cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cortical instability and the mechanism of mania: a neural network simulation and perceptual test.

Abstract Background: A previous neural network simulation suggested that manic states arise from excessive levels of noise that destabilize neural representations. The Necker cube stick figure provides a simple perceptual task that assesses stability of gestalt-type representations. Methods: A neural network was developed that included a simulation of the Necker cube task. Noise was added to induce maniclike jumps from one representation to another. A parallel study of Necker cube perception was conducted with 16 patients diagnosed with manic-spectrum disorder, 18 patients with schizophrenia, and 19 normal control subjects. Cognitive speed and rate of indiscriminate responses were assessed using an auditory continuous performance task. Results: During processing of the “Necker cube” stimulus, the reversal rate of the noise-destabilized “manic” network was increased by 30%. In the human subject study, the median score of Necker cube reversal rates for manic-spectrum patients was roughly twice that of normal control subjects and patients with schizophrenia. Accelerated reversal rates in the manic-spectrum group were not attributable to excessive cognitive speed or higher rates of indiscriminate responses. Conclusions: The two studies, considered together, support the hypothesis that excessive cortical noise destabilizes neural representations in manic-spectrum patients.
INCORPORATION OF C14-LABELED MALEIC HYDRAZIDE INTO THE ROOT-TIP CELLS OF ALLIUM CERNUUM, VICIA FABA, AND TRADESCANTIA PALUDOSA

Allium cernuum, Vicia faba, and Tradescantia paludosa were treated by root immersion in maleic hydrazide (1 mM/liter) labeled with C14 (C14-MH) for 1 hour to determine the location within the cell to which MH moves during various periods of time after treatment. Root tips were fixed 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, and 3 weeks after treatment. Autoradiographs of root tips squashed 24 to 72 hours after fixation showed that C14-MH was distributed throughout the nuclei and was particularly concentrated in the nucleoli. The nucleolar localization of the chemical was transitory, fixations made 3 weeks after treatment showing well labeled nuclei many of which completely lacked label in the nucleoli. The chromosomes seen in mitotic divisions of all three species had the same amount of label in euchromatic as heterochromatic areas. Since the chemical was not accumulated preferentially in heterochromatic areas, it seems likely that the reported specificity of MH for the breakage of heterochromatin can not be due to preferential heterochromatic incorporation.
Microfiltration, Ultrafiltration, and Centrifugation Separation and Sterilization Processes for Improving Milk and Cheese Quality

Abstract Separation and sterilization processes involving centrifugation, ultrafiltration, and microfiltration are reviewed as to characteristics, tentative performance, and potential advantages. These processes require one or more separating means to remove skim milk or permeate from whole milk, followed by heating the resulting creams or retentates to 120°C and then blending the fat-free material with the fat component. The blend is thereafter homogenized as required, pasteurized, cooled, and used as fluid milk or for manufacture of cheese and other dairy products. Trials on milk blends produced by separation and sterilization principles using centrifugation, ultrafiltration, or microfiltration show increased shelf-life at chill temperatures for all blends. Such whole milk retained good quality compared with quality of controls for many days, the number being influenced directly by storage at 3.3 to 8.0°C. Cheddar and Emmental cheese of high quality were produced by the separation and sterilization processes.
McCloskey's Modernism and Friedman's Methodology: A Case Study With New Evidence

By now all economists interested in methodology, and many who are not, certainly have some familiarity with Don McCloskey's "The Rhetoric of Economics." For in his Journal of Economic Literature article (1983) and book (1985) by that title McCloskey throws down the gauntlet to methodologists and practitioners alike ? daring them to stop worrying about whether economics is or is not "scientific," to resist the temptation to import standards of theory choice from outside the community of economists, and to look on economic scholarship as a literary enterprise.1 In McCloskey's ideal of a self-consciously rhetorical economics, there is no place for any rule-bound methodol? ogy. All that is required is open and honest discussion. McCloskey thinks contemporary economists are split personalities. The practicing economist buys into theories before they have been put to anything remotely resembling a crucial test ? buys in perhaps because others who "should know" have done so.2 The practicing economist also comes under the spell of compelling metaphors, and in
cDNA cloning, mapping and expression of the mouse propionyl CoA carboxylase beta (pccb), the gene for human type II propionic acidaemia.

Abstract Propionyl CoA carboxylase (PCC) is a mitochondrial, biotin-dependent enzyme involved in the catabolism of amino acids, odd-chained fatty acids and other metabolites. PCC is composed of two equal subunits, α and β, which are encoded by two separate genes at two distinct human loci. Mutations of either gene in humans results in propionic acidemia (PA). To identify the mouse cDNA for the propionyl CoA carboxylase β-subunit (pccb) , we have screened the mouse EST database using the human sequence. The murine mRNA transcript is ~2.3 kb, nearly 500 bps larger than the human ~1.8 kb transcript. A PAC genomic DNA clone from the mouse was also isolated and used to generate probes and PCR primers for mapping the pccb locus in the mouse. Both the C57Bl/6JEi and Spret/Ei alleles for regions flanking the pccb gene were sequenced to identify RFLPs. The Jackson Laboratory BSS and BSB backcross panel DNAs were then analyzed using a Dde I polymorphism placing the pccb locus on mouse chromosome 9. Northern blots of adult tissue show that the pccb gene is broadly expressed in the mouse. The ~2.3 kb transcript is most abundantly expressed in the kidney, liver, small intestine and stomach tissues.
The Teacher-Student Relationship as a Developmental Context for Children with Internalizing or Externalizing Behavior Problems.

Children with significant behavior problems are at risk for poor school adaptation and a host of deleterious school outcomes. Given the time children spend in school, there is a need to better understand the normative contexts and processes within schools that may enhance the positive adaptation of children with significant behavior problems. This study evaluated one such context, the teacher-student relationship, specifically, the degree of closeness and conflict in the relationship, between urban, American elementary schoolchildren with significant externalizing or internalizing behavior problems and their teachers. The results suggest that the qualities of the teacher-student relationship predict children's successful school adjustment. Having a relationship with a teacher characterized by warmth, trust, and low degrees of conflict was associated with positive school outcomes. Some moderation effects were noted, including differential effects for warmth on the reading achievement of children with externalizing distress, and conflict on the school adaptation of children with internalizing problems. Results are discussed in light of theory and school-based intervention and prevention efforts.
Influence of Subtherapeutic Levels of a Combination of Neomycin and Oxytetracycline on Salmonella typhimurium in Swine, Calves, and Chickens

Subtherapeutic levels of oxytetracycline plus neomycin in animal feeds did not bring about increases in the quantity, prevalence, or shedding of Salmonella typhimurium in swine, calves, or chickens. In fact, the medication generally reduced the proportion of animals carrying S. typhimurium . The medicated groups were fed rations containing oxytetracycline plus neomycin commencing 5 days prior to oral inoculation with S. typhimurium and continuing through a 28-day postinoculation period. Colonization of S. typhimurium occurred in all three animal species, as evidenced by clinical signs of infection and/or colony counts in feces. Only from swine and on only one occasion was a single resistant colony isolated. It is concluded that no evidence has been obtained which would implicate the continuous low-level feeding of oxytetracycline and neomycin for a 4-week period to a potential increased incidence of disease in animals or as a hazard to humans.
Time Out of Mind: The Lives of Bob Dylan

In this second volume of his Bob Dylan biography, Scottish journalist Ian Bell, a recipient of the George Orwell Prize, traces the life and music of Dylan from the triumph of Blood on the Tracks (1...
CYGNSS command and data subsystem and electrical power subsystem phase A and B developments

The Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS), which was selected as the Earth Venture-2 investigation by NASA's Earth Science System Pathfinder (ESSP) Program, measures the ocean surface wind field with unprecedented temporal resolution and spatial coverage, under all precipitating conditions, and over the full dynamic range of wind speeds experienced in a tropical cyclone (TC). The CYGNSS flight segment consists of 8 microsatellite-class observatories, which represent SwRI's first spacecraft bus design, installed on a Deployment Module for launch. The microsatellites (microsats) are identical in design but provide their own individual contribution to the CYGNSS science data set. Within the first year of the CYGNSS program (Phase A and B), the design has been analyzed, vetted, and reviewed which culminated in a succession of updates and design improvements. This paper will discuss relevant updates to the electrical systems of the microsat, specifically the command and data subsystem (CDS) and the electrical power subsystem (EPS). For the CDS, more detailed analysis of the communication link and maturation of the transceiver module design are presented. The link budget was reviewed by the team and verified via simulation. The transceiver module has moved to a dedicated box consisting of a radio frequency (RF) board and a digital signal processing (DSP) board. For the EPS, a detailed power analysis of the mission has led to an update in the solar array configuration. The details of the power analysis, which is performed in STK and Matlab, are presented.
Who were the Meroites? A biological investigation into the Nubian post‐hiatus group

Scholars have identified a hiatus in the archaeological record of Lower Nubia that spans approximately 1000 years. This interval may represent a desertion of Lower Nubia by its inhabitants. Evidence of occupation did not reappear in the area until the Meroitic time period. However, the identity of the returning people has been the subject of speculation. In order to determine who the Meroites of Lower Nubia were, 20 cranial non-metric traits were observed on six Nubian groups, representing five time periods. Two groups date to time periods immediately before (Kerma) and immediately after (X-Group) the Meroitic period. Three additional Nubian groups (two Christian samples from different sites and Sesebi, a contemporary sample) were utilised as outgroups to elucidate a clearer picture of the relationship among the six samples. Mahalanobis D2 with a tetrachoric matrix was employed for calculating biological distances among the groups. Principal coordinates analysis produced two clusters of Nubians, where the Meroitics clustered with other Nubian groups. Specific distance scores indicate the Meroites were biologically similar to individuals from the time periods prior to and after their arrival in Lower Nubia. The Meroites therefore appear to be a Nubian group returning to Lower Nubia after its desertion. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The BclB Glycoprotein of Bacillus anthracis Is Involved in Exosporium Integrity

Anthrax is a highly fatal disease caused by the gram-positive, endospore-forming, rod-shaped bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Spores, rather than vegetative bacterial cells, are the source of anthrax infections. Spores of B. anthracis are enclosed by a prominent loose-fitting structure called the exosporium. The exosporium is composed of a basal layer and an external hair-like nap. Filaments of the hair-like nap are made up largely of a single collagen-like glycoprotein called BclA. A second glycoprotein, BclB, has been identified in the exosporium layer. The specific location of this glycoprotein within the exosporium layer and its role in the biology of the spore are unknown. We created a mutant strain of B. anthracis DeltaSterne that carries a deletion of the bclB gene. The mutant was found to possess structural defects in the exosporium layer of the spore (visualized by electron microscopy, immunofluorescence, and flow cytometry) resulting in an exosporium that is more fragile than that of a wild-type spore and is easily lost. Immunofluorescence studies also indicated that the mutant strain produced spores with increased levels of the BclA glycoprotein accessible to the antibodies on the surface. The resistance properties of the mutant spores were unchanged from those of the wild-type spores. A bclB mutation did not affect spore germination or kinetics of spore survival within macrophages. BclB plays a key role in the formation and maintenance of the exosporium structure in B. anthracis.
Demonstration of a deficiency of β-xylosidase activity in various forms of Gaucher's disease

Abstract Gaucher's disease is a lipid storage disease caused by a deficiency in the activity of a lysosomal enzyme, glucocerebrosidase. We have recently described a patient with subacute neuropathic (type 3) Gaucher's disease whose tissues were deficient in β-xylosidase, as well as glucocerebrosidase activity (Chiao et al 21 ). In an effort to determine if a deficiency of β-xylosidase activity is a general feature of Gaucher's disease, tissues from individuals with all three clinical forms of Gaucher's disease were analyzed for β-xylosidase activity. Spleen, fibroblasts, and leukocytes were all found to be deficient in β-xylosidase activity. In addition, preliminary experiments suggest that patients with the most severe forms of disease may display the lowest levels of residual β-xylosidase activity. It has been our experience that patients with the lowest levels of residual glucocerebrosidase activity do not always display the most severe clinical manifestations of Gaucher's disease. The possibility should be entertained, therefore, that certain biochemical abnormalities in addition to the deficiency of glucocerebrosidase activity, such as a deficiency of β-xylosidase activity, might produce more severe disease in some individuals with this disease. Also, possible chemical and biochemical relationships between glucocerebrosidase and β-xylosidase should be explored.
Variations on a Theme in G

Abstract G Proteins, Receptors, and Disease Edited by Allen M. Spiegel. Totowa, Humana, 1998, $135.00 (x+324 pages), ISBN 0-896-034305
HSCT for AID: entering prime time?

How would immune reconstitution gone wrong as a consequence of treatment be detected when the patient received a transplant to treat an autoimmune disorder? The article by Daikeler et al in this issue of Blood demonstrates how complicated this question might be.[1][1] ![Figure][2] Ex vivo
Interactions between leucine and arginine transport in chicken small intestine

Abstract The apparent initial reactions of neutral and basic amino acids with the brush-border epithelium in chicken small intestine, as studied by an in vitro tissue-accumulation procedure in 5 sec experiments take place by separate, nonoverlapping processes. The previously observed one-way interaction in which neutral amino acids diminish the uptakes of basic amino acids in 5 min experiments can now be attributed to a process that is separate from the apparent initial event in transport.
Effect of flooding and temperature regime on growth and stomatal resistance ofBetula platyphylla var.japonica seedlings

Both flooding and low temperature reduced height and stem diameter growth; leaf initiation; growth of leaves, stems, and roots; and lowered root-shoot ratios of 112-dayoldBetula platyphylla var.japonica seedlings. Flooding also induced leaf scorching and abscission. Growth was reduced much more by flooding than by low temperature. Interactive effects of flooding and temperature were shown on height growth, leaf initiation and expansion, and dry weight increment of leaves, stems and roots. The amount of growth reduction by flooding and low temperature was greater when based on analysis of dry weight increment of leaves, stems, and roots, than on their relative growth rates. The greater reduction of growth by flooding than by low temperature was associated with fewer and smaller leaves, more leaf injury, more stomatal closure, and greater decay of roots in flooded plants. Flooding and low temperature appeared to reduce growth by somewhat different physiological mechanisms.
SLC Injector Modeling

The injector for the Stanford Linear Collider is being studied using the fully electromagnetic particle-in-cell program MASK. The program takes account of cylindrically symmetrical RF fields from the external source, as well as fields produced by the beam and DC magnetic fields. It calculates the radial and longitudinal motion of electrons and plots their positions in various planes in phase space. Bunching parameters can be optimized and insights into the bunching process and emittance growth have been gained. The results of the simulations are compared to the experimental results.
Challenges and opportunities in broadband and wireless communication designs

Communication designs form the fastest growing segment of the semiconductor market. Both network processors and wireless chipsets have been attracting a great deal of research attention, financial resources and design efforts. However, further progress is limited by lack of adequate system methodologies and tools. Our goal in this tutorial is to provide impetus for development of communication design techniques and tools.The first part addresses network processors (NP) that we study from three viewpoints: application, architecture, and system software and compilation tools. In addition to summary of main issues and representative case studies, we identify main system design issues. The second part of the tutorial focuses on wireless design. The main emphasis is on platform-based design methodology that leverages on functional profiling, architecture exploration, and orthogonalization of concerns to facilitate low-power wireless communication systems. The highlight of the paper, an in-depth study of the state-of-the-art wireless design, PicoRadio, is used as explanatory design example.
Development of potential acid sulfate paleosols in Paleocene floodplains, Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, USA

Abstract Floodplain paleosols in the Paleocene Fort Union Formation in the Bighorn Basin are distinguished by a dark claystone interval with yellow jarosite mottles, relatively high total organic carbon values, and woody debris and leaves along bedding planes. The paleosols also have various redoximorphic features, including low matrix chromas, grey root mottles, and local concentrations of goethite and hematite, especially associated with roots and other organic matter. Jarosite is usually an oxidation product of pyrite, which forms under waterlogged conditions when sulfate and organic matter are available. The former presence of pyrite and the redoximorphic features suggest that the Fort Union paleosols first developed as potential acid sulfate soils ( Brinkman and Pons, 1973 ). The dark claystones with jarosite are interpreted as permanently reduced or Gr horizons. The Gr horizon is overlain by mudstone that is lighter colored and lacks jarosite. This represents an ancient Bg horizon or A/Bg sequence. The jarosite indicates that the paleosols underwent a subsequent episode of oxidation and acidification. Those processes require that the soils be drained, which probably did not occur during Paleocene time and may be a recent event. Rather, the soils were probably buried as the Fort Union Formation continued to aggrade, and the waterlogged soils were pushed even farther below the groundwater table. Only with late Cenozoic excavation of strata in the basin and exposure of the Fort Union deposits, did jarosite precipitate. Pedogenic and paleobotanical features suggest that the soils formed in floodplain swamps dominated by coniferous trees. The high organic content and clay-rich nature of the Gr horizons suggest that the floodplain swamps were not close to the active channel. The bipartite nature to the profiles (Bg horizon or A/Bg sequence above a Gr horizon) probably resulted from two different kinds of floodplain deposition. Grain size trends indicate that the Gr horizons formed on sediment deposited by overbank flooding. The impermeable, fine-grained sediment and its low topographic position led to waterlogging. The overlying A/Bg or Bg horizons formed on coarser sediment that was probably deposited during channel avulsion. The greater permeability and higher topographic position of this sediment caused it to be better drained than the Gr horizon. The paleosols are unusual because they formed in a freshwater setting, whereas modern potential acid sulfate or acid sulfate soils form in coastal areas where sulfate is readily available. The source of the sulfate may have been Cretaceous marine shales, exposed along the flanks of mountains rising around the Bighorn Basin during Paleocene time. Other Upper Cretaceous and Paleocene formations in the Rocky Mountain area contain similar rocks, suggesting that sulfidic soils were relatively common in the mid-continent at this time. Most of these other examples probably reflect deposition associated with the retreating Western Interior Seaway and humid climates.
ETS rearrangements and prostate cancer initiation

The first recurrent translocation event in prostate cancer has been recently described; it results in the translocation of an ETS (E26 transformation specific) transcription factor (ERG or ETV1) to the TMPRSS2 promoter region, which contains androgen responsive elements. The TMPRSS2:ERG genetic rearrangement has been reported to occur in approximately 40% of primary prostate tumours (ETV1 genetic rearrangements occur at a much lower frequency), and it results in the aberrant androgen-regulated expression of ERG. Tomlins et al. concluded that ETS genetic rearrangements are sufficient to initiate prostate neoplasia. However, here we show that ETS genetic rearrangements may in fact represent progression events rather than initiation events in prostate tumorigenesis. To this end, we demonstrate that the prostate-specific overexpression of ERG does not initiate prostate tumorigenesis.
Enhancement of the in vivo circulation lifetime of l-α-distearoylphosphatidylcholine liposomes: importance of liposomal aggregation versus complement opsonization

Incorporation of N-(omega-carboxy)acylamido-phosphatidylethanolamines (-PEs) into large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) of L-alpha-distearoylphosphatidylcholine (DSPC) was found to dramatically increase the in vivo liposomal circulation lifetime in rats, reaching a maximal effect at 10 mol.% of the total phospholipid. Neither pure DSPC liposomes nor those with the longest circulating derivative, N-glutaryl-dipalmitoylphosphatidylethanolamine (-DPPE), were found to significantly bind complement from serum. Therefore, the relatively short circulation time of pure DSPC liposomes did not appear to be related to greater complement opsonization leading to uptake by the reticuloendothelial system. However, N-(omega-carboxy)acylamido-PEs were particularly efficient inhibitors of a limited aggregation detected for pure DSPC liposomes. The aggregation tendency of DSPC liposomes incorporating various structural analogs of N-glutaryl-DPPE correlated inversely with the circulation lifetimes. Therefore, it is concluded that such PE derivatives enhance the circulation time by preventing liposomal aggregation and avoiding a poorly understood mechanism of clearance that is dependent on size but is independent of complement opsonization. At high concentrations of N-glutaryl-DPPE (above 10 mol.%), the liposomes exhibited strong complement opsonization and were cleared from circulation rapidly, as were other highly negatively charged liposomes. These data demonstrate that both the lack of opsonization and the lack of a tendency to aggregate are required for long circulation. Liposomal disaggregation via N-(omega-carboxy)acylamido-PEs yields a new class of large unilamellar DSPC liposomes with circulation lifetimes that are comparable to those of sterically stabilized liposomes.
Procainamide Accumulation Kinetics in the Immediate Postmyocardial Infarction Period

The rate of change of plasma procainamide concentration during 36 hours of constant-rate intravenous infusion was examined in five acute myocardial infarction patients. It was observed that a steady-state plasma concentration was established in about 16 hours, which is consistent with simulations of plasma concentrations based on pharmacokinetic constants obtained from studies in young healthy volunteers. However, the steady-state level that was attained in these patients was markedly higher than that which the simulations predicted. Thus, on the average, acute myocardial infarction patients have lower total body clearances of procainamide than normal volunteers.
Mother-young relations and the maturation of pup behaviour in the Alaska fur seal

Abstract Parental attention of Alaska fur seals is minimal. The bulls ignore the pups. The cows rebuff all pups but their own. Birth is rapid and delivery usually takes less than 10 minutes. The faetal membranes are not eaten, nor is the umbilical cord bitten. The females smell but do not groom or lick their freshly delivered pups. In the first hours after giving birth, the female will retrieve her pup if it is displaced and also will carry it in her mouth away from danger or disturbance. She threatens and bites other females that disturb either her or her pup. This attentive and protective behaviour is confined exclusively to the few days between parturition and aestrus and is conspicuous only for a period of a few hours to a day post partum. Pups can locomote and vocalise within a minute of birth. Nursing may begin within a few minutes of birth. Even before the umbilical cord is broken, they scratch, shake off water, threaten, and vocalise in the manner characteristic of their species. A hungry pup will attempt to suck any female but a female will suckle no pup but her own. Since post aestrus females spend not more than one day per week ashore, the pups are unattended most of the time. When a female returns from the sea, local geography supplies the primary cue for finding her young. She comes ashore in the general area where she bore her pup (the pup remains in the same general vicinity) and gives a characteristic vocalisation. She is at once approached by the numerous hungry pups in the vicinity. She sniffs at each as it approaches and threatens all except her own, which she allows to suck. If her pup is not one of those that approaches her, she wanders through the rookery calling and sniffing pups until she finds it. Pups aggregate in structureless social groups which form on the rookery in areas of minimal disturbance. By the age of three or four weeks, they wander extensively in the rookery. Most of their time is spent sleeping, grooming, or playfighting. Copulatory play may occur in pups less than one month old. The pups can swim at birth but avoid the water for the first three or four weeks of life. They receive no parental instruction in swimming or in anything else. Fur seal pups are as advanced at birth as dog puppies at three weeks of age. Socialisation begins immediately after birth and after the age of one week is almost exclusively dependent on other pups. After the age of one week except for being suckled on about one day per week, the pups receive nothing but rebuffs and injury from the adults. They find their social ties almost exclusively with members of their own age class. This age class dependence in social contacts persists for several years, particularly in the males.
Presentation and Management of Common Post–Weight Loss Surgery Problems in the Emergency Department

Morbid obesity is an epidemic in this country. An increasing number of patients are undergoing weight loss surgery in an effort to combat the negative physical and psychological impact of morbid obesity. Fueling the increasing interest in surgical treatment of morbid obesity has been the development of new laparoscopic techniques. There are several surgical approaches to morbid obesity, and each has its own unique set of risks and potential complications. As more patients have weight loss surgery, clinicians working in the emergency department will frequently encounter complications of these procedures. To ensure timely diagnosis and optimal care, clinicians should be familiar with the standard weight loss approaches and the potential complications of these interventions.
Targeting the TGFβ signaling network in human neoplasia

Supported by R01 CA62212 (C.L.A.), Breast Cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) Grant P50 CA98131, and Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Support Grant CA68485. We apologize to those colleagues whose work is not referenced because of space considerations or our oversight.
Cyclophosphamide, DCs, and Tregs

Certain chemotherapeutics are now known to augment host immunity by acting on DCs. In this issue of Blood , Nakahara and colleagues demonstrate a unique pharmacologic activity of CTX to selectively eliminate the lymphoid tissue-resident CD8+ DC subset in mice.[1][1] Although chemotherapeutic agents
Hexokinase-Mitochondria Interaction Mediated by Akt Is Required to Inhibit Apoptosis in the Presence or Absence of Bax and Bak

The serine/threonine kinase Akt inhibits mitochondrial cytochrome c release and apoptosis induced by a variety of proapoptotic stimuli. The antiapoptotic activity of Akt is coupled, at least in part, to its effects on cellular metabolism. Here, we provide genetic evidence that Akt is required to maintain hexokinase association with mitochondria. Targeted disruption of this association impairs the ability of growth factors and Akt to inhibit cytochrome c release and apoptosis. Targeted disruption of mitochondria-hexokinase (HK) interaction or exposure to proapoptotic stimuli that promote rapid dissociation of hexokinase from mitochondria potently induce cytochrome c release and apoptosis, even in the absence of Bax and Bak. These effects are inhibited by activated Akt, but not by Bcl-2, implying that changes in outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM) permeability leading to apoptosis can occur in the absence of Bax and Bak and that Akt inhibits these changes through maintenance of hexokinase association with mitochondria.
Rational behavior with payoff uncertainty

Abstract The iterated deletion of weakly dominated strategies has been advanced as a necessary requirement for “rational” play. However, this requirement relies on the assumption that the players have no doubts about their opponents' payoffs. We show that once such doubts are introduced, all that can be justified by an appeal to rationality is one round of deletion of weakly dominated strategies, followed by iterated deletion of strategies that are strongly dominated. This extends the Fudenberg, Kreps, and Levine (J. Econ. Theory 12 (1988), 354–380) study of the robustness of Nash equilibrium refinements to the robustness of solution concepts based only on rationality. Our results also clarify the relationship between various notions of what it means for payoff uncertainty to be “small.”
Aquaporins in Saccharomyces GENETIC AND FUNCTIONAL DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN LABORATORY AND WILD-TYPE STRAINS

Aquaporin water channel proteins mediate the transport of water across cell membranes in numerous species. The Saccharomyces genome data base contains an open reading frame (here designated AQY1) that encodes a protein with strong homology to aquaporins. AQY1 from laboratory and wild-type strains of Saccharomyces were expressed in Xenopus oocytes to determine the coefficients of osmotic water permeability (Pf). Oocytes injected with wild-type AQY1 cRNAs exhibit high Pf values, whereas oocytes injected with AQY1 cRNAs from laboratory strains exhibit low Pf values and have reduced levels of Aqy1p due to two amino acid substitutions. When the AQY1 gene was deleted from a wild-type yeast and cells were cultured in vitro with cycled hypo-osmolar or hyper-osmolar stresses, the AQY1 null yeast showed significantly improved viability when compared with the parental wild-type strain. We conclude that Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains at least one aquaporin gene, but it is not functional in laboratory strains due to apparent negative selection pressures resulting from in vitro methods.
Aqueous Oral Preparations Containing Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin B12, and Ferrous Gluconate *

Ascorbic acid, vitamin B 12 , and ferrous gluconate, although mutually incompatible, may be compounded into stable, aqueous oral preparations by using commercial 70 per cent sorbitol solution as a vehicle. Data are presented showing the stabilizing effects of sorbitol in two formulations containing ascorbic acid, vitamin B 12 , and ferrous gluconate, and in a multivitamin formulation from which ferrous gluconate was excluded. Stability of these products is attributed specifically to their sorbitol vehicles.
Introducing narratology to film students‐via “Citizen Kane”

(1976). Introducing narratology to film students‐via “Citizen Kane”. Quarterly Review of Film Studies: Vol. 1, Film: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Theory and Teaching, Part Two, pp. 388-393.
Multi‐centre trial analysis revisited

Analyses of multi-centre trials must consider the effects of the individual centres and the possibility of non-constancy of treatment effect differences among centres. This usually means an ANOVA with terms for centres, treatments, and centre x treatment interactions in practice, at least in the U.S.A. Empirical and conventional Bayes methods provide attractive alternatives to conventional ANOVAs for analysing and reporting the findings from multi-centre trials and do not require more restrictive assumptions than the ANOVA approach. These approaches require regarding the centre effects as random instead of fixed, a view which often will reasonably describe outcomes of clinical trials in spite of the fact that the individual centres certainly do not comprise a random sample of all possible centres. The components of these approaches are well understood and have been employed in related applications such as meta-analysis. Combining them in a way that makes their application to routine muti-centre trial analysis relatively straightforward does not appear to have been described previously, and is what forms the topic of this paper. The empirical Bayes approach leads to useful graphical displays, including one with the data superimposed on probability contours of the joint distribution of the individual centre means and standard deviations, which provides a handy way to identify possible outliers. Covariates can be incorporated without difficulty. The Bayes approach, implemented with Gibbs sampling, provides a convenient way to construct posterior and predictive distributions for a variety of useful statistics. We compare the result of empirical and conventional Bayes analyses with the result of fixed and mixed model ANOVAs applied to data from a multi-centre trial.
Friction and Wear Properties of Chemomechanically Polished Diamond Films

The role of surface roughness on the coefficient of friction and wear of polished CVD diamond films has been investigated. Diamond films grown on single crystal silicon (001) substrates by Hot Filament Chemical Vapor Deposition (HFCVD) process were polished by a chemomechanical process in which a diamond film was polished against another diamond film in the presence of a fused alkaline oxidizer at 320 o C. Friction and wear properties of these polished films were measured at elevated temperatures and in the presence of various gaseous environments
Unifying dependent clustering and disparate clustering for non-homogeneous data

Modern data mining settings involve a combination of attribute-valued descriptors over entities as well as specified relationships between these entities. We present an approach to cluster such non-homogeneous datasets by using the relationships to impose either dependent clustering or disparate clustering constraints. Unlike prior work that views constraints as boolean criteria, we present a formulation that allows constraints to be satisfied or violated in a smooth manner. This enables us to achieve dependent clustering and disparate clustering using the same optimization framework by merely maximizing versus minimizing the objective function. We present results on both synthetic data as well as several real-world datasets.
Historical financing of small- and medium-size enterprises ☆

We focus on the economies of the North Atlantic Core during the 19th and early 20th centuries and find that an impressive variety of local financial institutions emerged to supply the needs of SMEs wherever there was sufficient demand for their services. Although these intermediaries had significant weaknesses, they were able to tap into local information networks and so extend credit to firms that were too young or small to secure funds from large regional or national institutions. In addition, by raising the return to savings for local households, they helped to mobilize significant new resources for economic development.
State and configuration feedback for almost global tracking of simple mechanical systems on a general class of Lie groups

We present a general intrinsic tracking controller design for fully-actuated simple mechanical systems, when the configuration space is one of a general class of Lie groups. We show that if a suitable error function can he found, then a general smooth and hounded reference trajectory may be tracked asymptotically from almost every initial condition, with locally exponential convergence. Such functions may be shown to exist on any compact Lie group, or on any product of a compact Lie group and R/sup n/. In the case of compact Lie groups, we show that the full-state feedback law composed with an exponentially convergent velocity estimator, also converges globally for almost every initial tracking error. We explicitly compute these controllers on SO(3), and simulate their performance for the axisymmetric top problem.
Gene length and codon usage bias in Drosophila melanogaster, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Escherichia coli

The relationship between gene length and synonymous codon usage bias was investigated in Drosophila melanogaster, Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Simulation studies indicate that the correlations observed in the three organisms are unlikely to be due to sampling errors or any potential bias in the methods used to measure codon usage bias. The correlation was significantly positive in E.coli genes, whereas negative correlations were obtained for D. melanogaster and S.cerevisiae genes. When only ribosomal protein genes were used, whose expression levels are assumed to be similar, E.coli and S.cerevisiae showed significantly positive correlations. For the two eukaryotes, the distribution of effective number of codons was different in short genes (300-500 bp) compared with longer genes; this was not observed in E.coli. Both positive and negative correlations can be explained by translational selection. Energetically costly longer genes have higher codon usage bias to maximize translational efficiency. Selection may also be acting to reduce the size of highly expressed proteins, and the effect is particularly pronounced in eukaryotes. The different relationships between codon usage bias and gene length observed in prokaryotes and eukaryotes may be the consequence of these different types of selection.
Variability in Medicare Utilization and Payment Among Urologists

Objective To analyze variability in urologists' Medicare utilization and payment and estimate potential cost savings of standardized service utilization using information from the recently released Medicare Provider Utilization and Payment Data: Physician and Other Supplier Public Use File (PUF) and to highlight potential limitations of PUF analysis. Materials and Methods The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services just released the PUF with payment or utilization data for 8792 urologists participating in Medicare in 2012. Linear regression correlated total number of patient visits with total Medicare payments to each urologist. Physicians were categorized into quartiles by actual payment in excess of predicted payment modeled by this regression. Utilization variability was calculated as a relative risk for the 40 most highly reimbursed services per patient visit, comparing the highest vs lowest quartile of urologists. Potential cost savings for those 40 services were calculated if services per visit >50% above the median were eliminated. Results Medicare reimbursement was strongly predicted by the number of patient visits (R 2 = 0.70). Utilization variability of services performed per visit had a relative risk up to 3.52. The potential cost savings was $125,199,007 (9.0% of total 2012 Medicare urologist reimbursements). Conclusion Overall Medicare payment to urologists was strongly predicted by number of patient visits. Substantial variability existed in utilization of services per patient visit. Standardized utilization may result in significant Medicare cost savings. However, future analyses accounting for variable patient characteristics are needed to accurately determine appropriate service utilization.
Frequency-domain localization of alpha rhythm in humans via a maximum entropy approach

Generators of spontaneous human brain activity such as alpha rhythm may be easier and more accurate to localize in frequency-domain than in time-domain since these generators are characterized by a specific frequency range. We carried out a frequency-domain analysis of synchronous alpha sources by generating equivalent potential maps using the Fourier transform of each channel of electro-encephalographic (EEG) recordings. SInce the alpha rhythm recorded by EEG scalp measurements is probably produced by several independent generators, a distributed source imaging approach was considered more appropriate than a model based on a single equivalent current dipole. We used an imaging approach based on a Bayesian maximum entropy technique. Reconstructed sources were superposed on corresponding anatomy form magnetic resonance imaging. Results from human studies suggest that reconstructed sources responsible for alpha rhythm are mainly located in the occipital and parieto- occipital lobes.
Collaborative knowledge discovery & marshalling for intelligence & security applications

This paper discusses the Knowledge Encapsulation Framework, a flexible, extensible evidence-marshalling environment built upon a natural language processing pipeline and exposed to users via an open-source semantic wiki. We focus our discussion on applications of the framework to intelligence and security applications, specifically, an instantiation of the KEF environment for researching illicit trafficking in nuclear materials.
Effect of Anionic Salts in Prepartum Diets Based on Alfalfa

This study compared prepartum diets based on grass, alfalfa, or alfalfa and anionic salts to investigate their effect on Ca metabolism, acid-base status, endocrine response, disease incidence, and lactational performance of periparturient dairy cows. Forty-five nonlactating Holstein cows in their last 3 wk of gestation were fed a control diet based on grass hay with a dietary cation-anion difference [expressed as milliequivalents of ((Na + K ) ‐ (Cl +S))/100 g of dietary dry matter] of +30 or diets based on alfalfa with a dietary cation-anion difference of either +35 or ‐7. Cows fed the diet with the dietary cation-anion difference of ‐7 had the lowest urine pH prepartum and had the highest concentrations of ionized Ca in blood and total Ca in serum at parturition. Increases in 1,25-(OH)2 vitamin D per unit decrease in total Ca in serum were greatest for cows fed the diet with a dietary cation-anion difference of ‐7. Also, cows fed this same diet consumed the most dry matter postpartum. Incidences of health disorders were 13% (10 of 75), 12% ( 9 of 75), and 5% ( 4 of 75) for cows fed the diets with dietary cation-anion differences of +30, +35, and ‐7, respectively. Results indicate that alfalfa, when supplemented with anionic salts, is a
Consistent Components of Behavior Change Theories

Psychological theories provide a framework through which to conceptualize the individual and their health problems. Although considerable variability exists between theories, raising awareness and ...
Association of JC Virus Large T Antigen with Myelin Basic Protein Transcription Factor (MEF-1/Purα) in Hypomyelinated Brains of Mice Transgenically Expressing T Antigen

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a fatal demyelinating disease caused by cytolytic destruction of oligodendrocytes, the myelin-producing cells of the central nervous system, by the human neurotropic JC virus (JCV). The early protein of JCV, T antigen, which is produced at the early stage of infection, is important for orchestrating the events leading to viral lytic infection and cytolytic destruction of oligodendrocytes. Results from transgenic mouse studies, however, have revealed that, in the absence of lytic infection, this protein can induce brain hypomyelination and suppression of myelin gene expression. Since expression of the gene encoding myelin basic protein, the major component of myelin, can be regulated by a DNA-binding transcription factor, MEF-1/Purα, (Purα), we have examined the level of this protein in transgenic mouse brains. Results from immunoprecipitation and Western blots showed that while there was no drastic decrease in the level of MEF-1/Purα in transgenic mouse brains, JCV T antigen was found in a complex with MEF-1/Purα. Immunohistological studies revealed abnormal oligodendrocytes in white matter, where MEF-1/Purα and T antigen were detected. Furthermore, immunogold electron microscopic studies revealed that Purα and T antigen are colocalized in the nucleus of the oligodendrocytes and in hippocampal neurons. Interestingly, results from cell culture studies revealed that incubation of oligodendrocytes with JCV led to a drastic decrease in the level of MEF-1/Purα protein. These observations provide insight into the molecular pathogenesis of PML and support a model for a dual effect of JCV on inducing hypomyelination by (i) affecting myelin gene expression via interaction of JCV T antigen and the myelin gene transcription factor, MEF-1/Purα, and (ii) causing a decline in the level of the host regulatory proteins, including MEF-1/Purα, which are involved in myelin gene expression.