cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Porphyromonas gingivalis infection and prothrombotic effects in human aortic smooth muscle cells.

Abstract Introduction Accumulating evidence has demonstrated an association between periodontal infectious agents, such as Porphyromonas gingivalis , and vascular disease. Tissue factor (TF) and its specific tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) are produced by vascular cells and are important regulators of the coagulation cascade. Materials and Methods To assess the role of P. gingivalis in atherothrombosis, we infected primary human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMC) with either P. gingivalis 381, its non-invasive mutant DPG3, or heat-killed P. gingivalis 381 . Levels and activity of TF and TFPI were measured 8 and 24 hours after infection in cell extracts and cell culture supernatants. Results P. gingivalis 381 did not affect total TF antigen or TF activity in HASMC, but it significantly suppressed TFPI levels and activity compared to uninfected control cells, and those infected with the non-invasive mutant strain or the heat-killed bacteria. Further, P. gingivalis ' LPS (up to a concentration of 5 µg/ml) failed to induce prothrombotic effects in HASMC, suggesting a significant role for the ability of whole viable bacteria to invade this cell type. Conclusion These data demonstrate for the first time that infection with a periodontal pathogen induces a prothrombotic response in HASMC.
Some Forces Affecting the Changing Structure, Organization, and Control of American Agriculture

The original broad charge given to us by President Hildreth for this address was to consider "the implications of the changing structure, organization, and control of American agriculture." Upon asking for a possible narrowing of the topic, Jim magnanimously agreed to change "the" to "some." Upon our suggestion to Jim of the names of several economists who knew something about this topic, he mumbled that he was looking for a couple of "appropriate types" to go "where angels fear to tread." At the outset we should say something about the direction and scope of our comments. Our emphasis will be on structural change and control in agriculture, interpreted rather broadly. We single out land value escalation as an issue of major importance and deserving of special attention because of possible effects on the future structure and control of the farming subsystem. It is our contention that the driving forces affecting future changes are coming from outside agriculture, rather than from decisions made within. Analyzing the past is a necessary first step in understanding present trends and future possibilities. Our procedure, therefore, is to provide first a short overview of structure research in agriculture and indicate how the policy/control aspects of agriculture have changed in concert with industrialization. Second, we review some of the major changes taking place in the food and agriculture system giving particular attention to the interface between production agriculture and nonfarm rural interests. We then examine the record on rising farm real estate values, considering selected external and internal forces and possible resultant effects on structure and control in agriculture. We conclude with general observations on future developments and problems ahead.
Nifedipine and ureteral colic.

Excerpt To the editor: In the last 2 years I have seen two patients with the severe pain of ureteral colic. Usually, such patients are given a narcotic, and fluids are forced until the stone, if it...
Carbohydrate and torpor duration in hibernating golden-mantled ground squirrels ( Citellus lateralis )

Plasma glucose concentrations were increased in torpidCitellus lateralis to test the hypothesis that plasma glucose depletion stimulates periodic arousals from torpor during hibernation.
Young children's inductions from natural kinds: the role of categories and appearances.

Recent analyses of natural kind terms (e.g., dog, gold) suggest that people expect members of a kind to share unforeseen properties. The present study investigated the development of this expectation by studying children's inductive inferences. On each of a series of problems, 3- and 4-year-old children were taught a new fact about an object and then were asked whether it would generalize to: an object that looked like the original, that had the same label as the original, that looked like the original and had the same label, or that differed from the original in both respects. The results indicate that 3- and 4-year-olds drew more inferences based on category membership than on perceptual appearances, when both were available. Furthermore, children often based their inferences on category membership even when no label was provided. Thus even 3-year-olds assumed that natural kind categories include more than superficial features.
Facile synthesis of 2′,5′-dideoxy-, 2′,3′-dideoxy- and 3′-deoxy-1, N 6 -ethenoadenosine nucleosides

Facile synthetic methods of 2′,5′-dideoxy-, 2′,3′-dideoxy- and 3′-deoxy-1,N 6-ethenoadenosine nucleosides by either an enzymatic dideoxyribosyl transfer reaction or a simple chemical reaction were proposed. The synthetic products were isolated and purified by preparative HPLC and their structures were confirmed by1H NMR (500 MHz) and FAB-MS including high resolution mass measurement. These modified nucleoside analogs have not been reported yet. Therefore, these modified nucleoside analogs are of potential value to be studied further for biological activity such as anticancer or antiviral.
Systematic acceleration of radical discovery and innovation in science and technology

Abstract A systematic two-component approach (front-end component, back-end component) to bridging unconnected disciplines and accelerating potentially radical discovery and innovation (based wholly or partially on text mining procedures) is presented. The front-end component has similar objectives to those in the classical literature-based discovery (LBD) approach, although it is different mechanistically and operationally. The front-end component will systematically identify technical disciplines (and their associated leading experts) that are directly or indirectly-related to solving technical problems of high interest. The back-end component is actually a family of back-end techniques, only one of which shares the strictly literature-based analysis of the classical LBD approach. The non-LBD back-end techniques (literature-assisted discovery) make use of the human experts associated with the disparate literatures (disciplines) uncovered in the front-end to generate radical discovery and innovation. Specifically, in the literature-assisted discovery operational mode, these disparate discipline experts could be used as: 1. Recipients of solicitation announcements (BAA, SBIR, MURI, journal Special Issue calls for papers, etc.), 2. Participants in Workshops, Advisory Panels, Review Panels, Roadmaps, and War Games, 3. Points of Contact for Field Science Advisors, Foreign Field Offices, Program Officer site visits, and potential transitions.
Passive Ventricular Constraint Prevents Transmural Shear Strain Progression in Left Ventricle Remodeling

Background— Passive ventricular constraint provides external cardiac support to reduce left ventricular (LV) wall stress and myocardial stretch, which are primary determinants of LV remodeling. Altered wall strain results in cytokine and reactive oxygen species production, which, in turn, stimulates apoptosis and extracellular matrix disruption and could be an important trigger for adverse global LV dilatation and remodeling. The effects of the Acorn cardiac support device (CSD) on regional transmural LV wall strains, however, remain unknown. Methods and Results— Thirty-three sheep had transmural radiopaque beadsets surgically inserted into the anterior basal and lateral equatorial LV walls, with additional markers silhouetting the left ventricle. Eight animals had CSD implanted (myocardial infarction [MI]+CSD). One week thereafter, the MI+CSD group and 10 animals without CSD (MI) underwent posterior LV infarction by snaring obtuse marginal coronary arteries. Fifteen animals (Sham) had no infarction or CSD. 4D marker dynamics were measured with biplane videofluoroscopy 1 and 8 weeks postoperatively. LV volumes, sphericity index, and transmural circumferential, longitudinal, and radial systolic strains were analyzed. Compared with Sham, infarction (MI) dilated the heart, reduced sphericity index (LV length/width), and increased longitudinal–radial shear strains in the inner half of both the anterior and lateral LV walls. CSD prevented this shear strain perturbation, minimized LV end diastolic volume increase, and augmented the LV sphericity index. Conclusions— Prophylactic CSD prevented infarct-induced shear strain progression not only in myocardium adjacent to, but also remote from, the infarct. CSD also prevented LV dilatation and sphericalization. By attenuating shear strain abnormalities, CSD could prevent the heart from entering into a positive feedback loop of further LV dilatation and exaggeration of LV wall stress and may reduce biochemical triggers portending adverse LV remodeling.
Constrained Optimal Selection for Multi-Sensor Robot Navigation Using Plug-and-Play Factor Graphs

This paper proposes a real-time navigation approach that is able to integrate many sensor types while fulfilling performance needs and system constraints. Our approach uses a plug-and-play factor graph framework, which extends factor graph formulation to encode sensor measurements with different frequencies, latencies, and noise distributions. It provides a flexible foundation for plug-and-play sensing, and can incorporate new evolving sensors. A novel constrained optimal selection mechanism is presented to identify the optimal subset of active sensors to use, during initialization and when any sensor condition changes. This mechanism constructs candidate subsets of sensors based on heuristic rules and a ternary tree expansion algorithm. It quickly decides the optimal subset among candidates by maximizing observability coverage on state variables, while satisfying resource constraints and accuracy demands. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach selects subsets of sensors to provide satisfactory navigation solutions under various conditions, on large-scale real data sets using many sensors.
NMR study of volatile anesthetic binding to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.

Abstract New lines of evidence suggest that volatile anesthetics interact specifically with proteins. Direct binding analysis, however, has been largely limited to soluble proteins. In this study, specific interaction was investigated between isoflurane, a clinically important volatile anesthetic, and membrane-bound nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) from Torpedo electroplax , using 19 F nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and gas chromatography. The receptors were reconstituted into 1,2-dioleoyl- sn -glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) lipid vesicles. After correcting for nonspecific partitioning into the lipid, the equilibrium dissociation constant, K d , of isoflurane binding to nAChR at 15°C was found to be 0.36±0.03mM. This value is within the clinically relevant concentration range of the agent. Based on the receptor concentrations in the vesicle suspension assayed by the bicinchoninic acid method and the fraction of bound isoflurane, X b , determined by gas chromatography, an estimate of an average of 9–10 specifically bound isoflurane molecules can be made for each receptor, or two for each subunit. Upon binding, the transverse relaxation time constant ( T 2 ) of 19 F resonance of isoflurane is decreased by nearly three orders of magnitude, indicating a dramatic reduction in the mobility of specifically bound isoflurane. Kinetic analysis reveals that the off rate of binding, k −1 , is 1.7×10 4 s −1 . The on rate, k +1 , can thus be calculated to be ∼4.8×10 7 M −1 s −1 , suggesting a nearly diffusion-limited association. This is in contrast to anesthetic binding to a soluble protein, bovine serum albumin (BSA), where k +1 and k −1 are at least an order of magnitude slower. It is concluded that the presence of lipids may be critical for the correct evaluation of binding kinetics between volatile anesthetics and neuronal receptors.
Detecting the Presence of Mixing with Multiscale Maximum Likelihood

A test of homogeneity tries to decide whether observations come from a single distribution or from a mixture of several distributions. A powerful theory has been developed for the case where the component distributions are members of an exponential family. When no parametric assumptions are appropriate, the standard approach is to test for bimodality, which is known not to be very sensitive for detecting heterogeneity. To develop a more sensitive procedure, this article builds on an approach employed in sampling literature and models the component distributions as logarithmically concave densities. It is shown how this leads to a special semiparametric model, in which the homogeneity problem is equivalent to testing whether a parameter c equals zero, versus the alternative that c > 0. This setup leads naturally to a novel multiscale maximum likelihood procedure, where the multiscale character reflects the desirable property of adaptivity to the unknown value of the parameter c under the alternative, to en...
Identification and Characterization of a DNA Binding Domain on the Adenovirus IVa2 Protein

Abstract The adenovirus IVa2 protein has been implicated as a transcriptional activator of the viral major late promoter (MLP) and a key component in the packaging of the viral genome. IVa2 functions in packaging through its ability to form a complex with the viral L1 52/55 kDa protein, which is required for encapsidation. IVa2, alone and in conjunction with another viral protein, the L4 22 K protein, binds to the packaging sequence on the viral genome and to specific elements in the promoter. To define the DNA binding domain on IVa2 and determine its contribution to the viral life cycle, we created a mutant protein that lacks a putative helix-turn-helix motif at the extreme C-terminus. Characterization of this mutant protein showed that while MLP activity is relatively unaffected, it is unable to bind to and package DNA.
Influence of poly(amino acid) composition on the complexation of plasmid DNA and transfection efficiency

Random copolymers of poly[(Lys, Ala) 1: 1], poly[(Lys, Ala) 2: 1], poly[(Lys, Ala) 3: 1], poly[(Lys, Ser) 3: 1] and poly[(Arg, Ser) 3: 1] (ratios designate the feed comonomer composition), were complexed with plasmid DNA pRL CMV luc at different weight per weight DNA: polymer ratios. The physicochemical properties of the complexes were evaluated by gel retardation assay, Zeta potential measurements and photon correlation spectroscopy. The extent of DNA protection against nucleases was determined by a nuclease assay. Cell viability and transfection efficiency of the DNA/polymer complexes were determined by MTS (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-4-sulfophenyl)-2-H -tetrazolium) and luciferase assays, respectively. Regardless of the amino acid feed composition, neutral complexes were formed between 2: 1 and 1: 1 DNA: polymer ratios. The particle sizes of the complexes were in the range of 100-300 nm with complexes with more DNA gave a larger particle size than those with a higher prop...
Blood levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor in women with bipolar disorder and healthy control women.

Background Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) protein has been implicated in the pathophysiology of mood disorders, with early data suggesting that blood levels may vary by severity of mood symptoms. BDNF polymorphism, val66met, has also been implicated in mood disorders.
Patterning for planar waveguides

The synthesis of planar strip geometries for planar waveguides by a layered manufacturing technique, called fused deposition modelling (FDM/sup TM/), is presented. Channels were deposited on silicon wafers by melting a thermoplastic polymer and extruding it through a small orifice. Sol-gel-derived, amorphous fluoride films were dip-coated into these channels and yielded straight, 1 mm strips on subsequent removal of the polymer.
Dielectric properties and ferroelectric behavior of poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) 50/50 copolymer ultrathin films

Ultrathin films of poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) copolymer [P(VDF-TrFE), with a content (mol %) ratio of 50/50 VDF/TrFE] were fabricated on silicon wafers covered with platinum by a spin-coating technique, ranging in thickness from 20 nm to 1 μm. The effect of thickness on dielectric properties and polarization behavior was investigated. A critical thickness was found to be about 0.1 pm. An abrupt drop of dielectric constant was observed, although there is no significant change in dielectric loss at this thickness. Square and symmetric hysteresis loops were obtained in films thicker than 0.1 μm. However, for films thinner than 0.1 pm, fewer square hysteresis loops were observed. SEM and X-ray results demonstrate that the effect of thickness on dielectric and ferroelectric properties could be explained by the changes of crystal structure in these films. In addition, the effects of irradiation on dielectric property and polarization response for ultrathin P(VDF-TrFE) films were also presented.
Effect of Antibiotics on In Vitro and In Vivo Avian Cartilage Degradation

SUMMARY. Antibiotics are used in the livestock industry not only to treat disease but also to promote growth and increase feed efficiency in less than ideal sanitary conditions. However, certain antibiotic families utilized in the poultry industry have recently been found to adversely affect bone formation and cartilage metabolism in dogs, rats, and humans. Therefore, the first objective of this study was to determine if certain antibiotics used in the poultry industry would inhibit in vitro cartilage degradation. The second objective was to determine if the antibiotics found to inhibit in vitro cartilage degradation also induced tibial dyschondroplasia in growing broilers. Ten antibiotics were studied by an avian explant culture system that is designed to completely degrade tibiae over 16 days. Lincomycin, tylosin tartrate, gentamicin, erythromycin, and neomycin sulfate did not inhibit degradation at any concentration tested. Doxycycline (200 µg/ml), oxytetracycline (200 µg/ml), enrofloxacin (200 and 400...
The Role of Inverse Compton Scattering in Solar Coronal Hard X-ray and Gamma-ray Sources

Coronal hard X-ray (HXR) and continuum gamma-ray sources associated with the impulsive phase of solar flares have been the subject of renewed interest in recent years. They have been interpreted in terms of thin-target, nonthermal bremsstrahlung emission. This interpretation has led to rather extreme physical requirements in some cases. For example, in one case, essentially all of the electrons in the source must be accelerated to nonthermal energies to account for the coronal HXR source. In other cases, the extremely hard photon spectra of the coronal continuum gamma-ray emission suggest that the low energy cutoff of the electron energy distribution lies in the MeV energy range. Here we consider the role of inverse Compton scattering (ICS) as an alternate emission mechanism in both the ultra- and mildly relativistic regimes. It is known that relativistic electrons are produced during powerful flares; these are capable of up-scattering soft photospheric photons to HXR and gamma-ray energies. Previously overlooked is the fact that mildly relativistic electrons, generally produced in much greater numbers in flares of all sizes, can up-scatter EUV/SXR photons to HXR energies. We also explore ICS on anisotropic electron distributions and show that the resulting emission can be significantly enhanced over an isotropic electron distribution for favorable viewing geometries. We briefly review results from bremsstrahlung emission and reconsider circumstances under which nonthermal bremsstrahlung or ICS would be favored. Finally, we consider a selection of coronal HXR and gamma-ray events and find that in some cases the ICS is a viable alternative emission mechanism.
The Rosy Region of Drosophila Melanogaster and Drosophila Simulans. I. Contrasting Levels of Naturally Occurring DNA Restriction Map Variation and Divergence

A 40-kb region around the rosy and snake loci was analyzed for restriction map variation among 60 lines of Drosophila melanogaster and 30 lines of Drosophila simulans collected together at a single locality in Raleigh, North Carolina. DNA sequence variation in D. simulans was estimated to be 6.3 times greater than in D. melanogaster (heterozygosities per nucleotide of 1.9% vs. 0.3%). This result stands in marked contrast to results of studies of phenotypic variation including proteins (allozymes), morphology and chromosome arrangements which are generally less variable and less geographically differentiated in D. simulans. Intraspecific polymorphism is not distributed uniformly over the 40-kb region. The level of heterozygosity per nucleotide varies more than 12-fold across the region in D. simulans, being highest over the hsc2 gene. Similar, though less extreme, variation in heterozygosity is also observed in D. melanogaster. Average interspecific divergence (corrected for intraspecific polymorphism) averaged 3.8%. The pattern of interspecific divergence over the 40-kb region shows some disparities with the spatial distribution of intraspecific variation, but is generally consistent with selective neutrality predictions: the most polymorphic regions within species are generally the most divergent between species. Sequence-length polymorphism is observed for D. melanogaster to be at levels comparable to other gene regions in this species. In contrast, no sequence length variation was observed among D. simulans chromosomes (limit of resolution approximately 100 bp). These data indicate that transposable elements play at best a minor role in the generation of naturally occurring genetic variation in D. simulans compared to D. melanogaster. We hypothesize that differences in species effective population size are the major determinant of the contrasting levels and patterns of DNA sequence and insertion/deletion variation that we report here and the patterns of allozyme and morphological variation and differentiation reported by other workers for these two species.
Making or Breaking Politics: Social Conflicts and Party-System Change in Democratic Bolivia

Why do only some social conflicts lead to party-system change? In Bolivia, the recent politicization of the regional autonomy movement represented a stark difference with how conflicts had affected party-system dynamics in the past. This study argues that social conflicts led to party-system change in Bolivia thanks largely to the strategies of ruling party elites. Motivated to preserve their position in power, elites had a menu of strategic options at their disposal to integrate, defer, or disregard demands from below. The study situates the recent regional conflict in Bolivia within the country’s longer history of mobilizational politics. It finds that ruling elites utilized different strategies of exclusion and inclusion to neutralize social conflict and preserve the status quo party system. They appropriated the regional autonomy demands as a last-ditch effort to remain electorally relevant in the face of successful party competition. In so doing, they helped transform the party system. Even from a position of electoral weakness and in the face of overwhelming demands from below, Bolivia’s elites shaped the transformative impact of those demands. This study relies upon a least-likely case design to highlight the impact elite agency can have in making or breaking politics under democracy.
Rural Guatemala, 1760-1940

This comprehensive study of rural development in Guatemala extends from the late colonial period through to the transformation of the economy by the introduction of larger-scale coffee production.
Reduction of automated test generation for Simulink/Stateflow to reachability and its novel resolution

Simulink/Stateflow is a popular commercial model-based development tool for many industrial domains. For safety and security concerns, verification and testing must be performed on the Simulink/Stateflow designs and the generated code. In this paper, we present a test generation approach for Simulink/Stateflow by reduction to reachability in a Hybrid Automaton, with its locations representing the computations of the Simulink/Stateflow model, and edges representing the computation-succession. A novel reachability resolution method is presented based on the refinement of the hybrid automaton such that the reachability is reduced to the reachability in the underlying graph (without the dynamics), whenever the refinement step terminates. The approach yields a technique that is effective in terms of achieving test coverage and efficient in terms of test generation time.
A Preliminary Note on the Exclusively Meteoritic Minerals

It is shown in this preliminary note that the earlier lists of the exclusively meteoritic minerals are in error. On the basis of a review and an analysis of the available literature, it is proposed that a tentative, revised list of these minerals should include the following: daubreelite, kosmochlor, merrillite, oldhamite, osbornite, phosphorus, schreibersite, taenite, and weinbergerite.
The relationship between winds, surface roughness, and radar backscatter at low incidence angles from TRMM precipitation radar measurements

One year of collocated, rain-free normalized backscatter cross-section measurements from the Tropical Rainfall Mapping Mission (TRMM) precipitation radar (PR) and wind speed estimates from the TRMM Microwave Imager are used to construct fully empirical model functions relating cross section to wind speed for incidence angles from 08 (nadir) to 188. With the exception of a ;1.9-dB offset, the TRMM PR model function at nadir compares well with TOPEX and Geosat results. For the first time using spaceborne data, least squares fits of the TRMM PR model functions to the geometric optics scattering formulation allow direct solution for the magnitudes and wind speed dependencies of Ku-band effective nadir reflectivity and effective mean square slope [s(u)]. Effective reflectivity is found to decrease slightly with increasing wind speed above 3.5 m s 21 .A logarithmic dependence of s(u) is found for wind speeds between 1 and 10 m s21. Both linear and two-branch logarithmic dependencies (with a slope break at 10 m s 21) are excellent and statistically indistinguishable parameterizations for s(u) for wind speeds between 5 and 19 m s21. Calculations using the Elfouhaily et al. wave model suggest that the effective Ku-band s(u) corresponds to a cutoff wavelength of 3 to 6 times the radar wavelength for wind speeds from 5 to 25 m s21; at lower wind speeds, the cutoff wavelength increases rapidly consistent with earlier observations.
Efficiency, Fairness, and the Economic Analysis of Tort Law

Throughout its history, the economic analysis of tort law has been largely limited to one question: How should tort rules be formulated so as to minimize the social cost of accidents? Throughout its history, the economic analysis of tort law has also been controversial. The two phenomena are related. It is highly controversial whether tort law should minimize accident costs to the exclusion of fairness concerns, which in turn has fostered the belief that the economic analysis of tort law is controversial.The most forceful critique has come from those who maintain that tort liability is best justified by the principle of corrective justice. This principle is based on an individual right that imposes an obligation or duty on another individual. A duty-holder who violates the correlative right has committed a wrong, creating a duty to repair or correct any wrongful losses suffered by the right-holder. This rights-based principle of justice purportedly rules out the economic analysis of tort law. Such sweeping claims about the irrelevancy of economic analysis must be understood in context. If the appropriate rationale for tort liability is a rights-based principle such as corrective justice, then the justification for a liability rule does not depend on whether it is allocatively efficient. Economic analysis is “ruled out” for being irrelevant to the rights-based justification for tort liability. Allocative efficiency does not need to be the norm of tort liability in order to make economic analysis relevant. Economic analysis is not limited to issues of allocative efficiency and cost minimization. It is an open question whether a rights-based tort system would employ economic analysis, and if so, how.To address this question, I specify the substantive content of an autonomy-based, individual right that is both allocatively inefficient and fully compatible with the relevant requirements of welfare economics. As I have argued at length elsewhere, such a right also provides a good description of tort law. Thus, the idea that economic analysis is incompatible with or irrelevant to a rights-based principle of justice is mistaken. I conclude by arguing that economic analysis is integral to any plausible rights-based tort system.
Chapter 3 Electrokinetic chromatography

Publisher Summary Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is a technique that was developed for the efficient separations of charged solutes, based on their differences in electrophoretic mobility. Micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MECC), introduced in 1984, allows neutral species to be resolved using CE instrumentation by creating a second retentive phase into which they can differentially partition. The differential partitioning gives rise to differential migration rates that provide the separation. Micelles or other charged species added to a buffer solution impart an effective electrophoretic mobility to neutral analytes by interacting with the neutral compound to form a charged “complex.” The binding constants of the analytes can be measured in a variety of ways—that is, from absorbance or fluorescence measurements, by micellar liquid chromatography (MLC), and by micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC). The separation of charged solutes by electrokinetic chromatography (EKC) involves a combination of chromatographic and electrophoretic separation mechanisms. This results in biases or differences in migration behavior for various types of analytes.
On the feasibility of incremental checkpointing for scientific computing

Summary form only given. In the near future large-scale parallel computers will feature hundreds of thousands of processing nodes. In such systems, fault tolerance is critical as failures will occur very often. Checkpointing and rollback recovery has been extensively studied as an attempt to provide fault tolerance. However, current implementations do not provide the total transparency and full flexibility that are necessary to support the new paradigm of autonomic computing - systems able to self-heal and self-repair. We provide an in-depth evaluation of incremental checkpointing for scientific computing. The experimental results, obtained on a state-of-the art cluster running several scientific applications, show that efficient, scalable, automatic and user-transparent incremental checkpointing is within reach with current technology.
Conceptual comparisons: towards a coherent methodology of comparative legal studies

unctionalism is still the dominant method of comparative legal studies. This, however, is not the case because functional analysis is particularly well suited for the needs of comparatists, but because of a lack of alternatives. Comparative Law and Economics and various “postmodern” approaches have failed to provide more viable solutions. The first part of this Article examines the virtues and flaws of the respective methods. Under the heading of Conceptual Comparisons, the second part introduces a new approach to comparative law. It follows the lead of other comparative sciences, which have abandoned functionalism some time ago and have replaced it with typological considerations. Conceptual Comparisons adapts these considerations to the particular needs of legal research, thus opening new avenues for the perception of law and its role in different legal systems. F
Abstract 14270: Body Size Misperception and Longitudinal Changes in Weight and Cardiovascular Risk Factors: the Dallas Heart Study (DHS)

Background Body size misperception, the failure to recognize a need to lose weight among overweight/obese individuals, hinders weight loss and likely contributes to the obesity epidemic. Few longitudinal data on weight change or CV risk factors are available for people with body size misperception. Methods Overweight/obese participants [body mass index (BMI)≥25 kg/m 2 ] in the DHS, a multi-ethnic probability-based sample of Dallas County residents aged 18-65, were surveyed at study entry in 2000 regarding self-perceived actual and ideal body sizes using the validated Stunkard nine-figure scale. Body size misperception was defined for overweight/obese individuals as perceived ideal body size larger than or the same as perceived actual body size. Age-adjusted weight change, blood pressure (BP), and lipids at follow up in 2009 were compared between those with vs. without misperception. Results For the study population (n=1467), those with baseline body size misperception (N=219) gained significantly more weight over the 9-year period than those without misperception [mean weight change (MWC)±SD = 3.0±8.0 kg vs. 1.7±10.8 kg, p=0.002, Table]. When stratified by sex, women with misperception gained 5 times more weight than women without misperception. Weight gain for women with body size misperception was accompanied by higher systolic and diastolic BP as compared to women without misperception at follow-up; however, there was little difference in total, LDL, and HDL cholesterol between the two groups. In contrast, for men with vs. without body size misperception at baseline, MWC and follow-up SBP, DBP, and lipids were similar. Conclusions Among overweight/obese women, body size misperception is associated with increased weight gain and higher BP over time. These data support a role for body size misperception as a barrier to CV risk reduction among women. Targeting and countering body size misperception may be a valuable strategy for improving CV health for women.
Staff + Committees = Added Value

When library committees bring together staff with interests and talents outside their immediate job descriptions, the results can bring added value to the staff and library. Such interests and talents may result in exhibits, displays, and several interest programs for staff and users of the library.
The development and validation of the online learning climate scale (OLCS)

ABSTRACTWith the increasing popularity of online learning in higher education comes a need to examine students’ perceptions about classroom climate in these environments. This two-part study proposes the online learning climate scale (OLCS) for doing so. Informed by both instructional communication and education, the scale consists of several variables related to teacher role(s) and behaviors, student characteristics, and course-specific structural issues to explain how students perceive climate within a computer-mediated classroom. Ultimately, this two-part study (a) constructed the OLCS and (b) established its factor structure and convergent validity.
A hybrid approach to model a bayesian network of culture-specific behavior

Cultural background can crucially influence human behavior. For virtual characters, that are supposed to imitate human behavior in a natural manner, integrating cultural background came into focus the recent years. Unlike earlier approaches, this paper presents a hybrid approach of modeling a Bayesian network that generates culture-specific behaviors for virtual characters. For the hybrid approach, the structure of the network is designed based on social science theories, while its parameters are derived from a video corpus.
Buffer overflow simulation in self-similar queuing networks with finite buffer capacity

The paper recommends an approach to estimate effectively probability of buffer overflow in self-similar queuing networks with finite buffer capacity. Simulations with stochastic (or long-range dependent) traffic source models are conducted. A new efficient algorithm, based on the RESTART method, is developed and applied to accelerate the buffer overflow simulation in a finite buffer single server model under long-range dependent self-similar traffic load with different buffer sizes. Numerical examples and simulation results are provided.
Diets for Rearing the Sugarcane Borer

Mass rearing of the sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis, (F.), Was attempted on a limited scale in the laboratory. Larvae were cultured in cotton-stoppered Erlenmeyer flasks containing sugarcane tops or artificial agar-base diet. Rearing was done under aseptic conditions. From series of experiments in which the amounts of each ingredient in an artificial diet called the "standard diet" were varied, an "improved diet" was formulated. This improved diet contained corn plant powder(an acetone extract from corn plants, 10.0 grams), sucrose (5 grams), cholesterol (0.2 gram), Wesson’s salts (1.0 gram), yeast extract (2 grams), Bacto-agar (3.5 grams), and distilled water (125 milliliters). Results from several experiments indicated that the optimum amount of sugarcane tops for mass rearing should be 15 grams per insect, and that 7½ grams per insect of the improved artificial diet should be adequate for the complete development of sugarcane borer larvae. Ten insects were reared in each 2.50-milliliter Erlenmeyer flask containing the sugarcane tops. Sugarcane tops appeared to be slightly superior to the improved artificial diet for rearing sugarcane borers.
An Immediate Response to Environmentally Disturbing News and the Environmental Attitudes of College Students

This study examined the effect of reading a news article about a major oil spill upon the immediately tested environmental attitudes of 65 college students. The 34 women tended to respond in a more proenvironmental manner than did the 31 men. Several controls for follow-up study are suggested.
Influenza virus A H1N1 vaccine influencing factor's study of Baoding population

Objective To discuss the influencing factors of influenza virus A H1N1 vaccine in Baoding city. Methods Self- administered questionnaires survey was conducted to learn the coverage of influenza virus A H1N1 vaccine and related influencing factors in observation objects. hemmagglution inhibition( HI) assays were used to test antibody titers in different times after vaccination. Results The willingness of vaccination was significantly affected by occupation,monthly income,forms of payment,history of chronic respiratory disease and awareness of influenza virus A H1N1,but had no correlation with gender,ages,frequency of influenza and traffic condition. Among the subjects without vaccination,question the safety of vaccine,low cultural level and short of knowledge about influenza virus A H1N1 were the main influencing factors,which accounted for 33. 41%,30. 81% and 29. 62% respectively. Antibody protection rate was highest after vaccination for 1month,as the immune time went on,antibody protection rates reduced. Conclusions The vaccination was the best measure to prevent the epidemic and outbreak of influenza virus A H1N1,in order to improve the vaccination rates and protect the human healthy,the knowledge of influenza virus A H1N1 vaccine should be spread and the correct conception of prevention should be established.
A Fast Dose Calculation Algorithm for Deformable Liquid-Filled Brachytherapy Applicators with Low Energy Photon Emitting Radionuclides

Detenrdning the dosimetric characteristics of novel sealed brachytherapy sources has developed into a well defined practice standard (1–2). Experimentally validated Monte Carlo photon transport (MCPT) simulations or measured data are used to produce treatment planning data for commerically available source designs. These data are then applied in brachytherapy treatment planning by interpolation or point source modeling of the characterized source. As most all brachytherapy sources are constructed of rigid materials and the planning data is normalized to a quantity of doismetric output, e.g. air kerma strength (3), this program produces fairly accurate clinical dosimetry (inter-source attenuation and tissue heterogeneities are often ignored).
Resonance and Higher Order Quasilinear Ellipticity

Let Ω be a bounded domain in ℝ N . With $$ Qu = \;\sum\limits_{{\left| \alpha \right|,\left| \beta \right| \leqslant m}} {{{( - 1)}^{\beta }}} {D^{\beta }}\left[ {{a_{{\alpha \beta }}}(x,Du){D^{\alpha }}u} \right] $$ (1.1) , we shall study the equation $$ {Q_{u}} = f(x,Du) + \sum\limits_{{\left| \alpha \right| \leqslant m}} {{D^{\alpha }}} {g_{\alpha }}(x,Du) $$ (1.2) defined in Ω where β = (β 1,...,β N ), D β = D 1 β1 ,..., D N βN and |β| = β1 +...+ β N . With M = the number of all derivatives D α u for 0 ≤ |α| ≤ m-1, Du will stand for the M-vector whose components are the derivatives D α u for 0 ≤ |α| ≤ m - 1. Thus if m = 1, then Du = u and M = 1. If m = 2, Du = (u, D 1 u,...,D N u) and M = N + 1. Also, we shall let η stand for a point in ℝ M . Thus for m = 2, η = (η 0, η 1,...,η N ) where η 0 = η(0,0,...,0) and η 1 = η(1,0,...,0). In particular, we see that η 0 stands for the first component of η and corresponds to u in the M-vector Du.
Approximate analysis of SAW longitudinally-coupled resonator (LCR) filters

The LCR filter, also known as a dual-mode SAW (DMS) filter, is well established as a technique for realising bandpass filters with very low insertion loss and good stop-band suppression. Typically, this device has a three-transducer structure G-T-T-T-G (where T=transducer and G=grating), with the outer transducers connected together. Usually all the transducers are the single-electrode type, strongly affected by electrode reflections, and this complicates the device behaviour. This paper presents a simplified approximate analysis making use of reciprocity and power conservation. It is shown that, when shorted, the central transducer behaves as a component that causes dispersion of the waves but does not reflect them. In consequence, the device behaves like a simple resonant cavity, but with cavity length dependent on frequency. From this point of view, a 2-pole device is a single cavity with two resonant modes, not a pair of cavities coupled together. For the filter passband, simple relations are obtained for the device Y-parameters in terms of the P-matrices of the SAW components, and the frequency response is readily calculated. The approximate analysis is verified by comparison with an accurate analysis using the COM method. The implications of the approximate analysis for device design are discussed.
The Spectral Duration of Malayalam Soft-porn: Disappearance, Desire, and Haunting:

This paper examines the spectral nature of the genre of Malayalam soft-porn that emerged in the late 1980s but has now disappeared with rapid changes in the industry. I argue that the memory of sof...
Sirolimus and Thrombotic Microangiopathy after Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation.

Sirolimus (SRL) is a novel immunosuppressive agent that has been demonstrated to reduce GVHD and minimize morbidity after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (alloSCT). We have described a syndrome of thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA), characterized by microangiopathic hemolysis, thrombocytopenia, and renal dysfunction, whose incidence is increased when SRL is used in association with calcineurin inhibitors (CIs) but not with SRL monotherapy. To determine if SRL use potentiates the effects of CIs on TMA incidence and risk factors, we performed a retrospective cohort analysis of subjects who underwent alloSCT between 1997 and 2003. Methods: Subjects who received a SRL-containing GVHD prophylaxis after a myeloablative preparative regimen were compared with a cohort who received a non-SRL regimen. All subjects received CIs. Diagnosis of TMA required the simultaneous occurrence of: (1) creatinine elevation >2 mg/dL or >50% above baseline, (2) schistocytosis, (3) elevated LDH, and (4) no laboratory evidence of disseminated intravascular coagulopathy. Results: 111 patients who received SRL were compared with 216 patients who received no SRL during the first 100 days after alloSCT. The two groups of patients were balanced for demographic parameters; however, more patients in the SRL group received peripheral blood stem cells (50.5 vs. 18.1%, p Conclusion: SRL use is associated with an increased risk of TMA after alloSCT and may act by potentiating the effects of CIs. TMA associated with SRL appears reversible and does not affect overall survival after alloSCT. A careful monitoring strategy for TMA should be employed as part of a SRL-containing GVHD prophylaxis regimen.
Proper division plane orientation and mitotic progression together allow normal growth of maize

How growth, microtubule dynamics, and cell-cycle progression are coordinated is one of the unsolved mysteries of cell biology. A maize mutant, tangled1, with known defects in growth and proper division plane orientation, and a recently characterized cell-cycle delay identified by time-lapse imaging, was used to clarify the relationship between growth, cell cycle, and proper division plane orientation. The tangled1 mutant was fully rescued by introduction of cortical division site localized TANGLED1-YFP. A CYCLIN1B destruction box was fused to TANGLED1-YFP to generate a line that mostly rescued the division plane defect but still showed cell-cycle delays when expressed in the tangled1 mutant. Although an intermediate growth phenotype between wild-type and the tangled1 mutant was expected, these partially rescued plants grew as well as wild-type siblings, indicating that mitotic progression delays alone do not alter overall growth. These data indicate that division plane orientation, together with proper cell-cycle progression, is critical for plant growth.
Can Individuals’ Beliefs Help Us Understand Non-Adherence to Malaria Test Results? Evidence from Rural Kenya

In malaria-endemic countries about a quarter of test-negative individuals take antimalarials (artemisinin-based combination therapies, ACTs). ACT overuse depletes scarce resources for subsidies and contributes to parasite resistance. As part of an experiment in Kenya that provided subsidies for rapid diagnostic test and/or for ACT conditionally on being positive, we study the relationship between beliefs on malaria status (prior and posterior the intervention), and the decisions to get tested and to purchase ACT. We find that prior beliefs do not explain the decision of getting tested (conditional on the price) and non-adherence to a negative test. However, test-negative individuals who purchase ACT report higher posterior beliefs than those who do not, consistent with a framework in which the formers revise beliefs upward, while the latters do not change or revise downward. Further research is needed to improve adherence to malaria-negative test results.
The Effect of Smoking on Mental Health.

Objectives The disproportionately high smoking prevalence among persons with mental health problems has raised a concern that this population is at increased risk for smoking-related illness. We investigated the effect of smoking on mental health among US adults aged 18 and older using the 2000-2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Methods Whereas previous literature has reported a significant association between smoking and mental health, identifying the causal pathway is difficult. To address the plausible reverse causality from mental health to smoking and omitted unobserved factors, we employ the method of instrumental variables (IV) by using state cigarette excise tax as an instrument for smoking. Results Our findings show that smoking increases the number of days with poor mental health especially among individuals with more severe illness (more than 14 days in the past month). Conclusions Our estimates suggest that smoking causes poor mental health and its effects are concentrated for measures that indicate more severe problems. Public health policies that aim to reduce smoking also may reduce poor mental health.