cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
SU 3 -Invariant solutions to a reciprocal bootstrap model

The possibility that the existing strongly interacting particles correspond to the simplest self-consistent solution of a dispersion-theoretic bootstrap model is considered. A generalization of the Chew reciprocal bootstrap model is applied to baryons. Three simple self-consistency requirements are postulated. It is shown that the Hermitean property of the unreduced elastic crossing matrix favors a low spin value for the ground-state baryon multiplet. Attention is then limited toSU3-invariant schemes of particles. The physical, octet-decuplet particle set, known from several previous works to satisfy similar models, is a solution to the present model. The hypotheses that the ground-state baryon multiplet corresponds to anSU3 singlet, triplet, or sextet do not lead to a solution involving fewer particles than the octet-decuplet solution. TheF/D interaction angle in the octet-decuplet solution is 31.8°. There is a moderately strong attraction in theP1/2 states of the representation 10* in this solution.
Proposing SQL statement coverage metrics

An increasing number of cyber attacks are occurring at the application layer when attackers use malicious input. These input validation vulnerabilities can be exploited by (among others) SQL injection, cross site scripting, and buffer overflow attacks. Statement coverage and similar test adequacy metrics have historically been used to assess the level of functional and unit testing which has been performed on an application. However, these currently-available metrics do not highlight how well the system protects itself through validation. In this paper, we propose two SQL injection input validation testing adequacy metrics: target statement coverage and input variable coverage. A test suite which satisfies both adequacy criteria can be leveraged as a solid foundation for input validation scanning with a blacklist. To determine whether it is feasible to calculate values for our two metrics, we perform a case study on a web healthcare application and discuss some issues in implementation we have encountered. We find that the web healthcare application scored 96.7% target statement coverage and 98.5% input variable coverage.
Formation of nuclear bodies in hepatocytes of estrogen-treated roosters.

Abstract As a model for cellular growth and stimulation without accompanying proliferation, we have examined the induction and formation of nuclear bodies (NBs) in hepatocytes of estrogen-treated roosters. Four-week-old roosters were injected with a single intramuscular dose of estradiol and then killed at time points of 8 h, 48 h, and 4 wk post-injection. For immunofluorescence analyses, livers were excised and isolated hepatocyte nuclei were fixed and then labeled with antibody to the coiled body-specific protein, p80-coilin. In control animals (no estradiol) or in animals 8 h post-injection, each hepatocyte nucleus contained an average of 1.0 coiled body (CB), which appeared randomly distributed in the nucleoplasm. At 48 h post-injection, there were an average of 2.7 CBs/nucleus and many of these appeared to be in contact with the nucleolus. Pairs of CBs were also observed. By 4 wk post-injection an average of 1.5 CBs/nucleus were detected, with no apparent relationship to the nucleolus observed. By serial-section electron microscopy of intact livers, two different types of round NBs were observed, sometimes in close proximity to each other and to the expanded interchromatin granule region in maximally stimulated cells. One type of NB was a classical CB that averaged 0.35 microns in diameter and the other NB type was ring shaped, averaged 0.25 microns in diameter, was composed of a fibrous shell surrounding a hollow interior, and appeared as a simple NB when sectioned tangentially through its outer shell. Immunoelectron microscopy revealed that CBs were the only class of NBs that contained p80-coilin. From these data, we conclude that CBs proliferate in response to estrogen stimulation, possibly arising from the nucleolar surface and then increasing in number by replicative division.
Comment on 'Damping of tensor modes in cosmology'

We provide an analytic solution to the short wave length limit of the integro-differential equation describing the damping of the tensor modes of gravitational waves.
Censoring India: Cinema and the Tentacles of Empire in the Early Years

During the early twentieth century, the emerging medium of cinema in British India became a distinctly contested political issue, revealing the tensions and limitations of empire. The record on cinematographic censorship indicates a number of competing interests and changing views, while political transformations and messy realities on the ground defied the efficacy of censorship. Even as many Indian filmmakers sought to convey messages of nationalist aspirations, the perceived need to guard against the revolutionary thoughts of communism and ideas from America that seemed to promote democracy and promiscuity fuelled censorship as a major multivocal imperial policy. Beset by many obstacles, it sought to control the exhibition of both Indian and foreign cinematic productions.The article seeks to understand the genealogy of censorship derived from prior British attempts to regulate literary and dramatic productions. In the 1920s, anxieties about the maintenance of law and order and protection of British rul...
The nonisentropic perturbation of a centered magnetohydrodynamic simple wave

Abstract After linearization of the governing equations of the one-dimensional nonsteady motion of an ideal, inviscid, perfectly conducting monatomic compressible fluid, subjected to a transverse magnetic field, in the neighborhood of a centered simple wave flow, weakly nonisentropic perturbations are considered, and the solution for the first order terms given by quadratures. The results are a generalization of the work of Germain and Gundersen [2].
Cesium diiododimethylaluminatep-xylene solvate: Change in space group

The crystal structure of thep-xylene solvate of diiododimethylaluminate was previously described and refined in the acentric space groupC2221 (Rogers and Atwood, 1979). It can be better described and more satisfactorily refined in the centric space groupCcmm.
Allostery in an Ensemble

Over the past 50 years of structural biology research, three incontrovertible, and as yet not fully reconciled, aspects of protein behavior have emerged: First, protein molecules manifest a broad range of seemingly complex functions, ranging from catalysis to allostery to signal transduction. Second, protein molecules undergo conformational fluctuations, and in some cases these fluctuations are thermodynamically well-represented as local order/disorder transitions throughout the molecule. Third, many proteins and protein domains are natively disordered (i.e. intrinsically unstable), and may be unfolded in one or more functionally relevant states. Here we develop a general description of proteins fluctuations, which allows us to unify these observations and interpret them in the context of the functional demand to propagate the effects of binding to other sites in the molecule. We show; 1) that conformational fluctuations are in fact required for propagating binding effects, 2) that the relevant equilibrium constants for fluctuations must be poised to respond to functionally-relevant perturbations, and 3) that the behavior of multi-domain proteins, where one or more domains is natively unfolded, are driven by the same functional requirements and can be explained by the same thermodynamic principles that govern fluctuations in folded, yet conformationally dynamic proteins.
The use of a water-soluble carbodiimide to cross-link cytochrome c to plastocyanin

A water-soluble carbodiimide, 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide, has been used to cross-link horse heart cytochrome c to spinach chloroplast plastocyanin. The complex was formed in yields up to 90%, and was found to have a stoichiometry of 1 mol plastocyanin per mol cytochrome c. The cytochrome c in the complex was fully reducible by ascorbate and potassium ferrocyanide, and had a redox potential only 25 mV less than that of native cytochrome c. The complex was nearly completely inactive towards succinate-cytochrome c reductase and cytochrome c oxidase, suggesting that the heme crevice region of cytochrome c was blocked. We propose that the carbodiimide promoted the formation of amide cross-links between lysine amino groups surrounding the heme crevice of cytochrome c and complementary carboxyl groups on plastocyanin. It is of interest that the high-affinity site for cytochrome c binding on bovine heart cytochrome c oxidase has recently been found to involve a sequence of subunit II with some homology to the copper-binding sequence of plastocyanin.
Alkaline phosphatase from Bacillus licheniformis. Solubility dependent on magnesium, purification and characterization

The membrane-associated alkaline phosphatase (orthophosphoric-monoester phosphohydrolase (alkaline optimum), EC 3.1.3.1) from Bacillus licheniformis MC14, a facultative thermophile, was purified to homogeneity in buffer containing 0.2 M Mg2+. The alkaline phosphatase purified in this manner is insoluble upon removal of the magnesium by dialysis. This insoluble alkaline phosphatase has been characterized and compared to the previously purified heat-solubilized enzyme (Hulett-Cowling, F.M. and Campbell, L.L. (1971) Biochemistry 10, 1364--1371).
FOUR FRIENDLY CRITICS: A RESPONSE

In this reply, I seek to summarize fairly the criticisms advanced by each of my four critics, Jonathan Schaffer, Gideon Yaffe, John Gardner, and Carolina Sartorio. That there is so little overlap either in the aspects of the book on which they focus or in the arguments they advance about those issues has forced me to reply to each of them separately. Schaffer focuses much of his criticisms on my view that absences cannot serve as causal relata and argues that this commits me to the view that double preventions (such as beheadings) cannot be causal of events such as deaths. I deny that double preventions such as beheadings are not causal, while admitting that other double preventions are not causal but denying that this latter conclusion is unwelcome in its implications. Yaffe criticizes my view that a person substantially causing some harm H is sufficient for that person having performed the activity of H-ing, whereas I affirm that causing H is sufficient for doing the action of H-ing even if it is not sufficient for intentionally H-ing (Yaffe's definition of “activity”). Gardner takes issue with my “experiential argument” for the relevance of causation to moral blame; he urges that we cannot infer that we are more guilty (when we cause a harm than when we don't) from either the psychological fact that we feel more guilty or from the moral fact that it is virtuous to feel such heightened guilt, because it is viciously circular: we feel such guilt only because we have already judged that we are more guilty, and it is virtuous to feel such guilt only because we in fact are more guilty. I deny such circularity exists. Sartorio takes issue with my thesis that in omissive overdetermination cases (where each omission is sufficient to fail to prevent some harm, meaning neither is necessary) neither omitter is morally responsible for the harm. I trade intuitions with Sartorio about a range of related cases that we each think bears on the issue.
Stimulation of glucose transport in rat cardiac myocytes by guanosine 3',5'-monophosphate.

Abstract Glucose transport in isolated rat cardiomyocytes is stimulated by insulin, catecholamines, and anoxia approximately 2- to 3-fold over basal rates. The molecular mechanisms controlling these responses are unknown. In our search for possible cellular mediators of glucose transport stimulation, we examined the effects of a number of nucleotides on 3-O-methylglucose transport in heart cells. The nucleotides and/or permeable analogs (monosuccinyl, 8-bromo, and dibutyrl derivatives) included cUMP, cIMP, cCMP, cAMP, and cGMP at concentrations ranging from 10 nM to 1 mM. Of all the nucleotides tested only cGMP analogs induced a significant stimulation of transport at concentrations as low as 100 nM. This effect was observed in both the 8-bromo- and dibutyrl derivatives and with 1 mM cGMP itself. The effect was concentration dependent for both analogs and produced a maximal response equivalent to that of 100 nM insulin. This insulinomimetic effect of cGMP was examined in more detail in order to evaluate i...
Equilibrium states in two-dimensional superfluid vortex dynamics

Abstract Physical and numerical experiments suggest that the interaction (mutual friction theory) of superfluid vortex filaments with steady 2-D normal fluid vorticity distributions drive the superfluid component towards a 2-D “equilibrium” state. It is shown that this “equilibrium” state is governed by the Kirchhoff equations for point vortices. This Hamiltonian framework is used to demonstrate that a “large” fraction (in measure) of the “equilibrium” superfluid vortex configurations remain ordered in tight clusters for exponentially long time. This corresponds to KAM tori and Arnold diffusion in the “equilibrium” phase-space of the superfluid vortices.
Comparison of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional rearfoot motion during walking.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity of two-dimensional (2-D) analysis with respect to three-dimensional (3-D) analysis for recording rearfoot motion during walking. The results of this study indicated that rearfoot motion measured with either 2-D or 3-D analysis is essentially the same for the initial 60% of the stance phase. There was no significant difference between the two methods on variables typically measured in studies dealing with rearfoot motion.
Translating bioinformatics in oncology: guilt-by-profiling analysis and identification of KIF18B and CDCA3 as novel driver genes in carcinogenesis.

Motivation: Co-regulated genes are not identified in traditional microarray analyses, but may theoretically be closely functionally linked [guilt-by-association (GBA), guilt-by-profiling]. Thus, bioinformatics procedures for guilt-by-profiling/association analysis have yet to be applied to large-scale cancer biology. We analyzed 2158 full cancer transcriptomes from 163 diverse cancer entities in regard of their similarity of gene expression, using Pearson’s correlation coefficient (CC). Subsequently, 428 highly co-regulated genes (|CC| ≥ 0.8) were clustered unsupervised to obtain small co-regulated networks. A major subnetwork containing 61 closely co-regulated genes showed highly significant enrichment of cancer bio-functions. All genes except kinesin family member 18B (KIF18B) and cell division cycle associated 3 (CDCA3) were of confirmed relevance for tumor biology. Therefore, we independently analyzed their differential regulation in multiple tumors and found severe deregulation in liver, breast, lung, ovarian and kidney cancers, thus proving our GBA hypothesis. Overexpression of KIF18B and CDCA3 in hepatoma cells and subsequent microarray analysis revealed significant deregulation of central cell cycle regulatory genes. Consistently, RT-PCR and proliferation assay confirmed the role of both genes in cell cycle progression. Finally, the prognostic significance of the identified KIF18B- and CDCA3-dependent predictors (P = 0.01, P = 0.04) was demonstrated in three independent HCC cohorts and several other tumors. In summary, we proved the efficacy of large-scale guilt-by-profiling/association strategies in oncology. We identified two novel oncogenes and functionally characterized them. The strong prognostic importance of downstream predictors for HCC and many other tumors indicates the clinical relevance of our findings. Contact: ed.rku@lefuet.saerdna Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Lateralized tachistoscopic recognition, cerebral dominance, and dyslexia

This paper reports on the use of lateralized tachistoscopic recognition accuracy and recognition latency measuring procedures for studying functional asymmetries of the cerebral hemispheres. Specific results bearing on the nature and number of relative specializations of hemispheric function are presented, as well as results bearing on the question of cerebral dominance and serial memory in dyslexia.
Surface absorption measurements of thin films by cavity-enhanced photothermal spectroscopy

Cavity-enhanced photothermal spectroscopy has been applied to perform ultrasensitive absorption measurements on thin metallic and high-reflectivity dielectric films. The novel method can be employed to determine minute surface-specific absorbances of α in the range of a few parts in 106 and has high sensitivity since the sample is placed inside a resonant optical cavity. Spatial-, spectral-, and time-resolved measurements were carried out. Laser surface heating calculations have been performed and can be evaluated to yield the thermal diffusivity of the thin films with a resolution at the level of a few micrometers.
Tone Language Type Change in Africa and Asia: !XŨ, Gokana, and MPI*

SUMMARYTone languages can be characterized by the degree to which they realize one of two tone language prototypes defined in terms of tone function. Type A tone languages (usually Asian) employ tone lexically and in minor morphological patterns. Type B tone languages (usually African and Mesoamerican) employ tone to make major morphological distinctions in addition to performing type A functions. For communicative reasons, these functions are necessarily linked to other structural properties of the languages of each type. This paper discusses three tone languages which have undergone different degrees of tone language type change and, as a result, are genetically or areally atypical: !Xũ (Khoisan), Gokana (Niger-Congo), and Mpi (Tibeto-Burman). It is the claim of the author that the driving force behind tone language type change, as exemplified by these three languages, is a change in the role of segmental morphology.RESUMEOn peut caracteriser les langues tonales par le degre par lequel elles realisent un des deux prototypes de langues tonales definis en terme de fonction tonale. Les langues tonales de type A (generalement asiatiques) emploient le ton pour des fonctions lexicales et des fonctions morphologiques mineures. Outre les fonctions de type A, les langues tonales de type B (generalement africaines et mesoamericaines) emploient le ton pour des fonctions morphologiques majeures. La communication ayant ses exigences, ces fonctions sont inevitablement liees aux autres proprietes structurales de chaque type. Dans cette etude il s'agit de trois langues tonales qui ont subi differents degres de changement de type tonal et qui sont, par consequent, atypiques du point de vue genetique et regional: !Xũ (Khoisan), Gokana (Niger-Congo), et Mpi (Tibeto-Birman). Se fondant sur ces trois langues, l'auteur emet l'hypothese que la causalite de l'evolution du ton se trouve dans un changement du role de la morphologie segmentate.ZUSAMMENFASSUNGTonsprachen konnen nach dem Grade, nach dem sie einem der beiden Pro-totypen folgen, charakterisiert werden, und zwar im Sinne ihrer Funktion: Typ A Tonsprachen (meistens asiatische) verwenden Ton lexikalisch und in we-niger wichtigen morphologischen Strukturen; Typ B Tonsprachen (zumeist afrikanische und mittelamerikanische) hingegen verwenden Ton, um wichtige morphologische Unterscheidungen zu treffen, wâhrend sie gleichzeitig auch Funktionen des Typ A wahrnehmen. Aus kommunikativen Griinden sind die Funktionen notwendigerweise mit anderen Struktureigenschaften der Sprachen des jeweiligen Typs verbunden. Der Aufsatz analysiert drei Tonsprachen, die zu verschiedenen Graden Anderungen in ihrem Tonsystemtyp erfahren haben und daher als entweder genetisch oder areal gesehen atypisch sind: !Xu (Khoi-san), Gokana (Niger-Kongo) und Mpi (Tibeto-Burmesisch). Die Autorin ist der Auffassung, daB die treibende Kraft hinter diesem Tonsprachentypwandel, wie er in diesen drei Sprachen aufgezeigt wird, in der Verânderung in der Rolle der segmentalen Morphologie in diesen Sprachen zu suchen sei.
THE LETHALITY‐FOURIER NUMBER METHOD: EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION OF A MODEL FOR CALCULATING TEMPERATURE PROFILES AND LETHALITY IN CONDUCTION‐HEATING CANNED FOODS

A new method (lethality-Fourier number method) for calculating the center point sterilizing value of a thermal process applied to conduction-heating foods was developed by combining first-order destruction kinetics with the Arrhenius equation and dimensionalizing this equation. The temperature profile used in the Arrhenius equation is the theoretical center point temperature profile for heating and cooling of a finite cylinder. These temperature profiles were experimentally verified as adequate models. This verification procedure also produced estimates of the variation in the thermal properties or heating rates of conduction-heating foods. The final equation is numerically integrated to give charts of dimensionless lethality versus dimensionless time with dimensionless activation energy as a parameter. The method compares favorably with sterilizing values obtained from the Improved General Method and the Formula Method.
Violence. The neurologic contribution: an overview

• The role of cultural forces in either promoting or discouraging interpersonal violence is so obvious that it has been allowed to obscure the part played by biologic disorders in determining responses to endogenous and environmental challenges. Neuroscientists and clinicians have demonstrated, however, that aggression has a neuroanatomic and chemical basis, that developmental and acquired brain disorders contribute to recurrent interpersonal violence, that both biologic and sociologic factors are involved, and that to ignore either is to invite error.
Characterizing functional stem cell–cardiomyocyte interactions

Despite the progress in traditional pharmacological and organ transplantation therapies, heart failure still afflicts 5.3 million Americans. Since June 2000, stem cell-based approaches for the prevention and treatment of heart failure have been pursued in clinics with great excitement; however, the exact mechanisms of how transplanted cells improve heart function remain elusive. One of the main difficulties in answering these questions is the limited ability to directly access and study interactions between implanted cells and host cardiomyocytes in situ. With the growing number of candidate cell types for potential clinical use, it is becoming increasingly more important to establish standardized, well-controlled in vitro and in situ assays to compare the efficacy and safety of different stem cells in cardiac repair. This article describes recent innovative methodologies to characterize direct functional interactions between stem cells and cardiomyocytes, aimed to facilitate the rational design of future cell-based therapies for heart disease.
A Spatial Equilibrium Analysis of U.S.–Canadian Disputes on the World Softwood Lumber Market

This paper utilizes a world spatial equilibrium model to examine the effects of U.S.–Canadian softwood lumber disputes on U.S., Canadian, and other exporters' and importers' lumber markets. Results show that the U.S. import tariff on Canadian softwood lumber impacts prices, supply, demand and trade flows not only in the United States and Canada but also in the other countries. Though the goal of U.S. trade restriction is to limit imports from Canada and protect its producers, the United States cannot fully accomplish this goal as non-Canadian exporters fill the void left by the reduced imports from Canada. Canadian producers lose from the U.S. policy, but their loss is mitigated as Canada redirects its exports to other importers. Importing countries such as Japan and the European Union benefit from the U.S. trade restrictions as Canada seeks to sell its softwood lumber to these countries. Dans le present article, nous avons utilise un modele mondial d'equilibre spatial pour examiner les repercussions que le differend canado-americain concernant le bois d'œuvre a sur le marche du bois de sciage des Etats-Unis, du Canada et d'autres pays exportateurs et importateurs. Les resultats montrent que le tarif douanier des Etats-Unis sur le bois d'œuvre canadien influe sur les prix, l'offre, la demande et le flux des echanges commerciaux, non seulement des Etats-Unis et du Canada, mais aussi d'autres pays. Bien que la restriction commerciale des Etats-Unis vise a limiter les importations canadiennes et a proteger les producteurs americains, les Etats-Unis ne peuvent atteindre totalement cet objectif puisque d'autres exportateurs comblent le vide cause par la diminution des importations canadiennes. Les producteurs canadiens perdent a cause de cette politique americaine, mais cette perte est attenuee par le fait que le Canada redirige ses exportations vers d'autres pays. Les pays importateurs, tels que le Japon et l'Union europeenne, tirent profit des restrictions commerciales des Etats-Unis puisque le Canada cherche a leur vendre son bois d'œuvre.
A tutor for using dynamic memory in C

Using dynamic memory has been a source of frustration for computer science and engineering students programming in C++. We designed a tutor to help students understand dynamic memory and avoid the pitfalls of using it. The tutor automatically generates problems on dynamic memory usage, and provides detailed feedback on the user's answers. Our evaluation of the tutor indicates that using it helps improve both the cognitive and affective learning of students. In this paper, we describe the design of the tutor, discuss our evaluation protocol and present the results of evaluation.
Environmental Press and Adaptation to Disability in Hospitalized Live-Alone Older Adults

Purpose: This study examined the ability of personal competency variables at the time of hospital discharge to predict primary instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) and secondary outcomes (living arrangements) in a sample of 194 urban, live-alone, older adults who had a new onset disability. Design and Methods: Consecutively admitted medical rehabilitation patients, 72% women and 85% African American, participated in the study. Using path analysis, three of the four competency variables collected at the time of hospitalization (cognition, medical burden, activities of daily living) predicted IADLs at 3 and 6 months after hospitalization (e.g., cooking, telephone use, money management). IADLs, in turn, predicted living arrangements at 3 and at 6 months after hospitalization. Results: The findings provided strong support for the importance of assessing a broad range of competency variables when investigating adaptation to disability. Implications: The increased understanding of adaptation in live-alone older adults with a new-onset disability is particularly timely given the increase in live-alone older adults and the dire consequences associated with change in living arrangement (i.e., mortality and morbidity) in this group.
Serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels in 3,446 children from a biracial community: the Bogalusa Heart Study.

The need to recognize Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) risk factors at an early age is becoming increasingly important. Serum cholesterol has long been known to be a major independent risk factor for CAD in adults (1). More recently, the level of serum triglycerides has been incriminated as a CAD risk factor independent of cholesterol (2) although the evidence for independence is not conclusive (3).
p53 Phosphorylation and Association with Murine Double Minute 2, c-Jun NH2-Terminal Kinase, p14ARF, and p300/CBP during the Cell Cycle and after Exposure to Ultraviolet Irradiation

p53 phosphorylation and association with proteins is implicated in its stability and activity. We have compared the association of DNA-bound and overall pools of p53 with murine double minute 2 (Mdm2), c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK), p300/CBP, and p14ARF during cell cycle progression. Whereas DNA-bound p53 associates with JNK at G0-G1 and with Mdm2 and p300 during S and G2-M phases, the general pool of p53 was found in complex with JNK and Mdm2 almost throughout the cell cycle. Phosphorylation of p53 at serines 9, 15, and 20 is at the highest levels at G1 and at serines 37 and 392 during G2-M phase. Whereas a high dose of UV irradiation was required for phosphorylation of serines 15 and 392 between 8 and 24 h after treatment, a low dose caused immediate phosphorylation on serines 9, 20, and 372. These dynamic changes in the phosphorylation of p53 are expected to play a pivotal role in p53 association, stability, and function.
OBSERVATIONS ON ATYPICAL MITOCHONDRIA IN PARAMECIUM CAUDATUM.

SYNOPSIS. A description of atypical mitochondria found in specimens of Paramecium caudatum, which had been treated with shocks of electric current, is reported. The morphological alterations of these organelles, noted only in certain percentages of specimens from several experimental groups, usually involved a three- to fivefold increase in diameter accompanied by distortions of their regular form into various configurations. The structural integrity of the internal microtubules, however, was for the most part preserved. These abnormal forms are interpreted in the light of the experiment as examples of cellular reactions to injury.
A Comparison of Score Level Estimates of the Standard Error of Measurement

Numerous methods have been proposed and investigated for estimating the standard error of measurement (SEM) at specific score levels. Consensus on the preferred method has not been obtained, in part because there is no standard criterion. The criterion procedure in previous investigations has been a single test occasion procedure. This study compares six estimation techniques. Two criteria were calculated by using test results obtained from a test-retest or parallel forms design. The relationship between estimated score level standard errors and the score scale was similar for the six procedures. These relationships were also congruent to findings from previous investigations. Similarity between estimates and criteria varied over methods and criteria. For test-retest conditions, the estimation techniques are interchangeable. The user's selection could be based on personal preference. However, for parallel forms conditions, the procedures resulted in estimates that were meaningfully different. The preferred estimation technique would be Feldt's method (cited in Gupta, 1965; Feldt, 1984). It is acknowledged widely that the standard error of measurement (SEM) varies across the range of examinee ability (Feldt, Steffen, & Gupta, 1985; Lord, 1955; Mollenkopf, 1949; Thorndike, 1951). The SEM estimate as traditionally computed,
Applying the golden rule of sampling for query estimation

Query size estimation is crucial for many database system components. In particular, query optimizers need efficient and accurate query size estimation when deciding among alternative query plans. In this paper we propose a novel sampling technique based on the golden rule of sampling, introduced by von Neumann in 1947, for estimating range queries. The proposed technique randomly samples the frequency domain using the cumulative frequency distribution and yields good estimates without any a priori knowledge of the actual underlying distribution of spatial objects. We show experimentally that the proposed sampling technique gives smaller approximation error than the Min-Skew histogram based and wavelet based approaches for both synthetic and real datasets. Moreover, the proposed technique can be easily extended for higher dimensional datasets.
Follicular and FSH dynamics in ewes with a history of high and low ovulation rates.

Abstract Daily transrectal ultrasound scanning and twice-daily blood sampling were used to monitor the temporal relationships between FSH concentrations and follicle development during complete interovulatory intervals for ewes in which the ovulation rate in each of the 2 previous years was high or low (≥3 and ≤2 ovulations, respectively). Follicles that reached ≥5 mm were used to define a follicular wave and were tracked retrospectively to 3 mm (emergence). The hypothesis that FSH surges (identified with a computer program) and follicular waves (retrospectively determined based on ultrasound scanning) are temporally associated was supported in both groups by the emergence of an anovulatory or ovulatory follicular wave near the peak of an FSH surge. Further support for the hypothesis was a significant increase in FSH concentrations before and a significant decrease after follicular-wave emergence in both groups independent of the identification of FSH surges. Ewes with a history of high ovulation rates had smaller follicles (anovulatory and ovulatory) and more ovulations, but the 2 groups were similar in the number of ovulatory follicular waves and associated FSH surges, number and characteristics of the FSH surges, and mean FSH concentrations per interovulatory interval. Surges of FSH were periodic (every 3 or 4 d) regardless of the ovulation-rate group or follicle response. In ewes with a low ovulation rate, the nonovulatory FSH surges were most frequently associated with emergence of detected anovulatory follicular waves. In ewes with a high ovulation rate, more FSH surges were not associated with a detected follicular wave, as defined, presumably because the largest follicle did not reach 5 mm. The results indicated that the factors resulting in a high ovulation rate were not exerted through circulatory patterns or concentrations of FSH but involved a shorter growth phase and smaller maximal diameter of follicles.
Brønsted slopes based on single-molecule imaging data help to unveil the chemically coupled rotation in F1-ATPase

F1-ATPase, the rotary motor that powers most of the processes in living cells, has challenged scientists, experimentalists, and theoreticians alike to gain deeper understanding of its action. The work on F1 for more than two decades encompasses elucidation of the complex 3D structure (1) and the analysis of the thermodynamics and kinetics of the chemical steps (2) that led to the revelation of its rotary–chemical action (3). These advances were enhanced by direct observation of the F1 central stalk (γ) rotation (4) that is tightly coupled to the chemical steps of the ATP binding, hydrolysis, and product release, occurring in the three catalytic subunits of the crown (α/β). The γ rotation was observed to occur in substeps of 80°/40° that were embedded within the waiting dwells, namely, the “ATP binding dwell” before the 80° substep and the “catalytic dwell” before the 40° substep (5) (Fig. 1). Since the initial progress made almost two decades ago, the study of various aspects of F1 continues to occupy a central position, as ongoing efforts offer more detailed insights into the structure, function, and dynamics of the system (6, 7).
New Discoveries Alter the Landscape Potential of Anti-Aging Therapy

Senescence is characterized by the decline in the ability to cope with stress. Hormesis regulation of opposing biological effects of low and high dosages, can determine longevity, and disease vulnerability at appropriate doses. Regulation of age-related changes in micro RNA opens new areas of therapeutic targets. Micro RNA downregulates stress response pathways with age establishing vulnerability to multiple age related disease which, if targeted could theoretically delay senescence. Mitochondrial targeted drugs have intervened in seemingly otherwise unrelated pathologies like neurological diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, infections, diabetes, acute ischemic shock, and wound healing; an example of a common magic bullet for intervention in mitochondrial dysfunction pathologies of oxidative stress. The telomerase subunit, TERT, the promiscuous reverse transcriptase, exhibits hormetic activity, benefit at low levels, dysfunctional at high levels, and is required for signally survival. The appropriate targeted telomerase therapy is key for optimal desired drug therapy for inhibition in cancer and HIV infected therapy and enhanced in bystander cells for oxidative stress tolerance. Comparative biology studies reveal the role of Neuregulin and Nrf2, as key players in the puzzle of the long lived disease free mole rat despite high levels of oxidative stress. A hibernation stress response cold shock peptide restores synaptic plasticity, and is beneficial in neurodegeneration. Muscles and gut are not only responsible for their respective roles in locomotion and digestion but also regulate systemic responses in the body. New insights into the roles of muscles and gut change how drugs affect multiple organs and impact the route of administration. While oxidative stress can either signal metabolic benefits, death or be neutralized by a wheelhouse of antioxidant pathways, recent technological advances and conceptual shifts, allow regulation of opposing consequences by appropriate targeting of drugs to achieve protective effects in multiple age related diseases.
Some Days, Things Just 'Click' in the Classroom: Clicker Technology in the Introductory Us Politics Classroom

One increasingly popular instrument of classroom technology is the clicker. With clickers, instructors prompt students' classroom engagement during class sessions in part by posing questions to which students respond through handheld wireless electronic devices. Even a quick reading of available literature shows that clickers may be a powerful means of facilitating a variety of promising active learning techniques by pushing more students in even the heavily populated lecture hall to engage actively during class sessions. While the natural sciences in particular have generated a robust literature on clicker-infused pedagogy, little research is available regarding clickers in the social science classroom, and almost none is available specifically within political science (Kam and Sommer (2006) is the exception). My goal with this project is to explore the technology's pedagogical potential in the context of the introductory-level US Politics curriculum. I will be investigating clicker use across two separate sections of introductory-level US Politics, ultimately analyzing data regarding both student attitudes (via anonymous student surveys) and learning outcomes (based in part on quiz and exam data). A variety of question formats and contexts will be investigated to determine which prove most promising for engaging general education students with the primary concepts, processes, and principles relevant to an introductory-level course in US politics.
Anatomic Clinical Trial Endpoints for Nonexudative Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Topic To review the role of anatomic endpoints in clinical trials for the study of nonexudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) with an emphasis on a novel composite endpoint for the study of emerging therapies for intermediate AMD (iAMD). Clinical Relevance Unlike clinical trials for exudative AMD, it is impractical to use the change in visual acuity (VA) as a primary endpoint for the study of nonexudative AMD. By the time VA has been lost in nonexudative AMD, proof-of-concept early-stage clinical trials would take years to run, and drug development would be a near impossible task. Surrogate endpoints are needed that reliably predict future vision loss and can be easily measured. Anatomic changes that correlate with disease progression in nonexudative AMD offer the greatest promise as primary endpoints. Methods In preparation for this review, the electronic PubMed database was searched for relevant research pertaining to anatomic endpoints for the study of nonexudative AMD. Paper selection was based on our knowledge of the field with the goal to be as inclusive as possible. Whenever possible, recent review articles and results from large clinical trials, preferably with outcomes from many years of follow-up were favored over trials of short duration. Results The most commonly used anatomic endpoint for the study of late, nonexudative AMD is the growth of geographic atrophy (GA). The advantages of studying GA include the appreciation that its enlargement through the foveal center leads to significant vision loss through the availability of natural history studies, the understanding that prevention of this growth would preserve vision in the future, the ability to reliably measure GA using different imaging strategies, and the development appropriate statistical tools that reliably predict the growth of GA over time. The major disadvantage of using GA is that significant, irreversible disease progression has already occurred. The use of drusen volume as a predictor of disease progression and the use of a composite endpoint that incorporates drusen growth, formation of GA, and formation of neovascularization offers an opportunity to study therapies at an earlier stage of AMD with a greater likelihood of preserving better vision over a lifetime. Conclusions Anatomic endpoints for the study of nonexudative AMD are needed to accelerate drug development, and the availability of optical coherence tomography algorithms capable of reliably measuring drusen morphology offer the best opportunity to study therapies for iAMD.
Characterization of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes: effects of operating conditions and specific ion rejection

AbstractReverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) are two of the most commonly used technologies for desalinating brackish and saline waters to provide potable water. However, there is still lack of a thorough comparison between these two methods providing the better option in different conditions. Therefore, in this paper, salt rejection and the effects of operation conditions on the performance of RO and NF systems are compared. Inlet water conductivity, inlet pH, permeate flow rate, temperature, and recovery rate are used as variable operating conditions, and permeate conductivity is considered as the target of comparison as it reflects the level of salts in product water. Five combinations of inland brackish water, drawn from wells located at the experimental site, were applied as different feed waters and five distinct types of membranes, three RO and two NF, were studied using pilot-scale equipment. To allow meaningful comparison among RO and NF membrane performances, identical hydrodynamic opera...
On the Number of System Separations in Electric Power Systems

Electric power systems subjected to large and/or unexpected disturbances can become unstable and suffer from system separations and cascading outages. A major objective of smart-grid development is to maintain power system stability under high-penetration of renewable energy. Critical system separations (due to faults cleared immediately after the critical clearing time) have important applications in transient stability analysis and relay setting, and in devising corrective measures to efficiently reduce the detrimental impacts of large disturbances. Such system separations have practical physical consequences. As the main result, an upper bound on the number of possible critical system separations is derived for the power system with $n$ generators. The analytical results are illustrated in the last section, by using the IEEE power system test cases with 9 and 57 buses, respectively, and an efficient numerical scheme is described to compute different system separations.
Varying Timescales of Stimulus Integration Unite Neural Adaptation and Prototype Formation

Summary Human visual perception is both stable and adaptive. Perception of complex objects, such as faces, is shaped by the long-term average of experience as well as immediate, comparative context. Measurements of brain activity have demonstrated corresponding neural mechanisms, including norm-based responses reflective of stored prototype representations, and adaptation induced by the immediately preceding stimulus. Here, we consider the possibility that these apparently separate phenomena can arise from a single mechanism of sensory integration operating over varying timescales. We used fMRI to measure neural responses from the fusiform gyrus while subjects observed a rapid stream of face stimuli. Neural activity at this cortical site was best explained by the integration of sensory experience over multiple sequential stimuli, following a decaying-exponential weighting function. Although this neural activity could be mistaken for immediate neural adaptation or long-term, norm-based responses, it in fact reflected a timescale of integration intermediate to both. We then examined the timescale of sensory integration across the cortex. We found a gradient that ranged from rapid sensory integration in early visual areas, to long-term, stable representations in higher-level, ventral-temporal cortex. These findings were replicated with a new set of face stimuli and subjects. Our results suggest that a cascade of visual areas integrate sensory experience, transforming highly adaptable responses at early stages to stable representations at higher levels.
Six novel deleterious and three neutral mutations in the gene encoding the α-subunit of hexosaminidase A in non-Jewish individuals

Initial investigations demonstrated that only 3/34 "Tay-Sachs chromosomes" in 22 unrelated, non-Jewish patients or carriers of some form of GM2-gangliosidosis (7 black and 15 non-Jewish Caucasian) had either of the two mutations commonly found in the Jewish population. To determine the nature and incidence of the alterations in this non-Jewish population we have utilized PCR, single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis and sequencing to detect new mutations in genomic DNA. Fourteen primer sets have been utilized to analyze 80% of the coding region and 23/26 splice sites of the gene coding for the alpha chain of hexosaminidase A. Presumed deleterious mutations were discovered in 17/34 chromosomes believed to be carrying a beta-hexosaminidase A alpha-subunit gene mutation. Ten had abnormalities which have been described previously. In the remaining 24 Tay-Sachs disease alleles, six novel mutations predicted to be deleterious were discovered. These include two small deletions (a single-base frameshift and a three-base deletion removing an amino acid), two different nonsense mutations, an initiation codon mutation (ATG----GTG), and a missense mutation (Arg499Cys) in a highly conserved residue. In addition, three presumed nondeleterious mutations were found.