cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Extending South Africa's Tentacles of Empire: The Deterritorialisation of Cahora Bassa Dam

In 1969, Portugal and South Africa signed an agreement that enabled the apartheid regime effectively to extend its tentacles of empire over the proposed dam at Cahora Bassa. Located in the heart of central Mozambique, far from the South African frontier, the dam became a security project masked as a development initiative. Cahora Bassa, including the massive lake behind the dam, rather than becoming the multi-purpose dam originally envisaged by Portuguese planners, was transformed into a strategic security project designed to blunt the advance into southern Mozambique of the liberation movement the Frente de Libertacao de Mocambique (Frelimo) and, by extension, its ally the African National Congress (ANC). In this way, the colonial regime and its apartheid ally hoped to prevent attacks against Mozambique's major colonial urban areas of Beira and Lourenco Marques. From Pretoria's perspective, it was preferable to fight the ANC in central Mozambique rather than along the Limpopo river – southern Mozambique'...
Gender and Modernity in the Work of Hesse and Kazantzakis

Evi Petropoulou discusses in her article, "Gender and Modernity in the Work of Hesse and Kazantzakis," selected basic tendencies of the modern European novel, in this case pertaining to gender identity and she exemplifies her postulates with an analysis of texts by Hermann Hesse and Nikos Kazantzakis. She examines the mainly male dominated literary discourse in the work of these authors in light of their theoretical indebtedness to the thought of Nietzsche and Hegel. The study offers new insight into literary representations of gender relations in modernity and how Hesse and Kazantzakis define identity, the self, and otherness. Evi Petropoulou, "Gender and Modernity in the Work of Hesse and Kazantzakis" page 2 of 10 CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 2.1 (2000):
Renal content of renin-like material and pressor reactivity of rats with chronic pyelonephritis.

SummaryAlthough rats with chronic pyelonephritis do not develop hypertension directly, they show an increased sensitivity to DOCA hypertension and in addition pyelonephritis aggravates a pre-existing hypertensive disease. The purpose of this experimental study was to explore several possible mechanisms involved in these relationships. The likelihood that changes in the renin content of the kidney of pyelonephritic rats are associated with these phenomena first was investigated and it was demonstrated that extracts of scarred pyelonephritic kidneys contained the same amount of renin-like material as controls. In a separate experiment it was shown that the acute vascular reactivity of pyelonephritic rats to intravenous angiotensin and phenyllysine vaso-pressin was normal. These findings suggest alternate etiologic linkages between hypertension and chronic pyelonephritis such as changes resulting from impaired sodium and water homeostasis.
The Intermediary Metabolism of Cholesterol

Animal tissues synthesize cholesterol from metabolities of small molecular size, principally cholesterol. This synthetic process is known to take place in the liver but may also occur in other organs. In all tissues, with the exception of brain and nerve, cholesterol is continually regenerated. Cholesterol is the parent substance which the animal organism uses to produce bile acids, progesterone and possibly also other steroid hormones. The catabolism of cholesterol leads to the formation of several saturated, metabolically inert sterols, cholestenone presumably being the common intermediate.
Myasthenia gravis: Five new things

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is the most common autoimmune disease affecting neuromuscular junction transmission. MG is characterized by muscle weakness that worsens with activity and fluctuates over the course of the day. Involvement of respiratory musculature can lead to life-threatening crisis requiring intensive care unit care. Antibody testing is positive in most patients with MG. Treatment of MG includes short-term symptomatic treatment, chronic immunosuppression, surgical intervention, and immunomodulatory therapies for severe disease or crisis. We review advances in 5 areas relevant to diagnosis and management of MG: the role of IV immunoglobulin vs plasmapharesis in myasthenic crisis and severe disease; the clinical characterization of patients with antibodies to muscle-specific tyrosine kinase receptors; old and new investigational treatments; management of MG in pregnancy; and new confirmatory diagnostic tests.
Treatment of experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis in rabbits with leupeptin, a protease inhibitor.

Abstract We injected 12 New Zealand white rabbits intraperitoneally with 15 mg/kg Leupeptin on alternative days for about 4 months. After 1 week of Leupeptin treatment, they were challenged with purified acetylcholine receptor (AChR) from Torpedo californica in Freund's complete adjuvant. All control animals died within 60 days. Six animals treated with Leupeptin did not develop EAMG in spite of repeated AChR injections. Three animals developed clinical signs of EAMG after 65 days. The clinical course was short in the one that survived and prolonged in the 2 that finally died. All animals (Leupeptin-treated and controls) had circulating anti-AChR antibodies. Among the survivors, titers were slightly lower and EMG repetitive stimulation tests were normal. Leupeptin (0.02–200 mM) did not prevent curaremimetic [3H]toxin binding to AChR in membranes or in solution, nor dissociate AChR-toxin-antibody complexes. Immune response to antigens other than receptor remained intact in Leupeptin-treated animals. Leupeptin was not toxic at the doses given. The mechanism of this protection is not well understood. Leupeptin seems to decelerate the turnover rate of AChR induced by anti-AChR antibodies and/or to decrease the complement-mediated immune attack against the muscle end-plate.
Density matrix equation for crystals

An idempotent density matrix in which the orbitals are expanded in Bloch sums is used in the density matrix equation for ρ1(1,1′) to obtain an equation appropriate for a crystal. The general equation is presented as well as its simplification for the single-cell approximation and the nearest-neighbor approximation.
Mössbauer studies of iron organometallic complexes—V The stable ferrocene-tetracyano ethylene charge-transfer complex

Abstract The point of attachment of tetracyano ethylene to ferrocene in this stable charge-transfer complex has been in doubt. Mossbauer 57Fe spectra confirm that the complex is not merely another ferrocenium salt, and indicate that the added tetracyano ethylene causes no appreciable change in the bonding of iron. This is consistent with a normal benzoid charge-transfer structure, in contrast to a suggested direct bonding of tetracyano ethylene to the iron 3d±2 orbitals.
Snakebite envenomation in children: a 10-year retrospective review

Objective To describe the epidemiology, short-term outcomes, and clinical characteristics of rattlesnake bites (RSB) in children. Methods This was a 10-year retrospective chart review of all patients who were Results Sixty-six children (mean age, 6.33 years) presented to or were transferred to our center with a diagnosis of RSB. Sixty-three percent were male, and the majority of bites (71.93%) occurred on the lower extremities. Forty-nine children (85.96%) developed coagulopathies, and 50 children (87.72%) received Antivenin (Crotalidae) Polyvalent (ACP) administration. Of the 50 children receiving ACP, 19 developed an immediate hypersensitivity reaction. Five cases of morbidity resulted, but no deaths were recorded. Conclusions Serious morbidity is infrequent in children following RSB.
The zonal expression of α‐fetoprotein transgenes in the livers of adult mice

The developmental regulation of the α-fetoprotein (AFP) gene in liver results in high-level expression in the fetus, followed by dramatic transcriptional repression after birth. We have examined the mouse AFP gene for transcriptional control sequences that may be involved in its postnatal repression in liver. We showed previously that removal of a DNA region between positions −250 base pairs (bp) and −838 bp of the AFP gene resulted in the persistence of expression of an AFP minigene in the postpartum liver of transgenic mice (Vacher and Tilghman, Science 250:1732–1735, 1990). This study examines the distribution of these transgene transcripts in liver using in situ hybridization. We show that there is a zonal distribution of minigene transcripts in the adult livers of these animals. Hepatocytes surrounding the central veins express high levels of minigene transcripts, while hepatocytes in the intermediate and portal areas contain few, if any, transcripts. Quantitative RNAse protection analysis shows a decrease in transgene RNA levels after birth, consistent with repression in all but a small subset of hepatocytes. These results indicate that repression in the pericentral hepatocytes is dependent upon the presence of a cis-acting, negative-regulatory domain, which is located between the enhancers and the proximal promoter of the AFP gene. In contrast, this domain is not essential for complete repression of AFP transgenes in the intermediate zone and periportal hepatocytes. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
The brain's magnetic field: Some effects of multiple sources on localization methods

The theoretical basis for magnetic field recording (MEG) methods is briefly summarized. Lines of constant radial magnetic field on a spherical surface, which are typically used in MEG applications to locate sources, are shown for various multiple dipole sources. It is shown that the usual localization methods are subject to relatively large error if only one additional dipole is present. New methods to improve spatial resolution are discussed.
In vitro restoration of T cell responses in tuberculosis and augmentation of monocyte effector function against Mycobacterium tuberculosis by natural inhibitors of transforming growth factor β

We examined the capacity of the naturally occurring inhibitors of transforming growth factor β (TGF-β), decorin and latency associated peptide (LAP), to reverse depressed T cell functions in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in vitro and to counteract the suppressive properties of TGF-β on mycobacterial replication in blood monocytes (MN) in vitro. T cell blastogenesis in response to purified protein derivative (PPD) in PBMCs of TB patients that were cocultured with decorin or LAP reached levels comparable to those observed in healthy tuberculin-responsive control subjects. Decorin and LAP were as effective as neutralizing antibody to TGF-β in correcting depressed T cell proliferation. Coculture of PBMCs from healthy PPD reactive individuals with neutralizing antibody to TGF-β, decorin, or LAP did not affect T cell blastogenesis. Levels of interferon-γ in cultures of PPD-stimulated PBMCs from patients with TB increased by more than 2-fold in the presence of maximal concentrations of either of the inhibitors of TGF-β, whereas TGF-β immunoreactivity declined to background levels. Coculture with optimal concentrations of decorin or LAP also led to reductions in mycobacterial growth in MN infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) in vitro by 51% and 62%, respectively, when compared with cells left untreated. In parallel, levels of immunoreactive TGF-β in MTB-infected MN cultures containing decorin or LAP decreased to background levels. These data indicate that the naturally occurring inhibitors of TGF-β, decorin and LAP, efficiently abrogate the suppressive effects of TGF-β in PBMCs of TB patients and in MN infected with MTB in vitro. Therefore, these agents may be considered as adjuncts to antituberculous chemotherapy, and may be particularly useful in treatment of TB that is unresponsive to conventional chemotherapy.
Terminal saccharides on sperm plasma membranes: identification by specific agglutinins.

Six specific agglutinins were used to identify the terminal sugar residues in the surface oligosaccharides of rabbit and hamster spermatozoa by specific agglutination. Species differences in epididymal sperm were found in the terminal residues, resembling α-D-mannose, D-galactose, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, and N-acetyl-D-galactosamine. Species similarities were found in terminal residues, resembling L-fucose and N-acetylneuraminic acid. When ejaculated rabbit sperm were compared to epididyimal sperm, the latter were more agglutinable with a specific agglutinin recognizing N-acetyl-D-glucosamine.
A new electrowetting lab-on-a-chip platform based on programmable and virtual wall-less channels

Microscale liquid handling based on electrowetting has been previously demonstrated by several groups. Such liquid manipulation however is limited to control of individual droplets, aptly termed digital microfluidics. The inability to form continuous channels thus prevents conventional microfluidic sample manipulation and analysis approaches, such as electroosmosis and electrophoresis. In this paper, we discuss our recent progress on the development of electrowettingbased virtual channels. These channels can be created and reconfigured on-demand and preserve their shape without external stimulus. We also discuss recent progress towards demonstrating electroosmotic flows in such microchannels for fluid transport. This would permit a variety of basic functionalities in this new platform including sample transport and mixing between various functional areas of the chip.
Morphological heterogeneity of polymer fibers which do not reveal small-angle x-ray reflections

For many aliphatic and wholly aromatic polymer fibers, meridional small-angle x-ray reflections (SAXR's) are not observed. The morphological features which give rise to this effect have Received little attention in the literature. It is sometimes speculated that this is evidence of a morphological homogeneity along the fiber axis (no fluctuation of electron density–no long periods), ignoring other possible reasons (morphology is heterogeneous but very irregular or the maximum intensity of SAXR (Imax) is low and SAXR cannot be observed against the background of diffuse scattering.) Fibers with homogeneous crystalline morphology should have an elastic modulus Ef close to that of the crystallites Ecr along the polymer chains over a broad range of stresses. But, as was found in this work for the overwhelming majority of such nonreflection fibers (including Kevlar aramid fibers) there is a considerable difference between Ecr and Ef (for some nonreflection fibers the ratio Ecr/Ef is on the order of 10). This means that their morphology is heterogeneous along the fiber axis and contains “weaker” intercrystalline regions. This heterogeneity appeared to be regular enough to give rise to SAXR, as determined from the appearance of SAXR during elastic extension and after the beginning of pyrolysis in some nonreflection fibers. Thus, it was concluded that the lack of observable SAXR for these fibers is a result of the weakness of Imax relative to the diffuse scattering. Support for this statement is seen in the analysis of the decrease of Imax to zero with increasing draw ratio for poly(vinyl alcohol) fibers. The key factors influencing the decrease of Imax in this case were found to be the decrease of fibril diameter (fibril splitting), an increase of the dispersion of the long periods and some possible decrease in the density difference between crystalline and amorphous regions. The particular combinations of such factors can be different for each particular case of missing SAXR and are discussed in this paper.
Latin American and Spanish online videos: vendor offerings for US academic libraries

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the availability and features of Latin American and Spanish online videos available through video vendors and other providers to US academic libraries.Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines US, Spanish, and Latin American video vendors that offer online videos about and/or are produced in Latin America and Spain. The study focuses on: content, technical aspects, and terms of purchase. For video vendors providing digital delivery systems, searching capabilities and special features are also analyzed. The paper also evaluates video providers interested in working with academic libraries. The availability of videos integrated in major multimedia databases is also explored.Findings – The paper concludes that the Spanish and Latin American online video marketplace for academic libraries is still emerging, especially for those video vendors located abroad. The relatively small number of offerings are mostly documentaries. Streaming via internet protoco...
Determination of methanol in whole blood by capillary gas chromatography with direct on-column injection

A gas chromatographic procedure was developed for the determination of methanol in small-volume whole blood samples. Samples (100-200 microliters) were prepared by protein precipitation, with direct injection of the supernatant on a wide-bore capillary column. The recovery of methanol and acetonitrile (the internal standard) was approximately 90% and did not vary with sample volume. The assay was linear from 2 micrograms/ml (the limit of detection) through 1000 micrograms/ml and was highly reproducible (intra-day coefficient of variation less than 2.5%). Assay performance was assessed following exposure of rats to methanol. The results indicate that the present procedure is suitable for studies of methanol disposition in small rodent species.
Effect of pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide on rat pancreatic exocrine secretion.

Abstract A novel neuropeptide, pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP), which has been isolated from ovine hypothalami, shows 68% homology with vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP). Since VIP stimulates amylase secretion from the pancreas, we investigated the effect of PACAP and VIP on rat pancreatic exocrine secretion after intravenous injections of PACAP-27, PACAP-38, or VIP at doses of 2.5, 5 or 10 nmol/kg. Results showed: 1) Bolus injection of PACAP stimulated pancreatic amylase and protein secretions in a dose-dependent manner; and 2) Stimulation of amylase secretion with 10 nmol/kg of PACAP-27 was greater than that induced with the same dose of VIP or PACAP-38 ( p
Influence of magnetic fields on cold collisions of polar molecules

We consider cold collisions of OH molecules in the {sup 2}{pi}{sub 3/2} ground state, under the influence of a magnetic field. We find that modest fields of several thousand gauss can act to suppress inelastic collisions of weak-field-seeking states by two orders of magnitude. We attribute this suppression to two factors: (i) an indirect coupling of the entrance and the exit channel, in contrast to the effect of an applied electric field; and (ii) the relative shift of the entrance and exit scattering thresholds. In view of these results, magnetic trapping of OH may prove feasible.
Hemispheric infarction in a patient with an undiagnosed vasculopathy treated with aprotinin.

b r r m TROKE IS ONE OF the more common serious complications of cardiac surgery, with an estimated incidence of pproximately 0.8% to 5.2% in adults.1 The incidence of overt troke in congenital heart surgery is less well defined but is ikely in the same range.2 Typically, stroke during cardiac urgery is embolic in nature.1 Embolic material includes disupted arterial plaque and air from cardiac chambers or the ardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) pump. Less commonly, cereral injury may occur as a result of decreased global perfusion. hrombosis of cerebral vessels is not uncommon in congenital eart disease but virtually always involves the venous system.3 rterial thrombosis is rare after cardiac surgery because paients tend to be hypocoagulable after CPB, especially chilren.2 A case of arterial thrombosis after reoperative congenital eart surgery with an unusual etiology is described.
Barites: anomalous xenon from spallation and neutron-induced reactions

Sedimentary barites from South Africa and Western Australia (about 3 billion years old) contain spallogenic Xe isotopes produced by reactions of Ba with nuclear-active particles in cosmic rays. 'Surface residence time' of these samples was calculated from the observed concentrations of spallogenic Xe-126. Comparison of spallogenic ratios of Xe-131/Xe-126 in the two samples provides evidence for the reaction Ba-130(n, gamma) yields Xe-131, which is characterized by a large number of resonances for neutron absorption in the epithermal region. This observation lends additional support to the conclusions already reached regarding the origin of anomalous Xe-131 in lunar samples.
Low-Energy Level Structure of Neutral Cerium (Ce I)

The low portion of an extensive level structure derived from analysis of the optical spectrum is reported. Positions, $J$ values, and ${g}_{J}$ factors are given for 98 levels, including all 91 levels expected below 10 000 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. A previous report on this analysis showed the ground level to be $4f5d6{s}^{2} ^{1}G_{4}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$ and gave the lowest levels of $4f5{d}^{2}6s$. Comparison of the observed odd-parity levels with calculations by Goldschmidt and Salomon shows that all 86 of the odd levels tabulated here belong to these configurations. All but seven of these odd levels are assigned $\mathrm{LS}$ names, although the calculations show that many of them have low $\mathrm{LS}$ purities, and a few have strong mixtures of the two configurations. The much simpler system of even levels below 10 000 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ includes only the six levels of $4{f}^{2}6{s}^{2} ^{3}H$ and $^{3}F$, beginning with $^{3}H_{4}$ at 4762.718 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ above the ground-state level. The table of even levels also includes $4{f}^{2}6{s}^{2} ^{1}G_{4}$ and the lowest two levels of each of the lowest two terms of $4{f}^{2}5d6s$, $^{5}I_{4,5}$, and $^{5}K_{5,6}$.
Application of Structure-Based Drug Design and Parallel Chemistry to Identify Selective, Brain Penetrant, In Vivo Active Phosphodiesterase 9A Inhibitors

Phosphodiesterase 9A inhibitors have shown activity in preclinical models of cognition with potential application as novel therapies for treating Alzheimer’s disease. Our clinical candidate, PF-04447943 (2), demonstrated acceptable CNS permeability in rats with modest asymmetry between central and peripheral compartments (free brain/free plasma = 0.32; CSF/free plasma = 0.19) yet had physicochemical properties outside the range associated with traditional CNS drugs. To address the potential risk of restricted CNS penetration with 2 in human clinical trials, we sought to identify a preclinical candidate with no asymmetry in rat brain penetration and that could advance into development. Merging the medicinal chemistry strategies of structure-based design with parallel chemistry, a novel series of PDE9A inhibitors was identified that showed improved selectivity over PDE1C. Optimization afforded preclinical candidate 19 that demonstrated free brain/free plasma ≥1 in rat and reduced microsomal clearance along ...
Fine Root Production across a Primary Successional Ecosystem Chronosequence at Mt. Shasta, California

Estimating changes in belowground biomass and production is essential for understanding fundamental patterns and processes during ecosystem development. We examined patterns of fine root production, aboveground litterfall, and forest floor accumulation during forest primary succession at the Mt. Shasta Mudflows ecosystem chronosequence. Fine root production was measured using the root ingrowth cores method over 1 year, and aboveground litterfall was collected over 2 years. Fine root production increased significantly with ecosystem age, but only the youngest ecosystem was significantly different from all of the older ecosystems. Root production was 44.5 ± 13.3, 168.3 ± 20.6, 190.5 ± 33.8, and 236.3 ± 65.4 g m−2 y−1 in the 77, 255, 616, and >850-year-old ecosystems, respectively. Generally, aboveground litterfall and forest floor accumulation did not follow the same pattern as root production. The relative contribution of fine root production to total fine detrital production increased significantly with ecosystem age, from 14 to 49%, but only the youngest ecosystem was significantly different from all of the older ecosystems. Fine root production was significantly correlated with some measures of soil fertility but was not correlated with leaf or total litterfall, or forest floor accumulation. It was best predicted by soil N concentration alone, but this relationship may not be causal, as soil N concentration was also correlated with ecosystem age. For the oldest ecosystem, fine root production was also measured using the sequential intact cores/compartment-flow model method, and the difference between the two estimates was not significant. Our study suggests that the relative contribution of fine roots to fine detrital production, and hence to soil organic matter accumulation, may increase during forest primary succession.
Three-dimensional analysis of creeping polycrystals using periodic arrays of truncated octahedra

Abstract C reep in polycrystals is modeled using three-dimensional periodic arrays of truncated octahedra with imperfect interfaces. Arising boundary-value problems are solved with the finite element method. As implemented in the present work, the finite element method is more accurate than a variational approach proposed for this array by A nderson and R ice (Acta Metall. 33, 409, 1985). Based on numerical results, simple estimates are provided for the overall response of polycrystals containing creep damage and for the principal facet stress.
Chromosome end protection becomes even more complex.

Chromosome end protection is accomplished by telomeres. How cells cope with spontaneously unprotected telomeres while avoiding cell cycle arrest or cell death is a fascinating question.
A Case with Fistulas from Both Coronary Arteries and the Left Bronchial Artery to the Pulmonary Artery

A case with fistulas from both coronary arteries and the bronchial artery to the pulmonary artery is reported. We believe this is the first case report of an uncommon form of complex arteriovenous fistula diagnosed by selective angiography.
Confidence interval estimation in R-DAS.

Background Roughly 25 years ago, the United States National Institute on Drug Abuse (US NIDA) initiated the creation of public use datasets for its National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, since re-named the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which assumed responsibility for the survey in 1992, has continued and expanded this effort to make the survey data available to researchers. During 2012, SAMHSA created a “Restricted-Use Data Analysis System” (R-DAS) to provide researchers with the capability to create tabulations using restricted NSDUH variables not otherwise available on the public-use files.
Image Processing Hardware And Software For The 90-Element Pushbroom Infrared/Charge-Coupled Device/Multiplexer (IR/CCD/MUX) Field Test Instrument

Presented here is a review of an inhouse image processing facility, which has been improved for NASA/GSFC, to reduce raw 8-bit data tapes from the 90-element pushbroom IR/CCD/MUX field test instrument to 90 x 512 pixel frames of thermal infrared (8-14 micrometers) hard copy imagery. The 512 pixel length (160° panoramic scan) frames are recorded in 16 seconds (maximum rate) on magnetic tape. These tapes are then taken to the image processing laboratory where second order temperature calibration and image enhancement techniques are used to generate "quick look" 8 x 8 dot matrix line printer hard copy images or CRT displays in under 30 minutes. Final enhanced image data tapes are then recorded on photographic film using a digital film writer which quantatize the data into 256 grey levels. High quality, 16" x 20" photographic enlargements of selected imagery are made from these negatives using standard photographic techniques. The first hard copy imagery was obtained July 15, 1980. Several 90 x 256 pixel frames were recorded and image processed. Hard copy is from the 8 x 8 dot matrix printer. Initially, only warm objects were recognizable in the unprocessed data; however, once the temperature range of the imagery was adjusted and calibrated against three blackbody temperature frames, considerable detail was resolved in human forms and facial features. We are currently optimizing the integration time, chopper/signal electronics phasing, and CCD bias and the application of the image processing programs described herein.
Biogeochemistry of bog iron in the New Jersey Pine Barrens

Abstract Rivers and swamps of the southern New Jersey Coastal Plain contain sporadic but quantitatively important deposits of bog iron. This consists of unconsolidated to massive limonite impregnating sands and silts, the only X-ray identifiable Fe mineral being goethite. The chemistry and hydrology of river, swamp and ground waters suggest that Fe is supplied by lateral and vertical migration of corrosive, acidic ground waters up through Fe-rich sediments toward aerated surfaces. Here oxidation of Fe is catalyzed by Fe-fixing bacteria including Thiobacillus ferrooxidans, Leptothrix ochracea, Crenothrix polyspora, Siderocapsa geminata, and Metallogenium sp. These bacteria are essential to the precipitation of Fe, which would not otherwise oxidize at significant rates given the acid pH and chemical composition of surface waters.
The DNA binding and accumulation of p53 from breast cancer cell lines and the link with serine 15 phosphorylation

Stress treatment generally causes the post-translational modification and accumulation of the p53 protein, although the role of these aspects has not been always understood in relation to this protein's tumor suppressor activity. We analyzed these attributes of p53 in eight different breast cancer cell lines, with either wild-type or mutant p53 protein, in response to oxidative stress. We found that the wild-type p53 protein from MCF-7 and ZR-75-1 cells binds with different affinity to 12 gene sequences covering several pathways regulated by p53. Treatment of MCF-7 cells with H2O2 caused an increase in this binding affinity while this same treatment of ZR-75-1 cells caused the p53 protein to lose binding affinity to several genes. The mutant p53 proteins from all cell lines had minimal to weak binding to these sequences even after treatment with H2O2. The p53 protein from the ZR-75-1 cells and three cell lines with mutant p53 showed serine 15 phosphorylated protein, but we found no correlation between that modification and the levels or localization of this protein although DNA binding affinity of wild-type protein might be affected by this modification. From this and other work, it appears that the mutation status of the TP53 gene alone cannot predict the activity of this tumor suppressor since cell lines with the same genetic information do not show the same properties of this protein.
Beyond 1979 and 2011: When Comparisons Distract

In the midst of several research trips to Iran in the 1990s, I spent one year living and conducting exploratory research in Cairo. In Tehran, revolution seemed unfinished if not perpetual, yet in Egypt it was unimaginable. In spite of the entrenched support for the Leader and the political status quo, at this time Iran's reformist movement was robust. The policies of the Islamic Republic and consequences of the eight-year war with Iraq unleashed new social conditions that combined with established forces to push for women's rights, freedom of speech, independent civil associations, and exposing contradictions in the postrevolutionary order.
Overview of the Blue Gene/L system architecture

The Blue Gene®/L computer is a massively parallel supercomputer based on IBM system-on-a-chip technology. It is designed to scale to 65,536 dual-processor nodes, with a peak performance of 360 teraflops. This paper describes the project objectives and provides an overview of the system architecture that resulted. We discuss our application-based approach and rationale for a low-power, highly integrated design. The key architectural features of Blue Gene/L are introduced in this paper: the link chip component and five Blue Gene/L networks, the PowerPC® 440 core and floating-point enhancements, the on-chip and off-chip distributed memory system, the node- and system-level design for high reliability, and the comprehensive approach to fault isolation.
Campaign competition and policy responsiveness in direct legislation elections

Many scholars, pundits, and reform advocates argue that more competitive elections are needed to produce policy outcomes that better reflect voter interests. We challenge this argument. Using a model of direct legislation elections, we prove that greater electoral competition is neither necessary nor sufficient for more responsive postelection policy outcomes. Instead, we find that more competition increases responsivenessonly if the additional competitors are both sympathetic to voter interests and sufficiently credible to affect voter behavior. If either condition fails to hold, then increasing competition will make votersworse off, if it affects them at all. We conclude that enhanced voter competence, and not more competition, is the key to greater responsiveness.
Synthesis and Structural Characterization of Bis(salicylaldiminato)magnesium Complexes of Varying Aggregation and Coordination State

A series of salicylaldiminato ligands [C6H5N=CHC6H4OH (1L), 2,6-iPrC6H3N=CHC6H4OH (2L), and 2,6-iPrC6H3N=CH-3,5-tBu2C6H2OH (3L)] were treated with Bu2Mg in the presence of the appropriate solvent system to yield the crystalline compounds [(1L6Mg3)·thf] (1), [(2L2Mg·thf)] (2), and [3L2Mg] (3). The products were characterized by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. X-ray crystallographic analysis revealed that 1 adopts a unique trimeric aggregation state consisting of six-coordinate magnesium centers. Substitution of the ligand backbone resulted in the formation of the monomeric species 2 and 3. X-ray crystallographic analyses revealed 2 as a five-coordinate, distorted square-pyramidal magnesium complex and 3 as a four-coordinate, distorted tetrahedral species. Inspection of the metrical parameters in 1–3 indicates a decrease in the Mg–O and Mg–N bond lengths and an increase in the N–Mg–O bite angle with a decreasing coordination number at magnesium.
Presidential Difference in the Early Republic: The Highly Disparate Leadership Styles of Washington, Adams, and Jefferson

The absence of well-established political precedents and norms presented the early American presidents with the political equivalent of a Rorschach test. This made for highly diverse leadership styles, as can be seen by comparing the leadership of George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. This article makes such a comparison, doing so on the basis of cognitive style, emotional intelligence, public communication, organizational capacity, political skill, and policy vision.
Verb Particle and Preposition Acquisition in Language-Impaired Preschoolers.

This study examined the acquisition of verb particles and prepositions in language-impaired, language-matched, and age-matched preschool children. A videotape experimental task, in which subjects v...
High-dose chemotherapy with autologous bone marrow transplantation for metastatic breast cancer.

To the Editor. —The April 15 issue of JAMA contained an evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of high-dose chemotherapy with autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) for metastatic breast cancer. 1 Simultaneously, another article evaluating the same treatment was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology . 2 At first glance, the two articles appear to reach opposite conclusions. As the authors of the two articles, we thought it would be helpful to reconcile the apparently different conclusions. The Journal of Clinical Oncology article 2 was a comprehensive literature review. Its main conclusions were that (1) there are no well-controlled studies documenting that high-dose chemotherapy with ABMT is superior to conventional care, and (2) a crude comparison of clinical series reveals that the two treatments have essentially the same median survival rates (16.2 months for conventional care vs 16 months for high-dose chemotherapy with ABMT), median disease-free survival rates (8.8 months vs 8.3
On Getting There from Here

Studies on a variety of interesting biological problems, ranging from circadian rhythm to cancer cell growth to longevity, have begun to give evidence that the physiological state of cells and tissues reflects both the cell's regulatory systems and its state of intermediary metabolism. It is appreciated that the regulatory state of a cell or tissue, as driven by transcription factors and signaling pathways, can impose itself upon the dynamics of metabolic state. It follows that the reciprocal must also be the case, that metabolic state will feed back to impose itself on regulatory state. An appreciation and understanding of this reciprocity may be required to crack open problems in biological research that have heretofore been insoluble.
Digital library education in computer science programs

In an effort to identify the "state of the art" in digital library education in computer science (CS) programs, we analyzed CS courses on digital libraries and digital library-related topics. Fifteen courses that mention digital libraries in the title or short description were identified; of these, five are concerned with digital libraries as the primary topic of the course. The readings from these five courses were analyzed further, in terms of their authors and the journals in which they were published.
High-resolution electron-beam lithography for fabricating visible semiconductor lasers with curved mirrors and integrated holograms

Abstract Red-emitting (Al)GaInP semiconductor laser diodes with dry-etched mirror facets have been fabricated using chemically assited ion-beam etching. These devices operate single mode up to CW output powers of 30 mW. Their properties are comparable to those of lasers with cleaved mirrors. Additionally, lasers with concave and convex facets have been realized using high-resolution electron-beam lithography to define the mirror shapes. The horizontal far-field behavior of the laser is influenced by varying the shape of the facets. The same technology can be used for integrating computer-generated holograms working as focussing grating couplers.
Chip-based optical interactions with Rubidium vapor

We demonstrate tightly confined interactions with Rb atoms on a chip of silicon nitride nanowires. Optical depths of 2 are observed, and absorption spectroscopy reveals strong effects of transit-time broadening and Van der Waals shifts.
Dual Binding Modes for an HMG Domain from Human HMGB2 on DNA

High mobility group B (HMGB) proteins contain two HMG box domains known to bind without sequence specificity into the DNA minor groove, slightly intercalating between basepairs and producing a strong bend in the DNA backbone. We use optical tweezers to measure the forces required to stretch single DNA molecules. Parameters describing DNA flexibility, including contour length and persistence length, are revealed. In the presence of nanomolar concentrations of isolated HMG box A from HMGB2, DNA shows a decrease in its persistence length, where the protein induces an average DNA bend angle of 114 ± 21° for 50 mM Na+, and 87 ± 9° for 100 mM Na+. The DNA contour length increases from 0.341 ± 0.003 to 0.397 ± 0.012 nm per basepair, independent of salt concentration. In 50 mM Na+, the protein does not unbind even at high DNA extension, whereas in 100 mM Na+, the protein appears to unbind only below concentrations of 2 nM. These observations support a flexible hinge model for noncooperative HMG binding at low protein concentrations. However, at higher protein concentrations, a cooperative filament mode is observed instead of the hinge binding. This mode may be uniquely characterized by this high-force optical tweezers experiment.
The Effect of Golden Parachutes on Shareholder Wealth and Takeover Probabilities

This study seeks to determine whether stockholders experience increases in wealth due to a company's adoption of a golden parachute and resulting increased takeover bid probability. Market reaction to golden parachute adoption is examined by employing event analysis, logit analysis and metric regression. Our findings indicate that the adoption of a golden parachute does not signify an increased probability of a takeover bid, and stockholders experience a decrease in wealth.
Malaysian Educators and Their Perspectives on the Iraq War: A Case Study.

This case study provides perspectives on the War in Iraq with information collected from Sabah, Malaysia, educators. The author has analyzed input from Sabahan teachers regarding their discussions of United States-led war efforts in Iraq. The implications for discourse in Sabahan classrooms are described. The author then argues that Sabahan perspectives can impact discussions of the war's overall effects in American classrooms and, in turn, broaden the curriculum in American schools.
Identification of unsettable flip-flops for partial scan and faster ATPG

State justification is a time-consuming operation in test generation for sequential circuits. In this paper, we present a technique to rapidly identify state elements (hip-hops) that are either difficult to set or unsettable. This is achieved by performing test generation on certain transformed circuits to identify state elements that are not settable to specific logic values. Two applications that benefit from this identification are sequential circuit test generation and partial scan design. The knowledge of the state space is shown to be useful in creating early backtracks in deterministic test generation. Partial scan selection is also shown to benefit from the knowledge of the difficult-to-set hip-hops. Experiments on the ISCAS89 circuits are presented to show the reduction in time for test generation and the improvements in the testability of the resulting partial scan circuits.
Preparation and Characterization of Emeraldine Hydrohalides

Abstract Emeraldine base and Emeraldine hydrochloride have been thoroughly investigated but the salts with HF, HBr, and HI have been very much ignored. Emeraldine base when treated with 1.00 M HX (HX = HF, HCl, HBr, and HI) produce their corresponding conducting salts. The Emer.HF (Emer. = Emeraldine) is the most soluble in NMP (N-methylpyrrolidinone) and has the highest Voc (open circuit voltage) in 1.00 M HF as compared to those of others in their corresponding 1.00 M acids. The most conducting is the Emer.HCl but Emer. HBr has almost equal conductivity. The Emer.HBr is comparatively more stable to heat than others. The Emer. HF has the highest amount of water and the Emer. HI the least, which is due to the fact that fluorine is the most electronegative and has the highest avidity for water because of strong H-bonding. Selection of an Emeraldine hydrohalide is possible on the basis of its properties in a given application of the polymer.
Robust unsupervised motion pattern inference from video and applications

We propose an unsupervised learning framework to infer motion patterns in videos and in turn use them to improve tracking of moving objects in sequences from static cameras. Based on tracklets, we use a manifold learning method Tensor Voting to infer the local geometric structures in (x, y) space, and embed tracklet points into (x, y, θ) space, where θ represents motion direction. In this space, points automatically form intrinsic manifold structures, each of which corresponds to a motion pattern. To define each group, a novel robustmanifold grouping algorithm is proposed. Tensor Voting is performed to provide multiple geometric cues which formulate multiple similarity kernels between any pair of points, and a spectral clustering technique is used in this multiple kernel setting. The grouping algorithm achieves better performance than state-of-the-art methods in our applications. Extracted motion patterns can then be used as a prior to improve the performance of any object tracker. It is especially useful to reduce false alarms and ID switches. Experiments are performed on challenging real-world sequences, and a quantitative analysis of the results shows the framework effectively improves state-of-the-art tracker.
Scattering properties of broad wall slots in rectangular waveguide

Summary form only given. R.S. Elliott's contributions to the understanding of the scattering properties of broad wall slots in rectangular waveguides are discussed. Their significance in the analysis and synthesis of slot arrays is also discussed. Elliott's design procedure for a linear or planar array requires input data for the resonant length and the normalized slot admittance. The resonant length data were previously obtained from carefully performed experimental measurements. It was noted that Khac's moment method model did not predict the resonant length accurately since the design of a high-performance antenna requires resonant length data within a fraction of one percent accuracy. Such a requirement was fulfilled by Stern and Elliott with an accurate moment method model for a longitudinal slot. It was also shown that the shunt model and a half-cosine equiphase distribution for the aperture field were poor under certain conditions. Significant contributions of Elliott and others have led to the design of slot arrays without the need for taking experimental data. >
Narcissistic men and women think they are so hot - But they are not

Narcissists think they are more knowledgeable, better leaders, and more attractive than others are. Higher narcissism scores in celebrities than in non-celebrities (Young & Pinsky, 2006) raise the question of whether narcissistic individuals actually are, to some degree, more knowledgeable or attractive than other individuals are. Because little research has investigated the degree to which narcissists’ ratings of their attractiveness are inflated relative to others’ ratings of their attractiveness, we asked men and women to evaluate their own attractiveness, and then we asked two separate panels of judges to view and rate facial shots of these men and women. More narcissistic men and women rated themselves as more attractive than less narcissistic individuals did, but outside judges did not rate more and less narcissistic individuals as any different in attractiveness.
Identification of work disability in rheumatoid arthritis: physical, radiographic and laboratory variables do not add explanatory power to demographic and functional variables.

Abstract Work disability, a common problem in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), is known to be associated with demographic variables such as occupation, age, and formal education, as well as with disease duration. However, physical, radiographic and laboratory variables, which are included in the traditional “medical model” of work disability and collected routinely in the application process, have not been studied for their capacity to explain whether patients are working or receiving work disability payments. A cross-sectional database which included an extensively characterized group of patients with RA was examined to determine possible associations of demographic, functional, physical, radiographic and laboratory variables with work disability status. All these variables differed in patients who were receiving work disability payments and those who were working full time, but in multivariate analyses, work or disability status was best identified by demographic and functional variables. Physical, radiographic, and laboratory data did not add significantly to explanation of work disability status beyond the demographic and functional variables and disease duration, despite the fact that receipt of disability payments was used as the criterion for work disability status.