtually all classes of developing neurons, implying that laminins may serve as axon guidance molecules in vivo. Moreover, different laminin trimers exert distinct effects on subsets of laminin-1-responsive cells, suggesting that isoform diversity may underlie some axonal choices in vivo. As a first step toward evaluating these hypotheses, we have documented the expression patterns of all 10-known laminin chains in the peripheral nervous system and spinal cord of the murine embryo. The alpha 2, alpha 4, beta 1, and gamma 1 chains are expressed in peripheral axonal pathways by embryonic day (E) 11.5, when sensory and motor axonal outgrowth is underway. Thus, laminins (but not laminin 1) may promote peripheral axonal outgrowth. By E 13.5, laminin chains are differentially expressed in the limb-bud, with prominent expression of alpha 2 and alpha 4 in muscle and of alpha 3 and alpha 5 in skin. This pattern raises the possibility that laminin isoform diversity contributes to the ability of cutaneous and muscle sensory axons to distinguish their targets. Later in development, some chains (e.g., alpha 2, alpha 4, and beta 1) are downregulated in peripheral nerve while others (e.g., gamma 1), continue to be expressed by Schwann cells into adulthood. In contrast to peripheral nerves and ganglia, laminin chains are expressed at low levels, if at all, in the developing spinal cord gray matter.
Development and Civil Society in Latin America and Asia

Market reforms began in parts of Asia after World War II and led to macroeconomic policies and governance that brought rapid and fairly evenly shared growth, with an emphasis on promoting capable civil services, community involvement, and good basic education and health. For historical and cultural reasons, reforms began decades later in most of Latin America. To bypass ossified bureaucracies, operating under largely democratic governments with elements of civil societies, Latin American reforms were under strongmen, or caudillos, who undertook macroeconomic reforms due to conviction or expediency or both. The leaders used teams of technocrats who operated alongside and above preexisting bureaucracies. Reforms began first and went furthest in Chile. After case studies of Chile, Argentina, Peru, Mexico, and Venezuela, the author concludes that Latin American reforms will not really serve their people or be secure until, like the Asian reforms, they stress competent and honest governance, shared growth, and...
Methionine oxidation of monomeric λ repressor: The denatured state ensemble under nondenaturing conditions

Although poorly understood, the properties of the denatured state ensemble are critical to the thermodynamics and the kinetics of protein folding. The most relevant conformations to cellular protein folding are the ones populated under physiological conditions. To avoid the problem of low expression that is seen with unstable variants, we used methionine oxidation to destabilize monomeric λ repressor and predominantly populate the denatured state under nondenaturing buffer conditions. The denatured ensemble populated under these conditions comprises conformations that are compact. Analytical ultracentrifugation sedimentation velocity experiments indicate a small increase in Stokes radius over that of the native state. A significant degree of α-helical structure in these conformations is detected by far-UV circular dichroism, and some tertiary interactions are suggested by near-UV circular dichroism. The characteristics of the denatured state populated by methionine oxidation in nondenaturing buffer are very different from those found in chemical denaturant.
Half-a-dozen ribs: The breakpoint for mortality

Background We hypothesized that the number of rib fractures independently impacted patient pulmonary morbidity and mortality. Methods The National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB, v. 3.0 American College of Surgeons, Chicago, IL) was queried for patients sustaining 1 or more rib fractures. Data abstracted included the number of rib fractures by International Classification of Diseases-9 code, Injury Severity Score, the occurrence of pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, pulmonary embolus, pneumothorax, aspiration pneumonia, empyema, and associated injuries by abbreviated injury score, the need for mechanical ventilation, number of ventilator days, intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay (LOS), hospital LOS, mortality, and use of epidural analgesia. Statistical analysis was performed using the Student t test and linear regression analysis. Statistical significance was defined as a P value of less than .05. Results The NTDB included 731,823 patients. Of these, 64,750 (9%) had a diagnosis of 1 or more fractured ribs. Thirteen percent (n = 8,473) of those with rib fractures developed 13,086 complications, of which 6,292 (48%) were related to a chest-wall injury. Mechanical ventilation was required in 60% of patients for an average of 13 days. Hospital LOS averaged 7 days and ICU LOS averaged 4 days. The overall mortality rate for patients with rib fractures was 10%. The mortality rate increased (P Conclusions Increasing the number of rib fractures correlated directly with increasing pulmonary morbidity and mortality. Patients sustaining fractures of 6 or more ribs are at significant risk for death from causes unrelated to the rib fractures. Epidural analgesia was associated with a reduction in mortality for all patients sustaining rib fractures, particularly those with more than 4 fractures, but this modality of treatment appears to be underused.
Chemical changes in the cortical tissue and cell walls of calcium-infiltrated ‘Golden Delicious’ apples during storage

Abstract ‘Golden Delicious’ apples (Malus×domestica Borkh.) were either untreated or pressure-infiltrated after harvest with 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4% CaCl2 solutions (w/v) and stored at 0 °C for up to 6 months. The chemical composition of the fruit cortical tissue and cell walls of the 2–4 mm layer under the epidermis was studied. Storage of untreated fruit resulted in a decrease in K, P, Mg, S and Suc content of the tissue, while Fru and Glc increased. In the cell wall, Ca, Mg and total polysaccharide content increased while S, P, total neutral sugar and protein content decreased. During storage, fruit infiltrated with 0% CaCl2 showed a decrease in total polysaccharide and uronic acid content while neutral sugar content increased. After 6 months, the 0% treated fruit had higher levels of total P, Na and S compared to the untreated fruit. These changes in the cell wall of both untreated and 0% treated fruit resulted in an overall decrease in cell wall content of the apple tissue during storage. Analyses of Ca-infiltrated tissue and cell wall characteristics showed an interaction between CaCl2 treatment and time in storage for total and cell wall-bound minerals, total neutral sugar (Glc, Ara, Gal and Rha), protein and cell wall content. CaCl2 infiltration resulted in an increase in both total and cell wall-bound Ca of the apple tissue during storage, with a maximum reached at 2% CaCl2 for fruit stored 4 or 6 months. Ca-infiltrated fruit had higher levels of total K and Na, cell wall-bound Mg, and reduced loss of Ara and Gal after 6 months storage compared to fruit treated with 0% CaCl2, resulting in reduced cell wall degradation of 2% CaCl2 treated fruit during storage. The major changes in the tissue and cell walls occurred after 6 months storage, indicating that this stage was critical for quality maintenance.
Imaging with THz pulses

A real-time imaging system based on terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy has been demonstrated. This technique offers a range of unique imaging modalities due to the broad bandwidth, sub-picosecond duration, and phase-sensitive detection of the THz pulses. This paper provides an introduction of the state-of-the art in THz imaging. It also focuses on expanding the potential of this new and exciting field through two major efforts. The first concentrates on improving the experimental sensitivity of the system. We are exploring an interferometric arrangement to provide a background-free reflection imaging geometry. The second applies novel digital signal processing algorithms to extract useful information from the THz pulses. The possibility exists to combine spectroscopic characterization and/or identification with pixel-by-pixel imaging.
Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone: Effects on the In Vitro Perfused Rabbit Ovary

Conadotropin-releasing hormone (CnRH) has been shown to inhibit ovulation in gonadotropinprimed hypophysectomized rats and steroid production in cultured rat granulosa cells. To determine if similar effects of GnRH can be observed in another species, the extracorporeal perfused rabbit ovary was utilized. Two groups of rabbit ovaries were exposed to CnRH in a pulsatile fashion at two dose levels (Group I, 2.56 X i0� M; Group II, 2.56 X 10’ M). Contralateral ovaries were not perfused with GnRH. Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) was added to the perfusate of all ovaries 30 mm after the onset of perfusion. Ovulation occurred in all ovaries exposed to hCG in the presence or absence of GnRH. Ovulatory efficiency was similar in both the experimental and control groups. No statistical difference could be determined in the time of ovulation, stage of maturity of oocytes, or percent of degeneration of ovulated or follicular oocytes. Progesterone production was not inhibited in the GnRH-treated ovaries. In contrast to observations in the rat, GnRH does not exhibit a direct inhibitory effect on ovulation or steroid production in the rabbit.
Standard Verilog-VHDL interoperability

During the last few years HDLs have become the driver behind the move to top down design in the electronic design industry. Two HDLs, VHDL and Verilog HDL have become the dominant de facto industry standard HDLs. Since the industry has made a huge investment in both HDLs and there is every indication that each will retain significant market share for the foreseeable future, it is critical that there exist a standard methodology for interoperability between the two languages. This paper describes the relevant issues for interoperability and suggests solutions where they currently exist. It further summarizes the work which needs to be done for a complete solution and the groups who are involved in achieving this goal. The emphasis in this paper is on simulation since the semantics of the two languages are specified only for that discipline. While the importance of other disciplines such as logic synthesis cannot be underestimated in the top down design process, the lack of standard language semantics makes general analysis problematic. >
Acculturation, social support and academic achievement of Mexican and Mexican American high school students: An exploratory study

Concerns about the high dropout rate among Mexican American high school students has led researchers and educators to determine which variables affect academic success. The study investigated two factors associated with academic achievement: acculturation and social support. The sample consisted of 60 ninth-grade students of Mexican decent in a southwestern school district. Results indicated that students identified as highly integrated and strongly Anglo-oriented bicultural tended to have higher academic achievement. In addition, the sample as a whole perceived social support from all four sources. Although no generational effects were identified, females tended to have higher GPAs, and perceive more social support, while the males, interestingly, were slightly more acculturated. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Case Studies in High Throughput Computing (HTC) using Condor for Physics-Based Remote Sensing Algorithm Development and Application

The use of physics-based numerical models has been an emerging paradigm in the analysis of remote sensing data and the development of exploitation algorithms. Understanding the key parameters that affect the complex imaging chain to exploit a scene and associated phenomenology is facilitated by these numerical models. As computing power to perform these calculations improve, the application of algorithms become operationally viable. This gain, however, is offset by the need to address complex scenarios through higher fidelity modeling. This involves computing additional model factors at many more levels. While the iterative process of executing these computations is conceptually simple, the implementation to make them operational requires special methods. Unfortunately, the mechanics and infrastructure to the solution of realizing these large number of calculations are often glossed over in the remote sensing literature. This leaves investigators without the technical details to address these class of problems. We present our experiences in addressing these types of problems through the use of the Condor High Throughput Computing (HTC) system. We present several remote sensing research case studies conducted by the Digital Imaging and Remote Sensing Laboratory at RIT over the past decade and highlight the computational gains realized by these HTC frameworks.
Cortisol: Circadian Rhythm and Response to a Stressor

Abstract Cortisol is the primary hormone of the limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system. Cortisol is essential to maintain homeostasis. Review and research literature obtained from databases (psychology, medicine, and nursing) and reference lists are the basis for this review. This paper includes a narrative review of the circadian rhythm of cortisol and the cortisol response to a stressor in newborns and infants. Moreover, this paper includes a review of research in which cortisol was an indicator of clinical intervention efficacy. Finally, implications for nursing research are discussed.
High-reliability topological architectures for networks under stress

In this paper, we consider the design of a physical network topology that meets a high level of reliability using unreliable network elements. We are motivated by the use of networks and, in particular, all-optical networks, for high-reliability applications which involve unusual and catastrophic stresses. Our network model is one in which nodes are invulnerable and links are subject to failure - a good approximation for optical networks with passive nodes and vulnerable fiber under stress of disconnection - and we focus on statistically independent link failures with initial steps taken toward generalization to dependent link failures. Our reliability metrics are the all-terminal connectedness measure and the less commonly considered two-terminal connectedness measure. We compare in the low and high stress regimes, via analytical approximations and simulations, common commercial architectures designed for all-terminal reliability when links are very reliable with alternative architectures which are mindful of both of our reliability metrics and regimes of stress. We derive new results especially for one of these alternative architectures, Harary graphs, which have been shown to possess attractive reliability properties. Furthermore, we show that for independent link failures network design should be optimized with respect to reliability under high stress, as reliability under low stress is less sensitive to graph structure; and that under high stress, very high node degrees and small network diameters are required to achieve moderate reliability performance. Finally, in our discussion of correlated failure models, we show the danger in relying on an independent failure model and the need for the network architect to minimize component failure dependencies.
Cache optimization for mobile devices running multimedia applications

The popularity of mobile/wireless embedded systems running multimedia applications is growing. MPEG4 is an important and demanding multimedia application. With improved CPU, memory subsystem deficiency is the major barrier to improving the system performance. Studies show that there is sufficient reuse of values for caching to significantly reduce the raw required memory bandwidth for video data. Decoding MPEG4 video data in software generates many times more cache-memory traffic than required. Proper understanding of the decoding algorithm and the composition of its data set is obvious to improve the performance of such a system. The focus of this paper is to enhance MPEG4 decoding performance through cache optimization of a mobile device. The architecture we simulate includes a digital signal processor (DSP) to run the decoding algorithm and a two-level cache system. Level-1 cache is split into data (D1) and instruction (I1) caches and level-2 (CL2) is a unified cache. We use Cachegrind and VisualSim simulation tools to optimize cache size, line size, associativity, and levels of caches for a wireless device decoding MPEG4 video.
Flowfield calculations past an entry probe with ablated nose shape

The effects of ablated nose shapes on the flowfield solutions are studied, using a time-dependent finite-difference method developed by Kumar, et al. (1979). Solutions are obtained for the laminar flow of a radiating mixture of H-He in chemical equilibrium past a blunt axisymmetric body at zero angle of attack. The freestream conditions correspond to a point on a typical Jovian entry trajectory, and the initial probe shape is a 45-deg half-angle spherically blunted cone. It is found that as nose bluntness increases, the following occur: in the nose region, shock standoff distances and radiative heating rates increase substantially; surface pressure level increases, but convective heating rates decrease.
Out FoxO'd by microRNA. Focus on “miR-182 attenuates atrophy-related gene expression by targeting FoxO3 in skeletal muscle”

over the past few years, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have emerged as important regulators of gene expression ([2][1]). A family of small ncRNAs, known as microRNAs (miRNAs), have been shown to have a role in a wide range of developmental and cellular processes as well as certain pathologies such as
A 4.6–5.35GHz transceiver with 38dB on-chip self-interference cancelation at 10kHz offset frequency

A 4.6–5.35GHz transceiver with active self-interference cancelation is reported. The active cancelation circuit cancels up to 38dB of TX leakage at 10kHz offset from the RX signal. It increases the interference P1dB from −25dBm to −8dBm, and RX gain by 15dB. When the transceiver is utilized in a magnetic resonance spectroscopy system, the SNR improves by 15dB. Furthermore, in addition to the traditional method of B 0 -sweep, for the first time, the method of frequency-sweep is demonstrated.
Cytotoxicity of lymphocytes in experimental alcoholic liver injury in the baboon.

SummaryTo study the role of immuno-logic reactions in the development of alcoholic liver disease, cytotoxic activity of lymphocytes against autologous liver grown in tissue culture was investigated. The experimental model was that of ethanol-fed baboons which develop the entire spectrum of alcoholic liver disease. Liver tissue was obtained at laparatomy in 12 animals given alcohol for 16-38 months and in 12 pair-fed controls. Lymphocytes of all alcohol-treated animals (but not of the controls) exhibited cytotoxicity against autochthonous liver cells: there was a marked decrease in the number of surviving cells and a significant reduction in their [3H]proline label.We thank C. Pereira and L. M. DeCarli for their expert assistance.
New Species of Aphilanthops from Western North America (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae)

Distinguishing characters are given for the three subgenera, Aphilanthops, Clypeadon, and Listropygia . New species are: A. (L.) bechteli , California; A. (C.) haigi , Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas; A. (C.) dreisbachi , Oklahoma, Texas, and Mexico; A. (C.) sculleni , Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Chihuahua; and A. (C.) californica , California.