cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Towards Temporal Logic Computation Using DNA Strand Displacement Reactions

Time-varying signals are ubiquitous throughout science, and studying the high-level temporal structure of such processes is of significant practical importance. In this context, techniques from computer science such as temporal logic are a powerful tool. Temporal logic allows one to describe temporal properties of time-varying processes, e.g., the order in which particular events occur. In this paper, we show that DNA strand displacement reaction networks can be used to implement computations that check certain temporal relationships within time-varying input signals. A key aspect of this work is the development of DNA circuits that incorporate a primitive memory, so that their behavior is influenced not just by the current observed chemical environment, but also by environments observed in the past. We formalize our circuit designs in the DSD programming language and use simulation results to confirm that they function as intended. This work opens up the possibility of developing DNA circuits capable of long-term monitoring of processes such as cellular function, and points to possible designs of future DNA circuits that can decide more sophisticated temporal logics.
CO2-broadened water in the pure rotation and ν2 fundamental regions

Abstract The CO2-broadened water coefficients (half-widths, line shifts, and temperature dependence of the widths) are predicted using a fully complex Robert–Bonamy formulation for the 937 allowed and forbidden perpendicular type transitions of (000)–(000) between 200 and 900 cm−1 in order to facilitate atmospheric remote sensing of Mars and Venus. In addition, empirical Lorentz line widths and pressure-induced frequency-shifts of CO2-broadened H216O are obtained at room temperature for 257 perpendicular transitions of the (010)–(000) fundamental. For this, calibrated spectra recorded at 0.0054 cm−1 resolution are measured assuming Voigt line shapes. For transitions between 1287 and 1988 cm−1 with rotational quanta up to J = 13 and Ka = 6, the widths vary from 0.045 to 0.212 cm−1 atm−1 at 300 K; the pressure-shifts are quite large and range from −0.0386 to +0.0436 cm−1 atm−1. For the (010)–(000) band, the RMS and mean observed and calculated differences for CO2-broadened H2O half-widths are 12% and −1.9%, respectively, while the RMS and mean ratios of the observed and calculated pressure-induced shift coefficients are 1.6 and 0.79, respectively. For pairs of transitions involving Ka = 0 and 1, such as 20 2 ← 31 3 and 31 3 ← 20 2, both the calculated and observed pressure induced shifts in positions are opposite in sign and often similar in magnitude. The data are too limited to characterize vibrational dependencies of the widths, however.
Talking aggressively about GMOs? Examining the effect of aggressive risk communication with communicator’s facial expression and gender

AbstractTwo experiments (N = 229 and N = 268) assessed the effect of aggressive risk communication about GMOs by a scientist on respondents’ perceptions of message quality and writer (the scientist...
Xerxes: A Persian Life. By Richard Stoneman. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2015. Pp. ix, 275. $38.00.)

Xerxes, who ruled the Achaemenid Persian Empire from 486–465 BCE, is perhaps one of the most famous kings of antiquity. The Greek historian Herodotus, who writes at length about Xerxes's campaign a...
DPS signaling with OFDM-like complexity and superior SER performance in 5G doubly dispersive scenarios

In 5G operating scenarios, mobility-induced Doppler spread becomes prominent and when compounded with equally significant delay spread results in a doubly dispersive channel. In such channel conditions, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing-based signaling loses the property of being a universal diagonalizer for the equivalent channel matrix and thus also the opportunity for low complexity equalization. Diagonalizing a doubly dispersive channel being too restrictive, a non-Gabor basis made up of discrete prolate spheroidal sequences is investigated for its benefit of compacting the bandedness of the equivalent channel matrix. While equivalent channel matrices obtained from Gabor frames using pulse shapes of duration equal to the block period can lead to a banded structure, the out-of-band elements are only slowly decaying. However, for discrete prolate spheroidal sequences a comparatively high out-of-band decay rate is obtained, translating to a higher rate of reduction of error when the channel matrix is approximated by a strictly banded version. In spite of the higher modulation complexity in discrete prolate spheroidal signaling, due to not being amenable to Fast Fourier Transform processing like Gabor bases, the resulting higher out-of-band decay rate property enables banded approximations with lower band width and lower equalization complexity; the latter dominates complexity at typical symbol error rate (SER) levels, such as 10−3.
Sport Management and Research Centers: Information to Enhance the Field

The purpose of the present review serves to provide information about the viability and utility of research centers for sport management faculty. To achieve this objective, the present paper begins...
Lo studio dell’istocompatibilità medinate l’uso della tecnica delle colture miste leucocitarie

La selezione del donatore e del ricevente per i trapianti puo essere effettuata adottando due metodi: la tipizzazione tissutale, median te la quale si valutano gli antigeni sierologicamente definiti del sistema di istocompatibilita HL-A, e il metodo delle colture miste leucocitarie, mediante il quale si valuta la risposta dei linfociti agli antigeni allogenici. Entrambi i metodi presentano vantaggi e svantaggi; attualmente, essi sono complementari e le informazioni ottenute possono essere ritenute valide. Ovviamente, esistono molti aspetti delle prove di istocompatibilita che, per quanto riguarda l’uomo, non sono ancora chiaramente definiti. Le prove si rivolgono soprattutto al piu importante sistema di incompatibilita, ossia al sistema HL-A, poiche sembra essere quello di maggior rilievo.
The Antibodiome—Mapping the Humoral Immune Response to HIV

The design of an HIV vaccine remains an elusive but top priority. Data from the non-human primate model and the first moderately protective HIV vaccine trial (RV144) point to a role for qualitative changes in humoral immune functions in protection from infection. Here, we review the current understanding of the antibody response throughout HIV infection, the known correlates of protection, and current strategies to manipulate antibodies to put an end to the epidemic. Recent studies point to innate immune-recruiting antibody function in preventing infection as well as controlling viremia following infection. These data have begun to inform next-generation design of HIV vaccines and antibody therapies by uncovering new viral targets and antibody architectures to improve potency and breadth. Emerging data illustrate a role for innate immune recruiting-antibodies in conferring protection against HIV infection as well as promoting viral control and clearance, offering an unprecedented opportunity to modulate and improve antibody function to fight HIV more effectively.
Modeling Turbulent Transient Combustion

An analytical study investigated the use of a one-dimensional combustion model for transient, premixed flames under conditions similar to those occurring in a spark ignition internal combustion engine. The model numerically integrated basic conservation equations for mass, momentum, energy, and species with effects of turbulence modeled using turbulent diffusivity. To evaluate effects of certain assumptions and to identify significant model parameters, a simplified system consisting of constant-volume adiabatic combustion was considered. With simple chemical kinetics and constant turbulent diffusivity, there were three parameters in the problem: nondimensional speed of sound; nondimensional temperature rise due to combustion; and a Damkohler parameter relating diffusion and chemical reaction rate effects. Two flame types were modeled, a flat flame in linear coordinates and a cylindrical flame. Effects of boundary conditions and numerical parameters were explored. Calculated results for the cylindrical flame were compared to literature data for similar conditions. It was concluded that model results are in qualitative agreement with laminar flame theory and that turbulent, transient, premixed flames can be modeled using the MacCormack predictor-corrector technique to numerically integrate conservation equations for mass, momentum, energy, and species, using suitable parameters for reaction rates and turbulent diffusivity. Equations for the basic model and for boundary and initial conditions are appended.
Studies on Recombination in Higher Organisms

Random-strand and half-tetrad recombination studies of rosy and maroon-like mutants have permitted us to investigate linked exchange in higher organisms. These studies involve the systematic recovery and analysis of the products of exchange events restricted to exceedingly short genetic intervals. Our observations lead us to conclude that all recombination involves a nonreciprocal transfer of information in the immediate region of the exchange event. These studies have been reported in great detail, and they have been the subject of recent review (Chovnick et al., 1971; Finnerty, 1974).
Wavelet-Based Analysis of Physical Activity and Sleep Movement Data from Wearable Sensors among Obese Adults.

Decreased physical activity in obese individuals is associated with a prevalence of cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. Physicians usually recommend that obese individuals change their lifestyle, specifically changes in diet, exercise, and other physical activities for obesity management. Therefore, understanding physical activity and sleep behavior is an essential aspect of obesity management. With innovations in mobile and electronic health care technologies, wearable inertial sensors have been used extensively over the past decade for monitoring human activities. Despite significant progress with the wearable inertial sensing technology, there is a knowledge gap among researchers regarding how to analyze longitudinal multi-day inertial sensor data to explore activities of daily living (ADL) and sleep behavior. The purpose of this study was to explore new clinically relevant metrics using movement amplitude and frequency from longitudinal wearable sensor data in obese and non-obese young adults. We utilized wavelet analysis to determine movement frequencies on longitudinal multi-day wearable sensor data. In this study, we recruited 10 obese and 10 non-obese young subjects. We found that obese participants performed more low-frequency (0.1 Hz) movements and fewer movements of high frequency (1.1–1.4 Hz) compared to non-obese counterparts. Both obese and non-obese subjects were active during the 00:00–06:00 time interval. In addition, obesity affected sleep with significantly fewer transitions, and obese individuals showed low values of root mean square transition accelerations throughout the night. This study is critical for obesity management to prevent unhealthy weight gain by the recommendations of physical activity based on our results. Longitudinal multi-day monitoring using wearable sensors has great potential to be integrated into routine health care checkups to prevent obesity and promote physical activities.
Bridging the Gap: Creating a Clinician-Facing Dashboard for PTSD

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious mental health condition. Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy has been shown to have the greatest therapeutic efficacy in treating PTSD. However, clinicians face significant challenges in delivering PE therapy successfully. We conducted a two-part study with 17 clinicians where we (1) gathered requirements for a PE therapy dashboard and (2) had clinicians assess the relevance and usability of our dashboard prototypes. The first part of our study showed that clinicians wanted (1)improved workflow for their PE sessions (2)improved methods of monitoring their patients’ self-report data and (3)a way to assess their patients’ progress outside of sessions. The second part showed that our dashboard prototypes were highly usable. Our study provides preliminary steps in designing user-centered tools that assist clinicians in the delivery of PE therapy by improving data access and workflow efficiency.
D/Escribiendo lo sagrado: texto y contexto de las dos primeras crónicas marianas de América

AbstractMercedarian friar Luis de Cisneros wrote a chronicle on Our Lady of Remedios, first patroness of Mexico City that was published in 1621. Significantly, that same year Augustinian friar Alon...
The Right Fit? Classroom Mismatch in Middle School and Its Inconsistent Effect on Student Learning:

Research on college admissions shows that all students tend to benefit from overmatching, but high-status students are most likely to be overmatched, and low-status students are most likely to be u...
Online yoga to reduce post traumatic stress in women who have experienced stillbirth: a randomized control feasibility trial

About 1 in every 150 pregnancies end in stillbirth. Consequences include symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety. Yoga has been used to treat PTSD in other populations and may improve health outcomes for stillbirth mothers. The purpose of this study was to determine: (a) feasibility of a 12-week home-based, online yoga intervention with varying doses; (b) acceptability of a “stretch and tone” control group; and (c) preliminary efficacy of the intervention on reducing symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, depression, perinatal grief, self-compassion, emotional regulation, mindfulness, sleep quality, and subjective health. Participants (N = 90) were recruited nationally and randomized into one of three groups for yoga or exercise (low dose (LD), 60 min per week; moderate dose (MD), 150 min per week; and stretch-and-tone control group (STC)). Baseline and post-intervention surveys measured main outcomes (listed above). Frequency analyses were used to determine feasibility. Repeated measures ANCOVA were used to determine preliminary efficacy. Multiple regression analyses were used to determine a dose-response relationship between minutes of yoga and each outcome variable. Over half of participants completed the intervention (n = 48/90). Benchmarks (≥70% reported > 75% satisfaction) were met in each group for satisfaction and enjoyment. Participants meeting benchmarks (completing > 90% of prescribed minutes 9/12 weeks) for LD and MD groups were 44% (n = 8/18) and 6% (n = 1/16), respectively. LD and MD groups averaged 44.0 and 77.3 min per week of yoga, respectively. The MD group reported that 150 prescribed minutes per week of yoga was too much. There were significant decreases in PTSD and depression, and improvements in self-rated health at post-intervention for both intervention groups. There was a significant difference in depression scores (p = .036) and grief intensity (p = .009) between the MD and STC groups. PTSD showed non-significant decreases of 43% and 56% at post-intervention in LD and MD groups, respectively (22% decrease in control). This was the first study to determine the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of an online yoga intervention for women after stillbirth. Future research warrants a randomized controlled trial. ClinicalTrials.gov. NCT02925481 . Registered 10–04-16.
How Sport-Specific Hand Positioning Can Inform Glove and Mitt Design.

There are thousands of hand wear products available to athletes in the marketplace, but very few have considered how sport-specific hand positioning informs design. Most are designed with a 2D front and back view. When designers consider sport-specific positioning of the hand, products can be developed in a 360o manner, to dynamically address how the hand moves and interfaces with the environment and other equipment in sport. For this paper, the Performance Hand Wear and Tools Product Innovation Framework was used by graduate students to design a glove and mitt, based on sport-specific hand positioning for female biathletes and winter night runners.
Incidence of Clostridioides difficile infection in peripartum women: a retrospective cohort study.

Background:The incidence of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is increasing in the general population. Data on the epidemiology of CDI in peripartum women – a highly vulnerable patient popul...
International Scholarly Activity among Academic Librarians in the United States.

The extent of U.S. librarians’ collaboration with international partners in the area of scholarly activity and research publications is still unexplored. Guided by Jane Knight’s “At Home” framework for international research and scholarly activity, this study examines the extent of scholarly activity between librarians from the United States and international institutional and individual collaborators (that is, conference attendance, collaborations and staff exchanges, publications and collaborative authorship). A total of 193 U.S. academic librarians participated in an online survey. The results show that international research and scholarly activity is rare among U.S. librarians. Among the librarians who do participate in these activities, the results indicate that their participation in international conferences is associated with more internationalization activities.
Electron Transport in Dye-Sensitized TiO2 Nanowire Arrays in Contact with Aqueous Electrolytes

In aqueous electrolytes, dye-sensitized oxide semiconductors provide a visible light-absorbing photoanode that can be coupled to various cathodes for solar fuel production. Understanding the kineti...
Localized diffuse-type gastric adenocarcinoma: Influence of baseline positron emission tomography on survival and therapy response.

176Background: Diffuse type of gastric adenocarcinoma (dGAC) confers a poor but variable prognosis compared to intestinal type of GAC. The value of baseline uptake of FDG-PET in localized dGAC is u...
Black pepper and vegetable oil-based emulsion synergistically enhance carotenoid bioavailability of raw vegetables in humans.

Abstract This study demonstrated the combination of black pepper and vegetable oil-based emulsion synergistically enhanced carotenoid bioavailability of raw vegetables in humans. In a randomized crossover design, healthy young adults consumed (1) vegetable salad (control), (2) salad with canola oil emulsion (COE), (3) salad with black pepper (BP), and (4) salad with canola oil emulsion and black pepper (COE + BP). COE + BP led to a higher AUC0-10h of total plasma carotenoids (p
Who wants to be your next political representative? Relating personality constructs to nascent political ambition

Abstract Although researchers have sought to uncover correlates of features of nascent political ambition (the initial tendency to run for political office), available studies leave gaps concerning the role of personality. We assessed the effects of Five Factor Model personality traits, the “dark triad” (grandiose narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy), and vulnerable narcissism on a quadripartite measure of political ambition. A convenience sample of adults (N = 479) completed personality measures and then indicated (a) how much they thought about running for an office, (b) their rating of some political offices, (c) their qualifications for holding political office, and (d) their likelihood of winning an election. Agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism were associated with diminished ratings on all or most of these political ambition indicators; extraversion, grandiose narcissism, and psychopathy were associated with enhanced ratings on all or some of these political ambition indicators. Our findings advance previous understanding of how personality variables relate to political ambition.
Demographics of ASTRO Student Members and Potential Implications for Future US Radiation Oncology Workforce Diversity

ABSTRACT Background The United States (US) radiation oncology workforce is comparatively less diverse than the US population and US medical school graduates. Workforce diversity correlates with higher quality care and outcomes. The purpose of this study is to determine whether student members of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) are any more diverse than resident members-in-training, utilizing the recently established medical student membership category. Methods Self-reported sex, race and Hispanic ethnicity, medical school, and degree(s) earned for all medical students (n = 268) and members-in-training (n = 713) were collected from the ASTRO membership database. International members were excluded. The chi-square test was used to assess for differences between subgroups. Results Compared to members-in-training, student members were more likely to be female (40.0% vs. 31.5%, p = 0.032), Black or African American (10.7% vs. 4.8%, p = 0.009), candidates for or holders of a DO rather than MD degree (5.2% vs. 1.5%, p = 0.002), and from a US medical school that is not affiliated with a radiation oncology residency program (30.5% vs. 20.9%, p = 0.001). There was no significant difference in self-reported Hispanic ethnicity (7.3% vs. 5.4%, p = 0.356). There were no indigenous members in either category assessed. Conclusion Medical student members of ASTRO are more diverse in terms of Black race, female sex, and osteopathic training, though not in terms of Hispanic ethnicity or non-multiracial indigenous background, than the members-in-training. Longitudinal engagement with these students and assessment of the factors leading to specialty retention vs. attrition may increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in radiation oncology.
Canonical Equation K 15 for Random Gram Matrices with Identically Distributed Entries

In Chapter 15, we consider random matrices with independent identically distributed random entries, whose distribution functions belong to the set of attraction of a stable law.
Lagrangian relaxation techniques for scalable spatial conservation planning

We address the problem of spatial conservation planning in which the goal is to maximize the expected spread of cascades of an endangered species by strategically purchasing land parcels within a given budget. This problem can be solved by standard integer programming methods using the sample average approximation (SAA) scheme. Our main contribution lies in exploiting the separable structure present in this problem and using Lagrangian relaxation techniques to gain scalability over the flat representation. We also generalize the approach to allow the application of the SAA scheme to a range of stochastic optimization problems. Our iterative approach is highly efficient in terms of space requirements and it provides an upper bound over the optimal solution at each iteration. We apply our approach to the Red-cockaded Woodpecker conservation problem. The results show that it can find the optimal solution significantly faster--sometimes by an order-of-magnitude--than using the flat representation for a range of budget sizes.
The Arachidonic Acid Cascade

Arachidonic acid belongs to that relatively small group of chemical substances which were selected in the course of biological evolution to act as informational molecules. These signals are essential for the survival of free-living cells and for coordinating the complex needs of multicellular organisms: as adaptive demands and cell functions changed during evolution, they underwent dramatic transformations in their modes of action, and were called to play diverse roles such as those of pheromones, aggregation factors, hormones, growth factors and second messengers. A classical example of these evolutionary metamorphoses is provided by one of the best-studied signaling molecules, cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cyclic AMP). An ubiquitous intracellular second messenger in metazoa, cyclic AMP acts as an extracellular chemoattractant in the slime mold, Dictyostelium discoideum, promoting the aggregation of independent amoebae into worm-like multicellular structures.1 Like cyclic AMP, arachidonic acid may also have served widely diverse signaling functions during phylogeny.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Participation in the INEX 2011 Prove It Track

We describe the process that led to the our participation in the INEX 2011 Prove It task. We submitted the results of six book page retrieval systems over a collection of 50,000 books. Two of our runs use the sequential dependency model (a model that uses both unigrams and bigrams from a query) and the other four interpolate between language model scores at the passage level and sequential dependency model scores at the page level. In this report, we describe our observations of these and several other retrieval models applied to the Prove It task.
Genetic analysis of resistance to soybean cyst nematode in PI 438489B.

Soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) plant introduction PI 438489B is a unique source that has resistance to all known populations of soybean cyst nematode (Heterodera glycines Ichinohe, SCN). This PI line also has many desirable agronomic characteristics, which makes it an attractive source of SCN resistance for use in a soybean breeding program. However, characterization of SCN resistance genes in this PI line have not been fully researched. In this study, we investigated the inheritance of resistance to populations of SCN races 1, 2, 3, 5, and 14 in PI 438489B. PI 438489B was crossed to the susceptible cultivar ‘Hamilton’ to generate F1 hybrids. The random F2 plants and F3 lines were evaluated in the greenhouse for reaction to these five populations of SCN races. Resistance to SCN races 1, 3, and 5 were mostly conditioned by three genes (Rhg Rhg rhg). Resistance to race 2 was controlled by four genes (Rhg rhg rgh rgh). Three recessive genes were most likely involved in giving resistance to race 14. We further concluded that resistance to different populations of SCN races may share some common genes or pleiotropic effects may be involved.
Linked Data and Service Orientation

Linked Data has become a popular term and method of how to expose structured data on the Web. There currently are two school of thought when it comes to defining what Linked Data actually is, with one school of thought defining it more narrowly as a set of principles describing of how to publish data based on Semantic Web technologies, whereas the other school more generally defines it as any form of properly linked data that follows the Representational State Transfer (REST) architectural style of the Web. In this paper, we describe and compare these two schools of thoughts with a particular emphasis on how well they support principles of service orientation.
Miran Jonathan. Red Sea Citizens: Cosmopolitan Society and Cultural Change in Massawa . Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009. 400 pp. Note on Language. Maps. Photos. Glossary. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $75.00. Cloth. $27.95. Paper.

HISTORY Jonathan Miran. Red Sea Citizens: Cosmopolitan Society and Cultural Change in Massawa. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009. 400 pp. Note on Language. Maps. Photos. Glossary. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $75.00. Cloth. $27.95. Paper. In 1993, when the government of newly independent Eritrea asked citizens to complete applications for national identity cards, people in Massawa listed their qabila ("tribe") as Masawwi'l ("Massaawn"). The sense of a common identity shared by residents of this Red Sea town is a legacy of its commerce-oriented, urban disposition as well as their self-conception as inhabitants of a distincdy Muslim space. Red Sea Citizens is an excellent, detailed study of this port town at the historical meeting point of the Red Sea, Arabia, the Nile Valley, and die Ethiopian plateau. Massawa was occupied by Ottomans, Egyptians, Italians, British, and Ethiopians before Eritrea gained its independence in 1993, but the author deftly avoids locating the city within any imperial or nationalist narrative. He seeks, in Prasenjit Duara's words, to "rescue history from the nation" (Chicago, 1997) and also, he adds, to rescue history "from empire" (16). Red Sea Citizens joins a growing revisionist historiography of the Horn of Africa that aims to relocate regions and societies previously perceived as marginal in a literature that has remained, until recendy, statecentric. The book makes extraordinary use of archival sources in Tigre, Arabic, Italian, French, and English, ranging from registers of real estate transactions and charitable religious endowments to colonial documents, and to marriage, divorce, child-custody, manumission, and death records. The author also incorporates oral histories from more than fifty informants whom he interviewed in Eritrea in 2000 and 2001. With the perspective of time, it appears that his oral research seized on a limited window of opportunity. When Miran returned to Massawa eight years later, the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea had diminished much of the life and population of the city, with many of its residents leaving to seek a better life abroad. One member of a prominent family with well-known and established origins in Arabia asked Miran if his research had uncovered any documents "confirming" the family's Arabian heritage in order to support an application for citizenship to Saudi Arabia. Red Sea Citizensis divided into five chapters with an introduction, several maps, more than thirty illustrations, and a helpful glossary. …
Low-power speech processing based upon floating-gate circuits

This paper describes our current efforts towards creating cooperative analog/digital signal processing (CADSP) systems for auditory sensor and signal processing applications. We address resolution issues that affect the choice of signal processing algorithms arriving from an analog sensor. We discuss current analog circuit approaches towards the front-end signal processing by reviewing major programmable analog building blocks and showing how they can be interconnected to create a complete system. We also discuss our current analog signal processing front-end system for speech recognition. Experimental data is presented from circuits fabricated using a 0.5 /spl mu/m nwell CMOS process available through MOSIS.
Pyridoxyl-5-phosphate-lysozyme. Physical studies.

Abstract 1. 1. Pyridoxal-5- P reacts specifically with lysine residues of lysozyme in 0.1 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) at 30°. The activity profile of pyridoxyl-5- P -lysozyme resembles that of the native enzyme at pH values below 6, but it is only 50% as active as native lysozyme at pH values above 7.2. The lysis of cell walls of Micrococcus lysodeikticus by pyridoxyl-5- P -lysozyme is very sensitive to small changes in the ionic strength of the solution. 2. 2. The inactivation of pyridoxyl-5- P -lysozyme by increasing the pH or the ionic strength of the solution cannot be correlated with gross conformational changes of the protein. This is demonstrated by physical studies (polarization of fluorescence, fluorescence spectroscopy and light scattering) designed to detect structural changes in the modified enzyme. 3. 3. The effect of pyridoxal-5- P on the activity of lysozyme is explained in terms of a decrease in the overall positive charges of the protein. It is suggested that the positively charged lysine residues are involved in electrostatic interactions with the cell wall.
Sensitivity of scattering and absorbing aerosol direct radiative forcing to physical climate factors

[1] The direct radiative forcing of the climate system includes effects due to scattering and absorbing aerosols. This study explores how important physical climate characteristics contribute to the magnitudes of the direct radiative forcings (DRF) from anthropogenic sulfate, black carbon, and organic carbon. For this purpose, we employ the GFDL CM2.1 global climate model, which has reasonable aerosol concentrations and reconstruction of twentieth-century climate change. Sulfate and carbonaceous aerosols constitute the most important anthropogenic aerosol perturbations to the climate system and provide striking contrasts between primarily scattering (sulfate and organic carbon) and primarily absorbing (black carbon) species. The quantitative roles of cloud coverage, surface albedo, and relative humidity in governing the sign and magnitude of all-sky top-of-atmosphere (TOA) forcings are examined. Clouds reduce the global mean sulfate TOA DRF by almost 50%, reduce the global mean organic carbon TOA DRF by more than 30%, and increase the global mean black carbon TOA DRF by almost 80%. Sulfate forcing is increased by over 50% as a result of hygroscopic growth, while high-albedo surfaces are found to have only a minor (less than 10%) impact on all global mean forcings. Although the radiative forcing magnitudes are subject to uncertainties in the state of mixing of the aerosol species, it is clear that fundamental physical climate characteristics play a large role in governing aerosol direct radiative forcing magnitudes.
Visualization of the placenta by radioisotope photoscanning using technetium99m-labeled albumin

Abstract With the use of Tc 99m -labeled albumin, the placenta was readily visualized by radioisotope photoscanning in 16 patients in the third trimester of pregnancy. Because of the precise localization of the placenta, this method shows promise of improving the diagnosis of placenta previa and management of third trimester bleeding. Because of the short 6 hour half-life of Tc 99m , and the small amount of transfer of radioactivity across the placenta, the procedure is a safe one. Total radiation exposure to the fetus is less than 5 mrads.
Psychotherapy With Cancer Patients

Cancer is associated with significant psychosocial morbidity. Although psychodynamic psychotherapy is a valuable intervention for some cancer patients, this modality has been underutilized because psychotherapy with medically ill patients has been linked historically to work with patients who have psychosomatic illnesses. Psychotherapy with patients who have cancer has unique features, such as the prominence of illness-related issues during the initial phase of treatment, the mixture of supportive and interpretive therapy, focused goals, and special issues pertaining to the transference/countertransference field. Understanding of those special issues will improve psychiatrists' ability to use long-term psychotherapy as an effective psychosocial intervention for patients with cancer.
Evaluation of Epidural Analgesia for Open Major Liver Resection Surgery from a us Inpatient Sample

The aim of this study was to assess the nationwide use of epidural analgesia (EA) and the incidence of postoperative complications in patients undergoing major liver resections (MLR) with and without EA in the United States. The 2001 to 2010 Nationwide Inpatient Sample was queried to identify adult patients undergoing MLR. A 1:1 matched cohort of patients having MLR with and without EA was assembled using propensity-score matching techniques. Differences in the rate of postoperative complications were compared between the matched groups. We identified 68,028 MLR. Overall, 5.9% of patients in the database had procedural codes for postoperative EA. A matched cohort of 802 patients per group was derived from the propensity-matching algorithm. Although use of EA was associated with more blood transfusions (relative risk, 1.36; 95% confidence interval, 1.12–1.65; P = 0.001) and longer hospital stay (median [interquartile range], 6 [5–8] vs 6 [4–8] days), the use of coagulation factors and the incidence of postoperative hemorrhage/hematomas or other postoperative complications were not higher in patients receiving EA. In conclusion, the use of EA for MLR is low, and EA does not seem to influence the incidence of postoperative complications. EA, however, was associated with an increased use of blood transfusions and a longer hospital stay.
Regulation of fibrin-mediated tumor cell adhesion to the endothelium using anti-thrombin aptamer

Molecular intervention during transient stages of various metastatic pathways may lead to development of promising therapeutic technologies. One of such involves soluble fibrin (sFn) that has been implicated as a cross-linker between circulating blood or tumor cells and endothelial cell receptors, promoting cell arrest on the endothelium during circulation. sFn generation is a result of thrombin-mediated fibrinogen (Fg) cleavage due to either vascular injuries or a tumor microenvironment. For cancer therapy, thrombin-mediated conversions of Fg to sFn thus serve as potential intervention points to decrease circulating tumor cell adhesion to the endothelium and subsequent metastatic events. The purpose of this work was to investigate the function of an anti-thrombin oligonucleotide aptamer in reducing tumor cell arrest. Both molecular and cellular interactions were examined to demonstrate the binding and inhibitory effects of anti-thrombin aptamer. The results show that the aptamer is capable of inhibiting thrombin-mediated Fg conversion, thereby reducing sFn-mediated tumor cell adhesion in a concentration-dependent manner. Notably, the aptamer is able to bind thrombin under dynamic flow conditions and reduce tumor cell adhesive events at various physiological shear rates. This study further indicates that oligonucleotide aptamers hold great promise as therapeutic regulators of tumor cell adhesion, and consequently, metastatic activity.
Influence Of Interfacial Oxide On Ion Mixing Of Al Bilayers: Measurement Of Interfacial Oxide

The elastic resonance scattering of 3.05 MeV 4 He ++ by 16 0 is studied for the case where the oxygen is present as an interfacial impurity between a Si substrate and a metallic overlain film. A simple model is developed and experimentally tested to describe the effect of the overlayer on the excitation curve and on the incident beam energy required to obtain resonance. This analytical method is very useful to study the influence of interfacial oxygen on the reaction of metallic overlayers, as shown by specific results with Al.
Quantification of the Compositional Information Provided by Immonium Ions on a Quadrupole-Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer

Immonium ions have been largely overlooked during the rapid expansion of mass spectrometry-based proteomics largely due to the dominance of ion trap instruments in the field. However, immonium ions are visible in hybrid quadrupole-time-of-flight (QTOF) mass spectrometers, which are now widely available. We have created the largest database to date of high-confidence sequence assignments to characterize the appearance of immonium ions in CID spectra using a QTOF instrument under “typical” operating conditions. With these data, we are able to demonstrate excellent correlation between immonium ion peak intensity and the likelihood of the appearance of the expected amino acid in the assigned sequence for phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan, proline, histidine, valine, and the indistinguishable leucine and isoleucine residues. In addition, we have clearly demonstrated a positional effect whereby the proximity of the amino acid generating the immonium ion to the amino terminal of the peptide correlates with the...
Short-term effects of dietary trans fatty acids compared with saturated fatty acids on selected measures of inflammation, fatty acid profiles, and production in early lactating Holstein dairy cows

Feeding rations supplemented with fats may provide an opportunity to manipulate the health and performance of dairy cows; however, the relative effects of specific fats, such as trans fatty acids (TFA), are poorly understood. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of a ration supplemented with TFA on the fatty acid (FA) profile of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), plasma lipids, and milk; the gene expression of inflammatory markers; production of acute phase proteins; and production performance in early lactating dairy cows. Trans fat was fed at 0, 1.5, and 3% of dry matter, replacing (1:1 wt:wt) saturated fatty acids (SFA). Multiparous lactating Holstein cows at 7 d in milk (n=12) were randomly assigned to a treatment sequence in a 3 × 3 balanced Latin square design; each period lasted 14 d. Milk and heparinized blood were collected on d 0 (pretreatment) and on d 10 and 14 of each period. Plasma was collected and solid-phase extraction was used to isolate plasma phospholipids and nonesterified fatty acids. Additionally, PBMC were isolated for FA analysis and gene expression analysis by reverse transcription-PCR using bovine RPS9 as the endogenous control. The FA composition of PBMC, plasma lipid fractions, and milk were analyzed by gas chromatography. Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC). As dietary TFA increased, the percentage of some 18:1 trans isomers increased in PBMC, plasma lipids, and milk. Dietary TFA had no detectable effect on mRNA expression of proinflammatory TNFα or IL6. Expression of IL1β and ICAM1 decreased with increasing TFA. In addition, supplementation of TFA did not affect percentages of milk fat, protein, lactose, or solids-not-fat, or somatic cell count. Overall, dietary TFA increased the trans FA present in PBMC, plasma lipids, and milk; however, dietary TFA decreased PBMC expression of some of the proinflammatory markers tested at the mRNA level compared with SFA in early lactating dairy cows. Together, these findings provide evidence that over short period of times, dietary TFA might be slightly less immune-stimulatory than dietary SFA.
A family of lambda phage cDNA cloning vectors, λSWAJ, allowing the amplification of RNA sequences

This paper describes the construction and characterization of a family of λ phage cDNA cloning vectors that allows high-efficiency directional cDNA cloning and selective amplification of either sense or antisense cRNA sequences. These vectors contain several unique restriction sites (EcoRI, XbaI, and SacI) positioned between two specific phage promoters, SP6 and T7. This system facilitates the in vitro preparation of single-stranded (ss) RNA molecules that should be useful in subtractive hybridization and in situ hybridization procedures. Using subtractive hybridization and this vector system, it should be possible to identify sequences present in one cDNA library and not another. In addition, it should be possible to construct subtracted cDNA libraries in these vectors and to generate high specific activity, ss, antisense cRNA probes directly from DNA prepared from the whole subtracted library or from individual clones.
Catalytic activity of the yeast SWI/SNF complex on reconstituted nucleosome arrays

A novel, quantitative nucleosome array assay has been developed that couples the activity of a nucleosome ‘remodeling’ activity to restriction endonuclease activity. This assay has been used to determine the kinetic parameters of ATP-dependent nucleosome disruption by the yeast SWI/SNF complex. Our results support a catalytic mode of action for SWI/SNF in the absence of nucleosome targeting. In this quantitative assay SWI/SNF and ATP lead to a 100-fold increase in nucleosomal DNA accessibility, and initial rate measurements indicate that the complex can remodel one nucleosome every 4.5 min on an 11mer nucleosome array. In contrast to SWI/SNF action on mononucleosomes, we find that the SWI/SNF remodeling reaction on a nucleosome array is a highly reversible process. This result suggests that recovery from SWI/SNF action involves interactions among nucleosomes. The biophysical properties of model nucleosome arrays, coupled with the ease with which homogeneous arrays can be reconstituted and the DNA accessibility analyzed, makes the described array system generally applicable for functional analysis of other nucleosome remodeling enzymes, including histone acetyltransferases.
Two-electron wave functions in hyperspherical coordinates

In order to investigate the potential precision of quantitative calculations using hyperspherical coordinates, we have reexamined this method in detail. By developing an analytic solution of the angular equation in the form of a series expansion in the variable x = tan(..cap alpha../2), we are able to isolate the numerical errors in the solution from those caused by the truncation of the angular momentum expansion and by the exclusion of radial coupling terms, which we then examine separately. This new method enables us to extend the calculation of the potential curves and channel functions to the large-R region and to obtain asymptotic expansions for the potential curves and radial couplings. From these we determine general expressions for the boundary conditions of the radial equation. Finally, we present the first nonadiabatic result for the ground-state energy of helium.
Photosynthesis, photorespiration, and dark respiration in eight species of algae

The rates of photosynthesis and dark respiration for 7 marine algae and 1 fresh-water alga were measured and compared. The dinoflagellates Glenodinium sp. and zooxanthellae have high dark respiration rates relative to photosynthetic rates, which may decrease their net growth rates. Photorespiration in the 8 algal species was studied by examining the effects of the concentration of oxygen on the rates of photosynthesis, on the incorporation of 14CO2 into the photorespiratory pathway intermediates glycine and serine, and on the postillumination burst of carbon dioxide production and oxygen consumption. A combination of these results indicates that all the algae tested can photorespire, but that Glenodinium sp., Thalassiosira pseudonana, and zooxanthellae either have a photorespiratory pathway different from that proposed for freshwater algae (Tolbert, 1974), or an additional pathway for glycolate metabolism.
Evaluating iron‐impregnated paper strips for assessing available soil phosphorus

Abstract Iron (Fe)‐impregnated filter paper strips (Pi) have been proposed as a method for measuring available soil phosphorus (P). A well‐defined Pi method has not yet been developed and Pi strips are often prepared with different filter papers and procedures. A study aimed at arriving at a consistent Pi method is thus needed. Four types of Pi strips, prepared with the two most widely used papers, Whatman No. 50 and 541, following a procedure that incorporates improvements both proposed in the literature and made in our laboratory, were evaluated for P extraction capacity and error. Two of the best strips, which are significantly different in P extraction capacity, along with the Mehlich 1 (0.05M HCl and 0.0125M H2SO4) and the Olsen method (0.5M NaHCO3, pH 8.5) were further evaluated in a greenhouse experiment involving eight soils planted with corn (Zea mays L.). Results indicated that strips prepared with both Whatman No. 50 and 541 were appropriate for P extractions as long as strips were washed with ...
Applying Human Factors to Classroom Visual Aids

Transparencies, slides, and computer based displays are common visual aids used in classroom presentations. This paper will outline the use of principles which improve the effectiveness of these visual aidsGeneral principles discussed include: Organizing material, clarifying material and enhancing encoding. Gestalt principles such as simplicity, similarity, proximity, and continuation, appropriate text size and font, effective use of color and other attention getting cues, and appropriate contrast and glare reduction are considered.