cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Multichannel Schwinger variational cross sections for electron-impact excitation of the b 3Σu+ state in H_2

As a first application of the Schwinger multichannel theory, we have calculated integral and differential cross sections for electron-impact excitation of the transition X 1Σg+→b 3Σu+ in H2 for scattering energies from 13 to 30 eV at the two-state level. We find good agreement between our integral cross sections and the results obtained previously in a two-state close-coupling study. Our method does not rely on single-center expansions to calculate the body-frame scattering amplitude and is designed to be applicable to molecules of arbitrary geometry.
Deep neural networks for understanding noisy data applied to physical property extraction in scanning probe microscopy

The rapid development of spectral-imaging methods in scanning probe, electron, and optical microscopy in the last decade have given rise for large multidimensional datasets. In many cases, the reduction of hyperspectral data to the lower-dimension materials-specific parameters is based on functional fitting, where an approximate form of the fitting function is known, but the parameters of the function need to be determined. However, functional fits of noisy data realized via iterative methods, such as least-square gradient descent, often yield spurious results and are very sensitive to initial guesses. Here, we demonstrate an approach for the reduction of the hyperspectral data using a deep neural network approach. A combined deep neural network/least-square approach is shown to improve the effective signal-to-noise ratio of band-excitation piezoresponse force microscopy by more than an order of magnitude, allowing characterization when very small driving signals are used or when a material’s response is weak.
Neurocognitive Deficits in a Cohort With Class 2 and Class 3 Obesity: Contributions of Type 2 Diabetes and Other Comorbidities.

Objective This study examined the relationship between specific metabolic and vascular risk factors and cognition in adults with severe obesity. Methods A total of 129 adults (with BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 ) underwent a baseline clinical evaluation and neuropsychological assessment. Regression analyses examined the relationship between cognition and medical factors (BMI, hemoglobin A1c, diabetes, hypertension, continuous positive airway pressure use, obstructive sleep apnea [OSA], and osteoarthritis). Results Diabetes was associated with deficits in overall cognitive performance and with deficits in the executive processing speed and verbal fluency domains. Hemoglobin A1c was inversely related to overall cognitive performance and deficits in the attention domain. Participants using continuous positive airway pressure to treat OSA had stronger learning and memory performance, whereas OSA was associated with reduced total learning. Elevated BMI together with diabetes diagnosis was associated with reduced verbal fluency and greater variability in sustained attention. Conclusions Obesity-associated comorbidities most notably appeared to have a greater relative influence on cognitive performance than BMI itself in adults with severe obesity. This likely reflects the fact that a very elevated BMI was ubiquitous and thereby probably exerted a similar influence among all adults in the cohort. Accordingly, in the context of severe obesity, diabetes and other comorbidities may have greater sensitivity to cognitive deficits than BMI alone.
Gang Involvement and Drug Use Histories Among People Who Inject Drugs in California: A Retrospective Analysis:

We examined whether gang membership history was associated with earlier age of first drug use, first drug injection, and shorter time to injection (TTI) drug use among people who inject drugs (PWID...
Geographic distribution, morphological and molecular characterization, and relationships of Lathrocasis tenerrima (Polemoniaceae)

Lathrocasis is a recently recognized genus of Polemoniaceae that circumscribes the species first named Gilia tenerrima A. Gray. This species, distributed primarily in the Great Basin and Rocky Mountain floristic regions, has previously escaped thorough taxonomic scrutiny. Surveys of herbarium specimens and living material show that some features of this species have been inaccurately characterized in the past, while other characteristics have not been previously considered in assessing its relationships. Lathrocasis possesses a distinct suite of morphological features that, considered as a whole, distinguish this taxon at the generic level. This suite of characters includes the mostly entire, nonmucronate leaves, effuse branching with diverging to retrorse and threadlike pedicels, uniformity of short stipitate glands throughout, uniovulate locules, spiriliferous seeds with verrucate seed coats, minute funnelform flowers with simple vasculature, and stamens equally inserted approximately mid-tube. Parsimony analyses of ITS, trnL , and matK genes recover similar trees that place Lathrocasis in Gilieae with possible sister relationships to Gilia , a group composed of Allophyllum , Collomia , and Navarretia , or both of these groups combined. A detailed description of L. tenerrima , a review of its taxonomic history, and notes on the type collection are presented.
Abstract P6-11-06: The association of health literacy with internet usage for breast cancer patient education

Introduction: As more breast cancer educational resources are transitioned from printed materials to online formats, it is important to identify the patients that are at risk for low health literacy and who still need access to printed materials. The purpose of this study is to evaluate breast cancer patient health literacy and internet access in the South Texas region and to establish how they prefer to learn about their condition and surgical options. Methods: A 15-item questionnaire was given to patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer at the University Texas Health San Antonio Mays Cancer Center including a validated 3-question health question health literacy assessment, defining patients with high (HHL) or low health literacy (LHL). Patients enrolled in the study were 21 years old or older and planning to undergo mastectomy or lumpectomy for ductal carcinoma in situ, stage I, II, III, or prophylaxis (n=112). Patients who had cancers other than breast cancer were not eligible to participate. Questionnaires were included in the analysis if they were greater than 90% completed. Relationships between demographics, and type of media use were assessed. Results: English was the preferred language for 79.5% of the patients followed by Spanish for 17.9%. Seventy nine percent of breast cancer patients had high health literacy while 21% had low healthy literacy. LHL was associated with high school level education (High school: 83%, College: 17%, p=0.001) and patients with LHL were less likely to access the Internet for healthcare information, (LHL: 28%, HHL 69%, p Conclusion: The majority of South Texas breast cancer patients do have access to the internet but still prefer written materials over online resources. This preference was not driven by patients’ language, educational level, or access to the internet or a smartphone. However, patients that had low health literacy were less likely to use the internet for health related information. As more healthcare information is being digitized, access to printed materials and traditional methods of education should still be available to avoid disparities in health education delivery. Further study will be done to determine the reason for preference of written over online educational materials and the utility of implementing interventions such as courses to teach patients about utilization of online resources. Citation Format: Bao-Quynh Julian, Efstathios Karamanos, Kari Eugenia Smith, Maryam Elmi, Amita Rashmikant Shah. The association of health literacy with internet usage for breast cancer patient education [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P6-11-06.
NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 10: The NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project

The role of the NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge DIffusion Research Project in helping to maintain U.S. competitiveness is addressed. The phases of the project are examined in terms of the focus, emphasis, subjects, methods, and desired outcomes. The importance of the project to aerospace R&D is emphasized.
Assessment of patients' understanding of and adherence to oral anticancer medication (OAM): Results of a cross-sectional institutional pilot study.

BackgroundAlthough oral anticancer medications (OAM) provide opportunity for treatment at home, challenges include prescription filling, monitoring side effects, safe handling, and adherence. We as...
Computational Reverse-Engineering Analysis of Scattering Experiments (CREASE) on Amphiphilic Block Polymer Solutions: Cylindrical and Fibrillar Assembly

In this paper, we extend a recently developed computational reverse-engineering analysis for scattering experiments (CREASE) approach to analyze cylindrical, fibrillar, and elliptical cylindrical structures assembled in amphiphilic block copolymer solutions. With CREASE, one can deduce information about assembled structures characterized via small-angle scattering without having to rely on fits using conventional analytical scattering models that may be approximate or inapplicable for the system at hand. With scattering intensity profiles and information about the polymer solution (e.g., molecular weight, composition, and sequence) provided to CREASE as an input, the output from CREASE includes the shape, morphology, dimensions, and molecular packing in the assembled polymer structures within the solution. CREASE is comprised of two steps: the first step involves a genetic algorithm (GA) to determine the shape and dimensions of the domains in the assembled structure and the second step uses molecular simulations to reconstruct chain conformations and monomer-level arrangements within the assembled structure. This paper builds on our recent work that was focused on spherical assembled structures and extends it to nonspherical assembled structures like cylinders, fibrils, and cylinders with elliptical cross sections. We validate the GA step within CREASE by taking input scattering intensity profiles from a variety of assembled shapes with known shapes and dimensions and by producing outputs that match those known shapes and target dimensions. To demonstrate its use in real situations where microscopy may hint at the potential shapes without the user knowing the dimensions with certainty, we apply CREASE with different potential assembled shapes and compare the structural dimensions of the results.
Improvement of SCALE-XSProc Multigroup Cross Section Processing Based on the Centrm Pointwise Slowing Down Calculation

The SCALE-XSProc multigroup (MG) cross section processing procedure based on the CENTRM pointwise slowing down calculation is the primary procedure to process problem-dependent self-shielded MG cross sections and scattering matrices for neutron transport calculations. This procedure supports various cell-based geometries including slab, 1-D cylindrical, 1-D spherical and 2-D rectangular configurations and doubly heterogeneous particulate fuels. Recently, this procedure has been significantly improved to be applied to any advanced reactor analysis covering thermal and fast reactor systems, and to be comparable to continuous energy (CE) Monte Carlo calculations. Some reactivity bias and reaction rate differences have been observed compared with CE Monte Carlo calculations, and several areas for improvement have been identified in the SCALE-XSProc MG cross section processing: (1) resonance self-shielding calculations within the unresolved resonance range, (2) 10 eV thermal cut-off energy for the free gas model, (3) on-the-fly adjustments to the thermal scattering matrix, (4) normalization of the pointwise neutron flux, and (5) fine MG energy structure. This procedure ensures very accurate MG cross section processing for high-fidelity deterministic reactor physics analysis for various advanced reactor systems.
Physical performance is enhanced in old mice fed a short term diet medicated with rapamycin, acarbose, and phenylbutyrate

Loss of physical performance, as seen in humans by decreased grip strength and overall physical fitness, is generally accepted to be a consequence of aging. Treatments to delay or reduce these changes or increase resilience to them are generally not available. In this preliminary study, 20-month-old male and female C57BL/6 mice were given either a standard mouse diet or a formulated mouse diet containing rapamycin (14 ppm), acarbose (1000 ppm), and phenylbutyrate (1000 ppm), or a diet containing one half dose of each drug, for 3 months. At the end of the study, performance on a rotarod and grip strength test was compared. In general, mice fed the full dose drug cocktail diet performed better on these assays, with significant improvements in rotarod performance in females fed the full dose cocktail and in grip strength in males fed the full dose cocktail, and females fed the low dose cocktail. These observations provide support for the concept that short term treatment with a cocktail of drugs that targets multiple aging pathways can increase resilience to aging, and suggests that this prototype cocktail could be part of a clinical therapeutic strategy for delaying age-related loss of physical performance in people. Keywords: Healthy aging, physical performance, aging processes, anti-aging drug cocktail, rapamycin, acarbose, phenylbutyrate, aging mice
2008 Research Consortium Graduate Student Award Winners

(2008). 2008 Research Consortium Graduate Student Award Winners. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport: Vol. 79, No. sup1, pp. A-xix-A-xxi.
Dodie Bellamy is on our mind: edited by Jeanne Gerrity and Anthony Huberman, Los Angeles, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts and Semiotext(e), 2020, 186 pp., $25 (pbk), ISBN: 0980205572

The cover of Dodie Bellamy is On Our Mind—a new collection of essays on the grande dame of New Narrative, edited by Jeanne Gerrity and Anthony Huberman—is designed to stand out. A shade somewhere b...
Proton pumps inhibitors in gastroesophageal reflux disease: what is the best regimen? A based evidence review

Objectives: Gastroesophageal reflux disease is one of the most common gastrointestinal diagnoses. This disorder causes many symptoms and may induce the development of Barret’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma. Proton pump inhibitors are the most used treatment and, usually, are prescribed for once-daily dosing before breakfast. However, many patients describe night-time symptoms, a period when an increase of basal gastric acid secretion occurs. Therefore, this evidence-based review was performed in order to understand which is the best regimen for proton pump inhibitor intake.Methods: The MeSH words ‘proton pump inhibitors’, ‘gastro-oesophageal reflux’, GERD, and pH were chosen to search for synopses, guidelines, meta-analysis, systematic reviews, and original papers, published after 2008 in the databases MEDLINE, National Guideline Clearinghouse, NHS Evidence, Canadian Medical Association, TRIP Database, The Cochrane Library, DARE and Bandolier in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. A search in the Index de Revistas Medicas Portuguesas with the words “inibidores das bombas de protoes”, “refluxo gastroesofagico”, DRGE, and pH was also performed. The search retrieves 2,546 articles, from those, three were used in this review.Results: Three prospective studies that evaluate the effects of dosage and/or timing of proton pump inhibitors intake in gastric pH were obtained. These studies indicate that, in patients with predominant night-time symptoms, intake before dinner achieves better results than before breakfast. Additionally, doubling the dose reduces symptoms and the time of pH lower than four.Conclusion: Symptom timing and patient compliance are crucial when choosing the therapeutic regimen. The timing of proton pumps inhibitors intake should be associated with the symptom’s timing; C-level of recommendation.
Effects of a DVD-delivered randomized controlled physical activity intervention on functional health in cancer survivors

Supervised physical activity interventions improve functional health during cancer survivorship, but remain costly and inaccessible for many. We previously reported on the benefits of a DVD-delivered physical activity program (FlexToBa™) in older adults. This is a secondary analysis of the intervention effects among cancer survivors in the original sample. Low active, older adults who self-reported a history of cancer (N = 46; M time since diagnosis = 10.7 ± 9.4 years) participated in a 6-month, home-based physical activity intervention. Participants were randomized to either the DVD-delivered physical activity program focused on flexibility, toning, and balance (FlexToBa™; n = 22) or an attentional control condition (n = 24). Physical function was assessed by the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) at baseline, end of intervention, and at 12 and 24 months after baseline. Repeated measures linear mixed models indicated a significant group*time interaction for the SPPB total score (β = − 1.14, p = 0.048), driven by improved function from baseline to six months in the FlexToBa™ group. The intervention group also had improved balance (β = − 0.56, p = 0.041) compared with controls. Similar trends emerged for the SPPB total score during follow-up; the group*time interaction from 0 to 12 months approached significance (β = − 0.97, p = 0.089) and was significant from 0 to 24 months (β = − 1.84, p = 0.012). No significant interactions emerged for other outcomes (ps > 0.11). A DVD-delivered physical activity intervention designed for cancer-free older adults was capable of eliciting and maintaining clinically meaningful functional improvements in a subgroup of cancer survivors, with similar effects to the original full sample. These findings inform the dissemination of evidence-based physical activity programs during survivorship. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01030419 . Registered 11 December 2009
Physical touch-up of human motions

Many popular motion editing methods do not take physical principles into account potentially producing implausible motions. This paper introduces an efficient method for touching up edited motions to improve physical plausibility. We start by estimating a mass distribution consistent with reference motions known to be physically correct. The edited motion is then divided into ground and flight stages and adjusted to enforce appropriate physical laws, for, respectively, zero moment point (ZMP) constraints and correct ballistic trajectory. Unlike previous methods, we do not solve a nonlinear optimization to calculate the adjustment. Instead, closed-form methods are used to construct a hierarchical displacement map which sequentially refines user-specified degrees of freedom at different scales. This is combined with standard methods for kinematic constraint enforcement, yielding an efficient and scalable editing method that allows users to model real human behaviors. The potential of our approach is demonstrated in a number of examples.
Charged dust in the outer planetary magnetospheres. III - Satellite impact geometries

Interplanetary dust grains entering the Jovian plasmasphere become charged, and those in a certain size range get magneto-gravitationally trapped in the corotating plasmasphere. The trajectories of such dust grains intersect the orbits of one or more of the Galilean satellites. Orbital calculations of micron sized dust grains show that they impact the outermost satellite Callisto predominantly on its leading face, while they impact the inner three — Io, Europa and Ganymede — predominantly on the trailing face. These results are offered as an explanation of the observed brightness asymmetry between the leading and trailing faces of the outer three Galilean satellites. The albedo of Io is likely to be determined by its volcanism.
Cyanobacterial circadian clocks--timing is everything.

For more than three billion years, the organisms on this planet have known, like Little Orphan Annie, that “The sun'll come out tomorrow”, and many have honed their biochemistry to exploit this knowledge. The cyanobacteria have had ample time to fashion a suitable timepiece, as they are among the oldest inhabitants of the earth. For these organisms, light is food, and it is a nutrient that shows up at the same time every day. Not surprisingly, cyanobacteria have learned to arrange their days around dinnertime.
Government product lines

Government agencies often acquire large-scale software-intensive systems to be installed in many sites widely distributed across the country. These are often single-baseline systems that must be tailored to the particular environment of a site to allow for variations in both physical and functional configurations. Such systems often take a long time to develop and distribute to the sites; by the time the installations are completed, the system components are close to, or past obsolescence since technology is continuously evolving. This inevitably leads to a future “big bang” acquisition. This paper proposes that these problems can be resolved by considering the systems to be a product line that evolves incrementally, with new technology and functionality added over the lifetime of the product line. In this way the systems will remain state-of-the-shelf and avoid a future “big bang” acquisition.
Introducing computer science after programming

We describe replacement of a more traditional (CS1/CS2) introductory sequence with one that starts after a one-semester programming-only course. The change simplifies placement for entering students (whether from other colleges or directly from high school), and the new structure more effectively communicates the nature of the science to beginning students. The new sequence accommodates the entering students who lack a high level of mathematical maturity, but without compromising the mathematical nature of the major.
Microbiological assay of folates in 96-well microtiter plates.

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the microbiological assay of folates in 96-well microtiter plates and outlines the problem inherent to clear-wall plates and turbidimetric assays, which results in overestimation of folate concentration of samples in the two perimeter rows of 96-well plates. Rat pancreas cytosol is used in the chapter as an example. Male Sprague-Dawley rats are anesthetized with ketamine and xylazine and the pancreas of each is removed, trimmed of fat, weighed, and homogenized in 3 vol of ice-cold 0.25 M sucrose, 10 m M HEPES (pH 7.4), 10 m M 2-mercaptoethanol, and 10 m M sodium ascorbate. For routine assay of total folates by the microbiological assay, tissue is extracted by mincing in 1× extract buffer, heating in a boiling water bath for 10 min, homogenizing using a Polytron, microcentrifuging, and treating with conjugase. For liquid samples 0.2 vol of 5× extract buffer is added and is heated in boiling water bath for 5 rain followed by microcentrifuge to remove precipitated proteins. Serum and plasma contain only the monoglutamate derivatives; therefore, conjugase treatment is not necessary. These extraction procedures have been shown to preserve the reduced folates present in tissues and to lead to minimal interconversion of individual derivatives.
Molecular models for the circadian clock: I. The chronon concept

According to the chronon concept of temporal control proposed here, circadian rhythms in eukaryotic cells and organisms result from the recycling of a sequential machine that regulates the transcription of template RNA from DNA. The eucell is regarded as an event-generator (a clock) whose circadian escapement consists of a sequential transcription component (the chronon) and a chronon recycling (CR) component. The chronon is a very long polycistronic complex of DNA whose transcription rate is limited by some functions of eukaryotic organization that are relatively temperature independent. Each eucell contains hundreds of chronons on each of its nuclear chromosomes, and many sets of extranuclear chronons (free of any attachment to euchromosomes) in its different cell organelles. Upon a given chronon, RNA transcription proceeds unidirectionally from the initiator cistron, Ct, to the terminator cistron, Ct, Once the products of translation of the message of Ct have been formed, the point of no return is passed and the escapement mechanism operates on its CR component. The CR includes posttranscriptional events of translation, end-product formation and polymer assembly, and pretranscriptional events that cause an initiator substance to accumulate; when the initiator arrives at its target cistron Ct, the system proceeds to recycle into its next circadian phase. The relationship of chronons to other macromolecular categories and events, as well as to cytological, mitotic and circadian phenomena are discussed.
Fine-Grained Assessment of Motivation over Long Periods of Learning with an Intelligent Tutoring System: Methodology, Advantages, and Preliminary Results

Models of self-regulated learning (SRL) describe the complex and dynamic interplay of learners’ cognitions, motivations, and behaviors when engaged in a learning activity. Recently, researchers have begun to use fine-grained behavioral data such as think aloud protocols and log-file data from educational software to test hypotheses regarding the cognitive and metacognitive processes underlying SRL. Motivational states, however, have been more difficult to trace through these methods and have primarily been studied via pre- and posttest questionnaires. This is problematic because motivation can change during an activity or unit and without fine-grained assessment, dynamic relations between motivation, cognitive, and metacognitive processes cannot be studied. In this chapter we describe a method for collecting fine-grained assessments of motivational variables and examine their association with cognitive and metacognitive behaviors for students learning mathematics with intelligent tutoring systems. Students completed questionnaires embedded in the tutoring software before and after a math course and at multiple time points during the course. We describe the utility of this method for assessing motivation and use these assessments to test hypotheses of self-regulated learning and motivation. Learners’ reports of their motivation varied across domain and unit-level assessments and were differently predictive of learning behaviors.
FKBP12 PHYSICALLY AND FUNCTIONALLY INTERACTS WITH ASPARTOKINASE IN SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE

The peptidyl-prolyl isomerase FKBP12 was originally identified as the intracellular receptor for the immunosuppressive drugs FK506 (tacrolimus) and rapamycin (sirolimus). Although peptidyl-prolyl isomerases have been implicated in catalyzing protein folding, the cellular functions of FKBP12 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and other organisms are largely unknown. Using the yeast two-hybrid system, we identified aspartokinase, an enzyme that catalyzes an intermediate step in threonine and methionine biosynthesis, as an in vivo binding target of FKBP12. Aspartokinase also binds FKBP12 in vitro, and drugs that bind the FKBP12 active site, or mutations in FKBP12 surface and active site residues, disrupt the FKBP12-aspartokinase complex in vivo and in vitro.fpr1 mutants lacking FKBP12 are viable, are not threonine or methionine auxotrophs, and express wild-type levels of aspartokinase protein and activity; thus, FKBP12 is not essential for aspartokinase activity. The activity of aspartokinase is regulated by feedback inhibition by product, and genetic analyses reveal that FKBP12 is important for this feedback inhibition, possibly by catalyzing aspartokinase conformational changes in response to product binding.
GSD: a novel group-based service discovery protocol for MANETS

This paper proposes a novel distributed service discovery protocol for mobile ad hoc networks. The protocol is based on the concept of peer-to-peer caching of service advertisements and group-based intelligent forwarding of service requests. It does not require a service to register to a registry or lookup server. Services are described using an ontology based on the DARPA agent markup language (DAML+OIL). We exploit the semantic class/subclass hierarchy of DAML to describe service groups and use this semantic information to selectively forward service requests to respective nodes. DAML-based service description helps us in achieving increased flexibility in service matching. We also present simulation results of our protocol and show that our protocol achieves increased efficiency in discovering services by efficiently utilizing bandwidth by controlling forwarding of service requests.
Using commodity accelerometers and gyroscopes to improve speed and accuracy of JanusVF

Several critical limitations exist in the currently available commercial tracking technologies for fully-enclosed virtual reality (VR) systems. While several 6DOF solutions can be adapted to work in fully-enclosed spaces, they still include elements of hardware that can interfere with the user's visual experience. JanusVF introduced a tracking solution for fully-enclosed VR displays that achieves comparable performance to available commercial solutions but without artifacts that can obscure the user's view. JanusVF employs a small, high-resolution camera that is worn on the user's head, but faces backwards. The VR rendering software draws specific fiducial markers with known size and absolute position inside the VR scene behind the user but in view of the camera. These fiducials are tracked by ARToolkitPlus and integrated by a single-constraint-at-a-time (SCAAT) filter to update the head pose. In this paper we investigate the addition of low-cost accelerometers and gyroscopes such as those in Nintendo Wii remotes, the Wii Motion Plus, and the Sony Sixaxis controller to improve the precision and accuracy of JanusVF. Several enthusiast projects have implemented these units as basic trackers or for gesture recognition, but none so far have created true 6DOF trackers using only the accelerometers and gyroscopes. Our original experiments were repeated after adding the low-cost inertial sensors, showing considerable improvements and noise reduction.
Structure and Expression of Novel Spliced Leader RNA Genes in Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract Approximately 25% of Caenorhabditis elegans genes are organized as operons. Polycistronic transcripts are converted to monocistronic mRNAs by 3′ cleavage/polyadenylation and 5′ trans-splicing with untranslated, 5′-terminal exons called spliced leaders, (SLs). The 5′ termini of mRNAs encoded by downstream genes in operons are acceptors for ≥7 recently discovered “novel” SLs and a classical SL (SL2). Diversity in SL exons is now partly explained by the discovery and characterization of five novel genes that encode C. elegans SL RNAs. These novel SL RNAs contain a 22- or 23-nucleotide SL followed by conserved splice donor and downstream sequences that are essential for catalysis of trans-splicing reactions. The SL3α, SL4, and SL5 RNA genes are tightly clustered on chromosome III; their 114-nucleotide transcripts deliver three distinct SLs to mRNAs. The SL3β and SL3γ RNA genes are on chromosome I, but are not tightly linked. SL RNAs 3α, 3β, and 3γ provide identical 5′ leader exons, although their 3′ sequences diverge. Transcription of SL 3-5 RNA genes appears to be driven by flanking DNA elements that are homologous with segments of promoters for the C. elegans SL2 RNA and small nuclear RNA genes. RNase protection assays demonstrated that novel SL RNAs are transcribed in vivo and accumulate in the poly(A−) RNA pool. SL3 exons are transferred to mRNAs as frequently as SL2 exons. In contrast, SL4 is appended to mRNAs 10% as frequently as SL3. The abundance of SL4 RNA increased 6-fold during postembryonic development, and the SL4 RNA gene promoter is active principally in hypodermal cells.
Priming infants to use color in an individuation task: Does social context matter?

a b s t r a c t Infants’ learn a great deal about the physical world during the first year of life. There is a growing body of research investigating the conditions under which this is most likely to occur. Most of this research has focused on the type of information that infants are presented. The current research moves the field in a new direction by investigating the extent to which the social context – who presents the information to the infant – influences knowledge acquisition. Infants were first presented with a color-priming event in a non-social context (Experiment 1) or a social context (Experiment 2). These two contexts differed primarily in whether the individual presenting the color-priming events was behind the apparatus and hidden from view or sat next to the infant and was visible, respectively. The extent to which viewing the color priming events increased infants’ sensitivity to color differences in a subsequent object individuation task was then assessed. The results revealed that whereas 8.5-month-olds experienced color priming in the non-social context, 7.5-month-olds only experienced color priming within a social context. Furthermore, the 7.5-month-olds evidenced priming only when their own parent, not an unfamiliar adult, was the social partner performing the priming events. This provides new evidence for the significance of infant learning within a social context and the potential role of parents.
Accountability in Governance: The Challenge of Implementing the Aarhus Convention in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

The signing of the 1998 UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) radically extended international law on transparency and accountability in environmental governance. For the countries of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) that have now ratified, the Convention could prompt profound democratic changes. This article, based on the authors' experiences, analyses changing cultures of governance in EECCA countries. The first so-called pillar of access to information sets in place rights that directly contradict the fundamental secrecy of the former Soviet Union countries. Some officials' reluctance to share environmental information may also be linked to the economic duress of the current transition period, where information may be an official's only asset. The second pillar of public participation also poses difficulties for officials for whom the highest praise is to be considered a “professional”. In their belief that no one knows better than they do, they are reluctant to spend time and resources to make decision-making transparent and to involve the public. The third pillar of access to justice breaks new ground for post-socialist countries still developing their judicial systems. Though several highly sophisticated NGOs have been successful in using courts, it remains difficult for an ordinary EECCA citizen to bring an environment-related legal action. Changing these attitudes and practices will be a long and troublesome process. The Aarhus Convention will not be truly implemented until openness, transparency and accountability in environmental decision-making become everyday habits.
Kernel canonical correlation analysis for hyperspectral anomaly detection

In this paper, we present a kernel-based nonlinear version of canonical correlation analysis (CCA), so called kernel canonical correlation analysis (KCCA), for hyperspectral anomaly detection applications. CCA only measures linear dependency between two sets of signal vectors (target and background) ignoring higher order correlations crucial for distinguishing between man-made objects and background clutter. In order to exploit nonlinear correlations we implicitly map the two sets of data into a high dimensional feature space where correlations of nonlinear features extracted from the original data are exploited by a kernel function. A generalized eigenproblem is then formulated for KCCA. In this paper, both CCA and KCCA are applied to real hyperspectral images and detection performance of CCA and KCCA are compared to the well-known RX anomaly detection algorithm.
Concentration Dependence in the Spectra of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Mixtures by Front-Surface Fluorescence Analysis

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a challenge for fluorescence analysis. Inner-filter quenching effects and energy transfers of PAHs in petroleum differ with concentration, leading to characteristically different fluorescence. At high concentrations of single PAH molecules and petroleum mixtures the classic rectangular quartz cell presents a particular challenge due to inner filter effects from right-angle illumination. While quite a few instrumental and mathematical corrections for these effects are reported throughout the literature, for researchers with standard instrumental sample compartments a triangular fluorometer cell can be used to emulate front-surface fluorescence analysis. This work presents concentration study results from the single PAH molecules fluoranthene and azulene dissolved in spectral-grade cyclohexane and also seeks to correct an aspect of our past work on the fluorescence of petroleum mixtures.
Clinical and histopathologic features of fluoroquinolone-induced liver injury.

Background & Aims Fluoroquinolone-induced liver injury is rare; no prospective studies of well-characterized case series have been published. We studied patients with fluoroquinolone-induced hepatotoxicity from the Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network (DILIN) to characterize injury patterns, outcomes, and associated features. Methods We identified subjects with fluoroquinolone hepatotoxicity enrolled in the DILIN from September 2004 to January 2010. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were analyzed by descriptive statistical methods. Results Of the 679 registrants in the DILIN prospective study, 12 had fluoroquinolone hepatotoxicity (6 ciprofloxacin, 4 moxifloxacin, 1 levofloxacin, and 1 gatifloxacin). Seven were women; median age was 57 years (range, 23–80 years), and median time from fluoroquinolone start to symptoms was only 4 days (range, 1–39 days). Nine patients developed symptoms on medication; 3 did so 2, 8, and 32 days after stopping the medication. Cases were equally distributed among hepatocellular injury (predominantly increased levels of alanine aminotransferase), cholestatic injury (predominantly increased levels of alkaline phosphatase), and both. Seven patients had immunoallergic features. Patients with mixed hepatocellular and cholestatic injury had mild disease without jaundice; all recovered. In contrast, 2 of 4 patients with hepatocellular injury and jaundice died, 1 of acute liver failure. One patient with cholestatic injury developed vanishing bile duct syndrome and required liver transplantation; another had a persistently increased serum level of alkaline phosphatase. Conclusions Fluoroquinolone liver injury is rapid in onset and often has immunoallergic features, indicating a hypersensitivity reaction. The pattern of injury can be hepatocellular, cholestatic, or mixed; mixed cases are the least severe. Acute and chronic liver failure can occur.
Successful Treatment of Candida Pericarditis following Sternotomy

A 34-year-old man who was stabbed in the chest, underwent emergency sternotomy. Sternal dehiscence with pericardial tamponade developed by the 16th postoperative day. Pericardiotomy with drainage was performed and cultures of pericardial fluid yielded Candida tropicalis. The patient was treated successfully with fluconazole.
Neurophysiological correlates of age-related changes in working memory capacity.

Cognitive abilities such as working memory (WM) capacity decrease with age. To determine the neurophysiological correlates of age-related reduction in working memory capacity, we studied 10 young subjects ( 55 years of age; mean age=59) with whole brain blood oxygenation-level dependent (BOLD) fMRI on a 1.5 T GE MR scanner using a SPIRAL FLASH pulse sequence (TE=24 ms, TR=56 ms, FA=60 degrees , voxel dimensions=3.75 mm(3)). Subjects performed a modified version of the "n" back working memory task at different levels of increasing working memory load (1-Back, 2-Back and 3-Back). Older subjects performed as well as the younger subjects at 1-Back (p=0.4), but performed worse than the younger subjects at 2-Back (p<0.01) and 3-Back (p=0.06). Older subjects had significantly longer reaction time (RT) than younger subjects (p<0.04) at all levels of task difficulty. Image analysis using SPM 99 revealed a similar distribution of cortical activity between younger and older subjects at all task levels. However, an analysis of variance revealed a significant group x task interaction in the prefrontal cortex bilaterally; within working memory capacity, as in 1-Back when the older subjects performed as well as the younger subjects, they showed greater prefrontal cortical (BA 9) activity bilaterally. At higher working memory loads, however, when they performed worse then the younger subjects, the older subjects showed relatively reduced activity in these prefrontal regions. These data suggest that, within capacity, compensatory mechanisms such as additional prefrontal cortical activity are called upon to maintain proficiency in task performance. As cognitive demand increases, however, they are pushed past a threshold beyond which physiological compensation cannot be made and, a decline in performance occurs.
Sociodemographic and behavioral predictors of bed time and wake time among US adolescents aged 15 to 17 years

Objective To examine bed times and wake times in US adolescents aged 15 to 17 years using time diaries to determine whether adolescent sleep has changed in recent years and what factors determine bed times and wake times. Study design Time diary analysis using 2 national probability samples: 1981 Time Use Longitudinal Panel Study (n = 130) and 2003-2006 American Time Use Survey (n = 2978). Results Average time in bed on school days was about 8 hours and was 1 to 2 hours longer on non-school days. Bed times and wake times were similar in 1981 and 2003-2006. Sociodemographic factors and daytime activities, specifically computer use and social activities, predicted bed time. On school days, school start time was the strongest predictor of wake time. Every hour earlier that school started, wake time was about 25 minutes earlier. Conclusions Adolescents spent less than the recommended 9 hours in bed on school days. There is no evidence that this is a recent change in bed times and wake times, however. Although many factors influence bed time, school start time is the strongest determinant of wake time on school days. Increased computer use and earlier school days may be contributing to insufficient sleep in adolescents.
Haemoglobin inkster (alpha2 85aspartic acid leads to valine beta2) coexisting with beta-thalassaemia in a Caucasian family.

Summary. Haemoglobin Inkster, a new α-chain variant, was discovered in a family which also had the gene for β-thalassaemia. The amino acid abnormality was in αTp-9 which contains 29 amino-acid residues. Structural studies were facilitated by cleavage of the abnormal α-chains with cyanogen bromide followed by tryptic digestion. The substitution was shown to be valine for aspartic acid at position 85 in the α-chain. Affected individuals had no haematological abnormalities. Individuals with both β-thalassaemia and Hb Inkster had slightly lower percentages of Hb Inkster than those found in persons heterozygous for the Hb Inkster gene alone. ‘Interaction’ between thalassaemia and variant haemoglobin genes involving different haemoglobin loci has been reported in another family with β-thalassaemia and an α-chain haemoglobin mutant, as well as in the converse situation of coexisting β-thalassemia and a β-chain haemoglobin mutant. This decrease in the mutant haemoglobin percentage differs from the more common ‘interaction’ of thalassaemia and mutant haemoglobin genes involving the same haemoglobin locus, in which the mutant haemoglobin percentage is increased. The mechanism for the ‘interaction’ is unknown, but the presence of an unusually low percentage of a haemoglobin variant should warrant investigation for coexisting thalassaemia involving a different haemoglobin locus.
On storage of topological information

The usefulness of topology in science and mathematics means that topological spaces must be studied, and computers must be used in this study. Here are examples of this need from physics: In classical physics, the Euclidean spaces and compact Hausdorff spaces that arise can be approximated by finite spaces, and the goal of this paper is to discuss such approximation. A recent nonclassical development in physics uses a version of such finite approximation to view the universe as finite and eternally changing, and this is also discussed. Finite spaces are completely determined by their specialization orders. As a special case, digital n-space, used to interpret Euclidean n-space and in particular, the computer screen, is also dealt with in terms of the specialization.
Exploring the impact game-based learning has on classroom environment and student engagement within an engineering product design class

Active learning has been shown to improve student learning outcomes while enabling students to be engaged in their learning process. One form of active learning that is growing in its application within engineering undergraduate classes is the use of game-based learning. This study utilized two class sections (control vs. experimental) to determine the impact that game-based learning could have on students' perceptions of the classroom environment and their engagement with class content. Utilizing the College and University Classroom Environment Inventory (CUCEI) and a selection of questions from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) the authors were able to assess whether game-based learning modified the way students viewed the Introduction to Chemical Product Design course. Preliminary results demonstrated that the game-based learning class rated the classroom environment higher on all seven dimensions. In particular, a statistically significant difference was achieved on the personalization dimension through use of a t-test and the non-parametric Mann Whitney test although this was no longer significant after accounting for multiple comparisons. In addition, students in the game-based learning class felt that they developed key professional skills such as oral communication, ability to work effectively with others and to solve complex or real world problems. These results are indicative that game-based learning is a pedagogy that can be applied within engineering and may lead to a more positive classroom environment and student experience.
EPA's Research Projects Relating to the Dual-Circuit and Lorenz Refrigerator /Freezers

At a meeting in February 1989, EPA presented to several research universities, national laboratories, and refrigerator/freezer (RF) manufacturers the Agency's desire to replace CFC-12 as a refrigerant in the RF vapor compression cycle and increase RF energy efficiency. EPA recognized that, while eliminating CFCs, energy benefits could be gained by further product development (e.g., improving compressor efficiency or heat transfer surface areas). The largest cycle energy gains, however, were expected to be a result of completely different vapor compression configuration. Two new vapor compression configurations were suggested by the participants - the Lorenz design and the dual-circuit design. A decision was made to construct and test modified RFs as proof that the advanced refrigerants and cycles could achieve energy gains. An RF computer model has been updated and expanded which can model both the Lorenz and dual-circuit RF. Modified RF testing and component testing in test stands is being performed to determine the increased energy performance of these configurations.