cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mutagenesis in the lacI gene target of E. coli: Improved analysis for lacId and lacO mutants

The lacI gene of Escherichia coli has been a highly useful target for studies of mutagenesis, particularly for analysis of the specificity (spectrum) of mutations generated under a variety of conditions and in various genetic backgrounds. The gene encodes the repressor of the lac operon, and lacI-defective mutants displaying constitutive expression of the operon are readily selected. DNA sequencing of the lacI mutants has often been confined to the N-terminal region of the protein, as it presents a conveniently short target with a high density of detectably mutable sites. Mutants in this region are easily selected due to their dominance in a genetic complementation test (lacI(d) mutants). A potential complication in these studies is that constitutive expression of lac may also arise due to mutations in the lac operator (lacO mutants). Under some conditions, for example when analyzing spontaneous mutations, lacO mutants can comprise a very high fraction of the constitutive mutants due to a strong base-substitution hotspot in the lac operator. Such mutational hot spots diminish the return of the sequencing effort and do not yield significant new information. For this reason, a procedure to eliminate the lacO mutants prior to DNA sequencing is desirable. Here, we report a simple method that allows screening out of lacO mutants. This method is based on the lack of resistance of lacO mutants to kanamycin under conditions when the kan gene is expressed from a plasmid under control of the lac promoter-operator (lacPO). We show data validating the new approach with sets of known lacI(d) and lacO mutants, and further apply it to the generation of a new collection of spontaneous mutations, where lacO mutants have historically been a significant contributor.
Pitch Stability Analysis of an Airfoil in Ground Effect

The effects of placing a slot through a two-dimensional Wortmann FX 63-137 airfoil in ground effect were examined using computational fluid dynamics. The geometric shape of the slot was varied in three different ways: the width of the slot (w/c = 0.02, 0.04, and 0.06), the angle of the slot with respect to the airfoil's chord line (d = 20, 30, and 40), and the position ofthe slot along the chord line, (x/c = 0.15,0.20, and 0.25). In addition, the airfoil was tested at five different angles of attack: ―3, 0, 5, 10, and 15 deg. The commercially available software Gambit 2.3.16 was used to create the computational grids. FLUENT 6.2.16 with the renormalized group k-e turbulence model was then used to simulate the flow. Pitch stability of the slotted airfoil was examined and results indicated that increasing the angle of attack of the slotted airfoil while in ground effect had a reduced increase in lift when compared with the lift generated by the baseline Wortmann FX 63-137 airfoil. Results also showed that the slot could be used to reduce center-of-pressure movement along the chord of the airfoil for the range of angles of attack investigated, thus improving the overall pitch stability of the airfoil. The slot geometry that produced a minimal center-of-pressure fluctuation was located at 20% of the chord length from the leading edge with a width of 2% and an angle of 20 deg between the slot and a line normal to the chord line.
Pulseless and Alive Absence of All Aortic Arch Branches in a Healthy Toddler

A cerebral ultrasound study on a neonate revealed abnormal blood flow in all intracranial arteries (Figure 1). The boy was scanned at 5 days of age as part of a Doppler ultrasound research program conducted at our department. Almost all neonates delivered at our hospital undergo imaging of the blood flow in the basilar artery. Perfusion is visualized when the head is turned to the left and right in both the prone and supine position. The aim is to investigate positional hypoperfusion of the brain stem, which is considered a risk factor for sudden infant death.1 Figure 1. Initial findings during cerebral Doppler sonography: pathological Doppler flow in the anterior cerebral artery (ACA) with an almost veinlike flow pattern. The neonate was the second child of a 30-year old white woman. Pregnancy and birth were uneventful. He did not display any signs or symptoms consistent with a congenital abnormality or syndrome. Doppler ultrasound revealed an abnormal cerebral perfusion pattern with low flow velocities and a flattened, veinlike flow profile in all major intracranial arteries (anterior cerebral artery, both internal carotid arteries, basilar and both vertebral arteries) (Figure 1), whereas all abdominal arteries (celiac trunk …
Etch depth dependence of differential quantum efficiency in single mode photonic crystal vertical cavity surface emitting lasers

The etch depth dependence of differential quantum efficiency in single mode photonic crystal vertical cavity surface emitting lasers is investigated. Optical loss and thermal effects are shown to influence the etch depth dependence.
Cigarette smoking, exercise and high density lipoprotein cholesterol

Cigarette smoking is associated with depressed levels of HDL-C, whereas exercise is associated with elevated levels of HDL-C. The purpose was to determine effects of smoking and exercise on blood lipids and lipoproteins in middle-aged males. It was hypothesized that smoking may attenuate the effects of exercise to elevate HDL-C. A total of 269 males (70 smokers) met all criteria for inclusion in the study population. Age, height, weight, body fatness via hydrostatic weighing, daily caloric consumption and alcohol intake, and smoking habits and history were determined. Interviews concerning physical activity patterns were conducted and cardiovascular responses to treadmill exercise were determined. Subjects were grouped as sedentary (low activity), participants in vigorous recreational activities (moderate activity) and joggers/runners (high activity). Analysis of covariance with adjustments for factors which may affect blood lipids and lipoproteins was employed. Smokers demonstrated lower HDL-C and higher total cholesterol levels than nonsmokers. High activity subjects demonstrated significantly higher HDL-C levels than the low and moderate groups which did not differ. High activity smokers did not differ from low activity nonsmokers with respect to HDL-C. This supports the proposed hypothesis. Nonsmokers were higher in weight and body fatness than smokers even though smokers consumed 288 more calories per day on the average. This suggests that smoking may account for a significant number of calories through altered metabolism or some other means.
Genetic Engineering of the Caseins to Modify the Behavior of Milk During Processing: A Review

Abstract This paper is an attempt to rationalize a basis for genetic engineering of the milk system to alter its functional characteristics. Appropriate changes in ratios of milk proteins or the introduction of novel proteins into bovine milk can lead to improvement in existing products and development of new products. A survey of the literature indicates that, in general, the addition of 20 to 30% of a normal or modified casein based on the normal complement of a particular casein is sufficient to alter the physical behavior of milk. For example, heat stability of milk may be enhanced by addition of κ -casein to the normal complement of κ -casein in milk. β -Casein added to milk can increase the curd firmness of curd from enzymically coagulated milk. Dephosphorylated β -casein added to artificial micelles can increase clotting time and decrease syneresis of the curd when compared with those of controls with no additions. By controlling gene dosage and the regulatory regions of the casein genes in the mammary gland, it should be possible to obtain the 20 to 30% of additional or novel caseins to modify the functionality of the milk protein system. This paper contains a discussion of strategies possible for the genetic engineering of milk to control its functional properties.
Reaction Route Graphs. II. Examples of Enzyme- and Surface-Catalyzed Single Overall Reactions

The utility of the new reaction route (RR) graph theory developed in the preceding paper (Part I) is illustrated here, with the help of two examples. In the first example, the kinetics of the conversion of 7,8-dihydrofolate and NADPH to 5,6,7,8-tetrahydrofolate and NADP, as catalyzed by dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), is considered. This system is described by a linear kinetic mechanism that includes 13 elementary reaction steps. The second example is a microkinetic model of the water-gas shift reaction on a copper catalyst, which is highly nonlinear and includes 15 elementary surface reaction steps. For both mechanisms, the RR graphs have been constructed and used to determine the overall rates. The RR graphs and the overall rate equations are further simplified and reduced, using the RR network approach.
Differences in responses of chinook salmon to climate shifts: implications for conservation

Understanding how organisms respond to climate is critical for focusing the debate about ways to recover imperiled or manage exploited species. However, efforts to understand climate effects on biota are complicated by differences among species in life history and physiology. Even within a species it is not clear if different populations will react similarly to large-scale climate trends. Climate regimes exhibit basin-wide effects similar to the El Ni no Southern Oscillation but persist for decades. In the North Pacific Ocean, two regime shifts (abrupt changes from one regime to another) occurred in 1976–1977 and 1989–1990 and had wide ranging effects on many species. We examined the response of chinook salmon from 9 evolutionary significant units (ESUs) to the regime shifts. While there was an average decline in spawner numbers associated with the regime shifts, ESUs did not respond in a uniform manner: some ESUs declined, some did not respond and one may have increased. Four ESUs currently listed under the Endangered Species Act may have declined more across regime boundaries than did the five non-listed ones. Interpretation of this result depends on two ESUs: the Snake River spring/summer run and the Central Valley fall run. The Snake River ESU had the largest decline and most sampling effort. If this ESU was excluded from the analysis, there was no evidence that listed and non-listed stocks responded differently to the regimes. The Central Valley ESU is currently a candidate for listing. If this ESU is considered to be a threatened or endangered, then listed ESUs declined more on average than did non-listed ESUs across the regime boundaries regardless of the Snake River ESU. As a whole, these results suggest that long-term climate trends are important to the dynamics of chinook populations and that sub-units of a species (here ESUs) can respond differently to these regimes.
THE ACTION OF PITUITRIN, PITRESSIN AND PITOCIN ON THE BLOOD PHOSPHATIDES

The posterior pituitary hormone, pituitrin, exerts some characteristic effects on fat-metabolism and seems to be an important factor in the consumption and distribution of body fat. These facts were demonstrated experimentally for the first time in 1925 by Coope and Chamberlain (6), who found a considerable accumulation of fatty acids within the liver under the influence of pituitrin and by Raab's (14) studies on the changes of blood fat and blood acetone bodies through various hormone preparations. Pituitrin was the only one that produced a marked and comparatively long lasting action on the blood fat level—a regular decrease during several hours. For obtaining this effect in fasting dogs large doses of pituitrin are needed if injected subcutaneously, while the same effect can be produced by very small doses (0.18 cc.) if injected into the third ventricle of the brain. The pituitrin effect is abolished by destruction of the tuber cinereum at the base of the mesencephalon, by paralyzing the mesencephalic ...
Rethinking Classroom Diversity: Three Student Cultures in a Mainline Seminary

. Discussions on teaching and learning within theological seminaries often center on the question of student diversity, focused primarily upon issues of race, gender, and ethnicity. At the same time that seminaries are challenged to deal with a multitude of pedagogical suppositions emerging from increasingly diverse learning goals, seminaries must also pay attention to the ways their students challenge an institution's core mission to train ministers for service in churches and denominations. Based upon the author's experience teaching in a mainline Protestant seminary, the essay discusses three student cultures that often overlap among today's seminarians. These three student cultures, referred to here as “church seminarian,”“new paradigm seminarian,” and “vocational seminarian,” carry very different understandings of the seminary's role to prepare students for ministry. A critical discernment of these cultures might challenge seminary faculty to reevaluate their educational and missional suppositions amidst divergent student career objectives.
TASK CLARIFICATION, PERFORMANCE FEEDBACK, AND SOCIAL PRAISE: PROCEDURES FOR IMPROVING THE CUSTOMER SERVICE OF BANK TELLERS

Customer service for bank tellers was defined in terms of 11 verbal behavior categories. An audio-recording system was used to track the occurrence of behaviors in these categories for six retail banking tellers. Three behavior management interventions (task clarification, performance feedback, and social praise), applied in sequence, were designed to improve overall teller performance with regard to the behavioral categories targeted. Clarification was accomplished by providing clear delineation of the various target categories, with specific examples of the behaviors in each. Feedback entailed presentation of ongoing verbal and visual information regarding teller performance. Praise consisted of verbal recognition of teller performance by branch managers. Results showed that clarification effects emerged quickly, producing an overall increase in desired behaviors of 12% over baseline. Feedback and praise effects occurred more gradually, resulting in overall increases of 6% and 7%, respectively. A suspension of all procedures led to a decline in overall performance, whereas reinstatement of feedback and praise was again accompanied by performance improvement. These findings extend the generality of behavior management applications and help to distinguish between possible antecedent and consequent effects of performance feedback.
Preparing computer science students for a sustainable future (abstract only)

Computer science students graduating in the next decade will face the big energy and environmental challenges of the 21st century. According to current trends, an increasing number of them will be employed in "green jobs" and will contribute to promoting biodiversity, minimizing the consumption of energy and materials, or restoring environmental quality. It is our job to prepare them for the task ahead. While the vast majority of textbooks and materials used in different areas of CS are oblivious to these problems, many resources can be found at the boundaries with other disciplines (e.g., environmental science, architecture, agriculture, etc.). Moreover, new computer applications are created every day for the analysis of current environmental problems and the evaluation of their possible solutions, but these applications are normally not mentioned in CS classes. This is a lost opportunity for engaging our students in the real world challenges we are facing today. Environmental problems can be addressed in the CS classroom in a way that does not impede the learning of the technical content, but rather increases students' ability to think critically about complex systems. This BoF intends to brainstorm innovative resources, examples, activities, and assignments that can be incorporated into the CS classes, in order to raise students' awareness to current ecological problems and, at the same time, illustrate the role computer scientists can play in solving them. For this BoF session, a laptop is optional.
Contributions to the infrared effective charges of oxides and chalcogenides from equilibrium charge and dynamic charge redistribution during normal mode motions

Abstract Empirical force constant models for infrared (IR) and Raman scattering have emphasized differences between non-crystalline oxides and chalcogenides, attributing them to different bond angles at the two-fold coordinated O- and S(Se)-atoms in spite of the fact that both classes of materials form continuous random networks (CRNs) with equivalent 8 N rule bonding coordination. This article applies ab initio electronic structure calculations to determine (i) equilibrium bonding geometries, and (ii) infrared effective charges for normal mode motions of O- and S-atoms in SiO 2 , and GeS 2 and As 2 S 3 , respectively. Differences in equilibrium bond angles and normal mode effective charges are shown to result from quantitative differences in SiO, and GeS and GeSe bond ionicities that optimize the SiO 2 , and GeS 2 and As 2 S 3 total energies at markedly different bond angles.
Pyrolysis Systematics for Co-Utilization Applications

A semi-empirical model (SEM) of slow pyrolysis (SP) of carbonaceous material along nature’s coalification path has been under development to facilitate blending of various feedstocks in fuel conversion systems (pyrolyzers, combustors, gasifiers, liquefiers and carbonizers). The model was adjusted to coal data in the literature and our own drop tube pyrolysis measurements with various types of biomass. The latest version of the model is here adapted to represent the flash pyrolysis (FP) yields of 15 products (Ca Hb Oc ) for 17 coal types measured by Xu and Tomita (XT) at 1037°K and at 5 additional temperatures for 8 of the coals. A good analytical representation of yields vs. C, H and O wt%s and temperature is found that makes the Xu-Tomita FP measurements conveniently available for many fuel conversion applications. Our larger objective is to help bring order into the fundamentals underlying humankind’s oldest technologies, the extraction of energy out of wood and coal.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
Extreme heterogeneity of minor satellite repeat arrays in inbred strains of mice

The centromeric regions of mammalian chromosomes contain tandemly repeated satellite sequences that are late replicating and display characteristics of constitutive heterochromatin. Satellite sequences in Mus musculus are relatively AT rich and are methylated at their CpG dinucleotides, indicative of the lack or low level of transcriptional activity. Two classes of centromeric repetitive sequences have been characterized in mouse, the major (gamma) and minor satellite sequences (Hastie 1989). The mouse minor satellite may constitute up to 0.5% of its genome, and the haploid copy number has been estimated to be at least 50,000 (Pietras et al. 1983). Minor satellite sequences are found at the primary constriction on the autosomes and the X Chromosome (Chr), but are absent from the Y Chr. These sequences are thought to be organized in largely uninterrupted blocks of tandem repeats (Kipling et al. 1991). Cytologically, minor satellite sequences appear to be localized at the kinetochore (Wong and Rattner 1988). A surprising aspect of centromeric satellite repeats is that they are not conserved across species. Closely related species of Mus differ in the amount and type of satellite sequence present in their centromeric heterochromatin. Mus spretus has relatively little major satellite sequence but contains minor satellite, whereas Mus caroli has proportionately more major satellite but lacks the minor satellite sequences, and Mus musculus has appreciable amounts of both classes of satellite sequences (Wong et al. 1990). Within the species Mus musculus, short-range restriction fragment length polymorphisms of minor satellite have been demonstrated among several strains of inbred mice (Siracusa 1985). In addition, Kipling and associates (1994) have observed long-range polymorphisms in minor satellite between two widely used inbred lines, C57BL/6 and DBA/2. We have extended these studies by examining the long-range organization of the regions containing minor satellite sequences in 18 inbred strains of mice. Southern analysis of genomic DNA fragments resolved by pulsed field gels using oligonucleotide probes for the minor satellite sequence reveals large-scale DNA polymorphisms between all the strains examined. In Fig. 1, HaelII digests of genomic DNA from one wildderived and 17 inbred mouse strains are probed with an oligonucleotide complementary to minor satellite, #49-GTAACTCACTCATCTAATATG, derived from position 49 through 29 antiparallel to the consensus sequence for minor satellite (Wong and Rattner 1988). When the blot in Fig. 1 is reprobed with another minor satellite-derived oligonucleotide, #60-ACATTCGTTGGAAACGGGA, from positions 60 through 78 of the consensus sequence, which contains the putative binding site for the centromeric antigen CENP-B, the same hybridization pattern is seen. These oligonucleotide probes do not hybridize to rat (Rattus norvegicus) genomic DNA under the conditions used (results not shown), indicating that the two oligonucleotides are binding spe-
Uses and Gratifications of Media Violence: Personality Correlates of Viewing and Liking Violent Genres

This study examined the relation between personality factors, as measured by the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised and individuals' viewing and enjoyment of various television and film genres. Five hundred fifty adults between the ages of 18 and 78 were surveyed. Utilizing a uses and gratifications model, the factors underlying media use (gratifications sought-GS) and media liking (gratifications obtained-GO), particularly of violent fare, were investigated. Overall, it was found that viewing (GS) and liking (GO) were not strongly related. In terms of personality factors, there was some supporting evidence that personality factors are associated with liking and, to a lesser extent, watching certain content. Several of the Neuroticism facets were positively related to watching violent media, watching real crime, and watching cop dramas; however, there were no significant relations between Neuroticism and liking violent content. For Extraversion, there was a negative relation with overall television viewing...
Growth and Changes in the Structure of the US Agricultural Economy, 1972–82: an Input–Output Perspective

This paper analyses the growth and structural change of the agricultural sectors in the US economy. Growth and structural changes are examined from the perspective of how increases of output of agricultural sectors can be apportioned between: (1) the effect of growth and structural changes in domestic final demand and exports; (2) changes in the domestic supply ratios of sector output; and (3) interdependencies between industries. The paper also examines what are the most important interdependencies between industries and how much they have changed. The analysis of structural changes relates to the growth of the economy in quite different circumstances of the 1970s and the 1980s.
Current research directions for locally advanced cervix cancer

Chemoradiotherapy with either weekly doses of cisplatin or the combination of 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin has become the standard of therapy for patients with locally advanced cervix cancer. Recently reported studies that are directed at improvements in radiation treatment planning, improved tissue oxygenation, and neoadjuvant chemotherapy are likely to lead to improvements in therapy. Nonsurgical preoperative staging with positron emission tomography and sentinel lymph node evaluation could result in effective surgical staging, or even nonsurgical staging, more accurate radiation treatment planning, and improved local and systemic control with a reduction in short-term and long-term morbidity in the treatment of locally advanced cervix cancer. Well-designed, randomized, prospective clinical trials are needed for a more thorough evaluation of these preliminary findings and to set research directions for the next several years.
A Microscopic Study of FcγRIII-Mediated Respiratory Burst in Neutrophils

Abstract We investigated the relationship between the respiratory burst in neutrophils and the membrane distribution of the IgG receptor, FcγRIII.FcγRIII receptors were labeled with a fluoresceinated antibody that does not block binding of immune complexes.The respiratory burst was detected using covalently bound rosamine stain previously described for flow cytometric applications.This method allows visualization of intracellular oxidant production in fixed cells using attenuated illumination with a laser.Strong cytosolic oxidation of rosamine was observed only in those cells that displayed prominent receptor endocytosis upon interaction with insoluble immune complexes.Soluble immune complexes or insoluble complexes in the presence of cytochalasin B did not stimulate endocytosis of FcγRIII' and induced no rosamine oxidation.Extracellular superoxide production measured by the cytochrome c test did not correlate with intracellular rosamine oxidation: it was maximal in cytochalasin-treated cells and did not require any visible receptor rearrangement.Our results demonstrate the utility of the rosamine stain as an intracellular marker of the oxidative burst, support the role of FcγRIII in neutrophil activation and emphasize the compartmental regulation of the oxidative burst.
New stopping criteria for segmenting DNA sequences

We propose a solution on the stopping criterion in segmenting inhomogeneous DNA sequences with complex statistical patterns. This new stopping criterion is based on Bayesian information criterion in the model selection framework. When this criterion is applied to telomere of S.cerevisiae and the complete sequence of E.coli, borders of biologically meaningful units were identified, and a more reasonable number of domains was obtained. We also introduce a measure called segmentation strength which can be used to control the delineation of large domains. The relationship between the average domain size and the threshold of segmentation strength is determined for several genome sequences.
Increasing lipid peroxidation by vitamin E deficiency does not augment adriamycin-induced inhibition of hepatic drug metabolism☆

Adriamycin treatment in vivo or addition to incubation mixtures in vitro inhibits hepatic drug metabolism. It has been suggested that adriamycin-induced membrane lipid peroxidation may be a mechanism responsible for this activity in vitro. To determine if similar mechanisms operate in vivo, adriamycin inhibition of drug metabolism was compared in rats whose tissue lipid peroxidizability was altered by manipulating dietary levels of vitamin E. Weanling rats maintained on vitamin E deficient (0 ppm) or supplemented (10 or 100 ppm) diets for 12 weeks were given either adriamycin, 5 mg/kg/week, or equal volumes of the saline vehicle for 3 weeks intraperitoneally. Vitamin E deficiency alone (0 ppm, saline pretreatment) produced a 37% increase in hepatic lipid peroxidation without any appreciable alteration in hepatic aniline hydroxylase, ethylmorphine N-demethylase or aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activities. Adriamycin pretreatment altered hepatic lipid peroxidizability over corresponding saline pretreated controls dependent on dietary vitamin E. No increase was seen in the 100 ppm group, while 44% and 500% increases occurred at 10 and 0 ppm vitamin E, respectively. Adriamycin pretreatment decreased drug-metabolizing enzyme activity by an average of 32% for aniline hydroxylase, 26% for ethylmorphine N-demethylase and 63% for aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase. Statistically, decreases in drug metabolism were independent of dietary vitamin E and did not correlate with lipid peroxidizability. These data would suggest that in vivo adriamycin-induced depression of hepatic drug-metabolizing enzymes is not mediated by elevated lipid peroxidation.
Theoretical studies of carbonyl photochemistry. I. ab initio potential energy surfaces for the photodissociation H2CO*→H + HCO

Abstract Potential energy surfaces for the ground state S 0 , and first excited triplet T 1 , and singlet S 1 states have been calculated for the photodissociation H 2 CO * →H + HCO using a minimal zeta SCF MO CI procedure. As the CH distance | D | increases, S 0 monotonically increases in energy to form the ground state of H + HCO; departure of the H atom in the HCO plane is preferred. The minimum energy path on the T 1 potential surface passes through a saddlepoint near | D | ≈ 1.9 A and goes to the ground state of the products; D is almost perpendicular to the HCO plane in the region of the saddlepoint. Probable mechanisms for the reaction are discussed in light of these calculations and related experimental work.
Predicting land cover change and avian community responses in rapidly urbanizing environments

We used an integrated modeling approach to simulate future land cover and predict the effects of future urban development and land cover on avian diversity in the Central Puget Sound region of Washington State, USA. We parameterized and applied a land cover change model (LCCM) that used output from a microsimulation model of urban development, UrbanSim, and biophysical site and landscape characteristics to simulate land cover 28 years into the future. We used 1991, 1995, and 1999 Landsat TM-derived land cover data and three different spatial partitions of our study area to develop six different estimations of the LCCM. We validated model simulations with 2002 land cover. We combined UrbanSim land use outputs and LCCM simulations to predict changes in avian species richness. Results indicate that landscape composition and configuration were important in explaining land cover change as well as avian species response to landscape change. Over the next 28 years, urban land cover was predicted to increase at the expense of agriculture and deciduous and mixed lowland forests. Land cover changes were predicted to reduce the total number of avian species, with losses primarily in native forest specialists and gains in common synanthropic species such as the American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos). The integrated modeling framework we present has potential applications in urban and natural resource planning and management and in assessing of the effects of policies on land development, land cover, and avian biodiversity.
Candidate Gender and Voter Support in State Legislative Elections

To what extent does candidate gender influence voter support in state legislative elections? This question is addressed in a candidate‐level analysis of campaigns involving men and women in 20 states in the 1990s. The findings demonstrate some statistically significant differences by gender—women actually receive a higher percentage of the vote, although these effects are insufficiently large to influence their likelihood of winning. Additional analyses consider characteristics of districts and states that increase or dampen support for women. For example, women receive a greater vote percentage in districts where education levels are higher and where there is a larger proportion of African Americans. Overall, the major conclusion to emerge is that women have a slight edge over men in gaining voter support, but factors such as candidacy status, partisanship of the district, and campaign spending have a much stronger influence on election outcomes.
Alpha 6 beta 4 integrin heterodimer is a component of hemidesmosomes.

Abstract Antisera that recognize the alpha 6 and beta 4 subunits of integrins were found by immunoelectron microscopy to localize to hemidesmosomes in the basal cells of mouse corneal epithelium. Immunoprecipitation experiments using extracts of metabolically labeled corneal epithelial cells indicate that the primary alpha 6-subunit-containing integrin heterodimer present is alpha 6 beta 4 and not alpha 6 beta 1. Here we extend previous studies to report that by immunofluorescence microscopy the alpha 6 integrin subunit colocalizes with bullous pemphigoid antigen and type VII collagen in newly forming hemidesmosomes in the developing 17-day fetal rabbit eye. Neither the composition of the anchoring filaments, which span the region between the hemidesmosomal plaque and the lamina densa of basement membrane where the globular domain of type VII collagen is located, nor the extracellular ligand of alpha 6 beta 4 is known. Once anchoring filament proteins are identified, it will be of interest to determine whether any bind to alpha 6 beta 4.
Functional Splice Variants of the Type II G Protein–Coupled Receptor (VPAC2) for Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide in Mouse and Human Lymphocytes

A PCR-based search for splice variants of the VPAC2 G protein-coupled receptor for vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) revealed: (a) a short-deletion variant in mouse lymphocytes termed VPAC2de367-380, that lacks 14 amino acids in the seventh transmembrane domain, and (b) a long-deletion variant in human lymphocytes termed VPAC2de325-438(i325-334), that lacks 114 amino acids beginning with the carboxyl-terminal end of the third cytoplasmic loop and has 10 new carboxy-terminal amino acids. VPAC2de367-380 binds VIP normally, but shows reduced VIP-evoked signaling and effects on immune functions, whereas VPAC2de325-438(i325-334) shows reduced binding affinity for VIP and a complex pattern of functional differences. These splice variants may modify the immunoregulatory contributions of the VIP-VPAC2 axis.
In vivo lability of red cell phosphofructokinase in term infants: the possible molecular basis of the relative phosphofructokinase deficiency in neonatal red cells.

Summary: Cord blood erythrocytes from nine term infants were separated rated by density gradient centrifugation into cohorts of intact cells of progressively increasing density and compared with red cells treated in a similar manner from four healthy adults. Pyruvate kinase (PK), an age-dependent enzyme, progressively decreased in activity from the lightest to the heaviest fractions, in both neonatal and adult red cells, indicating that red cells from newborn infants exhibit the same relationship between red cell age and density that had previously been demonstrated in red cells from adults. The rate of decline of red cell PK activity was essentially the same in neonates and adults, whereas phosphofructokinase (PFK) activity in cord erythrocytes decreased at a significantly faster rate when compared to adults. These data suggest that PFK has an accelerated rate of in vivo decay in neonatal red cells and is an unstable enzyme in the newborn. Speculation: The finding that PFK from cord blood has an accelerated rate of in vivo decay suggests that the relative PFK deficiency that exists in neonatal red cells is secondary to normal synthesis of an unstable enzyme, and leads to the speculation that red cell PFK in newborn infants is an isozyme (a “fetal” PFK).
The Costs and Benefits of the U.S. Role as a Reserve Currency Country

Introduction, 442. — I. Benefits of the U.S. reserve currency role, 445; the flexibility advantage, 445; the income advantage, 446. — II. The costs of the U.S. reserve currency role, 447; the constraint on independent domestic policies, 447; the devaluation constraint, 450; the burden of supplying reserves to other countries, 452; the burden of managing private gold markets, 454. — III. Conclusion, 454.
A Brazilian Counterweight: Music, Intellectual Property and the African Diaspora in Rio de Janeiro (1910s–1930s)

This article treats Tio Faustino, a little-known samba musician and Afro-Brazilian religious leader living in Rio de Janeiro, as an entry point for exploring larger questions about Brazil and the African Diaspora. The inquiry expands outward from Tio Faustino to Rio's early twentieth-century markets in ‘African’ commodities, the city's nascent music industry and the growing call to defend intellectual property rights in Brazil. In order to advance their careers, Tio Faustino and other artists accessed nationalist sentiment in ways that highlighted differences rather than commonalities with African-descended peoples elsewhere. In this way, Brazil's global standing and its colonial history and post-colonial trajectory functioned as a counterweight to transnational and diasporic connections. These findings deepen, rather than completely unseat, recent trends in diaspora and transnational studies.
Bottom-up Neighbourhood Revitalisation: A Language Approach for Participatory Decision Support

Urban planners have become increasingly aware of the importance of implementation in the formulation of policy. This concern has guided on-going efforts of the Urban Simulations and Information Systems Laboratory (SIMLab) at the University of Colorado in developing interactive three-dimensional planning simulations and games. These simulations are used as decision-making tools to help neighbourhood residents to help themselves in making decisions that shape the housing and communities where they live. The present paper describes the conceptual aspects behind the development of these tools, applies the tools to the redevelopment of the Cole neighbourhood in Denver, Colorado, and critiques the limitations of the tools and discusses their future applications.
The bHLH/PAS transcription factor singleminded 2s promotes mammary gland lactogenic differentiation

We have previously demonstrated that the bHLH/PAS transcription factor, singleminded 2s (Sim2s), is required for proper mammary ductal morphogenesis and luminal epithelial differentiation. Furthermore, loss of Sim2s in breast cancer cells resulted in downregulation of epithelial markers and acquisition of a basal-like phenotype. The objective of this study was to further define the role of Sim2s in mammary differentiation. We found that Sim2s is developmentally regulated throughout mammary gland development with highest expression during lactation. Mammary glands from nulliparous mice expressing Sim2s driven by the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) long terminal repeat (LTR) promoter were morphologically indistinguishable from wild-type mice but displayed hallmarks of precocious lactogenic differentiation. These included elevated expression of the milk protein genes Wap and Csn2, and apical localization of the lactation marker Npt2b. Consistent with the in vivo results, Sim2s enhanced prolactin-mediated Csn2 expression in HC11 and CIT3 mouse mammary epithelial cells, and downregulation of Sim2s by shRNA in HC11 cells inhibited Csn2 expression. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analyses of the Csn2 gene found that Sim2s associates with the Csn2 promoter and re-ChIP experiments showed that Sim2s interacted with the RNA II polymerase (RNAPII) complex. Together, these data demonstrate, for the first time, that Sim2s is required for establishing and maintaining mammary gland differentiation.
Eww she sneezed! Contamination context affects children's food preferences and consumption.

Does contextual information about disgust influence children's food consumption and subjective experience of taste? Three- to eight-year-old children (N = 60) were presented with two identical foods, yet children were led to believe that one food had been contaminated by sneezing and licking, while the other was clean. When given the opportunity to eat the foods, 5- to 8-year-old children consumed more clean food and rated the clean food's taste more positively; younger children did not distinguish between the foods. The relation between contamination and subjective taste held even among children who ate both foods and had direct evidence that they were identical. These data indicate that children's consumption behavior and food preferences are influenced by information external to foods themselves.
Last alternative optimization

The authors present a new optimization for or-parallel logic programming (Prolog) systems, called last alternative optimization (LAO). The LAO follows from the flattening principle and the principle of duality of or-parallelism and and-parallelism. Originally LAO was conceived as the dual of last parallel call optimization, an optimization developed for and-parallel systems. LAO enables Prolog programs that have data-or parallelism to execute more efficiently. It also enables more efficient (parallel) execution of constraint logic programs over finite domains. LAO is a fairly general optimization and can be readily applied to virtually any parallel system that exploits nondeterminism (e.g., parallel search based artificial intelligence systems). Last alternative optimization has been implemented in the ACE parallel Prolog system. The performance results indeed prove the effectiveness of LAO. They present a second optimization based on the flattening principle, called balanced nesting optimization (BNO), that is related to LAO, and that also leads to reduction of parallel overhead.
Probing a quantum dot in the weak coupling regime

An InAs quantum dot inside a photonic crystal cavity in the regime of weak coupling modulates the intensity of a resonant beam by 50%, and is nonlinear at powers of one photon per lifetime.
Electron transfer followed by collision‐induced dissociation (NET‐CID) for generating sequence information from backbone‐modified oligonucleotide anions

Rationale Oligonucleotides with 2'-modifications and/or phosphorothioate (PS) backbones are prone to undergo limited backbone fragmentation upon ion trap collision-induced dissociation (CID). For better identification and characterization of chemically modified oligonucleotides, a more universal fragmentation method is desirable. Methods Gas-phase dissociation of various 2'-position-modified oligonucleotides and mixed-backbone oligonucleotides (MBOs) has been studied by ion trap CID of the radical anion species formed via electron transfer ion/ion reactions. Results For 2'-modified mix-mer radical anions, complete sequence information was generated with non-complementary d/w-ion series, while a/z-ions were observed randomly with relatively low intensity. The 2'-position modification, which has been observed to affect CID patterns of oligonucleotide anions, did not exhibit any observable influence on the dissociation patterns of oligonucleotide radical anions. For MBOs comprised of DNA nucleotides, ion trap CID of even-electron species generated complementary a-B/w-type ions and multiple fragment types at the phosphorothioate (PS) linkages. For MBOs comprised of 2'-OMe-modified nucleotides, only PS bond cleavage was observed for ion trap CID of doubly deprotonated precursor ions. Negative electron transfer reaction with or without supplemental activation of MBOs gave rise to a/d/w-type fragments similar to those of the 2'-modified mix-mers. PS bonds were observed to be more fragile under the electron detachment process, and phosphodiester (PO) bond cleavages were noted upon further collisional activation. Conclusions NET-CID proved to be an efficient method of generating full sequence information for 2'-modifications and/or mixed-backbone oligonucleotides.
Rejection of hamster skin xenografts by rats in the absence of anti-hamster antibody formation

: The hamster to rat xenograft combination is considered to be a “difficult” concordant combination. Although the rat lacks preformed anti-hamster antibodies, there is rapid production of antibodies upon exposure to hamster antigens. When vascularized hamster xenografts are rejected in the rat, anti-hamster antibodies are invariably detected in both the serum and in the rejected tissue. In allogeneic and other concordant xenogeneic (rat to mouse) combinations, rapamycin has been shown to markedly augment the survival of skin grafts in ALS-treated, bone marrow injected mice. We investigated the ability of rapamycin to prolong the survival of skin grafts and block antibody production in the hamster to rat combination. Outbred Golden Syrian hamsters served as skin and marrow donors and Lewis rats were recipients. ALS was administered on days -1, 0, and +2 relative to skin grafting. Rapamycin was administered at 3 mg/kg on alternate days from day +1 through day +13 (seven doses). Donor specific bone marrow was infused IV on day +4 at a dose of either 100 times 106 or 250 times 106 nucleated cells. Antibody titers were determined serially by using a complement dependent cytotoxicity assay. The administration of rapamycin alone (MST 8.5 days) and ALS alone (MST 10 days) prolonged graft survival slightly but significantly compared with untreated controls (MST 7 days). The addition of BM had no additional effect on graft survival beyond that achieved with ALS alone. Rapamycin markedly prolonged skin graft survival when added to ALS (MST 16 days), ALS+BM100 (MST 19 days), or ALS+BM250 (MST 20.5 days). Rats receiving ALS or ALS+BM produced anti-hamster antibodies in a slightly delayed fashion and at a slightly lower titer when compared to controls. Treatment with rapamycin alone substantially diminished but did not completely eliminate anti-hamster antibody production. Rats receiving rapamycin with ALS or ALS+BM failed to produce anti-hamster antibodies entirely, although they all eventually rejected the hamster skin grafts. Rapamycin, when used in combination with ALS or ALS plus BM is able to prolong skin graft survival and completely abolish antibody production in the hamster to rat combination. The eventual rejection of hamster skin grafts in this circumstance occurs in the absence of anti-hamster antibodies.
13B. Experience With the “Banerji Protocols“ in Treatment of Chronic Disease

Focus Areas: Integrative Approaches to Care Specific effects of homeopathic treatment are often dismissed as unbelievable due to use of remedies diluted beyond Avogadro's number. Recent basic science research suggests that this argument will no longer hold water with the demonstration that classically prepared ultradilute homeopathic medicines (HM) contain measurable source nanoparticles (NP) and/or silica NP with adsorbed source materials that are heterogeneously dispersed in colloidal solution and have biological properties that differ substantially from bulk forms of the same substance. These findings will soon address the plausibility question; however, individualized homeopathy may remain obscure due to the need for hundreds of hours of training required for effective practice where a different remedy may be needed for every patient regardless of condition. The Banerji Protocols help to alleviate this obstacle. The Prasanta Banerji Homeopathic Research Foundation (http://pbhrfindia.org) is well known for its cancer treatment protocols, having been identified by NCI in 1999 for its Best Case Series with subsequent translational research on specific homeopathic medicines (HM) being done at MD Anderson. Less known are the Protocols for numerous serious conditions that have been developed over four generations of homeopathic practice with thousands of patients in Kolkata, India. The new book from Drs Prasanta and Pratip Banerji, published in June 2013, contains dozens of protocols for the treatment of conditions such as chronic renal failure, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, hepatitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and traumatic brain injury. Dr Barbara Sarter has spent many months collecting data in the Kolkata clinic. She and Dr Joyce Frye have already used many of these protocols in their respective US homeopathic practices with excellent results. The Protocols suggest highly efficacious and cost-effective treatments of numerous conditions for which conventional medicine has limited options.