cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The incorporation of 5-iodo-5'-amino-2',5-dideoxyuridine and 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine into herpes simplex virus DNA. Relationship between antiviral activity and effects on DNA structure.

Abstract Isopycnic centrifugation in CsCl gradients was used to quantify the incorporation of 5-iodo-5′-amino-2′,5′-dideoxyuridine and 5-iodo-2′-deoxyuridine into herpes simplex virus type 1 DNA. A parallelism between the degree of incorporation into viral DNA and the inhibition of herpes simplex virus type I replication was found for both thymidine analogs. A concentration of 5-iodo-5′-amino-2′,5′-dideoxyuridine approximately 100 times greater than 5-iodo-2′-deoxyuridine was required to achieve similar levels of antiviral activity. However, the inhibitory effects of these compounds are similar when compared with respect to the percent of substitution for thymidine in herpes simplex virus type I DNA. Damage to the viral DNA, as indicated by the presence of single or double-stranded breaks, was assessed by centrifugation in alkaline and neutral sucrose gradients. The incorporation of 5-iodo-5′-amino-2′,5′-dideoxyuridine into herpes simplex virus type I DNA produced single and, to a lesser extent, double-stranded breaks in a dose-dependent manner. 5-Iodo-2′-deoxyuridine did not, however, induce DNA breakage. These data indicate that the additional presence of a phosphoramidate bond in the DNA produced the extensive damage detected under these conditions, but that such damage is not required for antiviral activity.
The female animal: medical and biological views of woman and her role in nineteenth-century America.

Social characteristics that were considered ideal for the Victorian woman--morality domesticity and passivity--were assumed to be rooted in biology. The economic and social forces which began to change social roles in 19th-century Europe and America led women to demand more education and to practice fertility control against their previous traditional role. Men within the power structure used biological and medical arguments to rationalize traditional sex roles and oppose these deviations. This is a review of the literature which reflects the imprisoning of women in their biological entities and envisions motherhood as the normal destiny of all women. It was feared that women who lived beyond their normal biologically-based roles would produce inferior offspring. The so-called weakness of American women as compared to their European counterparts was seen to be the result of too much education for girls during puberty and adolescence. Women were eager to begin practicing fertility control in earnest because of the dangers of childbirth the drudgery which too many children caused for them and their desire to move beyond the home. The often-voiced fears of "race suicide" as a result of contraceptive practice were really reflections of the social changes occurring at that time and reflections of the tensions surrounding changing gender roles.
Mueller matrix algorithms

A method for the correction of systematic errors generated by large orientational and retardance errors in the polarization optics in the dual rotating retarder polarimeter is presented. Small orientational and retardance errors ( 10% in some matrix elements). We incorporate correction terms for large orientation and retardance errors into the dual rotating retarder data reduction algorithm. Using these data reduction algorithms and a calibration step, the associated systematic errors are calculated and removed from the measured Mueller matrix. This procedure is especially useful for spectral and multi-wavelength systems in which the retardance and often the orientation of the retarders are wavelength dependent. The equations, the procedure to calculate the orientations of the polarization elements and the retardances of the retardation elements, and the method to correct for any errors are presented here. The effect of these errors on the calculated Mueller matrix elements and their correction is shown analytically and through experimental data taken on an infrared spectropolarimeter.
Structure of phage P22 coat protein aggregates formed in the absence of the scaffolding protein

Abstract Previous studies have shown that the assembly of the precursor shell (prohead) of bacteriophage P22 requires the copolymerization of the gene 5 coat protein with the gene 8 scaffolding protein. Removal of the scaffolding protein by mutation prevents efficient coat protein assembly, but some aberrant particles do form. We have now isolated these structures and characterized them with respect to morphology, protein composition, and small-angle X-ray scattering properties. The aberrant particles fall into three morphological classes, i.e. complex spirals and closed shells of two sizes. Small-angle X-ray scattering studies confirm that the larger particles are hollow shells with the radius of proheads ( r = 260 A ), and not of the mature virus ( r = 285 A ). These structures lack the inner shell of scaffolding protein found in proheads. The small particles have a radius of 195 A, smaller than proheads, and appear to contain material, not scaffolding protein, within the outer shell. The aberrant particles contain two minor protein species, the gene 9 tail-spike protein, and an unidentified 67,000 molecular weight polypeptide, probably from the host. Neither is found in normal proheads. Removal of gene.9 product by mutation did not affect the formation of the aggregates. Fractionation of the morphological classes of particles revealed that the 67,000 molecular weight band was associated with the closed shells. It may be serving as a pseudo-initiator. Earlier studies had shown that treatment of proheads with sodium dodecyl sulfate in vitro resulted in loss of the scaffolding protein, and expansion of the shell to the mature radius of 285 A. When the 8− prohead-sized shells were treated similarly, they also expanded to the mature-sized shell. These results support the idea that there are at least two stable states of the coat protein, one of which, the prohead form, is an obligatory precursor of the mature form.
Discovery of a novel cystathionine-beta-synthase mutation and diagnosis of homocystinuria by whole exome sequencing in a family from rural Honduras

Objective: Lack of newborn screening, limited access to healthcare, and complex presentation has resulted in gross under-diagnosis of in-born metabolism disorders in many Central American countries. In this study we describe the use of advanced clinical genomics to identify a novel cystathionine-beta-synthase (CBS) mutation with limited clinical information from a small highly consanguineous indigenous community in rural Honduras. Methods: We performed chromosomal microarray analysis and whole exome sequencing on three affected siblings and their mother. Confirmatory Sanger sequencing for CBS exon 10 was performed on genomic DNA from extended family within the community. Results: We identified a novel homozygous missense mutation (p.Tyr308Thrfs*11) in CBS that resulted in the diagnosis of homocystinuria in three siblings. Patients were nonresponsive to standard pyridoxine treatment. We discovered an elevated coefficient of inbreeding (F ≥ 0.20) suggestive of an unreported highly consanguineous population. Genotyping identified ~47% of extended family as carriers of this novel mutation. Conclusion: Expanded use of whole exome sequencing from buccal cell genomic DNA allowed for the discovery of a novel mutation resulting in a rare recessive disorder in an isolated under-served population. Clinical phenotypes and treatment response of patients with this novel homozygous mutation add to our clinical understanding of homocystinuria.
II-VI/III-V Heterostructures: Epilayer-On-Epilayer Structures

The molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and the microstructural, optical, and electrical characterization of two technologically important heterojunctions, the CdTe/InSb and the ZnSe/GaAs, are described. The II-VI/III-V heterointerface is formed by the epitaxial growth of each layer in either separate MBE growth chambers, or by each layer growth occurring in a single growth chamber. For the case where separate growth chambers are used, the active interface is preserved by employing passivation techniques, or by transferring the sample between growth chambers in an ultrahigh vacuum transfer module. The aforementioned growth approaches allow for the formation of an 'epitaxial' heterojunction, to be utilized as an active part of a heterojunction device. The CdTe/InSb heterointerface is approximately lattice matched (<0.05% mismatch), and is motivated by possible device applications provided by InSb quantum wells. The low temperature growth of InSb quantum wells is achieved by the use of an antimony cracking oven to provide Sb2 molecules for the growth. No clear indication of mixed interfacial layers of In2Te3 is observed by Raman spectroscopy or transmission electron microscopy. The ZnSe/GaAs heterointerface, having a 0.25% lattice constant mismatch, has potential for use in passivation of GaAs devices. The highly resistive, stoichiometric ZnSe is employed as an insulator in two GaAs device configurations: a field effect transistor structure and a metal-insulator-semiconductor capacitor. Electrical characteristics of the ZnSe/GaAs interface provide evidence of the electrical integrity, with measurements of the interface state density resulting in numbers comparable to those reported for the (A1,Ga)As/GaAs interface.© (1989) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Genetic relationships among napiergrass ( Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) nursery accessions using AFLP markers

Pennisetum purpureum Schum. (napiergrass) is a perennial grass used for forage especially in South America and Africa. Over the last 30 years, a USDA–ARS nursery containing accessions collected from all over the world has been established in Tifton, Georgia. The study reported here was conducted to assess the molecular genetic variation and genetic relatedness among 89 accessions from the Tifton nursery using amplified fragment length polymorphism markers, morphological data and ploidy level. Using 218 polymorphic markers from eight selective primer combinations, the 89 accessions were clustered into five groups using a principal components analysis and a dendrogram based on Dice similarity estimates and unweighted pair group method with arithmetic average clustering. These five groups include three groups collected from Kenya, a group from Puerto Rico, and accessions derived from the cultivar Merkeron. This research provides the first molecular characterization of the Tifton nursery, displays the relationships between accessions, and provides potential heterotic groups for napiergrass and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) breeding improvement.
CCG1/TAFII250 regulates epidermal growth factor receptor gene transcription in cell cycle mutant ts13

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) plays a critical role in normal growth and its overexpression is associated with several types of cancer. To learn more about regulation of the expression of this important receptor, we investigated the role of the TAFII250 subunit of transcription factor IID in the transcription of the EGFR gene. The EGFR gene has a TATA-less promoter and TAFII250 has previously been shown to have an important regulatory role in such promoters. The study was performed in the ts13 hamster cell line which has a temperature-sensitive mutation in the CCG1 gene that encodes TAFII250. At the nonpermissive temperature, the transcription of a few cell cycle-dependent genes is depressed in ts13 cells while global RNA synthesis is unaffected. Using this model system, we found that EGFR promoter-driven luciferase expression in transiently transfected ts13 cells decreased 8, 25, and 50-fold after 12, 24, and 48 hours, respectively, at the nonpermissive temperature. The decrease was partially rescued by cotransfection with the wild-type CCG1 gene. The expression of endogenous EGFR also appeared to be regulated by TAFII250—the maximum binding capacity of ts13 cells for 125I-labeled EGF decreased approximately twofold when incubated for 2 days at the nonpermissive temperature. Placing these studies in the context of the current understanding of the TFIID transcription complex, we speculate that selective stimulation of EGFR gene transcription may be mediated by TAFII250 interaction with enhancer-bound activators and the basal transcription machinery. J. Cell. Physiol. 176:642–647,1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Similar haemodynamic, respiratory and metabolic changes with the use of sevoflurane or halothane in children breathing spontaneously via a laryngeal mask airway.

Background: In preschool children, short-lasting surgical procedures are often performed under combined inhalational and regional anaesthesia with the child breathing spontaneously via a laryngeal mask airway (LMA). Despite widespread use, only limited data are available on haemodynamic, respiratory and metabolic effects of sevoflurane and halothane during LMA anaesthesia. Methods: In an open-label, randomised, controlled study, 49 children (aged 3–8 years) were allocated to receive either sevoflurane or halothane in 60% nitrous oxide. After insertion of the LMA, end-tidal concentrations of sevoflurane or halothane were maintained at 1 MAC with the child ventilating spontaneously throughout the entire procedure. Analgesia was provided by caudal block. Haemodynamic and respiratory parameters were recorded, and capillary blood-gas samples were obtained repeatedly. Results: Changes in heart rate (HR) and systolic blood pressure were similar in both groups during all observed periods, apart from a significantly higher increase in HR during inhalational induction with sevoflurane (P 0.5) in either group. Conclusions: The use of approximately 1 MAC sevoflurane or halothane in 60% N2O in children breathing spontaneously via LMA resulted in comparable haemodynamic, respiratory and metabolic changes, and clinically relevant deteriorations did not occur during the 65-min study period.
Data processing curricula at the secondary level (Keynote Address)

The extensive introduction of electronic computers for data processing and other applications in business by 1966 had created a critical need for greater numbers of more highly skilled personnel. The help wanted sections of metropolitan newspapers provided ample evidence of this need. Attractive inducements were offered for electronic data processing managers, programmers, computer console operators, supervisors, punched-card machine operators, and many others. To meet these personnel requirements, more people needed to be trained, and many of the existing management and operative personnel needed to be retrained.Implicit in these quantitative aspects of training for data processing employees are the qualitative facets, bringing up such questions as: What kind and how extensive should the training be for these various people? Who should provide this training and how and when should it be done? While considerable effort has been expended on training programs by several agencies, little objective research has been done to determine these needs.
Global observations of large oceanic eddies

[1] Ten years of sea-surface height (SSH) fields constructed from the merged TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) and ERS-1/2 altimeter datasets are analyzed to investigate mesoscale variability in the global ocean. The higher resolution of the merged dataset reveals that more than 50% of the variability over much of the World Ocean is accounted for by eddies with amplitudes of 5–25 cm and diameters of 100–200 km. These eddies propagate nearly due west at approximately the phase speed of nondispersive baroclinic Rossby waves with preferences for slight poleward and equatorward deflection of cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies, respectively. The vast majority of the eddies are found to be nonlinear.
A Theory of Consciousness

Consciousness is the subjective awareness of momentary experience interpreted in the context of personal memory and present state. I propose that two brain systems converge to create consciousness. The exogenous system sends information about multimodal external stimuli to basal dendrites in widely dispersed pyramidal cell ensembles in the cortex of the brain; this system produces synchronized fragments of sensations. The endogenous system distributes readout of representations of memories, activated in systems established by associative learning, diffusely to apical dendrites. Convergence of exogenous and endogenous inputs enhances cellular excitability, and fragmented sensations are thereby converted to fragments of perception. Local field potentials periodically modulate all cortical membrane potentials and facilitate synchronous discharge of these excited elements. Feedback between the cortex and the thalamus results in a cortico-thalamo-cortical reverberation, binding the fragments into a unified glo...
The Small GTPase Cdc42 Is Necessary for Primary Ciliogenesis in Renal Tubular Epithelial Cells

Primary cilia are found on many epithelial cell types, including renal tubular epithelial cells, where they participate in flow sensing. Disruption of cilia function has been linked to the pathogenesis of polycystic kidney disease. We demonstrated previously that the exocyst, a highly conserved eight-protein membrane trafficking complex, localizes to primary cilia of renal tubular epithelial cells, is required for ciliogenesis, biochemically and genetically interacts with polycystin-2 (the protein product of the polycystic kidney disease 2 gene), and, when disrupted, results in MAPK pathway activation both in vitro and in vivo. The small GTPase Cdc42 is a candidate for regulation of the exocyst at the primary cilium. Here, we demonstrate that Cdc42 biochemically interacts with Sec10, a crucial component of the exocyst complex, and that Cdc42 colocalizes with Sec10 at the primary cilium. Expression of dominant negative Cdc42 and shRNA-mediated knockdown of both Cdc42 and Tuba, a Cdc42 guanine nucleotide exchange factor, inhibit ciliogenesis in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells. Furthermore, exocyst Sec8 and polycystin-2 no longer localize to primary cilia or the ciliary region following Cdc42 and Tuba knockdown. We also show that Sec10 directly interacts with Par6, a member of the Par complex that itself directly interacts with Cdc42. Finally, we show that Cdc42 knockdown results in activation of the MAPK pathway, something observed in cells with dysfunctional primary cilia. These data support a model in which Cdc42 localizes the exocyst to the primary cilium, whereupon the exocyst then targets and docks vesicles carrying proteins necessary for ciliogenesis.
Semantics for airborne video imagery ontology

A prototype Video Imagery Ontology has been developed to derive video imagery intelligence, VideoIMINT. The ontology includes the development of classes and properties to address video image content, and video collection metadata related to platforms, sensors and collection operations. Preliminary feature extraction of video imagery content classes was functionally utilized to identify important video segments in an integrated viewer. Integrated data storage systems and fusion processes are also discussed.
Educating about homosexuality: what do American Catholics think?

The purpose of this study was to examine American Catholics' attitudes regarding education about homosexuality. Participants were 1000 self‐identified Catholic adults who were interviewed via telephone. The majority of respondents agreed that Catholic colleges should offer courses on human sexuality, although religious and political conservatives were more likely to disagree that these courses should include education about justice and equality for gays and lesbians. Conservative and older respondents disagreed significantly more often that homosexuality should be included in tolerance teaching for children. Religious conservatives and males were less likely to agree that gays and lesbians should be hired as schoolteachers. The results indicate that the variables of Catholic ideology, political ideology, sex, age, and education are important in understanding the diversity of Catholics' views about these issues.
A bound on attacks on payment protocols

Electronic payment protocols are designed to work correctly in the presence of an adversary that can prompt honest principals to engage in an unbounded number of concurrent instances of the protocol. This paper establishes an upper bound on the number of protocol instances needed to attack a large class of protocols, which contains versions of some well-known electronic payment protocols, including SET and 1KP. Such bounds clarify the nature of attacks on and provide a rigorous basis for automated verification of payment protocols.
Automatic link detection: a sequence labeling approach

The popularity of Wikipedia and other online knowledge bases has recently produced an interest in the machine learning community for the problem of automatic linking. Automatic hyperlinking can be viewed as two sub problems - link detection which determines the source of a link, and link disambiguation which determines the destination of a link. Wikipedia is a rich corpus with hyperlink data provided by authors. It is possible to use this data to train classifiers to be able to mimic the authors in some capacity. In this paper, we introduce automatic link detection as a sequence labeling problem. Conditional random fields (CRFs) are a probabilistic framework for labeling sequential data. We show that training a CRF with different types of features from the Wikipedia dataset can be used to automatically detect links with almost perfect precision and high recall.
When Are Sexual Difficulties Distressing for Women? The Selective Protective Value of Intimate Relationships

Introduction Recent studies have shown that sexual functioning and sexually related personal distress are weakly related in women, with only a minority of sexual difficulties resulting in significant levels of distress. However, there has been little systematic research to date on which factors moderate the relationship between sexual functioning and sexual distress.
Competition, Negotiation, or Cooperation: Three Models for Service Contracting

Contracting for public services from public or private suppliers is now a common prescription to improve government efficiency. The competitive bidding model is usually viewed as the ideal contracting process. However, this article explains that two other approaches—the negotiation model and the cooperation model—may be more appropriate under certain conditions. The primary factors that are likely to determine which of the three approaches is most suitable are (a) the characteristics of the external environment (especially the number of service suppliers), (b) the level of organizational resources (e.g., personnel, funds, time, and expertise), and (c) the degree of uncertainty about funding, future events, service technologies, and causal relationships between service outputs and desired outcomes. The main point is that there is no one best way to contract for services; rather, government units should adapt their contracting procedures to both internal external conditions to implement service contracting in an effective manner.
Critical Features of Special Education Teacher Preparation: A Comparison With General Teacher Education

Policy and program decisions involve choices among different ways of preparing teachers. These choices are shrouded in increasingly contentious debates as teacher shortages reach crisis proportions. Yet, research on special education teacher education is almost nonexistent. Findings from comparative research documenting the characteristics of effective teacher education programs can inform these choices, but these findings should be grounded in what we know from previous research in general teacher education. To assist educators, we have analyzed literature in general and special teacher education toward two ends. First, we present a framework, derived from work in general education, for analyzing teacher education programs. Second, we use this framework to analyze practice in teacher education in special education. Specifically, we conducted an exhaustive review of special education program descriptions and evaluations. We conclude by describing steps necessary to improve the special education teacher ed...
Plastic‐to‐Brittle Transition of Saturated, Alumina Powder Compacts

Alumina slurries, in which different particle pair potentials were produced by adjusting ρH and salt concentration, were used to form cylindrical, consolidated bodies by pressure filtration, at applied pressures between 0.25 and 100 MPa. The mechanical properties of these bodies were investigated by uniaxial compressive loading at a specific rate. Saturated bodies formed from flocced slurries (ρH 9) were plastic at low relative densities (<0.54, formed at filtration pressures < 40 MPa) but were brittle (fractured prior to flow) at higher relative densities. Bodies formed from the dispersed slurries (ρH 4) were always brittle. When initially stressed, plastic bodies consolidated from the coagulated slurries (ρH 4, 5, and 6 with additions of NH4C1) produced a stress-strain behavior characterized by a peak stress, followed by a much lower flow stress. The peak stress reduced to the flow stress upon several reloading cycles. The peak stress observed during the initial loading rapidly increased with consolidation pressure. These bodies exhibited a transition from plastic to brittle behavior at large consolidation pressures (∼65 MPa), with little change in relative density. It was reasoned that the plastic-to-brittle transition occurred for bodies formed from coagulated slurries when a sufficient fraction of the particles were pushed into their primary minimum to form a touching particle network. The reduction of the peak stress to the flow stress was reasoned to occur once the touching network was broken apart to reestablish the weakly attractive, but nontouching, network that existed in the slurry state. This can only occur when the fraction of particles in the touching network is less than that necessary for fracture. It was also noted that the flow stress for certain bodies formed from the coagulated slurry had a nearly identical flow stress as measured for a commercial, throwing clay.
NK and CD4+ T Cell Cooperative Immune Responses Correlate with Control of Disease in a Macaque Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Infection Model

Control of infectious disease may be accomplished by successful vaccination or by complex immunologic and genetic factors favoring Ag-specific multicellular immune responses. Using a rhesus macaque model, we evaluated Ag-specific T cell-dependent NK cell immune responses in SIV-infected macaques, designated “controlling” or “noncontrolling” based on long-term chronic viremia levels, to determine whether NK cell effector functions contribute to control of SIV infection. We observed that Gag stimulation of macaque PBMCs induced subset-specific NK cell responses in SIV-controlling but not SIV-noncontrolling animals, as well as that circulatory NK cell responses were dependent on Ag-specific IL-2 production by CD4+ central memory T cells. NK cell activation was blocked by anti–IL-2–neutralizing Ab and by CD4+ T cell depletion, which abrogated the Gag-specific responses. Among tissue-resident cells, splenic and circulatory NK cells displayed similar activation profiles, whereas liver and mucosal NK cells displayed a decreased activation profile, similar in SIV-controlling and -noncontrolling macaques. Lack of T cell-dependent NK cell function was rescued in SIV-noncontrolling macaques through drug-mediated control of viremia. Our results indicate that control of disease progression in SIV-controlling macaques is associated with cooperation between Ag-specific CD4+ T cells and NK cell effector function, which highlight the importance of such cell-to-cell cooperativity in adaptive immunity and suggest that this interaction should be further investigated in HIV vaccine development and other prophylactic vaccine approaches.
Ion Emission During Low Fluence KrF Laser-Metal Interaction

A KrF laser was used to produce ions from an aluminum surface. The threshold energy fluence was found to be ∼30 mJ/cm2 which was lower than similar studies on the ablation of metals. The measured threshold however, was of the same order of magnitude for atomic desorption from semiconductor surfaces. This process can be used to perform surface analysis without ablation damage.
Modeling oxide thickness dependence of charging damage by plasma processing

Develops a quantitative model for thin oxide plasma charging damage by examining the oxide thickness dependence of charging current. The current is deduced from capacitance-voltage (CV) curves of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors after plasma etch. The model predicts the oxide thickness dependence of plasma charging successfully. It is shown that plasma acting on a very thin oxide during processing may be modeled as essentially a current source. Thus the damage will not be greatly exacerbated as oxide thickness is further reduced in the future. Gate oxide breakdown voltage distribution of MOS capacitors after plasma processing can be predicted accurately from that of a control wafer by using a defect-induced breakdown model. >
Temperature Profile Inside Microscale Thermoelectric Module Acquired Using Near-Infrared Thermoreflectance

We present high-resolution thermal images of the electrical contacts inside an active thermoelectric micromodule that are acquired through the silicon substrate using near-infrared thermoreflectance. The temperature distribution of the contacts induced by the Peltier and Joule effects are separated. This technique can be utilized as a nondestructive means to evaluate metallization and contact resistance of micrometer-scale thermoelectric modules. By determining localized sources of Joule heating, one can identify manufacturing errors and generate design rules that can improve the cooling performance of the thermoelectric device.
Temperature Regulation of the Hemin Storage (Hms + ) Phenotype of Yersinia pestis Is Posttranscriptional

In Yersinia pestis, the Congo red (and hemin) binding that is characteristic of the Hms+ phenotype occurs at temperatures up to 34°C but not at higher temperatures. Manifestation of the Hms+ phenotype requires at least five proteins (HmsH, -F, -R, -S, and -T) that are organized into two separate operons: hmsHFRS and hmsT. HmsH and HmsF are outer membrane proteins, while HmsR, HmsS, and HmsT are predicted to be inner membrane proteins. We have used transcriptional reporter constructs, RNA dot blots, and Western blots to examine the expression of hms operons and proteins. Our studies indicate that transcription from the hmsHFRS and hmsT promoters is not regulated by the iron status of the cells, growth temperature, or any of the Hms proteins. In addition, the level of mRNA for both operons is not significantly affected by growth temperature. However, protein levels of HmsH, HmsR, and HmsT in cells grown at 37°C are very low compared to those in cells grown at 26°C, while the amounts of HmsF and HmsS show only a moderate reduction at the higher growth temperature. Neither the Pla protease nor a putative endopeptidase (Y2360) encoded upstream of hmsH is essential for temperature regulation of the Hms+ phenotype. However, HmsT at 37°C is sensitive to degradation by Lon and/or ClpPX. Thus, the stability of HmsH, HmsR, and HmsT proteins likely plays a role in temperature regulation of the Hms+ phenotype of Y. pestis.
World overview of building-integrated photovoltaics

There is a growing consensus that distributed photovoltaic (PV) power systems will be among those applications to first reach widespread commercialization in the generation of power on the utility grid. Chief among these distributed applications are PV power systems for individual buildings. Interest in the building integration of photovoltaics, where the PV modules actually become an integral part of the building, often serving as the exterior weathering skin, is growing worldwide. With reduced installation costs, improved aesthetics and all the benefits of distributed generation, building-integrated PV systems are a prime candidate for early market penetration. Product development is proceeding in three general areas: integral roof modules; roofing tiles and shingles; and integral modules for vertical facades. This paper covers residential and commercial applications with examples of the direct integration of PV elements into residential and commercial buildings using built examples from the US, Europe and Japan.
Approximating Gaussian Mixture Model or Radial Basis Function Network With Multilayer Perceptron

Gaussian mixture models (GMMs) and multilayer perceptron (MLP) are both popular pattern classification techniques. This brief shows that a multilayer perceptron with quadratic inputs (MLPQ) can accurately approximate GMMs with diagonal covariance matrices. The mapping equations between the parameters of GMM and the weights of MLPQ are presented. A similar approach is applied to radial basis function networks (RBFNs) to show that RBFNs with Gaussian basis functions and Euclidean norm can be approximated accurately with MLPQ. The mapping equations between RBFN and MLPQ weights are presented. There are well-established training procedures for GMMs, such as the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm. The GMM parameters obtained by the EM algorithm can be used to generate a set of initial weights of MLPQ. Similarly, a trained RBFN can be used to generate a set of initial weights of MLPQ. MLPQ training can be continued further with gradient-descent based methods, which can lead to improvement in performance compared to the GMM or RBFN from which it is initialized. Thus, the MLPQ can always perform as well as or better than the GMM or RBFN.
A calorimetric study of acrylate photopolymerization

The kinetics of the photoinitiated polymerization of lauryl acrylate (LA), 1,6-hexanedioldiacrylate (HDDA) and pentaerythritol tetraacrylate (PET4A) have been investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). An autoacceleration phenomenon is observed with the multifunctional acrylates, but not with lauryl acrylate. The empirical dependences of reaction rate on such parameters as incident light intensity, initiator concentration, and temperature have been established and are in general found to vary with monomer conversion. Apparent activation energies for the photopolymerizations have been determined from rate versus temperature data. The multifunctional acrylates show an increasing activation energy with monomer conversion, whereas the apparent activation energy for lauryl acrylate not only decreases with conversion, but becomes negative at conversions greater than about 30%. The ratio kp/k is calculated from rate versus conversion data under constant illumination and the (independently determined) initiation rate. Analysis of rate versus time data under nonsteady-state conditions (light turned off) yields the ratio kt/kp. With these two ratios the rate constants for propagation (kp) and termination (kt) may be separated and their respective values calculated. Both kp and kt are found to decrease substantially with monomer conversion, indicating a significant change in the rates of both the propagation and termination steps as the polymerization advances. These observations are explained in terms of a radical isolation phenomenon and diffusion control of the propagation step.
Does Flexibility Promote Cooperation? An Application to the Global Trade Regime

Do flexibility provisions in international agreements—clauses allowing for legal suspension of concessions without abrogating the treaty—promote cooperation? Recent work emphasizes that provisions for relaxing treaty commitments can ironically make states more likely to form agreements and make deeper concessions when doing so. This argument has particularly been applied to the global trade regime, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and its successor, the World Trade Organization (WTO). Yet the field has not produced much evidence bearing on this claim. Our article applies this claim to the global trade regime and its chief flexibility provision, antidumping. In contrast to prior work, this article explicitly models the endogeneity and selection processes envisioned by the theory. We find that states joining the WTO are more likely to adopt domestic antidumping mechanisms. Likewise, corrected for endogeneity, states able to take advantage of the regime's principal flexibility provision, by having a domestic antidumping mechanism in place, are significantly more likely to (1) join the WTO, (2) agree to more tightly binding tariff commitments, and (3) implement lower applied tariffs as well.
An Efficient Feedback Active Noise Control Algorithm Based on Reduced-Order Linear Predictive Modeling of fMRI Acoustic Noise

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) acoustic noise exhibits an almost periodic nature (quasi-periodicity) due to the repetitive nature of currents in the gradient coils. Small changes occur in the waveform in consecutive periods due to the background noise and slow drifts in the electroacoustic transfer functions that map the gradient coil waveforms to the measured acoustic waveforms. The period depends on the number of slices per second, when echo planar imaging (EPI) sequencing is used. Linear predictability of fMRI acoustic noise has a direct effect on the performance of active noise control (ANC) systems targeted to cancel the acoustic noise. It is shown that by incorporating some samples from the previous period, very high linear prediction accuracy can be reached with a very low order predictor. This has direct implications on feedback ANC systems since their performance is governed by the predictability of the acoustic noise to be cancelled. The low complexity linear prediction of fMRI acoustic noise developed in this paper is used to derive an effective and low-cost feedback ANC system.
Estimation of Group B Streptococcus Type III Polysaccharide-Specific Antibody Concentrations in Human Sera Is Antigen Dependent

The presence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies against group B streptococcus (GBS) type III polysaccharide (PS) has been correlated with protection against GBS disease. The GBS type III PS is structurally similar to the pneumococcal type 14 PS, differing only in the presence of sialic acid residues. Four different preparations of GBS type III PS were evaluated for their specificity in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA): free PS, free PS mixed with methylated human serum albumin (mHSA), PS conjugated to biotin and PS conjugated to human serum albumin. Three groups of human sera were used to evaluate these PS preparations: sera from recipients of a GBS PS vaccine, sera from women receiving a GBS type III PS-tetanus toxoid conjugate vaccine, and sera from nonimmunized healthy women of childbearing age. Estimated antibody concentrations were different depending on the PS preparation used. Using any of the four preparations, we were able to measure ≤0.05 μg of IgG antibody to the GBS type III PS per ml. The specificity of the assay was determined by competitive inhibition with homologous and heterologous PS. The pneumococcal type 14 PS did not inhibit binding of antibody to the native GBS type III PS in sera from adults receiving the GBS PS vaccine or in sera from nonimmunized adults (except serum G9). The pneumococcal type 14 PS inhibited 50% in sera from recipients of GBS type III conjugate vaccine and in serum G9 when GBS type III PS conjugated to biotin or to HSA was used as antigen in ELISA. These data show that free GBS type III PS or PS mixed with mHSA is a sensitive and specific antigen for ELISA and that conjugation can alter the antigenic specificity of a PS.
Development and evaluation of emerging design patterns for ubiquitous computing

Design patterns are a format for capturing and sharing design knowledge. In this paper, we look at a new domain for design patterns, namely ubiquitous computing. The overall goal of this work is to aid practice by speeding up the diffusion of new interaction techniques and evaluation results from researchers, presenting the information in a form more usable to practicing designers. Towards this end, we have developed an initial and emerging pattern language for ubiquitous computing, consisting of 45 pre-patterns describing application genres, physical-virtual spaces, interaction and systems techniques for managing privacy, and techniques for fluid interactions. We evaluated the effectiveness of our pre-patterns with 16 pairs of designers in helping them design location-enhanced applications. We observed that our pre-patterns helped new and experienced designers unfamiliar with ubiquitous computing in generating and communicating ideas, and in avoiding design problems early in the design process.
Virgins, Viragos and Virtuo(U)SI among Judiths in Opera and Oratorio

In the present inquiry I explicate through a Feminist lens, curious and often amusing metamorphoses of Judith's integrity and complexity as a female hero in Israel as they are expressed in opera and oratorio. Within the purview of these genres the integrity of the apocryphal Judith's characterization is variously maintained, elaborated, ignored, transferred to other characters, transformed, or obliterated by librettists and animateurs. Diverse methodological perspectives inform observations pertinent to librettos, music, mise en scene and aspects of characterization as they are animated in the artistic process/product and transmitted via their critics in the media.
Book Review: L. J. Kotlikoff’s, Jimmy Stewart is Dead: Ending the World’s Ongoing Financial Plague with Limited Purpose Banking

The author reviews L. J. Kotlikoff’s Jimmy Stewart is Dead: Ending the World’s Ongoing Financial Plague with Limited Purpose Banking.
Hannibal’s Humanism or the Nature of Cruelty: A Response to Giorgio Baruchello’s on Nietzsche’s Drive to Distinction

To the extent that the term ‘cruelty’ is a value laden term it connotes moral turpitude. By the very designation of an act as being ‘cruel’ we mean to say that it was evil and unjust. But this necessarily raises the question of whether cruelty is always ‘cruel’ or whether it is sometimes ‘kind,’ which is to say ‘the right thing to do’ under certain circumstances. We are reminded here of the Machiavellian orientation to cruelty which is to approach it as in some sense a ‘necessary evil’. But to talk of ‘necessary evils’ is in a way to indulge in a certain lamenting. For Nietzsche on the other hand, such an attitude bespeaks a certain maligning of life. For Nietzsche such an attitude is suggestive of a fatigue with life or an incapacity to love the earth or even a ‘death-wish’ in that it is tantamount to rejecting the law of gravity because it makes moving and lifting so arduous.Nature for Nietzsche connotes above all innocence and freedom from self-condemnation; thus human beings should strive to see all their doings including the ‘cruel’ ones as innocent as earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis.
Telecoupling in urban water systems: an examination of Beijing's imported water supply

Urban centres increasingly have difficulties meeting water needs within their hydrologic basins. To sustain urban water supply, cities and water source regions have increased telecouplings (socio-economic and environmental interactions over distances). To analyse these complex interactions, we apply the new telecoupling framework to the water-stressed megacity of Beijing’s imported water supply. We found that Beijing’s remote water sources have lower risk than local supply, but connections impact the sending systems. The telecoupling framework provides a standard, systematic and flexible tool for evaluating the sustainability of urban water supply. It also identifies a number of research gaps for future quantification efforts.
Transforming Citizenships: Transgender Articulations of the Law Isaac West. New York: New York University Press, 2014.

Transforming Citizenships: Transgender Articulations of the Law Isaac West. New York: New York University Press, 2014.When transactress Laverne Cox (Orange Is the New Black) graced the cover of Time magazine a year ago for the cover story "The Transgender Tipping Point," it became more than apparent that transgender identity, rights and representations were achieving unprecedented visibility and acceptance in the United States. The recent revelations of Caitlyn Jenner and the accompanying celebration of her transformation have even more thoroughly popularized as well as legitimized trans presence and participation in American society. Critics of assimilationist, neoliberal political strategies might view these events more grimly, as manifestations of "homonormativity." In this view, the culture industry's inclusion of trans identity exploits the desire to be normal and, far from challenging status quo norms of identity, fosters loyalty to consumer capitalism, allegiance to the state, and divests Jenner, Cox, and their fans of any kind of oppositional agency.A central thread of Isaac West's Transforming Citizenships: Transgender Articulations of the Law remains to contest the assumption that trans struggles for equal rights and full citizenship inherently pander to heteroand homonormativity, that striving for equal rights inevitably coincides with embracing sameness, erasing difference, and undermining oppositional agency. The historical examples and theoretical explorations of Transforming Citizenships provide compelling evidence that transgender struggles for equal rights can result in normative assimilation, but they can also change public, mainstream perceptions of "citizenship" and the identities encompassed by that label.Transforming Citizenships is a remarkable book for many reasons, in particular, West's dual commitments to practice and theory. Engaging in what he calls cultural studies of the law, West remains as concerned with the intricacies of concrete crusades for justice and political battles over identity as in theoretical disputes in trans, queer, and cultural studies. The book focuses on trans gender struggles for civil rights in recent US history: Debbie May ne's concerted campaign in 1950s Los Angeles to be granted legal status as a woman, which involved seeking arrest and publicity to push the point; the work of People in Search of Safe and Accessible Restrooms (PISSAR), a coalition of genderqueer and disability activists seeking reform of public restrooms at the University of California-Santa Barbara; Congressional tussles over the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which included gay congressman Barney Frank's willingness to sacrifice gender identity protections to insure coverage of lesbians and gay men versus the resounding support of LGBT groups for trans inclusion; and the Indiana Transgender Rights Advocacy Alliance's (INTRAA) efforts to include trans protections in Bloomington's Human Rights Ordinance. …