cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Thyroid hormone action: Effect of triiodothyronine on mitochondrial adenine nucleotide translocase in vivo and in vitro

Abstract Adenine nucleotide translocase (AdNT) levels were measured as the exchange of extramitochondrial against intramitochondrial adenosine diphosphate (ADP) in liver, spleen, and testes mitochondria isolated from normal and hypothyroid rats using the "back-exchange" and atractyloside-stop method of Pfaff and Klingenberg. The results provide confirmation of previous reports that mitochondria from hypothyroid rats show a markedly diminished AdNT activity, which is restored to normal levels within 72 hours by intraperitoneal injection of 10 to 20 μg triiodothyronine (T 3 )/100 g body weight. The latter dose was found in dose-response studies to result in maximal stimulation of AdNT in liver mitochondria. Qualitatively similar results on AdNT activity were obtained in liver mitochondria within 30 to 60 minutes following intravenous injection into hypothyroid rats of a more physiological dose of T 3 (40 ng/100 g body weight). AdNT in mitochondria isolated from spleen and testes (organs that do not exhibit a calorigenic response after administration of thyroid hormone to the whole animal) failed to respond to thyroidectomy and to administration of T 3 . More recently, we have observed that in vitro replacement of T 3 also stimulates AdNT activity in hypothyroid liver mitochondria. The enzyme adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthase was examined as another possible candidate for direct hormonal stimulation of mitochondria. Simultaneous determinations on the same rats after intraperitoneal injection of T 3 (20 μg/100 g body weight) showed little or no effect on ATP synthase until after 37 to 85 hours, whereas enhanced activity of the translocator was regularly observed at 17 hours. These findings support the view that AdNT, which is considered to exert major control over the rate of oxidative phosphorylation, may be a direct target of T 3 action on the mitochondria. Increased nuclear transcription may be regarded as a sustained delayed effect of T 3 administration, in contrast to the early effect on mitochondrial AdNT. A bolus intravenous injection of T 3 into the hypothyroid rat increases the activity of the mitochondrial carrier AdNT within a matter of minutes as an early direct effect, as also suggested by studies of addition of T 3 in vitro to isolated rat liver mitochondria. In contrast, nuclear effects require 12 to 24 hours to show increased transcription, evidenced by increased specific mRNA directing the formation of more AdNT (Luciakova and Nelson).
Neurexophilin 1 suppresses the proliferation of hematopoietic progenitor cells

Neurexin I α (NRXN1α) and Dystroglycan (DAG1) are membrane receptors which serve as mutual ligands in the neuronal system. Neurexophilins (NXPHs) bind NRXN1α. NRXN1α was expressed in primitive populations in human CB (huCB) and murine BM (muBM). DAG1 is ubiquitously expressed in hematopoietic tissue; however, osteoblasts appear to be sites of very high expression within muBM. High concentrations of NXPH were found in huCB plasma and murine lineage-positive splenocytes. We evaluated effects of these molecules on huCB and muBM hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) and HSCs. At both a single and population cell level in vitro, we found that NXPH1 was a potent inhibitor of HPC proliferation acting through NRXN1α an effect down-modulated by DAG1. Injection of recombinant NXPH1 in vivo resulted in myelo- and lymphosuppression in the BM, with absolute numbers and cycling status of functional and phenotypically defined HPCs dose- and time-dependently decreased. Competitive HSC transplantations showed no change in the long-term repopulating activity of HSCs from mice exposed to recombinant NXPH1. These results demonstrate the presence and function of a regulated signaling axis in hematopoiesis centered on NRXN1α and its modulation by DAG1 and NXPH1.
Female genital sexual arousal: biochemical mediators and potential mechanisms of dysfunction

Abstract Effective medical management of female genital sexual arousal disorder necessitates understanding of biochemical and physiological mechanisms regulating female sexual arousal responses via central and peripheral pathways. The complexity of the female sexual response and the limited experimental models available has severely hampered progress in this field. Recent studies have begun to unravel peripheral biochemical mediators involved in regulating genital engorgement/swelling and lubrication. Research in this area should identify molecular targets for pharmacotherapy of female sexual arousal dysfunction.
Levels of representation in the interpretation of anaphoric reference and instrument inference

The level of representation accessed when inferences are made during sentence comprehension was examined. The inferences investigated included antecedent assignment for both definite noun phrase anaphors and pronouns and also instrument inferences. In making these inferences, a listener must access the inferred element, whether an antecedent or an instrument, in either a linguistic form representation or a discourse model. The level of representation involved in these inferences was determined by exploiting differences in the lexical decision and naming tasks, which were argued to exhibit differential sensitivity to representational levels. In three experiments, the priming of antecedent and instrument targets in the lexical decision task was compared with priming of the same targets in the naming task. Differences in the patterns of activation across the two tasks indicated that all three types of inferences required accessing elements in a discourse model. Three control experiments ruled out simple context or congruity checking as an explanation for our results. The following conclusions were also supported by these studies: (1) Antecedent assignment occurs immediately after processing an anaphor; (2) antecedent assignment involves inhibition for the inappropriate antecedent rather than facilitation for the appropriate antecedent; (3) although subjects do not make instrument inferences when they hear isolated sentences containing verbs that strongly imply certain instruments, the inferences are made when sentences are preceded by a context that mentions the instrument.
Minsky and Modern Finance

Economic theory offers us two ways of understanding the events of Fall 1998: the banking approach (here associated with Minsky), and the finance approach (here associated with Merton, Scholes, and the firm Long Term Capital Management). The main lesson of the LTCM experience is that the modern theory of asset pricing (the finance approach) is incomplete and needs to be supplemented by a theory of liquidity (the banking approach).
Effect of Dichloroacetate on Regional Energy Metabolites and Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Activity During Ischemia and Reperfusion in Gerbil Brain

: The objective of this study was to determine whether administration of dichloroacetate (DCA), an activator of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH), improves recovery of energy metabolites following transient cerebral ischemia. Gerbils were pretreated with DCA, and cerebral ischemia was produced using bilateral carotid artery occlusion for 20 min, followed by reperfusion up to 4 h. DCA had no effect on the accumulation of lactic acid and the decrease in ATP and phosphocreatine (PCr) during the 20-min insult, nor on the recovery of these metabolites measured at 20 and 60 min reperfusion. However, at 4 h reperfusion, levels of ATP and PCr were significantly higher in DCA-treated animals than in controls, as PCr exhibited a secondary decrease in caudate nucleus of control animals. PDH was markedly inhibited at 20 min reperfusion in both groups, but was reactivated to a greater extent in DCA-treated animals at 60 min and 4 h reperfusion. These results demonstrate that DCA had no effect on the initial recovery of metabolites following transient ischemia. However, later in reperfusion, DCA enhanced the postischemic reactivation of PDH and prevented the secondary failure of energy metabolism in caudate nucleus. Thus, inhibition of PDH may limit the recovery of energy metabolism following cerebral ischemia.
On the characterization of battery electrolytes with polarization cells

Abstract The theoretical foundation of potentiometric diffusivity and transference-number measurements is revisited, through an analysis of the diffusion-potential relaxation a concentrated binary electrolyte exhibits after being subjected to a current pulse in a planar electrolytic cell. Earlier theory is extended to include solute-volume effects, as well as being modified to incorporate a particle-fraction basis for composition and to account for the nonlinear relationship between composition differences and cell voltage. The new theory provides significant corrections when concentration polarization is very large or when electrolytes are moderately concentrated, rationalizing the unexpected voltage responses seen during some previous transport measurements. Guidelines are developed to aid the design of galvanostatic-polarization experiments involving non-aqueous electrolytes similar to those used in lithium batteries. Complete property sets are provided for 0.85 M LiPF 6 in propylene carbonate and for 2.24 M LiPF 6 in a mixed-carbonate solvent.
Cell cycle and cell migration: new pieces to the puzzle.

Formation of a healed arterial wound is a landmark event during the repair of vascular lesions. Adult coronary, peripheral, and cerebral arteries are exposed to multiple stresses, including mechanical trauma, endothelial denudation, damage to intimal and medial smooth muscle, abnormal shear stresses, and oxidation of LDL by macrophages, and they must undergo repair. This wound repair process, like in many other organs, requires that a complex network of molecular signals be regulated within the cytoplasm and nucleus of an endothelial or smooth muscle cell. The cell cycle is a key regulator of these signals and has direct effects on multiple cell processes, including cell proliferation, DNA repair, apoptosis, and cell migration. Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) within the media of adult arteries are normally quiescent, proliferate at low indices, and exist in the G phase of the cell cycle (Figure 1⇓). On stimulation by growth factors or after mechanical trauma, VSMCs exit the quiescent stage G and progress through the G1 and G1/S transition of the cell cycle. G1 progression is regulated by the assembly and phosphorylation of G1 cyclin/cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) complexes, predominantly cyclin D/CDK-4,6 and cyclin E/CDK-2 in VSMCs. For example, cyclin D is a growth factor sensor whose transcription initiation, assembly, and nuclear transport is mitogen-dependent. Endogenous inhibitors of the cyclin/CDK complexes are termed the CDK inhibitors (CKIs).1 Two groups of CKIs are dominant in cardiovascular biology: the CIP/KIP family, which includes p21Cip1, p27Kip1, and p57Kip2, and the INK4 family, which includes p15Ink4b, p16Ink4a, p18Ink4c, and p19Ink4d. Interestingly, the CIP/KIP proteins are important for growth regulation in many cell types, whereas the INK4 proteins are linked to developmental processes and cell transformation. The G …
Engaging Fathers in the Post-Divorce Family

SUMMARY Data we collected in longitudinal and cross-sectional studies of divorcing families provide an empirical basis for understanding the dynamics of divorced fathering. Our findings focus on the difficult circumstances of divorced fathers, rather than on their defective characters. We find that fathers continue visiting and paying at high levels when they perceive that they retain some degree of paternal authority. The loss of this sense of paternal authority appears to occur, in part, because fathers perceive that the legal system and their divorce settlements were unfair to them. We also find that the custodial mother, who sometimes sees little value in the father's involvement, limits the father's role within the post-divorce family. These findings formed the theoretical foundation for an intervention we developed for recently divorced fathers called DADS FOR LIFE. This 8-week program focuses on retraining divorced fathers' attitudes and motivations by teaching them skills to manage conflict with t...
Electron microscopic study ofθ-phase martensite in Ni-Mn alloys

Electron microscopic observations have been made onθ-phase Ni-Mn martensites which form in nearly stoichiometric Ni-Mn alloys. Three fundamental variant-variant pairs, the “A/B”, “A/C”, and “A/D” types, have been identified as well as other combinations of variants with the aid of crystallographic information given by the phenomenological theory of martensitic transformations. The complex mixing of variants, the abundant presence of dislocations, and the large twinning shear have been pointed out as main crystallographic factors hindering the shape-memory-type deformation in this alloy system, in addition to weak grain boundaries. A new grouping of martensite variants is suggested which as a group cancels the shape strain as well as that found in the normal fundamental plate groups. The new grouping also gives the proper combination of variants for which the intersection becomes a single crystal.
‘Patent journalism’: An emergence of a new form of science communication

Abstract The rise of information-based firms has sparked an ‘explosion’ in the number of issued patents over the recent decades. Patent-related media coverage not only communicate scientific and technology advances to all stakeholders, but also has an affect on the perception of future cash flows – and therefore market value – and reinforces the use of patents as instruments to create and appropriate value. Here, a new social phenomenon of a concomitant exponential rise in the number of patent-related media coverage over the recent decades is described. This ‘patent journalism’ is portrayed from the perspective of science communication. This note aims to raise awareness of the impact of patents as conduits of science and technology communication.
Effects of ionizing radiation on RNA metabolism in cultured mammalian cells. I. Specific effects during division delay following exposure to x irradiation.

Abstract Studies on RNA metabolism in cultured Chinese hamster cells during the 9-h division delay period following 800 rads of X irradiation show that: 1. 1. The ability of RNA species to support translation at a normal rate is unaffected. During the delay period, an amount of stable RNA equal to that of the control population is synthesized. This RNA is functional as judged by increased polysome mass and maintenance of translation rate. In consequence, the divisiondelayed population has a significantly greater content of protein and RNA per cell by the time division recurs. 2. 2. At 7 h post-irradiation, incorporation of uridine into heterogeneous nuclear RNA is about 26 % greater in the irradiated population. 3. 3. There is not a corresponding increase of incorporation into informosomal messenger-like RNA. 4. 4. However, there is a 25 % increase in incorporation into mRNA associated with polysomes in a 7-h post-irradiation population. Thus, an increased incorporation into heterogeneous nuclear RNA subsequent to X irradiation is accompanied by an increase in incorporation into cytoplasmic polysome-associated RNA but not by an increased incorporation into informosomal RNA.
Nuclear politics on the pacific rim

The year 1995 is a time of 50th anniversaries: the end of World War II and the Holocaust; the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; the end of a devastating Asian war and the defeat of Japan; a divided Korea; the start of a global nuclear arms race and cold war between the United States and Soviet Union; and the start of a peace movement, initiated by Manhattan Project scientists, to abolish nuclear weapons. In this year of remembrance, replete with memorial ceremonies, museum exhibitions, and editorials, we encounter the barbarity human beings have committed in the name of nation‐states in this century. We also confront the central legacy of the past five decades: the continued existence of nuclear weapons and the rapidly changing nuclear politics of the post‐cold war era.
Variants of vasoactive intestinal peptide in mouse mast cells and rat basophilic leukemia cells.

Abstract Radioimmunoassays for neuroendocrine vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP 1-28 ) detected 30-120 fmol of structurally related peptides in extracts of 10 7 mouse peritoneal mast cells, bone marrow-derived mast cells, cultured PT-18 and C1.MC/C57.1 lines of mast cells, and rat basophilic leukemia (RBL) cells. No VIP was found in peritoneal cells of mast cell-deficient WBB6F 1 -W/W v mice, whereas the amounts extracted from peritoneal cells of the congenic normal (WBB6F 1 -+/+) mice were similar to those from cultured mouse mast cells. Sephadex G-25 gel filtration resolved two different-sized variants of VIP from mouse mast cells and RBL cells. Amino acid sequence analyses showed that the smaller variant is VIP 10-28 . The principal amino-terminally larger variant of VIP from C1.MC/C57.1 mouse mast cells and RBL cells exhibited amino acid sequence homology with VIP (-6)-28 , and this sequence was established for the corresponding larger VIP from PT-18 mast cells. Polymerase chain reaction amplification of two different substituent sequences of prepro VIP in RBL cell RNA identified the VIP message. VIP 10-28 was released from mouse mast cells concurrently with histamine by IgE-dependent stimulation. Rodent mast cell-derived VIP thus consists of both the truncated VIP 10-28 and amino-terminally larger forms that appear to be generated by peptidolysis of a prepro VIP similar to that found in neural cells.
Antihypertensive effects of l-tryptophan are not mediated by brain serotonin

Abstract l -Tryptophan produces a significant antihypertensive effect in spontaneously hypertensive rats while d -tryptophan does not change blood pressure. Both isomers of tryptophan significantly increase brain serotonin to the same extent at a time when the antihypertensive effect of l -tryptophan is maximal. Thus, the antihypertensive effects of l -tryptophan do not appear to be mediated by brain serotonin.
Transition programs in cystic fibrosis centers: perceptions of patients.

There is a growing population of adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) and a need for development of adult CF programs. Recommendations for transfer of patients from pediatric care to an adult program include a transition program. The purpose of this study was to survey adult CF patients to assess their own concerns regarding this issue. A survey was sent to all 1,288 members of the International Association of Cystic Fibrosis Adults (IACFA), with a response rate of 25.9% (n = 334). The majority of patients (81.2%) received care from a CF center; the major difference between those seen at a CF center and those seen at another facility was proximity to a CF center. Nearly one-fourth of patients seen at a CF center continued to receive care from a pediatrician even though a CF-trained internist was available; though these patients were younger, their mean age was still about 30 years. Patients seen by a pediatrician were more like to be students and to live with their parents. Those patients seen in an adult program described a variety of criteria for their transfer to the adult pro-gram, but there were no consistent findings to suggest a standard transition program. Indeed, many patients did not meet the adult team until the time of the transfer. Most importantly, the patients reported their level of concern about transfer as minimal, far less than what CF physicians had perceived. These differences may impede the successful transition of patients into an adult program. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2002; 33:327–331. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Integration of shape from shading and stereo

Abstract Stereo algorithms suffer from the lack of local surface texture due to smoothness of depth constraint, or local miss-matches in disparity estimates. Thus, most stereo methods only provide a coarse depth map which can be associated with a low pass image of the depth map. On the other hand, shape from shading algorithms generally produce better estimates of local surface areas, but some of them have problems with variable albedo and spherical surfaces. Thus, shape from shading methods produce better detailed depth information, and can be associated with the high pass image of the depth map. In order to compute a better depth map, we present a method for integrating the high frequncy information from the shape from shading and the low frequency information from stereo. The proposed algorithm is very simple, takes about 0.7 s for a 128 × 128 image on a Sun SparcStation-1, is non-iterative, and requires very little adjustment of parameters. The results obtained with a variety of synthetic and real images are discussed. The quality of depth obtained by integrating shading and stereo is compared with the ground truth (range image) using height error measure, and improvement ranging from 30 to 50% over stereo, and from 65 to 98% over shading is demonstrated.
FDTD simulation of microcavity DBR surface-emitting lasers

A 2D FDTD analysis of a microcavity distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) surface emitting laser (SEL) is carried out in this paper. The reflectivity of the DBR, mode structure and light output versus pumping current curve of the microcavity DBR SEL are calculated and presented.
Generating functions for the powers of Fibonacci sequences

In this note, based on the Binet formulas and the power-reducing techniques, closed forms of generating functions for the powers of Fibonacci sequences are presented. The corresponding results are extended to some other famous sequences as well.
Sexual risk-taking among adult dating couples in the United States.

CONTEXT: Knowledge of sexual and contraceptive behaviors as risk factors for STDs is largely based on womens or mens separate reports of their attitudes and behaviors. Little research has been based on couples. METHODS: Data from the 2005-2006 National Couples Survey were used to examine the sexual risk-taking behavior of 335 dating couples. Associations between each partners characteristics and the couples probability of recently having had anal sex and of having done something to protect themselves from STDs were assessed using logistic regression analyses. Models included measures of power dynamics and partners perceptions of who controls sexual and contraceptive decisions. RESULTS: Couples in which the female partner reported that her male partner made the decisions about sex and contraception had increased probability of having had anal sex during the four weeks prior to the interview. In addition partners relationship power and their perception of control over sex and contraception moderated associations between couples behavior and partners characteristics experiences and beliefs. For example although couples in which the male partners had known someone with AIDS were less likely than others to engage in anal sex that association was much greater for males with high income-and thus greater power-than for those with low income. CONCLUSIONS: Sexual behaviors are not controlled by any one individual in a relationship; characteristics of each partner are important. Couples-based interventions that take into consideration relationship-especially power-dynamics may enable individuals to initiate and sustain safer-sex practices.
Cognitive function in patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus during hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia

Background To determine the impact of glycemic control, gender, and other relevant parameters on cognitive function during exposure to different blood glucose levels in patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), we examined neuropsychologic function during experimentally induced periods of hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia. Methods We studied 20 men and 22 women, aged 18 to 44 years, with IDDM duration of 3 to 14 years and HbA1 values ranging from 5.8% to 18.0% (nondiabetic range 5.4% to 7.4%). We used a controlled experimental setting involving tests of sensory perceptual processing, simple motor abilities, attention, learning and memory, language, and spatial and constructional abilities at plasma glucose levels of 2.2, 5.6, 8.9, 14.4, and 21.1 mmol/L. Patients were blind to the glucose level. Tests used at each glucose level included reaction time (simple and choice), digit vigilance, trail making part B, word recall, digit sequence learning, and verbal fluency. Results All aspects of neuropsychologic function were diminished at 2.2 mmol/L when compared with basal levels of performance at 8.9 mmol/L. whereas no alterations were observed at 14.4 or 21.1 mmol/L. Tests involving associative learning, attention, and mental flexibility were the most affected during hypoglycemia. Glycemic control was not correlated with neuropsychologic function at any glucose level. Women demonstrated less of an impairment in neuropsychologic function than men at 2.2 mmol/L. Conclusions Cognitive function in IDDM patients was generally well-preserved even at substantially elevated blood glucose levels. Deficits in ail relevant areas of cognitive function occurred during hypoglycemia (2.2 mmol/L). irrespective of prior glycemic control, and women with IDDM were less cognitively impaired than men with IDDM during hypoglycemia.
Selective differences between naive and experienced cattle foraging among eight grasses

Cattle are often required to adapt to new forages when they are moved to new pasture. The objectives of this research were: (1) to determine how rapidly naive cattle express clearly defined preferences when they encounter a new array of forages, and (2) to compare their evolving forage preferences and grazing behavior with those of experienced cattle. Three naive and three experienced yearling-steers were grazed in experimental paddocks supporting equal numbers of eight different caespitose grasses, and the number of visits to plants and number of bites harvested were monitored. Experienced steers immediately began grazing preferred forages, and throughout the trials, 90% of their visits were made to the two preferred grasses, giant wildrye (Elymus cinereus Scribn. and Merr.), and `Nordan' crested wheatgrass (Agropyron desertorum (Fischer ex Link)Schultes). After the naive steers had sampled only nine individual plants, they selected the same two grasses as the experienced steers at significantly (P=0.05) higher frequencies than expected by chance. Diets of the naive steers, however, remained significantly different (P=0.001) from the experienced steers for the duration of the trials, so we could not determine the amount of exposure or time required for the selective patterns of the two treatments to approach parity. Across the 4-day trial, 97% of total bites by the experienced animals were from the two preferred grasses, while the naive animals took only 88% of their total bites from the same forages (P=0.001). Naive steers were also more likely to abandon a plant after harvesting a single-bite of forage (37%) than the experienced steers (19.5%). In approximately the same amount of time, naive steers harvested 21% fewer total bites than experienced animals, suggesting that naive animals were less efficient grazers. If naive cattle are introduced to an array of new forages, they may begin expressing dietary preferences paralleling those of indigenous animals within less than 5 min. Researchers, however, should not assume that naive cattle will provide an accurate depiction of the dietary composition of native stock, because naive cattle may sample a broader array of forages than their experienced counterparts and harvest fewer bites than experienced cattle from the preferred forages. Further research over more than 4 consecutive days will be required to determine the time necessary for `naive' animals to be considered `experienced'. These data also suggest that active cattle management may be focused on relatively few species even when pastures contain a heterogeneous mix of forages.
Photolysis of aryl ketones with varying vapor pressures on soil

The photolysis of a series of aryl ketones on air-dried soil surfaces was examined to establish whether vapor transport has an effect on the rate and extent of photolysis. If vapor transport were significant on light-exposed soils, then differences in the observed photolysis rate profiles would be expected, with the compounds having higher vapor pressures exhibiting the greatest photolysis. The aryl ketones, including hexanophenone, octanophenone, dodecanophenone, hexadecanophenone, and octadecanophenone, had nearly identical photolysis rates in solution exposed to sunlamps (Λmax 310 nm). The vapor pressures of these five compounds (25 °C) were estimated by a capillary gas chromatographic method and varied from 8.7 × 10−3 to 8.4 × 10−8 torr. The compounds were irradiated for 15 d on an air-dried sandy loam soil surface. The photolysis rate profiles of the four aryl ketones with vapor pressures from 1.3 × 10−3 torr to 8.4 × 10−8 torr were identical within experimental error, whereas the most volatile congener, hexanophenone, showed approximately 10% greater loss. Volatilization of hexanophenone appears to have caused the compound to move into the light-exposed soil surface to a greater extent than the other compounds. These results suggest that vaporization is not important for loss or transport of the compounds with vapor pressures less than 1.3 × 10−3 torr on air-dried soils within the 15-d irradiation.
Rethinking social reactions to crime: Personal and altruistic fear in family households

Research on fear of crime in the United States has concentrated on personal fear while overlooking the fear that people have for others in their lives—children, spouses, friends—whose safety they value. Sample survey data reveal that altruistic fear (fear for others) has a distinctive structure in family households and is more common and often more intense than personal fear. Many of the everyday precautions practiced by Americans and conventionally assumed to be self‐protective appear to be a consequence of altruistic fear. These and other findings underscore the need to understand fear of crime as a social rather than an individual phenomenon.
PKA: a portrait of protein kinase dynamics

Protein kinases play a critical role in the integration of signaling networks in eukaryotic cells. cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) serves as a prototype for this large and highly diverse enzyme family. The catalytic subunit of PKA provides the best example of how a protein kinase recognizes its substrates, as well as inhibitors, and also show how the enzyme moves through the steps of catalysis. Many of the relevant conformational states associated with the catalytic cycle which have been captured in a crystal lattice are summarized here. From these structures, we can begin to appreciate the molecular events of catalysis as well as the intricate orchestration of critical residues in the catalytic subunit that contribute to catalysis. The entire molecule participates. To fully understand signaling by PKA, however, requires an understanding of a large set of related proteins, not just the catalytic subunit. This includes the regulatory subunits that serve as receptors for cAMP and the A kinase anchoring proteins (AKAPs) that serve as scaffolds for PKA. The AKAPs localize PKA to specific sites in the cell by docking to the N-terminus of the regulatory subunits, thus creating microenvironments for PKA signaling. To fully appreciate the diversity and integration of these molecules, one needs not only high-resolution structures but also an appreciation of how these molecules behave in solution. Thus, in addition to obtaining high-resolution structures by X-ray crystallography and NMR, we have used fluorescent tools and also hydrogen/deuterium exchange coupled with mass spectrometry to probe the dynamic properties of these proteins and how they interact with one another. The molecular features of these molecules are described. Finally, we describe a new recombinantly expressed PKA reporter that allows us to monitor PKA activity in living cells.
Meperidine disposition in man: Influence of urinary pH and route of administration

The effects of route of administration and altered urinary pH on the disposition of meperidine and its metabolite normeperidine were investigated in six normal, nonsmoking young men from 23 to 31 yr old. Meperidine (21.75 mg) was injected intravenously simultaneous with the same dose of deuterated (2H5) drug given orally in solution or by injection into the deltoid muscle. After intravenous administration with no control of urinary pH, meperidine blood levels declined triexponentially over 24 hr with a terminal half-life (t½) of 4.9 to 9.4 hr and a clearance of 472 to 686 ml/min. The 48-hr urinary recoveries of meperidine and nonneperidine were about 7% and 12%. Urinary acidification with ammonium chloride reduced these amounts to less than 1% and about 7%, whereas urinary alkalinization increased them to about 20% and 24%. These pronounced changes had negligible effects on the blood concentration/time profiles. Plasma levels were proportional to the blood concentrations with a ratio of about unity for meperidine and a value 25% greater for nonneperidine. Absorption after intramuscular injection was complete and followed a first-order process with t½ ranging from 7 to 13 min. Accordingly, maximum blood levels were achieved within 5 to 15 min and the concentration was essentially the same as after intravenous dosing. In contrast, oral bioavailabilitv was incomplete, ranging from 47% to 73%, and at a much slower rale, with peak concentrations being observed after about 1 hr. Absorption was biphasic and was preceded by a 5- to 10-min lag period. Nonneperidine blood concentration after intravenous dosing reached a maximum within 2 to 4 hr and remained at this value through 12 hr before modestly declining by 24 hr. After oral dosing the peak level was achieved more rapidly and sharply. Thus, presystemic elimination occurs after oral dosing with meperidine consistent in value with the measured blood clearance which, therefore, probably reflects only hepatic metabolism. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (1981) 30, 619–628; doi:10.1038/clpt.1981.213
Control system synthesis strategies

This paper is concerned with an important aspect of process control design—synthesis of the control structure. Synthesis of control structures has long been practiced by experienced control engineers, who relied on intuition, insight and judgment to pick a feasible solution from the vast number of alternatives that were possible. This paper describes a systematic procedure to generate these alternatives based on the cause-and-effect representation of the process. The final product is a set of control schemes from which the final system may be selected or evolved. The work is significant in that it is the first attempt to apply non-numerical problem-solving techniques to the problem of synthesizing process control structures. As such, it gives a new way of studying and teaching chemical process control.
Places on the map and in the cloud: representations of locality and geography in Wikipedia

This poster will present preliminary results of a study that considers the efforts of WikiProject Countering Systemic Bias, a collective of editors dedicated to combating bias on the English-language Wikipedia. Through a content analysis comparing the project to a sample from the general population, the scope of this group's labor is gauged and discussed.
Workshop Report: Future Directions in Computer Architecture

Designers must strive for a top-down, application-driven approach to digital system design. And new methods are needed for analytically exploring design tradeoffs in the context of changing technology and the multitude of highly concurrent systems technology will make possible. These were among the principal themes to arise from the Workshop on Future Directions in Computer Architecture, held November 16-17, 1977, at the University of Texas at Austin. Sponsored by the Special Interest Group on Computer Architecture of the ACM, the Technical Committee on Computer Architecture of the IEEE Computer Society, and The University of Texas at Austin with the support of the National Science Foundation, the meeting was aimed at identifying nearterm trends in computer architecture research and development. Following opening addresses by Zilog President Frederico Faggin and ACM President Herb Grosch, the workshop divided into seven sequential sessions (Table 1).
Protein Kinase C ζ Plays a Central Role in Activation of the p42/44 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase by Endotoxin in Alveolar Macrophages

Human alveolar macrophages respond to endotoxin (LPS) by activation of a number of mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways, including the p42/44 (extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK)) kinase pathway. In this study, we evaluated the role of the atypical protein kinase C (PKC) isoform, PKC ζ, in LPS-induced activation of the ERK kinase pathway. Kinase activity assays showed that LPS activates PKC ζ, mitogen-activated protein/ERK kinase (MEK, the upstream activator of ERK), and ERK. LPS did not activate Raf-1, the classic activator of MEK. Pseudosubstrate-specific peptides with attached myristic acid are cell permeable and can be used to block the activity of specific PKC isoforms in vivo. We found that a peptide specific for PKC ζ partially blocked activation of both MEK and ERK by LPS. We also found that this peptide blocked in vivo phosphorylation of MEK after LPS treatment. In addition, we found that LPS caused PKC ζ to bind to MEK in vivo. These observations suggest that MEK is an LPS-directed target of PKC ζ. PKC ζ has been shown in other systems to be phosphorylated by phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase-dependent kinase. We found that LPS activates PI 3-kinase and causes the formation of a PKC ζ/PI 3-kinase-dependent kinase complex. These data implicate the PI 3-kinase pathway as an integral part of the LPS-induced PKC ζ activation. Taken as a whole, these studies suggest that LPS activates ERK kinase, in part, through activation of an atypical PKC isoform, PKC ζ.
Reduced Complexity MIMO MMSE-DFE

We present a reduced complexity MIMO MMSE-DFE coefficient computation algorithm which is based on an improvement to the fast block algorithm developed in N. Al-Dhahir and A.H. Sayed (2000). We have achieved a nearly 50% reduction in complexity by eliminating the computation of unnecessary terms. The effects due to finite precision arithmetic on SNR are also considered and a minimum fixed-point word length of 32 bits results in no noticeable performance loss. Hardware implementation issues depend on several factors and these are also discussed
Lexically specific constructions in the acquisition of inflection in English.

Children learning English often omit grammatical words and morphemes, but there is still much debate over exactly why and in what contexts they do so. This study investigates the acquisition of three elements which instantiate the grammatical category of ‘inflection ’ – copula be, auxiliary be and 3sg present agreement – in longitudinal transcripts from five children, whose ages range from 1 ;6 to 3;5 in the corpora examined. The aim is to determine whether inflection emerges as a unitary category, as predicted by some recent generative accounts, or whether it develops in a more piecemeal fashion, consistent with constructivist accounts. It is found that for each child the relative pace of development of the three morphemes studied varies significantly, suggesting that these morphemes do not depend on a unitary underlying category. Furthermore, early on, be is often used primarily with particular closed-class subjects, suggesting that forms such as he’s and that’s are learned as lexically specific constructions. These findings are argued to support the idea that children learn ‘inflection ’ (and by hypothesis, other functional categories) not by filling in pre-specified slots in an innate structure, but by learning some specific constructions involving particular lexical items, before going on to gradually abstract more general construction types.
An investigation on the effect of bending of Split Ring Resonators

This paper investigates the effect of bending on Split Ring Resonators (SRR) by means of numerical simulations. This study is important since SRR is a basic bulk component of Left Handed Metamaterials (LHMs) which plays a vital role in the recent advancement of microwave applications. Modeling and analysis of SRR has been carried out using the commercially available software Ansoft's High Frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) which is based on the Finite Element Method (FEM). To the best knowledge of the authors, this kind of study is being conducted for the first time in the field of metamaterial science. We show that bending of SRR affects the retrieved values of the constitutive parameters which must be taken into account when designing flexible metamaterial. Edge Coupled SRR (EC-SRR) is considered in this research. Several degrees of bending have been investigated for comparison purposes.
Specific SR protein‐dependent splicing substrates identified through genomic SELEX

The Drosophila pre-mRNA splicing factor B52 (SRp55) is essential for fly development, but splicing of RNAs of specific genes tested previously is normal in B52-null animals, presumably due to partial functional redundancy with other SR proteins. To identify B52-dependent splicing substrates in vivo, we selected genomic sequence fragments whose transcripts bind B52. Almost all of the corresponding genes having a known function encode either transcription factors or components of signal transduction pathways, with the B52- binding fragments located to not only exonic but also intronic regions. Some pre-mRNAs from these genes showed splicing defects in the B52-null mutant. These results indicate that B52 has unique functions in the removal of some introns during development, and plays a critical role in cellular regulatory networks.
Arginine, a key residue for the enhancing ability of an antifreeze protein of the beetle Dendroides canadensis.

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) can produce a difference between the nonequilibrium freezing point and the melting point, termed thermal hysteresis (TH). The TH activity of an antifreeze protein (AFP) depends on the specific AFP and its concentration as well as the presence of cosolutes including low molecular mass solutes and/or proteins. We recently identified series of carboxylates and polyols as efficient enhancers for an AFP from the beetle Dendroides canadensis. In this study, we chemically modified DAFP-1 using the arginine-specific reagent 1,2-cyclohexanedione. We demonstrated that 1,2-cyclohexanedione specifically modifies one arginine residue and the modified DAFP-1 loses its enhancing ability completely or partially in the presence of previously identified enhancers. The stronger the enhancement ability of the enhancer on the native DAFP-1, the stronger the enhancement effect of the enhancer on the modified DAFP-1. The weaker enhancers (e.g., glycerol) completely lose their enhancement effect on the...
Attitudes and Self-Images of Male and Female Bisexuals

Abstract This project investigates the attitudes and perceptions of male and female bisexuals regarding self-image. An Internet survey composed of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, and a multiple-choice opinion section that focuseson sexual orientation is examined from 112 participants. Previousconclusions that bisexuals have low self-esteem and quality of life problems are not duplicated. One-way ANOVA and chi-square tests reveal that bisexual self-identity and behavior imagesreflect changesand variation within the bisexual orientation. There search concludes that although some bisexuals have conflicts, or arein transition moving up and down a continuum over time, many identify solidly asbisexual over a long, stable period.
Activity and stability of Ag–alumina for the selective catalytic reduction of NOx with methane in high-content SO2 gas streams

In this work, we investigated the activity and stability of Ag–alumina catalysts for the SCR of NO with methane in gas streams with a high concentration of SO2, typical of coal-fired power plant flue gases. Ag–alumina catalysts were prepared by coprecipitation–gelation, and dilute nitric-acid solutions were used to remove weakly bound silver species from the surface of the as prepared catalysts after calcination. SO2 has a severe inhibitory effect, essentially quenching the CH4-SCR reaction on this type catalysts at temperatures <600 8C. SO2 adsorbs strongly on the surface forming aluminum and silver sulfates that are not active for CH4-SCR of NOx. Above 600 8C, however, the reaction takes place without catalyst deactivation even in the presence of 1000 ppm SO2. The reaction light-off coincides with the onset of silver sulfate decomposition, indicating the critical role of silver in the reaction mechanism. SO2 is reversibly adsorbed on silver above 600 8C. While alumina sites remain sulfated, this does not hinder the reaction. Sulfation of alumina only decreases the extent of adsoption of NOx, but adsorption of NOx is not the limiting step. Methane activation is the limiting step, hence the presence of sulfur-free Ag–O–Al species is a requirement for the reaction. Strong adsorption of SO2 on Ag–alumina decreases the rates of the reaction, and increases the activation energies of both the reduction of NO to N2 and the oxidation of CH4, the latter more than the former. Our results indicate partial contribution of gas phase reactions to the formation of N2 above 600 8C. H2O does not inhibit the reaction at 625 8C, and the effect of co-addition of H2O and SO2 is totally reversible. # 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Intersubband transitions in conduction band quantum wells: the role of energy band gaps and band off-sets

A new 14-band k/spl middot/p analysis of optical intersubband transitions in conduction band quantum wells demonstrates the importance of the energy band gap and the band off-sets in determining the strength of such transitions, In particular it is found (1) that a narrow band gap enhances the TE activity, and is therefore desirable, because of the importance of band mixing, and (2) that carrier confinement in both the valence band (Type I quantum well) and the upper conduction band is necessary for strong TE activity. This paper discusses these observations and supports these conclusions with measurements made on Type-II InP/InAlAs quantum wells.
A Hybrid Scheme for On-Chip Voltage Regulation in System-On-a-Chip (SOC)

Conventional off-chip or single-stage on-chip converter will fail to meet the demand for different supply voltage domains for various functional blocks/cores in traditional or future multi-/many-core system-on-a-chips (SOCS). In this paper, a hybrid two-stage voltage regulation scheme is proposed, where the first stage consists of a switching voltage regulator located off-chip, and the second stage consists of a tree structure of linear regulators located on the chip. This approach proves to be efficient, simple and less costly compared to other options that offer total on-chip integration of a switching regulators. The difficulties and limitations of on-chip switching regulator have been analyzed. For the tree structure of on-chip linear regulators two different architectures (cascaded and parallel) have been proposed. It is demonstrated that a cascaded tree of linear regulators is a better solution than a parallel tree structure from performance point of view.