cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Tomato prosystemin promoter confers wound-inducible, vascular bundle-specific expression of the β-glucuronidase gene in transgenic tomato plants

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. Better Boy) plants were transformed with a fused gene containing a 2.2-kb promoter fragment of the tomato prosystemin gene and the coding region of the β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene. The transgenic plants exhibited a low constitutive level of prosystemin-β-glucuronidase gene expression, assayed by histochemical staining and GUS enzyme activity, that was associated in the vascular bundles of leaf main veins, petiolules, petioles and stems. The GUS activity in the vascular bundles in each tissue was increased by wounding and by treatment of the plants with methyl jasmonate, similar to the induction of prosystemin in wild-type plants. The increase in GUS activity in the vascular bundles of leaves in response to wounding correlated with the wound-inducible increase in prosystemin mRNA. Tissue printing, using rabbit anti-serum prepared against prosystemin, confirmed that inducible prosystemin protein was localized in vascular bundles of petiolules, petioles and stems of wild-type tomato plants. The evidence indicates that the 2.2-kb promoter region of the tomato prosystemin gene contains elements conferring its correct temporal and spatial expression in the vascular bundles of transgenic tomato plants.
Development of Model-Based Embedded Control Course Curriculum for Next Generation of Automotive Engineers

Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) and pure Electric Vehicle (EV) are potential technologies to reduce fuel consumption and emissions in transportation sector. To educate next generation of automotive engineers with strong background in hybrid/electric drive vehicles, Michigan Technological University and partnering institutions General Motors, AVL, Argonne National Laboratory, Woodward, and MathWorks, have built an HEV/EV interdisciplinary program to develop curriculum for the education and outreach in transportation electrification.Model-based design is emerging as an effective method to solve complicated control problems in automotive and aerospace industries. This paper presents the development of model-based embedded control course curriculum, one of the courses of Michigan Tech HEV/EV interdisciplinary program, to prepare students for their future career in automotive controls. The course goals, the development of teaching materials and associated laboratories, and the design of final project, are discussed. The developed course has been offered in Spring semesters since 2011 and received very positive feedback from students both in Mechanical Engineering – Engineering Mechanics (MEEM) and Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Departments at Michigan Tech.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
ARISA analysis of ruminal bacterial community dynamics in lactating dairy cows during the feeding cycle.

Abstract The bovine rumen undergoes substantial changes in environmental conditions during the animal's feeding cycle, but the effects of these changes on microbial populations have not been examined systematically. Two dairy cows fed a mixed forage/concentrate ration at 12 h intervals over 4 feeding cycles displayed substantial changes in ruminal pH and volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations. Automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA) of solid- and liquid-associated bacterial populations in samples collected at 2, 4, 6, 9, and 12 h after feeding revealed a high degree of bacterial diversity. A total of 155 different amplicon lengths (ALs) were detected across all 83 samples, and 11–74 detected per sample. A substantial proportion (11%) of the ALs was detected in one cow but not in the other. The proportions of ALs that were detected only in the liquid phase or the solid phase were 13.5% and 1.9%, respectively. Correspondence analysis indicated that bacterial community composition differed between cows and between solid or liquid phases, but overall the solid-associated population displayed less change in composition within and across feeding cycles. The data support the notion that cows fed the same diets can have substantial differences in bacterial community composition, and that the solids-associated (biofilm) communities display greater stability than do associated planktonic communities.
Print production designer: answering commercial/industrial print production what-ifs using simulation-as-a-service

Service level forecasting and capacity planning is uniquely challenging in commercial and industrial print service providers (PSPs) due to: 1) Large variations in supply and demand. Diverse service requests arrive stochastically; production processes heavily rely on manual work, are fault-prone and weakly structured. 2) Little or no factory audit data. Most PSPs do not have means to track production events. 3) Lack of affordable modeling tools and expertise. Many tools cost thousands of dollars and require simulation experts to spend weeks on customer sites. We developed Print Production Designer (PPD) to attack the aforementioned challenges. Powered by a custom factory dynamics simulation engine based on UC Berkeley's Ptolemy toolkit and deployed as a cloud service, PPD brings quantitative trade-offs to light, optimizes customers' information, and helps them to reach the right printing press purchasing decision. A typical PPD run costs $5.28 which is affordable for even small-sized PSPs.
The Vulnerability of Venice

The vulnerability of Venice to flooding is increasing because of changes in lagoon hydraulics, the irreversible effects of past groundwater pumping, and geologic land subsidence, as well as present and future sea level rise. As Albert Ammerman and Charles McClennen discuss in their Policy Forum “
Expenditure Patterns of Asian Americans: Evidence From the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1980–1992

This article applies a linear approximation of the Almost Ideal Demand System with a set of demographic variables to study the differences in expenditure patterns between Asian American households and households in three other ethnic/racial groups: Black, Hispanic, and White. Findings show that even after controllingfor other economic and demographic factors, compared with each of the three other ethnic/racial groups, Asian American households have significantly different expenditure patterns in 6 or more expenditure categories out of a total of 13. Besides implications for consumer educators, financial planners, and producers, the results of this study can provide guidelines for combining Asian American households with other ethnic/racial groups in expenditure studies so that households within the combined group can be as homogeneous as possible.
Intergenerational continuity of child physical abuse: how good is the evidence?

Summary Background There is widespread belief that individuals who were physically abused during childhood are more likely to abuse their own children than those who were not abused, but the empirical studies examining this belief have not been systematically reviewed. The aim of this study was to evaluate systematically, based on eight methodological standards derived from a hypothetical randomised controlled trial, the design of studies investigating the intergenerational transmission of child physical abuse. Methods We reviewed studies published between 1965 and 2000 in English that provided information about physical maltreatment in two generations and included a comparison group. Two investigators independently assessed whether each study met the methodological standards. Findings In the ten studies identified (four cohort, one cross-sectional, and five case-control), the relative risks of maltreatment in the children of parents who were abused during childhood were significantly increased in four studies (relative risks 4·75–37·8), but in three other studies the relative risks were less than 2. Most study reports provided a clear description of abuse of parents during childhood and abuse of their children. Five studies failed to avoid recall and detection bias; five did not ensure that controls were not themselves maltreated; eight did not provide adequate follow-up; and in six the report did not state whether the enrolled parent was responsible for the maltreatment. Most studies did not control for intervening factors, such as sociodemographic characteristics during the time of abuse of the parent generation and at the time their children were abused. Only one study met all eight criteria (relative risk of abuse transmission 12·6 [95% CI 1·82–87·2]) and one met six (1·05 [0·53–2·06]). Interpretation The one study that met all eight methodological standards provided evidence for the intergenerational continuity of child physical abuse, but that which met six standards did not support the hypothesis. Use of our model and methodological standards should improve the scientific quality of studies examining the effects of risk factors for adverse outcomes that may continue across generations.
Androgen Binding Protein as a Biochemical Marker of Formation of the Blood-Testis Barrier

Androgen binding protein (ABP) was measured during postnatal development in normal and irradiated rats to determine whether development of a blood-testis barrier and formation of a continuous lumen from testis to epididymis is correlated with entry of ABP into the caput epididymis. ABP is found in normal testis as early as 14 days postnatally (0.2 pmol/mg), at which time no blood-testis barrier is observed by the peroxidase perfusion technique. Previous findings have shown a close correlation of blood-testis barrier development and lumen formation. Indeed, ABP is not detectable in the epididymis until 18-20 days of age (1.0 pmol/mg) at which time blood-testis barrier formation and lumen development is complete. Whole body irradiation (125 rads) of pregnant rats at 19-20 days of gestation produces male offspring with seminiferous tubules remarkably free of germinal epithelium and containing essentially only Sertoli cells. These Sertoli cell-enriched (SCE) testes produce normal amounts of ABP between 14 and 21 days postnatally. However, between 21 and 30 days of age the specific activity of ABP is significantly higher in the SCE tests (2.8 pmol/mg protein) than in normal testis (0.5 pmol/mg protein). In the SCE testis neither blood-testis barrier development nor lumen formation are complete until 30 days of age, at which time ABP is first detectable in epididymis of the irradiated rat. Thereafter there is a gradual decline of ABP in the SCE testis-and a dramatic increase in the epididymis. NIH-FSH-S-10 (200 mug/rat) injected SC into 14-day-old normal rats stimulated ABP in the testis from control levels of 0.15 pmol/mg to 1.46 pmol/mg within 4 h after injection. However, no ABP was detectable in the epididymis of either the control or the FSH-stimulated rats. These findings suggest that entry of ABP into caput epididymis is an index of blood-testis barrier formation and lumen development.
Designing and Developing New Urbanist Projects in the United States: Insights and Implications

New Urbanism has gained considerable popularity. This paper evaluates the significance of designing and developing New Urbanist projects, within the contemporary circumstances of urban and suburban development in the United States, using survey research method. It investigates why designers and developers promote New Urbanist projects despite not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) opposition to higher-density developments and despite continued strong preference for single-family homes in standard sub-divisions. Are there any perceived benefits of undertaking such projects? Where do designers, developers and planners concur (or differ) in their assessment of the advantages associated with such projects? The study reveals a considerable agreement among respondents that these projects offer better design, better compatibility with growth management regulations, minimize deterioration of environmental quality, and minimize NIMBY opposition; however, they are restricted by existing land-use regulations, and resistance amo...
Thermals over the sea and gull flight behavior

The flight performance of Herring Gulls relative to specific atmosphere and ocean conditions over the western North Atlantic indicates that large groups of gulls are able, through cooperative flight maneuvers, to induce ascending convective flow (thermals) in which they make extended soaring flights. These group flights in gull-induced thermals are limited to winds of 0 to ~ 1 m s−1 and to sea-minus-air temperature differences (δT) of ~3 to 6‡C.
A new approach to fragment assembly in DNA sequencing

For the last twenty years fragment assembly in DNA sequencing followed the “overlap - layout - consensus” paradigm that is used in all currently available assembly tools. Although this approach proved to be useful in assembling clones, it faces difficulties in genomic shotgun assembly: the existing algorithms make assembly errors and are often unable to resolve repeats even in prokaryotic genomes. Biologists are well-aware of these errors and are forced to carry additional experiments to verify the assembled contigs.We abandon the classical “overlap - layout - consensus” approach in favor of a new Eulerian Superpath approach that, for the first time, resolves the problem of repeats in fragment assembly. Our main result is the reduction of the fragment assembly to a variation of the classical Eulerian path problem. This reduction opens new possibilities for repeat resolution and allows one to generate error-free solutions of the large-scale fragment assembly problems. The major improvement of EULER over other algorithms is that it resolves all repeats except long perfect repeats that are theoretically impossible to resolve without additional experiments.
Effects of turbine cooling assumptions on performance and sizing of high-speed civil transport

The analytical study presented examines the effects of varying turbine cooling assumptions on the performance of a high speed civil transport propulsion system as well as the sizing sensitivity of this aircraft to these performance variations. The propulsion concept employed in this study was a two spool, variable cycle engine with a sea level thrust of 55,000 lbf. The aircraft used for this study was a 250 passenger vehicle with a cruise Mach number of 2.4 and 5000 nautical mile range. The differences in turbine cooling assumptions were represented by varying the amount of high pressure compressor bleed air used to cool the turbines. It was found that as this cooling amount increased, engine size and weight increased, but specific fuel consumption (SFC) decreased at takeoff and climb only. Because most time is spent at cruise, the SFC advantage of the higher bleed engines seen during subsonic flight was minimized and the lower bleed, lighter engines led to the lowest takeoff gross weight vehicles. Finally, the change in aircraft takeoff gross weight versus turbine cooling level is presented.
Differential Effects ofStaphylococcus aureusα-Hemolysin on the Synthesis of Hyaluronan and Chondroitin Sulfate by Rat Chondrosarcoma Chondrocytes

The plasma membranes of rat chondrosarcoma chondrocytes were permeabilized by treatment with alpha-hemolysin, the major toxin produced by Staphylococcus aureus, which forms small, stable, heptameric, transmembrane pores (1-2 nm in diameter) permitting influx/efflux of low-molecular-mass molecules (< or = 2000 Da). Treated chondrocytes were permeable to entry of trypan blue and exit of ATP. We describe the effects of alpha-hemolysin on the synthesis of hyaluronan (HA) and chondroitin sulfate (CS) by chondrocytes using the simple sugar [3H]glucosamine as a metabolic precursor. Chondrocytes permeabilized with alpha-hemolysin in serum-free media decreased intracellular ATP and synthesis of CS to approximately 5% of control within 2-4 h, but synthesized HA (80% of control for 8 h; approximately 65% of control at 24 h). Adding fresh medium (with or without serum) to permeabilized cells increased ATP significantly and increased HA synthesis to near initial control values. Under the same conditions, the recovery of CS synthesis approached initial levels in control but not permeabilized cells. Our model demonstrates that the biosynthesis of HA by these cells in vitro is remarkably stable to cellular perturbations which drastically inhibit synthesis of CS on proteoglycans.
Invariant quantities in regression-induced boundaries under a special linear transformation

Abstract Boundaries for most objects are not in simple mathematical forms, but they can be approximated by simple curves through regression. This report shows that invariant quantities can be found when boundaries of an object and its image are approximated by regression curves. The estimations of these invariants and their statistical properties are derived and a method to combine the information in a sequence of pictures is also discussed. The classification of motion-induced radar ship imagery is used as an example.
Prediction of learning by group-rated association values versus individual-rated association values

Summary The procedures employed in this experiment were (1) to obtain ratings of numbers for association value; (2) to obtain both group norms of association value and individual estimates of association value; and (3) to determine whether the group or individual values were better predictors of an individual's rate of learning in a paired-associate learning task. In one experiment the pairing was noun-number and in the other, number-noun. The major findings were: (1) High group-rated association values for numbers predict a faster rate of learning than do low group-rated association values; and (2) when predicting the relative learning rate of the individual, the predictive value of the rated association value of the group is superior to the rated association value of the individual.
Use of nonphysician health care providers for skin cancer screening in the primary care setting.

Abstract Background. Nonphysician health care providers are in an optimal position to provide cancer prevention and screening services. Methods. We conducted a survey of primary care physicians to determine physician use and amenability to use of nonphysician health care providers to perform skin cancer screening in comparison with other cancer screening examinations. Results. A total of 1,363 eligible physicians completed the survey. Of these, 631 physicians (46%) reported a nurse practitioner or physician assistant performing at least one type of cancer screening examination on their patients. Twenty-nine and 22% of all physicians reported nurse practitioners or physician assistants performing skin cancer screening, respectively. Family physicians were more likely to use nurse practitioners and physician assistants to perform these cancer screening examinations than internists (χ2 test, P = 0.001 for each examination). Skin examinations were performed less frequently by nurse practitioners and physician assistants than all other cancer screening examinations. A total of 73–79% of family physicians and 60–70% of internists were amenable to having a nonphysician health care provider perform one or more of these examinations. Conclusions. Primary care physicians are currently utilizing nonphysician health care providers to perform cancer screening examinations and the majority of those surveyed are amenable to the use of these providers for such examinations. This suggests that one possible strategy for increasing skin cancer screening is through an expanded role of nonphysician health care providers.
Feeding Rate of Carp Estimated by a Radioisotopic Method

Abstract The feeding rate was estimated for yearling carp living in a small lake contaminated with low-level radioactive wastes. The amount of 137Cs that must be ingested to maintain the equilibrium body burden of the carp was calculated from measured values for body burden, biological elimination rates, and assimilation factors. The radioisotope was ingested by the fish as an integral part of its food items. The amount of food consumed was estimated by measuring the concentration of 137Cs in the food items. An age and growth study and the weight-length relationship are given for the carp. The estimate of the average daily food intake was 5.36 g wet weight (3.9% of mean body weight) consisting of 2.4 g detritus and 1.6 g algae for maintenance, and 0.82 g detritus and 0.54 g algae for growth. On an energy basis, 3.7 kcal were consumed for maintenance and 1.3 kcal for growth. Net and gross food conversion factors were 3.18 and 12.55, respectively, and the ecological growth efficiency was 0.08.
Non-hamiltonian bicubic graphs

Abstract A non-hamiltonian cyclically 4-edge connected bicubic graph with 50 vertices is constructed. This is the smallest non-hamiltonian 3-connected bicubic graph known.
Solar Energy, Collected, Concentrated, Transported, and Distributed as Light With No Energy Conversion Via a Hybrid Solar Lighting System

Hybrid solar lighting (HSL) is a technology in which sunlight is collected and distributed via optical fibers into the interior of buildings. Analogous to hybrid electric vehicles that use both batteries and internal combustion engines to power cars, hybrid lighting employs roof-mounted collectors to concentrate sunlight into flexible optical fibers and carry it inside buildings to “hybrid” light fixtures that also contain electric lamps. As the two light sources work in tandem, control systems keep lighting levels constant by dimming the electric lights when sunlight is bright, and turning them up as the sky darkens with weather conditions or nightfall. Data indicate that on a bright, sunny day the power consumption for lighting can be reduced by 50% or more. Today, lighting in U.S. residential and commercial buildings consumes close to 5 quadrillion BTUs of primary energy and one-fifth of all electricity. In commercial buildings, one-quarter of all energy demand is for lighting. With a forecasted doubling of commercial floor space by the year 2020 comes an urgent and growing need to find more efficient ways of lighting our nation’s buildings. Typically, less than 25 percent of the electrical energy consumed for lighting actually produces light; the rest generates heat, which increases the need for air-conditioning. Unlike conventional electric lamps, the sunlight from HSL systems produces virtually no waste heat. A nationwide field trial program is under way to provide system performance data and user-feedback essential for the successful commercialization of HSL. Field trial installations include San Diego State University, San Diego, CA; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA; Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Sacramento, CA; Wal-Mart, McKinney, TX; Aveda Corp., Minneapolis, MN; Staples, Long Island, NY; Braden’s Furniture, Knoxville, TN; Multipurpose Research Facility, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN; University of Nevada-Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV; Hybrid Lighting Laboratory, ORNL, Oak Ridge, TN. This paper describes the field trial program and summarizes the results to date from the field trial installations.
Rethinking the South African crisis: nationalism, populism, hegemony

Rethinking the South African Crisis provides an insightful and much-needed deconstructive lens for interpreting the increasing socioeconomic disparity in postapartheid South Africa. Gillian Hart dr...
Identification of Collagenase in Cultured Blood Mononuclear Cells

Mononuclear cells isolated from peripheral whole blood were fractionated by erythrocyte-rosetting into T cells and non-T cell subpopulations which were tested for collagenase-producing capacity. Mononuclear cells and purified T lymphocytes, as well as non-T (B) lymphocytes, produced collagenase during serum-free culture. Removal of the macrophages from the non-T cells did not affect collagenase production by lymphocytes.
Endogenous Promoters Can Direct the Transcription of Hepatitis Delta Virus RNA from a Recircularized cDNA Template

Abstract Transcription and replication of hepatitis delta virus (HDV) RNA is thought to be performed by host RNA polymerase II. The mechanism which enables polymerase II to use RNA as a template is unclear. However, since extensive intramolecular complementarity allows HDV RNA to form a rod-shaped structure, it is possible that the mostly double-stranded HDV RNA may resemble double-stranded DNA in structure, and can thus be used by RNA polymerase II as a template. To investigate this possibility, we examined whether the cDNA counterpart of HDV RNA contains a promoter and thus can drive the transcription and replication of HDV RNA. Circularized monomers of HDV cDNA, when transfected into various cell lines, were found to generate both monomeric and dimeric forms of HDV RNA and hepatitis delta antigen at levels comparable to those generated with HDV cDNA multimers under the control of a SV40 late promoter, suggesting that HDV cDNA contains endogenous promoters. Using chloramphenicol acetyltransferase and human growth hormone as reporter genes, the specific promoter activity for the synthesis of antigenomic HDV RNA was localized to a 29-nucleotide region (nucleotides 1650-1679), although an additional 224-nucleotide upstream region was also necessary for maximum activity. Similarly, promoter activity for the synthesis of genomic RNA was localized to a 160-nucleotide region around position 1679 that overlapped with the antigenomic promoter region. Since these regions are in a highly conserved double-stranded region of HDV RNA,they may represent RNA promoters recognized by RNA polymerase II. This result also suggests a convenient method, using circularized monomer HDV cDNA, to study HDV RNA replication.
Localized marketing strategies and the Bible of international business

Notes that the New Testament provides a classic case of international marketing strategies in conflict, as well as clues to modern international management. Looks at the development of the organization left behind by Jesus Christ in terms of characters such as Peter and Saul and factors such as ethnic niching and the rise of the organization as a multinational. Considers historical events from the New Testament in terms of modern management thinking and concludes that the analogy is helpful in determining modern international management strategy.
Glass Strengthening Via High‐Intensity Plasma‐Arc Heating

A high-intensity plasma-arc lamp was used to irradiate the surface of soda–lime silicate glass tiles to determine whether an increase in strength could be achieved. The lamp has a maximum power density of 3500 W/cm2, a processing area of 2 cm × 10 cm, a broad-spectrum energy distribution between 0.2 and 1.4 μm, and was controlled to unidirectionally sweep across 50 mm2 tiles at a constant speed of 8 mm/s. Ring-on-ring (RoR) equibiaxial flexure and four-point unidirectional flexure testings of entire tiles were used to measure and compare uncensored and unimodal Weibull failure stress distributions of treated and untreated glass. Even under nonoptimized processing conditions, the RoR Weibull characteristic failure stress increased by approximately 25% and the four-point-bend Weibull characteristic failure stress increased by approximately 65%. Additionally, the failure stresses of the weakest samples of the heat-treated glass were significantly higher than those of the untreated glass. Strengthening was due to a fire-polishing-like mechanism. The arc-lamp heat treatment caused the location of the strength-limiting flaws in the four-point-bend tiles to change; namely, failure initiation occurred on the gauge section surface for the treated glass, whereas it occurred at a gauge section edge for the untreated glass. Arc-lamp heat treatment is attractive not only because it provides strengthening, but because it can (noncontact) process large amounts of glass quickly and inexpensively, and is a process that either a glass manufacturer or an end-user can readily use.
ISS/SIMS Characterization of UV/O3 Cleaned Surfaces.

Abstract When solids are irradiated with ultraviolet light from a low pressure mercury discharge tube (UV/O 3 ), a complex reaction involving interaction of both photons and ozone produces a cleaning action on the surface. In this work, the efficiency of the UV/O 3 method is evaluated using ISS and SIMS. The UV/O 3 method is found to be useful for both surface cleaning and storage following cleaning by conventional techniques.
Mosquito protein microassay. I. Protein determinations from small portions of single-mosquito homogenates.

Abstract 1. 1. A microassay is described for determining protein levels in individual mosquitoes. 2. 2. This method requires only a small portion of a homogenate of a single mosquito. 3. 3. Protein levels in Anopheles albimanus are positively correlated with body weight. 4. 4. Protein levels for different geographic strains of Anopheles albimanus and different generations of laboratory rearings are compared.
Interaction of monolayers of concanavalin A with mono- and polysaccharides. A study by means of infrared-attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy.

Abstract The effects of pH, Mn 2+ and Ca 2+ and urea denaturation on the interaction of monolayers of concanavalin A on saline with the polysaccharide dextran B-1355 and the monosaccharides methyl α- d -mannopyranoside and d -galactose have been investigated. Infrared absorption spectra of compressed monolayers of the protein and the protein-dextran complex coated on a germanium plate have been obtained by means of attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy. Except in one case of denaturation, the amide I absorption of concanavalin A peaked around 1631 cm −1 , indicating a predominance of the β-pleated sheet conformation, in agreement with its secondary structure in the solution and crystalline phases. The contribution to the absorbance of the concanavalin A-dextran films at 3300 cm −1 due to absorption by the O-H stretching modes of the polysaccharide is a measure of its binding. Increasing the pH from 6.1 to 7.5 appreciably reduced the dextran binding, at pH 9.3 the binding was zero. Adding 1 mM Mn 2+ and Ca 2+ to the subphase at pH 7.5 restored both the dextran binding and the affinity of concanavalin A for methyl α- d -mannopyranoside to that of the native protein at pH 6.1. At this latter pH, the weak binding of dextran to monolayers of demetallized concanavalin A (apo-concanavalin A) was also restored to that for the native molecule by the addition of these divalents. This indicates the requirement of concanavalin A for these ions to maintain the integrity of the saccharide-binding site. The loss of dextran binding with urea denaturation was also observed. These results parallel those for solutions of the protein, indicating the validity of the monolayer system for the study of these interactions.
Determination of intracellular and extracellular nitrite and nitrate by anion chromatography

Abstract A highly sensitive method for the simultaneous direct detection as well as the ratio of intracellular and extracellular nitrite (NO2 −) and nitrate (NO3 −) in human macrophage (Mφ), plasma and urine has been developed. Samples were deproteinized with the organic solvent acetonirile, lyophilized and reconstituted in buffer, determination and quantification of nitric oxide (NO) stable end products NO2 − and NO3 − was performed utilizing an isocratic high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with an anion exchange column. A mobile phase of 20 mM NaCl with 1mM mono sodium phosphate-NaH2PO4 at pH = 7.0 was used. Analyte anions were detected by direct UV-wavelength at 210 nm. Sensitivity in intracellular and extracellular fluids were 0.01 μmol/L for both anions with recovery rates of 99.6–99.4% for NO2 − and NO3 −. This method has successfully been applied to the determination of nitrite and nitrate in plasma and urine of normal human volunteers as well as in cell line U-937 macrophage cytosol/supe...
Evaluation of kukui oil (Aleurites moluccana) for controlling termites.

Abstract The application of many chemical-based pesticides to protect wood has been greatly restricted in the United States and elsewhere. A possible natural product that can be used for wood preservation is the oil from the nut of the kukui plant, Aleurites moluccana (L.) Willd., which has been reported, based on native folklore, to protect canoes against marine borer damage. The objective of this study was to determine whether the kukui oil would have termite control properties. Oil obtained by mechanical pressing of the nut from the kukui plant was used to treat southern yellow pine (Pinus spp.) wood. Wood blocks were impregnated with various mixtures of the oil and acetone using a vacuum-pressure-infiltration chamber to attain a range of oil contents in the wood. Laboratory studies with the Formosan termite (Coptotermes formosanus) showed that the oil-treated wood was resistant to termite damage when the wood contained >27% kukui oil by weight. Results also indicated that the oil acted primarily as a feeding deterrent and not a toxic agent.
Stuttering and stress

Ruby Rohrlich Leavitt. The Puerto Ricans: Culture Change and Language Deviance. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 1974. ix + 268 pp. Tables, bibliography, and index. $4.95 (paper).
Power control and proportional fair scheduling with minimum rate constraints in clustered multihop TD/CDMA wireless ad hoc networks

In order to achieve high end-to-end throughput in a multihop wireless ad hoc network, TD/CDMA has been chosen as the medium access control (MAC) scheme due to its support for high network throughput in a multihop environment. The associated power control and scheduling problem needs to be addressed to optimize the operations of TD/CDMA. In this paper, cluster based architecture is introduced to provide centralized control within clusters, and the corresponding power control and scheduling schemes are derived to maximize a network utility function and guarantee the minimum rate required by each traffic session. Because the resulted optimal power control reveals bang-bang characteristics, i.e., scheduled nodes transmit with full power while other nodes remain silent, the joint power control and scheduling problem is reduced to a scheduling problem. In order to achieve a balance between throughput and fairness, proportional fair scheduling is considered. The multi-link version of the proportional fair scheduling algorithms for multihop wireless ad hoc networks are proposed. In addition, a generic token counter mechanism is employed to satisfy the minimum rate requirements. Approximation algorithms are suggested to reduce the computational complexity. In networks that are lack of centralized control, distributed scheduling algorithms are also derived and fully distributed implementation is provided. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed schemes
Adaptive multiuser detection

An important thrust in research in multiuser detection is the design of adaptive detectors, which self-tune the detector parameters from the observation of the received waveform. The literature on this subject is surveyed in this tutorial paper. It contains background material used throughout the paper on the multiaccess channel model, optimum multiuser detection and the decorrelating detector. It deals with the MMSE linear multiuser detector and its adaptive implementations, and gives an overview of adaptive tentative-decision based detectors such as those that use successive cancellation and decision-feedback. Blind multiuser detection is discussed, and in particular, it presents a multiuser detector which is optimally near-far resistant and requires no more knowledge than the conventional single-user detector. Multiuser detection using learning neural networks is also examined. >
Corporate Divestiture Intensity in Restructuring Firms: Effects of Governance, Strategy, and Performance

Both inadequate governance and inappropriate strategy have been proposed as antecedents of the divestment activity of restructuring firms in the 1980s. We combined both views in a structural equati...
The negative impact of perceiving discrimination on collective well‐being: the mediating role of perceived ingroup status

Previous research has found that, among stigmatized group members, perceiving discrimination against the ingroup simultaneously yields a positive indirect effect on self-worth (mediated by ingroup identification) and a negative direct effect (Branscombe, Schmitt, & Harvey, 1999). This study not only replicated these effects with a sample of women, but also revealed that the negative direct effect was mediated by perceived status of the ingroup: as perceived discrimination increased, perceived ingroup status decreased, which in turn lowered collective self-worth. Perceiving discrimination also increased the accessibility of the stigmatized group's devalued status. A new direction for future research may be to consider when stigmatized group members might affirm the ingroup rather than protect self-worth. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Neurophysiology to neuroanatomy: The transition from claude bernard to Louis Antoine Ranvier

Claude Bernard (1813-1878) and Louis Antoine Ranvier (1835-1922) were born in the same area of the Rhone valley in France, but they met by fate in Paris. Bernard discovered the central physiological concept of “milieu interieur” – homeostasis – around 1854, but he lacked the technological tools to prove it. In 1867, when Bernard met Ranvier who was a wizard in histological techniques for anatomy, he naturally offered him a position in his laboratory at the famed College de France University. What happened next is the merging of two great spirits. Their respective careers collided and generated the transition from neurophysiology to neuroanatomy in an exceptional productivity. Ranvier adopted Experimental Histology from Bernard, which led him to discover the interruptions of myelin. He became immortalized by the name ‘nodes of Ranvier’. Ranvier was a master in histology, particularly in microscopy and staining, and his book ‘Technical treatise of histology’ published in 1875 was later considered a bible by Ramon y Cajal who established the neuronal theory. As for Bernard, his concept of homeostasis was so in advance for his time that it took over half a century for the scientific community to bring experimental proofs. In 1865 Bernard published his now classic book ‘Introduction to the study of Experimental medicine’, which has been translated in many languages and is still read today. By enunciating the fundamental principles of research, this book laid the ground for modern medicine.
Culture and Social Psychology: Converging Perspectives:

dynamic networks in conjunction with other forms of non-relational data. From this per spective, psychologists and sociologists both can model, for example, the diffusion of stereotypes or racial prejudice in a social system based on assumptions about how people process outgroup information and the likelihood of intergroup interaction. Together, these independent streams of research can jointly develop a structural the ory of action that explains how neural and social networks change reciprocally. It is here that the future (understanding) of inequality lies. R6F6R6NC6S
Closing the Screen Door to New Invasions

International trade in nonnative species generates economic benefits but also introduces many harmful invasive species. Recent advances in nonnative species screening tools enable useful predictions of invasiveness which can be combined with estimates of impacts to effectively manage the trade-off between the benefits and costs of this trade. Despite this, most countries maintain an essentially “open door” policy where almost all nonnative species are allowed for introduction until they prove problematic. This approach implicitly favors minimizing one particular type of assessment error—mistakenly excluding safe species, or “false positives.” However, a comprehensive approach to management of species trade should involve balancing the trade-off between false positives and “false negatives” (mistakenly accepting invasive species). Barriers to implementing risk assessment tools include the perception that because assessment tools are imperfect they are not suitable for decision-making. However, recent economic research shows that, relative to an open door approach, “shutting the screen door” with imperfect but informative screening tools, to allow flow of only those species of acceptable invasion risk, increases the net benefits of trade. Given that these tools are relatively straightforward to apply, we argue that policy-makers should no longer allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good.
Short‐term outcomes and cost of care of treatment of head and neck paragangliomas

Objectives/Hypothesis To characterize contemporary treatment of head and neck paragangliomas and the effect of treatment on postoperative complications, length of stay, and costs. Study Design Retrospective cross-sectional study. Methods Discharge data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample for 7,791 patients who underwent endovascular or surgical treatment of head and neck paragangliomas between 1993 and 2008 were analyzed using cross tabulations and multivariate regression modeling. Results Surgery only was performed in 91% of cases, embolization alone was performed in 4% of cases, and both embolization and surgery were performed in 5% of cases. Postoperative surgical complications were significantly more likely in patients undergoing embolization and surgery during the same admission (odds ratio [OR], 2.3; P = .031), whereas acute medical complications were more likely in patients undergoing embolization only (OR, 3.9; P = .001). Embolization alone was specifically associated with an increased risk of acute renal failure (OR, 8.2; P = .026) and pneumonia (OR, 3.9; P = .001). Cranial nerve injury was associated with increased odds of dysphagia (OR, 8.5; P = .004), and dysphagia was associated with increased odds of voice disturbance (OR, 5.1; P = .004). Embolization, with or without surgery during the same admission, was associated with significantly increased hospital-related costs, after controlling for all other variables. Conclusions Endovascular treatment of head and neck paragangliomas is associated with an increase in complications and hospital-related costs. Although these findings may reflect larger tumor size and comorbidity in patients selected for embolization, these data suggest a need to reexamine the benefits and cost-effectiveness of embolization in surgical patients. Level of Evidence 2c. Laryngoscope, 2013
Immunohistochemical localization of TGFβ1, TGFβ2, and TGFβ3 in normal and malignant human prostate

Background Prostate cancer eventually becomes androgen-independent, suggesting that growth factors such as TGF beta 1-3 may potentially contribute to prostate neoplasia. The pattern and level of TGF beta 1-3 protein expression in normal and malignant human prostate are unknown. Methods An immunohistochemical study was undertaken to analyze TGF beta 1, TGF beta 2, and TGF beta 3 protein in malignant and adjacent normal prostates from 25 patients who had clinically localized prostate cancer. Results Normal prostate exhibited similar TGF beta 1 immunostaining in stromal and epithelial cells, whereas TGF beta 2 and TGF beta 3 protein staining was greater in the epithelial relative to the stromal compartments. In malignancy, prostate epithelial cells had higher TGF beta 1 and TGF beta 2 immunostaining than either the surrounding stromal cells or their normal prostatic epithelial counterparts. Although TGF beta 3 staining intensity was similar for both malignant and normal prostate epithelial cells, the pattern of staining switched from uniform apical to diffuse protein staining in malignant prostate glands. Conclusions Prostate cancer was associated with alterations of TGF beta 1, TGF beta 2, and TGF beta 3 expression by prostatic epithelial cells which may play a role in prostatic carcinogenesis.
Subspace-based direction finding in alpha-stable noise environments

There exist real world applications in which impulsive channels tend to produce large amplitude interferences more frequently than Gaussian channels. The stable law has been shown to successfully model noise over certain impulsive channels. The authors propose subspace-based methods for the direction-of-arrival estimation problem in impulsive noise environments. They define the covariation matrix of the array sensor outputs and show that eigendecomposition-based methods, such as the MUSIC algorithm, can be applied to the sample covariation matrix to extract the bearing information from the measurements.
Writing technical English: a comparison of the process of native English and native Japanese speakers

Results of a study of the process by which technical English was used by native Japanese are presented. Comparing the composing processes of experienced native Japanese and US technical writers showed that the preference for each phase-prewriting, writing, and rewriting-was idiosyncratic to the author regardless of native language. Process preference correlated with measures of product quality. Specifically, the prewriters produced text with greater lexical cohesion and the rewriters produced text with fewer grammatical and spelling errors. It is concluded that formal prewriting should improve the writing products of both native Japanese and US technical writers. >
Ulcerative keratitis associated with crack-cocaine abuse.

Abstract Background Cocaine hydrochloride (C 17 H 21 NO 4 ) is a powerful neuro-stimulatory alkaloid salt which has been abused by many cultures for thousands of years. Crack-cocaine, a derivative of cocaine, has gained notoriety for giving a quick “high” at a relatively lower cost. Crack-cocaine exposure has been reported to cause corneal disturbances ranging from subtle superficial punctuate keratitis to perforation. Case report A 42-year-old African-American female presented complaining of mucopurulent discharge and pain in her left eye for a month. No history of trauma, contact lens wear or surgery was elicited and she admitted to chronic polysubstance abuse. A deep, paracentral stromal ulcer was present in the left cornea. The patient was hospitalized for culturing and empiric topical therapy. Toxicology screens proved positive for cocaine and heroine. Initial response to treatment was promising yet the patient discharged herself against medical advice and was lost to follow-up. Cultures were positive for Candida albicans . Conclusions Practitioners should be familiar with the toxic effects that crack-cocaine abuse may have on ocular tissues, particularly the cornea. This case demonstrated the value of hospitalization, toxicology screenings and cultures in the management of the atypical keratopathy associated with substance abuse, specifically that of crack cocaine use. Corneal epithelial disruption and stromal ulceration without a history of contact lens wear, trauma, surgery, predisposing keratopathy or immunodeficiency warrants thorough investigation of patient social habits, including substance abuse.