cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Credit in a Crisis: Effects of the Fed's Corporate Bond Market Intervention

We estimate the effects of the Federal Reserve’s Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facilities (SMCCF) on corporate bond market liquidity, yield, bond valuations and firm-level outcomes. Using comprehensive data on secondary market transactions in a diff-in-diff analysis, we find the SMCCF reduced trade-weighted average bid-ask spreads by 16 basis points and yield by 32 basis points, while the effect on corporate bond valuations was positive but economically small. Improvements in liquidity condition and valuation was driven primarily by the announcement of the facilities, while bond yield was driven down by actual purchases of eligible securities. When we augment this analysis with a credit-rating matched diff-in-diff, the reduction in yield is much larger. Matched firm-bond data indicate issuers increased their share of long-term debt, yet this effect is primarily driven by a flight-to-safety channel rather than SMCCF eligibility. While all issuers (eligible and ineligible) raised cash holdings, we find no evidence that eligible issuers raised capital expenditure. Overall, our results confirm the Fed's intervention helped restore financial stability in the secondary corporate bond market following disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, but had relatively small net effect at the firm-level.
Unraveling Site Selective Magnetic Properties of Cobalt Sites in Critical Elements Lean RE(TM)5 Magnet Materials

We report here our discovery of crystallographic and interstitial sites and onsite electron correlation propelled intrinsic and derived permanent magnetic properties of critical elements lean RE(TM)5 (RE = La, Ce and TM = Fe, Co) magnet materials. A full potential linearized augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method within the local density approximation (LDA) is used to investigate and analyze the electronic structure and magnetism of these RE(TM)5 type structures. To better correlate the experimental results, the effective Coulomb (U) and exchange (J) interactions (Hubbard parameters) are crucial at the transition metal sites. Results show that the main propeller of magnetic anisotropy in these compounds is the cobalt atoms at the 2c sites not the 3g sites. This site-specific property and site preference energetics are used to replace 3g sites with non-critical elements such as iron that exhibits a larger magnetic moment. Based on this strategic replacement, we predict two new compounds that have a larger hardness parameter with a relatively large energy product due to the atomic dilution caused by interstitial addition of nitrogen in the compounds: CeCo2Fe3N2 and LaCo2Fe3N2.
Laser Microbeams for Partial Cell Irradiation

Publisher Summary Lasers have been used in microbeam irradiation for almost 10 years. In that short period of time, they have been applied to the investigation of a wide variety of organisms and cell types. Many of the problems of the laser microbeam remain unsolved; of them the most important is dosimetry. Dosimetric measurements are often difficult to obtain and therefore are frequently neglected. The number of laser wavelengths available is no longer a severe limitation. This chapter considers the laser microbeam in the classic sense: as a device for partial cell irradiation (or partial organism irradiation) for the purpose of studying cell function and radiosensitivity. The unique properties of the laser, however, permit its incorporation into several microbeam-like systems designed for analytical studies. The laser has contributed considerably to the classic technique of partial cell irradiation, augmenting the existing procedures developed with ionizing and classic UV sources. In addition, the use of lasers in various analytical devices contributes to the knowledge of biological systems.
Increasing incidence of enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma in the United States, 1973-2008.

BACKGROUND: Enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma (EATL) is a rare lymphoma subtype that is strongly associated with celiac disease (CD), an autoimmune disease triggered by the ingestion of gluten. Because CD rates are increasing in the United States, the authors sought to determine whether the incidence rates of EATL also are increasing. METHODS: The authors identified patients with primary, pathologically confirmed lymphoma in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database registries from 1973 to 2008. To ensure capture of all cases of EATL, the following lymphoma subtypes, limited to the small bowel, were included: non-Hodgkin lymphoma not otherwise specified (NOS) T-cell, peripheral T-cell lymphoma NOS, and enteropathy type T-cell lymphoma, and their age-adjusted and sex-adjusted incidence rates were calculated over time. Survival was estimated using Kaplan-Meier curves. RESULTS: In total, the authors identified 161 small bowel lymphomas that were diagnosed between 1973 and 2008. The overall age-adjusted and sex-adjusted annual incidence for all bowel lymphomas was 0.016 per 100,000 population, which increased over the study period from 0.006 to 0.024 per 100,000 population. These tumors were most common in men (age-adjusted incidence rate, 0.021 per 100,000) with the highest incidence rate in Hispanics (age-adjusted incidence rate, 0.033 per 100,000). The median overall survival was 7 months. There was no difference in survival by race/ethnicity (P = .09) or sex (P = .06). CONCLUSIONS: The current results indicated a significant increase in the incidence of EATL in the United States, which may reflect the increasing seroprevalence of CD and better recognition of rare types of T-cell lymphomas. The incidence may continue to rise given the large ratio of undiagnosed-to-diagnosed individuals with CD in the United States. Cancer 2012. © 2011 American Cancer Society.
Heat Shock Protein 70 Is Secreted from Tumor Cells by a Nonclassical Pathway Involving Lysosomal Endosomes

Heat shock protein (HSP)70 can be released from tumor cells and stimulate a potent antitumor immune response. However, HSP70 does not contain a consensus secretory signal and thus cannot traverse the plasma membrane by conventional mechanisms. We have observed HSP70 release from intact human prostate carcinoma cell lines (PC-3 and LNCaP) by a mechanism independent of de novo HSP70 synthesis or cell death. This pathway is similar to one used by the leaderless protein IL-1β. Our studies show that HSP70 release involves transit though an endolysosomal compartment and is inhibited by lysosomotropic compounds. In addition, the rate of HSP70 secretion correlates well with the appearance of the lysosomal marker LAMP1 on the cell surface, further suggesting the role for endolysosomes. The entry of HSP70 into this secretory compartment appears to involve the ABC family transporter proteins and ABC transporter inhibitor glibenclamide antagonizes secretion. Although the cell signals involved in triggering stress induced HSP70 release though this lysosomal pathway are largely unknown, our experiments suggest a regulatory role for extracellular ATP. These mechanisms appear to be shared by IL-1β secretion. Following release, we observed the binding of extracellular HSP70 to the cell surface of the prostate carcinoma cells. These findings suggest that secreted HSP70 can take part in paracrine or autocrine interactions with adjacent cell surfaces. Our experiments therefore suggest a mechanism for HSP70 secretion and binding to the surface of other cells that may be involved in recognition of the tumor cells by the immune system.
Renormalization group constraints on unified gauge theories

Renormalization group constraints on the behavior of Yukawa and scalar quartic couplings in unified gauge theories are examined. Yukawa couplings are generally asymptotically free whenever the gauge couplings are, but scalar quartic couplings can be asymptotically free only for simple scalar multiplets in large groups with large fermion content. The infrared behavior of Yukawa and scalar quartic couplings implied by the renormalization group equations has interesting and phenomenologically useful consequences: infrared fixed points (or quasifixed points) lead to bounds on masses of fermions and scalars, while scalar quartic couplings can be driven out of the domain of positivity of the classical potential, with possible implications for patterns of symmetry breaking.
Divisibility of Ideal Class Numbers

Classical results of Kummer give bounds for certain class numbers and estimate, for instance, the plus part in terms of the minus part for cyclotomic fields.
Bounding the power rate function of wireless ad hoc networks

Given a wireless ad hoc network and an end-to-end traffic pattern, the power rate function refers to the minimum total power required to support different throughput under a layered model of wireless networks. A critical notion of the layered model is the realizable graphs, which describe possible hit-rate supplies on the links by the physical and medium access layers. Under the layered model, the problem of finding the power rate function can he transformed into finding the minimum-power realizable graph that can provide a given throughput. We introduce a usage conflict graph to represent the conflicts among different uses of the wireless medium. Testing the realizability of a given graph can be transformed into finding the (vertex) chromatic number, i.e., the minimum number of colors required in a proper vertex-coloring, of the associated usage conflict graph. Based on an upper bound of the chromatic number, we propose a linear program that outputs an upper bound of the power rate function. A lower bound of the chromatic number is the clique number. We propose a systematic way of identifying cliques based on a geometric analysis of the space sharing among active links. This leads to another linear program, which yields a lower bound of the power rate function. We further apply greedy vertex-coloring to fine tune the bounds. Simulations results demonstrate that the obtained bounds are tight in the low power and low rate regime.
Race and Sex Equity in Computer Advertising

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to examine the race and sex equity in computer magazine advertising. Three types of magazines were analyzed, with one of the magazines examined over a five-year time period. The results indicated that there is both race and sex bias in the advertising and that the level of bias has not changed during the 1980s.
6 Pathology of hepatitis C

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the pathology of hepatitis C. Chronic hepatitis is a pattern of liver injury characterized by immune-mediated hepatocellular destruction accompanied by progressive scarring and alteration of architecture that ends as cirrhosis. The pattern of injury is distinctive in that it may be distinguished from other forms of liver disease, particularly other patterns of chronic injury, such as chronic cholestatic liver disease and steatohepatitis. Therefore, it is important for the pathologist to communicate not only the pattern of injury, but also the histologic severity and stage. The percutaneous needle biopsy is the most common method used by clinicians to obtain information about liver histology in chronic hepatitis C. It is suggested that knowing the histologic stage and grade of the disease can be very useful when advising patients on the current status of their disease as well as what their short- and long-term prognosis is. Thus, for now, there are still good reasons to perform a baseline liver biopsy prior to treating patients for chronic hepatitis C. As therapies for chronic hepatitis C improve, the need for an initial liver biopsy should continue to be reassessed.
Foundations of canonical update support for closed database views

A closed view of a database schema is one which is totally encapsulated. Insofar as the user is concerned, the view is the database schema. The rest of the database system is not visible through the view, and is is not required for complete use of the view. Similarly, the updates which may be effected through the view have their scope limited entirely to that view. In this paper, we lay the mathematical foundations for the systematic support of such views. The proper context is shown to be that of update translation under constant meet complement, a refinement of the constant complement strategy of Bancilhon and Spyratos. The central complexity result for relational schemata is that checking the legality of updates is “infinitely” simpler than blindly checking that the new state is legal for the view schema, and in the particular case that the base schema is constrained by functional dependencies, may always be performed in constant time, even if the view schema is not finitely axiomatizable. We further establish that, under very natural assumptions, update strategies for closed views are unique.
Supporting Collaborative Learning With An Intelligent Web-Based System

This research describes an Intelligent Collaborative Support System (ICSS) that supports a collaborative effort by analyzing and modifying the collaborative process dynamically while employing a web-based interface. Based upon principles rooted in Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) and Cooperative Learning (CL), this system extends the Group Leader paradigm to assist students working together in collaborative groups. Discussion skills are supported by examination of sentence openers chosen from a menu, keywords found in free-text sentence closers, student and group models, and historical database files. Groups are categorized and guided toward the optimal category of a high-performing cooperative group with positive interdependence. The use of the dialogue designated as creative conflict is mediated by an agent to assist in formulating a constructive discussion, serving as an instructional tool. Conflicts in the categorization of discussion skills exhibited in the sentence openers versus the sentence closers are resolved. Implemented in Java, the Group Leader module interacts with intelligent agents as it guides students working in groups remotely in the cross-platform environment provided by the Java Virtual Machine.
Birther Nation: Political Conservatism is Associated with Explicit and Implicit Beliefs that President Barack Obama is Foreign

Despite an abundance of evidence to the contrary, a substantial number of Americans believed that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States, even almost two years into his administration (CNN, 2010, July). Both anecdotal and polling evidence at the time suggested that Republicans and political conservatives were more likely to hold these inaccurate beliefs. This study demonstrated that across a variety of operationalizations of political orientation, both explicit and implicit beliefs that President Obama was foreign were related to political conservatism. Potential sources of these beliefs are considered.
Step-closing pressing of medium density fiberboard¶Part 2. Influences on panel performance and layer characteristics

The previous paper in this series discussed the step-closure pressing schedule to change the density profile of lab-made MDF panels. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of the step-closure schedule on the end-product performance, especially on the layer thickness swell and its relationship with layer density. The results of this work showed that step-closure schedules resulted in improved internal bond strength of the tested specimens. The step closing schedule significantly increased the core density and decreased the face density, resulting in lower bending properties. The results showed that greater core density did not result in higher internal bond strength. The more unsteady phase in a mat resulted in the poorer quality of the bond formation. The layer thickness swell after three water exposure times is significantly and positively related to layer density in all panels studied. The correlation coefficient between the actual layer thickness swell and layer density increased with increasing water exposure time. The greater thickness swell in the surface layers of MDF suggests that efforts to improve dimensional stability of MDF should be focused on stabilizing the high-density surface layers.
Constrained Reachability and Controllability Sets for Planetary Precision Landing via Convex Optimization

This paper presents a convex optimizations-based method to compute the set of initial conditions from which a given landing accuracy to a target can be achieved (constrained controllability set) and the set of states that can be reached from a given set of initial states (constrained reachability set) for a planetary landing vehicle with all the relevant control and mission constraints. The proposed method is based on the lossless convexification of the powered-descent landing guidance problem and methods of convex optimization and computational geometry. These techniques are used to generate approximations that can be arbitrarily close to the actual reachability or controllability sets. The quantification of these sets allows evaluation of the feasibility of a prescribed landing accuracy for a given vehicle and an expected set of dispersions from the parachute descent phase of a planetary landing mission. Since these sets are generated systematically and quickly, a wide range of design options can be eva...
The Safety Net of the Safety Net: How Federally Qualified Health Centers “Subsidize” Medicaid Managed Care

In this article, I examine the impact of neoliberalism and welfare reform on the delivery of Medicaid, specifically how the advent of Medicaid managed care (MMC) has been wrought with contradictions, placing increased burdens on primary safety-net organizations and impacting the many communities they serve. I argue that federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) operate as a primary safety net among safety-net providers, supporting and subsidizing New Mexico's MMC program financially and administratively. By presenting ethnographic data, I will demonstrate how FQHCs pay many of the hidden financial and institutional costs of the shift to managed care. Such findings uncover paradoxes inherent to neoliberal ideologies and privatization, raising questions about the efficacy of a managed care system for Medicaid as well as the future of the health care safety net and access to health care for the diverse populations it serves.
What makes a good drug target

Novel therapeutics in areas with a high unmet medical need are based on innovative drug targets. Although 'biologicals' have enlarged the space of druggable molecules, the number of appropriate drug targets is still limited. Discovering and assessing the potential therapeutic benefit of a drug target is based not only on experimental, mechanistic and pharmacological studies but also on a theoretical molecular druggability assessment, an early evaluation of potential side effects and considerations regarding opportunities for commercialization. This article defines key properties of a good drug target from the perspective of a pharmaceutical company.
On the analysis of sedimentation velocity in the study of protein complexes

Sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation has experienced a significant transformation, precipitated by the possibility of efficiently fitting Lamm equation solutions to the experimental data. The precision of this approach depends on the ability to account for the imperfections of the experiment, both regarding the sample and the instrument. In the present work, we explore in more detail the relationship between the sedimentation process, its detection, and the model used in the mathematical data analysis. We focus on configurations that produce steep and fast-moving sedimentation boundaries, such as frequently encountered when studying large multi-protein complexes. First, as a computational tool facilitating the analysis of heterogeneous samples, we introduce the strategy of partial boundary modeling. It can simplify the modeling by restricting the direct boundary analysis to species with sedimentation coefficients in a predefined range. Next, we examine factors related to the experimental detection, including the magnitude of optical aberrations generated by out-of-focus solution columns at high protein concentrations, the relationship between the experimentally recorded signature of the meniscus and the meniscus parameter in the data analysis, and the consequences of the limited radial and temporal resolution of the absorbance optical scanning system. Surprisingly, we find that large errors can be caused by the finite scanning speed of the commercial absorbance optics, exceeding the statistical errors in the measured sedimentation coefficients by more than an order of magnitude. We describe how these effects can be computationally accounted for in SEDFIT and SEDPHAT.
Water migration through compacted bentonite backfills for containment of high-level nuclear waste

Tests carried out with compacted sodium and calcium bentonites at room temperature indicate that bentonite backfills will effectively control water movement near a high-level nuclear waste package. Saturation tests indicate that water will rapidly diffuse into a dry bentonite backfill, reaching saturation in times on the order of tens of years. The apparent diffusion coefficient for sodium bentonite (about5 wt% initial water content) compacted to 2.1 g/cm/sup 3/ is 1.7 x 10/sup -6/ cm/sup 2//sec. However, the hydraulic conductivities of saturated bentonites are low, ranging from approximately 10/sup -11/ cm/sec to 10/sup -13/ cm/sec over a density range of 1.5 g/cm/sup 3/ to 2.2 g/cm/sup 3/. The hydraulic conductivities of compacted bentonites are at least several orders of magnitude lower than those of candidate-host silicate rocks, indicating that most flowing groundwater contacting a bentonite backfill would be diverted around the backfill rather than flowing through it. In addition, because of the very low hydraulic conductivities of bentonite backfills, the rate of chemical transport between the containerized waste and the surrounding host rock will be effectively controlled by diffusion through the backfill. The formation of a diffusion barrier by the backfill will significantly reduce the long-term rate of radionuclide release frommore » the waste package, an advantage distinct from the delay in release resulting from the sorptive properties of a bentonite backfill.« less
The Reliability and Validity of the North Carolina Family Assessment Scale

Objective: The internal consistency and construct validity of the North Carolina Family Assessment Scale (NCFAS) are reported. The NCFAS is an instrument designed for family assessment and outcome ...
Rape and Rape Avoidance in Ethno‐National Conflicts: Sexual Violence in Liminalized States

Mass rape is a common but not universal occurrence in ethnic or nationalist conflicts. Using South Asian and Bosnian data, in this article I argue that mass rape is likely when such conflicts take place during the partition of a territory and its population, when the state itself is liminal, both its territory and control over it uncertain. In conflicts in which the state is not itself threatened, and thus groups feel that they will continue to coexist, there is some evidence that rape is avoided, even when murder is accepted. However, such instances of rape avoidance are largely unstudied, in large part because of the focus on the violence of mass rape. Further, this focus on violence tends toward classifying all sexual relations between groups whose members have participated in mass rape as improper, thus depriving women who may not wish to rejoin their natal groups of agency, [rape, genocide, violence, India, Yugoslavia/Bosnia]
Stephen Magura on Ted Godlaski and James Clark's “Implementation Issues in an Innovative Rural Substance Misuser Treatment Program”

It is always disappointing when a well-planned and plausible intervention fails to achieve its objectives. The authors of this article are to be commended for this detailed study of the possible re...
Dispositional and situational correlates of long-term weight reduction in obese children.

Abstract Two samples of obese children were studied in order to investigate the extent to which four classes of variables were associated with weight reduction outcomes: (a) use of self-control techniques, (b) degree of social support, (c) attributional style, and (d) self-reinforcement style. One sample participated in a program in Wisconsin ( n = 22) 1–2 years before assessment, whereas the second sample completed a similar program in Pittsburgh ( n = 17) 3 months prior to assessment. Children and parents were individually interviewed using structured protocols, and children also completed a block design task. Children's self-reinforcement and attributional styles, motivation to change, problem-solving style, family environment, and intellectual skills were assessed. Regression analyses selected a subset of variables which were clearly associated with change in percent overweight and Feinstein indices, computed from pretreatment and from posttreatment to time of assessment. Substantial proportions of outcome variance were accounted for in the Wisconsin sample but not in the Pittsburgh sample. The results suggest that obese children who terminate ineffective problem-solving efforts quickly and who make more adaptive weight reduction attributions may be more likely to succeed in long-term weight reduction. The differential results in the two samples suggest that variables investigated in this study may play a greater role in maintenance than in initial behavior change.
A neural network model for cursive script production

This article describes a neural network model, called the VITEWRITE model, for generating handwriting movements. The model consists of a sequential controller, or motor program, that interacts with a trajectory generator to move a hand with redundant degrees of freedom. The neural trajectory generator is the vector integration to endpoint (VITE) model for synchronous variable-speed control of multi-joint movements. VITE properties enable a simple control strategy to generate complex handwritten script if the hand model contains redundant degrees of freedom. The proposed controller launches transient directional commands to independent hand synergies at times when the hand begins to move, or when a velocity peak in a given synergy is achieved. The VITE model translates these temporally disjoint synergy commands into smooth curvilinear trajectories among temporally overlapping synergetic movements. The separate "score" of onset times used in most prior models is hereby replaced by a self-scaling activity-released "motor program" that uses few memory resources, enables each synergy to exhibit a unimodal velocity profile during any stroke, generates letters that are invariant under speed and size rescaling, and enables effortless connection of letter shapes into words. Speed and size rescaling are achieved by scalar GO and GRO signals that express computationally simple volitional commands. Psychophysical data concerning hand movements, such as the isochrony principle, asymmetric velocity profiles, and the two-thirds power law relating movement curvature and velocity arise as emergent properties of model interactions.
Regional stresses inferred from coseismic slip models of the 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan, China, earthquake

Abstract The 12 May 2008, Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake occurred on the Beichuan fault in the southwest to northeast trending Longmenshan fault zone (LMSfz), marking the border of the Sichuan basin and eastern Tibet. During the Wenchuan earthquake, the Beichuan fault slipped primarily in thrust motion on moderately dipping fault segments in the southwest, and as largely right lateral strike slip motion on more steeply dipping segments in the northeast. Additionally, the shallowly dipping Pengguan fault, located to the east of the Beichuan fault, slipped as mostly thrust slip. In this study, we explore the connection between sense of slip and fault geometry, and investigate whether models of coseismic slip yield information about the pre-earthquake background stress in the region of the Wenchuan earthquake. Specifically, we test whether coseismic slip models are consistent with a homogeneous regional stress, or if a heterogeneous stress field is required to explain the change in slip rake along strike. We assume that coseismic slip is parallel to the direction of the maximum shear stress on the fault, and consider several published coseismic slip models with differing fault geometries. Using a Bayesian probabilistic estimation, we find that the coseismic slip of the Wenchuan earthquake is consistent with a constant orientation of principal stresses along the strike of the LMSfz. This suggests a homogeneous state of stress prior to the earthquake, although our analysis only provides weak constraints on the relative magnitudes of the principal stresses. The inferred most compressive stress direction is sub-horizontal and approximately east–west trending. The intermediate compressive stress is sub-horizontal and north–south trending, and is most likely about 30% the magnitude of the most compressive stress. The least compressive stress is near-vertical.
An SVM-based approach for discovering splicing junctions with RNA-Seq

Because of the complicity of RNA splicing, discovering splicing junctions and aligning RNA-Seq reads with high sensitivity and specificity is still a challenging problem. In this paper, we propose an SVM-based approach for discovering splicing junctions with RNA-Seq data. The key idea of our approach is combining multiple sources of information contained in sequence data in discovering exon-intron boundaries. Results on simulated data suggest that our approach works well.
Able: An Instrument for Assessing Elementary Students’ Perceptions of Access to Books, Beliefs, and Literacy Environment

In order to promote voluntary reading in elementary school, students need to have access to books they want to read, to believe they can read, and to be in an environment conducive to reading. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an instrument intended to measure students' perceptions in these areas. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted on data from 145 elementary school students in one urban elementary school. Results indicated three dimensions of elementary school reading: access to preferred books in school, beliefs as a reader, and literacy environment in school.
THE KINETICS OF PENETRATION : XX. EFFECT OF pH AND OF LIGHT ON ABSORPTION IN IMPALED HALICYSTIS.

The rate of entrance of electrolyte and of water into impaled cells of Halicystis Osterhoutii is unaffected by raising the pH of the sea water to 9.2 or lowering it to 7.0. It is quite possible that sodium enters by combining with an organic acid HX produced by the protoplasm. If the pK' of this acid is sufficiently low the change in external pH would not produce much effect on the rate of entrance of sodium. The rate of entrance of electrolytes is affected by light. In normal light (i.e. natural succession of daylight and darkness) the rate is about twice as great as in darkness.
Regulation of cGMP-dependent protein kinase expression by soluble guanylyl cyclase in vascular smooth muscle cells.

Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) undergo many phenotypic changes when placed in culture. Several studies have shown that the levels of expression of soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC) or cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) are altered in cultured VSMC. In this study the mechanisms involved in the coordinated expression of sGC and PKG were examined. Pro-inflammatory cytokines that increase the expression of type II NO synthase (inducible NO synthase, or iNOS) decreased PKG expression in freshly isolated, non-passaged bovine aortic SMC. However, in several passaged VSMC lines (i.e. bovine aortic SMC, human aortic SMC, and A7r5 cells), PKG protein expression was not suppressed by cytokines or NO. sGC was highly expressed in non-passaged bovine aortic SMC but not in passaged cell lines. Restoration of expression of sGC to passaged bovine SMC using adenovirus encoding the α1 and β1 subunits of sGC restored the capacity of the cells to increase cGMP in response to NO. Furthermore, treatment of these sGC-transduced cells with NO donors for 48 h resulted in decreased PKG protein expression. In contrast, passaged rat aortic SMC expressed high levels of NO-responsive sGC but demonstrated reduced expression of PKG. Adenovirus-mediated expression of the PKG catalytically active domain in rat aortic SMC caused a reduction in the expression of sGC in these cells. These results suggest that there is a mechanism for the coordinated expression of sGC and PKG in VSMC and that prolonged activation of sGC down-regulates PKG expression. Likewise, the loss of PKG expression appears to increase sGC expression. These effects may be an adaptive mechanism allowing growth and survival of VSMC in vitro.
Tonically active inhibition selectively controls feedforward circuits in mouse barrel cortex.

Tonic inhibition mediated by extrasynaptic γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptors is a powerful conductance that controls cell excitability. Throughout the CNS, tonic inhibition is expressed at varying degrees across different cell types. Despite a rich history of cortical interneuron diversity, little is known about tonic inhibition in the different classes of cells in the cerebral cortex. We therefore examined the cell-type specificity and functional significance of tonic inhibition in layer 4 of the mouse somatosensory barrel cortex. In situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry showed moderate δ-subunit expression across the barrel structures. Whole cell patch-clamp recordings additionally indicated that significant levels of tonic inhibition can be found across cell types, with differences in the magnitude of inhibition between cell types. To activate tonic currents, we used 4,5,6,7-tetrahydroisoxazolo[5,4-c]pyridin-3-ol (THIP, a superagonist at δ-subunit–containing GABAA receptors) at a concentration that did not affect synaptic decay kinetics. THIP produced greater shifts in baseline holding current in inhibitory cells (low-threshold spiking [LTS], 109 ± 17 pA; fast spiking [FS], 111 ± 15 pA) than in excitatory cells (39 ± 10 pA; P < 0.001). In addition to these differences across cell types, there was also variability within inhibitory cells. FS cells with faster action potentials had larger baseline shifts. Because FS cells are known mediators of feedforward inhibition, we tested whether THIP-induced tonic conductance selectively controls feedforward circuits. THIP application resulted in the abolishment of the inhibitory postsynaptic potential in thalamic-evoked disynaptic responses in a subset of excitatory neurons. These data suggest multiple feedforward circuits can be differentiated by the inhibitory control of the presynaptic inhibitory neuron.
Twin families of bisolitons in dispersion-managed systems

We calculate bisoliton solutions by using a slowly varying stroboscopic equation. The system is characterized in terms of a single dimensionless parameter. We find two branches of solutions and describe the structure of the tails for the lower-branch solutions.
Alternative Therapies Among Adults With a Reported Diagnosis of Asthma or Rhinosinusitis: Data From a Population-Based Survey

Background Asthma and rhinosinusitis are common medical conditions among adults. Alternative treatments could have important impacts on health status among those individuals with these conditions, but specific prevalence data for these treatments are limited. Objective To estimate the prevalence of specific alternative treatment modalities, including herbal agents, ingestion of caffeinated beverages, homeopathy, acupuncture, and massage therapies. Design Random population telephone sample. Setting Northern California. Participants Three hundred adults aged 18 to 50 years with self-report of a physician diagnosis of asthma (n = 125) or rhinosinusitis without concomitant asthma (n = 175). Measurements Structured telephone interviews covering demographics and clinical variables, including the following alternative treatments used in the previous 12 months: herbal agents; caffeine-containing products; homeopathy; acupuncture; aromatherapy; reflexology; and massage. Results Any alternative practice was reported by 127 subjects (42%; 95% confidence interval[CI], 36 to 48%). Of these, 33 subjects (26%; 95% CI, 21 to 31%) were not current prescription medication users. Herbal use was reported by 72 subjects (24%), caffeine treatment by 54 subjects (18%), and other alternative treatments by 66 subjects (22%). Taking into account demographic variables, subjects with asthma were more likely than those with rhinitis alone to report caffeine self-treatment for their condition (odds ratio, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.4 to 4.8%), but herbal use and other alternative treatments did not differ significantly by condition group. Conclusion Alternative treatments are frequent among adults with asthma or rhinosinusitis and should be taken into account by health-care providers and public health and policy analysts.
Electromigration of single molecules of DNA in a crystalline array of 300-nm silica colloids.

The velocities and conformations of single DNA chains were probed as they electromigrated at varying electric field strength through a crystalline array of silica colloids. An optically transparent film consisting of 300-nm silica colloids was formed on glass as a transparent crystalline layer of 7 μm thickness with an effective pore size of 45 nm. The behaviors of individual λ-DNA molecules (48 502 base pairs) electromigrating through this material were observed to be analogous to the behaviors of long DNA chains in electrophoresis gels, including chain extension, hooking of chains around the matrix, and hernia formation. The electrophoretic mobility of λ-DNA in this dense, narrow-pore material is surprisingly high: 1.8 cm2/Vs at 10 V/cm, which is at least as high as for much wider-pore gels. Imaging of the single molecules revealed that higher field strength caused increased chain extension and increased mobility, which reached an apparent plateau just above 2.0 cm2/Vs at 200 V/cm. Pulsed, crossed elec...
Alveolar soft-part sarcoma : a study of 13 typical examples and one with a histologically atypical component

Thirteen cases of typical alveolar soft-part sarcoma and one in which the tumor had a histologically atypical component are presented. The atypical zone in the latter case was characterized by increased nuclear hyperchromatism and pleomorphism, increased nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio, decreased cytoplasmic eosinophilia and granularity, a less distinct "nesting" pattern, and more numerous mitotic figures. The tumors occurred almost entirely in the younger decades and involved a variety of soft tissue sites. Sex distribution was 1:1, and there was a slight left-sided predominance in tumor location. Median survival of the patients with typical alveolar soft-part sarcoma was 79 months (the patient with the atypical neoplasm died at 36 months). The major factor related to both survival and the likelihood of metastasis was tumor size.
Global Analysis of Oceanographic Data

Abstract A project to objectively analyze a large quantity of oceanographic data for the world ocean is described. Preliminary results are encouraging within the limits of data available. Results are being used in a variety of ways but at present primarily for studies of the ocean's role in the global heat balance. A brief discussion of the data used, the method of analysis, and some preliminary results is presented.
A Low Band Gap Conjugated Polymer for Supercapacitor Devices

We present the electrochemical polymerization and characterization of a stable and dopable polyindophenine derivative starting from monomer 5. The fabrication of supercapacitor devices was carried out by direct electrochemical polymerization on an ITO-coated slide. Furthermore, the galvanostatic and potentiostatic experiments conducted on these supercapacitors have shown that the polyindophenine-derivative material has very good cyclability, over a potential range of 1.4 V, and a maximum capacitance of 140 F g-1.
Vascularly oriented differentiation gradient of osteoblast precursor cells in rat periodontal ligament: implications for osteoblast histogenesis and periodontal bone loss.

Paravascular distribution of fibroblastlike cells was determined, under conditions of arrested osteogenesis (resorbing or resting bone surface), in periodontal ligament (PDL) of maxillary first molars from 89-day-old male rats. As identified by nuclear volume, less differentiated precursor cells (A) and committed osteoprogenitor cells (A') were predominantly localized within 20 μm of the nearest major blood vessel (NMBV). G1 stage preosteoblasts (C cells) and G2 stage preosteoblasts (D cells) tended to be more numerous away from NMBV. Since the osteoblast (Ob) histogenesis sequence is A A' C D Ob, the present data were consistent with an osteogenic differentiation gradient radiating from blood vessels. It was concluded that preosteoblast formation (A' C) occurs in a relatively low cell density (4–5 cells/1000 mm2) area ≥20 μm from NMBV. More than 30 μm from the vessel wall, C cells enter DNA synthesis and become D cells, which divide and migrate toward the bone surface, forming 2 osteoblasts each. This is the first integrated description of the cell proliferation differentiation and migration process associated with osteoblast histogenesis.
Evaluation of triazolamers as active site inhibitors of HIV-1 protease

Proteases typically recognize their peptide substrates in extended conformations. General approaches for designing protease inhibitors often consist of peptidomimetics that feature this conformation. Herein we discuss a combination of computational and experimental studies to evaluate the potential of triazole-linked β-strand mimetics as inhibitors of HIV-1 protease activity.
Conserving algorithms for the dynamics of Hamiltonian systems on lie groups

Three conservation laws are associated with the dynamics of Hamiltonian systems with symmetry: The total energy, the momentum map associated with the symmetry group, and the symplectic structure are invariant under the flow. Discrete time approximations of Hamiltonian flows typically do not share these properties unless specifically designed to do so. We develop explicit conservation conditions for a general class of algorithms on Lie groups. For the rigid body these conditions lead to a single-step algorithm that exactly preserves the energy, spatial momentum, and symplectic form. For homogeneous nonlinear elasticity, we find algorithms that conserve angular momentum and either the energy or the symplectic form.
Mechanochemical crosstalk during endocytic vesicle formation

Membrane curvature has emerged as a key regulatory factor in endocytic vesicle formation. From a theoretical perspective, we summarize recent progress in understanding how membrane curvature and biochemical pathways are coupled and orchestrated during the coherent process of endocytic vesicle formation. We mainly focus on clathrin-mediated and actin-mediated endocytosis in yeast and in mammalian cells. We further speculate on how mechanochemical feedback could modulate other membrane-remodeling processes.
Annotated Bibliography on the Teaching of Psychology: 2004

This bibliography is a continuation of those previously published in Teaching of Psychology (e.g., Berry & Daniel, 1984; Fulkerson & Wise, 1987; Johnson & Schroder, 1997; Wise & Fulkerson, 1996). We maintained similar search methods and criteria for inclusion that were used in previous bibliographies. We also continued the cumulative numbering of the items. To help the reader locate relevant articles, we arranged items into a small number of subject categories. Generally, if fewer than three items fell into a specific subject category they were relegated to a category labeled miscellaneous.
Crystal site location of iron and trace elements in a magnesium-iron olivine by a new crystallographic technique.

A new crysallographic technique has been developed, which has been applied to the problem of locating the cations in a natural olivine crystal with the composition (Mg0.90Fe0.10Ni0.004Mn0.002)2SiO4. The method uses the variation of characteristic x-ray emission with the direction of an exciting electron beam in an analytical transmission electron microscope. It may be applied to nanometer-sized areas and to concentrations as low as 0.1 atomic percent, is capable of distinguishing neighbors in the periodic table, and does not require external standards. The iron atoms in this crystal are evenly distributed between the two available crystal sites M1 and M2 (49.6 ± 1 percent on M1), whereas the trace elements nickel and manganese occupy the M1 and M2 positions, respectively (97 ± 5 percent nickel on M1 and 1 ± 5 percent manganese on M1) .
Identification of unusual replacement of methionine by norleucine in recombinant interleukin-2 produced by E. coli.

Summary Moderate amounts of norleucine incorporation into recombinant interleukin-2 (IL-2) produced in E. coli have been detected. Incorporation of norleucine occurs both at the amino terminal and internal methionines as confirmed by the isolation of norleucine-containing tryptic peptides which eluted later than the respective methionine-containing peptides by reverse-phase HPLC. The occurence of norleucine in intact protein and modified peptides was determined by amino acid analysis and amino acid sequencing including Edman degradation and fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry. In the subsequent paper, we determined that norleucine incorporation is caused by the endogenous synthesis of norleucine in E. coli.
Inflammation and the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis in systemic lupus erythematosus

Atherosclerosis is a complicated inflammatory process characterized by the interactions of numerous different moieties including lipids, enzymes, endothelial cells, cytokines, chemokines, leukocytes, adhesion molecules, complement and antibodies. As in the pathogenesis of many lupus disease processes, the increased risk of atherosclerosis seen in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is likely due to the complex interplay of many of these inflammatory mediators. Expanding our understanding of the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis in SLE is critical if we are to improve the quality of care and reduce mortality in this vulnerable population.
α2-Adrenergic Receptors in Neuronal and Glial Cultures: Characterization and Comparison

Membranes prepared from either neuronal or glial cultures contain alpha 2-adrenergic receptors as determined by the characteristics of [3H]yohimbine [( 3H]YOH) binding. The binding was rapid, reversible, saturable, dependent on the protein concentration used, and reached equilibrium by 5 min in membranes from both neuronal and glial cultures. Scatchard analyses of saturation isotherms revealed similar KD values of 13.7 +/- 1.35 nM (n = 10) for neuronal cultures and 18.42 +/- 2.34 nM (n = 10) for glial cultures. Glial cultures contained many more binding sites for [3H]YOH than neuronal cultures, having a Bmax of 1.6 +/- 0.33 pmol/mg protein (n = 10) compared with 0.143 +/- 0.018 pmol/mg protein (n = 10) in neurons. Drugs selective for alpha 2-adrenergic receptors were the most effective displacers of [3H]YOH binding in both neuronal and glial cultures, i.e., the alpha 2-adrenergic antagonists rauwolscine and yohimbine were better displacers than the other catecholamine antagonists prazosin, corynanthine, or propranolol. The agonists showed the same pattern with the alpha 2-selective drugs clonidine and naphazoline being the most effective competitors for the [3H]YOH site. GTP and its nonhydrolyzable analog. 5'-guanylyl-imidodiphosphate, were able to lower the affinity of the alpha 2-receptors for agonists but not antagonists in membranes from both neuronal and glial cultures, suggesting that the receptors are linked to a G protein in both cell types. The presence of alpha 2-adrenergic receptors in neuronal cultures was also substantiated by light microscopic autoradiography of [3H]YOH binding. In summary, we have demonstrated that both neuronal and glial cultures contain alpha 2-adrenoceptors.