cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Antigen structure and genetic basis of histo-blood groups A, B and O: their changes associated with human cancer.

Three areas of research involved in blood group (or histo-blood group) ABO antigens and their genes, developed by our research group, are reviewed: (1) Antigen structures. The structural basis of A and H, A(1) and A(2), i and I antigens expressed in erythrocyte membranes. Major carriers of A and H determinants in erythrocytes are type 2 chain poly-LacNAc, short vs. long and unbranched vs. branched structures termed A(a), A(b), A(c), A(d) and H(1), H(2), H(3), H(4). Regular A (A(1)) and weak A (A(2)) were identified respectively as repetitive A (type 3 chain A) and A-associated H. A(1)- and A(2)-specific type 3 chain A and H, type 1 chain (representing Lewis blood group antigens), and type 4 chain (globo-series antigen; an extremely minor component in erythrocytes) are all glycosphingolipids. A and H determinants in fetal and newborn erythrocytes are carried by unbranched poly-LacNAc, whereas these determinants in adult erythrocytes are carried by branched poly-LacNAc. (2) ABO genes. A few cDNAs encoding A enzyme (UDP-GalNAc: H-a-GalNAc transferase) were cloned based on the amino acid sequence of purified A enzyme and their structures were compared with those of homologous cDNA from blood cells of B and O individuals (genotype BB, OO). Four nucleotide substitutions and four corresponding amino acid sequences essential for expression of A(1) allele and B allele, and differences between A and B enzymes, were identified. Amino acids 266 and 268, i.e. Leu and Gly for A enzyme vs. Met and Ala for B enzyme, were dominant in determining A vs. B activity (presumably recognizing UDP-GalNAc vs. UDP-Gal). The A(2) allele was characterized by deletion of the termination codon, extending nucleotides up to 1128 and thus encoding 21 extra amino acids at the C terminus, which may affect (diminish) the dominant function of amino acids 266 and 268. Typical O allele (O(1)) is characterized by deletion of nucleotide 261 G, causing frame shift and encoding of an entirely different, short polypeptide, due to appearance of early termination codon at nucleotide 354. Structures of other O alleles (O(1 v), O(2)) and other weak A alleles (A(3), A(el)) are also described. The genomic structure of ABO genes consists of seven exons which span approximately 19 kb of genomic DNA on chromosome 9, band q34. Most of the coding sequence is located in exon 7. Analysis of the 5' upstream region revealed the presence of the binding site for transcription factors and enhancer element. (3) Antigens and genes in cancer. A and B phenotypes aberrantly expressed in various types of human cancer, and their genetic basis, have been studied. One widely-occurring change observed in a large variety of human cancers is deletion of A or B epitope, associated with accumulation of their precursor H (Le(y), Le(b)), which causes enhanced malignancy. A less-commonly observed change is expression of incompatible A, identified as real type 1 chain A, in tumors of O or B individuals. A possible molecular genetic mechanism leading to such phenotypic changes is discussed.
Vote.com? Issue Voting of Internet Users in the 2000 Presidential Election

In recent years, Internet use has grown rapidly and changed citizens' daily lives. This study examines the influence of Internet usage on issue-voting in the 2000 presidential election. Using NES data on voters who planned to vote in the 2000 presidential election, I test the hypotheses that voters who use the Internet for obtaining information about elections are more issue-oriented in their voting behaviors. I find mixed results. While the Internet users' voting preferences are more consistent with their attitudes on tax cuts than are those of the non-users, both the Internet users' and non-users' voting preferences are inconsistent with their orientation toward the issue of health care. This finding is robust even with voters' educational attainment and access to newspaper held constant.
Head growth in sick premature infants—a longitudinal study

Serial weekly measurements of somatic growth and head circumference were made for ten weeks on 41 appropriately grown sick preterm infants (gestational age 28 to 32 weeks) with severe neonatal problems. Twenty-seven (66%) required prolonged assisted ventilation. During the period of acute illness, the velocity of growth for the sick infants was below that of the normal fetus, with deviation away from and below the normal fetal growth curve. During recovery, head growth paralleled that of normal fetal growth, and subsequently rapid "catch-up" growth in head circumference occurred. By comparison, six similar infants, whose head circumference followed the intrauterine growth curve, proved to have hydrocephalus. These results suggest that: (1) the brain participates in the growth retardation associated with being sick and premature and that apparently normal head growth under comparable circumstances may be associated with hydrocephalus; (2) in spite of an energy intake ranging from 80 to 120 kcal/kg/day by the end of the second postpartum week, normal growth in the sick low-birth-weight infant does not occur until their acute illness has resolved.
Rapid decline in the concentrations of three yolk steroids during development: Is it embryonic regulation?

Maternally derived yolk steroids have been found to elicit both short-term and long-term effects on offspring phenotype. Paradoxically, their effects can be strikingly specific given the often substantial concentrations present at oviposition, and they do not appear to uniformly affect all steroid-sensitive processes. To better understand the dynamics of yolk steroids across embryonic development, we quantified levels of progesterone, testosterone, and estradiol at 5-day intervals throughout development in eggs of the red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta) incubated at both male- and female-producing temperatures. We also assessed the effect of season on yolk steroid levels. For all steroids assayed, the concentrations in yolk declined significantly by day 15 of embryonic development despite large differences in initial concentrations among steroids. We found that estradiol was the only steroid whose initial concentration varied significantly with season, while only the decline in testosterone was affected by incubation temperature. These findings illustrate the complex nature of yolk steroid dynamics and suggest that maternal steroids may be rapidly degraded or subject to embryonic processing, emphasizing the need for studies aimed at understanding the mechanisms through which yolk steroids may elicit their effects.
Dr Jerome Kassirer’s Book On The Take: How Medicine’s Complicity With Big Business Can Endanger Your Health Worthy of Comment

Dr Jerome Kassirer’s new book published for a general audience, On the Take: How Medicine’s Complicity With Big Business Can Endanger Your Health , chronicles the kind, extent, and consequences of collaborations between the medical profession and industry.1 Adopting the style of an investigative reporter, this highly respected former editor of The New England Journal of Medicine relates, within 213 highly readable pages, a litany of well-referenced examples demonstrating that pernicious financial conflicts of interest are rife in medicine today and threaten to undermine the integrity of the profession. Although many of the incidents recounted in the book are already matters of public record, their inclusion in a single volume provides some sobering and most unsettling food for thought. Beginning in Chapter 1 with the innocent free gifts, free meals, and free education many doctors receive, Dr Kassirer takes the reader through 8 revealing chapters to demonstrate that “trinkets bloom into meals at fine restaurants, meals grow into speaking fees, speaking fees morph into ongoing consultations and membership on drug company advisory boards, positions that can command up to six figures a year.” He raises the question “Has all this money floating around medicine created a pattern of corruption?” By all indications, his answer to this question appears to be a resounding yes , with which we agree. The vis-a-tergo for this perfidy is attributed to the massive expansion of the highly profitable drug, device, biomedical, and commercial educational industries. This dramatic growth began to occur just after increased federal funding enhanced training and research programs in the 1960s, resulting in a flourishing of the academic medical enterprise within the United States. To further profits and remain competitive with the international market, so it reasoned, Congress passed legislation that provided financial incentives for academic medical centers and their investigators …
Determinants of early distant metastatic disease in elderly patients with breast cancer

Abstract Background The purpose of this analysis was to determine predictors of early distant metastasis in elderly breast cancer patients receiving hormonal therapy. Methods We analyzed data from 938 patients in the North American Fareston Tamoxifen Adjuvant Trial ≥65 years old to determine predictors of early metastatic disease. Results The median patient age was 73 (range 65 to 100). With a median follow-up of 34 months, 17 patients (1.8%) developed distant metastases. The median time to distant metastasis was 21 months. On univariate analysis, significant predictors of distant metastatic disease were as follows: progesterone receptor status ( P = .032), lymphovascular invasion ( P = .020), tumor grade ( P = .007), tumor size ( P P P = .029) remained significant. Patients with ≥4 positive nodes were more likely to develop early metastases than those with 0 to 3 positive nodes (odds ration 20.304; 95% confidence interval 2.777–148.456, P = .003). Conclusions Lymph node status in the elderly breast cancer patient treated with hormonal therapy alone is a strong predictor of early distant recurrence.
Barbiturates modulate the activity of the pituitary 3α-hydroxysteroid oxidoreductases and inhibit their production of 3α,5α-tetrahydroprogesterone

Abstract The effects of sodium phenobarbital and sodium barbital on the activity of the particulate and cytosolic 5α-dihydroprogesterone 3α-hydroxysteroid oxidoreductases (3α-HSORs) of female rat anterior pituitary were investigated. By altering the 3α-HSOR catalyzed conversion of 5α-dihydroprogesterone (5α-DHP) to 3α,5α-tetrahydroprogesterone (3α,5α-THP), these barbiturates could influence the in situ production of 3α,5α-THP. 3α,5α-THP has potent barbiturate-like effects on brain GABAA receptors. Both phenobarbital and 3α,5α-THP can affect gonadotropin release in female rats. In vitro incubations of each 3α-HSOR activity were assayed in the presence of sodium phenobarbital (0.1 to 10.0 mM) or sodium barbital (1.0 to 10.0 mM). Since both 3α-HSOR activities catalyze the reversible oxidoreduction of 5α-DHP and 3α,5α-THP, we examined the effect of these barbiturates not only on the conversion of 5α-DHP to 3α,5α-THP (reductive reaction) but also on the “back conversion” of 3α,5α-THP to 5α-DHP (oxidative reaction). The results indicate that both phenobarbital and, to a lesser extent barbital, significantly affected the activities of the two 3α-HSORs in both reductive and oxidative directions. In the reductive direction, phenobarbital inhibited the activity (33%) of both cytosolic and particulate enzymes which would presumably decrease the levels of 3α,5α-THP. In the oxidative direction, a pattern of stimulation was observed (20 to 100%). Thus, this stimulatory effect on the oxidative conversion of 3α,5α-THP to 5α-DHP, which would presumably also decrease 3α,5α-THP levels, appears correlated with the inhibitory effect of these barbiturates on the reductive conversion of 5α-DHP to 3α,5α-THP. Sodium barbital exhibited somewhat similar effects. These changes suggest that barbiturates can lower 3α,5α-THP levels in the anterior pituitary. The results also suggest the possibility that lowered 3α,5α-THP levels may be involved, at least in part, in the reduction of gonadotropin release by barbiturates.
Positron thermalization and non-thermal trapping in metals

The authors have made a detailed study of the thermalization of positrons implanted into metals, using aluminium as an example. This is done by solving the Boltzmann equation for the positron momentum distribution in a homogeneous medium, allowing the positrons to scatter off electrons and phonons. They obtain both the time-dependent and steady-state solutions. The former gives the time evolution of the positron momentum distribution and the average energy and energy loss rate as functions of time after implantation. The full statistical description of the slowing-down process and the inclusion of both electron and phonon scattering mean that the authors' energy loss rates are more accurate than earlier results, which are considerably lower than the authors'. The steady-state solution gives the momentum distribution from which positrons annihilate. Their formulation allows them to evaluate the influence of non-thermal trapping into defects, such as vacancies, on measurable parameters in positron experiments. The results show that, even if resonances are present in the momentum-dependent trapping rates, the differences between the results from the full calculation and for trapping from a thermal momentum distribution are exceedingly small. Thus the authors' conclude that non-thermal trapping is not important for positron studies of vacancies in metals.
Profile of delamanid for the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis

New approaches to the treatment of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) are badly needed. Not only is the success rate of current treatment regimens suboptimal but existing regimens require multiple drugs and lengthy courses and may lead to significant toxicities. The treatment landscape is beginning to shift, however, with the recent approvals of the new TB drugs bedaquiline and delamanid. Delamanid, a dihydro-imidazooxazole, has been shown to have excellent activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in both in vitro and in murine TB models. It has also recently been reported to improve rates of sputum culture conversion in patients with multidrug-resistant TB when added to an optimized background regimen. Although generally well tolerated, delamanid has been associated with QT prolongation, which may be of particular clinical concern when paired with other TB drugs that may also have this effect, most notably the fluoroquinolones. Ongoing studies will help to clarify delamanid's role in the treatment of drug-resistant TB.
Human facial motion modeling, analysis, and synthesis for video compression

We present some preliminary results of our work on model-based compression of video sequences of a person’s face, in the context of teleconferencing and videophone applications. The emphasis is on the difficult and challenging problem of analysis. Algorithms are presented for extracting and tracking key feature points on the face, and for estimating the global and local motion of the head/face.
Some Myxosporida from Marine Fishes in South Florida1

SYNOPSIS. Myxosoma cephalis n. sp. is described from the brain meninges, gills, jaw bone, crop tissue and buccal cavity of Mugil cephalus Linnaeus (striped mullet) of south Florida. The fresh spore is subspherical in front view, lenticular in side view and averages 14.1 × 11.0 × 9.0 μ (length, width, thickness). The sutural ridge is broad, the sutural line is faintly visible and the polar filaments are coiled 4–5 times. This parasite is apparently associated with an epizootic in mullet. Three species of beloniform fishes from south Florida waters were examined for myxosporidan parasites. New host records and extensions of ranges are provided for Myxidium sphaericum Thelohan in Strongylura timucu (Walbaum) (timucu), and Ceratomyxa aggregata Davis in Hyporhamphus unifasciatus (Ranzani) (halfbeak). A single spore of the genus Myxidium was found in the gall bladder of Hemiramphus brasiliensis Linnaeus (ballyhoo).
Network performance measurements for NASA's earth observation system

NASA's Earth Observation System (EOS) Project studies all aspects of planet Earth from space, including climate change, and ocean, ice, land, and vegetation characteristics. It consists of about 20 satellite missions over a period of about a decade. Extensive collaboration is used, both with other US agencies (e.g., National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA; United States Geological Survey, USGS; Department of Defense, DoD), and international agencies (e.g., European Space Agency, ESA; Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA), to improve cost effectiveness and obtain otherwise unavailable data. Scientific researchers are located at research institutions worldwide, primarily government research facilities and research universities.The EOS project makes extensive use of networks to support data acquisition, data production, and data distribution. Many of these functions impose requirements on the networks, including throughput and availability. In order to verify that these requirements are being met, and be pro-active in recognizing problems, NASA conducts on-going performance measurements. The purpose of this paper is to examine techniques used by NASA to measure the performance of the networks used by EOSDIS (EOS Data and Information System) and to indicate how this performance information is used.
Nasofrontal dermoid sinus cyst: report of two cases.

OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: Nasofrontal dermoid sinus cysts are rate. The embryological origin, presentation, treatment, and genetic associations of two cases of these cysts are discussed. Emphasis is placed on physical findings and the importance of addressing both the intracranial and extracranial components. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: The first patient, a 33-year-old woman, sought care for chemical meningitis. As a child, she was differentiated from her identical twin sister by a dimple on the tip of her nose. The second patient, a 34-year-old man, sought care for new-onset seizures, Since birth, he had a dimple on the tip of firs nose. As a child, he had undergone resection of a nasal cyst. imaging studies in both patients indicated a midline anterior cranial base mass within the falx and a defect in the crista galli. INTERVENTION: Both patients underwent biorbitofrontal nasal craniotomy. A bifrontal craniotomy was performed first, then removal of the orbitonasal ridge. The dermoid and involved falx were resected. The sinus tract was followed through the crista galli and resected up to the osteocartilaginous junction in the nose. The remainder of the tract was resected via a small incision through the nares. The dura was closed primarily by mobilizing the Aura along the sides of the crista galli. After surgery, both patients still possessed their sense of smell. CONCLUSION: Nasofrontal dermoid sinus cysts have a unique embryological origin. A midline basal frontal dermoid associated with a dimple on fine nasal surface with or without protruding hair and sebaceous discharge is the pathognomonic presentation. It is important to address both tile intracranial and extracranial component surgically. Although concomitant anomalies and familial clustering have been described, most cases are spontaneous occurrences.
Thinking About a Healthy Military Balance in the Taiwan Strait

R eferring to an array of appliances and vehicles devised to deliver death and decimation as “healthy” seems a bit perverse. However, humanity being what it is, people will continue to build and acquire these devices. One is thus obliged to reflect on the possibility that these weapons may be used, and, therefore, one will want to ensure that their use results in what one perceives to be a desired outcome. It is widely accepted that a certain distribution of devices and conveyances may actually discourage disputants from using what they have. Consequently, how one evaluates what constitutes a healthy balance of forces depends on whether one’s aim is to employ fierce modes of destruction to kill and demolish or whether one is thinking of armaments principally in terms of what might be called a destructive derivative: deterrence. Views of what constitutes a healthy military balance across the Taiwan Strait will differ depending on the objectives one emphasizes as paramount and on the strategy one adopts as most efficacious in service to those objectives. Naturally, the governments of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Republic of China (ROC), and the United States—the three states most enmeshed in the military dimension of the cross–Taiwan Strait controversy—act in what they each perceive to be their own national interest. Therefore, it is unsurprising that each state emphasizes different objectives and espouses competing views about an appropriate distribution of military forces while trying to affect the balance across the strait. Beyond that, one discerns within each of those three governments—to say nothing of what emerges from the broader gaggle of pundits in each of the three places—contending visions of what the paramount objective ought to be and, therefore, distinct visions of what constitutes a healthy military balance. Thus, what one prescribes as a healthy balance of military forces affecting the Taiwan Strait will reveal what one’s political objectives are and what role one imagines for the use of military power. At present, the PRC appears to have reached a juncture where it hopes the firepower it has developed will deter people on Taiwan from pursuing the amorphous objective known as “de jure” independence—even though there is no standard definition of what constitutes de jure independence or
GENETIC CONSTRAINTS ON LIFE-HISTORY EVOLUTION: QUANTITATIVE-TRAIT LOCI INFLUENCING GROWTH AND FLOWERING IN ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA

We have mapped genes causing life-history trade-offs, and they behave as predicted by ecological theory. Energetic and quantitative-genetic models suggest a trade-off between age and size at first reproduction. Natural selection favored plants that flower early and attain large size at first reproduction. Response to selection was opposed by a genetic trade-off between these two components of fitness. Two quantitative-trait loci (QTLs) influencing flowering time were mapped in a recombinant inbred population of Arabidopsis. These QTLs also influenced size at first reproduction, but did not affect growth rate (resource acquisition). Substitutions of small chromosomal segments, which may represent allelic differences at flowering time loci, caused genetic trade-offs between life-history com- ponents. One QTL explained 22% of the genetic variation in flowering time. It is within a few centiMorgans (cM) of the gigantea (GI) locus, and may be allelic with GI. Sixteen percent of the genetic variation was explained by another QTL, FDRI, near 18 cM on chromosome II, which does not correspond to any previously identified flowering- time locus. These life-history genes regulate patterns of resource allocation and life-history trade-offs in this population.
A Dynamic Investigation of Piping Systems With a Bolted Flange

The dynamic response of piping systems with a bolted flange is analyzed. Experimental and numerical analyses and results are presented and show excellent correlation. An overhanging piping system at various span lengths with a flange at mid-length is used. The testing configuration consists of a standard 2-in. (51 mm) schedule 40 steel pipe and an ANSI B16.5 class 300-pound flange. The presence of a spiral wound wire gasket and high strength flange bolts is also assessed. Included are multiple resonant frequencies and their respective mode shapes for various span lengths and gasket configurations. The experimental procedure utilizes an accelerometer to gather the dynamic response output of the piping system due to an impulse. The resonant frequencies are then determined using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) method. The numerical analysis is conducted using the commercial Finite Element (FE) code ANSYS® . Both methods take into account the complex interaction between the flange and gasket and their impact on the entire piping system. The dynamic effects of a bolted flange and gasket on a piping system are critical in their use and a summary of the results for a variety of configurations is presented.Copyright © 2002 by ASME
Family Planning: India's Achilles' Heel?

Before the advent of Indira Gandhi as the prime minister of India, the central government made little systematic effort at family planning. It provided financial aid to the states which were mainly responsible for developing health and family planning services. It was at Indira Gandhi's initiative that a department of family planning was established at the national level. Besides encouraging subsidized sale of condoms, the new department emphasized sterilization. Nevertheless, Indira Gandhi failed to provide constant and dynamic leadership for population control policies. It was under the leadership of her son, Sanjay, during the Emergency that vigorous family planning policy was formulated and rigorously enforced. Use of coercion in controlling the size of the family was, however, one of the most unpopular aspects of Indira Gandhi's rule, and resulted in her 1977 electoral defeat. The post-Emergency Government of Indira Gandhi was consequently unable to mobilize an effective family planning campaign.
Aminophylline for the treatment of symptomatic bradycardia and asystole secondary to cervical spine injury.

Introduction Bradycardia is a common complication of cervical spine damage in the weeks following injury, occurring in up to 100% of patients in some studies. Cardiac arrest and asystole have been reported in as many as 15% of these patients and cardiac events are the main cause of death within the first year. We describe the case of a 25-year-old African-American male involved in a motor vehicle collision who suffered C6–C7 subluxation.
Diagramming registration connectivity and structure [computer-assisted surgery]

Connectivity properties of registration graphs are useful in the study of registration pathways and immobilization requirements of computer-assisted surgery (CAS) systems. They can also be used as a diagrammatic technique for explaining CAS registration strategies and procedures. Several caveats should be observed: the relative technical difficulty of operations represented by the graphs is obscured; the graphs do not address the accuracy of individual measurement operations. At the level of detail shown here, the graphs do not distinguish measurement operations of full rank from those of reduced rank (fewer than six degrees of freedom). The authors know of at least one other way of forming an induced link, besides closing a simultaneous connected subgraph around it. This will be addressed in a subsequent report. Systems graphed here are represented to the best of the authors' knowledge and inference of their actual procedures. In some cases the authors have had to presume that, for instance, a measurement is established by a coordinate measuring machine, when it may in fact have been established some other way. >
A Polarimetric Radar Approach to Identify Rain, Melting-Layer, and Snow Regions for Applying Corrections to Vertical Profiles of Reflectivity

Abstract This article describes polarimetric X-band radar-based quantitative precipitation estimations (QPE) under conditions of low freezing levels when, even at the lowest possible elevation angles, radar resolution volumes at longer ranges are in melting-layer or snow regions while it rains at the ground. A specifically adjusted vertical-profile-of-reflectivity (VPR) approach is introduced. The mean VPR is constructed based on the range–height indicator scans, and the effects of smoothing of brightband (BB) features with range are accounted for. A principal feature of the suggested QPE approach is the determination of the reflectivity BB boundaries and freezing-level heights on a beam-by-beam basis using the copolar correlation coefficient ρhv, which is routinely available from the X-band radar measurements. It is shown that this coefficient provides a robust discrimination among the regions of rain, melting hydrometeors, and snow. The freezing-level estimates made using ρhv were within 100–200 m from ...
Relations, operators, predicates, and the syntax of (verbal) propositional and (spatial) operational memory

Relational, operator, and predicate systems are distinguished on the basis that they correspond to the three possible pair-wise bracketings into two constituents of the three parts of a proposition: relation, subject, and object. It is asserted that the verbal propositional modality (left hemisphere) uses a predicate grammar, while the spatial-image operational modality (right hemisphere) uses an operator grammar. Verbal propositional memory has the capacity for extensive propositional embedding while spatial operational memory does not.
Picard–Lefschetz monodromy of products

Let f and g be reduced homogeneous polynomials in separate sets of variables. We establish a simple formula that relates the eigenspace decomposition of the monodromy operator on the Milnor fiber cohomology of fg to that of f and g separately. We use a relation between local systems and Milnor fiber cohomology that has been established by D. Cohen and A. Suciu.
Robotic Control Using Sequential Function Charts

ABSTRACTSequential Function Charts have been used to specify control programs for programmablelogic controllers. We show how these charts can be used for robotic control using ahierarchical control structure. A process is defined as a set oftasks and for each task a setof actions. Tasks and actions can be executed in serial and parallel with one or moreprogrammable devices. Sequential Function Charts can provide a device independent method for specifying control programs for robotics systems. Keywords: robotics, hierarchical control, sequence function charts, grafcet2. INTRODUCTIONRobots, and in general programmable devices, use a wide variety of languages to controlthe motion of the device and interface with the external environment. For robotics, theselanguages tend to be based on derivatives of standard programming paradigms such asBASIC, C, or C++ languages with added features related to motion control. While thesesystems have provided the necessary thnctionality to perform robotic control, they haveslowed the implementation ofrobotics applications due to the large investment in time andmoney necessary to create robotic application programs. In addition, the maintenance ofthese programs is costly because of the inherent learning curve when changes have to be
Distinguishing between legitimate and illegitimate values in climate modeling

While it is widely acknowledged that science is not “free” of non-epistemic values, there is disagreement about the roles that values can appropriately play. Several have argued that non-epistemic values can play important roles in modeling decisions, particularly in addressing uncertainties (Moss and Schneider 2000; Kandlikar et al. (C.R. Geoscience 337:443-455, 2005); Risbey 2007; Biddle and Winsberg 2010; Winsberg (Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 22(2): 111-137, 2012); van der Sluijs (Climatic Change 75 (3) 359-389, 2012). On the other hand, such values can (even unconsciously) lead to bias (Pielke 2007; Oppenhiemer et al. (Science 317:1505-1506, 2007); Bray (Environmental Science & Policy 13:340-350, 2010); Oreskes and Conway 2010). Thus, it is important to identify when it is legitimate to appeal to non-epistemic values in modeling decisions. An approach is defended here whereby such value judgments are legitimate when they promote democratically endorsed epistemological and social aims of research. This framework accounts for why it is legitimate to appeal to non-epistemic values in a range of modeling decisions, while addressing concerns that the presence of such values will lead to bias or give scientists disproportionate power in deciding what values ought to be endorsed.
Impacts of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 on New Mexico Agriculture

The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 will almost certainly permanently alter the structure of New Mexico agriculture. The first question in many producers' minds is: Will there be enough agricultural labor in the future? Answering that question with any degree of confidence requires consideration of the complexities of the law, the human responses to it and the changing nature of agriculture itself. The purpose of this study is to assess the impacts of IRCA on New Mexico agriculture focusing particular attention on the continued availability of chile and onion harvest labor.
Antimicrobial resistance of Listeria spp. recovered from processed bison.

Aims: The current study examined the antimicrobial susceptibility of 86 Listeria spp. isolated from processed bison carcasses. Materials and Methods: Susceptibility to 25 antimicrobial agents was determined using E-test and National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) panels. Most Listeria isolates (88‐98%) exhibited resistance to bacitracin, oxacillin, cefotaxime, and fosfomycin. Resistance to tetracycline (18AE6%) was also common. Of the 16 tetracycline-resistant Listeria isolates, 15 carried tetM and 2 contained integrase of Tn1545 transposons. Rifampicin and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole were the most active antimicrobial agents against Listeria spp., with a MIC90 of 0AE38 l gm l )1 . Ampicillin, erythromycin, penicillin, gentamicin, and tobramycin also exhibited good activity against Listeria spp., with MIC90 not exceeding 1 l gm l )1 . Differences in resistance among Listeria spp. was displayed, as Listeria innocua strains were more resistant than other Listeria species. Conclusions: The study showed that Listeria monocytogenes strains from bison were susceptible to the antibiotics most commonly used to treat human listeriosis. However, the presence of antimicrobial resistance in L. innocua indicates the potential for transfer of resistance and a conjugative transposon to L. monocytogenes. Significance and Impact of the Study: The findings of our study will provide useful information for the development of public health policy in the use of antimicrobials in food animal production.
Simulation of a metamaterial containing cubic high dielectric resonators

Simulation results of a metamaterial structure which uses cubic high dielectric resonators, periodically embedded in a low dielectric background in a cubic lattice, are presented. Cubic dielectric resonators have degenerate modes, which imply that the TE and TM modes have the same resonant frequency. The proposed metamaterial shows the negative refractive index characteristics around the resonance frequency of the cubic resonators, and since no plasmonic components are involved, the losses are expected to be low.
Time dependent cracks in ceramic matrix composites: Crack growth initiation

Ceramic matrix composites at high temperatures exhibit time-dependent behavior due to fiber creep, even though the matrix remains elastic. The time-dependent behavior of bridged cracks for such materials is modeled using a bridging law developed previously which describes the effects of fibers bridging a matrix crack and accounts for frictional sliding between the fibers and the matrix. Approximations which simplify the bridging law are presented for short cracks or high loads. In particular, regimes are identified where the history-dependence of the crack opening rate can be neglected. Using a simplified form of the bridging law, results are presented for the general evolution of bridged stationary cracks. Determination of the bridging stress profile at a given instant in time allows calculation of the crack tip stress intensity factor as a function of time, leading to estimates for the time to initiate time-dependent crack growth. The results indicate that for very high loads and very short cracks, a simple form of bridging law can be used to produce accurate estimates for the initiation time to begin growing matrix cracks.
Potentials Produced by an Eccentric Current Dipole in a Finite-Length Circular Conducting Cylinder

The electric potential produced by a current dipole located arbitrarily within a finite length circular conducting cylinder is obtained in the form of a double summation. The impulse function is employed to satisfy the end cap boundary condition and to reduce a definite integral to a summation. Special cases include expressions for potentials on the cylinder surface and in an infinite slab of conducting medium bounded by two parallel planes.
Differential expression of epidermal growth factor receptor, c-Met, and HER2/neu in chordoma compared with 17 other malignancies.

Objective To examine the expression of c-Met, c-Erb-b2 (HER2/neu), and epidermal growth factor (EGFR) in a cohort of 12 chordomas, based on the current and future availability of targeted molecular inhibitors. Design Protein expression levels were analyzed by immunohistochemical analysis from archival tissue using multitumored tissue microarray and by Spearman rank correlation test. Setting Tertiary care facility. Subjects We assembled the cohort of 12 chordomas from patients treated at the Yale–New Haven Hospital from 1986 to 2003 and compared them with 51 other tumors from 17 assorted solid tissue tumor types along with 1 sample of healthy tissue from each site. Main Outcome Measure The expression of c-Met, HER2/neu, and EGFR. Results Most chordomas displayed strong expression of EGFR and c-Met, whereas a variable level of expression of HER2/neu was seen. In addition, we noted a strong correlation between EGFR and c-Met expression, especially for primary chordomas ( P = .006). Conclusions Chordomas, like many other solid-tissue tumors, express HER2/neu, EGFR, and the hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor receptor c-Met. Most chordomas had strong expression of both the hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor receptor and EGFR. Inhibitors to EGFR are already in clinical use for other solid-tissue tumors and represent a potentially viable experimental treatment option for refractory chordoma. Further studies are required to investigate these findings.
Thermodynamics of transfer ribonucleic acids: the effect of sodium on the thermal unfolding of yeast tRNAPhe.

The thermal unfolding of yeast phenylalanine-specific tRNA (tRNAPhe) has been calorimetrically investigated at several salt concentrations in the absence of magnesium. Application of the deconvolution theory of macromolecular conformational transitions allows calculation of the thermodynamic parameters of unfolding. It is demonstrated that the unfolding of tRNAPhe occurs in a sequential fashion and that four separate transitions or five macromolecular thermodynamic states exist in the temperature range 8–72°C under the experimental conditions of these studies (0.067–0.52M Na+). The enthalpy and entropy changes between states and the relative population of each state as a function of temperature and salt concentration have been obtained. Sodium stabilizes the low-temperature conformations of tRNAPhe. The increase in the melting temperatures of each transition is shown to be linearly dependent on the logarithm of sodium concentration. These results allow calculation of the “phase” diagram for the transitions as a function of salt concentration.
Isolation and characterization of four peptide hydrolases from the brush border of rat intestinal mucosa

Peptide hydrolases (EC 3.4.-.-) were solubilized from purified brush borders of rat intestinal mucosa by papain digestion. Three peptide hydrolases, I, II, and III, with different substrate specificities were isolated by means of DEAE-cellulose chromatography and preparative acrylamide gel electrophoresis. On repeat preparative acrylamide gel electrophoresis under slightly different conditions, enzyme II was resolved into two proteins, IIa and IIb, with vary similar, possibly identical, substrate specificities. Efforts to discover additional brush border peptide hydrolases revealed none. Studies using more than 50 substrates showed that enzyme I was most active against Met-Met, Met-Ala, and Met-Phe while enzyme II was most active against Phe-Gly, Phe-Ser, and Leu-Gly-Gly, and enzyme III most rapidly hydrolyzed Gly-Leu, Leu-Gly, and Met-Gly. Efforts to discover substrates which are highly discriminating for each enzyme were partly successful. Thus, a number of substrates including leucine amide, leucyl-beta-naphthylamide and Phe-Asp were hydrolyzed almost exclusively (95% or more) by enzyme II while Gly-Leu was similarly specific for enzyme III. No substrate highly discriminating for enzyme I was discovered. Ion-exchange chromatography resulted in increases in specific activity of 10- and 120-fold for enzymes II and III, respectively. By sequential use of ion-exchange chromatography and preparative acrylamide gel electrophoresis, each of the three enzymes was partially purified to the point that they were free of contaminating disaccharidases and enzymes I and II gave single dense bands on analytical acrylamide gel electrophoresis while enzyme III gave a single dense band plus one additional faint protein band. Under appropriate conditions, analytical gel electrophoresis also resolved enzyme II into two bands with enzyme activity. The three enzymes were isolated from intestinal brush borders of germ-free rats indicating that none of the enzymes is of bacterial origin. With Phe-Gly as substrate, pH optima for enzymes I, II, and III were 8.0, 8.0, and 8.5, respectively. Molecular weights determined by gel filtration were 283 000, 284 000, and 134 000, respectively. Studies of activation by metal ions and inhibition by metal ion chelators suggested that the activity of each of the enzymes is dependent on a relatively tightly bound metal cofactor. Peptide hydrolases of the intestinal mucosa play an essential role in protein digestion. The studies presented here help to clarify the total number and substrate specificities of these enzymes in the rat brush border.
Mast Cell-Derived Cathepsin g: A Possible Role in The Adverse Remodeling of The Failing Human Heart

Background The role of cardiac mast cells (MCs) in the progression to heart failure has recently become increasingly evident. Cathepsin g is a neutrophil- and mast cell-derived protease, which can convert angiotensin I to angiotensin II and thereby activate the TGF-β pathway, resulting in myocyte necrosis, hypertrophy, and increased fibrosis. This study focuses on mast cell-derived cathepsin g in the human heart during heart failure and following mechanical unloading by means of heart-assist devices (LVADs). Materials and methods Myocardial tissue was obtained from 10 patients with end-stage cardiomyopathy at the time of LVAD implantation (pre-LVAD) and following orthotopic heart transplantation (post-LAVD). In addition, biopsies of four normal hearts served as a control group. Paraffin-embedded sections were dual stained for cathepsin g and tryptase, a known marker for mast cells, using standard immunohistochemistry protocols. Total cathepsin g positive mast cells were counted. Results No cathepsin g positive MCs were found in normal hearts. However, we found evidence for cathepsin g in cardiac MCs in heart failure tissues (pre-LVAD). During heart failure, 46% of total MCs were cathepsin g positive as compared to after mechanical unloading, where only 11% of total MCs were cathepsin g positive (P Conclusion Heart failure causes an increase of myocardial MCs. We have provided evidence that cathepsin g positive MCs accumulate during heart failure and their total percentage decreases after ventricular unloading. This coincides with the decrease in myocyte necrosis, hypertrophy, and fibrosis. Thus, cathepsin g may play a role in the progression to heart failure by activating angiotensin II, leading to detrimental effects on the heart.
Long run competition in the U.S. aluminum industry

Abstract A methodology for examining dynamic structure-performance relationships in a single industry is proposed and illustrated. Implications of long run competitive behavior for a simple simultaneous equations model of structure and performance are derived and tested using recently developed methods for the interpretation of economic time series. It is concluded that the structure and performance in the U.S. aluminum industry in the postwar period conform well with the hypothesis that the primary aluminum market was competitive in the long run.
Empowering Members, Not Overpowering Them: The National Organization for Women, Calls for Lesbian Inclusion, and California Influence, 1960s–1980s

Standard accounts of the National Organization for Women (NOW) seriously underplay the duration of tensions between heterosexual and lesbian NOW members and the ways those tensions included both racialized analogies and tactical concerns. Based on personal papers, archival sources, interviews, and a re-evaluation of printed sources, I argue that by considering the perspective of national, state, and local lesbian feminist NOW members, we see tensions from the 1960s through the 1980s that have been missed by studies that focus either on NOW or on the growth of lesbian feminism or on second-wave feminist development generally. To legitimize their position, White lesbian feminists analogized their oppression with that of racial minorities while claiming to be better feminists than heterosexual women. Their approach is significant to conceptualizing the scope of feminist issues and tactics, the ways White women's discussion of race exacerbated racial divisions, and the fate of the Equal Rights Amendment.
Family Structure and Family Earnings: The Determinants of Earnings Differences among Family Types

Mean total family earnings differ greatly by family structure (the number, age, and gender of adults, and the presence or absence of children and dependent elders). This study classifies families into seven major types by structure, and analyzes inequality in mean earnings among these types. Differences in mean earnings among types depend primarily on the amount of labor supplied to the labor market. The quantity of labor supplied, in turn, while reflecting in part differences in the head's characteristics (such as human capital), is largely determined by family structure. Earnings changes by family type over time from 1973 to 1987 are also discussed.
Social Support Modifies the Association Between Household Food Insecurity and Depression Among Latinos with Uncontrolled Type 2 Diabetes

Prevalence of depression is high among individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D). The objective of the current study was to identify the socio-demographic, psychosocial, cultural, and clinical risk factors that predispose to depression, and resources that protect from depression among low income Latinos with T2D. Participants (N = 211) were interviewed in their homes upon enrollment. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with depressive symptoms based on a score of ≥21 on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale. Lower household income, interference of diabetes with daily activities, and more T2D clinical symptoms were associated with depression risk in the multivariate analyses. At each level of food insecurity the risk of depression was lower the higher the level of social support (P < 0.05). Findings suggest that social support buffers against the negative influence of household food insecurity on depression risk. A comprehensive approach is necessary to address the mental health needs of low income Latinos with T2D.