cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cyanoethylation of cyclopentadiene : isolation of penta- and hexa(β-cyanoethyl)cyclopentadiene and an unexpected acrylonitrile polymer

The cyanoethylation of cyclopentadiene was examined under a variety of reaction conditions. Approximately 9% of cyclopentadiene was converted to the desired hexa(β-cyanoethyl)cyclopentadiene when the amount of acrylonitrile to cyclopentadiene was increased from 2 to 7 equivalents under phase transfer conditions. The low conversion is due to competitive formation of various unreactive side-products. For example, termination leading to less-highly substituted products was confirmed by isolation of crystalline 1,1,2,3,4-penta(β-cyanoethyl)cyclopentadiene. Another side product isolated and characterized by 13C NMR was an oligomer of acrylonitrile attached to hexa(β-cyanoethyl)cyclopentadiene; the anion (at a β-alkyl position) of the latter apparently acted as anionic initiator. Attempts to induce thermal polymerization and cyclotrimerization of the pendent cyano groups of hexa(β-cyanoethyl)cyclopentadiene were unsuccessful even with added Lewis acid catalysts. Reduction to the hexaamine was only partially successful.
APPLE QUALITY INFLUENCED BY TRIAZOLE GROWTH RETARDANTS

Four-year-old ‘Ace Delicious’ apple trees on seedling rootstock were treated by soil injection with the vegetative growth inhibitors paclobutrazol or triapenthenol (RSW0411) at the same rate in March 1984. Fruit from trees treated with paclobutrazol were firmer, and had higher soluble solids and lower acidity than both controls and fruit from RSW0411 treated trees. Values for fruit firmness, soluble solids and acidity from RSW0411 treated trees were between those of paclobutrazol and controls. Both compounds reduced fruit length and increased fruit diameter. However, length/diameter ratio was reduced 9% for paclobutrazol but only 5% for RSW0411. Neither compound reduced nor increased fruit disorders out of regular storage after 5 months at 0°C.
Using optical coherence tomography for the longitudinal non-invasive evaluation of epidermal thickness in a murine model of chronic skin inflammation.

Background Noninvasive methods are desirable for longitudinal studies examining drug efficacy and disease resolution defined as decreases in epidermal thickness in mouse models of psoriasiform skin disease. This would eliminate the need for either sacrificing animals or collecting serial skin biopsies to evaluate changes in disease progression during an individual study. Quantification of epidermal thickness using Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) provides an alternative to traditional histology techniques.
Josephson tunneling spectroscopy of negative- U centers

We consider a superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) junction in which the tunneling through the insulating barrier is dominated by a localized ``negative-$U''$ center. We show that the ${I}_{c}R$ product of the junction depends sensitively on the spectrum of impurity states, and in near-resonant conditions exhibits an anomalously large ${I}_{c}R$ product which can exceed the famous Ambegoakar-Baratoff limit by an arbitrarily large factor. The analysis is extended to problems in which there is an array of negative-$U$ centers in the junction. We also discuss general reasons to expect significant violations of the optical conductivity sum rule in most SIS junctions and of the Ambegoakar-Baratoff result when the superconductors emerge from a non-Fermi liquid normal state.
An efficient spectral graph sparsification approach to scalable reduction of large flip-chip power grids

Existing state-of-the-art realizable RC reduction methods may not be suitable for scalable power grid reductions due to the fast growing computational complexity and the large number of ports. In this work, we present a scalable power grid reduction method for reducing large-scale flip-chip power grids based on recent spectral graph sparsification techniques. The first step of the proposed approach aggressively reduces the large power grid blocks into much smaller power grid blocks by properly matching the effective resistances of the original power grid networks. Next, an efficient spectral graph sparsification scheme is introduced to dramatically sparsify the relatively dense power grid blocks that are generated during the previous step. In the last, an effective grid compensation scheme is proposed to further improve the model accuracy of the reduced and sparsified power grid. Since reduction of each power grid block can be performed independently, our method can be easily accelerated on parallel computers, and therefore expected to be capable of handling large power grid designs as well as incremental designs. Extensive experimental results show that our method can scale linearly with power grid sizes and efficiently reduce industrial power grids sizes by 20X without loss of much accuracy in both DC and transient analysis.
Geographic Models of Imperialism

Imperialism, as I speak of it here, is white exploitation of the non-white world, a plague that began some 500 years ago on the West African coast and spread across the globe. It has not been cured by emancipation, by decolonialization, or by economic development (which suffers from the same disease). It has been cured at times by revolution, for instance in China and Cuba. One such cure is now underway in Indochina. But a deadly pattern has emerged which we see in Indochina and elsewhere: no revolution may run its course without armed intervention by the white world, the West. This pattern is grounded in the logic and beliefs of imperialism. Here are two allegories:
Compositional dependence of the stability of AuCu alloy nanoparticles.

The oxidation of AuCu nanoparticles was studied as a function of composition and temperature. Oxidation rates at 110 °C were higher for NPs with higher Cu content, showing that Au stabilized the Cu. Electrochemistry measurements show that AuCu could be a promising catalyst for lowering the over potential of CO2 reduction.
Impacts of smart grid data on parallel path and contingency analysis efforts

Although a desirable attribute, not all operations models currently make use of real-time data for various reasons. To say the least, the regional scope and comprehensiveness that current data encompasses may be considered limited and incomplete. However, as computational, communication, security, and instrumentation technologies advance, smart grid technology demonstrates the potential to radically change network monitoring and data collection capabilities and advance simulation methods beyond that achievable given the current institutional environment. Because smart grid has the potential to conduct data collection in real time and to improve modeling and simulation results, potential data overload, validation, security, access, and other challenges are leading to new design opportunities. Similarly, we can expect significant impacts on system operation procedures and increased use of enhanced automation applications in operations decision making.
Performance bounds for robust quadratic dynamic matrix control with end condition

Sufficient conditions for robust stability of multivariable quadratic dynamic matrix controllers with an end condition (EQDMC) are developed, and the effect of these conditions on closed-loop performance is examined. Hard and soft constraints on process inputs and outputs, and process modeling uncertainty are present Modeling uncertainty is quantified in the time domain as upper and lower bounds on the coefficients of a finite pulse response process model. The robust stability conditions that we develop involve the prediction and control horizon lengths, and a set of inequalities that the move-suppression coefficients in the on-line EQDMC objective function must satisfy. These conditions imply that for processes with modeling uncertainty, the move-suppression coefficients could be quite large and quite sensitive to the control horizon length and process modeling errors. This could make the EQDMC controller conservative, thus significantly deteriorating performance. To determine the optimal control horizon length corresponding to the best robust performance of the EQDMC controller for a class of disturbances, follow the proposed EQDMC controller design methodolo∼. To illustrate this methodology simulations on an SISO example and a 2 × 2 subsystem of the Shell Standard Control Problem are presented.
Latent feature decompositions for integrative analysis of multi-platform genomic data

Increased availability of multi-platform genomics data on matched samples has sparked research efforts to discover how diverse molecular features interact both within and between platforms. In addition, simultaneous measurements of genetic and epigenetic characteristics illuminate the roles their complex relationships play in disease progression and outcomes. However, integrative methods for diverse genomics data are faced with the challenges of ultra-high dimensionality and the existence of complex interactions both within and between platforms. We propose a novel modeling framework for integrative analysis based on decompositions of the large number of platform-specific features into a smaller number of latent features. Subsequently we build a predictive model for clinical outcomes accounting for both within - and between-platform interactions based on Bayesian model averaging procedures. Principal components, partial least squares and non-negative matrix factorization as well as sparse counterparts of each are used to define the latent features, and the performance of these decompositions is compared both on real and simulated data. The latent feature interactions are shown to preserve interactions between the original features and not only aid prediction but also allow explicit selection of outcome-related features. The methods are motivated by and applied to a glioblastoma multiforme data set from The Cancer Genome Atlas to predict patient survival times integrating gene expression, microRNA, copy number and methylation data. For the glioblastoma data, we find a high concordance between our selected prognostic genes and genes with known associations with glioblastoma. In addition, our model discovers several relevant cross-platform interactions such as copy number variation associated gene dosing and epigenetic regulation through promoter methylation. On simulated data, we show that our proposed method successfully incorporates interactions within and between genomic platforms to aid accurate prediction and variable selection. Our methods perform best when principal components are used to define the latent features.
FIELD EXPERIMENTS ON EGGSHELL REMOVAL BY MOUNTAIN PLOVERS

Abstract I conducted 18 eggshell removal trials at six Mountain Plover (Charadrius montanus) nests in the Pawnee National Grassland, Weld County, Colorado, during June 1994. Eggshell fragments were placed at various distances (10 cm to 10 m) from active nests. Attending adult plovers removed eggshells throughout the incubation period. When eggshells were placed within 2 m of the nest, plovers usually removed them immediately upon their return to the nest. Shells placed farther away—up to 10 m—were removed after longer time intervals. Plovers removed shells by picking them up with their bills and running or flying away with them before dropping them 6 to 100 m from the nest. When returning to their nests, plovers approached by ground. Of the five hypotheses proposed in the literature to explain the function of eggshell removal behavior in birds, only one (reducing cues predators might use for finding nests) predicts removal of shells already outside the nest and disposal of shells far from the nest. Thus, ...
A Sophisticated RFID Application on Multi-Factor Authentication

Authentication is the process of verifying a user's credentials when they are requesting services from any secure system. The most commonly form of authentication is the single-factor authentication, which only requires one factor for the user to log into the system. In this case, the username and password together act as a single-factor. A more secure technique is the multi-factor authentication, which requires more than one factor to gain access into a particular system. In this paper, we propose a RFID Factor Authentication Application (RFAA), an enhanced technique from Sof Token [1] that acts as a technique for two-factor authentication. The RFAA not only sustains the next level of security but also is proven to prevent most of security breaches.
Designing for Web site usability

To attract and maintain online users, Web site designers must offer interfaces that address specific needs and functions.
An integrated CAD-robotics system for total knee replacement surgery

An integrated system has been developed that allows the surgeon to more accurately place implant components during total knee surgery. A graphic computer displaying 3-D CT (computed tomography) data of the patient's knee is used to perform more informed and accurate preoperative planning. In the operating room, a robot and specially designed fixturing aid the surgeon in performing the bone resections as determined in the preoperative plan. Crucial to the accuracy of this system is the rigid immobilization of the involved bones and the robot's ability to determine their exact locations in space. The rationale and an overview of this system are presented as well as a discussion of some of the technical issues that have arisen. >
Injuries of Hospital Employees From Needles and Sharp Objects

During a 30-month period in our 570-bed private community hospital, employees reported 218 injuries from needles and other sharp objects. Five of these injuries were from needles used on patients known to be hepatitis B surface antigens (HBsAg) positive. Four were from blades or scalpels used on HBsAg positive patients. Another needle injury resulted in serious Staphylococcus aureus infection. Thirty-three percent of the injuries were from improperly disposed objects, generally in trash baskets in patient rooms. Housekeeping employees were the "innocent victims" of more than one-half of the injuries from such improperly disposed objects. A survey of reporting practices revealed housekeepers reported all their injuries. Underreporting was identified as a problem with laboratory personnel and nurses who tended to make their own judgment concerning the extent of the injury. An effective innovation resulting from our survey was the use of plastic irrigation bottles as an inexpensive and readily available container for disposal of sharps.
Wide-field lensless fluorescent imaging of transgenic Caenorhabditis Elegans on a chip

We demonstrate lensless on-chip fluorescent imaging of transgenic C. Elegans over >2–8 cm2 field-of-view with a resolution of ∼10 μm. This is the first time that a lensless on-chip platform has successfully imaged transgenic C. elegans samples.
STUDIES IN RESPIROMETRY : IV. THE USE OF A COMPARATOR SYSTEM IN REFRACTOVOLUMETRIC RESPIROMETRY.

A machine has been described which combines volumetric and refractometric means of observing changes in carbon dioxide and oxygen concentrations and amounts in a closed system suitable for containing a respiring system. A means of thermoregulation has been described briefly. The theory upon which estimation is based has been outlined in considerable detail and generality; indicating how dependence upon absorption of gases by reagents can be eliminated completely, although they may be used in certain instances as a means of independent check. An experiment of this nature has been reported as an illustration of one use of the machine. Data of other experiments in which a moist environment was employed for the respiring system will be given in another communication.
RESCUE: An energy-aware scheduler for cloud environments

Abstract Cloud computing has become an attractive platform, offering on-demand computing resources and storage capacity for both personal and commercial use. However, the data centers hosting these clouds use a staggering amount of energy, making energy consumption a major expense. For both homogeneous and heterogeneous clouds, energy consumption varies significantly, owing to the heterogeneity of hardware and software. Therefore, to reduce a data center's energy consumption, our approach leverages knowledge of the power consumption behavior of the underlying hardware and the characteristics of workloads in order to increase their overall energy efficiency. Our ultimate goal is to provide a scheduling mechanism that allows cloud providers to reduce the energy consumption of their data centers without needing to replace the underlying hardware, and to do so seamlessly, without impacting clients’ performance requirements. In this paper, we introduce RESCUE, an energy-aware scheduler for heterogeneous cloud environments. RESCUE ranks nodes within the cloud based on their application-specific energy efficiency (ASEE), which implies the correlation between the various hardware and software and the energy efficiency. According to ASEE, RESCUE can assign the whole workload to the most energy-efficient machine while keeping the same performance. We evaluated RESCUE on a private cloud using three benchmarks: BS Seeker, Matrix Stressmark, and TPC-W. We implemented RESCUE with Eucalyptus and compared the energy consumed using RESCUE as the scheduling policy to the other Eucalyptus built-in policies: Round Robin and Greedy. The results show that with a nonaggressive control policy where the machine remains in active mode (ACPI C0 state), RESCUE reduces the overall energy consumption by up to 16.7% on average for BS Seeker and Matrix Stressmark, while for TPC-W, RESCUE saves up to 6.6% of the total energy. Furthermore, with an aggressive control policy that set the idle machines in “sleep” mode (ACPI S3 state), RESCUE-with-sleep can further reduce the total energy consumption by 51.5% for BS Seeker, 48.8% for Matrix Stressmark, and 21.3% for TPC-W compared to RESCUE.
Added-purpose versus rote exercise in female nursing home residents.

Seven recent experimental and quasi-experimental studies have compared the exercise of subjects instructed to pursue some added goal (often termed purposeful activity) with the exercise of subjects instructed to exercise without the suggestion of an added goal (often termed nonpurposeful activity). This article suggests a new terminology for this type of independent variable and describes an experiment within this developing tradition. An occupational form designed, through materials and instructions, to elicit a rotary arm exercise with the added purpose of stirring cookie dough was compared with an occupational form designed to elicit the rotary arm exercise with no added purpose. The subjects were 30 elderly female nursing home residents randomly assigned to the occupational forms. Results indicated that the added-purpose, occupationally embedded exercise condition elicited significantly more exercise repetitions than did the rote exercise condition (one-tailed p = .012). Exercise duration and exercise stoppages were also recorded. This study provides additional support for the traditional occupational therapy idea of embedding exercise within occupation. Suggestions are made for future research involving the experimental analysis of therapeutic occupation.
PRAGMATICS. George Yule. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. Pp. xiv + 138. $10.95 paper. and MEANING IN INTERACTION: AN INTRODUCTION TO PRAGMATICS. Jenny Thomas. London: Longman, 1995. Pp. xv + 224. $26.60 paper.

These books represent two of the most recent additions to the growing number of introductory texts designed to be used as main or supporting resources in academic courses on pragmatics. Although each is intended for use by readers with little or no background in the field, they differ considerably.
Revisiting IP multicast

This paper revisits a much explored topic in networking - the search for a simple yet fully-general multicast design. The many years of research into multicast routing have led to a generally pessimistic view that the complexity of multicast routing-and inter-domain multicast routing in particular - can only be overcome by restricting the service model (as in single-source) multicast. This paper proposes a new approach to implementing IP multicast that we hope leads to a reevaluation of this commonly held view.
The Ruins of Pompey: The Euro-American Invention of Native American Prehistory and the Gothic Mode in Joshua V. H. Clark's Onondaga

In the United States between the approximate dates of 1800 and 1870, a group of writers whom I call Romantic Antiquarians invented and disseminated a narrative of Native American prehistory radically at odds with the later findings of modern archaeologists. Romantic Antiquarian discourse borrows from the themes and modes of literary Romanticism, and textual analysis of this work (which enjoyed widespread public acceptance before it was profoundly discredited) offers insights into the complex relationship between Native and Euro-American cultures. This essay provides an overview of the Romantic Antiquarian movement and explores its ideology. The writing of antiquarian Joshua V. H. Clark of New York is examined closely, including his theories concerning the Iroquois, his relationship with E. G. Squier, and his use of the Gothic mode.
On the Convergence of the Concave-Convex Procedure

The concave-convex procedure (CCCP) is a majorization-minimization algorithm that solves d.c. (difference of convex functions) programs as a sequence of convex programs. In machine learning, CCCP is extensively used in many learning algorithms like sparse support vector machines (SVMs), transductive SVMs, sparse principal component analysis, etc. Though widely used in many applications, the convergence behavior of CCCP has not gotten a lot of specific attention. Yuille and Rangarajan analyzed its convergence in their original paper, however, we believe the analysis is not complete. Although the convergence of CCCP can be derived from the convergence of the d.c. algorithm (DCA), its proof is more specialized and technical than actually required for the specific case of CCCP. In this paper, we follow a different reasoning and show how Zangwill's global convergence theory of iterative algorithms provides a natural framework to prove the convergence of CCCP, allowing a more elegant and simple proof. This underlines Zangwill's theory as a powerful and general framework to deal with the convergence issues of iterative algorithms, after also being used to prove the convergence of algorithms like expectation-maximization, generalized alternating minimization, etc. In this paper, we provide a rigorous analysis of the convergence of CCCP by addressing these questions: (i) When does CCCP find a local minimum or a stationary point of the d.c. program under consideration? (ii) When does the sequence generated by CCCP converge? We also present an open problem on the issue of local convergence of CCCP.
A Low Temperature Chemical Route to Precursors of Boride and Carbide Ceramic Powders

The controlled reductive dehalogenation of elemental halides has been studied as a low temperature approach to boride and carbide precursors. We have shown that SiCl4 and CCl4 can be reacted with metallic sodium at 130° in a non-polar solvent to give the precursor to SiC. Similar type reactions with TiCl4 and BCl3 or with BCl3 and CC14 have produced the precursors to TiB2 and B4C respectively. This procedure has also been used to generate the precursors to the two-phase composites SiC/TiC and SiC/TiN. The method is generally applicable to any combination of elemental halides which can be reduced by alkali metals or alkali metal alloys.
Postantibiotic Effects of Garenoxacin (BMS-284756) against 12 Gram-Positive or -Negative Organisms

Conventional in vitro methods were used to determine the postantibiotic effects (PAEs), sub-MIC effects (SMEs), and postantibiotic sub-MIC effects (PA-SMEs) of garenoxacin for a range of organisms. The mean PAEs of garenoxacin for pneumococci, staphylococci, and enterococci were 0.3 to 2.2 h. For Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the PAEs were 0.9 to 1.6 h. The mean PA-SMEs (0.4 times the MIC) for pneumococci, staphylococci, and enterococci were 3.0 to >10 h, 1.8 to >10.7 h, and 5.8 h, respectively, while those for E. coli and P. aeruginosa were 7.6 and 4.4 h, respectively.
Transesophageal Echocardiographic Diagnosis of Aortopulmonary Fistula

Our case illustrates the value of transesophageal echocardiography in the assessment of patients suspected or diagnosed to have prosthetic aortic valve endocarditis. In addition to making a correct diagnosis of the exact site and nature of the aortopulmonary fistula, the technique also correctly demonstrated the location and extent of all the abscess cavities. The two perforations in the anterior mitral leaflet as well as the disruption of the aortic prosthesis with paraprosthetic leak were also correctly characterized.
β-lactamase can function as a reporter of bacterial protein export during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection of host cells

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an intracellular pathogen that is able to avoid destruction by host immune defences. Exported proteins of M. tuberculosis, which include proteins localized to the bacterial surface or secreted into the extracellular environment, are ideally situated to interact with host factors. As a result, these proteins are attractive candidates for virulence factors, drug targets and vaccine components. Here we describe a β-lactamase reporter system capable of identifying exported proteins of M. tuberculosis during growth in host cells. Because β-lactams target bacterial cell-wall synthesis, β-lactamases must be exported beyond the cytoplasm to protect against these drugs. When used in protein fusions, β-lactamase can report on the subcellular location of another protein as measured by protection from β-lactam antibiotics. Here we demonstrate that a truncated TEM-1 β-lactamase lacking a signal sequence for export (′BlaTEM-1) can be used in this manner directly in a mutant strain of M. tuberculosis lacking the major β-lactamase, BlaC. The ′BlaTEM-1 reporter conferred β-lactam resistance when fused to both Sec and Tat export signal sequences. We further demonstrate that β-lactamase fusion proteins report on protein export while M. tuberculosis is growing in THP-1 macrophage-like cells. This genetic system should facilitate the study of proteins exclusively exported in the host environment by intracellular M. tuberculosis.
Customizing a geographical routing protocol for wireless sensor networks

Several problems are required to be fixed in order to apply geographical routing protocol greedy perimeter stateless routing (GPSR) in wireless sensor networks. First, GPSR is designed under the assumption of symmetric links (i.e., bidirectional reachability), which is not realistic for many practical sensor networks, since wireless links in sensor networks often are asymmetric. Second, in sensor networks, packet destinations are often marked with locations instead of identifiers like IP address. Therefore, packets are routed to the home node, which is the node geographically closest to the destined location. Under GPSR, when the target location is outside the exterior perimeter of the sensor network, each packet has to visit all nodes on the boundary of the sensor network topology before it identifies the home node, which results in energy inefficiency. Third, due to the dynamic nature of sensor networks, maintaining data consistency, that is, data retrieved from the home node for a location should be consistent with the data sent to the same location, becomes a challenge when home nodes change. We propose on-demand GPSR (OD-GPSR), a data driven geographical routing protocol customized for sensor networks with solutions to the above three problems. Simulation results show that OD-GPSR performs well in terms of energy efficiency and packet delivery rate at the cost of a little bit more packet delivery delay.
Domestic Violence Against Married Women in Cambodia

We evaluate the effects of marital resources and early-life experiences on recent domestic violence and attitudes about wife abuse among 2,074 married Cambodian women. Household standard of living was negatively associated with physical domestic violence. Women with 8-13 fewer years of schooling than their husbands more often experienced physical and psychological domestic violence. Women with more living children more often experienced physical domestic violence and justified wife beating. Having surviving parents and siblings was not associated with domestic violence nor with attitudes about wife beating. Women reporting higher paternal schooling, urban childhood residence and domestic violence against their mothers had higher odds of experiencing physical and psychological domestic violence. Findings underscore the effects of marital resources and early-life experiences on domestic violence in Cambodia.
WHICH LIFE-HISTORY COMPONENTS DETERMINE BREEDING PRODUCTIVITY FOR INDIVIDUAL SONGBIRDS? A CASE STUDY OF THE LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH (SEIURUS MOTACILLA)

Abstract Population dynamics of small songbirds are driven in part by fecundity and productivity (i.e., the number of young that fledge and survive the dependent stage, respectively, per adult female per year). Because of the challenges of obtaining empirical estimates for productivity or fecundity, some researchers predict fecundity using a three-factor model or more complex models such as those developed by Pease and Grzybowski (1995) or Farnsworth and Simons (2001, 2005). All these models generate a single prediction with no estimate of variability around the prediction. We developed an individual-based model that provides predictions of productivity and measurements of variability surrounding the predictions for simulated populations of Louisiana Waterthrushes (Seiurus motacilla) based on various aspects of their breeding cycle. Our empirical estimate of productivity in Louisiana Waterthrush (x ± SD = 1.50 ± 1.45) was similar to that provided by our individual-based model (1.07 ± 1.24). On the basis ...
Programmed Self-Assembly of an Active P22-Cas9 Nanocarrier System

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) RNA-guided endonucleases are powerful new tools for targeted genome engineering. These nucleases provide an efficient and precise method for manipulating eukaryotic genomes; however, delivery of these reagents to specific cell-types remains challenging. Virus-like particles (VLPs) derived from bacteriophage P22, are robust supramolecular protein cage structures with demonstrated utility for cell type-specific delivery of encapsulated cargos. Here, we genetically fuse Cas9 to a truncated form of the P22 scaffold protein, which acts as a template for capsid assembly as well as a specific encapsulation signal for Cas9. Our results indicate that Cas9 and a single-guide RNA are packaged inside the P22 VLP, and activity assays indicate that this RNA-guided endonuclease is functional for sequence-specific cleavage of dsDNA targets. This work demonstrates the potential for developing P22 as a delivery vehicle for cell specific targeting of Cas9.
Effects of Prior Expectations on Performance Ratings: A Longitudinal Study

Several theories predict that supervisors' expectations about subordinates' performance may bias their subsequent evaluations of those subordinates. Data from 49 supervisor-subordinate dyads were collected within a longitudinal design. Results suggest that prior expectations interact with actual performance to affect ratings, implying that supervisors respond negatively to disconfirmation of expectations. No support for the notion that an attributional mechanism can explain this reaction to disconfirmation emerged. These findings suggest that certain affective components of appraisal may be important for understanding bias.
One-Dimensional Pattern Formation of Adsorbed Molecules on the Ge(100)-2 × 1 Surface Driven by Nearest-Neighbor Effects

Formations of distinct one-dimensional patterns along the dimer row have been reported in methanol and ethylene adsorption on the germanium(100)-2 × 1 surface. A theoretical investigation is carried out in this study to provide a unified explanation of the pattern formation. Density functional theory calculation results show that an existing adsorbate affects the adsorption kinetics of the adjacent dimer, an effect that is mostly confined to the nearest neighbor. Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations are performed with the calculated kinetic parameters. The simulation results agree well with the experimental observations of ethylene and methanol adsorption on Ge(100), showing that the nearest-neighbor effect leads to longer-range pattern formation. The modeling is extended to the Si(100) surface where a similar pattern as on Ge(100) was formed with ethylene but not with methanol, and it can be further applied to spontaneous adsorbate patterning on ordered surfaces.
Characterizing the internal structure of laboratory ice samples with nuclear magnetic resonance

Due to solute impurities and freezing-point depression in polycrystalline ice, a complicated and dynamic network of liquid water forms within the solid ice matrix at the boundaries between ice crystal grains. Impurity concentrations, temperature and pressure influence this network structure and impact physical, transport and rheological properties of ice. However, the nature of this internal network structure is not fully understood. Here we utilize nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements of diffusion and magnetic relaxation to study the geometry and interconnectivity of the liquid-filled network in laboratory ice, formed from a 7gL -1 NaCl solution, and its evolution due to recrystallization processes. Additionally, we apply these NMR measurements to observe the impact on ice microstructure of an ice-binding protein (IBP) excreted by the V3519-10 organism (Flavo- bacteriaceae family) isolated from the Vostok ice core in Antarctica. Recrystallization inhibition was observed as a function of IBP concentration. This work demonstrates the utility of advanced NMR techniques for applications to ice microstructure and has broader implications for understanding geophysical properties of cryospheric systems.
Slumdog Millionaire: directed by Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan, with screenplay by Simon Beaufoy, novel written by Vikas Swarup. Los Angeles: Fox Searchlight Pictures, Warner Brothers, Celador Films, Film4, and Pathé Pictures International, 2008

Based on the novel Q & A by Vikras Swarup, the film Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of Jamal Malik, a boy orphaned at an early age in the slums of Mumbai. Like its main character, the film has ...
Tenure, Race/Ethnicity and Attitudes toward Affirmative Action: A Matter of Self-Interest?

The present study, which surveyed members of the American Psychological Association who work in academic positions, examined the hypothesis that, due to the effects of self- and collective-interest...
Laboratory rearing of Tetrastichus gallerucae (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), an egg parasitoid of the elm leaf beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Rearing of Tetrastichus gallerucae (Fonscolombe), a parasitoid of the elm leaf beetle, Xanthogaleruca luteola (Muller), was conducted at 15:9 (L:D) photoperiod, 25?C, and 80-90% relative humidity. Under these conditions, adult males lived for an average of 23 d and females for 59 d when fed a 1:1 water-honey mixture. Adult T. gallerucae began to emerge from elm leaf beetle egg masses 28 d after exposure to T. gallerucae when held at 20?C, 12 d at 25?C, 11 d at 27?C, and 10 d at 30?C. Peak emergence occurred after 13 d at 25?C. Male T. gallerucae emerged first, remained close to the egg mass, and mated with their sisters. T. gallerucae exhibited a female-biased sex ratio. T. gallerucae would parasitize elm leaf beetle eggs that were between 1 and 104 h old at 25?C. Parasitization of egg masses exposed to single females for 48 h averaged 44.9%. Percent parasitization of eggs within parasitized masses ranged from 3.5 to 100 (-/x = 53.1%). Host feeding by female T. gallerucae destroyed approximately 65% of the eggs presented. The number of eggs in an egg mass and the number of parasitized eggs in a mass had no effect on the percentage of males produced.
Using mathematical modeling as a resource in clinical trials.

In light of recent clinical developments, the importance of mathematical modeling in cancer prevention and treatment is discussed. An existing model of cancer chemotherapy is reintroduced and placed within current investigative frameworks regarding approaches to treatment optimization. Areas of commonality between the model predictions and the clinical findings are investigated as a way of further validating the model predictions and also establishing mathematical foundations for the clinical studies. The model predictions are used to propose additional ways that treatment optimization could enhance the clinical processes. Arising out of these, an expanded model of cancer is proposed and a treatment model is subsequently obtained. These models predict that malignant cells in the marrow and peripheral blood exhibit the tendency to evolve toward population levels that enable them to replace normal cells in these compartments in the untreated case. In the case of dose-dense treatment along with recombinant hematopoietic growth factors, the models predict a situation in which normal and abnormal cells in the marrow and peripheral blood are obliterated by drug action, while the normal cells regain their growth capabilities through growth-factor stimulation.
Evidence for Multiple Mediator Complexes in Yeast Independently Recruited by Activated Heat Shock Factor

Mediator is an evolutionarily conserved coactivator complex essential for RNA polymerase II transcription. Although it has been generally assumed that in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Mediator is a stable trimodular complex, its structural state in vivo remains unclear. Using the "anchor away" (AA) technique to conditionally deplete select subunits within Mediator and its reversibly associated Cdk8 kinase module (CKM), we provide evidence that Mediator's tail module is highly dynamic and that a subcomplex consisting of Med2, Med3, and Med15 can be independently recruited to the regulatory regions of heat shock factor 1 (Hsf1)-activated genes. Fluorescence microscopy of a scaffold subunit (Med14)-anchored strain confirmed parallel cytoplasmic sequestration of core subunits located outside the tail triad. In addition, and contrary to current models, we provide evidence that Hsf1 can recruit the CKM independently of core Mediator and that core Mediator has a role in regulating postinitiation events. Collectively, our results suggest that yeast Mediator is not monolithic but potentially has a dynamic complexity heretofore unappreciated. Multiple species, including CKM-Mediator, the 21-subunit core complex, the Med2-Med3-Med15 tail triad, and the four-subunit CKM, can be independently recruited by activated Hsf1 to its target genes in AA strains.
Progress towards a more sustainable synthetic pathway to ibuprofen through the use of solar heating

The ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Roundtable was formed in 2005 to encourage the incorporation of green chemistry techniques into the synthetic pathways of pharmaceuticals. Through this initiative, synthetic pathways of several pharmaceuticals have been altered to adapt more environmentally friendly procedures. The amount of electricity required to complete chemical reactions have become an environmental concern due to depleting fossil fuels. A technique was recently developed in which satellite dishes were repurposed as solar reflectors capable of providing a heat source through solar irradiation. The ability to use the solar reflector as the sole heat source for synthetic reactions has been analyzed for the commercially important pharmaceutical, ibuprofen. Ibuprofen synthesis also incorporates chemicals that are not particularly friendly to the environment. The exchange of these chemicals with more environmentally friendly substitutes has been analyzed. The goal of this study is to incorporate a solar energy heat source to develop an alternative energy, more environmentally friendly pathway to ibuprofen.
Transcatheter Mitral Valve Plication: Innovative Approach for Relief of LVOT Obstruction in High-Risk HCM Patients.

Previously, there was controversy regarding the pathophysiology and prognostic implications of left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) [(1)][1]. It is now known that LVOT obstruction, observed under basal conditions or with provocation, is
Formation and Subsequent Reactivity of a N2-Stabilized Cobalt–Hydride Complex

The reduced heterobimetallic Co/Zr complex N2Co(iPr2PNMes)3Zr(THF) (1) has been previously reported to react with the C═O bonds of CO2 and benzophenone to generate Zr/Co μ-oxo complexes OC-Co(iPr2PNMes)2(μ-O)Zr(iPr2PNMes) (1-CO2) and Ph2C═Co(iPr2PNMes)2(μ-O)Zr(iPr2PNMes) (1-Ph2CO), respectively. Herein, we report a similar reaction of 1 with pyridine-N-oxide to form an analogous complex (pyridine)Co(iPr2PNMes)2(μ-O)Zr(iPr2PNMes) (2) with a more labile ligand bound to cobalt. Much like 1-CO2 and 1-Ph2CO, compound 2 reacts with Ph3SiH via formation of a Si–O linkage to form (N2)(H)Co(iPr2PNMes)3ZrOSiPh3 (5). The dinitrogen ligand in 5 is weakly bound and can be readily removed in vacuo or displaced by other L-type ligands. This allows complex 5 to undergo insertion reactions with unsaturated substrates, including diphenyldiazomethane, CO2, benzonitrile, and phenylacetylene to give hydrazonato (Ph2C═NNH)Co(iPr2PNMes)3ZrOSiPh3 (7), formate (OC(H)O)Co(iPr2PNMes)3ZrOSiPh3 (8), ketimide (PhHC═N)Co(iPr2PNMes)3ZrO...
Flexibility, Networks, Maps

Discussing the advantages of using the ATN in modelling language comprehension, Eric Wanner and Michael Maratsos observe that early models, based on transformational grammar, attempted complete syntactic analysis of input but that more recent ones tend to rely on minimal syntactic information. They eschew both extremes, arguing that the amount of such information required must vary: ‘In sentences where there is little contextual or semantic information, a complete syntactic analysis may be necessary. In others a contextual or semantic resolution may be possible.’1 They rightly insist on flexibility. None the less, knowledge about semantic information is doubtless much more important to achieving it than that about syntactic information (the limitations of language-production programs certainly argue that). This is a complex issue. Robert F. Simmons’s theory of semantic networks offers a fruitful approach to further exploration of it and should serve as well to enlarge understanding of some of the problems with Schank’s system.
Counterintuitive Results in Underwater Acoustic Communications

Underwater wireless communication using acoustic signals is a difficult problem and progress in finding robust solutions has been disappointing. Methods employed successfully in terrestrial wireless communications have not always transitioned successfully to underwater scenarios. An engineer’s intuition developed in solving the terrestrial problem may actually become a hindrance to solving the underwater problem. In the present work, several seemingly counterintuitive experimental results are examined: communications performance can be better when the range is longer rather than shorter, when the sea surface is rough rather than calm, when the bathymetry is undulating rather than flat. Physics-based explanations for the observed results are developed. A physicist’s intuition, however, also may fail when trying to develop useful models. A seemingly counterintuitive fact is that acoustic paths that undergo incoherent reflection from a rough sea surface can be shown experimentally to be useful for coherent communications. The requirements for a proper physics-based model are sketched.
A route discovery approach to find an optimal path in MANET using reverse reactive routing protocol

In mobile Ad-hoc networks, during the transmission of data, there is a chance of route failure, so that the route rediscovery should be done. Reactive routing protocol determines a route to a specific destination when a particular packet is going to send. Here we propose a reverse reactive routing protocol, based on new route discovery approach, which is used to find an optimal route to the destination with lower overhead, than the flooding based reverse route discovery. The reverse route discovery approach is obtained through three steps; those are Reverse route Computation in Route Request (RREQ), Reverse route Computation in Route Reply (RREP) and Route Error (RERR). In this approach, each source and destination pair establishes various paths in the route discovery and they are stored in their route collections. As the nodes often have a finite capacity path reserve, it may not be possible to store all paths in routing table. In case of route failure in the primary route, a recovery node which is an overhearing neighbor (next hops) discovers it and establishes a link recovery pathway with maximum bandwidth from its route supply. By simulation results, we show that the proposed approach improves network performance better than the other reactive routing protocol (AODV). The projected route recovery management technique can prevent the repeated collision and degradation in the network performance.
The Dimerization Domain and C-Terminal NCoR/SMRT Interacting Zinc-Finger Domain of t(8;21) Fusion Protein AML1-ETO Have Critical and Opposite Effects on Leukemogenesis.

Previous analyses demonstrated that full length AML1-ETO requires additional mutagenic events to promote leukemia. Here we describe a novel shorter form of the AML1-ETO fusion protein (AML1-ETOtr), which lacks C-terminal NHR3 and NHR4 [NCoR/SMRT interacting zinc-finger (ZnF)] domains. Unlike full length AML1-ETO, expression of AML1-ETOtr results in rapid development of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in mice. Interestingly, naturally occurring alternatively spliced AML1-ETO variants exist in t(8;21) AML patient samples. AML1-ETOexon9a that includes one additional exon Exon 9a and AML1-ETOintron5 that uses a polyadenylation signal in Intron 5 are two such variants. AML1-ETOexon9a is structurally similar to AML1-ETOtr. AML1-ETOintron5 lacks the NHR2 heterodimerization domain as well as missing the NHR3 and NHR4 domains. To elucidate their putative role in leukemia development, we performed retroviral transduction and transplantation experiments with AML1-ETOexon9a, AML1-ETOintron5, and two zinc-finger domain (NHR4) mutants [AML1-ETOdZnF (deleted ZnF) and AML1-ETOmZnF (mutated ZnF)]. All of the mice transplanted with AML1-ETOexon9a (n = 8), AML1-ETOdZnF (n = 7), and AML1-ETOmZnF (n = 12) expressing cells rapidly developed AML, displaying a similar phenotype to AML1-ETOtr. None of AML1-ETOintron5 (n = 8) mice showed leukemia. These results suggest that the NHR2 domain of AML1-ETO is required whereas the NHR4 NCoR/SMRT interacting zinc finger domain is inhibitory for leukemia development. These observations suggest a novel mechanism of leukemogenesis for the AML1-ETO gene that can transcribe both tumor suppressive and/or oncogenic chimeric protein(s) by alternative RNA splicing.
Physiotherapy reduced recurrent headaches linked to neck pain and dysfunction in older adults.

Source Citation Uthaikhup S, Assapun J, Watcharasaksilp K, Jull G. Effectiveness of physiotherapy for seniors with recurrent headaches associated with neck pain and dysfunction: a randomized contro...
Towards noninvasive drug distribution in tissues: coherent Raman microspectroscopy of chiral molecules

Many biologically active molecules are chiral. Many drugs, which are currently in use, are supplied as an equimolar mixture of enantiomers. Although they have the same chemical structure, i.e. are not distinguishable by conventional Raman spectroscopy, most isomers of chiral drugs exhibit marked differences in biological activities such as pharmacology, toxicology, pharmacokinetics, metabolism, etc. In this report we introduced a new spectroscopic tool to extend nonlinear Raman spectroscopy to chiral substances.