cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Microstructure and properties of an equiatomic TaTiZr alloy

Abstract Microstructure and compression mechanical properties of a ternary TaTiZr alloy, after hot isostatic pressing (HIP) at 1400 °C, are reported. In the slow cooled condition, the alloy had a coarse-grained structure consisting of Zr-rich BCC matrix and Ta-rich submicron-sized BCC precipitates, which were coherent to the matrix phase. Ti was almost equally distributed between these two phases. omega-phase nano-precipitates were also detected inside the Zr-rich matrix. According to CALPHAD analysis, the observed microstructure is a metastable one, which was formed in the temperature range of 800–1130 °C during cooling after HIP. The HIP'd alloy had high yield stress of 1671 MPa at 25 °C and 1440 MPa at 400 °C, but low ductility, likely due to the presence of the omega phase. Considerable alloy softening, accommodated by a noticeable increase in ductility, occurred between 400 °C and 600 °C, with the yield stress decreasing to 346 MPa at 600 °C, 157 MPa at 800 °C and 103 MPa at 1000 °C. Such dramatic change in the mechanical behavior was correlated with dissolution of the omega phase and approaching phase equilibrium at T ≥ 600 °C.
“[T]Hat Where One Was, There Was The Other”: Dreams of Queer Stories in Aphra Behn’s The History of the Nun, or, the Fair Vow-Breaker (1689)

Throughout The History of the Nun’s hetero-romance plot, Behn creates serial queer doublings which work structurally with other formal effects to queer gender itself, revealing the limits of hetero...
Years of Planning for the South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Project: Now It's Time to Build! Rapidly but Gently!

When a complicated project is completed, and you ask the engineers, “What was the most challenging part of this project?” a couple of difficulties usually come to mind. We've all heard war stories ...
Mapping global inputs and impacts from of human sewage in coastal ecosystems

Coastal marine ecosystems face a host of pressures from both offshore and land-based human activity. Research on terrestrial threats to coastal ecosystems has primarily focused on agricultural runoff, specifically showcasing how fertilizers and livestock waste create coastal eutrophication, harmful algae blooms, or hypoxic or anoxic zones. These impacts not only harm coastal species and ecosystems but also impact human health and economic activities. Few studies have assessed impacts of human wastewater on coastal ecosystems and community health. As such, we lack a comprehensive, fine-resolution, global assessment of human sewage inputs that captures both pathogens and nutrient flows to coastal waters and the potential impacts on coastal ecosystems. To address this gap, we use a new high-resolution geospatial model to measure and map nitrogen (N) and pathogen-fecal indicator organisms (FIO)-inputs from human sewage for ~135,000 watersheds globally. Because solutions depend on the source, we separate nitrogen and pathogen inputs from sewer, septic, and direct inputs. Our model indicates that wastewater adds 6.2Tg nitrogen into coastal waters, which is approximately 40% of total nitrogen from agriculture. Of total wastewater N, 63% (3.9Tg N) comes from sewered systems, 5% (0.3Tg N) from septic, and 32% (2.0Tg N) from direct input. We find that just 25 watersheds contribute nearly half of all wastewater N, but wastewater impacts most coastlines globally, with sewered, septic, and untreated wastewater inputs varying greatly across watersheds and by country. Importantly, model results find that 58% of coral and 88% of seagrass beds are exposed to wastewater N input. Across watersheds, N and FIO inputs are generally correlated. However, our model identifies important fine-grained spatial heterogeneity that highlight potential tradeoffs and synergies essential for management actions. Reducing impacts of nitrogen and pathogens on coastal ecosystems requires a greater focus on where wastewater inputs vary across the planet. Researchers and practitioners can also overlay these global, high resolution, wastewater input maps with maps describing the distribution of habitats and species, including humans, to determine the where the impacts of wastewater pressures are highest. This will help prioritize conservation efforts.Without such information, coastal ecosystems and the human communities that depend on them will remain imperiled.
An Integrated Digital Library Server with OAI and Self-Organizing Capabilities

The Open Archives Initiative (OAI) is an experimental initiative for the interoperability of Digital Libraries (DLs) based on metadata harvesting. The goal of OAI is to develop and promote interoperability solutions to facilitate the efficient dissemination of content. At present, however, there are still several challenging issues such as metadata incorrectness, poor quality of metadata, and metadata inconsistency that have to be solved in order to create a variety of high-quality services. In this paper we propose an integrated DL system with OAI and self-organizing capabilities. The system provides two value-added services, cross-archive searching and interactive concept browsing services, for organizing, exploring, and searching a collection of harvested metadata to satisfy users’ information needs. We also propose a multi-layered Self-Organizing Map (SOM) algorithm for building a subject-specific concept hierarchy using two input vector sets constructed by indexing the harvested metadata collection. By using the concept hierarchy, we can also automatically classify the harvested metadata collection for the purpose of selective harvesting.
Capsid-Less RNA Viruses

Capsid-less RNA viruses comprise an assemblage of diverse virus-like agents with genomes of variable size that share only the gene encoding the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. Although double-stranded ribonucleic acid (RNA) is the dominant form of virus-specific RNA isolated from organisms infected by most capsid-less viruses, these viruses probably have evolved independently from distinct positive-strand RNA virus ancestors that have lost the ability to form capsids. The loss of capsid caused the loss of virus transmissibility via extracellular routes, limiting these agents to vertical transmission. The capsid-less RNA viruses include the families Narnaviridae, Hypoviridae, and Endornaviridae as well as several viruses scattered among diverse viral lineages. The majority of the known capsid-less viruses reproduce in fungi, and the rest in oomycetes and plants. The narnaviruses of the genus Mitovirus replicate within fungal mitochondria and show evolutionary affinity to RNA bacteriophages, suggesting their potential ancient origin from viruses of bacteria that gave rise to mitochondrial endosymbiont of the ancestral eukaryote. In contrast, it seems likely that the fungal hypoviruses and plant/fungal endornaviruses have emerged more recently, via reductive evolution of eukaryotic ancestral viruses of the Picornavirus-like and Alphavirus-like superfamilies, respectively. Key Concepts: Several groups of RNA viruses infecting fungi, plants and protists lack a capsid and replicate in the form of naked RNA. Phylogenomic analysis shows that capsid-less viruses have evolved on many independent occasions from different groups of typical positive-strand RNA viruses. The driving force behind the evolution of capsid-less viruses appears the life style of their hosts such as fungi that hampers infectivity, even for viruses possessing a capsid, and restricts viruses to vertical transmission. Numerous members of a widespread family of capsid-less viruses, the Narnaviridae, replicate within the host mitochondria and are evolutionarily related to RNA bacteriophage, revealing a direct link between viruses of bacteria and eukaryotes. Keywords: positive-strand RNA viruses; double-stranded RNA viruses; capsid-less RNA viruses; RNA-dependent RNA polymerase; mitochondrial viruses; virus evolution
Registration-derived estimates of local lung expansion as surrogates for regional ventilation

The main function of the respiratory system is gas exchange. Since many disease or injury conditions can cause biomechanical or material property changes that can alter lung function, there is a great interest in measuring regional lung ventilation. We describe a registration-based technique for estimating local lung expansion from multiple respiratory-gated CT images of the thorax. The degree of regional lung expansion is measured using the Jacobian of the registration displacement field. We compare lung expansion estimated across five pressure changes to a xenon CT based measure of specific ventilation, and have shown good agreement (linear regression, r2 = 0.89 during gas wash-in) in one animal.
A Review of “As Good As It Gets: What School Reform Brought to Austin”: Larry Cuban. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2010. 304 pp. $25.95

Progressive education scholars have vigorously argued that neoliberalism has taken public schooling in the wrong direction. Critics of market mechanisms, high-stakes testing, punitive labor arrange...
Immunoglobulin binding to herpes virus-induced Fc receptors inhibits virus growth

WATKINS1 reported that sheep red blood cells coated with anti-sheep-red blood cell antibody adsorbed to monolayers of herpes simplex virus (HSV) infected cells. Yasuda and Milgrom2 suggested that the haemadsorption was mediated through an Fc-binding site which developed on the surface of the HSV infected cell, and later work from Watkin's laboratory established this interpretation3. Although the receptor for the Fc portion of IgG on the surface of HSV infected cells has been known for some time, its biological role remains unclear4,5. We show here that when the HSV-induced Fc receptor is engaged with IgG or Fc fragments, viral replication is significantly inhibited.
Comparing methods for estimating R0 from the size distribution of subcritical transmission chains

Many diseases exhibit subcritical transmission (i.e. 0 < R0 < 1) so that infections occur as self-limited ‘stuttering chains’. Given an ensemble of stuttering chains, information about the number of cases in each chain can be used to infer R0, which is of crucial importance for monitoring the risk that a disease will emerge to establish endemic circulation. However, the challenge of imperfect case detection has led authors to adopt a variety of work-around measures when inferring R0, such as discarding data on isolated cases or aggregating intermediate-sized chains together. Each of these methods has the potential to introduce bias, but a quantitative comparison of these approaches has not been reported. By adapting a model based on a negative binomial offspring distribution that permits a variable degree of transmission heterogeneity, we present a unified analysis of existing R0 estimation methods. Simulation studies show that the degree of transmission heterogeneity, when improperly modeled, can significantly impact the bias of R0 estimation methods designed for imperfect observation. These studies also highlight the importance of isolated cases in assessing whether an estimation technique is consistent with observed data. Analysis of data from measles outbreaks shows that likelihood scores are highest for models that allow a flexible degree of transmission heterogeneity. Aggregating intermediate sized chains often has similar performance to analyzing a complete chain size distribution. However, truncating isolated cases is beneficial only when surveillance systems clearly favor full observation of large chains but not small chains. Meanwhile, if data on the type and proportion of cases that are unobserved were known, we demonstrate that maximum likelihood inference of R0 could be adjusted accordingly. This motivates the need for future empirical and theoretical work to quantify observation error and incorporate relevant mechanisms into stuttering chain models used to estimate transmission parameters.
Daylight Efficiency of an Atrium: Part II—The Three-Sided Type

The lighting benefits of a three-sided atrium involve the collection of daylight not only from the top but also from one of the atrium sides. The behavior of daylight inside a three-sided atrium is modeled using radiosity finite surface method and computer modeling technique to model accurately inter-reflections within the atrium. The effect of the wall reflectance and geometric proportions on the distribution of daylight is examined. The results of our simulations are compiled into tables where daylighting efficiency factors(DEF) are given for some critical locations inside the atrium of a wide range of proportions(PAR & SAR).
Using Canonical Commonality Analysis to Examine the Predictive Quality of Aging and Falls Efficacy on Balance Functioning in Older Adults

Purpose: The effects of important variables measuring the psychobiological aspects of falls among older adults were considered to determine their utility in predicting balance functioning among older adults. To partition the effects of aging and falls efficacy on balance and leg strength simultaneously, canonical commonality analysis (CCA) was used. Methods: CCA is a multivariate technique which decomposes squared semipartial correlation effect sizes into constituent, nonoverlapping segments that describe unique and common explanatory powers of predictor variables. Data from a study conducted to examine the psychobiological and aging influences on unintended falls among physically active older adults were analyzed. Findings: CCA showed balance confidence as measured by the Activities-Specific Balance Confidence Scale (ABC) and age to be noteworthy predictors of balance; yet, age was determined to be more important than balance confidence when predicting balance and leg strength (i.e., balance functioning) simultaneously. In addition, results suggest that data obtained from the ABC better predicted balance functioning among active older adults as compared to the Tinetti Falls Efficacy Scale (FES), a traditional measure used to assess the construct. Conclusion: The ABC stands as a viable alternative to consider when assessing falls efficacy among dynamic older adults. Future research would benefit from using CCA to understand how various psychobiological constructs predict fall-related outcomes. Language: en
Paved with good intentions: Analysis of a randomized block Kaczmarz method

The block Kaczmarz method is an iterative scheme for solving overdetermined least-squares problems. At each step, the algorithm projects the current iterate onto the solution space of a subset of the constraints. This paper describes a block Kaczmarz algorithm that uses a randomized control scheme to choose the subset at each step. This algorithm is the first block Kaczmarz method with an (expected) linear rate of convergence that can be expressed in terms of the geometric properties of the matrix and its submatrices. The analysis reveals that the algorithm is most effective when it is given a good row paving of the matrix, a partition of the rows into well-conditioned blocks. The operator theory literature provides detailed information about the existence and construction of good row pavings. Together, these results yield an efficient block Kaczmarz scheme that applies to many overdetermined least-squares problem.
Prolonged hypergastrinemia does not increase the frequency of colonic neoplasia in patients with Zollinger-Ellison syndrome

Whereas considerable experimental evidence suggests chronic hypergastrinemia can increase the occurrence of colonic neoplasia, the risks in man remain unclear. Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (ZES) is associated with marked plasma elevation of all forms of gastrin and, because of its prolonged course, has been shown to be an excellent model disease to study the effects of chronic hypergastrinemia in man. To determine whether profound chronic hypergastrinemia affects the occurrence of colonic dysplasia and neoplasia, 97 consecutive patients with ZES were studied. All patients underwent colonoscopic examination to the cecum, and the location, size, and type of polyps/tumors were determined. The patients had a mean fasting gastrin level 31 times above normal and a mean disease duration of 10 years; 17/97 (18%) had adenomatous polyps, 67/97 (69%) no adenomatous polyps, and 2/97 (2%) had adenocarcinoma of the colon. These rates were within ranges reported in a number of colonoscopy and/or autopsy studies for asymptomatic controls. Stratification by age or gender, presence of MEN-I, tumor extent, and duration or degree of hypergastrinemia did not increase prevalence. This study shows that despite prolonged, profound hypergastrinemia, no increased rate of colonic neoplasia (polyps or cancer) was noted. These data suggest that the development of hypergastrinemia secondary to continuous use of H+,K+-ATPase inhibitors for as long as 10 years is unlikely to cause an increased risk of developing colonic neoplasia in man.
Time-resolved microscopic imaging of laser-induced material modifications in optical materials

We report on time-resolved imaging of material response to localized laser energy deposition in the bulk of optical materials. The key processes include shockwave formation, crack propagation, formation of residual stress fields, and transient absorption.
Postpartum Psychosis: What Happens When the Bough Breaks?

Childbearing Poster Presentation Background Postpartum psychosis is the most severe type of postpartum psychiatric illness. It can occur as early as 2 to 3 days after delivery but is more common in the first 2 to 4 weeks postpartum. The incidence of postpartum psychosis is 1 to 2 per 1,000 women. Risk factors identified are history of bipolar illness or depression, family history of mental illness, sleep deprivation, stress, poor support systems, and low self‐esteem. Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial for obtaining a positive outcome for both mother and infant. Case A42‐year‐old G7P3 was admitted at 41 weeks for a stat cesarean for fetal distress. A previous history of depression and two other psychotic episodes existed. The patient had a 9lb healthy infant daughter, who she was breast feeding. The husband stayed with his wife and daughter and other children visited. On day 3, the patient walked out of the bathroom with a blank stare, got into bed and started a rocking movement, clutched blankets to her chest and sang church hymns in a loud voice. The patient would not respond to name and would not eat or drink. At one point, the patient cried that the voices were telling her to kill her infant. A psychiatric consult was done immediately, and a stat head computed tomography scan, metabolic profile, thyroid stimulating hormone, rapid plasma regain, and 1:1 sitters were ordered. Antiagitation medications were ordered. Results of above tests were normal. A multidisciplinary team of social work, psychiatry, nursing, obstetricians, and pastoral care worked to address this patient's symptoms and needs. Six days post cesarean, the patient was transferred to a private inpatient psychiatric facility for 2 weeks. The patient then was treated as an outpatient with regular office visits. Conclusion Early identification and treatment of postpartum psychosis is imperative for the well‐being of the mother and to help establish her ability to care for her infant and resume her normal activities. Early and excellent nursing intervention and care were crucial in ensuing this patient's return to a productive role as a wife and mother.
Cardiac activation mapping with ultrasound current source density imaging

Ultrasound current source density imaging (UCSDI) is a noninvasive method for mapping electrical current based on the acoustoelectric (AE) effect. This technique can potentially overcome the limitations (i.e. poor resolution, inaccurate anatomical registration) of the conventional electrical mapping procedures typically used during treatment of sustained arrhythmias. In this study, UCSDI of the electrocardiogram (ECG) is demonstrated using a clinical electrophysiology catheter placed on the epicardium of the live rabbit heart. For the first time, 3-D cardiac activation maps are presented. Activation maps were used to calculate the cardiac conduction velocity for atrial pacing (1.31 m/s). We also demonstrated multi-electrode UCSDI for improving mapping accuracy by reducing the lied-field effect. This study indicates that UCSDI is potentially capable of real-time 3-D mapping of the cardiac activation wave, which would greatly facilitate ablation procedures for treatment of arrhythmias.
Reptilian Thermoregulation: Evaluation of Field Studies

Inanimate objects may exhibit distributions of temperature similar to those of reptiles in the field. The uncontrolled field methods of collecting body temperatures of reptiles have resulted in the accumulation of much inconclusive data. A return to more comprehensive study is called for.
Influence of Age and Light on the Distribution and Development of Nitrate Reductase in Greening Barley Leaves

The relation between leaf age and the induction of nitrate reductase activity by continuous and intermittent light was studied with barley seedlings (Hordeum vulgare L. cv. Club Mariout). In general, nitrate reductase activity declined as the period of growth in darkness was extended beyond 5 days. Maximum activity was found near the leaf tip while activity was lowest in the morphologically youngest tissue near the base of the lamina. Increased activity was observed after continuous illumination of dark-grown seedlings for 24 hours. The increase in activity in response to light was greatly reduced when the dark pretreatment period was extended beyond 8 days. The amount of nitrate reductase activity present in the different sections of the leaf was closely related to the amount of polyribosomes present. The pattern of chlorophyll accumulation closely parallelled that of increases in nitrate reductase activity. The initial lag in the induction of nitrate reductase activity was removed by a 10-minute light treatment 6 hours before placing dark-grown barley seedlings in light. The enzyme was also induced under flashing light with various dark intervals. These induction curves closely resembled those of chlorophyll accumulation under the same conditions. The development of photosynthetic CO2 fixation follows the same induction pattern in this system. Our results suggest that photosynthetic products may be required for the induction of significant levels of nitrate reductase activity in leaves of dark-grown seedlings, although other light effects may not be discounted.
How three prospective teachers construed three cases of teaching

Abstract This paper describes three prospective teachers' responses to three cases used in an introductory teacher education course designed to challenge their entering beliefs about teaching. Students' entering beliefs about teaching remained central in their interpretations of the cases throughout the term, although each prospective teacher learned new ideas about teaching that were compatible with her initial beliefs. Implications are discussed for the the use of cases in teacher education for purposes of challenging and extending prospective teachers' beliefs.
Living “Glocally” With Literacy Success in the Midwest

This article examines the concept of glocality as a way to better understand why immigrants, poor people, print-illiterate families, and boys are short-changed by schools that often operate under a deficit model or deprivation model in which students' economic, language, and gender status is the main determinant for school success. The author offers for discussion a set of themes that address (a) the challenges of recent immigration and resettlement in the Midwestern region of the United States, (b) the concept of glocality in connection to youth literacies and transnationalism, (c) the Midwest as a glocal context, and (d) the implications of success in relation to teachers and schools. Examples of glocality are drawn from research on Middle Eastern youth immigrant and refugee populations from Yemen and Iraq, as well as low socioeconomic American youth.
Preventive action: Failure in Yugoslavia

Preventive action has been resurrected in the 1990s as a result of the horrors of civil wars, especially in Bosnia and Rwanda. Policy makers and academics have realized that political capital invested in preventive diplomacy can help to avoid or minimize the human and material costs of collective violence. On the other hand the experiences of the Yugoslavian crisis in 1989–92 show that the international community is not able to effectively prevent humanitarian crises. International organizations are too dependent on external constraints, including the interests of their leading members, and their division of labour is too primitive to permit an early and effective action. In addition, the relationships between the means and ends of preventive action are not often formulated in strategic terms. This not only leads to erroneous policies, but may even escalate rather than control violence.
Synthesis and characterization of neutral Ni(II) and Cu(II) complexes with bidentate [NS]1− ligands

Abstract Bis-bidentate complexes of a series of the type ligands N -alkylmethyl-2-aminocyclopentenedithiocarboxylate of Zn(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) have been prepared and characterized using NMR, ESR, electronic absorption and electrochemical spectroscopy. Methyl, ethyl, n-propyl and n-butyl substituents are found to have subtle effects on the coordination geometry and physiochemical properties of the metal centers. The ligands provide an [NS] 1− donor set, which upon chelation, forms a delocalized six member chelate ring with the metal ion in a Schiff base type fashion. Alkyl substituents on the amine nitrogens introduce steric hindrance and drive the coordination stereochemistry from planar to tetrahedral. Spectroscopic data are in support of these geometrical changes, but, interestingly, suggest the maximum distortion of the inner coordination sphere is achieved with the ethyl substituent. Nickel and copper complexes were isolated with the metal in the II oxidation state, except the n-propyl and n-butyl derivatives of copper which were isolated as yellow Cu(I) species. The pseudo-tetrahedral Cu(II) complex where R = ethyl exhibits an intense absorption in the visible region at 16.3 kK and rather low ESR hyperfine splitting of 137×10 −4 cm −1 . The complexes are examined as possible active site models of Ni(II) and Cu(II) N 2 S 2 sites in metalloproteins.
Two Irrational Numbers From the Last Nonzero Digits of n! and n[sup n].

(2001). Two Irrational Numbers From the Last Nonzero Digits of n! and nn. Mathematics Magazine: Vol. 74, No. 4, pp. 316-320.
Neuroenhancement: an Ethical Analysis

Advancements in neuroscience have made it possible to markedly reduce human suffering. Various neuroenhancement methods find their applications not only among people afflicted with impairments of the nervous system, but also individuals without clearly defined abnormalities. Such state calls for an ethical examination because the brain not only controls one's actions and thoughts, but defines one's identity, as well. Numerous scientists focus on the brain to learn more about the mind and they do so in terms of mechanistic details, without giving much thought to other factors influencing brain function. A mechanistic model of the mind can be useful in our pursuit of knowledge because of its simplicity, but study of the mind, as well as any ethical examination of neuroenhancement, ought to be conducted within social context, which implies that due attention must be paid not only to the fruits of the experimental sciences, but also those of the humanities.
Intensive short courses in biostatistics for fellows and physicians

At both of our universities we teach (with colleagues) introductory courses in statistics for fellows and physicians. We do not expect that those taking these courses will be able to do their own statistical work, but rather the intention is for them to 'learn the language' and to facilitate future collaboration. Basic principles of study design are introduced in the courses, as well as some of the most common statistical procedures. We will discuss the factors (what works and what does not) that may contribute to a successful course, a comparison to other courses, and our self-evaluation strategy. Finally, we will cover the financial arrangements that we have made when teaching these courses.
Silent ovulation in rhesus monkeys (M. mulatta): Dissociation of hormonal and behavioral states

Ovarian hormone levels were monitored in rhesus monkeys during the breeding and non-breeding seasons. Ovulation (as inferred from progesterone levels in blood serum in excess of 1.5 ng/ml) was most frequent in the breeding season but was absent only during the month of August. Summer (non-breeding season) ovulations were more frequently "silent," or without heterosexual behavior, than were winter ovulations. This finding suggested that estradiol stimulation may cause different behavioral responses at different times of the year. To test this hypothesis, ovariectomized females were treated with subcutaneously implanted estradiol capsules at different times within and outside the normal breeding season. In either season, treatment with estradiol resulted in increased female-to-female sexual behavior. Only during the breeding season, however, did the estradiol-treated ovariectomized females interact sexually with males. Although males copulated with both estradiol-treated and gonadally intact, untreated females during the breeding season, their rate of copulation with the intact females was higher. The results suggest that: (1) Some female rhesus monkeys displaying strictly seasonal breeding behavior continue to have luteal activity indicative of ovulation in May, June and July, (2) Summer ovulatory cycles are rarely accompanied by sexual behavior, (3) Estradiol treatment of ovariectomized females induces female-to-female sexual behavior both in the breeding and non-breeding seasons, and (4) Males are less responsive to the presence of estrogen-stimulated females in the non-breeding season than in the breeding season.
Purification and characterization of an iron-binding protein from the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus)

The presence of an iron-binding protein in the hemolymph of the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) was detected by gel filtration of 59Fe-labeled hemolymph. The iron-binding protein was purified to homogeneity by ion exchange chromatography. 2. This protein has a mol. wt of 155,000 and consists of a single polypeptide chain with an isoelectric point of 5.0. 3. Analysis of the iron-loaded protein indicates that it has a high affinity for iron and the capacity to bind approximately 10 atoms iron/molecule protein. 4. The isolation of a specific iron-binding protein from the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) provides additional support for the proposal that such proteins are an ancient evolutionary development not necessarily linked to the appearance of iron proteins (hemoglobin and hemerythrin) as a means for oxygen transport.
An empirical study of sample size in ROC curve analysis of fingerprint data

The fingerprint datasets in many cases may exceed millions of samples. Thus, the needed size of a biometric evaluation test sample is an important issue in terms of both efficiency and accuracy. In this article, an empirical study, namely, using Chebyshev's inequality in combination with simple random sampling, is applied to determine the sample size for biometric applications. No parametric model is assumed, since the underlying distribution functions of the similarity scores are unknown. The performance of fingerprint-image matcher is measured by a Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve. Both the area under an ROC curve and the True Accept Rate (TAR) at an operational False Accept Rate (FAR) are employed. The Chebyshev's greater-than-95% intervals of using these two criteria based on 500 Monte Carlo iterations are computed for different sample sizes as well as for both high- and low-quality fingerprint-image matchers. The stability of such Monte Carlo calculations with respect to the number of iterations is also explored. The choice of sample size depends on matchers' qualities as well as on which performance criterion is invoked. In general, for 6,000 match similarity scores, 50,000 to 70,000 scores randomly selected from 35,994,000 non-match similarity scores can ensure the accuracy with greater-than-95% probability.
A simple method for obtaining cultures enriched for Type II pneumonocytes from fetal rabbit

A differential plating method permitted preparation of cultures significantly enriched for Type II pneumocytes. These cells were maintained in a differentiated state for at least 12 d, identifiable morphologically (by presence of osmiophilic lamellar inclusion bodies) and bio-chemically (by demonstration of synthesis of phosphatidyl choline and production of disaturated lecithin).
Inhibition by Ethanol of the Cardiovascular Effects of Glutamate in the Nucleus of the Solitary Tract

This study investigates whether ethanol affects the cardiovascular changes evoked by the excitatory amino acid glutamate in the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS). Male Sprague-Dawley rats were anesthetized with urethane and instrumented for microinjection of drugs into the NTS. In 28 animals, an initial dose-response curve for glutamate (37, 74, and 148 pmol/60 nL) was obtained. In eight animals (control group), the dose-response curve was unchanged when it was tested after microinjection of 60 nL of saline into the NTS. In contrast, the prior intra-NTS administration of ethanol (25 or 50 mM) consistently inhibited the hypotensive and bradycardic effects of glutamate. The specificity of this inhibitory response was corroborated by the inability of intra-NTS administrations of ethanol (50 mM) to affect the hypotensive and bradycardic responses to nicotine (922 pmol. 1.84 nmol, and 3.96 nmol). These results indicate that the cardiovascular effects of glutamate can be antagonized by ethanol in the NTS. This inhibitory effect, in turn, may provide a basis for the hypertensinogenic action of ethanol in humans.
An Iron-Sulfur Cluster in the C-terminal Domain of the p58 Subunit of Human DNA Primase

DNA primase synthesizes short RNA primers that are required to initiate DNA synthesis on the parental template strands during DNA replication. Eukaryotic primase contains two subunits, p48 and p58, and is normally tightly associated with DNA polymerase α. Despite the fundamental importance of primase in DNA replication, structural data on eukaryotic DNA primase are lacking. The p48/p58 dimer was subjected to limited proteolysis, which produced two stable structural domains: one containing the bulk of p48 and the other corresponding to the C-terminal fragment of p58. These domains were identified by mass spectrometry and N-terminal sequencing. The C-terminal p58 domain (p58C) was expressed, purified, and characterized. CD and NMR spectroscopy experiments demonstrated that p58C forms a well folded structure. The protein has a distinctive brownish color, and evidence from inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, UV-visible spectrophotometry, and EPR spectroscopy revealed characteristics consistent with the presence of a [4Fe-4S] high potential iron protein cluster. Four putative cysteine ligands were identified using a multiple sequence alignment, and substitution of just one was sufficient to cause loss of the iron-sulfur cluster and a reduction in primase enzymatic activity relative to the wild-type protein. The discovery of an iron-sulfur cluster in DNA primase that contributes to enzymatic activity provides the first suggestion that the DNA replication machinery may have redox-sensitive activities. Our results offer new horizons in which to investigate the function of high potential [4Fe-4S] clusters in DNA-processing machinery.
Morphisms of naturally valenced association schemes and quotient schemes

Abstract Let S and S ˜ be naturally valenced association schemes on sets X and X ˜ , respectively, and let ϕ be a (combinatorial) morphism from ( X , S ) to ( X ˜ , S ˜ ) . In Xu (2009) [X2] , a necessary and sufficient condition was given for ϕ to induce an algebra homomorphism from the scheme ring C S to the scheme ring C S ˜ . The present paper provides new techniques with which this result can be proved without assuming ker ( ϕ ) to be finite. To do this, we will first need to prove that for any normal closed subset T of S, whether T is finite or infinite, the quotient S / / T is a naturally valenced association scheme on the set X / T . We will also need to discuss scheme ring homomorphisms of naturally valenced association schemes, and prove some isomorphism theorems without assuming the kernels of the scheme ring homomorphisms to be finite. As a direct consequence, for a naturally valenced commutative association scheme S on a set X and any closed subset T of S, the quotient S / / T is a naturally valenced commutative association scheme on the set X / T . The approach in this paper is different from Xu (2009) [X2] , and quasi-algebraic morphisms of naturally valenced association schemes are also studied.
α2A/α2C-Adrenergic Receptor Third Loop Chimera Show That Agonist Interaction with Receptor Subtype Backbone Establishes G Protein-coupled Receptor Kinase Phosphorylation

The alpha(2A)-adrenergic receptor (AR) undergoes rapid agonist-promoted desensitization due to phosphorylation by G protein-coupled receptor kinases (GRKs) 2 and 3 at serines in the third intracellular loop of the receptor. In contrast, the alpha(2C)AR fails to display such desensitization or phosphorylation, which has been presumed to be due to this receptor lacking GRK phosphorylation sites. However, the alpha(2C)AR has multiple serines and threonines in putative favorable motifs within its third intracellular loop. We considered that the conformation of the third intracellular loop imposed by agonists binding to the transmembrane-spanning domains could be the basis of this subtype-specific property, rather than the presence or absence of phosphoacceptors per se. To address this, alpha(2A)/alpha(2C) third loop chimeric receptors were constructed. In whole cell phosphorylation studies, the alpha(2A) with the alpha(2C) third loop receptor underwent agonist-promoted phosphorylation while the alpha(2C) with the alpha(2A) third loop receptor did not, indicating that the agonist interaction with the parent receptor backbone establishes the phosphorylation phenotype. We postulated then that agonists with diverse structures that distinctly interact with alpha(2)AR should display different degrees of phosphorylation independent of receptor activation. Indeed, several full and partial agonists were identified, which evoked phosphorylation that was not related to intrinsic activity as established by [(35)S]guanosine 5'-3-O-(thio)triphosphate binding. Taken together, it appears that phosphorylation of the alpha(2)AR evoked by agonist is highly sensitive to the conformation of the third intracellular loop induced/stabilized by agonist to such an extent that these properties dictate the extent of phosphorylation of the loop when phosphoacceptors are present, and are the basis for subtype-specific phosphorylation.
More surprises in translation: Initiation without the initiator tRNA

One of the most widespread beliefs in molecular biology is that protein synthesis is initiated with methionine or formylmethionine in all organisms, by using AUG as the initiation codon and a special methionine tRNA called the initiator tRNA (1, 2). Eubacteria, mitochondria, and chloroplasts initiate protein synthesis with formylmethionine, whereas archaebacteria and eukaryotic cytoplasm initiate with methionine. In eubacteria, codons such as GUG and UUG, which are related to AUG by a single base change, are occasionally used for initiation. However, these codons are read by the same initiator tRNA and are, therefore, translated as formylmethionine. In eukaryotic systems, AUG is almost exclusively the codon used for initiation. In the rare cases where ACG, CUG, AUU, and AGG are used, protein synthesis is still thought to be initiated with methionine (3–5).
Evolution of tholeiitic diabase sheet systems in the eastern United States: examples from the Culpeper Basin, Virginia-Maryland, and the Gettysburg Basin, Pennsylvania

Abstract High-TiO 2 , quartz-normative (HTQ) tholeiite sheets of Early Jurassic age have intruded mainly Late Triassic sedimentary rocks in several early Mesozoic basins in the eastern United States. Field observations, petrographic study, geochemical analyses and stable isotope data from three HTQ sheet systems in the Culpeper basin of Virginia and Maryland and the Gettysburg basin of Pennsylvania were used to develop a general model of magmatic differentiation and magmatic-hydrothermal interaction for HTQ sheets. The three sheet systems have remarkably similar major-oxide and trace-element compositions. Cumulus and evolved diabase in comagmatic sheets separated by tens of kilometers are related by igneous differentiation. Differentiated diabase in all three sheets have petrographic and geochemical signatures and fluid inclusions indicating hydrothermal alteration beginning near magmatic temperatures and continuing to relatively low temperatures. Sulfur and oxygen isotope data are consistent with a magmatic origin for the hydrothermal fluid. The three sheet systems examined apparently all had a similar style of crystal-liquid fractionation that requires significant lateral migration of residual magmatic liquid. The proposed magmatic model for HTQ sheets suggests that bronzite-laden magma was intruded in an upper crustal magma chamber, with bronzite phenocrysts collecting in the lower part of the magma chamber near the feeder dike. Early crystallization of augite and Ca-poor pyroxene before significant plagioclase crystallization resulted in density-driven migration of lighter residual magmatic liquids along lateral and vertical pressure gradients towards the upper part of the sheet. The influence of water on the physical properties of the residual liquid, including density, viscosity and liquidus temperature, may have facilitated the lateral movement more than 15 km up dip in the sheets. Exsolution of a Cl- and S-rich metal-bearing aqueous fluid from residual magma resulted in concentration and redistribution of incompatible and aqueoussoluble elements in late-stage differentiated rocks. This proposed hydrothermal mechanism has important economic implications as it exerts a strong control on the final distribution of noble metals in these types of diabase sheets.
The cyclical response of employment to output changes: United States manufacturing industries, 1948 to 1983

(1986). The cyclical response of employment to output changes: United States manufacturing industries, 1948 to 1983. Applied Economics: Vol. 18, No. 5, pp. 495-500.
Radiometric considerations for ocean color remote sensors

A methodology for determination of the effects of radiometric noise on the performance of ocean color sensors is developed and applied to the Coastal Zone Color Scanner on Nimbus 7 and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer planned for the Earth Observing System.
Potential Formulation for Aeroelastic Constraint Analysis in a Conceptual Design Environment

Presented at 43rd AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, Denver, CO, April 22-25, 2002.
Ultrastructure of the Dog Cardiac Muscle Cell

Observations on the cellular structure of the dog heart as seen in the electron microscope are described. Electronmicrographs illustrate the ultrastructure of the dog myocardial cell, especially the relationships of the intercalated disc and the sarcolemma to form the cell boundaries and the relationships of the myofibrils and "Z" bands to the sarcolemma which result in an "accordion-like" appearance of the cell after contraction.
Meeting Report: Alternatives for Developmental Neurotoxicity Testing

Developmental neurotoxicity testing (DNT) is perceived by many stakeholders to be an area in critical need of alternatives to current animal testing protocols and guidelines. To address this need, the Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Toxicology Program are collaborating in a program called TestSmart DNT, the goals of which are to: (a) develop alternative methodologies for identifying and prioritizing chemicals and exposures that may cause developmental neurotoxicity in humans; (b) develop the policies for incorporating DNT alternatives into regulatory decision making; and (c) identify opportunities for reducing, refining, or replacing the use of animals in DNT. The first TestSmart DNT workshop was an open registration meeting held 13-15 March 2006 in Reston, Virginia. The primary objective was to bring together stakeholders (test developers, test users, regulators, and advocates for children's health, animal welfare, and environmental health) and individuals representing diverse disciplines (developmental neurobiology, toxicology, policy, and regulatory science) from around the world to share information and concerns relating to the science and policy of DNT. Individual presentations are available at the CAAT TestSmart website. This report provides a synthesis of workgroup discussions and recommendations for future directions and priorities, which include initiating a systematic evaluation of alternative models and technologies, developing a framework for the creation of an open database to catalog DNT data, and devising a strategy for harmonizing the validation process across international jurisdictional borders.
Solvable subgroups of Out(F_n) are virtually abelian

A companion result of the the Tits alternative for $Out(F_n)$ is proved: Every solvable subgroup of $Out(F_n)$ is finitely generated and virtually abelian.
Model formulation as a problem-solving task: computer-assisted engineering modeling

A central purpose of knowledge acquisition technology is to assist with the formulation of domain models that underlie knowledge systems. In this article we examine the model formulation process itself as a problem-solving task. Drawing from AI research in qualitative reasoning about physical systems, we characterize the model formulation task in terms of the inputs, the reasoning subtasks, and the knowledge needed to perform the problem solving. We describe the elements of a high-level representation of modeling knowledge, and techniques for providing intelligent assistance to the model builder. Applying the results from engineering modeling to knowledge acquisition in general, we identify properties of the representation that facilitate the construction of knowledge systems from libraries of reusable models. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Selection and characterisation of mutants lacking arginase in Neurospora crassa.

A Neurospora mutant (aga) lacking arginase was selected by virtue of its inability to utilize arginine as a source of ornithine, using a strain in which ornithine was needed to satisfy a proline requirement. It mapped in linkage group VII (right arm), close to wc. The most important characteristic of the mutant was its extreme sensitivity to arginine. Inclusion of 1 mM arginine in the medium lead to a 40-fold increase in the arginine pool and a 90% inhibition of growth. This inhibition was relieved by the addition of ornithine or proline. The high arginine pool was associated with only a slight repression of two biosynthetic enzymes examined and with a five-fold induction of ornthine transaminase, the second enzyme of arginine catabolism. It is expected that the aga mutant will be of value in further work on the regulation of arginine biosynthesis in Neurospora.