cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Bovine NK-lysin peptides exert potent antimicrobial activity against multidrug-resistant Salmonella outbreak isolates

Multidrug-resistant (MDR) Salmonella is a threat to public health. Non-antibiotic therapies could serve as important countermeasures to control MDR Salmonella outbreaks. In this study, antimicrobial activity of cationic α-helical bovine NK-lysin-derived antimicrobial peptides was evaluated against MDR Salmonella outbreak isolates. NK2A and NK2B strongly inhibited MDR Salmonella growth while NK1 and NK2C showed minimum-to-no growth inhibition. Scrambled-NK2A, which is devoid of α-helicity but has the same net positive charge as NK2A, also failed to inhibit bacterial growth. Incubation of negatively charged MDR Salmonella with NK2A showed increased Zeta potential, indicating bacterial-peptide electrostatic attraction. Confocal and transmission electron microscopy studies revealed NK2A-mediated damage to MDR Salmonella membranes. LPS inhibited NK2A-mediated growth suppression in a dose-dependent response, suggesting irreversible NK2A-LPS binding. LPS-NK2A binding and bacterial membrane disruption was also confirmed via electron microscopy using gold nanoparticle-NK2A conjugates. Finally, NK2A-loaded polyanhydride nanoparticles showed sustained peptide delivery and anti-bacterial activity. Together, these findings indicate that NK2A α-helicity and positive charge are prerequisites for antimicrobial activity and that MDR Salmonella killing is mediated by direct interaction of NK2A with LPS and the inner membrane, leading to bacterial membrane permeabilization. With further optimization using nano-carriers, NK2A has the potential to become a potent anti-MDR Salmonella agent.
Identification of alpha-substituted acylamines as novel, potent, and orally active mGluR5 negative allosteric modulators

Abstract This Letter describes the identification of a series of novel non-acetylenic mGluR5 negative allosteric modulators based on the alpha-substituted acylamine structure. An initial structure–activity relationship study suggested that (R)-19b and (R)-19j might have good in vitro activity. When administered orally, these compounds were found to have an anxiolytic-like effect in a mouse model of stress-induced hyperthermia.
Solution precursor plasma spray: A promising new technique for forming functional nanostructured films and coatings

Development of new surface technologies is important for successful and efficient exploitation of materials in advanced engineering systems, in particular energy conversion systems. Gas turbine engine efficiency can be improved by adopting advanced thermal barrier coatings. While existing traditional coating technologies were developed for specific requirements, new surface coating processes are actively being developed to meet the material and property challenges related to broader objectives, viz. improved performance at higher temperatures with longer design lives. A novel plasma spray process, so-called solution precursor plasma spray (SPPS), has been developed and used for the formation of various films and coatings from liquid precursor feedstock instead of solid feedstock used in conventional plasma spray. The outstanding features of SPPS-formed films and coatings include: formation of a variety of material coatings; generation of both thin films and thick coatings; tailored microstructures; good crystallinity, and nanostructured characteristics. With the SPPS process, nanostructured ceramic and ceramic-ceramic composite films and coatings, and metal-ceramic composites and coatings are being developed for various applications in gas turbine engines and solid oxide fuel cells.
CD4+ T Cells Mediate IFN-γ-Independent Control of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection Both In Vitro and In Vivo

Although IFN-γ is necessary for survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in people and animal models, it may not be sufficient to clear the infection, and IFN-γ is not a reliable correlate of protection. To determine whether IFN-γ-independent mechanisms of immunity exist, we developed a murine ex vivo culture system that directly evaluates the ability of splenic or lung lymphocytes to control the growth of M. tuberculosis within infected macrophages, and that models in vivo immunity to tuberculosis. Surprisingly, CD4 + T cells controlled >90% of intracellular M. tuberculosis growth in the complete absence of IFN-γ stimulation of macrophages, via a NO-dependent mechanism. Furthermore, bacillus Calmette-Guerin-vaccinated IFN-γ-deficient mice exhibited significant protection against M. tuberculosis challenge that was lost upon depletion of CD4 + T cells. These findings demonstrate that CD4 + T cells possess IFN-γ-independent mechanisms that can limit the growth of an intracellular pathogen and are dominant in secondary responses to M. tuberculosis .
Phylogenomics and evolution of secondary metabolism in plant-associated fungi

Fungi produce a myriad of secondary metabolites, compounds that are not required for basic cellular processes, but are thought to be central to ecological functions. Genomic sequencing of fungi has revealed a greater diversity of secondary metabolism than previously realized, including novel taxonomic distributions of known compounds and uncharacterized gene clusters in well-studied organisms. Here we provide an overview of the major groups of metabolites, their ecological functions, the genetic systems that produce them, and the patterns and processes associated with evolutionary diversification of secondary metabolism in plant-associated filamentous ascomycetes.
The Toll of Cathepsin K Deficiency

An enzyme that is important to bone metabolism also acts in immune cell responses to pathogen DNA.
The extent of adaptation in bullfrog saccular hair cells.

Positive deflection of the sensory hair bundle of a vertebrate hair cell opens transduction channels to depolarize the cell. In bullfrog saccular hair cells, there is a subsequent adaptation process, whereby the proportion of transduction channels that are open, and thus the receptor current, declines toward the resting value. This occurs because the sensitivity curve, relating open probability to bundle deflection, shifts along the deflection axis in response to bundle deflections, in a manner consistent with a relaxation of mechanical tension on transduction channels. In this study we determined the extent of adaptation, measured as the shift of the sensitivity curve following deflection of the hair bundle. The shift was determined both by comparison of the receptor current in the adapted state to the resting sensitivity curve, and by comparison of pre- and postadapted sensitivity curves. The adaptive shift approached steady state with a time constant of 20–30 msec, and was at steady state within 150 msec. For all positive and for small negative deflections, both methods showed a shift that was approximately 80% of the deflection. For larger negative deflections, the shift reached a fixed limit that was 100–500 nm negative to the freestanding bundle position. The limited extent of adaptation confers a time-dependent sensitivity: the cell has an instantaneous or phasic sensitivity curve that is steep, and steady- state or tonic sensitivity curve that is about five times broader. It also suggests the existence of two additional structural elements within the transduction apparatus. A revised quantitative theory accommodates these elements.
Exploring Predictability Of Instructor Ratings Using A Quantitative Tool For Evaluating Soft Skills Among MBA Students

Academic researchers have often touted the growing importance of “soft skills” for modern day business leaders, especially leadership and communication skills. Despite this growing interest and attention, relatively little work has been done to develop and validate tools to assess soft skills. Forty graduate students from nine MBA courses completed the McCann Soft Skills Assessment Tool - a paper-pencil test designed to measure leadership, teamwork, critical thinking, logical reasoning, communication, and holistic thinking. These students were also rated by their instructors on the same six dimensions in an attempt to validate the soft skills instrument. Results showed significant correlations between leadership and communication assessment scores and faculty ratings of students on the same dimensions; however none of the other four soft skill dimensions were empirically validated. Data also indicated moderate test – retest reliability for the assessment tool. While some limitations are acknowledged in the current study, findings suggest that further refinement and empirical validation of the McCann Soft Skills Assessment Tool can better aid practitioners in understanding and developing these important dimensions of business competency.
Epidemiología de la diabetes mellitus en la infancia y adolescencia: tipo 1, tipo 2 y ¿diabetes "doble"?

During the last decades, the contribution of epidemiology through the standardization of methods and definitions and international collaboration allowed a better estimation of the incidence and prevalence of DM in children and adolescents, as well as the detection of likely risk factors for the different types of the disease, which would allow the development of preventive and therapeutic measures and a better understanding of the magnitude of the problem. A global increase and wide differences in the incidence of type 1 diabetes have been observed among regions, as well as an increase in the frequency of type 2 diabetes in some ethnic groups, associated to a growing prevalence of obesity. The existence of what has been named “double” or “hybrid” DM has also been described, characterized by a phenotype of DM2 (obesity and acantosis nigricans) associated with
Vlasov Instability in Longitudinal Plasma Oscillations

It is concluded from the sizable currents computed that Vlasov instabilities of the simple type considered will not play a major role in the problem of magnetic confinement and attendant diamagnetic currents. The situation investigated may have a valid application to the plasma of the sun's corona and possibly the simple types of Vlasov instabilities have some connection with solar prominences. (T.B.C.)
No pain, no gain? The importance of measuring course workload in student ratings of instruction

Samples of about 200 undergraduate courses were investigated in each of 3 consecutive academic terms. Course survey forms assessed evaluative ratings, expected grades, and course workloads. A covariance structure model was developed in exploratory fashion for the 1st term's data, and then successfully cross-validated in each of the next 2 terms. The 2 major features of the successful model were that (a) courses that gave higher grades were better liked (a positive path from expected grades to evaluative ratings), and (b) courses that gave higher grades had lighter workloads (a negative relation between expected grades and workload). These findings support the conclusion that instructors' grading leniency influences ratings. This effect of grading leniency also importantly qualifies the standard interpretation that student ratings are relatively pure indicators of instructional quality. Student ratings have been both praised as being valid and efficient and criticized as being insensitive and misleading.' The present research proceeds from an intermediate viewthat student ratings may be imperfect but are nevertheless useful and are also improvable through research. The specific aim of the present research was to construct and confirm a covariance structure model that could identify sources of desired or undesired influences on student ratings. The most ambitious previous effort to describe and confirm a covariance structure model of student ratings has been Marsh's (1991) hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis of &ta provided by 35 items of the SEEQ (Student Evaluations of Educational Quality) inventory. Marsh reported substantial confirmatory support for a nine-factor first-order structure overlaid with a four-factor structure in which the higher order factors represented similarity relations among the nine first-order factors. In contrast with Marsh's (1991) aim of analyzing the dimensional structure of student ratings, the present research sought to evaluate theories of causal influences operating on student ratings. Alternative theories of the influences that affect student ratings imply different patterns of relationships among three categories of measures: (a) evaluative ratings, (b) expected grades, and (c) course workloads.
The International Youth Library (IYL) at Blutenburg

Cette bibliotheque ouest-allemande a ete, depuis 1948, considerablement mise en valeur. Les activites educatives tres developpees (expositions, reunions) sont caracteristiques du rayonnement culturel de cette bibliotheque a vocation internationale
Intimate Partner Violence and Physical Health Consequences: Commentary on Plichta

To elaborate on intimate partner violence (IPV) and physical health consequences a discourse on pregnancy and children is merited. IPV is associated with serious health effects and may begin or intensify during pregnancy. Just how many pregnant women are abused depends on the population surveyed and instruments used. Estimates of the prevalence, developed from clinicbased studies, range from 0.9% to 20.1% with most studies reporting a prevalence of 4% to 8% (Gazmararian et al., 1996). When reported by age, adolescents consistently report more IPV compared to adult women (Curry, Perrin, & Wall, 1998; Parker, McFarlane, & Soeken, 1994). Using self-reports from the latest Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) data, 1996 to 1998, to calculate a multiyear 16-state prevalence with 95% confidence intervals (CI), the prevalence of abuse was 7.2% (95% CI, 6.9 to 7.6) during the 12 months before pregnancy, 5.3% (95% CI, 5.0 to 5.6) during pregnancy, and 8.7% (95% CI, 8.3 to 9.1) during the 12 months before or during pregnancy. Higher prevalence was found for women who were young, not White, unmarried, had less than 12 years of education, and received Medicaid benefits (Saltzman, Johnson, Gilbert, & Goodwin, 2003). Studies concur that complications of pregnancy, including low weight gain, anemia, infections, first and second trimester bleeding, and preterm labor are positively associated with abuse (Cokkinides, Coker, Sanders, Addy, & Bethea, 1999; Covington, Hage, Hall, & Mathis, 2001) as is late
Community Facilities and Services: An Economic Framework for Analysis

ISHALL begin this paper with the observation that a nation of generally wealthy and prosperous individuals finds itself relatively poor with respect to public goods. We also find communities of poverty within our midst-communities where many public services are either lacking or of a disgraceful quality. Faced with this kind of situation, the arguments for additional expenditures are vague expressions of need, and the arguments against follow the theme that in spite of all our wealth we simply cannot afford additions to the public sector. Economists generally, agricultural economists in particular and administrators in the USDA-land-grant university system must bear a large part of the responsibility for this lack of more definitive knowledge. It is astonishing that agricultural economists should know so much about how to produce or how to control the production of feed grains, wheat, and cotton and at the same time know so little about the way people live or the costs and effects of improving the manner in which they live. Some notion of our priorities can be gained by a perusal of the "Long Run Research study" and noting the recommended increases in scientific manyears1 devoted to people problems as compared to production problems. It is my contention that our priorities reflect the critical issues of a day long since past and that although some progress is being made in the rearrangement of our priorities the rate of progress is far too slow. I choose to define the problem of community services as one of public goods or services. Further, I accept as a definition of a public good2 that which meets at least one of three conditions: (1) jointness of supply (that is, consumption of the good does not preclude its consumption by others: the lighthouse is a classic example), (2) existence of external effects which accrue to other persons or communities and for which it is infeasi-
Agreement between veterinary students and anesthesiologists regarding postoperative pain assessment in dogs

Abstract Objective To determine the levels of agreement among first- and second-year veterinary students and experienced anesthesiologists in assessing postoperative pain in dogs from video-recordings. Study design Cross-sectional study. Subjects Twenty-seven veterinary students, five anesthesiologists and 13 canine clinical patients. Methods Prior to their enrolment in a core anesthesia course, veterinary students volunteered to watch 13 90 second videos of dogs. Dogs were hospitalized in an intensive care unit after a variety of surgical procedures. Students were asked to score the level of the dogs’ pain using the Dynamic Interactive Visual Analog Scale and the Short Form of the Glasgow Composite-Measure Pain Scale. The same videotapes were scored by five board-certified anesthesiologists. The differences and agreement between the ratings of anesthesiologists and students, and first- and second-year students were determined with Mann-Whitney U-tests and Fleiss’ or Cohen’s kappa, respectively. Results Pain scores assigned by students and anesthesiologists differed significantly (p Conclusions and clinical relevance Veterinary students early in their training assigned pain scores to dogs that differed from scores assigned by experienced anesthesiologists.
A 4.6 GHz 162 Mb SRAM Design in 22 nm Tri-Gate CMOS Technology With Integrated Read and Write Assist Circuitry

A 162 Mb voltage-scalable SRAM array design in 22 nm CMOS tri-gate logic technology is presented. The designs of a 0.092 μm2 bitcell for high density applications and a 0.108 μm2 bitcell for improved performance at low supply voltage are introduced. Transient voltage collapse and wordline under-drive peripheral assist circuits improve low-voltage operating margins and address fin quantization. Co-optimization of tri-gate transistors and circuits allow up to 70% improvement in frequency at low voltages and 85% improvement in density from a scaled 32 nm design. The low-voltage array design demonstrates 4.6 GHz operation at 1.0 V and 3.4 GHz operation at 0.8 V while achieving array densities up to 6.7 Mb/mm2.
Use of a Chinese hamster ovary cell line with a temperature sensitive defect in cytoplasmic protein synthesis to examine protein synthesis associated with cell nuclei

Abstract 1. 1. A temperature-sensitive Chinese hamster ovary cell line exhibiting defective cytoplasmic non-mitochondrial protein synthesis at 39°, but not at 34° was used to examine cytosol, mitochondrial and nuclear protein synthesis at both temperatures. 2. 2. Nuclei, in addition to mitochondria were labelled with radioactive leucine at the non-permissive temperature of 39°. 3. 3. This cell line may facilitate the study of protein synthesis thought to be intrinsic to cell nuclei.
The Suf Iron-Sulfur Cluster Synthesis Pathway Is Required for Apicoplast Maintenance in Malaria Parasites

The apicoplast organelle of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum contains metabolic pathways critical for liver-stage and blood-stage development. During the blood stages, parasites lacking an apicoplast can grow in the presence of isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP), demonstrating that isoprenoids are the only metabolites produced in the apicoplast which are needed outside of the organelle. Two of the isoprenoid biosynthesis enzymes are predicted to rely on iron-sulfur (FeS) cluster cofactors, however, little is known about FeS cluster synthesis in the parasite or the roles that FeS cluster proteins play in parasite biology. We investigated two putative FeS cluster synthesis pathways (Isc and Suf) focusing on the initial step of sulfur acquisition. In other eukaryotes, these proteins can be located in multiple subcellular compartments, raising the possibility of cross-talk between the pathways or redundant functions. In P. falciparum, SufS and its partner SufE were found exclusively the apicoplast and SufS was shown to have cysteine desulfurase activity in a complementation assay. IscS and its effector Isd11 were solely mitochondrial, suggesting that the Isc pathway cannot contribute to apicoplast FeS cluster synthesis. The Suf pathway was disrupted with a dominant negative mutant resulting in parasites that were only viable when supplemented with IPP. These parasites lacked the apicoplast organelle and its organellar genome – a phenotype not observed when isoprenoid biosynthesis was specifically inhibited with fosmidomycin. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the Suf pathway is essential for parasite survival and has a fundamental role in maintaining the apicoplast organelle in addition to any role in isoprenoid biosynthesis.
Further characterization of a muscle factor which activates hepatic branched-chain ketoacid dehydrogenase.

Abstract 1. 1. A skeletal muscle factor which activates hepatic branched-chain keto acid dehydrogenase has been described. Since this factor is labile, the present study was designed to stabilize and characterize this factor. 2. 2. The muscle factor was stabilized by the addition of KCL and the protease inhibitor, antipain. 3. 3. Muscle factor activity was localized to the 100,000 g pellet fraction ff muscle hemogenate. 4. 4. The muscle factor was inactivated following trypsin or phospholipase A 2 digestion.
Routine Primary Repair of Tetralogy of Fallot in Neonates and Infants Less Than Three Months of Age

Background Although primary repair of tetralogy of Fallot is increasingly undertaken in infancy, complete repair is generally performed in only selected symptomatic neonates. Methods From July 1992 through March 1995, 30 consecutive neonates and young infants with tetralogy of Fallot underwent routine primary repair. Group I (n = 10) consisted of patients with tetralogy of Fallot and pulmonary atresia (n = 5) or severe pulmonary stenosis (n = 5) who were duct dependent and were repaired in the neonatal period. Group II (n = 11) consisted of patients who were asymptomatic with arterial oxygen saturation between 75% and 90% (adequate pulmonary blood flow). Group III (n = 9) consisted of patients with "pink" tetralogy of Fallot (arterial oxygen saturation >90%). Patients in groups II and III were electively scheduled for repair at about 2 months of age. Results The postrepair peak systolic right ventricularto-peak systolic left ventricular pressure ratio did not correlate ( p = 0.96) with the branch pulmonary artery size. One patient died 2 months after operation, despite good hemodynamics, of uncontrollable diffuse subcutaneous edema due to familial distichiasis lymphedema syndrome. There were no late deaths. At a median follow-up of 19 months, 1 patient underwent balloon dilation of branch pulmonary arteries. Follow-up echocardiography revealed a 30 to 60 mm Hg right ventricleto-pulmonary artery gradient in 3 patients. Conclusions Excellent early and midterm results can be accomplished with routine primary repair of tetralogy of Fallot in early infancy regardless of age, symptomatic status, coronary anatomy, and the size of branch pulmonary arteries as long as they arborize normally.
On-line data display

A data display system for embedded realtime systems has been developed for use as an operator's user interface and debugging tool. The motivation for development of the On-Line Data Display (ODD) have come from several sources. In particular the design reflects the needs of researchers developing an experimental mobile robot within our laboratory. A proliferation of specialized user interfaces revealed a need for a flexible communications and graphical data display system. At the same time the system had to be readily extensible for arbitrary graphical display formats which would be required for data visualization needs of the researchers. The system defines a communication protocol transmitting 'datagrams' between tasks executing on the realtime system and virtual devices displaying the data in a meaningful way on a graphical workstation. The communication protocol multiplexes logical channels on a single data stream. The current implementation consists of a server for the Harmony realtime operating system and an application written for the Macintosh computer. Flexibility requirements resulted in a highly modular server design, and a layered modular object- oriented design for the Macintosh part of the system. Users assign data types to specific channels at run time. Then devices are instantiated by the user and connected to channels to receive datagrams. The current suite of device types do not provide enough functionality for most users' specialized needs. Instead the system design allows the creation of new device types with modest programming effort. The protocol, design and use of the system are discussed.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Bayesian Binary Segmentation Procedure for a Poisson Process With Multiple Changepoints

We observe n events occurring in (0, T] taken from a Poisson process. The intensity function of the process is assumed to be a step function with multiple changepoints. This article proposes a Bayesian binary segmentation procedure for locating the changepoints and the associated heights of the intensity function. We conduct a sequence of nested hypothesis tests using the Bayes factor or the BIC approximation to the Bayes factor. At each comparison in the binary segmentation steps, we need only to compare a singlechangepoint model to a no-changepoint model. Therefore, this method circumvents the computational complexity we would normally face in problems with an unknown (large) number of dimensions. A simulation study and an analysis on a real dataset are given to illustrate our methods.
Osteoporosis and Upper Extremity Fragility Fractures

RAGILITY FRACTURES, DEFINED as fractures occurring from a standing height or less, are an important source of morbidity, mortality, and economic burden for society. Estimates by the National Osteoporosis Foundation place the cost of over 400,000 yearly fragility fractures to be more than $17 billion. This is expected to double or triple by 2040 as the population ages. 1 Despite effective pharmacologic therapy, patients experiencing these injuries continue to be undertreated. Studies have consistently found that only 1% to 13% of patients with fragility fracture receive treatment for osteoporosis. 2–5 The purpose of this review was to guide upper extremity surgeons in the evaluation and treatment of osteoporosis after upper extremity fragility fractures.
Neutrophil elastase inhibitors, SC-37698 and SC-39026, reduce endotoxin-induced lung dysfunction in awake sheep

Neutrophils have been implicated as important cellular mediators of the pulmonary dysfunction observed following endotoxemia in chronically instrumented awake sheep. Several areas of research suggest that neutrophil-derived proteases may be mediators of this dysfunction. We hypothesized that neutrophil elastase inhibitors would attenuate the effects of endotoxemia in sheep. To test this hypothesis, we studied the effects of two putative neutrophil elastase inhibitors, SC-37698 and SC-39026 (Searle, Skokie, IL), on endotoxin-induced lung dysfunction in awake sheep. Sheep were given intravenous neutrophil elastase inhibitor alone (20 mg/kg/h for 6 h), intravenous endotoxin (E. coli endotoxin, 0.5 µg/kg over 20 min) 1 h after beginning the 6-h infusion of elastase inhibitor, or endotoxin 1 h after beginning a 6-h infusion of elastase inhibitor vehicle. SC-37698 attenuated the increase in lung lymph flow and lung lymph protein clearance, the alterations in lung mechanics, and the fall in white blood count. Qu...
Estrogen modifies arousal but not memory for emotional events in older women

Emotional arousal and the affective content of events influence memory. These effects shift with age such that older people find negative information less arousing and remember proportionately more positive events compared to the young. The emotional enhancement of memory is mediated by medial temporal lobe limbic structures and the prefrontal cortex, which are both affected by sex hormones. We examined whether hormone use (estrogen or estrogen and progesterone) in older women modulated perceptions of valence and arousal, and subsequent memory for emotional images or stories. Their performance was compared to younger women. Hormone use in older women resulted in higher arousal for negative images and stories but memory was not affected. We hypothesize that estrogen modifies the influence of the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex on emotion, but that age-related changes in the hippocampus prevent the enhancement of emotional memory in older women.
Beta decay of 24Al and28P

Abstract The β + decay schemes of 24 Al and 28 P have been investigated. Due to the use of a larger Ge(Li) detector than in the work of Armini et al. , several new β-branches have been observed. The log ft values have been determined. Some improved excitation energies in 24 Mg and the γ-decay schemes of several 24 Mg levels are also reported. The super-allowed β-decay of 24m Al to its analogue in 24 Mg has been observed. The difference between the β-decays to anti-analogue states in 24 Mg and 28 Si is attributed to the amount of configuration mixing in the wave functions of the nuclear states involved.
Variation in Ganglioside Content of Bovine Dairy Products

Abstract Different protocols tested for crude extraction of gangliosides from assorted bovine dairy products gave highly variable results. The ranges, reported in nmol sialic acid/g dry wt., were 250–719 for sweet buttermilk and 165–464 for cultured buttermilk. Ganglioside content was based on sialic acid concentration determined by resorcinol/HCl assay. A modified procedure was developed to extract contaminant-free, highly purified gangliosides from these dairy products for quantitative and qualitative comparison studies. Sweet buttermilk, yogurt and cultured buttermilk were enriched in ganglioside content 10.1-, 8.4- and 6.0-fold, respectively, when compared with whole-milk levels. Skim milk had only 11.2% of the gangliosides found in whole milk. Gangliosides have been shown to exhibit antimicrobial, antiviral and enterotoxin-inhibiting properties. Cultured and concentrated dairy foods were shown to be a rich source of gangliosides and may have a potential protective effect against some pathogens.
On the application of quaternion‐based approaches in discrete element methods

Purpose – Though the problem of resolving translational motion in particle methods is a relatively straightforward task, the complications of resolving rotational motion are non‐trivial. Many molecular dynamics and non‐deformable discrete element applications employ an explicit integration for resolving orientation, often involving products of matrices, which have well‐known drawbacks. The purpose of this paper is to investigate commonly used algorithms for resolving rotational motion and describe the application of quaternion‐based approaches to discrete element method simulations.Design/methodology/approach – Existing algorithms are compared against a quaternion‐based reparameterization of both the central difference algorithm and the approach of Munjiza et al. for finite/discrete element modeling (FEM/DEM) applications for the case of torque‐free precession.Findings – The resultant algorithms provide not only guaranteed orthonormality of the resulting rotation but also allow assumptions of small‐angle ...
Novel chemo-sensitizing agent, ERW1227B, impairs cellular motility and enhances cell death in glioblastomas

Glioblastomas display variable phenotypes that include increased drug-resistance associated with enhanced migratory and anti-apoptotic characteristics. These shared characteristics contribute to failure of clinical treatment regimens. Identification of novel compounds that promote cell death and impair cellular motility is a logical strategy to develop more effective clinical protocols. We recently described the ability of the small molecule, KCC009, a tissue transglutaminase (TG2) inhibitor, to sensitize glioblastoma cells to chemotherapy. In the current study, we synthesized a series of related compounds that show variable ability to promote cell death and impair motility in glioblastomas, irrespective of their ability to inhibit TG2. Each compound has a 3-bromo-4,5-dihydroisoxazole component that presumably reacts with nucleophilic cysteine thiol residues in the active sites of proteins that have an affinity to the small molecule. Our studies focused on the effects of the compound, ERW1227B. Treatment of glioblastoma cells with ERW1227B was associated with both down-regulation of the PI-3 kinase/Akt pathway, which enhanced cell death; as well as disruption of focal adhesive complexes and intracellular actin fibers, which impaired cellular mobility. Bioassays as well as time-lapse photography of glioblastoma cells treated with ERW1227B showed cell death and rapid loss of cellular motility. Mice studies with in vivo glioblastoma models demonstrated the ability of ERW1227B to sensitize tumor cells to cell death after treatment with either chemotherapy or radiation. The above findings identify ERW1227B as a potential novel therapeutic agent in the treatment of glioblastomas.
Does democracy encourage terrorism

The question of the linkage of democratic forms of government with the incidence of terrorist violence is explored. Distinguishing between the presence of terrorist groups in a nation and violent terrorist events, and using multiple indicators of democratic development, evidence is presented clearly linking democracy with the presence of terrorist groups. Terrorist groups are less likely to be found in non‐democratic settings than in democratic ones.
Cathepsin G degrades denatured collagen.

Neutrophils are known to contain several metalloproteinases that can damage collagen, a major structural component of the extracellular matrix. Here a neutrophil serine proteinase secreted from activated neutrophils was shown to cleave denatured collagen (gelatin). This serine proteinase was not inhibited by synthetic inhibitors of elastase (elastatinal or Me-O-suc-Ala-Pro-Val-CH2Cl). However, a synthetic inhibitor of cathepsin G (Z-Gly-Leu-Phe-CH2Cl) was able to inhibit the serine proteinase having gelatinolytic activity, indicating that cathepsin G, a major serine proteinase, from neutrophils is responsible for cleaving gelatin. Purified cathepsin G was also shown to degrade gelatin. In further experiments, oxidized glutathione was able to enhance the gelatinolytic activity of cathepsin G. These results show that cathepsin G is capable of cleaving denatured collagen, and its activity is enhanced or stabilized in the presence of gtutathione. The data support the concept that cathepsin G released from neutrophils could play a major role in degrading collagen during inflammation and may in part account for the degradation of extracellular matrix during inflammation.
A multi-dynamic-factor model for stock returns

In this paper, we define dynamic and static factors and distinguish between the dynamic and static structure of asset excess returns. We examine the value-weighted market portfolio as a dynamic factor and propose an intuitively appealing procedure to search for more dynamic factors. We find evidence that the market is a dynamic factor but a three-dynamic-factor model is superior in modelling the decile portfolios. The two additional factors are correlated with a January dummy and Bond risk premium and with production growth and a recession dummy, respectively. We found that small firms are more sensitive to the January/Bond risk factor, while large firms are more sensitive to the Production/Recession factor. We found that after accounting for the systematic risk corresponding to the three dynamic factors, there is not much of a static component of asset risk premium and there is no evidence for a higher ‘unexplained’ return on small firm portfolios.
Detection of radiation-induced, accelerated atherosclerosis in patients with osteoradionecrosis by panoramic radiography

Abstract Purpose: Osteoradionecrosis (ORN) of the mandible has long been considered the most destructive complication of head and neck irradiation. Recently, therapeutic irradiation has been implicated as the cause of induced/accelerated atherosclerosis of the cervical carotid artery and subsequent stroke. Panoramic radiography, previously shown to be capable of identifying carotid artery atherosclerosis in nonirradiated individuals, was used to assess the carotid vasculature of patients being treated for ORN. Patients and Methods: The panoramic radiographs of 61 men (mean age, 60.5 years; range, 41 to 77 years) who received therapeutic irradiation to the neck 36 months or more previously were assessed for the presence of carotid artery atherosclerotic lesions. Sixty-one control subjects who never received therapeutic irradiation, but who were similarly susceptible to atherosclerosis by virtue of age, were assessed in a like manner. Results: The irradiated individuals sustained a dose of 40 to 72 Gy to the area of the carotid bifurcation. Seventeen individuals (27.9%) with an irradiation dosage to the carotid bifurcation that averaged 59.2 Gy had a panoramic radiograph with a carotid atheroma (11 with unilateral lesions and six with bilateral lesions). The radiographs of the control subjects showed that three individuals (4.9%) had calcified carotid lesions. The mean age of these subjects was 66.1 years; two had unilateral lesions, and one had bilateral lesions. The difference in the proportion of individuals with ORN who manifested carotid artery atherosclerosis on their panoramic radiographs was statistically significant (P = .001) when compared with the nonirradiated control subjects. The lesions seen in both populations had a similar morphologic appearance and were radiographically located within the soft tissues of the neck 1.5 to 4.0 cm inferior-posterior to the angle of the mandible. Conclusions: Individuals with radiation doses sufficient to cause Osteoradionecrosis of the mandible are at significantly higher risk of developing carotid artery atherosclerotic lesions than age-matched, nonirradiated controls.
Turbo Processing for Speech Recognition

Speech recognition is a classic example of a human/machine interface, typifying many of the difficulties and opportunities of human/machine interaction. In this paper, speech recognition is used as an example of applying turbo processing principles to the general problem of human/machine interface. Speech recognizers frequently involve a model representing phonemic information at a local level, followed by a language model representing information at a nonlocal level. This structure is analogous to the local (e.g., equalizer) and nonlocal (e.g., error correction decoding) elements common in digital communications. Drawing from the analogy of turbo processing for digital communications, turbo speech processing iteratively feeds back the output of the language model to be used as prior probabilities for the phonemic model. This analogy is developed here, and the performance of this turbo model is characterized by using an artificial language model. Using turbo processing, the relative error rate improves significantly, especially in high-noise settings.
A kinetic study of the oxidation of Ti(III) to Ti(IV) in hydrofluoric acid solutions

Abstract The oxidation of Ti(III) to Ti(IV) has been studied in hydrofluoric acid at temperatures of 25 °, 34.5 °, and 41.5 °C. The initial Ti(III) concentration was varied from 0.05 to 0.5 M and the initial HF concentration from 0.25 to 2.0 M. In solutions with moderate HF Ti(III) ratios, reaction rate orders of approximately unity were found for both Ti(III) and HF. There were also indications that the various Ti(III)-fluoride complexes were oxidized at different rates. The low apparent activation energy (~6 kcal) was an indication of a rate determining step between ions of similar sign.
3D Raman Sideband Cooling of Cesium Atoms at High Density

We laser cool 5x10(7) Cs atoms to a spin-polarized phase space density of 1/30, the highest ever obtained by laser cooling. It is achieved by compression and polarization gradient cooling in a 3D far-off-resonant optical lattice, followed by 3D Raman sideband cooling optimized at a density of 1.5x10(12) atoms/cm(3), and adiabatic release. In the lattice, 23% of the sites are occupied, 95% of the atoms are in the lowest energy magnetic sublevel, and 37% are in the lowest 3D vibrational state.
Analysis of proposed new process for crystal growth from glasses by direct control of interface mobility

Abstract A process for growth of aligned and single crystals by direct heating of a glass-crystal interface is proposed. The process is based on using a laser of appropriate wavelength as a means of providing heat to the interface due to transmittance differences between the glass and crystal phases. The heat flow considerations, interface kinetics, and other process variables important to the proposed new crystal growth method are analyzed.
Darwinian selection for self-limiting populations.

The rarity of Malthusian overexploitation has long puzzled naturalists. Nicholson has given an important proximate explanation of how population size is limited, but his discussion of density governing traits does not tackle the ultimate question of how populations acquired these traits which prevent overexploitation. This paper shows that Darwinian theory can explain the evolution of density governing limitation mechanisms which prevent overexploitation; they are a predictable by-product of selection for adaptation to the early growth phase of a population with recurrent population crashes. In this situation Darwinian selection, instead of maximizing the number of offspring of the ultimately favored allele, maximizes the number of its descendants in the comparable portion of the next growth cycle.
A novel process of etching EUV masks for future generation technology

Studies on pattern transfer of next generation lithographic (EUV) photomask were carried out. Based on current absorber layer material candidates, thermodynamic calculations were performed and plasma etch gas system and composition were investigated. The gas systems have the advantage of all etch products being in volatile condition. This is helpful to keep the etch process and etch chamber clean. For etch CD bias challenge in EUV photomask etch, self-mask concept was investigated, which makes anti-reflective (AR) sub-layer of the absorber layer function as a hard mask for the bulk absorber layer beneath. It significantly reduces etch CD bias and improves pattern transfer fidelity. For common candidates of EUV mask absorber layers such as TaBO/TaBN and TaSiON/TaSi, reactive gas systems were proposed according to thermodynamic calculations with all products volatile. AR sub-layers were etched in one gas composition with volatiles. Once the AR sub-layer is etched through, gas composition was changed so that the bulk absorber sub-layer beneath is etched selectively with volatile products. Excellent results in profiles, CD bias, CD uniformity, and underneath buffer/capping layer impact have been demonstrated.
Women's health and human rights needs.

Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world with an average life expectancy of only 44 years for women. Womens health has been compromised by official policies of the Taliban an ultra-conservative Islamic movement that controls about 90% of the country. Since 1994 it has restricted womens human rights such as freedom of expression movement and equal opportunities for work education and access to health services. The Taliban has implemented policies of patent discrimination against women effectively confining the women to their homes without resources to support their families. Taliban restrictions on womens freedom continue to interfere with the delivery of health services to women. Such policies of deliberate discrimination against women with their devastating health consequences call into question the authority of the Taliban regime. Humanitarian organizations should apply international pressure for accountability of regimes that blatantly disregard the rights of their people.
92 Mechanism of Myelin Formation During Development

Myelin is formed by a satellite cell which wraps around the axon to form a continuous spiral of membrane. This membrane has a distinctive lipid and protein composition when compared with other membran ous structures. The myelin components may be synthesized at the level of the forming membrane, or transported into the membrane following synthesis by some other intracellular organelle. The synthesis of sulfatide, a membrane lipid, by 95 and 17-day-old rats was determined after a single intraperitoneal injection of 35S-sulfate into the sulfatide of whole brain, myelin, non-myelin organelles, and 105,000 × g supernatant of brain was followed. At times when there was no further de novo synthesis of lipid, the amount of labelled sulfatide in myelin continued to increase while that of non-myelin membranes decreased. The transfer of sulfatide from non-myelin structures to myelin appeared to be mediated by soluble lipoproteins which were isolated from supernatant, characterized, and found to contain labelled sulfatide. In vitro studies, indicated that isolated myelin contained galactocerebroside sulfokinase, the enzyme involved in the synthesis of sulfatides. Thus, isolated myelin contains some membranous components capable of synthesizing myelin lipids. These studies suggest that a lipid component of myelin is both transported into the forming membrane by a carrier lipprotein and synthesized by the myelin membrane. The relationship between these two mechanisms of formation of myelin components during development will be discussed. (SPR)
Beliefs about Sculpture: The Marble Guardsmen of the Court Eunuch Yang Sixu

In]ulyof1958, workingjust ahead of the construction workers, archaeologists of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Institute of Archaeology managed to excavate an underground tomb to the east of modern Xi' an, in what had been the eastern suburbs beyond the Chunming Gate of the Tang-dynasty capital of Chang'an.The occupant turned out to have been Yang Sixu t18JiStjJJ (654-740, surnamed Su fi at birth), the first court eunuch to attain a position of power in the Tang dynasty.2 His tomb had been looted early and was already stripped clean of all items of value, including even the skull of the deceased. What remained was a large mound of smashed ceramic tomb figures, a stone outer coffin, a stone epitaph, and, mostly remarkably, a pair of marble statues of men in palace military uniforms, elaborately outfitted with weapons (figures 1a-b). 3 These figures are unique; nothing like them has been seen in any other Tang tomb excavated to date.4 Needless to say, such unusual objects beg a host of questions. Who do they represent? What was their intended social purpose or spiritual function? Who ordered their manufacture and why? At his death, Yang Sixu held the prestige title of Cavalry General-in-chief (rank Ib), the merit title of Supreme Pillar of State (rank 2a, the highest possible), and a rank 1b title of nobility, Duke of Guoguo Wm ~ /};;. His official post was General-in-chief of the Left Courageous Guard, one of the imperial bodyguard
Natural visual capture in bilateral length comparisons

In left-right comparisons of perceived length, objects on the left were slightly overestimated by vision alone but not by touch alone. This conflict between vision and touch occurred in the absence of any experimentally induced distortion or illusion. Judgments made with concurrent vision and touch were similar to those made with vision alone regardlesa of whether the Os were judging which objectfelt longer,looked longer, orwas longer. The resolution of a natural conflict between vision and touch is an example of natural visual capture.