cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
DISPOSITION OF SULFADIMETHOXINE IN MALE LLAMAS (LLAMA GLAMA) AFTER SINGLE INTRAVENOUS AND ORAL ADMINISTRATIONS

Abstract This study determined the disposition of sulfadimethoxine in six, healthy, adult, gelded male llamas (Llama glama) by using a nonrandomized crossover design with i.v. dosing (58.8 ± 3.0 mg/kg based on metabolic scaling) followed by oral dosing (59.3 mg/kg ± 8.3). Blood samples were collected intermittently for a 72-hr period, and serum sulfadimethoxine concentrations were quantified using high-performance liquid chromatography. Serum sulfadimethoxine concentrations across time were subjected to standard pharmacokinetic analysis based on linear regression. Mean maximum serum concentration after oral dosing was 23.6 ± 14.9 μg/ml, and extrapolated peak concentration after i.v. administration was 246.6 ± 15.8 μg/ml. Total clearance of sulfadimethoxine was 45.4 ± 13.9 L/kg. Half-lives after i.v. and oral administration were 541 ± 111 min and 642.4 ± 204.8 min, respectively. Oral bioavailability was 52.6 ± 15%. These data suggest that the oral dose administered to llamas in this study, based on metabol...
Bloody Writing: Troubling History, Rewriting Herstory in Margaretta D’Arcy’s Tell Them Everything

Words are not only necessary, but also imperative to resisting systemic oppression. Language plays an important role in Margaretta D’Arcy’s personal and political life, especially during the Troubl...
Kuchma as Economic Reformer

Kuchma’s economic successes occurred whenever he was able and willing to support bright young reformers in their efforts to solve Ukraine’s most pressing problems.
257 WHERE AND WHY HAVE ALL THE NURSES GONE? PERCEPTIONS OF NURSING STUDENTS IN KAMPALA, UGANDA.

Background Worldwide, countries from Uganda to the United States are reporting severe nursing shortages. While the United States has 773 nurses to 100,000 population, Uganda has a corresponding 6 nurses to 100,000 population. Contributing to this health crisis is the ever-increasing rate of “brain drain,” in which African health professionals are emigrating to work in these more developed countries. An added problem is the rural versus urban distribution of health workers remaining in the country. This is the first study to focus on the perceptions of students still in their nursing education about their views on emigration and practice location. A better understanding of these perceptions could lead to changes in current practices and policies that would encourage the retention of future nurses. Methods Anonymous, close-ended (Likert 5-point scale) questionnaires were distributed to all nursing students at the Makerere Medical School and Aga Khan University in Kampala, Uganda, during July 2006 using convenience sampling methods. Results Sense of profession and loyalty to country distinguished students wanting to work in rural/public/, or African countries compared with those wanting to work in urban/private /UK/ or US (p Conclusion Policy implications based on this study include the following: (1) more vigorous recruitment of nursing students from rural areas could lead to a more stable workforce in Uganda; (2) interviews, recommendations, and personal goal statements could be evaluated in the admission process to favor those candidates likely to express a commitment to rural practice or continued service to Uganda; (3) Ministry of Health acknowledgment of the role of country stability and health workforce remuneration in attracting and retaining nurses could lead to policy choices that accomplish those goals.
Adjustment of Agriculture Policy in Western Han Dynasty and Its Implications

"Farming-based "policy is the basic policy in Western Han Dynasty,but the focus of agricultural strategy is change with social situation. In the early Western Han Dynasty,some measures was carried out ,such as dismissing the solider,returning land and house,granting the rank of nobility and relaxing the people ,to maintain enough labor forces and revive agricultural economy; In the middle of Western Han Dynasty,some measures was carried out,such as renovating iron agricultural implements,improving the farming technology to promote produce efficiency ; In the later of Western Han Dynasty,some measures was carried out to relieve the land annex.
Research and Development of New Wide Area Out-of-Step Control Technology for Power Systems

To cope with the limitation of traditional out-of step control technology in complex asynchronous oscillation,a wide area measurement system(WAMS) based method to monitor out-of-step occurred in large-scaled power grid is researched,and a topological analysis algorithm for out-of-step tie line,a Prony algorithm and clustering analysis based online identification method for generator group oscillation and a angle instability forecasting method based on stability characteristics of power grid are developed.A wide-area out-of-step control strategy is proposed and on this basis a wide-area out-of-step control system is developed.The architecture of the developed wide-area out-of-step control system is presented and the requirement on time-delay of wide-area emergency control system is analyzed.Based on real-time simulation,a testing system for out-of-step control is constructed and taking the Sichuan power grid for example various power system faults are simulated and the testing of closed-loop control of the developed wide-area out-of-step control system is performed.Test results show that using the developed wide-area out-of-step control system the out-of-step tie line can be located accurately and the generator group that will be out-of-step can be rapidly predicted and the splitting control of tie-line interface can be performed in time,and the control effects can satisfy the requirement of splitting control for transmission interface in large-scaled power grid.
Analysis of Failure Mode on Iced 500 kV Transmission Cup-type Tower

The statistical analysis of ice disaster on power gird shows that 500 kV transmission line towers were damaged seriously in early 2008.The number of collapsed tower is 36.2% of the total.In order to find out the failure mode of such towers under ice load,the 500 kV transmission cup-tower in Hunan disaster area is studied on the loads of uniform and non-uniform ice thickness.The mechanical sensitivity of mainly stressed members and the failure mode of cup-tower are given in this thesis.The weakest load-bearing points of cup-tower under ice load are proposed.The research results provide a reference for the cup-tower design and reinforcement in ice disaster area.
Comparison of 2D- and 3DFT multiple overlapping thin-slab acquisition TOF MR angiography in carotid disease.

We intended to compare two-dimensional Fourier transform (2DFT) with three-dimensional Fourier transform (3DFT) multiple overlapping thin-slab acquisition (MOTSA) time-of-flight (TOF) magnetic resonance angiography for percent diameter stenosis, length of stenosis, and apparent occlusion at the carotid bifurcation. For that, 101 symptomatic patients (n = 202 carotid bifurcations) were evaluated with 3DFT MOTSA TOF and 2DFT TOF. Three observers measured the percent diameter stenosis from oblique axial multiplanar reformatted (MPR) images and length of stenosis from maximum intensity projection (MIP) images. Kappa analysis assessed interobserver agreement and the Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare the two MR angiographic techniques. There was a significant difference in the percent diameter stenosis (p < 0.01) and length of carotid stenosis (p < 0.01) between 2DFT and 3DFT MOTSA TOF magnetic resonance angiography. Stenosis was greater in 33% of carotid arteries and was upgraded (NASCET) in 17% of carotid arteries on the 2DFT TOF. The number of apparently occluded carotid arteries was equal with both MRA techniques. There was good agreement between the three observers (k = .50).
Dietary Aflatoxin Loads and the Incidence of Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Thailand

In mid-1967, a research project was initiated to investigate the possible role mycotoxins may play in the aetiology of human liver disease in southeast Asia. This present report is concerned with the results of 3 years of study in Thailand. Thailand was chosen as the principal country of the study because climate and agricultural practices favour mycotoxin contamination of foods and foodstuffs and because several reports indicated that certain areas of south-east Asia, Thailand in particular, suffer from apparent high incidences of liver disease, especially hepatocellular carcinoma.1–4
Integrating evidence-based practices for increasing cancer screenings in safety net health systems: a multiple case study using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research

Implementing evidence-based practices (EBPs) to increase cancer screenings in safety net primary care systems has great potential for reducing cancer disparities. Yet there is a gap in understanding the factors and mechanisms that influence EBP implementation within these high-priority systems. Guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), our study aims to fill this gap with a multiple case study of health care safety net systems that were funded by an American Cancer Society (ACS) grants program to increase breast and colorectal cancer screening rates. The initiative funded 68 safety net systems to increase cancer screening through implementation of evidence-based provider and client-oriented strategies. Data are from a mixed-methods evaluation with nine purposively selected safety net systems. Fifty-two interviews were conducted with project leaders, implementers, and ACS staff. Funded safety net systems were categorized into high-, medium-, and low-performing cases based on the level of EBP implementation. Within- and cross-case analyses were performed to identify CFIR constructs that influenced level of EBP implementation. Of 39 CFIR constructs examined, six distinguished levels of implementation. Two constructs were from the intervention characteristics domain: adaptability and trialability. Three were from the inner setting domain: leadership engagement, tension for change, and access to information and knowledge. Engaging formally appointed internal implementation leaders, from the process domain, also distinguished level of implementation. No constructs from the outer setting or individual characteristics domain differentiated systems by level of implementation. Our study identified a number of influential CFIR constructs and illustrated how they impacted EBP implementation across a variety of safety net systems. Findings may inform future dissemination efforts of EBPs for increasing cancer screening in similar settings. Moreover, our analytic approach is similar to previous case studies using CFIR and hence could facilitate comparisons across studies.
Implications of heavy quark-diquark symmetry for excited doubly heavy baryons and tetraquarks

We give heavy quark-diquark symmetry predictions for doubly heavy baryons and tetraquarks in light of the recent discovery of the ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Xi}}}_{cc}^{++}$ by LHCb. For five excited doubly charm baryons that are predicted to lie below the ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}}_{c}D$ threshold, we give predictions for their electromagnetic and strong decays using a previously developed chiral Lagrangian with heavy quark-diquark symmetry. Based on the mass of the ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Xi}}}_{cc}^{++}$, the existence of a doubly heavy bottom $I=0$ tetraquark that is stable to strong and electromagnetic decays has been predicted. If the mass of this state is below 10405 MeV, as predicted in some models, we argue using heavy quark-diquark symmetry that the ${J}^{P}={1}^{+}\text{ }\text{ }I=1$ doubly bottom tetraquark state will lie just below the open bottom threshold and likely be a narrow state as well. In this scenario, we compute strong decay width for this state using a new Lagrangian for doubly heavy tetraquarks which is related to the singly heavy baryon Lagrangian by heavy quark-diquark symmetry.
Reconceptualizing mathematical learning disabilities: a diagnostic case study

Mathematical learning disabilities (MLDs) research aims to define, diagnose, and remediate the cognitive impairments that characterize MLDs. Unfortunately little progress has been made towards these goals, because of unresolved methodological issues involved in distinguishing general low math achievement from low math achievement due to MLDs To address these methodological issues, I conducted a small-scale exploratory study of MLD, which relied on several data sources to ensure that a student's low achievement was due to persistent and debilitating difficulties with mathematics that cannot be attributed to non-cognitive sources. I conducted four weekly video-taped one-on-one tutoring sessions with students focused on the topic of fractions. In this paper I present a case study of one student with MLD. Analysis indicated that the student understood mathematical representations of fractional quantity in atypical ways and this alternative understanding was problematic for the development of more advanced fraction concepts.
lllicit and Abused Drugs

Toxicoses involving exposures to illicit and abused substances are an occasional problem in veterinary patients. The difficulties of clinical diagnosis and the importance of obtaining a good history are emphasized. A discussion of some of the more common poisonings is presented, including available sources, clinical signs, toxicity, metabolism, mechanism of action, and the treatment for each agent.
A self-tracking augmented reality system

We present a color-video-based augmented reality (AR) system that is designed to be self-tracking that is, it requires no separate tracking subsystem. Rather, tracking is performed strictly from the video images acquired through the lens of the camera also used to view the real world. The methods for tracking are rooted in prior research in photogrammetry and computer vision. This approach to tracking for AR systems enables a variety of new applications in assembly guidance that are not feasible with current AR technology. Our initial application is in aircraft manufacturing. We outline our approaches to feature detection, correspondence, pose determination, and system calibration. The results obtained thus far are summarized along with the problems we encountered.
A Tale of Two Villages

A TALE OF TWO VILLAGES T h e r e are some places so special that they set the imprimatur of value o n our sense of the American landscape. T h e i r aesthetic qualities and historical associations come together powerfully for us even if we have only experienced them t w o dimensionally while unfurling the pages of National Geographic. However, when these special places are threatened, we are all diminished, even if our memory is only imprinted by images in a magazine. Such a place is the old village of Deerfield, Mass. — once a frontier outpost, then the site of a brutal massacre during the 1704 French and Indian War, and later t h e most affluent and elegant of t h e e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y Massachusetts towns in t h e Connecticut River Valley. Today another massacre is in the making. T h i s setting — and others like it across America — are being surrounded by private developers making a quick killing on the sale of house lots, exploiting the values of these special places. T h e transformation of the surroundings of National Historic Landmark Districts like Deerfield and many of our most historic sites, parks and m o n u m e n t s , is generating national legislative proposals to increase protection of landscape context. In Deerfield, the colonial past is still palpably present in a mile-long corridor of clapboard houses that salute the street widi dieir pedimented doorways. O n e hundred fifty years ago, on a gentle m o u n d rising above rich farmland, this street was viewed as handsome. J o h n Quincy Adams, well traveled in his day, could exclaim, It is n o t excelled by anything I have seen, n o t excepting the Bay of Naples. T h e street preserves much of its magic because, at least until now, it has retained its setting. It is a setting for all seasons that filters time dirough tire stillness of eventide. Photos courtesy Ronald Lee Fleming, the Historic Deerfield Foundation and the Waterford Foundation. T h e views between the houses look o u t to the hills where school children might still imagine Indians are lurking, waiting to swoop down during the French and Indian War, taking 50 hostages to Canada. P L A C E S
Sublingual analgesia: a promising proposal for the treatment of pain.

The effective, safe and timely management of acute pain is critical. Other than the obvious benefit of reduced suffering, the earlier administration of pain treatment is associated with earlier dis...
Spatial and Temporal Trends in Diet for Pinfish ( Lagodon rhomboides ) from Turtle Grass ( Thalassia testudinum ) Beds with Contrasting Environmental Regimes in the Lower Laguna Madre, Texas

Seagrass meadows in far South Texas are dominated by turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum), and juvenile pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides) are abundant grazers of seagrass epifauna. As they grow, pinfish exhibit an ontogenetic dietary shift and begin consuming increasing amounts of plant material. In this study, contrasting environmental regimes in two seagrass meadows were examined to identify how they might affect pinfish diets, diet shifts, and growth across the growing season. The eastern site was sheltered from prevailing southeasterly winds by a barrier island, while the western site was shallower and subjected to higher wind energy and turbidity. Gut contents from 290 pinfish were quantified from May through October 2016 and multivariate analyses showed strong but overlapping separation of diets and temporal change in feeding habits. Although there were spatial and temporal differences between the two sites, a site by time interaction indicated different temporal trends. Nonetheless, ooze (amorphous detritus) and aquatic invertebrates (primarily amphipods) were the primary diet items consumed at both localities across time. Pinfish at both sites consumed seagrass, which increased in importance as the growing season progressed, although volume and consumption rate did not differ between sites. Growth rates of pinfish were similar at both sites, but pinfish from the western site were larger and fewer in number across the study. Although pinfish diets differed under different environmental regimes, they were generalist consumers in South Texas seagrass meadows with high diet variability that trended towards herbivory in late summer and fall.
168 Amplifying day-to-day sexual violence healing experiences through photography and storytelling

Purpose The purpose of this work is to discuss the therapeutic and translational value of using creative research activities to describe the healing journeys of survivors of campus sexual violence. Approach Ethnographic narrative interviews (n=24) and follow up photo-elicitation interviews (n=19) were conducted with survivors of undergraduate sexual violence to help them describe their healing journeys. These stories were translated into a video and an interactive photography exhibit built with community partners to build a group narrative about what healing after sexual violence looks and feels like. Results Overall, participants noted the therapeutic value of engaging in this type of research and that the visual nature of the work gave them new ways of looking at their situation. Two hundred forty six people attended our interactive exhibit and attendees noted the exhibit’s ability to educate them about the healing process while also validating and shedding light on the experiences of sexual violence survivors. Our video won an award at Awareness Film Festival and has been used for service organization and student trainings since. Conclusion This work highlights the value of creative research strategies in exploring the healing journeys of survivors of sexual violence. This work also reveals the importance of research dissemination and how sharing survivor stories can build community and feelings of universality knowing that individuals are not alone in their experiences. Significance This methodology will be tested as a potential intervention in the upcoming year and this event will be replicated in the Philadelphia community to further explore what sexual violence healing looks like within university institutions and their surrounding communities. This gives voice to those who do not have the privilege or desire to share their stories publicly themselves, but want to contribute to a larger group narrative to educate and advocate for survivors of sexual violence.
Drift, selection and adaptive variation in small populations of a threatened rattlesnake.

An important goal of conservation genetics is to determine if the viability of small populations is reduced by a loss of adaptive variation due to genetic drift. Here, we assessed the impact of drift and selection on direct measures of adaptive variation (toxin loci encoding venom proteins) in the eastern massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus), a threatened reptile that exists in small isolated populations. We estimated levels of individual polymorphism in 46 toxin loci and 1,467 control loci across 12 populations of this species, and compared the results with patterns of selection on the same loci following speciation of S. catenatus and its closest relative, the western massasauga (S. tergeminus). Multiple lines of evidence suggest that both drift and selection have had observable impacts on standing adaptive variation. In support of drift effects, we found little evidence for selection on toxin variation within populations and a significant positive relationship between current levels of adaptive variation and long- and short-term estimates of effective population size. However, we also observed levels of directional selection on toxin loci among populations that are broadly similar to patterns predicted from interspecific selection analyses that pre-date the effects of recent drift, and that functional variation in these loci persists despite small short-term effective sizes. This suggests that much of the adaptive variation present in populations may represent an example of "drift debt," a nonequilibrium state where present-day levels of variation overestimate the amount of functional genetic diversity present in future populations.
Surgical treatment of mitral regurgitation.

Purpose of review Mitral repair is the best treatment for degenerative mitral regurgitation. Many patients are referred too late for optimal outcomes. The US repair vs. replacement rate is only 60-80%, at a time when the inferiority of replacement has been established. Therefore, widely used traditional techniques of repair are being reappraised. Recent findings Identification of risk factors predictive of poor early and late outcome have improved timing for surgical referral. Composite risk scores have been developed. Novel echocardiographic, cardiac MRI, and molecular level risk factors could improve timing. Analysis of factors contributing to low repair rates is also of critical importance. The role of institutional and surgeon volumes have been identified. More detailed data on the importance of dynamic function of the mitral valve have led to improved repair techniques such as intraoperative simulation of end diastole and early systole, use of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene neochords instead of leaflet resection, and dynamic instead of rigid annuloplasty. Summary Our perception of mitral regurgitation has changed from a seemingly simple condition to one of considerable complexity at multiple levels. National guidelines should be studied and followed.
Effect of covid-19 on lungs: Focusing on prospective malignant phenotypes

Currently, the healthcare management systems are shattered throughout the world, even in the developed nations due to the COVID-19 viral outbreak. A substantial number of patients infected with SARS-CoV2 develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and need advanced healthcare facilities, including invasive mechanical ventilation. Intracellular infiltration of the SARS-CoV2 virus particles into the epithelial cells in lungs are facilitated by the spike glycoprotein (S Protein) on the outer side of the virus envelope, a membrane protein ACE2 (angiotensin-converting enzyme 2) and two proteases (TMPRSS2 and Furin) in the host cell. This virus has unprecedented effects on the immune system and induces a sudden upregulation of the levels of different pro-inflammatory cytokines. This can be a cause for the onset of pulmonary fibrosis in the lungs. Existence of a high concentration of inflammatory cytokines and viral load can also lead to numerous pathophysiological conditions. Although it is well established that cancer patients are among the high-risk population due to COVID-19-associated mortality, it is still unknown whether survivors of COVID-19-infected subjects are at high-risk population for developing cancer and whether any biologic and clinical features exist in post-COVID-19 individuals that might be related to carcinogenesis.
Pattern dark matter and galaxy scaling relations - Is dark matter the self-organized behavior and manifestation of things we already knew?

We argue that a natural explanation for a variety of robust galaxy scaling relations comes from the perspective of pattern formation and self-organization as a result of symmetry breaking. We propose a simple Lagrangian model that combines a conventional model for normal matter in a galaxy with a conventional model for stripe pattern formation in systems that break continuous translation invariance. We show that the energy stored in the pattern field acts as an effective dark matter. Our theory reproduces the gross features of elliptic galaxies as well as disk galaxies (HSB and LSB) including their detailed rotation curves, the radial acceleration relation, and the Freeman law. We investigate the stability of disk galaxies in the context of our model and obtain scaling relations for the central dispersion for elliptical galaxies. A natural interpretation of our results is that (1) ‘dark matter’ is potentially a collective, emergent phenomenon and not necessarily an as yet undiscovered particle, and (2) MOND is an effective theory for the description of a self-organized complex system rather than a fundamental description of nature that modifies Newton’s second law.
Tolerance Matters: A Cognitive Dissonance Model of the Effects of Protecting Rights and Restricting Liberties on Political Attitudes and Behavior

A common supposition of political tolerance research is that countenancing disliked political minorities is a necessary democratic value. Yet the consequences of political tolerance and intolerance for individuals remain poorly understood. This is so for at least three reasons: the vast majority of tolerance research has focused on its sources or determinants; nearly all extant studies make use of cross-sectional data, limiting the power of the causal inferences that can be made; and the political tolerance sub-field lacks a theoretical framework for conceptualizing tolerance as an independent variable. In this paper, I investigate the micro-level consequences of tolerance on three democratic orientations: 1) perceptions of political freedom, such that those denying liberties to others are more likely to perceive less freedom and a greater likelihood of government repression; 2) perceptions of political threat, such that those denying liberties to others will bolster their subsequent perceptions of the threat to society posed by the target group; and 3) political participation, such that the tolerant are more likely to abstain from voting and other forms of political behavior. The central theoretical claim is that tolerance judgments are dissonance-arousing behaviors whose resolution yields meaningful changes in these attitudes and potential behaviors. I first distill from the social psychology literature on cognitive dissonance several predictions about when and how practicing tolerance or intolerance arouses dissonance and how common ‘strategies’ of dissonance resolution may influence political attitudes and behavior. I then test these hypotheses using a three-wave panel study conducted between 1996 and 2000 among a representative sample of Russian adults. The three-wave design allows for more flexible causal models to be estimated than were previously possible, and “persuasion experiments” embedded in each wave proxy for the core process behind cognitive dissonance arousal.
Finance and Patent Length

In this paper, I demonstrate the inefficiency of the current and historical patent terms, conduct simulations of an economic model of optimal patent length, and recommend some changes in patent policy based on these findings. First, I sketch the evolution of the current twenty-year patent term and its lack of responsiveness to changes in various financial variables. Unlike patent breadth, patent length has been fixed by legislatures for extended periods of time, even during recent years, when the 1998 State Street decision and it progeny have dramatically expanded patent breadth. Second, I conduct a series of simulations based on a dynamic model of the optimal patent term in order to analyze explicitly the effects of changes in certain financial variables (e.g., interest rates and the structure of patent-related cashflows). I find that the optimal patent term is highly sensitive to changes in the term structure of interest rates and to changes in the timing of cash outflows and inflows related to patents. For example, I find that under certain assumptions a one percent shift in interest rates results in an approximately one-year shift in the optimal patent term. Finally, I propose several alternative regimes under which the patent term could be made to vary in length based on interest rates or other financial variables.
Mutagenic action, loss of transforming activity, and inhibition of deoxyribonucleic acid template activity in vitro caused by chemical linkage of carcinogenic polycyclic hydrocarbons to deoxyribonucleic acid.

In a solvent system of 10−2m phosphate buffer (pH 6.8)-ethanol (2:1, v/v) and in an iodine-induced reaction, the polycyclic hydrocarbons [3H]3,4-benzpyrene and [3H]3,4-BP/[3H]9, 10-dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene (DMBA) can be covalently linked to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) at room temperature. By stepwise addition of the hydrocarbon and repeating the reaction two to three times after isolating the hydrocarbon DNA adduct, it was possible to introduce as many as one covalently bound hydrocarbon molecule per 100 nucleotide bases. When 3,4-BP and DMBA were linked in this way to biologically active transforming DNA of Bacillus subtilis, they caused (i) reduction of the transforming activity of the DNA accompanied by (ii) significant increases in the frequency of forward mutations. The majority of these hydrocarbon-induced mutations were not able to revert spontaneously. These samples of DNA covalently linked with hydrocarbons showed much lower levels of survival of biological activity when assayed in recipient strains (hcr−) which are known to be deficient in the enzymes required for repair of ultraviolet light-induced damage to DNA. 3,4-BP covalently linked to calf thymus DNA at a level of approximately one hydrocarbon molecule per 330 bases was shown to cause up to 80% inhibition of the in vitro transcription of the DNA by highly purified ribonucleic acid polymerase prepared from Micrococcus luteus under the experimental condition of template saturation. The presence of 3,4-BP and DMBA molecules covalently bound to B. subtilis DNA samples was also found to prevent complete denaturation of the bihelical structure of certain DNA molecules and thus appears to effect a cross-link in these DNA molecules.
Transthyretin Quaternary and Tertiary Structural Changes Facilitate Misassembly into Amyloid

Human transthyretin (TTR) can be transformed into amyloid fibrils by partial acid denaturation to yield a monomeric amyloidogenic intermediate that self-associates into amyloid through quaternary structural intermediates, which are identified by sedimentation velocity methods. The monomeric amyloidogenic intermediate has substantial beta-sheet structure with a nonnative but intact tertiary structure as discerned from spectroscopic methods. Proteolysis sensitivity studies suggest that the C-strand-loop-D-strand portion of TTR becomes disordered and moves away from the core of the beta-sandwich fold upon formation of the monomeric amyloidogenic intermediate over the pH range 5.1-3.9. The single site mutations that are associated with early onset amyloid disease [familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP)] function by destabilizing tetrameric TTR. Under mild denaturing conditions, the FAP variants populate the monomeric amyloidogenic intermediate conformation, which assembles into amyloid, whereas wild-type TTR remains tetrameric and nonamyloidogenic. The FAP mutations do not significantly alter the native folded structure; instead, they appear to act by making the thermodynamics and perhaps the kinetics more favorable for formation of the amyloidogenic intermediate. Suppressor mutations have also been characterized that strongly stabilize tetrameric TTR and disfavor the formation of the monomeric amyloidogenic intermediate, thus inhibiting amyloid formation. The mechanistic details characterizing transthyretin amyloid fibril formation available from the biophysical studies outlined within have been utilized to develop a new therapeutic strategy for intervention in human amyloid disease. This approach features small molecules that bind with high affinity to the normal fold of transthyretin, inhibiting the quaternary and tertiary structural changes associated with the formation of the monomeric amyloidogenic intermediate that self-assembles into amyloid. Ligand binding to TTR stabilizes the native tetrameric fold, which is nonamyloidogenic.
The State Bar of Texas Provides New Guidance to Attorneys Regarding the Proper Use of Social Media and Blogs for Advertising Purposes

Once upon a time, lawyers advertised their services through telephone books, billboards, and television commercials. During this bygone era (also referred to as the 1990s), the ethical rules governing lawyer advertising were relatively straightforward. At the very least, we could all basically agree on what an "advertisement" was. My, how times have changed. In the past decade, human communication has been drastically changed by the constantly evolving Internet, most recently through the near-ubiquitous adoption of social media like Facebook and Twitter as a communication tool. With internet access, a lawyer has a virtually cost-free global podium to speak from, potentially reaching millions of people with every post, tweet, or status update. Indeed, if the Internet revolutionized communication in the late 1990s, social media sites on the Internet have done it again. This reality and its impact on lawyer advertising were the focus of the State Bar of Texas Advertising Review Committee when it recently adopted revisions to its internal advertising guideline, Interpretive Comment No. 17.1 This paper analyzes these revisions and their potential impact on lawyer advertising.
Ultrastructural Studies of Microconidium Formation in Neurospora crassa

Abstract Microconidiating cultures of “peach-fluffy” (pe, fl; Y8743m, L; FGSC #569) were fixed at various times after the initiation of growth and examined with an electron microscope. Hyphae from which microconidia form are markedly vacuolated and show a much more extensive system of rough endoplasmic reticulum than young vegetative hyphae. A bulge in the hypha presages the start of microconidium formation, followed by the rupture of the outermost wall layers. A thick collar forms around the protruding microconidium due to extensive thickening of the inner wall layer of the parent hypha. At this stage, the cytoplasm of the developing microconidium is still continuous with that of the microsporophore cell from which it arises and is contained by a wall which is derived from the thickened collar. The microconidium is finally isolated from the cytoplasm of the microsporophore by a centripetal extension of the collar. Microconidia differ from macroconidia in having a more extensive endoplasmic reticulum and fewer mitochondria, in addition to being smaller and having a single nucleus.
Motorola MC68040 high-speed design using altera EPM5000 erasable programmable logic devices

Many designs use EPLDs (Erasable Programmable Logic Devices) to implement control logic and state machines. If the design is slow, timing through the EPLD is not crucial so designers often treat the device as a black box. In high speed designs, timing through the EPLD is critical. In these cases a thorough understanding of the device architecture is necessary. Lessons learned in the implementation of a high-speed design using the Altera EPM5130 are discussed. >
Corrigendum: Can the Natural Diversity of Quorum-Sensing Advance Synthetic Biology?

The gene {"type":"entrez-protein","attrs":{"text":"WP_023917333","term_id":"565833733","term_text":"WP_023917333"}}WP_023917333 was incorrectly used to generate the GtaR protein motif map in Figure ​Figure55 of the original publication, which led us to publish erroneous conclusions about GtaR structure and function (Davis et al., 2015). At the time this manuscript was published, the gene {"type":"entrez-protein","attrs":{"text":"WP_023917333","term_id":"565833733","term_text":"WP_023917333"}}WP_023917333 was incorrectly titled “LuxR family transcriptional regulator Rhodobacter capsulatus” in the NCBI database. Analysis of the correct GtaR protein sequence ({"type":"entrez-protein","attrs":{"text":"WP_013066073","term_id":"502831097","term_text":"WP_013066073"}}WP_013066073) does not show “sequence conservation with TatD family of deoxyribonuclease proteins” nor does it lead us to conclude that GtaR “might represent a unique class of HSL-responsive regulator proteins” (Davis et al., 2015). Figure 5 Comparison of protein motifs in select regulators. The three-dimensional (3D) structure of TraR is shown as an example of how domains and the homoserine lactone (HSL) ligands are typically positioned in space. The underlined letters in the b–b–a–a–b–a–b–b ... Analysis of the correct protein sequence ({"type":"entrez-protein","attrs":{"text":"WP_013066073","term_id":"502831097","term_text":"WP_013066073"}}WP_013066073) shows that GtaR contains the same b–b–a–a–b–a–b–b motif as RhlR, LasR, and SinR. All four regulator proteins, RhlR, LasR, GtaR, and SinR, respond to different ligands: C4-HSL, 3O-C12-HSL, C16-HSL, and C18-HSL, respectively (Llamas et al., 2004; Kumari et al., 2006; Geske et al., 2008; Leung et al., 2012). We surmise that variations in specific residues may account for the regulator proteins’ preferences for different ligands. The GtaR C-terminus does not match the HTH LuxR-type motif (Prosite PS50043) originally annotated in Figure ​Figure55 but does match an “HTH_LuxR” DNA-binding motif designated as SMART motif SM00421 (Schultz et al., 1998; Letunic et al., 2015) at amino acids 140–197. This motif is present in all the regulators analyzed. Figure ​Figure55 now illustrates HTH LuxR regions (SMART SM00421) instead of PS50043. Furthermore, in the original publication, the protein motif maps were switched between LasR and AubR, and the SidA map was scaled incorrectly. We have corrected these errors in a new version of Figure ​Figure55.
Finding mechanochemical pathways and barriers without transition state search

In covalent mechanochemistry, precise application of mechanical stress to molecules of interest (“mechanophores”) is used to induce to promote desired reaction pathways. Computational prediction of such phenomena and rational mechanophore design involves the computationally costly task of finding relevant transition-state saddles on force-deformed molecular potential energy surfaces (PESs). Finding a transition state often requires an initial guess about the pathway by which the reaction will proceed. Unfortunately, chemical intuition often fails when predicting likely consequences of mechanical stress applied to molecular systems. Here, we describe a fully deterministic method for finding mechanochemically relevant transition states and reaction pathways. The method is based on the observation that application of a sufficiently high mechanical force will eventually destabilize any molecular structure. Mathematically, such destabilization proceeds via a “catastrophe” occurring at a critical force where the energy minimum corresponding to the stable molecular structure coalesces with a transition state. Catastrophe theory predicts the force-deformed PES to have universal behavior in the vicinity of the critical force, allowing us to deduce the molecular structure of the transition state just below the critical force analytically. We then use the previously developed method of tracking transition-state evolution with the force to map out the entire reaction path and to predict the complete force dependence of the reaction barrier. Beyond its applications in mechanochemistry, this approach may be useful as a general method of finding transition states using fictitious forces to target specific reaction mechanisms.
Participation in Context: Neighborhood Diversity and Organizational Involvement in Boston:

We use unique data from the Boston Non-Profit Organizations Study, an innovative survey containing rich information on organizational participation across seven social domains in two Boston neighborhoods, to examine the relationship between ethnic diversity and participation in local organizations. In particular, we identify neighborhood-based social ties as a key mechanism mediating the initial negative association between diversity and participation. In contrast to previous work, we measure participation using both the domain-based and group-based approach, with the former approach uncovering a wider range of organizational connections that are often missed in the latter approach. We also investigate the relationship between interpersonal ties and organizational ties, documenting how primary involvement with an organization facilitates the development of further interpersonal ties and secondary forms of organizational involvement. We then discuss implications of our findings for urban poverty research.
Evolution of FX Markets via Globalization of Capital

This paper is about money, and why today’s foreign exchange (FX) markets are unstable. According to the literature [1], FX markets were fundamentally different before and after WW I. Any attempt to discuss this topic within standard economic theory necessarily fails because money/liquidity/uncertainty is completely excluded from that theory [2]. Fortunately, our market dynamics models adequately serve our purpose. Eichengreen [1] has presented a stimulating history of the evolution of FX markets from the gold standard of the late nineteenth century through the Bretton Woods Agreement (post WWII–1971) and later the floating currencies of our present market deregulation era (1971–present). He asserts a change from stability to instability over the time interval of WWI. Making his argument precise, we describe how speculators could have made money systematically from a market in statistical equilibrium. The present era normal liquid FX markets are in contrast very hard, to a first approximation impossible, to beat, and consequently are described as ‘martingales’. The ideas of martingales and options/hedging were irrelevant in the pre-WWI era. I end my historical discussion with the empirical evidence for the stochastic model that describes FX market dynamics quantitatively accurately during the last 7–17 years [3].
Reflections on proposal writing and management of a NSF stem scholarship grant program

In recent years, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has established a Scholarship for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S-STEM) program to fund universities for providing scholarship to academically talented and financially needy STEM students. Based on the experience gained on the completion of a four year S-STEM grant and the development of two successful proposals, this paper reflects on the challenges and opportunities of managing the scholarship program, and the key ingredients of writing a successful proposal. S-STEM is found to be an effective and attainable tool for universities to fund scholarships to improve STEM student recruitment and retention. The paper provides suggestions on both S-STEM proposal writing and grant management in the hope of encouraging other educators to consider submitting their own proposals.
Rotavirus 2/6 Viruslike Particles Administered Intranasally with Cholera Toxin, Escherichia coli Heat-Labile Toxin (LT), and LT-R192G Induce Protection from Rotavirus Challenge

We have shown that rotavirus 2/6 viruslike particles composed of proteins VP2 and VP6 (2/6-VLPs) administered to mice intranasally with cholera toxin (CT) induced protection from rotavirus challenge, as measured by virus shedding. Since it is unclear if CT will be approved for human use, we evaluated the adjuvanticity of Escherichia coli heat-labile toxin (LT) and LT-R192G. Mice were inoculated intranasally with 10 microg of 2/6-VLPs combined with CT, LT, or LT-R192G. All three adjuvants induced equivalent geometric mean titers of rotavirus-specific serum antibody and intestinal immunoglobulin G (IgG). Mice inoculated with 2/6-VLPs with LT produced significantly higher titers of intestinal IgA than mice given CT as the adjuvant. All mice inoculated with 2/6-VLPs mixed with LT and LT-R192G were totally protected (100%) from rotavirus challenge, while mice inoculated with 2/6-VLPs mixed with CT showed a mean 91% protection from challenge. The availability of a safe, effective mucosal adjuvant such as LT-R192G will increase the practicality of administering recombinant vaccines mucosally.
Computations, Residuals, and the POwer of Indeterminancy

We investigate the power of Kahn-style dataflow networks, with processes that may exhibit indeterminate behavior. Our main result is a theorem about networks of “monotone” processes, which shows: (1) that the input/output relation of such a network is a total and monotone relation; and (2) every relation that is total, monotone, and continuous in a certain sense, is the input/output relation of such a network. Now, the class of monotone networks includes networks that compute arbitrary continuous input/output functions, an “angelic merge” network, and an “infinity-fair merge” network that exhibits countably indeterminate branching. Since the “fair merge” relation is neither monotone nor continuous, a corollary of our main result is the impossibility of implementing fair merge in terms of continuous functions, angelic merge, and infinity-fair merge.
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Identifies Neural Progenitor Cells in the Live Human Brain

The identification of neural stem and progenitor cells (NPCs) by in vivo brain imaging could have important implications for diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic purposes. We describe a metabolic biomarker for the detection and quantification of NPCs in the human brain in vivo. We used proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to identify and characterize a biomarker in which NPCs are enriched and demonstrated its use as a reference for monitoring neurogenesis. To detect low concentrations of NPCs in vivo, we developed a signal processing method that enabled the use of magnetic resonance spectroscopy for the analysis of the NPC biomarker in both the rodent brain and the hippocampus of live humans. Our findings thus open the possibility of investigating the role of NPCs and neurogenesis in a wide variety of human brain disorders.