cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Distance Measurements in Photosystems

EPR distance measurements have been extensively employed to characterize the structure and function of the photosynthetic reaction centers from plants, bacteria and algae. Such measurements have also been pivotal in establishing the feasibility of EPR distance measurements in biological systems. In this chapter, we present an overview of distance measurements in the purple non-sulfur bacterial, Photosystem II and Photosystem I reaction centers. The distance measurement techniques described involve both line shape analyses and spin-lattice relaxation measurements by cw and pulsed methods. Also described are EPR studies of oriented membranes and single crystals that facilitate the measurement of interspin distances and relative orientations of redox cofactors.
The characterization of four new metabolites of adrenocortical hormones.

SUMMARY 1. Four new metabolites of adrenal hormones have been isolated from human urine after ACTH administration and identified by isotopic dilution after a tracer dose of hydrocortisone-4-C14. The compounds obtained were (1) pregnane3ar,llp, 17o(,20a,21-pentol; (2) 3a, 1701,20a,21-tetra- hydroxypregnane-11-one; (3) pregnane-3a!, lip ,17a ,208,21-pentol; (4) 3ar, 17~~) 2Op ,21-tetrahydroxypregnane-1 l-one. Trivial names were sug- gested for these products. 2. On the basis of the isotopic dilution studies it was estimated that these compounds represent a minimum of 30 per cent of the metabolites of hydrocortisone found in the neutral ether-soluble extract of human urine after hydrolysis of their conjugates by means of beef liver @-glu- curonidase. 3. 3a, 17ar ,2Oa!, 21-Tetrahydroxypregnane-11-one was isolated from human urine after administration of 100 mg. of cortisone-t by vein. It was estimated that the metabolite represented about 6 per cent of radio- activity in the neutral ether-soluble fraction after hydrolysis by means of beef liver p-glucuronidase. 4. A novel and efficient synthesis for 3a, 17a,20a,21-tetrahydroxy- pregnane-11-one was described. The procedure is based upon the solvoly- sis of 3~r, 17a( ,21-triacetoxy-20P-p-toluenesulfonoxypregnane-ll-one with aqueous acetic acid in the presence of potassium acetate. The reaction is an example of “neighboring group effect ” in an acetyl migration with inversion of configuration. 5. The preparation of the related compounds, 3a,21-diacetoxy-17a-hy- droxy-20P-p-toluenesulfonoxypregnane-11-one, 3a,21-diacetoxy-17~u, ~OLU- epoxypregnane-11-one, and pregnane-3oL, llfl ,17ar ,2Oa! ,21 -pentol has been described. The authors express their gratitude to their colleagues Dr. Leon Hellman and Dr. Olaf Pearson for their cooperation in the studies with patients. We are especially indebted to Evelyn Meyer for technical assistance and to Friederike Herling for her valuable contributions to the interpretation of the infra-red spectra.
Improvements to Predictions of the Ionospheric Annual Anomaly by the International Reference Ionosphere Model

Abstract. The annual anomaly is the ionospheric phenomena in which the globally-averaged electron density is greater in January than it is in July. This anomaly causes the ionospheric solsticial variation – a variation with a periodicity of one year that is in-phase with the January solstice – to be more pronounced over the Northern Hemisphere than the Southern Hemisphere. Predictions of the magnitude of annual anomaly using the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model have been shown to be unreliable so far. The objective of our study is to investigate model prediction of the magnitude of the annual ionospheric anomaly using new ionospheric indices as inputs in the IRI model. These new indices improve predictions ionospheric variations that differ over the two hemispheres. We present a retrospective analysis of the IRI predictions of the ionospheric daytime annual anomaly and solsticial variation using a model-data comparison with observations from over 40 ionosondes for high, moderate, and low solar cycle conditions. Our results show that there is an overall 33 % underestimation of the magnitude of the annual anomaly when the by the IRI. When the new ionospheric indices as used in the IRI, model predictions underestimate the magnitude of the annual anomaly by 6 %. This indicates an improvement of the model predictions when using the new indices. We show that the underestimation of the annual anomaly by IRI is related to a similar underestimation of the magnitude of the ionospheric solsticial variation over the Northern Hemisphere. Based on our results, we infer that the underlying processes of the annual anomaly must vary across each hemisphere.
Adaptive and Developmental Behavior Scales

The purpose of assessment is to integrate information to inform clinical decision-making. Adaptive and developmental behavior scales are used in assessment for childhood disorders to evaluate the child’s level of functioning across various adaptive and developmental domains. These measures may be used in conjunction with developmental history, interviews, rating scales, and clinical observations to assess the child’s abilities, make diagnostic decisions, and aid in treatment planning. This chapter reviews a number of widely used adaptive and developmental behavior scales in the assessment of childhood disorders.
Why Self-Study? An Exploration of Personal, Professional, and Programmatic Influences in the Use of Self-Study Research

How does a teacher educator come to engage in self-study research? In this article, the authors seek to answer this question by investigating the personal, professional, and programmatic influences...
Marked responses to pemetrexed chemotherapy for metastatic adenocarcinoma of the parotid gland: Case series.

Background There are no proven systemic therapies for metastatic adenocarcinoma of the salivary glands. Pemetrexed use in adenocarcinoma of the salivary glands has not been previously described. Methods Retrospective case reports and literature review. Results Two patients with metastatic salivary gland adenocarcinoma were treated with single-agent pemetrexed with marked response and clinical benefit. Case 1 describes a sustained clinical response for 8 months after failing several lines of chemotherapy. Case 2 describes a marked interval response of diffuse metastatic disease at 2 months with resolution of bone pain and sustained response at 8 months. Conclusion To our knowledge, this is the first report of efficacy of single-agent pemetrexed for metastatic salivary gland adenocarcinoma. Given the significant and sustained responses in heavily pretreated patients, further investigation of pemetrexed for salivary cancer may be warranted.
Atypical diverticular disease: surgical results.

PURPOSE: Patients with diverticular disease may present with chronic symptoms but never develop diverticulitis. The purpose of this research was to review the outcome of surgical intervention in this subgroup of patients with atypical “smoldering” diverticular disease. METHODS: Records of 930 patients who underwent sigmoid resection for diverticular disease during a ten-year period at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, were reviewed. Forty-seven patients (5 percent) fit our inclusion criteria for smoldering diverticular disease and underwent sigmoid colectomy with primary anastomosis. A minimum of 12 months of follow-up was completed in 68 percent of these patients. RESULTS: Evidence of acute or chronic inflammatory changes was present in 76 percent of resected specimens. Complete resolution of symptoms occurred in 76.5 percent, with 88 percent being pain free. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the diagnosis and presentation of atypical smoldering diverticular disease is an uncommon and poorly defined entity. However, sigmoid resection in this subgroup of patients is safe and is associated with resolution of symptoms in the majority of cases.
Highly Sensitive SDS Capillary Gel Electrophoresis with Sample Stacking Requiring Only Nanograms of Adeno-Associated Virus Capsid Proteins

Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) has been the method of choice in the past decades for size-based protein analysis. However, in general it requires the protein concentration in mg/mL level and thus is not practical for trace level protein analysis, not to mention the lengthy labor-intensive procedures. The SDS capillary gel electrophoresis (SDS CGE) method reported herein requires only nanogram-sized proteins loaded onto the autosampler. A sample stacking technique (e.g., head-column field-amplified sample stacking (HC FASS)) was employed, providing three orders of magnitude sensitivity enhancement compared to conventional SDS CGE. This method has been used routinely in purity analysis and characterization of adeno-associated virus (AAV) intermediates and finished gene therapeutics of AAV vectors. The sensitivity achieved is comparable to the currently most sensitive size-based protein assay silver-stained SDS PAGE. The highly sensitive sample stacking SDS CGE can be used for other types of proteins as well.
Risk factors for venous thromboembolism (VTE) during chemotherapy in patients with germ cell tumors (GCT).

520Background: The Khorana score is the primary tool utilized to predict VTE risk in patients with cancer. This score incorporates primary cancer site, pretreatment hematologic parameters, and body...
Effect of residual stress on fatigue crack growth rate measurement

Examples are given where influence of residual stress leads to erroneous interpretation of fatigue crack growth rate measurements made in accordance with ASTM Method E 647-78T. The experimental data presented form a basisfor modification of applicable ASTM documents to give recognition to problems caused by residual stress, and to suggest guidelines for minimization of their effect on fracture property measurement.
Exploring critical communication approaches through Grandmama’s birthday: An application of the self-reference effect through public and personal timelines

In many classroom conversations when exploring critical communication issues such as gender and race, students are often unable to identify the relevance of past events and uninterested in explorin...
Impaired Action Control in Patients With Functional Movement Disorders.

Objective:Despite being a major cause of neurological disability, the neural mechanisms of functional movement disorders (FMDs) remain poorly understood. Recent studies suggest that FMD is linked t...
Travel During Pregnancy: A Study of Postpartum Women in Madison, Wisconsin.

PROBLEM CONSIDERED While travel during pregnancy is increasingly common, both the act of traveling and the destination itself may pose risks to pregnant women. Thus, it is relevant to ask pregnant women about travel for individual care and to assess how often pregnant women travel. Based upon our prior study, we hypothesized that domestic travel would be common, with approximately 30% of pregnant women traveling, and that international travel also would be common, with approximately 5% of the population traveling. We also hypothesized that maternal characteristics, such as socioeconomic status, country of birth, and parity, would affect domestic and international travel during pregnancy. METHODS In order to study trends in travel by pregnant women, a survey was conducted among postpartum women at Meriter Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, between October 17, 2016 and March 21, 2017. RESULTS Of the 61 postpartum women surveyed, 75.4% had traveled domestically and 11.4% had traveled internationally while pregnant. Those who traveled domestically had a significantly higher level of education (P = 0.025) and higher annual income (P = 0.001) compared to women who did not travel domestically. There were no differences in these characteristics between those who did and did not travel internationally. Women traveling domestically were less likely to discuss their travel plans with their obstetrician when compared to women traveling internationally (67.4% v 85.7%, respectively). Out of 19 canceled trips, both domestic and international, 4 women opted to cancel their trips due to concerns about Zika virus (21.1%). CONCLUSION This study allowed for an in-depth look at pregnant travelers and their reasons for traveling and for canceling their trips. When travel plans were discussed, in most instances (94.6%), the obstetrician initiated the conversation. As pregnant women travel both domestically and internationally at increasing rates, it is important to discuss risks associated with travel.
Jahāngīrī portrait shast s: Material-discursive practices and visuality at the Mughal court

By the early seventeenth century, artists in the Mughal atelier were producing portrait shasts (turban ornaments or pendants) featuring the likeness of the emperor Jahāngīr. These were distributed by the Mughal sovereign in gifting ceremonies and worn by imperial officials and European diplomats. Though artists drew inspiration from European cameos, the bust format took on new meanings and functions within the context of South Asian socio-political, artistic, and religious traditions. Given the indexicality and animacy of gifted imperial portraits, a shast was both a symbol of bureaucratic status and a material embodiment of royalty. As diplomatic gifts, art objects, and imperial icons, shasts took part in the Mughal visual regime as well as material-discursive practices that constituted human identity. An examination of the ‘intra-action’ between Jahāngīr, his portrait shast, and its bearer reveals the agentive capacity of the gifted royal portrait.
Pairing electrochemical impedance spectroscopy with conducting membranes for the in situ characterization of membrane fouling

Abstract Protein fouling within a polymeric microfiltration membrane was characterized in situ and in real time with non-Faradaic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The polymeric membrane was prepared with a conductive gold coating, allowing the membrane surface to serve as a working electrode in a three-electrode EIS system. Utilizing the membrane surface as the working electrode allowed for differentiation between internal and external contributions to fouling. Protein fouling was able to be monitored qualitatively by observing changes in the resulting Bode and Nyquist plots and quantitatively by modeling the electrochemical system with equivalent circuit components comprised of resistive and capacitive elements. To our knowledge, this work represents the first attempt to deploy a conductive polymeric membrane as an active electrode in an EIS setup.
You can find geodesic paths in triangle meshes by just flipping edges

This paper introduces a new approach to computing geodesics on polyhedral surfaces---the basic idea is to iteratively perform edge flips, in the same spirit as the classic Delaunay flip algorithm. This process also produces a triangulation conforming to the output geodesics, which is immediately useful for tasks in geometry processing and numerical simulation. More precisely, our FlipOut algorithm transforms a given sequence of edges into a locally shortest geodesic while avoiding self-crossings (formally: it finds a geodesic in the same isotopy class). The algorithm is guaranteed to terminate in a finite number of operations; practical runtimes are on the order of a few milliseconds, even for meshes with millions of triangles. The same approach is easily applied to curves beyond simple paths, including closed loops, curve networks, and multiply-covered curves. We explore how the method facilitates tasks such as straightening cuts and segmentation boundaries, computing geodesic Bezier curves, extending the notion of constrained Delaunay triangulations (CDT) to curved surfaces, and providing accurate boundary conditions for partial differential equations (PDEs). Evaluation on challenging datasets such as Thingi10k indicates that the method is both robust and efficient, even for low-quality triangulations.
Photoluminescence and Time Resolved Photoluminescence of Organic-inorganic Halide Perovskites

In this work we present PL and time resolved PL (TRPL) measurements of three of these materials: BA2PbI4, BA2MA1Pb2I7, and BA2CuCI4 where BA2 represents (CH3(CH2)3NH3)2, and MA: CH3NH3. Both BA2PbI4 and BA2CuCI4 have a single layer of perovskite material separated by an organic cation layer while BA2MA1Pb2I7 has two atomic layers of perovskite. Our observations indicate the existence of both free and trapped excitons in these systems. Additionally, BA2PbI4 displays two sets of peaks for both trapped and free excitons that evolve with temperature, indicating that as the temperature is reduced the system begins, but does not complete, a phase change from a tetragonal to an orthorhombic crystal lattice. Our result provides new insights on the low temperature behavior of this phase transition, as well as exploring the exciton spectra as a function of both temperature and magnetic field. This material is based upon work supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under awar
Spatial Mismatch, Race and Ethnicity, and Unemployment: Implications for Interventions With Women on Probation and Parole:

For 312 women on probation and parole, we used mediation and conditional process analyses to examine the indirect effect of minority racial/ethnic status on unemployment through spatial mismatch be...
Time of Troubles

Astronomical observation had continued during the star war. On September 10, 1858, George Searle of the Coast Survey discovered a new asteroid. He invited Blandina Dudley to name it. As Benjamin Boss later dryly put it, “she proposed the name Pandora, significant for the troubled period through which the observatory was passing.”68 That time of troubles would continue for the next two decades. It would provide a continuing reflection on the inadequacy of civic science in an era when American astronomy was making a clear if uneven rise toward an organized professional status.
A 3D virtual environment for modeling mechanical cardiopulmonary interactions

We have developed a computer system for modeling mechanical physiological behavior in an interactive, 3D virtual environment. Such an environment can be used to facilitate exploration of cardiopulmonary physiology, particularly in situations that are difficult to reproduce clinically. We integrate 3D deformable body dynamics with new, formal models of (scalar) cardiorespiratory physiology, associating the scalar physiological variables and parameters with corresponding 3D anatomy. Our approach is amenable to modeling patient-specific circumstances in two ways. First, using CT scan data, we apply semiautomatic methods for extracting and reconstructing the anatomy to use in our simulations. Second, our scalar models are defined in terms of clinically-measurable, patient-specific parameters. This paper describes our approach, problems we have encountered, and a sample of results showing normal breathing and acute effects of pneumothoraces.
2‐(2‐Iodophenyl) Ethanethiol

[177748-62-8] C8H9IS (MW 264.13) InChI = 1/C8H9IS/c9-8-4-2-1-3-7(8)5-6-10/h1-4,10H,5-6H2 InChIKey = SIUBZRQUSXYLCV-UHFFFAOYAN (reagent used to generate acyl radicals from thioesters) Solubility: soluble in hexane, ether, chloroform, and most organic solvents. Form Supplied in: colorless oil, not commercially available. Handling, Storage, and Precautions: should be kept in a refrigerator.
Can cell culture medium costs be reduced? Strategies and possibilities

Abstract The complex media needed for the culture of animal cells is expensive and is one factor that puts cell culture at a great economic disadvantage compared with other microbial systems. Viewing these costs in a proper perspective shows that this disadvantage is often exaggerated, but even so there are several ways in which significant savings can be made.
Hydrogenation characteristics of Zr1−xTixMnFe alloys

Abstract The Zr 1− x Ti x MnFe-H 2 systems with x = 0.2 and 0.3 were studied as a function of composition, temperature (23–200 °C) and hydrogen dissociation pressure (0.01–50 atm). The hydrogen vapor pressure of the ZrMn 2 -H 2 system is raised approximately 400-fold by the replacement of zirconium by titanium and of manganese by iron without significantly impairing its hydrogen capacity. The hydrides of Zr 1− x Ti x MnFe alloys have dissociation pressures in the range 1–2 atm at room temperature (23 °C). The hydrogen densities of the alloys compared with that of liquid hydrogen range from about 1.0 to 1.4. The enthalpies and entropies of dehydrogenation are exceptionally low (10–11 kJ (mol H 2 ) −1 and 46–50 J (mol H 2 ) −1 K −1 respectively). The kinetics of hydrogen absorption and desorption are extremely fast. Desorption of hydrogen in the two-phase field α + β follows first-order kinetics with activation energies of 34–38 kJ mol −1 . The energetics of hydrogen charging and discharging for the Zr 0.8 Ti 0.2 MnFe alloy are smaller than those for LaNi 5 or other accepted hydrogen storage materials. Similarly, a hydride compressor using Zr 0.8 Ti 0.2 MnFe alloy appears to be significantly more efficient than the LaNi 5 hydride compressor.
Error-correction detection and response generation in a spoken dialogue system

Speech understanding errors in spoken dialogue systems can be frustrating for users and difficult to recover from in a mixed-initiative spoken dialogue system. Handling such errors requires both detecting error conditions and adjusting the response generation strategy accordingly. In this paper, we show that different response wording choices tend to be associated with different user behaviors that can impact word recognition performance in a telephone-based dialogue system. We leverage these findings in a system that integrates an error correction detection module with a modified dialogue strategy in order to drive the response generation module. In a user study, we find slight preferences for a dialogue system using this error handling strategy over a simple reprompting strategy.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Studies of Nucleoside Conformational Properties

Conformational and configurational properties of nucleosides and nucleotides are critical determinants of their functional behavior in biological systems. For this reason, a great deal of research has been devoted in recent years to the conformational analysis of these molecules. Most of the quantitative structural data, i.e., bond lengths, bond angles, interatomic distances, have been derived from X-ray crystallographic measurements in the crystalline state (1,2,3). From this wealth of information, it has been possible to identify preferred regions of conformational space (or domains) for virtually all nucleoside/tide conformational bonds. Thus, a majority of purine and pyrimidine nucleosides adopt an anti orientation (cf. Saenger) of the base ring with respect to the sugar ring (1,2,3). For the D-ribose and D-deoxyribose sugar rings, the favored out-of-plane ring puckers are those in which either the C2f or C3f atom is furthest from the plane of the other atoms of the ribose ring. Finally, in the common B-nucleosides the third major functional group, i.e., the exocyelic carbinol, exists preferentially in a gauche-gauche staggered rotamer form about the C4’-C5’ bond (3). This uniformity in conformational type throughout a wide range of monomeric nucleosides and nucleotides in the solid state led to the proposal of a “rigid” nucleotidyl unit (4) somewhat akin to the peptide unit in polypeptides.
Structures and Improvisation for Inquiry-Based Science Instruction: A Teacher's Adaptation of a Model of Magnetism Activity.

One aspect of scientific inquiry that appears to be particularly challenging to learn is how explanatory models are developed and used in science. It is even more challenging to learn to teach through methods that engage young students in building and using explanatory models. In part, this is because to do so requires that teachers make real-time instructional decisions in response to the ideas that students articulate. In this paper I present an example of a teacher who participated in a series of activities during a professional development course that guided her and her colleagues through the process of developing and revising an explanatory model of magnetic phenomenon. She subsequently transformed this series of activities to use with her elementary school students. Contrasting the series of activities in the elementary classroom to the corresponding professional development activities revealed improvisational instructional acts and shed light on aspects of the classroom context that necessitated and facilitated improvisation. In particular, this paper highlights the multiple pedagogical and disciplinary structures that teachers implicitly chose among when improvising. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed94:142–163, 2010
Addenda to the classification of mosses. I. Andreaeophytina stat. nov. and Andreaeobryophytina stat. nov.

The two most recent classifications of mosses differ from other systems in the ranking of major lineages typified by Takakia, Sphagnum, Andreaea, Andreaeobryum and peristomate mosses. Here we propose to accommodate all these lineages at the subphylum rather than the informal superclass rank, which requires that the Andreaeophytina stat. nov. and Andreaeobryophytina stat. nov. be erected.
Palladium nanocatalysts protected by polyacids

Several colloidal palladium nanocatalysts prepared by the in situ reduction of palladium chloride PdCl 2 , ammonium tetrachloropalladate (NH 4 ) 2 PdCl 4 , and palladium acetate Pd(CH 3 COO) 2 were protected by various water-soluble polymers, with special emphasis on polyacids. The particle sizes, morphologies, and size distributions of the palladium nanoparticles were determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and their catalytic activities were qualitatively tested by the hydrogenation of cyclohexene. The type of the polymer (for example, polyacid versus a nonionic, water-soluble polymer) can influence the nanoparticle sizes and morphologies, as well as colloidal stabilities. For the catalytic activities of these metal-polymer systems, the choice of the protective polymer can be equally important. Lower catalytic activities have been mostly found if polyacids were used as protective matrices for these palladium nanocatalysts. It was found to be important to consider several influences, such as the particle size and morphology, as well as the interaction between the polymer and the catalyst nanoparticle. Thus, the selection of the protective polymer is crucial for the development of tailored metal-polymer catalyst systems. Additional influences may stem from the presence of ions, for example, those from the metal precursor, or the counterions of the polymer side groups.
Effects of Amplifier Position on Active Array Antennas using Multi-Stage Dispersed Arrangement

We developed a multi-stage dispersed amplifier arrangement method for an active array antenna that reduces the number of active devices and controls the radiation pattern [1]. An active array antenna usually uses a Wilkinson power divider to suppress reflected waves and a complicated power divider to control the radiation pattern. In this paper, to avoid having to use such a complicate divider the optimum amplifier arrangement is found. The optimum antenna configuration uses a normal power divider and obtains that properties are almost the same as those for a Wilkinson power divider by setting the amplifier 0.6 ?g from the power divider. We fabricated such an active array antenna for verification purpose, the experimental results of which are reported.
Evidence for Lipidic Pores

This study revealed the structure and mechanism of pore formation in membranes by Bax-α5 peptide, a segment from the pore-forming domain of Bax. Bax is an apoptosis regulator protein that forms pores in the outer-mitochondrial membrane to release cytochrome-c. Bax-α5 has been shown to reproduce the pore-forming activity of Bax. Bax-a5 induced pores in multiple bilayers were long-ranged correlated into a periodically ordered lattice and analyzed by X-ray anomalous diffraction. The electron density profile unambiguously shows the Bax-α5 pore is of the toroidal (wormhole) type: the two lipid monolayers merge through the pore. This was the first direct structural evidence for the existence of the long speculated lipidic pores. The molecule mechanism of Bax-α5 pore formation was studied by two experiments: pore formation in individual GUVs exposed to Bax-α5 in solutions and the membrane thinning effect caused by the peptides. Bax-α5 exhibited a sigmoidal concentration dependence similar to antimicrobial peptides we've studied: below a threshold concentration, the peptide only binds to membrane inter surface, causing membrane thinning; when the concentration exceeds a critical value, pore formation is activated. Our results suggest that formation of such lipidic pores is a major mechanism for α-pore-forming peptides and proteins.View Large Image | View Hi-Res Image | Download PowerPoint Slide
Protection against avian metapneumovirus subtype C in turkeys immunized via the respiratory tract with inactivated virus.

Abstract Avian metapneumovirus subtype C (aMPV/C) causes a severe upper respiratory tract (URT) infection in turkeys. Turkeys were inoculated oculonasally with inactivated aMPV/C adjuvanted with synthetic double-stranded RNA polyriboinosinic polyribocytidylic acid (Poly IC). Immunized turkeys had elevated numbers of mucosal IgA+ cells in the URT and increased levels of virus-specific IgG and IgA in the lachrymal fluid and IgG in the serum. After 7 or 21 days post immunization, turkeys were challenged oculonasally with pathogenic aMPV/C. Immunized groups were protected against respiratory lesions induced by the challenge virus. Further, the viral copy number of the challenge virus in the URT were significantly lower in the immunized turkeys than in the unimmunized turkeys ( P
Long-term potentiation requires activation of calcium-independent phospholipase A2

The predominant phospholipase activity present in rat hippocampus is a calcium-independent phospholipase A2 (302.9 ± 19.8 pmol/mg·min for calcium-independent phospholipase A2 activity vs. 14.6 ± 1.0 pmol/mg·min for calcium-dependent phospholipase A2 activity). This calcium-independent phospholipase A2 is exquisitely sensitive to inhibition by the mechanism-based inhibitor, (E)-6-(bromomethylene)-tetrahydro-3-(1-naphthalenyl)-2H-pyran -2-one (BEL). Moreover, treatment of hippocampal slices with BEL prior to tetanic stimulation prevents the induction of LTP (40.8 ± 5.6% increase in excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) slope for control slices (n = 6) vs. 5.8 ± 8.5% increase in EPSP slope for BEL-treated slices (n = 8)). Importantly, LTP can be induced following mechanism-based inhibition of phospholipase A2 by providing the end product of the phospholipase A2 reaction, arachidonic acid, during the application of tetanic stimulation. Furthermore, the induction of LTP after treatment with BEL is dependent on the stereoelectronic configuration of the fatty acid provided since eicosa-5,8,11-trienoic acid, but not eicosa-8,11,14-trienoic acid, rescues LTP after BEL treatment (37.6 ± 16.1% increase in EPSP slope for eicosa-5,8,11-trienoic acid vs. −3.7 ± 5.2% increase in EPSP slope for eicosa-8,11,14-trienoic acid). Collectively, these results provide the first demonstration of the essential role of calcium-independent phospholipase A2 in synaptic plasticity.
Efficient frequency-based classification of respiratory movements

Lung diseases are mainly associated with respiration. Detecting the breath and classifying breathing movements such as inhale and exhale has settled importance in many biomedical research areas. To this end, monitoring the breathing movements for lung cancer patients tends to remain one of the breath detection applications which has received much attention. A novel method is proposed in this paper that detects and classifies breathing movements. In our technique, we employ the Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCCs) to the acoustic signal of respiration captured using a microphone. We classify the movements using the 6th MFCC order which carries important classification information. Experimental results on a number of individuals verify our proposed classification methodology. This work is intended to indirectly assist lung cancer patients regulate their breath through virtual therapy.
Stage II cancer of the endometrium: A pathologic and clinical study

Pathologically documented cases of stage II cancer of the endometrium in 52 women (adenocarcinoma in 43 and adenoacanthoma in 9) who were treated between 1952 and 1973 at the Mayo Clinic were studied retrospectively. Hysterectomy was necessary for inclusion in the study; 49 women received planned primary surgical treatment of their disease, and, in addition, 25 patients received radiation treatment postoperatively. Overall survival was 69.2% at 5 years. Variables found to have a statistically significant influence on survival were (1) extent of involvement in the endometrial cavity, (2) histologic grade of the tumor, and (3) maximal depth of invasion in either the myometrium or the cervix. The presence of abnormal nodes in women who had Wertheim hysterectomies and the use of radiation therapy did not appear to influence survival. It is concluded that primary treatment of stage II carcinoma of the endometrium by surgery and postoperative radiation produces acceptable results and, through the advantages of surgical staging, provides more exact knowledge of the true extent of the disease.
Characterization of a Mutation of Bacteriophage λ Integrase PUTATIVE ROLE IN CORE BINDING AND STRAND EXCHANGE FOR A CONSERVED RESIDUE

Site-specific recombination is involved in processes ranging from resolution of bacterial chromosome dimers to adeno-associated viral integration and is a versatile tool for mammalian genetics. The bacteriophage λ-encoded site-specific recombinase integrase (Int) is one of the best studied site-specific recombinases and mediates recombination via four distinct pathways. We have characterized a mutant version of λ Int, IntT236I; this mutant can perform the bent-L pathway only, whereas the corresponding IntT236A mutant can perform bent-L, excision and integration pathways. Experiments with both IntT236I and IntT236A show that the hydroxyl group of threonine is necessary for wild-type recombination. Substitution of the threonine by serine leads to nearly complete rescue of the mutant phenotypes. In addition, our data show that the IntT236I mutant is defective partially due to obstructive steric interactions. Comparisons of crystal structures reveal that the threonine at residue 236 may play an important role in stabilizing recombination intermediates through solvent-mediated protein-DNA interactions at the core-binding sites and that the hydroxyl group is important for effective cleavage and Holliday junction formation. Our data also indicate that Int contacts the core sites differently in intermediates assembled in excisive versus bent-L recombination.
Update on ocular allergy treatment

Allergy affects > 15% of the world population with a higher prevalence of 30% in westernised industrialised countries, such as the US. Allergy commonly affects various target organs including the eyes, nose, sinuses, ears, lungs and skin. However, the ocular component may be the most common and initially the most prominent disabling feature. Some patients are affected for only a few weeks to months while others have symptoms that last throughout the year. The associated healthcare costs related to allergic conjunctivitis has been commonly nestled with allergic rhinitis and has been reported to be as high as US$5.9 billion in the US, with 25% (US$1.5 billion) of it related to medication use. The expenditures related to ocular prescription medication has only recently risen in the past decade from US$6 million in early 1990s to > US$200 million in the new millennium with a projected continuous expansion of 25% per year. This appears to be due to improved prescription medications and their clear benefit over the less efficacious over-the-counter products. The actual cost of the medications and their relative price increases over the past year have ranged from 0 - 49% with an average cost of < US$ day. The newer topical medications (multiple acting agents) are focusing on multiple actions that include an antihistaminic effect to provide an immediate relief and additional delayed effects to act on the mediators of the late phase reaction without steroid side effects (glaucoma, cataracts). The paradigm for the treatment of ocular allergy ranges from primary measures (avoidance measures, cold compresses and lubrication), to secondary measures (various combination of topical agents) and tertiary measures that would include topical steroids and immunotherapy. The increased interest in advancing ocular treatment will lead to the development of additional therapies, novel pharmacokinetic delivery systems and, thus, improved healthcare outcomes for patients with allergic conjunctivitis.
Structural Probing of the T Box Antiterminator-tRNA Complex

Structural changes in a unique RNA-RNA binding interaction were probed using 2-aminopurine. The 5′-untranslated leader region (5′-UTR) of the T box family of genes folds into a structure that selectively recognizes a specific tRNA through two unique base-pairing events. The first involves base pairing between the anticodon of cognate tRNA and a tri-nucleotide sequence (specifier sequence) in the specifier loop of stem 1 in the 5′-UTR. The second base pairing event involves the non-aminoacylated tRNA acceptor end base pairing with the first four nucleotides at the 5′-end of a bulge in a highly conserved antiterminator element. In the absence of the stabilization of the uncharged tRNA acceptor end base pairing to the antiterminator element, the more thermodynamically stable terminator element forms and transcription terminates. In this manner, the leader region specifically recognizes cognate tRNA and responds structurally to the charging ratio of the tRNA to regulate transcription, thus making the T box mechanism an example of a riboswitch. Interestingly, the predicted thermodynamic stabilization provided by the four base pairs between the tRNA acceptor end and the antiterminator is not sufficient to overcome the predicted stability difference between the antiterminator and the terminator elements. Consequently, additional structural factors likely play a role in stabilizing the resulting complex. The structural changes induced in both the antiterminator element and the tRNA were investigated using a model system to determine what additional factors, beyond base pairing, contribute to stabilization of the resulting tRNA-antiterminator complex. Fluorescence monitoring of the base analog 2-aminopurine at select positions throughout a model complex indicated that binding results in an induced-fit and a highly stacked environment at the binding interface. These structural features contribute to the overall stabilization of the complex beyond the four base pairs.
Enzymatic demethylation of calf thymus histones.

Abstract Enzymatic demethylation of e-N-methyllysine residues of calf thymus histone has been investigated. Kidney contains the highest enzyme activity among the rat organs tested, and the enzyme activity is associated with the nuclear and mitocondrial fractions. Formaldehyde-C-14 is the product of demethylation of enzymatically prepared histone-methyl-C-14. Evidence indicates that demethylation occurs on the intact histone molecule.
1041 EPIDEMIOLOGY OF HAEMOPHILUS INFLUENZAE DISEASE DETERMINED BY OUTER MEMBRANE PROTEIN COMPOSITION

The outer membrane protein composition of 50 disease isolates of H. influenzae, including strains of all 6 serotypes as well as untypable strains, has been determined by SDS-PAGE. Results show the existence of considerable strain variation in the mobility of some, but not all, of the proteins. For example, the 28 type b strains examined could be classified into 8 subtypes according to differences in the mobilities of 4 of the 7 major outer membrane proteins. Untypable strains showed even greater diversity. Using these differences as an epidemiological tool, we have found the following: (1) A recent outbreak of type b meningitis involving 17 Rochester area children over a 6-week period was caused by at least 5 different strains, indicating that a single “killer” strain was not responsible for the epidemic. (2) In all 7 patients examined, type b isolates from different anatomic sites in the same patient were identical, suggesting that a single bacterium initiated the disease. (3) Isolates from a patient experiencing a repeat type b infection were identical, suggesting that the same strain was responsible for reinfection. In addition to these findings we have also discovered: (1) Some outer membrane proteins are common to all strains. (2) Children recovering from systemic type b disease raise serum antibodies to outer membrane proteins. Studies are currently in progress to identify the particular immunogenic proteins.
Pneumonic Lesions Caused by Bacillus Megatherium

The essential points of our results are as follows: The saprophytic Bacillus megatherium produced a definite pulmonary lesion which in gross appearance resembled the lesion of lobar pneumonia. The lesion was one of intense leucocytic exudation which, as in some other cases of experimental lobar pneumonia, did not invade the framework of the lung. But the exudate contained no fibrin. There were practically no bacilli, either in the heart's blood or in the lung. The growth of two colonies from one of the cases hardly changes the rule. The lesion did not progress after twenty-four hours; nor did it show a definite increase in extent or intensity with the increase in quantity of the injected cultures. The resolution of the exudate began practically at the end of twenty-four hours and was far advanced on the third day. Although there was considerable leucocytic infiltration there was no phagocytosis apparent twenty-four hours after inoculation. Taking all the facts into consideration one gains the impression that the lesion produced by the saprophytic Bacillus megatherium differs only quantitatively from that produced by an avirulent pneumococcus. The fact stands out prominently that a saprophytic bacterium is capable of producing a pneumonic lesion similar in gross appearance to that of mild lobar pneumonia. It is not improbable that other saprophytes may be capable of producing pneumonic lesions which, in specific instances, may resemble lobular pneumonia.
Impact of social neighborhood on diffusion of innovation S-curve

Agent-based modeling (ABM) of Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) allows capturing of complex system phenomena that are related to social network topology, in contrast to traditional approaches such as Fisher-Pry or Bass models. These effects can be crucial for accurate prediction of DOI in the markets with strong influence of word-of-mouth. In this paper we compared DOI through random and scale-free social networks using ABM. The model predicts faster product adoption for a random network compared with a scale-free network with the same number of nodes due to the presence of hubs. Longer diffusion time in scale-free networks is related to lower information equality. Real world social networks can be a mixture of the two considered extreme cases and also can depend on the type of product.
Some Effects of Reduction of Extra‐Classroom Crowding in a School Environment

The effects of reduced enrollment were studied by examining two architecturally identical schools. One school experienced a 43% reduction in enrollment while the other's enrollment remained constant. Reduction in enrollment had a number of positive benefits, including improved attitudes about the school environment and reduced faculty absenteeism. Findings regarding academic performance were less clear.
Modelling and asymptotic analysis of particle-interface interaction

An asymptotic study of the interaction between a foreign particle and a solidifying interface is undertaken. The analysis focuses primarily on the influence of the disjoining pressure on particle pushing or engulfment. The analysis considers only thermal effects in a pure substance in which a neutrally buoyant spherical particle, whose thermal conductivity is equal to that of the melt, is positioned near the solid-liquid interface. The interface equilibrium temperature includes the undercooling effects due to both the front curvature (the Gibbs-Thomson effect) and the long-range intermolecular forces (nonretarded van der Waals interactions) in the thin film behind the particle. A uniformly valid asymptotic representation for the front shape is derived and used to infer the gap width separating the particle from the solid front. The latter is utilized to calculate the growth rate that results from a balance of the van der Waals and Stokes forces. An attempt is also made at deriving an expression for the critical velocity for continuous pushing from the balance of forces.
Changes in Infestation, Cell Cap Condition, and Reproductive Status of Varroa destructor (Mesostigmata: Varroidae) in Brood Exposed to Honey Bees with Varroa Sensitive Hygiene

ABSTRACT Honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) bred for Varroa sensitive hygiene (VSH) selectively remove pupae infested with Varroa destructor Anderson & Trueman (Mesostigmata: Varroidae) from capped brood that is inserted into the nest. After 1 wk, remaining brood cells tend to have been uncapped and recapped, and remaining mites are mostly infertile. A primary goal of this experiment was to compare the reproductive status of mites that remained in recapped and normally capped cells after a 1-wk exposure to VSH and control colonies. Differences in distribution of fertile mites in normally capped brood cells between VSH bees and control bees may suggest that the stimulus for hygiene is related to reproduction by mites. Identification of stimuli triggering VSH behavior could be used to develop new bioassays for selective breeding of this important resistance mechanism. Combs of capped brood that were exposed to control bees had 10 times more pupae with fertile mites in normally capped brood as did VSH bees (6.7 ...