cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Divergence of gene regulation through chromosomal rearrangements.

The molecular mechanisms that modify genome structures to give birth and death to alleles are still not well understood. To investigate the causative chromosomal rearrangements, we took advantage of the allelic diversity of the duplicated p1 and p2 genes in maize. Both genes encode a transcription factor involved in maysin synthesis, which confers resistance to corn earworm. However, p1 also controls accumulation of reddish pigments in floral tissues and has therefore acquired a new function after gene duplication. p1 alleles vary in their tissue-specific expression, which is indicated in their allele designation: the first suffix refers to r ed or w hite pericarp pigmentation and the second to red or white glume pigmentation. Comparing chromosomal regions comprising p1-ww[4Co63], P1-rw1077 and P1-rr4B2 alleles with that of the reference genome, P1-wr[B73], enabled us to reconstruct additive events of transposition, chromosome breaks and repairs, and recombination that resulted in phenotypic variation and chimeric regulatory signals. The p1-ww[4Co63] null allele is probably derived from P1-wr[B73] by unequal crossover between large flanking sequences. A transposon insertion in a P1-wr-like allele and NHEJ (non-homologous end-joining) could have resulted in the formation of the P1-rw1077 allele. A second NHEJ event, followed by unequal crossover, probably led to the duplication of an enhancer region, creating the P1-rr4B2 allele. Moreover, a rather dynamic picture emerged in the use of polyadenylation signals by different p1 alleles. Interestingly, p1 alleles can be placed on both sides of a large retrotransposon cluster through recombination, while functional p2 alleles have only been found proximal to the cluster. Allelic diversity of the p locus exemplifies how gene duplications promote phenotypic variability through composite regulatory signals. Transposition events increase the level of genomic complexity based not only on insertions but also on excisions that cause DNA double-strand breaks and trigger illegitimate recombination.
A multi-sensor plume height analysis of the 2009 Redoubt eruption

Abstract During an explosive volcanic eruption, accurately determining the height of a volcanic plume or cloud is essential to accurately forecast its motion because volcanic ash transport and dispersion models require the initial plume height as an input parameter. The direct use of satellite infrared temperatures for height determination, one of the most commonly employed methods at the Alaska Volcano Observatory, often does not yield unique solutions for height. This result is documented here for the 2009 eruption of Redoubt Volcano. Satellite temperature heights consistently underestimated the height of ash plumes in comparison to other methods such as ground-based radar and Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) stereo heights. For ash plumes below the tropopause, increasing transparency of a plume begins to affect the accuracy of simple temperature height retrievals soon after eruption. With decreasing opacity, plume temperature heights become increasingly inaccurate. Comparison with dispersion models and aircraft gas flight data confirms that radar and MISR stereo heights are more accurate than basic satellite temperature heights. Even in the cases in which satellite temperature results appeared to be relatively accurate (e.g., for plumes below the tropopause), a mixed signal of plume and ground radiation still presented an issue for almost every event studied. This was true regardless of the fact that a band differencing method was used to remove presumably translucent pixels. The data presented here make a strong case for the use of data fusion in volcano monitoring, as there is a need to confirm satellite temperature heights with other height data. If only basic satellite temperature heights are available for a given eruption, then these heights must be considered with a significant margin of error.
Automated networks/electronics teaching laboratories

The author discusses the integration of computer-assisted workstations into the teaching laboratory curriculum at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He documents the Electrical Engineering Department's efforts to incorporate these workstations into the undergraduate laboratories to complement the PC requirement. Consideration is given to workstation hardware, logistics of setting up the workstation in the laboratory, workstation software, and evaluation of the use of the workstation and student reactions. It is noted that, along with a fundamental understanding of the basic principles of electronics and circuits, the students have gained valuable experience with the tools of computer interfacing and data acquisition. A majority of students agreed that the integration of the computer workstations helped them learn more about electronics and networks, fulfilling the main goal of these laboratory courses. >
The worst of both worlds: nursing home regulation in the United States.

The current system of nursing home regulation, focused on prescriptive regulations and a punitive approach to compliance, can be described as “the worst of all worlds.” The approach is both burdensome to the industry and ineffective in protecting consumers. This article proposes an alternative model for nursing home regulation, focused on co-regulation (the use of private accreditation agencies) and deregulation (the repeal of state certification of need laws).
Benchmark Testing of LGA Sockets for Server Applications

Recent trends for industry standard microprocessors show a transition from using micro PGA (pin grid array) sockets to using LGA (land grid array) sockets to meet the increased performance challenges for new server applications. These new industry standard LGA sockets use a hybrid construction with a solder ball connection to the printed circuit card and a compression connection to the contact pads on the bottom surface of the microprocessor package. Custom LGA sockets have been used for many years in high end server applications and provide improved electrical performance compared to these new hybrid LGA sockets. New LGA socket technologies continue to be developed to meet the variety of server application requirements. Benchmark testing has been performed on a variety of custom LGA sockets along with the hybrid LGA sockets used for industry standard applications. The benchmark testing includes evaluations of contact reliability performance, high speed electrical performance, and high current performance. The test hardware was designed to simulate the product application including the processor package construction, the printed circuit card cross section, along with the heat sink and retention hardware configuration. The results from the benchmark testing identify the limitations for various types of LGA sockets and provide critical insights for selecting the optimum solution for a given application.
Tailoring the Molecular Distribution of Bioreactive Chemical Groups to Modulate Adhesion to Soft Tissues

Abstract The application of adhesive materials can significantly augment available wound repair techniques and improve healing following surgical interventions. However, soft tissue surface chemistry and mechanical loading conditions significantly vary among potential applications and confound the development of a universal adhesive material with acceptable clinical performance. Current materials are however not designed on a tissue-specific basis and as a result, force a choice between high adhesion strength and biocompatibility. We hypothesize that rational tuning of bioreactive chemical groups distribution along adhesive polymer chains can facilitate optimal tissue- material interactions without inducing a concomitant reduction in material biocompatibility. A series of two-component, aldehyde- mediated adhesive materials are synthesized using dextran aldehyde and chitosan polymers to achieve both cohesive and adhesive cross- linking through the formation of imine bonds. Within the material series, the distribution of bioreactive aldehyde groups along the constituent polymer chains are varied while keeping the total aldehyde content at a constant level. The gelation time, elastic modulus, and adhesion strength to renal artery tissue surfaces are measured for each material formulation. Results show that the reactive chemical groups distribution strongly modulates adhesive interactions. Optimizing material bioreactive groups distribution in a tissue-specific manner could provide a means to circumvent the persistent tradeoff between adhesion and biocompatibility.
Bimetallic Effects on Ethylene Polymerization in the Presence of Amines: Inhibition of the Deactivation by Lewis Bases

Dinickel complexes supported by terphenyl ligands appended with phenoxy and imine donors were synthesized. Full substitution of the central arene blocks rotation around the aryl–aryl bond and allows for the isolation of atropisomers. The reported complexes perform ethylene polymerization in the presence of amines. The inhibiting effect of polar additives is up to 250 times lower for the syn isomer than the anti isomer. Comparisons with mononuclear systems indicate that the proximity of the metal centers leads to the observed inhibitory effect on the deactivation of the catalysts.
Differential silver-staining sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis: a nonisotopic method for characterizing gel-separated histone-DNA complexes.

Some nonspecific, DNA-binding proteins, like the linker histones, precipitate DNA upon binding. This is a poorly understood process that limits analysis of such nucleoprotein complexes using standard gel electrophoresis. To circumvent this problem, low concentrations of glutaraldehyde were used to crosslink the linker histones to DNA; then the partially crosslinked complexes were solubilized in SDS2 and separated by SDS-PAGE. Differential detection was accomplished using two different silver staining protocols that preferentially stained either proteins or nucleic acids. A technique was developed which allows the relative proportion of linker histones and DNAs in each detected band to be determined, and is referred to as differential staining SDS-PAGE (DS-SDS-PAGE). DS-SDS-PAGE provides a novel, non-isotopic means for characterizing multiple nucleoprotein bands separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In applying this method to a model linker histone-DNA study, we were able to detect both protein-DNA and protein-protein contacts that are important in linker histone assembly onto DNA.
Infection of Bacillus cereus by DNA from a Streptococcus lactis phage

Abstract DNA isolated from Streptococcus lactis phage c2 inhibits the growth of cultures of Bacillus cereus in brain-heart infusion medium under static conditions. The DNA is taken into the cells at intervals which probably correspond to waves of competent cells. Analysis by CsCl gradients showed that, at first, the label from this DNA appears at the same density as that of DNA isolated from mature phage, but some of the label later appears higher in the gradient. DNA synthesized during infection is also associated with these higher peaks. No plaque-forming particles were observed.
Caliber-Persistent Artery of the Lip: Case Report

The oral caliber persistent artery (OCPA) is a vascular anomaly in which a vessel penetrates into the submucosa without reduction in diameter. There are seven cases reported in the literature, with the current case being the first to show both upper and lower lip involvement (Table 1). The age range of reported cases is between 40 and 88 years, and the lower lip is most frequently affected. Patients often present with a nonhealing ulcer of the lower lip that is clinically interpreted as squamous cell carcinoma. The ulceration in some cases has been present for a few weeks, but in one case it was present for 10 years. The first description of the caliber persistent artery was by Gallard in 1884.’ He described a case of fatal gastric hemorrhage that occurred after rupture of a superficially located, large-caliber, artery. Chapman and Lapi,2 and Millard,3 reported similar vascular anomalies of the stomach. Matuchansky et al” described two cases of comparable vascular lesions in the jejunum.
Susceptibility of non-fermentative Gram-negative bacteria to ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, amifloxacin, pefloxacin and cefpirome

Susceptibility of 340 mainly clinically isolated Gram-negative non-fermenters to ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, amifloxacin, pefloxacin and cefpirome was determined by agar dilution. Ciprofloxacin was most active, with MIC90s against all organisms ranging between less than 0.125 and 4 mg/l. Norfloxacin, amifloxacin and pefloxacin were active against most strains, with MIC90 ranges (mg/l) of 0.5 - 32, 0.25 - 32 and less than 0.125 - 16, respectively. Cefpirome showed less activity than the quinolones on a weight-for-weight basis with MIC90s ranging from 0.5 to greater than 64 mg/l; only fluorescent pseudomonads and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus biotypes haemolyticus, alcaligenes were uniformly susceptible to cefpirome. The broad-spectrum activity of the four quinolones suggests potential use in therapy of infections caused by non-fermenters; cefpirome should be reserved for infections caused by fluorescent pseudomonads and possibly Acinetobacter spp.
Identification of β-catenin binding regions in colon cancer cells using ChIP-Seq

Deregulation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is a hallmark of colon cancer. Mutations in the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene occur in the vast majority of colorectal cancers and are an initiating event in cellular transformation. Cells harboring mutant APC contain elevated levels of the β-catenin transcription coactivator in the nucleus which leads to abnormal expression of genes controlled by β-catenin/T-cell factor 4 (TCF4) complexes. Here, we use chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with massively parallel sequencing (ChIP-Seq) to identify β-catenin binding regions in HCT116 human colon cancer cells. We localized 2168 β-catenin enriched regions using a concordance approach for integrating the output from multiple peak alignment algorithms. Motif discovery algorithms found a core TCF4 motif (T/A–T/A–C–A–A–A–G), an extended TCF4 motif (A/T/G–C/G–T/A–T/A–C–A–A–A–G) and an AP-1 motif (T–G–A–C/T–T–C–A) to be significantly represented in β-catenin enriched regions. Furthermore, 417 regions contained both TCF4 and AP-1 motifs. Genes associated with TCF4 and AP-1 motifs bound β-catenin, TCF4 and c-Jun in vivo and were activated by Wnt signaling and serum growth factors. Our work provides evidence that Wnt/β-catenin and mitogen signaling pathways intersect directly to regulate a defined set of target genes.
Toward Trustworthy Service Consumers and Producers

The purpose of this research is to propose a mechanism that enables trustworthy relationships among service producers and consumers. Service producers advertise their services through the UDDI. From a QoS perspective, a service consumer needs to know if a service will meet his or her requirements for which various web services are contracted. In terms of a security perspective, a service consumer that obtains services for which they are unable to pay establishes a security concern for service producers. The requirement of the secure quality of services for Web services (S-QoS4WS) needs a mechanism to enable service consumers and producers to establish trust in their prospective partners prior to engaging in any service for which payment or quality of service is required. For this purpose, we propose a S-QoS4WS approach that utilizes 'PublisherAssertion' tags within the UDDI to satisfy security and QoS issues. This approach makes use of existing mechanisms within UDDI version 3 to resolve current issues involving trust and non-repudiation.
Seasonal changes in gonadotropin-releasing hormone secretion in the ewe: alteration in response to the negative feedback action of estradiol.

Two experiments were performed to test the hypothesis that there is a seasonal change in the negative feedback effect of estradiol on episodic secretion of GnRH in the ewe. The first experiment identified a specific estradiol treatment (delivered by s.c. Silastic implant) that produced a 50% decrease in the frequency of pulsatile secretion of LH in ovariectomized ewes during the anestrous season. In the second experiment, this estradiol treatment was administered to ovariectomized ewes during the mid-breeding and anestrous seasons. Separate groups of ovariectomized ewes not treated with estradiol were included during each season to test for a seasonal difference in the effect of estradiol on episodic GnRH and LH secretion. Samples of hypophyseal portal blood (for GnRH) and jugular blood (for LH) were obtained at 5-min intervals approximately one month after placement of the estradiol implants. During the breeding season, no effect of estradiol was observed on either the frequency or size of GnRH and LH pulses. During anestrus, however, estradiol produced a profound suppression of the frequency of GnRH and LH pulses, and an increase in GnRH pulse size. No significant seasonal change was observed in the characteristics of GnRH and LH pulses in ovariectomized ewes in the absence of estradiol treatment. These findings lead to the conclusion that there is a marked seasonal change in the negative feedback effect of estradiol on episodic GnRH secretion in the ewe, with the steroid being maximally effective during anestrus.
Conductive nanowires coated with a semiconductive shell as the photoanode in dye-sensitised solar cells

Dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSCs) based on indium-doped ZnO (IZO) core/TiO2 shell nanowires are fabricated using anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) templates. Polarisation characteristics are used to evaluate overall DSSC performance as a function of titania shell thickness while open-circuit voltage decay (OCVD) analysis elucidates the effect of shell thickness on both the order of the recombination and the lifetime of injected charge carriers. Overall DSSC performance properties, such as open-circuit voltage (Voc), short-circuit current (isc), fill factor (FF) and efficiency (η), correlate well with previously reported values as a function of shell thickness. OCVD measurements confirm that the nanowire morphology offers enhanced charge transport and transfer dynamics. The measurements show that both electron lifetime and electron recombination order are shorter for nanowire-based DSSCs (NW-DSSCs), implying that injected electrons are selectively swept away from the semiconductor-dye-electrolyte interface and collected more efficiently.
The distribution of dark nebulae in late-type spirals

Seventeen Sc- galaxies have been studied in order to determine the distribution of dark nebulae within them. Hα plates were used to compare the distribution of obscuring material with the location of Hii regions, and it was found that the Hii regions are always tangent to or imbedded in regions of high obscuration. Sandage’s conclusions are confirmed that strong, regular dust lanes exist in the central regions of these galaxies and wind outward on the inside edge of the two prominent arms. Characteristic dimensions of the dust lanes are noted, and secondary dust characteristics are described.
Reduced kidney function and anemia as risk factors for mortality in patients with left ventricular dysfunction.

OBJECTIVES We sought to evaluate the relationship between the level of kidney function, level of hematocrit and their interaction on all-cause mortality in patients with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. BACKGROUND Anemia and reduced kidney function occur frequently in patients with heart failure. The level of hematocrit and its relationship with renal function have not been evaluated as risk factors for mortality in patients with LV dysfunction. METHODS We retrospectively examined the Studies Of LV Dysfunction (SOLVD) database. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was predicted using a recently validated formula. Kaplan-Meier survival analyses were used to compare survival times between groups stratified by level of kidney function (predicted GFR) and hematocrit. Cox proportional-hazards regression was used to explore the relationship of survival time to level of kidney function, hematocrit and their interaction. RESULTS Lower GFR and hematocrit were associated with a higher prevalence of traditional cardiovascular risk factors. In univariate analysis, reduced kidney function and lower hematocrit, in men and in women, were risk factors for all-cause mortality (p , 0.001 for both). After adjustment for other factors significant in univariate analysis, a 10 ml/min/1.73 m 2 lower GFR and a 1% lower hematocrit were associated with a 1.064 (95% CI: 1.033, 1.096) and 1.027 (95% CI: 1.015, 1.038) higher risk for mortality, respectively. At lower GFR and lower hematocrit, the risk was higher (p 5 0.022 for the interaction) than that predicted by both factors independently. CONCLUSIONS Decreased kidney function and anemia are risk factors for all-cause mortality in patients with LV dysfunction, especially when both are present. These relationships need to be confirmed in additional studies. (J Am Coll Cardiol 2001;38:955‐ 62) © 2001 by the American College of Cardiology Reduced kidney function and anemia occur frequently in patients with heart failure (HF) (1‐ 4). In fact, as many as 25% to 50% of patients with HF have creatinine clearances less than 60 ml/min to 75 ml/min (4,5), while mean hemoglobin levels range from 10 g/dl to 12 g/dl in patients with HF (1,2,6). Although prior studies have suggested that reduced kidney function may be a risk factor for all-cause mortality (4,5), these studies did not provide a quantitative estimate of the relationship between the level of kidney function to mortality. These studies also did not consider the independent contribution of anemia, a known complication of kidney disease. Anemia is a well-recognized risk factor for left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, de novo and recurrent HF and all-cause
Gene expression profile of HIV-1 Tat expressing cells: a close interplay between proliferative and differentiation signals

Background Expression profiling holds great promise for rapid host genome functional analysis. It is plausible that host expression profiling in an infection could serve as a universal phenotype in virally infected cells. Here, we describe the effect of one of the most critical viral activators, Tat, in HIV-1 infected and Tat expressing cells. We utilized microarray analysis from uninfected, latently HIV-1 infected cells, as well as cells that express Tat, to decipher some of the cellular changes associated with this viral activator.
Early and Sustained Medial Cell Activation after Aortocaval Fistula Creation in Mice

Background. The response of endothelial cells to altered flow conditions has been studied extensively. However, the indirect effects of shear stress on medial smooth muscle cells (SMCs) have been less well characterized and a murine model of high shear stress has not been available. Materials and methods. The hemodynamic changes that occur in a mouse aorta proximal to an aortocaval fistula (ACF) were characterized by measuring blood flow, aortic diameter, and calculating wall shear stress. This model was next used to evaluate cellular activation by assessing β-galactosidase expression in fos-lacZ transgenic mice. Aortic specimens were examined by a chemiluminescent β-galactosidase assay, cross-sectional histology, and Hautchen prep en face histology. Results. Immediately after ACF construction, aortic diameter remained unchanged and wall shear stress increased 2.6-fold (49.57 ± 5.89 to 134.93 ± 15.69 dyn/cm2, P < 0.05). Flow-induced aortic enlargement occurred gradually (0.61 ± 0.03 to 1.18 ± 0.05 mm at 21 days, P < 0.5) such that by 21 days after ACF, wall shear stress had returned to baseline (56.97 ± 8.62 dyn/cm2, P = ns compared to control). Aortas from fos-lacZ mice demonstrated increased β-gal activity at 6 h and up to 7 days after ACF (1.81 ± 0.22 rlu/μg in controls vs 41.41 ± 16.28 rlu/μg at 6 h and 15.17 ± 1.1 rlu/μg at 7 days, P < 0.5) On histologic evaluation, there was a significant increase in medial SMC staining that was most prominent in cells near the intima (2 ± 0.3% positive cells in controls vs 67 ± 10% at 6 h and 11 ± 7.6 at 7 days, P < 0.5). Endothelial cells, evaluated by en face methods, did not demonstrate significant amounts of β-gal positivity at the times studied. Conclusions. These in vivo findings using a new high shear stress model suggest that early and sustained activation of medial SMCs is a critical component of flow-induced enlargement. Further evaluation of these events may provide important insights into the mechanisms of pathologic arterial remodeling.
Examining user involvement in continuous software development: (a case of error reporting system)

Ms. Perez was giving a powerpoint presentation to her potential clients in the hope of landing a big contract. She was presenting a new advertising campaign for a mutual fund company and had spent three months with her team on perfecting the proposal. Everything seemed to be going well when suddenly a small window screen popped up informing her that an error had occurred and asked if she would wish to send an error report. She clicked the send button and the application on her laptop shut down, disrupting the flow of her presentation and making her look unprofessional.This story entails an example of a user's experience and response to a new method for collecting information on software application errors. To maintain a certain level of quality and ensure customer satisfaction, software firms spend approximately 50% to 75% of the total software development cost on debugging, testing, and verification activities. Despite such efforts, it is not uncommon for a software application to contain errors after the final version is released. To better manage the software development process in the long run firms are involving the users in software improvement initiatives by soliciting error information, while they are using the software application. The information collected through an error reporting system (ERS) plays an important role in uncovering bugs and prioritizing future development work. Considering that about 20% of bugs cause 80% of the errors, gathering information on application errors can substantially improve software firms' productivity and improve the quality of their products. High quality software applications can benefit the software users individually and also help improve the image of the software community as a whole. Thus, understanding the emerging error reporting systems (ERS) and why users adopt them are important issues that require examination. Such an analysis can help the software companies in learning how to design better ERS and educate the users about ERS and its utilities.
Evidence-ranked motif identification

cERMIT is a computationally efficient motif discovery tool based on analyzing genome-wide quantitative regulatory evidence. Instead of pre-selecting promising candidate sequences, it utilizes information across all sequence regions to search for high-scoring motifs. We apply cERMIT on a range of direct binding and overexpression datasets; it substantially outperforms state-of-the-art approaches on curated ChIP-chip datasets, and easily scales to current mammalian ChIP-seq experiments with data on thousands of non-coding regions.
Efficient Light Bending with Isotropic Metamaterial Huygens' Surfaces

Metamaterial Huygens’ surfaces manipulate electromagnetic wavefronts without reflection. A broadband Huygens’ surface that efficiently refracts normally incident light at the telecommunication wavelength of 1.5 μm is reported. The electric and magnetic responses of the surface are independently controlled by cascading three patterned, metallic sheets with a subwavelength overall thickness of 430 nm. The peak efficiency of the device is significantly enhanced by reducing the polarization and reflection losses that are inherent to earlier single-layer designs.
Controlled invariant and feedback controlled invariant subspaces in the design of a generalized dynamical system

We propose an invariant subspace theory for the design of a generalized dynamical system. The proposed theory generalizes the A-B invariant subspace methods as applied to a regular dynamical system.
The Free-Radical Chemistry of Fluoroketones. II. Reaction with Unsaturated Compounds

Abstract Free radicals induce two principal types of interaction between fluoro-ketones and olefins, both of which lead to polymeric products. Copolym-erization of the fluoroketone through its carbonyl group leads to poly-ethers. Hydrogen abstraction, presumed to be largely intramolecular, also occurs to give highly branched polymers with fluoroalcohol groups at terminal positions on the branches.
The Banking Panics of the Great Depression: Banking crises of the Great Depression: a reassessment

We set out initially to reconstruct each of the four banking crises of the Great Depression. That task is now completed. What remains to be done is to extract from that account what we have learned, if anything, about the banking crises of the Great Depression. Did these crises differ from pre–1914 banking panics? And, if they did, how did they differ? Did panic–induced failures in the early 1930s differ from the nonpanic–induced suspensions in the twenties? Did panic–induced failures cause output to vary? And, finally, what was the response of the Federal Reserve to accelerated bank closings between 1930 and 1933? We have the knowledge and experience of four separate banking crises with which to attempt to answer these important questions. Our description and analysis of the first three crises revealed that decomposition by Federal Reserve District disclosed wide geographical disparities in the incidence of bank suspensions and hoarding. So much so that we concluded that the 1930 banking crisis and the April–August 1931 crisis were region specific. These two crises were not nationwide in scope, and the expenditure effects associated with the 1930 crisis were minimal. Unlike pre–1914 panics, the “eye” of the banking disturbance was not the New York money market. The establishment of the Federal Reserve System in 1914 had altered the response of the New York money market in at least two important ways: the short–term interest rate response was muted, and strong stock market reactions were eliminated. There was in contemporary economic jargon “a change in regime” which had the effect of altering permanently expectations about how the central money market would react to unanticipated financial shocks.
Moment-tensor invariants: Searching for non-double-couple earthquakes

A method for assessing the presence of a non-double-couple component in seismic sources is presented. The equation for the principal values of the moment tensor is a cubic equation with coefficients which are polynomial combinations of the tensor components. These coefficients are invariants of the tensor that relate to its symmetry and do not depend on the coordinate system used to describe the source. Each coefficient has a physical interpretation: The constant coefficient is determined by how well one or two double-couples describe the source, and the quadratic coefficient is the volume change associated with the source. If volume change is assumed to be absent, the constant term represents a measure of the double-couple nature of the source. A seismic waveform inversion method is presented which exactly explores the range of values of these properties. The method of extremal models is used to determine minimum and maximum values of the invariants subject to the constraint that the data must be satisfied within prescribed errors. For the invariant associated with the source volume change, this constraint results in a linear programming problem and a global solution may be found. For the other invariants a nonlinear programming problem results which may be solved by a reduced gradient algorithm. Two events were examined: A deep earthquake from the Bonin Islands and the Harzer nuclear explosion. A double-couple mechanism is essentially compatible with the Bonin Islands waveforms. Models with a positive volume change were required to fit the Harzer data. Some variation in the mechanism is possible due to gaps in the station distribution and possibly due to significant scattering from lateral heterogeneities. However, in spite of a range in the isotropic component, the event could not be fit with a double-couple mechanism.
Frequency and appropriateness of drug prescribing for unlabeled uses in pediatric patients

The incidence and appropriateness of drug prescribing for unlabeled indications in a pediatric hospital were examined. During a 19-day period, the medical record of each discharged patient was reviewed to obtain information about the drugs administered during hospitalization. The package insert of each drug was consulted to determine whether the drug had a labeled indication for pediatric use. Using a Delphi group-opinion technique, nine experts in pediatric pharmacology were asked to determine whether or not the use of the drugs with no labeled pediatric indications was supported by the medical literature. A total of 62 (7%) of the 951 drug orders were for unlabeled pediatric indications. A consensus of appropriate use was achieved in 24 (39%) cases, and a consensus of inappropriate use was achieved in 10 (16%) instances. No consensus was reached in 45% of cases. The number of drugs prescribed for unlabeled indications in pediatric patients appears to be small, and sufficient evidence exists in the medical literature to support at least some of those uses.
Universal Parameters for the Design of Flat-band Finite-size Coupled Resonator Optical Waveguides

Systematic design rules for finite-size CROW are developed using direct correspondence to ladder-type LC circuits. Silicon-on-Insulator CROW with flat-band spectrum and excellent group- delay response is experimentally demonstrated.
515 CORRELATES OF DRINKING AMONG A NATIONAL SAMPLE OF MEDICAL STUDENTS.

Purpose of Study The aim of this study is to determine prevalence and correlates of at-risk drinking among a national sample of medical students. Design Cross-sectional, anonymous, Web-based survey. Methods Used 2,698 medical students from 36 US medical schools (1st-4th year) completed this survey. Included in the survey instruments was a 10-item scale (AUDIT) to assess at-risk drinking behaviors within the last 12 months. Summary of Results Majority of the sample was female (60%) and in the 1st or 2nd year of medical school (58%). Mean age of the sample was 26 years. Over 15% of the subjects ( n = 412) scored positive for at-risk drinking (≥ 8). Multivariate analysis of the data revealed that the following independent predictors were statistically significant ( p ≤ .05): being male [OR and 95% CI = 2.10 (2.88-1.52)], not married [OR and 95% CI = 2.74 (4.21-1.78)], using drugs [OR and 95% CI = 1.93 (1.43-2.62)], smoking in the last 30 days [OR and 95% CI = 4.44 (3.08-6.41)], having low perception of risk [OR and 95% CI = 1.91 (2.67-1.36)], being impulsive [OR and 95% CI = 1.97 (1.44-2.69)], being depressed [OR and 95% CI = 1.64 (1.19-2.26)], and having gambling problems [OR and 95% CI = 1.70 (.997-2.92)]. Conclusions Reached Alcohol abuse is a common method of stress reduction among medical students. With heavy alcohol consumption being a possible marker for future alcohol abuse and its potential health, social, and economic impacts, this underscores the need for effective interventions. Furthermore, research indicates that physicians who have healthier lifestyles will be more inclined to educate their patients on the importance of maintaining healthy lifestyles.
BRAVO: ballot-polling risk-limiting audits to verify outcomes

Risk-limiting post-election audits guarantee a high probability of correcting incorrect electoral outcomes, regardless of why the outcomes are incorrect. Two types of risk-limiting post-election vote tabulation audits are comparison audits and ballot-polling audits. Comparison audits check some of the subtotals reported by the vote tabulation system, by hand-counting votes on the corresponding ballots. Ballot-polling audits select ballots at random and interpret those ballots by hand until there is strong evidence that the outcome is right, or until all the votes have been counted by hand: They directly assess whether the outcome is correct, rather than assessing whether the tabulation was accurate. Comparison audits have advantages, but make large demands on the vote tabulation system. Ballot-polling audits make no such demands. For small margins, they can require large samples, but the total burden may still be modest for large contests, such as county-wide or statewide races. This paper describes BRAVO, a flexible protocol for risk-limiting ballot-polling audits. Among 255 state presidential contests between 1992 and 2008, the median expected sample size to confirm the plurality winner in each state using BRAVO was 307 ballots (per state). Ballot-polling audits can improve election integrity immediately at nominal incremental cost to election administration.
Cell cycle independent lymphocytotoxicity of 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine.

Deoxyadenosine and its nucleotides have been implicated in the pathogenesis of the immunodeficient state associated with an inherited deficiency of adenosine deaminase (ADA) (1,2), In ADA deficient patients, T lymphocytes may selectively phosphorylate deoxyadenosine released by other tissues. Both dividing and resting T cells have abundant deoxyadenosine phosphorylating activity, mediated primarily by deoxycytidine kinase, but minimal deoxynucleotide dephosphorylating activity, mediated by cytoplasmic deoxynucleotidase (3,4). For this reason, normal and malignant T lymphocytes exposed to micromolar concentrations of deoxyadenosine, in the presence of an ADA inhibitor, progressively accumulate dATP until cell death ultimately ensues (5,6).
Law on Nantucket

Nantucket Island, in the North Atlantic about twenty-seven nautical miles south-southeast of Hyannis, Massachusetts, has been, and remains, a writer’s dream subject. There are countless works on Nantucket, ranging from cookbooks to studies of the Atlantic ridge by oceanographers. But the traditional ways to write about Nantucket seem to fall into categories. Those categories have been so recurrent as to virtually define not just Nantucket Island’s tourist experience, but the experiences of resident islanders and mainlanders as well. After a brief discussion of those categories, I propose, in this essay, to introduce another category, one that at first blush might not seem an interesting way to think about Nantucket, but one that strikes me as fundamental to an understanding of the place.
Characteristics of somatotropin and prolactin profiles in young dairy sires before and after a 72-hour fast during different seasons.

Serial blood samples were collected from young (mean = 275 d of age) AI sires at 20-min intervals for an 8-h period before and after a 72-h fast. Samples were collected from four different groups of young sires in January (n = 23), April (n = 31), July (n = 27), and October (n = 24). Samples were collected for only 6 h for the July group. Plasma somatotropin (ST) and prolactin (PRL) data were analyzed by PULSAR, a computerized peak detection program. The PULSAR parameters, except for number of peaks detected, were not different (P greater than .05) when calculated using data from the entire 8-h period or just the first 6 h. Because some endocrine characteristics as defined by PULSAR were influenced by season, deviated values were calculated for those characteristics within seasonal groups by subtracting the mean of that group from each individual observation for all PULSAR parameters. Number of ST peaks was correlated (P less than .01, r = .26) with USDA pedigree index (PI) for fat yield (PIF), sire predicted transmitting ability for fat (PTAF; P less than .01, r = .30), Northeast AI Sire Comparison (NEAISC) PIF (P less than .05, r = 24), and sire PTAF (P less than .01, r = .33). No ST pulsatile characteristics after fasting were correlated (P greater than .05) with PI. Prolactin peak length was negatively related to USDA PIF (P less than .05, r = -.23) before fasting and positively correlated (P less than .05, r = .26) after fasting.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Is Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring Required to Define the Hypertensive Patient and to Detect Efficacy

Ambulatory monitoring of the blood pressure (BP) is a noninvasive clinical tool used in conjunction with mercury column sphygmomanometry that enables BP measurements outside of the medical care environment. During the past 20 years, automatic portable recorders have been developed which have greatly aided in assessing blood pressure during the day and night (1–3). There are a number of advantages of automatic ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) over casual (or office) measurements in clinical hypertension research. The basis for the use of ABPM in place of or addition to the conventional clinic blood pressure (casual BP) is that numerous measurements over the day and night are more representative of both the directly-measured BP of an individual and the indexes of target organ damage associated with hypertension (4–6).
Signal degradation of BPSK signal in the presence of CW spur

The signal degradation of a BPSK (binary phase-shift keying) signal with NRZ (nonreturn to zero) and biphase baseband signaling formats in the presence of CW (continuous-wave) spur is analyzed. CW spur is usually due to unintentional interference, and the degradation is usually small. The degradation is a function of the frequency and phase differences, the signaling format, and the nominal value of the BER (bit error rate). A BER analysis is performed, and typical numerical results are provided. It is shown that the signal degradation depends on the phase difference between the signal and the CW interference. The NRZ signal is more sensitive to the interference than the biphase signal. >
Differential DNA methylation and PM2.5 species in a 450K epigenome-wide association study

ABSTRACTAlthough there is growing evidence that exposure to ambient particulate matter is associated with global DNA methylation and gene-specific methylation, little is known regarding epigenome-wide changes in DNA methylation in relation to particles and, especially, particle components. Using the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip, we examined the relationship between one-year moving averages of PM2.5 species (Al, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Na, Ni, S, Si, V, and Zn) and DNA methylation at 484,613 CpG probes in a longitudinal cohort that included 646 subjects. Bonferroni correction was applied to adjust for multiple comparisons. Bioinformatics analysis of the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment was also performed. We observed 20 Bonferroni significant (P-value < 9.4× 10−9) CpGs for Fe, 8 for Ni, and 1 for V. Particularly, methylation at Schlafen Family Member 11 (SLFN11) cg10911913 was positively associated with measured levels of all 3 species. The SLFN11 gene codes for an...
The Effect of Physical Exercise After a Concussion: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background:Data evaluating the role of exercise in patients with a concussion are contradictory. Studies have reported improvement in the Post-Concussion Symptom Scale (PCSS) score, whereas others showed no effect on the PCSS score.Purpose:To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on the role of physical exercise on different outcomes in patients with a concussion.Study Design:Systematic review and meta-analysis.Methods:A search of 5 databases from the earliest available date to September 30, 2016, and a hand search of a few articles were performed. Trial registries were reviewed, and authors of multiple studies were contacted to find additional published or unpublished studies. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs), cohort studies, and before and after (pre-post) studies evaluating the effect of physical exercise, compared with control, in patients with a concussion or mild traumatic brain injury were included.Results:The search generated 1096 studies. Of these, 14 studies (5 RCTs, 1 propensity scor...
Combining Data Sources to Understand Drivers of Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) Population Abundance

Abstract Robust methods for estimating abundance of wetland-breeding amphibian species, such as mark–recapture, are often resource intensive. This limits our ability to study the processes that influence species abundance. Alternatively, more efficient sampling methods, such as indices based on visual encounter surveys (VES) (e.g., egg masses), may be biased by variability in detection probabilities and species biology (e.g., no. of egg masses per female). We combine data sources (i.e., VES and capture–mark–recapture) to provide an efficient technique for monitoring wetland-breeding amphibians. Our study focuses on understanding factors that determine local abundance of Spotted Salamanders, Ambystoma maculatum, in Pennsylvania. We first estimated abundance for a subset of wetlands using single-season, capture–mark–recapture data and then verified egg-mass counts collected from a wider network of wetlands as an unbiased index of abundance. We found a strong correlation between estimated adult abundance and...
The Concept Transformation of Design Education Based on Internationalized Teaching Exchange

In the perspective of globalization, the internationalization of education has become an inevitable trend in the development of current design education. The original intention of internationalization of education is to promote the reform of design education by absorbing and learning from international advanced educational resources. This paper combines many years of practical experience of international design education exchanges in Central South University, and has conducted beneficial discussions in teaching concepts, teaching methods, teaching modes, etc., and proposes new ideas for value education, process control, and modeless teaching, which are powerful promoting the reform of design education and achieving a close connection with international advanced design education.
Adenosine receptor subtypes in the heart: therapeutic opportunities and challenges.

four subtypes of adenosine receptors(A1, A2A, A2B, and A3 receptors) are known to exist ([26][1]). Traditionally, the A1-adenosine receptor has been thought to be the only subtype expressed in ventricular cardiomyocytes. By inhibiting adenylyl cyclase, the A1 receptor attenuates the positive
The Arithmeticity of Critical Values of Dirichlet Series

The purpose of this section is to show that many of the main results of the previous section on the forms of half-integral weight have analogues in the case of integral weight, and to discuss their consequences. Thus in this section k denotes a positive integral weight, unless otherwise stated.
The subjective, human experience of groove: A phenomenological investigation:

This phenomenological study investigates what it means for listeners to experience groove. A purposeful sample of 14 participants listened to stimuli featuring manipulations that have been identifi...
Managing Concurrency in Mobile User Interfaces with Examples in Android

In this chapter, we explore various parallel and distributed computing topics from a user-centric software engineering perspective. Specifically, in the context of mobile application development, we study the basic building blocks of interactive applications in the form of events, timers, and asynchronous activities, along with related software modeling, architecture, and design topics.
Five Decades of Comprehension Research: Informing the Future:

This article shares insights from a symposium celebrating the retirement of P. David Pearson, one of the most influential reading researchers of the last half-century. Presenters addressed the natu...