cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Photolysis of the HNO adduct of myoglobin: transient generation of the aminoxyl radical.

The photolysis of the HNO-myoglobin adduct has been followed by transient absorption experiments down to the nanosecond time scale. A unique transient assignable to generation of an FeIII/HNO- geminate pair is observed; the transient loss of this absorbance trace, assignable to the recombination, is fit to a single-exponential decay with τ = 7.0 (±0.5) × 10-5 sec. Residual absorbance after the microsecond recombination indicates a small percentage escape of HNO- into solution during pulsed photolysis experiments. Thermal decomposition and bulk photolysis also generate metMb products; analysis of the reaction mixture after photolysis identified low yields of H2NOH, suggesting multiple secondary reactions of the released aminoxyl radical. Photolysis of 15N-labeled HNO-Mb showed only the presence of 15N2O as gaseous product. Both the production of metMb and the microsecond recombination time scale suggest ferric character to the adduct, that is, (HNO-)−FeIIIMb, analogous to similar characterizations of the i...
Adenocarcinoma and (extragonadal) choriocarcinoma of the gallbladder in a young woman.

Abstract This study represents the second case of coexisting adenocarcinoma and choriocarcinoma of the gallbladder reported in the English language medical literature, and the first such case documented by: (1) positive immunostaining of tumor cells for the β subunit of human chorionic gonadotrophin, and (2) evidence of gonadotrophin secretion in blood and urine. The patient reported herein survived only 1 month following diagnosis, and exemplifies the reportedly lethal behavior of extragonadal choriocarcinoma.
Maternal selenium supplementation and timing of nutrient restriction in pregnant sheep: Impacts on nutrient availability to the fetus

To determine the effects of maternal Se intake and plane of nutrition during mid or late gestation or both on AA concentrations and metabolite concentrations in the dam and fetus, pregnant ewe lambs (n = 64) were assigned to 1 of 8 treatments arranged in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial array: Se level [initiated at breeding; adequate (ASe; 3.05 μg/kg of BW) or high (HSe; 70.4 μg/kg of BW)] and nutritional level [100% (control; CON) or 60% (restricted; RES) of NRC recommendations] fed at different times of gestation [d 50 to 90 (mid) or d 91 to 132 (late)]. A blood sample was obtained from each ewe and fetus on d 132 of gestation and used to measure circulating concentrations of glucose, NEFA, blood urea N, and AA. The late RES ewes and their fetuses had less (P ≤ 0.03) circulating glucose compared with late CON ewes and fetuses at d 132; however, no effect (P ≥ 0.14) of diet on the fetal:maternal glucose concentration ratio was observed. Late RES ewes had a smaller (P = 0.01) fetal:maternal NEFA ratio compared with late CON ewes. Ewes fed ASe had a greater (P = 0.01) fetal:maternal blood urea N ratio compared with HSe ewes. Fetal:maternal ratios of total circulating AA, total essential AA, and total nonessential AA were each affected (P ≤ 0.03) by the combination of Se treatment and late gestation nutritional level.
Leaky-wave propagation and radiation for a narrow-beam multiple-layer dielectric structure

Previous work has demonstrated that very narrow beam radiation patterns can be obtained from a simple source embedded within multiple dielectric layers of appropriate thicknesses above a ground plane. The configuration consists of dielectric layers having permittivities epsilon /sub 1/ and epsilon /sub 2/ stacked in an alternating arrangement, with epsilon /sub 2/> epsilon /sub 1/. This narrow-beam effect can be attributed to weakly attenuated leaky waves that exist on the structure. Simple asymptotic formulas for the propagation and attenuation constants are derived. The formulas show how the beamwidth varies with the number of layers and the material constants. The exact radiation pattern is compared with the leaky-wave pattern for a specific case to demonstrate the role of the leaky waves in determining the total pattern. >
Extension of the stability criterion of linear active two-ports to the entire complex frequency plane

The real-frequency stability criterion of linear active two-ports is extended to the entire complex frequency p plane. The criterion presented contains also the necessary and sufficiency conditions on the coefficients of a general bilinear function such that an arbitrary positive-real function is transformed into another positive-real function.
Belief ascriptions and social externalism

I outline Brandom’s theory of de re and de dicto belief ascriptions, which plays a central role in Brandom’s overall theory of linguistic communication, and show that this theory offers a surprising, new response to Burge’s (Midwest Stud 6:73–121, 1979) argument for social externalism. However, while this response is in principle available from the perspective of Brandom’s theory of belief ascription in abstraction from his wider theoretical enterprise, it ceases to be available from this perspective in the wider context of his inferential role semantics and his doctrines of scorekeeping and of the expressive role of belief ascriptions in discourse. In this wider context, Brandom’s theory of belief ascriptions implies that Burge’s argument trivially fails to have the disquieting implications for psychological explanations that it is widely taken to have. Yet since this is not trivially so, Brandom’s theory apparently provides a false picture of our practice of interpreting belief ascriptions. I then argue that Brandom might as well accept the alternative picture of interpreting belief ascriptions that Burge’s argument presupposes: even in the context of his overall project, Brandom’s take on our practice of interpreting them does not afford belief ascriptions with the discursive significance Brandom claims they have.
Involvement of Farnesyl Protein Transferase (FPTase) in FcεRI-Induced Activation of RBL-2H3 Mast Cells☆

Changes in farnesyl protein transferase (FPTase) activity and FPTase beta-subunit protein levels were determined in IgE-sensitized RBL-2H3 mast cells in response to polyvalent antigen administration. Ten minutes after the addition of DNP modified BSA to mast cells, whose high affinity receptor for IgE (FcvarepsilonRI) contained bound anti-DNP IgE, FPTase specific activity increased by 54 +/- 28%. Time course studies showed FPTase specific activity doubled during a 20- to 30-min period after antigen-induced cell aggregation. Also, an increase in FPTase beta-subunit protein during this time ( approximately 30%) was observed; this protein increase was not accompanied by a similar increase in FPTase beta-subunit m-RNA levels. The FcvarepsilonRI aggregation had no significant effect on the activities of other enzymes involved with farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) metabolism: FPP synthase, isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase, geranylgeranyl protein transferase, and squalene synthase. Specific inhibition of FPTase activity by manumycin was studied to determine what role FPTase plays in mast cell activation. Manumycin profoundly inhibited hexosaminidase release in activated cells, indicating FPTase is required for signal transduction involved with protein exocytosis from RBL-2H3 mast cells.
The Medical Student as Patient

It is the first day of my surgery clerkship. After a frantic race to a patient in crisis, my shortness of breath blossoms into an exercise-induced asthma attack. Despite my assertions that I am fin...
Statement on Peyote

In connection with the current national campaign against narcotics, there has been some propaganda to declare illegal the peyote used by many Indian tribes. We are professional anthropologists who have made extensive studies of Peyotism in various tribes. We have participated in the rites and partaken of the sacramental peyote. We therefore feel it our duty to protest against a campaign which only reveals the ignorance of the propagandists concerned.
Vanderbilt University Free-Electron Laser Center

ABSTRACT The Vanderbilt University Free-Electron Laser Center was established to apply the free-electronlaser to interdisciplinary research in medicine, biology, and materials science. The free-electron laser istunable over the range from 2 to 8 tm, with an average power up to 1 1 W. In its first user period, thelaser logged around 1500 hours and served more than 23 groups from around the world.1. INTRODUCTIONIn 1987, Vanderbilt University founded the Free-Electron Laser Center as part ofthe nationalMedical Free-Electron Laser (MFEL) Program, a Congressional initiative funded through the DepartmentofDefense and currently supported and managed by the Office of Naval Research. The purpose of theprogram was to exploit the opportunities afforded by the newly emerging technology of free-electronlasers for research in medicine, biology, and materials science. Because of the combination of basicscience and clinical medicine of which the program is composed, it has been possible to construct aprogram of interdisciplinary research which has brought together investigators from diverse fields andinstitutions in intimate collaborations which would not otherwise have developed. Using new researchinstruments available at the Center, of which the free-electron laser is the centerpiece, these groups havebegun to create and develop unique and exciting ideas by borrowing concepts and technology from eachother.At the present time, the free-electron laser, which has an average power of up to 1 1 W, tunableover a wavelength range from 2 to 8 j.tm, is in routine operation in support of scientific and clinicalexperiments. At the end of the first year of operation, the laser has logged around 1500 hours of operationin support of the applications. Over 23 individual research projects, the work of groups from the UnitedStates and several European countries, are currently in progress. The fields of research include, amongothers, the band structure at semiconductor junctions, laser desorption mass spectrometry of biopolymers,radiation therapy using monochromatic X-rays, surgery of bone and cartilage, neurosurgery, andophthalmology.
EEG alpha asymmetry and creativity

Abstract Results of 3 experiments examining the relationship between creativity and left-hemisphere and right-hemisphere EEG activity are reported. Creativity has been hypothesized to involve the use of primary-process cognition, and such cognition is hypothetically accompanied by activation of the right cerebral hemisphere. In light of these hypotheses, we predicted that highly-creative people should exhibit greater right-hemisphere than left-hemisphere EEG activity during creative performance and that this pattern would not be found in less-creative people. All 3 experiments supported this prediction. This difference in asymmetry was specific to creative performance. It was not present during basal recordings or during a non-creative task.
Some experiments in frictional electricity

For several years data have been collected on electrostatic effects at low humidities. Sufficiently consistent results have been obtained to make the studies valuable to the cotton processing and textile industries.
Experimental and Computational Analysis of Shuttle Orbiter Hypersonic Trim Anomaly

During the high-Mach-number, high-altitude portion of the first entry of the Shuttle Orbiter, the vehicle exhibited a nose-up pitching moment relative to preflight prediction of approximately Delta Cm = 0.03. This trim anomaly has been postulated to be due to compressibility, viscous, and/or real-gas (lowered specific heat ratio gamma) effects on basic body pitching moment, body-flap effectiveness, or both. In order to assess the relative contribution of each of these effects, an experimental study was undertaken to examine the effects of Mach number, Reynolds number, and ratio of specific heats. Complementary computational solutions were obtained for wind-tunnel and flight conditions. The primary cause of the anomaly was determined to be lower pressures on the aft windward surface of the Orbiter than deduced from hypersonic wind-tunnel tests with ideal- or near-ideal-gas test flow. The lower pressure levels are a result of the lowering of the flowfield gamma due to high-temperature effects. This phenomenon was accurately simulated in a hypersonic wind tunnel using a heavy gas, which provided a lower, gamma, and was correctly predicted by Navier-Stokes computations using nonequilibrium chemistry.
Alterations in growth, function and composition of Rana pipiens oocytes and follicles associated with microsporidian parasites

A class of unique, abnormally enlarged and discolored follicles and oocytes were identified in ovaries of sexually mature Rana pipiens. Various parameters of the composition, function and structure of these “large” oocytes were analyzed and compared to that of normal, fully grown oocytes and follicles obtained from the same ovary. Large oocytes in contrast to normal oocytes contained markedly elevated concentrations of potassium and decreased levels of calcium ions. Sodium and magnesium concentrations, in contrast, were relatively the same in both types of oocytes. The ratio of sodium to potassium in large oocytes was markedly depressed from that seen in normal oocytes. Treatment of normal, immature (germinal vesicle stage) oocytes with EDTA produced: (1) loss of potassium, (2) an influx of sodium and (3) an elevated Na/K ratio. Similar alterations were not observed when large oocytes recovered from the ovary or the body cavity following ovulation were treated with EDTA. Progesterone pre-treatment of normal and large oocytes recovered from the ovary inhibited the response of the normal but not large oocytes to EDTA. Normal immature and large oocytes recovered from the ovary extensively incorporated yolk protein precursor 3H-vitellogenin. Following ovulation 3H-vitellogenin incorporation was markedly depressed in normal oocytes whereas large oocytes continued to incorporate at a much higher rate per unit surface area and did not undergo ultrastructural changes (retraction of microvilli) which are associated with suppression of vitellogenin incorporation. Ultrastructural analysis revealed that large oocytes in contrast to normal oocytes were devoid of cortical granules, contained few yolk platelets and numerous lipid droplets. In addition, the cytoplasm of large oocytes contained numerous microsporidia at various stages of differentiation. The results indicate that large oocytes are viable cells but undergo drastic alterations in their development, composition and function, in association with the parasitic infection. The significance of these interrelated changes are discussed in relation to the mechanisms of infection and those of gamete differentiation.
The Qinghai–Tibet Railway: A landmark project and its subsequent environmental challenges

The first part of this paper reviews the environment-friendly techniques implemented when the Qinghai–Tibet Railway was built. They include (1) state-of-the-art techniques to protect the permafrost in the subgrade of the railway embankment; (2) measures to avoid disturbing the species in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau; (3) efforts to minimize the disturbance of the grassland and wetland; and (4) regulation to ensure the environmental disposal of the construction waste. The second part presents the subsequent environmental challenges which, after the operation of the railway, potentially risk the fragile ecological and environmental system in the plateau. The challenges come from the skyrocketing tourists, expansive natural resource exploitation, the long-term efficiency of permafrost-protected measure, and climatic warming.
A smart T1-weighted MRI contrast agent for uranyl cations based on a DNAzyme–gadolinium conjugate

Rational design of smart MRI contrast agents with high specificity for metal ions remains a challenge. Here, we report a general strategy for the design of smart MRI contrast agents for detecting metal ions based on conjugation of a DNAzyme with a gadolinium complex. The 39E DNAzyme, which has high selectivity for UO22+, was conjugated to Gd(III)–DOTA and streptavidin. The binding of UO22+ to its 39E DNAzyme resulted in the dissociation of Gd(III)–DOTA from the large streptavidin, leading to a decrease of the T1 correlation time, and a change in the MRI signal.
A battery of tests for evaluating steadiness in clinical trials.

A battery of steadiness tests measuring several different aspects of upper-extremity tremor has been developed to objectively evaluate tremor in clinical trials. 40 young-adult normal subjects, 20 older-adult normal subjects, 10 patients having Parkinson's disease and 10 patients having multiple sclerosis served as subjects to evaluate the battery of tests. For normal subjects, no important differences were found between performance by the dominant and the nondominant body sides. Males were found to be significantly less steady than females. Although tests conducted with the arm unsupported were invariant with age, tests conducted with the arm supported showed significant performance decrements with increasing age. In a recent drug trial, performance in the steadiness-test battery was found to correspond closely with qualitative assessments providing an indication that the tests are valid. It is emphasised that the steadiness test serve not as diagnostic tools, but as quantitative instruments reliable for measuring upper-extremity tremor.
The impact of social and conventional media on firm equity value: A sentiment analysis approach

This study aims to investigate the effect of social media and conventional media, their relative importance, and their interrelatedness on short term firm stock market performances. We use a novel and large-scale dataset that features daily media content across various conventional media and social media outlets for 824 public traded firms across 6 industries. Social media outlets include blogs, forums, and Twitter. Conventional media includes major newspapers, television broadcasting companies, and business magazines. We apply the advanced sentiment analysis technique that goes beyond the number of mentions (counts) to analyze the overall sentiment of each media resource toward a specific company on the daily basis. We use stock return and risk as the indicators of companies' short-term performances. Our findings suggest that overall social media has a stronger relationship with firm stock performance than conventional media while social and conventional media have a strong interaction effect on stock performance. More interestingly, we find that the impact of different types of social media varies significantly. Different types of social media also interrelate with conventional media to influence stock movement in various directions and degrees. Our study is among the first to examine the effect of multiple sources of social media along with the effect of conventional media and to investigate their relative importance and their interrelatedness. Our findings suggest the importance for firms to differentiate and leverage the unique impact of various sources of media outlets in implementing their social media marketing strategies.
Tribology of aluminum metal-matrix composites: lubrication by graphite

Abstract A study has been performed to examine the tribological compatibility of commercial aluminum metal-matrix composites (MMCs) with graphite as a solid lubricant. Two commercial composites, namely a 2014 aluminum alloy reinforced with 20 vol.% of β-SiC whiskers and an Al-Si alloy dispersed with 20 vol.% of SiC particles, were chosen as substrate materials. The solid lubricant films were powder burnished on metallographically polished surfaces of composites and matrix alloys. The durability of these burnished films was assessed by performing long-term friction experiments using a ball-on-disc apparatus. The nature of the adhesion between the graphite films and the MMC substrates was examined using a scanning electron microscope equipped with a wavelength dispersive X-ray spectroscope. Films burnished on Al-Cu alloy surfaces withstood much higher loads than those burnished on Al-Si alloys. The silicon protrusions in the etched surfaces of Al-Si alloys anchored the graphite films. Silicon carbide particles in unburnished composite surfaces abraded the steel counterface extensively, whereas the whiskers acted in a more benign manner as a polishing medium.
To Investigate Protein Evolution by Detecting Suppressed Epitope Structures

Material remains of ancestor nucleotides and proteins are largely unavailable, thus sequence comparison among homologous genes in present-day organisms forms the core of current knowledge of molecular evolution. Variation in protein three-dimensional structure is a basis for functional diversity. To study the evolution of three-dimensional structures in related proteins would significantly improve our understanding of protein evolution and function. A protein may contain ancestor conformations that have been allosterically suppressed by evolutionarily additive structures. Using monoclonal antibody probes to detect such conformation in proteins after removing the suppressor structure, our study demonstrates three-dimensional structure evidence for the evolutionary relationship between troponin I and troponin T, two subunits of the troponin complex in the Ca2+-regulatory system of striated muscle, and among their muscle type-specific isoforms. The experimental data show the feasibility of detecting evolutionarily suppressed history-telling structural states in proteins by removing conformational modulator segments added during evolution. In addition to identifying structural modifications that were critical to the emergence of diverged proteins, investigating this novel mode of evolution will help us to understand the origin and functional potential of protein structures.
NMRbot: Python scripts enable high-throughput data collection on current Bruker BioSpin NMR spectrometers.

To facilitate the high-throughput acquisition of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experimental data on large sets of samples, we have developed a simple and straightforward automated methodology that capitalizes on recent advances in Bruker BioSpin NMR spectrometer hardware and software. Given the daunting challenge for non-NMR experts to collect quality spectra, our goal was to increase user accessibility, provide customized functionality, and improve the consistency and reliability of resultant data. This methodology, NMRbot, is encoded in a set of scripts written in the Python programming language accessible within the Bruker BioSpin TopSpin™ software. NMRbot improves automated data acquisition and offers novel tools for use in optimizing experimental parameters on the fly. This automated procedure has been successfully implemented for investigations in metabolomics, small-molecule library profiling, and protein–ligand titrations on four Bruker BioSpin NMR spectrometers at the National Magnetic Resonance Facility at Madison. The investigators reported benefits from ease of setup, improved spectral quality, convenient customizations, and overall time savings.
The façade of equality in liberal democratic theory

Liberal democratic theory is the ideological expression of capitalism. Its paramount function is to justify the distribution of property and power which permits a minority of men to exploit and dominate the lives of the majority. A crucial device for carrying out this task is the elaboration of a theory of political equality which maintains the economic foundation of capitalism. But as capitalism is itself an evolving system, so the theory which protects its interests passes through important stages. A fundamental change occurs in the transition from classical liberal theory to its contemporary articulation as political science. For Locke and Mill an egalitarian directive is first abstractly posited and then, through specific modification, withdrawn. For Schumpeter, however, what the classical doctrine would have regarded as the perversion of democracy, is itself made integral to the redefinition of the democratic process. The result of the behavioral restatement is the destruction of the tension which se...
Variational formulation of covariant eikonal theory for vector waves

Abstract The eikonal theory of wave propagation is developed by means of a Lorentz-covariant variational principle, involving functions defined on the natural eight-dimensional phase space of rays. The wave field is a four-vector representing the electromagnetic potential, while the medium is represented by an anisotropic, dispersive nonuniform dielectric tensor D μν ( k , x ). The eikonal expansion yields, to lowest order, the hamiltonian ray equations, which define the lagrangian manifold k ( x ), and the wave-action conservation law, which determines the wave-amplitude transport along the rays. The first-order contribution to the variational principle yields a concise expression for the transport of the polarization phase. The symmetry between k -space and x -space allows for a simple implementation of the Maslov transform, which avoids the difficulties of caustic singularities.
Crystal structure of the oxidenitride, Li16Nb2N8O

Abstract Crystals of rhombohedral Li16Nb2N8O (space groupR3(h), No. 148,Z= 3,a= 5.984(4) A,c= 25.484(8) A) were obtained during a study of the Li–Ba–Nb–N system when a mixture of Li, Ba, and Nb confined in quartz was heated at 850°C under flowing N2. Refinement of single crystal data based uponF2yieldedR2 = 0.024 andwR2 = 0.047. Li16Nb2N8O crystallizes isotypically with Li16Ta2N8O in an anti-fluorite type superstructure. The Nb and two of the four independent Li ions are tetrahedrally coordinated by nitrogen anions; the remaining two Li ions are tetrahedrally coordinated by one oxygen and three nitrogen anions. The compound can also be prepared by heating a Li3N:Nb2O5:NbN = 16/3:1/5:8/5 molar mixture under flowing Ar/N2at 900°C for 24 h. Magnetic susceptibility data between 10 and 300 K exhibit temperature independent paramagnetism.
On the mathematical structure of the multiperipheral equation

It is shown that the kernel of the eigenvalue equation of the multiperipheral scattering model is related to the kernel of the eigenvalue equation associated with the BetheSalpeter equation for Regge trajectories by a similarity transformation. Thus the eigenvalues that give the Regge trajectories coincide in the multiperipheral model and in the Bethe-Salpeter equation. Approximation to the eigenvalue equation under consideration are discussed.
Anticipative diffusion and related change of measures

Abstract In this article the authors develop a new approach to studying when anticipating perturbations of Brownian paths have distributions which are equivalent to Wiener′s measure. The idea is first to develop a theory for anticipative diffusions (cf. Theorem 2.6) and then to realize perturbations by diffusing to them (cf., Corollary 3.4). The concluding example (cf., Example 3.5) illustrates the kind of result at which one can arrive.
Molecular characterization of the in vivo alkylating agent resistant murine EMT-6 mammary carcinoma tumors.

The expression of several early-response genes and genes associated with malignant disease was assessed in the EMT-6/parent tumor and the EMT-6/CTX and EMT-6/CDDP in vivo resistant tumor lines growing as tumors or as monolayers in culture. In the absence of treatment the levels of mRNA for the genes c -jun, c -fos, c -myc, Ha-ras and p53 were increased in the EMT-6/CTX and EMT-6/CDDP as compared with the EMT-6/parent tumor, whereas the expression of erb-2 was similar in all three tumors. Although the cells from each of the three tumors show increased expression of early response genes after exposure to cisplatin (CDDP; 100 μM, 2 h) or 4-Hydroxypero-xycyclophosphamide (4-HC; 100 μM, 2 h) in culture, in mRNA extracted from tumor tissue these changes are absent or very small. Both C -jun and erb-2 were detectable in liver. There was increased expression of both of these genes in the livers of tumor-bearing animals as compared with non-tumor-bearing animals. The highest expression of both c -jun and erb-2 occurred in the livers of animals bearing the EMT-6/CDDP tumor. Treatment of the animals with CDDP or cyclophos-phamide, in general, resulted in increased expression of both genes at 6 h post treatment. The increased expression of these genes may impart metabolic changes in the tumors and/or hosts that contribute to the resistance of these tumors to specific antitumor alkylating agents.
If you have a set of rocks, what should you call them?

By tradition, palaeontologists use the Linnaean scheme in the classification of fossil organisms. But what about the naming of rocks or sequences of rocks in which those fossils occur; or what about those rocks which never had even a whiff of an organism at the time of their formation? My favourite rock name is Charnockite, named from the tombstone of Job Charnock, an employee of the East India Company and the founder of Calcutta, who by legend “after the death of his wife, every year sacrificed a cock to her memory in the mausoleum” (Dictionary of National Biography, 1990) until his own death in January 1693. But it is not individual rock types that form the subject of this note; rather it is larger sets of related rocks, whether sedimentary, igneous, or metamorphic in origin. Description of related sets of rocks requires schemes of nomenclature that are widely accepted and used; these, in themselves, must be firmly based on an internationally agreed set of principles, and there must be wide dissemination of additions to the nomenclature.
High-resolution optical mapping of intramural virtual electrodes in porcine left ventricular wall.

Objective : It is believed that shock-induced intramural virtual electrodes (IVE) play a critical role in defibrillation. IVE were recently demonstrated in the porcine left ventricle (LV), but their origin remains unknown. Macroscopic optical mapping showed that strong shocks induce IVE of only one polarity, which contradicts theoretical predictions. It is hypothesized that IVE have a microscopic origin and that microscopic positive and negative IVE are spatially averaged during macroscopic optical mapping. This hypothesis was examined by mapping V m responses at the transmural LV surface with increased optical resolution. Methods : Rectangular shocks (strength=2–48 V/cm; duration=10 ms) were applied across isolated coronary-perfused porcine LV preparations ( n =7) during the action potential plateau and diastole. Shock-induced V m responses were measured at low resolution (LR; 1.2 mm/diode) and high resolution (HR; 0.11 mm/diode). Results : During plateau shocks with strength ≤20 V/cm, LR recordings demonstrated only negative Δ V m extending to the cathodal preparation edge. In contrast, HR recordings from this area as well as from intramural locations revealed both positive and negative Δ V m at all shock strengths. During diastolic shocks, only positive polarizations were observed at LR, but both positive and negative polarizations were detected at HR. In areas of negative polarization, large activation delays were found at HR, whereas LR recordings at these locations demonstrated fast activation. Conclusions : High- and low-resolution optical mapping produced radically different patterns of shock-induced polarization and activation. The occurrence of positive and negative polarizations during plateau and diastolic shocks at high but not low resolution provides evidence for microscopic nature of IVE in LV wall.
A synthesis of Vroom's model with other social theories: An application to nursing education

In 2009, the National League for Nursing reported that there are over 3.4 million persons in the United States employed in nursing in the roles of Registered Nurses (RNs) and Advanced Practice Nurses (APRNs). In 2007, the Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported that in 2006, there were over 749,000 Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) working in the United States with a projected increase of 14% by 2016. Buerhaus et al, in 2009, stated that between 2016 and 2025, it is estimated that the U.S. will need over 260,000 registered nurses (RNs) Using the conceptual framework of Vroom's expectancy theory on motivation as well as theories addressing student and career development, this paper demonstrates a synthesis of Vroom's model with other educational theories and its application to nursing education, specifically the prediction of motivation to advance one's nursing education. By putting Vroom's theory into a context, Vroom's fairly simple model could help nurse educators predict the factors that make for success in midcareer educational advancement--and even possibly manipulate those factors to increase that success. In today's economy, that practical part seems too good to lose.
A two-dimensional kinematic dynamo model of the ionospheric magnetic field at Venus

The results of a high-resolution, two-dimensional, time dependent, kinematic dynamo model of the ionospheric magnetic field of Venus are presented. Various one-dimensional models are considered and the two-dimensional model is then detailed. In this model, the two-dimensional magnetic induction equation, the magnetic diffusion-convection equation, is numerically solved using specified plasma velocities. Origins of the vertical velocity profile and of the horizontal velocities are discussed. It is argued that the basic features of the vertical magnetic field profile remain unaltered by horizontal flow effects and also that horizontal plasma flow can strongly affect the magnetic field for altitudes above 300 km.
The non-dependency of a starfish on epidermal uptake of dissolved organic matter☆

Abstract 1. 1. In four series of controlled experiments, groups of starfish (Echinaster) were exposed for prolonged periods of time (up to 160 days) to sea water depleted of organic nutrients (especially amino acids) to small fractions of normal levels, and sufficient to promote net efflux of amino acids from the animals. Other specimens were exposed to similar water re-enriched with amino acids. 2. 2. No pathological effects from the depleted water could be detected, either in behavior, size or biochemistry of body parts, or in the appearance of the epidermis. Likewise, re-enrichment of the water did not appear to produce any detectable benefits. Some general negative growth occurred in all specimens, which were not fed. 3. 3. It was concluded that epidermal uptake of dissolved nutrients is not an essential function in any way limiting to this species. If exogenous substances are the normal main source of nutrition for the epidermis, they may be supplemented as needed from internal sources of supply. 4. 4. Epidermal uptake may still prove to be of greater importance to other species, especially those that are more dependent on ciliary-mucoid forms of nutrition.
Teaching nature of science through inquiry: Results of a 3-year professional development program

This study assessed the influence of a 3-year professional development program on elementary teachers' views of nature of science (NOS), instructional practice to promote students' appropriate NOS views, and the influence of participants' instruction on elementary student NOS views. Using the VNOS-B and associated interviews the researchers tracked the changes in NOS views of teacher participants throughout the professional development program. The teachers participated in explicit–reflective activities, embedded in a program that emphasized scientific inquiry and inquiry-based instruction, to help them improve their own elementary students' views of NOS. Elementary students were interviewed using the VNOS-D to track changes in their NOS views, using classroom observations to note teacher influences on student ideas. Analysis of the VNOS-B and VNOS-D showed that teachers and most grades of elementary students showed positive changes in their views of NOS. The teachers also improved in their science pedagogy, as evidenced by analysis of their teaching. Implications for teacher professional development programs are made. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 653–680, 2007
Paul Buhle, Taking Care of Business: Samuel Gompers, George Meany, Lane Kirkland and the Tragedy of American Labor. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1999. ix + 302 pp. $18.00 paper.

Labor historians have always been better at explaining what should have been than what was. This problem plagues Paul Buhle's Taking Care of Business: Samuel Gompers, George Meany, Lane Kirkland and the Tragedy of American Labor. No one familiar with Dr. Buhle's work—his detailed treatments of socialist radicals in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century—will be surprised by the conclusions of his most recent work. The leadership of the mainstream organized labor movement always has been an anathema to the far left, and Buhle attacks Samuel Gompers, George Meany, and Lane Kirkland with a vengeance for having undermined true social democracy in favor of personal gain and corporate accommodation with employers and the state. These themes already have received significant development from the likes of Nelson Lichtenstein, Kim Moody, and Michael Goldfield. Relying almost entirely on secondary sources, Buhle has little to add to previous treatments, although he does focus more closely on the issue of racial exclusion. Ultimately, he breaks new ground only in the passion and uncompromising nature of his criticism. Buhle spares no hyperbole in assaulting the three “over-fed fat cats”—Gompers is a “doddering conservative,” Meany as a young man was “neither conspicuously bright or mechanically talented,” and Kirkland, is “a colorless functionary.” The author's aim clearly is to denounce rather than to understand.
Predictors of negotiated NIH indirect rates at US institutions.

Background The United States (US) Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Naval Research negotiate institutional rates for payments of overhead costs associated with administration and space usage, commonly known as indirect rates. Such payments account for a large proportion of spending by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Little has been published about differences in rates and their predictors.
A multi-modal composition of the late Na+ current in human ventricular cardiomyocytes.

Objective: We reported an ultraslow late Na+ current ( I NaL) in ventricular cardiomyocytes of human hearts. I NaL has been implicated in regulation of action potential duration in normal hearts and repolarization abnormalities in failing hearts. We have also identified sodium channel (NaCh) gating modes including bursts (BM) and late scattered openings (LSM) that together comprise I NaL; however, the contribution of these gating modes to Na+ current ( I Na) remains unknown. In the present study, the late NaCh activity was recorded, analyzed, and modeled for heterologously expressed NaCh, Nav1.5, and for the native NaCh of ventricular mid-myocardial cardiomyocytes from normal and failing hearts. Methods and results: We found that LSM gating was significantly slower in failing compared to normal myocytes and Nav1.5 ( τ =474 ± 10 vs. 299 ± 9, and 229 ± 12 ms, m ± SEM; P <0.05, n =5–6). Total burst length of BM decreased with depolarization and was larger in failing compared to normal myocytes and Nav1.5. A complete I Na decay was then numerically approximated as composed of NaCh populations operating in three gating modes described by separate Markov kinetic schemes: transient mode (TM), LSM, and BM. The populations of NaCh operating in each gating mode were estimated as 79.8% for TM, 20% for LSM, and 0.2% for BM, yielding an apparent four-exponential I Na decay at −30 mV (maximum I Na) ( τ i ∼0.4, 4, 50, and 500 ms). Whole-cell recordings confirmed the existence of all four predicted components. The model also predicted voltage and temperature dependence of I NaL as well as I NaL increase and slower decay in failing hearts and acceleration by amiodarone. Conclusions: The early phase of Na+ current decay ( 300 ms) is determined solely by LSM. The concept of multi-mode composition for I NaL provides a new rationale for I NaL modulation by factors such as voltage, temperature, pharmacological agents, and pathological conditions.
Polysilicon microstructures to characterize static friction

The design, fabrication process, and initial experiment results for a test microstructure for measuring static friction are described. A normal force is applied to a displaced suspended structure by an underlying electrode. The tangential force to measure the frictional force is produced by a restoring force from the displaced suspension. The spring constant is found empirically by resonating the structure. The mu for coarse-grained polysilicon-polysilicon interfaces is found to be 4.9+or-1.0. Silicon nitride-polysilicon surfaces exhibit less friction with a mu of 2.5+or-0.5. Friction is found to be independent of apparent area. Tests were conducted on a piezoelectric crystal resulting in a reduction of friction and improved reliability of data extraction. >
Masking Resonance Artifacts in Force-Splitting Methods for Biomolecular Simulations by Extrapolative Langevin Dynamics

Numerical resonance artifacts have become recognized recently as a limiting factor to increasing the timestep in multiple-timestep (MTS) biomolecular dynamics simulations. At certain timesteps correlated to internal motions (e.g., 5 fs, around half the period of the fastest bond stretch,Tmin), visible inaccuracies or instabilities can occur. Impulse-MTS schemes are vulnerable to these resonance errors since large energy pulses are introduced to the governing dynamics equations when the slow forces are evaluated. We recently showed that such resonance artifacts can be masked significantly by applying extrapolative splitting to stochastic dynamics. Theoretical and numerical analyses of force-splitting integrators based on the Verlet discretization are reported here for linear models to explain these observations and to suggest how to construct effective integrators for biomolecular dynamics that balance stability with accuracy. Analyses for Newtonian dynamics demonstrate the severe resonance patterns of the Impulse splitting, with this severity worsening with the outer timestep, ?t; Constant Extrapolation is generally unstable, but the disturbances do not grow with ?t. Thus, the stochastic extrapolative combination can counteract generic instabilities and largely alleviate resonances with a sufficiently strong Langevin heat-bath coupling (?), estimates for which are derived here based on the fastest and slowest motion periods. These resonance results generally hold for nonlinear test systems: a water tetramer and solvated protein. Proposed related approaches such as Extrapolation/Correction and Midpoint Extrapolation work better than Constant Extrapolation only for timesteps less thanTmin/2. An effective extrapolative stochastic approach for biomolecules that balances long-timestep stability with good accuracy for the fast subsystem is then applied to a biomolecule using a three-class partitioning: the medium forces are treated byMidpoint Extrapolationvia position Verlet, and the slow forces are incorporated byConstant Extrapolation. The resulting algorithm (LN) performs well on a solvated protein system in terms of thermodynamic properties and yields an order of magnitude speedup with respect to single-timestep Langevin trajectories. Computed spectral density functions also show how the Newtonian modes can be approximated by using a small ? in the range of 5?20 ps?1.
CHANGE IN FIBRE SIZE, NOT NUMBER, IN AGEING SKELETAL MUSCLE

Skeletal muscle fibre loss and other changes were evaluated in 25 female rats aged 6-24 months. Soleus (SOL) and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles were removed bilaterally. Left SOL and EDL muscles were digested in nitric acid, then, using a dissecting microscope, total fibre numbers for each muscle were obtained. Right muscles were frozen, sectioned and stained with ATPase and alkaline phosphatase to assess fibre-type distribution and capillary number. No significant change in total fibre number was seen with age in either muscle. Atrophy was common after age 12 months but was not found consistently. No reduction in capillary number was observed, even among atrophic fibres. Results suggest that atrophy and not fibre loss, per se, occurs with ageing and that atrophy is not due to capillary loss.
Techniques for integrating parallelizing transformations and compiler-based scheduling methods

Although the tasks of applying transformations and scheduling instructions are typically implemented in separate phases of a parallelizing compiler, interactions between these phases occur. The authors discuss these interdependencies and demonstrate that the separate phase approach can result in the application of a sequence of transformations that is not effective. The techniques presented for integrating these tasks utilize an iterative approach to applying program transformations and scheduling instructions for execution on a multiprocessor. These integrated techniques employ a demand driven approach to applying transformations; by iterating between the scheduling and transforming tasks, transformations are applied to the program only if and where they are needed. The authors also introduce an automatic transformation application and selection algorithm that provides further control over the application of transformations. >
Role of Fatty-Acid Synthesis in Dendritic Cell Generation and Function

Dendritic cells (DC) are professional APCs that regulate innate and adaptive immunity. The role of fatty-acid synthesis in DC development and function is uncertain. We found that blockade of fatty-acid synthesis markedly decreases dendropoiesis in the liver and in primary and secondary lymphoid organs in mice. Human DC development from PBMC precursors was also diminished by blockade of fatty-acid synthesis. This was associated with higher rates of apoptosis in precursor cells and increased expression of cleaved caspase-3 and BCL-xL and downregulation of cyclin B1. Further, blockade of fatty-acid synthesis decreased DC expression of MHC class II, ICAM-1, B7-1, and B7-2 but increased their production of selected proinflammatory cytokines including IL-12 and MCP-1. Accordingly, inhibition of fatty-acid synthesis enhanced DC capacity to activate allogeneic as well as Ag-restricted CD4 + and CD8 + T cells and induce CTL responses. Further, blockade of fatty-acid synthesis increased DC expression of Notch ligands and enhanced their ability to activate NK cell immune phenotype and IFN-γ production. Because endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress can augment the immunogenic function of APC, we postulated that this may account for the higher DC immunogenicity. We found that inhibition of fatty-acid synthesis resulted in elevated expression of numerous markers of ER stress in humans and mice and was associated with increased MAPK and Akt signaling. Further, lowering ER stress by 4-phenylbutyrate mitigated the enhanced immune stimulation associated with fatty-acid synthesis blockade. Our findings elucidate the role of fatty-acid synthesis in DC development and function and have implications to the design of DC vaccines for immunotherapy.
Academic content, research productivity, and tenure

This study examines the influence of a Finance doctoral program’s academic content on the research productivity of the graduates at the time of the tenure decision. The results of this investigation show that a Finance program’s academic content has no influence on the total number of publications of program graduates, but finds a significant relationship between academic content and graduate’s records of publications in top finance journals by the time of the tenure evaluation. More precisely, doctoral programs requiring more mathematically oriented classes such as Continuous Time Finance and/or Stochastic Calculus produce graduates who have a better record of publication in top finance journals at the time of tenure than those graduating from programs without these requirements.