cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Synthetically Generated LFeIVOHn Complex

High-valent Fe–OH species are important intermediates in hydroxylation chemistry. Such complexes have been implicated in mechanisms of oxygen-activating enzymes and have thus far been observed in Compound II of sulfur-ligated heme enzymes like cytochrome P450. Attempts to synthetically model such species have thus far seen relatively little success. Here, the first synthetic FeIVOHn complex has been generated and spectroscopically characterized as either [LFeIVOH]− or [LFeIVOH2]0, where H4L = Me4C2(NHCOCMe2NHCO)2CMe2 is a variant of a tetra-amido macrocyclic ligand (TAML). The steric bulk provided by the replacement of the aryl group with the −CMe2CMe2– unit in this TAML variant prevents dimerization in all oxidation states over a wide pH range, thus allowing the generation of FeIVOHn in near quantitative yield from oxidation of the [LFeIIIOH2]− precursor.
Video Face Recognition: Component-wise Feature Aggregation Network (C-FAN)

We propose a new approach to video face recognition. Our component-wise feature aggregation network (C-FAN) accepts a set of face images of a subject as an input, and outputs a single feature vector as the face representation of the set for the recognition task. The whole network is trained in two steps: (i) train a base CNN for still image face recognition; (ii) add an aggregation module to the base network to learn the quality value for each feature component, which adaptively aggregates deep feature vectors into a single vector to represent the face in a video. C-FAN automatically learns to retain salient face features with high quality scores while suppressing features with low quality scores. The experimental results on three benchmark datasets, YouTube Faces, IJB-A, and IJB-S show that the proposed C-FAN network is capable of generating a compact feature vector with 512 dimensions for a video sequence by efficiently aggregating feature vectors of all the video frames to achieve state of the art performance.
Abstract 267: Safety and Efficacy of a Combinatorial CCN5/SERCA2a Gene Delivery Approach for Arrhythmia Suppression in a Chronic Model of Angiotensin II (ANG) Induced Cardiac Hypertrophy and Failure

Background: Structural & electromechanical remodeling promotes the incidence of ventricular tachycardia (VT) during progression from compensated hypertrophy to heart failure. The multifactorial nat...
Learning Preferences with Side Information

Product and content personalization is now ubiquitous in e-commerce. There are typically not enough available transactional data for this task. As such, companies today seek to use a variety of inf...
Room, Lenny Abrahamson

Room is a story of staggering resilience and offers a deeply honest depiction of the psychological sequelae of trauma. It charts the harrowing experiences of a young woman (Joy) and her son (Jack) who live within the confines of an 11-by-11 foot shed, a space they come to refer to as ‘room’. We learn that Joy was abducted as a teenager and has spent the past seven years encased within room’s physically and psychologically taut interior. There is no contact with the outside world apart from a tiny skylight, a perennial reminder of the infinitely vast and boundless exterior which Joy so desperately yearns to return to. ‘Room’ contains a bed, TV, sink, toilet, cupboard and a few other basic amenities that facilitate life. Joy’s captor, ‘Old Nick’ ensures that ‘room’ is kept stocked with a slight supply of food, water, toiletries and other necessities. Most life affirming within this otherwise dull and deeply defiled space is Joy’s 5-year-old son, Jack. ‘Room’ truly comes to life with Jack; its objects are animated with his burgeoning imagination, curiosity and most poignantly, his innocence. This is surely the most powerful testament to Joy’s unwavering resilience and love for her son: the fact that he retains even a semblance of innocence in what the audience knows is an ultimately sordid space. In a series of exchanges reminiscent of Roberto Benigni’s Life is Beautiful, Joy carefully and ingeniously crafts out of ‘room’ a world hospitable for a little child. Benigni’s Life is Beautiful was set within the horrors of a Jewish concentration camp during World War II. The parental figure in the film, Guido, creates an imaginative world for his son, Joshua, in which the Holocaust is a game and the grand prize is winning a tank.
Emotion Regulation Attenuates the Prospective Links from Peer Victimization to Internalizing Symptoms during Middle Childhood.

Objective: Peer victimization has been shown to be a robust predictor of depressive and anxiety symptoms over time. Relatively little is known, however, regarding what protective factors may attenu...
Convergent Evolution of Broadband Reflectors Underlies Metallic Coloration in Butterflies

Butterfly wings often display structural colors, which are the result of light reflection from chitinous nanostructures that adorn the wing scales. Amongst these structural colors are broadband metallic reflections, which have been previously linked to an ultrathin broadband reflector in the nymphalid butterfly Argyrophorus argenteus. To test if similar optical modes of broadband, specular reflectance have evolved in other butterfly taxa, we characterized the reflective scales of eight species from five Papilionoidea families using microspectrophotometry (MSP), light microscopy in reflected and transmitted modes, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In Nymphalidae, Pieridae, and Hesperidae, and Lycaenidae, we find that broadband specularity is due to spatial mixing of densely juxtaposed colorful reflectances that change across microscale distances (e.g. 1-3 µm). These seemingly convergent silver scales are unpigmented, show a continuous upper lamina with reduced windows, and consist of an air-cuticle sandwich of variable thickness, forming an undulatory thin-film. Strikingly, Hypochrysops apelles (Lycaenidae) show a novel mode of silver reflectance with spatial color mixing occurring across the entire proximo-distal length of the scale (>100 µm), transitioning from blue to red hues between the stem and the tip of the scales. Unlike the undulatory type, this reflector shows flat thin-films but this includes a multilayered lower lamina responsible for selective color iridescence in other lycaenids or in sunset moths. Finally, the gold scales of Anteros formosus (Riodinidae) show mixed reflectance in the green-to-red range, seemingly produced by a thin film in the lower lamina. Our comparative study suggests that evolution of metallic broadband reflectance repeatedly involved spatial color mixing and unperforated upper laminae, and is accomplished using at least three types of ultrastructural modifications. Undulatory thin-film systems, based on geometric adjustments of the transverse profile of the upper lamina and scale lumen, are widespread and may have evolved repeatedly from more generic colorless scale morphologies, while lycaenid and riodinid broadband reflectors may be elaborations of pre-existing iridescent states.
Minding the Gap: Conceptualizing “Perceptualized” Timbre in Music Analysis

In the past decade, a growing music-analytic practice has emerged around timbre, a parameter long considered either irrelevant to musical structure or too unwieldy to tackle. This new practice cent...
Free Will and the Rebel Angels in Medieval Philosophy

In this book Tobias Hoffmann studies the medieval free will debate during its liveliest period, from the 1220s to the 1320s, and clarifies its background in Aristotle, Augustine, and earlier medieval thinkers. Among the wide range of authors he examines are not only well-known thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham, but also a number of authors who were just as important in their time and deserve to be rediscovered today. To shed further light on their theories of free will, Hoffmann also explores their competing philosophical explanations of the fall of the angels, that is, the hypothesis of an evil choice made by rational beings under optimal psychological conditions. As he shows, this test case imposed limits on tracing free choices to cognition. His book provides a comprehensive account of a debate that was central to medieval philosophy and continues to occupy philosophers today.
Weather and high-stakes exam performance: Evidence from student-level administrative data in Brazil

Abstract Recent evidence suggests that weather exposure influences exam performance. Using an administrative dataset of Brazil’s college entrance exam (Exame Nacional do Ensino Medio, known as ENEM) from 2012 to 2016, we find that temperature has a negligible impact on test performance, with a 1 °C increase in dry bulb temperature improving the z-score by three-thousandths of a standard deviation. Humidity and rainfall also have limited effects on test performance. These findings are robust to various alternative specifications. In addition, there are no meaningful heterogeneities by test subjects, gender, student score quartiles, or race. Our findings suggest that the weather effect on high-stakes test performance is neither substantive nor conclusive.
Risk Aversion Averts Death Spiral in Health Insurance Markets: A Classroom Simulation using Excel

The way imperfect information can lead to market failure provides great learning opportunities for students, where they see how the price mechanism can fail under a multiperiod setting. In this paper, we modify Hodgson (2014) to incorporate risk aversion in a classroom experiment about healthcare insurance markets. We generate random scenarios using Monte Carlo simulations and show that risk aversion prevents the insurance markets from a potential collapse. Integrating the classroom experiment with outcomes from simulations enhances the student learning experiences in the classroom.
Non-binary Codes for Correcting a Burst of at Most 2 Deletions

The problem of correcting deletions has recently received significantly increased attention, partly because of the prevalence of these errors in DNA data storage. In this paper, we study the problem of correcting a burst of at most two deletions in non-binary sequences. The problem was first studied for binary sequences by Levenshtein, who presented a construction with optimal redundancy. We propose a non-binary code correcting a burst of at most 2 deletions for q-ary alphabets with redundancy $\log n+O$ (log $q$ log log n) bits, for even $q$ . Further, we construct codes with lower redundancy to correct a burst of exactly 2 deletions caused by a single deletion in alternating sequences that arise in terminator-free enzymatic DNA synthesis.
Exploring how climate change subjective attribution, personal experience with extremes, concern, and subjective knowledge relate to pro-environmental attitudes and behavioral intentions in the United States

Abstract Opportunity for direct experience with a range of climate change-related extremes is growing worldwide – from wildfires to transmissible disease. This experience may be associated with attributions to climate change, as well as with pro-environmental attitudes and behavioral intentions. Given the United States' (US) recent devastating wildfires and widespread coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), we conducted two national surveys (study 1: n = 502, study 2: n = 1,493) of US adults examining how subjective attribution is associated with personal experience with extremes, as well as with concern and subjective knowledge about climate change. We also examine the extent to which these factors are associated with pro-environmental attitudes and behavioral intentions, and whether these relationships are amplified or attenuated by subjective attribution. We find that personal experience, concern, and subjective knowledge are associated with the belief that wildfires and COVID-19 are attributable to climate change. These in turn are all associated with pro-environmental attitudes (carbon tax policy support) and behavioral intentions (electric vehicle purchase). Subjective attribution of COVID-19 amplifies the positive relationship between personal experience with COVID-19 and electric vehicle purchase intentions (study 1 and 2), and subjective attribution of wildfire or COVID-19 amplifies the positive relationship between subjective knowledge and carbon tax policy support (study 2). These findings highlight the importance of personal experience and subjective attributions as they relate to individuals’ intentions to perform pro-environmental actions and support policy.
Modeling Food Process, Quality and Safety: Frameworks and Challenges

Physics-based models provide increased understanding and predictive capabilities that can increase efficiency in food product, process, and equipment design; they also improve quality and safety. However, certain key food-specific developments are needed to enable widespread use of simulation technology in the food sector. First and foremost is the need to develop concise modeling frameworks (formulating various food-processing situations in mathematical models) for various classes of processes, as opposed to a custom model for each process, as mostly exists today. Deformable porous media with multiphase transport can provide such a framework, as will be discussed through examples of various processes that have been modeled by many researchers. The next critical piece is to have easy access to the properties that needed to be model. State-of-property prediction, starting from simple correlations and proceeding to multiscale modeling and thermodynamics-based and molecular dynamics, as is being pursued by researchers around the world, will be shared. Prediction beyond process to quality and safety is the third topic, where various approaches to modeling quality in a diffusion-reaction modeling framework will be presented. For safety, a practical approach that groups various food products, and thus provides an avenue to simulate safety for a large number of situations, will be shared. Finally, efforts to integrate modeling components into a novel, user-friendly software for increased use of modeling will be described.
Formant and Pitch Detection Using Time-Frequency Distribution

The Wigner-Ville distribution of a multi-component signalhas a unique structure. Based on this structure, a formant and pitchestimation method for speech signals is introduced. Formants andpitch estimated with this method are more accurate, have betterresolution, and are easier to recognize than those estimated by othermethods. A one pitch-period segment is adequate for formantestimation while a minimal two pitch-period segment is needed forboth pitch and formant detection with one step. Experimental resultsare provided to demonstrate the performance of this method, andcomparisons with other methods are provided.
The free energy of hydrolysis of adenosine to inosine and ammonia.

Abstract The equilibrium constant for formation of adenosine from inosine and ammonia has been measured directly in the presence of adenosine deaminase at several pH values. The apparent free energy of hydrolysis of adenosine at pH 7.0 is -5.4 kcal per mole, and the free energy of hydrolysis to free ammonia and inosine is -2.2 kcal per mole, at ionic strength 1.0, 25°, with water concentration taken as 1. These values, which are comparable with indirect summations of thermochemical and equilibrium data for adenine and adenylic acid, are discussed in relation to earlier values for the hydrolysis of arginine and of amino acid amides.
Adoption and Assisted Reproduction: Families Under Construction

This casebook in Aspen's Elective Series invites teachers and students to explore recent transformations in the fundamental concept of parentage, by examining both traditional doctrines, such as the presumption of legitimacy and adoption, as well as new challenges posed by assisted reproduction. In juxtaposing these topics, this book emphasizes several important themes and tensions, including adoption's roots as an institution purporting to promote child welfare; the contemporary emergence of assisted reproduction as an alternative to adoption for infertile adults; the contested role of the state in family formation and reproductive decisionmaking; the place of gendered notions, such as "mother" and "father," in modern family law; and the way that law and culture construct our understanding of seemingly "natural" relationships. Throughout, the materials consider the historical underpinnings of current approaches and controversies, while also noting express biases as well as unspoken assumptions based on gender, race, class, and sexuality. The materials are designed to prompt conversations about not only existing law but also law reform and the absence of law on some topics. Two chapters are devoted to matters of jurisdiction, choice of law, and recognition of judgments - because adoption and assisted reproduction have never been exclusively local practices, we live in a famously mobile society, and other states and countries often attract prospective parents who cannot fulfill their objectives at home, especially given regulatory variations within the U.S. and abroad.Each of the eight chapters contains cases, excerpts, extensive notes and questions, and problems designed to push the analysis beyond the points established by the other materials. In addition, the book incorporates references to relevant works of literature, popular culture, and nonlegal scholarship. These references highlight the strong emotions often evoked by the issues of identity, ancestral roots, and family secrets raised by the topics covered, in turn bringing the legal materials to life and enriching both discussion and understanding.
A comparison of algorithms for interprocedural class analysis

Message passing overhead is often a substantial source of runtime overhead in object-oriented applications. To combat this performance problem, a number of techniques have been developed to convert message sends into statically-bound procedure calls, which are then amenable to traditional compiler optimizations such as inline expansion. In this paper, we examine one such technique, interprocedural class analysis. We develop a general model for describing interprocedural class analysis algorithms, present several previously developed algorithms using this model, and empirically assess the algorithms by applying them to a suite of Cecil applications.
Effect of Pneumococcal Neuraminidase on Canine Cerebral Cortex in Experimental Meningitis

We examined the effect of experimental meningeal infection with a neuraminidase-producing strain of Diplococcus pneumoniae on the N-acetylneuraminic acid (NANA) content of canine cerebral cortical gray matter. The Warren thiobarbituric acid assay for NANA was used. There was no significant difference between the free and bound NANA levels of the tissue from control animals and from those with meningitis. This finding suggests that the neurological impairment so frequent in clinical pneumococcal meningitis is not a result of the activity of this bacterial enzyme upon cortical glycolipids.
725-2 Long Term Outcome After Early Prehospital Initiated Thrombolysis

In order to determine the long-term effects of very early thrombolytic treatment on outcome after myocardial infarction. patients (pts) in the MITI prehospital thrombolysis trial were assessed for cardiac events (death. admission for angina, myocardial infarction. congestive heart failure, revascularization) during a mean period of 33 months follow-up. Outcome in 175 prehospital treated pts (PH-group) was compared to 185 pts allocated to treatment after hospital arrival (H-group). The median time from symptom onset to treatment for the PH-group was 77 min. (56, 101; 25. 75th percentile). and forthe H-groupwas 110 min. (85,140). Survival at two years was 89% forthe PH-group and 91% forthe H-group (p = 0.46). Event free survival at two years was 51% and 60%, respectively Ip = 0.69). The event rate (# events/100 treated pts/follow-up year) was 34.2 in the PH-group and 41.0 for the H-group (p = 0.28). Pts treated within 70 min. after symptom onset (n = 82) had improved survival at the time of discharge. 98.8% vs. 91.3%, but in a multi-variate analysis. subsequent mortality after discharge was related to older age. a history of heart failure, or prior bypass surgery but not initial time to treatment. Conclusion In the MITI prehospital trial, the short and long-term outcome for pts receiving pre-hospital and hospital initiated thrombolyses is similar. Time to treatment is an important predictor of hospital mortality but does not affect the likelihood of survival in the years after discharge.
Abstract 3600: Preclinical pharmacokinetic and biomarker analysis of AMG 900, an orally available small molecule inhibitor of aurora kinases, in human xenograft tumor and surrogate tissues

Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC Background: The aurora family of serine-threonine kinases (Aurora-A, -B, -C) regulate cell-cycle progression in mammalian cells. Aurora kinases A and B are essential for proper chromosome congression, segregation, and cytokinesis during mitosis, whereas aurora kinase C function appears restricted to male meiosis. Aurora kinase B is responsible for the direct phosphorylation of histone H3 on serine-10 (p-histone H3). Aurora kinase A and B expression is elevated in a variety of human cancers and is associated with advanced clinical staging and poor prognosis. With the emergence of aurora kinases as key mitotic regulators and their potential role in tumorigenesis, we developed AMG 900, a novel ATP competitive small molecule inhibitor, that is highly potent and selective for aurora kinases A, B, and C. In vivo, AMG 900 inhibits the growth of multiple human tumor xenografts, including multidrug-resistant models. Objective: The aim of this study was to establish a pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) relationship for AMG 900 in human tumor xenografts and surrogate tissues. Results: In nude mice, oral administration of AMG 900 inhibited p-histone H3 in tumors and bone marrow in a concentration- and dose-dependent manner. To further refine the AMG 900 PK-PD relationship, p-histone H3 IC50 values for bone marrow and dissociated COLO 205 tumors from mice were associated with plasma concentrations of 294 and 273 ng/mL, respectively. The duration of target coverage required for anti-tumor efficacy was determined to be > 6 hours per day above the in vivo p-histone H3 IC50 using different dosing schedules. To explore whether skin could be a suitable surrogate tissue for measuring p-histone H3 inhibition, tumor-bearing mice were administered AMG 900 at 3.75, 7.5, and 15 mg/kg for 3 hours. Significant suppression of p-histone H3 in skin was only observed at 15 mg/kg (p 99%, p < 0.0001) in COLO 205 tumors, suggesting that FNA biopsies may be a viable approach for assessing AMG 900 PD effects in the clinic. Conclusion: These studies demonstrate that AMG 900 inhibits p-histone H3 in tumors and surrogate tissues, although tissues such as skin may be less sensitive to assess PD effects. The use of p-histone H3 as a biomarker to determine plasma levels of AMG 900 required to inhibit aurora B activity may be useful in clinical studies. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3600.
Electrochemical Synthesis of Dendritic Zinc Films Composed of Systematically Varying Motif Crystals

Polycrystalline zinc films with new dendritic frameworks were electrodeposited from nonaqueous formamide media containing 0.01−0.3 M Zn(ClO4)2·6H2O as the Zn2+ source and 0.1 M LiClO4·3H2O as the supporting electrolyte. Formamide media offer a wider range of deposition temperatures and deposition potentials than aqueous solutions, which provides a higher degree of freedom in creating new polycrystalline architectures. The growth patterns of zinc crystals could be precisely controlled (e.g., faceted growth and dendritic growth) by changing the interplay between the growth rate and the mass transport rate. The effect of deposition potential, temperature, and Zn2+ concentration on the onset potential of dendritic growth and the detailed dendritic features were studied systematically. The zinc dendrites obtained in this study were composed of submicron-sized crystals of a uniform shape (motif crystals) that grow repetitively fused together to form three-dimensionally dispersed dendritic backbones. This unique...
Cellular responses to extreme water loss: The water-replacement hypothesis

Abstract The previously advanced hypothesis that desiccation resistance involves the replacement of water adjacent to intracellular surfaces with polyhydroxy compounds has been supported by experiments on cysts of the brine shrimp, Artemia , and in a model system of albumin-glycerol-water, using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, microwave dielectrics, and density measurements. We have also considered other problems that cells face when large fractions of their total water content are removed. Observations by other investigators have indicated that a variety of mammalian cells can lose roughly 50% of their water and survive; for a given cell type death occurs if its volume is reduced below a certain minimum level. Membrane damage has previously been suggested to be a major cause of dehydration damage. We have proposed some additional plausible mechanisms that might also be involved.
Non-Stocking Criterion

Contemporary inventory management attempts to make two critical inventory decisions---the order quantity and the order point. This type of analysis presupposes that stocking of the item is economically justified. Quite obviously this will not always be the case and inventory managers have had to turn to rules of thumb which are highly inflexible and consequently these rules often suggest exactly the opposite decision from that which should be made. The profit under conditions of both stocking and non-stocking can be analytically determined and then compared in a breakeven-type analysis. The intersection point or inventory cutoff level determines the minimum demand which will justify stocking the item and is derived along with a graphical representation. Two variations are provided---one for the manufacturer who produces to stock and one for the wholesaler or retailer who orders to stock.
Interaction of pollen F-actin with rabbit muscle myosin and its subfragments (HMM, S1)

Actin purified from maize pollen grains can be polymerized into F-actin which increased the ATPase activities of proteolytic fragments (HMM, S1) of rabbit muscle myosin. The values of Kapp is 232 μM for HMM and 290 μM for S1, which are six- and seven-fold higher than those of rabbit muscle F-actin under the same conditions. Pollen actin and rabbit muscle myosin form hybrid actomyosin showing increase in viscosity and turbidity of solution. Viscosity and turbidity of the actomyosin dropped and then increased again with addition of ATP. Polymerized pollen actin can be decorated in vitro with both rabbit muscle HMM and S1 to form an arrowhead-shaped structure like that observed in living plant cells. The results show that pollen actin is similar to muscle actin at a qualitative level. But there are differences between them at a quantitative level.
Exact results in softly broken SUSY theories

Soft SUSY breaking parameters may be introduced into SUSY theories through non-zero F-components of spurion fields. We discuss the resulting solutions of softly broken N =2 SQCD close in parameter space to the SUSY limit.
Phosphorylation of isolated human phosphodiesterase-5 regulatory domain induces an apparent conformational change and increases cGMP binding affinity.

Abstract Substrate binding to the phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) catalytic site increases cGMP binding to the regulatory domain (R domain). The latter promotes PDE5 phosphorylation by cyclic nucleotide-dependent protein kinases, which activates catalysis, enhances allosteric cGMP binding, and causes PDE5A1 to apparently elongate. A human PDE5A1 R domain fragment (Val46-Glu539) containing the phosphorylation site (Ser102) and allosteric cGMP-binding sites was studied. The rate, cGMP dependence, and stoichiometry of phosphorylation of the PDE5 R domain by the catalytic subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase are comparable with that of the holoenzyme. Migration in native polyacrylamide gels suggests that either cGMP binding or phosphorylation produces distinct conformers of the R domain. Phosphorylation of the R domain increases affinity for cGMP ∼10-fold (K D values 97.8 ± 17 and 10.0 ± 0.5 nm for unphospho- and phospho-R domains, respectively). [3H]cGMP dissociates from the phospho-R domain with a single rate (t = 339 ± 30 min) compared with the biphasic pattern of the unphospho-R domain (t = 39.0 ± 4.8 and 265 ± 28 min, for the fast and slow components, respectively). Thus, cGMP-directed regulation of PDE5 phosphorylation and the resulting increase in cGMP binding affinity occur largely within the R domain. Conformational change(s) elicited by phosphorylation of the R domain within the PDE5 holoenzyme may also cause or participate in stimulating catalysis.
DNA Damage by the Enediyne C-1027 Results in the Inhibition of DNA Replication by Loss of Replication Protein A Function and Activation of DNA-Dependent Protein Kinase†

Treatment of cells with the enediyne C-1027 is highly efficient at inducing single- and double-strand DNA breaks. This agent is highly cytotoxic when used at picomolar levels over a period of days. For this study, C-1027 has been used at higher levels for a much shorter time period to look at early cellular responses to DNA strand breaks. Extracts from cells treated with C-1027 for as little as 2 h are deficient in SV40 DNA replication activity. Treatment with low levels of C-1027 (1−3 nM) does not result in the presence of a replication inhibitor in cell extracts, but they are deficient in replication protein A (RPA) function. Extracts from cells treated with high levels of C-1027 (10 nM) do show the presence of a trans-acting inhibitor of DNA replication. The deficiency in RPA in extracts from cells treated with low levels of C-1027 can be fully complemented by the addition of exogenous RPA, and may be due to a C-1027-induced decrease in the extractability of RPA. This decrease in the extractability of ...
Monomolecular films of polydimethylsiloxanes on organic liquids.

Abstract A homologous series of polydimethylsiloxanes were spread as insoluble monomolecular films on water and on a number of organic liquids. The organic liquids studied as substrates were tricresyl phosphate, propylene carbonate, diethylphthalate, bis(2-ethylhexyl)adipate, and hexadecane. Monolayer stability and insolubility were found to vary with the molecular weight of the polydimethylsiloxane and the polarity of the substrate liquid. Stable, reversible monomolecular films were formed on all substrates by the higher molecular weight polymers (molecular weight > 6,000); however, film stability decreased with decreasing polymer molecular weight and decreasing substrate polarity. The orientations of the polydimethylsiloxane films at the organic liquid/air interfaces, as inferred from these studies, appeared to be functions of the surface composition of the substrate liquids. On tricresyl phosphate and propylene carbonate the high molecular weight polymers adsorbed in a fully extended configuration at large areas/molecule, analogous to their behavior on water. Upon compression the film pressure vs. area/molecule curves suggested they assumed a helical configuration. On the less polar substrates the higher molecular weight polydimethylsiloxanes apparently remained in the helical configuration regardless of the state of compression. Owing to the instability and/or solubility of the lower molecular weight polydimethylsiloxane monolayers on the less polar substrates, no conclusions were made regarding changes in molecular orientation as a function of film pressure.
QCM tribology studies of thin adsorbed films

The ability to predict sliding friction in an adsorbed film system is key to a vast range of fundamental and applied issues in physics and nanotechnology. Sliding friction levels in molecularly thin layers can be measured experimentally by means of the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) technique, which is readily comparable to theory, including both analytic calculations and molecular dynamics simulations. Progress in this area is summarized here, focusing on fundamental energy dissipation mechanisms and how nanoscale observations might be linked to the macroscopic world.
Obesity and Hospitalization over the Adult Life Course: Does Duration of Exposure Increase Use?

Consistent with a new genre of research on life-course analyses of health-service use, this study explores the consequences of long-term exposure to a risk factor. Drawing from cumulative-disadvantage theory, the study examines whether obesity, especially chronic obesity, increases hospitalization admission and length of stay. Analyses make use of hospital records abstracted over 20 years from a national survey of adults 41 to 77 years of age at baseline (n = 4,574). Multiple measures of body weight are used to calculate adult obesity duration. Results reveal that obesity increased hospital admissions and length of stay over the 20 years studied. Among persons obese at any time during the study, years of obesity also led to longer stays. The findings highlight the utility of measures of the duration of risk exposure for both life-course studies of health and tests of cumulative-disadvantage theory.
A new model of school culture: a response to a call for conceptual clarity 1

Van Houtte (2005) called for clarification of the terms school culture and school climate and the role of each in school effectiveness research. This article presents a theoretical framework for school culture that asserts that it is a context-specific branch of organizational culture comprised of 4 dimensions and 3 levels. This conceptualization presents school climate as the second level of school culture. The article explains the qualitative analytical process that led to the development and verification of the Comprehensive Model of School Culture. The concept of culture presented here is contrasted with statements about school culture made by Van Houtte. Implications for research and further theoretical development are discussed at the end of the article.
Proton-decay branching ratios in SO(10)

We perform a group-theoretical analysis of the dependence of proton-decay branching ratios upon symmetry-breaking patterns in simple SO(10) grand unified models.
Differential effects of Pyk2 and FAK on the hypertrophic response of cardiac myocytes

The related cytoplasmic non-receptor tyrosine kinases Pyk2 (proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2) and FAK (focal adhesion kinase) have been implicated in phenylephrine-induced G-protein-coupled receptor-mediated signaling mechanisms leading to cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. We report that, in phenylephrine-stimulated neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVM), Pyk2 augments expression of the hypertrophic marker atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) but reduces cytoskeletal organization and cell spreading. In contrast, FAK attenuates ANF production but does not alter cytoskeletal organization and cell spreading. Pyk2 and FAK exhibit differential localization in both unstimulated and phenylephrine-stimulated myocytes. Pyk2 catalytic activity is required for Pyk2 to augment ANF secretion but is not necessary to reduce cell spreading. Pyk2 autophosphorylation is required but not sufficient for Pyk2 to augment ANF secretion. Expression of the Pyk2 FERM domain as an autonomous fragment inhibits phenylephrine-mediated ANF secretion and reduces cell spreading. In addition, expression of the Pyk2 FERM domain inhibits the ability of Pyk2 to augment ANF secretion; this is correlated with reduced Pyk2 autophosphorylation. These data indicate that Pyk2 and FAK have different roles and occupy different positions in signaling pathways leading to the development of cardiomyocyte hypertrophy.
Impedance model based resonance analysis in a VSC-HVDC system

Resonances can limit power transfer in a Voltage Source Converter-High Voltage DC (VSC-HVDC) system. The objective of this paper is to develop impedance models for the rectifier AC system and the inverter AC system for a VSC-HVDC system. Resonance stability will be examined using Nyquist stability criterion and impedance frequency responses. The impedance models considers the outer control loop and the inner current control loops of VSCs. Impacting factors are then examined. Stability analysis demonstrates that the feed-forward filter, line length and power transfer level have significant impact on resonances. Time-domain simulation results obtained Matlab SimPowerSystems are used to validate the analysis.
Adsorption of bisulfate on the Ru(0001) single crystal electrode surface

Abstract Adsorption of anions from sulfuric acid solutions has been studied on Ru(0001) single crystal and polycrystalline surfaces by electrochemical techniques and in-situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Infrared spectroscopy shows that bisulfate is the anion adsorbed on the Ru(0001) surface. The bisulfate adsorption is detected at the H 2 evolution potential and extends into the potential region where the Ru surface is oxidized. A method for extracting unipolar bands from bipolar bands has been presented. The tuning rate of adsorbed bisulfate in the double layer potential region of Ru(0001) was found to be significantly smaller than those observed for other platinum metals. This has been ascribed to a small change in bisulfate coverage on Ru(0001) in this potential range. Bisulfate vibration frequencies are higher on this surface than at any face-centered cubic metal with the (111) orientation. Oxidation of the Ru(0001) surface is limited to one electron per Ru atom, distinctly different from the high degree of oxidation seen in polycrystalline surfaces. For oxidized polycrystalline Ru, only solution phase sulfates and bisulfates are observed in the IR spectra.
Urban Economic Development and Restorative Justice: Exploring the Relationship Between Creativity and Crime Control

This article examines the relationship between local economic development and a new approach to the problem of crime–i.e., ‘restorative justice.’ The latter concept is introduced and briefly explored, followed by a short review of Richard Florida's recently proposed theory of creative-class economic development. Against the backdrop of these theoretical innovations, an empirical question that arises is whether the specific character of creative-class economic growth enhances the probability that a given city will adopt a restorative justice paradigm in its efforts to reduce crime. Addressing this question using logistic regression analysis, the article provides preliminary evidence that creative-class economic development encourages experimentation with innovative approaches to social problems such as crime.
Automated ocean color product validation for the Southern California Bight

Automated match ups allow us to maintain and improve the products of current satellite ocean color sensors (MODIS, MERIS), and new sensors (VIIRS). As part of the VIIRS mission preparation, we have created a web based automated match up tool that provides access to searchable fields for date, site, and products, and creates match-ups between satellite (MODIS, MERIS, VIIRS), and in-situ measurements (HyperPRO and SeaPRISM). The back end of the system is a 'mySQL' database, and the front end is a `php' web portal with pull down menus for searchable fields. Based on selections, graphics are generated showing match-ups and statistics, and ascii files are created for downloads for the matchup data. Examples are shown for matching the satellite data with the data from Platform Eureka SeaPRISM off L.A. Harbor in the Southern California Bight.
The Interferons: 50 Years after Their Discovery, There Is Much More to Learn

The interferons (IFNs) and their receptors represent a subset of the class 2 α-helical cytokines that have been in chordates for millions of years. This brief review focuses on the discovery and purification of interferons, cloning of human IFN-α and IFN-β, interferon receptors, activities and therapeutic uses of interferons, and the side effects of interferons.
A flexible uncertainty quantification method for linearly coupled multi-physics systems

Abstract This paper presents a novel approach to building an integrated uncertainty quantification (UQ) methodology suitable for modern-day component-based approach for multi-physics simulation development. Our “hybrid” UQ methodology supports independent development of the most suitable UQ method, intrusive or non-intrusive, for each physics module by providing an algorithmic framework to couple these “stochastic” modules for propagating “global” uncertainties. We address algorithmic and computational issues associated with the construction of this hybrid framework. We demonstrate the utility of such a framework on a practical application involving a linearly coupled multi-species reactive transport model.
Service quality in higher education

Quality experts believe that, ‘measuring customer satisfaction at an educational establishment might be regarded by educators as one of the greatest challenges of the quality movement’ (Cloutier & Richards, 1994, p. 117). This challenge is only one of several that surround quality improvement efforts in higher education. This paper focuses on identifying and evaluating techniques used to take on the challenges of quality improvement in higher education. This paper also examines two primary difficulties: first, definition of the customer; and second, measuring customer quality perceptions. An examination of representative historical applications of quality techniques was conducted as well as identification of the differences and similarities surrounding quality improvement efforts in each of three service areas typically found in higher education: academic, administrative, and auxiliary functions. While recognising these higher education areas differ from the typical business environment, positive research...
A study of rose bengal and sulfhydryl reagents on stromal fragments of rabbit and human erythrocytes.

Stromal fragments of human and rabbit erythrocytes, prepared by osmotic hemolysis, were used as sources of ATPase in a study of the action of the fluorescein dye, rose bengal, and of sulfhydryl reagents on this membrane component. Only the Na-K independent ATPase was systematically studied but the dye was observed, at concentrations of 10−3 M, to completely inhibit the Na-K dependent activity. Over a concentration range of 1.6 × 10−7 to 10−3 M the dye had a graded inhibitory effect on the Na-K independent ATPase in Tris buffer with little difference in the sensitivity of the enzyme from the stroma of the two species. The activity of the cation independent enzyme was not changed by darkness or anaerobic conditions in the presence of the dye and its action could not be attributed to photosensitization. Repeated washing to remove the dye failed to reduce its effect on rabbit stroma and only partially succeeded with human stromal fragments. The dye was shown not to be a competitive inhibitor of ATP for the stromal ATPase of either species. Attempts to reduce the rose bengal effect by use of the sulfhydryl agents, glutathione or cysteine were unsuccessful although glutathione did protect ATPase against the common sulfhydryl inhibitors. It is concluded that the dye is affecting an essential group on or near the enzyme either by direct bonding or irreversibly changing essential bonds.
Application of factor analysis to elemental detection limits in sputter depth profiling

Abstract Factor analysis of Auger spectra acquired during sputter depth profiling is superior to the conventional peak-to-peak amplitude method for determining elemental compositions, especially when the Auger signal strength is near the detection limit. The reason for the improvement is that factor analysis utilizes information from all the data channels in the Auger spectrum while the peak-to-peak amplitude method uses information from only two data channels. In addition, factor analysis can separate much of the spectral noise from the signal during processing, while peak-to-peak amplitude additively measures signal plus the range of the spectral noise. Procedures can also easily account for interfering species, even when their spectra are not known. In one example, at least a factor of five improvement in the minimum detection limit was achieved. In application to secondary ion mass spectrometry, only a marginal improvement in detection and precision was achieved. This is because our existing procedure (peak area measurement) already utilizes spectral information content fairly efficiently. However, factor analysis is capable of handling spectral interferences that the peak area method cannot.
The Association of Early Dental Caries Patterns with Caries Incidence in Preschool Children

Objectives This study assessed the development of caries in preschool children over two years according to baseline caries pattern. Methods Connecticut Head Start children (n = 142, mean age = 3.8 years) were examined for dental caries at baseline (spring 1991) and once annually for two years. Children were categorized at baseline as caries-free, having pit and fissure (PF) caries, or having maxillary anterior (MA) caries. Results After two years, children who presented at baseline with MA or PF caries had a mean posterior dmfs of greater than seven and four times, respectively, that of children who were caries-free at baseline. When dental caries of the primary dentition was categorized by specific posterior patterns (i.e., posterior proximal [PP] and buccal/lingual [BL]), change in dmfs for the PP and BL patterns in the group that presented with pit/fissure caries at baseline were nearly four and three times greater, respectively, than for those in the caries-free group. The group that presented with maxillary anterior caries at baseline had PP and BL caries increments eight times those of children who began caries-free. Conclusion Dental caries presentation in 3- to 4-year-old children can identify those children and tooth surfaces that will be at the greatest risk for future caries development.
Age specific food utilization and spatial distribution of the puffer,Takifugu niphobles, over an intertidal sand flat

Spatial distribution and feeding habits of the puffer fish,Takifugu niphobles, were studied to understand its mode of resource utilization in an intertidal sand flat at Tomioka in the western coast of Kyushu Island, Japan. The transect survey during high tides showed the presence of young puffers near the shoreline, while adults were mainly found in the offshore area of the sand flat. The gut contents analysis showed that although the young puffers foraged more frequently on organisms dwelling in the inshore area than the adults, both puffers fed mainly on the ghost shrimpCallianassa japonica inhabiting the entire sand flat. There was no apparent difference in the size of consumedC. japonica between the young and adult puffers. However, comparison of size structures of ghost shrimps in the field and in the gut contents showed that the young puffers foraged both from inshore and offshore areas of the sand flat, while the adults foraged mainly in the offshore area. This suggests that young puffers move more frequently over the sand flat with tides than adult ones. This pattern of trophic separation among size classes may reflect environmental features of the intertidal sand flat with large tidal fluctuations.