cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The frail brain.

FRAILTY “How slight a thing will disturb the equanimity of our frail minds.” wCharles Dickens, Oliver Twist Recently in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, an expert panel strongly advocated screening for physical frailty, using a simple screening test, such as the FRAIL.1e5 Physical frailty and comorbidity have been shown to be strongly associated with a variety of poor functional outcomes, hospitalization, and mortality.6e14 Simple treatment strategies for many of the components of frailty have been identified.15e18 In this issue of the Journal, Shimada et al19 show that although frailty and cognitive impairment can overlap, in most cases of persons with either frailty or early cognitive impairment, there is no overlap. This raises the question of whether or not brain or psychosocial frailty can equally lead to poor outcomes. A number of studies have suggested that frailty when associated with mild cognitive impairment or dementia has very poor outcomes.20e25 Stressors, such as earthquakes26 or even the threat of returning Hong Kong to China,27 have been shown to increase mortality in older persons. Psychological distress correlates with frailty and functional decline.28e32 Cigolle et al33 found that although a “burden model” of frailty had substantial overlap with biological and functional models of frailty, almost 40% of persons shown to be frail with this model were not frail using other models. Similarly, the “Kihon Checklist” identified cognition as a key separate component of frailty.34 A number of social factors, such as socioeconomic status and life space constriction, are associated with adverse outcomes in older persons.35e37 In nursing homes, changes in routine and environment increase the risk of hospitalization.38 Social engagement has a protective effect on functional dependence.39 Cognitive impairment can lead to a number of factors that increase fall risk and frailty.40e45 Dual tasking, the inability to think and walk at the same time, is a major problem as older persons lose executive function.46 Persons with vascular dementia tend to have high-level gait disorder, which leads to high-stepping, variability, and postural instability.47 Persons with Lewy body dementia can have freezing of gait, leading to inability to generate appropriate stepping. Persons with cognitive problems lack attention and have poor rescue and protective arms reaction when they fall. Finally, they have an
On the Sr isotope and REE compositions of anhydrites from the TAG seafloor hydrothermal system

Abstract Sr isotope analyses have been conducted on anhydrite samples from the TAG (Trans-Atlantic Geotraverse) active hydrothermal mound (26°08′N, Mid-Atlantic Ridge) that have previously been shown to exhibit two distinct patterns of REE behavior when normalized to TAG end-member hydrothermal fluid. Despite differences in REE patterns, the Sr isotope data indicate that all the anhydrites precipitated from fluids with a similar range of hydrothermal fluid and seawater components, and all but one were seawater-dominated (52%–75%). Speciation calculations using the EQ3/6 software package for geochemical modeling of aqueous systems suggest that the REE complexation behavior in different fluid mixing scenarios can explain the variations in the REE patterns. Anhydrites that exhibit relatively flat REE patterns (LaBS/YbBS = 0.8–2.0—subscript BS indicates normalization to end-member black smoker hydrothermal fluid) and a small or no Eu anomaly (EuBS/Eu*BS = 0.8–2.0) are inferred to have precipitated from mixes of end-member hydrothermal fluid and cold seawater. REE complexes with hard ligands (e.g., fluoride and chloride) are less stable at low temperatures and trivalent Eu has an ionic radius similar to that of Ca2+ and the other REE, and so they behave coherently. In contrast, anhydrites that exhibit slight LREE-depletion (LaBS/YbBS = 0.4–1.4) and a distinct negative anomaly (EuBS/Eu*BS = 0.2–0.8) are inferred to have precipitated from mixes of end-member hydrothermal fluid and conductively heated seawater. The LREE depletion results from the presence of very stable LREE chloro-complexes that effectively limit the availability of the LREE for partitioning into anhydrite. Above 250°C, Eu is present only in divalent form as chloride complexes, and discrimination against Eu2+ is likely due to both the mismatch in ionic radii between Eu2+ and Ca2+, and the strong chloro-complexation of divalent Eu which promotes stability in the fluid and inhibits partitioning of Eu2+ into precipitating anhydrite. These variations in REE behavior attest to rapid fluctuations in thermal regime, fluid flow and mixing in the subsurface of the TAG mound that give rise to heterogeneity in the formation conditions of individual anhydrite crystals.
Peroxisomal Disease Cell Lines with Cellular Plasmalogen Deficiency Have Impaired Muscarinic Cholinergic Signal Transduction Activity and Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretion

We tested whether alterations in membrane lipid composition associated with peroxisomal diseases affect muscarinic cholinergic signal transduction activity and amyloid precursor protein (APP) secretion in cultured human skin fibroblasts and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) mutants. We found that in cell lines from patients with peroxisomal disorders where plasmalogen levels were low, the low-Km GTPase activity was not induced by carbachol, and APP secretion was reduced. This effect on signal transduction activity was not associated with decreased levels of the M1-muscarinic cholinergic receptor or its associated heterotrimeric G-protein. Specifically, this decrease was associated with a plasmalogen deficiency since a CHO cell line with only a deficit in plasmalogens was as severely affected as were generalized peroxisomal disorder cell lines. Thus, plasmalogens appear to be implicated in muscarinic cholinergic signal transduction and secretion of APP. These results provide new insights about the pathophysiology of peroxisomal diseases and may be relevant to Alzheimer's disease where reduced plasmalogen levels have been reported.
Protein tyrosine phosphorylation as a mechanism which regulates cytokine activation of early response genes.

Abstract Two well-defined rapid responses which occur as a consequence of growth factors binding to their cell surface receptors involve tyrosine phosphorylation of cellular proteins and the induction of the transcription of cellular genes. Recent advances have been made in purification and cloning of Src homology 2 and 3 ( SH 2 SH 3 ) domain-containing transcription factors which are required for the activation of early response genes by interferons. These transcription factors are covalently modified by tyrosine phosphorylation such that they interact with enhancers needed for interferon-stimulated gene expression. The Jak family of tyrosine kinases are also an integral component in these signalling cascades. The information gained concerning interferon signalling has now been extended to include a broad network of cytokine-regulated signalling systems which use tyrosine phosphorylation of a family of structurally related proteins to activate transcription of early response genes.
The ρ operator: discovering and ranking associations on the semantic web

In this paper, we introduce an approach that supports querying for Semantic Associations on the Semantic Web. Semantic Associations capture complex relationships between entities involving sequences of predicates, and sets of predicate sequences that interact in complex ways. Detecting such associations is at the heart of many research and analytical activities that are crucial to applications in national security and business intelligence. This in combination with the improving ability to identify entities in documents as part of automatic semantic annotation, gives a very powerful capability for semantic analysis of large amounts of heterogeneous content.The approach for supporting Semantic Associations discussed in this paper has four main facets. First, it generalizes these associations into three main classes based on their structural properties, allowing us to reason about them in a domain-independent manner. The second is the provision of an operator ρ for expressing queries about such associations. Third, it uses a graph data model for knowledge representation, allowing the semantic associations search techniques to be built upon the graph algorithms for paths, while integrating knowledge from the schema into the search process. The fourth facet is the use of a notion of context, which allows for restricting the search space and for context-driven ranking of results. Just as a Web search engine looks for relevant documents in the current Web, ρ can be seen as discovering and ranking complex relationships in the Semantic Web.In this paper, we demonstrate the need for supporting such complex semantic relationships. We also give a formal basis to the notion of Semantic Associations and give a brief discussion on our overall approach for discovering and ranking them.
Electronics Configuration to Co-Trap Single DNA Molecules in Dual Solid-State Nanopores - Solving the DNA Translocation Rate Problem

Nanopore sequencing aims to identify DNA bases by detecting base-specific signatures in the nanopore current signal, which are generated in principle when a DNA molecule passes through the nanopore channel. Nanopore channels can be formed by employing a protein channel in a lipid membrane, or by fabricating a “solid-state” pore in a substrate such as silicon nitride. Among several obstacles for nanopore sequencing, one challenge is that the DNA passes too quickly through the nanopore. One conventional solution is to reduce the command voltage, which is related to the intensity of the electric field. However, the decreased voltage leads to a reduction in the measured current, resulting in a loss in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). We present a novel dual-nanopore concept that can permit high SNR while simultaneously controlling the DNA's speed through the nanopores. The configuration achieves this by electrophoretically trapping DNA between the two pores. The primary element of the proposed dual-nanopore architecture is an electrical configuration to independently control the voltage across each nanopore and simultaneously sense variations in each nanopore current signal. In the implementation presented, the dual-nanopore channels are fabricated in silicon-nitride membranes where the pores are serially and concentrically aligned within 0.4μm. We implement a pair of fully integrated low-noise CMOS patch-clamp amplifiers developed in our lab for independent and simultaneous voltage control/current measurement in the dual-nanopore device. Finite state machine logic running on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) controls each amplifier and logs data. We will present our preliminary results on capturing a single DNA in both pores, and controlling the DNA's motion by competing voltage control.
Presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of the disorders of monoamine neurotransmitter metabolism.

For many years, all of the described cases of monoamine neurotransmitter deficiency were associated with hyperphenylalaminemia that was generally detected at neonatal screening. It is now clear that inherited deficiency of monoamines often occurs in the absence of hyperphenylalaninemia and that the normal battery of screening tests used to investigate individuals with suspected metabolic disease will not detect these cases. Diagnosis in this situation must rely heavily on clinical suspicion. This article, therefore, describes the presentation and clinical symptoms that results from defective monoamine neurotransmission; outlines therapeutic approaches; and explains how cerebrospinal fluid profiles of monoamine metabolites, their precursors, and the cofactor required for monoamine synthesis can be used to pinpoint the exact site of the metabolic lesion.
Charge-density limitation in electrofluid dynamic power generation

The effects of the presence of shielding electrodes on the electric fields in electrofluid dynamic (EFD) generator channels are studied. For each case studied, the magnitude of the field distortion is found as the ratio of the maximum electric field to the undisturbed maximum field. The electric-field magnification is derived as a function of both the relative size and sharpness of the protruding electrode and the relative size of the charge cloud. A charge-density attenuation coefficient is defined as the inverse of the electric-field magnification.
Androgens modulate neuronal vulnerability to kainate lesion

Testosterone has been shown to have multiple beneficial effects on neuronal viability in developing and adult animals. Most often, testosterone promotes neural health indirectly via enzymatic conversion to estradiol by aromatase. Unclear is whether androgens can directly modulate vulnerability to neuronal insults in adult animals. We investigated this issue by modulating androgen status in rats prior to challenge with the excitotoxin kainate. Adult male rats were maintained in the following conditions: i) gonadectomized (GDX) to deplete endogenous androgens, ii) GDX+replacement with dihydrotestosterone (DHT) the active and non-aromatizable testosterone metabolite, iii) sham-GDX. Animals were then lesioned with kainate and surviving hippocampal neurons quantified. In the CA2/3 and hilar regions of the hippocampus, a modest lesion was observed in sham-GDX animals corresponding to approximately 25% cell loss in comparison to non-lesioned rats. The depletion of endogenous androgens by GDX significantly augmented lesion severity, consistent with the hypothesis that androgens are involved in maintaining cell viability. Importantly, DHT hormone replacement in GDX rats significantly attenuated kainate-induced neuron loss in CA2/3, suggesting direct androgen neuroprotection. These results demonstrate that androgens act as endogenous modulators of neuron viability, a function that may be compromised in aging men as a consequence of normal, age-related androgen depletion.
Viscous effects in ICF target implosions

Using the implicit/hybrid Eulerian simulation code ePLAS1,2, we study the effects of viscous modeling choices on the predicted implosive behavior of ICF targets as employed on the NIF. Results from traditional artificial viscosity and real viscosity are compared in both planar and 2D cylindrical geometry. We examine the implosion of spherical and slightly ellipsoidal DT shells containing dense DT gas in ∼20 – 50 micron “voids.” Before implosion the shells have been shock compressed to ∼102 to 103 g/cm3 densities, and 0.3 to 1.2 keV temperatures. Effects from real viscosity are largely independent of density, but can work to smear shocks over some 20 microns when the ion temperature approaches 1.0 keV. Artificial viscosity sets shocks of all strength to ∼3 × the local cell widths.
An evaluation of electric-field sensors for projectile detection

The U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) conducted an experiment at Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), MD, to collect bullet signature data using three different types of electric-field sensors. The first type is a free-space electric potential sensor; we used Remote Voltage Sensors (RVSs) manufactured by Quasar Federal Systems (QFS). The second type of sensor measures the electric field; we used QFS potential gradiometers and a varactor-based E-field sensor prototype designed by the University of North Carolina - Charlotte (UNCC). The third type of sensor is a “D-dot” charge induction probe designed and built by ARL. We analyzed the performance of each sensor type with regard to bullet detection capability. Mathematical models and signatures were developed for each sensor type, and actual signatures were measured and compared to these models.
“Executing the Powers With Which it is Intrusted”: Justifications, Definitions and Limitations of Government Speech

Federal, state and local governments have realized that an effective way to counter an undesirable private message is to swallow it up within the government's own speech. So far, the Supreme Court of the United States has acquiesced, including its February 2009 opinion in Pleasant Grove City v. Summum. This article explores the roots, definition and limits of government speech through a close examination of not only Summum but two other recent Supreme Court opinions granting the government a right to communicate even when others contend that the speech conflicts with their own messages. The article concludes that the government speech doctrine needs further explanation with regard to its justification and contours. The rational basis test and political process may not be sufficient to contain government speech within desirable bounds; instead, government speech should be subjected to judicial scrutiny to ensure it remains germane and proportional.
Extension of the Yellowstone plateau, eastern Snake River Plain, and Owyhee plateau

Formation of the late Cenozoic volcanic province comprising the Owyhee plateau, eastern Snake River Plain, and Yellowstone plateau has been accompanied by east-northeast-directed crustal extension. A new vector of 45 mm/yr, N56{degree}E for the migration of silicic volcanism across the volcanic province is calculated. If migration of volcanism reflects west-southwest continental drift over a mantle plume, a zone of crustal extension must separate the volcanic province from the more slowly moving North American craton. Space-time relations of basin fill in the adjacent Basin and Range province provide evidence for a zone of extension, about 125 km wide, coincident with and east of coeval silicic volcanism. Since 16 Ma, the zone of extension has migrated along with silicic volcanism, maintaining its position between the province and the unextended craton.
Local microwave hyperthermi and irradiation in cancer therapy: Preliminary observations and directions for future clinical trials

Abstract This report outlines the preliminary experience at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology with hyperthermia and irradiation. Twenty-nine lesions were treated with 400 rad fraction given every 72 hours (twice weekly) for a total dose of 2000 to 4000 rad followed by byperthermia (2450 M z or 915 MHz microwaves, 42.0°–43°C, 90 minutes, every 72 hours.) In addition, 6 lesions were treated with threeof 500 rad fofiowed by hypertbermia and 12 with irradiation alone (three doses of 600, 700 or 800 rad every 72 hours). In the lesions treated with 2000 to 4000 rad and heat, nine of 12 recurrent epidermoid carcinomas of the hea and neck showed complete regression (7%) and one more than 50% response. Four of five metastatic melanoma nodules showed complete regression of the tumors and one over 80% response. Of nine recurrent adenocarcinoma of the breast nodules in the chest wall treated with 3200 to 4000 rad, five lesions exhibited complete regression and two others about 80%. Four of five metastatic melanoma nodules and three soft tissue sacomas had complete tumor regression. Of the six lesions treated with 1500 red and hypertbermia, two metastatic melanomas showed comppletel regression (CR), and three tumors exhibited partial regression. Despite the fact that the majority of the patients had been previously treated with defimitive radiotherapy, the retreatment with moderate doses of irradiation and beat) has been well tolerated. Of the 35 sites treated, four (11%) developed blisters, seven (20%) erythema only, three (8%) moist desquamation and 27 (77%) dry desquamation. There has been one instance of severe necrosis of soft tissues in the upper neck, in a patient previously treated with 5000 rad and surgery. Additio ial clinical trials are warranted to assess the potential value of hyperthermia alone or combined with irradiation in the treatment of selected cancer patients.
How “Frum” was Rabbi Jacob Joseph's court? Americanization within the lower east side's orthodox elite, 1886–1902

At the close of the nineteenth century, the Association of the American Orthodox Hebrew Congregations was the downtown group most intent on transplanting the religious civilization they remembered from Eastern Europe to the United States. It was they, representatives from some 15 of the largest congregations on the Lower East Side, who attempted beginning in 1887, to "rouse" their "brethren" from their lethargy to create a great Torah center in America, to capitalize upon the "liberty [they enjoyed] to observe our religion, to study, teach, observe, perform and establish our Law." These were the holiest of Jewish traditions which immigrants and their children had, until that moment, "neglected and held in low esteem."1
Assessing Religious/Spiritual Functioning: A Neglected Domain in Clinical Practice?

Is client religious or spiritual functioning adequately addressed in clinical practice? Two studies are presented that address this issue. Each study was informed by an endogenous view of spirituality as a clinically relevant functional domain. The first study surveyed clinicians at 4 exemplar clinics. The second study was a national survey of 1,000 clinical psychologists. Both studies found that psychologists believe client religiousness/spirituality to be an important area of functioning. Yet most do not routinely assess the domain or address it in treatment planning. The article concludes by examining the clinical implications of an endogenous perspective on client spirituality and religiousness.
Approval Acquisitions and Vendor Relations: An Overview

During the past several years the utilization of acquisition plans- specifically, approval plans- as well as their selection and management has been given much attention. Research information enables a library to decide whether an approval plan is viable as a collection development tool or to assist in its acquisitions program, and define vendor relations to approval acquisitions. Additionally, the literature is useful to the library which already uses an approval plan but which wants to review those programs offered by other vendors. The purpose of this article is to serve as an overview of the literature in terms of approval acquisitions and vendor relationships.
Effects of water regime and competition on the establishment of a native sedge in restored wetlands

Summary 1. Restoration of depressional wetlands in mid-continental North America typically involves reflooding formerly drained basins. There have been several thousand restorations in this manner over the past 10 years. Deliberate revegetation is rarely attempted as it is assumed that native vegetation will eventually establish naturally. Carex (sedges), which occur commonly on the periphery of native wetlands and in adjacent saturated meadows, do not readily re-establish in reflooded basins. It is unlikely that Carex will reappear without deliberate reintroduction. Criteria for introduction and establishment of native sedges do not currently exist because environmental constraints are not well understood. 2. In this study we investigated the environmental constraints that might limit the establishment of the native wetland sedge, Carex lacustris, in reflooded wetland basins. Immature sedges were planted in three experimental wetlands with different water-level fluctuation regimes (i.e. falling, rising, static) along an elevational gradient, to determine the effects on survival and stand development of changing water level, water depth, competition from naturally recruited vegetation, and planting density. 3. The response of immature sedges to water-level fluctuation in the first growing season did not indicate the outcome of mature stand development by the end of three growing seasons. Whereas initial survival and growth were lowest in the falling water basin, stem density, height and biomass were greatest under this type of water-level fluctuation by the third growing season. 4. Interspecific competition was most intense at the upper elevations, particularly in the rising water basin. Although sedge growth was limited by increasing water depth in the absence of competition, growth was uniformly low across all elevations in the presence of competition. Competition reduced sedge growth to differing degrees in the rising vs. falling and static water basins. 5. Results suggest that C. lacustris can produce dense stands under a primarily annual weed community within two to three growing seasons, but that Phalaris arundinacea (reed canary grass) can preclude successful establishment of C. lacustris. 6. Control of water-level conditions and competition is most crucial during the first growing season to ensure appropriate conditions for successful stand establishment. The potential for growth as well as mortality is greatest during this first year. 7. Competition can be a significant constraint on the successful establishment of C. lacustris and should be considered explicitly when developing a restoration plan.
The Integrity-Lock Approach to Secure Database Management

This paper presents the integrity-lock approach to database security. The integrity-lock approach offers a "near-term" solution to the problems of database security. It makes use of existing technology emphasizing the use of encryption, and minimizing as much as possible the amount of trusted code required to insure the security of the data. The paper presumes the existence of an "off-the-shelf" database management system to perform most of the normal database management functions, and underlying secure operating system. Multiple variations of the integrity-lock approach are presented, with an accompanying description of the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Finally, the paper suggests possible methods of offsetting some of the threaks to which the integrity-lock is vulnerable.
Amorphous to crystalline calcium phosphate phase transformation at elevated pH

Abstract The spontaneous precipitation of calcium phosphate was studied in the pH range 9.25–12.80. The first-formed solid phase was an amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) which transformed after a reproducible induction period into a crystalline apatitic phase. The induction period for this transformation was shown to first increase and then decrease with increasing pH. The maximum stability of ACP occurred at a pH of about 10.25. At lower pH, ACP had a well-defined solubility-determining molecular unit, but in the pH range of this study, a material with a variable solubility was formed suggesting a breakdown in the short-range order of the amorphous phase. Although the amorphous-to-crystalline transformation occurs via an octacalcium phosphate (OCP)-like phase in the more-nearly physiological pH range 7–9, nucleation kinetics suggested that no such intermediate phase formed at high pH. In fact, thermodynamic considerations rule out the participation of OCP in the amorphous to crystalline transformation above pH 10.7. It is possible that either a different mechanism for the amorphous-crystalline transformation takes precedence at high pH or the variable thermodynamic properties of the ACP formed at high pH result in a substrate with varying ability to nucleate the first-formed crystalline form of calcium phosphate.
Microstructure of pulsed laser deposited FePd thin films on amorphous and crystalline substrates

Equiatomic FePd thin films have been deposited at room temperature by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on amorphous, Si3N4 and SiO2, and crystalline, (100)-NaCl, substrates. The resulting FePd film microstructures have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). We observed a complex orientation relationship between grains in nanocrystalline thin films of FCC FePd and the single crystal NaCl substrates. FePd films obtained under identical deposition conditions using the amorphous substrates also exhibited nanocrystalline morphology but with a fiber texture and consisted of a phase mixture of FCC FePd and the tetragonal ordered L10-FePd phase. 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Lifetime reproductive effort in humans

Lifetime reproductive effort (LRE) measures the total amount of metabolized energy diverted to reproduction during the lifespan. LRE captures key components of the life history and is particularly useful for describing and comparing the life histories of different organisms. Given a simple energetic production constraint, LRE is predicted to be similar in value for very different life histories. However, humans have some unique ecological characteristics that may alter LRE, such as the long post-reproductive lifespan, lengthy juvenile period and the cooperative nature of human foraging and reproduction. We calculate LRE for natural fertility human populations, compare the findings to other mammals and discuss the implications for human life-history evolution. We find that human life-history traits combine to yield the theoretically predicted value (approx. 1.4). Thus, even with the subsidized energy budget and uniqueness of the adult lifespan, human reproductive strategies converge on the same optimal value of LRE. This suggests that the fundamental demographic variables contained in LRE trade-off against one another in a predictable and highly constrained manner.
Peritubular cells influence Sertoli cells at the level of translation

Conditioned medium from cultured peritubular cells (PTCM) was capable of increasing the incorporation of amino acids into acid-precipitable material in cultured Sertoli cells, while the incorporation of uridine into acid-precipitable material was unaffected. PTCM did not influence intracellular cAMP accumulation in a manner similar to follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). PTCM was able to stimulate androgen-binding protein (ABP) secretion by Sertoli cells even in the presence of a maximal dose of FSH. PTCM increased the rate at which peptides are elongated 5-fold over control medium or medium from control fibroblasts. These studies indicate that peritubular cells influence Sertoli cells through different mechanisms than FSH and exert their influence, at least in part, at the level of translation by increasing the rate of peptide elongation.
Plant Water Use and Crop Curves for Hybrid Poplars

Four years of weekly soil water data measured by neutron probe were analyzed to determine average daily, monthly, and seasonal drip-irrigated hybrid poplar water use. The plantation studied is located near Boardman, Oregon, on the Columbia River Plateau. Irrigation application data, weekly rainfall, and changes in soil water content permitted the construction of a soil water balance model to calculate weekly hybrid poplar water use. Drainage was estimated by calculating potential soil water drainage from the lower soil profile. Sites with the potential for significant drainage were removed from the analysis, so that all sites used in the analysis could be assumed to be at steady state. Crop coefficients were calculated using reference evapotranspiration estimates obtained from a nearby AGRIMET weather station. Crop curves were estimated using a fit-by-hand method similar to that outlined by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Plant water use estimates and crop curves are presented for on...
IS THERE CONVERGENCE ACROSS COUNTRIES? A SPATIAL APPROACH

We analyze convergence across countries over the last half century as a result of globalizing forces. Drawing on theories of modernization, dependency, the world-system, political trade blocs, and the world-society, we consider economic, demographic, knowledge, financial, and political dimensions of convergence. Using a new methodology, we calculate the minimum volume ellipsoid encompassing different groupings of countries, finding that during the 1960-2009 period, countries have not evolved significantly closer or similar to one another, although groups of countries based on their core-periphery status or membership in trade blocs exhibit increasing internal convergence and divergence between one another.
The Use of FoxP3 as a Biomarker and Prognostic Factor for Malignant Human Tumors

Only since the early 21st century has it been proven that the immune system can actively defend the body against the development of malignant tumors. Escape from this process, termed immunosurveillance, has been shown to be required for the development of many tumors in both mice and humans, and may be a necessary prerequisite for the establishment of many malignancies. Serendipitously, an evolution in the understanding and characterization of immunosuppressor cells, regulatory T cells, has coincided with the establishment of tumor immunosurveillance. These two fields merged when it was found that the recruitment of regulatory T cells within tumors was a dominant mechanism tumors used to escape immunosurveillance. Regulatory T cells are specifically identified with antibodies which recognize the transcription factor, FoxP3. The presence of FoxP3+ cells within tumors has been shown to predict the prognosis, invasiveness, and metastatic ability of some tumors by modulating the ability of the immune system to target tumor cells. Furthermore, depletion of regulatory T cells from tumors could lead to the rejection of both early- and late-stage tumors by the host immune system. These findings suggest that the widespread use of FoxP3 as a biomarker should be explored for human tumors to enable physicians to make better decisions in oncologic care and to prepare the field for novel therapeutic agents directed at the elimination of regulatory T cells within tumors.
Variable block search with prior information

Abstract Consider the problem of optimizing an unknown, unimodal, univariate function by direct function evaluation. This article replaces the classic criterion for evaluating search strategies, minimax, by one we feel to be more practical, minimum expected final interval of uncertainty. This latter measure of effectiveness is useful when the experimenter has some prior knowledge of the underlying function and can specify a probability distribution on the location of the optimum. We show here that for a large class of search strategies under the uniform distribution, minimax is equivalent to minimum expected final interval length, i.e., the uniform distribution represents a ‘worst-case’ prior. In addition, computational procedures are develooed for determining the optimal search strategy for arbitrary a priori distributions. Several examples are included.
Multilingualism and Translation in the Mediterranean

Lingua franca. Histoire d’une langue metisse en Mediterranee. By Jocelyne Dakhlia. Actes Sud. 2008.Brokering Empire: Trans-Imperial Subjects between Venice and Istanbul. By E. Natalie Rothman. Corn...
Quantification of the relative contribution of environmental and genetic factors to variation in cystic fibrosis lung function.

Objective To assess the relative contributions of environmental and genetic factors to variation in cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease. Study design Genetic and environmental contributions were quantified by use of intrapair correlations and differences in CF-specific forced expiratory volume in 1 second measures from 134 monozygous twins and 272 dizygous twins and siblings while in different living environments (ie, living with parents vs living alone), as well as by use of intraindividual differences in pulmonary function from a separate group of 80 siblings. Results Pulmonary function among monozygous twins was more similar than among dizygous twin and sibling pairs, regardless of living environment, affirming the role of genetic modifiers in CF pulmonary function. Regression modeling revealed that genetic factors account for 50% of pulmonary function variation, unique environmental or stochastic factors (36%), and shared environmental factors (14%; P Conclusions Genetic and environmental factors contribute equally to pulmonary function variation in CF. Environmental effects are dominated by unique and stochastic effects rather than common exposures.
Ultraviolet-B light treatment increases antioxidant capacity of carrot products.

BACKGROUND: The effect of ultraviolet-B (UV-B) light as a postharvest treatment to enhance the antioxidant content of carrots and fresh-cut carrot products was evaluated. Four levels of UV-B dose ranging from 1.3 to 12 kJ m−2 were applied to whole, baby and various styles of cut carrots, and the changes in antioxidant capacity, total soluble phenolics and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL, EC 4.3.1.24) activity were measured after a 3 day incubation period at 15 °C and 45% relative humidity. RESULTS: Both cutting style and dose level were factors in determining carrot responses to UV-B treatment. Antioxidant capacity increased significantly (1.4–6.6-fold). Total soluble phenolic results correlated directly with those of antioxidant capacity (R2 = 0.953), indicating that the enhancements achieved were due to an increase in phenolic content. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis revealed that 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid (5-CQA) was the primary phenolic responsible for this increase. Higher PAL activity was also observed in UV-B-treated samples, indicating that the increase in 5-CQA was a biological response to UV-B exposure. CONCLUSION: UV-B treatment has the potential to increase the nutritional value of carrots and offers an exciting opportunity to increase consumer accessibility to dietary choices that are rich in antioxidants. Published 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Responses to cell loss become restricted as the supporting cells in mammalian vestibular organs grow thick junctional actin bands that develop high stability

Sensory hair cell (HC) loss is a major cause of permanent hearing and balance impairments for humans and other mammals. Yet, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and birds readily replace HCs and recover from such sensory deficits. It is unknown what prevents replacement in mammals, but cell replacement capacity declines contemporaneously with massive postnatal thickening of F-actin bands at the junctions between vestibular supporting cells (SCs). In non-mammals, SCs can give rise to regenerated HCs, and the bands remain thin even in adults. Here we investigated the stability of the F-actin bands between SCs in ears from chickens and mice and Madin-Darby canine kidney cells. Pharmacological experiments and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) of SC junctions in utricles from mice that express a γ-actin–GFP fusion protein showed that the thickening F-actin bands develop increased resistance to depolymerization and exceptional stability that parallels a sharp decline in the cell replacement capacity of the maturing mammalian ear. The FRAP recovery rate and the mobile fraction of γ-actin–GFP both decreased as the bands thickened with age and became highly stabilized. In utricles from neonatal mice, time-lapse recordings in the vicinity of dying HCs showed that numerous SCs change shape and organize multicellular actin purse strings that reseal the epithelium. In contrast, adult SCs appeared resistant to deformation, with resealing responses limited to just a few neighboring SCs that did not form purse strings. The exceptional stability of the uniquely thick F-actin bands at the junctions of mature SCs may play an important role in restricting dynamic repair responses in mammalian vestibular epithelia.
The battle over meaning: Digitally mediated processes of cultural trauma and repair in the wake of hurricane Katrina

In this article, we highlight the social processes involved in the construction of cultural trauma and repair, and how these processes are digitally mediated. In national news coverage following hurricane Katrina, a number of displaced residents saw threats to a particular cultural identity they shared with the city. This motivated them to blog. Through their blogging, they took part in constructing cultural trauma and repair. Drawing largely on interview data and qualitative content analyses of blog posts of New Orleans resident bloggers, we show how geographically scattered individuals used blogs to foment cultural trauma by directing each other’s attention to these threats. We then demonstrate how they engaged in cultural repair by producing culturally affirming counter-narratives and physical collective actions. With this research, we build on existing literature in cultural trauma theory in three ways. We identify the nuanced and long-term processes that underlie the construction of both cultural trauma and repair. We highlight how digital media allow users to transcend the boundaries between carrier agents and audiences. We illustrate the duality of digital media in the creation of cultural trauma and repair, where the media serves as both the field upon which collective identity is contested, and a tool wielded in these battles.
Effects of anti- and pseudo-Parkinson drugs on shivering

Effects of atropine, an anti-Parkinson agent, and reserpine, a pseudo-Parkinson agent, on the intensity of shivering in cats were determined. This intensity was measured by the ratio of shivering oxygen consumption rate (V∗O2) to resting V∗O2. In six cats the mean ratio was 3.0 before administration of 5 mg/kg atropine sulfate, i.p. After administration the ratio was 2.6, an insignificant difference. Thus atropine, at a dose level in excess of that necessary to suppress Parkinson or experimentally-induced alternating tremor, had no effect on the intensity of shivering. Since the reticulospinal tracts appear to be involved in both shivering and Parkinson tremor, it is suggested that the suppression of the latter by atropine is not by inhibition of multisynaptic extrapyramidal pathways in the midbrain or more caudal regions. In ten cats the mean ratio of shivering to resting V∗O2 was 3.2 before the administration of 0.5 mg/kg reserpine, i.v. After administration shivering was suppressed, the mean ratio being 1.7, a significant difference (P < 0.001). In all cats reserpine evoked an alternating tremor with Parkinson characteristics together with excessive parasympathomimetic activity. It is suggested that reserpine suppressed shivering by activation of an anterior hypothalamic region known to suppress shivering when stimulated thermally or electrically.
Modeling the relative fitness of storage

Relative fitness is a new black-box approach to modeling the performance of storage devices. In contrast with an absolute model that predicts the performance of a workload on a given storage device, a relative fitness model predicts performance differences between a pair of devices. There are two primary advantages to this approach. First, because are lative fitness model is constructed for a device pair, the application-device feedback of a closed workload can be captured (e.g., how the I/O arrival rate changes as the workload moves from device A to device B). Second, a relative fitness model allows performance and resource utilization to be used in place of workload characteristics. This is beneficial when workload characteristics are difficult to obtain or concisely express (e.g., rather than describe the spatio-temporal characteristics of a workload, one could use the observed cache behavior of device A to help predict the performance of B. This paper describes the steps necessary to build a relative fitness model, with an approach that is general enough to be used with any black-box modeling technique. We compare relative fitness models and absolute models across a variety of workloads and storage devices. On average, relative fitness models predict bandwidth and throughput within 10-20% and can reduce prediction error by as much as a factor of two when compared to absolute models.
A FORTRAN IV function for computing critical values of ordered half-normal scores

lations may appear significant by chance alone. HI.lls (1969) and Stavig and Acock (1976) proposed tests of sig­ nificance for correlations in a matrix that attempt to con­ trol overall Type I error rates, unlike repeated For z tests. The rank adjusted method (Stavig & Acock, 1976) orders correlations in terms of absolute value, transforms these correlations via Fisher's z transformation, and then cal­ culates the corresponding normal deviates by dividing by the standard error of Fisher's z, 1I(N-3) 1/2• Because the
Structure and Cellular Roles of the RMI Core Complex from the Bloom Syndrome Dissolvasome

BLM, the protein product of the gene mutated in Bloom syndrome, is one of five human RecQ helicases. It functions to separate double Holliday junction DNA without genetic exchange as a component of the "dissolvasome," which also includes topoisomerase IIIα and the RMI (RecQ-mediated genome instability) subcomplex (RMI1 and RMI2). We describe the crystal structure of the RMI core complex, comprising RMI2 and the C-terminal OB domain of RMI1. The overall RMI core structure strongly resembles two-thirds of the trimerization core of the eukaryotic single-stranded DNA-binding protein, Replication Protein A. Immunoprecipitation experiments with RMI2 variants confirm key interactions that stabilize the RMI core interface. Disruption of this interface leads to a dramatic increase in cellular sister chromatid exchange events similar to that seen in BLM-deficient cells. The RMI core interface is therefore crucial for BLM dissolvasome assembly and may have additional cellular roles as a docking hub for other proteins.
Pre-program attrition in batterer programs

The outcome of batterer programs has become a topic of research and clinical concern in recent years. There has been little assessment, however, of the input of these programs and its implications. This study analyzes the records of 200 inquirers to a batterer program during 1989–1990 to determine the attrition rates based on the initial number of inquirers. The attrition from inquiry to intake is 73%, from inquiry to counseling attendance is 86%, and from inquiry to 12 counseling sessions is 93%. Only 1% actually completed the contracted 8 months of counseling sessions. The only background and protocol variable significantly associated with intake attrition was marital status. Those inquirers referred from informal referral sources and paying high monthly fees were more likely to attend over 12 counseling sessions. The 1990 inquiry-to-counseling attrition rates were higher than the program rates in the early 80s and higher than a comparable program with no separate intake session. The implications of these findings for pre-program protocol are discussed.
Children’s Postdisaster Trajectories of PTS Symptoms: Predicting Chronic Distress

Background There are no studies of the distinct trajectories of children’s psychological distress over the first year after a destructive natural disaster and the determinants of these trajectories.
A characterization of motions as bijections preserving inradius or circumradius one

It is proven that a bijection from the Euclidean plane to itself which preserves triangles of inradius 1 or which preserves triangles of circumradius 1 must be a Euclidean motion.
Acetyl-1-carnitine. 2: Effects on learning and memory performance of aged rats in simple and complex mazes.

Abstract Acetyl-l-carnitine (AC) was administered via drinking water for six months to one group (OLD-AC) of male F-344 rats beginning at 16 months of age, while another group (OLD-CON) of rats was given water only during that period. The rats were maintained on this treatment throughout behavioral testing, which began at 22 months of age. Performance of the OLD-AC and OLD-CON rats was compared to that of young control (YG-CON) rats on the following set of tasks: spontaneous alternation in the arms of a T-maze, two-choice simultaneous discrimination in the stem of a T-maze, rewarded alternation in the arms of a T-maze, spatial discrimination and reversal on a circular platform, spatial working memory in the radial 8-arm maze, long-term memory in the 14-unit T-maze, and for preference of the light or dark chamber of a two-compartment box. AC improved the long-term memory performance in the split-stem T-maze and on the circular platform but had no discernable effects on performance of aged rats in the other tasks. Possible reasons for the selectivity of this agent's action on behavior are suggested.