cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Physical activity to address multimorbidity among survivors of sexual violence: A comprehensive narrative review

Abstract Background Sexual Violence (SV) is highly prevalent and experienced by women and men throughout the United States and world. Survivors of SV often experience poor mental and physical health, and poor health-related quality of life. Studies have explored the associations between SV survivorship and maladaptive health behaviors, but few have examined SV and health promoting activities such as exercise. Purpose The aim of this narrative review is to describe available peer-reviewed literature regarding SV and physical activity and provide recommendations for future research. Specifically, this review aimed to identify information relevant for promoting and designing exercise interventions that can integrate into clinical treatments for adult survivors of SV. Methods A search of electronic databases identified 18 articles on SV and exercise behavior. Results Four of these studies were exercise interventions, 10 were observational studies, and 4 were qualitative interviews. Results broadly indicate that levels of physical activity among survivors of SV is unclear. Findings from trials indicate exercise may have a positive impact on mental health in survivors of SV. Qualitative interviews found survivors often enjoyed exercising and identified several health benefits, suggesting exercise interventions may be feasible and acceptable in this population. Interviews also identified valuable information about survivors' experiences with exercise. Conclusions Research in this area would benefit from: representative samples of adults among populations at high risk for victimization, more consistent and in-depth reporting of SV history and exercise levels, consistent and trauma-informed outcome measurements, and more diverse study designs and interventions. Increased exploration of exercise in this population is warranted given the well-established evidence base indicating the health promoting qualities of exercise for mental and physical health among trauma affected populations.
Asymmetries in Dynamic Valgus Index After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Proof-of-Concept Study

Individuals with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) are at a higher risk for subsequent anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears. Risk factors for ACL injuries likely involve a combination of anatomical, biomechanical, and neuromuscular factors. Dynamic knee valgus has been indicated as a possible biomechanical factor for future ACL injuries. Given that knee valgus is often accompanied by contralateral pelvic drop during single-leg activities, a dynamic valgus index (DVI) that quantifies combined kinematics of the knee and hip in the frontal plane has recently been developed. As the premise of asymmetrical DVI between limbs in the ACLR population has not been examined, this cross-sectional study was conducted with the aim to compare DVI between individuals with ACLR and healthy controls. Videos were taken for 12 participants with ACLR and 20 healthy controls when they performed single-leg hopping. One-way ANOVA revealed a higher DVI in the injured limb of the ACLR group when compared to their non-injured limb and to the healthy limb of the control group. As our data showed increased DVI in the injured limb of the ACLR group, the DVI approach accounting for hip and knee kinematics may be used to identify frontal plane movement deficits during single-leg hopping in individuals with ACLR.
Coastal Zone Plan Implementation

The California Coastal Act of 1976 is designed to enhance public access and recreation, the marine environment, and coastal land resources by requiring development to be compatible with those objectives. A permanent Coastal Commission is established to control development through permits while working with local governments to revise their plans and ordinances in accordance with the Coastal Act. Upon satisfactory completion of local government plans and ordinances by 1981, most of the management of California's coastal zone is expected to be in the hands of local government but the Coastal Commission will continue in effect to review appeals from improper local government decisions and to review and approve amendments to local plans as may be necessary in the future.
mTOR Inhibitors in the Treatment of Breast Cancer

The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin (PI3K/mTOR) pathway is commonly dysregulated in breast cancer. In preclinical studies, hyperactivation of the PI3K pathway has been linked to resistance to both endocrine therapy and trastuzumab (Herceptin). Rapalogs, agents that primarily inhibit mTOR-raptor complex 1, have been studied in combination with endocrine therapy to overcome endocrine resistance.Trials of combination endocrine therapy and rapalogs in metastatic hormone receptor-positive breast cancer have demonstrated variable results. However, two independent trials have recently shown that combination everolimus (Afinitor) and tamoxifen or combination everolimus and exemestane (Aromasin) is more effective than either endocrine agent alone. These trials selected patients with cancer refractory to endocrine therapy, which may be important in sensitizing tumors to inhibition of this pathway. In human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer, the early clinical data with combinations of PI3K/mTOR inhibitors and anti-HER2 therapies are encouraging. Efforts to identify clinical biomarkers of response or resistance to mTOR inhibitors are ongoing. This review will summarize results of preclinical and clinical studies aswell as ongoing clinical trials with mTOR or dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitors.
Chemical relaxation of cyclic enzyme reactions: II. General kinetic treatment of four-step mechanisms☆

Abstract Five four-step mechanisms are considered, which contain at least two bimolecular steps in opposite direction. One system corresponds to the case that one substrate binds to enzyme first, and its product has to dissociate, before another kind of substrate binds to the enzyme for dissociation of its product later on. Another system corresponds to an enzyme, which binds two different substrates first (or a substrate and a co-enzyme) and releases then two different products from the ternary complex. The other three systems correspond to cases of one substrate and one product with two monomolecular interconversions. These monomolecular steps are either both in the free enzyme, or both in the enzymesubstrate-complex, or one each in free enzyme and in the binary complex. The relaxation times for the various possibilities for the slowest process are all derived under the experimentally important assumption of wide separation of processes. Relaxation times for the second-slowest processes are also derived, whenever their expressions did not appear yet in the literature.
The Second Amendment: Toward an Afro-Americanist Reconsideration

The often strident debate over the Second Amendment is like few others in American constitutional discourse and historiography. It is a constitutional debate that has taken place largely in the absence of Supreme Court opinion. It is a historical controversy where the framers' intentions have best been gleaned from indirect rather than direct evidence. It is a scholarly debate that members of the academy have been until recently somewhat reluctant to join, leaving the field to independent scholars primarily concerned with the modern gun control controversy. In short, the Second Amendment is an arena of constitutional jurisprudence that still awaits its philosopher. The debate over the Second Amendment is ultimately part of the larger debate over gun control, a debate about the extent to which the Amendment was either meant to be or should be interpreted as limiting the ability of government to prohibit or limit private ownership of firearms. Waged in the popular press, in the halls of Congress, and increasingly in historical and legal journals, two dominant interpretations have emerged. Advocates of stricter gun controls have tended to stress the Amendment's Militia Clause, arguing that the purpose of the Amendment was to ensure that state militias would be maintained against potential federal encroachment. This argument, embodying the collective rights theory, sees the framers' primary, indeed sole, concern as one with the concentration of military power in the hands of the federal government, and the corresponding need to ensure a decentralized military establishment largely under state control.
SIMULATION OF SIDE IMPACT USING THE CAL3D OCCUPANT SIMULATION MODEL

By applying some advanced features of the CAL3D occupant simulation model, a single model incorporating the vehicle structure and a simplified occupant was developed for studying the sensitivity of occupant response to parameter changes in perpendicular, vehicle-to-vehicle side impacts, not involving vehicle rotation. The results of the model show qualitative agreement with published experimental results, which indicate that occupant responses are related to the initial clearance of the occupant from the door, the stiffnesses of the front end of the impacting vehicle, and the side structure of the impacted vehicle.
Device performance analysis on 20nm technology thin wafers in a 3D package

This paper presents the impact of wafer thinning process on GLOBALFOUNDRIES high-k metal gate CMOS wafers with TSV. The initial study of wafer backside surface finish and thickness was performed on non-TSV wafers, and the impact on active devices such as: MOS (metal-oxide semiconductor) capacitors, ring oscillators, analog circuit performance and front end of line (FEOL) reliability macros was characterized. Based on the experimental results, a suitable wafer surface finish and thickness was selected for TSV wafer processing. The impact of wafer thinning on device performance was monitored at various stages of packaging, including before thinning, after thinning, end-of line (EOL), and post package reliability tests.
Genetic Algorithms for Vertex Splitting in DAGs

Directed Acyclic Graphs are often used to model circuits and networks. The path length in such Directed Acyclic Graphs represents circuit or network delays. In the vertex splitting problem, the objective is to determine a minimum number of vertices from the graph to split such that the resulting graph has no path of length greater than a given δ. The problem has been proven to be NP-hard. A Genetic Algorithm is used to solve the DAG Vertex Splitting Problem. This approach uses a variable string length to represent the vertices that split the graph and a dynamic population size. The focus of this paper is the comparison of two methods to reduce the string length and of two stepping methods to explore the search space. Experimental results have shown that the multiple binary stepping method outperforms the linear stepping method in yielding better solutions.
Linearity and gain control in V1 simple cells

The primary visual cortex (V1) is arguably the most studied area in the mammalian cortex, and one of the very few for which we can say something sensible about the computations that it performs. V1 cells are selective for the position, shape, size, velocity, color, and eye of presentation of a visual stimulus. The mechanism of this selectivity as well as its rationale have recently begun to be understood, although some aspects still constitute an area of intense debate.
Interactive Knowing: The Metaphysics of Intentionality

I argue that the Parmenidean argument against the possibility of change initiated a metaphysical response that (1) has dominated Western thought since, and (2) creates aporia for understanding mental phenomena. A return to a process framework is consistent with historical trends, consistent with contemporary physics, and permits metaphysical emergence – most especially the emergence of normative function and representation: intentionality. I show that contemporary alternative models of representation are still caught in the classic assumptions and, in consequence, cannot model or account for the inherent normative issues (Bickhard 2010).
Cytomegalovirus-associated hemophagocytic syndrome.

Virus-associated hemophagocytic syndrome, first described by Risdall and co-workers in 1979,1 is a rare histiocytic proliferative syndrome characterzed by fever, hepatosplenomegaly, pancytopenia, and erythrophagocytosis by histiocytes that appear benign by histologic criteria. The clinical course and pathologic findings may be identical with another histiocytic disorder, familial erythrophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, which occurs predominantly in infants. Diagnosis of virus-associated hemophagocytic syndrome depends entirely on evidence of concurrent viral infection, usually of the herpes group. Epstein-Barr virus has been associated with this syndrome in the few cases reported in children without underlying disease, whereas cytomegalovirus (CMV) has been implicated in immunosuppressed patients. We report a case of fatal CMV-associated hemophagocytic syndrome which occurred in a previously healthy infant.
Photonics applications for measurements, communications and computers

Summary form only given. Photonic devices and systems are becoming pervasive in many applications in measurements, communications and computers. The use of optoelectronic, fiber-optic, integrated-optic, and micro-optic components in sensors, instruments, process monitoring and control, telecom transceivers, datacom transceivers, automobile instrumentation and control circuitry, displays, computer interconnections, and optical memories and switching elements are examples of the importance of photonics to the information age of the 21st Century.
A Temporal Extension of the Bayesian Aerosol Release Detector

Early detection of bio-terrorist attacks is an important problem in public health surveillance. In this paper, we focus on the detection and characterization of outdoor aerosol releases of Bacillus anthracis . Recent research has shown promising results of early detection using Bayesian inference from syndromic data in conjunction with meteorological and geographical data [1]. Here we propose an extension of this algorithm that models multiple days of syndromic data to better exploit the temporal characteristics of anthrax outbreaks. Motivations, mechanism and evaluation of our proposed algorithm are described and discussed. An improvement is shown in timeliness of detection on simulated outdoor aerosol Bacillus anthracis releases.
CoolMOS integral diode: a simple analytical reverse recovery model

Super-junction technology has pushed the silicon limits to new heights. The CoolMOS/spl trade/ device is based on the super-junction technology and provides high on-state conductivity with ultra fast switching speed. However, the dynamic behavior of the intrinsic body diode may limit its usage in converter topologies where the body junction diode conducts. In this paper, we report on the static blocking and reverse recovery charge dynamics of the CoolMOS body junction diode. An explanation of the diode reverse recovery mechanism is provided and a model for its charge dynamics is presented and validated with the measured results.
An application of multivariate statistics to land-use planning: classifying land units into homogeneous zones.

A multivariate statistical procedure is presented for classifying a collection of di- verse land units, encompassing an extensive wildland area, into homogeneous zones for land management planning purposes. A specific example is presented for use in fire management planning on the Angeles National Forest in southern California. Interpretations of the structure underlying geomorphic and land-use variations between drainage basins aid in differentiating the long-term fire damage-potential in forest zones. FOREST SCI. 25:399--414. WILDLAND MANAGERS are often faced with the task of combining similar land units within an extensive area into zones which may be considered homogeneous for planning purposes. This classification problem may be solvable by inspection if the basic land units are few in number and differ with respect to only one or two characteristics of interest. A common solution in such !an instance utilizes a set of graphical or tabular overlays, each encoding particular unit attributes. However, the overwhelming number of comparisons required for a large number of units with many distinguishing attributes renders a visual overlay system im- practical for classification purposes. Even with a digitized computer system the decision rules for placing units into zones may not be straightforward. For example, the designation of ecological land units for forest description and management may require that numerous land units be compared in terms of slope steepness, aspect, microclimate, vegetation, soil and geologic properties, land use, and drainage features. The planning task will be confounded by the degree to which these measures co-vary between an increasing number of land units. This paper presents an approach to solving the land classification problem when there is a plurality of variables which distinguish a collection of land units. The example illustrates an application in fire management planning, but the general technique might be suitable to a variety of situations, such as the formation of planning units from a given set of habitat types. In the current application, the
Dissonant Echoes of the Great War: Avant- garde, Urban Space, and Immigrant Voices in Armando Discépolo's Babilonia

El presente ensayo propone que el problema de la Primera Guerra Mundial es central a la metafora de la "diseminacion" en la produccion cultural argentina de los anos 20. La metafora es examinada en relacion a la modernidad y el espacio urbano, en Babilonia de Armado Discepolo (1925) y la serie de pinturas "Puerto" (1923-1925) de Xul Solar. Mediante una lectura contextualizada de Babilonia , el ensayo analiza las nacionalidades y las lenguas diseminadas en la epoca en que los inmigrantes europeos de la postguerra presentaban una "amenaza" a la pureza nacional. La metafora babilonica se asocia con las imagenes de la distraccion, diseminacion y destruccion. Esto es de particular importancia para el analisis, especialmente con respecto a la presencia de la metafora babilonica de diseminacion junto al criollismo y las emergentes corrientes vanguardistas en Argentina (Duchamp en Buenos Aires, 1918-19, Marinetti en 1926, Borges, Girondo). Abstract The present essay proposes that the problem of WWI is central to the "dissemination" trope of the Argentine cultural production in the 1920’s. The trope is examined in relation to modernity and urban space, in Armando Discepolo’s Babilonia (1925) and Xul Solar’s "Puerto" paintings (1923-1925). Through a contextualized reading of Babilonia , the essay analyzes the disseminated nationalities and languages, at a time when post WWI European immigrants presented a "threat" to national purity. Babylonian trope is associated with images of distraction, dissemination, and destruction. This is of particular importance for the analysis, especially with regard to the presence of Babylonian "dissemination" trope alongside criollismo and the emergent avant-garde currents in Argentina (Duchamp in Buenos Aires 1918-19, Marinetti in 1926, Borges, Girondo).
The severity of the metabolic syndrome increases over time within individuals, independent of baseline metabolic syndrome status and medication use: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.

Abstract Background and aims The severity of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) is linked to future cardiovascular disease. However, it is unclear whether MetS severity increases among individuals followed over time. Methods We assessed changes in a sex- and race/ethnicity-specific MetS severity Z-score over a 10-year period (visits 1–4) among 9291 participants of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study cohort. We compared sex- and racial/ethnic subgroups for the rate of change in the MetS severity score and MetS prevalence as assessed using traditional ATP-III MetS criteria. We further examined effects of use of medications for hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia. Results Over the 10 years of follow-up, MetS severity Z-scores increased in 76% of participants from an overall mean of 0.08 ± 0.77 at baseline to 0.48 ± 0.96 at visit 4 with the greatest progression in scores observed among African-American women. Baseline MetS severity scores predicted the time until ATP-III MetS diagnosis, with a model-predicted 77.5% of individuals with a visit 1 MetS severity score of 0.75 progressing to ATP-III MetS within 10 years. The rate of increase in MetS severity score was higher among those younger at baseline but was independent of baseline MetS status or the use of medications to treat blood pressure, lipids and diabetes. Conclusion The severity of metabolic derangements as measured using this MetS severity score increases over time within individuals and predicts diagnosis of ATP-III MetS. These data may have implications for tracking MetS related risk within individuals over time.
Child Pornography Offending

Advancements in technology and the advent of the internet have resulted in a recent proliferation of child pornography (CP) offending. This growth in CP has captured the attention of law enforcement, clinicians, and researchers. This entry focuses on some of the key issues surrounding CP offending, including its conceptualization, etiology, offender characteristics, associated behaviors, prognosis, and treatment. A growing body of somewhat limited research provides a basis for better understanding CP offending. This entry presents some of the major limitations of research on CP offending, as well as promising avenues for future research. Keywords: child pornography; child sexual abuse; pedophilia; pornography; sex offenders; sexual deviance
Muscimol induced feeding: A model to study the hypothalamic regulation of appetite

Abstract Intraventricular administration of the GABA agonist, muscimol, reliably induces feeding in sated rats in a dose dependent manner over a range from 50 to 500 ng. We used this pharmacological stimulant of appetite to examine the interrelationships of the peptides and monoamines involved in the hypothalamic regulation of appetite. Eating induced by muscimol (500 ng ICV) was suppressed by the opiate antagonist, naloxone; the dopamine antagonist, haloperidol; the cholinergic antagonist, atropine and by calcitonin. We could demonstrate no effect of thyrotropin releasing hormone or its metabolite histidyl-proline diketopiperazine or cholecystokinin-octapeptide, bombesin, isoproterenol, or phentolamine in doses known to suppress appetite. Based on these experimental results we propose a model of intrahypothalamic appetite regulation.
Nonequilibrium theory of scanning tunneling spectroscopy via adsorbate resonances: Nonmagnetic and Kondo impurities

We report on a fully nonequilibrium theory of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) through resonances induced by impurity atoms adsorbed on metal surfaces. The theory takes into account the effect of tunneling current and finite bias on the system, and is valid for arbitrary intra-adsorbate electron correlation strength. It is thus applicable to recent STM experiments on Kondo impurities. We discuss the finite-temperature effects and the consequences of atomic scale resolution of the STM for the spectral property of such systems. We find that the tip position affects the resonance line shapes in two ways. As a function of the distance from the surface, the line shapes vary due to the different extents of the adsorbate and metal wave functions into the vacuum. However, we do not expect large variations in line shapes unless tunneling into the tightly bound adsorbate states is considerable, or nonequilibrium effects are significant. As a function of the lateral tip position, line shapes should not change significantly on length scales of ${R}_{\ensuremath{\parallel}}l~10\AA{}$ under typical experimental conditions when the electrons tunnel into the perturbed bulk conduction states hybridized with the outer shell $\mathrm{sp}$ adsorbate orbitals. Tunneling into surfaces states on (111) surfaces of noble metals should be important for an observation of resonance at larger distances (g10 \AA{}), and oscillatory variations in the line shape should develop. This long-range behavior was not resolved in recent experiments with Kondo impurities. The temperature dependence of the Kondo resonance cannot be deduced directly from the differential conductance, as the thermal broadening of the tip Fermi surface produces qualitatively similar effects of comparable and larger magnitudes. A careful deconvolution is necessary to extract the temperature dependence of the Kondo resonance. The finite-bias current-induced nonequilibrium effects in tunneling through Kondo impurities should produce a characteristic broadening of the resonance in the case of strong hybridization of the discrete state with the STM tip.
Widespread Vesiculobullous Eruption in an Adolescent Girl

An adolescent girl presented with a vesiculobullous eruption that worsened over the course of 3 weeks. The patient reported a medical history significant for alopecia areata, and additional symptoms including chronic fatigue and intermittent nonswelling arthralgia. The patient initially presented to her primary care clinicianwith smooth erythematous pruritic plaques on the chin and neck. Believed to be poison ivy, her erythematous eruption was treated with oral corticosteroids and diphenhydramine. The lesions generalized 2 days later to the periorbital region, nose, arms, groin, and buttocks. In addition, the lesions became vesicular in nature. A physical examination demonstrated multiple tense pruritic fluidfilled blisters (Figure, A). A 4-mm punch biopsy was performed. Serologic findings demonstrated positive antinuclear antibody titers at 1:1280, anti–double-stranded DNA at 207 IU/mL and the presence of anti-RNP and Smith antibodies. Antiphospholipid, β2-glycoprotein, anti-Ro/SSA, andanti-La/SSBantibodieswerenot detected. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein level were both within reference range. What is your diagnosis?
A novel circuit to achieve high linearity in power amplifiers for WCDMA cellular base transceiver stations

This paper presents a novel circuit to minimize the third order intermodulation distortion component and thus improves the linearity of power amplifiers. The circuit utilizes the nonlinear base-collector and base-emitter diode capacitances of a transistor biased in the saturation region to provide a nonlinear feedback path between the output and input of the amplifier. This concept was implemented in the design of a two watt power amplifier in InGaP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistor process. The design demonstrated 51 dBm of output third order intercept point at 17 dBm/tone output power level at 2140 MHz in the WCDMA band. The output P1dB was measured to be about 32 dBm. The amplifier is externally matched, thus provides flexibility to optimize the amplifier across a specific frequency band of interest between 400 MHz and 2700 MHz.
Reinvestigation of the effect of heat pretreatment of corn fiber and corn germ on the levels of extractable tocopherols and tocotrienols.

We previously reported that heat pretreatment of corn fiber (150 °C, 1 h) caused a tenfold increase in the levels of extractable γ-tocopherol. The current study was a reinvestigation of the previous effect, using improved methods (HPLC with fluorescence detection, diode-array UV detection, and mass spectrometry) for tocol analysis. Heat pretreatment did not cause an increase in the levels of any of the tocopherols or tocotrienols in corn fiber oil, but lowered the levels of three of the tocols and had no effect on the levels of the other two tocols. Heat pretreatment of corn germ had a similar effect. UV and mass spectra indicated that the peak that we had identified as γ-tocopherol in our previous report was probably a mixture of oxidation products of triacylglycerols. Thus, heat treatment of corn germ or other corn-oil containing fractions at high temperatures leads to decreases in γ-tocopherol, γ-tocotrienol, and δ-tocotrienol and to the production of triacylglycerol oxidation products. Keywords: Heat;...
Improving Legacy-System Sustainability: A Systematic Approach

This article defines a legacy system as an aggregate package of software and hardware solutions whose languages, standards, codes, and technologies belong to a prior generation or era of innovation. By this definition, all technology solutions will ultimately become legacy systems. So IT professionals and managers should prepare to manage legacy systems throughout their careers, and software experts and engineers should focus not only on software development but also, after deployment, on the operational phase. Further more, organizations that use software and the vendors that sell and maintain it could benefit from an intentional, formalized, and data-driven approach for making decisions about legacy systems- that is, a systematic approach for evaluating them.
Influence of silver nanoparticle addition, porosity, and processing technique on the mechanical properties of Ba0.3Co4Sb12 skutterudites

The thermoelectric skutterudite Ba0.3Co4Sb12 is a promising candidate for waste heat recovery applications. Recently, it was demonstrated that the addition of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) to Ba0.3Co4Sb12 increases both the thermoelectric figure of merit and electrical conductivity. This study is the first to examine the effect of AgNP addition on the material’s mechanical properties. This study also found that the Young’s modulus, E, shear modulus, G, and bulk modulus, B, decreased linearly with increasing volume fraction porosity, P. Resonant ultrasound spectroscopy was employed to measure the elastic moduli, and Vickers indentation was used to determine the hardness, H, and fracture toughness, K C. Trends in the mechanical properties as a function of grain size, porosity, and the AgNP are discussed in terms of the pertinent literature. While K C was independent of AgNP addition, porosity, and grain size, both E and H decreased linearly with increasing porosity. In addition, this study is the first to identify (i) the Ag3Sb phase formed and (ii) the enhanced densification that occurs when the AgNP is sintered with Ba0.3Co4Sb12 powders, where both effects are consistent with the eutectic and peritectic reactions observed in the binary phase diagram Ag–Sb. These eutectic/peritectic reactions may also be linked to the enhancement of electrical conductivity previously observed when Ag is added to Ba0.3Co4Sb12. Also, similar beneficial eutectic/peritectic reactions may be available for other systems where conductive particles are added to other antimonides or other thermoelectric systems.
Isolation of an activator of bilirubin glucuronyltransferase from normal and jaundiced gunn rats

A microsomal activator of the UDP-glucuronyltransferase for bilirubin has been isolated from lubrol solubilized and salt fractionated liver microsomes. The activator has been partially purified by anion exchange and molecular sieving chromatography and found to have a molecular weight of about 60 kDa. The activator is present in liver from normal and bilirubin UDP-glucuronyltransferase deficient Gunn rats. When tested with purified UDP-glucuronyltransferase for bilirubin it accelerated the conjugation rate 10 fold but with the purified UDP-paranitrophenol transferase the rate of conjugation was increased only 1.5 times.
B physics: Recent results from CLEO☆

Abstract CLEO's large sample of ♥(4S) decays has yielded measurements of the various exclusive semileptonic decays: ( B 0 , B − ) → (D + , D ∗ + )l \ gn l and (D 0 , D ∗ 0 )l \ gn l . These imply the ratio of the charged and neutral lifetimes to be τ − / τ 0 = 0.89 ± 0.23. The (model dependent) vector/pseudoscalar decay-width ratio is found to be 2.6 ± 1.1. In contrast to this important but not unexpected result is the observation of ♥(4S) decays to non- B B states, as evidenced by φ's beyond the kinematic limit for B B decay. No compelling explanation is known for the branching ratio of greater than 0.2 percent.
Autonomous machine learning of effective control strategies with connectionist-net

We report on an investigation of the feasibility of using connectionist-nets of the Rumelhart semi-linear feedforward type for learning and exercising intelligent system control. Of particular interest is the ability of such nets to discover the basis for decision and control. Of great interest also is an unexpected finding that such nets automatically build up a great deal of redundancy within itself so that it has a certain holographic quality to it and its performance degrades gradually with internal damage.
CpG methylation inhibits binding of several sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins from pea, wheat, soybean and cauliflower

To elucidate how methylation of specific sites in plant DNA might control transcription, we examined the effect of DNA methylation at CpG sequences on the binding of plant nuclear factors to an oligonucleotide duplex containing the consensus sequence for mammalian CREB (cAMP response element binding protein). CREB is part of the ATF (activating transcription factor) family of mammalian proteins specifically binding to 5′-TGACGTCA-3′ and related sequences. Proteins recognizing the CREB-specific ligand were identified in nuclear extracts of pea seeds wheat germ, cauliflower, and soybean leaves using electrophoretic mobility shift assays. Cytosine methylation inhibited binding of this protein in all these extracts, and so this sequence-specific DNA-binding activity is referred to as methylation-inhibited binding protein 1 (MIB-1). Sites somewhat similar to that of the CREB ligand are found in the upstream regions of a wheat histone H3 gene and tomato and pea ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase genes. These sites were bound preferentially by distinct proteins that may be related to the previously described plant proteins HBP-1, HSBF, ASF-1, or GBF. Methylation of cytosine residues at these sites and at a site for MIB-1 located upstream of a soybean proline-rich protein gene also reduced specific binding with all the nuclear extracts tested. Similarly, substitution of the central CpG dinucleotide with TpG decreased binding.
Changes in adrenal dopamine concentration after metyrapone or ACTH administration: implications for the in vivo regulation of dopamine beta-hydroxylase by glucocorticoids.

Abstract In vitro studies have demonstrated that rat adrenal dopamine beta-hydroxylase activity is controlled by neural input and by glucocorticoid production. However, beta-hydroxylation of dopamine in vivo is a first-order reaction and may be considerably slower than the maximal rate determined by in vitro methods. To estimate the in vivo reaction rate the concentrations of dopamine (substrate) and of beta-hydroxylated catecholamine (product) were measured as a function of endogenous glucocorticoid production. Beta-hydroxylated catecholamine changed little but dopamine was increased 2-fold or more 17.5 h after the inhibition of steroidogenesis with metyrapone. Dopamine was also increased by metyrapone in animals with pre-existing adrenal denervation. ACTH 17.5 h before sacrifice caused only slight changes in normal rats but reduced the increase in dopamine caused by stress. The results indicate that adrenal dopamine concentration is inversely related to glucocorticoid production at a given level of neural input and provide in vivo evidence that glucocorticoids maintain dopamine beta-hydroxylase activity in the adrenal gland.
Sulfur–Aromatic Interactions: A Computational Study of the Dimethyl Sulfide–Benzene Complex☆

Abstract To investigate sulfur–aromatic interactions, intermolecular interaction energies between dimethyl sulfide and benzene were computed using ab initio molecular orbital calculations. Inclusion of electron correlation at the MP2 level predicted significantly more stable complexes compared to Hartree–Fock calculations, whereas density functional theory with the B3LYP functional shows no improvement over Hartree–Fock calculations. The molecular mechanics force fields AMBER95 and OPLS-AA were successful in reproducing the MP2 results.
Temperature dependence of cone pigment regeneration in the isolated frog retina following flash and continuous bleaches.

Abstract The rate of regeneration of frog 580 cone pigment (λ max = 580 nm) is measured at 23.11 and 4°C following both flash (1 msec) and continuous (5-min) bleaches. We find that: (1) at 23°C the cone pigment regenerates more rapidly following the flash bleach ( t 1 = 1.5 min ) than following the continuous bleach ( t 1 = 8.5min ): (2) regeneration following the flash bleach is more temperature-dependent than the regeneration following the continuous bleach. This difference in temperature dependence results in almost equal rates of regeneration when the temperature is lowered to 4°C (flash bleach, t 1 = 15 min : continuous bleach. t 1 = 14 min ): (3) more pigment regenerates at lower temperatures. Possible mechanisms responsible for these results are discussed.
Multiple equilibria and progressive taxation of labor income

Abstract This paper shows that in a one-sector real business cycle model with strong increasing returns in production, progressive taxation of labor income can stabilize the economy against sunspot fluctuations, even when the capital tax schedule is flat. This result is consistent with the US tax code in which labor-income taxation is more progressive than capital-income taxation.
A scatter model for vegetation up to Ku-band

A scatter model is developed based on the matrix doubling method for volume scattering and the Kirchhoff method in rough surface scattering. Scattering from vegetation is assumed to be dominated by leaves and a single leaf is modeled by a thin dielectric disk. In developing the phase matrix for the disk, field within the disk is taken to be constant over the disk thickness, but phase changes across the surface of the disk are accounted for. Comparisons of this scatter model with radar measurements indicate good agreements in polarization, angular trends, and frequency up to Ku-band. This represents a considerable improvement over low-frequency scatter models which are valid up to S-band.
The impacts of an invasive species citizen science training program on participant attitudes, behavior, and science literacy.

Citizen science can make major contributions to informal science education by targeting participants’ attitudes and knowledge about science while changing human behavior towards the environment. We examined how training associated with an invasive species citizen science program affected participants in these areas. We found no changes in science literacy or overall attitudes between tests administered just before and after a one-day training program, matching results from other studies. However, we found improvements in science literacy and knowledge using context-specific measures and in self-reported intention to engage in proenvironmental activities. While we noted modest change in knowledge and attitudes, we found comparison and interpretation of these data difficult in the absence of other studies using similar measures. We suggest that alternative survey instruments are needed and should be calibrated appropriately to the pre-existing attitudes, behavior, and levels of knowledge in these relatively sophisticated target groups.
Electromigration Testing of Ti/Al-Si Metallization for Integrated Circuits

Electromigration tests have been performed on a two layer metal system consisting of a thin Ti barrier (0.1-0.175?m) underlying a 1.0-1.25 ?m conductor of Al-Si. The titanium not only acts as a diffusion barrier against contact spiking, but also maintains electrical continuity in the event of void formation in the Al-Si layer. It is shown that large resistance transients can occur during electromigration stressing. The characteristics of these transients including their dependence on temperature and current density have been studied experimentally. Theoretical estimates of the resistance increase caused by creating a gap in an aluminum line are made. The self heating in the surrounding area, due to current diversion into the Ti underlayer is also calculated. Finally, a new failure criteria is defined for Ti/Al-Si.
Thin-film growth and the shadow instability.

We propose a growth model for deposition of thin amorphous films by the sputtering technique. For small values of the diffusion constant, the film develops a self-similar mountain landscape. As the diffusion constant is increased a regime is reached where growth of compact flat films is possible up to a critical height. Further deposition leads to surface roughening.
Overall stability of pin-jointed frameworks after the onset of elastic buckling

The total potential energy surfaces (ΔV-surfaces) in the adjacent neighborhood of the initial position of the two perfect pin-jointed frames studied in examples 1 and 2 are confined to a three-dimensional space since only two of the members were assumed to be on the point of buckling. If however more than two members of a frame can contract flexurally, the representation of the ΔV-surfaces is not so simple. The negative regions of the ΔV-surface are of primary interest in the study of the post-buckling hehaviour of a frame since then an accelerated motion of the system away from the initial position of the frame may ensue. Therefore in the case of a multi-dimensional surface the location of the negative regions of the surface and the evaluation of the corresponding unstable modes of the given frame may be carried out more conveniently analytically using the expressions given by (2.8) and (2.9).
Alternative large-N limit for QCD and its implications for low-energy nuclear phenomena.

The Corrigan-Ramond model for large-{ital N} QCD is analyzed in detail. The spectrum, leading-order results for interactions, and an effective Lagrangian describing large-{ital N} interactions are derived. This Lagrangian, when quantized, provides an effective quantum field theory for mesons and baryons. The applicability of such a theory to low-energy nuclear phenomena is studied. The model has features that distinguish it clearly from standard large-{ital N} QCD.
Trait-associated SNPs are more likely to be eQTLs: annotation to enhance discovery from GWAS.

Although genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of complex traits have yielded more reproducible associations than had been discovered using any other approach, the loci characterized to date do not account for much of the heritability to such traits and, in general, have not led to improved understanding of the biology underlying complex phenotypes. Using a web site we developed to serve results of expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) studies in lymphoblastoid cell lines from HapMap samples (http://www.scandb.org), we show that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with complex traits (from http://www.genome.gov/gwastudies/) are significantly more likely to be eQTLs than minor-allele-frequency–matched SNPs chosen from high-throughput GWAS platforms. These findings are robust across a range of thresholds for establishing eQTLs (p-values from 10−4–10−8), and a broad spectrum of human complex traits. Analyses of GWAS data from the Wellcome Trust studies confirm that annotating SNPs with a score reflecting the strength of the evidence that the SNP is an eQTL can improve the ability to discover true associations and clarify the nature of the mechanism driving the associations. Our results showing that trait-associated SNPs are more likely to be eQTLs and that application of this information can enhance discovery of trait-associated SNPs for complex phenotypes raise the possibility that we can utilize this information both to increase the heritability explained by identifiable genetic factors and to gain a better understanding of the biology underlying complex traits.
Stimulus characteristics which lessen the impact of threshold fine structure on estimates of hearing status.

Abstract When hearing thresholds are measured with high-frequency resolution there is a pseudo-periodic variation in thresholds across frequency of up to 15–20 dB. This variation is called threshold fine structure (previously referred to as threshold microstructure). Consequently, estimates of auditory status based on threshold measures can depend greatly on the specific frequency evaluated. The impact of threshold fine structure on the prediction of auditory status was examined by measuring detection thresholds of pure tones (providing an indication of threshold fine structure) and comparing them with thresholds obtained using linear sweeps, sinusoidally frequency modulated tones, and narrow-band noise. Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SOAEs) were also obtained to confirm the established relationship between threshold fine structure and SOAEs. Thresholds obtained using linear sweeps and narrow-band noise provided stable threshold estimates indicating that such threshold estimates were less influenced by threshold fine structure. Consequently, thresholds obtained with these stimuli may provide estimates of cochlear status less dependent of the exact frequency being evaluated, permitting better prediction of performance on other psychoacoustic measures (such as cochlear tuning and loudness perception) and the properties of their more objective measures (such as otoacoustic emissions).
Transmural distribution of myocardial blood perfusion and phasic coronary blood flow pattern in a canine model of acute ischemia

Abstract Background Although several investigators have analyzed coronary artery blood flow under various conditions, almost all these studies have measured only some branches of the left anterior descending (LAD), left circumflex (LCX), or right coronary (RCA) artery. Methods In a canine model of acute ischemia ( n =5), we simultaneously assessed (a) regional myocardial blood perfusion using microspheres and (b) phasic coronary blood flow patterns as measured by three epicardial flow probes placed around the LAD, LCX, and RCA. Results The results from this study indicated that the LAD supplies blood to the epicardial ( r =0.687, p r =0.556, p =0.0021), and endocardial layers ( r =0.666, p =0.0001) of the LAD area; the LCX supplies the midwall ( r =0.514, p =0.0051) and endocardial layer ( r =0.621, p =0.0004) of the LCX area, antero-lateral papillary muscle ( r =0.548, p =0.0025), and postero-medial papillary muscle ( r =0.641, p =0.0002), especially during the diastolic phase; and the RCA supplies the right ventricular apex ( r =0.559, p =0.0020), left atrium ( r =0.618, p =0.0005), right atrium ( r =0.471, p =0.0114), and postero-medial papillary muscle ( r =0.486, p =0.0088), especially during the systolic phase. Conclusions These results are potentially relevant to understanding the physiology of myocardial blood perfusion and to improving treatment of acute myocardial ischemia and infarction.
Divergent Validity and the Measurement of Processing Capacity

This study examines the divergent validity of the neo-Piagetian measures of processing capacity by reanalysing two factor-analytic studies of processing capacity (Case & Globerson, 1974; Morra, 1994). The reanalyses found that the assumption of orthogonal, independent, factors used in the studies was not warranted. Rather, it appears that although processing capacity tasks do fall on one factor, this factor is highly related to a factor traditionally identified as fluid/spatial intelligence. Implications for neo-Piagetian theory and research are discussed.