cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Design and Performance of 1.5 m2 Wire Spark Chambers

A group of six wire spark chambers is described, the largest of which is 1.5 m2. These chambers are presently being used at the Argonne National Laboratory in an experiment to study the interference between KL and KS 2? decay amplitudes. The chambers have an air equivalent scattering length of approximately 30 cm of air. They are constructed of crossed 6-mil duraluminum wires, with spacing of 24/inch. Both Aclar and Mylar films are used to cover the chambers, The frames are 1/4? glass epoxy G-10, pre-stressed and reinforced by four pieces of rectangular aluminum tubing. The wires are brought out on both ends of the frame, where the memory planes and resistive terminations are clamped on. Banks of three chambers are mounted as portable units; for each bank, the overall wire positioning error is less than 0.2 mm. In order to improve the pulsing properties, each wire is pulsed from both ends, i.e. through the readout core on one end and a 500-ohm termination on the other. This resistance is large enough to prevent current robbing from the core once a spark is formed, yet small enough to pass the main high voltage pulse. The shape of the pulse as applied to the chambers is roughly triangular, ranging from 120 to 200 nsec in width (depending on the size of the chamber). Readout from both the X and Y planes is obtained by means of shielded magnetic cores that operate in fields up to 400 Gauss.
Inhibition of RVLM synaptic activation at peak hyperthermia reduces visceral sympathetic nerve discharge

Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; National Center for Research Resources; National Institutes of Health
Assumed stress function finite element method: Two‐dimensional elasticity

A complementary energy-based finite element formulation, using assumed stress functions as the approximating functions, is developed for the linear elastic two-dimensional stress analysis. It features the use of blending function interpolants, enabling the convenient representation of traction boundary conditions, which in the past have posed difficulties. A family of rectangular elements is constructed. Numerical results assessing the behaviour of these elements are presented. An advantage of this approach is in the accurate prediction of stress distributions.
Life cycle assessment of vertical and horizontal flow constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment considering nitrogen and carbon greenhouse gas emissions.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to compare the environmental impacts of vertical flow constructed wetlands (VFCW) and horizontal flow constructed wetlands (HFCW). The LCAs include greenhouse gas (N2O, CO2 and CH4) emissions. Baseline constructed wetland designs are compared to different treatment performance scenarios and to conventional wastewater treatment at the materials acquisition, assembly and operation life stages. The LCAs suggest that constructed wetlands have less environmental impact, in terms of resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The VFCW is a less impactful configuration for removing total nitrogen from domestic wastewater. Both wetland designs have negligible impacts on respiratory organics, radiation and ozone. Gaseous emissions, often not included in wastewater LCAs because of lack of data or lack of agreement on impacts, have the largest impact on climate change. Nitrous oxide accounts for the increase in impact on respiratory inorganic, and the combined acidification/eutrophication category. The LCAs were used to assess the importance of nitrogen removal and recycling, and the potential for optimizing nitrogen removal in constructed wetlands.
X-ray astronomy of radioactivity in SN 1987A

Abstract Observations of newly synthesized radioactive nuclei can provide a wealth of information about nucleosynthesis and dynamics of supernovae. This has been realized first for the extensively observed SN 1987A, through both direct (γ-ray line) and indirect (light curve power and infrared line) studies. We would like to extend this into the soft X-ray band, with the possibility of direct detection of electron capture decay of several radioactive isotopes in supernovae, supernova remnants, and the interstellar medium. Here, we discuss several possibilities and then present the results of searching Chandra X-ray spectra of SN 1987A for evidence of 5.9 keV Mn K α line emission due to the decay of radioactive 55 Fe. This isotope is produced directly and as short-lived parent 55 Co in the innermost ejected regions of core collapse supernovae, and is the source of 55 Mn in nature. The escape of X-rays from the decay of 55 Fe depends on the mixing of core material into the envelope. Despite expectation of detectable line flux, we find only an upper limit near 3 × 10 −7 cm −2 s −1 .
Microfilaments and tropomyosin of cultured mammalian cells: isolation and characterization

Microfilaments were isolated from cultured mammalian cells, utilizing procedures similar to those for isolation of "native" thin filaments from muscle. Isolated microfilaments from rat embryo, baby hamster kidney (BHK- 21), and Swiss mouse 3T3 cells appeared structurally similar to muscle thin filaments, exhibiting long, 6 nm Diam profiles with a beaded, helical substructure. An arrowhead pattern was observed after reaction of isolated microfilaments with rabbit skeletal muscle myosin subfragment 1. Under appropriate conditions, isolated microfilaments will aggregate into a form that resembles microfilament bundles seen in situ cultured cells. Isolated microfilaments represent a complex of proteins including actin. Some of these components have been tentatively identified, based on coelectrophoresis with purified proteins, as myosin, tropomyosin, and a high molecular weight actin-binding protein. The tropomyosin components of isolated microfilaments were unexpected; polypeptides comigrated on SDS-polyacrylamide gels with both muscle and nonmuscle types of tropomyosin. In order to identify more specifically these subunits, we isolated and partially characterized tropomyosin from three cell types. BHK-21 cell tropomyosin was similar to other nonmuscle tropomyosins, as judged by several criteria. However, tropomyosin isolated from rate embryo and 3T3 cells contained subunits that comigrated with both skeletal muscle and nonmuscle types of myosin, whereas the BHK cell protein consistently contained a minor muscle-like subunit. The array of tropomyosin subunits present in a cell culture was reflected in the polypeptide chain pattern seen on SDS-polyacrylamide gels of microfilaments isolated from that culture. These studies provide a starting point for correlating changes in the ultrastructural organization of microfilaments with alterations in their protein composition.
Should engineers join a union

Pointing out that engineers should have the right to join unions or not as their own consciences dictate, this author believes that by doing so they are likely to impair their claims to professional status, and suggests that they are competent to find other ways of correcting unfair situations.
Is the Galactic Halo Planetary Nebula PN G243–37.1 an “O vi Sequence” Variable Object?

Archival IUE spectra of the Galactic halo planetary nebula PN G243–37.1 have been reprocessed by the NEWSIPS routine. The new results show a much richer emission-line spectrum than has previously been reported. Several C iii, C iv, O v, and possibly O vi features were detected. P Cygni line profiles could not be identified with certainty. The He ii λ1640 emission, which is the strongest line in the IUE spectrum and is likely a mixture of stellar and nebular origin, increased in intensity as did the stellar continuum level between observational epochs of 1988 and 1990, which suggests that the object is a variable planetary nebula. A very recent optical spectrum confirms the UV results and suggests that the object underwent a dramatic change, possibly as a result of an episodic mass-loss event.
Magnetotail acceleration using generalized drift theory - A kinetic merging scenario

It is possible to describe particle behavior in the magnetotail, including particle energization, by means of generalized drift theory. Generalized drift velocities are obtained by using the generalized first invariant which has been shown to be useful in such current sheet configurations. Particles whose generalized invariant is preserved gain energy entirely in the field-aligned direction. The form of the accelerated particle velocity distribution is obtained and self-consistency conditions are derived.
The homeostat as embodiment of adaptive control

W. Ross Ashby was a founder of both cybernetics and general systems theory. His systems theory outlined the operational structure of models and observers, while his cybernetics outlined the functional architecture of adaptive systems. His homeostat demonstrated how an adaptive control system, equipped with a sufficiently complex repertoire of possible alternative structures, could maintain stability in the face of highly varied and challenging environmental perturbations. The device illustrates his ‘law of requisite variety’, i.e. that a controller needs at least as many internal states as those in the system being controlled. The homeostat provided an early example of how an adaptive control system might be ill-defined vis-a-vis its designer, nevertheless solve complex problems. Ashby ran into insurmountable difficulties when he attempted to scale up the homeostat, and consequently never achieved the general purpose, brainlike devices that he had initially sought. Nonetheless, the homeostat continues to ...
The preparation of new chiral diphenyl-substituted macrocyclic polyether-diester compounds and their enantiomeric recognition of chiral organic ammonium salts

A series of chiral diphenyl-substituted macrocyclic polyether-diester ligands have been prepared from the chiral diphenyl-substituted tetraethylene glycol. Enantiomeric recogntion by the chiral diphenyl-substituted pyridino-diester-18-crown-6 compound (7) was studied by temperature dependent 1H NMR spectroscopy in deuteriodichloromethane. This ligand exhibited chiral recognition when complexed with the hydrogen per-chlorate salts of (R)- and (S)-α-(1-naphthyl)ethylamine and (R)- and (S)-methyl phenylalaninate.
THE HALF-LIFE OF CARBON-14: COMMENTS ON THE MASS-SPECTROMETRIC METHOD.

An assessment has been made of the mass-spectrometer results in the recent NBS determination of the half-life of carbon-14. Evidence is presented to show that the uncertainties due to effusive separation and the dependence of the sensitivity constant on the isotopic abundance of carbon-14 are small. It is proposed, however, to reduce the value of the half-life of carbon-14 determined by Mann, Marlow and Hughes(1) to 5745 ± 50 years.
Obsolescence and the Transformation of Public Housing Communities in the US

Abstract The United States is in the midst of transforming its system of public housing. It is argued that the transformation reflects both the political obsolescence of the New Deal social welfare approach to housing as well as the physical obsolescence of the social housing itself. This effort is strongly tied to the neoliberal turn of the 1980s that discredited state-centered approaches to policy making embodied in large social housing estates. The physical obsolescence of social housing is partially the result of the contemporary disdain for modernist architecture and partially the result of mismanagement of the physical assets of social housing over time. Racial dynamics have heavily influenced the social impacts of transformation, leading to a disproportionate impact on African-Americans as well as limiting the deconcentration of subsidized households hoped for by advocates. The place impacts of social housing transformation have been significant, both benefitting from and reinforcing patterns of ge...
Compression in cache design

Increasing cache capacity via compression enables designers to improve performance of existing designs for small incremental cost, further leveraging the large die area invested in last level caches. This paper explores the compressed cache design space with focus on implementation feasibility.Our compression schemes use companion line pairs -- cache lines whose addresses differ by a single bit -- as candidates for compression. We propose two novel compressed cache organizations: the companion bit remapped cache and the pseudoassociative cache. Our cache organizations use fixed-width physical cache line implementation while providing a variablelength logical cache line organization, without changing the number of sets or ways and with minimal increase in state per tag. We evaluate banked and pairwise schemes as two alternatives for storing compressed companion pairs within a physical cache line. We evaluate companion line prefetching (CLP), a simple yet effective prefetching mechanism that works in conjunction with our compression scheme. CLP is nearly pollution free since it only prefetches lines that are compression candidates.Using a detailed cycle accurate IA-32 simulator, we measure the performance of several third-level compressed cache designs simulating a representative collection of workloads. Our experiments show that our cache compression designs improve IPC for all cache-sensitive workloads, even those with modest data compressibility. The pairwise pseudo-associative compressed cache organization with companion line prefetching is the best configuration, providing a mean IPC improvement of 19% for cache-sensitive workloads, and a best-case IPC improvement of 84%. Finally, our cache designs exhibit negligible overall IPC degradation for cache-insensitive workloads.
Elucidating spatially explicit behavioral landscapes in the Willow Flycatcher

Abstract Animal resource selection is a complex, hierarchical decision-making process, yet resource selection studies often focus on the presence and absence of an animal rather than the animal's behavior at resource use locations. In this study, we investigate foraging and vocalization resource selection in a population of Willow Flycatchers, Empidonax traillii adastus, using Bayesian spatial generalized linear models. These models produce “behavioral landscapes” in which space use and resource selection is linked through behavior. Radio telemetry locations were collected from 35 adult Willow Flycatchers (n = 14 males, n = 13 females, and n = 8 unknown sex) over the 2003 and 2004 breeding seasons at Fish Creek, Utah. Results from the 2-stage modeling approach showed that habitat type, perch position, and distance from the arithmetic mean of the home range (in males) or nest site (in females) were important factors influencing foraging and vocalization resource selection. Parameter estimates from the individual-level models indicated high intraspecific variation in the use of the various habitat types and perch heights for foraging and vocalization. On the population level, Willow Flycatchers selected riparian habitat over other habitat types for vocalizing but used multiple habitat types for foraging including mountain shrub, young riparian, and upland forest. Mapping of observed and predicted foraging and vocalization resource selection indicated that the behavior often occurred in disparate areas of the home range. This suggests that multiple core areas may exist in the home ranges of individual flycatchers, and demonstrates that the behavioral landscape modeling approach can be applied to identify spatially and behaviorally distinct core areas. The behavioral landscape approach is applicable to a wide range of animal taxa and can be used to improve our understanding of the spatial context of behavior and resource selection.
Binary and ternary signals with small cross correlations

Abstract A large number of equal energy signals of period 2 n − 1, n ⩾ 0 can be generated from signal generators described by primitive and irreducible polynomials of a degree n and whose correlation is small. Binary signals are generated using difference set sequences. Trace functions are used to find initial states of the shift register which generates difference set sequences. Periodic and nonperiodic auto and cross correlation of binary signals are studied and their bounds are derived. Then ternary signals are obtained from the binary signals that have lower correlation than the binary signals.
Adsorption of Salivary Proteins by Hydroxyapatite: Relations Between the Effects of Calcium Ions, Hydrogen Ions, Temperature, and Exposure Time

Calcium ions enhanced the adsorption of salivary proteins by hydroxyapatite. Calcium probably acted in the protein-bound form by promoting the aggregation of proteins. Concentrations of calcium far below physiologic levels exerted maximal efJects. Lowering the pH to 5 increased protein adsorption but abolished the effect of calcium. Relevance to the in vivo situation was examined.
d.note: revising user interfaces through change tracking, annotations, and alternatives

Interaction designers typically revise user interface prototypes by adding unstructured notes to storyboards and screen printouts. How might computational tools increase the efficacy of UI revision? This paper introduces d.note, a revision tool for user interfaces expressed as control flow diagrams. d.note introduces a command set for modifying and annotating both appearance and behavior of user interfaces; it also defines execution semantics so proposed changes can be tested immediately. The paper reports two studies that compare production and interpretation of revisions in d.note to freeform sketching on static images (the status quo). The revision production study showed that testing of ideas during the revision process led to more concrete revisions, but that the tool also affected the type and number of suggested changes. The revision interpretation study showed that d.note revisions required fewer clarifications, and that additional techniques for expressing revision intent could be beneficial.
Mindfulness and the Development of a Readiness for Change

This article argues that because much behaviour in organizations occurs in a relatively automatic and non-conscious manner, the focus on how change recipients develop positive change beliefs regarding an explicitly formulated change is likely to be an incomplete understanding of how readiness for change develops. A more complete understanding requires consideration of how change recipients develop an awareness of their automatically replicated behaviours. The article theorizes that mindfulness facilitates this awareness, and further suggests that there may be trade-offs involved in developing positive change beliefs and uncovering automatically replicated behaviours. The article concludes with suggestions regarding how these two aspects of readiness may be balanced.
The Effects of Prior Accounting Work Experience and Education on Performance in the Initial Graduate‐Level Accounting Course

This study explores the relationship between performance in entry‐level graduate accounting coursework and prior accounting work experience and undergraduate accounting coursework experience. Prior accounting work experience is defined more precisely than in previous studies so that its effects on graduate performance can better be measured. Performance is compared using Chi‐square tests, t‐tests and Mann‐Whitney tests. The results suggest that both educational and work experience are necessary for either to be of help. This differs from the findings in prior studies.
Parent-Reported Habitual Snoring and Depressive Symptoms Among Children and Adolescents Who Are Obese

Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is associated with medical and psychological problems, including obesity and depression. Snoring is the most common complaint for SDB. We hypothesized that children and adolescents who are obese and snore would have more depressive symptoms than those who do not snore. Participants (ages 6–17) evaluated for a weight management program (n = 247) were divided into parent-reported habitual snorers (34%) and non-snorers (65%). Habitual snorers had significantly more self-reported symptoms of depression than did non-snorers (0.041); a trend remained after controlling for BMI z-scores (0.053). Clinicians should be aware of depressive symptoms in this high-risk population.
Effect of Age and Sample Preparation on Mineral Concentration of Bermudagrass Hay

An experiment with a 6 × 7 factorial arrangement of treatments was to study the effect of age and sample preparation on mineral concentration of bermudagrass hay (Cynodon dactylon). Hay plots were clipped to remove weeds, and regrowth was cut at one of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, or 12 wk of age. Samples were prepared for mineral analysis by seven methods. Magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, copper, iron, and manganese decreased as age of hay increased. Sample preparation method affected concentration of sodium, calcium phosphorus, iron, copper, and zinc. Use of a bronze Wiley mill screen contaminated samples with copper and zinc. Iron contamination occurred in samples prepared in an Osterizer blender, field chopper, and hammermill; however, sodium concentration was lower in these samples as compared to the control. Calcium was lower in the sample prepared in the blender compared with other samples. There was an interaction of age by method for phosphorus and copper.
Advantage of EUS Trucut biopsy combined with fine-needle aspiration without immediate on-site cytopathologic examination

Background Endoscopic ultrasonographically guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) is a safe and accurate method for obtaining diagnostic material from lesions within and immediately adjacent to the upper GI tract. Objective To determine whether EUS Trucut biopsy (EUS-TCB) (Quickcore, Wilson-Cook, Winstom Salem, NC) can increase the accuracy of EUS-guided tissue sampling when combined with FNA when no cytopathologist is present. Design Retrospective case review. Setting University-based referral practice. Patients All patients who had lesions that were accessible through the esophagus or stomach and that were greater than 20 mm and amenable to Trucut biopsy were included. Interventions A total of 41 patients underwent both EUS-FNA and TCB with a separate pathologist evaluating each specimen. Main Outcome Measurements The diagnostic performance of FNA, TCB, and its combination were compared. Results The overall accuracy in our series was as follows: FNA, 76%; TCB, 76% ( P not significant); and combination of FNA and TCB, 95% ( P = .007). In the 26 patients with malignant diagnoses, the accuracy of combination was 100% versus 77% for FNA ( P = .03). The median number of passes with the FNA and TCB was 4.4 (range 2-8) and 2.8 (range 2-5), respectively. One patient in the series had fever and chest pain after EUS biopsy. Limitations Retrospective study. Conclusion In our series EUS-TCB accuracy was equal to FNA when no on-site cytopathologist is present. TCB was helpful in the diagnosis of pancreatic masses, gastric submucosal lesions, lymphoma, and necrotic tumors. A 100% accuracy of FNA + TCB was seen in patients with malignant diseases and in patients who had failed or been refused biopsy by other modalities in the past. More data are needed before the exact role of TCB in the absence of on-site cytopathology can be accurately defined.
Functional Comparison of H1 Histones in Xenopus Reveals Isoform-Specific Regulation by Cdk1 and RanGTP

Summary H1 "linker" histones bind dynamically to nucleosomes and promote their compaction into chromatin fibers [1–4]. Developmental H1 isoforms are evolutionarily conserved, but their function, regulation, and posttranslational modifications are poorly understood [5–7]. In Xenopus egg extracts, the embryonic linker histone H1M does not affect nuclear assembly or replication but is required for proper chromosome architecture during mitosis [8, 9]. We report here that somatic H1 isoforms, which are more positively charged and feature multiple Cdk1 phosphorylation sites, cannot substitute for H1M at endogenous concentrations, instead causing chromatin compaction during interphase and dissociating from chromosomes at the onset of mitosis. Mitotic Cdk1 phosphorylation is not responsible for this dissociation and instead functions to enhance H1 binding in egg extracts and embryos. Nuclear import receptors RanBP7 and importin β bind tightly to somatic H1 but not H1M, and addition of a constitutively active Ran mutant abolishes this interaction and enhances the ability of somatic H1 to rescue mitotic chromosome architecture. Our results reveal distinct regulatory mechanisms among linker histone isoforms and a specific role for H1M to compact chromosomes during egg meiotic arrest and early embryonic divisions.
Tissue-specific regulation by vitamin D3 of a novel protein containing ankyrin-like repeats

Abstract Vitamin D 3 is the precursor of the steroid hormone 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D 3 which is involved in the regulation of calcium metabolism, growth and differentiation. We used differential display of mRNA populations from kidney and intestine of vitamin D 3 -deficient and -replete chicks to determine the steady-state abundance of approximately 5000 mRNAs. One of these sequences, whose differential expression in kidney and down-regulation by vitamin D 3 was confirmed by Northern analysis, was used to screen a cDNA library from vitamin D 3 -deficient chick kidney in order to obtain a full-length cDNA. Subcloning and sequencing revealed that this cDNA encodes a novel protein containing ankyrin-like repeats and a C-terminal Fe–S binding region signature. The encoded protein consists of 617 amino acids and contains two sets of four ankyrin-like repeats separated by 146 amino acids. This motif consists of approximately 33 amino acids containing a highly conserved central hydrophobic alpha helix and is abundant in a wide variety of proteins, particularly those participating in the protein–protein or protein–membrane interactions involved in signal transduction, regulation of the cell cycle and control of transcription. Outside of the ankyrin-like domains, no homologies with other proteins in existing data bases were found. Our results have revealed a novel protein containing ankyrin-like repeats tissue-specifically down-regulated by vitamin D 3 in the kidney.
A TLC-GLC procedure for the quantitation of algal photosynthetic pigments and their degradation products

Abstract A procedure employing and GLC techniques for the analysis of algal chlorophylls and their degradation products has been developed and evaluated. Algal pigments were separated on MN 300 cellulose plates developed in an ascending solvent system of hexane saturated with acetonitrile and n -propanol (100:0,4, v:v). Quantitation of chlorophyll a, b and pheophytin a, b were accomplished by GLC analysis of their phytol, following alkaline methanolic hydrolysis of the individual pigments. The amount of chlorophyllides/pheophorbides in a sample was estimated by its free phytol content. This technique is especially valuable for the evaluation of the pigment contents of near sediment phytoplankton and periphyton samples, where large quantities of chlorophyll degradation products and/or carotenoid pigments are generally present which may interfere significantly with the routine analytical methods.
Dengue Risk among Visitors to Hawaii during an Outbreak

Despite the high rates of dengue in many tropical destinations frequented by tourists, limited information is available on the risk for infection among short-term visitors. We retrospectively surveyed 4,000 persons who arrived in Hawaii during the peak of the 2001–2002 dengue outbreak and collected follow-up serologic test results for those reporting denguelike illness. Of 3,064 visitors who responded, 94 (3%) experienced a denguelike illness either during their trip or within 14 days of departure; 34 of these persons were seen by a physician, and 2 were hospitalized. Twenty-seven visitors with denguelike illness provided a serum specimen; all specimens were negative for anti-dengue immunoglobulin G antibodies. The point estimate of dengue incidence was zero infections per 358 person-days of exposure with an upper 95% confidence limit of 3.0 cases per person-year. Thus, the risk for dengue infection for visitors to Hawaii during the outbreak was low.
Smart braid: Air muscles that measure force and displacement

In this paper, we introduce a novel method to measure the contraction length and force output of Pneumatic Artificial Muscles. Our key innovation is to make the braid of these fiber-reinforced actuators out of insulated wires that form a single electric circuit. Changes in the inductance and resistance of this circuit can be related to muscle contraction length and muscle force. We implemented the proposed approach in two McKibben muscles that were evaluated under a variety of air pressures (0-200 kPa) and loads (0-45 N). The experiments confirmed our theoretical prediction of a roughly linear relationship between the measured inductance and the contraction length, as well as a strong correlation between the measured resistance and the actuator force. We were able to determine force with a resolution of 5 N and contraction length with a resolution of 0.5 mm. This technique can be used to create flexible, precise, and robust self-sensing actuators that benefit a multitude of robotic applications.
Attributions of Responsibility in Cases of Sexual Harassment: The Person and the Situation1

When observers learn about a case of sexual harassment, it is common for them to assign responsibility to the victim and perpetrator. However, attributions of responsibility are complex judgments often based on variables beyond the case's details (e.g., attitudes). The present study examined how victim response, victim and perpetrator gender, and participant gender and gender-role attitudes influenced participants' attributions. Victim and perpetrator responsibility were measured before and after participants knew the victim's reaction in order to examine whether new information would alter participants' attributions. Consistent with previous research, gender differences were found for attributions and attitudes. Victim and perpetrator gender did not affect attributions. However, biases appeared in open-ended responses. Finally, only females made distinctions of responsibility across victim reaction condition.
From Certification to Supply Chain Strategy: An Analytical Framework for Enhancing Tropical Forest Governance

Created as a market-based instrument to deter tropical deforestation, the certification program of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has experienced tremendous growth over the past two decades. ...
Initial characterization of mitogenic activity of ovine corpora lutea from early pregnancy.

AbstractTo characterize angiogenic factors produced by ovine corpora lutea (CL) during early pregnancy, two experiments were performed. In Experiment 1, luteal explants from days 12, 18, 24, and 30 (n = 4 ewes/day) after mating were incubated in serum-free medium for 6 h. Luteal-conditioned media (LCM) were evaluated for their ability to stimulate proliferation of endothelial and 3T3 cells, as well as migration of endothelial cells. Pools of the LCM (one pool/day) then were characterized biochemically. In Experiment 2, two pools of LCM from day 24 of pregnancy were evaluated for their effects on endothelial cell, 3T3 cell, and ovine luteal cell proliferation. These pools of LCM then were concentrated by ultrafiltration and subjected to heparin-agarose affinity chromatography with salt gradient (0–4 M NaCl in buffer) elution, and fractions were evaluated for mitogenic activity for endothelial and 3T3 cells. The resulting five peaks of mitogenic activity from heparin-agarose chromatography were characterize...
Trust in Testimony: How Children Learn About Science and Religion

Many adult beliefs are based on the testimony provided by other people rather than on firsthand observation. Children also learn from other people's testimony. For example, they learn that mental processes depend on the brain, that the earth is spherical, and that hidden bodily organs constrain life and death. Such learning might indicate that other people's testimony simply amplifies children's access to empirical data. However, children's understanding of God's special powers and the afterlife shows that their acceptance of others' testimony extends beyond the empirical domain. Thus, children appear to conceptualize unobservable scientific and religious entities similarly. Nevertheless, some children distinguish between the 2 domains, arguably because a different pattern of discourse surrounds scientific as compared to religious entities.
New mega-farad ultracapacitors

This paper reports the successful creation of a new ultracapacitor structure that offers a capacitance density on the order of 100 to 200 Farads per cubic centimeter; versus the current state of the art capacitance density of 1 F/cm3. The principle behind the new ultracapacitor structure is the insertion of a few nanometers-thick layer of barium strontium titanate as an interface between an activated carbon electrode and a suitable electrolyte, such as acetonitrile or propylene carbonate. The new ultracapacitors are highly needed in hybrid vehicle applications, because any significant increase in the energy storage capability of the ultracapacitors leads to substantial improvement in the fuel efficiency of hybrid vehicles.
Critical Review of Techniques and Methodologies for Characterization of Emulsion Stability

The efficient development and production of high quality emulsion-based products depends on knowledge of their physicochemical properties and stability. A wide variety of different analytical techniques and methodologies have been developed to characterize the properties of food emulsions. The purpose of this review article is to provide a critical overview of the most important properties of emulsions that are of interest to the food industry, the type of analytical techniques that are available to measure these properties, and the experimental protocols that have been developed to characterize the stability of food emulsions. Recommendations are made about the most suitable analytical techniques and experimental protocols needed to characterize the stability and properties of food emulsions.
Demographic Correlates of Landscape Preference

Between-subject differences in age, gender and residential experience were found to contribute significantly to differences in landscape preference ratings. When 283 subjects rated five vegetational biomes, preferences changed through the life cycle, with the highest preferences shown by young children and the lowest by elderly subjects; preference diverged in adolescence for males and females and for urban and rural residents. Preferences were highest for the most familiar biome. No evidence was found to support the hypothesis that landscape preference is shaped by innate or evolutionarily determined factors. These findings suggest that the development of landscape preference is a cumulative process sensitive to socially differentiating factors. In the study of landscape preference it is necessary to identify both the physical aspects of the landscape as well as the social and demographic characteristics of the subjects in order to identify the sources of variation in preference.
An Investigation on the Use of Computerized Patient Care Documentation: Preliminary Results

We report results of a pilot study on the use of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) computerized patient care documentation system by three stakeholder groups: doctors, nurses, and administrators. The study is informed by the Cognitive Work Analysis methodology. Results identified both benefits of using the system as well as limitations. Based on these findings, design recommendations will be developed and validated in a larger follow-up multi-site study.
Smoking cessation recruitment messages tailored to African American high school smokers.

In accordance with thisresearch, prior studies have shown that African Americansexperience an unequal share of the health consequences ofsmoking. African American smokers, compared to theirwhite counterparts, have higher rates of smoking‐relatedcancers including cancersofthe lung,mouth, larynx, pharynx,esophagus, stomach, pancreas, and cervix.
Aplysia neurons express a gene encoding multiple FMRFamide neuropeptides

Summary The neuroactive peptide Phe-Met-Arg-Phe-NH 2 (FMRFamide) has a variety of effects on both mammalian and invertebrate tissues; moreover, FMRFamide-like immunoreactivity is found throughout the animal kingdom. Here we describe the isolation and characterization of a cDNA clone from an Aplysia abdominal ganglion cDNA library that encodes a precursor protein that may give rise to as many as 19 individual FMRFamide peptides. Nearly all of the FMRF sequences are flanked on the amino terminus by Lys-Arg residues and on the carboxy terminus by Gly-Lys residues,suggesting that the single lysine residues function to signal cleavage by processing enzymes. The gene is present in a single copy per haploid genome and gives rise to multiple transcripts, at least some of which appear to arise through alternate RNA splicing. Immunohistochemical analysis suggests that the peptide is present in many neurons throughout the Aplysia nervous system and that these neurons send processes to a variety of different tissues.
Seismology and the new global tectonics: Implications for earthquake prediction

A comprehensive study of the observations of seismology provides widely based, strong support for the new global tectonics that is founded on the hypotheses of continental drift, sea-floor spreading, transform faults, and underthrusting of the lithosphere at island arcs. Although further developments will be required to explain certain parts of the seismological data, at present within the entire field of seismology there appear to be no serious obstacles to the new tectonics. Seismic phenomena are explained, in general, as the result of interactions and other processes at or near the edges of a few large mobile plates of lithosphere that spread apart at the ocean ridges where new surficial materials arise, slide past one another along the large strike-slip faults, and converge at the island arcs and arc-like structures where surficial materials descend.
Measuring Tumor Metabolism by 18F-FDG PET Predicts Outcome in a Multicenter Study: A Step Off in the Right Direction

As a widely used diagnostic tool, 18F-FDG PET/CT combines anatomic imaging with functional imaging and provides qualitative and quantitative information about tumor metabolic activity by assigning a standardized uptake value (SUV) measurement of the relative uptake of 18F-FDG in a given tumor. 18F-
BreakTrans: uncovering the genomic architecture of gene fusions

Producing gene fusions through genomic structural rearrangements is a major mechanism for tumor evolution. Therefore, accurately detecting gene fusions and the originating rearrangements is of great importance for personalized cancer diagnosis and targeted therapy. We present a tool, BreakTrans, that systematically maps predicted gene fusions to structural rearrangements. Thus, BreakTrans not only validates both types of predictions, but also provides mechanistic interpretations. BreakTrans effectively validates known fusions and discovers novel events in a breast cancer cell line. Applying BreakTrans to 43 breast cancer samples in The Cancer Genome Atlas identifies 90 genomically validated gene fusions. BreakTrans is available at http://bioinformatics.mdanderson.org/main/BreakTrans
Eco-certification and greening the Brazilian soy and corn supply chains

Garrett et al's recent letter (2013 Environ. Res. Lett. 8 044055) shows the trade value of Brazil's production of non-genetically modified (GM) crops, and argues that production for this niche market laid the foundation for the expansion of a variety of non-GM and eco-certification systems. We argue that the conditions underlying the development and perpetuation of the non-GM certification systems are transient. The expansion of soy production has dampened the conditions that promoted the dominance of non-GM soy in the region. The state at the heart of the production of conventional soy, Mato Grosso, already has transitioned to almost 90% GM soy in the most recent agricultural season. The continued viability of eco-certification systems depends on strengthening institutions on the demand side, and ensuring farm-level costs on the supply side match price premiums reaching the farm level.
Animal Models for Breast Cancer Prevention Research

Breast cancer is composed of a heterogeneous group of diseases which is characterized by differences in genetic mutations/aberrant oncogene expression, histopathological types, and metastatic potentials. Animal models are valuable tools for defining the molecular pathways in breast carcinogenesis. Various promising chemopreventive agents have been generated to target these pathways, resulting in significant progress in breast cancer prevention research. In this article, we review the animal models of breast cancer, including oncogene (c-Myc, Ras, simian virus 40 (SV40) Tag, erbB2/HER2/neu, Wnt-1, IRS-1 and -2, AIB1/SRC-3, etc.) transgenic mice and tumor suppressor genes (BRCA1, BRCA2, p53, etc.) knockout mice. We discuss the current status of the breast cancer prevention studies, with particular emphasis on chemoprevention using selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), progesterone antagonists, aromatase inhibitors, retinoids/rexinoids, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) γ ligands, vitamin D receptor ligands, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and anti-erbB2 antibodies. We anticipate that the animal models for breast cancer research provide new tools for understanding the molecular mechanisms of mammary tumorigenesis. By utilizing these animal models more effective chemopreventive drugs and intervention strategies are developed for the prevention of human breast cancer in the future.
Suppressor Analysis Reveals a Role for SecY in the SecA2-Dependent Protein Export Pathway of Mycobacteria

All bacteria use the conserved Sec pathway to transport proteins across the cytoplasmic membrane, with the SecA ATPase playing a central role in the process. Mycobacteria are part of a small group of bacteria that have two SecA proteins: the canonical SecA (SecA1) and a second, specialized SecA (SecA2). The SecA2-dependent pathway exports a small subset of proteins and is required for Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence. The mechanism by which SecA2 drives export of proteins across the cytoplasmic membrane remains poorly understood. Here we performed suppressor analysis on a dominant negative secA2 mutant (secA2 K129R) of the model mycobacterium Mycobacterium smegmatis to better understand the pathway used by SecA2 to export proteins. Two extragenic suppressor mutations were identified as mapping to the promoter region of secY, which encodes the central component of the canonical Sec export channel. These suppressor mutations increased secY expression, and this effect was sufficient to alleviate the secA2 K129R phenotype. We also discovered that the level of SecY protein was greatly diminished in the secA2 K129R mutant, but at least partially restored in the suppressors. Furthermore, the level of SecY in a suppressor strongly correlated with the degree of suppression. Our findings reveal a detrimental effect of SecA2 K129R on SecY, arguing for an integrated system in which SecA2 works with SecY and the canonical Sec translocase to export proteins.
Currency and Yield Co-Integration between a Developed and an Emerging Country: The Case of Turkey

The relationship between currencies and interest rates of different maturities is examined in the Turkish-US context. The real exchange rate between the new Turkish lira (YTL) and the US dollar is found to depend on both short- and long-term real US-Turkish interest rate differences. Cointegrating regressions generate negative and significant coefficients for long-rate differential, consistent with uncovered interest parity and the expectations hypothesis. On the other hand, positive coefficients for real short-term rate differential reveal the forward premium puzzle and the failure of uncovered interest parity for short-horizons. Results are partly driven by the very different risk characteristics of short-term US bonds and the Turkish currency.
Characterisation of cauliflower mosaic virus DNA sequences which encode major polyadenylated transcripts

Cauliflower mosaic virus DNA sequences which encode two major polyadenylated RNA species, the 1.9 kb messenger RNA for the 62,000 MW virus inclusion body polypeptide and 35S RNA, were mapped using the nuclease 51 procedure. The 1.9 kb RNA has an eleven nucleotide leader sequence transcribed from alpha-strand DNA located at co-ordinate 0.72 m.u. (map units), immediately upstream of the AUG initiation codon of reading frame VI. The 3'-end of 1.9 kb RNA maps at 0.95 m.u. and is co-terminal with the 3'-end of 35S RNA, a complete transcript of the DNA alpha-strand. The 5'-end of 35S RNA maps at 0.93 m.u. and is located upstream of the discontinuity G1 (zero m.u.) in the alpha-strand and some 200 nucleotides upstream of the sequence encoding its own 3'-terminus.
What's new in urological trauma? 2012 update.

Urologic trauma continues to be a dynamic and evolving subspecialty of urology. This is evident by the trauma papers published this past year. Highlights of the 2011 literature include a needed revision of renal trauma grading, increased use of large population-based datasets and multiple papers examining the use of angioembolization.
Putting Capitalism Back into Capital

We agree with the recommendations of Hodgson (2014) and Braun (2015) to shift the focus away from capital as physical production-goods back to the common-sense and historical understanding of capital as money-borrowed for the purpose of acquiring productive resources to produce value. Much controversy, obscurity and confusion might have been avoided with this focus. The colloquial understanding of capital as financial-capital is to preferred to thinking of capital as a collection of physical things. A consideration of the role of time in production brings one to the realization that capital is the result of a process of evaluation, the result of ‘capital-accounting’. It is the ability to use capital-accounting that is in large part responsible for the phenomenal success of capitalism. Productive physical resources are all capital-goods, or preferably production-goods. They are different types of production-goods, human or non-human, and constitute a stock of potential value over time.
The Trend to Rx

First, there is a good sprinkling of icono clastic behavior around us, if we know where to look for it (it is unreasonable, after all, to expect iconoclastic behavior always to occur in familiar arenas). To take our youth, for example: the evidence of their conformity is in their lack of po litical activity and in the degree to which it is security rather than attainment that they seek in their careers—or so they tell the survey-makers. With wit and fervor, Margaret Mead has described how our youngsters huddle inside their marriages while the world crumbles around them. But young people marry earlier than they did, across geographic and religious bar riers, and embark on family patterns that are quite new. This behavior is contrary to the wishes of their elders and, if one is to judge by the surveys, also to those of their peers. So distasteful is this behavior to us, that we have conceivably exaggerated