cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Offshore Bet: The Benefits of Capital Mobility

Offshore financial centres (OFCs) are alleged to be hotbeds of tax evasion. Their role in facilitating individual and corporate tax planning, which is entirely legal but politically controversial, has also come under the spotlight. However, OFCs play an important economic function. By mitigating instances of double and triple taxation, offshore centres raise aggregate investment. Their existence is also associated with better economic outcomes in the countries that surround them. The recent growth in the number and size of OFCs can be explained by three developments: an increase in the stock of investable capital, new investment opportunities outside Western Europe and North America, and the growth of tax and regulatory intervention by governments. As more investment capital is allocated across a diverse range of jurisdictions from investors around the world, the potential for multiple taxation increases. The role of OFCs in eliminating excessive taxation has a positive impact on investment returns which compounds over time. There is no evidence that the rise of OFCs has adversely affected the revenue-raising ability of other countries. For example, corporate tax revenue as a share of all taxes collected has grown slightly in the average OECD country since 1980. Nor is it true that OFCs levy no taxes: their average tax revenue as a share of national income is only six percentage points lower than across the OECD. OFCs do, however, rely on indirect (e.g. consumption) taxes rather than direct (e.g. income) taxes for revenue. Indirect taxes are often less distortionary. The popular account of offshore centres is an outdated caricature that bears little resemblance to how OFCs in fact operate. Undermining their existence would harm investment, economic growth and international capital flows, while the promised benefits from intervention are unlikely to materialise.
The Spillover Effects of Oxycontin's Introduction on Crime

Since the late 1990s, the U.S. has experienced a substantial rise in drug overdose and overdose deaths due to the increased use of opioid drugs. This study estimates the effects of the opioid epidemic on crime relying for identification on geographic variation in the distribution of OxyContin, which in turn was driven by initial state drug prescription policies. Using the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) data, I find that compared to states with stringent prescription policies, the rate of property and violent crimes in states exposed to OxyContin increased by 12% and 25%, respectively. Thus, the supply shock of opioids combined with loose policies on prescription drugs can create unintended and negative consequences in non-health issues, such as crime. This conclusion is supported by suggestive evidence on mechanisms of mental health conditions, alcohol abuse, and illegal drug markets.
Geometric Transformers for Protein Interface Contact Prediction.

Computational methods for predicting the interface contacts between proteins come highly sought after for drug discovery as they can significantly advance the accuracy of alternative approaches, such as protein-protein docking, protein function analysis tools, and other computational methods for protein bioinformatics. In this work, we present the Geometric Transformer, a novel geometry-evolving graph transformer for rotation and translation-invariant protein interface contact prediction, packaged within DeepInteract, an end-to-end prediction pipeline. DeepInteract predicts partner-specific protein interface contacts (i.e., inter-protein residue-residue contacts) given the 3D tertiary structures of two proteins as input. In rigorous benchmarks, DeepInteract, on challenging protein complex targets from the new Enhanced Database of Interacting Protein Structures (DIPS-Plus) and the 13th and 14th CASP-CAPRI experiments, achieves 17% and 13% top L/5 precision (L: length of a protein unit in a complex), respectively. In doing so, DeepInteract, with the Geometric Transformer as its graph-based backbone, outperforms existing methods for interface contact prediction in addition to other graph-based neural network backbones compatible with DeepInteract, thereby validating the effectiveness of the Geometric Transformer for learning rich relational-geometric features for downstream tasks on 3D protein structures.
Early Administration of 17-Hydroxyprogesterone Caproate to Reduced Uterine Perfusion Pressure (RUPP) Rat Model of Preeclampsia Improves Inflammation, Uterine artery Vasoconstriction and Blood Pressure During Pregnancy

Preeclampsia (PE) is characterized by new onset hypertension and increased uterine artery resistance (UARI), elevated TNF-α, sFlt-1, and decreased of nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability during pregna...
Visualization of Multiprotein Complexes by Flow Cytometry

Multiprotein complexes and other protein-protein interactions play important roles in virtually all cellular processes. Analysis of coimmunoprecipitation of protein complexes by flow cytometry (IP-FCM, or "the fly-p" method) provides a sensitive means to measure these interactions in the native/nondenatured state. First, immunoprecipitating antibodies are covalently coupled to polystyrene latex beads whose low autofluorescence is compatible with flow cytometry. These antibody-coupled beads are used to immunoprecipitate a specific protein (primary analyte) present in cell lysates. Finally, the protein complexes associated with the beads are probed with fluorochrome-conjugated antibodies specific for interaction partners, or secondary analytes, that may be associated with the primary analyte. The use of quantitative flow cytometric methodology can allow the semiquantitative fluorescence data generated to be converted into estimated numbers of co-associated molecules on the beads. The method represents a robust technique to assess native protein-protein interactions without requiring genetic engineering or large sample sizes.
Bar-coding biomolecules with fluorescent nanocrystals.

Microbeads embedded with quantum dots show promise as a multiplex coding technology for the analysis of nucleic acids and proteins.
Hormonal regulation of hepatic P-enolpyruvate carboxykinase (GTP) during development

Hepatic gluconeogenesis in the rat does not begin until birth. The enzyme P-enolpyruvate carboxykinase appears initially at birth and is the final enzyme in the gluconeogenic sequence to develop. The appearance of this enzyme in the cytosol of rat liver is caused by the stimulation of enzyme synthesis, probably due directly to an increase in the hepatic concentration of cAMP. Enzyme degradation does not begin until 36 hours after birth. Studies with fetal rats in utero have shown that dibutyryl cAMP or glucagon will stimulate P-enolpyruvate carboxykinase synthesis and that this effect can be blocked by insulin. Insulin is known to depress the synthesis of P-enolpyruvate carboxykinase in adult rat liver and in Reuber H-35 liver cells in culture. The glucocorticoids are without effect on the synthesis of the enzyme in fetal rat liver. Work by Girard et al. (J. Clin. Invest. 52: 3190, 1973) has established that the molar ratio of insulin to glucagon drops from 10 immediately after birth, to 1 after one hour. This is due to both a rise in glucagon and a fall in insulin concentrations at birth. These studies, together with our work on the synthesis of P-enolpyruvate carboxykinase, indicate that the sharp drop in the concentration of insulin may relieve the normal inhibition of enzyme synthesis. This would allow the initial stimulation of enzyme synthesis by the glucagon-mediated rise in the concentration of cAMP.—Hanson, R. W., L. Reshef and J. Ballard. Hormonal regulation of hepatic P-enolpyruvate carboxykinase (GTP) during development. Federation Proc. 34: 166–171, 1975.
Hypoxia and Lou Gehrig.

Selective death of motor neurons beginning in mid life is the hallmark of the most abundant motor-neuron disease of adults, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). An unexpected insight into potential causes of the disorder is now provided by mice lacking the hypoxia response element of the promoter of the gene encoding the vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF). This elicits age-dependent, selective degeneration of motor neurons, and indicates that a primary cause of ALS may be chronic deficits in VEGF-dependent vascular perfusion or a direct neurotrophic effect of VEGF on motor neurons.
Influence of prosthetic groups on protein folding and subunit assembly. Recombination of separated human alpha-and beta-globin chains with heme and alloplex interactions of globin chains with heme-containing subunits

Abstract Reconstitution of the α and β subunits of human hemoglobin from separated α- and β-globin chains is described. The absorption and circular dichroism spectra, sedimentation coefficients, and sulfhydryl reactivities of the reconstituted subunits are compared with those of native subunits, which are regenerated from their p-mercuribenzoate chains by a novel procedure. The reconstituted subunits specifically recombine with the complementary native ones. Each property of the α subunit agrees, within experimental uncertainty, with the corresponding one of the subunit from which heme was never removed. Thus, markedly disordered and aggregated α-globin is restored to the highly ordered, monomeric α subunit upon recombination with 1 eq of hemin or hemin dicyanide. The reconstituted β subunit also compares well with the native subunit, except for a minor difference in a portion of the near-ultraviolet circular dichroism spectrum and a diminished sulfhydryl reactivity. Possible reasons for these differences are discussed. In the met form neither reconstituted subunit forms hemochromogen for several days, whereas the original met subunits become denatured within hours, probably owing to the necessity of exposing the latter, but not the former, to ferricyanide ion in producing the met forms. It is shown that while α- and β-globins do not combine at 4° (Yip, Y. K., Waks, M., and Beychok, S. (1972) J. Biol. Chem. 247, 7237), recombination does occur if either chain contains heme. The recombination produces half-filled (HF) molecules which are of two kinds, depending on which chain contains heme. The moleclar weights of these molecules are different. HFα, the intermediate prepared by mixing α subunits with β-globin, is a dimer; HFβ, the intermediate containing heme on its β chains, is a tetramer. No interchange of heme among chains occurs in the cyanmet forms in either molecule. In each, moreover, the conformation of the heme-free chain differs from that of the same chain when unbound. Both HF molecules bind 1 eq of heme, producing tetrameric hemoglobin. The most dramatic finding in this work is that the disordered α-globin can be refolded not only by binding heme but also by combining with a β subunit, although the refolding in the latter case is not as complete as in the former. These results show that the primary sequences of the globin chains generate unstable conformations, which are stabilized by combination with heme. They demonstrate also that refolding of a polypeptide chain can be induced by interaction with a neighboring subunit in an assembly process.
Spillover between Work and Family

The goal of this chapter is to explore the overlap and potential health consequences of work and family stress among women employed in blue-collar jobs. Women currently comprise more than 40% of the labor force in the United States. In 1980, 6 million women, or 14% of the total female labor force, were employed in blue-collar occupations. In spite of the size of this segment of the work force, little information exists on the nature and magnitude of work stress such women experience, the spillover between work and domestic stress, and the health and mental health consequences of these Stressors. These issues are particularly crucial in female employees, as Nieva (1985) noted, because “problems of integrating work and family lives still fall more heavily on women than men” (p. 175). They may be even more important among blue-collar women, whose jobs are often neither desirable, flexible, or lucrative, and who typically have total responsibility for home and child care.
Frequency up-conversion at the single-photon level in a periodically-poled lithium-niobate waveguide

Using sum-frequency generation we fully up-convert signal photons at 1550 nm to 775 nm. Due to coupling and filtering losses at the output, overall quantum efficiency is /spl sime/3.4% with dark-count probability of 3%.
Regulation of S-Adenosylmethionine Levels in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) catalyzes the reduction of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate to 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, used to methylate homocysteine in methionine biosynthesis. Methionine can be activated by ATP to give rise to the universal methyl donor, S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet). Previously, a chimeric MTHFR (Chimera-1) comprised of the yeast Met13p N-terminal catalytic domain and the Arabidopsis thaliana MTHFR (AtMTHFR-1) C-terminal regulatory domain was constructed (Roje, S., Chan, S. Y., Kaplan, F., Raymond, R. K., Horne, D. W., Appling, D. R., and Hanson, A. D. (2002) J. Biol. Chem. 277, 4056-4061). Engineered yeast (SCY4) expressing Chimera-1 accumulated more than 100-fold more AdoMet and 7-fold more methionine than the wild type. Surprisingly, SCY4 showed no appreciable growth defect. The ability of yeast to hyperaccumulate AdoMet was investigated by studying the intracellular compartmentation of AdoMet as well as the mode of hyperaccumulation. Previous studies have established that AdoMet is distributed between the cytosol and the vacuole. A strain expressing Chimera-1 and lacking either vacuoles (vps33 mutant) or vacuolar polyphosphate (vtc1 mutant) was not viable when grown under conditions that favored AdoMet hyperaccumulation. The hyperaccumulation of AdoMet was a robust phenomenon when these cells were grown in medium containing glycine and formate but did not occur when these supplements were replaced by serine. The basis of the nutrient-dependent AdoMet hyperaccumulation effect is discussed in relation to homocysteine biosynthesis and sulfur metabolism.
The changing survivorship of white and black children with leukemia.

A study was conducted in metropolitan Baltimore to examine changes in survival of white and black children with acute leukemia from 1960 through 1975. Two-hundred eighty-seven cases were identified, of which 77% were acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). Eighty-three percent of all cases occurred in white children. In white children with ALL, two-year survival rates increased from 32% in 1960--64 to 47% in 1965--69, and to 79% in 1970--75 (p less than .005). In the small sample of black children with ALL, two-year survival rates increased from 25% in 1960--64 to 59% in 1965--69 (p less than .01), with no further increase in 1970--75. For acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL), survivorship was analyzed in white children, among whom one-year survival rates increased from 42% in 1965--69 to 71% in 1970--75 (p less than .005). The increasingly better survival over time of white children with acute leukemia probably reflects the increasing efficacy of new therapeutic approaches.
X-ray Scattering Studies of Maquette Peptide Monolayers. 2. Interferometry at the Vapor/Solid Interface

We apply X-ray interferometry to study the profile structure of Langmuir−Blodgett (LB) monolayers containing maquette peptides, de novo di-α-helical synthetic peptides designed as model systems for studying biological electron transfer. The results demonstrate that it is possible to create monolayers with the peptide vectorially oriented with its helical axis (the direction of electron transfer within the holopeptide) approximately normal to the surface of the solid support. This orientation can even be achieved when the orientation of the peptide in the precursor Langmuir film at the air/water interface is parallel to the surface, indicating that reorganization of the monolayer can occur during or after LB deposition. Though issues regarding the low density of the film and variability between samples remain to be addressed, the work represents an important step toward future correlated functional/structural studies of these peptides.
Numerical and analytical representations of Eulerian angle matrices for symmetric top molecules

Abstract A simple algorithm for the unambiguous transformation relating Cartesian and Eulerian coordinates of nuclei of symmetric top molecules is described. Algebraic relations involving Eulerian angles are exploited to provide the means for an internally consistent treatment of asymmetric and symmetric top molecules in the program SURVIBTM (Comput. Phys. Commun. 51 (1988) 257, CPC Program Library Catalogue No. ABDZ). An application to NH 3 is presented.
Recombination and Annealing Pathways Compete for Substrates in Making rrn Duplications in Salmonella enterica

Tandem genetic duplications arise frequently between the seven directly repeated 5.5-kb rrn loci that encode ribosomal RNAs in Salmonella enterica. The closest rrn genes, rrnB and rrnE, flank a 40-kb region that includes the purHD operon. Duplications of purHD arise by exchanges between rrn loci and form at a high rate (10−3/cell/division) that remains high in strains blocked for early steps in recombination (recA, recB, and/or recF), but drops 30-fold in mutants blocked for later Holliday junction resolution (ruvC recG). The duplication defect of a ruvC recG mutant was fully corrected by an added mutation in any one of the recA, recB, or recF genes. To explain these results, we propose that early recombination defects activate an alternative single-strand annealing pathway for duplication formation. In wild-type cells, rrn duplications form primarily by the action of RecFORA on single-strand gaps. Double-strand breaks cannot initiate rrn duplications because rrn loci lack Chi sites, which are essential for recombination between two separated rrn sequences. A recA or recF mutation allows unrepaired gaps to accumulate such that different rrn loci can provide single-strand rrn sequences that lack the RecA coating that normally inhibits annealing. A recB mutation activates annealing by allowing double-strand ends within rrn to avoid digestion by RecBCD and provide a new source of rrn ends for use in annealing. The equivalent high rates of rrn duplication by recombination and annealing pathways may reflect a limiting economy of gaps and breaks arising in heavily transcribed, palindrome-rich rrn sequences.
Cranin interacts specifically with the sulfatide‐binding domain of laminin

Cranin is a 120 kDa integral membrane glycoprotein which binds laminin under conditions of physiologic ionic strength in a calcium-dependent manner. Here, binding of cranin to laminin has been characterized using both ligand-blotting assays and laminin affinity bead assays. Binding was specifically inhibited by anti-laminin antibodies against the A chain terminal domain G, but not by several other region-specific antibodies. Dextran sulfate, fucoidin, and sulfatide were potent inhibitors of binding (50% inhibition at 0.03, 0.5, and 1.7 micrograms/ml, respectively); heparin was a weaker inhibitor (50% inhibition approximately 5 micrograms/ml), and mannan and chondroitin sulfate were not inhibitory at 100 micrograms/ml. Binding was not inhibited by lactose or the A chain peptide PA22-2. The mobility of the broad, fuzzy cranin band was shifted after digestion with neuraminidase, N-glycanase, and O-glycanase, though none of these treatments decreased band heterogeneity nor destroyed the ability to bind laminin. Cranin bound to Jacalin lectin, which recognizes the Gal beta 1-3GalNAc linkage expressed in certain classes of mucins. These findings indicate that cranin binds at or near the high affinity sulfatide-binding site previously mapped to the E3 domain of laminin, which is known to exhibit bioactivity for neural cells. In view of the extremely low abundance of cranin in brain membranes (approximately 0.005%), its avid laminin-binding activity is remarkable, and strongly suggests that cranin may play a physiologic role in regulating specific neural cell interactions.
A processing window for injection of mesophase pitch into a fiber preform

Abstract A review of viscosity data for mesophase pitches prepared by pyrolysis of petroleum or coal-tar pitches, or by chemical and thermal treatment of organic precursors (“chemical pitches”), finds that, although the apparent viscosities range widely, the temperature dependencies follow a regular pattern. Mesophase pitches prepared from petroleum or coal-tar precursors are very viscous, but can be used in a partially transformed state to obtain some reduction in viscosity; in contrast, most chemical pitches are less viscous at full transformation. The processing window for injection of mesophase pitch into a fiber preform derives from three requirements: the mesophase must be fluid enough to avoid deformation of the preform, sufficiently stable to limit viscosity increase and bubble formation during injection, but high enough in softening point to permit oxidation stabilization. Capillary flow measurements were used in selecting a mesophase pitch for injection through 2D preforms made by 45°-layup of a plain-weave carbon fabric. The viscosity of a decanted mesophase pitch prepared by partial transformation of a petroleum pitch was found to lie above the processing window. However an alkylbenzene-based mesophase pitch showed a favorable combination of viscosity and thermal stability; using injection temperatures near 310°C and driving pressures of 0.1 MPa, steady penetrating flow was obtained with good filling of fiber bundles.
Synthesizing evidence and practices

Three years ago Ross Connor’s Presidential Address focused on the benefits of differences (Connor, 1990). In his view, differences in language, culture, viewpoints, and perspectives are not only beneficial, but they are “essential for our learning, creativity, and our astonishment (p. 83): Having worked in a political environment, and as faculty member and chair of an interdisciplinary department, I agree with Ross, at least in spirit. Applying his notions to evaluation, Ross noted that differences in evaluation perspectives, client perspectives, modes of inquiry, and the criteria they embody were things we should actively seek out and embrace. Again, I agree with Ross, but to a point. The themes developed in the past two presidential addresses also focused on differences and diversity (Lincoln, 1991; Ser in particular, they have addressed differences and similarities in evaluation perspectives. This has been operationalized as a distinction between qualitative and quantitative evaluation perspectives. Although these arguments, as Ernie House and Peter Rossi have noted, have been around for decades, the systematic discussion of the issues that we have had so far appears to shed some light on points of convergence and divergence. Another aspect of the theme, that I want to address here, highlights what I consider to be a natural outgrowth of discussions of methodological diversity. My notion is relatively simplistic. As evaluation specialists we have a number of definable respon-
■ FEATURED POSTER A grassroots effort to recruit medical students into interventional radiology: a report from year one

Learning Objectives Can a national, student-driven grassroots effort successfully promote IR at the medical student level? How can this goal be accomplished? Background Recruiting medical students is critical to interventional radiology as it transforms into a truly clinical specialty. In 2011, a group of 12 students was selected to join the new IR Medical Student Council (IRMSC) which is housed under the Student and Resident Committee of SIR. Fundamentally, the group’s mission is to promote IR on a grassroots level. Council members function as hubs of information, educating students on all facets of IR. More importantly, they work to recruit clinically-minded medical students focused on longitudinal rather than peri-procedural care. SIR membership is actively promoted and attendance at IR national meetings is stressed. Clinical Findings/Procedure Details During the IRMSC’s inaugural year, Interventional Radiology-specific Interest Groups (IRIGs) were successfully established in 75% (8/12) of the council member’s home institutions. These groups, in total, reached greater than 400 medical students. Corresponding with the IRMSC's efforts, in 2011, 139 students became new SIR members. This represented a 93% increase compared to the yearly average of 72 new student members from 2007-2010. Additionally, in 2012, 77 non-SIR medical students attended the Annual Scientific Meeting, which is a 26% and 133% increase in attendance compared to the 2011 (61) and 2010 (33) meetings, respectively. This also coincides with the implementation of a dedicated medical student portion of the meeting that IRMSC members helped organize and market. Conclusion and/or Teaching Points The increases in the number of medical student SIR members as well as in the number of medical students in attendance at the 2012 Annual Scientific Meeting correlate with the IRMSC's efforts to promote IR on a grassroots level. The SIR has acknowledged the IRMSC and now, council members actively participate in the Resident and Fellow Section to help direct future efforts of IR promotion. As the recently passed dual certificate is implemented, recruiting clinically-oriented medical students will be critical and the IRMSC can serve as an effective vehicle through which to do just that.
Phast4Windows: A 3D Graphical User Interface for the Reactive-Transport Simulator PHAST

Phast4Windows is a Windows® program for developing and running groundwater-flow and reactive-transport models with the PHAST simulator. This graphical user interface allows definition of grid-independent spatial distributions of model properties—the porous media properties, the initial head and chemistry conditions, boundary conditions, and locations of wells, rivers, drains, and accounting zones—and other parameters necessary for a simulation. Spatial data can be defined without reference to a grid by drawing, by point-by-point definitions, or by importing files, including ArcInfo® shape and raster files. All definitions can be inspected, edited, deleted, moved, copied, and switched from hidden to visible through the data tree of the interface. Model features are visualized in the main panel of the interface, so that it is possible to zoom, pan, and rotate features in three dimensions (3D). PHAST simulates single phase, constant density, saturated groundwater flow under confined or unconfined conditions. Reactions among multiple solutes include mineral equilibria, cation exchange, surface complexation, solid solutions, and general kinetic reactions. The interface can be used to develop and run simple or complex models, and is ideal for use in the classroom, for analysis of laboratory column experiments, and for development of field-scale simulations of geochemical processes and contaminant transport.
Interaction between bending and tension forces in bilayer membranes

A theoretical analysis is presented of the bending mechanics of a membrane consisting of two tightly-coupled leaflets, each of which shears and bends readily but strongly resists area changes. Structures of this type have been proposed to model biological membranes such as red blood cell membrane. It is shown that when such a membrane is bent, anisotropic components of resultant membrane tension (shear stresses) are induced, even when the tension in each leaflet is isotropic. The induced shear stresses increase as the square of the membrane curvature, and become significant for moderate curvatures (when the radius of curvature is much larger than the distance between the leaflets). This effect has implications for the analysis of shape and deformation of freely suspended and flowing red blood cells.
Connections between problematic trapping sets and deviations on the computation trees of LDPC codes

The error mechanisms of iterative message-passing decoders with low-density parity-check codes are studied. The connections between trapping sets and deviations on computation trees are explored in depth in an attempt to bridge experimental and analytic approaches to these error mechanisms. An iterative algorithm for finding low-weight trapping sets is presented along with a method for characterizing the weight of deviations that result from trapping sets.
Democracy in the Globalizing Indian City: Engagements of Political Society and the State in Globalizing Mumbai

Transformations under way in Indian cities have begun to alter the opportunities for democratic participation among the urban poor. Highlighting efforts to promote globally oriented urban developments in Mumbai, this article examines the state’s engagement with groups directly impacted by these efforts. Based on ethnographic research and interviews with key stakeholders in the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP), the article traces the character of such engagements over the project’s four-year planning process. It finds that the state undertook an unusually inclusive process, consulting with resident and activist groups at points throughout this period. The article posits that this novel engagement is an unintended consequence of pressures to promote rapid development and ease investor concerns. Situating this case in the recent literature on political shifts in the globalizing Indian city, it concludes that the state may be engaging more with the urban poor than many of these accounts suggest.
The topology of homophase misorientation spaces

Homophase misorientation spaces are investigated with a focus on the effect of symmetry operations on their topology and their minimum embedding dimensions in Euclidean space. Whereas the topology of rotation space is well established and requires a minimum of five variables for a one-to-one and continuous mapping, the spaces of orientations and misorientations are quotient spaces of the rotation space and are obtained by applying various equivalence relations. The equivalence relations for orientation spaces only involve the rotational symmetries of the underlying crystals. These spaces are classified under the three-dimensional manifolds called the spherical 3-manifolds, which have a non-trivial fundamental group, are not simply connected spaces, and do not embed in three-dimensional Euclidean space. In the case of homophase misorientation spaces, however, in addition to rotational symmetry operations there is a further ‘grain exchange symmetry’, which is shown to simplify the topology considerably. In ...
Oxidative stress and neuronal death/survival signaling in cerebral ischemia

It has been demonstrated by numerous studies that apoptotic cell death pathways are implicated in ischemic cerebral injury in ischemia models in vivo. Experimental ischemia and reperfusion models, such as transient focal/global ischemia in rodents, have been thoroughly studied and the numerous reports suggest the involvement of cell survival/death signaling pathways in the pathogenesis of apoptotic cell death in ischemic lesions. In these models, reoxygenation during reperfusion provides oxygen as a substrate for numerous enzymatic oxidation reactions and for mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation to produce adenosine triphosphate. Oxygen radicals, the products of these biochemical and physiological reactions, are known to damage cellular lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids and to initiate cell signaling pathways after cerebral ischemia. Genetic manipulation of intrinsic antioxidants and factors in the signaling pathways has provided substantial understanding of the mechanisms involved in cell death/survival signaling pathways and the role of oxygen radicals in ischemic cerebral injury. Future studies of these pathways could provide novel therapeutic strategies in clinical stroke.
Formulation of bi-directional atmosphere-surface exchanges of elemental mercury

Abstract A formulation of estimating bi-directional air-surface exchange of elemental mercury (Hg0) for natural surfaces was developed. This approach calculates emission and dry deposition respectively for various types of land cover from meteorological data and Hg0 concentrations, and can be used to provide lower boundary conditions for regional/global atmospheric transport and deposition models. The emission from bare soil was modeled as a function of soil temperature. For plant canopies, the emission of Hg0 was formulated as a function of the rate of evaportranspiration and the Hg0 concentration in the surface soil water. A resistance model was used for dry deposition to land surfaces. The air–water exchange of Hg0 was parameterized with wind speed, whitecap coverage, and Hg0 concentration in air and water. Using this method, the mass transfer velocities and exchange fluxes of Hg0 for five ground cover types were calculated for a region in the northeast United States during a summer week of 1995. The calculated dry deposition velocities and net exchange rates were similar in magnitude to published data. The simulation results indicated that the emission from natural surfaces is comparable in magnitude with the total anthropogenic emission from the region. The simulation also illustrated some of the general characteristics of the air-surface exchange of Hg0 over different land covers. The average net emission from plant canopies were estimated as 22 ng m−2 h−1, in comparison with 2.6 ng m−2 h−1 for water surfaces. For plant canopies, both emission and deposition followed a diurnal cycle with higher values during daytime. Emissions were predominant during daytime, but not at night. The air-canopy exchange of Hg0 was also highly sensitive to the soil water deficit and surface wetness. For water surfaces, the rates of emission were always higher than that of dry deposition.
Determining the impact of degree of blending and quality of reclaimed asphalt pavement on predicted pavement performance using pavement ME design

Abstract Past studies indicated binder from reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) aggregates only partial degree of blending (DOB) within hot mix asphalt (HMA). Most state agencies assume full blending, which may lead to under asphalting. This study focuses on determining the impact of it on predicted performance using ME level I analysis of six 25% RAP mixes. Dynamic complex modulus (DCM) tests were conducted with full and “actual” blending, all greater than 85%, using varying conditions comparing rutting and fatigue performance. The results indicate high DOB RAP mixes with uniform gradations have negligible effect on predicted performance and would not compromise performance.
Computer Imaging of the Atrioventricular Node and Bundles

Models of the three-dimensional appearance of the human atrioventricular conduction system are a valuable adjunct to its study but are usually not made because to do so is too time-consuming. We used computer graphics techniques to model the conducting system as a whole by generating shaded-surface displays.
The combination of adenoviral HSV TK gene therapy and radiation is effective in athymic mouse glioblastoma xenografts without increasing toxic side effects.

Object: In mouse models of prostate and breast cancer therapeutic effects are enhanced when adenoviral HSV TK gene therapy is combined with ionizing radiation. In the present study, we adopted this approach for the treatment of human glioblastoma xenografts in an athymic mouse model and assessed treatment results as well as toxic side effects.
Extracellular calcium ions and potassium contractures in mammalian muscles.

Abstract 1. 1. The time needed for the K-contracture tension of thin preparations (0.15–0.3 mm) of mouse and rat skeletal muscles in Ca-free solutions to decline to one-half of the initial value was 12–70 min. This was roughly one to two orders of magnitude too slow to be accounted for by simple diffusion of calcium from extracellular spaces. 2. 2. By decreasing the pH from 7·3 to 5·0 the curve relating peak tension of the K contractures to the log [K] was shifted to higher [K] but less than one-fourth as much as in frog muscles. 3. 3. The effect of low ionic strenght was to decrease the threshold [K] for contractures by about the same amount as in frog muscles. 4. 4. The average amount of 45Ca retained by muscles which were soaked in a radioactive solution at pH 7·3 and pH 5·0 for 5 min and subsequently washed for 78 min was equivalent to 33 and 4 nmoles Ca/g of fresh muscle respectively. 5. 5. The average additional retention of 45Ca following activity was more than 40 nmoles Ca/g and was not influenced by pH. The amount retained was the same when 45Ca was applied before high K or simultaneously with high K.
Effect of molecular diffusivity on point source diffusion in the center of a numerically simulated turbulent channel flow

Abstract Molecules of a substance (or thermal markers) in a turbulent flow escape from the fluid particles in which they are released because of their molecular diffusivity. The consequences of this phenomenon on the effectiveness of turbulence to disperse a foreign substance are explored by using a Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of flow in a channel. Trajectories of molecules of different Schmidt (or Prandtl) numbers originating in the center of the channel are computed and property autocorrelations and other single-particle Lagrangian statistics are reported and discussed.
Atraumatic removal of secretions from the prepubertal vagina

Adequate vaginal secretions for laboratory tests are difficult to obtain from the prepubertal girl. A simple atraumatic technique for obtaining several milliliters of vaginal secretions is described. This is extremely useful for the clinician evaluating the child with vulvovaginitis and/or possible sexual abuse.
Invarient patterns in articulatory movements

The purpose of the reported study is to discover an effective method of characterizing movement patterns of the crucial articulator as the function of an abstract syllable magnitude and the adjacent boundary, and at the same time to investigate effects of prosodic control on utterance organization. In particular, the speed of movement when a flesh point on the tongue blade or the lower lip crosses a selected position relative to the occlusion plane is examined. The time of such crossing provides an effective measure of syllable timing and syllable duration according to previous work. In the present work, using a very limited vocabulary with only a few consonants and one vowel as the key speech materials, effects of contrastive emphasis on demisyllabic movement patterns were studied. The theoretical framework for this analysis is the C/D model of speech production in relation to the concept of an invariant part of selected articulatory movements. The results show evidence in favor of the existence of “iceb...
Low inflation, pass-through, and the pricing power of firms

Abstract Recently there has been a significant decline in the degree to which firms ‘pass through’ changes in costs to prices, a decline that is frequently characterized as a reduction in the ‘pricing power’ of firms. The decline appears to be associated with the decline in inflation in many countries. The decline has important implications for monetary policy because it affects both forecasts of inflation and the effects of changes in monetary policy on inflation. Some have argued that the decline in pricing power helped to keep inflation low in the face of apparently strong demand pressures in the United States in the late 1990s. This paper puts forth the view that the decline in pass-through or pricing power is due to the low inflation environment that has recently been achieved in many countries. First, a microeconomic model of price setting is used to show that lower pass-through is caused by lower perceived persistence of cost changes. Evidence is then presented showing that inflation is positively correlated with persistence of inflation, suggesting that the low inflation itself has caused the low pass-through. An economy-wide model consistent with the micromodel is then presented to illustrate how such changes in pricing power affect output and inflation dynamics in favorable ways, but can disappear quickly if monetary policy and expectations change.
Conceptual indexing and active retrieval of video for interactive learning environments

Selecting an instructive story from a video case base is an information retrieval problem, but standard indexing and retrieval techniques [1]were not developed with such applications in mind. The classical model assumes a passive retrieval system queried by interested and well-informed users. In educational situations, students cannot be expected to form appropriate queries or to identify their own ignorance. Systems that teach must, therefore, be active retrievers that formulate their own retrieval cues and reason about the appropriateness of intervention. The Story Producer for InteractivE Learning (SPIEL) is an active retrieval system for recalling stories to tell to students who are learning social skills in a simulated environment and . SPIEL is a component of the Guided Social Simulation (GuSS) architecture [4]used to build YELLO, a program that teaches account executives the fine points of selling Yellow Pages advertising. SPIEL uses structured, conceptual indices derived from research in case-based reasoning and SPIEL's manually-created indices are detailed representations of what stories are about, and they are needed to make precise assessments of stories' relevance. SPIEL's opportunistic retrieval architecture operates in two phases. During the storage phase, the system uses its educational knowledge encapsulated in a library of "storytelling strategies" to determine, for each story, what an opportunity to tell that story would look like. During the retrieval phase, the system tries to recognize those opportunities while the student interacts with the simulation. This design is similar to "opportunistic memory" architectures proposed for opportunistic planning.
An anyon wavefunction for the fractional quantum Hall effect

An anyon wavefunction (characterized by the statistical factor n) projected onto the lowest Landau level is derived for the fractional quantum Hall effect states at filling factor ν = n/(2pn+1) (p and n are integers). We study the properties of the anyon wavefunction by using detailed Monte Carlo simulations in disc geometry and show that the anyon ground-state energy is a lower bound to the composite fermion one. Our results suggest that the composite fermions can be viewed as a combination of anyons and a fluid of charge–neutral dipoles.
Validity of photo-based scenic beauty judgments

Abstract This study examines whether scenic beauty judgments based upon photographs of landscapes are similar to scenic beauty judgments based upon on-site experiences of landscapes. Two concerns are emphasized: (1) a concern about the threat to the ecological validity of photo-based assessments caused by differences between on-site and photo-based contexts and (2) a concern that the individual rater, rather than the group average, is the more appropriate unit of analysis for tests of validity of photo-based assessments. On-site scenic beauty assessments were collected from day hikers. These data were compared to photo-based scenic beauty assessments collected from the same persons three months and nine months after their on-site experience. Approximately 38% of participants had insignificant correlations between their on-site and photo-based scenic beauty ratings. These and other results suggest that the validity of photo-based scenic beauty assessments is in doubt, at least for the situation studied here. Moreover, the results suggest that the difference between persons' on-site and photo-based ratings can be explained, in part, by contextual factors such as the mood, meaning, and novelty that differentiate photo-based from on-site landscape experiences. Group averaged on-site and photo-based assessments, however, were very similar, suggesting caution may be in order for studies interpreting summary measures.
An “incredible number of Latinos and Asians:” Media representations of racial and ethnic population change in Atlanta, Georgia

The United States has experienced substantial population change in recent decades. Important trends during the 1990s include the strong growth of Latinos and Asians, and their increasing geographical dispersion throughout the country. Most individuals were likely to learn about these and other demographic shifts from mainstream media coverage of Census 2000 results. This study considers how journalists in Atlanta, Georgia, a non-traditional destination for Latinos and Asians, conveyed a simultaneous and significant increase of Whites, African Americans, Latinos and Asians in one Atlanta-area county. Analyses of 70 Atlanta Journal-Constitution articles published between 2000 and 2003 reveal that reporters were unlikely to provide comprehensive or balanced coverage about local racial/ethnic change. Instead, journalists provided far more statistics about Latinos and Asians than either Whites or Blacks and linked non-White population growth with negative issues. These practices suggest how members of the media continue to participate in discourses that sustain and disguise the racialized hierarchy in the United States.
An Anthropological Approach to Sex

At the outset of Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (16, p. 3) Kinsey and his collaborators declare that they seek to contribute understanding about the actual sexual behavior of people as well as about "the inter-relationships of that behavior with the biological and social aspects of their histories." For many years anthropologists have been reporting similar behavior gathered from many points on the earth's surface. Generally speaking the anthropologist does not relate his data to the
Office-based anesthesia for children

Abstract The use of office-based surgery and anesthesia will continue to grow. The anesthesia community has embraced the opportunity to become a driving force of office-based surgery and has organized into rapidly growing groups that promote safe practice in the office setting. The Society for Office-Based Anesthesia was developed to continuously improve patient safety and outcomes in office surgery. This group has an active Web site (www.soba.org) that allows for online discussions and widespread participation in working toward the society's stated goal. This Web site may be used as a reference for physicians in the process of considering the move to office-based anesthesia. The advantages of office-based anesthesia are numerous. The financial incentives are tremendous and the convenience to the patient and surgeon is important. For office anesthesia to be successful in children, patient safety, proof of improved outcomes, and family and surgeon satisfaction must be the goals. Anesthesia providers must continue to take active roles in organizing the office environment to ensure that safety is paramount. As the field grows, additional ways to study and improve the overall care children receive in the office should be sought. In the near future, office practice for surgery and anesthesia for children undergoing minor procedures should be a safe and effective alternative to current practices.