cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Interfacing gradient elution ion-exchange chromatography and low-angle laser light-scattering photometry for analysis of proteins

Abstract Molecular weights (MWs) of different proteins were determined by interfacing gradient elution ion-exchange chromatography and low-angle laser light-scattering photometry (IEC-LALLS). A high-performance strong cation-exchange column was used to elute proteins using fast (5 min) and conventional (15-30 min) gradients. The eluted proteins were characterized on-line by determining their MWs using LALLS. The specific refractive index (RI) increment (d n /d c ) and the RI of the solvent used over the gradient range were determined off-line and used to calculate the absolute weight-average MWs. Four proteins, ribonuclease A, α-chymotrypsinogen A, trypsinogen and β-lactoglobulin A (β-LACT) were studied. Accurate MWs were obtained for all the proteins using fast and conventional gradients, except for β-LACT, which aggregated as a function of the gradient employed. The degree of aggregation of β-LACT increased as the rapidity of the gradient was increased over a fixed gradient range. This study indicated that it is possible to separate and characterize proteins rapidly using IEC-LALLS.
A heteromeric Texas coral snake toxin targets acid-sensing ion channels to produce pain.

Natural products that elicit discomfort or pain represent invaluable tools for probing molecular mechanisms underlying pain sensation. Plant-derived irritants have predominated in this regard, but animal venoms have also evolved to avert predators by targeting neurons and receptors whose activation produces noxious sensations. As such, venoms provide a rich and varied source of small molecule and protein pharmacophores that can be exploited to characterize and manipulate key components of the pain-signalling pathway. With this in mind, here we perform an unbiased in vitro screen to identify snake venoms capable of activating somatosensory neurons. Venom from the Texas coral snake (Micrurus tener tener), whose bite produces intense and unremitting pain, excites a large cohort of sensory neurons. The purified active species (MitTx) consists of a heteromeric complex between Kunitz- and phospholipase-A2-like proteins that together function as a potent, persistent and selective agonist for acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs), showing equal or greater efficacy compared with acidic pH. MitTx is highly selective for the ASIC1 subtype at neutral pH; under more acidic conditions (pH 100-fold) proton-evoked activation of ASIC2a channels. These observations raise the possibility that ASIC channels function as coincidence detectors for extracellular protons and other, as yet unidentified, endogenous factors. Purified MitTx elicits robust pain-related behaviour in mice by activation of ASIC1 channels on capsaicin-sensitive nerve fibres. These findings reveal a mechanism whereby snake venoms produce pain, and highlight an unexpected contribution of ASIC1 channels to nociception.
Do jurors get what they expect? Traditional versus alternative forms of children's testimony

This study examined prospective jurors' expectancies for the verbal and nonverbal behavior of a child testifying in a sexual abuse case. Community members (N = 261) reporting for jury duty completed a survey in which they described their expectancies for how a child alleging sexual abuse would appear when testifying and their beliefs about discerning children's truthfulness, testimony stress, and fairness to trial parties. Within this survey, we varied the child's age (5, 10, or 15 years old), type of abuse alleged (vaginal fondling or penetration), and whether the abuse actually occurred (yes, no) between participants across five different testimony conditions (traditional live in-court, support person present, closed-circuit television, preparation, and videotape) within each participant. Participants expected a child providing traditional testimony to be more nervous, tearful, and fidgety; less confident, cooperative, and fluent; and to maintain less eye contact and provide shorter responses than when the child provided alternative forms of testimony. Participants believed it was easiest to determine a child's truthfulness and fairest to the defendant when the child testified live in court, but that this form of testimony was the most stressful and unfair to the child. Expectancies and beliefs differed within the alternative forms of testimony as well. Negative evaluations of children's alternative testimony may be the result of expectancy violation; namely, jurors expect differences in children's verbal and nonverbal behavior as a result of accommodation, but those differences actually do not occur.
Role of Phosphatidylserine Receptors in Enveloped Virus Infection

We recently demonstrated that a soluble protein, Gas6, can facilitate viral entry by bridging viral envelope phosphatidylserine to Axl, a receptor tyrosine kinase expressed on target cells. The interaction between phosphatidylserine, Gas6, and Axl was originally shown to be a molecular mechanism through which phagocytes recognize phosphatidylserine exposed on dead cells. Since our initial report, several groups have confirmed that Axl/Gas6, as well as other phosphatidylserine receptors, facilitate entry of dengue, West Nile, and Ebola viruses. Virus binding by viral envelope phosphatidylserine is now a viral entry mechanism generalized to many families of viruses. In addition to Axl/Gas6, various molecules are known to recognize phosphatidylserine; however, the effects of these molecules on virus binding and entry have not been comprehensively evaluated and compared. In this study, we examined most of the known human phosphatidylserine-recognizing molecules, including MFG-E8, TIM-1, -3, and -4, CD300a, BAI1, and stabilin-1 and -2, for their abilities to facilitate virus binding and infection. Using pseudotyped lentiviral vectors, we found that a soluble phosphatidylserine-binding protein, MFG-E8, enhances transduction. Cell surface receptors TIM-1 and -4 also enhance virus binding/transduction. The extent of enhancement by these molecules varies, depending on the type of pseudotyping envelope proteins. Mutated MFG-E8, which binds viral envelope phosphatidylserine without bridging virus to cells, but, surprisingly, not annexin V, which has been used to block phagocytosis of dead cells by concealing phosphatidylserine, efficiently blocks these phosphatidylserine-dependent viral entry mechanisms. These results provide insight into understanding the role of viral envelope phosphatidylserine in viral infection. IMPORTANCE Envelope phosphatidylserine has previously been shown to be important for replication of various envelope viruses, but details of this mechanism(s) were unclear. We were the first to report that a bifunctional serum protein, Gas6, bridges envelope phosphatidylserine to a cell surface receptor, Axl. Recent studies demonstrated that many envelope viruses, including vaccinia, dengue, West Nile, and Ebola viruses, utilize Axl/Gas6 to facilitate their entry, suggesting that the phosphatidylserine-mediated viral entry mechanism can be shared by various enveloped viruses. In addition to Axl/Gas6, various molecules are known to recognize phosphatidylserine; however, the effects of these molecules on virus binding and entry have not been comprehensively evaluated and compared. In this study, we examined most human phosphatidylserine-recognizing molecules for their abilities to facilitate viral infection. The results provide insights into the role(s) of envelope phosphatidylserine in viral infection, which can be applicable to the development of novel antiviral reagents that block phosphatidylserine-mediated viral entry.
Validation of the reciprocity law for coating photodegradation

Accelerating the photodegradation of commercial polymeric materials has great practical importance in the weathering community. However, questions exist as to whether high radiant flux exposure results can be extrapolated to in-service exposure levels. Based on the reciprocity law, the photoresponse of a material is dependent only on the total energy to which the specimen is exposed, and is independent of the exposure time and the intensity of the radiation taken separately. An experiment to validate the applicability of the reciprocity law for polymeric coatings has been carried out using the NIST integrating sphere-based ultraviolet (UV) weathering device. A nonpigmented, non-UV stabilized acrylicmelamine coating was exposed to six different UV radiation intensities ranging from 36 W/m2 to 322 W/m2, and in the spectral region between 290 nm and 400 nm. Chemical changes in the coating due to UV exposure were measured with transmission Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and UV-visible spectroscopy. Using two dose-damage models, the reciprocity law photoresponse for this polymeric system was verified for different photodegradation mechanisms, including chain scission, oxidation, and mass loss.
African American Women’s Sexual Objectification Experiences: A Qualitative Study

The purpose of our study was to investigate African American women’s experiences with sexual objectification. Utilizing grounded theory methodology as well as Black feminist thought and objectification theory as the research lenses, the results of this study uncovered how racist, sexist, and classist ideologies contributed to sexual objectification experiences (SOEs) among African American women. Twenty African American female graduate students and others recruited from a campus community participated in semistructured interviews. Data revealed a number of different sociocultural factors that contributed to the sexual objectification of African American women (i.e., historical influence of slavery, sexualized views and images of African American women, and patriarchal social structure). These factors were observed to contribute to different forms of sexual objectification, ranging from comments and objectifying gazes to more extreme forms, such as sexual abuse. Participants described a number of effects o...
Mechanical properties and morphological characterization of exfoliated graphite–polypropylene nanocomposites

Abstract This research explores the potential of using exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets, xGnP, (graphene sheets ∼10 nm thickness, ∼1 μm diameter), as reinforcement in polypropylene, PP. xGnP–PP nanocomposites were fabricated by melt mixing and injection molding. The feasibility of using xGnP–PP nanocomposites was investigated by evaluating the flexural strength, modulus and impact strength and studying the morphology of this system as a function of xGnP loading and aspect ratio and by comparing the xGnP–PP with composites made with commercial available reinforcements such as carbon fibers, carbon black and clays. It is concluded that the smaller aspect ratio xGnP has the strongest impact on the mechanical properties of PP, at loadings up to 5 vol.%, compared to the other reinforcements used, which reflects the compatibility between the exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets and the PP matrix and the exceptional mechanical properties of xGnP, similar to crystalline graphite.
Energy-efficient imprecise reconfigurable computing through probabilistic domain transformation

Many DSP applications naturally possess so-called “inherent error resilience”, meaning certain degrees of computational errors would not noticeably impair their eventual quality of results. Such a phenomenon offers an interesting opportunity to significantly improve the overall energy efficiency of these DSP applications at the cost of minute degradations in computing accuracy. This work presents a probabilistic-based methodology to perform high-performance DSP applications while achieving low power consumption. Deviating from all published approximate computing methods, our solution leverages a fundamental probability principle to implement a reconfigurable finite impulse response FIR digital filter specifically designed for FPGA-based image and video processors. Our method is trading off performance efficiency and power consumption against accuracy of the output results. To validate this proposed probabilistic architecture for discrete FIR filter, We have developed a 16-tap FIR filter with Virtex 5 FPGA devices (XC5VSX95T-1FF1136). Our prototype of probabilistic-based reconfigurable FIR filter consumes 9 times less power than multiplier-based FIR filter and dissipates 43.13 μJ in dynamic energy consumption to perform filtering on a (256×256) pixel image. We believe that this new architecture can be exploited in all the real-time applications in which energy-efficient FIR filters are required and it can be realized with many other FPGA device families.
Piecewise monotonic funcitons that commute

Let 0=a0 1,Let ⋀n be the continuous piecewise linear function with f(0)=0, f(1/n)=1, f(2/n)=0,…. Then τ is topologically conjugate to ⋀n.
Utility Copula Functions Matching All Boundary Assessments

The construction of a multiattribute utility function is an important step in decision analysis and can be a challenging task unless some decomposition of the utility function is performed. When every attribute is utility independent of its complement, the utility elicitation task is significantly simplified because the functional form of the utility function requires only one conditional utility function for each attribute, and some normalizing constants. When utility independence conditions do not hold, the conditional utility function of an attribute may vary across the domain of the complement attributes, and therefore a single conditional utility assessment for each attribute may not be sufficient to capture the decision maker's preferences. This paper proposes a method to construct utility functions that have the flexibility to match the variations in the conditional utility function, across the domain of the attributes, using univariate utility assessments at the boundary values. The approach incor...
Precipitate dissolution by high energy collision cascades

Abstract The evolution of the microstructure during irradiation is now widely recognized due to: (1) radiation altered kinetic phenomena; (2) collisional processes by energetic cascades. In this paper, we investigate the specific nature of the collisional interaction between energetic cascades and precipitates. A new Monte Carlo-based computer program, TRIPOS, has been developed for the TRansport of Ions in POlyatomic Solids. The computer code utilizes standard nuclear and electronic energy loss formulas, and compares well with experimental data on particle reflection, penetration and sputtering. One of the unique features of the code is its applicability to problems involving multispecie media in multilayers of 3-dimensional configurations. The interaction of neutron-initiated high energy collision cascades is demonstrated to result in the partial dissolution of precipitates. However, the maximum precipitate size that may be completely destroyed by a high energy collision cascade is only a small fraction of the cascade size. Matrix atom implantation inside precipitates as well as preferential sputtering of light atoms from the surface of precipitates into the matrix is demonstrated to lead to changes in precipitate stoichiometry.
Fluorescence photometric analysis of Photofrin uptake and the detection of precancerous and true epidermoid lesions

ABSTRACT Neoplastic tissue can be detected by its increased fluorescence compared to surroundingnormal tissue after the injection of the tumor-localizing compound Photofrin®. In vivofluorescence photometry is a non-imaging photodetector which detects the 690 nm fluorescenceof the porphyrin. The sensitivity of the instrumentation has allowed the detection ofmicrometastases in both pre-clinical and clinical studies using low, non-photosensitizing levels ofthe drug. The technique is now being applied to the 9,10 dimethyl-1,2-.benzanthracene (DMBA)-induced hamster buccal cheek pouch carcinoma model to obtain data on the correlation betweenPhotofrmn® uptake and tumor development. This model shows consistent time patterns of tumordevelopment as well precancerous leukoplakia lesions and has been well documented as ananimal model of oral epidermoid carcinogenesis. The buccal cheek pouches of Syrian Goldenhamsters were exposed to a 0.5% DMBA in acetone thrice weekly for specified time durations.Hamsters were subsequently injected with 1.0 mgfkg of Photofrmn® within the various stages oftumor development. Twenty-four hours post-injection, fluorescence due to drug uptake wasmeasured by in vivo fluorescence photometry. Mucosal tissues were subsequently biopsied andused for extraction assays. Results demonstrate that Photoflin® is retained in DMBA treatedtissue with a linear relationship between length of application and Photofrin® uptake andfluorescence. This relationship establishes that premalignant lesions can be distinguished fromnormal tissue by Photofrmn® uptake and fluorescence and suggest that Photofrmn® uptake andfluorescence can be used in a predictive manner to diagnose and determine the progression ofindividual lesions.1. INTRODUCTIONThe fluorescence of Photofrin® or its parent compound, hematoporphyrin derivative(HpD), together with the useful property of selective retention in malignant tissues compared tomost normal tissues1, forms the basis of fluorescence diagnosis of cancer. Photofrin® fluorescesupon excitation with specific wavelengths of light and its location in tissue can be determinedusing sensitive detection instrumentation. Consequently, neoplasia can be distinguished by itsincreased fluorescence compared to normal tissue following systemic injection of the tumor-localizing non-metalloporphyrin.Early interest in the porphyrins as tumor localizers for diagnostic indicators of malignant
Physical and physiological factors in diapause initiation of two hyperparasites of the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta

Abstract Hypopteromalus tabacum diapauses as a last larval instar and Catolaccus aeneoviridis as a non-pharate pupa within cocoons of the primary parasite, Apanteles congregatus . Four factors (photoperiod, temperature, maternal age, and physiological state of the host) were tested for their significance in diapause initiation of both species. A 10L : 14D photoperiod produced a higher incidence of diapausing individuals than a 13L : 11D photoperiod. In the temperature range from 18 to 24°C, the incidence of diapause was inversely related to temperature. The incidence of progeny entering diapause varied with the age of the mother, younger ones producing fewer diapausing offspring. An increase in the number of C. aeneoviridis entering diapause was observed when the host, A. congregatus , was in the diapausing, rather than the nondiapausing condition. Analysis of the data indicated that interactions between these four factors also played an important role in diapause initiation of both species.
Research and application of the Area Spare Power Automatic Switchover Technology in Smart Grid

Aimed at the applied limitations of traditional Spare Power Automatic Switchover inside of substation using in chain-mode grid model,an new technology of Area Spare Power Automation Switchover was researched. The basic theory and process was discussed while the key points also proposed. Through demonstrated the cooperation with traditional Spare Power Automation Switchover, auto-reclosing, security automation device and Small Power Source etc, and considered a series of atresia conditions to insure the security of grid, it is fully convinced that the application of the Area Spare Power Automatic Switchover Technology in Smart Grid is necessary and feasible. At the same time, the action time of the Area Spare Power Automatic Switchover's logic strategy were given both in the laboratory and substation different channel environments. While analyzing the potential risks of the Area Spare Power Automatic Switchover, the reasonable improvement measures in the current grid communication technology conditions were given.
Reassessing Privatization Strategies 25 Years Later: Revisiting Perry and Babitsky's Comparative Performance Study of Urban Bus Transit Services

Privatization appeals to citizen and politician desires for more cost-effective methods of service delivery. For this reason, it is important for public administrators to know when gains can be made by contracting out or privatizing services and when it is better to keep service provision in house. This article assesses the viability of contracting out and privatization of transit services. Following up on the 1986 work of James Perry and Timlynn Babitsky, which used data from the early 1980s, the authors revisit whether certain service delivery arrangements are more efficient and effective than others in the provision of transit services. Twenty-five years later, they find results similar to those of Perry and Babitsky's original study. Neither the type of government nor whether an agency contracts out has much impact on the efficiency and performance of urban bus services. The main difference between the two studies is that private transit agencies are no longer more efficient or effective than public providers.
Characterization of inducible type-C RNA viruses of mouse strains from different geographic areas.

Abstract The distribution of endogenous type-C RNA viruses was studied in inbred strains of mice and some subspecies of Mus musculus of different geographical origins. The following groups of inducible viruses were characterized by their host range and immunological properties: (1) viruses indistinguishable from one of the three prototype viruses endogenous to BALB/c mice; (2) viruses coding for proteins immunologically related to different prototype endogenous viruses; (3) viruses whose p12 structural proteins were immunologically indistinguishable from that of BALB:virus-2, but whose p30 major structural proteins and envelope glycoproteins differed immunologically from those of previously characterized endogenous viruses. These findings suggest that endogenous viruses have undergone numerous genetic interactions during the process of evolution leading to inducible viruses of present day mouse strains. A class of xenotropic virus spontaneously released by NZB mice is endogenous to but not inducible from embryo cells of other previously studied mouse strains. Viruses which could not be distinguished from the NZB xenotropic virus by host range analysis or radioimmunological techniques were chemically inducible from embryo cells of several mouse strains originating in Asia and Europe. These results indicate that the biological regulatory mechanisms that affect expression of this virus have evolved differently in such strains from control mechanisms that developed in standard inbred strains.
LONG-TERM CONTINENCE AND PATIENT SATISFACTION AFTER ARTIFICIAL SPHINCTER IMPLANTATION FOR URINARY INCONTINENCE AFTER PROSTATECTOMY

Purpose: We assess long-term continence and patient satisfaction after implantation of the AMS Sphincter 800 (American Medical Systems, Minnetonka, Minnesota) in men who were incontinent after total and subtotal prostatectomy.Materials and Methods: Patients who had an artificial urinary sphincter implanted for urinary incontinence after prostatectomy and a minimum of 20 months of followup were identified from a patient database. The medical records of these 209 patients were reviewed, and a questionnaire was mailed. Telephone contact was attempted with patients who did not respond to the questionnaire. Of the 209 patients 11 (5%) had undergone device removal, 34 (16%) were deceased and an additional 51 (24%) could not be contacted for followup. Our study group consisted of the 113 patients with artificial urinary sphincters who could be contacted for followup. Mean followup was 73 months (range 20 to 170).Results: There were 4 (4%) patients who were dry and continent and 68 (60%) were incontinent using 0 ...
Thirty Years of Personal Experience in Hyperglycemic Crises: Diabetic Ketoacidosis and Hyperglycemic Hyperosmolar State

Context: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and hyperglycemic hyperosmolar state (HHS) cause major morbidity and significant mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus. For more than 30 yr, our group, in a series of prospective, randomized clinical studies, has investigated the pathogenesis and evolving strategies of the treatment of hyperglycemic crises. This paper summarizes the results of these prospective studies on the management and pathophysiology of DKA. Setting: Our earliest studies evaluated the comparative efficacy of low-dose vs. pharmacological amounts of insulin and the use of low-dose therapy by various routes in adults and later in children. Subsequent studies evaluated phosphate and bicarbonate therapy, lipid metabolism, ketosis-prone type 2 patients, and use of rapid-acting insulin analogs as well as leptin status, cardiac risk factors, proinflammatory cytokines, and the mechanism of activation of T lymphocytes in hyperglycemic crises. Main Outcome: The information garnered from these studies...
Effect of N-terminal truncation and solution conditions on chemokine dimer stability: nuclear magnetic resonance structural analysis of macrophage inflammatory protein 1 beta mutants.

Chemokines (chemotactic cytokines) are a family of immune system proteins, several of which have been shown to block human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in various cell types. While the solved structures of most chemokines reveal protein dimers, evidence has accumulated for the biological activity of individual chemokine monomers, and a debate has arisen regarding the biological role of the chemokine dimer. Concurrent with this debate, several N-terminal truncations and modifications in the CC subfamily of chemokines have been shown to have functional significance, in many cases antagonizing their respective receptors and in some cases retaining the ability to block HIV entry to the cell. As the dimer interface of CC chemokines is located at their N-terminus, a structural study of N-terminally truncated chemokines will address the effect that this type of mutation has on the dimer−monomer equilibrium. We have studied the structural consequences of N-terminal truncation in macrophage inflammatory ...
Information Becomes Evidence when an Explanation Can Incorporate It into a Causal Framework.

Abstract Recognizing information as evidence is central to the development of scientific reasoning. When does information about an event come to be treated as evidence relevant to explaining the event? We asked whether this was increasingly likely to happen when an explanation becomes available that can incorporate both the event and the information into a single causal framework. In three studies, we presented participants with events for which there were two possible and plausible explanations (a baseline and one of two alternative explanations), as well as with two pieces of background information. While all explanations could account for the event, only one alternative explanation (the “target” explanation) could incorporate both the event and the background information into a single causal framework. The results indicated that information is more likely to be seen as evidentially relevant to an event when there is an explanation available that can accommodate both the event and the information into a single casual framework than when such an explanation is lacking. Furthermore, the presence of this information renders the target alternative increasingly plausible. That is, it is the interdependence of explanation or theory and evidence that allows us to realize that some information is likely to be evidential. However, for this to happen, the relation between explanation and information must be made salient, either by explicitly asking about it (as we did in Study 1) or by fleshing out the target explanation (as we did in Study 3).
Pelvic free fluid: clinical importance for reproductive age women with blunt abdominal trauma.

Objective To evaluate the importance of isolated pelvic free fluid (FF) detected by ultrasound examination in pregnant patients and in non-pregnant reproductive age women with blunt abdominal trauma (BAT). Methods Reproductive age women aged 10–50 years who presented with BAT and underwent focused abdominal sonography for trauma (FAST) from January 1995 to June 2002 at a Level 1 trauma center were included. Patients were assigned to four groups according to the location of FF detected by ultrasound (Group 1, no FF; Group 2, FF in pelvis; Group 3, FF in abdomen; Group 4, FF in abdomen and pelvis). Ultrasound findings were compared with intra-abdominal and pelvic injuries detected by computed tomography and/or laparotomy. Pair-wise comparison was performed using a Fisher's exact test. Results Ultrasound detection of FF in the abdomen alone or FF in the abdomen and pelvis was significantly associated with intra-abdominal injury (IAI) compared to those without FF (P < 0.001) for both pregnant and non-pregnant reproductive age women. FF isolated to the pelvis was also associated with a higher injury rate compared to no FF in pregnant women (30% vs. 3%, P = 0.005) and in non-pregnant reproductive age women (39.5% vs. 3.7%, P < 0.001). Conclusions In reproductive age women with BAT, ultrasound detection of FF in the abdomen alone, in both the abdomen and pelvis, or isolated to the pelvis is associated with a higher IAI rate. Therefore, isolated FF in the pelvis should not necessarily be considered physiological in pregnant and non-pregnant patients with BAT. Copyright © 2005 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Lung in Sickle Cell Disease

Patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) often present with acute pulmonary complications, which may have a protracted course. Morphologic observations of SCD patients at autopsy suggested a role of tissue necrosis in the failure of pulmonary infiltrates to resolve with therapy. Infarction of pulmonary parenchyma was seen in regions where alveolar gas exchange was compromised by edema or exudates. We reviewed the clinical and pathologic features of 72 patients with sickle cell disease (59 SS, 12 SC, and 1 S-Thal) autopsied at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and compared 72 age-sexrace matched controls. Alveolar wall necrosis attributed to vascular obstruction by sickling occurred in areas where the airspace was occupied by edema or inflammatory exudate. Twelve (17 percent) SCD patients had alveolar wall necrosis, three (27 percent) among the 11 patients with bronchopneumonia and nine (17 percent) among the 54 patients with edema. Only four (6 percent) control patients had alveolar wall necrosis, all (20 percent) among the 21 patients with bronchopneumonia. Thus, alveolar wall necrosis was significantly more frequent among SCD patients (P
An Ethical Agenda for the Post-Durban Climate Change Negotiations

This month, the 194 parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will meet in Doha, Qatar for their annual summit. For the third time in their over 20 year history,...
Financial engineering, consumer credit, and the stability of effective demand

This paper examines the macroeconomic implications of recent developments in financial engineering, with particular emphasis on the post-1987 growth of markets for securities backed by credit card, installment, student loan, and home equity receivables. Three linkages of financial engineering to effective demand are identified: (1) funding effects, (2) liquidity preference or speculative effects, and (3) balance sheet or Minsky effects. Data from the Survey of Consumer Finances are used to investigate the importance of asset-backed security-related funding and balance sheet (Minsky) effects in the United States. Evidence is shown that financial engineering has boosted borrowing power at all income levels. The liberal use of expanded borrowing opportunities has fueled the growth of consumption---especially since 1995. However, a secularly rising share of U.S. households have entered the categories of "speculative" or "Ponzi" finance units---a factor that raises doubts about the sustainability of the curren...
Gap Tauberian theorems

In the first section we establish a connection between gap Tauberian conditions and isomorphic copies of Co for perfect coregular conservative BK spaces and in the second we give a characterisation of gap Tauberian conditions for strong summability with respect to a nonnnegative regular summability matrix. These results are used to show that a gap Tauberian condition for strong weighted mean summability is also a gap Tauberian condition for ordinary weighted mean summability. We also make a remark regarding the support set of a matrix and give a Tauberian theorem for a class of conull spaces.
AN INVERSE METHOD TO COMPUTE EQUIVALENT FORCES ON A STRUCTURE BASED ON SOUND POWER MEASUREMENTS

When modelling the dynamic response of an existing structure to predict the effects of design modifications, many types of forces are difficult to characterize, e.g., those due to unsteady flows or acoustic excitation. To model the forcing function in such cases, a method is presented which solves for an equivalent forcing function based on sound power measurements. The method assumes that the equivalent forcing function may be represented with a superposition of force distributions on a mode-by-mode basis, i.e., there is one force distribution per eigenvalue with the shape of the eigenvector. The method is applied to cases where the structure is lightly damped and has low modal density. Experimental results show that the method accurately predicts the effect of design changes on the structure's radiated sound power. The accuracy of the method is sensitive to small differences between the experimental and theoretical natural frequencies and thus it is important to match the damped natural frequencies of the physical structure as accurately as possible.
Simplified behaviors from increased heterogeneity: II. 3-D uranium transport at the decimeter scale and intertank comparisons

Upscaling from bench scale systems to field scale systems incorporates physical and chemical heterogeneities from atomistic up to field scales. Heterogeneities of intermediate scale (~10(-1) m) are impossible to incorporate in a bench scale experiment. To transcend these scale discrepancies, this second in a pair of papers presents results from an intermediate scale, 3-D tank experiment completed using five different particle sizes of uranium contaminated sediment from a former uranium mill field site. The external dimensions of the tank were 2.44 m×0.61 m×0.61 m (L×H×W). The five particle sizes were packed in a heterogeneous manner using roughly 11 cm cubes. Small groundwater wells were installed for spatial characterization of chemical gradients and flow parameters. An approximately six month long bromide tracer test was used for flow field characterization. Within the flow domain, local uranium breakthrough curves exhibited a wide range of behaviors. However, the global effluent breakthrough curve was smooth, and not unlike breakthrough curves observed in column scale experiments. This paper concludes with an inter-tank comparison of all three experimental systems presented in this pair of papers. Although there is a wide range of chemical and physical variability between the three tanks, major chemical constituent behaviors are often quite similar or even identical.
An Engineering Economic Model of Corn Cleaning

An engineering economic model showed that corn cleaning can produce net benefits of $.01 to $.03 cents per bushel, provided that corn with an initial broken corn foreign material (BCFM) content of 3% or greater is stored for at least three months. The model, which included five operational costs and nine potential benefits, gave results in close agreement with USDA survey data. Capture of benefits requires considerable operator skill, and elevators with larger volumes relative to cleaner cost can benefit more readily. Net benefits are independent of changes in corn grade standards or trade discount factors. Although the exact cost-benefit calculations are individually case-sensitive, the separation of BCFM into two factors will not greatly increase the incentives to clean for any reasonable set of cost inputs.
Possibilistic group support system for pricing and inventory problems

Proposes a possibilistic group support system (PGSS) for the retailer pricing and inventory problem when possibilistic fluctuations of product parameters are controlled by a set of possibilistic optimality conditions. Experts in various functional areas convey their subjective judgement to the PGSS in the form of analytical models (for product parameters estimation), fuzzy concepts (facts), and possibilistic propositions (for validation and choice procedures). Basic probability assignments are used to elicit experts’ opinions. They are then transformed into compatibility functions for fuzzy concepts using the falling shadow technique. Evidence is processed in the form of fuzzy concepts, then is rewritten back to basic probability assignments using the principle of least ignorance on randomness. The PGSS allows the user (inventory control) to examine a trade‐off between the belief value of a greater profit and a lower amount of randomness associated with it.
The Manager’s Paradox: Differential Treatment without Favoritism

Managers and supervisors at all levels of organizations face an ongoing interpersonal paradox. Due to individual differences and role identities, managers must adapt communication and motivation techniques according to differential employee needs and goals. But as soon as managers start to communicate and interact with employees in different ways, they run the risk that their actions will be perceived as inconsistent or unfair. This complex set of interdependent challenges, where managers have seemingly contradictory expectations regarding employee communication, treatment, and perceptions, can be referred to as the manager’s paradox. This paper will outline the contextual factors that foster the manager’s paradox, discuss a specific set of challenges related to the manager’s paradox, and provide key strategies for navigating and balancing the manager’s paradox. The goals are to shed new light on the challenges of managing people, outline suggestions for improving management effectiveness, and provide ideas for reducing the stress associated with managing people.
Viruses and gynecologic cancers: Herpesvirus protein (ICP 10/AG‐4), a cervical tumor antigen that fulfills the criteria for a marker of carcinogenicity

The studies associating infections by herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) with carcinoma of the human uterine cervix are reviewed within the context of three possible interpretations. Extensive seroepidemiologic evidence indicates that the virus does not grow preferentially in neoplastic tissue, nor is the association of HSV-2 with cervical carcinoma a reflection of their independent relationship to promiscuity. While a number of infectious agents, including other viruses, are associated with cervical atypia, only HSV-2 is a significant risk factor for CIS. In vitro transformation data supporting the oncogenic potential of the virus are summarized, and evidence is presented that an antigen designated ICP 10/AG-4 is a valid candidate for the role of a virus-encoded protein involved in the maintenance of a transformed phenotype. Antibody to AG-4 is IgM, and it is detected by microquantitative complement fixation. With this assay, it is demonstrated that conversion to anti-AG-4 occurs during primary infection with HSV-2; however, it is transient. In testing 1325 patients, a correlation was observed between antibody to AG-4 and cervical carcinoma. Thus, whereas only 11.7% of controls and 7.7% of patients with cancer at other sites are AG-4 seropositive, as many as 49.6% of patients with dysplasia, 63% of those with CIS, and 72.7% of those with invasive cancer are positive for the antibody. Antibody to AG-4 is related to tumor growth. This is evidenced by 1) retrospective analyses demonstrating that the proportion of AG-4 seropositive individuals is directly correlated to the stage of the disease and 2) prospective study of 209 patients demonstrating loss of antibody in patients with a successfully removed tumor mass and reappearance of AG-4 antibody in cancer recurrence. The possible use of AG-4 (or its antibody) in the diagnosis and monitoring of cervical carcinoma and its treatment is discussed.
Heat conduction in solids: Temperature-dependent thermal conductivity

Abstract A variational formulation is derived and applied to problems in heat conduction through solids. This formulation has, as its Euler-Lagrange equation, the general heat equation where the thermal conductivity, density, and specific heat may be temperature-dependent. The variational principle can be applied for steady-state or time-dependent solutions and is valid for boundary conditions where the temperature is specified, being either fixed or time-dependent, or where the heat flux is zero. The macroscopic temperature distribution for two problems is determined using this technique. The first of these is a finite rectangular plate, the initial temperature of the plate being constant and the temperature of the edges being set equal to zero for time greater than zero. In the second example the variational formulation is used to obtain a steady-state temperature distribution for a finite rectangular plate with sides held at fixed but different temperatures. In both of these applications, the thermal conductivity is assumed to vary linearly with temperature and the density and specific heat are assumed to have uniform values. Comparison of the results obtained using the variational formulation with those obtained by finite difference techniques shows an excellent correlation over a range of the temperature-conductivity coefficient.
Paternal alcohol exposure: paradoxical effect in mice and rats

Male mice consumed liquid alcohol diets containing 25%, 10% or 0% ethanol-derived calories (EDC). Animals receiving the 10 and 0% EDC diets were pair fed to those consuming the 25% EDC diet. After 7 or 14 weeks of consumption, males were bred to non-treated females. Offspring were tested for swimming behavior at 75 days of age. Offspring sired by alcohol-consuming males were more immobile regardless of duration of paternal alcohol consumption or housing conditions (group or isolated). Imipramine (5, 15 mg/kg) reversed this effect such that after drug treatment, alcohol-sired offspring were less immobile than controls. Propranolol (1, 3 mg/kg) eliminated the group differences. Yohimbine (1, 10 mg/kg) significantly increased immobility in all groups but did not reverse the effects of paternal alcohol consumption. Metergoline (1 mg/kg) increased immobility in all groups but did not reverse the effects of paternal alcohol exposure. When rat offspring of alcohol-consuming fathers were tested, their swimming behavior was opposite to that of mice (i.e., rats were less immobile). However, as observed in mice, the effect was reversed by imipramine. These results extend the evidence for paternally mediated behavioral mutagenesis. They also indicate that the direction of induced changes are species dependent and that some of these effects, regardless of direction of change, are mediated by neurochemical changes sensitive to imipramine.
Molecular Basis for the Origin of Differential Spectral and Binding Profiles of Dansylamide with Human Carbonic Anhydrase I and II

Sulfonamide derivatives serve as potent inhibitors of carbonic anhydrases (CAs), and a few such inhibitors have been currently used as drugs for the treatment of different pathogenic conditions in humans. In pursuit of designing the isozyme-specific inhibitors of human CAs, we observed that the fluorescence spectral properties and binding profiles of a fluorogenic sulfonamide derivative, 5-(dimethylamino)-1-naphthalenesulfonamide (dansylamide, DNSA), were markedly different between the recombinant forms of human carbonic anhydrase I (hCA I) and II (hCA II). The kinetic evaluation of the overall microscopic pathways for the binding of DNSA to hCA I versus hCA II revealed that the protein isomerization step served as a major determinant of the above discrepancy. Arguments are presented that the detailed structural−functional investigations of enzyme−ligand interactions may provide insights into designing the isozyme-specific inhibitors of CAs.
Sieve plate pores of nicotiana

Nicotiana tabacum L. (var. Wisconsin 38) plants were fixed for light and electron microscopy using solutions of glutaraldehyde, acrolein, and formaldehydeglutaraldehyde. The plants were (a) cut before fixation at room temperature or (b) fixed as whole plants at room temperature, or (c) rapidly frozen and transferred to cold fixative. Good fixation was obtained by direct chemical fixation of either cut or whole plants. After rapid freezing, fixation was inferior but still satisfactory. Glutaraldehyde and formaldehyde—glutaraldehyde-fixed material showed sieve plate pores that were filled with P-protein. Acrolein-fixed material showed mainly sieve plate pores filled with P-protein, but some pores were observed containing loosely arranged P-protein. In contrast, after rapid freezing-cold chemical fixation, numerous “open” pores and pores with loosely arranged P-protein were seen. It is suggested that these results support the mass flow hypothesis of translocation. After rapid freezing-cold fixation much less callose was observed around the sieve plate pores than after room temperature fixation with the same fixative. Enzymatic reactions and callose deposition must take place during fixation procedures at room temperature.
The growing trend of government involvement in IT security

In today's society, information security has come to the forefront of discussion, especially as terrorism, illegal corporate activities, and cyber crime incidents are increasing. The government is now taking on a larger role in determining standards and regulations for information security within IT, and it is having definite impacts and effects throughout a variety of industries. From the Gramm-Leach Bliley Act, to Sarbanes-Oxley, to HIPAA, the government continues to pass legislation that promotes some control over securing information. Initiatives continue at present to further this influence into more security areas as well. Impacts to corporations involve updating architecture, policy, and integrating systems. Effects to organizations are both positive and negative, but the question must be raised as to what the true implications of government involvement entail, and whether it is a positive or negative trend.
Mixed monolayer-protected gold nanoclusters as selective peptide extraction agents for MALDI-MS analysis.

Cationic and anionic nanoparticles selectively target peptides with low and high isoelectric points, respectively. Additionally, their high surface area-to-volume ratios make these nanoparticles (∼2-nm core diameter) very efficient extraction and concentration agents. Upon extraction, the peptide-bound nanoparticles can be analyzed by MALDI-MS to provide highly sensitive detection of the targeted peptides. We demonstrate that MALDI-MS can detect peptide concentrations as low as 500 pM from 250-μL solutions using these nanoparticle scaffolds as extraction and concentration agents.
Melting in Two-Dimensional Lennard-Jones Systems: Observation of a Metastable Hexatic Phase.

Large scale molecular dynamics simulations of two-dimensional melting have been carried out using a recently revised Parrinello-Rahman scheme on massively parallel supercomputers. A metastable state is observed between the solid and liquid phases in Lennard-Jones systems of 36 864 and 102 400 atoms. This intermediate state shows the characteristics of the hexatic phase predicted by the theory of Kosterlitz, Thouless, Halperin, Nelson, and Young.