cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Utilizing click chemistry to design functional interfaces through post-polymerization modification

Post-polymerization modification is a simple and effective method to add complex functionality to a polymeric interface. A wide variety of click reactions have been utilized as a means of post-polymerization functionalization on surface-bound polymers to tune interfacial properties, such as friction, wettability, and adhesion. Patterning surfaces with spatial control of chemical functionality has also been obtained through orthogonal or sequential click reactions. This review highlights the progress in post-polymerization modification of polymers covalently attached to a surface, focusing on the design of functional interfaces in terms of the various reactive functional groups.
THE ECONOMICS OF SMALL-SCALE SOFT SHELL CRAYFISH PRODUCTION

A soft shell crayfish operation consists of an indoor molting system for immature crayfish. The molted crayfish could be sold as food or bait. Such systems have been operated on a small-scale in Kentucky and neighboring states, although traditionally the industry has been centered in Louisiana. This article investigated profit-maximizing management conditions and economic feasibility of a small-scale soft shell crayfish operation. Results showed that a minimum facility size of 25–30 culture trays was essential for realizing a profit by selling product to bait shops. This facility size was also amenable to be operated by two full-time workers, making family-run enterprises a strong possibility. Other results showed that larger facilities, with more than 50 culture trays, were necessary to reduce the minimum equity in fixed investment to be less than 70%. Direct marketing at retail prices is often the only profitable option for small-scale aquaculture; this article gives an example of a small-scale aquacult...
Word Meaning and Ecological Validity

At the present time, there is a rather large literature on child language development that primarily focuses on the period of approximately 10 to 44 months. There are few links between what has been learned about basic issues in developmental psycholinguistics and the extent to which it is possible to predict success in school and, in particular, whether what has been learned about early language develop ment and the ability to acquire a reasonable level of literacy. Another gap exists vis-a-vis cross-cultural differences in language acquisition and sociocultural dif ferences within the United States. It is also difficult to equate measures of language acquisition measured under controlled laboratory conditions (and even recordings in the home) with the kinds of social ecologies that are involved in home settings over the course of a day. These issues currently have profound importance to re search in the learning sciences. Bloom's book takes up the fundamental question of how children acquire the sense of words in the first place. At the outset, Bloom notes that children could not learn the meaning of words without possessing certain nonlinguistic mental capacities, including whatever the children attribute to the minds of others as they seek to make sense of their external world. It is the "rich mental life" of humans that makes word learning appear so ef fortless and relentless in childhood. I assume the reference to a "rich mental life" includes the child's expanding knowledge of her or his physical and sociocultural environments. How we assess this "rich mental life" or practices remains illusive.
Characterization of Minority-Carrier Hole Transport in Nitride-Based Light-Emitting Diodes with Optical and Electrical Time-Resolved Techniques

Forward-to-reverse bias step-recovery measurements were performed on In.07Ga.93N/GaN and Al.36Ga.64N/Al.46Ga.54N quantum-well (QW) light-emitting diodes grown on sapphire. With the QW sampling the minority-carrier hole density at a single position, distinctive two-phase optical decay curves were observed. Using diffusion equation solutions to self-consistently model both the electrical and optical responses, hole transport parameters tp = 758 {+-} 44 ns, Lp = 588 {+-} 45 nm, and up = 0.18 {+-} 0.02 cm2/Vs were obtained for GaN. The mobility was thermally activated with an activation energy of 52 meV, suggesting trap-modulated transport. Optical measurements of sub-bandgap peaks exhibited slow responses approaching the bulk lifetime. For Al.46Ga.54N, a longer lifetime of tp = 3.0 us was observed, and the diffusion length was shorter, Lp = 280 nm. Mobility was an order of magnitude smaller than in GaN, up = 10-2 cm2/Vs, and was insensitive to temperature, suggesting hole transport through a network of defects.
Supporting trust calibration and the effective use of decision aids by presenting dynamic system confidence information

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether continually updated information about a system's confidence in its ability to perform assigned tasks improves operators' trust calibration in, and use of, an automated decision support system (DSS). BACKGROUND: The introduction of decision aids often leads to performance breakdowns that are related to automation bias and trust miscalibration. This can be explained, in part, by the fact that operators are informed about overall system reliability only, which makes it impossible for them to decide on a case-by-case basis whether to follow the system's advice. METHOD: The application for this research was a neural net-based decision aid that assists pilots with detecting and handling in-flight icing encounters. A multifactorial experiment was carried out with two groups of 15 instructor pilots each flying a series of 28 approaches in a motion-base simulator. One group was informed about the system's overall reliability only, whereas the other group received updated system confidence information. RESULTS: Pilots in the updated group experienced significantly fewer icing-related stalls and were more likely to reverse their initial response to an icing condition when it did not produce desired results. Their estimate of the system's accuracy was more accurate than that of the fixed group. CONCLUSION: The presentation of continually updated system confidence information can improve trust calibration and thus lead to better performance of the human-machine team. APPLICATION: The findings from this research can inform the design of decision support systems in a variety of event-driven high-tempo domains. Language: en
Wave-mechanical uncertainty and speed limitations

Modern science is eliminating the old, unrealistic approach to experimental errors. The Heisenberg principle of uncertainty has effected a fundamental change in the scientific attitude toward experimental errors and toward the degree of exactness in stating physical laws. Quantum physics has brought about the realization that a measurement or a mere observation at the quantum level perturbs the observed system in such a way that corrections cannot be made for the ``loading'' effect of the measuring instrument. There is something more basic and fundamental to our limitations in measurements than the lack of perfection in experimental planning and equipment. This article examines the types of uncertainty in measurements or observations. The interest then focuses on the fundamental importance of the relation between experimental uncertainty in measuring, observing, or in any way identifying a physical quantity, and the energy required to accomplish this in a certain allotted interval of time. This last relation has a direct bearing on the speed limitations of measurements.
Discrimination between thermodynamic models of cis-regulation using transcription factor occupancy data

Many studies have identified binding preferences for transcription factors (TFs), but few have yielded predictive models of how combinations of transcription factor binding sites generate specific levels of gene expression. Synthetic promoters have emerged as powerful tools for generating quantitative data to parameterize models of combinatorial cis-regulation. We sought to improve the accuracy of such models by quantifying the occupancy of TFs on synthetic promoters in vivo and incorporating these data into statistical thermodynamic models of cis-regulation. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation-seq, we measured the occupancy of Gcn4 and Cbf1 in synthetic promoter libraries composed of binding sites for Gcn4, Cbf1, Met31/Met32 and Nrg1. We measured the occupancy of these two TFs and the expression levels of all promoters in two growth conditions. Models parameterized using only expression data predicted expression but failed to identify several interactions between TFs. In contrast, models parameterized with occupancy and expression data predicted expression data, and also revealed Gcn4 self-cooperativity and a negative interaction between Gcn4 and Nrg1. Occupancy data also allowed us to distinguish between competing regulatory mechanisms for the factor Gcn4. Our framework for combining occupancy and expression data produces predictive models that better reflect the mechanisms underlying combinatorial cis-regulation of gene expression.
Sustainability in Library Preservation

Many in the library world are embracing sustainability initiatives in an effort to better serve our communities and planet. In this article the author explores the need to integrate preservation within the broader approach to library sustainability, as well as the challenges presented by sustainable preservation practices. The author addresses concerns including reducing the amount of waste produced, recycling options, and availability of environmentally friendly supplies through the presentation of a case study. In addition, the article further explores the complexities of sustainable preservation by promoting continued discussion on finding the balance between accepted preservation best practices and emerging trends in sustainable solutions.
Nucleotide sequences of the psaA and the psaB genes encoding the reaction center proteins of Photosystem I in Anabaena variabilis ATCC 29413

We have determined the nucleotide sequence of the psaAB gene cluster from the filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena variabilis ATCC 29413. These genes encode the Photosystem I reaction center proteins, which are highly homologous to similar proteins in other cyanobacteria and higher plants.
Towards a History of Lost Corners in the World

There are large areas of the world whose pre-industrial economic and social history virtually remains a blank. Even in Europe some historical periods remain almost unexplored. The most conspicuous cases, however, are found outside that continent. In Africa, for example, there is an area, almost the size of West Africa, or the size of the United States east of the Mississippi, for which not even a general historical survey of the pre-colonial period exists. This huge equatorial region-mostly covered by the tropical rain forestextends from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, between lat.4.N. and lat.4.S. In this article it is used as a case-study to document a more general argument. 1 Lack of knowledge has been the main reason adduced to account for such big gaps in the historical record. I shall argue, however, that while conventional sources are indeed often scarce or even absent, nevertheless knowledge about the past is often more substantial than is commonly realized, and statements can be made with confidence about such blank periods or areas. It is a matter of finding the traces of the past where they are: in unconventional places. Historians have not found many conventional written, or even oral, sources in Equatorial Africa. They were discouraged, moreover, by the prevalence of an anthropological model that presented the societies of that area in static terms. According to this model, kinship groups were the basis of society. They grew, split, grew again and so on without any institutional development at all. This theory of "segmentary lineage organization" practically precluded any social
Change detection for objects on surfaces slanted in depth

Change detection for objects associated with a surface extended in depth might be more difficult than for a frontal surface if it is easier to shift attention within a frontal surface. On the other hand, previous research has shown that ground surfaces have a special role in organizing the 3-D layout of objects shown against scene backgrounds. In the current study, we examined whether a frontal background or a ground surface background would result in superior change detection performance using a change detection flicker paradigm. In the first experiment, we considered whether background slant affects change detection performance. In Experiment 2, we examined the effect of height in the image on change detection performance. In Experiment 3, we examined change detection performance on slanted ceiling surfaces. The results of these experiments indicate that change detection is more efficient on near-ground planes than on surfaces at intermediate slants or ceiling surfaces. This suggests that any superiority of frontal plane backgrounds in a change detection task may be equivalent to the superiority of a near-ground plane in organizing a scene, with the lowest level of performance occurring for surfaces that are not frontal but further from a ground surface orientation.
Lane detection using road planar information

Intelligent vehicles have many applications in the military, aerospace, and other industries, including land-mine detection for the military, patient transportation in hospitals, and many other domains that often require automation to reduce risks to the human operators. One of important tasks of intelligent vehicles is the navigation, whose goal is to extract and determine the appropriate path that leads to a destination based on perceived environmental information. The objective of our work is to develop a simple and effective method to detect and extract road lanes and boundaries. We propose a solution by incorporating the planar information of road surfaces. We first detect all possible edges in the captured images. The straight lanes and boundaries are extracted as straight lines, which generate a vanishing point. The straight lines are described with Hough transform. A cluster analysis in Hough space is used to detect the vanishing point on road. Further, we search lines passing through the vanishing point from 180 degrees to 270 degrees and from 0 degree to negative 90 degrees. The first two strong lines will be extracted as road boundaries.
SpinThin, a simple, inexpensive technique for preparation of thin-layer cervical cytology from liquid-based specimens: data on 791 cases.

BACKGROUND Acceptance of liquid-based fixatives for cervical cytology has been limited by the more complex slide-preparation procedures, increased cost, and reports that increased sensitivity has been based largely on comparison with conventional cytology without histologic correlation. Here the authors describe and evaluate a technically simple and relatively inexpensive method (which they call SpinThin) for preparing Cytospin (Shandon Inc., Pittsburgh, PA) cervical cytology slides from samples in liquid fixative using a modified electric toothbrush holder to put the cells in suspension. Results are compared with conventional cytology and histologic biopsy. METHODS A total of 791 cervical cytology specimens from 2 patient groups at high risk of uterine cervical neoplasia were entered into this study, and a spatula and cytobrush (174 specimens) or cytobroom (617 specimens) were used to collect conventional smears. The collection device with remaining cellular sample was placed in an alcohol-based fixative solution; the cells were put into suspension by a brief burst of vibration using a modified electric toothbrush holder, then cytocentrifuged on a slide and stained with the Papanicolaou technique. RESULTS Specimen adequacy in SpinThin slides was better than that of conventional cytology smears. However, the prevalence of dysplasia, including atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS-D), in conventional smears and SpinThin slides was the same—27% and 25%, respectively—and excluding ASCUS-D, it was 20% in both. The prevalence of neoplasia (low or high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, or carcinoma) histologically was 31% in the 647 cases biopsied, and agreement with histology was similar for SpinThin and conventional smears. CONCLUSIONS Using a simple and relatively inexpensive new technique (SpinThin), slides prepared from fluid-based cervical cytology specimens obtained with the cytobrush or cytobroom correlated very well with the corresponding conventional smears within major diagnostic categories, and both correlated well with histology. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 2000;90:135–42. © 2000 American Cancer Society.
Biologically derived diesel fuel and NO formation: An experimental and chemical kinetic study, Part 1

Abstract Pyrolysis and oxidation experiments have been conducted on two representative biodiesel surrogate components, methyl octanoate (C9:0) and methyl trans-2-octenoate (C9:1), using the UIC High-Pressure Shock Tube (HPST). The nominal experimental pressures ranged from 27 atm to 53 atm and temperatures varied from 900 to 1450 K with nominal reaction times of 1.65 ms. Dilute reagent mixtures of ∼100 ppm of each fuel were prepared in bulk argon and shock heated to study the stable intermediates. The experimental data have been used to develop and validate a kinetic model for the pyrolysis and oxidation of saturated and unsaturated C 8 methyl esters. The developed model has also been coupled to an existing NO mechanism to predict prompt NO formation spanning the experimental temperature regime. It has been predicted that an increased amount of NO is formed from the unsaturated methyl ester, methyl trans-2-octenoate (C9:1) compared to the saturated methyl ester, methyl octanoate (C9:0) over the intermediate temperature range of 1050–1450 K.
Accelerated Stress Rupture Testing for Creep Life Prediction—Its Value and Limitations

Accelerated stress rupture testing has become a common method for determination of the remaining life of in-service components subject to creep damage at elevated temperatures. Stress and temperature increases have both been used to cause accelerated test failures, although the temperature accelerated tests have been preferred during the last decade. Remaining life estimation schemes have essentially involved extrapolation of results of the accelerated tests to the operating conditions. The accelerated test approach has found such widespread acceptance that most users today are unaware of its limitations and have started using the results in a definitive and quantitative way as a direct prediction of the remaining life of the component. EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute) investigators have examined the application and validity of a number of aspects of accelerated testing, as well as the underlying assumptions in the extrapolation procedures. This paper reviews the current practice, describes results from a number of research activities, and provides general guidelines for accelerated rupture testing.
Toddler self-regulation skills predict risk for pediatric obesity

To investigate the role of early self-regulation skills, including emotion regulation, sustained attention and inhibitory control/reward sensitivity, in predicting pediatric obesity in early childhood. Participants for this study included 57 children (25 girls) obtained from three different cohorts participating in a larger ongoing longitudinal study. At 2 years of age, participants participated in several laboratory tasks designed to assess their self-regulation skills. Height and weight measures were collected when children were 2 and 5.5 years of age. Self-regulation skills in toddlerhood were predictive of both normal variations in body mass index (BMI) development and pediatric obesity. Specifically, emotion regulation was the primary self-regulation skill involved in predicting normative changes in BMI as no effects were found for sustained attention or inhibitory control/reward sensitivity. However, both emotion regulation and inhibitory control/reward sensitivity predicted more extreme weight problems (that is, pediatric obesity), even after controlling for 2-year BMI. Thus, toddlers with poor emotion regulation skills and lower inhibitory control skills/higher reward sensitivity were more likely to be classified as overweight/at risk at 5.5 years of age. Early self-regulation difficulties across domains (that is, behavioral and emotional) represent significant individual risk factors for the development of pediatric obesity. Mechanisms by which early self-regulation skills may contribute to the development of pediatric obesity are discussed.
Determining bounds on controller workload rates at an intersection

This paper considers the problem of determining the maximum controller workload associated with two intersecting flows of aircraft according to aircraft arrival rates. Based on the structure of the aircraft arrivals, an optimal control strategy is presented for minimizing the maximum rate of resolutions required to deconflict traffic at the intersection. Bounds on the rate of resolution take into account magnitude constraints in the conflict resolution commands issued to aircraft. The goal of this research is to establish worst-case measures of workload such that air traffic flow managers can route traffic along network structures without exceeding human-controller performance capabilities.
Frequency-chirped copropagating multiple-bit stimulated-echo storage and retrieval in Pr(3+):YAlO(3).

Using a frequency-chirped ring dye laser, we have stored and recalled as much as 48 bits of information with the copropagating stimulated-echo geometry on the 3H4−1D2 transition in Pr3+:YAlO3. Since the copropagating excitation scheme has all the excitation pulses spatially overlapping, this technique will be useful to the practical implementation of stimulated-echo memory because there is no need for alignment of beams. Our experiments also demonstrate that frequency chirping of the excitation pulses dramatically improves not only pulse-shape reproduction by the echo pulse but also the shot-to-shot stability of the amplitude of the recalled data.
Organic synthesis during fluid mixing in hydrothermal systems

Hydrothermal circulation can lead to fluid mixing on any planet with liquid water and a source of heat. Aqueous fluids with differing compositions, especially different oxidation states, are likely to be far from thermodynamic equilibrium when they mix, and provide a source of free energy that can drive organic synthesis from CO 2 and H 2 , and/or supply a source of geochemical energy to chemolithoautotrophic organisms. Results are presented that quantify the potential for organic synthesis during unbuffered fluid mixing in present submarine hydrothermal svstems, as well as hypothetical systems that may have existed on the early Earth and Mars. Dissolved hydrogen, present in submarine hydrothermal fluids owing to the high-temperature reduction of H 2 O as seawater reacts with oceanic crustal rocks, provides the reduction potential and the thermodynamic drive for organic synthesis from CO 2 (or bicarbonate) as hydrothermal fluids mix with seawater. The potential for organic synthesis is a strong function of the H 2 content of the hydrothermal fluid, which is, in turn, a function of the prevailing oxidation state controlled by the composition of the rock that hosts the hydrothermal system. Hydrothermal fluids with initial oxidation states at or below those set by the fayalite-magnetite-quartz mineral assemblage show the greatest potential for driving organic synthesis. These calculations show that it is thermodynamically possible for 100% of the carbon in the mixed fluid to be reduced to a mixture of carboxylic acids, alcohols, and ketones in the range 250-50°C as cold seawater mixes with the hydrothermal fluid. As the temperature drops, larger organic molecules are favored, which implies that fluid mixing could drive the geochemical equivalent of a metaholic system. This enormous reduction potential probably drives a large portion of the primary productivity around present seafloor hydrothermal vents and would have been present in hydrothermal systems on the early Earth or Mars. The single largest control on the potential for organic synthesis is the composition of the rock that hosts the hydrothermal system.
A Secondary Survey Analysis Study of African American Ethnic Identity Orientations in Two National Samples

This study used secondary survey analysis to explore the national variability in the ethnic identity orientations of African Americans, making use of Cross’s racial identity model as a framework. R...
How do Customers Express Dissatisfaction and What can Service Marketers do About it

Discusses customer dissatisfaction and how it is expressed. Reports on a study showing that customers will complain to management if the problem is severe and if they are encouraged to participate in service management, whereas if service firms create barriers within the complaint‐handling process and set up luxury‐oriented and aloof service images, customers will adopt more harmful negative word of mouth forms of complaining. Proposes ways of managing customer complaints, for controlling the more harmful types of dissatisfaction and for maximizing opportunities to develop loyal customer bases through effective handling of problems.
Fibrillarin and Other snoRNP Proteins Are Targets of Autoantibodies in Xenobiotic-Induced Autoimmunity

Exposure of SJL/J mice to mercury induces an anti-nucleolar autoantibody response. The predominant target is fibrillarin, a 34-kDa component of the small nucleolar ribonucleoprotein particles (snoRNP), but other proteins are also recognized. To characterize these proteins, monoclonal IgG anti-nucleolar antibodies were produced from HgC12-treated SJL/J mice. One monoclonal, 17C12, recognized fibrillarin, while two others, 7G3 and 6G10, were found to immunoprecipitate snoRNP particles but not fibrillarin. Antibody 6G10 gave a nucleolar immunofluorescence pattern in human, murine, and amphibian cells, but was negative in immunoblot. The 7G3 monoclone reacted with a 60-kDa protein conserved in human and murine, but not amphibian, cell lines. The 7G3 and 6G10 antigens and fibrillarin colocalized to the nucleolus and Cajal bodies in interphase cells and decorated metaphase chromosomes. These studies suggest that the mercury-induced anti-nucleolar antibody response targets other protein components of the snoRNP particles in addition to fibrillarin.
Regional climate shifts caused by gradual global cooling in the Pliocene epoch.

The Earth's climate has undergone a global transition over the past four million years, from warm conditions with global surface temperatures about 3 °C warmer than today, smaller ice sheets and higher sea levels to the current cooler conditions. Tectonic changes and their influence on ocean heat transport have been suggested as forcing factors for that transition, including the onset of significant Northern Hemisphere glaciation ∼2.75 million years ago, but the ultimate causes for the climatic changes are still under debate. Here we compare climate records from high latitudes, subtropical regions and the tropics, indicating that the onset of large glacial/interglacial cycles did not coincide with a specific climate reorganization event at lower latitudes. The regional differences in the timing of cooling imply that global cooling was a gradual process, rather than the response to a single threshold or episodic event as previously suggested. We also find that high-latitude climate sensitivity to variations in solar heating increased gradually, culminating after cool tropical and subtropical upwelling conditions were established two million years ago. Our results suggest that mean low-latitude climate conditions can significantly influence global climate feedbacks.
Beam trapping in a modified betatron accelerator

The experimental results on the trapping of the beam in the Naval Research Laboratory modified betatron accelerator are in good agreement with a revised model of resistive trapping, and thus it may be concluded that the wall resistivity is responsible for the inward spiral motion of the beam after injection.
The Lunar Society of Birmingham; A Bicentenary Appraisal

TWO hundred years ago there began to gather in an industrial town more than one hundred miles from London, that group of scientists and amateurs which became known as the Lunar Society of Birmingham.The Lunar Society was neither the first nor, in the long run, the most scientifically significant of the provincial societies to be organized in eighteenth century Britain; of the towns possessing them, Birmingham might reasonably be thought one of the least likely to have produced a society worthy of particular notice. Yet, since the middle years of the nineteenth century, when its story began to be reconstructed, none of the provincial societies has attracted the attention of historians as has the Lunar Society.
Hack the Library! a first timer’s look at the 29th Computers in Libraries conference in Washington, DC

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on selected presentations from the 29th Computers in Libraries (CIL) conference that took place at Washington Hilton hotel, Washington, DC. In addition to its content, the CIL (2014) conference provided opportunities to discuss best practices and emerging issues with IT professionals, vendors and “techno” librarians, especially from North America. There was a conference within a conference – the Internet@Schools track integrated into CIL 2014 as Track E on Monday, April 7, and Tuesday, April 8. Design/methodology/approach – Reports from the viewpoint of a first-time attendee of CIL (2014) present a summary of the selected presentations with more detail on networking events and the exhibition. The CIL (2014) conference attracted librarians from 13 countries other than the USA. It is difficult to document the entire conference happenings in a single report because of several tracks (A-E) and number of speakers; therefore, a selective approach is used. Findings...
Device characteristics of the GaAs/InGaAsN/GaAs p-n-p double heterojunction bipolar transistor

We have demonstrated the dc and rf characteristics of a novel p-n-p GaAs/InGaAsN/GaAs double heterojunction bipolar transistor. This device has near ideal current-voltage (I-V) characteristics with a current gain greater than 45. The smaller bandgap energy of the InGaAsN base has led to a device turn-on voltage that is 0.27 V lower than in a comparable p-n-p AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor. This device has shown f/sub T/ and f/sub MAX/ values of 12 GHz. In addition, the aluminum-free emitter structure eliminates issues typically associated with AlGaAs.
What Adolescents Bring to and Learn from Relationship Education Classes: Does Social Address Matter?

The current study examined the effectiveness of a youth-focused relationship education curriculum in a sample of 1,430 adolescents attending health classes across 39 public high schools. The evaluation consisted of pre, post, and 1-year follow-up data collections for intervention and control samples. Growth curve models were fit to test the general effects of the curriculum and to examine the influence of social address indicators. Results indicated that the intervention group, but not the control group, changed in the desired direction in terms of the faulty relationship beliefs and the relationship skills that were the focus of this study. Desired improvements on the faulty relationship beliefs occurred independent of social address, but desired improvements in conflict management skills appeared only for the less socially or economically advantaged groups (e.g., lower socioeconomic status and minority status). Participants living in stepfamilies also significantly improved their perceived skills. Adole...
The two steps of group II intron self-splicing are mechanistically distinguishable.

The two transesterification reactions catalyzed by self-splicing group II introns take place in either two active sites or two conformations of a single active site involving rearrangements of the positions of the reacting groups. We have investigated the effects on the rates of the chemical steps of the two reactions due to sulfur substitution of nonbridging oxygens at both the 59 and 39 splice sites as well as the deoxyribose substitution of the ribose 29 hydroxyl group at the 59 splice site. The data suggest that the two active sites differ in their interactions with several of these groups. Specifically, sulfur substitution of the pro-Sp nonbridging oxygen at the 59 splice site reduces the chemical rate of the step one branching reaction by at least 250-fold, whereas substitution of the pro-Sp oxygen at the 39 splice site has only a 4.5-fold effect on the chemical rate of step two. Previous work demonstrated that the Rp phosphorothioate substitutions at both the 59 and 39 splice sites reduced the rate of both steps of splicing to an undetectable level. These results suggest that either two distinct active sites catalyze the two steps or that more significant alterations must be made in a single bifunctional active site to accommodate the two different reactions.
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Signaling Pathway as an Emerging Target in Hematologic Malignancies

Angiogenesis is important in a variety of physiologic and pathologic disorders. It is a central element in embryogenesis, ovulation, wound healing, diabetic retinopathy, and rheumatoid arthritis and in the establishment and spread of malignant tumors. Angiogenic factors include direct angiogens, indirect angiogens, and integrins. Direct angiogens stimulate the formation of new blood vessels directly. Indirect angiogens promote neovascular formation by paracrine stimulation of direct angiogens. Integrins mediate interactions between the developing vessels and components of the extracellular matrix. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a principal direct angiogen. By binding to 1 of 3 receptors (VEGFR-1, -2, or -3), it influences vasculogenesis during embryogenesis, physiologic and neoplastic angiogenesis, and lymphangiogenesis. Although the importance of angiogenesis in solid tumors has been recognized for some time, its exact significance in hematologic malignancies is less clear. Evidence now suggests that VEGF has a major role in the development and progression of hematologic malignancies such as acute leukemia, chronic leukemia, myelodysplasia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and multiple myeloma. Potential therapeutic interventions to interrupt the VEGF signaling pathway of malignancy include antibodies that neutralize the growth factor and small molecules that inhibit the receptor tyrosine kinase activity of VEGF receptors. The Oncologist 2001;6(suppl 5):24-31
Tissue Artifact Removal from Respiratory Signals Based on Empirical Mode Decomposition

On-line measurement of respiration plays an important role in monitoring human physical activities. Such measurement commonly employs sensing belts secured around the rib cage and abdomen of the test object. Affected by the movement of body tissues, respiratory signals typically have a low signal-to-noise ratio. Removing tissue artifacts therefore is critical to ensuring effective respiration analysis. This paper presents a signal decomposition technique for tissue artifact removal from respiratory signals, based on the empirical mode decomposition (EMD). An algorithm based on the mutual information and power criteria was devised to automatically select appropriate intrinsic mode functions for tissue artifact removal and respiratory signal reconstruction. Performance of the EMD-algorithm was evaluated through simulations and real-life experiments (N = 105). Comparison with low-pass filtering that has been conventionally applied confirmed the effectiveness of the technique in tissue artifacts removal.
Fragment Screening and Druggability Assessment for the CBP/p300 KIX Domain through Protein‐Observed 19F NMR Spectroscopy

19F NMR spectroscopy of labeled proteins is a sensitive method for characterizing structure, conformational dynamics, higher-order assembly, and ligand binding. Fluorination of aromatic side chains has been suggested as a labeling strategy for small-molecule ligand discovery for protein–protein interaction interfaces. Using a model transcription factor binding domain of the CREB binding protein (CBP)/p300, KIX, we report the first full small-molecule screen using protein-observed 19F NMR spectroscopy. Screening of 508 compounds and validation by 1H–15N HSQC NMR spectroscopy led to the identification of a minimal pharmacaphore for the MLL-KIX interaction site. Hit rate analysis for the CREB-KIX and MLL-KIX sites provided a metric to assess the ligandability or “druggability” of each interface informing future medicinal chemistry efforts. The structural information from the simplified spectra and data collection speed, affords a new screening tool for analysis of protein interfaces and discovery of small molecules.
Data transfer minimization for financial derivative pricing using Monte Carlo simulation with GPU in 5G

Summary Mobile devices with an enhanced capability are desired to achieve more efficient and energy-aware wireless communications in the future 5G networks. However, the performance of the expected hardware and networks will face a great challenge in efficiently calculating large data transmissions during the heavy wireless communications with a great number of random data. This paper proposes a novel paradigm for preventing future mobile technology implementations from the restrictions of hardware by using graphics processing units (GPUs). Our proposed mechanism is the first attempt in using GPUs to strengthen the wireless communication capability, which is proved by the experimental research and contributes to mobile technologies in 5G. We apply the Monte Carlo simulation method that is for evaluating the results of algorithms whose output depends on random variables. The experimental results show that Monte Carlo simulation based on GPU can achieve up to 25.9× speed compared with CPU-based implementation. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Comparison of an Automated Repetitive Sequence-Based PCR Microbial Typing System to Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis for Analysis of Outbreaks of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Rapid and sensitive methods for accurate strain delineation are essential for monitoring and preventing transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) has been the standard technique for strain typing most bacterial species including MRSA. The goal of this study was to compare the performance of the DiversiLab microbial typing system (Bacterial BarCodes, Inc., Houston, TX) (rep-PCR) to that of PFGE for typing MRSA isolates from five well-defined outbreaks. The DiversiLab rep-PCR assay is a rapid, semiautomated method based on PCR amplification of specific regions between noncoding repetitive sequences in the bacterial genome. rep-PCR was performed according to the manufacturer's recommendations, and the results were analyzed and dendrograms were generated using the DiversiLab analysis software (version 2.1.66 a). PFGE was performed and interpreted according to published procedures. rep-PCR results using similarity indices (SI) of 80%, 85%, and 90% were compared to PFGE analysis. In addition, intra- and interrun reproducibility was determined for rep-PCR. Overall, correct assignment to outbreak versus nonoutbreak clusters occurred for 91 of 109 isolates (85% agreement) when using a SI of 85%. For each specific outbreak, concordance between rep-PCR and PFGE ranged from 73% to 100%. There were 18 discrepant results (17%). Fourteen isolates were unique by PFGE, but they were placed in clusters by rep-PCR; the other 4 were placed in clusters different from those assigned by PFGE. Intra- and interrun reproducibility was excellent. Times to results were 12 to 24 h for rep-PCR compared to 2 to 4 days for PFGE. Rapid, standardized results and excellent reproducibility make rep-PCR a valuable tool for use in MRSA investigations. However, since rep-PCR was less discriminatory than PFGE, we recommend that it be used to screen isolates, followed by testing isolates which share the same rep-PCR pattern with a more sensitive method, such as PFGE or multilocus sequence typing.
Assessing model fit in joint models of longitudinal and survival data with applications to cancer clinical trials.

Joint models for longitudinaland survival data now have along history of being used in clinical trials or other studies in which the goal is to assess a treatment effect while accounting for longitudinal assessments such as patient-reported outcomes or tumor response. Compared to using survival data alone,the joint modeling of survival and longitudinal data allows for estimation of direct and indirect treatment effects, thereby resulting in improved efficacy assessment. Although global fit indices such as AIC or BIC can be used to rank joint models, these measures do not provide separate assessments of each component of the joint model. In this paper, we develop a novel decomposition of AIC and BIC (i.e., AIC = AICLong + AICSurv|Long and BIC = BICLong + BICSurv|Long) that allows us to assess the fit of each component of the joint model, and in particular to assess the fit of the longitudinal component of the model and the survival component separately. Based on this decomposition, we then propose ΔAICSurv and ΔBICSurv to determine the importance and contribution of the longitudinal data to the model fit of the survival data. Moreover, this decomposition, along with ΔAICSurv and ΔBICSurv, is also quite useful in comparing, for example, trajectory-based joint models and shared parameter joint models and deciding which type of model best fits the survival data. We examine a detailed case study in mesothelioma to apply our proposed methodology along with an extensive set of simulation studies.
Egg Sphingomyelin Lowers the Lymphatic Absorption of Cholesterol and α-Tocopherol in Rats

Evidence indicates that phosphatidylcholine (PC) inhibits the intestinal absorption of cholesterol (CH) in rats. This study was designed to determine whether sphingomyelin (SM), structurally similar to PC, also inhibits the lymphatic absorption of CH. Sprague-Dawley rats with lymph cannulae were infused at 3.0 mL/h for 8 h via a duodenal catheter with a lipid emulsion [33.3 kBq 14C-CH, 20.7 micromol CH, 451.7 micromol triolein, 3.1 micromol alpha-tocopherol (alphaTP), 75.4 nmol retinol and 396.0 micromol sodium taurocholate in 24 mL of PBS (pH, 6.5)], without egg SM (SM0) as control, or with 5.0 micromol/h (SM5) or 10.0 micromol/h (SM10). Egg SM lowered the lymphatic absorption of 14C-CH in a dose dependent manner. Likewise, SM lowered the lymphatic absorptions of alphaTP and fatty acid (oleic acid), whereas it had no effect on retinol absorption. SM at a high dose (SM10) lowered the lymphatic outputs of both PC and SM, whereas there was no such effect at a lower dose (SM5). These results indicate that luminal egg SM has an inhibitory effect on the intestinal absorption of CH and other lipids of relatively high hydrophobicity. Our findings suggest that SM, if ingested in sufficient amounts, may inhibit the intestinal absorption of dietary lipids including cholesterol and alphaTP.
Consecutive Scanning Scheme: Application to Localization and Dynamic Obstacle Detection for a Mobile Robot

This paper presents the mobile robot localization and obstacle detection algorithm using the consecutive range sensor scanning scheme. For known environment, a mobile robot scans the environment using which can rotate 360°. The environment is rebuild using characteristic points which means nodes of two adjacent walls, and obstacle is detected by comparing characteristic points of both original environment and scanned data set. If scanning is done densely for a certain position, inaccuracy of sensor can be overcome to some extent. It is very useful algorithm in detecting the moving obstacle. By comparing two data sets, the movement of an obstacle can be picked out. Furthermore, consecutive scanning data set provides additional localization information so that we can get the robot configuration more precisely.Copyright © 2002 by ASME
Mesh deformation strategy optimized by the adjoint method on unstructured meshes

An adjoint-based optimization procedure is proposed for improving the robustness and extending the range of linear-elasticity-based mesh deformation techniques. Using the values of the modulus of elasticity E defined in each mesh cell as the design variables, the procedure seeks to determine an optimum distribution of E throughout the mesh, in order to minimize a global objective function which reflects the skewness or lack of quality of the deformed mesh. The technique is applied to highly-stretched mixed element meshes in two and three dimensions on complex geometries, and is shown to be capable of recovering a valid mesh in a small number of optimization cycles for cases where the non-optimized linear-elasticity approach fails. However, the solution of the optimization problem remains relatively costly in terms of cpu time, compared to a non-optimized mesh deformation calculation, making this technique best suited for precomputing improved E distributions prior to the simulation, or for use as a plug-in module to be invoked in cases where the non-optimized procedure fails.
Human Prostate Cancer Harbors the Stem Cell Properties of Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Purpose: Prostate tumor cells frequently show the features of osteoblasts, which are differentiated from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. We examined human prostate cancer cell lines and clinical prostate cancer specimens for additional bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell properties. Experimental Design: Prostate cancer cell lines were induced for osteoblastogenic and adipogenic differentiation, detected by standard staining methods and confirmed by lineage-specific marker expression. Abnormal expression of the markers was then assessed in clinical prostate cancer specimens. Results: After osteoblastogenic induction, cells of the LNCaP lineage, PC-3 lineage, and DU145 displayed osteoblastic features. Upon adipogenic induction, PC-3 lineage and DU145 cells differentiated into adipocyte-like cells. The adipocyte-like cancer cells expressed brown adipocyte-specific markers, suggesting differentiation along the brown adipocyte lineage. The adipogenic differentiation was accompanied by growth inhibition, and most of the adipocyte-like cancer cells were committed to apoptotic death. During cyclic treatments with adipogenic differentiation medium and then with control medium, the cancer cells could commit to repeated adipogenic differentiation and retrodifferentiation. In clinical prostate cancer specimens, the expression of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1), a brown fat-specific marker, was enhanced with the level of expression correlated to disease progression from primary to bone metastatic cancers. Conclusions: This study thus revealed that prostate cancer cells harbor the stem cell properties of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells. The abnormally expressed adipogenic UCP1 protein may serve as a unique marker, while adipogenic induction can be explored as a differentiation therapy for prostate cancer progression and bone metastasis. Clin Cancer Res; 17(8); 2159–69. ©2011 AACR .