cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Crash Risk Analysis of Distracted Driving Behavior: Influence of Secondary Task Engagement and Driver Characteristics

Distracted driving has long been acknowledged as one of the main contributors to crashes in the US. According to past studies, driving behavior proved to be influenced by the socioeconomic characteristics of drivers. However, only few studies attempted to quantify that influence. The study proposed a Crash Risk Index to estimate the crash risk associated with the socioeconomic characteristics of drivers and their tendency to experience distracted driving. The analysis is conducted using data from the SHRP 2 Naturalistic Driving Study (NDS). The proposed Crash Risk Index (CRI) is developed based on a grading system of three measures: the crash risk associated with performing secondary tasks during driving, the effect of socioeconomic attributes (e.g. Age) on the likelihood of engagement in secondary tasks, and the effect of specific categories within each socioeconomic attribute (e.g. Age>60) on the likelihood of engagement in secondary tasks. Logistic Regression analysis was performed on the secondary tasks, socioeconomic attributes, and the specific socioeconomic characteristics. The results identified the significant secondary tasks with high crash risk and the socioeconomic characteristics with significant effect on determining drivers’ involvement in secondary tasks among each tested parameter. These results were used to quantify the grading system measures and hence estimate the proposed CRI. This index indicates the relative crash risk associated with the socioeconomic characteristics of drivers and considering the possibility of engagement in secondary tasks. The proposed CRI and the associated grading system are plausible methods for estimating auto insurance premiums.
Genome sequence variation in the constricta strain dramatically alters the protein interaction and localization map of Potato yellow dwarf virus.

The genome sequence of the constricta strain of Potato yellow dwarf virus (CYDV) was determined to be 12 792 nt long and organized into seven ORFs with the gene order 3′-N-X-P-Y-M-G-L-5′, which encodes the nucleocapsid, phospho, movement, matrix, glyco, and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase proteins, respectively, except for X, which is of unknown function. Cloned ORFs for each gene, except L, were used to construct a protein interaction and localization map (PILM) for this virus, which shares greater than 80 % amino acid similarity in all ORFs except X and P with the sanguinolenta strain of this species (SYDV). Protein localization patterns and interactions unique to each viral strain were identified, resulting in strain-specific PILMs. Localization of CYDV and SYDV proteins in virus-infected cells mapped subcellular loci likely to be sites of replication, morphogenesis and movement.
Repeatability and Reproducibility of the Ultrasonic Attenuation Coefficient and Backscatter Coefficient Measured in the Right Lobe of the Liver in Adults With Known or Suspected Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Author(s): Han, Aiguo; Andre, Michael P; Deiranieh, Lisa; Housman, Elise; Erdman, John W; Loomba, Rohit; Sirlin, Claude B; O'Brien, William D | Abstract: OBJECTIVES:To assess the repeatability and reproducibility of the ultrasonic attenuation coefficient (AC) and backscatter coefficient (BSC) measured in the livers of adults with known or suspected nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). METHODS:The Institutional Review Board approved this Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant prospective study; informed consent was obtained. Forty-one research participants with known or suspected NAFLD were recruited and underwent same-day ultrasound examinations of the right liver lobe with a clinical scanner by a clinical sonographer. Each participant underwent 2 scanning trials, with participant repositioning between trials. Two transducers were used in each trial. For each transducer, machine settings were optimized by the sonographer but then kept constant while 3 data acquisitions were obtained from the liver without participant repositioning and then from an external calibrated phantom. Raw RF echo data were recorded. The AC and BSC were measured within 2.6 to 3.0 MHz from a user-defined hepatic field of interest from each acquisition. The repeatability and reproducibility were analyzed by random-effects models. RESULTS:The mean AC and log-transformed BSC (logBSC) were 0.94 dB/cm-MHz and -27.0 dB, respectively. Intraclass correlation coefficients were 0.88 to 0.94 for the AC and 0.87 to 0.95 for the logBSC acquired without participant repositioning. For between-trial repeated scans with participant repositioning, the intraclass correlation coefficients were 0.80 to 0.84 for the AC and 0.69 to 0.82 for the logBSC after averaging results from 3 within-trial images. The variability introduced by the transducer was less than the repeatability error. CONCLUSIONS:Hepatic AC and BSC measures using a reference phantom technique on a clinical scanner are repeatable and reproducible between transducers in adults with known or suspected NAFLD.
A Coin for China? The Monetary Standards Debate at the End of the Qing Dynasty, 1900–1912:

This article examines debates about monetary standards in the final years of the Qing dynasty. As silver depreciated on the world market, Qing statesmen discussed whether to adopt the gold-exchange...
Mimicry in Plants

Mimetic phenomena have played a central role in many evolutionary questions and today provide some of the best examples of natural selection. Since its discovery by Bates (1862) in Amazonian Heliconiid butterflies many hundreds of papers have been written on the subject and today it is recognized as a major feature of animal evolution, especially in insects.
Nonlinear High Fidelity Modeling of Impact Load Response in a Rod

In this paper, wave propagation through a polyurethane rod is studied by using an experimental system and through performing high fidelity numerical simulations. The rod model for the polyurethane rod is prepared accounting for the possibility of a material nonlinearity. Due to a significant impedance mismatch between the titanium transmission bar and the polyurethane rod along with the high damping level of the polyurethane, only a small amplitude, linear response was observed and predicted in the polyurethane rod. Ongoing work will focus on impedance matching in order to transfer greater amounts of energy into the polyurethane rod so that the nonlinear stress-strain relationship can be studied for larger magnitude response conditions.
A systematic risk-based strategy to select personal protective equipment for infectious diseases.

Background Personal protective equipment (PPE) is a primary strategy to protect health care personnel (HCP) from infectious diseases. When transmission-based PPE ensembles are not appropriate, HCP must recognize the transmission pathway of the disease and anticipate the exposures to select PPE. Because guidance for this process is extremely limited, we proposed a systematic, risk-based approach to the selection and evaluation of PPE ensembles to protect HCP against infectious diseases. Methods The approach used in this study included the following 4 steps: (1) job hazard analysis, (2) infectious disease hazard analysis, (3) selection of PPE, and (4) evaluation of selected PPE. Selected PPE should protect HCP from exposure, be usable by HCP, and fit for purpose. Results The approach was demonstrated for the activity of intubation of a patient with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus. As expected, the approach led to the selection of different ensembles of PPE for these 2 pathogens. Discussion A systematic risk-based approach to the selection of PPE will help health care facilities and HCP select PPE when transmission-based precautions are not appropriate. Owing to the complexity of PPE ensemble selection and evaluation, a team with expertise in infectious diseases, occupational health, the health care activity, and related disciplines, such as human factors, should be engaged. Conclusions Participation, documentation, and transparency are necessary to ensure the decisions can be communicated, critiqued, and understood by HCP.
Hot spots policing and crime reduction: an update of an ongoing systematic review and meta-analysis

This updated systematic review assesses the effects of focused police crime prevention interventions at crime hot spots. The review also examined whether focused police actions at specific locations result in crime displacement or diffusion of crime control benefits. Systematic review protocols and conventions of the Campbell Collaboration were followed to identify eligible hot spots policing studies, and meta-analytic techniques were used to assess the impact of hot spots policing on crime and investigate the influence of moderating variables. The search strategies identified 65 studies containing 78 tests of hot spots policing interventions. Meta-analyses revealed a small statistically significant mean effect size favoring the effects of hot spots policing in reducing crime outcomes at treatment places relative to control places. Crime displacement and diffusion effects were measured in 40 tests. Meta-analyses favored a small statistically significant diffusion of crime control benefits over displacement. The extant evaluation research provides fairly robust evidence that hot spots policing is an effective crime prevention strategy. Focused police intervention at hot spot locations does not seem to result in the spatial displacement of crime into areas immediately surrounding targeted locations. Rather, crime control benefits seem to diffuse into proximate areas.
A New Approach to Teaching Statics Using a Makerspace

This Work In Progress (WIP), Research to Practice Category paper, addresses a new approach to teaching concepts within introductory statics for undergraduate engineering students using a low-resolution-preto/prototyping makerspace. As the benefits of physical modeling and communities of practice have been increasingly documented, makerspaces have sprung up across numerous college and university campuses. Although makerspaces vary between institutions, they generally have resources that provide users the opportunity to perform hands-on design and obtain build experience. These facilities also bring people of different disciplines together, encouraging the sharing of perspectives and fostering collaboration among users. Literature pertaining to makerspaces shows that enhanced learning occurs within students who utilize these spaces. The new approach was pilot tested in the fall 2018 semester. In this math and physics-intensive sophomore-level course, the instructional goals in utilizing the makerspace included an enhanced understanding of the physical significance and application of core course concepts. The main course concept demonstrated was planar truss design, as pursued through the physical construction and testing of balsa wood bridges. Students were asked to design, build, and test a bridge prototype in a hands-on fashion using the makerspace. A second section of the course taught by the same instructor did not utilize the makerspace to build and test a prototype; instead, the students designed and analyzed a bridge prototype using 3D modeling and finite element analysis software, enabling a comparison. An assessment plan was developed that included the gathering of both student-perspectives, as well as direct performance data, including students’ performance on the bridge prototyping project. Via survey, students were asked, prior to and after completing the bridge project, their perspectives about the makerspace, and if the makerspace enhanced their understanding of statics as well as their creativity and other professional skills, respectively. In this WIP paper, we will describe the bridge prototyping project and students’ use of the makerspace from the instructional team’s viewpoint. We will also present preliminary assessment data demonstrating student perspectives on the approach. Lessons learned will also be discussed, including the instructor’s plans for continuing this approach in future semesters.
The Production of Merit: How Managers Understand and Apply Merit in the Workplace

In this article, we develop a process model that specifies how managers come to understand and approach the evaluation of merit in the workplace. Interviews from a diverse sample of managers and fr...
The effect of the ghrelin-receptor agonist capromorelin on glucose metabolism in healthy cats

Abstract Somatostatin secretion from islet delta cells is important in maintaining low glycemic variability (GV) by providing negative feedback to beta cells and inhibiting insulin secretion. Capromorelin is a ghrelin-receptor agonist that activates the growth hormone secretagogue receptor on delta cells. We hypothesized that in cats, capromorelin administration will result in decreased GV at the expense of reduced insulin secretion and glucose tolerance. Seven healthy cats were treated with capromorelin from days 1–30. After the first day, fasting blood glucose increased (+13 ± 3 mg/dL, P
Dense particle tracking using a learned predictive model

The velocity resolution for particle tracking velocimetry is limited by the ability to link multiple instances of the same particle captured over time to form trajectories. This becomes increasingly difficult as the particle speed and concentration increase. To address these concerns, we propose a data-driven approach to generate a learned predictive model capable of accurately estimating future particle behavior. The model uses the long short-term memory (LSTM) recurrent neural network architecture to predict a particle’s velocity from its past positions. The model achieves increased linking performance with a negligible increase in the computational cost. Historical trajectories demonstrating the range of expected behaviors for a given application are used to train the model and can be collected using either of two methods. Manual filtering and selection can be used to select exemplary trajectories produced by an incomplete or inadequate method. Supplemental experiments with reduced tracer concentration can also produce training data. Both methods are demonstrated through experimental validation. The ability of the learned predictor to accurately link particles at tracer concentrations and flow speeds where traditional methods fail is demonstrated using two simulated flow cases. Three experimental cases are presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method under challenging conditions. Each case tracks the 3D positions of particles captured using microscopic digital inline holography although the approach is generalizable and can be applied to data obtained with other 2D and 3D PTV techniques. The selected cases—turbulent channel flow, flow through a T-junction, and swimming microorganisms—demonstrate the broad applicability of the proposed method to different fields with unique challenges.
The Market as a Learning Algorithm: Consequences for Regulation and Antitrust

The heart of the Chicago School’s attack on the antitrust laws was a skepticism about the ability of government to improve upon unregulated market outcomes. Although the attack failed to eliminate regulation or antitrust entirely, it has proven so enduringly devastating as an intellectual matter that virtually no proposal for government regulation or increased antitrust enforcement is put forward today without an attempt either to justify the proposed departure from an assumed-legitimate free market baseline or to dismiss Chicago School skepticism as an intellectual plot bankrolled by business elites. Chicago School skepticism has been so devastating because it draws sustenance from an inapt metaphor for the economy: that of evolution through natural selection. The free market is, for the Chicago School, nature itself, and all the glories of life suggest that evolution does just fine when left to its own devices, creating a powerful basis for skepticism regarding the need for government intervention in the economy. Except that evolution never did do anything to promote economic growth, so much as theft, a fact that human beings know well given their status as predators of unparalleled success. Humanity did not escape from the subsistence economics that characterizes all of evolved life until humanity started to exert control over the forces of evolution, which is to say: to regulate. A better metaphor for the economy than natural selection is that of a computer running a machine learning algorithm engineered to channel evolutionary forces away from theft and toward growth. The first such algorithm embraced by humanity set evolution aside almost entirely, in favor of identifying optimal productive behaviors directly. That was central planning, which flourished throughout the ancient world and was practiced globally right up to the 19th century. The second such algorithm embraced evolution, but sought to improve upon it by imposing a rule against theft. That was the economic liberalism practiced in the West in the late 19th century. It is also the regime favored by the Chicago School. Approached from the metaphor of the algorithm, the Chicago School’s program appears retrograde, rather than foundational, because it amounts to the position that there should be no version 2.0, no further tweaks to the algorithm. But the antitrust laws, in prohibiting behavior that degrades competitors’ products, even when the behavior does not amount to theft, improves upon the algorithm that is economic liberalism, better channeling life’s evolutionary forces toward productivity and growth, rather than destructive forms of competition.
Orthogonal CRISPR-Cas genome editing and efficient inhibition with anti-CRISPRs in zebrafish embryos

Abstract The CRISPR-Cas universe continues to expand. The type II CRISPR-Cas system from Streptococcus pyogenes (SpCas9) is most widely used for genome editing due to its high efficiency in cells and organisms. However, concentrating on a single CRISPR-Cas system limits options for multiplexed editing. We hypothesized that CRISPR-Cas systems originating from different bacterial species could operate simultaneously and independently due to their distinct single-guide RNAs (sgRNAs) or CRISPR-RNAs (crRNAs), and protospacer adjacent motifs (PAMs). Additionally, we hypothesized that CRISPR-Cas activity in zebrafish could be regulated through the expression of inhibitory anti-CRISPR (Acr) proteins. Here, we use a simple mutagenesis approach to demonstrate that CRISPR-Cas systems from Streptococcus pyogenes (SpCas9), Streptococcus aureus (SaCas9), and Lachnospiraceae bacterium (LbCas12a, previously known as LbCpf1) are highly effective, orthogonal systems capable of operating simultaneously in zebrafish. We also demonstrate that type II Acrs are effective inhibitors of SpCas9 in zebrafish. These results indicate that at least three orthogonal CRISPR-Cas systems and two anti-CRISPR proteins are functional in zebrafish embryos. These CRISPR-Cas systems and Acr proteins will enable combinatorial and intersectional strategies for spatiotemporal control of genome editing in zebrafish.
Dyadic behavioral synchrony between behaviorally inhibited and non-inhibited peers is associated with concordance in EEG frontal Alpha asymmetry and Delta-Beta coupling.

Abstract Behavioral synchrony during social interactions is foundational for the development of social relationships. Behavioral inhibition (BI), characterized by wariness to social novelty and increased anxiety, may influence how children engage in moment-to-moment behavioral synchrony. EEG-derived frontal Alpha asymmetry and Delta-Beta coupling reflect approach-avoidance behavior and emotion regulation, respectively. We examined the relation between intradyadic behavioral synchrony in energy levels and peer gaze, BI, and EEG measures (N = 136, 68 dyads, MeanAge = 10.90 years) during unstructured and structured interactions. Energy levels were negatively synchronized when both children exhibited right Alpha asymmetry. If either child exhibited left Alpha asymmetry, the dyad exhibited more positive synchrony. Peer gaze was less synchronized during the unstructured task with left Alpha asymmetry. Greater positive Delta-Beta coupling in BI children was associated with more peer gaze synchrony. Peer gaze was asynchronous when BI children exhibited negative Delta-Beta coupling and their partner exhibited positive coupling.
Infinite Ergodic Walks in Finite Connected Undirected Graphs

The micro-canonical, canonical, and grand canonical ensembles of walks defined in finite connected undirected graphs are considered in the thermodynamic limit of infinite walk length. As infinitely long paths are extremely sensitive to structural irregularities and defects, their properties are used to describe the degree of structural imbalance, anisotropy, and navigability in finite graphs. For the first time, we introduce entropic force and pressure describing the effect of graph defects on mobility patterns associated with the very long walks in finite graphs; navigation in graphs and navigability to the nodes by the different types of ergodic walks; as well as node’s fugacity in the course of prospective network expansion or shrinking.
Architecture, Religion, and the Forms of Nature in Turn-of-the-Twentieth-Century Chicago

The commercial architectural style that emerged in Chicago in the late nineteenth-century United States constituted a material gathering point for that century’s masculinities, religious histories, and conceptions of nature. This was especially true in the case of Louis Henri Sullivan (1856–1924), an inmuential lgure in crafting the aesthetic of this ‘Chicago School’ of architectural practice. Drawing on transcendentalist literature and recent innovations in architectural design, Sullivan outlined an ‘organic’ theory of architecture made famous in his pithy expression: form follows function. His design and theorization of free-standing structures offered gendered forms as the constitutive vocabulary of American architecture, with those very forms—not just the skyscraper but the free-standing structure writ-large—governing the relation of nature and its spirit to the masculinized landscape of urban commercial expansion. In Sullivan’s work, the gendered body became the vehicle for natural laws, both material and divine.
Reperfusion mediates heme impairment with increased protein cysteine sulfonation of mitochondrial complex III in the post-ischemic heart

Abstract A serious consequence of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (I/R) is oxidative damage, which causes mitochondrial dysfunction. The cascading ROS can propagate and potentially induce heme bleaching and protein cysteine sulfonation (PrSO3H) of the mitochondrial electron transport chain. Herein we studied the mechanism of I/R-mediated irreversible oxidative injury of complex III in mitochondria from rat hearts subjected to 30-min of ischemia and 24-h of reperfusion in vivo. In the I/R region, the catalytic activity of complex III was significantly impaired. Spectroscopic analysis indicated that I/R mediated the destruction of hemes b and c + c1 in the mitochondria, supporting I/R-mediated complex III impairment. However, no significant impairment of complex III activity and heme damage were observed in mitochondria from the risk region of rat hearts subjected only to 30-min ischemia, despite a decreased state 3 respiration. In the I/R mitochondria, carbamidomethylated C122/C125 of cytochrome c1 via alkylating complex III with a down regulation of HCCS was exclusively detected, supporting I/R-mediated thioether defect of heme c1. LC-MS/MS analysis showed that I/R mitochondria had intensely increased complex III PrSO3H levels at the C236 ligand of the [2Fe 2S] cluster of the Rieske iron‑sulfur protein (uqcrfs1), thus impairing the electron transport activity. MS analysis also indicated increased PrSO3H of the hinge protein at C65 and of cytochrome c1 at C140 and C220, which are confined in the intermembrane space. MS analysis also showed that I/R extensively enhanced the PrSO3H of the core 1 (uqcrc1) and core 2 (uqcrc2) subunits in the matrix compartment, thus supporting the conclusion that complex III releases ROS to both sides of the inner membrane during reperfusion. Analysis of ischemic mitochondria indicated a modest reduction from the basal level of complex III PrSO3H detected in the mitochondria of sham control hearts, suggesting that the physiologic hyperoxygenation and ROS overproduction during reperfusion mediated the enhancement of complex III PrSO3H. In conclusion, reperfusion-mediated heme damage with increased PrSO3H controls oxidative injury to complex III and aggravates mitochondrial dysfunction in the post-ischemic heart.
Surface degradation of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 − δ superconductors on exposure to air and humidity

Surface modifications from exposure of ${\mathrm{YBa}}_{2}$${\mathrm{Cu}}_{3}$${\mathrm{O}}_{7\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\delta}}}$ pellets and thin films of the 1:2:3 composition to ambient atmosphere and 85% relative humidity at 50 \ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}C were measured using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning Auger electron multiprobe. Surface formation of ${\mathrm{BaCO}}_{3}$ and Ba(OH${)}_{2}$ was detected. The surface layer of the sintered pellets did not have any Cu after 48 h of moisture treatment. The degradation in the thin-film samples was substantially less. The rate of degradation appears to be controlled by grain-boundary diffusion.
Using Technology To Support a New Pedagogy of Mathematics Teacher Education.

Teacher education courses that deliver knowledge about how to change mathematics teaching to prospective teachers are ineffective in challenging their traditional ideas about how to teach. There are few models of good practice for novices to observe and examine. By making multiple images of innovative teaching and learning available for study, hypermedia technology has the potential to represent the complexities of actual work in classrooms in situations where novices can develop images of the kind of practice that reformers espouse. The authors have been designing and experimenting with hypermedia tools in preservice teacher education that involve prospective teachers in this kind of inquiry learning about mathematics teaching. Information about classroom lessons and reflections on these lessons have been assembled to provide an environment in which prospective teachers can pose questions and use data to understand teaching and learning. A course in which such cases were used as the focus of teacher educ...
Interfacial Reactions in Metal-Si3N4 Bonding

On a utilise la spectrometrie photoelectronique RX pour caracteriser les produits formes par reaction a l'interface entre Si 3 N 4 et deux metaux reactifs (Al et Ti). Il se forme Al 2 O 3 a l'interface Al/Si 3 N 4 a 800-850°C, alors que AlN se forme a 1000°C. Avec un alliage de brasage Cu-Ag-1,5% Ti, le titane est segregue a l'interface et forme TiN et peut etre Ti 5 Si 3
Limitations of Health Education Strategies in Mental Health Promotion.

(1987). Limitations of Health Education Strategies in Mental Health Promotion. Health Education: Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 40-43.
A unified spectral theory for linear time-varying systems-progress and challenges

This paper presents a survey on the progress and challenges in the development of a unified spectral theory for the class of scalar linear time-varying systems, based on a classical result by Floquet (1879) on differential operator factorization. This unified theory is a natural extension of the conventional eigenvalue-eigenvector theory for linear time-invariant systems. Applications of the new theory are exemplified with the design of a time-varying bandwidth filter which has been used in a missile autopilot.
Quantitative Immunological and Electrophoretic Comparison of Primate Lysozymes

Abstract Rabbit antisera were produced against purified human and baboon lysozymes and tested by quantitative microcomplement fixation for cross-reactivity with the lysozymes present in the milks of 19 primate species. No antigenic difference was found between the lysozymes of man and chimpanzee and almost none between those of man and orangutan. Major antigenic differences were detected between human lysozyme and all other lysozymes tested, including gorilla, Old World monkeys, New World monkeys, and prosimians. Small or no antigenic differences were found between baboon lysozyme and other Old World monkey lysozymes, whereas significant differences were found between the baboon enzyme and those of the remaining primate species. Electrophoretic experiments revealed that most primate lysozymes are less positively charged than human lysozyme. The calibration established earlier between degree of immunological difference and degree of amino acid sequence difference among bird lysozymes allows estimation of the approximate number of sequence differences between human and baboon lysozymes and the lysozymes of the other species tested. Although the results do not permit construction of an accurate phylogenetic tree for primates, they do permit approximate estimation of the average rate of lysozyme evolution in primates. The average time required for a 1% sequence difference to accumulate between the lysozymes of two primate lineages may be roughly 2 million years. Primate lysozymes, therefore, appear to have evolved faster than most other primate proteins studied and about 3 times as fast as bird lysozymes.
Regulation of the expression of tropomyosins and actin cytoskeleton by ras transformation.

Abstract Neoplastic transformation by Ras proteins markedly suppresses the expression of certain isoforms of tropomyosins (TMs), which are important regulators of actin cytoskeleton. Downregulation of TMs and other actin‐associated proteins is believed to result in the assembly of aberrant cytoskeleton, which in turn contributes to the malignant transformation by Ras. Oncogenic activation of ras , in addition to suppressing TMs by means of epigenetic mechanisms, also rapidly inhibits their cytoskeletal fractionation, leading to the disruption of cytoskeleton. Restoration of expression of certain isoforms of TMs reorganizes microfilaments and suppresses the malignant growth of ras ‐transformed cells. This chapter discusses some of the approaches to the analysis of TM isoform expression in normal and ras ‐transformed cells.
DnaA coordinates replication initiation and cell cycle transcription in Caulobacter crescentus

The level of DnaA, a key bacterial DNA replication initiation factor, increases during the Caulobacter swarmer-to-stalked transition just before the G1/S transition. We show that DnaA coordinates DNA replication initiation with cell cycle progression by acting as a global transcription factor. Using DnaA depletion and induction in synchronized cell populations, we have analysed global transcription patterns to identify the differential regulation of normally co-expressed genes. The DnaA regulon includes genes encoding several replisome components, the GcrA global cell cycle regulator, the PodJ polar localization protein, the FtsZ cell division protein, and nucleotide biosynthesis enzymes. In cells depleted of DnaA, the G1/S transition is temporally separated from the swarmer-to-stalked cell differentiation, which is normally coincident. In the absence of DnaA, the CtrA master regulator is cleared by proteolysis during the swarmer-to-stalked cell transition as usual, but DNA replication initiation is blocked. In this case, expression of gcrA, which is directly repressed by CtrA, does not increase in conjunction with the disappearance of CtrA until DnaA is subsequently induced, showing that gcrA expression requires DnaA. DnaA boxes are present upstream of many genes whose expression requires DnaA, and His6-DnaA binds to the promoters of gcrA, ftsZ and podJ in vitro. This redundant control of gcrA transcription by DnaA (activation) and CtrA (repression) forms a robust switch controlling the decision to proceed through the cell cycle or to remain in the G1 stage.
Measurement of Glutathione Transport

This unit provides methods for analyzing uptake in rat kidney proximal tubule cells and rat kidney cortical mitochondria, preparation of proximal tubule cells and cortical mitochondria, and HPLC analysis of glutathione and related compounds.
Benefits of the fiber optic versus the electret microphone in voice amplification.

Background Voice disorders that result in reduced loudness may cause difficulty in communicating, socializing and participating in occupational activities. Amplification is often recommended in order to facilitate functional communication, reduce vocal load and avoid developing maladaptive compensatory behaviours. The most common microphone used with amplification systems is the electret microphone. One alternate form of microphone is the fiber optic microphone. Aims To examine the benefits of the fiber optic (1190S) versus the electret (M04) microphone as measured by objective and subjective parameters in the amplification of a patient's voice with reduced loudness caused by neurological and/or respiratory-based problems. Methods & Procedures Eighteen patients with vocal fold paralysis, Parkinson's disease and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) participated in the study. The study contained a measurement of intensity, amplitude perturbation and signal-to-noise ratio during a sustained vowel production and a measurement of intensity during conversation with the use of the two microphones simultaneously. It also included the completion of a questionnaire indicating the patient's satisfaction with each microphone. Outcomes & Results The fiber optic (1190S) microphone had better objective acoustic performance (i.e. lower amplitude perturbation, higher signal-to-noise ratio and higher intensity) than the electret (M04) microphone. It also had better patient subjective satisfaction (i.e. less conspicuousness, more voice clarity, less acoustic feedback, more loudness and more utilization) than the electret microphone. Conclusions & Implications Patients with neurological and/or respiratory-based voice problems may more confidently and frequently use the fiber optic microphone to communicate, socialize and participate in occupational activities more easily. Speech–language pathologists may more confidently use or recommend the fiber optic microphone with amplification systems.
Insect Cell Glycosylation Patterns in the Context of Biopharmaceuticals

The baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) was originally described in 1983 [1]. This binary expression system consists of a lepidopteran insect cell or insect host and a recombinant baculoviral vector encoding one or more proteins of interest (for reviews see [2–7]). The insect cell lines used in the BEVS are derived from pupae, larvae or eggs of a wide variety of lepidopteran insect species. The most commonly used cell lines are derived from Trichoplusia ni (BTI-TN-5B1-4, commercially available as High Five [8]) andSpodoptera frugiperda (IPLB-Sf21AE [9] and Sf9 [6]). These immortalized cell lines can be grown as adherent cultures in T-flasks or as suspension cultures in Fernbach flasks, spinner flasks, or in airlift, stirred-tank or WAVE bioreactors. Baculovirus vectors are recombinant viruses that can productively infect insect, but not mammalian cells. Recombinant baculoviruses can be produced using several different approaches involving either homologous recombination [10, 11] or DNA transposition [12]. Genes encoding the protein of interest in baculovirus expression vectors are typically placed under the control of strong transcriptional promoters derived from the very late baculoviral polyhedrin or p10 genes. Alternatively, they can be placed under the control of weaker promoters derived from baculoviral late (e.g., p6.9) [13] or immediate early (e.g., ie1) promoters [14]. Recombinant baculovirus vectors are used to infect insects or insect cells, thus inducing production of the recombinant protein as a by-product of the infection process. Recombinant protein production is transient because baculovirus infections are cytolytic. Nonetheless, the BEVS can produce recombinant proteins at very high levels due to amplification of the vector and the extraordinary strength of the very late gene promoters typically used to drive foreign gene expression. Furthermore, the BEVS is a eukaryotic system that can produce soluble, biologically active recombinant proteins with coand post-translational modifications, including glycosylation.
The acoustical design of conventional open plan offices

This paper uses a previously developed model of sound propagation in conventional open plan offices to explore the influence of each parameter of the office design on the expected speech privacy in the office. The ceiling absorption, the height of partial height panels and the workstation plan size are shown to be most important. However, it is not possible to achieve 'acceptable' speech privacy if all design parameters do not have near to optimum values. A successful open office should also include an optimum masking sound spectrum and an office etiquette that encourages talking at lower voice levels.
Our changing world: impacts on health and infectious diseases.

This special focus section of Virulence is dedicated to the topic of climate change and health. Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are u...
The CADE-23 Automated Theorem Proving System Competition - CASC-23

The CADE ATP System Competition (CASC) is an annual evaluation of fully automatic, classical logic Automated Theorem Proving (ATP) systems. CASC-23 was the sixteenth competition in the CASC series. Thirty-six ATP systems and system variants competed in the various competition and demonstration divisions. An outline of the competition design, and a commentated summary of the results, are presented.
Improving the analysis and modeling of substance use.

Substance use disorders (addiction; abuse or dependence in DSM-IV terms) are chronic, relapsing conditions. Our current state of knowledge does not allow for accurate prediction of the trajectory of substance use patterns or development of the disorder in the general population, in a small subgroup (e.g. participants in a clinical trial), or in individual patients. At the population level, this limits our ability to efficiently allocate limited clinical, public health, and law enforcement resources to prevent the growth in use and abuse of existing and novel psychoactive substances (NPS). At the clinical trial level, this limits our ability to accurately identify factors influencing treatment outcome in subgroups of patients. At the patient level, this limits the clinician’s ability to identify and promptly intervene during periods of heightened risk of relapse. Four articles in this issue of The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse by Wagner et al. (1), Westover et al. (2), Wakeland et al. (3) and Stogner (4) describe statistical approaches that may improve the current state of the art, ranging from how to handle the raw data that is collected in order to extract the maximum information (in terms of level of aggregation and the best outcome distribution for modeling) (1) to the optimal model to use when evaluating (retrospectively or prospectively) substance use outcomes, whether in a circumscribed group of users (e.g. clinical trial participants) (2) or in the population as a whole (3,4). Overall, the examples in these papers show how sensitive the results of statistical analysis can be to the choice of data aggregation and modeling, highlighting the importance of using the best possible statistical approaches.
Is there such a thing as ‘the ghetto’?

One of the first things you notice when ascending from the A train subway stop at 125th Street in Harlem, where I lived while conducting 5 years of research in New York City, is the density. It is ...
The Beginnings of Experimental Petrology

Van't Hoff's work constitutes the first systematic contribution to experimental petrology. At all times, the problem was perceived as geologic in nature and the laboratory results were checked against natural assemblages whenever possible. The phase rule was not used, nor, for that matter, was chemical thermodynamics, except for the Van't Hoff equation. However, the work of Van't Hoff and Van Deventer was indirectly involved in the evolution of phase theory by Roozeboom, Van Rijn van Alkemade, and Schreinemakers. Meyerhoffer himself wrote the first text explicitly devoted to the phase rule. The impact of Van't Hoff's study was enormous, but it was restricted to those geologists willing and able to cope with chemistry. Foremost among them were igneous petrologists who had long since accepted chemical arguments for classification purposes. I consider the Geophysical Laboratory program to be the most direct heir of the Van't Hoff approach. Although the shape of that program was formulated independently by Van Hise, Becker, Day, and others, the inspiration they derived from Van't Hoff's successes is clearly acknowledged. The study of the fusion of plagioclases by Day and Allen (41), which directly led to the authorization for the Geophysical Laboratory, was the igneous counterpart of Van't Hoff's low-temperature experimental petrology. On metamorphic petrology, too, Van't Hoff left his mark, with V. M. Goldschmidt acting as his disciple. The interpretation of the Kristiania contact rocks was explicitly based on Van't Hoff's double salt law in preference to the phase rule. Sedimentologists remained unaffected and continued their preoccupation with description and classification. Chemical arguments remained subordinate in their work and of an elementary nature, underscoring the chasm between "hard" rocks and "soft" rocks. This gulf is only now beginning to close as a result of the blossoming of experimental petrology and geochemistry since World War II. At last the generality of the point of view of Gibbs is being accepted. If Van't Hoff's contribution had been appreciated fully at the time, this could have happened 70 years earlier.
On the efficiency of the indicator approach in geostatistics

A common problem in geostatistics is to determine whether or not the value of a random field at an unsampled location exceeds a specified threshold using observed values of the random field at sampled locations. Under the indicator approach, the only information used to classify the unobserved value is whether or not the observed values exceed the threshold. This note shows that the loss of information from applying the indicator approach may be modest in the case where the underlying random field is Gaussian.
The genetic basis of antibody production: A single heavy chain variable region gene encodes all molecules bearing the dominant anti‐arsonate idiotype in the strain A mouse

A nucleic acid probe specific for heavy chains bearing the cross-reactive idiotype (Id) associated with the anti-p-azophenylarsonate response of strain A mice has been prepared. Analysis of arsonate-binding Id+ hybridoma cell lines has revealed that all of them contain the same germ-line VH gene rearranged to the JH2 segment. An Id+ hybridoma which is unable to bind arsonate utilized the same VH gene, but it has apparently rearranged to the JH4 segment. Id- cell lines contain other rearranged VH genes. Analysis of DNa of strain A mice revealed that there is apparently only one germ line gene that can give rise to Id+ heavy chains. Since the Id is expressed as a large collection (greater than 50) of related but nonidentical heavy chain sequences, we conclude that their diversity is the result of a somatic mutation process. Analysis of a single hybridoma cell line (45-59) reveals that somatic mutation can operate on an Id-encoding gene and result in an antigen-binding molecule that has lost all of its Id determinants. Further analysis of the genome of strain A mice has revealed the presence of germ-line genes differing from the Id-encoding gene by at least 8 base pairs. These genes, however, apparently do not contribute to the anti-arsonate Id response.
Sonic Hedgehog Regulates Otic Capsule Chondrogenesis and Inner Ear Development in the Mouse Embryo

Development of the cartilaginous capsule of the inner ear is dependent on interactions between otic epithelium and its surrounding periotic mesenchyme. During these tissue interactions, factors endogenous to the otic epithelium influence the differentiation of the underlying periotic mesenchyme to form a chondrified otic capsule. We report the localization of Sonic hedgehog (Shh) protein and expression of the Shh gene in the tissues of the developing mouse inner ear. We demonstrate in cultures of periotic mesenchyme that Shh alone cannot initiate otic capsule chondrogenesis. However, when Shh is added to cultured periotic mesenchyme either in combination with otic epithelium or otic epithelial-derived fibroblast growth factor (FGF2), a significant enhancement of chondrogenesis occurs. Addition of Shh antisense oligonucleotide (AS) to cultured periotic mesenchyme with added otic epithelium decreases levels of endogenous Shh and suppresses the chondrogenic response of the mesenchyme cells, while supplementation of Shh AS-treated cultures with Shh rescues cultures from chondrogenic inhibition. We demonstrate that inactivation of Shh by targeted mutation produces anomalies in the developing inner ear and its surrounding capsule. Our results support a role for Shh as a regulator of otic capsule formation and inner ear development during mammalian embryogenesis.
Oxidation of glucose, ribose, alanine, and glutamate by Leishmania braziliensis panamensis

The metabolism of [1-14C]- and [6-14C]glucose, [1-14]ribose, [1-14C]- and [U-14C]alanine, and [1-14C]- and [5-14C]glutamate by the promastigotes of Leishmania braziliensis panamensis was investigated in cells resuspended in Hanks' balanced salt solution supplemented with ribose, alanine, or glutamate. The ratio of 14CO2 produced from [1-14C]glucose to that from [6-14C]glucose ranged from about two to six, indicating appreciable carbon flow through the pentose phosphate pathway. A functional pentose phosphate pathway was further demonstrated by the production of 14CO2 from [1-14C]ribose although the rate of ribose oxidation was much lower than the rate of glucose oxidation. The rate of 14CO2 production from [1-14C]glucose was almost linear with time of incubation, whereas that of [6-14C]glucose accelerated, consistent with an increasing rate of flux through the Embden-Meyerhof pathway during incubation. Increasing the assay temperature from 26°C to 34°C had no appreciable effect on the rates or time courses of oxidation of either [1-14C]- or [6-14C]glucose or of [1-14C]ribose. Both alanine and glutamate were oxidized by L. b. panamensis, and at rates comparable to or appreciably greater than the rate of oxidation of glucose. The ratios of 14CO2 produced from [1-14C]- to [U-14C]alanine and from [1-14C]- to [5-14C]glutamate indicated that these compounds were metabolized via a functioning tricarboxylic acid cycle and that most of the label that entered the tricarboxylic acid cycle was oxidized to carbon dioxide. Heating the cultures for 6 or 12 h at 34°C, which converts the promastigotes into an ellipsoidally shaped intermediate form, decreased the rates of oxidation of glucose, alanine, and glutamate. The oxidation of glutamate decreased by about 50% and 70% after a 6-h or 12-h heat treatment, respectively. Returning the heated cultures to 26°C initiated a reversion to the promastigote form and recovery of the rate of glucose oxidation, but glutamate oxidation did not return to control levels by 19 h at 26°C.