cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Patterns of Hair Cell Loss in Chick Basilar Papilla After Intense Auditory Stimulation: Exposure duration and survival time

Ten-day-old chicks were exposed to a pure tone (1.5 kHz) or white noise at 125 dB SPL avg. RMS for 4 to 24 hours, and were sacrificed either 10, 30 or 60 days after exposure. The basilar papillae were embedded in plastic, sectioned, and hair cells were counted at 100-mum intervals throughout the length of the papilla. As sound exposure duration increased, both the maximum number of hair cells lost, and the extent of the damaged area along the basilar membrane increased. Short hair cells situated on the free area of the basilar papilla were more susceptible to damage than were tall hair cells. The location of hair cell loss varied as a function of frequency band of exposure; the pure tone produced a well localized basal lesion, while wide-band noise produced a more general lesion which extending toward the apex. Degeneration continued with increased survival time up to 30 days. It is concluded that avians respond to acoustic overstimulation in a manner very similar to mammals. The convenience of this prepa...
Abstract LB-339: Cause of death in cancer survivors

Background: Cancer, in general, is regarded as one of the most life threatening diseases. In the past decade, with the application of advanced scientific and medical technologies for cancer early detection, prevention, and treatment, cancer survivors are now living much longer and do not died directly from cancer, but from other diseases and complications, therefore, becomes increasingly important to understand major causes of death among cancer survivors to improve the quality of life and prolong life expectancy of cancer survivors. We conducted a study to investigate the cause of death among cancer survivors using data from national surveys. Methods: The analytical population consist of 1807 cancer survivors identified from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III 1988-1994 and NHANES 1999- 2004. We excluded participants with age less than 18 years old and those with skin cancer. Cancer survivors were identified if they self-reported having ever been told by a doctor or other health professional that he/she had cancer or a malignancy of any kind. The cause of death was ascertained through the National Death Index (NDI). All participants were followed from the date of survey to the date of the survey to December 31, 2006 by linking NDI death certificate records. Results: The Follow-up time ranged from 0 to 17.3 years. Total 776 participants died during the follow-up period. Underlying cause of death were recoded as 113 death causes in the National Death Index. We classified all death causes into 3 categories: related with cancer, indeterminate and not related with cancer. The causes of death were stratified by the duration since the diagnosis of cancer, which was calculated as follow-up time plus years between age at NHANES survey and age when being diagnosed with cancer. Commonly reported types of cancer were prostate (n=165), breast (n=141) and colorectal cancer (n=117) among 761 male and 1046 female participants. At time of the survey, there were 17.7% and 26.5% with diabetes, 63.2 and 66.9 with cardiovascular condition, and 58.7 and 62.9 had hypertension, and 61.3% and 70.5% with hypercholesterolemia in men and women, respectively. Among the deseeded cancer survivor, 41.8%, 9.3, and 48.9% were died from cancer, indeterminate, disease not related with cancer. The percentages were 43.4%, 6.2% and 50.4%, respectively in men and 40.4%, 12.1% and 47.6%, respectively in women. Noticeably, with the increase of the duration since diagnosis of cancer, higher percentage of cancer survivor died from disease not related to cancer, ranging from 23.3% within 5 years to 72.1% in more than 30 years (p value for trend Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-339. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-LB-339
LINEAR TOPOGRAPHY IN THE SOUTHWESTERN PALOUSE, WASHINGTON‐OREGON1

T HE Palouse region of the Columbia Basin is an area of rolling loessial hills which differs conspicuously from the mountains and basaltic scablands which surround it. Within the Palouse, however, there are major topographic differences. The northeastern part is an area of stream-dissected topography in a mature stage of erosional development, and the drainage pattern is characteristically dendritic. In the southwest, by contrast, topography is markedly aligned, with a system of linear hills and valleys trending approximately N. 300 E. with great regularity (Figs. 1 and 2). The purpose of this paper is to explain the origin of the linear topography, and to provide reasons for its geographic distribution. The area of aligned topography totals about two thousand square miles and comprises almost half of the Palouse. Boundaries of the area are usually indistinct, especially to the northeast where the pattern of parallel ridges and valleys grades into the dendritic pattern which characterizes theremainder of the Palouse. The area is fragmented by large stream valleys and scabland channels, but lineation is a dominant feature of the landscape throughout large tracts, with the trend of alignment maintaining a constant and uniform direction. Taken as a whole, the linear area of the southwestern Palouse forms a discrete and unmistakable topographic entity, despite its discontinuity and vaguely defined boundaries. The dimensions of individual hills vary considerably from one to another but rarely go beyond certain upper limits. Few of the ridges are more than three hundred feet from
Wealth Effects of Acquiring Financially Distressed Firms

The purpose of the present research is to study target and acquirer shareholder wealth effects of acquisition announcements in which the target is financially distressed. The abnormal returns and the dollar abnormal gains to both the target and acquiring firms are examined according to whether the mode of acquisition is a merger or a tender offer. A regression analysis is also undertaken to examine the importance of the mode of acquisition, an industry effect, and tax variables in determining the abnormal dollar gains in acquisitions of financially distressed targets.
Synthesis of [F‐18]‐1‐amino‐3‐fluorocyclobutane‐1‐carboxylic acid (FACBC): a PET tracer for tumor delineation

Fluorine-18 labeled 1-amino-3-fluorocyclobutane-1-carboxylic acid (FACBC), a new tumor-avid amino acid, was synthesized for positron emission tomography. [18F]FACBC was prepared with high specific activity by nucleophilic displacement with an overall radiochemical yield of 12% (EOB). Synthesis of the triflate precursor was accomplished in nine steps starting from the reaction of benzyl bromide with epichlorohydrin which gave 1-chloro-2-benzyloxy-3-brompropane. A key step involves conversion of 3-benzyloxy-cyclobutane-1,1-dicarboxylate diamide to a mixture of diastereomeric 2-benzyloxycyclobutane hydantoins. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Extending the breadth of metabolite profiling by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry

Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is one of the most frequently used tools for profiling primary metabolites. Instruments are mature enough to run large sequences of samples; novel advancements increase the breadth of compounds that can be analyzed, and improved algorithms and databases are employed to capture and utilize biologically relevant information. Around half the published reports on metabolite profiling by GC-MS focus on biological problems rather than on methodological advances. Applications span from comprehensive analysis of volatiles to assessment of metabolic fluxes for bioengineering. Method improvements emphasize extraction procedures, evaluations of quality control of GC-MS in comparison to other techniques and approaches to data processing. Two major challenges remain: rapid annotation of unknown peaks; and, integration of biological background knowledge aiding data interpretation.
Spiral Computerized Tomography and Video Thoracoscopy in Catamenial Pneumothorax

Catamenial pneumothorax is a rare disease that is usually diagnosed on clinical grounds. Delay in diagnosis can lead to considerable morbidity. We describe a case in which spiral CT scan and videothoracoscopy led to early objective diagnosis and management.
1200 EFFECT OF NALIDIXIC ACID (NAL), NOVOBIOCIN (NOV), AND OXOLINIC ACID ON EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT AND MACROMOLECULAR BIOSYNTHESIS

1200 EFFECT OF NALIDIXIC ACID (NAL), NOVOBIOCIN (NOV), AND OXOLINIC ACID ON EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT AND MACROMOLECULAR BIOSYNTHESIS
Management of osteoporosis in men on androgen deprivation therapy.

Abstract Osteoporosis is a common consequence of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer. Up to 20% of men on ADT for localized prostate cancer will fracture within 5 years. Fortunately, generally safe and effect therapy is available. Although once considered non-controversial, there is some concern about calcium supplementation, but all studies of osteoporosis therapy in men have included calcium. In most older men, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels are likely to be low, although again there is controversy about the ideal level. Many experts believe that all older men, including those on ADT, need to have a level of >30 ng/ml, which is easily accomplished. Bone mineral density (BMD) testing by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is indicated for men on ADT. Interestingly, forearm DXA may be particularly important in ADT men, in addition to spine and hip. Some experts have suggested that men on ADT with a T -score of ≤−1.5 should be treated. Alternatively FRAX or another risk calculator can be used. Oral and intravenous bisphosphonates are FDA approved treatments for men with osteoporosis and increase BMD in men on ADT. Potential off-label agents include raloxifene and toremifene. The latter and denosumab have been shown to increase bone density and decrease vertebral fractures in men on ADT. Raloxifene and denosumab are only FDA approved for postmenopausal osteoporosis. Thus, prevention of fractures can be accomplished in this high risk population.
FiberID--a technique to identify fibrous protein subclasses.

Fibrous proteins such as collagen, silk, and elastin play critical biological roles, yet they have been the subject of few projects that use computational techniques to predict either their class or their structure. In this article, we present FiberID, a simple yet effective method for identifying and distinguishing three fibrous protein subclasses from their primary sequences. Using a combination of amino acid composition and fast Fourier measurements, FiberID can classify fibrous proteins belonging to these subclasses with high accuracy by using two standard machine learning techniques (decision trees and Naive Bayesian classifiers). After presenting our results, we present several fibrous sequences that are regularly misclassified by FiberID as sequences of potential interest for further study. Finally, we analyze the decision trees developed by FiberID for potential insights regarding the structure of these proteins. Proteins 2007. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Metabolism and Elimination of the Endogenous DNA Adduct, 3-(2-Deoxy-β-D-erythropentofuranosyl)-pyrimido[1,2-α]purine-10(3H)-one, in the Rat *

Endogenously occurring damage to DNA is a contributing factor to the onset of several genetic diseases, including cancer. Monitoring urinary levels of DNA adducts is one approach to assess genomic exposure to endogenous damage. However, metabolism and alternative routes of elimination have not been considered as factors that may limit the detection of DNA adducts in urine. We recently demonstrated that the peroxidation-derived deoxyguanosine adduct, 3-(2-deoxy-beta-D-erythropentofuranosyl)-pyrimido[1,2-alpha]purine-10(3H)-one (M1dG), is subject to enzymatic oxidation in vivo resulting in the formation of a major metabolite, 6-oxo-M1dG. Based on the administration of [14C]M1dG (22 microCi/kg) to Sprague-Dawley rats (n=4), we now report that 6-oxo-M1dG is the principal metabolite of M1dG in vivo representing 45% of the total administered dose. When [14C]6-oxo-M1dG was administered to Sprague-Dawley rats, 6-oxo-M1dG was recovered unchanged (>97% stability). These studies also revealed that M1dG and 6-oxo-M1dG are subject to biliary elimination. Additionally, both M1dG and 6-oxo-M1dG exhibited a long residence time following administration (>48 h), and the major species observed in urine at late collections was 6-oxo-M1dG.
Cartilage viability and catabolism in the intact porcine knee following transarticular impact loading with and without articular fracture

Posttraumatic arthritis commonly develops following articular fracture. The objective of this study was to develop a closed joint model of transarticular impact with and without creation of an articular fracture that maintains the physiologic environment during loading. Fresh intact porcine knees were preloaded and impacted at 294 J via a drop track. Osteochondral cores were obtained from the medial and lateral aspects of the femoral condyles and tibial plateau. Chondrocyte viability was assessed at days 0, 3 and 5 post-impact in sham, impacted nonfractured, and impacted fractured joints. Total matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity, aggrecanase (ADAMTS-4) activity, and sulfated glycosaminoglycan (S-GAG) release was measured in culture media from days 3 and 5 post-trauma. No differences were observed in chondrocyte viability of impacted nonfractured joints (95.9±6.9%) when compared to sham joints (93.8±7.7%). In impacted fractured joints, viability of the fractured edge was 40.5±27.6% and significantly lower than all other sites, including cartilage adjacent to the fractured edge (p<0.001). MMP and aggrecanase activity and S-GAG release were significantly increased in specimens from the fractured edge. This study showed that joint impact resulting in articular fracture significantly decreased chondrocyte viability, increased production of MMPs and aggrecanases, and enhanced S-GAG release, whereas the same level of impact without fracture did not cause such changes.
Retained contrast after embolization of a right gastric artery pseudoaneurysm.

Pseudoaneurysms due to chronic pancreatitis can be a source of major gastrointestinal (GI) hemorrhage. Computed tomography (CT) is the primary diagnostic imaging modality for pancreatic pseudocysts associated with GI bleeding can be diagnosed and embolized with transcatheter techniques once the arterial anatomy is defined. CT is a useful modality for follow-up examination of the pseudocyst; the findings must be correlated with other procedures performed on these patients. On follow-up studies, contrast medium retained in the pseudocyst after embolization may falsely signal persistent bleeding into the pseudocyts.
Organizationally sensible Vs. legal-centric responses to the eroding employment at-will doctrine

Most private sector American employers have responded to the uncertainty created by the erosion of the employment at-will doctrine by adopting tactics aimed at avoiding the perceived costs associated with salient legal concerns (e.g., requiring written agreements to preserve the at-will relationship and defeat implied-contract claims). This article discusses the limitations of such a highly legal-centric approach, and provides an alternative decision framework that will promote more strategic, or “organizationally sensible,” employer responses. In addition to providing specific guidance for employers facing the employment at-will issue, the article's analysis and discussion illustrates a general approach that has relevance wherever organizational decision makers address employment decisions with potential legal implications.
IEEE 802.11 performance enhancement via concatenation and piggyback mechanisms

The IEEE 802.11 medium access control (MAC) is a very robust protocol for the best effort service in the wireless medium. However, many studies have reported that it is not very efficient. One of the fundamental problems of MAC inefficiency is overhead. In this paper, we propose two novel mechanisms to reduce overhead of the IEEE 802.11 protocols: 1) concatenation mechanism (CM); and 2) piggyback mechanism (PM). Performance analysis is conducted under both the best-case scenario and the saturation scenario. Studies show that both proposed schemes have greatly improved the system performance.
Using dynamic binary instrumentation to generate multi-platform SimPoints: methodology and accuracy

Modern benchmark suites (e.g., SPECCPU2006) take months to simulate. Researchers and practitioners thus use partial simulation techniques for efficiency, and hope to avoid sacrificing accuracy. SimPoint is a popular method of choosing representative parts that approximate an application's entire behavior. The approach breaks an application into intervals, generates a Basic Block Vector (BBV) to represent instructions executed in each interval, clusters the BBVs according to similarity, and chooses a representative interval from themost important clusters. Unfortunately, tools to generate BBVs efficiently have heretofore been widely unavailable for many architectures, especially embedded ones. We develop plugins for both the Qemu and Valgrind dynamic binary instrumentation (DBI) tools, and compare results to those generated by the PinPoints utility. All three methods can deliver under 6% average CPI error on both the SPEC CPU2000 and CPU2006 benchmarks while running under 0.4% of the total applications. Our tools increase the number of architectures for which BBVs can be generated efficiently and easily; they enable simulation points that include operating system activity; and they allow cross-platform collection of BBV information (e.g., generating MIPS SimPoints on IA32). We validate our tools via hardware performance counters on nine 32-bit Intel Linux platforms.
Candidate genes for alcohol preference identified by expression profiling in alcohol-preferring and -nonpreferring reciprocal congenic rats

Selectively bred alcohol-preferring (P) and alcohol-nonpreferring (NP) rats differ greatly in alcohol preference, in part due to a highly significant quantitative trait locus (QTL) on chromosome 4. Alcohol consumption scores of reciprocal chromosome 4 congenic strains NP.P and P.NP correlated with the introgressed interval. The goal of this study was to identify candidate genes that may influence alcohol consumption by comparing gene expression in five brain regions of alcohol-naive inbred alcohol-preferring and P.NP congenic rats: amygdala, nucleus accumbens, hippocampus, caudate putamen, and frontal cortex. Within the QTL region, 104 cis-regulated probe sets were differentially expressed in more than one region, and an additional 53 were differentially expressed in a single region. Fewer trans-regulated probe sets were detected, and most differed in only one region. Analysis of the average expression values across the 5 brain regions yielded 141 differentially expressed cis-regulated probe sets and 206 trans-regulated probe sets. Comparing the present results from inbred alcohol-preferring vs. congenic P.NP rats to earlier results from the reciprocal congenic NP.P vs. inbred alcohol-nonpreferring rats demonstrated that 74 cis-regulated probe sets were differentially expressed in the same direction and with a consistent magnitude of difference in at least one brain region. Cis-regulated candidate genes for alcohol consumption that lie within the chromosome 4 QTL were identified and confirmed by consistent results in two independent experiments with reciprocal congenic rats. These genes are strong candidates for affecting alcohol preference in the inbred alcohol-preferring and inbred alcohol-nonpreferring rats.
Digital piracy and firms’ strategic interactions: The effects of public copy protection and DRM similarity

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how different types of strategic interaction affect firms’ optimal levels of digital rights management (DRM). In our game-theoretical duopoly model, the firms do not directly compete with prices, but they become interdependent while coping with digital piracy. Our analysis shows that (1) stricter public copy protection by the government leads to lower DRM levels and more piracy when the firms regard their DRM levels as ‘‘strategic substitutes,” but to higher DRM levels and less piracy when the firms perceive their DRM levels as ‘‘strategic complements,” and (2) a higher degree of similarity between the DRM systems leads to lower DRM levels and more piracy. We also discuss the policy implications of these findings.
Highly Expressed and Slowly Evolving Proteins Share Compositional Properties with Thermophilic Proteins

The sequences of proteins encoded by a genome evolve at different rates. A correlate of a protein's evolutionary rate is its expression level: highly expressed proteins tend to evolve slowly. Some explanations of rate variation and the correlation between rate and expression predict that more slowly evolving and more highly expressed proteins have more favorable equilibrium constants for folding. Proteins from thermophiles generally have more stable folds than proteins from mesophiles, and it is known that there are systematic differences in amino acid content between thermophilic and mesophilic proteins. I examined whether there are analogous correlations of amino acid frequencies with evolutionary rate and expression level within genomes. In most of the organisms analyzed, there is a striking tendency for more slowly evolving proteins to be more thermophile-like in their amino acid compositions when adjustments are made for variation in GC content. More highly expressed proteins also tend to be more thermophile-like by the same criteria. These results suggest that part of the evolutionary rate variation among proteins is due to variation in the strength of selection for stability of the folded state. They also suggest that increasing strength of this selective force with expression level plays a role in the correlation between evolutionary rate and expression level.
Near-optimal virtual path routing for survivable ATM networks

Addresses the problem of virtual path routing for survivable ATM networks. An algorithm is developed to find a virtual path configuration and bandwidth assignment which minimizes the expected amount of lost flow upon network restoration from a failure. The concept of two-step restoration is introduced to achieve fast restoration as well as optimal reconfiguration. The problem can be formulated as a nonlinear nonsmooth multicommodity flow problem with linear constraints. A modified flow deviation approach is developed to obtain the steepest decent direction for a nonsmooth objective function. Based on the proposed scheme, convergence to a near-optimum is possible by properly adjusting optimization parameters. >
Highly Overvolted Gas Spark Gaps for Electron Beam Generators

A new approach to spark gap design is discussed. The object of this paper is to summarize the application of pulsed volume preionization of the path ahead of a propagating streamer for control of the streamer transit time. This approach to switchinq differs from most triggered switches' in that an already propagating streamer is caused to close by command. This control is applied to construct a subnanosecond jitter, high voltage switch which operates down to 60% of its selfbreakdown voltage.
OPALS: An optical communications technology demonstration from the International Space Station

Optical communication using space borne lasers has long promised to increase the amount of science data transmitted down to Earth. A first step in achieving operational capability is demonstrating the fundamentals of the optical link in an equivalent environment. The International Space Station, with its vast capability, is well suited to accommodate payloads aimed at advancing the readiness of such technologies.
SPACE SYNTAX: INNOVATIVE PEDESTRIAN VOLUME MODELING TOOL FOR PEDESTRIAN SAFETY

An innovative pedestrian modeling technique known as Space Syntax is described. The technique was used to create estimates of pedestrian volumes for the city of Oakland, California. Pedestrian exposure rates were calculated, and a relative risk index for the city's first pedestrian master plan was created with those estimates. A major challenge facing planners, transportation engineers, and pedestrian-safety advocates is the lack of detailed, high-quality pedestrian-exposure data. Exposure is defined as the rate of contact with a potentially harmful agent or event. Pedestrian exposure is therefore defined as the rate of pedestrian contact with potentially harmful situations involving moving vehicles (e.g., crossing an intersection). Pedestrian risk is defined as the probability that a pedestrian-vehicle collision will occur, based on the rate of exposure. To estimate exposure, pedestrian volume measurements must be made, but such measurements are not easily obtainable. In the absence of accurate exposure data, pedestrian-safety decisions are often made by estimation, rule of thumb, or political influence and result in mixed and potentially less effective outcomes. The value of the Space Syntax volume-modeling approach for generating estimates of pedestrian exposure is explored with the city of Oakland as a case study. The method's theoretical background, data requirements, implementation, and results are discussed. It is suggested that the output of the model-citywide pedestrian volume estimates-is useful to pedestrians, planners, and transportation engineers. The value of the pedestrian-exposure concept for the planning professional is discussed.
Effects of insulin and postruminal supply of protein on use of amino acids by the mammary gland for milk protein synthesis

We examined the relationships between amino acid supply, net utilization of amino acid by the mammary gland, and milk protein yield, in investigations that utilized a hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp. A two-way crossed factorial design was employed. There were two 12-d periods involving abomasal infusions of either water or a mixture of casein (500 g/d) plus branched-chain amino acids (88 g/d), with a hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp during the last 4 d of each period. During the clamp, insulin was infused at 1.0 microg x kg BW(-1) x h(-1) to increase circulating levels fourfold, and euglycemia was maintained by infusion of glucose. The insulin clamp treatments increased milk protein yield by 15 and 25% during abomasal infusion of water or casein plus branched-chain amino acids, respectively. Circulating concentrations of essential amino acids were reduced (33%) during insulin clamp treatments, especially branched-chain amino acids (41%). Arteriovenous difference of essential amino acids across the mammary gland was linearly related to their arterial concentrations. However, milk protein yield was not related to either arterial concentration or arteriovenous difference, for any of the essential amino acids. During insulin clamp treatments, the mammary gland was able to support the increased milk protein yields by increasing extraction efficiency of essential amino acids, mammary blood flow, and glucose uptake. Furthermore, a positive mammary balance of total amino nitrogen and carbon was maintained for all treatments. These adaptations demonstrate the unique ability of the mammary gland to adjust local conditions to allow for an adequate nutrient supply.
Quantization error and step-size distributions in ADPCM

An adaptive differential pulse code modulator (ADPCM) with a finite number of possible step-sizes and a leaky integrator in the feedback loop is considered. A zero-mean unit-ariance first-order Markov sequence is chosen as the input to thc system, and the leak parameter of the ADPCM accumulator is made equal to the intersample correlation of the input sequence. Using this fundamental structure, a method is presented for computing the exact joint probability distribution function of quantization error and step-size in ADPCM. From the joint distribution, marginal quantization error, and step-size distributions are obtained for Gauss-Markov, exponential-Markov, and uniform-Markov input signals. Empirical distributions obtained from simulations agree very well with their theoretical counterparts.
ANALYSIS OF BINDING INTERACTIONS OF PEPSIN INHIBITOR-3 TO MAMMALIAN AND MALARIAL ASPARTIC PROTEASES

The nematode Ascaris suum primarily infects pigs, but also causes disease in humans. As part of its survival mechanism in the intestinal tract of the host, the worm produces a number of protease inhibitors, including pepsin inhibitor-3 (PI3), a 17 kDa protein. Recombinant PI3 expressed in E. coli has previously been shown to be a competitive inhibitor of a sub-group of aspartic proteinases: pepsin, gastricsin and cathepsin E. The previously determined crystal structure of the complex of PI3 with porcine pepsin (p. pepsin) showed that there are two regions of contact between PI3 and the enzyme. The first three N-terminal residues (QFL) bind into the prime side of the active site cleft and a polyproline helix (139–140) in the C-terminal domain of PI3 packs against residues 289–295 that form a loop in p. pepsin. Mutational analysis of both inhibitor regions was conducted to assess their contributions to the binding affinity for p. pepsin, human pepsin (h. pepsin) and several malarial aspartic proteases, the plasmepsins. Overall, the polyproline mutations have a limited influence on the Ki values for all the enzymes tested, with the values for p. pepsin remaining in the low nanomolar range. The largest effect was seen with a Q1L mutant, with a 200-fold decrease in Ki for plasmepsin 2 from Plasmodium falciparum (PfPM2). Thermodynamic measurements of the binding of PI3 to p. pepsin and PfPM2 showed that inhibition of the enzymes is an entropy-driven reaction. Further analysis of the Q1L mutant showed that the increase in binding affinity to PfPM2 was due to improvements in both entropy and enthalpy.
Marxferatu: The Vampire Metaphor as a Tool for Teaching Marx's Critique of Capitalism

Although today's undergraduates may not have considered the implications of class struggle, they are generally well-versed in the intricacies of vampire lore. This article outlines how the vampire metaphor can serve as a valuable pedagogical tool for introducing students to fundamental concepts in Marxist thought. As opposed to the supernatural vampires featured in Stoker's Dracula or Meyer's Twilight saga, this approach treats capitalism as a form of economic vampirism—with the capitalist taking on the role of the vampire and the worker relegated to its prey. The article further extends the vampire metaphor and demonstrates how it can be used to teach the Marxist perspectives on class conflict, alienation, and false consciousness.
Characteristics of Leadership Effectiveness: Implementing Change and Driving Innovation in Organizations.

Research indicates that numerous variables impact a leader's effectiveness. In this study, the authors explore leadership effectiveness in driving change and innovation, along with the precursory skills necessary to do so. The findings confirm previously identified low rates of organizational success with change and point to skill deficiencies as a cause. Specifically, the abilities to communicate appropriately and motivate others significantly influence a leader's ability to effectively implement change and drive innovation.
Synthesis for optimal two-player decentralized control over TCP erasure channels with state feedback

We propose a state-space synthesis for infinite horizon decentralized LQG control problems over TCP erasure channels with state feedback under sufficient conditions on convergence and stability. The decentralized system under consideration consists of two interconnected systems with unidirectional information communication from system 1 to system 2. The finite horizon counterpart of this problem was proposed previously, along with two modified Riccati recursions. When the mean packet drop rate E(N) satisfies two given conditions on convergence and stability, we show that the sequence of optimal finite horizon costs converges and construct an optimal infinite horizon synthesis.
Query suspend and resume

Suppose a long-running analytical query is executing on a database server and has been allocated a large amount of physical memory. A high-priority task comes in and we need to run it immediately with all available resources. We have several choices. We could swap out the old query to disk, but writing out a large execution state may take too much time. Another option is to terminate the old query and restart it after the new task completes, but we would waste all the work already performed by the old query. Yet another alternative is to periodically checkpoint the query during execution, but traditional synchronous checkpointing carries high overhead. In this paper, we advocate a database-centric approach to implementing query suspension and resumption, with negligible execution overhead, bounded suspension cost, and efficient resumption. The basic idea is to let each physical query operator perform lightweight checkpointing according to its own semantics, and coordinate asynchronous checkpoints among operators through a novel contracting mechanism. At the time of suspension, we find an optimized suspend plan for the query, which may involve a combination of dumping current state to disk and going back to previous checkpoints. The plan seeks to minimize the suspend/resume overhead while observing the constraint on suspension time. Our approach requires only small changes to the iterator interface, which we have implemented in the PREDATOR database system. Experiments with our implementation demonstrate significant advantages of our approach over traditional alternatives.
Können pränatale Schäden durch den Einsatz biophysikalischer Methoden erkannt bzw. verhütet werden

Intra- bzw. subpartale Ereignisse sollen nach mittlerweile ubereinstimmender Expertenmeinung fur etwa 10% der im Neugeborenen- und Kindesalter zu beobachtenden neurologischen Storungen verantwortlich gemacht werden konnen (Kubli et al. 1988). Nach Einfuhrung neuer pra- und subpartaler Uberwachungstechniken von Mutter und Kind kam es zu einer deutlichen Reduktion der perinatalen Mortalitat bis auf ca. 5 Promille in der BRD (Berg 1990). Unklar blieb bisher, ob hierdurch die perinatale Morbiditat ebenso gunstig beeinflust wurde. Verschiedene skandinavische Autoren (u.a. Hjalmarson et al. 1988) berichtetetn uber eine gleichbleibende Inzidenz von schweren neuromotorischen Storungen, ab 1974 wurde ein Haufigkeitsanstieg von Fallen mit Celebralparesen beobachtet. Ein Schwerpunkt der perinatologischen Forschung in den kommenden Jahren wird sein, die vorhandenen oberwachungsmethoden so zu verbessern bzw. neue Techniken zu entwickeln um die Spatmorbiditat, d.h. vor allem spater auftretende neurologische Storungen zu verringern.
Effects of free wall ischemia and bundle branch block on systolic ventricular interaction in dog hearts

Systolic direct ventricular interaction is thought to occur via the ventricular septum and the coordinated contraction of common fibers shared by both ventricles. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of transient free wall ischemia and bundle branch block, which disrupt the coordinated contraction of shared common fibers, on left-to-right systolic ventricular interaction. We produced transient right and left ventricular free wall ischemia by 2-min coronary artery occlusions and bundle branch block by ventricular pacing in nine in situ dog hearts. To eliminate any confounding effect of series interaction, we used an abrupt hemodynamic perturbation (aortic constriction), and we measured systolic interaction gain (IG) as delta right ventricular peak systolic pressure/delta left ventricular peak systolic pressure (IG(peak)) and instantaneous delta right ventricular pressure/delta left ventricular pressure at matched data sampling times (IG(inst)), along with changes in right ventricular stroke volume and stroke work before and on the beat immediately after the aortic constriction. To achieve equivalence of the interventricular septal pressure transmission contribution to ventricular interaction, the delta left ventricular peak systolic pressure produced by the aortic constriction was matched under all experimental conditions [average increase: 64 +/- 19 (SD) mmHg]. Control IG(peak) was 0.12 +/- 0.05, and control IG(inst) was 0.11 +/- 0.05. These values did not change with either free wall ischemia or ventricular pacing, with or without an intact pericardium. The changes in right ventricular stroke volume and stroke work produced by the aortic constriction were not different from zero, during either ischemia or ventricular pacing, with or without an intact pericardium.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Memory Loss and Seizures

A 22-year-old male underwent a left anterior temporal lobectomy for drug-resistant epilepsy. He presented with complaints of memory and word-finding difficulties. He was first diagnosed with epilepsy at age 21 when he experienced a generalized tonic–clonic seizure. Risk factors for epilepsy included a motor vehicle accident with closed head injury at age 16 and repeated self-asphyxiation “play” during early adolescence. Prior to diagnosis, he reported a 9-month history of brief, recurrent, stereotyped spells characterized by sudden-onset “head rush” followed by a sense of “excitement” in his chest and extreme diaphoresis initially misdiagnosed as anxiety. He was unresponsive during his spells and afterwards felt “drained,” with incomplete memory of the event. He became resistant to AEDs and underwent epilepsy surgery. A preoperative MRI, PET, and neuropsychological testing prior to surgery were normal. Video-EEG monitoring had interictal epileptiform discharges and three typical seizures with ictal onset in the left temporal region corroborated and localized by invasive monitoring with depth electrodes. Wada testing revealed left hemisphere dominance for language and bilateral representation of memory functioning. The patient underwent left anterior temporal neocorticectomy and partial left amygdalohippocampectomy guided by language mapping. Surgery resulted in seizure-free outcome and he returned to college 6 months later to complete an Associate’s degree that he had started prior to the onset of his generalized seizures. At that time he noticed new-onset cognitive difficulties. He reported that it was taking him longer to learn new information in class and, even after understanding the material, he was less able to process and fully explain it to others or demonstrate his knowledge on tests. He was referred for repeat neuropsychological studies (Fig. 35.1) to evaluate his cognitive change and to offer recommendations to improve functional status.
Change in Binding Potential as a Quantitative Index of Neurotransmitter Release Is Highly Sensitive to Relative Timing and Kinetics of the Tracer and the Endogenous Ligand

Change in binding potential (ΔBP) is often used to indicate alterations in neurotransmitter concentration in response to stimuli. Increasingly, it is being used in bolus studies as a quantitative index of dopamine (DA) release. In bolus studies, however, BP is an average quantity over time that is influenced by the dynamics of both the tracer and the neurotransmitter. We sought to characterize the sensitivity of ΔBP to changes in endogenous DA concentration and to elucidate possible biases in ΔBP with respect to timing of task-induced or drug-induced increases in DA. Methods: Noiseless simulations of 11C-raclopride PET curves were performed in a specific binding region with concomitant increases in endogenous DA. DA changes were modeled as δ-functions, γ-variates, or as realistic drug-induced increases in DA over time, based on published results. Graphical estimation of BP with a reference region as the input function was used, with a multilinear formulation of the operational equation. Results: Simulations demonstrated that ΔBP (a) is linear over a narrow range of integrated DA release, (b) has an inherent sensitivity to timing of DA perturbations, and (c) could incorrectly infer the relative amounts of DA released between subject populations or experimental conditions. These results are explained by what we term the effective weighted availability, which describes the interaction of a DA function and free raclopride concentration over time and follows directly from earlier work. Conclusion: We illustrate how, under quite plausible circumstances, ΔBP may lead to erroneous conclusions about relative amounts of DA released after dopaminergic perturbations. Our findings caution against using ΔBP as a quantitative or rank index of DA release when comparing different dopaminergic stimuli.
Calculated intra- and extracellular PO2 gradients in heavily working red muscle.

A recently introduced three-dimensional analytical model of O2 diffusion to heavily working muscle that considers myoglobin-facilitated O2 diffusion inside the muscle fiber and a carrier-free layer...
DESIGN AND TEST OF A DIAPHRAGM PUMP FOR LIQUID METALS

Details are provided on the construction and operation of a two-stage diaphragm pump successfully used for the first time in liquid metal service. From the results of a 5,376 hr test of the pump, it was concluded that it is well suited to the pumping of liquid metals at low flow rates where pulsating flow can be tolerated and also where remote operation is required. Operating temperatures and pressures are limited only by the availability of suitable materials of construction. (auth)
Desalination leaders in the global market – current trends and future perspectives

Since the world9s first land-based desalination plant was established in Australia in 1903, brackish groundwater and seawater desalination became a common water supply technology in many countries around the world. Desalination has proven as a reliable technology in times of drought and/or water scarcity, while in some countries it is an indispensable water supply source on a regular basis. This paper compares and evaluates major desalination leaders in the world (USA, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Australia, and China) with the aim of pointing out similarities and differences that made each of them successful. It also depicts a comprehensive picture of developments, trends and experiences in desalination at the global scale. Establishing desalination plants and ensuring their successful operation is a complex and multifaceted process dependent on capital and operational costs, production capacity, water salinity, geographical location, socio-economic and environmental conditions, and many other factors. The country specific comparison presented in this paper emphasizes the importance of regional planning for successful and sustainable desalination processes in the long term.
Hardware Design for Multiple Gas Detection System Using Zeolite Coated with Nile Red

The research goal is to develop a multiple gas sensing device which integrates a zeolite-Y/nile-red sensing front end with optoelectronic detector. The highly fluorescent nile red dye, included in the nanoporous structures of zeolite Y, responses to different gases by emitting fluorescence of different wavelengths. In addition, the size of the pores of zeolite Y's can be utilized to allow gases whose molecule is smaller than the pores to enter and react with the included dye. Since nanoporous structures of zeolites are manipulated, the device is expected to be more accurate, and more sensitive. Also it is able to better differentiate and detect one target in a mixture of different gases. This is achieved by incorporating fluorescent dyes into the supercages of zeolite Y's, measuring gas absorption, desorption and photo-chromic interaction of dye and gases, interfacing the zeolite/dye sensor arrays with light source and electronic detectors.
Cyclic Properties of Miquel Polygons

(1940). Cyclic Properties of Miquel Polygons. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 47, No. 7, pp. 462-466.
Local and Bi-Global Stability Analysis of a Plasma Actuated Boundary Layer

of ow-wise oriented dielectric barrier discharge actuators on a laminar, zero pressure gradient boundary layer. Both methods indicate that the Tollmien-Schlichting wave is stabilized when plasma actuators are used to add momentum into the boundary layer. The general behavior of boundary layer stabilization is consistent with experimental results. In addition to examining the hydrodynamic stability properties explicitly, elementary ow characterization has also been performed. This ow characterization is performed in order to better understand the changes to ow stability implicitly through the changes to shape factor and boundary layer heights caused by the use of plasma actuation.
An Ecological Context for the Effects of Chemical Stress on Population Structure

In attempting to formulate an ecological context for this discussion it is necessary to place our subject within the framework of much broader generalization: Homosapiens has evolved a unique ability to influence his environment in a way and to a degree that no other species has ever been able to do.
Response of the duodenum to morphine.

Summary and conclusions1. The phenomenon of tachyphylaxis of the intestinal musculature to morphine was demonstrated.2. The most consistent reponse of the circular muscle of the duodenum to morphine was an increase in the many phases of muscular activity. This includes elevation of the tonus level with incerased frequency and amplitude of the normal spontaneous tonic contractions.3. The most frequent though not completely consistent reponse of the lingitudinal muscle was found to be either a decrease or an abolition of the many phases of the muscle activity. This includes a depression of the tonus level with a decreased frequency and amplitude of the normal spontaneous tonic contractions.4. The type of response of the duodenum to morphine was independent of the original state of tonus and independent of the dose over the range of 0.01 mg to 1.0 mg per kg.
Complicating Conscience, Refreshing Discontent

The 19th Century New England author Thoreau provides an approach to conscience and unjust laws approximating that given by St. Thomas Aquinas in Summa Theologiae . But the portrait of conscience given by Thoreau in the 1848 oration “Civil Disobedience” is incomplete. Thoreau’s approach is solved by accepting insights given in Part I and Part I–II of Summa Theologiae . Allowing St. Thomas’ insights requires reform of Thoreau’s civil disobedience and conscientious objection. But Thoreau’s arguments are given new life.
Inflammatory response to implantation of transparent nanocrystalline yttria-stabilized zirconia using a dorsal window chamber model

The long-range goal of the windows to the brain (WttB) is to improve patient care by providing a technique for delivery and/or collection of light into/from the brain, on demand, over large areas, and on a chronically-recurring basis without the need for repeated craniotomies. To evaluate the potential of nanocrystalline yttria-stabilized-zirconia (nc-YSZ) cranial implant for optical therapy and imaging, in vivo biocompatibility was studied using the dorsal window chamber model in comparison with control (no implant) and commercially available cranial implant materials (PEEK and PEKK). The host tissue response to implant was characterized by using transillumination and fluorescent microscopy to measure leukocyte adhesion, blood vessel diameter, blood flow rate, and vascular permeability over two weeks. The results indicated the lack of inflammatory reaction of the host tissue to nc-YSZ at the microscopic level, suggesting that nc-YSZ is a good alternative material for cranial implants.
Mystery of Lu Xun's Collection Wide Grass

Since the publication of Lu Xun's collection of prose poems Wide Grass, there have been different opinions . It is said that the collection is" a literary guess" Lu Xun left for the later generations.There are three reasons: the lonely heart of the author, the implied philosophy and wide use of metaphors in artistic expression.