cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Localization of myosin II to chromosome arms and spindle fibers in PtK1 cells: a possible role for an actomyosin system in mitosis.

The enzymes of importance in moving chromosomes are called motor proteins and include dynein, kinesin, and possibly myosin II. These three molecules are all included in the category of ATPases, in that they have the ability to convert chemical energy into mechanical energy. Both dynein and kinesin have been documented as molecules that “walk” along microtubules in the mitotic spindle, carrying cargo such as chromosomes. Myosin II, analogous to the muscle contraction system, transiently interacts along actin filaments and associates with kinetochore microtubules. In this paper we present evidence that a third ATPase, myosin II, may act as a “thruster” to propel chromosomes during the mitotic process. Double-label immunocytochemistry to actin and myosin II shows that myosin II is localized on chromosome arms at the beginning of mitosis and remains localized to the chromosomes throughout mitosis. Specific staining of myosin II is relegated to the outside of chromosomes with the highest density of staining occurring between the spindle poles and the chromosomes. This specific localization could account for the movement of chromosomes during mitosis, since they segregate towards the spindle poles, along kinetochore microtubules containing actin filaments, after aligning at the equatorial region of the cell at metaphase. We conclude from this study that there is an actomyosin system present in the mitotic spindle and that myosin is attached to chromosome arms and may act as a thruster in moving chromosomes during the mitotic process.
Phase II trial of weekly docetaxel and gemcitabine as first-line therapy for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

A platinum doublet has been the standard treatment for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and good performance status. This treatment results in almost a doubling of 1-yr survival, along with an improvement in quality of life despite treatment-related toxicities. However, platinum-based treatment may be associated with significant toxicity. In this trial, we prospectively evaluated a weekly regimen of docetaxel and gemcitabine for advanced NSCLC. The endpoints of this study included objective response rate, survival, and toxicity. Forty-two patients with previously untreated, advanced NSCLC with PS 0-1 were included. Patients received docetaxel (36 mg/m2) and gemcitabine (600 mg/m2) on d 1, 8, and 15 of a 28-d cycle. Responses were assessed every two cycles. The median age was 63 yr; with 22 males and 20 females; 67% were ≥60 years old; and 38 patients had stage IV disease. In the intent-to-treat (ITT) analysis of response, 16 patients had a partial response (38%) and 15 patients had stable disease (36%). The 1-yr survival was 48%; median survival for all patients was 11.3 mo and the median progression-free survival was 5.1 mo. Toxicities (≥grade 3) included neutropenia (29%), asthenia (26%), diarrhea (14%), thrombocytopenia (10%), pneumonitis (7%), peripheral neuropathy (5%), peripheral edema (5%), nail changes (2%), and myositis (2%). This study demonstrated that this non-platinum doublet (docetaxel+gemcitabine) given on a weekly schedule for advanced NSCLC was well tolerated with efficacy comparable to that reported with platinum-based chemotherapy regimens.
Block implementation of two-dimensional digital filters

Abstract A novel principle known as block transformation is developed for the block implementation of two-dimensional (2-D) digital filters. It employs the one-dimensional (1-D) block implementation concept forwarded by Burrus ( 7 ) as a basic tool. Using this block transformation principle three distinct forms of 2-D block equations are derived. The generalized nature of the approach presented here facilitates the straightforward extension of this technique to higher dimensional digital filters.
All-hydrocarbon stapled peptides as Synthetic Cell-Accessible Mini-Proteins

A majority of proteins responsible for the establishment and maintenance of human disease states are unable to be targeted therapeutically by molecules belonging to either of the two established classes of drugs, namely small molecules and protein therapeutics. Recent efforts toward drugging these ‘undruggable’ proteins have led to greatly increased focus on cell-penetrating mini-proteins as a new class of agents for targeting intractable intracellular proteins. These molecules are designed to combine the advantages intrinsic to each conventional therapeutic modality while overcoming their individual limitations. One class of cell-penetrating mini-proteins, all-hydrocarbon stapled peptides, has recently demonstrated the ability to potently and specifically target previously intractable proteins such as transcription factors, vaulting this class to the forefront of a new wave of next-generation drugs.
Interdiffusion of cerium in Fe-base alloys with Ni or Cr

Abstract Isothermal interdiffusion studies relevant to lanthanide interactions with cladding alloys in the Integral Fast Reactor program were carried out at 425°C by employing solid-solid diffusion couples assembled with disks of Ce and disks of Fe, Ni, and Fe-10.1Ni, and Fe-20.1Cr, binary alloys (composition in at%). The diffusion structures and intermetallic layers which developed in the various couples during the diffusion anneal were metallographically examined and analyzed by SEM-EDS techniques for concentration profiles. Computer programs were developed to construct profiles of concentrations and to evaluate interdiffusion fluxes and effective interdiffusion coefficients for the individual components over selected regions of the diffusion zones of the various couples. Intrinsic diffusion data were calculated at marker planes in the Ni3Ce7 and Fe2Ce phases developed in the Ni vs Ce and Fe vs Ce couples, respectively. The intermetallic phases and diffusion layers observed in the various couples are discussed in the light of phase diagrams and experimental diffusion paths.
Socioeconomic change and fertility: a time-series model for the United States

Most previous efforts to model the determinants of fertility have used cross-sectional data and various forms of regression analysis. In this paper a recursive model of fertility in terms ofsocioeconomic change is developed and the parameters of the model are estimated using time-series data.
Boundary conditions for a dual particle method

We present a meshfree particle method suitable for computation of the dynamic response of materials. The method employs two sets of Lagrange particles: one carrying position and velocity (motion particles) and the other carrying field (stress particles). A stability analysis shows the method to be stable, even under deformation and when the connectivity is changing. This provides hope that large deformations can be computed in a Lagrange frame. Important aspects of the method include: (1) linear moving least squares (MLS) derivative estimates, (2) a unified boundary treatment based on constrained linear MLS fits, (3) a conceptually simple neighbor search that handles large anisotropy in the particle spacing, and most importantly, (4) stability with deformation and changing connectivity.
Centralized versus local environmental standard setting: firm, capital, and labor mobility in an interjurisdictional model of firm-specific emission permitting

An important public policy question that remains unresolved is whether environmental standards are best set centrally or locally. At the center of the debate is whether devolution can induce jurisdictions of a federation to “race to the bottom” in pursuit of industry and jobs. A widely cited and received exception to this line of reasoning was forwarded by Oates and Schwab in 1988. Their results suggested that immobile homogeneous residents of a jurisdiction trade higher aggregate emissions (localized) for increased wage income in a socially efficient manner. The fixity of the number of firms in each jurisdiction, however, is implicitly assumed and appears to be the linchpin to their equilibrium. This article reexamines potential distortions in decentralized decisionmaking by extending the Oates and Schwab general equilibrium construct to include labor mobility, explicit firm mobility, and firm-specific emission permitting. Whenever firms, labor, and capital are mobile across jurisdictions, decentralized environmental standards can be set too high, too low, or socially efficient depending on jurisdictional production relationships and firms’ responsiveness to key policy variables. This outcome implies that the decentralized efficiency result might not be as prominent as previously argued and appears as a single case in a more general model of decentralized government behavior.
Deciding branching bisimilarity of normed context-free processes is in σ 2 p

Abstract We show that the problem of deciding branching bisimulation equivalence for normed context-free processes is in Σ p 2 , the second level of the polynomial-time hierarchy, and hence in PSPACE . We also show that minimization of normed context-free process graphs is in PSPACE .
Proteome analysis of low-abundance proteins using multidimensional chromatography and isotope-coded affinity tags.

The effectiveness of proteome-wide protein identification and quantitative expression profiling is dependent on the ability of the analytical methodologies employed to routinely obtain information ...
Chemical reaction thresholds are resonances

Abstract We show that passage over a potential barrier is associated with a pole of the scattering ( S ) matrix. Thus reaction thresholds associated with barriers are described in quantum mechanics by poles of the scattering matrix, i.e. chemical reaction thresholds are resonances. Furthermore, by varying the parameters of a potential energy function, such a pole may be transformed continuously into a conventional resonance associated with a particle trapped in a well between barriers. Thus there is no distinction in kind between the poles corresponding to the two physical phenomena. Trapped state resonances though tend to be narrower than barrier resonances.
Growth of Ga1−xInxSb alloy crystals by conventional Czochralski pulling

Abstract Attempts were made to grow alloy crystals of Ga1−xInxSb by the conventional Czochralski process. A transparent furnace was used, with hydrogen purging through the chamber during crystal growth. Single crystals were grown in the [1 1 1] direction. Alloy crystal seeds of about 1–2 mol% InSb were grown from single crystal seeds of nearly pure GaSb. The resultant alloy crystals were used as a seed and grown into alloy crystals of about 2–5 mol% InSb. These new alloy crystals were then used as the seed for final crystal growth. The resultant single crystals showed significant InSb segregation, with InSb rising from about 2 to 6 mol% at the seed ends to around 14–23 mol% InSb at the crystal ends. Crystals containing more than about 5 mol% InSb were susceptible to cracking.
Mitral insufficiency secondary to coronary heart disease.

Abstract Twenty-four patients were operated on for mitral regurgitation secondary to coronary heart disease. Their common features consisted of a history of myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, coronary occlusive disease, left ventricular dysfunction, low cardiac output, pulmonary hypertension, and increased left ventricular end-diastolic pressure. Fourteen patients were in intractable congestive heart failure at the time of operation. The operative procedures employed consisted of aneurysmectomy in 4 patients; mitral valve replacement (MVR) in 7; MVR and revascularization in 4; MVR and aneurysmectomy in 5; MVR, revascularization, and partial ventricular resection in 3; and MVR with closure of ventricular septal perforation in 1 patient. Six patients died, a hospital mortality of 25%, and only 42% had good results. The degree of associated coronary artery disease and the status of the left ventricular myocardium were the most important prognostic factors.
Delayed celiotomy for the treatment of bile leak, compartment syndrome, and other hazards of nonoperative management of blunt liver injury.

Abstract Background Management of blunt liver injury is predominately nonoperative. However, complications occur in 10% to 25% of patients, with half taking place more than 24 hours after injury. Few reports have addressed the management of the new pattern of these delayed complications, which is the objective of this study. Methods Adult patients admitted to our level one trauma center from 1995 to 2000 with blunt liver injury were identified. Demographic, physiologic and laboratory data, computed tomography (CT) and operative findings, and complications were reviewed. Results Blunt liver injury was identified in 192 patients. Thirty-nine patients (20%) underwent immediate celiotomy. The remaining 153 patients were initially managed nonoperatively. Liver-related complications developed in 19 (12%) patients. Fifteen patients underwent delayed celiotomy to treat secondary inflammatory processes, from bile leak (6), hemorrhage (5), and hepatic abscess (1), and to treat abdominal compartment syndrome (2), and decompress hepatic compartment syndrome (1). Although no deaths or complications were directly caused by delayed celiotomy, 2 deaths (11%), occurring early in this series, were attributed to liver-related complications. Conclusions These complications, occurring in 12% of patients with liver injuries, may be a consequence of initial nonoperative management. Although these findings do not negate nonoperative management of blunt liver injury, this approach can be hazardous and requires diligence to recognize and treat delayed and potentially fatal complications.
Spinal nitric oxide synthesis inhibition blocks NMDA-induced thermal hyperalgesia and produces antinociception in the formalin test in rats

To assess the possible role of spinal nitric oxide (NO) synthesis in nociceptive processing, we examined the effect of intrathecal (i.t.) injection of arginine analogs that act as alternate substrates for NO synthase and thus inhibit NO production. NG-nitro-L-arginine ester (r-NAME) and NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) produced a dose-dependent, stereospecific inhibition of the second phase (10-60 min; ED50, 135 and 246 nmol) of the formalin test with minimal effect on the first phase (0-9 min; ED50 > 1.1 mumol). The inhibitory action of L-NAME was dose-dependently reversed by i.t. L-arginine (ID50, 4.9 mumol) but not by D-arginine (ID50 > 14 mumol). The suppression of the second-phase formalin response by L-NAME was similar whether administered before or after formalin injection into the rat paw. Spinal administration of L-NAME (370 nmol), but not D-NAME (3.7 mumol), also blocked thermal hyperalgesia induced by i.t. injection of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA; 6.8 nmol). The effect of L-NAME was reversed by L-arginine (4.7 mumol) but not with D-arginine (14 mumol). None of the compounds, L-NAME, D-NAME or L-arginine, when injected alone, had any effect on normal thermal response latencies or on the 52.5 degrees C hot plate. These studies indicate that modulation of spinal NO synthesis can diminish the facilitated processing of afferent activity which is induced by a continued afferent barrage (second phase of the formalin test). This hyperalgesic component appears initiated by the activation of a spinal NMDA receptor that, through the generation of NO, leads to the observed augmented processing of afferent input and the associated hyperalgesic component of the subsequent pain behavior.
What do we really know about the drugs we use to treat chronic pain

Chronic pain can be extremely hard to treat in both humans and animals, and effective pain relief often requires the use of novel analgesic drugs. Little true scientific data actually exist for some of the drugs that we use to alleviate chronic pain, yet dosing protocols and expected results are available. The scientific data (pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic data) available for drugs used to treat chronic pain in veterinary patients will be presented along with published dosages and dosing guidelines.
Glucocorticoids modulate baroreflex control of heart rate in conscious normotensive rats

The effect of glucocorticoids on arterial baroreceptor reflex control of heart rate (HR) was determined in conscious rats. Corticosterone (Cort) treatment for 4–6 days doubled plasma Cort in Cort-t...
Binding of Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Agents and Their Effect on Binding of Racemic Warfarin and Its Enantiomers to Human Serum Albumin

The binding of racemic warfarin, its enantiomers, and several nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents to human serum albumin was investigated by equilibrium dialysis at 4°C in pH 7.4 phosphate buffer. The primary binding constant for the S(−) enantiomer of warfarin was approximately two times greater than the corresponding binding of the R(+) enantiomer. The effect of azapropazone, phenylbutazone, naproxen, ibuprofen, mefenamic acid, and tolmetin on the binding of racemic warfarin and its enantiomers was studied. Warfarin was displaced by all of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents except tolmetin. Azapropazone caused the largest displacement of warfarin (39 to 46% free warfarin versus 2.5 to 6% free warfarin without competing drug), followed by phenylbutazone (23 to 43% free warfarin), naproxen (9 to 24% free warfarin), mefenamic acid (5 to 11.5% free warfarin), and ibuprofen (5 to 9% free warfarin). Azapropazone and phenylbutazone competed with warfarin for the same primary binding site on the albumin molecule. Naproxen appeared to affect warfarin binding at both primary and secondary sites. Ibuprofen and mefenamic acid interfered with the binding of warfarin at its secondary sites. In contrast to the other drugs studied, tolmetin caused an increase in the primary binding constant of warfarin. Structural analysis indicated that a common feature of those compounds which primarily bind at the warfarin site is a hydrophobic area bearing a widely delocalized negative charge.
The Gakkel Ridge: Bathymetry, gravity anomalies, and crustal accretion at extremely slow spreading rates

[1] The Gakkel Ridge in the Arctic Ocean is the slowest spreading portion of the global mid-ocean ridge system. Total spreading rates range from 12.7 mm/yr near Greenland to 6.0 mm/yr where the ridge disappears beneath the Laptev Shelf. Swath bathymetry and gravity data for an 850 km long section of the Gakkel Ridge from 5°E to 97°E were obtained from the U.S. Navy submarine USS Hawkbill. The ridge axis is very deep, generally 4700–5300 m, within a well-developed rift valley. The topography is primarily tectonic in origin, characterized by linear rift-parallel ridges and fault-bounded troughs with up to 2 km of relief. Evidence of extrusive volcanic activity is limited and confined to specific locations. East of 32°E, isolated discrete volcanoes are observed at 25–95 km intervals along the axis. Abundant small-scale volcanism characteristic of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) is absent. It appears that the amount of melt generated is insufficient to maintain a continuous magmatic spreading axis. Instead, melt is erupted on the seafloor at a set of distinct locations where multiple eruptions have built up central volcanoes and covered adjacent areas with low relief lava flows. Between 5°E and 32°E, almost no volcanic activity is observed except near 19°E. The ridge axis shoals rapidly by 1500 m over a 30 km wide area at 19°E, which coincides with a highstanding axis-perpendicular bathymetric high. Bathymetry and side scan data show the presence of numerous small volcanic features and flow fronts in the axial valley on the upper portions of the 19°E along-axis high. Gravity data imply up to 3 km of crustal thickening under the 19°E axis-perpendicular ridge. The 19°E magmatic center may result from interaction of the ridge with a passively imbedded mantle inhomogeneity. Away from 19°E, the crust appears thin and patchy and may consist of basalt directly over peridotite. The ridge axis is continuous with no transform offsets. However, sections of the ridge have distinctly different linear trends. Changes in ridge trend at 32°E and 63°E are associated with a set of bathymetric features that are very similar to each other and to inside/outside corner complexes observed at the MAR including highstanding “inside corner” ridges, which gravity data show to be of tectonic rather than magmatic origin.
Dispensing With Equipoise

Equipoise is widely endorsed as a necessary requirement for ethical design and conduct of randomized controlled trials. Nevertheless, I argue in this article that the equipoise principle suffers from fundamental defects. In particular, equipoise provides flawed ethical guidance for placebo-controlled trials and for decisions to terminate trials early based on interim data relating to benefit. The problems with equipoise are traced to a "therapeutic orientation to clinical trials," which conflates the ethics of clinical research with the ethics of medical care. Because of this mistaken therapeutic orientation, equipoise fails to adequately account for the central purpose of randomized trials in providing evidence sufficient to guide health policy decisions relating to licensing new treatments and insurance coverage. I conclude that it is time to dispense with equipoise. The principles of research ethics are sufficient to provide adequate guidance to protect subjects and to promote socially valuable research without any appeal to equipoise.
Ventricular fibrillation: Discordant alternans and discordant results

d e t s v b b d e n g a r w r s d t p For more than a century, ventricular fibrillation (VF) has een considered a disorganized, uncoordinated tachyarhythmia. However, recent electrical and optical mapping tudies have demonstrated a certain level of organization uring VF in which some activation fronts are large and ctivate large portions of the ventricular myocardium. uestions about VF currently being investigated by maping studies include (1) how large are the activation fronts, 2) how repeatable are the activation sequences, (3) do onduction block and reentry occur more commonly in ome anatomic regions of the ventricles than others, and (4) hat are the mechanisms causing conduction block during F? The article by Choi et al in this issue of Heart Rhythm rovides new information about all of these questions using ptical mapping with the highest spatial and temporal samling yet reported. Because of the huge amount of data ollected by recording simultaneously from a large number f sites during VF, these authors developed computer algoithms for detecting different types of conduction block imilar to those developed by Rogers et al for analyzing ata obtained from electrical mapping of VF. Choi et al observed that activation fronts terminated requently during VF, with a mean number of wavefront erminations and or fractionations of 34/cm/s of VF. In pproximately half of these cases, the activation fronts terinated by decremental conduction in which the upstrokes f the action potentials became small before the front terinated. In one third of the cases, the activation fronts erminated by colliding with another activation front. In the emaining one sixth of cases, the activation fronts blocked at ites of discordant alternans. At these sites, block occurred t the node between two regions with alternans of the action otentials and in which the two regions were out of phase ith each other so that one region had a small action
Anelastic creep of polymethyl methacrylate

Abstract The deformation of polymethyl methacrylate over the temperature range 263° K to at least 410° K is entirely anelastic. That is, removal of the stress causes the material to return completely to its original length, provided sufficient time is allowed to permit complete recovery to take place. In the temperature range 263° K to 320° K it is shown that the activation energy for creep is independent of the strain but decreases linearly with an increase in the applied creep stress. These results are strikingly dissimilar from the results obtained for metals where the activation energy for creep is known to be insensitive to the applied creep stress. Above 320° K, the activation energy for creep increases rapidly with increasing temperature. In this range, transients are observed in the creep curves when sudden changes in temperature are made. These transients are best explained by a second order phase change occurring over a range of temperature.
Analysis of steroid conjugates in sewage influent and effluent by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Environmental endocrine disruptors such as estrone (E1) and β-estradiol (E2) are excreted in human urine primarily as water-soluble glucuronides and sulfates that can dissociate in wastewater treatment systems to the more active free estrogens. Measurement of the distribution and fate of the steroid conjugates and the corresponding free estrogens in treatment plants and receiving waters is critical for understanding the reproductive and developmental effects of these substances on aquatic organisms. A sensitive method to measure steroid estrogen conjugates in matrix-rich sewage influents and effluents (method detection limits ranged from 0.04 to 0.28 ng/L) has been developed using HPLC tandem mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization. The method employs extensive sample purification by selective extraction from an Oasis HLB solid-phase cartridge followed by separation by anion exchange chromatography. This purification scheme, combined with a stable isotope dilution approach, was used to overcome pro...
Stoichiometry effects on core structure and mobility in B2 NiAl

Abstract The effects of stoichiometry deviation on the core structure and motion of dislocations in B2 NiAl are studied. Vacancies and antisites are introduced into numerous positions in embedded atom simulation blocks containing [100](001) as well as [100](011) pure edge dislocations. The interaction of these point defects with the dislocation is quantified by calculating the change in total energy experienced by the simulated lattice. An off-stoichiometry Ni-rich alloy is generated by randomly substituting Ni atoms for Al atoms as well as simply deleting Al atoms from the perfect lattice structure. It was found that a 2% deviation from stoichiometry affects the shapes of dislocation cores in that they tend to lose their preference for the well-defined crystallographic planes seen in the stoichiometric alloy. Stoichiometry deviations also increase the non-planar spreading of the core as visualized using the strain invariant method. It was found that Al vacancies are strongly attracted to the dislocation ...
On the periodically driven inverted pendulum

We study the solution properties of a family of inverted pendulum systems driven by odd periodic forcing. Using the Schauder fixed point theorem, we show that the inverted pendulum with an odd periodic driving acceleration at the pivot always possesses an odd periodic solution. Fundamental to the production of good estimates is the development of a Green's function for an unstable harmonic oscillator with Dirichlet boundary conditions. We also show that it is sometimes possible to use the Banach fixed point theorem to ensure that there is a unique solution within an invariant region of the space of possible solution curves. Using these results, we characterize the solutions of periodically driven inverted pendulum systems such as that given by ϕ = α2 sin ϕ + β sin (ϕ - πt), which describes a pendubot with constant inner arm velocity. These results are important as the driven inverted pendulum is a common subsystem in systems ranging from motorcycles and bicycles to rockets and aircraft.
Hilar closure using staplers or Hem-o-lok clips in a rabbit model

Abstract Background Lung lobectomy is necessary in neonatal patients for the treatment of a variety of congenital bronchopulmonary malformations. The working space required for traditional stapling devices limits their use in pediatric video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) lung lobectomy. The use of Hem-o-lok clips (Teleflex Medical Inc. Research Triangle Park, NC) has been described for a number of applications in minimally invasive surgery and may provide an alternative to traditional stapling devices for bronchial closure. Materials and methods Twenty-four New Zealand White rabbits were used in the study. The hilus of each cranial lung lobe was sealed with the Endo GIA (Covidien Inc, Mansfield, MA) stapler or 2 Hem-o-lok clips and the lung lobe was removed. Lung inflation to leakage point was induced by incrementally increasing tidal volume. Side of leakage, volume at leakage, and airway pressure before leakage were recorded. Results Fourteen rabbits were included in the data analysis. Leakage of air was first observed at the Hem-o-lok closure site in five rabbits and from the Endo GIA site in three rabbits. In the remaining six, both resection sites leaked simultaneously. The mean pressure before failure was 16.39 ± 7.35 mm Hg for the Hem-o-lok clips, 17.98 ± 11.12 mm Hg for the Endo GIA stapler, and 16.95 ± 3.48 mm Hg for the simultaneous failures. No statistical differences were detected in airways pressures before leakage between hilar closure devices. Conclusions Despite advances in VATS, options for bronchial closure in pediatric patients undergoing VATS lung lobectomy remain limited. Hem-o-lok clips require less working space than traditional stapling devices and may represent an equally efficacious alternative to traditional stapling devices.
Partial-response signaling for phase-change optical data storage without electronic equalization.

We describe the application of partial-response (PR) signaling in rewritable phase-change optical data storage. No electronic filter is necessary to shape the readout signal to a certain PR target. A PR-like waveform at the output of the read channel is directly achieved by optical recording. A genetic algorithm is used to optimize the parameters for writing and therefore to minimize the difference between the actual readout signal and the ideal PR waveform. With a laser wavelength of 0.66 µm and an objective lens with a numerical aperture of 0.6, four linear densities were examined: 0.4, 0.3, 0.25, and 0.2 µm/bit (without modulation). Results showed that the linear density of 0.25 µm/bit can be realized on a rewritable digital-versatile disk.
Integration of sensors and RFID's on ultra-low-cost paper-based substrates for wireless sensor networks applications

In this paper, an overview of novel integration approaches for improved performance UHF radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and embedded sensors and batteries is presented. Organic substrates, such as paper, that have been very rarely used in UHF and RF applications in the past and could potentially utilize inkjet printing techniques, are also thoroughly investigated for the realization of ultra- low-cost RFID/Sensor tags for frequencies ranging from 13.56 MHz up to 950 MHz for the first time ever. The proposed technology could potentially revolutionize wearable and conformal wireless sensor networks (WSN).
Law and the Development of Nations

For centuries legal scholars have pursued the development of national law. Quite recently political scientists have begun to explore the development of nations. The literature is already massive. Yet little or none of it recognizes the place of law in national growth. My purpose here is to suggest-for those who may want to pursue it-the crucial role of law in developing nations. For in "all societies the historical function of law has been to elaborate, rationalize, and protect . . . dominant (or emerging) institutions and accredited ways of life." As Holmes put it, the law reveals "every painful step and every world-shaking contest by which mankind has worked . . . its way from savage isolation to organic social life." I take as a model Professor Organski's view that modern na- tions have gone through three stages of political development: the politics of primitive unification, the politics of industrialization, and the politics of social welfare.1 In stage one the primary problem is political integration-"the creation of national unity." Stage two is a battle for economic and political modernization. Accordingly the chief governmental function is to encourage a new elite-the industrial managers-and to promote the "accumulation of capital." Finally in stage three government's chief job is "to protect the people from the hardships of industrial life," to right by welfare programs the wrongs of the earlier stages. Today most nations are still hovering in stages one or two. Japan, Western Europe, and the Soviet Union are somewhere- early or late-in stage three. The United States is perhaps ap- proaching what may be a fourth stage-an age that may have greater reverence for life. Hippydom may be its harbinger.
Meta-analysis for Single-Subject Research When Does It Clarify, When Does It Obscure?

Scruggs, Mastropieri, and Casto (this issue) advocate the use of the percentage of nonoverlapping data points (PND) to summarize and synthesize single-subject research. We take issue with the PND method, which reduces functional analyses to a one-number summary, for the following reasons: (a) the most relevant and credible evidence from single-subject designs lies in the patterns of change across time; (b) summaries based on PND may miss vital idiosyncracies in behavior within and across studies; (c) as practiced previously, syntheses of literature based on PND may misrepresent procedural facts and outcomes; and (d) as practiced previously, syntheses based on PND attempt, inappropriately, to draw conclusions about the relative merits of broad categories of intervention.
Histone Chaperones Nap1 and Vps75 Regulate Histone Acetylation during Transcription Elongation

Histone chaperones function in chromatin assembly and disassembly, suggesting they have important regulatory roles in transcription elongation. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae proteins Nap1 and Vps75 are structurally related, evolutionarily conserved histone chaperones. We showed that Nap1 genetically interacts with several transcription elongation factors and that both Nap1 and Vps75 interact with the RNA polymerase II kinase, CTK1. Loss of NAP1 or VPS75 suppressed cryptic transcription within the open reading frame (ORF) observed when strains are deleted for the kinase CTK1. Loss of the histone acetyltransferase Rtt109 also suppressed ctk1-dependent cryptic transcription. Vps75 regulates Rtt109 function, suggesting that they function together in this process. Histone H3 K9 was found to be the important lysine that is acetylated by Rtt109 during ctk1-dependent cryptic transcription. We showed that both Vps75 and Nap1 regulate the relative level of H3 K9 acetylation in the STE11 ORF. This supports a model in which Nap1, like Vps75, directly regulates Rtt109 activity or regulates the assembly of acetylated chromatin. Although Nap1 and Vps75 share many similarities, due to their distinct interactions with SET2, Nap1 and Vps75 may also play separate roles during transcription elongation. This work sheds further light on the importance of histone chaperones as general regulators of transcription elongation.
Relation of Water and Neutral Organic Compounds in the Interlayers of Mixed Ca/Trimethylphenylammonium-Smectites

Organo clays were prepared by exchanging Ca 2+ in a Ca2*-saturated smectite partially or fully with trimethylphenylammonium (TMPA) cations. The mechanistic function of these organoclays as ad- sorbents for neutral organic compounds in aqueous solution was examined. TMPA cations were found to take a random distribution on the surfaces of mixed Ca/TMPA-smectites. The presence of TMPA, and its random distribution, resulted in water associated with the clay surfaces being held more weakly. Apparently, the interspersing of TMPA and Ca 2§ ions prohibits the formation of a stable network of water molecules around Ca 2§ Water molecules associated with the siloxane surface in mixed Ca/TMPA-clays are removed during the adsorption of neutral organic compounds from bulk water, leaving only --11 strongly held water molecules around each Ca 2§ as opposed to --58 water molecules in homoionic Ca 2t- smectite. These results demonstrate that the amount of water associated with the clay surfaces and inter- layers depends on the nature of the exchange cation(s), and not on the amount of available siloxane surface area by itself. We conclude that in TMPA-smectites the TMPA cations function as nonhydrated pillars, and sorption of organic solutes occurs predominantly on the adjacent siloxane surfaces, which are hydrophobic in nature. The water molecules around Ca 2+ in mixed Ca/TMPA-smectites obscures some of the siloxane surfaces. This diminishes sorption capacity, in an amount roughly equivalent to the fraction of the CEC occupied by Ca 2' , because organic solutes cannot displace the waters of hydration of Ca 2+.
What Is “the Question”?

Summary Ethnographers' questions are an impress on their encounters and an investment in the politics and poetics of ethnography. I examine the symbolic aura of the question, generically and substantively, that shapes and textures ethnographic truth-telling. An encounter in Morocco illustrate the paradoxical dynamics of the question that constrains the dialogues it produces. The art of the question premises an ethics, a recursive style and a mobile analytics in which process and truth coalesce.
Generation of iPSC lines from archived non-cryoprotected biobanked dura mater

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from patients with neurodegenerative disease generally lack neuropathological confirmation, the gold standard for disease classification and grading of severity. The use of tissue with a definitive neuropathological diagnosis would be an ideal source for iPSCs. The challenge to this approach is that the majority of biobanked brain tissue was not meant for growing live cells, and thus was not frozen in the presence of cryoprotectants such as DMSO. We report the generation of iPSCs from frozen non-cryoprotected dural tissue stored at −80°C for up to 11 years. This autopsy cohort included subjects with Alzheimer’s disease and four other neurodegenerative diseases. Disease-specific iPSCs can be generated from readily available, archival biobanked tissue. This allows for rapid expansion of generating iPSCs with confirmed pathology as well as allowing access to rare patient variants that have been banked.
Engineering cyber infrastructure for U‐Pb geochronology: Tripoli and U‐Pb_Redux

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from "http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com".
A new H 2 -matrix-based representation of electrodynamic systems with minimized rank and prescribed accuracy

In recent years, fast solvers [1] such as fast multiple based methods, fast low-rank compression methods, and FFT-based methods have been developed, which dramatically reduce the memory complexity of the iterative integral equation (IE) solvers to O(N), and the CPU time to O(N log N) for electrodynamic problems. The H2-matrix based mathematical framework has also been introduced and further developed to reduce the computational complexity of IE-based solutions of electrodynamic problems [2]. It is shown that given a wide range of electric sizes which lead to a wide range of N, the dense system of O(N2) parameters can be compactly stored in O(N) units, and the dense matrix-vector multiplication can be performed in O(N) operations. Moreover, the same order of accuracy can be kept across this range. The H2-matrix-based representation of the electrodynamic kernels in [2] is generated by an interpolation based scheme. The rank of each admissible block is determined by the number of interpolation points, which varies with the tree level based on a rank function. Such a rank function can be used to maintain the same order of accuracy in a wide range of electric sizes without compromising the linear computational cost. However, restricted by the interpolation based H2-representation, the resultant rank for each admissible block and for each electric size is often much larger than the minimal one that is required to satisfy a prescribed accuracy. This can greatly slow down the computation.
ULTRASOUND PHYSICS AND INSTRUMENTATION

A knowledge of the principles of ultrasound physics and instrumentation allows the surgeon to maintain proper ultrasound techniques and obtain the best possible image. Furthermore, when these principles are understood, artifacts and pitfalls of imaging are avoided.
Effects of chemical structure and exposure on the microbial degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in freshwater and estuarine ecosystems

The microbial mineralization of six polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), containing two to five fused benzene rings, and hexadecane were investigated in sediment: water microcosms which modeled degradation in two freshwater and one estuarine ecosystem. A ranking of the PAHs by order of mineralization rates along with calculated half-lives (range in weeks) are as follows: naphthalene (2.4-4.4) ≥ hexadecane (2.2-4.2) > phenanthrene (4-18) > 2-methylnaphthalene (14-20) > pyrene (34->90) ≥ 3-methylcholanthrene (87->200) ≥ benzo[a]pyrene (200->300). PAH residues persisted from two to over four times longer in a pristine ecosystem than in an ecosystem chronically exposed to low levels of petroleum hydrocarbons. The mineralization of higher-molecular-weight PAHs (> four rings) totaled 0.2 to 6.5% after 8 wk. Relative differences in PAH mineralization among the ecosystems were related to hexadecane mineralization rates, the occurrence and concentration of aromatic hydrocarbon residues in sediments, and elevated populations of hydrocarbon-degrading microorganisms. Total heterotrophic microbial populations were not good indicators of PAH mineralization rates. Chemical analyses of residues in the microcosms detected the presence of extractable polar metabolites in water and sediments which accounted for 0.1 to 6% of the original PAHs.
The Consumer Online Purchase Decision: A Model of Consideration Set Formation and Buyer Conversion Rate Across Market Leaders and Market Followers

The impact of low search costs in Internet markets has received a great deal of attention in the academic literature and in the press. While many have argued that the presence of low search costs will lead to strong price competition and vanishing margins, the empirical evidence is decidely mixed. Reflecting this uncertainty, firms have taken radically different strategies with regard to facilitating search across sites. Some firms have actively blocked or attempted to limit price search (e.g., by refusing to be listed at shopbots) while others have actively encouraged price search. In this research, we use a unique dataset of detailed customer survey data to analyze the impact of consumer search behavior on the formation of consideration sets and the consumer's ultimate purchase decision. We find that while searching across market leaders is not detrimental for market followers, searching across market followers is somewhat detrimental for market leaders. These results suggest that today's market leaders may be at risk from increased consumer adoption of broad search technologies such as Internet shopbots.
Comparative penetration of latamoxef (moxalactam) and cefazolin into human knee following simultaneous administration

The penetration of latamoxef (moxalactam) and cefazolin into cancellous bone was compared in ten adult patients undergoing total knee replacement. Each patient received a ten milligram per kilogram bolus dose of both antibiotics at the induction of anaesthesia. Antibiotic bone concentrations were determined by HPLC. The mean serum concentrations of cefazolin were significantly greater (P less than 0.01) than those of latamoxef at all time periods. The absolute bone concentrations of cefazolin and latamoxef did not differ significantly (P greater than 0.05). The method of simultaneous administration offers significant advantages over the conventional two group study design.
Why do the victors kill the vanquished? Explaining political violence in post-World War II Italy

When World War II ended in Italy, the violence did not. During the following year, about 10,000 individuals were summarily executed. Why does armed violence continue after a war’s end? Why do the victors kill the vanquished enemies? Why do they do so in certain places but not in others? We do not have sufficiently satisfying answers to these questions. The literature makes sense of violence if it happens during or preceding an armed conflict, but overlooks it when it occurs after the war is over. We need to fill this gap. Not only does post-conflict violence merit consideration as a phenomenon in itself but also it is crucial to understand postwar politics. The structured comparison of two provinces in Italy at the end of WWII shows that existing explanations cannot fully account for the spatial variation of the killings there. I offer an alternative argument: post-conflict violence aims to influence a country’s political future. In post-WWII Italy, the strategic calculations and the political preferences...
Complexity reduction of the decoders for interleaved trellis coded modulation schemes for 10 gigabit Ethernet over copper

10GBASE-T (10 gigabit Ethernet over unshielded twisted pairs) will probably use a 10-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM10) as well as a 4D trellis code similar to the one in 1000BASE-T (1000 megabit Ethernet over copper medium). The trellis code can be used in a conventional way as in 1000BASE-T, but the corresponding decoder with a long critical path needs to operate at 833 MHz. To solve the problem, two interleaved trellis coded modulation schemes were proposed in our previous work. The inherent decoding speed requirements can be relaxed by factors of 4 and 2, respectively. Due to intersymbol interference (ISI), the branch metric units in the decoders corresponding to the two interleaved modulation schemes are much more complicated than those in the conventional decoder. Thus, this paper considers the problem of complexity reduction of the decoders for the two interleaved modulation schemes. Two complexity reduction schemes are proposed. Simulation results show that the performance loss due to complexity reduction is negligible.
The Possible Role of Cytokines in Chemotherapy-Induced Cognitive Deficits

Proinflammatory cytokines play a significant role in the body’s immune response to pathogens, including malignant cells. Proinflammatory cytokines are associated with tumor invasion and progressive disease and are released in response to many antineoplastic agents. Exogenous administration and endogenous production of cytokines is related to a pattern of behaviors known as sickness behavior that has a significant impact on patients’ quality of life. The behavioral patterns associated with sickness behavior include inability to concentrate and impaired learning. Identification of sequelae specific to individual cytokine activity provides novel targets for investigation.
Controlled Release of Metribuzin, 2,4-D, and Model Aromatic Amines from Polysaccharides and Poly(Vinyl Alcohol)

In our continuing investigations of polymeric controlled-release herbicides,1–5 we report preliminary results on biodegradable polysaccharides and poly(vinyl alcohol) with pendent herbicides or model amines joined via carbamate or ester bonds. Studies of similar systems with polysaccharides or poly(vinyl alcohol) with pendent carboxy-functional herbicides have been reported.6–9 Additionally Gebelein10 has reviewed the reactions of poly(vinyl alcohol), including the reaction with phenyl isocyanate.