cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Low Affinity Ground State Conformation for the Dynein Microtubule Binding Domain

Dynein interacts with microtubules through a dedicated binding domain that is dynamically controlled to achieve high or low affinity, depending on the state of nucleotide bound in a distant catalytic pocket. The active sites for microtubule binding and ATP hydrolysis communicate via conformational changes transduced through a ∼10-nm length antiparallel coiled-coil stalk, which connects the binding domain to the roughly 300-kDa motor core. Recently, an x-ray structure of the murine cytoplasmic dynein microtubule binding domain (MTBD) in a weak affinity conformation was published, containing a covalently constrained β+ registry for the coiled-coil stalk segment (Carter, A. P., Garbarino, J. E., Wilson-Kubalek, E. M., Shipley, W. E., Cho, C., Milligan, R. A., Vale, R. D., and Gibbons, I. R. (2008) Science 322, 1691–1695). We here present an NMR analysis of the isolated MTBD from Dictyostelium discoideum that demonstrates the coiled-coil β+ registry corresponds to the low energy conformation for this functional region of dynein. Addition of sequence encoding roughly half of the coiled-coil stalk proximal to the binding tip results in a decreased affinity of the MTBD for microtubules. In contrast, addition of the complete coiled-coil sequence drives the MTBD to the conformationally unstable, high affinity binding state. These results suggest a thermodynamic coupling between conformational free energy differences in the α and β+ registries of the coiled-coil stalk that acts as a switch between high and low affinity conformations of the MTBD. A balancing of opposing conformations in the stalk and MTBD enables potentially modest long-range interactions arising from ATP binding in the motor core to induce a relaxation of the MTBD into the stable low affinity state.
Land surface Verification Toolkit (LVT) – a generalized framework for land surface model evaluation

Abstract. Model evaluation and verification are key in improving the usage and applicability of simulation models for real-world applications. In this article, the development and capabilities of a formal system for land surface model evaluation called the Land surface Verification Toolkit (LVT) is described. LVT is designed to provide an integrated environment for systematic land model evaluation and facilitates a range of verification approaches and analysis capabilities. LVT operates across multiple temporal and spatial scales and employs a large suite of in-situ, remotely sensed and other model and reanalysis datasets in their native formats. In addition to the traditional accuracy-based measures, LVT also includes uncertainty and ensemble diagnostics, information theory measures, spatial similarity metrics and scale decomposition techniques that provide novel ways for performing diagnostic model evaluations. Though LVT was originally designed to support the land surface modeling and data assimilation framework known as the Land Information System (LIS), it supports hydrological data products from non-LIS environments as well. In addition, the analysis of diagnostics from various computational subsystems of LIS including data assimilation, optimization and uncertainty estimation are supported within LVT. Together, LIS and LVT provide a robust end-to-end environment for enabling the concepts of model data fusion for hydrological applications. The evolving capabilities of LVT framework are expected to facilitate rapid model evaluation efforts and aid the definition and refinement of formal evaluation procedures for the land surface modeling community.
Surface Reconstruction Using Dexel Data From Three Sets of Orthogonal Rays

Triple-dexel modeling is a geometric representation method, which depicts the intersection of a solid with rays cast in three orthogonal directions. Due to its fast Boolean operations, simple data structure, and easy implementation, triple-dexel modeling is highly suitable for real-time graphics-based simulation applications such as numerical control (NC) machining verification and virtual sculpting. This paper presents a novel surface reconstruction method from triple-dexel data by first converting the triple-dexel data into contours on three sets of orthogonal slices and then generating the solid's boundary surface in triangular facets from these contours. The developed method is faster than the voxel-based method, and the reconstructed surface model is more accurate than the surface reconstructed from voxel representation using the marching cube algorithm. Examples are given to demonstrate the ability of surface reconstruction from the triple-dexel model in virtual sculpting.
Private practitioner acceptance of the IUD; and the IUD related to other contraceptives

Abstract The lack of attention given to physician acceptance of contraception was noted. This study interviewed twenty-six private practitioners thoroughly, as to their attitudes about contraception and their knowledge about the IUD. A reliance on the hormonal method of contraception was evident. Lack of information about the IUD was demonstrated. A positive association between knowledge and attitude toward the IUD was obtained. The most effective source of information for these private practitioners was overwhelmingly from the drug company advertising men and other advertisements.
Complexation of calcium and magnesium with glutarimidedioxime: Implications for the extraction of uranium from seawater

Abstract Complexation of calcium and magnesium with glutarimidedioxime, a ligand of importance in the sorption of uranium from seawater by functionalized sorbents, in aqueous solutions was investigated with potentiometry and calorimetry. The stability constants of the complexes and the enthalpies of complexation were determined. Results show that calcium(II) and magnesium(II) form much weaker complexes with glutarimidedioxime than uranium(VI). However, due to the very high concentrations of calcium and magnesium in seawater, small but significant fractions of the sorption sites on the glutarimidedioxime-functionalized sorbent are expected to be occupied by calcium and magnesium. Results also show that the dominant complexation reactions of calcium and magnesium with glutarimidedioxime at seawater pH are endothermic processes, implying that the complexation, as well as the sorption of calcium and magnesium on the glutarimidedioxime-functionalized sorbent, would be enhanced at higher temperatures.
Multifaceted Longitudinal Study of Surgical Resident Education, Quality of Life, and Patient Care Before and After July 2011

Objectives Resident duty-hour regulatory changes in July 2011 led to dramatic modifications in the structure of many surgical training programs in the United States. These changes were hypothesized to have effects on the quality of life and education of residents, and the patient care they deliver. Our study aims to measure changes in these domains among junior and senior residents before and after implementation of the latest regulations. Design Longitudinal cohort study comparing objective and subjective metrics of education, patient care, and quality of life among all surgical residents at one institution. Setting Tertiary academic medical center. Participants All residents in the Department of Surgery over 2 years (n = 97) were included. The included electronic survey had 30 and 36 responses in 2011 and 2012, respectively (overall 68% response rate). Results Operative cases increased for residents at all postgraduate year levels. No significant differences in in-training examination scores were observed. Comparison of subjective data from the program evaluation and developed survey revealed a significant decrease in perception of resident clinical skill development (4.31/5 in 2011 to 4.15/5 in 2012, p = 0.02). Residents reported decreased quality of operative experiences (83% to 59%, p = 0.04), and less independence evaluating patient problems (90% to 61%, p Conclusions Following the July 2011 duty-hour changes, surgical residents report a negative effect on their education, with decreased clinical skill progression and perceptions of operative experience quality and patient care independence. Improvements in quality of life metrics, including burnout, were observed.
Substance P, somatostatin, and methionine enkephalin immunoreactive elements in the spinal cord of the domestic fowl, Gallus domesticus

The occurrence and distribution of substance P (SP), somatostatin (SOM), and enkephalin (ENK) immunoreactive elements were examined in the spinal cord of the domestic fowl, Gallus domesticus. SP immunoreactive fibers and their varicosities were densest in laminae I and II, although they were also found within deeper regions of the dorsal horn. In contrast, the intermediate gray area, the area around the central canal, and the ventral horn, contained fewer SP immunoreactive fibers. The distribution of ENK immunoreactivity in the gray matter was similar to that described for SP although immunoreactive fibers were denser around the central canal and in the intermediate zone. Few SOM immunoreactive fibers were present in the dorsal horn, the area around the central canal, and the ventral horn. All three peptidergic immunoreactive elements were found in and around the nucleus of Terni, an autonomic area. Throughout the lumbosacral enlargement SP, SOM, and ENK immunoreactive varicosities were found adjacent to the lumbosacral sinus and in fibers traversing the glycogen body. In addition, at caudal lumbar and rostral sacral levels a plexus of SP and SOM immunoreactive fibers was observed to be in close relationship with presumed motoneurons.
Advanced Topics in Statistical Process Control: The Power of Shewhart's Charts

(1996). Advanced Topics in Statistical Process Control: The Power of Shewhart's Charts. Technometrics: Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 286-286.
From Constants to Variables: How Environmental Change Alters the Geopolitical and Geo-Economic Equation

As a result of environmental change, we are in an era in which planning constants, such as site stability and the location of fisheries, are now variables. Climate change and shifting population and consumption patterns are altering the foundations upon which we have built our physical and legal infrastructures. This article examines examples of the disconnects between planning and the changing physical world, including global energy infrastructure and the UN Convention on the Law of Sea. Some of the potential geopolitical, economic and security consequences are assessed, and some thoughts on how to ensure a more stable future are offered.
Effect of Data Center Layout on Rack Inlet Air Temperatures

The heat dissipated by large servers and switching equipment is reaching levels that make it very difficult to cool these systems in data centers or telecommunications rooms. Some of the highest powered systems are dissipating upwards of 4000 watts/ft2 (43,000 watts/m2 ) based on the equipment footprint. When systems dissipate this amount of heat and then are clustered together within a data center significant cooling challenges can result. This paper describes the thermal profile of 3 data center layouts (2 are of the same data center but different points in time with a different layout). Detailed measurements of all three were taken: electronic equipment power usage; perforated floor tile airflow; cable cutout airflow; computer room air conditioning (CRAC) airflow, temperatures and power usage; electronic equipment inlet air temperatures. Although the detailed measurements were recorded this paper will focus at the macro level results of the data center to see if some patterns present themselves that might be helpful for future guidelines of data center layout for optimized cooling. Specifically, areas of the data center where racks have similar inlet air temperatures are examined relative to the rack and CRAC unit layout.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
A note on a non-standard finite difference scheme for the Reluga x − y − z model

We construct a non-standard finite difference scheme for the Reluga model. This model consists of three, coupled nonlinear ODEs, which are invariant under the exchange of the labelling of the three dependent variables. Our scheme has the same positivity preserving property for its solutions, as the differential equations, and also satisfies the same conservation law via an exact finite difference representation.
Mycoplasma Suppression of THP-1 Cell TLR Responses Is Corrected with Antibiotics

Mycoplasma contamination of cultured cell lines is a serious problem in research, altering cellular response to different stimuli thus compromising experimental results. We found that chronic mycoplasma contamination of THP-1 cells suppresses responses of THP-1 cells to TLR stimuli. For example, E. coli LPS induced IL-1 beta was suppressed by 6 fold and IL-8 by 10 fold in mycoplasma positive THP-1 cells. Responses to live F. novicida challenge were suppressed by 50-fold and 40-fold respectively for IL-1beta and IL-8. Basal TLR4 expression level in THP-1 cells was decreased by mycoplasma by 2.4-fold (p = 0.0003). Importantly, cell responses to pathogen associated molecular patterns are completely restored by mycoplasma clearance with Plasmocin. Thus, routine screening of cell lines for mycoplasma is important for the maintenance of reliable experimental data and contaminated cell lines can be restored to their baseline function with antibiotic clearance of mycoplasma.
The clinical recognition of carbon dioxide intoxication.

Carbon dioxide intoxication has been presented as a syndrome occurring primarily in patients with chronic pulmonary disease. When the injudicious use of oxygen, pulmonary infection, congestive heart failure or depressant drugs further compromise pulmonary function, the neurological and cardio-pulmonary symptoms and signs of carbon dioxide intoxication become manifest. Attention has been called to the care which must the taken in the administration of oxygen and depressant drugs to patients with chronic pulmonary disease and to the importance of adding carbon dioxide intoxication to the differential diagnosis of the comatose state.
The Role of Clonality in the Global Spread of Fluoroquinolone-Resistant Bacteria

The molecular epidemiology of fluoroquinolone resistance in a number of bacterial pathogens suggests that the persistence and spread of resistance is associated with a small number of highly successful bacterial clones. The recent description of fluoroquinolone-resistant strains among global clones of pneumococci raises the likelihood that the percentage of pneumococci resistant to fluoroquinolones will increase as this class of agent is increasingly used for the management of respiratory tract infection in adults. Although these clones remain fluoroquinolone susceptible in children, their widespread distribution argues against the extension of fluoroquinolone use to the management of respiratory tract infection in children.
‘Faith-In’ and ‘In-Faith’—Reply to Professor H. H. Price

In two recent essays, 1 H. H. Price has offered an interesting approach to the ‘reducibility theory’ which yields several important distinctions that should be drawn between various meanings of ‘ belief-in ’ and ‘belief-that’ These distinctions go far towards illuminating the uniqueness or—depending upon your point of view—oddness of religious faith. 2 It may be useful to examine Price's ‘reducibility theory’ and the basic distinctions he has drawn in order to point the way toward a related analysis of usage which he neither undertakes nor considers explicitly—that of the distinctly different function (i.e. meaning and use) of a similar if not equally commonplace expression: ‘in-faith’. This latter analysis is called for, it seems to me, for several reasons. In the first place, Price himself vaguely suggestsmdaash;but does not discuss— the possibility that talking about being ‘in the faith attitude’ is not necessarily the same as talking about believing or having faith-in ‘Someone’. Secondly, it may be argued that the use of the expression ‘in-faith’ conveys, in certain instances, much more of the uniqueness of the theist's position than do the expressions ‘belief-in’or ‘faith-in’. Thirdly, the claim—sometimes made—that the faith ‘situation’ (‘experience’, ‘encounter’, ‘meeting’, ‘confrontation’, or whatever it may be) transcends the grasp of reason is perhaps more readily pointed to by using the expression ‘in-faith’.
Free convection melting of ice spheres

Experimental results have been obtained for heat transfer to melting ice spheres by measuring the rate of change of apparent weight. It is found that the traditional correlation format of Nusselt number against Rayleigh number is satisfactory only for bulk temperatures above 7°C. Average Nusselt numbers obtained from the sphere experiments are closely related to previous theoretical work with vertical flat plates.
Signature optimization for DS-CDMA with limited feedback

We examine a direct sequence (DS)-code division multiple access (CDMA) system with signature optimization for interference avoidance. Reduced-rank signature optimization, in which each signature is constrained to lie in a lower-dimensional subspace is analyzed with a matched filter receiver. Performance is studied assuming that the signature coefficients are quantized for transmission over a feedback channel with limited bandwidth. Assuming scalar quantization of each reduced-rank coefficient, the dimension which maximizes the output signal-to-interference plus noise ratio depends on the load and number of feedback bits, and can be much less than the number of signature coefficients. The performance of quantized reduced-rank signature optimization is compared with a random vector quantization scheme, which gives an upper bound on performance.
Cytokine regulation of β-adrenergic responses in airway smooth muscle

Decreased responsiveness to beta-adrenergic receptor agonists is a characteristic feature of human asthma. One explanation for this observation is that cytokines released in the asthmatic airway have direct effects on airway smooth muscle cells that reduce the ability of the cells to relax in response to beta-agonists. This review summarizes data indicating that both inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1beta and TNF-alpha, and Th2 cytokines, such as IL-13 and IL-5, have the capacity to decrease the ability of cultured airway smooth muscle cells to relax or to generate cyclic AMP in response to beta-agonists, such as isoproterenol. These effects are observed in smooth muscle from human airways and airway smooth muscle of other species. In human airway smooth muscle, the effects of IL-1beta and TNF-alpha appear to be mediated through expression of cyclooxygenase-2, whereas the effect of IL-13 requires activation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase-mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. IL-1beta and TNF-alpha also inhibit the ability of beta-agonists to drive airway smooth muscle gene expression through pathways dependent on cyclic AMP response elements. Understanding the mechanistic basis for the effects of these cytokines may prove to be an important step in improving the efficacy of beta-agonists for the treatment of asthma.
Host immune potentiation of drug responses to a murine mammary adenocarcinoma.

The role of host immunity in the response to chemotherapy of a mouse mammary adenocarcinoma (T1699) was investigated. Suppression of the host response by previous irradiation or ALS (antilymphocyte serum) treatment considerably decreased the therapeutic effect of both cyclophosphamide and melphalan. The timing of drug administration to normal tumor-bearing mice was critical as the response depended on the development of an anti-tumor immune response by the host and not solely on the size of the tumor. Although the majority of tumor-bearing mice with demonstrable anti-tumor immunity showed complete tumor regression when treated with cyclophosphamide or melphalan, animals that failed to respond to melphalan initially, as well as responder animals whose tumor recurred, did not respond to a second dose of drug. Neither melphalan nor cyclophosphamide suppressed the ability of the host effector cells found within the tumor mass to kill target tumor cells in the colony inhibition assay.
Interface properties of Si3N4/Si/n-GaAs metal-insulator-semiconductor structures grown on GaAs(111)B substrate

We present characteristics of Al/Si3N4/Si/n-GaAs metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) interfaces grown on GaAs(111)B prepared with a combination of in situ molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques . The density of the surface states in the high 1010 eV-1 cm-2 near the GaAs midgap for the GaAs grown at 575°C and 625°C was obtained. The MIS structure with GaAs homoepitaxial layer grown at 625°C, showing smoother surface morphology than the surface grown at 575 °C, exhibited small hysteresis which was as small as 30 mV under a field excursion of 1.5 MV/cm. The presence of a 1 MHz frequency response at 77 K suggests that the traps be within 60 meV of the conduction band edge of GaAs.
Effects of winter birth season and prenatal cockroach and mouse allergen exposure on indoor allergen-specific cord blood mononuclear cell proliferation and cytokine production.

Background Season of birth has been associated with the development of atopy and asthma. Relationships among a particular birth season, maternal allergen exposure during the birth season, and childhood development of allergies to allergens in higher concentration during the birth season may be important. Objective To investigate the effects of winter birth (January 1 to March 31) and prenatal cockroach and mouse allergens in settled dust on indoor allergen-specific cord blood mononuclear cell (CBMC) proliferation, T H 2 production, and cord blood IgE concentration. Methods As part of an ongoing prospective study, 350 cord blood samples were collected. The CBMCs were cultured with cockroach, dust mite, and mouse protein extracts, and proliferation was measured. Interleukin 5, interferon-γ, and total IgE levels were measured. Home dust samples were analyzed for cockroach and mouse allergens. Results An isolated association was observed between winter birth and a greater mean (SD) cockroach interleukin 5 ratio (winter vs nonwinter birth: 26,043 [11,403] vs 11,344 [3,701]; P = .02). Other associations between winter birth and increased CBMC proliferation, T-helper cytokines, or cord blood IgE levels were not detected. Higher mouse allergen levels were associated with decreased mouse-induced proliferation (winter vs nonwinter birth: mean [SD] stimulation index, 1.72 [0.12] vs 2.02 [0.11]; P = .04). Conclusions Winter birth and increased cockroach or mouse allergen levels during pregnancy were not consistently associated with greater CBMC proliferation, T-helper cytokine production, or cord blood IgE levels. Greater indoor allergen exposure during pregnancy does not seem to affect the development of cockroach or mouse immune responses in utero.
Corner detection with covariance propagation

This paper presents a statistical approach for detecting corners from chain encoded digital arcs. An arc point is declared as a corner if the estimated parameters of the two fitted lines of the two arc segments immediately to the right and left of the are point are statistically significantly different. The corner detection algorithm consists of two steps: corner detection and optimization. While corner detection involves statistically identifying the most likely corner points along an arc sequence, corner optimization deals with improving the locational errors of the detected corners. The major contributions of this research include developing a method for analytically estimating the covariance matrix of the fitted line parameters and developing a hypothesis test statistic to statistically test the difference between the parameters of two fitted lines. Performance evaluation study showed that the algorithm is robust and accurate for complex images. It has an average misdetection rate of 2.5% and false alarm rate of 2.2% for the complex RADIUS images. This paper discusses the theory and performance characterization of the proposed corner detector.
Molecular Negative Ions

The determination of the collision mechanisms responsible for electron detachment in low-energy collisions of negative ions with atoms is an interesting and active field. Several different collision mechanisms have been proposed to explain the experimental scattering data.
A framework to study knowledge management behaviors during decision making

Decision making (DM) is a knowledge-intensive process that demands good knowledge management (KM) in order to generate a desired process outcome. The KM behavioral patterns that transpire while managing knowledge during DM affect the process outcomes. Therefore, in order to understand KM behaviors to generate a desired process outcome, it is crucial to systematically study the nature of KM behaviors that unfold during the process of DM. This paper provides a framework for a systematic study of KM behaviors during DM. Specifically, the paper suggests that the nature of the DM process, the cognitive needs of the DM unit, the affective responses evoked during this process and the situation characteristics surrounding the DM process govern the KM behaviors exhibited by the DM unit. This in turn impacts the process outcome. Specifically, this framework identifies and characterizes the constructs for studying KM behaviors that transpire during DM and the impact of these behaviors on the process outcome.
Domain decomposition methods for linear inverse problems with sparsity constraints

Quantities of interest appearing in concrete applications often possess sparse expansions with respect to a preassigned frame. Recently, there were introduced sparsity measures which are typically constructed on the basis of weighted l1 norms of frame coefficients. One can model the reconstruction of a sparse vector from noisy linear measurements as the minimization of the functional defined by the sum of the discrepancy with respect to the data and the weighted l1-norm of suitable frame coefficients. Thresholded Landweber iterations were proposed for the solution of the variational problem. Despite its simplicity which makes it very attractive to users, this algorithm converges slowly. In this paper, we investigate methods to accelerate significantly the convergence. We introduce and analyze sequential and parallel iterative algorithms based on alternating subspace corrections for the solution of the linear inverse problem with sparsity constraints. We prove their norm convergence to minimizers of the functional. We compare the computational cost and the behavior of these new algorithms with respect to the thresholded Landweber iterations.
Whining as mother-directed speech

Although little studied, whining is a vocal pattern that is both familiar and irritating to parents of preschool- and early school-age children. The current study employed multidimensional scaling to identify the crucial acoustic characteristics of whining speech by analysing participants' perceptions of its similarity to other types of speech (question, neutral speech, angry statement, demand, and boasting). We discovered not only that participants find whining speech more annoying than other forms of speech, but that it shares the salient acoustic characteristics found in motherese, namely increased pitch, slowed production, and exaggerated pitch contours. We think that this relationship is not random but may reflect the fact that the two forms of vocalization are the result of a similar accommodation to a universal human auditory sensitivity to the prosody of both forms of speech. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Case of Extrinsic Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency in a Patient With Multiple Sclerosis

We aim to present a very rare case of chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency due to both brachiocephalic vein obstruction by aberrant right subclavian artery and internal jugular vein distal compression by first cervical vertebra transverse process, demonstrated by multislice computerized tomography in a patient with multiple sclerosis.
Visual preferences for sex and status in female rhesus macaques

Most primates are both highly visual and highly social. These qualities predict that visual cues to social variables, such as identity, sex, social status, and reproductive quality, would be intrinsically valuable and systematically attract attention. Supporting this idea, thirsty male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) will forego fluid reward to view images of the faces of high-ranking males and the sexual skin of females. Whether female rhesus macaques, who experience dramatically different social pressures and reproductive costs than male macaques, also systematically and spontaneously value visual cues to social information remains untested experimentally. We probed the preferences of female rhesus macaques, given the opportunity to display an image from a known class of social stimuli or touch a second target to display a blank screen. We found that females preferred faces of high-status males and also images of the perinea of both males and females, but were not motivated to display images of subordinate males or control stimuli. These findings endorse the view that both male and female rhesus macaques—and presumably other highly social primates—seek information about other individuals in a way that matches the adaptive value of that information for guiding social behavior.
RNA Interference-Mediated Inhibition of Erythropoietin Receptor Expression Suppresses Tumor Growth and Invasiveness in A2780 Human Ovarian Carcinoma Cells

Although recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEpo) has revolutionized the treatment of anemia, recent clinical trials suggested that rHuEpo use may be associated with decreased survival in cancer patients. Although the expression of erythropoietin (Epo) receptor (EpoR) has been demonstrated in various human cancers, the effect of exogenous Epo on the growth and therapy resistance of EpoR-bearing tumor cells is unclear at present. In the current study, we examined the hypothesis that EpoR may contribute to tumor growth independent of Epo in A2780 human ovarian carcinoma cells. A2780 human ovarian carcinoma cells showed high levels of EpoR expression, but lacked expression of Epo mRNA and biologically active Epo protein under both normoxic and hypoxic conditions. Exogenous Epo did not stimulate EpoR-mediated signaling, proliferation, invasiveness, or resistance to cytotoxic drugs in A2780 cells. In contrast, specific inhibition of EpoR expression using a short hairpin RNA (shRNA) expression plasmid resulted in markedly reduced proliferation and invasiveness in vitro. In addition, inhibition of EpoR expression led to abrogated in vivo ovarian cancer cell growth in a tumor xenograft system and resulted in decreased EpoR signaling. Our findings suggest that EpoR may be constitutively active in some cancer cells in the absence of Epo and provide the first evidence for a potential role of an Epo-independent, EpoR-mediated pathway in the growth of some human cancers.
The Use of Party Brand Labels in Congressional Election Campaigns

In spite of the centrality of partisanship to many theories of lawmaking, and the important role that party cues play in shaping voters' evaluations of political candidates, remarkably little is known about the circumstances under which congressional candidates use partisan symbols on the campaign trail. Employing data on candidates' televised advertisements over six elections (1998–2008), the present study explores the “supply side” of partisan cues and finds that candidates are strategic about their use of party symbols. And while personal and district-level factors influence how candidates utilize partisan rhetoric, we show that the institutional context in which they campaign also matters.
Heterogeneity within type II and MODY diabetes.

The heterogeneity within Type II diabetes (NIDDH) and within Maturity-Onset type Diabetes of Young people (MODY), a subset of NIDDM which is inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion, is discussed. Aspects of the definition and phenotypic expression of MODY are reviewed. Within NIDDM there are differences in patterns of inheritance between subgroups. HLA antigen associations are not found in most NIDDH populations but exist in three specific population groups with Type II diabetes. Within NIDDH and within MODY there are differences in the magnitude of insulin responses to glucose, differences in target tissue responsiveness to insulin in vivo, and differences in receptor and post-receptor effects of insulin. Structurally abnormal variant and biologically defective insulin molecules have been found in some Type II diabetic patients and in members of certain MODY families. The presence or absence of obesity may mark heterogeneous groups of Type II diabetic patients, in addition to the importance of obesity in uncovering an insulin secretory defect by causing insulin resistance. There is heterogeneity in susceptibility to vascular disease within NIDDM and MODY. The natural history of carbohydrate metabolism and of insulin secretory responses to glucose in early Type I diabetes and in MODY with low insulin secretory responses are illustrated and similarities and dissimilarities compared and contrasted. Failure to recognize young patients with MODY may contribute to incorrect diagnosis, management, and assignment of prognosis of this form of diabetes in the young by many practicing physicians.
VECTOR SUBSPACES OF THE SET OF NON-NORM-ATTAINING FUNCTIONALS

An example is found of a nonreflexive Banach space X such that the union of {0} and the set of non-norm-attaining functionals on X contains no two-dimensional subspace.
A functional equation technique for obtaining wiener process probabilities associated with theorems of Kolmogorov-Smirnov type

1. Introduction . Since the first proofs by Kolmogorov ( 13 ) and Smirnov (( 14 ), ( 15 )) of their well-known results on the limit distribution of the deviations of the sample distribution function, many alternative proofs of these results have been given. For example, we may cite the various approaches of Feller ( 4 ), Doob ( 3 ), Kac ( 8 ), Gnedenko and Korolyuk(7), and Anderson and Darling ( 1 ). The approaches of ( 3 ), ( 8 ) and ( 1 ) rest on a probabilistic computation regarding the Wiener process, and are justified by the paper of Donsker ( 2 ) (see also ( 11 )). Of all these approaches, only those of ( 8 ) and ( 1 ) can be extended to obtain the limit distributions of the ‘ k –sample’ generalizations of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistics suggested in ( 9 ), and the author (( 9 ), ( 10 )) and Gihman( 6 ) carried out such proofs.
Health Literacy Communication Strategies to Improve Patient Comprehension of Cardiovascular Health

Case presentation: A 67-year-old retired school bus driver presents to your office for an initial visit after having had an acute myocardial infarction, which is complicated by new-onset congestive heart failure. She comes to your office alone, with a bag of 5 pill bottles, and asks, “Do I really need all these pills?” To care for themselves and participate in their health care, patients must be able to understand and act on information and instructions given to them by their healthcare providers. This concept is known as health literacy, which is defined as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and health services needed to make appropriate health decisions.”1 Basic literacy skills, such as proficiency in reading, writing, listening, interpreting images, and interacting with documents, as well as facility with numeric concepts and basic computation, are central to the concept of health literacy and greatly affect a patient’s level of health literacy. The Institute of Medicine, American Medical Association, American College of Physicians, and the Joint Commission have targeted health literacy as a cross-cutting priority area for quality improvement to transform US health care.2–5 Patients with the largest disease burdens are often those with the least ability to understand and use health information. This is due in part to a lack of focus on patient education and poor communication skills by clinicians. In this article, we discuss the prevalence of limited health literacy, its impact on health outcomes and healthcare utilization, and strategies that providers may use to enhance their communication skills. …
Computational Challenges for Simulating Strongly Elastic Flows in Biology

Understanding the behavior of complex fluids in biology presents mathematical, modeling, and computational challenges not encountered in classical fluid mechanics, particularly in the case of fluids with large elastic forces that interact with immersed elastic structures. We discuss some of the characteristics of strongly elastic flows and introduce different models and methods designed for these types of flows. We describe contributions from analysis that motivate numerical methods and illustrate their performance on different models in a simple test problem. Biological problems often involve the coupled dynamics of active elastic structures and the surrounding fluid. The immersed boundary method has been used extensively for such problems involving Newtonian fluids, and the methodology extends naturally to complex fluids in conjunction with the algorithms described earlier in this chapter. We focus on implicit-time methods because the large elastic stresses in complex fluids necessitate high spatial resolution and long time simulations. As an example to highlight some of the challenges of strongly elastic flows, we use the immersed boundary method to simulate an undulatory swimmer in a viscoelastic fluid using a data-based model for the prescribed shape.
FORAGING SITE SELECTION BY NONBREEDING WHITE-FACED IBIS

Abstract We examined foraging site selection by White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi) wintering in the Grasslands Ecological Area, which contains the second largest population of nonbreeding ibis in California. We compared habitat variables at White-faced Ibis foraging sites with paired, random locations in managed wetlands of the Grasslands. We contrasted the density and biomass of benthic macroinvertebrates between a subsample of bird foraging locations and random sites. Compared to random locations, the foraging locations of White-faced Ibis were closer to emergent vegetation > 10 cm in height. Moreover, ibis selected foraging locations with significantly higher chironomid and lower oligochaete biomasses relative to random sites. These findings suggest that ibis foraged close to vegetation where prey abundance may be greater and illustrate the importance of maintaining the presence of emergent vegetation in freshwater wetlands.
Development and Regulation of Acetylcholine Receptor Function

Nicotinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptors are among the first proteins to be expressed on the membranes of newly differentiated muscle cells. During development, the functional properties of the receptors and their associated channels undergo major changes in many skeletal muscles (Schuetze and Role, 1987). The kind of changes as well as the timetable of the changes depends on the type of muscle being studied (Schuetze, 1980; Kullberg and Owens, 1986). Changes in receptor expression also occur in adult skeletal muscle following denervation (Neher and Sakmann, 1976) and during subsequent reinnervation (Brenner and Sakmann, 1983). Studies on adult muscle have led to the proposition that the development of receptor function depends on the proximity of the receptor to the site of nerve-muscle contact (Cull-Candy et al., 1982; Brenner and Sakmann, 1983). The mechanisms which underlie the regulation of receptor function in developing and adult muscle have been the subject of a large number of studies. In this paper we summarize the results of our studies on the development of ACh receptor function in amphibian muscle and include, as well, the results of complementary studies on both innervated and denervated adult mammalian muscle. We address the issues related to neural regulation of ACh receptor properties by comparing properties of synaptic and nonsynaptic receptors in developing and adult muscle. The possible underlying molecular mechanisms and functional significance of our observations are discussed.
Measuring Achievement with Latent Structure Models

The basic assumption in latent class models designed to measure achievement is that a student can be described as knowing or not knowing the answer to a test item, and that inferences about the student’s ability level should take this notion into account. The goals of a test might be to determine how many of the items an examinee knows, which items are known or which are not known, or what proportion of items among a domain of items are known. The problem is that examinees might give the correct response when they do not know, or they might carelessly give the wrong response when they actually do know. Latent class models can be used in an attempt to measure and correct the effects of these errors when addressing a particular measurement problem. Even if some other model is ultimately preferred, such as a latent trait model, latent class models are potentially useful.
EVALUATION ON QUALITY OF THE DIRECT NETWORK REPORT ON INFECTIOUS DISEASE OF THE MEDICAL INSTITUTION IN FENGTAI

[Objective]To make an investigation on quality of the direct network reports on infectious diseases of the medical institutions.Based on the existing problems and influencing factors,to provide the countermeasures of improving management and the quality of the system.[Methods]21 medical institutions were selected to investigate.2 377 samples were selected to investigate the rate of missing report,833 samples were selected to investigate the accuracy.The investigation on the rates of integrity and late reporting were carried out in population.The data were classified to compare and analyzed by SPSS10.0.[Results]Compared the results in hospitals with different grades,we found that the quality of the information from the second-grade hospital was the best,from the first-grade hospital and the third-grade hospital were better and from the township hospital was the worst.[Conclusion]Detailed analysis on problems in hospitals with different grades based on these results should be carried out,and corresponding advices should be provided for them.
Cigarette smoke stimulates release of neutrophil chemotactic activity from cultured bovine bronchial epithelial cells

1. Recruitment of neutrophils into the airway is a prominent feature of chronic bronchitis, a syndrome often associated with exposure to cigarette smoke. Since bronchial epithelial cells are the ‘first’ lung cells to come into contact with smoke, these cells may be responsible for neutrophil recruitment into the airway by release of neutrophil chemotactic activity in response to cigarette smoke. 2. To evaluate this hypothesis, we prepared bovine bronchial epithelial cells and measured their ability to release neutrophil chemotactic activity following exposure to cigarette smoke. Bronchial epithelial cells were prepared by overnight digestion with protease, filtered through 100-μm Nitex mesh and resuspended in Dulbecco9s modified Eagle medium supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum and antibiotics and cultured at 2×10 6 cells in 2 ml of medium in 35-mm culture dishes. After 4 days, dishes were rinsed and refed with medium without fetal calf serum and incubated with and without 1:10 diluted smoke extract for 6 h at 37°C. The neutrophil chemotactic activity of the supernatant fluids was measured by the blindwell chamber technique. 3. Cigarette smoke itself added to medium did not stimulate chemotaxis. In contrast, cigarette smoke did stimulate the release of neutrophil chemotactic activity from bovine bronchial epithelial cells [15 ± 3 (control) versus 74 ± 5 (smoke), P 4. This neutrophil chemotactic activity was dialysable, pepsin and acid stable, heat sensitive and lipid extractable. Sephadex G-75 column chromatography demonstrated two peaks of neutrophil chemotactic activity. 5. The lipoxygenase inhibitors diethylcarbamazine and nordihydroguaratic acid both diminished the release of chemotactic activity, suggesting that the activity may be a lipoxygenase product(s). 6. Dibutyryl cyclic AMP also blocked the smoke-stimulated release of neutrophil chemotactic activity, suggesting that its release may be regulated by intracellular cyclic AMP. 7. Thus, bovine bronchial epithelial cells release neutrophil chemotactic activity in response to cigarette smoke, suggesting that bronchial epithelial cells may be modulators of the airway inflammatory response caused by cigarette smoke.
The outpatient management of febrile neutropenia in cancer patients.

Treatment of fever and neutropenia in cancer patients has been recognized for 30 years as a medical emergency, requiring prompt in-hospital evaluation and institution of broad-spectrum intravenous (IV) antibiotics. This action
Captioned Films for the Deaf

Public Law 85–905, as amended by Public Law 87–115, provides for the production and distribution of captioned films for the deaf as well as related research and training activities.
Como una enfermedad. La escritura y la filosofía según Wittgenstein

Comenzando por algunos comentarios de Giorgio Agamben sobre la relacion entre la poesia y la prosa, y por su evocacion de la sugerencia de Wittgenstein de que la filosofia deberia ser escrita como si fuera poesia, este ensayo explora algunos de los posibles sentidos de escribir filosofia de dicha manera y concluye que el lenguaje literario, tal como se encuentra en la prosa y el pensamiento de Wittgenstein, tiene tres caracteristicas esenciales: requiere y gratifica la interpretacion; utiliza modismos y otras formas retoricas como argumentacion; y la forma de lo dicho es parte esencial de lo que se dice.
How do socio-demographics and built environment affect individual accessibility based on activity space? Evidence from Greater Cleveland, Ohio

Since the early 2000s, accessibility-based planning has been increasingly used to mitigate urban problems (e.g., traffic congestion and spatial mismatch) from a sustainable perspective. In particular, the concept of accessibility has been applied to investigate transport exclusion in many studies. However, few of them shed light on the effects of socio-demographics (e.g., income and gender) and the built environment (e.g., density) on accessibility at the individual level as a measure of transport exclusion. This study measures individual accessibility as the opportunities available per square mile within individual daily activity space for evaluating transport exclusion status based on the Capability Approach. Using data from the 2012 Northeast Ohio Regional Travel Survey and two opportunity sets (land uses and jobs), we calculate individual accessibility and compare them across three income groups. The comparisons report that low-income people are not disadvantaged in our study region. Path models are estimated to examine the relationships between socio-demographics, built environment, trip characteristics, and individual accessibility. We apply K-means cluster analysis to construct seven neighborhood types for the built environment. The results indicate that the effect of income on accessibility varies by opportunity types and living in urbanized neighborhoods increases people’s accessibility after controlling for other characteristics.