cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Koilocytosis : A Cooperative Interaction between the Human Papillomavirus E5 and E6 Oncoproteins

A long-recognized, pathognomonic feature of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the appearance of halo or koilocytotic cells in the differentiated layers of the squamous epithelium. These koilocytes are squamous epithelial cells that contain an acentric, hyperchromatic nucleus that is displaced by a large perinuclear vacuole. However, the genesis of the cytoplasmic vacuole has remained unclear, particularly because both HPV DNA replication and virion assembly occur exclusively in the nucleus. In clinical biopsies, koilocytosis is observed in both low- and high-risk HPV infections; therefore, in this study, we demonstrated that the E5 and E6 proteins from both low- and high-risk HPVs cooperate to induce koilocyte formation in human cervical cells in vitro, using both stable and transient assays. Both E5 and E6 also induce koilocytosis in human foreskin keratinocytes but not in primate COS cells. Deletion of the 20 C-terminal amino acids of E5 completely abrogates koilocytosis, whereas a 10-amino acid-deletion mutant retains ∼50% of its activity. Because the E6 protein from both the low- and high-risk HPVs is capable of potentiating koilocytosis with E5, it is apparent that the targeting of both p53 and PDZ proteins by E6 is not involved. Our data suggest new, cooperative functions for both the E5 and E6 proteins, hinting at additional targets and roles for these oncoproteins in the viral life cycle.
Dissociation of category-learning systems via brain potentials

Behavioral, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging evidence has suggested that categories can often be learned via either an explicit rule-based mechanism critically dependent on medial temporal and prefrontal brain regions, or via an implicit information-integration mechanism relying on the basal ganglia. In this study, participants viewed sine-wave gratings (i.e., Gabor patches) that varied on two dimensions and learned to categorize them via trial-by-trial feedback. Two different stimulus distributions were used; one was intended to encourage an explicit rule-based process and the other an implicit information-integration process. We monitored brain activity with scalp electroencephalography (EEG) while each participant (1) passively observed stimuli represented of both distributions, (2) categorized stimuli from one distribution, and, one week later, (3) categorized stimuli from the other distribution. Categorization accuracy was similar for the two distributions. Subtractions of Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) for correct and incorrect trials were used to identify neural differences in rule-based and information-integration categorization processes. We identified an occipital brain potential that was differentially modulated by categorization condition accuracy at an early latency (150 - 250 ms), likely reflecting the degree of holistic processing. A stimulus-locked late positive complex associated with explicit memory updating was modulated by accuracy in the rule-based, but not the information-integration task. Likewise, a feedback-locked P300 ERP associated with expectancy was correlated with performance only in the rule-based, but not the information-integration condition. These results provide additional evidence for distinct brain mechanisms supporting rule-based versus implicit information-integration category learning and use.
The Leap Experiment: Another Look at the Cosmic-Ray Low-Energy Antiproton Flux

A balloon-borne instrument for a cosmic-ray antiproton search in the 130–1200 MeV range was launched in August 1987. The LEAP (Low-Energy AntiProton) experiment consisted of the NMSU magnet spectrometer, a time-of-flight detector, and a Cherenkov counter. LEAP gathered 23 hours of data at the top of the atmosphere. Preliminary results of the antiproton/proton ratio indicate a 90% confidence upper limit of 3.2xl0-5 for 130 MeV < Tp < 360 MeV [1]. TP is the proton or antiproton kinetic energy at the top of the atmosphere. The LEAP result at 130–360 MeV agrees well with the results of Ahlen et al. [2], but strongly disagrees with the measurement of Buffington et al. [3].
Equipment replacement optimization: Solution methodology, statistical data analysis, and cost forecasting

"The objective of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Research Project 7-4941 is to; determine the best optimization methodology; evaluate commercial fleet management systems; develop the model if this cost-effective relative to purchasing a commercial model; and validate the new model as needed using data available on TxDOT's current fleet."
Increasing the axial extent in volume imaging PET scanners: Is there a limit? a Monte Carlo study

A Monte Carlo simulation program for the PENN-PET (University of Pennsylvania positron emission tomography) scanner design is presented. The program is flexible enough to allow one to vary the geometry and study the effects of increasing the axial extent of the scanner. The authors present a series of Monte Carlo studies comparing two volume imaging scanners currently being used which differ only in their axial extent (9.0 cm and 13.5 cm). They also present predictions of the performance of a similar body scanner with a 25.6 cm axial extent and a head-only scanner, also having a 25.6 cm axial extent but with a reduced radius which greatly increases the solid angle of the detectors. The studies show the effects of increasing the axial extent on the trues, scatters, randoms, and overall system sensitivity. It is shown that the scatter fraction does not change significantly as the axial extent of the scanner is increased, especially when an appropriate definition for scatter is taken into account. The ratio of randoms/trues decreases with increasing axial extent as a function of the activity. >
Tuning the electronic properties of boron nitride nanotubes with transverse electric fields: A giant dc Stark effect

Ab initio calculations show that the band gap of boron nitride (BN) nanotubes can be greatly reduced by a transverse electric field. This gap reduction arises from a mixing of states within the highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital complexes and leads to a spatial separation of electrons and holes across the tube diameter. The gap modulation increases with tube diameter and is nearly independent of chirality. For BN nanotubes of diameters of 5 nm or more, a sizable gap reduction should be achievable with laboratory fields. This effect provides a possible way to tune the band gap of BN tubes for various applications.
Eigenmatrices of a normal matrix

Abstract If N is normal and invertible, the matrices A with N∗AN = ϱA for various ϱ span all matrices and decompose into blocks mapping eigenspaces of N to other eigenspaces. There are only two types of block structure that can occur in this way for an invertible A .
IrSi Schottky-barrier infrared detectors with wavelength response beyond 12 mu m

Schottky-barrier infrared detectors with a 4-nm-thick IrSi electrode have been fabricated on p-Si substrates previously implanted with low-energy boron ions. Low-energy boron ion implantation has been used to form a shallow p/sup +/-Si layer that lowers the barrier height of IrSi-Si Schottky-barrier contacts by the image-force effect and field-assisted tunneling. IrSi infrared detectors with a cutoff wavelength beyond 12 mu m have been obtained by this technique. The optical barrier height found by spectral response measurements is 0.100 eV, which corresponds to a detector cutoff wavelength of 12.4 mu m. >
The relationship of the hyperspherical harmonics to SO(3), SO(4) and orientation distribution functions

The expansion of an orientation distribution function as a linear combination of the hyperspherical harmonics suggests that the analysis of crystallographic orientation information may be performed entirely in the axis–angle parameterization. Practical implementation of this requires an understanding of the properties of the hyperspherical harmonics. An addition theorem for the hyperspherical harmonics and an explicit formula for the relevant irreducible representatives of SO(4) are provided. The addition theorem is useful for performing convolutions of orientation distribution functions, while the irreducible representatives enable the construction of symmetric hyperspherical harmonics consistent with the crystal and sample symmetries.
Visuospatial working memory in schizotypal personality disorder patients.

Abstract Background: Cognitive processing deficits have been identified as an abnormality that schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) individuals share with schizophrenic patients. It has been hypothesized that impaired working memory may be a critical component of several of the more complex cognitive deficits found in schizophrenia spectrum patients. Method: 18 DSM-III-R SPD patients, and 17 normal comparison subjects were compared on a pen and paper visuospatial working memory task. Moreover, we identified a second psychiatric comparison group comprised of nine patients with other, non-odd cluster personality disorder diagnoses who met no more than one of the SPD criteria and were also tested on the same task. Each person was given 14 immediate recall trials and 10 trials using a 10 s delay. Results: SPD patients performed significantly worse than normal control subjects on the working memory task. SPD patients also performed significantly worse compared to the non-schizophrenia-related personality disorder psychiatric comparison group. Conclusions: Like schizophrenic patients, SPD patients demonstrate working memory impairment compared to normal controls. This impairment may be specific to the schizophrenia-related personality disorders.
Genetic Causes of Inherited Cardiac Hypertrophy: Robert L. Frye Lecture

Cardiac hypertrophy is well recognized as a cardiac manifestation of systemic disorders such as hypertension or intrinsic myocardial disease, but it can also reflect an underlying genetic defect. Molecular studies of inherited forms of cardiac hypertrophy have defined 2 novel path-ways that lead to cardiac remodeling in adults, discoveries that increasingly provide insights relevant for both diagnosis and management. This article reviews the genetic studies that led to the current molecular understanding of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and discusses more recently discovered causes of inherited cardiac hypertrophy.
Introduction to the brueckner theory

Synopsis The shell model and the related cloudy-crystal-ball model have had great successes but until recently it was not possible to derive these models from the known forces between two nucleons. Certain high-energy processes show that the nucleon-nucleon forces continue to act inside a complex nucleus. Brueckner's theory provides the desired basis for the shell model. It is a self-consistent field method which may be started by choosing a potential depending on velocity and position ( r ′ |V| r). The wave functions of the individual nucleons in this potential are calculated; a Slater determinant of such functions is called the “model wave function” of the nucleus. The actual wave function Ψ is obtained from 0 by permitting all pairs of nucleons to scatter each other. It is then shown that this wave function Ψ solves the complete Schrodinger equation of the nucleus with great accuracy. To achieve this result, it is essential that the integral equation for the scattering of a pair of nucleons be solved exactly, in the average potential provided by the other nucleons. For the convergence of the method the exclusion principle is of the greatest importance. The method justifies essentially the method of Lane and Wandel for calculating the imaginary part of the potential of Weisskopf et al. , and thus justifies the cloudy-crystal-ball theory. It leads to a procedure for calculating nuclear levels similar to that used in standard shell model theory, except that interaction with configurations involving excited shells is already contained in the first order energy.
Crowd Noise and Mimicry

It was hypothesized that increasing the sound level of the emotional expressions of a crowd would heighten arousal in observers and enhance their performance of dominant mimetic responses. Observers viewed a videotaped arm wrestling match under two levels of crowd noise (high and low). The results show that the observers' arm activity was greater under high level than low level crowd noise; this difference was most apparent after a brief time period. In addition, arousal (as measured by skin conductance) was greater under high level than low level crowd noise. These findings are interpreted in terms of drive and ideomotor theories.
Vertical extent of zonal winds on Venus

A phenomenological study of the Venus winds and atmosphere structure suggests that the region of fast retrograde winds is confined between about 45 and 60 km altitude on the night side and is somewhat broader on the day side. Other aspects of the discussed kinematical model are negligible surface winds, speeds increasing with altitude to approximately 45 km, a wind shear between 60 and 65 km, and slow atmospheric motions above this altitude. Large scale Kelvin-Helmholtz waves associated with the shear at the upper boundary of the highspeed layer may be visible as ultraviolet cloud features, and the possibility of differential heating between light and dark UV features being the cause of the winds is considered.
Coherency Attribute Algorithm For Polarimetric Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)

Coherency is a traditionally seismic attribute used for the delineation of discontinuities in wavelet shape. Coherency attributes compare a small window of a wave trace with the surrounding traces to determine the degree of similarity. While difference in the waveform data may be difficult to see in a migrated image, the coherency image will make it relatively easy to visualize. Coherency has been shown to be very useful in delineating faults and paleochannels in seismic data. In GPR changes in electric impedance, and target geometry affect the electromagnetic (EM) wavelet in a similar manner to seismic waves. Additionally, received EM backscatter from subsurface features depends strongly on the polarization of the transmitting and receiving antennas and the geometry and electrical properties of the scatterer. The EM waves of GPR are vector in nature with the electric and magnetic fields transverse to the direction of propagation. Features exhibiting strong directionality such as faults, fractures and edges can change the state of polarization of an incident field. Thus, methods that combine both polarization invariant information and wavelet shape information into a single, easily interpretable attribute image are desirable for the detection of discontinuities. To this end, the largest eigenvalue of the scattering matrix, acquired from polarimetric GPR, is used in conjunction with the eigenstructure coherency algorithm of Gersztenkorn and Marfurt (1996) to produce a coherency image unbiased by antenna polarization. The polarimetric coherency algorithm was applied to polarimetric GPR acquired over fractured and karsted limestone. The field results show significant improvement over scalar based coherency images.
Abstract 1663: Mapping genes that predict treatment outcome in admixed populations

Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL There is great interest in characterizing the genetic architecture underlying drug response. For many drugs, gene-based dosing models explain a considerable amount of the overall variation in treatment outcome. As such, prescription drug labels are increasingly being modified to contain pharmacogenetic information. Genetic data must, however, be interpreted within the context of relevant clinical covariates. Even the most predictive models improve with the addition of data related to biogeographical ancestry in admixed population. Admixture influences populations in a manner different from geographic race or cultural ethnicity. When two genetically distinct populations interbreed, a set of unique relationships are created among sets of variants across the genome. This phenomenon results in the formation of long segments of DNA with distinguishable ancestral origins. Risk alleles carried within these segments can influence treatment outcome in a variety of contexts. As the scientific community moves toward characterization of outcome in diverse cohorts with DNA biobanks linked to comprehensive electronic medical records, a great need exists for the development of flexible, robust analytical strategies that leverage admixture to optimize the study of pharmacogenomics. We presented analytical strategies to develop ancestry informative marker (AIM) that leverage population structure to more fully characterize genetic determinants of outcome in large clinical practice-based admixed cohorts. Keywords: Admixture, ancestry, Ancestry Informative Markers, AIMs, admixture mapping, ancestry, biobank, database, pharmacogenetics Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1663. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-1663
Estrogen regulation of Pak1 and FKHR pathways in breast cancer cells

Abstract Stimulation of p21-activated kinase-1 (Pak1) and estradiol-estrogen receptor-α in mammary cancer cells promotes cell survival. We sought to determine whether estrogen stimulates the Pak1 pathway. We found that estrogen rapidly activated Pak1 kinase activity in a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-insensitive manner. Furthermore, estrogen induced phosphorylation and perinuclear localization of the cell survival forkhead transcription factor FKHR in the cytoplasm in a Pak1-dependent manner. In addition, Pak1 directly interacted with FKHR and phosphorylated it. The noticed phosphorylation-dependent exclusion of FKHR from the nucleus impaired the ability of FKHR to activate its target Fas ligand promoter containing the FKHR binding motif (FRE) in cells treated with estrogen or expressing catalytically active Pak1. In contrast, expression of the dominant-negative auto-inhibitory domain of Pak1 (Pak amino acids 83–149) promoted the ability of FKHR to activate transcription from FRE. Together, these results identify a novel signaling pathway linking estrogen action to Pak1 signaling, and Pak1 to FKHR, suggesting that Pak1 is an important mediator of estrogen’s cell survival functions.
User education: The new frontier?

Abstract A brief history of the rise and development of libraries in Further Education (FE) establishments in the UK is given. A definition of user education is attempted and some of the underlying philosophy and curricular influences are explored. Problems centring around the lack of an agreed syllabus for user education and the varying attitudes of FE librarians are touched upon, together with some of the problems arising from the lack of central curricular guidance on library user education programmes and information skills.
Atomic structure of the austenite-cementite interface of proeutectoid cementite plates

Abstract In a previous investigation, the atomic habit plane (or terrace plane) of proeutectoid cementite plates in austenite was deduced to be (113)A‖(101)c (where the subscript A indicates austenite and the subscript C cementite), based on conventional transmission electron microscopy and computer-aided atom matching studies. In the present study, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) was employed in order to determine directly the atomic structure and atomic habit plane of the cementite-austenite interface corresponding to the broad faces of cementite plates. An Fe-1.3 wt%C-13 wt%Mn alloy was isothermally reacted at 650°C for 100 s in order to form cementite plates embedded in a completely retained austenite matrix. The HRTEM observations directly confirm the previous deductions that; firstly (113)A‖(101)c is the terrace plane of proeutectoid cementite plates at the atomic level. secondly the cementite-austenite interfaces contain ledges with a [010]c‖[110] A line direction, and thir...
Flux entry in macroscopic superconducting rings

Abstract Accurate measurements of the flux in a weakly-connected superconducting ring of inductance L, as a function of applied field and critical current i c , show the linear relationship between current and field at low superconducting pair velocities and the existence of de-pairing at high pair velocities. Transitions between quantum states with the selection rule Δ k = ± 1 are either reversible or irreversible depending upon the value of 2eLi c /h.
Ligand-induced degradation of the ethylene receptor ETR2 through a proteasome-dependent pathway in Arabidopsis

Protein degradation plays an important role in modulating ethylene signal transduction in plants. Here we show that the ethylene receptor ETR2 is one such target for degradation and that its degradation is dependent upon perception of the signaling ligand ethylene. The ETR2 protein is initially induced by ethylene treatment, consistent with an increase in transcript levels. At ethylene concentrations above 1 μl/liter, however, ETR2 protein levels subsequently decrease in a post-transcriptional fashion. Genetic and chemical approaches indicate that ethylene perception by the receptors initiates the reduction in ETR2 protein levels. The ethylene-induced decrease in ETR2 levels is not affected by cycloheximide, an inhibitor of protein biosynthesis, but is affected by proteasome inhibitors, indicating a role for the proteasome in ETR2 degradation. Ethylene-induced degradation still occurs in seedlings treated with brefeldin A, indicating that degradation of ETR2 does not require exit from its subcellular location at the endoplasmic reticulum. These data support a model in which ETR2 is degraded by a proteasome-dependent pathway in response to ethylene binding. Implications of this model for ethylene signaling are discussed.
Aging, Neighborhood Attachment, and Fear of Crime: Testing Reciprocal Effects.

This study attempts to examine the reciprocal effects between fear of crime and neighborhood attachment because aging is a critical factor in both discussions of fear of crime and neighborhood attachment (friendship, neighboring, social cohesion and trust, informal social control, and participation in neighborhood watch program). Using data from the Project on Human Development across 343 Chicago neighborhoods, this study tests the impact of aging combined with five measures of neighborhood attachment on fear of crime. Our analyses confirm that all five interaction variables are insignificant in explaining fear of crime. In contrast, this study tests another argument that aging coupled with fear of crime (urban elderly's fear of crime) affects neighborhood attachment. The findings show that rising fear of crime among urban elderly residents helps increase their interactions with neighbors (neighboring) and their perceived level of social cohesion to and trust of neighbors. In short, this study supports a model where an interaction predictor of aging and fear of crime increases neighborhood attachment. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Mitotic disrupter herbicides act by a single mechanism but vary in efficacy

Although there are numerous herbicides that disrupt mitosis as a mechanism of action, to date not one has compared the effects of these disrupters on a single species and over a range of concentrations. Oat seedlings, treated with a range of concentrations of nine different “mitotic disrupter herbicides”, were examined by immunofluorescence microscopy of tubulin in methacrylate sections. All herbicides caused the same kinds of microtubule disruption, although the concentrations required to cause the effects differed markedly between the herbicides. Effects on spindle and phragmoplast mitotic microtubule arrays were seen at the lowest concentrations and manifested as multipolar spindles and bifurcated phragmoplasts (which subsequently resulted in abnormal cell plate formation). At increasing concentrations, effects on mitotic microtubule arrays manifested as microtubule tufts at kinetochores and reduction of cortical microtubules resulting in arrested prometaphase figures and isodiametric cells. These data indicate that all mitotic disrupter herbicides have a common primary mechanism of action, inhibition of microtubule polymerization, and that marginal effects observed in the past were the result of incomplete inhibition and/or differential sensitivity of the microtubule arrays.
Calibration of FDTD Simulation of GPR Signal for Asphalt Pavement Compaction Monitoring

This paper demonstrates that the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method can be used to accurately simulate ground-penetrating radar (GPR) wave and its interaction with pavement having different densities and moisture conditions. The FDTD simulation described in this paper is part of the research efforts into the application of GPR on monitoring the density of asphalt pavement during compaction. The challenge is to separate the effect of density increase from the effect of the increase in surface moisture content on GPR signals. The first part of this paper describes the procedure for finding an equivalent excitation function used in simulation that can generate a GPR signal that matches the real signal. Discrete wavelet transform (DWT) was applied to denoise the signal. It was found that the equivalent excitation source and the DWT technique provided an accurate match between the simulation signal and real GPR signal in both the time domain and frequency domain. The second part of this paper demonstrates the application of FDTD simulation in investigating GPR responses on pavements with different densities and surface moisture content. The simulation successfully revealed the “frequency selective” feature of the effect of surface moisture content on GPR signals. Laboratory experiments were also conducted, and the results verified the findings in FDTD simulations. The FDTD simulation was shown to be an effective and efficient tool for studying the interaction of GPR waves with pavement. An accurate modeling of the signal and its propagation provided meaningful insights as well as the possibility for developing practical data-processing techniques.
Application of proteomics in the discovery of candidate protein biomarkers in a Diabetes Autoantibody Standardization Program sample subset

Novel biomarkers of type 1 diabetes must be identified and validated in initial, exploratory studies before they can be assessed in proficiency evaluations. Currently, untargeted “-omics” approaches are underutilized in profiling studies of clinical samples. This report describes the evaluation of capillary liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) in a pilot proteomic analysis of human plasma and serum from a subset of control and type 1 diabetic individuals enrolled in the Diabetes Autoantibody Standardization Program, with the goal of identifying candidate biomarkers of type 1 diabetes. Initial high-resolution capillary LC-MS/MS experiments were performed to augment an existing plasma peptide database, while subsequent LC-FTICR studies identified quantitative differences in the abundance of plasma proteins. Analysis of LC-FTICR proteomic data identified five candidate protein biomarkers of type 1 diabetes. α-2-Glycoprotein 1 (zinc), corticosteroid-binding globulin, and lumican were...
Characteristics of silent myocardial ischemia during out-of-hospital activities in asymptomatic angiographically documented coronary artery disease

Abstract Ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring is useful in documenting characteristics of both painful and silent myocardial ischemia occurring during out-of-hospital activities in patients with angina and coronary artery disease (CAD), but few data are available concerning silent myocardial ischemia during ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring in asymptomatic patients with CAD. Accordingly, 480 hours of ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring were recorded in 10 asymptomatic patients with CAD not receiving cardiac drugs (48 hours/patient). All 10 patients had silent myocardial ischemia on treadmill exercise testing, with initial ST-segment depression at 2 to 6 minutes in 7 patients and more than 6 minutes In 3 patients. During ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring, 64 episodes of silent myocardial ischemia (1 mm of ST-segment depression for at least 1 minute) were recorded, ranging from 1 to 17 episodes/patient/48 hours. Of the 64 silent myocardial ischemic episodes, 30 (47%) occurred between 6 AM and noon. Duration of silent myocardial ischemia was 798 minutes (range 1 to 80). ST-segment depression ranged from 1 to 4.5 mm. Heart rate at onset of the episodes on ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring ranged from 65 to 150 beats/min (mean 98), which was significantly less than that during treadmill exercise testing in the same patients (mean 120). At cardiac catheterization, 7 patients had 2- or 3-vessel CAD and 3 had 1-vessel CAD. Thus, silent myocardial ischemia is common during daily life in asymptomatic CAD patients with positive treadmill exercise tests.
Monte Carlo simulations of the electron glass.

We have performed Monte Carlo simulations on a classical model of disordered insulators with Coulomb interactions between electrons, i.e., N sites randomly distributed in space, and N/2 electrons with 1/r interactions between them. The electrons can move via variable-range hopping. Autocorrelation functions 〈q(t)q(0)${〉}_{T}$ at different temperatures have been calculated. From the shape of the autocorrelation function, we find a broad distribution of relaxation times and no finite transition temperature for the two-dimensional model. The equal-time density-density correlation function is also calculated as a function of momentum, and the screening properties are shown to cross over from metallic screening at high temperatures to dielectric screening due to dipole pairs at low temperature. This crossover is indicative of a glassy behavior. A comparison with some recent experiments is also made.
ADP-ribosyltransferase-specific Modification of Human Neutrophil Peptide-1

Epithelial cells lining human airways and cells recruited to airways participate in the innate immune response in part by releasing human neutrophil peptides (HNP). Arginine-specific ADP-ribosyltransferases (ART) on the surface of these cells can catalyze the transfer of ADP-ribose from NAD to proteins. We reported that ART1, a mammalian ADP-ribosyltransferase, present in epithelial cells lining the human airway, modified HNP-1, altering its function. ADP-ribosylated HNP-1 was identified in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from patients with asthma, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or a history of smoking (and having two common polymorphic forms of ART1 that differ in activity), but not in normal volunteers or patients with lymphangioleiomyomatosis. Modified HNP-1 was not found in the sputum of cystic fibrosis patients or in leukocyte granules of normal volunteers. The finding of ADP-ribosyl-HNP-1 in BALF but not in leukocyte granules suggests that the modification occurred in the airway. Most of the HNP-1 in the BALF from individuals with a history of smoking was, in fact, mono- or di-ADP-ribosylated. ART1 synthesized in Escherichia coli, glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored ART1 released with phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C from transfected NMU cells, or ART1 expressed endogenously on C2C12 myotubes modified arginine 14 on HNP-1 with a secondary site on arginine 24. ADP-ribosylation of HNP-1 by ART1 was substantially greater than that by ART3, ART4, ART5, Pseudomonas aeruginosa exoenzyme S, or cholera toxin A subunit. Mouse ART2, which is an NAD:arginine ADP-ribosyltransferase, was able to modify HNP-1, but to a lesser extent than ART1. Although HNP-1 was not modified to a significant degree by ART5, it inhibited ART5 as well as ART1 activities. Human β-defensin-1 (HBD1) was a poor transferase substrate. Reduction of the cysteine-rich defensins enhanced their ability to serve as ADP-ribose acceptors. We conclude that ADP-ribosylation of HNP-1 appears to be primarily an activity of ART1 and occurs in inflammatory conditions and disease.
The effect of crack orientation on the fracture properties of composite materials

Abstract The fracture properties of a composite material reinforced with discontinuous fibers depend on how the fibers are oriented with respect to the crack plane. If the fibers are randomly oriented, their fracture contribution is independent of the crack orientation. In the more usual case, fibers possess a biased-orientation distribution, and fracture properties such as fiber pull-out energy or fiber crack bridging do depend on the crack orientation. Simple methods are given for finding These methods are demonstrated for the pull-out energy of poorly bonded fibers. The results clearly show the variation of pull-out energy with crack orientation. The proposed methods are presented as an “enabling technology”, and are sufficiently general to permit application to other fracture properties.
EFFECTS OF ACTINOMYCIN D AND PUROMYCIN ON THE CELL PROGRESS FROM M TO G1 AND S STAGES IN CULTURED MOUSE LEUKEMIA L5178Y CELLS

Actinomycin D (0.5 μg/ml) did not prevent M stage cells from entering G1 stage, but blocked their progress from G1 to S stage. The position of the block was approximately 1.4 hr before S stage or just after the beginning of G1 stage. Actinomycin D in this concentration also significantly depressed uridine-3H uptake into G1 stage cells, but did not suppress leucine-3H uptake by M and G1 cells. This suggests that some proteins may be synthesized in M and G1 stage cells by messenger RNA left over from the previous cell cycle. However, entry of G1 cells into S stage would require synthesis of new messenger RNA near the beginning of G1 stage. Puromycin (10 μg/ml) did not prevent M cells from entering G1 stage, but blocked their progress from G1 to S stage. The site of blockage was about 0.7 hr before S stage or in the first two-third of G1 stage. This might be the site where the cells synthesize new G1 proteins necessary for entry to S stage. Comparison of sensitivities of G1 and G2 stages to the two antibiotics reveals that the puromycin sensitivity of G1 cells was similar to that of G2 cells, but the actinomycin D sensitivity of G1 was greater than that of G2 cells.
Comparative Study of the Echocardiographic Findings in Hypertensive and Nonhypertensive Cardiomyopathy

Thirty adult male patients with advanced myocardial disease were evaluated by echocardiography. Fourteen were hypertensive; 16 were normotensive. In the former group, 7 subjects had hypertension alone; 7 had combined hypertension and alcoholism or ischemia. The latter group included 4 patients with ischemia, 6 patients with alcoholism, and 6 with idiopathic cardiomyopathy. Nine of the 14 hypertensives and 3 of 6 subjects with ischemic disease had diabetes. Compared to the normotensives, the hypertensive subjects had greater posterior wall thickness (10.4 ± 1.3 mm versus 8.3 ±1.1 mm) (p 32 mm in 12 of 16 hypertensive and in only 3 of 16 without hypertension.Reduction in the percentage of systolic thickening of the septum was more pronounced than that of the posterior wall in ...
Grass Evolution Inferred from Chromosomal Rearrangements and Geometrical and Statistical Features in RNA Structure

The grasses (Poaceae) represent a monophyletic lineage that arose about 70 million years ago. The lineage contains about 10,000 species that differ widely in morphology and physiology. Species show striking differences in genome size, a feature important in the context of conservation of gene content and order (synteny and colinearity) and in the extension of genomic information directly from one grass species to another using comparative approaches. Grass diversification has been a contentious issue, as the exact branching order of the various subfamilies has been difficult to establish with standard methods. This motivated an evolutionary study of deep phylogenetic relationships based on the structure of coding and non-coding RNA molecules and on chromosomal rearrangements. Phylogenetic relationships in the grass family were inferred directly from the structure of RNA using cladistic principles and considerations in statistical mechanics. Coded attributes describing topological and thermodynamic information embedded in RNA molecules were treated as linearly ordered multi-state characters and were polarized by fixing the direction of character transformation toward molecular order. Intrinsically rooted phylogenies derived from the structure of signal recognition particle (SRP) RNA, the mRNA encoded by the early nodulation gene enod40, the small subunit of ribosomal RNA (rRNA), and the internal transcribed spacer ITS1 of rRNA established an order for the diversification of major grass lineages, suggesting a sister relationship of the Pooideae and the PACCAD clade. This same conclusion was reached when large-scale chromosomal rearrangements derived from the comparative genetic mapping of cereal genomes were studied. Chromosomal complements aligned in the most parsimonious manner allowed identification and coding of characters depicting chromosomal translocations, insertions, and linkage block arrangements and the reconstruction of phylogenetic trees based on large-scale chromosomal structure. Congruent reconstruction of deep branching relationships using geometrical and statistical features of RNA structure and orthology and large scale chromosomal recombination events support assumptions of polarization in character argumentation, and fail to falsify the claim that extant grass chromosomes can be considered combinations of linkage blocks of an ancestor of the rice genome. Congruence also suggests that the universal tendency toward order in RNA and the search for the most parsimonious organization of be genome architecture appear to be mutually supported drivers of molecular evolution. The study clarifies the relationship of major clades in the grasses, shows that phylogenetic history can be reconstructed effectively from the combinatorial exchange of chromosomal linkage blocks, and reveals considerable phylogenetic signal embedded in the structure of signal polypeptide-coding mRNA molecules, describing an instance where mRNA structure is the subject of strong evolutionary constraint.
Solvent strength, selectivity and retention mechanism studies on polybutadiene-coated alumina columns in reversed-phase liquid chromatography

Abstract The effects of mobile phase composition and temperature on retention and methylene group selectivity were investigated for polybutadiene-coated alumina columns (PBD columns) using retention data for selected aromatic and aliphatic compounds including n-alkylbenzenes (C7C10) and n-alkanes (C5C7) collected on two different types of PBD columns and a silica-based C18 column using hydroorganic mobile phases containing acetonitrile (MeCN) or methanol (MeOH). A detailed comparison of solvent strength differences between MeCN and MeOH reveals the limitations of using the slope from a plot of log k′ vs. volume fraction of organic solvent as a measure of solvent strength in reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC). Part of the difference in strength between MeCN and MeOH observed for both the PBD and C18 columns, particularly in the region of mid-range composition where the differences are generally greater, can be explained by the much greater tendency for MeOH to associate with water. The greater difference in MeCN and MeOH observed for the PBD columns is probably due to the presence of unpolymerized CC bonds on the surface, which results in a stronger displacement-like interaction with MeCN. Although these double bonds may be the reason for MeCN's greater strength on the PBD phase, they apparently have little effect on the retention mechanism. The methylene group selectivity was very similar for the PBD and C18 columns (decreasing with increasing organic solvent), and the enthalpies of transfer were comparable. The methylene selectivity also decreased with increasing temperature for the PBD columns, another trend consistent with conventional RPLC phases. The less retentive nature of the PBD columns coupled with their similar methylene selectivity implies they might be better for the separation of a homologous series. Likewise, the greater difference in solvent strength between MeCN and MeOH on the PBD columns may be advantageous for the gradient elution of solutes with a very wide range of polarities.
Interfacial structure of platelike precipitates

Abstract By conventional and hot-stage electron microscopy, an attempt has been made to understand the mechanisms of coherency breakdown of platelike precipitates. The tH plate in Al-4% Cu alloy and the θ plate in Al-0·2% Au have been studied because they offer a suitably wide range of mismatch values. Hot-stage work on η has been particularly rewarding. Three mechanisms for the loss of coherency have been observed directly: (1) nucleation of dislocations at the periphery of the plates on the broad faces, (2) nucleation of vacancy type dislocation loops at the edges of the plates and their expansion through the precipitates, and (3) prismatic punching. The first two mechanisms operate frequently in both θ' and η, but the last mechanism was observed only in η, and rarely. The dislocations nucleated have Burgers vectors of the types (a/2)〈110〉 and a〈100〈. Detailed hot-stage observations have been made on how these dislocations multiply and subsequently interact to form equilibrium dislocation arrays with Bu...
An epidemiological test of the hyperinsulinemia-hypertension hypothesis

The association between hyperinsulinemia and hypertension was tested in a population of 421 men and 228 women from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Subjects are white, middle-class, generally healthy, community-dwelling volunteers who ranged in age from 17-95 yr. Those with disease or medications known to influence any of the studied variables were excluded from the analysis. Twenty-five percent of the subjects were borderline or hypertensive [systolic blood pressure (BP) > or = 140 or diastolic BP > or = 90 mm Hg]. Standard oral glucose tolerance tests were performed; the logarithms of the fasting insulin level and insulin area were used in the analyses. In addition, body mass index and percent body fat (from age and skinfold thickness equations) and waist hip ratio were computed. In simple correlations, systolic BP and diastolic BP were statistically significantly related to insulin levels (only 1-4% of the variance was explained). Since age, body fat, fat distribution, insulin levels, and BP were highly intercorrelated, insulin and blood pressure correlations were examined after controlling for the confounding variables. Correlations of BP and insulin levels adjusted for age, body fat, and fat distribution were entirely nonsignificant. In this large noninterventive population study, the hyperinsulinemia-hypertension hypothesis is not confirmed.
Perceiving alterations in trajectories while throwing in a virtual environment

The trend in immersive virtual environments (VEs) is to include the users in a more active role by having them interact with the environment and objects within the environment. Studying action and perception in VEs, then, becomes an increasingly interesting and important topic to study. We chose to study a user's ability to judge errors in self-produced motion; more specifically, we had users throw a ball underhanded and, using a two alternative forced choice procedure, had them judge the fidelity of the trajectory of their throws. We chose throwing because it is a fairly common activity that many people have experience with and also so that we could model our study on previous research [Reitsma and Pollard 2003; Reitsma et al. 2008]. We changed the trajectories of the throws with three perturbations by altering both the vertical and horizontal components of the ball's initial velocity and also by changing the magnitude of the gravity acting on the ball over the course of its flight. All three perturbations were added in both positive and negative directions. Discrimination thresholds were determined for each subject using a maximum likelihood function and from these thresholds we were able to form some conclusions about users' ability to perceive errors in motion caused by their actions. Unlike Reitsma et. al. [2003; 2008], there was no difference between a user's ability to perceive alterations in the vertical and horizontal velocities of the ball's motion, regardless of direction. Also, lower gravities were marginally easier to detect than higher gravities.
Antinociceptive effects of morphine injected into the nucleus parafascicularis thalami of the rat.

Abstract The antinociceptive action of morphine microinjected into the nucleus parafascicularis thalami (nPf) on pain behaviors organized at different levels of the neuraxis was examined in the rat. Behaviors organized at spinal (spinal motor reflexes, SMRs), medullary (vocalizations during shock, VDSs), and forebrain (vocalization afterdischarges, VADs) levels were elicited by noxious tailshock. Morphine administered into nPf generated dose-dependent increases in thresholds of VDS and VAD, but failed to elevate SMR thresholds. Increases in vocalization thresholds were reversed in a dose-dependent manner by the microinjection of the μ-opiate receptor antagonist, methylnaloxonium, into nPf. Results are discussed in terms of the relative influence of nPf-administered morphine on nociceptive processing at spinal versus supraspinal levels of the neuraxis.
Dynamical behavior of granular matter in low gravity (diamagnetic levitation)

Abstract We report studies on the dynamics of macroscopic particles in a low-gravity ‘magnetic levitation’ environment. In a real sense, this allows the investigation of new states of granular matter. Particle ensembles (rods, spheres, or grains) can be held in a weak confining potential due to diamagnetic forces in a high-field-resistive magnet. In such a case ‘ kT ’ is not zero, and assemblies of particles undergo ergodic processes to find the lowest configurational ground state. This new area presents unique problems for video data acquisition and mathematical descriptions of the complex dynamic motions, interactions, and configurations of single and multiple particle assemblies. Three examples of such processes are presented.
Identification of fibrin oligomers in sonicated fibrin clots

Abstract Clots of bovine fibrin, with both coarse and fine structure, and ligated to different extents by fibrinoliaase, have been broken up by ultrasonic agitation and the sonicates have been examined by ultracentrifugal sedimentation. Sonication is followed by gross aggregation of the fragments unless guanidine hydrochloride is introduced (order of 1 M). In that case, sonicates ofγ-ligated fine clots contain two species whose sedimentation coefficients correspond to fibrin monomer and an oligomer with twice the monomer cross-section area and at least 20 monomer units, presumably with the structure of lateral dimerization with staggered overlapping. If the γ ligation is incomplete, shorter oligomers are identified. The monomer and oligomer with degree of polymerization > 20 appear also in sonicates of coarse clots, but in smaller amounts, the principal product consisting of larger aggregates. The implications of these results with respect to metastability of the fine clot and the pattern of polymerization are discussed.
Literature in strategic management in the hospitality industry

Abstract This literature review of the research in strategic management in the hospitality industry covers the 2 year period of 2002–2003. Using a contingency model framework for the analysis the research reported in refereed journals in the field of hospitality is reported. Additionally, research that considered the context of the hospitality industry but published in non-hospitality refereed journals was also included. Key issues and needs in the area are provided at the conclusion.