cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
SOME PROBLEMS INHERENT IN TRANSPORT STUDIES IN SYNAPTOSOMES

— A technique utilizing a 30-place manifold has been developed to study synaptosomal transport; some problems associated with such studies have been identified and clarified. The time course of L-glutamic acid uptake has been used to test variations in experimental protocol. Synaptosomes apparently become increasingly labile with increased time of incubation. This is indicated by a drop in the curve of uptake vs time after 8–12 min. Ninety seven to 98% of the glutamate taken up from a 10−6m solution is released by osmotic shock. Synaptosomes can be stored in 0.32 m ice-cold sucrose suspension for periods up to 50 min without decline in measured uptake. Storage for 3 h or more results in a very substantial decline in measured uptake. Neither the decline in measured uptake with time, nor the decline with storage, is prevented by increasing the osmolarity of the solutions used or by use of synaptosomes from the initial 1085 g supemate rather than after sedimentation and resuspension. Although prewarming synaptosomes at 30°C for 20 min prior to their use lessened or eliminated the decline following peak uptake, the difference between stored and non-stored synaptosomes was not improved. Uptake was also much less when synaptosomes were used from the first supernate or when warmed prior to their use. Storage of tissue prior to homogenization resulted in synaptosomes that gave minimal reductions in measured uptake. Washing synaptosomes after separation from incubation medium resulted in a variable loss of substrate radioactivity, depending on such variables as brand of filter, pore size, composition of wash solution, and temperature of wash solution. The results support the hypothesis that washing causes lysis of a portion of the synaptosomes. However, with Millipore filters (0.45 μm) and a 30°C Krebs-Henseleit wash solution, the loss caused by washing is minimized (about 15%). Measured uptake is found to depend on the type of filter used. Uptake is much greater with Millipore 0.45 pm filters than with Gelman 0.45 μm filters. Use of Nuclepore (0.4 μm) filters results in measured uptakes only about 5% of that when Millipore 0.45 μm filters are used. With Millipore filters, 0.30 μm pore size filters gave uptakes only 68% of that using 0.45 pm pore size filters.
The Maximum Entropy Approach to Record Abbreviation for Optimal Record Control.

Abstract This paper presents an entropy based technique for the abbreviation of text strings for use as a control code. Tests were performed using titles from machine readable bibliographic files. Greater than 94% of the titles have been found to generate a unique seven character code.
Oral sex: New standard of intimacy and old index of troubled sexuality

Sociology could profit considerably from new research attention to oral sexuality. Data from current large‐scale postal surveys suggests a substantial increase in the number of Americans who include fellatio and cunnilingus in their sexual experience. Small‐scale intensive interview research, however, raises serious doubts about whether usage is always accompanied by satisfaction gains: long‐standing ambivalence and social taboos undermine attitudinal reforms. The mass media focuses unprecedented attention on the subject, but considerable contradictory opinions persist about it. Research possibilities are suggested, as is a case for sustained, systematic research.
Bioassessment tools in novel habitats: an evaluation of indices and sampling methods in low-gradient streams in California

Biomonitoring programs are often required to assess streams for which assessment tools have not been developed. For example, low-gradient streams (slope ≤1%) comprise 20–30% of stream miles in California and are of particular interest to watershed managers, yet most sampling methods and bioassessment indices in the state were developed in high-gradient systems. This study evaluated the performance of three sampling methods [targeted riffle composite (TRC), reach-wide benthos (RWB), and the margin–center–margin modification of RWB (MCM)] and two indices [the Southern California Index of Biotic Integrity (SCIBI) and the ratio of observed to expected taxa (O/E)] in low-gradient streams in California for application in this habitat type. Performance was evaluated in terms of efficacy (i.e., ability to collect enough individuals for index calculation), comparability (i.e., similarity of assemblages and index scores), sensitivity (i.e., responsiveness to disturbance), and precision (i.e., ability to detect small differences in index scores). The sampling methods varied in the degree to which they targeted macroinvertebrate-rich microhabitats, such as riffles and vegetated margins, which may be naturally scarce in low-gradient streams. The RWB method failed to collect sufficient numbers of individuals (i.e., ≥450) to calculate the SCIBI in 28 of 45 samples and often collected fewer than 100 individuals, suggesting it is inappropriate for low-gradient streams in California; failures for the other methods were less common (TRC, 16 samples; MCM, 11 samples). Within-site precision, measured as the minimum detectable difference (MDD) was poor but similar across methods for the SCIBI (ranging from 19 to 22). However, RWB had the lowest MDD for O/E scores (0.20 versus 0.24 and 0.28 for MCM and TRC, respectively). Mantel correlations showed that assemblages were more similar within sites among methods than within methods among sites, suggesting that the sampling methods were collecting similar assemblages of organisms. Statistically significant disagreements among methods were not detected, although O/E scores were higher for RWB samples than TRC. Index scores suggested impairment at all sites in the study. Although index scores did not respond strongly to several measurements of disturbance in the watershed, percent agriculture showed a significant, negative relationship with O/E scores.
Fluorescent stilbazolium dyes as probes of the norepinephrine transporter: structural insights into substrate binding

We report the synthesis, binding kinetics, optical spectroscopy and predicted binding modes of a series of sterically demanding, fluorescent norepinephrine transporter (NET) ligands. A series of bulky stilbazolium dyes, including six newly synthesized compounds, were evaluated to determine the effect of extending the molecular probes’ ‘heads’ or ‘tails’. Taking advantage of the dyes’ characteristic ‘turn-on’ emission, the kinetic binding parameters, kon and koff were determined revealing that extension of the molecules’ tails is well tolerated while expansion of the head is not. Additionally, a ‘headfirst’ orientation appears to be preferred over a ‘tail-first’ binding pose. Further details of the possible binding modes were obtained from the emission spectra of the bound probes. A small range of interplanar twist angles, approximately 35° to 60°, is predicted to produce the observed emission. Docking experiments and molecular modelling support the kinetic and spectroscopic data providing structural insights into substrate binding.
Design and evaluation of a new automated method for the segmentation and characterization of masses on ultrasound images

Segmentation of masses is the first step in most computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems for characterization of breast masses as malignant or benign. In this study, we designed an automated method for segmentation of masses on ultrasound (US) images. The method automatically estimated an initial contour based on a manually-identified point approximately at the mass center. A two-stage active contour (AC) method iteratively refined the initial contour and performed self-examination and correction on the segmentation result. To evaluate our method, we compared it with manual segmentation by an experienced radiologists (R1) on a data set of 226 US images containing biopsy-proven masses from 121 patients (44 malignant and 77 benign). Four performance measures were used to evaluate the segmentation accuracy; two measures were related to the overlap between the computer and radiologist segmentation, and two were related to the area difference between the two segmentation results. To compare the difference between the segmentation results by the computer and R1 to inter-observer variation, a second radiologist (R2) also manually segmented all masses. The two overlap measures between the segmentation results by the computer and R1 were 0.87+ 0.16 and 0.73+ 0.17 respectively, indicating a high agreement. However, the segmentation results between two radiologists were more consistent. To evaluate the effect of the segmentation method on classification accuracy, three feature spaces were formed by extracting texture, width-to-height, and posterior shadowing features using the computer segmentation, R1's manual segmentation, and R2's manual segmentation. A linear discriminant analysis classifier using stepwise feature selection was tested and trained by a leave-one-case-out method to characterize the masses as malignant or benign. For case-based classification, the area Az under the test receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.90±0.03, 0.87±0.03 and 0.87±0.03 for the feature sets based on computer segmentation, R1's manual segmentation, and R2's manual segmentation, respectively.
Cosmic string shocks, magnetic fields, and microwave anisotropies.

The shock waves produced by cosmic strings in the post-recombination era are examined. The postshock gas will be turbulent and will thus possess vorticity. I examine the suggestion that galactic magnetic fields can be seeded by this vorticity. The magnetic fields produced by strings are shown to be smaller than had been predicted earlier, but may still be large enough to act as seeds for galactic magnetic fields. The temperature fluctuations, in the CMBR, produced by the postshock gas are also calculated and are shown to be below the present limits of detectability.
Theoretical radiative lifetimes for the A 1Σ+u-X 1Σ+g band system of Li2

Abstract Model potential calculations of the A 1 Σ + u -X 1 Σ + g transition dipole moment have been used in conjunction with RKR curves of Kusch and Hessel to calculate radiative lifetimes for the A 1 Σ + u -X 1 Σ + g band system of Li 2 . The results are in harmony with recent experimental measurements.
Quantification of VGF- and pro-SAAS-derived peptides in endocrine tissues and the brain, and their regulation by diet and cold stress

Two novel granin-like polypeptides, VGF and pro-SAAS, which are stored in and released from secretory vesicles and are expressed widely in nervous, endocrine, and neuroendocrine tissues, play roles in the regulation of body weight, feeding, and energy expenditure. Both VGF and pro-SAAS are cleaved into peptide fragments, several of which are biologically active. We utilized a highly sensitive and specific radioimmunoassay (RIA) to immunoreactive, pro-SAAS-derived PEN peptides, developed another against immunoreactive, VGF-derived AQEE30 peptides, and quantified these peptides in various mouse tissues and brain regions. Immunoreactive AQEE30 was most abundant in the pituitary, while brain levels were highest in hypothalamus, striatum, and frontal cortex. Immunoreactive PEN levels were highest in the pancreas and spinal cord, and in brain, PEN was most abundant in striatum, hippocampus, pons and medulla, and cortex. Since both peptides were expressed in hypothalamus, a region of the brain that controls feeding and energy expenditure, double label immunofluorescence studies were employed. These demonstrated that 42% of hypothalamic arcuate neurons coexpress VGF and SAAS peptides, and that the intracellular distributions of these peptides in arcuate neurons differed. By RIA, cold stress increased immunoreactive AQEE30 and PEN peptide levels in female but not male hypothalamus, while a high fat diet increased AQEE30 and PEN peptide levels in female but not male hippocampus. VGF and SAAS-derived peptides are therefore widely expressed in endocrine, neuroendocrine, and neural tissues, can be accurately quantified by RIA, and are differentially regulated in the brain by diet and cold stress.
Endothelial cells protect against lipopolysaccharide-induced caspase-3-mediated pericyte apoptosis in a coculture system

Abstract Background Cells that comprise the pulmonary capillary walls, the pericytes and endothelial cells, may undergo apoptosis in inflammatory states. This study examined the effects of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on apoptosis in pericytes and endothelial cells, both individually and grown together in a coculture system. Methods Pericytes and endothelial cells were isolated and cultured separately and in coculture as previously described. The cells were subsequently exposed to LPS for 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours. The cellular contents were then examined by Western blot analysis for products of apoptosis. TUNEL staining was also performed to analyze for apoptosis. Results Pericytes alone exposed to LPS showed increased levels of p11 and p17, which are activated fragments of capase-3, a cysteine effector protease involved in cleaving cytoskeletal and nuclear proteins to induce apoptosis. When grown in coculture with endothelial cells and exposed to LPS in coculture but harvested independently, pericytes showed decreased levels of p11 and p17 and increased levels of Bcl-x L , an antiapoptotic protein that protects the integrity of mitochondria, and prevents cytochrome c release and subsequent caspase-9 activation. Conclusions In response to LPS, pericytes undergo apoptosis involving the caspase-3 pathway. Endothelial cells may decrease this effect through the expression of a soluble mediator.
Technical Writing in Seventeenth-Century England: The Flowering of a Tradition

English technical writing clearly emerged during the Renaissance and the first decades of printing, but during the 1641-1700 period technical writing gained credibility and prestige. It was a valued tool for achieving the utilitarian ends of an age in which practical goals were valued more than aesthetic ones. Technical writing can be found in a range of disciplines, such as agriculture, medicine, science, as well as the major English trades and crafts. As a valued form of discourse, it illuminates the world of work in seventeenth-century England and the problems faced by the early experimenters of the Royal Society who sought to use science to solve major human, military, and economic problems while seeking to expand understanding of nature. Studying technical writing of this period allows us to track the continued development of technical writing as a distinct form of discourse.
The association of laryngoceles with ventricular phonation.

Summary Laryngoceles represent dilatations of the laryngeal saccule that may extend internally into the airway, or externally through the thyrohyoid membrane. Unilateral laryngoceles are uncommon clinical entities and bilateral laryngoceles are rare. Certain activities like glass blowing and playing a wind instrument are associated with laryngocele development, as is laryngeal carcinoma in the ventricular area. This case describes development of bilateral laryngoceles in a patient who chronically uses ventricular phonation during speech. The pathogenesis involves repetitive elevation of intralaryngeal pressure during false vocal cord approximation, exposing the ventricles to abnormally high air pressures. The pathogenesis in this case, as well as in laryngoceles associated with occupational or anatomic risk factors, is discussed.
One-stage control over an adversarial channel with finite codelength

We consider a model of stealthy attack on a networked control system by formulating a static zero-sum game among four players. Three of the players constitute a team of encoder, decoder and controller for a scalar discrete-time linear plant, while the fourth player is a jammer, who acts to flip the bits of the binary encoded observation signal of the communication channel between the plant and the controller. We assume that the observation and control signals have finite codelength. We characterize the encoding/decoding/control defense strategies available to the controller, and for simplicity in conveying the main ideas, we model it for a scalar discrete-time system with only one time step. We prove that there is no loss of generality in restricting our attention to binning-based encoding and control strategies. We determine the control and jamming strategies that are in saddle-point equilibrium for this game and show that the saddle-point value does not depend on the jamming policy. We also provide a necessary and sufficient condition on the minimum number of bits that are required to drive the cost to zero for this one-stage control problem in the presence of a jammer.
Toxicity of topical anesthetic agents to human keratocytes in vivo

Abstract Purpose To test the potential toxicity on human keratocytes of topical anesthetic agents used after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) to reduce or eliminate pain. Setting Department of Ophthalmology, Doheny Eye Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA. Methods Cultured human keratocytes were incubated with commercially available tetracaine and proparacaine at reduced concentrations of 0.001%, 0.01%, 0.1%, and 0.25%. Evaluations were performed by phase-contrast microscopy and tetrazolium salt colorimetric assay every 2 hours for 12 hours after adding 1 of the anesthetic agents to the media. Results After time of incubation and concentration were adjusted, both drugs reduced overall cell viability; however, tetracaine produced a larger decrease in cell viability than proparacaine ( P = .008). For both drugs, significant differences were found among concentrations for and across time ( P P = .004, respectively). Conclusion Both tetracaine and proparacaine had toxic effects on stromal keratocytes related not only to drug concentrations but also to time exposure. These findings underscore the widespread concern that anesthetic drugs may affect corneal stromal wound healing after PRK.
The responsibilities of a semistructured interviewer

Despite the fact that semistructured interviewing in business research can trace its roots all the way back to the Hawthorne studies, the guidance for practitioners in the literature remains sparse. This article deals with what responsibilities a researcher ought to shoulder in carrying out this unpredictable exploration in the field. The tradeoffs and the dilemmas that must be confronted in this research design are discussed, and four cases are used as illustrations. Based on the author's nine years of field experience, ethical procedures are put forth with regard to gaining both organizational and individual consent, establishing respondents' positions and their justifications, and responsibly reporting the results. The analysis reveals that these ethical procedures are not just passive safeguards; rather, they serve an integral role in the process of producing valid and useful research.
Effectiveness of a DAF conditioning program for adolescent and adult stutterers

Abstract The effectiveness of a 90-hr treatment program with 27 adolescent and adult stutterers was studied. The treatment, conversational rate control therapy, consisted of a conditioning program that employed DAF to establish slow stutter-free speech that was subsequently increased in speed to a normal rate. Stimulus control was then generalized to the everyday environment. Recordings of easy and difficult speaking situations were made before and after treatment. Stuttering was substantially reduced for all clients in the clinic and in everyday speaking situations.
Vitamin D deficiency leads to sensory and sympathetic denervation of the rat synovium.

Abstract Vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased susceptibility to inflammatory arthritis. Sensory and sympathetic synovial nerves are critical to the development of inflammatory arthritis and spontaneously degenerate in the early phases of disease. These nerves contain vitamin D receptors and vitamin D influences nerve growth and neurotrophin expression. We therefore examined the density of synovial nerves and neurotrophin-containing cells in vitamin D-deficient rats. Seven-week-old Sprague–Dawley rats were fed either control or vitamin D-deficient diets for 4 weeks. Knee synovium sections extending from the patella to the meniscus were immunostained for total nerves, myelinated and unmyelinated nerves, sympathetic nerves, peptidergic and non-peptidergic sensory nerves, and neurotrophins and immune cell markers. In control rats, intimal innervation by unmyelinated sensory fibers was denser than subintimal innervation. In contrast, sympathetic innervation was confined to the subintima. Many sensory axons contained markers for both peptidergic and non-peptidergic nerves. Nerve growth factor (NGF) was primarily expressed by intimal CD163-negative type B synoviocytes, while neurturin, a ligand selective for non-peptidergic sensory neurons, was expressed by synovial mast cells. In vitamin D-deficient rats, there were significant reductions in sensory nerves in the intima and sympathetic nerves in the subintima. While there was no significant change in NGF-immunoreactivity, the number of neurturin-expressing mast cells was significantly reduced in the intima, suggesting that intimal reductions in sensory nerves may be related to reductions in neurturin. Vitamin D deficiency therefore may increase susceptibility to inflammatory arthritis by depleting sensory and sympathetic synovial nerves as a result of reduced synovial neurotrophin content.
Mapping of a Serotype Specific Epitope of the Major Capsid Protein VP2 of Infectious Pancreatic Necrosis Virus

A serotype-specific, conformational epitope of VP2 of infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) (Jasper), has been mapped by restriction enzyme site-specific deletions of cloned viral cDNA. Subclones encoding fragments of VP2 were expressed in Escherichia coli followed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blot analysis. The epitope (between amino acid residues 242 and 325) reacted with monoclonal anti-VP2 antibodies that neutralized the homologous (Jasper), but not the heterologous (Sp) serotype of IPNV.
Educational Activities in the Society

The following paragraphs review the organized efforts in the Society to deal with matters of education and teaching in physiology (this chapter is an updated version of a paper in The Physiologist 1(2): 39–46, 1958). These efforts do not extend back very many years but it may be of interest to trace briefly their beginnings.
HACCP: a total quality system for assuring food safety and quality

Food processors are being challenged to increase product safety while improving quality and productivity. These objectives can be achieved using total quality management (TQM) and hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) programs. HACCP embodies many of the criteria of TQM. These include: customer satisfaction; interaction between organizational components; information feedback; documentation; auditing; management commitment and leadership; teamwork and trust between management and employees; and empowerment. HACCP is preventive and not after-the-fact testing dependent. HACCP programs have been implemented with varying degrees of success. Failure usually has been caused by not differentiating between critical control points (CCP's) and control points (CP's). CP's must be controlled because of the need to anticipate and prevent potential regulatory and consumer-quality problems. The development of separate programs for these elements permits effective control without impacting on productivity. >
Differential trafficking and timed localization of two chitin synthase proteins, Chs2p and Chs3p.

The deposition of the polysaccharide chitin in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell wall is temporally and spatially regulated. Chitin synthase III (Chs3p) synthesizes a ring of chitin at the onset of bud emergence, marking the base of the incipient bud. At the end of mitosis, chitin synthase II (Chs2p) deposits a disk of chitin in the mother-bud neck, forming the primary division septum. Using indirect immunofluorescence microscopy, we have found that these two integral membrane proteins localize to the mother-bud neck at distinct times during the cell cycle. Chs2p is found at the neck at the end of mitosis, whereas Chs3p localizes to a ring on the surface of cells about to undergo bud emergence and in the mother-bud neck of small-budded cells. Cell synchronization and pulse-chase experiments suggest that the timing of Chs2p localization results from cell cycle-specific synthesis coupled to rapid degradation. Chs2p degradation depends on the vacuolar protease encoded by PEP4, indicating that Chs2p is destroyed in the vacuole. Temperature-sensitive mutations that block either the late secretory pathway (sec1-1) or the internalization step of endocytosis (end4-1) also prevent Chs2p degradation. In contrast, Chs3p is synthesized constitutively and is metabolically stable, indicating that Chs2p and Chs3p are subject to different modes of regulation. Differential centrifugation experiments show that a significant proportion of Chs3p resides in an internal compartment that may correspond to a vesicular species called the chitosome (Leal-Morales, C.A., C.E. Bracker, and S. Bartnicki-Garcia. 1988, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 85:8516-8520; Flores Martinez, A., and J. Schwencke. 1988. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 946:328-336). Fractionation of membranes prepared from mutants defective in internalization (end3-1 and end4-1) indicate that the Chs3p-containing vesicles are endocytically derived. Collectively, these data suggest that the trafficking of Chs2p and Chs3p diverges after endocytosis; Chs3p is not delivered to the vacuole, but instead may be recycled.
Stretching and immobilization of DNA for studies of protein–DNA interactions at the single-molecule level.

Single-molecule studies of the interactions of DNA and proteins are important in a variety of biological or biotechnology processes ranging from the protein’s search for its DNA target site, DNA replication, transcription, or repair, and genome sequencing. A critical requirement for single-molecule studies is the stretching and immobilization of otherwise randomly coiled DNA molecules. Several methods for doing so have been developed over the last two decades, including the use of forces derived from light, magnetic and electric fields, and hydrodynamic flow. Here we review the immobilization and stretching mechanisms for several of these techniques along with examples of single-molecule DNA–protein interaction assays that can be performed with each of them.
Slow feature analysis: a theoretical analysis of optimal free responses

Temporal slowness is a learning principle that allows learning of invariant representations by extracting slowly varying features from quickly varying input signals. Slow feature analysis (SFA) is an efficient algorithm based on this principle and has been applied to the learning of translation, scale, and other invariances in a simple model of the visual system. Here, a theoretical analysis of the optimization problem solved by SFA is presented, which provides a deeper understanding of the simulation results obtained in previous studies.
Pleistocene peopling of the Americas

Our species colonized North and South America last of all the major land masses, thereby ending the spread that began a million years earlier when ancestral members of the genus Homo first ventured out of Africa. But who were the first Americans? When did they arrive? Did they come in one migration or many? How quickly and by what adaptive strategies did they move across the environmentally diverse and trackless New World? How do they relate to contemporary native Americans? We have plenty of answers to these questions. Unfortunately, we can't agree which ones are right. This much is certain: the first Americans were Homo sapiens who came from northeast Asia via the Bering Straits (Fig. 1). They may have walked from Siberia to Alaska across Beringia, the land bridge formed when vast Pleistocene glaciers froze 5% of the world's water,1 lowering global sea levels and exposing the shallow continental shelf between Asia and America. These hunter-gatherers were present throughout the Americas by 11,500 years ago, in time to witness the climatic and ecological changes, including the extinction of thirty-five genera of megafauna, that signalled the end of the Pleistocene. Beyond those bare facts there is controversy. Here, then, is a brief summary of the state of the argument over the peopling of the Americas.
Immunological Memory after Exposure to Variola Virus, Monkeypox Virus, and Vaccinia Virus

We compared cellular and humoral immunity to vaccinia virus (VV) in individuals exposed to 3 different orthopoxviruses: 154 individuals previously vaccinated with VV, 7 individuals with a history of monkeypox virus infection, and 8 individuals with a history of variola virus infection. Among individuals vaccinated >20 years prior, 9 (14%) of 66 individuals demonstrated VV-specific interferon (IFN)-γ enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay responses; 21 (50%) of 42 had lymphoproliferative (LP) responses, and 29 (97%) of 30 had VV-specific neutralizing antibodies. One year after monkeypox virus infection, 6 of 7 individuals had IFN-γ ELISPOT responses, all had VV-specific LP responses, and 3 of 7 had VV-specific neutralizing antibodies. Of 8 individuals with a history of variola virus infection, 1 had a VV-specific IFN-γ ELISPOT response, 4 had LP responses against whole VV, 7 had LP responses against heat-denatured vaccinia antigen, and 7 had VV-specific neutralizing antibodies. Survivors of variola virus infection demonstrated VV-specific CD4 memory cell responses and neutralizing antibodies >40 years after infection.
Microstructure and Chemistry of Nonstoichiometric (Ba,Sr)TiO3 Thin Films Deposited by Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition

The microstructure and chemistry of (Ba,Sr)TiO3 thin films deposited on Pt/SiO2/Si substrates by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition were studied using highresolution transmission electron microscopy and quantitative spectrum imaging in electron energy loss spectroscopy. The grain boundaries in all films with overall Ti content ranging from 50.7% to 53.4% exhibit a significant increase in Ti/Ba ratio as compared to the grain interiors. The results suggest that the deviations of Ti/(Ba + Sr) ratio from the stoichiometric value of unity are accommodated by the creation of Ba/Sr vacancies, which segregate to the grain boundary regions. The films with Ti contents equal to or greater than 52% additionally contained an amorphous Ti-rich phase at some grain boundaries and multiple grain junctions; the amount of this phase increases with increasing overall Ti content. The analysis indicates that the amorphous phase can only partially account for the significant drop in dielectric permittivity accompanying increases in the Ti/(Ba + Sr) ratio.
Accurate Measurements of the Zero-Dispersion Wavelength in Optical Fibers.

We have developed a frequency-domain phase shift system for measuring the zerodispersion wavelength and the dispersion slope of single-mode optical fibers. A differential phase shift method and nonlinear four-wave mixing technique were also investigated. The frequency-domain phase shift method is used to produce Standard Reference Materials that have their zerodispersion wavelengths characterized with an expanded uncertainty (k =2 ) of 60.060 nm. sion slope; nonlinear four-wave mixing; optical fiber; optical fiber bandwidth; polarization-mode dispersion; Standard Reference Material; telecommunication systems; zero-dispersion wavelength.
Some aspects of E. coli promoter evolution observed in a molecular evolution experiment.

We devised a molecular evolution procedure to evolve E. coli promoter sequences and applied it to observe an arbitrary, nonfunctional sequence evolving into functional promoters. In the experiments, DNA sequence variations were generated with error-prone PCR and were inserted in the promoter region of the cat (chloramphenicol acetyl transferase) gene on a plasmid. Upon transforming the cells, functional promoters on the plasmid were selected according to the chloramphenicol resistance. Within a few cycles of mutation-selection, promoters emerged, and the sequences converged into a small number of groups. In the process, the extended minus 10 type of promoters emerged quickly, and small deletions were often involved in adjusting the length between the −35 and the −10 elements. Our results also suggest a possible selection for promoter stability against mutation.
FIBRILLAR DIFFERENTIATION IN MYXOMYCETE PLASMODIA

Myxomycete plasmodia of four different types (not including Physarum polycephalum) were studied in thin sections viewed in the electron microscope. In the cytoplasm of the protoplasmodia of Clastoderma debaryanum and the phaneroplasmodia of Fuligo septica fixed in situ, fibrillar differentiations of three rather distinct kinds were observed. One of these is filamentous and closely resembles the filaments (or "microtubules") of the mitotic apparatus of other species. The larger phaneroplasmodia of two species belonging to the Physarales and the plasmodium of Hemitrichia vesparium showed fewer and less well defined fibrils, and no fibrils were seen in the aphanoplasmodium of Stemonitis fusca. Good stabilization of such fibrils in larger plasmodia may require fixation methods more rigidly controlled than those which succeed with microscopic protoplasmodia. The function of the observed fibrils cannot yet be determined. Their presence in cytoplasm fixed in situ, however, lends support to those theories of protoplasmic movement which are dependent on integral cross-bonding of one or a few molecular species.
Replication for adaptive responsiveness in service-oriented systems

A major advantage of service-oriented architecture (SOA) is the ability to enable rapid formation of large-scale distributed systems. A dominant factor for the success of service-oriented system is the responsiveness of services, i. e. the availability and timeliness of services when needed. As different levels of responsiveness are expected under various situations, a major limitation of most existing service-oriented systems is that they serve all requests in the order of their arrival. Hence, all clients receive the same level of responsiveness. In this paper, an approach to efficiently and transparently providing adaptive responsiveness is presented. This approach includes an extended SOA architecture with replication and situation-aware load balancing for enabling service providers to offer adaptive responsiveness to clients. Moreover, our approach provides adaptable system capacity at runtime which reduces the cost for service replications, such as energy consumption. Experimental results are also presented to demonstrate the advantages of our approach.
Domain-specific Interaction with the IκB Kinase (IKK) Regulatory Subunit IKKγ Is an Essential Step in Tax-mediated Activation of IKK

Abstract The human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 Tax oncoprotein deregulates the NF-κB signaling pathway by persistently stimulating a key signal transducer, the IκB kinase (IKK). Tax physically associates with the IKK regulatory subunit, IKKγ, although the underlying biochemical mechanism and functional significance remain unclear. We show that the Tax-IKKγ interaction requires two homologous leucine zipper domains located within IKKγ. These leucine zipper domains are unique for the presence of a conserved upstream region that is essential for Tax binding. Site-directed mutagenesis analysis revealed that a leucine-repeat region of Tax is important for IKKγ binding. Interestingly, all the Tax mutants defective in IKKγ binding failed to engage the IKK complex or stimulate IKK activity, and these functional defects can be rescued by fusing the Tax mutants to IKKγ. These results provide mechanistic insights into how Tax specifically targets and functionally activates the cellular kinase IKK.
A DNS Study of Aerosol Deposition in a Turbulent Square Duct Flow

A particle-laden turbulent flow through a square duct was simulated using a direct numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations coupled with Langrangian particle tracking. Computations of particle transport were employed to elucidate the mechanisms by which particles with varying inertia deposit to the walls of a square duct. Gravity was neglected and a one-way coupling was assumed between the particles and the fluid. The computational results demonstrate that, although the aerosol penetration through a square duct is not significantly different than through a circular pipe, there exist differences in the transport and deposition mechanisms. Most notably, the off-axis secondary flows unique to the square duct preferentially deposit higher-inertia particles closer to the corners of the duct. By contrast, the same secondary flows act to suppress the deposition of lower-inertia particles to the duct corners by efficiently transporting them back towards the duct core before deposition can occur.
A Compact Dual-Port Diversity Antenna for Long-Term Evolution Handheld Devices

A compact integrated dual-port diversity antenna is presented, which is suitable for long-term evolution (LTE) and wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) applications in handheld devices. The antenna design merges two planar inverted F-shaped antennas (PIFAs) into a single-antenna structure that not only occupies less volume in a handheld device but also eliminates the need to separate two individual antenna elements, which provides further space-saving efficiency. This can be accomplished even while maintaining desirable isolation and diversity characteristics. The proposed design can thus be utilized in compact wireless handheld communication devices that require signal diversity. An example design is described for 2.6-GHz LTE/Wi-Fi bands (2.5-2.7 GHz), which has been implemented in real-world cellular phone environments and include interactions between the antenna, other components of the device, and a model of a human head (the specific anthropomorphic mannequin phantom). The simulated and experimental results, including S-parameters, radiation patterns, signal correlations, and mean effective gain values, have validated the proposed antenna design as useful for compact mobile devices.
EWMA run-to-run controllers with gain updating: Stability and sensitivity analysis

Exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) controllers are the most commonly used run-to-run controllers in semiconductor manufacturing. Based on a linear model, an EWMA controller is usually implemented in a way that the process gain is kept as the off-line estimate and the intercept term is updated using an EWMA filter at each run. However, in practice, there are many applications that an EWMA controller is implemented in a way that the process gain is updated in a run-to-run manner while the intercept is kept as the off-line estimate. Although the stability and sensitivity of EWMA controllers with intercept updating has been well known, there is no analysis result on the stability and sensitivity of EWMA controllers with gain updating. In this paper, we analyze the behavior of an EWMA controller with gain updating and compare it to that of an EWMA controller with intercept updating. Both stationary and drifting processes are considered, the expression of the process output are derived and the output variances for stochastic processes are evaluated. In addition, simulation examples are given to illustrate the analysis results.
Acute leukaemia presenting with isolated bone pain

A previously healthy 6-year-old boy presented with a 2-week history of vague pain in his abdomen, arm, neck and legs, which became more localised to the right side of the neck and right tibial plateau. Over the 6 days prior to admission, nocturnal bone pain was recorded. He was also lethargic, irritable and felt warm; however, temperature >37.7°C was not documented. Intermittent limping was reported. Physical examination was unremarkable, apart from exquisite tenderness on right tibial tuberosity and severe neck …
A Covert Timing Channel Based on Fountain Codes

A model-based Covert Timing Channel (CTC) embeds a covert message into the inter-packet delays (IPDs) of the network traffic generated by a legitimate overt application. The modulated IPDs are generated to follow a well known statistical model of the overt application's network traffic. This provides non-detectability of the covert channel using certain statistical tests and hence the modulation is referred to as model-secure. However, jitter, introduced by the network or an adversary, can disrupt the timing channel. In this work, we improve the CTC's robustness without prior knowledge of the channel error characteristics. We encode the covert message using Fountain codes, continuously generating encoded symbols until transmission is successful. Additionally, we reduce bit error with an IPD guard band between the intervals that represent the binary alphabet. While the guard band reduces bit error, it also alters the IPD distribution, resulting in degraded model-security. We measure the loss in model-security using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) test and the Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence measure and study the trade-off between security, robustness, and throughput. We describe the implementation of the Fountain code based covert communication system, which we refer to as the Covert Fountain, and extensively study the performance under multiple network settings.
Comparing an IPM pilot program to a traditional cover spray program in commercial landscapes

An integrated pest management (IPM) pilot program for landscape plants was implemented during 1997 and 1998 on two commercial, two residential, and one institutional property managed by landscape professionals. When compared with preprogram, calendar-based cover spray program costs at these sites in 1996, the IPM program was cost-effective at one of the five sites in both 1997 and 1998, and cost effective at a second additional site in 1998 when the cooperator, initially skeptical of IPM, discontinued calendar-based cover sprays performed in 1996 and 1997. The mean cost per site was $703.40 (preprogram), $788.26, and $582.22 in 1996, 1997, and 1998, respectively. Volume of pesticide applied decreased a mean of 86.3% on the four sites not receiving cover sprays and increased 2.3% at site 2 (still using cover sprays) in 1997. In 1998, pesticide volume was reduced an average of 85.3% at all five sites compared with preprogram levels. The majority of insect pest problems were corrected using spot sprays of insecticidal soap or horticultural oil or by physical means such as pruning. One-third of the woody plant material on the commercial and institutional sites consisted of holly, juniper, and azalea. The most prevalent pests encountered were mites (Tetranychidae), aphids, lace bugs, scales, whiteflies, and Japanese beetle. Spiders were the most abundant group of predatory arthropod and ants, green lacewings, and lady beetles were also well represented in the managed landscapes.
The Fable of the Nationalist President and Parochial Congress

One of the most widespread contemporary assumptions in the discourse of separation of powers is that while the President tends to have preferences that are more national and stable in nature, Congress is perpetually prone to parochial concerns. This deeply ingrained assumption not only pervades legal scholarly treatment of the administrative state, but it is also used to frame debates about the division of foreign relations powers and the proper scope of judicial review of executive branch agency regulations. This Article examines the three explanations commonly given for the President's more national outlook and introduces institutional considerations that reveal them to be more myth than fact: (1) The President has a broader population and geographic constituency than members of Congress; (2) The fact that members of Congress are elected frequently means that they are more susceptible to special interest or parochial legislation than the President; and (3) The President tends to care more about the overall health of the national economy than Congress does. This Article shows that under the winner-take-all system of our Electoral College, the President will often have an incentive to cater to a narrower geographical and population constituency than that of the median member of Congress. Furthermore, this Article also contends that while the preferences of individual members of Congress may often be short-sighted and parochial, the collective wisdom of these parochial members of Congress will often produce policy outcomes that are more national and public-regarding than that of any single elected official. Finally, this Article critically analyzes the implications of debunking the fable in three areas of public law where it has been particularly pervasive: the unitary presidency, judicial deference to executive branch agency decisions, and the allocation of international trade authority.
Drug Repurposing Screening Identifies Novel Compounds That Effectively Inhibit Toxoplasma gondii Growth.

ABSTRACT The urgent need to develop new antimicrobial therapies has spawned the development of repurposing screens in which well-studied drugs and other types of compounds are tested for potential off-label uses. As a proof-of-principle screen to identify compounds effective against Toxoplasma gondii, we screened a collection of 1,120 compounds for the ability to significantly reduce Toxoplasma replication. A total of 94 compounds blocked parasite replication with 50% inhibitory concentrations of IMPORTANCE There is an urgent need to develop new therapies to treat microbial infections, and the repurposing of well-characterized compounds is emerging as one approach to achieving this goal. Using the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, we screened a library of 1,120 compounds and identified several compounds with significant antiparasitic activities. Among these were pimozide and tamoxifen, which are well-characterized drugs prescribed to treat patients with psychiatric disorders and breast cancer, respectively. The mechanisms by which these compounds target these disorders are known, but we show here that these drugs kill Toxoplasma through novel pathways, highlighting the potential utility of off-target effects in the treatment of infectious diseases.
Substance-Abusing Female Offenders as Victims: Chronological Sequencing of Pathways Into the Criminal Justice System

This study assesses the entrance of substance-abusing female offenders (N=1,209) into the criminal justice system through temporal patterns (using age of first victimization, drug use and arrest). Nine pathways were identified. Unexpectedly, the leading path was a sequence where drug use preceded arrest in absence of childhood victimization. However, women under a path inclusive of victimization possessed more risk factors. Findings support feminist pathway research, which states that childhood victimization is generally present in female offenders' lives. Nevertheless, results also revealed that a drug pathway without childhood abuse proved to be as important and even more dominant among criminal justice-involved women.
The Play of Shadows in Japanese Cinema

AbstractThe medieval Japanese Buddhist-inspired aesthetic concept of yūgen emphasizes the absence of light, movement, and form in order to create a sense of deep but non-discursive meaning. This pre-modern concept can be applied to the film Rashomon to appreciate how the movie uses light and shadow to point to the necessity of abandoning intellectual knowledge in order to move towards moral action. The yūgen concept is also instantiated in the way the film Maborosi uses shadows to create stunning images that form an alternative perception of the world beyond conventional human concerns.
Perceptual issues in viewing medical images

Medical image perception involves understanding the perceptual and cognitive processes involved in reading radiographic images and rendering a diagnostic decision. This talk will present an overview of this process and some of the work done to optimize displays for presentation of radiographic images to radiologists in the clinical environment.