cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Loxosceles Spider Venom Induces the Production of α and β Chemokines: Implications for the Pathogenesis of Dermonecrotic Arachnidism

Bites from the brown recluse spider and other Loxosceles arachnids result in dermonecrotic skin lesions. Neutrophils (PMN) are essential to the development of Loxosceles-induced skin lesions, but paradoxically, in vitro PMN activation is inhibited by direct exposure to Loxosceles venom. Neutrophil activation occurs in response to a myriad of soluble mediators that include members of both the α and β chemokine families. Because arachnid envenomation results in the exposure of several different cell types to venom, we investigated venom-induced expression of α and β chemokines in both endothelial cells (human umbilical vein; HUVEC) and epithelial cells (A549 pneumocytes). Chemokine-specific capture enzyme immunoassays (EIA) were used to measure Loxosceles deserta venom-induced α chemokines: interleukin-8 (IL-8), growth-related oncogene-alpha (GRO-α), and β chemokines: monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), and regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) in cell-free conditioned media from HUVEC and A549 cell monolayers. Exposure of HUVECs (8 h) to Loxosceles venom resulted in the production of IL-8 (5.2 ± 1.30 ng/ml), MCP-1 (1.44 ± 0.11 ng/ml) and GRO-α (1.97 ± 0.15 ng/ml) in a dose and time-dependent manner. Exposure of A549 cell monolayers to venom resulted in IL-8 (7.74 ± 0.30 ng/ml), and MCP-1 (2.61 ± 0.31 ng/ml), but neither GRO-α nor RANTES accumulated during an 8-hour incubation period. Chemokines accumulated in a venom dose and time-dependent manner. Neither cell type secreted RANTES in response to Loxosceles venom. These data indicate that Loxosceles spider venom is a potent inducer of α and β chemokines in both endothelial and epithelial cell types. Based on the established roles of IL-8, MCP-1, and GRO-α, in inflammation, these observations have relevance to the pathophysiology of Loxosceles-Induced dermonecrosis.
Impact Assessment of Power Plants

The conflicting demands of the American public for ever-greater energy supplies and an unsullied environment have created a difficult but not impossible problem for the civil engineer. Part of the solution to this problem is the minimizing of adverse environmental effects of power plant location and operation. A basic component of this effort is the study of the geotechnical aspects both of the existing environment and of proposed power plant construction and operation. Strong points and shortcomings of existing methods are identified and criteria for an improved methodology suggested. Procedures for organization of personnel and conduct of a geotechnical investigation are developed. These procedures are based on recent experience and case histories. Generalized impact assessment of classes of power plants is proposed to be done by committees of utility representatives, government personnel, environmental specialists, design engineers, and public members. It is contended that this would greatly simplify evaluation of specific situations.
A general time domain analysis and design framework for exactly reconstructing FIR analysis/synthesis filter banks

A general framework is presented for analyzing and designing exactly reconstructing FIR (finite-impulse response) filter banks. This framework is based completely on the time-domain analysis of the FIR filter banks. The analysis leads to a general set of time-domain conditions which can be used to design a wide variety of exactly reconstructing filter banks. In addition, a complete design procedure is presented for the special case of systems with equal integer decimation rates in all bands. Design examples are also included. >
Vasopressin as an etiologic factor for infection in gynecologic surgery: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial.

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the risk of pelvic infection with the use of vasopressin at time of vaginal hysterectomy with a randomized controlled trial. Study Design: Women who underwent vaginal hysterectomy and agreed to participate were randomly assigned to pericervical injections of vasopressin or normal saline solution. Surgeons and patients were blinded to the injected substance. Power analysis revealed that a sample size of 116 patients would be sufficient to detect a 4-fold difference in pelvic infection rates between the 2 groups, with 90% power and a probability value of.05. Results: Analysis with 117 patients found no difference in infection rate between the normal saline solution group and the vasopressin groups (7.3% vs 1.6%; P =.19). Estimated blood loss (312 ± 222 mL vs 446 ± 296 mL; P =.006) and change in hemoglobin and hematocrit levels (2.1 ± 1.4 gm vs 2.9 ± 1.4 gm; P: =.02; and 6.7% ± 3.4% vs 8.5% ± 3.8%; P =.01; vasopressin versus normal saline solution, respectively) were significantly less in the vasopressin group. There were no significant differences in interval blood pressure measurements after vasopressin administration between the 2 groups. Conclusion: The use of vasopressin during vaginal hysterectomy does not increase the risk of pelvic infection, does decrease operative blood loss, and does not significantly affect blood pressure. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 2001;185:1344-8.)
Role of PKCε in PGF2α -Stimulated MMP-2 Secretion from Human Ciliary Muscle Cells

Studies were designed to examine the roles of individual protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms in the prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α)-induced matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) secretion from human ciliary muscle cells. Studies utilized primary cultures of human ciliary muscle cells. Individual PKC isoforms were detected by Western blotting, using PKC-isoform-specific antibodies. To evaluate MMP-2 secretion, cells were serum-starved overnight, treated with PGF2α (1 μmol/L) for 4 h and the media analyzed for MMP-2 by Western blotting. To assess ERK1/2 activation, cells were serum-starved overnight, treated with PGF2α (1 μmol/L) for 5 min and cell lysates analyzed for ERK1/2 phosphorylation by Western blot analysis. To evaluate the roles of individual PKC isoforms, cells were pretreated with PKC inhibitors or siRNAs prior to the addition of PGF2α. In cultured human ciliary muscle cells, the PKC isoforms exhibiting the highest level of expression were PKCα, e, ι and λ. The δ and η isoforms exhibited moderate levels of e...
Shape and size discrimination compared

Observers presented with pairs of figures differing in area (SIZE) or aspect ratio (SHAPE) spontaneously make use of both height and width differences. whether or not they are forced to do so by between-interval jittering or even instructed to do so. SHAPE discrimination is considerably better than SIZE discrimination. The superiority of SHAPE discrimination is probably due to partial correlation between the encoding noise of height and width of a figure. Discrimination of height differences is seemingly increased (decreased) by negatively (positively) correlated width differences, relative to leaving width unchanged. This is true whether the different types of trials are presented in separate blocks or intermixed. Perhaps SIZE and SHAPE comparisons are always made and their decision variables are optimally combined. The difference between SIZE and SHAPE discrimination is reduced, if not reversed, when figures are presented simultaneously rather than successively. This interaction between type of task and mode of presentation, may be due to the increased amount of correlation between test and standard figures of the encoding noise common to the two dimensions of each figure.
Controlling transitions in a Duffing oscillator by sweeping parameters in time.

We consider a high-Q Duffing oscillator in a weakly nonlinear regime with the driving frequency sigma varying in time between sigmai and sigmaf at a characteristic rate r. We found that the frequency sweep can cause controlled transitions between two stable states of the system. Moreover, these transitions are accomplished via a transient that lingers for a long time around the third, unstable fixed point of saddle type. We propose a simple explanation for this phenomenon, and find the transient lifetime to scale as −(ln|r−rc|)/lambdar, where rc is the critical rate necessary to induce a transition and lambdar is the repulsive eigenvalue of the saddle. Experimental implications are mentioned.
Hematologic and serologic studies in 6-sulfanilamidoindazole arthritis.

6-sulfanilamidoindazole (6-SAI), an antibacterial sulfonamide, is known to cause an acute, self-limited inflammatory reaction in the hind paws of older rats. Administration of 6-SAI results in hyperfibrinogenemia which precedes the onset of clinical arthritis. The hyper-fibrinogenemia is associated with the prolongation of dilute blood clot lysis times, appearance of heparin-precipitable fibrinogen, elevations in fibrin degradation products, and complement titers and serum electrophoretic pattern changes that consist of decreased albumin concentrations and increased beta globulin concentrations. Alterations in 6-SAI medicated young rats are less marked and require higher doses.
High-temperature measurements of the rate coefficient of the H + CO2 → CO + OH reaction

The rate coefficient of the reaction H + CO2 → CO + OH(1) was measured using OH concentration measurements in shock-heated N2OH2CO2 mixtures and through the inhibiting effect of CO2 on methane ignition. For 2170 < T < 3150 K the two methods give concordant results and imply k1 = 2.0 × 1014 exp(−13500/T) cm3 mol−1 s−1. Using the equilibrium constant together with this and other recent measurements, the rate coefficient of the reverse reaction was found to be well described by k−1 = 3.3 × 106T1.55 exp(402/T) cm3 mol−1 s−1 for the temperature range 300–3150 K.
Hepatitis cRNA quasispecies complexity in patients with alcoholic liver disease.

Alcohol abuse is described as a major cofactor in the development of hepatitis C (HCV) associated liver disease and may play a role in the outcome of interferon-based treatment interventions. The association between HCV viral heterogeneity and alcohol has not been previously described. This study was designed to evaluate the quasispecies nature of the HCV population in patients with compensated and decompensated alcoholic liver disease, to test the hypothesis that alcoholics have greater complexity than matched nonalcoholic controls. A nonisotopic heteroduplex complexity assay (HCA) was first validated by comparison with results of quasispecies complexity determined by subcloning and sequencing of amplicon products from the E2/NS1 hypervariable coding region (HVR). Subsequently, this methodology was applied to comparison of 20 compensated (Child's-Pugh A) and decompensated (Child's-Pugh B/C) alcoholic and 20 nonalcoholic controls. The complexity of the HVR, as well as the 5' Untranslated (5'UT) and the NS5b coding domains were evaluated. The HCA methodology provided a reasonable semiquantitative measure of HCV RNA quasispecies variability compared with subclone sequence homology comparison. Overall, alcoholic patients had greater quasispecies complexity (2.65 bands) than nonalcoholic controls (1.6 bands; P = .01). Subset analysis revealed that compensated alcoholic patients had a mean of 3.1 homo/heteroduplex bands per sample whereas Child's-Pugh B/C alcoholics showed intermediate complexity. A similar quasispecies complexity difference was seen in the 5'UTR, but not in the NS5b coding domain. Quasispecies complexity was not associated with viral titer, complementary DNA concentration, or genotype. The differences in quasispecies complexity may help explain reports of poor interferon responsiveness in alcoholic patients.
Membrane curvature sensing by the C-terminal domain of complexin

Complexin functions at presynaptic nerve terminals to inhibit spontaneous SNARE-mediated synaptic vesicle (SV) exocytosis, while enhancing stimulated neurotransmitter release. The C-terminal domain (CTD) of complexin is essential for its inhibitory function and has been implicated in localizing complexin to SVs via direct membrane interactions. Here we show that complexin's CTD is highly sensitive to membrane curvature, which it senses via tandem motifs, a C-terminal motif containing a mix of bulky hydrophobic and positively charged residues, and an adjacent amphipathic region that can bind membranes in either a disordered or a helical conformation. Helix formation requires membrane packing defects found on highly curved membrane surfaces. Mutations that disrupt helix formation without disrupting membrane binding compromise complexin's inhibitory function in vivo. Thus, this membrane curvature-dependent conformational transition, combined with curvature-sensitive binding by the adjacent C-terminal motif, constitute a novel mechanism for activating complexin's inhibitory function on the surface of SVs.
Characterizing a subset of natural language

Methods are discussed for choosing a dictionary and grammar for the subset of natural language used in referring to data base specific information. Two possibilities are explored for bettering the usual ad hoc generation of these definitions. First, methods for extracting the grammar from instances of the language are reviewed and determined to be attractive but impractical. Second, given a starter system, methods for monitoring its usage and performance are discussed. Techniques are being investigated using a developing natural language system which is a front end to medical information stored in an INGRES data base--a relational data base running under UNIX on a PDP II.
Active Learning in Aging Research

This article describes the involvement of undergraduate students in research at the California State University (CSU), Chico funded through an Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) from the National Institute on Aging (NIA). CSU, Chico is a “teaching” university and has students with a variety of motivations and abilities. The 3-year research project on health and well being in the Mexican American community involved students in all phases, and resulted in numerous student research presentations. The author asserts that research involvement is sound pedagogy according to The Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. Benefits to students and researchers/teachers include enhanced student learning, greater researcher status, and improved institutional reputation. Finally, some of the difficulties and suggestions for overcoming them are discussed.
The nature of pain and the action of analgesics.

Abstract Pain may be divided into two classes with corresponding groups of analgesic drugs: traumatic pain against which morphine and pharmacologically related agents are effective, and tension pain against which aspirin and related agents (as well as morphine, of course) are effective. Difficulties lie in the way of an objective study of the effectiveness of analgesic drugs because of the sensory nature of pain and its interpretation in the consciousness. Morphine, codeine, and similar analgesics are effective pain-relieving agents and there should be no hesitation in their use provided the agent is properly selected and the dentist is aware of the side effects which may occur. Acetylsalicylic acid is effective in tension or functional type pain, but little reliance can be placed on it for the relief of traumatic pain.
Induction of Angiopoietin-2 after Spinal Cord Injury

Angiopoietin 1 (Ang-1) and angiopoietin 2 (Ang-2) have opposing effects on blood vessels, with Ang-2 being mainly induced during the endothelial barrier breakdown. It is known that spinal cord injury (SCI) induces lasting decreases in Ang-1 levels, underlying endothelial barrier disruption, but the expression of Ang-2 in spinal cord injury has not been studied. We characterized Ang-2 after SCI using a clinically relevant rat model of contusion SCI. We found that SCI induces marked and persistent upregulation of Ang-2 (up to 10 weeks after SCI), which does not reflect well-characterized temporal profile of the blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) breakdown after SCI, and thus suggests other role(s) for Ang-2 in injured spinal cords. Furthermore, we also found that higher Ang-2 levels were associated with more successful locomotor recovery after SCI, both in SCI rats with markedly better spontaneous motor recovery, and in SCI rats receiving a neuroprotective pharmacological intervention (amiloride), suggesting a beneficial role for Ang-2 in injured spinal cords. Immunocytochemical analyses revealed that Ang-2 was not induced in endothelial cells, but in perivascular and non-vascular cells labeled with glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) or with chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (NG2). Therefore, it is unlikely that induction of Ang-2 contributes to vascular dysfunction underlying functional impairment after SCI, but rather that it contributes to the beneficial pro-angiogenic and/or gliogenic processes underlying recovery processes after SCI.
The effect of chloride ions on stress corrosion cracking of type 304 and type 316 austenitic stainless steels in sulfuric acid solution

Abstract Stress corrosion cracking of type 304 and type 316 austenitic stainless steels has been investigated as a function of chloride ion concentration in 0.82 kmol m −3 pure sulfuric acid solution at 353 K under a constant stress of 392 MPa by using a constant load method. At a concentration of up to approximately 2 × 10 −2 kmol m −3 type 316 has no SCC susceptibility as well as the result in the pure sulfuric acid solution, while type 304 has SCC susceptibility the same as that in the pure sulfuric acid solution except for a narrow concentration range of around 1 × 10 −3 kmol m −3 , at which concentration type 304 has no or little SCC susceptibility. The behavior of type 304 at the narrow concentration range means that chloride ions serve as inhibitor for SCC. At higher concentrations of more than 2 × 10 −2 kmol m −3 the SCC susceptibility of both steels increases with increasing chloride concentration, which implies that chloride ions act as promotor for SCC. In addition, the logarithm relationship between time to failure and steady state elongation rate is found to become a good straight line with a slope of unity independent of the material and chloride concentration. The steady state elongation rate becomes a parameter for the prediction time to failure even in the mixed solution of sulfuric acid and the chloride ions. The present results obtained are qualitatively explained in terms of adsorption of chloride ions at crack tips through a SCC process.
Developing, implementing, and evaluating decision support systems for shared decision making in patient care: a conceptual model and case illustration

The importance of including patient preferences in decisions regarding their care has received increased emphasis over recent years. Medical informatics can play an important role in improving patient-centered care by developing decision support systems to support the inclusion of patient preferences in clinical decision making. However, development of such systems is a complex task that requires the integration of knowledge from four major research areas: (1) the clinical domain, for understanding of the decision problem, (2) decision science and research on shared decision making, to provide the theoretical underpinnings and techniques for eliciting patient preferences; (3) medical informatics, to provide the technology and algorithms for the collection, processing, structure, presentation and integration of patient preferences into patient care; and (4) organizational kuowledge, to adapt the decision support system to the practices and work flows of clinicians and the organizational and professional context of the clinical practice settings. This paper describes a conceptual model comprising eight key components that are important to be considered in the development, implementation, and evaluation of decision support systems for shared decision making in patient care. The example of CHOICE, a decision support system to assist nurses in eliciting and integrating rehabilitation patients' preferences for functional performance in patient care is used to illustrate the eight components.
Analysis of the high pressure polyethylene tubular reactor with axial mixing

A theoretical study was carried out for the analysis of the high pressure polyethylene tubular reactor with axial mixing (TRAM). In the study, the Contraction Mapping Theorem in the square-integrable function space L2[0, 1] was first used to derive a uniqueness criterion for the existence of the steady state solution of the polyethylene TRAM. Then, an algorithm was derived which enabled us to compute the profiles of reactor temperature and concentration. Details of reactor performance were investigated in terms of the reactor operating and design variables: heat transfer coefficient, feed temperature and concentration, axial mixing, the length of reactor, and the distribution of preheating and cooling zones of the reactor. Also investigated in this study was the product quality in terms of the number-average molecular weight and molecular weight distribution as affected by change in reactor operating conditions and by the chain transfer reactions.
Maurice merleau-ponty: Politics, phenomenology, and ontology

Twenty-two years after his death, Maurice Merleau-Ponty's name is fairly well known in the English-speaking world. His writings have long been available in translation. A sizeable secondary literature exists. He seems, however, to have had remarkably little impact on current discussions in philosophy or the human sciences. His concerns, which ranged from Husserlian phenomenology to struc? tural linguistics, from Lacanian psychoanalysis to Marxian social theory, con? tinue to attract attention. His subtle discussions of them, strangely, do not. Granted, he is not an easy thinker to comprehend. Marjorie Grene, one of the few to have engaged his work on a serious level, once confessed that 'Thinking about him produces a kind of verbal vertigo" (Grene 1976, p. 622). It has been far easier for commentators to repeat the incantation "body, flesh, ambiguity, world" than to sober up enough to determine what precisely it was that he was trying to say. But something more is to blame for his present fate than that baffling mode of writing, so nuanced in his hands and so unintentionally silly in the hands of imitators. Merleau-Ponty's work was informed by two traditions which continue to find adherents today: Husserlian phenomenology and Marx? ism. His relationship to both, however, was by no means unequivocal. Phe? nomenology, which he had taken up wholeheartedly in his 1945 magnum opus
What Are You Prepared to Do? NATO and the Strategic Mismatch Between Ends, Ways, and Means in Afghanistan—and in the Future

This article examines ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) operations in Afghanistan as a way to get at the strategic disconnects in ends, ways, and means that the author believes are endemic to large-scale protracted stability and COIN (counterinsurgency) operations against adversaries who do not pose palpable existential threats to the members of an alliance. The article focuses mainly on the period that followed President Barack Obama's December 2009 announcement of a civilian and military “surge” in Afghanistan through the early stages of the ISAF offensive in Marjah, which began in February 2010. The article concludes that the fundamental strategic issue is that the Allies are not willing (or able) to devote enough resources to achieve their stated objectives. No matter how much the “Ways” might be improved, the “Means” are not sufficient to attain the “Ends.” Thus, what is needed is a more realistic understanding of what ISAF can accomplish in Afghanistan and what NATO might be expected to...
Electric water heater modeling and control strategies for demand response

Demand response (DR) has a great potential to provide balancing services at normal operating conditions and emergency support when a power system is subject to large disturbances. Effective DR control strategies can help relieve balancing and frequency response burdens on conventional generators in addition to reducing generation and transmission investments needed to meet peak demands. This paper discusses modeling residential electric water heaters (EWH) in households and tests their responses with various control strategies implementing DR. The open-loop response of EWH to a centralized control signal is studied by adjusting temperature settings to provide balancing services; and two types of decentralized controllers are tested to provide frequency support following generator trips. EWH models are included in a simulation platform capable of performing electromechanical simulations, which contains 147 households in a distribution feeder. Simulation results show the effectiveness of EWH responses and its dependence on hot water usage. These results provide insight and suggest the need for control strategies to achieve better performance in demand response implementations.
Thinking about non‐being∗

There are genuine references to non‐existent objects, as can be seen through elucidating reference in common language and applying the criteria enumerated to expressions used in writing and speaking about fiction. The concept of a fictitious entity is simply accepted in the adoption of the ‘language‐game’ of fiction and has no undesirable ontological consequences. To think otherwise is to fail to attend to the conceptual status of such talk. Accounts of fictional discourse by Russell, Ryle, and Chisholm are found objectionable. The concept of existence is touched on, and consequences concerning reference to abstract and other objects and also concerning method in ontology mentioned.
Histochemistry of human sublingual glands.

BIOLOGICAL work on salivary glands has revealed that sialic acid is the only acidic component in the bovine submaxillary gland and probably in the sublingual gland of the rat1–3. These findings resulted in the elaboration of a method for the removal of sialic acid in tissue sections known to contain abundant amounts of this sialo-mucin4,5. Such a method consisted of exposing the sections to acid hydrolysis at different pH's and temperatures.
Communication and task scheduling of application-specific networks-on-chip

The objective of the paper is to introduce a novel energy-aware scheduling (EAS) algorithm which statically schedules application-specific communication transactions and computation tasks onto heterogeneous network-on-chip (NoC) architectures. The proposed algorithm automatically assigns the application tasks onto different processing elements and then schedules their execution under real-time constraints. At the same time, the algorithm takes into consideration the exact communication delay by scheduling communication transactions in parallel. As the main theoretical contribution, the authors first formulate the problem of concurrent communication and task scheduling for heterogeneous NoC architectures and then propose an efficient heuristic to solve it. Experimental results show that significant energy savings can be achieved while meeting the specified performance constraints. For instance, for a complex multimedia application, 31% energy savings have been observed, on average, compared to the schedules generated by a standard earliest-deadline-first scheduler.
Use of shape-from-shading to estimate three-dimensional architecture in the small intestinal lumen of celiac and control patients

Background: As measured from videocapsule endoscopy images, the small intestinal mucosa of untreated celiac patients has significantly greater and more varied texture compared to normal patients. Three-dimensional modeling using shape-from-shading principles may further increase classification accuracy. Methods: A sequence of 200 consecutive videocapsule images acquired at a 2s^-^1 frame rate and 576x576 pixel dimension, were obtained at four locations in the small intestinal lumen of ten patients with biopsy-proven celiac disease and ten control patients. Each two-dimensional image was converted to a three-dimensional architectural approximation by considering the 256 grayscale level to be linearly representative of image depth. From the resulting three-dimensional architecture, distinct luminal protrusions, representative of the macro-architecture, were automatically identified by computer algorithm. The range and number of protrusions per image, and their width and height, were determined for celiacs versus controls and tabulated as mean+/-SD. Results: The mean number of villous protrusions per image was 402.2+/-15.0 in celiacs versus 420.8+/-24.0 in controls (p<0.001). The average protrusion width was 14.7 pixels in celiacs versus 13.9 pixels in controls (p=0.01). The mean protrusion height was 3.10+/-2.34 grayscale levels for celiacs versus 2.70+/-0.43 grayscale levels for controls (p<0.001). Thus celiac patients had significantly fewer protrusions on the luminal surface of the small intestine as compared with controls, and these protrusions had greater dimensions, suggesting they are indicative of a mosaic (cobblestone) macro-architectural pattern which is common in celiacs. Conclusions: Shape-from-shading modeling is useful to explore luminal macro-architecture and to detect significant differences in luminal morphology in celiac versus normal patients, which can increase the usefulness of videocapsule studies.
Two stage tests for location when covariates are present

Two stage tests based on residuals are presented which are suitable for testing the equality of two population when covariates are present. Data from an actual experiment are used to illustrate the tests.
Isolation of low-copy-number sequences that neighbor satellite DNA in mammals.

Abstract To investigate the role of satellite DNA in eukaryotic genomes, we isolated from an African green monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops) genomic library cloned segments containing the previously described deca-satellite linked to low-copy-number genomic sequences. Three such clones were obtained. The low-copy-number sequences in the three clones do not cross-hybridize suggesting that they derive from different genomic loci. The structure of one of the clones, λAMkA, is described in detail. Subcloned segments containing the low-copy-number sequences from λAMkA anneal to monkey, human and mouse genomic DNA. The subcloned probes were used to select clones containing homologous sequences from a second, independent monkey library as well as from human and mouse genomic libraries. Several of the newly isolated monkey clones hybridized to probes containing the species-specific deca- and α-satellites, confirming the genomic association of the low-copy-number sequence in λAMkA with satellite DNA. Moreover, several of the human and mouse clones hybridized to species-specific human and mouse satellite DNAs, respectively. These experiments indicate that the low-copy-number sequence in λMkA and its association with satellite DNA is conserved in primates and rodents.
Global-local Dramas: Silence or Synthesis

The purpose of this article is to describe the competing dramas of globalization and local, place-based development. Kenneth Burke's terms for order provide a method for analyzing and evaluating the implications of each of these dramas on critical thought and free speech. The dramas embody differing hierarchical relationships, structures of authority and views regarding free speech and expression. Since the protests in Seattle in December 1999, public discourse about globalization has shifted to include concepts of local development emphasizing issues of environmental protection, national sovereignty, and human rights, especially free expression, and association. As these dramas unfold, they offer the promise of a new synthesis rooted in values of active citizens, critically engaged with one another to make decisions that respect people and place.
Extraction of mobile impurities from CdZnTe

To develop a process for removing impurities from the CdZnTe substrate, we have carried out experiments using a molten salt, KCN (potassium cyanide), for impurity extraction. This method was known to be effective for treating Ge but had never been tried on CdZnTe. The wafers are placed in a custom-fabricated quartz ampoule and covered with KCN powder. After evacuating both air and water vapor, the ampoule is sealed and heated to 650°C, which is above the KCN melting point of 634.5°C. The ampoule includes some metallic Cd-Zn alloy to provide an overpressure of those elements. Samples before and after this treatment were analyzed by glow discharge mass spectrometry (GDMS). Given starting concentrations in the range of 20 to 4000 ppba, it was found that the Cu and Li were very effectively removed, to near the measurement sensitivity limit, which is less than 10 ppba. Al was also diminished. These results were achieved in times as short as 15 min. The wafers take up some K from the melt, but this can be minimized with the shortest times. Chemically, the impurity extraction mechanism involves two steps in sequence. First is solid state diffusion of the impurity from the interior to surface of the wafer, and second is the dissolution of the impurity into the molten salt. It is likely that the former is rate-limiting, although fast. The procedure and results are presented, along with a discussion of the safety issues, and other characterizations of the treated wafers. Another more attractive method for removal of mobile impurities from CdZnTe, and related materials is the treatment in Bi solution. Bi has the advantage that it melts at a low enough temperature (271°C) such that it can be used in a temperature range where the semiconductor materials do not melt or interdiffuse among themselves, and yet high enough that the impurities are very mobile. Other advantages for impurity extraction are reasonable solubility of the treated material in Bi solution, good wipe-off characteristics and low diffusion rate in CdZnTe. Initial result and observations from preliminary experiments with Bi are also described.
The faces of Janus: modernism and hybridisation in the architecture of Lina Bo Bardi

From inside the echoing interior of a basketball court, large cut-out holes in the wall frame the convoluted, metropolitan landscape of Sao Paulo. From the outside, these holes look like hand-carved perforations in a rough and hollow concrete block. Lina Bo Bardi, the Italian-Brazilian architect, designed these unusual windows for the gymnasium of the SESC-Pompeia cultural and leisure centre between 1976 and 1982. These apertures are more than sills that control light and air (Figs 1, 2). They revive the etymological sense of the word janela, which means window in Portuguese.Like the two faces of Janus, they represent an ambivalent threshold. They exist between modern rationality and the spontaneity of everyday life and popular culture, merging where one begins and the other ends in Lina Bo Bardi's work. The window apertures exemplify the corollary of a long genealogy in the thinking and design of this unique architect, whose work defies easy classification. One of Lina Bo Bardi's major contributions to d...
Transmission simultanée de voix et données

Apres une revue des problemes lies a la numerisation et a la compression du signal vocal, les auteurs presentent un exemple de codage a debit moyen (codage predictif a excitation par la bande de base — 7 200 bit/s) et discutent son insertion dans un environnement telematique.
Facies Patterns in Marble Falls Group, Southeast Burnet County, Texas: ABSTRACT

Morrowan carbonates and clay of the Marble Falls Group accumulated on part of a broad structural platform, the Texas craton, that was bordered on the east by the Fort Worth basin. A myriad of carbonate facies formed on landward parts of the platform, whereas a relatively thick uniform sequence of dark-gray spiculitic carbonate mudstone accumulated at its seaward margin. As much as 6,000 ft of Mississippian and Pennsylvanian shale and sandstone fill the segment of the Fort Worth basin adjacent to the carbonate platform. Facies patterns in the Marble Falls Group are closely related to depositional setting. Changes in setting are a consequence of transgression, regression, and accumulation during transgression and regression. The response of facies patterns to changes in setting is recorded in the composition, geometry, and distribution of the facies. End_Page 155------------------------------ Four distinctly different vertical and lateral progressions of facies are evident in the Marble Falls Group. This progression lends itself to recognition of 4 depositional phases. The vertical sequence for each phase results from lateral shifts of 1 or 2 facies tracts that are unique to each phase. As a consequence each phase can be described by means of 1 or 2 generalized facies models. In places where porosity is fabric-selective, the models should allow prediction of reservoir geometry. They also may be useful in predicting target directions, and in locating the updip limits of potential stratigraphic traps. End_of_Article - Last_Page 156------------
Masculinization of female Macrobrachium rosenbergii (de Man) (Decapoda, Palaemonidae) by androgenic gland implantation.

Abstract Sexually immature and mature female Macrobrachium rosenbergii (de Man) were implanted with vas deferens, testicular, or androgenic gland tissues. Females implanted with vas deferens or testicular tissue developed normally. In contrast, androgenic gland implantation masculinized 81% of female recipients. The first morphological evidence of masculinization was usually differentiation of appendixes masculina. Male gonopore complexes were developed by three sexually immature females and mature male chelipeds were developed by six large masculinized females. Females that were sexually immature at masculinization, i.e., those lacking brood chambers and reproductive setae, did not develop these structures. Females that were sexually mature at masculinization still evidenced brood chambers and reproductive setae at the termination of the experiment. All masculinized females retained their female gonopores. Internally, all but one masculinized female possessed bilaterally formed vasa deferentia. In females possessing male gonopore complexes, the vasa deferentia were completely formed. In the other masculinized females, the vasa deferentia were incompletely formed and existed as autonomous growths along the cephalothorax wall. Two masculinized females initiated spermatogenesis in their ovaries. Spermatogenic lobules were generally better developed in the anterior region of the ovaries. Oogenesis was still present but the oocytes never completed vitellogenesis. In remaining masculinized females, no evidence of spermatogenesis was found. Oogenesis was present but, as in females that had initiated spermatogenesis, the oocytes never completed vitellogenesis. The present results are comparable to past results of androgenic gland implantation experiments and support our hypothesis that the androgenic glands function similarly in the Amphipoda, Isopoda, and Decapoda.
THE INACTIVATION OF BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE PROTEINS, AND THE VIRUS OF WESTERN EQUINE ENCEPHALOMYELITIS BY PERIODIC ACID

The action of periodic acid on two biologically active proteins, crystalline ribonuclease and pneumococcus Type III immune globulin, and on the virus of Western equine encephalomyelitis has been studied. The biological activity of the two proteins and the pathogenic action of the virus were destroyed by the reagent; the specific antigenicity of the immune globulin was retained, however, but that of the equine virus was lost. The bearing of these reactions on the chemical alteration of the respective substances has been discussed.
Reexamination of the Role of the Leucine/Isoleucine Zipper Residues of Phospholamban in Inhibition of the Ca2+ Pump of Cardiac Sarcoplasmic Reticulum

Phospholamban is a small phosphoprotein inhibitor of the Ca2+-pump in cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum, which shows a distinct oligomeric distribution between monomers and homopentamers that are stabilized through Leu/Ile zipper interactions. A two-faced model of phospholamban inhibition of the Ca2+-pump was proposed, in which the Leu/Ile zipper residues located on one face of the transmembrane α-helix regulate the pentamer to monomer equilibrium, whereas residues on the other face of the helix bind to and inhibit the pump. Here we tested this two-faced model of phospholamban action by analyzing the functional effects of a new series of Leu/Ile zipper mutants. Pentameric stabilities of the mutants were quantified at different SDS concentrations. We show that several phospholamban mutants with hydrophobic amino acid substitutions at the Leu/Ile zipper region retain the ability to form pentamers but at the same time give the same or even stronger (i.e. L37I-PLB) inhibition of the Ca2+-pump than do mutants that are more completely monomeric. Steric constraints prevent the Leu/Ile zipper residues sequestered in the interior of the phospholamban pentamer from binding to the Ca2+-pump, leading to the conclusion that the zipper residues access the pump from the phospholamban monomer, which is the active inhibitory species. A modified model of phospholamban transmembrane domain action is proposed, in which the membrane span of the phospholamban monomer maintains contacts with the Ca2+-pump around most of its circumference, including residues located in the Leu/Ile zipper region.
Membrane translocation of mitochondrially coded Cox2p: distinct requirements for export of N and C termini and dependence on the conserved protein Oxa1p.

Abstract To study in vivo the export of mitochondrially synthesized protein from the matrix to the intermembrane space, we have fused a synthetic mitochondrial gene, ARG8m, to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae COX2 gene in mitochondrial DNA. The Arg8mp moiety was translocated through the inner membrane when fused to the Cox2p C terminus by a mechanism dependent on topogenic information at least partially contained within the exported Cox2p C-terminal tail. The pre-Cox2p leader peptide did not signal translocation. Export of the Cox2p C-terminal tail, but not the N-terminal tail, was dependent on the inner membrane potential. The mitochondrial export system does not closely resemble the bacterial Sec translocase. However, normal translocation of both exported domains of Cox2p was defective in cells lacking the widely conserved inner membrane protein Oxa1p.
Kidney cancer: radiofrequency ablation of small renal masses--more work required.

The comparative efficacy of radiofrequency ablation and partial nephrectomy remains poorly defined for the treatment of small renal masses. A recent retrospective study has found equivalent long-term oncologic outcomes with these two treatment approaches for patients with histology-confirmed T1a renal cell carcinoma. However, the study cohort was highly selected.
Phospholamban R14 Deletion Results in Late-Onset, Mild, Hereditary Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Objectives The purpose of this research was to determine the phenotypic spectrum associated with phospholamban gene (PLN) mutations. Background Inheritance contributes to the development of dilated cardiomyopathy. Mutations in the gene encoding PLN have been associated with dilated cardiomyopathy characterized by early onset and the presence of lethal ventricular arrhythmias. Methods We screened a cohort of 260 unrelated dilated cardiomyopathy patients from a tertiary care referral center for mutations in the PLN gene. Results Family history of cardiomyopathy was present in approximately one-half the individuals in this cohort. We identified 1 family with a deletion of arginine 14 in the PLN. Interestingly, unlike other individuals reported with the identical PLN mutation, these individuals were not diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy until their seventh decade when they were only mildly symptomatic with congestive heart failure. Conclusions The identical PLN mutation can be associated with both mild and severe forms of dilated cardiomyopathy. Additionally, PLN mutations should be considered in late onset cardiomyopathy. (Genetics of Cardiovascular and Neuromuscular Disease; http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00138931?order=1 ; NCT00138931)
Plant genetics: Hothead healer and extragenomic information (reply)

Chaudhury 1 and Ray 2 propose alternative models to account for our observed pattern of non-mendelian inheritance in the hothead (hth) mutant of Arabidopsis3.
Domination Subdivision Numbers

A set S of vertices of a graph G = (V,E) is a dominating set if every vertex of V − S is adjacent to some vertex in S. The domination number γ(G) is the minimum cardinality of a dominating set of G, and the domination subdivision number sdγ(G) is the minimum number of edges that must be subdivided (each edge in G can be subdivided at most once) in order to increase the domination number. Arumugam conjectured that 1 ≤ sdγ(G) ≤ 3 for any graph G. We give a counterexample to this conjecture. On the other hand, we show that sdγ(G) ≤ γ(G)+1 for any graph G without isolated vertices, and give constant upper bounds on sdγ(G) for several families of graphs.
Characterization of a family of Arabidopsis zinc finger protein cDNAs

Work from animal systems indicates that C2H2 zinc finger proteins play an important role in development, and this is likely true for plant systems as well. To address this question we have used the sequence information from a previously isolated Arabidopsis thaliana C2H2 zinc finger protein gene to isolate additional cDNAs belonging to this gene family. While zinc finger genes isolated from other organisms encode multiple copies of this domain, the eight cDNAs isolated from Arabidopsis each contain only a single zinc finger. Outside of the finger region there is little sequence identity or similarity, although features characteristic of transcription factors are evident. While these genes are related, hybridization analysis indicates that each of them is a unique gene in the Arabidopsis genome. Analysis of mRNA demonstrates that the genes are expressed in different but overlapping sets of organs in the plant. These results are discussed in the light of recent analysis of zinc finger genes from other plant systems.
Master sintering curves for UO2 and UO2–SiC composite processed by spark plasma sintering

Abstract Master sintering curve (MSC) theory has been applied successfully to UO2 and UO2–SiC composite ceramics processed using spark plasma sintering (SPS). By applying the constant heating rate method, where the powder compact was heated at a constant rate to a specified maximum temperature and then cooled naturally, the apparent activation energies for sintering have been determined to be 140 kJ/mol for UO2 and 420 kJ/mol for UO2–SiC composite. The ability of the derived MSCs to control and predict final density in the sintered compact was demonstrated by additional experimental runs using the isothermal heating method, in which the powder is held for a specified time at the maximum sintering temperature. It is shown that the master sintering curve is an effective tool to characterize the densification and sinterability behavior of a given nuclear powder compact during spark plasma sintering. The reason for significantly lower activation energy in SPS processed UO2 pellets compared to conventional sintering has been rationalized on the basis of field activation in SPS process.