cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Probing the remarkable thermal kinetics of visual rhodopsin with E181Q and S186A mutants

We recently reported a very unusual temperature dependence of the rate of thermal reaction of wild type bovine rhodopsin: the Arrhenius plot exhibits a sharp "elbow" at 47 °C and, in the upper temperature range, an unexpectedly large activation energy (114 ± 8 kcal/mol) and an enormous prefactor (1072±5 s-1). In this report, we present new measurements and a theoretical model that establish convincingly that this behavior results from a collective, entropy-driven breakup of the rigid hydrogen bonding networks (HBNs) that hinder the reaction at lower temperatures. For E181Q and S186A, two rhodopsin mutants that disrupt the HBNs near the binding pocket of the 11-cis retinyl chromophore, we observe significant decreases in the activation energy (∼90 kcal/mol) and prefactor (∼1060 s-1), consistent with the conclusion that the reaction rate is enhanced by breakup of the HBN. The results provide insights into the molecular mechanism of dim-light vision and eye diseases caused by inherited mutations in the rhodopsin gene that perturb the HBNs.
Achieving safe, effective, and durable Zika virus vaccines: lessons from dengue

Summary Newly proposed candidate Zika virus vaccines might or might not succeed in raising safe, effective, and durable protection against human Zika virus infections or syndromes. Analyses of a clinically tested and licensed dengue vaccine that failed to protect seronegative individuals from breakthrough or enhanced dengue infections suggest that poor T-cell immunity might have contributed to protection failure. Because of the similarity of Zika and dengue viruses, an analogous unwanted outcome might occur with some Zika virus vaccine designs. A successful Zika virus vaccine requires challenge experiments that are done at long intervals after immunisation and that identify protection as the absence of viraemia and the absence of an anamnestic antibody response. T-cell immunity might be an essential component of safe, efficacious, and durable Zika virus vaccines.
Big Data Analytics for Smart Manufacturing: Case Studies in Semiconductor Manufacturing

Smart manufacturing (SM) is a term generally applied to the improvement in manufacturing operations through integration of systems, linking of physical and cyber capabilities, and taking advantage of information including leveraging the big data evolution. SM adoption has been occurring unevenly across industries, thus there is an opportunity to look to other industries to determine solution and roadmap paths for industries such as biochemistry or biology. The big data evolution affords an opportunity for managing significantly larger amounts of information and acting on it with analytics for improved diagnostics and prognostics. The analytics approaches can be defined in terms of dimensions to understand their requirements and capabilities, and to determine technology gaps. The semiconductor manufacturing industry has been taking advantage of the big data and analytics evolution by improving existing capabilities such as fault detection, and supporting new capabilities such as predictive maintenance. For most of these capabilities: (1) data quality is the most important big data factor in delivering high quality solutions; and (2) incorporating subject matter expertise in analytics is often required for realizing effective on-line manufacturing solutions. In the future, an improved big data environment incorporating smart manufacturing concepts such as digital twin will further enable analytics; however, it is anticipated that the need for incorporating subject matter expertise in solution design will remain.
Mounier e a condição da mulher

Em 1936, saiu um numero de Esprit intitulado A mulher tambem e uma pessoa, com artigo no qual Mounier denuncia que houve revolucoes contra a opressao dos proletarios, mas nenhuma em defesa de um proletariado muito maior, o das mulheres. Contra a rejeicao quase geral, 13 anos apos, ve positivamente, embora com reservas, o livro de S. Beauvoir O Segundo Sexo. Retoma o tema “a condicao da mulher” nos livros Manifesto a servico do Personalismo, Tratado do carater, Quando a cristandade morre, O Personalismo. As posicoes de Mounier em defesa da dignidade da mulher e suas denuncias dos preconceitos da epoca contra ela e das concepcoes da Igreja, justificando seu confinamento domestico e sua total submissao ao homem, sao amplamente resgatadas por estudiosos como Giulia P. Di Nicola, Michelle Perrot e Attilio Danese. Sua visao de mundo e de Igreja fazem-no precursor leigo do Vaticano II. A mulher que busca sua libertacao como individuo, enfrentara, mesmo na liberdade conquistada, os limites e as amarras do individualismo, se nao puder abrir-se, como pessoa, a alteridade e a transcendencia, na plenitude de sua vocacao humana.
A novel design to power the micro-ECG sensor implanted in adult zebrafish

Heart diseases have been the leading cause of death in the developed world, partially due to failure to adequately replace lost ventricular myocardium from ischemia-induced infarct. Adult mammalian ventricular cardiomyocytes have a limited capacity to divide, and this proliferation is insufficient to overcome the significant loss of myocardium from ventricular injury. Unlike mammalian hearts, zebrafish (Danio rerio) hearts fully regenerate after 20% ventricular amputation in 2 months, thereby providing a genetically tractable model system for heart regeneration investigations. Recently, electrocardiogram (ECG) assessment in zebrafish has showed promise as an alternative method to study heart regeneration and heart diseases; however, all existing approaches involving the use of anesthesia drugs are inadequate to provide intrinsic ECG signals. Towards a wireless ECG platform, we use the wireless power transfer (WPT) technique via inductive coupling to power an ECG sensor implanted in an adult zebrafish. The transmitter coil is a solenoid wound around a customized cylindrical housing while the compact receiver solenoid on the fish is modified to counter misalignment issues. The ECG data are sent to the external unit via backscattering in the form of load modulation using the same inductive link. Our system enables continuous monitoring of freely-swimming fish without disrupting their normal activities. An adaptive tuning method is used and power transfer efficiency (PTE) is characterized using a vector network analyzer (VNA) via S-parameter measurement.
Reliability, Factor Structure, and Measurement Invariance of a Web-Based Assessment of Children’s Social-Emotional Comprehension:

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties and measurement invariance of a web-based, self-administered battery of assessments of social-emotional comprehension called “S...
Recent Results in State Estimation of Dynamical Systems with Inputs under Bandwidth Constraints

Finding the minimal bit rate needed for state estimation of a dynamical system is a fundamental problem in control theory. We present two notions of topological entropy, one to lower bound the bit rate needed to estimate the state of a nonlinear dynamical system, with unknown bounded inputs, up to a constant error e. The other is to do the same but to estimate the state of a switched system with unknown switching signal up to an error that is bounded by e for τ seconds after each switch and then decays exponentially at a rate of α till the next switch. Since computation of entropy is hard in general, we present upper bounds on both notions of entropy. Finally, we present preliminary results on the relation between the two notions. Note that most of the ideas presented in this abstract are from our papers [4] and [5].
The Debt Crisis and Radiology

The problem of debt repayment for entry level radiologist is not just one of financial challenge for the borrower. Rather it is an issue for all of Radiology as indebtedness directs career choices. And with the costs of college and medical school increasing coupled with relatively low salaries and mandated expenses throughout residency, average educational loan obligations of newly minted radiologist are well over $100,000. This has caused some trainees to consolidate their debt into a 30 year pay back agreement that allows the lender to alter the interest rate according to circumstance and opportunity.
The accumulation of organic-matter-rich rocks within an earth systems framework: The integrated roles of plate tectonics, atmosphere, ocean, and biota through the Phanerozoic

Abstract Fundamental concepts of plate tectonics, palaeogeography, ecology, and atmospheric and oceanic circulation can be used in conjunction with models of source rock deposition to understand the location and character of organic matter–rich rocks (ORRs) at global to regional scales. Ocean and atmosphere circulation patterns directly impact processes governing organic carbon production and preservation. One can convolve these patterns with palaeogeographic reconstructions and make predictions of ORR occurrence and character at global to regional scales. Such convolutions can be made qualitatively or quantitatively in several automated manners. Insights gained from such predictions are also useful for understanding and exploiting mudstone reservoirs and shale-gas and tight-oil plays.
Locating partially visible objects: the local feature focus method

A new method of locating partially visible two-dimensional objects has been designed. The method is applicable to complex industrial parts that may contain several occurrences of local features such as holes and corners. The matching process is robust, because it bases its decisions on groups of mutually consistent features, and it is relatively fast, because it concentrates on key features that are automatically selected on the basis of a detailed analysis of CAD type of models of the objects.
Ground state of 16O.

A variational method is used to study the ground state of $^{16}\mathrm{O}$. Expectation values are computed with a cluster expansion for the noncentral correlations in the wave function; the central correlations and exchanges are treated to all orders by Monte Carlo integration. The expansion has good convergence. Results are reported for the Argonne ${v}_{14}$ two-nucleon and Urbana VII three-nucleon potentials.
Decreasing trend of bone mineral density in US multiethnic population: analysis of continuous NHANES 2005-2014.

Studies examining recent bone mineral density (BMD) trends in the US population are limited. In our study, we found that age-adjusted mean BMD among US men and women was stable from 2005 to 2010, but then declined in 2013–2014. We also explored factors associated with decreasing BMD in recent years. Osteoporosis prevalence in the USA declined between 1988 and 2006, while the declining trend in hip fracture may have plateaued in 2013–2014. We aimed to examine whether there has been a corresponding change in BMD trajectory for the US population. Continuous National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 2005–2006 to 2013–2014 were analyzed to examine BMD trends among US men and women aged 30 years and older and among different race/ethnicity subgroups. ANOVA and Bonferroni adjustments were used to examine the differences in mean BMD, and multiple linear regressions adjusting for potential confounding effects were employed to examine BMD trends. After age standardization, the mean BMD of the femur neck for the first three NHANES cycles was stable (all p > 0.1) in both men and women, but significantly decreased in 2013–2014, from 0.864 g/cm2 to 0.846 g/cm2 (p = 0.0025) in men and from 0.789 to 0.771 g/cm2 (p = 0.03) in women. The overall mean femur neck BMD in 2013–2014 was significantly lower than that in earlier survey cycles in both men and women, even after adjusting for multiple covariates, including age, race, physical activity, previous fracture, BMI, and other variables. Similar results were observed in subgroup analyses of race and sensitivity analyses. Age-adjusted mean BMD decreased in 2013–2014 in both men and women, and this significant decrease was also observed in sensitivity and subgroup analyses. The decreased BMD in 2013–2014 still remained significant even after being adjusted for multiple potentially confounding effects.
Opioid Prescription Refills After Osteochondral Procedures of the Knee.

Purpose (1) To assess the incidence of postoperative opioid prescription refills in patients undergoing osteochondral autograft transplant (OAT) and osteochondral allograft transplant (OCA) procedures of the knee; (2) to evaluate the effect of filling preoperative opioid prescriptions on the incidence of postoperative filling; and (3) to assess the impact of age, sex, and diagnosis of low-back pain on postoperative opioid prescription filling. Methods The Humana administrative claims database was queried for patients undergoing knee OAT and OCA procedures between 2007 and 2017 by use of Current Procedural Terminology codes. Patients were stratified by age, diagnosis of low-back pain, preoperative opioid use, autograft and allograft procedures, and open and arthroscopic procedures. Preoperative opioid users were defined as those having filled an opioid prescription within 3 months before surgery. The relative risk (risk ratio) for opioid prescription refills was calculated monthly for 12 months. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to determine odds ratios (ORs) at 3, 6, and 12 months. Results We identified 300 patients: 133 (44%) underwent OAT and 167 (56%) underwent OCA procedures. Of the patients, 236 (79%) were aged 49 years or younger, and 31% of patients filled opioid prescriptions preoperatively. Of those who filled preoperative opioid prescriptions, 28% were still filling prescriptions 12 months after surgery. Multivariate analysis showed an increased risk of opioid prescription filling at 3 months (OR, 7.46 [95% confidence interval (CI), 3.26-17.38]), 6 months (OR, 15.41 [95% CI, 5.52-41.99]), and 12 months (OR, 13.45 [95% CI, 5.41-33.75]) postoperatively in preoperative opioid users. Conclusions Filling opioid prescriptions preoperatively increased the risk of postoperative filling of opioid prescriptions after cartilage restoration procedures of the knee. Over 30% of patients were found to have filled an opioid prescription preoperatively. Univariate analysis showed that age of 50 years or older and low-back pain increased the risk of postoperative prescription refilling, but only age of 50 years or older provided a significantly increased risk at 3 months postoperatively using a multivariate analysis. Level of Evidence Level III, retrospective case-control study.
Antibiotic modulation of mucins in otitis media; should this change our approach to watchful waiting?

Abstract Background Gel-forming mucins (GFMs) play important roles in otitis media (OM) pathogenesis. Increased mucin expression is activated by pathogens and proinflammatory cytokines. Bacterial biofilms influence inflammation and resolution of OM and may contribute to prolonged mucin production. The influence of specific pathogens on mucin expression and development of chronic OM with effusion (OME) remains an area of significant knowledge deficit. Objectives To assess the relationship between GFM expression, specific pathogens, middle ear mucosal (MEM) changes, biofilm formation, and antibiotic utilization. Methods Mixed gender chinchillas were inoculated with nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) strain 86028NP or Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP) strain TIGR4 via transbulla injection. Antibiotic was administered on day 3–5 post inoculation. GFM expression was measured by quantitative PCR. Biofilm formation was identified and middle ear histologic changes were measured. Results SP infection resulted in higher incidence of biofilm and ME effusion compared with NTHi infection. However, NTHi persisted in the ME longer than SP with no substantive bacterial clearance detected on day 10 compared with complete bacterial clearance on day 10 for 50–60% of the SP-infected chinchillas. Both infections increased MEM inflammatory cell infiltration and thickening. NTHi upregulated the Muc5AC, Muc5B and Muc19 expression on day 10 (p = 0.0004, 0.003, and 0.002 respectively). SP-induced GFM upregulations were trended toward significant. In both NTHi and SP infections, the degree of GFM upregulation had a direct relationship to increased MEM hypertrophy, inflammatory cell infiltration and biofilm formation. Antibiotic treatment reduced the incidence of ME effusion and biofilm, limited the MEM changes and reversed the GFM upregulation. In NTHi infection, the rate of returning to baseline level of GFMs in treated chinchillas was quicker than those without treatment. Conclusions In an animal model of OM, GFM genes are upregulated in conjunction with MEM hypertrophy and biofilm formation. This upregulation is less robust and more quickly ameliorated to a significant degree in the NTHi infection with appropriate antibiotic therapy. These findings contribute to the understanding of pathogen specific influences on mucin expression during OM pathogenesis and provide new data which may have implications in clinical approach for OM treatment.
Association Between Varicocele and Infertility

Varicocele, a pathological dilation of the scrotal veins, is thought to be the cause of infertility in up to 41% of male factor infertility and is the most common cause of secondary infertility. Men with clinically significant varicocele are found to have reduced sperm counts, impaired motility, and abnormal morphology when compared to men without varicocele. Studies have found that men treated for varicocele show improvement in semen analysis as well as improvement in pregnancy rate. The pathophysiology of varicocele is multifactorial with resulting hyperthermia of the testis, which is believed to be the greatest contributing factor to infertility. Other theories of how varicoceles cause damage include buildup of metabolic waste and reflux of renal and adrenal metabolites. Varicoceles have been found to cause damage to the Leydig cells of the testicle, resulting in decreased serum testosterone levels. Varicocele is also associated with direct damage to the Sertoli cells and germ cells. The damaging effects to these cell types has been found to be reversed when clinical varicoceles are treated by varicocelectomy. Varicoceles not only damage the testes but also the epididymis, affecting the storage and maturation of newly developed sperm. Damage to the epididymis can be quantified by measurement of alpha-glucosidase, and the effect of such damage is seen by decreased transit time through the epididymis, impaired motility, and decreased sperm storage viability. These effects can be reversed with appropriate treatment.
Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1: identification, purification, and regulation in fetal and adult life.

Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) are mitogenic peptides which resemble proinsulin in structure and are thought to regulate cellular proliferation and other anabolic processes in many tissues (1). Early bioassay studies demonstrated that circulating IGF bioactivity is reduced in a variety of conditions where anabolism is impaired, including fasting, uremia and streptozotocin (STZ) – induced diabetes (2). Phillips and co-workers demonstrated that this reduction in IGF bioactivity reflected changes in circulating levels of both IGFs (reduced) and IGF inhibitors (increased), factors which inhibit the effects of IGFs in bioassay (2). Recent studies have shown that IGFs circulate in association with specific binding proteins (IGFBPs) which are thought to modulate the availability and the biological effects of IGFs on target tissues (3). To date, 6 distinct IGFBPs have been identified and their cDNAS cloned (4,5). We considered the possibility that alterations in circulating levels of specific IGFBPs might contribute to the modulation of IGF bioactivity in metabolic disease. The purpose of this paper is to review our major findings related to this issue.
War, Peace, and Everything In Between: Donald E. Klingner

This editorial focuses on (1) the evolution of warfare from traditional battles to low-intensity conflicts and non-military tactics, (2) the expansion of national defense from protecting not only t...
Atmospheric dynamics drive most interannual U.S. droughts over the last millennium

The American West exemplifies drought-sensitive regions with growing populations. Paleoclimate investigations have documented severe droughts in this region before European settling, with major implications for water management and planning. Here, we leverage paleoclimate data assimilation to reconstruct past climate states, enabling a large-scale multivariate investigation of U.S. drought dynamics over the last millennium. These results confirm that La Nina conditions significantly influence southwest U.S. drought over the past millennium but only account for, by one metric, ~13% of interannual drought variability in that region. Atlantic sea surface temperatures may also contribute a small influence, but unexplained variability suggests a substantial role for internal atmospheric variability. This conclusion is buttressed by analysis of simulations from the Community Earth System Model Last Millennium Ensemble. While greenhouse gases will increase future drought risk, as shown in other work, interannual U.S. drought variations will also be widely influenced by processes internal to the atmosphere.
DeepMag: Source-Specific Change Magnification Using Gradient Ascent

Many important physical phenomena involve subtle signals that are difficult to observe with the unaided eye, yet visualizing them can be very informative. Current motion magnification techniques can reveal these small temporal variations in video, but require precise prior knowledge about the target signal, and cannot deal with interference motions at a similar frequency. We present DeepMag, an end-to-end deep neural video-processing framework based on gradient ascent that enables automated magnification of subtle color and motion signals from a specific source, even in the presence of large motions of various velocities. The advantages of DeepMag are highlighted via the task of video-based physiological visualization. Through systematic quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the approach on videos with different levels of head motion, we compare the magnification of pulse and respiration to existing state-of-the-art methods. Our method produces magnified videos with substantially fewer artifacts and blurring whilst magnifying the physiological changes by a similar degree.
Comparison of 4-day vs 5-day controlled internal drug release (CIDR) + timed artificial insemination protocols in dairy heifers

Previous studies have demonstrated that during the application of a 5-day CIDR + Timed Artificial Insemination (TAI) protocol in dairy heifers, the initial GnRH at CIDR insertion and the second PGF2a 12h after CIDR removal are not essential to optimize pregnancy at TAI (P/TAI; J.Dairy Sci 2011 94:4997- 5004). A major factor limiting the development of these programs in dairy farms is to overlook the importance of applying the hormonal injections at the correct day and time according to the specific protocol. This situation becomes more critical when trying to avoid cattle management practices during weekends. The establishment of a 4-day CIDR+TAI protocol performed on a Monday-Friday schedule would simplify the routine reproductive management of heifers in dairy farms, since it would facilitate treatment administration (Monday: CIDR insertion; Friday: CIDR withdrawal+PGF2a; next Monday: GnRH+TAI). Moreover, in contrast to the 4-day CIDR protocol, both the 5-day and 7-day CIDR programs require handling of animals on three different days of the week. In a recent pilot study heifers treated with a 4-day CIDR+TAI protocol showed an optimal P/TAI (66.7%, 10/15) similar to that observed in the of 5-day CIDR+TAI protocol (46.7%, 7/15) or AI after PGF2a injection and heat detection (46.7%, 7/15). However; despite the numerical differences, in that study the sample size was not sufficient to show statistical differences among groups. The objective of this study was to evaluate the P/TAI in dairy heifers treated with a Monday-Friday 4-day CIDR+TAI protocol compared to that of heifers treated with a 5-day CIDR+TAI protocol.
Modeling and Analysis of Current Mode and V 2 Controls with Adaptive Voltage Positioning (AVP) Design

Adaptive voltage positioning (AVP) is used in CPU application to reduce voltage spike during load transient. A lot of different methods have been proposed to achieve AVP function. In this paper, the active droop control are discussed and analyzed based on the advanced modeling techniques. With the accurate small signal model, the design guidelines are simplified for active droop control. Then the AVP design with constant on-time V2 control is given. The inherent DC offset of V2 control is analyzed under VR13 spec. A universal structure, which is modified from average current mode control, is given to solve the inherent DC offset of current mode and V2 controls. Simulation and experimental results show the good transient response, accurate load line and zero DC offset of the structure.
Power System Protection Parameter Sensitivity Analysis with Integrated Inverter Based Resources

As conventional generation sources continue to be replaced with inverter-based resources, the traditional fixed overcurrent protection schemes used at the distribution level will no longer be valid. Adaptive protection will provide the ability to update the protection scheme in near real-time to ensure reliability and increase the resilience of the grid. However, knowing and detecting when to update protection parameters that are calculated with an adaptive protection algorithm to prevent unnecessarily communicating with relays still needs to be understood. The proposed method provides a sensitivity analysis to understand when it is necessary to issue new parameters to the relays. The results show that settings do not need to be issued at each available time step. Instead, the proposed sensitivity analysis method can be used to ensure that only the imperative protection parameters are communicated to the relay, allowing for more optimal utilization of the communications. The results show that the sensitivity analysis reduces the settings communicated to the devices by 93% over the year.
Risk and the Volatility Anomaly: A Global Analysis

The only true global volatility anomaly is the high variance anomaly. High volatility stocks in the United States earn extremely low returns over time and investors should shun them. Our tests with data from forty international markets tend to support the U.S. findings. Portfolios of stocks sorted by variance tend to have characteristics similar to portfolios sorted by net variance (upside semi-variance minus downside semi-variance). However, beta and net beta sorted portfolios exhibit notable differences in associated risk proxies such as dispersion, split factor or size. When net variance or net beta is the risk measure, the volatility anomaly generally disappears.
The role of indole-3-acetic acid in mediating changes in stem elongation of etiolated pisum seedlings following exposure to light

The exposure of dark-grown seedlings to light results in a dramatic decrease in the rate of stem elongation, which is one of the many facets of the phenomenon of de-etiolation. While the spectral characteristics of the response are now relatively well known the transduction chain between the reception of the light and the ultimate growth response is not well understood. Light could have a direct effect on the cell membrane, leading to changes in the cell wall which affect growth, or light could act by altering the level of a plant hormone and the changed hormonal level would then directly or indirectly bring about changes in the cell wall. The objective of this research was to determine whether the light-induced decrease in stem elongation rate could, at least to some extent, be hormonally mediated.
Melatonin modulates M4-type ganglion-cell photoreceptors.

In the retina, melatonin is secreted at night by rod/cone photoreceptors and serves as a dark-adaptive signal. Melatonin receptors have been found in many retinal neurons including melanopsin-containing intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), suggesting it could modulate the physiology of these inner retinal photoreceptors. Here, we investigated whether melatonin modulates the alpha-like M4-type ipRGCs, which are believed to mediate image-forming vision as well as non-image-forming photoresponses. Applying melatonin during daytime (when endogenous melatonin secretion is low) caused whole-cell-recorded M4 cells’ rod/cone-driven depolarizing photoresponses to become broader and larger, whereas the associated elevation in spike rate was reduced. Melanopsin-based light responses were not affected significantly. Nighttime application of the melatonin receptor antagonist luzindole also altered M4 cells’ rod/cone-driven light responses but in the opposite ways: the duration and amplitude of the graded depolarization were reduced, whereas the accompanying spiking increase was enhanced. These luzindole-induced changes confirmed that M4 cells are modulated by endogenous melatonin. Melatonin could induce the above effects by acting directly on M4 cells because immunohistochemistry detected MT1 receptors in these cells, although it could also act presynaptically. Interestingly, the daytime and nighttime recordings showed significant differences in resting membrane potential, spontaneous spike rate and rod/cone-driven light responses, suggesting that M4 cells are under circadian control. This is the first report of a circadian variation in ipRGCs’ resting properties and synaptic input, and of melatoninergic modulation of ipRGCs.
Technical Problems in the Construction of Wigglers and Undulators for Free Electron Lasers

The main features of wigglers and undulators for free-electron lasers are reviewed, together with some of the technical problems involved in their construction and operation in conjunction with a particle accelerator, either in single-pass or in recirculated beam mode. A few examples are presented in some detail; helical undulator, flat undulator with standard electromagnet and with permanent magnets, and very high field superconduction wiggler.
Early Holocene Cultural Ecology on the California Coast

In Chapter 8, I presented evidence for both continuity and variability in early adaptations within a single region of the California coast: the Santa Barbara Channel. Within this area, however, there is only limited evidence for the origin of the earliest occupants of the California coast, or the structure of their economies prior to about 8,500 years ago. Contemporary sites containing similar artifact and faunal assemblages, and presumably reflecting similar adaptive patterns, have been reported along much of the southern and central California coast, extending from at least San Luis Obispo County (see Greenwood 1972) on the north to San Diego and Baja California to the south (e.g., Warren 1964; Hubbs et al. 1962:219). Recent discoveries on the northern California coast (Schwaderer et al. 1990; Jones 1991) extend the range of these early coastal hunter-gatherers. In this chapter, I review the evidence for the distribution and antiquity of early (i.e., pre-7500 cal bp) sites on the California coast, and the adaptations of the people who produced them. My review focuses on evidence for spatial and temporal variation in early Holocene economies. Within this context, broader issues related to the origin and development of early cultures of the California coast can be addressed more effectively.
Factors Affecting Metabolism

Investigation of the differences in metabolism among species, age groups, genders, polymorphic enzymes, and presence of modulators is applicable to both drug development and drug therapy. In the process of drug development, knowledge of these differences in metabolism helps to correlate pharmacokinetic (PK), toxicology, and structure-effect studies from animal models to humans. The article discusses various physiological factors affecting drug metabolism. Keywords: drug metabolism; polymorphic enzymes; drug development; toxicology; pharmacokinetic
Cobalt iron-oxide nanoparticle modified poly(methyl methacrylate) nanodielectrics : Dielectric and electrical insulation properties ()

In this paper, we report the dielectric properties of composite systems (nanodielectrics) made of small amounts of mono dispersed magnetic nanoparticles embedded in a polymer matrix. It is observed from the transmission electron microscope images that the matrix polymeric material is confined in approximately 100 nm size cages between particle clusters. The particle clusters are composed of separated spherical particles which comprise unconnected networks in the matrix. The dielectric relaxation and breakdown characteristics of the matrix polymeric material are altered with the addition of nanometer size cobalt iron-oxide particles. The dielectric breakdown measurements performed at 77 K showed that these nanodielectrics are potentially useful as an electrical insulation material for cryogenic high voltage applications. Finally, structural and dielectric properties of nanocomposite dielectrics are discussed to present plausible reasons for the observed low effective dielectric permittivity values in the present and similar nanodielectric systems. It is concluded that polymeric nanoparticle composites would have low dielectric permittivity regardless of the permittivity of nanoparticles are when the particles are coordinated with a low dielectric permittivity surfactant.
Beijing’s defense strategy and the Korean peninsula

The Korean peninsula has been one of the key regions for China’s security. With a strong interest in maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula, Beijing is readjusting its foreign policy toward two Koreas in the post-cold war era. This article examines the recent changes in Beijing’s defense strategy and their implications for the Korean peninsula. It is argued that although China’s immediate military concerns are moving south, the Korean peninsula still occupies an important place in Beijing’s defense planning. Beijing’s recent weapon acquisitions from Russia have little direct impact on the Korean peninsula, but the Chinese defense modernization will have a long-term impact on the major power military balance in Northeast Asia.
Assessment of the endo-1,4-beta-glucanase components of Ruminococcus flavefaciens FD-1

The extracellular endo-1,4-beta-glucanase components of Ruminococcus flavefaciens FD-1 were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) by using DEAE ion-exchange, hydroxylapatite, and gel filtration chromatography and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). Two endo-1,4-beta-glucanase peaks were resolved by DEAE-HPLC and termed endoglucanases A and B. Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) zymograms were achieved by enzyme separation using nondenaturing PAGE followed by incubation of the gel on top of a CMC-agarose gel. This revealed no less than 13 and 5 endo-1,4-beta-glucanase components present in endoglucanases A and B, respectively. Hydroxylapatite chromatography of endoglucanases A and B revealed one activity peak for each preparation, which contained 4 and 5 endo-1,4-beta-glucanase components, respectively. Gel filtration chromatography of endoglucanase A following hydroxylapatite chromatography resolved the most active carboxymethylcellulase (CMCase) component from other endo-1,4-beta-glucanase activities. Gel filtration of endoglucanase B following hydroxylapatite chromatography showed one CMCase activity peak. Protein stains of sodium dodecyl sulfate-PAGE and nondenaturing PAGE gels of endoglucanases A and B from hydroxylapatite and gel filtration chromatography revealed multiple protein components. When xylan was substituted for CMC in zymograms, identical separation patterns for CMCase and xylanase activities were observed for both endoglucanases A and B. These data suggest that both 1,4-beta linkage-hydrolyzing activities reside on the same polypeptide or protein complex. The highest endo-1,4-beta-glucanase-specific activities were observed following DEAE-HPLC chromatography, with 16.2 and 7.5 mumol of glucose equivalents per min per mg of protein for endoglucanases A and B, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Introduction to Point Processes

Point process models are useful for describing phenomena occurring at random locations and/or times. Following a review of basic concepts, some important models are surveyed including Poisson processes, renewal processes, Hawkes processes, and Markovian point processes. Techniques for estimation, simulation, and residual analysis for point processes are also briefly discussed. Keywords: Poisson process; marked point process; Hawkes process; renewal process; conditional intensity; clustering density; maximum likelihood; residual analysis
Capture of arginine at low concentrations by a marine psychrophilic bacterium.

The cells of the marine bacterium Ant-300 were found to take up arginine when this substrate was at low concentrations. The cells possessed an uptake system(s) that specifically transported l-arginine. The kinetic parameters for uptake appeared to differ when the cells were exposed to nanomolar and micromolar concentrations of the amino acid. Uptake over this concentration range functioned in the absence of an exogenous energy source, even after the cells had been preincubated in unsupplemented artificial seawater. Respiratory activity appeared to be a more important driving force for arginine uptake than adenosine 5′-triphosphate hydrolysis. The cells also exhibited chemotaxis toward l-arginine. The minimum arginine concentration needed to elicit a chemotactic response was between 10−5 and 10−6 M. It is proposed that the capture of arginine by cells of Ant-300 in nutrient-depleted waters, which are typical of the open ocean, proceeds via high-affinity active transport, whereas in substrate-enriched seawater, capture involves chemotaxis and an active transport mechanism with reduced affinity for the substrate.
STATISTICAL PRECURSORS TO SPACE STORM ONSET

Abstract. Fractal fluctuation analysis is applied to ground-based data during quiet times and during magnetic storm times between 1981-2002. For the purposes of this study, quiet times were required to low activity at high latitudes, as measured by Kp, for at least two days. Active times typically corresponded to intense space storms. The data analyzed was from the Hsym time series for the selected periods. The new technique computes nonlinear statistics from these ground-based data, and monitors the variation of the statistics with time. Variations in nonlinear statistics indicates a difference in statistical variability for quiet times and storm times, and suggests an interesting new technique to predict space storm onset.
Effect of Cyclophosphamide on Histoplasma capsulatum Infections in Mice

Mice were injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) with 300 mg of cyclophosphamide (CY)/kg of body weight, and 24 h later were injected i.p. with varying dosages of yeast-phase cells of Histoplasma capsulatum. At specific time intervals organs were removed, ground, and cultured to determine the number of viable organisms contained in the spleen, liver, and lungs. Injection of mice with CY was found to cause a dramatic increase in the numbers of parasites isolated from these organs when compared with non-drug-treated controls. Mice given 107 yeast cells showed the largest increase in colony numbers. A greater than fivefold increase in the numbers of organisms isolated from the spleens of CY and 103 yeast cell-treated mice, as compared with non-drug-treated animals, was observed at all time periods. The general trend for infected control animals was a decrease in colony numbers. All mice given CY plus 107 yeast cells intravenously (i.v.) died by day 20 postinfection. Mice given CY and 107 yeast cells i.p. showed no evidence of fatal Histoplasma infection. Deaths occurring by day 5 in CY-treated animals injected with H. capsulatum yeast cells i.v. or i.p. were considered due to bacterial infection or toxicity, or both. Hepatosplenomegaly was observed in mice treated with CY and 107 yeast cells of H. capsulatum. Enlarged lungs were also noted. CY control mouse spleens weighed 30% less than normal spleens. Organs of animals injected with H. capsulatum alone did not vary significantly from those of normal mice. Complete drug-induced suppression of humoral antibody response was achieved for 10 days, as determined by hemagglutination titrations.
Trimodal Optical Microscopy

We present a microscope that uses single source and single detector, and capable of imaging multiple features like brightfield+fluorescence, phase+fluorescence, and edge enhanced+fluorescence of the biological specimen without the need of image registration and fusion.
Force control of robotic manipulators with structured uncertainties using variable structure control

Abstract A discrete variable structure tracking controller is developed for a wide class of linear and nonlinear systems with structured uncertainties. The proposed controller uses a pole placement controller as a kernel and compensates for the errors associated with uncertainties. The algorithm is computationally efficient and can be easily used as a robust backup controller for the higher performance, but sensitive, adaptive algorithms.
Complement‐Fixing Platelet Iso‐Antibodies in Serum of Transfused Persons. Correlation of Antibodies with Platelet Survival in Thrombocytopenic Patients

Sera from 172 patients who had received an average of 34 transfusions per patient were assayed for platelet antibodies using a complement fixation technic. Fifteen patients formed a total of 31 antibodies. Eighteen of these were identified as reacting with six specific platelet antigens which were present in from 3 to 49 per cent of the general population. The antigens are common to leukocytes, but not erythrocytes, and are genetically determined. No antibodies were found in serum from 55 non-transfused persons. The probability of antibody formation increased with repeated antigen exposure. Stored whole blood was at least as effective as platelet concentrates in provoking antibodies. There was a significant relationship between the presence of complement fixing platelet antibodies and the occurrence of “fever-chill” transfusion reactions. In three patients it was possible to correlate the efficacy of platelet transfusion therapy with the antigen content of infused platelets.
Is anyone listening? Variation in PSA screening among providers for men 75+ before and after United States preventive services task force recommendations against it: A retrospective cohort study

Background In 2008, the United States Preventive Services Task Force recommended against prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing for cancer screening in men age 75+.
Is hepatitis B virus smarter than the immune system

It has been suggested that mutations within immunodominant cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes may be exploited by viruses to evade protective immune responses critical for clearance. 1-4 Viral escape could originate from passive mechanisms, such as mutations within crucial CTL epitopes, either affecting major histocompatibility complex binding or T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) recognition. Additionally, it has recently been shown that substitutions of TCR contact sites can yield analogue peptides that can still interact with the T-cell receptor but be unable to deliver a full stimulatory signal, thus inducing anergy 5 or acting as an antagonist for the TCR. 6-8 We report here that hepatitis B virus isolates derived from two chronically infected patients display variant epitopes that act as natural TCR antagonists with the capacity to inhibit the CTL response to the wild-type epitope. During natural infection, TCR antagonist mutations of CTL epitopes could contribute to the development of viral persistence, especially if the antiviral CTL response is monospecific or the epitope is strongly immunodominant
Ground state and zero temperature phase diagrams of the XXZ antiferromagnetic spin- chain

Abstract An expression of the XXZ model is given from which the Ising, isotropic XY and Heisenberg models may be more properly obtained by varying only one anisotropy parameter. The ground state and spin configuration of the antiferromagnetic quasi-classical s = 1 2 XXZ chain in a magnetic field of arbitrary direction are studied. The phase diagrams with a longitudinal (h⊥ = 0) and a transverse field (h‖ = 0) are presented. Because we take into account an effect of anisotropy in the Zeeman interaction, the phase diagrams are quite different from those given by Kurmann, et al. [Physica A 112 (1982) 235]. A ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic first order phase transition is indicated for the Ising case with h⊥=0.
NMR Determination of Amide N-H Equilibrium Bond Length from Concerted Dipolar Coupling Measurements

The N-H bond length in backbone peptide groups of the protein GB3 has been studied by liquid crystal NMR, using five structurally conserved mutants of this protein. In the absence of additional information, the impact of dynamic fluctuations of the N-H vector orientation on the 15N-1H dipolar interaction cannot be separated from a change in N-H bond length. However, a change in N-H bond length directly impacts the orientation of C′-H vectors in the peptide group, and simultaneous analysis of 13C′-HN and 15N-HN residual dipolar couplings, measured under five different alignment orientations, permits modelfree determination of the average equilibrium N-H bond length in GB3, yielding rNHeq = 1.008 ± 0.006 A. Anharmonicity of the bond stretching results in a slightly longer time-averaged bond length = 1.015 ± 0.006 A, and an effective bond length reff = -1/3 = 1.023 ± 0.006 A pertinent for NMR relaxation analysis, not including the impact of zero-point or other angular fluctuations in N-H orientation. Using a reference frame defined by the backbone Cα-C′ vectors of the protein, angular fluctuations for N-H vectors in elements of secondary structure are approximately 1.5 fold larger for out-of-plane fluctuations than motions within the peptide plane and not much larger than anticipated on the basis of quantum mechanical analysis of their zero-point librations.