cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The molecular biology of Lesch-Nyhan syndrome

Abstract The enzyme hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HPRT) is of interest in studies of gene regulation and genetic disease. A deficiency in HPRT results in Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, a disease with devastating neurological manifestations. This gene, located on the X chromosome, has now been cloned. Structural analysis of normal and mutant genes clarifies the mode of HPRT regulation and the nature of the mutations in Lesch-Nyhan syndrome. Methods are being developed for correcting the genetic defect in vitro and in vivo .
Search strategy has influenced the discovery rate of human viruses

A widely held concern is that the pace of infectious disease emergence has been increasing. We have analyzed the rate of discovery of pathogenic viruses, the preeminent source of newly discovered causes of human disease, from 1897 through 2010. The rate was highest during 1950–1969, after which it moderated. This general picture masks two distinct trends: for arthropod-borne viruses, which comprised 39% of pathogenic viruses, the discovery rate peaked at three per year during 1960–1969, but subsequently fell nearly to zero by 1980; however, the rate of discovery of nonarboviruses remained stable at about two per year from 1950 through 2010. The period of highest arbovirus discovery coincided with a comprehensive program supported by The Rockefeller Foundation of isolating viruses from humans, animals, and arthropod vectors at field stations in Latin America, Africa, and India. The productivity of this strategy illustrates the importance of location, approach, long-term commitment, and sponsorship in the discovery of emerging pathogens.
Testing for Cross-Situational-Consistency: A Confirmatory Factor Analytic Approach

Numerous procedures have been suggested for investigating behaviors across situations for consistency versus situational specificity. It is proposed here that Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) may provide an useful addition to these procedures. To illustrate the process, a CFA model based on simulated data is presented and tested. The results of this simulation are employed to make recommendations for conducting CFA to test for crosssituational consistency.
The future of cochlear implants

Remarkable progress has been made in recent years in the design and application of processing strategies for cochlear implants. Most notably, use of the new spectral peak (SPEAK) and continuous interleaved sampling (CIS) strategies have provided large improvements in speech reception performance compared with prior strategies (NIH Consensus Statement, 1995; Skinner et al., 1994a; Wilson et al., 1991). All major manufacturers of multichannel implant systems, including Advanced Bionics Corp., Bionic Systems, Cochlear Pty. Ltd., and Med El, now offer CIS or CIS-like strategies in their speech processors. The SPEAK strategy was developed by Cochlear Pty. Ltd and continues to be one of the options available in that company's devices. The principal purpose of this editorial is to present some of the many possibilities for further improvements in performance. To the extent that such possibilities are realized, implant systems of the future may be quite different from present systems, with different processing strategies, electrode designs, telemetry features, and fitting procedures.
Rebound insomnia in normals and patients with insomnia after abrupt and tapered discontinuation.

Rebound insomnia was studied in subjects, aged 25–50 years, with insomnia complaints and normal sleep, insomnia complaints and disturbed sleep, and normal sleep with no complaints (N=21,n=7 per group). Standard sleep recordings were collected on a baseline night and after abrupt discontinuation of 6 nights of 0.50 mg triazolam, tapered discontinuation (3 nights of 0.50 mg, 2 nights of 0.25 mg, and 1 night of 0.125 mg triazolam) and 6 nights of placebo. Significantly disturbed sleep on the discontinuation night compared to the baseline night was found. The relative degree of rebound insomnia was greater in the abrupt condition than in either the tapered or placebo conditions. The tapered condition reduced sleep time by half that of the abrupt condition which was twice the reduction found in the placebo condition. An overall (regardless of group or condition) difference in baseline versus discontinuation sleep was found, suggesting that pill discontinuation itself leads to sleep disturbance. Subjects did not differ in rebound insomnia as a function of pre-existing sleep disturbance.
Ab initio adsorption studies of HCO on Ni(111)

Abstract The adsorption of formyl (HCO) on Ni(111) is treated using an ab initio embedding theory. HCO, characterized as η 1 -formyl-C, binds strongly to the Ni(111) surface mainly via the carbon atom. Calculated adsorption energies are 59.4, 57.2, and 57.0 kcal/mol at atop, three-fold, and bridge sites, respectively. The minimum energy occurs for an OC-surface normal angle of 90° and HCO bond angle of 120° at all sites. All calculated CO stretching frequencies are around 1755 cm −1 and CH stretching frequencies are around 2970 cm −1 . Substantially mixing between Ni 3d orbitals with higher HCO orbitals occurs. η 1 -formyl-O is energetically less stable than η 1 -formyl-C by 18 kcal/mol.
Sudden Retinal Manifestations of Intranasal Cocaine and Methamphetamine Abuse

We examined two patients who had sudden decrease in vision after intranasal cocaine or methamphetamine abuse. A 38-year-old woman with a history of systemic arterial hypertension developed a central retinal artery occlusion four hours after intranasal use of cocaine. A 26-year-old woman had blurred vision and intraretinal hemorrhages shortly after using methamphetamine nasally. The adrenomimetic response and sudden increase in blood pressure associated with the intranasal use of these drugs may have contributed to the retinal vascular manifestations observed in these patients.
Contriving Constraints (The Gameness of Second Life and the Persistence of Scarcity)

Second Life (SL hereafter) distinctive and of those possibilities that it may fairly be said to herald for the coming (arrived?) era of virtual worlds. There is little doubt that there is cause for excitement given the ways in which, as Ondrejka describes, virtual worlds seem at once to combine the vast advantages of dramatic reductions in material costs that digital technologies have brought with an increasing bandwidth for social interaction and collaborative creation, all within a persistent environment that allows all-important opportunities for failures as well as lasting successes. Somewhat ambitiously (maybe more than somewhat), Ondrejka takes inspiration from these features of virtual worlds that he has identified to lodge a broad critique not only at citizenship, as conventionally understood, but geography itself, which comes in his account to represent the essential hurdle to innovation and progress for humanity at large. I share wholeheartedly in the idea that these spaces represent something of vast importance for innovation in the digital age, and one of my aims in what follows is to fill in some of the connections that Ondrejka’s account at times skips or even discounts, such as what games have to do with SL and the “playfulness” that Ondrejka finds there, and how the reduction in material costs reconfigures resources within virtual worlds. But it is also true that in some all too familiar ways SL and virtual worlds generally do not, and perhaps cannot or even should not, overcome some of the constraints within which human collaboration and creativity take place, and therefore we may find that the collapse of geography, were it even possible, may not quite eliminate innovation’s obstacles.
Brucellosis and sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy.

S inus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy, also known as Rosai-Dorfman disease, is a benign pseudolymphomatous entity with distinct clinical and pathologic features [l-3]. This disorder, usually occurring during the first two decades of life, is manifested by massive, painless cervical lymphadenopathy in association with fever, leukocytosis with neutrophilia, increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and polyclonal hypergammaglobulinemia. Histopathologically, the involved lymph nodes show extensive proliferation of cytophagic histiocytes within distended sinuses. Cases in which similar pathologic involvement of extranodal sites resulted in clinical manifestations have been described [a]. The exact cause and pathogenesis of this condition remain unknown. This case report describes a young patient with nodal, skeletal, and probable nasal involvement of sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy in association with serologic evidence of recent Brucella infection.
Atomic structure of collision cascades in ion-implanted silicon and channeling effects

Abstract We have investigated the atomic structures of collision cascades in Bi + -implanted silicon. The formation of subcascades or bunching of the primary cascades is clearly observed. The central regions of the cascades were found to be amorphous with a high density of disorder in the surrounding regions. The experimental results are discussed in terms of the computer simulation of the deposited damage energy profiles. The effect of channeling on the deposited damage energy profile is examined. The peak and integrated damage energies are considerably lower in channeling directions compared to random directions.
Sweet Tooth, a Novel Receptor Protein-tyrosine Kinase with C-type Lectin-like Extracellular Domains

A gene encoding a novel type of receptor protein-tyrosine kinase was identified in Hydra vulgaris. The extracellular portion of this receptor (which we have named Sweet Tooth) contains four C-type lectin-like domains (CTLDs). Comparison of the sequences of these domains with the sequences of the carbohydrate recognition domains of various vertebrate C-type lectins shows that Sweet Tooth CTLD1 and CTLD4 have amino acids in common with those shown to be involved in carbohydrate binding by the lectins. Comparison of sequences encoding CTLD1 from the Sweet Tooth genes from different species of Hydra shows variation in some of the conserved residues that participate in carbohydrate binding in C-type lectins. The Sweet Tooth gene is expressed widely in the Hydra polyp, and expression is particularly high in the endoderm of the tentacles. Treatment of polyps with peptides corresponding to sequences in the Sweet Tooth CTLDs results in the disintegration of the animal. These same peptides do not block adhesion or morphogenesis of Hydra cell aggregates.
Contextual Processing in Episodic Future Thought

Remembering events from one's past (i.e., episodic memory) and envisioning specific events that could occur in one's future (i.e., episodic future thought) invoke highly overlapping sets of brain regions. The present study employed functional magnetic resonance imaging to test the hypothesis that one source of this shared architecture is that episodic future thought--much like episodic memory--tends to invoke memory for known visual-spatial contexts. That is, regions of posterior cortex (within posterior cingulate cortex [PCC], parahippocampal cortex [PHC], and superior occipital gyrus [SOG]) elicit indistinguishable activity during remembering and episodic future thought, and similar regions have been identified as important for establishing visual-spatial contextual associations. In the present study, these regions were similarly engaged when participants thought about personal events in familiar contexts, irrespective of temporal direction (past or future). The same regions, however, exhibited very little activity when participants envisioned personal future events in unfamiliar contextual settings. These findings suggest that regions within PCC, PHC, and SOG support the activation of well-known contextual settings that people tend to imagine when thinking about personal events, whether in the past or future. Hence, this study pinpoints an important similarity between episodic future thought and episodic memory.
Fate of multicentric and ring chromosomes induced by a new gametocidal factor located on chromosome 4Mg of Aegilops geniculata.

A new gametocidal (Gc) factor was identified on chromosome 4Mg of Aegilops geniculata Roth. When transferred to Chinese Spring wheat, monosomic and disomic Triticum aestivum–Ae. geniculata chromosome 4Mg addition plants undergo regular first and second meiotic divisions. Male gametogenesis in disomic 4Mg addition plants also is normal. However, chromosome breakage and anaphase bridges were observed at ana/telophase of the first (29%) and second (11%) pollen mitosis in monosomic 4Mg addition plants. Gc- induced multicentric and ring chromosomes can be transmitted to the offspring and initiate breakage fusion bridge (BFB) cycles in dividing root tip meristem cells of the derived sporophytes. The fate of multicentric and ring chromosomes was analyzed in root meristems at different time intervals after seed germination. The majority of the BFB cycles ceased about 32 days after germination. Broken chromosome ends were healed either by the fusion of a centric and an acentric fragment forming terminal translocation chromosomes or as deficiencies or telocentric chromosomes. Lack of cytologically detectable telomeric repeats at the stabilized newly broken termini suggests that chromosome healing by addition of telomeric repeats may be a gradual process.
Fundamental CP-violating quantities in an SU(2)

We consider an SU(2)[direct product]U(1) gauge theory with many scalar doublets, but without fermions. We devise a systematic method of constructing quantities which are invariant under changes of basis of the scalar fields, but acquire a minus sign under a general [ital CP] transformation. Those quantities provide a basis-independent way of checking for the existence of [ital CP] violation.
Efficacy of imidacloprid + moxidectin and selamectin topical solutions against the KS1 Ctenocephalides felis flea strain infesting cats

Background Two studies were conducted to evaluate and compare the efficacy of imidacloprid + moxidectin and selamectin topical solutions against the KS1 flea strain infesting cats. In both studies the treatment groups were comprised of non-treated controls, 6% w/v selamectin (Revolution®; Pfizer Animal Health) topical solution and 10% w/v imidacloprid + 1% w/v moxidectin (Advantage Multi® for Cats, Bayer Animal Health) topical solution. All cats were infested with 100 fleas on Days -2, 7, 14, 21, and 28. The difference in the studies was that in study #1 efficacy evaluations were conducted at 24 and 48 hours post-treatment or post-infestation, and in study #2 evaluations were conducted at 12 and 24 hours.
Am “I” more important than “we”? Couples’ word use in instant messages

Recent studies have identified robust associations between the types of words that people use and their psychological health. This study investigated whether couples’ word use in their daily instant messages (IMs) is linked to the quality and stability of their relationships. Sixty-eight dating couples in the United States submitted 10 days of IM conversations with each other, which were analyzed with a linguistic word count program. Six months later, couples indicated whether they were still dating. Pronoun use and emotion word use both were associated with relationship satisfaction and stability. These findings extend previous research showing that the frequencies of certain words that people use are associated with the quality of their social relationships.
Two Pleiotropic Classes of daf-2 Mutation Affect Larval Arrest, Adult Behavior, Reproduction and Longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans responds to overcrowding and scarcity of food by arresting development as a dauer larva, a nonfeeding, long-lived, stress-resistant, alternative third-larval stage. Previous work has shown that mutations in the genes daf-2 (encoding a member of the insulin receptor family) and age-1 (encoding a PI 3-kinase) result in constitutive formation of dauer larvae (Daf-c), increased adult longevity (Age), and increased intrinsic thermotolerance (Itt). Some daf-2 mutants have additional developmental, behavioral, and reproductive defects. We have characterized in detail 15 temperature-sensitive and 1 nonconditional daf-2 allele to investigate the extent of daf-2 mutant defects and to examine whether specific mutant traits correlate with each other. The greatest longevity seen in daf-2 mutant adults was approximately three times that of wild type. The temperature-sensitive daf-2 mutants fell into two overlapping classes, including eight class 1 mutants, which are Daf-c, Age, and Itt, and exhibit low levels of L1 arrest at 25.5 degrees. Seven class 2 mutants also exhibit the class 1 defects as well as some or all of the following: reduced adult motility, abnormal adult body and gonad morphology, high levels of embryonic and L1 arrest, production of progeny late in life, and reduced brood size. The strengths of the Daf-c, Age, and Itt phenotypes largely correlated with each other but not with the strength of class 2-specific defects. This suggests that the DAF-2 receptor is bifunctional. Examination of the null phenotype revealed a maternally rescued egg, L1 lethal component, and a nonconditional Daf-c component. With respect to the Daf-c phenotype, the dauer-defective (Daf-d) mutation daf-12(m20) was epistatic to daf-2 class 1 alleles but not the severe class 2 alleles tested. All daf-2 mutant defects were suppressed by the daf-d mutation daf-16(m26). Our findings suggest a new model for daf-2, age-1, daf-12, and daf-16 interactions.
The structure of associated ionic species in poly(propylene oxide)-alkali metal trifluoromethanesulphonate complexes

Abstract This paper presents the results of Raman scattering and i.r. transmission investigations of poly(propylene oxide) ( M w = ∼ 3000 ) complexed with various concentrations of lithium, sodium and potassium trifluoromethanesulphonate. Analysis of the i.r. and polarized Raman spectra of the SO3 stretching region, in conjunction with complementary data from other spectral regions, suggests the existence of three associated ionic species: two differently co-ordinated ion pairs and a triple ion. It is argued that the free ions which were previously postulated to exist in these polymer-salt complexes are really cation-anion pairs weakly interacting through the CF3 end of the anion.
Model and cell membrane partitioning of perfluorooctanesulfonate is independent of the lipid chain length.

Abstract Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) is a persistent environmental pollutant that may cause adverse health effects in humans and animals by interacting with and disturbing of the normal properties of biological lipid assemblies. To gain further insights into these interactions, we investigated the effect of PFOS potassium salt on dimyristoyl- (DMPC), dipalmitoyl- (DPPC) and distearoylphosphatidylcholine (DSPC) model membranes using fluorescence anisotropy measurements and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and on the cell membrane of HL-60 human leukemia cells and freshly isolated rat alveolar macrophages using fluorescence anisotropy measurements. PFOS produced a concentration-dependent decrease of the main phase transition temperature ( T m ) and an increased peak width (Δ T w ) in both the fluorescence anisotropy and the DSC experiments, with a rank order DMPC > DPPC > DSPC. PFOS caused a fluidization of the gel phase of all phosphatidylcholines investigated, but had the opposite effect on the liquid-crystalline phase. The apparent partition coefficients of PFOS between the phosphatidylcholine bilayer and the bulk aqueous phase were largely independent of the phosphatidylcholine chain length and ranged from 4.4 × 10 4 to 8.8 × 10 4 . PFOS also significantly increased the fluidity of membranes of cells. These findings suggest that PFOS readily partitions into lipid assemblies, independent of their composition, and may cause adverse biological effects by altering their fluidity in a manner that depends on the membrane cooperativity and state (e.g., gel versus liquid-crystalline phase) of the lipid assembly.
Changes in stimulus control during guided skill learning in rats

Abstract We examined the changes in stimulus control occurring during guided skill learning in rats. Twenty rats were trained to complete a left–right sequence of lever presses guided by the onset and offset of panel lights over their respective levers. Once sequence accuracy was high and stable, the rats were divided into two groups. For the No-Lights group, the lights were eliminated without changing the response requirements. Sequence accuracy decreased in all subjects, but accuracy was higher than that predicted by random chance. More practice produced greater autonomy and reduced dependence on the guiding lights. For the Reversed-Lights group, the lights were presented in reversed order without changing the response requirements. Sequence accuracy immediately plummeted and did not recover, violating expectations of automatization. The guiding lights appeared to overshadow other sources of stimulus control.
Pitfalls and Limitations of Radionuclide and Hybrid Cardiac Imaging

Radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is an important technique for evaluating the presence and severity of ischemic coronary heart disease that is widespread in the United States and much of the world. This widely used test has excellent diagnostic accuracy and strong risk-stratification utility and plays an important role in guiding patient management. As with all testing modalities, the clinical utility of MPI relies on proper procedure performance as improper techniques can lead to incorrect test interpretation, and thus misdiagnosis with potential adverse effects on patient management and outcome. A variety of potential pitfalls must be understood and recognized. These include minimizing referral of "rarely appropriate" patients for testing, selecting the best imaging procedure for each patient, properly preparing a patient for the test to be performed, skillful performance of stress testing and image acquisition, careful image processing, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of different image display options, recognition of common artifacts that can lead to misdiagnoses, distinguishing normal anatomy from true pathology, recognizing noncoronary cardiac disease, and not missing extracardiac pathology. It is important that physicians who perform and interpret radionuclide MPI be well versed in published guidelines and potential pitfalls to proper test performance and interpretation.
Tunable diode laser studies of the reaction of Cl atoms with CH3CHO

The reaction Cl + CH3CHO HCl + CH3CO (1) was studied using flash photo-lysis / tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy to monitor the production of HCl. The rate coefficient, k1, was measured to be (7.5 ± 0.8) × 10−11 cm3 molecule−1 s−1 at 298 K. HCl (v = 0) and HCl† (v = 1) were measured directly in this study and the yields of HCl (v = 0, 1, >1) for the reaction of Cl with CH3CHO were determined to be 0.44 ± 0.15, 0.56 ± 0.15, and <0.04, respectively. The rate coefficient for the quenching of HCl† (v = 1) by CH3CHO was k17e = (4.8 ± 1.2) × 10−11 cm3 molecule−1 s−1. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 31: 766–775, 1999
A macroscale mixture theory analysis of deposition and sublimation rates during heat and mass transfer in dry snow

Abstract. The microstructure of a dry alpine snowpack is a dynamic environment where microstructural evolution is driven by seasonal density profiles and weather conditions. Notably, temperature gradients on the order of 10–20 K m−1, or larger, are known to produce a faceted snow microstructure exhibiting little strength. However, while strong temperature gradients are widely accepted as the primary driver for kinetic growth, they do not fully account for the range of experimental observations. An additional factor influencing snow metamorphism is believed to be the rate of mass transfer at the macroscale. We develop a mixture theory capable of predicting macroscale deposition and/or sublimation in a snow cover under temperature gradient conditions. Temperature gradients and mass exchange are tracked over periods ranging from 1 to 10 days. Interesting heat and mass transfer behavior is observed near the ground, near the surface, as well as immediately above and below dense ice crusts. Information about deposition (condensation) and sublimation rates may help explain snow metamorphism phenomena that cannot be accounted for by temperature gradients alone. The macroscale heat and mass transfer analysis requires accurate representations of the effective thermal conductivity and the effective mass diffusion coefficient for snow. We develop analytical models for these parameters based on first principles at the microscale. The expressions derived contain no empirical adjustments, and further, provide self consistent values for effective thermal conductivity and the effective diffusion coefficient for the limiting cases of air and solid ice. The predicted values for these macroscale material parameters are also in excellent agreement with numerical results based on microscale finite element analyses of representative volume elements generated from X-ray tomography.
Ureteral obstruction secondary to iliac artery aneurysm

A patient with an unusual unilateral ureteral obstruction secondary to mechanical obstruction by a common iliac artery aneurysm in association with an abdominal-aortic aneurysm is presented. A diagnosis of ureteral obstruction should be suspected in a patient with flank or abdominal pain and an infra-umbilical (iliac) aneurysm. Treatment is directed toward the aneurysm. The aneurysmal wall attachments to the ureter should be left undisturbed.
More Statistics, Less Persuasion: A Cultural Theory of Gun-Risk Perceptions

What motivates individuals to support or oppose the legal regulation of guns? What sorts of evidence or arguments are likely to promote a resolution of the gun control debate? Using the survey methods associated with the cultural theory of risk, we demonstrate that individuals' positions on gun control derive from their cultural world views: individuals of an egalitarian or solidaristic orientation tend to support gun control, those of a hierarchical or individualist orientation to oppose it. Indeed, cultural orientations so defined are stronger predictors of individuals' positions than is any other fact about them, including whether they are male or female, white or black, Southerners or Easterners, urbanites or country dwellers, conservatives or liberals. The role of culture in determining attitudes towards guns suggests that econometric analyses of the effect of gun control on violent crime are unlikely to have much impact. As they do when they are evaluating empirical evidence of environmental and other types of risks, individuals can be expected to credit or dismiss empirical evidence on "gun control risks" depending on whether it coheres or conflicts with their cultural values. Rather than focus on quantifying the impact of gun control laws on crime, then, academics and others who want to contribute to resolving the gun debate should dedicate themselves to constructing a new expressive idiom that will allow citizens to debate the cultural issues that divide them in an open and constructive way.
The importance of phylogenetic analysis for the assessment of species turnover: a case history of Paleocene mammals in North America

During the latest Cretaceous and the Paleocene in western North America, disappearance rates for mammalian genera track appearance rates, both reaching their peak in the early Paleocene (Puercan) following the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs. Some of the disappearances during this time were pseudoextinctions that resulted when ancestral species disappeared during speciation. Species-level cladistic analyses and a well-constrained biostratigraphic framework are required to study this form of pseudoextinction. Cladistic analyses show that monophyly cannot be estab- lished or rejected for some species because these species lack autapomorphies (uniquely derived character states) that unite their constituent members. Such taxa, termed metaspecies, are potential ancestors to species and higher clades with which they share a node in the cladogram. A hypothetical species-level cladistic analysis coupled with three different hypothetical biostra- tigraphies shows how different models of speciation (bifurcation, budding, or anagenesis) result in very different patterns of true versus pseudoextinction. Depending on the speciation model, true extinction can be overestimated by as much as a factor of four, raising the specter of mass extinction. Species-level studies for three early Tertiary mammalian taxa-taeniodont eutherians, taeniolabidid multituberculates, and periptychid ungulates-use the same procedures. They show that almost 25% of disappearances during the early Paleocene (Puercan) for species in the analysis were pseu- doextinctions of metaspecies. Budding and anagenetic-like peripatric speciation, but not bifurcation, are seen in the three examples. Equating disappearance to true extinction can profoundly affect interpretations of faunal turnover, especially during mass extinctions or major faunal reorganizations. Some authors use pseudoex- tinction to describe the taxonomic rather than evolutionary disappearance of nonmonophyletic groups. Pseudoextinction, as used here refers only to the evolutionary disappearance of metaspecies via speciation. Both usages seem appropriate but should not be confounded.
An Integrated System for Learning Multi-Step Robotic Tasks from Unstructured Demonstrations

We present an integrated system for segmenting demonstrations, recognizing repeated skills, and generalizing multi-step tasks from unstructured demonstrations. This method combines recent work in Bayesian nonparametric statistics and learning from demonstration with perception using an RGB-D camera to generalize a multi-step task on the PR2 mobile manipulator. We demonstrate the potential of our framework to learn a large library of skills over time and discuss how it might be improved with additional integration of components such as active learning, interactive feedback from humans, and more advanced perception.
CLIMATE RESPONSE FUNCTIONS FOR BIGCONE SPRUCE: A MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE CONIFER

Bigcone spruce is a conifer endemic to southern California. Two new tree-ring chronologies were developed utilizing individuals of this species growing at two sites in the San Rafael mountains of Santa Barbara County. Climate growth response functions were determined for these chronologies and for an existing bigcone spruce chronology from the San Bernardino mountains farther east. Bigcone spruce is particularly well suited for dendrochronological analysis given its longevity (800 years) and the strong relationship between growth and precipitation. Growth in the current year depends strongly on growth in the previous two years (22-46% of total chronology variance). After removing the effects of prior growth, response functions based on precipitation alone account for 43-51% of chronology variance, while those based on precipitation and temperature explain 52-76% of total variance. Response functions indicate a strong positive relationship between growth and winter and spring precipitation, and a negative ...
Comparing the Effects of Rest and Massage on Return to Homeostasis Following Submaximal Aerobic Exercise: a Case Study.

Introduction: Postexercise massage can be used to help promote recovery from exercise on the cellular level, as well as systemically by increasing parasympathetic activity. No studies to date have been done to assess the effects of massage on postexercise metabolic changes, including excess postexercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of massage recovery and resting recovery on a subject’s heart rate variability and selected metabolic effects following a submaximal treadmill exercise session. Methods: One healthy 24-year-old female subject performed 30 minutes of submaximal treadmill exercise prior to resting or massage recovery sessions. Metabolic data were collected throughout the exercise sessions and at three 10 minute intervals postexercise. Heart rate variability was evaluated for 10 minutes after each of two 30-minute recovery sessions, either resting or massage. Results: Heart rate returned to below resting levels (73 bpm) with 30 and 60 minutes of massage recovery (72 bpm and 63 bpm, respectively) compared to 30 and 60 minutes of resting recovery (77 bpm and 74 bpm, respectively). Heart rate variability data showed a more immediate shift to the parasympathetic state following 30 minutes of massage (1.152 LF/HF ratio) versus the 30-minute resting recovery (6.91 LF/HF ratio). It took 60 minutes of resting recovery to reach similar heart rate variability levels (1.216 LF/HF) found after 30 minutes of massage. Ventilations after 30 minutes of massage recovery averaged 7.1 bpm compared to 17.9 bpm after 30 minutes of resting recovery. Conclusions: No differences in EPOC were observed through either the resting or massage recovery based on the metabolic data collected. Massage was used to help the subject shift into parasympathetic activity more quickly than rest alone following a submaximal exercise session.
Current patent laws cannot claim the backing of human rights

In the dispute over the enforcement of pharmaceutical patents, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is sometimes cited as giving patent protection the status of a 'human right'. It is true that the ICESCR provides for ‘the right of everyone’ ‘[t]o benefit from the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author’. But that does not mean that patent protection is a human right. Patent fails as a human right for many reasons, one of which is the lack of fit between current patent law and and the Covenant. Current patent laws grant patents to people who are not ‘authors’ whom the human rights regime is designed to protect, and current patent laws refuse to recognize as patent holders many people who would indeed be authorial inventors.
The conflict of voluntarism and dualism in the Yogasūtra

Jwala Prasad (1930) and J. W. Hauer (1931) were among the first to discredit the Sanskrit commentaries on the Yogasutra ( Y S) as anachronistic and "theory laden", as reading into the terse siltras the polemical concerns of their own much later times. Paul Deussen (1920), Surendranath Dasgupta (1922), and Otto Strauss (1925) had already questioned the unity of the work. Thus with the readings of the commentators seen as oversystematic, the two central questions of interpretation became the nature of the YS's unity and the alignment of the sutras with ancient yogist movements presumably expressed there.
Abstract 1116: Epigenetic control of the BRCA1 expression by a metabolic switch

Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC Though deletion or loss of BRCA1 function is the major cause of most familial forms of breast cancer, decreased expression of non-mutated BRCA1 alleles is often found in sporadic breast cancer, suggesting that alterations in BRCA1 transcriptional regulation may contribute to non-inherited forms of breast cancer. In this study, we show that BRCA1 expression is controlled by a tightly regulated dynamic balance between the association of transcriptional co-activators and co-repressors that regulate histone acetylation and chromatin accessibility at the BRCA1 bi-directional promoter to enforce unidirectional transcriptional activation in response to estrogen stimulation. A central regulatory step in the control of the BRCA1 promoter is the eviction of the co-repressor and metabolic sensor C-terminal-binding protein1 (CtBP1). Loss of CtBP1 from the BRCA1 promoter induced by estrogen, CtBP1 RNAi depletion or increasing NAD+/NADH ratio results in elevated histone acetylation, HDAC1 dismissal from the BRCA1 promoter and increased BRCA1 transcription. Notably this level of regulation is lost in the absence of physiological chromatin structure at the BRCA1 promoter. These findings indicate that BRCA1 expression is controlled by a metabolic switch that dynamically influences the localized deposition of epigenetic marks and chromatin structure at the BRCA1 promoter and suggests that caloric intake may influence the levels of tumor suppressor function in mammary tissues. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1116.
Toward a Typology of Extra-Community Controls Limiting Local Community Autonomy

point out the necessity for considering the relationships among leaders in a subsystem as one important aspect of the classificatory scheme. Moreover, even the limited data available in the Bakerville study have shown that distinctions based on this interaction dimension can be related to real differences in the sociometric choices of leaders. Comparative studies of other communities are needed to validate or modify this typology and to examine the relationship of these types to other behavioral variables. In particular it would be important to know the differential involvement of these types in various stages of the community action process. What role do Prestige Influentials play in specific community projects? Are they perhaps cast in a negative role so that projects of which they disapprove fail to receive necessary popular support? Since they tend to be "out of touch" with the other leaders, how perceptive are they about the community's needs?26 The findings also indicate that in this particular coir.munity leadership-roles tend to be specialized, with only one individual, the newspaper editor, playing a generalized role. What are the implications of such specialization in leadership-roles for community action programs requiring the coordination of effort within the leader subsystem? Under what conditions do generalized leaders tend to emerge? These are a few of the questions raised by the present study. Hopefully, the typology presented above may have some usefulness in community research seeking answers to these questions.
Dynamic Monitoring of Absolute Cerebral Blood Flow with Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

The temporal dynamics of absolute cerebral blood flow are obtained from near-infrared spectroscopy measurements in conjunction with a hemodynamic model that relates oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin concentration changes to physiological perturbations.
Securities Class Actions Compared to Derivative Lawsuits: Evidence from the Stock Option Backdating Litigation on Their Relative Disciplining of Fraudster Executives

This is the first comprehensive examination of the stock option backdating litigation. One reason why it is important to study the stock option backdating litigation is that it was a blend of financial reporting fraud and executive misappropriation of assets. Sometimes the executive misappropriation of assets did not result in materially misstated financial statements under the federal securities laws, even if they did under accounting or auditing standards. This scenario is unique and thus provides a unique research opportunity, since typical financial reporting litigation usually results in materially misstated financial statements under the federal securities laws. A second reason why it is important to study the stock option backdating litigation is that about 35% of it included securities class actions, while the remainder was comprised solely of derivative lawsuits. This provides another unique research opportunity, as most litigation is comprised almost entirely of only securities class actions or only derivative lawsuits. Thus, it is possible to compare and contrast securities class actions with derivative lawsuits. This is particularly useful because some question the value of securities class actions. This part of the research is in a sense an extension of the work of Choi and Pritchard (2014), who found evidence that securities class actions are more effective than SEC enforcement actions at forcing out fraudster executives.Using the empirical archival research method, the comparison of stock option backdating litigation to typical financial reporting litigation revealed that the stock option backdating litigation is negatively associated with auditor defendants, bankruptcy, and the amount of the settlement with the stockholders. It is positively associated with US companies, companies in the computer industry sectors, and restatements for stock option backdating.Also using the empirical archival research method, the examination within the stock option backdating litigation indicated that the derivative lawsuits are negatively associated with auditor defendants, fraud, revenue restatements, and the forced departure of stock option backdating fraudster executives. Thus, securities class actions have value beyond derivative lawsuits. They are a stronger ex post disciplining mechanism, providing stronger deterrence against future executive fraud.
Function, expression, specificity, diversity and incompatibility of actinobacteriophage parABS systems

More than 180 individual phages infecting hosts in the phylum Actinobacteria have been sequenced and grouped into Cluster A because of their similar overall nucleotide sequences and genome architectures. These Cluster A phages are either temperate or derivatives of temperate parents, and most have an integration cassette near the centre of the genome containing an integrase gene and attP. However, about 20% of the phages lack an integration cassette, which is replaced by a 1.4 kbp segment with predicted partitioning functions, including plasmid-like parA and parB genes. Phage RedRock forms stable lysogens in Mycobacterium smegmatis in which the prophage replicates at 2.4 copies/chromosome and the partitioning system confers prophage maintenance. The parAB genes are expressed upon RedRock infection of M. smegmatis, but are downregulated once lysogeny is established by binding of RedRock ParB to parS-L, one of two centromere-like sites flanking the parAB genes. The RedRock parS-L and parS-R sites are composed of eight directly repeated copies of an 8 bp motif that is recognized by ParB. The actinobacteriophage parABS cassettes span considerable sequence diversity and specificity, providing a suite of tools for use in mycobacterial genetics.
Changes of Serum IGF-1 in Children with Hypothyroidism before and after Treatment with Levothyroxine Sodium and Their Clinical Significance

Objective:To explore the change and clinical significance of serum insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels in children with hypothyroidism before and after treatment with levothyroxine sodium. Methods:Serum levels of IGF-1,T3,T4,FT3,FT4,thyrotropic stimulating hormone (TSH),thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb) and thyroglobulin antibody (TGAb) of 32 children with hypothyroidism were detected by means of chemiluminescence immunoassay before and after treatment with levothyroxine sodium in comparison with a control group of 29 normal children. Results:Serum IGF-1 levels(91.4±21.6) ng/mL in children with hypothyroidism were lower before treatment,and there was a statistical significance compared with that of control group(169.7±22.9) ng/mL. The serum levels of T3,T4,FT3 and FT4 were normal after thyroxine substitute therapy in one month. In addition,IGF-1 levels [(130.2±19.2) ng/mL] were elevated,but were lower than the levels of control group. The IGF-1 level s [(173.7 ±21.1) ng/mL] were elevated obviously after three months treatment with levothyroxine sodium and there were no statistical significance with that of the control group. There was a positive correlation between IGF-1 and FT4,and a negative correlation between IGF-1 and TSH. Conclusions:The GH-IGF axis is insufficient in function for the children with hypothyroidism. Levothyroxine sodium substitute medication is of help for children with hypothyroidism to maintain normal growth and development. The measurement of IGF-1 has important instructional significance in diagnosis and treatment of hypothyroidism in children.
Chronic Balanitis Owing to Pemphigus Vegetans

Abstract Pemphigus Is an autoimmune bullous dermatosis In which intercellular antibodies are associated with loss of intercellular cohesion. Pemphigus vegetans, a rare variant of pemphigus, is manifested by vegetating plaques, usually in intertriginous areas of patients who probably have an increased resistance to the disease. We report a case of chronic balanitis owing to pemphigus vegetans, and discuss proposed pathogenic mechanisms and treatment.
Laser-Excited Fluorescence Spectroscopy

This article is meant to present a tutorial overview of laser-excited fluorescence that will set the proper perspective for the later more specific papers. It is not meant to be complete or rigorous; a much more detailed discussion is available elsewhere (1). The laser has several specific qualities that can be particularly useful for exciting fluorescence—its high spectral powers can potentially provide low detection limits while its narrow line-widths can provide selectivity for specific analyte species. In order to achieve those characteristics, it is important that the analytical chemist participate in the development of the necessary chemistry and techniques that will allow an analysis to take advantage of the laser’s high spectral intensity and narrow linewidths.
Radio Luxembourg and the Eurodollar Market are both Offshore Stations

Radio Luxembourg developed in the late 1940s as a commercial broadcasting station that would supply its programs to more than 100 million potential listeners in two markets, Britain and France. At the time neither the British Government nor the French Government permitted commercial broadcasting. Broadcasting was a government monopoly and the programs in each country reflected what the producers — the bureaucrats at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and at Radio Diffusion Francaise (RDF) — felt their listening publics should have. Perhaps these government officials had correctly gauged their public’s wants and needs. Perhaps, but unlikely. If they had, they would not have needed monopoly power to limit the public’s choice of programs.
Carotid Artery Stenting: Complication Management

Carotid artery stenting is an appropriate procedure for revascularization in selected patients. As with all invasive procedures, carotid artery stenting carries risk of complication. Some of the potential complications are unique to carotid artery stenting. Physicians performing these procedures must be capable of rapidly diagnosing and triaging these complications. In many cases the experienced interventionalist may treat the complication endovascularly. This chapter describes these complications and the treatment of those same complications.
Fritz Tschirch, Geschichte der deutschen Sprache. I: Die Entfaltung der deutschen Sprachgestalt in der Vor- und Frühzeit: Berlin: Schmidt, 1966. Pp. 192.

(1968). Fritz Tschirch, Geschichte der deutschen Sprache. I: Die Entfaltung der deutschen Sprachgestalt in der Vor- und Fruhzeit. The Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory: Vol. 43, No. 4, pp. 287-290.